Linking between ambient pollution and metals concentration in blood. Nationwide study based on the national blood banking system.

This study was aimed to describe the chemical traces of air pollution in blood of residents and evaluate the association between ambient pollution and its dose absorbed internally by a human body. The national Magen David Adom Blood Services blood donation collection platform and the National Public Health Laboratory's testing services were utilized to conduct a human biomonitoring study among blood donors in Israel. The donors' residential addresses and donations sites' locations were geocoded and merged with the levels of pollutants recorded by the nearby monitoring stations.

National blood bank services as a platform for national human biomonitoring - A proof-of-concept study.

Background: Human biomonitoring (HBM) is crucial for identifying potential risks to human health from exposure to environmental hazards. However, it is an expensive and labor-intensive endeavor. To save on samples' collection process we suggested using a national blood banking system as a platform for a national HBM program.

Cognitive and physical performance are well preserved following standard blood donation: A noninferiority, randomized clinical trial.

Background: A walking blood bank (WBB) refers to the use of fellow combatants for battlefield blood donation. This requires pretesting combatants for infectious diseases and blood type. A fundamental prerequisite for this technique is that the donating soldier will suffer minimal physiological and mental impact.

Human biologic monitoring based on blood donations to the National Blood Services.

Background: The ambient exposure does not always reflect the internal levels of pollution absorbed in the body. While human biomonitoring (HBM) could provide a valid estimate of exposure extent, it is usually an expensive and a heavily manpowered enterprise. Using samples collected during blood donations for HMB may provide a more efficient platform for a routine biomonitoring.

[IS THERE STILL A PLACE TO USE ERYTHROCYTE SEDIMENTATION RATE IN THE 21ST CENTURY?].

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a simple test that is not without limitations but is still widely used. Dysfunction is used as a diagnostic test on the one hand and as a follow-up test on the other, where many physicians attribute normal results of this test to the absence of disease. Therefore, the question remains: Is there still room for continued ESR in the 21st century? And are there other tests with higher sensitivity and specificity that can replace the ESR? The purpose of the current review is to acquaint the reader with this test, its advantages and limitations, and to expand the scope of alternative tests and their effectiveness in comparison to ESR.

A cross-cultural perspective of medical clowning: comparison of its effectiveness in reducing pain and anxiety among hospitalized Bedouin and Jewish Israeli children.

Purpose: Medical clowning has proven effective for reducing pain, anxiety, and stress, however, its differential effects on children from different cultures have not yet been researched. This study evaluated the effects of medical-clowning intervention on anxiety and pain among Jewish and Bedouin children, and anxiety among their parents, in southern Israel.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted in hospital pediatric departments and employed a pre-post design involving quantitative and qualitative methods.

Neutropenia and eosinophilia among Ethiopian immigrants to Israel: Familial or environmental?

Background: Due to trends of population movements, Israeli family physicians are treating increasing numbers of African immigrants from Ethiopia. These immigrants were found to have complete blood counts (CBC) that are different from other ethnic groups, with a higher prevalence of eosinophilia and neutropenia.

Objectives: To evaluate haematological findings in an attempt to define whether they behave as familial (genetic) or environmental.

A γ/δ T-cell receptor prolymphocytic leukemia and CD4-/CD8- double-negative immunophenotype in a pediatric patient.

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia is a very rare neoplasm, peaking in the seventh decade. An extensive search failed to find any report of this malignancy in the pediatric population. The malignant cell is morphologically characterized by a high nucleocytopasmic ratio, condensed chromatin, a single nucleolus, and nongranular basophilic cytoplasm.

Clinical and laboratory parameter dynamics as markers of blood stream infections in pediatric oncology patients with fever and neutropenia.

Background: Identifying markers associated with blood stream infection (BSI) in children with fever and neutropenia (FN) could lead to a substantial reduction in unnecessary treatment.

Study Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the association between clinical/laboratory parameters and BSI in pediatric oncology patients with FN.

Methods: This prospective study was conducted between 2007 and 2010 at the Pediatric oncology unit.

Unsupervised analysis of classical biomedical markers: robustness and medical relevance of patient clustering using bioinformatics tools.

Motivation: It has been proposed that clustering clinical markers, such as blood test results, can be used to stratify patients. However, the robustness of clusters formed with this approach to data pre-processing and clustering algorithm choices has not been evaluated, nor has clustering reproducibility. Here, we made use of the NHANES survey to compare clusters generated with various combinations of pre-processing and clustering algorithms, and tested their reproducibility in two separate samples.

An osseous lesion in a 10-year-old boy with Hodgkin's lymphoma: a case report.

Introduction: Osseous involvement of Hodgkin's lymphoma is uncommon. When osteolytic lesions are seen on imaging it is important to evaluate potential other causes.

Case Presentation: We report the case of a 10-year-old Caucasian boy who presented to our facility with a bony lesion of the right clavicle and enlarged cervical lymph nodes.

