Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2015-12-10T13:23:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinalimasilvapereira.pdf: 1682133 bytes, checksum: 843273fb0ef7d9edb4bcd71063a52dba (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2015-12-10T14:13:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinalimasilvapereira.pdf: 1682133 bytes, checksum: 843273fb0ef7d9edb4bcd71063a52dba (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-10T14:13:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinalimasilvapereira.pdf: 1682133 bytes, checksum: 843273fb0ef7d9edb4bcd71063a52dba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-20 / Considerando que na contemporaneidade o discurso político tem alargado suas fronteiras, com candidatos a cargos públicos passando a utilizar as redes sociais para construção de uma imagem positiva, em busca de consolidar accountability político, conquistar eleitores, influenciar opiniões e buscar identificação com sua campanha, o presente trabalho discute o surgimento de uma esfera de participação política nas redes sociais a partir da análise da fanpage de três candidatos a deputado federal nas eleições de 2014, Margarida Salomão (PT), Marcus Pestana (PSDB) e Júlio Delgado (PSB). A proposta procura entender como são construídas relações de sentido a partir de postagens e de interações entre cidadãos e candidatos e entre os próprios cidadãos no Facebook, com vistas a compreender o processo de deliberação a partir da formação de um clima de discussão política propício ao debate e ao fortalecimento democrático na internet. A metodologia utilizada consiste na aplicação da análise de conteúdo categorial proposta por Laurence Bardin para analisar as postagens nas fanpages nos meses de maio/junho e setembro/outubro de 2014. / Where as in contemporary political discourse has extended its borders, with candidates for public office starting to use social networks to build a positive image, seeking to consolidate political accountability, to win voters, influence opinions and seek identification with his campaign this paper discusses the emergence of a sphere of political participation in social networks based on the analysis of fanpage three candidates in the 2014 elections, Margarida Salomão ( PT) , Marcus Pestana (PSDB ) and Julio Delgado (PSB ). The proposal seeks to understand how relationships are built of sense from posts and interactions between citizens and candidates and among the citizens on Facebook, in order to understand the decisionmaking process from the formation of a political climate conducive to discussion debate and democratic strengthening the internet. The methodology used is the analysis application of categorical proposed by Laurence Bardin to analyze posts in fanpages in May / June and September / October 2014 .

Esta tese é uma pesquisa em Poéticas Visuais que tem como ponto de partida o Arte Ocupação -- movimento de ações colaborativas nas escolas ocupadas no Paraná em 2016, que, por meio de intervenções diretas, gerou uma série de situações e proposições, as quais refletem e afirmam a condição-ocupação como dispositivo relacional, ao mesmo tempo que interpelam o campo da arte sugerindo um território de desbordes com imagens por vir. Partindo de um referencial conceitual baseado nas ideias do artista, pensador, político e ativista Marcelo Expósito, para quem a arte deve ser articulada por meio de uma função organizadora, buscou-se uma contextualização circunstancial, que, somada a outras interlocuções artísticas e teóricas sobre arte, política, imagem e esfera pública, é indicada aqui como \"prática modal\". Ainda como parte desta, transcreveu-se e traduziu-se para o português a apresentação El arte como producción de modos de organización, de Marcelo Expósito, traduziu-se o texto Sobre el Militante Investigador do Colectivo Situaciones e analisou-se o processo de trabalho do Arte Ocupação a partir da constituição de seu acervo propositivo, a dizer, a oficina Imagin(Ação): narrativas poético-políticas para estados de crise. Atelier-oficina para manifestações-exposições-ópera e as proposições Corpos que se descobrem como corpos que se manifestam, Colar de Chaves, Mato, A Revolução Francesa e Jogral, que podem ser vistas em www.arteocupacao.com. / This thesis is a research in Visual Poetics that has, as a starting point, the Arte Ocupação - a movement consistent of collaborative actions at occupied schools in Paraná, in 2016. This movement, through direct interventions, has generated a series of situations and propositions, which reflect and affirm the occupation-condition as a relational device, at the same time, interpellating the art field suggesting a land of overflows with coming images. Starting from a conceptual referential, based upon the ideas of the artist, thinker, politic and activist Marcelo Expósito, to whom art should be articulated by means of an organizational function, it was sought a circumstantial contextualization, which, added to other artistic and theoretical interlocutions about art, politics, image and public sphere, is here indicated as \"modal practice\". Still as a part of this, it was transcribed and translated into Portuguese the presentation Art as the sourceproduction of organizational modes, by Marcelo Expósito, it was translated the text About the militant investigador from Colectivo Situaciones and it was analized the work process of Arte Ocupação from the constitution of it\'s propositional collection, that is, the workshop Imagin(action): politic-poetic narratives for crisis\' states. Workshop-studio for operaexpositions- manifestations and the propositions Bodies that discover themselves as bodies that manifest themselves, keys necklace, Bush, The French Revolution and Jogral, wich can be seen at www.arteocupacao.com.

