Supply Effects of Implementing Donor Interval Strategies to Prevent Iron Deficiency in Blood Donors

Iron depletion in blood donors has been a topic of concern for the AABB over the past couple of years. In March 2017 the AABB published bulletin #17-02 recommending blood collection facilities implement additional actions to limit or prevent iron deficiency in blood donors. Three of the recommended strategies were to limit the donation interval for all individuals to two times in a 12-month period, limit 16-18 year olds to one donation in a 12-month period, and to limit pre-menopausal woman to one donation in a twelve month period. With a declining donor pool, the focus of this study is on additional effects of implementing the three aforementioned strategies on the blood supply of a southeastern community blood collection facility. My findings suggest that if any of the three donation interval changes were implemented, there would be additional reductions in the blood supply

Statements of Agreement From the Targeted Evaluation and Active Management (TEAM) Approaches to Treating Concussion Meeting Held in Pittsburgh, October 15-16, 2015

BACKGROUND: Conventional management for concussion involves prescribed rest and progressive return to activity. Recent evidence challenges this notion and suggests that active approaches may be effective for some patients. Previous concussion consensus statements provide limited guidance regarding active treatment. OBJECTIVE: To describe the current landscape of treatment for concussion and provide summary agreements related to treatment in order to assist clinicians in the treatment of concussion. METHODS: On October 14–16, 2015, the Targeted Evaluation & Active Management (TEAM) Approaches To Treating Concussion meeting was convened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 37 concussion experts from neuropsychology, neurology, neurosurgery, sports medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, physical therapy, athletic training, and research, and 12 individuals representing sport, military, and public health organizations attended the meeting. The 37 experts indicated their agreement on a series of statements using an audience response system clicker device. RESULTS: A total of 16 statements of agreement were supported covering: 1) Summary of the Current Approach to Treating Concussion, 2) Heterogeneity and Evolving Clinical Profiles of Concussion, 3) Targeted Evaluation and Active Management Approach to Concussion Treatment: Specific Strategies, and 4) Future Directions: A Call to Research. Support (ie, response of agree or somewhat agree) for the statements ranged from to 97–100%. CONCLUSION: Concussions are characterized by diverse symptoms and impairments and evolving clinical profiles; recovery varies based on modifying factors, injury severity, and treatments. Active and targeted treatments may enhance recovery following concussion. Research is needed on concussion clinical profiles, biomarkers, and the effectiveness and timing of treatments

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton-proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of [Formula: see text] TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about [Formula: see text] is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than [Formula: see text] and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing