Serum (blood) toxic response. Blood is centrifuged to remove cellular components. Anti-coagulated blood yields plasma containing fibrinogen and clotting factors. Coagulated blood (clotted blood) yields serum without fibrinogen, although some clotting factors remain. Serum is an essential factor for the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells in combination with the cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor. The serum of convalescent patients successfully recovering (or already recovered) from an infectious disease can be used as a biopharmaceutical in the treatment of other people with that disease, because the antibodies generated by the successful recovery are potent fighters of the pathogen. Such "convalescent serum" (antiserum) is a
Blood, Sweat & Tea Blood, Sweat & Tea Blood, Sweat & Tea is a book by ambulance technician Brian Kellett, writing under the pseudonym Tom Reynolds, about life in the London Ambulance Service. The book is compiled from posts and correspondence from the blog Random Acts of Reality, one of the earliest high-readership blogs in England. The book covers Reynolds's career from 2003–2006, and discusses his career as an emergency medical technician and a rapid responder. Although often extremely critical of NHS policies and management, the book was extremely well received within the European emergency services, and the book (with its associated blog) is