Sarcoma cancer of the proximal femur is a bone tumor that develops near the hip joint. The most common method of treatment is limb salvage surgery (LLS), a highly invasive surgery that often leads to impaired movement including walking due to soft tissue resection. The current thesis focuses on 1) systematically reviewing current literature of functional outcomes after proximal femur LSS to determine if specific methods of muscle reattachment lead to better limb function, and 2) objectively analysing how reducing hip muscle strength impacts one’s ability to achieve healthy gait. Findings from the systematic review suggest using artificial mesh or ligaments for LLS may be a good alternative to allograft prosthesis composites and trochanter osteotomy, producing good functional outcomes with low rates of complications. It was also determined current literature is lacking objective quantitative analysis of patients’ limb function after surgery. Objective 2 was executed using instrumented gait analysis to record the gait kinematics, kinetics and EMG patterns of a patient who received LSS for proximal femur sarcoma. Data from the gait analysis was used to create a patient-specific musculoskeletal model. Healthy gait kinematics were applied to the model and specific hip muscle strengths were systematically reduced to simulate different surgical interventions. After an 85% reduction in gluteus medius and minimus muscle strength, healthy gait kinematics were not achieved. Reducing muscle strength of the gluteus medius and minimus together had a greater impact on the model’s ability to achieve healthy gait kinematics then when reduced individually. An understanding of how patient’s limb function is impacted after surgery can inform surgical technique, implant design and physiotherapy programs leading to better quality of life for patients after surgery. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc) / Hip reconstructive surgery as treatment for bone cancer is a highly invasive surgery that negatively impacts patients walking patterns and ultimately quality of life. The current thesis investigates existing literature to determine if specific, innovative surgical techniques lead to better functional results for patients after surgery. A three-dimensional model of a patient who had hip reconstruction surgery for bone cancer was created using quantitative analysis of their walking patterns. The model was manipulated to simulate surgical intervention for hip cancer treatment. The model findings suggest when specific hip muscles are substantially affected by surgery, patients walking patterns are negatively impacted. Understanding how surgical intervention impacts walking patterns can inform surgical technique, implant design and physiotherapy programs leading to better quality of life for patients after surgery.

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This research takes elements of the scholarship on environmentalism -- political theory and ethical philosophy -- and evaluates them together in the context of the conflict over salvage logging in the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon. I tell the story of the conflict through a history of land and fire management in the U.S. Through a closely detailed account of the anti-salvage logging activism, I explore the gap between ethics and political responsibility and how they unfold in this battle against deforestation. This research offers an in-depth look into how the environmental movement struggled internally to identify goals, and to challenge powerful economic and political systems that prevent significant change from taking root. I argue that the environmental movement needs a theory of environmental responsibility as a framework by which to better understand the strategies and complexities of environmental conflicts. The task of environmental responsibility is to confront the challenge of how to make the environmental movement responsive to the political and economic conditions that produce conflicts, and how environmentalism can overcome the limits of liberal individualism. As forests continue to dwindle, and as activists across the nation mobilize to stop the Keystone XL pipeline that will carry Canadian tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico, the future of environmentalism has never been more critical. / Ph. D.

Yes / We develop an analytical real-option solution to the after-tax optimal timing boundary for a replaceable asset whose operating cost and salvage value deteriorate stochastically. We construct a general replacement model, from which seven other particular models can be derived, along with deterministic versions. We show that the presence of salvage value and tax depreciation significantly lowers the operating cost threshold that justifies (and thus hastens) replacement. Although operating cost volatility increases defer replacement, increases in the salvage value volatility hasten replacement, albeit modestly, while increases in the correlation between costs and salvage value defer replacement. Reducing the tax rate or depreciation lifetime, or allowing an investment tax credit, yield mixed results. These results are also compared with those of less complete models, and deterministic versions, showing that failure to consider several stochastic variables and taxation in the replacement process may lead to sub-optimal decisions.

