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Submitted by Secretaria Pós de Produção (tpp@vm.uff.br) on 2017-08-01T01:26:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 M2016 - Jose Artur Moraes Vieira.pdf: 2506150 bytes, checksum: 586cf2bf3d9b631d29846fc88be94f0a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-01T01:26:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 M2016 - Jose Artur Moraes Vieira.pdf: 2506150 bytes, checksum: 586cf2bf3d9b631d29846fc88be94f0a (MD5) / As discussões recentes sugerem a utilização de recursos de maneira otimizada, dada a sua escassez cada vez mais presente, sejam ambientais, de prazo, financeiros, políticos ou legais. Tal fato torna a tomada de decisão e planejamento estratégico baseados em cenários futuros uma tarefa complexa, já que dispõe alternativas múltiplas e incertas. Este estudo, então, propõe um modelo para prospecção de cenários apoiado na abordagem de Auxílio Multicritério à Decisão (AMD), considerando obrigatoriamente, fatores políticos, econômicos, sociais, tecnológicos e ambientais, que possa ser utilizado como ferramenta para auxiliar no planejamento estratégico das empresas e aplica-lo em uma empresa de serviços de engenharia, localizada no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A motivação do tema estudado está na possibilidade da aplicação de técnicas AMD no planejamento estratégico. Como resultado foi mostrada a utilidade do modelo proposto visto que possibilitou ao gestor analisar alternativas através da prospecção de futuros realizada. / Recent discussions suggest the use of resources optimally, given their scarcity increasingly present, whether environmental, term, financial, political or legal. This fact makes the decision-making and strategic planning based on future scenarios a complex task, as it has multiple and uncertain alternatives. This study then proposes a model for prospecting scenarios supported in Multicriteria Decision Aid (AMD), considering necessarily political, economic, social, technological and environmental factors, which can be used as an auxiliary tool in strategic planning companies and apply it in an engineering services company located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The motivation of the subject studied is the possibility of applying AMD techniques in strategic planning. As a result was shown the usefulness of the proposed visa that enabled the manager to analyze alternatives over the prospect of future held model.

Deutschsprachige Zusammenfassung Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. med. Titel: Mögliche Korrelation zwischen dem Stadium der altersabhängigen Makuladegeneration und der zentralen Hornhautdicke eingereicht von: Christian Koch angefertigt an der: Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde Universität Leipzig betreut von: Professor Dr. med. Peter Wiedemann Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde Universität Leipzig Monat und Jahr: Juni 2015 Annahme: Es soll ein statistischer Zusammenhang zwischen der zentralen Hornhautdicke in der Pupillenmitte mit dem nicht exsudativen frühen Stadium der AMD, dem exsudativen späten Stadium der AMD und einer Kontrollgruppe überprüft werden. Methodik: Die erste Studiengruppe stellten 48 Augen von 48 Patienten mit einer Form der frühen AMD dar (Durchschnittsalter 75,4 Jahre, 70,8% der Probanden waren Frauen). Die zweite Studiengruppe bildeten 49 Augen von 49 Patienten mit einer Form der späten AMD (Durchschnittsalter 79,8 Jahre, 59,2% der Probanden waren Frauen). Als Kontrollgruppe wurden 49 Augen von 49 Individuen ohne retinale oder korneale Erkrankungen genutzt (Durchschnittsalter 68,9 Jahre, 59,2% der Probanden waren Frauen). Die Vermessung der Hornhautdicke in Pupillenmitte im Sinne der Hornhautmittendicke erfolgte als Pachymetrie mit der Oculus Pentacam. Ergebnisse: Die durchschnittliche zentrale Hornhautdicke betrug bei der Kontrollgruppe 552,76 μm (SD 36,27 μm), bei der nicht exsudativen Gruppe 552,19 μm (SD 31,27 μm) und bei der exsudativen Gruppe 553,73 μm (SD 33,11 μm). Die Extrempunkte der Kontrollgruppe lagen bei 483 und 640 μm, der Gruppe der nicht exsudativen AMD bei 480 und 617 μm und Minimum und Maximum der exsudativen Gruppe bei 473 und 617 μm. Es gab keine statistisch signifikanten Unterschiede im arithmetischen Mittel der zentralen Hornhautdicke in Pupillenmitte bei der Studiengruppe mit früher AMD im Vergleich mit der Studiengruppe mit später AMD und jeweils im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe (P > 0,05). Schlussfolgerung: Die Messwerte der zentralen Hornhautdicke bei Patienten mit früher AMD, später AMD und Kontrollindividuen unterscheiden sich nicht. Die Erhebung der Hornhautmittendicke bietet somit keine Screeningmöglichkeit zur Erkennung einer AMD. / English Abstract Central corneal thickness in patients with AMD Koch, C.; Jochmann, C.; Wiedemann, P. University of Leipzig, Department of Ophthalmology and Eye Hospital, Leipzig, Germany Purpose: To evaluate central corneal thickness in patients with AMD in the early and late phase and a control group. Method: The first study group was made up of 48 eyes of 48 patients with early AMD (mean age 75.4 years, 70.8 % women), the second study group was made up of 49 eyes of 49 patients with late AMD (mean age 79.8 years, 59.2 % women). 