Findings of Feasibility for Serial Testing Using Over-the-Counter SARS-CoV-2 Test with the Assistance of a Digital Smartphone App (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The ongoing pandemic necessitates the development of accurate, rapid, and affordable diagnostics to help curb SARS-CoV-2 disease transmission, morbidity, and mortality, as well as safely navigate social re-engagement. OBJECTIVE To describe the feasibility and acceptability of serial self-testing for SARS-CoV-2, including need for assistance and reliability of self-interpretation. METHODS A total of 206 adults in the United States with Smartphones were enrolled in this single-arm feasibility study during February and March 2021. All participants were asked to self-test for Covid-19 at home daily using an antigen-detection rapid diagnostic test over a 14-day period and use a smartphone application for testing assistance and to report their results. The main outcomes were adherence to the testing schedule, acceptability of testing and Smartphone application experiences, and reliability of participant versus study team interpretation of test results. RESULTS Among the 206 participants, 52% of study participants were women, the average age was 40.7 years, 34.43% were non-White, and half the sample (56.8%) had received a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Most participants (64.6%) showed high testing adherence. Participants’ interpretations of test results demonstrated high agreement (98.9%) with the study verified results, with a kappa score of 0.29 (p<0.001). Participants reported high satisfaction with self-testing and the smartphone application, with greater than 98% of participants reporting they would recommend the self-test and smartphone application to others. These results were consistent across age, race/ethnicity, and gender groups. CONCLUSIONS Participant’s high adherence to the recommended testing schedule, significant reliability between participant and study staff test interpretation, and acceptability of the smartphone application and self-test indicate that self-tests for SARS-CoV-2 with a smartphone application for assistance and reporting is highly feasible among a diverse population of adults in the United States.

Universal testing for COVID-19 in patients undergoing cancer treatment during the second outbreak in Brescia

Background: The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been overwhelming on patients with cancer, who may be at higher risk of developing severe disease. During the second COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, we planned universal microbiologic screening for patients scheduled for antineoplastic treatment. Methods: All patients with planned active treatment at Brescia University Radiation Oncology Department were screened for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA with repeated nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from October 31, 2020. Treatment continuation, suspension, or delay was modulated for patients testing positive according to clinical presentation. Results: From October 31, 2020, to February 6, 2021, 636 patients were enrolled and 1243 NPS were performed, of which 28 (2.25%) were positive. The infection rate was 2.52%; 81.3% of the patients with a positive NPS were asymptomatic, 2 had mild disease, and 1 severe disease that led to death. All patients already on treatment with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 carried on the therapy with no or minimal delay. Median delay for patients with infection detected before treatment start was 16.5 days. Conclusions: Detected incidence of COVID-19 was lower during the second outbreak in our patients (2.52% vs 3.23%), despite the extensive testing schedule, and substantiates the high rate of asymptomatic infections and the low mortality among patients with COVID-19 (6.3% vs 38.5% during the first outbreak). Universal SARS-CoV-2 screening for all patients with planned treatment might allow early identification of patients with COVID-19, resulting in timely management that could improve clinical outcomes and prevent spread of the infection.

First Attempt

This chapter begins with detailing the author's travel to Rochester for the upcoming surgery and the final pre-op tests. The chapter recounts the experience the author went through from the rigorous process and evaluation of managing the evaluation and testing schedule, working to get the blood pressure down, handling the packing and shipping for the lab kits, and staying healthy. It then presents all the risks of the surgery including the possibilities of bleeding and infection, and the unlikely event of needing to convert to an open procedure with a much more significant incision and longer recovery time. It also highlights the author's final appointment scheduled with a social worker assigned to her donor advocate. Ultimately, the chapter focuses on how the author managed her time in Rochester after the recipient's doctors found a lung infection and postponed the surgery. With the sudden turn of events, the chapter narrates the author's plan to just attend Yom Kippur Kol Nidre services, drive to the Twin Cities, and spend Yom Kippur day with her son and daughter-in-law.

Routine saliva testing for the identification of silent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in healthcare workers

Objective: Current COVID-19 guidelines recommend symptom-based screening and regular nasopharyngeal (NP) testing for healthcare personnel in high-risk settings. We sought to estimate case detection percentages with various routine NP and saliva testing frequencies. Design: Simulation modeling study. Methods: We constructed a sensitivity function based on the average infectiousness profile of symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases to determine the probability of being identified at the time of testing. This function was fitted to reported data on the percent positivity of symptomatic COVID-19 patients using NP testing. We then simulated a routine testing program with different NP and saliva testing frequencies to determine case detection percentages during the infectious period, as well as the presymptomatic stage. Results: Routine biweekly NP testing, once every 2 weeks, identified an average of 90.7% (SD, 0.18) of cases during the infectious period and 19.7% (SD, 0.98) during the presymptomatic stage. With a weekly NP testing frequency, the corresponding case detection percentages were 95.9% (SD, 0.18) and 32.9% (SD, 1.23), respectively. A 5-day saliva testing schedule had a similar case detection percentage as weekly NP testing during the infectious period, but identified ~10% more cases (mean, 42.5%; SD, 1.10) during the presymptomatic stage. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the utility of routine noninvasive saliva testing for frontline healthcare workers to protect vulnerable patient populations. A 5-day saliva testing schedule should be considered to help identify silent infections and prevent outbreaks in nursing homes and healthcare facilities.

