The United States engagement in Vietnam began during the Second World War. With military bases established in China, the U.S. took part in fighting the Japanese troops in the Pacific theatre. When France surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940, Japan would take over the French Indochina and the war would spread to Vietnam as well. In order to collect intelligence on Japanese targets, the Americans needed to operate secret services on the ground. After the Japanese coup de main in 1945, they would eventually partner with Ho Chi Minh and his organization Viet Minh. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the wartime predecessor of the CIA, provided intelligence training and equipment, while the Viet Minh would assist with valuable information on Japanese troops. To some extent, the OSS helped Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh accede to power in Vietnam after the war.

L’expression ‘programmation périnatale’ est employée pour décrire les effets à long terme d’un environnement gestationel néfaste observés chez la progéniture. Ce concept est aujourd’hui bien reconnu. Notre laboratoire a déjà démontré l’impact de l’hyperglycémie maternelle sur le développement rénal des embryons à l’aide des souris HoxB7-GFP transgéniques (Tg) et qui se traduit par une augmentation des espèces réactives de l’oxygène (ROS) et une néphrogenèse perturbée. Les rejetons affectés présentent ainsi des reins plus petits et possédant un nombre inférieur de néphrons à la naissance, et développent une hypertension et des dommages rénaux à l’âge adulte (20 semaines). Dans la première étude, nous avons tenté de réduire la production excessive de ROS dans les reins en développement par la surexpression de la catalase (CAT). Pour ce faire, nous avons croisé les souris CAT-Tg qui surexpriment la CAT dans les cellules des tubules proximaux rénaux (RPTCs) aux souris HoxB7-GFP-Tg afin de générer les souris HoxB7/CAT-GFP-Tg. Nous espérons observer la normalisation du nombre de néphrons et la prévention de l’hypertension et des dommages rénaux observés chez la progéniture issue d’un environnement gestational hyperglycémique. Nous avons observé que la surexpression de CAT dans les RPTCs permet de normaliser la dysmorphogenèse rénale présente chez les embryons de mères diabétiques. À l’âge adulte, la surexpression de CAT dans les RPTCs permet également de réduire la génération des ROS et l’hypertension, tout en améliorant la morphologie et la fonction rénale. Afin de définir les mécanismes impliqués dans ce processus, nous avons étudié le rôle potentiel de Nrf2 (‘nuclear factor-erythroid 2p45 (NF-E2) related factor-2’; un facteur de transcription des gènes antioxidants) et HO-1 (hème oxygénase-1’; une enzyme antioxidante). À la fois Nrf2 et HO-1 sont de forts antioxidants et ont été rapportés comme protecteurs pour le rein. Nous avons observé une surexpression des gènes et protéines Nrf2 et HO-1, en plus d’une translocation nucléaire accrue de Nrf2, dans les RPTCs de la progéniture des mères diabétiques, indiquant que chez les souris surexprimant CAT, Nrf2 et HO-1 sont tous deux bien activés et fonctionnels. En conclusion, nos études suggèrent que la surexpression de CAT dans les RPTCs permet de prévenir la programmation de l’hypertension et les dommages rénaux observés à l’âge adulte chez la progéniture issue de mères diabétiques, en partie suite à l’activation du système de défense Nrf2-HO-1 dans leurs reins. Il a déjà été démontré que l’activation du système rénine-angiotensine (RAS) intrarénal induit l’hypertension en augmentant la constriction des artérioles et la réabsorption du sodium par les tubules rénaux. Une activation du récepteur AT1R et de ses voies de signalisation induit également les dommages rénaux observés dans plusieurs pathologies. Dans le cadre de mon second article, nous avons identifié un nouveau mécanisme par lequel l’angiotensine (Agt) intrarénale induit l’hypertension et des dommages rénaux en réduisant l’expression de l’aquaporine 1 (AQP1, le canal pour l’eau le plus important dans les RPTCs). Des souris transgéniques surexprimant l’Agt de rat (rAgt-Tg) dans leurs RPTCs et des clones stables de cellules immortalisées de tubule proximal de rein de rat (IRPTCs) surexprimant le rAgt (pRSV/rAgt-IRPTC) ont été étudiés. Lorsque comparés aux souris non-transgéniques, les souris rAgt-Tg développent de l’hypertension et des dommages rénaux. Ces changements sont atténués par le traitement avec une double inhibition du RAS (losartan et perindopril). L’expression des protéines AQP1 et HO-1 est réduite dans les RPTCs, tandis que Nrf2 et le transporteur sodique NHE3 sont augmentés, à la fois in vivo et in vitro. Ces changements sont renversés par la double inhibition du RAS chez les animaux expérimentaux. Même si les niveaux de Nrf2 sont élevés, une accumulation cytosolique causée par une augmentation de l’export nucléaire induit par GSK3β se produit et ne parvient donc pas à induire l’expression des gènes en aval comme HO-1, ni à réduire l’expression