Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Isolated groups'

Evolution of galaxies is one of the most important topics in astronomy to understand how the universe has been evolving. In particular, galaxy groups are important because they are the observable equivalent of dark matter (DM) haloes, and thus offer a direct insight into the physics that has occurred in the DM haloes in the Universe up to the present day. Isolated galaxies are crucial for studying intrinsic and secular processes able to affect the structure, morphology, and dynamics of galaxies for obtaining clear relationships and correlations to be confronted with the model predictions. The main goal of this work is to characterize the GAMA G3Cv1 galaxy groups catalogue and the UNAM-KIAS catalogue of isolated galaxies by one of the most important statistical studies, the galaxy Luminosity Function (LF), that helps to constrain the models of formation and evolution of galaxies. LFs have been estimated for galaxies in groups and isolated galaxies. The LF for groups has been characterized by the physical properties of the groups (mass and velocity dispersion), the photometry (colour), the morphological type and eleven wavelengths from the far infra-red to the ultra violet. The LF estimated for the isolated galaxies is characterized by morphology and the colour in the five SDSS bands. The results obtained constrain more effectively the formation and evolution models of the universe than previous samples. The differences between both catalogues are presented in the conclusions. Additionally, the galaxy morphology is one of the no well understood problems in the galaxy evolution process to support the hierarchical model of formation of large objects. In this work, a classification based on the colour and concentration of light was considered. However, due to the low resolution of the images, the confidence of this classification was only ~60%.

The purpose of this study is to examine the meeting between children in cults and personnel in Swedish schools and Child Protective Services (CPS). Furthermore, the study investigates whether children in cults who are being mistreated receive the help and attention they need from school and the CPS. This study has a qualitative research approach. Five semi-structured interviews with former cult members and professionals who have worked with children in cults were conducted. The interviews were supplemented with a content analysis of two autobiographies written by former cult members. The theory chosen was the general systems theory with the aim to use it as a tool to further understand how cults work as a system and how it affects the children in them. The results show that children who live in cults can be exposed to physical and mental abuse. Furthermore, it is difficult for professionals to identify children that have experienced abuse, due to the cults view of and approach to people outside their own community. Lack of knowledge regarding how to recognize these children in cults that have experienced abuse and non-existent training in how to handle said cases is one reason for why many children have been overlooked.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The research analyzed the role of primary teachers in the early decades of the Republic, specifically those who have taught in the Vale do Paraíba between the years 1889 to 1920, characterized by the expansion of isolated schools period, the emergence of the first school groups and the appointment and circulation teachers of these educational institutions. We chose a selection of subjects that, somehow, gained prominence in the scope of the school inspection reports and documents prepared by the directors of the school groups and those produced by teachers in disciplinary proceedings and periodical press. The main objective was to evaluate how these professionals have articulated given the particularities related to these schools in their educational, cultural, social and political aspects models, in order to track which teachers developed these understandings of the state and his own profession, their reactions bureaucratic and pedagogical norms and their views of students. As theoretical and methodological tool we highlight the contributions of Jean-François Sirinelli with its concepts of route generation and sociability as a way to analyze the intellectual (teacher) as a political actor, and experience of E.P. Thompson, in order to understand the actions and conditioned representations of these teachers that allowed them context. Thus, it was possible to assess how the hierarchical relationships with the state, and their social integration, ultimately influence the performance and careers of these teachers
A pesquisa analisou a atuação de professores primários nas primeiras décadas da República, especificamente aqueles que lecionaram no Vale do Paraíba paulista entre os anos de 1889 a 1920, período caracterizado pela ampliação de escolas isoladas, o surgimento dos primeiros grupos escolares e a nomeação e circulação de docentes nestas instituições de ensino. Optou-se por uma seleção de sujeitos que, de alguma forma, ganharam destaque no escopo dos relatórios da inspeção escolar e nos documentos elaborados pelos diretores dos grupos escolares e naqueles produzidos pelos próprios professores em processos disciplinares e na imprensa periódica. O principal objetivo foi avaliar como estes profissionais se articularam diante das particularidades relacionadas a estes modelos escolares em seus aspectos pedagógico, cultural, social e político, de forma a rastrear quais compreensões que estes docentes elaboraram do Estado e de sua própria profissão, suas reações diante das normatizações burocráticas e pedagógicas e suas visões do alunado. Como ferramenta teórico-metodológica destacam-se as contribuições de Jean- François Sirinelli com seus conceitos de itinerário, geração e sociabilidade como forma de analisar o intelectual (professor) como ator político, e de experiência de E. P. Thompson, a fim de compreender as ações e representações condicionadas destes professores que o contexto lhes permitia. Com isso, foi possível avaliar de que maneira as relações hierárquicas com o Estado, além de sua inserção social, acabaram por influenciar na atuação e na carreira destes professores

Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast responsible for severe meningoencephalitis. The importance of epidemiological studies on cryptococcosis has increased since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. C. neoformans exists in two varieties containing four serotypes, C. neoformans var. neoformans (serotypes A and D) and C. neoformans var. gattii (serotypes B and C). Locally C. neoformans var. neoformans has been associated with pigeon feces during those months having an average temperature of 64.2°F j(17.8°C) and above. Clinical and environmental isolates of C. neoformans obtained from regional hospitals and environmental samplings, respectively, have been grouped into their variety status utilizing canavanine-glycine-bromthymol blue agar. Polyclonal antisera against C. neoformans serotypes A, B, C and D were isolated from challenged rabbits. Serotyping C. neofromans isolates using the polyclonal antisera resulted in 57% (20 of 35) of the serotypes confirmed with a direct immunofluorescent assay utilizing a single monoclonal antibody (E1). Data from the immunofluorescence assay suggest all C. neoformans obtained from regional hospitals (26 of 26) and those isolated from the environment (9 of 9) belong to the A serotype group. These data have provided information leading to the origin of infection for cryptococcosis in our region, which may be beneficial to immunocompromised individuals.

In this study influences of vertical ground motion on seismically isolated bridges were investigated for seven different earthquake data. One assessment of bearing effect involves the calculation of vertical earthquake load on the seismically isolated bridges. This paper investigates the influence of vertical earthquake excitation on the response of briefly steel girder composite bridges (SCB) with and without seismic isolation through specifically selected earthquakes. In detail, the bridge is composed of 30m long three spans, concrete double piers at each axis supported by mat foundations with pile systems. At both end of the spans there exists concrete abutments to support superstructure of the bridge. SCBs which were seismically isolated with nine commonly preferred different lead&
#8208
rubber bearings (LRB) under each steel girder were analyzed. Then, the comparisons were made with a SCB without seismic isolation. Initially, a preliminary design was made and reasonable sections for the bridge have been obtained. As a result of this, the steel girder bridge sections were checked with AASHTO provisions and analytical model was updated accordingly. Earthquake records were thought as the main loading sources. Hence both cases were exposed to tri&
#8208
axial earthquake loads in order to understand the effects under such circumstances. Seven near fault earthquake data were selected by considering possession of directivity. Several runs using the chosen earthquakes were performed in order to be able to derive satisfactory comparisons between different types of isolators. Analytical calculations were conducted using well known structural analysis software (SAS) SAP2000. Nonlinear time history analysis was performed using the analytical model of the bridge with and without seismic isolation. Response data collected from SAS was used to determine the vertical load on the piers and middle span midspan moment on the steel girders due to the vertical and horizontal component of excitation. Comparisons dealing with the effects of horizontal only and horizontal plus vertical earthquake loads were introduced.

Simplified methods of analysis described in codes and specifications for seismically isolated structures are always used either directly in special cases or for checking the results of nonlinear response history analysis (RHA). Important predictions for seismically isolated structures by simplified methods are the maximum displacements and base shears of the isolation system. In this study, the maximum isolator displacements and base shears determined by nonlinear RHA are compared with those determined by the equivalent lateral force (ELF) procedure in order to assess the accuracy of the simplified method in the case of bi-directional excitations with near-field characteristics. However, although there are currently many methods for ground motion selection and scaling, little guidance is available to classify which method is more appropriate than the others in any applications. Features of this study are that the ground motions used in analysis are selected and scaled using contemporary concepts and that the ground excitation is considered biv directional. The variations in response of isolated structures due to application of ground motions uni-directionally and bi-directionally are also studied by employing a scaling procedure that is appropriate for the bi-directional analysis. The proposed new scaling methodology is an amplitude scaling method that is capable of preserving the horizontal orthogonal components and it is developed especially for dynamic analysis of isolated structures. Analyses are conducted for two different symmetric reinforced concrete isolated structure for two different soil conditions in structural analysis program SAP2000. Effect of asymmetry in superstructure on isolator displacement is also investigated with further analyses considering 5% mass eccentricity at each floor level. Furthermore, once the significance of the orthogonal horizontal component on the response of isolation system is shown, the biaxial interaction of hysteretic behavior of lead rubber bearings is implemented in OpenSees by developing a subroutine which was not readily available.

Isolator displacements, floor accelerations, roof displacements, base shear and torsional moments are basic parameters that are considered in the design of seismically isolated structures. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of bidirectional earthquake excitations of near fault records on the response of base isolated structures in terms of basic parameters mentioned above. These parameters computed from nonlinear response history analysis (RHA) and they are compared with the parameters computed from equivalent lateral force procedure (ELF). Effect of asymmetry in superstructure is also examined considering mass eccentricity at each floor level. Torsional amplifications in isolator displacements, floor accelerations, roof displacements and base shear are compared for different level of eccentricities. Two buildings with different story heights are used in the analyses.The building systems are modeled in structural analysis program SAP2000. The scaling of ground motion data are taken from the study of &ldquo
Response of Isolated Structures Under Bi-directional Excitations of Near-fault ground Motions&rdquo
(Ozdemir, 2010). Each ground motion set (fault normal and fault parallel) are applied simultaneously for different range of effective damping of lead rubber bearing (LRB) and for different isolation periods.

