Search results for "Native"

Comparing Traditional and IRT Scoring of Forced-Choice Tests.

2018

This article explores how traditional scores obtained from different forced-choice (FC) formats relate to their true scores and item response theory (IRT) estimates. Three FC formats are considered from a block of items, and respondents are asked to (a) pick the item that describes them most (PICK), (b) choose the two items that describe them the most and the least (MOLE), or (c) rank all the items in the order of their descriptiveness of the respondents (RANK). The multi-unidimensional pairwise-preference (MUPP) model, which is extended to more than two items per block and different FC formats, is applied to obtain the responses to each item block. Traditional and IRT (i.e., expected a po…

Multi-domain Feature of Event-Related Potential Extracted by Nonnegative Tensor Factorization: 5 vs. 14 Electrodes EEG Data

2012

As nonnegative tensor factorization (NTF) is particularly useful for the problem of underdetermined linear transform model, we performed NTF on the EEG data recorded from 14 electrodes to extract the multi-domain feature of N170 which is a visual event-related potential (ERP), as well as 5 typical electrodes in occipital-temporal sites for N170 and in frontal-central sites for vertex positive potential (VPP) which is the counterpart of N170, respectively. We found that the multi-domain feature of N170 from 5 electrodes was very similar to that from 14 electrodes and more discriminative for different groups of participants than that of VPP from 5 electrodes. Hence, we conclude that when the …

Primi dati sulla coltivazione del fagiolo azuki (Vigna angularis) e del fagiolo indiano (V. radiata) nell'Orto botanico di Palermo

2012

Activity investigation of pinostrobin towards herpes simplex virus-1 as determined by atomic force microscopy

2009

In the present study, the antiviral activity of pinostrobin towards herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) was investigated by MTT assay and atomic force microscopy. Pinostrobin can inhibit HSV-1 replication with 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) of 22.71 ± 1.72 μg/ml. MTT assay showed HSV-1 was significantly inhibited when pretreated with pinostrobin, with the inhibition of 85.69 ± 2.59%. Significant changes in morphology and size of HSV-1 were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in response to pinostrobin treatment. AFM topography and phase images showed that with increasing time, the envelope was shedded and damaged, finally leading to virus inactivation. With increasing concentration, …

Zizyphus lotus L. (Desf.) modulates antioxidant activity and human T-cell proliferation

2009

Abstract Background Zizyphus lotus L. (Desf.) also known as Jujube, is a deciduous shrub which belongs to Rhamnaceae family. This plant is used in Algerian traditional medicine for its anti-diabetic, sedative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and hypoglycaemic activities. In the present study, we determined the concentrations of different vitamins (vitamin A, C and E) and fatty acids in root, stem, leaves, fruit pulp and seed of Zizyphus lotus L. (Desf.) and assessed the effects of their aqueous extracts on antioxidant status and human T-cell proliferation. Methods Aqueous filtrates from different parts, i.e, root, leaf, stem, fruit pulp and seed, of Zizyphus lotus L. (Desf.) were prepared. Vit…

Inhibition of Folic Acid Uptake by Catechins and Tea Extracts in Caco-2 Cells

2006

In this present study it was aimed to determine whether the catechins contained in green tea and the whole extracts of Camellia sinensis (Theaceae) inhibit the uptake of folic acid by Caco-2 cell monolayers. Our results indicate that (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) and (-)-epicatechin 3-gallate (ECG) inhibit cellular folic acid uptake with IC50 values of 34.8 micromol/L and 30.8 micromol/L, respectively. Furthermore, green and black tea extracts were also found to inhibit folic acid uptake with IC50 values of approximately 7.5 and 3.6 mg/mL, respectively. According to these results, simultaneous intake of tea and folic acid may inhibit intestinal folic acid absorption. The consequence…

iGEMS : an integrated model for identification of alternative exon usage events

2016

DNA microarrays and RNAseq are complementary methods for studying RNA molecules. Current computational methods to determine alternative exon usage (AEU) using such data require impractical visual inspection and still yield high false-positive rates. Integrated Gene and Exon Model of Splicing (iGEMS) adapts a gene-level residuals model with a gene size adjusted false discovery rate and exon-level analysis to circumvent these limitations. iGEMS was applied to two new DNA microarray datasets, including the high coverage Human Transcriptome Arrays 2.0 and performance was validated using RT-qPCR. First, AEU was studied in adipocytes treated with (n = 9) or without (n = 8) the anti-diabetes drug,…

Alternative Energy Policy for Mitigating the Asynchrony of the Wind-Power Industry’s Supply Chain in Brazil

2018

High dependency on hydroelectricity has revealed drawbacks in the security of power supplies as a consequence of the climate variability in South America. Under these conditions, Brazil is starting to consider alternative renewable sources for energy production, seeking to avoid periods of scarcity while also promoting clean technologies in its electricity market. Since 2004, wind power has shown a significant rise in terms of installed capacity in this country. Despite increases in wind-power units, Brazil suffers from delays in setting up its transmission infrastructure, which affects the performance of the wind-power supply chain. This chapter presents a simulation model that helps asses…

Self-sufficient PV-H2 Alternative Energy Objects

2016

Energy storage becomes more important as mankind switch to renewable energy, away from fossil resources. Traditional way – batteries - offer a limited number of cycles, require regular maintenance; nevertheless gravitational storage, flywheels, compressed air are mainly large scale and expensive methods. The hydrogen as energy carrier and hydrogen fuel cells are possible option to store different amounts of energy for relatively long times with low losses. Different solutions for self-sufficient sun/wind energy objects are analysed - the solar radiation collecting systems, wind power generators, and high pressure electrolysis technologies for hydrogen production and the metal-hydride energy…

Structural, energetic and kinetic database of catalytic reactions: Benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde oxidation on MnOx clusters

2021

Abstract Data here reported are connected with the research article “Benzyl Alcohol to Benzaldehyde Oxidation on MnO x Clusters: Unraveling Atomistic Features” Gueci et al. [1] . This work described and discussed structural and energetic results, calculated by Density Functional Theory (DFT). In order to get kinetic information, DFT results were refined by an original approach, which will be shortly described in the following article. The crossed analysis of experimental and computational energetic and kinetic data allowed to (i) reconstruct the complicated lattice that connects the primary and secondary mechanisms of the reaction and (ii) identify alternative process pathways capable of by…