Study on development of forensic blood substitute: Focusing on bloodstain pattern analysis.

Bloodstain pattern analysis, one of the areas of forensic science, is performed to analyze the physical characteristics of bloodstains, including their size, shape, and distribution, to reconstruct a crime scene. A bloodstain pattern analyst should obtain through experiments and education the capabilities to both understand the generation mechanisms of bloodstains and identify the characteristics of the bloodstains. Experiments and education about bloodstain pattern analysis are carried out by using human blood taken from subjects, animal blood (porcine or bovine) supplied from butcheries, and blood substitute products developed in other countries. However, these kinds of blood have many limitations in their application due to various problems. The blood substitute developed in the present study is more similar to human blood than other blood substitute products developed in other countries with regard to the physical properties, including viscosity, viscoelasticity, and surface tension, as well as the drip bloodstain patterns depending on the surface and coordinate characteristics of drip stains impact angle. The blood substitute developed in the present study is more practical, because the materials that are used in its preparation are readily available in the market and do not include chemicals that are harmful to the human body, and the blood substitute has luminol reaction functionality and pattern transfer bloodstain (bloodstain fingerprint, bloodstain footprint, etc.) dyeing functionality.

Effects of various acute hypoxic conditions on the hemorheological response during exercise and recovery1.

Even though exercise hemorheology at hypoxic condition has been considered as a good tool to understand clinical hemorheology, there have been limited studies reported. Previous researches showed that hemorheological variables are closely correlated with oxygen delivery capacity during exercise. The present study investigated hypoxic responses including RBC deformability and aggregation, metabolic parameters and complete blood cell counts at various hypoxic conditions during cycling exercise and recovery. Eleven Korean healthy male subjects performed submaximal bike exercise at sea level (20.9% O2) and under various hypoxic conditions (16.5% O2, 14.5% O2, 12.8% O2, and 11.2% O2) in a random order. The submaximal bike exercise intensity of the subjects was 70% maximum heart rate at sea level. All variables were measured at rest, during exercise and recovery 30-minute, respectively. As oxygen partial pressure decreased, arterial blood oxygen saturation decreased but oxygen uptake did not change much. Heart rate and lactate concentration during exercise increased when oxygen partial pressure is less than or equal to 14.5% O2 condition. Red blood cell (RBC) counts, hemoglobin counts, and hematocrit level were not apparently altered with hypoxic conditions. RBC deformability showed significant alterations at 11.2% O2 conditions compared with other hypoxic conditions during exercise or recovery, except at 10 minutes recovery. However, decreases in oxygen partial pressure did not affect red blood cell aggregation. Therefore, we conclude that alterations in RBC deformability may reduce aerobic capabilities at hypoxic condition.

Sensitive and selective analysis of a wide concentration range of IGFBP7 using a surface plasmon resonance biosensor.

A sensitive method for selectively detecting insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) over a wide range of concentrations based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing techniques is described. IGFBP7 has been shown to regulate cell proliferation, cell adhesion, cellular senescence, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in several different cancer cell lines. Since the concentration of IGFBP7 can vary widely in the body, determining the precise concentration of IGFBP7 over a wide range of concentrations is important, since it serves as an inducible biomarker for both disease diagnosis and subsequent therapy. The SPR sensing method is based on the selective interaction of IGFBP7 with specific anti-IGFBP7 proteins on a gold thin film, which was covalently bound to the Fc-binding domain of protein G on a mixed self-assembled monolayer composed of DSNHS (S2(CH2)11COO(CH2)2COO-(N-hydroxysuccinimide)) and mercaptoundecanol, and effect of this on changes in the SPR profiles. The limit of detection (LOD) of the SPR biosensor was determined to be 10 ng/ml, which is a reasonable LOD value for biomedical applications. The response is essentially linear in the concentration range of 10-300 ng/ml. The SPR biosensor also shows specificity for IGFBP7 compared to that for biologically relevant interleukin (IL) derivatives including IL4, IL23, IL29, and IFG1. These molecules are also present along with IGFBP7 in the cell culture medium and have the potential to interfere with the analysis. Finally, the level secretion of IGFBP7 from cancer cells detected by the SPR biosensor showed a good correlation with a commercial kit using an IGFBP7 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The findings reported herein indicate that the SPR biosensor for IGFBP7 would be applicable in a wide variety of biomedical fields.

In vitro effect of clinical propofol concentrations on red blood cell aggregation and deformability.

This in vitro study investigated time-related effects of propofol at the plasma concentrations required for sedation and general anaesthesia, on RBC aggregation, deformability, and morphology. Blood containing propofol at plasma concentrations of 0, 2 and 4 µg ml-1 was incubated in a water bath at 37°C for 1, 2, or 4 hours. RBC elongation indices (EIs) and aggregation indices (AIs), which represent RBC deformability and aggregation, respectively, were measured. Also, RBC morphological indices (MIs), which represent RBC morphology, were calculated. EIs and AIs were similar at propofol concentrations of 0, 2, or 4 µg ml-1 after 1, 2, or 4 hours of incubation. MIs at propofol plasma concentrations 0 or 2 µg ml-1 were similar after 1, 2, and 4 hours of incubation, however, MI at a propofol concentration of 4 µg ml-1 after 4 hours of incubation was higher than its value after 1 or 2 hours of incubation. No significant difference was observed between MIs at propofol plasma concentrations 0, 2, or 4 µg ml-1 after 1, 2, and 4 hours of incubation. At clinical doses, propofol has no direct effects on RBC deformability, aggregation, or morphology over a 4 hours incubation period.