Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Model mimicry'

This study explored the state of art education in Turkey as revealed by pre-service art education university instructors, and the potential of incorporating visual culture studies in pre-service art education in Turkey. The instructors' ideas about visual culture, and popular culture, the impact it might have, the content (objects), and the practices within the context of Turkey were examined. Visual culture was examined from an art education perspective that focuses on a pedagogical approach that emphasizes the perception and critique of popular culture and everyday cultural experiences, and the analysis of media including television programs, computer games, Internet sites, and advertisements. A phenomenological human science approach was employed in order to develop a description of the perception of visual culture in pre-service art education in Turkey as lived by the participants. In-person interviews were used to collect the data from a purposive sample of 8 faculty members who offered undergraduate and graduate art education pedagogy, art history, and studio courses within four-year public universities. This empirical approach sought to obtain comprehensive descriptions of an experience through semi-structural interviews. These interviews employed open-ended questions to gather information about the following: their educational and professional background; their definitions of art education and art teacher education and what it means for them to teach pre-service art education; critical reflections on the educational system of Turkey; perceptions of visual and popular culture; and finally individual approaches to teaching art education. This study was conducted for the purpose of benefiting pre-service art teacher education in general and specifically in Turkey. It provided the rationale, the nature, and pedagogy of visual culture as well as the why and how of visual culture art education in the context of Turkey. Furthermore, it provided insights into the potential contribution of the concept of visual culture to the understanding of art and improvement of art teacher training in the context of Turkey.

