HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis programmatic preferences among people who inject drugs: findings from a discrete choice experiment.

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) holds promise for decreasing new HIV infections among people who inject drugs (PWID), yet daily oral PrEP use is low, and PrEP modality and delivery strategy preferences in this population remain understudied.

Methods: From May 2022-June 2023, we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with PWID in San Diego, California. Participants viewed 18 PrEP program scenarios in sets of three and chose their preferred scenario within each set.

Enzymatic production of rare sugars with a new mutant of cellobiose 2-epimerase from Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus.

Cellobiose 2-epimerase from Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus (CsCE) can epimerize and isomerize lactose into epilactose and lactulose respectively. Competition between these reactions reactions has prompted the search for new enzymes to drive the reaction in one direction or the other. The isomerization and epimerization capacity of a novel mutant CsCE (CsCE H356N) was evaluated, obtaining a maximum lactulose yield of 64.

A mixed methods study to inform fatal overdose prevention in San Diego, California: Perspectives from people who use drugs.

Background: In the United States, community overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs have demonstrated efficacy in reducing opioid-related mortality. OEND programs have expanded across San Diego County, California, but differential naloxone accessibility among people who use drugs (PWUD) has not been assessed. We examined factors that shape individual naloxone accessibility in San Diego.

Illicit Fentanyl Use and Hepatitis C Virus Seroconversion Among People Who Inject Drugs in Tijuana and San Diego: Results From a Binational Cohort Study.

Background: Illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) increases overdose mortality, but its role in infectious disease transmission is unknown. We examined whether IMF use predicts hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence among a cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico.

Methods: PWID were recruited during 2020-2022, undergoing semi-annual interviewer-administered surveys and HIV and HCV serological rapid tests through 2024.

Safe Injection Self-Efficacy is Associated with HCV and HIV Seropositivity Among People Who Inject Drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region.

Safe injection self-efficacy (SISE) is negatively associated with injection risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) but has not been examined in differing risk environments. We compared responses to a validated SISE scale between PWID in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico, and examine correlates of SISE among PWID in Tijuana. PWID were recruited via street outreach for a longitudinal cohort study from October 2020-September 2021.

Water, sanitation and hygiene insecurity predict abscess incidence among people who inject drugs in a binational US-Mexico metropolitan area: A longitudinal cohort study.

Introduction: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of developing injection-related infections, including abscesses. Access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are key human rights and services; yet these services have been underexplored as predictors of abscesses among PWID.

Methods: Longitudinal analysis was employed among a cohort of PWID to determine if WASH insecurity (lack of access) was associated with abscess incidence in the Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, United States metropolitan area during 24-months of follow-up survey data from 2020 to 2023.

Safe Injection Self-Efficacy is associated with HCV and HIV seropositivity among people who inject drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana border region.

Background: Safe injection self-efficacy (SISE) is negatively associated with injection risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) but has not been examined in differing risk environments. We compared responses to a validated SISE scale between PWID in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico, and examine correlates of SISE among PWID in Tijuana.

Methods: PWID were recruited via street outreach for a longitudinal cohort study from October 2020 - September 2021.

A brief instrument measuring the water, sanitation and hygiene domain of menstrual health among women who inject drugs.

Background: Domains of adequate menstrual health (MH) include access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). People who menstruate with social disadvantages-such as homelessness or drug injection practices-often face barriers to WASH access. However, validated instruments to measure MH are limited among marginalized populations, and available instruments involve lengthy surveys.

HIV-1 transmission dynamics among people who inject drugs on the US/Mexico border during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prosepective cohort study.

Background: We examined HIV prevalence and transmission dynamics among people who inject drugs in the U.S./Mexico border region during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes in injecting versus smoking heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California, 2020-2023.

Background: Amidst an increasingly toxic drug supply in North America, people who inject drugs may be transitioning to smoking them. We aimed to assess changes in injecting and smoking opioids and methamphetamine among a cohort of people who inject drugs from San Diego, California.

Methods: Over five six-month periods spanning October 2020-April 2023, we assessed prevalence of injecting and smoking opioids or methamphetamine and whether participants used these drugs more frequently by smoking than injecting.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene access among people who inject drugs in Tijuana and San Diego in 2020-2021: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) access is critical to public health and human dignity. People who inject drugs (PWID) experience stigma and structural violence that may limit WASH access. Few studies have assessed WASH access, insecurity, and inequities among PWID.

Changes in injecting versus smoking heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California, 2020 to 2023.

Background: Amidst a rapidly evolving drug supply in North America, people who inject drugs may be transitioning to smoking them. We aimed to assess changes in injecting and smoking heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine among a cohort of people who injected drugs at baseline from San Diego, California.

Methods: Over five six-month periods spanning October 2020-April 2023, we assessed prevalence of injecting and smoking opioids or methamphetamine and whether participants used these drugs more frequently by smoking than injecting.

