A multicenter experience of thrombotic microangiopathies in Turkey: The Turkish Hematology Research and Education Group (ThREG)-TMA01 study

Thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) are rare, but life-threatening disorders characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia (MAHAT) associated with multiorgan dysfunction as a result of microvascular thrombosis and tissue ischemia. The differentiation of the etiology is of utmost importance as the pathophysiological basis will dictate the choice of appropriate treatment.We retrospectively evaluated 154 (99 females and 55 males) patients who received therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) due to a presumptive diagnosis of TMA, who had serum ADAMTS13 activity/anti-ADAMTS13 antibody analysis at the time of hospital admission. The median age of the study cohort was 36 (14-84). 67 (43.5%), 32 (20.8%), 27 (17.5%) and 28 (18.2%) patients were diagnosed as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), infection/complement-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (IA/CA-HUS), secondary TMA and TMA-not otherwise specified (TMA-NOS), respectively. Patients received a median of 18 (1­75) plasma volume exchanges for 14 (153) days. 81 (52.6%) patients received concomitant steroid therapy with TPE. Treatment responses could be evaluated in 137 patients. 90 patients (65.7%) achieved clinical remission following TPE, while 47 (34.3%) patients had non-responsive disease. 25 (18.2%) non-responsive patients died during follow-up. Our study present real-life data on the distribution and follow-up of patients with TMAs who were referred to therapeutic apheresis centers for the application of TPE.     

Carbon fibre reinforced cellulose-based polymers: intensifying interfacial adhesion between the fibre and the matrix

Interfacial interactions governing the interfacial adhesion between cellulose propionate and carbon fibre surface are placed under scrutiny to pave the way towards the development of green cellulose-based carbon fibre reinforced polymers. A range of molecular entities are deposited on the surface by initially grafting aromatic structures with appropriate functions via diazonium species followed by further derivatization of these entities. Cellulose propionate was also bound covalently to the surface via a tosylated derivative invoking its facile nucleophilic displacement reaction with surface-grafted amino functions. Significant increase in interfacial shear strength was obtained for the cellulose propionate-grafted carbon fibre composite as well as for the 4-(aminomethyl)benzene-functionalized sample, in the latter case possible hydrogen bonding took place with the cellulose propionate matrix. Furthermore, the positive effect of a highly lipophilic and yet compact –CF₃ substituent was also noted. In order to let the grafted structure efficiently penetrate into the matrix, steric factors, lipophilicity and potential secondary interactions should be considered. It needs to be pointed out that we provide the first synthetic strategy to covalently bind cellulose derivatives to a largely graphitic surface and as such, it has relevance to carbonaceous materials being applied in cellulose-based innovative materials in the future.

Interfacial adhesion of a cellulose propionate/carbon fibre composite is tailored providing a synthetic strategy to bind cellulose derivatives to graphitic surfaces.     

Polymorphism and haplotype analysis of three novel short tandem repeat loci in the p11.4 region of human X chromosome

International Journal of Legal Medicine - X-chromosomal short tandem repeats (X-STRs) are useful for the identification of absent single parents and complex blood relations. In the present study,...