Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica, na Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, sob a orientação do Prof. Doutor Carlos Alberto da Conceição António

Orientador: Rosana Marta Kolb / Resumo: O Cerrado é considerado o segundo maior bioma brasileiro em extensão, com ampla diversidade de espécies e endemismo. Nas últimas décadas, áreas de Cerrado vêm sofrendo alterações fitofisionômicas, devido principalmente à ausência do fogo. A sua ausência tem possibilitado que áreas de cerrado stricto sensu sejam invadidas por espécies arbóreas, levando ao adensamento da vegetação, que por sua vez, reduz a riqueza de espécies não lenhosas, por diminuição da luminosidade. Assim, o presente estudo avaliou as respostas de três espécies não arbóreas típicas do cerrado stricto sensu em condições artificiais de sombreamento, a partir de observações fenológicas da mortalidade e capacidade de rebrota, além da análise de parâmetros fotossintéticos. Após 14 meses de experimento, a taxa de mortalidade foi de 43% para as plantas sombreadas, enquanto que as controles (plantas não sombreadas) tiveram uma mortalidade de 10%. As espécies avaliadas (Hyptis campestris, Cissampelos ovalifolia e Lepidaploa chamissonis), quando sombreadas, apresentaram menor ponto de saturação e de compensação luminoso e menor assimilação de carbono, demonstrando potencial de aclimatação. Contudo, plantas sombreadas estão abaixo do ponto de saturação de luz, o que junto com as rebrotas sucessivas pode ter levado ao exaurimento das suas reservas, comprometendo sua sobrevivência. Desta forma, o adensamento vegetacional pode ser um risco para a preservação de plantas não arbóreas de Cerrado. / Abstract: The Cerrado is considered the second largest Brazilian biome in extension, with wide species diversity and endemism. In the last decades, areas of Cerrado have undergone phytophysiognomic alterations, mainly due to the absence of fire. Its absence has allowed tree species to invade areas of cerrado stricto sensu, leading to the densification of vegetation, which in turn reduces the richness of non-woody species, due to the reduction of luminosity. Thus, the present study evaluated the responses of three non-arboreal species typical of cerrado stricto sensu under artificial shading conditions, based on phenological observations of mortality and resprouting capacity, as well as the analysis of photosynthetic parameters. After 14 months of experiment, the mortality rate was 43% for shaded plants, while the controls (unshaded plants) had a mortality of 10%. The evaluated species (Hyptis campestris, Cissampelos ovalifolia and Lepidaploa chamissonis), when shaded, showed lower saturation point and light compensation point and lower carbon assimilation, showing acclimatization potential. However, shaded plants are below the point of saturation of light, which along with the successive resprouts can have led to the exhaustion of their reserves, compromising their survival. In this way, vegetational densification may be a risk for the preservation of non-arboreal Cerrado plants. / Mestre

Introdução - O estudo do conhecimento nutricional, das motivações para as escolhas alimentares e da qualidade da dieta traz informações importantes para o controle das crescentes prevalências de excesso de peso e doenças crônicas. Apesar da eficiência das estratégias de controle depender de uma escala de boa qualidade, se desconhece a precisão das escalas existentes ou estas não estão em acordo com recomendações vigentes. Objetivo - Desenvolver escalas para avaliar o conhecimento nutricional, a motivação de saúde para escolhas alimentares e a qualidade da dieta com aplicação da Teoria de Resposta ao Item (TRI). Métodos - Para desenvolver as escalas de conhecimento nutricional (NKTS) e motivação de saúde para as escolhas alimentares (SOFIE) foram utilizados questionários já existentes e utilizados no estudo HELENA, uma investigação multicêntrica da União Europeia: Nutritional Knowledge Test (NKT) e Food Choices and Preferences (FCP). Para desenvolver a escala de qualidade da dieta (ESQUADA) foi desenvolvido um questionário, baseado no Guia Alimentar para a População Brasileira e cuja relevância e compreensão foram estudadas a partir das sugestões de nutricionistas, em grupos focais, e adolescentes e jovens adultos brasileiros, em um questionário online. Para cada escala, a dimensionalidade dos itens foi estudada separadamente pela análise fatorial exploratória. A TRI foi aplicada para identificar os itens com melhor discriminação da informação de interesse, bem como localizá-los nos diferentes níveis do continuum e calcular os escores dos indivíduos. Foi verificada a associação entre os escores de NKTS e SOFIE com consumo de alimentos e biomarcadores nutricionais, avaliados no estudo HELENA. Para construir as escalas foram utilizados BILOG-MG versão 3, GGUM 2004 e o R. As sugestões