Les plantes sont continuellement exposées à plusieurs stress biotiques et abiotiques. Les réponses des plantes à ces stress sont très complexes et impliquent des changements au niveau physiologique, moléculaire et cellulaire. Parmi ces stress, la sécheresse (déficit hydrique) est l'un des facteurs les plus préjudiciables à la croissance et à la productivité des plantes. Ce stress est considéré comme une menace sérieuse pour la production de cultures durables, en particulier dans la perspective du changement climatique. Le but de ce travail a d’abord été d'étudier les traits et / ou les mécanismes impliqués dans la réponse des plantes au déficit hydrique sous condition de zinc en utilisant l’espèce extremophile Arabidopsis halleri. Les plantes de l’espèce A. halleri sont hypertolérantes et hyperaccumulatrice des métaux zinc et cadmium; cette caractéristique évolutive représente un potentiel précieux pour étudier les réponses des plantes à des contraintes multiples. Ici, nous avons développé une approche comparative en utilisant A. halleri et deux espèces qui sont étroitement apparentées: A. thaliana et A. lyrata, tous les deux sensibles à l'excès de zinc. Nous avons caractérisé les caractères morpho-physiologiques de ces trois espèces en réponse à des combinaisons de déficit hydrique et d'excès de zinc. Les résultats ont montré que les plantes de l’espèce A. halleri ont une tolérance accrue au déficit hydrique par rapport à ce qui est observé chez A. thaliana et A. lyrata lorsqu'elles sont cultivées sous forte concentration de zinc dans le sol. Les plantes A. halleri ont montré une plus grande capacité à contrôler la teneur en eau des feuilles en réduisant la perte d'eau par transpiration due à la réduction de la conductance stomatique, ce qui a finalement augmenté positivement l'efficacité d'utilisation de l'eau. Notre étude montre que l'excès de zinc et le déficit hydrique ont des effets négatifs additifs sur la croissance des plantes des espèces A. thaliana alors qu'A. lyrata est moins affecté par l'addition de Zn au sol conditions WD. La combinaison de ces stress a effet interactif positif sur la croissance des plantes A. halleri. D'autre part, les défensines de plantes (PDF) sont impliquées dans la réponse des plantes aux stress biotiques et abiotiques. Le but de ce travail a également été de comprendre la contribution des PDF type 1 (PDF1s) dans la réponse des plantes à l'excès de zinc en utilisant comparativement des plantes A. thaliana sauvages et des plantes transgéniques amiRNA ciblant la diminution des transcrits PDF1s. Nous avons comparé les caractéristiques physiologiques de plantes matures cultivées en présence d’un excès de zinc dans le sol, et dans des conditions hydroponiques. Nos résultats montrent que, sous l’effet du zinc, la diminution des transcrits AtPDF1s est associée à une tolérance au zinc plus faible que celle observée chez les plantes A. thaliana sauvages sans changement du contenu en zinc. / Plants are continuously exposed to several biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant responses to these stresses are highly complex and involve changes at the transcriptome, cellular, as well as physiological levels. Among these stresses, drought is one of the most detrimental factors for plant growth and productivity and is considered a severe threat for sustainable crop production, especially under current changing climate. The aim of this study is to investigate traits and/or mechanisms involved in plants response to water deficit under zinc condition using plant material A. halleri. Arabidopsis halleri is a hypertolerant and hyperaccumulator plant species for zinc and cadmium; this evolutionary feature represents a valuable potential to investigate plant responses to multiple stresses. Here, we developed a comparative approach using this particular species and two closely related species, A. thaliana and A. lyrata, both sensitive to zinc excess. We characterized morpho-physiological traits of three Arabidopsis species in response to combinations of water deficit and zinc excess. The findings showed that, A. halleri plants has increased tolerance to water deficit compared to A. thaliana and A. lyrata when grown under high zinc concentration in the soil. A. halleri showed higher ability to control leaf water content by reduced water loss through transpiration due to reduction of stomatal conductance which ultimately positively increased water use efficiency. Our study shows that, zinc excess and water deficit have additive negative effects on the growth of A. thaliana species plants, whereas A. lyrata is less affected by the addition of Zn under conditions of WD compared to WW conditions. The combination of these stresses has a positive interactive effect on the growth of A. halleri plants. In other hand, plant defensins (PDF) are involved in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The purpose of this work was also to understand the contribution of PDF Type 1 (PDF1s) in the response of plants to zinc excess using comparatively wild-type A. thaliana plants and transgenic amiRNA plants targeting the reduction of transcripts PDF1s. We compared the physiological characteristics of mature plants grown in the presence of excess zinc in the soil, and under hydroponic conditions. Our results show that, under the effect of zinc, the decrease in AtPDF1s transcripts is associated with a lower zinc tolerance than that observed in wild-type A. thaliana plants without a change in zinc content.

