Due to overpopulation of African elephants in South Africa and the consequent threat to biodiversity, the need for a method of population control has become evident. The potential use of the porcine zona pellucida (pZP) vaccine as a safe and effective means for population control is explored. While potential effects of pZP treatment on social behaviour of African elephants have been investigated, no examination of the influence of pZP vaccination on the endocrine correlates in treated females has been undertaken. The ovarian activity of freeranging, pZP-treated African elephant females was monitored non-invasively for one year duration by measuring faecal progestagen concentrations via enzyme immunoassay. Behavioural observations were recorded for comparison with progestagen concentrations and to determine any behavioural changes surrounding the pZP vaccine darting event. Each elephant under study showed progestagen concentrations rising above baseline at some period during the study indicating luteal functionality. Average progestagen concentrations were 1.61 ± 0.46 ìg/g. Within sampled females, 42.9% exhibited oestrous cycles within the range reported for African elephants, 14.3% had irregular cycles, and 42.9% did not appear to be cycling. Average oestrous cycle duration was 14.72 ± 0.85 weeks. Behavioural oestrous coincided with the onset of the luteal phase and a subsequent rise in progestagen concentrations. Focal sampling to determine activity budgets before and after the darting event revealed no significant change in behavioural activities. In the week following immunization, individual progestagen concentrations decreased significantly from overall average concentrations. Average progestagen concentrations positively correlated with rainfall and with herd dominance. No association between average individual progestagen concentrations or cyclicity status with age, lactation, or parity were detected. Earlier determination of efficacy was made indicating reproductive control was established 22 months post-treatment. Results indicate the presence of ovarian activity amongst pZP-treated female African elephants in two years following initial immunization. Further study should be aimed toward studying the long term effects of pZP vaccination on the reproductive function of female African elephants. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Production Animal Studies / unrestricted

Our purpose was to investigate the influence of in vitro oocyte aging on fertilization and subsequent embryonic development following subzonal sperm injection with reference to spontaneous zona hardening in the mouse.

Construir en nuestros tiempos requiere de una gestión eficiente y competitiva. En ese sentido, casi todas las empresas dedicadas al rubro de la construcción son conocedoras de la importancia de la planificación, y es justamente allí donde surge la necesidad de prever y anticiparse a los hechos que puedan ir en contra del buen desenvolvimiento de sus proyectos, ya sea en la etapa de concepción, diseño, construcción o en su puesta en uso. Sin embargo, una buena planificación no necesariamente asegura el éxito de un proyecto. Existen riesgos e incertidumbres asociados a los diversos procesos que se presentan en todas las etapas del proyecto, cuyas consecuencias, sean positivas o negativas, se manifiestan en gran magnitud durante la etapa de construcción. Desde esta óptica, se puede afirmar que los proyectos mal concebidos o mal diseñados presentan riesgos e incertidumbres con mayor frecuencia, los cuales deben ser controlados o evitados con una adecuada Gestión de Riesgos. / Tesis

The objective of this study was to identify peptide ligands, using phage display techniques, which bind sites on mouse embryos, ovaries, cytoplasmic membranes and/or intracytoplasmic components. Specifically, M13 coliphage 7-mer, 12-mer and 15-mer random peptide libraries were used separately for biopanning. Peptides derived from the amplified pools were sequenced and studied. The phage display for in vivo ovary experiments yielded no pool of peptides after two cycles of biopanning and re-amplification. With the same initial concentration of a random 7-mer or 12-mer library, there were repeating sequences derived after three and four biopanning cycles on mouse embryos and unfertilized ova. The sequences were not distinguishable from a control group. Subsequent experimentation using a random 15-mer library to select for internalized phage-peptides yielded two apparent consensus sequences, RNVPPIFNDVYWIAF (9/32 or 28%) and HGRFILPWWYAFSPS (11/32 or 34%). The 15-mer control group yielded no clones. The deduced peptide sequences were compared to known sequences to ascertain their uniqueness. No significant similarities were found, yielding two possible novel motifs. Through this adapted process of phage display and further research, the phage display technology may be used as a tool in the recognition of specific mouse gamete sites. By identifying binding sites of mouse gametes, the peptides might be exploited as a means of studying the embryo cell surface or cytoplasmic components and mouse sperm-egg interactions. Such peptides may also be used for macromolecule delivery in transfection or transgenesis. / Master of Science