Die kardiale Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) ermöglicht nach einem akuten Myokardinfarkt (AMI) die Visualisierung und Quantifizierung der Myokardschädigung anhand verschiedener Parameter wie Ejektionsfraktion (EF), Infarktgröße, Mikrovaskuläre Obstruktion (MO) und „Myocardial Salvage Index“ (MSI). Anhand dieser MRT-Marker kann das Risiko für kardiovaskuläre Komplikationen eingeschätzt werden, was für die Weiterversorgung des Patienten sowie für die kardiologische Forschung von großem Interesse ist. In dieser Arbeit wurde die prognostische Relevanz der MRT-Parameter erstmals in einer großen, multizentrischen Studie untersucht. Zudem sollte unter den vier genannten MRT-Markern derjenige mit der größten prognostischen Aussagekraft ermittelt werden. Dazu wurden 795 Patienten aus der AIDA STEMI Studie einer MRT unterzogen und dann zwölf Monate lang im Hinblick auf den kombinierten Endpunkt „Major Adverse Cardiac Events“ (MACE; bestehend aus Tod, Reinfarkt und Klinikaufnahme wegen Herzinsuffizienz) nachbeobachtet. Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass die genannten MRT-Parameter prognostisch relevant sind und insbesondere die MO und die Infarktgröße einen Einfluss auf die Prognose ausüben, welcher über den Wert etablierter klinischer Risikomarker hinausgeht. Herausragende Bedeutung kommt dabei der MO zu, welche nach multivariater Analyse der potenteste MRT-Prädiktor für kardiovaskuläre Ereignisse ist. Somit sollten die MRT-Parameter in kommenden kardiologischen Studien als Surrogatmarker für klinische Endpunkte berücksichtigt werden. Zudem könnten sie für den klinischen Alltag die Möglichkeit bieten, die Patientenversorgung enger an die individuelle Prognose anzupassen.

Quantitative modelling of reverse logistics networks and product recovery have been the focus of many research activities in the past few decades. Interest to these models are mostly due to the complexity of reverse logistics networks that necessitates further analysis with the help of mathematical models. In comparison to the traditional forward logistics networks, reverse logistics networks have to deal with the quality of returns issues as well as a high degree of uncertainty in return flow. Additionally, a variety of recovery routes, such as reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling, exist. The decision making for utilising these routes requires the quality of returns and uncertainty of return flow to be considered. In this research, integrated forward and reverse logistics networks with repair, remanufacturing and disposal routes are considered. Returns are assumed to be classified based on their quality in ordinal quality levels and quality thresholds are used to split the returned products into repairable, remanufacturable and disposable returns. Fuzzy numbers are used to model the uncertainty in demand and return quantities of different quality levels. Setup costs, non-stationary demand and return quantities, and different lead times have been considered. To facilitate decision making in such networks, a two phase optimisation model is proposed. Given quality thresholds as parameters, the decision variables including the quantities of products being sent to repair, disassembly and disposal, components to be procured and products to be repaired, disassembled or produced for each time period within the time horizon are determined using a fuzzy optimisation model. A sensitivity analysis of the fuzzy optimisation model is carried out on the network parameters including quantity of returned products, unit repair an disassembly costs and procurement, production, disassembly and repair setup costs. A fuzzy controller is proposed to determine quality thresholds based on some ratios of the reverse logistics network parameters including repair to new unit cost, disassembly to new unit cost, repair to disassembly setup, disassembly to procurement setup and return to demand ratios. Fuzzy controller’s sensitivity is also examined in relation to parameters such as average repair and disassembly costs, repair, disassembly, production and procurement setup costs and return to demand ratio. Finally, a genetic fuzzy method is developed to tune the fuzzy controller and improve its rule base. The rule base obtained and the results of sensitivity analyses are utilised to gain better managerial insights into these reverse logistics networks.

In January, 2009, I joined Bikes Across Borders, a local grassroots organization, on their yearly bike caravan to Mexico. The group works to promote bicycles, both here and in Mexico, as an environmentally and financially sound alternative to motorized transportation. Each winter, members ride bicycles they build out of salvaged parts to border cities in Mexico. They give these bicycles to maquiladora workers who would otherwise spend a large portion of their income on transportation. These workers make a fraction of what they would in the U.S. and live in shacks amid the pollution from the factories they work in. This is the story of one group’s attempt at making a difference in the lives of these workers. / text

