Publications by authors named "Nkemakonam Okoye"

Background: A retrospective observational study was conducted at 3 health care organizations to identify clinical gaps in care for patients with stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD), and financial opportunity from U.S. risk adjustment payment systems.

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Patients with autoimmune diseases are at higher risk for severe infection due to their underlying disease and immunosuppressive treatments. In this real-world observational study of 463 patients with autoimmune diseases, we examined risk factors for poor B and T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. We show a high frequency of inadequate anti-spike IgG responses to vaccination and boosting in the autoimmune population but minimal suppression of T cell responses.

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Herein, we review established clinical use cases for SARS-CoV-2 antibody measures, which include diagnosis of recent prior infection, isolating high titer convalescent plasma, diagnosing multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and booster dosing in the immunosuppressed and other populations. We then address whether an antibody correlate of protection (CoP) for SARS-CoV-2 has been successfully defined with the following considerations: Antibody responses in the immunocompetent, vaccine type, variants, use of binding antibody tests vs. neutralization tests, and endpoint measures.

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Background: Exposure to lead may cause severe adverse effects such as anemia, neurologic damage, developmental disorders, and reproductive disorders. Consequently, in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reduced its blood lead reference value from 5 µg/dL to 3.5 µg/dL in pediatric patients, 1 to 5 years old.

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Article Synopsis
  • The National Cancer Institute established the Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) in October 2020 to study immune responses to COVID-19 and enhance serological testing technologies.
  • SeroNet involves 25 research institutions collaborating on COVID-19 serological assays, including developing and sharing assay procedures and harmonization plans.
  • A structured approach was taken to calibrate various serological assays to reference standards, resulting in a wide range of developed assays that will allow for consistent reporting and future data comparisons across studies.
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Article Synopsis
  • - In October 2020, the National Cancer Institute launched the Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) to research the immune response to COVID-19 and improve serological testing through collaboration among 25 research institutions.
  • - A detailed survey was conducted to gather information on various COVID-19 serological assays, while a protocol was established to calibrate these assays to reference standards for better data comparison.
  • - SeroNet institutions developed multiple COVID-19 serological assay methods and standardized calibration protocols, which will enhance the accuracy and comparability of future studies on SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine responses.
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Rhodium-105 (0.567 MeV β, 319 keV γ, 35.4 h half-life) was produced by neutron irradiation of enriched Ru (>99%) over multiple decades.

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We compared the performance of the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 antigen card to that of a standard reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay (Thermo Fisher TaqPath COVID-19 Combo kit) for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2,645 asymptomatic students presenting for screening at the University of Utah. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 1.7% of the study participants by RT-PCR.

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Gabapentin was thought to have low abuse potential, but it is increasingly being abused by people with substance use disorder in an attempt to potentiate the euphoric effects from opioids and other CNS depressants. Additionally, infants co-exposed to gabapentin and opioids during pregnancy tend to exhibit prolonged and more severe neonatal abstinence syndrome. In this study, we describe positivity rates among commonly abused drugs and rates of co-medication with gabapentin in a large dataset of umbilical cord tissue specimens (n = 25,422) submitted for routine newborn drug testing at a national clinical reference laboratory (ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, USA).

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Introduction: Trithiol chelates are suitable for labeling radioarsenic (As: 2.49 MeV β, 26 h; As: 0.683 MeV β, 38.

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