Effects of behavioral interventions on stress reactivity in adults with substance use disorders.

Objective: Heightened reactivity to stress is associated with poor treatment outcome in people with substance use disorders (SUDs). Behavioral strategies can reduce stress reactivity; however, these strategies are understudied in people with SUDs. The objective of this study was to test the effect of two behavioral strategies (cognitive reappraisal and affect labeling) on stress reactivity in people with SUDs.

Viscosity measurement based on the tapping-induced free vibration of sessile droplets using MEMS-based piezoresistive cantilevers.

We report a simple technique to measure the free vibration of microlitre-sized droplets using an array of thirteen MEMS-based piezoresistive cantilevers and demonstrate its application for the measurement of viscosity. Because the damping of the free vibration of a liquid droplet is known to be affected by the viscosity of the liquid, measuring the vibration of a droplet allows the viscosity to be estimated from a dilute sample volume. However, conventional methods to measure the droplet vibration require sophisticated apparatuses, which hinder the development of a portable viscometer.

A sensitive real-time PCR for detection and subgrouping of human respiratory syncytial virus.

Improved diagnostic tools for rapid detection, quantitation, and subgrouping of human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are needed to aid the development and evaluation of novel intervention strategies. A quantitative real-time RT-PCR using specific locked nucleic acid (LNA) probes was developed to identify RSV and to distinguish RSV subgroups A and B (RSV LNA assay). RSV subgroup diversity and the relationship between viral load and disease severity in confirmed RSV infections were also explored.

Viral etiologies of acute respiratory infections among hospitalized Vietnamese children in Ho Chi Minh City, 2004-2008.

Background: The dominant viral etiologies responsible for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are poorly understood, particularly among hospitalized children in resource-limited tropical countries where morbidity and mortality caused by ARIs are highest. Improved etiological insight is needed to improve clinical management and prevention.

Objectives: We conducted a three-year prospective descriptive study of severe respiratory illness among children from 2 months to 13 years of age within the largest referral hospital for infectious diseases in southern Vietnam.

Hemostatic changes in Vietnamese children with mild dengue correlate with the severity of vascular leakage rather than bleeding.

The mechanisms underlying the bleeding manifestations and coagulopathy associated with dengue remain unclear, in part because of the focus of much previous work on severe disease without an appropriate comparison group. We describe detailed clinical and laboratory profiles for a large group of children with dengue of all severities, and a group with similar non-dengue febrile illnesses, all followed prospectively from early presentation through to recovery. Among the dengue-infected patients but not the controls, thrombocytopenia, increased partial thromboplastin times and reduced fibrinogen concentrations were apparent from an early stage, and these abnormalities correlated strongly with the severity and timing of vascular leakage but not bleeding.

Clinical features and predictors of diphtheritic cardiomyopathy in Vietnamese children.

Background: Despite the availability of antitoxin and antibiotics, the mortality rate for diphtheria remains high, mostly because of cardiac complications.

Methods: During 1 year, 154 Vietnamese children with diphtheria admitted to a referral hospital were studied prospectively with clinical examination, including a simple pseudomembrane score, 12-lead and 24-hour electrocardiography, measurement of serum cardiac enzyme levels, and estimation of troponin T levels.

Results: Thirteen children had diphtheritic cardiomyopathy on admission, and 19 developed it subsequently.