Enhanced D614G and Omicron Variants Antibody Persistence in Infants at 2 Months of Age Following Maternal mRNA Booster Vaccination During Pregnancy or Postpartum.

Background: Following maternal COVID-19 vaccination, the persistence of antibodies in sera and breast milk for mothers and infants is not well characterized. We sought to describe the persistence of antibodies through 2 months after delivery in maternal and infant serum and breast milk following maternal COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and to examine differences by receipt of booster dose during pregnancy or postpartum.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study with enrollment from July 2021 to January 2022 at 9 US academic sites.

Association Between SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load and COVID-19 Vaccination in 4 Phase 3 Trials.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines reduce severe disease and mortality and may lessen transmission, measured by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) viral load (VL). Evaluating vaccine associations in VL at COVID-19 diagnosis in 4 phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled vaccine trials, July 2020 to July 2021, VL reductions were 2.78 log10 copies/mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.

A 33nW Fully Autonomous SoC With Distributed Cooperative Energy Harvesting and Multi-Chip Power Management for mm-Scale System-in-Fiber.

This article presents a fully autonomous system-on-chip (SoC) that can be distributed along a fiber strand, capable of simultaneously harvesting energy, cooperatively scaling performance, sharing power, and booting-up with other in-fiber SoCs for ultra-low-power (ULP) sensing applications. Utilizing a custom switched capacitor energy harvesting and power management unit (EHPMU), the SoC can efficiently redistribute and reuse harvested energy along the fiber. Integrated on-chip, the ULP RISC-V digital core and temperature sensor enable energy-efficient sensing and computation at nanowatt power levels.

Vaccine Equity: Lessons Learned Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccination in Urban Black Communities.

COVID-19 vaccines were developed at unparalleled speed, but racial disparities persist in vaccine uptake. This is a cross-sectional survey that was conducted in mid-2021 in ambulatory clinics across Brooklyn, New York. The objectives of the study were to assess: knowledge of COVID-19, healthcare communication and access, attitudes including trust in the process of vaccine development and mistrust due to racial discrimination, and to determine the relationship of the above to vaccine receipt.

COVID-19 booster vaccination during pregnancy enhances maternal binding and neutralizing antibody responses and transplacental antibody transfer to the newborn (DMID 21-0004).

Importance: COVID-19 vaccination is recommended during pregnancy for the protection of the mother. Little is known about the immune response to booster vaccinations during pregnancy.

Objective: To measure immune responses to COVID-19 primary and booster mRNA vaccination during pregnancy and transplacental antibody transfer to the newborn.

Using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) framework to optimize an intervention to increase COVID-19 testing for Black and Latino/Hispanic frontline essential workers: A study protocol.

Background: Among those at highest risk for COVID-19 exposure is the large population of frontline essential workers in occupations such food service, retail, personal care, and in-home health services, among whom Black and Latino/Hispanic persons are over-represented. For those not vaccinated and at risk for exposure to COVID-19, including frontline essential workers, regular (approximately weekly) COVID-19 testing is recommended. However, Black and Latino/Hispanic frontline essential workers in these occupations experience serious impediments to COVID-19 testing at individual/attitudinal- (e.

Assessing changes to N95 respirator filtration efficiency, qualitative and quantitative fit, and seal check with repeated vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) decontamination.

N95 respirators were reprocessed using vaporized hydrogen peroxide to supplement limited supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we found no statistically significant differences in qualitative and quantitative fit or filtration efficiency with reprocessing. Filtration efficiency remained above 95% even at 25 cycles of reprocessing without statistically significant change from cycle 20-25 compared to cycle 0 (P = .

Efficacy and Safety of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma in Hospitalized Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: There is clinical equipoise for COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) use in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Objective: To determine the safety and efficacy of CCP compared with placebo in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 receiving noninvasive supplemental oxygen.

Design, Setting, And Participants: CONTAIN COVID-19, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of CCP in hospitalized adults with COVID-19, was conducted at 21 US hospitals from April 17, 2020, to March 15, 2021.

