Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Int J Infect Dis 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 67 Huntingdon St, Boston, USA.

Objectives Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) burden is rising among persons living with HIV (PLWH) in sub-Saharan Africa. It is unclear whether this reflects absolute increase in HIV-related CVD risk or unmasking by improved survival. We, therefore, examined whether HIV is associated with adverse cardiometabolic profiles among South African adults. Read More

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America.

Background: Asthma disproportionately affects African-American/Black (AA/B) and Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) patients and individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES), but the relationship between SES and asthma morbidity within these racial/ethnic groups is inadequately understood.

Objective: To determine the relationship between SES and asthma morbidity among AA/B and H/L adults with moderate-severe asthma using multi-domain SES frameworks and mediation analyses.

Methods: We analyzed enrollment data from the PREPARE randomized trial, evaluating inhaled corticosteroid supplementation to rescue therapy. Read More

J Ren Nutr 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC.

Objective: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension eating plan (DASH) improves hypertension in Black individuals and is associated with favorable chronic kidney disease (CKD) outcomes. Yet, adherence to DASH is low among US adults in general, particularly among Black Americans. We assessed perceptions about DASH, its cultural compatibility, and barriers and facilitators to DASH adherence in Black adults with CKD. Read More

Lancet Glob Health 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Ezintsha Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2193, South Africa.

Lancet Glob Health 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, South Africa; School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Background: Up to the end of January, 2022, South Africa has had four recognisable COVID-19 pandemic waves, each predominantly dominated by one variant of concern: the ancestral strain with an Asp614Gly mutation during the first wave, the beta variant (B.1.351) during the second wave, the delta variant (B. Read More

Maturitas 2022 May 13;163:15-22. Epub 2022 May 13.

University of Western Australia, Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (incorporating the Lions Eye Institute), Perth, WA, Australia; Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia; School of Medicine, Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

Worldwide, glaucoma affects about 3% of the population over the age of 50 years and is a leading cause of irreversible visual impairment among older people. Because glaucoma is asymptomatic in its early stages and can be challenging to diagnose clinically, it often remains undiagnosed until substantial vision loss has occurred. Efficient methods of glaucoma screening are therefore warranted for early detection of disease. Read More

Eur J Med Chem 2022 May 14;238:114460. Epub 2022 May 14.

Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudingerweg 5, Mainz, 55128, Germany. Electronic address:

Parasitic cysteine proteases such as rhodesain (TbCatL) from Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense are relevant targets for developing new potential drugs against parasitic diseases (e. g. Human African Trypanosomiasis). Read More

Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2022 May 22. Epub 2022 May 22.

Radiation Protection of Patients Unit, Radiation Safety and Monitoring Section, Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria.

This preliminary study aims towards the establishment of regional diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for routine adult computed tomography (CT) examinations. The study was performed on 54 CT facilities from four African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Senegal) and the results compared with international DRLs. Data were collected from facilities using a structured questionnaire provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Read More

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Shahbad Daulatpur, Delhi, 110042, India.

In recent times, solar energy has been utilized for refrigeration systems due to its efficiency and clean form of energy. Moreover, the evacuated tube collector (ETC)-assisted vapor absorption refrigeration system plays a significant role in the modern industrial world compared to the traditional electrical system. However, the conventional vapor absorption refrigeration system design is complex in nature and causes corrosion in the system. Read More

Cell Mol Life Sci 2022 May 21;79(6):309. Epub 2022 May 21.

Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China.

Blood clot formation induced by dysfunctional coagulation is a frequent complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and a high-risk factor for severe illness and death. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are implicated in COVID-19-induced immunothrombosis. Furthermore, human cathelicidin, a NET component, can perturb the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its ACE2 receptor, which mediates viral entry into cells. Read More

Abdom Radiol (NY) 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0628, San Francisco, CA, 94143-0628, USA.

Purpose: To evaluate the gender and racial diversity of plenary session speakers in the annual meetings of Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR) over 2016 to 2020.

Materials And Methods: The brochures of the SAR annual meetings were reviewed for plenary session speakers and titles. Publicly available institutional profiles and social media were reviewed by the investigator in order to infer gender and race. Read More

Child Dev 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Human Development and Family Science, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.

This study examined bidirectional associations between daily happiness and negative mood and subjective and objective sleep measures. Participants were 311 adolescents (M  = 17.37 years; 51. Read More

Child Dev 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.

The present study investigated developmental pathways that can contribute to chronic disease among rural African Americans. With a sample of 342 African American youth (59% female) from the southeastern United States followed for nearly two decades (2001-2019), we examined the prospective association between family poverty during adolescence (ages 11-18) and insulin resistance (IR) in young adulthood (ages 25-29) as well as underlying biological and psychosocial mechanisms. Results indicated family poverty during adolescence forecast higher levels of IR in young adulthood, with accelerated immune cell aging at age 20 partially mediating this association. Read More

JMIR Res Protoc 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney, 94 Mallett St, Sydney, AU.

Background: Decentralized health systems in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) impacted by humanitarian crises lack resources and a qualified workforce to attend to the overwhelming demand for mental health care in emergencies. Innovative approaches that are safe, cost-effective, and scalable are needed to address the burden of traumatic stress brought by emergencies. High mobile phone ownership rates combined with the precision of neural, cognitive, and biometric measures of trauma and its feasible integration with Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes digital application (app) interventions a promising pathway to promote precision diagnosis and high-impact care. Read More

Mol Biol Rep 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Background: Zebrafish (Danio rerio), a small freshwater fish that originates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and northern Myanmar, have been widely used as a model organism for studies of developmental biology and genetics. The current study aimed to determine the origin of South African pet shop stock that are currently being used to establish a laboratory population founded from diverse sources available locally.

