A major cause of morbidity and early death in the Western societies is cardiovascular disease (CVD) secondary to atherosclerotic disease. Metabolic aberrations have been linked to CVD. Particular combinations of these so-called risk markers are common and (central) obesity, Type 2 diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, dysfibrinolysis and hyperinsulinemia are often associated. This has been entitled the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (1RS), due to underlying insulin resistance. Moreover, aberrations in circulating levels of androgens and IGF-binding proteins are associated with 1RS. The main hypothesis in this thesis was that increased levels of leptin, the recently discovered adipocyte derived hormone in combination with obesity may be an important factor in the link between 1RS and the development of CVD. The association between leptin levels and variables associated with the Insulin Resistance Syndrome was studied in a healthy sample (n=163) of middle-aged men and women from the northern Sweden MONICA health survey. Central obesity was associated with high levels of leptin and insulin in men and women. In contrast, central obesity was linked to low testosterone levels in men, whereas in women, central obesity was associated with high testosterone but low SHBG levels. Furthermore, in males and postmenopausal women central obesity was a major determinant for circulating leptin. Leptin levels were associated with biochemical androgenicity in non-obese men and women. The direction of this association was dependent on gender and body fat distribution. Specifically, testosterone was inversely associated to leptin in non-obese men and in normal weight women whereas testosterone was positively associated to leptin in non-obese women. In contrast, adiposity and insulin levels, but not testosterone, were associated to leptin in obese men and women. Similarly, leptin was associated to IGFBP-1 and proinsulin in non-obese men and premenopausal women. Hyperleptinemia was significantly associated to high PAI-1 levels in men and in centrally obese women. In a multivariate model, high leptin levels predicted PAI-1 levels in men but not in women. Finally, leptin levels were related to blood pressure in obese men. The impact of hyperleptinemia on future risk for development of CVD was tested in a nested case-referent study based on the MONICA and the Västerbotten Intervention Program surveys. It was found that hyperleptinemia and high total cholesterol levels were associated with increased risk for development of myocardial infarction whereas high levels of apolipoprotein A-l were protective. Hyperleptinemia together with hypertension remained as significant risk markers for hemorrhagic stroke whereas hypertension alone predicted ischemic stroke. The combinations of hyperleptinemia on one hand and low apolipoprotein A- 1 and high blood pressure on the other were associated with a pronounced increased risk for myocardial infarction and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively. In conclusion, hyperleptinemia is independently associated with several risk markers for CVD included in the insulin resistance syndrome. Furthermore, high leptin levels predict the development of CVD. / <p>Härtill 5 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Also available online.

In this thesis, the failures that occurred during the construction of the Jamuna Bridge Abutment in Bangladesh have been investigated. In particular, the influence of heterogeneity on slope stability has been studied using statistical methods, random field theory and the finite element method. The research is divided into three main parts: the statistical characterization of the Jamuna River Sand, based on an extensive in-situ and laboratory database available for the site; calibration of the laboratory data against a double-hardening elastoplastic soil model; and stochastic finite element slope stability analyses, using a Monte Carlo simulation, to analyse the slope failures accounting for heterogeneity. The sand state has been characterised in terms of state parameter, a meaningful quantity which can fully represent the mechanical behaviour of the soil. It was found that the site consists of predominantly loose to mildly dilative material and is very variable. Also, a Normal distribution was found to best represent the state parameter and a Lognormal distribution was found to best represent the tip resistance.The calibration of the constitutive model parameters was found to be challenging, as alternative approaches had to be adopted due to lack of appropriate test results available for the site. Single-variate random fields of state parameter were then linked to the constitutive model parameters based on the relationships found between them, and a parametric study of the abutment was then carried out by linking finite elements and random field theory within a Monte Carlo framework.It was found that, as the degree of anisotropy of the heterogeneity increases, the range of structural responses increases as well. For the isotropic cases, the range of responses was relatively smaller and tended to result in more localised failures. For the anisotropic cases, it was found that there are two different types of deformation mechanism. It was also found that, as the vertical scale of fluctuation becomes bigger, the range of possible structural responses increases and failure is more likely. Finally, it was found that the failed zones observed during the excavation of the West Guide Bund of the Jamuna Bridge Abutment could be closely predicted if heterogeneity was considered in the finite element analyses. In particular, it was found that, for such a natural deposit, a large degree of anisotropy (in the range of 20) could account for the deformation mechanisms observed on site.

