bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ex vivo evaluation of PBMNCs collected with a new cell separator
Authors: Snyder Edward L. , O'Donnell Lynn , Dengler Thomas J. , Pomper Gregory J. , Velleca Mark A. , Dincecco Dorothy M. , Baril Laurene L. , Min Kyungyoon , Gudino Maria D. , Bender Jeffrey R. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: This study reports on an evaluation of the ability of a cell separator (Amicus, Baxter Healthcare) and the integral MNC computer software program to collect a variety of MNC subsets. The collection efficiency (CE) of the Amicus for these MNC subsets was compared to that of another cell separator (CS‐3000 Plus, Baxter). The collected MNCs were also assayed ex vivo to determine if these cells remained functional.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Healthy volunteer blood donors were recruited to provide PBMNCs for the isolation of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD19+, NK, and γδ+ cells and monocytes. Cells were collected with an Amicus (test arm; n = 16) or a CS‐3000 Plus (control arm; n = 11) cell separator. Cells were counted on a flow cytometer and CEs were calculated. For functional studies, the Amicus‐collected MNC data were compared to CS‐3000 Plus historical data. Functional studies performed included surface antigen expression assays (CD8+), proliferation assays (CD4+ and CD8+ cells), NK cytotoxicity assays for K562 and HUVE cells, and E‐selectin induction on endothelial cells through NK+ contact dependency. Dendritic cells (DCs) were generated from CD34+ cells collected on the Amicus, positively selected by the use of antibody‐bound, magnetic bead technology, and then cultured ex vivo with a combination of growth factors to generate the DCs.RESULTS: CEs were higher on the Amicus than on the CS‐3000 Plus for CD3+ (68 vs. 54%), CD4+ (70 vs. 56%), CD8+ (68 vs. 52%), and CD19+ (60 vs. 48%) cells (p<0.05). For the two separators, CEs were equivalent for monocytes, NK+, and γδ+ cells. The Amicus separator collected significantly fewer platelets than did the CS‐3000 Plus (p<0.00001). CD4+, CD8+, and NK cells proliferated normally. NK cells appropriately stimulated E‐selectin expression on endothelial cells. Culture‐generated DCs obtained by using Amicus‐collected CD34+ cells expressed appropriate cell surface markers.CONCLUSION: The Amicus separator is acceptable for the collection of PBMNC subsets. The device collects CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ T‐ and B‐cell subsets with greater efficiency and collects MNCs with significantly fewer contaminating platelets than does the CS‐3000 Plus. Cells collected on the Amicus are suitable for use in a variety of research and clinical immunobiologic studies.
Evaluation of a concurrent multicomponent collection system for the collection and storage of WBC‐reduced RBC apheresis concentrates
