Browsing by Author "Ramirez, Cristian"

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    Determination of a representative area element (RAE) based on nonparametric statistics in bread
    (ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2011) Ramirez, Cristian; Aguilera, Jose M.
    The concept of representative area element (RAE) was applied to quantify the air cell present in pre-sliced bread. Ten slices from bread were selected and each divided into nine subareas where 60 air cells were measured. To determine the RAE, one to nine sampling areas were considered and five positions in the image were randomly selected and compared by nonparametric statistic and the fluctuation of mean air cell area method. The RAE was attained when the air cell area size distribution curves for each sampling area did not present significant differences. Hence, the RAE size was 67% of the image using the nonparametric method (equivalent to six subareas of the nine subareas that form the image), whereas the RAE could not be estimated using the fluctuation of mean air cell area method. Therefore, nonparametric statistics are a useful tool to determine the RAE in structures with size distributions that do not fit a normal distribution. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Enalapril attenuates downregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in the late phase of ventricular dysfunction in myocardial infarcted rat
    (LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS, 2006) Ocaranza, Maria Paz; Godoy, Ivan; Jalil, Jorge E.; Varas, Manuel; Collantes, Patricia; Pinto, Melissa; Roman, Maritza; Ramirez, Cristian; Copaja, Miguel; Diaz Araya, Guillermo; Castro, Pablo; Lavandero, Sergio
    The early and long-term effects of coronary artery ligation on the plasma and left ventricular angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE and ACE2) activities, ACE and ACE2 mRNA levels, circulating angiotensin (Ang) levels [Ang I, Ang-(1-7), Ang-(1-9), and Ang II], and cardiac function were evaluated 1 and 8 weeks after experimental myocardial infarction in adult Sprague Dawley rats. Sham-operated rats were used as controls. Coronary artery ligation caused myocardial infarction, hypertrophy, and dysfunction 8 weeks after surgery. At week 1, circulating Ang II and Ang-(1-9) levels as well as left ventricular and plasma ACE and ACE2 activities increased in myocardial-infarcted rats as compared with controls. At 8 weeks post-myocardial infarction, circulating ACE activity, ACE mRNA levels, and Ang II levels remained higher, but plasma and left ventricular ACE2 activities and mRNA levels and circulating levels of Ang-(1-9) were lower than in controls. No changes in plasma Ang-(1-7) levels were observed at any time. Enalapril prevented cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction as well as the changes in left ventricular ACE, left ventricular and plasmatic ACE2, and circulating levels of Ang II and Ang-(1-9) after 8 weeks postinfafction. Thus, the decrease in ACE2 expression and activity and circulating Ang-(1-9) levels in late ventricular dysfunction post-myocardial infarction were prevented with enalapril. These findings suggest that in this second arm of the renin-angiotensin system, ACE2 may act through Ang-(1-9), rather than Ang-(1-7), as a counterregulator of the first arm, where ACE catalyzes the formation of Ang II.
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    Image Analysis of Representative Food Structures: Application of the Bootstrap Method
    (WILEY, 2009) Ramirez, Cristian; Germain, Juan C.; Aguilera, Jose M.
    Images (for example, photomicrographs) are routinely used as qualitative evidence of the microstructure of foods. In quantitative image analysis it is important to estimate the area (or volume) to be sampled, the field of view, and the resolution. The bootstrap method is proposed to estimate the size of the sampling area as a function of the coefficient of variation (CVBn) and standard error (SEBn) of the bootstrap taking sub-areas of different sizes. The bootstrap method was applied to simulated and real structures (apple tissue). For simulated structures, 10 computer-generated images were constructed containing 225 black circles (elements) and different coefficient of variation (CVimage). For apple tissue, 8 images of apple tissue containing cellular cavities with different CVimage were analyzed. Results confirmed that for simulated and real structures, increasing the size of the sampling area decreased the CVBn and SEBn. Furthermore, there was a linear relationship between the CVimage and CVBn. For example, to obtain a CVBn = 0.10 in an image with CVimage = 0.60, a sampling area of 400 x 400 pixels (11% of whole image) was required, whereas if CVimage = 1.46, a sampling area of 1000 x 100 pixels (69% of whole image) became necessary. This suggests that a large-size dispersion of element sizes in an image requires increasingly larger sampling areas or a larger number of images.
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    The effect of within-firm vertical pay disparity in occupational safety
    (2022) Ramirez, Cristian; Tarzijan, Jorge; Singer, Marcos