Este projeto tem como objetivo analisar o gênero emergente de jogos conhecido como ARG. Utilizando a teoria nos campos do videogame e jogos em geral, se espera estabelecer características intrínsecas aos ARGs, assim como suas relações com os jogadores, com o mercado, a imprensa e o público em geral. Com isso se pode observar que os ARGs possuem características únicas, que os diferenciam dos videogames e outros jogos. Essas mesmas características os tornam promissores e ao mesmo tempo polêmicos por misturar a ficção e o jogo com a realidade. Por isso é necessário um maior rigor no desenvolvimento deste gênero de jogos para que estabeleça padrões reconhecíveis e alcance novos mercados. / This project aims to examine the emerging genre of games known as ARG. Using the theory in the fields of videogames and games in general, is expected to set up specific features of ARGs, as well as its relations with the players, the business market, the press and the general public. Through this, its possible to see that the ARGs have unique characteristics, which are different from videogames and other games. These characteristics make them promising while controversial for mixing fiction and the game with reality. Therefore it is necessary more accuracy in the development of this genre of games to establish recognizable patterns and reach new markets.

Este projeto tem como objetivo analisar o gênero emergente de jogos conhecido como ARG. Utilizando a teoria nos campos do videogame e jogos em geral, se espera estabelecer características intrínsecas aos ARGs, assim como suas relações com os jogadores, com o mercado, a imprensa e o público em geral. Com isso se pode observar que os ARGs possuem características únicas, que os diferenciam dos videogames e outros jogos. Essas mesmas características os tornam promissores e ao mesmo tempo polêmicos por misturar a ficção e o jogo com a realidade. Por isso é necessário um maior rigor no desenvolvimento deste gênero de jogos para que estabeleça padrões reconhecíveis e alcance novos mercados. / This project aims to examine the emerging genre of games known as ARG. Using the theory in the fields of videogames and games in general, is expected to set up specific features of ARGs, as well as its relations with the players, the business market, the press and the general public. Through this, its possible to see that the ARGs have unique characteristics, which are different from videogames and other games. These characteristics make them promising while controversial for mixing fiction and the game with reality. Therefore it is necessary more accuracy in the development of this genre of games to establish recognizable patterns and reach new markets.

No description available.

The detrimental influence of humans on the environment is of increasing concern. Humans, their livestock, and their pets have caused fecal contamination of waterways throughout the United States. Understanding the sources of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and the environmental processes that affect them can be crucial to reducing the number of impaired streams and limiting the negative impacts on the environment. Antibiotic resistance is an emerging issue facing human health in the United States and across the world. Antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) have antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that prevent antibiotics from killing them. Limited research has been done on the role of the environment in the propagation of antibiotic resistance. As the use of antibiotics increases, it is critical to examine how this impacts human health through the environment. Models of watersheds in Patillas, Puerto Rico and Christiansburg, Virginia were created using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to compare how the differences in spatial and temporal sampling of FIB, climate, and population affect FIB movement. The performances of the calibrated bacteria models were comparable to other published studies. A primary challenge faced in this study was the use of grab samples taken months apart as monthly averages of FIB. The high precipitation and constant warm climate made the model for Patillas more difficult to fit because of the high variability in the observed data. While the Patillas watershed had a lower population of people and livestock, the Christiansburg watershed had more available data on wildlife. The lack of spatial variance of data and the use of data from 1993-2018, hindered the ability for the model for Patillas to model FIB. Additionally, the model's performance was limited due to the strong hurricanes that affect land use, soils, and populations of humans and animals in the watershed. Using open-source data needs to be explored further as a faster and more cost-effective way of developing SWAT FIB models. The feasibility to use data collected in the Christiansburg and Patillas watershed to calibrate a SWAT-ARB model was determined based on available ARG data. The results indicate that the bacteria models need to be improved before an effective SWAT-ARB model can be calibrated. One limitation in the available ARG data for the two watersheds was that they were only sampled once. Out of the ARGs sampled, sul1 was the best modeled in both watersheds because it has the highest normalized values and correlated with the amount of developed land. / Master of Science / Humans negatively impact the environment. Humans and animals contribute to the bacteria contamination of waterways. Investigation into where the contamination sources are and environmental processes that contribute can help researchers limit the impact on the environment. Bacteria can build resistance to antibiotics, which can be especially dangerous to humans and livestock when exposed. Little research has been done on how the environment has contributed to the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to investigate bacteria in the Patillas, Puerto Rico and Christiansburg, Virginia watershed. These models used data published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve performance. When comparing simulated data to observed data, the performances of the models were comparable to other published studies. The Patillas watershed was particularly difficult to model because of the warm climate and high precipitation that caused high variability in bacteria concentrations. Strong weather events including hurricanes and a lack of available data on wildlife were other hinderances to the Patillas model. In comparison, more published data on wildlife was available in the Christiansburg watershed and it had a more temperate climate. The SWAT-ARB model was reviewed and recommendations were made to improve the model. Using the previously collected antibiotic resistance bacteria data in the Christiansburg and Patillas watersheds, it would be impossible to create accurate models. More antibiotic resistance data needs to be taken across as a greater time period before the performance of the models can be assessed.

