The sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is widespread among animals but proximate mechanisms of its ontogeny are still poorly understood even in important groups of vertebrates such as reptiles. Previous experiments in geckos showed that growth of both sexes slows substantially at their older age. Their SSD develops considerably a long time after sexual maturity, it is associated with earlier growth deceleration in the smaller sex and it is controlled by ovarian rather than testicular steroids. The aim of the thesis was to explore the previous knowledge by studying the ontogenesis of the sexually-dimorphic bone growth of the gecko Paroedura picta, the male- larger species with the most explored proximate mechanisms of SSD among geckos. I was most interested in the ontogeny of the growth plates activity and the epiphyseal ossification of the femur in both sexes and their relationship to age, body length, gonadal activity and levels of sex-specific steroids (estradiol and testosterone). The results show that P. picta has determinate growth and that epiphyseal ossification does not contribute to the SSD. The femoral growth plates close at the same age in both sexes; however, their closure occurs at smaller body length in females than in males. In the context of this and the previous studies, estradiol or other...

[pt] A utilização de barras de polímero reforçado com fibra contínua (Fiber reinforced polymer, ou FRP) como reforço no concreto armado vem ganhando relevância no mercado devido às suas propriedades não corrosivas, alta resistência, durabilidade e transparência eletromagnética. Por outro lado, o comportamento frágil e o baixo módulo de elasticidade das barras de FRP limita sua aplicação e difusão no mercado da construção civil. Sob esta perspectiva, este trabalho avalia, em uma primeira etapa, o incremento de ductilidade em vigas de concreto armado com barras de GFRP (Glass fiber reinforced polymer) por meio da adição de fibras dispersas de vidro AR (álcali resistente) à matriz cimentícia e/ou pelo confinamento do concreto nas regiões críticas com o uso de estribos de GFRP. Para tal, são reportados e discutidos os resultados de ensaios realizados em oito vigas isostáticas sob flexão de quatro pontos, sendo quatro superarmadas e quatro são subarmadas. Em geral, as estratégias adotadas se mostraram bem-sucedidas apenas para as vigas superarmadas, que passaram a apresentar falhas caracterizadas por formação de cunha de compressão e grandes deslocamentos até a ruptura. Para avaliação da ductilidade, foram adotados dois métodos distintos: um baseado em energia (índice de ductilidade, (micro)E) e outro baseado em deformação (fator de performance, (micro)M). Para as vigas subarmadas, o fator de performance por meio da curvatura e o fator de performance por meio da deflexão representaram maiores incrementos de ductilidade para a viga com adição de fibras dispersas devido ao efeito do enrijecimento à tração, enquanto o índice de ductilidade não se mostrou uma boa alternativa para estas vigas. Para as vigas superarmadas, o fator de performance por meio da curvatura e o índice de ductilidade representaram maiores incrementos de ductilidade para as vigas com confinamento, enquanto no fator de performance por meio da deflexão, o incremento de ductilidade foi mais significativo para as vigas com adição de fibras. Em uma segunda etapa, é avaliada a capacidade de redistribuição de momentos fletores em três vigas hiperestáticas de dois vãos reforçadas com barras de GFRP contendo maior taxa de armadura inferior, bem como configurações distintas de armadura transversal e uso de fibras. Foi possível observar um aumento do momento nos centros dos vãos de 30 por cento e uma redução no momento no apoio central superior a 60 por cento, quando comparados aos momentos elásticos, que confirmam a influência da configuração da armadura na distribuição de esforços. / [en] The use of continuous fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars as an internal reinforcement for concrete has gained attention due to its non-corrosive properties, high resistance, requiring electromagnetic transparency. On the other hand, the brittle behavior and low modulus of elasticity of FRP bars limit their application and diffusion in the civil construction market. From this perspective, this work evaluates, firstly, the increase of ductility in GFRP (glass-fiber reinforced polymer) reinforced concrete beams by adding dispersed alkali-resistant (AR) glass fibers to the cementitious matrix and/or by confinement of the concrete in critical regions with the use of GFRP stirrups. To accomplish this task, the results of tests performed