Orientador: Luiz Antônio de Lima Resende / Resumo: Potenciais evocados visuais (PEV) avaliam vias visuais para fins clínicos. Os objetivos deste estudo foram comparar morfologias e latências de ondas P100, obtidas com diferentes bandas passantes de filtros, em 2 equipamentos distintos de um mesmo fabricante (5 – 20 Hz, e 5 – 100 Hz, Grupo I) e, após escolha da melhor banda passante de filtros, comparar valores de latências de ondas P100 obtidas em 2 equipamentos distintos de um mesmo fabricante, em voluntários normais (Grupo II) e em pacientes com queixas de alterações visuais (Grupo III). Todos os procedimentos foram realizados em equipamentos Nihon-Kohden, modelos Neuropack 2 e MEB 9400. No Grupo I, nos 2 equipamentos, filtros de 5 – 20 Hz proporcionaram registros gráficos melhores e mais nítidos, porém com latências mais prolongadas, em relação aos filtros de 5 a 100 Hz (média de 8 milissegundos, p < 0,0001). Em 20 voluntários do Grupo II e 30 pacientes do grupo III, todos avaliados com filtros de 5 a 20 Hz, observaram-se latências mais prolongadas, em média 6 a 8 milisegundos, utilizando-se equipamento MEB 9400 (p < 0,0001). Em conclusão, filtros de 5 a 20 Hz possibilitaram registros de melhor qualidade das ondas P100, com latências mais prolongadas, se comparados aos filtros de 5-100 Hz. Além disso, utilizando-se a mesma banda passante de filtros, e todas as outras condições técnicas idênticas, diferentes equipamentos, de um mesmo fabricante, fornecem valores distintos de latências das ondas P100, para voluntários norm... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Visual evoked potentials (VEP) evaluate visual pathways for clinical purposes. The objective of this study were to compare P100 wave latencies and morphologies obtained with different band-pass filter in 2 different equipments from the same manufacturer (5 - 20 Hz, and 5 - 100 Hz, Group I). After choosing the best band-pass filter for the record of the P100 waves, latencies were compaired between 2 equipments of the same manufacture. All procedures were obtained from Nihon-Kohden equipments, Neuropack 2 and MEB 9400 models. For the Group I, in the 2 equipments, 5 - 20 Hz band-pass filter furnished better and clearer graphic records, but with longer latencies, in relation to the 5 - 100 Hz band-pass filter (mean of 8 milliseconds, p <0.0001). For the 20 volunteers (Group II) and 30 patients (Group III), all evaluated with 5 – 20 Hz band-pass filter, longer latencies were observed, on average 6 to 8 milliseconds, using MEB 9400 equipment (p <0, 0001). In conclusion, 5 to 20 Hz band-pass filter allowed better quality records of the P100 waves, with longer latencies, if compared to the 5-100 Hz band-pass filter. In addition, using the same filter band-pass, and all of the other technical parameters identical, different equipments from the same manufacturer provide different P100 latency values for normal volunteers or patients (p <0.0001). / Mestre

Submitted by VANESSA CALDEIRA PEREIRA null (van_caldeira@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-13T15:16:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 V-TESE-FINAL-06-04-2017.doc: 2223616 bytes, checksum: a35d07356012535ce841f6cc9d384e4c (MD5) / Rejected by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: A versão final da dissertação/tese deve ser submetida no formato PDF (Portable Document Format). O arquivo PDF não deve estar protegido e a dissertação/tese deve estar em um único arquivo, inclusive os apêndices e anexos, se houver. Sua tese/dissertação deve estar de acordo com as normas de sua unidade/programa de pós-graduação, encontradas no link abaixo: http://www.fmb.unesp.br/Home/Pos-Graduacao/mestradoacademicoedoutorado/pgbasesgeraisdacirurgia/bases-gerais-da-cirurgia-01-07-2015-pg-pdf.pdf Por favor, corrija o formato do arquivo e realize uma nova submissão. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2017-06-13T17:40:33Z (GMT) / Submitted by VANESSA CALDEIRA PEREIRA null (van_caldeira@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-15T20:49:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 V-TESE-FINAL-06-04-2017.pdf: 1457681 bytes, checksum: fe7cccf59a202c11ede49f405cf80220 (MD5) / Rejected by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: Seu arquivo deve estar de acordo com a Instrução Normativa nº 001/2015, de 29 de abril de 2015, do Conselho do Programa de Pós-graduação em Bases Gerais da Cirurgia, encontrada na página 12 do documento no link abaixo: http://www.fmb.unesp.br/Home/Pos-Graduacao/mestradoacademicoedoutorado/pgbasesgeraisdacirurgia/bases-gerais-da-cirurgia-01-07-2015-pg-pdf.pdf Para maiores dúvida sobre as normas de sua unidade, entre em contato com seu programa de pós-graduação. Atenciosamente. on 2017-06-19T13:15:06Z (GMT) / Submitted by VANESSA CALDEIRA PEREIRA null (van_caldeira@hotmail.com) on 2017-06-30T13:35:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação para arquivamento.pdf: 1265018 bytes, checksum: 1364017705c245744d580c2a1f304d28 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-06-30T14:32:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_vc_me_bot.pdf: 1265018 bytes, checksum: 1364017705c245744d580c2a1f304d28 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-30T14:32:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_vc_me_bot.pdf: 1265018 bytes, checksum: 1364017705c245744d580c2a1f304d28 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-03 / Potenciais evocados visuais (PEV) avaliam vias visuais para fins clínicos. Os objetivos deste estudo foram comparar morfologias e latências de ondas P100, obtidas com diferentes bandas passantes de filtros, em 2 equipamentos distintos de um mesmo fabricante (5 – 20 Hz, e 5 – 100 Hz, Grupo I) e, após escolha da melhor banda passante de filtros, comparar valores de latências de ondas P100 obtidas em 2 equipamentos distintos de um mesmo fabricante, em voluntários normais (Grupo II) e em pacientes com queixas de alterações visuais (Grupo III). Todos os procedimentos foram realizados em equipamentos Nihon-Kohden, modelos Neuropack 2 e MEB 9400. No Grupo I, nos 2 equipamentos, filtros de 5 – 20 Hz proporcionaram registros gráficos melhores e mais nítidos, porém com latências mais prolongadas, em relação aos filtros de 5 a 100 Hz (média de 8 milissegundos, p < 0,0001). Em 20 voluntários do Grupo II e 30 pacientes do grupo III, todos avaliados com filtros de 5 a 20 Hz, observaram-se latências mais prolongadas, em média 6 a 8 milisegundos, utilizando-se equipamento MEB 9400 (p < 0,0001). Em conclusão, filtros de 5 a 20 Hz possibilitaram registros de melhor qualidade das ondas P100, com latências mais prolongadas, se comparados aos filtros de 5-100 Hz. Além disso, utilizando-se a mesma banda passante de filtros, e todas as outras condições técnicas idênticas, diferentes equipamentos, de um mesmo fabricante, fornecem valores distintos de latências das ondas P100, para voluntários normais ou pacientes (p < 0,0001). / Visual evoked potentials (VEP) evaluate visual pathways for clinical purposes. The objective of this study were to compare P100 wave latencies and morphologies obtained with different band-pass filter in 2 different equipments from the same manufacturer (5 - 20 Hz, and 5 - 100 Hz, Group I). After choosing the best band-pass filter for the record of the P100 waves, latencies were compaired between 2 equipments of the same manufacture. All procedures were obtained from Nihon-Kohden equipments, Neuropack 2 and MEB 9400 models. For the Group I, in the 2 equipments, 5 - 20 Hz band-pass filter furnished better and clearer graphic records, but with longer latencies, in relation to the 5 - 100 Hz band-pass filter (mean of 8 milliseconds, p <0.0001). For the 20 volunteers (Group II) and 30 patients (Group III), all evaluated with 5 – 20 Hz band-pass filter, longer latencies were observed, on average 6 to 8 milliseconds, using MEB 9400 equipment (p <0, 0001). In conclusion, 5 to 20 Hz band-pass filter allowed better quality records of the P100 waves, with longer latencies, if compared to the 5-100 Hz band-pass filter. In addition, using the same filter band-pass, and all of the other technical parameters identical, different equipments from the same manufacturer provide different P100 latency values for normal volunteers or patients (p <0.0001).

