This master´s thesis in Library and Information Science examines the experiences of children who read to a dog. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the interactions between the librarian, the readingdog-handler, the child-ren and the dogs and what the benefits from the interactions might be. The aim is also to examine how the child-ren express their literacy during the readingsessions and how to develop the readingsessions at a specific library. The author follows a reading dog project for seven weeks, in collaboration with a specific school and library. Action research was used as a research strategy, and since action research is done on the basis of practice, a coll-laboration with the participating children, the librarian and the readingdog-handler was significant in this study.The theoretical framework concists of theory and concepts from the sociocultural theory developed by Ro-ger Säljö, and human-animal studies with concepts from Donna Haraway. The method used to collecet data was qualitative interviews, participant observation, logbook and tutoring. A total of 33 observations was collected, 33 short interviews were conducted and 6 tutoring meetings. Also the author, readingdog-handler and the lib-rarian kept a log for this seven week long readingdog project. A total of five third grade children participated in this study.Important results are that the children view the readingsessions as a schoolbased activity, but they would also read to a dog in their spare time. The interaction with the dog and the relationship between the child and the dog are important for the readingsessions to work well. The readingsessions have the potential to let children express and develop their literacy in several ways, though in this study literacy was expressed mainly by tradit-ional reading of printed books. The thesis also discuss to what extent the participant children are allowed to be involved in planning and developing the readingdog-sessions. All of the children participating in this study had a positive experience of the readingsessions and felt that their readingskills improved by reading to a dog.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:18:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3866.pdf: 6310029 bytes, checksum: 1dbae2c10aceb4a83b1489edc0b7fb1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-10-24 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Electrical energy is an essential good that may affect people s life and the economy. Overhead line workers and construction electricians are the workers responsible for the availability of this good. To perform their occupational tasks these workers are exposed to fatal accidents and musculoskeletal overload. Although of high rates of accidents and musculoskeletal injuries among these workers, few studies evaluated the presence of risk factors in the occupational settings of line workers and electricians. In this sense, it is necessary to identify the risk factors in the electricians activities (Study 1), quantify the exposure using valid direct methods (Study 2, 3 and 5) and verify the importance of the found results for clinical applications (Study 4 and 5). Study 1 was developed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among line workers and to identify the risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The results of this study showed postural overload and high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms at shoulders and neck. Based on these results, Study 2 was purposed to quantify the postural overload in the five main tasks performed by line workers. Loading and unloading the ladder on the vehicle support was deeply investigated by means of posture and force measurements in Study 3, due its higher frequency in line workers schedule. Postures and movements were recorded by four inclinometer sensors at a sampling rate of 20Hz. Inclinometer sensors were previously calibrated and them attached at workers head, upper back and right and left upper arms. Study 2 and 3 identified that line workers are exposed to shoulder and neck awkward postures during all evaluated tasks. However, both studies were performed in simulated settings. By this way, Study 4 was developed to verify if the postures recorded in the simulated conditions are representative of the posture recorded in occupational environment. The results of Study 4 showed that whether the tasks are possible to be reproduced in simulated conditions the postural overload is representative of occupational overload. Besides the representativeness, Study 5 focused the comparison between posture exposure among Brazilian and Norwegian electricians to verify whether the same job type evaluated by the same method under the same procedures would present the same overload disregard the culture differences. The results of this study would allow inferring about external validity of the recordings. According to the found results, Brazilian and Norwegian posture exposure is similar. The results of Study 5 also indicated the high postural overload that these workers are submitted. Therefore, the present thesis showed the need for ergonomic interventions to reduce biomechanical risk factors presented at electricians work activity and the representativeness of the found results to occupational environmental conditions and to other populations. / A disponibilidade de energia elétrica é um serviço básico que afeta diretamente a vida e a economia da população. Para a manutenção deste serviço, eletricistas das empresas de distribuição de energia e eletricistas de construção são expostos aos riscos de acidentes fatais e à alta sobrecarga musculoesquelética. Apesar do reconhecimento dos altos índices de acidentes e de lesões musculoesqueléticas nestes trabalhadores, poucos estudos que avaliam a exposição destes sujeitos aos fatores de risco presentes no ambiente ocupacional estão