Search results for "Models"

Semi-parametric estimation of the intensity function in space-time point processes

2009

Alpha1-antitrypsin heterozygosity plays a positive role in attainment of longevity.

2007

Genes involved in cardiovascular diseases (CVD) play an opposite role in human longevity. The alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) is a serine-protease inhibitor required for the prevention of proteolytic tissue damage, by neutrophil elastase. The role of AAT in CVD has not been definitively assessed and its effect on longevity has not yet fully been studied. To clarify these points, we have studied the distribution of AAT allele variants in 3 cohorts: 127 young patients affected by acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 255 young controls and 143 centenarians from Sicily. The Z allele frequency was most frequent in centenarians (13.3%), intermediate in healthy young controls (3.1%) and less frequent in AM…

Oxidative stress in environmental-induced carcinogenesis.

2009

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the more abundant free radicals in nature and have been related with a number of tissue/organ injuries induced by xenobiotics, ischemia, activation of leucocytes, UV exposition, etc. Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between ROS production and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify these reactive intermediates or easily repair the resulting damage. Thus, oxidative stress is accepted as a critical pathophysiological mechanism in different frequent human pathologies, including cancer. In fact ROS can cause protein, lipid, and DNA damage, and malignant tumors often show increased levels of DNA base oxidation and mutations. Different lifesty…

Muscle Cross-Sectional Area and Structural Bone Strength Share Genetic and Environmental Effects in Older Women

2009

The purpose of this study was to estimate to what extent muscle cross-sectional area of the lower leg (mCSA) and tibial structural strength are influenced by common and trait-specific genetic and environmental factors. pQCT scans were obtained from both members of 102 monozygotic (MZ) and 113 dizygotic (DZ) 63- to 76-yr-old female twin pairs to estimate the mCSA of the lower leg, structural bending strength of the tibial shaft (BSIbend), and compressive strength of the distal tibia (BSIcomp). Quantitative genetic models were used to decompose the phenotypic variances into common and trait-specific additive genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and individual environmental (E) effects. The …

Synthetic lethal metabolic targeting of cellular senescence in cancer therapy.

2013

Activated oncogenes and anticancer chemotherapy induce cellular senescence, a terminal growth arrest of viable cells characterized by S-phase entry-blocking histone 3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3). Although therapy-induced senescence (TIS) improves long-term outcomes, potentially harmful properties of senescent tumour cells make their quantitative elimination a therapeutic priority. Here we use the Eµ-myc transgenic mouse lymphoma model in which TIS depends on the H3K9 histone methyltransferase Suv39h1 to show the mechanism and therapeutic exploitation of senescence-related metabolic reprogramming in vitro and in vivo. After senescence-inducing chemotherapy, TIS-competent lymphomas but …

Enhanced Accumulation of Betulinic Acid in Transgenic Hairy Roots of Senna obtusifolia Growing in the Sprinkle Bioreactor and Evaluation of Their Bio…

2021

Betulinic acid, which is found in transgenic roots of Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby, is a pentacyclic triterpene with distinctive pharmacological activities. In this study, we report the differences in the content of betulinic acid and selected anthraquinones in transgenic S. obtusifolia hairy roots with overexpression of the PgSS1 gene (SOPSS2 line) and in transformed hairy roots without this genetic construct (SOA41 line). Both hairy root lines grew in 10 L sprinkle bioreactor. Additionally, the extracts obtained from this plant material were used for biological tests. Our results demonstrated that the SOPSS2 hairy root cultures from the bioreactor showed an increase in the c…

Experimental approach for testing the uncoupling between cardiovascular variability series

2002

In cardiovascular variability analysis, the significance of the coupling between two series is commonly assessed by defining a zero level on the magnitude-squared coherence (MSC). Although the use of the conventional value of 0.5 does not consider the dependence of MSC estimates on the analysis parameters, a theoretical threshold Tt is available only for the weighted covariance (WC) estimator. In this study, an experimental threshold for zero coherence Te was derived by a statistical test from the sampling distribution of MSC estimated on completely uncoupled time series. MSC was estimated by the WC method (Parzen window, spectral bandwidth B = 0.015, 0.02, 0.025, 0.03 Hz) and by the parame…

Selection of the Best Subset of Variables in Regression and Time Series Models

2009

The problem of variable selection is one of the most pervasive model selection problems in statistical applications. Often referred to as the problem of subset selection, it arises when one wants to model the relationship between a variable of interest and a subset of potential explanatory variables or predictors, but there is uncertainty about which subset to use. Several papers have dealt with various aspects of the problem but it appears that the typical regression user has not benefited appreciably. One reason for the lack of resolution of the problem is the fact that it is has not been well defined. Indeed, it is apparent that there is not a single problem, but rather several problems …

SINGLE FACTOR STOCHASTIC MODELS WITH SEASONALITY APPLIED TO UNDERLYING WEATHER DERIVATIVES VARIABLES

2003

This paper estimates single factor stochastic models describing daily air temperature behaviour. We modify classical financial models to reflect temperature seasonality and fit them to a time series representing temperatures in Spain. The estimated models are used in Montecarlo simulations to obtain heating and cooling degree-days, which are used as an underlying reference in weather derivatives. The final goal of this work is to obtain an insight into weather derivative valuation, and so making it easier to manage economic activity risks closely related to temperature (i.e. oil, gas and electricity prices and volumes). En este trabajo se estiman modelos estocásticos unifactoriales que desc…

Development of predictive retention-activity relationship models of tricyclic antidepressants by micellar liquid chromatography.

1999

The distribution of tricyclic antidepressants from plasma to brain, where these drugs exert their main clinical action, and other organs is related to transport events across the cell membranes of the different tissues. It could be expected that all the molecular features that condition the transport processes (mainly hydrophobicity and molar total charge) also control the pharmacokinetic and biochemical behavior. Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) has been proposed to emulate in vitro the partitioning process in the biomembranes. The use of micellar solutions of Brij35 as mobile phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography has proven to be valid to predict the biological activities of …