O propósito deste estudo foi avaliar o efeito adjuvante da terapia probiótica (TProb) no tratamento periodontal não cirúrgico em pacientes com Periodontite Crônica generalizada (PCg). Em um estudo clínico aleatorizado, duplo-cego e placebo-controle, 41 pacientes com PCg foram tratados com TProb associada à raspagem e alisamento radicular (RAR Grupo Teste) ou apenas RAR (Grupo Controle). Os pacientes do Grupo Teste consumiram pastilhas contendo Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) HN019 durante 4 semanas. Os pacientes do Grupo Controle receberam pastilhas placebo (sem probiótico). Parâmetros clínicos periodontais foram avaliados no baseline (período pré-intervenção) e em 30 e 90 dias após a RAR. Nestes mesmos períodos foram coletadas amostras de placa subgengival para contagem de 40 espécies bacterianas (checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization) e detecção do genoma de B. lactis HN019 (Reação em cadeia da polimerase em tempo real - q-PRC), amostras do fluido crevicular gengival para avaliação dos níveis de Interleucina (IL)-1beta, IL-8 e IL-10 (Imunoensaios multiplex) e amostras de saliva para avaliação dos níveis de Imunoglobulina A (IgA) (Nefelometria). Foram realizadas, também, biópsias de tecido gengival para determinação da expressão de beta-defensina (BD)-3 e receptores do tipo Toll (TLR)-4 (reações imunohistoquímicas - estreptavidina-biotina-peroxidase). Os dados obtidos foram estatisticamente analisados (p<0,05). O Grupo Teste apresentou, aos 90 dias, redução de profundidade de sondagem (PS) e ganho de inserção clínica significativamente maiores que aqueles do Grupo Controle. O Grupo Teste também apresentou menor quantidade de bolsas periodontais moderadas (aos 30 e 90 dias) e profundas (aos 90 dias) que o Grupo Controle (p<0,05), bem como menor quantidade de pacientes (p<0,05) apresentando 3 ou mais sítios com PS &ge; 6 mm ou PS = 5mm e sangramento à sondagem (SS) positivo. O Grupo Teste apresentou menor SS (aos 30 e 90 dias) e menor IP (aos 30 dias) quando comparado ao Grupo Controle (p<0,05). Na análise microbiológica, o Grupo Teste apresentou proporções significativamente menores de espécies microbianas dos complexos vermelho (ao 30 e 90 dias) e do complexo laranja (aos 30 dias), bem como maiores proporções de espécies do complexo azul (aos 90 dias) quando comparado ao Grupo Controle. A análise por meio de q-PCR mostrou que o Grupo Teste apresentou um aumento no número de cópias/&mu;L do genoma da cepa probiótica B. lactis HN019 no biofilme subgengival aos 30 e 90 dias (p<0,05). Na análise imunológica, o Grupo Teste apresentou menor razão (valores ajustados ao baseline) de IL-1&beta; (aos 30 e 90 dias) e de IL-8 (aos 30 dias) do que o Grupo Controle (p<0,05). Apenas o Grupo Teste apresentou valores de IL-10 significativamente maiores que aqueles do baseline aos 30 dias. Não foram observadas diferenças entres os grupos nas razões de IgA aos 30 e 90 dias. Na análise imunohistoquímica, o Grupo Teste apresentou expressões significativamente maiores de BD-3 e TLR-4 em sítios doentes quando comparado ao Grupo Controle aos 30 dias. Pode-se concluir que a utilização do probiótico B. lactis HN019 como recurso adjuvante à RAR promove benefícios clínicos, microbiológicos e imunológicos adicionais no tratamento de pacientes com PCg / The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adjuvant effect of probiotic therapy (ProbT) in non-surgical periodontal treatment in patients with generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP). In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-control, 41 patients with GCP were treated with ProbT associated with scaling and root planing (SRP - Test Group) or SRP only (Control Group). The patients in the Test Group consumed lozenges containing Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (B. lactis) HN019 during 4 weeks. The patients in the Control Group received placebo (lozenges without probiotic). Periodontal clinical parameters were evaluated at baseline (pre-intervention) and at 30 and 90 days after SRP. Samples of subgingival plaque were collected to count 40 bacterial species (checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization) and detection of genome of B. lactis HN019 (polymerase chain reaction in real time - q-PCR). Gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected for assessing levels of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-8 and IL-10 (multiplex immunoassays). Saliva samples were collected to measure levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) (nephelometry). Also, biopsies of gingival tissues were performed to determine the expression of beta-defensina (BD)-3 and Toll-Like receptors (TLR)-4 (immunohistochemical reactions - streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase). The data obtained were statistically analyzed (p < 0.05). The Test Group presented, at 90 days, reduction of probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment gain significantly higher when compared to the Control Group. The Test Group also presented a lower number of moderate (at 30 and 90 days) and deep (90 days) periodontal pockets than the Control Group (p < 0.05), as well as a lower number of subjects (p < 0.05) with 3 or more sites with PPD &ge;6 mm or PPD = 5mm and bleeding on probing (BOP) positive. The Test Group presented lower BOP (at 30 and 90 days) and lower PI (at 30 days) when compared to the Control Group (p<0.05). In the microbiological analysis, the Test Group showed significantly lower proportions of microbial species of red (at 30 and 90 days) and the orange (at 30 days) complexes, as well as higher proportions of species of blue complex (at 90 days) when compared to the Control Group. q-PCR analysis showed that the Test Group presented an increase in the number of copies/&mu;L of the genome of the probiotic strain B. lactis HN019 in subgingival biofilm at 30 and 90 days (p < 0.05). In the immunological analysis, the Test Group presented a lower ratio of IL-&beta;1 (at 30 and 90 days) and IL-8 (30 days) than the Control Group (p < 0.05). Only the Test Group presented values of IL-10 significantly higher than those of the baseline at 30 days. No differences were observed between the groups on the ratios of IgA at 30 and 90 days. In the immunohistochemical analysis, the Test Group showed significantly higher expression of BD-3 and TLR-4 in sites with periodontitis when compared to the Control Group at 30 days. It can be concluded that the use of probiotic B. lactis HN019 as an adjuvant to SRP promotes clinical, microbiological and immunological additional benefits in the treatment of patients with GCP

Lança-se aqui a hipótese de que é possível reproduzir o comportamento do protótipo a partir de modelos feitos de materiais diferentes dos utilizados na estrutura de referência. A influência de distorção de espessura, de diferentes densidades, tensões de escoamento, encruamento e viscoplasticidade são todas avaliadas através de equações analíticas e simulações das estruturas básicas como viga, placa e o impacto de uma estrutura de chapa dupla. Adicionalmente, são realizadas caracterizações quase-estáticas e dinâmicas de material e experimentos em placas circulares para três escalas diferentes (1/1, 2/3 e 1/3), quatro materiais (alumínio, titânio, aço inox e cobre) e duas condições de carregamento: impacto de uma massa a baixa velocidade (3,5m/s) e um projétil a alta velocidade (130m/s). Mostra-se que o uso da lei de Johnson-Cook para descrever o comportamento viscoplástico dos materiais permite obter boa aproximação para o cálculo da velocidade de impacto corrigida, sem que sejam necessárias informações adicionais do comportamento da estrutura. Além disso, os resultados revelam a importância de se manter a razão entre massa de impacto e massa da estrutura constante em modelo e protótipo, levando a desejável similaridade das distorções entre ambas. Assim, ao se confirmar a hipótese deste trabalho, mostra-se possível inferir o comportamento de um protótipo com uso de modelos em escala reduzida feitos a partir de materiais diferentes. / It is hypothesized that it is possible to reproduce the behaviour of the prototype by using models made of different materials. The influence of thickness, different densities, flow stresses, hardening and viscoplasticity are all evaluated through analytical equations and simulations of basic structures such as beam, plate and the impact of a double plate structure. In addition, quasi-static and dynamic materials characterization are conducted , with experiments being performed in circular plates for three different scales (1/1, 2/3 and 1/3), four materials (Aluminum, Titanium, Stainless Steel and Copper) and two conditions impact of a mass (3,5m/s) and a projectile at high speed (130m/s). It is shown that the use of Johnson-Cook\'s law to describe the viscoplastic behavior of the materials allows a satisfactory approximation to the calculation of the corrected impact velocity, without the need for additional information on the behavior of the structure. In addition, the results reveal the relevance of maintaining the ratio between impact mass and structure mass constant in model and prototype, leading to the desirable similarity of the distortions between the two. Thus, when confirming the hypothesis of this work, it is possible to infer the behavior of a prototype using small scale models made from different materials.

