Search results for " Performance."
showing 10 items of 2429 documents
Assessing data analysis performance in research contexts: An experiment on accuracy, efficiency, productivity and researchers’ satisfaction
2018
[EN] Any knowledge generation process involves raw data comprehension, evaluation and inferential reasoning. These practices, common to different disciplines, are known as data analysis, and represent the most important set of activities in research contexts. Researchers use data analysis software methods and tools for generating new knowledge in their daily data analysis. In recent years, data analysis software has been incorporating explicit references in modelling of cognitive processes, in order to improve the assistance offered in data analysis tasks. However, data analysis software commercial suites are still resisting this inclusion, and there is little empirical work done in knowing…
Increased survival of honeybees in the laboratory after simultaneous exposure to low doses of pesticides and bacteria
2018
Recent studies of honeybees and bumblebees have examined combinatory effects of different stressors, as insect pollinators are naturally exposed to multiple stressors. At the same time the potential influences of simultaneously occurring agricultural agents on insect pollinator health remain largely unknown. Due to different farming methods, and the drift of applied agents and manure, pollinators are most probably exposed to insecticides but also bacteria from organic fertilizers at the same time. We orally exposed honeybee workers to sub-lethal doses of the insecticide thiacloprid and two strains of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, which can occur in manure from farming animals. Our re…
TargetPlex FFPE-Direct DNA Library Preparation Kit for SiRe NGS panel: An international performance evaluation study
2021
AimNext generation sequencing (NGS) represents a key diagnostic tool to identify clinically relevant gene alterations for treatment-decision making in cancer care. However, the complex manual workflow required for NGS has limited its implementation in routine clinical practice. In this worldwide study, we validated the clinical performance of the TargetPlex FFPE-Direct DNA Library Preparation Kit for NGS analysis. Impressively, this new assay obviates the need for separate, labour intensive and time-consuming pre-analytical steps of DNA extraction, purification and isolation from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) specimens in the NGS workflow.MethodsThe TargetPlex FFPE-Direct DNA Libr…
The Effect of Lutein on Eye and Extra-Eye Health
2018
Lutein is a carotenoid with reported anti-inflammatory properties. A large body of evidence shows that lutein has several beneficial effects, especially on eye health. In particular, lutein is known to improve or even prevent age-related macular disease which is the leading cause of blindness and vision impairment. Furthermore, many studies have reported that lutein may also have positive effects in different clinical conditions, thus ameliorating cognitive function, decreasing the risk of cancer, and improving measures of cardiovascular health. At present, the available data have been obtained from both observational studies investigating lutein intake with food, and a few intervention tri…
A rare disease and education : Neurofibromatosis type 1 decreases educational attainment
2021
Rare heritable syndromes may affect educational attainment. Here, we study education in neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) that is associated with multifaceted medical, social and cognitive consequences. Educational attainment in the Finnish population‐based cohort of 1408 individuals with verified NF1 was compared with matched controls using Cox proportional hazards model with delayed entry and competing risk for death. Moreover, models accounting for the effects of cancer at age 15–30 years, parental NF1 and developmental disorders were constructed. Overall, the attainment of secondary education was reduced in individuals with NF1 compared to controls (hazard ratio 0.83, 95%CI 0.74–0.92). History …
Telomere length and physical performance among older people-The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
2019
Telomere length has been suggested a biomarker of aging and is associated with several chronic diseases. However, the association between telomere length and physical performance is not well known. Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we studied 582 women and 453 men from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study at two time-points; a baseline examination in 2001-2004 at a mean age of 61 years and a follow-up examination approximately 10 years later in 2011-2013. Telomere length was measured both at baseline and at follow-up using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Physical performance was evaluated only at follow-up using the Senior Fitness Test (SFT), which assesses stre…
Declining Physical Performance Associates with Serum FasL, miR-21, and miR-146a in Aging Sprinters.
2016
Aging is associated with systemic inflammation and cellular apoptosis accelerating physiological dysfunctions. Whether physically active way of life affects these associations is unclear. This study measured the levels of serum inflammatory and apoptotic molecules, their change over 10 years, and their associations with physical performance in sprint-trained male athletes. HsCRP, cell counts, HGB, FasL, miR-21, and miR-146a were measured cross-sectionally (n=67, 18–90 yrs) and serum FasL, miR-21, and miR-146a and their aging-related associations with physical performance were assessed over a 10-year follow-up (n=49, 50–90 yrs). The cross-sectional study showed positive age correlations for …
Relationship Between Body Mass Index, ApoE4 Status, and PET-Based Amyloid and Neurodegeneration Markers in Amyloid-Positive Subjects with Normal Cogn…
2018
Body weight loss in late-life is known to occur at a very early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) represents a major genetic risk factor for AD and is linked to an increased cortical amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation. Since the relationship between body weight, ApoE4, and AD pathology is poorly investigated, we aimed to evaluate whether ApoE4 allelic status modifies the association of body mass index (BMI) with markers of AD pathology. A total of 368 Aβ-positive cognitively healthy or mild cognitive impaired subjects had undergone [18F]-AV45-PET, [18F]-FDG-PET, and T1w-MRI examinations. Composite cortical [18F]-AV45 uptake and [18F]-FDG uptake in posterior cingulate cor…
Dynamic longitudinal behavior in animals exposed to chronic social defeat stress
2020
AbstractChronic social defeat (CSD) can lead to impairments in social interaction and other behaviors that are supposed to model features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Not all animals subjected to CSD, however, develop these impairments, and maintained social interaction in some animals is widely used as a model for resilience to stress-induced mental dysfunctions. So far, animals have mainly been studied shortly (24 hours and 7 days) after CSD exposure and longitudinal development of behavioral phenotypes in individual animals has been mostly neglected. We have analyzed social interaction and novel object recognition behavior of stressed mice at different time points after CSD and ha…
Treatment with albumin-hydroxyoleic acid complex restores sensorimotor function in rats with spinal cord injury: Efficacy and gene expression regulat…
2017
Sensorimotor dysfunction following incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) is often characterized by paralysis, spasticity and pain. Previously, we showed that intrathecal (i.t.) administration of the albumin-oleic acid (A-OA) complex in rats with SCI produced partial improvement of these symptoms and that oral 2-hydroxyoleic acid (HOA, a non-hydrolyzable OA analogue), was efficacious in the modulation and treatment of nociception and pain-related anxiety, respectively. Here we observed that intrathecal treatment with the complex albumin-HOA (A-HOA) every 3 days following T9 spinal contusion injury improved locomotor function assessed with the Rotarod and inhibited TA noxious reflex activity in…