Inflammatory processes mark all stages of atherogenesis. One of the key regulators of inflammation is the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (Nf-kb). Nf-kb is the general name for a whole family of dimeric transcription factors. One can distinguish between a classical and an alternative pathway with Rela/p50 (Nf-kb1) and Relb/p52 (Nf-kb2) representing the terminal transcription factors, respectively. Classical Nf-kb1 signaling has been associated with atherosclerotic lesion development many times, mainly because of its regulation of many pro-inflammatory proteins with an established role in atherogenesis. Recent studies provided evidence of crosstalk between classical Nf-kb1 and alternative Nf-kb2 signaling, implicating a potential role for Nf-kb2 in atherogenesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of Nf-kb2 on atherosclerotic lesion development in a knockout mouse model. Nfkb2 knockout (Nfkb2-/-) mice were generated on two different atherosclerosis sensible backgrounds, the Apoe- and Ldlr- deficient background. Quantification of atherosclerotic lesion development showed, that Nfkb2-/- mice developed significantly more atherosclerosis at the brachiocephalic artery than wild type controls, indicating a protective effect of Nf-kb2 on atherogenesis. Further expression analyses in bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM) revealed highly significant upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (Mmp9) in Nfkb2-/- mice. Overexpression of Mmp9 was associated with enhanced macrophage migration across extracellular matrix in vitro and an inflammatory plaque phenotype with advanced, macrophage-rich lesions. Accordingly, increased Mmp9 expression in Nfkb2-/- macrophages might have contributed to enhanced lesion development in these mice.

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Work-Based Learning (WBL) has increasingly become an area of interest for the higher education sector. It can be defined as an approach to education where learning towards accredited qualifications is relevant to and draws on the student’s workplace role and situation. This education can take place via a range of delivery methods. For this study, this definition has been further narrowed down to concentrate on WBL that is delivered by the university to those in the workplace and results in accredited higher education qualifications, where the learning contract is rooted in the discipline and draws on the student’s workplace role and situation. Northumbria University is considered one of the leaders in WBL delivery in the UK. All the faculties in the university deliver WBL programmes across a number of different disciplines. These programmes encompass a wide range of delivery formats including face-to-face, correspondence distance and online delivery. The aim of this research study is to contribute to the research in this area by conducting an in depth study of the effectiveness of the delivery of WBL from the perspective of a range of stakeholders including students, programme leaders, tutors, university support services, employers and representatives of professional bodies. There is a wealth of literature that concentrates on the learner and education provider and occasionally the employer but little that has attempted to directly investigate the wider stakeholder environment in which WBL takes place and how this contributes to the effectiveness of the WBL experience. To gain the deep insights needed for such a study, the research approach adopted a case study methodology which included mixed method research techniques for data capture and analysis combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study examined the perspective of stakeholders drawn from five WBL programmes across the disciplines of Engineering, Computing, and Information Sciences delivered by the Faculty of Engineering and Environment at Northumbria University. These programmes primarily use online learning delivery format with some blended learning components and comprise four postgraduate programmes and one undergraduate programme. An online survey was administered among all the students whilst in depth interviews were conducted among all the stakeholders including students. The case study explored the students’ demographic characteristics, experience of WBL and characteristics of their learning experience. Data from the other stakeholders was analysed to both cross validate the students’ feedback and to learn about their own contribution to the effectiveness of the WBL process. The analysis was performed in relation to the three main factors identified to be most influential: quality, access and support. The original contribution to knowledge and the significance of this study can be seen in three different areas. Firstly, eight main themes and three subthemes have emerged from the data analysis of this case study. These themes and sub