This thesis documents the development of a video game about sustainable energy use that unites fun with learning. Many other educational games do not properly translate knowledge, facts, and lessons into the language of games: mechanics, rules, rewards, and feedback. This approach differs by using game mechanics in new ways to express lessons about energy sustainability. This design is based on the real time strategy (RTS) genre. Players of these types of games must manage economic problems such as extracting, refining, and allocating resources, as well as industrial problems such as producing buildings and military units. These games often use imaginative fantasy elements to connect with their audience, but also made-up economic numbers and fictional resources such as magic crystals which have little to do with the real world. This thesis' approach retains the fantasy elements and gameplay conventions of this popular genre, but uses numbers, resources, and situations based on research about real-world energy production. The intended result is a game in which the player learns about energy use simply by trying to overcome the game's challenges. In addition, a combined quantitative/qualitative study was performed, which shows that players of the game learned new things, enjoyed the game, and became more interested in the topic of energy use.

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Le succès commercial des jeux vidéo nous montre qu’ils sont devenus une alternative non négligeable en matière de loisir et de divertissement. En observant les tendances, on constate que les concepteurs de jeux vidéo cherchent à transposer ou adapter les loisirs comme la danse, l’interprétation de la musique ou la pratique d’un sport dans le contexte de jeux vidéo (l’univers virtuel) et ceci est devenu encore plus évident depuis l’apparition des nouvelles technologies intégrant le mouvement comme mode d'interaction. En rapport aux activités dont les jeux vidéo s’inspirent, ces tendances entraînent des changements considérables sur l’aspect formel de l’activité ludique et notamment l’interaction. Dans le cas particulier du tennis de table, ou ping-pong dans le langage courant, il semble y avoir des différences en terme de plaisir lors de la pratique de ce loisir de façon traditionnelle ou en mode virtuel dans ses différentes adaptations. Le but de cette recherche est de mettre en évidence les différences entre l’appréciation de l’interaction avec le contrôleur multifonctionnel Wiimote et une raquette traditionnelle de ping-pong et de découvrir les implications sur l’expérience du plaisir de la transposition du jeu ping-pong traditionnel comparé aux adaptations sur la console Wii. Ainsi, en regard du CLASSIC GAME MODEL de Juul (2005) et du modèle THE FOUR FUN KEYS de Lazzaro (2008) nous comparons les deux modes d’interaction, jeu traditionnel avec le jeu virtuel, sur le plan formel du jeu et sur les dimensions du plaisir que chacun procure. Les résultats obtenus par l’observation des tests de jeu et l’entremise des autres outils permettent de souligner le rôle déterminant des interfaces dans l’engagement des joueurs et de montrer les limites des interfaces digitales par rapport à celle des jeux traditionnels. / The market success of Video games shows us that they have become a significant alternative for leisure and entertainment. While observing the trends one can realize that game designers tend to transpose or adapt leisure activities such as dance, playing music or sports to the context of video games which has become even more obvious with the appearance of input devices incorporating physical movement as a mode of interaction. Inspired by these different forms of leisure, video game user interfaces have considerably changed the formal aspect of play, especially in terms of interaction. In the particular case of table tennis, also known as ping-pong, there are significant differences with respect to pleasure when playing a traditional game or its virtual adaptations in form of video games. The purpose of this research is to highlight the difference in appreciation of the interaction with the Wiimote controller and a traditional ping-pong racket and discover the implications on the fun experiences of traditional table tennis and its adaptations for the Wii console. Thus, based on Juul's CLASSIC GAME MODEL (2005) and Lazzaro' model of THE FOUR FUN KEYS (2008) we compare both interaction modes, traditional game with the virtual game, in terms of formal level of the game and the notion of fun that each provides. The results obtained through observation and testing through other tools allow us to highlight the importance of interfaces and their role in the players' commitment as well as to show the limit of video games compared to their traditional counterpart.