Additive manufacturing is still the fastest-developing technology in the modern world. Three-dimensional printing has become popular due to the method\'s numerous advantages, such as its short time and low cost, compared to conventional methods such as injection molding. Therefore, the demand for new materials and material systems that will be characterized by the desired functional properties is clearly growing. As part of this work, work was carried out on the development and preparation of new polymer composites dedicated to 3D printing applications, especially in FDM/FFF/MEM technologies. The influence of the content and amount of fillers, such as silica modified with alumina (S) and bentonite modified with a quaternary ammonium salt (B), on the functional properties of a commercially available fiber made of traditional plastic, such as polycarbonate, obtained in the form of a filament (PCF), was determined. It was found that the addition of B significantly increased the fluidity of the polymer, the introduction of a filler in the amount of 1.5% allowed to obtain a result that was 6% higher compared to PCF (16.8 g/10 min), while the amount of 3% was 20% higher. The obtained mass melt flow rate (MFR) results were confirmed by determining the viscosity of the produced polymer composites. Satisfactory results of mechanical properties were obtained, including the following: it was found that the introduced modified fillers increased the elasticity of the material. The introduction of modified silica resulted in a reduction in Young\'s modulus by 10.02% at the content of 0.5% S and at 1% S by 8.64% compared to the polymer. The introduced modified filler S significantly increased the thermostability of polycarbonate (T5% equal to 449 °C) by 23 °C for PCF/0.5% S and 14 °C for PCF/1% S, respectively. The SEM and WAXS results confirmed the appropriate dispersion of the fillers in the polymer matrix, which indicates well-selected conditions for the homogenization process of the components and the subsequent production of samples. Detailed characterization of the influence of selected fillers on the functional properties of the polymer matrix-polycarbonate allowed for an increase in the range of polymer composites and their use in rapid prototyping technologies, as well as supplementing the literature on databases regarding the characteristics of the obtained materials.

This article includes an analysis of the possibility of using polymer materials for the production of harmonic drive. The use of additive methods greatly eases and accelerates the manufacturing of the flexspline. In the case of gears made of polymeric materials using rapid prototyping (RP) methods, the problem is often with their mechanical strength. In a harmonic drive, the wheel is uniquely exposed to damage, because during work, it deforms and is additionally loaded with torque. Therefore, numerical calculations were conducted using the finite element method (FEM) in the Abaqus program. As a result, information was obtained on the distribution of stresses in the flexspline and their maximum values. On this basis, it was possible to determine whether a flexspline made of specific polymers could be used in commercial harmonic drives or whether they were only adequate for the production of prototypes.

The ability of VITEK mass spectrometry (MS) in detection of bacterial resistance is currently under exploration and evaluation. In this study, we developed and validated a VITEK MS method to rapidly test carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP). Solvents, antibiotic concentrations, crystal conditions and times, centrifugation speeds, and other factors were optimized to design a rapid sample pretreatment process for CPKP detection by VITEK MS. The related parameters of the mass spectrum were adjusted on the instrument to establish an CPKP detection mode. 133 clinically isolated strains of CPKP in the microbiology laboratory at the Shenzhen People\'s Hospital from 2004 to 2017 were selected for accuracy evaluation. The fresh suspected strains from the microbiology laboratory in 2020 were used to complete the clinical verification. Two antibiotics, meropenem (MEM) and imipenem (IPM), were used as substrates. These two substrates were incubated with suspected CPKP, and the results were obtained by VITEK MS detection. Using this method, different types of CPKP showed different detection results and all the CPKP strains producing KPC-2 and IMP-4 carbapenemase were detected by VITEK MS. Thus, VITEK MS can be used for rapid detection of CPKP, especially for some common types of CPKP. This method provides high accuracy and speed of detection. Combined with its cost advantages, it can be intensely valuable in clinical microbiology laboratories after the standard operating procedures are determined.

