Dengue is an increasing public health concern worldwide and requires efficient laboratory diagnostics. We evaluated three commercially available dengue rapid diagnostic tests—the Humasis Dengue Combo NS1 & IgG/IgM (Humasis, Korea), SD Bioline Dengue Duo NS1 Ag & IgG/IgM (SD Bioline, Korea), and CareUS Dengue Combo NS1 and IgM/IgG kits (WellsBio, Korea)—and compared them to reference immunoglobulin M (IgM) or immunoglobulin G (IgG) ELISAs and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays. In total, 109 dengue-positive samples from children with acute symptomatic dengue and 63 dengue-negative samples from febrile and asymptomatic individuals were collected. For the nonstructural 1 protein (NS1) Ag test, the sensitivity and specificity were in the following order: CareUS (79.82 and 100%), Humasis (63.30 and 100%), and SD Bioline (48.62 and 100%). For IgM and IgG, CareUS had the highest sensitivities and specificities (89.91 and 100%; 82.57 and 100%, respectively), followed by SD Bioline (60.55 and 100%, 77.98 and 100%, respectively), and Humasis (51.38 and 98.21%, 72.48 and 95.24%, respectively). The IgM kits were more sensitive than the NS1 Ag or IgG kits; however, combining NS1 Ag and IgM reduced the number of missed cases. Therefore, the NS1 Ag plus IgM dengue kits increase the accuracy of the results. In our study, the CareUS Dengue Combo NS1 and IgM/IgG kit showed higher accuracy in performance with reference to qRT-PCR and ELISA results.

The efficiency of light emitting materials (dopants) is invariably compromised on moving to the red region of the spectra due to the increase of non‐radiative decay. In order to solve the above problem, we designed a new dopant, and realized organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) with excellent performance. We achieved extremely high quantum yield of red dopant, fabricated a device with 33% higher efficiency, and improved roll‐off compared to a device with a current state‐of‐the art emitter.

Background: Zika virus (ZIKV) is a major health concern worldwide, highlighting the importance of accurate and reliable viral detection to control transmission. The careGENE TM ZIKV Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Kit (Wells Bio, INC, Korea) was developed to detect Zika infection. We compared the clinical sensitivity and specificity of this kit with those of the Aptima Zika Virus Assay (Hologic, Inc., USA) and the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended conventional PCR method. Methods: A total of 168 urine samples (143 clinical samples and 25 RNA-spiked samples [ RNA-positive lyophilized plasma spiked in urine ]) were tested in this study. Results: In comparison with the WHO-recommended conventional PCR method, the careGENE TM ZIKV RT-PCR Kit detected ZIKV RNA with a sensitivity of 100% (95% confidence interval [ CI], 73.5-99.9) and specificity of 100% (95% CI, 88.9-97.8). Similar results were obtained with the Aptima Zika Virus Assay, as evident from a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI, 73.5-99.9) and specificity of 100% (95% CI, 88.9-97.8). The limit of detection at a 95% detection probability was 1 U/mL in the urine. Conclusions: Positive identification of Zika infection was selective and specific using the target Zika viral sequence. The overall performance of the careGENE TM ZIKV RT-PCR Kit was satisfactory.