bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
What to do about transfusion‐related acute lung injury?
Authors: Eder A. F. 
Published: April 2015

BackgroundIn recent years, blood centres in several countries have taken measures to effectively reduce the risk of transfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI) from plasma transfusion but challenges remain.MethodsThis article reviews recently published studies and data on TRALI from the American Red Cross haemovigilance programme.ResultsSince 2008, over 95% of the approximately 1·6 million plasma components distributed annually for transfusion by the American Red Cross is from male donors. With this approach, the rate of TRALI after plasma transfusion decreased by about 80%. However, the risk associated with group AB plasma compared to other blood groups did not change, because female donors were still needed for almost half of the group AB plasma to meet demand. Between 2006 and 2011, the use of group AB plasma in the United States steadily increased by over 30%, while plasma use overall decreased by about 3%. To meet the new standard for plasma safety, US blood centres and transfusion services took additional measures to ensure an adequate supply of group AB plasma and appropriate utilization of a limited resource.SummaryThe switch to a male‐donor predominant plasma strategy resulted in a sustained and significant reduction in the risk of TRALI. The collaborative effort of blood centres and transfusion services to further advance evidence‐based haemotherapy practices will likely have a broader effect on transfusion safety than in preventing TRALI alone.
Red cell antigen testing
Authors: Scharberg E. A. , Richter E. , Bugert P. 
Published: April 2015

The testing of red cell antigens in blood donors and blood recipients is the basic and most important part of the pretransfusion diagnostics. Depending on the national guidelines, the testing includes different mandatory typing ranging from ABO only up to ABO, RhD, RhCcEe, K and the RhD genotyping of serologically RhD‐negative donors. Testing of additional blood group antigens in blood donors and recipients is needed to provide compatible blood products for patients with clinically significant red cell antibodies. The red cell antigen testing is performed by a variety of serological methods mostly using haemagglutination test. For typing of ABO, RhD, RhCcEe, K and some further antigens, monoclonal IgM sera have become standard reagents. However, for extended antigen testing, polyclonal sera remained the most frequently used reagents. For some antigens, no certified commercial sera are available. The testing of the antigens has different significance in blood donors and recipients. Because of possible false‐negative reactions with weak or partial antigens, the typing of blood donors requires more sensitive techniques and reagents. In the last 10 years, molecular DNA typing of blood group alleles has become available for the routine. Providing genotypes, it gives essential information predicting the phenotype of red cell antigens when serological testing is not possible because of reagent limitations or in pretransfused patients.
Testing for HIV – the first three decades
Authors: Busch M. P. 
Published: April 2015

BackgroundHIV was discovered in 1984, with high rates of virus isolation and antibody (Ab) detection in haemophiliacs and recipients of blood from HIV‐infected donors, demonstrating the critical need to develop tests for donor screening.Aims/MethodsReview evolution of HIV‐donor screening, and broader applications of HIV tests and infected‐donor surveillance to research and public health.ResultsIn mid‐1984, scientists in governments and industry collaborated to develop HIV‐Ab tests that were implemented in blood banks ~1 year following discovery of HIV. Initial Ab screening did not eliminate TT‐HIV, however, with numerous breakthrough cases detected following introduction of first‐generation assays, which were determined to have an infectious pre‐seroconversion (SC) window period (WP) of ~56 days. Improvements in sensitivity of second‐generation tests in the late‐1980s and third‐generation tests in the mid‐1990s reduced the pre‐SC WP to approximately 3 weeks. Subsequent additions of p24 antigen and then nucleic acid technology (NAT)‐screening in the late 1990s closed the infectious WP to 5–10 days. NAT‐screening assays and algorithms and fourth‐generation Ag/Ab serological tests developed for blood bank screening and staging of early HIV infections are now in widespread use in clinical diagnostic, research and public health settings. NAT assays developed for donor screening have been applied to detect persistent low‐level viral replication in studies of patients on HAART, ‘elite controllers’ and ‘HIV‐eradication’ research.ConclusionsProgressive improvements in HIV screening assays have virtually eliminated TT‐HIV infections, and consequent advances in HIV testing have contributed to HIV diagnostics, research and public health.
An international survey of paediatric apheresis practice
Authors: Delaney M. , Capocelli K. E. , Eder A. F. , Schneiderman J. , Schwartz J. , Sloan S. R. , Wong E. C. C. , Kim H. C. ,   On behalf of the American Society of Apheresis, Applications Committee, Pediatric Subcommittee
Published: April 2015

