The improvement of blood cell sorting techniques in recent years have attracted the attention of many researchers due to the possible benefits that these methods can lead in biology, regenerative medicine, materials science and therapeutic area. In this work a cell sorting technique based on filtration is described. The separation occurs by means of a microfluidic device, suitably designed, manufactured and tested, that is connected to an external experimental set-up. The fabrication process can be divided in two parts: at first it is described the manufacturing process of a filtering membrane, with holes of specific size that allow the passage of only certain cell types. Following the microfluidic device is fabricated through the mechanical micromilling. The membrane and the microdevice are suitably bonded and tested by means of an external connection with syringe pumps that inject blood samples at specific flow rates. The device is designed to separate blood cells and tumor cells only by using differences in size and shape. In particular during the first experiments red blood cells and platelets are sorted from white blood cells; in the other experiments red blood cells and platelets are separated from white blood cells and tumor cells. The microdevice has proven to be very efficient, in fact a capture efficiency of 99% is achieved. For this reason it could be used in identification and isolation of circulating tumor cells, a very rare cancer cell type whose presence in the bloodstream could be symptom of future solid tumor formation. The various experiments have also demonstrated that tumor cells survive even after the separation treatment, and then the suffered stress during the sorting process does not harm the biological sample.

Metaproteomics, as a proteomic approach to analyse environmental samples, is a new and expanding field of research. The field promises new ways of determining the status of the organisms present in a sample, and could provide additional information compared to metagenomics. Being a novel field of research, robust methods and protocols have not yet been established. In this thesis, we examine several methods for a reliable extraction of protein from soil and periphyton samples. The extraction should preferably be fast, compatible with downstream analysis by mass spectrometry and extract proteins in proportion to their presence in the original sample. A variety of methods and buffers were used to extract proteins from soil and periphyton samples. Concentration determinations showed that all of these methods extracted enough protein for further analysis. For purification and digestion of the samples, several methods were used. The purified samples were analysed on three different mass spectrometers, with the Orbitrap Velos Pro delivering the best results. The results were matched against four genomic and metagenomic databases for identification of proteins, of which the UniProt/SwissProt database gave the best result. A maximum of 52 proteins were identified from periphyton samples when searching against UniProt/SwissProt with strict settings, of which the majority were highly conserved proteins. The main limitation for this type of work is currently the lack of proper metagenomic databases.

The research provides data of pH and conductivity, some anions (e. g. fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, phosphate and sulphate), monovalent cations (e. g sodium, ammonium and potassium), divalent cations (e. g calcium and magnesium) heavy metals (e. g. iron, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, cadmium and manganese) and organic compounds – from water samples of rivers of Brunei Darussalam, namely, Brunei River, Belait River, Tutong River and Temburong River. The higher values of certain parameters with respect to the acceptable standard limits for river water indicate the pollution in river water samples of the study area, make the waters unsuitable for various applications and do pose a human health hazard. The pH levels in Brunei Darussalam is quite reassuring and mostly safe. Although there are some stretches of rivers that show slightly lower levels of pH, there is no cause for any alarm as these waterways are not sources of drinking water. As for anions and cations, the only anion of significant levels detected in Brunei Rivers is chloride whereas only monovalent cation detected in significant levels, is sodium. The concentrations of chloride and sodium ions are below the standard concentrations. Brunei Rivers are still free from chloride and sodium pollution. For heavy metals, only iron is detected in Brunei Rivers. Brunei being a oil based country experiments were done to identify levels of a numbers of significant toxic organic compounds, including, toluene and benzene which have been detected in the waters of the oil mining district of Belait District but are within normal limits. The use of a photolytic cell system to achieve the photodegradation of benzene, toluene, ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and the surfactant – hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (C19H42NBr) is reported. The system has been optimised by investigating the effects of the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H202) as an oxidant and the addition of titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a catalyst. The results show that the photolytic system can be used to achieve >99% degradation of organic contaminants. The research also includes a final chapter on management system which covers water protection, pollution control and solid waste management in Brunei. In addition to investigating various factors of the solid waste management in Brunei, the researcher has also exposed some of the weaknesses that need immediate addressing. Various measures have been suggested to make Brunei's water more efficient. Moreover, ways of preserving the high quality of Brunei's water figures in this chapter.

