Search

Inhibition of platelet aggregation is indispensable for the treatment of acute arterial thrombotic episodes. We have previously reported the synthesis of a highly constrained cyclic peptide, that incorporates the -CDC- sequence, (S,S) PSRCDCR-NH(2), which potently inhibits aggregation and fibrinogen binding to human platelets in vitro. We have tested the safety and efficacy of the peptide on the electrically induced carotid artery thrombosis experimental rabbit model. The peptide's effects on carotid blood flow, thrombus weight, in vitro and ex vivo platelet aggregation, and bleeding and hemostatic parameters were evaluated. The peptide was administered via the femoral vein. Carotid blood flow was continuously monitored for 90 min after electrical thrombus formation. The peptide, at 12 mg/kg, prevented total artery occlusion and significantly preserved carotid artery's patency compared with placebo and eptifibatide. Furthermore, (S, S) PSRCDCR-NH(2) administration at 12 mg/kg reduced thrombus weight, whereas it inhibited ex vivo ADP, arachidonic acid (AA) and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Moreover (S,S) PSRCDCR-NH(2) at 12 mg/kg presented significantly higher inhibitory effects on AA and collagen-induced ex vivo platelet aggregation compared to eptifibatide. The peptide at any dose did not affect the coagulation cascade, the bleeding times or the hemostatic response of the animals. Thus highly constrained cyclic peptides like (S,S) PSRCDCR-NH(2) that incorporate the -CDC- motif and fulfil certain conformational criteria represent novel compounds that potently inhibit thrombus formation, ex vivo platelet aggregation and carotid artery occlusion superiorly to other non-RGD peptides, such as YMESRADR, without causing hemorrhagic complications in a rabbit model of arterial thrombosis. Platelets

Eur Heart J

Acute panmyelosis with myelofibrosis (APMF) is a rare, fatal hematological neoplasm that is characterized by the acute onset of cytopenias and fibrosis in the bone marrow in the absence of splenomegaly or fibrosis-related morphological changes in the RBCs. We present the case of a 59-year-old female who presented with a two-month history of anemia, leucopenia and a normal platelet count. The marrow was heavily fibrotic, and no aspirate material could be obtained; the biopsy showed extensive infiltration with small to medium size megakaryocytes, dysplastic changes in the erythroid compartment, and left shift in the myeloid cells. The patient was treated for four months with anabolic steroids (Danazol), growth factors and received regular blood transfusions. At 4 months after diagnosis, the patient was started on Lenalidomide, 10 mg/day for a 21-d-course along with growth factor support. At 6 months after treatment, the patient was transfusion-independent, had normalized blood counts, and, at 32 months on continuous lenalidomide treatment, her needs for growth factor support have been minimized. Repeat bone marrow biopsies showed a patchy distribution of fibrosis with areas of normal cellularity and morphology. To our knowledge, this is the first case for a medication that could reverse the fatal outcome of APMF.

Journal of Peptide Science

The platelet integrin receptor alpha(IIb)beta(3) plays a critical role in thrombosis. We have shown previously that the octapeptide YMESRADR, corresponding to sequences 313 to 320 of the human alpha(IIb) subunit, inhibits human platelet activation and fibrinogen binding to alpha(IIb)beta(3), possibly interacting with the ligand. We investigated the effect of YMESRADR on electrically induced carotid artery thrombosis in New Zealand white rabbits. Peptide was administered via the femoral vein, starting 60 min before and continuing for 90 min after the electrical stimulation. Carotid blood flow was monitored for 90 min after the electrical stimulation. The peptide effects on platelet aggregation, in vitro and ex vivo, and on various coagulation, bleeding, and hemostatic parameters were evaluated. YMESRADR significantly inhibited rabbit platelet aggregation in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. It is important that peptide administration in vivo, at doses ranging from 3 to 15 mg/kg, prolonged the duration of the patency of the carotid artery, and no artery occlusion was observed until the end of the study (90 min after electrical stimulation). Furthermore, YMESRADR administration reduced platelet aggregation ex vivo and thrombus weight; however, these reductions reached statistical significance, compared with the control group, at the peptide doses of 12 and 15 mg/kg. YMESRADR did not affect any coagulation parameter studied and the hemostatic response observed in control animals. Thus, YMESRADR represents a novel antiplatelet agent that can inhibit thrombus formation effectively and carotid artery occlusion without causing hemorrhagic complications in a rabbit model of arterial thrombosis. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Journal of Peptide Science

The influence of temperature on tropospheric ozone (O3) concentrations in urban and photochemically polluted areas in the greater Athens region are investigated in the present study. Hourly values of the ambient air temperature used for studying the urban heat island effect in Athens were recorded at twenty-three experimental stations while ozone concentration values were measured at three of the above-mentioned stations and for a period of two years (1996-1997). The linear correlation between ozone concentration and air temperature values as well as the temporal variation of temperature and ozone concentration, for the above-mentioned experimental stations, were calculated and analysed. Moreover, a neural network approach was used for investigating the impact of temperature on the ozone concentration values over the greater Athens area. The neural network model used ambient air temperature as one of its input parameters and it was found that temperature is a predominant parameter, affecting considerably the ozone concentration values. © Printed in India.

Objective: Thyroid disease has been associated with leukemia and lymphoma. No previous study using clinical and laboratory data has explored whether thyroid disease and especially autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) is associated with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) risk. In this case-control study, we investigated the association of ATD with MDS. Methods: Our study included 101 cases with incident primary MDS confirmed by histology and cytogenetics, and 101 controls matched on gender and age, admitted for non-neoplastic and non-infectious diseases. All subjects were submitted to clinical, ultrasound thyroid evaluation and serum free T3, free T4, TSH, thyroglobulin, and thyroperoxidase antibodies determination. Results: Adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index, there was statistically significant evidence that ATD is associated with increased risk of MDS (OR = 2.58, 95% CI 1.29-5.16). Interestingly, ATD starting from the remote past (more than 10 years from MDS onset) was positively associated with MDS risk (OR = 5.73. 95% CI 2.03-16.16). Mean serum levels of fT3, fT4, and thyroid antibodies were significantly higher in MDS patients and mean TSH serum levels were significantly lower in MDS patients than in controls (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Biological plausibility and empirical evidence highlights the importance of ATD in MDS etiopathogenesis. Further studies are needed to explore underlying mechanisms associating thyroid autoimmunity with leukemogenesis. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of oxidative stress in patients with breast or ovarian cancer by analyzing the magnitude of serum oxidizability and the involvement of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in the disease. Design and methods: The study was conducted on 32 patients diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer but who had not undergone any kind of treatment and 30 healthy individuals of similar age. The evaluation of oxidative stress was assessed by: (a) the ex-vivo susceptibility of serum lipids to oxidation and (b) the detection of oxLDL and anti-oxLDL autoantibodies. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were co-estimated. Results: The results indicated that the levels of oxLDL were increased among both breast and ovarian cancer patients as compared to the control subjects. Additionally in patients with breast cancer, serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, anti-oxLDL antibodies and the maximal rate of diene formation (RA), the index of oxidizable components load, were increased in comparison to controls. There is statistically significant evidence that serum oxLDL levels are associated with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Conclusions: The findings exhibit a correlation between oxLDL and malignancy, supporting the contribution of oxidative stress to carcinogenesis and the possible involvement of oxLDL in the process of malignancy. The clinical evaluation of the oxLDL measurement is under investigation. © 2007 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists.

In 2003-2004, 47 spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) ranging from 430 to 729 mm in TL and 18 smoothhound sharks (Mustelus mustelus) ranging from 428 to 720 mm in TL were collected from the eastern Mediterranean Sea, around the island of Crete. Total mercury levels in their edible tissues were determined with Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The highest concentration was found in the muscle tissue of a spiny dogfish (5.79 mg/kg w.w) and the lowest in the muscle tissue of a smooth-hound shark (0.22 mg/kg w.w). In all muscle samples of smooth-hound shark, except one, the concentrations of total mercury were below the maximum permitted level of 1 mg/kg w.w, whereas mercury concentrations were above this limit in 81% of the muscle samples of spiny dogfish.

El 2001 la Universitat d'Atenes va començar l'excavació paleontològica d'un jaciment situat a Aghia Napa, Xipre, en col·laboració amb el Departament de Prospeccions Geològiques de Xipre. Aquest jaciment ha lliurat una rica col·lecció de restes esquelètiques d'hipopòtams nans del Quaternari Superior. Lobjecte d'aquest treball rau en estudiar l'estat de conservació dels materials com a resultat de la seva fossilització. El material triat prové de les excavacions realitzades els dos darrers anys i consisteix en ossos i dents. La fossilització sembla haver afectat la histologia del material estudiat, mentre que la cristal·litzacíó i la química sembla que l'han afectat menys. En general, els materials no s'han vist molt afectats pels processos causats per la interacció entre les restes del sistema esquelètic i el sòl., During the year 2001, Athens University began palaeontological excavations at a site situated in Aghia Napa, Cyprus in collaboration with the Geological Survey Department of Cyprus. This site has given a rich collection of skeletal remains of Dwarf Hippos from the Upper Quaternary. The object of this paper is to study the state of preservation of the material as a result of fossilization. The material chosen was derived from the excavations realized during the last two years and consists of a number of bones and teeth. Fossilization seems to have mostly affected the histology of our material, while the crystallínity and the chemistry are less affected. In general our material has not been strongly affected by the procedures caused by the interaction of the system skeletal remain-soil.

Conventional management of metastatic bone disease involves local and systemic therapies in various combinations, along with symptomatic management to provide optimal care. In recent years, it has become clear that adding bisphosphonates to these treatments reduces the incidence and severity of skeletal complications. Bisphosphonates can also relieve metastatic bone pain and improve quality of life, although the extent to which they have demonstrated these effects may differ between agents. While bisphosphonates are the standard of care for the treatment of bone metastases, clinical trials are investigating additional indications for these agents, including the use of intensive dosing regimens for the relief of severe or opioid-resistant metastatic bone pain and adjuvant treatment for the prevention of bone metastases and cancer treatment-induced bone toss. Current and future indications demand effective, well-tolerated and convenient bisphosphonates, and the benefits of different drugs must be balanced against their limitations. The cost-effectiveness of bisphosphonate treatment is also a consideration, given the high economic burden of metastatic bone disease from breast cancer. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether treatment with a combination of GM-CSF and erythropoietin (rhEpo) can improve the anemia associated with low risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), namely refractory anemia (RA), RA with ring sideroblasts (RAS), and RA with excess of blasts (RAEB) with bone marrow blasts less than 10%. Eligibility criteria included an Hb level of less than 10.5 g/dl for newly diagnosed patients, or symptomatic anemia. GM-CSF was given at a dose of 3 mu g/kg s.c. on days 1-2, rhEpo at a dose of 60 U/kg s.c. on days 3-5. No treatment was given on days 6-7. Patients were followed-up with full blood count on a weekly basis. The treatment was repeated for a total of 6 weeks. At that time, if a rise in Hb above 1.5 g/dl had not been achieved, the dose of rhEpo increased to 120 U/kg. Post-treatment evaluation was performed at the completion of 12 weeks. Erythroid response was defined as good (GR), if an increase in untransfused Hb values above 2 g/dl or a 100% decrease in red blood cell transfusion requirements, over the treatment period was observed, while an increase in untransfused Hb values 1-2 g/dl or a >50% decrease in transfusion requirements, were considered as partial response. Responders continued to receive the same treatment until disease progression. Nineteen patients (13 male and six female) with a median age of 69 years were enrolled in the study. The FAB subtypes were: RA one case, RAS eight cases and RAEB 10 cases. Ten of 19 patients (52.6%) responded to the treatment: 7/19 (36.8%) achieved a GR and 3/19 (15.8%) a PR. Six of eight (75%) patients with RAS, one case with RA and 3/10 (30%) of cases with RAEB responded to treatment. Pretreatment serum epo levels were generally low (less than 200 Mu/ml) in responding patients. At the completion of the initial 12 weeks, 8/12 responding patients (5 RAS, 2 RAEB and 1 RA) continued to receive the same treatment. All responding patients with RAS continued to show an erythroid response in a time period from 3 to 24 months, whilst one patient with RA and two with RAEB did not have a continuing response at 2, 4 and 12 months, respectively. The above data suggest that the combination of rhEpo and GM-CSF should be recommended in all cases with RARS. However, the clear indication of this combination for other patients with MDS remains to be determined.

The aim of the present work was to assess the nutritional value of shrimps in terms of the essential fatty acids versus the toxicological concern as regards elements' accumulation in their tissues. The concentrations of lead (Pb). mercury (Hg). cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As), and the fatty acid (FA) profiles in the muscle and cephalothorax of Parapenaeus longirostris (Mediterranean shrimp) and Pandalus borealis (northern shrimp) were evaluated and comparatively studied. The results indicated a substantial association of the Cd, Pb and Hg concentrations with the shrimp fishing area and the tissue type. Moreover. Cd. Pb and Hg levels, found in the tissues of shrimps, were below EU maximum levels for human consumption. Total As concentration was highest (p < 0.05) in all tissues studied, mainly in the organic As form. Fatty acid patterns were found significantly different between shrimp species and tissues. Palmitic (C16:0). oleic (C18:1 omega-9), eicosapentaenoic (C20:5 omega-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic (C22:6 omega-3, DHA) acids were found to be the major FA in all tissues. The highest DHA/EPA and omega-3/omega-6 ratios were found in Parapenaeus longirostris and Pandalus borealis tissues, respectively. A positive feature, arising from the FA comparison, was the low values for both the atherogenic and thrombogenic indices, related to the high unsaturated/saturated FA ratio. (C) All Rights Reserved

VISAPP 2015 - 10th International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications; VISIGRAPP, Proceedings, Volume 2, 2015, Pages 623-630 Videos and image sequences of indoor environments with challenging illumination conditions often capture either brightly lit or dark scenes where every single exposure may contain overexposed and/or underexposed regions. High Dynamic Range (HDR) images contain information that standard dynamic range ones, often mentioned also as low dynamic range images (SDR/LDR) cannot capture. This paper investigates the contribution of HDR imaging in people detection and tracking systems. In order to evaluate this contribution of the HDR imaging in the accuracy and robustness of pedestrian detection and tracking in challenging indoor visual conditions, two state of the art trackers of different complexity were implemented. To this direction data were collected taking into account the requirements and real-life indoor scenarios and HDR frames were produced. The algorithms were applied to the SDR data and their corresponding HDR data and were compared and evaluated for their robustness and accuracy in terms of precision and recall. Results show that that the use of HDR images enhances the performance of the detection and tracking scheme, making it robust and more reliable.

In the past two decades or so, digital tools have been slowly integrated as part of the archaeological process of information acquisition, analysis, and dissemination. We are now entering a new era, adding the missing piece to the puzzle in order to complete this digital revolution and take archaeology one step further into virtual reality (VR). The main focus of this article is the methodology of digital archaeology that fully integrates virtual reality, from beta testing to interdisciplinary teamwork. We briefly discuss data acquisition and processing necessary to construct the 3D model, the analysis that can be conducted during and after the making or creation of the 3D environment and the dissemination of knowledge. We explain the relevance of this methodology through the case study on the intendant’s palace, an 18th century archaeological site in Quebec City, Canada. With this experience, we believe that VR can prompt new questions that would never have occurred otherwise and can provide technical advantages in terms of gathering data in the same virtual space. We conclude that multidisciplinary input in archaeological research is once again proven essential in this new, inclusive and vast digital structure of possibilities.

