O esquecimento intencional pode cumprir uma função estratégica no sistema cognitivo, que permite aos indivíduos não pensar sobre acontecimentos indesejados do passado, tais como eventos traumáticos, dolorosos e violentos, dos quais se prefere não recordar. Enquanto esquecer involuntariamente é uma falha da lembrança, por outro lado, esquecer intencionalmente parece ser uma função estratégica da memória. A presente dissertação teve por objetivo investigar os mecanismos neurocognitivos que contribuem para o esquecimento de memórias. A dissertação se organizou em dois estudos. O primeiro estudo consiste em uma revisão sistemática de artigos empíricos publicados nos últimos dez anos sobre a supressão de memórias indesejadas. O segundo estudo é um ensaio empírico, no qual foi executado um experimento adaptado do paradigma Think/No-Think com a utilização de marcadores eletrofisiológicos de eletroencefalograma. Participaram do experimento 22 sujeitos, alocados aleatoriamente em dois grupos com estratégias distintas de esquecimento: Supressão de memória e substituição de pensamentos. Durante toda a tarefa experimental, os participantes tiveram dados de EEG continuamente gravados. Os resultados decorrentes do ensaio empírico estão de acordo com os achados da literatura, indicando que a positividade parietal em torno de 400-800ms após a apresentação do estímulo é um marcador de lembrança consciente durante a recuperação de memória. Apenas na estratégia de supressão de memória houve uma redução da positividade centro-parietal durante o esquecimento, entre 450 e 700ms após apresentação do estímulo. Além disso, uma maior deflexão no componente N2 durante a supressão é um preditor de esquecimento induzido. Os achados indicam que é possível mapear o sistema neurocognitivo subjacente à supressão de memórias. / Intentional forgetting can be characterized as a strategic function of the cognitive system that allows us not to think about unwanted memories from our past, as for example emotional events or traumatic experiences that we would prefer not to remember. While forgetting involuntarily is a failure of recollection, on the other hand, forgetting intentionally seems to be a strategic function of memory. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that contribute to forgetting memories. The dissertation was organized in two studies. The first study consists of a systematic review of empirical articles published in the last ten years on the suppression of unwanted memories. The second study is an empirical essay, in which an experiment adapted from the Think/No-Think paradigm was performed, with the use of electrophysiological markers of electroencephalogram. Twenty-two subjects participated in the experiment, randomly assigned to two groups with distinct strategies of forgetting: Memory suppression and thought substitution. Throughout the experimental task, participants had continuously recorded EEG data. The results of the empirical essay are in agreement with the literature findings, indicating that the parietal positivity around 400-800 ms after the presentation of the stimulus is a marker of conscious memory during memory recovery. Only direct memory suppression reduced centro-parietal positivity during forgetting, between 450 and 700 ms post-stimulus. Also, a greater deflection in the N2 component during suppression is an induced forgetting predictor. The findings indicate that it is possible to map the neurocognitive system underlying memory suppression.

Regenerative medicine and cell therapies hold great potential to treat a variety of medical conditions. Product characterisation of these therapies is particularly difficult as they pose regulatory challenges due to donor heterogeneity and the lack of standardised lot release tests that can reliably predict in vivo function. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), also called multipotent stem cells or mesenchymal stromal cells, are a viable option in cell therapies due to their immunosuppressive and pro-angiogenic functions. Currently there are no standardised methods or potency assays to quantify these properties. To address this, five individual hMSCs lines from different donors were created and characterised based upon growth rate, differentiation capability and extracellular surface protein expression. A novel multiparameter flow cytometry method to characterise the cells based upon extracellular surface markers was developed that supports high-throughput and high-content analyses. Three candidate lines were taken forward and assessed in multiple in vitro bioassays that examined the hMSC immunosuppressive response to a defined inflammatory environment, effect on T-cell proliferation, and effect on a mixed lymphocyte population. Next, the angiogenic properties were assessed using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) tube formation as a model for cardiac regeneration. This involved utilising automated time lapse microscopy techniques coupled with image analysis software to quantify endothelial to tube formation. Further analysis of the hMSC secretome revealed differences in the levels of pro-angiogenic cytokines such as vascular endothelial growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor and IL-8. Significant differences in angiogenic potency were found between the hMSC lines. This thesis highlights the need to develop specific assays that reflect the intended clinical action. Taken together, these quantitative approaches provide valuable tools to measure hMSC quality and potency, and supports continued efforts to improve characterisation strategies for cellular therapies.

