1. The International cookbook for wastewater practitioners : testing wastewater for public health, SARS-CoV-2Bernd Manfred Gawlik, Sara Comero, Daniel A. Deere, Gertjan Medema, Ismahane Remonnay, Jean-François Loret, Ana Maria de Roda Husman, Stephanie Rinck-Pfeiffer, Shelesh Agrawal, Ion Gutiérrez-Aguirre, 2024, final research report Abstract: During the 2020-2023 COVID-19 Global Public Health Emergency of International Concern, rapid progress was made with the application of Wastewater-Based Surveillance (WBS) (also known as Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE)) to provide population-scale evidence of SARS-CoV-2 shedding into wastewater. The information gained was used to help monitor, communicate, and manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rapid and significant innovations in the field of WBS were realised in parallel in multiple jurisdictions globally. Global collaboration resulted in step-change improvements in multiple aspects of WBS simultaneously, including: health sector leadership; integration with public health surveillance; social and ethical guidance; high-level tactical wastewater catchment sampling strategies; wastewater sampling techniques; transport and storage of samples; laboratory analysis; normalisation and standardisation; data analysis and interpretation; and communication of results.
Innovations in WBS relating to COVID-19 continue to take place, and the benefits of those improvements are now being applied to other targets, such as other pathogens and genes. There are many journal articles and other publications describing these innovations. However, valuable lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for WBS have not been systematically documented into a practical and readily digestible format.
The purpose of this ‘Cookbook’ is to provide practical and proven ‘recipes’ for WBS for SARS-CoV-2 for two reasons: firstly to help those considering new or extended WBS programmes targeting SARS-CoV-2; and secondly to provide a valuable record of what has been learned from the 2020- 2023 period to help inform WBS programmes to respond to future pandemics and for surveillance of other targets.
The Cookbook is structured into eight parts: 1. Introduction; 2. High-level Overview; 3. Health Sector Perspectives; 4. Methods and Methodologies - From data to action; 5. Methods and Methodologies - Measurement and testing; 6. Methods and Methodologies - Sampling; 6. Methods and Methodologies - Transportation protocols; 8. Conclusions. Multiple authors have contributed to each part, primarily from the European Union, as well as others from the global community of practice.
The Cookbook has been drafted by a global team of authors, with one or more lead authors identified for each chapter and working with their co-authors. The chapters were then subjected to extensive peer review from the external review group. These authors and reviewers are acknowledged in the Cookbook. Keywords: coronavirus disease, disease surveillance, innovation, public health, report, sampling, standardisation, testing, wastewater Published in DiRROS: 02.09.2024; Views: 149; Downloads: 115 Full text (289,23 MB) This document has many files! More... |
2. Survey results on nucleic acid tests of infectious diseases : present status and need for rapid and near-patient diagnosticsJörg Neukammer, Martin Hussels, Andreas Kummrow, Alison S. Devonshire, Carole A. Foy, Jim F. Huggett, Helen C. Parkes, Jana Žel, Mojca Milavec, Heinz Schimmel, Wolfgang Unger, Müslüm Akgöz, Timothy D. McHugh, Viktorija Tomič, Hans-Peter Grunert, Heinz Zeichhardt, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: This survey discusses current and emerging isothermal and rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based nucleic acid amplification methods for near-patient diagnostics.
To assess the clinical need of rapid diagnostics for infectious diseases based on nucleic acid tests (NATs) we performed and analysed a questionnaire among laboratories participating in corresponding INSTAND ring trials for external quality assurance. The questions concerning new amplification technologies like isothermal nucleic acid amplification, potentially suited to significantly decrease turnaround times, were complemented by questions to evaluate the present status of NATs. Besides end-users, companies were also addressed by sending out a manufacturer specific questionnaire.
