Search results for "COEFFICIENT"

2016

Focal demyelinated lesions, diffuse white matter (WM) damage and grey matter (GM) atrophy influence directly the disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis. The aim of this study was to identify specific characteristics of GM and WM structural networks in subjects with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) in comparison to patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Twenty patients with CIS, thirty three with RRMS and forty healthy subjects were investigated using 3 T-MRI. Diffusion tensor imaging was applied, together with probabilistic tractography and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps for WM and cortical thickness correlation analysis for GM, to determine t…

Comparison between adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence and aerobic colony count to assess surface sanitation in the hospital environment

2022

Background: Adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence produced by the firefly luciferase has been successfullyintroduced to verify cleaning procedures in the food industry according to the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Pointprogram.Our aim was to evaluate the reliability of bioluminescence as a tool to monitor the effectiveness of sanitation in healthcaresettings, in comparison with the microbiological gold standard.Methods: 614 surfaces of various material were randomly sampled in Policlinico University Hospital units in Palermo,Italy, to detect adenosine triphosphate bioluminescence and aerobic colony count. Linear regression model andPearson correlation coefficient were used to estimate …

Application of Graph Clustering and Visualisation Methods to Analysis of Biomolecular Data

2018

In this paper we present an approach based on integrated use of graph clustering and visualisation methods for semi-supervised discovery of biologically significant features in biomolecular data sets. We describe several clustering algorithms that have been custom designed for analysis of biomolecular data and feature an iterated two step approach involving initial computation of thresholds and other parameters used in clustering algorithms, which is followed by identification of connected graph components, and, if needed, by adjustment of clustering parameters for processing of individual subgraphs.

Analysis of low-correlated spatial gene expression patterns: A clustering approach in the mouse brain data hosted in the Allen Brain Atlas

2018

The Allen Brain Atlas (ABA) provides a similar gene expression dataset by genome-scale mapping of the C57BL/6J mouse brain. In this study, the authors describe a method to extract the spatial information of gene expression patterns across a set of 1047 genes. The genes were chosen from among the 4104 genes having the lowest Pearson correlation coefficient used to compare the expression patterns across voxels in a single hemisphere for available coronal and sagittal volumes. The set of genes analysed in this study is the one discarded in the article by Bohland et al. , which was considered to be of a lower consistency, not a reliable dataset. Following a normalisation task with a global and …

Effect of contact lens surface properties on comfort, tear stability and ocular physiology.

2018

Aim: Retrospective analysis of different contact lens wearing groups suggests lens surface lubricity is the main factor influencing contact lens comfort. However, the examined commercially available contact lenses differ in material and design as well as surface properties. Hence this study isolates the contribution of lens surface properties using an ultra-thin coating technology. Methods: Nineteen habitual contact lens wearers (21.6. ±. 1.7years) wore formofilcon B soft monthly disposable contact lenses with and without coating technology modified surface properties for a month each in a randomised double-masked cross-over study. Objective non-invasive: breakup time (NIKBUT), NIKBUT avera…

Multi-centre validation of a flow cytometry method to identify optimal responders to interferon-beta in multiple sclerosis.

2018

Background and objectives: Percentages of blood CD19 + CD5 + B cells and CD8 + perforin + T lymphocytes can predict response to Interferon (IFN)-beta treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. We aimed to standardize their detection in a multicenter study, prior to their implementation in clinical practice. Methods: Fourteen hospitals participated in the study. A reference centre was established for comparison studies. Peripheral blood cells of 105 untreated RRMS patients were studied. Every sample was analyzed in duplicate in the participating centre and in the reference one by flow cytometry. When needed, participating centres corrected fluorescence compensations…

Comparative measurement of collagen bundle orientation by Fourier analysis and semiquantitative evaluation: reliability and agreement in Masson's tri…

2017

Summary Measurement of collagen bundle orientation in histopathological samples is a widely used and useful technique in many research and clinical scenarios. Fourier analysis is the preferred method for performing this measurement, but the most appropriate staining and microscopy technique remains unclear. Some authors advocate the use of Haematoxylin-Eosin (H&E) and confocal microscopy, but there are no studies comparing this technique with other classical collagen stainings. In our study, 46 human skin samples were collected, processed for histological analysis and stained with Masson's trichrome, Picrosirius red and H&E. Five microphotographs of the reticular dermis were taken with a 20…

A Methodological Framework to Discover Pharmacogenomic Interactions Based on Random Forests

2021

The identification of genomic alterations in tumor tissues, including somatic mutations, deletions, and gene amplifications, produces large amounts of data, which can be correlated with a diversity of therapeutic responses. We aimed to provide a methodological framework to discover pharmacogenomic interactions based on Random Forests. We matched two databases from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopaedia (CCLE) project, and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) project. For a total of 648 shared cell lines, we considered 48,270 gene alterations from CCLE as input features and the area under the dose-response curve (AUC) for 265 drugs from GDSC as the outcomes. A three-step reduction t…

Two-Stage Bayesian Approach for GWAS With Known Genealogy

2019

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aim to assess relationships between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and diseases. They are one of the most popular problems in genetics, and have some peculiarities given the large number of SNPs compared to the number of subjects in the study. Individuals might not be independent, especially in animal breeding studies or genetic diseases in isolated populations with highly inbred individuals. We propose a family-based GWAS model in a two-stage approach comprising a dimension reduction and a subsequent model selection. The first stage, in which the genetic relatedness between the subjects is taken into account, selects the promising SNPs. The se…

Iron-loaded transferrin (Tf) is detrimental whereas iron-free Tf confers protection against brain ischemia by modifying blood Tf saturation and subse…

2018

Despite transferrin being the main circulating carrier of iron in body fluids, and iron overload conditions being known to worsen stroke outcome through reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced damage, the contribution of blood transferrin saturation (TSAT) to stroke brain damage is unknown. The objective of this study was to obtain evidence on whether TSAT determines the impact of experimental ischemic stroke on brain damage and whether iron-free transferrin (apotransferrin, ATf)-induced reduction of TSAT is neuroprotective. We found that experimental ischemic stroke promoted an early extravasation of circulating iron-loaded transferrin (holotransferrin, HTf) to the ischemic brain parenchyma.…