dos nutricionistas foram analisadas no MAXQDA versão 12. As sugestões dos adolescentes e jovens adultos e a caracterização das escalas foram realizadas no Microsoft Office Excel versão 2013. O estudo das associações foi realizado no Stata versão 14. Resultados - A análise fatorial e a TRI indicaram que onze itens do NKT e dezesseis itens do FCP avaliam adequadamente o conhecimento nutricional e a motivação de saúde para as escolhas alimentares, compondo, respectivamente, NKTS e SOFIE. NKTS identifica indivíduos com conhecimento nutricional básico, adequado e avançado. SOFIE classifica indivíduos com baixa, indiferente e alta motivação de saúde para as escolhas alimentares. Os escores de NKTS e SOFIE associaram positivamente com marcadores de alimentação saudável. Em relação à ESQUADA, os nutricionistas consideraram os itens relevantes para avaliar a qualidade da dieta, mas indicaram a necessidade de alterar a escrita de alguns, bem como de suas alternativas de resposta. Todos os itens foram facilmente compreendidos por adolescentes e adultos jovens. A análise fatorial e a TRI reteram 25 itens para a ESQUADA, possibilitando identificar cinco níveis de qualidade da dieta. Conclusão - NKTS, SOFIE e ESQUADA, respectivamente, apresentaram medidas acuradas do conhecimento nutricional, das motivações de saúde para as escolhas alimentares e da qualidade da dieta, permitindo caracterizar seus diferentes níveis. Outros estudos podem analisar a relação entre ESQUADA e marcadores de consumo alimentar, bem como selecionar as escalas desenvolvidas para avaliação em outras populações. / Introduction - The study of the nutritional knowledge, the motivations to food choices, and the diet quality provides important information to control the increasing prevalences of overweight and chronic diseases. Although the effectiveness of the control strategies depends on a good quality scale, the accuracy of existing scales is unknown or these scales are not in line with current recommendations. Objective - This thesis aimed to develop scales to evaluate the nutritional knowledge, health motivation influencing food choices, and diet quality using the IRT analysis. Methods - Due to develop the scales of the nutritional knowledge (NKTS) and health motivation to food choices (SOFIE), questionnaires already used in the HELENA study, a European multicenter research, were used: Nutritional Knowlwdge Test (NKT) and Food Choices and Preferences (FCP). Due to develop the scale of diet quality (ESQUADA), a questionnaire, based on the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population, was created. The relevance and laypersons\' comprehension of this questionnaire were studied based on the suggestions from: nutritionists using focus groups\' discussions and Brazilian adolescents and young adults using an online questionnaire. The dimensionality of the items was analysed separately using the exploratory factor analysis for each scale. The IRT analysis was applied to identify the items with the best discrimination of the information of interest, as well as to locate them at the different levels of the continuum and to calculate the IRT scores. The association between IRT scores, food consumption and nutritional biomarkers was analyzed around NKTS and SOFIE. The softwares BILOG-MG version 3, GGUM 2004, and R were used to construct the scales. The nutritionists\' suggestions were analyzed in MAXQDA version 12. The laypersons\' suggestions and the characterization of each scale level were performed in Microsoft Office Excel version 2013. The study of association was performed in Stata version 14. Results - Factor analysis and IRT analysis indicated that eleven items from NKT and sixteen items from FCP adequately evaluate the nutritional knowledge and health motivation influencing food choices and compose NKTS and SOFIE, respectively. NKTS identifies individuals with basic, adequate, and advanced nutritional knowledge. SOFIE classifies individuals with low, indifferent, and high health motivation influencing food choices. The scores from NKTS and SOFIE were positively associated with healthy food markers. Regarding the ESQUADA, the nutritionists considered the items relevant to assess the quality of diet. However, they indicated the need to change the writing of some items as well as their response options. Adolescents and young adults easily understood all items. The factor analysis and IRT analysis retained 25 items in ESQUADA, possibiting to identify five levels of diet quality. Conclusion - NKTS, SOFIE, and ESQUADA, respectively, presented accurate measures of nutritional knowledge, health motivation to food choices, and quality of diet, allowing the characterization of their different levels. Other studies may analyze the relationship between ESQUADA and food consumption, as well as select the developed scales to evaluate these latent traits in other populations.

