FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / O Anacardium occidentale L., conhecido popularmente como cajueiro, ocupa um lugar importante entre as plantas frutÃferas devido à crescente comercializaÃÃo dos seus principais produtos. No nordeste brasileiro, seu cultivo à uma das principais atividades agropecuÃrias da regiÃo. Concentrando-se nos estados do CearÃ, Piauà e Rio Grande do Norte, à utilizado na medicina tradicional para diversos fins terapÃuticos, inclusive, como antimicrobiano. O bagaÃo do caju à obtido apÃs a extraÃÃo do suco, sendo uma importante fonte de resÃduos da agroindÃstria. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o potencial antimicrobiano e antibiofilme do extrato hidroalcoÃlico do bagaÃo do pedÃnculo do caju (EBPC) frente a bactÃria Streptococcus mutans. No presente estudo, determinou-se a ConcentraÃÃo InibitÃria MÃnima (CIM), ConcentraÃÃo Bactericida MÃnima (CBM) e avaliou-se a inibiÃÃo da formaÃÃo de biofilme atravÃs da quantificaÃÃo da biomassa. Para isso, utilizou-se a cepa de S. mutans. Os resultados dos ensaios antimicrobianos mostraram que o EBPC teve aÃÃo bacteriostÃtica (CIM = 250 Âg.mL-1) e bactericida (CBM = 1000 Âg.mL-1). Observou-se inibiÃÃo da biomassa na concentraÃÃo mÃnima de 250 Âg.mL-1. Deste modo, concluiu-se que o EBPC apresentou atividade antimicrobiana e antibiofilme frente ao S. mutans. Estes resultados demonstraram o potencial do EBPC como um possÃvel produto biotecnolÃgico na Ãrea da odontologia. / The Anacardium occidentale L, popularly known as cashew tree, occupies an important place among the fruit trees due to the increasing commercialization of its main products. In northeastern Brazil, its cultivation is one of the main agricultural activities in the region. Concentrating in the states of CearÃ, Piauà and Rio Grande do Norte, it is used in folk medicine for various therapeutic purposes, including as an antimicrobial. The cashew apple bagasse is obtained after extracting the juice, being a major source of waste of agribusiness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and antibiofilm potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of the cashew apple pomace (ECAP) against the Streptococcus mutans. It was determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and the preventive assay for biofilm formation through biomass quantification. The Streptococcus mutans strain UA159 was used for this intention. The antimicrobial assay results showed that the ECAP was considered bactericidal (250μg.mL) and was considered bactericidal at the concentration of 1000μg.mL. Inhibition in the biomass was observed at the minimum concentration of 250μg.mL. Thus, it was concluded that the EPAC shows antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity against Streptococcus mutans. These results demonstrate the potential of the ECAP as a possible biotechnological product in the field of dentistry.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico / Shrimp farming has been consolidated as one of the most promising economic activities of the Northeast, where it has also been shown to be responsible for high negative impacts on the coastal environment. The research problem was to see how productivity is affected by the adoption of environmental management practices by analyzing the interaction between the productivity factor and other environmental management factors. To do so, we estimated the linear type regression analysis, to obtain a mathematical equation which quantify the relationship between productivity and other variables. The survey was conducted in 60 shrimp farms located in CearÃ, on farms intended only for fattening phase. Were raised environmental management practices adopted by producers and created management indices,where these indices were aggregated into a single index that along with the variables that describe the productive characteristics and location of the farms originated econometric linlog semi-logarithmic models. Regression analysis showed that the yield is better explained by the storage density, intensive production system periodic servicing. Environmental management is not configured as a factor that influences productivity, justifying the low level of environmental management by shrimp farmers. / A carcinicultura vem se consolidando como uma das mais promissoras atividades econÃmicas da RegiÃo Nordeste, onde tambÃm tem sido apresentada como responsÃvel por elevados impactos negativos sobre o ambiente costeiro. O problema da pesquisa consistiu em verificar como a produtividade à afetada pela adoÃÃo de prÃticas de gestÃo ambiental, atravÃs da anÃlise da interaÃÃo entre o fator produtividade e os outros fatores de gestÃo ambiental. Para isto, estimou-se uma anÃlise de regressÃo do tipo linear, para obter uma equaÃÃo matemÃtica que quantificasse o relacionamento entre produtividade e outras variÃveis. A pesquisa foi realizada em 60 fazendas de carcinicultura localizadas no CearÃ, em fazendas destinadas somente à fase de engorda. Foram levantadas as prÃticas de gestÃo ambiental adotadas pelos produtores e criados Ãndices de manejo, onde estes Ãndices foram agregados em um Ãnico Ãndice que juntamente com as variÃveis que descrevem as caracterÃsticas produtivas e de localizaÃÃo das fazendas originou modelos economÃtricos semi-logarÃtmicos lin-log. A anÃlise de regressÃo mostrou que a produtividade à melhor explicada pela densidade de estocagem, sistema de produÃÃo intensivo a assistÃncia tÃcnica periÃdica. A gestÃo ambiental nÃo se configura como um fator que influencie a produtividade, justificando o baixo nÃvel de gestÃo ambiental pelos carcinicultores.

