A cardiomiopatia hipertrófica (CMH) é a principal cardiopatia dos felinos e é caracterizada por hipertrofia miocárdica concêntrica, sem dilatação ventricular. Disfunções miocárdicas ocorrem em gatos com CMH, mas pouco se conhece a respeito destas alterações nos estágios iniciais da afecção. Em gatos da raça Maine Coon, a mutação no gene MyBPC-A31P está relacionada com a CMH de origem familial, porém, a correlação exata entre o genótipo e o fenótipo ainda é inconclusiva. A ecocardiografia tecidual é uma modalidade não invasiva que permite avaliação da função miocárdica e é mais sensível que a ecocardiografia convencional. Para avaliar a função sistólica e diastólica, antes ou após a ocorrência de hipertrofia ventricular, gatos da raça Maine Coon (n=57), geneticamente testados para a mutação, foram avaliados por meio de ecocardiografia convencional e tecidual (nas modalidades Doppler tecidual pulsado, Doppler tecidual colorido e strain). Posteriormente, foram fenotipicamente classificados em: normais (n=45), suspeitos (n=7) e acometidos pela CMH (n=5); e genotipicamente classificados em: negativos (n=28), heterozigotos (n=26) e homozigotos para a mutação (n=3). Valores de velocidades miocárdicas (Doppler tecidual pulsado e colorido) e valores de strain, medidos na região basal e média do septo interventricular (SIV), da parede livre do ventrículo esquerdo (PVE), da parede anterior do ventrículo esquerdo (PAVE), da parede posterior do ventrículo esquerdo (PPVE) e do segmento radial da PVE, foram comparados nos diferentes grupos. Observou-se que as velocidades longitudinais Em (Doppler tecidual pulsado) na região média da PVE foram menores nos gatos com CMH quando comparados com suspeitos e normais. Os valores de Em/Am (Doppler tecidual colorido), na região basal do SIV, foram inferiores nos gatos com CMH quando comparados com suspeitos e normais. A relação E/Em (Doppler tecidual colorido), na região basal do SIV, foi maior nos gatos com CMH em relação aos suspeitos e normais. E os valores de Sm (Doppler tecidual colorido), em região basal da PVE, foram menores nos gatos heterozigotos em relação aos negativos, ambos sem hipertrofia ventricular. Observou-se correlação positiva entre a ocorrência de fusão das ondas Em e Am e a frequência cardíaca; e correlação positiva entre valores de Sm e Em e a frequência cardíaca (Doppler tecidual pulsado e colorido). Enquanto à ecocardiografia convencional observou-se um estado de contratilidade aparentemente normal, os valores de strain (em região média do SIV) nos gatos com CMH foram inferiores aos dos gatos normais. Valores de strain (em região basal da PAVE) também foram menores nos gatos heterozigotos em relação aos negativos, antes mesmo da hipertrofia ventricular. Observou-se correlação negativa entre valores de strain e espessura miocárdica. A ecocardiografia tecidual é uma nova modalidade ecocardiográfica reprodutível em gatos que, isoladamente, não permite a identificação de gatos com mutação antes do desenvolvimento de hipertrofia. O strain possibilita a detecção de anormalidades sistólicas em gatos da raça Maine Coon, apesar da aparente normalidade à ecocardiografia convencional. Apesar da expectativa em relação ao uso da ecocardiografia tecidual para a identificação precoce de indivíduos portadores da CMH, ainda há necessidade de estudos mais extensos e com maior número de indivíduos. / Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common feline heart disease and is characterized by increased cardiac mass with a hypertrophied nondilated left ventricle. Myocardial dysfunction occurs in cats with HCM but less is known about dysfunctions in initial stages of HCM. A mutation in MYBPC-A31P gene has been identified in a colony of Maine Coon cats with HCM. However, the close correlation between genotype and phenotype still be inconclusive. Myocardial analysis by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is a noninvasive echocardiographic method to assess systolic and diastolic function that is more sensitive than conventional echocardiography. To evaluate diastolic and systolic function in cats with mutation, with or without ventricular hypertrophy, Maine Coon cats (n=57) were screened for mutation and examined with both echocardiography and TDI (pulsed tissue Doppler, color tissue Doppler and Strain methods). Then, were phenotypically classified in: normal (n=45), suspects (n=7) and HCM group (n=5); and genotypically classified in: negative (n=28), heterozygous (n=26) and homozygous group (n=3). Myocardial velocities (by pulsed and color tissue Doppler imaging) and peak myocardial strain, measured in the basal and mildventricular segment of the interventricular septal wall (IVS), left ventricular free wall (LVW), left ventricular anterior wall (LVAW), left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) and radial segment of LVW, was compared among different groups. A decreased longitudinal Em velocities (pulsed tissue Doppler) at the mildventricular segment of LVW was observed in HCM cats compared with suspects and normal cats. A decreased longitudinal Em/Am (color tissue Doppler) at the basal segment of IVS was observed in HCM cats compared with suspects and normal cats. A significant increased longitudinal E/Em (color tissue Doppler) at the basal segment of IVS was observed in HCM cats compared with suspects and normal cats. And a significant decreased longitudinal Sm (color tissue Doppler) at the basal segment of the LVW was observed in heterozygous cats compared with negative cats, both without hypertrophy. There was a positive correlation between summated early and late diastolic velocities (EmAm) and heart rate; and a positive correlation between Sm and Em velocities and heart rate, both in pulsed and in color TDI. Whereas conventional echocardiography demonstrated an apparently normal contractile state, myocardial strain (at mildventricular segment of IVS) in HCM cats was decreased compared with normal group. Myocardial strain (at basal segment of LVAW) also was decreased in heterozygous cats compared with negative group; and was decreased in heterozygous cats compared with negative group, both without ventricular hypertrophy. And there was a negative correlation between strain values and wall thickness. TDI analyses are a new, valuable and reproducible method in cats that alone is not able to identify cats with mutation before myocardial hypertrophy. Strain method allows noninvasive detection of abnormal systolic deformation in Maine Coons cats with HCM mutation despite apparently normal left ventricular systolic function. Despite high expectations regarding the use of TDI for early identification of individuals with HCM, there is still need for larger studies with greater numbers of individuals.

