Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T17:42:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo9600_1.pdf: 1113997 bytes, checksum: da3add9ad6c7cab9dbfe9ab2c3ec2e2b (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / O propósito deste trabalho é apresentar uma contribuição referente ao desenvolvimento de um modelo de priorização de um investimento em tecnologia, visando melhorar a disponibilidade das redes de distribuição primária de energia. Na busca da melhoria da prestação do serviço de distribuição, será proposto um modelo que utiliza uma ferramenta de decisão multicritério, chamado PROMETHEE II. Este modelo busca um ordenamento das alternativas do problema de decisão em questão. Este ordenamento, no contexto do modelo proposto, indicará a priorização dos equipamentos mais críticos dentro do âmbito de uma concessionária de energia elétrica e com maior potencial de utilização de dispositivos de localizadores de falta da rede de distribuição. Os localizadores de falta são dispositivos capazes de indicar o trecho de circuito por onde passou uma corrente de curto-circuito ou sobrecarga, e a sua utilização estratégica possibilitam uma normalização mais ágil do serviço de distribuição para os circuitos onde instalado

Submitted by Amanda Silva (amanda.osilva2@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-05T12:03:40Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação BEZERRA,C. S. 2013.pdf: 7476726 bytes, checksum: 97af6d034dd0d2747df21f2cfd5e7912 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T12:03:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação BEZERRA,C. S. 2013.pdf: 7476726 bytes, checksum: 97af6d034dd0d2747df21f2cfd5e7912 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / CNPq / As ondas e correntes representam a mais constante forma de transporte de energia no mar, fornecendo energia para uma vasta gama de processos litorâneos os quais exercem papel preponderante na morfologia da linha de costa e, por conseguinte na determinação das feições litorâneas. Além disso, representam ameaça às construções costeiras, às atividades de lazer e às operações navais. Diante deste cenário a presente dissertação de mestrado pretende contribuir através da análise temporal e espacial das ondas wind sea e swell, assim como das correntes atuantes no litoral de Boa Viagem (Recife – PE), a partir de dados de parâmetros físicos de ondas (altura máxima – Hmax, altura significativa – Hs, Período de pico – Tp, e direção média –  ) e correntes (direção e intensidade), os quais foram obtidos a partir de imagens polares de radar náutico de banda-X, gerados a partir de um sistema denominado Wave and Surface Current Monitoring System - WaMoS II. O radar esteve em funcionamento entre o mês de abril de 2010 a abril de 2011. A partir das análises realizadas foi possível observar a ocorrência conjunta de ondas do tipo wind sea e swell no litoral de Boa Viagem, sendo que esta última foi bastante expressiva nos meses de junho e outubro de 2010, além dos meses entre dezembro de 2010 a março de 2011, sendo provenientes em sua maioria de leste. As ondas wind sea apresentaram uma altura significativa predominante entre 1 e 2 m, sendo provenientes de leste-sudeste. Além disso, foi possível observar uma variação na direção e diminuição na altura das ondas ao longo da plataforma interna de Boa Viagem, causadas pela variação na batimetria e pela presença de recifes de arenito. Para as correntes não se observou diferença na direção das mesmas nas duas áreas de análise, porém no que se refere a intensidade, esta foi maior na área mais afastada da costa (área 3) do que na área sobre o canal (área 1). De uma forma geral, neste trabalho foi possível identificar as características predominantes, em cada mês ao longo de todo período estudado, das ondas wind sea, as quais estão sempre presente no litoral de Boa Viagem, bem como as características de swell identificando seu período de maior atuação neste litoral; foi possível verificar como as características das ondas estão se alterando conforme se aproximam da costa; e também observar o padrão das correntes atuantes no litoral; e a altura máxima das ondas que incidem sobre a região. E diante de comparações com boia e modelo, foi possível comprovar a eficiência da medição de ondas a partir de radar e do sistema WaMoS II para o litoral de Boa Viagem (Recife – PE).

