A heterogeneidade da linha média observada nas pacientes submetidas à dermolipectomia abdominal e os inúmeros estudos demonstrando a importância do colágeno na estrutura e força tênsil das aponeuroses, suscitaram o interesse em conhecer o índice dos colágenos tipo I e III da linha média. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a quantidade dos colágenos tipo I e III de mulheres com e sem diástase de músculos retos do abdome, assim como identificar se existe diferença na proporção entre colágeno I e III nas aponeuroses da linha média entre os dois grupos. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de caso-controle aninhado a uma coorte incluindo 18 pacientes do sexo feminino com diástase de músculos retos do abdome e um grupo controle de 18 pacientes de mesmo gênero sem apresentar essa condição. Foram coletadas amostras da linha média 3cm acima e 2cm abaixo da cicatriz umbilical. As amostras foram submetidas a análise imuno-histoquímica utilizando anticorpos policlonais anticolágeno tipos I e III. Resultados: Nas mulheres com diástase de músculos retos do abdome, as quantidades de colágeno tipo I e III são menores de que naquelas sem essa condição, tanto nas amostras de aponeurose da linha alba obtidas acima da cicatriz umbilical quanto abaixo da mesma (P<0,001). A proporção entre colágeno tipos I e III é menor nas mulheres com diástase de músculos retos do abdome nas amostras de aponeurose obtidas acima da cicatriz umbilical (P<0,001), não havendo diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos com e sem diástase (P = 0,110) nas amostras obtidas abaixo da cicatriz umbilical. Conclusões: As menores quantidades de colágeno tipos I e III encontrados na aponeurose da linha média podem ser considerados importante fator na diástase dos músculos retos do abdome. / Differences observed in the midline of the abdominal wall in patients undergoing abdominoplasty and evidence from a number of studies showing the importance of collagen to aponeurotic structures and tensile strength have raised interest in investigating the rates of type I and type III collagen in this anatomic region. The aim of this study was to assess the amount of type I and type III collagen in the linea alba of women with and without diastasis recti and to determine collagen type I/III ratio by comparing these two groups. This is a case-control study nested within a surgical cohort of 18women with diastasis recti and a control group with 18 women without diastasis recti. Samples were collected from de midline of the abdominal wall three centimeters above and two centimeters bellow the umbilical scar. The samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using polyclonal antibodies to collagen type I and type III. The amount of collagen type I and type III was smaller in women with diastasis recti than in those without this condition in samples collected from the linea alba above and bellow the umbilical scar (P<0,001). Collagen type I/III ratio was lower in womem with diastasis recti in the samples collected above de umbilical scar (P<0,001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups with and without distasis recti in the samples collected bellow de umbilical scar (P = 0,110). The lower amount of collagen type I and III observed in the midline of the abdominal wall could be a factor in diastasis recti.

El presente artículo aborda los cambios y continuidades en el balance de poder de la región sudamericana de las últimas décadas con el fin de entender los riesgos potenciales que ha enfrentado la seguridad del hemisferio sur desde inicios del siglo XXI. Luego de experimentar un largo proceso de integración regional lleno de iniciativas multilaterales de relativo éxito, América del Sur entró al año dos mil con una nueva configuración en las coaliciones regionales, que se tradujo en una intensa lucha entre liderazgos, que en algunos casos se presentaban hostiles entre sí. Este escenario llamó la atención de la comunidad académica y diplomática, ya que surgieron posibilidades de conflictos bilaterales aparentemente proclives a escalar hacia la violencia. No obstante, los últimos años han sido el reflejo de una nueva realidad que parece indicar que los temores de la última década fueron producto más de una coyuntura particular y menos del inicio de un reordenamiento en la región.

A heterogeneidade da linha média observada nas pacientes submetidas à dermolipectomia abdominal e os inúmeros estudos demonstrando a importância do colágeno na estrutura e força tênsil das aponeuroses, suscitaram o interesse em conhecer o índice dos colágenos tipo I e III da linha média. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a quantidade dos colágenos tipo I e III de mulheres com e sem diástase de músculos retos do abdome, assim como identificar se existe diferença na proporção entre colágeno I e III nas aponeuroses da linha média entre os dois grupos. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de caso-controle aninhado a uma coorte incluindo 18 pacientes do sexo feminino com diástase de músculos retos do abdome e um grupo controle de 18 pacientes de mesmo gênero sem apresentar essa condição. Foram coletadas amostras da linha média 3cm acima e 2cm abaixo da cicatriz umbilical. As amostras foram submetidas a análise imuno-histoquímica utilizando anticorpos policlonais anticolágeno tipos I e III. Resultados: Nas mulheres com diástase de músculos retos do abdome, as quantidades de colágeno tipo I e III são menores de que naquelas sem essa condição, tanto nas amostras de aponeurose da linha alba obtidas acima da cicatriz umbilical quanto abaixo da mesma (P<0,001). A proporção entre colágeno tipos I e III é menor nas mulheres com diástase de músculos retos do abdome nas amostras de aponeurose obtidas acima da cicatriz umbilical (P<0,001), não havendo diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos com e sem diástase (P = 0,110) nas amostras obtidas abaixo da cicatriz umbilical. Conclusões: As menores quantidades de colágeno tipos I e III encontrados na aponeurose da linha média podem ser considerados importante fator na diástase dos músculos retos do abdome. / Differences observed in the midline of the abdominal wall in patients undergoing abdominoplasty and evidence from a number of studies showing the importance of collagen to aponeurotic structures and tensile strength have raised interest in investigating the rates of type I and type III collagen in this anatomic region. The aim of this study was to assess the amount of type I and type III collagen in the linea alba of women with and without diastasis recti and to determine collagen type I/III ratio by comparing these two groups. This is a case-control study nested within a surgical cohort of 18women with diastasis recti and a control group with 18 women without diastasis recti. Samples were collected from de midline of the abdominal wall three centimeters above and two centimeters bellow the umbilical scar. The samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using polyclonal antibodies to collagen type I and type III. The amount of collagen type I and type III was smaller in women with diastasis recti than in those without this condition in samples collected from the linea alba above and bellow the umbilical scar (P<0,001). Collagen type I/III ratio was lower in womem with diastasis recti in the samples collected above de umbilical scar (P<0,001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups with and without distasis recti in the samples collected bellow de umbilical scar (P = 0,110). The lower amount of collagen type I and III observed in the midline of the abdominal wall could be a factor in diastasis recti.

The formation of sovereign states in regional blocks has become an essential feature in the world system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate which motives and driving forces that affect the creation of projects of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World. By choosing the Latin American project of integration ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) as a case of regional integration outside Europe and the Western World, the study investigates the motives expressed by the most prominent actors of the project, Venezuela and Cuba. ALBA is chosen as a representative and a unique case and through the consumption of the gramscian and the realist approaches, the essay defines two motives that affect the creation of projects of regional integration. As a way of investigating the actors’ motives, the paper studies political statements, especially those of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and official positions expressed in central documents and declarations. The result shows that the motives behind ALBA are to promote a regionalism that gives priority to social welfare issues and to use this regional organization to create a multipolar world system. The essay concludes, with ALBA as a case, that the fundamental motives that could govern the regional integration process outside Europe and the Western World are, firstly, the will to resist a hegemonic world order that doesn’t give priority to social welfare issues and, secondly, to resist a unipolar world system and work as a “balancer”. While this applies to Venezuela, there are in the case of Cuba certain self-interests that could serve as motives. However, the study can’t rule out that also other motives can exist, but there is no evidence that can be used to prove that in this paper.

