Non-invasive COVID-19 breath test results in 10 minutes

A medical worker takes a swab sample from an elderly man for COVID-19 test at a testing site in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, July 21, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

 

No swabs – experts develop new screening method with simple breath exhalation

BEIJING: A NEW Chinese developed technology can return novel coronavirus test results within five to 10 minutes with a simple exhalation of breath, eliminating uncomfortable throat or nostril swabs and long waits.

According to a study published recently in the Journal of Breath Research, an academic journal based in the United Kingdom, Chinese scientists and researchers have developed a noninvasive rapid screening test for Covid-19 by analysing breath-borne compounds.

The technology was developed by a team led by Yao Maosheng, a professor at Peking University’s College of Environmental Sciences and Technology, together with colleagues from the centre for disease control and prevention in Beijing’s Chaoyang district.

The research team has applied for a national patent for the new system.

Yao said that because SARS-COV-2 infection causes changes in metabolism, the composition of exhaled breath of Covid-19 patients was different from that of others.

He said that analysis of 12 key organic compounds could discriminate Covid-19 from other subjects with 91% to 100% accuracy.

To take the test, people only have to exhale into a disposable plastic bag for 30 seconds or less. Compared with nucleic acid tests, such screening is cheaper and faster.

“Experiments with recruited subjects have proved that the system is effective,” Yao said. “It’s fast, and sensitive enough.

“Now we need to test more breath samples for the system to go from the experimental stage to clinical application.”

He said their published work involved 74 Covid-19 patients, 30 patients with non-covid-19 respiratory infections and 87 medical workers and healthy people.

Yao said that common nucleic acid tests sometimes report false negatives for confirmed Covid-19 patients, creating dire risks in controlling the spread of the disease. Yao said the noninvasive screening system could save time and overcome the nucleic acid test’s sensitivity problem, particularly in scenarios where rapid screening was desired, for example in hospitals, airplanes, high-level meetings, quarantine hotels and customs entry points.

Scientists and researchers in some other countries, including Japan, Indonesia, Israel, France and the Netherlands, have been working on developing similar technology since last year. But Yao said the research teams in China were the first to report experimental data.

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 Researchers develop quick, noninvasive COVID test - China ...

 

Chinese scientists create COVID-19 breath test that generates result in 10 minutes

The latest research by a Chinese team could save people from the discomfort of taking a throat or nasal swab for COVID-19 nucleic acid testing, and save time too, as a new test method only requires the patient to exhale into a bag for 30 seconds, with 5-10 minutes needed to finish the analysis.

The Global Times on Wednesday learned from the team leader Yao Maosheng, a professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Peking University, that the test is highly accurate, and can differentiate among COVID-19 carriers, healthy people and patients of other respiratory infections.

The study was based on exhalations of 74 COVID-19 patients, 30 patients with other respiratory infections and 87 healthy people. There are 12 s

ignal breath-borne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from their exhalations, which can be regarded as "fingerprints."

Higher levels of propanol were detected in the exhaled breath of COVID-19 patients and other respiratory infections than healthy subjects, while breath-borne acetone was found to be significantly lower for COVID-19 patients than those with other respiratory infections, Yao said.

Based on the 12 signal VOCs, an algorithm was created, and verification of the algorithm found its accuracy ranges from 91 to 100 percent.

The quick procedure and high accuracy give the new method an edge in comparison with the antigen-based quick testing. Yao told the Global Times the new technology didn't require any reagents and has a lower detection limit for detecting VOC species.

The new method is also cheap, costing 10 yuan ($1.5) in comparison with a nucleic acid test that charges 80 yuan for takers.

The test is capable of identifying a COVID-19 infected person with a false negative throat swab test. Asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections can be detected early, the Global Times learned.

The research was co-conducted by the Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control of Peking University and Chaoyang district's Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing.

It can be used in various scenarios, including the Beijing Winter Olympics, Yao said. But the expert noted that as China doesn't have many cases, further data and validation tests may be needed before the technology is applied. 

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Can the great powers avoid war?

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 Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire with Michael Hudson

 

 

https://youtu.be/NK0ls5hV_5Y  

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers? America, China, and the Global Order

 

When the meek are weak, they suffer because they must. But when the strong are insecure, that is when war begins.

AS tensions over the Taiwan Strait mount, everyone needs to think through whether war is inevitable.

Leon Trotsky once said: “You may not be interested in war but war is interested in you.”

