INTRODUÇÃO: O câncer de mama é uma das mais importantes causas de mortalidade feminina no mundo. Acredita-se que as lesões proliferativas do parênquima mamário sejam marcadoras de risco para câncer ou precursoras do carcinoma mamário. Apesar da intensa pesquisa na área do câncer de mama, os eventos moleculares precoces associados à evolução e progressão do câncer mamário ainda são pouco conhecidos. OBJETIVOS: Com a expectativa de melhor compreender os eventos iniciais da carcinogênese mamária examinamos um conjunto de oitenta e quarto lesões proliferativas mamárias quanto à expressão dos genes N-myc down regulated gene (NDRG1), Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 (PAR-4), Osteonectina e Pontina. A expressão destes genes foi documentada, por trabalhos prévios em nosso laboratório ou por estudos de outros autores, como tendo impacto na evolução do câncer de mama. MÉTODOS: Construímos um TMA com lesões proliferativas da mama e testamos este TMA por método imunohistoquímico para Ndrg1, Par-4, Osteonectina e Pontina, bem como para o receptor de estrógeno e citoqueratinas de alto e baixo peso molecular, com o objetivo de caracterizar as lesões presentes no TMA. A avaliação imunohistoquímica foi feita de forma quantitativa, com o aplicativo e sistema de análise quantitativa para TMA ACIS III, da Dako. RESULTADOS: Após excluirmos amostras não informativas, contamos com 68 amostras de lesões proliferativas mamárias para análise. Nestas, observamos uma notável positividade de NDRG1, em lesões com morfologia apócrina. Observamos ainda alta expressão de NDRG1 em lesões proliferativas mamárias, quando comparadas aos outros tipos de lesões presentes no TMA. Pontina exibiu os mais altos valores de expressão nos casos de lesões proliferativas mamárias, com valor de p estatisticamente significativo. A expressão de PAR-4 foi predominantemente nuclear nas lesões mamárias analisadas no TMA. Osteonectina teve expressão diferenciada no epitélio de lesões hiperplásicas da mama, papilomas e papilomas de pequenos ductos, quando comparada às outras lesões presentes no TMA. CONCLUSÕES: Nossos resultados sugerem uma possível associação entre a expressão de NDRG1 e diferenciação apócrina no parênquima mamário. Esta observação está de acordo com os dados publicados a respeito da superexpressão de NDRG1 e a assinatura apócrina molecular de alguns carcinomas de mama. Também demonstramos superexpressão de NDRG1 em condições hiperproliferativas do parênquima mamário, não associadas à diferenciação apócrina. Até o momento não há informações na literatura que possam explicar a translocação nuclear de Par-4 em lesões benignas da mama observada em nosso estudo. Nossos achados fornecem pela primeira vez evidências de que PAR-4 é ativado em lesões proliferativas da mama, indicando a necessidade de estudos futuros dirigidos à investigação das funções de PAR-4 em tecido mamário não neoplásico. O presente trabalho também indicou uma possível ação coordenada entre a expressão de Osteonectina e NDRG1, pelo menos em lesões apócrinas mamárias. A expressão estromal de Osteonectina pareceu ser menos frequente em lesões mamárias com arquitetura papilífera, quando comparadas a lesões mamárias com tendência a recapitular a arquitetura lobular / INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is a leading cause of death among women all over the Word. Proliferative lesions of the breast are believed to be precursors of or markers of increased risk for breast carcinoma. Although the active research in the field of breast cancer, the early molecular events associated with cancer evolution and progression are still poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: In order to better understand the early events in the breast carcinogenesis, we examined a set of eighty-four proliferative lesions of the breast for the expression of N-myc down regulated gene (NDRG1), Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 (PAR-4), Osteonectin and Pontin, which expression was previously shown by our laboratory to have impact in breast cancer prognosis. METHODS: A tissue microarray were constructed and immunohistochemically tested for Ndrg1, Par-4, Osteonectin and Pontin together with estrogen receptor, low and high weight cytokeratins, aiming to properly characterize the lesions sorted in the tissue microarray. Immunohistochemistry assessment was made quantitative, with the ACIS III Dako quantitative analysis system and TMA application software. RESULTS: After excluding non informative cores, cores with fibroadipose tissue or mammary parenchyma with normal appearing breast epithelium, we ended up with a TMA with 68 breast lesions. Of those, we observed a noticeable positivity of Ndrg1 for lesions with apocrine morphology. Additionally, all cases of florid epithelial hyperplasia showed variable high immunoexpression levels of protein, when compared to the other sorted out lesions in the TMA. Pontin expression level was highest among the breast hyperplasia cases, with statistically significant p value. PAR-4 protein expression was found to be predominantly localized in the nucleous in the non-malignant breast lesions analyzed. Osteonectin exhibited differentiated expression values in the epithelium of hyperplastic breast lesions, papillomas and multiple papillomas when compared to the other types of breast lesions assorted in the TMA. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest a possible association of NDRG1 with apocrine differentiation in the breast parenchyma. This observation are consonant with the publish data about the NDRG1 overexpression and the apocrine signature of some mammary cancers. Additionally, we demonstrated that NDRG1 is also overexpressed in some hyperproliferative breast conditions unassociated with apocrine morphology. At present, there is no data available in the in the literature to explain the nuclear translocation of Par-4 in benign breast lesions as observed in our study. However, our findings provide for the first time evidence that PAR-4 is activated in proliferative lesions of the breast indicating that further clinical and experimental studies aiming to investigate PAR-4 function in non neoplastic breast tissue are warranted. Our study also indicated a possible coordinated expression between Osteonectin and NDRG1, at least in apocrine lesions of the breast. Stromal Osteonectin expression seemed to be less intense in breast lesions with papillary architecture, when compared to breast lesions with tendency to recapitulate breast lobular architecture

