Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-05-31T15:37:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 lucianarabelodearaujo.pdf: 3777751 bytes, checksum: f71885f2bbf7188c5613e7ece870e07f (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: primeira letra de cada palavra chave em maiúsculo on 2016-07-02T12:46:13Z (GMT) / Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-07-04T10:27:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 lucianarabelodearaujo.pdf: 3777751 bytes, checksum: f71885f2bbf7188c5613e7ece870e07f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-07-13T16:13:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lucianarabelodearaujo.pdf: 3777751 bytes, checksum: f71885f2bbf7188c5613e7ece870e07f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T16:13:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 lucianarabelodearaujo.pdf: 3777751 bytes, checksum: f71885f2bbf7188c5613e7ece870e07f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-27 / Poças adjacentes em ambientes aquáticos costeiros podem servir como refúgio para organismos em condições ambientais desfavoráveis, desde que haja conexão hidrológica entre os sistemas. Neste trabalho, foram avaliados os fatores estruturadores e a importância da hidroconectividade para comunidades zooplanctônicas de 3 lagoas salinas e 15 poças adjacentes localizadas em Quissamã/RJ, e o papel do banco de ovos de resistência na recolonização de uma lagoa costeira. Amostras da comunidade e das variáveis ambientais foram coletadas no período de um ano (Maio 2010 – Fevereiro 2011) e o banco de ovos foi coletado em agosto de 2010 no sistema Garça. Através de uma NMS utilizando o índice de similaridade de Bray-Curtis, as poças mostraram ser mais similares entre si do que com as lagoas, independente do período (seca ou chuva). Uma RDA mostrou que a salinidade e o pH foram os principais fatores estruturadores das comunidades. O cálculo da diversidade beta evidenciou que as poças apresentaram uma menor turnover temporal. No sistema Garça, as poças apresentaram bancos de ovos mais ricos que a lagoa, e 45% das espécies registradas na comunidade ativa da lagoa foram registradas exclusivamente nas poças. Embora as lagoas e suas poças não tenham sido mais similares no período chuvoso, a conectividade parece ter uma grande importância, devido à presença de espécies dulcícolas nas lagoas nos períodos mais chuvosos, encontradas também nas poças. Este fato, além da menor diversidade beta exibida pelas poças sugere que a dispersão não é limitante, possivelmente formando uma metacomunidade. A alta contribuição da comunidade ativa e dormente das poças para a comunidade ativa da lagoa da Garça mostra o potencial destes ambientes na manutenção e recolonização da comunidade zooplanctônica deste sistema. / Small-sized pools next to coastal lakes may serve as refuge for organisms during unfavorable environmental conditions in the lakes, due to sporadic connections between all aquatic systems. We assessed the importance of environmental variables and of the hydrological connectivity for the structure of zooplankton communities in three saline lagoons and 15 adjacent pools from Brazil. We also evaluated the role of the resting egg bank in the recolonization of the zooplankton community in one coastal lagoon. Zooplankton and environmental variables were collected during one year (2010–2011) and the resting egg bank was collected in August 2010 in the Garça system. NMS analyses using a Bray-Curtis index showed that the pools were more similar between each other than between the lagoons, regardless of the season (dry or rainy). A RDA showed that salinity and pH were the main structuring factors of communities in all lagoon systems. The beta-diversity index demonstrated that the lagoons had a higher temporal turnover. In the Garça system, the pools showed richer egg banks than the lagoon and 45% of the species recorded in the lake’s active community were founded in the pools. Although lagoons and pools were not more similar in the rainy season, the connectivity seems to have a major role due to the presence of freshwater species in the lakes, that were also found in the pools. This fact, plus the lower beta diversity showed by pools suggest that dispersal is not limited. The high contribution of the active and dormant communities of the pools for Garça lake’s active community shows the potential of these environments in the maintenance and recolonization of zooplankton community in this system.