on eight statically determinate beams under four-point bending are reported and discussed, four of which are under-reinforced and four are over-reinforced. In general, the strategies adopted were successful only for the overreinforced beams, whose failures were characterized by the formation of a compression wedge and large displacements before rupture. For ductility evaluation, two distinct methods were adopted: one based on energy (ductility index, (micro)E) and another based on deformation (performance factor, (micro)M). For under-reinforced beams, the performance factor through curvature and the performance factor through deflection led to greater ductility increments for the beam with the addition of dispersed fibers due to the tensile stiffening effect, while the ductility index did not lead to good results. For the over-reinforced beams, the performance factor through curvature and the ductility index were able to describe the greater ductility increments for the confined beams, while the performance factor through deflection resulted in a greater ductility increment for the beams with discrete fiber addition. In a second step, the capacity of redistribution of moments in three statically indeterminate GFRP reinforced concrete beams with two spans and with a higher lower reinforcement ratio was evaluated for two different configurations of transverse reinforcement and for the use of fibers. It was possible to observe an increase in the positive moment of 30 percent (center of span) and a reduction in the negative moment (central support) greater than 60 percent, when compared to the elastic moments, confirming the influence of the reinforcement configuration on the distribution of internal forces.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:29:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciano Velasque Rocha.pdf: 2184775 bytes, checksum: fd75231b91987fe4dc87e50625f35cc5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / For the reason that legal persons are entitled to judicial relief within Brazil s Consumer Code whenever they act as consumers, this essay outlines (i) the extension of such judicial relief and (ii) the conditions for obtaining such legal protection. As a result, this essay takes for granted that investigating (i) and (ii) fundamentally depends on (but not limited to) interpreting article 2 of Federal Law no. 8,078 (Brazil s Consumer Code). Ever since the questions arising from the legal person acting as a consumer deal with interpretation, the essay adopts a position with respect to the nature of the interpretation process and applies it to legal norms governing the legal person when it acts as a consumer. The essay is split in three parts. The first one deals with analyzing the ideas of interpretation , person in legal sense , man , right holder and legal person . Following that, on the second part the so-called hermeneutical vectors deemed applicable are enumerated (a hermeneutical vector stands for a line of reasoning which points hence vector to a specific interpretative choice). In the third and last section, interpretation of judicial norms dealing with the legal person as a consumer takes place, as well as an analysis of relevant Brazilian jurisprudence / A tese de doutorado ora apresentada tem por objetivo o estudo da pessoa jurídica consumidora, especificamente no que diz respeito (i) à exata extensão da tutela que lhe proporciona o ordenamento jurídico brasileiro e (ii) às condições exigidas para que esta tutela seja prestada. Para tanto, a tese assume como dado que a resposta às questões (i) e (ii) depende fundamentalmente (mas não somente) da interpretação que se der ao art. 2º da Lei 8.078/90 (CDC). Identificado o problema da pessoa jurídica consumidora como uma questão de interpretação, o trabalho assume posição quanto à natureza do processo interpretativo e aplica-a à interpretação das disposições legais que se ocupam da pessoa jurídica consumidora. A tese divide-se em três partes: na primeira delas analisamse as noções de interpretação , pessoa , homem , sujeito de direitos e pessoa jurídica . Na segunda enumera-se aquilo que no trabalho se chama de setas ou vetores hermenêuticos , cuja função é a de apontar a direção que no trabalho se entende como correta rumo à construção de sentido do art. 2º da Lei 8.078/90 (CDC). Na terceira e última parte lançamo-nos à tarefa de interpretar a disciplina jurídico-normativa a que está submetida a pessoa jurídica consumidora e paralelamente analisamos como a jurisprudência e a doutrina brasileiras têm enfrentado a questão

