Pretransplant risk assessment in renal allograft recipients using virtual crossmatching.

Preformed donor-specific HLA-antibodies antibodies (DSA) are a major risk for early antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). This prospective study evaluated the accuracy of pretransplant risk assessment using virtual crossmatching (virtualXM) (i.e.

Developing a tool for noninvasive monitoring of renal allografts.

Renal transplantation has emerged as the therapy of choice for many patients with end-stage renal disease. One of the major goals is to tailor immunosuppressive therapy to the individual needs of every patient at every time point post transplant, balancing the risk for rejection and over-immunosuppression. Such individualized treatment will require assays that can detect harmful processes in the allograft early and that can be measured repeatedly.

Determining the microbiological criteria for lot rejection from the performance objective or food safety objective.

The Microbiological Criteria (MC) is a set of parameters used to determine whether a specific lot of food is acceptable or not. These parameters are the microbial test protocol and its sensitivity, the confidence level that an unacceptable lot will be detected, the number of samples to be taken and the number of positive samples that are allowed before rejecting the lot. Determining the microbiological criteria begins with knowledge of the distribution of contamination from samples within a lot, particularly within a lot that is just at the unacceptable level of the microbial hazard.

Proteomics in renal transplantation: opportunities and challenges.

Proteomics is a fast growing scientific field that has been developed during the past 10 years. The central goals are to define the protein composition of complex biological samples, to explore alterations in protein expression related to various processes/diseases and to study functional aspects of protein-protein interactions. To date, proteomic studies are rare in renal transplantation; however, they may enhance our understanding of transplant pathophysiology and help to identify biomarkers and novel targets for rational drug therapies.

Coagulation parameters after retransfusion of unwashed blood.

Postoperative blood salvage reduces the risk of allogenic transfusion in patients undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty. We measured the concentrations of coagulation parameters after autotransfusion of unwashed shed blood in 22 patients having elective joint arthroplasty and compared them with patients without retransfusion. Twenty-two patients with a total hip or knee arthroplasty received a mean of 611.

Prevalence, consequences, and determinants of nonadherence in adult renal transplant patients: a literature review.

This literature review summarizes the evidence on the prevalence, determinants, clinical and economic consequences of nonadherence with immunosuppressive drugs in renal transplant patients. A literature search yielded 38 articles measuring nonadherence by self-report, collateral report, assay, refill prescriptions or electronic monitoring. The weighted mean prevalence of self-reported nonadherence was 28%.

Are gadolinium contrast agents suitable for gadolinium neutron capture therapy?

Objective: Gadolinium neutron capture therapy (GdNCT) is a potential treatment for malignant tumors based on two steps: (1) injection of a tumor-specific (157)Gd compound; (2) tumor irradiation with thermal neutrons. The GdNC reaction can induce cell death provided that Gd is proximate to DNA. Here, we studied the nuclear uptake of Gd by glioblastoma (GBM) tumor cells after treatment with two Gd compounds commonly used for magnetic resonance imaging, to evaluate their potential as GdNCT agents.

Proteomic-based identification of cleaved urinary beta2-microglobulin as a potential marker for acute tubular injury in renal allografts.

Our aim is to develop noninvasive tests to monitor the renal allograft posttransplant. Previously, we have reported that an unbiased proteomic-based approach can detect urine protein peaks associated with acute tubulointerstitial renal allograft rejection. Identification of these proteins peaks by mass spectrometry demonstrated that they all derive from nontryptic cleaved forms of beta2-microglobulin.

Primary human CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells express functionally active receptors of neuromediators.

Recently, overlapping molecular phenotypes of hematopoietic and neuropoietic cells were described in mice. Here, we examined primary human CD34(+) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells applying specialized cDNA arrays, real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and fluorescent-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis focusing on genes involved in neurobiologic functions. We found expression of vesicle fusion and motility genes, ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels, receptor kinases and phosphatases, and, most interestingly, mRNA as well as protein expression of G protein-coupled receptors of neuromediators (corticotropin-releasing hormone 1 [CRH 1] and CRH 2 receptors, orexin/hypocretin 1 and 2 receptors, GABAB receptor, adenosine A(2)B receptor, opioid kappa 1 and mu 1 receptors, and 5-HT 1F receptor).

Proteomic-based detection of urine proteins associated with acute renal allograft rejection.

At present, the diagnosis of renal allograft rejection requires a renal biopsy. Clinical management of renal transplant patients would be improved by the development of non-invasive markers of rejection that can be measured frequently. This study sought to determine whether such candidate proteins can be detected in urine using mass spectrometry.

Urine protein profiling with surface-enhanced laser-desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Background: In the last few years there has been an increasing interest in exploring the human proteome. In particular, efforts have focused on developing strategies to generate reproducible protein maps of normal cells, tissues, and biologic fluids, from which studies can then compare protein expression between different groups (e.g.

Orientational order of the lamellipodial actin network as demonstrated in living motile cells.

