INTRODUÇÃO: o câncer de mama é uma doença heterogênea. Há necessidade de critérios diagnósticos e prognósticos mais refinados. O emprego da imunohistoquímica, através do painel prognóstico, fez despontar a figura do carcinoma triplonegativo e, da mesma forma, a histogenética trouxe à evidência o carcinoma basal. Paralelamente, o conhecimento sobre a origem biológica das neoplasias e da sua heterogeneidade vem sendo acentuadamente debatido através do tema das células-tronco tumorais. OBJETIVOS: investigar a prevalência de carcinomas basais e pentanegativos, numa amostra de carcinomas triplonegativos, e estabelecer associações com a expressão de células-tronco tumorais nestes tumores. Verificar diferenças entre estes subtipos com as variáveis clinicopatológicas. MÉTODOS: 94 carcinomas mamários triplonegativos foram testados para CK5/6, HER1, CD44 e CD24. As expressões desses marcadores por imuno-histoquímica automatizada foram avaliadas através de escore simples de positividade (porcentagem de células) e correlacionadas com os dados clínico-patológicos e análise de sobrevivência. RESULTADOS: carcinomas basais apresentam maior grau tumoral que carcinomas pentanegativos (p=0,004). A negatividade para CD44 (p=0,007) e o perfil CD44- CD24+ (p=0,013) foram associados com maior invasão vascular entre carcinomas triplonegativos. A expressão de CD44 foi associada aos carcinomas basais (p=0,007). O perfil CD44-CD24-/low foi associado aos carcinomas pentanegativos (p=0,04). Nenhuma das variáveis em estudo foi associada com os desfechos clínicos. CONCLUSÃO: Carcinomas mamários basais e pentanegativos são subtipos tumorais bastante próximos. Nosso estudo é o primeiro desenhado especificamente para avaliar a presença células tronco-tumorais mamárias entre carcinomas basais e pentanegativos, onde o perfil CD44-CD24-/low foi associado ao subtipo pentanegativo, e o perfil CD44-CD24+ à invasão vascular, resultados que merecem confirmação por histogenética em estudos de maior porte. / INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and there is a need for more refined diagnostic and prognostic criteria. Immunohistochemistry, as a breast prognostic panel, has given rise to triple-negative carcinoma, as well as histogenetics highlighted basal carcinoma. Concomitantly, the understanding of the biological origins of neoplasia and its heterogeneity has been strongly debated through the theme of cancer stem cells. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of basal and penta-negative carcinomas in a sample of triple-negative carcinomas and to establish associations with cancer stem cells (CD44/CD24 expression profiles) and the clinicopathological variables within these tumors. METHODS: Ninety-four triplenegative breast carcinomas were tested for CK5/6, HER1, CD44 and CD24. The expression of these markers was evaluated by automated immunohistochemistry using a simple positivity score (percentage of cells) and was correlated with the clinicopathological and survival analysis data. RESULTS: Basal carcinomas had higher tumor grades than penta-negative carcinomas (p=0.004). CD44 negativity (p=0.007) and the CD44-CD24+ phenotype (p=0.013) were associated with increased vascular invasion amongst the triple-negative carcinomas. CD44 expression was associated with basal carcinomas (p=0.007). The CD44-CD24-/low phenotype was associated with penta-negative carcinomas. None of the variables in the study were associated with clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Basal and penta-negative breast carcinomas are closely related tumor subtypes. Our study is the first to be specifically designed to assess the presence of breast cancer stem cells in basal and pentanegative carcinomas. The CD44-CD24-/low phenotype was associated with the pentanegative subtype, and the CD44-CD24+ phenotype was associated with vascular invasion. These results require histogenetic confirmation in larger studies.

