This dissertation examines postwar anti-poverty programs in order to understand the Latin American roots of US social policy, the origins of neoliberalism, and the rise of economists as public intellectuals. By following veterans of the New Deal and Marshall Plan through Colombian reform projects of the 1950s and 1960s and back to the United States in the era of the Great Society, it suggests that one way of studying the route from the 1930s to the 1960s in the United States is by traveling through Latin America. Conversely, one way of understanding the history of economic development is by analyzing its relation to First-World programs for economic recovery and redistribution. The dissertation further illuminates the role of midcentury policymaking in popularizing what became neoliberal practices after 1980, most importantly those of state decentralization, gentrification, and public-private partnership. Finally, midcentury social programs provide a context in which to study the emergence of economics as an independent discipline in Latin America, economists' strategies of social ascent, and the popularization of economic reasoning as a persuasive form of public argument. The project is a social history of economic thought, in which reform projects and the conflicts surrounding them provide the context for studying ideas. It is simultaneously a transnational history of social policy, exposing lines of mutual influence between the United States and Latin America.

Body weight perceptions remain an important area of study. Beauty ideals have changed significantly with more emphasis on thinness. According to sociocultural perspectives, the pressure to be thin results in negative psychological consequences in most Western societies. Evidence, however, suggests that certain cultural and ethnic groups retain a traditional preference for plumpness. This thesis aimed to understand cultural perceptions of body weight and its influence on body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, body appreciation and physical activity in Jamaica. The research employed a mixed methodology approach. Qualitative inquiry using thematic analysis unearthed various beliefs about body weight and its health consequences. Specifically, it identified varying body ideals for women in Jamaica. These are the 'fluffy' body ideal and the slim ideal. The term 'fluffy' referred to women with larger bodies who were perceived to be confident and attractive. The novel Fluffy Rating Questionnaire (FRQ) was developed and was subjected to both exploratory factor analysis (parallel analysis) in study 2 and later confirmatory factor analysis in study 3. It was determined that the FRQ was best suited to examine impressions of fluffy women's personality which was a significant contribution to knowledge on fluffiness in Jamaica. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation, regression analysis, and analysis of variance. There were no relationships between impressions of fluffy women's personality, self-esteem, body appreciation or body dissatisfaction. However, the results support existing knowledge on the relationship between body mass index and body dissatisfaction, self-esteem and body appreciation. Impressions of fluffy were simulated and results suggest impressions of fluffy were related to lower recall of physical activity compared to impressions of obesity and the control. Overall, the findings indicate that there are influences of Western body ideals in Jamaica; however, there is still a traditional preference for plumpness which is conveyed through local expressions such as 'Fluffy'.

Activity Recognition is concerned with identifying the physical state of a user at a particular point in time. Activity recognition task requires the training of classification algorithm using the processed sensor data from the representative population of users. The accuracy of the generated model often reduces during classification of new instances due to the non-stationary sensor data and variations in user characteristics. Thus, there is a need to adapt the classification model to new user haracteristics. However, the existing approaches to model adaptation in activity recognition are blind. They continuously adapt a classification model at a regular interval without specific and precise detection of the indicator of the degrading performance of the model. This approach can lead to wastage of system resources dedicated to continuous adaptation. This thesis addresses the problem of detecting changes in the accuracy of activity recognition model. The thesis developed a classifier for activity recognition. The classifier uses three statistical summaries data that can be generated from any dataset for similarity based classification of new samples. The weighted ensemble combination of the classification decision from each statistical summary data results in a better performance than three existing benchmarked classification algorithms. The thesis also presents change detection approaches that can detect the changes in the accuracy of the underlying recognition model without having access to the ground truth label of each activity being recognised. The first approach called `UDetect' computes the change statistics from the window of classified data and employed statistical process control method to detect variations between the classified data and the reference data of a class. Evaluation of the approach indicates a consistent detection that correlates with the error rate of the model. The second approach is a distance based change detection technique that relies on the developed statistical summaries data for comparing new classified samples and detects any drift in the original class of the activity. The implemented approach uses distance function and a threshold parameter to detect the accuracy change in the classifier that is classifying new instances. Evaluation of the approach yields above 90% detection accuracy. Finally, a layered framework for activity recognition is proposed to make model adaptation in activity recognition informed using the developed techniques in this thesis.