Au cours des dernières années, une sélection génétique importante a été faite pour améliorer la production de lait des bovins, ceci au détriment des performances reproductives. Cette diminution de performance n’a cependant pas été rapportée chez la génisse présentant un même potentiel génétique. Cette immense production de lait et les changements métaboliques qui l’accompagnent ont donc un impact négatif sur l’efficacité reproductive des vaches laitières qui subissent un stress métabolique supérieur à celui des génisses. Le but de l’étude était d’acquérir une meilleure connaissance des différences moléculaires et métaboliques entre ces deux groupes d’animaux pour amener à une meilleure compréhension de la pathogenèse de l’infertilité chez la vache laitière. Pour ce faire, les vagues folliculaires de vaches en lactation (30-50 jours en lait; N = 12) et de génisses (N = 10) ont été synchronisées par ablation écho guidée des follicules et par traitement hormonal avec injection de prostaglandine et insertion d’un implant de progestérone. L’aspiration du liquide folliculaire et des cellules de la granulosa du follicule dominant a été faite au jour 6. Les paramètres métaboliques mesurés chez les animaux à partir de prises de sang, faites au jour 6, confirment un plus grand stress métabolique chez la vache, les niveaux de BHBA, acides biliaires et cholestérol étant plus élevés et le niveau de glucose plus bas chez celles-ci. Un total de six échantillons a été utilisé pour le séquençage d’ARN et des analyses bio-informatiques ont été effectuées. Plusieurs gènes et voies de signalisation ont présenté des différences entre les deux groupes d’animaux incluant le cycle cellulaire et la production d’hormones. Une confirmation des résultats par PCR en temps réel a été faite, mais la grande variation intragroupe a nui à l’obtention de résultats significatifs. Conjointement, une culture primaire de cellules de la granulosa a été réalisée pour évaluer l’effet des acides biliaires sur la stéroïdogenèse suite à la détection d’une plus grande quantité de ceux-ci chez la vache laitière. La présence d’acide biliaire dans la culture cellulaire cause une diminution de l’accumulation d’estradiol ainsi que de l’expression des gènes CYP19A1 et CYP11A1. Les résultats présentés dans ce mémoire indiquent une différence potentielle au niveau métabolique et moléculaire des follicules dominants entre la vache laitière et la génisse pouvant avoir une responsabilité dans la diminution de l’efficacité reproductive observée chez la vache laitière. / Over the last fifty or more years, genetic selection has been employed to improve milk production in dairy cattle. This selection was made at the expense of reproductive performance. The observed decrease in fertility does not occur in heifers with the same genetic merit. The enormous milk production and the metabolic challenge that accompany it have a negative impact on the reproductive efficiency due to the metabolic stress of lactation. The purpose of the study was to gain a better knowledge of the molecular and metabolic difference between the two groups of animals in order to better understand the pathogenesis of infertility in dairy cows. To do this, the follicular wave of twelve lactating cows (30-50 days in milk; N = 12) and ten heifers (N = 10) were synchronized by ultrasound guided follicle ablation and by hormonal treatment with injection of prostaglandin-F2α and insertion of a progesterone implant. Follicular fluid and granulosa cells of the dominant follicle were aspirated on day 6. The metabolic indicators BHBA, total bile acids, cholesterol and glucose, were measured in the animals from the blood samples also taken on day 6 confirming greater metabolic stress in the cows when compared to the heifers. A total of six samples were used for RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses were performed. Several genes and signaling and cellular function pathways were shown to differ between the two groups of animals, including the cell cycle signaling pathway and hormone production pathway. A confirmation of the results by real-time PCR was undertaken, but the great intragroup variation obviated significant results. In the second set of experiments, primary culture of granulosa cells was conducted to evaluate the effect of bile acids on steroidogenesis to further explore the larger amount of the bile acids in the dairy cows when compared to heifers. The results demonstrate a difference in the metabolic status of the animals; BHBA, total bile acids and cholesterol being higher and glucose being lower in the dairy cow relative to the heifer. Presence of bile acids in the granulosa cell culture caused a decrease in expression of CYP19A1, CYP11A1 and estradiol accumulation. The differences at the metabolic and molecular level of the dominant follicles between dairy cows and heifers may be implicated in the reduced reproductive efficiency of the dairy cows.