de l’AQP1. En conclusion, nos résultats suggèrent qu’une déficience en Nrf2 nucléaire mène à une diminution de l’expression de HO-1 et une régulation négative de l’AQP1, jouant un role dans l’hypertension et les dommages rénaux induits par l’Agt intrarénal. L’hypertension et les dommages rénaux sont des maladies très hétérogènes et multifactorielles qui impliquent l’interaction de diverses molécules et voies de signalisations, et sont influencées par plusieurs facteurs environnementaux tels la diète ou la programmation périnatale. Tous ces différents facteurs contribuent à la progression de l’hypertension et des dommages rénaux, rendant les stratégies de traitement d’autant plus complexes. Dans notre étude, nous avons évalué le développement de l’hypertension dans deux circonstances : l’hypertension de la progéniture programmée par le diabète maternel et l’hypertension induite par l’activation du RAS intrarénal. Nous avons démontré que la génération des ROS dans les reins constitue un facteur majeur commun dans nos deux modèles d’hypertension chez la souris. De plus, le gène/facteur de transcription antioxydant Nrf2, sensible aux ROS, joue un rôle important dans le processus. Grâce à une meilleure compréhension des diverses voies qui mènent à la progression de l’hypertension, nous espérons qu’il sera possible de développer de meilleurs traitements pour faire face à l’hypertension. / The term ‘perinatal programming’ is used to describe the phenomenon that maternal adverse environment during pregnancies which have profound influences to their offspring later in life. And this concept is well accepted. Previously, we successfully created an in vivo murine model and demonstrated that maternal diabetes constitutes an adverse in utero environment that may fundamentally impair nephrogenesis and subsequently program of the offspring to develop hypertension and kidney injury in adulthood. It appears that enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, activation of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), intrarenal renin- angiotensin system (RAS) and p53 pathways were involved in the underlying mechanisms. In our first study, we investigated whether overexpression of catalase (CAT) in renal proximal tubular cells (RPTCs) could prevent the perinatal programming of hypertension and kidney injury in male offspring of diabetic dams and examined the potential underlying mechanisms both in vivo and in vitro. Our data demonstrate that CAT overexpression in RPTCs exert a direct effect on nephrogenesis in utero and ameliorate maternal diabetes- induced dysnephrogenesis. And further consequently, CAT overexpression in RPTCs preventing maternal diabetes-induced perinatal programming, mediated at least in part, via the nuclear factor-erythroid 2p45 (NF-E2) related factor-2 (Nrf2)- heme oxygenase (HO)- 1 defense system. Intrarenal RAS activation has attracted more attention in recent years due to studies have been reported that activation of the intrarenal RAS can elicit hypertension and kidney injury independently from the systemic RAS. Previously, we established a murine model (Agt-Tg) that specifically overexpress rat angiotensinogen (Agt) in their RPTCs and develops hypertension and nephropathy. Aquaporin 1 (AQP1) is the major water channel within renal RPTCs, but whether it has a regulatory role in the development of hypertension and nephropathy remains elusive. Our second study aimed to examine the regulation of AQP1 expression in an intrarenal RAS-induced hypertension and kidney injury, focusing on underlying molecular mechanisms. We believe that both our in vivo and in vitro studies identified a novel mechanism(s) in which Agt overexpression in RPTCs enhances cytosolic accumulation of Nrf2 via the phosphorylation of pGSK3β Y216. Consequently, less intranuclear Nrf2 is available to trigger HO-1 expression as a defense mechanism and subsequently diminishes AQP1 expression in RPTCs. In conclusion, our data suggest that Agt mediated-downregulation of AQP1 and Nrf2 signaling may play an important role in intrarenal RAS-induced hypertension and kidney injury. Hypertension and kidney injury is a heterogeneous and multifactorial disease that involves the interaction of various molecules/pathways and the influence of environmental factors, for instance, diet and perinatal programming. Such diverse causes contribute to the progression of hypertension and kidney disease, making the strategy of treatment even more complex. In our present study, we evaluated the development of hypertension under two circumstances: maternal diabetes-programmed hypertension in offspring and intrarenal RAS activation-induced hypertension. We found that ROS generation in the kidneys is a major and common factor in both hypertensive mice model. Also, the ROS-sensitive antioxidant gene/transcription factor – Nrf2, plays an important role in the process. By understanding the pathways that lead to hypertension progression, we can hopefully develop more effective treatments to cope with the disease.

