I vacillate between all extremes, beauty vs. ugly, internal vs. external, micro vs. macro. It is these disparate notions that inspire what I make. We cannot ever see ourselves objectively, but does that mean we shouldn’t try? This thesis is my attempt to dissect what I created in my 2 years at Virginia Commonwealth University, my exploration of the illness within and the psychological nature of how we go about hiding our insecurities.

Objectifs et hypothèses :Cette thèse a pour objectif d'explorer les causes de la non observance en contraception orale qui se traduit par un nombre important d'IVG chez des femmes pourtant sous contraception. Nous avons formulé 3 hypothèses : il existe des différences significatives entre les femmes présentant des difficultés d'adhésion thérapeutique et celles qui n'en présentent pas. La 2ème hypothèse a trait à l'existence de relations significatives entre les causes de non observance et la motivation générale. La 3ème hypothèse énonce l'existence de différences significatives entre les moyennes des deux groupes concernant les causes de non observance, la motivation générale et ses différentes dimensions. Population : Elle est composée de 50 femmes âgées de 20 à 55 ans utilisatrices de la contraception orale, (soit deux groupes : 25 femmes présentant des difficultés d'observance et 25 femmes ne présentant pas des difficultés d'observance). Instruments : Deux questionnaires ont été mis au point et utilisés : 1) Un questionnaire sur l'observance en contraception orale et une échelle d'évaluation des causes de non observance en contraception orale. 2) Une échelle de Motivation Globale EMG-28 destinée à l’évaluation du degré de motivation à l'observance de la contraception orale en examinant les degrés d'auto-détermination de la motivation dans la vie en général. Résultats : Les résultats indiquent l'existence de causes de non observance liées à l'utilisatrice (oublis, fausses croyances, peur des effets indésirables, manque d'information), à la contraception orale (routine, lassitude, contrainte de la prise journalière) et à la relation entre le prescripteur et l'utilisatrice (qualité de l'information donnée, relation thérapeutique, écoute, logique de prescription). Conclusion : Le processus d'utilisation de la contraception orale se révèle très complexe. Une prise en charge motivationnelle s'avère nécessaire chez les femmes en situation d'échec de contraception, comme nous le montrons avec les deux cas cliniques présentés. / Objectives and assumptions : This thesis aims explore the causes of non adherence in oral contraception which lead to TOP among women however under contraception. We formulated 3 assumptions: there are significant differences between the women presenting adherence problems and those without problems. The 2nd assumption supposes the existence of significant relations between the causes of non adherence and the general motivation. The 3rd assumption states the existence of significant differences between the averages of the two groups concerning the causes in non adherence, the general motivation and its various components. Population : A survey was carried out based on a sample of 50 women users of oral contraception in Amiens, including a group of 25 women which exhibit adherence problems. Tools : Two questionnaires were developed within the framework of this thesis, 1) A questionnaire on adherence in oral contraception and a scale for the evaluation of the causes of non adherence in oral contraception. 2) A Scale of Global Motivation EMG28 intended to evaluate the degree of motivation for adherence to oral contraception by examining the self-determination degree of motivation in life in general. Results : Collected data confirm the assumptions posed. It reveals existence of causes of non observance related on the user (missing pills, beliefs, fear of undesirable effects, information lack, on the oral contraception (routine, lassitude, constraints …) and the relation between the prescriber and the user (therapeutic relation, quality of information given, model of prescription). Conclusion : The process of use of oral contraception appears very complex. A motivational therapy is necessary among women in situation of failure of contraception, as we show it with clinical cases presented.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:21:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelo da Rocha.pdf: 2098584 bytes, checksum: 37e473f23ee6873d2e38553fa34930e0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-06 / The work focus on the figure of the first brazilian saint, Frei Galvao,being limited to the central question, which relates to his pills and their powers trying to find out whether the miraculous cures to them attributed are placebo effects or result from the faith the users have in the saint's power. After constructing a historical scenery on the saint's life, his miracles, emphasising the cures through the pills, and the process of canonization, the investigation on the matter begins through the theoretical discussion on faith, its sources, its historical context, the relation to popular religiosity, science, its symbols and cure powers. Following this theoretical premiss, the matter starts to be dealt with directly through the manifestations of a focus group which discusses faith in the present society, the