The individual recovery was variable, but physical performance was recovered 14 days after a standard blood donation, despite blood Hb concentration remaining lower than at baseline.

VO and B-Hb were only recovered 28 days after a blood donation whereas TT performance was back to baseline 14 days after blood donation.

Prolactin (PRL) is a versatile hormone and serves a broad variety of physiological functions besides lactation. The release of PRL from lactotrophs in the pituitary has in rodents been shown to be released with a circadian pattern depending on the physiological state of the animal. The circadian release of PRL seems to be complex involving tonic inhibition by dopamine (DA) neurons on lactotrophs and one or even several releasing factors. Because of the circadian releasing pattern of PRL, neurons in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), "the brain clock," and especially the neurons expressing neuropeptide vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), have been suggested to be involved in the circadian regulation of PRL. In the present study, we used fluorescence immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization histochemistry, confocal microscopy, threedimensional reconstruction, and highly specific antibodies to visualize the occurrence of VIP receptors 1 and 2 (VPAC1 and VPAC2) in mouse brain hypothalamic sections stained in combination with VIP, oxytocin (OXT), arginine vasopressin (AVP), and DA (tyrosine hydroxylase, TH). We demonstrated that VIP fibers most likely originating from the ventral part of the SCN project to OXT neurons in the magnocellular part of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN). In the PVN, VIP fibers were found in close apposition to OXT neuron exclusively expressing the VPAC1 receptor. Furthermore, we demonstrate that neither OXT neurons nor TH or AVP neurons were expressing the VPAC2 receptor. VPAC1 receptor expression was also found on blood vessels but not in neurons expressing AVP or TH. These findings suggest that VIP signaling from the SCN does not directly target DA neurons involved in PRL secretion. Furthermore, the findings support the notion that VIP from neurons in the SCN could regulate circadian release of OXT in the posterior pituitary or modulate OXT neurons as a releasing factor involved in the circadian regulation of PRL from pituitary lactotrophs.

Background: The most common way to validate a pneumatic tube system (PTS) is to compare PTS transported blood samples to blood samples carried by hand. The importance of also measuring the forces inside the PTS has been emphasized. The aim of this study was to define a validation protocol using a mini data logger (VitalVial, Motryx Inc., Canada) to reduce the need for donor samples in PTS validation. Methods: As an indicator of the total vibration the blood samples are exposed to under PTS transportation, the area under the curve (AUC) was determined by a VitalVial for all hospital Tempus600 lines using a five-day validation protocol. Only the three lines with the highest AUC were clinically validated by analyzing potassium, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). A month after PTS commissioning, a follow-up on laboratory data was performed. Results: Mean AUC of the six lines ranged between 347 and 581. The variability of the AUC was between 1.51-11.55%. In the laboratory data follow-up, an increase in LDH hemolysis was seen from the three lines with the highest AUC and the emergency department which was not detected in the clinical validation. When the Tempus600 system was in commission, a higher mean AUC was measured. Conclusion: A three-day validation protocol using VitalVials is enough to determine the stability of a Tempus600 system and can greatly reduce the need for donor samples. When in commission, the stability of the PTS should be verificated and LDH hemolysis should be routinely checked.