bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Detection of HCV core antigen in human serum and plasma with an automated chemiluminescent immunoassay
Authors: Muerhoff A. Scott , Jiang Lily , Shah Dinesh O. , Gutierrez Robin A. , Patel Jigisha , Garolis Cynthia , Kyrk Charles R. , Leckie Gregor , Frank Andrea , Stewart James L. , Dawson George J. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND:Currently, the detection of HCV infection in blood donors relies on the ability of immunoassays to detect circulating HCV antibodies. However, a significant delay exists between the time of infection and the development of antibodies. This delay (window period) can last up to 70 days. The introduction of NAT for the detection of HCV RNA has reduced this window period dramatically. However, NAT is labor intensive, prone to contamination, and expensive as compared with standard serologic tests.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS:An automated, microparticle‐based chemiluminescent assay for the detection of HCV core antigen in human serum and plasma was developed. The specificity and sensitivity of this prototype assay were evaluated by testing a population of normal blood donors and commercially available seroconversion panels.RESULTS:The HCV core antigen assay exhibited a 99.9‐percent specificity by detecting a single repeatably reactive sample out of 1004 normal donors tested. Assay sensitivity was determined by comparing the HCV core antigen detection rate with the antibody seroconversion profile and the rate of HCV RNA detection. Among 15 seroconversion panels examined, core antigen was detected in 69 of 70 antibody‐negative and/or RNA‐positive samples for a sensitivity relative to NAT of 98.6 percent.CONCLUSION:These data indicate that the automated, microparticle‐based chemiluminescent HCV core antigen assay can reduce the window period for detection of potentially infected blood donors by 32.7 days, and it represents a viable alternative to HCV RNA testing.
Matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (gelatinase B) is elevated during mobilization of peripheral blood progenitor cells by G–CSF
Authors: Carstanjen Dirk , Ulbricht Norbert , Iacone Antonio , Regenfus Michael , Salama Abdulgabar 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9 or gelatinase B) has recently been implicated in the IL‐8‐induced mobilization of HPCs in rhesus monkeys and mice. It is not known whether administration of G−CSF causes expression of MMP‐9 during HPC mobilization. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood samples from 15 allogeneic progenitor cell donors were collected before and during G−CSF‐induced HPC mobilization. The expression of the gelatinases MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 in the plasma of the donors was analyzed by ELISA and zymographic analysis. Gelatinolytic activity was measured with a fluorometric assay that was specific for gelatinases. Expression of IL‐6, IL‐8, and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) was measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Highly elevated latent gelatinolytic activity was found on Days 4 and 5 of G−CSF treatment in comparison to pretreatment activity. ELISA and zymographic analyses revealed pro‐MMP‐9 as the major source of the latent gelatinolytic plasma activity during mobilization. Pro‐MMP‐2 was not elevated compared with pretreatment levels. As IL‐8 has been implicated in the expression of MMP‐9, IL‐8 concentrations were measured in plasma samples from donors and patients immediately before the start of HPC apheresis, but no significantly elevated IL‐8 concentrations were noted. In contrast, pro‐MMP‐9 and latent gelatinolytic activity was highly correlated with IL‐6, which was strongly elevated during mobilization therapy. Finally, soluble VCAM was equally significantly elevated on the days of apheresis. CONCLUSIONS: G−CSF mobilization treatment induces MMP‐9, IL‐6, and soluble VCAM. Expression of MMP‐9 might be involved in the mobilization of human HPCs and might be a final common pathway of different mobilization therapies. Our data do not support a role of IL‐8 in G−CSF‐induced mobilization. In contrast, IL‐6 might be involved in the G−CSF‐induced expression of MMP‐9.
