Search results for "functional"
showing 10 items of 4822 documents
Fayans functional for deformed nuclei. Uranium region
2016
Fayans energy density functional (EDF) FaNDF^0 has been applied to the nuclei around uranium region. Ground state characteristics of the Th, U and Pu isotopic chains, up to the two-neutron drip line, are found and compared with predictions from several Skyrme EDFs. The two-neutron drip line is found for FaNDF^0, SLy4 and SkM^* EDFs for a set of elements with even proton number, from Pb up to Fm.
Semi-blind Independent Component Analysis of functional MRI elicited by continuous listening to music
2013
This study presents a method to analyze blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (tMRI) signals associated with listening to continuous music. Semi-blind independent component analysis (ICA) was applied to decompose the tMRI data to source level activation maps and their respective temporal courses. The unmixing matrix in the source separation process of ICA was constrained by a variety of acoustic features derived from the piece of music used as the stimulus in the experiment. This allowed more stable estimation and extraction of more activation maps of interest compared to conventional ICA methods.
Urban consumers’ attitudes and willingness to pay for functional foods in Iran: A case of dietary sugar
2017
Growing concerns for the incidence of incurable diseases and high costs of health care have attracted consumers to functional foods in the world. These foods are characterized with health improvement, lower risk of disease incidence and less health hazards. The present work examined consumers’ attitude and willingness to pay for dietary sugar in Rasht city, Iran. The studied sample included 125 citizens of Rasht in spring and summer of 2016 whose size was determined by Mitchell and Carson approach. Results of contingent valuation method on the basis of one-and-one-half-bound choice model revealed that the descriptive variable of bid had negative, statistically significant impact on the acce…
Effect of Calcifediol on Physical Performance and Muscle Strength Parameters: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2022
There is general agreement that optimal vitamin D status is necessary for bones, muscles, and general health, particularly in older adults, who are at higher risk of negative consequences of vitamin D deficiency, including sarcopenia; vitamin D supplementation is proposed as a potential intervention to mitigate sarcopenia. Several RCTs have reported that calcifediol (25(OH)D) was more potent than cholecalciferol in increasing plasma 25(OH)D. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the effects of calcifediol on physical performance and muscle strength. We searched databases from inception to 1 January 2022 for studies investigating calcifediol on physical performan…
A novel Usher protein network at the periciliary reloading point between molecular transport machineries in vertebrate photoreceptor cells.
2008
Contains fulltext : 69178.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most frequent cause of combined deaf-blindness. USH is genetically heterogeneous with at least 12 chromosomal loci assigned to three clinical types, USH1-3. Although these USH types exhibit similar phenotypes in human, the corresponding gene products belong to very different protein classes and families. The scaffold protein harmonin (USH1C) was shown to integrate all identified USH1 and USH2 molecules into protein networks. Here, we analyzed a protein network organized in the absence of harmonin by the scaffold proteins SANS (USH1G) and whirlin (USH2D). Immunoelectron microscopic anal…
Direct interaction of the Usher syndrome 1G protein SANS and myomegalin in the retina
2011
Contains fulltext : 96822.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The human Usher syndrome (USH) is the most frequent cause of combined hereditary deaf-blindness. USH is genetically heterogeneous with at least 11 chromosomal loci assigned to 3 clinical types, USH1-3. We have previously demonstrated that all USH1 and 2 proteins in the eye and the inner ear are organized into protein networks by scaffold proteins. This has contributed essentially to our current understanding of the function of USH proteins and explains why defects in proteins of different families cause very similar phenotypes. We have previously shown that the USH1G protein SANS (scaffold protein containing ankyrin repeat…
MPP1 links the Usher protein network and the Crumbs protein complex in the retina.
2007
Contains fulltext : 53571.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The highly ordered distribution of neurons is an essential feature of a functional mammalian retina. Disruptions in the apico-basal polarity complexes at the outer limiting membrane (OLM) of the retina are associated with retinal patterning defects in vertebrates. We have analyzed the binding repertoire of MPP5/Pals1, a key member of the apico-basal Crumbs polarity complex, that has functionally conserved counterparts in zebrafish (nagie oko) and Drosophila (Stardust). We show that MPP5 interacts with its MAGUK family member MPP1/p55 at the OLM. Mechanistically, this interaction involves heterodimerization of both MAGUK mo…
Integration of PCL and PLA in a monolithic porous scaffold for interface tissue engineering.
2016
A novel bi-layered multiphasic scaffold (BLS) have been fabricated for the first time by combining melt mixing, compression molding and particulate leaching. One layer has been composed by polylactic acid (PLA) presenting pore size in the range of 90-110µm while the other layer has been made of polycaprolactone (PCL) with pores ranging from 5 to 40µm. The different chemo-physical properties of the two biopolymers combined with the tunable pore architecture permitted to realize monolithic functionally graded scaffolds engineered to be potentially used for interface tissues regenerations. BLS have been characterized from a morphological and a mechanical point of view. In particular, mechanica…
Snowball ICA: A Model Order Free Independent Component Analysis Strategy for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data
2020
In independent component analysis (ICA), the selection of model order (i.e., number of components to be extracted) has crucial effects on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain network analysis. Model order selection (MOS) algorithms have been used to determine the number of estimated components. However, simulations show that even when the model order equals the number of simulated signal sources, traditional ICA algorithms may misestimate the spatial maps of the signal sources. In principle, increasing model order will consider more potential information in the estimation, and should therefore produce more accurate results. However, this strategy may not work for fMRI because …
A new methodology for Functional Principal Component Analysis from scarce data. Application to stroke rehabilitation.
2015
Functional Principal Component Analysis (FPCA) is an increasingly used methodology for analysis of biomedical data. This methodology aims to obtain Functional Principal Components (FPCs) from Functional Data (time dependent functions). However, in biomedical data, the most common scenario of this analysis is from discrete time values. Standard procedures for FPCA require obtaining the functional data from these discrete values before extracting the FPCs. The problem appears when there are missing values in a non-negligible sample of subjects, especially at the beginning or the end of the study, because this approach can compromise the analysis due to the need to extrapolate or dismiss subje…