49 eyes of 49 individuals without any retinal or corneal damage (mean age 68.9 years, 59.2 % women) were used as control group. The central corneal thickness was measured with the Oculus Pentacam pachymetry. Results: The mean central corneal thickness in early non-exudative AMD group was found to be 552.19 μm (SD 31.27 μm), while the mean central corneal thickness in the late exudative AMD group was measured as 553.73 μm (SD 33.11 μm). The control group had a mean central corneal thickness of 552.76 μm (SD 36.27 μm). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean central corneal thickness in the early non-exudative AMD group in comparison with the late exudative AMD group and each of them compared to the control group (P > 0,05). Conclusion: The central corneal thickness measurements do not differ in patients with early non-exudative AMD, late exudative AMD and control subjects.

Several modern multi-core architectures support the dynamic control of the CPU's clock rate, allowing processor cores to temporarily operate at speeds exceeding the operational base frequency. Conversely, cores can operate at a lower speed or be disabled altogether to save power. Such facilities are notably provided by Intel's Turbo Boost and AMD's Turbo CORE technologies. Frequency control is typically driven by the operating system which requests changes to the performance state of the processor based on the current load of the system. In this paper, we investigate the use of dynamic frequency scaling from user space to speed up multi-threaded applications that must occasionally execute time-critical tasks or to solve problems that have heterogeneous computing requirements. We propose a general-purpose library that allows selective control of the frequency of the cores - subject to the limitations of the target architecture. We analyze the performance trade-offs and illustrate its benefits using several benchmarks and real-world workloads when temporarily boosting selected cores executing time-critical operations. While our study primarily focuses on AMD's architecture, we also provide a comparative evaluation of the features, limitations, and runtime overheads of both Turbo Boost and Turbo CORE technologies. Our results show that we can successful exploit these new hardware facilities to accelerate the execution of key sections of code (critical paths) improving overall performance of some multi-threaded applications. Unlike prior research, we focus on performance instead of power conservation. Our results further can give guidelines for the design of hardware power management facilities and the operating system interfaces to those facilities.

Fanny Creek drains from Island Block opencast coal mine, near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and is impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD). The objectives of this study were to characterise drainage chemistry in Fanny Creek catchment, and to determine optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD for future pilot or full-scale application. This was undertaken by monthly monitoring in Fanny Creek catchment between February 2008 and January 2009 to collect drainage chemistry and flow data. Laboratory trials of suitable passive AMD treatment systems were conducted and their treatment performance assessed to select and design optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD. Oxidation of pyrite in Brunner Coal Measure sediments at Island Block mine generates AMD. Fanny Creek originates from a number of AMD seeps on the eastern waste rock slope of Island Block mine. Seeps have low pH (<3.23) and a single detailed metal analysis indicates drainage is enriched with aluminium and iron, and contains elevated concentrations of manganese, copper, nickel, zinc and cadmium relative to applicable water quality criteria such as ANZECC guidelines. Acidity and metal loadings of drainage in the catchment indicates AMD from the northern waste rock slope contributes most of the acidity (~70%) and metal (60%) in Fanny Creek, and acts to re-dissolve additional metals upon mixing with drainage from other slopes. The most suitable location for a passive AMD treatment system in Fanny Creek catchment is on the Waitahu Valley floor, near monitoring site R12, because this allows for sediment removal prior to a treatment system. Fanny