The United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Scheme gating and standardization strategy for use in residual WBC counting of WBC‐reduced blood components
Authors: Goodfellow Karen J. , Storie Ian , Granger Vivian , Whitby Liam , Antcliffe Joanne , Reilly John T. , Barnett David 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Major causes of interlaboratory variation in low‐level WBC counting are the gating strategies and staining methods employed. To overcome these limitations, a stable low‐level WBC control preparation (termed daily run control [DRC]) was developed that when coupled with a new gating strategy will enable international standardization.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Both a whole blood preparation (stability of more than 12 months; target WBC count of 20 cells/μL with defined fluorescence values) and a new gating strategy were developed and used with a staining kit (LeucoCOUNT [Becton Dickinson BioSciences] providing the basis for stan‐ dardization). These were then combined and used to crosscalibrate seven different flow cytometers. After standardization with the DRC, comparative studies were undertaken with fresh samples with a WBC range of <1 to 60 cells per μL.RESULTS: The developed gating strategy enabled the DRC WBCs to be positioned to within four channels of the expected target fluorescence 1 value (2.3% variation) and within three channels of the target fluorescence 2 value (0.7% variation) on all evaluated instruments. Subsequent analysis of any sample meant that the WBCs always occupied the same “sample space,” irrespective of flow cytometer platform and without the need for repositioning of the analysis region and/or gate.CONCLUSION: The crosscalibration and standardization of flow cytometers used for low‐level WBC counting (irrespective of platform) are attainable with this United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Scheme strategy. Its adoption should reduce interlaboratory CVs and provide a practical approach for the rapid identification of operator and machine problems.
Public perception of the risk of HIV infection associated with blood donation: the role of contextual cues
Authors: Farrell Kathleen , Ferguson Eamonn , James Virge , Lowe Kenneth C. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : Previous surveys have reported that a high proportion of people believe that HIV can be contracted through donating blood. It was hypothesized that this may reflect an artifact of the survey methods used. This study was therefore designed to test the hypothesis that providing contextual cues specific to HIV would cause respondents to express an increased belief that the virus can be contracted by donating blood. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : A one‐way, between‐group design was used to test this hypothesis. Adult subjects (n = 168) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions, all three groups receiving information about the small risk of infection from blood transfusion. The variation across the experimental conditions was the example of infection given (i.e., Condition 1 = no specific example of infection risk, Condition 2 = data on the small risk of contracting hepatitis C through transfusion, Condition 3 = data on the low risk of contracting HIV through transfusion). Respondents answered a single question, “Do you think you could catch HIV by giving (donating) blood in the UK?” RESULTS : Logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents in the HIV‐cued condition were almost 11 times (OR = 10.6) more likely to answer “Yes” to the survey question, as compared with the no‐cue condition. There was no significant difference in response between the no‐cue and the hepatitis C‐cue conditions. CONCLUSION : Providing contextual cues relating to HIV increased the expressed belief that the virus could be contracted through donating blood. To better develop donor recruitment policies, future survey tools should minimize contextual effects.
Removal of prion challenge from an immune globulin preparation by use of a size‐exclusion filter
Authors: Van Holten Robert W. , Autenrieth Stephen , Boose Jeri Ann , Hsieh W.‐T. , Dolan Sherri 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : A size‐exclusion filter (Viresolve 180, Millipore Corp.) was tested for its ability to remove transmissible spongiform encephalopathies prion protein from an immune globulin preparation during ultrafiltration. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
: Hamster‐adapted 263K scrapie brain homogenate (SBH) was spiked into Rh
o
(D) immune globulin (human) at 1 in 300 and 1 in 1000 dilutions. Before spiking, the SBH was treated with detergent, sonicated, and filtered through serial 0.45‐, 0.22‐, and 0.1‐μm filters to present a rigorous filter challenge. Process variables were monitored throughout the ultrafiltration to ensure that the spiked material did not compromise the membrane flux. Removal of scrapie prion protein (PrP
Sc ) material was determined by use of a sensitive Western blot assay. RESULTS
: The turbid SBH became completely translucent after sonication and passage through the 0.45‐, 0.22‐, and 0.1‐μm filters. The filtration of the immune globulin containing PrP
Sc
material was more difficult to perform than was filtration of immune globulin spiked with the normal cellular isoform. Even during tangential flow filtration, the fibril material prevented the PrP
Sc
‐spiked immune globulin from passing as readily through the filter. Western blot results indicated a removal of greater than or equal to 2.5 log PrP
Sc , while remaining within the normal filtration limits. CONCLUSIONS
: The composition, physical condition, and the amount of SBH introduced have significant effects on the filtration of the immune globulin and the log removal values obtained. By use of a detergent‐treated, sonicated, and filtered preparation of SBH, it was demonstrated that the Viresolve 180 effectively removes PrP
Sc from the immune globulin.