Analisar o modo como diferentes línguas-culturas organizam retoricamente os seus discursos significa inscrever-se em um espaço teórico-metodológico cujas fronteiras são de difícil delimitação. Ao se interessar pela relação que se estabelece entre línguas-culturas e retórica, este trabalho aproxima domínios disciplinares heterogêneos, como, o ensino-aprendizagem de línguas, a neo-retórica e a cultura escolar, por exemplo. Inserida no entremeio destas disciplinas, esta pesquisa investiga a organização retórica de dois sistemas linguístico-culturais distintos que são a língua portuguesa do Brasil e língua francesa. O corpus constitui-se de 150 textos dissertativo-argumentativos elaborados por alunos do Ensino Médio do Liceu Pasteur, escola franco-brasileira. Fundamentado teórica e metodologicamente em Charaudeau (1992), Perelman e Olbrechts-Tyteca (2002) e Amossy (2006) principalmente, esse corpus foi analisado com o objetivo de descrever e explicar as semelhanças e as diferenças retóricas das duas línguas-culturas em questão, e de depreender o ethos do enunciador escolar, isto é, a imagem de si que é construída e apresentada no e pelo discurso. A partir das análises realizadas, confirmou-se a hipótese inicial de que, em sistemas linguístico-culturais distintos, os atos de fala, como, por exemplo, criticar, persuadir e argumentar, entre outros, podem ser semelhantes; no entanto, a maneira como eles são organizados, encadeados e expressos na superfície discursiva parece variar de uma língua-cultura para outra. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que cada sistema linguístico empregou e articulou de forma distinta, os componentes da argumentação conforme suas necessidades e suas especificidades retóricas, discursivas e culturais, ou seja, conforme o sistema retórico escolar considerado. Além disso, analisando o ethos do enunciador escolar, que se encontra em uma situação de biculturalidade, verificou-se que a imagem, construída e apresentada nos textos dissertativo-argumentativos em língua portuguesa e em língua francesa, foi muito similar. As semelhanças observadas indicam que, na esfera ocidental, parece haver uma imagem ideal homogênea para o enunciador escolar. / Analyzing how different languages and cultures organize rhetorically discourses means to dissertate on a theoretical and methodological area whose frontiers are difficult to narrow. Interested in the relationship established between languages, cultures and rhetoric, this research integrates heterogeneous subject domains, such as, language teaching and learning, new rhetoric and school culture, for example. Inserted between these subjects, this research investigates rhetoric organization of two systems Brazilian Portuguese and French. The corpus is composed to 150 texts produced by students of secondary school of Liceu Pasteur, Brazilian French school. Theoretical and methodological references are Charaudeau (1992), Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (2002) and Amossy (2006) mainly, this corpus was analyzed aiming at describing and explaining the similarities and differences between two languages and cultures in focus to find out the ethos of school enunciator, that is, the self image which is built and presented in and by his/her speech. Supported by analysis conducted, the initial hypothesis was that distinct cultural linguistic system, speech acts, such as, criticizing, persuading and arguing among others could be similar, though, how they are organized, cateneted and expressed on the discourse surface seems to vary from language to language. Results reveal that each linguistic system employs and articulates in a distinct way, argumentative features according to rhetoric, discursive and cultural needs and specifications, that is, according to rhetoric school system analyzed. Besides, school speaker´s ethos was analyzed who lives in a bicultural context. It was verified that her/his image built and presented in the argumentative dissertation texts in Brazilian Portuguese and French was very similar. In the occidental sphere, the similarities observed seem to have a homogenous ideal image for the school enunciator.