gcpriale@hotmail.com / Objective: Identify the frequency of negative appendectomy (NA) and associated factors associated in a private hospital in Lima. Methods: Retrospective study of all appendectomies performed between 2012 and 2013 at a private hospital of Lima-Peru. We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent appendectomy and had a medical report of emergency. We excluded the ones without pathology reports. Adjusted ORs were calculated with a logistic regression model to identify factors associated with AN. Results: Three hundred seventy-six appendectomies were performed for suspected appendicitis 55.9% in women). The average patient age was 33.4 ± 17.6 years. We identified 28 AN cases of 363 patients (7.7%). We found that pain in right flank (aOR: 5.4; 95%CI: 1.4-20.8), negative Mc Burney (aOR: 3.6; 95%CI: 1.3- 10.5), pain in hypogastrium (aOR: 3.1; 95%CI: 1.1-8.4) and no leucocitosis (aOR: 2.9; 95%CI: 1.2-6.7) were associated factors to AN. Gynecologic conditions (53.6%) and complicated diverticular disease (14.3%) are the most common diagnosis in AN cases. Conclusion: The obtained results indicate that the presence of pain in the right flank, negative Mc Burney, pain in hypogastrium and no leukocytosis are factors that can be taken into account to prevent negative appendectomy. / Objetivo: Identificar la frecuencia de apendicectomías negativas (AN) y los factores asociados en una clínica privada de Lima. Métodos: Estudio retrospectivo de todas las apendicectomías realizadas entre los años 2012 y 2013 en una clínica privada de Lima-Perú. Se revisó las historias clínicas de pacientes apendicectomizados que contaron con historia clínica de emergencia e informe quirúrgico. Se excluyó a aquellos que no contaban con informe anatomopatológico del apéndice. Se calculó los OR ajustados con un modelo de regresión logística para identificar los factores asociados con AN. Resultados: Se realizaron 376 apendicectomías durante el periodo 2012-2013. Se excluyó 13 casos por no contar con registro de historia clínica. La población femenina fue de 55.9%. La media de edad del paciente fue 33.4 ± 17.6 años. En 28 de 363 pacientes (7.7%) se registró una AN. Se encontró que el dolor en flanco derecho (ORa: 5.4; IC95%: 1.4-20.8), Mc Burney negativo (ORa: 3.6; IC95%: 1.3-10.5), dolor en hipogastrio (ORa: 3.1; IC95%: 1.1-8.4), y no leucocitosis (ORa: 2.9; IC95%: 1.2-6.7) son factores asociados a una AN. Las patologías más frecuentemente implicadas en el caso de una AN fueron las de causa ginecológica (53.6%) seguida de enfermedad diverticular complicada (14.3%). Conclusión: Los resultados obtenidos indican que la presencia de dolor en hipogastrio, dolor en flanco derecho, Mc Burney negativo y no leucocitosis son factores que se pueden tener en cuenta para prevenir apendicectomías negativas.

In recent years, negativity has become a dominant theme in the political campaign. However, there are no comprehensive studies to measure the amount of negativity and to examine how parties and candidates adopt these negative strategies, particularly in the Canadian context. Although some studies have focused on a particular aspect of negative campaigning in a Canadian election, the question remains of how and to what extent parties adopt negative strategies in an election. In this thesis, I have collected and analyzed parties’ press releases in the 2015 federal election to examine and explain negativity in parties’ political campaigns. I have tested my results according to five primary theories of negative campaigning, including competitive positioning, ideological proximity, party organization, coalition or minority effect, and negative personalization, to see if these theories apply in the Canadian context. My results indicate that the 2015 federal campaign was a highly negative one, and most of the negative attacks have been directed towards the leader of the Conservative Party, Stephen Harper, while the Conservative Party published the least amount of negative attacks during the campaign. I also found that the Liberal Party has published the most negative statements during the campaign. My results also show that one of the influential factors in shaping parties’ negative campaign strategies is the other parties’ status in public opinion polls, particularly the federal voting intention factor. Although the results show that most of the attacks in the 2015 campaign targeted leaders of parties, I did not find enough support in my models to verify the negative personalization theory. The overall findings of this thesis show that Canadian elections are moving toward a presidential-style campaign, similar to the United States, by becoming more negative and more personalized, which can have significant implications for Canadian democracy.