The objective of this paper is to present an efficient miniaturized antenna design and simulation of a highly isolated multi-port micro-strip antenna for multiple-input multiple-output communication (MIMO) systems. Three geometric configurations were proposed and compared to achieve an isolation of as low as –30 dB without affecting the antenna performance greatly. The antenna was designed to operate at a resonance frequency of 2.45 GHz (fc ). Ferrite material beneath each meander structure was used for miniaturization purposes as well as an FR4 substrate with a compact overall area of .75 lambda0 ×.5 lambda0 for a system board, where lambda0 is the free space wavelength. A ground plane with small etched slits was used for isolation purposes. A maximum gain of 4.6 dBi in the azimuthal plane was achieved. Index Terms: MIMO, meander antenna, four-port antenna, defected ground structure
Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
In this study, I sought to investigate the dissemination process of teaching Active, through the implementation of Improvement Classes, installed in school groups and in isolated schools in the State of Sergipe, in 1932 and 1933. In the Classes of Improvement were developed the centers of interest, created by Decroly and adopted in the Regulation of 1931. Aligned with Cultural History, the research was based on the concept of school culture, defended by Julia (2001), as the guiding principle for an analysis of the set of teachers practices that incorporate in the Classes in Sergipe. In addition, discussed the pedagogical guidelines through the work of Moura (1931), carried out by teaching inspectors. In the methodology used, of a descriptive historical nature, I searched in documentary sources, such as terms of visit of the inspectors of education, information of the school directors, primary education program, Regulation of February 3, 1931 and notes of the Official Gazette of this research, among other sources, the data needed to answer the research question: how did occured the process of dissemination of Active teaching through the implementation of the Improvement Classes installed in school groups and in isolated schools in the State of Sergipe in the years 1932 and 1933? I noticed that the Classes of Improvement had their proposal presented by Professor José Augusto da Rocha Lima, after a trip to the State of São Paulo in 1931 and were implemented in 32 Classes, in the period of 1932 and 1933, in the capital and in the interior of Sergipe. I also verified that the teachers' choices to direct the Class in the school groups, for the most part, had as criterion the demonstration of “competence” in the development of the method.The purpose of the Improvement Classes was fulfilled insofar as it disseminated the practice of the Intuitive Analytical Asset method with the use of Decroly centers of interest, which can be certified in the practices of teachers in the years 1933 and 1934.
Neste estudo, procurei investigar o processo de disseminação do ensino Ativo por meio da implementação das Classes de Aperfeiçoamento, instaladas nos grupos escolares e nas escolas isoladas no Estado de Sergipe, nos anos de 1932 e 1933. Nas Classes de Aperfeiçoamento foram desenvolvidos os centros de interesse, criados por Decroly e adotados no Regulamento de 1931. Alinhado a História Cultural, a investigação fundamentou-se no conceito de cultura escolar, defendido por Julia (2001), como princípio norteador para a análise do conjunto das práticas docentes que incorporadas nas referidas Classes em Sergipe. Além disso, discutiu as orientações pedagógicas a partir da obra de Moura (1931), manual que instruiu o uso dos centros de interesse. Na metodologia utilizada, de natureza histórica descritiva, busquei em fontes documentais, como termos de visita dos inspetores do ensino, relatórios dos diretores escolares, programa para o ensino primário, Regulamento de 03 de fevereiro de 1931 e notas do Diário Oficial dos anos referente a esta investigação, entre outras fontes, os dados necessários para responder a questão de pesquisa: como se deu o processo de disseminação do ensino Ativo por meio da implementação das Classes de Aperfeiçoamento instaladas nos grupos escolares e nas escolas isoladas no Estado de Sergipe, nos anos de 1932 e 1933? Constatei que as Classes de Aperfeiçoamento tiveram sua proposta apresentada pelo professor José Augusto da Rocha Lima, após viagem realizada ao Estado de São Paulo, no ano de 1931 e foram implementadas em 32 Classes, no período de 1932 e 1933, na capital e no interior de Sergipe. Verifiquei ainda que as escolhas das docentes para dirigir a Classe nos grupos escolares, em sua maioria, tiveram como critério a demonstração de “competência” no desenvolvimento do método. O propósito das Classes de Aperfeiçoamento foi cumprido na medida em que difundiu a prática do método Ativo Intuitivo Analítico, com o uso dos centros de interesse de Decroly, o que pode ser certificado nas práticas das docentes nos anos de 1933 e 1934.
São Cristóvão, SE

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) currently inhabit about 56% of pre-settlement distribution of potential habitat. In 2005, the Castle Country Adaptive Resources Management Local Working Group (CaCoARM) was formed to address concerns regarding local sage-grouse populations in Carbon and Emery counties. In 2006-2007, CaCoARM identified the Wildcat Knolls and Horn Mountain as areas of special concern for greater sage-grouse conservation. Both sites selected by the group were inhabited by what appeared to be small isolated sage-grouse populations. Factors limiting small isolated greater sage-grouse populations throughout its range are diverse and largely site-specific. During 2008-2009, I captured, radio-collared, and monitored 43 sage-grouse between the two populations to document their ecology and seasonal habitat use patterns. The sites are only 24 km apart, but the populations appear to be isolated from each other. Sage-grouse on Horn Mountain and Wildcat Knolls are one-stage migratory and non-migratory, respectively. Although nesting and brooding success varied between sites, my results were comparable to those published in studies throughout the species' range. Overall male survival was lower on the Wildcat Knolls than Horn Mountain (P = 0.003). Hens that selected brood sites exhibiting increased shrub cover and grass height were more successful than hens that selected sites with lower shrub cover and lower grass height. Potential nesting habitat on the Wildcat Knolls and Horn Mountain were estimated at 2,329 and 5,493 ha, respectively. Hens that selected nest sites farther from non-habitat edge were more successful than hens that selected nest sites that were closer to non-habitat edge on the Wildcat Knolls. Higher nest success observed on the Wildcat Knolls was attributed to less habitat fragmentation. Isolated populations of greater sage-grouse are more susceptible to lower amounts of genetic diversity that may lead to inbreeding depression and increased rates of disease and parasites. I collected mitochondrial DNA samples from both the Wildcat Knolls and Horn Mountain populations. Although the haplotype frequencies recorded in the Wildcat Knolls and Horn Mountain populations were low, one was shared with several Utah populations. The documented low genetic diversity (especially on Horn Mountain) confirmed the isolation suspected by the local working group. Microsatellite tests may provide insights to enhance understanding of genetic differences among sites, and assist managers in determining whether or not translocations are necessary to maintain population genetic diversity. Biologists should not only continue to take samples for genetic comparison, but also record morphometric and behavior data.

Extended Spectrum β-Lactamases (ESBLs) are produced by the Enterobacteriaceae bacterial family, mainly by E. coli and K. pneumoniae. As these species are some of the main causes of urinary tract infections and sepsis, ESBL-production is of major concern. Occurrence of ESBLs also gives rise to concern as it is increasing epidemically. This because the genes coding for ESBLs (i.e. bla-genes) are located on plasmids replicating and spreading the replicated copies independently. Plasmids replicate by replicons. Plasmids with the same replicon variant are grouped into the same plasmid family. The aim of this study was to detect plasmid families carrying bla-genes in E. coli and K. pneumoniae from clinical (n = 6) and environmental water (n = 22) isolates. Plasmid family prevalence was examined. Association between plasmid families and bla-genes was also examined. Plasmid families were detected by a PBRT kit (PCR Based Replicon Typing), a multiplex PCR kit that detected 30 replicons, whereof 27 replicons representing the 27 plasmid families in Enterobacteriaceae, and three novel replicons. The IncF plasmid family was the most prevalent for both species in both clinical and environmental isolates. IncF seemed to be prevalent for all examined ESBLs, but it was difficult to associate one bla-gene with one plasmid family as most isolates carried several bla-genes and several plasmid families.
Extended Spectrum β-Lactamases (ESBLs) produceras av bakteriefamiljen Enterobacteriaceae, främst av E. coli och K. pneumoniae. Eftersom dessa arter är bland de vanligaste orsakerna till urinvägsinfektioner och sepsis är ESBL-produktion ett allvarligt problem. ESBL är också oroande eftersom det sprids epidemiskt. Detta möjliggörs av att generna som kodar för ESBLs (s.k. bla-gener) ligger på plasmider, som replikerar och sprider de replikerade plasmidkopiorna självständigt. Plasmider replikeras som s.k. replikon. Plasmider med samma replikonvariant tillhör samma plasmidfamilj. Syftet med detta arbete var att detektera plasmidfamiljer som bär bla-gener i E. coli och K. pneumoniae isolerade från kliniska prov (n = 6) och miljöprov (n = 22) från Helge Å. Plasmidfamiljernas prevalens undersöktes, liksom sambandet mellan plasmidfamiljer och bla-gener. Plasmidfamiljerna detekterades med ett PBRT-kit (PCR Based Replicon Typing), ett multiplext PCR-kit som detekterade 30 replikon varav 27 replikon som representerar de 27 plasmidfamiljer som finns i Enterobacteriaceae och tre nya replikon. Plasmidfamiljen IncF var vanligast förekommande i båda arter i både kliniska isolat och miljöisolat. IncF verkade förekomma för alla undersökta typer av ESBL, men det var generellt svårt att förknippa en bla-gen med en plasmidfamilj, eftersom de flesta isolaten bar flera bla-gener och flera plasmidfamiljer.