Conceitos e fenômenos subjetivos, como a dor, sempre foram difíceis de serem medidos com precisão. A metodologia psicofísica, especialmente os procedimentos de estimativa de magnitude desenvolvidos por S.S. Stevens (1950), tem contribuído para o desenvolvimento de técnicas, para a criação de instrumentos, para escalonar fenômenos subjetivos. O objetivo do trabalho foi de construir uma escala psicofísica de medida da dor, utilizando julgamentos subjetivos de dor provocada por diferentes eventos. O trabalho foi realizado com 40 sujeitos adultos (30 mulheres e 10 homens) com idades entre 20 e 79 anos, para o grupo experimental e com 24 sujeitos do grupo controle com características de sexo, faixa etárias, estado conjugal e escolaridades semelhantes às do grupo experimental. Todos os sujeitos do grupo experimental eram doentes com dor crônica que se encontrava em tratamento, no ambulatório de dor da Clínica Neurológica do Instituto Central do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Investigou-se a concordância dos julgamentos obtidos entre o grupo experimental (com dor) e o controle (sem dor), procurando-se averiguar se existe ou não concordâncias entre os grupos, no que diz respeito à forma de avaliação da dor. Os dados coletados foram obtidos mediante entrevistas individuais, em que os sujeitos faziam julgamentos da magnitude de cada evento doloroso apresentado. Para obter uma escala objetiva de dor, utilizou-se de três listas com três conjuntos distintos de eventos dolorosos: dores do cotidiano (dor de cabeça, dor nas costas, etc.), dores por doenças físicas (lombalgia, câncer, etc.), dores por eventos dolorosos de vida ou eventos psicossociais (morte de filho, diagnóstico grave, perda de emprego, etc.). A partir dessas estimativas da sensação da dor, procurou-se encontrar a magnitude física da dor estimada, aplicando-se a função de Stevens (S=kIn). Os resultados permitiram observar que existe coerência entre os sujeitos desta população, nos julgamentos da magnitude do fenômeno doloroso, sendo possível se construir uma escala geral de dor a partir desses julgamentos. O conjunto de dores no qual houve maior correlação foi o de dores do cotidiano. Trata-se de situações que a maioria das pessoas conhece e já experienciou, encontrando, portanto, maior facilidade para dimensionar e estimar a magnitude. Por serem as dores do cotidiano, situações já vivenciadas, acredita-se que estas formam o conjunto de dores mais confiáveis para serem utilizadas numa escala geral de dor. / Concepts and subjective phenomena such as pain have always been difficult to measure accurately. The psychophysical methodology, mainly the magnitude estimation method developed by S.S. Stevens (1950), provides techniques for the development of precise scaling instruments for subjective phenomena. The present study intends to build a tool for the measure of pain using the psychophysical method of subjective magnitude estimation. Forty subjects (30 women and 10 men) with ages between 20 and 79 years were selected for the experimental group and twenty-four subjects with similar characteristics (sex, age, education and marital status) for the control group. Subjects from the experimental group were under treatment in the Pain Clinic of the University of São Paulo (Clínica Neurológica do Instituto Central do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo). The differences between the judgements made by the experimental group (with pain) and the judgements made by the control group (without pain) were studied in order to investigate if those groups had different ways of estimating the pain aroused by different painful situations. Data was collected individually by means of written forms. Three different forms were used for each subject containing three different sets of painful situations grouped as follows: pain due to common situations (headache, back pain, a.s.o.); pain due to severe illness (back pain, cancer, a.s.o); pain aroused by emotional or psychosocial situations (death of the son/daughter, diagnostic of severe illness, lost of the job, a.s.o.). From these judgement, the physical magnitude of the pain was calculated using the reverse of the psychophysical function of S. S. Stevens (S=kIn). The results demonstrated that there is agreement between the magnitude judgements of pain by both groups, making it possible to construct a pain-measuring tool by this means. Highest correlation was obtained for pain due to common situations (r=0,896), probably because most of the subjects had experienced these situations before and could give an accurate estimation of the aroused pain. It is concluded, that a pain-measuring tool should use these kind of painful situations as references for the pain felt by the patients.

