Bacterial Contamination of Blood Components

Blood for transfusion is a potential source of infection by a variety of known and unknown transmissible agents. Over the last 20 years, astounding reductions in the risk of viral infection via allogeneic blood have been achieved. As a result of this success, bacterial contamination of blood products has emerged as the greatest residual source of transfusion-transmitted disease. This paper summarizes the current status of detection, prevention, and elimination of bacteria in blood products for transfusion

Clinical decision support improves physician guideline adherence for laboratory monitoring of chronic kidney disease: a matched cohort study

Sample graph page of relevant test results. (PDF 289 kb

An expanded phase I/II trial of cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and carboplatin plus total body irradiation with autologous marrow or stem cell support for patients with hematologic malignancies

AbstractThe major cause for failure of autologous stem cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies is the risk of recurrent disease. As a result, new treatment regimens that include novel agents or combinations of agents and approaches are needed. The current report describes a large Phase I/II, single-center trial that includes 60 patients with a variety of hematologic malignancies. These patients received a fixed dose of carboplatin (1 g/m2/d × 72 hours by CI) etoposide (600 mg/m2/d × 3 days) and cyclophosphamide (2 g/m2/d × 3 days), plus escalating doses of total body irradiation (TBI) (at 1000, 1200, and 1295 cGy) over 3 days. Eleven patients received infusion of autologous marrow, 32 received peripheral blood stem cells, and 17 patients received both. The maximum tolerated dose of this regimen was a radiation dose of 1200 cGy given in 200-cGy fractions BID × 3 days. The dose-limiting toxicity was mucositis, with 97% of patients requiring narcotic analgesia for mouth pain. Overall treatment-related mortality was 6.7%, with 2 of the 4 deaths occurring in a group of 9 patients aged 60 and older. Responses were seen in all patient groups, but the most encouraging outcomes were seen in 12 patients with high-risk or advanced acute myelocytic lymphoma (AML), 7 of whom remain alive and free of disease beyond 5 years. This regimen is intensive and causes considerable mucositis but is otherwise well tolerated and has demonstrated activity in a number of hematologic malignancies, especially AML

Comparison of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)--mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells and G-CSF--stimulated bone marrow as a source of stem cells in HLA-matched sibling transplantation

AbstractHLA-identical bone marrow or stem cell transplantation from a sibling is the preferred treatment for patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia, bone marrow failure syndromes, relapsed acute leukemia, and specific inborn errors of metabolism. Several groups have shown that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)--mobilized peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) obtained from HLA-matched siblings are effective in reconstitution of marrow function after marrow ablative conditioning therapy. To evaluate whether G-CSF treatment before bone marrow harvest leads to enhanced recovery of PBPC counts and recovery from limited graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), we assessed the outcome of a sequential cohort of patients treated identically and then given either G-CSF--mobilized PBPCs or G-CSF--stimulated bone marrow from HLA-identical siblings. We show that the time to neutrophil engraftment is identical in the 2 cohorts, whereas platelet engraftment is earlier with the use of PBPCs. The incidence of acute GVHD was decreased, and that of chronic GVHD significantly decreased, in the group receiving bone marrow. Overall survival was not different between the 2 groups. Thus, G-CSF--stimulated bone marrow offers a source of stem cells that allows for early neutrophil engraftment with a decreased risk of GVHD.Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2000;6(4A):434-40

High content live cell imaging for the discovery of new antimalarial marine natural products

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The human malaria parasite remains a burden in developing nations. It is responsible for up to one million deaths a year, a number that could rise due to increasing multi-drug resistance to all antimalarial drugs currently available. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the discovery of new drug therapies. Recently, our laboratory developed a simple one-step fluorescence-based live cell-imaging assay to integrate the complex biology of the human malaria parasite into drug discovery. Here we used our newly developed live cell-imaging platform to discover novel marine natural products and their cellular phenotypic effects against the most lethal malaria parasite, <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A high content live cell imaging platform was used to screen marine extracts effects on malaria. Parasites were grown <it>in vitro </it>in the presence of extracts, stained with RNA sensitive dye, and imaged at timed intervals with the BD Pathway HT automated confocal microscope.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Image analysis validated our new methodology at a larger scale level and revealed potential antimalarial activity of selected extracts with a minimal cytotoxic effect on host red blood cells. To further validate our assay, we investigated parasite's phenotypes when incubated with the purified bioactive natural product bromophycolide A. We show that bromophycolide A has a strong and specific morphological effect on parasites, similar to the ones observed from the initial extracts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collectively, our results show that high-content live cell-imaging (HCLCI) can be used to screen chemical libraries and identify parasite specific inhibitors with limited host cytotoxic effects. All together we provide new leads for the discovery of novel antimalarials.</p

Enhanced Visual Temporal Resolution in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Cognitive functions that rely on accurate sequencing of events, such as action planning and execution, verbal and nonverbal communication, and social interaction rely on well-tuned coding of temporal event-structure. Visual temporal event-structure coding was tested in 17 high-functioning adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and mental- and chronological-age matched typically-developing (TD) individuals using a perceptual simultaneity paradigm. Visual simultaneity thresholds were lower in individuals with ASD compared to TD individuals, suggesting that autism may be characterised by increased parsing of temporal event-structure, with a decreased capability for integration over time. Lower perceptual simultaneity thresholds in ASD were also related to increased developmental communication difficulties. These results are linked to detail-focussed and local processing bias

Attending to a misoriented word causes the eyeball to rotate in the head

Torsional eye movements are triggered by head tilt and a rotating visual field. We examined whether attention to a misoriented form could also induce torsion. 36 observers viewed an adapting field containing a bright vertical line, followed by a display composed of two misoriented words (one rotated clockwise, the other counterclockwise, 15, 30 or 45 degrees). Subjects were instructed to attend to one of the words. Their adjustments of a reference line to match the tilt of the afterimage showed that attending to a misoriented word produced a torsional eye movement (verified with direct measurements on four additional individuals). The eye movement reduced the retinal misorientation of the word by about 1 degree. The results reinforce the linkage between selective attention and eye movements, and may provide a useful tool in dissecting different forms of “mental rotation” and other adjustments in internal reference frames