Abstract Purpose - The purpose of this study is to extend the current understanding of NCE and its antecedents. Design/methodology/approach - A deductive approach was used to confirm the proposed model of NCE using structural equation modeling. Data was collected online using self-selection questionnaires, resulting in 252 responses used in the quantitative analysis. Seven hypotheses were tested in the analysis.  Findings - The primary findings of the study is that perceived injustice acts as an antecedent of cognitive and affective NCE, which in turn drive behavioral NCE. Accordingly, the proposed tri-dimensional framework of NCE, consisting of a cognitive, affective, and behavioral component, was supported. Negative service quality disconfirmation was not supported as an antecedent of NCE.  Originality/value - The originality of the paper lies in the testing of NCE and the proposed drivers as a unique construct, which has not previously been tested in quantitative research.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第18469号 / 工博第3905号 / 新制||工||1599(附属図書館) / 31347 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科機械理工学専攻 / (主査)教授 西脇 眞二, 教授 椹木 哲夫, 教授 松原 厚 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In this dissertation, a beyond-CMOS approach to Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) design is investigated using exploratory transistors including Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (TFET), Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistor (CNFET) and Graphene NanoRibbon Field Effect Transistor (GNRFET). A Figure-of-Merit (FOM) based comparison of 6-transistor (6T) and a modified 8-transistor (8T) single-port SRAMs designed using exploratory devices, and contemporary devices such as a FinFET and a CMOS process, highlighted the performance benefits of GNRFETs and power benefits of TFETs. The results obtained from the this work show that GNRFET-based SRAM have very high performance with a worst-case memory access time of 27.7 ps for a 16x4-bit 4-word array of 256-bitcells. CNFET-based SRAM bitcell consume the lowest average power during read/write simulations at 3.84 uW, while TFET-based SRAM bitcell show the best overall average and static power consumption at 4.79 uW and 57.8 pW respectively. A comparison of these exploratory devices with FinFET and planar CMOS showed that FinFET-based SRAM bitcell consumed the lowest static power at 39.8 pW and CMOS-based SRAM had the best read, write and hold static noise margins at 201 mV, 438 mV and 413 mV respectively. Further, the modification of 8T-SRAMs via dual wordlines for individually controlling read and write operations for uni-directional transistors TFET and CNFET show improvement in read static noise margin (RSNM). In dual wordline CNFET 8T-SRAM, an RSNM improvement of approximately 23.6x from 6 mV to 142 mV was observed by suppressing the read wordline (RWL) from a nominal supply of 0.71 V down to 0.61 V. In dual wordline TFET 8T-SRAM, an RSNM improvement of approximately 16.2x from 5 mV to 81 mV was observed by suppressing the RWL from a nominal supply of 0.6 V down to 0.3 V. Next, the dissertation explores whether the robustness of SRAM arrays can be improved. Specifically, the robustness related to noise margin during the write operation was investigated by implementing a negative bitline (NBL) voltage scheme. NBL improves the write static noise margin (WSNM) of the SRAM bitcells in the row of the array to which the data is written during a write operation. However, this may cause degraded hold static noise margin (HSNM) of un-accessed cells in the array. Applying a negative wordline voltage (NWL) on un-accessed cells during NBL shows that the NWL can counter the degraded HSNM of un-accessed cells due to NBL. The scheme, titled as NBLWL, also allows the supply of a lower NBL, resulting in higher WSNM and write-ability benefits of accessed row. By applying a complementary negative wordline voltage to counter the half-select condition in columns, the WSNM of cells in accessed rows was boosted by 10.9% when compared to a work where no negative bitline was applied. In addition, the HSNM of un-accessed cells remain the same as in the case where no negative bitline was implemented. Essentially, a 10.9% boost in WSNM without any degradation of HSNM in un-accessed cells is observed. The dissertation also focuses on the impact of process-related variations in SRAM arrays to correlate and characterize silicon data to simulation data. This can help designers remove pessimistic margins that are placed on critical signals to account for expected