Cardiomyopathies are often initiated by diastolic dysfunction, and treatment of diastolic dysfunction remains empirical with an emphasis on prevention. This dissertation focuses on the mechanism of cardiomyopathy and diastolic dysfunction during aging and immune dysfunction. The governing hypothesis is that altered cytokine release such as that seen during aging and immune dysfunction can lead to diastolic dysfunction and myocardial fibrosis. Our first study examined the role of aging and immunosenescence on the cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) and left ventricular stiffness. We demonstrated age-related immune dysfunction, myocardial fibrosis, and diastolic dysfunction. We also found that exogenous dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), an adrenal steroid hormone popular due to its anti-aging effects, partially reversed these pathologies in aged mice. In this model, fibrosis and its reversal were associated with altered regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and collagen cross-linking. We propose two mechanisms for the protective effects of DHEA: (1) a direct effect on cardiac fibroblasts, or (2) downstream effects of immune modulation. In the subsequent study, we found that DHEA is capable of directly altering cardiac fibroblasts, suggesting a mechanism for the effects of DHEA on cardiac function. Due to pleiotropic effects of DHEA, we decided to specifically target the immune system using T-cell receptor peptides during murine AIDS(mAIDS). Mice with mAIDS suffer from cardiomyopathy in the absence of myocarditis and opportunistic pathogens. We demonstrated that reversal of immune dysfunction in mAIDS was associated with reversal of myocardial fibrosis and ventricular stiffness. In conclusion, we have demonstrated age- and immune-related diastolic dysfunction that can be reversed by modulation of the T-cells of the immune system. Immune modulation should be further investigated as a therapeutic target to treat diastolic dysfunction during immune dysfunction. We also found that MMPs and collagen cross-linking are highly involved in extracellular matrix regulation in the models used in this dissertation.

Infection of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as LPBM5 infection in mice results in progressive deterioration of the immune system in the majority of untreated hosts. Peptide immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in the stimulation or immunoregulation of T-helper 1 (TH1) and T-helper 2 (TH2) response subsets. In murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), TH1 deficiency enables the host to be susceptible to coxsackievirus infection, inducing cardiopathology in a short period. T-cell receptor (TCR) Vβ8.1 peptide, a 16-mer peptide containing the entire CFR1 segment and part of the FR2 region of human Vβ8, showed both an immunoregulating and immunostimulating effect in murine AIDS. TCR Vβ8.1 peptide acts on T cells promoting interleukin-2 production and therefore enhancing a cellmediated immune response. It retarded development of cardiopathology due to coxsackievirus infection. Retrovirus infected mice treated with the peptide showed a longer life span than the nontreated retrovirus infected animals.

A ‘new’ phenomenon in the form of employing foreign domestic workers (FDW), or maids, whose jobs often include caring for children, appears to be an increasing global trend. Consequently, migrant women from developing countries provide an inexpensive and accessible child care alternative, which could be regarded as widespread in certain regions. Growth in the movement of population and mounting global interdependence, has also contributed to an increase in educational institutions labelled international schools. As an educator in five of these diverse institutions, I became aware that the trend of hiring maids, who because of their social position often do many basic tasks for children in their care, has entered the world of international schools in particular geographical areas. This has often concerned professionals. This small-scale study, therefore, explores the perceived social and educational implications of home/school differences in pedagogic orientation in children who have maids, bringing to light a matter of consequence, to certain international schools in particular, in more academic terms. Two very different schools in the Arabian Gulf, both regarded as operating in an international context, were the focus for this study. Drawing on Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian theories, I used sociocultural theory and Engeström’s model of activity theory as a theoretical framework from which to design the inquiry, and carry out the analysis. Using the two sample schools to access key-stakeholders, this inquiry involved multi-methods of mainly qualitative data collection, which explored a situation where maids are often heavily involved in children’s upbringing. A range of nationalities were included. Important messages emerged, including the notion of maids appearing to be culturally embedded amongst a number of affluent host country nationals and expatriates in my context. Additionally, significant differences appear to exist between children with maids at home and those without, with implications for learning amongst ‘maid children’, which might be perceived as a result of maid intervention. The thesis concludes with recommendations for educationalists and parents. Views of most key stakeholders underpin a model which could guide new practice and go some way towards alleviating the consequences of such a situation.

