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A high power diode laser (HPDL) was successfully used as a surface modifying approach on a hot dip process simulator (HDPS) Zn-55Al-3Mg-1.5Si coating. The overlay microstructure was drastically refined owing to the rapid cooling rate of the laser radiation process, in which the size of a-Al dendrite was shrunk to less than 1/10 of the original. The laser also varied the solidifying path and yielded different phases in the interdendritic areas leading to modifications including, rare Si, disappearance of MgZn2 and nucleation of the Q phase. The modified Zn-55Al-3Mg-1.5Si coating induced by HPDL surface treatment is assumed to make a contribution to the improvement of the corrosion resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence for the relationship between antidepressant use during pregnancy and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the children is conflicting.Objective: To assess the association between fetal exposure to antidepressant drugs and the subsequent development of ADHD.Search Strategy: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases to identify relevant cohort studies published from inception until October 2017.Selection Criteria: Cohort studies, identifying children with ADHD diagnosis and linking antidepressant use during pregnancy in their mothers.Data Collection: Two reviewers independently abstracted data and assessed study quality.Main Results: The literature search identified six relevant cohort studies with association between antidepressant exposure during pregnancy and the risk of ADHD in children [hazard ratio (HR) 1.34; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.57]. However, the association was not statistically significant when the reference group was mothers with psychiatric disorders not treated during pregnancy (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.76-1.2; n = 2 studies). Moreover, preconception exposure to antidepressants was significantly associated with increased risk of ADHD (HR 1.82; 95% CI 1.54-2.15; n = 3 studies).Conclusions: The significant association between antidepressant exposure during pregnancy and ADHD in the children can be partially explained by confounding by indication. Given the low number of included studies, further studies with prospective designs that use validated measurements and controls for important confounders are needed to verify our findings.Tweetable Abstract: Antidepressant use during pregnancy may be not associated with ADHD in the offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypopituitarism in leukemia is very rare. In addition, central nervous system (cns) relapse and leukemic retinopathy in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (all) have declined with the use of modern systemic chemotherapy that includes cns prophylaxis. Here, we report the case of a 4-year-old girl who received chemotherapy and intrathecal therapy without cns radiation after a diagnosis of B-precursor all without cns involvement. Three months after chemotherapy completion, she presented with lower-extremity weakness and was diagnosed with an isolated cns relapse. Concurrent hypopituitarism and leukemic retinopathy were also found. After receiving craniospinal radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy, her retinopathy and vision improved. She is now in complete remission, and she is still on chemotherapy according to the guideline from the Pediatric Oncology Group. Although rare, hypopituitarism and leukemic retinopathy should be taken into consideration in patients with cns involvement by leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imatinib has improved outcomes in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Minimal residual disease (MRD) is a useful tool for predicting leukemia relapse. However, there is no consensus on how to treat children with elevation of BCR-ABL transcripts but no evidence of hematologic relapse during chemotherapy combined with imatinib. Here, we report the case of a child with Ph+ ALL who had persistent elevation of mrd, but no evidence of hematologic relapse while receiving imatinib plus intensive chemotherapy. Dasatinib was substituted for imatinib because no suitable donor for allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) was available. Less-intensive chemotherapy with methotrexate and 6-mercaptopurine was administered concomitantly. No serious adverse events were encountered. With continuous dasatinib combined with chemotherapy, but no allogeneic HSCT, our patient reached complete molecular remission and has been in complete molecular remission for more than 13 months. This report is the first about the long-term use of dasatinib in patients with Ph+ ALL and MRD elevation but hematologic remission during imatinib chemotherapy. In a similar situation, chemotherapy combined with dasatinib instead of allogeneic HSCT could be considered to avoid HSCT-related mortality and morbidity. Clinical trials are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Ael is a rare blood type that is characterized by weak agglutination of RBCs when reacts with anti- A antibody in adsorption-elution test. Although IVS6 + 5 G→ A mutation is known to associate with the Ael blood type, genetic and mechanistic evaluation for the weak agglutination of Ael with IVS6 + 5 G→ A mutation has not yet been completely addressed. Materials and Methods In this study, five cases of confirmed Ael individuals were analysed. The c DNAs for the A el alleles were obtained by cloning method for sequence analyses. The erythroleukemia K562 cells were used as the cell study model and were transfected with the A el expression construct. Flow cytometry analysis was then performed to determine the levels of surface antigen expression. Results The results indicated that IVS6 + 5 G→ A attributes to all cases of Ael. RT- PCR analyses revealed the presence of at least 10 types of aberrant A el splicing transcripts. Most of the transcripts caused early termination and produced non-functional protein during translation. Nevertheless, the transcript without exons 5-6 was predicted to generate functional Ael glycosyltransferase lacking 57 amino acids at the N-terminal segment. When the exons 5-6 deletion transcript was stably expressed in the K562 cells, weak agglutination of the cells can be induced by adding anti- A antibody followed by adsorption-elution test. Conclusion This study demonstrates that aberrant splicing of A transcripts contributes to weak A expression and the weak agglutination of Ael- RBCs, adding to the complexity for the regulatory mechanisms of ABO gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]