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The contribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to liver disease after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was retrospectively evaluated in 61 patients treated with BMT. HCV genome, as well as antibodies to HCV, was analyzed in sera collected before and serially after BMT. Six patients had been infected with HCV before BMT and three patients acquired the infection during or shortly after BMT. All patients infected before BMT died within 10 weeks after transplantation. Five of these six patients (83%) died of veno-occlusive disease (VOD), compared with nine of 52 patients (17%) not infected with HCV (P < .005). Risk factors for VOD other than HCV were not more prevalent in these patients compared with uninfected patients. Parallel to the development of VOD, replication of HCV increased, as demonstrated by rising concentrations of viral RNA in serum. HCV infection acquired during or after BMT caused only mild acute hepatitis C, which progressed to chronic hepatitis C in one patient surviving 10 years after BMT. These data suggest that patients with liver disease caused by HCV infection are at high risk of developing lethal VOD after BMT.

Seventy-eight transfusions of autologous platelets were given to eight alloimmunized patients receiving curative chemotherapy for acute leukemia. Platelets were collected at regeneration of hematopoiesis after a chemotherapy cycle, cryopreserved with 5% dimethylsulfoxide in liquid nitrogen, and retransfused during bone marrow aplasia following the next treatment cycle. The in vitro platelet recovery after freezing, thawing, and washing was 85 +/- 4%. The in vivo corrected count increment 1 h after autologous platelet transfusions was 11 +/- 5 x 10(9)/l. With the exception of moderate urticaria and slight nausea each after one transfusion, no immediate or chronic side effects occurred. The bleeding time was shortened and hemorrhage during bone marrow aplasia was prevented in all alloimmunized patients by autologous platelet transfusions.

A comparison between two types of sensors and two types of simulation software are investigated here for a student built rocket. Many students use an open source software package called OpenRocket which uses empirical aerodynamics based on the shape of the rocket. This software is compared to the standard set of rigid body dynamic equations using coefficients for the aerodynamics based on windtunnel and computational fluid dynamics tests. During experimentation two sensors are used and price and resolution is compared. The first sensor is a turn-key sensor called the TeleMega which has many features such as telemetry and on board data logging. In an effort to reduce costs, the Arduino Mega platform has been augmented with a custom made shield capable of measuring Global Positioning System (GPS), angular velocity, and attitude information with on board data logging as well. Although this sensor has limited functionality, the cost is substantially reduced. It is shown that all sensors and simulation software have their strengths and weaknesses with appropriate usage for each.

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