Associations among drug acquisition and use behaviors, psychosocial attributes, and opioid-involved overdoses.

Aims: This study sought to develop and assess an exploratory model of how demographic and psychosocial attributes, and drug use or acquisition behaviors interact to affect opioid-involved overdoses.

Design: We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA/CFA) to identify a factor structure for ten drug acquisition and use behaviors. We then evaluated alternative structural equation models incorporating the identified factors, adding demographic and psychosocial attributes as predictors of past-year opioid overdose.

Associations among Drug Acquisition and Use Behaviors, Psychosocial Attributes, and Opioid-Involved Overdoses: A SEM Analysis.

Aims: This study sought to develop and assess an exploratory model of how demographic and psychosocial attributes, and drug use or acquisition behaviors interact to affect opioid-involved overdoses.

Methods: We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA/CFA) to identify a factor structure for ten drug acquisition and use behaviors. We then evaluated alternative structural equation models incorporating the identified factors, adding demographic and psychosocial attributes as predictors of past-year opioid overdose.

Latent class analysis of emergency department patients engaged in telehealth peer recovery support services and associations of identified classes with post-discharge outcomes.

Background: People with substance use disorders (SUDs) frequently use emergency department (ED) services. Despite evidence demonstrating that post-discharge SUD treatment linkage effectively reduces the number of ED re-presentations, relatively few hospitals have implemented interventions to identify and connect patients with SUDs to appropriate care. ED-based peer recovery support specialist (PRSS) interventions have emerged as a promising approach for hospitals, but more research is needed to understand the extent to which these interventions meet the needs of patients who present to the ED for different reasons and with various underlying concerns.

Fentanyl Exposure and Detection Strategies Utilized by Clinical Trial Participants Seeking Linkage to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment at a Syringe Service Program.

Introduction: The USA continues to face a fentanyl-driven overdose epidemic. Prior research has demonstrated users of illicit opioids are concerned about fentanyl exposure and overdose, but the strategies they report using to detect fentanyl's presence lack empirical support. This study compares self-report and biologically detected fentanyl use and investigates overdose risk and risk reduction behaviors among a sample of high-risk people who use opioids.

Mental health and substance use disorder comorbidities among Medicaid beneficiaries: Associations with opioid use disorder and prescription opioid misuse.

Background: Medicaid presently insures about one-fourth of the US population and disproportionately insures about 38 % of non-elderly adults with an opioid use disorder (OUD). Owing to Medicaid's prominent role insuring persons with an OUD and that Medicaid coverage includes pharmaceutical benefits, there has been considerable interest in studying potential prescription opioid misuse among Medicaid beneficiaries and identifying subpopulations at higher risk for misuse and possible progression to an OUD.

Methods: The study goals were to explore the associations among prescription opioid misuse, OUD, and co-occurring mental health and other substance use disorders (SUD).

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for the analysis of 53 benzodiazepines in illicit drug samples.

An LC-MS/MS method for the analysis of 53 benzodiazepines, including various designer benzodiazepines, was developed. The developed method was applied to a total of 79 illicit street drug samples collected in Chicago, IL. Of these samples, 68 (84%) had detectable amounts of at least one benzodiazepine.

Current attitudes toward drug checking services and a comparison of expected with actual drugs present in street drug samples collected from opioid users.

Background: The opioid epidemic continues to be associated with high numbers of fatalities in the USA and other countries, driven mainly by the inclusion of potent synthetic opioids in street drugs. Drug checking by means of various technologies is being increasingly implemented as a harm reduction strategy to inform users about constituent drugs in their street samples. We assessed how valued drug checking services (DCS) would be for opioid street drug users given the ubiquity of fentanyl and related analogs in the drug supply, the information they would most value from drug checking, and compared expected versus actual constituent drugs in collected samples.

Adolescent Cannabis Use Among Youth in ZIP Codes with Medical Dispensaries.

Introduction: In the United States, 19 states permit recreational use of cannabis, with 16 more permitting medical use (Marijuana Policy Project, 2021). Concerns remain about whether liberalized policies result in increased adolescent cannabis use. To date, limited evidence exists that the statewide prevalence of adolescent cannabis use increased in states with liberalized policies.