Os jogos são manifestações naturais presentes desde os primórdios da cultura humana. Apesar de dispensarem suportes tecnológicos - a prontidão e a filosofia desencadeiam o processo para que o jogo aconteça entre os jogadores - é inegável que os avanços tecnológicos contribuíram para alavancar a difusão e a popularização dos jogos. Exemplo disso é a prensa de Gutemberg que tornou acessíveis baralhos cuja utilização era principalmente reservada à elite e à corte, às quais as cartas inclusive representava. Se a tecnologia se transformou, especialmente na transição do século XX para o XXI, os jogos acompanharam essa mudança. E a indústria, por sua vez, se apropriou do formato para produzir esses bens simbólicos em escala. O correlato dessa expansão é que os jogos passaram a ser utilizados para diversas funções além do entretenimento, ampliando as experiências do jogador. Este estudo de caso apresenta o jogo apropriado como ferramenta de uma ação estratégica de ampliação da base de usuários da empresa Vivo. Além disso, o modelo possibilitou a ressignificação do telefone celular para ampliar a familiaridade do usuário em relação a todas as possibilidades desse meio. Também mostra que o gestor é o profissional responsável pela mediação desse processo comunicativo existente entre empresa e o usuário. Também cabe ao gestor articular com habilidade e pertinência as variáveis que atuam em cada experiência de jogo, favorecendo os resultados do relacionamento empresa/ usuário, potencializando o binômio investimento/benefício, mas - acima de tudo - buscando uma interatividade que possa transformar o jogo em si e a própria realidade. / Games have been natural expressions of the human culture since its beginning. Although independent from technology - readiness and philosophy trigger the process so that a game can be played - it is undeniable that technological advances have helped leverage the diffusion and popularization of games. An example of this is Gutenberg press, which made available decks of cards used mainly by the elite and the court, who were even depicted in the cards. As the technology evolved, especially at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, games followed this change. And industry, in its turn, took hold of this format for scale production of these symbolic goods. As a result of this expansion, games started to take several roles besides entertainment, thus enhancing the player\'s experiences. This case study presents the game used as a tool for a strategic action aimed at increasing the user base of cell phone company Vivo. In addition, this model enabled a new meaning for the cell phone to enhance the user\'s familiarity with all the possibilities of the medium. It also shows the manager as the professional responsible for mediating this type of communication between the company and the user. The manager is also expected to skillfully and appropriately articulate the variables present in each game experience, favoring the results of company/user relationship, boosting both investment and benefit, and - above all - pursuing an interactivity that can transform the game and even the reality.

There is a continuous search for novel enzymes to complement the abilities of today’s commercially available enzyme and find tailor-fit alternatives to suit the diverse array of bio-based industries. One application could be to increase biogas yield by finding substrate degrading proteases that can be added to the anaerobic digestion process and survive degradation themselves. A novel enzyme identified as a hypothetical dipeptidyl peptidase III, a zinc dependent metallo-protease, was found by a metaproteogenomics approach to be produced by the microorganisms of a thermophilic biogas process. The aim of this study was to express and refold a recombinant variant of the novel DPP III to its active form after production in inclusion bodies in Escherichia Coli. Assaying of refolding conditions was performed by stepwise dialysis and drip dilution. Nine attempts were performed based on findings in literature, although no other variant of DPP III has earlier been successfully refolded from inclusion bodies. The study resulted in a limited set of conditions of temperature, volumes, metal ions, salts and other additives being tested in the refolding buffers. Enzyme refolding and activation was monitored by the hydrolysis of the DPP III fluorescent substrate Arg-Arg β-naphthylamide trihydrochloride, alongside with measurements of protein concentration and SDS-PAGE. The novel DPP III was successfully purified but no definite strategy of producing correctly folded protein was found.

