La mémoire Flash est actuellement extrêmement utilisée en tant que mémoire non volatile pour le stockage des données numériques dans presque tout type d'appareil électronique nomade (ordinateur portable, téléphone mobile, tablette, …). Pour dépasser ses limites actuelles (densité d'informations, endurance, rapidité), un grand nombre de recherches se développent notamment autour du concept de mémoires résistives qui repose sur la commutation entre différents niveaux de résistance, via l'application d'une tension.Les mémoires dont la variation de résistance dépend de réactions électrochimiques (ReRAM) sont potentiellement de bonnes candidates pour les mémoires non volatiles de prochaine génération; les mécanismes d'oxydo-réduction impliqués sont cependant souvent de type filamentaire, mettant notamment en jeu des migrations de cations d’éléments métalliques (provenant des électrodes), ou de lacunes d’oxygène. Ce caractère filamentaire rend difficilement atteignable la miniaturisation extrême, à l’échelle nanométrique.Dans cette thèse, une classe de matériaux particulière -utilisée dans le domaine du stockage d'énergie- est étudiée. L’objectif est d’approfondir l’origine des processus de commutation de résistance observés sur des films de LixCoO2. Nous caractérisons d'abord les propriétés structurales et électriques de tels films, ainsi que le comportement électrique des dispositifs élaborés à partir de ces films. Nous étudions ensuite les mécanismes électrochimiques qui sont à l’origine des commutations résistives, dans la configuration d’un contact micrométrique électrode/film/électrode. Nous cherchons à déterminer la validité d’un mécanisme qui avait été proposé auparavant, mais non démontré. Nous étudions également la cinétique de commutation des dispositifs, et proposons un modèle numérique permettant d’expliquer les résultats expérimentaux observés. Enfin, nous étudions l’applicabilité potentielle des dispositifs (intégrant les films de LixCoO2) aux mémoires Re-RAM au travers de leurs performances en termes d’endurance (nombre maximum de cycles d’écriture/effaçage), et de stabilité. En particulier, nous étudions l’influence de plusieurs paramètres (impulsions de tension, nature des électrodes, température et c…) sur ces performances. / Flash memory is now extensively used as non-volatile memory for digital data storage in most mobile electronic devices (laptop, mobile phone, tablet...). To overcome its current limits (e.g. low information density, low endurance and slow speed), many researches recently developed around the concept of resistive memories based on the switching between different resistance levels by applying appropriate bias voltages.Memories whose resistance variations depend on electrochemical reactions (ReRAM) are potentially good candidates towards next-generation non-volatile memories. The underlying redox mechanisms observed are however often of the filamentary type, involving in particular migration of cations of metal elements (coming from the electrodes), or oxygen vacancies. This filamentary character makes it challenging to attain extreme downscaling towards the nanometric scale.In this thesis, a particular class of materials - used in the field of energy storage - is studied. The aim is to investigate the origin of the resistance switching processes observed in LixCoO2 films. We first characterize the structural and electrical properties of such films, as well as the electrical behaviors of the devices elaborated therefrom. We then investigate the electrochemical mechanisms which are at the origin of resistive switching, in the micrometric electrode/film/electrode configuration. We try to determine the validity of a formerly proposed mechanism which was however not yet demonstrated. Furthermore, we study the experimental switching kinetics of devices, and propose a numerical model to explain the results observed. Finally, we examine the potential applicability of LixCoO2-based devices to Re-RAM memories through the study of their performances in terms of endurance (i.e. maximum number of write/erase cycles) and retention. Specifically, the influence of several parameters (such as voltage pulses, chemical nature of the electrodes, temperature etc.) on these performances is investigated.