disponíveis na literatura. Neste sentido, é necessário conhecer os fatores de risco presentes na atividade ocupacional (Estudo 1), quantificá-los por medidas diretas válidas (Estudos 2, 3 e 5) e verificar a importância dos resultados encontrados para a prática clínica (Estudos 4 e 5). O Estudo 1 foi desenvolvido para determinar a prevalência de sintomas musculoesqueléticos em eletricistas de distribuição e identificar os fatores de risco para desordens musculoesqueléticas presentes nas atividades mais freqüentemente desenvolvidas por estes. Os resultados deste estudo mostraram alta prevalência de sintomas musculoesqueléticos em ombros e cervical associados à alta sobrecarga postural, identificada por observação. Com base nestes resultados foi proposto o Estudo 2 para quantificar a sobrecarga postural a que estes trabalhadores estão submetidos durante cinco das atividades freqüentemente realizadas. Maior detalhamento da atividade de remoção e reposição da escada foi realizado no Estudo 3, que envolveu, além do registro postural, a medida da força e esforço requeridos. As posturas e movimentos da cabeça, tronco superior, cervical e ombros direito e esquerdo foram registrados por inclinometria por meio de 4 transdutores previamente calibrados e fixos na cabeça, tronco superior e braços direito e esquerdo, respectivamente. Os Estudos 2 e 3 identificaram a exposição dos eletricistas de distribuição a posturas inadequadas para ombros e cervical nas atividades avaliadas. No entanto, como estes dois estudos foram realizados em ambiente simulado, foi realizado o Estudo 4, para verificar a representatividade destes resultados encontrados em ambiente simulado quando comparados ao registro realizado em ambiente ocupacional real. Os resultados do Estudo 4 mostraram que as atividades desenvolvidas em ambiente simulado podem apresentar a mesma sobrecarga postural do ambiente ocupacional desde que a atividade possa ser simulada. Além da representatividade, no Estudo 5 foi realizada a comparação da exposição postural entre eletricistas de construção Brasileiros e Noruegueses, para verificar se o mesmo tipo de trabalho, avaliado pelo mesmo instrumento a partir dos mesmos procedimentos, indicam a mesma exposição independente da cultura, o que permite inferir sobre a validade externa dos resultados encontrados. De acordo com os resultados encontrados, a exposição de eletricistas Brasileiros e Noruegueses é similar. Os resultados do Estudo 5 também indicam a alta sobrecarga postural a que os eletricistas de construção estão expostos. Portanto, a presente tese revelou a necessidade de intervenções ergonômicas para redução dos fatores de riscos biomecânicos presentes na atividade de eletricistas e a representatividade dos resultados encontrados para situações ocupacionais reais e para outras populações.

Polioviruses, Coxsackieviruses, and Echoviruses belonging to the Picornaviridae family of positive-stranded, non-enveloped viruses, are highly infectious and associated with a range of illnesses in children from minor febrile illness to severe, potentially fatal conditions (eg, aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, paralysis and myocarditis). The viruses encodes 11 viral proteins along with the transient set of intermediates unique to viral propagation. 3A, one of the non-structural proteins, plays a crucial role in viral replication by anchoring the replication complex to the membrane vesicle and by recruiting essential cellular factors to the site of replication. It is an 89 amino-acid longprotein, and consists of a soluble N-terminal region and a hydrophobicC-terminal region. The soluble region contains two amphipathic alphahelices that form a hairpin, which are flanked by unstructured regions.Since, Enteroviruses have limited coding capacity,viral protein interactions with cellular proteins and lipids are essentialin viral replication, translation, polyprotein processing andpathogenesis. Understanding these interactions is essential inunderstanding the molecular mechanisms associated pathogenesis, andidentifying drug targets. Our studies are aimed at identifying hostfactors interacting with 3A protein and their functional significance invirus replication.We have identified thepotential 3A-interacting cellular candidate proteins using pull-down followed by liquid chromatography associated mass spectrometry. Gene ontology analysis revealed asignificant enrichment in cellular pathways, functions, and proteindomains in comparison with the control. Further studies were focused on Sec12 (guanine nucleotideexchange factor), ACBD3 (acyl-CoA binding domain containing 3) andPhosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta (PI4KIIIß) interactions with the 3Aprotein, and their significance in viral replication. Sec12 (GEF) initiates the COPII vesicle-mediated ER-to-Golgi membrane trafficking by recruiting and activating the small GTP binding protein Sar1A to the membrane, which further recruits Sec23/24, cargo and Sec13/31 coat proteins to form functional COPII vesicles.We demonstrated that Sec12 and 3A interact directly in the ER through their C-terminal hydrophobic regions in oligomerization independent manner, leading toreduced the level of recruitment of individual COPII components such as Sar1A, Sec24A, and Sec31A to the membranes, thereby inhibiting virus replication. But in infected cells, other viral proteins such as 2B and 2BC likely stabilize the membrane-recruited Sar1A to support the viral replication. The viral proteins, ACBD3, PI4KIIIß interacted and co-localized with the Echovirus 3A protein.Knockdown of Sec12 or PI4KIIIß and expression of 3A or DN-Sar1A inhibited Echovirus replication, unlike proteins which support the COPII vesicle mediated ER-to-Golgi trafficking.Our results collectively indicate Sec12 is a crucial component in the anterograde membrane trafficking and is a novel host factor in Echovirus replication.

