Development of the first axillary in vitro shoot multiplication protocol for coconut palms.

The coconut palm or "tree of life" is one of nature's most useful plants and the demand for its fruit is increasing. However, coconut production is threatened by ageing plantations, pests and diseases. Currently, the palm is exclusively propagated via seeds, limiting the amount of planting material.

Challenges for Ex Situ Conservation of Wild Bananas: Seeds Collected in Papua New Guinea Have Variable Levels of Desiccation Tolerance.

Ex situ seed conservation of banana crop wild relatives ( spp. L.), is constrained by critical knowledge gaps in their storage and germination behaviour.

Preliminary evaluation of a highly automated instrument for the selection of CD34+ cells from mobilized peripheral blood stem cell concentrates.

Background: Cell selection is an important part of manufacturing cellular therapies. A new highly automated instrument, the CliniMACS Prodigy (Miltenyi Biotec), was evaluated for the selection of CD34+ cells from mobilized peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) concentrates using monoclonal antibodies conjugated to paramagnetic particles.

Study Design And Methods: PBSCs were collected by apheresis from 36 healthy subjects given granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or G-CSF plus plerixafor.

Second attempts at mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells in patients with initial low CD34+ cell yields.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of second mobilization strategies in patients who yielded < 2.5 x 10(6) CD34+ PBSC/kg after initial mobilization. Repeat mobilization attempts were made with chemotherapy and G-CSF (n = 61) or G-CSF alone (n = 58) in patients who failed initial mobilization with chemotherapy and G-CSF (n = 92) or G-CSF alone (n = 27).

Engraftment and outcomes of patients receiving myeloablative therapy followed by autologous peripheral blood stem cells with a low CD34+ cell content.

Engraftment kinetics after high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) were evaluated in patients receiving autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) infusions with a low CD34+ cell content. Forty-eight patients were infused with < 2.5 x 10(6) CD34+ cells/kg; 36 because of poor harvests and 12 because they electively received only a fraction of their harvested cells.