Authors: Moog Rainer , Franck Valentine , Pierce Jennifer A. , Müller Norbert 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Multicomponent apheresis procedures offer the possibility of collecting blood components that are standardized, as compared to those available with whole‐blood donations. A new separator program for the concurrent collection of RBCs, platelets, and plasma (Amicus, Baxter Healthcare) was evaluated.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Apheresis donors (n = 47) underwent concurrent collection of RBCs, platelets, and plasma by use of the single‐needle procedure of the Amicus blood cell separator. A standardized RBC volume (100% Hct) of 200 mL was targeted with either 1 or 2 platelet concentrate units, depending on the donor's predonation characteristics. After collection, the RBC component was sterilely connected to an RBC collection set (Amicus) to allow for the addition of 100 mL of saline‐adenine‐glucose‐mannitol preservative solution and WBC reduction at either ambient temperature or 4°C. The RBC units were subsequently stored at 2 to 6°C for 42 days, and the following in vitro measures were evaluated over the storage period: blood cell counts including Hct and total Hb, plasma Hb, potassium, pH, ATP, and 2,3 DPG.RESULTS: Procedure time averaged 74 ± 9 minutes, and no adverse events were reported. The absolute RBC volume collected averaged 198 ± 11 mL with an average Hct value of 83 ± 2 percent. After filtration, the Hb content averaged 58.2 ± 2.4 g per unit and residual WBCs averaged 0.038 ± 0.015 × 106 per unit. Day 42 results showed that all units had on average more than 70‐percent ATP maintenance, and all of the units had less than 0.8 percent he‐molysis. All units had pH values higher than 6.5 on Day 42.CONCLUSION: The concurrent multicomponent collection system (Amicus) can reliably collect a standardized RBC unit of good quality. In vitro testing of the RBCs collected and stored for 42 days met the Council of Europe criteria for transfusion.
Interactions of IgM ABO antibodies and complement with methoxy‐PEG‐modified human RBCs
Authors: Bradley Amanda J. , Test Samuel T. , Murad Kari L. , Mitsuyoshi Joyce , Scott Mark D. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: RBCs modified with cyanuric chloride activated methoxy‐PEG (CmPEG; 5000 Da) are less immunogenic than untreated RBCs, and their use thus may reduce the risk of alloimmunization in chronically transfused patients.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To further examine the potential utility of CmPEG‐RBCs, the effects of derivatization on an arm of the immune system that plays an important role in transfusion rejection—the complement system—were determined.RESULTS: When CmPEG‐RBCs were incubated in autologous or heterologous ABO‐matched serum, no classical or alternative pathway consumption was found, no C3a was generated, no cell‐bound C3b or C9 was detected, and no cell lysis occurred. Cell‐bound complement regulation was normal for CmPEG‐RBCs, as determined by acidified serum or reactive lysis assays. CmPEG‐RBCs differed from control RBCs only when incubated in ABO‐mismatched serum. In that case, CmPEG modification failed to protect against ABO antibody‐dependent complement‐mediated lysis. Indeed, cell lysis was actually enhanced at CmPEG concentrations >1.0 mM.CONCLUSION: The enhanced lysis of CmPEG‐RBCs in ABO‐mismatched serum correlated with increased IgM binding and C3a generation and elevated C3b and C9 membrane deposition. While PEG modification effectively blocks non‐ABO antigens, these data show that ABO matching is still required. Once ABO‐matched, these modified RBCs retain great potential for the prevention of alloimmunization.
Implementation of a blood irradiation program at a community cancer center
Authors: Patton Gregory A. , Skowronski Michael G. 
Published: March 2003

