BACKGROUND Platelet microparticles (PMPs) are platelet-derived membrane vesicles involved in cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis. Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with increased atherosclerosis, but the effect of therapy on its atherogenic potential has not been adequately studied. METHODS We evaluated PMP levels before and after treatment with pegylated-interferon-alfa and rib...

OBJECTIVE To elucidate the mechanisms of thrombocytopenia in alcoholic liver diseases, we investigated activation status of platelets in patients with alcoholic fatty liver (Al-FL), alcoholic liver cirrhosis (Al-LC) or hepatitis-C liver cirrhosis C (C-LC). METHODS Platelet activation was evaluated by flow cytometry using monoclonal antibodies against P-selectin (CD62P) and the fibrinogen rece...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has made it possible for clinicians to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) noninvasively in various ocular diseases. However, the ocular factors associated with the ppCT have not been conclusively determined. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the local ppCT and the axial length, optic disc tilt, and the angle ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate outcome and prognostic factors in patients with pesudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) treated by complete cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. BACKGROUND After comprehensive treatment, prognosis of PMP is predominantly dependent on the completeness of cytoreduction. Once complete cytoreduction is achieved, additional factors predicting long-term outcome...

Chlamydophila abortus is the aetiological agent of ovine enzootic abortion. Sequencing, annotation and comparative analysis of the genome of C. abortus strain S26/3 has revealed variation in the loci encoding the polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps). These Pmps resemble autotransporter proteins of the type V secretion system, suggesting an important role in chlamydial pathogenesis. The purpose ...

Jose D. Salas is a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Colorado State University (CSU). He received BS and civil engineering degrees from the National University of Engineering of Lima, Perú; MSc degree in hydraulics; and PhD degree in hydrology and water resources from CSU. At CSU, he supervised (main advisor) 42 MSc and 37 PhD students. Dr. Salas has been consultant o...

OBJECTIVE Platelet activation mediates multiple cellular responses, including secretion of chemokines such as RANTES (CCL5), and formation of platelet microparticles (PMPs). We studied the role of PMPs in delivering RANTES and promoting monocyte recruitment. METHODS AND RESULTS Here we show that PMPs contain substantial amounts of RANTES and deposit RANTES on activated endothelium or murine a...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of treatment and the factors influencing the postoperative recurrence and survival time for pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). A total of 39 patients with PMP who received treatment were analyzed in The General Hospital of PLA (Beijing, China) between 2002 and 2011. The patients received cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and 25 cases of PMP recurred. Seven...

In this paper we present an efficient, easily parallelizable approach to solve planted motif problem(PMP). PMP is a well studied problem in computational biology. It is useful in developing methods for finding transcription factor binding sites, sequence classification and for building phylogenetic trees. Many approaches to solve planted motif problem can be found in literature. But the problem...