Composed for the JACK Quartet during their Spring residency at BU during the week of Febuary 19-23, 2018. Recorded at the BU Concert Hall on Febuary 21, 2018. Composed between September 2016 - February 2018. duration: approx. 30 min. “ ccidentall , r’s finger touches Ch e’s, their feet, under the table, happen to against each other. W might be eng by the mean of these accidents; e might concentrate ph on these slight zones of contact and d l t in this fragm nt of inert finger or f , fet i tically, without concern for the re- sponse (like od——as t etym y of the word t lls us——the Fe does not reply). But in fact erthe is not pe e, he is in lov : h creates meaning, al ays and ev ry here, out of nothing, a it is meaning wh th ll im: is in crucible of meaning. Every contact, f r t lover, raises qu st on of n answer: the skin s asked to reply. “ Quand mon doigt par mégarde… ” (A squeeze of the hand——enormous documentation——a tiny gesture within the palm, a knee which doesn’t move away, an arm extended, as if quite naturally, along the back of a sofa and against which the other’s head gradu- ally comes to rest——this is the paradisiac realm of subtle and clandestine signs: a kind of festival not of the senses but of meaning.) ” Roland Barthes, A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments

Esta tese apresenta uma tradução dos fragmentos de Aristófanes e três estudos relativos a eles. O capítulo I, mais geral, é dedicado às fontes. Trata do contexto em que esses fragmentos surgiram, no período helenístico, e da sua transmissão, sobretudo através de escoliastas e lexicógrafos. O segundo e terceiro capítulos tratam de duas comédias em particular, Geritades (Geritads) e Convivas (Daitals). Nesses dois capítulos, a análise dos fragmentos está conjugada a um paralelo com comédias preservadas: no caso de Geritades, que tem por tema a crítica literária, Rãs; e Nuvens, no caso de Convivas, cujo assunto é o embate entre a nova e a velha educação. A segunda parte da tese contém uma tradução acadêmica dos 589 fragmentos de Aristófanes, a partir do original grego para o português. Esse corpus corresponde a todos os fragmentos do comediógrafo, com exceção daqueles que não são atribuídos a uma comédia específica, as chamadas incertae fabulae. / This thesis presents a translation of Aristophanes fragments and three studies about them. The initial chapter, of a more general nature, deals with the sources where the fragments are to be found, the context in wich they were created and their transmission, mainly through scholiasts and lexicographers. The other two chapters focus on two specific comedies: Geritades (Geritads) and Banqueters (Daitals), and parallels are drawn with extant comedies. Geritades is the object of comparative analysis with Frogs, since both plays are concerned with literary criticism. As to Banqueters, the thesis looks into points of contact with Clouds: the contrast between the old education and the new education is a central theme in both comedies. The second part of the thesis consists of an academic translation of the five hundred eightynine fragments, from the Greek original into Portuguese. This corpus corresponds to the totality of the comedians fragments, with the exception of those fragments that are not attributed to any specific comedy, the so called incertae fabulae.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The collection of biological information has a long history, motivated by a variety of reasons and in more recent years is largely being driven for research and academic purposes. As a result biological information is often linked to a specific species or ecosystem management and is discipline specific, not relating to general management actions at a specific conservation site. The biological data that exists is often not consolidated in a central place to allow for effective management of conservation sites. Different databases and formats are often used to cover biological, infrastructural, heritage and management information. Biological information has traditionally not influenced real-time site-specific conservation management, with long term data sets being used to draw conclusions before they can influence management actions. In order to overcome this problem of scattered and unfocused data a biodiversity database related to specific site management was developed. This study focuses on the development of this database and its links to the management of spatially defined sites. Included in the solution of scattered data are the applications of information management tools which interpret data and convert it into management actions, both in terms of long term trends and immediate real- time management actions as the information is received and processed. Information systems are always difficult to describe in words as much of the layout and information is visual and hence difficult to convey I just the text of this document. A breakdown of the resultant information system is outlined in detail in the conclusion section. During the development of a Biodiversity Database it was found that management tools had to be developed to integrated data with management. Furthermore it was found that human error was a significant factor in poor data quality; as a result an observer training programme was developed.

No description available.