And if we slip into war by what World War I historian Barbara Tuchman called the “March of Folly”, can the great powers step back from mutual nuclear annihilation?

When the world’s unipolar power incurred more pandemic deaths (at last count 752,000) and got defeated in Afghanistan by tribal warriors, no one should be surprised to ask whether America (and by extension Western civilisation) is in a decline.

The prestigious US magazine Foreign Affairs devoted three issues this year to: “Can America Recover?”, “Decline and Fall – Can America ever Lead Again?” and “Can China Keep Rising?”

For those reading the endless barrage of invectives against America’s rivals, it certainly feels like the Cold War has returned with a vengeance.

However, for Greta Thunberg and fellow climate activists, surely the world leaders’ priority is to work together to address our looming climate disaster.

Why are alphas fighting in a burning planet? Shouldn’t we call “time out” to see how to address collectively the urgent and existential issues of human and planetary distress?

Next month, the World Economic Forum is meeting in Dubai with an agenda to move from a Great Reset to a Grand Narrative Initiative “to shape the contours of a more prosperous and inclusive future for humanity that is also more respectful of nature.”

Grand Narrative may sound like a media story but the reality is that the masses are unlikely to buy an elite-driven dream until they are part of the conversation.

Take Harvard historian Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilisations” narrative. Written in 1996, Huntington seemed prescient in predicting the clash between Western civilisation and the rest, namely, Sinic, Japanese, Hindu, Islamic and Latin American.

He asked poignantly: “The central theme for the West is whether, quite apart from our external challenges, it is capable of stopping and reversing the internal process of decay. Can the West renew itself or will sustained internal rot simply accelerate its end and/or subordination to other economically and demographically more dynamic civilisations?”

Huntington basically reflected the worry of British historian Arnold Toynbee (18891975) that since civilisations are born out of primitive societies, the key is whether the elites can respond effectively to new challenges, internal or external.

Toynbee saw clearer than other Western historians like Gibbon (Decline and Fall of Roman Empire) that collapses are not necessarily due to barbarian invasions but whether the ruling elite can overcome their own greed or interests to address the new challenges.

In pure economic, financial, technology and military terms, few question that the West remains superior in almost all aspects, except in population numbers.

According to the Maddison projections of population and GDP, the rich countries (essentially Western Europe, plus Western offshoots (the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and Japan would be 947 million people and 36.3% of world GDP by 2030, whereas Asia (China, India and other parts of Asia) would have a population of 4.7 billion and 49.6% of GDP.

This reverses the 2003 position when the West (including Japan) accounted for half of world GDP, compared with one-third for Asia.

The dramatic reversal is due to the rise of China, India and the rest of Asia to higher-middle-income levels by 2030, mainly through trade and catch-up in technology.

In the coming decades, roughly one billion rich West must contend with the rising powers of China (1.4 billion), India (1.3 billion) and Islamic countries (1+ billion), which have cultures and ideologies very different from the West.

If the planet heats up as expected, expect more Latin Americans, Africans and Middle East poor arriving on the West’s borders to migrate.

At the same time, with the American demonisation of Russia and China pushing them closer together, the United States is confronting at least three fronts (including the Middle East) amid a fractious domestic arena, where political polarisation prevents policy cohesion and continuity.

This current situation reminds Islamic countries following their great historian Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406 AD) of the cycle of dynastic and empires that Islam went through.

When the social cohesion or bonds (asabiya) is strong, there is state legitimacy and empires rise. When it is weak, dynasties fall and empires are lost.

After the Jan 6, 2020 insurrection in Washington DC, many are inclined to believe that fratricidal tribalism is happening now inside America.

Similarly, Chinese macro-historians Sima Qian (Records of the Grand Historian, 146-86 BC) and Sima Guang (Comprehensive Mirror for Governance, 1019-1086 AD) also recorded that empires fall not so much from external invasion but internal decay.

In Yale, historian (Rise and Fall of Great Powers) Paul Kennedy’s terminology has the United States arrived at the point of “imperial over-reach”, when the country’s global ambitions and responsibilities exceed its financial and industrial capacity.

After all, the US government debt has reached as high as the end of World War II level without even starting World War III.

But all historians know that rise, decline or fall is never pre-ordained. The past is not a scientific linear predictor of the future. The unipolar order has weakened, without any grand bargain between the great powers on what the new order should even begin to look like.

