Information systems used in archaeological research have several needs that can be summarized as follows: interoperability among diverse, heterogeneous systems, making information available without significant delay, providing a sustainable approach to long-term preservation of data, and providing a suite of services to users of the system. In this thesis, we describe how digital library techniques can be employed to provide solutions to these problems and describe our experiences in creating a prototype for ETANA-DL. ETANA-DL is a model-based, componentized, extensible, archaeological Digital Library that manages complex information sources using the client-server paradigm of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). We have designed and developed the prototype system with the following main goals: 1) to achieve information sharing between different heterogeneous archaeological systems, 2) to make primary archaeological data rapidly available to users, 3) to provide useful services to users of the DL, 4) to elicit requirements that users of the system will have beyond the services that it supports, and 5) to provide a sustainable solution to long-term preservation of valuable archaeological data. Consequently, we describe our approach to handling heterogeneous archaeological information from disparate sources; suggest an architecture for ETANA-DL, to be validated through prototyping; and show that given a pool of components that implement common DL services, a prototype DL can be rapidly created that supports several useful services over integrated data. Further, and most fundamentally, we note that understanding complex information systems is a difficult task. Finally, therefore, we describe our efforts to model complex archaeological information systems using the 5S framework, and show how we have used the resulting partial models to implement ETANA-DL with cross-collection searching and browsing capabilities. / Master of Science

O câncer de mama é o tipo de câncer mais comum entre as mulheres e a sobrevivência de pacientes por ele acometidos está aumentando graças a diversas novas abordagens relacionadas ao seu diagnóstico precoce e a tratamentos mais eficientes. A enzima indoleamina- 2,3 dioxigenase (IDO) é expressa por diversas células e também por células tumorais. Esta enzima atua inibindo a proliferação de linfócitos T, comprometendo a atividade citotóxica do mesmo. O 1-metil-DL-triptofano (1MT) é um inibidor competitivo da IDO, que bloqueia seu efeito imunossupressor e poderia cooperar com a quimioterapia na regressão de tumores. Por este motivo, além de evidenciar a expressão da IDO em células tumorais mamárias em tecido e em cultivo, este trabalho também teve como objetivo verificar o efeito “in vitro” da associação do 1-metil-DL-triptofano (1MT) ao quimioterápico paclitaxel (taxol®), como método de atenuação no crescimento tumoral. Acredita-se que isto possibilitaria a restauração da capacidade de proliferação dos linfócitos T e de sua capacidade de resposta citotóxica. Os resultados demonstraram que a IDO é expressa no tecido mamário, com alta concentração no estroma tumoral. Os cultivos suplementados mostraram que as diferenças mais significativas na expressão da IDO foram observadas no grupo tratado com paclitaxel associado ao 1-metil-DL-triptofano após suplementação contínua com os fatores mencionados, onde houve redução de 12,06% para 3,56% na expressão da enzima. Dessa forma pode-se sugerir que esta associação foi mais eficaz na contenção dessa expressão o que poderia levar à uma restauração da capacidade de resposta celular dos linfócitos T contra o tumor mamário. Tal resultado poderia colaborar no desenvolvimento de uma nova estratégia terapêutica no tratamento de pessoas afetadas pelo câncer de mama / Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and the survival of patients affected by it is increasing, mainly dueto several new approaches in early diagnosis and more effective treatments. The enzyme indoleamine- 2,3 - dioxygenase (IDO) is expressed on many cells and also on tumor cells. This enzyme acts by inhibiting the proliferation of T lymphocytes, thus compromising their cytotoxic activity. The 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan (1MT) is a competitive inhibitor of IDO, which blocks its immunosuppressive effect and could collaborate with chemotherapy in tumor regression. Thus, besides highlighting the expression of IDO in tumor cells in mammary tissue and culture, this study also aimed to determine the "in vitro" effect of the association of 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan (1MT) and paclitaxel (Taxol®) chemotherapy, as an attenuation approach to tumor growth. It is believed that it would allow the restoration of T-lymphocytes proliferation capability and their cytotoxic response. Results showed that IDO is expressed in breast tissue with a high concentration in the tumor stroma. The supplemented cultures showed that the most significant differences in the expression of IDO were observed in the group treated with paclitaxel associated with 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan continuous supplementation, reducing the enzyme expression from 12.06% to 3.56%. Therefore, it may be suggested that this association was more effective in reducing IDO expression and such outcome could collaborate in developing a new therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment

O câncer de mama é o tipo de câncer mais comum entre as mulheres e a sobrevivência de pacientes por ele acometidos está aumentando graças a diversas novas abordagens relacionadas ao seu diagnóstico precoce e a tratamentos mais eficientes. A enzima indoleamina- 2,3 dioxigenase (IDO) é expressa por diversas células e também por células tumorais. Esta enzima atua inibindo a proliferação de linfócitos T, comprometendo a atividade citotóxica do mesmo. O 1-metil-DL-triptofano (1MT) é um inibidor competitivo da IDO, que bloqueia seu efeito imunossupressor e poderia cooperar com a quimioterapia na regressão de tumores. Por este motivo, além de evidenciar a expressão da IDO em células tumorais mamárias em tecido e em cultivo, este trabalho também teve como objetivo verificar o efeito “in vitro” da associação do 1-metil-DL-triptofano (1MT) ao quimioterápico paclitaxel (taxol®), como método de atenuação no crescimento tumoral. Acredita-se que isto possibilitaria a restauração da capacidade de proliferação dos linfócitos T e de sua capacidade de resposta citotóxica. Os resultados demonstraram que a IDO é expressa no tecido mamário, com alta concentração no estroma tumoral. Os cultivos suplementados mostraram que as diferenças mais significativas na expressão da IDO foram observadas no grupo tratado com paclitaxel associado ao 1-metil-DL-triptofano após suplementação contínua com os fatores mencionados, onde houve redução de 12,06% para 3,56% na expressão da enzima. Dessa forma pode-se sugerir que esta associação foi mais eficaz na contenção dessa expressão o que poderia levar à uma restauração da capacidade de resposta celular dos linfócitos T contra o tumor mamário. Tal resultado poderia colaborar no desenvolvimento de uma nova estratégia terapêutica no tratamento de pessoas afetadas pelo câncer de mama / Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and the survival of patients affected by it is increasing, mainly dueto several new approaches in early diagnosis and more effective treatments. The enzyme indoleamine- 2,3 - dioxygenase (IDO) is expressed on many cells and also on tumor cells. This enzyme acts by inhibiting the proliferation of T lymphocytes, thus compromising their cytotoxic activity. The 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan (1MT) is a competitive inhibitor of IDO, which blocks its immunosuppressive effect and could collaborate with chemotherapy in tumor regression. Thus, besides highlighting the expression of IDO in tumor cells in mammary tissue and culture, this study also aimed to determine the "in vitro" effect of the association of 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan (1MT) and paclitaxel (Taxol®) chemotherapy, as an attenuation approach to tumor growth. It is believed that it would allow the restoration of T-lymphocytes proliferation capability and their cytotoxic response. Results showed that IDO is expressed in breast tissue with a high concentration in the tumor stroma. The supplemented cultures showed that the most significant differences in the expression of IDO were observed in the group treated with paclitaxel associated with 1-methyl-DL-tryptophan continuous supplementation, reducing the enzyme expression from 12.06% to 3.56%. Therefore, it may be suggested that this association was more effective in reducing IDO expression and such outcome could collaborate in developing a new therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Nesta dissertaÃÃo sÃo apresentados resultados de espalhamento Raman em cristais de Ãcido DL-aspÃrtico sob diversas condiÃÃes de temperatura. O Ãcido DL-aspÃrtico (C4H7NO4) cristaliza-se no grupo espacial C2h6 com oito molÃculas por cÃlula unitÃria, existindo portanto 128 Ãtomos na cÃlula unitÃria que darÃo origem a 384 modos normais de vibraÃÃo. Destes um total de 192 modos sÃo Raman ativos, que poderiam ser observados nos espectros nÃo polarizados, mas que por diversos fatores apenas parte desses modos à observada. Fez-se a identificaÃÃo tentativa de todos os modos normais de vibraÃÃo que aparecem no intervalo espectral entre 50 e 3200cm-1 e um estudo com variaÃÃo de temperatura entre 10 e 433K. O intervalo compreendido entre 0 e 150 cm-1 à de extrema importÃncia para detecÃÃes de transiÃÃes de fase estrutural pois contÃm os modos de vibraÃÃo da rede. No caso do Ãcido DL-aspÃrtico ocorreu uma inversÃo de intensidade para os modos em 82 e 87 cm-1, considerando os extremos do intervalo de temperatura medido. Tal inversÃo foi interpretada como uma pequena mudanÃa conformacional, nada associado a transiÃÃo. Com exceÃÃo desse fato nÃo ocorreram anomalias, nem aparecimento ou surgimento de modos nessa regiÃo, o que apontou para a estabilidade do material. Outro evento ocorreu nessa regiÃo: as bandas em 116 e 132 cm-1, bastante distintas a baixÃssimas temperaturas (< 150 K) tornam-se indistinguÃveis a 200 K. Tal fato nÃo pode ser associado a uma transiÃÃo de fase pois o prÃprio alargamento das linhas, consequÃncia do aumento da temperatura, implica a superposiÃÃo dos modos. Some-se a isso o fato de que nas vibraÃÃes de torÃÃo do NH3 e rocking do CO2â (modos associados Ãs ligaÃÃes de hidrogÃnio) ter-se observado linearidade nas curvas frequÃncia-temperatura. Por fim realizou-se um estudo de calorimetria diferencial de varredura, confirmando-se o que havia sido observado pela espectroscopia Raman â a estabilidade da estrutura em todo o intervalo de temperatura investigado. / This dissertation presents the results of Raman scattering in crystals of DL-aspartic acid under various temperature conditions. The DL-aspartic acid (C4H7NO4) crystallizes in space group C2h6 with eight molecules per unit cell, so there are 128 atoms in the unit cell that give rise to 384 normal modes of vibration. Of these modes a total of 192 modes are Raman active, which could be observed in not polarized spectra, but by various factors only some of these modes are observed. We did an attempt identification of all normal modes of vibration that appears in the spectral range between 50 and 3200cm-1 and a study with variation in temperature between 10 and 433 K. The interval between 0 and 150 cm-1 is extremely important for detection of phase transitions because it contains the structural modes of vibration of the lattice. In the case of DL-aspartic acid there was a reversal of intensity for the modes at 82 and 87 cm-1, in considering the extremes of temperature interval measured. This reversal was interpreted as a small conformational change, not associated with a phase transition. With exception of this reversal there were not anomalies, not appearance or disappearance of modes in this region, which pointed to the stability of the material. Another event occurred in this region: the bands at 116 and 132 cm-1, very different at very low temperatures (< 150 K) become indistinguishable at 200 K. This fact can not be associated with a phase transition because the broadening of bands, arising from increasing temperatures, implies the superposition of modes. Added to this there is the fact that the torsional vibrations of the NH3+ and rocking of CO2- (modes associated with hydrogen bonds) behaved linearly in frequency-temperature curves. Finally we did a study of differential scanning calorimetry, which confirmed what had been observed by Raman spectroscopy - the stability of the structure throughout the temperature range investigated.

