Seroprevalence of varicella-zoster virus antibody and immunogenicity of live attenuated varicella vaccine in healthcare workers in Taiwan.

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) without evidence of immunity to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) are recommended to undergo varicella vaccination. Immunogenicity of live attenuated varicella vaccine has rarely been investigated among HCWs in Taiwan.

Methods: Anti-VZV immunoglobulin G (IgG) titer was checked for all HCWs at Changhua Christian Hospital from 2011 to 2017.

Mesenchymal stem cells facilitate cardiac differentiation in Sox2-expressing cardiac C-kit cells in coculture.

Stem cell therapy offers hope to reconstitute injured myocardium and salvage heart from failing. A recent approach using combinations of derived Cardiac-derived c-kit expressing cells (CCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in transplantation improved infarcted hearts with a greater functional outcome, but the effects of MSCs on CCs remain to be elucidated. We used a novel two-step protocol to clonogenically amplify colony forming c-kit expressing cells from 4- to 6-week-old C57BL/6N mice.

Guided evaluation and standardisation of mesenchymal stem cell culture conditions to generate conditioned medium favourable to cardiac c-kit cell growth.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to secrete cardioprotective paracrine factors that can potentially activate endogenous cardiac c-kit cells (CCs). This study aims to optimise MSC growth conditions and medium formulation for generating the conditioned medium (CdM) to facilitate CC growth and expansion in vitro. The quality of MSC-CdM after optimisation of seeding density during MSC stabilisation and medium formulation used during MSC stimulation including glucose, ascorbic acid, serum and oxygen levels and the effects of treatment concentration and repeated CdM harvesting were assessed based on CC viability in vitro under growth factor- and serum-deprived condition.

Cardiac Stem Cells for Myocardial Regeneration: They Are Not Alone.

Heart failure is the number one killer worldwide with ~50% of patients dying within 5 years of prognosis. The discovery of stem cells, which are capable of repairing the damaged portion of the heart, has created a field of cardiac regenerative medicine, which explores various types of stem cells, either autologous or endogenous, in the hope of finding the "holy grail" stem cell candidate to slow down and reverse the disease progression. However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome in the search of such a cell candidate.

Human mesenchymal stem cells promote CD34 hematopoietic stem cell proliferation with preserved red blood cell differentiation capacity.

Studies showed that co-transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cord blood-derived CD34 hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) offered greater therapeutic effects but little is known regarding the effects of human Wharton's jelly derived MSCs on HSC expansion and red blood cell (RBC) generation in vitro. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MSCs on HSC expansion and differentiation. HSCs were co-cultured with MSCs or with 10% MSCs-derived conditioned medium, with HSCs cultured under standard medium served as a control.

A modification to geographically weighted regression.

Background: Geographically weighted regression (GWR) is a modelling technique designed to deal with spatial non-stationarity, e.g., the mean values vary by locations.