Pathogen inactivation technology applied to a blood component collected from an asymptomatic carrier of Leishmania infantum: a case report

Asymptomatic Leishmania infections have been the main cause of transfusion transmission in endemic areas. Polymerase chain reaction has been used to detect L. infantum DNA in the peripheral blood of asymptomatic Leishmania carriers. In our region, the prevalence of asymptomatic L. infantum infection in donors is markedly high (5·9% of donors studied). We investigated the ability of pathogen inactivation technology, using amotosalen and UVA illumination, to eliminate L. infantum in a blood component collected from an asymptomatic L. infantum infected donor. This is the first report of the INTERCEPT system being used to eliminate a parasite from a component collected from a donor.     

Mining the protein data bank to differentiate error from structural variation in clustered static structures: an examination of HIV protease

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) contains over 71,000 structures. Extensively studied proteins have hundreds of submissions available, including mutations, different complexes, and space groups, allowing for application of data-mining algorithms to analyze an array of static structures and gain insight about a protein’s structural variation and possibly its dynamics. This investigation is a case study of HIV protease (PR) using in-house algorithms for data mining and structure superposition through generalized formulæ that account for multiple conformations and fractional occupancies. Temperature factors (B-factors) are compared with spatial displacement from the mean structure over the entire study set and separately over bound and ligand-free structures, to assess the significance of structural deviation in a statistical context. Space group differences are also examined.     

Heterogeneity of alleles encoding high‐ and low‐prevalence red blood cell antigens across Africa: useful data to facilitate transfusion in African patients

Ethnic variations in red blood cell (RBC) antigens can be a source of alloimmunization, especially in migrant populations. To improve transfusion safety in continental Africa and countries with African migrants, we performed RBC genotyping to determine allele frequencies coding for high‐ and low‐prevalence antigens. A total of 481 blood samples were collected in ethnic groups from West, Central and East Africa. Molecular typing was performed using a polymerase chain reaction – reverse sequence specific oligonucleotide method. Results demonstrated no DI*1, DI*3, YT*2, SC*2, LW*7, KN*2 alleles in any sample and the CO*2 allele was rare. The frequency of LU*1 was comparable to that of European‐Caucasians (2%) except in Biaka pygmies (8%). The frequency of CROM*?1 was high in Mbuti pygmies (13%). High frequency of KN*7 and KN*6 may reflect selection pressure in the countries investigated. Analysis of Dombrock allele patterns confirmed uneven distribution of the DO*1 and DO*2 alleles with high frequencies of DO*?4 and DO*?5 in all groups. Altogether, findings demonstrated extensive allele‐frequency heterogeneity across Africa and suggested that knowledge of patient ethnicity gives information about the high‐prevalence antigens that may be lacking. These data are medically useful to support transfusion care of African migrants living in countries where the majority of the population is from a different ethnical background.     

Statistical Inference in Abstracts Published in Cardiovascular Journals

BackgroundIn 2016, the American Statistical Association stated that the use of statistical significance leads to distortion of the scientific process. The principal alternative to significance or null hypothesis testing (NHT) is estimation with point estimates and confidence intervals (CIs).ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine the time trend of statistical inference and statistical reporting style in abstracts in major cardiovascular journals.MethodsA total of 84,250 abstracts published from 1975 to 2019 in 9 high-ranking cardiovascular journals (Circulation, Circulation Research, European Heart Journal, European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Imaging, European Journal of Heart Failure, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, and JAMA Cardiology) were reviewed; in particular, proportions of abstracts containing statistical inference and its major variants (NHT, significance testing) were compared over time and among journals.ResultsOverall, 49,924 abstracts (59%) contained statistical inference. Among these abstracts, NHT was the most frequent reporting style of statistical inference (79% among all journals). Journals differed considerably in the prevalence of CI reporting (1% to 78% in 2017–2019). With the exception of 2 journals, the proportion of abstracts containing CIs was higher in the more recent period. From 2013–2015 to 2017–2019, the proportion of abstracts containing only CIs increased by 5 (95% CI: 0 to 10), 18 (95% CI: 15 to 21), and 9 (95% CI: 3 to 15) percentage points in the European Heart Journal, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, respectively.ConclusionsNHT is still the prevailing reporting style of statistical inference in major cardiovascular journals. Reporting of CIs in abstracts of major cardiovascular journals appears to be growing more popular.