IntroductionPaediatric apheresis (PA) has distinct characteristics compared to adult apheresis and requires specialized knowledge and experience to perform safely, particularly in low‐weight patients. As evidence‐based medicine advances the field of therapeutic apheresis, increased attention must be paid to paediatric patients with conditions for which apheresis is indicated.MethodsAn electronic survey of >5000 potential participants throughout the world was conducted to ascertain the scope and the current state of practice.ResultsThe survey elicited 159 responses from 12 countries; 107 of the responses provided sufficient information for analysis. Participants performed an average of 176 PA procedures/year (range 1–2000). The types of PA procedures were therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE, 92% of centres), red cell exchange (RCE, 86%), leucocyte depletion (LD, 87%) and peripheral blood hematopoietic progenitor cell collection (HPC, 72%). More than 65% of the centres had treated children older than 5 years with PA. Many centres had also performed PA on younger children; 40% have treated patients <12 months of age; 61% had treated patients 1–5 years old. About 36% of centres reported that they would perform apheresis regardless of patient weight; 18% used a 5 kg threshold, 11% used 5–10 kg and 17% used 10 kg as their weight threshold.ConclusionThis report is the largest single survey of centres performing PA. The results provide information about the scope and diversity of PA and identify areas where considerable variability in practice exists. Further exploration of these differences could establish best practices in PA through international research and collaboration.
Environmental variables and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage in the headwater streams of an Afro‐tropical reservoir
Authors: Akindele Emmanuel O. , Olutona Godwin O. 
Published: April 2015

AbstractThe assemblage of benthic macroinvertebrates in relation to some selected environmental variables of the two headwater streams of Aiba Reservoir was studied from May 2013 to March 2014. This was with a view to assessing the health status and water quality of the streams, and comparing their taxa richness with similar studies on the reservoir and its out‐flowing stream. A total of 23 taxa were recorded in the study.
and
showed indirect relationships (P < 0.05) with bioindicators of good water quality, while dissolved oxygen (DO) showed indirect relationship (P < 0.05) with bioindicators of poor water quality. The streams were of poor biological water quality, and diversity indices revealed that they were polluted and unstable in habitat structure. Anthropogenic impacts at the upper reaches need to be mitigated and regular biomonitoring of the streams is of the essence, in order to conserve the integrity of the downstream reservoir.
Green and Ampt infiltration model extended beyond rain duration
Authors: Akan A. Osman , Atabay Serter 
Published: April 2015

AbstractA simple method requiring only hand calculations is presented in this study that enables the use of the Green and Ampt infiltration model beyond the rain duration. The method takes into account that the runoff and infiltration processes continue for some period of time after the rain stops. Both the ground surface and subsurface characteristics are considered. A conjunctive overland flow‐infiltration mathematical model is employed for this purpose. A kinematic‐wave approach is used to model the overland flow, and the Green and Ampt equations are employed to calculate the infiltration rates. The governing equations are expressed and solved in terms of dimensionless parameters to enable the generalization of the results based on the principle of hydrologic similarity. A four‐point finite difference scheme is used to solve the governing equations. The results are presented in chart form. An example application of the proposed method is included.
Novel assessment of haemodynamic kinetics with acute exercise in a rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension
Authors: Brown Mary Beth , Chingombe Tsungai J. , Zinn Abigail B. , Reddy Jagadeshwar G. , Novack Rachel A. , Cooney Sean A. , Fisher Amanda J. , Presson Robert G. , Lahm Tim , Petrache Irina 
Published: April 2015

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?
The acute effect of exercise at moderately high intensity on already‐elevated pulmonary arterial pressures and right ventricular wall stress in a rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is unknown.