Digital holography is a technique for the recording of holograms via CCD/CMOS devices and enables their subsequent numerical reconstruction within computers, thus avoiding the photographic processes that are used in optical holography. This thesis investigates the various techniques which have been developed for digital holography. It develops and successfully demonstrates a number of refinements and additions in order to enhance the performance of the method and extend its applicability. The thesis contributes to both the experimental and numerical analysis aspects of digital holography. Regarding experimental work: the thesis includes a comprehensive review and critique of the experimental arrangements used by other workers and actually implements and investigates a number of these in order to compare performance. Enhancements to these existing methods are proposed, and new methods developed, aimed at addressing some of the perceived short-comings of the method. Regarding the experimental aspects, the thesis specifically develops:• Super-resolution methods, introduced in order to restore the spatial frequencies that are lost or degraded during the hologram recording process, a problem which is caused by the limited resolution of CCD/CMOS devices.• Arrangements for combating problems in digital holography such as: dominance of the zero order term, the twin image problem and excessive speckle noise.• Fibre-based systems linked to tunable lasers, including a comprehensive analysis of the effects of: signal attenuation, noise and laser instability within such systems.• Two-source arrangements for contouring, including investigating the limitations on achievable accuracy with such systems. Regarding the numerical processing, the thesis focuses on three main areas. Firstly, the numerical calculation of the Fresnel-Kirchhoff integral, which is of vital importance in performing the numerical reconstruction of digital holograms. The Fresnel approximation and the convolution approach are the two most common methods used to perform numerical reconstruction. The results produced by these two methods for both simulated holograms and real holograms, created using our experimental systems, are presented and discussed. Secondly, the problems of the zero order term, twin image and speckle noise are tackled from a numerical processing point of view, complementing the experimental attack on these problems. A digital filtering method is proposed for use with reflective macroscopic objects, in order to suppress both the zero-order term and the twin image. Thirdly, for the two-source contouring technique, the following issues have been discussed and thoroughly analysed: the effects of the linear factor, the use of noise reduction filters, different phase unwrapping algorithms, the application of the super-resolution method, and errors in the illumination angle. Practical 3D measurement of a real object, of known geometry, is used as a benchmark for the accuracy improvements achievable via the use of these digital signal processing techniques within the numerical reconstruction stage. The thesis closes by seeking to draw practical conclusions from both the experimental and numerical aspects of the investigation, which it is hoped will be of value to those aiming to use digital holography as a metrology tool.