dependence or non dependence between faith and religiosity, the question of skepticism and the abscence of faith and the possible cure relations through faith and the placebo effect. Thus, the matter is directly focused by tying the miraculous figure of Frei Galvao to the Technical data about faith, to the focus group manifestations, to the medical data on the placebo effecct, concluding that the miraculous cure effects attributed to the pills are due to the users faith also including placebo characteristics / O trabalho focaliza a figura do primeiro santo brasileiro, Frei Galvão, limitando-se à questão central, que versa sobre as suas pílulas e seus poderes buscando saber se as curas milagrosas que se lhes atribuem caracterizam-se como um efeito placebo ou resultam da fé dos usuários no poder do santo. Após constituir um cenário histórico sobre a vida do santo, seus milagres, com ênfase nas curas pelas pílulas, e o processo de canonização, inicia-se a investigação do problema pela discussão teórica sobre a fé, suas fontes, seu contexto histórico, a relação com a religiosidade popular, com a ciência, os seus símbolos e poderes de cura. Depois dessa premissa teórica, o problema começa a ser enfrentado diretamente mediante manifestações de um grupo focal que discute a fé na sociedade contemporânea, a dependência ou não entre a fé e a religiosidade, a questão do ceticismo e da ausência de fé e as possíveis relações da cura pela fé e o placebo. Enfim, o problema é focado diretamente costurando a figura taumaturga de Frei Galvão com os dados Técnicos sobre a fé, com as manifestações do grupo focal, com os dados da medicina sobre o placebo, concluindo-se que os efeitos milagrosos de cura atribuídos às pílulas se devem à fé dos usuários incluindo também características do placebo

This dissertation contains four essays on various topics in the fields of corporate finance and corporate governance. The first essay, entitled Corporate Governance and Ownership, presents an overview of the causes and consequences of, and possible remedies for, the separation of ownership and control in corporations. In particular, the essay addresses the costs and benefits of ownership concentration. A specific purpose is to put the role of ownership into perspective, while bringing the reader up to date with some recent developments. Essay number two, Shareholder Gains from Equity Private Placements: Evidence from the Stockholm Stock Exchange, contains an empirical investigation of the stockmarket’s reaction to announcements of equity private placements and rights issues. The essay sets out to test a range of hypotheses put forward in the literature. Extensive cross-sectional analyses of private placement discounts and abnormal returns are performed. The third essay is named Optimal Deterrence and Inducement of Take-overs: An analysis of Poison Pills and Dilution. This essay models how the ex ante wealth of shareholders could be increased with customized contractual provisions that affect takeover probabilities and premia. The proposed provisions resemble anti-takeover defense measures in the form of poison pill plans, and conversely, voluntary dilution schemes in the fashion prescribed by Sanford Grossman and Oliver Hart (1980). Finally, the fourth essay models the wealth effects of a particular takeover regulation, The Mandatory Bid Rule. This rule requires a potential bidder for a control position in a target firm to extend the offer to include any or all of the outstanding shares. Although the mandatory bid rule is aimed at the protection of minority shareholders, the essay argues that this regultion is not generally in the best interest of the shareholders. Each essay is self-contained and could, in principle, be read in any order chosen by the reader. However, for readers less familiar with the corporate finance literature, the first essay may also serve as a helpful introduction to the following three essays. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

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The diploma thesis is focused on the social aspects of women's oral hormonal contraception in the lives of two generations of women - daughters and their mothers. The theoretical part introduces the fundamental concepts of contraception research based on gender perspective. It also highlights the important historical milestones related to so-called birth control pill. Furthermore, the development of the contraceptive behavior of the Czech population since the 50s of the 20th century is analyzed. The empirical part of this thesis includes the description of methodology and the analysis of semi-structured interviews with ten women - mothers who were born in the 1960s and their daughters born around the turn of the 80s and 90s. The aim of the analysis is to discover how a generally accepted theory about contraception as the emancipation mechanism that helps women to control their own body and decide about their own reproduction is expressed in the lives of interviewed women. I ask the reason why, when and under what conditions these women decided to use birth control pills and the role of other circumstances in their decision-making. Moreover, I focus on the way how the birth control pills affect the relationship to own body and self-esteem of my respondents. And also, how birth control pills affect...

