Search results for "mathematics"
showing 10 items of 22031 documents
Robust Analysis of Time Series in Virome Metagenomics
2018
Metagenomics is a powerful tool for assessing the functional and taxonomic contents in biological samples as it makes feasible to study, simultaneously, the whole living community related to a host organism or medium: all the microbes, including virus, bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protists. New DNA and RNA sequencing technologies are dramatically decreasing the cost per sequenced base, so metagenomic sequencing is becoming more and more widespread in biomedical and environmental research. This is opening the possibility of complete longitudinal metagenomic studies, which could unravel the dynamics of microbial communities including intra-microbiome and host-microbiome interactions through …
Comparison of the root canal debridement ability of two single file systems with a conventional multiple rotary system in long oval-shaped root canal…
2016
Background This study sought to compare the root canal debridement ability of Neolix, Reciproc and ProTaper rotary systems in long oval-shaped root canals. Material and methods Eighty five extracted single-rooted human teeth with long oval-shaped single root canals were selected and divided into three experimental groups(n=25) and one control group (n= 10). Root canals were filled with Vitapex radiopaque contrast medium and prepared with Neolix, Reciproc or ProTaper systems. The control group only received irrigation. Digital radiographs were obtained at baseline and postoperatively and subjected to digital subtraction. The percentage of reduction in contrast medium was quantified at 0-5 mm…
Impact of reducing fat, salt and sugar in commercial foods on consumer acceptability and willingness to pay in real tasting conditions: A home experi…
2017
International audience; Decreasing obesity or cardiovascular disease can be achieved by eating healthier foods with reduced contents of fat, salt and sugar. However, these ingredients have a significant impact on the sensory quality of the food products that contain these ingredients, especially cooked sausage, chorizo, dry sausage, cheese and muffins. In this study, consumer appreciation of these five commercialized products (non reformulated versions) and their respective reformulated versions with reduced contents of salt, fat and sugar was tested. An original home experiment was performed to assess consumer appreciation in natural consumption conditions. The experiment was divided into …
Natural visibility graphs for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
2016
“NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Electronic Notes in Discrete Mathematics, [Volume 54, October 2016, Pages 337-342] DOI 10.1016/j.endm.2016.09.058 ¨
Review: the Use of Electromyography on Food Texture Assessment
2001
Sensory evaluation (SE) involves evoking, measuring and interpreting human responses to the properties of foods. Among these properties texture is an important one for food acceptability. Texture is mainly perceived through mastication, a process that changes food characteristics throughout time by comminuting and salivation. Electromyography (EMG) has emerged as a new tool in sensory evaluation mainly for assessing texture characteristics. Thus, it is interesting to analyze the knowledge so far generated and the procedures employed. Bipolar surface electrodes are placed on the four main masticatory muscles (masseter right-left and temporalis right-left) and their electric activity recorded…
Anisometropia of ocular refractive and biometric measures among 66- to 79-year-old female twins
2016
Purpose To examine the prevalence of anisometropia of spherical refraction (AnisoSR), astigmatism (AnisoAST) and spherical equivalent (AnisoSE) and their associations with spherical refraction (SR), refractive astigmatism (AST), spherical equivalent (SE) and interocular differences of ocular biometric parameters among elderly female twins. Methods Refraction of 117 monozygotic (MZ) and 116 dizygotic (DZ) female twin subjects aged 66–79 years was assessed with an auto-refractor (Topcon AT) and controlled by subjective refraction. Corneal refraction, anterior chamber depth and axial length were measured with a Zeiss IOL Master. Participants with eyes operated for cataract or glaucoma were exc…
Anatomical Variations in the Sinoatrial Nodal Artery: A Meta-Analysis and Clinical Considerations
2016
Background and Objective The sinoatrial nodal artery (SANa) is a highly variable vessel which supplies blood to the sinoatrial node (SAN). Due to its variability and susceptibility to iatrogenic injury, our study aimed to assess the anatomy of the SANa and determine the prevalence of its anatomical variations. Study Design An extensive search of major electronic databases was performed to identify all articles reporting anatomical data on the SANa. No lower date limit or language restrictions were applied. Anatomical data regarding the artery were extracted and pooled into a meta-analysis. Results Sixty-six studies (n = 21455 hearts) were included in the meta-analysis. The SANa usually aros…
Preventive and Therapeutic Role of Muscle Contraction Against Chronic Diseases.
2016
Background: Due to the continuing increase of the elderly population in the western countries, the prevalence of the main chronic diseases (obesity, type 2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders, arterial hypertension, vascular damage due to atherosclerotic process, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic kidney disease, immune-mediated diseases) is increasing. There is incontrovertible evidence that regular physical activity contributes to the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases and is associated with a reduced risk of premature death. Methods: In this review the most prevalent chronic pathologic conditions are discussed…
Ferritin and C-reactive protein are predictive biomarkers of mortality and macrophage activation syndrome in adult onset Still's disease. Analysis of…
2020
ObjectiveTo assess the predictive role of ferritin and C-reactive protein (CRP) on occurrence of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and mortality in patients with adult onset Still's disease (AOSD), a rare and severe disease, included in the multicentre Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica e Sperimentale (GIRRCS) cohort.MethodsThe predictive role, at the time of diagnosis, of serum levels of ferritin and CRP on occurrence of MAS and mortality, was evaluated by logistic regression analyses and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were built to identify patients at high risk of MAS and mortality, respectively.ResultsIn assessed 147 patients with AOSD, levels of ferri…
Bacteria classification using minimal absent words
2017
Bacteria classification has been deeply investigated with different tools for many purposes, such as early diagnosis, metagenomics, phylogenetics. Classification methods based on ribosomal DNA sequences are considered a reference in this area. We present a new classificatier for bacteria species based on a dissimilarity measure of purely combinatorial nature. This measure is based on the notion of Minimal Absent Words, a combinatorial definition that recently found applications in bioinformatics. We can therefore incorporate this measure into a probabilistic neural network in order to classify bacteria species. Our approach is motivated by the fact that there is a vast literature on the com…