process variation. Removing these pessimistic margins on critical data paths that dictate the memory access time results in performance benefits for the SRAM array. This is achieved via an in-situ silicon monitor titled SRAM process and ageing sensor (SPAS), which can be used for silicon and ageing characterization, and silicon debug. The SPAS scheme is based on a process variation tolerant technique called RAZOR that compares the data arriving on the output of the sense amplifiers during the read operation. This scheme can estimate the impact of process variation and ageing induced slow-down on critical path during read operation of an array with high accuracy. The estimation accuracy in a commercially available 65nm CMOS technology for a 16x16 array at TT, and global SS and FF corners at nominal supply and testing temperature were found to be 99.2%, 94.9% and 96.5% respectively. Finally, redundant columns, an architectural-level scheme for tolerating failing SRAM bitcells in arrays without compromising performance and yield, is studied. Redundant columns are extra columns that are programmed when bitcells in the regular columns of an array are slower or have higher leakage than expected post-silicon. The regular columns are often permanently disabled and remain unused for the chip lifetime once redundant columns are enabled. In the SRRC scheme proposed in this thesis, the regular columns are only temporarily disabled, and re-used at a later time in chip life cycle once the previously awakened redundant columns become slower than the disabled regular columns. Essentially, the scheme can identify and temporarily disable the slowest column in an array until other mitigating factors slow down active columns. This allows the array to operate at a memory access time closer to the target access time regardless of other mitigating factors slowing down bitcells in arrays during chip life cycle. An approximate 76.4% reduction in memory access time was observed from a 16x16 array from simulations in a commercially available 65nm CMOS technology with respect to a work where no redundancy was employed.

No description available.

The purpose of this experimental study is to examine the effects of recasts on narrowing overgeneralized grammar in the second language (L2). The study involved testing three major hypotheses of the mechanisms underlying recasts: the direct contrast hypothesis (Saxton, 1997, 2000), the additional input hypothesis (Gass, 1997; Gass & Mackey, 2007; Long, 1996, 2007), and the enhanced salience hypothesis (Leeman, 2003). Two structures (adjective ordering and indirect passives) were selected for this study, mainly because it was assumed that Japanese learners of English might produce overgeneralized rules that allow incorrect structures because of their first language (L1) influence. The participants were 97 Japanese university students learning English as a foreign language in Japan. They were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: recast (the REC Group), non-contingent positive evidence (the POS Group), recast plus additional input (the REC+ Group), and input with enhanced salience (the SAL Group). A pretest, posttest, and delayed-posttest design were employed. The measurement instruments were an oral production task, elicited imitation task, and untimed grammaticality judgment task, each of which was designed to elicit participants’ implicit and explicit knowledge about adjective ordering and indirect passives. Thus, the independent variable was the treatment conditions, and the dependent variable were the test scores regarding ungrammaticality of the overgeneralized rules of the target structures. After data screening, the data from 75 of the 97 participants were analyzed for adjective ordering, and the data from 90 participants were analyzed for indirect passives. The results showed that the POS Group did not improve on all the measures for adjective ordering and indirect passives; thus, it was suggested that positive evidence was not sufficient for the participants to narrow overgeneralized rules for the target structures. The findings indicated that for adjective ordering, medium effect sizes for the comparison of the POS and REC Groups were obtained on the grammaticality judgment tests for the pretest-posttest and pretest-delayed posttest comparisons. Thus, based on these effect sizes, the direct contrast hypothesis was partially supported (i.e., for one of the two structures and one measure of the three tests). Furthermore, on the basis of the results that the REC and REC+ Groups did not differ significantly on