Can I go home now? The safety and efficacy of a new UK paediatric febrile neutropenia protocol for risk-stratified early discharge on oral antibiotics.

Objective: To evaluate a new protocol of risk stratification and early discharge for children with febrile neutropenia (FN).

Design: Prospective service evaluation from 17 April 2020 to 16 April 2021.

Setting: 13 specialist centres in the UK.

Polypide anatomy of hornerid bryozoans (Stenolaemata: Cyclostomatida).

Bryozoans are small colonial coelomates whose colonies are made of individual modules (zooids). Like most coelomate animals, bryozoans have a characteristic body wall composition, including an epidermis, an extracellular matrix (ECM) and a coelothelium, all pressed together. The order Cyclostomatida, however, presents the most striking deviation, in which the ECM and the corresponding coelothelium underlying major parts of the skeletal wall epidermis are detached to form an independent membranous sac.

Single neuron activity and c-Fos expression in the rat striatum following electrical stimulation of the peripheral vestibular system.

Connections between the vestibular system and the basal ganglia have been postulated since the early 20th century. However, the results of electrophysiological studies investigating neuronal responses to electrical stimulation of the vestibular system have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of electrical stimulation of the vestibular labyrinth on single neuron activity and c-Fos expression in the rat striatum.

Total Number Is Important: Using the Disector Method in Design-Based Stereology to Understand the Structure of the Rodent Brain.

The advantages of using design-based stereology in the collection of quantitative data, have been highlighted, in numerous publications, since the description of the disector method by Sterio (1984). This review article discusses the importance of total number derived with the disector method, as a key variable that must continue to be used to understand the rodent brain and that such data can be used to develop quantitative networks of the brain. The review article will highlight the huge impact total number has had on our understanding of the rodent brain and it will suggest that neuroscientists need to be aware of the increasing number of studies where density, not total number, is the quantitative measure used.

Basal dendritic length is reduced in the rat hippocampus following bilateral vestibular deafferentation.

Some previous studies in humans have shown that bilateral loss of vestibular function is associated with a significant bilateral atrophy of the hippocampus, which correlated with the patients' spatial memory deficits. By contrast, studies in rats have failed to detect any changes in hippocampal volume following bilateral vestibular loss. Therefore, in this study we investigated whether bilateral vestibular deafferentation (BVD) might result in more subtle morphological changes in the rat hippocampus, involving alterations in dendritic intersections, using Golgi staining and Sholl analysis.

Apoptotic cell death and temporal expression of apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bax in the hippocampus, following binge ethanol in the neonatal rat model.

Background: Binge-like ethanol (EtOH) exposure during the early rat neonatal period results in acute cell loss in specific brain regions, but such acute cell death has not been well established in the hippocampus. Binge alcohol exposure can also result in protein expression changes in the cerebellum that could alter cell fate, but this has not been reported for the hippocampal subregions. This study investigates acute apoptotic cell death in hippocampal regions CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) following a binge EtOH exposure on postnatal day (PN) 6, PN8, or PN6 + 8 and the alteration in pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins following a single EtOH binge on PN6.

Acute and long-term Purkinje cell loss following a single ethanol binge during the early third trimester equivalent in the rat.

Background: In the rat, binge-like ethanol (EtOH) exposure during the early neonatal period (a developmental period equivalent to the human third trimester) can result in a permanent deficit of cerebellar Purkinje cells (Pcells). However, the consequences of a moderate binge alcohol exposure on a single day during this postnatal period have not been established. This is an issue of importance as many pregnant women binge drink periodically at social drinking levels.

The effects of bilateral vestibular loss on hippocampal volume, neuronal number, and cell proliferation in rats.

Previous studies in humans have shown that bilateral loss of vestibular function is associated with a significant bilateral atrophy of the hippocampus, which correlated with the patients' spatial memory deficits. More recently, patients who had recovered from unilateral vestibular neuritis have been reported to exhibit a significant atrophy of the left posterior hippocampus. Therefore, we investigated whether bilateral vestibular deafferentation (BVD) would result in a decrease in neuronal number or volume in the rat hippocampus, using stereological methods.

