(C) 2009 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“In the management of the childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 5% of failures are due to induction death and treatment-related deaths in first complete remission. We retrospectively analyzed

the incidence, pattern and causes of death and its risk factors for 896 children with ALL enrolled into five Austrian (A) Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (BFM) trials between 1981 and 1999. The estimated 10-year cumulative incidence of death significantly decreased from 6 +/- 1% (n = 16/268) in trials ALL-BFM-A 81 and ALL-A 84 to 2 +/- HKI-272 nmr 1% (n = 15/628) in trials ALL-BFM-A 86, 90 and 95 (P = 0.006). A significant reduction of death was evident during induction therapy (2.2% in trials ALL-BFM-A 81 and ALL-A 84 and 0.2% in trials ALL-BFM-A 86, 90 and 95, P = 0.001). Of 31 patients, 21 (68%) patients died from infectious and 10 (32%) from noninfectious complications. Treatment in trial ALL-BFM-A 81, infant age and female gender were independent predictors of an enhanced risk for death. Conclusively, we found a progressive reduction

of death rates that may be explained by the increasing experience in specialized hemato-oncologic centers and improved supportive and intensive care. We also identified a distinct subset of patients who are especially prone to death and may need a special focus when receiving intense chemotherapy. Leukemia Carteolol HCl (2009) 23, 1264-1269; doi: 10.1038/leu.2009.12; published online 12 February 2009″
“Retinal bipolar cells relay visual information from photoreceptors to third-order

this website retinal neurons. Bipolar cells, comprising multiple types, play an essential role in segregating visual information into multiple parallel pathways in the retina. The identification of molecular markers that can label specific retinal bipolar cells could facilitate the investigation of bipolar cell functions in the retina. Transgenic mice with specific cell type(s) labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) have become a powerful tool for morphological and functional studies of neurons in the CNS, including the retina. In this study, we report a 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2a (5-HTR2a) transgenic mouse line in which expression of GFP was observed in two populations of bipolar cells in the retina. Based on the terminal stratification and immunostaining, all the strongly GFP-labeled bipolar cells were found to be type 4 cone bipolar cells. A small population of weakly labeled bipolar cells was also observed, which may represent type 8 or 9 cone bipolar cells. GFP expression in retinal cone bipolar cells was seen as early as postnatal day 5. In addition, despite severe retinal degeneration due to the presence of the rd1 mutation in this transgenic line, the density of GFP-labeled cone bipolar cells remained stable up to at least 6 months of age.