Propõe-se neste trabalho analisar as elaborações culturais relativas à política externa estadunidense no seriado televisivo Jornada nas Estrelas: Nova Geração em sua primeira temporada (1987-1988), produzido em um momento de mudanças históricas em que um discurso político de nova ordem mundial estava sendo gestado. Expectativas do fim da Guerra Fria trariam consigo, como evento simbólico, a necessidade de uma nova elaboração simbólica das relações entre Estados Unidos e o mundo. Assim, esta pesquisa buscou discernir na série as características de uma estrutura discursiva diferente dos discursos de guerra e paz mais típicos do período de Guerra Fria na ficção científica. Articulando-se, na série, com os temas da ajuda humanitária e da não interferência, articulação ambígua aqui denominada de militarismo benfazejo, o discurso do seriado antecede um debate que se intensifica na década de 1990 sobre a aceitação ou não do princípio de interferência em outros Estados por via das causas humanitárias. Na tentativa de acompanhar a dispersão do discurso de guerra e paz no campo discursivo, procurou-se ampliar a análise para as articulações discursivas de guerra e paz em ramos discursivos não ficcionais, mantendo como foco o discurso do seriado, na análise minuciosa de sua construção e da forma como este articulou valores pertinentes ao seu discurso de guerra e paz. Buscou-se nas narrativas das imagens o que se evidenciou como a formulação de um novo objeto simbólico para a política externa estadunidense daquele momento. / This work analyzes cultural elaborations relative to American international affairs in the first season of the television series Star Trek: the Next Generation (1987-1988). That moment of historical changes saw the dawn of a new world order discourse. Expectations of a nearing end to the Cold War brought forth the need of new symbolic elaborations concerning the relations between the United States and the rest of the world. Thus, this research aimed to pinpoint the features of a new war and peace discursive structure, differing, comparatively, from the war and peace discourses proper to Cold War culture. Preceding the intense 1990s debate about the admission of the principle of intervention in other states on humanitarian grounds, the series associates its war and peace discourse with themes of humanitarianism and non-interference in an ambiguous symbolic articulation here denominated benevolent militarism. In an attempt to follow its dispersion in the discursive field that permeates fictional and non-fictional discursivities, the discursive articulation of war and peace was, at least in part, observed in other fictional and non-fictional constructs. Yet, the main focus was kept on the series: a detailed analysis of its symbolic, imagerial and narrative construction was carried out, leading to the investigation of the ways in which the series articulated values pertaining to its war and peace discourse. This work addresses what seems to be partaking in the beginnings of the formulation of a new symbolic object of the American international affairs at the time.

O presente estudo visa a identificar os fatores institucionais que influenciaram a adoção de um Centro de Serviços Compartilhados em uma unidade organizacional de uma empresa brasileira pertencente ao setor de tabaco, tendendo a inibir, favorecer ou condicionar sua implementação. Tendo como elementos metodológicos predominantes a abordagem descritiva, qualitativa e o estudo de caso, a presente pesquisa busca embasamento teórico nas concepções da Nova Sociologia Institucional e na literatura disponível sobre serviços compartilhados a fim de averiguar os tipos de motivações predominantes para a adoção do CSC, sejam elas relacionadas à procura por eficiência ou legitimidade. Este trabalho também objetiva identificar os tipos de pressões institucionais presentes e predominantes na ocasião da adoção do CSC, verificar a presença ou não de decoupling e investigar se esses fatores inibem, favorecem ou, de alguma forma, condicionam a implementação do CSC. Os resultados demonstram que a busca por legitimidade é a motivação predominante na primeira fase de transição ao CSC, sendo que, na segunda fase, destaca-se a exigência de eficiência. Predominam as pressões institucionais miméticas na ocasião da adoção e as pressões coercitivas são interpretadas de forma positiva pelos gestores e colaboradores; não há decoupling; e, por fim, os achados demonstram que tais fatores favorecem a implementação do CSC. / This study aims to identify the institutional factors influencing the adoption of a Shared Services Center in an organizational unit of a Brazilian company belonging to the tobacco industry, which tended to inhibit, promote or constrain its implementation. With the methodological elements prevailing the descriptive and qualitative approach and the case study, this research seeks theoretical foundation in the concepts of the New Institutional Sociology and in the available literature on shared services in order to investigate the predominant types of motivations for the adoption of the SSC, whether related to the search for efficiency or legitimacy. This study also intends to identify the types of prevailing institutional pressures at the time of adoption of the SSC, verify the presence or absence of decoupling and investigate whether these factors inhibit, promote or somehow condition the implementation of SSC. The results demonstrate that the search for legitimacy is the predominant reason in the first stage of transition to the shared services model, while in the second one, it stands out the requirement of efficiency. Mimetic institutional pressures are prevalent at the time of adoption and coercive pressures are interpreted positively by managers and employees; there is not decoupling; and finally, the findings demonstrate that such factors favor the implementation of the SSC.

