No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis discusses the dress code during the Pitted Ware culture on the Swedish island of Gotland. Eight Pitted Ware grave-fields have been analyzed; only 74 skeletons have been identified with some sort of ornament that could have been attached to clothes. The grave-fields are rich in finds and in people nearly every age group is present. The analysis has shown that there are clear differences between the genders. The female always has some sort of seal tooth ornament around her waist and thighs. The man has sometimes tusks from wild boar and tubular bones as an ornament on his clothes. The children have all of the ornaments that the parents have but in smaller numbers. There are also other finds that appear on all of the individuals, but the tusks, seal tooth and tubular bones are the ones that appear on nearly every individual. The North American Indians clothing has been used as a reference to help understand the clothing of the Pitted Ware. So far all of the finds that have been found on the skeletons have shown great diversity in the Pitted Ware clothing.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-241).

Thesis (Ph. D.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998. / Bibliography: leaves 264-272.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Uppsala, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 21-15).

Plasma contains small, non-protein coding RNA species, microRNAs (miRNAs). Circulating miRNAs originate from tissues throughout the body and circulate in the blood bound to proteins or encapsulated in extracellular vesicles (EVs). The pattern of circulating miRNAs changes in different pathological states, leading to the hypothesis that they could act as biomarkers or mediators of inter-organ signalling. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with high morbidity worldwide. Recent work has highlighted a potential role for EV signalling in the delivery of functional exogenous miRNA into kidney cells, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of AKI. The studies described in this thesis investigate the effects of circulating miRNAs on renal proximal tubular (PT) cells. Utilising next generation sequencing technology, circulating miRNA profiles were demonstrated to change significantly following myocardial injury. These findings were translated from humans into a mouse model of myocardial injury. Investigation of EV cell signalling, using flow cytometry and nanoparticle tracking analysis, demonstrated that PT cell EV uptake was not affected by known physiological agonists. By contrast, EV release from PT cells was regulated by purinergic P2Y1 and dopamine D1 receptors. Toxic cisplatin injury of PT cells resulted in increased EV release and reduced EV uptake in a dose-dependent manner. Cisplatin toxicity in PT cells was unaffected by EVs from mice with myocardial injury, but toxicity was reduced by EVs from mice with drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Circulating EVs from mice with DILI transferred the liver specific miRNA, miR-122, into PT cells in both in vivo and in vitro models. The consequence of miR-122 transfer was modulation of downstream target genes including Foxo3 which has been implicated in cell injury by apoptosis. These findings therefore show that circulatory miRNA profiles change in different models of organ injury and suggest miRNAs can be transferred to PT cells in vivo and in vitro. The improved viability of injured PT cells following co-incubation with DILI EVs, and subsequent transcriptomic work, suggests this may be as a consequence of miRNA transfer. In conclusion, circulatory miRNAs may act as mediators of inter-organ signalling and could play a crucial role in the propagation of systemic illness.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver sistemas tubulares de condução de luz natural propondo a substituição do alumínio revestido com prata (que é o sistema comercializado atualmente por diversas empresas internacionais), por polímero metalizado. Espera-se com isso diversificar os materiais empregados na fabricação destes dispositivos reduzindo significativamente o custo. Os sistemas tubulares de condução de luz natural permitem o aproveitamento da luz solar para iluminação de interiores, contribuindo para a redução do consumo de energia elétrica. No presente estudo foram avaliados como material estrutural os polímeros (PP, PS, PEAD, PEBD, ABS nas condições virgem e reciclada), revestidos com alumínio e cromo e submetidos à metalização por evaporação no vácuo (íon plating) ou por projeção catódica (sputtering). Os materiais poliméricos foram caracterizados quanto sua resistência mecânica através de ensaios de tração (norma ASTM D638). Os revestimentos de alumínio e cromo depositados nos materiais poliméricos, foram caracterizados quanto à adesão (norma ASTM D3359-09) e quanto à reflexividade (norma ASTM E903). Essas propriedades foram avaliadas comparativamente ao material empregado em um sistema tubular de condução de luz natural comercial (referencia). Os resultados obtidos dos ensaios realizados, demonstraram que os melhores sistemas obtidos foram o PP reciclado metalizado com alumínio pelo processo de projeção catódica, e também ABS e PS virgem metalizados com alumínio pelo processo de evaporação no vácuo. Para a validação em escala real, foram elaborados: um protótipo de PP reciclado metalizado com alumínio pelo processo de projeção catódica e um protótipo de ABS virgem metalizado com alumínio pelo processo de evaporação no vácuo. Enquanto, o tubo protótipo de ABS virgem metalizado com alumínio chegou em média diária a atingir 65% do rendimento comparado com o tubo referência, o PP reciclado metalizado com alumínio pelo processo de projeção catódica chegou apenas a 21%. Isso evidenciou a viabilidade técnica de construção de um tubo para condução da luz solar direta para iluminação utilizando ABS virgem metalizado com alumínio com rendimento de 65% do tubo de referência, o qual pode ser comercializado uma redução de custo estimado de 46,5% em relação a referência. / This paper aims to develop tubular daylight systems for transporting natural light by substituting silver coated aluminum (which is the system currently supplied by several international companies), for metalized polymer. This is expected to diversify the materials used in the manufacturing of those tubular devices, significantly reducing their cost. The tubular systems for conducting natural light enable to maximize the use of natural daylight for interior lighting, minimizing the consumption of electric energy. In this study some polymers (virgin and recycled PP, PS, HDPE, LDPE, and ABS) aluminum or chromium coated were evaluated as structural material. The coating were obtained metallization by vacuum evaporation (ion plating) or by cathodic projection (sputtering). The polymeric materials were evaluated for their mechanical resistance through tensile tests (American Society for Testing and Materials - ASTM D638 standard). The aluminum and chromium coatings deposited on polymeric materials were evaluated for their adhesion (ASTM D3359-09) and for their reflectivity (ASTM E903). These properties were measured comparatively to the material commonly used in a commercial tubular daylight conducting system (reference). The tests results showed that the best systems were the recycled PP metalized with aluminum by the cathodic projection process, and also virgin ABS and virgin PS metalized with aluminum by the vacuum evaporation process. For the real-scale validation, a prototype of recycled PP metalized with aluminum by the cathodic projection process and a prototype of virgin ABS metalized with aluminum by the vacuum evaporation process were made. While the prototype made with virgin ABS metalized with aluminum attained an average daily efficiency of 65% compared to the reference tube, the prototype made with recycled PP metalized with aluminum by the cathodic projection process attained only 21%. Thus, these results demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing a tubular direct daylight conducting system using virgin ABS metalized with aluminum with an efficiency of 65% of the reference tube at an estimated cost 46.5% lower than the reference tube.