Acoustic regularity encoding has been associated with a decrease of the neural response to repeated stimulation underlying the representation of auditory objects in the brain. The present thesis encloses two studies that sought to assess the neural correlates of acoustic regularity encoding in the human auditory system, by means of analyzing auditory evoked potentials. Study I was conducted at the Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Barcelona (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain), under the direct supervision of Dr. Carles Escera. This study aimed to explore the dynamics of adaptation of the auditory evoked potentials to probabilistic stimuli embedded in a complex sequence of sounds. The main outcome of this study was the demonstration that the amplitude of auditory evoked potentials adapts to the complex history of stimulation with different time constants concurrently: it adapts faster to local and slower to global probabilities of stimulation. This study also showed that auditory evoked potential amplitudes correlate with stimulus expectancy as defined by a combination of local and global stimulus probabilities. Study II was conducted at the Institute of Child Health (ICH), at the University College of London (UCL; London, United Kingdom), under the direct supervision of Dr. Torsten Baldeweg. This study aimed to explore the influence of timing predictability in the neural adaptation to probabilistic stimuli. The main outcome of this study was the demonstration that timing predictability enhances the repetition-related modulation of the auditory evoked potentials amplitude, being essential for repetition effects at early stages of the auditory processing hierarchy. / La codificació de regularitats acústiques està associada amb la reducció de la resposta neuronal a l’estimulació repetida, essent la base de la representació dels objectes auditius al cervell. La present tesi doctoral inclou dos estudis que exploren els correlats neuronals de la codificació de regularitats acústiques al sistema auditiu humà, mitjançant l’anàlisi dels potencials evocats auditius. L’objectiu del primer estudi, realitzat al Grup de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva de la Facultat de Psicologia de la Universitat de Barcelona (UB) i sota la supervisió directa del Dr. Carles Escera, va ser el d’explorar les dinàmiques d’adaptació dels potencials evocats auditius a estímuls probabilístics en una complexa seqüència de sons. El resultat principal d’aquest estudi va ser la demostració de que l’amplitud dels potencials evocats auditius s’adapta a la historia complexa d’estimulació amb diferents constants temporals simultàniament: s’adapta més ràpidament a probabilitats d’estimulació locals que globals. Aquest estudi també va mostrar que l’amplitud dels potencials evocats auditius correlaciona amb l’expectància d’un estímul definida com a una combinació de probabilitats locals i globals d’estimulació. L’objectiu del segon estudi, realitzat al Institute of Child Health (ICH), de l’University College of London (UCL), sota la supervision directa del Dr. Torsten Baldeweg, va ser el d’explorar la influència de la predictabilitat temporal en l’adaptació de l’activitat neuronal a estímuls probabilístics. El resultat principal d’aquest estudi va ser la demostració que la predictabilitat temporal intensifica la modulació de l’amplitud dels potencials evocats auditius a la repetició dels estímuls, essent esencial pels efectes que la repetició exerceix en etapes primerenques de la jerarquía de processament auditiu.