With the discovery of the ferroelectric (FE) properties within HfO₂, the scaling gap between state-of-the-art technology nodes and non-volatile memories based on FE materials can be bridged. In addition to non-volatility, new memory concepts should guarantee sufficient endurance and operation stability. However, in contrast to optimized perovskite based FEs, binary oxide based FE memories still show changes in the memory window (MW) followed by either hard breakdown or closure of the MW. Recently, we have shown that anti-FE (AFE) materials exhibit very stable and significantly higher endurance with respect to the FE counterparts. Inspired by the robustness and remarkable cycling performance of the AFE materials, we analyze the remaining reliability aspects of these devices. By characterizing the pure film properties of capacitor stacks and switching performance when integrated into devices, we compare and investigate temperature stability, imprint, retention, and variability of both FE and AFE memories. We investigate if the lower energetic barrier to be overcome together with partial switching and lower switching induced stress are responsible for the higher endurance of the AFE with respect to the FE based memories. By utilizing charge trapping and charge pumping tests together with leakage current spectroscopy in combination with comprehensive modeling we check that assumption. Moreover, we identify the interfacial buffer layer as the weakest link of these devices.

In order to resolve the Al void formation originated from the severe stress issues in dynamic random access memory (DRAM), double-deposited-aluminum (DDA) layer process was proposed. This novel metallization process can be effectively and simply performed with the native oxide such as Al 2 O 3 between upper and lower Al metal layer by ex-situ deposition technique. We could effectively control the Al void by adapting the DDA layers with different grain structure. From this novel metallization process, we have confirmed the optimal thickness of Al barrier metal to 100Å to be free from Al voids, which makes it possible to improve the static refresh characteristics of DRAM by 17%.

Studien handlar om utbildningsaktiviteter och stödinsatser utanför klassens ram.Syftet varatt undersöka några lärares och specialpedagogers uppfattningar om dessa utbildningsaktiviteter och stödinsatser. Ett särskilt fokus gavs aktiviteternas och stödinsatsernas uppfattade betydelse för elevers lärande och känsla av tillhörighet bland kamrater. Undersökningen genomfördes genom en kvalitativ forskningsansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Elva lärare och nio specialpedagoger deltog.Som teoretiskt ramverk användes specialpedagogiska perspektiv, KASAM och Response to Intervention.Studiens resultat visade flera exempel på utbildningsaktiviteter och stödinsatser utanför klassrum; till exempel små undervisningsgrupper, lilla gruppen, särskild undervisningsgrupp, studion, strukturstöd, en till en-undervisning, läxhjälp med mera. Informanterna beskrev både fördelar och nackdelar med utbildningsaktiviteterna och stödinsatserna utanför klassens ram. Några exempel på fördelar var ett lugnare sammanhang, energipåfyllning, strukturerad individuell hjälp och avlastning för lärare. Några exempel på nackdelar var utanförskap, stämpling, en negativ självbild, resurskostnad och segregering om åtgärden permanentades. Resultatet visade att det fanns olika syn på utbildningsaktiviteterna och stödinsatserna utanför klassens ram, att stora klasser kan skapa behov av aktiviteter och stöd utanför klassens ram,och att elevinflytandet förefaller vara litet när dessa aktiviteter och stöd planeras. En implikation är att lägga fokus på att hitta lösningar inom klassens ram.

A fragmentação do DNA espermático é uma das principais causas de infertilidade nos machos. Alterações na integridade do DNA podem ser decorrentes da ação de espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROS), de defeitos na protaminação e da apoptose. A sensibilidade do espermatozoide ovino frente as biotecnologias reprodutivas pode ser resultado de uma alta suscetibilidade a ação de EROS ou alterações na protaminação espermática desencadeadas por estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico, tornando o espermatozoide mais suscetível a fragmentação de DNA. Com o objetivo de entender mais este processo, foi realizado um primeiro experimento para avaliar o status oxidativo, os atributos espermáticos e a expressão gênica de proteínas envolvidas nos processos de protaminação em diferentes níveis de suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica (baixo, médio, alto e altíssimo) em sêmen ovino. Foi observado um aumento da atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e uma diminuição da atividade enzimática da glutationa redutase no plasma seminal no grupo com suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica alta e altíssima. Com relação a catalase, não foi verificado esse aumento, no entanto houve maior imunodetecção desta enzima. Em relação a condição espermática, observou-se um aumento na porcentagem de defeitos totais e lesões nas membranas acrossomal e plasmática, além de porcentagens menores de espermatozoides com baixo potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo com maior suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica. Este mesmo grupo também apresentou alta suscetibilidade ao dano da cromatina e aumento do número de cópias do gene da protamina 1 (PRM1) em espermatozoides. O segundo experimento avaliou os atributos de espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado e do epidídimo frente ao estresse térmico induzido