<p>Malaria is a health, social and economic burden in Nigeria and consistently ranks amongst the four most common causes of childhood deaths. Treatment of malaria is usually started at home / care is only sought from the health facility when the treatment is ineffective (McCombie, 1996). Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) have been identified as a widely patronized source for drugs used in the home treatment of malaria (Breiger et al, 2001 / Goodman, et al, 2007 / Salako et al, 2001). Inadequate or poor knowledge and practices in the use of anti-malaria drugs (AMDs) increases morbidity and mortality, undermines therapeutic efficacy, and promotes the emergence and spread of drugresistant malaria. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe and quantify the knowledge and self-reported practices of PMVs in the use of antimalarials, particularly artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), in a poor urban community in Lagos state, Nigeria.</p>

In this study, accurate target tracking for bearings-only tracking problem is investigated. A new tracking filter for this nonlinear problem is designed where both range parameterization and Rao-Blackwellized (marginalized) particle filtering techniques are used in a Gaussian mixture formulation to track both constant velocity and maneuvering targets. The idea of using target turn rate in the state equation in such a way that marginalization is possible is elaborated. Addition to nonlinear nature, unobservability is a major problem of bearings-only tracking. Observer trajectory generation to increase the observability of the bearings-only tracking problem is studied. Novel formulation of observability measures based on mutual information between the state and the measurement sequences are derived for the problem. These measures are used as objective functions to improve observability. Based on the results obtained better understanding of the required observer trajectory for accurate bearings-only target tracking is developed.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive, treatment-resistant tumour. Cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II)) is the best single-agent chemotherapy for MPM, but platinum-based combination therapies give the best overall response rates. However, cisplatin use is limited by resistance and severe side effects. This thesis has increased the knowledge concerning cisplatin-induced cell death in MPM by describing a novel potential therapeutic target, and three novel phenotypes of cisplatin-resistance in a human MPM cell line (P31) and its cisplatin-resistant sub-line (P31res1.2). The novel potential therapeutic target, and one of the novel phenotypes, was cisplatin-resistant pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins. In the P31 cells, cisplatin transiently increased pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins during 6 h of exposure. This response was almost completely abrogated in the P31res1.2 cells. De-regulated caspase activity and activation was the second novel phenotype identified. The P31res1.2 cells had earlier, possibly mitochondria-independent, caspase-3 activation, increased basal caspase-3 activity and increased basal cleavage of caspase-8 and -9. Despite these differences, 6-h equitoxic cisplatin exposures rendered 50-60% of the cells apoptotic in both cell lines. The third novel phenotype was abrogated Na+K+2Cl--cotransporter (NKCC1) activity. Although NKCC1 activity was dispensable for cisplatin-induced apoptosis, balanced potassium transport activity was essential for P31 cell survival. Finally, the survival signalling protein Protein Kinase B (PKB or Akt) isoforms α and γ were constitutively activated in a PI3K-independent manner in P31 cells. In the P31res1.2 cells, PKBα and γ activities were increased, and there was PI3K-dependent activation of PKBβ. However, this increase in PKB isoform activity was not strongly associated to the cisplatin-resistance of the P31res1.2 cells.

The aim of this master thesis was to develop a versatile and reliable experimentalplatform of mobile robots, solving tracking problems, for education and research.Evaluation of parallel bearings-only tracking and control algorithms on a multi-corearchitecture has been performed. The platform was implemented as a mobile wirelesssensor network using multiple mobile robots, each using a mounted camera for dataacquisition. Data processing was performed on the mobile robots and on a server,which also played the role of network communication hub. A major focus was toimplement this platform in a flexible manner to allow for education and futureresearch in the fields of signal processing, wireless sensor networks and automaticcontrol. The implemented platform was intended to act as a bridge between the idealworld of simulation and the non-ideal real world of full scale prototypes.The implemented algorithms did estimation of the positions of the robots, estimationof a non-cooperating target's position and regulating the positions of the robots. Thetracking algorithms implemented were the Gaussian particle filter, the globallydistributed particle filter and the locally distributed particle filter. The regulator triedto move the robots to give the highest possible sensor information under givenconstraints. The regulators implemented used model predictive control algorithms.Code for communicating with filters in external processes were implementedtogether with tools for data extraction and statistical analysis.Both implementation details and evaluation of different tracking algorithms arepresented. Some algorithms have been tested as examples of the platformscapabilities, among them scalability and accuracy of some particle filtering techniques.The filters performed with sufficient accuracy and showed a close to linear speedupusing up to 12 processor cores. Performance of parallel particle filtering withconstraints on network bandwidth was also studied, measuring breakpoints on filtercommunication to avoid weight starvation. Quality of the sensor readings, networklatency and hardware performance are discussed. Experiments showed that theplatform was a viable alternative for data acquisition in algorithm development and forbenchmarking to multi-core architecture. The platform was shown to be flexibleenough to be used a framework for future algorithm development and education inautomatic control.