- Competitor's Dominant Position and Its Abuse in the Czech and European Law The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyze issues of market dominance and its abuse as one of the most important areas of the competition law. An indispensable part of every analysis of such abuse is also a definition and assessment of the relevant market which we will deal with in a separate section of this thesis. The issue of abuse of a dominant position is analyzed with the help of the competition rules and the judicial practice of the competent authorities, both at the community and national level. First chapters are designed as an introduction to the issue of dominance, offering readers a better understanding of often ambiguous approach to competition law, its restrictions and distortions. We will also be dealing with related terms such as the competitor, the company and their mutual interchangeability. Special attention will be paid to the introduction and further analysis of the relevant market, where the correct definition is the basis for the assessment of any competition case. The issue of relevant market is demonstrated on particular examples, especially on the current case of Student Agency, where the mode of defining the relevant market also decides the final outcome of the case with respect to the...

Text in Afrikaans / The aim of the study is to describe the ecology of ideas in a family after the traumatic experience of a child. The focus is on developing a new context through which set meanings can expand. Therapeutic conversations and flexible hypnotic techniques, as part of a co-constructured process, are the "instruments" through which new ideas can be formed. The epistemological and theoretical framework of the study is postmodern, social constructionist ideas. Modernistic explanations are provided to fit in with the postmodern "both/and" focus of the study. A social constructionist position implies that the focus is placed on the multiple trauma perceptions of the family and social-cultural domain. Symptoms are viewed as part of the meaning systems in the family. The interconnection between dominant and non-dominant trauma stories is explained. Themes and relationship patterns are exposed and described according to the researcher's own epistemology, reflections and interpretations of the literature. / Clinical Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Social dominance theory (SDT) and Social identity theory (SIT) are theoretical frameworks that have been conceptualised and examined in societies that predominantly have stable intergroup relations. The present study sought to examine both theoretical frameworks in a context that is undergoing social change. Three cross-sectional studies were conducted amongst black and white students from a South African University. Results indicated that there was no difference in the desire for group-based inequality (i.e. social dominance orientation, SDO) amongst groups affected by social change, when group status was measured subjectively. Yet, when group status was determined sociologically, dominant group members had significantly higher SDO levels. Furthermore, results indicated that the perception of social change had a conditional effect on the relationship between SDO and support for affirmative action amongst white participants, in that when white participants perceived higher in-group status loss, higher SDO levels predicted opposition towards affirmative action. Racial in-group identification had a conditional effect on the relationship between perceived social change and support for affirmative action amongst black participants; when black participants had higher racial in-group identification, greater perception of social change predicted support for affirmative action. Lastly, amongst black participants, hierarchy-attenuating legitimising myths had a conditional effect on the relationship between SDO and support for affirmative action. Specifically, when colourblindness or Ubuntu were endorsed, higher SDO predicted support for affirmative action. However, when these hierarchy-attenuating legitimising myths were rejected, higher SDO predicted opposition towards affirmative action. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:49:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-10-27 / A cafeína tem sido considerada um fator de risco para o crescimento dos cistos na Doença Renal Policística Autossômica Dominante (DRPAD) devido ao aumento de secreção de fluido e proliferação celular induzidos pelo acúmulo de adenosina monofosfato cíclico (AMPc’), resultante da inibição da fosfodiesterase. O presente estudo teve como objetivos quantificar a ingestão de cafeína discriminando entre suas fontes dietéticas, avaliar o conhecimento sobre a necessidade de restrição de cafeína pelos pacientes com DRPAD e determinar a associação entre o consumo de cafeína e os dados clínicos e laboratoriais destes pacientes. A avaliação dos hábitos alimentares e do consumo de cafeína foi realizada através de três recordatórios de 24 horas, em dias não consecutivos e o conhecimento sobre a restrição de cafeína, considerado como orientação prévia, foi avaliado ao término da última entrevista com o paciente. Foram incluídos no estudo 102 pacientes com DRPAD (68F/34M, 38±14 anos), acompanhados no Ambulatório de Rins Policísticos da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) e 102 indivíduos saudáveis (74F/28M, 39±12 anos). Os dados clínicos, laboratoriais e parâmetros ultrassonográficos renais foram obtidos do prontuário destes pacientes. A ingestão de cafeína foi significantemente menor no grupo de pacientes DRPAD quando comparados aos controles (85,7 versus 134 mg/dia) e o volume renal não se correlacionou com a ingestão de cafeína. De acordo com as respostas, detectou-se que 63% dos pacientes DRPAD foram previamente orientados quanto à restrição de cafeína. Os pacientes nãoorientados, que consumiam significantemente mais cafeína do que os orientados, eram significantemente mais velhos, e apresentavam níveis significantemente maiores de creatinina sérica e menores de Taxa de Filtração Glomerular (TFG) estimada. A porcentagem de pacientes hipertensos e com Doença Renal Crônica (DRC) estágio 3 era maior neste grupo, porém sem atingir significância estatística. O volume renal tendeu a ser maior no grupo de pacientes não-orientados, mas sem significância estatística. A análise de regressão linear multivariada revelou que a idade, presença de hipertensão e DRC estágio 3 se associaram com o volume renal na amostra total. Em conclusão, o consumo de cafeína encontrou-se reduzido na presente amostra de pacientes com DRPAD, provavelmente, devido à orientação prévia quanto à necessidade de restrição. A cafeína não se associou de maneira independente com o volume renal, o qual sofreu maiores influências da idade, presença de hipertensão e DRC. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

I Sverige har vi flera stora idrottsevenemang som var för sig lockar tiotusentals deltagare varje år. Arrangörerna av dessa idrottsevenemang har i uppgift att leva upp till varje deltagares (kunds) förväntningar och tillfredsställa deras behov. Kundvärde är ett centralt begrepp inom både kvalitetsutveckling och marknadsföring och kundvärdeskapande anses vara en viktig framgångsfaktor för alla organisationer. Inte minst i framtiden då konsumenterna allt mer vill vara med och utforma produkterna de köper. Syftet med studien var att uppnå ökad förståelse för kundvärdeskapande inom idrottsevenemang genom att undersöka hur arrangörer arbetar idag och vill arbeta i framtiden för att främja ett högt upplevt kundvärde hos sina deltagare. Empiri samlades in genom fem intervjuer med arrangörer av idrottsevenemang. Analys av datamaterialet visade att arrangörerna som ingick i studien idag använder strategier och aktiviteter inom 12 olika teman med syfte att främja ett högt upplevt kundvärde. Efter analys drogs slutsatsen att arrangörerna idag erbjuder sina deltagare möjlighet till samskapande av kundvärde framförallt genom att tillföra de tre förutsättningarna dialog, riskbedömning och transparens. Inför framtiden identifierades tre områden för fortsatt utveckling och förbättring kring kundvärdeskapande: utökad/differentierad dialog med deltagarna, fler samarbeten och ett tydligt socialt ansvar samt att ge deltagarna mer mandat att vara med och driva utveckling och vara delaktiga i utformningen av evenemangen. / In Sweden we have several major sports events and each of them attracts tens of thousands of participants each year. The organizers of these sporting events have the task of meeting the expectations of each participant (customer) and satisfy their needs. Customer value is a key concept in both Total Quality Management (TQM) and marketing and customer value creation is considered an important success factor for all organizations. Not least in the future when consumers increasingly want to be involved