Containers are being used widely as a base technology to pack applications and microservice architecture is gaining popularity to deploy large scale applications, with containers running different aspects of the application. Due to the presence of dynamic load on the service, a need to scale up or scale down compute resources to the containerized applications arises in order to maintain the performance of the application. Objectives To evaluate the impact of vertical scaling on the performance of a containerized application deployed with Docker container and Kubernetes that includes identification of the performance metrics that are mostly affected and hence characterize the eventual negative effect of vertical scaling. Method Literature study on kubernetes and docker containers followed by proposing a vertical scaling solution that can add or remove compute resources like cpu and memory to the containerized application. Results and Conclusions Latency and connect times were the analyzed performance metrics of the containerized application. From the obtained results, it was concluded that vertical scaling has no significant impact on the performance of a containerized application in terms of latency and connect times.

by Shum Suk-Chong. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-49). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / CHAPTER / Chapter I --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Statement of Problem --- p.2 / Focus of Research --- p.3 / Job Characteristics Model --- p.4 / Number of Response Categories --- p.6 / Response Sets of the Chinese --- p.7 / Importance of this Study --- p.9 / Development of the Research Hypotheses --- p.10 / Research Hypothesis in the Null Form --- p.10 / Chapter II --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.12 / Design of Questionnaire --- p.12 / Layout of Section I --- p.13 / Layout of Section II --- p.14 / Layout of Section III --- p.15 / Pre-testing and Adjustments --- p.16 / Selection of Respondents --- p.16 / Estimates for the Variables --- p.17 / Transforming the Scale --- p.18 / Response Rate --- p.19 / Chapter III --- RESEARCH FINDINGS --- p.21 / Research Hypotheses --- p.21 / Research Hypothesis in the Null Form --- p.22 / Reliability Coefficients --- p.22 / Means and Standard Deviations --- p.24 / T-tests on Means and F-tests on Standard Deviations --- p.24 / Correlation Among Factors --- p.25 / Conclusion --- p.26 / Chapter IV --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.27 / Response Scale --- p.27 / Validity of Job Characteristics Model in Hong Kong . --- p.28 / Characteristics of University Graduates in Hong Kong --- p.29 / Limitations of Study --- p.29 / Implications for Future Study --- p.31 / APPENDIX --- p.33 / Questions used in Questionnaire --- p.44 / REFERENCES --- p.48

It is an FDA requirement that the“first in human" dose be based on pre-clinical animal model efficacy and safety testing to ensure a safe entry into Phase I clinical trials. Pre-clinical safety and efficacy models range from mouse to non-human primates. Interspecies scaling of pharmacokinetic parameters is therefore important for predicting drug doses in human clinical trials, although it continues to be less than optimal. Understanding the disposition of the compound in different species through in vitro and in vivo experiments is necessary to ensure appropriate species are selected for human estimates. Data for three imaging agents and a pharmacological stress agent (Oncology tumor agent (DPC-A80351), Thrombus agent (DMP-444), Infection agent (RP-517) Pharmacological