African trypanosomes are a major plague in sub-Saharan Africa. They cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle. These parasites are transmitted between their mammalian hosts by tsetse flies. They are adapting to their different environments through differentiation processes. These processes involve, amongst other things, the expression of different surface coats. These coats are made of procyclin protein at the insect midgut procyclic stage and of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) at the mammalian bloodstream stage. At a given time, one VSG is expressed from a single VSG gene out of a repertoire of more than 1500 VSG genes present in the trypanosomes genome. The expressed VSG gene is always located at one of fifteen telomeric polycistronic transcription units called expression sites (ES). The VSG coat is changed regularly in a process called antigenic variation allowing trypanosomes to escape the immune response. The exact mechanism controlling the selection of the active ES is not yet known and controversies have been raised concerning the ES transcription control. Although several molecular factors involved in the ES monoallelic-expression have been identified, none of them seems to be a critical regulator.<p><p>Thus during my thesis we decided to explore two aspects of ES expression: (A) deciphering the level at which this expression is controlled and (B) fishing for new protein factors controlling this expression.<p>A) It is not even clear at which level the ES transcription control takes place. In particular, there has been debate on whether it is taking place at the transcription initiation or elongation level. Previous experiments generated contradictory conclusions and gave rise to two different models. The first model suggested that transcription initiation takes place in all ESs simultaneously. The second model suggested that transcription is initiated in only two ESs, one being fully active and a second being pre-active. These two models were equally able to account for the finding of transcripts from different ES within a trypanosome population provided the pre-active ES differs between individual cells. In order to decide if a single or multiple ES promoters can initiate transcription in a given cell, single cell RT-PCR targeting the beginning of the ES was required. Thus single cell RT-PCR was performed and an analysis of the obtained transcripts showed that transcription initiation is taking place on many ES while only one VSG is transcribed. This permitted the unambiguous conclusion that the monoallelic expression of VSG is exerted by controls operating downstream from transcription initiation, suggesting transcription elongation or RNA processing as critical control steps. <p>B) We have characterized a new nuclear protein, Tb alba3, involved in the repression of silent VSGs. Its invalidation lead to chromatin opening in the silent expression sites and to a raise in their expression. As this protein is cytoplasmic and binding procyclin mRNAs at the procyclic stage, it could be a new versatile factor, shuttling between the cytoplasm and the nucleus and involved both in the inverse regulation of major surface antigens at different differentiation stages and the control of antigenic variation.<p><p>These results enhance our understanding of ES transcription control and of ES monoallelic expression. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Life history traits affect the timing and pattern of maturation, reproduction, and survival during an organism’s lifecycle and are the major components influencing Darwinian fitness. Co-evolved patterns of these traits are known as life history strategies (LHS) and variation occurs between individuals, populations, and species. The polymorphisms underlying LHS are important targets of natural selection, yet the underlying genes and physiological mechanisms remain largely unknown. Mapping the genetic basis of a LHS and subsequently unraveling the associated physiological mechanisms is a challenging task, as complex phenotypes are often polygenic. However, in several systems discrete LHS are maintained within the population and are inherited as a single locus with pleiotropic effects. These systems provide a promising starting point for investigation into LHS mechanisms and this thesis focuses on one such strategy - the Alba polymorphism in Colias butterflies. Alba is inherited as a single autosomal locus, expressed only in females, and simultaneously affects development rate, reproductive potential, and wing color. Alba females are white, while the alternative morph is yellow/orange. About 28 of 90 species exhibit polymorphic females, though whether the Alba mechanism and associated tradeoffs are conserved across the genus remains to be determined. In this thesis I primarily focus on the species Colias croceus and integrate results from lipidomics, transcriptomics, microscopy, and genomics to gain insights to the proximate mechanisms underlying Alba and Alba’s evolution within the genus. Lipidomics confirm that, consistent with findings in New World species, C. croceus Alba females have larger abdominal lipid stores than orange, an advantage which is temperature dependent and arises primarily due to mobilized lipids. Gene expression data suggests differences in resource allocation, with Alba females investing in reproduction rather than wing color, consistent with previous findings in other Colias species. Additionally, I identify a morphological basis for Alba’s white wing color. Alba females from C. croceus, an Old World species, and Colias eurytheme, a New World species both exhibit a significant reduction in pigment granules, the structures within the wing scale that contain pigment. This is a trait that seems to be unique to Colias as other white Pierid butterflies have an abundance of pigment granules, similar to orange females. I also map the genetic basis of Alba to a single genomic region containing an Alba specific, Jockey-like transposable element insertion. Interestingly this transposable element​ is located downstream of BarH-1, a gene known to affect pigment granule formation in Drosophila. Finally, I construct a phylogeny using a global distribution of 20 Colias species to facilitate investigations of Alba’s evolution within the genus. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The tragedy, La casa de Bernarda Alba, by Federico Garcia Lorca is generally recognized as one of the finest poetic tragedies of the Twentieth Century, yet it has not drawn the critical attention afforded the plays of Lorca's contemporaries, such as 'Tennessee Williams, for example. Ironically, Williams' early plays evince a definite. Lorquian influence. Close attention has been paid to the poetic texture of.Williams plays, providing an important contribution to understanding the art of his poetic tragedy. The same has not been true of Lorca. This may he due partly to the fact that Lorca's ·tragedies have not played very well in the United States and partly due to political considerations in his native Spain. It is the purpose of this essay to make a detailed analysis of the poetic structure of La casa de Bernarda Alba to show Lorca's brilliant welding of the basic elements 10f' the drama into one underlying statement of theme, This will be accomplished through a close reading of the play as originally written in the Spanish language with especial attention paid to its setting, dominant image patterns, characters, and action. These, then, will be examined and elucidated in relationship to thematics, thus demonstrating Lorca's dramatic technique of fusing these fundamental parts through use of language and symbol into one unified whole.