Este trabalho tem como escopo analisar e delimitar o conceito, espécies, requisitos e consequências da revisibilidade das licenças ambientais. Não raras vezes, empreendedores, administradores públicos, juízes e todos os demais operadores do direito se veem em situações que contrapõem a estabilidade das relações jurídicas e a confiança legítima do comportamento estatal à necessidade de proteger o meio ambiente equilibrado para as presentes e futuras gerações. A revisão de licenças ambientais ainda vigentes é exatamente um dos campos onde essa análise tem espaço. Seja em circunstâncias provisórias ou definitivas, seja advinda de uma nulidade anterior ou de um fato ulterior, em determinadas hipóteses a iminência de dano ambiental faz com que o poder público não possa esperar o término da vigência do ato autorizativo para agir. Ao longo do texto, fixam-se as premissas para examinar cinco espécies de revisão: suspensão, modificação, cassação, invalidação e revogação das licenças ambientais, todas orientadas por algumas ideias comuns, mas cada uma delas com suas especificidades. Apresentam-se, outrossim, alguns contrapontos ao cabimento dessas medidas, notadamente a garantia constitucional de proteção do direito adquirido, não como objeção indiscriminada à atuação estatal, mas como forma de limitação dessa nos estreitos contornos traçados pelos princípios envolvidos. Ao final, trata-se também das consequências que podem advir desse ato revisor, em especial no que tange ao eventual cabimento de indenização ao empreendedor por ele afetado. / This work has the objective to analyze and define the concept, species, requirements and consequences of revisibility environmental licenses. Too often, entrepreneurs, public administrators, judges and all other law enforcement officers find themselves in situations that contradict the stability of legal relations and the legitimate expectations of state behavior to the need to protect the balanced environment for present and future generations. A further review of existing environmental permits is one of the fields where this analysis has room. Whether in temporary or definitive circumstances, whether arising from an earlier invalidity or an ulterior fact, under certain circumstances the imminence of environmental damage means that the government can not expect the expiration date of the primitive act to take action. Throughout the text, the assumptions set up to examine five species for revision: suspension, modification, revocation, invalidation and revocation of environmental licenses, all guided by some common ideas, but each with its specificities. They appear, moreover, some counterpoints to the appropriateness of these reviews, notably the constitutional guarantee of protection granted, not as indiscriminate objection to state action, but by way of limitation in this narrow contours outlined by the principles involved. Finally, it is also about the consequences that this act reviewer, in particular with regard to the appropriateness of any compensation to the entrepreneur affected by it.

Este trabalho tem como escopo analisar e delimitar o conceito, espécies, requisitos e consequências da revisibilidade das licenças ambientais. Não raras vezes, empreendedores, administradores públicos, juízes e todos os demais operadores do direito se veem em situações que contrapõem a estabilidade das relações jurídicas e a confiança legítima do comportamento estatal à necessidade de proteger o meio ambiente equilibrado para as presentes e futuras gerações. A revisão de licenças ambientais ainda vigentes é exatamente um dos campos onde essa análise tem espaço. Seja em circunstâncias provisórias ou definitivas, seja advinda de uma nulidade anterior ou de um fato ulterior, em determinadas hipóteses a iminência de dano ambiental faz com que o poder público não possa esperar o término da vigência do ato autorizativo para agir. Ao longo do texto, fixam-se as premissas para examinar cinco espécies de revisão: suspensão, modificação, cassação, invalidação e revogação das licenças ambientais, todas orientadas por algumas ideias comuns, mas cada uma delas com suas especificidades. Apresentam-se, outrossim, alguns contrapontos ao cabimento dessas medidas, notadamente a garantia constitucional de proteção do direito adquirido, não como objeção indiscriminada à atuação estatal, mas como forma de limitação dessa nos estreitos contornos traçados pelos princípios envolvidos. Ao final, trata-se também das consequências que podem advir desse ato revisor, em especial no que tange ao eventual cabimento de indenização ao empreendedor por ele afetado. / This work has the objective to analyze and define the concept, species, requirements and consequences of revisibility environmental licenses. Too often, entrepreneurs, public