This thesis reviews literature relating both to the treatment of metal rich wastewaters by the use of constructed wetlands and the use of slurry analytical procedures for the determination of heavy metals in environmental micro-samples. A survey of metal contaminated wetland sites showed that aquatic plants maintain low levels of metals in aerial parts despite some very elevated sediment metal concentrations and extreme acidity. A series of greenhouse trials investigated the uptake of metals into aerial sections of Typha, Phragmites and Equisetum in long term hydroponic experiments. Phragmites was shown to accumulate zinc to a higher level than Typha. The toxicity of zinc supplied in the nutrient solution at 5 mg.dm-3 over long periods was found to limit the viability of such non-sediment based systems. A reliable routine analytical procedure was developed along with a program of quality control for the study of metal uptake into aquatic plants. A micro sampling technique, eminently suited for the analysis of small plant sections was developed. This technique uses ozone to ash the plant samples at a low temperature and following suspension in a liquid medium provides a sample ready for slurry determinations by a variety of analytical instrumentation. It is proposed that this method may also be suitable for the determination of metals in individual invertebrates and other zoological micro-samples as well as potential applications in the medical field.

Šio darbo tikslas - Staphylococcus aureus ir Staphylococcus pseudintermedius išskyrimas iš gyvūnų augintinių, jų savininkų ir antimikrobinių medžiagų atsparumo nustatymas. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Išskirti stafilokokus iš gyvūnų augintinių. 2. Išskirti stafilokokus iš gyvūnų augintinių savininkų. 3. Identifikuoti koaguliazei teigiamus stafilokokus. 4. Įvertinti įvairių veiksnių įtaka šunų nosies ertmės ir tiesiosios žarnos mikroflorai. 5. Įvertinti įvairių veiksnių įtaka gyvūnų augintinių savininkų nosies ertmės mikroflorai. 6. Nustatyti atsparumą antimikrobinėms medžiagoms. Iš viso paimti 123 mėginiai, iš jų 82 mėginiai paimti iš šunų laikomų namuose ir lauke, ir 41 mėginys iš jų savininkų. Mėginiai mikrobiologiniam tyrimui buvo imami į transportines terpes TRANSWAB® (naudojama pernešimo terpė aerobams ir anaerobams išskirti (Amies, Liofilchem, Italija)). Mikroorganizmų išskirta iš 37 (30,1 proc.) mėginių. Po vieną mikroorganizmų rūšį nustatyta 33 (89,1 proc.) mėginiuose. Po dvi mikroorganizmų rūšis (mišri infekcija), nustatyta 4 (10,9 proc.) mėginiuose. Iš šunų nosies ertmės ir tiesiosios žarnos paimto 41 mėginio mikroorganizmai buvo išskirti iš 27 (59,3 proc.). Staphylococcus pseudintermedius sudarė 32,4 proc. išskirtų mikroorganizmų, Staphylococcus aureus – 12,2 proc., Bacillus spp. – 14,7 proc. Iš šunų savinikų nosies ertmės paimto 41 mėginio mikroorganizmai buvo išskirti iš 16 (55,9 proc.) mėginių. Staphylococcus aureus sudarė 36,5 proc. išskirtų mikroorganizmų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The objective of the research: Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius isolation from a pet and their owners, and determine the resistance of isolates to antimicrobial agent. Tasks of the research: 1. To isolate staphylococci from pet. 2. To isolate staphylococci from pet owners. 3. To identify coagulase-positive staphylococci. 4. Evaluate the influence of canine nasal and rectal flora. 5. Evaluate the influence of the pet owners nasal cavity flora. 6. To determine the resistance of isolates to antimicrobial agent. 41 samples of dogs and 41 from humans were investigated. Total take 123 samples, including 82 samples were taken from dogs kept in the home and outdoors, and 41 samples of their owners. Samples for microbiological analysis were collected in transport medium TRANSWAB ® (used to transport medium for aerobes and anaerobes release (Amies, Liofilchem, Italy)). Microorganisms were identified in 37 (30.1 percent.) samples. Single type of microorganisms were identified in 33 (89.1 percent) samples. Two types of microorganisms (mixed infection) were identified in 4 (10.9 percent) samples. In dogs, nasal and rectal were taken 41 samples. Microorganisms were identified in 27 (59.3 percent) samples. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius accounted 32.4 percent of identified microorganisms, Staphylococcus aureus – 12.2 percent, Bacillus spp. – 14.7 percent. Dogs owners nasal were taken 41 samples. Microorganisms were identified in 16 (55.9 percent) samples... [to full text]

No setor de mineração, a amostragem está presente no empreendimento mineral desde a fase da exploração até a lavra. Para diminuir a incerteza na previsão de teores, o planejamento de lavra requer adensamento da amostragem para garantir previsões acuradas e precisas. Acredita-se, que quanto maior a quantidade de amostras, maior a confiabilidade nas estimativa de teores. Na fase exploração, geralmente, a amostragem é realizada por furos de sondagem com coroas diamantadas, que é uma técnica com alto custo de execução e produz amostras com acuracidade e precisão. Nesta fase, existem poucos dados com alta qualidade. Já na fase operacional, a amostragem é realizada por outras técnicas devido a restrições orçamentárias e ao alto custo de execução da sondagem diamantada. Em geral, estas amostras possuem baixa qualidade (imprecisas e inacuradas) e não são submetidas a protocolos de controle que qualidade. Logo, nesta fase existem muitos dados com baixa qualidade com erro de vies e precisao. Esta dissertação avalia o impacto do uso de dados imprecisos no planejamento de curto prazo. Para isto, foram analisados dois bancos de dados distintos. O primeiro estudo utiliza o banco de dados exaustivo Walker Lake, que foi usado e considerado como o teor real do depósito. Inicialmente, as amostras foram obtidas a partir do conjunto de dados com espaçamento regular de 20×20 m e 5×5 m, a partir do banco de dados exaustivo. Um erro relativo de ±25% (imprecisão) e 10% de viés foram adicionados aos dados espaçados a 5×5 m (dados geológicos curto prazo) em diferentes cenários. Depois foram estudadas diferentes metodologias para incorporar a informação imprecisa nas estimativas. O segundo estudo é realizado em uma mina de ouro, com dois tipos de dados diferentes, a furos de sondagem (dados primários) e circulação reversa (dados secundários). Nestes estudos foram investigadas duas metodologias: cokrigagem e krigagem ordinária, e os dados foram utilizados para estimar blocos. As curvas teor tonelagem, análise de deriva e a classificação errônea dos blocos foram avaliadas para cada estudo. Para o banco de dados, Walker Lake, os resultados mostraram que o uso da cokrigagem ordinária estandardizada é a melhor metodologia em situações que existem dados imprecisos e enviesados, com boa correlação entre as variáveis primárias e secundárias. As estimativas produzidas são mais próximas da distribuição real dos blocos, reduzindo o erro de classificação dos blocos. Já para o banco de dados de Ouro, as amostras possuem moderada correlaçao e continuidade espacial curta para pequenas distâncias do depósito. Nesta situação, a correção da imprecisão da variável secundária utilizando a krigagem ordinária produziram melhores resultados com estimativas menos enviesadas e melhor classificação dos blocos como minério e estéril. / Decisions starting at mineral exploration through mining are based on grade block models obtained from samples. To decrease the uncertainty in the estimates, the short term mining planning requires additional sampling to ensure accurate and precise predictions. As more samples are made available, there is trend towards more reliable estimates. In the exploration stage, usually, sampling is performed by diamond drill holes (DDH), which are expensive but produces accurate and precise samples. In this stage there are few data with high quality. In the production stage, sampling is obtained by other techniques due to the high costs of DDHs. In general, these samples have low quality and are not controlled by QA / QC protocols. This study evaluates the impact of using imprecise data in short-term mineplanning. For this, it was analyzed two different data sets. The first case used the exhaustive Walker Lake dataset as the source to obtain the true and sampled grades. Initially, samples were obtained from the exhaustive dataset at regularly spaced grids at 20 × 20 m and 5 × 5 meters. A relative error (imprecision) of ± 25% and a 10% bias were added to the data spaced at 5 × 5 m (short-term geological data) in different scenarios. The second study is in a gold mine with two different types of data obtained from diamond drilling holes (DDH_Hard data) and reverse circulation (RC_Soft data).To combine these different types of data, two methodologies were investigated: cokriging and ordinary kriging. Both types of data were used to estimate a block model using the two methodologies. The grade tonnage curves and swath plots were used to compare the results against the true block grades at the same block support. In addition, the block misclassification was evaluated. In the Walker Lake the results show that standardized ordinary cokriging is a better methodology for imprecise and biased data and produces estimates closer to the true grade block distribution, reducing block misclassification. For the data set at the underground mine gold, the samples had moderate correlation and short spatial continuity for small distances at this deposit. In this situation, the estimates using ordinary kriging with hard and soft data (standardized and re-escaled) produced better results with less bias and better blocks classification of ore and waste.

The interest in study of resistant starch in the pig nutrition is increasing. This experiment was done to evaluate resistant starch content in maize/corn by using an in vitro method. A total of 27 varieties of corn were used in this trial to determine the evaluation of in vitro resistant starch (RS); in vitro non-resistant starch (NRS); in vitro total starch (TS); dry matter (DM); ash and organic matter (OM). All treatments of corn samples were carried out in triplicates. In vitro determination of RS, NRS and TS were determined directly before the spectrophotometer reading with a wavelength of 510 nm. In vitro RS, NRS and TS ranged from 0.56 – 1.98%, 22.11 – 52.33% and 22.69 – 54.27% respectively; DM, Ash and OM ranged from 85.71 – 95.34%, 1.1 – 1.85% and 98.15 – 98.9% respectively. In RS, 424L and 5660 (P/≤/0.05); in NRS, 652N and MC 4050 (P/≤/0.01; in TS, 652N, MC 4050 and 424L (P/≤/0.01, 0.01 and 0.05 respectively); and in DM, 590 (P/≤/0.05). Results indicated that varieties of corn used may be low in amylose content because the RS values were negligible (≤ 1%) giving MC 5800 and 652N as the lowest RS values suitable for growing pigs. Further work is needed to validate these results. Keywords: In vitro; Resistant starch; Corn samples; Non-resistant starch; Total starch; Spectrophotometer

Orientador: Marcílio Dias Silveira da Mota / Coorientador: Henrique Nunes de Oliveira / Banca: Humberto Tonhati / Banca: Evaldo Antonio Lencioni Titto / Resumo: O objetivo desse trabalho foi estimar parâmetros genéticos para o caráter tempo e colocação final em corridas de cavalos Puro Sangue Inglês (PSI) com procedimentos Bayesiano e Thurstoniano, a fim de fornecer subsídios para a seleção de reprodutores e consequente melhoramento genético da raça no Brasil. A partir de dados fornecidos pela empresa Turf Total Ltda foram consideradas 251.754 informações de tempo e 272.277 informações de colocações finais em 34.316 corridas de cavalos PSI ocorridas entre 1992 e 2011 em 6 hipódromos do país, para as distâncias de 1.000, 1.300, 1.600 e 2.000 metros. Os efeitos considerados fixos foram idade, sexo, posição de largada e páreo para as análises de tempo, e sexo, idade, posição de largada, páreo e nível de dificuldade da corrida para as análises de colocações finais. As herdabilidades e correlações genéticas para tempo foram estimadas utilizando inferências bayesianas, ao passo que para as estimativas de herdabilidade de colocação final utilizou-se o modelo Thurstoniano. As estimativas de herdabilidade para tempo em análises unicaraterísticas. foram semelhantes às encontradas na literatura, e variaram entre 0,31 e 0,04 e as repetibilidades encontradas variaram de 0,61 a 0,22, respectivamente com o aumento das distâncias. As estimadas para colocação final variaram de 0,57 a 0,21, apresentando a mesma tendência que as herdabilidades para tempo. As estimativas de herdabilidade para tempo na análise multicaracterística variaram entre 0,34 e 0,15 com repetibilidade entre 0,63 e 0,36. Nessa análise, a seleção para tempo também mostrou-se mais eficiente em distâncias menores, onde as herdabilidades foram maiores. As estimativas de correlações genéticas foram positivas e variaram de 0,47 a 0,97. Conclui-se que, em distâncias mais curtas, a seleção tanto para tempo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The objective of this study was to estimate genetic paremeters for racing time and final rank in Thoroughbred horses using Bayesian and Thurstonian procedures, in order to provide data that contribute for selection and the consequent genetic improvement of the breed in Brazil. Data were provided by the company Turf Total Ltda. and consisted of 251,754 racing time records and 272,277 final rank records obtained from 34,316 Thoroughbred races (distances of 1,000, 1,300, 1,600 and 2,000 m) that occurred between 1992 and 2011 on six race tracks. Fixed effects included age, sex, post-position and race for the analysis of racing time, and sex, age, post-position, race and level of difficulty for final rank analysis. The heritabilities for racing time and final rank and the genetic correlations between racing times were estimated by Bayesian inference. In addition, a Thurstonian