Thesis (M. S.)--Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Ghosal, Vivek; Committee Member: Iacopetta, Maurizio; Committee Member: Kilic, Rehim.

Thesis (M.S. in Mechanical Engineering)--Tufts University, 2000. / Title from PDF title screen. "PB2008-110256." Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-82). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Ronald Matthews. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Sepsis is a worldwide health problem with an enormous economic burden and devastatingly high mortality rate. The pathophysiology and immune dysfunctions that occur during sepsis remain largely unknown, severely limiting current treatment options for sepsis. Both the innate and adaptive parts of the immune system are known to be involved in the dysfunctions that occur during sepsis. Over the last few years adenosine has been recognized as an endogenous mediator that alters both innate and adaptive immune responses. Adenosine receptors are largely expressed on many different immune cells and may serve to limit excess collateral damage in the setting of inflammation. In this study, the pharmacological effects of an A2A receptor antagonist on septic mice were examined using the CLP model of sepsis that results in a polymicrobial infection. Pharmacological inactivation of the A2A receptor significantly increased mortality in septic mice predicted to live in comparison to those given only vehicle. Treatment with the A2A receptor antagonist also increased expression of CD40, part of a pathway well known for its roles in inflammation. Our data also showed increased monocyte MHCII expression after treatment with an adenosine antagonist. Our data support the role that A2A receptors are involved in the immune response to sepsis, and that these receptors may serve to damage excess collateral damage ensuing from the host immune response, and that additional studies on adenosine and its related purine nucleosides would be of use for better understanding of the immune dysfunctions that occur during sepsis and other diseases.

Uma das marcas da passagem de uma sociedade tradicional, pessoalista, para uma sociedade moderna é o desenvolvimento da impessoalidade nas relações de sociabilidade. A cidade moderna se caracterizou por ampliar essas relações, que deixam de ser restritas aos espaços privados e passam a ocorrer também nos espaços públicos. Um dos lugares nos quais se desenvolvia a sociabilidade era nos bondes. Por terem existido no Brasil desde final do século XIX até a década de 1970, os bondes marcaram, do ponto de vista do transporte coletivo, um momento significativo do desenvolvimento do país, uma vez que estiveram presentes durante o processo de crescimento de muitas cidades, constituindo-se como um dos principais elementos indutores do crescimento urbano e de integração de diferentes espaços, como, por exemplo, entre os arrabaldes, mais adiante bairros, e o centro das cidades. A tese desenvolvida neste estudo é a de que os bondes, além de terem contribuído para o desenvolvimento urbano, integrando espaços físicos e expandindo a cidade, contribuíram também para a inserção do indivíduo na cidade moderna pelo exercício cotidiano de sociabilidade que as viagens propiciavam. Essa sociabilidade não acontecia apenas no interior dos bondes, na relação indivíduo e espaço, as aberturas laterais, que permitiam subir e descer praticamente em qualquer lugar, depois as janelas grandes e abertas, também possibilitavam que o indivíduo estivesse mais próximo do espaço físico da cidade e das pessoas que caminhavam ou se assomavam nas janelas para ver o bonde passar rente às suas calçadas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar as representações sociais e o imaginário coletivo construído sobre as viagens de bonde e sobre a cidade durante as viagens. A partir dessas representações, buscou-se, primeiro, compreender qual o papel dos bondes como elementos estruturadores da cidade para depois analisar as interações sociais que ocorriam em seu interior e discutir a relação indivíduo-espaço. O recorte urbano temporal foi a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, entre 1890 e 1945, no alcance físico das suas linhas de bonde. A escolha por este recorte temporal deu-se pela importância que teve este período para o desenvolvimento e modernização da cidade, especialmente na área de transporte, como a construção da Av. Borges de Medeiros, Av. Farrapos e a canalização do Arroio Ipiranga, entre outras obras relevantes para a cidade. / One of the marks of the passage from a traditional society, personalistic, to a modern society is the development of impersonality in sociability relationships. The modern city is characterized by expanding these relations, which are no longer restricted to private spaces but also begin to occur in public ones. One of the places in which sociability where developed was the cable cars. According to the commom point of view, the cable cars marked a significant moment in the development of the country for having existed in Brazil since the late 19th century until the 1970s, once they were present in the growth process of many cities, establishing itself as one of the driving elements of urban growth and integration of different areas, such as, between the suburbs, further neighborhoods, and the city centers. The thesis developed in this study is that the cable cars, not only having contributed to the urban development, by integrating physical spaces and expanding the city, but also contributed to the insertion of the individual in the modern city by the daily sociability exercise which the trips provided. This sociability did not just happened inside the cable cars, the individual and space relationship, the side openings, which allowed passengers to get on and off almost anywhere, and the big and open windows also made it possible for the individual to be close to the physical space of the city and the people who walked or loomed by the window to see the cable car pass close to its sidewalks. The research aimed to investigate the social representations and the collective imaginary built on the cable car rides and the city during these trips. From these representations, it was sought to first understand which role the cable cars had, as structural elements of the city, and then analyse the social interactions that took place inside it and the relationship between individual and space. The temporal urban range was Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1890 e 1945, in its cable car extension lines. The choice for this time range was given by the importance this period had for the city development and modernization, especially in the transport area, such as the construction of Borges de Medeiros Ave., Farrapos Ave. and the canalization of Arroio Ipiranga, among other relevant works for the city.

Uma das marcas da passagem de uma sociedade tradicional, pessoalista, para uma sociedade moderna é o desenvolvimento da impessoalidade nas relações de sociabilidade. A cidade moderna se caracterizou por ampliar essas relações, que deixam de ser restritas aos espaços privados e passam a ocorrer também nos espaços públicos. Um dos lugares nos quais se desenvolvia a sociabilidade era nos bondes. Por terem existido no Brasil desde final do século XIX até a década de 1970, os bondes marcaram, do ponto de vista do transporte coletivo, um momento significativo do desenvolvimento do país, uma vez que estiveram presentes durante o processo de crescimento de muitas cidades, constituindo-se como um dos principais elementos indutores do crescimento urbano e de integração de diferentes espaços, como, por exemplo, entre os arrabaldes, mais adiante bairros, e o centro das cidades. A tese desenvolvida neste estudo é a de que os bondes, além de terem contribuído para o desenvolvimento urbano, integrando espaços físicos e expandindo a cidade, contribuíram também para a inserção do indivíduo na cidade moderna pelo exercício cotidiano de sociabilidade que as viagens propiciavam. Essa sociabilidade não acontecia apenas no interior dos bondes, na relação indivíduo e espaço, as aberturas laterais, que permitiam subir e descer praticamente em qualquer lugar, depois as janelas grandes e abertas, também possibilitavam que o indivíduo estivesse mais próximo do espaço físico da cidade e das pessoas que caminhavam ou se assomavam nas janelas para ver o bonde passar rente às suas calçadas. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar as representações sociais e o imaginário coletivo construído sobre as viagens de bonde e sobre a cidade durante as viagens. A partir dessas representações, buscou-se, primeiro, compreender qual o papel dos bondes como elementos estruturadores da cidade para depois analisar as interações sociais que ocorriam em seu interior e discutir a relação indivíduo-espaço. O recorte urbano temporal foi a cidade de Porto Alegre, capital do Rio Grande do Sul, entre 1890 e 1945, no alcance físico das suas linhas de bonde. A escolha por este recorte temporal deu-se pela importância que teve este período para o desenvolvimento e modernização da cidade, especialmente na área de transporte, como a construção da Av. Borges de Medeiros, Av. Farrapos e a canalização do Arroio Ipiranga, entre outras obras relevantes para a cidade. / One of the marks of the passage from a traditional society, personalistic, to a modern society is the development of impersonality in sociability relationships. The modern city is characterized by expanding these relations, which are no longer restricted to private spaces but also begin to occur in public ones. One of the places in which sociability where developed was the cable cars. According to the commom point of view, the cable cars marked a significant moment in the development of the country for having existed in Brazil since the late 19th century until the 1970s, once they were present in the growth process of many cities, establishing itself as one of the driving elements of urban growth and integration of different areas, such as, between the suburbs, further neighborhoods, and the city centers. The thesis developed in this study is that the cable cars, not only having contributed to the urban development, by integrating physical spaces and expanding the city, but also contributed to the insertion of the individual in the modern city by the daily sociability exercise which the trips provided. This sociability did not just happened inside the cable cars, the individual and space relationship, the side openings, which allowed passengers to get on and off almost anywhere, and the big and open windows also made it possible for the individual to be close to the physical space of the city and the people who walked or loomed by the window to see the cable car pass close to its sidewalks. The research aimed to investigate the social representations and the collective imaginary built on the cable car rides and the city during these trips. From these representations, it was sought to first understand which role the cable cars had, as structural elements of the city, and then analyse the social interactions that took place inside it and the relationship between individual and space. The temporal urban range was Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, between 1890 e 1945, in its cable car extension lines. The choice for this time range was given by the importance this period had for the city development and modernization, especially in the transport area, such as the construction of Borges de Medeiros Ave., Farrapos Ave. and the canalization of Arroio Ipiranga, among other relevant works for the city.

Esta pesquisa apresentará estudos das linguagens aplicadas ao design gráfico através de estudos e análises de trabalhos impressos que possuem representações do automóvel em seu projeto. Seu objetivo é identifi car e analisar cartazes em seu formato e conteúdo, de forma a documentar e compreender o desenvolvimento dessa atividade no recorte de tempo que abrigou os diferentes estilos estéticos que compõem o design gráfico moderno. Esse período compreende o fim do século XIX até o final da década de 1960. Para tanto, será necessário o estudo de fatores sociais, culturais, políticos, históricos, econômicos e tecnológicos que influenciaram o desenvolvimento destes projetos. Dessa forma, esta pesquisa agrupará, de forma ainda rara, informações e projetos de design gráfi- co relacionados com o universo do automóvel e automobilismo. Além disso, ela possibilitará compreender as formas que o designer encontrou para retratar um objeto que gradualmente se transformou de novidade em ícone da sociedade. / The present work aim to study of visual languages applied to graphic design by analysing printed works that has automobiles representations in it\'s project. The main objective is to identify and analyse posters judging by their format and content, in order to document and understand the development of this activity during the period of time where the different aestethics styles that compose the modern graphic design. This period is between the XIX century until the end of the 1940\'s. (Therefore,) it is necessary to study the social, cultural, political, historical, economical and technological factors during that period to fully comprehend the infl uences on the development of such projects. Thus, this research presents, in a rare form, informations and graphic design projects related to the automobile universe and the automobilism. Furthermore, this research will contribute to understand the ways the designer found to represent an object that gradually transformed from novelty to a society icon.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is remarkably capable of efficiently hijacking host cell pathways including lipid metabolism in the liver in order to create pro-viral environments for pathogenesis. It is becoming increasingly clear that identifying small molecule inhibitors that target host factors exploited by the virus will expand available HCV treatment options. As such, a thorough understanding of host-virus interactions is critical to the development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Hepatic lipid droplets (LDs) are recruited by HCV to play essential roles in the viral lifecycle. The intracellular location of LDs is modified upon interacting with viral structural core protein. This enables formation of platforms that support viral particle assembly. Because these interactions are non-static, capturing its dynamic processes in order to better understand viral assembly can be achieved with label-free molecular imaging enhanced with live-cell capabilities. Chemical biology approaches that includes CARS microscopy employed in a multi-modal imaging system was used to probe interactions between HCV and host LDs. By successfully tracking LD trajectories, we identified core protein’s ability to alter LD speed and control for LD directionality. Using protein expression model systems that allowed for simultaneous tracking of core protein and LDs, our data revealed that mutations in the core protein region that vary in hydrophobicity and LD binding strengths, are factors that control for differential modulation of LD kinetics. Furthermore, we measured bidirectional LD travels runs and velocities, and observed critical properties by which core protein induces LD migration towards regions of viral particle assembly. Given that many steps in the HCV lifecycle are directly linked to host lipid metabolism, it is not surprising that disrupting lipid biosynthetic pathways would negatively affect viral replication. From this outlook, we explored small molecule inhibitors that targeted several lipid metabolic pathways to study its antiviral properties. Using fluorescent probes covalently labeled to viral RNA, we captured the visualization of disrupted replication complexes upon antagonizing nuclear hormone receptors that are linked to regulating lipid homeostasis. Correspondingly, biochemistry and molecular imaging techniques were also employed to identify novel antiviral mechanisms of small molecule inhibitors that target additional HCV-dependent lipid metabolic pathways.

THE BLIND ARCADE is a collection of poems chronicling several of the pressing conditions of contemporary American life: poverty and class, sex, violence, hunger, longing and mourning, and the inverse of the latter, requited love and emotional ecstasy. The poems are set in crowded markets, on trains and in apartment bedrooms, city squares and campus quads, dentist chairs, bridges, riverbanks, and kitchens. This contemporary and familiar backdrop dictates the form of most of these poems to be free verse, although terza rima, ekphrastic, haiku, and prose forms are also utilized. The book presents its poems in three sections. As if a series of decorative arches in a blind arcade, they are not broken down into themes. Rather, they are each utilized and are ordered around the weight of their individual topics to demonstrate the capriciousness of life.

Investigations into problems involving the vibration of conveyances in deep mining shafts have led to the identification of 'slamming' as a significant event in the initiation of large perturbations in the motion of the skip. Slamming occurs when the flexible rollers on the skip which normally act on the guides are inoperative. The primary concern is that this slamming event can give rise to large lateral loads on the shaft steelwork and is therefore a factor which limits the speed at which the skip can be drawn up the shaft. This study extends previous work to investigate the influence of compressive forces in the guides on the response of the skip and the steelwork. These forces are induced as a result of mining operations and lead to a decrease in the transverse stiffness of the guides. A mathematical model of the slamming event is formulated and a numerical solution for a specific case is performed. An alternative simplified solution is discussed and compared to the initial formulation, with the aim of facilitating the use of previous research results. A model to simulate the response of the skip when the skip rollers are functional is formulated, and numerical solutions of different examples are given. An important conclusion is that the compressive forces can significantly reduce the transverse stiffness of the guides, and should be taken into account in future designs. Bibliography: pages 86-88.