A mancha preta dos citros (MPC), causada por Phyllosticta citricarpa, é uma doença de importância econômica devido à redução na produtividade ocasionada pela queda prematura dos frutos e ao aumento dos custos da produção devido ao uso intensivo de fungicidas. As lesões restringem-se praticamente ao flavedo dos frutos, depreciando-os para a comercialização e restringindo a exportação de frutas in natura. A MPC causa danos em todas as espécies cítricas de valor comercial, com exceção da Citrus aurantium (laranja azeda) e do Citrus latifólia (lima ácida Tahiti). Phyllosticta citricarpa causa infecções latentes e diferentes tipos de sintomas nos frutos. Essas características podem estar relacionadas com o estádio fenológico do fruto no momento da infecção. Os objetivos desse trabalho foram avaliar a influência da idade dos frutos de laranja doce na germinação dos conídios e no período de incubação de P. citricarpa e identificar compostos fenólicos pré ou pós-formados no flavedo de frutos de laranja doce inoculados com P. citricarpa. Frutos de laranjeira das variedades Hamlin, Valência e Pêra com 1,5, 3,0, 5,0 e 7,0 cm de diâmetros foram inoculados com suspensão de conídios de P. citricarpa na concentração de 103 e 105 conídios.mL-1 e avaliados mensalmente. O primeiro sintoma observado foi o da falsa melanose e não foram observadas diferenças no período de incubação entre as variedades. O período de incubação da falsa melanose foi afetado pela concentração de inóculo e pelo diâmetro dos frutos. Frutos de 1,5 e 3,0 cm de diâmetro inoculados com suspensão de conídios de P. citricarpa, na concentração de 103 conídios.mL-1, apresentaram sintomas entre 70 e 116 dias respectivamente, enquanto que os frutos de 1,5, 3,0 e 5,0 cm de diâmetro, inoculados com suspensão de 105 conídios.mL-1, expressaram sintomas entre 40, 65 e 156 dias respectivamente. A expressão dos sintomas de mancha dura não diferiu entre as concentrações de inóculo, mas diferiu entre os diâmetros e entre as variedades avaliadas. A variedade Valência apresentou os menores tempos para o aparecimento dos sintomas quando comparado com as variedades Hamlin e Pêra. Os tempos médios para a expressão da mancha dura nos frutos (todas as variedades) inoculados com 1,5, 3,0, 5,0 e 7,0 cm de diâmetro foram 240, 217, 176 e 197 dias respectivamente. Sintomas de falsa melanose e mancha dura se expressaram independente um do outro. Não foi observado diferenças nas quantidades dos compostos fenólicos entre os frutos inoculados e não inoculados após 48 h de câmara úmida. As maiores quantidades de compostos fenólicos foram encontradas nos frutos menores e à medida que estes aumentaram de tamanho, observou-se a diminuição nas quantidades destes compostos. Não foram observadas diferenças no padrão de germinação do fungo em relação aos diferentes diâmetros inoculados, porém foram observadas placas de cera na superfície dos frutos de 7,0 cm de diâmetro. Os sintomas de falsa melanose parecem estar relacionados com a defesa da planta, e os sintomas de mancha dura estão relacionados com o estádio fenológico dos frutos. / Citrus black spot (CBS), caused by Phyllosticta citricarpa, is a disease of economic importance due to the reduction in yield, caused by premature fruit drop, and high production costs, due to the intensive fungicide spraying. The lesions are restricted to the fruit flavedo, decreasing market prices and restricting exports of fresh fruits. CBS causes damage in all commercial citrus species with exception of Citrus aurantium (sour orange) and Citrus latifolia (Tahiti acid lime). Phyllosticta citricarpa causes latent infections and different types of symptoms on fruit. These characteristics may be related to the phenological stage of the fruit at the time of infection. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the influence of fruit age of sweet orange on conidia germination and on the incubation period of P. citricarpa and identify phenolics pre or post-formed in the flavedo of sweet orange inoculated with P. citricarpa. Orange fruits of varieties Hamlin, Valencia and Pera with 1.5, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0 cm of diameters were inoculated with a conidia suspension of P. citricarpa at the concentration of 103 and 105 conidia.mL-1 and were evaluated monthly. The first symptom observed was false melanose and no differences were found in the incubation period among the varieties. The incubation period of false melanose was affected by the inoculum concentration and fruit diameters. Fruits with 1.5 and 3.0 cm of diameter inoculated with a conidia suspension of P. citricarpa, at a concentration of 103 conidia.mL-1, showed symptoms between 70 and 116 days, respectively. On the other hand, fruits with 1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 cm in diameter, inoculated with suspension of 105 conidia.mL-1, expressed symptoms between 40, 65 and 156 days, respectively. The period for symptom expression of hard spot did not differ between inoculum concentrations. The incubation period differed between the diameters and varieties evaluated. The Valencia variety presented symptoms in a shorter time than Hamlin and Pera. The average times for hard spot expression in fruits (all varieties together) inoculated with 1.5, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0 cm of diameter were 240, 217, 176 and 197 days, respectively. Symptoms of false melanose and hard spot were expressed independently from each other. No differences were observed in the amounts of phenolic compounds between inoculated and non-inoculated fruits after 48 h of incubation in a humid chamber. The highest amounts of phenolic compounds were found in smaller fruits and, as fruits increased size, there was a decrease in the amounts of these compounds. No differences were found in the germination pattern of fungus on the inoculated fruits, but wax plates were observed on the surface of fruits with 7.0 cm in diameter. Symptoms of false melanose seem to be related to the plant defense mechanism, and symptoms of hard spot appeared to be related with phenological stages of the fruits.

Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-10-03T17:25:05Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laís Lima Nabuco Araújo - 2014.pdf: 1037857 bytes, checksum: c46e9ea58576efaed7579fbccc51c41e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-10-03T20:37:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laís Lima Nabuco Araújo - 2014.pdf: 1037857 bytes, checksum: c46e9ea58576efaed7579fbccc51c41e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-03T20:37:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laís Lima Nabuco Araújo - 2014.pdf: 1037857 bytes, checksum: c46e9ea58576efaed7579fbccc51c41e (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-26 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / MORPHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS, PRODUCTION AND COMPOSITION OF ESSENTIAL OIL IN LEAVES OF Tetradenia riparia (Hochst) Codd-LAMIACEAE CULTIVATED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SHADING. Tetradenia riparia ( Hochst ) Codd- Lamiaceae, popularly known as incense, is used for diseases like malaria, angina, gastroenteritis , headaches , bronchitis , among other diseases. Its essential oil contains approximately 200 components. The diterpenoids have antimicrobial, antispasmodic and antitricomonas activity. Considering the importance of light on plant growth and development the present study aims to evaluate morphological and physiological characteristics and production and composition of essential oil of Tetardenia riparia cultivated at different levels of shading. For this, seedlings were propagated by stem cuttings and grown in mini-greenhouses completely covered with black polyethylene screens produced to provide 30%, 50% and 80 % of levels shading and also grown under open sky. Leaves were evaluated after 150 days of treatment. The plants under open sky had greater foliar blade thickness. Shaded plants had higher leaf area. There were no significant differences in stomata and trichomes in the abaxial epidermis. The highest oil yield occurred in plants grown with 30 % and 50 % shading treatments. The major component of the essential oil, regardless of the treatment, was the sesquiterpenic hydrocarbon 14 - hydroxy -9 - epi - (E) - caryophyllene. Many chemical compounds of the essential oil alter its content according to treatments and other compounds were only observed at specific levels of shading. The total content of chlorophyll, chlorophyll “a” and carotenoids was higher in 50% and 80% treatment shading. The levels of chlorophyll “b” and a / b ratio did not change in different treatments. The different treatments did not change values of ash. The lipid content was lower in the treatment of 80% and increased protein and nitrogen content in 50% and 80% treatment shading. / CARACTERÍSTICAS MORFOFISIOLÓGICAS, PRODUÇÃO E COMPOSIÇÃO DE ÓLEO ESSENCIAL EM FOLHAS DE Tetradenia riparia (Hochst) Codd- LAMIACEAE CULTIVADA EM DIFERENTES NÍVEIS DE SOMBREAMENTO. Tetradenia riparia (Hochst) Codd- Lamiaceae, conhecida popularmente como incenso, é uma planta empregada para doenças como malária, angina, gastroenterites, dores de cabeça, bronquite, dentre outras doenças. Seu óleo essencial contém aproximadamente, 200 componentes. Os diterpenóides apresentam atividade antimicrobiana, antiespasmódica e antitricomonas. Considerando a importância da luz sobre o crescimento e desenvolvimento das plantas, o presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar características morfofisiológicas, produção e composição de óleo essencial de Tetradenia riparia cultivada em diferentes níveis de sombreamento. Para isso, as mudas foram propagadas por estaquia e cultivadas em mini-casas de vegetação completamente cobertas com telas de polietileno pretas produzidas para proporcionar níveis de sombreamento de 30%, 50% e 80% e também a pleno