Les aires cérébrales entretiennent des relations fonctionnelles, formant ainsi des réseaux qui peuvent être altérés dans diverses pathologies. L'étude de ces réseaux de connectivité fonctionnelle pourrait potentiellement aider au diagnostic d'un individu et au traitement de sa pathologie. À travers quatre études, nous avons montré que l'analyse en composantes indépendantes spatiale est une méthode suffisamment sensible, reproductible et spécifique pour mettre en évidence, à l’échelle individuelle et au repos, des réseaux sains et pathologiques fiables. Ainsi, le réseau pathologique sous-tendant les hallucinations acoustico-verbales permet de définir les aires cérébrales à traiter par stimulation magnétique transcrânienne. Parmi les réseaux sains, ceux qui impliquent le cortex cingulaire postérieur et le précunéus semblent profondément altérés dans les troubles de la conscience, et peuvent servir d'outil diagnostic pour distinguer le locked-in syndrome de l'état végétatif. Il est désormais possible de cartographier, à l'échelle individuelle, les relations fonctionnelles entre les aires cérébrales. L’étude à venir de la dynamique et du niveau d’activité des réseaux de connectivité fonctionnelle nous renseignera davantage sur leurs fonctions et leur implication dans la pathologie. / Brain areas are functionally connected in networks, even at rest. Since such connectivity networks could be impaired in several pathologies, they could potentially serve for diagnosis and treatment. Based on four studies, spatial independent component analysis has shown sufficient sensitivity, reproducibility and specificity to produce reliable healthy as well as pathological networks at the individual level. Therefore, the network underlying auditory hallucination could define the brain areas to treat by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Among the common resting-state networks, the ones involving the posterior cingular cortex and the precuneus seem deeply altered in disorders of consciousness, and so could be used as a diagnostic tool to distinguish the locked-in syndrome from the vegetative state. We can now map, at the individual level, the functional relationships between brain areas. Further studies on the dynamic and on the level of activity of the functional connectivity networks might provide relevant information about their functions and their involvement in the pathology.

Abstract Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease leading to early-onset dementia with an estimated worldwide prevalence of 10 to 30 cases per 100000 individuals in the age group of 46 to 65 years. Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is the most common FTLD subtype. It is characterized by a progressive deterioration of behavior and personality as well as executive dysfunction. In Finland, almost 50 % of familial FTLD cases are attributable to the C9ORF72 mutation. bvFTD is associated with a characteristic pattern of brain atrophy detectable in structural MRI. However, these changes are typically not visible in the early stages of the disease. Resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) is being increasingly used to evaluate changes in functional connectivity within neuronal networks in the brain but only a few RS-fMRI investigations of bvFTD patients have been published with inconsistent results. The object of this thesis was to investigate functional connectivity changes detected in the salience (SLN) and default mode networks (DMN) in bvFTD. Another aim was to clarify the role of other cognitive resting-state networks in this disease. A cohort of 26 bvFTD patients was studied, with 8 of these patients carrying the C9ORF72 expansion. Connectivity changes were detected in multiple clinically relevant cognitive networks. Decreased functional connectivity was observed in the SLN, which is associated with guiding of behavior. Increased activity was present in the DMN and the dorsal attention network (DAN). In C9ORF72 associated bvFTD, there was an abnormal linkage detected between the DMN and the thalamus. Currently, fMRI is generally used as a research tool and in a group setting. Different study methods have been used in the literature and also in the studies of this thesis, the analysis procedures differed to some extent. The variety of analysis methods may explain the heterogeneity in fMRI findings in bvFTD patients. There is a need for standardization