Les interaccions antigen/anticòs són un dels tipus més interessants d’interaccions proteiques. La millor manera de prevenir les malalties causades per patògens és mitjançant l’ús de vacunes. L’aparició de la genòmica permet fer cerques a tot el genoma de nous candidats vacunals, tècnica anomenada vaccinologia inversa. L’estratègia més comuna on s’aplica la vaccinologia inversa és al disseny de vacunes de subunitats recombinants, que en general generen resposta immune humoral a causa de la presència d’epítops B en les proteïnes del patogen. Un problema important d’aquesta estratègia és la identificació de les proteïnes immunogèniques protectives del surfoma del patogen. El mimetisme epitòpic pot donar lloc a fenòmens autoimmunes relacionats amb diverses malalties humanes. El Capítol I d’aquesta tesi descriu una anàlisi computacional basat en la seqüència on, mitjançant l’aplicació de l’algorisme BLASTP, es van comparar bases de dades d’epítops B lineals coneguts i també de seqüències de proteïnes de superfície dels principals patògens bacterians respiratoris humans amb el proteoma humà. Es va trobar que cap dels 7353 epítops B lineals analitzats tenien regions d’identitat de seqüència amb proteïnes humanes capaces de generar anticossos i alhora que només l'1% de les 2175 proteïnes analitzades contenien alguna zona de seqüència compartida amb el proteoma humà. Aquestes troballes suggereixen l’existència d’un mecanisme per evitar l’autoimmunitat. També proposem una estratègia per corroborar o advertint sobre la viabilitat d’una proteïna que contingui un cert epítop B lineal de ser un bon candidat vacunal mitjançant estudis de vaccinologia inversa. En resum, els epítops sense cap tipus d’identitat de seqüència amb proteïnes humanes han de ser bons candidats vacunals, i al l’inrevés. El docking proteic és un mètode computacional per predir la millor manera en què interactuen les proteïnes, però, és possible identificar quina és la millor solució d’un programa de docking? La resposta habitual a aquesta pregunta és la solució que tingui més alta puntuació als outputs dels programes de docking, però les interaccions entre proteïnes són processos dinàmics, i moltes vegades la regió d’interacció és prou àmplia com per permetre diferents orientacions i/o energies d'interacció entre elles. En alguns casos, com en un multímer, es poden donar diverses regions d’interacció entre els monòmers. Aquests processos dinàmics impliquen interaccions, amb desplaçaments de superfície entre proteïnes, que porten a assolir la configuració funcional del complex proteic. Així doncs, en molts casos no hi ha una solució estàtica i única per a la interacció entre proteïnes, sinó que es donen diverses configuracions que també haurien de ser analitzades perquè podrien ser importants. Per extreure el conjunt de solucions més representatives dels outputs dels programes de docking, al Capítol II d’aquesta tesi es detalla el desenvolupament d’una aplicació de clústering no supervisada i automàtica, anomenada DockAnalyse. Aquesta aplicació es basa en el mètode ja existent de clústering DBscan, mitjançant el qual es busquen continuïtats entre els clústers generats per la representació de les dades dels outputs de docking. El mètode de clústering DBSCAN és molt robust i resol alguns dels problemes d’inconsistència dels mètodes clàssics de clústering com el tractament dels valors atípics i la dependència alhora de definir prèviament el nombre de clústers. Mitjançant representacions gràfiques i molt visuals, DockAnalyse fa que la interpretació de les solucions de docking sigui més fàcil permetent-nos trobar les més representatives. S’ha utilitzat aquesta nova aplicació per analitzar diverses interaccions proteiques i així poder modelar el comportament dinàmic de la interacció entre les proteïnes d’un complex. DockAnalyse també pot fer-se servir per a descriure regions d’interacció entre proteïnes i, per tant, orientar en futurs assajos de docking flexibles. L’aplicació (feta amb el paquet R) és oberta i accessible. La construcció dels Clústers Ferro-Sofre (ISC) en eucariotes implica interaccions entre diferents proteïnes, entre els quals es troba la proteïna Frataxina. Dèficits d'aquesta proteïna s'han associat amb excés de ferro dins del mitocondri i alteracions en la biogènesi dels ISC ja que es proposa que Frataxina actua com a donadora de ferro per a la construcció d'aquests ISC en aquest orgànul. Una reducció dràstica de Frataxina causa l'Atàxia de Friedreich, una malaltia neurodegenerativa hereditària humana que afecta principalment l'equilibri, la coordinació, els músculs i el cor. Aquest síndrome és l'atàxia autosòmica recessiva més comuna. Entre els mecanismes moleculars d' humans i de llevat que involucren Frataxina s'han trobat moltes similituds així que els llevats representen un bon model per a estudiar aquest procés. En llevat, el complex proteic que forma la plataforma central de muntatge dels passos inicials de la biogènesi dels ISC està composta per la Frataxina homòloga de llevat, el dímer Nfs1-Isd11 i la proteïna Isu. En general, està acceptat que la funció de les proteïnes implica interaccions amb altres proteïnes associades, però en aquest cas no se sap prou sobre l'estructura del complex de proteïnes i, per tant, com funciona exactament. En el Capítol III d'aquesta tesi es proposa un model del complex proteic necessari per a la biogènesi dels ISC amb el que es pretén aprofundir en detalls estructurals que expliquin la funció biològica. Per aconseguir aquest objectiu s'han utilitzat diverses eines de la bioinformàtiques, així com tècniques de modelització i programes de docking de proteïnes. Com a resultat, s'ha modelat l'estructura d'aquest complex proteic i també s'ha suggerit el comportament dinàmic dels seus components, juntament amb la dels àtoms de ferro i sofre necessaris per a la formació dels ISC. Aquestes hipòtesis podrien ajudar a comprendre millor la funció i les propietats moleculars de la proteïna Frataxina, així com els de les seves companyes presents al complex proteic.
Antigen/antibody interactions are one of the most interesting kinds of protein interactions. The best way to prevent diseases caused by pathogens is by the use of vaccines. The advent of genomics enables genome-wide searches of new vaccine candidates, called reverse vaccinology. The most common strategy to apply reverse vaccinology is by designing subunit recombinant vaccines, which usually generate humoral immune response due to B-cell epitopes in proteins. A major problem for this strategy is the identification of protective immunogenic proteins from the surfome of the pathogen. Epitope mimicry may lead to auto-immune condition related to several human diseases. Chapter I of this thesis describes a sequence-based computational analysis that was carried out applying the BLASTP algorithm where databases containing the known linear B-cell epitopes and the surface-protein sequences of the main human respiratory bacterial pathogens were compared to the human proteome. We found that none of the 7353 linear B-cell epitopes analyzed share any sequence identity region with human proteins capable of generating antibodies, and that only 1% of the 2175 exposed proteins analyzed contain a stretch of shared sequence with the human proteome. These findings suggest the existence of a mechanism to avoid autoimmunity. We also propose a strategy for corroborating or warning about the viability of a protein linear B-cell epitope to be a putative vaccine candidate in reverse vaccinology studies. Therefore, epitopes without any sequence identity with human proteins should be good vaccine candidates, and the other way around. Protein docking is a computational method to predict the best way by which proteins interact, but, is it possible to identify what the best solution of a docking program is? The usual answer to this question is the highest score solution, but interactions between proteins are dynamic processes, and many times the interaction regions are wide enough to permit protein-protein interactions with different orientations and/or interaction energies. In some cases, as in a multimeric protein complex, several interaction regions are possible among the monomers. These dynamic processes involve interactions with surface displacements between the proteins to finally achieve the functional configuration of the protein complex. Consequently, there is not a static and single solution for the interaction between proteins, but there are several important configurations that also have to be analyzed. To extract those representative solutions from the docking output datafile, Chapter II of this thesis details the development of an unsupervised and automatic clustering application, named DockAnalyse. This application is based on the already existing DBscan clustering method, which searches for continuities among the clusters generated by the docking output data representation. The DBscan clustering method is very robust and, moreover, solves some of the inconsistency problems of the classical clustering methods like, for example, the treatment of outliers and the dependence of the previously defined number of clusters. DockAnalyse makes the interpretation of the docking solutions through graphical and visual representations easier by guiding the user to find the representative solutions. We have applied our new approach to analyze several protein interactions and model the dynamic protein interaction behavior of a protein complex. DockAnalyse might also be used to describe interaction regions between proteins and, therefore, guide future flexible dockings. The application (implemented in the R package) is accessible. The assembly of Iron-Sulfur Clusters (ISCs) in eukaryotes involves interactions between different proteins, among which is important the protein Frataxin. Deficits in this protein have been associated with iron inside the mitochondria and impaired ISC biogenesis as it is postulated to act as the iron donor for ISCs assembly in this organelle. A pronounced lack of Frataxin causes Friedreich's Ataxia, which is a human neurodegenerative and hereditary disease mainly affecting the equilibrium, coordination, muscles and heart. Moreover, it is the most common autosomal recessive ataxia. High similarities between the human and yeast molecular mechanisms that involve Frataxin have been suggested making yeast a good model to study that process. In yeast, the protein complex that forms the central assembly platform for the initial step of ISC biogenesis is composed by yeast Frataxin homolog, Nfs1-Isd11 and Isu. In general, it is commonly accepted that protein function involves interaction with other protein partners, but in this case not enough is known about the structure of the protein complex and, therefore, how it exactly functions. In Chapter III of this thesis a model of the ISC biogenesis protein complex was proposed in order to gain insight into structural details that could end up with its biological function. To achieve this goal several bioinformatics tools, modeling techniques and protein docking programs were used. As a result, the structure of the protein complex and the dynamic behavior of its components, along with that of the iron and sulfur atoms required for the ISC assembly, were modeled. This hypothesis might help to better understand the function and molecular properties of Frataxin as well as those of its ISC assembly protein partners.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer due to its high propensity to metastasize and resistance to current therapies. We have created a spontaneous mouse model of metastatic melanoma (Dct-Grm1/K5-Edn3) where metastasis to the lungs is 80% penetrant. The primary tumors of these mice present cellular heterogeneity with cells at varying levels of differentiation. The main goal of this study was to determine the metastatic potential of the primary tumor resident Tyrosinase positive cells and evaluate the dynamic phenotypic changes as those cells move from the primary tumors to the sites of metastasis. To accomplish this aim I crossed the Dct-Grm1/K5-Edn3 mice to CreERT2/mT/mG mice to indelibly label Tyrosinase cell populations within the primary tumor with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) by topical application of 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4HT) at the tumor site. In vivo lineage tracing and characterization of GFP+ cells were performed in the metastatic lesions. In the 4HT treated Dct-Grm1/ K5-Edn3/Tyr-CreERT2/mT/mG mice, primary tumor derived Tyrosinase positive cells or their progeny (GFP+) established successful metastases in the distant organs indicating the tumorigenic capacity of the differentiated cell populations. Numerous metastatic melanoma cells were identified in the vasculature of the metastatic organs and established close association with the vascular endothelium. The intravascular cells lost pigmentation and did not express melanocytic markers; however, they mimicked endothelial cell properties and gained the expression of CD31 (also known as platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule PECAM-1) and vascular endothelial (VE)-Cadherin. In the lung metastatic foci, GFP+ cells resumed pigmentation production and lost the expression of endothelial cell markers. Evidence from other metastatic organs in the mice further supported the phenotypic plasticity of metastatic melanoma cells. The in vivo lineage tracing system established in the melanoma mouse model revealed tumor phenotypic plasticity and will be a powerful model to evaluate and help us understand the etiology and pathogenesis of melanoma metastasis. Further characterization of those more aggressive cells in melanoma will allow for the development of new prognostic tests and novel therapeutic strategies to eliminate metastasis.