in designing the products they buy. The aim of the study was to achieve increased understanding of customer value creation in sports events by examining how organizers work todayand want to work in the future to promote a high level of customer value for their participants. Data was collected through five interviews with organizers of sports events. Analysis of the data showed that the organizers today use strategies and activities within 12 different themes with the aim of promoting a high level of customer value. A conclusion from the analysis was that organizers today offer their participants the opportunity to co-create customer value by adding the three building blocks dialogue, risk assessment and transparency. For future improvements and continued development in customer value creation three areas were identified: expanded/differentiated dialogue with participants, more collaborations and clear social responsibility and giving participants more mandate to participate in development and participate in the design of the events. / <p>2018-06-27</p>

L'objectif général de ce travail doctoral était d'étudier la plasticité de la fonction posturale à travers l’étude des effets d’un programme d'entraînement unilatéral ou d’une expérience sportive et/ou motrice. Pour cela, les effets de différents types d'exercices chroniques (volontaire et électro-induit) et aigus (tâche posturale répétée, échauffement et fatigue) ont été testés sur le contrôle postural monopodal en condition statique et dynamique. Les principaux résultats montrent que le programme d'entraînement unilatéral constitué de contractions volontaires et de contractions électro-induites n'a pas amélioré le contrôle postural du membre ipsilatéral et du membre controlatéral en dépit de l'augmentation de la force musculaire pour les deux membres chez des jeunes adultes sains non actifs. L'absence de résultat relatif au contrôle postural pourrait, principalement, être liée aux modalités et conditions des programmes d'entraînement qui n’étaient pas suffisamment proches des conditions écologiques du contrôle postural. En revanche, l'exercice aigu non-fatiguant comme l'échauffement a amélioré le contrôle postural monopodal chez des jeunes étudiants sportifs quelle que soit la jambe sur laquelle ils étaient évalués. Cependant, cette amélioration n’apparait qu’au bout de 10-15 minutes selon la jambe considérée après l'arrêt de l'exercice. Par ailleurs, chez des athlètes pratiquant des sports symétriques et asymétriques, les exercices aigus non-fatiguant comme la répétition d’une tâche posturale et l'échauffement, ont engendré des effets bénéfiques sur le contrôle postural monopodal statique et ont permis de distinguer la jambe dominante de la jambe non-dominante. En revanche, l'exercice aigu fatiguant a perturbé le contrôle postural indépendamment de la nature du sport pratiqué et de la jambe évaluée. / The overall objective of this thesis was to study the plasticity of postural function by investigating the effects of a unilateral training program or a sport and/or motor experience. Hence, the effects of various types of chronic (voluntary and electro-induced) and acute exercises (repeated postural task, warm-up and fatigue) were tested on monopodal postural control in static and dynamic conditions. The main findings show that the unilateral training program of voluntary contractions and electro-induced contractions did not improve postural control of the ipsilateral and contralateral limbs despite the increase in muscle strength for both in healthy non-active young adults. The lack of postural control outcome may be primarily related to the conditions of training programs that were not sufficiently close to the ecological conditions of postural control. In contrast, non-fatiguing high-intensity exercise such as warm-up improved monopodal postural control in young sports students regardless of which leg they were assessed. However, this improvement does not appear until 10-15 minutes according to the considered leg after stopping the exercise. Moreover, in athletes practicing symmetrical and asymmetrical sports, the non-fatiguing, acute exercises such as the repetition of a postural task and the warm-up, generated beneficial effects on the static monopodal postural control and enabled to distinguish the dominant leg of the non-dominant leg. In contrast, the fatiguing acute exercise disrupted postural control regardless of the nature of sport practiced and the leg assessed.