En la última década, uno de los avances tecnológicos más importantes que han hecho culminar la nueva generación de banda ancha inalámbrica es la comunicación mediante sistemas de múltiples entradas y múltiples salidas (MIMO). Las tecnologías MIMO han sido adoptadas por muchos estándares inalámbricos tales como LTE, WiMAS y WLAN. Esto se debe principalmente a su capacidad de aumentar la máxima velocidad de transmisión , junto con la fiabilidad alcanzada y la cobertura de las comunicaciones inalámbricas actuales sin la necesidad de ancho de banda extra ni de potencia de transmisión adicional. Sin embargo, las ventajas proporcionadas por los sistemas MIMO se producen a expensas de un aumento sustancial del coste de implementación de múltiples antenas y de la complejidad del receptor, la cual tiene un gran impacto sobre el consumo de energía. Por esta razón, el diseño de receptores de baja complejidad es un tema importante que se abordará a lo largo de esta tesis. En primer lugar, se investiga el uso de técnicas de preprocesado de la matriz de canal MIMO bien para disminuir el coste computacional de decodificadores óptimos o bien para mejorar las prestaciones de detectores subóptimos lineales, SIC o de búsqueda en árbol. Se presenta una descripción detallada de dos técnicas de preprocesado ampliamente utilizadas: el método de Lenstra, Lenstra, Lovasz (LLL) para lattice reduction (LR) y el algorimo VBLAST ZF-DFE. Tanto la complejidad como las prestaciones de ambos métodos se han evaluado y comparado entre sí. Además, se propone una implementación de bajo coste del algoritmo VBLAST ZF-DFE, la cual se incluye en la evaluación. En segundo lugar, se ha desarrollado un detector MIMO basado en búsqueda en árbol de baja complejidad, denominado detector K-Best de amplitud variable (VB K-Best). La idea principal de este método es aprovechar el impacto del número de condición de la matriz de canal sobre la detección de datos con el fin de disminuir la complejidad de los sistemas / Roger Varea, S. (2012). Design and Implementation of Efficient Algorithms for Wireless MIMO Communication Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/16562 / Palancia

Abstract  In Sweden, moderators of Facebook groups are currently required to remove illegal content from their forums according to BBS-lagen. The law is however old and rarely used, and the impact of it’s existence is unclear. The purpose of the essay is to gain understanding on how moderators of Facebook groups think and act on illegal/inappropriate content that is published within their groups, and what impact the current legislation on the subject in Sweden has on their behavior. In order to examine this the following questions was asked:  -       How does moderators of big Facebook groups reason and act on potentially illegal/inappropriate content in their groups?  -       How do moderators of big Facebook groups reason and act on potentially illegal/inappropriate content in their groups, in relation to the law on bulletin board systems (BBS-lagen)?  The theoretical vantage points were the Public Sphere by Habermas and Panopticon by Foucault, to explain the actions of the moderators and the impact of legislation. The methods used were semi-structured qualitative interviews with moderators of Facebook groups, in combination with an analysis on relevant legal documents.  The study found that the majority of the interviewed Facebook moderators had a semi - rigorous moderation approach, where freedom of speech was important, but also second to the wellbeing of the community. The forums had to have some level of surveillance on a regular basis, often following use of the Facebook report function. They were mostly aware of the legislation but did not actively use it as a tool for moderation, they leaned on the group's internal regulations instead.    Keywords: BBS-lagen, democracy online, surveillance, Facebook moderation, illegal content

This thesis fits into the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication systems. Nowadays, these schemes are the most promising technology in the field of wireless communications. The use of this technology allows to increase the rate and the quality of the transmission through the use of multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver sides. Furthermore, the MIMO technology can also be used in a multiuser scenario, where a Base Station (BS) equipped with several antennas serves several users that share the spatial dimension causing interference. However, employing precoding algorithms the signal of the multiuser interference can be mitigated. For these reasons, the MIMO technology has become an essential key in many new generation communications standards. On the other hand, Massive MIMO technology or Large MIMO, where the BS is equipped with very large number of antennas (hundreds or thousands) serves many users in the same time-frequency resource. Nevertheless, the advantages provided by the MIMO technology entail a substantial increase in the computational cost. Therefore the design of low-complexity receivers is an important issue which is tackled throughout this thesis. To this end, one of the main contributions of this dissertation is the implementation of efficient