of the fMRI methodology, larger study groups and also in the future the methodology should be improved so that single patient analysis would provide results to allow a confident diagnosis of this disease. / Tiivistelmä Otsa-ohimolohkorappeuma (Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, FTLD) on toiseksi yleisin etenevä dementiaan johtava sairaus, joka ilmaantuu usein jo työikäisenä. Otsalohkodementia on otsa-ohimolohkorappeuman yleisin alamuoto, jonka oireisto painottuu persoonan ja käyttäytymisen muutoksiin sekä toiminnan ohjauksen ongelmiin. Suomessa C9ORF72-toistojaksomutaatio selittää lähes 50 % perinnöllisistä otsa-ohimolohkorappeumista. Aivojen rakenteellisella magneettikuvauksella (MK) voidaan havaita rakenteellisia muutoksia, jotka ilmaantuvat kuitenkin vasta taudin edettyä vaikeampaan vaiheeseen. Aivojen lepotilan toiminnallinen magneettikuvaus (TMK) mahdollistaa aivojen hermoverkkojen toiminnan eli konnektiviteetin kartoituksen. Aiemmin TMK:a on tutkittu esim. Alzheimerin taudissa. Otsalohkodementiassa TMK:sta on julkaistu ainoastaan yksittäisiä tutkimuksia ja tulokset ovat olleet osin ristiriitaisia. Väitöskirjatutkimuksen tarkoituksena on ollut selvittää valve-lepotilan hermoverkossa ja olennaisen tunnistavassa hermoverkossa tapahtuvia muutoksia otsalohkodementiaa sairastavilla potilailla. Toisena tavoitteena on ollut tutkia muissa kognitiivisissa hermoverkoissa tapahtuvia muutoksia. Otsalohkodementiaa sairastaville potilaille (n= 26) sekä ikä- ja sukupuolivakioiduille kontrolleille on tehty kliininen tutkimus ja rakenteellinen sekä toiminnallinen aivojen magneettikuvaus. Kahdeksalla potilaalla todettiin C9ORF72-toistojaksomutaatio. Useiden kognitiivisten hermoverkkojen toiminnassa havaittiin muutoksia, jotka korreloivat potilaiden kliinisiin oireisiin. Alentunutta konnektiviteettia todettiin olennaisen tunnistavassa hermoverkossa, joka osallistuu käyttäytymisen säätelyyn. Lisääntynyttä konnektiviteettia esiintyi valve-lepotilan hermoverkossa ja tarkkaavaisuus hermoverkossa. Potilailla, joilla on C9ORF72-mutaatio, havaittiin epänormaali yhteys valve-lepotilan hermoverkon ja talamuksen välillä. TMK:ta käytetään tällä hetkellä lähinnä tutkimustyökaluna. Analyysityökaluissa on ollut vaihtelevuutta eri julkaisuissa ja osin myös tämän väitöskirjan osatöissä. Julkaistut TMK-löydökset otsalohkodementiassa ovat osin ristiriitaisia ja se saattaa selittyä erilaisilla analyysimenetelmillä. Metodologiaa tulisi standardisoida ja lisäksi tarvitaan suurempia potilasryhmiä ja menetelmien kehittämistä, jotta TMK:n käyttö yksilötason kliinisessä diagnostiikassa olisi jatkossa mahdollista.

Près de 30% des patients ayant survécus à un AVC, développent une dépression (DPAVC) dont le retentissement sur la qualité de vie peut être majeur. Sa physiopathologie est encore méconnue et les critères diagnostiques ne sont pas clairement définis. Notre objectif est d'identifier des facteurs précoces neuropsychologiques et de neuroimagerie prédictifs d'une dépression 3 mois après l’AVC.Cinquante-cinq patients présentant un premier AVC, sans antécédent neurologique ou psychiatrique ont été inclus. Dix jours après l’AVC, la sévérité des symptômes dépressifs et anxieux a été évaluée d’une part, par les échelles standard d’Hamilton et d’autre part, en vie quotidienne durant 7 jours, par la méthode d’échantillonnage des expériences (ESM). Au même temps, un examen d’IRM multimodale a été réalisé (IRM fonctionnelle de repos, DTI et 3D T1) afin d'évaluer les modifications anatomo-fonctionnelles de l’organisation cérébrale. Trois mois après l’AVC, une mesure standard de la sévérité des symptômes dépressifs et anxieux est à nouveau effectuée. A partir de ces données nous avons exploré la relation existant entre 1/ la sévérité des symptômes dépressifs et les données IRM 2/ la sévérité des symptômes dépressifs et les données ESM 3/ la sévérité des symptômes dépressifs mesurée par ESM et les modifications anatomo-fonctionnelles cérébrales. Nous avons mis en évidence une modification de la connectivité fonctionnelle entre les régions postérieures du réseau en "default mode", de la même façon que dans les dépressions majeure et vasculaire ; et entre le cortex temporal moyen et ce réseau. A la phase aigue de l’AVC, 2 profils symptomatologiques se distinguent : le premier est caractérisé par une grande fatigue et une forte anhédonie, le deuxième est définit par de la tristesse, une