Ideally, every person in the world should have access to a safe and clean water supply; if not all sources of water are clean and safe, at the very least, an effective method to detect water contamination should be readily available. An effective detection method should not only be sensitive, rapid, robust, and affordable, but, ideally, it should also be equipment-free and easy to transport and deliver to the end-users. The main goal of this project is to develop a variety of bits and pieces of bioassay systems, with a particular focus on paper-based bioactive devices in order to provide portable and ready-to-use biosensors which can be useable by anyone anywhere around the world without requiring formal training. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 76,000 people each year die in India alone because of pesticide poisoning. Long term exposure to organophosphate pesticides is known to have adverse effects on neurological function and can lead to Alzheimer's Disease, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and reduced Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The likelihood of long term exposure to pesticides is heightened in developing countries, so a reliable and inexpensive pesticide sensor is a much-needed device in the developing world. To address this need, this project reports on the development of a fully-automated bioactive paper-based sensor for the detection of organophosphate pesticides. In the proposed biosensor, two innovations were implemented to achieve a full-automated format for the pesticide sensor: (I) First is a PUMP ON A PAPER (Jahanshahi-Anbuhi et al., LOC, 2012) that increases the flow rate of fluids within paper-based microfluidic analytical devices and sequentially brings two separate liquid streams to the enzyme test zone on the paper sensor, and (II) the second innovation is a PIPETTE ON A PAPER (Jahanshahi-Anbuhi et al., LOC, 2014) that involved the creation of a pullulan (a natural non-ionic polysaccharide) temporary bridge-system to transfer a known amount of solution to the sensing zone that, gives the enzyme zone a chance to dry and accept the substrate solution from the slow channel after a fixed period of time. This proposed format results in a simplified assay that detects the presence of pesticides automatically without any further manipulation from the user. However, the shelf life of this assay kit is challenging due to instability of both enzyme (AChE) and substrate (IDA) at room temperature. AChE loses its enzymatic activity when stored at room temperature and IDA becomes oxidized quickly. This problem is not unique to these two bio reagents, however; almost all bioassays which use bio-reagents (such as enzymes and small-molecular substrates) are unstable to varying degrees and require special shipping and storage. The instability of these molecules can arise from either thermal denaturation or chemical modification, such as oxidation or hydrolysis. Because of these issues, they often have to be shipped on dry ice with special packaging, which is costly. The cost of maintaining a cold chain for distributing bio-reagents accounts for up to 80% of the cost. Aside from the cost, these reagents also have to be stored in bulk in refrigerators or freezers to minimize the loss of activity, but they must be thawed and aliquoted for their intended tests. Repeated freezing and thawing can result in a significant loss of activity, which often leads to less reliable test results. These issues make running such assays in resource-limited settings a significant challenge. There is, therefore, an urgent need for an assay system with stable reagents that is easy to use, simple to read, inexpensive, and that includes a method for the long-term stabilization of enzymes and other unstable reagents in pre-measured quantities. To overcome to all these issues, pullulan is utilized for the development of pill-based-biosensors. Pullulan dissolves quickly in aqueous solutions and shows very high oxygen barrier properties in its film form. Considering the unique properties of pullulan, it is hypothesized that pullulan may be suitable for producing assay pills with encapsulated enzymes or other unstable molecules and may provide a simplified platform for carrying out bioassays in resource-limited settings. The application of these pill-based-biosensors is shown via the entrapment of AChE and IDA for the creation of an assay kit that can detect organophosphate pesticides (Jahanshahi-Anbuhi et al., Angew. Chem., 2014). Moreover, this thesis reports on the stabilization of highly unstable firefly luciferase for the detection of microorganisms and, more particularly, ATP. Through the use of pullulan, this thesis demonstrates that both the enzyme and the substrate can be protected, immobilized, and stabilized at room temperature, instead of the existing storage methods, which require temperatures <-20˚C. This innovation allows for a more convenient method of shipping the bioassay kits around the world without any extra care. Furthermore, pullulan-based films are utilized