Incidence of anti-HBc antibody (IgG and IgM) among HBsAg negative apparently healthy blood donors

In person who is unable to produce HBsAg, anti-HBc antibody is a helpful marker of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In the present study, we have tried to find out the incidence of anti-HBc (IgG and IgM) among blood donors HBsAg negative. People came for donating blood voluntarily or for their relatives (n = 1000) was selected on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Purposefully selected and collated samples were first tested by HBsAg ELISA of third generation reagent. HBsAg negative sample was tested with anti-HBc ELISA. Positive found in the first test was retested. Out of 1,000 samples on duplicate test, 117 positives were detected. The incidence of anti-HBc antibody among apparently healthy blood donors was found 11.7%

B Subgroup: Bx blood Group in a Patient : A Case Report

This is a report of a case of B Sub Group: Bx, first ever detected in Bangladesh, while doing compatibility test of a sample of a patient undergoing cardiac surgery. The patient was referred to the transfusion medicine department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University to do cross-match with 8 proposed donors of same ABO group prior to cardiac surgery. His red cells showed weak agglutination with anti-B, anti-AB and in his serum there was potent Anti-A and weak anti-B which was not detected at 370C. After adsorption with anti-B an elute was prepared from patients cells which agglutinate with B and AB cells but did not agglutinate with A or O cells. The patient could be transfused with B blood but in this situation of cardiac surgery, as he should have to be kept in hypothermic condition, we transfused him with O washed red cell with AB plasma during operation. Patient was released from hospital without any complication. The weak B subgroups are: B3, Bx & Bel. B3 shows a mixed field of agglutination with anti B. Bx shows a weak agglutination and weak anti-B is found in the serum. Bel is not agglutinated with anti-B but is only adsorbed anti-B. With meticulous attention, cell & serum grouping of recipient and proposed donor/s to be done along with 3 phase cross-matching (Saline phase at room temp, at 4 and 37 degree Celsius temp, Indirect Coombs Test phase) to ensure right blood to the right patient at right time.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bsmmuj.v5i1.11032 BSMMU J 2012; 5(1):81-82

The Incidence of Vaso-vagal Reactions Among Whole Blood Donors During or Immediately After Donation

Background: The incidence of vaso vagal reaction among the whole blood donors are common. Few percent of these reaction may progress to syncope. Objectives: To evaluate the incidence of vaso-vagal reaction (VVR) among whole blood donors. Methods: This prospective, observational study was done in the department of transfusion medicine in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from 01-04-2008 to 31-03-2009. Total 19553 blood donors were observed for vaso-vagal reaction. Results: The incidence of vaso-vagal reaction was 0.37%, in male 0.33% and in female it was 0.67%. Female donors were significantly more prone to develop vasovagal reaction (p=0.001). 78.8% of donors were first time donor and 28.8% were repeat donor. The clinical character of the symptoms according to frequency was- Sweating (86.3%), Nausea/ Vomiting (80.8%), Pallor (67.1%), Dizziness (39.7%), Loss of consciousness and fainting, increased rate of respiration (30.1%), anxiety presented (16.4%) and vertigo (1.4%). Conclusion: Although the incidence of vasovagal reactions in our study is lower than other studies, it is important to follow strict donor selection criteria and ensure careful monitoring during and immediate after the donation process to avoid the fatal consequences. Key words: Vaso-vagal reaction; donor reaction; blood donation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bsmmuj.v4i2.8640 BSMMU J 2011; 4(2):106-10

Impact of Zinc Supplementation on Subsequent Morbidity and Growth in Bangladeshi Children With Persistent Diarrhoea

This study was conducted to explore whether supplementation of zinc to children during persistent diarrhoea has any subsequent effect on morbidity and growth. A prospective follow-up study was conducted among children, aged 3–24 months, with persistent diarrhoea, who participated earlier in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. During persistent diarrhoea, children were randomly allocated to receive either zinc in multivitamin syrup or only multivitamin syrup for two weeks. After recovering from diarrhoea, 76 children in the multi-vitamin syrup and 78 children in the zinc plus multivitamin syrup group were followed up for subsequent morbidity and growth. Weekly morbidity and two-weekly anthropometric data were collected for the subsequent 12 weeks. Data showed that episodes and duration of diarrhoea were reduced by 38% and 44% respectively with supplementation of zinc. There was no significant difference in the incidence or duration of respiratory tract infection between the zinc-supplemented and the non-supplemented group. Improved linear growth was observed in underweight children (weight-for-age <70% of the National Center for Health Statistics standard) who received zinc compared to those who did not receive