The regulation of pyrimidine biosynthesis was studied in Pseudomonas putida. The biosynthetic and salvage pathways provide pyrimidine nucleotides for RNA, DNA, cell membrane and cell wall biosynthesis. Pyrimidine metabolism is intensely studied because many of its enzymes are targets for chemotheraphy. Four aspects of pyrimidine regulation are described in this dissertation. Chapter I compares the salvage pathways of Escherichia coli and P. putida. Surprisingly, P. putida lacks several salvage enzymes including nucleoside kinases, uridine phosphorylase and cytidine deaminase. Without a functional nucleoside kinase, it was impossible to feed exogenous uridine to P. putida. To obviate this problem, uridine kinase was transferred to P. putida from E. coli and shown to function in this heterologous host. Chapter II details the enzymology of Pseudomonas aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase), its allosteric regulation and how it is assembled. The E. coli ATCase is a dodecamer of two different polypeptides, encoded by pyrBI. Six regulatory (PyrI) and six catalytic (PyrB) polypeptides assemble from two preformed trimers (B3) and three preformed regulatory dimers (I2) in the conserved 2B3:3I2 molecular structure. The Pseudomonas ATCase also assembles from two different polypeptides encoded by pyrBC'. However, a PyrB polypeptide combines with a PyrC. polypeptide to form a PyrB:PyrC. protomer; six of these assemble into a dodecamer of structure 2B3:3C'2. pyrC' encodes an inactive dihydroorotase with pyrB and pyrC' overlapping by 4 bp. Chapter III explores how catabolite repression affects pyrimidine metabolism. The global catabolite repression control protein, Crc, has been shown to affect pyrimidine metabolism in a number of ways. This includes orotate transport for use as pyrimidine, carbon and nitrogen sources. Orotate is important because it interacts with PyrR in repressing the pyr genes. Chapter IV describes PyrR, the positive activator of the pyrimidine pathway. As with other positive activator proteins, when pyrimidine nucleotides are depleted, PyrR binds to DNA thereby enhancing expression of pyrD, pyrE and pyrF genes. When pyrimidine nucleotides are in excess, the PyrR apoprotein binds to orotate, its co-repressor, to shut down all the pyrimidine genes. Like many positive activators, PyrR is subject to autoregulation and has catalytic activity for uracil phosphoribosyltransferase inducible by orotate.

Este estudo avalia a qualidade de vida de sujeitos acometidos por tumores musculoesqueléticos de membros inferiores, submetidos a cirurgias de ressecção, com salvamento de membro ou amputação. A casuística foi composta por 56 sujeitos, avaliados no período de 14 meses (agosto de 2011 a setembro de 2012), que foram divididos em três grupos: 1- 12 amputados; 2- 16 em pós-operatório de salvamento do membro (colocação de endoprótese ou reconstrução biológica); 3- sujeitos saudáveis (sem diagnóstico de câncer), selecionados entre a população em geral, de forma pareada com os outros grupos, segundo sexo, idade, escolaridade e condição socioeconômica. Além do Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil (2010), foram aplicados dois protocolos de avaliação, um de qualidade de vida (Medical Outcomes Study 36 - Item Short-Form Health Survey - SF-36) e o outro de capacidade funcional (Toronto Extremity Salvage Score - TESS), ambos adaptados culturalmente e validados no Brasil. Os dados foram estatisticamente analisados, conforme preconizado por cada protocolo. Os resultados indicaram que ambos os tipos de abordagem cirúrgica (amputação ou reconstrução) produziram prejuízos na capacidade funcional e na qualidade de vida dos sujeitos acometidos por tumores musculoesqueléticos, quando comparados à população saudável. Diferentemente do que apontaram outros trabalhos internacionais com casuística semelhante, os sujeitos submetidos a amputações apresentaram resultados melhores relacionados à sua capacidade funcional e à qualidade de vida, na maioria dos domínios do SF36 e com relevância estatística (p=0,001) no escore final do TESS, do que aqueles submetidos a técnicas de salvamento de membro. Por fim, é importante analisar a percepção dos sujeitos sobre sua funcionalidade e qualidade de vida, de modo a encontrar caminhos mais adequados no processo de reabilitação desta população. / This study appraises the quality of life of individuals with musculoskeletal tumors in lower extremities, undergoing resection surgeries with extremity salvage or amputation. The casuistry was composed by 56 subjects assessed in the course of 14 months (from August, 2001 to September, 2012), who were divided into 3 groups: 1- 12 amputated; 2- 16 in postsurgical extremity salvage (endoprosthesis implant or biological reconstruction); 3- healthy subjects (without cancer diagnosis), selected from the whole population, paired off with other groups, according to sex, age, schooling and socioeconomic status. Besides the Critério de Classificação Econômica Brasil (2010), two assessment protocols were applied, one about quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 36 - Item Short-Form Health Survey - SF-36), and the other one about functional capacity (Toronto Extremity Salvage Score - TESS), both culturally adapted and validated in Brazil. The data were statistically analyzed according to what each protocol proclaims. The results revealed that both surgical approach types (amputation or reconstruction) caused harm to the functional capacity and to the quality of life of the subjects suffering from musculoskeletal tumors, when compared to the healthy population. Unlike what other international papers with similar casuistry have shown, the subjects undergoing amputation presented better results related to their functional capacity and quality of life, in the majority of the domains of SF36, with statistical relevance (p=0.001), than those submitted to the techniques of extremity salvage. Finally, it is important to analyze the subjects\' perception on their functionality and quality of life in order to discover the most suitable ways in the process of rehabilitating this population.