Normal hemoglobin at the age of 1 year does not protect infants from developing iron deficiency anemia in the second year of life.

Background: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common hematologic disorder worldwide. Measures to prevent IDA in infants have been successful with questionable sustainability.

Aim: To evaluate the incidence of developing IDA in the second year of life, in infants who were nonanemic at the age of 1 year on routine blood test.

Efficacy and safety of intravenous iron sucrose therapy in a group of children with iron deficiency anemia.

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common single cause of anemia worldwide. Treatment consists of improved nutrition along with oral, intramuscular or intravenous iron administration.

Objectives: To describe the efficacy and adverse effects of intravenous iron sucrose therapy in a group of children with iron deficiency anemia who did not respond to oral iron therapy.

Flow cytometry and morphology analysis of bone marrow in a child with brucellosis and hematologic manifestations.

Constitutional symptoms and pancytopenia are occasionally the initial presentation of pediatric brucellosis. Therefore, in endemic areas, in children with pancytopenia, both brucellosis and malignancy should be included in the deferential diagnosis. We report here a child with pancytopenia and hepatosplenomegaly as manifestations of brucellosis in whom bone marrow morphology and flow cytometry data revealed hemophagocytosis, left shift in myeloid cells and activation changes in antigenic properties of T and B lymphocytes and monocytes.

The effects of guided written disclosure on psychological symptoms among parents of children with cancer.

This study examines whether structured writing about receiving a diagnosis and treatment for pediatric cancer reduces distress among highly distressed parents of children with cancer (PCWC). Eight PCWC completed measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms at two baselines, and again after writing, with 1-month gaps between assessments. Using a guided disclosure protocol (GDP), parents were asked to write about receiving the diagnosis first in a chronological manner, then to explicitly label their emotions at the time of diagnosis and explain the impact of the child's illness on their life.

Hypocholesterolemia in chronic anemias with increased erythropoietic activity.

Hypocholesterolemia of unknown etiology has been previously described in various chronic anemias. Few small studies also suggested that those patients have a lower incidence of atherosclerotic events. The aim of our study was to determine the extent of hypocholesterolemia in various types of anemias.

Imatinib resistant chronic myelogenous leukemia, BCR-ABL positive by chromosome and FISH analyses but negative by PCR, in a child progressing to acute basophilic leukemia: cytogenetic follow-up.

The case of an 11-year-old child with adult-type chronic myeloid leukemia, Philadelphia (BCR-ABL) positive, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction negative for the major, minor, and micro breakpoints is presented. In the course of 3 years, the child failed to respond to treatment with hydroxyurea, refused all therapy for 6 months, was intolerant to alpha-interferon and progressed, while on imatinib, to acute basophilic leukemia. Subsequently he underwent successful bone marrow transplantation.

A comprehensive study of the neonatal manifestations of congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type I.

Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia (CDA) type I is an inherited disorder characterized by macrocytic anemia with pathognomonic morphologic ultrastructural features of the erythroid precursors. The authors recently cloned the CDAN1 gene and identified one founder missense mutation in all of their Bedouin patients. In a previous study, the authors found that the majority of their 31 Bedouin patients had anemia and jaundice during the first month of life and required blood transfusions; some had persistent pulmonary hypertension.

Conversion of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (L2) with a double t(12;21) to juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia with a novel t(4;11)(p12;q23): a cytogenetic, morphologic, and immunophenotypic study.

Here we describe a cytogenetic and flow-cytometric study of a case in which a conversion of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) into juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) occurred. A 3-year-old boy diagnosed CALLA+, pre-B-ALL with double t(12;21) (by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis), was treated as per the BFM protocol. A cytogenetic analysis performed at 17 months into treatment showed no t(12;21) in bone marrow (BM) cells; however, a novel translocation, namely, t(4;11), involving the p12 locus on chromosome 4 and the MLL gene at 11q23 was detected in monocytes.

Preliminary results of evaluation of progress in chemotherapy for childhood leukemia patients employing Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy and cluster analysis.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in children, but remarkable progress in methods of chemotherapy has increased the cure rate to 80%. The leukemic cells called blasts are eliminated within 7 days of chemotherapy. Clinically, the blast count is monitored directly with the use of blood smears on the basis of specific genetic markers and immunophenotyping methods such as flow cytometry.

Sleep disruption and objective sleepiness in children with beta-thalassemia and congenital dyserythropoietic anemia.

Background: Sleep fragmentation and periodic leg movement syndrome (PLMS) have been reported in adults with iron deficiency anemia. Little is known about sleep function and daytime sleepiness in children with chronic anemia such as beta-thalassemia or congenital dyserythropoietic anemia type 1 (CDA-1).

Objectives: To investigate if children and adolescents who have beta-thalassemia (major or intermedia) or CDA-1 experience sleep fragmentation and objective daytime sleepiness and also to investigate if children and adolescents with beta-thalassemia have obstructive sleep apnea.