AIDS-related human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) retinitis remains the leading cause of blindness among untreated HIV/AIDS patients worldwide. Understanding the pathogenesis of this disease is essential for developing new, safe, and effective treatments for its prevention or management, yet much remains unknown about the virologic and immunologic mechanisms contributing to its pathology. To study such mechanisms, we use a well-established, reproducible, and clinically relevant animal model with retrovirus-induced murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS) that mimics in mice the symptoms and progression of AIDS in humans. Over 8 to 12 weeks, MAIDS mice become susceptible to experimental murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) retinitis. We have found in this model that MCMV infection significantly stimulates ocular suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)1 and SOCS3, host proteins which dampen immune-related signaling by cytokines, including antiviral interferons. Herein we investigated virologic and/or immunologic mechanisms involved in this stimulation and how virally-modulated SOCS1 and/or SOCS3 proteins may contribute to MCMV infection or experimental MAIDS-related MCMV retinitis. Through pursuit of two specific aims, we tested the central hypothesis that MCMV stimulates and employs SOCS1 and/or SOCS3 to induce the onset and development of MCMV retinal disease. MCMV-related SOCS1 and SOCS3 stimulation in vivo occurred with intraocular infection, was dependent on method and stage of immune suppression and severity of ocular pathology, was associated with stimulation of SOCS-inducing cytokines, and SOCS1 and SOCS3 were differentially sensitive to antiviral treatment. In vitro studies further demonstrated that SOCS1 and SOCS3 stimulation during MCMV infection occurred with expected immediate early kinetics, required viral gene expression in cell-type-dependent and virus origin-dependent patterns of expression, and displayed differential sensitivity to antiviral treatment. These data suggest that SOCS1 and SOCS3 are stimulated by divergent virologic, immunologic, and/or pathologic mechanisms during MCMV infection, and that they contribute to the pathogenesis of retinal disease, revealing new insights into the pathophysiology of AIDS-related HCMV retinitis.

Submitted by Jadson Francisco de Jesus SILVA (jadson@uefs.br) on 2018-09-19T22:03:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DissertacaoKeilane.pdf: 1108437 bytes, checksum: c5762af5569b25a337ac1a3a2170f568 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-19T22:03:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissertacaoKeilane.pdf: 1108437 bytes, checksum: c5762af5569b25a337ac1a3a2170f568 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-31 / Starting from photos, newspapers, Galdiana Ferreira de Medeiros? biographical memory, legal proceedings about defloration, rape, bodily injury and homicide crossing I tried reconstruct various maids? trajectories in the municipality of Feira de Santana between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. Therefore, I started from the premise that these women were disrupted from the civility projects that were born in the Republic because they were poor, black and/or emergent form captivity and often single mothers. The analysis of the sources also allowed to verify that these workers did not always accept submissive their bosses' impositions, assuming various resistance strategies: they can poison them, break away from working relationships and report maltreatments that they experienced in the work environment. Bosses remained to represent them as ungrateful for not accepting the subordination. / A partir do cruzamento de fotografias, jornais, mem?ria biogr?fica de Galdiana Ferreira de Medeiros, processos crimes de defloramento, estupro, les?o corporal e homic?dio, busquei reconstruir as diversas trajet?rias de empregadas dom?sticas no munic?pio de Feira de Santana, entre o final do s?culo XIX e as primeiras d?cadas do XX. Por conseguinte, partir da premissa de que estas mulheres destoavam dos projetos de civilidade gestados na Rep?blica pelo fato de serem pobres, negras e/ou emergentes do cativeiro e muitas vezes m?es solteiras. A an?lise das fontes tamb?m permitiu constatar que estas trabalhadoras nem sempre aceitavam submissas as imposi??es dos seus patr?es, assumindo v?rias estrat?gias de resist?ncias: podendo envenen?-los, romper com as rela??es de trabalho ou denunciar maus tratos que vivenciaram no ambiente de labor. Aos patr?es restou representa-las como ingratas por n?o aceitarem a subordina??o. As rela??es de compadrio entre criadas e ?amos? foram discutidas como estrat?gias de sobreviv?ncia dos mais fracos em uma sociedade marcada por desigualdades de g?nero, de ra?a e de classe.

A pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o emprego doméstico no Moçambique pós-colonial, cujo enfoque é o cotidiano deste trabalho na cidade de Maputo. O estudo é composto por dois eixos de análise complementares: trabalho doméstico no período colonial e o trabalho doméstico no pós-independência. O primeiro eixo aborda o trabalho doméstico como constituinte de uma atividade herdada da escravatura, e que em Moçambique cresceu porque os indivíduos do sexo masculino viam no emprego doméstico a escapatória para não prestarem xibalo ou trabalho forçado. O objetivo do estado colonial português era de preservar a precariedade no setor doméstico. O segundo eixo é centrado no emprego doméstico no pós-independência, pois após esse processo o setor do emprego doméstico foi ignorado pelas estruturas governamentais que viam nele a continuidade da exploração colonial. Todavia, as relações entre empregado-patrão, caraterísticos do colonialismo, caracterizadas por gritos, gestos hostis, humilhações, precárias condições de trabalho, assim como a delimitação do espaço, continuaram a ser predominantes neste setor no pós-colonialismo. Para a realização deste trabalho foram utilizadas, como ferramentas analíticas, entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação direta e reportagens jornalísticas. / This research aims to analyze the domestic job in post-colonial Mozambique, whose focus is the daily life of that work in the city of Maputo. The study is composed of two complementary analytical axes: housework during the colonial period and the housework in the post-independence. The first axis concerns the housework as a constituent of an inherited activity of slavery, that in Mozambique grew because the males saw in domestic employment a way to escape from \"xibalo\" or forced labour. The goal of the Portuguese colonial State was to preserve the precariousness in the domestic sector. The second axis is centered on domestic employment in post-independence, because after this process, domestic employment sector has been ignored by the governmental structures, which saw in this the continuation of colonial exploitation. However, relations between employee-employer, characteristic of colonialism, characterized by shout, hostile gestures, humiliations, precarious working conditions, as well as the delimitation of space, continued to be prevalent in this sector in post-colonialism. For the accomplishment of this work were used analytical tools as semi-structured interviews, direct observation and journalistic reports.

A pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar o emprego doméstico no Moçambique pós-colonial, cujo enfoque é o cotidiano deste trabalho na cidade de Maputo. O estudo é composto por dois eixos de análise complementares: trabalho doméstico no período colonial e o trabalho doméstico no pós-independência. O primeiro eixo aborda o trabalho doméstico como constituinte de uma atividade herdada da escravatura, e que em Moçambique cresceu porque os indivíduos do sexo masculino viam no emprego doméstico a escapatória para não prestarem xibalo ou trabalho forçado. O objetivo do estado colonial português era de preservar a precariedade no setor doméstico. O segundo eixo é centrado no emprego doméstico no pós-independência, pois após esse processo o setor do emprego doméstico foi ignorado pelas estruturas governamentais que viam nele a continuidade da exploração colonial. Todavia, as relações entre empregado-patrão, caraterísticos do colonialismo, caracterizadas por gritos, gestos hostis, humilhações, precárias condições de trabalho, assim como a delimitação do espaço, continuaram a ser predominantes neste setor no pós-colonialismo. Para a realização deste trabalho foram utilizadas, como ferramentas analíticas, entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação direta e reportagens jornalísticas. / This research aims to analyze the domestic job in post-colonial Mozambique, whose focus is the daily life of that work in the city of Maputo. The study is composed of two complementary analytical axes: housework during the colonial period and the housework in the post-independence. The first axis concerns the housework as a constituent of an inherited activity of slavery, that in Mozambique grew because the males saw in domestic employment a way to escape from \"xibalo\" or forced labour. The goal of the Portuguese colonial State was to preserve the precariousness in the domestic sector. The second axis is centered on domestic employment in post-independence, because after this process, domestic employment sector has been ignored by the governmental structures, which saw in this the continuation of colonial exploitation. However, relations between employee-employer, characteristic of colonialism, characterized by shout, hostile gestures, humiliations, precarious working conditions, as well as the delimitation of space, continued to be prevalent in this sector in post-colonialism. For the accomplishment of this work were used analytical tools as semi-structured interviews, direct observation and journalistic reports.

