Burden and frequency of viral testing of kidney and non-kidney transplant recipients.

Transplant patients are at risk of infections due to long-term immunosuppression contributing to morbidity and mortality in this population. Post-transplant testing guidelines were established to monitor and guide therapeutic interventions in transplant recipients. We hypothesize that there are gaps in adherence to the recommended frequency of laboratory testing in post-transplant patients.

Risk Estimation of Severe COVID-19 Based on Initial Biomarker Assessment Across Racial and Ethnic Groups.

Context.—: Disease courses in COVID-19 patients vary widely. Prediction of disease severity on initial diagnosis would aid appropriate therapy, but few studies include data from initial diagnosis.

Confinement and Exciton Binding Energy Effects on Hot Carrier Cooling in Lead Halide Perovskite Nanomaterials.

The relaxation of the above-gap ("hot") carriers in lead halide perovskites (LHPs) is important for applications in photovoltaics and offers insights into carrier-carrier and carrier-phonon interactions. However, the role of quantum confinement in the hot carrier dynamics of nanosystems is still disputed. Here, we devise a single approach, ultrafast pump-push-probe spectroscopy, to study carrier cooling in six different size-controlled LHP nanomaterials.

Localized Induction Heating of Cu-Sn Layers for Rapid Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion Bonding Based on Miniaturized Coils.

Considering the demand for low temperature bonding in 3D integration and packaging of microelectronic or micromechanical components, this paper presents the development and application of an innovative inductive heating system using micro coils for rapid Cu-Sn solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding at chip-level. The design and optimization of the micro coil as well as the analysis of the heating process were carried out by means of finite element method (FEM). The micro coil is a composite material of an aluminum nitride (AlN) carrier substrate and embedded metallic coil conductors.

Optical Properties of Perovskite-Organic Multiple Quantum Wells.

A comprehensive study of the optical properties of CsPbBr perovskite multiple quantum wells (MQW) with organic barrier layers is presented. Quantum confinement is observed by a blue-shift in absorption and emission spectra with decreasing well width and agrees well with simulations of the confinement energies. A large increase of emission intensity with thinner layers is observed, with a photoluminescence quantum yield up to 32 times higher than that of bulk layers.

Experimental Investigation of Temperature and Contact Pressure Influence on HFI Welded Joint Properties.

This paper presents an experimental electro-thermo-mechanical simulation of high-frequency induction (HFI) welding to investigate the effect of temperature and contact normal stress on the weld seam quality. Therefore welding experiments at different temperatures and contact pressures are performed using flat specimens of 34MnB5 steel sheet. In order to characterize the weld seam strength of the welded specimens, tensile and bending tests are performed.

Association between liver and chronic kidney disease on hemoglobin A1c concentrations.

Introduction: HbA1c is the gold standard for measuring long-range glycemic control in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus. Conditions such as CKD or LD can lead to spurious HbA1c test results. There is conflicting literature about the relationship between HbA1c, LD, and CKD.

Large-scale retrospective analyses of the effect of iron deficiency anemia on hemoglobin A1c concentrations.

Introduction: HbA1c is a reliable biomarker for diagnosing and prognosis of diabetes, but many clinical scenarios and interfering factors can affect the test results. Any conditions that affect red cell turnover, such as iron-deficiency anemia (IDA), can lead to spurious HbA1c results. Reports on how IDA affects HbA1c concentrations are contradictory, and to understand better the association between HbA1c concentrations and IDA, we conducted a large-scale retrospective study.

Contributions of Glucose and Hemoglobin A1c Measurements in Diabetes Screening.

Objectives: Given the long-term consequences of untreated diabetes, patients benefit from timely diagnoses. Payer policies often recognize glucose but not hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) for diabetes screening. This study evaluates the different information that glucose and HbA1c provide for diabetes screening.

Retrospective Performance Analyses of over Two Million U.S. QuantiFERON Blood Sample Results.

Both the QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus) and the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) tests are interferon gamma (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) intended to detect cell-mediated immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed performance data for both the QFT-GIT and QFT-Plus test systems from over 2 million samples. QFT-Plus and QFT-GIT testing was performed as specified in the respective package inserts at 23 Quest Diagnostics sites.

Electrical Pumping of Perovskite Diodes: Toward Stimulated Emission.

The success of metal halide perovskites in photovoltaic and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) motivates their application as a solid-state thin-film laser. Various perovskites have shown optically pumped stimulated emission of lasing and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), yet the ultimate goal of electrically pumped stimulated emission has not been achieved. As an essential step toward this goal, here, a perovskite diode structure that simultaneously exhibits stable operation at high current density (≈1 kA cm ) and optically excited ASE (with a threshold of 180 µJ cm ) is reported.

Purely Organic Microparticles Showing Ultralong Room Temperature Phosphorescence.

Currently, organic phosphorescent particles are heavily used in sensing and imaging. Up to now, most of these particles contain poisonous and/or expensive metal complexes. Environmentally friendly systems are therefore highly desired.

Association of Gene Variants with Atherogenic Dyslipidemia Among Thai Patients Treated with Statin.

Objective: Patients treated with statins for dyslipidemia may still have a residual risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). To determine whether genetic variants in the cholesteryl ester transport protein (CETP), rs3764261 (C>A), rs708272 (G>A), and rs12149545 (G>A) affect ASCVD risk, we studied the association of these variants with dyslipidemia in statin-treated patients.