The PhD thesis aimed to characterize the dynamic or temporal dimension of the emotional experience assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Brain response to primary emotional stimuli and basal brain functional connectivity during a sustained resting-state have been analyzed using a dynamic approach in healthy subjects and in patients suffering from fibromyalgia and major depression (MDD), both disorders showing relevant abnormalities in the affective sphere. The technical advance recently incorporated to the field of fMRI data acquisition and analysis has made possible the dynamic study of the human emotional experience from a brain-system perspective. Two different approaches were employed. The first approach (i) was intended to dynamically characterize brain responses in emotion circuits when specifically targeted by aversive painful stimulation, considered a primary elicitor of emotional responses, in healthy subjects and in the selected clinical populations. The second approach (ii) specifically aimed to dynamically characterize the "baseline" functional organization of distinct emotion-processing circuits in healthy subjects and in a core affective disorder such as major depression.Four studies compose the PhD thesis. The first study assessed the existence of regional specialization within the right lateral aspect of the frontal cortex, important for the affective modulation of pain perception, on the basis of their response dynamics during mechanical painful stimulation in a group of healthy subjects. Three distinct locations were found with separate temporal courses of activation showing each of them a different contribution to the final experience of pain reported by the subject. In the second study, information concerning the actual brain response dynamics (time-courses of brain responses) to painful stimulation were used in a group of fibromyalgia patients (and in healthy subjects) to better characterize their overall subjective pain experience and the specific contribution of brain emotional processing abnormalities to such a clinical disorder. The dynamic analysis approach successfully identified relevant abnormalities in the patients' response to pain that would have not been possibly detected with a conventional model-based approach based on the fixed stimulus duration. The third study aimed to assess possible alterations in the baseline functional organization of the emotion-related brain networks during resting-state (stimulation free) conditions in a group of MDD patients, characterized by a continuous and severe negative affective state. Gray-matter abnormalities observed in MDD patients guided the functional connectivity study, which successfully captured major brain networks relevant to MDD physiopathology. Overall, the baseline functional disposition of the brain systems under study revealed functional connectivity disruptions (loss of coherence between fMRI signal fluctuations in distinct brain regions) affecting most of the networks, coinciding with the general hypo-functional state characterizing such patients. Specific functional connectivity enhancements were also found in regions integrating the basic threat response circuit, which may be associated with the sustained stress characterizing MDD patients. Finally, the fourth study aimed to characterize the temporal changes in the abnormal responses to aversive painful stimulation in MDD patients following one and eight weeks of antidepressant treatment observed within relevant emotion brain circuits, and the specific brain correlates of affect-related symptomatic improvement in such patients. The dynamic study successfully identified (i) the normalization of brain hyper-responses to painful stimulation in emotion-related systems in MDD patients, associated with their symptomatic improvement following antidepressant treatment (ii) brain imaging correlates of symptomatic improvement in specific clinical dimensions of interest (iii) baseline brain response measurements predicting clinical responders following 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment. All in all, the four studies presented in the PhD thesis constitute a step forward in the dynamic characterization of how the brain constructs emotion perception and sustained affective states in the context of both health and disease.

We have investigated several properties of semiconductor electronic nanostructures. In the first part of the thesis, within the density functional theory we have addressed the ground state and the dipolar response of quantum rings. In particular, we have considered single-quantum-ring systems and also vertically and concentrically coupled quantum rings. As parameters, we have taken both the inter-ring distance and the intensity of externally applied electric and/or magnetic fields. The calculation of the addition energies and the dipolar response has allowed us to study the evolution of these properties as a function of the mentioned parameters, and to describe as well some of the properties of double-ring systems in terms of those of the single rings, especially in the limits of small (strong coupling regime) and large (weak coupling regime) ring separations.Also, we have studied the effects of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions in quantum wells and wires submitted to magnetic fields. For the formers, we have not taken into account the electron-electron interaction in most of the calculations and we have employed an analytic formalism that has allowed us to obtain exact results for the electronic eigenstates and eigenenergies in some particular cases, as well as non-exact expressions obtained after doing some approximations that have turned out to be very accurate when compared with the numerically obtained results. For the quantum wires, we have employed a generalization of the local spindensity approximation that allows to treat systems with non-collinear spins (e.g. due to the spinorbit interaction) similarly as those systems in which one can define a common spin quantization axis. This way we have been able to compute the single-particle orbitals and also the conductance of the wire as a funcion of both the magnetic field and the spin-orbit coupling strengths, investigating the effects of the exchange-correlation interaction.KEY WORDS: Nanostructures, Quantum Rings, Quantum Wires, Spin-Orbit, Far-Infrared Response / Hem investigat diverses propietats de les nanoestructures electròniques de semiconductor. En primer lloc, utilitzant el formalisme de la teoria del funcional de la densitat hem estudiat l'estat fonamental i la resposta a l'infraroig llunyà d'anells quàntics. En particular, hem considerat els sistemes formats per un sol anell, i també per anells dobles acoblats verticalment i concèntricament.Com a paràmetres hem pres les distàncies de separació entre els anells, i també la intensitat d'un cert camp elèctric i/o magnètic aplicat sobre els sistemes. El càlcul de les energies d'addició i de la resposta dipolar ens ha permès observar la seva evolució en funció d'aquests paràmetres, i també descriure algunes de les propietats dels anells dobles en termes de les dels anells simples, especialment en els límits de separacions molt petites (límit d'acoblament quàntic fort) i molt grans (límit d'acoblament quàntic dèbil).Per altra banda, hem estudiat els efectes de les interaccions d'spin-òrbita de Rashba i de Dresselhaus en pous i fils quàntics sotmesos a camps magnètics. En el cas dels primers, s'ha omès en gairebé tots els càlculs la interacció electró-electró i s'ha emprat un formalisme anal.lític que ens ha permès obtenir resultats exactes pels autoestats i les autoenergies dels electrons en alguns casos particulars, i d'altres expressions no exactes obtingudes després de realitzar certes aproximacions, però que han resultat ser molt acurades en comparar-les amb els resultats numèrics. En el cas dels fils quàntics hem utilitzat una generalització de l'aproximació local d'spin que ens ha permès estudiar un sistema on els spins no són colineals degut a la presència de la interacció d'spin-òrbita de manera similar als sistemes en que sí ho són. Així hem calculat les energies monoparticulars i la conductància del fil en funció del camp magnètic i de la intensitat dels acoblaments de Rashba i de Dresselhaus, investigant els efectes de la interacció d'intercanvi-correlació.

