About the Authors
- Martin Brand
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Affiliation Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Angela J. Woodiwiss
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* E-mail: angela.woodiwiss@wits.ac.za (AJW); gavin.norton@wits.ac.za (GRN)
Affiliation Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Frederic Michel
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Affiliation Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Simon Nayler
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Affiliation Gritzman and Thatcher Inc., Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Martin G. Veller
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Affiliation Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Gavin R. Norton
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* E-mail: angela.woodiwiss@wits.ac.za (AJW); gavin.norton@wits.ac.za (GRN)
Affiliation Cardiovascular Pathophysiology and Genomics Research Unit, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Competing Interests
Dr Simon Nayler is employed by Gritzman and Thatcher Inc. which is a private pathology laboratory. The authors specifically contracted Dr Nayler for this study because of his reputation and expertise as a histopathologist, especially in the cardiovascular field. Dr Nayler has no invested interests nor stands to gain from the outcomes of this study. Hence, the authors do not believe that he has a conflict of interest. Furthermore, this does not alter the authors’ adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: MB AJW FM SN MGV GRN. Performed the experiments: MB SN. Analyzed the data: MB AJW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MB AJW SN GRN. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: MB AJW FM SN MGV GRN.