Submitted by João Arthur Martins (joao.arthur@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-05T16:59:07Z No. of bitstreams: 2 ems.pdf: 1113997 bytes, checksum: da3add9ad6c7cab9dbfe9ab2c3ec2e2b (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T16:59:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ems.pdf: 1113997 bytes, checksum: da3add9ad6c7cab9dbfe9ab2c3ec2e2b (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-01-30 / O propósito deste trabalho é apresentar uma contribuição referente ao desenvolvimento de um modelo de priorização de um investimento em tecnologia, visando melhorar a disponibilidade das redes de distribuição primária de energia. Na busca da melhoria da prestação do serviço de distribuição, será proposto um modelo que utiliza uma ferramenta de decisão multicritério, chamado PROMETHEE II. Este modelo busca um ordenamento das alternativas do problema de decisão em questão. Este ordenamento, no contexto do modelo proposto, indicará a priorização dos equipamentos mais críticos dentro do âmbito de uma concessionária de energia elétrica e com maior potencial de utilização de dispositivos de localizadores de falta da rede de distribuição. Os localizadores de falta são dispositivos capazes de indicar o trecho de circuito por onde passou uma corrente de curto-circuito ou sobrecarga, e a sua utilização estratégica possibilitam uma normalização mais ágil do serviço de distribuição para os circuitos onde instalado.

Glycogen storage disease type II (GSDII) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder caused by acid alpha-1,4-glucosidase (GAA) deficiency. This study aimed to provide an in-depth description of a late-onset GSDII (LO-GSDII) cohort (n=36) and assess potential genotype-phenotype correlation. We performed a clinical record-based study, some patients (n= 19) were also followed prospectively. Phenotypes were highly variable. We focused our clinical assessment onrespiratory failure, as it is the most frequent cause of death in LO-GSDII. In addition to standard spirometric measures, in a subgroup of patients (n = 10) we utilized a new tool, optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP), to investigate the pathophysiology of respiratory muscle impairment.The GAA gene was sequenced in every patient, and pathogenic mutations were identified inall of them. Almost all (35/36) patients carried the same mutation on one allele, IVS1-32-13T>G, which was in compound heterozygosity with a variety of other GAA mutations. To investigate genotype-phenotype correlation, we divided the patient cohort in two groups, according to the severity of the mutation on the second allele. The respiratory function study focused on diaphragmatic weakness. According to the change in forced vital capacity in supine position (ΔFVC), we defined patients with ΔFVC>25% ashaving diaphragmatic weakness (DW) and those with ΔFVC<25% as without diaphragmatic weakness (noDW). We measured pulmonary function and chest wall volumes using OEP inboth groups. We found a good correlation between the supine abdominal contribution to tidal volume (%VAB) and ΔFVC. Patients showed reduced chest wall and abdominal inspiratory capacity and low abdominal expiratory reserve volume. In terms of genotype-phenotype correlation, we counted more subjects in the group with severe second mutations (n=21) who had severe motor disability and respiratory dysfunction. However, this finding remains preliminary because differences were not significant, likely because of small sample size. Finally, in two smaller substudies, we investigated the occurrence of urinary and fecal incontinence in LO-GSDII, and reported a possibly non-fortuitous association of LO-GSDII and hydromyelia in two individuals. Overall, this work 1) provided new insight into genotype-phenotype correlation in GSDII, suggesting that it is of complex nature; 2) refined the analysis of respiratory muscle impairment and showed the utility of OEP for respiratory assessment in this neuromuscular disorder, and possibly in others as well; 3) indicated some so far little studied phenotypic features of LO-GSD-II that deserve further investigation. / Doctorat en Sciences médicales (Médecine) / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Abstract Heart responds to pathological hemodynamic stress by increasing cardiac myocyte size, reprogramming gene expression and enhancing contractile protein synthesis. Neurohumoral factors mediate hypertrophic adaptation either directly via specific receptors or indirectly by increasing blood pressure and cardiac load. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of angiotensin II (Ang II) in the atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) gene expression during cardiac overload. Furthermore, the mechanisms of action of Ang II in regulating cardiac gene expression were studied. Hemodynamic stress was produced by Ang II or nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) administration in conscious rats. Despite hypertension and increased left ventricular ANP and BNP mRNA levels, L-NAME administration for 8 weeks did not induce left ventricular hypertrophy. Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1) antagonism decreased significantly L-NAME-induced hypertension and ventricular ANP gene expression. Ang II-induced cardiac overload produced significant increase in ventricular ANP and BNP mRNA levels at 12 and 72 h, respectively. To study whether the factors synthesized by adrenals modulate the response of Ang II, the effects of adrenalectomy were studied. In Ang II-treated rats, adrenalectomy either abolished or blunted the early activation of ANP and BNP gene expression, respectively. Ang II infusion for 2 weeks increased cardiac mass and blood pressure measured by telemetry, and produced changes in diastolic function detected by echocardiography. By using direct plasmid DNA injections into the rat myocardium, BNP promoter activity was observed to increase at 2 h and remain up-regulated up to 2 weeks of Ang II infusion, except at 12 h. BNP mRNA levels increased at 2 h but decreased to basal levels after 72 h. Mutation of GATA elements of the BNP promoter and DNA binding assays revealed that GATA4 mediates the Ang II-responsiveness of the BNP gene. These results indicate that Ang II plays an important role in regulating natriuretic peptide gene expression during cardiac overload. ANP and BNP gene expression in the rat heart is modulated by the adrenal factors during Ang II-stimulated hemodynamic stress and the AT1 receptor antagonism in NO-deficient hypertension. Moreover, ventricular BNP gene expression in Ang II-induced hypertension in vivo is controlled by posttranscriptional mechanisms and GATA elements.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Abstract Cardiac hypertrophy is an adaptive response of the heart to a variety of mechanical, hemodynamic, neurohumoral, and pathologic stimuli. Prolonged pathophysiological load leads to development of left ventricular hypertrophy and ultimately to heart failure. The natriuretic peptides including the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) provide the physiological feedback mechanism to suppress the load signal. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cis elements within the BNP promoter that mediate the cardiac load responses in vivo, and to study the involvement of paracrine factors, such as endothelin-1 (ET-1) and angiotensin II (Ang II) in activating these transcription factors. In this study, cardiac overload was produced by bilateral nephrectomy, and infusions of arginine8-vasopressin (AVP) or Ang II. In isolated perfused rat heart, the direct wall stretch was achieved by inflating the left ventricular balloon. To identify the cis elements within the BNP promoter that mediate hemodynamic overload response, the approach of DNA injection into the myocardium was used. Mutation or deletion of proximal BNP GATA sites abrogated the response to nephrectomy. AVP-induced acute pressure overload increased left ventricular BNP mRNA and peptide levels. In gel mobility shift assays, pressure overload produced rapid activation of transcription factor GATA4 DNA binding, which was completely inhibited by the ET-1 receptor antagonist bosentan. Both ET-1 and Ang II receptor antagonism inhibited the wall stretch-induced increases in left ventricular GATA4 and AP-1 binding activities in isolated perfused heart preparation. BNP promoter activity and BNP mRNA and peptide levels were regulated distinctly in chronic hemodynamic overload produced by Ang II. In conclusion, GATA4 appears to be necessary and sufficient to confer transcriptional activation of BNP gene during hemodynamic stress in vivo. ET-1 is a signaling molecule mediating the cardiac response to acute pressure overload in vivo. In isolated rat heart, Ang II and ET-1 are required for the stimulation of GATA4 and AP-1 binding activity in response to direct left ventricular wall stretch. Finally, posttranscriptional mechanisms play an important role in the regulation of BNP gene expression in pressure overload produced by Ang II in vivo.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / We report the successful syntheses of a family of tetradentate N-donor pyridyl and quinolyl-imine ligands N1,N2-bis((pyridin-2-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L1), N1,N3- bis(pyridin-2-ylmethylene)propane-1,3-diamine (L2), N1,N4-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethylene) butane-1,4-diamine (L3), N1,N2-bis((quinolin-2-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L4), N1,N3-bis(quinolin-2-ylmethylene)propane-1,3-diamine (L5) and N1,N5-bis(pyridin-2- ylmethylene)pentane-1,5-diamine (L6). All the ligands were fully characterized by FT-IR, 1H and 13C NMR, GC-MS, Elemental analysis, UV-Vis and TGA. We report for the first time the thermogravimetric analysis of N1,N2-bis((pyridin-2-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L1) and N1,N2-bis((quinolin-2-yl)methylene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L4). The tetradentate N-donor pyridyl and quinolyl-imine ligands were subsequently utilised to synthesise neutral mononuclear and cationic homobimetallic ruthenium(II) complexes and new bimetallic palladium(II) complexes using the appropriate metal precursors. The ruthenium(II) complexes were evaluated for the oxidative cleavage of styrene using a Sharpless biphasic solvent system (CCl4:CH3CN:H2O) and sodium periodate (NaIO4) as the cooxidant. The bimetallic palladium(II) complexes were evaluated for their catalytic activity towards the standard Heck coupling reaction. The ruthenium(II) catalysts exhibited efficient catalytic activity, yielding conversions of 69-77%. The palladium(II) catalysts showed an overall low catalytic activity of 41-49 % conversion and analysed by GC.