Les cellules différenciées peuvent être reprogrammées et adopter un destin cellulaire très différent. Connaître les acteurs et mécanismes qui contrôlent les processus de reprogrammation est un objectif scientifique fascinant qui éclairera notre compréhension du contrôle et du maintien de l'identité cellulaire. Notre laboratoire étudie le changement d'identité (ou transdifférenciation, TD) naturel d’une cellule épithéliale rectale (nommée Y) en motoneurone (nommé PDA) chez Caenorhabditis elegans. Dans les vers mutants pour le gène lin-15A (gène isolé dans un crible génétique du laboratoire), la cellule Y n'initie pas sa reprogrammation : Y demeure rectale. Cette protéine apparaît dans le noyau de Y juste avant le début de la TD de Y et joue un rôle clé dans l’initiation de ce processus. LIN-15A lie l’ADN et son domaine conservé en doigt de zinc (de type THAP-like) est essentiel pour initier la reprogrammation de Y. Nous nous sommes attachés à mieux comprendre le rôle de LIN-15A dans ce processus. L’inactivation de certains gènes (impliqués dans le maintien de l’identité cellulaire) permet de supprimer partiellement ou très fortement le défaut de reprogrammation de Y causé par la mutation lin-15A. Ces gènes appartiennent au groupe appelé synMuv B et ceux induisant la plus forte suppression du phénotype de lin-15A sont tous liés à la voie du rétinoblastome (RB). Dans la littérature, tous les mutants suppresseurs de défaut de PDA existant dans le mutant lin-15A présentaient une dérive de l’identité des cellules intestinales. Certains mutants de voies de réponse au jeûne chez le ver présentent également une perte du maintien de l’identité des cellules intestinales très similaire à celle induite par l’inactivation de certains gènes synMuv B. De façon très intéressante, nous avons pu observer que les vers mutants lin-15A présentent une pénétrance du défaut de PDA bien plus faible une fois privés de nourriture (au 1er stade larvaire ou au stade dauer). Certaines études laissent supposer que ces diapauses suite au jeûne entrainent une perte du maintien de l’identité cellulaire de cellules somatiques (et possiblement dans l’intestin), ce qui pourrait permettre à Y d’enclencher sa reprogrammation malgré l’absence de lin-15A, facteur clé à la levée du verrou pour initier la TD. En résumé, mes résultats ont montré que la transdifférenciation d'une cellule dépendait d'une clé moléculaire, LIN-15A, nécessaire pour lever un verrou de maintien de l'identité cellulaire dans la cellule qui va changer d'identité, et ce précisément juste avant la conversion cellulaire de Y en PDA. De façon plus générale, mes travaux ouvrent la possibilité que l'état physiologique et métabolique du ver influe sur le maintien de l'identité cellulaire. Sur le long terme, il conviendra alors de déterminer par quel biais cet état est perçu, dans quelles cellules, et comment cette information est relayée ou captée par la cellule Y, pour finalement influencer sa plasticité. / Differentiated cells can be reprogrammed to adopt a different cell identity. The discovery of factors and mechanisms controlling cellular reprogramming is a fascinating scientific goal that will shed light on the mechanisms controlling cell identity maintenance. Our laboratory studies the natural identity switch (or transdifferentiation, TD) of an epithelial rectal cell (called Y) into a motor neuron (called PDA) in Caenorhabditis elegans. In worm mutants for the gene lin-15A (isolated in a genetic screen performed in the laboratory), the Y cell does not initiate the Y reprogramming : Y stays rectal. This protein appears in the Y nucleus just before the beginning of the Y TD and plays a key role in the process initiation. LIN-15A binds DNA and its zinc finger domain (THAP-like) is essential for the initiation of Y reprogramming. Inactivation of some genes that are involved in cell identity maintenance allow a partial or strong suppression of the Y reprogramming defect due to lin-15A mutation. These genes belong to a group called synMuv B and those inducing the strongest lin- 15A phenotype suppression are all linked to the retinoblastoma (RB) pathway. In the literature, all the mutants that are PDA defect suppressors in lin-15A mutant show a switch of intestinal cell identity. Some mutants in starvation–response genes in worms show a loss of intestinal cell identity maintenance very similar to the one observed in synMuv B mutants. Interestingly, we observed that starvation (in 1st larval stage or dauer stage) induces a strong drop of the PDA defect in lin-15A mutant. Different studies suggest diapause induced by starvation trigger a loss of somatic cell identity maintenance (and possibly in intestinal cells), that could allow Y to start the reprogramming despite the lack of lin-15A, even it is a key factor to release a break and initiate the TD. In summary, my results show the cell transdifferentiation depends on a molecular key, LIN-15A, that is needed, just priorto TD initiation, to release a cell maintenance lock to allow a cell to undergo cell identity switch. My work opens the possibility that the worm physiologic and metabolic state influences cell identity maintenance. In the future, how this state is perceived has to be determined, in which cells and how this information is transmitted to Y to finally influence its plasticity.

