Drachmannmagnusson7511

In the 17 assays using Japanese medaka, adverse effects on reproduction (i.e., reduction in fecundity and/or fertility) were suggested for 10 chemicals, and a significant increase of hepatic vitellogenin in males, indicating estrogenic (estrogen receptor agonistic) potency, was found for eight chemicals at the concentrations in which no overt toxicity was observed. Based on these results, and the frequency and the concentrations detected in the Japanese environment, estrone, 4-nonylphenol (branched isomers), 4-tert-octylphenol, triphenyl phosphate, and bisphenol A were considered as high priority candidate substances for the Tier 2 testing.

The use of group A thawed 24-h plasma when resuscitating haemorrhagic shock patients has become more common; however, limited data exist on the clinical use of liquid plasma (LP). Our aim is to determine whether LP is of clinical benefit to patients requiring massive transfusion.

The objective of this retrospective study was to detect any difference in 24-h survival between patients receiving liquid or thawed plasma (TP) during their massive transfusion activation. Other objectives were to report any difference in hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS and in-hospital survival. Data collected included gender, age, mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score, Revised Trauma Score and Trauma Injury Severity Score.

A total of 178 patients received 1283 units of LP, median 4 and range (1-56), whereas 270 patients received 2031 units of TP, median 5 and range (1-87). The two study groups were comparable in terms of gender, age, mechanism of injury, whole blood, red blood cells, platelets and cryoprecipitate transfused. The use of LP during the massive transfusion activation in traumatically injured patients was not associated with increased 24-h survival compared to when using TP, p= 0.553.

Our study did not show a difference in 24-h or 30-day survival between the use of LP compared to TP in trauma patients. LP should be considered an alternative to TP in trauma patients requiring immediate plasma resuscitation.

Our study did not show a difference in 24-h or 30-day survival between the use of LP compared to TP in trauma patients. LP should be considered an alternative to TP in trauma patients requiring immediate plasma resuscitation.

This study aimed to describe motives as well as donation experiences and the intention to return for further donations of German whole blood donors who donated at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To describe motives and donor experiences, a retrospective survey was conducted among whole blood donors that had a donation appointment at the German Red Cross Blood Donation Service in the first 4 weeks of the pandemic. A donor questionnaire including 17 retrospective questions was sent to 7500 donors. Donor motivation and donor experiences were compared for different donor groups using chi-square statistics. Finally, in an ordinal logistic regression model predictors for the intention to return were identified.

More than half of the participating donors (56.9%) wanted to contribute to the fight against the pandemic by donating blood. Most of the donors were satisfied with their last donation experience and felt safe during the blood donor appointment. However, some donors would have liked more information on how to deal with the pandemic (20.3%). Intention to return for further donations was strongly associated with overall satisfaction (OR 1.67, CI 1.47-1.90) and the feeling of being safe during blood donation (OR 1.33, CI 1.05-1.68).

Donor satisfaction with the last donation was high and the vast majority of donors felt very safe. However, those donors who felt unsafe expressed a low intention to return and blood donation services should therefore carefully monitor donor satisfaction.

Donor satisfaction with the last donation was high and the vast majority of donors felt very safe. However, those donors who felt unsafe expressed a low intention to return and blood donation services should therefore carefully monitor donor satisfaction.

The optimal intensity of anticoagulation for adult patients supported with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of two anticoagulation protocols using conventional (0.3-0.7IU/ml) versus restricted (0.2-0.5IU/ml) anti-factor Xa (anti-Xa) targets for the management of unfractionated heparin (UFH) in adult ECMO patients.

This retrospective before-after cohort study compared two groups of ECMO patients who received UFH for at least 24-h from March 2016 to May 2019. The primary outcome was the composite rate of major bleeding or thrombotic events per ECMO day. Secondary outcomes included the mean amount of blood products transfused per ECMO day, the proportion of patients who were within the target anti-Xa at 24-h, the time to achieve target anti-Xa, and the number of heparin infusion adjustments to reach target anti-Xa.

Forty-one patients were included in this analysis (conventional, n=25; restricted, n=16). There was no difference in the composite rate of major bleeding or thrombotic events per ECMO day (p = .090). The restricted group had lower rates of packed red blood cells (pRBC) transfusion per ECMO day (mean 1±1 vs 3±2 units, p = .003) and required fewer heparin infusion adjustments to reach the target (p = .007). There was no difference between the groups in the number of patients who achieved target anti-Xa at 24-h (p = .940).

In adult ECMO patients, anticoagulation with a restricted anti-Xa target was associated with lower pRBC transfusions and did not provoke an excess of thrombotic events.

In adult ECMO patients, anticoagulation with a restricted anti-Xa target was associated with lower pRBC transfusions and did not provoke an excess of thrombotic events.

We have experimentally and computationally characterized the PTW microSilicon 60023-type diode's performance in 6 and 15 MV photon fields ≥5×5 mm

projected to isocentre. We tested the detector on- and off-axis at 5 and 15 cm depths in water, and investigated whether its response could be improved by including within it a thin airgap.

