Abstract
This paper discusses how there is a fear, which continues today, regarding safe blood and HIV and how beyond contamination, there is another serious blood issue and that involves blood shortages. It describes the actual function of the blood to the body, how blood cells regenerate, and the principles of blood transfusions. It shows that duplicating all the functions that blood performs in the human body would seem to be an impossible challenge and how any artificial blood product must pass several tests. It also looks at current research into synthetic blood production from two distinct directions, one based on chemicals and the other based on hemoglobin.

From the Paper
"What function does blood actually provide within and for " the body" According to the assigned article in Scientific American, blood "transports nutrients, hormones and waste products"; blood also fights infections and has the ability to "clot" preventing or at least slowing down serious hemorrhaging. The part of human blood which helps fight disease is the white blood cells. But the most "familiar" function of blood in the body of mammals is the "capture and release of oxygen and carbon dioxide." The protein most commonly found in blood, hemoglobin, is also a critically important protein. Hemoglobin picks up oxygen in the lungs, and distributes it throughout the body. The red blood cells pick up carbon dioxide, which is a waste product given off through the respiration of cells, and humans exhale the carbon dioxide out through the lungs."

Tags:hiv, transfusion, hemoglobin, disease, white, red, cells

Abstract
The writer details the different blood types which are in critically low supply, while explaining that blood is the fluid of life, transporting oxygen from lungs to body tissue, and extracting carbon dioxide from body tissue to lungs. The paper goes on to explain the different types of donations needed, including double red cell donation which is an automated procedure that allows one person to give two units of red blood cells, resulting in one donation helping two patients.

From the Paper
"There are four main components, red blood cells, platelets, plasma, and white blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to body tissues and remove carbon dioxide. A red blood cell has a flat, disk like shape. It resembles a doughnut with a thinner middle and thicker edges. There are approximately one billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood. Platelets are disk like structures that help stop bleeding. For example if a blood vessel is cut, platelets together and form around the edge of the cut, a plug like stopper. After donation, platelets have a shelf life of only 5 days. Plasma is the liquid portion of the blood, a protein-salt solution in which red and white blood cells and platelets are suspended. It makes up about 50 to 60 percent of the total volume of blood. Plasma serves a variety of functions, from maintaining a satisfactory blood pressure and volume to supplying critical proteins for blood clotting and immunity. White blood cells are responsible for protecting the body from invasion by foreign substances such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. Most of the cells are round and colorless. White blood cells produce proteins called anti-bodies that destroy bacteria and viruses. In the blood stream, there is only one white blood cell for every 600 red cells."

Tags:health, medicine, donation

Abstract
This paper looks at the blood, and at the various cells of which it is composed. It looks at the properties of white cells, and the mechanism of homeostasis. It also looks at how overgrowth of a blood clot is prevented naturally, and examines two undesirable conditions of intra-vascular blood clotting.

Tags:blood cells, blood clotting

Abstract
This paper looks at many factors relating to blood,including different cell types, Rh factor, serum constituents, how it circulates throughout the body and blood tests. The paper also looks at the average lifespan of red cells and explains the implications of higher than normal red cells.

From the Paper
"The average adult male has between five and six liters of blood and the average female has between four and five liters. The color of blood is determined by the state of oxygenation of its red cells. When blood leaves the heart it has been oxygenated in the lungs and therefore arterial blood is bright red. When blood has passed through the tissues oxygen has been removed from the red cells so the blood appears dark red in the veins. Nutrients carried in the blood include..."

Tags:blood cells, serum

Abstract
This paper examines the different cellular elements of blood, describing their function and how they help maintain homeostasis. the paper also describes the reflex arc in the nervous system and how it operates.

Tags:blood cells, reflex arcs

Abstract
This paper explains that the framework of the nephron in the kidney is made up of epithelial cells. The author points out that there are two types of nephrons, cortical and juxtamedullary, and they are named according to the location within the renal parenchyma. The paper relates that epithelial cells that make up the nephron must be able to preserve nutrients and materials required by the body and return them to circulation, while leaving wastes, toxins and excess water to be expelled. The author states that the epithelia are described by the number of layers and the shape of the cells at the edge closest to the exterior environment, thus helping to prevent bacteria and other foreign materials from entering the body. The paper continues that the epithelial cells of the nephron permit the kidney to have particular functions that include controlling blood pressure.

From the Paper
"Epithelium lines the surfaces of the body and is positioned on the borders between the exterior and interior environments. Epithelium is a tissue composed of cells, bound tightly together with no intercellular connective tissue. These cells derive their food and oxygen from the tissue fluid that filters through from the capillaries in the underlying connective tissue. The epithelium develops in the embryo from all the three germ layers; ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. The epithelium is derived from mesenchyme cells that mature into connective tissue, bone, cartilage, blood and the lymphatic system."