No description available.

The target of this master's thesis were the known methods for testing the quality of transfer parameters of data networks. I have studied the RFC 2544 document to analyze these tests. From that information and by studying other existing web-based applications I was able to design a concept of my own application that will allow to measure basic quality parameters of transfers made through the Internet (the parameters: downstream, upstream, latency, variance of these and a traced route). My application doesn't require any modifications on the user's system. It's built on the server-based programming language PHP and uses the relational database engine MySQL to store measurement and user data. On the client side, it's assisted by the JavaScript scripting language. Both registered users and visitors are allowed to perform the listed measurements. Registered users are able to browse the history of their own benchmark results and also to send messages to others. There is an administrative account to oversee the operations. Another part of my thesis work is an application for Windows that performs the same measurements but does not use JavaScript.

No description available.

Various academic studies show that in the use of common ICE Off-road Vehicles only about 10-15% of the available power at fuel level is actually transformed into useful energy for the actuators. Particularly the Directional Control Valves are responsible for the dissipation of about 35-40% of the hydraulic energy available at the pump level. The machine electrification trend makes it even more urgent to optimize the hydraulic system to ensure greater performance and higher battery autonomy. Traditional Directional Control Valves design solutions neglect important opportunities for reducing losses and improve internal regeneration. Especially, energy recovery is rarely applied and in any case by means of important superstructures which considerably increase the costs of the system. This paper presents an innovative Directional Control Valve layout, based on the Downstream Compensation approach that, in a simple and cost-effective design, allows to recover a considerable amount of energy from both the inertial loads and the simultaneous use of multiple actuators at different pressure level. The proposed layout performance and efficiency are studied through lumped element simulation and laboratory experimental tests.

Embora os direitos de Propriedade Intelectual (PI) sejam supostamente instituídos de forma a fomentar a inovação e o bem-estar em longo prazo, seu uso pode ensejar comportamentos oportunistas e abusivos como os Artigos 8.2 e 40 do TRIPS expressamente admitem. Sempre que tal tipo de comportamento afetar a concorrência em determinado mercado excluindo concorrentes, impondo barreiras à entrada, prejudicando consumidores por meio de aumento de preços ou redução da oferta o Direito de Concorrência será chamado a intervir. Considerando tais questões, o objetivo desse trabalho é identificar um quadro de trabalho brasileiro para tratar de questões envolvendo questões de Direito de Concorrência relacionadas à Propriedade Intelectual. O autor buscou delinear os conceitos de uso abusivo de direitos de Propriedade Intelectual, Dominação de Mercado por meio de uso da Propriedade Intelectual e de abuso de posição dominante, considerando o novo quadro regulatório introduzido pela Lei 12.259/2001. / While intellectual property (IP) rights are usually claimed to be designed to foster innovation and welfare in the long run, their use may give rise to opportunistic, abusive behavior - as Articles 8.2 and 40 of TRIPS openly admit. Whenever such sort of behavior affects competition in a given market - whether by dislodging competitors, imposing barriers to entry, harming costumers, raising prices or reducing output - competition law is called to intervene. Considering these issues, the purpose of this paper is to identify a Brazilian legal framework for dealing with IP related competition issues. The author sought to draw the legal concepts of abusive of IP rights, market domination and abuse of dominant position considering the new regulatory framework introduced by Law 12.259/2011.