Fusarium oxysporum Schl. var. vanillae (Tucker) Gondon is known to cause root rot in Vanilla planifolia Andrews in most regions where it is grown, including the major plantations in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province of China. This is of serious economic concern to the Province since the vanilla flavouring extractable from the beans of the plant is a valuable food product and an important export commodity. There are no fungicides registered for the control of Fusarium root rot and the only available chemical control methods are ineffective and cause serious contamination of the soil. Breeding for resistance is difficult when no dominant gene is known or where little information is available on fungal pathogenicity. Biocontrol is the main alternative for disease control in this crop, an attractive approach because of increasing concerns for environmental protection. The investigation considers two biocontrol strategies: first the introduction of virulent, antagonistic, non-pathogenic strains, closely-related to the pathogen, to overcome pathogenic populations in infected soils; second the use of essential oils with antimicrobial properties when applied to infected soils. Pathogenicity tests have been done on 81 out of 87 F. oxysporum isolates collected in Yunnan Province. Among these, 32 isolates were non-pathogenic and 49 were pathogenic. The pathogenicity results showed the complexity of F. oxysporum in Yunnan. Seventeen isolates were recovered from the Daluo plantation, of which 14 were pathogenic isolates and 3 non-pathogenic isolates; 26 from the Menglun plantation, in which 12 were pathogenic and 14 were non-pathogenic; 18 isolates from the Manjingdai plantation, in which 12 isolates were pathogenic, whilst the other 6 were non-pathogenic and 20 were obtained from the plantation in Hekou i County, of which 11 were pathogenic isolates and 9 were non-pathogenic. Genetic diversity within this population of F. oxysporum has been investigated with respect to vegetative compatibility and to determine the relationship between VCGs and virulence. The VCG results showed that the 87 strains of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp vanillae isolated from Yunnan Province were complex. They could be distributed into 12 different VCGs and that a direct relationship between VCGs group and virulence could not be drawn. Two non-pathogenic strains, ML-5-2 and HK-5b-4-1, have been screened from 87 strains as candidate biocontrol agents by pathogenicity and VCG, which are self-incompatible and closely related to the pathogens. These two strains were effective in vanilla root rot control in controlled environments, but their effects in field experiments were less conclusive. Seven essential oils, which have long been regarded as having inhibitory effects on pathogens in nature, have also been investigated as biocontrol agents. Three oils, cinnamon oil, thyme oil and clove oil, were effective in inhibiting the growth of pathogen in vitro. These oils may develop into useful components of different management strategies with non-pathogenic strains. For the future, consideration will need to be given to the mechanism(s) of the interaction of the antagonistic components with the soil microbe population and host plant and also to appropriate formulation, to take account of soil type, crop status, cultural practices, environmental and economic factors. Biocontrol methods have considerable potential but must be acceptable to farmers as part of an overall crop management programme.

The work in this thesis consisted of two studies: 1) analysis of the microbial biodiversity of multiple ground ice types from the Arctic and the High Arctic; 2)examination of the survival of Cryptococcus NP33 under simulated Martian conditions over 41 days. The first study involved culture-dependent and independent evaluations of the microbial communities found in a buried firnified snow bank, a buried glacier, a pingo and ice wedges. Direct and culturable counts in the various ground ice types differed from each other (104 – 108 cellsmL-1 direct counts; 0 - 105 CFUmL-1 culturable counts), and were only weakly correlated to increasing sample age. Culturable counts were consistently highest in ice wedge samples. All sample isolates were dominated by Actinobacteria. Bacterial pyrosequencing analysis for one ice wedge showed a dominance (<50% of sequences) by Gammaproteobacteria. In an Archaeal clone library of the buried glacier, no clones were closely related to sequenced isolates, but were similar (>90%) to uncharacterized clones from marine environments. The pingo Bacterial clone library clones matched closely to environmental isolates as well as clones from cryoenvironments as well as soil environments. For the survivability study, Cryptotoccus strain NP33 was selected as a candidate organism to undergo Martian simulations. After 41 simulation days, it had a half-life of 10.1 days in simulated sunlightand 16.1 days in darkness. The compiled results suggest that the organism traits most crucial to survival under simulated Martian conditions were desiccation, radiation and freeze-thaw resistance.
Cette thèse contient deux études : 1) la biodiversité de différents types de glacesde sol de l'Arctique et du Grand Arctique, de même que la survie de Cryptococcus NP33dans des conditions martiennes simulées pendant 41 jours. La première étude impliquait des analyses dépendantes et indépendantes des conditions de culture pour évaluer les communautés microbiennes dans une congère névée enterrée, un glacier enterré, un pingo et des coins de glace. Les nombres de cellules totales et les nombres de cellules culturées dans les différents types de glaces de sol variaient (104 – 108 cellulesmL-1 nombre total; 0- 105 CFUmL-1 cellules culturées), et étaient que très faiblement dépendants de l'âge du iispécimen. Les nombres de cellules culturées étaient constamment plus élevées dans les coins de glace. Actinobacteria dominait les isolats de chaque spécimen. Un pyroséquençage bactérien d'un coin de glace a révélé une dominance (>50% desséquences) de Gammaproteobacteria. Dans une librairie de clones d'Archées du glacier enterré, les clones avaient peu de similarité à des isolats environnementaux, mais étaient similaires (>90%) à des clones environnementaux non-caractérisés d'environnements marins. Dans une librairie de clones de Bactéries du pingo, les clones étaient très similaires à des isolats et des clones provenant de cryo-environnements et d'environnements de sol. Pour la simulation martienne, Cryptococcus NP33 a été choisicomme organisme candidat suite à des expériments pour sélectionner des organismes résistant à la dessiccation, au froid et aux concentrations élevées de sel. Au cours de 41 jours dans le simulateur, Cryptococcus NP33 avait une demi-vie de 10.1 jours dans le soleil simulé et 16.1 jours dans le noir. Halorubrum avait un taux de survie de 100%(demi-vie estimée de ~70 - ∞ jours), tandis que d'autres organismes avaient une demi-vie beaucoup moins élevée (~2 - ~8 jours). Les résultats combinés suggèrent que les caractéristiques nécessaires à la survie dans des conditions martiennes simulées étaient la résistance à la dessiccation, la radiation et aux cycles de gel-dégel.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
A utilização de dentes isolados, com finalidades taxonômicas, é reconhecida por diversos autores. No Hemisfério Norte investigações desta natureza são freqüentes, versando principalmente sobre micro e macromorfologias dentárias e sua utilização na identificação de grupos taxonômicos, eventualmente a categorias bastante específicas. No Hemisfério Sul, em especial no Brasil, estudos enfocando dentes isolados ainda representam uma parcela bastante sutil de contribuição no âmbito da Paleontologia. Esta contribuição representa o plano de investigação de um conjunto de dentes de amniotas, resgatados em um dos mais ricos e diversificados depósitos fossilíferos cretácicos do Estado do Maranhão: o afloramento Laje do Coringa. Situado na Ilha do Cajual, Município de Alcântara, representa um bone-bed com expressivo registro fossilífero do neo-Albiano/eo-Cenomaniano da Formação Alcântara, Bacia de São Luís- Grajaú. Considerando sua abundância e diversidade morfológica, os dentes fósseis dos depósitos cretácicos no Estado do Maranhão mostram-se potencialmente importantes no âmbito de investigações paleontológicas. A análise de parâmetros morfológicos aplicados à coroa, permitiu a identificação de 19 morfótipos dentários, representando terópodos (Carcharodontosauridae, Spinosauridae e Velociraptorinae), saurópodos (Titanosauria e Diplodocoidea), crocodilomorfos (Pholidosauridae) e pterossauros (Anhangueridae e Ornithocheiridae). A variedade morfológica evidenciada na amostra da Laje do Coringa sugere uma relativa diversidade paleobiológica e paleoecológica durante o neo-Albiano/eo- Cenomaniano do Estado do Maranhão... .
The use of isolated tooth, with taxonomic purposes, is recognized for many authors. In North Hemisphere inquiries of this nature are frequent, mainly treating about dental micro and dental macromorphologies and its use in the identification of taxonomic groups, eventually the very specific categories. In South Hemisphere, in especially Brazil, studies focusing isolated teeth still represent a very subtle parcel of contributions in the scope of Paleontology. This contribution represents the plan of inquiry of a amniotes teeth's set, rescued in one of richest and diversified Cretaceous fossiliferos deposits of the Maranhão State: the Laje do Coringa outcrop. Situated in the Cajual Island, Alcântara Municipality, it represents a bone-bed with expressive fossiliferous record in the late Albian/early Cenomanian of the Alcântara Formation, São Luís-Grajaú Basin. Considering its abundance and morphologic diversity, fossil teeth of the Cretaceous deposits in the Maranhão State reveal potentially important in the scope of paleontological inquiries. The analysis of morphologic parameters applied to the dental crown allowed the identification of 19 dental morphotypes, representing theropods (Carcharodontosauridae, Spinosauridae and Velociraptorinae), sauropods (Titanosauria and Diplodocoidea), crocodilomorphs (Pholidosauridae) and pterosaurs (Anhangueridae and Ornithocheiridae). The morphologic variety evidenced in the sample of the Laje do Coringa outcrop suggests a relative paleobiological and paleoecological diversity during the late Albian/early Cenomanian of the Maranhão State. As evidenced in studies developed for other authors (and confirmed in this inquiry) the paleofaunistical assemblage of the Alcântara Formation probably had a particular similarity with isochronous assemblages of the North of Africa, suggesting that the events of biological particularity in each one of continental... (Complete abstract, click electronic address below).