Polimorfismos em genes codificando proteínas envolvidas no reconhecimento de microrganismos e na resposta imune contra patógenos podem influenciar na quantidade ou na função da proteína produzida em resposta ao estímulo bacteriano. Existem evidências de que alguns destes polimorfismos genéticos modificam a resposta do paciente à sepse. No presente estudo, foram estudados polimorfismos presentes em genes que, sabidamente ou supostamente, apresentam um efeito biológico importante na sepse com o objetivo de identificar marcadores associados com a sepse e com a evolução clínica favorável ou com a morte. Entre esses polimorfismos estão aqueles presentes nos genes TNF_, TNFß, IL1RN, HSP70, IL6, IL10, CD14, TLR4, TLR2. As técnicas utilizadas compreenderam PCR em tempo real usando sondas com marcação fluorescente (VIC e FAM), PCR usual, digestão com enzimas de restrição e eletroforese. Os 97 pacientes com sepse, sepse grave e choque séptico estudados foram tratados na UTI do Hospital de Base de São José do Rio Preto. Também foram estudadas amostras de 207 indivíduos saudáveis coletadas no Hemocentro do mesmo hospital. Os polimorfismos IL6-597, HSP70-2 e o haplótipo do gene IL6 apresentaram valores estatisticamente significativos. Os dados obtidos sugerem que os polimorfismos IL6-597 e o haplótipo IL6 -174/-1753/- 2954/-597 estão associados com a evolução clínica da sepse, enquanto o polimorfismo do gene HSP70 está associado com bacteremia. A associação de polimorfismos em pacientes com sepse deverá ser avaliada em um maior número de pacientes no Brasil para ampliar nosso conhecimento sobre variantes genéticas e seus efeitos no curso clínico da sepse. Associações de polimorfismos com sepse e susceptibilidade a infecção podem ser no futuro utilizadas como marcadores moleculares para prognóstico. / Polymorphisms in genes codifying proteins involved in the recognition of microorganisms and in the answer of pathogens can influence the amount or the function of the protein produced in response to bacterial incentive. There are evidences that some of these genetic polymorphisms modify the patient\'s answer to sepsis. In the present study, we studied polymorphisms present in genes that, knowingly or supposedly, has an important biological effect in sepsis with the objective of identifying markers associated with sepsis and with the favorable clinical evolution or with the death. Among those polymorphisms they are those presents in the genes TNF, TNF, IL1RN, HSP70, IL6, IL10, CD14, TLR4, TLR2. The used techniques were Real time PCR using fluorescent probes (VIC and FAM), PCR, digestion with restriction enzymes and electrophoresis. The 97 patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock studied were those treated in INTENSIVE CARE UNIT of the Base´s Hospital of Sao Jose do Rio Preto. And 207 healthy individuals\' samples were collected in Hemocentro of the same hospital. The polymorphisms of the genes IL6-597, HSP70-2 and the haplotype of the gene IL6 presented estatistical significant values. The polymorphism IL6-597 and the haplotype IL6 - 174/-1753/-2954/-597 can be associated with the clinical evolution of sepsis, while the polymorphism of the gene HSP 70 can be associated with bacteremia. The association of polymorphisms in patients with sepsis will have to be evaluated in bigger samples of patients in Brazil to extend our knowledge on genetic variants and its effect in the clinical course of sepsis. Associations of polymorphisms with sepsis and susceptibility to infection can be in the future used as molecular marker for prognostic.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-10-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:21:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 abreu_js_dr_jabo.pdf: 580857 bytes, checksum: 7cd4b8b96649d30421df9e3fae023302 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O sistema imune é dividido em duas partes que se complementam: o sistema imune inato (não específico) e o adquirido (específico). O sistema imune inato é considerado como a primeira linha de defesa e inclui barreiras físicas (pele e muco) e componentes celulares e moleculares (macrófagos, células killer e fatores solúveis de imunidade, como lisozima, proteínas do sistema complemento, peptídeos antimicrobianos, entre outros). No processo de criação, o sistema imune dos peixes pode ser prejudicado por vários fatores, mas efeitos benéficos podem ser observados com o uso de substâncias conhecidas como imunoestimulantes. Dentre os imunoestimulantes estudados, os