Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, has infected more than 25 million Americans, leading to over 420,000 deaths. 1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports over 378,000 cases of COVID-19 in U.S. health care personnel (HCP) with 1,286 deaths. 2 By summer 2020, an estimated 4.6% of academic emergency department (ED)

PurposeTo investigate the practices and value of a voluntary logistics security program, C‐TPAT certification, and its impact on international supply chain collaboration.Design/methodology/approachBoth case study and secondary data research methods were used to collect data from five companies (one customs broker, three importers, and one transporter/freight forwarder) at different supply chain positions. A case study protocol was designed and used to guide the interviews and data collection. Data analysis was performed at three levels: within‐case analysis, cross‐case analysis, and expert analysis.FindingsIn addition to reporting the current practices of the C‐TPAT implementation, the results confirmed the significant impact of the C‐TPAT program to the international trade community. As for the overall goal of improving border security, the results suggest that the C‐TPAT is a means rather than an end and its current value to logistic security is not clear due to the inconsistent practices of supplier involvement. International supply chain security is still in its infancy and has many issues to resolve before it becomes a fully collaborative system.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research with more samples is necessary to validate the findings and research positions.Practical implicationsA voluntary logistics security program such as C‐TPAT could enhance the collaboration with international suppliers. Global logistics security systems can learn from the quality movement by focusing on “prevention” and adopting the “total supply chain” approach.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the anxiety and confusion in the international trade community toward the C‐TPAT certification and its impact on international supply chain security. The findings confirmed the linkage between quality program and supply chain security systems.

To safely re-open economies and prevent future outbreaks, rapid, frequent, point-of-need, SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing is necessary. However, existing field-deployable COVID-19 testing methods require the use of uncomfortable swabs and trained providers in PPE, while saliva-based methods must be transported to high complexity laboratories for testing. Here, we report the development and clinical validation of High-Performance Loop-mediated isothermal Amplification (HP-LAMP), a rapid, saliva-based, SARS-CoV-2 test with a limit of detection of 1.4 copies of virus per µl of saliva and a sensitivity and specificity with clinical samples of > 96%, on par with traditional RT-PCR based methods using swabs, but can deliver results using only a single fluid transfer step and simple heat block. Testing of 120 patient samples in 40 pools comprised of 5 patient samples each with either all negative or a single positive patient sample was 100% accurate. Thus, HP-LAMP may enable rapid and accurate results in the field using saliva, without need of a high-complexity laboratory.

We have used the rat C6 glial cell line as a model system to study the role of insulin-like growth factors (IGF) in neuroglial cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Northern blot analysis of C6 RNA demonstrated the presence of IGF-I mRNA and undetectable IGF-II mRNA. IGF-I and IGF-binding protein(s), but not IGF-II, were detected in C6 glial cell-conditioned medium. The level of IGF-I was 1-4 ng/ml in conditioned medium based on a human IGF-I standard. The immunoreactive IGF-I inhibited [125I]IGF-I binding to the IGF-I receptor on chick embryo fibroblasts and stimulated [3H]thymidine incorporation into chick embryo fibroblast DNA. Competitive binding and affinity cross-linking experiments using [125]IGF-I and [125I]IGF-II demonstrated the presence of IGF-I receptors (type I) and IGF-II/mannose 6-phosphate receptors (type II) on C6 glial cell membranes. An immunoglobulin (no. 3637) directed against the rat IGF-II receptor blocked the degradation of [125I]IGF-II added to C6 glial cells, presumably by blocking receptor-mediated internalization. We were unable to demonstrate an autocrine role for IGF in the C6 glial cell line, since [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA was stimulated equally well by IGF-I-deficient rat serum and normal serum, and added IGF did not stimulate [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA when tested alone or when added to IGF-I-deficient serum. We propose that neuroglial cell-derived IGF-I may serve as a paracrine growth stimulus in the central nervous system.