forte anxiété, des pensées négatives et une forte réactivité émotionnelle. Ce dernier est associé au risque de DPAVC à 3 mois. Enfin, nous avons montré que les modifications fonctionnelles du DMN prédictives de l’AVC étaient associées à la réactivité émotionnelle, alors que le volume de substance grise du cervelet était corrélé à la fréquence des pensées positives et négatives.En conclusion, la physiopathologie de la DPAVC présenterait des similitudes avec celle de la dépression majeure et de la dépression vasculaire, mais aussi des différences comme l’engagement du cortex temporal moyen au sein du réseau en « default mode ». De plus, cette étude suggère qu'à côté de l'implication de la lésion cérébro-vasculaire, des critères de vulnérabilité psychobiologiques antérieurs à l’AVC influenceraient la survenue d’une dépression. / 30% of stroke survivors will experience Post-Stroke Depression (PSD) that is associated to a poor quality of life. PSD is still under-diagnosed due to the absence of clear diagnostic criteria and its pathophysiology remains unknown. The aim of this study was to identify early imaging and psychiatric risk factors of depression 3 months after stroke. Patients with a first ischemic stroke, without any neurologic and psychiatric history were included. Daily-life symptoms were evaluated using ESM 10 days after stroke. Brain MRI acquisition was performed at 10 days after stroke including DWI, FLAIR/T2, resting state fMRI and anatomical sequences. We explored the association between 1/ the severity of depressive symptoms and MRI data 2/ the severity of depressive symptoms and ESM data 3/ the severity of depressive symptoms measured by ESM and MRI data.Results revealed a modification of the functional connectivity between posterior structures of the DMN (Default Mode Network) and between the middle temporal cortex and the DMN. In the acute phase, depressed patients presented either high fatigue and anhedonia or another profile including high anxiety, negative thoughts and emotional reactivity which is associated to the risk of depression 3 months after stroke. Moreover, we demonstrated that functional connectivity modifications within the DMN and the cerebellum grey matter were respectively associated to emotional reactivity and the frequency of positive and negative thoughts.In conclusion, modifications of the DMN were implicated in the physiopathology of PSD in the same way that major or vascular depression, with a specificity represented by the new contribution of the middle temporal cortex within the DMN. Furthermore, this study suggests that more than a stroke lesion, anterior psychobiological vulnerabilities of an individual patient could mediate PSD occurrence.

Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / It is generally agreed that the most troublesome procedure during the fabrication of complete dentures is the measurement of the Vertical Dimension at rest. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of a new instrument called the Facial Anthropological Device (FAD). The measurements recorded were compared to the Willis gauge (being the gold standard) and dividers, which are mechanical aids used to quantify lower third facial height during denture construction. This thesis presents data on 35 edentulous and 35 dentate patients in the age range of 30 to 70 years, who presented at the University of the Western Cape Dental faculty.The FAD incorporates a ‘spirit‐level’ and uses more anatomical landmarks than any other measuring device noted in the literature. It measures facial landmarks in the midline and is not only used to measure the vertical dimension of the face, but with further research, may also be used in forensic studies. The Willis gauge is designed to measure the distance from the lower border of the septum of the nose to the lower border of the chin, and the distance from the outer canthus of the eye to the corner of the relaxed lip with the teeth in occlusion. The dividers measures two arbitrary points on the face.The study showed that the FAD was most similar to the Willis gauge where reliability and reproducibility was compared. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) between the two devices.The FAD has shown to be a reliable and valid instrument that could be used to measure facial vertical dimension in the edentulous as well as dentate patients, however with some modifications to its design.