This dissertation studies Second World War ‘sites of memory’ in the islands of Jersey, Orkney and the Isle of Man, to determine if each island celebrates the war’s events as Britain does, or if they have charted their own mnemonic course. It builds on the work of Angus Calder, Malcolm Smith, and Mark Connelly, who have explored how popular conception of the Second World War in Britain has been structured around a certain set of commemorative motifs, most of which centre on Winston Churchill and the events of 1940. The British war narrative is now commonly referred to as the ‘Churchillian paradigm’ or ‘finest-hour myth’, and continues to be the driving force in commemoration and memorialization on the British mainland. The three islands in this study are culturally and historically distinct from Britain, and each has strong notions of its own ‘island identity’. Each also possesses a tangential and divisive domestic experience of war, one which is often minimized in the iconography of the Churchillian paradigm. Jersey was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945, Orkney was home to several thousand Italian POWs who built important infrastructure in the island, and the Isle of Man was home to 14,000 German, Finnish, Japanese, and Italian internees in what one critic has called ‘a bespattered page’ in the nation’s history. By examining ‘sites of memory’— museums, heritage sites, commemorations, celebrations, philately, and use of public space—this dissertation shows that each island simultaneously accepts and rejects elements of the finest-hour myth in their collective memory. Each island displays its unique (though often quite negative) heritage in order to differentiate itself from Britain, while at the same time allowing them, at certain events, to participate in celebration of Britain’s ‘greatest victory’. In this way, islands’ use ‘Britishness’ pragmatically, by basking in traditionally ‘British’ commemorative tropes, while at the same time deepening their own cultural and historical sovereignty.

Elevated circulating Ang II activates neurons in the forebrain cardiovascular regulatory areas to cause sympatho-excitation and hypertension. We hypothesized that circulating Ang II causes neuronal activation in the SFO and thereby activates efferent pathways to the PVN, and chronically causes activation of aldosterone production in magnocellular neurons in PVN and SON, which amplifies neuronal activation in the PVN and central sympatho-excitatory pathways. The aim of the present study was to determine the pattern of neuronal activation in forebrain nuclei by circulating Ang II and to elucidate where in the hypothalamus Ang II may stimulate aldosterone biosynthesis. Dose related effects of circulating Ang II on BP were first assessed. Wistar rats instrumented with telemetry probes were infused subcutaneously with Ang II 150 and 500 ng/kg/min for 14 days. The subcutaneous infusion of Ang II at 150 ng/kg/min increased blood pressure gradually up to 20 mmHg and at 500 ng/kg/min up to 60 mmHg. Ang II at 500 ng/kg/min increased plasma Ang II by 4-fold. To assess effects of circulating Ang II on CNS pathways, Wistar rats were implanted subcutaneously with minipumps infusing 150 and 500 ng/kg/min Ang II for 1, 4 and 14 days. Three patterns of neuronal activation were observed by sc infusion of Ang II. The SFO was activated during the first day and remained activated for 4 days, but at 14 days showed diminished activation. MnPO did not show significant activation during the first day but, after several days the activation was high and then less by 14 days. Parvocellular PVN (pPVN), magnocellular PVN (mPVN) and SON showed an initial activation that increased over time. Chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of an aldosterone synthase inhibitor or a mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blocker attenuated the increase in Fra expression in PVN but not SON, and prevented the decrease in SFO after 14 days infusion of Ang II. A significant increase in mRNA expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), a rate limiting enzyme in aldosterone production was found in glia cells of PVN and SFO assessed by rt-PCR after 3 days subcutaneous infusion of Ang II at 500 ng/kg/min. Total expression of aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) mRNA was increased in SFO, MnPO, SON and PVN after 3 days of infusion of Ang II. After 14 days no significant changes were observed in the expression of StAR or CYP11B2 mRNA. In comparison, in adrenal StAR mRNA expression increased after 3 days but no longer after 14 days. In contrast, CYP11B2 mRNA expression in adrenal increased after both 3 and 14 days of infusion. These findings may support our hypothesis that chronic elevation of circulating Ang II increases neuronal activity in CVOs, presumably leading to activation of the PVN and SON to induce an increase in aldosterone production in magnocelular PVN and SON. In the second phase activation of CVOs appears to diminish, but an aldosterone-dependent amplifying mechanisms, causes sustained activation of the PVN and thereby hypertension.