International experience indicates that energy labelling programmes are rapidly evolving as a valuable tool for energy efficiency awareness and practice in the built environment. Four years after the launch of the South African labelling programme, Green Buildings for Africa (GBfA), it became evident that implementation was not successful. This study evaluates the contribution of a range of factors towards the sustained implementation and uptake of energy labelling programmes for commercial buildings based on a comparative appraisal of relevant international case studies and the GBfA. The analytical process is based on three types of energy labelling categories (mandatory energy audit, voluntary energy audit and voluntary benchmarking scheme) and two categories of factors (contextual and programme-specific). The key finding is that government involvement and support is critical, if not a prerequisite, for successful roll-out of an energy labelling programme. Key recommendation is that a local programme be initially based on a voluntary benchmark programme approach.

O presente estudo tem como objeto o modelo jurídico da reincidência, a ser analisado, na esteira da teoria tridimensional do Direito de Miguel Reale, em sua três dimensões - normativa, fática e axiológica. Serão pressupostos desta dissertação, além do tridimensionalismo concreto e dinâmico de Reale, a fenomenologia existencial de Martin Heidegger que tem o Dasein como ser fundamentalmente livre, embora desde logo situado e a criminologia crítica, a qual, embora tenha superado o labelling approach em inúmeros aspectos, manteve o interesse deste em tomar como objeto o próprio funcionamento do sistema punitivo. Na dimensão normativa do modelo será exposto o instituto jurídico da reincidência e será feito o juízo de sua adequação constitucional, mormente com relação aos princípios do ne bis in idem, proporcionalidade e, principalmente, culpabilidade. Este guiará o estudo à dimensão fática do tema, em que serão vistos os principais aspectos da prática penal, sobretudo suas características de seletividade e estigmatização, com ênfase no ponto central de todo o sistema punitivo, a pena privativa de liberdade. A seguir, a dimensão axiológica do modelo da reincidência comportará a análise dos valores que subjazem à dimensão normativa, os positivados contextualizados na teoria dos fins da pena e os latentes, embora difundidos em todo o corpo social o medo e a construção dos inimigos da sociedade. Por fim, serão unidas as três dimensões do modelo, em sua interação dialética e complementar, a fim de que este se mostre em sua plenitude. / This dissertation focuses on the legal model of recidivism, to be analyzed, based on Miguel Reales Three-dimensional Theory of Law, in its normative, factual and axiological dimensions. The hypothesis behind this work is apart from Realess concrete and dynamic three-dimensionality Martin Heideggers existential analytic according to which the Dasein is a fundamentally free being, although situated from the beginning and the New Criminology that, despite surpassing the labelling approach in several aspects, kept its focus on taking the performance of the punitive system as an object of study. In the normative dimension of the model, the recidivisms legal provision and its constitutional compatibility will be discussed, with the latter being analyzed according to the legal principles of ne bis in idem, proportionality and culpability. The principle of culpability will guide the work to the factual dimension of the object, that will underlie the study of the most important aspects of the punitive system, such as its main characteristics of selectivity and stigmatization, with emphasis on the core of the whole punitive system, the imprisonment. Then, the third dimension of the model will base the discussion of the values that support the normative dimension, the legal presented in the theory of punishment and the latent, despite widespread through the social fabric the fear and the construction of societys enemies. In the end, the three dimensions of the model will be united, in their dialectic and complementary interaction, so that the model can fully reveal itself.

