Thèse d'exercice : Pharmacie : Université de Nantes : 2003. / Bibliogr. f. 113-119 [78 réf.].

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Public Policy and Administration. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 230-254.

Fermented silage was prepared from a mixture of minced tiiapias (Oreochromis spp. ), different carbohydrate substrates (molasses, corn flour, tapioca flour) and Lactobacillus plantarum as inoculum, incubated anaerobically for 30 days at 5°-35°C. The pH and protein solubilization were temperature-dependent, and the source of carbohydrate substrate did not affect non-protein nitrogen (NPN) content or proximate composition of tilapla silage. During storage at 30°C for 180 days, NPN content increased and there was 8-11% loss of tryptophan. Moist diets containing tilapla silage (stored up to 60 days) were fed to Clarias gariepinus and differences in growth and protein utilization were demonstrated, but there were no effects on body composition. Partial replacement of fish meal with co-dried tilapla silage and soybean flour blend (FSS: BF) in dry diets supported growth and protein utilization similar to the control treatment. Fish growth and protein utilization were reduced with total replacement of fish meal. Apparent protein digestibility decreased with Increasing dietary level of co-dried FSS: BF. Carcass composition was not affected and morphological defects were not observed. Co-dried tilapla silage blended with soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, hydrolysed feather meal or meat and bone meal (FSS: BM, FSP: BM, FSH: FM, FSM: BM) (providing 50% of the dietary protein) In dry diets fed to Oreochromis niloticus and Clarias gariepinus gave differences In growth, protein utilization and digestibility, and apparent energy digestibility. Carcass composition was not affected by silage blend and histological examination of exocrine pancreas, liver and Intestine tissues did not show any lesions suggestive of nutritional imbalance. Haematocrit, haemoglobin content and mean cell haemoglobin concentration values showed no differences among the treatments. The results indicated that fermented tilapla silage is a suitable protein supplement in moist or dry diets for Oreochromis niloticus and Clarias gariepinus, without affecting feed efficiency, fish growth or health.

No description available.

The aim of this research is to investigate the application of nonlinear programming techniques to multipurpose reservoir systems. A multipurpose multiple reservoir operation problem is a typical nonlinear large scale optimization problem. The currently applied techniques overcome the nonlinearity and dimensionality problems through simplification. To model the problem more closely, a successful trial is made in this study to apply the most efficient and suitable nonlinear programming techniques. Although research in large scale nonlinear optimization has been in recent'years a major subject of interest within the mathematical programming community, its application to reservoir systems is very limited. As a result of these activities software packages, as Lancelot, have been developed. Lancelot is a general purpose software package designed for solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. It uses Augmented Lagrangian and Conjugate Gradient methods. This software is used here successfully to solve an optimization problem formulated for a major river system, the Blue Nile in Sudan. The system has two in series reservoirs used for hydropower generation, maintaining minimum downstream flows and irrigation. For optimization, some features of the system have been modelled. These are sedimentation, evaporation, demand and flow. To represent the effect of sedimentation a model is fitted and verified. To include the effect of evaporation a model that estimates the total evaporation losses is fitted using Penman approach and verified using water balance. To cope with flow uncertainty the Blue Nile flow has been modelled. ARMA(1,1) has given the best fitting. Irrigation requirements have been estimated using Penman- Monteith approach. Efficiency of water use has been investigated and other possible demand scenarios resulting from efficient water use are obtained. The results of flow and demand modelling are used as direct input to the optimization model while sedimentation and evaporation models are incorporated in the model. The objective of this model is to maximise power benefits on condition that certain irrigation and downstream requirements be met. To solve this problem a double precision version of Lancelot was installed in a hp-UNIX system. For the problem a specification and a standard input format, SEF, files were written and put under the same directory with Lancelot to run the program. The problem was solved successfully in few minutes. The solution includes values for the objective function, decision variables (releases and storage volumes), penalty parameter, Lagrange multipliers and slack variables. The optimization output is affected by reservoir sedimentation. Therefore the developed optimization and sedimentation models have been linked to investigate sedimentation effect on optimization on output along the course of reservoir operation. Results have shown that this approach can be used to investigate the effect of sedimentation on reservoir optimum output. In, a multipurpose reservoir system, the optimization output for one purpose is affected by the efficiency of water use for other purposes. Therefore the effect of efficient water use in irrigation on power benefits is investigated. Results have shown an increment in benefits due to using irrigation water efficiently. This approach can be applied to systems where priority is given for one purpose over the others.