stress agent (DPC-A78445-00)) that entered clinical trials and an imaging agent being developed (RP845), were assessed for scaling accuracy. Initially, pharmacokinetic data from animal models were used to extrapolate to human though body weight allometric scaling. Subsequently, the impact of adjusting for plasma protein binding and the impact of metabolic stability in the different models were examined. Allometric scaling of animal pharmacokinetic parameters (clearance (CL), half-life (t½) and volume of distribution (Vdss)) achieved a prediction of the human pharmacokinetic parameter within 13 to 109% of the observed values. This prediction was further improved by adjusting for plasma protein binding of the drug, and achieved an estimate within 5 to 57% of the clinically observed values. Since the parent compound was the dominant species (>95%) in the circulation, metabolic stability was not used as a correction factor. Weight based allometric scaling was further examined for an atherosclerotic plaque targeted radiopharmaceutical imaging agent, RP845-Tc-99m, currently in development. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined in mouse, rat and rabbit followed by allometric scaling to predict the non-human primate values. Differences between predicted versus observed non-human primate Cl, t½ and Vdss were 40%, 52% and 8%, respectively. Correcting for plasma protein binding improved the prediction for Cl and t½ to within 12 and 3 %, respectively. The Vdss prediction, however became less accurate (38% difference). Since blood clearance is the major parameter in predicting human dose, the improvement from 40% to 12% was important. The plasma protein binding adjusted animal data was then used with allometric scaling to predict human CL, t½ and Vdss. The predicted values were 7.6 mL/min/kg, 70.6 minutes and 0.87 L/kg respectively. Based on the predicted human blood clearance and the dose required to image atherosclerosis in a rabbit model, the estimated human dose would be unacceptably high. This demonstrates how allometric scaling can be used in research projects to assess clinical feasibility. The impact of metabolism differences influencing the reliability of various species to predict for man was highlighted by DPC-A78445-00. DPC-A78445-00 is being developed as an alternative to exercise in myocardial perfusion imaging for the evaluation of coronary artery disease. DPC-A78445-00 was rapidly metabolized to the carboxylic acid by mouse and rat blood in vitro and in vivo, however longer stability was observed in the dog. In vitro human blood data was consistent with the dog, suggesting that mouse and rat would not be representative species. DPC-A78445-00 plasma protein binding was at a similar, moderate level in rat, dog and human plasma and metabolism by hepatocytes was similar in dog and human. Phase I human clinical trial testing determined the area under the blood concentration-time curve (AUC) and clearance predicted by the dog were within 32% of the human values. Overall, body weight based allometric scaling of pharmacokinetic parameters from animal models, when corrected for plasma protein binding, yielded reliable predictions of the human pharmacokinetics (within 50%) for radiopharmaceutical imaging agent. However, although predictive scaling from animal data can give insight into feasibility of compounds working in human, it is important to identify species differences with respect to metabolic stability. This allometric scaling method provides an additional tool to better predict doses in human for novel Medical Imaging agents.