Sabe-se que um dos principais problemas odontológicos na clínica de felinos é a gengivite crônica e intratável. Tal afecção pode ser iniciada e/ou exacerbada por agentes virais, como o vírus da imunodeficiência dos felinos (FIV), o Herpesvírus tipo 1 e o Calicivírus. Os gatos da raça Maine Coon apresentam grande predisposição ao desenvolvimento de gengivite-estomatite juvenil e intratável. A depleção de linfócitos T CD4+ e T CD8+ pode exercer papel determinante na iniciação e manutenção das doenças inflamatórias da gengiva. O escopo do presente estudo foi verificar se os animais da raça Maine Coon são mais predispostos à calicivirose, bem como avaliar quantitativamente a resposta imunológica celular, mediada por linfócitos TCD4+ e TCD8+, visando a correlacionar à influência do número de linfócitos na presença e curso da gengivite nesta determinada raça, utilizando-se como controle gatos de outras raças com e sem gengivite. Os valores absolutos médios de linfócitos totais em Maine Coons com gengivite crônica mostraram-se inferiores aos de gatos da raça Maine Coon sem doença oral e de gatos de outras raças com gengivite crônica (p<0,05); os valores médios de linfócitos TCD4+ em Maine Coons com gengivite crônica mostraram-se inferiores quando comparados aos valores de animais da mesma raça, sem doença oral instalada (p<0,05); animais da raça Maine Coon possuem menor relação CD4+:CD8+ quando comparados a animais de outras raças com gengivite crônica e também quando comparados a Maine Coons sem doença oral (p<0,05). O calicivírus está altamente relacionado à ocorrência da gengivite, independentemente da raça estudada, não havendo maior prevalência na raça Maine Coon. O efeito do calicivírus não foi significativo nas alterações de nenhuma das variáveis celulares estudadas. Tais fatos apontam para uma possível predisposição racial ao quadroinflamatório gengival, com alteração de alguns componentes celulares relacionados à imunidade celular. Isto tem como fator importante alertar o clínico frente ao uso de glicocorticóides no tratamento da gengivite crônica nesta raça, visando a evitar maior comprometimento da imunidade celular destes animais. / Chronic untreatable feline gingivitis is widely recognized as one of the major oral diseases seen in feline patients. It can be either triggered or exacerbated by virus such as feline immunodeficiency virus, feline herpesvirus type 1 and calicivirus. One may therefore propose that lymphocytes T CD4+ and T CD8+ depletion can play an important role in initiating and maintaining the inflammatory gingival disease. Maine Coon cats are highly predisposed to juvenile untreatable gingivitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether Maine Coon cats are more predisposed to calicivirus infection and to verify, quantitatively, their immunological cellular response mediated by lymphocytes T CD4+ and TCD8+. The main idea was to investigate the influence imposed by lymphocyte counts in gingivitis development and progression within this breed; for this, we selected non-Maine Coon cats (with and without gingivitis) to serve as controls. Mean absolute values of total lymphocytes in Maine Coon cats presented with gingivitis were inferior than the same values taken for both Maine Coon cats free of oral disease and non-Maine Coon cats with chronic gingivitis (p<0,05); lymphocytes TCD4+ average values in Maine Coon cats with chronic gingivitis were also lower than the ones taken from cats of the same breed but without oral disease (p<0,05). Maine Coon cats have lower CD4+:CD8+ ratio when compared to non-Maine Coon cats with chronic gingivitis as well as with Maine Coon cats without oral disease (p<0,05). The calicivirus is highly involved with the occurrence of gingivitis, no matter the breed being evaluated. The action virus imposes in changing cellular immunology was not significant, at least considering the cellular variables studied. All these lead us to point out a possible breed predisposition to the gingival inflammation, with modification of some cellular components related with cellular immunity. Furthermore, concerning practical terms, these results serve as a relevant alert to the clinicians regarding the use of glucocorticoids for treating chronic gingivitis in this breed, in order to prevent further impairment of cellular immunity of these animals.

