Performance Assessment of Internal Quality Control (IQC) Products in Blood Transfusion Compatibility Testing in China. Xu Gui-Ping,Wu Li-Fang,Li Jing-Jing,Gao Qi,Liu Zhi-Dong,Kang Qiong-Hua,Hou Yi-Jun,Zhang Luo-Chuan,Hu Xiao-Mei,Li Jie,Zhang Juan PloS one Internal quality control (IQC) is a critical component of laboratory quality management, and IQC products can determine the reliability of testing results. In China, given the fact that most blood transfusion compatibility laboratories do not employ IQC products or do so minimally, there is a lack of uniform and standardized IQC methods. To explore the reliability of IQC products and methods, we studied 697 results from IQC samples in our laboratory from 2012 to 2014. The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the IQCs in anti-B testing were 100% and 99.7%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the IQCs in forward blood typing, anti-A testing, irregular antibody screening, and cross-matching were all 100%. The reliability analysis indicated that 97% of anti-B testing results were at a 99% confidence level, and 99.9% of forward blood typing, anti-A testing, irregular antibody screening, and cross-matching results were at a 99% confidence level. Therefore, our IQC products and methods are highly sensitive, specific, and reliable. Our study paves the way for the establishment of a uniform and standardized IQC method for pre-transfusion compatibility testing in China and other parts of the world. 10.1371/journal.pone.0141145

Large transport J(c) in Cu-sheathed Sr(0.6)K(0.4)Fe2As2 superconducting tape conductors. Lin He,Yao Chao,Zhang Haitao,Zhang Xianping,Zhang Qianjun,Dong Chiheng,Wang Dongliang,Ma Yanwei Scientific reports Copper sheath is the first choice for manufacturing high-T(c) superconducting wires and tapes because of its high electrical and thermal conductivities, low-cost and good mechanical properties. However, Cu can easily react with superconducting cores, such as BSCCO, MgB2 and pnictides, and therefore drastically decrease the transport J(c). Here, we report the fabrication of Cu-sheathed Sr(1-x)K(x)Fe2As2 tapes with superior J(c) performance using a simple hot pressing method that is capable of eliminating the lengthy high-temperature sintering. We obtained high-quality Sr(1-x)K(x)Fe2As2 tapes with processing at 800 °C for 30 minutes and measured high T(c) and sharp transition. By this rapid fabrication, Cu sheath does not give rise to apparent reaction layer, and only slightly diffuses into Sr-122 core. As a consequence, we achieved high transport J(c) of 3.1 × 10(4) A/cm(2) in 10 T and 2.7 × 10(4) A/cm(2) in 14 T at 4.2 K. The in-field J(c) performance is by far the highest reported for Cu-sheathed high-T(c) conductors. More importantly, Cu-sheathed Sr-122 tapes also showed a high J(e) value of 1.0 × 10(4) A/cm(2) in 10 T at 4.2 K, which has reached the widely accepted practical level for applications. These results demonstrate that Cu is a very promising sheath for the practical application of pnictide conductors. 10.1038/srep11506