Adenovirus Type 7 Pneumonia in Children Who Died from Measles-Associated Pneumonia, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2014.

During a 2014 measles outbreak in Vietnam, postmortem pathologic examination of hospitalized children who died showed that adenovirus type 7 pneumonia was a contributory cause of death in children with measles-associated immune suppression. Adenovirus type 7 pneumonia should be recognized as a major cause of secondary infection after measles.

The association between influenza infection, vaccination, and atrial fibrillation: A nationwide case-control study.

Background: Influenza infection could activate systemic inflammatory responses and increase the sympathetic tone that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objectives: The goal of the present study was to investigate whether influenza infection was a risk factor for AF. We also aimed to study whether influenza vaccination could decrease the risk of AF.

When Atrial Fibrillation Co-Exists with Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with Prior Coronary Intervention - Does Ablation Benefit?

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) can be associated with an increased risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) due to mechanisms of inflammation, endothelial dysfunction and adverse atrial remodelling. It is unclear if adverse coronary events can be further reduced after successful catheter ablation of AF. We hypothesise that AF ablation and sinus maintenance could reduce future adverse cardiac events in patients with underlying CAD.

Keloid-derived, plasma/fibrin-based skin equivalents generate de novo dermal and epidermal pathology of keloid fibrosis in a mouse model.

Keloids are wounding-induced tumor-like human scars. Unclear etiology and lack of animal models to reveal disease mechanisms and invent therapies deepen the grievous health and psychosocial state of vulnerable individuals. Epitomizing the injury-repair environment which triggers and fosters keloid formation and essential dermal/epidermal interactions in disease development, the novel animal model was established by implanting porous polyethylene ring-supported plasma/fibrin-based epidermal-dermal skin constructs on the dorsum of athymic NU/J mice.

Air pollutants and hospitalization due to pneumonia among children. An ecological time series study.

Context And Objective: Exposure to air pollutants is one of the factors responsible for hospitalizations due to pneumonia among children. This has considerable financial cost, along with social cost. A study to identify the role of this exposure in relation to hospital admissions due to pneumonia among children up to 10 years of age was conducted.

Exclusive breast feeding in early infancy reduces the risk of inpatient admission for diarrhea and suspected pneumonia in rural Vietnam: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Acute respiratory infections and diarrhea remain the leading causes of infant morbidity and mortality, with a high burden of both pneumonia and diarrhea in South-East Asia. The aim of the study was to determine antenatal and early infant predictive factors for severe morbidity episodes during the first 6 months of life in Ha Nam province, Vietnam.

Methods: A prospective cohort study of 1049 infants, born to women who had previously participated in a cluster randomized controlled trial of antenatal micronutrient supplementation in rural Vietnam, was undertaken between 28th September 2010 and 8th Jan 2012.

Optical parametric oscillator based on degenerate four-wave mixing in suspended core tellurite microstructured optical fiber.

We report on a suspended core tellurite microstructured optical fiber (TMOF) based optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The intracavity gain is provided by the degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) occurred in a 1.5-m-long TMOF synchronously pumped by a mode-locked picosecond erbium-doped fiber laser.

Rate-control treatment and mortality in atrial fibrillation.

Background: Current American and European guidelines emphasize the importance of rate-control treatments in treating atrial fibrillation with a Class I recommendation, although data on the survival benefits of rate control are lacking. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether patients receiving rate-control drugs had a better prognosis compared with those without rate-control treatment.

Methods And Results: This study used the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan.

Age Threshold for Increased Stroke Risk Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Nationwide Cohort Study From Taiwan.

Background: Recent studies from Asia have suggested that the risk of ischemic stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with a "low-risk" congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75, diabetes mellitus, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, vascular disease, age 65 to 74, female (CHA2DS2-VASc) score of 0 (for males) or 1 (for females) might be higher than that for non-Asians.

Objectives: This study hypothesized that the age threshold (65 years) used in the CHA2DS2-VASc system for initiating oral anticoagulants (OACs) might be lower in Taiwanese AF patients than in non-Asians.

Methods: We used the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan to study 186,570 nonanticoagulated AF patients.

Experimental observation of multiple dispersive waves emitted by multiple mid-infrared solitons in a birefringence tellurite microstuctured optical fiber.

We experimentally demonstrate multiple dispersive waves (DWs) emitted by multiple mid-infrared solitons in a birefringence tellurite microstuctured optical fiber (BTMOF). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of multiple DWs in the non-silica fibers. By using a pulse of ~80 MHz and ~200 fs emitted from an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) as the pump source, DWs and solitons are investigated on the fast and slow axes of the BTMOF at the pump wavelength of ~1800 nm.

Prognostic Significance of Premature Atrial Complexes Burden in Prediction of Long-Term Outcome.

Background: The prognostic significance of premature atrial complex (PAC) burden is not fully elucidated. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the burden of PACs and long-term outcome.

Methods And Results: We investigated the clinical characteristics of 5371 consecutive patients without atrial fibrillation (AF) or a permanent pacemaker (PPM) at baseline who underwent 24-hour electrocardiography monitoring between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias originating from the continuum between the aortic sinus of Valsalva and the left ventricular summit: Electrocardiographic characteristics and correlative anatomy.