Orientador: Paulo Cesar Ciarlini. / Banca: Raimundo de Souza Lopes. / Banca: Gisele Fabrino Machado. / Resumo: À semelhança do que ocorre em homens e gatos, o estresse oxidativo associado à insuficiência renal crônica (IRC) canina pode afetar a função dos neutrófilos. Em cães urêmicos com IRC ocorre aumento do estresse oxidativo e os neutrófilos tornam-se menos viáveis e funcionais. Dezoito cães adultos urêmicos com insuficiência renal crônica foram comparados com 10 cães adultos controle. Foram determinados o hemograma, a urinálise, o perfil bioquímico plasmático, a peroxidação lipídica plasmática, a capacidade antioxidante total (CAT) do plasma, a produção de superóxido, a taxa de viabilidade e a apoptose dos neutrófilos. As taxas plasmáticas de uréia (P<0,01), creatinina (p<0,01) e colesterol (p<0,001) de cães urêmicos foram significativamente superiores aos do controle. Em cães com uremia o volume globular (p<0,0001), a densidade urinária (p<0,015) e a peroxidação lipídica plasmática (p<0,001) foram significativamente menores quando comparado aos do grupo controle. Os neutrófilos de cães urêmicos apresentaram uma maior taxa de apoptose espontânea (0,018±0,016 vs 0,30± 0,23, p< 0,001) e induzida com Camptotecina (4,34±3,93 vs 26,29±18,52, p<0,01). Comparado aos do grupo controle, os valores médios da fluorescência gerada pela produção de superóxido dos neutrófilos isolados de cães urêmicos foi menor na presença (162,93±173,09 vs 49,10±41,22, p< 0,001) e na ausência de estimulo com PMA (1182,5± 1253,5 vs 212,9±294,25 p< 0,01). Durante o estresse oxidativo em cães urêmicos portadores de IRC ocorre uma aceleração da apoptose que diminui o número de neutrófilos viáveis e a produção neutrofílica de superóxido. Os mecanismos de como o estresse oxidativo da uremia acelera a apoptose e diminui o metabolismo oxidativo dos neutrófilos em cães permanecem a ser determinados / Abstract: Similar to what occurs in men and cats oxidative stress associated with chronic renal failure (CRF) can affect the function of canine neutrophils. In uremic dogs with CRF is increased oxidative stress and neutrophils become less viable and functional. Eighteen dogs adult uremic patients with chronic renal failure were compared with 10 control adult dogs. We measured the blood count, urinalysis, serum biochemical profile, lipid peroxidation, plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of plasma, the production of superoxide, the rate of viability and apoptosis of neutrophils. Plasma levels of urea (P <0.01), creatinine (p <0.01) and cholesterol (p <0.001) in uremic dogs were significantly above baseline. In dogs with uremia the packed cell volume (p <0.0001), urine specific gravity (p <0.015) and plasma lipid peroxidation (p <0.001) were significantly lower when compared to the control group. Neutrophils in uremic dogs showed a higher rate of spontaneous apoptosis (0.018 ± 0.016 vs. 0.30 ± 0.23, p <0.001) and induced with Camptothecin (4.34 ± 3.93 vs 26.29 ± 18.52, p <0.01). Compared to the control group the mean fluorescence generated by the superoxide production of neutrophils isolated from uremic dogs was lower in the presence (162.93 ± 49.10 vs 173.09 ± 41.22, p <0.001) and in the absence of stimulation with PMA (1182.5 ± 212.9 vs. 1253.5 ± 294.25 p <0.01). During the oxidative stress in uremic dogs with CRF is an acceleration of apoptosis which reduces the number of viable neutrophils and neutrophil production of superoxide. As the mechanisms of oxidative stress in uremia accelerates apoptosis and oxidative metabolism of neutrophils in dogs it remains to be determined / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-08-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:08:22Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_acra_me_araca.pdf: 170186 bytes, checksum: 3af21aa14d120cf2727d86a2dd2a16b9 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / À semelhança do que ocorre em homens e gatos, o estresse oxidativo associado à insuficiência renal crônica (IRC) canina pode afetar a função dos neutrófilos. Em cães urêmicos com IRC ocorre aumento do estresse oxidativo e os neutrófilos tornam-se menos viáveis e funcionais. Dezoito cães adultos urêmicos com insuficiência renal crônica foram comparados com 10 cães adultos controle. Foram determinados o hemograma, a urinálise, o perfil bioquímico plasmático, a peroxidação lipídica plasmática, a capacidade antioxidante total (CAT) do plasma, a produção de superóxido, a taxa de