La sclérose en plaques (SEP) est une maladie neurologique causée par une inflammation du système nerveux central. Elle représente la cause non traumatique de handicap moteur chez les jeunes adultes et touche plus de 2. 5 millions de personnes dans le monde. Dans la SEP, le système immunitaire se trompe de cible et s'attaque à certains composants de la gaine qui isole les fibres nerveuses. Mon équipe d'accueil étudie les causes et conséquences de cette attaque mal dirigée. Spécifiquement, ils ont découvert que dans un modèle animal classique de SEP certaines cellules immunes reconnaissent simultanément deux composants de la fibre nerveuse en tant que cibles. Mon travail de recherche a consisté à caractériser ces cellules, leur origine, et à démontrer que cette double reconnaissance les rend plus pathogéniques. Mon travail sur ce nouveau mécanisme de l'auto-immunité va contribuer à clarifier la pathogenèse de la sclérose en plaques
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease caused by inflammation of the central nervous system. It represents the major non-traumatic cause of disability in young adults and affects 2. 5 million people worldwide. It is believed that in MS the immune system attacks molecular components of the myelin sheath that insulates nerve fibres. My host team research is dedicated to understanding the causes and consequences of this self-destructive behaviour of the immune system. In particular, they have discovered that in a classical animal model of MS certain immune cells recognize two molecular components of the neural fibre at the same time. My research work has consisted in characterizing these cells, understanding how they are generated and demonstrating that double-recognition enables them with a greater pathogenic potential. My work on this novel mechanism of autoimmunity contributes to shed light on the pathogenic processes underlying multiple sclerosis

The purpose of the research presented here was to systematically investigate the role of speech perception on speech production in speakers of different ages and those with PD and hypokinetic dysarthria. For this, the experimental designs of auditory perturbation and mimicry were chosen. The initial research phase established that the magnitude of compensation to auditory vowel perturbation was reduced in 54 speakers of New Zealand English (NZE) when compared to previous studies conducted with speakers of American (AE) and Canadian English (CE). A number of factors were studied to determine possible predictors of compensation and distinguish between potential changes associated with ageing. However, no predictors of compensation were found for the overall group. Post-hoc analyses established an increased variability in response patterns in NZE when compared to previous studies of AE and CE. Subsequent follow-up analyses focused on the response-dependent categories of (1) big compensators, (2) compensators, (3) big followers, and (4) followers. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in big compensators, the magnitude of compensation was greater in speakers who exhibited larger F1 baseline standard deviation and greater F1 vowel distances of HEAD relative to HEED and HAD. F1 baseline standard deviation was found to have a similar predictive value for the group of compensators. No predictors of compensation were found for the other two subgroups. Phase two was set up as a continuation of phase one and examined whether a subset of 16 speakers classified as big compensators adapted to auditory vowel perturbation. Linear mixed-effect modelling revealed that in the absence of auditory feedback alterations, big compensators maintained their revised speech motor commands for a short period of time until a process of de-adaptation was initiated. No predictors of adaptation were found for the group. Due to the unexpected results from the first two research phases indicating a dominant weighting of somatosensory feedback in NZE compared to auditory-perceptual influences, a different experimental paradigm was selected for phase three - mimicry. The purpose of this study was to determine whether eight speakers with PD and dysarthria and eight age-matched healthy controls (HC) are able to effectively integrate speech perception and speech production when attempting to match an acoustic target. Results revealed that all speakers were able to modify their speech production to approximate the model speaker but the acoustic dimensions of their speech did not move significantly closer to the target over the three mimicry attempts. Although speakers with moderate levels of dysarthria exhibited greater acoustic distances (except for the dimension of pitch variation), neither the perceptual nor the acoustic analyses found significant differences in mimicry behaviour across the two groups. Overall, these findings were considered preliminary evidence that speech perception and speech production can at least to some extent be effectively integrated to induce error-correction mechanisms and subsequent speech motor learning in these speakers with PD and dysarthria.

In multilevel MIMIC models, covariates at the between level and at the within level can be modeled simultaneously. Covariates interaction effect occurs when the effect of one covariate on the latent factor varies depending on the level of the other covariate. The two covariates can be both at the between level, both at the within level, and one at the between level and the other one at the within level. And they can create between level covariates interaction, within level covariates interaction, and cross level covariates interaction. Study One purports to examine the performance of multilevel MIMIC models in estimating the covariates interaction described above. Type I error of falsely detecting covariates interaction when there is no covariates interaction effect in the population model, and the power of correctly detecting the covariates interaction effect, bias of the estimate of interaction effect, and RMSE are examined. The design factors include the location of the covariates interaction effect, cluster number, cluster size, intra-class correlation (ICC) level, and magnitude of the interaction effect. The results showed that ML MIMIC performed well in detecting the covariates interaction effect when the covariates interaction effect was at the within level or cross level. However, when the covariates interaction effect was at the between level, the performance of ML MIMIC depended on the magnitude of the interaction effect, ICC, and sample size, especially cluster size. In Study Two, the impact of omitting covariates interaction effect on the estimate of other parameters is investigated when the covariates interaction effect is present in the population model. Parameter estimates of factor loadings, intercepts, main effects of the covariates, and residual variances produced by the correct model in Study One are compared to those produced by the misspecified model to check the impact. Moreover, the sensitivity of fit indices, such as chi-square, CFI, RMSEA, SRMR-B (between), and SRM-W (within) are also examined. Results indicated that none of the fit indices was sensitive to the omission of the covariates interaction effect. The biased parameter estimates included the two covariates main effect and the between-level factor mean.

Ce doctorat trouve son origine dans la compréhension des prises de décision et des comportements collectifs des animaux. Comment ces derniers parviennent-ils à effectuer des choix collectivement ?Comment les membres d’un groupe procèdent-ils pour synchroniser leurs comportements spatialement et temporellement ?Mon principal objectif a été de dégager, lors des déplacements collectifs et du fur rubbing chez le capucin moine, les évènements décisionnels dépendants de processus anonymes de ceux dépendants de processus liés à l’identité des individus et à leur réseau de relations sociales au sein du groupe. Dans les prises de décision collective relatives aux déplacements, les membres du groupe sont influencés dans leurs choix par leur identité sociale mais aussi par des mécanismes anonymes, de type mimétique. Le fur rubbing est également un comportement collectif dont les mécanismes sous-jacents incluent une dépendance interindividuelle de type mimétique. Des mécanismes similaires mettant en jeu des interactions entre individus basées sur des règles comportementales simples se retrouvent dans chacun des phénomènes collectifs étudiés. Ces résultats sont les premiers à démontrer l’émergence de prises de décision collective à partir de telles interactions anonymes dans un groupe de primates non humains. Ils permettent de faire le lien entre choix individuels et comportement collectif et de mieux concevoir comment un groupe de primates peut se coordonner, maintenir sa cohésion spatiale et synchroniser ses activités./How do animals reach collective consensus? How do group members spatially and temporally synchronise their behaviour? My main purpose was to demonstrate the respective roles of anonymous processes (contagion, mimetism) and individual-dependent processes (hierarchical rank, age, sex, kin, social relationships) in collective decision-making. During decision-making relating to collective movements, group members’ decisions depend on their social identity (individual-dependent mechanism) as well as anonymous processes. Fur rubbing is also a collective behaviour involving interindividual dependence with mimetic underlying mechanisms. We found similar mechanisms, involving interindividual interactions according to simple behavioural rules, in both collective phenomenon studied. These results are the first to demonstrate the emergence of collective decision-making based on anonymous interactions in a group of non human primates. They help to understand the link between individual choices and collective behaviour and to appreciate how a social group of primates maintain its spatial cohesion and synchronize its activities.
Doctorat en sciences, Spécialisation biologie animale
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Papilio dardanus displays female-limited polymorphic mimicry of multiple model species. Butterfly wing shape is species-specific and can influence mimetic signaling, but has not been characterized in this species. We used elliptical fourier analysis to investigate whether mimetic P. dardanus female forms have converged on the wing shape of their respective models. Although both models and mimics varied in forewing and hind wing shape, we found no evidence of forewing shape convergence between them. Overall, forewings did not differ in shape between sexes in P. dardanus, nor in four non-mimetic Papilio used for comparison. Similarly, there were no hind wing differences between the sexes in the four non-mimetic Papilio. However, P. dardanus hind wings varied significantly between mimetic females and non-mimetic individuals suggesting that, in addition to wing color pattern, the evolution of mimicry has led to changes in hind wing shape in P. dardanus.