glicanos vêm sendo amplamente utilizados como importantes indutores de mecanismos não específicos de defesa. Em algumas espécies de peixes tropicais, como o pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) e matrinxã (Brycon amazonicus), estudos observaram o papel da vitamina C como imunoestimulante avaliando a hematologia dos peixes como indicador das alterações imunológicas. O número de leucócitos e de trombócitos é considerado importante indicador de seu estado de saúde. Entretanto, não são conhecidos estudos que avaliem outros parâmetros imunológicos bem como os efeitos do glicano nas respostas imunológicas inatas de peixes tropicais. O pacu, por ser uma espécie onívora, de fácil cultivo e adaptada a ampla variedade de alimentos, tem grande importância na piscicultura brasileira e por esta razão foi escolhido como modelo experimental nesta pesquisa. O objetivo deste trabalho foi testar, inicialmente, técnicas para avaliação de alguns mecanismos inatos de defesa (atividade respiratória de leucócitos e concentração e atividade de lisozima) nesta 37 espécie tropical, cujos resultados são apresentados no capítulo 2 desta tese. Este estudo registrou essas respostas imunes inatas no pacu... / The immune system is divided in two parts that complement each other: the specific and non-specific immune system. The non-specific immune system is the primary defence line and includes natural barriers (skin and mucus) and cellular and molecular components (macrophages, natural killer cells, immune soluble factors, like lysozyme, complement, antimicrobials peptides, among others). In all farming, the immune system of fish may be damaged by many factors, but the benefic effects may be observed using immunostimulants. It has been of common knowledge that glucans are the most known of them and are being used like nonspecific defence mechanisms stimulants. In some tropical fish species, such as pacu (Piaractus mesopotamicus) and matrinxã (Brycon amazonicus), studies evaluated vitamin C effect as immunostimulant, considerating the fish hematology as immune alterations indicator. The leucocytes and trombocytes number is considerated an important health indicator. However, there are no studies evaluating different immune parameters and the glucan effect in innate immune response of tropical fish. The pacu is an omnivore specie of great importance to Brazilian fish farming. For this reason, it was chosen as experimental model in this research. The aim of this work was to test some techniques for evaluation of some defence innate mechanisms (burst oxidative and lysozyme) in this tropical specie, whose results are showed in chapter 2 of this work. This research recorded these immune responses of pacu and established adequate methodologies for its determination. After, this study evaluated the effect of glucan, administered to intraperitoneal injection and incorporated in the diet, in stimulation of some immune systems components of pacu. Besides, it was also verified 39 the stress responses after the capture of pacu fed with diets supplemented with glucan ...(Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-06-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:48:10Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 curci_vclm_dr_jabo.pdf: 208355 bytes, checksum: b31da2026d8809c55818b68c4c8d77b7 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Foi avaliado pelo teste de ELISA indireto a resposta humoral para as toxinas botulínicas tipos C e D em animais vacinados com quatro diferentes produtos comerciais. Empregou-se duas vacinas bivalentes C e D (vacina 1 e vacina 2) e duas polivalentes contendo ainda os toxóides botulínicos tipos C e D (vacina 3 e vacina 4). Para análise foram realizadas seis colheitas de sangue ao longo do experimento, nos dias 0, 42, 75, 160, 250 e 342 após a vacinação. A imunidade passiva em bezerros até os 90 dias de idade, filhos de mães vacinadas com diferentes toxóides comerciais foram avaliados em 75 bezerros, agrupados de acordo com a vacina utilizada na mãe (B1, B2, B3 e B4). Para análise foram realizadas 3 colheitas de sangue, nos dias 5 (± 2), 45 e 90 dias após o nascimento. A avaliação da resposta humoral de bovinos vacinados em diferentes faixas etárias também foi realizada empregando-se uma vacina antibotulínica bivalente (C e D) comercial. Para análise, 90 bovinos foram divididos em 3 grupos de acordo com a faixa etária; animais com idade inferior a 2 anos, entre 2 e 5 anos e superior a 5 anos. Na avaliação da resposta humoral de animais