<p>Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate a new underfill-function in a POCT-instrument from HemoCue AB (Ängelholm, Sweden). The instrument is in use today among diabetes patients for self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG). The new function is supposed to guarantee that measuring only will be performed on a sufficient sample volume to assure that the correct glucose value is received.</p><p>Methods and results: Blood samples (whole blood) from 12 patients were analysed with the instrument. Measuring were performed using different volumes in the cuvette. Full cuvette, 3µL, 2µL, 1µL and a measuring on an empty cuvette. The instrument performed measurements on all volumes added to the cuvette except for the empty cuvette. The less sample volume that was used the lower glucose values were reported by the instrument.</p><p>Conclusions: The new under fill-function did not work satisfactory. If such function would be more reliable it would be beneficial for the patient controlling hers/his bloodglucose provided that the testing procedure is being correctly done. This is very important because the results are often used to treat the patient.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHF) and Lassa virus are giving sources illness to humans. In addition to zoonotic transmission, CCHF and Lassa virus can spread from person to person. After a short incubation period, CCHF and Lassa virus infections are characterized by a sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache and cough just like flu. Even some people are vomiting and have diarrhoea. After a few days of illness hemorrhagic manifestations occur. Treatment options for CCHF and Lassa viruses are limited, and there is no vaccine available for use in humans. The purpose of the present study was to produce recombinant nucleocapsid protein of Lassavirus and CCHF virus including an aminoterminal His-tag by a Semliki Forest Virus Replicon (pSFV 4.2). The recombinant proteins are planned to be used in future development of diagnostic methods.</p>

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate a new underfill-function in a POCT-instrument from HemoCue AB (Ängelholm, Sweden). The instrument is in use today among diabetes patients for self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG). The new function is supposed to guarantee that measuring only will be performed on a sufficient sample volume to assure that the correct glucose value is received. Methods and results: Blood samples (whole blood) from 12 patients were analysed with the instrument. Measuring were performed using different volumes in the cuvette. Full cuvette, 3µL, 2µL, 1µL and a measuring on an empty cuvette. The instrument performed measurements on all volumes added to the cuvette except for the empty cuvette. The less sample volume that was used the lower glucose values were reported by the instrument. Conclusions: The new under fill-function did not work satisfactory. If such function would be more reliable it would be beneficial for the patient controlling hers/his bloodglucose provided that the testing procedure is being correctly done. This is very important because the results are often used to treat the patient.

Abstract Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHF) and Lassa virus are giving sources illness to humans. In addition to zoonotic transmission, CCHF and Lassa virus can spread from person to person. After a short incubation period, CCHF and Lassa virus infections are characterized by a sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache and cough just like flu. Even some people are vomiting and have diarrhoea. After a few days of illness hemorrhagic manifestations occur. Treatment options for CCHF and Lassa viruses are limited, and there is no vaccine available for use in humans. The purpose of the present study was to produce recombinant nucleocapsid protein of Lassavirus and CCHF virus including an aminoterminal His-tag by a Semliki Forest Virus Replicon (pSFV 4.2). The recombinant proteins are planned to be used in future development of diagnostic methods.

Coeliac disease is a chronic inflammatory disease treated with a gluten-free diet, excluding barley, rye and wheat. Hence, there is a demand for methods able to detect gluten in foods in order to ensure correct labeling of products. According to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, 20ppm gluten is the maximum amount allowed in food labeled gluten-free. PCR can detect DNA from cereals in food. Four real-time PCR-systems, using TaqMan®-probes for detection of barley, oat, rye and wheat were optimized and evaluated. Evaluations were carried out using seeds. Primers were targeted to genes coding for prolamines, seed storage proteins. PCR-systems targeted to barley, oat and wheat were shown to be specific for the cereals corresponding to each system. The system targeted to rye showed cross-reactions with durum wheat and spelt wheat. Detection limits were 50pg, corresponding to &lt;10 haploid genome copies for each cereal. All systems were able to detect 250ppm amounts of DNA, most likely even smaller amounts are detectable. All systems showed an amplification efficiency of ≥95%. Systems for detection of barley, oat and wheat are ready for further evaluation, using food products as samples. The rye system however, needs to be re-designed before further evaluation can take place.

