Trombocyter är suspenderade i plasma som innehåller antikroppar mot de blodgruppsantigen som saknas på erytrocyterna. För att minimera risken för en hemolytisk reaktion bestäms titern av anti-A och anti-B. Gelkortsteknik används för att detektera antikropp-antigensreaktioner och baseras på agglutinationer i en gel. Syftet med studien var att undersöka titern av anti-A och anti-B i trombocytenheter, samt att utvärdera en rutinanalys och utveckla en screeningmetod. I studien analyserades enheter av blodgrupp O och A. De kontrollerades mot anti-A och/eller anti-B både för IgG och IgM antikroppar. En screeningmetod utvecklades för att kunna screena O-enheterna och en gräns på 1:100 respektive 1:250 undersöktes. Resultatet kunde påvisa en stor skillnad i titer mellan O-och A-enheter. Titern skiljer sig signifikant beroende på om titern bestäms i plasma eller från den färdiga (utspädda) enheten. En screeningmetod på 1:100 påvisade att 86 % av enheterna hade bedömts som hög titer och en screeningmetod på 1:250 visade att andelen sjönk till 31 %. Geltekniken är en känslig metod och är beroende av kompetent personal vid avläsning. En del studier visar liknande resultat men andelen enheter med hög titer varierar och likaså metoder och titergräns. Detta påvisar svårigheterna i att bestämma en kritisk titer och att förutse risker hos patienten. Andra faktorer tros också kunna påverka riskerna. Införande av en screeningmetod på 1:250 kan öka antalet enheter som kan transfunderas över ABO-barriären. / Platelets are suspended in plasma containing antibodies to the blood group antigen missing on the erythrocytes. To minimize the risk of hemolytic reaction, the titrers of anti-A and anti-B are determined. The gel test is used to detect antibody-and antigen responses and is based on agglutinations in gel. The purpose was to investigate the titers of anti-A and/or anti-B in platelets. A routine analysis was evaluated and a screening method was implemented. In the study, units of blood group O and A were analyzed. They were checked against anti-A and anti-B for both IgG and IgM antibodies. A screening method was developed to screen the O-units and a limit of 1:100 and 1:250 was used. The results showed great difference in titers between O and A units. The titers differ significantly depending on whether the titers are determined in plasma or from the finished (diluted) unit. A screening method at 1:100 showed that 86 % of the units was rated as high titer while a screening method of 1:250 showed that this was reduced to 31 %. Gel technology is a sensitive method and is dependent on competent staff when reading the agglutinations. Some studies show similar results, but the proportion of high titer units, methods and critical titers varies. It proves the difficulty in determining a critical titer and predicting risks for the patient. Other factors are also believed to influence the risks. Implementation of a 1:250 screening method is believed to increase the number of units that can be transfused over the ABO barrier.

BABAR is a particle physics experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The purpose of BABAR is to study matter-antimatter asymmetry in the bottom quark system. At SLAC, electons and positrons collide, which annihilate and decay into a variety of daughters. An Upsilon(4S) meson is one of the possible daughters. An Upsilon(4S) decays into a B meson and an anti-B meson more than 96% of the time. A B meson has an anti-bottom quark and an anti-B meson has a bottom quark. The purpose of this thesis is to measure how many Upsilon(1S) originated from Upsilon(4S) in the entire BABAR data set. This thesis compares on-peak data and off-peak data. On-peak data was taken at center of mass energy 10.58GeV. One of the possible interactions is e+e− -> Upsilon(4S) since the mass of Upsilon(4S) is 10.58GeV/c^2. On-peak data, taken at center of mass energy 10.54GeV, is not enough to have any BB pairs because 10.54GeV is less than the mass of an Upsilon(4S). This thesis can be useful for BABAR physicist because it helps set an upper limit on how many BB pairs there are in the entire BABAR data set. In other words, it sets an upper limit on how much more than 96% does Upsilon(4S) decay to BB. Measurement of the decay of Upsilon(4S) -> Upsilon(1S) + X give evidence for non-BB decays of the Upsilon(4S). The final results of this study show that there were (110 +- 3) × 10^5 Upsilon(1S) on-peak, of which (10 +- 9) × 10^5 originated from an Upsilon(4S). Increasing the centre of mass energy from 10.54GeV to 10.58GeV increases the Upsilon(1S) production by (10 +- 8)%.

A fusion protein composed of antibody fragments and β-lactamase was earlier created by Kojima et al. (2011), with antigen specificities against a bone disease marker and a pesticide. The enzyme was circularly permutated and fused to the variable heavy and light chain antibody fragments, thereby ensuring inactivity until binding of the target antigen triggered enzyme activation. Upon activation, the β-lactamase produced a colorimetric signal, which indicated antigen presence. In this work, a similar strategy was used to create two novel fusion proteins composed of circularly permuted β-lactamase and superfolder green fluorescent protein with anti-benzo[a]pyrene variable antibody fragments. The fusion proteins were designed and expressed in E. coli for the development of a single-step visual immunoassay. It was hypothesized that the cp reporter proteins would be activated once the binding of B[a]P to the variable antibody fragments occurred, and this interaction was expected to produce a detectable colorimetric or fluorescent signal. Although positive results were obtained in one instance, substantial supportive evidence in favour of the hypothesis could not be obtained. / SENTINEL Bioactive Paper Network, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada Research Chairs Program.