Peripheral blood stem cell cryopreservation is associated with cell damage and decreased viability. We evaluated the impact of up to 10 years of cryopreservation (5% DMSO) on viability of CD34+ cells ...utilizing graft samples of consecutive patients (2002–2012) with different malignancies who underwent stem cell collection and transplantation. Viability of CD34+ cells from oncohaematological patients measured after 5 weeks (97·2 ± 0·6%) or after 9–10 years of cryopreservation (95·9 ± 0·5%) was unaffected. Haemoglobin, granulocyte and platelet recovery after transplantation of long‐term cryopreserved grafts occurred within 8–13 days. CD34+ stem cells can be safely stored up to 9–10 years, without affecting cell viability and clinical effectiveness.
Whilst 2‐ or 5‐OMe groups on the bridging phenylene ring in {Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H4)+ have little influence on the electronic structure of this weakly coupled mixed‐valence complex, a 4‐OMe ...substituent enhances ground state electron delocalization, and increases the intensity of the IVCT transition. Vibrational frequency and TDDFT calculations (LH20t‐D3(BJ), def2‐SVP, COSMO (CH2Cl2)) on ({Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H3‐n‐OMe)+ (n=2, 4, 5) models are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The stronger ground state coupling is attributed to the change in composition of the β‐HOSO brought about by the 4‐OMe group, which is ortho or para to each of the metal fragments. The intensity of the IVCT transition increases with the greater overlap of the β‐HOSO and β‐LUSO, whilst the relative phases of the β‐HOSO and β‐LUSO in the 4‐OMe substituted complex are consistent with predictions of constructive quantum interference from molecular circuit rules.
The degree of ground state electronic interaction in the mixed‐valence complex {Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H4)+ can be tuned through the introduction of an OMe substituent to the bridging ligand. These effects are sensitive to the position of the substituent, and follow the same patterns as those predicted by quantum circuit rules for weakly coupled molecules in molecular junctions.
Summary
A 19‐year‐old Quarter Horse gelding presented with a 6‐week history of hypersalivation, halitosis and dysmasesis. Oral examination revealed retention of food and saliva and the presence of a ...raised, nodular, 6 × 7 cm, ulcerated mass on the dorsal surface of the tongue base. The mass was confirmed histologically as squamous cell carcinoma. Complete resection of the mass was not possible and surgical laser debulking was followed 15 days later by chemotherapy with a combination of meloxicam and cyclophosphamide in metronomic regimen. After one week, there was a significant improvement in clinical signs and food consumption returned to normal. Therapy was well tolerated with no alteration in haematological or urinalysis parameters. After 5 months of excellent life quality, the horse showed progressive difficulties in mastication and swallowing. Endoscopic examination showed extension of the tumour to all the aboral aspect of the tongue and, with the owner's consent, the patient was subjected to euthanasia. This is believed to be the first report on the combined use of meloxicam and cyclophosphamide in a metronomic fashion for management of an oral squamous cell carcinoma in a horse. Since metronomic therapy is less expensive than conventional chemotherapy, easily administrable and well tolerated, it should be considered as a possible treatment option for nonresectable equine malignant tumours.
Background and Objectives Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation has recently become a standard therapeutic approach to virus‐related or infected haematological malignancies. ...Collection, manipulation, storage and thawing of leukapheresis products in this subset of patients require strict monitoring to prevent infection risk for operators and risk of contamination for other stored bags.
Materials and Methods This is a non‐randomized retrospective observational study. In the 2000–2002 period, a single bag freezing procedure was used for autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Bags were stored in tanks containing liquid and gas phase nitrogen. In 2002, the processing procedure was revised, and a second additional safety bag and a new storage tank containing jacketed liquid nitrogen have been used.
Results A total of 524 bags were thawed, of which 121 processed with the single bag method and 403 with the double bag method. Forty‐nine and 109 patients were infused respectively. The observed rupture rate with the single bag in liquid and gas phase nitrogen was 17 and 2·5%, respectively, against a rupture rate as little as 0·24% with the new methodology. Viability revealed levels of 84·4% ± 6·1% and 96·9% ± 2·4% for the single and double‐bag respectively. This statistically significant (P < 0·0001) difference correlated with better neutrophil engraftment.
Conclusions The new proposed method, based on a double bag and storage freezer without liquid or gas phase nitrogen into a cryogenic chamber, significantly reduces bag rupture and bio‐hazard and improves stem cell viability and neutrophil engraftment remarkably.
The increased size and influence of financial institutions and markets has widened the scope for divergence between value-creation and the value-added measured by national accounts. This paper uses a ...re-assessment of the concept of value, showing how its creation can be separated from income flows, to examine its potential under- or over-representation in conventional GDP. A revived (and revised) value theory offers new insight into the impact on measured income and growth of structural change (including financial sector growth and offshore outsourcing), and of recent national-accounting reforms including the capitalization of R&D spending.