Population based quantification of dendrites: evidence for the lack of microtubule-associate protein 2a,b in Purkinje cell spiny dendrites.

The high molecular weight isoforms (a and b) of microtubule-associate protein 2 (MAP2a,b) are widely believed to be specific markers for neuronal somata and dendrites. We analyzed and quantified MAP2a,b stained dendrites of the cerebellar molecular layer using a novel approach that segmented and 3D reconstructed them, and the results have been compared with those obtained by other methods, including single-cell reconstruction and analysis of electron micrographs. Our results show that the molecular layer dendritic volume fraction is lower than in the neocortex (10% compared to neocortical 29%).

Early postnatal exposure to alcohol reduces the number of neurons in the occipital but not the parietal cortex of the rat.

Background: The rat brain undergoes a period of rapid growth in the early postnatal period. During this time, the neocortex seems to be vulnerable to ethanol injury. Subdivisions of the neocortex develop in a temporospatial gradient that is likely to determine their vulnerability to ethanol-induced damage and whether damage is permanent.

Foraging experience, glomerulus volume, and synapse number: A stereological study of the honey bee antennal lobe.

The primary antennal sensory centers (antennal lobes) in the brain of the honeybee are highly compartmentalized into discrete spheres of synaptic neuropil called glomeruli. Many of the glomeruli can be identified according to their predictable size and location. This study examines T1-44, a prominent glomerulus on the dorsal surface of the antennal lobe.

Stereological analysis reveals striking differences in the structural plasticity of two readily identifiable glomeruli in the antennal lobes of the adult worker honeybee.

The primary antennal sensory centers (antennal lobes) in the brain of the honeybee are highly compartmentalized into discrete spheres of synaptic neuropil called glomeruli, many of which can be identified according to their predictable size and location. Glomeruli undergo significant changes in volume during the lifetime of the adult worker bee, at least some of which are activity dependent. This study tests the commonly expressed assumption that increases in neuropil volume are accompanied by an underlying increase in the number of synapses present in the tissue.

Therapeutic effects of complex motor training on motor performance deficits induced by neonatal binge-like alcohol exposure in rats: II. A quantitative stereological study of synaptic plasticity in female rat cerebellum.

Twenty days of complex motor skill training in adult rats was previously demonstrated to rehabilitate motor performance deficits induced by binge alcohol exposure in neonatal rats. This follow-up study evaluated morphological plasticity in the paramedian lobule of the cerebellum (PML) using the same treatment and training regimens. On postnatal days (PD) 4-9, female Long-Evans rats were given either alcohol (Alcohol Exposure - AE, 4.

Census trends in AIDS specialty units.

As HIV disease evolves into a chronic and manageable disease, monitoring trends in HIV/AIDS inpatient use will become an important tool clinicians can use to analyze the need for organizational changes in patient care delivery. Monitoring census trends can assist nurses in developing plans of care and evaluating outcome in HIV patients. Nurse managers of AIDS Specialty Units (ASUs) are at the forefront of identifying current inpatient use trends.

Selective synaptic plasticity within the cerebellar cortex following complex motor skill learning.

Complex motor skill learning, but not mere motor activity, leads to an increase in synapse number within the cerebellar cortex. The present experiment used quantitative electron microscopy to determine which synapse types were altered in number. Adult female rats were allocated to either an acrobatic condition (AC), a voluntary exercise condition (VX), or an inactive condition (IC).

Therapeutic effects of complex motor training on motor performance deficits induced by neonatal binge-like alcohol exposure in rats . I. Behavioral results.

The effects of complex motor task learning on subsequent motor performance of adult rats exposed to alcohol on postnatal days 4 through 9 were studied. Male and female Long-Evans rats were assigned to one of three treatments: (1) alcohol exposure (AE) via artificial rearing to 4.5.

Therapeutic motor training increases parallel fiber synapse number per Purkinje neuron in cerebellar cortex of rats given postnatal binge alcohol exposure: preliminary report.