Denna studie behandlar fenomenen kriminalitet och identitetsskapande. Den syftar till att skapa kunskap om vägen in i kriminalitet samt utträde ur en kriminell gemenskap. Studien koncentreras till att förstå hur sociala faktorer kan påverka processen med fokus på identitetsskapande. Hur ser förändringsprocessen ut för individer som tidigare befunnit sig i utanförskap till att tillhöra en socialt accepterad gemenskap? Studien genomfördes med en fenomenologisk ansats och resultatet baseras på den empiri vi erhöll genom sju semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Intervjuerna har baserats på teman för att tillhandahålla samtalsstruktur och i ett led att besvara syftet. Urvalet är målstyrt och samtliga respondenter, utom en, är medlemmar i en ideell förening som arbetar stödjande för människor med en förflutet inom kriminalitet och missbruk. Resultatet visar att både in- och utträde ur en kriminell gemenskap är en komplex process och att omgivningen genomgående har en stor påverkan i processen och i möjliggörandet för en ny identitet. Sammanställningen av den insamlade empirin består av tre olika delar, vägen in i kriminalitet, livet som kriminell samt vägen ut ur kriminalitet och skapandet av en prosocial identitet. Resultatet analyseras genom meningskoncentrering och tematisk analys. / The purpose of this study is to explore criminality and identity-creation. Why does some people end up in criminality and how one desist from crime. This paper focuses on how social factors can influence the process in and out of criminality with focus on identity-creation. This study also seeks to understand the change-process; how does an individual with a criminal past move from being socially excluded to becoming a member of a socially accepted group? The study takes a phenomenological approach and the result is based on the data we received from seven semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews were based on different themes to structure the dialogue with a view towards answering the purpose. The sample we used are based on purposeful technique and all informants, except for one, are members of associations that work to support people with a history of crime and addiction. The results show that entering and leaving a criminal community are complex processes and also that social context has a major influence on the process and the possibility to create a new identity. The compiled data consists of three different parts: 1) the gateway to crime 2) life as a criminal and 3) desistance from crime and creating a prosocial identity. The result is analyzed by initial sentence-concentration and thematic analysis.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz Family Euphorbiaceae) is an important tropical food crop. However, harvested cassava roots have a shelf-life of only days due to post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD). Within 1-3 days of harvesting, the roots show blue-black vascular streaking and are unpalatable. PPD includes altered gene expression and the accumulation of hydroxycoumarin secondary metabolites, e.g. scopoletin and esculetin, and their respective glucosides scopolin and esculin. In this research several important aspects of the biosynthesis of these phytochemically important hydroxycoumarins were resolved. Stable isotopically labelled intermediates on the postulated biosynthetic pathways of scopoletin were fed to cassava cubes and PPD was allowed to occur. Ethanolic extracts of these deteriorated roots were separated (HPLC) and analysed (HRESI-MS). Incorporation (in both scopoletin and scopolin) of only 3 deuterons from E-cinnamic-2,3,2',3',4',5',6'-d7 and E-cinnamic-3,2',3',4',5',6'-d6 is strong support that the E-Zisomerisation step is enzymatic and not photochemical. There are three hypothetical pathways for the biosynthesis of scopoletin via: 2',4'-dihydroxycinnamate, caffeate, or ferulate. High incorporation of label from p-coumaric-2-13C, caffeic-2-13C and ferulic-2-13C acids was observed into labelled scopoletin and scopolin while there was only a small incorporation from 18O-umbelliferone and 18O-esculetin. We conclude that the major biosynthetic pathway to scopoletin and scopolin is via ferulic acid. C18O2-enrichment of E-cinnamic and ferulic acids and feeding gave scopoletin containing only one 18O-labelled oxygen atom. Therefore the lactonisation step is through o-hydroxylation and not via a postulated spirolactone-dienone intermediate. These results were confirmed by feeding experiments in an atmosphere of 18O2-air which showed that the major isotopic peak was 18O3-enriched scopoletin. Three glucosyltransferases were isolated and identified from a cassava PPDrelated cDNA library. These genes are expressed in the cassava storage root during PPD and they are also expressed in the fresh root. While one of these glucosyltransferases was novel, two had previously been isolated from cassava cotyledons.