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important common chronic lung condition that is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, resulting in a substantial and increasing economic and social burden to health care systems. Physical activity (PA) is the strongest predictor of mortality in this population, playing an important role determining the quality of life in COPD, with better outcomes being reported by those who have higher levels of PA. Therefore, improving PA levels has been considered a key component in the management of patients with COPD. Likewise, it is important to understand the mechanisms that lead to inactivity, as it is to develop accurate methods of measuring PA in this population. Aims of the thesis: 1) To identify and to summarize the interventions able to increase PA levels in patients with COPD; 2) To understand the longitudinal interaction between muscle mass and function and PA levels in COPD; 3) To study the acceptability and the suitability of a new activity monitor (TracMor D - Philips, the Netherlands) for home coaching in daily routine of patients with COPD; and 4) To investigate whether a PA enhancing programme with set targets and feedback would constitute a successful intervention to increase PA levels in patients with COPD attending pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Methods: To achieve the first aim of the thesis I performed a systematic review summarizing interventional studies that assessed PA as an outcome in patients with COPD. For the second aim, I analysed some multicentric longitudinal data (one year follow-up) on PA and muscle mass/function in COPD. The third aim was achieved with a pilot study I conducted in Edinburgh, where patients with COPD wore three TracMor D in different body places simultaneously with the criterion method (Actigraph GT3x activity monitor) for a week. To accomplish the fourth and main aim of my PhD, I conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) where patients with COPD undergoing PR were randomised to either receive PR only or PR plus a PA coaching programme using the TracMor D activity monitor for 12 weeks. Main Results: Study 1: Sixty studies were considered for data extraction in the systematic review. Seven types of intervention with the potential to increase PA levels in patients with COPD were identified. PR programmes with more than 12 weeks of duration and PA coaching programmes with feedback of an activity monitor are promising interventions to increase activity levels in patients with COPD. Overall, the quality of evidence across interventional studies was graded as very low. Study 2: The longitudinal study showed that there were weak correlations between PA levels and muscle strength at baseline (0.19 ≤ r ≤ 0.33 p < 0.001 for all). No correlations were found between changes in PA and muscle strength (-509 [-1295-362] vs -0.4 [-3.5-2.6] - 12 months minus baseline - respectively) and future muscle mass (p > 0.05). Baseline PA levels are related to future muscle strength (0.30 ≤ r ≤ 0.41, p < .0001) but not with muscle mass. Study 3: This study showed that TracMor D had strong correlations with Actigraph GT3x in terms of Kcal consumption in all three positions (necklace, pocket and hip) (0.84 ≥ r < 0.86, p < 0.001 for all). TracMor D was considered comfortable and easy to use at home, receiving a mean usability score of 98 out of 100 maximum points. Study 4: My RCT showed that the proposed PA intervention was effective in changing steps/day (1251 ± 2408 vs control -410 ± 1118, p=0.01), time spent in light activities (21 ± 60 vs -37 ± 55, p=0.004), exercise capacity (99 ± 139 vs 3 ± 83 meters; 85 ± 114 vs 2 ± 62 seconds, p < 0.03 for both) and muscle strength (15 ± 20 vs -5 ± 18, p=0.01) among others when compared to the control group. Conclusions: Strategies focussing specifically on increasing PA and longer PR programmes may have greater impacts on PA levels in COPD. Well-designed clinical trials with objective assessment of PA in patients with COPD are needed. PA levels are not related to one-year changes in muscle mass and muscle strength in patients with COPD. However, higher PA levels at baseline are related to having higher muscle strength at one-year. TracMor D strongly correlated with the criterion method and was highly accepted by patients with COPD in their daily routine, being considered comfortable and easy to use at home. The combination of PR with a physical activity enhancing programme using a PA monitor to set targets and give feedback on activity levels significantly improves PA, exercise capacity, muscle strength, quality of life, and anxiety and depression levels in patients with COPD.

