Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-05-09T21:03:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SamaraSanches.pdf: 650430 bytes, checksum: 742a73a2790083fbb84ebdc7f396deef (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-09T21:03:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SamaraSanches.pdf: 650430 bytes, checksum: 742a73a2790083fbb84ebdc7f396deef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão (FAPEMA) / The objective of this work was to evaluate the agronomic, anatomical and nutritional value of elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) at different cutting ages. A completely randomized design was used, with five replications and five treatments (cut ages) totaling 25 experimental units. For the anatomical characterization the 3x5 factorial arrangement, with three levels of insertion (LI) of the leaf and leaf sheath in the tiller (apical, medial and basal) and five cut ages (30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days). Degradation of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) was estimated by in situ technique using a Santa Inês sheep. Incubation times in the ruminal environment were 6, 12, 24, 72 and 96 hours. The experimental design was completely randomized, with a 5x5 factorial arrangement (five incubation times and five treatments). There was a significant (p <0.05) from the ages of cuts for total forage production (TFP), leaf production (LP), stem production (SP), dead material (DM), living tillers (LT), dead tillers (DT) and height (H).In relation to the bromatological composition, there was a significant effect (p <0.05), with the increase in the age of cut for dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and ash in the two evaluated fractions (leaf and stem), the crude protein (CP) content showed a significant decrease according to the increase in the cutting age with 39.83% (leaf) and 26.97% (stem) From 30 to 90 days of age. There was only significant interaction (p <0.05) in the proportion of anatomical tissue of the leaf blade, for the xylem area (XIL), where it was observed in the lower cut ages (30 and 45 days) in the apical and medial NI The highest percentage of this structure 9.21 and 10.10%, respectively. For the sclerenchyma (SCL) area of the leaf sheath, a significant interaction was observed. The area occupied by the SCL increased with the increase in maturity. The degradation parameters of DM in the two evaluated fractions decreased significantly with the increase in plant maturity. The effective degradability of CP in the leaf and stem fractions decreased significantly with the increase in the rate of passage (2, 5 and 8% / h). The highest rate of degradation (c) of CP for leaf fraction was obtained at 60 days of age (9.47% / h), already at 45 days of age (6.81%/h). The agronomic, anatomical and nutritional characteristics of elephant grass are influenced by the increase in plant maturity. The use of grass at 60 days of age implies an optimum point of production and quality / Objetivou-se avaliar as características agronômicas, anatômicas e valor nutritivo do capim-elefante (Pennisetum purpureum Schum) em diferentes idades de corte. Utilizouse o delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com cinco repetições e cinco tratamentos (idades de corte) totalizando 25 unidades experimentais. Para a caracterização anatômica o arranjo fatorial foi 3x5, sendo três níveis de inserção (NI) da lâmina/bainha foliar no perfilho (apical, medial e basal) e cinco idades de corte (30, 45, 60, 75 e 90 dias). A degradação da matéria seca (MS) e da proteína bruta (PB) foi estimada pela técnica in situ, utilizando-se um ovino da raça santa Inês. Os tempos de incubações no ambiente ruminal foram 6, 12, 24, 72 e 96 horas. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado, com arranjo fatorial 5x5 (cinco tempos de incubação e cinco tratamentos). Houve efeito (P<0,05) das idades de cortes para a produção total de forragem (PTF), produção de folhas (PF), produção de colmo (PC), material morto (MM), perfilhos vivos (PV), perfilhos mortos (PM) e altura (H). Em relação à composição química houve efeito significativo (P<0,05), com o aumento na idade de corte para os teores de matéria seca (MS), fibra em detergente neutro (FDN), fibra em detergente ácido (FDA), celulose (CEL) e cinzas nas duas frações avaliadas (folha e colmo), o teor de proteína bruta (PB) apresentou decréscimo significativo de acordo com o aumento na idade de corte com 39,83% (folha) e 26,97% (colmo) dos 30 aos 90 dias de idade. Houve apenas interação significativa (P<0,05) na proporção de tecido anatômicos da lâmina foliar, para a área do xilema (XIL), em que observou-se nas menores idades de corte (30 e 45 dias) no NI apical e medial as maiores porcentagens dessa estrutura 9,21 e 10,10%, respectivamente. Para a área do esclerênquima (ESC), da bainha foliar, observou-se interação significativa. A área ocupada pelo ESC aumentou de acordo com o avanço na maturidade. Os parâmetros de degradação da MS nas duas frações avaliadas diminuíram significamente com o aumento na maturidade da planta. A degradabilidade efetiva da PB nas frações folha e colmo diminuíram significamente com o aumento na taxa de passagem (2, 5 e 8%/h). A maior taxa de degradação (c) da PB para fração folha foi obtida aos 60 dias de idade (9,47%/h), já para o colmo aos 45 dias de idade (6,81%/h). As características agronômicas, anatômicas e o valor nutritivo do capim-elefante são influenciados com o aumento na maturidade da planta. A utilização do capim aos 60 dias de idade de corte implica em um ponto ótimo de produção e qualidade.