Os jogos são manifestações naturais presentes desde os primórdios da cultura humana. Apesar de dispensarem suportes tecnológicos - a prontidão e a filosofia desencadeiam o processo para que o jogo aconteça entre os jogadores - é inegável que os avanços tecnológicos contribuíram para alavancar a difusão e a popularização dos jogos. Exemplo disso é a prensa de Gutemberg que tornou acessíveis baralhos cuja utilização era principalmente reservada à elite e à corte, às quais as cartas inclusive representava. Se a tecnologia se transformou, especialmente na transição do século XX para o XXI, os jogos acompanharam essa mudança. E a indústria, por sua vez, se apropriou do formato para produzir esses bens simbólicos em escala. O correlato dessa expansão é que os jogos passaram a ser utilizados para diversas funções além do entretenimento, ampliando as experiências do jogador. Este estudo de caso apresenta o jogo apropriado como ferramenta de uma ação estratégica de ampliação da base de usuários da empresa Vivo. Além disso, o modelo possibilitou a ressignificação do telefone celular para ampliar a familiaridade do usuário em relação a todas as possibilidades desse meio. Também mostra que o gestor é o profissional responsável pela mediação desse processo comunicativo existente entre empresa e o usuário. Também cabe ao gestor articular com habilidade e pertinência as variáveis que atuam em cada experiência de jogo, favorecendo os resultados do relacionamento empresa/ usuário, potencializando o binômio investimento/benefício, mas - acima de tudo - buscando uma interatividade que possa transformar o jogo em si e a própria realidade. / Games have been natural expressions of the human culture since its beginning. Although independent from technology - readiness and philosophy trigger the process so that a game can be played - it is undeniable that technological advances have helped leverage the diffusion and popularization of games. An example of this is Gutenberg press, which made available decks of cards used mainly by the elite and the court, who were even depicted in the cards. As the technology evolved, especially at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, games followed this change. And industry, in its turn, took hold of this format for scale production of these symbolic goods. As a result of this expansion, games started to take several roles besides entertainment, thus enhancing the player\'s experiences. This case study presents the game used as a tool for a strategic action aimed at increasing the user base of cell phone company Vivo. In addition, this model enabled a new meaning for the cell phone to enhance the user\'s familiarity with all the possibilities of the medium. It also shows the manager as the professional responsible for mediating this type of communication between the company and the user. The manager is also expected to skillfully and appropriately articulate the variables present in each game experience, favoring the results of company/user relationship, boosting both investment and benefit, and - above all - pursuing an interactivity that can transform the game and even the reality.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2015-12-15T17:40:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 GabrielaSalvadorOurique_DISSERT.pdf: 9103307 bytes, checksum: d30f3a32f57ad778a4352a7ac2b010f0 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2015-12-28T21:29:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 GabrielaSalvadorOurique_DISSERT.pdf: 9103307 bytes, checksum: d30f3a32f57ad778a4352a7ac2b010f0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-28T21:29:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 GabrielaSalvadorOurique_DISSERT.pdf: 9103307 bytes, checksum: d30f3a32f57ad778a4352a7ac2b010f0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-18 / Dengue (DENVE) ? um importante v?rus pat?geno pertencente ao g?nero Flavivirus. O genoma do v?rus da Dengue, ? constitu?do de RNA envelopado de fita simples e sentido ?nico (+), possui aproximadamente 10.7-11 Kb. O RNA de DENV ? traduzido como uma ?nica poliprote?na. Esta poliprote?na, ? traduzida em 3 prote?nas estruturais (C, prM e E) e 7 n?o estruturais (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B e NS5). A prote?na NS3 ? uma prote?na multifuncional que al?m de promover o processamento da poliprote?na do genoma viral, tamb?m possui atividade helic?sica, NTP?sica e RTP?sica. A NS3 precisa de cerca de 40 res?duos da prote?na NS2B (que age como cofator) para realizar suas atividades. Os tratamentos de DV atuais s?o principalmente sintom?ticos, n?o existem vacinas eficazes aprovadas e comercializadas, nem drogas antivirais dispon?veis para proteger ou curar a doen?a da dengue. O inibidor tetrapept?dico Bz-Nle-Lys-Arg-Arg-H, (com Ki de 5,8-7,0 ?M) tem sido apresentado na