RESUMEN
While numerous diagnostic tests for COVID-19 have been developed for clinical and public health use, most of them provide binary or one-dimensional information on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pursuit of speed and ease of use. As their readouts are largely dependent on the specimen collection procedure, reliable diagnosis is still difficult. Here we report the development of a prototypical method for the immunocytochemical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection using oral specimens and fluorescent nanobodies against the viral spike and nucleocapsid proteins. Our cytological approach for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection was validated by our finding that at least half of SARS-CoV-2 RNAs in oral specimens were localized in the cellular fraction. Mapping antigens on sampled cells provided qualitative image data to which appropriate statistical texture analysis could be applied for the quantitative assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infectious status. A comprehensive comparative analysis revealed that oral cavity swabbing by medical workers provides specimens for COVID-19 diagnosis that yield comparable diagnostic accuracy as self-collected saliva specimens. Our diagnostic strategy may enable medical workers to acquire a wealth of information on virus-human cell interactions for multifaceted insight into COVID-19.
RESUMEN
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between balancing ability during abrupt acceleration and the habitual physical activity level of elderly females. Thirty-one elderly females, aged 65-75 years, volunteered for this study. Changes in the center of foot pressure (CFP) were measured during postural sway following platform acceleration, and the response time and CFP displacement were evaluated. The scores of their daily physical activities (TS) -consisting of house-hold activities (HS), leisure time activities (LS) and sports activities (SS) -were estimated by the modified Voorrips's questionaire method. Response time and CFP displacement correlated significantly with age (p<0.001) . Response time also correlated significantly with the SS, LS and TS scores (p<0.05) . CFP displacement also correlated significantly with the SS and TS scores (p<0.05) . These results suggest that postural balancing ability during abrupt acceleration correlates signifi-cantly with the habitual physical activity levels, especially sports activities in elderly females.