Early hematopoietic stem cell transplant is associated with favorable outcomes in children with MDS.

Background: Although hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the treatment of choice for childhood myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), there is no consensus regarding patient or disease characteristics that predict outcomes.

Procedure: We reviewed 37 consecutive pediatric MDS patients who received myeloablative HSCT between 1990 and 2010 at a single center.

Results: Twenty had primary MDS and 17 had secondary MDS.

Current clinical management of Fanconi anemia.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by spontaneous chromosomal breaks and abnormal DNA repair. Major clinical problems in FA include congenital abnormalities, endocrinopathies, early onset bone marrow failure and increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome, acute leukemia and solid tumors. To date, 15 different genes have been shown to cause FA, all of which have some role in DNA double-strand break repair.

Why don't women participate? A qualitative study on non-participation in a surgical randomised controlled trial.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The objective of the study was to identify reasons why women declined participation in a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) under general anaesthetic (GA) with single incision sling (SIS) under local anaesthetic (LA). These data would inform the design of a larger trial to improve patient recruitment.

Methods: This was a qualitative interview study on women eligible to have a TVT for stress urinary incontinence in a tertiary referral hospital in the UK.

Juvenile hormone levels reflect social opportunities in the facultatively eusocial sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae).

The evolution of eusociality is hypothesized to have involved de-coupling parental care from reproduction mediated by changes in endocrine regulation. While data for obligately eusocial insects are consistent with this hypothesis, we lack information from species representative of the transition from solitary reproduction to eusociality. Here we report the first evidence for a link between endocrine processes and social behavior in a facultatively eusocial bee, Megalopta genalis (Halictidae).

Survival differences between adolescents/young adults and children with B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Risk-adapted therapy has been the cornerstone of treatment for pediatric B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Recently, age ≥ 13 years at diagnosis has been identified as a very high-risk feature for chemotherapy treated pediatric patients with B-ALL. Whether age at time of transplantation is associated with poor outcomes in adolescents and young adults (AYA) is unknown.

Does the stress generation hypothesis apply to eating disorders?: an examination of stress generation in eating, depressive, and anxiety symptoms.

Background: The stress generation hypothesis posits that individuals actively contribute to stress in their lives. Although stress generation has been studied frequently in the context of depression, few studies have examined whether this stress generation process is unique to depression or whether it occurs in other disorders. Although evidence suggests that stress contributes to the development of eating disorders, it is unclear whether eating disorders contribute to subsequent stress.

Hoping for more: the influence of outcome desirability on information seeking and predictions about relative quantities.

People must often engage in sequential sampling in order to make predictions about the relative quantities of two options. We investigated how directional motives influence sampling selections and resulting predictions in such cases. We used a paradigm in which participants had limited time to sample items and make predictions about which side of the screen contained more of a critical item.

An evaluation of the role of sensory drive in the evolution of lake Malawi cichlid fishes.

Although the cichlids of Lake Malawi are an important model system for the study of sensory evolution and sexual selection, the evolutionary processes linking these two phenomena remain unclear. Prior works have proposed that evolutionary divergence is driven by sensory drive, particularly as it applies to the visual system. While evidence suggests that sensory drive has played a role in the speciation of Lake Victoria cichlids, the findings from several lines of research on cichlids of Lake Malawi are not consistent with the primary tenets of this hypothesis.

An overview of nausea/vomiting in palliative medicine.

Nausea, vomiting and retching are among the most distressing symptoms that palliative care may experience. This article presents a brief overview of various medical conditions/treatments that may lead to nausea/vomiting/retching as well as potential mechanisms/neurotransmitters/receptors that may be involved and thus may represent therapeutic targets for antiemetic treatments.

Pathophysiology of nausea and vomiting in palliative medicine.

Nausea/vomiting remains a significant problem in medicine, especially in patients with chronic illnesses. The incidence and patient distress level from nausea and vomiting are underestimated by health care providers. A thorough patient evaluation followed by rational polypharmacy and a multimodal treatment approach may minimize the occurrence and intensity of nausea/vomiting.

Enterococcal bacteremia is associated with increased risk of mortality in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: Enterococci are an important cause of healthcare-associated infections. We retrospectively analyzed risk factors and outcome of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and vancomycin-sensitive enterococci (VSE) infections.

Methods: Seven hundred fifty-two patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplants from 2004 through 2008 at the University of Minnesota were included.

Intractable hemorrhagic cystitis after hematopoietic stem cell tranplantation--is there a role for early urinary diversion in children?

Purpose: Severe hemorrhagic cystitis is a major complication in the pediatric population undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Percutaneous nephrostomy tube drainage as a treatment for severe hemorrhagic cystitis has rarely been investigated. We examined children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for risk factors associated with severe hemorrhagic cystitis, as well as our experience with percutaneous nephrostomy tube placement as an adjunctive management strategy.