literatura como um potente inibidor da protease NS3 em DV. Sendo uma estrat?gia inteligente para o tratamento da Dengue. O presente trabalho objetivou estudar as intera??es do ligante junto ao s?tio ativo para fornecer uma vis?o mais clara e aprofundada dessas intera??es. Para tal desenvolveu-se um estudo in silico, com utiliza??o de c?lculos de mec?nica qu?ntica, baseada na Teoria do Funcional da Densidade (DFT), com aproxima??es do Gradiente Generalizado (GGA) para descri??o dos efeitos de correla??o e troca. A energia de intera??o de cada amino?cido do s?tio de liga??o, com o ligante foi calculada com base no m?todo de fragmenta??o molecular com capas conjugadas (MFCC). Al?m da energia, foram calculadas as dist?ncias, tipos de intera??es moleculares e grupos at?micos envolvidos. Os modelos te?ricos utilizados foram satisfat?rios e demonstraram uma descri??o mais precisa com a utiliza??o da constante diel?trica ?=20 e 80. Os resultados demonstram que a energia de intera??o do sistema atingiu a converg?ncia em 13,5A. Dentro desse raio de intera??o os res?duos mais importantes foram identificados. Met49, Met84 e Asp81 realizam intera??es de hidrog?nio. Os res?duos Asp79 e Asp75 apresentam elevada energia de atra??o. J? res?duos como Arg54, Arg85 e Lys 131 realizam intera??es de hidrog?nio pr?ximas com o ligante, por?m, aparecem no gr?fico do BIRD possuindo elevada energia de repuls?o com o inibidor. Os resultados tamb?m destacam a import?ncia do res?duo Tyr161 e o envolvimento da tr?ade catal?tica constitu?da por Asp75, Ser135 e His51. / Dengue virus is an important patogen that causes Dengue desease in all world, and belongs to Flavivirus gender. The virus consists of enveloped RNA with a single strand positive sense, 11Kb genome. The RNA is translated into a polyprotein precursor, wich is cleaved into 3 structural proteins (C, prM e E) and 7 non-structural proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B e NS5). The NS3 is a multifunctional protein, that besides to promote the polyprotein precursor cleavage, also have NTPase, helicase and RTPase activity. The NS3 needs a hydrophilic segment of 40 residues from the transmembrane NS2B protein (who acts like cofator) to realize this functions. Actually, there's no vacines available on the market, and the treatment are just symptomatic. The tetrapeptide inhibitor Bz-Nle-Lys-Arg-Arg-H (Ki de 5,8-7,0 M) was showed as a potent inhibitor ? for NS3prot in Dengue virus. That is a inteligent alternative to treat the dengue desease. The present work aimed analyse the interactions of the ligand bounded to the activity site to provid a clear and depth vision of that interaction. For this purpouse, it was conducted an in silico study, by using quantum mechanical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT), with Generalized Gradient approximation (GGA) to describe the effects of exchange and correlation. The interaction energy of each amino acid belonging to the binding site to the ligand was calculated the using the method of molecular fragmentation with conjugated caps (MFCC). Besides energy, we calculated the distances, types of molecular interactions and atomic groups involved. The theoretical models used were satisfactory and show a more accurate description when the dielectric constant = 20 ? and 80 was used. The results demonstrate that the interaction energy of the system reached convergence at 13.5 A. Within a radius of 13,5A the most important residues were identified. Met49, Met84 and Asp81 perform interactions of hydrogen with the ligant. The Asp79 and Asp75 residues present high energy of attraction. Arg54, Arg85 and Lys 131 perform hydrogen interactions with the ligand, however, appear in BIRD graph having high repulsion energy with the inhibitor. The data also emphasizes the importance of residue Tyr161 and the involvement of the catalytic triad composed by Asp75, His51 and Ser135

La génétique des populations est l’étude de l’évolution des fréquences alléliques au sein d’une population et de l’influence des pressions évolutives sur ces fréquences. Au sein de cette discipline, des modèles de population et des mesures génétiques sont développés pour pouvoir expliquer et prédire les données génétiques. Toutefois, au fur et à mesure des avancées technologiques, de nouveaux types de données sont disponibles, et il devient primordial de développer de nouveaux modèles et de nouvelles mesures pour pouvoir expliquer ces nouvelles données génétiques, plus denses et plus riches en marqueurs génétiques grâce à l’avènement de techniques comme la Next Generation Sequencing. Pour ce faire, nous proposons dans cette thèse de développer de nouvelles mesures avec une approche dite multilocus, qui considère le génome comme un tout plutôt que comme un agglomérat de locus indépendants. Dans un premier temps, nous avons tenté de