My dissertation concerns peasant resistance to transnational gold mines in Cajamarca, Peru. This resistance is founded on people's experiences as expressed in songs, stories, jokes, dreams and direct political actions in the face of tremendous repression. Peasant experience itself is a powerful spiritual weapon in the lucha. Through immersion in the struggle, I wish to give a glimpse of the peasants’ lives as they confront environmental catastrophe. My work seeks to represent this resistance movement from the inside, as much as is possible. It is heart wrenching to hear a woman sing a song about how she lost her son to the police mercenaries. These moments of communion reveal the spirit of the struggle and forge the bonds which energize the resistance movement. Threatened by the death of the Earth, there is now a resurgence in consciousness of the Pacha Mama ("Earth Mother" in Quechua) which I believe to be the latest manifestation of Andean messianism, the idea that the Inca and Andean gods will return to cast out the Spanish and redeem history.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_Cristina_Peter.pdf: 1012287 bytes, checksum: a6b5ae3184db955c29ee2d8a7adfa70f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana (antibacteriana, antifúngica e antiviral), toxicidade celular e composição química de extratos hidroalcoólicos da própolis marrom (PM), verde (PV) e de abelhas nativas jataí (PJ). A atividade antibacteriana da própolis foi analisada pelo método de Microdiluição frente à Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae e Escherichia coli. Para a atividade antifúngica, foi utilizada metodologia semelhante, frente à Candida lipolytica, Candida parapsilosis, Sporothrix schenckii e Sporothrix brasiliensis. A atividade antiviral foi avaliada através de dois métodos distintos de tratamento das células com os extratos: antes e depois da inoculação viral, frente ao Herpes Vírus Bovino (BoHV-1) e ao Vírus da Diarreia Viral Bovina (BVDV) e quantificado pelo teste de MTT (3-(4,5 dimetiltiazol-2yl)- 2-5-difenil-2H tetrazolato de bromo) e a atividade virucida, avaliada através de diferentes diluições dos vírus, temperaturas e tempos de incubações e analisadas por observação microscópica e quantificadas através da Dose Infectante (D.I.) 50%. A toxicidade foi avaliada através de diferentes concentrações e a viabilidade celular quantificada por MTT. À composição química das própolis foi determinada por Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Eficiência (CLAE). Os resultados da atividade antibacteriana demonstraram que PM obteve valores menores de Concentração Inibitória Mínima (CIM) e Concentração Bactericida Mínima (CBM), quando testados frente à S. aureus (6,7 mg/mL; 13,4 mg/mL, respectivamente), e E. coli (29,4 mg/mL; 54,3 mg/mL) quando comparados ao PV e PJ. Contudo frente Streptococcus sp., os menores valores de CIM e CBM encontrados foram da PV (p<0,01). Na atividade antifúngica as PM, PV e PJ apresentaram eficácia à Candida sp. eSporotrix sp. A PJ apresentou menor toxicidade, em sequência PV e PM. Na atividade antiviral, os extratos foram mais eficazes quando acrescentados no pré-tratamento e a PM e PV foram mais eficazes ao BoHV-1, enquanto a PJ ao BVDV. Na virucida, a PVa 37°C obteve valores diferentes e menores (log = 2,67) em relação a PM (log = 3,5) e PJ (log = 3,76). No entanto, para BVDV a PJ apresentou os melhores resultados para ambas temperaturas. Os resultados demonstram o potencial da própolis como antimicrobiano no tratamento de doenças em Medicina Veterinária e Humana. / The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity (antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral), cell toxicity and chemical composition of hydroalcoholic extracts of brown propolis (PM), green (PV) and native bees jataí (PJ). The antibacterial activity of propolis was analyzed by microdilution method against the Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae and Escherichia coli. For the antifungal activity, similar methodology was used, compared to Candida lipolytica, Candida parapsilosis, Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis. The antiviral activity was measured using two different methods of treatment of the cells with the extracts: before and after the viral inoculation against Bovine Herpes virus (bovine herpesvirus type 1) and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) and quantitated by assaying MTT (3- (4,5 dimethylthiazol-2yl) - 2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolato bromine) and virucidal activity, measured using different dilutions of virus, temperatures and incubation times and analyzed by microscopic observation and quantified by the infective dose (ID) 50%. Toxicity was evaluated using different concentrations and cell viability measured by MTT. In the chemical composition of propolis was determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methods. The results demonstrated that the antibacterial activity had lower values PM Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) when tested against S. aureus (6.7 mg/mL; 13.4 mg/mL, respectively) and E. coli (29.4 mg/mL, 54.3 mg/mL) compared to the PV and PJ. However front Streptococcus sp., the lowest values of MIC and MBC were found of PV (p <0.01). In the antifungal activity PM, PV and PJ showed efficacy to Candida sp. and Sporotrix spp. The PJ showed lower toxicity in PV and PM sequence. In the antiviral activity, the extracts were more effective when added in the pre treatment and the PM and PV were more effective in BoHV-1, while the PJ to BVDV. In virucidal, PV obtained at 37°C and under different values (log = 2.67) compared to PM (log = 3.5) and PJ (log = 3.76). However, for BVDV PJ showed the best results for both temperatures. Results show the potential of propolis as an antimicrobial in the treatment of diseases in Veterinary Medicine and Human.

