Research in organizational identity as pioneered by Albert and Whetten (1985) provides that organizational identity is central, enduring and distinctive. As Gioia et al. (2013) put it, “what we know about organizational identity, including its dynamic aspects, is based on the study of organizations located within a single and uniform geographic market (U.S./European) and/or stable institutional environment (developed markets)” (p. 180). This study thus carries research in organizational identity forward by locating it at an integrated food manufacturing company, Feed Me Ventures Limited, in the non-western, developing country, Nigeria. As businesses expand globally, it becomes pertinent for global organizations and managers in organizations outside the West to become aware of possibly divergent forms of organizational identity and formation processes that may exist. Nigeria is a community faced with unstable and corrupt leadership, a volatile economy directly impacted by its own created as well as global instabilities as well as a culture that is very different from those of the communities in which organizational identity has traditionally been studied. To accomplish the goals of this study, an inductive analysis is conducted using ethnographic observation, document analysis and grounded theory interviewing. This method is deemed most appropriate as this is an exploratory study to find what organizational identity may look like in Nigeria. Findings provide that while the conceptualization of organizational identity in the literature hold true, the environment greatly affects organizational identity. The founder of Feed Me Ventures Limited had developed organizational identity in direct opposition to societal values thereby emphasizing the distinctiveness dimension of organizational identity more than would normally be expected. Also, there is an adaptational dimension to organizational identity at Feed Me Ventures Limited which allows it to adapt to different needs in the environment in order to survive and retain its core identity. This is similar to adaptive instability which is already established in the literature except that at Feed Me Ventures Limited, when new identity dimensions are adapted in reaction to the environment, these dimensions only serve to help the organization retain its core identity. Furthermore, the relationship between organizational identity claims and organizational identity understanding among organizational members revealed the existence of an organizational identity gap (OI gap). This refers to a situation where claims about “who we are” from senior management does not align with understanding of “who we are” by organizational members. Also interesting is that social constructionist views about organizational identity being developed through the interactions of organizational members is found to be true at Feed Me Ventures Limited where organizational members, in their social interactions, begin to form notions of “who we are” that are not derived from claims about “who we are” from management. This study concludes that it is important for organizational leaders to acknowledge environment variables, engage in organizational diagnosis to find OI gaps and consider further this concept of adaptation and how this might serve organizations in environments similar to Nigeria.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heterogeneous disease of connective tissue, the cardinal symptom being fractures and severity ranging from mild to lethal. Dominant mutations in collagen I, encoded by COL1A1 and COL1A2, cause >90% of cases. To delineate genotype-phenotype correlations and pharmaco-genetic response, collagen I was sequenced in 150 unrelated Swedish families and clinical data were collected in Paper I. Mutation type, gene affected, and N- to C-terminal location correlated with phenotype and severity. Bisphosphonate response assessed by calculated yearly change in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) was inversely related to age and BMD at treatment initiation. Mutations associated with a more severe phenotype exhibited an increased response after 2 years; however, all types of OI responded well. To investigate the effect of naturally occurring variations in collagen I, the only common coding single nucleotide polymorphism (rs42524 in COL1A2) was genotyped in 2004 healthy men in Paper II. Heterozygous genotype was associated with decreased BMD and an increased risk of stroke. An adolescent with repeated fractures despite a markedly high BMD harbored a unique C-terminal procollagen cleavage-site mutation in COL1A1, which motivated extensive investigations in concert with a similar COL1A2 case in Paper III. The probands were found to have impaired procollagen processing, incorporation of collagen with retained C-propeptide in matrix and increased mineral to matrix ratio, which demonstrates that C-propeptide cleavage is crucial to normal bone mineralization and structure. Bisphosphonate therapy has insufficient effect in OI, and as classical OI is a dominant disorder severe cases would benefit from silencing of the mutated allele. In Paper IV and V small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) were used to allele-specifically target primary human bone cells heterozygous for I) a coding polymorphism in COL1A2 and II) insertion/deletions in the 3’UTR of COL1A1 and COL1A2. Results were promising with altered allele ratios and decreased mRNA levels in the predicted fashion. To summarize, this thesis found that collagen I is crucial to bone and connective tissue and that collagen I mutations create markedly diverse phenotypes. Age, BMD and pharmaco-genetic effects influence the response to bisphosphonate therapy in individuals with OI; however, novel approaches are needed. Utilizing allele-specific siRNAs may be a way forward in the treatment of severe OI.