BACKGROUND: Blood component irradiation is an accepted method of preventing transfusion‐associated GVHD. Previous publications have largely focused on the technical aspects of the irradiation process itself, but relatively little attention has been paid to the details associated with the implementation of a blood irradiation program at the level of a community cancer center.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: An observational study was performed, detailing the specific operational, documentation, and quality assurance measures employed in providing a blood component‐irradiation service within the institutional context of a community cancer center.RESULTS: The Montgomery Cancer Center irradiated 589 units of blood components in 1998 and 1999 to provide a local blood bank with an alternative for procurement of irradiated blood components while complying with applicable quality assurance and regulatory requirements.CONCLUSION: Blood component irradiation is within the scope of most well‐equipped and adequately staffed community cancer centers. Establishment of a blood component irradiation program requires scrupulous physics and dosimetry support, both to ensure the quality of the irradiated component and to satisfy governmental agency regulatory requirements.
Three‐Dimensional Mapping of Earliest Activation after Near‐Threshold Ventricular Defibrillation Shocks
Authors: CHATTIPAKORN NIPON , FOTUHI PARWIS C. , CHATTIPAKORN SIRIPORN C. , IDEKER RAYMOND E. 
Published: March 2003

Three‐Dimensional Pattern of Earliest Postshock Activation. Introduction: Following shocks with a 50% defibrillation success (DFT50) delivered from electrodes at the right ventricular (RV) apex and superior vena cava (SVC), the earliest epicardial postshock activation always appears focally in the left ventricular (LV) apex for both successful and failed shocks. Because the heart is a three‐dimensional (3D) structure, questions remain whether this activation truly arises from a focus or the focal pattern represents epicardial breakthrough resulting from intramural reentry. To answer these questions, 3D electrical mapping was performed.
Methods and Results: In six pigs, 60 to 84 epoxy fiberglass needles (0.7‐mm‐diameter), each containing six electrodes 2 mm apart, were inserted into the LV with 3‐ to 5‐mm spacing around the apex and 5‐ to 10‐mm spacing near the base. Ten DFT50 shocks (RV→SVC, biphasic, 6/4 msec) were delivered after 10 seconds of fibrillation in each animal. The first five activations after each shock were mapped. Of 60 DFT50 shocks, 31 were successful, of which the first postshock cycle was a sinus beat in 13. In the other 18 successful shock episodes, the first postshock activation was detected

63 ± 16

msec after the shock, which was not significantly different from the

58 ± 23

msec postshock interval for the 29 failed shock episodes. In these 47 successful and failed shock episodes, the earliest postshock activation always arose focally from the LV apex. Its origin was in the subepicardium in

76%± 17%

, midmyocardium in

16%± 12%

, and subendocardium in

8%± 6%

of cases.
Conclusion: Following near‐DFT50 shocks, the first postshock cycles did not arise by macroreentry. Instead, they originated from a true focus or microreentry, most commonly near the epicardium.
Electrocardiographic Patterns of Superior Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Tachycardias: Distinguishing Septal and Free‐Wall Sites of Origin
Authors: DIXIT SANJAY , GERSTENFELD EDWARD P. , CALLANS DAVID J. , MARCHLINSKI FRANCIS E. 
Published: March 2003

ECG Patterns of RVOT Tachycardias. Introduction: The superior right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) septum and free wall are common locations of origin for outflow tract ventricular tachycardias (VT). We hypothesized that (1) unique ECG morphologies of pace maps from septal and free‐wall sites in the superior RVOT could be identified using magnetic electroanatomic mapping for accurate anatomical localization; and (2) this ECG information could help facilitate pace mapping and accurate VT localization.
Methods and Results: In 14 patients with structurally normal hearts who were undergoing ablation for outflow tract VT, a detailed magnetic electroanatomic map of RVOT was constructed in sinus rhythm, then pace mapping was performed from anterior, mid, and posterior sites along the septum and free wall of the superior RVOT. Pace maps were analyzed for ECG morphologies in limb leads and transition patterns in precordial leads. Monophasic R waves in inferior leads for septal sites were taller (

1.7 ± 0.4 mV

vs

1.1 ± 0.3 mV; P < 0.01

) and narrower (

158 ± 21 msec

vs

168 ± 15 msec; P < 0.01

) compared with free‐wall sites; lacked “notching” (28.6% vs 95.2%;

P < 0.05

); and showed early precordial transition (by lead V4; 78.6% vs 4.8%;

P < 0.05

). A positive R wave in lead I also distinguished posterior from anterior septal and free‐wall sites. Based on QRS morphology in limb leads and precordial transition pattern (early vs late), in a retrospective analysis, a blinded reviewer was able to accurately localize the site of origin of clinical arrhythmia (the successful ablation site on the magnetic electroanatomic map) in 25 of 28 patients (90%) with superior RVOT VT.
Conclusion: Pace maps in the superior RVOT region manifest site‐dependent ECG morphologies that can help in differentiating free‐wall from septal locations and posterior from anterior locations. Despite overlap in QRS amplitude and duration, in the majority of patients a combination of ECG features can serve as a useful template in predicting accurately the site of origin of clinical arrhythmias arising from this region.
A First Look at the Accuracy of the CRSP Mutual Fund Database and a Comparison of the CRSP and Morningstar Mutual Fund Databases
Authors: Elton Edwin J. , Gruber Martin J. , Blake Christopher R. 
Published: March 2003

ABSTRACTThis paper examines problems in the CRSP Survivor Bias Free U.S. Mutual Fund Database (CRSP, 1998) and compares returns contained in it to those in Morningstar. The CRSP database has an omission bias that has the same effects as survivorship bias. Although all mutual funds are listed in CRSP, return data is missing for many and the characteristics of these funds differ from the populations. The CRSP return data is biased upward and merger months are inaccurately recorded about half the time. Differences in returns in Morningstar and CRSP are a problem for older data and small funds.
The Geocoding of Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery and an Application to Nautical Charting
Authors: Saundercock G.P. 
Published: March 2003

