Two basic algorithms used during

applications of smoothing filter include calculation of the so-called ‘Smoothed DB(biggest)’ (filter that reduces the series of box sizes by starting at the smallest box size and going only towards greater sizes than the previous) and ‘Smoothed DB(small)’ (filter that reduces the series of box sizes by starting at the largest size and going only towards smaller box sizes).[20] Although it is expected that smoothed DB(biggest) and smoothed DB(small) are closely correlated with Db, their calculation CH5424802 research buy may significantly increase the validity of the obtained Db results (assuming that all three dimensions change in the same way). Lacunarity (Λ) was calculated using the following formula: Grey level co-occurrence Vadimezan nmr matrix (GLCM) textural analysis of each chromatin structure was performed using ImageJ software and its texture analysis plugins developed by Julio E. Cabrera and updated by Toby C. Cornish.[21, 22] Calculation of GLCM features, angular second moment (ASM) and

inverse difference moment (IDM) was done according to the protocol first presented in the work of Haralick et al.:[23] As an addition to the experimental protocol, we tested the inter-rater reliability of fractal and GLCM analysis methods by determining Pearson’s correlation coefficient for each of the measured parameters. A sample of 100 randomly selected MDC nuclei were segmented and analyzed by two researchers (IP and JP). Values of Pearson correlation coefficient for interobserver agreement were 0.983 for DB, 0.989 for DB(small), 0.983

for DB(biggest), 0.963 for Λ, 0.998 for ASM and 0.994 for IDM. These results suggest that fractal and GLCM analysis are Urease exact methods with potentially high reproducibility. Statistical analysis was performed using anova test with Bonferroni confidence level adjustment and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient in SPSS v 17.0 statistical package (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Average values of DB, smoothed DB(biggest) and smoothed DB(small) are presented in Table 1. In newborn mice, average fractal dimension of MDC nuclear chromatin structure was 1.435 ± 0.017. In 10-day-old animals average DB was 1.406 ± 0.018 and in 20-day-old animals 1.398 ± 0.030. Mice aged 30 days had average DB of 1.380 ± 0.025. Using anova test for independent samples statistically highly significant difference was detected between the groups (F = 7.54, P < 0.001). When post-hoc analysis was applied, it was calculated that fractal dimension in animals aged 10 days, 20 days and 30 days was significantly lower (P < 0.05, P < 0.01 and P < 0.001 respectively, Fig. 2) when compared to the newborn mice (controls). There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in any other group pairs (10 days vs 20 days; 10 days vs 30 days; 20 days vs 30 days).