Ce travail de thèse porte, de manière globale, sur une meilleure compréhension du caoutchoucnaturel (NR). En effet, bien que ce matériau soit fortement utilisé dans l’industrie et ce depuisdes dizaines d’années, plusieurs de ses propriétés restent à ce jour mal comprises.Antérieurement à nos travaux, il a été fait un lien entre la biosynthèse du polymère et cespropriétés et il a été proposé que le caoutchouc naturel était constitué d’une chaînepolyisoprène (PI) 100% 1,4-cis de forte masse molaire (> 500 000 g/mol) fonctionnalisée en αet ω par une protéine et un motif phospholipidique respectivement. Ces bouts de chaîneseraient capables de s’auto-assembler pour créer un réseau physique qui confère au NR sespropriétés si intéressantes. L’objet de cette thèse a donc été de synthétiser un copolymère triblocProtéine/PI/Lipides afin de confirmer cette hypothèse en produisant en laboratoire unhomologue de NR. Pour ce faire, un PI hétéro-téléchélique cétone/aldéhyde a été obtenu pardégradation chimique de NR. Cette méthode a permis d’obtenir un PI 100 % 1,4-cis possédantdeux fonctions chimiques différentes en bout de chaine permettant ainsi le greffage sélectifd’une protéine où d’un motif lipidique. Ces deux couplages ont ensuite été étudiés séparément(PI/Protéine puis PI/Lipides) révélant des propriétés intéressantes dans le cas du copolymèredi-bloc PI/Lipide. Le couplage PI/Protéine s’est avéré plus compliqué et seul des copolymèresdi-blocs PI/Polypeptide ont pu être obtenus avec certitude, en utilisant des synthons PI commemacro-amorceurs. Une voie de synthèse a également été dégagée pour un tri-blockPolypeptide/PI/Lipide présentant une structure très proche du modèle de Tanaka
This PhD work focuses on a better comprehension of natural rubber (NR). Indeed, despite thefact that this material has been used for a long time in industry, some properties remainunclear. Previous works of Tanaka allowed to make a link between the biosynthesis of thematerial and its properties. It was thus suggested that NR was composed of a high molar masschain of polyisoprene (PI, > 500 000 g/mol) functionalized at the α and ω chain-end by aprotein and a phospholipidic moiety respectively. These chain-ends would be able to selfassembleinto a pseudo-physical network which would explain some of the superior propertiesof NR. The goal of this PhD work is to synthesize a Protein/PI/Lipid tri-block copolymer inorder to check this hypothesis and to synthesize hybrid material close to NR. First, a 1,4-cishetero-telechelic (ketone/aldehyde) PI of 10 000 g/mol was obtained by chemical degradationof NR, yielding a polymeric chain bearing two different functions at the chain-ends, allowingto perform a selective functionalization with both a lipidic moiety and a protein. Both di-blockcopolymers (PI/Lipid and PI/Protein) were synthesized and studied separately. The PI/Lipiddi-block copolymer revealed interesting properties. The synthesis of PI/Protein di-blockcopolymer revealed more difficult and only PI/Polypeptide di-block copolymer could havebeen obtainded. To this end, PI macro-initiator allowed the Ring-Opening Polymerization odN-carboxyanhydride. Finally, a chemical pathway was established, allowing to synthesize aPolypeptide/PI/Lipid tri-block close to Tanaka’s model

A febre reumática é um bom exemplo de uma doença auto-imune deflagrada por um processo infeccioso. Num prazo de uma a quatro semanas após a resolução de uma faringite não tratada por cepas reumatogênicas de S. pyogenes, o organismo de um hospedeiro susceptível desencadeia uma resposta imune contra grandes articulações, coração, tecidos subcutâneos e cérebro. Acredita-se que elementos presentes na bactéria e reconhecidos durante a infecção na orofaringe, sejam confundidos com estruturas próprias do organismo, num processo denominado mimetismo molecular. Entre as proteínas envolvidas na reação cruzada, encontram-se a miosina cardíaca, pelo lado do hospedeiro, e a proteína M do microorganismo invasor. Esta última (proteína M) tem sido extensamente estudad. É a base da classificação das cepas de S. pyogenes e importante fator de virulência. Também tem sido explorada como imunógeno em várias estratégias vacinais. O estudo desta patologia tem sido dificultado pela ausência de um modelo animal que reproduza aspectos fundamentais da patologia humana, entre estes as lesões cardíacas. Uma das razões é o fato de que animais não contraem infecção pelo S. pyogenes. Portanto, produzimos a proteína M1 recombinante e mostramos que a imunização de 28 ratos Lewis por um período de 21 dias ou 14 ratos por 41 dias, com esta proteína foi capaz de induzir resposta inflamatória na maioria dos animais com intensidade variável. Células similares aos nódulos de Aschoff e células de Anitschkow, sugestivas das lesões patognomônicas da febre reumática foram observadas em dias e também de um em quatro dos animais controles que receberam PBS e adjuvantes. Estes resultados sugerem a presença de células auto-reativas no miocárdio dos animais imunizados. Em conclusão, o uso de proteína M1 recombinante como imunógeno em modelo animal de ratos Lewis é capaz de desencadear reação inflamatória em miocárdio e tecido valvular e lesões similares às da febre reumática. O modelo do rato Lewis é até o momento o que apresenta maior semelhança com a doença humana e pode ajudar a esclarecer a imunopatologia da febre reumática. Além disso, certamente será importante para a avaliação do potencial de proteção e de segurança em modelos de vacinas contra o S. pyogenes.
Rheumatic fever is a good example of an autoimmune disease triggered by an infectious process. One to four weeks after the resolution of a non treated pharyngitis caused by rheumatogenic strains of S. pyogenes, the susceptible host unravels an immune response targeting joints, heart, conective tissues and brain. It is thought that molecules present in the bacteria and recognized during the infection at the pharynx are confounded with the organism self structure in a process called ?molecular mimicry?. Amongst the proteins involved in the cross reaction, it may be found cardiac myosin, on the host side, and M protein on the invading organism?s side. The latter (Mprotein) has been extensively studied. It is the basis of the S. pyogenes strains classification, and also an important virulence factor. It has also been explored as an immunogen in several vaccine strategies. The nderstanding of this disease has been hampered by the absence of an animal model that reproduces fundamental aspects of the human pathology, specially cardiac lesions. One of the reasons is the fact that animals do not get infected by S. pyogenes. Hence we have produced the recombinant M1 protein and shown that either the immunization of 28 Lewis rats for a period of 21 days or 14 rats for a period of 41 days, was capable of inducing an inflammatory response in most of the animals with variable intensity. Aschoff nodules-like or Anitschkow-like cells resembling rheumatic fever pathognomonic lesions were seen in 50% of the animals immunized subcutaneously and sacrificed on day 21. We have observed an humoral and cellular response (spleen and lymph node derived cells) specifically targeting M1 protein and the amino (M1AB) and carboxy (M1C) terminus of the protein. However, cross reactions with cardiac myosin were not observer. We have derived T lymphocyte lineages obtained from myocardium infiltrating mononuclear cells from 6 of the 10 animals immunized with M1ABC protein subcutaneously and sacrificed on day 41 and also from one out of four PBS - adjuvant immunized animals. These results suggest the presence of autoreactive cells in the myocardium of the immunized animals. In conclusion, the use of the M1 protein as an immunogen on the Lewis rat model is capable of triggering an inflammatory reaction in the myocardium and valvular tissue and it can produce rheumatic fever like lesions. The Lewis rat model is up to this moment the one to present the highest similarity with human disease. Besides, it will certainly be important on the evaluation of the protection and safety of S. pyogenes vaccines.