What is the main finding and its importance?
We show, for the first time, that in a rat model of PAH, exercise induces an acute reduction in pulmonary artery pressure associated with lung endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation, without evidence of acute right ventricular inflammation or myocyte apoptosis. Haemodynamic measures obtained with traditional invasive methodology as well as novel implantable telemetry reveal an exercise‐induced ‘window’ of pulmonary hypertension alleviation, supporting future investigations of individualized exercise as therapy in PAH.

Exercise improves outcomes of multiple chronic conditions, but controversial results, including increased pulmonary artery (PA) pressure, have prevented its routine implementation in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), an incurable disease that drastically reduces exercise tolerance. Individualized, optimized exercise prescription for PAH requires a better understanding of disease‐specific exercise responses. We investigated the acute impact of exercise on already‐elevated PA pressure and right ventricular (RV) wall stress and inflammation in a rat model of PAH (PAH group, n = 12) induced once by monocrotaline (50 mg kg−1, i.p.; 2 weeks), compared with healthy control animals (n = 8). Single bouts of exercise consisted of a 45 min treadmill run at 75% of individually determined aerobic capacity (). Immediately after exercise, measurements of RV systolic pressure and systemic pressure were made via jugular and carotid cannulation, and were followed by tissue collection. Monocrotaline induced moderate PAH, evidenced by RV hypertrophy, decreased , PA muscularization, and RV and skeletal muscle cytoplasmic glycolysis detected by increased expression of glucose transporter‐1. Acute exercise normalized the monocrotaline‐induced elevation in RV systolic pressure and augmented pulmonary endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation, without evidence of increased RV inflammation or apoptosis. Real‐time recordings of pulmonary and systemic pressures during and after single bouts of exercise made using novel implantable telemetry in the same animal for up to 11 weeks after monocrotaline (40 mg kg−1) corroborated the finding of acute PA pressure decreases with exercise in PAH. The PA pressure‐lowering effects of individualized exercise associated with RV‐neutral effects and increases in vasorelaxor signalling encourage further development of optimized exercise regimens as adjunctive PAH therapy.
Impairment of adenylyl cyclase‐mediated glutamatergic synaptic plasticity in the periaqueductal grey in a rat model of neuropathic pain
Authors: Ho Yu‐Cheng , Cheng Jen‐Kun , Chiou Lih‐Chu 
Published: April 2015

Key points
Long‐lasting neuropathic pain has been attributed to elevated neuronal plasticity changes in spinal, peripheral and cortical levels. Here, we found that reduced neuronal plasticity in the ventrolateral periaqueductal grey (vlPAG), a midbrain region important for initiating descending pain inhibition, may also contribute to neuropathic pain.
Forskolin‐ and isoproterenol (isoprenaline)‐elicited EPSC potentiation was impaired in the vlPAG of a rat model of neuropathic pain induced by spinal nerve injury.
Down‐regulation of adenylyl cyclase–cAMP– PKA signalling, due to impaired adenylyl cyclase, but not phosphodiesterase, in glutamatergic terminals may contribute to the hypofunction of excitatory synaptic plasticity in the vlPAG of neuropathic rats and the subsequent descending pain inhibition, ultimately leading to long‐lasting neuropathic pain.
Our results suggest that drugs that activate adenylyl cyclase in the vlPAG have the potential for relieving neuropathic pain.
AbstractNeuropathic pain has been attributed to nerve injury‐induced elevation of peripheral neuronal discharges and spinal excitatory synaptic plasticity while little is known about the contribution of neuroplasticity changes in the brainstem. Here, we examined synaptic plasticity changes in the ventrolateral (vl) periaqueductal grey (PAG), a crucial midbrain region for initiating descending pain inhibition, in spinal nerve ligation (SNL)‐induced neuropathic rats. In vlPAG slices of sham‐operated rats, forskolin, an adenylyl cyclase (AC) activator, produced long‐lasting enhancement of EPSCs. This is a presynaptic effect since forskolin decreased the paired‐pulse ratio and failure rate of EPSCs, and increased the frequency, but not the amplitude, of miniature EPSCs. Forskolin‐induced EPSC potentiation was mimicked by a β‐adrenergic agonist (isoproterenol (isoprenaline)), and prevented by an AC inhibitor (SQ 22536) and a cAMP‐dependent protein kinase (PKA) inhibitor (H89), but not by a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor (Ro 20‐1724) or an A1‐adenosine antagonist (DPCPX). Both forskolin‐ and isoproterenol‐induced EPSC potentiation was impaired in PAG slices of SNL rats. The SNL group had lower AC, but not PDE, activity in PAG synaptosomes than the sham group. Conversely, IPSCs in vlPAG slices were not different between SNL and sham groups. Intra‐vlPAG microinjection of forskolin alleviated SNL‐induced mechanical allodynia in rats. These results suggest that SNL leads to inadequate descending pain inhibition resulting from impaired glutamatergic synaptic plasticity mediated by the AC–cAMP–PKA signalling cascade, possibly due to AC down‐regulation in the PAG, leading to long‐term neuropathic pain.
Ultrashort echo‐time MRI versus CT for skull aberration correction in MR‐guided transcranial focused ultrasound: In vitro comparison on human calvaria
Authors: Miller G. Wilson , Eames Matthew , Snell John , Aubry Jean‐François 
Published: April 2015