Patients And Methods: We included 299 adult Thai patients treated with a statin (95 men and 204 women).

SARS-CoV-2 positivity rates associated with circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Until treatment and vaccine for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) becomes widely available, other methods of reducing infection rates should be explored. This study used a retrospective, observational analysis of deidentified tests performed at a national clinical laboratory to determine if circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels are associated with severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positivity rates. Over 190,000 patients from all 50 states with SARS-CoV-2 results performed mid-March through mid-June, 2020 and matching 25(OH)D results from the preceding 12 months were included.

Association between polymorphisms of and genes and risperidone- or clozapine-induced hyperglycemia.

Objective: To determine whether genetic polymorphisms related to pharmacodynamics with metabolic adverse effects, namely leptin promoter () rs7799039, leptin receptor rs1137101, dopamine D2 rs4436578, serotonin 5-HT2A rs6313, and serotonin 5-HT2C rs518147 and rs12836771, are associated with hyperglycemia induced by risperidone or clozapine in adult Thai patients with psychosis.

Methods: A total of 180 patients treated with risperidone-based (=130) or clozapine-based (=50) regimens were included in this study. Blood samples were analyzed for genotyping of the candidate genes and biochemical testing.

Performance of body mass index and percentage of body fat in predicting cardiometabolic risk factors in Thai adults.

Background: Body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat (PBF) are used to measure obesity; however, their performance in identifying cardiometabolic risk in Southeast Asians is unclear. Generally, Asian women have higher PBF and lower BMI than do men and other ethnic populations. This study was conducted to address whether a discord exists between these measures in predicting obesity-related cardiometabolic risk in a Thai population and to test whether associations between the measures and risk factors for cardiovascular disease have a sex-specific inclination.

Associations of aerobic and strength exercise with clinical laboratory test values.

Objectives: Physical exercise may affect levels of blood-based biomarkers. However, exercise status is seldom considered in the interpretation of laboratory results. This study reports the associations between habitual exercise participation and clinical laboratory test results.

Interplay of Fluorescence and Phosphorescence in Organic Biluminescent Emitters.

Biluminescent organic emitters show simultaneous fluorescence and phosphorescence at room temperature. So far, the optimization of the room-temperature phosphorescence in these materials has drawn the attention of research. However, the continuous-wave operation of these emitters will consequently turn them into systems with vastly imbalanced singlet and triplet populations, which is due to the respective excited-state lifetimes.

Impact of risperidone on leptin and insulin in children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of dose and duration of risperidone treatment on cardiovascular and diabetes risk biomarkers in children and adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs).

Design And Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis, a total of 168 ASDs patients (89% male) treated with a risperidone-based regimen for ≥12months were included. Blood samples were analyzed for glucose and lipid metabolic markers, adiponectin, leptin, prolactin, cortisol and high sensitive C-reactive protein.

Anonymisation of geographical distance matrices via Lipschitz embedding.

Background: Anonymisation of spatially referenced data has received increasing attention in recent years. Whereas the research focus has been on the anonymisation of point locations, the disclosure risk arising from the publishing of inter-point distances and corresponding anonymisation methods have not been studied systematically.

Methods: We propose a new anonymisation method for the release of geographical distances between records of a microdata file--for example patients in a medical database.

Assessing the Impact of Analytical Error on Perceived Disease Severity.

Context: The perception of the severity of disease from laboratory results assumes that the results are free of analytical error; however, analytical error creates a spread of results into a band and thus a range of perceived disease severity.

Objective: To assess the impact of analytical errors by calculating the change in perceived disease severity, represented by the hazard ratio, using non-high-density lipoprotein (nonHDL) cholesterol as an example.

Design: We transformed nonHDL values into ranges using the assumed total allowable errors for total cholesterol (9%) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (13%).

Temporal relationship between vitamin D status and parathyroid hormone in the United States.

Background: Interpretation of parathyroid hormone (iPTH) requires knowledge of vitamin D status that is influenced by season.

Objective: Characterize the temporal relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels [25(OH)D3] and intact iPTH for several seasons, by gender and latitude in the U.S.

Small-dense LDL/large-buoyant LDL ratio associates with the metabolic syndrome.

Objective: Heterogeneous particles of intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) vary in atherogenesis. We investigated the association between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) score and lipoprotein subclasses.

Design And Methods: A total of 260 outpatients were scored into six groups, based on their number of MetS components.

Comparison of a direct enzymatic assay and polyacrylamide tube gel electrophoresis for measurement of small, dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Background: Small, dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (sdLDL-C) has been linked to the progression of cardiovascular disease. We compared two methods for determination of sdLDL-C, a direct enzymatic (ENZ) method and a polyacrylamide tube gel electrophoresis (PGE) assay, and investigated the associations of both sdLDL-C measurements with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We analyzed 242 patient sera for sdLDL and atherosclerosis-related markers.

Small-dense LDL cholesterol/large-buoyant LDL cholesterol ratio as an excellent marker for indicating lipodystrophy in HIV-infected patients.

Objectives: To examine whether the lipid parameters are predicting factors for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated lipodystrophy.

Methods: Whole-body fat compositions of HIV-positive patients receiving stavudine-containing antiretroviral regimens (n = 79) were determined. Lipodystrophy was defined as a ratio of trunk fat mass/lower limb fat mass greater than 2.