Any grand bargain requires the incumbent hegemon to admit that there are equals and peers in power that want the rules of the game reset from the old order.

This does not mean that anyone will replace the United States soon because everyone wants to buy time to set their own house in order after the pandemic.

In short, before any Grand Narrative, we need a whole series of conversations with all sides, from the weakest to the most powerful, on what individually and collectively the post-pandemic order should look like.

There can never be one Grand Narrative by the elites until there are enough dialogues between the many.

When the meek are weak, they suffer because they must. But when the strong are insecure, that is when war begins.

By ANDREW SHENG. Andrew Sheng writes on global issues from an Asian perspective. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.

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NCIA setting up new technology and innovation hub in Bayan Lepas by year 2023

New tech and innovation hub for northern region 

  

An artist’s impression of the proposed NCER Technology Innovation Centre in Bayan Lepas, Penang.

IN an effort to build a strong and sustainable ecosystem in Penang’s industrial and economic landscape, Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) will be establishing a technology and innovation hub called the NCER (Northern Corridor Economic Region) Technology Innovation Centre (NTIC).

NCIA chief executive Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John said the centre, which will be built in Bayan Lepas and completed by 2023, will have a newly developed programme under the NCER Single Campus initiative that focuses on activities related to research, design, technology, innovation and commercialisation.

“The Single Campus initiative promotes collaboration and cooperation among key manufacturing areas in Penang, Kedah and Perak through the facilitation by NTIC while positioning Penang as the catalyst hub focused on technology and innovation.

“This hub will provide services and facilities for product innovation, linkages with local and international experts, local talent development, design and consultancy and a one-stop solution provider management system.

“NTIC will serve as a platform for small and medium enterprises, local large companies, multinational companies, technocrats and young entrepreneurs, as well as start-up companies to conduct high value-added activities in the northern corridor,” he said in an online event on Friday.

Issace John added that through NTIC, NCIA is collaborating with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (Crest) to develop high-skilled local talents to meet the demands of the industries within NCER.

“With the signing of a memo- randum of collaboration (MoC) between NCIA and USM, a programme has been launched to enhance talents’ marketability by developing their Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0)-related knowledge and skills that are highly sought after by the industry.

“The Professional Excellence Programme or PreX is developed by combining academic and industry inputs on industry needs and expectations, industry professional assessment and employability.

“The MoC with Crest, on the other hand, will see collaborations with world renowned multi- national companies such as Intel Microelectronics (M) Sdn Bhd and Motorola Solutions (M) Sdn Bhd, and local technology companies such as Orionplex Sdn Bhd, Exiatec Technology Sdn Bhd and Sensoft Technologies Sdn Bhd,” he said.

Issace John said NCER Talent Enhancement Programme (NTEP) will also support the Engineering Software Talent Programme (EnSofT) to address the engineering software talent gap in the fields of embedded system, android applications and embedded android operating system.

“EnSofT will be a catalyst to other types of high-end training programmes to generate industry- relevant talents that meet current and upcoming market demands.

“Such collaborations with academia and industry players will help Penang to further grow into a high-income and developed state as well as help it recover quickly from the pandemic as more job opportunities especially in software engineering are created,” he said.

He said NCIA helped attract a total of RM8.56bil of approved investments and created 5,155 approved job creations to date this year.“We have, in fact, already exceeded our target of RM7.2bil of 2021 approved investments. As for job creation, we are also on track to meet the 8,644 approved job creation targeted for this year.”

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who attended the online event, said the strategic partnership between NCIA and the state government had given birth to a high-value talent ecosystem that will further boost the state’s position as a world-class regional technology hub.

This will also reinforce the development of highly skilled local talent in various high end technology related areas, he added.

“In collaboration with Penang and federal governments, NCIA is continuously enhancing the state’s attractiveness to investors in the electronics and electrical, and manufacturing and engineering sectors.

“We are continuing to strengthen our position as a leader in the region for advanced technology and as a high-value talent and technology hub.

“With more than 300 multinational companies already having established operations in Penang, there is a need for more highly skilled talent to address the demand from the industry here.

“We are fortunate that Penang has an abundance of fresh graduates that industries can tap into, and our position as the ‘Silicon Valley of the East’ can be further strengthened by upskilling and enhancing the quality of our graduates through initiatives introduced by NCIA,” Chow said.

NCIA is a regional development authority responsible for establishing directions, devising policies and strategies related to the socio- economic development of NCER.