The semiarid regions of Ethiopia are exposed to anthropogenic and natural calamities. In this study, we assessed the relationship between Tropical Applications of Meteorology using Satellite data (TAMSAT) and MODIS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data for the period 2000 to 2014 on decadal and annual basis using multivariate distributed lag (DL) models. Decadal growing season (June to September) values for kaftahumera were calculated from MODIS NDVI data. The growing season NDVI values are highly correlated with the precipitations during the whole study period. A lag of up to 30 days observed in most parts of our study region in which the rainfall has effects on vegetation growth after 40 days. The lag-time effects vary with the distribution of land use types and seasons. A lower correlation was observed in the woodland regions where significant deforestation occurred due to expansion of croplands. The loss in vegetation contributed to the low biomass production attributable to extended loss in vegetation cover.

Ontology-based data access (OBDA) generalizes query answering in relational databases. It allows to query a database by using the language of an ontology, abstracting from the actual relations of the database. For ontologies formulated in Description Logics of the DL-Lite family, OBDA can be realized by rewriting the query into a classical first-order query, e.g. an SQL query, by compiling the information of the ontology into the query. The query is then answered using classical database techniques. In this report, we consider a temporal version of OBDA. We propose a temporal query language that combines a linear temporal logic with queries over DL-Litecore-ontologies. This language is well-suited for expressing temporal properties of dynamical systems and is useful in context-aware applications that need to detect specific situations. Using a first-order rewriting approach, we transform our temporal queries into queries over a temporal database. We then present three approaches to answering the resulting queries, all having different advantages and drawbacks. / This revised version proves that the presented algorithm achieves a bounded history encoding.

