Retention of "safe" blood donors. The Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study

BACKGROUND: There are obvious advantages to increasing donor retention. However, for reasons of blood safety, certain donors may, in fact, be more desirable to retain than others. “Safe” donors are defined as those who provided a blood donation that was negative on all laboratory screening tests and who subsequently reported no behavioral risks in response to an anonymous survey. This study identifies the most important factors affecting the intention of “safe” donors to provide another donation. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: An anonymous survey asking about donation history, sexual history, injecting drug use, and recent donation experience was mailed to 50,162 randomly selected allogeneic donors (including directed donors) who gave blood from April through July or from October through December 1993 at one of the five United States blood centers participating in the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study. Before mailing, questionnaires were coded to designate donors with nonreactive laboratory screening tests at their most recent donation. RESULTS: A total of 34,726 donors (69%) responded, with substantially higher response among repeat donors. According to reported intentions only, the vast majority of “safe” donors indicated a high likelihood of donating again within the next 12 months. Only 3.4 percent reported a low likelihood of donating again. A comparison of those likely to return and those unlikely to return reveals significant differences in demographics and in ratings of the donation experience. A higher proportion of those unlikely to return were first-time donors, minority-group donors, and donors with less education. The highest projected loss among “safe” donors was seen for those who gave a fair to poor assessment of their treatment by blood center staff or of their physical well-being during or after donating. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that efforts to improve donors' perceptions of their donation experience, as well as attention to the physical effects of blood donation, may aid in the retention of both repeat and first-time donors.     

Mixotrophic basis of Atlantic oligotrophic ecosystems

Oligotrophic subtropical gyres are the largest oceanic ecosystems, covering >40% of the Earth's surface. Unicellular cyanobacteria and the smallest algae (plastidic protists) dominate CO(2) fixation in these ecosystems, competing for dissolved inorganic nutrients. Here we present direct evidence from the surface mixed layer of the subtropical gyres and adjacent equatorial and temperate regions of the Atlantic Ocean, collected on three Atlantic Meridional Transect cruises on consecutive years, that bacterioplankton are fed on by plastidic and aplastidic protists at comparable rates. Rates of bacterivory were similar in the light and dark. Furthermore, because of their higher abundance, it is the plastidic protists, rather than the aplastidic forms, that control bacterivory in these waters. These findings change our basic understanding of food web function in the open ocean, because plastidic protists should now be considered as the main bacterivores as well as the main CO(2) fixers in the oligotrophic gyres.     

Fecal contamination with nuclease-positive bacteria as one of the indices of intestinal dysbacteriosis]

A comparative study of the levels of fecal contamination with opportunistic anaerobic nuclease-positive microorganisms was carried out in 114 normal subjects with normal intestinal microflora and in 82 somatic patients with disordered microflora in order to find new integral indicators of disturbed microflora of the intestine; along with routine methods, new techniques were employed. Integral assessment of the intestinal microflora was carried out by scintillation of the total count of facultative anaerobic microorganisms and the share of nuclease-positive bacteria, that yielded nucleic acid depolymerization areas 2 mm or higher from the border of the colonies.     

Biofeedback computer games

Biofeedback systems for game training are reviewed. The origins, evolution, main principles, and specific features of biofeedback game training are considered. A line of novel biofeedback game systems is described. These game systems can be classified as game screens included into an integrated treating system or as individual computer games based on biological feedback.     

Childhood Pityriasis Rosea

Abstract: Pityriasis rosea (PR) is an acute, self‐limiting papulosquamous disorder of unknown etiology. Published studies of childhood PR are scarce and most are reviews. The aim of this study was to determine the demographic and clinical features of childhood PR.     

Primitive trigeminal artery combined with arteriovenous malformation of the brain]

Analysis of the brain circulation and consequences of the intravascular surgery in a woman of 22 with a combined pathology--a primitive trifacial artery with an arteriovenous brain malformation--are presented. The arteriovenous malformation was cured surgically with the use of polystyrene emboli some of which penetrated through the primitive trifacial artery into the branches of carotis interna. The possibilities of the above combinations should be taken into consideration when the method of the intra-vascular surgery is to be chosen.     

Use of CO2 laser for the prevention of postoperative wound suppuration

The experiments with laboratory animals have convincingly shown that CO2-laser can be successfully used for prophylactics of suppurations of postoperative wounds in clinics.     

A medical terminal based on a microcomputer

Herein are described purpose and field of application of the medical DVK-2M microcomputer based terminal. This system will be used to accumulate, preliminary process and feed the medico-physiological information to the consulting-diagnostic centre. Were studied the channel data feed control protocol and protective algorithm of the transferred information including error correction. Information on the medical network structure is proposed as well.