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) are complex and interesting objects of study. They are quite popular among both casual and connoisseur gamers, and they are often played continuously over many years. Despite a reasonable amount of existing research on MMORPGs, no clear explanation has emerged to explain what particular game features encourage so many players to enjoy these games for so long. In this thesis, I contend that the most important elements in the success of an MMORPG are meritocratic play and managed player efficiency (MPE). This contention is proved by examining the existing literature on player enjoyment and game design, surveying popular MMORPGs, and building and testing a simple, browser-based game that implements meritocratic play and managed player efficiency. While existing research and my survey of popular MMORPGS provide good support for the importance of meritocratic play and MPE, participants in my study provided much stronger support by reporting particular enjoyment of game tasks that displayed the clearest meritocratic play and the best opportunities to manage player efficiency.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:48:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TadeuFO_DISSERT.pdf: 1305505 bytes, checksum: 419b87148f7490aba343231bb89f4d72 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-09 / The increasingly request for processing power during last years has pushed integrated circuit industry to look for ways of providing even more processing power with less heat dissipation, power consumption, and chip area. This goal has been achieved increasing the circuit clock, but since there are physical limits of this approach a new solution emerged as the multiprocessor system on chip (MPSoC). This approach demands new tools and basic software infrastructure to take advantage of the inherent parallelism of these architectures. The oil exploration industry has one of its firsts activities the project decision on exploring oil fields, those decisions are aided by reservoir simulations demanding high processing power, the MPSoC may offer greater performance if its parallelism can be well used. This work presents a proposal of a micro-kernel operating system and auxiliary libraries aimed to the STORM MPSoC platform analyzing its influence on the problem of reservoir simulation / O aumento da demanda por poder de processamento nos ?ltimos anos for?ou a ind?stria de circuitos integrados a buscar formas de prover maior poder de processamento com menor dissipa??o de calor, menor consumo de pot?ncia e ?rea em chip. Isso vinha sendo feito com o aumento do clock dos circuitos. Por?m, com a proximidade dos limites f?sicos dessa abordagem, surgem como solu??o alternativa as arquiteturas com m?ltiplos processadores em um ?nico chip: os MPSoC (Multi-Processor System on a Chip). Essa abordagem exige que novas ferramentas e novos softwares sejam desenvolvidos buscando aproveitar ao m?ximo o aspecto paralelo destas arquiteturas. A ind?stria de explora??o de petr?leo tem como uma de suas atividades iniciais a decis?o de projetos de explora??o de campos de petr?leo. Essas decis?es s?o tomadas baseando-se em simula??es computacionalmente intensivas, situa??o em que os MPSoCs podem oferecer aumento de performance atrav?s de paralelismo. Este trabalho apresenta a proposta de implementa??o de um micro-kernel de sistema operacional e bibliotecas auxiliares para a plataforma MPSoC STORM analisando a influ?ncia na simula??o de reservat?rios

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:46:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarceloHAFS.pdf: 506183 bytes, checksum: c43dcd682bf1e3a575d5edfb73bf8807 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-10-10 / This study intended to evaluate the maze test accuracy in cognitive deficit screening in elderly with or without neuropsychological pathology. The sample included 40 healthy young (18-25 years old; mean- 21 ? 1.6), 40 healthy old (60-77 years old; mean- 67 ? 5.1) and 18 patients with probable diagnosis of Alzheimer s disease initial stage (52-90 years old; mean- 78 ? 9.2). Data analysis was made using Anova with Tukey s post hoc, multiple linear regression analysis and ROC curve analysis. According to Tukey s test Alzheimer patients spent more time (46843 ? 37926 ms) to execute the test than healthy young (5482 ? 2873 ms; p= 0.0001) and elderly (17978 ? 13700; p= 0.0001); healthy young executed test n lower time (p= 0.035). According to the regression analysis of age, education level and cognitive performance of the three groups, the cognitive performance was the predictor of the execution time. When analyzing young and elderly only age was the predictor and the cognitive performance was the only factor to influence the test of old aged healthy and patients. The ROC curve analysis indicated 72% accuracy for young and elderly and 36% for healthy and elderly patients. The maze execution time represented a better balance between sensibility (75%) and the specificity (61%) was near 13575 ms, indicating that those subjects that execute the maze in a time higher to this value may show cognitive deficit related to the executive function. According to the results it is suggested that the maze test used in this study shows a good accuracy in the cognitive deficit tracking and may discriminate age changes / O objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar a acur?cia do teste de labirinto no rastreamento de d?ficit cognitivo relacionado ? fun??o executiva em idosos com e sem patologia neuropsicol?gica. Participaram da amostra 40 jovens saud?veis com idade entre 18 e 25 anos (21 ? 