Because therapeutic approaches to fetal alcohol effects in humans have been rare, this study explored the rehabilitative effect of complex motor training on an animal model of binge drinking in the third trimester of human pregnancy. Neonatal alcohol exposure induces significant and permanent reductions in Purkinje and granule cell number accompanied by impaired motor behavior in rats. The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) whether the motor skill impairment caused by exposure to alcohol in the early postnatal period could be ameliorated by the learning of a set of complex motor tasks that had been demonstrated to cause synaptogenesis in the cerebellar cortex; and (2) the extent to which cerebellar neurons in alcohol-exposed (AE) rats exhibit synaptic plasticity.

Long-term effect of postnatal alcohol exposure on the number of cells in the neocortex of the rat: a stereological study.

Behavioral and morphological studies suggest that exposure to alcohol during development may cause damage in the neocortex. In this study, rat pups were exposed to alcohol during the brain growth spurt and examined at adulthood to ascertain the long-term effect of alcohol exposure on the neocortex. Four-day-old rat pups were surgically implanted with an intragastric cannula while under ether anesthesia and artificially reared from postnatal day (PN) 4 through PN11.

Purkinje cell deficits in nonhuman primates following weekly exposure to ethanol during gestation.

The most serious features of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) are mental retardation and other behavioral problems resulting from alcohol-induced damage to the developing central nervous system (CNS). The mechanism by which alcohol induces its neuroteratogenic effects is unknown. One hypothesis is that gestational alcohol exposure results in a reduction in neuronal number.

Structural plasticity of identified glomeruli in the antennal lobes of the adult worker honey bee.

Adult worker honey bees alter their behaviour with age but retain a strong reliance on sensory information from the antennae. The antennae house a diverse array of receptors, including mechanoreceptors, hygroreceptors, olfactory receptors, and contact chemoreceptors, which relay information to the brain. Antennal sensory neurons that project to the antennal lobes of the brain converge onto second-order interneurones to form discrete spheres of neuropil, called glomeruli.

Permanent neuronal cell loss in the cerebellum of rats exposed to continuous low blood alcohol levels during the brain growth spurt: a stereological investigation.

This study demonstrates that exposure to an alcohol regimen that resulted in low, uniform blood alcohol concentrations during a period of rapid brain growth can lead to a permanent deficit in the number of Purkinje cells and granule cells in the floccular-parafloccular region of the cerebellum. Sprague-Dawley rat pups were artificially reared and were administered alcohol over postnatal days 4 through 9, a period of brain development similar to that of the human third trimester. Two groups received a daily alcohol dose of 4.

Permanent neuronal cell loss in the inferior olive of adult rats exposed to alcohol during the brain growth spurt: a stereological investigation.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether exposure of rat pups to alcohol postnatally over a period of brain development similar to that of the human 3rd trimester results in a permanent loss of cells in the inferior olivary nucleus. It was hypothesized that a deficit of neurons in the inferior olive, the sole source of climbing fibers, may contribute to the cerebellar dysfunction observed following exposure to alcohol during development. Sprague-Dawley rat pups were artificially reared and administered alcohol over postnatal days 4-9.

Early postnatal alcohol exposure acutely and permanently reduces the number of granule cells and mitral cells in the rat olfactory bulb: a stereological study.

This study demonstrates that exposure to alcohol during a period of rapid brain growth can lead to severe and permanent deficits in the number of granule cells and mitral cells in the main olfactory bulb. Sprague-Dawley rat pups were reared artificially and were administered alcohol over postnatal days (PD) 4 through 9, a period of brain development comparable to part of the human third trimester. The daily alcohol dose of 6.

Number of parallel fiber synapses on an individual Purkinje cell in the cerebellum of the rat.

In the present study, stereological techniques applied to electron micrographs of the molecular layer of the rat cerebellum have been used to estimate the number of parallel fiber synapses on the dendritic tree of a single Purkinje cell. Quantitative features of the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell dendritic spine synapses and of the parallel fibers were investigated as a preliminary to estimating the number of synapses. Parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapses are flattened disclike structures with a mean axial ratio of 14.