Feasibility study of using mobile phone-based experience sampling to assess drug checking by opioid street drug users.

Background: To date, evaluations of take-home fentanyl (and/or benzodiazepine) test strip use - the most common form of drug checking services - and potential effects on overdose risk have relied on retrospective accounts for some preceding time period, usually a week to several months. Such accounts, however, are subject to recall and memory biases. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using experiential sampling to collect daily information in situ on drug checking and associated overdose risk reduction - the primary outcomes - among a sample of street opioid users and compared the results to retrospective reports.

An approach to rapid distributed manufacturing of broad spectrum anti-viral griffithsin using cell-free systems to mitigate pandemics.

This study describes the cell-free biomanufacturing of a broad-spectrum antiviral protein, griffithsin (GRFT) such that it can be produced in microgram quantities with consistent purity and potency in less than 24 h. We demonstrate GRFT production using two independent cell-free systems, one plant and one microbial. Griffithsin purity and quality were verified using standard regulatory metrics.

Validated method for the analysis of 22 illicit drugs and their metabolites via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in illicit drug samples collected in Chicago, IL.

Drug checking services are being utilized worldwide to provide people who use drugs information on the composition and contents of their drugs as a tool for harm reduction and accidental overdose prevention. Existing drug checking services use a variety of techniques including immunoassay strips and spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and Raman. Few services utilize LC-MS based methods for primary or secondary analysis and few methods exist for direct analysis of illicit drugs.

Feasibility Study of Using Mobile Phone-Based Experience Sampling to Assess Drug Checking by Opioid Street Drug Users.

To date, evaluations of take-home fentanyl (and/or benzodiazepine) test strip use - the most common form of drug checking services - and potential effects on overdose risk have relied on retrospective accounts for some preceding time period, usually a week to several months. Such accounts, however, are subject to recall and memory biases. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using experiential sampling to collect daily information in situ on drug checking and associated overdose risk reduction - the primary outcomes - among a sample of street opioid users and compared the results to retrospective reports.

An approach to rapid distributed manufacturing of broad spectrum anti-viral griffithsin using cell-free systems to mitigate pandemics.

This study describes the cell-free biomanufacturing of a broad-spectrum antiviral protein, griffithsin (GRFT) such that it can be produced with consistent purity and potency in less than 24 hours. We demonstrate GRFT production using two independent cell-free systems, one plant and one microbial. Griffithsin purity and quality were verified using standard regulatory metrics.

A measurement invariance analysis of selected Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) items among bystanders and first responders.

The Opioid Overdose Knowledge Scale (OOKS) is widely used as an adjunct to opioid education and naloxone distribution (OEND) for assessing pre- and post-training knowledge. However, the extent to which the OOKS performs comparably for bystander and first responder groups has not been well determined. We used exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to assess the measurement invariance of an OOKS item subset when used as an OEND training pre-test.

Cell-free technologies for biopharmaceutical research and production.

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) technologies have grown from lab-scale research tools to biopharmaceutical production at the Good Manufacturing Practice manufacturing scale. Multiple human clinical trials are in progress with CFPS-based products. In addition, applications of CFPS in research have continued to expand over the years and play an important role in biopharmaceutical product discovery and development.

Bioelectrosynthesis systems.

Bioelectrosynthesis (BES) systems exploit extracellular electron transport pathways to augment cellular metabolism. This strategy can be used to improve the economic viability of bio-based syntheses versus conventional methods, most notably petrochemical-based syntheses. It also has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of biomanufacturing processes.

Syringe service program-based telemedicine linkage to opioid use disorder treatment: protocol for the STAMINA randomized control trial.

Background: A key strategy for mitigating the current opioid epidemic is expanded access to medications for treating opioid use disorder (MOUD). However, interventions developed to expand MOUD access have limited ability to engage opioid users at higher levels of overdose risk, such as those who inject opioids. This paper describes the study protocol for testing STAMINA (Syringe Service Telemedicine Access for Medication-assisted Intervention through NAvigation), an intervention that engages high-risk opioid users at community-based syringe service programs (SSP) and quickly links them to MOUD using a telemedicine platform.