Orientador: Lucia Merces de Avelar / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-18T16:52:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bonel_MonicaMaia_M.pdf: 7259287 bytes, checksum: b3f436be2891e7986966c0db341982f4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1993 / Resumo: O objetivo mais geral da pesquisa foi o de obter uma melhor compreensão do papel do Estado e da Administração do Ensino no Estado de São Paulo, no período de transição da Política Brasileira (1982/1990). Procurou-se compreender porque as políticas elaboradas e implementadas na área da educação, traduzidas em projetos e programas, no que se refere à melhoria da qualidade do ensino, não atingiram significativamente os objetivos desejados. Considerou-se mais os processos de decisão e implementação de determinada política do que os indicadores quantitativos de sucesso ou fracasso. o foco principal foi a análise dos mecanismos que se estabeleceram entre as propostas de governo, na área educacional, e o modo como a unidade escolar adaptou, incorporou ou resistiu a estas orientações. Dessa forma, foi analisado o principal programa da Secretaria de Educação do Estado de São Paulo, no período estudado - O Ciclo Básico. O estudo desenvolveu-se também em escolas selecionadas, uma vez que se pretendia conhecer o processo de reprodução desses mecanismos no interior da própria unidade escolar / Mestrado / Ciencias Sociais Aplicadas à Educação / Mestre em Educação

No description available.

No description available.

Yes / We examine links between factual recall, emotion and constructions of normativity in narrative accounts, using as an empirical case President Clinton's descriptions of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. We analyse those accounts in the sequences of talk in which they occurred, under Grand Jury cross-examination. Clinton's accounts of Lewinsky were part of how he attended to issues alive in court concerning himself, including his possible exploitation and abuse of power in an asymmetrical relationship; his motives, sincerity, credibility and intentions; and, indirectly, his fitness for office as President. Analysis focuses on how Clinton's portrayal of Lewinsky accomplished a reflexive portrayal of himself, not as mendacious and exploitative, but as caring, responsible, sincere, rational and consistent, while reducing the scope and implications of their admitted sexual relationship. This study is linked to a broader discursive psychology of factual description, memory, mental and emotional states, and their relevance to the larger business of institutional settings.

Santa Monica Bay and its vast beaches are important Los Angeles icons, while also providing significant ecosystem services to over millions of recreational visitors annually. Contaminated runoff from numerous watersheds surrounding the Bay, especially the 87% urbanized Ballona Creek Watershed, have historically resulted in poor water quality along areas of the Bay shoreline. Decades of monitoring for fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) along the Bay’s shoreline has been associated with NPDES wastewater discharge and stormwater programs. Many projects have been implemented throughout the watersheds (e.g. sewer improvements, biofiltration systems, low-flow diversions (LFDs)) to lessen flows of runoff from contaminating surf zone recreational waters. Despite decades of monitoring, there has been no long-term assessment of trends in shoreline FIB, especially in response to implementation of projects to improve water quality. The goal of this study was to assemble 30 years of monitoring data (1988-2017) for E. coli and enterococci to assess trends along the entire shoreline of Santa Monica Bay. Data were analyzed by calculating rolling 30-day geometric means, and comparing means by geographic subdivision, between wet and dry weather, and over time. Resulting trends for both E. coli and enterococci were: 1) concentrations peaked around 2005 when many stations shifted to sampling points where runoff mixed directly with surf zone water; 2) after 2005, concentrations fell to present levels, especially at beaches where LFDs were implemented; 3) concentrations were extremely variable during the 2016-17 wet season; 4) the north and central areas of the Bay, impacted by runoff from the Ballona Creek and Malibu Creek Watersheds, had greater concentrations relative to the south area; and 5) dry weather concentrations were steadily low, whereas wet weather displayed a higher degree of variability and may present a more significant challenge to meet water quality standards going forward. Implementation of LFDs and other best management practices to restrict polluted runoff from flowing into the surf zones of the Bay’s beaches most likely improved water quality throughout the Bay.

This study is about the artist Monica Sjoo’s (1938-2005) painting God giving birth (1968) that was accused of being blasphemous and obscene in the early 1970s. God giving birth could have had much in common with Niki de Saint-Phalle’s She – a cathedral (1966), both works suggesting a mother goddess image. The main difference however can be found in the fact that Monica Sjoo’s painting had connection to the women’s movement in the 1970s. Monica Sjoo’s artwork responded to other feminist artwork of that period. Among several feminist artists during the period about 1968-1985, an iconography was in use that focused on vulvar imagery, experience of childbirth and goddess images. In particulary the mother goddess was embraced. The female body in art was re-sacred and invested with meaning connected with women’s cycles of birth-death and rebirth and the earth as a mother goddess.