As part of the present work, polymer composites used in 3D printing technology, especially in Melted and Extruded Manufacturing (MEM) technology, were obtained. The influence of modified fillers such as alumina modified silica, quaternary ammonium bentonite, lignin/silicon dioxide hybrid filler and unmodified multiwalled carbon nanotubes on the properties of polycarbonate (PC) composites was investigated. In the first part of the work, the polymer and its composites containing 0.5-3 wt.% filler were used to obtain a filament using the proprietary technological line. The moldings for testing functional properties were obtained with the use of 3D printing and injection molding techniques. In the next part of the work, the rheological properties-mass flow rate (MFR) and mechanical properties-Rockwell hardness, Charpy impact strength and static tensile strength with Young\'s modulus were examined. The structure of the obtained composites was also described and determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The porosity, roughness and dimensional stability of samples obtained by 3D printing were also determined. On the other hand, the physicochemical properties were presented on the basis of the research results using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide angle X-ray scattering analysis (WAXS) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Additionally, the electrical conductivity of the obtained composites was investigated. On the basis of the obtained results, it was found that both the amount and the type of filler significantly affected the functional properties of the composites tested in the study.

BACKGROUND: Seeding is usually the initial step of high-throughput sequence aligners. Two popular seeding strategies are fixed-size seeding (k-mers, minimizers) and variable-size seeding (MEMs, SMEMs, maximal spanning seeds). The former strategy supports fast seed computation, while the latter one benefits from a high seed uniqueness. Algorithmic bridges between instances of both seeding strategies are of interest for combining their respective advantages.
RESULTS: We introduce an efficient strategy for computing MEMs out of fixed-size seeds (k-mers or minimizers). In contrast to previously proposed extend-purge strategies, our merge-extend strategy prevents the creation and filtering of duplicate MEMs. Further, we describe techniques for extracting SMEMs or maximal spanning seeds out of MEMs. A comprehensive benchmarking shows the applicability, strengths, shortcomings and computational requirements of all discussed seeding techniques. Additionally, we report the effects of seed occurrence filters in the context of these techniques. Aside from our novel algorithmic approaches, we analyze hierarchies within fixed-size and variable-size seeding along with a mapping between instances of both seeding strategies.
CONCLUSIONS: Benchmarking shows that our proposed merge-extend strategy for MEM computation outperforms previous extend-purge strategies in the context of PacBio reads. The observed superiority grows with increasing read size and read quality. Further, the presented filters for extracting SMEMs or maximal spanning seeds out of MEMs outperform FMD-index based extension techniques. All code used for benchmarking is available via GitHub at https://github.com/ITBE-Lab/seed-evaluation .

In Slovenia, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) surveillance is based on national laboratory data. The weeks with more than 10% of samples tested positive compose RSV epidemic season. The use of real-time multiplex PCR, which identifies other respiratory pathogens in parallel with RSV, caused more testing but the percentage of RSV positives lowered. The 10% threshold was reached with delay, which raised concern about its suitability for defining RSV seasonality.
To describe the seasonality of RSV, the onset, offset and duration of the RSV epidemic season across 10 years (from week 40, 2008/2009 to week 39, 2017/2018), four calculative methods were deployed including moving epidemic method, MEM, and epidemiological parameters were compared.
In 10 years, 10 969 (12%) out of 90 264 samples tested positive for RSV. The number of tested samples increased remarkably from the first to last season with a drop in the percentage of positive samples from 23% to 10%. The onset of RSV epidemic varied considerably regardless of the calculative method used (from 10 to 13 weeks). The unevenness in the RSV epidemic season end was also observed. The average duration of RSV epidemic season was the shortest when moving epidemic method has been used (15.7 weeks) and longest with ≥3% method (22.9 weeks).
The ≥3% calculative method could be used as an early warning of the RSV season. However, ≥7% calculative method was found to be reliable enough to define the epidemiological parameters of an ongoing season and to support public health response. The potential of the moving epidemic method should be further explored.