themes were consolidated through triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative outcomes. They illustrate the key drivers and factors underpinning the effectiveness of WBL in the selected case study and have been used to classify the main strengths and issues of WBL that have emerged from the data and develop a set of recommendations to address the main key issues. For example, ‘Accreditation of Prior Learning’ and ‘Tailoring of Learning Contracts’ emerged as key attractions for students to embark on WBL programmes. The need for the use of technology in learning was highlighted by students to support the distance delivery of content, communications and assessments, whilst academics came out with the issues and challenges which prevented them from being able to use technology effectively. Thus one of the key recommendations arising from this study is the need to provide assistance and support to academics to engage with technology in learning to support WBL. ‘Student isolation’ was found to be an issue in some disciplines where mentor and peer support cannot be facilitated and thus developing approaches that reduce student isolation is another key recommendation. One final example is that a majority of students prefer ‘blended learning’ where distance online learning is combined with some face to face components compared to purely distance online learning. This is a challenge particularly where students are dispersed over a large geographical area. Secondly this research study has considered the range of key stakeholder groups: student, employer, academic and professional body, and their contribution to the effectiveness of WBL programmes. This consideration has highlighted the specific impact they have on the effectiveness of WBL. For example employers’ support was found to be particularly useful for the development of learning contracts and for onsite mentoring support during the lifetime of the students’ studies. Professional bodies contribute through the process of accreditation of WBL programmes/qualifications for students’ professional registration. In this study this proved to be a key motivational factor for the students to embark on WBL. A four pillar model has been constructed to illustrate consideration of the range of stakeholders and this has been applied to two existing WBL frameworks to show how such consideration might be applied in practice. In the first example, the researcher has taken an existing approach to online WBL course design, development and delivery practice and adapted it to include consideration of the range of stakeholders at appropriate times in the process to strengthen the WBL experience. In a second example, the researcher has taken an existing WBL maturity toolkit and shown how it could be adapted to include consideration and input from the full range of stakeholders on the readiness to engage in WBL. The study provides key recommendations to each of the stakeholders separately which should enhance the effectiveness of the WBL provision. The final contribution to knowledge that emerges from this work is focused on each of the embedded units within the case study. Each of these embedded units represents a separate WBL programme and an analysis was performed to highlight the key strengths of each of these programmes and their main deficiencies. For example, the MSc Professional Engineering programme uses 100% tailoring of workplace projects in student learning contracts which benefit the employers. The academics’ role is primarily centered on guiding those students to document the learning outcomes from those workplace projects against their individualised programme learning outcomes. In order to support them better, students felt that academics should upload online content for the more generic topics such as research methodologies which could be new to them and quite challenging to understand. In contrast, the MSc Information and Library Management programme takes a more generic approach to its learning content and has minimal tailoring. The students and employers benefit from application of this learning content to their own environment through assignments and the final MSc project. One approach to further tailor the programme to the needs of the organisation and employee would be to offer more focused module options. This analysis of the individual programmes has helped pinpoint areas for further development. This study has conducted an in depth case study of the effectiveness of the delivery of WBL across three discipline areas at one university. This has not only provided a number of key findings from the case itself but it has also demonstrated the benefits of considering the wider stakeholder contexts in such a study. It also provides exemplars of how others can build on this work to embed these wider stakeholder contexts in WBL toolkits and associated practices to provide enhanced provision.