1,6 anos), 40 idosos saud?veis com idade entre 60 e 77 anos (67 ? 5,1 anos) e 18 pacientes com diagn?stico prov?vel de Doen?a de Alzheimer em est?gio inicial com idade entre 52 e 90 anos (78 ? 9,2 anos). Os dados foram analisados atrav?s da ANOVA, an?lise de regress?o linear m?tipla e an?lise da curva ROC. Atrav?s da ANOVA verificou-se que os pacientes de Alzheimer apresentaram maior tempo de execu??o no teste do que os jovens (pacientes: 46843 ? 37926 ms; jovens: 5482 ? 2873 ms; p= 0,0001) e idosos saud?veis (17978 ? 13700; p= 0,0001) e os idosos apresentaram maior tempo do que os jovens (p= 0,035). Ap?s an?lise de regress?o com as vari?veis idade, escolaridade e desempenho cognitivo considerando os tr?s grupos, observou-se que somente o desempenho cognitivo foi o fator preditor do tempo de execu??o do labirinto. Na an?lise com os jovens e os idosos foi verificado que apenas a idade foi o fator preditivo e na an?lise com os idosos e os pacientes, o desempenho cognitivo foi o ?nico fator influenciador no desempenho do teste. A an?lise da curva ROC com os jovens e idosos foi a que apresentou maior valor da ?rea sob a curva, indicando uma acur?cia 72% e a an?lise dos idosos com os pacientes foi a que apresentou menor ?rea sob a curva, com uma acur?cia de 36%. O tempo de execu??o do labirinto que representou um melhor equil?brio entre a sensibilidade (75%) e a especificidade (61%) foi em torno de 13575 ms, indicando que aqueles indiv?duos que executarem o labirinto no tempo superior a este valor podem apresentar d?ficit cognitivo relacionado ? fun??o executiva. De acordo com os resultados encontrados sugere-se que o teste de labirinto utilizado no estudo apresenta uma boa acur?cia no rastreamento de d?ficit cognitivo podendo discriminar mudan?as decorrentes da idade

Submitted by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2015-01-23T14:01:54Z No. of bitstreams: 5 17.pdf: 2865248 bytes, checksum: 30e82d4c4ee34e8a39b8c749441f52e8 (MD5) license_url: 52 bytes, checksum: 3d480ae6c91e310daba2020f8787d6f9 (MD5) license_text: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) license_rdf: 23898 bytes, checksum: e363e809996cf46ada20da1accfcd9c7 (MD5) license.txt: 2109 bytes, checksum: aa477231e840f304454a16eb85a9235f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2015-02-10T11:24:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 5 17.pdf: 2865248 bytes, checksum: 30e82d4c4ee34e8a39b8c749441f52e8 (MD5) license_url: 52 bytes, checksum: 3d480ae6c91e310daba2020f8787d6f9 (MD5) license_text: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) license_rdf: 23898 bytes, checksum: e363e809996cf46ada20da1accfcd9c7 (MD5) license.txt: 2109 bytes, checksum: aa477231e840f304454a16eb85a9235f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-10T11:24:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 5 17.pdf: 2865248 bytes, checksum: 30e82d4c4ee34e8a39b8c749441f52e8 (MD5) license_url: 52 bytes, checksum: 3d480ae6c91e310daba2020f8787d6f9 (MD5) license_text: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) license_rdf: 23898 bytes, checksum: e363e809996cf46ada20da1accfcd9c7 (MD5) license.txt: 2109 bytes, checksum: aa477231e840f304454a16eb85a9235f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Este trabalho teve como objetivo conhecer a estrutura da comunidade arb?rea, diversidade, riqueza, as fun??es ecol?gicas das esp?cies, a influ?ncia das vari?veis ambientais, espaciais e os padr?es funcionais das esp?cies na distribui??o da vegeta??o em um fragmento de Floresta Estacional Decidual. O estudo foi conduzido em ?reas de reserva legal de propriedades particulares no munic?pio de Presidente Juscelino (MG), nas coordenadas 18?38?40?S e 44?04?57?W, com altitudes variando entre 600 e 890 m. O remanescente possui aproximadamente 150 ha, com relevo c?ncavo e declividades acentuadas. Foram observadas por??es ?reas com alto grau de dist?rbios antr?picos. H? evid?ncias de corte raso em uma faixa de vegeta??o, assim como de corte seletivo de algumas esp?cies de interesse comercial. Destaca-se tamb?m a exist?ncia de dist?rbios como, a alta compacta??o do solo gerada pela entrada de gado em algumas parcelas, clareiras naturais e antr?picas; solo exposto e trilhas ao longo do fragmento. Para o invent?rio florestal foram alocadas 25 parcelas permanentes de 20 ? 