This thesis examines the impact of one party dominant systems on liberal democracy in developing countries. It is insufficient to argue that one party dominant systems – systems where one party dominates over a prolonged period - need not be further scrutinised because they occur within democracies. Instead it is contended that the term ‘democracy’ is but one public virtue in a political system and thus needs to be prefixed for it to have meaning beyond a method of government selection. The importance of this is highlighted when looking at two major trends in the understanding of democracy. The first is democracy as rule by the people -a non-authoritarian democracy- where governmental control is limited, and agents of voice and accountability are protected. Voice and accountability refers to citizens being able to exercise power over the process of decision-making and not merely power to select decision-makers. The second type of democracy is rule for the people -an authoritarian democracy- where governmental control extends over all spheres of society, and the operating space for agents of voice and accountability is constrained. Since unchecked centralisation is the anti-thesis of a non-authoritarian democracy, the observed tendency of dominant parties to use their predominant position to further consolidate their control is a concern. The apprehension is, as power is centralised so the operating space of agents of voice and accountability (including political and civil society) is constrained. Despite differences in the type of one party dominant system, whether they be hegemonic (Mexico) or dominant (South Africa) the ruling dominant/ hegemonic party uses similar methods of consolidating dominance – they essentially centralise power through the establishment of (1) economic, (2) political, and sometimes (3) ideological monopolies. These monopolies are established using internal and external methods of control (centralising of political power; party controlled process of political leadership selection; institutional arrangements and electoral amendments, which favour the ruling party; patronage and corporatism), which in turn effectively close down or limit the operating space of civil and political society, especially in developing countries which do not have histories of liberal-constitutionalism, and have vast socio-economic inequalities making them especially susceptible to the manipulation of ruling elites. Although one party dominant systems may initially have a uniting, stabilising effect, if continued they tend to lead towards either the entrenchment of authoritarianism or the establishment of authoritarianism, since dominance is achieved at the expense of competition, and independent and alternative voices. Uncompetitive democracies result in unresponsive governments. Pursuing a liberal democracy, while simultaneously monopolising power is to indulge in serious programmatic contradictions. Eventually something has to give and it is usually liberal democracy. Voice and accountability inevitably become inhibited in one party dominant systems due to the mechanisms of internal and external control used by the dominant or hegemonic party. These mechanisms of control culminate in, as they did in Mexico, there being ‘no life outside the ruling party’. Only when the economic, political and ideological monopolies are dismantled through either economic liberalisation, opposition maintaining its integrity, civil society keeping its independence and societies refusing to be drawn into relationships of patronage, can the space for voice and accountability be prised open again. In the interests of its citizens and the future success of its country, the ruling party of a one party dominant system needs to recognise that it is not the sole channel for the voice of its citizens and to acknowledge the space for agents of voice and accountability. Ensuring that non-authoritarian democracy remains the only game in town in a one party dominant system requires responsive and accountable government and effective agents of voice and accountability. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

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This thesis explores the dynamics of narrative production and contestation within individuals’ stories and the collective stories of the communities in which they live. The research is focused on trying to understand the relationship between public stories constructed about place and community, and the stories told by the inhabitants of those places. A case study in the city of Bradford provides a focus for inquiry. A qualitative research design is utilised, combining theory with primary data collection and analysis. A narrative analysis of national, academic and local stories about Bradford is used to disaggregate collective narratives of the city and explore the relationship between popular, political and academic discourses. It provides a context for the analysis of in-depth interviews with a range of inhabitants from a selected geographic area within Bradford, centred on how their individual stories relate to the identified collective stories of Bradford. Analysis of the fieldwork data shows that individuals are often engaged in complex negotiations of public discourse in ways that may reinforce and contest existing stories, but also complement them with parallel stories that neither reinforce nor contest but construct a different narrative. It reveals and reflects on apparent contradictions within everyday storytelling, for example, how nostalgia can be displayed about harsh times of socio-economic decline, or how attitudes to change over time can be variably positive and negative depending both on the speakers’ positioning of themselves and of the interviewer, and the speakers’ purpose in the interaction.