Experimentally, detector readings were taken in fields generated by a Varian TrueBeam linac and compared with doses-to-water measured using Gafchromic film and ionization chambers. An unmodified 60023-type diode was tested along with detectors modified to include 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 mm thick airgaps. Computationally, doses absorbed by water and detectors' sensitive volumes were calculated using the EGSnrc/BEAMnrc Monte Carlo radiation transport code. Detector response was characterized using, a factor that corrects for differences in the ratio of dose-to-water to detector reading between small fields and the reference condition, in this study 5 cm deep on-axis in a 4×4 cm

filigibly as dose-rate was reduced from 13 to 4 Gy min

by decreasing the linac pulse repetition frequency, whereas the sensitivity of the 60017-type detector fell by 1.5%.

The 60023-type detector performed well in small fields across a wide range of beam energies, field sizes, depths and off-axis positions. Its response can potentially be further improved by adding a thin, 0.3 mm, airgap. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The 60023-type detector performed well in small fields across a wide range of beam energies, field sizes, depths and off-axis positions. Its response can potentially be further improved by adding a thin, 0.3 mm, airgap. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Adaptive proton therapy (APT) of lung cancer patients requires frequent volumetric imaging of diagnostic quality. Cone-beam CT (CBCT) can provide these daily images, but x-ray scattering limits CBCT-image quality and hampers dose calculation accuracy. The purpose of this study was to generate CBCT-based synthetic CTs using a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) and investigate image quality and clinical suitability for proton dose calculations in lung cancer patients.

A dataset of 33 thoracic cancer patients, containing CBCTs, same-day repeat CTs (rCT), planning-CTs (pCTs), and clinical proton treatment plans, was used to train and evaluate a DCNN with and without a pCT-based correction method. Mean absolute error (MAE), mean error (ME), peak signal-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity were used to quantify image quality. The evaluation of clinical suitability was based on recalculation of clinical proton treatment plans. Gamma pass ratios, mean dose to target volumes and organs at risk, and normtions for APT of lung cancer patients. The patient specific correction method increased the image quality and dosimetric accuracy but had only a limited influence on clinically relevant parameters.

To evaluate the characteristics and predictors of unplanned readmission within 30 days of hospitalisation for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in Australia and New Zealand.

Analysis of hospitalisations data in the Admitted Patient Collection for each Australian state and territory and the New Zealand National Minimum Dataset (Hospital Events).

All public and 80% of private hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.

Adults (18 years or older) hospitalised with a primary or conditional secondary diagnosis of PAD during 1 January 2010 - 31 December 2015.

Rate of unplanned readmission (any cause) within 30 days of hospitalisation with PAD.

Of 104979 admissions included in our analysis (mean patient age, 73.7 years; SD, 12.4 years), 9765 were followed by at least one unplanned readmission within 30 days of discharge (9.3%) 3395 within one week (34.8%) and 7828 within three weeks (80.2%). The most frequent readmission primary diagnoses were atherosclerosis (1477, 15.3%), type 2 diabetes (1057, 10.8%), and "complications of procedures not elsewhere classified" (963, 9.9%). Readmission was more frequent after acute (4830 of 26304, 18.4%) than elective PAD hospitalisations (4935 of 78675, 6.3%), but the readmission characteristics were similar. Factors associated with greater likelihood of readmission included acute PAD hospitalisations (odds ratio [OR], 2.04; 95% CI, 1.96-2.17), surgical intervention during the PAD hospitalisation (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.64-1.84), and chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (OR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.47-1.63).

Unplanned readmissions within 30 days of hospitalisation for PAD are often for potentially preventable reasons. Their number should be reduced to improve clinical outcomes for people with PAD.

Unplanned readmissions within 30 days of hospitalisation for PAD are often for potentially preventable reasons. Their number should be reduced to improve clinical outcomes for people with PAD.Background and Objectives Communities of practice (CoPs) represent effective models to achieve quality outcomes in health care. selleckchem We report the development and evaluation of a CoP to improve stem cell donor recruitment in Canada. Materials and Methods In September 2017, we invited national stakeholders in stem cell donor recruitment to participate in a Facebook group and regular e-meetings. E-meetings involved speakers and roundtable discussion on topics related to donor recruitment. The Facebook group facilitated sharing of resources. We evaluated stakeholder perspective of the CoP and the impact on recruitment outcomes. Results As of December 2020, the CoP included 382 members who published 243 posts to the Facebook group about patient/donor stories (40%), resources (27%), updates/questions (21%) and recruitment outcomes (12%). In January 2020, we surveyed 44 CoP participants; the majority felt that the Facebook group (86%) and e-meetings (59%) supported the community, and that the CoP fostered collaboration (82%), improved their donor recruitment knowledge (75%) and practice (77%) and improved their ability to recruit needed donors (64%).