Search results for "INFORMATICS"
showing 10 items of 2542 documents
Normalised compression distance and evolutionary distance of genomic sequences: comparison of clustering results
2009
Genomic sequences are usually compared using evolutionary distance, a procedure that implies the alignment of the sequences. Alignment of long sequences is a time consuming procedure and the obtained dissimilarity results is not a metric. Recently, the normalised compression distance was introduced as a method to calculate the distance between two generic digital objects and it seems a suitable way to compare genomic strings. In this paper, the clustering and the non-linear mapping obtained using the evolutionary distance and the compression distance are compared, in order to understand if the two distances sets are similar.
The Robotic Construction Kit as a Tool for Cognitive Stimulation in Children and Adolescents: The RE4BES Protocol
2019
Through numerous experiences, the robotics has been demonstrated to have good potential in the field of strengthening social skills in children with Special Educational Needs and in particular with autism spectrum disorder. There are still not many experimental studies on the cognitive enhancement and social skills of children with special needs conducted with robotics construction kits that, requiring both the construction of the robot body and the programming of its “mind“, bring into play a multiplicity of cognitive and social skills. For the aforementioned reasons our team from the University of Palermo and from the Center MetaIntelligenze ONLUS developed the treatment protocol RE4BES, …
Psychological Well-Being among Adolescents and Youth.
2022
Today, the construct of well‐being has assumed increasing importance in various areas of psychology by identifying several factors of personal order (personality dispositions, self‐esteem, perception of control), interpersonal (social support), and socioeconomic (income, level of education), variables that can influence well‐being to a greater or lesser extent. Research on the construct has been derived from two influential approaches or perspectives: the hedonic approach, which focuses on pleasure and happiness and on the achievement of well-being through the satisfaction of one’s desires, and the eudaimonic approach, according to which well-being is obtained by fulfilling one’s potential …
Genetic risk factors and candidate biomarkers for Alzheimer s disease
2009
Alzheimer's disease is a multifactorial and progressive neurodegenerative disease, extremely diffused and with an increasing prevalence worldwide. There is an urgent need for biomarkers to diagnose AD early in its course. Furthermore, accurate biomarkers would be able to determine the clinical efficacy of novel neuroprotective strategies. Although the heritability of late-onset AD is high, our knowledge of the underlying putative susceptibility genes remains incomplete and the only unequivocally established late-onset AD gene is APOE. Nevertheless a number of susceptibility loci seems to influence the pathogenesis of AD, and variations in numerous genes have been considered to be important …
Prognostic significance of p16INK4a alterations and 9p21 loss of heterozigosity in locally advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma
2002
The p16INK4a gene, localized within chromosome 9p21, has been identified as a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and may negatively regulate the cell cycle acting as a tumor suppressor. Genetic alterations involving the 9p21 region are common in human cancers. A consecutive series of 64 untreated patients (median of follow up 53 months) undergoing surgical resection for locally advanced laryngeal squamous-cell carcinomas (LSCCs) has been studied prospectively. Our purpose was to investigate p16 alterations (9p21 allelic loss, hypermethylation and point mutations) and their possible association with clinico-pathological data and flow cytometric variables (DNA-ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF)…
MicroRNAs in Colorectal Cancer Drug Resistance: Shooters become Targets
2013
Copyright: © 2013 Fanale D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are involved in the regulation of several biological processes such as development, differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis and proliferation. Recently, it has been shown that deregulated expression of miRNAs are present in different human cancers, suggesting a potential role in carcinogenesis [1,2]. Recent evidence suggests that miRNAs may represent potential new therapeutic approaches in patients with dru…
Down with the erythropoietin. Long live the erythropoietin!
2009
In recent years the use of erythropoietin has exploded, and the anaemia of patients with chronic renal failure has been practically resolved with the administration of rHuEpo (recombinant human, Erythropoietin). However, as a result of an intense commercial campaign, strong therapies with this growth hormone, prescribed to achieve surprising sporting performances, got athletes to run the risk of thrombosis and vascular accidents because of red blood cells increase. Erythropoietin represents a significant subject of research. In fact, besides the ability of stimulating erythrocyte production, it has many pleiotropic effects. Several studies allow the assertion that EPO, in different concentr…
Developing drug strategies for the neuroprotective treatment of acute ischemic stroke
2015
Developing new treatment strategies for acute ischemic stroke in the last twenty years has offered some important successes, but also several failures. Most trials of neuroprotective therapies have been uniformly negative to date. Recent research has reported how excitatory amino acids act as the major excitatory neurotransmitters in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Furthermore, other therapeutic targets such as free radical scavenger strategies and the anti-inflammatory neuroprotective strategy have been evaluated with conflicting data in animal models and human subjects with acute ischemic stroke. Whereas promising combinations of neuroprotection and neurorecovery, such as citicoline,…
Osteoporosis, jawbones and periodontal disease
2012
The association between osteoporosis and jawbones remains an argument of debate. Both osteoporosis and periodontal diseases are bone resorptive diseases; it has been hypothesized that osteoporosis could be a risk factor for the progression of periodontal disease and vice versa. Hypothetical models linking the two conditions exist: in particular, it is supposed that the osteoporosis-related bone mass density reduction may accelerate alveolar bone resorption caused by periodontitis, resulting in a facilitated periodontal bacteria invasion. Invading bacteria, in turn, may alter the normal homeostasis of bone tissue, increasing osteoclastic activity and reducing local and systemic bone density …
New Frontiers in the Treatment of Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia.
2021
: Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) is a rare genetic disorder. The most common cause is a mutation in both alleles of the gene encoding for the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor, although other causative mutations have been identified. Complications of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease are common in these patients; therefore, reducing the elevated LDL-cholesterol burden is critical in their management. Conventionally, this is achieved by patients initiating lipid-lowering therapy, but this can present challenges in clinical practice. Fortunately, novel therapeutic strategies have enabled promising innovations in HoFH treatment. This review highlights recent and ongo…