published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Orientador: José Ricardo de Arruda MIranda / Resumo: A contração uterina é um processo fisiológico espontâneo com impacto direto no ciclo menstrual/estral e na gestação. Disfunções na atividade uterina estão relacionadas com infertilidade, abortos e partos prematuros, sendo este último a maior causa de mortalidade e morbidade infantil no mundo. Sendo assim, se faz necessário o desenvolvimento de metodologias in vivo para monitorar o processo mecânico uterino. O objetivo deste trabalho foi aplicar a técnica de Biosusceptometria de Corrente Alternada para avaliação in vivo da atividade mecânica uterina em ratas prenhes. Foram utilizadas 40 ratas fêmeas Wistar prenhes com idade entre 10 e 15 semanas e com peso médio de 250 g. Através da Biosusceptometria de Corrente Alternada, 18 animais foram utilizados para avaliação da contratilidade uterina durante a prenhez e 8 foram usadas para avaliação da atividade uterina frente à ação da ocitocina. Na primeira etapa foi realizada uma cirurgia de fixação do marcador magnético em três posições da serosa uterina: próximo ao ovário; na região média entre o ovário e a cérvice; e próximo à cérvice. A atividade uterina foi monitorada nos dias 0, 7, 14, 20 e 21 de prenhez para cada posição do marcador. Na segunda etapa, foi realizado o implante do marcador magnético somente próximo à cérvice, e a atividade foi avaliada antes e depois da administração de ocitocina no dia 20 de prenhez. Os resultados obtidos foram perfis de contração para cada situação proposta, os quais apresentaram contrações ba... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Uterine contraction is a spontaneous physiologic process with direct impact on menstrual/estrous cycle and pregnancy. Uterine activity dysfunction are related with infertility, abortion and premature birth, in which the last is the major cause of childish mortality and morbidity in the world. Therefore, in vivo methods to assess the mechanical process of the uterus under real physiologic condition remains necessary to be developed. The aim of this study was to apply Alternate Current Biosusceptometry to assess in vivo mechanical uterine activity of pregnant rats. Forty Wistar female pregnant rats with 10 to 15 weeks age and weighing 250 g were used. Through Alternate Current Biosusceptometry, 30 animals were used for uterine contraction analysis during pregnancy and 10 were used to evaluate uterine contractility due to oxytocin action. On the first part, an implant surgery was performed to fix the magnetic marker on uterus serous at three different position: near ovary; middle distance between ovary and cervix, and near cervix. Uterine peristalsis were measured at days 0, 7, 14, 20 and 21 of pregnancy. On the second part, magnetic marker was implanted only on near cervix and uterine activity was evaluated before and after the oxytocin administration on day 20 of pregnancy. Contraction profiles were obtained as results to each proposed analysis, in which presented high frequency and low frequency basal contraction and intense contractions. During pregnancy evolution, was obser... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Submitted by Mario BC (mario@bc.ufrpe.br) on 2017-02-22T14:21:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Izanielle Batista dos Santos.pdf: 695252 bytes, checksum: 87a9486b9be20199fbb71b6da8e965e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-22T14:21:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Izanielle Batista dos Santos.pdf: 695252 bytes, checksum: 87a9486b9be20199fbb71b6da8e965e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Brazil is a country with enormous potential for the production of grain. However, the country faces serious problems in the control of stored grain pests. The Sitophilus zeamais Motsch. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) is one of the most destructive pests of corn, whose control is done by insecticides, however, their indiscriminate use has led to the development of resistant populations. In this context, Diatomaceous Earth stands in the control of stored grain pests. In view of this, the objective of this study was to investigate whether there are differences among Brazilian populations of S. zeamais in its Diatomaceous Earth resistance capacity associated with some behavioral characteristics of locomotion and of S. zeamais control efficiency. We used four populations of S. zeamais from the states of the Federal District (DF), Minas Gerais (MG) and Pernambuco (PE). The bioassay control efficiency was structured in a factorial (3 doses of Diatomaceous Earth x 3 exposure times) with four replications. Each repetition was constituted by ten adult insects, placed in Petri dishes containing corn treated with diatomaceous earth. The number of live insects by repetition after 24, 48 and 72 hours of exposure to Diatomaceous Earth. The behavioral bioassay was structured in a factorial (4 people x 3 doses of Diatomaceous Earth), where each repetition consisted of a single insect housed in the Petri dish. The movement of the insects was recorded and their locomotor behavior was observed for ten minutes. The tested variables were distance (cm) traversal velocity (cm. S-1), moving time (s) and number of stops. The results demonstrate an increased mortality of insects S. zeamais with increasing doses. There was also different responses among populations of S. zeamais in their behavioral resilience associated with decrease in distance traveled, the number of stops of insects with increasing doses. Confirming the existence of behavioral resistance in populations of S. zeamais studied. In view of this, the elucidation of possible behavioral changes in populations of S. zeamais exposed to Diatomaceous Earth can provide new ways to increase the effectiveness in the management of this pest. / O Brasil é um país com enorme potencial para a produção de grãos. No entanto, o país enfrenta sérios problemas no controle de pragas de grãos armazenados. O Sitophilus zeamais Motsch. (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) é uma das pragas mais destrutivas do milho, cujo controle é feito por inseticidas, entretanto, seu uso indiscriminado tem ocasionado o desenvolvimento de populações resistentes. Neste contexto, a Terra Diatomácea destaca-se no controle de pragas de grãos armazenados. Em vista disto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar se há diferença entre as populações brasileiras de S. zeamais na sua capacidade de resistência à Terra Diatomácea associada a alguma característica comportamental de locomoção e a eficiência de controle de S. zeamais. Foram utilizadas quatro populações de S. zeamais provenientes dos estados do Distrito Federal (DF), Minas Gerais (MG) e Pernambuco (PE). O bioensaio eficiência de controle foi estruturado em um fatorial (3 doses de Terra Diatomácea x 3 tempos de exposição) com quatro repetições. Cada repetição foi constituída por dez insetos adultos, colocados em placas de Petri contendo milho tratado com Terra Diatomácea. Foi contabilizado o número de insetos vivos por repetição após 24, 48 e 72 horas de exposição a Terra Diatomácea. O bioensaio comportamental foi estruturado em um fatorial (4 populações x 3 doses de Terra Diatomácea), onde cada repetição foi constituída por um único inseto alojado em placa de Petri. O movimento dos insetos foi gravado e seu comportamento locomotor foi observado durante dez minutos. As variáveis testadas foram distância percorrida (cm), velocidade de caminhamento (cm. s-1), tempo em movimento (s), e número de paradas. Os resultados demonstram uma mortalidade crescente de insetos de S. zeamais com o incremento das doses. Observou-se também, respostas diferentes entre as populações de S. zeamais em sua capacidade de resistência comportamental associada a diminuição da distância percorrida e do número de paradas dos insetos com o incremento das doses. Confirmando a existência de resistência comportamental nas populações de S. zeamais estudadas. À vista disso, a elucidação de possíveis modificações comportamentais de populações de S. zeamais expostas à Terra Diatomácea pode proporcionar novos caminhos para aumentar a efetividade no manejo dessa praga.

Land use/cover change (LUCC) is a major force affecting ecosystems and the services theyprovide at local, regional and global levels. Traditionally, LUCC has been approached as aseries of linear and unidirectional single cause–effect processes, but it is now increasinglyincorporating notions from complex systems to enrich this view. This study explores thepotential benefits of using the concept of regime shifts to understand LUCC. A globalcropland cover dataset was analyzed to empirically identify patterns that suggest theexistence of alternate regimes. Results indicate that in some countries cropland-dominatedand (semi)wild landscapes likely represent alternate social-ecological regimes.Furthermore, results suggest that a theoretical feedback relating market access andagglomeration of economic activates plays a strong role in maintaining these alternate regimes in some contexts. These results highlight the need for LUCC studies to go beyondthe focus on external drivers and environmental template conditions, to incorporate feedback mechanisms and the potential for regime shifts to better understand the nature of LUCC.

Research in second language acquisition has typically focused on classroom and laboratory settings. This study explores second language use in a non-classroom setting. It is based on research from divergent fields including theories of social interaction from sociology, theories of practice from anthropology, and nonlinear dynamics from the physical sciences. This study is a qualitative study, which employs both ethnographic and discourse analytic methods. The study examines native and non-native English speaker interactions on a MUD, a text-based online game. Data was collected for one year. The data for analysis consist primarily of logs of online interactions. The major conclusion of this study was that individuals acquire language appropriate to a particular environment by interacting with others in that environment. As individuals come to an environment and strive towards particular non-linguistic goals, they necessarily interact with others in the environment. As they do, they create shared ways of interacting. Through interaction, they refine the ways in which they speak. By employing multiple perspectives to guide the analysis, new insights into second language use and interaction can be obtained. This broadens our understanding of second language use in non-classroom settings. Implications for pedagogy in foreign language education are discussed.

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

No description available.

This thesis aims at detecting and classifying the power system transmission line faults. To deal with the problem of an extremely large data set with different fault situations, a three step optimized Neural Network approach has been proposed. The approach utilizes Discrete Wavelet Transform for detection and two different types of self-organized, unsupervised Adaptive Resonance Theory Neural Networks for classification. The fault scenarios are simulated using Alternate Transients Program and the performance of this highly improved scheme is compared with the existing techniques. The simulation results prove that the proposed technique handles large data more efficiently and time of operation is considerably less when compared to the existing methods.

Iron-substituted manganese superoxide dismutase (Fe(Mn)SOD) was produced using an in vivo preparation method. It’s an inactive enzyme in catalyzing superoxide radical dismutation owing to the mis-incorporation of Fe in the active site evolved to use Mn. To investigate the possible toxicity of human Fe(Mn)SOD proposed by Yamakura, we studied the properties of Fe(Mn)SOD upon H2O2 treatment and compared to that of FeSOD. It’s found that the responses to H2O2 treatment were different, including the changes of optical spectra, variations of active site coordination and secondary structures. Fe3+ reduction was not observed in Fe(Mn)SOD even H2O2 is believed to oxidize proteins via highly reactive intermediates including Fe and formed via Fe2+, which is true in FeSOD. What’s more, the activities of Fe(Mn)SOD and FeSOD were totally different in the ABTS assay or Amplex Red assay. These results indicated that the mechanism of peroxidase reaction of Fe(Mn)SOD is not identical to that of FeSOD.

Detta projekt har utförts på ett charterflygbolag som verkar på den skandinaviska flygmarknaden, och är en första del i flygbolagets projekt (översatt till svenska) ”Världens bästa planeringsprocess”. ”Världens bästa planeringsprocess” skall kartlägga flygbolagets planeringsprocess sett till från det att en förfrågan kommer in till flygbolaget, till dess att ett svar kan lämnas till kunden. Detta projekt som behandlas i denna rapport studerar informationsflödesprocessen inom flygbolaget med fokus på den planering som sker efter att en kommande säsongs flygprogram är fastlagt. Det vill säga, detta projekt behandlar de förfrågningar som utgör förändringar och tillägg i flygprogrammet. Utifrån en kartläggning har informationsflödesprocessen analyserats utifrån Lean production-teori och tillämpbara åtgärder för att uppnå tidseffektivisering i flöden. Detta har sammanfattats i de följande möjliga åtgärderna för flygbolaget: - Omfördelning av flödet genom synkronisering, parallellisering och sekvensering - Omfördelning av arbetsuppgifter - Tillämpning av Alternate Chief Pilot Det rekommenderas att tillämpa samtliga åtgärdsförslag, vilket bedöms kunna ge en tidsbesparing på mellan 7 och 52 % i ledtid.