20 m (400 m?), totalizando ?rea amostral de 1 hectare. Nestas foram amostrados todos os indiv?duos arb?reos com circunfer?ncia ? altura do peito (CAP) > 15,7 cm, exceto lianas e indiv?duos mortos. As esp?cies amostradas foram classificadas em cinco sistemas de guildas (grupo ecol?gico, dispers?o, poliniza??o, toler?ncia ? desseca??o e densidade da madeira), a fim de formar grupos funcionais. Para a avalia??o das rela??es entre as vari?veis ambientais e a distribui??o do compartimento arb?reo, foram coletadas aleatoriamente no interior de cada parcela cinco amostras simples do solo superficial (0?20 cm), com cerca de 500 g de solo. Al?m do solo foram coletadas vari?veis de relevo, dossel e matriz de impacto (natural e antr?pico). Estas foram submetidas a uma An?lise dos Componentes Principais (PCA), onde apenas cinco das 28 vari?veis iniciais apresentaram alta correla??o: Calc?rio (Ca); Pot?ssio (k); Argila; rocha exposta e mat?ria org?nica. Tr?s das cinco esp?cies de maior valor de import?ncia apresentaram distribui??es diam?tricas relacionados com efeitos de resposta p?s-dist?rbio e a caracter?sticas da pr?pria esp?cie. Foi verificado um alto valor de H?, o que indica uma ?rea com diversidade relativamente alta e um baixo valor para J? e uma forte domin?ncia ecol?gica de esp?cies. Os resultados da an?lise de parti??o da vari?ncia a partir dos modelos de regress?o m?ltipla feita para cada eixo da an?lise NMDS mostraram que a distribui??o da vegeta??o est? altamente correlacionada com a estrutura espacial e ? influenciada em parte pelas vari?veis ambientais argila e mat?ria org?nica. A an?lise de classifica??o Twinspan definiu quatro grupos distintos entre as esp?cies avaliadas os quais se diferenciaram em rela??o ?s suas fun??es ecol?gicas. A compara??o da participa??o dos grupos de ordena??o da NMDS em rela??o aos grupos funcionais de classifica??o Twinspan, mostrou que a ?rea estudada apresenta um padr?o funcional dominado por esp?cies pioneiras a secund?rias iniciais, com dispers?o anemoc?rica e germina??o ortodoxa. O fragmento estudado encontra-se em um est?dio inicial de sucess?o secund?ria, onde as diferentes estrat?gias ecol?gicas das esp?cies ocuparam posi??es distintas ao longo do fragmento, apresentando tend?ncias adaptativas das esp?cies as condi??es do ambiente. Os resultados refor?am a hip?tese da grande import?ncia de conserva??o deste fragmento de Floresta Estacional Decidual. / Disserta??o (Mestrado) ? Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Ci?ncia Florestal, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2012. / ABSTRACT This study aimed to know the structure of the tree community, diversity, richness, the ecological functions of species, the influence of environmental variables, spatial and functional patterns of the species in the vegetation distribution in a fragment of Deciduous Forest. The study was conducted in areas of legal reserve of private properties in the municipality of President Juscelino (MG), at coordinates 18 ? 38'40 "S and 44 ? 04'57" W, with altitudes ranging between 600 and 890 m. The remainder has approximately 150 ha, with concave topography and steep slopes. Portions were observed areas with a high degree of human disturbance. There is evidence of clear-cutting in a strip of vegetation, as well as selective logging of some species of commercial interest. Also noteworthy is the existence of disorders such as high soil compaction caused by the entry of cattle in some parts, natural and anthropogenic clearings, exposed soil and trails along the fragment. For the forest inventory were allocated 25 permanent plots of 20 ? 20 m (400 m?), a total sample area of ??1 hectare. These were all sampled trees with circumference at breast height (CAP)> 15.7 cm, except lianas and dead individuals. The sampled species were classified into five systems guilds (ecological group, dispersion, pollination, desiccation tolerance and density of the timber) to form functional groups. To assess the relationships between environmental variables and distribution of tree compartment were collected randomly within each plot five single samples of surface soil (0-20 cm), with about 500 g of soil. Apart from the soil were collected relevant variables, canopy and impact matrix (natural and man-made). These were submitted to a Principal Component Analysis (PCA), where only five of the 28 initial variables were highly correlated: Limestone (Ca), Potassium (k), Clay, exposed rock and organic matter. Three of the five species of greatest importance value showed diameter distributions related to effects of disorder and post-response characteristics of the species itself. There was a high value H ', which indicates an area with relatively high diversity and a low value for J' and a strong predominance ecological species. The results of analysis of variance partitioning from the multiple regression models made for each shaft NMDS analysis showed that the distribution of vegetation is highly correlated with the spatial structure and is partly influenced by environmental clay and organic matter. The classification analysis Twinspan identified four distinct groups among the studied species which differ in relation to their ecological functions. The comparison of the participation of groups of NMDS ordination in relation to the functional group classification Twinspan showed that the study area presents a functional pattern dominated by pioneer species to early secondary, with orthodox anemochoric and germination. The fragment is studied in an early stage of secondary succession, where the different ecological strategies species occupied different positions along the fragment, present trends adaptive species environmental conditions. The results reinforce the hypothesis of the importance of conservation of this fragment Deciduous Forest.

