[Results of Training for Personnel Involved in Blood-Transfusion Testing Outside of Regular Work Hours at Saga University Hospital].

Laboratory testing prior to blood transfusion outside of regular hours in many hospitals and clinics is frequently conducted by technicians without sufficient experience in such testing work. To obtain consistent test results regardless of the degree of laboratory experience with blood transfusion testing, the number of facilities introducing automated equipment for testing prior to blood transfusion is increasing. Our hospital's blood transfusion department introduced fully automated test equipment in October of 2010 for use when blood transfusions are conducted outside of regular hours.

[Direct identification method for bacteria in positive blood culture bottles using MALDI biotyper].

We investigated the relevance of direct identification method for bacteria from blood culture bottles using MALDI Biotyper(Bruker Co.). One hundred fourteen bacterial strains obtained from blood culture bottles were analyzed using the pretreatment method recommended by Bruker Corporation.

Heterozygosity for two novel null alleles of the KEL gene causes the Kell-null phenotype in a Japanese woman.

The Kell-null (Ko) phenotype is rare and it does not express the Kell antigens on erythrocyte membranes. Recently, several distinct missense and nonsense base substitutions in the coding region and the donor splice site of intron 3 were identified in the KEL gene in individuals with the Ko phenotype. We analysed both genomic DNA and cDNA sequences of the KEL gene in a Japanese woman with the Ko phenotype.