Cette thèse vise à tester l’hypothèse selon laquelle la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA), à ses différents stades, est responsable d’un dysfonctionnement synaptique. Ce dernier, conjointement avec d’autres processus pathologiques, pourrait mener à des modifications de l’excitabilité neuronale au sein de régions cérébrales spécifiques et, en conséquence, à des altérations de la connectivité fonctionnelle au sein des réseaux neuronaux auxquels contribuent ces régions cérébrales.Deux objectifs principaux ont été visés tout au long de ce projet. Le premier ambitionnait l’identification de nouveaux marqueurs électrophysiologiques du continuum de la MA. Le second aspirait à une meilleure compréhension de la relation entre les changements électrophysiologiques, les anomalies structurelles et métaboliques ainsi que les déficits cognitifs des patients souffrant d’une MA ou étant à risque de la développer. Afin de répondre à ces buts de recherche, une approche multimodale combinant l’exploration électrophysiologique via la magnétoencéphalographie (MEG), métabolique et structurelle via un appareil hybride associant la tomographie par émission de positons avec comme traceur le fluorodésoxyglucose (FDG) et l’imagerie par résonance magnétique structurelle (TEP-IRM), et enfin cognitive via un examen neuropsychologique a été mise en place pour tous les participants qu’ils soient dans le cadre d’un vieillissement normal ou pathologique.La première étude a investigué la manière dont le continuum de la MA altère la dynamique de l’activité cérébrale spontanée et comment cette dernière est reliée aux anomalies structurelles, métaboliques et cognitives associées à la MA. Les résultats ont principalement montré des altérations dans l’activation du réseau du mode par défaut chez les patients avec une MA constituant un corrélat électrophysiologique supplémentaire du dysfonctionnement synaptique de la MA.La deuxième étude a étudié la relation entre l'activité rythmique cérébrale en bande de fréquence alpha et les altérations en mémoire épisodique verbale en utilisant la tâche de rappel libre/rappel indicé-16 items. Nos résultats ont principalement mis en évidence un nouveau corrélat électrophysiologique du dysfonctionnement à court terme en mémoire épisodique qui peut accompagner le vieillissement pathologique.Enfin, notre dernière étude a visé à fournir une vue d'ensemble des changements électrophysiologiques associés au continuum de la MA. Nos résultats ont principalement montré une diminution globale de la connectivité fonctionnelle en bande de fréquence alpha chez les patients avec une MA soutenant la théorie selon laquelle l'hypoconnectivité apparait à un stade tardif de la démence. Ceci suggère la présence d'un syndrome de déconnexion sévère dans la MA.De manière générale, ce projet de recherche a permis l’identification de marqueurs électrophysiologiques supplémentaires de la MA ainsi qu’une meilleure compréhension du lien entre les modifications électrophysiologiques et le déficit cognitif, les anomalies structurelles ainsi qu’avec les changements métaboliques observés dans la MA. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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The work deals with the foundations of bioelectric phenomena cardiomyocyte, then it is also part of this description of the heart conduction system and method of distribution in this system The next section is a description of the spread in the system, the very essence of the spread. In the last chapter analyzes the theory for the creation of computational models, which extend in one dimension or two dimensions

Human infants have been shown to have an innate capacity to acquire their mother tongue. In recent decades, the advent of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique has made it feasible to explore the neural basis underlying language acquisition and processing in children, even in newborn infants (for reviews, see Kuhl & Rivera-Gaxiola, 2008; Kuhl, 2010) . Spontaneous low-frequency (< 0.1 Hz) fluctuations (LFFs) in the resting brain have been shown to be physiologically meaningful in the seminal study (Biswal et al., 1995) . Compared to task-based fMRI, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) has some unique advantages in neuroimaging research, especially in obtaining data from pediatric and clinical populations. Moreover, it enables us to characterize the functional organization of the brain in a systematic manner in the absence of explicit tasks. Among brain systems, the language network has been well investigated by analyzing LFFs in the resting brain. This thesis attempts to investigate the functional connectivity within the language network in typically developing preschool children and the covariation of this connectivity with children’s language development by using the rs-fMRI technique. The first study (see Chapter 2.1; Xiao et al., 2016a) revealed connectivity differences in language-related regions between 5-year-olds and adults, and demonstrated distinct correlation patterns between functional connections within the language network and sentence comprehension performance in children. The results showed a left fronto-temporal connection for processing syntactically more complex sentences, suggesting that this connection is already in place at age 5 when it is needed for complex sentence comprehension, even though the whole functional network is still immature. In the second study (see Chapter 2.2; Xiao et al., 2016b), sentence comprehension performance and rs-fMRI data were obtained from a cohort of children at age 5 and a one-year follow-up. This study examined the changes in functional connectivity in the developing brain and their relation to the development of language abilities. The findings showed that the development of intrinsic functional connectivity in preschool children over the course of one year is clearly observable and individual differences in this development are related to the advancement in sentence comprehension ability with age. In summary, the present thesis provides new insights into the relationship between intrinsic functional connectivity in the brain and language processing, as well as between the changes in intrinsic functional connectivity and concurrent language development in preschool children. Moreover, it allows for a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying language processing and the advancement of language abilities in the developing brain.

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