Search results for " variability"
showing 10 items of 853 documents
Cardiorespiratory information dynamics during mental arithmetic and sustained attention
2015
An analysis of cardiorespiratory dynamics during mental arithmetic, which induces stress, and sustained attention was conducted using information theory. The information storage and internal information of heart rate variability (HRV) were determined respectively as the self-entropy of the tachogram, and the self-entropy of the tachogram conditioned to the knowledge of respiration. The information transfer and cross information from respiration to HRV were assessed as the transfer and cross-entropy, both measures of cardiorespiratory coupling. These information-theoretic measures identified significant nonlinearities in the cardiorespiratory time series. Additionally, it was shown that, alt…
Atmospheric correction of ENVISAT/MERIS data over inland waters: Validation for European lakes
2010
Traditional methods for aerosol retrieval and atmospheric correction of remote sensing data over water surfaces are based on the assumption of zero water reflectance in the near-infrared. Another type of approach which is becoming very popular in atmospheric correction over water is based on the simultaneous retrieval of atmospheric and water parameters through the inversion of coupled atmospheric and bio-optical water models. Both types of approaches may lead to substantial errors over optically-complex water bodies, such as case II waters, in which a wide range of temporal and spatial variations in the concentration of water constituents is expected. This causes the water reflectance in t…
Typology of pentad circulation anomalies over the Eastern Africa - Western Indian Ocean region, and their relationship with rainfall
2005
International audience; The aim of this study was to classify the most frequently observed atmospheric circula- tion anomaly patterns in eastern Africa and the adjacent Indian Ocean. As an example of the useful- ness of such a classification, the second objective was to test whether these patterns account for intraseasonal rainfall anomalies in the region. A partitioning algorithm, known as dynamical cluster analysis, was therefore applied to the zonal (U)and meridional (V)components of the wind anom- alies, obtained from the NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis R-2 at the pentad (5 d) timescale. The 3 geopoten- tial levels 850, 700 and 200 hPa were combined. Focus is on the transition seasons (March to Ma…
Hyperspectral Image Classification with Kernels
2007
The information contained in hyperspectral images allows the characterization, identification, and classification of land covers with improved accuracy and robustness. However, several critical problems should be considered in the classification of hyperspectral images, among which are (a) the high number of spectral channels, (b) the spatial variability of the spectral signature, (c) the high cost of true sample labeling, and (d) the quality of data. Recently, kernel methods have offered excellent results in this context. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art hyperspectral image classifiers, presents two recently proposed kernel-based approaches, and systematically discusses the specif…
The case for strategic international alliances to harness nutritional genomics for public and personal health
2005
Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene-nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need …
Biodiversità in alcune specie del genere Mentha nel territorio dei Monti Nebrodi (Sicilia N-W).
2008
In Nebrodi Mountains (N-E Sicily), the genus Mentha is represented by an high number of species, in many cases typical of humid and subhumid environments. This work was addressed to investigate about the biomorphological traits of various accessions belonging to 3 Mentha species collected in the Nebrodi highlands, namely 22 accessions of Mentha spicata, 12 of Mentha suaveolens and 13 of Mentha aquatica. Plant material was picked up starting from the early spring 2007, from different sites as in altitude and in pedological and climatic traits, that were distributed over an area of 200.000 ha approx.. Later on, all collected plant individuals were transplanted in a collection field, appositel…
Monitoring Coastal Lagoon Water Quality Through Remote Sensing: The Mar Menor as a Case Study
2019
The Mar Menor is a hypersaline coastal lagoon located in the southeast of Spain. This fragile ecosystem is suffering several human pressures, such as nutrient and sediment inputs from agriculture and other activities and decreases in salinity. Therefore, the development of an operational system to monitor its evolution is crucial to know the cause-effect relationships and preserve the natural system. The evolution and variability of the turbidity and chlorophyll-a levels in the Mar Menor water body were studied here through the joint use of remote sensing techniques and in situ data. The research was undertaken using Operational Land Imager (OLI) images on Landsat 8 and two SPOT images, bec…
Seasonal variation of air kerma rate in Sicily.
2007
Thermoluminescence dosimetry has been used to measure air kerma in 29 sites in Sicily. Four three month measurement campaigns have been carried out in order to assess seasonal variations. Average annual values between 20 and 90 nGy h(-1), after cosmic background subtraction, are reported. Average annual values are strongly dependent on site lithology, and we find that winter data are generally the highest, while spring and autumn rates are generally the lowest with very similar trends in any site. Summer values generally lay in between. Largest seasonal variations are found in sites along the southern coast of the island, probably because of stronger action of winds affecting radon, along w…
International genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new primary biliary cirrhosis risk loci and targetable pathogenic pathways
2015
Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10−8) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine–cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist.
SHORT-TERM VARIABILITY OF 24-H SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE IS ASSOCIATED WITH MICROALBUMINURIA IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY HYPERTENSION
2015
Introduction: Limited and conflicting data are available about the association between short-term blood pressure (BP) variability and urinary albumin excretion rate (uAER). Aim: To analyse the relationships between microalbuminuria, defined as an uAER between 20 and 200 lg/min, and short-term BP variability, assessed as average real variability (ARV), weighted standard deviation (SD) of 24-h BP, and as SD of daytime and nighttime BP. Methods: The study population consisted of 316 untreated essential hypertensive patients with normal estimated glomerular filtration rate ([60 ml/min/1.73m2), which underwent 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring and 24-h uAER determination. Results: Microalbuminuria w…