103Pd is an important therapeutic radionuclide and has recently found great interest due to its higher radiobiologic effect. 109Cd decays by electron capture and is generally used as calibration sources in industrial and medical fields. A new method for the production of 103Pd and 109Cd using the 66 MeV proton beam of iThemba LABS on a tandem natural silver target (Ag/Ag) has been developed. The tandem targets (each target with a mass of 9 g and a thickness of 3 mm) were placed in the high energy slot (62.515 MeV - 40.173 MeV) and low energy slot (38.652 MeV – 0 MeV) to produce the bulk 103Pd and 109Cd, respectively. The radiochemical separation of the Pd radionuclides (103Pd, 100Pd) and the co-produced Rh radioisotopes (mainly 101Rh and 100Rh which are produced from decay of their Pd parents) from the bulk natAg was achieved using a Chelex chelating resin column. In the preliminary studies, different size columns (3 cm x 1 cm, 11 cm x 1 cm, 13 cm x 1 cm and 16 cm x 1.5 cm) were investigated to determine the optimal column conditions for the separation. It was determined that the optimal conditions for the chemical separation was with a 13 cm x 1 cm resin column with the elution of Rh and Ag radionuclides carried out with 1 M HNO3 and the elution of Pd radionuclides with 10 M HCl. No Ag or Rh impurities were detected in the final product and the average recovery of Pd was > 96 %. This work was repeated using a ―hot‖ irradiated Ag target and the chemical processing was done in a hot cell using the same resin column conditions. The recovery of the high purity 103Pd from the irradiated natAg target was found to be > 95 %. The radiochemical separation of 109Cd from the bulk natAg target was done in two parts. In the first part, the precipitation method was used to reduce the silver into a metallic form using 30 g of Cu turnings. The resulting 109Cd filtrate was loaded onto a AG-X10 anion exchange resin column (6 cm x 1 cm). For the optimal chemical separation, the elution of Ag and Cu(II) was carried out with 2 M HCl containing H2O2 and the elution of 109Cd was accomplished with 1 M HNO3. The recovery yield of 109Cd was > 99 %. / Chemistry / M.Sc. (Chemistry)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-21T13:43:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 833.pdf: 2723781 bytes, checksum: a830784ddefc542106be74ce8aa431fa (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-05T22:16:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 833.pdf.txt: 159741 bytes, checksum: 9e6065c4897ceb926534eb7e10453293 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) 833.pdf: 2723781 bytes, checksum: a830784ddefc542106be74ce8aa431fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães. Recife, PE, Brasil / A Yersinia pestis é o agente etiológico da peste, uma doença primária de roedores, transmitida por pulgas infectadas e que pode infectar o homem e outros mamíferos. O objetivo do trabalho foi realizar a tipagem de 63 cepas de Y. pestis de três focos de peste do PE. As cepas foram isoladas de diferentes fontes e períodos. Das 63 cepas, 20 foram isoladas de um epizootia, em agosto de 1967, na Chapada do Araripe-PE. Também foram estudadas oito cepas de Y. pestis isoladas em outros países, cinco cepas de Y. pseudotuberculosis e nove de Y. enterocolitica. Foram utilizados onze VNTRs pela técnica do MLVA. Dos onze VNTRs para as cepas da epizootia apenas um revelou-se polimórfico apresentando diferentes alelos. Os demais VNTRs revelaram-se monomórficos. Entre os onze VNTRs analisados para as 51 cepas de Y. pestis (43 brasileiras e 8 estrageiras) dois se revelaram monomórficos gerando amplicons com 7 e 2 unidades repetitivas (UR). Os outros nove VNTRs analisados revelaram-se polimórficos gerando dois a oito alelos. As cepas de Y. pseudotuberculosis apresentaram-se polimórficas para 10 VNTRs gerando amplicons de tamanhos diversos, o VNTR ms09 foi o único monomórfico gerando um amplicon de 700 pb com 28 UR. Das nove cepas de Y. enterocolitica analisadas com os onze locos, sete apresentaram-se monomórficos com amplicons de 700, 250, 270, 690, 231 e 379 pb. Os outros quatro VNTRs analisados apresentaram um padrão de amplificação polimórfico com amplicons de tamanhos diferentes para o mesmo loco. O padrão de amplificação gerado com as cepas de Y. pestis possibilitou distribui-las em 35 perfis genotípicos. A análise das cepas pelo dendrograma permitiu agrupá-las em cinco clados, onde no clado I ficaram agrupadas a maioria das cepas brasileiras de Y. pestis, as cepas estrangeiras de Y. pestis ficaram agrupadas nos clados II e IV, enquanto que Y. enterocolitica e Y. pseudotuberculosis ficaram nos clados III e V respectivamente. Diante dissso pode-se considerar que o MLVA mostrou-se uma ferramenta útil em estudos filogenéticos e epidemiológicos das cepas brasileiras de Y. pestis, além de estudos intraespecíficos com as espécies de Y. enterocolitica e Y. pseudotuberculosis. As análises revelaram diversidade genética entre as cepas de Y. pestis isoladas de diferentes fontes e períodos e sua continuação poderá gerar dados importantes para estabelecer relações filogenéticas entre as cepas, contribuindo para um melhor entendimento da disseminação e transmissão do agente etiológico da peste na natureza e a dinâmica da epidemiologia no Brasil

