Keratan sulfate (KS) is commonly elevated in urine samples from patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type IVA (MPS IVA) and is considered pathognomonic for the condition. Recently, a new method has been described by Martell et al. to detect and measure urinary KS utilizing LC-MS/MS. As a part of the validation of this method in our laboratory, we studied the sensitivity and specificity of elevat...

BACKGROUND Microparticles (MPs) are vesicles released from plasma membrane upon cell activation and during apoptosis. Human T lymphocytes undergoing activation and apoptosis generate MPs bearing morphogen Shh (MPs(Shh+)) that are able to regulate in vitro angiogenesis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, we investigated the ability of MPs(Shh+) to modulate neovascularization in a model of mo...

MPS VI1 mice are deficient in P-glucuronidase and share many clinical, biochemical, and pathologic characteristics with human mucopolysaccharidosis type VI1 (MPS VII). We have shown that syngeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) prolongs survival and reduces lysosomal storage in many organs of the MPS VI1 mouse. In this report, we quantify the hearing loss and determine the impact of syngenei...

Abstract. A strategic placement of mesh points (MPs) in a Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is essential to maximize the throughput of the network. In this paper, we address the problem of MPs placement for throughput optimization in WMN with consideration of routing protocols. Specifically, we formulate the routing paths among the MPs and mesh routers (MRs), calculate the aggregated traffic at the M...

Mononuclear phagocytes (MPs) from human peripheral blood were separated on discontinuous Percoll gradients into two subpopulations. A high density population was isolated which contained less mature MPs, while the MPs in the low density population were more mature cells. The proportion of high density MPs was found to increase sharply in conjunction with the peripheral blood monocytosis associa...

The Kenyan Constituency Development Fund (CDF) aims to alleviate poverty by allocating resources to constituencies which MPs and residents decide how to spend. In this paper we assess whether MPs’ re-election chances were affected by their management of the CDF. For this purpose we analyse the type of projects implemented by the CDF and residents’ opinion about their MP and the CDF. We find tha...

In this paper we apply the newly developed method of particular solutions (MPS) and one-stage method of fundamental solutions (MFS-MPS) for solving fourth-order partial differential equations. We also compare the numerical results of these two methods to the popular Kansa’s method. Numerical results in the 2D and the 3D show that the MFS-MPS outperformed the MPS and Kansa’s method. However, the...

BACKGROUND Endothelial-derived microparticles (EDMPs) and platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs) have been reported to be increasing in various diseases including malignant diseases. Here, we investigated whether these MPs may be useful biomarkers for predicting lung cancer (LC) disease status, cell type, or metastasis. METHODS AND RESULTS One hundred and thirty LC patients were prospectivel...

Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I) and MPS VII are due to deficient activity of the glycosaminoglycan-degrading lysosomal enzymes alpha-L-iduronidase and beta-glucuronidase, respectively, and result in abnormal bones and joints. Here, the severity of skeletal disease in MPS I and MPS VII dogs and the effects of neonatal gene therapy were evaluated. For untreated MPS VII dogs, the lengths of the se...

Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I) and MPS VII are due to loss-of-function mutations within the genes that encode the lysosomal enzymes alpha-l-iduronidase and beta-glucuronidase, respectively, and result in accumulation of glycosaminoglycans and multisystemic disease. Both disorders are associated with elastin fragmentation and dilatation of the aorta. Here, the pathogenesis and effect of gene th...