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:16:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Beatriz de Araujo Britto.pdf: 515141 bytes, checksum: 41630fb51e967b104dfaca949b5894cb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-28 / Analyze the relation between media´s discourse and the action of the theatral group Ói Nóis Aqui Traveiz, from Porto Alegre. The media which tries to territorialize the Ói Nóis´s practice throught the use of clichés and words of order, orders and commands which enforce an order; and the actions´s group as a minor mode, movement of deterritorialization where the sense becomes production, to go beyond representation´s idea. The anaysis was based on philosophy of difference, more precisely the Deleuze and Guattari´s work, A Thousand Plateaus, with concepts such as becoming, ritornelo, body without organs, rhizoma. The work trying also to detect some procedures of Ói Nóis´s theatrical language as means to produce new subjectivisations´s forms. The creation´s act and the art as a becoming space, which breaks the fixed significations and the values established by the majority / O foco desta tese é o estudo da relação dos discursos da mídia com a ação do grupo teatral Ói nóis Aqui Traveiz, de Porto Alegre. Em nossa abordagem a mídia será considerada aqui por suas estratégias de biopoder poder sobre a vida , em contraposição à ação de alteridade, de desterritorialização em que o sentido torna-se produção para além da idéia de representação a biopotência. É do contrachoque entre estes dois territórios, o fixo e o móvel, que brechas podem surgir, potencializando os pontos de resistência do grupo presentes também nas redes de poder. Mais especificamente, a tese analisa a relação do grupo com a mídia jornalística; como se processa a reação da imprensa em relação à linguagem do grupo e à intervenção em diversas manifestações culturais e políticas da cidade, aspectos sócio-culturais e políticos que influem na recepção da mídia em relação à atuação do grupo dentro da comunidade . Para pensar este contraponto a tese se vale da filosofia da diferença, mais precisamente da obra de Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari quando estes expõem a fórmula do devir e sua concatenação, sobretudo, com a idéia de ritornelo e corpo sem órgãos, tal qual apresentada em Mil Platôs. Para dar concretude à dinâmica dos conceitos implicados, a tese traz a análise da natureza dos diferentes discursos na relação cenamídia. Busca também detectar alguns dos principais procedimentos da prática cênica do grupo e seu histórico, investigando também até que ponto tais procedimentos podem potencializar uma estratégia de biopotência através da linha de fuga dos processos de subjetivação. Partimos do princípio de que a ação do grupo pode se tornar uma possibilidade de fuga das potências de controle (Estado, Comunicação, TV), uma estratégia de resistência a essas potências, à homogeneização do pensamento, na medida em que busque liberar os automatismos da percepção e os hábitos perceptivos já cristalizados. O ato de criação e a arte serão vistos como espaço do devir, que rompe com os significados pré-fixados, os códigos e valores estabelecidos pela razão do aparelho de Estado, devir-minoritário como desvio padrão dominante, processo pelo qual o grupo se subtrai à maioria. Outras referências importantes para a tese são a obra de Michel Foucault, no que tange à relação entre discurso, dispositivos de normalização e estruturas de poder, bem como a subversão destas mesmas estruturas como prática de resistência às estratégias de biopoder. A noção de metafísica da linguagem como signos de forças, da obra de Artaud. Por fim, também serão referências as obras de Peter Pál Pelbart referentes ao contraponto biopoder-biopotência

O presente trabalho visa calcular o valor justo da OI S/A, empresa nacional provedora de serviços de telecomunicação, por meio do modelo de avaliação de empresas conhecido com fluxo de caixa descontado. A metodologia para atingir o objetivo da pesquisa passa pelas etapas de conhecimento do negócio, análise das demonstrações financeiras, análise do ambiente de negócios, elaboração de premissas e, por fim, o cálculo do valor justo. / The present paper aims to calculate the fair value from OI S/A, a national company provider of telecommunication services, through the valuation model known as discounted cash flow. The methodology to achieve the research objective passes through the stages of business knowledge, financial statement analysis, analysis of the business environment, developing assumptions and, finally, the estimated fair value. / MBA (especialização em Finanças) - Ibmec Business School, Rio de Janeiro, 2014. / Bibliografia: p. 37-39.

No description available.

