Between 1 June and 31 December 2016, 13,023 blood donations from the University Hospital Aachen in Germany were routinely screened for West Nile virus (WNV) RNA using the cobas TaqScreen WNV Test. On ...28 September 2016, one blood donor was tested positive. Subsequent analysis revealed an acute Usutu virus (USUV) infection. During the ongoing USUV epizootics in Germany, blood transfusion services, public health authorities and clinicians should be aware of increased human USUV infections.
Adrenal function is essential for survival and well-being of preterm babies. In addition to glucocorticoids, it has been hypothesized that C
-steroids (DHEA-metabolites) from the fetal zone of the ...adrenal gland may play a role as endogenous neuroprotective steroids. In 39 term-born (≥37 weeks gestational age), 42 preterm (30-36 weeks) and 51 early preterm (<30 weeks) infants 38 steroid metabolites were quantified by GC-MS in 24-h urinary samples. In each gestational age group, three distinctive cluster were identified by pattern analysis (
-means clustering). Individual steroidal fingerprints and clinical phenotype were analyzed at the 3rd day of life. Overall, the excretion rates of C
-steroids (glucocorticoid precursors, cortisol, and cortisone metabolites) were low (<99 μg/kg body weight/d) whereas the excretion rates of C
-steroids were up to 10 times higher. There was a shift to higher excretion rates of C
-steroids in both preterm groups compared to term infants but only minor differences in the distribution of C
-steroids. Comparable metabolic patterns were found between gestational age groups: Cluster 1 showed mild elevation of C
- and C
-steroids with the highest incidence of neonatal morbidities in term and severe intraventricular hemorrhage in early preterm infants. In cluster 2 lowest excretion in general was noted but no clinically unique phenotype. Cluster 3 showed highest elevation of C
-steroids and C
-steroids but no clinically unique phenotype. Significant differences in steroid metabolism between clusters are only partly reflected by gestational age and disease severity. In early preterm infants, higher excretion rates of glucocorticoids and their precursors were associated with severe cerebral hemorrhage. High excretion rates of C
-steroids in preterm infants may indicate a biological significance.
The first measurements of the beam-target-helicity-asymmetries E and G in the photoproduction of ω-mesons off protons at the CBELSA/TAPS experiment are reported. E (G) was measured using circularly ...(linearly) polarised photons and a longitudinally polarised target. E was measured over the photon energy range from close to threshold (Eγ=1108 MeV) to Eγ=2300 MeV and G at a single energy interval of 1108<Eγ<1300 MeV. Both measurements cover the full solid angle. The observables E and G are highly sensitive to the contribution of baryon resonances, with E acting as a helicity filter in the s-channel. The new results indicate significant s-channel resonance contributions together with contributions from t-channel exchange processes. A partial wave analysis reveals strong contributions from the partial waves with spin-parity JP=3/2+,5/2+, and 3/2−.
The data for 77 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent emergency surgery for acute intestinal obstruction (57 patients) or perforation (20 patients) within 24 h of admission were evaluated. ...The patients were older and had more advanced disease than patients undergoing elective surgery for colorectal cancer. Emergency surgery for carcinoma of the right colon consisted of primary resection in 95 per cent of cases and was followed by a 28 per cent mortality rate. Perforated tumours of the left colon and rectum were managed by primary resection in 82 per cent of cases with a 22 per cent mortality rate. In contrast, obstructing tumours of the left colon and rectum were treated by primary resection in 38 per cent of cases with a 6 per cent mortality rate, and by primary decompression in 62 per cent of cases with a 25 per cent mortality rate. The overall postoperative mortality rate was 23 per cent and increased with advanced tumour disease, perforation and peritonitis. Cardiac decompensation and intraabdominal sepsis were the major causes of death. Although the long-term survival rate following emergency surgery was worse than after elective surgery, improvements in outcome should be achieved by better management of the initial emergency situation.
Total bile acid (TBA) content is a sensitive marker of liver function for diagnosis and monitoring of various liver diseases. Increased TBA levels are associated with acute and chronic hepatitis, ...intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), liver sclerosis, cirrhosis and cancer. Commercially available assays show limitations regarding the detection of clinically relevant primary and secondary bile acids. DiaSys introduces a new liquid-stable, ready-to-use reagent for assessment of all relevant bile acids in a sample offering the possibility to precisely cover all stages of liver diseases. The enzymatic Total bile acids 21 FS test is based on a specific 3-alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase cycling reaction converting Thio-NAD to Thio-NADH. In a second reaction step, oxidized bile acids are reduced by the same enzyme with subsequent reduction of NADH to NAD. The rate of Thio-NADH formation is determined by a change of absorbance at 410/596 nm, which is directly proportional to the concentration of bile acids in the sample material. Recovery studies on various primary and secondary bile acids were performed using 50 microM aqueous bile acids solutions. In-series precision studies have been performed according to CLSI protocol (EP5-A3). Comparative studies were performed with 100 serum samples. Data have been evaluated by using regression analysis according to Passing and Bablok. Linearity of the new Total bile acids 21 FS test is up to 220 pmol/L. Total bile acids 21 FS shows a very good in-series precision with a CV of less than or equal to 0.83% (at 10 micromol/L). Furthermore, method comparison of Total bile acids 21 FS with 100 native samples against a competitor test demonstrated excellent correlation r = 0.9963; Passing/Bablok: y = 1.026 * + 0.211 pmol/L. Calibration stability of up to 6 weeks has been achieved for the new test on BioMajestyR JCA 6010/C which is a decisive advantage over competition.
