Search results for "Specimen Handling"
showing 10 items of 46 documents
Progress on bringing together raptor collections in Europe for contaminant research and monitoring in relation to chemicals regulation.
2019
Paola Movalli et al.
Impact of Pre-Analytical Time on the Recovery of Pathogens from Blood Cultures: Results from a Large Retrospective Survey.
2017
Background Prompt identification of bloodstream pathogens is essential for optimal management of patients. Significant changes in analytical methods have improved the turnaround time for laboratory diagnosis. Less attention has been paid to the time elapsing from blood collection to incubation and to its potential effect on recovery of pathogens. We evaluated the performance of blood cultures collected under typical hospital conditions in relation to the length of their pre-analytical time. Methods We carried out a large retrospective study including 50,955 blood cultures collected, over a 30-month period, from 7,035 adult septic patients. Cultures were accepted by the laboratory only durin…
Tissue expansion of lung bronchi due to tissue processing for histology – A comparative analysis of paraffin versus frozen sections in a pig model
2019
Tissue shrinking due to fixation and processing is well known. However, the degree of shrinking varies significantly with the tissue type as well as the processing method and is not well studied in various tissues. In daily pathological routine workflow, histological specimens from frozen and paraffin sections are performed from the same tissue. In the present study we compared the thickness of bronchus walls obtained from paraffin and frozen sections.Pig lungs were frozen in ventilated condition in liquid nitrogen and 36 bronchi were isolated after dissection. Frozen sections of 5 μm thickness were performed and the remaining tissue was fixed and embedded in paraffin after fixation in 4% f…
A survey of clearing techniques for 3D imaging of tissues with special reference to connective tissue
2016
AbstractFor 3-dimensional (3D) imaging of a tissue, 3 methodological steps are essential and their successful application depends on specific characteristics of the type of tissue. The steps are 1° clearing of the opaque tissue to render it transparent for microscopy, 2° fluorescence labeling of the tissues and 3° 3D imaging. In the past decades, new methodologies were introduced for the clearing steps with their specific advantages and disadvantages. Most clearing techniques have been applied to the central nervous system and other organs that contain relatively low amounts of connective tissue including extracellular matrix. However, tissues that contain large amounts of extracellular mat…
Stochastic sampling effects favor manual over digital contact tracing.
2020
Isolation of symptomatic individuals, tracing and testing of their nonsymptomatic contacts are fundamental strategies for mitigating the current COVID-19 pandemic. The breaking of contagion chains relies on two complementary strategies: manual reconstruction of contacts based on interviews and a digital (app-based) privacy-preserving contact tracing. We compare their effectiveness using model parameters tailored to describe SARS-CoV-2 diffusion within the activity-driven model, a general empirically validated framework for network dynamics. We show that, even for equal probability of tracing a contact, manual tracing robustly performs better than the digital protocol, also taking into accou…
Multicentric study of the effect of pre-analytical variables in the quality of plasma samples stored in biobanks using different complementary proteo…
2016
12 páginas, 7 figuras.-- Jesús Mateos ... et al.
Preservation of Multiple Mammalian Tissues to Maximize Science Return from Ground Based and Spaceflight Experiments.
2016
Background Even with recent scientific advancements, challenges posed by limited resources and capabilities at the time of sample dissection continue to limit the collection of high quality tissues from experiments that can be conducted only infrequently and at high cost, such as in space. The resources and time it takes to harvest tissues post-euthanasia, and the methods and duration of long duration storage, potentially have negative impacts on sample quantity and quality, thereby limiting the scientific outcome that can be achieved. Objectives The goals of this study were to optimize methods for both sample recovery and science return from rodent experiments, with possible relevance to b…
Does more favourable handling of the cerebrospinal fluid increase the diagnostic sensitivity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato-specific PCR in Lyme …
2017
Tests for direct detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bb) in Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) are needed. Detection of Bb DNA using PCR is promising, but clinical utility is hampered by low diagnostic sensitivity. We aimed to examine whether diagnostic sensitivity can be improved by the use of larger cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volumes and faster handling of samples.Patients who underwent CSF examination for LNB were included. We collected two millilitres of CSF for PCR analysis, extracted DNA from the pellets within 24 h and analysed the eluate by two real-time PCR protocols (16S rRNA and OspA). Patients who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for LNB were classified as LNB cases and the rest …
Analysis of persistence of human papillomavirus infection in men evaluated by sampling multiple genital sites.
2015
Although human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been studied extensively in women, data on male infection are limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate persistence of HPV infection at multiple genital sites in men and to define potential associations with socio-behavioural characteristics.Penile, urethral and seminal specimens were tested by the INNO-LiPA HPV system (Innogenetics) and a PCR assay. Persistence was defined as the detection of same HPV type at ≥ 2 consecutive visits. The Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test were applied to estimate the likelihood of persistence.A total of 50 men (median age: 33 years) were followed for a median of 14.7 months. Altogether, 49…
Functional assessment of the quality of human hepatocyte preparations for cell transplantation.
2008
Hepatocyte transplantation is an alternative therapy to orthotopic liver transplantation for the treatment of liver diseases. Good quality freshly isolated or cryopreserved human hepatocytes are needed for clinical transplantation. However, isolation, cryopreservation, and thawing processes can seriously impair hepatocyte viability and functionality. The aim of the present study was to develop a fast and sensitive procedure to estimate the quality of hepatocyte preparations prior to clinical cell infusion. To this end, cell viability, attachment efficiency, and metabolic competence (urea synthesis and drug-metabolizing P450 activities) were selected as objective criteria. Viability of hepat…