<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:SimSun;
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:SimSun;
panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.PlainTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Plain Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text";
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
p.msonormal0, li.msonormal0, div.msonormal0
{mso-style-name:msonormal;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle22
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle23
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle24
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle25
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1028" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='layout-grid-mode:char'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Dear all, you’re welcome to the following special seminar:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span lang=EN-SG style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span lang=EN-SG style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Monitoring the Hemodynamic Functionality of Transfused Red Blood Cells for Improving Transfusion Outcome and Personalized Transfusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><b><u><span lang=EN-SG style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p><span style='text-decoration:none'> </span></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Prof. Saul Yedgar<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Dept. of Biochemistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center;layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>February 5 (Wed) at 3-4 pm in 6-104 (Chipman Room)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Background:</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> Red blood cells (<b>RBC</b>) have unique flow-affecting properties that are major determinants of blood flow, and define their hemodynamic functionality (<b>HF</b>), <i>i.e.</i> their potential to affect the blood circulation and the vascular system, especially in small blood vessels. These include primarily RBC deformability, adherence to vascular endothelial cells, and self-aggregability. Normally, RBC are sufficiently deformable, and their adherence and aggregation is insignificant, but in numerous pathological conditions RBC with impaired HF, especially reduced deformability and elevated adherence, are formed. These can impair blood circulation and lead to vascular occlusion and infarct.<b><u><o:p></o:p></u></b></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Focus on blood transfusion: </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Blood transfusion is a universal treatment aimed at increasing tissue oxygenation by the supply of red blood cells (RBC). However, in recent years, there is a growing concern about the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusion, following many studies showing that blood transfusion caused damage rather than benefit. The cause of this phenomenon is unclear. Using an original image analysis, we have found, for the first time in humans, that the transfusion effectiveness (expressed by the increase in the recipients' hemoglobin and blood circulation) strongly depends on the HF of the transfused RBC, and on the difference in HF between of transfused RBC and the recipients' RBC.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>These results demonstrate that RBC HF plays a key role in transfusion outcome, and its assessment can be used for<b> personalized transfusion</b>, by selecting patient-specific blood units according to the HF of the transfused RBC <i>vs.</i> that of the recipient's RBC.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>The current blood-banking practice focuses exclusively on testing immunological compatibility and infectious agents on donation day, and blood units are supplied primarily according to the first-in-first-out (FIFO) criteria. Our studies show that the FIFO criterion is not sufficient to ensure safe and effective blood transfusion. <b>The assessment of transfused RBC HF, in reference to the RBC HF and clinical conditions of the recipient, provides an essential, powerful tool for improving transfusion therapy</b>.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class=MsoPlainText style='layout-grid-mode:char'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Of particular interest</span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'> <b>are premature neonates (PN)</b>. PN often suffer from neonate-specific microcirculatory pathologies (PNP)<b>. </b>About 50% of PN are treated with transfusion of adults' RBC, which is known to contribute to the provocation of PNP development. Using our image analysis, we have found that: <b>1</b>. The HF of RBC of <b>healthy</b> PN is considerably superior to that of adults' RBC, while the opposite was observed with PN that developed PNP. Therefore, the transfusion of adult's RBC to PN introduces risk to PN recipients. <b>2</b>. The HF of cord blood RBC is compatible with that of the autologous PN (thereby superior to adults' RBC).These findings present the need for <b>neonate-specific cord blood bank, containing units of cord blood RBC with hemodynamic functionality suitable for transfusion to premature newborns.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Biography<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>Saul Yedgar, PhD, is a Professor of Biochemistry at The Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel, heading a world-leading lab in studying RBC flow-affecting properties in health and disease. SY serves as a member in editorial boards of international journals and committees/boards of international scientific societies</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>