Šešėlinę ekonomiką daug kas supranta kaip nelegalų verslą ar kontrabandą. Tai nėra tik vogtų daiktų realizavimas, prostitucija ar narkotikai, kuriuos privalo kontroliuoti policija ir kitos valstybės institucijos. Tačiau ir legalus verslas taip pat tampa šešėlinės ekonomikos dalimi, kai jos veiklos rezultatai falsifikuojami siekiant išvengti mokesčių. Tai neteisėti sandoriai, nerealios jų vertės ir panašiai. Iš tiesų, tai sudėtingas reiškinys, iškreipiantis oficialiąją statistiką, stabdantis ekonomikos augimą. Šio darbo tikslas nustatyti ekonominius faktorius, reikšmingai įtakoja Lietuvos šešėlinę ekonomiką. Darbo eigoje apibrėžiama šešėlinė ekonomika, jos sudedamosios dalys bei vertinimo metodikos. Tyrimo metu sudaromas Lietuvos šešėlinės ekonomikos MIMIC (Multiple Indicator Multiple Causal) modelis. Tikrinamas jo suderinamumas su turimais statistiniais duomenimis. Taip pat pateikiamos trys skirtingos MIMIC modelio specifikacijos, remiantis statistiniais kriterijais jos palyginamos ir randama priimtiniausia.
There is considerable agreement internationally about the factors that determine the relative size of the underground economy and that evidence of underground activity will be captured in several economic indicators. Until recently, however, the methods that have been employed to measure the underground economy focused on only a few causal factors, one indicator, and only produced an estimate for one particular point in time. This paper presents the modeling technique that threats the underground economy as an unobservable or latent variable and incorporates multiple indicator and multiple causal variables – MIMIC model. Moreover this technique allows us to estimate the significance of each causal variable as well as each indicator. First of all the theoretical definition of the shadow economy is proposed. Further the MIMIC modeling technique is described and the emphasis is laid on the most common variables used for latter method. Subsequently, the model is defined and the corresponding economical variables of Lithuanian are chosen. Whereupon the model is estimated and respecified while nonsignificant variables and relations been removed. Finally the conclusions about the most suitable model and statistically significant variables are maid.

[EN] Abstract The main purpose of this thesis is the design and characterization of an experimental articular cartilage model. The in vitro model is composed of a macro and micro- porous Polycaprolactone scaffold with a Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) filling. The scaffold/hydrogel construct has been subjected to repeating number of freezing and thawing cycles in order to crosslink the hydrogel inside the scaffold's pores. The Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) resembles the growing cartilaginous tissue inside the scaffolds pores, as it gets denser and stiffer for each cycle of freezing and thawing. The in vitro model allows studying a variety of characteristics of the scaffold and hydrogel, revealing interesting features. The importance of water flow on the mechanical properties is studied, so as the influence of micro-porosity. It can be seen that the mechanical properties of the porous scaffolds are influenced in distinct ways by the hydrogel density and micro-porosity of the scaffold. The permeability of the scaffolds is studied and is seen independent of crosslinking density of the hydrogel inside the porous scaffolds. The experimental cartilage model has also been applied on a macro porous acrylic scaffold. The results show that the water has different effect on the mechanical properties, for macro, or macro and micro-porous scaffolds. The in vitro cartilage model has elastic modulus, aggregate modulus and permeability values in the same order as human articular cartilage. The model is useful to predict the mechanical behavior of porous scaffolds in vivo. A scaffold implant device for animal studies has been designed based on a previous patent of the research group, and implanted in two different in vivo trials in sheep. The results show that the fixation and anchoring to the subchondral bone improve the tissue repair and diminish alterations in the subchondral bone. ¿
[ES] Resumen El objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral es el diseño y caracterización de un modelo de cartílago articular experimental. El modelo in vitro se compone de un scaffold micro- y macroporoso de Policaprolactona con un relleno de Poli(Vinil Alcohol). El constructo scaffold/hidrogel ha sido sometido a ciclos consecutivos de congelación y descongelación con objeto de entrecruzar el hidrogel dentro de los poros del scaffold. El Poli(Vinil Alcohol) mimetiza al tejido de cartílago que se regenerará en los poros, ya que en cada ciclo de congelación y descongelación se vuelve más denso y duro. El modelo in vitro permite estudiar una gran variedad de características del scaffold e hidrogel, revelando fenómenos interesantes para la ingeniería tisular. Se ha estudiado la importancia del flujo de agua a través del scaffold en las propiedades mecánicas, así como la influencia de la microporosidad. Se ha podido constatar que la densidad del hidrogel y la microporosidad influyen de distinta forma en las propiedades mecánicas de los scaffolds porosos. Se ha estudiado la permeabilidad de los scaffolds, que ha resultado ser independiente de la densidad de entrecruzamiento del hidrogel dentro de sus poros. El modelo experimental de cartílago se ha aplicado también a un scaffold macroporoso acrílico. Los resultados muestran que el agua tiene un efecto distinto en las propiedades mecánicas de los scaffolds macroporosos y en los micro- macroporosos. El modelo de cartílago in vitro tiene valores del modulo elástico, módulo agregado y permeabilidad que son del mismo orden de magnitud que los del cartílago articular humano. El modelo permite predecir el comportamiento mecánico in vivo de scaffolds porosos. Se ha diseñado un dispositivo de implante de scaffold para experimentos en animales basado en una patente del grupo de investigación, que ha sido implantado en dos ensayos in vivo diferentes en ovejas. Los resultados muestran que la fijación y anclaje al hueso subcondral tiene un gran papel en la reparación del tejido.
[CAT] Resum L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral és el disseny i caracterització d'un model de cartílag articular experimental. El model in vitro es compon d'un scaffold micro- i macroporós de Policaprolactona amb un farciment de Poli(Vinil Alcohol). El constructe scaffold/hidrogel ha estat sotmès a cicles consecutius de congelació i descongelació amb l'objectiu d'entrecreuar l'hidrogel dins del porus del scaffold. El Poli(Vinil Alcohol) mimetitza al teixit de cartílag que es regenerarà en el porus, ja que en cada cicle de congelació i descongelació es torna més dens i dur. El model in vitro permet estudiar una gran varietat de característiques del scaffold i hidrogel, posant de manifest fenòmens interessants per a l'enginyeria tissular. S'ha estudiat la importància del flux d'aigua a través del scaffold en les propietats mecàniques, així com la influència de la microporositat. S'ha pogut constatar que la densitat de l'hidrogel i la microporositat influeixen de distinta manera en les propietats mecàniques dels scaffolds porosos. S'ha estudiat la permeabilitat dels scaffolds, que ha resultat ser independent de la densitat d'entrecreuament de l'hidrogel dins dels seus porus. El model experimental de cartílag s'ha aplicat també a un scaffold macroporós acrílic. Els resultats mostren que l'aigua té un efecte distint en les propietats mecàniques dels scaffolds macroporosos i en els micro- macroporosos. El model de cartílag in vitro té valors del mòdul elàstic, mòdul agregat i permeabilitat que són del mateix ordre de magnitud que els del cartílag articular humà. El model permet predir el comportament mecànic in vivo de scaffolds porosos. S'ha dissenyat un dispositiu d'implant de scaffold per a experiments en animals basat en una patent del grup d'investigació, que ha segut implantat en dos assaigs in vivo diferents en ovelles. Els resultats mostren que la fixació i ancoratge a l'os subcondral té un gran paper en la reparació del teixit.
Vikingsson, LKA. (2015). An experimental model to mimic the mechanical behavior of a scaffold in a cartilage defect [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/53912
TESIS