Tags:mesenchyme, blood pressure, waste framework capillaries

Abstract
This paper investigates the probability that without effective intervention, umbilical cord banking will no better serve certain population groups, particularly minorities, any more effectively than existing bone marrow technology. It looks at how umbilical cord banking is more and more becoming a 'hot topic' among medical communities the world over and how recent technological advances have enabled scientists to bank umbilical cord blood as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for both pediatric and adult patients with certain blood related disorders.

Outline
Introduction
Significance of the Study
Literature Review
Benefits Cord Banking
Cord Blood Vs. Bone Marrow Transplantation
The Effects of Intervention
Summary of Preliminary Literature Review
Methods
Possible/Anticipated Results

From the Paper
"Ballen, et. Al (2002) performed a study comparing the racial composition of five member cord blood banks of the National Marrow Donor Program. The study examined cord blood and bone marrow donors using self reported racial designations and questionnaire, and showed that cord blood banks in California, Florida and Massachusetts recruited a lower percentage of minorities than the bone marrow centers in the same areas. However in New York and Colorado the recruitment for minorities was the same in both cord banks and marrow centers. However, the study also showed that in all of the centers examined, cord blood banks generally recruited a lower percentage of minorities than "those delivering at the respective hospitals" with the authors concluding that the problems of insufficient minority recruitment with regard to cord blood banking "Has not yet been solved" (Ballen, et. Al, 2002:1247)."

Tags:stem, cells, hospitals, donor, registries

Abstract
This paper begins by looking at the properties of stem cells and examines the phenomenon of stem cells, which provide limitless division and the rise of differentiated progeny. It then asks what embryonic stem cells are and looks at how they are cultured in the laboratory. It then discusses adult stem cells and the use of cell therapy today. The paper concludes with expectations for the future.

From the Paper
"Stem cells can be defined as progenitor cells or primitive cells that give rise to other cells. They are totipotent cells also dubbed as the "master cells" of the body as they contain all the genetic information needed to create all the cells in the body plus the placenta, which nourishes the human embryo. Human cells have this capacity only during the first few divisions of the fertilized egg. Totipotent cells follow a series of stages and become highly specialized after 3-4 divisions. The next stage of division give rise to pluriopotent cells that are highly versatile and can give rise to any cell except the cells in the placenta. At the next stage, cells become multipotent, meaning they can give rise to several other cell types, but those types are limited in number. An example of multipotent cells is hematopoietic cells?blood stem cells that can develop into several types of blood cells, but cannot develop into brain cells. At the end of the long chain of cell divisions that make up the embryo are "terminally differentiated" cells cells permanently committed to a specific function [Author not known, 2003]."

Tags:chain, blood, progeny, embryonic, therapy

Abstract
This paper discusses the search for the perfect substitute for human blood. The paper presents various products developed as blood substitutes and explores their effectiveness. The products discussed are Fluosol-DA, Oxygent, Hemopure, Polyheme, and Polyethylene Glycol (PEG).

From the Paper
"The search for the perfect substitute for human blood began as early as the 17th century, when water, oil, milk and animal blood were used for transfusion until the first human-to-human transfusion in Philadelphia in 1795 (McCarthy 2003). Successes were, however, inconstant since then, as patients died due to injuries or from reactions to foreign blood, so that it was only a last resort during emergencies. Early in the 20th century, the cataloging of blood types enabled the matching of blood types between donors and recipients, despite the risk of blood infected with HIV and other viruses, drugs and toxins (McCarthy). Even then, there have been too few donors in proportion to a large number who require it. In 2000, for example, eight million donated 13 million liters and 4.5 received the donated blood. Supply has not only remained short of the need, the shelf life is also short. The shelf life of red blood cells, for example, is 42 days and given this shelf life, 3 to 8% of donated units are soon disposed into the incinerator (McCarthy)."

Tags:transfusion, red, cells, plasma

Abstract
The paper discusses the new trend of banking personal umbilical cord blood intended for private use in the United Kingdom. The paper looks at the position of supporters and opponents and shows how this ethical controversy touches upon many issues raised by a national healthcare system. The paper suggests two solutions and maintains that a balance between public and private funds must always be negotiated, even in a system of socialized medicine.

From the Paper
"According to Leroy C Edozien of the British Medical Journal, increasing numbers of women in maternity units across the United Kingdom are requesting doctors to collect and preserve their umbilical cord blood when delivering their babies to enable the women to privately store the umbilical cord stem cells for possible transfusions in the future. "Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that can be used to treat patients with abnormal haematopoietic cell lines, childhood leukemia, or metabolic diseases. Bone marrow is used for this purpose, but cord blood is cheaper and easier to obtain and less likely to trigger a harmful immune response or rejection in the recipient" (Edozien 2006). The NHS of Britain has been banking donated cord blood since 1996 in public banks operated by the National Blood Service that are voluntarily and anonymously donated to be used for general purposes in the larger population."

Tags:stem, cells, NHS, storage