Creek AMD at site R12 was characterized in detail because this data assists with selection and design of passive AMD treatment systems. Fanny Creek at site R12 contains on average 6.0 mg/L aluminium, 1.3 mg/L iron, 3.1 mg/L manganese, 0.49 mg/L zinc, 0.14 mg/L nickel, 0.0071 mg/L copper and 0.00048 mg/L cadmium. Average pH at site R12 was 3.95, calculated acidity averaged 42.7 mg CaCO₃/L, and flow rate ranged from 1.5 L/s to about 30 L/s. Acidity and metal generation from Island Block mine increases linearly with flow in the catchment, and therefore Fanny Creek drainage chemistry is not significantly affected by rainfall dilution. Natural attenuation of AMD occurs by addition of un-impacted alkaline drainage from Greenland Group basement rocks, wetland ecosystem processes, and geochemical reactions along Fanny Creek that decrease acidity and metal concentrations before AMD discharges into the Waitahu River. During low flow conditions (summer months), surface flow of AMD into the Waitahu River does not occur because of subsurface flow loss. Three suitable passive AMD treatment options for Fanny Creek AMD were selected and trialed at ‘bench top’ scale in a laboratory. These included a sulfate reducing bioreactor (SRBR), a limestone leaching bed (LLB), and an open limestone channel (OLC). The potential to mix Waitahu River water with Fanny Creek to neutralize AMD was also investigated. Fanny Creek AMD was employed for laboratory trials, and influent flow rates into SRBR, LLB and OLC systems were regulated to assess performance at different hydraulic retention times (HRT). Optimal HRTs for future treatment system designs were determined from effective AMD treatment thresholds, and include 51 hours, 5 hours and 15 hours for SRBR, LLB and OLC systems, respectively. To determine optimal treatment options for Fanny Creek AMD the effectiveness of each trial option was compared to applicable water quality criteria, and scale up implications of treatment options was assessed. The SRBR system had most effective AMD treatment, with water quality criteria achieved for metals, greatest alkalinity generation, and highest pH increase. However, a full scale SRBR system has significant size requirements, and long term treatment performance may be limited. The LLB system decreased metals to below, or just slightly above criteria for all metals, and has significantly smaller size requirements compared to a SRBR system. The OLC system was least effective, with effluent above water quality criteria for all metals except iron, and with lowest alkalinity generation. The Waitahu River is capable of neutralizing AMD because it is slightly alkaline. The flow volume of river water required for neutralization is between 65 L/s and 140L/s, which can be gravity fed to mix with Fanny Creek. These results indicate that either a LLB treatment system or the Waitahu River Mixing option are the optimal passive treatment strategies for Fanny Creek AMD. On site pilot scale testing of SRBR and LLB systems, and the Waitahu River Mixing option is recommended because of AMD treatment uncertainty, and to more accurately select and design full scale passive treatment strategies.

Deutschsprachige Zusammenfassung Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. med. Titel: Mögliche Korrelation zwischen dem Stadium der altersabhängigen Makuladegeneration und der zentralen Hornhautdicke eingereicht von: Christian Koch angefertigt an der: Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde Universität Leipzig betreut von: Professor Dr. med. Peter Wiedemann Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde Universität Leipzig Monat und Jahr: Juni 2015 Annahme: Es soll ein statistischer Zusammenhang zwischen der zentralen Hornhautdicke in der Pupillenmitte mit dem nicht exsudativen frühen Stadium der AMD, dem exsudativen späten Stadium der AMD und einer Kontrollgruppe überprüft werden. Methodik: Die erste Studiengruppe stellten 48 Augen von 48 Patienten mit einer Form der frühen AMD dar (Durchschnittsalter 75,4 Jahre, 70,8% der Probanden waren Frauen). Die zweite Studiengruppe bildeten 49 Augen von 49 Patienten mit einer Form der späten AMD (Durchschnittsalter 79,8 Jahre, 59,2% der Probanden waren Frauen). Als Kontrollgruppe wurden 49 Augen von 49 Individuen ohne retinale oder korneale Erkrankungen genutzt (Durchschnittsalter 68,9 Jahre, 59,2% der Probanden waren Frauen). Die Vermessung der Hornhautdicke in Pupillenmitte im Sinne der Hornhautmittendicke erfolgte als Pachymetrie mit der Oculus Pentacam. Ergebnisse: Die durchschnittliche zentrale Hornhautdicke betrug bei der Kontrollgruppe 552,76 μm (SD 36,27 μm), bei der nicht exsudativen Gruppe 552,19 μm (SD 31,27 μm) und bei der exsudativen Gruppe 553,73 μm (SD 33,11 μm). Die Extrempunkte der Kontrollgruppe lagen bei 483 und 640 μm, der Gruppe der