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Effective testing is essential to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. Here we report a-proof-of-concept study on hyperspectral image analysis in the visible and near-infrared range for primary screening at the point-of-care of SARS-CoV-2. We apply spectral feature descriptors, partial least square-discriminant analysis, and artificial intelligence to extract information from optical diffuse reflectance measurements from 5 µL fluid samples at pixel, droplet, and patient levels. We discern preparations of engineered lentiviral particles pseudotyped with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 from those with the G protein of the vesicular stomatitis virus in saline solution and artificial saliva. We report a quantitative analysis of 72 samples of nasopharyngeal exudate in a range of SARS-CoV-2 viral loads, and a descriptive study of another 32 fresh human saliva samples. Sensitivity for classification of exudates was 100% with peak specificity of 87.5% for discernment from PCR-negative but symptomatic cases. Proposed technology is reagent-free, fast, and scalable, and could substantially reduce the number of molecular tests currently required for COVID-19 mass screening strategies even in resource-limited settings., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition of the central nervous system that strongly reduces the patient's quality of life and has large financial costs for the healthcare system. Cell therapy has shown considerable therapeutic potential for SCI treatment in different animal models. Although many different cell types have been investigated with the goal of promoting repair and recovery from injury, stem cells appear to be the most promising. Here, we review the experimental approaches that have been carried out with pluripotent stem cells, a cell type that, due to its inherent plasticity, self-renewal, and differentiation potential, represents an attractive source for the development of new cell therapies for SCI. We will focus on several key observations that illustrate the potential of cell therapy for SCI, and we will attempt to draw some conclusions from the studies performed to date.

Neural stem cells represent an attractive tool for the development of regenerative therapies and are being tested in clinical trials for several neurological disorders. Human neural stem cells can be isolated from the central nervous system or can be derived in vitro from pluripotent stem cells. Embryonic sources are ethically controversial and other sources are less well characterized and/or inefficient. Recently, isolation of NSC from the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with spina bifida and with intracerebroventricular hemorrhage has been reported. Direct reprogramming may become another alternative if genetic and phenotypic stability of the reprogrammed cells is ensured. Here, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of available sources of neural stem cells for the production of cell-based therapies for clinical applications. We review available safety and efficacy clinical data and discuss scalability and quality control considerations for manufacturing clinical grade cell products for successful clinical application.

Optical spectroscopic techniques have been commonly used to detect the presence of biofilm-forming pathogens (bacteria and fungi) in the agro-food industry. Recently, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy revealed that it is also possible to detect the presence of viruses in animal and vegetal tissues. Here we report a platform based on visible and NIR (VNIR) hyperspectral imaging for non-contact, reagent free detection and quantification of laboratory-engineered viral particles in fluid samples (liquid droplets and dry residue) using both partial least square-discriminant analysis and artificial feed-forward neural networks. The detection was successfully achieved in preparations of phosphate buffered solution and artificial saliva, with an equivalent pixel volume of 4 nL and lowest concentration of 800 TU·[Formula: see text]L -1 . This method constitutes an innovative approach that could be potentially used at point of care for rapid mass screening of viral infectious diseases and monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) is used as a growth supplement in a wide range of cell culture applications for cell-based research and therapy. However, as a xenogenic product, FBS can potentially transmit prions and adventitious viruses as well as induce undesirable immunologic reactions. In addition, the use of bovine fetuses for FBS production raises concerns as society looks for ways to replace animal testing and reduce the use of animal products for scientific purposes, in particular for the manufacture of clinical products intended for human use. Until chemically defined media are available for these purposes, human platelet lysate (hPL) has been introduced as an attractive alternative for replacing FBS as a cell culture supplement. hPL is a human product that can be produced from outdated platelets avoiding ethical, medical and animal welfare concerns. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that hPL can promote cell growth similarly or even better than FBS in specific cell types. Due to increasing interest in hPL, the AABB and the International Society of Cell Therapy (ISCT) established a joint working group to address its potential. With this article, we aim to present an overview of hPL, identifying the gaps in information on how hPL is produced and tested and the barriers to its translational use in the production of clinical-grade cell therapy products., (Copyright © 2019 International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy and AABB. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)