administrators, judges and all other law enforcement officers find themselves in situations that contradict the stability of legal relations and the legitimate expectations of state behavior to the need to protect the balanced environment for present and future generations. A further review of existing environmental permits is one of the fields where this analysis has room. Whether in temporary or definitive circumstances, whether arising from an earlier invalidity or an ulterior fact, under certain circumstances the imminence of environmental damage means that the government can not expect the expiration date of the primitive act to take action. Throughout the text, the assumptions set up to examine five species for revision: suspension, modification, revocation, invalidation and revocation of environmental licenses, all guided by some common ideas, but each with its specificities. They appear, moreover, some counterpoints to the appropriateness of these reviews, notably the constitutional guarantee of protection granted, not as indiscriminate objection to state action, but by way of limitation in this narrow contours outlined by the principles involved. Finally, it is also about the consequences that this act reviewer, in particular with regard to the appropriateness of any compensation to the entrepreneur affected by it.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the time-dependent behavior of a new kind of composite railway bridge deck composed by two precambered and prestressed beams. The method used until now to design these bridge decks is a simple classical computation method with a variable modular ratio. They have been placed only with simply supported spans up to 26 m.<p>It is now considered to apply this construction method for the building of continuous bridges (with larger spans) by connecting simply supported decks on their supports. It is known that this kind of construction will induce an additional and strong time-dependent redistribution of internal forces within the structure. It was felt that an in-depth understanding of the influence of the concrete time-dependent effects in this kind of composite structures is needed before proceeding with the design of statically indeterminate bridges. Two cross-section analysis programs applying the principle of superposition were developed: the first used the age adjusted effective modulus method and the second the step-by-step method. However, it is known that the delayed behavior of concrete does not fully comply with the principle of superposition. It appears that after a period of compression creep, creep recovery is significantly less than predicted by the superposition principle. In the construction phases of this bridge deck, the concrete fibers belonging to the bottom side of prestressed beams undergo a stress/strain history of significant unloading when the permanent loads are applied step-by-step. Moreover, these methods assume that the relative humidity remains constant. Finally, a lot of bridge decks are heated in order to transfer the prestressing as soon as possible. To evaluate more finely the time-dependent effects of concrete in such composite (and rather complex) structures with variable loading history, several steps have been carried out: <p>-Analysis of the influence of the heat treatment applied in the workshop and the level of applied stress on the creep and the shrinkage of the concrete.<p>-Analysis of the recovery phenomenon of the concrete resulting in the selection of the two-function method with the recovery function proposed by Yue and Taerwe.<p>-Development of a cross-section analysis program applying the two-function method to take into account more finely the recovery phenomenon, what resulted in a optimization of the phases of construction of the bridge decks by decreasing the minimum age of concrete before prestressing from 40 hours to 20 hours. <p>-Development of a structural analysis program with beam finite elements and applying the two-function method,what has resulted in an optimization of the phases of construction of continuous bridges composed by the junction of two bridge decks. <p>-Proposition of a modelling based on the understanding of the physico-chemical phenomenona which are at the origin of the delayed effects and coupled to a local analysis of the evolution of the degree of hydration and the internal relative humidity in order to take into account the changes of the boundaries conditions in terms of heat and moisture exchanges occurring along the construction history of the bridge decks in the evaluation of their long-term behavior. For each component of the delayed strains (the thermal strain, the autogenous shrinkage, the desiccation shrinkage, the desiccation creep, the basic creep), a modelling has been proposed.