BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The vitamin K-dependent protein Z (PZ) has been shown to possess anticoagulant as well as procoagulant properties. Plasma levels of PZ show a broad interindividual variation, but it is unknown to which extent this variation is under genetic control. Recent clinical studies revealed contradictory results on the association of PZ plasma levels and the risk of ischemic strok...

Background: Hypertension is a crucial risk factor for development of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Flavonoids exhibit a wide range of biological effects and have had increased interest as a dietary approach for the prevention or possible treatment of hypertension. However, continuous efforts have been made to structurally modify natural flavonoids with the hope of improving their bi...

In this study, fifty healthy normal volunteers were divided into 3 groups according to age: group A (15-30 years, n=14), group B (31-50 years, n=24), group C (>51 years, n=12). The FA and ADC values in PZ and CZ were measured, and difference between the PZ and CZ were assessed. The results indicated that no significant difference were found in the FA and ADC values between the left and right of...

Noninvasive, radiological image-based detection and stratification of Gleason patterns can impact clinical outcomes, treatment selection, and the determination of disease status at diagnosis without subjecting patients to surgical biopsies. We present machine learning-based automatic classification of prostate cancer aggressiveness by combining apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and T2-weight...

Let τD(Z) be the first exit time of iterated Brownian motion from a domain D ⊂ Rn started at z ∈ D and let Pz [τD(Z) > t] be its distribution. In this paper we establish the exact asymptotics of Pz[τD(Z) > t] over bounded domains as an improvement of the results in [12, 24], for z ∈ D lim t→∞ t exp( 3 2 πλ 2/3 D t )Pz[τD(Z) > t] = C(z), where C(z) = (λD2 7/2)/ √ 3π (

Pz-peptidase was purified from rat testis and rabbit muscle. Zinc was detectable in the rat enzyme. The activity of the enzyme from both species was slowly but completely abolished by EDTA and restored by Zn2+. Free thiol groups were also important for the catalytic activity of rat Pz-peptidase, as previously reported for the rabbit enzyme. We conclude that in both species Pz-peptidase has the ...

histologically. Some authors suggested that the hyperplastic nodules in the PZ might be exophytic BPH in the TZ or the migration of ectopic TZ tissue into the PZ. The authors of the present study speculate that it is more likely that the hyperplastic nodules might originate from the PZ. In the present study, the epithelial, stromal and luminal composition of the tissue was determined using a co...

Protein Z (PZ) binds to PZ-dependent inhibitor (ZPI) and accelerates the inhibition of the coagulation protease, activated factor X (FXa), in the presence of phospholipids and Ca2+. A 2.3A resolution crystal structure of PZ complexed with ZPI shows that ZPI is a typical serine protease inhibitor and that PZ has a serine protease fold with distorted oxyanion hole and S1 pocket. The 2 molecules b...

The study aim was to investigate the situations of the carotid Intima-Media Thickness (cIMT) and atherosclerotic plaques in the patients with Cerebral Infarction (CI) as well as their correlations with Plasma protein Z (PZ) and Fibrinogen (FIB). 75 CI patients and 35 non-CI patients were performed carotid ultrasonography to measure their cIMT and to observe the situations of atherosclerotic pla...