Orientador: Maria Aparecida Neves Jardini / Banca: Mauro Pedrine Santamaria / Banca: Sérgio Lúcio Pereira de Castro Lopes / Banca: Celso Luiz Caldeira / Banca: Albano Porto Cunha Júnior / Resumo: Na prática clínica odontológica é comum observarmos dentes que apresentem lesões endodôntico-periodontais. Apesar das respostas inflamatórias nos dois tecidos poderem ocorrer de maneira isolada, o não-tratamento e a evolução dessas infecções pode levar a formação de lesão combinada, denominada lesão endo-perio. A falta de abordagem eficaz aumenta a possibilidade de possível perda do dente acometido pela lesão. O objetivo desse estudo foi a realização de 3 séries de casos clínicos em 44 dentes com lesão endoperio, utilizando o mesmo protocolo endodôntico e variando- se a terapia periodontal proposta - G1 (n=15): debridamento periodontal (RAR), G2 (n=16): antibioticoterapia (RAR + AB) e G3 (n=13): acesso cirúrgico (AC), analisando os dados clínicos de Profundidade de Sondagem (PS), Nível de Inserção Clínico (NIC), Recessão Gengival (RG), mobilidade, Sangramento a Sondagem (SS) e Índice de Placa (IP) nos períodos baseline, 30 dias 3 e 6 meses; além da análise do comprimento linear das lesões em radiografias periapicais e do volume das lesões em tomografias de baseline e 6 meses. Os dados clínicos nos períodos analisados e as avaliações radiográficas e tomográficas prévias e de controle dos tratamentos foram submetidos a análise estatística (Shapiro-Wilk e ANOVA) e evidenciaram melhora nos 3 grupos, considerando os diferentes tratamentos propostos. O G2 apresentou maior diminuição do volume da lesão na análise volumétrica tomográfica bem como na análise radiográfica, de forma est... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / abstract: In current dental practice it is common to observe teeth with endodontic-periodontal lesions. Although inflammatory responses in both tissues may occur in an isolated manner, non-treatment, and consequently, the evolution of these infections may lead to develop a combined lesion, referred as endo-perio lesion. The lack of an effective approach, besides of making the prognosis of the treatment uncertain, increases the possibility of a possible tooth loss affected by this lesion. The aim of this study was to perform 3 series of clinical cases in 44 teeth with endo-periodontal lesion, using the same endodontic protocol and varying the proposed periodontal therapy, G1 (n = 15): periodontal debridement, G2 (n = 16): antibiotic therapy and G3 (n = 13): surgical access; analysing Probe Depth (PD), clinical atachment level (CAL), gengival ressection (GR), mobility, bleeding on probing (BP), and plaque index at baseline, 30 days, 3 and 6 months, besides the analysis of the linear length of the lesions in periapical radiographic and volume of the lesions in baseline and 6-month CBCTs. clinical data in the analyzed periods and previous radiographic and tomographic evaluations and control of the treatments were submitted to statistical analysis (Shapiro-Wilk and ANOVA) and showed improvement in the 3 groups, considering the different treatments proposed. G2 presented a greater reduction in lesion volume in tomographic volume analysis as well as in radiographic analysis, statistically significant in relation to G1 and G3.The results of PD, CAL, GR and mobility showed improvement in the 3 groups, G2 being better than the others, and in BP there was improvement at 3 and 6 months for the 3 groups; and PI without difference. From these three series of cases, it is suggested that the combined endodontic protocol up to intracanal medication (MIC) and...(Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Fragment assembly methods represent the state of the art in computational protein structure prediction. However, one limitation of these methods, particularly for larger protein structures, is inadequate conformational sampling. This thesis describes studies aimed at uncovering potential causes of ineffective sampling, and the development of methods to try and address these problems. To identify behaviours that might lead to poor conformational sampling, we developed measures to study fragment-based sampling trajectories. Applying these measures to the Rosetta Abinitio and EdaFold methods showed similarities and differences in the ways that these methods make predictions, and pointed to common limitations. In both protocols, structural features such as alpha-helices were more frequently altered during the search, as compared with regions such as loops. Analyses of the fragment libraries used by these methods showed that fragments covering loop regions were less likely to possess native-like structural features, and this likely exacerbated the problems of inadequate sampling in these regions. Inadequate loop sampling leads to poor fold-level exploration within individual runs of methods such as Rosetta, and this necessitates the use of many independent runs. Guided by these findings, we developed new heuristic-based search algorithms. These algorithms were designed to facilitate the exploration of multiple energy basins within runs. Over many runs, the enhanced exploration in our protocols produced decoy sets with larger fractions of native-like solutions as compared to runs of Rosetta. Experiments with different fragment sets indicated that our methods could better translate increased fragment set quality into improvements in predictive accuracy distributions. These improvements depend most strongly on the ability of search algorithms to reliably generate native-like structures using a fragment set. In contrast, inadequate retention of native-like decoys when associated with unfavourable score values appears to be less of an issue. This thesis shows that targeted developments in conformational sampling strategies can improve the accuracy and reliability of predictions. With effective conformational sampling methods, developments in methods for fragment set construction and other areas may more reliably enhance predictive ability.

