Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:41:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Horacio Bernardo Rosario.pdf: 2513065 bytes, checksum: 21d7ec7d83235895e090241d837335a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-20 / The prevalence rate of live born and stillborn infant twins has been the target of many studies, including in Brazil. However, modifications in people s reproductive style and improvements in labor procedures and better healthcare for newborns show that the knowledge on twinning must be updated over time. To be able to evaluate these modifications better, historical records in hospitals that have regular medical service represent an important frame of reference. In this thesis the records of births of the Centro Obstétrico do Serviço de Ginecologia e de Obstetrícia of the Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo, Brazil, in the period of 1978 to 2009 has been researched, a total of 32 years. In this period, 65,258 labors of stillborn and live born children have been registered. Of this sample, 64,560 were labors of newborn only and 1,396 of double births. Between these, 257 belonged to the genre MM; 270 to FF and 171 to MF. The estimative of the zygosity using the Weinberg method defined that 339 were dizygotic (DZ) and 359 were monozygotic (MZ). The information gathered was stored in a data bank in a computer for future analysis. The SPSS statistical program V 11, 5 using statistical modules, such as correlation analysis, regression analysis, adjusting curves, and comparisons between two groups, analyzed the data. The program Curve Expert V 11,4 was also used for curve fitting. The study of prevalence, maternal age, weight and the Apgar Bulletin allowed the following conclusions: 1. the prevalence varied 0.71 to 1.47% in the 32 years considered. The tendency of prevalence rates for the total of twin births showed a decrease from 1979 to 1993 and an increase around 2005. This distribution is consistent with other Brazilian samples and it can be explained by the variation of maternal age and the use of treatments against infertility. In the last four years there was a decrease in the birth of twins, but this trend did not hold in the years of 2010 and 2011; 2. the prevalence was not evenly distributed between DZ and MZ. Among the first, the distribution was similar to the total twin births. Among the second, there was an increase from 1986 to 2002 in a way that it was higher than that of DZ. In the total sample there was a greater number of MZ. Although not statistically significant this result, 3. the average maternal age of twins was higher than that of the singletons (29,71 years and 28,44 years respectively). This difference is statistically significant according to the literature. The tendency of the distribution of maternal age between twins and singletons is not uniform: there is among the first consistent decrease ranging around 29 years in the first periods to 28 in the last. The variation of maternal age of the twins has a heterogeneous pattern; 4. the average weight of newborns twins was 2,335 g with a tendency to decrease throughout the period. The same trend was observed for singletons. There was also a decrease in gestational age among twins and singletons, it could explain the decline in weight. The trend descending gestational age does not seem to be related to the type of birth since the proportion of these is not changed; 5. the means of the Apgar scores for single births and twins were high in both the first and fifth minutes. The single births had a greater rate and were more stable. The twin births showed consistent increase. 