Abstract The aim of this present study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between birth order and the personality trait narcissism using 181 individuals from Finnveden High School in Värnamo (115 females, 60 males, mean age 17, sd=0,94), in the context of the proposal of Sulloway (1996) that personality is influenced by the specialized nich-es siblings adopt in the quest for access to parental resources. A questionnaire which in-cludes Narcissistic Personality Inventory test, Birth order test and also Rosenberg’s self-esteem test in order to investigate if it might has an impact on narcissistic personality trait, was used. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between birth order and narcissism, however, a significant relationship between narcissism and self-esteem was found. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between narcissism and the individual’s relationship with the mother. In conclusion, there was no direct rela-tionship between birth order and narcissism. Our hypothesis was falsified and no support for Sulloways theory was found.

<p>Abstract</p><p>The aim of this present study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between birth order and the personality trait narcissism using 181 individuals from Finnveden High School in Värnamo (115 females, 60 males, mean age 17, sd=0,94), in the context of the proposal of Sulloway (1996) that personality is influenced by the specialized nich-es siblings adopt in the quest for access to parental resources. A questionnaire which in-cludes Narcissistic Personality Inventory test, Birth order test and also Rosenberg’s self-esteem test in order to investigate if it might has an impact on narcissistic personality trait, was used. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between birth order and narcissism, however, a significant relationship between narcissism and self-esteem was found. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between narcissism and the individual’s relationship with the mother. In conclusion, there was no direct rela-tionship between birth order and narcissism. Our hypothesis was falsified and no support for Sulloways theory was found.</p>

<p>Malaria is a health, social and economic burden in Nigeria and consistently ranks amongst the four most common causes of childhood deaths. Treatment of malaria is usually started at home / care is only sought from the health facility when the treatment is ineffective (McCombie, 1996). Patent medicine vendors (PMVs) have been identified as a widely patronized source for drugs used in the home treatment of malaria (Breiger et al, 2001 / Goodman, et al, 2007 / Salako et al, 2001). Inadequate or poor knowledge and practices in the use of anti-malaria drugs (AMDs) increases morbidity and mortality, undermines therapeutic efficacy, and promotes the emergence and spread of drugresistant malaria. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe and quantify the knowledge and self-reported practices of PMVs in the use of antimalarials, particularly artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), in a poor urban community in Lagos state, Nigeria.</p>