Esta dissertação apresenta uma edição anotada de um livro inédito de contos de Valdomiro Silveira, Mucufos. A introdução situa historicamente esse livro, expõe as visões críticas a respeito do conjunto da obra do escritor, que envolvem aspectos sociais, humanos, estéticos e lingüísticos. Descreve o conjunto de contos de Mucufos encontrados em duas pastas denominadas Mucufos e Originaes manuscriptos de Papae (preciosíssimos), no Arquivo Valdomiro Silveira, no IEB/ USP, e explicita os critérios adotados na edição. Tal edição tem por finalidade estabelecer, a partir do confronto entre o apógrafo de CLSD (Carmen Lydia de Souza Dias), os autógrafos, os datiloscritos e os impressos encontrados nas pastas e no Arquivo do Estado, uma edição fidedigna. Para tanto, além do confronto referido, foi escolhida a transcrição crítica dos contos, procurando preservar os arcaísmos e os regionalismos presentes neles. A partir da transcrição, foram estabelecidos dois tipos de notas de rodapé. O primeiro, denominado de Nota CLSD, indica jornais de época em que foi publicada a maior parte dos contos, local e data de publicação, assim como local e data da escritura dos contos. O segundo, denominado Nota da edição, indica a pasta onde foi encontrado o conto e explica algumas palavras de cunho regional. Nas análises dos contos, buscou-se problematizar o teor de realismo, com a contribuição da categoria do realismo, segundo Georg Lukács; também foram analisadas as características estéticas, o grau de descrição de elementos da natureza e os principais temas e motivos. Entre estes últimos, destaca-se a violência e seu tratamento estético. Das análises, depreende-se a visão de Brasil por parte do escritor. A presente dissertação, pelo que foi exposto, busca resgatar uma parte do legado artístico de um escritor que muito se preocupou em humanizar um sujeito até então marginalizado em nossa literatura, o caipira, e discutir as principais questões estéticas e ideológicas surgidas nas análises dos 24 contos que constituem a edição. / This dissertation focuses on the annotated edition of an unpublished book of short stories, Mucufos, by Valdomiro Silveira. The introduction situates this book in a historical context, explaining critical views on the collected works of the writer, involving social, human, esthetical and linguistic aspects. It describes the short story collection of Mucufos found in two files named Mucufos and Originaes manuscriptos de Papae (especially valuable) in the Valdomiro Silveira Archive (IEB/ USP), and explains the criteria adopted for the edition. The aim of this edition was to establish an authentic edition emanating from a comparison between a reproduction by CLSD (Carmen Lydia de Souza Dias), autographs, typewritten sheets and printed papers found in the files and in the Office of Public Records. Apart from this comparison, a critical transcript of the short stories was chosen, in an attempt to preserve archaisms and regionalisms in these stories. Two types of footnotes were established from the transcript. The first note, named CLSD Note, indicates newspapers of the time period when most of the short stories were published, with publication date and location, as well as location and date when the stories were written. The second note, named Edition Note, indicates the file where the story was found, explaining some words of regional character. In an analysis of the short stories, there was an attempt to put in doubt the tenor of realism, with contribution from the category of realism, according to Georg Lukács; esthetical features, description of the elements, and main topics and motives were also analyzed. In the latter, violence and its esthetical treatment are highlighted. The writer\'s view of Brazil can be inferred from the analyses. Therefore, the current dissertation seeks to salvage part of the artistic legacy of a writer who was very concerned with humanizing an individual who had been marginalized in our literature until then, i.e. the hillbilly, and discuss the main esthetical and ideological issues that appear in the analyses of the 24 short stories of the edition.