soft-output detectors and precoding schemes. First, the problem of efficient soft detection with no iteration at the receiver has been addressed. A detailed overview of the most employed soft detectors is provided. Furthermore, the complexity and performance of these methods are evaluated and compared. Additionally, two low-complexity algorithms have been proposed. The first algorithm is based on the efficient Box Optimization Hard Detector (BOHD) algorithm and provides a low-complexity implementation achieving a suitable performance. The second algorithm tries to reduce the computational cost of the Subspace Marginalization with Interference Suppression (SUMIS) algorithm. Second, soft-input soft-output (SISO) detectors, which are included in an iterative receiver structure, have been investigated. An iterative receiver improves the performance with respect to no iteration, achieving a performance close to the channel capacity. In contrast, its computational cost becomes prohibitive. In this context, three algorithms are presented. Two of them achieve max-log performance reducing the complexity of standard SISO detectors. The last one achieves near max-log performance with low complexity. The precoding problem has been addressed in the third part of this thesis. An analysis of some of the most employed precoding techniques has been carried out. The algorithms have been compared in terms of performance and complexity. In this context, the impact of the channel matrix condition number on the performance of the precoders has been analyzed. This impact has been exploited to propose an hybrid precoding scheme that reduces the complexity of the previously proposed precoders. In addition, in Large MIMO systems, an alternative precoder scheme is proposed. In the last part of the thesis, parallel implementations of the SUMIS algorithm are presented. Several strategies for the parallelization of the algorithm are proposed and evaluated on two different platforms: multicore central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). The parallel implementations achieve a significant speedup compared to the CPU version. Therefore, these implementations allow to simulate a scalable quasi optimal soft detector in a Large MIMO system much faster than by conventional simu / La presente tesis se enmarca dentro de los sistemas de comunicaciones de múltiples antenas o sistemas MIMO. Hoy en día, estos sistemas presentan una de las tecnologías más prometedoras dentro de los sistemas comunicaciones inalámbricas. A través del uso de múltiples antenas en ambos lados, transmisor y receptor, la tasa de transmisión y la calidad de la misma es aumentada. Por otro lado, la tecnología MIMO puede ser utilizada en un escenario multiusuario, donde una estación base (BS) la cual está equipada con varias antenas, sirve a varios usuarios al mismo tiempo, estos usuarios comparten dimensión espacial causando interferencias multiusuario. Por todas estas razones, la tecnología MIMO ha sido adoptada en muchos de los estándares de comunicaciones de nueva generación. Por otro lado, la tecnología MIMO Masivo, en la cual la estación base está equipada con un gran número de antenas (cientos o miles) que sirve a muchos usuarios en el mismo recurso de tiempo-frecuencia. Sin embargo, las ventajas proporcionadas por los sistemas MIMO implican un aumento en el coste computacional requerido. Por ello, el diseño de receptores de baja complejidad es una cuestión importante en estos sistemas. Para conseguir esta finalidad, las principales contribuciones de la tesis se basan en la implementación de algoritmos de detección soft y esquemas de precodificación eficientes. En primer lugar, el problema de la detección soft eficiente en un sistema receptor sin iteración es abordado. Una descripción detallada sobre los detectores soft más empleados es presentada. Por otro lado, han sido propuestos dos algoritmos de bajo coste. El primer algoritmo está basado en el algoritmo Box Optimization Hard Detector (BOHD) y proporciona una baja complejidad de implementación logrando un buen rendimiento. El segundo de los algoritmos propuestos intenta reducir el coste computacional del conocido algoritmo Subspace Marginalization with Interference Suppression (SUMIS). En segundo lugar, han sido investidados detectores de entrada y salida soft (SISO, soft-input soft-output) los cuales son ejecutados en estructuras de recepción iterativa. El empleo de un receptor iterativo mejora el rendimiento del sistema con respecto a no realizar realimentación, pudiendo lograr la capacidad óptima. Por el contrario, el coste computacional se vuelve prohibitivo. En este contexto, tres algoritmos han sido presentados. Dos de ellos logran un rendimiento óptimo, reduciendo la complejidad de los detectores SISO óptimos que normalmente son empleados. Por el contrario, el otro algoritmo logra un rendimiento casi óptimo a baja complejidad. En la tercera parte, se ha abordado el problema de la precodificación. Se ha llevado a cabo un análisis de algunas de las técnicas de precodificación más usadas. En este contexto, se ha evaluado el impacto que el número de condición de la matriz de canal tiene en el rendimiento de los precodificadores. Además, se ha aprovechado este impacto