construire une base théorique de l’approche multilocus en génétique des populations. Ensuite, nous avons illustré une telle approche à travers l’étude de l’identité par descendance, des graphes de recombinaison ancestraux et des autocorrélogrammes dans les modèles de génétique des populations. À travers ces différentes études de cas, nous avons tenté d’identifier les principaux enjeux et questions que soulève la génétique des populations multilocus. / Population genetics is the study of the evolution of allelic frequencies within a population and the influence of evolutionary pressures on these frequencies. Within this field, one could develop population models and measures to explain and predict genetic data. However, as technologie evolves new types of data are available, and it becomes essential to develop new models and new measures to reflect these new genetic marker data, increasingly richer and denser thanks to the advent of new techniques such as the Next Generation Sequencing. To this end, we propose in this thesis to develop new measures with the so-called multilocus approach, which considers the genome as a whole rather than an agglomerate of independent loci. We have first tried to build a theoretical basis for the multilocus approach in population genetics. Then, we have illustrated this multilocus approach with the case studies of identity by descent, ancestral recombination graphs and autocorrelograms in population genetics models. Through these different studies, we tried to identify the main issues and questions that the multilocus population genetics raises.

The increase of antibiotic resistance against antibiotics (AB) is an alarming phenomenon threatening the human well being and heading back to the pre-antibiotic era where many infectious diseases may become again untreatable with antibiotics. There is a strong correlation between AB use and occurrence of resistances which suggests anthropogenically-driven environments as reservoirs of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB). Among anthropogenically - driven environments, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), have been linked with the increased incidence of pathogens and ARB in freshwater ecosystems. Principal goal of the study was to evaluate the role of WWTPs as environmental reservoirs for antibiotic resistance and pathogenic bacteria. In this thesis, classical and molecular microbiology methods were applied to analyse resistance levels of bacterial communities from wastewater and wastewater-polluted environments at different geographical locations of developed (German and Switzerland) and developing (Nigeria) countries. Additionally, a novel approach which makes use of a combination of quantitative genomics, Next Generation Sequencing and drug-related health data was applied to quantitatively detect antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in wastewater and assess their seasonal dynamics. The relative abundance of ARG was not reduced by the WWTPs in the treated effluent. Effluents were responsible for significantly high levels of ARB and ARG in the receiving environment because capable of introducing and/or selecting ARB carrying ARG on genetic mobile elements. The ARG levels differed between seasons independently from the water sanitation. High ARG levels were displayed in autumn and winter in coincidence with the higher uptake of antibiotics by the outpatients of the municipality.Contrary to the ARG, the abundance of bacteria was reduced by WWTPs processes in the effluent of developed countries. The WWTPs were also responsible for the changes of the microbial community from the wastewater to the effluent. Contrary to developed countries, the poor treatment of wastewater in Nigeria facilitated the spread of multi-drug resistant pathogens in the freshwater ecosystem. These bacteria were also carriers of clinically relevant ARG contributing to the accumulation of multiresistant pathogens in the environment. All in all, this thesis shows that well established WWTP technologies are not capable to prevent or reduce the abundance of ARG in the freshwater ecosystem and poorly treated wastewater enriches the environmental reservoirs of ARG. Antibiotic resistance can spread across taxonomically distant bacteria and therefore explain the strong dispersal of ARG in wastewater effluents. These results show that antibiotic resistances are also ubiquitous in the freshwater environment and that anthropogenically - driven environments determine the incidence of antibiotic resistance. As for the clinic, tackling the problem of antibiotic resistance in the environment is fundamental. Without any action, the environmental reservoirs of resistance will increase and therapeutic failure in the clinic will irreversibly compromise the biggest progress in medicine of the 20th century.