Vale Jiří Rondiak : 1934 – 2013

Jiří Rondiak, an eminent Czech physician and specialist in blood transfusion died in September 2013 after a long illness. Rondiak was born in 1934 in Hořice v Podkrkonoší, a small East Bohemian town where is father was a renowned and loved general medical practitioner who died when Jiří was young, thus increasing his interest in the study of medicine. Over 1952 – 1959 he studied at the Medical Faculty of Charles´ University in Prague and over 1959 – 1960 he worked at the Dept. of internal medicine in Hořice, and initially intended to specialize in obstetrics until he was impeded by a physical injury. Obsterics' loss was transfusion's gain and in 1960 he started working at the Blood Bank of the Faculty Hospital in Hradec Králové, where he passed board examinations in blood banking and also underwent the Tropical medicine course of Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. By 1977 he had been appointed head of the Blood Bank of the Faculty Hospital in Hradec Králové and was the Chief Blood transfusion specialist for the East Bohemian region, holding these posts until 2002 and to the 1990's respectively, responsible for the performance of the blood banks in the whole region. His achievements in his home environment included the building and continuous improvement of the transfusion service, including the challenges of infectious agents in the 1980s-90s and the establishment of one of the first plasmapheresis centres in the country as the Czech Republic emerged from the Russian-domination era and moved towards self-sufficiency in blood products. His interests also included the HLA system and the stem cell area, in which he collaborated and published internationally.peer-reviewe

Studies on the procurement of blood coagulation factor VIII

Coagulation factor VIII is needed for the treatment of patients with haemophilia. Requirements for factor VIII are important in determining the numbers of blood donations to be collected in Scotland. The final yield of factor VIII:C in products prepared from blood plasma, when prepared either in the Transfusion Centres or the National Fractionation Centre, is relatively low (30-40%). Improvements in these processes would have major implications for the Transfusion Service. Present technology requires the freezing of plasma from blood donations prior to the preparation of cryoprecipitate; this may then be processed further to produce factor VIII concentrate. In this study, the effects of using different anticoagulants (citrate, heparin), of varying the rate of freezing and the duration of storage on the factor VIII content of plasma and subsequent products have been investigated. The influence of ABO blood group and of drug induced enhancement on levels of factor VIII in starting plasma were also studied. Improvements in the mode of preparing cryoprecipitate from plasma have been made on the basis of the observed effects on processing plasma of different quality (collection procedure, age, etc .) and by various methods. Investigation of the mechanism of cryoprecipitation has led to the development of a high-yield method for the preparation of factor VIII from unfrozen plasma by precipitation with hydrophilic polymers. In the course of this work, methods were developed for the isolation of factor VIII and fibronectin and immunological assays for these and other proteins (fibrinogen), based on immunoprecipitation and immunoradiometric methods, were set up. The immunoradiometric methods were used to follow the recovery and survival of factor VIII components following infusion into patients deficient in this protein. Based on the work described in this thesis, recommendations will be made on the possibilities for improved procurement of factor VIII from blood donations

Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with CVID Under Different Schedules of Immunoglobulin Administration: Prospective Multicenter Study

We assessed the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in CVID adults receiving different schedules of immunoglobulin replacement therapy (IgRT) by intravenous (IVIG), subcutaneous (SCIG), and facilitated (fSCIG) preparations. For these patients, IgRT schedule was chosen after a period focused on identifying the most suitable individual option

A new family of high nuclearity CoII/DyIII coordination clusters possessing robust and unseen topologies

Mixing Co(NO3)2·6H2O/Dy(NO3)3·6H2O/(E)-4-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)-2,3-dimethyl-1-phenyl-1,2-dihydropyrazol-5-one (HL)/pivalic acid/Et3N in various solvents results in the synthesis of seven compounds formulated as [CoII2DyIII2(μ3-MeO)2(L)2(piv)4(NO3)2] (3), [CoIIDyIII3(μ3-MeO)2(μ2-MeO)2(L)2(piv)2(NO3)3]·2(CH3OH) (4·2CH3OH), 2[CoII4DyIII4(μ2-O)2(μ3-OH)4(L)4(piv)8][CoII2DyIII5(μ3-OH)6(L)2(piv)8(NO3)4] (5), [CoII4DyIII4(μ2-O)2(μ3-OH)4(L)4(piv)8]·2(CH3CN) (6·2CH3CN), [CoII2DyIII5(μ3-OH)6(L)2(piv)8(NO3)4]·4(CH3CN) (7·4CH3CN), [CoII2DyIII2(μ3-OH)2(L)2(piv)2(NO3)2(EtOH)2(H2O)2](NO3)2·(EtOH) (8·EtOH) and [CoII4DyIII4(μ2-O)2(μ3-OH)4(L)4(piv)8] (9) with robust and unseen topologies. These show that the temperature and reaction time influence the formation of the final product. Preliminary magnetic studies, performed for 6 and 7 in the temperature range 2-300 K, are indicative of Single Molecule Magnet (SMM) behaviour. Moreover, analysis of the catalytic properties of compound 3 as an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of trans-4,5-diaminocyclopent-2-enones from 2-furaldehyde and primary amines has been carried out

Investigation of EMIC wave scattering as the cause for the BARREL 17 January 2013 relativistic electron precipitation event: A quantitative comparison of simulation with observations

Abstract Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves were observed at multiple observatory locations for several hours on 17 January 2013. During the wave activity period, a duskside relativistic electron precipitation (REP) event was observed by one of the Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) balloons and was magnetically mapped close to Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 13. We simulate the relativistic electron pitch angle diffusion caused by gyroresonant interactions with EMIC waves using wave and particle data measured by multiple instruments on board GOES 13 and the Van Allen Probes. We show that the count rate, the energy distribution, and the time variation of the simulated precipitation all agree very well with the balloon observations, suggesting that EMIC wave scattering was likely the cause for the precipitation event. The event reported here is the first balloon REP event with closely conjugate EMIC wave observations, and our study employs the most detailed quantitative analysis on the link of EMIC waves with observed REP to date. Key PointsQuantitative analysis of the first balloon REP with closely conjugate EMIC wavesOur simulation suggests EMIC waves to be a viable cause for the REP eventThe adopted model is proved to be applicable to simulating the REP event

Entropy mapping of the outer electron radiation belt between the magnetotail and geosynchronous orbit

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94614/1/jgra21264.pd

Topological insights in polynuclear Ni/Na coordination clusters derived from a schiff base ligand

This article presents the syntheses, crystal structures, topological features and magnetic properties of two NiII/NaI coordination clusters (CCs) formulated [NiII3Na(L1)3(HL1 (MeOH)2] (1) and [NiII6Na(L1)5(CO3)(MeO (MeOH)3(H2O)3]·4(MeOH) 2(H2O) [2 4(MeOH) 2(H2O)] where H2L1 is the semi rigid Schiff base ligand (E)-2-(2-hydroxy-3 methoxybenzylideneamino)-phenol). Compound 1 possesses a rare NiII3NaI cubane (3M4-1) topology and compound 2 is the first example in polynuclear Ni/Na chemistry that exhibits a 2,3,4M7-1 topology

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection