Hereafter, both groups, i.e. threatened species according to red list criteria, and birds of conservation concern, are jointly referred to as threatened and conservation concern species (TCCS). Scale-dependent red listing data Our aim was to selleck compound identify species listed in red lists compiled at three spatial scales: local (provincial), national (Polish), and European; but the relevant red lists appeared to be very incomplete (Table 1). A local assessment was available only for vascular plants (Kącki et al. 2003) in Lower Silesia (19,948 km2), i.e. the south-westernmost part of Poland, where our survey was conducted. Lists of nationally threatened species were compiled for each

IWR-1 in vitro taxon studied, GDC-0973 mouse i.e. vascular plants (Zarzycki and Szeląg 2006), birds (Głowaciński 2002), and bryophytes divided into separate lists of threatened mosses (Żarnowiec et al. 2004), liverworts and hornworts (Klama 2006). All these assessments used the IUCN categories and criteria; however, because insufficient data were available on population sizes of particular taxa and no permanent monitoring was undertaken once the lists had been compiled, the classifications were based on expert estimates of particular organisms.

At the European scale, a complete assessment is available only for bryophytes (Schumacker and Martiny 1995). The threat status of European vascular plants was recently assessed (Bilz et al. 2011), but this compilation includes only 1,826 species (around 8 % of Europe’s plant species). These are divided into three functional groups: plants listed in European and international policy instruments (PI), crop wild relatives (CWR), and European aquatic plants (AP). Although there is no comprehensive red list of European birds, all species meeting the IUCN Red List Criteria for filipin the “critically endangered”, “endangered”, “vulnerable”

or “near threatened” categories at a European level were identified by BirdLife International (2004). Data analysis We used selected spatial scales (local, national and European) to compare the occurrence of TCCS in three types of field margins on the one hand, and the percentages of TCCS in Europe, in Poland and in field margins on the other. We used the local red list for vascular plants, the national red list for bryophytes, and the assessment of conservation status at the European level for birds. Such an approach resulted in the highest number of species in each taxonomic group and lent itself to statistical evaluation. Since most variables had many zero values and skewed distributions, they were analyzed by using non-parametric tests. The Chi square test of independence was used to compare the percentages of TCCS in Europe, in Poland, and in field margins. The Kruskal–Wallis analysis of variance was used to compare the occurrence of TCCS in the three types of field margins.

This Consensus represents the first attempt to create a universal language for diagnosing and treating sepsis. Sepsis

is defined as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), resulting from infection. Identifying patients with severe sepsis early and correcting the underlying microvascular dysfunction may improve patient outcomes. If not corrected, microvascular dysfunction can lead to global tissue hypoxia, direct tissue damage, and ultimately, organ failure. Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) SIRS is a reference for the complex findings that result from a systemic activation of the innate immune response, regardless of cause. It includes the presence of more than one of the following manifestations: Temperature > 100.4°F or < 96.8°F (> 38°C or < 36°C) Heart rate > 90 beats/min Tachypnea, as manifested by AZD1480 a respiratory rate > 20 breaths/min or hyperventilation, as indicated by a PaCO2 < 32 mm Hg Alteration of white blood cell count > 12,000 cells/mm3, < 4,000 cells/mm3, or the presence of > 10% immature neutrophils. Sepsis Sepsis is defined by the American College of Chest selleck Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine (ACCP/SCCM)

as SIRS resulting from infection. Severe sepsis Severe sepsis is sepsis associated with at least one acute organ dysfunction, hypoperfusion, or hypotension. Septic shock Septic shock occurs when sepsis-induced hypotension persists despite adequate fluid resuscitation. Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) MODS includes altered functions of two or more organs Amino acid in an acutely ill patient. Pathophysiology Abdominal sepsis occurs as result of intra-abdominal infection. The pathophysiology of sepsis takes origin from the outer membrane components of both gram-negative Fedratinib concentration organisms (lipopolysaccharide [LPS], lipid A, endotoxin) and gram-positive organisms (lipoteichoic acid, peptidoglycan). These outer membrane components are able to bind to the CD14 receptor on the surface of monocytes. By virtue of the recently described toll-like receptors, a signal is then

transmitted to the cell, leading to the eventual production of the proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8, and gamma interferon (IFN-), as well as other inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandins, leukotrienes, platelet activation factor, and nitrogen and oxygen intermediates. Most of these immunological mediators present multiple biologic effects, play a critical role in inflammation and immune responses, and have been recognized as key mediators in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and, more particularly, the pathophysiologic alterations observed in endotoxic shock. As a result of the vicious cycle of inflammation, cardiovascular insufficiency and multiple organ failure occur and often lead to death [8–10].

Before the growth of ZnO NWs, a strong and sharp characteristic GO peak at around 10.6° (8.31 Å) was detected, which selleck compound corresponds to the (002) plane of GO films. Meanwhile, a weak (002) graphene peak located at 26.4° (3.31 Å) was observed,

which indicates that the GO film may contain a tiny concentration of unoxidized graphene. In comparison, after the growth of ZnO NWs, seven peaks located at 2θ values of 31.7°, 34.6°, 36.6°, 47.5°, 63°, and 68° can be observed, corresponding to the ZnO crystal planes of (100), PLX4032 (002), (101), (102), (110), (103), and (112), respectively. All of these peaks match the wurtzite-structured ZnO. The (002) peak of the ZnO NWs/GO heterostructure is much stronger than others, indicating that ZnO NWs have high degree of vertical alignments on the GO film. The GO related peak becomes very weak after the growth of NWs, suggesting that it is

fully covered with ZnO NWs. Figure 3 XRD and Raman spectra. (a) XRD patterns and (b) Raman spectra of single GO film and ZnO NWs/GO heterostructures. The Raman spectra of the samples before and after ZnO NW growth are revealed in Figure 3b. Four peaks at 334, 438, 579, and 1143 cm−1 are observed in the spectra of ZnO NWs/GO heterostructure. The peak at 438 cm−1 corresponds to the finger signal of the characteristic E2 mode of ZnO wurtzite structure, while the peaks at 334 and 579 cm−1 are attributed to the transversal Selleckchem AZD1390 optical modes with A1 symmetry and the longitudinal optical (LO) modes. The peak PtdIns(3,4)P2 at 1143 cm−1 belongs to the Raman 2LO mode of ZnO. Two characteristic peaks (D and G bands) of GO can be seen in both curves (Figure 3b). The D-band at 1345 cm−1 is due to the A1g mode breathing vibrations of six-membered sp2 carbon rings and requires a defect for its activation, and the G-peak at 1598 cm−1 corresponds to the E2g vibrational mode of sp2 carbon pairs in both rings and chains. In general, the ID/IG ratio is a

measure of the degree of disorder and average size of the sp2 domains in graphene materials23: the increased ID/IG intensity ratio generally suggests a decrease in the average size of the sp2 domains upon the reduction of the GO and the removal of the oxygen functional groups in GO films. The values of ID/IG in GO and ZnO NWs/GO heterostructure are calculated to be 0.871 and 1.006, respectively. The increased ID/IG ratio in NWs/GO heterostructure suggests that there is a nanostructure change of GO and the average size of the sp2 domains decrease. Such structure changes can be attributed to the variation of oxygen functional groups. It was reported that at the initial stage of the reaction, zinc ions are adsorbed on GO films through coordination interactions of the C-O-C and -OH or ion-exchange with H+ from carboxyl.

Table 1 Clinical criteria for patient selection Periodontitis Resistant (PR) subjects Age ≥ 65 years  

≥ 20 natural teeth   Probing Depth at any site ≤ 5 mm   Clinical Attachment Loss at any site ≤ 2 mm Chronic Periodontitis (CP) ≥ 4 mm Probing Depth at ≥ 30% of residual teeth Generalized Aggressive Periodontitis (GAP) Disease onset estimated at < 30 years based on clinical examination, past radiographs, and/or interview   ≥ 6 mm Probing Pocket Depth at > 3 permanent teeth other than first molars and incisors selleckchem Table 2 Patient demographics Clinical samples processed by dot blot hybridization Subject group No. of patients Age (yr) ± SD Gender Plaque samples       f m n mean PPD (mm) ± SD GAP 72 34.8 ± 6.4 45 27 330 7.8 ± 2.5 CP 30 51.0 ± 10.2 15 15 78 7.1 ± 1.4 PR 19

66.7 ± 1.5 12 7 82 3.6 ± 0.8 Clinical samples for FISH Subject group No. of patients Age (yr) ± SD Gender Carrier samples       f m n mean PPD (mm) ± SD GAP 11 34.3 ± 7.9 5 6 28 8.1 ± 1.7 Dot blot hybridization DNA extraction from the BAY 80-6946 mouse 490 collected subgingival plaque samples, subsequent PCR amplification, preparation of dot blot membranes and dot blot hybridization experiments to analyse the prevalence of F. alocis were performed as published previously [37]. The broad range bacterial primers TPU1 5′-AGAGTTTGATCMTGGCTCAG-3′ (corresponding to complementary positions 8-27 in the Escherichia coli 16S rRNA gene) and RTU3 5′-GWATTACCGCGGCKGCTG-3′ (corresponding to positions 519-536 in E. coli 16S rRNA) were used to amplify part of the 16S rRNA gene out of the bulk DNA. Agarose gel electrophoresis

confirmed successful amplification. Hybridizations with both EUB 338 and FIAL were carried out at 54°C, while stringency washes were performed at 58°C for EUB 338 and at 60°C for FIAL with a Savolitinib mw washing buffer containing 2× SSC (1× SSC is 0.15 M NaCl plus 0.015 M sodium citrate) – 0.1% SDS for EUB 338 and 5× SSC – 0.2% SDS for FIAL. In all experiments, PCR-amplified products obtained from fixed cells of F. alocis, its closest cultured Levetiracetam phylogenetic relative Filifactor villosus (ATCC 33388T), and a panel of 43 periodontal pathogens (see Figure 1 legend) and related bacteria were included as positive and negative controls, respectively. After hybridization, X-ray films were exposed for 2 to 30 hours. After stripping, all membranes were re-used for further experiments. Figure 1 Dot blot hybridizations of identical membranes with EUB 338 (a) and the species-specific probe FIAL (b). PCR-amplified products from F. alocis (field A1) and its closest cultured relative F. villosus (A2) served as positive and negative controls, respectively.

Construction of plasmids, mutants and complemented strains Enzymes used for generation of constructs were purchased from New England Biolabs. The pBAD expression system (Invitrogen) was used

selleck chemicals llc for cloning and arabinose-inducible expression of tkt1 and tktA. The coding sequence of tkt1 was amplified by PCR using genomic DNA of APEC O1 as the template. The Advantage™ 2 PCR kit (Clontech, Mountain View, CA) was used in these experiments according to the manufacturer’s directions. The JNK inhibitor primers used for tkt1 gene were the tkt1E-F primer 5′-agctccatggattcacaattactggctaacg-3′, which introduces an Ncol site (underlined bases) and the tkt1E-R primer 5′- gcattctagagtcatcctttcaccccttgtgcag-3′ which introduces an XbaI site (underlined bases). The primers used for tktA were tktAE-F 5′-agctccatggcctcacgtaaagagcttgcc-3′and tktAE-R 5′ gcattctagattgcggcccttctcacaaagcat-3′ The complete tkt1 gene and tktA were cloned into the expression vector pBAD24 using the created NcoI and XbaI sites [21] to obtain pBAD tkt1 and pBAD tktA, respectively (Table 1). The APEC O1 mutant strain APEC O1 M tkt1 with plasmid pBAD tkt1 was

designated as APEC O1-P1, and the E. coli K12 mutant strains BJ502 harboring the empty pBAD24, pBAD tkt1 and pBAD tktA plasmids were designated as BJ502 p1, BJ502 p2 and BJ502 p3, respectively. Deletion of tkt1 was achieved using the method of Datsenko and Wanner [22]. The Cm resistance cassette in pKD3, flanked by 5′ and 3′ sequences of tkt1, was GW-572016 mouse amplified from genomic DNA of strain APEC O1 using primers tkt1M-F (5′-ttagcgggctggtttcagcccgccagacagagagagctgaagtgtgtaggctggagctgcttcga-3′)

and tkt1M-R (5′-tcaaggggtaaaaggtcatcctttcaccccttgtgcaggtcatatgaatatcctccttag-3′) and was introduced into APEC O1 by homologous recombination using λ Red recombinase. Successful Δtkt1::Cm mutation was confirmed by PCR, using primers flanking the tkt1 region. The Δtkt1::Cm derivative of APEC O1 was designated APEC O1 M tkt1 . The mutant strain APEC O1 M tktA (Table 1), a ΔtktA::Cm derivative of APEC O1, was generated using primer pair tktAM-F 5′-aagggccgcatttgcggcccttctcacaaagcatcttaccgagtgtaggctggagctgcttcga-3′ and tktAM-R 5′-cgttaagggcgtgcccttcatcatccgatctggagtcaaacatatgaatatcctccttag-3′. Neratinib The Δtkt1 mutant strain APEC O1 M tkt1 , was complemented by single-copy integration of the plasmid pGPtkt1. The tkt1 operon, including the 300-bp upstream DNA sequence, was amplified by PCR using primers tkt1C -F 5′-tgacagatctgggctatgcagcgatttactac-3′ and tkt1C-R 5′-cagttctagatgtgcaggtttagctgttcagt-3′. Plasmid pGPtkt1 was constructed by cloning this BglII-XbaI (underlined bases) fragment into the same sites of suicide vector pGP704 [10, 20]. PGPtkt1 was conjugated from strain S17- pGPtkt1 to strain APEC O1 M tkt1 .