Orientador: Semíramis Guimarães Ferraz Viana / Resumo: Giardia duodenalis é um dos principais agentes etiológicos de diarreia infecciosa, sobretudo em crianças em idade pré-escolar que vivem em comunidades de baixa renda. Estudos da diversidade genética de G. duodenalis ampliaram o conhecimento da epidemiologia nas infecções humanas, entretanto um dos temas mais interessantes e menos conhecidos é a possível interação de Giardia com o microbioma do hospedeiro e com patógenos concomitantes. No presente estudo, avaliou-se a composição e a diversidade da comunidade bacteriana de crianças saudáveis e crianças com diarreia, parasitadas por Giardia e outros protozoários intestinais. Os isolados de Giardia obtidos nessa população foram caracterizados geneticamente. Amostras de fezes foram obtidas de 181 crianças de 0 a 6 anos de idade, das quais 156 crianças hígidas atendidas em centros de educação infantil e 25 crianças com diarreia atendidas no PS Infantil Municipal. Cada amostra de fezes foi processada para o exame microscópico e submetida à extração de DNA a ser empregado em duas etapas distintas: (1) amplificação e sequenciamento Sanger para a caracterização genética de Giardia e o diagnóstico de Blastocystis sp, Dientamoeba fragilis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi e Cryptosporidium spp. e (2) amplificação do gene 16s RNA ribossomal e sequenciamento de nova geração (plataforma Illumina MiSeq) para a caracterização da microbiota intestinal. Giardia (36,5%) e Blastocystis (41,7%) foram os parasitas mais prevalentes. A caracterização genética... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Giardia duodenalis is one of the major etiological agents of infectious diarrhea, especially in preschool children living in low-income settings. Studies focused on genetic diversity of G. duodenalis have provided insights for a better understanding of epidemiology in human infections. However, one of the most interesting and least known issues is the possible interplay between Giardia and the host microbiome and concomitant pathogens. In this work, we evaluated the diversity and composition of bacterial community of healthy children and children presenting with diarrhea infected by Giardia and/or other intestinal protozoa. In addition, Giardia isolates infecting this population were genotyping. A total of 181 stool samples from children aged 0 to 6 years old (156 from daycare children and 25 from diarrheic children attending in an emergence pediatric center) were tested by microscopic examination and submitted to DNA extraction for the following steps: (1) conventional PCR/sequencing for Giardia genotyping and the diagnosis of Blastocystis sp, Dientamoeba fragilis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Cryptosporidium spp and (2) next-generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) based analysis of intestinal microbiota. Giardia (36.5%) and Blastocystis (41.7%) were the most prevalent parasites. Analysis of Giardia sequences retrieved from 61 isolates revealed infections by assemblages A (31%), B (69%) and mixed infections A+B (3%). Metagenomic analyzes revealed similarity of bacterial microb... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Os hormônios tireoidianos (HTs) desempenham um papel importante em diversos processos, tais como o crescimento, desenvolvimento e metabolismo dos tecidos em geral. Embora estudos tenham demonstrado que os HTs agem diretamente nas células foliculares da tireoide reduzindo sua resposta ao TSH, pouco se sabe, a nível molecular, sobre essa e outras ações dos HTs na própria glândula tireoide. Nesse sentido, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar alterações no perfil de expressão gênica nas células foliculares tireoidianas (células PCCl3) em reposta ao tratamento com triiodotironina (T3). Após atingir confluência desejada, as células PCCl3 foram mantidas em meio depletado de HTs (grupo Hipo) por 24h. Após esse período, parte das células foi tratada com 10-7M de T3 (grupo T3) por 24 h. As células foram, então, lisadas para extração de RNA total para análise do transcriptoma, por RNAseq. Foi obtido como resultado, uma lista de