No description available.

<p>Smooth muscle cells from pig aortic media were grown in tissue culture, in medium containing 10% calf serum. Lipid biosynthesis from radioactive substrates 1-¹⁴C-acetate, U-¹⁴C-D-glucose, 1-¹⁴C-oleic acid and ³²P-phosphoric acid was measured. In addition, the influence of various sera, including pig serum, normolipemic human serum (NLHS), and hyperlipemic human serum (HLHS) on lipid biosynthesis from acetate and phosphoric acid was studied</p> <p>Compared to calf serum, all three test sera caused a stimulation of lipid synthesis in the lipid classes, phospholipid (PL), free fatty acids (FFA), triglycerides (TG) and cholesterol esters (CE), and an inhibition of cholesterol plus diglyceride (S + DG) synthesis. The extent of stimulation was least for pig serum and greatest for HLHS; the inhibition of S + DG was greatest for HLHS and least for pig serum. It was noted that the HLHS stimulation of CE synthesis was proportionately greater than the stimulation of the other lipid classes and that the HLHS inhibition of S + DG was significantly greater than that seen with the other test sera.</p> <p>The morphology of cultured aortic smooth muscle cells grown in 10% calf serum and 10% HLHS was examined by means of scanning and transmission electronmicroscopy. It was observed that HLHS caused degenerative alterations in the morphology of the cultured smooth muscle cells, such as an abundance of lipid droplets and cellular debris. The implications of these results in relation to the development of atherosclerosis are discussed.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Chlamydia trachomatis is an important cause of immune-mediated damage to the reproductive tract of infected patients. Certain chlamydial antigens and host genetic factors have been identified as contributing to immunopathological events, but a comprehensive understanding of specific components involved in destructive vs. protective immune responses to chlamydial infections is far from clear. In this study, it is shown that C. trachomatis-infected patients generate antibodies against an iron-responsive chlamydial protein, YtgA. The identity of YtgA was confirmed by mass spectrometry following two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. This finding underscores a necessity to examine patient sera samples to identify chlamydial antigens that are likely encountered and important to the immune response during human infections.

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-07-19T15:07:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 felipeandradearruda.pdf: 9353132 bytes, checksum: 18913723b69f5d34465a964de5778399 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-07-23T15:29:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 felipeandradearruda.pdf: 9353132 bytes, checksum: 18913723b69f5d34465a964de5778399 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-23T15:29:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 felipeandradearruda.pdf: 9353132 bytes, checksum: 18913723b69f5d34465a964de5778399 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-08 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente projeto tem como objetivo traduzir e analisar a hagiografia de Guru Padmasambhava (este tido como o introdutor dos ensinamentos budistas no Tibete no século VIII) intitulada O Lótus Branco Imaculado: Vida e Liberação de Oḍḍiyāna (Wyl. o rgyan rnam thar dri med padma dkar po), de autoria da mestra e “reveladora de tesouros” (Wyl. gter ston) tibetana Sera Khandro (Wyl. se ra mkha’ ‘gro, 1892-1940), utilizando metodologias de análise particulares à tradição dos tesouros Terma (Wyl. gter ma), iniciada por Padmasambhava, tendo como referência o estilo e a abordagem da própria Sera Khandro e o tratado O Lótus Branco (Wyl. padma dkar po), de Jamgön Mipham Gyatso (Wyl. ‘jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846-1912). / The present work aims to translate and analize the hagiography of Guru Padmasambhava (known as the introducer of the Buddhist teachings in Tibet during the eighth century) entitled The Immaculate White Lotus: Life and Liberation of Oḍḍiyāna (Wyl. o rgyan rnam thar dri med padma dkar po), written by the Tibetan female master and “treasure revealer” (Wyl. gter ston) Sera Khandro (Wyl. se ra mkha’ ‘gro, 1892-1940), using analytical methodologies particular to the Terma (Wyl. gter ma) treasure tradition, initiated by Padmasambhava, having as reference Sera Khandro’s own style and approach and Jamgön Mipham Gyatso’s (Wyl. ‘jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846-1912) treatise The White Lotus (Wyl. padma dkar po).

