Thesis advisor: Thomas N. Seyfried / Mycoplasmas are the smallest, self-replicating free-living prokaryotes, and have been associated with carcinogenesis. Mycoplasmas can be detected in a high percentage of a wide variety of primary human cancers. Some mycoplasma species such as M. fermentans and M. hyorhinis can transform normal murine and human cell lines into tumorigenic cells. Mycoplasma infection can activate oncogenes as well as inactivate tumor suppressor genes. These observations suggest that mycoplasmas can be both carcinogenic and or onco-modulatory. I found that the metastatic macrophage VM-M3 cell line (referred to as M3+) was infected with mycoplasmas. Mycoplasmal16S rDNA sequencing showed M3+ cells were infected by the mycoplasma species M. arginini. Antibiotic was used to eradicate M. arginini from M3+ cells (referred to as M3- cells). The energetics of the infected M3+ cells and the non-infected M3- cells was studied by measuring respiration (oxygen consumption) and fermentation (lactate production). Respiration was enhanced and fermentation was reduced in the M3- cells compared to the M3+ cells. Glucose enhanced the fermentation and reduced the respiration of both the M3+ and the M3- cells. The M3+ cells produced higher quantities of metabolites indicative of immunological activation (itaconic acid, succinate, and citrulline) compared to M3- cells. In addition, in-vitro proliferation was higher in the M3+ cells than in the M3- cells at high cell densities. Primary subcutaneous tumor growth and metastasis was less in mice inoculated with the M3- cells than with the M3+ cells. The survival of a VM mouse was longer when inoculated with the M3- cells compared to the M3+ cells. Altogether these data indicates that M. arginini is an onco-modulator associated with activation, deregulated energetics and enhanced tumor progression of VM-M3 metastatic macrophage cells. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Biology.

Energy Regulatory Office Abstract Energy regulatory office (ERO) was established in 2001 by Act No. 458/2000 Coll., on business conditions and public administration in the energy sectors and on amendment to other laws as an independent specialized authority of the state administration for the regulation of energy sector and pricing authority in the field of energy. Among its main goals include prices regulation, licenses management, supervision performance over duties observance that licence - holders follow from law regulations and from ACER's resolution, European comittee's and ERO's, controls executions and in case of disharmony between desirable and real behavior of stowing remedy sancitons investigation performance of competition requirements concerning electricity or gas in markets, information providing and dissension decision - making like subject supporting alternative dissension on disputes in power - engineering branch. The aim of this thesis is to present the ERO as a whole with the approaching of its activities with a focus on defining its competence in relation to the environment, because humanity's depedence on energy brings with it negative effects that can lead to the disappearance of civilization. I tis therefore necessary to link the energy and environmental sectors and to direct the...

No description available.

No description available.

Orientador: Ariovaldo Pereira da Cruz Neto / Banca: José Eduardo de Carvalho / Banca: Sérgio Furtado dos Reis / Banca: Denis Otávio Vieira de Andrade / Banca: Luciano Martins Verdade / Resumo: O presente estudo versa sobre energética alimentar de um animal. O estudo procurou analisar, dentre outras coisas, os fatores intrínsecos e extrínsecos que respondem pela variabilidade na taxa metabólica em repouso (TMR) e a relação entre esta variação e padrões de história de vida de um marsupial (Gracilinanus microtarsus). Especificamente, a variabilidade da TMR seria determinada através de um aspecto especifico da história de vida, a dieta. Aspectos como possíveis efeitos da dinâmica de variação das reservas energéticas sobre esta relação também foram analisados. Utilizando metodologia apropriada também analisamos a variação da disponibilidade e qualidade da dieta. Variações desses fatores induzem modificações na condição corpórea e, desta forma, os efeitos desta variável sobre a TMR mediariam um dos objetivos do estudo, servindo como elemento de ligação para averiguar quais componentes da condição corpórea seriam responsáveis pela variabilidade na TMR. / Abstract: The present study turns about energetics to feed of an animal. The study analyzed, among other things, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that answer for the variability in the resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the relationship between this variation and patterns of life history of a marsupial (Gracilinanus microtarsus). Specifically, the variability of RMR would be determined through an aspect specify of the life history, the diet. Aspects as possible effects of the dynamics of variation of the energy budge about this relationship were also analyzed. Using appropriate methodology also analyzed the variation of the availability and quality of the diet. Variations of those factors induce modifications in the body condition and, this way, the effects of this variable on RMR would mediate one of the objectives of the study, serving as connection element to discover which components of the body condition would be responsible for the variability in RMR. / Doutor

This thesis presents work on the deposition of nanothermite using a piezoelectric inkjet printer, focusing on the effects of printing parameters and sample geometry on burning rate. The ability of the printer to produce consistent droplet size and spacing was shown to have repeatable droplet size and sub-millimeter precision in droplet spacing. The droplet-droplet interaction of the nanothermite ink was examined, and a printing frequency of 10 Hz was shown to produce smooth and consistent geometry in the printed samples. The primary printing parameter varied in this study was the pixel pitch (i.e., the distance between printed droplets). As pixel pitch decreased (i.e., the droplets are printed closer together) in both directions (x- and y-directions), the burning rate increased, and as sample width increased the burning rate increased. A significant number of samples (476) were printed and demonstrated consistent, energetic performance; this indicated favorable high-volume production capabilities. A thermal model was developed based on an energy balance for the printed nanothermite samples. The model accurately predicted the burning rate trends observed in the experimental results. This result indicated that the increase in heat generation in both the thicker (pixel-pitch studies) and wider samples decreased the significance of heat loss to the environment. The statistically significant results presented in this work, along with a descriptive thermal model, increase the fundamental understanding of the effects of printed geometry and droplet spacing on nanothermite energetic performance.

Behavioral activiti es and predatory behavior of 18 American Kestrels (Falco sparverius, 9 males and 9 females) were observed for 350+ hours during 3 seasons (nonbreeding = Jan-Feb , breeding = mid-~lar-Apr, and postbreeding = late-Aug-Sept) in northern Utah. Daily energy expenditure (DEE) of male and female kestrels was estimated with a model that incorporated flight activity data from free-living birds and laboratory measurements on daytime and nighttime metabolic rates and energy costs of tissue production derived from captive kestrels. Production costs were included in the DEE for breeding and postbreeding kestrels. The energy cost of gonadal growth for males (0.02 kcal/day) and females (0.20 kcal/day) was added to the DEE of breeding kestrels. Breeding females expended an estimated 10.13 kcal/day for producing an average clutch of 4.5 eggs. The energy costs of fat deposition (2.27 and 4.39 kcal / day for males and females, respectively) and molt (2.38 and 2.72 kcal/day for males and females , respectively) were added to the DEE of postbreeding kestrels. In addition to the DEE , the model predicted nonflight energy expenditure (NFEE) and flight energy expenditure (FEE) during the day, and energy expenditure during the night (NEE). DEE of nonbreeding birds is generally higher (47.71 kcal/day) than those from the breeding (44.89 kcal / day) and postbreeding (42.42 kcal / day) seasons. DEE of females (48.69 kcal/day) is higher than males (41.31 kcal/day) primarily because females averaged 15.5% heavier than males during all 3 seasons, and females have higher costs of production. Kestrels are heaviest during the nonbreeding season and the amount of metabolizable energy available is highest. DEE is lower during the breeding and postbreeding seasons because thermoregulatory demands have decreased which may allow energy to be metabolized for production. NFEE accounts for most (48.5%) of the DEE. Flight costs are relatively small because kestrels allocate an average 3% of the photoperiod (25.6 min/day) to flight activities. Egg production accounts for 20% of the DEE of breeding females. The energy cost of fat deposition and molt accounts for 11.6 and 15.9% of the DEE for postbreeding males and females, respectively. These reproductive and tissue production costs may also elevate the DEE of breeding and postbreeding females to that of nonbreeding females.

A series of phosphotripeptide ligands for the Grb2 SH2 domain was designed and synthesized, each of which derived from the minimal consensus sequence required for binding: Ac-pYXN. The binding affinity and related thermodynamic parameters were determined by isothermal titration calorimetry. Both the size and connectivity of the side-chain was varied. The consequences of incorporating α,α-disubstitution at the pY+1 residue on binding thermodynamics were evaluated, as were the effects of constraining the side-chains in a ring. The series was evaluated from a number of perspectives: (1) increasing size of the pY+1 residue by utilizing various amino acid types: monoalkyl, dialkyl, or cycloalkyl; (2) comparisons between ligands with the same number of carbons (scission control); and (3) by comparing ligands incorporating cyclic pY+1 residues with those incorporating α,α-dialkyl residues with one fewer methylene group (excision control). Inconsistencies in the thermodynamic consequence of constraining the backbone were observed within this set of ligands, which reveal the limitations of our understanding of protein-ligand interactions. Aspects of both the classical and non-classical hydrophobic effect were observed, but the occurance of one over the other could not be explained. / text

Ecological networks are complex systems forming hierarchical structures in which energy and matter is transferred between the network’s compartments. Predicting energy flows in food webs usually involves complex parameter-rich models. In this thesis, the application of the principle of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) to obtain least biased probability distributions based on prior knowledge is proposed as an alternative to predict the most likely energy flows in food webs from the network topology alone. This approach not only simplifies the characterisation of food web flow patterns based on little empirical knowledge but can also be used to investigate the role of bottom-up and top-down controlling forces in ecosystems resulting from the emergent phenomena based on the complex interactions on the level of species and individuals. The integrative measure of “flow extent”, incorporating both bottom- up and top-down controlling forces on ecosystems, is proposed as a principle behind ecosystem evolution and evaluated against empirical data on food web structure. It could be demonstrated that the method of predicting energy flow with the help of MaxEnt is very flexible, applicable to many different setting and types of questions in ecology, and therefore providing a powerful tool for modelling the energy transfer in ecosystems. Further research has to show in how far the most likely flow patterns are realised in real-word ecosystems. The concept of flow extent maximisation as a selection principle during ecosystem evolution can enhance the understanding of emergent phenomena in complex ecosystems and maybe help to draw a link between thermodynamics and ecology.

The purpose of this thesis is to extend understanding of the muscle metabolic responses of children and adolescents during exercise using the non-invasive technique of 31P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS). The first experimental paper examined the reliability of measuring parameters of muscle metabolism in 11-12 year old children over three exhaustive incremental tests using a single-legged quadriceps ergometer. Exercise performance (peak power: ~ 10% coefficient of variation [CV]) and metabolic variables (muscle phosphate and pH intracellular thresholds [IT]: ~ 10% CV, and pH: ~ 1% CV at exhaustion) demonstrated good reliability, whereas the ratio of inorganic phosphate to phosphocreatine (Pi/PCr) at exhaustion had poor reproducibility (~ 50% CV). The second paper examined the influence of age and sex on the muscle metabolic responses during incremental exercise in 9-12 year old children and young adults. The Pi/PCr and pH responses before and at the ITs were independent of age and sex, although during exercise above the ITs, the anaerobic energy contribution (increase in Pi/PCr, fall in pH) was higher in adults than children and in females compared with males, indicating an intensity dependence on age- and sex-related differences in muscle energetics. The third paper examined the relationship between the dynamics of muscle PCr, a putative controller of muscle respiration, and pulmonary oxygen uptake (pVO2) in 9-10 year old children during moderate intensity quadriceps and cycling exercise respectively. No differences were found between the PCr and phase II VO2 time constants at the onset (PCr 23 s [SD 5] vs. pVO2 23 s [SD 4]; P=1.000) or offset (PCr 28 s [SD 5] vs. pVO2 29 s [SD 5]; P=1.000) of exercise, suggesting an age-related slowing of the phosphate linked controller(s) of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation may underlie the faster pVO2 kinetics found in children compared to adults. The final experimental chapter tested this hypothesis, but no age or sex related differences were found in the PCr kinetic time constant at the onset (boys: 21 s [SD 4]; girls: 24 s [SD 5]; men: 26 s [SD 9]; women: 24 s [SD 7], P>0.200) or offset (boys: 26 s [SD 5]; girls: 29 s [SD 7]; men: 23 s [SD 9]; women: 29 s [SD 7], P>0.070) of exercise. In conclusion, this thesis has demonstrated that muscle metabolic parameters determined by 31P-MRS are suitable for the study of developmental exercise metabolism. During exercise below the metabolic ITs, the phosphate-linked regulation of muscle respiration is comparable between children and adults, although during exercise above the ITs children are characterised by a lower ‘anaerobic’ energy turnover than adults, indicating an age-related modulation of metabolic control during high intensity exercise.