viabilidade e a apoptose dos neutrófilos. As taxas plasmáticas de uréia (P<0,01), creatinina (p<0,01) e colesterol (p<0,001) de cães urêmicos foram significativamente superiores aos do controle. Em cães com uremia o volume globular (p<0,0001), a densidade urinária (p<0,015) e a peroxidação lipídica plasmática (p<0,001) foram significativamente menores quando comparado aos do grupo controle. Os neutrófilos de cães urêmicos apresentaram uma maior taxa de apoptose espontânea (0,018±0,016 vs 0,30± 0,23, p< 0,001) e induzida com Camptotecina (4,34±3,93 vs 26,29±18,52, p<0,01). Comparado aos do grupo controle, os valores médios da fluorescência gerada pela produção de superóxido dos neutrófilos isolados de cães urêmicos foi menor na presença (162,93±173,09 vs 49,10±41,22, p< 0,001) e na ausência de estimulo com PMA (1182,5± 1253,5 vs 212,9±294,25 p< 0,01). Durante o estresse oxidativo em cães urêmicos portadores de IRC ocorre uma aceleração da apoptose que diminui o número de neutrófilos viáveis e a produção neutrofílica de superóxido. Os mecanismos de como o estresse oxidativo da uremia acelera a apoptose e diminui o metabolismo oxidativo dos neutrófilos em cães permanecem a ser determinados / Similar to what occurs in men and cats oxidative stress associated with chronic renal failure (CRF) can affect the function of canine neutrophils. In uremic dogs with CRF is increased oxidative stress and neutrophils become less viable and functional. Eighteen dogs adult uremic patients with chronic renal failure were compared with 10 control adult dogs. We measured the blood count, urinalysis, serum biochemical profile, lipid peroxidation, plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of plasma, the production of superoxide, the rate of viability and apoptosis of neutrophils. Plasma levels of urea (P <0.01), creatinine (p <0.01) and cholesterol (p <0.001) in uremic dogs were significantly above baseline. In dogs with uremia the packed cell volume (p <0.0001), urine specific gravity (p <0.015) and plasma lipid peroxidation (p <0.001) were significantly lower when compared to the control group. Neutrophils in uremic dogs showed a higher rate of spontaneous apoptosis (0.018 ± 0.016 vs. 0.30 ± 0.23, p <0.001) and induced with Camptothecin (4.34 ± 3.93 vs 26.29 ± 18.52, p <0.01). Compared to the control group the mean fluorescence generated by the superoxide production of neutrophils isolated from uremic dogs was lower in the presence (162.93 ± 49.10 vs 173.09 ± 41.22, p <0.001) and in the absence of stimulation with PMA (1182.5 ± 212.9 vs. 1253.5 ± 294.25 p <0.01). During the oxidative stress in uremic dogs with CRF is an acceleration of apoptosis which reduces the number of viable neutrophils and neutrophil production of superoxide. As the mechanisms of oxidative stress in uremia accelerates apoptosis and oxidative metabolism of neutrophils in dogs it remains to be determined

O esquecimento intencional pode cumprir uma função estratégica no sistema cognitivo, que permite aos indivíduos não pensar sobre acontecimentos indesejados do passado, tais como eventos traumáticos, dolorosos e violentos, dos quais se prefere não recordar. Enquanto esquecer involuntariamente é uma falha da lembrança, por outro lado, esquecer intencionalmente parece ser uma função estratégica da memória. A presente dissertação teve por objetivo investigar os mecanismos neurocognitivos que contribuem para o esquecimento de memórias. A dissertação se organizou em dois estudos. O primeiro estudo consiste em uma revisão sistemática de artigos empíricos publicados nos últimos dez anos sobre a supressão de memórias indesejadas. O segundo estudo é um ensaio empírico, no qual foi executado um experimento adaptado do paradigma Think/No-Think com a utilização de marcadores eletrofisiológicos de eletroencefalograma. Participaram do experimento 22 sujeitos, alocados aleatoriamente em dois grupos com estratégias distintas de esquecimento: Supressão de memória e substituição de pensamentos. Durante toda a tarefa experimental, os participantes tiveram dados de EEG continuamente gravados. Os resultados decorrentes do ensaio empírico estão de acordo com os achados da literatura, indicando que a positividade parietal em torno de 400-800ms após a apresentação do estímulo é um marcador de lembrança consciente durante a recuperação de memória. Apenas na estratégia de supressão de memória houve uma redução da positividade centro-parietal durante o esquecimento, entre 450 e 700ms após apresentação do estímulo. Além disso, uma maior deflexão no componente N2 durante a supressão é um preditor de esquecimento induzido. Os achados indicam que é possível mapear o sistema neurocognitivo subjacente à supressão de memórias. / Intentional forgetting can be characterized as a strategic function of the cognitive system that allows us not to think about unwanted memories from our past, as for example emotional events or traumatic experiences that we would prefer not to remember. While forgetting involuntarily is a failure of recollection, on the other hand, forgetting intentionally seems to be a strategic function of memory. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms that contribute to forgetting memories. The dissertation was organized in two studies. The first study consists of a systematic review of empirical articles published in the last ten years on the suppression of unwanted memories. The second study is an empirical essay, in which an experiment adapted from the Think/No-Think paradigm was performed, with the use of electrophysiological markers of electroencephalogram. Twenty-two subjects participated in the experiment, randomly assigned to two groups with distinct strategies of forgetting: Memory suppression and thought substitution. Throughout the experimental task, participants had continuously recorded EEG data. The results of the empirical essay are in agreement with the literature findings, indicating that the parietal positivity around 400-800 ms after the presentation of the stimulus is a marker of conscious memory during memory recovery. Only direct memory suppression reduced centro-parietal positivity during forgetting, between 450 and 700 ms post-stimulus. Also, a greater deflection in the N2 component during suppression is an induced forgetting predictor. The findings indicate that it is possible to map the neurocognitive system underlying memory suppression.

Influence of sprout suppression based on CIPC by fogging and amount of storage losses of chips potatoes, with target in losses caused by storage diseases were investigated at temperature 8°C storage. In experiment with varieties Saturna and Pirol higher quantity of storage diseases by Pirol against control were occured after one application of CIPC, Saturna held more storage diseases in control. Identical differences by necessary losses were observed. In another experiment with varieties Saturna and Merlin no differences in amount of storage diseases were registered at double, single or none treatment, neither in quantity of necessary losses. Losses by sprouting were various according to amount of applications of CIPC and duration of storage period.

abstract: The use of bias indicators in psychological measurement has been contentious, with some researchers questioning whether they actually suppress or moderate the ability of substantive psychological indictors to discriminate (McGrath, Mitchell, Kim, & Hough, 2010). Bias indicators on the MMPI-2-RF (F-r, Fs, FBS-r, K-r, and L-r) were tested for suppression or moderation of the ability of the RC1 and NUC scales to discriminate between Epileptic Seizures (ES) and Non-epileptic Seizures (NES, a conversion disorder that is often misdiagnosed as ES). RC1 and NUC had previously been found to be the best scales on the MMPI-2-RF to differentiate between ES and NES, with optimal cut scores occurring at a cut score of 65 for RC1 (classification rate of 68%) and 85 for NUC (classification rate of 64%; Locke et al., 2010). The MMPI-2-RF was completed by 429 inpatients on the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) at the Scottsdale Mayo Clinic Hospital, all of whom had confirmed diagnoses of ES or NES. Moderated logistic regression was used to test for moderation and logistic regression was used to test for suppression. Classification rates of RC1 and NUC were calculated at different bias level indicators to evaluate clinical utility for diagnosticians. No moderation was found. Suppression was found for F-r, Fs, K-r, and L-r with RC1, and for all variables with NUC. For F-r and Fs, the optimal RC1 and NUC cut scores increased at higher levels of bias, but tended to decrease at higher levels of K-r, L-r, and FBS-r. K-r provided the greatest suppression for RC1, as well as the greatest increases in classification rates at optimal cut scores, given different levels of bias. It was concluded that, consistent with expectations, taking account of bias indicator suppression on the MMPI-2-RF can improve discrimination of ES and NES. At higher levels of negative impression management, higher cut scores on substantive scales are needed to attain optimal discrimination, whereas at higher levels of positive impression management and FBS-r, lower cut scores are needed. Using these new cut scores resulted in modest improvements in accuracy in discrimination. These findings are consistent with prior research in showing the efficacy of bias indicators, and extend the findings to a psycho-medical context. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2013