Policy makers adopt irrigated agriculture for food security, since irrigation doubles crop production. Therefore, the development of large irrigation systems has a long history in many places worldwide. Although large-scale irrigation schemes play an important role in improving food security, many schemes, especially in Africa, do not yield the expected outcomes. This is related to poor water management, which is generally due to a lack of effective evaluation and monitoring. The objective of this study, therefore, is to propose a new methodology to assess, evaluate and monitor large-scale irrigation systems. Information on irrigation indicators is needed to enable the evaluation of irrigation performance. The evaluation is the first and the most significant step in providing information about how it is performing. After reviewing extensive literature, a list of indicators related to the performance of irrigation, rainwater supply and productivity is suggested. The irrigation efficiency indicators Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) and Relative Water Supply (RWS) are selected. Potential rainwater supply to crops can be tested based on the Moisture Availability Index (MAI) and the Ratio of Moisture Availability (RMA). Water productivity can be assessed by Crop Yield (Y) and Water Use Efficiency (WUE). However, the central problem facing large-scale irrigation schemes is always the lack of data, which calls for the development of a new method of data acquisition that allows evaluation and monitoring. Remote Sensing (RS) technology makes it possible to retrieve data across large areas. Two different approaches via RS, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa), can be utilized for monitoring. The well-known Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), derived from the NDVI, is modified (MVCI) to allow a qualitative spatio-temporal assessment of irrigation efficiency. MVCI takes into account crop response to water availability, while ETa indicates whether water is used as intended. Furthermore, the assessment of the possible hydrological impact of the irrigation system should be considered in the evaluation and monitoring process. The Sudanese Gezira Scheme of 8,000 square kilometers in the Nile Basin, where performance evaluation and monitoring are absent or poorly conducted, is no exception. This research takes the large-scale irrigation of the Gezira Scheme as a case study, as it is the largest scheme, not only in the Nile Basin but also in the world, under single management. The first long-term historical evaluation of the scheme is conducted for the period 1961–2012 rather than only on a short-time scale as is the common practice. An increase in RIS and RWS values from 1.40 and 1.70 to 2.23 and 2.60, respectively, since the 1993/94 season shows decreasing irrigation efficiency. MAI and RMA for summer crops indicate a promising rainfall contribution to irrigation in July and August. The Gezira Scheme achieves low yield and WUE in comparison to many irrigation schemes of the globe. Low productivity is mainly due to poor distribution and irrigation mismanagement. This is indicated by the 15-year MVCI spatio-temporal analysis, which shows that the northern part of the scheme experiences characteristic drought during the summer crop season. Although MVCI can be considered a monitoring tool, the index does not deduct the soil water content, and water could be wasted and available in other ways (e.g. water depressions). Spatio-temporal information for ETa is required to better quantify water depletion and establish links between land use and water allocation. However, several RS models have been developed for estimating ETa. Thus, improving the understanding of performance of such models in arid climates, as well as large-scale irrigation schemes, is taken into account in this study. Four different models based on the energy balance method, the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL), Mapping EvapoTranspiration at High Resolution with Internalized Calibration (METRIC™), Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEB) and MOD16 ET are applied in order to determine the optimal approach for obtaining ETa. Outputs from these models are compared to actual water balance (WB) estimates during the 2004/05 season at field scale. Several statistical measures are evaluated, and a score is given for each model in order to select the best-performing model. Based on ranking criteria, SSEB gives the best performance and is seen as a suitable operational ETa model for the scheme. SSEB subsequently is applied for summer and winter crop seasons for the period 2000–2014. Unfortunately, one of the limitations faced in the current research is the absence of validation data on a regional scale. Therefore, the assessment focuses on spatial distribution and trends rather than absolute values. As with the MVCI distribution, the seasonal ETa for the Gezira Scheme is higher in the southern and central parts than in the northern part. This confirms the robustness of the developed MVCI. To avoid using absolute values of ETa, the ratio of ETa from agricultural areas (ETagr) to the total evapotranspiration (ET) from the scheme (ETsum) is calculated. The ETagr/ETsum ratio shows a descending trend over recent years, indicating that the water is available but not being utilized for agricultural production. This study shows that SSEB is also useful for identifying the location of water losses on a daily basis. Around 80 channels are identified as having leakage problems for the 2013/14 crop season. Such information is very useful for reducing losses at the scheme. In addition, Rainwater Harvesting (WH) is addressed and found to be applicable as an alternative solution for accounting for rainfall in irrigation. It is seen that these management scenarios could save water and increase the overall efficiency of the scheme. It is possible to save 68 million cubic meters of water per year when the overall irrigation efficiency of the scheme is improved by only 1%. A level of efficiency of 75% is predicted from the proposed management scenarios, which could save about 2.6 billion cubic meters of water per year. In conclusion, the present study has developed an innovative method of identifying the problems of large-scale schemes as well as proposing management scenarios to enhance irrigation water management practice. Improved agricultural water management in terms of crop, water and land management can increase food production, thereby alleviating poverty and hunger in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The need for energy and the associated economic benefits from the oil and gas deposits found mainly in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria necessitated the exploration and exploitation activities being carried out by the oil and gas Companies. However, these exploration and exploitation activities due to their unpredictable nature have a huge potential for environmental pollution as been experienced in the form of oil spills, gas flaring, irresponsible disposal of waste and several other activities that have resulted in the environmental degradation of the Niger Delta region. In the light of these, the Federal Government of Nigeria having experienced the consequences of pollution of the environment during the Koko Toxic Waste Dump incident in the then Bendel State in 1987 established a regulatory body tasked with the responsibility of harmonizing the economic interest from the oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities with the sustainability of the natural environment by developing well structured and articulated policies aimed at guiding the operations of the oil and gas operators, track their compliance and administer appropriate punitive measures for non compliance. However, this research work which is aimed at evaluating the impact of the environmental protection policies in upstream oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta region, involved the use of questionnaires and interviews. These questionnaires were completed by the management and staff of three major oil and gas companies operating within the area, the Department of Petroleum Resources and members of the Host communities. The interview was carried out to provide relevant feedback on their assessment of the impact made by the environmental protection policies on the upstream oil and gas activities in their operational areas/host communities. The study however concluded that “Although there is a regulatory body tasked with the responsibility to develop, implement and track compliance of the environmental protection policies in the upstream oil industry, the body is ineffective and as such the impact of the environmental protection policies is inadequate. Appropriate informed recommendations on the improvement strategies to the identified gaps that resulted in the unfavorable conditions were also provided. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