Orientador: Andréia Galvão / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T13:03:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Goncalves_Tatiana_M.pdf: 896686 bytes, checksum: 839ccb1816462739bc4fb18dc3e63385 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo a análise do processo de conformação da Coordenação Nacional de Lutas (Conlutas) e da Intersindical, duas agremiações que surgem no marco de uma reorganização sindical que ocorre no interior da Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) a partir da eleição de Lula, representante do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), ao governo federal, em 2003. Desde as transformações programáticas que se desenharam nos congressos desta central em resposta ao advento do neoliberalismo no Brasil a partir da década de 1990, as divergências entre as diversas correntes que compunham a CUT já se verificavam claramente; mas é a partir de 2003 que se caracteriza uma inflexão mais profunda no interior da CUT, dado que esta central, que sempre se localizou enquanto oposição ao governo federal, passa a se tornar um importante ponto de apoio do governo Lula, gerando um impasse interno fundamentalmente a respeito das propostas de reformas apresentadas pelo PT ao Congresso Nacional, como as Reformas da Previdência, Trabalhista e Sindical. Estas dissonâncias levam a um processo comum de discussão sobre novas alternativas sindicais, no qual se insere o surgimento da Conlutas e da Intersindical. Nesse sentido, buscamos compreender as proximidades e diferenças na conformação destas duas agremiações e o porquê destas terem resultado em duas alternativas distintas, dado que ambas são oriundas de um mesmo processo político a respeito dos rumos da CUT nesse novo cenário nacional / Abstract: The current research aims to analyze the merging process of Coordenação Nacional de Lutas (Conlutas) and Intersindical, two organizations that arise in a moment of union reorganization, which occurs inside the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) since the presidential election of the head of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), Lula, in 2003. From the programmatic transformations that were eveloped in the CUT¿s Congress as a response to the advent of neoliberalism in Brazil since 1990, a wide divergence of groups that compose CUT were clearly noticed. However, it was only after 2003 that a remarkable change inside CUT could be seen. While this organization had always been an opponent to the federal government, it then became one of the most important supportive groups of President Lula. Consequently, it reached an impasse inside CUT, ultimately, regarding PT¿s proposals for new reforms such as Pension, Labor and Union Reforms. These dissonances bring up a common discussion about new union alternatives, in which the upcoming of Conlutas and Intersindical is inserted. Taking this into consideration, we aim to comprehend the similarities and differences in the merging process of these two union organizations and understand the reason why they have ended up into two distinct alternatives, since both are originated from the same political process concerning CUT¿s future in today¿s national scenario / Mestrado / Ciencia Politica / Mestra em Ciência Política

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un projet visant à développer un robot mobile autonome capable de réaliser des tâches spécifiques dans une zone préalablement définie par l’utilisateur. Afin de faciliter la mise en œuvre du système, des balises radiofréquences fournissant des mesures de distance par rapport au robot sont disposées au préalable autour du terrain. Le déploiement du robot s’effectue en deux phases, une première d’apprentissage du terrain, puis une seconde, où le robot effectue ses tâches de façon autonome. Ces deux étapes nécessitent de résoudre les problèmes de localisation et de localisation et cartographie simultanées pour lesquels différentes solutions sont proposées et testées en simulation et sur des jeux de données réelles. De plus, afin de faciliter l’installation et d’améliorer les performances du système, un algorithme de placement des balises est présenté puis testé en simulation afin de valider notamment l’amélioration des performances de localisation. / This thesis is part of a project which aims at developing an autonomous mobile robot able to perform specific tasks in a preset area. To ease the setup of the system, radio-frequency beacons providing range measurements with respect to the robot are set up beforehand on the borders of the robot’s workspace. The system deployment consists in two steps, one for learning the environment, then a second, where the robot executes its tasks autonomously. These two steps require to solve the localization and simultaneous localization and mapping problems for which several solutions are proposed and tested in simulation and on real datasets. Moreover, to ease the setup and improve the system performances, a beacon placement algorithm is presented and tested in simulation in order to validate in particular the improvement of the localization performances.

In a society with a strong two-child family norm, but where children tend to reproduce the fertility behavior of their parents, it is relevant to study the childbearing patterns of only children. Do they follow the stream or do they follow their parents? There is very little previous research on this topic, but there is some evidence that show that only children are not more likely to prefer a one-child family themselves. Using GGS data from Sweden and Norway, this study aims to understand if being an only child is a determinant for having an ideal family size of one child, or having a completed family size of one child. The study is limited to those who want at least one child and to those who have at least one child (i.e. the study excludes childless). The analysis is conducted with binomial logistic and linear (OLS) regression methods. The study finds that only children more often do prefer a family size of one child and more often end up with a final family size of one child, compared to sib children. However, the association between being an only child and having a one child preference is also influenced by socio-economic status in the family of origin. If the parents’ education is high (post- secondary/tertiary), the likelihood of someone having a one-child preference decreases. The relationship between being an only child and having a final family size of one child is partly mediated by the experience of parental separation and/or own separation, where both factors increase the odds of stopping at one child. The conclusion and main contribution of this study is that there seems to be a family of origin socialization mechanism influencing the fertility of only children, making them more likely to both prefer and have a one-child family, compared to sib children. Thus, only children are more likely to deviate from the two-child norm, compared a person with siblings.