Search results for "RESPONSES"

Thermal adaptation and physiological responses to environmental stress in tunicates

2017

Understanding the multifaceted nature of environmental fluctuations is crucial to predicting the physiological adjustments utilised by organisms in resisting or adapting to changes over time. Here we investigate the effects of 2 environmental stressors on tunicates, whose fitness can have important repercussions on the quality of habitat. Specifically, we report respiration rate (RR), clearance rate (CR), and assimilation efficiency (AE) of the ascidian Styela plicata in response to a range of temperatures and varying food availability. Temperature-dependent RR was observed only within a portion of the thermal window of the species. Significant differences in clearance rates were detected a…

Centenarians born before 1919 are resistant to COVID-19.

2022

Although mortality from COVID-19 progressively increases with age, there are controversial data in the literature on the probability of centenarians dying from COVID-19. Moreover, it has been claimed that men in their 90s and 100s are more resilient than women. To gain insight into this matter, we analysed, according to gender, mortality data during the first year of pandemic of Sicilian nonagenarians and centenarians. We used mortality data from the 2019 as a control. The crude excess mortality between the two years was calculated. Data on deaths of Sicilian 90 + years show that, in line with what is known about the different response to infections between the two genders, oldest females a…

Role of sex and age in fatal outcomes of COVID-19: women and older centenarians are more resilient.

2023

In the present paper, we have analysed the role of age and sex in the fatal outcome of COVID-19, as there are conflicting results in the literature. As such, we have answered three controversial questions regarding this aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) Have women been more resilient than men? (2) Did centenarians die less than the remaining older people? (3) Were older centenarians more resistant to SARS-CoV-2 than younger centenarians? The literature review demonstrated that: (1) it is women who are more resilient, in agreement with data showing that women live longer than men even during severe famines and epidemics; however, there are conflicting data regarding centenarian men; (2) c…

Design and analysis of discrete choice experiments for models with response time

2013

A matrix-valued Bernoulli distribution

2006

AbstractMatrix-valued distributions are used in continuous multivariate analysis to model sample data matrices of continuous measurements; their use seems to be neglected for binary, or more generally categorical, data. In this paper we propose a matrix-valued Bernoulli distribution, based on the log-linear representation introduced by Cox [The analysis of multivariate binary data, Appl. Statist. 21 (1972) 113–120] for the Multivariate Bernoulli distribution with correlated components.

Primary in vivo T cell reactivity of NZB grafts in H-2 identical allogenic hosts.

1983

By means of the Simonson GVH-assay and the popliteal lymph node (PLN) assay, the T-cell reactivity of NZB mice against H-2 identical allogenic cells was investigated in vivo and compared to that of normal mice. None of the normal mice did react, but a highly significant NZB response could be demonstrated, which did not depend on differences in Mls antigens. These in vivo results extend previous findings of a T-cell hyperreactivity of NZB mice in primary in vitro reactions. They favour the possibility that the T-cell hyperreactivity might be relevant in vivo in facilitating autoimmune responses.

Assessment of test-meal induced autonomic arousal in anorexic, bulimic and control females

1998

This study attempted to measure three different physiological responses to food intake in eating disordered subjects. Skin conductance level (SCL), heart rate and electroencephalogram were recorded before, during and after a test-meal in 42 females (14 anorexic inpatients, 10 bulimic outpatients and 18 control subjects). Significant increase in SCL during the meal was found in anorexics only. Pre-meal SCL was lower in bulimics than in controls and anorexics. No changes were found on heart rate or electroencephalogram in all groups of subjects. This suggests that anorexic inpatients may display a measurable arousal when confronted with a meal, whereas bulimic outpatients and control subjects…

2-Hydroxyoleic Acid Induces ER Stress and Autophagy in Various Human Glioma Cell Lines

2012

Background: 2-Hydroxyoleic acid is a synthetic fatty acid with potent anti-cancer activity which does not induce undesired side effects. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which this compound selectively kills human glioma cancer cells without killing normal cells is not fully understood. The present study was designed to determine the molecular bases underlying the potency against 1321N1, SF-767 and U118 human glioma cell lines growth without affecting non cancer MRC-5 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: The cellular levels of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy markers were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and immunoblotting …

Combined effects of thermal conditions and food availability on thermal tolerance of the marine bivalve, Perna viridis

2018

Abstract Organisms can mitigate the effects of long term variation in environmental conditions through acclimation, which involves changes in various physiological responses. To elucidate the possible effects of temperature and food concentrations on acclimation capacity, physiological responses of the mussel, Perna viridis, were measured after individuals were held for six weeks under varying temperatures and food availability. Warm-acclimated mussels experiencing higher food levels had significantly greater upper thermal limits than those maintained on lower food levels. In contrast, the upper thermal limits of cold-acclimated mussels were not affected by food levels. For warm-acclimated …

Serine- and Threonine/Valine-Dependent Activation of PDK and Tor Orthologs Converge on Sch9 to Promote Aging

2014

Dietary restriction extends longevity in organisms ranging from bacteria to mice and protects primates from a variety of diseases, but the contribution of each dietary component to aging is poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that glucose and specific amino acids promote stress sensitization and aging through the differential activation of the Ras/cAMP/PKA, PKH1/2 and Tor/S6K pathways. Whereas glucose sensitized cells through a Ras-dependent mechanism, threonine and valine promoted cellular sensitization and aging primarily by activating the Tor/S6K pathway and serine promoted sensitization via PDK1 orthologs Pkh1/2. Serine, threonine and valine activated a signaling network in which Sch…