Lo studio si prefigge di indagare il decoding simultaneo degli elementi vocali e della mimica facciale delle emozioni mediante i potenziali evocati corticali (ERPs), utilizzando un'ampia gamma di emozioni. Stimoli emotivi vocali e patterns mimici sono stati accoppiati in condizioni di congruenza o di incongruenza. Le variazioni ERPs e i tempi di risposta (TR) rilevati sono state sottoposti ad analisi univariata della varianza per misure ripetute (ANOVA). Alcuni fenomeni ERP sono altamente sensibili alla condizione di congruenza/incongruenza del pattern (con una maggiore ampiezza per stimoli congruenti rispetto a stimoli incongruenti) e costituiscono marker specifici dell'integrazione intersensoriale. In particolare, i dati permettono di riconoscere l'indice di media latenza P200 come un marker dell'integrazione intersensoriale di stimoli emotivi. Altri fenomeni, invece, maggiormente sensibili al contenuto emotivo, segnalano la presenza di processi cognitivi legati più in generale al decoding emotivo. I risultati indicano inoltre che l'integrazione, che nelle prime fasi di processamento è un fenomeno automatico, coinvolge successivamente processi decisionali intenzionali. Infine, è stato riscontrato che la condizione di congruenza provoca un effetto di riduzione dei TR per alcune delle emozioni analizzate (tristezza) ed un effetto inverso per un secondo gruppo di emozioni (paura, rabbia e sorpresa). Tale risultato viene discusso in riferimento al significato adattivo dei diversi correlati emotivi e dei rispettivi processi di decodifica cross-modale.
The study investigates the simultaneous processing of emotional tone of voice and emotional facial expression by event-related potentials (ERPs), through an ample range of different emotions. Auditory emotional stimuli and visual patterns were matched in congruous and incongruous pairs. ERPs variations and behavioral data (response time) were submitted to repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). ANOVA showed numerous ERP effects, with different cognitive functions. Some of them, in particular the medium-latency P200, are highly sensible to pattern congruent/incongruent condition (with more intense amplitude for congruent rather then incongruent stimuli) and constitute intersensory integration specific markers. The other ERP effects, instead, are more sensible to the emotional content and signal the presence of cognitive processes that are more generally tied to the emotional decoding. Furthermore results show that, in the first processing phase, integration is an automatic and obliged phenomenon, while later it implies intentional decisional processes. Finally, a TR reduction was found for some congruous patterns (i.e. sadness) and an inverted effect for a second group of emotions (i.e. fear, anger, and surprise). Finally, behavioural results indicate that congruence causes a RT reduction for some emotions (sadness) and, on the contrary, an inverse effect for other emotions (fear, anger, surprise). This result is discussed with reference to different emotional correlates adaptive function and their respective cross-modal decoding processes.