An ERS‐1 SAR image of Frankfurt was geocoded using a variety of DEM spatial resolutions to examine the influence on positional accuracy compared with control points derived from a 1:50 000 scale map of the same area. It was demonstrated that mapping to 1:50 000 scale was possible in flat areas with a DEM resolution finer than 200 m.The case for SAR imagery in nautical charting is discussed in the light of these results, drawing on recent experiences at the Hydrographic Office in charting the South Orkney Islands.
The Z/I Imaging Digital Camera System
Authors: Hinz A. , Heier H. 
Published: March 2003

Market needs for airborne and spaceborne imagery used in photogrammetry and GIS applications are changing. Fundamental changes in sensors, platforms and applications are currently taking place. Most recently, new high resolution spaceborne sensors have become available. Besides classical photogrammetry, new thematic applications will drive the future image market. Savings in cost and time, together with the need for higher and reproducible radiometric resolution or spectral information will push forward the change from analogue to digital imagery. High resolution satellites will compete with airborne film‐based photography and digital camera systems.With the availability of a digital airborne camera, it is possible to completely close the digital chain from image acquisition to exploitation and data distribution. The key decision regarding the camera design in this case is whether a linear or area array sensor should be used. In view of the high geometric accuracy requirements in photogrammetry, Z/I Imaging has focused development on a digital camera based on an area sensor. An essential aspect of this decision was not only the aerial camera system, but also the entire photogrammetric process to the finished photographic or mapping product. If this point of view is adopted, it becomes clear that the development of a digital camera involves more than simply exchanging film for silicon. Aspects such as data transfer rates, in‐flight data processing and storage, image archiving, georeferencing, colour fusion, calibration and preprocessing have the same influence on the economic assessment of a digital camera system. This paper describes current development activities and application aspects of a digital modular airborne camera system.
Managing natural resources in the light of climate variability
Authors: Lenton Roberto 
Published: March 2003

Natural resource management is central to global efforts to reduce poverty and environmental degradation, and is one of the principal ways in which countries are seeking to advance sustainable development and the implementation of Agenda 21. But these efforts to advance natural resource management are strongly impacted by climate and by seasonal and inter–annual climate variability.This article aims to further advance understanding of the relationship between natural resource management and climate variability, with particular attention to ways in which natural resource managers at every level — from the household to the national and international levels — can cope more effectively with such variability. In particular, the article provides an overview of the way in which efforts to manage natural resources to reduce poverty and environmental degradation are impacted by natural climate variability. It examines what natural resource managers are doing to cope with these challenges, and discusses the kinds of new approaches and partnerships that are needed to improve their capacity to cope more effectively with climate variability. In doing so, the article touches on the implications of future climate changes for natural resource managers and the way in which their efforts to cope more effectively with climate variability will provide opportunities to gain experience in identifying and adjusting responses to longer–term climate change.
Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Sediment Transport
Authors: Babovic Vladan 
Published: March 2003

