Etexilato de dabigatrana (DAB) é um pró-fármaco da dabigatrana disponível para administração oral. DAB é um inibidor direto da trombina, desenvolvido para prevenção de acidente vascular cerebral e embolia sistêmica em pacientes com fibrilação atrial e para a prevenção de eventos tromboembólicos em pacientes que se submeteram à cirurgia de artroplastia total de joelho e de quadril. Atualmente, não há métodos publicados para a análise qualitativa e quantitativa e estudos de estabilidade de DAB em cápsulas. Portanto, inicialmente, a caracterização da substância química de referência foi realizada por espectrometria de massas (EM), espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho, espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear de 1H e calorimetria exploratória diferencial. Os métodos por cromatografia em camada delgada, CLAE utilizando detectores UV, CAD e EM foram usados para identificar o fármaco nas cápsulas. Na sequência, foram desenvolvidos métodos empregando a cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) com detector ultravioleta (CLAE-UV) e detector aerossol carregado (CLAECAD) para a quantificação de DAB em cápsulas. Os mesmos foram validados, avaliando-se parâmetros como especificidade, linearidade, precisão, exatidão, robustez e limites de detecção e quantificação. Os métodos foram comparados estatisticamente por ANOVA e nenhuma diferença estatisticamente significante foi encontrada entre os mesmos. O estudo de estabilidade de DAB frente à degradação térmica foi investigado. Através dos métodos por CLAE-UV e CLAE-EM pode-se propor a identidade dos produtos de degradação formados, sem processo de isolamento ou purificação. Adicionalmente, a cinética de degradação do DAB e a citotoxicidade das amostras degradadas também foram estudadas. O estudo de cinética de degradação térmica apresentou cinética de primeira ordem (R2 = 0,9900). Além disso, nenhuma evidência de citotoxicidade in vitro em estudo utilizando células mononucleares humanas foi observada. Desse modo estabeleceram-se procedimentos que podem ser aplicados para aprimorar o controle de qualidade, contribuindo para assegurar a eficácia terapêutica de produtos à base de DAB. / Dabigatran etexilate (DAB) is an orally available prodrug of dabigatran. DAB is a direct thrombin inhibitor, developed for stroke and systemic embolism prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and prevention of venous thromboembolic events in patients who have undergone elective total hip replacement or total knee replacement surgery. Currently, there are no methods published for the qualitative and quantitative analysis and stability study of DAB in capsules. Thus, initially, the characterization of the chemical reference substance was performed by mass spectrometry (MS), infrared spectroscopy, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and differencial scanning calorimetry. The methods by thin-layer chromatography, LC using UV and CAD detector and LC-MS were used to identify the drug in capsule. High performance liquid chromatographic (LC) methods were developed for the assessment of dabigatran etexilate (DAB) in capsules with ultraviolet detector (LC-UV) and charged aerosol detector (LC-CAD). They were validated by evaluating parameters such as specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and limits of detection and quantitation. The methods were compared statistically by ANOVA and no statistic difference was found between them. The stability study of DAB under thermal condition was investigated. The degradation products formed were analyzed by LC-UV and LC-MS methods and it’s identify could be suggested, without isolation or purification process. Additionally, the thermal degradation kinetic of DAB and the cytotoxicity of the degraded samples were also studied. The kinetics results could be best described as first-order process (R2 = 0.9900). No evidence of cytotoxicity in human mononuclear cell was observed for drugs degraded samples. So, procedures which can be applied to improve the quality control and contribute to ensure the therapeutic efficacy of products containing DAB.

L’imagerie proton est étudiée comme alternative à la tomodensitométrie X pour la planification de traitement en hadronthérapie. En obtenant directement les pouvoirs d’arrêt relatifs des tissus, l’incertitude sur le parcours des particules pourrait être réduite. Un scanner à protons est constitué d’un calorimètre ou d’un détecteur de parcours afin d’obtenir l’information sur l’énergie déposée par chaque proton dans l’objet imagé et de deux ensembles de trajectographes enregistrant la position et direction de chaque particule en amont et en aval de l’objet. Ce travail concerne l’étude des données d’un scanner à protons et l’utilisation possible de toutes les informations enregistrées. Une étude de reconstruction d’image a permis de montrer que les informations sur le taux de transmission et sur la déviation de chaque particule peuvent être utilisées pour produire des images aux propriétés visuelles intéressantes pour le diagnostic. La preuve de concept de la possibilité d’une imagerie quantitative utilisant ces informations est présentée. Ces résultats sont une première étape vers l’imagerie proton utilisant toutes les données enregistrées. / Proton computed tomography is being studied as an alternative to X-ray CT imaging for charged particle therapy treatment planning. By directly mapping the relative stopping power of the tissues, the uncertainty on the range of the particles could be reduced. A proton scanner consists in a calorimeter or range-meter to obtain the information on the energy lost by each proton in the object, as well as two sets of tracking planes to record the position and direction of each particle upstream and downstream from the object. This work concerns the study of the outputs of a proton scanner and the possible use of all the recorded information. A reconstruction study made it possible to show that the information on the transmission rate and on the scattering of each particle can be used to produce images with visual properties that could be of interest for diagnostics. The proof of concept of the possibility of quantitative imaging using this information is also put forward. These results are the first step towards a clinical use of proton imaging with all the recorded data.

Sample preparation is the most error-prone step in chemical analysis. A great deal of efforts has been made to develop efficient techniques and protocols for sample preparation to accomplish important goals such as miniaturization and implementation of green analytical methodologies. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has successfully eliminated the use of hazardous organic solvents in extraction sampling, sample preparation, preconcentration and sample introduction to the analytical instrument in an effective manner. Ensuring thermal- and solvent-instability of traditional SPME extraction phases represented one of their main drawbacks. This was solved by the introduction of sol-gel SPME phases characterized by enhanced thermal-, solvent-, and stability over a wide pH range. Sol-gel SPME phases (sorbents) facilitated excellent preconcentration effects for a wide range of analytes. In this dissertation, hydrolytic and nonhydrolytic sol-gel routes were explored for the creation of zirconia-, titania-, and niobia-based novel hybrid organic-inorganic sorbents using sol-gel active polymeric ligands. These sorbents were prepared in the form of surface coatings for capillary microextraction and preconcentration of biologically important molecules such as catecholamine neurotransmitters and phosphopeptides. In comparison with other sorbents made only of inorganic transition metal oxides, the presented sol-gel sorbents facilitated efficient desorption of the extracted analytes by LC-MS compatible mobile phases. The sol-gel zirconia- and titania-based hybrid sorbents provided pH-stable (pH range: 0 - 14) and derivatization-free extraction media that effectively overcame the major drawbacks of traditional sorbents for the analysis of catecholamines (silica-based sorbents suffer from narrow operational pH window while polymer-based sorbents require additional sample derivatization steps). The modification of the terminal hydroxy groups in PPO with ZrCl4 or TiCl4 provided an enhanced sol-gel reactivity of the polymer modified-terminals. Such a modification procedure allowed for an efficient incorporation of the polymeric ligand into the evolving sol-gel network. The effectiveness of the PPO modification was also evaluated by a systematic thermogravimetric investigation exploring the loading of the ligand in sol-gel hybrid sorbents, which revealed an enhanced ligand-loading achieved via the nonhydrolytic sol-gel route used with modified-PPO. Sol-gel hybrid sorbents prepared by the nonhydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) pathway provided excellent microextraction performance for catecholamines: low detection limits (5.6 – 9.6 pM), enhanced run-to-run reproducibility (RSD 0.6 – 5.1 %), excellent desorption efficiency (95.0 – 99.5 %) and high enrichment factors (EF) for epinephrine (EF ~ 1480) and for dopamine (EF ~ 2650) extracted from aqueous and synthetic urine samples at pH 10.5. Run-to-run and capillary-to-capillary reproducibility remained below 5 % when the peak area or the sorbent-mass was used as the reproducibility criterion. Niobia-based sol-gel sorbents prepared with and without organic ligand (polyethylenimine) were utilized as microextraction media for the enrichment of phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated tetrapeptide VYKA. Sol-gel niobia-based sorbents with covalently anchored polyethylenimine showed excellent selectivity toward the phosphopeptide compared to analogous titania-based sorbents. Specific extraction (SE) values were higher by 97.0 % when obtained by niobia-based sorbents. Excellent run-to-run peak area reproducibility (RSD < 5.1 %) and high EF of ~ 4000 were achieved. The sol-gel niobia-based coating facilitated excellent desorption efficiency (97.5 %), which suggests that the surface of the niobia sorbent possesses moderate-strength Lewis acid sites that avoided the need for special elution solvents that are conventionally used for the desorption of phosphorylated molecules from titania-based sorbents. The sol-gel pathway for the creation of microextraction phases is versatile and capable to provide unique control on the characteristics of the sorbents that are critically important for many sample preparation applications.

After the historic chess match between Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov, many researchers considered the game of chess solved and moved on to the more complex game of soccer. Artificial intelligence research has shifted focus to creating artificial players capable of mimicking the task of playing soccer. A new training algorithm is presented in this thesis for training teams of players from zero knowledge, evaluated on a simplified version of the game of soccer. The new algorithm makes use of the charged particle swarm optimiser as a neural network trainer in a coevolutionary training environment. To counter the lack of domain information a new relative fitness measure based on the FIFA league-ranking system was developed. The function provides a granular relative performance measure for competitive training. Gameplay strategies that resulted from the trained players are evaluated. It was found that the algorithm successfully trains teams of agents to play in a cooperative manner. Techniques developed in this study may also be widely applied to various other artificial intelligence fields. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Computer Science / unrestricted

No description available.

The goal of this thesis is to study of the evolution of 3D electrically charged liquid droplets of fluid evolving under the influence of surface tension and electrostatic forces. In the first part of the thesis, an appropriate mathematical model of the problem is introduced and the linear stability analysis is developed by perturbing a sphere with spherical harmonics. In the second part, the numerical solution of the problem is described with the use of the boundary elements method (BEM) on an adaptive mesh of triangular elements. The numerical method is validated by comparison with exact solutions. Finally, various numerical results are presented. These include neck formation in droplets, the evolution of surfaces with holes, singularity formation on droplets with various symmetries and numerical evidence that oblate spheroids are unstable.

Etexilato de dabigatrana (DAB) é um pró-fármaco da dabigatrana disponível para administração oral. DAB é um inibidor direto da trombina, desenvolvido para prevenção de acidente vascular cerebral e embolia sistêmica em pacientes com fibrilação atrial e para a prevenção de eventos tromboembólicos em pacientes que se submeteram à cirurgia de artroplastia total de joelho e de quadril. Atualmente, não há métodos publicados para a análise qualitativa e quantitativa e estudos de estabilidade de DAB em cápsulas. Portanto, inicialmente, a caracterização da substância química de referência foi realizada por espectrometria de massas (EM), espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho, espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear de 1H e calorimetria exploratória diferencial. Os métodos por cromatografia em camada delgada, CLAE utilizando detectores UV, CAD e EM foram usados para identificar o fármaco nas cápsulas. Na sequência, foram desenvolvidos métodos empregando a cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) com detector ultravioleta (CLAE-UV) e detector aerossol carregado (CLAECAD) para a quantificação de DAB em cápsulas. Os mesmos foram validados, avaliando-se parâmetros como especificidade, linearidade, precisão, exatidão, robustez e limites de detecção e quantificação. Os métodos foram comparados estatisticamente por ANOVA e nenhuma diferença estatisticamente significante foi encontrada entre os mesmos. O estudo de estabilidade de DAB frente à degradação térmica foi investigado. Através dos métodos por CLAE-UV e CLAE-EM pode-se propor a identidade dos produtos de degradação formados, sem processo de isolamento ou purificação. Adicionalmente, a cinética de degradação do DAB e a citotoxicidade das amostras degradadas também foram estudadas. O estudo de cinética de degradação térmica apresentou cinética de primeira ordem (R2 = 0,9900). Além disso, nenhuma evidência de citotoxicidade in vitro em estudo utilizando células mononucleares humanas foi observada. Desse modo estabeleceram-se procedimentos que podem ser aplicados para aprimorar o controle de qualidade, contribuindo para assegurar a eficácia terapêutica de produtos à base de DAB. / Dabigatran etexilate (DAB) is an orally available prodrug of dabigatran. DAB is a direct thrombin inhibitor, developed for stroke and systemic embolism prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and prevention of venous thromboembolic events in patients who have undergone elective total hip replacement or total knee replacement surgery. Currently, there are no methods published for the qualitative and quantitative analysis and stability study of DAB in capsules. Thus, initially, the characterization of the chemical reference substance was performed by mass spectrometry (MS), infrared spectroscopy, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and differencial scanning calorimetry. The methods by thin-layer chromatography, LC using UV and CAD detector and LC-MS were used to identify the drug in capsule. High performance liquid chromatographic (LC) methods were developed for the assessment of dabigatran etexilate (DAB) in capsules with ultraviolet detector (LC-UV) and charged aerosol detector (LC-CAD). They were validated by evaluating parameters such as specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, robustness and limits of detection and quantitation. The methods were compared statistically by ANOVA and no statistic difference was found between them. The stability study of DAB under thermal condition was investigated. The degradation products formed were analyzed by LC-UV and LC-MS methods and it’s identify could be suggested, without isolation or purification process. Additionally, the thermal degradation kinetic of DAB and the cytotoxicity of the degraded samples were also studied. The kinetics results could be best described as first-order process (R2 = 0.9900). No evidence of cytotoxicity in human mononuclear cell was observed for drugs degraded samples. So, procedures which can be applied to improve the quality control and contribute to ensure the therapeutic efficacy of products containing DAB.

In dieser Arbeit wird die Suche nach geladenen Higgs Bosonen (H±) vorgestellt. Dafür wurden Proton–Proton Kollisionen, die bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von 13 TeV in den Jahren 2015 und 2016 mit einer integrierten Luminosität von 36.1 fb−1 mit dem ATLAS-Experiment produziert wurden, untersucht. Die Existenz solcher geladener Higgs Bosonen wird in verschiedenen Modellen jenseits des Standardmodells vorhergesagt und ist auch dadurch motiviert, das dass Standardmodell nicht immer eine Erklärung für verschiedenste beobachtete Phänomene liefern kann. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf geladene Higgs Bosonen, die eine höhere Masse als das top Quark besitzen und über H± → tb zerfallen. Die H± Produktion, in Verbindung mit einem top und einem bottom Quark pp → tbH±, wird im Massenbereich von 200 bis 2000 GeV untersucht. Die Suche nach H± in dieser Arbeit beschränkt sich auf Endzustände mit einem geladenen Lepton und mehreren Jets. Mit Hilfe eines boosted decision trees werden verschiedenste kinematische Variablen miteinander kombiniert, um dadurch das H± Signal besser von dem Standardmodell Untergrund unterscheiden zu können. Es wurde kein signifikanter Unterschied zum vorhergesagten Standardmodell-Untergrund gemessen und deshalb Ausschlussgrenzen für den Produktionswirkungsquerschnitt mal Verzweigungsverhältnis dieses H± Zerfalls berechnet. Weitere Ausschlussgrenzen wurden für den tanβ Parameter des MSSM Modells für die mhmod− und hMSSM Benchmark-Szenarien bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit übertreffen alle bisherigen Ausschlussgrenzen - insbesondere werden zum ersten Mal Erkenntnisse über den Massenbereich bis zu 2000 GeV gewonnen. / This thesis presents a search for charged Higgs bosons produced in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using 36.1 fb−1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The existence of charged Higgs bosons is predicted by various theories Beyond the Standard Model and it is motivated by the inadequacy of the Standard Model to explain some observed experimental phenomena. The work focuses on charged Higgs bosons heavier than the top quark and decaying via H± → tb. The production in association with a top and a bottom quark (pp → tbH±) is investigated in the mass range between 200 and 2000 GeV. A final state containing one charged lepton and jets is considered. Multiple kinematic variables are combined using a boosted decision tree (BDT) in order to separate signal and background. The output of the BDT is used to perform a profile likelihood fit of the Monte Carlo predictions to the observed data. No significant excess of events above the expected Standard Model background is observed, therefore upper limits are set for the cross-section of the charged Higgs boson production times the branching fraction of its decay. Limits are also provided for the tanβ parameter of the MSSM, in the mhmod− and hMSSM benchmark scenarios. The work improves the reach of all previous searches, including for the first time masses ranging up to 2000 GeV.