genes diferencialmente expressos da qual foram selecionados cinco genes para validação in vitro (novo lote de células PCCl3 submetidas às mesmas condições descritas acima) e in vivo [ratos Wistar (250g), tratados por 4 semanas com T3 (1,5 μg/100g de peso corporeo; grupo hipertireoideo) ou PTU (10 μg/100g de peso corporeo; grupo hipotireoideo): o Slc16a1, que codifica o MCT8, responsável pelo transporte de T3 através da membrana, o Snrpd1, 9-March, Pfdn1 e Fam103a1, que codificam proteínas envolvidas no controle pós-transcricional e pós-traducional da expressão gênica. O tratamento com T3 estimulou a expressão dos genes Snrpd1, Pfdn1 e Fam103a1, enquanto reduziu a expressão de 9-March e Slc16a1. Juntos esses resultados demonstram a existência de um efeito autócrino exercido pelo T3 sobre o controle do seu próprio turnover proteico. / Thyroid hormones (HTs) play an important role in many processes, such as growth, development and metabolism of tissues in general. Although studies have shown that HTs act directly on follicular thyroid cells reducing their response to TSH, little is known, at the molecular level, about this and other actions of HTs in the thyroid gland itself. In this sense, the aim of the present study was to evaluate changes in the gene expression profile in the thyroid follicular cells (PCCl3 cells) in response to triiodothyronine (T3) treatment. After reaching 60% confluence, PCCl3 cells were maintained in HT depleted medium (Hypo group) for 24h. After this time, part of the cells was treated with 10-7M T3 (T3 group) for 24 h. Cells were then lysed for total RNA extraction for transcriptome analysis by RNAseq. As a result, a list of differentially expressed genes from which five genes for in vitro validation (PCCl3 cells under the same conditions described above) and in vivo [Wistar rats (250g), treated for 4 weeks with T3 (1.5 &um;g / 100 g body weight, hyperthyroid group) or PTU (10 &um;g / 100 g body weight; hypothyroid group): Slc16a1, which encodes MCT8, responsible for the transport of T3 through the membrane, Snrpd1, 9-March, Pfdn1 and Fam103a1, which encode proteins involved in post-transcriptional and post-translational control of gene expression. T3 treatment stimulated the expression of the Snrpd1, Pfdn1 and Fam103a1 genes, while reducing the expression of 9-March and Slc16a1. Together these results demonstrate the existence of an autocrine effect exerted by T3 on the control of its own protein turnover.

<p>Sutherlandia frutescens (tribe Galegeae, Fabaceae), is a popular medicinal plant traditionally used in South Africa. In 2000, a company called Phyto Nova (Pty) Ltd. initiated large-scale cultivation and contract manufacturing of tablets, made from the powdered herb (i.e. thin stems and leaves). Most of these commercial Sutherlandia solid dosage forms are made from the dried leaf powder but recently a new product, viz. Promune&trade / capsules, made from a freeze-dried aqueous extract, came on the market and was claimed to be &ldquo / better&rdquo / as it mimics the traditional tea. However, the pharmaceutical quality and stability of these preparations have not yet been investigated. The objectives of this study were firstly, to develop a validated stability-indicating HPLC assay for sutherlandioside B (SU-B) / secondly, to compare the SU-B levels in the two commercially available Sutherlandia products viz, the Phyto Nova Sutherlandia SU1&trade / tablet and the Promune&trade / capsule, and, thirdly, to determine the effect of elevated temperature and humidity as well as acid hydrolysis on the SU-B levels in these two products.</p>