6. the stillbirth among singletons was only less than 1% with a tendency to decrease in recent years and much lower than the national average. Among twins the prevalence is above 3% with increasing tendency. Further studies are needed to lead us to a better enlightenment of the results. / As taxas de prevalência em gêmeos nativivos e natimortos têm merecido muitos estudos, inclusive no Brasil. No entanto, mudanças no estilo reprodutivo das populações e melhorias na assistência ao parto e ao recém-nascido mostram que o conhecimento sobre as concepções gemelares devem ser atualizadas ao longo do tempo. Para melhor avaliar estas mudanças, séries históricas registradas em hospitais com atendimentos regulares \ representam importante referência. Neste trabalho foram levantados os registros dos nascimentos no Centro Obstétrico do Serviço de Ginecologia e de Obstetrícia do Hospital Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo, Brasil, no período de 1978 a 2009, isto é, 32 anos. Num total de 65.258 partos, entre nativivos e natimortos, 64.560 referem-se a partos de recém-nascidos únicos e 1.396 a nascimentos duplos. Entre estes, 257 eram do gênero MM; 270 FF e 171 MF. A estimativa da zigosidade pelo método de Weinberg definiu que 342 eram Dizigóticos (DZ) e 356 Monozigóticos (MZ). As informações coletadas neste trabalho foram armazenadas em um banco de dados de um microcomputador para posterior análise. Os dados foram analisados pelo do programa estatístico SPSS V 11,5 utilizando-se módulos estatísticos, tais como: análise de correlação e de regressão, ajuste de curvas e comparações entre dois grupos. Foi utilizado também, o programa Curve Expert V 1,4 para o ajuste de curvas. O estudo da prevalência, da idade materna, do peso e do Boletim Apgar permitiu as seguintes conclusões: 1. a prevalência variou de 0,71 a 1,47% nos 32 anos considerados. A tendência das taxas de prevalência para o total dos nascimentos gemelares mostrou declínio entre 1979 e 1993 e logo após aumentando até 2005. Esta distribuição está de acordo com a de outras amostras brasileiras e pode ser explicada pela variação da idade materna e utilização de tratamentos contra infertilidade. No último quadriênio houve diminuição no nascimento de gêmeos, mas essa tendência não se manteve nos anos de 2010 e 2011; 2. a prevalência não se distribuiu uniformemente entre DZ e MZ. Entre os primeiros, a distribuição foi similar ao total dos nascimentos gemelares. Entre os MZ houve incremento entre 1986 a 2002 de maneira a ser maior do que a de DZ. Na amostra total o número de Mz foi maior. No entanto, esta diferença não foi estatisticamente significante, neste resultado. 3. a média da idade materna de gemelares foi maior do que dos únicos (29,71 anos e 28,44 anos, respectivamente). Esta diferença é estatisticamente significante e de acordo com os dados da literatura. A tendência da distribuição da idade materna entre gêmeos e únicos não é uniforme, entre os primeiros há queda consistente variando em torno de 29 anos nos primeiros períodos a 28 nos últimos. Entretanto, a variação da idade materna dos gêmeos tem padrão heterogêneo; 4. a média do peso dos recém-nascidos gemelares foi de 2 335 g com tendência a diminuição ao longo do período. A mesma tendência foi observada para os nascimentos únicos. Observou-se também diminuição da idade gestacional entre gêmeos e únicos, o que poderia explicar o declínio do peso. A tendência decrescente da idade gestacional não parece estar relacionada ao tipo de parto, uma vez que a proporção destes não se modificou; 5. as médias do Boletim Apgar para únicos e gêmeos foram elevadas. A média do Apgar 1 entre os recém-nascidos únicos foi de 7,97 e dos gêmeos foi de 7,00. Com relação ao Apgar 5, a média entre os únicos foi de 9,04 e dos gêmeos foi de 8,33. Entre os primeiros foram maiores e estáveis e entre os segundos demonstram. incremento consistente; 6. a natimortalidade entre únicos foi menor do que 1% com tendência a queda nos últimos anos e bem menor do que a média brasileira. Entre os gêmeos a prevalência fica acima de 3% com tendência crescente. Estudos posteriores serão necessários para compreender melhor alguns dos resultados alcançados.