Prediction of fetal D status from maternal plasma: introduction of a new noninvasive fetalRHDgenotyping service
Authors: Finning K.M. , Martin P.G. , Soothill P.W. , Avent N.D. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Invasive procedures to obtain fetal DNA for prenatal blood grouping present a risk to the fetus. During pregnancy, cell‐free fetal DNA is present in maternal blood. The detection ofRHDsequences in maternal plasma has been used to predict fetal D status, based on the assumption thatRHDis absent in D– genomes.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Real‐time PCR assays were designed to distinguishRHDfromRHDΨ (possessed by the majority of D– black Africans). Plasma‐derived DNA from 137 D– women was subjected to real‐time PCR to detect fetalRHDand Y chromosome‐associatedSRYsequences. The accuracy ofRHDgenotyping from maternal plasma was investigated by comparing results with those obtained by conventionalRHDgenotyping from fetal tissue or serologic tests on the infant's RBCs. The quantity of fetal DNA in maternal plasma was investigated in 94 pregnancies.RESULTS: Fetal D status was predicted with 100‐ percent accuracy from maternal plasma. The number of copies of fetal DNA in maternal plasma was found to increase with gestation.CONCLUSION: Combination of the sensitivity of real‐time PCR with an improvedRHDtyping assay to distinguishRHDfromRHDΨ enables highly accurate prediction of fetal D status from maternal plasma. This has resulted in the implementation of a clinical noninvasive fetalRHDgenotyping service.
Estimated risk of West Nile virus transmission through blood transfusion during an epidemic in Queens, New York City
Authors: Biggerstaff Brad J. , Petersen Lyle R. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Human West Nile virus (WNV) infection has been documented in the eastern United States since its discovery there in 1999. Epidemics of WNV encephalitis and meningitis raise concern that transmission of WNV may occur through voluntary blood donations.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Case onset dates from the 1999 Queens, NY, epidemic of WNV encephalitis and meningitis, and historic data on viremia in humans are used to estimate the number of cases that were viremic throughout the epidemic. Estimates of the inapparent‐to‐apparent WNV infection ratio, the proportion of asymptomatic infections reported in a seroepidemiologic survey coincident with the epidemic, and the population size are used to infer the WNV transfusion‐transmission risk. Statistical resampling methods are used.RESULTS: The maximum and mean risk of WNV transmission (/10,000) from donors in Queens were estimated as 2.7 (95% CI, 0.9‐5.6) and 1.8 (95% CI, 1.4‐2.2), respectively. The risk peaked in late August, with very low risk before August and after September.CONCLUSION: Although most WNV‐infected individuals have subclinical infections, these data suggest a low prevalence of viremia throughout the Queens epidemic and subsequent low risk of transmission of WNV by blood transfusion.
Predictive value of circulating immature cell counts in peripheral blood for timing of peripheral blood progenitor cell collection after G–CSF plus chemotherapy‐induced mobilization
Authors: Kozuka Teruhiko , Ikeda Kazuma , Teshima Takanori , Kojima Kensuke , Matsuo Keitaro , Bessho Akihiro , Sunami Kazutaka , Hiramatsu Yasushi , Maeda Yoshinobu , Noguchi Toshio , Yamamoto Kazuhiko , Fujii Nobuharu , Imai Toshi , Takenaka Katsuto , Shinagawa Katsuji , Ishimaru Fumihiko , Niiya Kenji , Koide Norio , Tanimoto Mitsune , Harada Mine 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Enumeration of CD34+ cells in peripheral blood (PB) before apheresis predicts the number of CD34+ cells collected, although flow cytometric techniques used are complex and expensive. In an attempt to determine the optimal timing for peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) collection, the usefulness of circulating immature cell (CIC) counts in PB was evaluated. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: CIC counts in PB and CD34+ cell counts in the apheresis product from 249 collections were assessed, and the relationship between these two parameters was evaluated by with the Pearson rank correlation analysis, the Fisher exact test, and the U‐test. RESULTS: CIC counts were correlated significantly with the number of CD34+ cells per kg of patient's body weight in the apheresis product (Pearson rank correlation analysis: r = 0.635, p < 0.0001). When a level of 1 × 109 CICs per L was selected as a cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity for collecting more than 1 × 106 CD34+ cells per kg of body weight were 75.7 and 85.5 percent, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study strongly suggests that the number of CICs in PB may estimate the number of CD34+ cells collected. The data indicate that CIC counts above 1 × 109 per L can be used as a good predictor for PBPC collections containing more than 1 × 106 CD34+ cells per kg of body weight in a single apheresis procedure.