Analysis of the answers from 48 laboratories in 14 European countries revealed that a much shorter turnaround time is requested for selected pathogens compared to about 2 h or longer when applying temperature cycling amplification, i.e. PCR. In this context, most frequently mentioned were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), norovirus, influenza A and B viruses, cytomegalovirus (CMV) as well as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). At present, 8% of the laboratories having participated in this survey apply isothermal amplification of nucleic acids to identify infectious pathogens. Keywords: nucleic acid tests, infectious diseases, virus detection, bacteria detection, isothermal nucleic acid amplification, status report, questionnaire, NAT, PCR Published in DiRROS: 26.07.2024; Views: 291; Downloads: 327 Full text (5,32 MB) This document has many files! More... |
3. New records and noteworthy data of plants, algae and fungi in SE Europe and adjacent regions, 8Gordana Tomović, Marko S. Sabovljević, Marjan Niketić, Petya Boycheva, Predrag Lazarević, Eva Kabaš, Danijela Vidaković, Jelena Krizmanić, Lado Kutnar, Janez Kermavnar, Milorad Veljković, Vladan Djordjević, Boris Assyov, Fuat Bozok, Simona Strgulc-Krajšek, Žan Lobnik Cimerman, Sorin Stefanut, Constantin-Ciprian Bîrsan, Alma Hajrudinović-Bogunić, Ante Begić, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: diatom alga Cylindrotheca gracilis, fungi Laccaria macrocystidiata, liverworts Riccia canaliculata, Riccia cavernosa, and Riccia frostii, mosses Dicranum viride, monocots Arundo donax, Cephalanthera rubra, Epipactis palustris, and Sternbergia colchiciflora and dicots Aconitum anthora and Cephalaria pastricensis are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions. Keywords: new report, Aconitum anthora, Arundo donax, Cephalanthera rubra, Cephalaria pastricensis, Cylindrotheca gracilis, Dicranum viride, Epipactis palustris, Laccaria macrocystidiata, Riccia canaliculata, Riccia cavernosa, Riccia frostii, Sternbergia colchiciflora, SE Europe Published in DiRROS: 20.04.2022; Views: 845; Downloads: 591 Full text (196,96 KB) This document has many files! More... |
4. New records and noteworthy data of plants, algae and fungi in SE Europe and adjacent regions, 7Marko S. Sabovljević, Gordana Tomović, Predrag Lazarević, Maja Lazarević, Snežana Vukojičić, Snežana Vukojičić, Ivana Trbojević, Jovana Pantović, Simona Strgulc-Krajšek, Darja Kopitar, Uroš Buzurović, Sanja Z. Djurović, Lado Kutnar, Janez Kermavnar, Zbigniew Szeląg, Petya Boycheva, Dobri Ivanov, Milorad Veljković, Vladan Djordjević, Sorin Stefanut, Constantin-Ciprian Bîrsan, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: his paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: stonewort Chara intermedia, liverworts Fossombronia wondraczekii and Pseudomoerckia blyttii, mosses Hamatocaulis vernicosus and Hookeria lucens, monocots Gladiolus palustris, Neotinea tridentata, and Orchis militaris and dicots Cardamine serbica, Cardamine waldsteinii, Hieracium kotschyanum and Pilosella petraea are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions. Keywords: new report, Cardamine serbica, Cardamine waldsteinii, Chara intermedia, Gladiolus palustris, Fossombronia wondraczekii, Hamatocaulis vernicosus, Hieracium kotschyanum, Hookeria lucens, Neotinea tridentata, Orchis militaris, Pilosella petraea, Pseudomoerckia blyttii, SE Europe Published in DiRROS: 20.04.2022; Views: 826; Downloads: 600 Full text (176,40 KB) This document has many files! More... |
5. Draft self-evaluation report on the request of Slovenia to join the OECD forest seed and plant scheme : OECD scheme for the certification of forest reproductive material moving in international trade : [prepared for] 3-4 May 2021, ZOOM Meeting.Hojka Kraigher, Saša Rus, 2021, treatise, preliminary study, study Keywords: OECD, Slovenia, self-evaluation report, forest seed, international trade Published in DiRROS: 02.03.2022; Views: 934; Downloads: 529 Full text (1,43 MB) This document has many files! More... |
6. Cultivation and utilization of Poplars, Willows and other fast-growing trees in Slovenia : report of the National Poplar CommissionGregor Božič, Andreja Ferreira, Anže Martin Pintar, Gordana Beltram, Marko Kovač, Darja Istenič, Špela Ščap, Marjana Westergren, Marko Bajc, Daniel Zorko, Simon Verebič, Nikica Ogris, Hojka Kraigher, 2020, treatise, preliminary study, study Keywords: Poplar, Willow, Black Walnut, Black Locust, international commission, FAO, national report, questionnaire, genetics, forest protection, legislation, categorisation, forest products, ecology, Slovenia Published in DiRROS: 11.12.2020; Views: 1638; Downloads: 554 Full text (624,71 KB) |
7. Questionnaire on poplars and other fast-growing trees sustaining people and the environment 2016 - 2019 : report of the National Poplar CommissionGregor Božič, Andreja Ferreira, Anže Martin Pintar, 2020, treatise, preliminary study, study Keywords: Poplar, Willow, Black Walnut, Black Locust, international commission, FAO, national report, questionnaire, genetics, forest protection, legislation, categorisation, forest products, ecology, Slovenia Published in DiRROS: 11.12.2020; Views: 1637; Downloads: 518 Full text (147,28 KB) |