Buscando o estabelecimento de base concreta para conservação dos fragmentos florestais em Ribeirão Preto, SP, foi efetuado o diagnóstico da vegetação natural no município. Existem 102 remanescentes florestais, e em 99 deles foi efetuado levantamento florístico expedito. Foram encontradas 494 espécies arbóreas, pertencentes a 74 famílias botânicas, além de 31 espécies exóticas. Baseada na composição de espécies de cada fragmento, foi efetuada análise de correspondência retificada (DCA), utilizando a classe de solo onde situa-se o fragmento como variável categórica. Esta análise indica a existência de quatro grupos de vegetação: Mata Mesófila, Mata Decídua, Mata Paludícola e Cerrado, que ocorrem, respectivamente, em Latossolo Roxo, Litossolo, Solo Hidromórfico e Latossolo Vermelho Escuro ou Latossolo Vermelho Amarelo. Cada grupo apresenta composição florística própria e fisionomia típica. A riqueza de espécies encontrada em cada fragmento variou de 13 a 134 espécies. Há um grande número de espécies com ocorrência rara – 275 espécies (52,38%) ocorrem em menos de 5% dos fragmentos, e nove espécies (1,71%) ocorrem em mais de 50% dos remanescentes. Há espécies com ocorrência rara em todos os fragmentos, mas elas tendem a ocorrer em maior número nos fragmentos maiores. Cada fragmento apresenta uma pequena porcentagem do total de espécies da formação, o que indica que, para conservar a diversidade de espécies, todos os fragmentos são importantes. Em geral, predominam nos fragmentos as espécies secundárias iniciais e zoocóricas, com uma tendência de aumentar a proporção de espécies pioneiras e anemocóricas com o aumento das perturbações antrópicas. A maioria dos fragmentos são pequenos e isolados. A análise do componente principal (PCA) mostrou que a área e a área core, fator de forma e dimensão fractal, e os índices de proximidade e similaridade são, respectivamente, os principais fatores atuantes nos três primeiros eixos. A área e a área core apresentaram correlação significativa e positiva com a riqueza de espécies nas Matas Mesófilas e Decíduas. A forma e o isolamento não apresentaram correlação com a riqueza de espécies. Considerando fatores biológicos (riqueza de espécies e proporção de espécies com ocorrência rara) e abióticos (área do fragmento, proporção de área core e índice de similaridade), foi construído o Valor de Conservação (VC), que permite hierarquizar os fragmentos de acordo com sua importância para conservação. A análise conjunta do resultado deste índice e a distribuição espacial dos fragmentos indica que há duas situações que merecem atenção: 1) muitos fragmentos com elevado valor de conservação situam-se em área de expansão urbana e, portanto, expostos a maior pressão antrópica; 2) há uma concentração de fragmentos grandes e próximos entre si, que apresentam elevado VC, na região sul do município, ao longo do ribeirão da Onça, que incluem matas mesófilas, matas paludícolas e cerrado. Em ambos os casos, é sugerida a criação de Áreas de Proteção Ambiental (APA), para potencializar as ações de conservação destas áreas. / In a search to establish a solid base for conservation of forest fragments in Ribeirão Preto, SP, a diagnosis of the natural vegetation of the municipality was done. There are 102 forest remnants and in 99 of them an expeditious floristic survey was carried out. In this survey, 494 tree species were found belonging to 74 botanic families along with 31 exotic species. Based on the species composition of each fragment, a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was conducted using the soil class where the fragment is found as categorical variable. This analysis indicates the existence of four vegetation groups: mesophytic forests, deciduous forests, swampy forests and cerrado, that occur respectively in purple latosol, lithosol, hydromorphic soil and dark red latossol or yellow red latossol. Each group presents its own floristic composition and typical vegetation physiognomy. The richness of species found in each fragment was from 13 to 134 species. There is a very large number of species that are very difficult to find - 275 species (52,38%) that occur in less than 5% of the fragments and 9 species (1,71%) occur in more than 50% of the remnants. There are species with rare occurrences in all fragments, but they tend to occur in larger number in the bigger ones. Each fragment presents a small percentage of the total of species, which indicates that to preserve the species diversity all the fragments are important. Generally, the initial secondary and animal dispersed species predominate in the fragments with the tendency to increase the proportion of the pioneer and wind dispersed species with the increase of the human disturbance. The majority of the fragments are small and isolated. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) shows that the area and the core area, shape factor and fractal dimension, and the proximity index and similarity are, respectively, the main factors acting on the first three axes. The area and the core area showed significant and positively correlated with the species richness in the mesophytic and deciduous forests. The shape and the isolation did not show correlation with the species richness. Considering the biological factors (richness and proportion of species with rare occurrence) and spatial patterns (fragment area, core area proportion and similarity index), the conservation value (VC) was built, which allows us to set a hierarchy of the fragments according to their importance to conservation. The joint analysis of the result of this index and the fragments spatial distribution indicates that there are two situations that deserve attention: 1) many fragments with high conservation value are located in the urban expansion area and therefore exposed to a bigger human disturbance; 2) There is a concentration of large fragments, which are close to each other, that show a high VC in the southern region of the municipality, along the Onça creek, that includes mesophytic forests,swampy forests and cerrado. In both cases the creation of Environmental Protection Areas (APA) are suggested in order to enhance the conservation actions in these areas.

Il est admis que les noyaux cométaires sont parmi les objets les plus anciens du Système Solaire. Malheureusement, ils échappent à l'observation directe. L'étude de la dynamique des fragments cométaires constitue une méthode indirecte pour caractériser les noyaux. L'objet de cette thèse est de contribuer à la compréhension de la dynamique de ces fragments. La comète C/1996 B2 Hyakutake est passée à 15 millions de km de la Terre en mars 1996. Des condensations lumineuses ont été détectées dans sa coma interne, dans la direction anti-solaire. Des observations en provenance de divers observatoires ont été rassemblées, puis traitées afin de préciser l'évolution temporelle de la position des condensations par rapport au noyau. Avec l'hypothèse que ces condensations étaient dues à des fragments s'éloignant du noyau, un modèle a été développé pour la dynamique des fragments composés de glace et de poussières. Trois forces sont considérées: la gravité du Soleil, leur gravité mutuelle, et une force non-gravitationnelle due à la sublimation de la glace. Une intégration numérique directe des forces en présence permet de calculer les positions successives des fragments. Un excellent accord a été obtenu avec les observations de la comète Hyakutake, suggérant l'existence de sept fragments, dont les produits des masses volumiques et des rayons étaient de l'ordre de 10000 kg.m-2, et dont les dates de séparations ont pu être corrélés à un sursaut d'activité de la comète. Le modèle a été appliqué à la comète 46P/Wirtanen, cible de la mission spatiale Rosetta. Plusieurs milliers d'hypothétiques fragments ont été simulés, et leurs trajectoires traitées statistiquement. Il en ressort que la probabilité de présence d'un fragment dans la coma n'est pas isotrope. Des recommandations sont donc formulées pour réduire les risques de collision avec un fragment potentiel.

The use of systems development methods are, by many, seen as the way to solve development problems, decrease development time, and improve the quality of software systems. Despite this, little is known about how development methods are actually used in the software industry. The aim of this project is to investigate how a widespread development method is implemented and used in an organisational setting. The result of this project is a case study description of how Volvo Information Technology implements, adapts, and uses the commercial development method Rational Unified Process® (RUP®) in combination with other methods. The implementation is centrally administered and done incrementally over several years in order to build competence in the organisation. RUP is also adapted to the specific situation of the organisation, each division, each development project, and even adapted by individual developers.

Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Currently, the disease is incurable and immunomodulating drugs are the only option to control the disease. CD49d is an adhesion receptor expressed on most immune cells. Antibodies that bind to CD49d and block immune cells from trafficking toward the CNS are being pursued as one class of therapeutics. In this work, by combining recombinant antibody and phage display technologies we isolated 10 anti-CD49d single domain antibodies from a synthetic antibody light chain variable domain (VL) phage display library. Isolated VLs (~ 12 kDa) were expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and analysed for biophysical characteristics. The majority were expressed in good yields and were non-aggregating. All 10 VLs bound recombinant CD49d by ELISA, and 7 bound to CD49d-expressing cells in flow cytometry experiments. To empower the VLs for better therapeutic efficacy (thru increasing avidity and half-life), three of the lead VLs were re-engineered as fusions to fragment crystallisable (Fc) of human immunoglobulin gamma (IgG). The engineered hFc-VL fragments (~ 70 – 90 kDa) retained their specificity for CD49d by flow cytometry. With (i) being less immunogenic due to their human nature, (ii) their efficient access to cryptic epitopes (iii) having half-lives comparable to IgGs’ and (iv) being more cost effective compared to IgGs, these novel antibody fragments (monovalent VLs and bivalent hFc-VLs) provide a promising therapeutic platform against multiple sclerosis.

The present study is focused on evaluating higher actinides beyond uranium that are capable of supporting power and propulsion requirements in robotic deep space and interstellar exploration. The central technology in this thesis is based on utilizing advanced actinides for direct fission fragment energy conversion coupled with magnetic collimation. Critical fission configurations are explored which are based on fission fragment energy conversion utilizing a nano-scale layer of the metastable isotope 242mAm coated on carbon fibers. A 3-D computational model of the reactor core is developed and neutron properties are presented. Fission neutron yield, exceptionally high thermal fission cross sections, high fission fragment kinetic energy and relatively low radiological emission properties are identified as promising features of 242mAm as a fission fragment source. The isotopes 249Cf and 251Cf are found to be promising candidates for future studies. Conceptual system integration, deep space mission applicability and recommendations for future experimental development are introduced.

<p>The use of systems development methods are, by many, seen as the way to solve development problems, decrease development time, and improve the quality of software systems. Despite this, little is known about how development methods are actually used in the software industry. The aim of this project is to investigate how a widespread development method is implemented and used in an organisational setting.</p><p>The result of this project is a case study description of how Volvo Information Technology implements, adapts, and uses the commercial development method Rational Unified Process® (RUP®) in combination with other methods. The implementation is centrally administered and done incrementally over several years in order to build competence in the organisation. RUP is also adapted to the specific situation of the organisation, each division, each development project, and even adapted by individual developers.</p>