5,576 research outputs found

    Promjenjljivost elektroforetskoga proteinskog profila u “Quarter” konja tijekom natjecanja u obuzdavanju.

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    The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a reining session on serum total protein and their fractions. In the present study, eight Quarter Horses aged 5-15 years were subjected to reining pattern 5 of the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA). Blood samples were collected from each animal before (T0), immediately after the pattern (T1), after 1h (T2), 2h (T3) and 24h (T4), during the recovery period. On all samples serum total proteins (TP), albumin (Alb), α1-globulins, α2-globulins, β1-globulins, β2-globulins and γ-globulins concentrations, and albumin/globulin ratio (A/G) were assessed. One way repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed the statistical significant effect of time on TP and Alb. The application of Bonferroni’s post-hoc comparison showed a statistical significant increase in TP values at T1 compared to T0. Alb concentration increased at T1 compared to T0, T2, T3 and T4. The present study shows how reining exercise affects electrophoretic parameters by increasing TP and Alb levels immediately after exercise. These results provide insight into the reining horse’s physiological response to exercise, allowing better evaluation of the athletic performance of this sport horse.Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti učinak natjecanja u obuzdavanju konja na ukupne serumske proteine i na njihove pojedine frakcije. U istraživanju je osam konja Quarter pasmine u dobi od 5 do 15 godina bilo podvrgnuto vježbi 5. stupnja obuzdavanja prema Nacionalnoj udruzi za obuzdavanja konja. Uzorci krvi bili su uzeti od svakog konja prije vježbe (T0), neposredno nakon vježbe (T1), zatim nakon jednog sata (T2), dva sata (T3) i 24 sata (T4) odmora. U svim uzorcima seruma određena je koncentracija ukupnih proteina, albumina (Alb), α1-globulina, α2-globulina, β1-globulina, β2-globulina i γ-globulina te je određen omjer između albumina i globulina (A/G). Jednosmjerna analiza varijance (ANOVA) pokazala je statistički značajan učinak vremena na ukupne proteine i albumin. Primjena Bonferronijeve post-hoc usporedbe pokazala je statistički značajno povećanje vrijednosti ukupnih proteina neposredno nakon vježbe u odnosu na one prije vježbe. Koncentracija albumina bila je povećana neposredno nakon vježbe u usporedbi s koncentracijom prije vježbe te onom jednog sata, dva sata i 24 sata nakon vježbe. Istraživanje pokazuje kako natjecateljsko obuzdavanje konja utječe na elektroforetske pokazatelje povećanjem razine ukupnih proteina i albumina neposredno nakon vježbe. Rezultati pružaju uvid u fiziološki odgovor na vježbu što omogućuje bolju prosudbu atletskih sposobnosti ove pasmine športskog konja

    Numerical methods for improved signal to noise ratios in spatiotemporal biomedical data

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    Magnetocardiography (MCG) is a technique to measure the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the heart. The interpretation of MCG signals is difficult because of different disturbances and noise. Several methods have been suggested for noise reduction in MCG data such as averaging, pass or stop band filters, and statistical based methods, but a unified framework that takes into account different typologies of MCG signals (rest, stress, and patients with an already ICD– Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator- implanted) using an adequate number of recordings is still missing. Consequently, the main aim of the thesis is to develop methods for noise and artifacts treatment. Due to the non-stationarity (NS) of the noise, the conventional ensemble averaging of the data does not yield the theoretical improvement. In order to overcome this problem an average procedure that ignores the noisiest beats is applied. The results of this averaging procedure confirms that in case of NS, the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) does not behave as expected, but reaches a maximum after a certain number of selected beats. Furthermore, a theoretical proof of this result is given. The second part of the thesis deals with techniques based on Blind Source Separation (BSS), as preprocessing step for the averaging procedure, in case of MCG signals with low SNR. Different BSS algorithms are compared in order to find the best one in terms of noise reduction, separation, and computational time for each data typology. A drawback of BSS techniques is the order of the sources that cannot be determined a priori; for this reason 3 methods (based on different statistical principles) have been developed for the retrieval of cardiac signals. The last part of the thesis deals with the application of BSS methods to a category of signals not yet analyzed: patients with ICD implanted. It is shown that it is possible to extract the cardiac signal also in such noisy data, although not automatically. The Temporal Decorrelation source SEParation (TDSEP) algorithm outperforms the other BSS methods. This thesis shows that, applying novel automatic routines for the removal of noise and artifacts, MCG data could be used in clinical environments

    Neurophysiological Profile of Antismoking Campaigns

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    Over the past few decades, antismoking public service announcements (PSAs) have been used by governments to promote healthy behaviours in citizens, for instance, against drinking before the drive and against smoke. Effectiveness of such PSAs has been suggested especially for young persons. By now, PSAs efficacy is still mainly assessed through traditional methods (questionnaires and metrics) and could be performed only after the PSAs broadcasting, leading to waste of economic resources and time in the case of Ineffective PSAs. One possible countermeasure to such ineffective use of PSAs could be promoted by the evaluation of the cerebral reaction to the PSA of particular segments of population (e.g., old, young, and heavy smokers). In addition, it is crucial to gather such cerebral activity in front of PSAs that have been assessed to be effective against smoke (Effective PSAs), comparing results to the cerebral reactions to PSAs that have been certified to be not effective (Ineffective PSAs). &e eventual differences between the cerebral responses toward the two PSA groups will provide crucial information about the possible outcome of new PSAs before to its broadcasting. &is study focused on adult population, by investigating the cerebral reaction to the vision of different PSA images, which have already been shown to be Effective and Ineffective for the promotion of an antismoking behaviour. Results showed how variables as gender and smoking habits can influence the perception of PSA images, and how different communication styles of the antismoking campaigns could facilitate the comprehension of PSA’s message and then enhance the related impac

    Statistical mechanics of the Cluster-Ising model

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    We study a Hamiltonian system describing a three-spin-1/2 cluster-like interaction competing with an Ising-like anti-ferromagnetic interaction. We compute free energy, spin correlation functions and entanglement both in the ground and in thermal states. The model undergoes a quantum phase transition between an Ising phase with a nonvanishing magnetization and a cluster phase characterized by a string order. Any two-spin entanglement is found to vanish in both quantum phases because of a nontrivial correlation pattern. Neverthless, the residual multipartite entanglement is maximal in the cluster phase and dependent on the magnetization in the Ising phase. We study the block entropy at the critical point and calculate the central charge of the system, showing that the criticality of the system is beyond the Ising universality class.Comment: To be published in Physical Review

    An Early Diagnosis of Gastroepiploic Arterial Aneurysm during a Routine Abdominal Ultrasound Study

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    Gastroepiploic arterial aneurysm (GEAA) is a rare condition, but the rupture risk is very high. We report the case of a patient with incidental finding of GEAA during US examination. The diagnosis was confirmed by a computed tomography and an angiographic study. A classic laparotomy with aneurysmectomy has been successfully performed
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