Routine saliva testing for the identification of silent COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers

ObjectiveCurrent COVID-19 guidelines recommend symptom-based screening and regular nasopharyngeal (NP) testing for healthcare personnel in high-risk settings. We sought to estimate case detection percentages with various routine NP and saliva testing frequencies.DesignSimulation modelling study.MethodsWe constructed a sensitivity function based on the average infectiousness profile of symptomatic COVID-19 cases to determine the probability of being identified at the time of testing. This function was fitted to reported data on the percent positivity of symptomatic COVID-19 patients using NP testing. We then simulated a routine testing program with different NP and saliva testing frequencies to determine case detection percentages during the infectious period, as well as the pre-symptomatic stage.ResultsRoutine bi-weekly NP testing, once every two weeks, identified an average of 90.7% (SD: 0.18) of cases during the infectious period and 19.7% (SD: 0.98) during the pre-symptomatic stage. With a weekly NP testing frequency, the corresponding case detection percentages were 95.9% (SD: 0.18) and 32.9% (SD: 1.23), respectively. A 5-day saliva testing schedule had a similar case detection percentage as weekly NP testing during the infectious period, but identified about 10% more cases (mean: 42.5%; SD: 1.10) during the pre-symptomatic stage.ConclusionOur findings highlight the utility of routine non-invasive saliva testing for frontline healthcare workers to protect vulnerable patient populations. A 5-day saliva testing schedule should be considered to help identify silent infections and prevent outbreaks in nursing homes and healthcare facilities.

RISK-BASED TESTING: IDENTIFYING, ASSESSING, MITIGATING & MANAGING RISKS EFFICIENTLY IN SOFTWARE TESTING

Most of the software organizations often strive hard while deciding the releasedates of their software product. This is because no organization wants to take riskswhere the fault is revealed in the developed product on the client-side. This will leadto expensive bug-fixes, and the image of the developer company is tarnished. On theother hand, testing beyond a particular time would lead to a loss of revenue for theorganization. The effective approach for handling the risky components will enablesoftware testers to identify more important test cases that can reveal faults associatedwith those components. After identification of those test cases, software testers work tofix fault sooner by managing the testing schedule by running such test cases earlier.Faults associated with hazardous components can also be detected sooner. In riskbased testing, the probability of a fault becoming a reality is assessed, and the damagethat this fault can cause when leading to failure is considered. This study haspresented an overall layout of risk-based testing. We have summarized the researchfindings of numerous researchers in this field. This will help the newcomers in thisfiled to provide a comprehensive source of information altogether. The futuredirection of this study will focus on proposing a novel technique for risk-based testing,considering different parameters together.

RDFuzz: Accelerating Directed Fuzzing with Intertwined Schedule and Optimized Mutation

Directed fuzzing is a practical technique, which concentrates its testing energy on the process toward the target code areas, while costing little on other unconcerned components. It is a promising way to make better use of available resources, especially in testing large-scale programs. However, by observing the state-of-the-art-directed fuzzing engine (AFLGo), we argue that there are two universal limitations, the balance problem between the exploration and the exploitation and the blindness in mutation toward the target code areas. In this paper, we present a new prototype RDFuzz to address these two limitations. In RDFuzz, we first introduce the frequency-guided strategy in the exploration and improve its accuracy by adopting the branch-level instead of the path-level frequency. Then, we introduce the input-distance-based evaluation strategy in the exploitation stage and present an optimized mutation to distinguish and protect the distance sensitive input content. Moreover, an intertwined testing schedule is leveraged to perform the exploration and exploitation in turn. We test RDFuzz on 7 benchmarks, and the experimental results demonstrate that RDFuzz is skilled at driving the program toward the target code areas, and it is not easily stuck by the balance problem of the exploration and the exploitation.

Iridoids from Cornus mas L. and their potential as innovative ingredients in cosmetics

Dogwood berries represent a valuable source of a variety of active ingredients. A group that deserves special attention comprises iridoids – compounds with potent antioxidant, antiinflammatory and antibacterial properties. The present study is an attempt to obtain an innovative plant material from dogwood berries. To this end, water and water/ethanol-based extracts (1:1) were prepared and, as the next step, an iridoids-rich fraction was isolated. The total content of iridoids was determined spectrophotometrically, and antioxidant properties of the isolates were concurrently assessed. Additionally, skin whitening activity of isolated fractions was assessed on the basis of tyrosinase inhibition measurement. The testing schedule also involved the formulation of model washing systems based on anionic surfactants. The effect of adding the fractions obtained by the above method on the irritant potential was assessed by determining the zein number