Submitted by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2016-01-04T13:53:16Z No. of bitstreams: 2 lidiane_guedes_oliveira.pdf: 705674 bytes, checksum: 7f2a8cdcec73417a5a58f7784fffca1d (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2016-01-04T13:53:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 lidiane_guedes_oliveira.pdf: 705674 bytes, checksum: 7f2a8cdcec73417a5a58f7784fffca1d (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-04T13:53:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 lidiane_guedes_oliveira.pdf: 705674 bytes, checksum: 7f2a8cdcec73417a5a58f7784fffca1d (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (Capes) / Evid?ncias cient?ficas cumulativas sugerem que os ?cidos graxos monoinsaturados (MUFAs) diet?ticos reduzem fatores de risco para o desenvolvimento de desordens metab?licas, as quais causam muitas doen?as cr?nicas n?o transmiss?veis (DCNT), tais como o diabetes n?o insulinodependente e as cardiovasculares. O ?leo de pequi (Caryocar brasiliense) apresenta em sua composi??o predom?nio de ?cidos graxos monoinsaturados e carotenoides antioxidantes, os quais t?m sido tamb?m relacionados ? redu??o do risco para DCNT. Entretanto, ainda s?o escassos na literatura estudos que avaliem efeitos fisiol?gicos do ?leo de pequi dentro da perspectiva de alimento funcional, ou seja, associado ? dieta usual e h?bitos saud?veis de vida, dentre os quais se destaca o exerc?cio f?sico regular. Diante desse contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi pesquisar a influ?ncia da ingest?o do ?leo de pequi associada ao exerc?cio f?sico aer?bio regular (EFAR), sobre vari?veis relacionadas ao crescimento, ao metabolismo e par?metros cardiovasculares de ratos, desde est?gios iniciais de vida (p?s-desmame) at? o in?cio da vida adulta (20 semanas de vida). O protocolo experimental consistiu de quatro grupos (n=8) de ratos Wistar machos: CS - animais que receberam ra??o; CT - receberam ra??o e EFAR; OS - receberam ra??o suplementada com ?leo de pequi (2,25/100g = +50% do conte?do lip?dico da ra??o) e OT - receberam ra??o suplementada com ?leo de pequi e EFAR. O EFAR foi realizado em piscina, em intensidades e cargas progressivas, e a dieta fornecida ad libitum durante 15 semanas. A ingest?o alimentar e o peso corporal foram monitorados durante o per?odo experimental para os c?lculos da ingest?o alimentar e cal?rica, do ganho de peso, do coeficiente de efici?ncia alimentar (CEA%) e do ?ndice de massa corporal (IMC). A press?o arterial sist?lica (PAS) e a frequ?ncia card?aca (FC) foram aferidas no in?cio e na ?ltima semana do experimento. No ?ltimo dia, os animais foram eutanasiados, as cavidades abdominais e tor?cicas foram abertas para coleta de amostras. Os cora??es foram retirados e o ?ndice de contratilidade (+dP/dt) e relaxamento (-dP/dt) card?aco foram analisados pela t?cnica de cora??o isolado. Foram determinados: (a) o comprimento da t?bia esquerda; (b) os pesos absolutos e relativos do f?gado, p?ncreas e cora??o e de toda a gordura das regi?es epididimal e retroperitoneal; (c) as concentra??es plasm?ticas de colesterol (COL), lipoprote?na de alta densidade (HDL), triglicer?deos (TG), glicose, insulina, o ?ndice HOMA e a raz?o COL/HDL; (d) as concentra??es hep?ticas de COL e TG. Observou-se que a associa??o do ?leo de pequi ao EFAR n?o influenciou de maneira significativa par?metros relacionados ao crescimento (ingest?o alimentar e cal?rica, peso corporal, CEA, peso de ?rg?os, comprimento da t?bia), a PAS e FC, a glicemia e a raz?o COL/HDL. No entanto, foi essencial