The appearance of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV‑2) poses challenges in ophthalmology particularly for eye banks. A valid risk assessment for the removal and processing of donor corneas is difficult due to the lack of data. The risk to infect transplant recipients with SARS-CoV‑2 still appears very unlikely due to the experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome -coronavirus(‑1) (SARS-CoV(‑1)) and Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV); however, due to the occurrence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in the cornea an infection of this tissue with SARS-CoV‑2 cannot be completely excluded. Therefore, routine testing of the organ culture medium used for donor corneas for SARS-CoV‑2 prior to transplantation during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic should be considered.

High corrosion kinetics and localised corrosion progress are the primary concerns arising from the clinical implementation of magnesium (Mg) based implantable devices. In this study, a binary Mg-lithium (Li) alloy consisting a record high Li content of 14% (in weight) was employed as model material aiming to yield homogenous and slow corrosion behaviour in a simulated body fluid, i.e. minimum essential medium (MEM), in comparison to that of generic Mg alloy AZ31 and biocompatible Mg-0.5Zn-0.5Ca counterparts. Scanning electron microscopy examination reveals single-phase microstructural characteristics of Mg-14Li (β-Li), whilst the presence of insoluble phases, cathodic to α-Mg matrix, in AZ31 and Mg-0.5Zn-0.5Ca. Though slight differences exist in the corrosion kinetics of all the specimens over a short-term time scale (no longer than 60 min), as indicated by potentiodynamic polarisation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, profound variations are apparent in terms of immersion tests, i.e. mass loss and hydrogen evolution measurements (up to 7 days). Cross-sectional micrographs unveil severe pitting corrosion in AZ31 and Mg-0.5Zn-0.5Ca, but not the case for Mg-14Li. X-ray diffraction patterns and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm that a compact film (25 μm in thickness) consisting of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) and calcium hydroxide was generated on the surface of Mg-14Li in MEM, which contributes greatly to its low corrosion rate. It is proposed therefore that the single-phase structure and formation of protective and defect-free Li2CO3 film give rise to the controlled and homogenous corrosion behaviour of Mg-14Li in MEM, providing new insights for the exploration of biodegradable Mg materials.

Multiplexed single-cell experimental techniques like mass cytometry measure 40 or more features and enable deep characterization of well-known and novel cell populations. However, traditional data analysis techniques rely extensively on human experts or prior knowledge, and novel machine learning algorithms may generate unexpected population groupings. Marker enrichment modeling (MEM) creates quantitative identity labels based on features enriched in a population relative to a reference. While developed for cell type analysis, MEM labels can be generated for a wide range of multidimensional data types, and MEM works effectively with output from expert analysis and diverse machine learning algorithms. MEM is implemented as an R package and includes three steps: (1) calculation of MEM values that quantify each feature\'s relative enrichment in the population, (2) reporting of MEM labels as a heatmap or as a text label, and (3) quantification of MEM label similarity between populations. The protocols here show MEM analysis using datasets from immunology and oncology. These MEM implementations provide a way to characterize population identity and novelty in the context of computational and expert analyses. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The intensity of annual Spanish influenza activity is currently estimated from historical data of the Spanish Influenza Sentinel Surveillance System (SISSS) using qualitative indicators from the European Influenza Surveillance Network. However, these indicators are subjective, based on qualitative comparison with historical data of influenza-like illness rates. This pilot study assesses the implementation of Moving Epidemic Method (MEM) intensity levels during the 2014-2015 influenza season within the 17 sentinel networks covered by SISSS, comparing them to historically reported indicators. Intensity levels reported and those obtained with MEM at the epidemic peak of the influenza wave, and at national and regional levels did not show statistical difference (P = 0·74, Wilcoxon signed-rank test), suggesting that the implementation of MEM would have limited disrupting effects on the dynamic of notification within the surveillance system. MEM allows objective influenza surveillance monitoring and standardization of criteria for comparing the intensity of influenza epidemics in regions in Spain. Following this pilot study, MEM has been adopted to harmonize the reporting of intensity levels of influenza activity in Spain, starting in the 2015-2016 season.