<p>-Development of a cross-section analysis program based on the numerically stable algorithm with increasing time steps for integral-type aging creep proposed by Bažant and including the different components of the delayed effects according to the proposed modelling.<p>The results seem to be very promising since it was possible to reproduce in a more realistic way the evolutions of the measured strains of the composite railway bridge deck instrumented in June 2000 and situated near Brussels South Station. <p><p><p>L’objectif de cette thèse est de prédire le comportement à long terme de structure mixte type pont-bac composée de poutres préfléchies, précontraintes et construites par phases. A l’heure actuelle, ils sont dimensionnés à l’état limite de service par une méthode traditionnelle pseudo-élastique avec un coefficient d’équivalence acier-béton variable. Il est envisagé d’étendre ce type de construction à la réalisation de viaducs hyperstatiques permettant de franchir de plus grandes portées en établissant une continuité entre deux travées au droit de leur support commun. Il est connu que ce type de construction induit une importante redistribution des efforts internes dans la structure. Il est donc indispensable d’évaluer très finement l’influence des effets différés du béton sur ce type de construction. Deux programmes généraux d’analyse de section basés sur la méthode du module effectif ajusté et la méthode pas-à-pas ont tout d’abord été développés. Ces méthodes appliquent le principe de superposition. Des limitations propres à ces méthodes ont été relevées pour des historiques où le béton subit plusieurs déchargements significatifs par rapport à son état de contrainte initial juste après le transfert de la précontrainte. Ces méthodes ont aussi l’inconvénient de supposer une humidité relative constante. Enfin,pour pouvoir être mis en précontrainte le plus tôt possible, les ponts-bacs sont chauffés. Les caractéristiques de retrait et de fluage s’écartent de celles déterminées en laboratoire sur des éprouvettes conservées à 20°C. Pour lever les limitations des méthodes classiques et évaluer plus finement l’état de contrainte et de déformation à long terme dans ce type de structure, plusieurs étapes ont été effectuées :<p>-Analyse de l’influence d’un traitement thermique appliqué dans les mêmes conditions que celles effectuées chez le préfabricant ainsi que du niveau de contrainte appliqué sur les déformations différées du béton. <p>-Analyse de l’influence de l’application de déchargements à des âges divers sur les éprouvettes de béton permettant de mettre en évidence le fait que la méthode dite aux deux fonctions avec la fonction de recouvrance proposée par Yue et Taerwe reproduit la plupart des résultats expérimentaux de manière très satisfaisante.<p>-Développement d’un programme d’analyse en section suivant la méthode pas-à-pas étendu à la méthode aux deux fonctions afin de mieux tenir compte de la recouvrance, ce qui a permis d’optimiser les phases de préfabrication des ponts-bacs en changeant l’instant de mise en précontrainte. Les simulations ont montré que si le béton du pont-bac est chauffé, la mise en précontrainte peut s’effectuer à 20 heures d’âge du béton. <p>-Développement d’un programme d’analyse de structure au moyen d’éléments finis de type poutre et dont l’algorithme de résolution applique la méthode aux deux fonctions, ce qui a permis d’optimiser les phases de construction de viaducs hyperstatiques constitués par la jonction de deux ponts-bacs. <p>-Proposition d’une modélisation fondée sur la compréhension des phénomènes physico-chimiques à l’origine des effets différés et couplée à une étude locale de l’évolution du degré d’hydratation et de la teneur en eau permettant de tenir compte des changements de conditions aux limites en terme d’échange de chaleur et d’humidité qui ont lieu au cours de l’histoire des ponts-bacs dans l’évaluation de leur comportement à long terme. Pour chaque composante des déformations différées (le retrait thermique, le retrait endogène, le retrait et le fluage de dessiccation, le fluage fondamental), une modélisation a été proposée.