Down-hole damages such as borehole collapse, circulation loss and rock tensile/compressive cracking in the open-hole system are well understood at drilling and well completion stages. However, less effort has been made to understand the instability of cemented sections in High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) wells. The existing analysis shows that, in the perforation zones, casing/cement is subject to instability, particularly in the presence of cavities. This dissertation focuses on the instability mechanism of casing/cement in the non-perforated zones. We investigate the transient thermal behavior in the casing-cement-formation system resulting from the movement of wellbore fluid using finite element method. The critical value of down-hole stresses is identified in both wellbore heating and cooling effects. Differently with the heating effect, the strong cooling effect in a cased hole can produce significant tension inside casing/cement. The confining formation has an obvious influence on the stability of casing/cement. The proposed results reveal that the casing/cement system in the non-homogeneous formation behaves differently from that in homogeneous formation. With this in mind, a three-dimensional layered finite element model is developed to illustrate the casing/cement mechanical behavior in the non-homogeneous formation. The radial stress of cement sheath is found to be highly variable and affected by the contrast in Young’s moduli in the different formation layers. The maximum stress is predicted to concentrate in the casing-cement system confined by the sandstone. Casing wear in the cased-hole system causes significant casing strength reduction, possibly resulting in the casing-cement tangential collapse. In this study, an approach for calculating the stress concentration in the worn casing with considering temperature change is developed, based on boundary superposition. The numerical results indicate that the casing-cement system after casing wear will suffer from severe tangential instability due to the elevated compressive hoop stress. Gas migration during the cementing process results from the fluid cement’s inability to balance formation pore pressure. Past experience emphasized the application of chemical additives to reduce or control gas migration during the cementing process. This report presents the thermal and mechanical behaviors in a cased hole caused by created gas channels after gas migration. In conclusion, the size and the number of gas channels are two important factors in determining mechanical instability in a casing-cement system.

In this study, we developed the manufacturing pathways of carbon nanofibers (CNF) and activated carbon nanofibers (ACNF) via the ¡§melt-spinning¡¨ method. A novel route based on the solvent-free core/sheath melt-spinning of polypropylene/ (phenol formaldehyde-polyethylene) (PP/(PF-PE)) to prepare CNF. The approach consists of three main steps: co-extrusion of PP (core) and a polymer blend of PF and PE (sheath), followed by melt-spinning, to form the core/sheath fibers; stabilization of core/sheath fibers to form the carbon fiber precursors; and carbonization of carbon fiber precursors to form the final CNF. Both scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images reveal long and winding CNF with diameter 100 - 600 nm and length greater than 80 £gm. With a yield of ~ 45 % based on its raw material PF, the CNF exhibits regularly oriented bundles which curl up to become rolls of wavy long fibers with clean and smooth surface. Results from X-ray diffractometry, energy dispersive X-ray, Raman spectroscopy, and selected area electron diffraction patterns further reveal that the CNF exhibits a mixed phase of carbon with graphitic particles embedded homogeneously in an amorphous carbon matrix. The carbon atoms in CNF are evenly distributed in a matrix having a composition of 90 % carbon element and 10 % in oxygen element. A series of ACNF have also been prepared based on the chemical activation on the thus-prepared CNF; their morphological and microstructure characteristics were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry, with particular emphasis on the qualitative and quantitative AFM analysis. The effect of activating agent, potassium hydroxide and phosphorous acid, is compared; factors affecting the surface morphology and microstructure of ACNF are analyzed. The ACNF also exhibits a mixed phase of carbon with graphitic particles embedded homogeneously in an amorphous carbon matrix. The resulting ACNF consists of 73 % C element and 27 % O element. The total pore volume of the all activated ACNF is larger than that of un-activated CNF. It can be inferred that chemical activation by KOH results in increased micropore volume in carbon nanofibers; while the micropores produced by the chemical activation of H3PO4 may further be activated and then enlarged to become the mesopores at the expense of micropore volume. For the concentration effect of KOH on ACNF, it can be inferred that high concentration KOH activation results in increased SBET and micropore volume in carbon nanofibers. The average pore diameter of ACNF gradually decreases as the KOH concentration increases.

This study uses the Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) method to simulate unsteady two-dimensional transport variables in argon (Ar) plasma, under low pressure, high density, and weak ionization between two infinite planar electrodes suddenly biased by a negative voltage. Plasma has been widely used in materials processing, thin film manufacturing, light source, nuclear fusion, and etching, etc. Properties of plasmas are also becoming important area for research in physics, chemistry, photonics, aerospace, engineering science and technology. Studying transport processes of plasmas therefore is important. This research consider by electric fields and magnetic fields, viscous, momentum exchange collisions between electrons ions and neutral particles. The computed results in this work quantitatively show density, velocity, electric potential, temperature, magnetic field, viscosity, thermal conductivity of the electrons ions and neutral particles across the sheath to the surfaces suddenly biased by a DC negative voltage. And increase of the boundary layer and sheath thickness. We can compare the theory and the simulation to know the behavior of the plasma near a surface.