Patents have become a direct source of revenue, apart from providing legal protections for inventions. A patent generates revenue in its patented form through licensing or sell-out. Three challenges confront this shift in use of patents as direct revenue generators especially in the context of patent sale. First, the challenge of estimating the price a patent fetches in a sale (referred as ‗patent value‘) remains scarcely addressed owing to the intangible nature of patents and lack of patent sale data in public domain. Secondly, the variations in price and the method used to estimate the price while selling a patent individually (called as a singleton) or in a group along with other patents (called as portfolio) are little understood. Thirdly, literature focus so far has been on the static dimensions of patent value determinants leaving scope for researching the time varying dynamic nature of potential value determinants. This thesis aims to systematically address the above challenges and research gaps through five specific research objectives pertaining to the following four aspects of patent sale: (1) Successful sale aspect of patent lots in an auction (Research objective 1) Research objective 1: To explore the determinants of successful sale of singletons and portfolios. (2) Selling strategy aspect of the sold patents (Research objective 2) Research objective 2: To characterize the singleton and portfolio patent lots successfully sold in an auction. (3) Time dynamic aspect of factors influencing price (Research objectives 3 & 4) Research objective 3: To investigate the effect of time dynamic nature of patent age on the selling prices of singletons and portfolios. Research objective 4: To understand the effect of time dynamic trend of technological importance (TI) and patent class trend on selling prices of singletons and portfolios. (4) Valuation aspect (Research objective 5) Research objective 5: To identify the determinants of selling prices of singletons and portfolios. In this thesis, we use a combination of patent bibliometric and market based approach to study various aspects of singleton and portfolio patent sale incorporating the time dynamic aspect. A set of US patents auctioned by an US auction firm, called Ocean Tomo, is used as sample. The sample was dominated by patents from Computer & Communication field. The research findings showed significant differences in the characteristics of sold and unsold lots both in the case of singletons and portfolios. Amongst the sold lots, singletons were found to include more novel (lesser patent backward citations) and technology specific (higher C&C technology scope) patents than the portfolios sold. Further investigation on the variation in selling prices fetched by singletons and portfolios showed portfolios fetching significantly higher prices than singletons at the lot level. Interestingly, at a granular level, the equation reversed with singletons showing significantly higher price compared to the average price per individual US patent member within the portfolio. Along the time dynamic aspect, the existence of an optimal age to sell patents for higher prices is evidenced especially in the case of singletons from C&C technology field. The optimal age was found to be around 10 year 2 months of age from grant of singletons. No such optimal age was identified for portfolios. The growth trend analysis of the forward citations (technological importance of patent) and the patent applications filed within the specific patent class of a patent (attractiveness of patent class) illustrated the significance of the patent class trend in explaining variation in selling price of singletons. Finally, the valuation models of singletons and portfolios showed singletons being valued more on the patent related characteristics unlike portfolios which were valued based on the all three aspects – patent, seller and bundling. In summary, the novelty of the thesis resides in the (1) incorporation of new set of variables namely forward citation diversity, forward citations trend, patent class trend, technology scope and portfolio type in understanding patent price (2) treatment of time dynamic variables in understanding patent value and (3) focus on portfolio analysis through independent analysis of singleton and portfolio selling prices.

The thesis treats aspects of string/M-theory in anti-de Sitter spacetimes and their supersymmetric completions. By applying the AdS/CFT correspondence, as well as models of spin chains and singletons, we try to attain a better understanding of the underlying symmetries and the unbroken phases of string/M-theory. Tensionless string/M-theory in anti-de Sitter spacetime is argued to imply a higher spin gauge symmetry enhancement and to be described by gauged sigma models of multi-singletons as well as by closed singleton strings. Vasiliev's weakly projected equations of symmetric massless higher spin gauge fields in the vector oscillator formulation is shown to follow from a deformation of the singleton model. Various four dimensional minimal as well as non-minimal supersymmetric higher spin gauge theories in the spinor formulation are examined. The minimal higher spin gauge theory based on the symmetry algebra hs(1|4) is elaborated on in an N=1 superspace, illustrating the remarkable fact that the choice of base manifold is not fixed in unfolded dynamics. The importance of the representations saturating the unitarity bounds in anti-de Sitter spacetime is stressed throughout the thesis, with particular emphasis on the singleton and the massless representations. Singletons, and hence massless states, are shown to appear as bound states on the string or p-brane and are localized at cusps. Furthermore, we examine semiclassical string solutions in Type IIB String Theory in AdS(5) x S(5) and their boundary duals in N=4 Super Yang-Mills Theory in d=4 which are constituted out of thermodynamic composite operators. By using integrable spin chain techniques and Bäcklund transformations in the field theory and in the string theory, respectively, the one-loop anomalous dimensions as well as the tower of conserved charges of the composite operators are shown to be in agreement with the energies and the tower of conserved charges associated with the dual string states.