Ninho vazio (NV) corresponde ao período em que os filhos deixam a casa dos pais para se lançar a novos projetos. Já Síndrome do Ninho Vazio (SNV) é o termo comumente utilizado para se referir ao sofrimento emocional dos pais associado a esse período da vida. Objetivo: contribuir para a identificação e caracterização da Síndrome do Ninho Vazio em jogadores patológicos. O estudo baseouse na comparação entre um grupo de jogadores patológicos cujos filhos já tinham saído de casa (grupo NV; n=23), e outro cujos filhos ainda moravam com os pais (grupo de comparação; n=23), quanto às variáveis sociodemográficas, comportamento de jogo, comorbidades psiquiátricas, aspectos emocionais e adequação social. A intensidade da SNV foi avaliada por meio de entrevista semiestruturada. Potenciais diferenças de gênero também foram exploradas. Não houve diferenças significativas entre os grupos NV e de comparação em nenhuma das variáveis estudadas com exceção da condição econômica, melhor no grupo de NV, possivelmente, em função do menor número de moradores na casa. No grupo NV (n=23), houve associação significativa entre a idade que o(a) jogador(a) tinha quando o(a) filho(a) deixou a casa e a idade de início dos problemas com o jogo (r=0,630; P<0,001) e a idade de procura por tratamento (r=0,681; P<0,001). Adicionalmente, observouse associação entre intensidade da SNV e idade de procura por tratamento (r=0,435; P=0,038) e também entre intensidade da SNV e gravidade do jogo patológico (r=0,610; P<0,001) medida pelos critérios do DSMIV TR. Em relação ao gênero, percebeuse que as jogadoras (n=16), em comparação aos jogadores (n=7), apresentaram maior intensidade da SNV e maior sintomatologia depressiva e ansiosa, indicando que o sofrimento na saída dos filhos de casa é maior entre as mulheres jogadoras. A análise qualitativa demonstrou que 61% dos jogadores patológicos relataram sofrer com o ninho vazio, com menção a sentimentos negativos, como tristeza e depressão após a saída de casa dos filhos. Jogadores patológicos, ainda, relacionaram a saída dos filhos da casa com o comportamento do aumento de jogo, diminuição de jogo ou busca por tratamento. Estes resultados sugerem a necessidade de estudos com amostras maiores para uma compreensão mais ampla do impacto da Síndrome do Ninho Vazio no comportamento de jogadores patológicos, particularmente, entre mulheres jogadoras / Empty Nest (NV) is the period when the children leave the family home to launch new projects. Empty Nest Syndrome (SNV) is the term commonly used to refer to parents emotional distress associated with this period of life. The purpose of this work is to contribute to the identification and characterization of the empty nest syndrome in pathological gamblers by comparing a group of pathological gamblers, whose children have already left home (NV group; n= 23), with another whose children still live with them at home (comparison group; n=23), by looking at sociodemographic variables, gambling behavior, psychiatric comorbidities, emotional aspects and social adequacy. The intensity of SNV was evaluated through semistructured interviews. Potential gender differences were also explored. There were no significant differences between the NV group and the comparison group except for economic status, higher in the NV group, possibly due to the lower number of household members. In the NV group (n=23), there was a significant association between the age of the gambler when the child left home and the age of onset of gambling problems (r=0,630; P<0,001) and the age of seeking treatment (r=0,681; P<0,001). Additionally, we observed an association between SNV intensity and the age of seeking treatment (r=0,435; P=0,038) and also between SNV intensity and the severity of pathological gambling (r=0,610; P<0,001), as measured by the number of positive criteria in DSMIVTR. Comparing genders, we observed that female gamblers (n=16), showed higher SNV intensity and more depression and anxiety symptoms compared to male gamblers (n=7) indicating that the suffering caused by their children leaving home is higher among female gamblers. The qualitative analysis showed that 61% of pathological gamblers reported suffering with empty nest, with negative feelings, sadness and depression after their children left home. Pathological gamblers also related their children leaving home whit increased gambling behavior, decreased gambling behavior or treatment seeking. These results suggest the need for studies with larger samples to broaden the understanding of the impact of empty nest syndrome in the behavior of pathological gamblers, particularly among female gamblers

This thesis is a statement about a series of paintings based on an invented dollhouse object that conveys the artist’s identity and placement in the world. Through this essay, the artist represents the home as a space that fosters the recovery and rebirth of invisible energy, ki and examines ideas of transience, interconnection, and rebirth in the mysterious flow of ki in the home. Also the artist will explain her own view about being an artist, the methodologies and specific techniques of her paintings, and her artistic direction for the future.

The study of catalytic oxidation on the removal of NO was investigated over the Cu-catalysts . The Cu-catalysts , including Cu/TiO2 , Cu/Al2O3 and Cu/SiO2 , were prepared by impregnation method . Alougth NO2 , the product of this reaction , has higher toxicity than NO , but it might be removed completely by absorption with H2O or alkalinal solution for its high solubility . The experiments can be divided into three parts , i.e. , the screen of test catalysts , the effect of operating factors on the conversion of NO and the kinetic model . In the first part , the activity of test catalysts , which were prepared by mixing three various sources of Cu-ions¡]i.e., Cu(NO3)2 , Cu(CH3COO)2 , and CuSO4¡^with three different types of support¡]i.e., TiO2 , Al2O3 , and SiO2¡^, and were compared in form of conversion on NO to find the best catalyst . The results show that the mixture Cu(NO3)2 / TiO2 has the good performance on the conversion of NO , and also has more wider operating in range of temperature . In order to find the optimal loading of Cu on Cu(NO3)2 / TiO2 , additional test of various dosage over the catalysts was conduct in series . It is found that 8wt.% of Cu loading on Cu(NO3)2 / TiO2 is the most economic dosage . Therefore , we select this type of Cu oxide as the best catalyst in the following work . In the second part , the effect of NO inlet concentration , space velocity and humidity on the conversion of NO were performed . The results show that the conversion of NO decreases with the increasing of [NO]in when [NO]in is larger than 1000ppm¡Fthe conversion of NO is not changed with [NO]in when [NO]in is lower than 1000ppm . The better space velocity is 15000hr-1 , i.e.,the empty bed residence time is 0.24 second . The reaction on NO conversion would be restrained by higher humidity contenting in inlet gas stream , but the effect of inhibition on NO conversion is not significant . Finally , the kinetics of the oxidation of NO over 8wt.% Cu(NO3)2 / TiO2 was obtained by integral method .It is found that the oxidations of NO can be described by first order reversible reaction and the observed activation energy are 15.8 kcal/mole¡]forward reaction¡^and 25.9 kcal/mole¡]backward reaction¡^, respectively . By comparing the conversion of predicted NO with the experimentals , we can find the suitable operation conditions in application of the kinetic model : the inlet concentration of NO in a range of 300-1000ppm , the empty-bed residence time ranging from 0.12-0.48 second , and the absolute humidity ranging from 4854 to 42475ppm .

Chapter 1 develops a model of parallel trading of corporate securities (shares, bonds) and derivatives in which a large trader can sometimes profitably acquire securities and the corporate control rights inherent therein for the sole purpose of reducing the corporation's value and gaining on a net short position in the corporation created through off-setting derivatives. At other times, the large trader profitably takes a net long position in the corporation and exercises its control rights to maximize the corporation's value. This strategy is profitable if and because other market participants cannot observe the large trader's orders and hence cannot predict how the control rights will be exercised. In effect, the large trader is benefitting from trading on private information about payoff uncertainty that the large trader itself creates. This problem is most likely to manifest in transactions that give blocking powers to small minorities, particularly out-of-bankruptcy restructurings and freezeouts, and is bound to become more severe when derivatives trade on an exchange rather than over-the-counter. Chapter 2 investigates in parallel the cross-country determinants of crime and punishment in the largest possible sample of countries with data on homicides, victimization by common crimes (ICVS), incarceration rates, and the death penalty. While models with a small number of plausible covariates predict much of the variation of homicide and incarceration rates between major developed countries, they predict only one seventh of the actual US incarceration rate. Chapter 3 probes into the pervasive correlations between legal origins, modern regulation, and economic outcomes around the world. Where legal origin is exogenous, it is almost perfectly correlated with another set of potentially relevant background variables: the colonial policies of the European powers that spread the "origin" legal systems through the world. The chapter attempts to disentangle these factors by exploiting the imperfect overlap of colonizer and legal origin, and looking at possible channels, such as the structure of the legal system, through which these factors might influence contemporary economic outcomes. It find strong evidence in favor of non-legal colonial explanations for economic growth. For other dependent variables, the results are mixed. / Economics

Mandarin Chinese is said to be a radical pro-drop language, in the sense that verbal arguments in this language can be dropped rather freely. However, in this dissertation, I show that the omission of arguments in Mandarin Chinese is in fact constrained by various conditions. First, I demonstrate that the availability of a discourse topic is insufficient to license empty categories in Mandarin Chinese by showing that subject and object positions cannot be left empty at random. Some empty subject positions are neither true instances of nominal ellipsis nor variables bound by discourse topics; instead, they are a side effect of verb or vP movement followed by TP-ellipsis. Next, I address the issue of when objects can be "dropped" in Mandarin Chinese. I argue that structural parallelism built on verbal identity between sentences plays an important role in licensing `objectless' sentences. I propose that the mechanism responsible for the creation of such sentences is V-stranding VP-ellipsis rather than argument ellipsis. In the last part of this dissertation, I show that, although we cannot rely on the strength of discourse alone to account for empty categories, the concept of topic-hood is nevertheless implicated in the appearance of certain empty argument positions in sentences used in monologues. I claim that subject pro in Mandarin Chinese must have as its antecedent an element located in an A'-position, which can be overt or covert. In addition, I suggest that the differences between Italian, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese with respect to the use of subject pro can be boiled down to the featural properties of the covert topic TOP preceding subject pro: this covert topic has inherently valued phi-features in Italian and Japanese, while its counterpart in Mandarin Chinese does not. / Linguistics

ssp-1 is a seed storage protein mutant which is deficient in one of the major seed storage proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana, the 12S cruciferins. To determine if this mutant can drive a higher level expression of a transgene than that found in wild type, the mutant was transformed with the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) gene and single copy PHA homozygotes were identified. These PHA transformants were crossed to wild type so that each PHA gene would be in the same copy number and chromosomal context in a wild type background. Immunoblotting was employed to compare the PHA levels of the single copy transformants in both genetic backgrounds. PHA levels ranged from 4.52% to 7.7% of the total protein in transformants. Two of the transformants showed 30.33% and 44.18% more PHA than that of their backcross. Therefore, a mutant such as ssp-1 may provide a means for overexpression of foreign proteins.

This dissertation explores, within the general framework of Distributed Morphology, the licensing conditions of empty nouns in Persian, a Western Iranian language, and the issues that arise within this context for the distribution of plural marking and the insertion of the Ezafe vowel. With respect to the licensing of the empty noun, the proposal made in this thesis is along the lines of those that link ellipsis to information structure (e.g. Rooth 1992a, 1992b; Gengel 2007, among others). It is suggested that the Empty Noun Construction (ENC) is derived through the interaction between the following two information-structural features: (i) the E(llipsis)-feature, which ensures that the head noun is identical with its counterpart in the antecedent and specifies the head noun for non-pronunciation; (ii) the F(ocus)-feature, which specifies the remnant modifier as an element which is in some kind of contrastive relationship with its corresponding element in the antecedent. The interaction between these two features is implemented in the syntax in a phase-based derivation. Plural marking and Ezafe insertion in the ENC are accounted for within an articulated derivational model of PF (Embick & Noyer 2001; Embick 2003 et seq.; Pak 2008). It is proposed that the displacement of the plural marker in the ENC is motivated by the non-pronunciation of the head noun and is handled early in the PF derivation by Local Dislocation operation. Adopting Pak's (2008) model of syntax-phonology interface, the rule responsible for the insertion of the Ezafe linker -e is argued to be a phonological rule that applies at the Late-Linearization stage to connect [+N] heads to their following modifiers/complements.

This dissertation explores, within the general framework of Distributed Morphology, the licensing conditions of empty nouns in Persian, a Western Iranian language, and the issues that arise within this context for the distribution of plural marking and the insertion of the Ezafe vowel. With respect to the licensing of the empty noun, the proposal made in this thesis is along the lines of those that link ellipsis to information structure (e.g. Rooth 1992a, 1992b; Gengel 2007, among others). It is suggested that the Empty Noun Construction (ENC) is derived through the interaction between the following two information-structural features: (i) the E(llipsis)-feature, which ensures that the head noun is identical with its counterpart in the antecedent and specifies the head noun for non-pronunciation; (ii) the F(ocus)-feature, which specifies the remnant modifier as an element which is in some kind of contrastive relationship with its corresponding element in the antecedent. The interaction between these two features is implemented in the syntax in a phase-based derivation. Plural marking and Ezafe insertion in the ENC are accounted for within an articulated derivational model of PF (Embick & Noyer 2001; Embick 2003 et seq.; Pak 2008). It is proposed that the displacement of the plural marker in the ENC is motivated by the non-pronunciation of the head noun and is handled early in the PF derivation by Local Dislocation operation. Adopting Pak's (2008) model of syntax-phonology interface, the rule responsible for the insertion of the Ezafe linker -e is argued to be a phonological rule that applies at the Late-Linearization stage to connect [+N] heads to their following modifiers/complements.

ssp-1 is a seed storage protein mutant which is deficient in one of the major seed storage proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana, the 12S cruciferins. To determine if this mutant can drive a higher level expression of a transgene than that found in wild type, the mutant was transformed with the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) gene and single copy PHA homozygotes were identified. These PHA transformants were crossed to wild type so that each PHA gene would be in the same copy number and chromosomal context in a wild type background. Immunoblotting was employed to compare the PHA levels of the single copy transformants in both genetic backgrounds. PHA levels ranged from 4.52% to 7.7% of the total protein in transformants. Two of the transformants showed 30.33% and 44.18% more PHA than that of their backcross. Therefore, a mutant such as ssp-1 may provide a means for overexpression of foreign proteins.

This thesis proposes an efficient method to accelerate ray based volume rendering with texture slabs using programmable graphics hardware. In this method, empty space skipping and early ray termination are utilized without performing any preprocessing on CPU side. The acceleration structure is created on the fly by making use of depth buffer efficiently on Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) side. In the proposed method, texture slices are grouped together to form a texture slab. Rendering all the slabs from front to back viewing order in multiple rendering passes generates the resulting volume image. Slab silhouette maps (SSM) are created to identify and skip empty spaces along the ray direction at pixel level. These maps are created from the alpha component of the slab and stored in the depth buffer. In addition to the empty region information, SSM also contains information about the terminated rays. The method relies on hardware z-occlusion culling that is realized by means of SSMs to accelerate ray traversals. The cost of generating this acceleration data structure is very small compared to the total rendering time.