Remote sensing techniques are invaluable for the documentation and preservation of built heritage. The techniques facilitate fast documentation of highly complex heritage structures with improved accuracies. Furthermore they improve the degree of detail substantially. This is extremely useful for the restoration of collapsed elements or the reassembly of dismantled structures. These entities are often challenging to puzzle back together. Moreover, the differential settlements of the elements over time heavily influence the relative position and orientation of the remaining pieces, further complicating the reconstruction. Digital modelling solutions with a 3D model of the current situation as take-off, are desperately needed by the industry to tackle the present obstacles. In this work, a framework is proposed that facilitates a more accurate reassembly of dismantled heritage elements. It consists of three major phases starting with the accurate recording of the current situation as well as the preserved components. Subsequently, the new design is dititally modelled, reducing the necessary time for the reassembly of the structure, which is the last step in the rebuilding workflow. The presented framework allows for an efficient and comprehensible reconstruction of the structure. A key aspect in the approach is the detection of missing components and the estimation of their dimensions for the production of accurate replicas. The potential is showcased by means of two case studies on the reassembly of flying buttresses and rib vaults of the Saint-James church in Leuven, Belgium, which is currently undergoing major stabilisation works. The presented approach allows heritage experts to gain better oversight over their reassembly project and work more efficiently.

Digital Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanities are, historically seen, in focus of different communities as well as approaching different research topics and - from an organizational point of view - departments. However, are they that different? The idea of this joint article involving digital humanists and heritage researchers is to examine communities, concepts and research applications as well as shared challenges. Beyond a collection of problem-centred essays this is intended to initiate a fruitful discussion about commonalities and differences between both scholarly fields as well as to assess to which extent they are two sides of the same medal.

During the last two decades we have witnessed great improvements in ICT hardware and software technologies. Three-dimensional content is starting to become commonplace now in many applications. Although for many years 3D technologies have been used in the generation of assets by researchers and experts, nowadays these tools are starting to become commercially available to every citizen. This is especially the case for smartphones, that are powerful enough and sufficiently widespread to perform a huge variety of activities (e.g. paying, calling, communication, photography, navigation, localization, etc.), including just very recently the possibility of running 3D reconstruction pipelines. The REPLICATE project is tackling this particular issue, and it has an ambitious vision to enable ubiquitous 3D creativity via the development of tools for mobile 3D-assets generation on smartphones/tablets. This article presents the REPLICATE project’s concept and some of the ongoing activities, with particular attention being paid to advances made in the first year of work. Thus the article focuses on the system architecture definition, selection of optimal frames for 3D cloud reconstruction, automated generation of sparse and dense point clouds, mesh modelling techniques and post-processing actions. Experiments so far were concentrated on indoor objects and some simple heritage artefacts, however, in the long term we will be targeting a larger variety of scenarios and communities., International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLII-2/W3, ISSN:1682-1750, ISSN:2194-9034, ISSN:1682-1777, 3D Virtual Reconstruction and Visualization of Complex Architectures

A photogrammetric survey of a unique archaeological site is reported in this paper. The survey was performed using both a panoramic image-based solution and by classical procedure. The panoramic image-based solution was carried out employing a commercial solution: the Trimble V10 Imaging Rover (IR). Such instrument is an integrated cameras system that captures 360 degrees digital panoramas, composed of 12 images, with a single push. The direct comparison of the point clouds obtained with traditional photogrammetric procedure and V10 stations, using the same GCP coordinates has been carried out in Cloud Compare, open source software that can provide the comparison between two point clouds supplied by all the main statistical data. The site is a portion of the dial plate of the “Horologium Augusti” inaugurated in 9 B.C.E. in the area of Campo Marzio and still present intact in the same position, in a cellar of a building in Rome, around 7 meter below the present ground level.