A study of confidential unit exclusion

The effectiveness of the confidential unit exclusion (CUE) procedure recommended by the Food and Drug Administration has been questioned by the blood banking community. The purpose of this study was to determine whether donors were informing the blood center correctly regarding the disposition (transfuse or do not transfuse) of their donated blood. A letter explaining the confidential study and requesting permission to send the participant a questionnaire noting his or her self-exclusion choice was mailed to 230 donors who had chosen transfuse and 276 donors who had chosen do not transfuse. After consent was obtained, participants were sent a second packet and asked to indicate whether they had chosen correctly and, if not, to identify reasons for that incorrect choice. A seven-word terminology quiz made up of words from the CUE form was also enclosed. All participants who had chosen transfuse indicated that this was the correct choice. Approximately 50 percent of those who had chosen do not transfuse indicated that this was an incorrect choice; the most common reason was that "I was not paying attention." The most frequently misunderstood term was "confidential." Donors who chose do not transfuse had a significantly higher rate of error on the terminology quiz (p less than 0.01) than did those who chose transfuse.     

Adaptive differentiation of murine lymphocytes. IV. (Responder × Nonresponder) F(1) T cells can be taught to preferentially help nonresponder,rather than responder, B cells

Responses to the synthetic terpolymer L-glutamic acid, L-lysine, L-tyrosine (GLT) in the mouse are controlled by H-2-1inked Ir-GLTgenes. (Responder × nonresponder) F(1) hybrid mice, themselves phenotypic responders, can be primed with GLT to develop specific helper cells capable of interacting with 2,4-dinitrophenyl hapten (DNP)-primed F(1) B cells in response to DNP-GLT. Unlike the indiscriminant ability of F(1) helper T cells for conventional antigens (i.e. not Ir gene-controlled), which can help B cells of either parental type (as well as F(1)) equally well, GLT-primed F(1) T cells can only provide help under normal circumstances for B lymphocytes of responder parent origin; they are unable to communicate effectively with nonresponder parental B cells (1, and the present studies). The present studies reveal, however, that the induction of a parental cell-induced allogeneic effect during priming of F(1) mice to GLT actually dictates the direction of cooperating preference that will be displayed by such F(1) helper cells for B cells of one parental type or the other. Thus, F(1) T cells, primed to GLT under the influence of an allogeneic effect induced by parental BALB/c cells, develop into effective helpers for nonresponder A/J B cells, but fail to develop effective helpers for responder BALB/c B cells, and vice-versa. In contrast, F(1) T cells, primed to GLT under the influence of an allogeneic effect induced by either parental type, display significantly enhanced levels of helper activity for B cells derived from F(1) donors. These results are interpreted to reflect the existence of two interdependent events provoked by the allogeneic effect: one event augments the differentiation of GLT-specific helper T cells belonging to the subset corresponding to the opposite parental type; this would explain the development of increased helper activity provided to partner B cells of opposite parental type (as well as of F(1) origin). The second event, we postulate, involves the production of responses against the receptors which normally self-recognize native cell interaction determinants; this form of anti-idiotype response is restricted against self- recognizing receptors of the same parental type used for induction of the allogeneic effect, hence explaining diminished helper activity of such F(1) cells for partner B lymphocytes of corresponding parental type.     

在白色念珠菌URM3622中生产胶原酶

采用三种设计方案考察了白色念珠菌URM3622胞外分泌生产胶原酶的培养条件。首先进行26—2部分因子试验,结果表明转速和底物浓度对胶原酶的产量影响显著。根据以上结果,又设计了两次连续的23全因子分析,结果表明,在pH7．0、转速160r／min、底物浓度2％条件下培养白色念珠菌,发酵所得胶原酶活性最高。在pH8．2、45℃的环境中,胶原酶活性最大。所获胶原酶在pH7．2～8．2及28～45℃范围内稳定。     