Purpose:Transcranial magnetic resonance‐guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) brain treatment systems compensate for skull‐induced beam aberrations by adjusting the phase and amplitude of individual ultrasound transducer elements. These corrections are currently calculated based on a preacquired computed tomography (CT) scan of the patient's head. The purpose of the work presented here is to demonstrate the feasibility of using ultrashort echo‐time magnetic resonance imaging (UTE MRI) instead of CT to calculate and apply aberration corrections on a clinical TcMRgFUS system.Methods:Phantom experiments were performed in three ex‐vivo human skulls filled with tissue‐mimicking hydrogel. Each skull phantom was imaged with both CT and UTE MRI. The MR images were then segmented into “skull” and “not‐skull” pixels using a computationally efficient, threshold‐based algorithm, and the resulting 3D binary skull map was converted into a series of 2D virtual CT images. Each skull was mounted in the head transducer of a clinical TcMRgFUS system (ExAblate Neuro, Insightec, Israel), and transcranial sonications were performed using a power setting of approximately 750 acoustic watts at several different target locations within the electronic steering range of the transducer. Each target location was sonicated three times: once using aberration corrections calculated from the actual CT scan, once using corrections calculated from the MRI‐derived virtual CT scan, and once without applying any aberration correction. MR thermometry was performed in conjunction with each 10‐s sonication, and the highest single‐pixel temperature rise and surrounding‐pixel mean were recorded for each sonication.Results:The measured temperature rises were ∼45% larger for aberration‐corrected sonications than for noncorrected sonications. This improvement was highly significant (p < 10−4). The difference between the single‐pixel peak temperature rise and the surrounding‐pixel mean, which reflects the sharpness of the thermal focus, was also significantly larger for aberration‐corrected sonications. There was no significant difference between the sonication results achieved using CT‐based and MR‐based aberration correction.Conclusions:The authors have demonstrated that transcranial focal heating can be significantly improved in vitro by using UTE MRI to compute skull‐induced ultrasound aberration corrections. Their results suggest that UTE MRI could be used instead of CT to implement such corrections on current 0.7 MHz clinical TcMRgFUS devices. The MR image acquisition and segmentation procedure demonstrated here would add less than 15 min to a clinical MRgFUS treatment session.
Moments in inclusive semileptonic B meson decays at the Belle experiment
Authors: Schwanda Christoph 
Published: April 2015