This article serves as introduction for a themed issue on Peter Sloterdijk's enormous philosophy of space. It invites scholars from various disciplines to critically engage with Sloterdijk's thought ...and discusses briefly the contributions made in this special issue. The paper gives some orientation on the anthropological and social philosophy Sloterdijk deploys within his oeuvre, and illuminates the various fields of social and cultural research his ideas have informed so far. The editorial identifies four possible fields of interest within human geography that could gain by engaging with Sloterdijk's thought, namely urban and architectural theory, new technologies, political geographies and critical social geography. The article also discusses the necessity of a critical distance to the philosophical premises on which Sloterdijk grounds his philosophy as well as his role as notorious commentator on political issues in Germany.
Background and Objectives Transmission of human parvovirus B19 (PV B19) by transfusion of blood and blood products is well documented. Although PV B19 infection is connected with severe complications ...in some recipients, donor screening is not yet mandatory. In this study the prevalence of PV B19, as detected by a haemagglutination assay (the Human PV B19 Antigen‐Test), was assessed. In addition, the persistence of B19 DNA and the serological status of blood donors was also assessed. The specificity and utility of the Human PV B19 Antigen‐Test for donor screening was investigated and compared with other screening strategies.
Materials and Methods The prevalence of PV B19 viraemia was assessed in 28 972 donations from 15 660 remunerated donors by means of the haemagglutination assay. Reactive results were confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Results Overall, 255 donations gave reactive or indeterminate results in the screening assay. Four donations/donors detected by the haemagglutination assay were confirmed as positive for B19 DNA by PCR. Therefore, a frequency was detected of 1 : 7243 B19‐positive donations and 1 : 3915 positive donors. Specificity was determined to be 99·1%. Follow‐up showed the persistence of viraemia in low concentrations for prolonged time‐periods.
Conclusion Blood donations with a high level of human PV B19 viraemia can be detected by the haemagglutination assay, which is rapid and easy to perform. The presence of neutralizing antibody may inhibit specific haemagglutination.
Background and Objectives There exists a current lack of information about the impact of different inline filters, used for the leucoreduction of whole blood (WB), on the levels of clotting factors ...and markers of coagulation, complement and cell activation in plasma. Only a few small comparisons of different types of WB inline filters have been published to date.
Materials and Methods This study compared two plasma types of 200 units each. Both study groups were derived from WB, inline‐filtered and held for 2 h at 20° between donation and filtration. Then, 200 units (Group A) were filtered using a positively charged polyester filter (Baxter RZ2000) and the other 200 units (Group B) were filtered using an uncharged polyester filter (Fresenius). After filtration, both groups were analysed for fibrinogen, factors V and VIII:C (FV and FVIII:C, respectively), immunoglobulin G (IgG), residual leucocytes and platelets, and markers of coagulation, complement and cell activation. Predonation plasma samples from CPDA1‐anticoagulated blood were obtained from 100 different individuals and served as controls.
Results WB inline filtration did not influence fibrinogen, FV, FVIII:C or IgG levels. Neither filter induced thrombin or fibrin formation. The charged filter caused substantial complement activation and neutrophil elastase and platelet factor 4 release. In contrast, the plasma filtered through the uncharged filter showed markedly lower levels of C3a‐desArg, C5a, neutrophil elastase and platelet factor 4, and moderately reduced levels of prothrombin fragments 1+2 and d‐dimer, compared with controls.
Conclusions Filter type has a significant impact on the quality of plasma derived from WB filtered through inline filtration systems. Some filters produce substantial coagulation and complement activation and cell release, while others appear to reduce the plasma levels of activation markers. The clinical significance of these findings remains to be determined.
This paper develops three analytical categories – range, supporting capacity, exigency/notability – to capture how supra-individual phenomena affect the people studied by empirical research. ...Researchers face a tension between constructivist and realist perspectives as the examined phenomena are simultaneously social constructs, in the way people perceive and understand them, and social facts in their consequences. Taking a critical perspective on the notion of large social phenomena – popularized by Theodore Schatzki – the paper develops an explorative terminology that aims to facilitate practice-oriented field research. Examples of empirical research on transition and degrowth initiatives illustrate how research subjects estimate the range of a phenomenon by trying to grasp whether they are in or out of its reach; the supportive capacity of a phenomenon by exploring how far it carries certain processes; and they experience the exigency of a phenomenon and ascribe a certain notability to it. Taken together, this terminology grasps the way phenomena are matters of concern, rather than matters of fact, for the research subjects.
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