Traditionally, language contact studies have dealt with grammatical interference between two languages. Clearly, the case of Cimbrian is unique in that its linguistic system results from contact with two different languages: German, which belongs to the same family that Cimbrian is commonly considered to belong to (Germanic) and Italian, which belongs to a different language family (Romance). For this reason, this dissertation has two main aims: First and foremost, it aims to provide the first theoretical account for three relevant morpho-syntactic features of Cimbrian: adjectival ordering, participial forms, and auxiliary selection. These three case studies were purposefully chosen as being representative of the impact the two source languages had on the receiving language. Second, by looking at the three aforementioned cases, it ultimately aims to lay ground- work for further research on theoretical approaches to language variation and innovation via language contact.

Proper assembly and localization of receptors and the associated signal transduction protein complex is important for normal cell function. Scaffolding proteins have been implicated in organizing the assembly of protein complex and localization of receptors. PDZ domain containing proteins are one major type of scaffolding protein. One well characterized system is the C. elegans LIN-2/LIN-7/LIN-10 PDZ protein complex. In C. elegans, this protein complex acts as a scaffold for the proper localization of LET-23, the ortholog of EGFR, to the epithelial basolateral membrane. The Drosophila orthologs, cmg, dveli and dmint/dX11L, have been identified. The sequence homologies and expression patterns suggest that these genes may have similar functions as their mammalian orthologs. The possible functions include cell-cell junction formation, receptor localization, ion channel localization and neurotransmitter vesicle trafficking. The main objectives of this thesis work are the mutagenesis and functional analysis of dveli. Potential mutants were generated by P element insertional mutagenesis, however, further analysis is required to identify the affected genes. A systemic RNAi experiment was performed. The delivery mechanism used was the RNAi soaking technique adapted from Dr. Davis’s laboratory protocol. Primary results from RNAi experiments show that loss of dveli function results in a reduction in larval locomotion speed. This slower locomotion phenotype along with the post-synaptic expression of dVELI at larval neuromuscular junction suggest a synaptic role of dVELI, perhaps aiding in synapse formation or proper localization of neurotransmitter receptors. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

La ricerca offre per la prima volta una disamina ampia, approfondita ed aggiornata degli studi linguistici post-sovietici dedicati alla Russkaja Jazykovaja Kartina Mira; essi dimostrano, attraverso l’analisi semantica delle parole-chiave della lingua russa, l’esistenza di concetti glotto-specifici, e dunque l’esistenza di un quadro del mondo veicolato dalla lingua russa. Nella ricerca viene indagato dapprima il contesto storico-culturale che ha portato al sorgere dell’indirizzo linguistico della RJaKM e viene mostrato il legame esistente tra le ricerche sulla RJaKM e lo sviluppo degli studi di semantica lessicale, nonché l’apporto della linguistica occidentale all’evoluzione della linguistica sovietica. Individuati poi i rappresentanti attualmente più autorevoli degli studi sulla RJaKM - la Scuola di Anna Wierzbicka e la Scuola Semantica di Mosca per la descrizione integrale della lingua e la lessicografia sistemica - si considerano in modo sistematico e comparativo i principi teorici alla base delle rispettive concezioni linguistiche e i metodi di analisi semantica, applicati alla parola russa smirenie, valutandone la loro efficacia. Quindi, si presentano alcune applicazioni della RJaKM e si indicano alcuni strumenti linguistici e lessicografici innovativi, utilizzati o prodotti all’interno di tali studi, particolarmente utili nella didattica della lingua e della linguistica russa. Infine, si offre una valutazione conclusiva del fenomeno studiato, individuando nuove vie di ricerca nell’ambito dell’analisi linguistico-culturale. / This dissertation represents the first extensive and updated research of the post-Soviet linguistic studies dedicated to Russkaja Jazykovaja Kartina Mira. These studies demonstrate the existence of specific language ideas through a semantic analysis of the keywords of the Russian language. As a consequence, these studies also display a perspective on the world vehiculated by the Russian language. The research opens with an investigation of the historical and cultural context that lead to RJaKM’s linguistic disposition and it shows the existing link between analysis on RJaKM and the development of the studies on lexical semantics. It also shows how western linguistics contributed to the evolution of Soviet linguistics. After mentioning the most authoritative and representative experts on RJaKM, such as Anna Wierzkicka’s School and the Moscow Semantic School for the Integrated Description of Language and Systematic Lexicography, this dissertation systematically and comparatively considers the theoretical principles at the base of both schools linguistic ideas and methods of semantic analysis, applying them to the Russian word ‘smirenie,’ and consequently evaluating their effectiveness. As an outcome, this research presents some possible applications of RJaKM and it indicates some innovative linguistic and lexicographic tools which were either employed or even produced at the bosom of RJaKM studies and are especially useful for the teaching of the Russian language and linguistics. In conclusion, this dissertation offers a final evaluation of the studied phenomena, defining new research paths in the fields of linguistics and cultural analysis.