por insulação testicular (tratado), assim como as relações com o status antioxidante. Observou-se diminuição da motilidade, vigor, turbilhonamento e aumento na porcentagem de defeitos maiores e menores, e de lesões na membrana acrossomal e plasmática em espermatozoides ejaculados no grupo tratado. Essas diferenças não foram observadas em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma maior atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e da glutationa redutase foi observada no plasma seminal do grupo tratado. Foi verificado uma diminuição de espermatozoides com alto potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo tratado, indicando que o metabolismo mitocondrial parece estar envolvido no quadro de estresse oxidativo. Um terceiro estudo foi conduzido para verificar o efeito do estresse térmico na integridade da cromatina espermática, na protaminação do DNA espermático e na ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino. Em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, houve um aumento da porcentagem de células com suscetibilidade a fragmentação da cromatina no grupo tratado; não observado em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma alta porcentagem de espermatozoides com fragmentação de DNA grau III (ensaio COMETA) e aumento do número de cópias de mRNA da proteína de transição 1 (TNP1) em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, foi observada no grupo tratado. Já em espermatozoides provenientes do epidídimo, a PRM1 apresentou maior expressão no 30ο dia do ciclo espermático comparado a 7ο dia, enquanto que a TNP1 comportou-se de maneira contrária. Em relação a ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino, a proteína anti-apoptótica Bax foi imuno-identificada em espermatócitos e a Blc-2 em espermátides, sem diferença entre os grupos. Em conclusão, a alta susceptibidade dos espermatozoides ovinos a peroxidação lipídica altera o status oxidativo ocasionando um quadro de estresse oxidativo, principal causador de dano a cromatina. Adicionalmente, o estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico prejudica os atributos espermáticos e aumenta a suscetibilidade dos espermatozoides a fragmentação de DNA. / Sperm DNA fragmentation is referred as one of the main causes of male\'s infertility. Among the etiologies of abnormalities on DNA integrity the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS), protamination failures and apoptosis are considered the most important. The known sensitivity of ram´s sperm to reproductive biotechnologies could be a result of a higher susceptibility to the action of ROS or changes in sperm protamination triggered by oxidative stress induced by heat stress. This would increase the susceptibility of sperm DNA to fragmentation. Initially, the ram sperm quality, seminal protamine gene expression and oxidative status were evaluated in semen samples of different levels of susceptibility to lipid peroxidation (low, medium, high and very high). There was an increase on glutathione peroxidase and decreased glutathione reductase enzymes' activity in groups with high and very high susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. However, only catalase showed increased immunodetection. An increase on total defects and damaged acrosomal and plasmatic membranes were observed in the group showing the highest susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. Also, the percentage of sperm with low mitochondrial membrane potential, the percentage of sperm susceptible to chromatin damage and the number of copies of protamine 1 (PRM1) mRNA were increased in the group showing higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. The second study evaluated sperm\'s attributes from the epididymis and ejaculated sperm subjected to heat stress induced by testicular insulation (treated group), as well as correlations with the antioxidant status. We observed decrease on motility, vigor, and mass motility and increase on the percentages of sperm showing major and minor defects, and damaged plasma and acrosome membranes in the treated group. These differences were not observed in epididymal sperm. Increased enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were observed in the treated group. Mitochondrial metabolism appeared to be involved in the oxidative homeostasis imbalance. This was effectively observed by a decrease on the percentage of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential in the treated group. A third study was conducted to determine the effect of heat stress induced by testicular insulation on the integrity of chromatin, protamination and apoptotic activation pathway in ram testis. An increase on the percentage of sperm with susceptibility to chromatin fragmentation in the treated group was observed. However, the previous findings were not observed in epididymal sperm. A higher percentage of sperm showing DNA fragmentation level III (Comet assay) and an increase on the number of copies of transition protein 1(TNP1) mRNA were observed in the treated group. In epididymal sperm, a higher expression of the PMR1 gene was observed on the 30th day of the espermatogenic cycle, while TNP1 behaved contrarily. In the testicular samples, the anti-apoptotic protein Bax was detected only in spermatocytes while Bcl-2 was observed singularly in spermatids, with no difference between groups. In conclusion, the disruption of oxidative homeostasis may be exacerbated by the higher susceptibility of ram\'s sperm to lipid peroxidation, which could be the main etiology of chromatin damage. In addition, oxidative stress induced by heat stress impairs sperm attributes and DNA integrity.

