There is a need for surveillance of COVID-19 to identify individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Although specific, nucleic acid testing has limitations in terms of point-of-care testing. One potential alternative is the nonstructural protease (nsp5, also known as M pro /3CL pro ) implicated in SARS-CoV-2 viral replication but not incorporated into virions. Here, we report a divalent substrate with a novel design, (Cys) 2 –(AA) x –(Asp) 3 , to interface gold colloids in the specific presence of M pro leading to a rapid and colorimetric readout. Citrate- and tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP)-AuNPs were identified as the best reporter out of the 17 ligated nanoparticles. Furthermore, we empirically determined the effects of varying cysteine valence and biological media on the sensor specificity and sensitivity. The divalent peptide was specific to M pro , that is, there was no response when tested with other proteins or enzymes. Furthermore, the M pro detection limits in Tris buffer and exhaled breath matrices are 12.2 and 18.9 nM, respectively, which are comparable to other reported methods (i.e., at low nanomolar concentrations) yet with a rapid and visual readout. These results from our work would provide informative rationales to design a practical and noninvasive alternative for COVID-19 diagnostic testing—the presence of viral proteases in biofluids is validated.

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Groundwater is undoubtedly important for water supplies and eco-environment protection, especially for arid and semi-arid regions. Analyzing the characteristics and evolution of groundwater is significant for the rational management of groundwater resources. This study investigated the hydrogeochemical characteristics and evolutions of groundwater in the Delingha area, northeast of the Qaidam Basin, northwest China, with a total of 123 water samples, including 105 unconfined groundwater samples, 12 confined groundwater samples, and 6 surface water samples. Hydrochemical results showed that the unconfined and confined groundwater presented diversity in ion concentration. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of the unconfined groundwater increased from 146.5 to 8954 mg/L along the groundwater flow direction. The groundwater hydrochemical types were HCO3-Ca·Mg and HCO3·SO4-Ca·Mg in the mountain front area, SO4·HCO3-Ca·Mg and SO4·Cl-Ca·Mg types in the alluvial-lacustrine plain, and Cl·SO4-Na and Cl-Na types in the lacustrine plain. The saturation index showed that parts of the groundwater samples were supersaturated with carbonate minerals (calcite and dolomite); however, all the samples were undersaturated with evaporite minerals (halite and gypsum). Groundwater chemical evolution is mainly controlled by evaporite and carbonate mineral dissolutions, aluminosilicates weathering, and cation exchange.

Simultaneous visualization of the teeth and periodontium is of significant clinical interest for image-based monitoring of periodontal health. We recently reported the application of a dual-modality photoacoustic-ultrasound (PA-US) imaging system for resolving periodontal anatomy and periodontal pocket depths in humans. This work utilized a linear array transducer attached to a stepper motor to generate 3D images via maximum intensity projection. This prior work also used a medical head immobilizer to reduce artifacts during volume rendering caused by motion from the subject (e.g., breathing, minor head movements). However, this solution does not completely eliminate motion artifacts while also complicating the imaging procedure and causing patient discomfort. To address this issue, we report the implementation of an image registration technique to correctly align B-mode PA-US images and generate artifact-free 2D cross-sections. Application of the deshaking technique to PA phantoms revealed 80% similarity to the ground truth when shaking was intentionally applied during stepper motor scans. Images from handheld sweeps could also be deshaken using an LED PA-US scanner. In ex vivo porcine mandibles, pigmentation of the enamel was well-estimated within 0.1 mm error. The pocket depth measured in a healthy human subject was also in good agreement with our prior study. This report demonstrates that a modality-independent registration technique can be applied to clinically relevant PA-US scans of the periodontium to reduce operator burden of skill and subject discomfort while showing potential for handheld clinical periodontal imaging.

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