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-05-26Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:30:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 fernandes_fr_me_sjrp.pdf: 977603 bytes, checksum: 9bd36f99312dcde3ae87e46761b19ff4 (MD5) / O processo de ensino-aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira está ligado a diversas questões que podem garantir a aquisição de tal língua ou mesmo criar entraves que aumentam a distância entre o aprendiz e a língua-alvo. Assim, questões referentes aos fatores cognitivos, didático-pedagógicos, sociais, econômicos e culturais são significativas em relação à forma como um indivíduo aprende uma determinada língua. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar e descrever as contribuições e os entraves dos meios digitais para a aprendizagem de língua estrangeira por meio da interação entre pares no escopo do projeto Teletandem Brasil: línguas estrangeiras para todos. Tal contexto de aprendizagem baseia-se nos princípios de autonomia e reciprocidade no processo de ensino-aprendizagem à distância, no qual indivíduos falantes de línguas diferentes aprendem e ensinam suas respectivas línguas por meio de atividades de interação na língua a ser aprendida. A investigação da aprendizagem em modelos não-tradicionais de ensino torna-se pertinente a medida que uma reorganização de paradigmas se estabelece na sociedade contemporânea face o desenvolvimento tecnológico observado nos dias de hoje. Tal reorganização implica em uma reestruturação do modo de se produzir e transmitir conhecimento no mundo atual. No que tange às questões educacionais, a era digital demanda uma necessidade latente de que os processos de ensino possam ser reorganizados observando os anseios e exigências que a aprendizagem na pós-modernidade apresenta. Nesse sentido, novas formas de aprendizagem que insiram em seus procedimentos o trabalho sistematizado com as Novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (NTICs) são necessárias. O trabalho aqui apresentado trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa de base etnográfica, na qual foram observados alunos franceses e brasileiros... / The process of teaching-learning a foreign language is connected to several issues that can ensure the acquisition of such language or even create barriers that increase the distance between the apprentice and the target language. Thus, issues relating to cognitive factors, teaching, educational, social, economic and cultural aspects are significant in relation to how an individual learns a language. This study aimed at identifying and describing the contributions and the barriers digital media present to foreign language learning through peer interaction in the scope of the project Teletandem Brazil: foreign languages for all. This context of learning is based on the principles of autonomy and reciprocity in the teachinglearning at distance, in which speakers of different languages learn and teach their languages through activities of interaction in the language being learned. The research of learning in non-traditional models of education becomes relevant to measure a reorganization of paradigms that is established in contemporary society, facing technological development seen today. This reorganization involves a restructuring of the way to produce and transmit knowledge in the modern world. With regard to educational issues, the digital age need latent demand that the processes of education can be reorganized, observing the desires and demands that learning in post-modernity presents. In this sense, new ways of learning that entering its procedures in the work systematized with the New Technologies of Information and Communication (NTICs) are necessary. The work presented here it is a qualitative research of an ethnographic basis, in which students were observed French and Brazilian in situations of distanct, collaborative and autonomous. During the investigation it was possible to see the latent need that the issues of technology are printed in the teaching-learning process... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Shock waves have been used in medicine for more than 30 year. At the beginning was mainly use for lithotripsy, but today is also applied in other fields of medicine, such as orthopedics, rheumatology and others. Single shock wave is one shock that usually is repeated every 1-1.5 seconds. By contrast tandem shock waves are two shocks consecutively (ideal interval between shocks is from 8 to 15 microseconds), that are repeated. In this work we investigated the clinical use of single and tandem shock waves that are generated entirely new source. It is based on the principle of multichannel discharge. It was found that a single shock wave can destroy the union between bone and bone cement, this effect could be used in orthopedics. Single and tandem shock wave can damage the tumor in vivo, but the principle damage is different. Tandem shockwave is able to cause damage in a depth of acoustically homogeneous medium and enhances the effect of chemotherapy. It would therefore be possible to used single and tandem shock waves in oncology either alone, or their combination with other chemicals. Functional sample of clinically usable applicator of shock waves with a new source was made for these applications. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Metabólitos secundários produzidos por actinobactérias são uma inesgotável fonte de compostos com potentes atividades biológicas e estruturas intrínsecas. O desenvolvimento em instrumentação analítica tem contribuído significantemente para acelerar o processo de identificação e caracterização desses metabólitos bioativos. Sem dúvida alguma, a espectrometria de massas (MS) e o seu acoplamento com técnicas de separação, especialmente a cromatografia líquida (UHPLC-MS), tem sido reconhecida como a técnica mais eficiente em análises de produtos naturais. Nesta dissertação foi explorado o potencial da espectrometria de massas como ferramenta analítica para a identificação e caracterização estrutural de fitotoxinas produzidas por actinobactérias isoladas da rizosfera de plantas da caatinga. Foram produzidos noventa extratos de actinobactérias, dos quais quinze apresentaram alguma atividade para o bioensaio da Lemna minor e seis apresentaram atividade para o bioensaio da Chlorella vulgaris. Os extratos brutos ativos das actinobactérias Caat 7-38, Caat 8-6 e Caat 5-29 foram selecionados para caracterização dos compostos ativos, os quais foram isolados empregando o fracionamento guiado por bioensaios. No extrato bruto Caat 7-38, a actinomicina D foi identificada como fitotoxina, ao passo que para o extrato bruto Caat 8-6, foi possível inferir a atividade fitotóxica à presença do griseorhodin A. Já para o extrato bruto Caat 5-29, o composto identificado com atividade fitotóxica apresenta uma estrutura inédita, provavelmente pertencente à classe das anguciclinonas. Foi realizado ainda um estudo para avaliar o efeito da adição de terras raras ao meio de cultivo da actinobacteria Caat 7-38. Para os meios de cultivos contendo neodímio e, principalmente, lantânio ocorreu uma superprodução da actinomicina D, indicando assim, o grande potencial da aplicação das terras raras nos estudos de micro-organismos. / Secondary metabolites produced by actinomycetes are an inexhaustible source of compounds with potent biological activities and intrinsic structures. The development analytical instrumentation has contributed significantly to accelerate the identification and characterization of these bioactive metabolites. Undoubtedly, mass spectrometry (MS) and its coupling with separation techniques, especially liquid chromatography (UHPLC-MS) has been recognized as the most \"efficient\" technique in natural product analysis. In this work was explored the potential of mass spectrometry as an analytical tool for identification and structural characterization of phytotoxins produced by actinomycetes isolated from the rhizosphere of plants from the Caatinga biome. Ninety actinomycetes extracts were produced, of which fifteen showed some activity for the bioassay with Lemna minor and six showed activity for the bioassay with Chlorella vulgaris. The crude active extract of actinomycetes Caat 7-38, Caat 8-6 and Caat 5-29 were selected to characterize the active compounds, which were isolated using bioassay-guided fractionation. In the crude extract Caat 7-38, actinomycin D was identified as phytotoxin, while for crude extract Caat 8-6, it was possible to infer phytotoxic activity to the presence of griseorhodin A. For the crude extract Caat 5-29, the compound identified with phytotoxic activity presents a new structure, probably belonging to the class of anguciclinones. A study to evaluate the effect of addition of rare earths to the culture medium of actinobacteria Caat 7-38 was also carried out. To the culture medium containing neodymium and especially lanthanum occurred overproduction of actinomycin D, thus indicating the great potential of application of rare earths in the studies of microorganisms.

Orientador: Isabel Cristina Sales Fontes Jardim / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T19:47:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Konatu_FernandaRibeiroBegnini_D.pdf: 4700112 bytes, checksum: d441f0c4d77f576a25490f2cd3c86e39 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Segundo a Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), nos últimos anos, a alface tem apresentado irregularidades no Brasil, em relação à presença de agrotóxicos permitidos em limites acima do recomendável e/ou substâncias não autorizadas para o produto, tornando-se necessário o desenvolvimento de métodos para a determinação multirresíduos de agrotóxicos nesta cultura. A separação, confirmação e quantificação de 16 agrotóxicos em alface foi realizada por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência e de ultra eficiência acopladas à espectrometria de massas sequencial, com analisador triplo quadrupolo, operando no modo de monitoramento de reações múltiplas e ionização positiva por eletrospray. Para a extração dos agrotóxicos, foi utilizado o método QuEChERS otimizado, empregando-se acetonitrila como solvente extrator, tampão citrato na etapa de particionamento, agitação por vórtex, centrifugação por 5 minutos a 5000 rpm e uso de uma mistura de PSA, MgSO4 e carbono grafitizado para realização da limpeza da amostra. Os métodos desenvolvidos foram validados, de acordo com o Documento SANCO No 12571/2013, mostrando-se seletivos, exatos e precisos, com recuperações na faixa de 70-120% e coeficientes de variação inferiores a 20%. A linearidade foi avaliada em 5 níveis de fortificação, empregando curvas analíticas por padronização externa com superposição de matriz, obtendo-se coeficientes de determinação acima de 0,990, resíduos menores que 20% e limites de quantificação acima de 3 µg/kg. Os métodos foram aplicados para diferentes variedades de alface (crespa, lisa, americana, mimosa e roxa) e para o espinafre (hortaliça de composição similar), obtendo-se bons resultados. Amostras adquiridas no comércio da região de Campinas-SP foram analisadas e agrotóxicos foram detectados em 43% das amostras, em limites não autorizados pela ANVISA, comprovando a necessidade do monitoramento contínuo da cultura de alface no Brasil / Abstract: According to the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency, in recent years, lettuce has shown irregularities in Brazil, due to the presence of pesticides at levels above the permissible maximum residue level. Therefore, the development of a multi-residue method for determination of pesticides in lettuce becomes necessary. For this, the separation, confirmation and quantification of 16 pesticides in lettuce was realized using high- and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry with a triple quadrupole mass analyzer, operating in a multiple reaction monitoring mode with positive electrospray ionization. The pesticide extraction was performed using an optimized QuEChERS method, employing acetonitrile as extraction solvent, citrate buffer as partitioning salt, vortex agitation, centrifugation at 5000 rpm for 5 minutes and clean-up with PSA, MgSO4 and graphitized carbon black. The methods developed were validated according to Document SANCO No 12571/2013, and proved to be selective, accurate and precise, presenting recoveries from 70 to 120% and a relative standard deviation = 20% for all pesticides. Linearity was evaluated at 5 levels of fortification, employing matrix-matched standard solutions, providing coefficients of determination higher than 0.990, residuals = 20% and limits of quantification from 3 µg/kg. The methods were applied to several varieties of lettuce (green-leaf, looseleaf, iceberg, green-bowl and red-leaf) and to spinach (vegetable of similar composition), showing good results. Samples of several varieties of lettuce were purchased from commercial markets in Campinas, SP, and pesticides were detected in 43% of the samples at concentrations above the levels authorized by ANVISA, indicating the need to continue to monitor lettuce / Doutorado / Quimica Analitica / Doutora em Ciências

The Internet has been more and more intensively used in recent years. Although network infrastructure has been regularly upgraded, and the ability to manage heavy traffic greatly increased, especially on the core networks, congestion never ceases to appear, as the amount of traffic that flow on the Internet seems to be increasing at an even faster rate. Thus, congestion control mechanisms play a vital role in the functioning of the Internet. Active Queue Management (AQM) is a popular type of congestion control mechanism that is implemented on gateways (most notably routers), which can predict and avoid the congestion before it happens. When properly configured, AQMs can effectively reduce the congestion, and alleviate some of the problems such as global synchronisation and unfairness to bursty traffic. However, there are still many problems regarding AQMs. Most of the AQM schemes are quite sensitive to their parameters setting, and these parameters may be heavily dependent on the network traffic profile, which the administrator may not have intensive knowledge of, and is likely to change over time. When poorly configured, many AQMs perform no better than the basic drop-tail queue. There is currently no effective method to compare the performance of these AQM algorithms, caused by the parameter configuration problem. In this research, the aim is to propose a new analytical model, which mainly uses discrete-time queueing theory. A novel transient modification to the conventional equilibrium-based method is proposed, and it is utilised to further develop a dynamic interactive model of responsive traffic and bottleneck queues. Using step-by-step analysis, it represents the bursty traffic and oscillating queue length behaviour in practical network more accurately. It also provides an effective way of predicting the behaviour of a TCP-AQM system, allowing easier parameter optimisation for AQM schemes. Numerical solution using MATLAB and software simulation using NS-2 are used to extensively validate the proposed models, theories and conclusions.

In this thesis, I was paid to the preparation of enantiomerically and diastereomerically pure spiro compounds using asymmetric organocatalysis.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are emerging contaminants that can interfere with the hormone system and may cause cancers, birth defects and reproductive system disorders. Prevalence of endocrine-related dysfunction and disease has increased steadily over the past decades. Although accumulating data suggest that these diseases have fetal origins, associations of EDC exposure during pregnancy and adverse health effects on both mothers and fetuses have not been thoroughly evaluated, particularly at multiple points in time. We firstly developed an analytical method for quantification of 28 EDCs (9 phthalates, 8 bisphenols, 5 parabens, 5 benzophenones and triclosan) in urine samples using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The method was applied to measure targeted compounds in a total of 5220 urine samples collected from 951 pregnant women at three trimesters and 1501 pregnant women at one or two trimesters in Wuhan, China between 2014 and 2015. Based on the quantification results, exposure patterns and health risks of 28 EDCs on participants were evaluated and discussed in detail below. Among these samples, bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F (BPF), methylparaben (MeP), ethylparaben (EtP), propylparaben (PrP), 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-OH-BP), 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (BP-3), triclosan, mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP) were determined with detection rates exceeding 50%, in which BPA, BP-3, MeP and MnBP were the predominant compounds. We found the U-shaped trends of urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites over trimesters. Parabens, benzophenones and triclosan displayed a downward trend over three visits. We also found the levels of targeted compounds varied by exposure-related factors, such as sampling seasons, physical activities, computer using time and decoration information. In addition, multiple EDCs were mostly determined at low doses over trimesters, indicating that real-world exposure of pollutants were dominated by low-dose mixtures. We then evaluated the combined health hazards induced by EDC exposure via calculating the estimated daily intakes on the basis of average urinary concentrations at three trimesters. It was found that 24.9% of participants had potential health risks caused by exposure to phthalate mixtures. The most frequency of cumulative risks occurred in women who were exposed to a high dose of one specific phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) or di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). We also evaluated the cumulative health risks of BPA and its alternatives and found that about 1.6% of participants were at risks induced by bisphenol exposure. Combined health hazards were mainly driven by one specific bisphenol (BPS or BPA). Our findings suggested that regional interventions of DnBP, DEHP, BPA and BPS in application and production should be tighten and/or taken. Considering the low-dose effects of BPA, we further investigated the associations of BPA and three major natural estrogens, including estrone (E1), estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3), at three trimesters of pregnancy. We observed non-monotonic dose-response relationships of BPA to E1, E2 and E3 over trimesters even when BPA concentrations were below the current safety thresholds. In the gender-stratified models, we found significant negative relationships (β < 0, p < 0.05) between BPA and E2 among mothers with male fetuses in the first trimester. However, we found that no significant relationship between BPA and E2 among mothers with female fetuses over three trimesters. Significant non-monotonic associations (from significant negative to positive associations) between BPA and E3 were observed among mothers with female fetuses in the second trimester. The above mentioned findings suggested the gender-specific and trimester-specific effects of BPA on estrogens. Our findings also indicated that the current tolerance daily intake value maybe not safe enough to evaluate the potential health risks induced by BPA exposure. We next investigated the effects of maternal exposure to phthalates on both mothers and fetuses. Associations of phthalate exposure with the risks of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and plasma glucose levels were evaluated based on a nested case-control study design. It was found that the levels of phthalate metabolites in women with GDM were significantly higher than those without GDM. Meanwhile, positive associations between urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and the risks of GDM were obvious, indicating that phthalate exposure may be a risk factor for GDM. In addition, phthalate levels were related to the increased plasma glucose levels after 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Our findings suggested that phthalates might disturb the glucose homeostasis and increase GDM risks. Furthermore, we assessed the trimester-specific and gender-specific effects of DEHP exposure on fetal growth, birth size and postnatal growth at 6, 12 and 24 months. We found that among male offspring, 1st-trimester DEHP was negatively related to fetal growth (β < 0, p < 0.05), but positively related to 24-month body mass index (BMI). 2nd-trimester DEHP was negatively related to fetal growth, birth weight and birth length, but positively related to the weight gain rates from birth to 12 months old. 3rd-trimester DEHP was positively (β > 0, p < 0.05) associated with birth weight, BMI at 6 and 12 months. However, among females, 1st-trimester DEHP was associated with increased birth length, while 2nd-trimester DEHP was negatively associated with BMI at 6 and 12 months. A negative association between DEHP and weight gain rates at 6 months was noted among females. Our findings indicated the second trimester maybe the sensitive window of DEHP exposure for offspring growth since 2nd-trimester DEHP levels were related to the decreased fetal growth, decreased birth size, but increased weight gain rates in early childhood age among male offspring. To investigate the mechanism underlying the associations of DEHP exposure with glucose and lipid metabolism, we investigated the biotransformation of DEHP and the disturbed metabolisms induced by MEHP, the putative toxic metabolite of DEHP, in human normal liver cell L02 using metabolomics and lipidomics. We found that MEHP was the major metabolite of DEHP. Decreased uptake of glucose and accumulation of glucose in liver cells were obvious after MEHP exposure. Phospholipid remodeling, incomplete fatty acid β-oxidation, inhibition of purine metabolism and glycolysis, and increased oxidative stress were noted in MEHP-exposed L02 cells, which were related to insulin resistance. In this work, we measured 28 EDCs in a total of 5220 urine samples provided by 951 pregnant women (three trimesters) and 1501 pregnant women (one or two trimesters) and then evaluated the exposure levels, exposure patterns (variations, variability and correlations), health risks and health effects of these compounds on pregnant women and fetuses. Our data suggested that participants had potential health risks induced by exposure to phthalates or bisphenols. Phthalate exposure was related with the increased plasma glucose levels and risks of GDM. Prenatal DEHP exposure may induce the intrauterine growth restriction and catch-up growth among males, which supported the evidence of fetal origin. To explore the underlying mechanisms of MEHP on glucose and lipid metabolic disorders, we exposed the human normal hepatic L02 cells with MEHP, and applied metabolomic and lipidomic approaches for finding potential biomarkers and disturbed pathways. We found that MEHP exposure inhibited glucose uptake, caused phospholipid remodeling and increased oxidative stress in L02. These findings suggest that the usage of products containing EDCs, particularly phthalates, in pregnant women should be limited in China, intervention of BPS should be considered, and threshold values of BPA are called for reevaluation.

This thesis provides theoretical resources for the design of a new bioinformatics tool for transposon annotation with focus on their additional structural elements. There is a biological description of transposons, the mobile elements in DNA, their classification and structure. It further deals with the overview and classification of available transposon identification and annotation bioinformatics tools, description of function and implementation of a select few. Next we state the scheme of a new bioinformatics tool for LTR retrotransposon identification and annotation with a focus on extra ORFs and tandem repeats. The functionality of this new tool was tested on the A. thaliana genome. We identified 95 groups of conserved extra ORFs and 10 groups of conserved tandem repeats.