Active environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Midwestern United States meatpacking plants

This pilot project investigated environmental SARS-CoV-2 presence in seven Midwestern meatpacking plants from May 2020 to January 2021. This study investigated social distancing and infection control practices and incorporated environmental sampling of surfaces and air in employee common areas. All plants increased their social distancing efforts, increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting worker areas, and screened for symptomatic people to prevent entry into the workplace. 575 samples from common areas were collected and evaluated with RT-qPCR for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. 42/367 surface samples were positive, while no virus was detected in air samples. Case positive data from the counties surrounding each plant showed peak positive SARS-CoV-2 cases from 12–55 days before the virus was detected in the plant, indicating that environmental sampling is likely a lagging indicator of community and plant infection.

Potential Development of Digital Environmental Surveillance System in Dengue Control: A Qualitative Study

Background: The development of digital environmental technology can be conducted to implement reports, surveillance, and manage dengue control. Therefore, this study aims to determine the barriers to the use of paper-based and the potential development of digital environmental technology in dengue control. Methods In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted using 14 key informants and four focus group discussions (FGD) from May-August 2021 in Denpasar City, Bali. The interviews were consistent with the flow of the epidemiological and entomological surveillance system, the obstacles to the dengue control program, the potential for the application of digital technology, and the challenges in the application of digital surveillance technology. Furthermore, open-ended questions and content analysis by qualitative study procedures were adopted. The results were transcribed verbatim and triangulation of sources was conducted for data validation. Results The reporting system that used paper-based was not optimally implemented due to repetition of reporting, speed of information, data bias, performance measurement as well as case surveillance and reporting system constraints. An integrated digital environmental surveillance system (SILIRA) was also developed for dengue control. In the current Covid-19 pandemic, the need for digital applications is high due to the policy of not accepting guests and keeping a distance. Epidemiological surveillance for case data collection, entomological surveillance for larva density, case reporting, and educational videos are the required data in the application. Conclusion The development of an integrated application for an environmental monitoring system can be created for the continuous reporting of case information and larval density for dengue hemorrhagic fever control. Keywords: digital, surveillance, environment, dengue

Ferroelectric Materials Based Coupled Nanogenerators

Innovations in nanogenerator technology foster pervading self-power devices for human use, environmental surveillance, energy transfiguration, intelligent energy storage systems, and wireless networks. Energy harvesting from ubiquitous ambient mechanical, thermal, and solar energies by nanogenerators is the hotspot of the modern electronics research era. Ferroelectric materials, which show spontaneous polarization, are reversible when exposed to the external electric field, and are responsive to external stimuli of strain, heat, and light are promising for modeling nanogenerators. This review demonstrates ferroelectric material-based nanogenerators, practicing the discrete and coupled pyroelectric, piezoelectric, triboelectric, and ferroelectric photovoltaic effects. Their working mechanisms and way of optimizing their performances, exercising the conjunction of effects in a standalone device, and multi-effects coupled nanogenerators are greatly versatile and reliable and encourage resolution in the energy crisis. Additionally, the expectancy of productive lines of future ensuing and propitious application domains are listed.

Evaluation of a bioaerosol sampler for indoor environmental surveillance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

The worldwide spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has ubiquitously impacted many aspects of life. As vaccines continue to be manufactured and administered, limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2 will rely more heavily on the early identification of contagious individuals occupying reopened and increasingly populated indoor environments. In this study, we investigated the utility of an impaction-based bioaerosol sampling system with multiple nucleic acid collection media. Heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 was utilized to perform bench-scale, short-range aerosol, and room-scale aerosol experiments. Through bench-scale experiments, AerosolSense Capture Media (ACM) and nylon flocked swabs were identified as the highest utility media. In room-scale aerosol experiments, consistent detection of aerosol SARS-CoV-2 was achieved at an estimated aerosol concentration equal to or greater than 0.089 genome copies per liter of room air (gc/L) when air was sampled for eight hours or more at less than one air change per hour (ACH). Shorter sampling periods (75 minutes) yielded consistent detection at ~31.8 gc/L of room air and intermittent detection down to ~0.318 gc/L at (at both 1 and 6 ACH). These results support further exploration in real-world testing scenarios and suggest the utility of indoor aerosol surveillance as an effective risk mitigation strategy in occupied buildings.

Estimating the oscillation frequency of a payload mass on quadcopter in non-autonomous flight

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been employed in several engineering applications, such as aerial photography, environmental surveillance, delivery tasks, and others. Most of these applications have attracted increasing attention due to their ability to carry different payloads, which can change the dynamic of flight. The present article investigates the dynamics of a quadcopter with a payload mass including the stiffness of the attachment to the aerial vehicle. An approach to obtain non-dimensional equations of motion is introduced, and as a consequence, it is possible to determine the frequency of vibration of the payload mass during the flight. The results are presented for non-autonomous flight, and they establish a simple equation to estimate the oscillation frequency depending on the relation between the quadcopter and the payload masses, also considering the stiffness of attachment, without requiring a solution to the equation of motion in the time domain.

Review of digital PCR potential for surveillance of emerging disease from wastewater

Emerging infectious diseases (EID) such as COVID-19 had been widely caused massive impact for all countries in the world. The spreading of pathogens became uncontrolled and unpredictable to overcome this pandemic disease. Some non-waterborne EID also was discovered in wastewater in many countries of the world. Studies showed that digital PCR could become a powerful tool for environmental surveillance. It enables the performance of absolute quantification for nucleic acid with a high inhibitory sample, like wastewater, and potentially possibly detected a tiny quantity of pathogen residue and tracked the infectious diseases that originated from human excretions into sewage. Hopefully, with the development of this method and support of measurement and standardization, it is possible to become an effective method to overcome the digital PCR (dPCR) method challenge for surveillance of disease transmission from wastewater.