Virtual Enterprise (VE) is an organizational collaboration concept which provides a competitive edge in the globalized business environment. The life cycle of a VE consists of four stages i.e. opportunity identification (Pre-Creation), partner selection (Creation), operation and dissolution. The success of VEs depends upon the efficient execution of their VE-lifecycles along with knowledge enhancement for the partner enterprises to facilitate the future formation of efficient VEs. This research aims to study the different issues which occur in the VE lifecycle and provides a platform for the formation of high performance enterprises and VEs. In the pre-creation stage, enterprises look for suitable partners to create their VE and to exploit a market opportunity. This phase requires explicit and implicit information extraction from enterprise data bases (ECOS-ontology) for the identification of suitable partners. A description logic (DL) based query system is developed to extract explicit and implicit information and to identify potential partners for the creation of the VE. In the creation phase, the identified partners are analysed using different risks paradigms and a cooperative game theoretic approach is used to develop a revenue sharing mechanism based on enterprises inputs and risk minimization for optimal partner selection. In the operation phases, interoperability remains a key issue for seamless transfer of knowledge information and data. DL-based ontology mapping is applied in this research to provide interoperability in the VE between enterprises with different domains of expertise. In the dissolution stage, knowledge acquired in the VE lifecycle needs to be disseminated among the enterprises to enhance their competitiveness. A DL-based ontology merging approach is provided to accommodate new knowledge with existing data bases with logical consistency. Finally, the proposed methodologies are validated using the case study. The results obtained in the case study illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of proposed methodologies in each stage of the VE life cycle.

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

Tesis (magíster en derecho con mención en contratación comparada e internacional)

O objetivo deste trabalho é o desenvolvimento de um software, o Tabelas Interativas Programáveis (TABIPRO), que permita a professores e mentores de Educação a Distância (EAD) com pouca ou nenhuma experiência em programação, incluir em páginas HTML, tabelas dinâmicas que interpretem dados que nelas forem preenchidos, interagindo com o aluno. Protótipos destas tabelas, com nome, descrição, e-mail, número de linhas e colunas, componentes, fórmulas e mensagens, são criados e armazenados em um banco de dados, que é acessado em tempo real toda vez que uma página HTML com chamadas ao TABIPRO, for carregada em um browser. De ampla abrangência, a princípio este trabalho foi concebido para ser aplicado no módulo de Mecânica Gráfica do Programa Educ@r, em curso complementar de ensino a distância de Física para o nível médio, com uso da Internet como meio de comunicação e distribuição de informações. Através do TABIPRO, o aluno que participa de um treinamento ou curso a distância, poderá no processo de avaliação ter o conteúdo de suas respostas corrigidas imediatamente por este software, que ainda permite ao professor acompanhar o desenvolvimento do aluno, comentar suas respostas e direcioná-lo para um melhor aproveitamento do curso. Uma breve explanação do conceito de EAD e a apresentação das ferramentas e métodos utilizados para o desenvolvimento do TABIPRO são apresentados nessa dissertação. / The objective of this paper is the development of a software, the Programmable Interactive Tables (TABIPRO), which allows professors and teachers of Distance Education with little or no experience in programming, to include in HTML pages, dynamic tables that interpret data filled in them, interacting with the student. Prototypes of these tables, with name, description, e-mail, number of lines and columns, components, formulas and messages, are created and stored in a database, which is accessed on line everytime a HTML page with calls to TABIPRO, is loaded in a browser. At first this software was created to be applied to a module of Graphic Mechanics of the Educ@r Program, in an extra distance course of Physics, for High School, using the Internet as a communication and information distributor means. Through the TABIPRO, the students who join a distance training or course, could have their answers immediately corrected by this software during the evaluation process, allowing the teacher to follow the students´ development, comment the answers and direct them to the best result. A brief explanation of the concept of Distance Education and a presentation of the tools and methods used for the TABIPRO development are present in this paper.