para evitar o ac?mulo de gordura na regi?o visceral, a eleva??o nos n?veis de insulina plasm?tica e no ?ndice HOMA-IR provocados pela ingest?o isolada do ?leo de pequi. Por outro lado, a associa??o da ingest?o do ?leo de pequi ao EFAR melhorou a capacidade de contra??o e relaxamento card?acos. Assim, podemos inferir que a ingest?o do ?leo de pequi, quando associada ? pr?tica regular de exerc?cios aer?bios, pode favorecer, sobretudo, a fun??o card?aca sem exercer efeitos delet?rios no crescimento e em vari?veis relacionadas ao metabolismo lip?dico e glic?dico. / Disserta??o (Mestrado) ? Programa Multic?ntrico de P?s-gradua??o em Ci?ncias Fisiol?gicas, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2014. / ABSTRACT Cumulative evidence suggests that dietary monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) reduce risk factors for metabolic disorders, which lead to many chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Pequi oil (Caryocar brasiliense) is high in monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant carotenoids, which have also been associated to reduced risk for NCDs. However, there is lacking of studies evaluating pequi oil physiological effects from the perspective of being a functional food, which means, associated to a usual diet and a healthy lifestyle, being the regular physical exercise a part of it. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of pequi oil intake, associated to regular aerobic physical exercise (RAPE) on variables related to growth, metabolism and on cardiovascular parameters of rats, from early stages of life (post weaning) to early adulthood (20 weeks old). The experimental protocol consisted of four groups (n = 8) of male Wistar rats: CS - animals fed chow; CT - received chow and RAPE; OS - received chow added pequi oil (2.25 / 100g =+50% of the chow lipid content) and OT - received chow added pequi oil and RAPE. The RAPE was held in a pool at intensities and progressive loading, and the diets were fed ad libitum for 15 weeks. Food intake and body weight were monitored throughout the experimental period to determine food and caloric intake, weight gain, feed efficiency ratio (FER%) and body mass index (BMI). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured at baseline and in the last week of the experiment. On the last day, animals were euthanized and the abdominal and thoracic cavities were opened for sampling. Hearts were removed and the contractility (+dP/dt) and relaxation (-dP/dt) indexes were analyzed by the isolated heart technique. It were determined: (a) The left tibia length (b) the relative liver, pancreas and hearts weights and the retroperitoneal and epididimal fat pad weights; (c) plasma concentrations of cholesterol (COL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides (TG), glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR index and COL/HDL ratio; (d) hepatic TG and COL levels. The association of pequi oil intake to RAPE did not influence significantly growth (food and caloric intake, body weight, FER%, organ weights, tibia length), SBP and HR, blood glucose and COL/HDL ratio. However, it prevented fat accumulation in the visceral region and plasma insulin and HOMA-IR increases caused by the pequi oil intake solely. Moreover, the pequi oil intake associated to RAPE improved the heart contraction and relaxation ability. Thus, we can infer that pequi oil intake, when associated to RAPE can improve mainly cardiac function without exerting deleterious effects on growth and on glucose and lipid metabolism.