Orientador: Rui Seabra Ferreira Junior / Banca: Lucilene Delazari dos Santos / Banca: Nanci Nascimento / Resumo: A giroxina isolada do veneno de Crotalus durissus terrificus apresenta atividades coagulante e neurotóxica, caracterizada pelo "rolamento em barril". É uma serinoprotease do tipo trombina-símile que tem a capacidade de converter o fibrinogênio em fibrina. Visando a atenuação destas atividades, a irradiação com 60Co aparece como uma importante ferramenta. O presente estudo teve por objetivo isolar e purificar a giroxina e avaliar o efeito da irradiação com 60Co sobre suas atividades coagulante e tóxica. O isolamento da giroxina envolveu duas etapas cromatográficas: gel filtração em coluna Sephadex G-75 e afinidade em coluna Benzamidina-Sepharose 6B. O alto grau de pureza foi confirmado por RP-HPLC C2/C18 e pela análise eletroforética, que revelou uma massa molecular de aproximadamente 30 kDa. A giroxina nativa catalisou a hidrólise dos substratos cromogênicos S-2238 e S-2288, demonstrando tratar-se de uma serinoprotease pertencente à subclasse das enzimas trombina-símile, estável em diferentes pHs (5,5 a 8,5), sensível aos metais Mn2+ e Cu2+ e aos inibidores de serinoprotease PMSF e benzamidina. Apresentou melhor atividade coagulante sobre o plasma humano entre os pHs 6,0 e 7,4. A irradiação da giroxina nas doses de 0,5; 1,0 e 2,0 kGy anulou completamente suas atividades coagulante e tóxica. Os ensaios de toxicidade in vivo mostraram apenas alterações comportamentais sem demonstrar o rolamento em barril. Este fato sugere que as toxinas purificadas são mais sensíveis à irradiação, pois não há proteção mútua entre as proteínas presentes no veneno total. A giroxina nativa também não causou o bloqueio da contração neuromuscular in vitro sugerindo que a sua ação não tem efeito sobre o sistema nervoso periférico nas concentrações utilizadas / Abstract: Gyroxin isolated from Crotalus durissus terrificus venom presents coagulant and neurotoxic activities. It belongs to the thrombin-like enzyme group capable of converting fibrinogen into fibrin. To reduce these toxic activities, the irradiation with Cobalt-60 appears to be an important tool. The present study was carried out in order to isolate and purify the gyroxin and evaluate the effects of irradiation with Cobalt-60 on coagulant and toxic activities. The gyroxin isolation consisted of two chromatographic steps: gel filtration (Sephadex G-75) and affinity (Benzamidine-Sepharose 6B). The high purity level of gyroxin was confirmed by RP-HPLC C2/C18 and electrophoretic analysis that showed a molecular weight of 30 kDa. The native gyroxin hydrolyzed the chromogenic substrates S-2238 and S-2288, indicating that this enzyme is a serine proteinase that belongs to the group of thrombin-like enzymes, stable when submitted to pHs from 5.5 to 8.5 and inhibited by Mn2+, Cu2+, PMSF and benzamidine. It was capable of coagulating human plasma at pH 6.0 and 7.4. The gyroxin irradiated at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 kGy doses neutralized the coagulant and toxic activities. The in vivo toxic study showed only behavioral alterations with no barrel rotation. This fact suggests that purified toxins are more sensitive to the irradiation because they e mutual protection with the other proteins present in the total venom. The native gyroxin was not able to block in vitro neuromuscular contraction, suggesting that the action of gyroxin, in the concentration used in this study, has no effect on the peripheral nervous system / Mestre

O objetivo deste trabalho foi o de preparar filmes de PVDF na fase ? , caracterizá-lo morfologicamente e polarizá-lo eletricamente para induzir a atividade piezoelétrica. Foram feitos estudos do processo de polarização elétrica em função do tempo, da temperatura e do campo elétrico aplicado na amostra. Também estudou-se a estabilidade da atividade piezoelétrica induzida. Os resultados experimentais são discutidos usando-se o modelo de Broadhurst o qual descreve as mudanças morfológicas e as propriedades elétricas do material. Apresenta-se também uma discussão das possíveis aplicações dos filmes de PVDF- ? e, em particular, a descrição de um microfone e sua caracterização eletro-acústica. / This work is aimed to describe the preparation of piezoelectric ? -PVDF films, its morphological characterization, and its piezoelectric activity induced by electric field. Polarization measurements were carried out as a function of time, temperature and the applied electric field. The piezoelectric activity decay was also studied. Using the model proposed by Brodhurst we discuss the material structure modifications and the electric properties. A general discussion on engineering applications of ? -PVDF is presented and specially a ? -PVDF microphone and its electric-acustics characterization is showed.