Methods And Results: Zebrafish DNA was extracted from 65 specimens housed at the University of the Free State (UFS) Department of Genetics. Read More

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

TSET Health Promotion Research Center, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 655 Research Parkway, Suite 400, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA.

This study explored the role of social activism in the association of exposure to media coverage of police brutality and protests with perceptions of mental health. Data for this study came from a sample of African Americans (N = 304) who responded to an online survey. Perceptions of mental health were assessed using a single item developed by the research team. Read More

Nat Rev Genet 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

J Natl Med Assoc 2022 May 17. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Kidney Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL, United States. Electronic address:

Lupus Nephritis is a complex clinical manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It disproportionately affects minorities, especially African Americans (AA) with higher rates of progression to end stage kidney disease. Several factors are implicated including genetic predisposition to both SLE and chronic kidney disease, social determinants of health such as income inequality, education disparities, social isolation/lack of support, health care access and affordability. Read More

J AOAC Int 2022 May 20. Epub 2022 May 20.

Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing, 100176 China.

Background: African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiologic agent of African swine fever (ASF), a disease of highly contagious and significant threat to pork production. At present, the sensitive detection methods are the keys to the disease control.

Objective: Full length p72 is produced by eukaryotic system and its monoclonal antibody (mAb) 34C10 is subsequently recovered. Read More

Chemosphere 2022 May 17:134977. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Nature Conservation, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.

Lead (Pb) exposure is a widespread wildlife conservation threat, but impacts on reptile populations remain poorly documented. In this study, we examined Pb exposure and accumulation in a wild population of Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) at Lake St Lucia, South Africa. Recreational angling has occurred in the area since the 1930s and incidental ingestion of Pb fishing weights has previously been identified as a major source of Pb poisoning in the local crocodile population. Read More

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2022 May 17. Epub 2022 May 17.

Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229; Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229; Division of Allergy & Immunology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229. Electronic address:

Background: Asthma is the most common chronic condition in children and the third leading cause of hospitalization in pediatrics. The genome-wide association study catalog reports 140 studies with genome wide significance. A polygenic risk score (PRS) with predictive value across ancestries has not been evaluated for this important trait. Read More

Prog Cardiovasc Dis 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Healthy Living for Pandemic Event Protection (HL - PIVOT) Network, Chicago, IL, USA; Fisher Institute of Health and Well-Being, College of Health, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.

The United States (US) is similar to most industrialized countries in that it falls short on many of the basic metrics related to cardiovascular and overall health. These metrics include nutritional patterns, levels of physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and prevalence of overweight and obesity. These issues are even more apparent in underserved communities, among whom unhealthy living characteristics cluster and contribute to a disproportionate chronic disease burden. Read More

Lancet Infect Dis 2022 May 17. Epub 2022 May 17.

National Department of Health, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Background: Tuberculosis remains an important clinical and public health issue in South Africa, which has one of the highest tuberculosis burdens in the world. We aimed to estimate the burden of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis among people aged 15 years or older in South Africa.

Methods: This multistage, cluster-based, cross-sectional survey included eligible residents (age ≥15 years, who had slept in a house for ≥10 nights in the preceding 2 weeks) in 110 clusters nationally (cluster size of 500 people; selected by probability proportional-to-population size sampling). Read More

Forensic Sci Int Genet 2022 May 15;59:102720. Epub 2022 May 15.

National Engineering Laboratory for Forensic Science, Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics of Ministry of Public Security, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security, Beijing 100038, China. Electronic address:

Microhaplotypes are forensic genetic markers that combine single nucleotide polymorphisms in close proximity to one another. Highly discriminative microhaplotype markers could be superior to short tandem repeats (STRs) in DNA mixture deconvolution investigations because they are not interfered by stutters. In this study, the effective number of alleles (A) and discrimination power values of microhaplotypes and STRs were compared. Read More

Prev Vet Med 2022 Apr 29;204:105661. Epub 2022 Apr 29.

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland. Electronic address:

African Swine Fever (ASF) has emerged as a disease of great concern to swine producers and government disease control agencies because of its severe consequences to animal health and the pig industry. Early detection of an ASF introduction is considered essential for reducing the impact of the disease. Risk-based surveillance approaches have been used as enhancements to early disease epidemic detection systems in livestock populations. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2022 May 13;623:306-317. Epub 2022 May 13.

State Key Laboratory Base for Eco-Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China. Electronic address:

Porous carbon-supported transition metals and their compounds have attracted much attention as sulfur host materials for cathodes of lithium-sulfur batteries, due to their high chemisorption capacity and ability to catalyze the conversion of polysulfides. However, actual activity of these materials is not very high because of low specific surface areas of transition metal compounds synthesized at high temperatures. In this study, ultra-fine vanadium nitride particles with an average particle size of ca. Read More

JCO Glob Oncol 2022 May;8:e2200017

Section of Hematology/Oncology, Center for Global Health, University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chicago, IL.

Purpose: This study investigated the status of training and preparedness for oncology practice and research and degree of interprofessional collaboration among health care professionals in the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria.

Methods: A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used. Three hundred seventeen respondents completed a three-part, online questionnaire. Read More

JAMA Netw Open 2022 May 2;5(5):e2213234. Epub 2022 May 2.

Office of Faculty Development and Diversity, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California.

Importance: Patient safety reporting systems (PSRSs) are designed to decrease the risk of harm to patients due to medical errors. Owing to the voluntary nature of PSRSs, implicit bias of the reporter may affect the management of safety events reported. Stanford Alert For Events (SAFE) is the PSRS used at Stanford Health Care. Read More