Submitted by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2016-01-04T16:31:23Z No. of bitstreams: 2 nayara_rayane_cesar.pdf: 2602002 bytes, checksum: c844463923756f76132f0190a6617bd5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Martins Cruz (rodrigo.cruz@ufvjm.edu.br) on 2016-01-04T16:31:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 nayara_rayane_cesar.pdf: 2602002 bytes, checksum: c844463923756f76132f0190a6617bd5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-04T16:31:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 nayara_rayane_cesar.pdf: 2602002 bytes, checksum: c844463923756f76132f0190a6617bd5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (Capes) / O padr?o diet?tico ocidental, caracterizado pelo alto consumo de gordura saturada e carboidratos refinados, favorece o ac?mulo de tecido adiposo e o surgimento de v?rias doen?as cardiometab?licas (DCM). Atualmente, tem-se considerado que n?o apenas a quantidade, mas o perfil das gorduras ingeridas pode exercer forte influ?ncia sobre o desenvolvimento dessas doen?as. Nesse contexto, v?rios estudos t?m demonstrado que o consumo de alimentos fontes de ?cidos graxos monoinsaturados (MUFA) est? associado a um menor risco para o desenvolvimento de DCM. Al?m disso, t?m sido tamb?m identificados muitos compostos bioativos presentes nos alimentos vegetais, os quais t?m sido associados a efeitos ben?ficos na redu??o do risco e, ou, no tratamento de DCM. Dentre esses compostos est?o os carotenoides, que apresentam atividade antioxidante. Nessa perspectiva, o ?leo do pequi apresenta-se como um potencial alimento funcional, dado que os MUFA representam aproximadamente 60% dos seus ?cidos graxos, e possui ainda um teor elevado de carotenoides totais. Considerando que o padr?o de consumo alimentar ocidental favorece o desenvolvimento das DCM, e que o ?leo do pequi ? um potencial alimento protetor, mas ainda n?o foi explorado nesse contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os efeitos da substitui??o parcial da banha de porco (rica em ?cidos graxos saturados - SFA) por ?leo de Caryocar brasiliense ? pequi (rico em MUFA e carotenoides) em uma dieta de padr?o ocidental, sobre o metabolismo, a fun??o card?aca e o estado redox celular de ratos. Ap?s uma semana de adapta??o, os animais rec?m-desmamados foram distribu?dos em tr?s grupos (n=12) e tratados durante 12 semanas. Os grupos foram identificados conforme a dieta que receberam: CTRL ? controle, dieta AIN93G; HFS ? dieta alta em gordura e sacarose; HFS-OP ? dieta alta em gordura e sacarose, com substitui??o parcial da banha de porco por ?leo de pequi (27%). O peso corporal e a ingest?o alimentar foram monitorados durante todo o per?odo experimental; a press?o arterial sist?lica (PAS) e a frequ?ncia card?aca (FC) foram aferidas na 3? e 10? semanas; as fezes das ?ltimas 72 horas foram coletadas para avalia??o das concentra??es de colesterol e triglicer?deos (TG) e, ao final do experimento, os animais foram eutanasiados por decapita??o. As cavidades abdominais e tor?cicas foram abertas para coleta de amostras: (A) cora??es: foram retirados imediatamente para avalia??o da fun??o card?aca ex vivo; posteriormente foram avaliados os n?veis de peroxida??o lip?dica e capacidade antioxidante total; (B): tecido adiposo das regi?es epididimal e retroperitoneal, que foi pesado e posteriormente utilizado para avalia??es da adiposidade e histol?gicas; (C) soro: para determina??o das concentra??es de glicose, colesterol e TG; (D) plasma: para determina??o das concentra??es de insulina, leptina e adiponectina, peroxida??o lip?dica e capacidade antioxidante total; (E) f?gados: para avalia??o das concentra??es de colesterol e TG, an?lises histopatol?gicas e peroxida??o lip?dica, capacidade antioxidante total e atividade enzim?tica (super?xido dismutase, catalase e glutationa peroxidase). Observou-se que os pesos corporais dos animais HFS-OP e HFS foram mais elevados que CTRL (p<0,05), no entanto, a deposi??o de gordura na regi?o visceral em resposta ao consumo das dietas ocidentais foi atenuada pela substitui??o da banha de porco por ?leo de pequi (p<0,05). A menor sobrecarga reduziu a deposi??o de TG no tecido hep?tico o que pode estar associado ao retardo do desenvolvimento do diabetes. De um modo geral, a fun??o card?aca foi prejudicada pelas dietas ocidentais em compara??o ao CTRL. Nas avalia??es in vivo n?o foram observados efeitos diferenciais da substitui??o parcial da banha de porco por ?leo de pequi, contudo, quando a fun??o card?aca foi avaliada ex vivo, a ingest?o do ?leo atenuou os danos ? fun??o card?aca (p<0,05), sugerindo que, ainda que modestamente, o ?leo do pequi exerceu um efeito protetor sobre as estruturas card?acas intr?nsecas. Al?m disso, foi observada uma atenua??o da peroxida??o lip?dica no tecido hep?tico para HFS-OP em rela??o ? HFS (p<0,05), sugerindo que o ?leo do pequi pode ter favorecido a incorpora??o dos MUFA e de carotenoides nas membranas dos cardiomi?citos, o que exerceu um efeito protetor. Devido ao papel prim?rio do f?gado no controle metab?lico de todo o organismo, esse efeito de prote??o contra a peroxida??o lip?dica n?o p?de ser observado nos hepat?citos. Contudo, a presen?a dos carotenoides na dieta HFS-OP fortaleceu o sistema antioxidante ex?geno, evitando que a atividade das enzimas super?xido dismutase e glutationa peroxidase fosse prejudicada em HFS-OP como observado para HFS (p<0,05). Essas