The aim of the study was to assess the possibilities in using ground-penetrating radar to identify small-scale stratigraphy in the upper 1 m of a soil profile and to statistically identify differences in the stratigraphic units discovered using the GPR unit. The study area is ca 15 km southwest of Lycksele near a gravel pit on the banks of Örån. It was located on top of a large (>5 m thick) glacifluvial deposit of indeterminate age overlayed by till from the latest deglaciation. The data sampled included 22 radargrams depicting a total length of >1000 m as well as soil samples from three stratigraphic units from three different trenches (9 samples in total). Visual analysis of the stratigraphy took place via trenches as well as by studying the radar images. The radar images show that three stratigraphic units can be identified clearly (ablation till, S1, a transitional layer of mixed till and glacifluvium, S2, and the underlying glacifluvium, S3) but that the border between the two lower units can be opaque at times. Field observations showed this to be due to the genesis of the topmost unit, the ablation till. Observations in the field also showed relict podsolization in a kettle in the northern part of the study area. Grain-size comparison of the three stratigraphic units identified was performed via sieving. Calculations of the weight percentage were then used for statistical analysis to identify any differences between the strata. Results show that there are differences regarding fine material (ø <0.074 mm, p=0.038), gravel (ø > 2 mm, p<0.0001) and sand (p=0.027) within these three stratigraphic units.

Contemporary a geographical imbalance of where palaeoclimatological studies have been undertaken exists, where the majority of palaeodata is based on studies from the northernhemisphere. Multiproxy analysis was performed on a peat core from Lydenburg, north-eastern Mpumalanga, covering the last 1.600 years. Proxy focus was put on fossil grassphytoliths. A general drying trend can be noted from AD 400 to 1000, followed by moremesic conditions around AD 1200. The increasingly mesic conditions were interrupted by asignificantly drier period between c. AD 1250 to 1350. This part of the Lydenburg sequenceoccurs in the end of a climate event termed “Medieval warm period” (MWP), suggested tohave been warmer and variable but mostly wetter in southern Africa. The results are in lineregarding the increased temperature and suggested variability. However, in contrast withearlier findings, significantly drier conditions seem to have prevailed at the Lydenburg fenat the end of “MWP” as interpreted by multiple proxies. Following AD 1400 increasinglymesic conditions was recorded as interpreted by several of the analysed proxies. Morepalaeoenvironmental studies needs to be performed in the area in order to elaborate on thedriving factors of palaeoenvironmental change in the region, as well as to establish if thesignals from the Lydenburg fen record local or regional changes. The results support earlierphytolith studies suggesting that small rondels should be excluded from phytolithassemblages in tropical and sub-tropical areas in Africa. / People, Land, and Time in Africa (PLATINA) / Bokoni project. This MA thesis is part of a transdisciplinary project involving scholars from Sweden and South Africa aiming to understand traces of pre-colonial terraces found in north-easter Mpumalanga, South Africa.

En Antiquité tardive, la communauté des clercs est en pleine formation et apparait de plus en plus souvent dans les inscriptions. D’où l’intérêt de faire ressortir de ces sources la position sociale du clergé, et de poser la question de leur spécificité dans la somme des inscriptions tardo-antiques. D’abord les sources épigraphiques des clercs sont resitués dans le vaste champ des inscriptions de l’Antiquité tardive, avant de mettre en évidence la diversité des inscriptions selon la charge occupée et d’aborder la question de l’(auto-)représentation des clercs. La position sociale du clergé, la fonction des inscriptions du clergé dans le contexte funéraire et un examen des domaines dans lesquels les clercs prennent un rôle actif constituent les chapitres 3 à 5. Dans le catalogue épigraphique (vol. II) sont présentées 847 inscriptions, de genres différents (essentiellement inscriptions funéraires et de construction, éloges versifiés et graffiti) provenant de toute la péninsule italienne. / In Late Antiquity, the community of clerics is considerably expanding and appears henceforth frequently in inscriptions. This is why it is interesting to work out of this type of sources the social position of the clergy and ask for their distinctiveness within late antique inscriptions. At first, epigraphic evidence of clerics is to be resituated in the broad field of late antique inscriptions, before exposing the diversity of the inscriptions depending on the offices held and resolving the question of the clerics’ (self-) portrayal. The social status of the clergy, an analysis of the inscriptions’ role in the funerary context as well as a study of the domains in which clerics appear as proactive people are the central themes of chapter 3 to 5. In the epigraphical catalogue (vol. II) are presented 847 inscriptions of various types (mainly sepulchral and building inscriptions, poems of praise and graffiti), coming from all over the Italian peninsula.