Incorporated in June 2008 under the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority Act 2008 (Act 687), NCER encompasses the four northern states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Perlis in peninsular Malaysia.

NCIA drives the growth of NCER towards becoming an excellent economic region while catalysing and implementing high value-added development programmes in six economic clusters namely manufacturing, agribusiness, petrochemical, mining, green economy and services (including tourism, logistics and connectivity, and digital economy).

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Green effort: The scenery at a wetland restoration project on the edge of dianchi Lake in Kunming, yunnan province.— Reuters

BEIJING: china has made remarkable achievements in its biodiversity conservation and has made efforts to share its ideas and experiences to support other developing countries, said Qin Tianbao, an environmental law professor.

Qin, director of the Research institute of environmental Law at Wuhan University in Hubei province, said the country has achieved economic growth while protecting its environment.

“china avoids the pattern of treatment after pollution and can provide its solution to the world, especially to developing countries who are faced with the dilemma of balancing their economies and environments,” he said during the 15th meeting of the conference of the Parties to the convention on Biological Diversity, or COP 15, held in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, from yesterday through Friday.

In terms of biodiversity, china will contribute both ideas and funds to other nations.

President Xi Jinping reiterated the concept of ecological civilisation that features the harmonious coexistence of man and nature in a keynote speech at the Leaders’ Summit of the meeting via video link from Beijing on Tuesday.

Qin said: “This concept offers the world a vital idea that addresses problems caused by industrialisation.”

Xi announced china’s plan to set up a Kunming Biodiversity Fund to support biodiversity protection in developing countries.

china is taking the lead by investing 1.5 billion yuan (Rm972mil) and is calling for contributions from other nations, Xi said.

Qin said: “The fund and china’s large amount of investment demonstrate the country’s determination to be responsible for connecting different countries to curb the trend of biodiversity loss.”

He added that the fund will “lay a solid foundation for global cooperation in biodiversity conservation”.

A white paper on biodiversity conservation released on Oct 8 said that china has established about 10,000 nature reserves, accounting for about 18% of its land area.

He said biodiversity affects our daily lives in terms of food, clothing, transportation and housing.

“For example, no one likes to stay somewhere with only cement buildings,” he added. “We all enjoy colourful sceneries formed by various plants and animals.”

Qin said it’s important to predict risks and prepare for them before it’s too late, so pragmatic goals are needed for biodiversity conservation.

“extreme weather brought on by climate change often happens suddenly, while the loss of biodiversity is a slow change that people don’t pay too much attention to,” he said.

At COP 15, china announced that new environmental protection goals should be both ambitious and pragmatic, and a balance needs to be struck between the two. — china Daily/ANN

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Jan-Aug 6 2021 Covid daily new cases graph

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Patients gather at Covid-19 Assessment Centre (CAC) in Stadium Melawati Shah Alam February 8, 2021. Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim said currently, the rising new cases in the country were due to new variants such as the Delta variant. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 6 ― The daily Covid-19 cases are expected to continue increasing before the country’s vaccination rate achieves 80 per cent by the end of the October, said deputy Health director-general (Research and Technical Support) Datuk Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim.

He said currently, the rising new cases in the country were due to new variants such as the Delta variant.

“Taking the example of the high vaccination rate in the Federal Territory of Labuan and Sarawak has shown new cases are dropping but over here (Labuan and Sarawak), admission into intensive care units (ICU) and the death rate have shown a drastic fall.

“So if we could do the same thing in the Peninsula, more so at the hotspots which are experiencing rising transmissions especially in the Klang Valley with higher vaccination rate, we will see a drop in cases.

“The decline in cases may take some time but more importantly we want to see a decrease in terms of serious patients admission into wards and those who died,” he said in a special media conference here today.

Also present were Health Ministry (MOH) secretary-general Datuk Mohd Shafiq Abdullah, Health deputy director-general (Public Health) cum Greater Klang Valley Special Task Force commander Datuk Dr Chong Chee Kheong and Selangor Health director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman.

He said as at July 22, MOH had detected 409 cases of variants of concern (VOC) related to Cov

id-19 virus in Malaysia which was 189 cases for Delta variant, 206 cases for Beta variant and 14 cases for Alpha variant. “This month, we expect the number of genome sequencing to increase as we have established a consortium of seven laboratories in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and at universities.

“It will increase another 1,000 genome sequencing a month and thus we will be able to have more detailed information on the distribution of variants in our country,” he said. ― Bernama

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