para proponer un precodificador hibrido. Por otro lado, en MIMO Masivo, se ha propuesto un esquema precodificador. En la última parte de la tesis, la implementación paralela del algoritmo SUMIS es presentada. Varias estrategias sobre la paralelización del algoritmo han sido propuestas y evaluadas en dos plataformas diferentes: Unidad Central de Procesamiento multicore (multicore CPU) y Unidad de Procesamiento Gráfico (GPU). Las implementaciones paralelas consiguen una mejora de speedup. Estas implementaciones permiten simular para MIMO Masivo y de forma más rápida que por simulación convencional, un algo / La present tesi s'emmarca dins dels sistemes de comunicacions de múltiples antenes o sistemes MIMO. Avui dia, aquestos sistemes presenten una de les tecnologies més prometedora dins dels sistemes de comunicacions inalàmbriques. A través de l'ús de múltiples antenes en tots dos costats, transmissor y receptor, es pot augmentar la taxa de transmissió i la qualitat de la mateixa. D'altra banda, la tecnologia MIMO es pot utilitzar en un escenari multiusuari, on una estació base (BS) la qual està equipada amb diverses antenes serveix a diversos usuaris al mateix temps, aquests usuaris comparteixen dimensió espacial causant interferències multiusuari. Per totes aquestes raons, la tecnologia MIMO ha sigut adoptada en molts dels estàndars de comunicacions de nova generació. D'altra banda, la tecnologia MIMO Massiu, en la qual l'estació base està equipada amb un gran nombre d'antenes (centenars o milers) que serveix a molts usuaris en el mateix recurs de temps-freqüència. No obstant això, els avantatges proporcionats pels sistemes MIMO impliquen un augment en el cost computacional requerit. Per això, el disseny de receptors de baixa complexitat és una qüestió important en aquests sistemes. Per tal d'aconseguir esta finalitat, les principals contribucions de la tesi es basen en la implementació d'algoritmes de detecció soft i esquemes de precodificació eficients. En primer lloc, és abordat el problema de la detecció soft eficient en un sistema receptor sense interacció. Una descripció detallada dels detectors soft més emprats és presentada. D'altra banda, han sigut proposats dos algorismes de baix cost. El primer algorisme està basat en l'algorisme Box Optimization Hard Decoder (BOHD) i proporciona una baixa complexitat d'implementació aconseguint un bon resultat. El segon dels algorismes proposats intenta reduir el cost computacional del conegut algoritme Subspace Marginalization with Interference Suppression (SUMIS). En segon lloc, detectors d'entrada i eixidia soft (SISO, soft-input soft-output) els cuals són executats en estructures de recepció iterativa han sigut investigats. L'ocupació d'un receptor iteratiu millora el rendiment del sistema pel que fa a no realitzar realimentació, podent aconseguir la capacitat òptima. Per contra, el cost computacional es torna prohibitiu. En aquest context, tres algorismes han sigut presentats. Dos d'ells aconsegueixen un rendiment òptim, reduint la complexitat dels detectors SISO òptims que normalment són emprats. Per contra, l'altre algorisme aconsegueix un rendiment quasi òptim a baixa complexitat. En la tercera part, s'ha abordat el problema de la precodificació. S'ha dut a terme una anàlisi d'algunes de les tècniques de precodificació més usades, prestant especial atenció al seu rendiment i a la seua complexitat. Dins d'aquest context, l'impacte que el nombre de condició de la matriu de canal té en el rendiment dels precodificadors ha sigut avaluat. A més, aquest impacte ha sigut aprofitat per a proposar un precodificador híbrid , amb la finalitat de reduir la complexitat d'algorismes prèviament proposats. D'altra banda, en MIMO Massiu, un esquema precodificador ha sigut proposat. En l'última part, la implementació paral·lela de l'algorisme SUMIS és presentada. Diverses estratègies sobre la paral·lelizació de l'algorisme han sigut proposades i avaluades en dues plataformes diferents: multicore CPU i GPU. Les implementacions paral·leles aconsegueixen una millora de speedup quan el nombre d'àntenes o l'ordre de la constel·lació incrementen. D'aquesta manera, aquestes implementacions permeten simular per a MIMO Massiu, i de forma més ràpida que la simulació convencional. / Simarro Haro, MDLA. (2017). Effi cient algorithms for iterative detection and decoding in Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output Communication Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86186 / TESIS

