Deciduous wood chips as bedding material: Estimation of dust yield, water absorption and microbiological comparison

Dust yield, water absorbing capacity and airborne microbes of laboratory animal beddings made of deciduous wood were compared. Three different bedding materials, aspen, alder and birch, two chip sizes and effects of a softening treatment were studied. Overall dust yield from Chips was relatively low. Aspen should, however, be preferred to alder, because it was less dusty. Small (1 X 2 X 1 mm) aspen Chips yielded less inhalable dust than the large chips (4 X 4 X 1 mm). Water absorbing capacity was better in small chips than in large chips and could also be increased with a softening procedure. In this study softening of small aspen chips resulted in unacceptable high dust yield. Though alder had a better water absorbing capacity, aspen seems to soak up urine well enough during a normal change cycle

Serum caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 fragment as a prognostic biomarker in hematological patients with febrile neutropenia

The study aim was to determine the benefit of the measurement of serum caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 (CK-18) fragment as a prognostic marker of febrile neutropenia (FN) in hematological patients. The study population consisted of 86 consecutive patients with FN who received intensive chemotherapy for hematological malignancy at the adult hematology ward of Kuopio University Hospital. Twenty-three patients (27%) had acute myeloid leukemia, and 63 patients (73%) were autologous stem cell transplant recipients. Serum caspase-cleaved CK-18 fragment M30, C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) were measured at the onset of FN (d0), on day 1 (d1), and on day 2 (d2). Eight patients (9%) developed severe sepsis, including three patients with septic shock. Eighteen patients (21%) had a blood culture-positive infection. Serum CK-18 fragment peaked on the first day after fever onset in patients with severe sepsis. Higher CK-18 level was associated with severe sepsis, intensive care unit treatment, and fatal outcome, but not with blood culture positivity. In ROC curve analysis, d1 serum CK-18 fragment predicted severe sepsis with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.767, CRP with an AUC of 0.764, and PCT with an AUC of 0.731. On d2, the best predictive capacity was observed for CRP with an AUC of 0.832. The optimal cutoff of caspase-cleaved CK-18 fragment M30 for predicting severe sepsis was 205 U/L on d1. In hematological patients, serum CK-18 fragment was found to be a potential prognostic marker of severe sepsis at early stages of FN.Peer reviewe

Seasonal patterns of outdoor PM infiltration into indoor environments: review and meta-analysis of available studies from different climatological zones in Europe

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