West Nile virus (WNV) has a worldwide distribution, with this virus having been isolated on all continents except Antarctica. The recent emergence of highly pathogenic strains of WNV associated with increased rates of neurological disease is of great concern given this broad distribution of the virus. Although two vaccines have been licensed for veterinary use, no prophylactic measures have been approved for humans. Similarly, no antivirals are currently available for post-exposure treatment of WNV. Indeed, few therapeutic agents have shown promise when administered after WNV infection in animal models. KUNV is a highly attenuated, Australasian lineage 1 strain of WNV. This attenuation is mediated in part by the limited neuroinvasiveness of this virus. Phylogenetically, KUNV clusters with pathogenic lineage 1 WNV strains, including the isolates which have been associated with 997 deaths in North America since 1999. Recently, it was shown that mice exposed to KUNV were effectively protected from challenge with pathogenic WNV. The KUNV strain used in that study possessed a single amino acid substitution in NS1 protein that affected oligomerization of this protein, resulting in reduced virus replication in vitro and increased attenuation in mice. In the present study, further characterization of this attenuation marker in NS1 protein was undertaken to determine whether it is suitable for inclusion in a live-attenuated KUNV vaccine. Similarly, mapping of the residues that contribute to the dimerization domain surrounding NS1 protein was performed to identify other potential attenuation markers for stabilization of KUNV attenuation. The mutant viruses created in this study also were manipulated to characterize the role of NS1 protein dimerization in flavivirus replication. The results of this work indicate that NS1 protein dimerization is not absolutely required for virus replication or production of secreted oligomers of NS1 protein, which are important for eliciting protective humoral responses. Although replication of KUNV was found to be highly dependent on retention of the conserved amino acid sequence within the dimerization domain, two mutant viruses were generated by introducing substitutions at residue 250 of NS1 protein. The resultant viruses demonstrated reduced replication in vitro and attenuation in mice. Similarly, a non-conservative substitution in NS2A, which was previously shown to reduce the resistance of KUNV to the host interferon response, was able to attenuate KUNV in mice. Inoculation of adult mice with viruses containing mutations at either site afforded complete protection from lethal WNV challenge. However, the substitutions described in the dimerization domain of NS1 protein were unstable, with restoration of virulence being observed in mutant viruses after limited passaging in vitro. Concerns over the stability of attenuating mutations in KUNV and the time taken to characterize new attenuation markers prompted the evaluation of a novel approach to the development of rationally-designed flavivirus vaccines. The introduction of large complements of synonymous codon substitutions reduced KUNV replication in vertebrate cells. Escape mutations were not observed in a KUNV vaccine candidate containing 37 rare codons after repeated passaging in vertebrate cells at a low MOI. Replication of KUNV in C6/36 cells was unaffected by the introduction of large numbers of rare codons, indicating that this cell line exerts limited selective pressure on the codon composition of this virus. This observation indicates that C6/36 cells may be a useful cell line for the propagation of viruses containing this type of mutation. Finally, three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) which bind to WNV envelope (E) protein were observed to potently neutralize the pathogenic NY99 strain of WNV. Passive administration of one of these antibodies was shown to afford mice protection even when administered seven days after challenge with WNV NY99 strain. Remarkably, this is the same time that mortality is first observed in control groups. These antibodies mapped to the putative receptor binding domain (domain 3) of E protein. However, these antibodies were found to block virus replication at a stage after receptor-binding. Homology modeling was used to propose a mechanism for the blockade of virus infection mediated by MAb binding. This study describes the development and characterization of a promising new vaccine as well as candidate immunotherapeutics for the prophylaxis and post-exposure treatment of WNV disease. This work described herein also has implications for the development of vaccines and antivirals for other flaviviral diseases.

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." Under the direction of William S. Irby. ETD. Electronic version approved: May 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 36-39)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 96-105)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-147).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 14, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-104).