562 research outputs found
Una tecnica di segmentazione di immagini per la ricostruzione del reticolo idrografico negli studi di difesa del suolo
No full textHydraulic risk assessment based on the fuzzy set theory in the land planning.A study case
No full textAn integrated approach to the reconstruction of the drainage network in soil conservation studies
No full textParaoxonase activity in high density lipoproteins: a comparison between healthy and obese females
No full textJ Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Mar;90(3):1728-33. Epub 2004 Dec 21.
Paraoxonase activity in high-density lipoproteins: a comparison between healthy and obese females.
Ferretti G, Bacchetti T, Moroni C, Savino S, Liuzzi A, Balzola F, Bicchiega V.
SourceIstituto di Biochimica, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Ranieri, 60131 Ancona, Italy. [email protected]
Abstract
Paraoxonase, an enzyme associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL-PON), exerts a protective effect against oxidative damage of circulating cells and lipoproteins, modulates the susceptibility of HDL to atherogenic modifications such as glycation and homocysteinylation, and even exerts an antiinflammatory role. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between lipoprotein oxidative stress and the activity of HDL-PON in healthy and obese subjects. Therefore, the activity of HDL-PON and the levels of lipid hydroperoxides in HDL and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) isolated from plasma of obese females (n = 12) and age-sex-matched controls (n = 31) were compared. Our results demonstrated for the first time that the activity of HDL-PON in obese subjects was significantly lower compared with that in controls (P < 0.001). Moreover, our results showed a significant increase in the levels of lipid hydroperoxides in HDL and LDL isolated from obese subjects (P < 0.001). The negative correlations established between HDL-PON activity and the levels of lipid hydroperoxides associated with HDL and LDL confirm the relationship between paraoxonase activity and lipid peroxidation of lipoproteins. Plasma levels of leptin correlated negatively with HDL-PON activity and positively with levels of lipid hydroperoxides in HDL and LDL of obese subjects, suggesting a relationship between leptin and oxidative damage of lipoproteins. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the increase in oxidative stress in LDL and HDL of obese subjects is associated with a decrease in HDL-PON activity. The lower paraoxonase activity and the compositional changes in HDL and LDL could contribute to the greater risk of cardiovascular disease associated with obesity.
PMID:15613429[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
Analisi della serie storica di precipitazioni mensili rilevate a Bari (osservatorio) dal 1885 al 1989
No full textTerritory wind characterisation finalised to the activities of soil conservation by fuzzy geostatistics
No full textA new branch-and-bound algorithm for standard quadratic programming problems
No full textIn this paper we propose convex and LP bounds for standard quadratic programming (StQP) problems and employ them within a branch-and-bound approach. We first compare different bounding strategies for StQPs in terms both of the quality of the bound and of the computation times. It turns out that the polyhedral bounding strategy is the best one to be used within a branch-and-bound scheme. Indeed, it guarantees a good quality of the bound at the expense of a very limited computation time. The proposed branch-and-bound algorithm performs an implicit enumeration of all the KKT (stationary) points of the problem. We compare different branching strategies exploiting the structure of the problem. Numerical results on randomly generated problems (with varying density of the underlying convexity graph) are reported which show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, in particular in limiting the growth of the number of nodes in the branch-and-bound tree as the density of the underlying graph increases
Sustainability, cooperation and mobility of workers within and between European countries: a two-stage goal programming model
No full textFacing multiple and often considered as conflicting stakes, either economical, migratory, or environmental, policy-making may struggle to identify and implement relevant policy action allowing for balanced and joint completion of such challenges. Addressing this important public issue, we develop a multi-criteria two-stage Goal Programming (GP) model to identify optimal policy paths towards the Europe 2020 strategy on economic growth, employment levels and environmental sustainability. The model is calibrated on current contributions of economic sectors in all European countries to each policy objective: contribution to economic output (GDP), emissions of Green House Gas, electric consumption and number of jobs. First, we study the optimal allocation of workers within economic sectors of each European country to maximize the joint achievement of Europe 2020 multi criteria sustainability targets. We then extend the model to allow cooperation between states, namely allowing internal migrations of workers between countries. We highlight how supranational allocation schemes of surplus workers improve the satisfaction of national sustainability objectives. Finally, we consider extra-European migrants regional integration and study the consequences of such opening over EU2020 targets satisfaction and per capita GDP. Simulation results highlight countries performance comparison, and sheds light on significant benefits from such cooperation for the majority of countries. Improved integration of internal and external workforce generally improves the achievement of EU2020 objectives, while keeping per capita GDP at least constant. Moreover, we expose the relevance of cooperative work-flows allocation strategies across Europe and emphasize the importance of workers mobility in order to ensure more sustainable common development
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