The need for energy and the associated economic benefits from the oil and gas deposits found mainly in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria necessitated the exploration and exploitation activities being carried out by the oil and gas Companies. However, these exploration and exploitation activities due to their unpredictable nature have a huge potential for environmental pollution as been experienced in the form of oil spills, gas flaring, irresponsible disposal of waste and several other activities that have resulted in the environmental degradation of the Niger Delta region. In the light of these, the Federal Government of Nigeria having experienced the consequences of pollution of the environment during the Koko Toxic Waste Dump incident in the then Bendel State in 1987 established a regulatory body tasked with the responsibility of harmonizing the economic interest from the oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities with the sustainability of the natural environment by developing well structured and articulated policies aimed at guiding the operations of the oil and gas operators, track their compliance and administer appropriate punitive measures for non compliance. However, this research work which is aimed at evaluating the impact of the environmental protection policies in upstream oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta region, involved the use of questionnaires and interviews. These questionnaires were completed by the management and staff of three major oil and gas companies operating within the area, the Department of Petroleum Resources and members of the Host communities. The interview was carried out to provide relevant feedback on their assessment of the impact made by the environmental protection policies on the upstream oil and gas activities in their operational areas/host communities. The study however concluded that “Although there is a regulatory body tasked with the responsibility to develop, implement and track compliance of the environmental protection policies in the upstream oil industry, the body is ineffective and as such the impact of the environmental protection policies is inadequate. Appropriate informed recommendations on the improvement strategies to the identified gaps that resulted in the unfavorable conditions were also provided. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Development and Management Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Embora os direitos de Propriedade Intelectual (PI) sejam supostamente instituídos de forma a fomentar a inovação e o bem-estar em longo prazo, seu uso pode ensejar comportamentos oportunistas e abusivos como os Artigos 8.2 e 40 do TRIPS expressamente admitem. Sempre que tal tipo de comportamento afetar a concorrência em determinado mercado excluindo concorrentes, impondo barreiras à entrada, prejudicando consumidores por meio de aumento de preços ou redução da oferta o Direito de Concorrência será chamado a intervir. Considerando tais questões, o objetivo desse trabalho é identificar um quadro de trabalho brasileiro para tratar de questões envolvendo questões de Direito de Concorrência relacionadas à Propriedade Intelectual. O autor buscou delinear os conceitos de uso abusivo de direitos de Propriedade Intelectual, Dominação de Mercado por meio de uso da Propriedade Intelectual e de abuso de posição dominante, considerando o novo quadro regulatório introduzido pela Lei 12.259/2001. / While intellectual property (IP) rights are usually claimed to be designed to foster innovation and welfare in the long run, their use may give rise to opportunistic, abusive behavior - as Articles 8.2 and 40 of TRIPS openly admit. Whenever such sort of behavior affects competition in a given market - whether by dislodging competitors, imposing barriers to entry, harming costumers, raising prices or reducing output - competition law is called to intervene. Considering these issues, the purpose of this paper is to identify a Brazilian legal framework for dealing with IP related competition issues. The author sought to draw the legal concepts of abusive of IP rights, market domination and abuse of dominant position considering the new regulatory framework introduced by Law 12.259/2011.