Diagnostic and management considerations in the modern patient with AIDS: a case of concurrent disseminated Kaposi sarcoma and colesional .

In the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), disseminated Kaposi sarcoma (KS) has become much rarer in the USA. We report a case of a 34-year-old man with KS of the skin, oropharynx, lung and rectum. Within the same lung nodule, we discovered significant burden of colesional in the context of a positive asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia, which was a previously unreported occurrence.

A Case of Adult Intestinal Toxemia Botulism During Prolonged Hospitalization in an Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipient.

We report a laboratory-confirmed case of adult intestinal toxemia botulism in an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) recipient. Onset of symptoms occurred within the hospitalized setting, making this case particularly unique. Botulism may have arisen because of significant intestinal disruption and compromise, and not directly from immune compromise.

Electrically switchable diffractive waveplates with metasurface aligned liquid crystals.

Diffractive waveplates and equivalent metasurfaces provide a promising path for applications in thin film beam steering, tunable lenses, and polarization filters. However, fixed metasurfaces alone are unable to be tuned electronically. By combining metasurfaces with tunable liquid crystals, we experimentally demonstrate a single layer device capable of electrically switching a diffractive waveplate design at a measured peak diffraction efficiency of 35%, and a minimum switching voltage of 10V.

Prasugrel hypersensitivity with respiratory distress and rash.

Purpose: An adverse drug reaction associated with the use of prasugrel for dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stent placement is reported.

Summary: About one week after starting prasugrel use following angioplasty and a stent revision procedure, a 61-year-old woman arrived in the emergency department with wheezing, shortness of breath, a feeling of throat closure, and a widespread erythematous, maculopapular, pruritic rash. She reported that the respiratory symptoms had started to develop the previous day, with the onset of rash occurring about 24 hours after initiation of prasugrel therapy.

Tolerability of chemotherapy in HIV-infected women with breast cancer: are there prognostic implications?

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women, but little is known about therapeutic outcomes in patients with both breast cancer and HIV. We performed a retrospective cohort study of women with or without HIV undergoing treatment for breast cancer from 1996 to 2011. Cases with HIV were 1:2 matched to non-HIV controls based on age, sex, race, and date of cancer diagnosis.

Developing a computer touch-screen interactive colorectal screening decision aid for a low-literacy African American population: lessons learned.

African Americans have higher colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality than White Americans and yet have lower rates of CRC screening. Increased screening aids in early detection and higher survival rates. Coupled with low literacy rates, the burden of CRC morbidity and mortality is exacerbated in this population, making it important to develop culturally and literacy appropriate aids to help low-literacy African Americans make informed decisions about CRC screening.

Resident physicians' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to colorectal cancer screening for African Americans.

Background: African Americans experience disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC), yet they complete screening at lower rates than Caucasians. While studies have identified barriers and facilitators to CRC screening among African Americans, no study has examined physician perceptions of these barriers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine how resident physicians view barriers and facilitators to CRC screening among their African American patients, and to compare residents' perceptions with barriers and facilitators that have been reported in studies with African Americans.

Increasing colorectal cancer screening among African Americans, linking risk perception to interventions targeting patients, communities and clinicians.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains significantly underutilized by African Americans despite their increased risk compared to whites. The purpose of this article is to review recent research on patterns of screening, perceptions of CRC screening methods and outcomes of seven intervention trials specifically designed to increase screening among African Americans in light of the recommendation of the American College of Gastroenterologists to make colonoscopy the screening method of choice for this population. This review shows that progress has been made in understanding the complexity of perceived barriers to CRC screening among African Americans.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of hepatitis B screening and vaccination and liver cancer risks among Vietnamese Americans.

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is a serious health problem among Asian Americans. Vietnamese Americans are disproportionately affected by liver cancer compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Vietnamese males have the highest incidence of liver cancer of any racial group; incidence of liver cancer among Vietnamese males is 11 times higher than among White males.