Effect of point of care testing on length of stay in an adult emergency department.

Devices are now available that are practical for point of care testing (PCT) in hospital settings. Previous studies in clinical settings, however, have failed to demonstrate a reduction in patients' length of stay (LOS) associated with the use of PCT. This randomized controlled study compared PCT with central laboratory testing in a hospital Emergency Department to assess the difference in patients' LOS.

Direct administration of charcoal into the lung and pleural cavity.

We report the inadvertent administration of activated charcoal in water into the right lung and pleural cavity of a 51-year-old man being treated for a salicylate overdose. A mild chemical pneumonitis developed, as did a sterile empyema. Charcoal-stained fluid drained through a thoracostomy tube for 8 weeks.

Immunogenic epitopes of the p55 chain of the IL-2 receptor. Relationships to high-affinity IL-2 binding and modulation of the p55 chain.

Monoclonal antibodies were used to determine the relationships between epitopes on the p55 chain of the IL-2 receptor and high-affinity IL-2 binding. Five monoclonal antibodies to the human P55 chain of the IL-2 receptor were induced by immunizing mice with murine L cells that were transfected with human p55 cDNA. Since the p55 chain is the only human antigen expressed on these cells, all antihuman MABs thus generated were directed against this molecule.

Identification of pre-T cells in human peripheral blood. Extrathymic differentiation of CD7+CD3- cells into CD3+ gamma/delta+ or alpha/beta+ T cells.

CD7+CD3- cells purified (greater than 99.99%) by FACS from the peripheral blood of healthy adults include precursors for mature T cells that have the capacity to differentiate into TCR-1+ or TCR-2+ CD3+ cells. Extrathymic differentiation was demonstrable from all eight healthy donors in the presence of a high concentration of IL-2, mitogenic levels of PHA, and irradiated blood mononuclear feeder cells, after a lag of approximately 40 d in vitro.