Este estudo faz uma revisão sobre a relação das concentrações de vitamina D e doenças cardiovasculares (DVC) em indivíduos com vírus da imunodeficiência humana e/ou síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida (HIV/AIDS) em tratamento com terapia antirretroviral (TARV). Um total de 1.288 artigos foram recuperados dos bancos de dados do PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Cochrane Central, ERIC, SIBi, SciELO, LILACS e Grey literature. Nove deles preencheram os critérios de seleção e foram inclusos nesta revisão sistemática. Existe uma alta prevalência da deficiência de vitamina D em indivíduos HIV-positivo, independentemente da região climática que vivem. Tanto a infecção pelo HIV-1 como a TARV podem interferir no metabolismo da vitamina D. Essa vitamina mostrou uma tendência a decrescer do momento antes da TARV ao depois da iniciação da TARV, sua deficiência foi mais prevalente em pacientes que fazem utilização da TARV do que aqueles que nunca a utilizaram e suas concentrações no organismo mostraram significantes associações com medidores da elasticidade arterial, como Espessamento Média-Íntima (EMI) e Dilatação Mediada por Fluxo (DMF). Essas alterações nos vasos e sistema circulatório predispõem doenças cardiovasculares, tais como, aterosclerose, trombose, infarto do miocárdio e acidente vascular cerebral. Portanto, apesar de existirem controvérsias, indivíduos HIV-positivo podem estar mais propensos ao desenvolvimento de DCV, não apenas pelos efeitos colaterais comuns da TARV e da infecção pelo HIV-1, mas também por estarem mais predispostos a terem hipovitaminose D, e as alterações causadas por este quadro em seu organismo. / This study reviewed the relationship of vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus and/or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART). A total of 1,288 articles were retrieved from the PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid, Cochrane Central, ERIC, SIBi, SciELO, LILACS and Grey literature databases. Nine of them met the selection criteria and were included in this systematic review. There is a high vitamin D deficiency prevalence in HIV positive individuals, regardless of climate area where they live. Both, HIV-1 infection and ART can interfere with the metabolism of vitamin D. This vitamin has shown a tendency to decrease from the moment before ART to the one after the initiation of ART. Its deficiency was more prevalent in patients who use ART than those who are ART-naïve. Vitamin D concentrations showed significant associations with markers of arterial dysfunction, such as carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT) and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). These changes in vessels and circulatory system predispose CVD, such as atherosclerosis, thrombosis, myocardial infarction and stroke. Therefore, although there are controversies, HIV positive individuals may be more prone to the development of CVD, not just for the common side effects of ART and HIV- 1 infection, but also because they are predisposed to have vitamin D deficiency, and all the metabolic changes caused by this situation in his organism. Key-

Este estudo faz uma revisão sobre a relação das concentrações de vitamina D e doenças cardiovasculares (DVC) em indivíduos com vírus da imunodeficiência humana e/ou síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida (HIV/AIDS) em tratamento com terapia antirretroviral (TARV). Um total de 1.288 artigos foram recuperados dos bancos de dados do PubMed, EMBASE, OVID, Cochrane Central, ERIC, SIBi, SciELO, LILACS e Grey literature. Nove deles preencheram os critérios de seleção e foram inclusos nesta revisão sistemática. Existe uma alta prevalência da deficiência de vitamina D em indivíduos HIV-positivo, independentemente da região climática que vivem. Tanto a infecção pelo HIV-1 como a TARV podem interferir no metabolismo da vitamina D. Essa vitamina mostrou uma tendência a decrescer do momento antes da TARV ao depois da iniciação da TARV, sua deficiência foi mais prevalente em pacientes que fazem utilização da TARV do que aqueles que nunca a utilizaram e suas concentrações no organismo mostraram significantes associações com medidores da elasticidade arterial, como Espessamento Média-Íntima (EMI) e Dilatação Mediada por Fluxo (DMF). Essas alterações nos vasos e sistema circulatório predispõem doenças cardiovasculares, tais como, aterosclerose, trombose, infarto do miocárdio e acidente vascular cerebral. Portanto, apesar de existirem controvérsias, indivíduos HIV-positivo podem estar mais propensos ao desenvolvimento de DCV, não apenas pelos efeitos colaterais comuns da TARV e da infecção pelo HIV-1, mas também por estarem mais predispostos a