Smartphone take-up has grown exponentially, a growth that far exceeds any consumer technology in history. The growth of these technologies has created a cultural shift. Users are accessing, storing and retrieving digital information on more portable devices and doing so on the move. This cultural shift away from the stationary context (at home or at work) to a more mobile 24/7 way of accessing and consuming information is creating challenges. Today’s developers and shapers of digital information (businesses, marketers, advertisers and web agencies, to name a few) need their applications to be workable to support the consumer in all contexts; at home, at work, in the lift, on the bus. When developing applications for these kinds of situations, changeable technological configurations and contexts are crucial to support the user experience and device interaction. In the early days of mobile computing researchers and usability professionals identified a range of challenges facing a tester’s ability to accurately map a mobile users experience. Testing strategies have stood the test of time, working extremely well in many lab-based configurations, but how do they fare in an increasingly mobile information society? This Professional Doctorate aims to support and contribute to the mobile testing evolution and will adapt some existing practices to help keep pace with the phenomenon. This research will present a strategy that explores the development of new a framework (via a systematic review) to inform mobile testing. The framework builds upon themes within Human Information Behavior (HIB) and Mobile Human Computer Interaction (Mobile HCI). The research takes an interpretivist approach to investigate how this framework is applied to build and contextualise methods informing testing methodology in the mobile arena.

Communities of practice (CoPs) have recently become key components in organizational knowledge management initiatives (Wenger, 2004). They have achieved prominence in the context of knowledge management and organizational learning both with scholars and practitioners. Many researches (Ardichvili et al., 2003; Davenport & Voelpel, 2001; Davenport & Probst, 2002) have investigated how some multinational companies integrated different kinds of CoPs into their knowledge management systems. But those studies focus mainly on the regions of the Western countries. There are limited researches conducted on other social context. This research therefore is to address CoPs in a Chinese organization - Chalco and investigates how the Learning Groups as the communities of practice facilitate knowledge sharing in the company. This research adopts the Nonaka‘s (1994) organizational knowledge creation model (SECI) and defines the organizational knowledge sharing as two parts of organization knowledge creation process: socialisation and externalisation. It examines how the Learning Groups facilitate tacit knowledge sharing (socialization) and the knowledge conversion from tacit to explicit (externalization). This research takes the social constructionist standpoint, trying to understand individuals‘ experience of participating Learning Groups in the company, through the interpretive lens. It adopts a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews to gather data which are then analysed using the narrative analysis approach paying attention to individuals‘ experience expressed through their interview accounts. Through narrative analysis, the way in which Learning Groups facilitate tacit knowledge sharing and the conversion from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge has been emerged. Some influences of Chinese cultural and social factors to the knowledge were also found. The finding of this study suggests that there are some knowledge sharing barriers caused by both organizational factors and cultural factors. The Learning Groups in Chalco have been playing very positive roles in overcoming those barriers and facilitating knowledge sharing in the company. The findings of this research can benefit to both academics and practitioners. It will help the related academics to understand how the Chinese cultural and social influences on knowledge management practice and how CoPs facilitate knowledge sharing in such context. It also provides an example of best practice on knowledge management for other business managers and government policy makers so that they can develop appropriate knowledge management strategies for the benefit of their companies and the social development.

This PhD study was designed to characterise the nature and role of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors in the context of knowledge development within a law firm environment. The characterisations drawn and the propositions offered provide a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of trainee solicitors, and, of the relationship between information behaviour, knowledge behaviour and knowledge development. A constructivist approach to inquiry was adopted, where the research design emerged through 'doing'. As emergent design is unusual within Library and Information Science (LIS) an in-depth discussion of how the design emerged is included within this thesis. Six trainees formed the sample for the final presentation of the findings. The adoption of a narrative technique for the gathering of data, and the presentation of the analysis, taking a cross-trainee and cross-theme approach, enabled holistic, in-depth characterisations to be drawn. The themes emerged through an iterative process of analysis and were followed up through a review of the literature. Undertaking a more comprehensive literature review after data collection is a characteristic of the constructivist inquiry but is a unique approach within LIS research. Through the consideration and interpretation of the characterisations that emerged from the findings this research posits a set of theoretical propositions and practical solutions pertaining to the knowledge behaviour (incorporating information behaviour) and knowledge development of the trainee solicitors. These propositions alongside the practical solutions offered are transferable in that they can be taken by other firms or organisations and considered in relation to their own setting. In addition, a model depicting the knowledge behaviour and its role in the knowledge development of trainee solicitors is presented.