for the development of a method for controlled multidirectional flow within paper-based biosensors. This method provides the possibility of trapping labile and volatile reagents and stabilizing them by forming thin films with pullulan. The trapped reagents within pullulan films can be strategically stacked and assembled on a paper strip in different directions. Furthermore, should the need arise, these reagents can be released and delivered sequentially or simultaneously in both vertical and lateral directions through the paper. The application of this method is shown for: (I) creation of "ready-to-use" assay kit for the detection of Escherichia coli (E. Coli). This assay kit has the step of cell lysing and proceeds automatically to the step in which enzymes react. The second application (II) shows the trapping of Simon’s reagents, which is widely used for methamphetamine detection. Overall, these unique fabrication techniques can be widely used for the preparation of highly stable, ready-to-use, and user-friendly biosensors. We are currently working on the detection of other contaminants such as heavy metals, and we are starting on vaccine stabilization and delivery, which would have a tremendous impact for society. / Dissertation / Doctor of Engineering (DEng)

Matrizes hidrofílicas de diclofenaco sódico e de cetoprofeno foram preparadas por meio de compressão direta ou granulação úmida seguida de compressão, utilizando-se hipromelose para modular a dissolução do fármaco. Foram também obtidos péletes de liberação prolongada de cetoprofeno, mediante extrusão-esferonização e revestimento, em leito fluidizado, com Kollicoat® EMM 30D. Um planejamento fatorial 22 foi usado para elucidar os efeitos de variáveis de formulação sobre os perfis de liberação do fármaco a partir dos sistemas em estudo, determinados empregando-se os métodos da pá e/ou Bio-Dis. No caso dos comprimidos matriciais, os efeitos do grau de viscosidade e concentração de hipromelose foram investigados. Para os péletes, avaliou-se os efeitos da granulometria e ganho de peso em revestimento. A influência do pH sobre a liberação do fármaco a partir dos sistemas preparados foi também estudada, usando-se meios de dissolução com pH 1,2-7,2. Os métodos ANOVA e teste de Tukey (comparação estatística entre porcentuais de fármaco dissolvido e/ou eficiência de dissolução), f1, f2 e Weibull foram usados para caracterizar e comparar os perfis de dissolução. O grau de viscosidade e concentração de hipromelose influenciaram a liberação de diclofenaco sádico e cetoprofeno a partir das matrizes em estudo, sendo a concentração do polímero o fator principal que governou o processo. A granulação alterou os perfis de dissolução de cetoprofeno em relação às matrizes obtidas por compressão direta, diminuindo a velocidade e modificando o mecanismo de liberação. No caso dos péletes, o ganho de peso em revestimento foi o parâmetro que exerceu maior efeito sobre a liberação do cetoprofeno, enquanto a granulometria apenas influenciou os perfis de dissolução dás formulações com maior ganho de peso em revestimento. A liberação do fármaco a partir dos sistemas em estudo aumentou com a elevação do pH, o que ocorreu devido à solubilidade pH-dependente do cetoprofeno e diclofenaco sódico. / Diclofenac sodium and ketoprofen hydrophilic matrices were prepared by direct compression or wet granulation followed by compression, using hypromellose to modulate the drug dissolution. Sustained release ketoprofen pellets were also obtained by extrusion-spheronization and fluidized bed coating with Kollicoat® EMM 30D. A 22 factorial design has been used to elucidate the effects of formulation variables on the drug release profiles from the systems in study, determined using the paddle method and Bio-Dis. In the case of matrix tablets, the effects of the viscosity grade and concentration of hypromellose were investigated. For the pellets, the effects of granulometry and weight gain were evaluated. The influence of the pH value on the drug release from the prepared systems was also studied, using pH 1,2-7,2 dissolution media. ANOVA and Tukey\'s test (statistical comparison between percentages of drug dissolved and/or dissolution efficiency), f1, f2 and Weibull methods were used to characterize and compare the dissolution profiles. The concentration and viscosity grade of hypromellose influenced the ketoprofen and diclofenac sodium release from the studied matrices, being the polymer concentration the main factor that has governed the process. Granulation has modified the dissolution profiles of ketoprofen in relation to the matrices obtained by direct compression, reducing the rate and modifying the mechanism of drug release. In the pellets case, weight gain was the main factor that has influenced the ketoprofen release, while ganulometry has only influenced the dissolution profiles of the formulation with the highest weight gain. Drug release from the systems under study increased with the increase of the pH value of the medium because of the diclofenac sodium and ketoprofen pH-dependent solubility.