Este estudo parte de características das narrativas da escritora italiana Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) sublinhadas pela crítica especializada, como a abordagem de temas cotidianos, a presença de personagens embotados, a inexistência de atos melodramáticos e a ausência de grande tensão narrativa. O estilo da escritora é apresentado pela crítica como simples e direto, ocupando lugar secundário nas análises. Por isso, o objetivo central deste estudo é realizar uma análise estilística da obra de Natalia Ginzburg, destacando as técnicas narrativas empregadas. Para embasar esta abordagem discute-se o conceito de estilo simples proposto por Enrico Testa; os conceitos de sfondo, primo piano, ritmo narrativo, rilievo narrativo e tensão narrativa propostos por Harald Weinrich; e os conceitos de sumário narrativo e cena propostos por Norman Friedman. O estudo detalha a presença destas técnicas narrativas em dois romances de Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare e Le voci della sera, e as utiliza como principal forma de interpretação das narrativas da escritora. / This research starts with characteristics of Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg\'s (1916-1991) narratives highlighted by specialized critics, such as focus on everyday themes, the presence of blunted characters, lack of melodramatic acts, and the absence of narrative tension. The specialized critics presents the writer\'s style as simple and direct, holding a secondary position in the analyzes. Therefore, the central purpose of this research is to perform a stylistics analysis of Natalia Ginzburg\'s work, highlighting the narrative techniques adopted. To perform this approach the research discusses the concept of simple style by Enrico Testa; the concept of sfondo, primo piano, ritmo narrativo, rilievo narrativo and narrative tension proposed by Harald Weinrich; and the concept of summary narrative and scene proposed by Norman Friedman. The research details the presence of these narrative techniques in two novels, Lessico famigliare and Le voci della sera, and use them as main form of interpretation of the writers narratives.

Färgning av polyester (PET) sker i temperaturer omkring 130℃ och som en följd av den höga värmen migrerar oligomerer ut ur PET-fibern. Dessa oligomerer skapar därefter problem i form av vita fällningar och avlagringar, som leder till en reducering av maskinernas effektivitet, samt försämring av materialets utseende. En vanligt förekommande metod för att begränsa problemet är att tillsätta hjälpkemikalier i färgbadet. Novozymes A/S hävdar att genomförda studier med PET-garn och enzymet cutinase NS59038 har visat en minskning av det vita damm som kan ses på garnet i samband med migration av oligomerer. Eftersom enorma mängder PET produceras globalt varje år skulle endast en liten minskning av mängden kemikalier innebära en stor skillnad. Kemikalier som ersätts med andra kemikalier kan ifrågasättas om det är en bra metod eller om det bestrider syftet. Ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv kan enzymer ses som ett bättre alternativ eftersom de enligt Jajpura (2017) är biologiskt hållbara, formar sällan någon biprodukt och dess reaktion kräver oftast mildare förhållanden. Hjälpkemikalien Sera Con P-NSI används av Ludvig Svensson AB som färgar garn av den flamskyddade polyesterfibern Trevira CS. Syftet med projektet har därmed varit att undersöka om enzymet cutinase NS59038 är ett alternativ till hjälpkemikalien Sera Con P-NSI, för att reducera de problem som uppstår med oligomerer i färgningsprocessen med Trevira CS. Garnets egenskaper har jämförts genom visuell analys med mikroskop, viktförändring, reflektionsspektrofotometer och dragprovning. Metoder som använts i syfte att detektera oligomerer har varit FTIR, UV-vis spektrofotometer och svart svavelfilterpapper. Utifrån genomförda analyser av garnets vikt, styrka, färgupptagning och visuell bedömning har det inte kunnat konstateras att cutinase NS59038 skulle vara ett alternativ till Sera Con P-NSI. Resultat från analysmetoderna visade skillnader i medelvärde, men inget samband mellan val av färgrecept och garnets egenskap har detekterats. De olika färgningsförsöken visade inte någon förekomst av fällningar/avlagringar som med använda testmetoder har kunnat bekräftas som oligomerer. Resultaten bedömdes därmed inte som tillräckliga för att konstatera om cutinase NS59038 påverkar garnets kvalitet i jämförelse med hjälpkemikalien Sera Con P-NSI. / In the dyeing process of polyester (PET) the temperature goes up to around 130℃ and as a result oligomers migrate out of the PET fiber. These oligomers create problems as white precipitates that deposits on the material and the inside of machines. This leads to a reduction in machine efficiency, as well as a change of material appearance. One common method for limiting the problem is to add help chemicals in conjunction with the dyeing process. According to results from previous studies, Novozymes A/S claims that the enzyme cutinase NS59038 has reduced the white dust on the yarn of polyester. Based on the enormous quantity of PET that are produced every year, even a small reduction of the chemicals that are used would mean a huge difference. Chemicals that replace other chemicals can be questioned whether or not it can be seen as an alternative or if it disputes the purpose. From a sustainable point of view enzymes could according to Jajpura (2017) be seen as a better alternative because they are biodegradable, their reaction seldom form any byproduct and often requires less energy. The help chemical Sera Con P-NSI is used by Ludvig Svensson AB and is added to the dye bath in the dyeing process of the specific polyester Trevira CS (a flame retardant polyester fiber). The purpose of the project has thus been to investigate whether the enzyme cutinase NS59038 is an alternative to the help chemical Sera Con P-NSI, to reduce the problems with oligomers in the dyeing process of Trevira CS. The properties of the yarn have been compared by visual analysis with microscope, weight change, measurement of the color change with spectrophotometer and tensile strength. Methods used to detect oligomers have been FTIR, UV-vis spectrophotometer and black sulfur filter paper. Based on the analysis of the weight of the yarn, strength, color uptake and visual assessment, it can not be established that cutinase NS59038 would be an alternative to Sera Con P-NSI. Results from the analysis methods show differences in the mean, but no connection between the choice of dye recipe and the properties of the yarn can be detected. None of the precipitates that was predicted to arise on the surface of the yarn was ever detected. The results are therefore not considered sufficient to determine whether cutinase NS59038 affects the quality of the yarn compared to the help chemical Sera Con P-NSI.

Este estudo parte de características das narrativas da escritora italiana Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) sublinhadas pela crítica especializada, como a abordagem de temas cotidianos, a presença de personagens embotados, a inexistência de atos melodramáticos e a ausência de grande tensão narrativa. O estilo da escritora é apresentado pela crítica como simples e direto, ocupando lugar secundário nas análises. Por isso, o objetivo central deste estudo é realizar uma análise estilística da obra de Natalia Ginzburg, destacando as técnicas narrativas empregadas. Para embasar esta abordagem discute-se o conceito de estilo simples proposto por Enrico Testa; os conceitos de sfondo, primo piano, ritmo narrativo, rilievo narrativo e tensão narrativa propostos por Harald Weinrich; e os conceitos de sumário narrativo e cena propostos por Norman Friedman. O estudo detalha a presença destas técnicas narrativas em dois romances de Natalia Ginzburg, Lessico famigliare e Le voci della sera, e as utiliza como principal forma de interpretação das narrativas da escritora. / This research starts with characteristics of Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg\'s (1916-1991) narratives highlighted by specialized critics, such as focus on everyday themes, the presence of blunted characters, lack of melodramatic acts, and the absence of narrative tension. The specialized critics presents the writer\'s style as simple and direct, holding a secondary position in the analyzes. Therefore, the central purpose of this research is to perform a stylistics analysis of Natalia Ginzburg\'s work, highlighting the narrative techniques adopted. To perform this approach the research discusses the concept of simple style by Enrico Testa; the concept of sfondo, primo piano, ritmo narrativo, rilievo narrativo and narrative tension proposed by Harald Weinrich; and the concept of summary narrative and scene proposed by Norman Friedman. The research details the presence of these narrative techniques in two novels, Lessico famigliare and Le voci della sera, and use them as main form of interpretation of the writers narratives.

O rotavírus é a principal causa de diarréia em crianças em todo o mundo. Infecta também adultos, mas não há dados completos sobre a sua incidência nesse grupo nem sobre o papel de anticorpos preexistentes na proteção contra o vírus. O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a presença de anticorpos IgA e IgG anti-rotavírus SA-11, por ELISA, em amostras de soro de adultos saudáveis e sua ação neutralizante frente ao vírus, em ensaios de neutralização. Por Immunoblotting foi avaliado o reconhecimento de proteínas virais pelos anticorpos séricos. Observou-se que os títulos das amostras foram muito variáveis, sendo os de IgG superiores aos de IgA. Todas as amostras mostraram-se capazes de neutralizar o vírus em diferentes níveis, porém não foi possível estabelecer uma correlação com os títulos de anticorpos. Foi observado que anticorpos da classe IgG reconhecem mais proteínas virais que os da classe IgA. Este trabalho pode ser considerado mais um passo na elucidação do papel dos anticorpos séricos IgA e IgG anti-rotavírus na infecção em adultos. / Rotavirus has been considered the leading cause of diarrhea in children worldwide. The virus also infects adults but there is no conclusive data neither on the incidence of infection on this group nor on the role of pre-existing antibodies. The aim of the work was to evaluate the presence of anti-rotavirus SA-11 IgA and IgG by ELISA in serum samples of healthy adults and the serum neutralizing ability against the virus by neutralization assays. Immunoblotting was used to evaluate viral proteins recognition by serum antibodies. The antibody titers were extremely variable where IgG titers are greater than IgA ones. All samples were able to neutralize the virus in different levels but it was not possible to establish a correlation between antibody titers and neutralization ones. Immunoblotting assays revealed that IgG antibodies recognize more viral proteins than IgA did. This work can be considered a valuable step for elucidating the role of serum anti-rotavirus IgG and IgA antibodies in adults infection.

Yau Wing Yiu, Winifred. / On t.p. "alpha"s appear as the Greek letter. / Thesis submitted in: October 2006. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-98). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese version) --- p.iv / Acknowledgements --- p.vi / Table of Contents --- p.vii / List of Abbreviations --- p.xii / List of Figures --- p.xiv / List of Tables --- p.xvi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- What are PPARs? --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- PPAR ligands - peroxisome proliferators --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- PPAR isoforms --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Biological roles of PPARα --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- Lipid metabolism --- p.3 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- Glucose metabolism --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.3 --- Inflammation --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.4 --- Oxidative stress --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.5 --- Cell proliferation and apoptosis --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3 --- PPARα in health and diseases --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Wound-healing --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Anti-atherogenesis --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Neuroprotection --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3.4 --- Carcineogenesis --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- PPARα-regulated and starvation inducible gene (PPSIG) --- p.8 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- PPSIG is a PPARα target gene --- p.8 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Computer-assisted predictions on PPSIG --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Current characterization of PPSIG --- p.10 / Chapter 1.5 --- Objectives of the present study --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Animals and treatment --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Cloning of PPSIG into pThioHis and pTYB expression vectors --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- PCR amplification of PPSIG cDNA insert --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1.1 --- PPSIG cDNA insert for pThioHis vector --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3.1.2 --- PPSIG cDNA insert for pTYB vector --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Restriction enzyme digestion of PPSIG cDNA insert and pThioHis vector --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Restriction enzyme digestion of PPSIG cDNA insert and pTYB vector --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Ligation and transformation --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Screening for recombinants by phenol/chloroform method --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Confirmation of recombinant plasmid by restriction enzyme digestion --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.6.1 --- Digestion of pThioHis-PPSIG plasmid with Xba I and Sac II --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.6.2 --- Digestion of pTYB-PPSIG plasmid with EcoR V --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.7 --- Transformation into expression E. coli strains --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4 --- Over expression of PPSIG proteins in E. coli --- p.23 / Chapter 2.5 --- Semi-purification of PPSIG fusion proteins by preparative SDS-PAGE --- p.24 / Chapter 2.6 --- Rabbit immunization --- p.25 / Chapter 2.7 --- Northern blotting analysis --- p.26 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Probe preparation --- p.26 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- "Formaldehyde-agarose gel electrophoresis, blotting of RNA and hybridization" --- p.26 / Chapter 2.8 --- Subcellular fractionation --- p.29 / Chapter 2.9 --- Western blotting of liver microsomes --- p.31 / Chapter 2.10 --- Immunoprecipitation --- p.32 / Chapter 2.11 --- Mass spectrometry --- p.33 / Chapter 2.11.1 --- Trypsin digestion and peptide extraction --- p.33 / Chapter 2.11.2 --- Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry --- p.34 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Results --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1 --- Cloning of PPSIG into pThioHis and pTYB vectors --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Cloning of PPSIG into pThioHis vector --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Cloning of PPSIG into pTYB vector --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Protein expression of Thio-PPSIG and Intein-PPSIG --- p.41 / Chapter 3.3 --- Identification of recombinant Thio-PPSIG and Intein-PPSIG by mass spectrometry --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4 --- Preparation and characterization of Thio-PPSIG and Intein-PPSIG antisera --- p.61 / Chapter 3.5 --- Identification of native PPSIG and its induction pattern --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- PPSIG was highly inducible upon 72-h starvation in a PPARα dependent manner --- p.65 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- "PPSIG showed slight induction upon 2-wk Wy-14,643 treatment" --- p.71 / Chapter 3.6 --- Confirmation of the specificity of PPSIG antiserum --- p.74 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Discussion --- p.81 / References --- p.91 / Appendix A Deduced amino acid sequences of PPSIG fusion proteins --- p.99 / Chapter A1 --- Deduced amino acid sequence of Thio-PPSIG from pThioHis-PPSIG plasmid --- p.99 / Chapter A2 --- Deduced amino acid sequence of Intein-PPSIG from pTYB-PPSIG plasmid --- p.101 / Appendix B Mass spectra of trypsin digested native PPSIG --- p.104 / Chapter B1 --- Mass spectrum of trypsin digested native PPSIG immunoprecipitated from liver microsomes from PPARα wild-type mice fed with normal diet (starvation experiment) --- p.104 / Chapter B2 --- Mass spectrum of trypsin digested native PPSIG immunoprecipitated from liver microsomes from PPARα wild-type mice starved for 72 hours (starvation experiment) --- p.105 / Chapter B3 --- "Mass spectrum of trypsin digested native PPSIG immunoprecipitated from liver microsomes from PPARα wild-type mice fed with control diet (Wy-14,643 feeding experiment)" --- p.106 / Chapter B4 --- "Mass spectrum of trypsin digested native PPSIG immunoprecipitated from liver microsomes from PPARα wild-type mice fed with 0.1% (w/w) Wy-14,643 for 2 weeks (Wy-14,643 feeding experiment)" --- p.107

Data mining in high dimensionality almost inevitably faces the consequences of increasing sparsity and declining differentiation between points. This is problematic because we usually exploit these differences for approaches such as clustering and outlier detection. In addition, the exponentially increasing sparsity tends to increase false negatives when clustering. In this thesis, we address the problem of solving high-dimensional problems using low-dimensional solutions. In clustering, we provide a new framework MAXCLUS for finding candidate subspaces and the clusters within them using only two-dimensional clustering. We demonstrate this through an implementation GCLUS that outperforms many state-of-the-art clustering algorithms and is particularly robust with respect to noise. It also handles overlapping clusters and provides either `hard' or `fuzzy' clustering results as desired. In order to handle extremely high dimensional problems, such as genome microarrays, given some sample-level diagnostic labels, we provide a simple but effective classifier GSEP which weights the features so that the most important can be fed to GCLUS. We show that this leads to small numbers of features (e.g. genes) that can distinguish the diagnostic classes and thus are candidates for research for developing therapeutic applications. In the field of outlier detection, several novel algorithms suited to high-dimensional data are presented (T*ENT, T*ROF, FASTOUT). It is shown that these algorithms outperform the state-of-the-art outlier detection algorithms in ranking outlierness for many datasets regardless of whether they contain rare classes or not. Our research into high-dimensional outlier detection has even shown that our approach can be a powerful means of classification for heavily overlapping classes given sufficiently high dimensionality and that this phenomenon occurs solely due to the differences in variance among the classes. On some difficult datasets, this unsupervised approach yielded better separation than the very best supervised classifiers and on other data, the results are competitive with state-of-the-art supervised approaches.kern-1pt The elucidation of this novel approach to classification opens a new field in data mining, classification through differences in variance rather than spatial location. As an appendix, we provide an algorithm for estimating false negative and positive rates so these can be compensated for.