sol o que corresponde aos tratamentos. Folhas foram avaliadas após 150 dias de tratamento. As plantas submetidas a pleno sol tiveram maior espessura do limbo foliar. As plantas cultivadas à sombra tiveram maior área foliar. Não houve diferenças significativas na densidade de estômatos e tricomas na epiderme abaxial. O maior rendimento de óleo essencial ocorreu nas plantas cultivadas nos tratamentos de 30% e 50% de sombreamento. O componente majoritário do óleo essencial das folhas, independente dos tratamentos a que as plantas foram submetidas foi o hidrocarboneto sesquiterpênico 14-hidróxi-9-epi-(E)- cariofileno. Muitos compostos químicos do óleo essencial alteraram o seu teor em função dos tratamentos e outros compostos só foram observados em níveis específicos de sombreamento. O teor de clorofila “a”, total e carotenoides foram maiores nos tratamentos de 50% e 80% de sombreamento. Os teores de clorofila “b” e razão a/b não sofreram alterações nos diferentes tratamentos. Os diferentes níveis de luminosidade não alteraram valores de cinzas. O teor de lipídios foi menor no tratamento de 80% e o teor de proteínas e nitrogênio aumentou com 50% e 80% de sombreamento.

Understanding how health care markets function is important not only because competition has a direct influence on the price and utilization of health care services, but also because the proper functioning, or lack thereof, of health care markets has a very real impact on patients who depend on health care markets and providers for their personal well-being. In this dissertation, I examine the role of government policies and regulation in health care markets, with a focus on the response of health care providers. In Chapter 1, I analyze the impact of Medicare payment rules on hospital ownership of physician practices. Since the mid-2000’s, there has been a rapid increase in hospital ownership of physician practices, however, there is little empirical research which addresses the causes of this recent wave of integration. Medicare’s “provider-based” billing policy allows hospital-owned physician practices to charge higher reimbursement rates for services provided compared to a freestanding, independent physician practice, without altering how or where services are provided. This “site-based” differential creates a premium for physicians to integrate with hospitals, and the size of this differential varies with the types of health care services provided. I find that Medicare payment rules have contributed to hospital ownership of physician practices and that the response varies across physician specialties. A 10 percent increase in the relative reimbursement rate paid to integrated physicians leads to a 1.9 percentage point increase in the probability of hospital ownership for Medical Care specialties, including cardiology, neurology, and dermatology, which explains about one-third of observed integration of these specialties from 2005 through 2015. Magnitudes for Surgical Care specialties are similar, but more sensitive across specifications. There is no significant response for Primary Care physicians. In combination with other empirical literature which finds that integration between physicians and hospitals typically results in higher prices with no impact on costs or quality of care, I cautiously interpret this responsiveness as evidence that Medicare’s provider-based billing policy overcompensates integrated physician practices and leads to an inefficiently high level of vertical integration between physician and hospitals. In Chapter 2, I analyze the effect of anti-fraud enforcement activity on Medicaid spending, with a particular focus on the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act (FCA) is a federal statute which protects the government from making undeserved payments to contractors and suppliers. Individual states have chosen to enact their own versions of the federal FCA, and these statutes have increasingly been used to target health care fraud. FCA statutes commonly include substantial monetary penalties such as “per-violation” monetary fines and tripled damages, as well as a “whistleblower” provision which allows private plaintiffs to initiate a lawsuit and collect a portion of recoveries as a reward. Using variation in statelevel FCA legislation, I find state FCAs reduce Medicaid prescription drug spending by 21 percent, while other spending categories - which are less lucrative for FCA lawsuits - are unresponsive. Within the prescription drug category, drugs prone to off-label use show larger declines in response to the whistleblower laws, consistent with FCA lawsuits being used to prosecute pharmaceutical manufacturers for off-label marketing and promotion. Spending and prescription volume for drugs prone to off-label use fall by up to 14 percent. This effect could be driven by pharmaceutical manufacturers’ changes in physician detailing for drugs prone to off-label use and/or physicians’ changes in prescribing behavior.