OSAHS患者血清8-isoPG、LTB4、TNF-α、IL-10和Hs—CRP检测的临床意义

目的 探讨OSAHS患者血清炎症因子检测的临床意义.方法 OSAHS患者40例和正常对照30例,采用酶联免疫技术检测血清8-异前列烷(8-isoPG)、白三烯B4(LTB4)、TNF-α、IL-10水平,以全自动生化分析仪测定高敏C反应蛋白(Hs-CRP)的浓度,并与睡眠监测指标进行相关性分析.其中20例OSAHS患者分别经自动持续气道正压通气(Auto-CPAP)或悬雍垂软腭咽成形术(UPPP)治疗3个月后,复查睡眠呼吸监测和上述炎症因子.结果 ①OSAHS组睡眠后血清中8-isoPG、LTB4、TNF-α、IL-10和Hs-CRP分别为(36.59±14.89)ns/L、(14.75±6.25)μg/L、(1022.13±97.57)ns/L、(4.68±3.42)ng/L和(2.46±1.58)mg/L,正常对照组分别为(19.91±7.76)ng/L、(1.43±0.72)μg/L、(540.00±78.70)ng/L、(7.41±4.49)ng/L和(0.30±0.16)mg/L,两组比较差异均有统计学意义(P均<0.01).②OSAHS组血清中8-isoPG、LTB4、TNF-α 和Hs-CRP随病情严重度增高而升高,IL-10随病情严重度增高而降低(P均<0.05).③OSAHS患者睡眠后血清中8-isoPG、LTB4、TNF-α、Hs-CRP与呼吸暂停低通气指数(AHI)呈正相关(r值分别为0.863,0.746,0.868和0.842,P均<0.01);与睡眠中最低血氧饱和度(LspO2)呈负相关(r值分别为-0.623,-0.524,-0.618和-0.562,P均<0.01);与平均血氧饱和度(MSpO2)呈负相关(r值分别为-0.654,-0.573,-0.537和-0.589,P均<0.01);OSAHS患者睡眠后血清中IL-10与AHI呈负相关(r=-0.722,P<0.01),与睡眠中LSpO2呈正相关(r=0.564,P<0.01),与MSpO2呈正相关(r=0.505,P<0.01).@20例OSAHS患者经治疗3个月后血清8-isoPG、LTB4、TN-α及Hs-CRP均较治疗前下降,血清中IL-10比治疗前上升(P<0.01).⑤OSAHS患者治疗后血清8-isoPG、IL-10与正常对照组比较无显著差异(P0.05),血清LTB4、TNF-α和Hs-CRP比正常对照组水平高(P<0.01).结论 OSAHS患者存在夜间低氧后炎症反应及氧化应激增强,抗炎因子水平降低.炎症因子检测结合睡眠呼吸监测对判断OSAHS严重程度和治疗效果具有一定的临床意义.     

儿童癌症幸存者成年后的慢性疾病

由于治疗方法的进步,近80%的儿童和青少年癌症患者能够长期生存。在美国,约有270000例儿童癌症的幸存者,即每640名20至39岁成年人中就有一名幸存者。大量的幸存者有利于儿童癌症治疗后长期健康结果的研究。现在可以明确的是,化疗和放疗所致的儿童各器官系统损害在临床上可能潜伏多年。为了全面了解治疗儿童癌症而继发的健康问题,重要的是衡量三项长期结果:健康状况、死亡率和患病率。这三项中,关于前两项已有相当好的研究报道。在一项对20227例癌症5年生存者的回顾性分析中,Mertens等发现以下原因导致的超额死亡率具有统计学意义:继发癌症(…     

Mutations in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and their effects on emerin protein expression

Seventeen families with Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) have been studied both by DNA sequencing and by emerin protein expression. Fourteen had mutations in the X-linked emerin gene, while three showed evidence of autosomal inheritance. Twelve of the 14 emerin mutations caused early termination of translation. An in-frame deletion of six amino acids from the C-terminal transmembrane helix caused almost complete absence of emerin from muscle with no localization to the nuclear membrane, although mRNA levels were normal. This shows that mutant emerin proteins are unstable if they are unable to integrate into a membrane. A 22 bp deletion in the promoter region was expected to result in reduced emerin production, but normal amounts of emerin of normal size were found in leucocytes and lymphoblastoid cell lines. This shows that DNA analysis is necessary to exclude emerin mutations in suspected X-linked EDMD. Emerin levels in female carriers often deviated from the expected 50% and this was due, in at least two families, to skewed emerin mRNA expression from the normal and mutated alleles. In one family with a novel deletion of the last three exons of the emerin gene, a carrier had a cardiomyopathy and very low emerin levels (<5% of normal) due to skewed X-inactivation. In the three autosomal cases of EDMD, emerin was normal on western blots of blood cells, which suggests that autosomal EDMD is not caused by indirect reduction of emerin levels.      

Catch-up growth up to ten years of age in children born very preterm or with very low birth weight

Background  

Improved survival due to advances in neonatal care has brought issues such as postnatal growth and development more to the focus of our attention. Most studies report stunting in children born very preterm and/or small for gestational age. In this article we study the growth pattern of these children and aim to identify factors associated with postnatal catch-up growth.