Orientador: Reinaldo José Bertini
Banca: Paulo Milton Barbosa Landim
Banca: Dilce de Fátima Rossetti
Resumo: A utilização de dentes isolados, com finalidades taxonômicas, é reconhecida por diversos autores. No Hemisfério Norte investigações desta natureza são freqüentes, versando principalmente sobre micro e macromorfologias dentárias e sua utilização na identificação de grupos taxonômicos, eventualmente a categorias bastante específicas. No Hemisfério Sul, em especial no Brasil, estudos enfocando dentes isolados ainda representam uma parcela bastante sutil de contribuição no âmbito da Paleontologia. Esta contribuição representa o plano de investigação de um conjunto de dentes de amniotas, resgatados em um dos mais ricos e diversificados depósitos fossilíferos cretácicos do Estado do Maranhão: o afloramento Laje do Coringa. Situado na Ilha do Cajual, Município de Alcântara, representa um bone-bed com expressivo registro fossilífero do neo-Albiano/eo-Cenomaniano da Formação Alcântara, Bacia de São Luís- Grajaú. Considerando sua abundância e diversidade morfológica, os dentes fósseis dos depósitos cretácicos no Estado do Maranhão mostram-se potencialmente importantes no âmbito de investigações paleontológicas. A análise de parâmetros morfológicos aplicados à coroa, permitiu a identificação de 19 morfótipos dentários, representando terópodos (Carcharodontosauridae, Spinosauridae e Velociraptorinae), saurópodos (Titanosauria e Diplodocoidea), crocodilomorfos (Pholidosauridae) e pterossauros (Anhangueridae e Ornithocheiridae). A variedade morfológica evidenciada na amostra da Laje do Coringa sugere uma relativa diversidade paleobiológica e paleoecológica durante o neo-Albiano/eo- Cenomaniano do Estado do Maranhão... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo).
Abstract: The use of isolated tooth, with taxonomic purposes, is recognized for many authors. In North Hemisphere inquiries of this nature are frequent, mainly treating about dental micro and dental macromorphologies and its use in the identification of taxonomic groups, eventually the very specific categories. In South Hemisphere, in especially Brazil, studies focusing isolated teeth still represent a very subtle parcel of contributions in the scope of Paleontology. This contribution represents the plan of inquiry of a amniotes teeth's set, rescued in one of richest and diversified Cretaceous fossiliferos deposits of the Maranhão State: the Laje do Coringa outcrop. Situated in the Cajual Island, Alcântara Municipality, it represents a bone-bed with expressive fossiliferous record in the late Albian/early Cenomanian of the Alcântara Formation, São Luís-Grajaú Basin. Considering its abundance and morphologic diversity, fossil teeth of the Cretaceous deposits in the Maranhão State reveal potentially important in the scope of paleontological inquiries. The analysis of morphologic parameters applied to the dental crown allowed the identification of 19 dental morphotypes, representing theropods (Carcharodontosauridae, Spinosauridae and Velociraptorinae), sauropods (Titanosauria and Diplodocoidea), crocodilomorphs (Pholidosauridae) and pterosaurs (Anhangueridae and Ornithocheiridae). The morphologic variety evidenced in the sample of the Laje do Coringa outcrop suggests a relative paleobiological and paleoecological diversity during the late Albian/early Cenomanian of the Maranhão State. As evidenced in studies developed for other authors (and confirmed in this inquiry) the paleofaunistical assemblage of the Alcântara Formation probably had a particular similarity with isochronous assemblages of the North of Africa, suggesting that the events of biological particularity in each one of continental... (Complete abstract, click electronic address below).
Mestre

Cette thèse est consacrée à la théorie spectrale de quelques opérateurs de transport et le comportement asymptotique (pour les temps grands) des solutions des problèmes de Cauchy gouvernés par ces derniers. Dans la première partie, on s'est intéressé aux propriétés spectrales des opérateurs d'advection et de transport des neutrons dans le cadre multidimensionnel pour des conditions aux limites générales. Après avoir établi un résultat de compacité de type lemmes de moyenne indispensable dans notre analyse, on a donné entre autre une description fine du spectre asymptotique de l'opérateur de transport. Ce travail a été complété par l'étude des propriétés de régularité et le comportement asymptotique de la solution du problème de Cauchy gouverné par l'opérateur de transport étudié précédemment pour des conditions aux limites de type bounce-back plus un opérateur compact dans l'espace L^1. Ensuite, on a étudié le caractère bien posé et le comportement asymptotique de la solution d'une équation de transport des neutrons avec des sections efficaces non bornées. Contrairement à la première partie, l'analyse de ce problème nécessite l'usage d'une théorie de perturbation de Miyadera-Voigt pour les opérateurs non bornés. La dernière partie de ce travail porte sur un problème linéaire issu d'un modèle introduit en 1974 par Lebowitz et Rubinow décrivant la prolifération d'une population de cellules structuré par l'âge et la longueur du cycle. Notre analyse a porté sur le cas où la longueur du cycle maximale est infinie
This thesis is devoted to the spectral theory and the time asymptotic behavior of the solution to Cauchy problems governed by various transport operators. In the first part, we discussed the spectral properties of streaming and transport operators in finite bodies with general boundary conditions. After establishing a compactness result essential to our analysis, we gave a fine description of the asymptotic spectrum of the transport operator. We also derive the regularity and the asymptotic behavior of the solution to Cauchy problem governed by the transport operator supplemented by bounce-back boundary conditions plus a compact operator in the space L^1. In the second part, we discussed the well-posedness and the asymptotic behavior of the solution to Cauchy problem governed by a singular transport operator. Unlike the first part, the analysis of this problem requires the use of Miyadera-Voigt perturbation theory for unbounded operators. In the last part of this work, a Cauchy problem governed by a linear operator introduced by Lebowitz and Rubinow describing a proliferating cell population structured by age and the cycle length was considered. Here our analysis was devoted to the case where the maximum cycle length is infinite

碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
營建工程系
98
Numerical shear building models with varying lateral stiffness and damping are used to investigate the dynamic responses of base isolated structures under strong seismic excitations. The based damping model and the Rayleigh damping model are used as the damping mechanism. Both the far-field and near-field ground motions are employed as the input excitations. Three response parameters, respectively the maximum base displacement, the maximum roof displacement and the maximum interstory drift ratio are used to indicate the response intensity. Study results show that the response can be effectively reduced by adjusting the base stiffness and damping ratio when far-field excitations are considered. However, the pulse effect of the near-field ground motion will cause substantial increases in the displacement of the isolated layer. For such a case, the response of base isolated structures should be more carefully assessed.

碩士
國立成功大學
醫事技術學系
91
Streptococcus pyogenes is the causative agent of a wide spectrum of disease, ranging from streptococcal pharyngitis and impetigo to life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxin-shock syndrome. The resurgence of invasive infections caused by group A streptococcus (GAS) has been noted worldwide since the mid-1980s. Erythromycin-resistant GAS has increased in many countries in the last decade and specific emm types and particular clones have been indicated in several severe diseases. The aims of this project were to analyze the genetic relatedness of 389 clinical isolates of GAS collected from National Cheng-Kung University Hospital during 1990 to 2002. The emm typing, macrolide-resistant genes, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) typing, and clinical manifestations were used to analyze in these strains. In addition, the amounts of hyaluronic acid and streptococcal pyogenic exotoxin B (SPE B) were measured and their correlations with the disease severity were examined. Among 381 GAS isolates, there were 187 (49.1%) erythromycin- resistant strains in 58 (31%) strains were cMLS phenotype, 127 (67.9%) were M phenotype and 2 strains were iMLS phenotype. emm1, emm4, emm13 and emm25 were most common, harbored by 256 (66.8%), 55 (14.4%), 11 (2.9%) and 19 (5%) isolates, respectively. PFGE pattern J, F, B and A were most common, harbored by 58 (15%), 40 (10.4%), 36 (9.3%) and 28 (7.3%) isolates, respectively. Among 389 GAS isolates, seventy-seven GAS isolates associated with scarlet fever epidemics occurring between 1993 and 2002 in southern Taiwan were also investigated. Among them, 56 strains (72.7%) were erythromycin-resistant. PFGE pattern A, D, G, and J were most common, harbored by 7.8, 16.9, 10.3 and 32.5%, respectively. emm1 and emm4 also were most common, harbored by 56 (72.7%) and 20 (26%) isolates, respectively. Among them, an emm1 clone was responsible for the epidemics between 1993 and 1995. The role of hyaluronic acid and SPE B (protease activity) was also investigated. Among 389 strains, 25 strains did not show any protease activity by the skim milk plate analysis and Azocasein assay, whereas 48％ of these strains were isolated from invasive diseases. In addition, the low amount of hyaluronic acid was also detected in the strains isolated from severe disease. Based on the above data, we are not only establish the emm typing and PFGE typing of GAS in our laboratory, but also report the molecular epidemiology of GAS in southern Taiwan which will be valuable information for public health. In addition, low amount of hyaluronic acid or non-protease activity were detected in several strains of GAS isolated from invasive diseases. This suggests that there are novel virulence factor(s) other than hyaluronic acid or protease activity contributing to the pathogenicithy of GAS in human beings.

碩士
國立成功大學
化學工程學系碩博士班
98
Polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs) have attracted much interest in recent years because of their potential application in large-area flat panel displays. However, most LED polymers are p-doped, materials that mobility of holes is usually much greater than that of electrons. Efficient and balanced charges injection transport are essential for high performance PLEDs. Introducing electron- and hole-transporting units in to polymer structure is one of the strategies to achieve balanced charge injection and transport. In this work, we synthesized an isolated poly(aryl ether) consisting of alternate emitting (distyrylbenzene derivatives) and bipolar groups. The bipolar unit is composed of directly linked electron-transporting aromatic 1,2,4-ttiazole and hole-transporting triphenylamine. These poly(aryl ether) is neadily soluble in common organic solvents and exhibit good thermal stability with Td above 450oC. The emission and the PL quantums yield of the polymers are dominated by the fluorophores(distyrylbenzene derivative) with longer emissive wavelength. The HOMO and LUMO energy level were estimated from their cyclic voltammograms. Lowered LUMO levels confirmed the enhancement of electron affinity by introducing isolated bipolar unit, leading to more balance charge injection transport. Blending the bipolar copolymer with polyfluorene effectively improves the emission efficiency of its electroluminescent device [ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer blend/LiF/Ca/Al]. The maximum luminance and maximum luminance efficiency are significantly enhanced to 3259 cd/m2 and 1.08 cd/A from 1161 cd/m2 and 0.33 cd/A (polyfluorene-based divice).