A inserção de aditivos em sistemas nanométricos tem como objetivo usual a estabilização destes materiais. A distribuição do aditivo nas interfaces é fundamental para o controle do balanço energético e das características da nanopartícula. Neste trabalho, foi estudado o efeito termodinâmico da inserção de Zn2+ e Sn4+ nos pós de SnO2 e ZnO, respectivamente, sintetizados pelo método dos precursores poliméricos baseado em Pechini. A quantificação do excesso de interface pela lixiviação ácida e o estudo da evolução do tamanho das partículas e de suas áreas de superfície e de contorno de grão, permitiram calcular a distribuição do aditivo no sistema e avaliar sua influência em cada região onde este estava localizado. À 500°C, para baixas concentrações, há a solubilização dos aditivos na rede, promovendo o crescimento das nanopartículas. Para as concentrações acima de 0,05 mol%, o aditivo tende a se concentrar no contorno de grão e na superfície, promovendo uma estabilidade a estas regiões, possibilitando nanopartícula menores no que as dos pós sem aditivo e com baixa aglomeração. O ensaio cinético reforçou a ideia da correlação entre estabilidade e distribuição do aditivo nas interfaces, além de mostrar um efeito de aceleração do processo de estabilização com o aumento da concentração de aditivos. Também foi possível calcular o calor de segregação para o contorno de grão (?HsegrCG= 48,8 J.mol-1) e superfície (?HSsegr= 37,0 J.mol-1), o que permitiu determinar as energias das interfaces, mostrando que a estabilização provocada pela inserção de aditivos esta diretamente associada a diminuição destas energias. / The inclusion of additives in nanometric systems has the usual purpose of stabilizing these materials. This distribution in the interfaces is critical to the control of energy balance and nanoparticle characteristics. In this work, we studied the thermodynamic effect of the inclusion of Zn2+ and Sn4+ in the powders of SnO2 and ZnO, respectively, synthesized by the polymeric precursor method based on Pechini. The quantification of interface excess by acid leaching and the study of the evolution of particle size, surface areas and grain boundary, allowed to calculate the distribution of the additive in the system and evaluate its influence in each region where it was located. At 500 °C, for low concentrations, there is a solubilization of additives in the bulk, promoting growth of the nanoparticles. For concentrations above 0.05 mol%, the additive tends to concentrate on grain boundary and surface, promoting the stability of these regions. This stability enables smaller nanoparticles and with low agglomeration. The kinetic assay strengthened the idea of correlation between stability and distribution of the additive in the interfaces, besides showing an accelerating effect of the stabilization process by increasing the concentration of additives. It was also possible to calculate the heat of segregation of the grain boundary (?HCGsegr = 48.8 J.mol-1) and surface (?HSsegr = 37.0 J.mol-1), which allowed to determine the energies of the interfaces. This showed that the stabilization brought about by the inclusion of additives is directly associated with the reduction of these energies.

My PhD is a study of the politically charged literary and visual works that have emerged in response to escalating violence in contemporary Mexico. Providing close, comparative readings of fictional, theoretical and documentary works by critically-acclaimed authors Jorge Volpi, Cristina Rivera Garza, Mario Bellatin and Juan Pablo Villalobos, and award-winning filmmakers Carlos Reygadas, Amat Escalante and Natalia Almada, my chapters examine explicit and oblique cultural engagements with topics such as the political assassinations of the 1990s, the dispossession brought on by the neoliberal restructuring of the economy, and the violence prompted by the so-called ‘War on Drugs’. The cultural texts I examine share a concern with visualising and deconstructing the close relationship between death and power that marks the contemporary political terrain. I contend that narrative has become a critical site of cultural contestation, and discuss the ways in which experiments with the assemblage and frustration of narrative intertwine with issues related to visuality, embodiment and the nonhuman. Through my discussion of these themes, I trace out the ways in which cultural texts frequently employ narrative strategies that are rooted in dispersal, displacement and loss when engaging with destructive power. These strategies, I argue, pose urgent questions about the interrelation of violence and aesthetics, speak to critical shifts in the relationship between culture and the nation-state, and are marshalled to launch tentative appeals to forms of politics and ethics that work through spaces of shared dispossession. My thesis offers an innovative framework through which to theorise these cultural processes by reframing the notion of ‘excess’, a foundational concept in scholarship on death and power that has seen a resurgence in contemporary political philosophy. In dialogue with authors such as Georges Bataille, Achille Mbembe, Adriana Cavarero, Roberto Esposito, Michel Foucault and Jacques Rancière, and with close reference to the ‘necropolitical’ theory and cultural texts authored in Mexico, I posit excess as an analytical term that can encompass both reflexive critiques of spectacular violence and latent forms of resistance to this violence that proceed through loss and displacement.

Submitted by Cristiane Chim (cristiane.chim@ucpel.edu.br) on 2018-05-02T12:29:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Diego Vieira Braga.pdf: 1027045 bytes, checksum: b3ff02805d860c2bfb5c3539ada693b9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-02T12:29:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Diego Vieira Braga.pdf: 1027045 bytes, checksum: b3ff02805d860c2bfb5c3539ada693b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES# / #2075167498588264571# / #600 / In the present study, which was based on the Pêcheuxtian theoretical framework of Discourse Analysis, language facts were examined in relation to the production of meaning about organizers and organization of work in an institutional report on preparations for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. These facts are recognized as forms of excess based on the theoretical-methodological systematization of Ernst-Pereira (2009), but problematized in terms of the discursive functioning that this reflection entails. Therefore, it is proposed that excess, which in its expected functioning concerns the stabilization of meanings and establishment of the relevance of interdiscursive knowledge, may also produce instability. With diachronic preoccupation, the study was conducted through the configuration of a theoretical construct called “Discourse of Organization of the Rio 2016 Games” (DO 2016) and the analysis of discursive sequences taken from a corpus file consisting of formulations of the president of the organizing committee during the preparation period (2009-2016). Working with the premise that interpretations made about Brazil have implications in the interpretation of organizational work, it can be argued that excess consists in material effect of the way in which circumstantial and socio-historical tensions permeate the “Discursive Formation of Organization” (DFO), a place of significance from which the organizer in question constitutes the subject of DO 2016, and that is established through the historic event of the selection of Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The circumstantial tensions result from domestic structural alternations in the period; the socio-historic tensions stem from the discrepancy between the depreciative meanings which constitute a imaginary about Brazil and those that the organizers claim for positively signifying the work carried out and, directly or indirectly, (re)signifying the country. Therefore, on its stabilizing side, excess indicates a preserved interpretation of undesirable associations with unfavorable meanings due to structural oscillations and with those that were formed historically and today prevail in social imaginary. However, the formation of unstable accumulation points (PÊCHEUX apud MALDIDIER, 2003) in the way that the enunciating subject is represented, through recurrence of employing the first-person plural, and the way in which organizational work is represented, through continuities and discontinuities in the production of lexical-syntactic expansions and hesitations and generic reformulations in relation to certain signifiers. In the first case, excess destabilizes the effects of homogeneity of voices and socialization of the responsibility for the organization of events; in the second, it affects the structuring/regularization of another network of enunciations that function as discursive memory. The study indicates that imaginary support, through excesses, of the conceptual consistency of a position-subject in the face of tensions that constitute and affect the configuration of a discursive formation can inadvertently produce an internal instability in the discursive work with the meanings. / Na presente pesquisa, a partir do referencial da Análise de Discurso Pêcheuxtiana, examinamse fatos de linguagem relativos à produção de sentidos sobre os organizadores e o trabalho de organização em um relato institucional dos preparativos para os Jogos Olímpicos e Paraolímpicos de 2016. Esses fatos são reconhecidos como formas de excesso com base na sistematização teórico-metodológica de Ernst-Pereira (2009), mas problematizados quanto ao funcionamento discursivo que essa mesma reflexão prevê. Assim, propõe-se que o excesso, cujo funcionamento previsto concerne à estabilização de sentidos e ao estabelecimento da relevância de saberes interdiscursivos, pode funcionar também produzindo instabilidade. Com preocupação diacrônica, conduz-se o estudo por meio da configuração de um construto teórico denominado “Discurso de Organização dos Jogos Rio 2016” (DO 2016) e da análise de sequências discursivas extraídas de um corpus de arquivo constituído de formulações do presidente do comitê organizador durante o período dos preparativos (2009-2016). Assumindo a premissa que interpretações feitas sobre o Brasil têm implicações na interpretação do trabalho organizatório, argumenta-se que o excesso consiste em efeito material do modo como tensões circunstanciais e sócio-históricas atravessam a “Formação Discursiva da Organização” (FDO), sítio de significância a partir do qual o organizador em questão se constitui em sujeito do DO 2016 e que é instaurado com o acontecimento histórico da eleição do Rio de Janeiro como cidade-sede dos Jogos Olímpicos e Paraolímpicos de 2016. As tensões circunstanciais resultam de alternâncias conjunturais nacionais do período; as sócio-históricas decorrem da discrepância entre sentidos depreciativos que já constituem um imaginário sobre o Brasil e aqueles que os organizadores reivindicam para significar positivamente o trabalho desenvolvido e, direta ou indiretamente, (re)significar o País. Portanto, em sua face estabilizadora, o excesso sinalizaria para uma interpretação preservada de associações indesejáveis tanto com sentidos desfavoráveis devido às oscilações conjunturais quanto com aqueles que se constituíram historicamente e hoje vigoram no imaginário social. No entanto, constata-se a formação de pontos de acumulação instáveis (PÊCHEUX apud MALDIDIER, 2003) no modo de o sujeito enunciador se representar, via recorrência de emprego da primeira pessoa do plural, e no modo de representar o trabalho de organização, por meio de continuidades e descontinuidades na produção de expansões léxicosintáticas e de hesitações e reformulações genéricas em torno de determinados significantes. No primeiro caso, o excesso desestabiliza efeitos de homogeneidade de vozes e de socialização da responsabilidade pela organização dos eventos; no segundo, compromete a estruturação/regularização de outra rede de enunciados que funcione como memória discursiva. A pesquisa traz indícios de que a imaginária sustentação, via excessos, da consistência conceitual de uma posição-sujeito perante tensões que constituam e afetem a configuração de uma formação discursiva pode, inadvertidamente, produzir uma instabilidade interna ao trabalho discursivo com os sentidos.

This is a study about abnormal characteristics in the stock market and how to successfully use them in personal portfolios. Market anomalies are unexpected excess returns that occur in relation to certain variables. Five commonly known market anomalies (market cap, price-earnings ratio, price-book value, momentum, volatility) are tested to give evidence for their presence. Existing variables are then combined in different portfolios in order to observe whether they generate greater excess returns combined rather than individually. This study will also reveal whether long-term holding is possible and how the anomalies react in bullish and bearish markets.

This thesis focuses on two parts, the evidence of a structure in a four lepton final state, and the CMS detector upgrade studies. The first part of the thesis focuses on an unexpected structure in Υ(1S)l+l− final state, where Υ(1S) → μ+μ−, l can represent a muon or an electron and m(l+l−) is required to be below the Υ(1S) mass. Using an integrated luminosity of 25.6 fb−1 recorded in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, an excess in the mass distribution near 18.5 GeV of Υ(1S)l+l− is found. The mass of this enhancement is found out to be 18.4 ± 0.1 (stat.) ± 0.2 (syst.) GeV in the Υ(1S)μ+μ− channel, and 18.5 ± 0.2 (stat.) ± 0.2 (syst.) GeV in the Υ(1S)e+e− channel. For the two results combined, the enhancement is found out to be 18.4 ± 0.1 (stat.) ± 0.2 (syst.) GeV with a local statistical significance of 4.9 standard deviations and a global significance, after taking into account the look-elsewhere-effect, of 3.6 standard deviations. The width of the observed enhancement is consistent with the mass resolution of the CMS detector. The second part of the thesis focuses on detector upgrade studies for the silicon detector. The LHC has been increasing and will increase the luminosity and collision energy. Due to radiation damage and increasing data loss, the CMS detector underwent a Phase I upgrade in 2016/2017 and will undergo a Phase II upgrade in 2018/2019. In Phase I upgrade, silicon sensors and DC-DC converters were tested at Fermilab for the CMS Forward Pixel detector. For Phase II upgrade, a gantry robot system is built for module assemble at Fermilab for the CMS Outer Tracker detector.

Corporations may experience lower earnings on assets due to the underinvestment of excess cash. Specifically, leaders of nonfinancial firms hold small amounts of cash in mutual fund investments. The primary benefit to understanding mutual funds is the potential to use them to manage excess corporate cash. Using the efficient market hypothesis as a framework for the study, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship among mutual fund expenses including 12b-1 fees, sales load at purchase, management fees, total capitalization, and performance. Secondary research databases were used, including the Steele Mutual Fund Expert and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to create a sample of 96 actively managed mutual funds for the years 2010 to 2014. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 12b-1 fees, sales load at purchase, management fees, and total capitalization were not significant predictors of mutual fund performance. Further, in most years, actively managed mutual funds were not able to outpace the benchmark index. However, a small cluster of successful mutual funds (30) exceeded the performance of the S&P 500 by 5.99%. The implications for positive social change include the potential to devise a strategy to invest excess cash, as additional earnings could offset increasing operational costs and ease shareholder concern. Additionally, legislators could use the results of this study to create regulations to promote stable financial markets.

This thesis is an enquiry into the Marquis de Sade, his writing and the perversion known as sadism. The narrower focus of this thesis investigates the problem of the meeting of violence and language in Sade's novels and the implications for cinema. The procedure has been to adopt the Critical and Clinical approach to philosophy that brings together both the literary style of Sade and the clinical symptoms of sadism. This method canvasses a number of Sades novels to consider the psychoanalytical definition of sadism before moving on to discuss the expression of sadism through language. Finally, the model of sadism and language is then applied to a number of films to discuss how violence within the context of sadism functions through language within cinema. The general results show how speech and action can be defined as equivalent forms of sadian violence when expressed through language in both literature and cinema. This occurs, furthermore, through the transcendent model of violence where both speech and action refer to a higher order of violence and this is put at the service of the senses through language. The major conclusions reached suggest that language in literature and cinema can be a demonstrative form of the higher order of violence. Sadism draws out the violence and excess of the world by reflecting it within language. In doing so, violence is designated with a quality of the erotic through this excess. Finally, each act of violence within literature and cinema is an attempt to overcome taboos through transgression. The breaking of a taboo creates an amount of excess but also reinstates the taboo in what becomes an empty act of transgression. The excess is expressed through violence within language and deed according to a transcendent function of language in literature and cinema.