Patterns of Exposure to Socio-structural Stressors and HIV Care Engagement Among Transgender Women of Color.

Transgender women are disproportionately affected by HIV and experiences of social adversity that may interfere with engagement in care and viral suppression. We used latent class analysis to examine patterns of social adversity and their impact on HIV care continuum outcomes in an urban sample of transgender women of color. Participants (n = 224) were median age 29 and 86% non-Hispanic Black.

Toward a genome scale sequence specific dynamic model of cell-free protein synthesis in .

In this study, we developed a dynamic mathematical model of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS). Model parameters were estimated from a dataset consisting of glucose, organic acids, energy species, amino acids, and protein product, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) measurements. The model was successfully trained to simulate these measurements, especially those of the central carbon metabolism.

Opportunities toward hydrogen production biotechnologies.

Hydrogen is already a major commodity and process intermediate for fertilizer production, petroleum processing, and chemical synthesis. It also offers unrealized potential for energy storage. While biological production offers an expandable and sustainable source, enthusiasm has been dampened by slow research progress.

Prescription opioid availability and opioid overdose-related mortality rates in Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states.

Aims: To determine whether, in the United States, higher opioid overdose-related mortality rates (OOMR) in Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion states relative to mortality rates in non-expansion states have been mediated by increased prescription opioid availability.

Design: Separate mixed-effect regression models examined difference-in-difference effects of time and expansion status on Medicaid-reimbursed opioids measured in morphine milligram (mg) equivalents on all OOMR and on prescription OOMR. We used generalized structural equation models to test whether increases in Medicaid-reimbursed prescription opioid availability mediated OOMR post-Medicaid expansion.

A Latent Class Analysis of Chronic Health Conditions Among HIV-Positive Transgender Women of Color.

Research on the health of transgender people has focused on the risk for and health consequences of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections with little known about the prevalence of a broader range of medical conditions experienced by transgender people. This study used latent class (LC) analysis to examine a range of chronic medical conditions among 223 HIV-positive transgender women of color receiving primary care and psychosocial services in Chicago. The best-fitting model had 2 classes: low and moderate/high multimorbidity with 26% of participants classified in the moderate/high multimorbidity LC.

A Comparative Analysis of Lifetime Medical Conditions and Infectious Diseases by Sexual Identity, Attraction, and Concordance among Women: Results from a National U.S. Survey.

There have been limited studies assessing the differences in chronic health conditions between sexual minority (those who identify as lesbian or bisexual) and sexual majority (heterosexual) women. Research has primarily focused on overall physical and mental health or behavioral issues and not on specific health conditions. The addition of sexual orientation and attraction questions to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) now allows for research regarding health conditions using a national survey that identifies participant sexual orientation and attraction.

Expanding biological applications using cell-free metabolic engineering: An overview.

Expanding the concept of cell-free biology, implemented both with purified components and crude extracts, is continuing to deepen our appreciation of biological fundamentals while enlarging the range of applications. We are no longer intimidated by the complexity of crude extracts and complicated reaction systems with hundreds of active components, and, instead, coordinately activate and inactivate metabolic processes to focus and expand the capabilities of natural biological processes. This, in turn, dramatically increases the range of benefits offered by new products, both natural and supernatural, that were previously infeasible and/or unimaginable.

System analysis and improved [FeFe] hydrogenase O tolerance suggest feasibility for photosynthetic H production.

Photosynthetic H production has been a compelling but elusive objective. Here we describe how coordinated bioreactor, metabolic pathway, and protein engineering now suggest feasibility for the sustainable, solar-powered production of a storable fuel to complement our expanding photovoltaic and wind based capacities. The need to contain and harvest the gaseous products provides decisive solar bioreactor design advantages by limiting O exposure to prolific, but O-sensitive H producing enzymes-[FeFe] hydrogenases.