The response of lightweight equipment in structures supported on resilient-friction-base isolators (R-FBI) subjected to harmonic ground motion and various earthquake ground motions is examined. The equipment-structure base system is modeled as a three degree-of-freedom discrete system (SDOF subsystems). An efficient semi-analytical numerical solution procedure for the determination of equipment response is presented. Parametric studies to examine the effects of subsystem frequency (isolator, structure, equipment), subsystem damping, mass ratio, friction coefficient and frequency content of the ground motion on the response of the equipment are performed. The equipment response on a fixed-base structure subjected to ground motion is also calculated. Friction type isolation devices can induce high frequency effects in the isolated structure due to the stick-slip action. These effects on equipment response are examined. The results show that the high frequency effect in the structure generated from a friction-type base isolator doesn't, in general, cause amplifications in the response. The R-FBI system appears to be an effective aseismic base isolator for protecting both the structure and sensitive internal equipment.
Graduation date: 1992

碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
營建工程系
87
Uni-lateral, bi-lateral and tri-axial shaking table tests are conducted to study the seismic response of a three story base-isolated steel structure. The lateral force distribution formulas specified in the design specifications are evaluated experimentally. A method to calculate the lateral force distribution is proposed and experimentally verified. Seismic responses of the test model to the uni-lateral, bi-lateral and tri-axial ground excitations are compared. The effects of vertical ground acceleration on the maximum acceleration of the superstructure and the maximum displacement of the isolation system are investigated. The maximum displacements of the isolation system under bi-lateral and tri-axial ground motions are compared with those determined from the ?.0+0.3" direction combination rule. In additional to the plan-symmetric condition, both one-way and two-way eccentricities are introduced into the isolation system. The increase of the peak story acceleration due to the combined effect of torsional coupling and vertical ground acceleration may be significant, compared with those obtained from uni-lateral and bi-lateral ground shakings. The experimental results from plan-eccentric condition are also compared with the conclusions by other analytical studies.

碩士
國立清華大學
生命科學系
88
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a human-specific gastric pathogen that colonizes in the stomachs of at least half the world’s population. Both microbial and host factors might determine the outcome of colonization. Epithelial attachment of H. pylori can be mediated by the blood-group antigen-binding adhesin (BabA) targeting human Lewisb surface epitopes. Recently, the gene encoding functional BabA has been cloned and termed babA2. The presence of babA2, vacA and cagA (“triple-positive” strains) showed a highly significant correlation to the presence of ulcer and adenocarcinama. In an effort to investigate the divergent middle region of bab gene polymorphism of Taiwanese clinical isolates, 87 strains were characterized by HaeIII DNA digestion of the bab gene PCR fragments. 13 distinct RFLP patterns and combinations were revealed. DNA sequence analysis of the middle region showed that these regions were identical to Western babA or babB gene (87-89% identity), and were even more conservative among Taiwanese isolates. Further DNA sequence analysis of the bab gene signal peptide region, most of the isolates were highly homologous to the babA2 signal peptide sequence. No 10 bp deletion in the signal peptide region just like babA1 was found in the analyzed strains. Southern blot hybridization of the genomic DNA showed that one or two copies of bab gene might be found in different H. pylori strains.

碩士
國立臺灣科技大學
營建工程系
106
Velocity pulses and significant incremental velocities contained in near fault ground motions have been recognized as the primary reason for the severe damage to structure. John Hall et al. (1995) has also attributed the damage of a flexible building structure to the displacement pulse contained in the near fault ground motions. However, the indexation and quantification of near fault ground motions with regard to their damaging effects remain for further research. Baker (2007) has adopted the wavelet analysis, as an attempt to quantify the damaging characteristics of near fault ground motions, to identify the velocity pulse period. However, some extracted velocity pulses possess extraordinary long period and has no significant influence to seismic responses of structure. Comparing the seismic structural responses to the original near fault ground motions and the extracted ground motions, it is found that some extracted waveforms cannot well represent the damaging potential of near fault ground motions. Therefore, in this study the extraction of wavelet from near fault ground motions is conducted with the verification of the damaging effect of extracted waveforms to a seismic isolation system. Hilbert Huang transform is also employed to further validate the extraction of wavelet from near fault ground motions.

As most of the South African gold mines near their end of life, with regards to the original reef horizons and ore bodies planned, a large portion of the gold bearing ore lie in isolated blocks of ground which were left behind for various reasons. These blocks of ground are now being investigated with the intention of extraction together with other low grade ore bodies or reef bands. Although, the cost of gold mining has risen substantially, the price received for the finished product has also risen considerably over the past decade and it is still one of the most stable forms of long term investment (World Gold Council, 2013). Thuthukani Shaft, KDC has been mining isolated blocks of ground over the past decade with improving success. This research report details investigations into the continuously improving support systems that have been used over time with regards to the mining of isolated blocks of ground and seismic activity. The investigation reflect an improving work environment with regards to health and safety and indicates that the support system used at present is capable of preventing damage to workplaces with fairly high seismic activity. The report contains an analysis of seismic activity with regards to injury and damage to workplaces in relation to the improvements made to the support system over time at Thuthukani Shaft, KDC. The report also contains detail regarding the improvements made to the support system over the past seven years and includes some production statistics in relation to seismic activity at Thuthukani Shaft, KDC.

碩士
長榮大學
醫學研究所
95
In the present study, we screened the distribution of streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins (spe) of 289 endemic group A streptococcal (GAS) isolates and clinical features were reviewed within a 7-year period in an medical center. We performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect 6 streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins (speA, speB, speC, speF, speG, and smeZ). By use of DNA sequencing-based methods approach, 28 different emm types have been identified. In the study, sp11014, M11, and M49 emm protein types were more frequently to GAS isolates. The predominant emm types were different from other area of the world. Analysis revealed that either invasive or noninvasive GAS isolates do not share a common spe-gene profile. Although characteristic spe-gene profiles were detected in most emm types, a predominance of 1 or 2 spe-gene profile could be observed. Interestingly, individual spe gene showed a nonrandom distribution of key spe genes characteristic of the specific emm type. We further examined streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B (Spe B), a streptococcal cysteine protease which is believed to be important in group A streptococcal (GAS) pathogenesis. The protease activity of these isolates was tested by the casein plate method. Of the 289 strains with invasive (94 strains) and noninvasive (195 strains) diseases, there is no statistical difference of protease activity. These results demonstrate that no particular emm strain or level of protease activity had associated with severe clinical condition. These findings may have important implications for the role of spe-gene profiles and cysteine protease activity in host-pathogen interactions via the expression of GAS virulence genes and the severity of GAS disease.