We report the design and assembly of three-dimensional (3D) multi-cellular liver models comprised of primary rat hepatocytes, liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), and Kupffer cells (KCs). LSECs and KCs in the liver model were separated from hepatocytes by a nanoscale, detachable, optically transparent chitosan and hyaluronic acid (HA) polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) film. The properties of the PEM were tuned to mimic the Space of Disse found in liver. The thickness of the detachable PEM was 650 to 1000 nm under hydrated conditions. The Young's modulus of the PEM was approximately 42 kPa, well within the range of modulus values reported for bulk liver. The 3D liver models comprised of all three cell types and a detachable PEM exhibited stable urea production and increased albumin secretion over a 12 day culture period. Additionally, the 3D liver model maintained the phenotype of both LSECs and KCs over the 12 day culture period, verified by CD32b and CD163 staining, respectively. Additionally, CYP1A1 enzyme activity increased significantly in the 3D liver models. The number of hepatocytes in the 3D liver model increased by approximately 60% on day 16 of culture compared to day 4 indicating. Furthermore, only the 3D hepatic model maintained cellular compositions virtually identical to those found in vivo. DNA microarray measurements were conducted on the hepatocyte fractions of the 3D liver mimic to obtain insights into hepatic processes. Gene sets up-regulated in the 3D liver model were related to proliferation, migration, and deposition of extracellular matrix, all functions observed in regenerating hepatocytes. Taken together, these results suggest that inter-cellular signaling between the different cell types in the 3D liver model led to increased hepatic functions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study where three of the major hepatic cell types have been incorporated into a model that closely mimics the structure of the sinusoid. These studies demonstrate that the multi-cellular liver models are physiologically relevant. Such models are very promising to conduct detailed investigations into hepatic inter-cellular signaling.
Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2009.
Advisor: Akihito Kamata, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed on April 29, 2010). Document formatted into pages; contains xvii, 207 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) is a cell surface receptor tyrosine kinase and plays a role in the signal pathways leading to cell proliferation and differentiation. Overexpression of HER2 is found in various cancers including breast, ovarian, gastric, colon, and non-small-cell lung cancers, which makes it an attractive target for cancer therapy. Specific antibodies, peptides and small molecules are developed by scientists to bind with HER2 as therapeutical agents, dimerization inhibitors and biological makers. Among these molecules, antibodies showed excellent binding affinity and specificity toward HER2. However, uses of antibodies are limited by their high cost of production, long development time, limited ability to penetrate tumor tissue and immunogenicity. Many of these limitations are due to the high molecular weight of antibodies. Compared to antibodies, peptides and small molecule that selectively recognize HER2 have advantages in solubility, permeability and immunogenicity. So far, the design of all peptides and small molecules for binding with HER2 either utilize phage display technique or rely on computational screen of large library of millions of small molecules. These approaches all suffer from the drawbacks of tedious, labor intensive, and time consuming as well as uncertainty of outcome. In this study, it was hypothesized that a novel approach based on molecular interactions of HER2-Pertuzumab complex and Knob-Socket model can be developed to design antibody mimics for targeting HER2. All designed antibody mimics were simulated and docked with HER2 using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software to estimate binding energy and analyze the detail interaction map. A series of mimics were then synthesized and characterized. HER2 positive breast cancer cells MDA-MB-361 and ZR-75-1 were used in confocal microscopic and flow cytometric studies to evaluate the binding specificity of all antibody mimics to HER2 in vitro, while human embryonic kidney cell (HEK293) was used as control. After incubation with antibody mimics, high fluorescence intensities were observed on MDA-MB-361 and ZR-75-1 cells, while only background fluorescence were observed on HEK293 cells. Surface plasma resonance (SPR) studies showed that all antibody mimics bind to HER2 protein with KD value in range of 55.4 nM- 525.5 nM. Western blot technique was used to evaluate inhibition capability of antibody mimics on phosphorylation of HER2 downstream signaling Akt and MAPK pathways that were crucial for cell differentiation and survival. When treated with antibody mimics at 10µM for 24 h, more than 85% phosphorylation of Akt pathway was inhibited while phosphorylation of MAPK pathway was not affected. This finding proved that antibody mimics could bind to HER2 extracellular domain and selectively inhibit the dimerization between HER2 and HER3 to block phosphorylation of Akt pathway in a similar way as Pertuzumab. In addition, in vivo studies on tumor bearing nude mice were carried out to investigate the distribution and binding specificity of antibody mimics towards HER2 positive tumor after injecting through vein tail. Signal intensity ratio (SIR) of tumor to muscle revealed about 10-fold increase in tumor retention of HER2-PEP11 compared to the Cy7.5 carboxylic acid and Cy7.5-HER2-PEP22, which confirmed excellent in vivo binding specificity of antibody mimic HER2-PEP11 to HER2 positive tumor. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that a rational design of antibody mimics with both binding specificity and affinity towards HER2 based on the molecular interaction between Pertuzumab and HER2 and Knob-Socket model is feasible.

Hydrogen is an attractive fuel because it is clean, carbon neutral, energy dense, and sustainable, but in order for a hydrogen economy to become a reality it is necessary to develop inexpensive and efficient methods of hydrogen production. The [FeFe]-hydrogenase enzymes are efficient at catalyzing the reduction of protons to dihydrogen. Nature-inspired functional active site mimics which feature sulfur and iron have been the focus of much research, yet there are still challenges to overcome. The challenges of the [FeFe]-H₂ase active site mimic catalysts which are addressed in this dissertation are (1) the reversibility of the catalyst to reduction and (2) the overpotential required to achieve catalytic activity. One of the active site-inspired catalysts is (μ-1,3-propanedithiolato)diironhexacarbonyl. When studied by cyclic voltammetry, CV, this catalyst produces hydrogen but also transforms into catalytically inactive products. (μ-2,4-pentanedithiolato)diironhexacarbonyl, 3, was prepared and found be fully reversible to reduction at all scan rates, indicating that it does not decompose on the CV timescale. Compound 3 is prepared as a mixture of cis and trans isomers. The trans isomer is able to undergo inversion of the bridgehead and the cis isomer is fixed with no evidence of bridgehead fluxionality. NMR studies verify proton assignments and the barrier of inversion for the fluxional trans compound. DFT studies indicate that multiple pathways to catalysis are possible for 1 depending upon the pKₐ of acid present and the potential applied. [FeFe]-H₂ase-inspired catalysts which produce hydrogen in the presence of a weak acid require a higher than desired overpotential. To overcome this, an ideal catalyst would use captured solar energy to produce hydrogen. The catalyst (μ-1,2-benzenedithiolato)diironhexacarbonyl 5, is well studied and understood. Thiophene has a π-system that is isoelectronic with benzene. Thiophenes are air-stable and may be polymerized into electrically conductive polymers which may be light active. The catalyst (μ-3,4-thiophenedithiolato)diironhexacarbonyl, 6, was prepared as a proof of concept model for catalysts with polythiophene features. As predicted, compound 6 was found to reduce protons at the same potential as 5. DFT computations indicate these catalysts go through the same catalytic mechanisms. X-ray crystal structures indicate similar bond lengths and angles.

La paralysie faciale affecte négativement la vie professionnelle, sociale et personnelle des patients concernés. La récupération des mimiques faciales dans des conditions normales et symétriques permet à ces patients d'améliorer leurs qualités de vie. La rééducation fonctionnelle est une étape clinique importante pour améliorer les qualités des interventions chirurgicales. Cependant, la rééducation faciale reste actuellement un défi scientifique, technologique et clinique majeur. En particulier, l'approche conventionnelle manque des retours quantitatifs et objectifs pour optimiser les gestes et les exercices associées. L'objectif de cette thèse est de développer et d'évaluer un système d'aide à la rééducation fonctionnelle de la mimique faciale. La thèse a six contributions principales : (1) un nouveau processus de génération de la tête patient-spécifique avec la texture à partir d'un capteur sans contact de type Kinect ; (2) un nouveau processus de prédiction du crâne à partir de la surface de la tête en utilisant la modélisation statistique de la forme ; (3) une nouvelle méthode d'évaluation des mouvements de la mimique faciale en se basant sur les propriétés musculaires ; (4) un nouveau système de jeu sérieux pour la rééducation fonctionnelle de la mimique faciale (5) un nouveau système d'aide à la décision clinique pour le visage et (6) un guide de référence pour le développement de systèmes de simulation médicale en considérant la déformation des tissus mous en temps réel. Cette thèse ouvre de nouvelles perspectives liées aux différents domaines de recherche allant de la vision par ordinateur (génération automatique des modèles patient-spécifique à partir d'un capteur visuel), la modélisation biomécanique, et l'ingénierie des systèmes pour la rééducation fonctionnelle de la mimique faciale
Facial disorders negatively affect professional, social, and personal lives of involved patients.Thus, recovery of facial mimics into normal and symmetrical conditions allows these patients to improve their life qualities. Functional rehabilitation of facial disorders is an important clinical step to improve qualities of surgical interventions and drug therapies. However, facialmimic rehabilitation currently remains a major scientific, technological, and clinical challenge.Especially, conventional rehabilitation processes lack of quantitative and objective biofeedbacks. Moreover, rehabilitation exercises just included long-term and repetitive actions. This makes patients less ambitious for completing their training programs. Besides, numerous modeling methods, interaction devices, and system architectures have been successfully employed in clinical applications, but they have not been successfully applied for facial mimic rehabilitation. Consequently, this thesis was conducted to complement these drawbacks by designing a clinical decision-support system for facial mimic rehabilitation. Especially, patientspecific models and serious games were integrated with the system for providing quantitative and objective bio-feedbacks and training motivations. The thesis has six main contributions: (1) a novel real-time subject-specific head generation & animation systems, (2) a novel head-to-skull prediction process, (3) a muscle-oriented patientspecific facial paralysis grading system, (4) a novel serious game system for facial mimic rehabilitation, (5) a novel clinical decision-support system for facial mimic rehabilitation, and (6) a reference guide for developing real-time soft-tissues simulation systems. This thesis opens new avenues for new research areas relating to automatic generation of patient specific head from visual sensor and internal structures using statistical shape modeling and real-time modeling and simulation for facial mimic rehabilitation