This study proposes a navel method for continuously particle sorting utilizing cascade squeeze jumping effect under microfluidic configuration. Microparticles with different sizes can be successfully separated at different stages of squeezing sheath flow. The method is based on that particles can not flow stably within a flow stream with the smaller stream width than their sizes. Big particles will jump from their original flow stream into the wider neighboring sheath flow. In this study, we have successfully designed and fabricated two kinds of particles/cells sorters using MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical Systems) technology. The proposed microchip device includes a multi-stage sheath flow particles/cells sorter and an improved design of a cascade squeezed flow scheme. In the study, theoretical formulations, computer simulations and experimental operations are used to analyze the flow field in the microchip and evaluate the sorting performance of the devices. Results show the good sorting performance with cell recovery rate of 87.7% and yield rate of 94.1% can be obtained using the proposed micro particles/cells sorter. Furthermore, it is also important to continiously prepare reagents for in-column bio-chemical reactions. Therefore, this study presents a sheath-flow based microfluidic device for concentration fraction delivery of liquid samples. The simple and novel structure proposed in this study is able to prepare reagent with different concentration and is also easy to be integrated with other multifunctional microfluidic device. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed concentration fraction delivery device, this study designs an integrated microchip device for in-line preparation of lysin reagent for cell lysis and an integrated T-form microfluidic mixer for demonstration of RBC lysis in the same microchip. Reagents for cell lysis are firstly prepared by the concentration faction delivery part of the chip. The prepared reagent is mixed with RBC sample downstream in the reaction channel using the T-form mixer. Results show a high RBC lysing rate of upto 100% in 10 mm downstream the T-junction can be achieved utilizing the proposed chip. In this study, we have successfully demonstrated three kinds of microfluidic device including a micro particles/cells sorter, a concentration fraction delivery device and a cell lysis reactor. Numerical analysis and experimental investigation confirm the proposed concepts and performance of the microfluidic devices. The contributions of the study are highly potential for developing a low-cost bioreactor system in the

No description available.

This thesis presents methods for quantitative MRI analysis of brain injury, repair and degeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) that provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution. / Demyelinated and inflammatory white-matter lesions are hallmark features of MS. A methodology is described to detect regions of acute white-matter lesions that undergo myelin destruction and repair based on analysis of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) images. Validation is performed based on histopathology and error is assessed based on same-day scans. To quantify the spatial extent and temporal evolution of myelin destruction and repair, data from a 3-year clinical trial is analyzed using this method. Approximately 20% of acute lesion voxels show some repair over the initial 7 months. In subsequent months, there is little further repair, but some increases in the lesion volume undergoing demyelination. / Although less conspicuous on conventional MRI, there is considerable MS pathology in the brain tissue outside of white-matter lesions. An image-processing methodology was developed to obtain accurate metrics that quantify change over time in whole-brain MTR (associated with changes in myelin-density) and in T2 relaxation time (associated with changes in inflammatory edema). These metrics, in addition to metrics of brain atrophy and axonal integrity, were used to quantify brain injury and degeneration following immunoablation and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for MS. Pronounced brain volume loss was detected immediately following therapy, associated with decreased myelin density and not resolution of edema. / Post-mortem histopathology has revealed abnormalities in the cortical grey-matter of MS patients that appear to be independent of white-matter lesions. A methodology to quantify neocortical injury and degeneration that yields cross-sectional and longitudinal metrics of cortical thickness and grey-matter/white-matter interface integrity both globally and regionally is presented and validated. MS patients with progressive disability showed greater decreases in cortical metrics compared to MS patients with stable disability. / The quantitative MRI analysis methods presented in this thesis are applicable to MRI data obtained in clinical trials of therapies for MS, have the necessary sensitivity and specificity to assess therapeutic efficacy, and provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution.

Water is known to take on highly organized structures to influence the reactivity of chemical and biological systems; despite this, water is often only implicitly or approximately included in theoretical studies of biochemical systems, if not omitted entirely. Many of the current models for biological processes predate an understanding of the complex behaviour of water, yet these models have not been updated. This thesis presents an exploration of how a better of water might affect the models used to describe neurotransmission. Two classes of systems are investigated, representing the two main categories of neurotransmission: that which occurs along the length of a neuron, and that which occurs between one neuron and another cell. Lipid bilayers are studied using molecular dynamics, and neurotransmitters are studied using Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. The results indicate that water structures may play a more specific role in neurotransmission than was previously thought.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-138). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Chemistry, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 20, 2009) Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.