In 2‐ und 5‐Position einer Phenylenbrücke eines schwach koppelnden gemischtvalenten {Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H4)+ Komplexes hat ein OMe‐Substituent nur geringen Einfluss auf dessen ...Elektronenstruktur. In 4‐Position hingegen erhöht dieser die elektronische Delokalisation im Grundzustand sowie die Intensität des IVCT‐Überganges. Schwingungsfrequenzen und TDDFT‐Berechnungen (LH20t‐D3(BJ), def2‐SVP, COSMO (CH2Cl2)) an ({Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H3‐n‐OMe)+ (n = 2, 4, 5) Modellen zeigen eine exzellente Übereinstimmung mit experimentellen Ergebnissen. Die stärkere Kopplung im Grundzustand geht auf eine veränderte Zusammensetzung des β‐HOSO zurück, verursacht durch den 4‐OMe Substituenten und dessen ortho‐ oder para‐Stellung zu jedem der Metallfragmente. Die Intensität des IVCT‐Überganges erhöht sich mit stärkerer β‐HOSO‐ und β‐LUSO‐Überlappung. Die relativen Phasen von β‐HOSO und β‐LUSO im 4‐OMe‐substituierten Komplex sind in Einklang mit den Vorhersagen über konstruktive Quanteninterferenz, basierend auf molekularen Schaltkreisregeln.
Der Grad der elektronischen Wechselwirkung im Grundzustand des gemischtvalenten Komplexes {Cp*(dppe)RuC≡C}2(μ‐1,3‐C6H4)+ kann durch die Einführung eines OMe‐Substituenten in den verbrückenden Liganden gesteuert werden. Diese Effekte sind empfindlich gegenüber der Position des Substituenten und folgen den gleichen Mustern, wie sie von Quantenschaltkreisregeln für schwach gekoppelte Moleküle in molekularen Kontakten vorhergesagt werden.
Glycoprotein (GP) Ib alpha is required for expression of the highest affinity alpha-thrombin-binding site on platelets, possibly
contributing to platelet activation through a pathway involving ...cleavage of a specific receptor. This function may be important
for the initiation of hemostasis and may also play a role in the development of pathological vascular occlusion. We have now
identified a discrete sequence in the extracytoplasmic domain of GP Ib alpha, including residues 271-284 of the mature protein,
which appears to be part of the high affinity alpha-thrombin-binding site. Synthetic peptidyl mimetics of this sequence inhibit
alpha-thrombin binding to GP Ib as well as platelet activation and aggregation induced by subnanomolar concentrations of the
agonist; they also inhibit alpha-thrombin binding to purified glycocalicin, the isolated extracytoplasmic portion of GP Ib
alpha. The inhibitory peptides interfere with the clotting of fibrinogen by alpha-thrombin but not with the amidolytic activity
of the enzyme on a small synthetic substrate, a finding compatible with the concept that the identified GP Ib alpha sequence
interacts with the anion-binding exosite of alpha-thrombin but not with its active proteolytic site. The crucial structural
elements of this sequence necessary for thrombin binding appear to be a cluster of negatively charged residues as well as
three tyrosine residues that, in the native protein, may be sulfated. GP Ib alpha has no significant overall sequence homology
with the thrombin inhibitor, hirudin, nor with the specific thrombin receptor on platelets; all three molecules, however,
possess a distinct region rich in negatively charged residues that appear to be involved in thrombin binding. This may represent
a case of convergent evolution of unrelated proteins for high affinity interaction with the same ligand.
Performance, reliability and scalability in data-access are key issues in the context of the computing Grid and High Energy Physics data processing and analysis applications, in particular ...considering the large data size and I/O load that a Large Hadron Collider data centre has to support. In this paper we present the technical details and the results of a large scale validation and performance measurement employing different data-access platforms-namely CASTOR, dCache, GPFS and Scalla/Xrootd. The tests have been performed at the CNAF Tier-1, the central computing facility of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Research (INFN). Our storage back-end was based on Fibre Channel disk-servers organized in a Storage Area Network, being the disk-servers connected to the computing farm via Gigabit LAN. We used 24 disk-servers, 260 TB of raw-disk space and 280 worker nodes as computing clients, able to run concurrently up to about 1100 jobs. The aim of the test was to perform sequential and random read/write accesses to the data, as well as more realistic access patterns, in order to evaluate efficiency, availability, robustness and performance of the various data-access solutions.
The aim of this study was to analyze dentists' perceptions, attitudes, knowledge and experience about child abuse and neglect (CAN) in an area of northeast Italy and the factors affecting the ...recognition and reporting of CAN cases.
One hundred six dentists working in both public and private sectors in the provinces of Padua and Treviso were interviewed by a single operator. Descriptive and assessing association analyses were carried out.
Dentists' perceptions about CAN is low, and these professionals have a poor attitude toward confronting it according to the code of conduct and laws. Available information and education are also poor Education affects the detection and the reporting of CAN cases in a relevant way. Female gender is another factor that affects the attitude and the perception of CAN.
The results, which are consistent with other studies, show that there is a general lack of knowledge about CAN that prevents dentists from detecting and identifying suspected cases. Despite its frequent occurrence among dental patients, neglect is the least known and identified type of abuse. Education is the critical element in enhancing the ability of professionals to detect cases.
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