Obwohl seit der Einführung des Penicillins ein wirksames Medikament gegen Streptokokken der Lancefield Gruppe A (GAS) existiert, bei welchem bislang keine Resistenzen beschrieben wurden, bleiben GAS-Infektionen auch heute noch ein großes gesundheitspolitisches Problem, das sowohl die Morbidität als auch die Mortalität der Menschen weltweit beeinflusst. GAS können ein breites Spektrum an Erkrankungen beim Menschen verursachen. Dazu zählen nicht nur unkomplizierte Racheninfektionen mit und ohne Scharlach oder Hautinfektionen wie Erysipel oder Impetigo, sondern auch invasive sowie Folgeerkrankungen. 1928 wurde als Typ-spezifische, Antikörperbildung-induzierende Substanz das M-Protein beschrieben, welches durch das emm-Gen kodiert und seither zur Beschreibung der Epidemiologie von GAS verwendet wird. Eine der Hauptfunktionen des auf der Oberfläche von GAS verankerten M-Proteins besteht darin, die Phagozytose durch polymorphkernige Leukozyten zu verhindern, was zu den wichtigsten Abwehrmechanismen von Infektionen mit GAS gezählt wird. Obwohl seit einigen Jahrzehnten große Anstrengungen unternommen wurden, bleibt ein sicherer und effektiver Impfstoff bisher ein unerreichtes Ziel. In der hier vorliegenden Studie wurde, anhand der über den Zeitraum vom 11.03.2006 bis 19.05.2012 am Universitätsklinikum Freiburg gesammelten Daten und Isolaten, die regionale Epidemiologie von Infektionen pädiatrischer Patienten durch GAS retrospektiv untersucht. Mit insgesamt 566 Isolaten und zugehörigen klinischen Daten stellt diese Studie die bisher größte unizentrische epidemiologische Untersuchung von pädiatrischen Erkrankungen mit emm-Typisierung von GAS in Deutschland dar. Dabei wurde besonders auf Zusammenhänge zwischen den molekularepidemiologischen Daten, basierend auf der emm-Typisierung, und den anonymisierten klinischen Informationen eingegangen. In die Kohorte konnten insgesamt 566 Fälle eingeschlossen werden. Bei 405 Fällen wurde eine Racheninfektion festgestellt, wovon bei wiederum 75 Fällen zusätzlich die Diagnose Scharlach gestellt wurde, 34 Kinder stellten sich mit einer Hautinfektion vor, 21 mit einer akuten Otitis media, 19 mit einer anogenitalen Infektion, acht mit einer invasiven Infektion und zwei mit einer Harnwegsinfektion. Als Kolonisation durch GAS ohne Krankheitswert wurden 77 Fälle gewertet, davon 48 mit pharyngealer Kolonisation. In der molekularepidemiologischen Untersuchung konnten drei neue emm-subtypen entdeckt werden, welche als emm29.13, emm36.7 sowie emm75.5 erstbeschrieben und deren Sequenzen in der Datenbank des CDC hinterlegt wurden. Über die gesamte Kohorte hinweg wurde Typ emm12 bei 19% aller Fälle gefunden und lag somit am häufigsten vor, gefolgt von emm1 und emm4 mit je 14% sowie emm28 und emm89 mit je 11%. Bei Betrachtung der emm-Cluster zeigte sich E4 mit 31% am häufigsten, danach folgten Cluster A-C4 mit 19%, A-C3 und E1 mit jeweils 14%. Unter den 405 Fällen mit GAS-Tonsillopharyngitis lag emm12 mit knapp 20% am häufigsten vor, gefolgt von emm4 mit 15%, emm1 mit 14%, emm89 mit 13% und emm28 sowie emm3 mit je 9%. Hinsichtlich der Cluster wurde E4 dort mit knapp 30% am häufigsten festgestellt, gefolgt von A-C4 mit 20%, E1 mit 15%und A-C3 mit 14%. In der vorliegenden Studie konnte gezeigt werden, dass sich die emm-Typ- sowie die emm-Cluster-Epidemiologie in Abhängigkeit von der klinischen Manifestation unterscheidet. Auch wenn sich die Verteilungen grundsätzlich ähnelten, traten emm4 bzw. die Cluster A-C5 und E1 bei Patienten mit Tonsillopharyngitis mit Scharlach auch nach Bonferroni-Korrektur signifikant häufiger auf als bei solchen mit Tonsillopharyngitis ohne Scharlach. Erste Hinweise hierfür wurden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit in einer Vorabauswertung zu dieser Kohorte 2013 erstmals beschrieben und durch Ergebnisse folgender, internationaler Studien gestützt. Bei anogenitalen Infektionen wurde in knapp 80% der Fälle Cluster E4 und in 58% emm28 festgestellt, so-dass hier ein deutlich eingeengtes Erregerspektrum vorlag. Verglichen zu allen Fällen mit Tonsillopharyngitis wurden bei anogenitaler Infektion Typ emm28 und Cluster E4 signifikant häufiger isoliert. Für Hautinfektionen konnte kein signifikanter Unterschied der emm-Typ-Verteilung im Vergleich zu Racheninfektionen insgesamt gefunden werden. Es zeigte sich jedoch Cluster E4 signifikant häufiger bei Patienten mit einer Hautinfektion als bei solchen mit Scharlach. Insgesamt zeigte sich im konkreten Vergleich zu einer französischen Studie eine weitgehende Übereinstimmung hinsichtlich der Epidemiologie der emm-Typen und -Cluster, jedoch auch einzelne Differenzen. Diese Unterschiede waren signifikant für emm6 und emm22, ebenso wie für Cluster M6. Weiterhin bestätigte unter anderen die Studie von d´Humieres et al. die Häufung von emm4 bei Scharlach-Patienten, was die Aussage der vorgelegten Ergebnisse unter-streicht. Weiterhin wurde zur Untersuchung der longitudinalen Entwicklung der emm-Typen und emm-Cluster die Verteilung des Zeitraumes vom 01.04.2006 und 31.03.2007 mit dem vom 01.05.2011 bis 30.04.2012 verglichen. Zumindest für den vergleichsweise kurzen zeitlichen Abstand konnten nach Adjustierung keine signifikanten Veränderungen der Epidemiologie hinsichtlich einzelner emm-Typen bzw. -Cluster beobachtet werden. In bisherigen Studien wurde die Pathogenität eines Stammes meist anhand des klinischen Erscheinungsbildes bestimmt. In dieser Studie wurde weiterführend untersucht, inwiefern sich einzelne emm-Typen bzw. emm-Cluster auch in quantitativ messbaren Parametern wie u.a. dem C-reaktiven Protein (CRP) sowie der Leukozytenzahl im Blut unterscheiden. Bei Patienten mit Tonsillopharyngitis zeigte sich lediglich Cluster E4 signifikant häufiger mit einem CRP-Wert über 35 mg/l assoziiert. Für die Leukozytenzahl war ein solcher Zusammenhang dagegen nicht nachweisbar. Da die verwendeten Analysen jedoch Störfaktoren unterlagen und ein Kausalzusammenhang zwischen der Pathogenität des Erregers und der Auslenkung der ge-nannten Parameter im Rahmen des Studiendesigns nicht bewiesen werden konnte, lassen diese Ergebnisse keine abschließende Beurteilung zu. Der bereits entwickelte 30-valente Impfstoff zeigte anhand der enthaltenen M-Antigene eine gute Übereinstimmung mit den in dieser Studie gefundenen emm-Typen. Dabei waren die Antigene von 19 der 25 in dieser Studie registrierten emm-Typen in dem Impfstoff enthalten, was jedoch unter Berücksichtigung der Kreuzreaktivitäts-Hypothese für emm-Cluster zu einem Deckungsgrad von 99,8% aller untersuchten Fälle (565 von 566) führt. Insgesamt erwies sich der unizentrische Charakter der hier vorgelegten Studie in gewisser Hinsicht als Vorteil gegenüber multizentrischen Studien, da hierdurch zu bestimmten Fragen Informationen ohne den Einfluss regionaler Besonderheiten ausgewertet werden konnten. Inwiefern regionale Prävalenzen einzelner emm-Typen oder deren Pathogenitätspotential ent-scheidend für die Epidemiologie insbesondere invasiver Infektionen sind, kann anhand dieser Studie nicht abschließend beurteilt werden. Zur näheren Untersuchung dieses Sachverhaltes wären weiterführende Studien in größerem Maßstab notwendig. Zusammenfassend wurde mit dieser Arbeit eine umfassende epidemiologische Untersuchung anhand der molekularepidemiologischen Erregeranalyse unter Einschluss klinischer Aspekte an einer großen pädiatrischen Kohorte durchgeführt. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse leisten einen Beitrag zur Aufklärung der regionalen wie auch internationalen Epidemiologie von GAS und bieten wichtige Grundlagen sowie Ansätze für nachfolgende Untersuchungen, insbesondere für die Impfstoffentwicklung gegen GAS.:1 Einleitung 7 2 Theoretische Grundlagen 8 2.1 Epidemiologie 8 2.2 Taxonomie 10 2.3 Infektionspathologie 11 2.4 Aufbau des M-Proteins 14 2.5 Die Bedeutung des M-Proteins 16 2.6 emm-Genetik 18 2.7 Therapie und Prophylaxe 20 3 Ziele der Studie 22 4 Patienten, Material und Methoden 23 4.1 Mikrobiologische Isolate und klinische Daten 23 4.1.1 „Klinische Krankheitsbilder“ 25 4.1.2 Modifizierter Centor-Score 26 4.1.3 Grunderkrankungen 27 4.1.4 Paraklinik 27 4.2 Geräte und Materialien 29 4.2.1 Geräte und Hilfsmittel 29 4.2.2 Verbrauchsmaterialien 30 4.2.3 Molekulare Diagnostiksysteme 31 4.2.4 Primer für PCR und Sequenzierung 31 4.2.5 Medien und Lösungen 31 4.3 Mikrobiologische Methoden 32 4.3.1 Mikrobiologische Proben 32 4.3.2 Kultur von GAS 32 4.3.3 Latex-Agglutinationstest auf Gruppe A Antigen 33 4.3.4 Kryokonservierung der Isolate 34 4.4 Molekulargenetische Methoden 35 4.4.1 DNA-Isolierung 35 4.4.2 Photometrische Bestimmung der DNS-Konzentration und Einstellung 36 4.4.3 Polymerase-Kettenreaktion (PCR) 37 4.4.4 Agarose-Gelelektrophorese 37 4.4.5 DNA Sequenzierung 39 4.4.6 Sequenz-basierte Typisierung 41 4.5 Statistische Auswertung 42 5 Ergebnisse 43 5.1 Ausgewertete mikrobiologische Proben und retrospektive Daten 43 5.2 Analyse der Kohorte 45 5.2.1 Analyse der Altersverteilung 45 5.2.2 Analyse der Geschlechtsverteilung 48 5.2.3 Analyse der saisonalen Verteilung 49 5.2.4 Analyse der klinischen Symptome 51 5.2.5 Analyse von Vorerkrankungen und Versorgungsform 55 5.3 Laborbefunde 58 5.3.1 Analyse der semiquantitativen Wachstumsdichte der Abstrich-Kulturen 58 5.3.2 Blutparameter: C-Reaktives Protein (CRP) 59 5.3.3 Blutparameter: Leukozytenzahl 59 5.4 Molekulare Epidemiologie des emm-Typs 60 5.5 Erstbeschreibung neuer emm-Subtypen 60 5.6 emm-Typ- bzw. Cluster-Verteilung und klinische Manifestation 61 5.6.1 emm-Verteilung bei Tonsillopharyngitis 61 5.6.2 emm-Verteilung bei akuter Otitis media (AOM) 63 5.6.3 emm-Verteilung bei Hautinfektionen 64 5.6.4 emm-Verteilung bei anogenitalen Infektionen 65 5.6.5 emm-Verteilung bei invasiven Infektionen 68 5.6.6 emm-Verteilung bei asymptomatischer Rachen-Kolonisierung 68 5.7 Analyse der Altersverteilung für emm-Typen und -Cluster 70 5.8 Infektionsparameter und Korrelation zur molekularen Epidemiologie 71 5.8.1 Temperatur: 71 5.8.2 CRP: 72 5.8.3 Leukozytenzahl: 73 5.9 Patienten mit wiederholten Vorstellungen 73 5.9.1 Antibiotische Therapie 75 5.10 Resistenzlage 76 5.11 Analyse der molekularen Epidemiologie über der Zeit 78 6 Diskussion 80 6.1 Vorbemerkung 80 6.2 Kohorte 81 6.2.1 Alter 81 6.2.2 Geschlecht 82 6.2.3 Jahreszeit 82 6.2.4 Vorerkrankungen 83 6.2.5 Klinische Symptome 84 6.2.6 Diagnostischer Wert der semiquantitativen Wachstumsdichte 85 6.2.7 Rezidive 85 6.3 emm-Typ und –Cluster-Epidemiologie 86 6.3.1 emm-Typen und -Cluster bei Tonsillopharyngitis 86 6.3.2 emm-Typen und –Cluster bei Anogenitalinfektionen 86 6.3.3 emm-Typen und -Cluster bei invasiven Infektionen 87 6.3.4 emm-Typ und -Cluster-Epidemiologie im Vergleich zu anderen Studien 87 6.3.5 Longitudinale Betrachtung der emm-Typ-Epidemiologie 91 6.3.6 Vergleich der emm-Typen und Cluster-hinsichtlich des Alters der Patienten 92 6.3.7 emm-Typen und -Cluster hinsichtlich Infektionsparametern 92 6.3.8 Deckungsgrad mit 30-valentem M-Protein-basiertem GAS-Impfstoff 95 6.3.9 emm-Typ / -Cluster – Antibiotika-Resistenz 96 6.4 Ausblick 97 7 Zusammenfassung 98 8 Summary 101 9 Anhang 104 10 Abbildungsverzeichnis 112 11 Tabellenverzeichnis 114 12 Abkürzungsverzeichnis 116 13 Literaturverzeichnis 118 14 Anlage 1 127 15 Anlage 2 129 16 Danksagung 131
Although - since the introduction of penicillin - there has been an effective drug against strep-tococci of Lancefield Group A (GAS), in which no resistance has been described so far, GAS infections remain a major healthcare policy problem, which affects both morbidity and mortality of people worldwide. GAS can cause a wide range of disorders in humans. These include un-complicated pharyngeal infections with and without scarlet fever as well as skin infections such as erysipelas or impetigo but also invasive as well as secondary complications. In 1928, the M-protein encoded by the emm gene was described as a type-specific, antibody -inducing substance and has since been used to characterize the epidemiology of GAS. One of the main functions of the M protein, anchored on the surface of GAS, is to evade phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes, which is one of the most important defense mechanisms against infections by GAS. Although major efforts have been made for several decades, a safe and effective vaccine remains an unreached goal. In this study, the regional epidemiology of infections of pediatric patients by GAS was retro-spectively investigated on the basis of data and isolates collected from 11.03.2006 to 19.05.2012 at the University Medical Center in Freiburg. With a total of 566 isolates and asso-ciated clinical data, the present study provides the largest uni-centric epidemiological study of pediatric diseases with emm-typing of GAS so far in Germany. Particular attention was paid to associations between molecular epidemiology, based on emm-typing, and anonymized clinical data. The total cohort included 566 cases, thereof 405 cases of pharyngeal infection, 75 of which were additionally diagnosed with scarlet fever, 34 children presented with a skin infection, 21 with an acute otitis media, 19 with an anogenital infection, eight with an invasive infection and two with an urinary tract infection. In 77 cases colonization by GAS was estimated as having no clinical relevance of those 48 isolates were isolated from pharyngeal swabs. In the molecular investigation, three new emm subtypes were discovered which were first de-scribed as emm29.13, emm36.7 as well as emm75.5. These sequences were entered into the database of the CDC. Over the entire cohort, emm12 was found in 19% of all cases and was thus the most frequent, followed by emm1 and emm4, with 14% each, emm28 and emm89, with 11% each. When considering emm-clusters, E4 was the most frequent with 31%, followed by cluster A-C4 with 19%, A-C3 and E1 with 14%. Among the 405 cases with GAS-related pharyngeal infection, emm12 was the most common with almost 20%, followed by emm4 with 15%, emm1 with 14%, emm89 with 13% and emm28 as well as emm3 with 9% each. With respect to the clus-ters, E4 was found to be the most common with around 30%, followed by A-C4 with 20%, E1 with 15% and A-C3 with 14%. In the present study it was shown that emm-types as well as emm-clusters differed depending on the clinical manifestation. Although the distributions were basically similar, emm4 as well as clusters A-C5 and E1 were significantly more common in patients with tonsillopharyngitis and scarlet fever, even after Bonferroni correction, than those with tonsillopharyngitis but without the diagnosis of scarlet fever. These findings were first described in a preliminary evaluation of this cohort in 2013 and supported by the results of consecutively published international stud-ies. In anogenital infections, cluster E4 was found in almost 80% and emm28 in 58%, indicat-ing a clearly narrowed spectrum. Compared to cases with tonsillopharygitis, emm28 and clus-ter E4 were significantly more frequently isolated in anogenital infections. For skin infections no significant difference could be found in the emm-distribution compared to tonsillopharyngi-tis. However, cluster E4 was found to be significantly more common in patients with a skin infection than in those with scarlet fever. Overall, in a direct comparison to a French study, there was a wide agreement regarding the epidemiology of emm-types and -clusters, but also some differences. These differences were significant for emm6, emm22, as well as for cluster M6. Furthermore, among others, the study by d´Humieres et al. confirmed the accumulation of emm4 in scarlet fever patients, which un-derlines the statement of the presented results. Furthermore, in order to investigate the longitudinal development of emm-types and emm-clusters, the distribution in the period from 01.04.2006 to 31.03.2007 was compared to that from 01.05.2011 to 30.04.2012. At least for the comparatively short period, no significant changes in the epidemiology of individual emm-types or -clusters could have been observed after adjusting the p-values. In previous studies, the pathogenicity of a strain was determined by its association to the clini-cal picture. In addition, this study investigated the extent to which individual emm-types or emm-clusters also differed in quantitatively measurable parameters such as the C-reactive protein (CRP) and the leukocyte count in the blood. In cases of tonsillopharyngitis, cluster E4 was found significantly associated with a CRP value above 35 mg/l. For the leukocyte count such a difference was not detectable. However, since the values were subject to confounding factors, a causal link between pathogenicity of certain emm-types and the deflection of the mentioned parameters could not be proved within the framework of this study. Therefore, these results do not allow to draw final conclusions. The existing 30-valent M-protein based vaccine would show a good agreement with the corre-sponding emm-types of the cohort used here. The antigens of 19 of the 25 different emm-types registered in this study were included in the vaccination model, which corresponds to a vaccine coverage of 99.8% (565 of 566) of all strains examined here, if cross-reactivity of GAS strains within an emm-cluster was taken into consideration. Overall, the uni-centric character of the study presented here provided in certain aspects an advantage over multi-centric studies, as differences and similarities between different clinical pictures, excluding regional differences as well as comprehensive clinical information on the cases, could be emphasized. The extent to which regional prevalence of individual emm-types or their pathogenicity potential are decisive for the epidemiology of invasive infections could not be conclusively assessed by this study. For a closer look at this issue, further studies on a larger scale would be necessary. In summary, this work presents a comprehensive epidemiological investigation on molecular epidemiologic pathogen analysis including clinical aspects in a large pediatric cohort. The find-ings contribute to the elucidation of the regional an international epidemiology of GAS and pro-vide important basics as well as approaches for subsequent investigations, especially for vac-cine development against GAS.:1 Einleitung 7 2 Theoretische Grundlagen 8 2.1 Epidemiologie 8 2.2 Taxonomie 10 2.3 Infektionspathologie 11 2.4 Aufbau des M-Proteins 14 2.5 Die Bedeutung des M-Proteins 16 2.6 emm-Genetik 18 2.7 Therapie und Prophylaxe 20 3 Ziele der Studie 22 4 Patienten, Material und Methoden 23 4.1 Mikrobiologische Isolate und klinische Daten 23 4.1.1 „Klinische Krankheitsbilder“ 25 4.1.2 Modifizierter Centor-Score 26 4.1.3 Grunderkrankungen 27 4.1.4 Paraklinik 27 4.2 Geräte und Materialien 29 4.2.1 Geräte und Hilfsmittel 29 4.2.2 Verbrauchsmaterialien 30 4.2.3 Molekulare Diagnostiksysteme 31 4.2.4 Primer für PCR und Sequenzierung 31 4.2.5 Medien und Lösungen 31 4.3 Mikrobiologische Methoden 32 4.3.1 Mikrobiologische Proben 32 4.3.2 Kultur von GAS 32 4.3.3 Latex-Agglutinationstest auf Gruppe A Antigen 33 4.3.4 Kryokonservierung der Isolate 34 4.4 Molekulargenetische Methoden 35 4.4.1 DNA-Isolierung 35 4.4.2 Photometrische Bestimmung der DNS-Konzentration und Einstellung 36 4.4.3 Polymerase-Kettenreaktion (PCR) 37 4.4.4 Agarose-Gelelektrophorese 37 4.4.5 DNA Sequenzierung 39 4.4.6 Sequenz-basierte Typisierung 41 4.5 Statistische Auswertung 42 5 Ergebnisse 43 5.1 Ausgewertete mikrobiologische Proben und retrospektive Daten 43 5.2 Analyse der Kohorte 45 5.2.1 Analyse der Altersverteilung 45 5.2.2 Analyse der Geschlechtsverteilung 48 5.2.3 Analyse der saisonalen Verteilung 49 5.2.4 Analyse der klinischen Symptome 51 5.2.5 Analyse von Vorerkrankungen und Versorgungsform 55 5.3 Laborbefunde 58 5.3.1 Analyse der semiquantitativen Wachstumsdichte der Abstrich-Kulturen 58 5.3.2 Blutparameter: C-Reaktives Protein (CRP) 59 5.3.3 Blutparameter: Leukozytenzahl 59 5.4 Molekulare Epidemiologie des emm-Typs 60 5.5 Erstbeschreibung neuer emm-Subtypen 60 5.6 emm-Typ- bzw. Cluster-Verteilung und klinische Manifestation 61 5.6.1 emm-Verteilung bei Tonsillopharyngitis 61 5.6.2 emm-Verteilung bei akuter Otitis media (AOM) 63 5.6.3 emm-Verteilung bei Hautinfektionen 64 5.6.4 emm-Verteilung bei anogenitalen Infektionen 65 5.6.5 emm-Verteilung bei invasiven Infektionen 68 5.6.6 emm-Verteilung bei asymptomatischer Rachen-Kolonisierung 68 5.7 Analyse der Altersverteilung für emm-Typen und -Cluster 70 5.8 Infektionsparameter und Korrelation zur molekularen Epidemiologie 71 5.8.1 Temperatur: 71 5.8.2 CRP: 72 5.8.3 Leukozytenzahl: 73 5.9 Patienten mit wiederholten Vorstellungen 73 5.9.1 Antibiotische Therapie 75 5.10 Resistenzlage 76 5.11 Analyse der molekularen Epidemiologie über der Zeit 78 6 Diskussion 80 6.1 Vorbemerkung 80 6.2 Kohorte 81 6.2.1 Alter 81 6.2.2 Geschlecht 82 6.2.3 Jahreszeit 82 6.2.4 Vorerkrankungen 83 6.2.5 Klinische Symptome 84 6.2.6 Diagnostischer Wert der semiquantitativen Wachstumsdichte 85 6.2.7 Rezidive 85 6.3 emm-Typ und –Cluster-Epidemiologie 86 6.3.1 emm-Typen und -Cluster bei Tonsillopharyngitis 86 6.3.2 emm-Typen und –Cluster bei Anogenitalinfektionen 86 6.3.3 emm-Typen und -Cluster bei invasiven Infektionen 87 6.3.4 emm-Typ und -Cluster-Epidemiologie im Vergleich zu anderen Studien 87 6.3.5 Longitudinale Betrachtung der emm-Typ-Epidemiologie 91 6.3.6 Vergleich der emm-Typen und Cluster-hinsichtlich des Alters der Patienten 92 6.3.7 emm-Typen und -Cluster hinsichtlich Infektionsparametern 92 6.3.8 Deckungsgrad mit 30-valentem M-Protein-basiertem GAS-Impfstoff 95 6.3.9 emm-Typ / -Cluster – Antibiotika-Resistenz 96 6.4 Ausblick 97 7 Zusammenfassung 98 8 Summary 101 9 Anhang 104 10 Abbildungsverzeichnis 112 11 Tabellenverzeichnis 114 12 Abkürzungsverzeichnis 116 13 Literaturverzeichnis 118 14 Anlage 1 127 15 Anlage 2 129 16 Danksagung 131

碩士
國立清華大學
生命科學系
90
Helicobacter pylori is a spiral microaerophilic Gram-negative bacterium which colonizes the mucus layer overlaying the gastric epithelium. Infection with H. pylori is associated with several gastrointestinal diseases, including gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer. The blood-group antigen-binding adhesin (BabA) targeting human Lewisb surface epitopes is considered as an essential factor to mediate the epithelial attachment of H. pylori. Vacuolating toxin (VacA) is a protein of 87 kDa that has been shown to vacuolated epithelial cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between bab genotypes of H. pylori and different gastrointestinal diseases and to generate antibodies against BabA for further biochemical studies. The relationship with another clinically related cytotoxin, VacA, was also studied. The babA gene was detected in 73.23% of 127 clinical isolates. No significant difference was seen among different diseases. The proportion of vacAm1 (p = 0.011) and vacAm1/babA+ (p = 0.025) showed significant difference from gastric cancer and duodenal ulcer, respectively suggesting vacAm1 and vacAm1/babA+ genotype might be useful as a marker for gastric cancer. An intein-fused protein of BabA middle region from strain v344 (344L) was expressed in Escherichia coli. Polyclonal antibody raised against 344L was able to detect BabA in the crude extracts of babA+ strains. Two monoclonal antibodies against 344L, 2G2 and 16C4, were also obtained which would be useful to study the mechanism of H. pylori adherence to gastric epithelium.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban University of Technology, 2013.
The addition of a large number of new remedies to the homoeopathic materia medica has made it challenging to select the correct remedy for a patient. Locating individual remedies within groups makes it easier to understand, remember and apply the information from the remedies. The aim of this research study was to evaluate common themes and symptomatology of homoeopathic remedies belonging to the synthetic recreational drug isolate group, as represented in the known homoeopathic materia medica and repertory. Most remedies derived from synthetic recreational drug isolate sources have not been well documented or comprehensively proven in homoeopathy, so are not well represented in repertory programs. Therefore, in addition, remedies in this study were selected according to the homoeopathic significance of each remedy, the availability of actual provings and representation in materia medica, the existence of a synthetic derivative of the drug, and if the drug was commonly used. The selected remedies were then subjected to a manual rubric extraction process in which common rubrics were extracted. The common rubrics were analyzed to determine common sensations within the group. The extracted sensations were then defined using a dictionary and synonyms were determined using a thesaurus. Each sensation was subjected to a literature search to test its validity. Second and third order analyses were performed based on the results. The most common sensations found as a result of this process were: dryness, itching, fear, anger, restlessness, anxiety, indifference, heaviness, heat, acute and weakness. The active and passive reactions and compensations of the synthetic recreational drug isolate group were also analyzed. The active reactions included anger, rage, acute, violence, impatience and irritation. Passive reactions were heaviness, numbness, dullness, faintness, weakness and coldness. The compensatory reaction included sensations of ecstasy, elation and euphoria or tranquillity. Each remedy was classified into specific miasms based on Sankaran’s miasmatic model (Sankaran, 1997). Each remedy was categorized as a particular miasm if the literature showed a clear predominance of the themes associated with that miasm. Many of the remedies had features of the AIDS, Cancer, Sycotic and Tubercular miasms. Pathological tendencies of the synthetic recreational drug isolate group involved the throat, eyes, stomach, nervous system, male genitalia and sleep patterns. Clinically, the remedies can be used in cases of mental disorders such as psychosis and schizophrenia, chronic fatigue, visual and sleeping disorders, anorexia nervosa and neurological disorders such as chorea, tremors and formication. The results of this study appear to confirm the application of the group analysis methodology as outlined by Sankaran (2002). The results also add depth to the existing literature on synthetic recreational drug isolate remedies.