<p>-Développement d’un programme d’analyse de section basé sur une approche incrémentale avec l’algorithme récursif et exponentiel proposé par Bažant et dans lequel les composantes des effets différés ont été intégrées suivant la modélisation proposée. <p>Les résultats sont encourageants car ils ont permis de reproduire de manière beaucoup plus réaliste les évolutions des déformations mesurées dans le pont-bac instrumenté à Bruxelles. <p> / Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This Master of Fine Arts thesis is divided into four main sections:FAITH and DISBELIEF: In which I reckon with the implications of faith versus rationality as a secular nontheistic artist. IDEAS: The central locus of my work is a place of indeterminacy between what is known/familiar and what is just one step outside of that. This has nothing to do with mysticism, science fiction, or anything else unmoored from established fact. Section also touches on the particular vantage of a female artist with working class roots.THE WORK: Selection of work made during graduate school, and the the guiding thoughts behind each.EMPTINESS, STILLNESS, ABSENCE, GHOSTS, DOUBT: A discussion of influential artists and ideas.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:25:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sergio Silveira Banhos.pdf: 574605 bytes, checksum: c823ec8263dc0871b145aab9b6306412 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-05 / This thesis addresses the recent doctrinal and jurisprudential tendency observed in the law in the context of hypermodernity, which indicates an effective reduction in the use of discretionality in administrative acts as a result of the integrated ap-plication of principles and rules. The traditional legalistic approach is currently giv-ing way to a more wide-ranging view, exemplified in Ronald Dworkin s theory of law as integrity through which not only rules, but also principles themselves, should be subjected to a systemic, integrated analysis. Given this, Dworkin s work forms the theoretical platform for the questions raised by this entire study, since the integrated application of principles and rules has become fundamental in the pursuit of the ideal of justice, bringing a new focus on the role of administrative law in an environment of deep and rapid change that typifies hypermodernity. Consid-ering the new concept of the separation of powers, the notion of strict legality, by presupposing a means of controlling the exercise of State power, must be set against other constitutional principles of equal importance, taking into account the particularities of each case in question. In this context, the traditional concept of discretionality is outmoded. Jurisdictive control of these acts is not only possible, but also absolutely essential in a democratic state of law. The synthesis of this new paradigm for administrative law is clear and should be an indissoluble part of administators agenda in contemporary society: citizens are the effective benefici-aries of constitutional rights and guarantees. The technique of balancing principles by assessing their values in the particular case is already part of the jurisprudence of hypermodernity, which is in synchrony with neopositivism and the theory of law as integrity / Esta dissertação demonstra a recente tendência doutrinária e jurisprudencial ob-servada no Direito da hipermodernidade, que indica efetiva diminuição da parcela de discricionariedade nos atos da Administração Pública, a partir da aplicação in-tegrada de princípios e regras. Da tradicional abordagem puramente legalista passa-se atualmente para uma visão mais abrangente na teoria do Direito como Integridade, de RONALD DWORKIN, mediante a qual não só normas, mas também princípios, devem ser analisados de maneira sistêmica, integrada. Dado isso, a obra de DWORKIN é a base teórica de apoio às questões instigadas por todo este estudo, porque a aplicação integrada de princípios e regras se tornou essencial à busca do ideal de justiça, trazendo novo enfoque quanto ao papel do Direito Ad-ministrativo nesta ambiência de profundas e rápidas transformações típicas da hi-permodernidade. Considerada a nova concepção da separação dos poderes, o princípio da legalidade estrita, por encerrar uma fórmula de contenção do exercí-cio do poder estatal, deve ser contraposto a outros princípios constitucionais de igual relevo, observado o caso concreto. A acepção clássica da discricionarieda-de, assim, encontra-se de vez superada. O controle jurisdicional desses atos não é só possível, mas imprescindível num Estado Democrático de Direito. A síntese desse novo paradigma para o Direito Administrativo é clara e deve pautar a agen-da dos administradores na contemporaneidade: os administrados são os efetivos destinatários dos direitos e das garantias constitucionais. A técnica de pondera-ção dos princípios contrapondo valores nos casos considerados já faz parte da realidade da jurisprudência da hipermodernidade, que se encontra sintonizada com o neopositivismo e com a teoria do Direito como Integridade