One-lung ventilation (OLV) as an established procedure during thoracic surgery may be injurious in terms of increased mechanical stress characterised by alveolar cell stretch and overdistension, increased cyclic tidal recruitment of alveolar units, compression of alveolar vessels and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. This may result in ventilation-induced lung injury with pro-inflammatory cytokine production, leukocyte recruitment and neutrophil-dependent tissue destruction. Despite the consequences of delivering the whole tidal volume (VT) to only a single lung, relatively high VT are used during OLV to maintain arterial oxygenation and carbon dioxide elimination. However, this may increase mechanical stress in the dependent lung and may aggravate alveolar injury. There is a lack of data on the alveolar immune consequences of OLV. Therefore, the present studies investigate the epithelial damage and pro-inflammatory response induced by mechanical ventilation and OLV. OLV induced pulmonary injury, but alveolar damage in the ventilated lung decreased by reduction of the tidal volume in patients scheduled for thoracic surgery (study I). The use of the volatile anaesthetic desflurane in OLV patients attenuated the OLV-induced alveolar immune response (study II). Furthermore, an experimental model of thoracic surgery was established to investigate the systemic and pulmonary consequences of OLV and thoracic surgery in comparison with the effects of conventional two-lung ventilation and spontaneous breathing. The experimental data indicate that beside the pulmonary immune response volatile anaesthetics have also modulated the plasma concentrations of cytokines during and after OLV (study III). In contrast, OLV and thoracic surgery increased the expression of pro-inflammatory mRNA in BAL cells and lung tissue samples. General anaesthesia did not affect this response (study 4). The results of the present studies indicate that OLV and thoracic surgery may be injurious to the lung tissue to a similar degree. The recruitment and activation of alveolar granulocytes characterise the alveolar damage. The administration of different anaesthetics modulates the activation of alveolar cells, specified by decreased inflammatory mediator release in subjects that receive desflurane anaesthesia, which does not affect the expression of cytokine mRNA in alveolar cells and lung tissue samples.

The clinical course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is highly heterogeneous, which has prompted the search for biomarkers that can predict prognosis in this disease. The IGHV gene mutation status and certain genomic aberrations have been identified as reliable prognostic markers of clinical outcome for this disorder. However, the search for more feasible prognostic markers in CLL is still being pursued. Recently, certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the GNAS1, BCL2 and MDM2 genes and the RNA expression levels of the LPL, ZAP70, TCL1, CLLU1 and MCL1 genes were suggested as novel prognostic markers in CLL. In papers I-III, we performed genotyping analyses of the GNAS1 T393C, BCL2 -938C&gt;A and MDM2 SNP309 polymorphisms in 268-418 CLL patients and related the genotypes with clinical data. Association studies between the polymorphisms and established prognostic markers (i.e. IGHV mutation status, genomic aberrations, CD38 expression) were also performed. Our studies did not find any significant relationship between these SNPs with either clinical outcome or other known prognostic markers in CLL. In paper IV, we measured the RNA expression levels of LPL, ZAP70, TCL1, CLLU1 and MCL1 in 252 CLL cases and correlated these levels with clinical outcome. Here, we verified that high expression of all these RNA-based markers, except MCL1, were associated with an unfavourable prognosis. We also confirmed a close relationship between IGHV mutation status and the RNA-based markers, especially for LPL and CLLU1 expression. Among the RNA-based markers, multivariate analysis revealed LPL expression as the strongest independent prognostic marker for overall survival and time to treatment. Furthermore, the RNA-based markers could add further prognostic information to established markers in subgroups of patients, with LPL expression status giving the most significant results. In summary, data from papers I-III could not verify the GNAS1 T393C, BCL2 -938C&gt;A and MDM2 SNP309 polymorphisms as prognostic markers in CLL. Future SNP markers must hence be confirmed in large, independent cohorts before being proposed as prognostic marker in CLL. In paper IV, we conclude that LPL expression appears to be the strongest among the RNA-based markers for CLL prognostication. Further efforts to standardize LPL quantification are required before it can be applied in the clinical laboratory to predict clinical outcome in this disease.