L’encéphalomyélite myalgique (EM) est une maladie complexe, multi-systémique et débilitante, dont l’étiologie est inconnue. D’une personne atteinte d’encéphalomyélite myalgique (PAEM) à l’autre, les symptômes varient en fréquence et en sévérité créant ainsi une grande hétérogénéité clinique entre les individus. Un sous-groupe de PAEM vivent des épisodes d’intolérance orthostatique (IO) ou vivent avec une comorbidité de syndrome de tachycardie orthostatique posturale (POTS), deux conditions qui sont mal comprises. Le malaise après-effort (PEM), un des symptômes phare de l’EM, survient après une activité physique ou mentale minimale. Le malaise après-effort entraîne une dégradation générale de l’état de l’individu, peut entraîner une exacerbation des autres symptômes et va durer de plusieurs heures à plusieurs jours. Chez les individus souffrant de POTS ou d’IO, le malaise après-effort peut déclencher des épisodes d’intolérance orthostatique. Le gène SLC6A2 codant pour le transporteur de norépinephrine NET a été identifié comme potentiel mécanisme dans pathophysiologie du POTS, tout comme les protéines impliquées dans la vasodilatation, comme la thrombospondine-1 (TSP-1). Notre laboratoire a identifié un panel de onze microARN (miARN) exprimés différentiellement chez les PAEM. Parmi ceux-ci, le miR-150-5p a comme cible prédite SLC6A2. Notre hypothèse était qu’une plus grande expression du miR-150-5p après un effort ou qu’une chute de thrombospondine-1 pourrait induire une vasodilatation soudaine contribuant aux symptômes d’IO ou de POTS. Nous avons mesuré les niveaux plasmatiques du miR-150-5p et de TSP-1 avant (T0) et après (T90) l’induction du malaise après-effort chez des PAEM avec POTS/IO (n = 20), chez des PAEM sans POTS/IO (n = 117) et chez des témoins sédentaires associés pour le sexe et l’âge (n = 48). Nous avons démontré que les sujets atteints de POTS/IO avaient des niveau plus importants du miR-150-5p et des symptômes plus sévères. Finalement, nous avons également utilisé la veste intelligente Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc., Montreal, Qué., Canada) pour suivre un sous-groupe d’individus (n = 10) sur une plus longue période après l’induction du malaise après-effort. Avec cet outil, nous avons pu monitorer les symptômes au quotidien, permettant un meilleur suivi clinique de ces patients. Ce projet de maîtrise a permis une meilleure compréhension de la pathophysiologie de l’EM et de celle du POTS. / Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) is a complex chronic disease with debilitating smyptoms and unknown etiology. Symptoms vary in frequency and severity from a person with ME (PwME) to another, thus creating a highly clinically heterogeneous patient population. Some PwME also experience orthostatic intolerance (OI) episodes or live with a comorbidity of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), two conditions that are not well understood. Post-exertional malaise (PEM) causes patients to experience a worsening of their symptoms following an effort, whether it be physical or mental. PEM can last from a few hours to several days. In PwME with POTS/OI, PEM can trigger orthostatic intolerance episodes. SLC6A2 is a gene coding for the norepinephrine transporter NET. Its contribution to the POTS pathophysiology has been mentioned several times in literature. A biochemical milieu prone to vasodilation was also reported as a contributing element to POTS pathophysiology. Recently, our laboratory published an article identifying a panel of eleven microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in PwME. Among these miRNAs, miR-150-5p has been predicted to target SLC6A2. Our hypothesis was that higher expression of miR-150-5p following an effort or a decrease in circulating thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) inducing vasodilation could contribute to POTS/OI symptoms. We measured circulating levels of miR-150-5p and TSP-1 before (T0) and after (T90) PEM induction in PwME (n = 117), PwME with POTS/OI (n = 20) and age and sex matched sedentary controls (n = 48). We demonstrated that PwME with POTS/OI have higher levels of miR-150-5p at both T0 and T90, while also having more severe symptoms. Furthermore, we used the connected vest Hexoskin (Carré Technologies Inc., Montreal, Qué., Canada) to follow a subgroup (n = 10) of patients for a longer period following PEM induction. With this tool, we were able to monitor symptoms on a daily basis, allowing better clinical follow-up. Overall, this project allowed better understanding of ME and POTS’ pathophysiology.