Com os processos de preservação do sêmen, os espermatozoides sofrem danos devido à indução de alterações estruturais e funcionais na membrana e, aliada a estrutura anatômica do cérvix da ovelha, repercute na redução de fertilidade após a inseminação artificial. Muitos protocolos de congelação e de refrigeração aliados a inúmeros diluentes, vêm sendo estudados, a fim de diminuir os danos causados a essas células e aumentar sua capacidade fertilizante. Para otimizar os processos de congelação e de refrigeração, os objetivos deste estudo foram determinar (1) a influência do método de congelação na motilidade, viabilidade, potencial de membrana mitocondrial e nos defeitos acrossomais do semen ovino criopreservado e (2) a influência de três diluentes comerciais na motilidade, viabilidade, potencial de membrana mitocondrial e nos defeitos acrossomais do sêmen ovino refrigerado. Doze ejaculados foram coletados, diluídos e congelados utilizando (A) uma curva manual de congelação (em vapor de nitrogênio liquido) e (B) um congelador programável (CL-8800, Cryologic Freeze Control®). Na curva A, as amostras foram refrigeradas e congeladas à 30°C/min. Na curva B, houve uma redução de temperatura de 20°C até -50°C durante 37min. Imediatamente após as curvas de criopreservação, as amostras foram submersas em nitrogênio líquido (-196ºC). Para o descongelamento, as palhetas foram submetidas à 37°C por 20seg e analisadas. Para os protocolos de refrigeração, o sêmen diluído em Botubov®, Bovimix® e TYB® foi armazenado à 5°C e à 15°C, e avaliado em 0, 24, 48 e 72h pós coleta. As análises de viabilidade e potencial de membrana mitocondrial (MMP) foram realizadas por citometria de fluxo, e a motilidade e os defeitos acrossomais foram avaliados microscopicamente. Motilidade (29%), viabilidade (18%) e MMP (26%) dos espermatozoides criopreservados com o diluente Bovimix® e a curva B foram significativamente (P<0,05) superiores do que todos os outros tratamentos. As amostras refrigeradas e diluídas com o diluente Bovimix® apresentaram resultados superiores, tanto à 5°C quanto à 15°C, para MMP (44% e 51%, respectivamente) e viabilidade (60% e 53%, respectivamente) 72h pós coleta, quando comparado com as amostras diluídas com Botubov® e TYB®. Em conclusão, os protocolos de congelação/descongelação e de refrigeração utilizados nestes experimentos, reduziram a motilidade, viabilidade, MMP e aumentaram os defeitos acrossomais quando comparados com o sêmen fresco. Os protocolos de congelação/descongelação prejudicaram mais a função espermática quando comparado com os protocolos de refrigeração. Por fim, os resultados sugerem que as amostras espermáticas diluídas com o diluente Bovimix® causou menos danos às células espermáticas do que as amostras diluídas com os diluentes Botubov® e TYB®, tanto nos protocolos de congelação, quanto nos protocolos de refrigeração. / The process of sperm preservation damages spermatozoa due to induction of structural and functional changes in the membrane, and allied to the ewe cervix anatomy, reflects the reduction in fertility after artificial insemination. Many semen preservation protocols including freezing and cooling rates coupled with different extenders have been studied in order to reduce sperm cryo-damage, increase the fertilizing capacity and increase the time of storage. To improve freezing and cooling processes, the objectives of this study were to determine (1) the influence of freezing method on sperm motility, viability, mitochondrial membrane potential and defected acrosome of cryopreserved sperm and (2) the influence of three commercial extenders on the motility, viability, mitochondrial membrane potential and defected acrosome of liquid storaged and frozen-thawed sperm. Twelve semen samples were collected from two mature rams, pooled, and diluted in Botubov®, Bovimix® and TYB®, and frozen using (A) a manual freezing method (liquid nitrogen vapor) and (B) an automated programmable freezer (CL-8800, Cryologic Freeze Control®). For curve A, semen samples were maintained at 37°C and then cooled/frozen at 30°C/min. For curve B, the temperature reduced from 20°C to -50°C during 37min. Immediately, after cryopreservation curves, samples were plunged and stored into liquid nitrogen (-196ºC). Then, the straws were thawed at 37°C for 20sec, and analyzed. For