A series of new cobalt(II) beta-keto iminato complexes and cobalt(II) salens have been made and the effect of chirality in the northern, southern and peripheral quadrants of these catalysts, with respect to induced enantiomeric excess, during the ring-opening of 1,2-dioxines has been determined. Synthesis of a series of cobalt beta-keto iminato complexes was achieved after modification of literature procedures used for the synthesis of manganese beta-keto iminato complexes and this procedure was applied to generate ligands with ethyl, t-butyl, (-)-bornyl, (+)-menthyl and (-)-menthyl esters and a methyl side chain. Synthesis of the cobalt salens was also achieved using a modified literature procedure, in respect to the more complex aldehydes made. It was ascertained that chirality in the northern quadrant of these catalysts, obtained by the use of optically pure diamines, was of greatest importance in introducing enantiomeric excess into the products of ring-opening of 1,2-dioxines; namely gamma-hydroxy enones, and chirality in the southern and peripheral quadrants was of lesser, although still significant, importance. The reaction conditions were optimised and the conditions under which the highest enantiomeric excess was introduced were determined. The ideal solvent for the ring-opening was found to be THF with a catalyst concentration between 5 and 10 mol% at a temperature of -15oC. These conditions were found to be applicable to all catalysts and 1,2-dioxines tested. Enantiomeric excess as high as 76 % could be introduced when the optimised reaction conditions were used in large scale syntheses of cyclopropane (61). LC-MS studies indicate the presence of a solvent chelated species present in the reaction mixture when the solvent used is THF, however, the use of non-chelating solvents, such as dichloromethane, did not exhibit this same solvent chelated species. Catalyst dimers were also present in the mixture when analysed by LC-MS. The presence of oxygen in the reaction mixture was found to inhibit rearrangement of the dioxine with catalyst oxygen dimers (two molecules of catalyst bound to a single molecule of oxygen) present when analysed by LC-MS, however, the catalyst could be 're-activated' by de-aeration of the solution and was able to introduce the same enantiomeric excess, as prior to the addition of oxygen was unaffected. It was found that not only cobalt(II) tetradentate complexes were useful in the ring-opening of meso 1,2-dioxines. Achiral iron(II) salen and ruthenium(II) salen were also made and shown to be capable of ring-opening the dioxine. A purchased chiral manganese(III) salen was also shown to be capable of ring-opening the 1,2-dioxine, however, the time taken for the rearrangement to occur led to ring closure of the gamma-hydroxy enone and dehydration of the cyclic hemiacetal. The catalysts were also applied to the enantioselective ring-opening of epoxy-1,2-dioxines for the first time with a high level of success with enantiomeric excesses of between 60 and 90 % introduced with most of the catalysts. To show that these catalysts have the potential for use in the synthesis of potentially bioactive cyclopropyl amino acids, amines, acids and alcohols a small number were prepared, including both racemic and optically enriched or optically pure cyclopropanes. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Chemistry and Physics, 2003.

<p>Today the frequency spectrum is full of wireless standards. The most common technique being used is the frequency modulation. To take advantage of this and the technology improvement a new wireless communication standard is being developed. This standard is using a low power impulse modulation method, allowing it to overlap with other standards. The proposed standard called IEEE802.15.3a is applied at an Ultra Wide Band and has potential to be used both in interchip and intrasystem communication, since it allows a very high data density. </p><p>In this thesis the analog to digital converter is designed, which is one part of a communication system. Although the signal bandwidth is very wide the converter is designed as a Sigma-Delta modulator, which is most suitable for low-speed applications. Its main advantages over high-speed converters are less area and less power consumption. The goal of this project is to investigate if the CMOS090 process technology will be sufficient for reaching a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, of 30 dB in a signal band of 264 MHz. </p><p>The main limiting factor during the design of the modulator is the excess feedback delay. This delay degrades the SNR and can even make the system unstable. At a feedback delay of 83 ps and a sampling frequency of 6.336 GHz, the maximum SNR achieved was 27 dB. At this high frequency the modulator is close to instability. Hence, to ensure stability a maximum sampling frequency of 4.224 GHz is chosen, achieving a SNR of 19 dB. </p><p>The effect of the feedback delay can be reduced either by using a different structure or by using compensation methods, either of them would probably allow a SNR above 30 dB.</p>