adapta??es sugerem que a substitui??o parcial da banha de porco por ?leo de pequi foi capaz de atenuar alguns efeitos delet?rios da dieta ocidental sobre o metabolismo lip?dico, a fun??o card?aca e o estado redox celular de ratos. / Disserta??o (Mestrado) ? Programa Multic?ntrico de P?s-gradua??o em Ci?ncias Fisiol?gicas, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, 2015. / ABSTRACT The Western diet pattern, which means a high saturated fat and refined carbohydrates intake, leads to body fat accumulation and several cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). Currently, it has been considered that, not only the amount, but the fat quality, can exert a strong influence in the development of those diseases. In this context, several studies have shown that consuming foods high in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) is associated with lower risk for CMD. Moreover, it has also been identified many bioactive compounds in plant foods which are associated with beneficial effects in reducing the risk, or treating DCM. Among these compounds are carotenoids, which have strong antioxidant activity. In this perspective, pequi oil is a potential functional food, since MUFA represent approximately 60% of its fatty acids content, and it is also high in several antioxidant carotenoids. So, considering that western diet pattern promotes CMD development, and pequi oil is a potential functional food, but it has not been explored in this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a partial replacement of lard (high in SFA) by pequi oil (high in MUFA and carotenoids), into a Western diet model, on metabolism, cardiac function and cellular redox status of rats. The animals were divided into three groups (n = 12) and treated during 12 weeks: CTRL - control, AIN93G diet; HFS ? high in saturated fat and sucrose; HFS-OP - high in saturated fat and sucrose, with partial replcement of lard by pequi oil (27%). Body weight and food intake were monitored throughout the experimental period; systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured at the 3rd and 10th weeks; faeces from the last 72 hours were collected for evaluation of cholesterol and triglycerides (TG). At the end of the experiment, all animals were killed by decapitation, the abdominal and thoracic cavities were opened for collection of samples: (A) hearts were taken immediately to evaluate the ex vivo cardiac function; levels of lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant capacity; (B): epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissues were harversted, weighed and subsequently used for adiposity and histological evaluations; (C) serum: for glucose, cholesterol and TG determination; (D) plasma: for insulin, leptin and adiponectina determinations, lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant capacity; (E) livers: for cholesterol and TG levels, histopathological analyzes, lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant capacity and enzyme activities. Body weights from HFS-OP and HFS animals were equally higher than CTRL (p<0.05); however, visceral fat deposition in response to consumption of the Western diet was attenuated by replacing lard by pequi oil and it also led to less TG deposition in the liver (p<0.05). In general, cardiac function was impaired by Western diet, promoting a higher blood pressure and heart rate in vivo and a lower cardiac contractility and relaxation efficiency ex vivo (p<0,05). However, although there were no differential effects from the partial replacement of lard by pequi oil on blood pressure and heart rate in vivo, this replacement attenuated the damage to cardiac function compared to HFS (p<0.05), suggesting that, eventhough modestly, pequi oil exerted a protective effect on intrinsic cardiac structures. In addition, the partial replacement of lard by pequi oil reduced lipid peroxidation in cardiomyocytes (p<0.05) compared to HFS, which was not observed in hepatocytes. Moreover, in the hepatocytes, there were an increasing in total antioxidant capacity and catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities compared to HFS (p<0.05). These adaptations suggest that the partial replacement of lard by pequi oil mitigated some deleterious effects of the Western diet on lipid metabolism, cardiac function and cellular redox status of rats.

Title: Play and stay 10s system The thesis "Play and stay 10s system" follow up compilation of available literature dealing with training of children under 10 years old. This system i salso applicable to older children beginners or even adult beginners. The aim of the thesis is to analyze this system prefered by ITF and subscribe it to Czech trainers and coaches or those who are interested in tennis methodology for this age category. The problem in this category is the fact that a large amount of athletes have other sport opportunities than tennis. The outflow of athletes from this sport is caused by direct corrective form of teaching that children do not like. And as many people think, it goes to collective and more entertaining sports where the game itself is beginning from first lesson. The slogan of tennis 10s is "Serve, rallye, score". This system has caused worldwide rise and popularity among children and adults. Tennis taught in this way is more attractive and fun. Key words: tennis, methodology, training of children under 10 years, fun form, midi court