Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices in Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Programs in the United States.

Background: Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) regimens typically prioritize ease of antimicrobial administration, tolerability, safety, and accessibility over using the narrowest-spectrum antimicrobial. In light of this, OPAT providers often utilize different techniques to promote antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in their OPAT programs. This study aims to characterize the AMS practices of OPAT programs across the United States that might meet The Joint Commission requirements for outpatient AMS metrics.

Comparison of Sequential Dalbavancin With Standard-of-Care Treatment for Bloodstream Infections.

Background: Dalbavancin (DAL) is a long-acting lipoglycopeptide with activity against including methicillin-resistant (MRSA). This study investigates DAL as sequential therapy in bloodstream infections (BSIs).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from 2014 to 2021 comparing sequential DAL with standard-of-care therapy (SoC) for BSI.

Allowable room temperature excursions for refrigerated medications: A 20-year review.

Purpose: The aim of this review was to build upon previous literature describing the maximum duration for which refrigerated medications can tolerate room temperature excursions while maintaining stability and potency.

Methods: During a 12-month period ending in June 2021, the prescribing information and published monographs from multiple pharmacy compendia were reviewed for all medications and biologic products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human use since January 2000. Products that were subsequently withdrawn from the US market were excluded.

Immediate Hypersensitivity to Fluoroquinolones: A Cohort Assessing Cross-Reactivity.

Background: Fluoroquinolones are the second-most prescribed antimicrobial and are frequently associated with causing hypersensitivity reactions. Existing evidence regarding cross-reactivity of fluoroquinolones is limited, offering clinicians little guidance in understanding the implications of selecting an in-class alternative among patients with histories of allergic reactions to fluoroquinolones. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of immediate hypersensitivity reactions to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and/or moxifloxacin among patients with a history of immediate hypersensitivity to a different fluoroquinolone.

A comprehensive simulation-based assessment of office building performance adaptability to teleworking scenarios in different Canadian climate zones.

Recent studies have shown that office building systems do not adapt well to partial occupancy (e.g., from teleworking) and thus perform suboptimally.

Discovery of imidazopyridines containing isoindoline-1,3-dione framework as a new class of BACE1 inhibitors: Design, synthesis and SAR analysis.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by chronic neurodegeneration leading to dementia. The main cause of neurodegeneration is considered to be the accumulation of amyloid-β. Inhibiting BACE1 is a well-studied approach to lower the burden of amyloid-β aggregates.

Prophylactic efficacy of primaquine for preventing Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasitaemia in travelers: A meta-analysis and systematic review.

Background: With increased international travel over the world the need for safe and effective chemoprophylaxis for malaria is as great as ever. The choice of regimen is difficult, as effectiveness should be weighted against potential adverse effects. Although, some studies have reported high prophylactic efficacy of primaquine, there is no comprehensive evidence comparing its prophylactic effectiveness as well as toxicity.

Disturbance-free rapid solution exchange for magnetic tweezers single-molecule studies.

Single-molecule manipulation technologies have been extensively applied to studies of the structures and interactions of DNA and proteins. An important aspect of such studies is to obtain the dynamics of interactions; however the initial binding is often difficult to obtain due to large mechanical perturbation during solution introduction. Here, we report a simple disturbance-free rapid solution exchange method for magnetic tweezers single-molecule manipulation experiments, which is achieved by tethering the molecules inside microwells (typical dimensions-diameter (D): 40-50 μm, height (H): 100 μm; H:D∼2:1).

Buried centimeter-long micro- and nanochannel arrays in porous silicon and glass.

We developed a simple process to fabricate deeply buried micro- and nanoscale channels in glass and porous silicon from bulk silicon using a combination of ion beam irradiation, electrochemical anodization and high temperature oxidation. The depth, width and length of these structures can be controllably varied and we successfully fabricated an array of centimeter-long buried micro- and nanochannels. This process allows densely packed, arbitrary-shaped channel geometries with micro- to nanoscale dimensions to be produced in a three-dimensional multilevel architecture, providing a route to fabricate complex devices for use in nanofluidics and lab-on-a-chip systems.

Tuning the interface conductivity of LaAlO3/SrTiO3 using ion beams: implications for patterning.

Patterning of the two-dimensional electron gas formed at the interface of two band insulators such as LaAlO3/SrTiO3 is one of the key challenges in oxide electronics. The use of energetic ion beam exposure for engineering the interface conductivity has been investigated. We found that this method can be utilized to manipulate the conductivity at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface by carrier localization, arising from the defects created by the ion beam exposure, eventually producing an insulating ground state.

Silicon-based photonic crystals fabricated using proton beam writing combined with electrochemical etching method.

A method for fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) silicon nanostructures based on selective formation of porous silicon using ion beam irradiation of bulk p-type silicon followed by electrochemical etching is shown. It opens a route towards the fabrication of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D silicon-based photonic crystals with high flexibility and industrial compatibility. In this work, we present the fabrication of 2D photonic lattice and photonic slab structures and propose a process for the fabrication of 3D woodpile photonic crystals based on this approach.

Fabrication of concave silicon micro-mirrors.

We have fabricated spherical and cylindrical concave micro-mirrors in silicon with dimensions from 20 microm to 100 microm. The fabrication process involves standard photolithography followed by large area ion beam irradiation and electrochemical anodisation in a HF electrolyte. After thermal oxidation the silicon surface roughness is less than 2 nm.