Lau Yung Hang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-82). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / List of Figures --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.x / List of Algorithms --- p.xi / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Justifying the Need for US and DTW --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivating Examples --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Contributions --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- Thesis Organization --- p.10 / Chapter 2 --- Problem Definition --- p.11 / Chapter 3 --- Preliminaries --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- Time Warping Distance --- p.13 / Chapter 3.2 --- Constraints and Lower Bounding --- p.16 / Chapter 3.3 --- Uniform Scaling --- p.20 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Lower bounding uniform scaling --- p.21 / Chapter 4 --- Scaling and Time Warping --- p.23 / Chapter 4.1 --- Tightness of the lower bounds --- p.27 / Chapter 4.2 --- Experimental Evaluation --- p.32 / Chapter 5 --- A Faster and more Flexible Approach --- p.41 / Chapter 5.1 --- The Enveloping Sequences Revisited --- p.41 / Chapter 5.2 --- Speeding up LB Distance Computation --- p.43 / Chapter 5.3 --- Experimental Evaluation --- p.44 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Query Time Comparison --- p.44 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Effect on Pruning Power --- p.46 / Chapter 6 --- Indexing for SWM --- p.49 / Chapter 6.1 --- Related Work --- p.49 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Fast subsequence matching --- p.49 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Duality-based subsequence matching --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Nearest Neighbor Search --- p.53 / Chapter 6.1.4 --- Dimension Reduction --- p.57 / Chapter 6.2 --- Proposed Indexing for SWM --- p.60 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Index construction algorithm --- p.60 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Utilizing the index --- p.61 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Nearest Neighbor Search --- p.63 / Chapter 6.3 --- Experimental Evaluation --- p.64 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Range Queries --- p.64 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- One nearest neighbor search --- p.68 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- k-nearest neighbor search --- p.72 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.76 / Bibliography --- p.78

A large proportion of energy demand comes from urban areas, mostly from buildings and transport, the use of which has impacts on climate and air quality through the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. To effectively mitigate these impacts, a better understanding of the relationship between energy and urban form variables is crucial. The link between energy and urban variables has been demonstrated before and it is recognised in many aspects of the cities, such as human behaviour and transport dynamics. This research goes forward by analysing the correlation and scaling between energy consumption and different land use typologies derived from urban form variables, as well as at other scales. The work is built on readily available datasets for England to guarantee the replicability of the methodology and ensure the reliability of the results. A combined energy use metric integrating buildings and commute transport produces helpful insights into energy consumption patterns and it is obtained at a large geographic scale. The identification of local scale consumption patterns is attractive to policymakers and planners by providing them detailed information to direct local-level policies. On the other hand, the derived land use typologies deliver new knowledge about the spatialisation of the urban system and to establish the link with the energy use. The results reveal that the relationship between energy and urban variables favours the application of compact city to reduce carbon-based energy consumption. This means that better energy efficiency is achieved by areas with higher population density. The analysis also shows that socio-economic variables have higher impact on energy consumption than physical variables. Moreover, differences at city scale and for the land use typologies are identified, demonstrating the importance of focusing the analysis according to the goal. In sum, the results from this work provide new insights about the relationship between energy and urban characteristics that can be used by policymakers and planners to outline more focused and detailed actions to mitigate energy use in England.