Impact of Zinc Supplementation on Subsequent Morbidity and Growth in Bangladeshi Children With Persistent Diarrhoea

This study was conducted to explore whether supplementation of zinc to children during persistent diarrhoea has any subsequent effect on morbidity and growth. A prospective follow-up study was conducted among children, aged 3-24 months, with persistent diarrhoea, who participated earlier in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. During persistent diarrhoea, children were randomly allocated to receive either zinc in multivitamin syrup or only multivitamin syrup for two weeks. After recovering from diarrhoea, 76 children in the multi-vitamin syrup and 78 children in the zinc plus multivitamin syrup group were followed up for subsequent morbidity and growth. Weekly morbidity and two-weekly anthropometric data were collected for the subsequent 12 weeks. Data showed that episodes and duration of diarrhoea were reduced by 38% and 44% respectively with supplementation of zinc. There was no significant difference in the incidence or duration of respiratory tract infection between the zincsupplemented and the non-supplemented group. Improved linear growth was observed in underweight children (weight-for-age &lt;70% of the National Center for Health Statistics standard) who received zinc compared to those who did not receive

Does the Establishment of Sustainable Use Reserves Affect Fire Management in the Humid Tropics?

Tropical forests are experiencing a growing fire problem driven by climatic change, agricultural expansion and forest degradation. Protected areas are an important feature of forest protection strategies, and sustainable use reserves (SURs) may be reducing fire prevalence since they promote sustainable livelihoods and resource management. However, the use of fire in swidden agriculture, and other forms of land management, may be undermining the effectiveness of SURs in meeting their conservation and sustainable development goals. We analyse MODIS derived hot pixels, TRMM rainfall data, Terra-Class land cover data, socio-ecological data from the Brazilian agro-census and the spatial extent of rivers and roads to evaluate whether the designation of SURs reduces fire occurrence in the Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, we ask (1) a. Is SUR location (i.e., de facto) or (1) b. designation (i.e. de jure) the driving factor affecting performance in terms of the spatial density of fires?, and (2), Does SUR creation affect fire management (i.e., the timing of fires in relation to previous rainfall)? We demonstrate that pre-protection baselines are crucial for understanding reserve performance. We show that reserve creation had no discernible impact on fire density, and that fires were less prevalent in SURs due to their characteristics of sparser human settlement and remoteness, rather than their status de jure. In addition, the timing of fires in relation to rainfall, indicative of local fire management and adherence to environmental law, did not improve following SUR creation. These results challenge the notion that SURs promote environmentally sensitive fire-management, and suggest that SURs in Amazonia will require special attention if they are to curtail future accidental wildfires, particularly as plans to expand the road infrastructure throughout the region are realised. Greater investment to support improved fire management by farmers living in reserves, in addition to other fire users, will be necessary to help ameliorate these threats

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Comprehensive analysis of chromothripsis in 2,658 human cancers using whole-genome sequencing

Chromothripsis is a mutational phenomenon characterized by massive, clustered genomic rearrangements that occurs in cancer and other diseases. Recent studies in selected cancer types have suggested that chromothripsis may be more common than initially inferred from low-resolution copy-number data. Here, as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we analyze patterns of chromothripsis across 2,658 tumors from 38 cancer types using whole-genome sequencing data. We find that chromothripsis events are pervasive across cancers, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types. Whereas canonical chromothripsis profiles display oscillations between two copy-number states, a considerable fraction of events involve multiple chromosomes and additional structural alterations. In addition to non-homologous end joining, we detect signatures of replication-associated processes and templated insertions. Chromothripsis contributes to oncogene amplification and to inactivation of genes such as mismatch-repair-related genes. These findings show that chromothripsis is a major process that drives genome evolution in human cancer