Detecção de posicionamento é a tarefa de automaticamente identificar se o autor de um texto é favorável, contrário, ou nem favorável e nem contrário a uma dada proposição ou alvo. Com o amplo uso do Twitter como plataforma para expressar opiniões e posicionamentos, a análise automatizada deste conteúdo torna-se de grande valia para empresas, organizações e figuras públicas. Em geral, os trabalhos que exploram tal tarefa adotam abordagens supervisionadas ou semi-supervisionadas. O presente trabalho propõe e avalia um processo não supervisionado de detecção de posicionamento em textos de tweets que tem como entrada apenas o alvo e um conjunto de tweets a rotular e é baseado em uma abordagem híbrida composta por 2 etapas: a) rotulação automática de tweets baseada em um conjunto de heurísticas e b) classificação complementar baseada em aprendizado supervisionado de máquina. A proposta tem êxito quando aplicada a figuras públicas, superando o estado-da-arte. Além disso, são avaliadas alternativas no intuito de melhorar seu desempenho quando aplicada a outros domínios, revelando a possibilidade de se empregar estratégias tais como o uso de alvos e perfis semente dependendo das características de cada domínio. / Stance Detection is the task of automatically identifying if the author of a text is in favor of the given target, against the given target, or whether neither inference is likely. With the wide use of Twitter as a platform to express opinions and stances, the automatic analysis of this content becomes of high regard for companies, organizations and public figures. In general, works that explore such task adopt supervised or semi-supervised approaches. The present work proposes and evaluates a non-supervised process to detect stance in texts of tweets that has as entry only the target and a set of tweets to classify and is based on a hybrid approach composed by 2 stages: a) automatic labelling of tweets based on a set of heuristics and b) complementary classification based on supervised machine learning. The proposal succeeds when applied to public figures, overcoming the state-of-the-art. Beyond that, some alternatives are evaluated with the intention of increasing the performance when applied to other domains, revealing the possibility of use of strategies such as using seed targets and profiles depending on each domain characteristics.

Due to greater awareness of the need to conserve the world's resources - one direction is to promote products with less environmental impact during manufacturing processes. There are different perspectives to understand what is driving this development towards environmental production. On one hand, producers manage their production with less environmental impact either of an integrated environmental management of the company or because of regulatory requirements in steering manufacturing, especially under circumstances in Sweden. The development may also be because of responding to market demand for eco-labelled prod-ucts. My case studies have two approaches of qualitative research in order to answer the research questions: The first angle, makes a description of how a company has adapted to environmental production conditions, and examine the product development process and the choice of implementing product groups in its range. The second angle is from a customer perspective, exploring choices of specific products. The study begins with the producer Lud-vig Svensson AB and their brand Svensson Markspelle of their eco-labelled furniture fabrics and then followed by a comparison of the different kind of customers within the brand. The findings of the thesis revealed that, Ludvig Svensson has adjusted to a sustainable production since before the implementation of an eco-label. It also shows that there is a need for greater information about the company’s environmental work out to customers as eco-labels is limited in its message as a communication tool, regardless whether the eco-label is part of the ongoing environmental work or not. More customer-oriented information could make a difference as an eco-label is a simple message for complex conditions. There is also an op-portunity to increase knowledge. However, it is important to emphasize that although the organization Ecolabelling Sweden has a responsibility to raise awareness about eco-labels they certify for. Findings of the customer study showed that the choices that govern the public environment are complex. At many times other requirements such as washability, durability and flame resistance are put higher than the choice of an upholstery fabric. To be envi-ronmental friendly in product selection is not just about choosing a product with minor envi-ronmental impact, but high quality is such as great environmental choice. The study also showed that there are general aspects that are problematic to make environmentally con-scious choices and the obstacles of lack of knowledge in some areas come from several directions with regard to conditions in the public procurement. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Applied Textile Management