[ES] El cáncer de pulmón es el tipo de cáncer más frecuentemente diagnosticado y la principal causa de muerte debida a cáncer en el mundo, con sólo un 15% de pacientes con una supervivencia mayor a 5 años tras el diagnóstico. La resección quirúrgica es el tratamiento estándar para los pacientes en estadios tempranos con un buen ECOG, pero el 75% de los pacientes son diagnosticados en estadios avanzados, cuando la intervención quirúrgica no es posible y entre un 35% y un 50% de los pacientes operados recaen tras una cirugía aparentemente exitosa. En los últimos años, se han logrado importantes avances en el desarrollo de la inmunoterapia y de tratamientos contra mutaciones conductoras, pero muchos pacientes todavía desarrollan resistencia, progresan y mueren. Esta resistencia terapéutica ha sido asociada a las células madre tumorales (CMTs), una población tumoral con propiedades de célula madre capaz de sobrevivir a las terapias convencionales y regenerar el tumor incluso cuando son indetectables. En esta tesis doctoral, se establecieron cultivos primarios de pacientes de cáncer de pulmón no microcítico (CPNM) resecados, usando ensayos de formación de tumoresferas para el enriquecimiento en CMTs y condiciones de adherencia para los controles. Las tumoresferas derivadas de pacientes mostraron capacidad de autorenovación y crecimiento exponencial ilimitado, alta resistencia a agentes quimioterápicos, capacidad de invasión y diferenciación in vitro y un elevado potencial tumorigénico in vivo. Usando PCR cuantitativa, se analizaron los perfiles de expresión de los cultivos y se determinó que NANOG, NOTCH3, CD44, CDKN1A, SNAI1 e ITGA6 eran los genes más diferencialmente expresados entre tumoresferas y células adherentes. Los análisis de inmunoblot e inmunofluorescencia confirmaron que las proteínas codificadas por estos genes se encuentran aumentadas en tumoresferas de los pacientes con adenocarcinoma y mostraron patrones de expresión y localización diferencial entre éstas y los controles en adherencia. El valor pronóstico de los genes significativamente sobreexpresados en tumoresferas fue evaluado in silico en una cohorte de 661 pacientes con CPNM procedente del TCGA. De todos ellos, CDKN1A, SNAI1 y ITGA6 mostraron estar relacionados con el pronóstico de los pacientes de acuerdo a un análisis de regresión de Cox y fueron seleccionados para construir una firma de expresión génica, denominada firma de CMTs. Los análisis de supervivencia por Kaplan-Meier mostraron que los pacientes con valores elevados de la firma tienen una supervivencia global (SG) menor para la cohorte completa de CPNM [37,7 vs. 60,40 meses, p = 0,001] y para la subcohorte de adenocarcinoma (ADC) [36,6 vs. 53,5 meses, p = 0,003], pero no para la de los epidermoides. Además, el análisis multivariante mostró que la firma de CMTs es un marcador pronóstico independiente para la SG de los pacientes en la cohorte completa [hazard ratio (HR): 1,498; intervalo de confianza (IC) 95%, 1,167-1,922; p = 0,001] y la subcohorte de ADC [HR: 1,869; IC 95%, 1,275-2,738; p = 0,001]. Esta firma fue también analizada en un grupo independiente de 245 pacientes procedentes del Consorci Hospital General Universitari de València, confirmando su valor pronóstico en los pacientes con ADC [42,90 vs. no alcanzado (NA) meses, p = 0,020]. En resumen, nuestros hallazgos aportan información pronóstica relevante para los pacientes con ADC de pulmón y establecen las bases para el desarrollo de nuevos tratamientos. / [CAT] El càncer de pulmó és el tipus de càncer més diagnosticat i la principal causa de mort deguda a càncer en el món, amb només un 15% de pacients amb una supervivència major a 5 anys després del diagnòstic. La resecció quirúrgica és el tractament estàndard per als pacients en estadis primaris amb un bon ECOG, però el 75% dels pacients són diagnosticats en estadis avançats, quan la intervenció quirúrgica no és possible i entre un 35% i un 50% dels pacients operats recauen després d'una cirurgia aparentment satisfactòria. En els últims anys, s'han aconseguit importants avanços en el desenvolupament de la immunoteràpia i de tractaments contra mutacions conductores, però molts pacients encara desenvolupen resistència, progressen i moren. Aquesta resistència a les teràpies ha estat relacionada amb les cèl·lules mare tumorals (CMTs), una població tumoral amb propietats de cèl·lula mare capaç de sobreviure a les teràpies convencionals i regenerar el tumor fins i tot quan són indetectables. En aquesta tesi doctoral, es van establir cultius primaris de pacients de càncer de pulmó no microcític (CPNM) ressecats, usant assajos de formació de tumoresferes per a l'enriquiment en CMTs i condicions d'adherència per als controls. Les tumoresferes derivades de pacients van mostrar capacitat d'autorenovació, creixement exponencial il·limitat, alta resistència a agents quimioteràpics, capacitat d'invasió i diferenciació in vitro i un elevat potencial tumorigènic in vivo. Usant PCR quantitativa, es van analitzar els perfils d'expressió dels cultius i es va determinar que NANOG, NOTCH3, CD44, CDKN1A, SNAI1 i ITGA6 eren els gens més diferencialment expressats entre tumoresferes i cèl·lules adherents. Les anàlisis de immunoblot i immunofluorescència van confirmar que les proteïnes codificades per aquests gens es troben augmentades en tumoresferes dels pacients amb adenocarcinoma i van mostrar patrons d'expressió i localització diferencial entre aquestes i els controls en adherència. El valor pronòstic dels gens significativament sobreexpressats en tumoresferes va ser avaluat in silico en una cohort de 661 pacients amb CPNM procedent del TCGA. De tots ells, CDKN1A, SNAI1 i ITGA6 van mostrar estar relacionats amb el pronòstic dels pacients d'acord a una anàlisi de regressió de Cox i van ser seleccionats per a construir una signatura d'expressió gènica, denominada signatura de CMTs. Les anàlisis de supervivència per Kaplan-Meier van mostrar que els pacients amb valors elevats de la signatura