The purpose of our study was to explore multi-faceted connections between corporate welfare strategies (CWs) and local development. Although there are a large number of studies on the topic of CSR and CW, to this day, the plausible connection between CWs and local development has been largely overlooked from an academic viewpoint. Our original hypotheses assumed that there is a plausible relationship between CWs implementation and socio-economic development. In particular, CWs are likely to foster local economic diversification in related and unrelated sectors through knowledge and entrepreneurship spill-overs, as well as to strengthen local communitarian ties. Before investigating those plausible relations, we tried to put forth an acceptable, although non- conclusive, definition of corporate welfare, mainly relying on the CSR academic literature and the local development corpus of studies. Moreover, we referred to a multifaceted group of academic contributions and relied on social capital literature, Evolutionary Economic Geography’s concept of “related” and “unrelated” variety, as well as on local development studies. The mix of these three academic literatures allowed us to develop an interpretative schema that frames CWs within local development processes. In chapter 2, our analysis focused on Olivetti’s history and Adriano Olivetti’s political thought. We were inspired to dwell on this specific case for many reasons: 1) the Olivetti company is widely considered, by Italian academic literature, the ante litteram socially responsible enterprise. Therefore, for the sake of our study on CW and CSR, we could not avoid analyzing this paradigmatic case; 2) a more obvious hint came from Becattini’s comment on Porter and Kramer’s shared value (2011). Becattini’s reference to Olivetti led us to detect, what were so far, unexplored connections between Olivettian thought and Italian local development literature. Becattini’s reference to Olivetti’s case suggested an intellectual line of thought that, sometimes outwardly and often implicitly, connects AO’s social and political ideas to the local development literature. Hence, we went down this path of an ideal intellectual line of thought and reviewed Giorgio Fuà’s work (one of the few masters that Giacomo Becattini acknowledged), the theoretical cornerstones of Giacomo Becattini up to Porter and Kramer's shared value. We then proposed, relying on Olivetti’s, Becattini’s, Porter’s and Kramer’s works, a reassessment of the original concept of shared value, and called it "communitarian" shared value. We then analysed the implementation of CWs in a specific territorial context. We focused on the effects of CWs implemented by Ferrero and Miroglio, two Albese multinationals in the province of Cuneo. As aforementioned, by investigating the possible “external” effects that stem from larger enterprises’ CW policies - such as rising levels of local entrepreneurship, a growth in the number of firms operating in related and unrelated sectors, an increase in the levels of local trust relationships - our goal was to better understand this connection (that had never been fully explored academically) and add an original contribution to the subject of “internal” CSR with external effects. Lacking general research and quantitative data on the subject, we relied mostly on a qualitative/ethnographic approach based on a deep analysis of literary and historical works, on the results of a web-survey that we administered to 28,759 enterprises in the province of Cuneo and on approximately 80 in-depth interviews. The original hypotheses of research have not been confirmed directly. It is instead the “entrepreneurial style” of local multinationals to condition, in a sort of spurious relation, both the independent CW variable and the dependent variable “local socio-economic development”. Additionally, empirical research led us to better describe the “Cuneo system”, a macro productive system that encompasses a variety of LPSs and that present hybrid socio-economic features which we have defined as a “polycentric system of local productive systems”.

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Desde los años sesenta, los intentos por integrar América Latina han provenido del esfuerzo conjunto de dos o más presidentes, quienes han tenido a su cargo tanto el lanzamiento de las iniciativas como el desarrollo de las mismas. De esta manera, la Comunidad Andina de Naciones –antes Grupo Andino- fue el resultado de las reuniones que sostuvieron los presidentes de Colombia, Chile y Ecuador en el año 1966. Asimismo, el proyecto de crear el Mercado Común del Sur resultó del trabajo compartido entre el exmandatario brasileño, José Sarney y su homólogo argentino, Raúl Alfonsín.; y su posterior formalización, se produjo por el impulso de sus sucesores, Fernando Collor de Mello y Carlos Saúl Menem.