abstract: Neural activity tracking using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanning methods has been widely used in the field of neuroscience to provide insight into the nervous system. However, the tracking accuracy depends on the presence of artifacts in the EEG/MEG recordings. Artifacts include any signals that do not originate from neural activity, including physiological artifacts such as eye movement and non-physiological activity caused by the environment. This work proposes an integrated method for simultaneously tracking multiple neural sources using the probability hypothesis density particle filter (PPHDF) and reducing the effect of artifacts using feature extraction and stochastic modeling. Unique time-frequency features are first extracted using matching pursuit decomposition for both neural activity and artifact signals. The features are used to model probability density functions for each signal type using Gaussian mixture modeling for use in the PPHDF neural tracking algorithm. The probability density function of the artifacts provides information to the tracking algorithm that can help reduce the probability of incorrectly estimating the dynamically varying number of current dipole sources and their corresponding neural activity localization parameters. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in increasing the tracking accuracy performance for multiple dipole sources using recordings that have been contaminated by artifacts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2014

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A presente dissertaÃÃo objetiva fornecer uma interpretaÃÃo acerca do conjunto de reflexÃes desenvolvidas pelo filÃsofo alemÃo Friedrich Nietzsche em torno da noÃÃo de verdade. Tal reflexÃo à realizada a partir dos diferentes pontos de vista presentes em sua obra, procurando observar como se articulam as ideias de verdade e de vida, tendo como fio condutor a noÃÃo de âvontade de verdadeâ. Procuro, por um lado, articular os momentos em que o filÃsofo empreende crÃticas à noÃÃo de verdade, direcionadas primeiramente Ãs verdades da metafÃsica, mas que apontam e investigam, ao mesmo tempo, para a noÃÃo de veracidade, na medida em que esta passa a ser entendida como a provÃvel origem daquela. Em seguida, intento entender, na esteira da reflexÃo sobre a veracidade, como Nietzsche desenvolve esta crÃtica e dà a ela um novo direcionamento com um sentido existencial e normativo (uma vez que elege um critÃrio a partir do qual à possÃvel avaliar o valor dos valores morais), a partir da elaboraÃÃo do seu procedimento genealÃgico. O resultado de tais reflexÃes sÃo essenciais para a compreensÃo da ideia de vontade de verdade e, igualmente, de um sentido possÃvel da noÃÃo verdade para o filÃsofo. / This dissertation aims to provide an interpretation about the set of reflections developed by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche around the notion of truth. Such reflection is carried out from different points of view present in his work, trying to observe how articulate the ideas of truth and life, with the thread of the notion of "will to truth". I seek, on the one hand, articulate the moments in which the philosopher undertakes criticism of the notion of truth, first directed to the metaphysical truths, but pointing and investigating at the same time, to the notion of veracity, as it passes the it is understood as the likely source of that. Then attempt to understand, in the wake of reflection on the veracity, how Nietzsche develops this critical and gives it a new direction with an existential and normative sense (since elects a criterion from which to assess the value of moral values), from the preparation of its genealogical procedure. The result of such reflections are essential to understanding the âwill to truthâ idea and also a possible sense of the truth to the philosopher.