tenen una supervivència global (SG) menor per a la cohort completa de CPNM [37,7 vs. 60,40 mesos, p = 0,001] i per a la subcohort d'adenocarcinoma (ADC) [36,6 vs. 53,5 mesos, p = 0,003], però no per a la dels escamosos. A més, l'anàlisi multivariant va mostrar que la signatura de CMTs és un marcador pronòstic independent per a la SG dels pacients en la cohort completa [hazard ratio, (HR): 1,498; interval de confiança (IC) 95%, 1,167-1,922; p = 0,001] i la subcohort d'ADC [HR: 1,869; IC 95%, 1,275-2,738; p = 0,001]. Aquesta signatura va ser també analitzada en un grup independent de 245 pacients procedents del Consorci Hospital General Universitari de València, confirmant el seu valor pronòstic en els pacients amb ADC [42,90 vs. no arribat (NA) mesos, p = 0,020]. En resum, els nostres resultats aporten informació pronòstica rellevant per als pacients amb ADC de pulmó i estableixen les bases per al desenvolupament de nous tractaments. / [EN] Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with approximately 15% of patients surviving 5 years after diagnosis. Curative surgery is the standard of care for early-stage patients with a good performance status, but 75% are diagnosed at advances stages, when surgery is not possible, and 35-50% of the resected patients relapse after an apparently successful surgical treatment. Significant advances in the development of therapies against driver mutations and immune-based treatments for these patients have been achieved in recent years, but many patients still develop treatment resistance, progress, and die. The high resistance against these therapies has been associated to cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), a population with stem properties which is able to survive after conventional treatments and regenerate tumor even when are undetectable. In this thesis, primary cultures from early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients were established, using sphere-forming assays for CSCs enrichment and adherent conditions for the control counterparts. Patient-derived tumorspheres showed self-renewal and unlimited exponential growth potentials, resistance against chemotherapeutic agents, invasion and differentiation capacities in vitro, and superior tumorigenic potential in vivo. Using RTqPCR, gene expression profiles were analyzed, and NANOG, NOTCH3, CD44, CDKN1A, SNAI1, and ITGA6 were selected as the best contributors to distinguish tumorspheres from adherent cells. Immunoblot and immunofluorescence analyses confirmed that proteins encoded by these genes were consistently increased in tumorspheres from adenocarcinoma patients and showed differential localization and expression patterns. The prognostic role of genes significantly overexpressed in tumorspheres was evaluated in silico in a cohort of 661 NSCLC patients from TCGA. Based on a Cox regression analysis, CDKN1A, SNAI1 and ITGA6 were found to be associated with prognosis and used to calculate a gene expression score, named CSCs score. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with high CSCs score have shorter overall survival (OS) in the entire cohort [37.7 vs. 60.4 months, p = 0.001] and in the adenocarcinoma (ADC) subcohort [36.6 vs. 53.5 months, p = 0.003], but not in the squamous cell carcinoma one. Multivariate analysis indicated that this gene expression score is an independent biomarker of prognosis for OS in both, the entire cohort [hazard ratio (HR): 1.498; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.167-1.922; p = 0.001], and the ADC subcohort [HR: 1.869; 95% CI, 1.275-2.738; p = 0.001]. This score was also analyzed in an independent group of 245 patients from Consorci Hospital General Universitari de València, confirming its prognostic value in the ADC subtype [42.90 vs. not reached (NR) months, p = 0.020]. In conclusion, our findings provide relevant prognostic information for lung ADC patients and the basis for developing novel therapies. / Herreros Pomares, A. (2020). Tumorspheres as an in vitro model for cancer stem-like cell characterization in non-small cell lung cancer. Prognostic implications [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/137036 / TESIS

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity with millions of people already suffering from its consequences in the last two decades. Social media, as a communication channel, has an important role to play in provoking a response to climate change. Social networking sites are known to be more interactive and potentially provide a great platform for the masses to make their voices heard, shape policy objectives, and even influence intransigent negotiations. This research explored how African youth are using the social media in climate change discussions and advocacy. The literature for this study is drawn from various studies focusing on climate change key issues, climate change communication and application of strategic communication to social media climate change initiatives and campaigns. A mixed method research approach was used to collect data for the study. Findings revealed that Facebook is the common social media platform for climate change discussions among Malawian youth as 62.50% of the participants use it to talk about the issue.