The risks and benefits of accepting men who have had sex with men as blood donors
Authors: Germain M. , Remis R.S. , Delage G. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND : It has been suggested that men who have had sex with men (MSM) should become eligible to donate blood if they recently abstained from male‐to‐male sex. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS : The impact of a 12‐month deferral policy for MSM on the risk of introducing contaminated units in the blood supply and the benefit of obtaining additional donations were estimated. Considered were the prevalence of HIV among MSM, the window period of infection, the rate of laboratory testing errors, and the occurence of other system failures. This was compared with the risk and benefit that currently results from accepting female donors who have had sex with MSM. RESULTS : The revised policy for MSM would potentially result in one HIV‐contaminated unit for every 136,000 additional donations (95% CI, 1 in 69,000 to 1 in 268,000), for an overall increase in HIV risk estimated at 8 percent. The number of donations would increase by 1.3 percent (95% CI, 0.9%‐1.7%). The risk‐benefit ratio of currently accepting female partners of MSM is approximately five times lower. CONCLUSION : The risk increment of accepting 12‐month abstinent MSM would be very small but not zero. From a risk‐benefit perspective, the current deferral policy for MSM is more efficient compared to an analogous hypothetical criterion for female partners of MSM.
Fixing History: Narratives of World War I in France
Authors: Shapiro Ann‐Louise 
Published: March 2003

For nearly a century, the French have entertained an unshakable conviction that their bility to recognize themselves—to know and transmit the essence of Frenchness—depended on the teaching of the history of France. In effect, history was a discourse on France, and the teaching of history—“la pédagogie centrale du citoyen”—the means by which children were constituted as heirs and carriers of a common collective memory that made them not only citizens, but family. In this essay, I examine the rhetorical and conceptual effects on history writing that emerge out of this preoccupation with the elaboration of a continuous, coherent national identity.Focusing on schoolbooks, I begin by looking at the dominant, nearly hegemonic model of French history created by Ernest Lavisse in the 1890s—a model informed by the dream of a unified, unitary French nation, embodied in and articulated through the history of France—and at the disruption of this paradigm in the aftermath of the Great War. I then consider a text written in the 1990s specifically to repudiate the kind of nationalist narratives that prevailed for most of this century—a new supranational history of Europe. I argue that, in their different experiments with fixing history, both Lavisse and the contemporary textbook authors did not so much repair a deficient history as produce a historical fixation, creating mythicized histories that are complete, closed, predictable, and at bottom ahistorical. Finally, I turn to a recent World War I novel, A Very Long Engagement by SébastienJaprisot, in order to suggest ways in which the narrative strategies of a fiction writer may be useful to historians in thinking about a different kind of historical project.
Investment Decisions Depend on Portfolio Disclosures
Authors: Musto David K. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractA weekly database of retail money fund portfolio statistics is uneconomical for retail investors to observe, so it allows direct comparison of disclosed and undisclosed portfolios. This makes possible a more direct and unambiguous test for “window dressing” than elsewhere in the literature. The analysis shows that funds allocating between government and private issues hold more in government issues around disclosures than at other times, consistent with the theory that intermediaries prefer to disclose safer portfolios. Cross‐sectional comparisons locate the most intense rebalancing in the worst recent performers.