terem hipovitaminose D, e as alterações causadas por este quadro em seu organismo. / This study reviewed the relationship of vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus and/or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART). A total of 1,288 articles were retrieved from the PubMed, EMBASE, Ovid, Cochrane Central, ERIC, SIBi, SciELO, LILACS and Grey literature databases. Nine of them met the selection criteria and were included in this systematic review. There is a high vitamin D deficiency prevalence in HIV positive individuals, regardless of climate area where they live. Both, HIV-1 infection and ART can interfere with the metabolism of vitamin D. This vitamin has shown a tendency to decrease from the moment before ART to the one after the initiation of ART. Its deficiency was more prevalent in patients who use ART than those who are ART-naïve. Vitamin D concentrations showed significant associations with markers of arterial dysfunction, such as carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT) and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). These changes in vessels and circulatory system predispose CVD, such as atherosclerosis, thrombosis, myocardial infarction and stroke. Therefore, although there are controversies, HIV positive individuals may be more prone to the development of CVD, not just for the common side effects of ART and HIV- 1 infection, but also because they are predisposed to have vitamin D deficiency, and all the metabolic changes caused by this situation in his organism. Key-

El uso de la terapia HAART (Highly-Active-Antiretroviral-Therapy), puede dar lugar a múltiples efectos secundarios. El más frecuente de ellos es el denominado HALS (“HIV-infection, HAARTtreatment- associated-lipodystrophy-syndrome”) que comprende alteraciones como la lipoatrofia periferica; un aumento de tejido adiposo visceral o la lipomatosis del tejido adiposo. Además, estas alteraciones fisiológicas pueden ir acompañadas de alteraciones metabólicas. Para saber la aportación individual de algunos fármacos al desarrollo del síndrome lipodistrófico HALS se realizó un estudio de los efectos de Efavirenz, Nevirapina (NNRTIs) y Kaletra (PI) sobre adipocitos primarios de linaje blanco en cultivo. Efavirenz, que no era considerado un fármaco asociado al síndrome lipodistrófico, es capaz de inhibir la adipogénesis con mayor potencia que Kaletra y Nevirapina. Ninguno de estos fármacos provoca toxicidad mitocondrial por lo que sus efectos ocurren en ausencia de toxicidad mitocondrial. Tanto efavirenz como kaletra reducen la secreción de adipoquinas y aumentan la expresión y secreción de citoquinas relacionadas con la inflamación, pero estos efectos siempre son mayores con el EFV mientras la Nevirapina parece no afectar a este tipo de secreciónes. Para estudiar las características moleculares de los diferentes depósitos de tejido adiposo con comportamiento opuesto como el tejido adiposo subcutáneo lipoatrófico y el tejido adiposo visceral lipohipertrófico o el tejido adiposo lipomatoso de las “buffalo-hump” de los pacientes se han comparado características moleculares de ellas con tejido adiposo de individuos control. En la comparación entre el tejido adiposo subcutáneo lipoatrófico y el visceral se ha observado que en ambos casos el tejido adiposo presenta alteraciones similares en la función mitocondrial. En cambio el descenso de marcadores de adipogénesis observado en el tejido subcutáneo de pacientes no se reproduce en el tejido visceral. Este hecho, acompañado de diferencias en el perfil de expresión de marcadores de inflamación (que parece más leve en el tejido visceral), podría explicar el comportamiento opuesto de ambos depósitos en pacientes. El estudio en el que se compararon el tejido adiposo lipomatosos de las “buffalo-hump” y el tejido adiposo subcutáneo lipoatrófico de pacientes infectados por el HIV- indica que el tejido adiposo de las “buffalo-hump” presenta alteraciones especificas en la expresión génica respecto al tejido lipoatrófico en las que destaca una expresión normal de genes adipogénicos. Así mismo, el tejido lipomatoso es capaz de expresar UCP1, un gen característico del tejido adiposo marrón, y su capacidad proliferativa concuerda más con un fenotipo del tipo marrón, por lo que se puede decir que estos adipocitos tienen un fenotipo intermedio entre blanco y marrón que se mantiene cuando este tejido lipomatoso es utilizado para trasplante autólogo a la zona facial lipoatrófica en la que mantiene la proliferación desarrollándose el síndrome hámster. No se observan diferencias en las alteraciones mitocondriales observadas en ambos tejidos. Por otra parte la ausencia de un estado de inflamación local en BH podría explicar en parte este