This paper presents a new sample collection platform for a common bacterial infection, group A streptococcal (GAS) pharyngitis, also known as strep throat, caused by Streptococcus pyogenes.

Respiratory infections are common in children, and there is a need for user-friendly collection methods. Here, we performed the first human subjects study using the CandyCollect device, a lollipop-inspired saliva collection device .We showed that the CandyCollect device can be used to collect salivary bacteria from healthy adults using Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus as proof-of-concept commensal bacteria. We enrolled healthy adults in a nationwide (USA) remote study in which participants were sent study packages containing CandyCollect devices and traditional commercially available oral swabs and spit tubes. Participants sampled themselves at home, completed usability and user preference surveys, and mailed the samples back to our laboratory for analysis by qPCR. Our results showed that for participants in which a given bacterium (S. mutans or S. aureus) was detected in one or both of the commercially available methods (oral swab and/or spit tubes), CandyCollect devices had a 100% concordance with the positive result (n = 14 participants). Furthermore, the CandyCollect device was ranked the highest preference sampling method among the three sampling methods by 26 participants surveyed (combining survey results across two enrollment groups). We also showed that the CandyCollect device has a shelf life of up to 1 year at room temperature, a storage period that is convenient for clinics or patients to keep the CandyCollect device and use it any time. Taken together, we have demonstrated that the CandyCollect is a user-friendly saliva collection tool that has the potential to be incorporated into diagnostic assays in clinic visits and telemedicine.

Cancer stem cells, in contrast to their more differentiated daughter cells, can endure genotoxic insults, escape apoptosis, and cause tumor recurrence. Understanding how normal adult stem cells survive and go to quiescence may help identify druggable pathways that cancer stem cells have co-opted. In this study, we utilize a genetically tractable model for stem cell survival in the Drosophila gonad to screen drug candidates and probe chemical-genetic interactions. Our study employs three levels of small molecule screening: (1) a medium-throughput primary screen in male germline stem cells (GSCs), (2) a secondary screen with irradiation and protein-constrained food in female GSCs, and (3) a tertiary screen in breast cancer organoids in vitro. Herein, we uncover a series of small molecule drug candidates that may sensitize cancer stem cells to apoptosis. Further, we have assessed these small molecules for chemical-genetic interactions in the germline and identified the NF-κB pathway as an essential and druggable pathway in GSC quiescence and viability. Our study demonstrates the power of the Drosophila stem cell niche as a model system for targeted drug discovery.

Our previous work introduced the CandyCollect (1) a lollipop-inspired saliva collection device for respiratory disease diagnostics. Here, we performed the first human subjects study using this device to capture bacteria in saliva; we demonstrate that the CandyCollect device can be used to collect salivary bacteria from healthy adults using Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus as proof-of-concept commensal bacteria. We enrolled 14 healthy adults in a nationwide (USA) remote study in which participants were sent study packages containing CandyCollect devices and traditional commercially available oral swabs and spit tubes. Participants sampled themselves at home, completed usability and user preference surveys, and mailed the samples back to our laboratory for analysis by qPCR. S. mutans and S. aureus are not universally present in all healthy adults (2-5). Our results showed that for participants in which a given bacterium (S. mutans or S. aureus) was detected in one or both of the commercially available methods, CandyCollect devices had a 100% concordance with those results. Furthermore, the CandyCollect device was ranked the highest preference sampling method among the three sampling methods by 26 participants surveyed. We also showed that the CandyCollect device has a shelf life of up to 1 year at room temperature, a storage period that is convenient for clinics or patients to keep the CandyCollect device and use it any time. Taken together, we have demonstrated that the CandyCollect is a user-friendly saliva collection tool that has the potential to be incorporated into diagnostic assays in clinic visits and telemedicine.

The dynamics of a fluid flow within an open capillary channel depend on the fluid's contact angle with the channel substrate, but determining the real value of the contact angle with the solid surface is an ominous problem in capillary microflows. The Lucas-Washburn law assumes a constant contact angle during the fluid motion; however, it is observed that the contact angle of the flowing liquid with the walls differs from its static (Young) value. Correlations for the dynamic contact angle have been proposed, and upon close inspection of Lucas-Washburn behavior in closed channels, a dynamic contact angle should be taken into account depending on the flow velocity. In this work, the dynamic contact angle in open-channel configurations is investigated using experimental data obtained with different liquids. It is shown that a dynamic contact angle must be taken into account in the early stages of the flow, i.e., at the beginning of the viscous regime when flow velocities are sufficiently high. Here, we found that amongst the different correlations for the dynamic contact angle, the Hamraoui correlation-presenting the dynamic contact angle in terms of a friction coefficient-reproduces the experimental results while other correlations overpredict the fluid velocity in open channels.