The aim of this study is to compare the performance of the four interest rate models (Vasicek Model, Cox Ingersoll Ross Model, Ho Lee Model and Black Der- man Toy Model) that are commonly used in pricing zero coupon bond options. In this study, 1{5 years US Treasury Bond daily data between the dates June 1, 1976 and December 31, 2007 are used. By using the four interest rate models, estimated option prices are compared with the real observed prices for the begin- ing work days of each months of the years 2004 and 2005. The models are then evaluated according to the sum of squared errors. Option prices are found by constructing interest rate trees for the binomial models based on Ho Lee Model and Black Derman Toy Model and by estimating the parameters for the Vasicek and the Cox Ingersoll Ross Models.

Le travail présenté dans ce mémoire aborde les problématiques de détection et de classification pour le diagnostic de défauts. Deux approches différentes sont abordées. La première approche est l'approche de détection et classification simultanées où le problème global à K classes est scindé en sous-problèmes. Chaque sous-problème a en charge la détection d'une ou plusieurs classes de défauts et il est traité par une cellule qui enchaîne les phases de prétraitement des signaux, de choix de l'espace de représentation, de détection, puis de décision. La résolution complète du problème à K classes s'effectue par un agencement séquentiel des cellules selon un arbre de décision hiérarchique ou par une mise en parallèle des cellules avec règles de décision associées.<br />La seconde approche est l'approche de détection et classification successives. Elle consiste à traiter tout<br />d'abord les signaux issus du capteur de manière simple pour la délivrance d'un signal d'alarme indiquant la<br />présence possible d'un défaut. Dans ce cas, et dans ce cas seulement, des traitements haut niveau sont mis en<br />oeuvre dans le but d'analyser plus finement les signatures de ces défauts. Les outils pour la classification - les différents classifieurs linéaires, les classifieurs neuronaux et les machines à vecteurs de support - sont détaillés. L'accent est mis sur le réglage des marges des classifieurs linéaires, sur leurs capacités de généralisation et sur les estimateurs de cette capacité de généralisation.<br />L'ensemble de ces méthodes a été validé sur une application concernant la détection de défauts de surface de rail dans un contexte métro. Un démonstrateur temps réel et opérant en condition d'exploitation a permis de tester les solutions de l'approche détection et classification simultanées, en considérant les taux de bonne détection et de<br />fausse alarme sur 4 classes de défauts de rail. La transformée en ondelettes, le filtrage inverse et la séparation de sources par analyse en composantes indépendantes sont les outils de prétraitement qui ont été particulièrement détaillés dans ce contexte applicatif.<br />Une base de données, constituée à partir de mesures sur site labellisées, a permis de qualifier statistiquement les solutions de l'approche détection et classification successives. Une hiérarchisation des méthodes est proposée en fonction de leur capacité de généralisation, mais aussi de leur complexité et de leur aptitude à traiter le problème avec ou sans optimisation des espaces de représentation.

