Status of Cassava Witches' Broom Disease in the Philippines and Identification of Potential Pathogens by Metagenomic Analysis.

Cassava witches' broom disease (CWBD) is one of the most devastating diseases of cassava ( Crantz), and it threatens global production of the crop. In 2017, a phytoplasma, Phytoplasma luffae ( P. luffae), was reported in the Philippines, and it has been considered as the causal agent, despite unknown etiology and transmission of CWBD.

Effect of antibody specificity on results of selected digoxin immunoassays among various clinical groups.

We examined the specificity of three automated digoxin immunoassays (Abbott TDxFLx Digoxin II assay, Baxter-Dade Stratus II Digoxin assay, and Ciba Corning ACS Digoxin assay) applied without modification to (a) sera from 229 digoxin-free patients in 12 cohorts associated with nonspecific or endogenous digoxin-like immunoreactive factor (DLIF) interference, and (b) drug-free serum supplemented with the major metabolites and analogs of digoxin. We observed three patterns of apparent digoxin results among the DLIF samples: one common to kidney and liver failure patients, where TDx and Stratus assays showed significant positive results; one common to newborns and cord blood, where only the TDx assay had significant interference; and one from cardiac surgery patients, where the Stratus assay alone showed interference. Of the three assays, the ACS had the least interference from DLIF.

Citrate anticoagulation during in vivo simulation of slow hemofiltration.

Citrate anticoagulation has been used as an alternative to heparin for hemodialysis in high-risk patients; however, its use in hemofiltration has not been well studied. We examined citrate in 6 patients placed on slow hemofiltration for up to 6 h duration. During the experiments, the systemic citrate level increased from a baseline average of 0.

Correlation of hemodynamic variables with transcutaneous PO2 measurements in critically ill adult patients.

Transcutaneous oxygen (PtcO2) monitoring with miniaturized heated electrodes has been shown to continuously track arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) noninvasively in stable infants. However, the correlation between the two is less marked in unstable adults, and PtcO2 appears to be additionally influenced by perfusion. The ability of PtcO2 to detect alterations in cardiac index (CI) was evaluated in 19 critically ill adult patients.

Transcutaneous bilirubin monitoring of newborns.

Using skin jaundice measurements as an index of infant bilirubin status is subject to a number of uncertainties as described by many investigators. They are illustrated by the experience with a commercial device described here. In view of the widespread need for a quantitative measurement that can replace the visual inspections and subjective evaluations of jaundice being routinely used in clinical settings, such jaundice meters are likely to gain increasing acceptance.