comportamiento diferente de ambos tejidos. Además se ha observado que los pacientes muestran niveles elevados de FGF21 y disminuidos de FGF19 (dos agentes homeostaticos) respecto a los controles. Estas diferencias con los controles se acentúan a medida que los pacientes infectados por el virus HIV-1 pasan de ser no tratados a tratados y aun más al desarrollar la lipodistrofia. Los niveles de FGF21 en suero se correlacionaban con indicadores de sensibilidad a insulina o marcadores de síndrome metabólico así como con marcadores de daño hepático que podrían estar relacionados con esteatosis hepática. Los niveles disminuidos en suero de FGF19 se correlacionan negativamente con parámetros indicativos de resistencia a insulina. Además se ha descrito en esta tesis que los receptores de estos agentes endocrinos FGFR1 y β-Klotho aparecen disminuidos en el tejido adiposo de los pacientes infectados por el virus HIV-1. / Molecular basis of adipose tissue alterations and metabolic disturbances associated to HIV-1-infected lipodystrophic patients Disturbances in adipose tissue in HIV-1-infected patients undergoing HAART involve a complex set of alterations known as HAART-associated-lipodystrophy-syndrome (HALS). In most cases, lipoatrophy occur in the face, arms and legs. An enlargement of visceral adipose tissue, reminiscent of visceral obesity, is present often in combination with peripheral lipoatrophy. Lipomatosis is also commonly found in HALS, usually as an enlargement in the dorso-cervical area (buffalo-hump), although the development of lipomas in distinct anatomical sites has also been reported. This adipose tissue redistribution is associated with systemic metabolic alterations such as insulin resistance or dyslipidemia. To determine the individual contribution to HALS of some HAART-prescriptioned drugs, we performed an assessment of the effects of efavirenz, nevirapine and Kaletra on human cultured adipocytes. Our results support the fact that efavirenz and Kaletra impair adipogenesis, reduce the release of adipokines and increase the expression and release of inflammation-related cytokines, while nevirapine does not. Overall, those effects are greater in the case of efavirenz. We compared as well the molecular signature of subcutaneous lipoatrophic, visceral lipohipertrophic and dorso-cervical lipomatous adipose tissues from patients in order to determine the molecular basis causing these fat depots to behave in an opposite way. All fat biopsies from patients exhibited alterations in mitochondrial function marker genes. Visceral and “buffalo hump” fat didn’t show any alterations in the expression of adipogenesis marker genes when compared to healthy controls, while subcutaneous fat showed lower levels. The inflammatory profile was normal in “buffalo hump”, whereas visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots exhibited a distinct, more exacerbated, pro-inflammatory profile. These differences could be part of the explanation of the mentioned different behavior. The serum levels of novel homeostatic agents FGF19 and FGF21 was also assessed in samples from lipodystrophic patients. FGF21 levels were significantly higher in patients and correlated positively with markers of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and hepatic damage. On the other hand, FGF19 levels were significantly lower in patients and correlated negatively with markers of insulin resistance. We studied the transcription level of FGF receptors in adipose tissue as well, resulting in a lower expression in biopsies from HALS patients.

Aim of this study was to determine, which area (social, psychical, physical) is for the patient with chronic kidney disease considered most important and whether we can help the patient to improve his quality of life in this area. A qualitative form of research was used for achieving the aim of this paper. Collection of data has been performed by the method of semi-structured interview in 10 patients using additional (so-called probe) questions. Case reports of individual patients have been performed on the basis of interview results. These case reports form a base for workup of categorized tables and graphs (frame analysis approach), in which most important research results have been summarised. Research set has been chosen as target-oriented by the snowball technique and is formed by 10 respondents with chronic kidney disease, who are patients with chronic kidney disease since their childhood. The research has proven that respondents perceive as most important issues the family and health, but their conception differs for each of them. Research results can be used in social contacts and consultation and education working directly with patients and improving their compliance.