nicht exsudativen AMD bei 480 und 617 μm und Minimum und Maximum der exsudativen Gruppe bei 473 und 617 μm. Es gab keine statistisch signifikanten Unterschiede im arithmetischen Mittel der zentralen Hornhautdicke in Pupillenmitte bei der Studiengruppe mit früher AMD im Vergleich mit der Studiengruppe mit später AMD und jeweils im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe (P > 0,05). Schlussfolgerung: Die Messwerte der zentralen Hornhautdicke bei Patienten mit früher AMD, später AMD und Kontrollindividuen unterscheiden sich nicht. Die Erhebung der Hornhautmittendicke bietet somit keine Screeningmöglichkeit zur Erkennung einer AMD. / English Abstract Central corneal thickness in patients with AMD Koch, C.; Jochmann, C.; Wiedemann, P. University of Leipzig, Department of Ophthalmology and Eye Hospital, Leipzig, Germany Purpose: To evaluate central corneal thickness in patients with AMD in the early and late phase and a control group. Method: The first study group was made up of 48 eyes of 48 patients with early AMD (mean age 75.4 years, 70.8 % women), the second study group was made up of 49 eyes of 49 patients with late AMD (mean age 79.8 years, 59.2 % women). 49 eyes of 49 individuals without any retinal or corneal damage (mean age 68.9 years, 59.2 % women) were used as control group. The central corneal thickness was measured with the Oculus Pentacam pachymetry. Results: The mean central corneal thickness in early non-exudative AMD group was found to be 552.19 μm (SD 31.27 μm), while the mean central corneal thickness in the late exudative AMD group was measured as 553.73 μm (SD 33.11 μm). The control group had a mean central corneal thickness of 552.76 μm (SD 36.27 μm). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean central corneal thickness in the early non-exudative AMD group in comparison with the late exudative AMD group and each of them compared to the control group (P > 0,05). Conclusion: The central corneal thickness measurements do not differ in patients with early non-exudative AMD, late exudative AMD and control subjects.

yes / Microperimetry, also referred to as fundus perimetry or fundus-driven perimetry, enables simultaneous acquisition of visual sensitivity and eye movement data. We present sensitivity data collected from 60 participants with normal vision using gaze-contingent perimetry. A custom designed spatially dense test grid was used to collect data across the visual field within 13° of fixation. These data are supplemental to a study in which we demonstrated a spatial interpolation method that facilitates comparison of acquired data from any set of spatial locations to normative data and thus screening of individuals with both normal and non-foveal fixation (Denniss and Astle, 2016)[1].

With the benefits of an ever increasing advance of industrialization around the globe come formidable environmental CO2 . Three environmental problems that have relevance to the research described in this thesis are the 1) buildup of atmospheric CO2 gas through the burning of fossil fuels, 2) eutrophication of aquatic systems, and 3) the acidification of environments from acid mine drainage (AMD) resulting from coal-mining activities. In particular research is presented in this thesis that investigated the surface chemistry of CO2 and phosphate (PO43-) on a suite of environmentally relevant iron oxyhydroxide materials and the chemistry of phospholipid molecules on environmentally relevant iron sulfide surfaces to suppress AMD. To develop a microscopic understanding of the surface chemistry of the different systems, an array of experimental and computational techniques were used in the research. Techniques included X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic adsorption, X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission microscopy with electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM/EDS), ion chromatography (IC), and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR). Results from the latter technique were interpreted with the aid of density function theory (DFT) calculations. Iron oxyhydroxides, which consisted of ferrihydrite (FeOOH), goethite α-FeOOH), ferrimagnetic ferrihydrite (FerriFh), and aluminum-doped iron oxyhydroxide (content from 0-100 mol%) were synthesized and studied before and after exposure to gaseous CO2 , CO32-, and PO43- species. FeOOH and mixed Al/Fe oxyhydroxide surfaces showed high affinities for the formation of carbonate and bicarbonate species upon exposure to gaseous CO2 . Within the Al/Fe oxyhydroxide circumstance, a low Al level of incorporation in the iron oxyhydroxide structure caused a slight increase in surface area and increase in the amount of oxyanion (e.g., CO32- or PO43-) adsorption up to an Al level of 30 mol%. Significant changes were observed in the binding