Dentre os atuais desafios do direito societário brasileiro, a estrutura da propriedade acionária das sociedades por ações de capital aberto e a identificação daqueles que as comandam merecem destaque. O aquecimento das transações realizadas via mercado de capitais e a consolidação dos segmentos especiais de governança corporativa no Brasil resultaram no chamado fenômeno de dispersão acionária, que evidenciou certa ruptura na tradicional estrutura de propriedade acionária exclusivamente concentrada, até então predominante nas companhias brasileiras. Diante desse cenário contrastante, de mudanças no perfil do poder de controle sobre as companhias brasileiras, o presente trabalho apresentará em seu capítulo terceiro, após breve análise das estruturas de capital identificadas em diferentes economias e de retrospectiva sobre a propriedade acionária das companhias brasileiras (a serem apresentadas em seu segundo capítulo), extensa pesquisa empírica realizada com o propósito de identificar a atual estrutura de propriedade acionária predominante entre as companhias brasileiras listadas no segmento especial do Novo Mercado da BMF&BOVESPA (Novo Mercado), e com o objetivo de averiguar a existência do chamado controle societário minoritário entre tais companhias, conforme detalhado nos apêndices desta dissertação. Referida pesquisa empírica representa, ainda, rico processamento da base de dados e informações divulgadas à Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) pelas companhias listadas no Novo Mercado, e serve de base para a avaliação da necessidade de eventuais mudanças nos conceitos adotados pelo Direito Societário pátrio, tendo em vista entendimento divergente identificado na doutrina e em julgados da CVM no âmbito da possibilidade de existência de um controle societário exercido por acionista ou grupo de acionistas não detentores da maioria do capital social votante, conforme detalhado no quarto capítulo deste estudo. Por fim, serão apresentadas, no quinto e último capítulo, as considerações finais à análise proposta, com destaque para as principais conclusões obtidas na elaboração dos capítulos terceiro e quarto descritos acima, dentre elas a existência do controle societário interno não majoritário (controle minoritário) entre companhias listadas no Novo Mercado, bem como os reflexos dessa constatação no âmbito da prática do Direito Societário. / Among the current challenges of the Brazilian Corporate Law, the structure of the capital ownership of the corporations and the identification of those who exercises control over it remains an important aspect to be taken into consideration when analyzing the main aspects of the Brazilian capital market. The heat up of the transactions carried out through the capital market, and the consolidation of the special corporate governance segments in Brazil resulted in the so called phenomenon of the dispersed ownership, which revealed a rupture from the traditional structure of extremely concentrated ownership, that was prevailing until now among the Brazilian corporations. Given such contrasting scenario of changes in the profile of corporate power over Brazilian corporations, these thesis, after describing, over its first two chapters, the structures of capital ownership existent in different economies and providing a retrospective on the capital ownership of Brazilian corporations, presents, in its third chapter, an extensive empirical research performed with the purposes of identifying the current structure of capital ownership prevailing among the Brazilian companies listed in the Novo Mercado, special segment of the Brazilian Exchange BMF&BOVESPA (the New Market), as well as ascertaining the existence of minority corporate control among such companies, as detailed in the appendixes hereto. The referred empirical research presents, furthermore, detailed data processing in connection with the information disclosed by such companies to the Brazilian Stock Exchange Commission, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), and is also used as basis for reviewing the need of eventual changes in the concepts embodied by the Brazilian Corporate Law, in view of the divergent understanding identified in the Brazilian doctrine and judgments issued by the CVM in connection with the existence of a corporate control exercised by a shareholder or group of shareholders owner of shareholding not representative of the majority of the voting capital stock, as detailed in the fourth chapter of these thesis. Finally, the fifth and last chapter of these study presents the final considerations in connection with the review proposed hereto, highlighting the main conclusions obtained through the elaboration of the third and fourth chapters described above, among them the existence of a not majority internal control (minority control) in companies listed in the New Market, as well as the effects of such conclusion in the light of the practice of corporate law.