This PhD study was designed to answer the question; does access to electronic information resources have a role to play in breaking down barriers to learning encountered by young people? If so, how does it, why does it and what are the circumstances which influence this role? The answers would then provide a deeper understanding of the use of these resources. This is a constructivist inquiry; sixteen young people aged 13-14 years were selected using snowball sampling to provide maximum variation. Emergent design was a feature of the research model and due to the uniqueness of this approach in Library and Information Science, in depth discussion of the research model is included in this thesis. Prolonged engagement with the sixteen participants using data collection methods such as in-depth interviews, observations, logs, and document analysis created ‘rich pictures’ of the individuals in the form of holistic case studies. These case studies were used as the basis of a cross-case analysis in order to provide for transferability of case, based on contextual applicability and to generate a theory grounded in the data from cross-case themes as they emerge. This study has produced a model of learning opportunities based on tangible and perceived affordances. This model was then used to structure the variables identified as significant to the role of electronic information resources in the provision of learning opportunities. A framework of potential learning opportunities in the electronic information environment has resulted which identifies the tangible variables such as availablity and accessibility of technogies and perceieved variables such as motivation, interaction. These vairables impact on affordances of electronic information resources on learning opportunites.

This thesis explores the ability of data visualisation to enable knowl-edge discovery in digital collections. Its emphasis lies on time-based visualisations, such as timelines. Although timelines are among the earliest examples of graphical renderings of data, they are often used merely as devices for linear storytelling and not as tools for visual analysis. Investigating this type of visualisation reveals the particular challenges of digital timelines for scholarly research. In addition, the intersection between the key issues of time-wise visualisation and digital collections acts as a focal point. Departing from authored temporal descriptions in collections data, the research examines how curatorial decisions influence collec-tions data and how these decisions may be made manifest in timeline visualisations. The thesis contributes a new understanding of the knowledge embedded in digital collections and provides practical and conceptual means for making this knowledge accessible and usable. The case is made that digital collections are not simply represen-tations of physical archives. Digital collections record not only what is known about the content of an archive. Collections data contains traces of institutional decisions and curatorial biases, as well as data related to administrative procedures. Such ‘hidden data’ – information that has not been explicitly recorded, but is nevertheless present in the dataset – is crucial for drawing informed conclusions from dig-itised cultural collections and can be exposed through appropriately designed visualisation tools. The research takes a practice-led and collaborative approach, work-ing closely with cultural institutions and their curators. Functional prototypes address issues of visualising large cultural datasets and the representation of uncertain and multiple temporal descriptions that are typically found in digital collections. The prototypes act as means towards an improved understanding of and a critical engagement with the time-wise visualisation of col-lections data. Two example implementations put the design principles that have emerged into practice and demonstrate how such tools may assist in knowledge discovery in cultural collections. Calls for new visualisation tools that are suitable for the purposes of humanities research are widespread in the scholarly community. However, the present thesis shows that gaining new insights into digital collections does not only require technological advancement, but also an epistemological shift in working with digital collections. This shift is expressed in the kind of questions that curators have started seeking to answer through visualisation. Digitisation requires and affords new ways of interrogating collections that depart from putting the collected artefact and its creator at the centre of human-istic enquiry. Instead, digital collections need to be seen as artefacts themselves. Recognising this leads curators to address self-reflective research questions that seek to study the history of an institution and the influence that individuals have had on the holdings of a collection; questions that so far escaped their areas of research.