vacinados com quatro diferentes produtos comerciais, para a toxina tipo C, as vacinas 1, 2, 3 e 4 não apresentaram diferenças significativas aos 42 dias da primeira dose. Aos 75 dias, a vacina 1, foi superior às vacinas 3 e 4, induzindo maior produção de anticorpos nos animais, porém não diferiu da vacina 2. Aos 160 dias houve queda na quantidade de anticorpos em todos os grupos, não havendo mais diferenças significativas entre as quatro vacinas testadas. Para a toxina tipo D, aos 42 dias da vacinação, não houve diferenças significativas entre as vacinas 1, 2 e 4, que apresentaram neste momento, valores superiores a vacina 3. No entanto, quando avaliadas aos 75 dias, a vacina 1 apresentou maior produção de anticorpos, diferindo... / To compare the efficiency of an “in house” ELISA test, standardized to measure antibody C and D from Clostridium botulinum, a survey to analysis four different commercial vaccines was conducted. The vaccines used were two commercial, bivalent botulinum containing subtypes C and D (vaccine 1 and vaccine 2) and other two polyvalent including subtypes C and D. The first trial was blood samples taken at 0, 42, 75, 160, 250 and 342 days after vaccination, whereas the booster was performed at day 42. The second trial, maternal antibodies were also measured taken blood samples from 1-3 months age steers obtained from vaccinated heifers with the same vaccines described above, and divided into four different groups (B1, B2, B3, B4). The blood samples were taken at days 5, 45 and 90 after birth. Third and last trial was humoral response from vaccinated cattle with different age evaluation performed using the commercial Clostridium botulinum vaccine subtype C and D. For this purpose, 90 animals never vaccinated, were divided into 3 groups: 1 - 2 years old; 2 – animals aged between 2 and 5 years old; 3 – animals 5 years old. The blood samples were taken 30 days after vaccination after second dose of the vaccine. From the first trial, no significant difference was observed when subtype C was search in sera from animals at 42 days after vaccination. However, at 75 days after vaccination, vaccine 1 was able to induce higher levels of antibodies when compared to vaccine 3 and 4. The antibody level was declining after 160 days post vaccination. For subtype D antigen, at 42 days after vaccination, no differences could be observed. However, at 75 day after vaccination, higher levels of antibodies were observed from animals vaccinated with vaccine 1. Comparing the bivalent vaccines, these were able to induce higher antibodies levels at 75 days after vaccination (toxoid C). In addition, the same... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:32:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 1306121 bytes, checksum: a37665a647e350c65a7c8f5fa7dc4f7b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-24 / In the analysis of problems in which the response variable of interest is influenced by many factors and whose goal is to optimize, it's it intended to use designs for the response surface. One of the highlights is the central composite design (CCD), which is a randomized second-order and may have characteristics of rotational and / or orthogonality. These designs are simple, economical, promising and very flexible. These are consisted of factorial points, axial and central. This way, using simulation data, the objective was to investigate, by means of simulation data, the effects of axial points and the number of central points on the quality of fitting of the area response surfaces obtained through this design for two factors studied, when the great is well centered or not in the intervals studied, trying to indicate more appropriated analysis strategies in different cases. For this purpose, the full factorial was used as a witness. For the two factors study, we established a complete 9x9 factorial design with nine replicates per treatment, according to a completely randomized design, it also has been established two responses areas one with a critical point near the midpoint and the other with a critical point away from central. Defined the values of the axial points (α) equal to 1; 1,4142; 2 and 3 and the number of repetitions at the central point equal to 1, 3, 6 and 9. The 16 CCDs observations were obtained from the first repetition of the respective treatments (factorial points, axial and central) contained in the full factorial. For different simulations, it was determined the coefficients of variation equal to 5, 10, 20 and 30%. Five