<p>On a daily basis drivers have to share the roads with a great number of other road users. To make the driving task possible every driver has to take the intentions and behaviours of other road users into account. In other words, the road users have to interact with each other. The general aim of this thesis was to examine factors that regulate and influence the interaction between road users. To do so, three studies, applying a social psychological approach to driving, were conducted. In the first study it was investigated how the rules of priority, the design of the intersection, and the behaviour of other drivers influence yielding behaviour in intersections. The second study examined driver irritation and its relationship with aggressive behaviours. Finally, in the third study drivers’ attributions of their own and other drivers’ behaviour were investigated in relation to driver irritation. The thesis also includes a minor field study, aiming at examining to what extent informal traffic rules are used in intersections and in roundabouts, as well as measuring the validity of self-reports. The results indicate that, in addition to the formal rules, drivers rely on informal rules based on road design and on other drivers’ behaviour. Drivers also differ with respect to strategies of yielding behaviour. Irritability and aggressive behaviour on the roads appear largely to depend on drivers’ interactions and drivers’ interpretation of the behaviour of others. Some aggressive behaviour is an expression of irritation and may provoke irritation of other drivers. This means that an irritated driver might start a chain reaction, spreading irritation and aggressive behaviour from driver to driver. To diminish irritation and aggressive behaviour on the roads it is necessary to change drivers’ behaviour either by changing the road design or, which is probably a more possible remedy, by changing their general attitudes about driving. By providing drivers with insight into the cognitive biases they are subject to when judging other road users’ behaviour, both driver irritation and aggressive behaviours on the roads probably would decrease.</p>

On a daily basis drivers have to share the roads with a great number of other road users. To make the driving task possible every driver has to take the intentions and behaviours of other road users into account. In other words, the road users have to interact with each other. The general aim of this thesis was to examine factors that regulate and influence the interaction between road users. To do so, three studies, applying a social psychological approach to driving, were conducted. In the first study it was investigated how the rules of priority, the design of the intersection, and the behaviour of other drivers influence yielding behaviour in intersections. The second study examined driver irritation and its relationship with aggressive behaviours. Finally, in the third study drivers’ attributions of their own and other drivers’ behaviour were investigated in relation to driver irritation. The thesis also includes a minor field study, aiming at examining to what extent informal traffic rules are used in intersections and in roundabouts, as well as measuring the validity of self-reports. The results indicate that, in addition to the formal rules, drivers rely on informal rules based on road design and on other drivers’ behaviour. Drivers also differ with respect to strategies of yielding behaviour. Irritability and aggressive behaviour on the roads appear largely to depend on drivers’ interactions and drivers’ interpretation of the behaviour of others. Some aggressive behaviour is an expression of irritation and may provoke irritation of other drivers. This means that an irritated driver might start a chain reaction, spreading irritation and aggressive behaviour from driver to driver. To diminish irritation and aggressive behaviour on the roads it is necessary to change drivers’ behaviour either by changing the road design or, which is probably a more possible remedy, by changing their general attitudes about driving. By providing drivers with insight into the cognitive biases they are subject to when judging other road users’ behaviour, both driver irritation and aggressive behaviours on the roads probably would decrease.