On-farm assessment of cattle health, behaviour and welfare is often a logistical challenge but necessary for ensuring high standards of welfare and production. Recently, technological advances in engineering have allowed the mass manufacture of biotelemetry systems for use in research and industry. A commercial dairy farm may now have many different systems recording information about each individual animal in the herd. One such biotelemetry system is the collection of activity data via activity monitors. These devices were initially used by farmers to detect oestrus bouts through the resulting rise in activity and over the years have been improved to collect highly accurate and specific data about lying, standing and steps recorded over long periods of time. Long term, unobtrusive recording of individual cattle activity patterns is now becoming a reality on several farms. This raises the possibility of utilising sensors to remotely quantify aspects of cattle behaviour and welfare across different farms relatively quickly, allowing for the improvement of management and breeding strategies. Before this can be achieved, there needs to be a solid understanding of how behaviour affects activity patterns and how such data should be handled. In this project, the IceTag (IceRobotics Ltd., South Queensferry, UK), was used as a biotelemetry system for recording the activity of cattle. The IceTag is a tri-axial accelerometer activity monitor with a sample rate of 16Hz which has been shown to be sensitive (i.e. few false negatives) and specific (i.e. few false positives) when recording lying and standing behaviour on adult cattle. Cattle’s individual variation in behaviour was used as a case study to investigate the usage of this type of biotelemetry system. There were two phases to the study. In the first phase, the capabilities and limitations of the IceTag sensor were investigated. This involved assessing the extent of behavioural reactions to the IceTag in cattle. The behaviour of 28 lactating dairy cattle at the SRUC Dairy Research Centre was assessed for an adverse behavioural effect of the tags. The results of this study recommended a period of 48 hours from attachment before cattle grew accustomed to wearing the tag. Following this, the capabilities of the tags were assessed. Activity traits calculated directly from the tag and derived from tag data were analysed with respect to performance in four short term tests of temperament in 67 beef steers at the SRUC Beef Unit. From this work, the good repeatability of activity traits including average bout length, daily MotionIndex and daily step count encouraged their further usage. Steers which responded fearfully in a temperament test had higher MotionIndex in the home pen (rs = 0.35, P = 0.004) and steers which were more capable of displacing other steers at feeding stations also had longer average standing bouts (rs = 0.26, P = 0.036) and were more variable in their total daily standing duration (rs = 0.27, P = 0.030). This suggested that fear and sociability related behaviours can be detected through analysis of activity patterns. This work was continued at Wageningen University’s Dairy Research Centre where activity was recorded in over 100 dairy cattle. Activity recorded over a forty day period could explain some of the variation in behaviours seen during a subsequent fear test, but not in a social motivation test. The trait ‘neophobia’ was associated with more lying bouts and a greater variation in lying bout duration in dairy cows (R2 adj = 0.15, F3,75 = 5.32, P = 0.002) and bold cows also showed less variation in their lying bout durations (R2 adj = 0.11, F2,75 = 5.63, P = 0.005). In conclusion, remote sensors are a useful addition to the ethologist’s toolbox, enabling researchers to gain some insight into how fearfully a cow may react without assessing this through on-farm behavioural testing. Moreover, this work has found that the effects of personality which can be observed in behavioural testing can also be observed in spontaneous behaviour in the home pen away from testing environments. Biotelemetry systems can be utilised as a welfare assessment tool as they record repeatable activity traits which relate to underlying behavioural dimensions linked to the cow’s behavioural response to stimuli.

No description available.