Persulfate assisted photocatalytic and antibacterial activity of TiO-CuO coupled with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide.

Photocatalysts of TiO-CuO coupled with 30% graphene oxide (GO) were hydrothermally fabricated, which varied the TiO to CuO weight ratios to 1:4, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1 and 4:1 and reduced to form TiO-CuO/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) photocatalysts. They were characterized using XRD, TEM, SEM, XPS, Raman, and DRS technologies. TiO-CuO composites and TiO-CuO/GO degrade methylene blue when persulfate ions are present.

Predicting Penicillin Allergy: A United States Multicenter Retrospective Study.

Background: Using the reaction history in logistic regression and machine learning (ML) models to predict penicillin allergy has been reported based on non-US data.

Objective: We developed ML positive penicillin allergy testing prediction models from multisite US data.

Methods: Retrospective data from 4 US-based hospitals were grouped into 4 datasets: enriched training (1:3 case-control matched cohort), enriched testing, nonenriched internal testing, and nonenriched external testing.

Drug allergy in older adults: A study from the United States Drug Allergy Registry.

Background: Older adults have an increased risk of adverse drug reactions and negative effects associated with alternative antibiotic use. Although the number of antibiotic allergies reported increases with age, the characteristics and outcomes of older adults receiving drug allergy assessment are unknown.

Objective: To assess the characteristics and outcomes of drug allergy evaluations in older adults.

Prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in Sri Lanka: a new global hotspot-estimates from the Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Survey 2018/2019.

Introduction: This study's objective was to produce robust, comparable estimates of the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the Sri Lankan adult population, where previous studies suggest the highest prevalence in South Asia.

Research Design And Methods: We used data on 6661 adults from the nationally representative 2018/2019 first wave of the Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Study (SLHAS). We classified glycemic status based on previous diabetes diagnosis, and either fasting plasma glucose (FPG), or FPG and 2-hour plasma glucose (2-h PG).

Penicillin allergy delabeling: Opportunities for implementation and dissemination.

Although existing as a safety measure to prevent iatrogenic harm, unconfirmed penicillin allergy labels have a negative impact on personal and public health. One downstream effect of unconfirmed penicillin allergy is the continued emergence and transmission of resistant bacteria and their associated health care costs. Recognizing the consequences of inaccurate penicillin allergy labels, professional and public health organizations have started promoting the adoption of proactive penicillin allergy evaluations, with the ultimate goal of removing the penicillin allergy label when the allergy is disproved, also known as penicillin allergy "delabeling.

Association of Self-reported High-Risk Allergy History With Allergy Symptoms After COVID-19 Vaccination.

Importance: Allergic history in individuals with confirmed anaphylaxis to a messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine is common. However, the risk factors for allergy symptoms after receiving the vaccine are unknown.

Objective: To assess the association between self-reported history of high-risk allergy and self-reported allergic reactions after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination of health care employees.

First-Dose mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Allergic Reactions: Limited Role for Excipient Skin Testing.

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that a severe or immediate allergic reaction to the first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is a contraindication for the second dose.

Objective: To assess outcomes associated with excipient skin testing after a reported allergic reaction to the first dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Methods: We identified a consecutive sample of patients with reported allergic reactions after the first dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine who underwent allergy assessment with skin testing to polyethylene glycol (PEG) and, when appropriate, polysorbate 80.

Patient Characteristics and Concerns about Drug Allergy: A Report from the United States Drug Allergy Registry.

Background: Drug allergy is frequently reported, but uncommonly confirmed with diagnostic testing. Although drug allergy assessments can improve clinical care, patient concerns may impact the optimal diagnostic approach and/or the clinical effectiveness of diagnostic testing.

Objective: To assess drug allergy patient concerns.

Indels, structural variation, and recombination drive genomic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has a great capacity for evolutionary adaptation to evade host immunity and develop drug resistance. Current understanding of parasite evolution is impeded by the fact that a large fraction of the genome is either highly repetitive or highly variable and thus difficult to analyze using short-read sequencing technologies. Here, we describe a resource of deep sequencing data on parents and progeny from genetic crosses, which has enabled us to perform the first genome-wide, integrated analysis of SNP, indel and complex polymorphisms, using Mendelian error rates as an indicator of genotypic accuracy.

Functional analysis of sirtuin genes in multiple Plasmodium falciparum strains.

Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of severe human malaria, employs antigenic variation to avoid host immunity. Antigenic variation is achieved by transcriptional switching amongst polymorphic var genes, enforced by epigenetic modification of chromatin. The histone-modifying 'sirtuin' enzymes PfSir2a and PfSir2b have been implicated in this process.

Predicting functional and regulatory divergence of a drug resistance transporter gene in the human malaria parasite.

Background: The paradigm of resistance evolution to chemotherapeutic agents is that a key coding mutation in a specific gene drives resistance to a particular drug. In the case of resistance to the anti-malarial drug chloroquine (CQ), a specific mutation in the transporter pfcrt is associated with resistance. Here, we apply a series of analytical steps to gene expression data from our lab and leverage 3 independent datasets to identify pfcrt-interacting genes.

Mutation in the Plasmodium falciparum CRT protein determines the stereospecific activity of antimalarial cinchona alkaloids.

The Cinchona alkaloids are quinoline aminoalcohols that occur as diastereomer pairs, typified by (-)-quinine and (+)-quinidine. The potency of (+)-isomers is greater than the (-)-isomers in vitro and in vivo against Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. They may act by the inhibition of heme crystallization within the parasite digestive vacuole in a manner similar to chloroquine.