Questa tesi di dottorato si divide in tre capitoli. I primi due capitoli riguardano il panorama teorico affrontato e il terzo rappresenta il cuore della ricerca. / This PhD dissertation is divided into three chapters, the first two concerning the theoretical panorama investigated and the third centred on the presentation of the research.

The purpose of this study is to attain an understanding of my work for the viewer as well as myself. These works on paper are visual documents illustrating my ideas and opinions about media and its desire for control. Through research, critical thinking, experience, and exposure to media (both wanted and unwanted) I have created imagery that I feel is exemplary of our forced relationship with advertising. In order to accomplish this I studied my influences, and the origin of my current work. Reading upon realization of those influences further informed the work. Every conceivable influence was studied and analyzed, and those studies are contained in this thesis. Questions of audience, scale, medium, and history were also taken into account as a measure to make this thesis cohesive. As an audience for advertisers we must constantly be aware of how our sensitivities are being played upon.

Att ha diagnosen Aspergers syndrom innebär bl a sociala problem och psykisk sårbarhet. Denna kvalitativa studie omfattar intervjuer med fyra  psykoterapeuter och en psykolog, som har erfarenhet av att behandla personer med Aspergers syndrom. Syftet med studien är att undersöka psykoterapeuters syn på psykodynamisk psykoterapi med personer med Asperger syndrom. Frågeställningarna har varit: hur lägger man upp en terapeutisk behandling för personer med Aspergers syndrom? Vilka aspekter inom terapin med personer med Aspergers syndrom är viktiga för behandlingen?  Studien visar att teraputerna arbetar utifrån olika psykodynamiska teorier. Terapeuten behöver också ha stora kunskaper om funktionshindret. Att terapeuten har kunskap om vilka effekter funktionshindret har på personer med Asperger syndrom medför att viktiga komponenter som bemötande och arbetsallians möjliggörs och som är grunden för ett fortsatt behandlingsarbete. Vidare anses det viktigt att ta hänsyn till den specifika livssituation och historia som personer med Aspergers syndrom har, eftersom tidigare erfarenheter har betydelse för hur patienten handlar, reagerar och förstår sina livsmönster i nuet. Samtliga terapeuter betonar att personer med Aspergers syndrom i behandlingen har förbättrat sitt sociala samspel. Dessutom tycks det som att det fordras mycket av terapeuten i behandlingen med denna målgrupp eftersom det är långa behandlingar och att det är känslomässigt påfrestande att arbeta med personer med Aspergers. / To be diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome involves among other social problems and psychological vulnerability. The sample consists of four psychotherapists and one psychologist, who have experience in treating people with Asperger syndrome. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychotherapists’ view of psychodynamic psychotherapy with people with Asperger syndrome. Questions have been; How do you set up a therapeutic treatment for people with Asperger's syndrome? What aspects in therapy with people with Asperger syndrome are important to the treatment? The study shows that therapists work from various psychodynamic theories. The therapist must also have vast knowledge of the disability. The therapist’s knowledge of the effects disability has on people with Asperger syndrome causes the key components that touch and working alliance is made possible and is the basis for continuing treatment work. Furthermore, it is important to take into account the specific situation in life and history that people with Asperger syndrome have, because past experience is relevant to how the patient react and understand their patterns of life in the present. All therapists stress that people with Asperger syndrome in treatment have improved their social interaction. Moreover, it seems that it requires a lot of the therapist in the treatment with this audience, because it is long treatments and that it is emotionally stressful to work with people with Asperger's

Binary measurement systems (BMS) are widely used in both manufacturing industry and medicine. In industry, a BMS is often used to measure various characteristics of parts and then classify them as pass or fail, according to some quality standards. Good measurement systems are essential both for problem solving (i.e., reducing the rate of defectives) and to protect customers from receiving defective products. As a result, it is desirable to assess the performance of the BMS as well as to separate the effects of the measurement system and the production process on the observed classifications. In medicine, BMSs are known as diagnostic or screening tests, and are used to detect a target condition in subjects, thus classifying them as positive or negative. Assessing the performance of a medical test is essential in quantifying the costs due to misclassification of patients, and in the future prevention of these errors. In both industry and medicine, the most commonly used characteristics to quantify the performance a BMS are the two misclassification rates, defined as the chance of passing a nonconforming (non-diseased) unit, called the consumer's risk (false positive), and the chance of failing a conforming (diseased) unit, called the producer's risk (false negative). In most assessment studies, it is also of interest to estimate the conforming (prevalence) rate, i.e. probability that a randomly selected unit is conforming (diseased). There are two main approaches for assessing the performance of a BMS. Both approaches involve measuring a number of units one or more times with the BMS. The first one, called the "gold standard" approach, requires the use of a gold-standard measurement system that can determine the state of units with no classification errors. When a gold standard does not exist, is too expensive or time-consuming, another option is to repeatedly measure units with the BMS, and then use a latent class approach to estimate the parameters of interest. In industry, for both approaches, the standard sampling plan involves randomly selecting parts from the population of manufactured parts. In this thesis, we focus on a specific context commonly found in the manufacturing industry. First, the BMS under study is nondestructive. Second, the BMS is used for 100% inspection or any kind of systematic inspection of the production yield. In this context, we are likely to have available a large number of previously passed and failed parts. Furthermore, the inspection system typically tracks the number of parts passed and failed; that is, we often have baseline data about the current pass rate, separate from the assessment study. Finally, we assume that during the time of the evaluation, the process is under statistical control and the BMS is stable. Our main goal is to investigate the effect of using sampling plans that involve random selection of parts from the available populations of previously passed and failed parts, i.e. conditional selection, on the estimation procedure and the main characteristics of the estimators. Also, we demonstrate the value of combining the additional information provided by the baseline data with those collected in the assessment study, in improving the overall estimation procedure. We also examine how the availability of baseline data and using a conditional selection sampling plan affect recommendations on the design of the assessment study. In Chapter 2, we give a summary of the existing estimation methods and sampling plans for a BMS assessment study in both industrial and medical settings, that are relevant in our context. In Chapters 3 and 4, we investigate the assessment of a BMS in the case where we assume that the misclassification rates are common for all conforming/nonconforming parts and that repeated measurements on the same part are independent, conditional on the true state of the part, i.e. conditional independence. We call models using these assumptions fixed-effects models. In Chapter 3, we look at the case where a gold standard is available, whereas in Chapter 4, we investigate the "no gold standard" case. In both cases, we show that using a conditional selection plan, along with the baseline information, substantially improves the accuracy and precision of the estimators, compared to the standard sampling plan. In Chapters 5 and 6, we investigate the case where we allow for possible variation in the misclassification rates within conforming and nonconforming parts, by proposing some new random-effects models. These models relax the fixed-effects model assumptions regarding constant misclassification rates and conditional independence. As in the previous chapters, we focus on investigating the effect of using conditional selection and baseline information on the properties of the estimators, and give study design recommendations based on our findings. In Chapter 7, we discuss other potential applications of the conditional selection plan, where the study data are augmented with the baseline information on the pass rate, especially in the context where there are multiple BMSs under investigation.

<p>In many multiagent settings, a decision must be made based on the preferences of multiple agents, and agents may lie about their preferences if this is to their benefit. In mechanism design, the goal is to design procedures (mechanisms) for making the decision that work in spite of such strategic behavior, usually by making untruthful behavior suboptimal. In automated mechanism design, the idea is to computationally search through the space of feasible mechanisms, rather than to design them analytically by hand. Unfortunately, the most straightforward approach to automated mechanism design does not scale to large instances, because it requires searching over a very large space of possible functions. In this thesis, we adopt an approach to automated mechanism design that is computationally feasible. Instead of optimizing over all feasible mechanisms, we carefully choose a parameterized subfamily of mechanisms. Then we optimize over mechanisms within this family. Finally, we analyze whether and to what extent the resulting mechanism is suboptimal outside the subfamily. We apply (computationally feasible) automated mechanism design to three resource allocation mechanism design problems: mechanisms that redistribute revenue, mechanisms that involve no payments at all, and mechanisms that guard against false-name manipulation.</p> / Dissertation