cooling studies, pooled ram semen was diluted in Botubov®, Bovimix® and TYB®, stored at 5°C and at 15°C, and evaluated at 0, 24, 48 and 72 h post collection. For viability and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) assessments, semen samples were stained and analyzed by flow cytometry. Motility and defected acrosome assessments were analyzed microscopically. Motility (29%), viability (18%) and MMP (26%) of spermatozoa cryopreserved in Bovimix® coupled to curve B were significantly (P<0.05) higher than all other treated groups. Semen samples diluted with Bovimix® and stored at 5°C and at 15°C yielded better MMP (44% and 51%, respectively) than the samples diluted in Botubov® and in TYB®, and also showed higher viability characteristics at 5°C and at 15°C (60% and 53%, respectively) 72h post collection. In conclusion, freezing/thawing and cooling protocols used in these experiments reduced sperm motility, viability, MMP and increased the defects of acrosomes when compared to fresh semen. Freezing/thawing protocols harmed more spermatozoa function than cooling protocols. Furthermore, our results suggest that the semen samples diluted in the extender Bovimix® caused the least cellular injury than the samples diluted in Botubov® and in TYB® on freezing and on cooling protocols.

La finalidad del presente estudio fue evaluar en 2 tiempos la calidad espermática de muestras de semen de ovino tratadas por la técnica de gradiente de densidad con respecto a muestras no tratadas. Se utilizó un total de 102 eyaculados de carnero que presentaron en promedio un volumen de 1.12 ± 0.34 ml, color blanquecino, aspecto cremoso, pH de 6.73 ± 0.25, concentración inicial de 3.54 x 109 ± 5.30 x 108 esp/ml y motilidad masal alrededor del grado 4. Posteriormente, cada eyaculado se dividió en un grupo control y experimental de volúmenes iguales. El semen del grupo control fue diluido con Triladyl® y el experimental, tratado con la técnica de gradiente de densidad. La tasa de recuperación espermática después del tratamiento fue del 31.50 ± 10.89%. Se encontró un aumento significativo (p<0.05) en la motilidad individual progresiva, el porcentaje de espermatozoides vivos y de espermatozoides con membrana intacta en las muestras tratadas con respecto al grupo control (92.07 ± 1.81% vs. 85.74 ± 1.75%, 78.42 ± 5.13% vs. 75.19 ± 4.59%, 78.55 ± 4.34% vs. 73.37 ± 4.48%, respectivamente); así como una disminución significativa (p<0.05) en el porcentaje de espermatozoides anormales en las muestras del grupo experimental con respecto al grupo control (8.41 ± 1.33% vs. 9.94 ± 1.73%). El resto de muestras de ambos grupos fue distribuido en pajillas de 0.25 ml y enfriadas hasta alcanzar los 5°C para su refrigeración por 24 horas. Las muestras tratadas con gradiente de densidad presentaron un aumento significativos (p<0.05), con respecto al grupo control, en motilidad individual progresiva, el porcentaje de espermatozoides vivos y el porcentaje de espermatozoides con membrana intacta (86.94 ± 3.14% vs. 82.44 ± 2.26%, 71.24 ± 4.11% vs. 68.82 ± 4.15%, 70.87 ± 3.11% vs. 67.98 ± 4.42%, respectivamente). En conclusión, la técnica de gradiente favoreció la obtención de un mayor número de espermatozoides vivos, de mejor motilidad y con membrana intacta, así como la disminución del número de espermatozoides anormales tanto en muestras frescas como refrigeradas. The purpose of the present study was to assess at 2 evaluation times the sperm quality from ram semen treated with the density gradient technique and to compare it against non-treated ram semen. A total of 102 ejaculates were evaluated. The mean macroscopic parameters were: volume of 1.12 ± 0.34 ml, creamy white color, creamy-dense appearance, pH of 6.73 ± 0.25, initial concentration of 3.54 x 109 ± 5.30 x 108 spz/ml and mass motility around grade 4. Then, each ejaculate was divided into two equal volume groups: the control and experimental group. For the control group, the sample was diluted in Triladyl®. The experimental group was treated with the density gradient technique. The recovery rate after treatment was 31.50 ± 10.89%.The results showed that, at zero hour, samples treated undergo a significant increase (p <0.05), compared with the control group, in individual progressive motility, percentage of living spermatozoa and the percentage of spermatozoa with intact membrane (92.07 ± 1.81% vs. 85.74 ± 1.75%, 78.42 ± 5.13% vs. 75.19 ± 4.59%, 78.55 ± 4.34% vs. 73.37 ± 4.48%, respectively). There was also a significant decrease (p <0.05) in the percentage of abnormal in samples from the experimental group compared to control group spermatozoa (8.41 ± 1.33% vs. 9.94 ± 1.73%). The remaining samples, from both the control and experimental group, were distributed in 0.25 ml straws and cooled to 5°C for 24 hours refrigeration. Then, the samples were evaluated. After 24 hours at 5°C, the samples treated with the density gradient technique showed significantly greater values (p <0.05), compared with the control group, in individual progressive motility, percentage of living spermatozoa and the percentage of spermatozoa with intact membrane (86.94 ± 3.14% vs. 82.44 ± 2.26%, 71.24 ± 4.11% vs. 68.82 ± 4.15%, 70.87 ± 3.11% vs. 67.98 ± 4.42%, respectively). In conclusion, in the present study, the density gradient technique allowed to obtain better a greater number of living spermatozoa with better motility, intact membrane and with lower abnormalities in fresh and refrigerated samples.

A fragmentação do DNA espermático é uma das principais causas de infertilidade nos machos. Alterações na integridade do DNA podem ser decorrentes da ação de espécies reativas de oxigênio (EROS), de defeitos na protaminação e da apoptose. A sensibilidade do espermatozoide ovino frente as biotecnologias reprodutivas pode ser resultado de uma alta suscetibilidade a ação de EROS ou alterações na protaminação espermática desencadeadas por estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico, tornando o espermatozoide mais suscetível a fragmentação de DNA. Com o objetivo de entender mais este processo, foi realizado um primeiro experimento para avaliar o status oxidativo, os atributos espermáticos e a expressão gênica de proteínas envolvidas nos processos de protaminação em diferentes níveis de suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica (baixo, médio, alto e altíssimo) em sêmen ovino. Foi observado um aumento da atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e uma diminuição da atividade enzimática da glutationa redutase no plasma seminal no grupo com suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica alta e altíssima. Com relação a catalase, não foi verificado esse aumento, no entanto houve maior imunodetecção desta enzima. Em relação a condição espermática, observou-se um aumento na porcentagem de defeitos totais e lesões nas membranas acrossomal e plasmática, além de porcentagens menores de espermatozoides com baixo potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo com maior suscetibilidade a peroxidação lipídica. Este mesmo grupo também apresentou alta suscetibilidade ao dano da cromatina e aumento do número de cópias do gene da protamina 1 (PRM1) em espermatozoides. O segundo experimento avaliou os atributos de espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado e do epidídimo frente ao estresse térmico induzido por insulação testicular (tratado), assim como as relações com o status antioxidante. Observou-se diminuição da motilidade, vigor, turbilhonamento e aumento na porcentagem de defeitos maiores e menores, e de lesões na membrana acrossomal e plasmática em espermatozoides ejaculados no grupo tratado. Essas diferenças não foram observadas em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma maior atividade enzimática da glutationa peroxidase e da glutationa redutase foi observada no plasma seminal do grupo tratado. Foi verificado uma diminuição de espermatozoides com alto potencial de membrana mitocondrial no grupo tratado, indicando que o metabolismo mitocondrial parece estar envolvido no quadro de estresse oxidativo. Um terceiro estudo foi conduzido para verificar o efeito do estresse térmico na integridade da cromatina espermática, na protaminação do DNA espermático e na ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino. Em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, houve um aumento da porcentagem de células com suscetibilidade a fragmentação da cromatina no grupo tratado; não observado em espermatozoides epididimais. Uma alta porcentagem de espermatozoides com fragmentação de DNA grau III (ensaio COMETA) e aumento do número de cópias de mRNA da proteína de transição 1 (TNP1) em espermatozoides provenientes do ejaculado, foi observada no grupo tratado. Já em espermatozoides provenientes do epidídimo, a PRM1 apresentou maior expressão no 30&omicron; dia do ciclo espermático comparado a 7&omicron; dia, enquanto que a TNP1 comportou-se de maneira contrária. Em relação a ativação de vias apoptóticas em testículo ovino, a proteína anti-apoptótica Bax foi imuno-identificada em espermatócitos e a Blc-2 em espermátides, sem diferença entre os grupos. Em conclusão, a alta susceptibidade dos espermatozoides ovinos a peroxidação lipídica altera o status oxidativo ocasionando um quadro de estresse oxidativo, principal causador de dano a cromatina. Adicionalmente, o estresse oxidativo induzido por estresse térmico prejudica os atributos espermáticos e aumenta a suscetibilidade dos espermatozoides a fragmentação de DNA. / Sperm DNA fragmentation is referred as one of the main causes of male\'s infertility. Among the etiologies of abnormalities on DNA integrity the action of reactive oxygen species (ROS), protamination failures and apoptosis are considered the most important. The known sensitivity of ram´s sperm to reproductive biotechnologies could be a result of a higher susceptibility to the action of ROS or changes in sperm protamination triggered by oxidative stress induced by heat stress. This would increase the susceptibility of sperm DNA to fragmentation. Initially, the ram sperm quality, seminal protamine gene expression and oxidative status were evaluated in semen samples of different levels of susceptibility to lipid peroxidation (low, medium, high and very high). There was an increase on glutathione peroxidase and decreased glutathione reductase enzymes&#39; activity in groups with high and very high susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. However, only catalase showed increased immunodetection. An increase on total defects and damaged acrosomal and plasmatic membranes were observed in the group showing the highest susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. Also, the percentage of sperm with low mitochondrial membrane potential, the percentage of sperm susceptible to chromatin damage and the number of copies of protamine 1 (PRM1) mRNA were increased in the group showing higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. The second study evaluated sperm\'s attributes from the epididymis and ejaculated sperm subjected to heat stress induced by testicular insulation (treated group), as well as correlations with the antioxidant status. We observed decrease on motility, vigor, and mass motility and increase on the percentages of sperm showing major and minor defects, and damaged plasma and acrosome membranes in the treated group. These differences were not observed in epididymal sperm. Increased enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were observed in the treated group. Mitochondrial metabolism appeared to be involved in the oxidative homeostasis imbalance. This was effectively observed by a decrease on the percentage of sperm with high mitochondrial membrane potential in the treated group. A third study was conducted to determine the effect of heat stress induced by testicular insulation on the integrity of chromatin, protamination and apoptotic activation pathway in ram testis. An increase on the percentage of sperm with susceptibility to chromatin fragmentation in the treated group was observed. However, the previous findings were not observed in epididymal sperm. A higher percentage of sperm showing DNA fragmentation level III (Comet assay) and an increase on the number of copies of transition protein 1(TNP1) mRNA were observed in the treated group. In epididymal sperm, a higher expression of the PMR1 gene was observed on the 30th day of the espermatogenic cycle, while TNP1 behaved contrarily. In the testicular samples, the anti-apoptotic protein Bax was detected only in spermatocytes while Bcl-2 was observed singularly in spermatids, with no difference between groups. In conclusion, the disruption of oxidative homeostasis may be exacerbated by the higher susceptibility of ram\'s sperm to lipid peroxidation, which could be the main etiology of chromatin damage. In addition, oxidative stress induced by heat stress impairs sperm attributes and DNA integrity.