model was used to estimate the heritability for final rank. The heritability estimates for racing time in one-trait analysis were similar to those reported in the literature and ranged from 0.31 to 0.04. Repeatability estimates tended to decrease with increasing race distance (0.61 to 0.22) .The heritabilities estimates for final rank ranged from 0.57 to 0.21 and showed the same trend as the heritabilities for time. The heritability estimates for racing time obtained by multi-trait analysis ranged form 0.34 to 0.15, with repeatabilities of 0.63 to 0.36 at the distances studied. Multi-trait analysis also showed that selection for racing time was more efficient at shorter distances when heritabilities were higher. The genetic correlations were all positive and ranged from 0.47 to 0.97. In conclusion, selection for both racing time and final rank is more efficient at shorter distances... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

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Submitted by Natíza Graziele Martins Borsato null (natiza_gmb@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-22T13:29:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DEFESA Natiza G M Borsato.pdf: 2718459 bytes, checksum: 27005db75663dcc081fd9ab405793b95 (MD5) / Rejected by Monique Sasaki (sayumi_sasaki@hotmail.com), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo a orientação abaixo: O arquivo submetido está sem a ficha catalográfica. A versão submetida por você é considerada a versão final da dissertação/tese, portanto não poderá ocorrer qualquer alteração em seu conteúdo após a aprovação. Corrija esta informação e realize uma nova submissão contendo o arquivo correto. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2017-09-27T18:30:18Z (GMT) / Submitted by Natíza Graziele Martins Borsato null (natiza_gmb@hotmail.com) on 2017-10-04T02:10:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DEFESA Natiza G M Borsato.pdf: 2725342 bytes, checksum: 2ca43e2f0da0345b3a705c0777b90ef3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-10-04T17:27:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 borsato_ngm_me_sjrp.pdf: 2725342 bytes, checksum: 2ca43e2f0da0345b3a705c0777b90ef3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-04T17:27:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 borsato_ngm_me_sjrp.pdf: 2725342 bytes, checksum: 2ca43e2f0da0345b3a705c0777b90ef3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-11 / No presente trabalho estudou-se, a concentração de bismuto total em áreas com falhas tectônicas e sua correlação com os níveis de radioisótopos de chumbo e de emissão de radônio-222. As determinações de bismuto total em diferentes solos foram realizadas por análise eletroquímica pela técnica de voltametria de redissolução anódica. Os valores de bismuto total aumentaram de acordo com o aumento da profundidade na extração do solo em estudo. Evidenciando a existência de bismuto decorrente da emanação de radônio-222 e sugerindo a existência de falhas geológicas nas áreas estudadas. Por análise estatística (ANOVA) verificou-se uma correlação da concentração de chumbo total e o nível de emissão de radônio-222 com a concentração de bismuto total. Essa correlação indica que a fonte de bismuto é proveniente da cadeia de decaimento radioativo do urânio-238 e tório-232. / In this work, the total concentration of bismuth areas with tectonic faults and their correlation and their correlation with the levels of lead radioisotopes and radon-222 emission. The determination of total bismuth in different soils were performed by electrochemical analysis using anodic redissolution voltammetry technique. The total bismuth values increased according to the depth increase in the extraction of the soil under study, evidencing the existence of bismuth due to the emanation of radon-222 and suggesting the existence of geological faults in the studied areas. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) showed a correlation between the total lead concentration and the emission level of radon-222 with the total bismuth concentration. This correlation indicates that the bismuth source is from the radioactive decay chain of uranium-238 and thorium-232.