Memoria para optar al título de Geólogo / En la costa de Chile central afloran formaciones marinas como Navidad, Coquimbo y Horcón, las cuales presentan horizontes concrecionarios, predominantemente carbonáticos, que han sido poco analizados en estudios anteriores, pudiendo eventualmente contener información de interés para el análisis de las distintas zonas de estudio. Dado lo anterior, se propone un estudio petrográfico y mineralógico de estas estructuras sedimentarias químicas con el fin de determinar eventuales implicancias paleoambientales del contexto en el que se desarrollaron, además de dilucidar los procesos responsables de su origen y crecimiento. Distintas evidencias paleontológicas, sedimentológicas y mineralógicas permiten caracterizar a estas concreciones al llevar a cabo un análisis morfológico, petrográfico y de identificación mineral. La observación de las muestras obtenidas en la Formación Navidad permite vislumbrar que éstas presentaron un crecimiento tanto pervasivo como concéntrico en presencia de porosidad remanente, distintas generaciones de cemento y estructuras inyectivas que evidencian un desarrollo más bien plástico que rígido para las concreciones analizadas. La presencia de pirita autígena y materia orgánica en algunas muestras sugiere la presencia de procesos de reducción de sulfatos y de hierro, sin descartarse la eventual participación de oxidación anaeróbica de metano y metanogénesis. El origen polifásico de algunas muestras, los fragmentos de madera fosilizada en presencia de bioturbación asociada a Teredolites, y Skolithos en el sedimento huésped (además de estratificación cruzada mamblada y en artesa), la presencia de pirita cúbica y materia orgánica asociada, la existencia de pellets glauconíticos y cemento esparítico radiaxial implican condiciones marinas someras (de hasta ca. 200 m de profundidad) en un contexto eogenético y de nula a escasa sedimentación (que favorecería la difusión y flujo iónicos en los sitios concrecionarios) intercalado con periodos erosivos y de rápido y repentino depósito evidenciado por procesos telogenéticos como, por ejemplo, la disrupción de vetillas y su relleno con cemento tardío. Las evidencias halladas en este trabajo permiten aportar a la discusión paleoambiental referente a la Formación Navidad.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo o estudo da variabilidade expressa pelos acabamentos plásticos de superfície e pinturas da cerâmica oriunda do sítio Córrego do Maranhão, Carangola-MG. Trata-se de sítio com cultura material relacionada à tradição Tupiguarani, que conta com um conjunto datações por Termoluminescência e C14, que atesta a sua ocupação de 1750 ± 200 a 500 ± 60 AP. Frente a este cenário, partimos da premissa de que as diferenças percebidas na cerâmica poderiam fornecer informações referentes às possíveis ocupações do sítio ao longo de mais de 1000 anos. Na concretização desse intento, foi adotada uma perspectiva relacional. Os dados oriundos do sítio Córrego do Maranhão foram analisados levando em consideração as informações provenientes dos demais sítios arqueológicos da Zona da Mata mineira, Emílio Barão e Teixeira Lopes, situados em Juiz de Fora; Primavera e Poca localizados em São João Nepomuceno; e Mata dos Bentes, no município de Rio Novo. Em termos práticos, foi realizada a seriação por ocorrência e por frequência, que seguiu as orientações teóricas e metodológicas estipuladas por Carl Lipo e equipe no exame da ocupação do Vale do Rio Mississipi, nos Estados Unidos. Ao fim, pode-se dizer que com o exercício foi possível evidenciar em uma perspectiva diacrônica a variação detectada para os acabamentos plásticos de superfície e pinturas, organizar cronologicamente os acervos enfocados e refletir sobre as rupturas e continuidades que caracterizaram a ocupação pré-colonial da Zona da Mata mineira. / This work aimed to study the variability expressed by surface treatment and paintings of the pottery from the site Córrego do Maranhão, Carangola-MG. This site has material culture related to the Tupiguarani tradition, with dating for C14 and Termoluminescence, that attesting it\'s occupation in the means of 1750 ±200 to 500 ± 60 BP. Faced with this scenario, we assumed that the differences observed among the pottery could give us information concerning the possible occupations of the site about over a thousand years. To achieve this purpose, we adopted a relational perspective. The data from the site Córrego do Maranhão were analyzed taking into account information from other archaeological sites in the Zona da Mata de Minas Gerais, Emílio Barão and Teixeira Lopes, located in the city of Juiz de Fora; Primavera and Poca located in São João Nepomuceno; and Mata dos Bentes, in the Town of Rio Novo. In practical terms, was done frequency seriation and occurrence seriation, which was along the theoretic and methodological orientations idealized by Carl Lipo and his team in the examination of the occupation of the Mississipi River Valley, in the United States of America. Finally, we can say that with this work we were able to make evident, in a diachronic perspective, the detected variation of the surface treatment and paintings, chronologically organize the focused collection and reflect on the continuities and ruptures at characterizes the pre-colonial occupation of the Zona da Mata mineira.

Esta dissertação tem por objeto a escravidão na economia cafeeira do Vale do Paraíba mineiro durante a segunda metade do século XIX. A análise parte do estudo de uma fazenda, a Santa Sofia, durante o período compreendido de 1850 a 1882. Nesta quadra, a fazenda pertenceu a Camilo Maria Ferreira Armond, Conde de Prados em 1881. A pesquisa pretende tratar, com base nesse foco espacial e temporal específico, um elenco de temas que vêm sendo explorados pela historiografia brasileira nas últimas décadas: a composição demográfica da escravaria da fazenda em tela; a organização do seu processo de trabalho (o que envolve o estudo das estratégias de controle empregadas pelo fazendeiro bem como das estratégias de resistência dos escravos); a organização do processo de produção do café (técnicas agronômicas e de beneficiamento dos grãos); a organização espacial da fazenda; as relações do fazendeiro com o mercado cafeeiro do Rio de Janeiro; finalmente, os impactos da crise da instituição da escravidão, na década de 1880, sobre as relações escravistas na fazenda. / The object of this dissertation is the slavery in the coffee economy in the Paraiba Valley during the second half of the 19th century. The starting point is a property, the Santa Sofia, during the period between 1850 and 1882. During this time, the property belonged to Camilo Maria Ferreira Armond, Count of Prados in 1881. Based on these special and temporal focus, the aim is to approach a range of themes that are being investigated by the Brazilian historiography on the last decades: the demography of slavery; the organization of the Santa Sofias work process (including the study of the control strategies employed by the farms owner and also the slave resistance); the organization of the coffee production (agronomical techniques and coffee processing); the spacial organization; the relations between the producer and the coffee market in Rio and, finally, the impacts of the slavery crisis in the 1880s.

La dinámica y la ardua competencia existente en el mercado de telefonía móvil peruano durante la última década ha motivado la expansión de la cobertura del servicio a lo largo del territorio del país hasta llegar a prácticamente todas las capitales de distrito a finales del año 2012. Como consecuencia de esta expansión, el acceso de los hogares a este servicio ha alcanzado una tasa de 80% a nivel nacional. Sin embargo, existen ámbitos en los cuales las brechas de cobertura y acceso aún se encuentran claramente presentes. Esta investigación analiza los determinantes del acceso al servicio de telefonía móvil en el Perú rural considerando principalmente variables asociadas a la oferta en el distrito de residencia, así como una serie de factores socioeconómicos como el nivel educativo y la pobreza. Los principales resultados reflejan que los hogares rurales ubicados en distritos que han contado durante más años con cobertura de telefonía móvil incrementan su probabilidad de acceso hasta en 30 puntos porcentuales; igualmente la presencia de tres operadores en el distrito incrementa dicha probabilidad en 28 puntos. Asimismo, los hogares con jefe o miembros más jóvenes en edad de trabajar, con mayor nivel educativo, así como aquellos con mejores condiciones económicas o estabilidad en sus ingresos son más propensas a acceder o adquirir el servicio. / Tesis