Deals with analysis and battery charging NiCd, NiMH, Li-Ion through a series of microcontroller from Atmel AVR controlled and powered from a PC via USB. Part is devoted to the characteristics of the USB interface and software capabilities to the enumeration AVR microcontroller. It also contains the basic characteristics of charged batteries, including the known methods of charging. The second half of the tehesis then provides a complete design and implementation of battery chargers, which consists of electronic parts, ATMEGA168 microcontroller program and the program for the PC. Presents circuit diagram of the charger and flowcharts of the main features of the program. The result of this thesis is functional battery charger above types. Attachments include a proposal DPS, a full circuit diagram and the charge and discharge characteristics of cells. The thesis is also referred to annex to the optical disk. Here it is mainly programs for microcontroller and PC. They are listed here as well as individual projects for AVR Studio, Borland Builder C + + and Eagle, which was created by chargers.

Malgré de récentes avancées, les traitements par radiothérapie (RT) demeurent insatisfaisants : la tolérance des tissus sains aux rayonnements limite la délivrance de fortes doses (potentiellement curatives) à la tumeur. Pour remédier à ce problème, de nouvelles approches basées sur des modes de dépôt de dose innovants sont aujourd’hui à l’étude. Parmi ces approches, la technique synchrotron “Minibeam Radiation Therapy” (MBRT) a démontré sa capacité à élever la résistance des tissus sains aux rayonnements, ainsi qu’à induire un important retard de croissance tumorale. La MBRT combine des faisceaux submillimétriques à un fractionnement spatial de la dose. Dans ce contexte, l’alliance de la balistique plus avantageuse des particules chargées (et leur sélectivité biologique) à la préservation des tissus sains observée en MBRT permettrait de préserver d’avantage les tissus sains. Cette stratégie innovante a été explorée durant ce travail de thèse. Deux voies ont notamment été étudiées: la MBRT par faisceaux de protons (pMBRT), et d’ions très lourds. Premièrement, la preuve de concept expérimentale de la pMBRT a été réalisée dans un centre clinique (Institut Curie, Centre de Protonthérapie d’Orsay). De plus, l'évaluation de potentielles optimisations de la pMBRT, à la fois en terme de configuration d’irradiation et de génération des minifaisceaux, a été menée dans une étude Monte Carlo (MC). Dans la seconde partie de ce travail, un nouvel usage potentiel des ions très lourds (néon et plus lourds) en radiothérapie a été évalué dans une étude MC. Les combiner à un fractionnement spatial permettrait de tirer profit de leur efficacité dans le traitement de tumeurs radiorésistantes (hypoxiques), un des principaux défis de la RT, tout en minimisant leurs effets secondaires. Les résultats obtenus au terme de ce travail sont favorables à une exploration approfondie de ces deux approches innovantes. Les données dosimétriques compilées dans ce manuscrit serviront à guider prochaines les expérimentations biologiques. / Despite recent breakthroughs, radiotherapy (RT) treatments remain unsatisfactory : the tolerance of normal tissues to radiations still limits the possibility of delivering high (potentially curative) doses in the tumour. To overcome these difficulties, new RT approaches using distinct dose delivery methods are being explored. Among them, the synchrotron minibeam radiation therapy (MBRT) technique has been shown to lead to a remarkable normal tissue resistance to very high doses, and a significant tumour growth delay. MBRT allies sub-millimetric beams to a spatial fractionation of the dose. The combination of the more selective energy deposition of charged particles (and their biological selectivity) to the well-established normal tissue sparing of MBRT could lead to a further gain in normal tissue sparing. This innovative strategy was explored in this Ph.D. thesis. In particular, two new avenues were studied: proton MBRT (pMBRT) and very heavy ion MBRT. First, the experimental proof of concept of pMBRT was performed at a clinical facility (Institut Curie, Orsay, France). In addition, pMBRT setup and minibeam generation were optimised by means of Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. In the second part of this work, a potential renewed use of very heavy ions (neon and heavier) for therapy was evaluated in a MC study. Combining such ions to a spatial fractionation could allow profiting from their high efficiency in the treatment of hypoxic radioresistant tumours, one of the main challenges in RT, while reducing at maximum their side effects. The promising results obtained in this thesis support further explorations of these two novel avenues. The dosimetry knowledge acquired will serve to guide the biological experiments.