Architecture, it genuinely conceived and thoughtfully executed, can help to bring meaning and understanding to our existence. lt can evoke emotions that touch us, recall a memory long thought lost, mark and signal the passage of time, inspire us to do great things, and provide us with warmth and security even for a short while. Architecture can play host to our dreams. It is the role of the architect to create fragmentary places that stand as enclaves, as pockets of intolerance that resist the placelessness of modern culture, and that allow us to reach these ends. / Master of Architecture

La présente thèse étudie la genèse de la communauté canadienne-française de Lewiston, Maine, avant 1880, en Insistant sur les liens étroits entretenus par le développement du capitalisme, les phénomènes migratoires et l'évolution sociale et culturelle. Elle se distingue donc des travaux antérieurs, qui portent généralement sur la période 1880-1920 et qui ont pour thèmes la survivance et l'assimilation du groupe Immigrant. Notre étude se fonde sur le dépouillement de sources de type quantitatif et qualitatif, notamment les fiches manuscrites des recensements fédéraux américains, les registres d'état civil, les archives municipales, des rapports gouvernementaux et des historiques paroissiaux et de sociétés nationales. La première partie de la thèse porte sur le milieu d'accueil et sur le milieu d'origine des Canadiens français. L'auteur y aborde l'évolution de Lewiston en Insistant sur l'Industrialisation de la localité, qui résulte en la formation d'une classe ouvrière et en la transformation des structures municipales. Le Québec du 19e siècle connaît aussi une mutation profonde sous l'effet de la pénétration du capitalisme commercial qui, al Hé à des problèmes d'ordre démographique et agricole, provoque des migrations de masse. En traçant le portrait du migrant de Lewiston, l'auteur est en mesure de confirmer certaines hypothèses et de jeter un éclairage nouveau sur l'émigration des Canadiens français. Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, l'auteur se penche sur la communauté canadienne-française de Lewiston entre 1860 et 1880. Il analyse la condition ouvrière qui était le lot de la majorité des migrants, en faisant ressortir le rôle central de la famille, l'Importance de la manufacture dans la vie quotidienne, une vie presque toujours vécue sous le signe de la pauvreté, voire de la misère. Les problèmes connexes de la mobilité sociale et de la formation d'une petite-bourgeoisie sont aussi abordés. Le dernier chapitre s'attarde aux structures d'encadrement du groupe de migrants: la paroisse, centre de la vie sociale- les sociétés, fondées à des fins d'entraide, de survivance et d'adaptation culturelle; l'école paroissiale, Instrument de contrôle social. L'étude se termine par une analyse des pratiques politiques et des relations ethniques dans la ville textile. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2013

No description available.

