BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The identification of plaque characteristics that determine its vulnerability is extremely important. The purpose of this work was to evaluate CPE after administration of contrast material and to assess whether there is a statistical association between CPE and cerebrovascular symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-seven consecutive patients (69 men, 28 women; mean age,...

We determined the type and frequency of chromosomal aberrations in leukemic cells of 478 children diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and enrolled in the Pediatric Oncology Group study 8821. Of the 478 cases, 109 (22.8%) had normal karyotypes. Chromosomal abnormalities of 280 patients (58.6%) were classified into subgroups: 11q23 abnormalities (n = 88, 18.4%), t(8;21) (n = 56, 11.7%), t(15;17...

The relapse rate in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is approximately 30% but few reinduction regimens have investigated the intensive use of polyethylene glycol Escherichia coli asparaginase (PEG-Asp). Therefore, we assessed the pharmocokinetics and efficacy of PEG-Asp in this setting. Children with B-precursor ALL, in first marrow and/or extramedullary relapse were eligible. Reind...

Background: Gastritis results from multifactorial gastric mucosal injury. Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is the main cause, and associated diseases have typical underlying patterns of gastritis. Gastric ulcer and gastric cancer (GC) develop from chronic atrophic corpus gastritis (CAG) which therefore represents the most important pattern. GC incidences in East Asia are substantially higher than elsew...

-The emergence of Phanerozoic global diversity as a central theme of investigation has resulted from a confluence of factors, including the assembly by several researchers of global taxonomic databases; the advent of computers, which permitted construction and analysis of global Phanerozoic diversity trajectories; and the recognition that Phanerozoic diversity trends are important bellwethers o...

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) has increased rapidly in Taiwan and worldwide. We aim to determine the association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and MS in a Chinese general population. METHODS This case-control study recruited subjects who have undergone a prospective electrocardiogram-based cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) sleep spectrogram as part of the periodi...

Abstract Introduction Perineuronal nets (PNNs) surrounding fast-spiking, parvalbumin (PV) interneurons provide excitatory:inhibitory balance within cortical circuits. This is impaired in several disorders that are also associated with altered diurnal rhythms, yet few studies examined rhythms of PNNs or PV cells. Methods We measured the intensity and number cells labeled Wisteria floribunda aggl...

Background: Asia is the largest, most populous and most heterogeneous continent in the world. The number of patients with end-stage renal disease is growing rapidly in Asia. Summary: A fully informed report on the status of dialysis therapies including hemodialysis (HD) is limited by the lack of systematic registries. Available data suggest remarkable heterogeneities, with some countries like T...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Emergency surgery for large bowel obstruction is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, especially in elderly patients. Colonic self-expanding metal stents may provide temporary relief of obstructions and enable preoperative evaluation. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the clinical outcomes of emergency stenting in elderly patients with la...

OBJECTIVES Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become an important therapeutic option for high-risk patients with severe aortic valve stenosis. Patient-prosthesis mismatch (P-PM) is an important determinant of morbidity and mortality after open aortic valve replacement. The objective of our study was to evaluate P-PM incidence and its impact on survival in a large cohort of patie...