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Background: During the last two years, a variety of assays for the serological detection of antibodies to the new SARS-CoV-2 virus have been launched and used as part of standard care in many laboratories. The pace with which these tests have been introduced into routine care emphasizes the importance of quality measures for analytical methods, particularly with regard to the implications of results for clinical and epidemiologic decisions. Accuracy, reliability and comparability of analytical test results are thus essential, and here external quality assessment (EQA) is the most important quality assurance tool. It allows us to achieve harmonization of test methods as a prerequisite for a high standard of performance for laboratory and analytical techniques and their interpretation. Methods: This EQA scheme consisted of pre-characterized clinical biospecimens dedicated to the analysis of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG total antibodies and differentiation into spike protein-specific IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (anti-S-SARS-CoV-2) and nucleocapsid-specific IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (anti-N-SARS-CoV-2). Results: A total of 239 laboratories across Europe participated in this scheme, called CoVimm. In detail, 536 results for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, 431 results for anti-S-SARS-CoV-2 IgG, and 200 results for anti-N-SARS-CoV-2 IgG were reported. Based on the pre-defined thresholds, the success rates for the determination of anti-S-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and anti-N-SARS-CoV-2 IgG were 96% and 90%, respectively. Interestingly, only 64% of the participating laboratories successfully passed the EQA scheme for the determination of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG. Conclusions: This EQA revealed serious concerns regarding the reliability and appropriate use of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays in routine care. In addition to the wide heterogeneity of different assays used by participating laboratories, a lack of standardization and harmonization is also evident. This is of particular importance for reliable and clinically meaningful interpretation of test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact allergy to Nickel is the most prevalent contact allergy in western societies. This has led to regulation for metallic items that come into prolonged and direct contact with the skin, such as buttons on clothing, belt buckles, jewelry and watches. In Europe, the legal provision is based on a test in which there is a limit to the amount of nickel that may be released from the item to an artificial sweat solution (EN 1811). This test is costly and has reproducibility issues. The resulting undertesting of items placed on the market, leads to many nickel releasing non-compliant articles being available in spite of the regulations that are in place. In this study, the performance of the standard release test is compared to the performance of a rapid nickel spot test based on dimethylglyoxime (DMG-test). The data suggest that using the rapid DMG-test for compliance testing is sufficiently equivalent to the current gold standard of EN 1811. Previously published comparisons between the DMG-test and EN 1811 did not consider the effect of accelerated wear and corrosion testing according to EN 12472. This study shows that by applying EN 12472, the number of deviating results between the DMG-test and EN 1811 decreases significantly. Regarding consumer protection, it is necessary for wear and corrosion resistance to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are over 80 countries in the world that currently use some kind of energy label for electric household appliances. In Europe, as an example, a lot of appliances are obliged to have an energy label when shown for sale, including online. Energy labels give relevant information to the consumers to help them make an environmentally beneficial choice when buying a new appliance. However, the desire for an energy efficient appliance does not outweigh the wish for good performance. Therefore, some energy labels provide information about the performance of the appliance based on international performance measurement standards (hereafter: "international standards"). Indeed, within the one appliance, increased performance can often mean increased energy consumption, so a balance between these parameters needs to be made by product designers and users. Unlike measurements that are traceable to Systeme Internationale units through metrological traceability chains, there is no natural reference data for performance measurements. Therefore, some international standards use a reference machine to relate their testing results to. The comparison of test and reference machine eliminates variances, for example, due to the auxiliary materials used and the influence of manual preparation or assessment methods. Three international standards that are currently using reference machines are examined closely in this paper. It is assessed how the reference machines and their testing results are treated, whether the reference machines are comparable with their corresponding test machines and if the use of a reference machine can be considered beneficial for the testing procedure. Additionally, three key questions are developed that will indicate whether 13 other international standards for electric household appliances could also benefit from using a reference machine. The paper concludes with six recommendations for standardisation groups and energy policymakers that will help with deciding whether a reference machine should be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One principle threat prompting the worldwide decline of amphibians is the introduction of nonindigenous amphibians. The African Clawed Frog, Xenopus laevis, is now one of the widest distributed amphibians occurring on four continents with ongoing range expansion including large parts of Europe. Species distribution models (SDMs) are essential tools to predict the invasive risk of these species. Previous efforts have focused on correlative approaches but these can be vulnerable to extrapolation errors when projecting species' distributions in nonnative ranges. Recent developments emphasise more robust process‐based models, which use physiological data like critical thermal limits and performance, or hybrid models using both approaches. Previous correlative SDMs predict different patterns in the potential future distribution of X. laevis in Europe, but it is likely that these models do not assess its full invasive potential. Based on physiological performance trials, we calculate size and temperature‐dependent response surfaces, which are scaled to geographic performance layers matching the critical thermal limits. We then use these ecophysiological performance layers in a standard correlative SDM framework to predict the potential distribution in southern Africa and Europe. Physiological performance traits (standard metabolic rate and endurance time of adult frogs) are the main drivers for the predicted distribution, while the locomotor performance (maximum velocity and distance moved in 200 ms) of adults and tadpoles have low contributions. Research Highlights: This article provides the first process‐based assessment of the potential future spread of Xenopus laevis in Europe. Compared to previously published correlative models the invasion risk may be much higher than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]