Subtle recognition of 14-base pair DNA sequences via threading polyintercalation.

Small molecules that bind DNA in a sequence-specific manner could act as antibiotic, antiviral, or anticancer agents because of their potential ability to manipulate gene expression. Our laboratory has developed threading polyintercalators based on 1,4,5,8-naphthalene diimide (NDI) units connected in a head-to-tail fashion by flexible peptide linkers. Previously, a threading tetraintercalator composed of alternating minor-major-minor groove-binding modules was shown to bind specifically to a 14 bp DNA sequence with a dissociation half-life of 16 days [Holman, G.

How women with advanced cancer pray: a report from two focus groups.

Purpose/objectives: To explore the meaning, function, and focus of prayer for patients with advanced cancer, and to identify the effects of prayer on their coping.

Research Approach: Qualitative, descriptive design using focus groups.

Setting: Three cancer centers that are part of a university-affiliated comprehensive cancer network in the northeastern United States.

Human parainfluenza virus infection after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: risk factors, management, mortality, and changes over time.

Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are uncommon, yet high-risk pathogens after hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT). We evaluated 5178 pediatric and adult patients undergoing HCT between 1974 and 2010 to determine the incidence, risk factors, response to treatment, and outcome of HPIV infection as well as any change in frequency or character of HPIV infection over time. HPIV was identified in 173 patients (3.

Periurethral abscess following polyacrylamide hydrogel (Bulkamid) for stress urinary incontinence.

Bulkamid is a periurethral bulking agent used to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Manufacturers describe it as nontoxic, nonbiodegradable and biocompatible. Periurethral abscesses are one of the known complications of bulking agents.

Can we, and do we need to, define bladder neck hypermobility and intrinsic sphincteric deficiency? ICI-RS 2011.

Aims: Bladder neck hypermobility (BNH, also called urethral hypermobility), and intrinsic sphincteric deficiency (ISD) are terms frequently used in the clinical evaluation and management of stress urinary incontinence, and as subject qualifiers in clinical research. The terms also infer pathophysiologic concepts, as BNH and ISD appear to represent two different aspects of failure of the continence mechanism. Unfortunately, neither term is well-defined, and the various clinical and urodynamic characterizations of these terms do not correlate well with one another.

Welfare policymaking and intersections of race, ethnicity, and gender in U.S. state legislatures.

Welfare policy in the American states has been shaped profoundly by race, ethnicity, and representation. Does gender matter as well? Focusing on state welfare reform in the mid-1990s, we test hypotheses derived from two alternative approaches to incorporating gender into the study of representation and welfare policymaking. An additive approach, which assumes gender and race/ethnicity are distinct and independent, suggests that female state legislators—regardless of race/ethnicity—will mitigate the more restrictive and punitive aspects of welfare reform, much like their African American and Latino counterparts do.

Effects of fluorination on iridium(III) complex phosphorescence: magnetic circular dichroism and relativistic time-dependent density functional theory.

We use a combination of low temperature, high field magnetic circular dichroism, absorption, and emission spectroscopy with relativistic time-dependent density functional calculations to reveal a subtle interplay between the effects of chemical substitution and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in a family of iridium(III) complexes. Fluorination at the ortho and para positions of the phenyl group of fac-tris(1-methyl-5-phenyl-3-n-propyl-[1,2,4]triazolyl)iridium(III) cause changes that are independent of whether the other position is fluorinated or protonated. This is demonstrated by a simple linear relationship found for a range of measured and calculated properties of these complexes.

Mesolimbic recruitment by nondrug rewards in detoxified alcoholics: effort anticipation, reward anticipation, and reward delivery.

Aberrant sensitivity of incentive neurocircuitry to nondrug rewards has been suggested as either a risk factor for or consequence of drug addiction. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tested whether alcohol-dependent patients (ADP: n = 29) showed altered recruitment of ventral striatal (VS) incentive neurocircuitry compared to controls (n = 23) by: (1) cues to respond for monetary rewards, (2) post-response anticipation of rewards, or (3) delivery of rewards. Using an instrumental task with two-stage presentation of reward-predictive information, subjects saw cues signaling opportunities to win $0, $1, or $10 for responding to a target.

Three-dimensional spin mapping of antiferromagnetic nanopyramids having spatially alternating surface anisotropy at room temperature.

Antiferromagnets play a key role in modern spintronic devices owing to their ability to modify the switching behavior of adjacent ferromagnets via the exchange bias effect. Consequently, detailed measurements of the spin structure at antiferromagnetic interfaces and surfaces are highly desirable, not only for advancing technologies but also for enabling new insights into the underlying physics. Here using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy at room-temperature, we reveal in three-dimensions an orthogonal spin structure on antiferromagnetic compound nanopyramids.