Human neural stem cells enhance structural plasticity and axonal transport in the ischaemic brain.

Stem cell transplantation promises new hope for the treatment of stroke although significant questions remain about how the grafted cells elicit their effects. One hypothesis is that transplanted stem cells enhance endogenous repair mechanisms activated after cerebral ischaemia. Recognizing that bilateral reorganization of surviving circuits is associated with recovery after stroke, we investigated the ability of transplanted human neural progenitor cells to enhance this structural plasticity.

Prenatal screening for infectious diseases: an analysis of disparities and adherence to policy in California.

Objectives: Prenatal infectious diseases are a major cause of mortality and morbidity among newborns, but many are preventable with proper maternal screening and treatment. METHODS; Adherence to prenatal infectious disease screening guidelines and demographic factors that influence adherence were determined utilizing existing data on 1837 live births from 1999-2003.

Results: We found higher rates of testing for syphilis (94.