ResumEl procés de mundialització econòmica, la revolució tecnològica digital i els nous patrons de demanda assenten les bases d'una nova economia, que es caracteritza per una massiva incorporació del coneixement a l'activitat econòmica. Podem afirmar, doncs, que la nova economia és l'economia del coneixement i que l'economia del coneixement és global, digital i amb una creixent demanda de mercaderies amb caràcter intangible. Aquest treball d'investigació analitza, des d'un punt de vista del'anàlisi econòmica, però amb un enfocament necessàriament interdisciplinari, les transformacions de l'activitat productiva vinculades amb l'ús intensiu del coneixement. Amb la intenció d'evidenciar empíricament com el coneixement s'ha revelat com un factor productiu i una mercaderia de progressiva importància econòmica a partir de la segona meitat de la dècada dels noranta a un ampli conjunt de països de l'OCDE i partint de la literatura sobre els fets i les fonts del creixement econòmics'han contrastat les següents hipòtesis. Primera, l'aplicació econòmica de les TIC defineix unaeconomia basada en el coneixement. Segona, la massiva incorporació de les TIC a l'activitateconòmica defineix un nou esquema en la producció de coneixement. I, tercera, el coneixement és unfactor productiu determinant del nivell i del creixement de la productivitat i, en conseqüència, del creixement econòmic. / El proceso de mundialización económica, la revolución tecnológica digital y los nuevos patrones dedemanda sientan las bases de una nueva economía, que se caracteriza por la masiva incorporación delconocimiento a la actividad económica. Podemos afirmar, pues, que la nueva economía es la economíadel conocimiento y que la economía del conocimiento es global, digital y con una demanda crecientede mercancías con carácter intangible. Este trabajo de investigación analiza, desde el punto de vistadel análisis económico, pero con un enfoque interdisciplinario, las transformaciones de la actividadproductiva vinculadas con el uso intensivo del conocimiento. Con la intención de evidenciarempíricamente como el conocimiento se ha revelado como un factor productivo y una mercancía deprogresiva importancia económica a partir de la segunda mitad de la década de los noventa en unamplio conjunto de países de la OCDE y partiendo de la literatura sobre los hechos y las fuentes delcrecimiento económico se han contrastado las siguientes hipótesis. Primera, la aplicación económicade las TIC define una economía basada en el conocimiento. Segunda, la masiva incorporación de lasTIC a la actividad económica define un nuevo esquema en la producción de conocimiento. Y, tercera,el conocimiento es un factor productivo determinante en la explicación del nivel y el crecimiento de laproductividad y, en consecuencia, del crecimiento económico.

The research has explored the reality of generational renewal in agriculture in order to understand the entry process, the agricultural practices of young people and their attitudes toward a new agrosocial paradigm. The methodology combined qualitative and quantitative techniques based on a comparative analysis between Southern Ontario (Canada) and Catalonia (Spain). The first result is that the pathway to become a farmer is a process consisting of different phases where each profile shows different needs and abilities. The second result verifies how the practices and attitudes of young people vary depending on the family origin. The thesis also analyzes the most relevant results in policy terms. Finally the research shows the reality of an emerging group of young farmers who put in practice a new agrosocial paradigm. This group is made up by continuers and newcomers and we have called them "New peasantry". / La tesi doctoral ha explorat la realitat del relleu generacional de l’activitat agrària per entendre el procés d’incorporació, les pràctiques agràries de les persones joves i les actituds vers un nou paradigma agrosocial. La metodologia combina tècniques qualitatives i quantitatives a partir d'una anàlisi comparatiu entre el sudoest d'Ontario (Canadà) i les comarques gironines (Catalunya). El primer resultat és que el camí d’incorporació és un procés format per diferents fases on cada perfil de jove mostra unes necessitats i unes aptituds diferents. El segon resultat verifica com les pràctiques i les actituds dels joves varien en funció de l’origen familiar. La tesi també analitza les implicacions en termes politics dels resultats més rellevants. Finalment es mostra la realitat d’un grup emergent de joves que s’incorporen a l’activitat agraria possant en pràctica un nou paradigma agrosocial. Aquest grup emergent està format per pagesia tradicional i nouvinguda i s’anomena “Nova pagesia”.

