Royal Canadian Mint (Canada)

Freeze-dried plasma (FDP) is a promising blood component for prehospital resuscitation given its logistic advantages over fresh frozen plasma (FFP). COVID-19 convalescent (CC) plasma has been used to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, and its corresponding FDP has potential use during future pandemics. Therefore, we conducted the study to determine if the hemostatic and immunological properties of plasma can be retained after lyophilization. Hemostatic tests were conducted with Rotational Thromboelastometry (ROTEM) and a Stago analyzer. Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) IgG (Immunoglobulin G) and neutralizing activity were analyzed using Meso Scale Diagnostics immunoassay kits. There were no differences in ROTEM parameters and Stago measurements for prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations, and antithrombin, factor V, VIII, and protein S activities between FFP and FDP for either pre-COVID-19 or CC samples. Differences were observed in INTEM clotting time and PT and PTT when comparing reconstituted FDP stored at 4°C for 24 h or room temperature for 4 h to healthy control. Both CC-FFP and CC-FDP showed two orders of magnitude higher concentrations of IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 antigens than pre-COVID-19-FFP and pre-COVID-19-FDP and healthy control. Similarly, the CC samples showed approximately 4-fold higher %-inhibition of receptor binding than the pre-COVID-19 samples. There were no differences in either the antibody levels or neutralization activity between CC-FFP and CC-FDP. We demonstrated that FDP and CC-FDP retained the same hemostatic and antibody functional activities relative to their initial plasma sources, supporting clinical evaluation of their benefits in severe trauma and COVID-19 patients.

Coagulopathic bleeding is frequently present after major trauma. However, trauma-induced coagulopathy (TIC) remains incompletely understood. This laboratory analysis of blood samples derived from our completed trial on fibrinogen in the initial resuscitation of severe trauma (FiiRST) was conducted to evaluate TIC and associated responses to fibrinogen replacement. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of TIC in 45 FiiRST trial patients based on rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM), international normalized ratio (INR), and biomarkers for hemostasis and endotheliopathy. Whole blood was analyzed by ROTEM. Plasma was analyzed for INR and biomarkers. Overall, 19.0% and 30.0% of the FiiRST trial patients were coagulopathic on admission defined by EXTEM maximum clot firmness out of the range of 40-71 mm and INR >1.2, respectively. The FiiRST patients showed lower fibrinogen, factor II and V levels, protein C and antiplasmin activities, higher activated protein C, tissue plasminogen activator, d-dimer, and thrombomodulin concentrations at admission than healthy controls. Most of the biomarkers changed their activities during 48-h hospitalization, but were at abnormal levels even 48-h after admission. The fibrinogen treatment reduced hypofibrinogenemia and increased factor XIII level, but had no significant effects on other biomarkers levels. Limited development of endotheliopathy was indicated by syndean-1, thrombomodulin, and sE-selectin. About 19%-30% of the trauma patients in the FiiRST trial were coagulopathic on hospital admission depending on the definition of TIC. Analyses of the TIC biomarkers demonstrated that hemostasis would not return to normal after 48-h hospitalization, and fibrinogen replacement improved hypofibrinogenemia.

Royal Canadian Mint is a Crown Corporation to produce circulation and non-circulation coins for Canada and other countries. Noise measurements have been conducted regularly for production environment and before any new equipment operation in Royal Canadian Mint, and to protect our employee from hearing loss is one of our health and safety issues applied in whole plant. The formula used in the noise measurement is introduced in this paper, and the noise calculations are also discussed for the continuous noise sources, intermittent noise sources, and the combinations of individual noise sources. Some noise survey results are listed and analyzed, and the related hearing protective methods in our plant are also described.

There is considerable interest in the non-destructive analysis of archaeological or historical materials (glasses, ceramics, paintings, materials etc.). The use of solid sampling techniques that cause minimal damage is therefore still gaining in popularity. This is especially true for laser-based techniques such as LIBS and laser ablation, although the many variants of the X-ray-based techniques are also still proving very popular. Non-destructive analysis is also the ideal scenario for forensic scientists and therefore many of these applications are using similar techniques. The increasing trend to use multiple analytical techniques, ideally simultaneously, to cause minimal damage and to obtain the maximal number of results in the shortest time, is also noted. The technique of LIBS, which offers minimal sample damage and a “stand-off” capability is still gaining in popularity, although there are still question marks regarding its quantitative capabilities for some sample types. There is also considerable interest in the growing area of thin films and depth-profiling. Substantial research is on-going to develop methods to improve depth-resolution and several different approaches have been described in the literature. These approaches often use SIMS with either a lower energy primary beam or a primary beam consisting of polyatomic molecules.

It is a noticeable trend over the last couple of review periods that the number and quality of nuclear applications has been increasing. That trend has continued into this year. Semiconductors and other electronic components continue to become smaller and utilise more pure materials; hence analysing them becomes more difficult. This is especially true when depth-resolved data is required. Techniques capable of analysing with ever increasing depth resolution are therefore necessary and many studies into this have been reported. There is still a large interest in the non-destructive analysis of archaeological or historical materials (glasses, ceramics, paintings etc.). The use of solid sampling techniques that cause minimal damage is therefore still gaining in popularity. This is especially true for laser-based techniques such as LIBS and laser ablation, although the many variants of the X-ray-based techniques are also still proving very popular. The increasing trend to use multiple analytical techniques, ideally simultaneously to cause minimal damage and to obtain the maximal number of results in the shortest time, is also noted. These attempts to obtain maximum information are, again, mainly true for historical artefacts where obtaining more analytical information will lead to a better understanding of provenance, manufacturing process, etc.The real time analysis being undertaken in engines and at coal fired boilers is also an interesting development. These real time analyses allow monitoring of the systems and enable any deviations from peak performance to be identified and corrected in the shortest time possible.

This Atomic Spectrometry Update is the latest in an annual series under the title ‘Industrial Analysis’. The job of topic group co-ordinator has passed from Ben Fairman to Andy Fisher but, other than that, the writing team has stayed the same.