abstract: Deep learning (DL) has proved itself be one of the most important developements till date with far reaching impacts in numerous fields like robotics, computer vision, surveillance, speech processing, machine translation, finance, etc. They are now widely used for countless applications because of their ability to generalize real world data, robustness to noise in previously unseen data and high inference accuracy. With the ability to learn useful features from raw sensor data, deep learning algorithms have out-performed tradinal AI algorithms and pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved with AI. In this work, we demonstrate the power of deep learning by developing a neural network to automatically detect cough instances from audio recorded in un-constrained environments. For this, 24 hours long recordings from 9 dierent patients is collected and carefully labeled by medical personel. A pre-processing algorithm is proposed to convert event based cough dataset to a more informative dataset with start and end of coughs and also introduce data augmentation for regularizing the training procedure. The proposed neural network achieves 92.3% leave-one-out accuracy on data captured in real world. Deep neural networks are composed of multiple layers that are compute/memory intensive. This makes it difficult to execute these algorithms real-time with low power consumption using existing general purpose computers. In this work, we propose hardware accelerators for a traditional AI algorithm based on random forest trees and two representative deep convolutional neural networks (AlexNet and VGG). With the proposed acceleration techniques, ~ 30x performance improvement was achieved compared to CPU for random forest trees. For deep CNNS, we demonstrate that much higher performance can be achieved with architecture space exploration using any optimization algorithms with system level performance and area models for hardware primitives as inputs and goal of minimizing latency with given resource constraints. With this method, ~30GOPs performance was achieved for Stratix V FPGA boards. Hardware acceleration of DL algorithms alone is not always the most ecient way and sucient to achieve desired performance. There is a huge headroom available for performance improvement provided the algorithms are designed keeping in mind the hardware limitations and bottlenecks. This work achieves hardware-software co-optimization for Non-Maximal Suppression (NMS) algorithm. Using the proposed algorithmic changes and hardware architecture With CMOS scaling coming to an end and increasing memory bandwidth bottlenecks, CMOS based system might not scale enough to accommodate requirements of more complicated and deeper neural networks in future. In this work, we explore RRAM crossbars and arrays as compact, high performing and energy efficient alternative to CMOS accelerators for deep learning training and inference. We propose and implement RRAM periphery read and write circuits and achieved ~3000x performance improvement in online dictionary learning compared to CPU. This work also examines the realistic RRAM devices and their non-idealities. We do an in-depth study of the effects of RRAM non-idealities on inference accuracy when a pretrained model is mapped to RRAM based accelerators. To mitigate this issue, we propose Random Sparse Adaptation (RSA), a novel scheme aimed at tuning the model to take care of the faults of the RRAM array on which it is mapped. Our proposed method can achieve inference accuracy much higher than what traditional Read-Verify-Write (R-V-W) method could achieve. RSA can also recover lost inference accuracy 100x ~ 1000x faster compared to R-V-W. Using 32-bit high precision RSA cells, we achieved ~10% higher accuracy using fautly RRAM arrays compared to what can be achieved by mapping a deep network to an 32 level RRAM array with no variations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2018

Thesis (M.A.) (Development management) --University of Limpopo, 2010. / Gender equality in local water governance is currently envisaged as a necessary aspect for achieving efficient, effective and sustainable water resources management. Based on the premise that men and women exhibit socially and culturally determined differences in behavior, roles and responsibilities, the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy holds that gender concerns in water resources management, including in all decisions regarding planning, design, location, operation and maintenance have to be based on the recognition of their differences. However, giving the pragmatic effect on the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy within the Water Resources Management Sector has met with many challenges relating to structural issues, sustainability, the commitment of actors involved, and the whole range of aspects of attitudinal change, both at individual and collective levels. The study investigates the challenges involved in the application of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy within the Water Resources Management Sector in the rural community of Mogodi Village in Limpopo Village. The study argues that the challenges involved in the application of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy leads to virtual mismanagement of the water resources within rural communities as attested to by the Mogodi Village. The survey results from Mogodi Village proved that gender mainstreaming was not fully applied within the water resources management. Women do not have access to all the positions in the water committee and furthermore, they are not always consulted and if they get the chance to raise their concerns, they are not always taken into consideration. Additionally, the patriarchal tradition within the village has a great impact on the application of the Gender Mainstreaming Initiatives. Some of the principles of this tradition are that women are household caregivers and men are leaders. The roles that women perform within their homesteads do not allow them time to participate in the water resources management. This leaves the water resources management roles in the hands of men in the village. The study therefore concludes that the genuine benefits of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in the water resources management would not be realised as long as the context within which it is applied remains traditional in terms of the gender status quo. / Extrata Mine