any measure and that on the adjective-ordering grammaticality judgment tests, the comparison between the REC+ Group and the POS Group obtained a medium effect size for the pretest-delayed posttest comparison, the provision of recasts in the REC and REC+ Groups was effective at least for the adjective-ordering grammaticality judgment tests; however, additional input alone did not have an impact on L2 learners’ retreat from the overgeneralized rules. Finally, the results showed that the POS and SAL Groups did not differ significantly and that there existed a difference in the performance on the adjective-ordering grammaticality judgment tests between the REC Group and the SAL Groups. Salience might not be effective in helping L2 learners retreat from overgeneralized rules, and the enhanced salience hypothesis can be interpreted as being limited to learning some linguistic structures. In conclusion, the present study provides empirical evidence that L2 learners can persist in using incorrect overgeneralized rules due to L1 rules and that ten tokens of the target structures are not effective for L2 learners to retreat from the overgeneralized rules. Furthermore, the findings lend support to the direct contrast hypothesis as a mechanism underlying recasts for one of the two target structures. / Teaching & Learning

Den psykiska ohälsan ökar stadigt i omvärlden, därav genomgår fler människor psykologiska behandlingar för att öka sitt välmående. Den tidigare forskningen har uppvisat att negativa effekter i samband med en psykologisk behandling existerar. Syftet med genomförandet av studien var att undersöka om det fanns negativa eller oönskade effekter hos personer som genomgått någon evidensbaserad psykologisk behandling samt att undersöka vilka de mest förekommande oönskade effekter var hos den rekryterade gruppen. Studien genomfördes genom en enkätstudie med totalt 63 deltagare (M = 33 år, SD = 8.4, åldersspann 20 - 57 år,67% kvinnor). Instrumentet som användes var The Negative Effects Questionnaire med 32 påståenden, vilka utgör en sex faktorsmodell (symptom, kvalitet, beroende, stigma, hopplöshet och misslyckande). Instrumentet mäter huruvida deltagarna upplevt att behandlingen lett till några negativa eller oönskade effekter. Resultatet på frågeställning A ”Vilka är de mestförekommande biverkningarna hos den rekryterade gruppen?” visar att den mest rapporterade negativa effekten var “känner du dig sorgsen”. Resultatet från frågeställningen B ”Finns det könsskillnader i medelvärden av faktorerna hos NEQ?” visar att kvinnor generellt rapporterat fler biverkningar jämfört med männen. Studien går i linje med tidigare forskning och svarar på samtliga frågeställningar. Studiens låga antal deltagare (N = 63), och dess bekvämlighetsurval gör att studien inte kan generalisera sitt resultat. Spridningen blir inte lika omfattande och representativ som den hade varit med en större urvalsgrupp. / Mental illness is steadily increasing in the world, because of which more people are undergoing psychological treatments to increase their well-being. Previous research has shown that negative effects in connection with a psychological treatment exist. The purpose of conducting the study was to investigate whether there were negative or unwanted effects inpeople who had undergone any evidence-based psychological treatment and to investigate what the most common unwanted effects were in the recruited group. The study was conducted through a questionnaire study with a total of 63 participants (M = 33 years, SD =8.4, age range 20 - 57 years, 67% women). The instrument used was The Negative Effects Questionnaire with 32 statements, which constitute a six-factor model (symptom, quality, dependence, stigma, hopelessness and failure). The instrument measures whether the participants experienced that the treatment led to some negative or unwanted effects. The result of question A shows that the most reported negative effect was "do you feel sad". The results from question B show that women generally reported more side effects compared to men. The study is in line with previous research and answers all questions. The study's low number of participants (N = 63), and its convenience selection means that the study can notgeneralize its results, the spread will not be as extensive and representative as it would have been with a larger sample group.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第21732号 / 工博第4549号 / 新制||工||1709(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科電気工学専攻 / (主査)教授 大村 善治, 教授 松尾 哲司, 教授 竹内 繁樹 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM