Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:44:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KELLE CRISTINA NEVES.pdf: 3431567 bytes, checksum: 6ee056d8d330d81803f7751576f273da (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-15 / The landscape constantly changed, caused mainly by human activities, have affected the size, shape and frequency of the landscape elements, and these fragmentation effects have been some of the major threats to biodiversity and changes in species behavior. This study was made in urban forest fragments in the city of Goiania, Goias with the intention of evaluating the richness, the abundance of the medium and large size mammals relating with the area size and the environment heterogeneity of the fragments. We only used the method of camera trapping (camera trap) to raise the wealth and abundance and we collected points of the vegetation structure along 11 forest fragments in areas between 9,76 and 126,95ha, testing such hypotheses: (1) the larger the forest fragment the larger the record of richness of the species, (2) the larger the forest fragment the larger the species abundance and (3) fragments found in abundance is explained by environmental variables fragments. We obtained 180 records of medium and large size mammals in a total of 20 species, 8 orders and 13 families. The species of greatest occurrence and registration was the coati (Nasua nasua). We recorded a specie classified as vulnerable according to IUCN and MMA, which is the Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari) appears in the list of IUCN as near threatened. Medium and large size species when it comes to richnes and abundance did not obbey an area, they were found in the smaller area as much as in the larger area. The environmental heterogenety in the fragments also did not explain the abundance found in the areas, reforcing the need and how important is the maintenance and conservation of the Cerrado and of all of the areas sizes, which can serve as the only and temporary source (increasing the connectivity between species). / A paisagem constantemente alterada causada principalmente pelas atividades humanas tem afetado o tamanho, a forma e a frequência dos elementos da paisagem, e esses efeitos da fragmentação tem sido algumas das principais ameaças à biodiversidade e mudanças no comportamento das espécies. Este estudo foi realizado em fragmentos florestais urbanos no município de Goiânia, Goiás com o intuito de avaliar a riqueza, a abundância dos mamíferos de médio e grande porte relacionando com o tamanho da área e a heterogeneidade ambiental dos fragmentos. Utilizamos exclusivamente o método de armadilhas fotográficas (câmera trap) para levantar a riqueza e a abundância e coletamos pontos da estrutura da vegetação ao longo de 11 fragmentos florestais com áreas que variaram de 9,76 a 126,95 ha, testando as seguintes hipóteses (1) quanto maior o fragmento florestal maior a riqueza das espécies, (2) quanto maior o fragmento florestal maior a abundância das espécies e (3) abundância encontrada nos fragmentos é explicada pelas variáveis ambientais dos fragmentos. Foram obtidos 180 registros de mamíferos de médio e grande porte em um total de 20 espécies, 8 ordens e 13 famílias. A espécie de maior ocorrência e registro foi o quati (Nasua nasua). Registramos uma espécie classificada como vulnerável de acordo com a IUCN e MMA que foi o tamanduá-bandeira (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) e queixada (Tayassu pecari) que consta na lista da IUCN como quase ameaçada. As espécies de médio e grande porte quanto a riqueza e a abundância não necessariamente obedeceu a um crescimento com o aumento da área, elas foram encontradas tanto em fragmentos de menor área quanto de maior área. A heterogeneidade ambiental nos fragmentos também não explicou a abundância encontrada nas áreas reforçando a necessidade e a importância da manutenção e conservação do Cerrado e de todos os tamanhos de áreas, que podem servir como fonte única e/ou como temporária (aumentando a conectividade entre espécies).

Orientador: Luciane Alarcão Dias-Melicio / Resumo: Recentemente, a deficiência de vitamina D vem se tornando um problema de abrangência mundial em virtude de hábitos rotineiros da população, como o trabalho por períodos prolongados em ambientes fechados e diminuição da exposição solar. Trabalhos recentes demonstram que a vitamina D age não somente na homeostase do cálcio, mas também na regulação do sistema imune. Diante da multiplicidade de funções dessa vitamina, sua deficiência tem sido associada ao risco de desenvolvimento de uma série de doenças, entre elas doenças infecciosas como as causadas por S. aureus. As infecções por essa bactéria têm trazido expressiva preocupação para a população humana em decorrência do aumento da prevalência de cepas resistentes aos fármacos antibacterianos, dificultando, dessa maneira, o tratamento e contribuindo para a busca de métodos alternativos para combater esse tipo de infecção. Além disso, o S. aureus conta com um potente arsenal de fatores de virulência que contribuem para a evasão da resposta imune do hospedeiro. Nesse contexto, torna-se importante avaliar se a vitamina D pode modular os efeitos bactericidas de neutrófilos humanos através de mecanismos intra e extracelulares, favorecendo, portanto, o combate a infecções, especialmente aquelas causadas por microrganismos resistentes aos principais tratamentos. Dessa maneira, nós demonstramos que neutrófilos tratados com vitamina D e desafiados com duas cepas de S. aureus tiveram um aumento nas taxas de fagocitose e atividade bacteric... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In the last years, vitamin D deficiency has become a worldwide problem due to routine population habits, such as prolonged work indoors and increased use of sunscreen/decreased sun exposure in attempt to avoid high rates of skin cancer. Recent studies demonstrated that vitamin D acts not only on calcium homeostasis, but also on the regulation and function of the immune system. Facing the countless functions of vitamin D, its deficiency has been associated with the risk of development of many diseases, including infectious diseases such as those caused by S. aureus. Infections caused by these bacteria have brought significant concern to the human population due to the increased prevalence of strains resistant to antibiotics, thus making it difficult to treat and contributing to the search for alternative methods to combat this type of infection. In addition, S. aureus have a variety of virulence factors, which confer the ability to evade host immune responses. In this context, it is important to evaluate whether vitamin D can modulate the bactericidal effects of human neutrophils through intra- and extracellular mechanisms, such as phagocytosis, bacterial killing and release of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs), thus contributing to the response against infections, especially those caused by microorganisms resistant to the main treatments. Thus, we demonstrated that neutrophils treated with Vitamin D and challenged with two strains of S. aureus had an increase in phagocyti... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T12:51:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 elianefavaro_dissert.pdf: 848819 bytes, checksum: b40b52f14300f0d4f8848c5aa126fd3c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-16 / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo / The aims of this study were to identify the best place of residences to install MosquiTRAPs, traps capable of attracting and capturing Aedes aegypti females, to investigate the physiological state of captured females, to measure the entomological indicators for these mosquitoes and to evaluate their relationship with indicators from oviposition traps, adult collection, climatic data and dengue transmission. The research was performed in Mirassol SP, on two different occasions: Studies 1 and 2. For Study 1, an area of twenty blocks was selected, in which MosquiTRAPs were installed in five. Eight traps were set up in four houses of each block: four at indoor sites and four at shaded outdoor sites. These houses were visited during eight weeks. For Study 2, two areas were selected: Area 1 comprising 100 blocks and Area 4 comprising 30 blocks. One MosquiTRAP was installed in each block of Area 1 and four were installed in each block of Area 4. The traps were installed at outdoor sites at the residences and visited once a week. The collection of adult mosquitoes with Nasci aspirators was performed on a weekly basis in one house per block in Area 1 and four houses in Area 4. An oviposition trap was installed in one house of each block in both areas. These activities were performed over 23 weeks. Study 1 revealed that the MosquiTRAPs installed at outdoor sites captured 5 times more females than indoor traps. From the collected Aedes aegypti females, 87.3% were gravid and 86.7% had no blood in the middle intestine. Study 2 showed that only one MosquiTRAP per block is sufficient to quantify the number of females per house; the sensitivities of MosquiTRAPs and adult collections with aspirators to detect the presence of Aedes aegypti females were similar, yet inferior in relation to oviposition traps; the adjusted models for the positivity of MosquiTRAPs included climatic variables and excluded entomological indicators; the maximum values of mean numbers of females per house obtained by MosquiTRAPs and collections with aspirators were compatible with dengue transmission; disease transmission presented a self regressive behavior, although no relationships between the incidences of dengue and the mean number of females captured by MosquiTRAPs or by manual aspirators were identified. / Os objetivos do estudo foram identificar o melhor local da casa para colocação de MosquiTRAPs, armadilhas capazes de atrair e capturar fêmeas de Aedes aegypti, investigar o Estado fisiológico das fêmeas capturadas, medir os indicadores entomológicos obtidos através de MosquiTRAPs para fêmeas de Aedes aegypti e avaliar as relações entre estes, e indicadores obtidos de armadilhas de oviposição, de coletas de adultos, climáticos e de transmissão de dengue. O trabalho foi realizado em Mirassol, SP em duas etapas, estudos 1 e 2. Para o estudo 1 foi selecionada uma área com vinte quarteirões, sendo cinco sorteados para colocação das MosquiTRAPs. Em cada um foram selecionadas quatro casas e em cada uma colocaram-se oito armadilhas: quatro no intradomicílio e quatro no peridomicílio sob cobertura, que foram visitadas durante oito semanas. Para o estudo 2 foram selecionadas duas áreas: uma com 100 quarteirões (área 1) e outra com 30 (área 4). Na área 1 foi instalada uma MosquiTRAP e na 4 foram instaladas quatro MosquiTRAps por quarteirão. Estas foram instaladas no peridomicílio e vistoriadas semanalmente. Coletas de mosquitos adultos foram realizadas semanalmente em um domicílio por quarteirão na área 1 e em quatro na área 4, utilizado-se aspiradores de Nasci. Nas áreas 1 e 4 foram instaladas em uma casa de cada quarteirão uma armadilha de oviposição. Estas atividades foram realizadas durante 23 semanas. O estudo 1 revelou que as MosquiTRAPs instaladas no peridomicílio capturaram aproximadamente 5 vezes o número de fêmeas daquelas no intradomicílio. Das fêmeas de Aedes aegypti coletadas, 87,3% estavam grávidas e 86,7 estavam sem sangue no intestino médio. O estudo 2 mostrou que para a medida da positividade, quanto maior o número de MosquiTRAPs por quadra melhor, mas para a quantificação do número de fêmeas por casa, uma MosquiTRAP por quadra parece ser suficiente; as sensibilidades das MosquiTRAPs e das coletas com aspiradores em detectar a presença de fêmeas de Aedes aegypti foram semelhantes, mas inferiores à sensibilidade das armadilhas de oviposição; os modelos ajustados para a positividade das MosquiTRAPs incluíram variáveis climáticas e excluíram indicadores entomológicos; os valores máximos das médias de fêmeas por casa obtidas para as MosquiTRAPs e coletas com aspiradores foram compatíveis com a transmissão de dengue; a transmissão revelou um comportamento autorregressivo, mas não foram identificadas relações entre as incidência de dengue e as médias de fêmeas capturadas pelas MosquiTRAPs ou coletadas pelos aspiradores manuais.

É apresentada neste trabalho a Técnica de Pulso Térmico com os aspectos teóricos envolvidos e a montagem do sistema experimental. A técnica é destinada à determinação do potencial de superfície, centróide de carga e carga total em filmes de polímeros. A técnica foi aplicada em conjunto com a de descarga termo estimulada em \"circuito-aberto\'\' ao estudo das propriedades de transporte e armazenamento de cargas em filmes de Teflon FEP (25?m) em diferentes situações: amostras virgens, tratadas termicamente, submetidas a radiação ultra violeta e amostras submetidas à descarga iônica a baixa pressão. Vários problemas foram levantados e alguns deles abordados segundo modelos teóricos simplificados na interpretação dos dados experimentais. / Theoretical experimental aspects of the Heat Pulse Technique (HPT) are presented. The applications were the measurements of surface potentials, charge centroid, and total charge of the film samples. No tentative was made to determinate the spatial distribution of the observed charges. The HPT was used as complement of TSC open circuits measurements in the study of conduction and polarization effects in 25?m Teflon FEP films for different initial conditions of the corona-charged samples: virgin samples, annealed, u.v. irradiated, and samples submitted to ionic glow discharge. Several problems were raised and some of them were treated using very simple theoretical models to interpret the experimental results.

The DMPO type spin trap 5,5-Dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) and the exceptionally similar spin trap 2-ethoxycarbonyl-2-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole-l-oxide (EMPO) are widely studied in computational and theoretical works. This particular study examines the addition reactions that both these molecules undergo with the carcinogenic hydroxyl radical. This work used a relatively new approximation method, called the correlation consistent composite approach or ccCA, for carrying out quantum mechanical calculations to give the free energies of the products and reactants of the reactions. The free energies are to be used to extrapolate the rate constants of the reactions from the Arrhenius equation. Though both the spin traps studied have been widely examined and assessed in both theoretical and experimental work, accurately calculated rate constants have not been previously obtained using computational methods. The results obtained here will help to assess the efficiency and the accuracy of the ccCA method, as well as lead to the design of better, more novel spin traps.

High-dose verbenone, verbenone plus nonhost volatiles (NHVs), and both semiochemicals in combination with aggregant-baited funnel traps were tested for stand- level protection against mountain pine beetle attack for two consecutive years (2004-2005) at three seral high elevation whitebark pine sites in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In 2004, two 0.25-hectare treatments comprised of 25 high-dose verbenone pouches or verbenone pouches combined with single baited funnel traps were tested in a push-pull strategy. In 2005, 25 high-dose verbenone and 25 NHV pouches, or verbenone and NHV in combination with baited funnel trap clusters were tested. In both years, treatments were compared to 0.25-hectare control plots with no semiochemicals or funnel traps. The proportion of trees attacked by mountain pine beetle in treated plots was significantly reduced, when compared to control plots, at only one site treated with verbenone in 2004, and at only one site in 2005. High-dose verbenone alone, verbenone and NHVs, and both semiochemicals combined with baited funnel traps in a push-pull strategy did not consistently reduce the proportion of mountain pine beetle attacked trees relative to control plots. No covariates tested, including stand density, beetle population size, or tree size were consistently significant in explaining proportion of trees attacked.

Comparisons between measurements of the ground-state hyperfine structure and gravitational acceleration of hydrogen and antihydrogen could provide a test of fundamental physical theories such as CPT (charge conjugation, parity, time-reversal) and gravitational symmetries. Currently, antihydrogen traps are based on Malmberg-Penning traps. The number of antiprotons in Malmberg-Penning traps with sufficiently low energy to be suitable for trappable antihydrogen production may be reduced by the electrostatic space charge of the positrons and/or collisions among antiprotons. Alternative trap designs may be needed for future antihydrogen experiments. A computational tool is developed to simulate charged particle motion in customizable magnetic fields generated by combinations of current loops and current lines. The tool is used to examine charged particle confinement in two systems consisting of dual, levitated current loops. The loops are coaxial and arranged to produce a magnetic null curve. Conditions leading to confinement in the system are quantified and confinement modes near the null curve and encircling one or both loops are identified. Furthermore, the tool is used to examine and quantify charged particle motion parallel to the null curve in the large radius limit of the dual, levitated current loops. An alternative to new trap designs is to identify the effects of the positron space in existing traps and to find modes of operation where the space charge is beneficial. Techniques are developed to apply the Boltzmann density relation along curved magnetic field lines. Equilibrium electrostatic potential profiles for a positron plasma are computed by solving Poisson's equation using a finite-difference method. Equilibria are computed in a model Penning trap with an axially varying magnetic field. Also, equilibria are computed for a positron plasma in a model of the ALPHA trap. Electric potential wells are found to form self-consistently. The technique is expanded to compute equilibria for a two-species plasma with an antiproton plasma confined by the positron space charge. The two-species equilibria are used to estimate timescales associated with three-body recombination, losses due to collisions between antiprotons, and temperature equilibration. An equilibrium where the three-body recombination rate is the smallest is identified.

This PhD dissertation reports the development of miniature ion optics components of a mass spectrometer (MS) with the ultimate goal to lay the foundation for a compact low-power micromachined MS (µMS) for broad-range chemical analysis. Miniaturization of two specific components a) RF ion traps and b) an ion funnel have been investigated and miniature low-power versions of these components have been developed and demonstrated successfully in lab experiments. Power savings, simpler electronics and packaging schemes required to operate the micro-scale RF cylindrical ion traps have been the key motivation driving this research. Microfabricated cylindrical ion traps (µCITs) and arrays in silicon, silicon-on-insulator and stainless steel substrates have been demonstrated and average power of as low as 55 mW for a low mass range (28 to 136 amu) and mass spectra with better than a unit-mass-resolution have been recorded. For the ion funnel miniaturization effort, simple assembly, small form factor and ease of integration have been emphasized. A simplification of the conventional 3D ion funnel design, called the planar ion funnel, has been developed in a single plate and has been tested to demonstrate ion funneling at medium vacuum levels (1E-5 Torr) using DC voltages and power less than 0.5 W. Miniaturization of these components also enables use of other novel ion optics components, packaging and integration, which will allow a new class of µMS architectures amenable for radical miniaturization.

<p>When light exhibits particle properties, and when matter exhibits wave properties quantum mechanics is needed to describe physical phenomena. </p><p>A two-photon source produces nonmaximally entangled photon pairs when the source is small enough to diffract light. It is shown that diffraction degrades the entanglement. Quantum states produced in this way are used to probe the complementarity between path information and interference in Young's double slit experiment.</p><p>When two photons have a nonmaximally entangled polarization it is shown that the Pancharatnam phase is dependent on the entanglement in a nontrivial way. This could be used for implementing simple quantum logical circuits. </p><p>Magnetic traps are capable of holding cold neutral atoms. It is shown that magnetic traps and guides can be generated by thin wires etched on a surface using standard nanofabrication technology. These <i>atom chips</i> can hold and manipulate atoms located a few microns above the surface with very high accuracy. The potentials are very versatile and allows for highly complex designs, one such design implemented here is a beam splitter for neutral atoms. Interferometry with these confined de Broglie is also considered. These atom chips could be used for implementing quantum logical circuits.</p>

When light exhibits particle properties, and when matter exhibits wave properties quantum mechanics is needed to describe physical phenomena. A two-photon source produces nonmaximally entangled photon pairs when the source is small enough to diffract light. It is shown that diffraction degrades the entanglement. Quantum states produced in this way are used to probe the complementarity between path information and interference in Young's double slit experiment. When two photons have a nonmaximally entangled polarization it is shown that the Pancharatnam phase is dependent on the entanglement in a nontrivial way. This could be used for implementing simple quantum logical circuits. Magnetic traps are capable of holding cold neutral atoms. It is shown that magnetic traps and guides can be generated by thin wires etched on a surface using standard nanofabrication technology. These atom chips can hold and manipulate atoms located a few microns above the surface with very high accuracy. The potentials are very versatile and allows for highly complex designs, one such design implemented here is a beam splitter for neutral atoms. Interferometry with these confined de Broglie is also considered. These atom chips could be used for implementing quantum logical circuits.