Health, harm reduction, and social service providers' perspectives on the appropriateness and feasibility of peer distribution of HIV self-test kits among people who use drugs.

Background: People who use drugs (PWUD) experience elevated HIV risk and numerous barriers to facility-based HIV testing. HIV self-testing (HIVST) could circumvent many of those barriers and is acceptable among PWUD, yet HIVST implementation for PWUD is limited. Service providers' perspectives on specific HIVST delivery strategies could help increase availability for PWUD.

Willingness to use and distribute HIV self-testing kits among people who inject drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana border region.

Background: HIV self-testing (HIVST) could increase HIV testing access among people who inject drugs (PWID), and secondary distribution (i.e., peer-delivery) of HIVST kits in PWID social networks could further expand coverage.

WaSH insecurity and anxiety among people who inject drugs in the Tijuana-San Diego border region.

Background: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) insecurity increases the risk of water-related diseases. However, limited research has been conducted on psychosocial distress as it relates to WaSH insecurity, especially among people who inject drugs (PWID). We examined the relationship between WaSH insecurity and related anxiety among PWID living in different housing conditions along the US-Mexico border region.

Catalytic Gasification and Reforming of Residual Biomass in a Bench Scale System with Low Cost Catalysts.

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of using of different catalysts for reforming tars contained in the syngas of biomass gasifiers. The conversion of the tar content allows to obtain high quality syngas and to maximize the gas fraction. A bench scale equipment consisting of an autothermal fluidized bed gasifier and a downstream packed bed reformer was used.

A Brief Peer-Led Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among People Who Inject Drugs in San Diego County: Results From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: We evaluated the impact of a brief peer-led intervention on COVID-19 vaccination among people who inject drugs (PWID) presenting at syringe services program (SSP) locations in San Diego County, California.

Methods: Between March and July 2022, PWID aged ≥18 years without recent voluntary COVID-19 testing who were not up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations received a single-session motivational interviewing intervention (LinkUP) or an attention-matched didactic control condition from trained peer counselors at SSP sites randomized by week. Following either 30-minute session, counselors offered referrals to local vaccination services.

Metrological Qualification of PD Analysers for Insulation Diagnosis of HVDC and HVAC Grids.

On-site partial discharge (PD) measurements have turned out to be a very efficient technique for determining the insulation condition in high-voltage electrical grids (AIS, cable systems, GIS, HVDC converters, etc.); however, there is not any standardised procedure for determining the performances of PD measuring systems. In on-line and on-site PD measurements, high-frequency current transformers (HFCTs) are commonly used as sensors as they allow for monitoring over long distances in high-voltage installations.

Drug checking in the fentanyl era: Utilization and interest among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California.

Background: In North America, overdose rates have steeply risen over the past five years, largely due to the ubiquity of illicitly manufactured fentanyls in the drug supply. Drug checking services (DCS) represent a promising harm reduction strategy and characterizing experiences of use and interest among people who inject drugs (PWID) is a priority.

Methods: Between February-October 2022, PWID participating in a cohort study in San Diego, CA and Tijuana, Mexico completed structured surveys including questions about DCS, socio-demographics and substance use behaviors.

EVALUATION OF THE INCLUSION OF SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IN A TELEMEDICINE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY SCREENING PROGRAM: A Real Clinical Practice.

Purpose: To evaluate whether combining spectral domain optical coherence tomography with monoscopic fundus photography using a nonmydriatic camera (MFP-NMC) improves the accuracy of diabetic macular edema (DME) referrals in a teleophthalmology diabetic retinopathy screening program.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with all diabetic patients aged 18 years or older who attended screening from September 2016 to December 2017. We assessed DME according to the three MFP-NMC and the four spectral domain optical coherence tomography criteria.

"": Experiences with rising overdose incidence caused by drug supply changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Diego-Tijuana border metroplex.

Background: People who use drugs (PWUD) in the San Diego, USA and Tijuana, Mexico metroplex face high overdose risk related to historic methamphetamine use and relatively recent fentanyl introduction into local drug supplies. The personal overdose experiences of PWUD in this region are understudied, however, and may have been influenced by the COVID pandemic.

Methods: From September-November 2021, we conducted 28 qualitative interviews among PWUD ≥18 years old sampled from an ongoing cohort study in the San Diego-Tijuana metroplex.

Preliminary Efficacy of a Theory-Informed Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Testing Uptake Among People Who Inject Drugs in San Diego County: Findings From a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) have low rates of COVID-19 testing yet are vulnerable to severe disease. In partnership with a mobile syringe service program (SSP) in San Diego County, CA, we developed the evidence-, community-, and Social Cognitive Theory-informed "LinkUP" intervention (tailored education, motivational interviewing, problem-solving, and planning) to increase COVID-19 testing uptake among PWID.

Purpose: To assess preliminary efficacy of LinkUP in increasing PWID COVID-19 testing in a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT).