An area of Shetland is examined in order to identify how Iron Age settlements might have related to each other. The study area contains two brochs. An inter-disciplinary approach is used to identify evidence for other Iron Age settlements and the information is presented as a model illustrating the pattern of settlement at different points during the Iron Age. A distinction is drawn between locations containing field archaeology and locations where occupation is predicted on the basis of evidence such as soil quality or place name. The whole model is then examined in order to identify patterns which may suggest changing relationships between settlements and groups of settlements, and the trends and influences behind these. Next an appraisal is made of the settlements' relative status and authority during Shetland's Early, Middle and Late Iron Age. By looking at the whole landscape through time - before, during and after the Iron Age - the brochs are set in a wider chronological context which takes into account the changing role that these highly visible monuments may have played as socio-economic focal points in a developing landscape. The outcome reveals complexity. Initially the brochs appear to be a focus of settlement patterns but by the end of the Late Iron Age they are rivalled by a non-broch area which shows signs of heightened Pictish influence. Elsewhere in Shetland at this period there is retrenchment to broch-settlements, raising the question of how far developments in the study area are unique to that location.

An area of Shetland is examined in order to identify how Iron Age settlements might have related to each other. The study area contains two brochs. An inter-disciplinary approach is used to identify evidence for other Iron Age settlements and the information is presented as a model illustrating the pattern of settlement at different points during the Iron Age. A distinction is drawn between locations containing field archaeology and locations where occupation is predicted on the basis of evidence such as soil quality or place name. The whole model is then examined in order to identify patterns which may suggest changing relationships between settlements and groups of settlements, and the trends and influences behind these. Next an appraisal is made of the settlements¿ relative status and authority during Shetland¿s Early, Middle and Late Iron Age. By looking at the whole landscape through time - before, during and after the Iron Age ¿ the brochs are set in a wider chronological context which takes into account the changing role that these highly visible monuments may have played as socio-economic focal points in a developing landscape. The outcome reveals complexity. Initially the brochs appear to be a focus of settlement patterns but by the end of the Late Iron Age they are rivalled by a non-broch area which shows signs of heightened Pictish influence. Elsewhere in Shetland at this period there is retrenchment to broch-settlements, raising the question of how far developments in the study area are unique to that location.

Submitted by Ubirajara Cruz (ubirajara.cruz@gmail.com) on 2017-05-08T15:13:03Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertacao_Cristina_Haas.pdf: 1093993 bytes, checksum: 98c20b25abd988ea189ec880c59e615c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2017-05-09T10:51:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao_Cristina_Haas.pdf: 1093993 bytes, checksum: 98c20b25abd988ea189ec880c59e615c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-09T10:51:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao_Cristina_Haas.pdf: 1093993 bytes, checksum: 98c20b25abd988ea189ec880c59e615c (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-02 / A foliculogênese culmina com a ovulação sendo que, em espécies monovulares, apenas um folículo é selecionado, enquanto que os demais entram em processo de atresia. Uma vez que todos os folículos encontram-se sob o mesmo ambiente endócrino, fica evidente que fatores produzidos no ovário são reguladores do crescimento e da diferenciação. Neste contexto, destacam-se fatores pertencentes à superfamília dos fatores de crescimento transformantes beta (TGF-β) e seus receptores. Apesar da grande relevância, a real função dos TGF-β na fisiologia ovariana ainda não foi elucidada. Desta forma, o presente estudo teve por objetivo avançar no entendimento da função e regulação de fatores locais no ovário bovino, avaliando a função do fator de crescimento e diferenciação 9 (GDF9) no crescimento folicular final. Além disso, objetivou-se caracterizar a expressão de membros da família TGF-β, em especial as proteínas morfogenéticas ósseas (BMPs) e seus receptores, na luteinização e ovulação em bovinos. Em um primeiro experimento, a injeção intrafolicular de GDF9 em folículos dominantes (9±0,2 mm de diâmetro), nas concentrações finais de 100 ou 1000 ng/mL, não teve efeito sobre o crescimento folicular final, estro e ovulação (P>0,05). No segundo estudo, utilizando células da granulosa provenientes de folículos pré-ovulatórios (>12 mm), coletados in vivo em diferentes momentos (0, 3, 6, 12 e 24 h) após aplicação i.m de GnRH, a expressão de RNAm das BMPs 1 e 4 não foi regulada. Por outro lado, a expressão de BMP2 aumentou significativamente 3 e 6 h após GnRH (P<0,05). A expressão dos receptores BMPR2 e TGFBR1 aumentou significativamente 12 h após tratamento, enquanto que os receptores BMPR-1A e -1B foram mais expressos 0 e 12 h após GnRH. Os níveis de progesterona no fluído folicular decresceram linearmente com o aumento da expressão de BMPR-1A (R2=0,49) e -1B (R2=0,5). O aumento na expressão de TGFBR1 determinou uma diminuição quadrática nos níveis de progesterona (R2=0,45). O aumento na expressão de BMP2 (R2=0,4) e BMPR1A (R2=0,28) determinou um aumento na concentração de estradiol, apresentando efeito linear e quadrático, respectivamente. Por outro lado, os níveis de estrógeno decresceram linearmente com o aumento na expressão de BMPR2 (R2=0,31). Os dados sugerem que a elevação nos níveis de GDF9 em folículos diferenciados não altera o destino dos mesmos. A expressão da BMP2 está associada a maiores níveis de estradiol, enquanto que a expressão dos receptores de BMPs sugere uma inibição no processo de luteinização. A elucidação do papel dos fatores locais na fisiologia ovariana contribui com o entendimento de patologias reprodutivas e desenvolvimento de tecnologias com fins de contracepção ou aumento da taxa ovulatória. / Antral follicle development culminates with ovulation and, in monovulatory species, only one follicle is selected to grow whereas all the others undergo atresia. During these processes, all the follicles are under the same endocrine environment, indicating the participation of locally produced factors in the regulation of follicular growth and differentiation. In this context, the involvement of transforming growth factors-beta (TGF-β) family members and their receptors is highlighted. Despite their high relevance, the real functions of TGF-β proteins in ovarian physiology is still poorly understood. In this regard, the aim of this study was to gain insight into the function and regulation of ovarian factors, investigating the function of growth and differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) during dominant follicle growth. Furthermore, we tested the hypothesis that TGF-β members, especially bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and their receptors are regulated during luteinization and ovulation processes in cattle. In a first experiment, the intrafollicular injection of GDF9 in dominant follicles (9±0.2 mm diameter) at final concentrations of 100 and 1000ng/mL did not affect follicular growth, estrus manifestation and ovulation (P>0.05). In a second study, using granulosa cells from preovulatory follicles (>12mm), collected in vivo at different time-points (0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h) after GnRH treatment, mRNA expression of BMPs 1 and 4 was not regulated. By the other size, BMP2 expression was significantly upregulated at 3 and 6 h (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of BMPR2 and TGFBR1 increased 12 h after GnRH treatment (P<0.05), whereas the receptors BMPR-1A and -1B were more expressed at the moment (0 h) and 12 h after GnRH injection. Follicular fluid progesterone concentrations decreased linearly with increased BMPR-1A (R2=0.49) and -1B (R2=0.5) mRNA expression. The increase in TGFBR1 had a negative quadratic effect on progesterone concentration (R2=0.45). The increase in BMP2 (R2=0.4) and BMPR1A (R2=0.28) determined an increase in estradiol, having linear and quadratic effects, respectively. By the other side, follicular fluid estradiol concentrations decreased linearly with increased BMPR2 (R2=0.31) expression. Collectively, the results suggest that increasing the levels of GDF9 in differentiated follicles does not affect their fate. BMP2 expression is associates to high levels of estradiol in follicular fluid, whereas BMPRs expression suggests an inhibitory effect on luteinization. Elucidating the functions of local factors in ovarian physiology would allow to better understand pathological processes and the development of technologies for contraception or, paradoxally, to increase ovulation rates.

The taxonomic composition, structure, and diversity of current local species assemblages results from an interacting complex of historical, regional ecological and local ecological factors. Structural differences between such current species assemblages are primarily determined by changing ecological conditions across spatial gradients. These conditions may change abruptly or they may represent a gradual divergence. Across the Botswana Kalahari basin there is a gradual northeast-southwest aridity and dung type gradient, which was demonstrated to strongly influence dung beetle assemblage structure at six study sites from Chobe National Park to the Central Kalahari Reserve to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park using carrion and four dung types as bait (pig, elephant, cattle, sheep). Regional patterns were primarily influenced by climate (rainfall) while dung type mainly showed a local influence on patterns of variation. Four distinct biogeographical groups were defined for the study region comprising widespread, northeast/widespread, northeast, and arid southwest Kalahari-centred species. Biogeographical diversity was higher in the more mesic NE than the arid SW but varied somewhat between bait types. In the SW, Kalahari endemics dominated all bait types. In general, abundance and species richness declined along the aridity gradient although the pattern was uneven due to low numbers in the north of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Species showed high turnover (beta – diversity), particularly between the moister NE and the Kalahari/Savanna ecotone. Hierarchical Analysis of Oblique Factors showed statistically distinct separation between assemblage structure at the six study sites and that the proportion of mesic NE shared influence on assemblage composition declined towards the SW where there was an increase in Kalahari endemics. Similarly the proportion of arid SW shared influence declined towards the NE. Plotting these results onto a map showed that the point of intersection between shared NE or SW influence lay very close to the ecotone between SW (Kalahari Xeric Savanna) and NE-centred ecoregions (Acacia-Baikiaea Savanna) defined for the area by Olson et al. (2001). In terms of dung type diversity, increasing aridity across the Kalahari represents a gradient of diminishing resources with the loss of large dung types to the SW and increasing dominance of dung pellets. Several different patterns of response were shown using different methods. Four principal patterns of bait type association were indicated by one method. Another method showed that, rather than diminishing numbers of competing species leading to widening niche widths to the SW, niche widths were narrowest at the Kalahari / mesic Savanna ecotone. Using several other multivariate techniques, three different patterns of dung type resource partitioning were demonstrated that paralleled the aridity gradient, one common to the NE and two to the SW. The historical, regional and local ecological factors influencing these patterns of dung beetle assemblage structure are discussed as well as implications and recommendations for conservation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Sweden has once been an emigration country, but as the years went by and as the world is in constant change, it turned into an immigration country. One of the most debated questions politically and economically is the employment gap between immigrants and natives. The available studies have mainly described the employment gap between immigrants and natives by human capital factors and discrimination on the labour market. The goal of this paper is to discover the correlation between the local factors and the employment gap between European, non-European immigrants and natives, on municipality level while controlling for education level and gender. Using data from Statistics Sweden and SKR, and an OLS multiple linear regression, we could capture this effect. The local factors studied are the unemployment rate, share of immigrants, share of low-skilled jobs and the size of the municipality. The overall results suggest that the region of birth does have an impact on the employment gap between immigrants and natives, where the biggest gap is between the non-European immigrants and the natives, which is in line with previous studies. Furthermore, both Europeans’ and non-Europeans’ employment rate is mostly correlated with the municipality size followed by the local unemployment rate. Taking the limitations of this paper into account, these results are only an indication and further studies need to be made to further insure the correlation between the local factors and the employment rate.

The aim of this thesis is to model the dynamics of international term structure of interest rates taking into consideration several dependence channels.Thanks to a new international Treasury yield curve database, we observe that the explained variability decision criterion, suggested by the literature, is not able to select the best combination of factors characterizing the joint dynamics of yield curves. We propose a new methodology based on the maximisation of the likelihood function of a Gaussian state-space model with common and local factors. The associated identification problem is solved in an innovative way. By estimating several sets of countries, we select two global (and three local) factors which are also useful to forecast macroeconomic variables in each considered economy.In addition, our method allows us to detect hidden factors in the international bond returns. They are not visible through a classical principal component analysis of expected bond returns but they are helpful to forecast inflation and industrial production. Keywords: International treasury yield curves, common and local factors, state-space models, EM algorithm, International bond risk premia, principal components.

Within this diploma thesis were evaluated factors, affecting consumption of drinking water from water supply system. Evaluation of time series of water consumption and chosen factors was performed using tools of mathematical statistics. In the last step was performed a dependence analysis of water consumption using artificial neuron network ANN. Diploma thesis was solved in cooperation with company Vodárenská akciová společnost, PLC and Severomoravské vodovody a kanalizace Ostrava, PCL.

Cette thèse concerne la modélisation de la dynamique des courbes des taux internationales avec prise en compte de plusieurs canaux de dépendance. A l’aide d’une nouvelle base de données des taux souverains internationaux, nous observons que le critère de la variabilité expliquée, proposé par la littérature, n’est pas capable de sélectionner une meilleure combinaison des facteurs décrivant la dynamique jointe des courbes des taux. Nous proposons une méthode nouvelle de section des facteurs fondée sur la maximisation de vraisemblance d’un modèle espace-état linéaire gaussien avec facteurs communs et locaux. Le problème d’identification associée est résolu d’une façon novatrice. En estimant différents combinaisons de pays, nous sélectionnons des deux facteurs globaux et trois locaux ayant un pouvoir prédictif des variables macro-économiques (activité économique et taux d’inflation) dans chaque économie considérée. Notre méthode nous permet aussi de détecter des facteurs cachés dans les rendements obligataires. Ils ne sont pas visibles à travers une analyse classique en composant principales des rendements obligataires et ils contribuent à la prévision du taux d’inflation et du taux de croissance de la production industrielle. / The aim of this thesis is to model the dynamics of international term structure of interest rates taking into consideration several dependence channels.Thanks to a new international Treasury yield curve database, we observe that the explained variability decision criterion, suggested by the literature, is not able to select the best combination of factors characterizing the joint dynamics of yield curves. We propose a new methodology based on the maximisation of the likelihood function of a Gaussian state-space model with common and local factors. The associated identification problem is solved in an innovative way. By estimating several sets of countries, we select two global (and three local) factors which are also useful to forecast macroeconomic variables in each considered economy.In addition, our method allows us to detect hidden factors in the international bond returns. They are not visible through a classical principal component analysis of expected bond returns but they are helpful to forecast inflation and industrial production. Keywords: International treasury yield curves, common and local factors, state-space models, EM algorithm, International bond risk premia, principal components.