Since my return to Austria in the year 2003, I have measured observables in inclusive B meson decays at the Belle experiment and worked together with theorists on the interpretation of these measurements in terms of the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix element |Vcb|. And in fact, only this memorial book project made me fully aware of Kolya Uraltsev's ground breaking theoretical contributions to this field. He was not a theorist who talked a lot to an experimentalist like me, and maybe this is not a bad thing for good science. I certainly remember his enthusiasm from conferences, e.g., when I was powerless to keep his presentation to the scheduled time as a session chair at the CKM2005 workshop in San Diego. Still I feel there is some amount of irony in the fact, that I know so little about a person whose work has been so decisive for my career in high energy physics. To commemorate Kolya Uraltsev's pioneering work on inclusive semileptonic B meson decays B → Xcℓν and on the Heavy Quark Expansion (HQE), which has already been paid tribute to in other articles in this volume, I will review the measurement of the electron energy and the hadronic mass moments in B → Xcℓν decays performed at the Belle experiment. These measurements allow to both test his theoretical calculations and to extract |Vcb| and non-perturbative quantities, such as the b-quark mass, from his formulae.
Interdecadal Baroclinic Sea Level Changes in the North Pacific Based on Historical Ocean Hydrographic Observations
Authors: Suzuki Tatsuo , Ishii Masayoshi 
Published: April 2015

Abstract
Using historical ocean hydrographic observations, decadal to multidecadal sea level changes from 1951 to 2007 in the North Pacific were investigated focusing on vertical density structures. Hydrographically, the sea level changes could reflect the following: changes in the depth of the main pycnocline, density gradient changes across the pycnocline, and modification of the water mass density structure within the pycnocline. The first two processes are characterized as the first baroclinic mode. The changes in density stratification across the pycnocline are sufficiently small to maintain the vertical profile of the first baroclinic mode in this analysis period. Therefore, the first mode should represent mainly the dynamical response to the wind stress forcing. Meanwhile, changes in the composite of all modes of order greater than 1 (remaining baroclinic mode) can be attributed to water mass modifications above the pycnocline. The first baroclinic mode is associated with 40–60-yr fluctuations in the subtropical gyre and bidecadal fluctuations of the Kuroshio Extension (KE) in response to basin-scale wind stress changes. In addition to this, the remaining baroclinic mode exhibits strong variability around the recirculation region south of the KE and regions downstream of the KE, accompanied by 40–60-yr and bidecadal fluctuations, respectively. These fluctuations follow spinup/spindown of the subtropical gyre and meridional shifts of the KE shown in the first mode, respectively. A lag correlation analysis suggests that interdecadal sea level changes due to water mass density changes are a secondary consequence of changes in basin-scale wind stress forcing related to the ocean circulation changes associated with the first mode.
Convective Momentum Transport Associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation Based on a Reanalysis Dataset
Authors: Oh Ji-Hyun , Jiang Xianan , Waliser Duane E. , Moncrieff Mitchell W. , Johnson Richard H. 
Published: April 2015

Abstract
A better understanding of multiscale interactions within the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), including momentum exchanges, is critical for improved MJO prediction skill. In this study, convective momentum transport (CMT) associated with the MJO is analyzed based on the NOAA Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). A three-layer vertical structure associated with the MJO, as previously suggested in the mesoscale momentum tendency profile based on global cloud-resolving model simulations, is evident in the subgrid-scale momentum tendency from the CFSR. Positive (negative) subgrid-scale momentum tendency anomalies are found near the surface, negative (positive) anomalies are found in the low to midtroposphere, and positive (negative) anomalies in the upper troposphere are found within and to the west (east) of the MJO convection. This tends to damp the MJO circulation in the free atmosphere, while enhancing MJO winds near the surface. In addition, it could also reduce the MJO eastward propagation speed and lead to the backward tilt with height in the observed MJO structure through a secondary circulation near the MJO center. Further analyses illustrate that this three-layer vertical structure in subgrid-scale momentum tendency largely balances the grid-scale momentum transport of the zonal wind component u, mainly through the transport of seasonal mean u by the MJO-scale vertical motion. Synoptic-scale systems, which were previously proposed to be essential for the u-momentum transport of the MJO, however, are found to play a minor role for the total grid-scale momentum tendency. The above momentum tendency structure is also confirmed with the ECMWF analysis for the Year of Tropical Convection (YOTC) that lends confidence to these above results based on the CFSR.