The official websites of blood centers in China: A nationwide cross-sectional study

<div><p>Background</p><p>Blood collection agencies worldwide are facing ongoing and increasing medical demands for blood products. Many potential donors would search related information online before making decision of whether or not to donate blood. However, there is little knowledge of the online information and services provided by blood centers in China, despite the constantly increase of internet users. Our research investigates the number of blood centers’ official websites and their quality, and highlights the deficiencies that required future advances.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Identified official websites of blood centers were scored using a newly developed evaluation instrument with 42 items concerning technical aspects, information quality, information comprehensiveness and interactive services. Scores of websites were compared between blood centers with different level (provincial vs. regional blood centers) and location (blood centers located in economically developed vs. developing region).</p><p>Results</p><p>For the 253 working official websites all the 350 blood centers in China, and the mean overall score of websites was 24.7 out of 42. 79.1% websites were rated as fair (50–75% of maximum), 5.5% as good (≥75% of maximum) and 15.4% as poor(25–50% of maximum;). Websites got very low sub-scores in information quality (mean = 3.8; range 1–8; maximum = 9) and interactive services (3.3; 0–10; 10). Higher proportions of provincial (vs. regional) blood centers and economically developed (vs. developing) blood centers had official websites (p = 0.044 and p = 0.001; respectively) with better overall quality (p<0.001 and p <0.01) and better sub-scores (in all of the four sections and in technical aspects and information quality). Website overall scores was positively correlated with the number of people served by each blood center (p< 0.001) and the donation rate of each province (p = 0.046).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>This study suggests there is a need to further develop and improve official websites in China, especially for regional and inland blood centers. The poor information quality and interactive services provided by these websites is of particular concern, given the challenges in blood donor counselling and recruitment.</p></div

The classification of websites based on overall scores.

<p>The stacked bars show the percentages of websites classified as good, fair, poor or very poor based on their overall scores (scores≧75%, ≧50%, ≧25%, <25% of the maximum scores).</p

Linear regression plots.

<p>Regression plots showing the relationship between the provincial mean scores for websites and the donation rate of each province (A), and the relationship between website overall scores and the number of people served by each blood center (B). The scattered points indicate data points and the lines indicate the linear regression lines.</p

Percentage of websites presenting the specific item (%).

<p>Percentage of websites presenting the specific item (%).</p

The numbers of blood center with or without a working official website.

<p>Numbers within stacked bars show the number of websites within each category.</p

Mean overall website scores and mean sub-scores, by category of blood center.

<p>Mean overall website scores and mean sub-scores, by category of blood center.</p

Data_Sheet_1_Real-time depth completion based on LiDAR-stereo for autonomous driving.PDF

The integration of multiple sensors is a crucial and emerging trend in the development of autonomous driving technology. The depth image obtained by stereo matching of the binocular camera is easily influenced by environment and distance. The point cloud of LiDAR has strong penetrability. However, it is much sparser than binocular images. LiDAR-stereo fusion can neutralize the advantages of the two sensors and maximize the acquisition of reliable three-dimensional information to improve the safety of automatic driving. Cross-sensor fusion is a key issue in the development of autonomous driving technology. This study proposed a real-time LiDAR-stereo depth completion network without 3D convolution to fuse point clouds and binocular images using injection guidance. At the same time, a kernel-connected spatial propagation network was utilized to refine the depth. The output of dense 3D information is more accurate for autonomous driving. Experimental results on the KITTI dataset showed that our method used real-time techniques effectively. Further, we demonstrated our solution's ability to address sensor defects and challenging environmental conditions using the p-KITTI dataset.</p

Development of Visible-Light Induced Photoelectrochemical Platform Based on Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complex for Bioanalysis

The performance of the photoelectrochemical (PEC) bioanalysis relies closely on the properties of the used photoactive species. In this study, a visible-light induced PEC active species, [(C6)₂Ir­(dcbpy)]⁺PF₆^– (C6 = coumarin 6, dcbpy = 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid) was prepared based on C6 with the stronger absorbance in the visible region. The as-prepared complex was characterized by ¹H NMR, UV–visible absorption and cyclic voltammetry. It exhibits intense absorption in visible region at 480 nm with a molar extinction coefficient (ε) of more 40000 M^–1 cm^–1, which is approximately twice that of Ru­(bpy)₃²⁺. The PEC behaviors of the iridium­(III) complex were investigated through covalently attaching to the ITO electrode. Induced by visible light, a large and stable cathodic photocurrent can be observed when dissolved O₂ is served as a sacrificial electron acceptor. Also probable mechanisms of photocurrent generation are deduced. Employing [(C6)₂Ir­(dcbpy)]⁺PF₆^– as signal reporter, the Au NPs-based nanoprobe was constructed and successfully applied to assembly PEC platform based on the Exo III-assisted recycling amplification for bioanalysis. With thrombin as a model analyte, the PEC platform was found to be logarithmically proportional to thrombin concentrations across the range from 20 fM to 10 pM with fine selectivity, indicating excellent PEC properties of the synthesized Ir­(III) complex and enormous potential for PEC bioanalysis

Highly Specific and Sensitive Measurements of Human and Monkey Interleukin 21 Using Sequential Protein and Tryptic Peptide Immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS

A highly specific and sensitive immunoaffinity LC-MS/MS assay for quantification of human and cynomolgus monkey interleukin 21 (IL-21) was developed, qualified, and implemented. The workflow includes offline enrichment of IL-21 using an anti-IL-21 capture antibody, followed by isolation using magnetic beads, trypsin digestion, online enrichment of IL-21 derived tryptic peptides using antipeptide antibodies, and quantification using nanoflow LC-MS/MS. This assay was developed and qualified in human and cynomolgus monkey serum and tissues with a lower limit of quantitation of 0.78 pg/mL based on the intact cytokine. Both intra- and interbatch precision and accuracy, as well as stability and recovery, were found to be acceptable. IL-21 was not detected in serum from normal healthy volunteers or from autoimmune disease patients. However, IL-21 levels were quantified in cynomolgus monkey spleen and colon tissue and normal and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) human colon tissue as well as hyperplasia human tonsils

Determination of Midgap State Energy Levels of an Anatase TiO₂ Nanocrystal Film by Nanosecond Transient Infrared Absorption – Excitation Energy Scanning Spectra

Midgap levels for wide gap TiO₂ have become increasingly important because they can be used to capture solar light efficiently for photocatalysis as demonstrated by black TiO₂ in a recent paper [Chen, X., et al. <i>Science</i> <b>2011</b>, <i>331</i> (6018), 746–750]. However, a method for systematically characterizing the midgap state energy levels is still lacking. We proposed an optical method, i.e., transient infrared (IR) absorption – excitation energy scanning spectrum, by recording nanosecond time-resolved transient IR absorption from the excited electrons either in the conduction band or at the excited localized states below the conduction in combination with midgap excitation energy scanning. We demonstrate that both the electron trap states beneath the Fermi level and those excited localized states below the conduction band as well as the Fermi level of TiO₂ nanoparticles can unambiguously be determined by this method, which has great potential for characterizing the midgap trap states of various semiconductor nanomaterials other than TiO₂