Base isolation is a recently applied technology for building structures in the United States. To date, the three base-isolated buildings considered in this study have been subjected to earthquakes of varying magnitudes and epicentral distances. The records obtained from these instrumented buildings demonstrate low levels of excitation and small structural responses. In all cases, the maximum relative displacement of the roof to the foundation is less than 3 cm. However, an increasing quantity of near-source strong-motion records produces large spectral displacements of up to approximately 50-55 cm in the 2 to 2.5 sec period range for 15% damping. This suggests that long-period structures such as base-isolated structures would be vulnerable to these near-source ground motions. The current study contains two major parts. Part One consists of the identification and analysis of three existing base-isolated buildings in Southern California. The identification and analysis utilize the recorded motions of these structures from past earthquakes. System identification is useful for understanding the extent to which the structures enter the nonlinear realm and how much their properties change. Models are constructed assuming completely elastic three-dimensional superstructures, with idealized bi-linear hysteretic elements for the isolating bearings. The properties used in the bearing models were taken from tests of the actual bearings before installation. The models were then verified by comparing their responses computed using the various recorded foundation ground motions, with the recorded responses of the actual structures. The models were adjusted to minimize the error of several response quantities. Part Two contains computer simulations for the three structural models developed in Part One subjected to large-amplitude near-source ground motions. These structural models were subjected to two classes of ground motions. The first is a sampling of near-source recorded motion from past moderate-to-large earthquakes. The second is a group of synthetic near-source motions generated for a hypothetical M 7.0 earthquake. In some cases, the lateral response of the models exceeds the isolation gap, indicating that the displacement barrier would be impacted. In order to further study base-isolated buildings when the isolation bearings undergo large displacements, a typical base-isolated building (TBIB) model is used and the computer program 2D-BUMP is developed. This program includes the effects of a fully nonlinear superstructure, nonlinear springs acting as displacement barriers which engage at specified distances, and a tri-linear model for the elastomeric bearings. Using this model, several conclusions are drawn regarding the probable areal extent of damaging near-source ground motions from the M 7.0 event, as well as the behavior of base-isolated structures due to these near-source long-period ground motions.

碩士
中臺科技大學
醫學檢驗生物技術系碩士班
100
Group G streptococci (GGS) are causative agents of bacteremia, pharyngitis, cellulitis, endocarditis, and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. The clinical importance of GGS is increasing. Among GGS, Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) is the major human pathogen. In recent years, the frequency of GGS infections in central Taiwan was higher than that of group A streptococci (GAS). Many studies have revealed that SDSE probably obtained genes encoding virulence factors of GAS via horizontal transfer. In this study, 291 GGS isolates were collected from the Fong-Yuan Hospital and Lin-Shin Hospital. By 16S rRNA gene sequencing, 246 isolates (84.5%) were identified as SDSE, 22 (7.6%) as S. anginosus, 5 (1.7%) as S. constellatus, while 18 isolates (6.2%) were non-GGS. SDSE is the most common GGS in central Taiwan. By emm typing, the most prevalent emm types were stG10.0 (98/246, 39.8%), stG245.0 (38/246, 15.4%), stG840.0 (30/246, 12.2%), stG6.1 (19/246, 7.7%), and stG652.0 (10/246, 4.1%), respectively. The prevalence of emm types among SDSE isolates in central Taiwan differed from other countries or regions. Two new emm subtypes, stG840.1 and stG351.1, were first found in this study. By PCR or multiplex real-time PCR, it was found that lmb (encoded laminin-binding protein), sagA (encoded streptolysin S) and gapC (encoded glyceraldehyde 3-P dehydrogenase) genes existed in all SDSE isolates. The slo (encoded streptolysin O) gene detected in 99.2% (244/246) of isolates and the ska (encoded streptokinase) gene existed in 72.8% (179/246) of isolates. Except for 74.4% (183/246) of isolates with spegg (encoded streptococcus pyrogenic exotoxin Gdys), whereas all isolates were negative for other superantigens. By chi square test the presence of the spegg gene was positive correlations with emm types stG10.0 and stG840.0. The presence of the spegg gene was negative correlations with emm types stG245.0, stG6.1 and stG652.0. The presence of the ska gene was positive correlations with emm types stG6.1 and stG652.0. The presence of the ska gene was negative correlation with emm type stG10.0. This is the first study concerning the virulence factors distribution among β-hemolytic group G SDSE isolates in central Taiwan.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal infections and deaths in human. It can also cause infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant adults. Penicillin and ampicillin are antibiotics of choice for the treatment of GBS infections. Erythromycin and clindamycin are used as alternative therapy in penicillin allergic patients, however resistance to these agents has been increasingly observed. This present study was undertaken to determine the colonization rate of GBS, susceptibility profile and the mechanism of antibiotic resistance in pregnant women and their babies at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria. METHODS: Rectal and vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women; ear and umbilical swabs from newborns over an 11 month period. Samples were cultured on selective media (CNA agar and Todd-Hewitt broth) and GBS positively identified using morphological and biochemical tests including Gram staining, hemolytic activity, catalase test, bile esculin, CAMP test and Latex agglutination test. The susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby-Bauer and E-test methods. The D-test method was used to determine the inducible clindamycin resistance. Multiplex PCR with were used to detect different genes coding for resistance. RESULTS: Out of the 413 patients evaluated, 128 (30.9%) were positive with GBS. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin and ampicillin. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was 21.1% and 17.2% respectively; of which 69% harbouring constitutive MLBB, 17.4% inducible MLSB. The alteration of ribosomal target encoded by ermB genes was the commonest mechanism of resistance observed in 55% of isolates, 38% of isolates had both ermB and linB genes and efflux pump mediated by mefA genes was detected in one of isolates. Conclusion: This study reaffirms the appropriateness of penicillin as the antibiotic of choice for treating GBS infection. However it raises the challenges of resistance to the macrolides and lincosamides. More GBS treatment options for penicillin allergic patients need to be researched.
Health Studies
M.Sc. (Life Sciences (Microbiology))