These observations prompted us to design a protocol in which the temperature elevation of subjects during dehydration was allowed to recover, and which minimized prior exercise effects. The normal and Talazoparib research buy dehydrated conditions were then compared using combined measures of performance and physiological responses. We were selleck compound interested in knowing

the extent to which rehydration blunted performance perturbations following exercise and temperature-induced dehydration, when core temperatures were not elevated. A second aim of the study was to test our premise that certain amino acids, carbohydrate polymers, protective thiols and vitamins may evoke a performance advantage. Based on exercise capacity, we assessed and compared the effects of rehydration with commercially available non-caffeinated lemon flavored sports drinks, namely, Gatorade and Rehydrate Electrolyte Replacement Drink (AdvoCare International), using lemon flavored Crystal Light as the control

rehydration fluid. These fluids vary in energy, electrolyte and nutrient content. The study was conducted using a blinded, placebo protocol. Methods Subjects Eight healthy men, who participated regularly in competitive sports and were familiar with maximal treadmill testing, were recruited for this study. They were fully acquainted with the procedures of the study including risks and benefits before giving their consent. The research protocol was

approved by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Sapitinib nmr Center Institutional Review Board. Their physical characteristics are depicted in Table 1. Table 1 Subject characteristics at baseline visit Subject Age (yrs) Ht (cm) Wt (kg) VO2max (mL.min-1) Maximal RER Maximal Heart rate (beats.min-1) aminophylline Maximal VE(L.min-1) 1 22 193.0 81.6 3772 1.20 196 164.2 2 23 185.4 89.8 4347 1.21 208 158.6 3 28 182.9 79.4 3463 1.34 192 131.6 4 28 188.0 74.5 3049 1.27 175 130.5 5 39 182.9 96.1 4507 1.19 166 143.9 6 24 172.7 83.9 3236 1.23 NA* 105.8 7 23 175.3 84.4 3798 1.18 195 125.5 8 41 177.8 71.7 4531 1.07 170 139.5 Mean 28.5 182.4 82.7 3838 1.21 186.0 137.5 St Dev 7.5 6.8 7.9 575 0.08 15.7 18.7 Experimental Design A double blind placebo randomized within study design was used in this investigation. The experimental design involved an initial dehydration exercise bout of 60 min in hot conditions (27-33°C), followed by 60 min of recovery at about 22°C, prior to performing an individualized treadmill exercise test designed to induce exhaustion in 7-10 min. After the exercise test, the subjects were assigned 60 min to fully replace fluid losses (on a weight basis) from the previous exercise and then the same maximal exercise protocol was repeated. Gas exchange measurements were made using a metabolic cart (Medical Graphics, St.

Therefore, these proteins might represent potential biomarker candidates of bile tolerance in L. plantarum and should be further studied, especially the ones with unknown functions (protein of unknown function lp_2652, spot 31; putative alkaline shock proteins 1 and 2, spots 3 and 2 respectively). Particular interest was in differentially expressed proteins with a reported putative involvement, not specifically in bile tolerance, but in the overall BOADS stress tolerance, since the deleterious effects of bile not only include a detergent action, but also low-pH, oxidative

and osmotic stresses [27]. This led to the identification of 15 proteins likely to be implicated in bile tolerance of the selected strains. Two of these proteins (GuaA and ribosomal protein S30EA) have previously been negatively correlated to constitutive acid [35] and bile [14] tolerance, respectively, suggesting Fulvestrant ic50 they could impart bacterial sensitivity to theses stress factors. Interestingly, they were not detected (ribosomal protein S30EA) or naturally underexpressed (GuaA) in the resistant strain. On the other hand, the 13 remaining proteins have been linked to BOADS stress resistance in previous selleck kinase inhibitor studies. Ten of them were overexpressed in the resistant or intermediate strains, while only one of them displayed higher expression levels

in the bile sensitive strain. These this website results showed that the natural protein diversity observed among L. plantarum strains cultured in standard conditions can reflect their ability to tolerate bile. The more resistant a strain is to bile, the

more it naturally expresses proteins that can help in the bile resistance process, but also the less it produces proteins that may impart sensitivity to this stress. These PLEK2 proteins could therefore constitute an inherent and characteristic proteomic profile that is indicative of bile tolerance. To confirm the putative involvement of the 15 proteins of interest in the bile tolerance process and get an overview on how bile salts affect their levels of expression, proteomic analysis of strains response to bile exposure was performed. Thirteen proteins appeared to be directly implicated in bile stress adaptation, since their expression was significantly affected by exposure to bile salt (p < 0.05). Five of them (ClpP, Dps, GroEL, Hsp1, and Hsp3) are general stress-response proteins involved in repair and protection of proteins and DNA. They were up-regulated in response to bile challenge, which is in accordance with previous findings [14, 16, 36–38]. This set of proteins intervenes in numerous stress-management response systems, suggesting they have unspecific contributions to bile stress tolerance, which may result in multifaceted stress-dependent mechanisms of action, as this was recently reviewed for Dps [39].

And in fact, Chen et al. observed a decrease of pHi and an https://www.selleckchem.com/products/KU-60019.html increase of pHe in a human gastric cell line after PPI treatment [32]. Moreover, Luciani and colleagues demonstrated that PPI pretreatment of melanoma, colon adenocarcinoma, breast cancer and ovarian carcinoma cell lines was associated with an increase of both, pHe and the pH of lysosomal organelles [26]. Furthermore, there is some evidence in the current literature that changes in pHi and pHe impact on prognosis [37], invasiveness and metastasis formation [38], activation of extracellular metalloproteases that influence tumour cell motility, proliferation and metastasis [23], and resistance towards

irradiation and chemotherapy find more drugs [35]. For example, acidic pHe in tumours can lead to an extracellular accumulation of weakly basic chemotherapeutics

such as anthracyclines, anthraquinones and vinca alkaloid which subsequently fail to reach their intracellular targets. Thus, an increased NSC23766 extracellular acidity in tumours can promote multi drug resistance [23–25]. In contrast to these reports, we found that pHi increased and pHe decreased after PPI treatment in esophageal cancer cell lines. We acknowledge that this different effect of PPI treatment on pHi and pHe might be influenced by specific biological characteristics which separate esophageal cancer from other tumour entities. However, our data provide the first reported evidence that in esophageal cancer cell lines, PPI treatment does not lead to an intracellular accumulation of protons and an inability to eliminate protons in the extracellular compartment. Our data suggest that the observed effect of PPI treatment in our study might at least in part not be mediated by the inhibition of proton pumps. Regarding a potential effect of PPI treatment on expression of miRNAs, our study shows for the very first time that esomeprazole treatment impacts on expression of resistance-relevant miRNAs. There are no prior reported

studies that investigate the potential of PPIs to alter miRNA expression in either SCC or EAC. Most interestingly, we found three miRNAs (namely miR-141, miR-200b and miR-376a) to be deregulated in a similar fashion in both tumour subtypes, implying that these miRNAs might in general be affected by PPI treatment. Furthermore, all three miRNAs have been previously Masitinib (AB1010) described to impact on tumour cell survival and chemotherapy resistance in various cancer types. Imanaka et al. reported that miR-141 was highly expressed in cisplatin-resistant SCC cell lines [39], and van Jaarsveld and colleagues found an association between miR-141 levels and response to cisplatin therapy in ovarian cancer patients [40]. In addition, elevated miR-200b levels were described to influence cell proliferation, invasion and migration in gastric cancer [41], and the development of multi drug resistance in Ehrlich asites cell lines [42].

Treatment of DENV-infected cells with the Ltc 1 peptide To infect the HepG2 cells with DENV2, the cells were cultured in 24-well plates (1.5 × 105 cells/well) for 24 h at 37°C and GSK458 molecular weight 5% CO2. The virus supernatant was added to the cells at a MOI of 2, followed by incubation for 1 h with gentle shaking every 15 min for optimal virus to cell contact. The cells were washed twice with fresh serum-free DMEM after removal of the

virus supernatant. Then, fresh complete DMEM containing 25 μM Ltc 1 peptide was added to the cultures and incubated for 72 h. The HepG2 cells were then collected, and the virus particles and expression level of the viral NS1 protein were examined using immunostaining and western immunoblotting. Time-of-addition assay This assay was performed to identify the mode of antiviral activity of the Ltc 1 peptide against DENV2 entry, replication and release from the infected cells. Three independent experiments were performed in triplicate for pre-, simultaneous and post-infection treatments. HepG2 cells were grown in a 24-well tissue Ralimetinib cell line culture plate (1.5 × 105 cells/well), incubated 24 h under optimal conditions and infected with DENV2 at an MOI of 2. For pre-treatment infection, 25 μM peptide was added to the cells

before virus inoculation selleck products and incubated for 24 h. After removal of the old medium containing the peptide, the DENV2 supernatant was added, followed by incubation for 1 h with gentle shaking every 10 min for optimal virus to cell contact. The virus supernatant was removed and the cells were washed twice with fresh serum-free DMEM medium to remove the residual

virus. Fresh complete DMEM medium was added and the cultures were incubated for 72 h at 37°C, supplemented with 5% CO2. Identical applications were performed for the simultaneous treatment, except the peptide was mixed with the virus supernatant and incubated at 37°C for 1 h, and then inoculated onto the HepG2 cells. The post-treatment until infection was performed after inoculation of the HepG2 cells with DENV2, and complete DMEM medium with the Ltc 1 peptide was then added. The cultures including the peptide were incubated for 72 h at 37°C and 5% CO2, and three wells of infected cells in each experiment were maintained without treatment as controls. The cell supernatants were collected and stored at -80°C for viral load determination using a plaque formation assay. Dose-response assay This assay was performed to evaluate the 50% effective concentration (EC50) of the Ltc 1 peptide against DENV2. HepG2 cells were grown in six-well microplates (1.5 × 106 cells/well) for 24 h in quadruplicate experiments. The cell culture media were removed and the cells were washed three times with PBS. Then, fresh medium containing the virus supernatant was added at MOI of 2, followed by incubation for 1 h with gentle shaking every 15 min. The viral residues were removed by washing with PBS, and serial dilutions of the Ltc 1 peptide (0, 2.

The study was approved by the ethics committee of Jinling Hospital. Waiver of informed consent from patients was approved because of the observational nature of the study. Jinling Hospital is a tertiary teaching hospital in Nanjing, China.

The Department of CA4P molecular weight General Surgery is responsible for medical and surgical care of patients with abdominal trauma admitted to the emergency department (ED) of the hospital. At ED, a consulting surgeon judges the need for emergency laparotomy of the abdominal trauma patient. The patient is subsequently transferred to one of the two surgical intensive care units (SICU) of our department from ED if emergency laparotomy is not needed, or from operation room after emergency laparotomy. Non-operative care is provided by a team of surgeons 4SC-202 nmr and SICU specialists following previously published guidelines [15]. Study population We searched the abdominal trauma database to identify potential patients between November 2008 and October 2012. Inclusion criteria were age older than 18 years, abdominal abbreviated injury scale ≥2, and requirement of 2 or more units of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion within 24 hours of ED admission. Exclusion criteria included time interval between injury and ED admission >24 hours, major traumatic brain injury (head abbreviated

injury scale ≥3), end-staged liver disease, pregnancy, and history of anti-coagulation therapy in the latest 3 months. All included patients were subsequently divided into 2 groups according to the time of admission. Patients between November 2008 and October 2010, who Geneticin received conventional transfusion management, were assigned to the control group, whereas patients between November 2010 and October 2012, who were

managed with the goal-directed transfusion protocol, were assigned to the goal-directed group. Transfusion protocol At ED, patients with abdominal trauma might receive preemptive transfusion of 2 units of RBC and 2–4 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) following initial fluid resuscitation when hemoglobin level was below 90 g/L or showed active bleeding signs. Once the patient was planned to be transferred to our department, subsequent transfusion decisions were made by the treating surgeon or ID-8 SICU specialist. Patients in the control group received conventional transfusion management, which was based on individual experience and interpretation of conventional coagulation testing results of the treating surgeon or SICU specialist. RBC and FFP were delivered at a ratio of 1:1–1:2. Platelet and cryoprecipitate were administrated in selected cases. The TEG 5000 thrombelastograph hemostasis analyzer system (Haemoscope Corporation, Niles, USA) was initially introduced to our department for monitoring post-operative coagulation function. The device enables point-of-care coagulation assay of whole blood at the patient’s temperature.