PART I Hollow-sphere (HS) steel foam is a relatively new material whose cellular morphology and material properties qualify it as a metallic foam. This is an innovative foam-like material that exhibits high stiffness paired with low relative densities. Technological advancements in the past few decades have enabled the manufacturing of this material by a sintering process and, as a result, research has begun to accelerate as a multi-school collaboration effort for this particular work. Even though commercialization has been a challenge for metallic foams, it is imperative that researchers continue to prove and promote the advantages of metallic foams despite the current challenges posed by commercialization. One of the most promising characteristics of metallic foams is their energy absorption capacity. This work explores hollow-sphere steel foam’s ability to absorb energy at high strain rates under a dynamic impact load and builds upon an earlier work of quasi-static compression loading. Since most research in this field has been attributed to aluminum open-cell foams, the objective of this work seeks to build upon and apply existing methods to cultivate new research material for hollow-sphere steel foam. The premise of this work began with experimental research analyzing stress-strain relationships of a mass impacting samples of HS steel foam with different kinetic energies. As a result, material properties were extracted and quantified such as elastic modulus, yield stress, and energy absorption, among others. These properties set the foundation for the next set of research; finite element analysis whose objective is to develop a functional material model that could be used for a later application in structural engineering, such as a blast or crash impact. PART II The second part of this thesis applies structural engineering mechanics to a complex arboricultural project. A particular American elm (Ulmus americana L.) tree is the focus of analysis due to its usage for tree climbing competitions. Structurally, this work is relevant to structural engineering by involving finite element analysis of a branch of this American elm tree. This particular work has the objective of understanding how a particular American elm branch behaves structurally under a variety of dynamic loads with different input parameters. Before any of the analyses can be implemented, the definite geometry of the tree has to be measured and material properties have to be calculated. Field experimental data are imperative for this project so that the idealized model can represent the real system as best as possible. Following the data acquisition and modeling of the tree, loads that were either measured or calculated are applied. These loads can be idealized as an impulse load and a cyclic load, with variability imposed within each of them. It is within this variability of the parameters within the loads that the purpose of this work arises. By applying extreme loads upon this tree branch, critical points along the branch can be identified by calculating maximum bending and axial stresses. These stresses indicate not only the critical points along the primary branch but in addition, they indicate the magnitude and severity of these potential stresses, which can be compared directly with the mechanical properties of the wood in the branch. The final intent of this work is to contribute to the knowledge of how a particular branch behaves dynamically in order to better equip tree climbers, academics, and professionals by integrating structural mechanics and arboriculture.

By examining the donations by the local nobility to the local church, this thesis aims to study the church as a public room. By analyzing the donations of the nobility in relation to Habermas concept of the public sphere and the concept of conspicuous consumption the donations to the churches can be viewed as manifestations of power. This thesis studies all donations to the churches that leaves material and visual remnants in the church room. The results shows that there was a conscious strategy for the nobility to use the church for manifestation and representation of power. The nobility used their donations to manifest their power and to represent the power towards the people. This was done by filling the church with their names and coats of arms. By donating liturgical objects, church silver, chapels and coats of arms used for funerals the nobility was able to symbolically place themselves in the religious rituals. The church as a room was a symbolically and hierarchical place, and by connecting themselves with this room by donations the nobility could manifest their position in society, both locally and nationally.