Background: Radiofrequency ablation of ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from the continuum between the aortic sinus of Valsalva (ASV) and the left ventricular (LV) summit is a challenge.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the electrocardiographic, electrophysiological, and anatomical characteristics of VAs and to develop an algorithm for predicting the successful ablation site.

Methods: We recruited 66 patients (mean age, 47 ± 15 years; 42 male patients) with symptomatic VAs originating from the continuum between the ASV and the LV summit who underwent radiofrequency ablation.

Comparisons of CHADS2 and CHA2DS2-VASc scores for stroke risk stratification in atrial fibrillation: Which scoring system should be used for Asians?

Background: Both U.S. and European guidelines recommend use of the CHA2DS2-VASc rather than CHADS2 score for stroke risk stratification in atrial fibrillation (AF).

Risk and prediction of dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation--a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and functional decline, and may contribute to development of dementia.

Objectives: Data from a nationwide large-scale population-based cohort study are lacking. Besides, how best to predict the occurrence of incident dementia among AF subjects remains uncertain.

Statins and the risk of dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with cognitive decline and may contribute to an increased risk of dementia. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether statin use prevented non-vascular dementia in subjects with AF.

Methods: Data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan were used in this study.

History of hyperthyroidism and long-term outcome of catheter ablation of drug-refractory atrial fibrillation.

Background: Hyperthyroidism is a known reversible cause of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, some patients remain in AF despite restoration of euthyroid status.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the electrophysiologic characteristics and long-term ablation outcome in AF patients with and without history of hyperthyroidism.

Association between orthostatic hypotension, mortality, and cardiovascular disease in Asians.

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a common condition encountered in the elderly. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between OH and adverse events in Asians.

Methods: We used the "National Health Insurance Research Database" in Taiwan.

Indidence of tuberculosis in children in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, under spatial approach.

The aim of this study was to identify spatial patterns in the incidence of childhood tuberculosis in cities in the state of São Paulo. An ecological and exploratory study was carried with data on new cases of tuberculosis in children 0 to 14 years old for the period 2001 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2010, obtained from DATASUS. Data of the population of this age group were collected and raised rates per 100 000 inhabitants.

Factors predisposing to ventricular proarrhythmia during antiarrhythmic drug therapy for atrial fibrillation in patients with structurally normal heart.

Background: Ventricular arrhythmia (VA) can occur during propafenone therapy in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with structurally normal heart.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and characteristics of propafenone-associated VAs in AF patients with structurally normal heart.

Methods: We studied and compared the risk of new-onset VAs between AF patients with structurally normal heart taking and those not taking propafenone in a nationwide longitudinal cohort in Taiwan (n = 127,197 since 2000).

Adaptation of brain functional and structural networks in aging.

The human brain, especially the prefrontal cortex (PFC), is functionally and anatomically reorganized in order to adapt to neuronal challenges in aging. This study employed structural MRI, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), and examined the functional and structural reorganization of the PFC in aging using a Chinese sample of 173 subjects aged from 21 years and above. We found age-related increases in the structural connectivity between the PFC and posterior brain regions.

Current and state of the art on the electrophysiologic characteristics and catheter ablation of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) is an inherited genetic disease caused by defective desmosomal proteins, and it has typical histopathological features characterized by predominantly progressive fibro-fatty infiltration of the right ventricle. Clinical presentations of ARVD/C vary from syncope, progressive heart failure (HF), ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death (SCD). The 2010 modified Task Force criteria were established to facilitate the recognition and diagnosis of ARVD/C.

Specific airway resistance in healthy young Vietnamese and Caucasian adults.

In healthy Vietnamese children the respiratory resistance has been suggested to be similar at 110 cm height but larger at 130 cm when compared with data in Caucasians from the literature, suggesting smaller airways in older Vietnamese children (Vu et al., 2008). The hypothesis tested here is whether the difference in airway resistance remains consistent throughout growth, and if it is larger in adult Vietnamese than in Caucasians.

Characterization of hospital and community-acquired respiratory syncytial virus in children with severe lower respiratory tract infections in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2010.

Background: Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important community and nosocomial pathogen in developed countries but data regarding the importance of RSV in developing countries are relatively scarce.

Methods: During a 1-year surveillance study in 2010, we took serial samples from children admitted to the Emergency Unit of the Respiratory Ward of Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. RSV was detected within 72 hours of admission to the ward in 26% (376/1439; RSV A: n = 320; RSV B: n = 54; and RSV A and B: n = 2).

Should atrial fibrillation patients with 1 additional risk factor of the CHA2DS2-VASc score (beyond sex) receive oral anticoagulation?

Background: Although the CHA2DS2-VASc (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age 75 years or older, diabetes mellitus, previous stroke or transient ischemic attack, vascular disease, age 65 to 74 years, female) score is recommended by both American and European guidelines for stroke risk stratification in atrial fibrillation (AF), the treatment recommendations for a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1 are less clear.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the risk of ischemic stroke in patients with a single additional stroke risk factor (i.e.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism influences the association of the methylome with maternal anxiety and neonatal brain volumes.

Early life environments interact with genotype to determine stable phenotypic outcomes. Here we examined the influence of a variant in the brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) gene (Val66Met), which underlies synaptic plasticity throughout the central nervous system, on the degree to which antenatal maternal anxiety associated with neonatal DNA methylation. We also examined the association between neonatal DNA methylation and brain substructure volume, as a function of BDNF genotype.