Introdução: Diante das mudanças nos hábitos de consumo alimentar da população brasileira, suplementos vitamínicos e alimentos enriquecidos são veículos comumente empregados para atender as necessidades de ingestão de micronutrientes. A diversidade de suplementos vitamínicos comercializados atualmente leva à necessidade de desenvolvimento de métodos analíticos de fácil execução e alta produtividade. Informações confiáveis sobre os teores de vitaminas poderão ser obtidas somente com métodos analíticos validados. Objetivos: Validar metodologias analíticas e avaliar o teor de vitaminas antioxidantes em suplementos adquiridos no comércio do município de São Paulo - Brasil, o efeito do armazenamento nestes compostos e confrontar os valores analisados com os valores declarados na rotulagem. Métodos: As metodologias analíticas para determinação de vitaminas antioxidantes por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência com detector de arranjo de diodos (CLAE-DAD) e de vitamina C por titulação potenciométrica foram validadas para as matrizes sólidas, oleosas e líquidas de suplementos vitamínicos. A estabilidade das vitaminas foi avaliada a cada 6 meses durante 12 meses de armazenamento e a avaliação da rotulagem foi realizada de acordo com as legislações vigentes no Brasil. Resultados: Para os métodos cromatográficos, os limites de detecção (LDs) e de quantificação (LQs) variaram entre 0,3 e 4,3 µg/mL, e entre 0,5 e 14,0 µg/mL respectivamente. As recuperações dos padrões adicionados nas matrizes variaram entre 92 por cento e 109 por cento e entre 86 por cento e 108 por cento no material de referência. A repetitividade foi calculada pelo desvio padrão relativo (RSD), apresentando valores entre 0,2 por cento e 9,6 por cento . Para a determinação de vitamina C pelo método potenciométrico, o LD e o LQ foram respectivamente 1 mg e 3 mg; a recuperação no material de referência foi de 99,8 por cento e a precisão variou entre 0,4 e 3,9 por cento . Das 57 amostras avaliadas, 59 por cento e 35 por cento apresentaram teores de vitaminas A e E respectivamente, abaixo dos valores declarados no rótulo; por outro lado, 20 por cento das amostras apresentaram teores de vitamina E acima dos valores declarados. Em relação aos teores de vitamina C, 60 por cento das amostras estavam de acordo com os valores declarados. O estudo da estabilidade demonstrou degradação significativa das vitaminas A, E e C em aproximadamente 90 por cento das amostras com 12 meses de armazenamento. Na avaliação da rotulagem dos suplementos vitamínicos, 47 das amostras apresentaram uma ou mais irregularidades. Conclusão: Os métodos propostos se mostraram adequados para análise de diferentes matrizes de suplementos vitamínicos. Os resultados das análises de vitaminas nestes produtos mostraram a necessidade urgente de monitoramento em conjunto com ações de fiscalização, pois verificou-se que a maioria das amostras não atenderam a legislação, principalmente quanto aos teores declarados na informação nutricional da rotulagem. A sobredosagem de vitaminas pode ser necessária para manter os teores declarados durante o armazenamento, porém, a quantidade adicional de vitamina a ser incluída no suplemento deve estar dentro de limites seguros e depende de cada amostra, pois além da matriz, diversos fatores relacionados aos compostos e à embalagem também podem influenciar na estabilidade das vitaminas. / Introduction: In the face of changes in food consumption patterns of the population, vitamin supplements and fortified foods are vehicles commonly used to meet the micronutrient consumption needs. The diversity of vitamin supplements currently commercialized leads to the need to develop simple analytical methods with high productivity. Reliable information about vitamin levels may be obtained only with validated analytical methods. Objective: The validation of analytical methodologies to determine the content of antioxidant vitamins in supplements acquired in trade of São Paulo Brazil, the effect of storage in these compounds, and to confront the analyzed values with the declared values on the label. Methods: The analytical methodologies