Variance‐ratio Statistics and High‐frequency Data: Testing for Changes in Intraday Volatility Patterns
Authors: Andersen Torben G. , Bollerslev Tim , Das Ashish 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTVariance‐ratio tests are routinely employed to assess the variation in return volatility over time and across markets. However, such tests are not statistically robust and can be seriously misleading within a high‐frequency context. We develop improved inference procedures using a Fourier Flexible Form regression framework. The practical significance is illustrated through tests for changes in the FX intraday volatility pattern following the removal of trading restrictions in Tokyo. Contrary to earlier evidence, we find nodiscernible changes outside of the Tokyo lunch period. We ascribe the difference to the fragile finite‐sample inference of conventional variance‐ratio procedures and a single outlier.
Institutional Trading and Soft Dollars
Authors: Conrad Jennifer S. , Johnson Kevin M. , Wahal Sunil 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTProprietary data allow us to distinguish between institutional investors' orders directed to soft‐dollar brokers and those directed to other types of brokers. We find that soft‐dollar brokers execute smaller orders in larger market value stocks. Allowing for differences in order characteristics, we estimate the incremental implicit cost of soft‐dollar execution at 29 (24) basis points for buyer‐ (seller‐) initiated orders. For large orders, incremental implicit costs are 41 (30) basis points for buys (sells). However, we document substantial variability in these estimates, and research services provided by soft‐dollar brokers may at least partially offset these costs.
Limit Orders, Depth, and Volatility: Evidence from the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong
Authors: Ahn Hee‐Joon , Bae Kee‐Hong , Chan Kalok 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTWe investigate the role of limit orders in the liquidity provision in a pure order‐driven market. Results show that market depth rises subsequent to an increase in transitory volatility, and transitory volatility declines subsequent to an increase in market depth. We also examine how transitory volatility affects the mix between limit orders and market orders. When transitory volatility arises from the ask (bid) side, investors will submit more limit sell (buy) orders than market sell (buy) orders. This result is consistent with the existence of limit‐order traders who enter the market and place orders when liquidity is needed.
Three Dimensional Computer Graphic Models by Analytical Photogrammetry
Authors: Littleworth R. M. , Chandler J. H. 
Published: March 2003

This paper indicates the advantages afforded when an analytical plotter is interfaced with a three dimensional CAD system. Problems associated with combining various data sources (ground survey, aerial and close range photography) of differing quality will be discussed, together with compromises required to idealize the geometry of the real world enforced by a CAD system.The paper is illustrated by some of the commercial projects undertaken by the Engineering Photogrammetry Unit at City University. Applications of particular financial significance include modelling of petro‐chemical plant for different purposes and to various levels of detail and accuracy
Progress in the Development of a High Performance Airborne Digital Sensor
Authors: Fricker P. , Sandau R. , Walker A. S. 
Published: March 2003

Joint development work by LH Systems and Deutsches Zentrum für Luft‐ und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center) has produced encouraging results using forward, nadir and backward looking linear arrays on the focal plane to provide panchromatic imagery and geometric information, supplemented by further arrays to acquire multispectral imagery suitable for both high precision photogrammetric mapping and image processing for interpretative purposes. The geometric characteristics of line scanner imagery necessitate line‐by‐line rectification for aircraft tilts and shifts. Satisfactory execution of this process is enhanced by using supplementary data from high performance, on‐board GPS and inertial measurement systems. Similarly, high demands are placed on other sub‐systems, such as the camera mount, lens, electronics and storage technology. In addition to rectification for aircraft tilts and shifts, rectification for terrain characteristics is also required in order to generate colour and false colour composite images, since the various multispectral arrays are in different places on the focal plane. The special geometry affects triangulation. Thereafter, the imagery can be processed using existing software packages from both photogrammetry and remote sensing.The concept has been demonstrated in several successful test flights and the production model is scheduled for market introduction at the ISPRS Congress in July 2000. The imagery from the new sensor will fulfil many market requirements between the highest resolution film imagery (<0.1 m) and high resolution space imagery (1m to 10 m). The sensor's unique blend of multispectral information with high quality geometric information will give rise to numerous new applications.