Pseudomonas fluorescens CHA0 produces several secondary metabolites, e.g., the antibiotics pyoluteorin (Plt) and 2,4-diacetylphloroglucinol (Phl), which are important for the suppression of root diseases caused by soil-borne fungal pathogens. A Tn5 insertion mutant of strain CHA0, CHA625, does not produce Phl, shows enhanced Plt production on malt agar, and has lost part of the ability to suppr...

Alum used for poultry houses is sold under the commercial name of “Al+ Clear” in either liquid or dry form. Alum should not be confused with other litter treatment chemicals such as “PLT” (poultry litter treatment), as PLT is comprised mainly of sodium bisulfate (NaHSO4). Although PLT is effective at reducing ammonia levels, pathogens in house, energy costs, and potentially increasing forage yi...

BACKGROUND A new cell separator (COM.TEC, Fresenius) was recently developed aimed at efficient collection of WBC-reduced single-donor PLT concentrates (SDPs). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Five German centers collected 554 WBC-reduced SDPs with help of the COM.TEC cell separator. Two multicenter cell counting studies were performed at the beginning and at the end of the study to document uniform c...

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to investigate whether gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) and healthy pregnancy differ with respect to complete blood count parameters and these parameters can be used both to explain the pathophysiologic mechanisms and differentiate the two conditions from each other. METHODS The data obtained from 37 women with GTD and 61 healthy pregnancies (contro...

OBJECTIVE Whether video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is associated with less shoulder dysfunction when compared with posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT) remains unclear. We therefore conducted this prospective study to assess the shoulder function in patients following major lung resection using either the VATS or PLT approach. METHODS Twenty-nine consecutive patients were prospectively recr...

A computational model of visual selective attention has been implemented to account for experimental findings on the Perceptual Load Theory (PLT) of attention. The model was designed based on existing neurophysiological findings on attentional processes with the objective to offer an explicit and biologically plausible formulation of PLT. Simulation results verified that the proposed model is c...

We previously reported that mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) that had been co-cultured with platelets exhibited lower susceptibility to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and produced lower levels of nitric oxide (NO) and inflammatory cytokines including TNF-α and IL-6. The suppression of macrophage responses was mediated, at least in part, by platelet supernatant. In the present s...

AIM To compare the performance of several simple, noninvasive models comprising various serum markers in diagnosing significant liver fibrosis in the same sample of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with the same judgment standard. METHODS A total of 308 patients with CHB who had undergone liver biopsy, laboratory tests, and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) at the Southwest Hospital, C...

BACKGROUND According to the reported cases of transfusion-acquired Trypanosoma cruzi infection, the risk of T. cruzi transfusion transmission appears to be higher with platelet (PLT) products than with other blood components. The aim of this study was to investigate by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) the parasitic load detected in leukoreduced plasma and PLT concentrates...

BACKGROUND The standard treatment in the metastatic colorectal cancer consists of 5-FU based infusional regimens. However, with oral fluoropyrimidines, equal tumor responses may be obtained. Capecitabine causes macrocytosis of the cells by inhibition of DNA synthesis. In this context, a relationship was found between mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and response to therapy in breast cancer patient...