The means for data collection have never been as advanced as they are today. Moreover, the numerical models we use today have never been so advanced. Feeding and calibrating models against collected measurements, however, represents only a one‐way flow: from measurements to the model. The observations of the system can be analyzed further in the search for the information they encode. Such automated search for models accurately describing data constitutes a new direction that can be identified as that of data mining. It can be expected that in the years to come we shall concentrate our efforts more and more on the analysis of the data we acquire from natural or artificial sources and that we shall mine for knowledge from the data so acquired.Data mining and knowledge discovery aim at providing tools to facilitate the conversion of data into a number of forms, such as equations, that provide a better understanding of the process generating or producing these data. These new models combined with the already available understanding of the physical processes—the theory—result in an improved understanding and novel formulations of physical laws and improved predictive capability.This article describes the data mining process in general, as well as an application of a data mining technique in the domain of sediment transport. Data related to the concentration of suspended sediment near a bed are analyzed by the means of genetic programming. Machine‐induced relationships are compared against formulations proposed by human experts and are discussed in terms of accuracy and physical interpretability.
On the Implications of the Internet for Insurance Markets and Institutions
Authors: Garven James R. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractBy most accounts, the Internet and related advances in information technology significantly affect financial services in general and insurance markets and institutions in particular. Coupled with other important trends such as globalization and regulatory reform, these changes are forcing far‐reaching changes upon the insurance industry and making it more competitive. This article focuses specifically on the implications of the Internet for insurance markets and institutions. The conventional wisdom that the Internet constitutes a sufficient condition for the disintermediation of traditional insurance distribution networks is called into question. To the extent that the Internet reduces transaction costs, it will create opportunities for new intermediaries as well as for existing ones. It will also influence product design, in some cases making it economically attractive to unbundle and repackage various forms of coverage. By removing entry barriers and reducing insurance costs, the Internet will also provide a private market solution to a major insurance regulatory concern—enhancing insurance affordability and availability.
Music and melancholy: Marsilio Ficino's archetypal music therapy
Authors: Ammann Peter 
Published: March 2003

Melancholy, to Ficino, is a state in which the mind, the realm of deep, abstract thinking, is cut off from the supply of the spirit. His concept of spirit corresponds to a kind of universal life‐energy (libido, in Jungian terms). Individually, as the spirit of man, it appears as projected into the blood of the human body, collectively, as spirit of the world, into the spheres of the planets.The spirit of man corresponds to the spirit of the world and can receive from it a great deal through the rays of the planets. To attract the ‘spiritual’ influence of a particular planet you may use animals, plants, food, scents, talismans. But music is what is recommended most strongly.Ficino's intention is to temper the melancholic influence of Saturn. Consequently, his astrological songs are addressed to the compensating benign planets, the Sun, Jupiter and Venus. In modern terms it is an attempt, consciously, by active imagination, to re‐establish the emotional relatedness with the archetypal realms of the planets from which Saturn has cut us off.Ficino's ideas are related to Jung's rehabilitation of the feeling‐function
Experience of the Self in a lifetime
Authors: Dreifuss Gustav 
Published: March 2003

While listening to a concert at the age of 20, I suddenly was overcome by a feeling of oneness. The music had touched deeper levels of my soul, which much later I could understand as an experience of the Self. Music may arouse opposite feelings, the source of which is the ambivalence of the Self, of God. These opposites within the Godhead are best explained by the word numinosity, a term coined by Rudolf Otto in his book The Idea of the Holy. Love and fear are opposite feelings with regard to God, to the ‘numen’.A meaningful change in my life occurred at the age of 38 when my wife and myself decided to leave Switzerland and immigrate to Israel. Several dreams pointed to the necessity of settling in the Biblical Land, the earth being a manifestation of the mother archetype.The Jungian term Self is discussed by examples from my own analysis and by quoting Edinger. The Self is the mystery of conjunction of feminine and masculine energy. This was clear to me, but what about the evil, dark side of God, of his destructive side, of Satan or the devil, of Christ and Antichrist? I experienced the dark side of God when the Nazis rose to power, unleashing WW II and killing 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
Undecidability, Computation Universality and Minimality in Economic Dynamics*
Authors: Velupillai K. Vela 
Published: March 2003

An attempt is made, in this paper, to pose questions about economic dynamics in the broad areas of microeconomics, behavioural economics and macroeconomics from the point of view of classical recursion theory. This viewpoint makes it imperative that the fundamental economic entities in question are given an algorithmic formulation. Algorithms, in turn, are intrinsically dynamic objects which, if they are nontrivial, encapsulate nonlinear dynamics in novel ways such that it is possible to ask decidability questions and obtain effective answers about the economic entities.It is shown, formally, that rational economic behaviour is comfortably consistent with nonmaximum, disequilibrium and unstable economic dynamics in core areas of microeconomics, behavioural economics and macroeconomics.