The Hertz Corporation

About: The Hertz Corporation is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 9562 authors who have published 11044 publications receiving 447929 citations. The organization is also known as: Hertz Rental Car & Hertz Rent-a-Car.

Evaluation of donor arm disinfection techniques

Abstract: Background and Objective To validate a standardized optimal national procedure for donor arm disinfection. Materials and Methods A direct swabbing and plating technique was used to enumerate bacteria present on the arm pre- and postdisinfection. Twelve donor arm disinfection techniques were evaluated. Results The Medi-Flex Adapted method, consisting of a two-stage process with an initial application of isopropyl alcohol followed by tincture of iodine, produced the best arm disinfection. A percentage reduction in bacterial counts of 99·79% (logarithmic reduction of 2·67) was obtained. Postdisinfection, 70% of donors had bacterial counts of zero, and 98% had counts of 10 or less. Conclusion The Medi-Flex disinfection method offers the English National Blood Service a validated, optimal ‘best practice’ disinfection technique and should contribute significantly to the reduction in risk of transmission of bacteria by transfusion.

Repeated acetaminophen dosing in rats : adaptation of hepatic antioxidant system

Abstract: Repeated dosing of acetaminophen (paracetamol) to rats is reported to decrease their sensitivity to its hepatotoxic effects, which are associated with oxidative stress and glutathione depletion. We determined if repeated acetaminophen dosing produced adaptive response of key antioxidant system enzymes. Male rats (Sprague-Dawley, 10 weeks) were given 800, 1200, or 1600 mg/kg/day acetaminophen by oral gavage for 4 days. Liver was assayed for oxidative stress and antioxidant markers: malondialdehyde (MDA), thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS), total antioxidant status (TAS), glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and alanine transaminase (ALT) as a marker of hepatocellular injury. Acetaminophen at 1200/1600 mg/kg decreased GSH 26/47%, GPx 21/26%, CAT 35/28%, SOD 21/12%; and TAS 28/18% (correlated with CAT, r=0.91; SOD, r=0.66; GPx, r=0.45). Despite antioxidant deficiencies, and no TBARS change, MDA decreased 26%/33%/37% at 800/1200/1600 mg/kg, which correlated with increased GR (61%/62%/76%, r=0.77) and G6PD (130%/110%/190%, r=0.78). Both MDA (r=0.68) and G6PD (r=0.71) correlated with hepatic ALT, which decreased 27%/43%/48%, respectively. Resistance to acetaminophen hepatotoxicity produced by repeated exposure is partially attributable to upregulation of hepatic G6PD and GR activity as an adaptive and protective response to oxidative stress and glutathione depletion.