simulations were done by variation coefficient and response surface, totaling 640 data files. To evaluate the of approximation degree of the response surface adjusted, compared to the real one, was used as a measure, the absolute difference between the values of true and estimated coefficients (Δβi) and the absolute difference related to critical points (ac and bc) from the responses surfaces (Δac and Δbc) in relation to the factors A and B, and to measure the fit degree of each response surface, we used the mean absolute percentage error (EPMA) and the linear correlation coefficient between the fitted values and true Y (rŷyv). However, different values of α provided better estimates of the measures evaluated and, as α = 1,4142 is closer to them all, it was concluded that this value is probably among the best for treatment planning. The value of α = 1,4142, which has the property rotatability and the increase in number of repetitions at the central point provided the best fit response surface, however, the residual variance increase is not good for this estimates. Therefore, the conclusion is that the rotational CCD must be recommended for experiments under more controlled conditions, and compared with the full factorial had low efficient. In addition, the CCD presented similar results for the two surfaces of simulated responses. / Na análise de problemas nos quais a variável resposta de interesse é influenciada por diversos fatores e cujo objetivo é otimizá-la, propõe-se utilizar delineamentos para superfície de resposta. Dentre eles, destaca-se o Delineamento Composto Central (DCC), que é um delineamento de segunda ordem, podendo apresentar características de rotacionalidade e/ou ortogonalidade. Tais delineamentos são simples, econômicos, promissores e bastante flexíveis. Estes são constituídos de pontos fatoriais, axiais e central. Deste modo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi de investigar, por meio da simulação de dados, os efeitos dos pontos axiais e do número de pontos centrais sobre a qualidade dos ajustes das superfícies de reposta obtidas, por meio desse delineamento para dois fatores estudados, quando a região ótima está ou não bem centralizada nos intervalos estudados, buscando assim, indicar estratégias de análises mais adequadas em diferentes casos. Para tanto, utilizou-se como testemunha, o fatorial completo. Para o estudo de dois fatores, foi estabelecido um fatorial completo 9x9 com nove repetições por tratamento, segundo o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, estabeleceu-se também duas superfícies de respostas, uma com ponto crítico próximo ao ponto central e a outra com ponto crítico afastado do ponto central. Definiu-se os valores dos pontos axiais (α) iguais a 1; 1,4142; 2 e 3 e do número de repetições no ponto central iguais a 1, 3, 6 e 9. As observações dos 16 DCCs, foram obtidas a partir da primeira repetição dos respectivos tratamentos (pontos fatoriais, axiais e central) contidos no fatorial completo. Para as diferentes simulações, foi especificado os coeficientes de variação iguais a 5, 10, 20 e 30%. Realizou-se cinco simulações por coeficiente de variação e por superfície de resposta, totalizando 640 arquivos de dados. Para avaliação do grau de aproximação da superfície de resposta ajustada, em relação à verdadeira, utilizou-se como medida a diferença absoluta entre os valores dos coeficientes verdadeiros e estimados (Δβi) e a diferença absoluta relacionada aos pontos críticos (ac e bc) das superfícies de respostas (Δac e Δbc) em relação aos fatores A e B, e para medir o grau de ajuste de cada superfície de resposta utilizou-se o erro percentual médio absoluto (EPMA) e o coeficiente de correlação linear entre os valores ajustados e verdadeiros de Y ( rŷyv ). Contudo, diferentes valores de α proporcionaram melhores estimativas das medidas avaliadas e, como α = 1,4142 está mais próxima de todas elas, concluiu-se que esse valor está, provavelmente entre os melhores para o planejamento dos tratamentos. O valor de α = 1,4142, que possui a propriedade de rotacionalidade, e o aumento do número de repetições no ponto central proporcionou melhor ajuste da superfície de resposta, porém, o aumento da variância residual prejudicou tais estimativas. Portanto, conclui-se que o DCC rotacional deve ser recomendado para experimentos sob condições mais controladas, e quando comparado com o fatorial completo apresentou-se menos eficiente. Além disso, o DCC apresentou resultados similares para as duas superfícies de respostas simuladas.