for determination of antioxidant vitamins by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and vitamin C by potentiometric titration were validated for solid, oily and liquid matrices of vitamin supplements. The stability of vitamins was evaluated every 6 months in a period of 12 months of storage and evaluation of the labeling was performed according to the current Brazilian legislation. Results: For the chromatographic methods, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) ranged between 0.3-4.3 g/mL and between 0.5 and 14.0 mg/mL respectively. The recoveries of spiked samples ranged between 92-109 per cent and between 86108 per cent from the reference material. The repeatability was calculated by the relative standard deviation (RSD), with values between 0.2-9.6 per cent . For the determination of vitamin C by a potentiometric method, the LOD and LOQ were respectively 1 and 3 mg; recovering the reference material was 99.8 per cent and the accuracy ranged between 0.4-3.9 per cent . From the 57 samples tested, 59 per cent and 35 per cent had vitamin levels A and E respectively, below the values declared on the label; On the other hand, 20 per cent of the samples had levels of vitamin E above declared values. Regarding the content of vitamin C, 60 per cent of the samples were in agreement with the reported values. The stability study demonstrated significant degradation of vitamins A, E and C in approximately 90 per cent of the samples with 12 months of storage. The evaluation of vitamin supplement labels showed 47 per cent of samples with one or more irregularities. Conclusion: The proposed methods were suitable for analysis of different matrices of vitamin supplements. The analysis of vitamins in supplements showed the urgent need for monitoring in conjunction with enforcement actions, as it was found that most of the samples did not meet the requirements stablished by the Brazilian legislation, especially for the levels declared in the nutrition label information. Overage of vitamin added in supplements may be necessary to maintain the declared contents during storage, however, the additional amount must be included in security level and depends on each sample, as well as the matrices, several factors related to the compounds and packaging may also influence the stability of vitamins.

The assessment of Myocardial Blood Flow (MBF) is an important measure in clinical practice for evaluating the health of the heart. Multiple imaging methods have been employed to measure MBF, including applications of nuclear medicine, x-ray and contrast enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). However, each of these modalities suffers from drawbacks, such as invasiveness due to radiation or intravenous contrast injection, difficulty in quantitation, and limited repeatability. The aim of this thesis was to develop a non-invasive, quantitative and repeatable MRI method for the measurement of MBF, by applying the techniques of Arterial Spin Labelling (ASL). A novel cardiac ASL sequence was designed and thoroughly tested by simulation and phantom experiment. The method was applied in vivo in three slices of the human heart, to our knowledge the first cardiac ASL acquisition in multiple slices, in ten healthy volunteers. The resulting values of mid-ventricular MBF, averaged over multiple measurements, compared well with the literature values from multiple modalities. Repeat measures were then used in order to characterise the reproducibility and variation inherent in the method, showing that the expected change in MBF would be detectable with the ASL sequence. Segmental values of MBF, according to the AHA standard model, were also calculated and these compared well to previous PET literature. This work has been published in the journal Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Further to this work, the new cardiac ASL sequence was optimised with the ultimate goal of single breath hold acquisitions. The optimised sequence was shown to improve the results in terms of the balance between good signal-to-noise ratio and reducing spatial and temporal variation in MBF values. Though improvements were made, there remained a large variation in the measured values of MBF, meaning single breath hold acquisition in a clinical context is not yet practical. In addition to the optimisation, the online scanner reconstruction software was altered to produce parametric maps of both T₁ and MBF direct to the scanner operator. The sequence, along with online reconstruction is available for use in our laboratory for future clinical trials in the heart and liver.