geometry of the adsorbed complexes on the Al/Fe mineral compared to single phase α-FeOOH, AlOOH, and FeOOH surfaces. ATR-FTIR results combined with vibrational frequency (DFT) calculations suggested the formation of multiple phosphate surface complexes via a variety of configurations such as inner-sphere/outer-sphere bidentate, monodentate depending on the solution pH and the Al mol% substituted into the Fe-oxyhydroxide. Studies investigated the adsorption of CO2 on FerriFh and compared those results to CO2 on ferrihydrite. The CO2 pressures used in these particular studies ranged from 1 to 57.8 bars. It is found that citrate bound species, resulting from the synthesis conditions used to make FerriFh, blocked surface sites for the formation of carbonate and bicarbonate species on the magnetic FerriFh and ferrihydrite oxyhydroxide minerals upon CO2 (gas) exposure. A bicarbonate or bent-CO2 like species (~1220 cm-1) formed at lower CO2 pressures (≤ 3.5 bars) but was absent at the higher pressures. Additional studies investigated the adsorption of various phospholipid molecules on pyrite, and iron sulfide with FeS2 stoichiometry. These studies were focused on suppressing the oxidative decomposition of pyrite to sulfuric acid, the root cause of AMD. Batch and column studies were employed to investigate the ability of phospholipids to reduce AMD over an extended period of time (up to 3 years). In studies that used actual coal mining refuse, which contained significant amount of pyrite, it was shown that the rate of acid production from pyrite decomposition could be reduced by as much as 70% due to the presence of surface bound phospholipid. Assembly of the phospholipid into a bilayer motif on the sulfide surface was hypothesized to form a hydrophobic barrier that kept dissolved O2 and bacteria from facilitating the oxidation of FeS2. Column experiments showed that when water at pH 7 was flowed over the coal mining waste, the effluent had a pH close to 3. In contrast when water at pH 7 was flowed over the pyrite containing waste, which was pretreated with lipid, the effluent had a pH closer to 7, and the total amount of Fe (Fe2+/Fe3+) and SO42- in the effluent waters was also reduced relative to the untreated pyrite containing waste circumstance. These studies showed that the application of phospholipid to pyrite containing coal mining waste could potentially be an environmentally friendly remediation technique. / Chemistry

Ackmann, Charlotte Osmotische Induktion des Komplementfaktors C9 in retinalen Pigmentepithelzellen Universität Leipzig, Dissertation 98 Seiten, 208 Literaturangaben, 28 Abbildungen, 8 Tabellen Die altersbedingte Makuladegeneration (AMD) ist die häufigste Ursache für Erblindung bei Erwachsenen in den industrialisierten Ländern. Die AMD ist unter anderem eine chronisch entzündliche Erkrankung, bei der die Aktivierung der alternativen Komplementkaskade eine Rolle spielt. Daneben erhöht Bluthochdruck, der auch durch eine salzreiche Ernährung getriggert wird, das Risiko an einer AMD zu erkranken. Untersucht wurde die Genexpression des Komplementfaktors C9 unter verschiedenen pathologischen Bedingungen in humanen retinalen Pigmentepithel (RPE)-Zellen sowie deren Wirkung auf die physiologischen Eigenschaften der Zellen. Gezeigt wird, dass die Expression des C9 Gens in humanen RPE-Zellen spezifisch durch Hyperosmolarität, Hypoxie und oxidativen Stress induziert wird. Die Menge an C9 Protein wurde durch Hyperosmolarität leicht aber signifikant erhöht. Die hyperosmotische Induktion der C9 mRNA ist abhängig von der Aktivierung der Signalproteine p38 MAPK, ERK1/2, JNK, PI3K, sowie der Transkriptionsfaktoren STAT3 und NFAT5 während für die Hypoxie-induzierte C9 mRNA Expression nur eine Beteiligung des Transkriptionsfaktors STAT3 nachgewiesen wurde. Die Aktivierung verschiedener Signalwege durch Hyper-osmolarität und Hypoxie lässt vermuten, dass eine hohe Kochsalzaufnahme auch unter normoxischen Verhältnissen die Eigenschaften RPE-Zellen verändert. Hyperosmolarität hemmt die Proliferation und Migration der RPE-Zellen, während chemische Hypoxie nur die Proliferationsrate verringert. Die Wirkung einer erhöhten extrazellulären NaCl-Konzentration auf die C9 mRNA Expression wird über zwei Mechanismen vermittelt: über die Erhöhung der extrazellulären Osmolarität und über die Veränderung des NaCl-Gradienten über der Plasmamembran. Die NaCl Wirkung über den veränderten NaCl-Gradienten lässt vermuten, dass eine übermäßige Aufnahme von Kochsalz nicht nur über die Erhöhung des Blutdruckes die Pathogenese der AMD stimuliert, sondern dass Kochsalz auch eine direkte stimulierende Wirkung auf RPE-Zellen besitzt. Diese Vermutung könnte erklären, weshalb hoher Blutdruck ein Risikofaktor der AMD ist, aber Medikamente zur Behandlung des Bluthochdruckes das Risiko der AMD nicht verändert.