Male Stressed Mice Having Behavioral Control Exhibit Escalations in Dorsal Dentate Adult-Born Neurons and Spatial Memory.

An escapable (ES)/inescapable stress (IS) paradigm was used to study whether behavioral control and repeated footshock stressors may affect adult neurogenesis and related cognitive function. Male stressed mice having behavioral control (ES) had a short-term escalation in dorsal dentate gyrus (DG) neurogenesis, while similarly stressed mice having no such control had unaltered neurogenesis as compared to control mice receiving no stressors. Paradoxically, ES and IS mice had comparable stress-induced corticosterone elevations throughout the stress regimen.

Diagnostic values of a single serum biomarker at different time points compared with Alvarado score and imaging examinations in pediatric appendicitis.

Background: A large number of children with right lower quadrant pain are evaluated on a daily basis by primary care clinicians in order to rule out acute appendicitis. The aim of this study was to determine the cutoff values of serum biomarkers, including white blood cell (WBC) count and C-reactive protein (CRP) in predicting pediatric appendicitis based on how long the patients' symptoms were present. We further compared the diagnostic values of these serum biomarkers with the Alvarado score and imaging examinations.

Perceived uncertainty, social support and psychological adjustment in older patients with cancer being treated with surgery.

Aim: The purpose of this longitudinal correlative study was to explore the degree, compare the differences and to detect the relationships of uncertainty, social support and psychological adjustment for older cancer patients who were undergoing surgery.

Background: While the number of the older cancer patients has been increasing, there has been little research exploring their needs with respect to psychological adjustment during cancer treatment.

Design: The study used a pre-/postdescriptive design.

Lactate dehydrogenase, not vascular endothelial growth factor or basic fibroblast growth factor, positively correlates to bone marrow vascularity in acute myeloid leukemia.

Background: Angiogenesis has been extensively studied in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a common biochemical marker for tumor burden and anaerobic glycolysis, is a poor prognostic factor for AML. Regulated by hypoxia-induced factor, both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are responsive to cancer-related angiogenesis.

Increased seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8 in patients with hematological disorders.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) has been consistently linked to Kaposi's sarcoma and many hematological diseases such as pleural effusion lymphoma, multicentric Castleman's disease, some lymphoproliferative diseases and posttransplantation bone marrow failure. However, whether patients with hematological disorders are at a higher risk of HHV8 infection has not been determined. In this study, indirect immunofluorescence was used to detect antibodies against lytic antigens of HHV8 in 265 patients with hematological disorders.

Features of severe pneumonia in patients with undiagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis in an intensive care unit.

Background And Purpose: Early antituberculosis (anti-TB) therapy in hospitalized, severely ill patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) diminishes the mortality and morbidity rate and also reduces nosocomial transmission. However, delayed diagnosis of PTB is common in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU), especially in patients with respiratory failure. This retrospective study evaluated the clinical features of RICU patients with severe pneumonia and undiagnosed active PTB, in order to determine which specific features might help in the screening of these patients.

Parvovirus B19 infection in Taiwanese patients with hematological disorders.

Human parvovirus B19 has a strong tissue tropism for erythroid progenitor cells and is a causative agent for anemia. However, it remains unclear whether patients with hematological disorders are at a higher risk of B19 infection. In the present study, we evaluated the prevalence of B19 infection in 278 patients with hematological disorders by indirect antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Production of hematopoietic regulatory cytokines by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with aplastic anemia.

The aim of this study was to measure the level of cytokines produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) in patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and determine their effect on normal bone marrow (BM) colony growth. Thirty-five patients with AA and 21 normal controls were enrolled in the study. Medium conditioned by PBMNC of AA patients in the presence of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was found to be suppressive to the clonal growth of normal BM cells.