La transglutaminase tissulaire est une enzyme dépendante du calcium qui catalyse la formation de liens isopeptidiques, entre les chaînes latérales de résidus glutamine et lysine, permettant, par le fait même, la réticulation des protéines dans les systèmes biologiques. Elle joue un rôle, entre autres, dans l’endocytose, la régulation du développement des cellules, et même dans l’apoptose. Néanmoins, une dérégulation de l’activité biologique de cette enzyme peut entrainer différentes pathologies, comme la formation de cataractes, de plaques amyloïdes dans la maladie d’Alzheimer, ou encore peut mener au développement de la maladie céliaque. C’est pourquoi une meilleure connaissance du mécanisme d’action de cette enzyme et la possibilité de réguler son action à l’aide de substrats ou d’inhibiteurs sont nécessaires. Dans cette optique, une méthode d’expression et de purification de la transglutaminase humaine a été développée, permettant de travailler directement avec la cible pharmacologique désirée. De plus, une étude du mode d’inhibition et de liaison d’une classe d’inhibiteurs réversibles précédemment découverte dans le groupe, soit la famille des trans-cinnamoyles, a permis d’identifier que la puissance de ces molécules est influencée par la présence du calcium et qu’une inhibition dépendante du temps est observée, en lien avec un potentiel équilibre conformationnel lent de la transglutaminase. D’un autre côté, la susceptibilité à une attaque nucléophile par des thiols de cette classe de molécule rend leur potentiel pharmacologique grandement diminué, et c’est pourquoi une nouvelle famille de molécules a été identifiée, basée sur un squelette ynone, avec une valeur d’IC50 très prometteuse de 2,6 μM, en faisant un des meilleurs inhibiteurs réversibles de la transglutaminase développés à ce jour. Finalement, une stratégie de photomarquage jumelée à une analyse de spectrométrie de masse en tandem a été développée pour la découverte du site de liaison du substrat dérivé de la lysine, dans le but de mieux comprendre le mécanisme complexe de cette enzyme. / Tissue transglutaminase is a calcium-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the formation of isopeptide bonds between the side chains of glutamine and lysine residues, thereby resulting in the crosslinking of proteins in biological systems. It plays a role, among others, in endocytosis, the regulation of cell growth, and even in apoptosis. However, a deregulation of the biological activity of this enzyme can result in various pathologies, such as cataract formation, amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer’s disease, or the development of celiac disease. Therefore, a better understanding of the mechanism of action of this enzyme and the ability to regulate its action using inhibitors or substrates is necessary. In this context, a method of expression and purification of human transglutaminase has been developed, allowing one to work directly with the desired pharmacological target. In addition, a study of the mode of inhibition and binding mode of a reversible inhibitor class previously discovered in the group, the family of trans-cinnamoyl derivatives, revealed that the potency of these molecules is influenced by the presence of calcium and a time-dependent inhibition is observed, related to a putative slow conformational equilibrium of transglutaminase. On the other hand, the susceptibility of this class of molecules to nucleophilic attack by thiols greatly diminishes their pharmacological potential, and that is why a new family of molecules has been identified, based on a ynone skeleton, with a very promising IC50 value of 2.6 μM, making this molecule one of the best transglutaminase reversible inhibitors developed to date. Finally, a photolabelling strategy combined with a tandem mass spectrometry analysis has been developed for the discovery of the binding site of the lysine derivative substrate, in order to better understand the complex mechanism of this enzyme.

Stochastic fluctuations in mRNA and protein copy number between cells are inevitable during the process gene expression, even when cells carry identical chromosomes. Such fluctuations are able to impact the phenotypic fate of the cell, and are known to have greater impact when the copy number of the molecule involved is low. Additionally, up to 50% of proteins in Escherichia coli are present in the cell at a level of 10 molecules per cell or fewer (Taniguchi et al. 2010). As such, quantification of low copy number gene expression products and their distribution in cellular populations is key in understanding the process of gene expression. Currently, there are few techniques that allow investigation with the single cell and single molecule resolution required to study low copy number gene expression products. This work presents a novel method for protein quantification at the single molecule level, Quantitative HaloTag-TMR labelling, and uses the technique to quantify the absolute numbers of the low copy number RecB, RecC and RecD subunits of the bacterial DNA repair enzyme RecBCD, finding each subunit is present at between two and eight molecules per cell with mean numbers per cell of 4.9, 4.7 and 4.5 respectively. Additionally single molecule mRNA FISH was used to quantify the mRNA levels of recB and recD within cells, with means of 0.21 and 0.31 mRNA per cell being observed respectively. Finally this work presents a new method for use detecting both mRNA and protein simultaneously in individual cells by combining the HaloTag and FISH protocols to give HaloFISH. This work introduces two novel techniques that allow for single cell examination of gene expression, and investigates RecBCD expression at the single molecule level.