No description available.

Population structure and vital rates of Gulf of Maine (GOM) humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, were studied by a combination of longitudinal data, region-wide surveys and modern mark-recapture statistical methods. Demography and rates of exchange were examined among six GOM areas. Juveniles and females were preferentially encountered in southern GOM habitats, including at the Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS). Multi-state modelling also revealed unequal probabilities of movement between areas that was not explained by inter-area distance, adjacency, whale density or dominant prey type. Aerial surveys and photo-identification data indicated that the population was likely closed to migration between June and September. Otherwise, seasonal trends in population composition were consistent the demographically staggered migration reported in other oceans. Over-wintering occurred,but there was little evidence that a significant number of humpback whales failed to undertake or complete migration each year. Vital rates varied with sex, age and time. Juveniles exhibited lower and more variable survival than adults and so were a potential source of downward bias in “non-calf” survival estimates. Males exhibited higher survival than females and achieved maximal survival at age five, the estimated age at male puberty. By contrast, females did not reach peak survival until the current average age at first birth (8.78 years, s = 2.33). The latter was significantly higher than previous estimates and females that recruited by age seven had a lower likelihood of subsequent survival than those that recruited late. Costs of reproduction persisted into adulthood, with breeders exhibiting lower survival than nonbreeders. Calves born during years of low fecundity exhibited lower survival than those born when fecundity was high, possibly due to lower maternal investment. Costs of reproduction have not previously been described in cetaceans, but are consistent with the risks potentially associated with capital breeding.

No description available.

Parmi l'ensemble des recherches consacrées à l'étude du mouvement "nativiste" (ou de xénophobie) aux Etats-Unis, peu ont abordé le problème sous l'angle des victimes. Certes, plusieurs historiens évoquent de temps à autre les effets à long terme sur le plan de l'assimilation. Mais aucun chercheur n'a encore lâché d'expliquer comment un groupe victime de xénophobie réagit face à cette intolérance. Quel est le rôle des élites dans la formulation du discours et des comportements défensifs? Les vagues nativistes affectent-elles la cohésion interne d'une communauté, et si oui, comment? Le présent mémoire propose donc de jeter un nouveau regard sur cette réalité historique en analysant le cas des Franco-Américains de l'Etat du Maine après la Première Guerre Mondiale. L'absence d'une historiographie pertinente sur le plan conceptuel nous incite donc à emprunter le cadre théorique de notre recherche aux autres sciences sociales, en particulier à la psychologie sociale qui a développé des grilles d'analyse propres à l'étude des comportements individuels et collectifs en société. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2013

Pelagic forage fishes play critical roles in productive marine food webs by providing a link between zooplankton and piscivores and transferring energy from feeding grounds to other ecosystems. The amount of energy moved to higher trophic levels or new systems is directly linked to the consumption rate of pelagic forage fishes. In the Gulf of Maine, Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is the dominant forage fish; the purpose of this study is to determine their specific consumption rate (g prey/g fish/day). Using fish collected in autumn 2012 and spring 2013, we applied a mercury mass-balance model to estimate individual and population consumption of Atlantic herring in the Gulf of Maine. Our results suggest that the specific consumption rate increases from age 1.5 until age 6 (years) and then asymptotes. These estimates were contradictory to much of what exists in the literature; for most fishes, specific consumption estimates decrease with age and overall are much lower than our estimates. We looked further into our results to explore the underlying cause of the increase in specific consumption rate. We combined the mercury mass-balance model with a Wisconsin (WI) bioenergetics model and ran several simulations adjusting the most sensitive factors in each--prey mercury in the former and activity in the latter. The results of our simulations showed that an increase in activity relative to age and mass can best explain the increase in the consumption rate of Adult herring. This suggests that an ontogenetic shift to migration in adult Atlantic herring results in increased energy demand with age, and ultimately increased consumption.