Plasma factor XIII level variations during menstrual cycle

Factor XIII (FXIII) has an important role in the control of bleeding through fibrin cross-linking; however, its effect within the menstrual cycle is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to examine changes in FXIII activity during the normal menstrual cycle and correlate FXIII activity with menstrual blood loss. A total of 32 healthy normal women of reproductive age were recruited. Menstrual blood loss was measured using the pictorial blood-assessment chart (PBAC). A bleeding score questionnaire was also completed. Blood samples were taken during the menstrual, proliferative, periovulatory, secretory and premenstrual phase for assessment of FXIII level. The mean ± SD FXIII level was lowest during menstrual and periovulatory phases (114 ± 23 and 114 ± 21 IU/dl, respectively). Mean FXIII level during the secretory and premenstrual phases were higher than the menstrual phase (P = 0.036). Mean secretory phase FXIII was also significantly higher compared with the periovulatory phase (P = 0.02). There was no significant correlation between FXIII level during the menstrual phase and age (P = 0.53) or PBAC score (P = 0.53). There were no significant differences in FXIII level during the menstrual phase between women with PBAC scores of at least 100 (n = 14; mean 116 IU/dl) and women with PBAC scores less than 100 (n = 18; mean 113 IU/dl). There was no correlation between FXIII level and bleeding score. FXIII activity was lower during menstrual and periovulatory phases of the cycle. However, the small difference between mean values (8 IU/dl) would be unlikely to have a significant impact on diagnosis of FXIII deficiency and clinical management

Sixth Åland Island Conference on von Willebrand disease

Introduction The sixth angstrom land Islands Conference on von Willebrand disease (VWD) on the angstrom land Islands, Finland, was held from 20 to 22 September 2018. Aim The meeting brought together experts in the field of VWD from around the world to share the latest advances and knowledge in VWD. Results and discussion The topics covered both clinical aspects of disease management, and biochemical and laboratory insights into the disease. The clinical topics discussed included epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of VWD in different countries, management of children with VWD, bleeding control during surgery, specific considerations for the management of type 3 VWD and bleeding control in women with VWD. Current approaches to the management of acquired von Willebrand syndrome were also discussed. Despite significant advances in the understanding and therapeutic options for VWD, there remain many challenges to be overcome in order to optimise patient care. In comparison with haemophilia A, there are very few registries of VWD patients, which would be a valuable source of data on the condition and its management. VWD is still underdiagnosed, and many patients suffer recurrent or severe bleeding that could be prevented. Awareness of VWD among healthcare practitioners, including non-haematologists, should be improved to allow timely diagnosis and intervention. Diagnosis remains challenging, and the development of fast, simple assays may help to facilitate accurate and rapid diagnosis of VWD.Peer reviewe

The Second Team Haemophilia Education Meeting, 2016, Frankfurt, Germany

The first Team Haemophilia Education (THE) Meeting was held on 7-8 May 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It aimed to promote the optimal care of patients with haemophilia through education of the multidisciplinary treatment team. This was achieved by reviewing the latest developments in haemophilia management, considering how these can be implemented in the clinic to improve patient care and providing a platform for networking and debate for all haemophilia treatment team members. The second THE Meeting was held on 19-20 May in Frankfurt, Germany, and participants included doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, patient representatives and data management staff from 20 different countries. Topics covered the role of the multidisciplinary team in delivering the best haemophilia care, challenges in the management of haemophilia across Europe, available clotting factor treatments, future treatments and the use of genetics in advising carriers of haemophilia. This report is a summary of the key developments in haemophilia care presented by various investigators and healthcare professionals at THE Meeting 2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Observation of unconventional many-body scarring in a quantum simulator

The ongoing quest for understanding nonequilibrium dynamics of complex quantum systems underpins the foundation of statistical physics as well as the development of quantum technology. Quantum many-body scarring has recently opened a window into novel mechanisms for delaying the onset of thermalization, however its experimental realization remains limited to the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ state in a Rydberg atom system. Here we realize unconventional many-body scarring in a Bose--Hubbard quantum simulator with a previously unknown initial condition -- the unit-filling state. Our measurements of entanglement entropy illustrate that scarring traps the many-body system in a low-entropy subspace. Further, we develop a quantum interference protocol to probe out-of-time correlations, and demonstrate the system's return to the vicinity of the initial state by measuring single-site fidelity. Our work makes the resource of scarring accessible to a broad class of ultracold-atom experiments, and it allows to explore its relation to constrained dynamics in lattice gauge theories, Hilbert space fragmentation, and disorder-free localization