La presente ricerca si colloca nel campo della traduzione audiovisiva, poiché riguarda il linguaggio filmico inglese. In particolare, lo studio si focalizzerà sul ruolo dei vocativi presenti in alcune opere cinematografiche. Il lavoro sarà dapprima eseguito sui dialoghi della versione originale e, successivamente, in quelli doppiati in italiano e in tedesco. I tre film che compongono il Corpus sono usciti negli anni ’90 e sono ambientati in epoca vittoriana: Jane Eyre, Swept from the Sea, The Piano. Le forme allocutive osservate sono soprattutto i nomi propri e gli appellativi generici. Attraverso la metodologia della Corpus Linguistics, si svolgerà un’analisi di tipo qualitativo e quantitativo. Infatti, tramite il software AntConc (Lawrence, 2004), si indagherà sul numero e sulla tipologia di occorrenze dei vocativi più frequenti nella lingua di partenza (inglese) e nelle due lingue d’arrivo (italiano e tedesco). Inoltre, si studierà l’eventuale manifestazione degli universali traduttivi (Baker, 1993), osservando contesto linguistico in cui il fenomeno si presenta. L’aspetto innovativo della ricerca consiste in una duplice analisi che coinvolge un triplice confronto. I risultati evidenzieranno una maggiore frequenza di vocativi nelle lingue doppiate e diverse classificazioni di occorrenze. Infine, saranno riportate alcune riflessioni inerenti alle strategie traduttive che sono adottate in italiano e tedesco, a seconda del contesto linguistico e culturale. / This research concerns the field of the audiovisual translation and the English movie language. In particular, the aim of the study will focus on the role of vocatives in a corpus of three films in three different languages. The chosen movies are produced in the '90s and are set in Victorian age: Jane Eyre, Swept from the Sea, The Piano. The empirical process will manly consider two categories of vocatives: proper names and address terms. The study approach will be based on the Corpus Linguistics methodology, in order to get a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of the vocatives. Indeed, there will be an investigation on the number and the type of occurrences involving the most frequent vocatives, both in the source language (English), and in the two target languages (Italian and German). Another important task of the research is the observation of translation universals (Baker, 1993), and the linguistic context in which the phenomenon occurs. The innovative feature of this work is a twofold analysis, which involves a three-way comparison. The results will show a higher frequency of vocatives in the dubbed languages and also different classifications of occurrences. Eventually, there will be some consideration regarding the translation strategies adopted for Italian and German, depending on their linguistic and cultural context.

