Objetivo: analisar o resultado das gestações e pós-natal dos fetos com translucência nucal (TN) aumentada. Método: Duzentos e setenta e cinco fetos com TN aumentada foram avaliados no setor de Medicina Fetal da Clínica Obstétrica do HC-FMUSP, com análise do cariótipo, ultra-sonografia seriada, ecocardiografias fetal e pós-natal e avaliação clinica genética pós-natal. Resultados: 14,2% apresentaram cariótipos alterados e 85,8% normais. A ultra-sonografia morfológica esteve alterada em 73,1% dos casos com cariótipo anormal e em 24,7% dos normais, destes, um terço apresentou malformações estruturais maiores, sendo 35,7% cardíacas. Resultados gestacionais adversos, como abortamento, óbitos intra-útero e neonatal ocorreram em 76,5% dos fetos com anomalias cromossômicas e em 10,2% com cariótipos normais. A avaliação pós-natal foi realizada em 72,7% das crianças, mostrando-se alterada em 14,8% dos casos. A freqüência de criança viva e saudável diminuiu com a medida da TN, que variou de 37,5%, nos casos com cariótipos normais, a 18,8% com cariótipos desconhecidos, quando a TN foi igual ou maior que 4,5 mm. Conclusão: Quanto maior a TN maior o risco de anomalias cromossômicas e, nos casos com cariótipos normais, maior a freqüência de malformações estruturais, em especial defeitos cardíacos, resultados gestacionais adversos e alterações à avaliação pós-natal / The aim of this study was to evaluate pregnancy and postnatal outcomes in fetuses with increased nuchal translucency thickness (NT). Two hundred seventy five fetuses with increased NT were examined with karyotyping analysys, serial ultrasound scans, ecocardiography and postnatal clinical and genetic evaluation at the Fetal Medicine Unit - Departament of Obstetrics - São Paulo University. The karyotype was abnormal in 14.2% of the cases and normal in 85.8%. At the anomaly scan, 73.1% of the abnormal karyotype and 24.7% of the normal fetuses presented structural abnormalities, one third of these were major malformations with 35.7% of cardiac defects. Adverse pregnancy outcome as miscarriages, intrauterine and neonatal deaths occurred in 76.5% of the abnormal karyotype group and in 10.2% of the normal. 72.7% of the infants with normal karyotype had postnatal examination with 14,8% presenting abnormalities. The chances of having a live and healthy child decreased with increased NT thickness. For NT above 4.5mm this varied from 18.8%, for an unknown karyotype result, to 37.5% for a normal karyotype. The chances of abnormal karyotype increased with NT thickness. In addition, when the karyotype was normal, the frequency of fetal malformations, specially heart defects, adverse pregnancy outcome and postnatal abnormalities increased with NT thickness

This thesis presents novel approaches for structural investigation of glucuronides using chemical derivatization in combination with liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MSn). Today, LC-ESI-MSn is the dominant technique for quantitative as well as qualitative analyses of metabolites, due to its high sensitivity and selectivity. However, for compounds without an easily ionizable group, e.g., steroids, the sensitivity is limited. In the work presented in this thesis, a derivatization procedure forming a basic oxime significantly increased the detection sensitivity for the altrenogest glucuronide. Furthermore, in structural evaluations of glucuronides, the limitation of LC-MSn becomes evident due to the initial neutral loss of 176 u, i.e. monodehydrated glucuronic acid, which often makes it impossible to elucidate the structures of the conjugates. To solve this problem, the main part of the work described in this thesis was devoted to chemical derivatization as a means of facilitating the determination of the site of conjugation. For the first time, the isomeric estriol glucuronides were evaluated using a combination of three reagents 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide (CMPI), 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl- aminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC), and 2-picolylamine (PA). Interestingly, the derivatization gave a selective fragmentation pattern leading to differentiation of the isomers. Another derivatization reagent, 1,2-dimethylimidazole-4-sulfonyl chloride (DMISC), was also tested for the first time in structural investigations. The isomeric glucuronides of morphine, formoterol, and hydroxypropranolol were evaluated. They can all be conjugated in aliphatic as well as aromatic positions. DMISC was proven to be useful in two ways. Firstly, the morphine and formoterol glucuronides that contained a free phenol could be differentiated from those that were conjugated in the aromatic position based on different reactivity. Secondly, for the aromatic O-glucuronide of 4’-hydroxypropranolol, DMISC was proven to react with the amine. This product gave a different fragmentation pattern compared to the corresponding derivative of the aliphatic glucuronide.

In spreads pectrum (SS)watermarking of audio signals, since the watermark acts as an additive noise to the host audio signal, the most important challenge is to maintain perceptual transparency. Human perception is a very sensitive apparatus, yet can be exploited to hide some information, reliably. SS watermark embedding has been proposed, in which psycho-acoustically shaped pseudo-random sequences are embedded directly into the time domain audio signal. However, these watermarking schemes use informed detection, in which the original signal is assumed available to the watermark detector. Blind detection of psycho-acoustically shaped SS watermarking is not well addressed in the literature. The problem is still interesting, because, blind detection is more practical for audio signals and, psycho-acoustically shaped watermarks embedding offers the maximum possible watermark energy under requirements of perceptual transparency. In this thesis we study the blind detection of psycho-acoustically shaped SS watermarks in time domain audio signals. We focus on a class of watermark sequences known as random phase watermarks, where the watermark magnitude spectrum is defined by the perceptual criteria and the randomness of the sequence lies in their phase spectrum. Blind watermark detectors, which do not have access to the original host signal, may seem handicapped, because an approximate watermark has to be re-derived from the watermarked signal. Since the comparison of blind detection with fully informed detection is unfair, a hypothetical detection scheme, denoted as semi-blind detection, is used as a reference benchmark. In semi-blind detection, the host signal as such is not available for detection, but it is assumed that sufficient information is available for deriving the exact watermark, which could be embedded in the given signal. Some reduction in performance is anticipated in blind detection over the semi-blind detection. Our experiments revealed that the statistical performance of the blind detector is better than that of the semi-blind detector. We analyze the watermark-to-host correlation (WHC) of random phase watermarks, and the results indicate that WHC is higher when a legitimate watermark is present in the audio signal, which leads to better detection performance. Based on these findings, we attempt to harness this increased correlation in order to further improve the performance. The analysis shows that uniformly distributed phase difference (between the host signal and the watermark) provides maximum advantage. This property is verified through experimentation over a variety of audio signals. In the second part, the correlated nature of audio signals is identified as a potential threat to reliable blind watermark detection, and audio pre-whitening methods are suggested as a possible remedy. A direct deterministic whitening (DDW) scheme is derived, from the frequency domain analysis of the time domain correlation process. Our experimental studies reveal that, the Savitzky-Golay Whitening (SGW), which is otherwise inferior to DDW technique, performs better when the audio signal is predominantly low pass. The novelty of this work lies in exploiting the complementary nature of the two whitening techniques and combining them to obtain a hybrid whitening (HbW) scheme. In the hybrid scheme the DDW and SGW techniques are selectively applied, based on short time spectral characteristics of the audio signal. The hybrid scheme extends the reliability of watermark detection to a wider range of audio signals. We also discuss enhancements to the HbW technique for robustness to temporal offsets and filtering. Robustness of SS watermark blind detection, with hybrid whitening, is determined through a set of experiments and the results are presented. It is seen that the watermarking scheme is robust to common signal processing operations such as additive noise, filtering, lossy compression, etc.

No description available.

In the nineteen years of South Africa’s democracy, its education system, as a vehicle for political, economic and social reform, has been characterised by transformation and change. Educators, as policy implementers, have been integral to that process. For the educators at the school selected for this study, changes have included, among others, frequent curriculum revision; a different approach to assessment; changes in school management as well as making a transition from a mainstream to a full service school, focused on the inclusion of learners who experience mild to moderate barriers to learning. Against this background the purpose of this study was to explore the subjective experience of educators in this particular school, and the subsequent impact that aspects of curriculum change and educational reform may have had on them; then secondly to put practices in place that would enable them to positively embrace new ideas, create knowledge and share ideas as educators. The study was conducted with 21 educators at a full service school. The research findings show them to be overloaded with administrative tasks as pressure is put on them to present evidence of their competence and functionality; many of them were tired, confused or angry. They felt rushed and obligated to implement a curriculum that they perceive to compromise effective teaching and learning; and ultimately, the learners. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

nÃo hà / Infraestrutura adequada à condiÃÃo essencial para o crescimento de qualquer paÃs, sobretudo em paÃses em desenvolvimento, como o Brasil, que alÃm de significativas restriÃÃes fiscais possui larga extensÃo territorial. PaÃses que enfrentaram este tipo de problema encontraram como alternativa para o seu desenvolvimento o parceiro privado, que ao longo do tempo participou atuando de diferentes formas neste processo. Muitas foram Ãs experiÃncias adotadas na busca por melhoria e viabilidade de investimentos para a oferta de serviÃos pÃblicos. O presente trabalho faz um rÃpido relato dessa evoluÃÃo e se detÃm de forma mais especÃfica na nova modalidade de contrataÃÃo por meio da Parceria PÃblico-Privada, em que o pÃblico busca um aumento da eficiÃncia e eficÃcia em seus serviÃos. Aborda os processos envolvidos para os estudos de modelagem, utilizando ou nÃo o Procedimento de ManifestaÃÃo de Interesse, bem como o enquadramento e anÃlise da conveniÃncia e oportunidade por meio do Value for Money. Apresenta e analisa a experiÃncia do Governo do Estado do Cearà na elaboraÃÃo, execuÃÃo e monitoramento do projeto da Arena CastelÃo implantado, identificando seus aspectos positivos e negativos. / Adequate infrastructure is essential for the growth of any country, especially in developing countries such as Brazil, which in addition to significant fiscal constraints has large territorial extension. Countries that have faced this type of problem found as an alternative for its development the private partner, which over time took acting in different ways in this process. Many experiments have been adopted in the search for improvement and investment feasibility for the provision of public services. The present study is a quick account of this evolution and hold more specifically in the new mode of contracting through the Public- Private Partnership, in which the public seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their services through this modality. Discusses the processes involved for modeling studies, using or not the Expression of Interest Procedure as well as the framework and analysis of convenience and opportunity through Value for Money. Presents and analyzes the experience of the State of Cearà in the preparation, implementation and monitoring of the project implanted Arena CastelÃo, identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

En France, depuis plus d’une soixantaine d’années, la médiatisation des affaires pénales s’est nettement accentuée. Ce constat s'explique en raison de la multiplication des supports (presse, radio, télévision, internet), et de l'intérêt croissant que les journalistes portent aussi bien aux simples faits divers, qu'aux affaires politico-judiciaires. Le public se passionne pour cette actualité sans cesse renouvelée, tout en ignorant la plupart du temps les règles juridiques techniques et complexes du droit pénal et de la procédure pénale. Au-delà du principe de publicité du procès pénal qui autorise, dans une certaine mesure, sa médiatisation par le relais de la presse écrite et audiovisuelle, l’information s’étend dorénavant avec force aux phases secrètes de la procédure. Non sans difficulté, le Droit s’est adapté aux réalités d’une société de la communication, en créant des fenêtres de publicité au cours de la procédure. L’Institution judiciaire se plie aussi aux nécessités de la communication en transmettant des messages aux citoyens par le vecteur des médias. Les enjeux diffèrent. Les médias remplissent une mission de service public en informant le peuple. L’urgence du travail journalistique – et la recherche d’informations inédites ou spectaculaires – s’opposent aux lenteurs nécessaires du temps de la justice qui n’est pas le même que celui de la presse moderne, surtout quand elle est mue par une logique concurrentielle. La justice pénale entend valoriser le bon fonctionnement du système judiciaire à travers les informations qu’elle diffuse. Les dérives tendant à transformer la médiatisation de la justice pénale en une justice pénale « médiatique » se multiplient. La confrontation de ces objectifs distincts est source de conflits dont la résolution repose sur la quête perpétuelle d’un équilibre entre les grands principes démocratiques et les libertés fondamentales consacrés par le droit national et supranational. / In France, the last 60 years or so have seen a sharp increase in the media profile of the criminal justice system. The explanation lies in the massive growth in media outlets (press, radio, television, internet) and in the increasing interest shown by journalists, not only in run-of-the-mill crime stories but in cases of corruption at the top of the political system. Public interest in such doings is huge, although with mostly little regard to the legal and technical complexities of the criminal law and its processes. The justice system in principle allows some media reporting by press and broadcasters, but the present-day appetite for information extends far deeper, into its more secret workings. The Law has adjusted, not without difficulty, to the realities of the communication society. In criminal proceedings, some windows have been thrown open on aspects of previously hidden processes. The judiciary, as an institution, has had to bow to popular pressure, has become more communicative, and has learned to use the media to keep people better informed. Different issues are at stake. The media, as a provider of information, perform a public service. But the urgency of the rush to print – and the pressure to publish undisclosed information including the most sensational – conflict with the justice system, that acts according to a more deliberate legal process than journalism, particularly when the latter’s logic is financial. The criminal justice system disseminates information to enhance its own value as a working institution. Even so, it may slip from being media-sensitive to being media-dependent or “mediatic”—and increasingly so. Different objectives give rise to unresolved conflicts, whose resolution relies on a balancing act that seeks to reconcile the principles of an open democratic society, with the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by national and supranational legal systems.

This thesis, which is a continuation of the previous Bachelor thesis, is dedicated to the study of polyelectrolyte complexes between hyaluronan (HA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Interactions between HA and BSA and a formation of complexes were studied by SEC-MALLS method, where a molar mass, a root mean square (rms) radius, a hydronamic radius and an intrinsic viscosity of particles of the system were defined. Furthermore the interactions were studied by calorimetric measurement ITC, where thermodynamic character of complex formation was determined. Additionally, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering methods (DLS and ELS) were applied, where hydrodynamic radius and a value of the zeta potential were defined. Also the effect of higher temperature on the character and complex formation was examined by SEC-MALLS and ITC measurements. The interactions were confirmed at any of the used media, but with different efficiency. It was also proved that complexes become smaller in their radii and viscosity with growing BSA concentration. Furthermore it was proved, that the high ionic strength hinders surface charges of HA and BSA molecules and minimizes their mutual interactions. At the higher ionic strength the radii of the complexes, their intrinsic viscosity and zeta potential are increased. The higher temperature has only minimal effect on the formation of the complexes.

(EN) The formation of brain oedema, which accompanies ischemic or traumatic brain injuries, originates from a disruption of ionic/neurotransmitter homeostasis that leads to extracellular K+ elevation and neurotransmitter accumulation in the extracellular space. An increased uptake of these osmotically active substances, predominantly provided by astrocytes, is accompanied by intracellular water accumulation via aquaporin-4 (AQP4). Since it has been shown that the removal of perivascular AQP4 via the deletion of α- syntrophin, which is the protein responsible for anchoring AQP4 on the astrocytic membrane (Neely et al. 2001), delays oedema formation and K+ clearance (Amiry-Moghaddam et al. 2003), we aimed to elucidate how the alpha-syntrophin deletion affects astrocyte volume changes in the cortex during pathological states, such as hypoosmotic stress or oxygen- glucose deprivation (OGD), using three-dimensional (3D) confocal morphometry in situ. In order to visualize individual astrocytes that lack alpha-syntrophin, double transgenic mice (GFAP/EGFP/α-Syn-/- ) were generated by crossbreeding GFAP-EGFP mice with α- syntrophin knockout mice. 3D-confocal morphometry revealed that alpha-syntrophin deletion did not alter astrocyte swelling during hypoosmotic stress or their recovery in isotonic solution;...

Textilbranschen är en global bransch som kontinuerligt producerar avfall bl.a. genom spill från tillskärningen. För att de globala hållbarhetsmålen ska kunna uppnås krävs mer studier på de olika alternativen för att minimera och eliminera avfallet. Detta är relevant även för en ekonomisk och social hållbarhet. Studien syftar till att undersöka vilka effekter det har på materialåtgången att kombinera flera modeller vid tillskärningen. Den utgår från flera modeller med samma huvudtyg som teoretiskt kan skäras i samma lägg. Det finns flertalet undersökningar på effekterna av att kombinera storlekar vid tillskärning och det är en etablerad lösning för att minimera tygåtgången inom branschen. Dock finns väldigt få undersökningar på effekterna av att kombinera modeller, därför har denna studie begränsats till enbart grundstorlekar. Med hjälp av Lectra Diamino Expert skapades 113 läggbilder, innehållande kombinationer av upp till fem modeller i vardera. Kombinationsläggbildernas längd och effektivitet jämfördes mot varandra och mot kontrolläggbilderna. Skärorderplaneringar baserade på inköpsstatistik och de upprättade läggbilderna gjordes med olika fokus för jämförelser i tygåtgång. Resultatet i studien visar på att vissa modellkombinationer genererar en minskning i tygåtgång och andra en ökning. Detta antas bero på form och relationen mellan stora och små mönsterdelar. / The textile industry is constantly producing waste, including waste from the cutting process. To reach sustainable development goals and reach economic and social sustainability more studies are needed that focus on different alternatives for minimizing and eliminating waste. The study aims to examine different effects of material usage when combining multiple models during the marker-making process. The study use multiple models with the same main fabric that theoretically could be cut in the same lay. Many studies support the positive effects of combining sizes in marker-making, and this is an established solution for minimizing material waste. Few, if any, studies exist on the effects of combining models and therefore this study focuses only on the basic sizes. Using Lectra Diamino Expert, 113 markers were made, each containing combinations of up to five models. Also lay plans based on purchase statistics was executed, this with different focus areas for comparing material usage against control-markers. The results of the study show that some model-combinations result in a decrease, and others in an increase, in material usage. This is assumed to depend on configuration and the relationship between small and large pattern pieces.