A review of the relationship between quality control and donor sample results obtained from serological assays used for screening blood donations for anti-HIV and hepatitis B surface antigen

Quality control principles, initially designed for manufacturing, have been applied to clinical chemistry and later to serological testing for infectious diseases. Methods for setting control limits have been included using the effects of assay performance on clinical outcomes. However, this approach assumes that the reactivity of patient samples change proportionally with the results of quality control samples tested in the same assay. Although this may be the case for clinical chemistry, this assumption has never been tested for serological assays. During a 9-month period, 177910 and 185684 donor test results for HBsAg and anti-HIV, respectively, were analysed and compared with 712 HBsAg and 710 anti-HIV results obtained from a single batch of a multimarker quality control sample obtained from the same assays. Results of the analysis showed that the negative donor results did not change in proportion with the changes experienced by the quality control sample results as determined by regression coefficients, particularly when results obtained from different reagent batches were compared. There were insufficient results obtained from positive samples for a similar analysis. However, investigations show that, even if the reactivity of positive donor samples changed in proportion with the change in reactivity of the quality control sample, few false-negative donor test results would have occurred.     

Localized surface plasmon resonances of anisotropic semiconductor nanocrystals

We demonstrate that anisotropic semiconductor nanocrystals display localized surface plasmon resonances that are dependent on the nanocrystal shape and cover a broad spectral region in the near-IR wavelengths. In-plane and out-of-plane dipolar resonances were observed for colloidal dispersions of Cu(2-x)S nanodisks, and the wavelengths of these resonances are in good agreement with calculations carried out in the electrostatic limit. The wavelength, line shape, and relative intensities of these plasmon bands can be tuned during the synthetic process by controlling the geometric aspect ratio of the disk or using a postsynthetic thermal-processing step to increase the free carrier densities.     

A Novel Xanthone from Garcinia oligantha

One novel xanthone, oliganthone A ( 1 ), was isolated from the stems of the plant Garcinia oligantha. It features the O‐bearing C(3)‐atom and absence of C(4) compared with the structures of related known xanthones, which have never been reported before. The structure of this compound was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis. Compound 1 showed strong HeLa cell growth‐inhibiting effects with IC₅₀ values below 10 μM .     

Padé approximations to the logarithm II: Identities, recurrences, and symbolic computation

Combinatorial identities that were needed in [25] are proved, mostly with C. Schneider’s computer algebra package Sigma. The form of the Padé approximation of the logarithm of arbitrary order is stated as a conjecture. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification Primary—41A21, 05A19, 33F10 Supported by NRF-grant 2047226. Supported by NRF-grant 2053748. Supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, by the John Knopfmacher Research Centre for Applicable Analysis and Number Theory, and by the SFB-grant F1305 and the grant P16613-N12 of the Austrian FWF. Supported by NRF-grant 2053756.     

The pros and cons of apoptosis assays for use in the study of cells, tissues, and organs.

Programmed cell death or apoptosis occurs in many tissues during normal development and in the normal homeostasis of adult tissues. Apoptosis also plays a significant role in abnormal development and disease. Increased interest in apoptosis and cell death in general has resulted in the development of new techniques and the revival of old ones. Each assay has its advantages and disadvantages that can render it appropriate and useful for one application, but inappropriate or difficult to use in another. Understanding the strengths and limitations of the assays would allow investigators to select the best methods for their needs.