Les XIIe et XIIIe siècles voient se développer les romans arthuriens, en vers puis en prose, qui connaissent encore un vif succès à la fin du Moyen Âge. Alors qu’une mode arthurienne croît dans certaines cours, le roman arthurien doit se renouveler et les auteurs sont pris entre deux exigences. La cohérence de la matière arthurienne reposant en particulier sur une onomastique (toponymes et anthroponymes) sans cesse reprise, les auteurs doivent à la fois conserver uneonomastique identifiable et renouveler personnages et lieux en introduisant de nouveaux noms propres. Nous étudierons ainsi les modalités et les enjeux de l'onomastique dans les romans arthuriens tardifs. Après avoir dressé un bilan des études onomastiques et mis en évidence l'articulation entre les enjeux anthropologiques, les pratiques attestées et la tradition littéraire, nous établirons une typologie des noms propres dans le corpus qui s'appuiera non seulement sur les éditions, mais prendra aussi en charge les variantes attestées par les manuscrits. Nous analyserons également les noms pour leur réalisme et leur pouvoir de suggestion chez le lecteur, et examinerons leur rôle dans la structure de l’intrigue. À partir de la typologie, de l'analyse sémantique et poétique et de l'étude des rapports à l'onomastique réelle, on situera lapratique des romans tardifs et on cernera la spécificité des noms propres dans le corpus choisi. / Arthurian romance develops during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in verse and prose, and still has an important success in the late Middle Ages. Despite an Arthurian fashion taking place in some courts, the Arthurian romance has to be renewed and authors are caught between two requirements. As the consistency of Arthurian romances partly remains in theproper names they share (place names and anthroponyms), authors have to both maintain famous and recognizable proper names, and renew characters and places by introducing new ones. We will study the modalities and the stakes in the proper names used in late Arthurian romances. After making an assessment of the onomastics studies, and highlighting the link between anthropological stakes, documented practices and literary tradition, we will establish a typology of the proper names in the corpus which will be based not only on the editions, but will also consider the actual variants in manuscripts. We will also analyze names for their historical dimension and for their power over the reader’s imagination, and examine the role they play in the plot’s structure. The typology, the semantic and poetic analysis, and the study of the associations with historic onomastics will lead us to situate late novels in the Middle Ages literature and identify the specificity of proper names in the selected corpus.

The breast cancer, the second most common cancer in the world, is the most common among women, accounting for 25% of new cases of cancer each year. Statistics indicate an increase in global incidence. Important changes were signed in the last decade in the modalities of adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments employed in the management of patients with breast cancer. These modifications include the surgical approach, radiotherapy techniques, chemotherapy agents, the routine use of hormonal therapy and the advent of molecular therapies target. All of them have contributed to the positive impact on survival of patients. In the world population, the median survival after five years is 61% to 85% in developed countries, by estimates of the World Health Organization. An increasing prevalence of women survivors are accompanied in late follow-up. However, even after decades, the risk of disease recurrence is maintained. This risk decreases significantly after the first two years of treatment, but it not annulled after more than a decade of recurrence-free survival of breast cancer. The risk factors and interventions that impact on early recurrence are well known, but it this information is not reproducible for late recurrence risk stratification. In this context, the analysis of hormonal receptors (HR), highlighted, estrogen receptors, is used by be related to the incidence of late recurrence of breast cancer. This study aimed to determine the impact of HR on the late tumor recurrence (RTT). The study consisted of data from all patients with RTT, which began monitoring for breast cancer at the University Hospital of Santa Maria between 2000 and 2009. Therefore were analyzed for cases (21) and controls (42) to obtain data on histology and tumor biology, methods of treatment used, and on the characteristics of RTT. The results demonstrated an increased risk RTT associated with advanced stages (moderate or high) of breast cancer (P = 0.01). However the risk of RTT was not associated with the HR profile (P = 0.61) or overexpression of HER-2 oncoprotein (P = 0.48). Also, it was observed that early recurrence risk reduction of breast cancer, obtained with adjuvant therapy, did not extend to the prevention of RTT, which indicates the need for specific routines to prevent RTT. In conclusion, those patients have a significant risk of RTT, regardless of the HR profile. Overall, these patients are not included in most recent studies involving reduction of late risk. / O câncer de mama, segundo tipo mais frequente de câncer no mundo, é o mais comum entre as mulheres, correspondendo por 25% dos casos novos de neoplasias a cada ano. As estatísticas indicam um aumento de sua incidência globalmente. Importantes modificações se firmaram na última década nas modalidades de tratamentos adjuvantes e neoadjuvantes, empregados no manejo das pacientes com câncer de mama. Essas modificações incluem a abordagem cirúrgica, as técnicas de radioterapia, as drogas empregadas na quimioterapia, o uso rotineiro de hormonioterapia e o advento de terapias com alvo molecular. Todas elas têm contribuído para o impacto positivo na sobrevida das pacientes. Na população mundial, a sobrevida média após cinco anos é de 61%, alcançando 85% em países desenvolvidos, conforme estimativas da Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS). Uma prevalência cada vez maior de mulheres sobreviventes são acompanhadas em seguimento tardio. Contudo, mesmo após décadas, o risco de recorrência de doença se mantem. Esse risco reduz de forma significativa após os primeiros dois anos de tratamento, mas não se anula após mais de uma década de sobrevida livre de recorrência (SLR) do câncer de mama. Os fatores de risco e intervenções com impacto sobre a recorrência precoce são bem conhecidos, mas estas informações não são reprodutíveis para estratificação de risco de recorrência tardia. Neste contexto, a análise de receptores hormonais (RH), em destaque, os receptores de estrógenos (RE), é utilizada por guardar relação com a incidência de recorrência tardia do câncer de mama. Este trabalho buscou determinar o impacto destes RH sobre a recorrência tumoral tardia (RTT). O estudo reuniu os dados de todas as pacientes com RTT, que iniciaram acompanhamento por câncer de mama no Hospital Universitário de Santa Maria (HUSM) entre os anos de 2000 e 2009. Portanto, foram analisados casos (21) e controles (42) para obtenção de dados referentes à histologia e biologia tumoral, às modalidades de tratamentos empregados, e quanto às características da RTT. Os resultados demonstraram um risco maior de RTT relacionada a estágios avançados (moderado ou elevado) de câncer de mama (P=0,01). Contudo o risco de RTT não foi associado ao perfil de RH (P=0,61) ou da superexpressão da oncoproteína HER-2 (P=0,48). Ainda, observou-se que a redução de risco de recorrência precoce de câncer de mama, obtida com tratamento adjuvante, não se estendeu à prevenção da RTT, o que aponta a necessidade de rotinas especificas para prevenir RTT. Conclui-se que as pacientes apresentam significativo risco de RTT, independente do perfil de RH. Globalmente, estas pacientes não estão contempladas na maioria dos recentes estudos envolvendo redução de risco tardio.

This thesis contends that the idea of productive sexual continence - that is, abstinence from sexual activity understood as a constructive practice - significantly shaped a branch of thought within and around the British Aesthetic Movement of the late nineteenth century. Recent critical work has stressed sexual liberation or permissiveness as among the values of Aestheticism, and has read Aesthetic representations of continent states as indications of repressed, sublimated, or coded sexuality. Reading these representations through period-specific sexual discourses, I reveal an alternative discursive tradition within Aestheticism, in which the idea of productive sexual continence formed an important part of thinking about the 'aesthetic life', or the life lived according to aesthetic principles. The enquiry privileges the place of sexual ideas and values in the context of the intellectual culture of the Aesthetic Movement, and of the late-Victorian period generally, rather than focusing (as much scholarship has done) upon the writers' 'real-life' sexual behaviour, desires or identities. Sexual continence was often understood in the period as conducive both to individual health and happiness, and to one's relationship with society. At a time when Aesthetic writers were often accused of endorsing excessive individualism and excessive sensuality, this idea facilitated the elaboration of an aesthetic ethic that could incorporate intense sensuous (but not sensual) pleasure and also responsible sociability. After an Introduction that outlines the scope and method of the thesis, Chapter One illustrates the ubiquity of this idea in medical writing (professional and popular) about the sexual body in the period, and within Classical and Christian intellectual discourses commonly drawn upon by Aesthetic authors. Four chapters follow in which roughly the same idea is shown to take a central role in representations of the 'aesthetic life' in the work of four major writers. Chapter Two posits that there were broadly two traditions of reading Walter Pater in the late nineteenth century: one in which he was taken as an apologist for a radical sensual individualism, and another that emphasized his advocacy of restraint and reserve as both stylistic and ethical principles. Informed by early readings in this latter tradition, I demonstrate the plausibility of an interpretation of Pater as carefully distinguishing between aesthetic sensuousness and sensuality. Pater also, I argue, can viably be read as assessing the ideal aesthetic life in terms of health and love, and representing sexual continence as compatible with both. Chapter Three looks at Lionel Johnson's incorporation of this continent ideal into his Christianized cultural humanism, evolved in his letters, poetry, and criticism. In the poetry resistance to temptation is described as a process by which potentially sensual experience is made safely sensuous, while in the letters and criticism can be found admiration for various continent states that reconcile individual aesthetic experience with social responsibility. In Chapter Four, the pre-1900 essays of Vernon Lee are shown to be consistently anti-sensual, while distinguishing this sensuality from a kind of continent sense experience identified as aesthetic, and associated with Pater. Lee also uses this aesthetic sensuousness as a model for ideal - i.e. disinterested and respectful - relations between people, and between people and things. Chapter Five examines the co-existence of this discourse with other, contradictory models of aesthetic living in the work of George Moore. Moore was generally pro-sensual, and considered 'sex' (in the abstract) to be integral to art; but he also associated the production of art with continent states. An alternative, sexually continent Paterian tradition can, I argue, help to account for these discordant moments. A Conclusion briefly indicates the further relevance of such thinking beyond the bounds of the Aesthetic Movement.

Context. One of the key questions of the star formation problem is whether brown dwarfs (BDs) form in the manner of stars directly from the gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud core (star-like) or whether BDs and some very low-mass stars (VLMSs) constitute a separate population that forms alongside stars comparable to the population of planets, for example through circumstellar disk (peripheral) fragmentation. Aims. For young stars in Taurus-Auriga the binary fraction has been shown to be large with little dependence on primary mass above approximate to 0.2 M-circle dot, while for BDs the binary fraction is < 10%. Here we investigate a case in which BDs in Taurus formed dominantly, but not exclusively, through peripheral fragmentation, which naturally results in small binary fractions. The decline of the binary frequency in the transition region between star-like formation and peripheral formation is modelled. Methods. We employed a dynamical population synthesis model in which stellar binary formation is universal with a large binary fraction close to unity. Peripheral objects form separately in circumstellar disks with a distinctive initial mass function (IMF), their own orbital parameter distributions for binaries, and small binary fractions, according to observations and expectations from smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and grid-based computations. A small amount of dynamical processing of the stellar component was accounted for as appropriate for the low-density Taurus-Auriga embedded clusters. Results. The binary fraction declines strongly in the transition region between star-like and peripheral formation, exhibiting characteristic features. The location of these features and the steepness of this trend depend on the mass limits for star-like and peripheral formation. Such a trend might be unique to low density regions, such as Taurus, which host binary populations that are largely unprocessed dynamically in which the binary fraction is large for stars down to M-dwarfs and small for BDs. Conclusions. The existence of a strong decline in the binary fraction - primary mass diagram will become verifiable in future surveys on BD and VLMS binarity in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. The binary fraction -primary mass diagram is a diagnostic of the (non-)continuity of star formation along the mass scale, the separateness of the stellar and BD populations, and the dominant formation channel for BDs and BD binaries in regions of low stellar density hosting dynamically unprocessed populations.

Pour préciser l’architecture du système turbiditique du Congo (marge Ouest-Africaine, Atlantique Sud-Est), et les variations climatiques et paléocéanographiques de la zone au cours du dernier million d’années, on a étudié les variations de la productivité des diatomées sur deux carottes de référence, KZAI-02 et RZCS-26, prélevées respectivement à 248 et 800 Kms de l’embouchure du fleuve. Cette étude est intégrée au projet REPREZAÏ, REtrogradation/PRogradation dans l’Eventail du ZAÏre, Les périodes de forte productivité diatomique sont observées vers le milieu du stade MIS6, le MIS 5d, et durant le MIS 3, liées à l’apport de nutriments, notamment la silice dissoute, par le fleuve. Les faibles taux d’accumulation en diatomées sont enregistrés au début et à la fin du MIS 6, le MIS 5e, le début du MIS 4 et l’Holocène, quand la charge terrigène dans les eaux de surface empêche la mise en place d’une forte productivité. Au large il faut un apport conséquent de silice dissoute via les décharges du fleuve, et une faible consommation de ce nutriment en amont, pour avoir une forte productivité. L’intensification des conditions d’upwelling océanique favorise la productivité diatomique. L’abondance des diatomées d’estuaires saumâtres coïncide avec l’augmentation de l’influence des décharges fluviatiles vers ~230 ka BP, période de mise en place de l’édifice axial du système turbiditique du Congo. Deux études exploratoires ont été menées en complément: L’étude de la variabilité morphométrique de l’espèce Fragilariopsis doliolus qui montre une variation importante de la surface valvaire au cours du Quaternaire ; l’étude des isotopes de la silice qui s’est avérée complexe, à cause du mélange important de silice biogénique et lithogénique dans nos échantillons. / To precise the evolution of the Congo deep sea fan (western African margin, eastern tropical South Atlantic), and the paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic conditions of the zone during the last million years, variations of diatom productivity have been studied on two reference cores, KZAI-02 and RZCS-26, located respectively at 240 and 800 Kms of the Congo river mouth. This study is part of the REPREZAI project, REtrogradation/PRogradation in the ZAÏre deep-sea fan. High diatom accumulation rates were registered during the mid-part of MIS 6, the cold substage MIS 5d and the MIS 3-2, sustained essentially via nutrients, including dissolved silica, injected by the Congo River into the ocean. Low diatom accumulation rates were recorded during the early and late MIS 6, the MIS 5e, the early MIS 4 and the Holocene, when the terrigenous load in surface waters prevent a strong productivity. Further offshore, a substantial dissolved silica input by the discharges of the Congo river, but also a low consumption of this nutrient upstream, are required to have a strong productivity. The intensification of oceanic upwelling conditions also favors the siliceous productivity. The increasing influence of fluvial discharges, marked by a greater abundance of brackish diatoms off the mouth, corresponds fairly well to the establishment of the axial edifice of the Congo deep sea fan around ~ 230 ka BP. Two exploratory studies were conducted in complement: The study of morphometric variability of the diatom species Fragilariopsis doliolus, that highlighted important variation of the valvar surface during the Quaternary; the study of the silica isotopes that proved to be complex, because of important mix of biogenic and lithogenic silica in the samples.

We present the final results from a targeted search for brown dwarfs with unusual near-infrared colors. From a positional cross-match of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), 2-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), and Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) catalogs, we have identified 144 candidate peculiar L and T dwarfs. Spectroscopy confirms that 20 of the objects are peculiar or are candidate binaries. Of the 420 objects in our full sample 9 are young (less than or similar to 200 Myr; 2.1%) and another 8 (1.9%) are unusually red, with no signatures of youth. With a spectroscopic J-K-s color of 2.58 +/- 0.11 mag, one of the new objects, the L6 dwarf 2MASS J03530419 +0418193, is among the reddest field dwarfs currently known and is one of the reddest objects with no signatures of youth known to date. We have also discovered another potentially very-low-gravity object, the L1 dwarf 2MASS J00133470+1109403, and independently identified the young L7 dwarf 2MASS J00440332+0228112, which was first reported by Schneider and collaborators. Our results confirm that signatures of low gravity are no longer discernible in low to moderate resolution spectra of objects older than similar to 200 Myr. The 1.9% of unusually red L dwarfs that do not show other signatures of youth could be slightly older, up to similar to 400 Myr. In this case a red J - K-s color may be more diagnostic of moderate youth than individual spectral features. However, its is also possible that these objects are relatively metal-rich, and thus have enhanced atmospheric dust content.

Abstract The main objective of the present follow-up study was to investigate auditory processing by using auditory event related potentials (ERPs), and language development to determine whether a correlation exists between auditory ERPs and language development. Auditory processing was investigated in very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm children and matched controls at mean ages of 4 and 6 years to determine whether there are differences in ERPs between VLBW preterm children and controls. Language development was measured at the mean ages of 2, 4 and 6 years to investigate the developmental course of language learning and to determine whether a relationship exists between ERPs, especially mismatch negativity (MMN), and language development. Auditory ERPs were also measured in children with AS (mean age 9;1 years) and matched controls to assess whether differences can be found between these two groups of children. Language development in children with AS was not investigated for this study. VLBW preterm children exhibited difficulties in the auditory processing at the level of obligatory ERPs, MMN, late MMN (lMMN) and behavioural tests. Both language comprehension and production were deficient in the preterm group compared to their controls. Lexical development was the most prominent phenomenon differentiating preterm children from their controls. MMN and lMMN amplitudes were attenuated most in children with naming difficulty at the ages of 4 and 6 years. Weak or totally missing MMN at the age of 4 years was mainly found in children with naming difficulties. Children with AS also displayed abnormalities in auditory processing, as indexed by delayed MMN latency. MMN was most delayed in the right hemisphere and specifically for tones. In conclusion: VLBW preterm children and children with AS exhibited difficulties in auditory processing. MMN correlated well with language development in preterm children. Therefore, auditory ERPs, especially MMN, should be used in combination with language measures to identify the children at a risk for deficient auditory processing and language delays.