L’ordine dei costituenti è una delle strategie che le lingue hanno a disposizione per strutturare l’informazione a livello sentenziale e testuale. Nei manuali di russo come L2, tuttavia, la trattazione di questo argomento risulta frammentaria, quando non addirittura assente, soprattutto nei livelli elementari. L’assenza di un’adeguata spiegazione di questo tema si riflette nella difficoltà che gli apprendenti incontrano quando devono tradurre strutture sintatticamente o pragmaticamente marcate. Il nostro lavoro, partendo da un’analisi contrastiva dell’ordine dei costituenti maggiori in russo e in italiano e seguendo una prospettiva pragmatico-comunicativa e testuale, propone una serie di materiali didattici che permettano di insegnare, soprattutto in ambito universitario, l’uso di questo strumento linguistico agli apprendenti italofoni di russo come L2 (livelli A1-B2). I materiali proposti sono stati elaborati utilizzando testi originali tratti dal Corpus Nazionale della Lingua russa, suddivisi per difficoltà crescente, così da includere gradualmente l’uso dell’ordine dei costituenti nella conoscenza attiva e passiva della lingua russa. Nell’elaborazione dei materiali è stato dato grande rilievo alla dimensione testuale per evidenziare il rapporto fra l’ordine dei costituenti e la struttura informativa del testo. / Constituents’ order is a fundamental linguistic instrument that allows learners to build up the informative structure of a text, and therefore its sense. In spite of this, textbooks of Russian as a second language treat this subject, especially at elementary levels, in a fragmentary way or even do not deal with it at all. The absence of an adequate explanation leads to mistakes in the translation of pragmatically or syntactically marked structures. My dissertation starts from a contrastive analysis of major constituents’ order in Russian and in Italian and follows a pragmatic-communicative and textual perspective, in order to propose didactic materials that can be used to include this subject in the teaching practice of Russian language to Italian-speaking students (levels A1-B2). These materials have been created using original texts from the National Corpus of Russian Language. They are divided on the basis of their complexity and they are supposed to be used to gradually include the use of word order in the active and passive knowledge of Russian language. In particular, in all excercises great attention has been given to the textual dimension, in order to highlight the role of this instrument in creating the sense of the text.

Les canaux potassiques à deux domaines pore (K2P) sont des régulateurs principaux de l’excitabilité cellulaire car ils jouent un rôle central dans l’établissement et le maintien du potentiel de repos des cellules animales. Malgré leur rôle fondamental, peu d’informations sont connues sur les processus cellulaires qui contrôlent la fonction des canaux K2P in vivo. En particulier, nous ne connaissons que quelques facteurs qui contrôlent directement le nombre, l’activité et la localisation des K2P à la surface des cellules.Durant ma thèse, j’ai utilisé des stratégies d’ingénierie du génome que j’ai associé à des approches génétiques afin de caractériser le canal potassique EGL-23. Pour cela, j’ai réalisé un crible suppresseur du phénotype de défaut de ponte du mutant egl-23(n601) et un crible visuel sur le rapporteur fluorescent traductionnel egl-23::TagRFP-T. Grâce au reséquençagecomplet du génome, j’ai pu cloner 4 gènes impliqués dans la régulation du canal EGL-23. / Two-pore domain potassium channels (K2P) are major regulators of cell excitability, playing a central role in the establishment and maintenance of the resting potential of animal cells. Despite their fundamental role, little is known about the cellular processes that control K2P channels function in vivo. In particular, we know only few factors that directly control thenumber, activity, and localization of K2P on the cell surface.During my thesis, I used state-of-the art genome engineering technologies combined with genetic approaches to characterize the C. elegans potassium channel EGL-23. For this, I realized a phenotypic suppressor screen of the egg-laying defective mutant egl-23(n601) and a visual screen on an egl-23 translational fluorescent reporter. Using whole genome sequencing, I was able to clone for new genes involved in EGL-23 regulation

Questo lavoro si concentra sul testo À la Recherche du temps perdu di Marcel Proust rintracciando e catalogando tutte le indicazioni cromatiche presenti nell’opera (aggettivi di colore, verbi, sostantivi di colore, ecc.). Considerando lo statuto del colore – fondamentalmente ambiguo – tra la fine del XIX secolo e l’inizio del XX (nella teoria scientifica, così come nella riflessione filosofica, psicologica e artistica), la tesi dimostra la presenza di svariate linee di forza (sovrapposte, contraddittorie, ambigue) nel trattamento del fenomeno “colore” all’interno del testo letterario. Infine, la tesi analizza come le occorrenze cromatiche del testo proustiano si legano a scelte stilistiche precise (ad esempio: strutture sintattiche parallele, sinestesie, participi e adjectifs verbaux, metonimie…), dal momento che il colore proustiano provoca nel testo uno scarto rispetto alla norma. / This work focuses on the text À la Recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust: it scans and classes all the chromatic references of the text (colour adjectives, colour verbs, colour nouns and so on). Considering the ambiguous status of colour between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th (in the scientific field, as well as in the philosophic, psychological and artistic domain), this theses shows the presence of contradictory trends of the use of colours inside a literary text. Finally, the work shows how the colour references in the Proustian text are linked to recurrent stylistic devices (parallelism of syntax constructions, use of synesthesias, use of present participles of verbs, use of metonymies…), confirming that the presence of colour in the artistic text causes a gap in comparison with the standard French syntax.