As a result of the economic reforms that were introduced in Vietnam in 1986, the country has grown economically. However, due to a bias toward development policies which have been mainly concentrated in urban areas, the economic gap between rural and urban areas has rapidly widened over time. More job opportunities and better living conditions in the city, as well as low productivity in agriculture, have caused people to move to the major cities. Consequently, rural to urban migration has become one of the dominant flows of internal migration in the country in recent years. This migration stream not only has increased in scale but also in its complexity. Particularly, the age of the migrants has become younger as many young people, especially females, become involved in this flow. Moreover, this migration flow has become less selective in terms of education as both more and less educated people migrate. Also, not only the rich but the poor take part in this movement. This thesis considers the determinants of moving and the experiences of young migrants to Ho Chi Minh City in terms of their economic, social and cultural adjustment in order to provide deep insights into the lives of young people when they migrate. This thesis has used the migration model of Scharping (1997) as the theoretical framework to investigate the decision to move as well as their living experiences in the city. A multiple method approach has been used to the study as both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed. Quantitative data such as secondary data from censuses and data from large-scale surveys at the national and the city levels and primary data from the author’s survey with 300 young migrants were applied. Qualitative data from 25 in-depth interviews with young migrants, 5 with authorities and 5 with migrant returnees were used in this study, to provide detailed information on migrants’ lives. While the city has attracted a large number of youth from rural areas because of its development advantages, the city’s government has applied policies to limit this flow. Yet, this migration control policy has proved costly and ineffective in restricting the flows of people to the major cities. This policy has created many difficulties for migrants in the city. In addition, low levels of education and limited work skills force many young migrants to work in the informal sector where their human rights are heavily violated. Other young migrants work in cheap intensive-labour factories. Low pay and hard work, but without labour and medical insurance, lead these young migrants to live on the margins of urban society. These findings suggest that if the local people do not accept these migrants, and urban policies make no effort to assistance them, it is impossible for young migrants in the city to be successful in building new lives and careers. Instead of trying to limit rural to urban migration, the national government should put more effort into narrowing the rural-urban gap by improving development in rural areas. More jobs with better pay in rural areas may be the most effective and sustainable way of reducing rural to urban migration flows. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1331422 / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2008

Orientador: Marco Antonio Alves do Valle / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T00:06:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sales_AnaCeliaGarciade_M.pdf: 2243726 bytes, checksum: aa650781b36d08c6e99c1707eb6ffbe0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: O presente estudo apresenta dois tipos de intervenção artística no espaço urbano que se manifestam fora dos circuitos consagrados de produção e circulação da arte: a pichação e o graffiti. Pretende-se aqui expor um outro aspecto, além do marginal e transgressor, da pichação e do graffiti, que é sua riqueza como forma de expressão artística e cultural. Para tanto se faz necessário fazer a reconstrução sócio-histórica desses dois movimentos, destacando a forte influência americana. Assim, propõe-se analisar como esses movimentos se efetivam enquanto crítica social e cultural no espaço urbano e discutir as iniciativas do poder público municipal, que integram pichadores e grafiteiros, para a preservação do patrimônio histórico e cultural da cidade de Campinas-SP. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa é importante além dos aspectos já elencados, definir o momento em que a pichação e o graffiti surgem no Brasil, particularmente na cidade de Campinas no contexto de sua evolução como metrópole / Abstract: This work is about two kinds of urban manifestation that happen out of the oficial places of production and circulation of art: the pichação and graffiti. Here we intend to expose another character of the pichação and graffiti ¿ more than the marginal and the criminal character ¿ the artistic and cultural expression. Then, rebuilt the social history of these movements is necessary, emphasizing the strong american influence. So, we propose to analyse how these moviments take part of the urban space, as social and cultural criticism, and discuss the preservation politics of the historical and cultural patrimony of Campinas-SP that cover pichadores and graffiters. For this research is also important to emphasize the moment that the pichação and graffiti arise in Brazil, specially in Campinas in the context of its developing as metropolis / Mestrado / Mestre em Artes

Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins that often share common morphological and biochemical features, and can similarly co-localize with several other proteins, including various chaperone proteins. Chaperone proteins, like heat shock protein 27 (HSP27), heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and clusterin, have been implicated as potent modulators of misfolded proteins, thus may play important roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The present study aims to investigate their roles in the pathogenesis of Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Motor neuron disease (MND) by determining their distribution and amount via immunohistochemical staining and western blotting in diseased and control subjects.There were distinct patterns of HSP27 and clusterin immunostaining in different brain regions. For HSP27, patients with AD and FTLD were in general more severely affected than were patients with MND and control subjects. For clusterin, patients with AD and FTLD were more severely affected than control subjects where neurons and glial cells were concerned, while patients with AD and control subjects were more severely affected than those with FTLD where diffuse and cored plaques were concerned. However, there were no obvious differences in the pattern of HO-1 immunostaining in various brain regions in patients with AD or FTLD relative to control subjects. Moreover, there was no association between HSP27, HO-1 and clusterin with disease or histological type, and the ‘classic’ neuropathological changes in FTLD, AD and MND were not immunoreactive to any of these proteins. There were significant correlations between the degrees of HO-1 and clusterin immunostaining in many brain areas for both AD and FTLD cases, and for all cases overall, but none between HSP27 and clusterin or HSP27 and HO-1. Present results suggest an involvement with ongoing cellular stress, misfolded or unfolded protein accumulation or the deficits/failure of other relevant protein quality control systems, in the pathogenesis of these neurodegenerative diseases. Present work may therefore have implications for the further development of ideas concerning the cause or treatment of neurodegenerative diseases where there is aberrant accumulation of misfolded, aggregated protein, and perhaps for conformational diseases in general. However, there are still many issues remain to be elucidated. Further research aimed at understanding the function and mechanisms of the chaperone system, and other protein quality control mechanisms, in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is still needed.

This work describes completely new approach to detection of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) loss in colour fundus images. Such RNFL losses indicate eye glaucoma illness and an early diagnosis of RNFL changes is very important for successful treatment. Method is presented with the purpose of supporting glaucoma diagnosis in ophthalmology. The proposed textural analysis method utilizes local binary patterns (LBP). This approach is characterized especially by computational simplicity and insensitivity to monotonic changes of illumination. Image histograms of LBP distributions are used to gain several textural features aimed to classify healthy or glaucomatous tissue of the retina. The method was experimentally tested using fundus images of glaucomatous patients with focal RNFL loss. The results show that the proposed method can be used in order to supporting diagnosis of glaucoma with satisfactory efficiency.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the filmography of Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho [Pong Chun-ho], and to provide a limited textual analysis of each film divided across two categories: the “explicitly ecological” and “implicitly ecological”. The intent is to, by viewing all of Bong’s films leading up to his critical and commercial success Parasite, argue that Parasite is as much an environmental film as it is critical of neoliberalism and globalization, both of which are common readings of not only Parasite, but all of Bong’s work.The findings are that while Parasite avoids overt and exaggerated displays of eco-destruction visible in his Sci-fi films, the film still displays a conscious environmental awareness. The rainstorm featured in the second act of the film can be viewed not only through a local lens as an example of the dichotomy between wealthy and poor families in South Korea as it pertains to environmental crises, but as a microcosm of how climate change stands to impact the financially disenfranchised across the globe as climate shifts continue to grow. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka den koreanska regissören Bong Joon-hos filmografi och genom en begränsad analys av varje enstaka film, uppdelade i kategorierna ”explicit ekologiska” och ”implicit ekologiska” filmer. Avsikten är att genom en genomgång av alla Bongs filmer upp till publik och kritikersuccén Parasit argumentera för att Parasit är lika mycket en ekologisk film som den är en kritik av globalisering och neoliberalism, uppfattningar som förekommer ofta när det Bongs filmer diskuteras.Slutsatsen är att även om Parasit undviker lika storskaliga och överdrivna exempel av ekologisk förstörelse som i hans science-fictionfilmer så visar filmen fortfarande upp en ekologisk medvetenhet. Regnstormen som förekommer i filmens andra akt kan ses inte bara som ett exempel på skillnaden på hur rika och fattiga familjer i Sydkorea hanterar ekologiska kriser, men kan även tolkas som ett mikrokosm av hur klimatförändringar kommer påverka de finansiellt utsatta världen över allteftersom de förvärras.

No description available.