Esta dissertação tem por objeto a escravidão na economia cafeeira do Vale do Paraíba mineiro durante a segunda metade do século XIX. A análise parte do estudo de uma fazenda, a Santa Sofia, durante o período compreendido de 1850 a 1882. Nesta quadra, a fazenda pertenceu a Camilo Maria Ferreira Armond, Conde de Prados em 1881. A pesquisa pretende tratar, com base nesse foco espacial e temporal específico, um elenco de temas que vêm sendo explorados pela historiografia brasileira nas últimas décadas: a composição demográfica da escravaria da fazenda em tela; a organização do seu processo de trabalho (o que envolve o estudo das estratégias de controle empregadas pelo fazendeiro bem como das estratégias de resistência dos escravos); a organização do processo de produção do café (técnicas agronômicas e de beneficiamento dos grãos); a organização espacial da fazenda; as relações do fazendeiro com o mercado cafeeiro do Rio de Janeiro; finalmente, os impactos da crise da instituição da escravidão, na década de 1880, sobre as relações escravistas na fazenda. / The object of this dissertation is the slavery in the coffee economy in the Paraiba Valley during the second half of the 19th century. The starting point is a property, the Santa Sofia, during the period between 1850 and 1882. During this time, the property belonged to Camilo Maria Ferreira Armond, Count of Prados in 1881. Based on these special and temporal focus, the aim is to approach a range of themes that are being investigated by the Brazilian historiography on the last decades: the demography of slavery; the organization of the Santa Sofias work process (including the study of the control strategies employed by the farms owner and also the slave resistance); the organization of the coffee production (agronomical techniques and coffee processing); the spacial organization; the relations between the producer and the coffee market in Rio and, finally, the impacts of the slavery crisis in the 1880s.

Die immunologische Kontrazeption mittels Zona pellucida (ZP) Proteinen gilt als vielversprechender Ansatz für die Reproduktionskontrolle verwilderter Haus- und Wildtierbestände. Da die Applikation von nativer ZP mit Nebenwirkungen verbunden ist, wird die Verwendung einzelner ZP Peptide als Bestandteil kontrazeptiver Vakzine als besonders aussichtsreich erachtet. Das Prinzip dieser nebenwirkungsfreien ZP Immunisierung ist die gezielte Trennung der Entzündungsreaktionen auslösenden T-Zell-Epitope der ZP von den kontrazeptiv wirkenden B-Zell-Epitopen.<br> Niedermolekulare synthetische oder rekombinante Peptide allein sind gering immunogen und können somit keine ausreichende Immunantwort induzieren. Die Verwendung von Peptiden für die immunologische Kontrazeption erfordert daher ein &bdquo;Vakzin-Design&ldquo;, d. h. die gezielte Kombination der Peptide mit immunstimulierenden Substanzen (Liposomen, Carrierproteinen, Adjuvantien). Zielstellung der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Untersuchung des Potentials synthetischer Peptide für die Immunokontrazeption von verwilderten Hauskatzen (Felis catus). Dazu wurden zunächst relevante B-Zell-Epitope des felinen Zona pellucida Proteins, ZPB2, identifiziert und synthetisiert. Zwei der synthetischen Peptide (P3, P6) wurden zur Herstellung von Antikörpern an BSA konjugiert und zusammen mit Freundschem Adjuvans in Ratten verimpft. Die kontrazeptive Relevanz beider Peptide sowie der Ratten Anti-Peptid Antiseren wurde im in vitro Befruchtungssystem der Hauskatze geprüft. Zur Untersuchung der Immunogenität der Peptide in der Zielspezies Hauskatze erfolgte die Entwicklung von Vakzin-Prototypen für die einmalige Applikation. Neben der Eruierung der Stärke und Dauer der Immunantwort wurde durch Verpaarung der Tiere auch das kontrazeptive Potential in vivo abgeschätzt. / Immunological contraception based on zona pellucida (ZP) proteins is regarded as a promising approach for the control of reproduction in feral domestic and wild animals. Because application of native ZP caused adverse reactions, utilization of single ZP peptides as elements of contraceptive vaccines were considered to bear good prospects. The principle of this ZP immunization is based upon a systematic separation of inflammation triggering T-cell epitopes from the contraceptive B-cell epitopes.<br> The present study evaluates the immunogenicity and contraceptive potential of synthetic feline ZPB2 peptides for immunocontraception in cats (Felis catus). First of all, relevant B-cell epitopes were identified and synthesized. In order to generate antipeptide antibodies two peptides (P3, P6) were chosen and coupled to BSA. Rats were immunized with the conjugation product combined with Freund&prime;s complete adjuvant.<br> The contraceptive efficacy of both peptides and of the anti-peptide antibodies generated were determined using in vitro fertilization of feline oocytes (IVF). To evaluate the peptides immunogenicity in the target species (cat), vaccine-prototypes were developed for a single application protocol. The strength and duration of the immune response was analyzed. Additionally, cats were mated to assess the contraceptive potential of the vaccines in vivo.