Lamellipodia of crawling cells represent both the motor for cell advance and the primary building site for the actin cytoskeleton. The organization of actin in the lamellipodium reflects actin dynamics and is of critical importance for the mechanism of cell motility. In previous structural studies, the lamellipodial actin network was analyzed primarily by electron microscopy (EM).

Fibrillary glomerulonephritis: early diagnosis associated with steroid responsiveness.

Patients with fibrillary glomerulonephritis usually present with nephrotic proteinuria, microscopic hematuria, impaired renal function, and hypertension; 50% develop end-stage renal disease within a few years. There is no known effective therapy for fibrillary glomerulonephritis. We describe three patients with biopsy-proven fibrillary glomerulonephritis, in whom pathognomonic fibrillar deposits of 20-nm diameter were seen by electron microscopy.

Public health concerns about caliciviruses as waterborne contaminants.

Caliciviruses are disseminated by the fecal-oral route and are found in contaminated surface and ground waters. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is interested in preventing calicivirus contamination in treated waters used for consumption, and these viruses are on the EPA's "contaminant candidate list" for regulatory consideration in drinking waters. These viruses also present a health threat for recreation and shellfish-growing waters.

The Macro Flow Planktometer: a new device for volume and fluorescence analysis of macro plankton including triggered video imaging in flow.

A newly developed macro flow planktometer is described for measuring plankton organisms with a size of 100-2,000 microns by the flow principle in time-saving and noncontact fashion. Based on the method of changes in electric resistance (Coulter principle), the device allows determination of the body volume of living organisms in their natural medium (fresh or seawater) at a measuring rate of up to 50 organisms per second. Simultaneous, laser-excited fluorescence measurement permits quantitative detection of fluorescent substances within the organisms.

Theoretical model of the laser imaging of small aerosols: applications to aerosol sizing.

A theoretical model is presented for the formation of small-particle shadow images in a single-lens laser-imaging system. The model uses a modification of classical Lorenz-Mie theory, presented by the authors in an earlier paper, to calculate the external electromagnetic fields resulting from the interaction of a Gaussian laser beam with a finite absorbing spherical particle. Propagation of the electric field through the imaging system components is developed from a scalar viewpoint using the thin-lens transformation and the Fresnel approximation to the Huygens-Fresnel propagation equation.

Electromagnetic field for a beam incident on two adjacent spherical particles.

Through an application of our previously derived single spherical particle-arbitrary beam interaction theory, an iterative procedure has been developed for the determination of the electromagnetic field for a beam incident on two adjacent spherical particles. The two particles can differ in size and composition and can have any positioning relative to each other and relative to the focal point and propagation direction of the incident beam. Example calculations of internal and near-field normalized source function ( approximately |E|(2)) distributions are presented.

Nonlinear interaction of KrF laser radiation with small water droplets.

Results have been obtained for the interaction of KrF excimer laser radiation (lambda = 248 nm, t(pulse) = 17 ns) with 60-microm diam distilled water droplets for irradiance values ranging from 3 to 230 GW/cm(2). Laser images of the droplet breakup during the time intervals from 0 to 100 ns indicate that the dynamic breakup processes are highly nonlinear. At low irradiance (3 GW/cm(2)) material is ejected from both the illuminated and shadow hemispheres of the droplet in qualitative agreement with the location of the electric field peaks predicted by plane wave Lorenz-Mie theory calculations.

Multilaboratory evaluation of methods for detecting enteric viruses in soils.

Two candidate methods for the recovery and detection of viruses in soil were subjected to round robin comparative testing by members of the American Society for Testing and Materials D19:24:04:04 Subcommittee Task Group. Selection of the methods, designated "Berg" and "Goyal," was based on results of an initial screening which indicated that both met basic criteria considered essential by the task group. Both methods utilized beef extract solutions to achieve desorption and recovery of viruses from representative soils: a fine sand soil, an organic muck soil, a sandy loam soil, and a clay loam soil.

[Facial injuries in bicyclists: epidemiological analysis and prophylactic consequences].

Bicycle accidents in adults are common and concern frequently injuries to head and face. 150 of totally 216 patients with cycle accidents in a six month' prospective study at the Basel University Hospital showed face and head trauma. 85 severe facial injuries treated operatively by the Clinic for Reconstructive Surgery between 1985 and 1989 are analysed in detail.

Scattering of incident KrF laser radiation resulting from the laser-induced breakdown of H(2)O droplets.

The time history of elastically scattered incident radiation (ESIR) is presented for 60-microm-diameter water droplets irradiated by KrF (lambda = 248 nm) laser pulses with power densities in the range of 1-200 GW/cm(2). The ESIR shows a distinct two-peak structure that is dependent on the incident irradiance. The time delay between the arrival of the incident pulse and the first local minimum in the ESIR varied from 7 nsec at 200 GW/cm(2) to 21 nsec at 5 GW/cm(2).