Benign external hydrocephalus: a review, with emphasis on management

Benign external hydrocephalus in infants, characterized by macrocephaly and typical neuroimaging findings, is considered as a self-limiting condition and is therefore rarely treated. This review concerns all aspects of this condition: etiology, neuroimaging, symptoms and clinical findings, treatment, and outcome, with emphasis on management. The review is based on a systematic search in the Pubmed and Web of Science databases. The search covered various forms of hydrocephalus, extracerebral fluid, and macrocephaly. Studies reporting small children with idiopathic external hydrocephalus were included, mostly focusing on the studies reporting a long-term outcome. A total of 147 studies are included, the majority however with a limited methodological quality. Several theories regarding pathophysiology and various symptoms, signs, and clinical findings underscore the heterogeneity of the condition. Neuroimaging is important in the differentiation between external hydrocephalus and similar conditions. A transient delay of psychomotor development is commonly seen during childhood. A long-term outcome is scarcely reported, and the results are varying. Although most children with external hydrocephalus seem to do well both initially and in the long term, a substantial number of patients show temporary or permanent psychomotor delay. To verify that this truly is a benign condition, we suggest that future research on external hydrocephalus should focus on the long-term effects of surgical treatment as opposed to conservative management

The role and potential of umbilical cord blood in an era of new therapies: a review

In light of pioneering findings in the 1980s and an estimation of more than 130 million global annual births, umbilical cord blood (UCB) is considered to be the most plentiful reservoir of cells and to have regenerative potential for many clinical applications. Although UCB is used mainly against blood disorders, the spectrum of diseases for which it provides effective therapy has been expanded to include non-hematopoietic conditions; UCB has also been used as source for regenerative cell therapy and immune modulation. Thus, collection and banking of UCB-derived cells have become a popular option. However, there are questions regarding the cost versus the benefits of UCB banking, and it also raises complex ethical and legal issues. This review discusses many issues surrounding the conservation of UCB-derived cells and the great potential and current clinical applications of UCB in an era of new therapies. In particular, we describe the practical issues inherent in UCB collection, processing, and long-term storage as well as the different types of ‘stem’ or progenitor cells circulating in UCB and their uses in multiple clinical settings. Given these considerations, the trend toward UCB will continue to provide growing assistance to health care worldwide

Initiation of business relationships

This thesis investigates the initiation process of business relationships to customers, which is a key issue for all selling firms. We address the topic by considering newly and well-established firms and their strategy regarding this initiation process. To get a deeper understanding, we have conducted a case study of three newly and three well-established firms. To answer the research question of this thesis a Theoretical Framework is made, based on a literature review, in order to study sub-processes of the initiation process and the initiation strategy in detail. We have found some clear differences, regarding both the initiation strategies and the initiation process, between the newly and well-established firms studied. Both newly and well-established firms seemed to have planned-emergence as part of their intended initiation strategy, but for different reasons well-established firms planned in more detail based on experiences from previous relationships. On the other hand, the newly established firms had less detailed plans and were more or less forced to seize opportunities that emerge as a result of a planned-emergence strategy. Both types of firms initiated business relationships to customers that were not closely located. Well-established firms had developed a reputation and established references. This was less obvious for newly established firms who needed to utilize their personal reputation and network, and external agents most often connected them to new business customers. There were similar patterns of negotiation and establishing of agreement between newly and well-established firms. Based on our interpretation of the complexity of strategy formation, both newly and well-established firms had a high degree of deliberate elements in their realized initiation strategy. For all the case firms studied, the sub-processes in the initiation elapsed in flexible successions, and we therefore suggest that the state theory should be used in further research of the initiation process of business relationships to customers