REverSe TRanscrIptase chain termination (RESTRICT) for selective measurement of nucleotide analogs used in HIV care and prevention.

Sufficient drug concentrations are required for efficacy of antiretroviral drugs used in HIV care and prevention. Measurement of nucleotide analogs, included in most HIV medication regimens, enables monitoring of short- and long-term adherence and the risk of treatment failure. The REverSe TRanscrIptase Chain Termination (RESTRICT) assay rapidly infers the concentration of intracellular nucleotide analogs based on the inhibition of DNA synthesis by HIV reverse transcriptase enzyme.

Implementation and evaluation of team science training for interdisciplinary teams in an engineering design program.

Introduction: Interdisciplinary academic teams perform better when competent in teamwork; however, there is a lack of best practices of how to introduce and facilitate the development of effective learning and functioning within these teams in academic environments.

Methods: To close this gap, we tailored, implemented, and evaluated team science training in the year-long Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) program at the University of Washington (UW), a project-based course in which engineering students across several disciplines partner with health professionals to develop technical solutions to clinical and translational health challenges. EIH faculty from the UW College of Engineering and the Institute of Translational Health Sciences' (ITHS) Team Science Core codeveloped and delivered team science training sessions and evaluated their impact with biannual surveys.

Source Apportionment of Environmental Combustion Sources using Excitation Emission Matrix Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Machine Learning.

The link between particulate matter (PM) air pollution and negative health effects is well-established. Air pollution was estimated to cause 4.9 million deaths in 2017 and PM was responsible for 94% of these deaths.

Pilot evaluation of an enzymatic assay for rapid measurement of antiretroviral drug concentrations.

Objective: Maintaining adequate drug adherence is crucial to ensure the HIV prevention benefits of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We developed an enzymatic assay for rapidly measuring tenofovir-diphosphate (TFV-DP) concentrations-a metabolite that indicates long-term PrEP adherence.

Setting: The study was conducted at the Madison HIV Clinic at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Chemokinesis-driven accumulation of active colloids in low-mobility regions of fuel gradients.

Many motile cells exhibit migratory behaviors, such as chemotaxis (motion up or down a chemical gradient) or chemokinesis (dependence of speed on chemical concentration), which enable them to carry out vital functions including immune response, egg fertilization, and predator evasion. These have inspired researchers to develop self-propelled colloidal analogues to biological microswimmers, known as active colloids, that perform similar feats. Here, we study the behavior of half-platinum half-gold (Pt/Au) self-propelled rods in antiparallel gradients of hydrogen peroxide fuel and salt, which tend to increase and decrease the rods' speed, respectively.

Excitation-Emission Matrix Spectroscopy for Analysis of Chemical Composition of Combustion Generated Particulate Matter.

Analysis of particulate matter (PM) is important for the assessment of human exposures to potentially harmful agents, notably combustion-generated PM. Specifically, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in ultrafine PM have been linked to cardiovascular diseases and carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. In this study, we quantify the presence and concentrations of PAHs with lower molecular weight (LMW, 126 < MW < 202) and higher molecular weight (HMW, 226 < MW < 302), i.

Excitation Emission Matrix Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Combustion Generated Particulate Matter Source Identification.

The inhalation of particulate matter (PM) is a significant health risk associated with reduced life expectancy due to increased cardio-pulmonary disease and exacerbation of respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia. PM originates from natural and anthropogenic sources including combustion engines, cigarettes, agricultural burning, and forest fires. Identifying the source of PM can inform effective mitigation strategies and policies, but this is difficult to do using current techniques.

Point-of-Care HIV Viral Load Testing: an Essential Tool for a Sustainable Global HIV/AIDS Response.

The global public health community has set ambitious treatment targets to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With the notable absence of a cure, the goal of HIV treatment is to achieve sustained suppression of an HIV viral load, which allows for immunological recovery and reduces the risk of onward HIV transmission. Monitoring HIV viral load in people living with HIV is therefore central to maintaining effective individual antiretroviral therapy as well as monitoring progress toward achieving population targets for viral suppression.

A method for high-throughput functional imaging of single cells within heterogeneous cell preparations.

Functional characterization of individual cells within heterogeneous tissue preparations is challenging. Here, we report the development of a versatile imaging method that assesses single cell responses of various endpoints in real time, while identifying the individual cell types. Endpoints that can be measured include (but are not limited to) ionic flux (calcium, sodium, potassium and hydrogen), metabolic responsiveness (NAD(P)H, mitochondrial membrane potential), and signal transduction (HO and cAMP).

The pulmonary inflammatory response to multiwalled carbon nanotubes is influenced by gender and glutathione synthesis.

Inhalation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) during their manufacture or incorporation into various commercial products may cause lung inflammation, fibrosis, and oxidative stress in exposed workers. Some workers may be more susceptible to these effects because of differences in their ability to synthesize the major antioxidant and immune system modulator glutathione (GSH). Accordingly, in this study we examined the influence of GSH synthesis and gender on MWCNT-induced lung inflammation in C57BL/6 mice.

Translating diagnostic assays from the laboratory to the clinic: analytical and clinical metrics for device development and evaluation.

As lab-on-a-chip health diagnostic technologies mature, there is a push to translate them from the laboratory to the clinic. For these diagnostics to achieve maximum impact on patient care, scientists and engineers developing the tests should understand the analytical and clinical statistical metrics that determine the efficacy of the test. Appreciating and using these metrics will benefit test developers by providing consistent measures to evaluate analytical and clinical test performance, as well as guide the design of tests that will most benefit clinicians and patients.

Shape-Dependent Surface Reactivity and Antimicrobial Activity of Nano-Cupric Oxide.

Shape of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) can be used as a design handle to achieve controlled manipulation of physicochemical properties. This tailored material property approach necessitates the establishment of relationships between specific ENM properties that result from such manipulations (e.g.

NAIL: Nucleic Acid detection using Isotachophoresis and Loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

Nucleic acid amplification tests are the gold standard for many infectious disease diagnoses due to high sensitivity and specificity, rapid operation, and low limits of detection. Despite the advantages of nucleic acid amplification tests, they currently offer limited point-of-care (POC) utility due to the need for complex instruments and laborious sample preparation. We report the development of the Nucleic Acid Isotachophoresis LAMP (NAIL) diagnostic device.