Man-made wetlands are often created to compensate for the loss or degradation of natural wetlands, but little is known about the processes taking place in these artificial environments, especially at the community level. Throughout this thesis, we have assessed the phenomena of primary succession over different time (short-, mid- and long-term) and spatial scales (local, regional, interregional levels), applying different approaches (taxonomic and functional) and subject groups (invertebrates and amphibians). Our main findings regarding time scales show a 3-phase successional pattern in Mediterranean man-made wetlands’ communities, where at the short term (1 year) colonization processes dominate; at mid term perspectives (2 to 7 years) succession signs begin to be conspicuous, and later on (≥ 10 years) parameters such as species richness reach an asymptote. At that moment, some biological strategies dominate, and biodiversity surrogates indicate that communities are indistinct between man-made and natural wetlands. Regarding spatial effects, we corroborated that both local and regional factors affect the establishing communities. Particularly, the low hydrological stability of the Mediterranean region has enhanced biological traits favoring resilience and resistance to disturbances when comparing Mediterranean and cold temperate aquatic communities. Even within the Mediterranean region, low levels of hydrological stability have significant effects on the successional dynamics. In these cases, local communities are highly nested within regional natural ones, and so are not able to make net contributions to regional richness. We also showed the influence of the regional pool of recruiters over local communities, both in the case of invertebrates and amphibians. Especially for the latter group, man-made Mediterranean temporary ponds (MTPs) can play an important role in their conservation. / Les zones humides de nova creació són sovint concebudes per compensar la pèrdua i degradació de les naturals, però el coneixement dels processos que tenen lloc en aquests ambients artificials encara és superficial, especialment a nivell de comunitat. Al llarg d’aquesta tesi, hem analitzat el fenomen de la successió primària a diferents escales temporals (a curt, mitjà i llarg termini) i a diferents escales espacials (a nivell local, regional i interregional), mitjançant diverses aproximacions (taxonòmiques i funcionals) i subjectes (invertebrats i amfibis). Les nostres aportacions pel que fa a les escales temporals mostren un patró de successió basat en 3 fases, on a curt termini (1 any) dominen els processos de colonització; en perspectives de mitjà termini (2 a 7 anys) els signes de successió comencen a ser conspicus, i més tard (≥ 10 anys) paràmetres com la riquesa d’espècies arriben a una asímptota. En aquesta fase avançada, algunes estratègies biològiques dominen, i els índexs de biodiversitat indiquen que les comunitats poden ser indistintes entre les llacunes naturals i les de nova creació. Pel que fa als efectes espacials, hem corroborat que tant factors locals com regionals afecten les comunitats que s’hi estableixen. En particular, la baixa estabilitat hidrològica de la regió Mediterrània ha afavorit trets biològics que proveeixen resiliència i resistència enfront de pertorbacions, sobretot quan es comparen amb les comunitats pròpies del clima temperat fred. Fins i tot dins la mateixa regió Mediterrània, nivells baixos d’estabilitat hidrològica poden tenir efectes importants en la dinàmica de la successió. En aquests casos, les comunitats locals estan altament aniuades en les naturals a nivell regional, i per tant difícilment poden fer contribucions netes a la riquesa regional. També hem mostrat la influència del pool regional de colonitzadors sobre les comunitats locals, tant en el cas dels invertebrats com en el dels amfibis. Especialment per aquest darrer grup, les Basses Temporànies Mediterrànies (BTMs) de nova creació poden jugar un paper important per a la seva conservació.

Network Utility Maximization (NUM) provides a key conceptual framework to study reward allocation amongst a collection of users/entities in disciplines as diverse as economics, law and engineering. However when the available resources and/or users' utilities vary over time, reward allocations will tend to vary, which in turn may have a detrimental impact on the users' overall satisfaction or quality of experience. In this thesis, we introduce a generalization of the NUM framework which incorporates the detrimental impact of temporal variability in a user's allocated rewards and explicitly incorporates Mean-Variability-Fairness tradeoffs, i.e., tradeoffs amongst the mean and variability in users' reward allocations, as well as fairness across users. We propose a simple online algorithm to realize these tradeoffs, which, under stationary ergodic assumptions, is shown to be asymptotically optimal, i.e., achieves a long term performance equal to that of an offline algorithm with knowledge of the future variability in the system. This substantially extends work on NUM to an interesting class of relevant problems where users/entities are sensitive to temporal variability in their service or allocated rewards. We extend the theoretical framework and tools developed for realizing Mean-Variability-Fairness tradeoffs to develop a simple online algorithm to solve the problem of optimizing video delivery in networks. The tremendous increase in mobile video traffic projected for the future along with insufficiency of available wireless network capacity makes this one of the most important networking problems today. Specifically, we consider a network supporting video clients streaming stored video, and focus on the problem of jointly optimizing network resource allocation and video clients' video quality adaptation. Our objective is to fairly maximize video clients' video Quality of Experience (QoE) realizing Mean-Variability-Fairness tradeoffs, incorporating client preferences on rebuffering time and the cost of video delivery. We present a simple asymptotically optimal online algorithm NOVA (Network Optimization for Video Adaptation) to solve the problem. Our algorithm uses minimal communication, 'distributes' the tasks of network resource allocation to a centralized network controller, and video clients' video quality adaptation to the respective video clients. Further, the quality adaptation is also optimal for standalone video clients, and is an asynchronous algorithm well suited for use in the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) framework. We also extend NOVA for use with more general video QoE models, and study NOVA accounting for practical considerations like time varying number of video clients, sharing with other types of traffic, performance under legacy resource allocation policies, videos with variable sized segments etc. / text

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