Representations of female characters in cinema have the effect of othering the female in front of the viewer’s gaze. Women’s characters are constructed along the lines of their gender and race difference. In this paper I focus entirely on the character of the woman domestic worker in four films: Ilo Ilo, The Second Mother, The Maid, and At Home. The paper aims to provide a different reading of this mostly trivialized character and rethink its otherness by pinpointing it in biopolitical labor and homes of biopower, namely of affect and oppression. I am interested in how labor can reconfigure the domestic space to a heterotopia, or what I call a ‘heterooikos’, which is the space occupied by the other. Finally, I will attempt an analysis that reimagines otherness captured by cinema, by locating, in the film text, techniques of resistance as a countersuggestion to techniques of character identification. My aim is to provide a different way to interact with subaltern subjects in film by recognizing otherness as part of an ethical response.

This thesis looks at two cases of women who murdered women - the Papin sisters (Le Mans, 1933) and Parker-Hulme (Christchurch, 1954) - and considers their diverse representations in theatre and film, paying particular attention to Jean Genet’s play The Maids (1947), Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures (1994) and Peter Falkenberg’s film Remake (2007), in which I played a part. What happens when two women (sisters, girl friends) commit violent acts together - not against a man, or a child, but against another woman, a mother or (as in the case of the Papin sisters) against women symbolically standing in place of the mother? How are these two cases - the Papin sisters and Parker-Hulme - presented in historical documents, reinterpreted in political, psychoanalytic and feminist theories, and represented in theatre and film? How might these works of theatre and film, in particular, be seen to explain - or exploit - these cases for an audience? How is the relationship between prurience - the peeping at women doing something bad - and the use of these cases to produce social commentary and/or art, better understood by looking at these objects of fascination ourselves? My thesis explores how these cases continue to interest and inspire artists and intellectuals, as well as the general public - both because they can be seen to violate fundamental social taboos against mother-murder and incest, and because of the challenge they pose for representation in theatre or film.

Submitted by Fabiano Vassallo (fabianovassallo2127@gmail.com) on 2017-12-01T16:46:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) FORMATACAO FINAL P.GRAFICA-7.9.17(1).pdf: 3172556 bytes, checksum: 6dd10c26b50594679878d62152173448 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jussara Moore (jussaramoore@id.uff.br) on 2018-01-22T14:51:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) FORMATACAO FINAL P.GRAFICA-7.9.17(1).pdf: 3172556 bytes, checksum: 6dd10c26b50594679878d62152173448 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-22T14:51:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) FORMATACAO FINAL P.GRAFICA-7.9.17(1).pdf: 3172556 bytes, checksum: 6dd10c26b50594679878d62152173448 (MD5) / Esteestudo aborda a representaçãoda figura da empregada doméstica em textos verbais e não verbais de livros didáticos de Português do Brasil para Estrangeiros (PBE), publicados no Brasil nos séculos XX e XXI e direcionados ao ensino de nossa língua e cultura a estrangeiros. Analisamos, na linha do tempo e com base na teoria das Representações Sociais, a frequência com que a doméstica é representada, a forma pela qual é mostrada nos contextos em que se inscreve, como se configura a relação entre patroa e empregada e como esses textos são oferecidos à leitura do outro, o estrangeiro, em diferentes períodos de nossa história. Concluímos que, nos materiais didáticos (MDs) analisados, as representações das domésticas não são frequentes, predominando nos textos verbais dialogados, e surgindo em situações de interação fortemente assimétricas entre empregada e patroa no ambiente da casa, construídas com recurso ao componente linguístico e ao imagético(ilustrações e foto). Nas representações das empregadas domésticas, observam-se não só traços que as articulam com suas origens na escravidão mas também breves registros da importância de seu trabalho na organização familiar / This study deals with the representation of the maid's figure in verbal and non - verbal texts of textbooks elaborated for the teaching of Brazilian Portuguese to Foreigners (PBE), published in Brazil in the 20th and 21st centuries, aiming to teach our language and culture to foreigners. We have chronologically analyzed, according to the theory of Social Representations, how frequently maids are represented, the way they are depicted in the contexts assigned to them, how the relationships between employer and employee is woven, and how these texts are offered to the reading of others, namely foreigners, in different periods of our history. We have concluded that, in the teaching materials (MDs) analyzed, maid representations are not frequent, appearing more often in verbal dialogues and in strongly asymmetrical interactive situations between maids and bosses in the home environment, which are built upon the imagery (illustrations and photo) and linguistic components. In the representations of maids, both traces that articulate them with their origins in slavery and brief records of the importance of their work in family organization can be observed