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of foodborne gastroenteritis worldwide, yet despite the organism's prevalence, relatively little is known about the mechanisms of pathogenesis. This is mainly due to the lack of a convenient small animal model of infection combined with certain inherent weaknesses with widely used in vitro models. The aim was to develop two improved models to study C. jejuni interactions with intestinal epithelial cells. The Ex Vivo Organ Culture (EVOC) model involves co-culturing C. jejuni with human intestinal biopsies. C. jejuni 11168H and 81-176 wild-type strains were demonstrated to induce the secretion of human beta-defensins 2 and 3 (hBD-2 and hBD-3). Furthermore, the supernatants of infected biopsies were demonstrated to contain significantly higher levels of IL-l~, IL-6, IL-12 and IL-23 compared to uninfected controls. Experiments using 11168H flaA and neuBl mutants demonstrated that the induced defensin response was not due to host recognition of either flagellin or the terminal sialic acid residue of C. jejuni illS. The Vertical Diffusion Chamber (VDC) model involves co-culturing C. jejuni with polarised human intestinal epithelial cells (lECs) with micro aerobic conditions at the apical surface and aerobic conditions at the basolateral surface. Survival and integrity of the IECs under these conditions over 24 hours was demonstrated. Co- culture experiments under these conditions resulted in an increase in both C. jejuni interaction with and invasion of IECs. This was mirrored by an increased, polarised host innate immune response. Transcriptional analysis of aerobically and microaerobically co-cultured C. jejuni 11168H identified several genes that may playa role in these increased interactions. The levels of interaction and invasion of defined C. jejuni 11168H mutants with Caco-2 cells were analysed to identify bacterial factors that contribute to these increased interactions. Both 11168HflaA and rpoN mutants exhibited lower levels of interaction and invasion than the wild-type strain, suggesting the involvement of bacterial motility in the increased interactions under micro aerobic conditions. The reduction in this increased interaction phenotype was more pronounced at shorter co-incubation times, suggesting that motility is particularly important during the early phases of interaction. The development of these two model systems should allow· future 3 experiments to more accurately investigate host-pathogen interactions during C. jejuni infection of the human intestinal tract

Lung cancer leads in mortality among all types of cancer in the US and Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the major type of lung cancer. Immuno-compromised mice bearing xenografts of human lung cancer cells represent the most common animal models for studying lung cancer biology and for evaluating potential anticancer agents. However, orthotopic lung cancer models based on intrapulmonary injection of suspended cancer cells feature premature leakage of the cancer cells to both sides of the lung within five days, which generates a quick artifact of metastasis and thus belies the development and progression of lung cancer as seen in the clinic. Based on intrapulmonary inoculation of multicellular spheroids (MCS), we have developed the first orthotopic xenograft model of lung cancer that simulates all four clinical stages of NSCLC progression in mice over one month: Stage 1 localized tumor at the inoculation site; Stage 2 multiple tumor nodules or larger tumor nodule on the same side of the lung; Stage 3 cancer growth on heart surface; and Stage 4 metastatic cancer on both sides of the lung. The cancer development was monitored conveniently by in vivo fluorescent imaging and validated by open-chest anatomy, ex vivo fluorescent imaging, and histological studies. The model enjoys high rates of postoperative survival (100%) and parenchymal tumor establishment (88.9%). The roughness of the inoculated MCS is associated negatively with the time needed to develop metastatic cancer (p=0.0299). In addition, we have constructed a co-culture MCS that consisted of A549-iRFP lung cancer cells and WI38 normal human fibroblast cells. The pro-proliferation effect and the high expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) by the co-cultured WI38 cells indicated their transformation from normal fibroblasts to cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The morphology of the co-culture MCS features a round shape, a tight internal structure, and quicker development of roughness. The large roughness value of co-culture MCS suggests that small co-culture MCS could be inoculated into mice lung with a small needle to reduce the surgical trauma. Taken together, a new orthotopic model of NSCLC has been developed, which would facilitate future development of medications against lung cancer.

The dissertation “Informal Economic Activities” takes a comprehensive approach to the informal economy by studying traditional shadow economic activities, household DIY activities, and the smuggling of illegal and legal goods. Chapter 2 analyzes shadow economic and DIY activities and presents a dual estimation for the development of both types of informal economic activities in Germany from 1970 to 2005. It also considers the impact of German reunification on shadow economic and DIY activities and employs a proper estimate of domestic currency in circulation within Germany as an indicator variable for the shadow economy. Chapter 3 studies an informal economic activity that has attracted much attention recently: legal goods smuggling, or the illegal trade of otherwise legal goods. The main channel of this type of smuggling is the falsification of trade documents. By reporting false amounts of exports and/or imports to authorities smugglers, or trade misinvoicers, seek to avoid paying taxes and/or tariffs. Chapter 4 widens the analysis of smuggling to the smuggling of illegal goods and studies the smuggling of legal and illegal goods across the U.S.-Mexico border in order to improve the understanding of illegal trade. Studying the U.S.-Mexican case is particularly interesting as most illegal drugs and immigrants enter the United States via the Mexican border. The empirical analyses in the dissertation “Informal Economic Activities” are based on structural equation models (SEMs). The results demonstrate that the informal economy is significant and that growth of the informal economy is not exclusive to developing countries, although it is a more serious problem in these countries. Moreover, although the informal economy covers a wide range of rather diverse economic activities, the dissertation works out that a few similarities exist. These are important, especially for policymakers, in first understanding what drives informal economic activities and second designing appropriate policies to deter them.

This thesis focuses on one key theme, which is to understand the construct of organizational networking behaviors in business-to-business markets. It is concerned with two main issues, which are built into the research program of three empirical studies. The first issue is concerned with a systematic understanding of organizational behaviors in response to the embeddedness and interconnectedness of the network of business relationships that every organization has to deal with. Study 1 of the research program explores the concept termed ‘organizational networking behaviors’. This study adopts an industrial network approach, the central tenet of which is that firms undertake a continuous process of interaction with their important partners in the embedding context of the business network. A multi-informant approach, using semi-structured interviews, was used to collect qualitative data from thirty-one executive managers (in fifteen manufacturing firms in the UK). This study identified information acquisition, opportunity enabling, strong-tie resource mobilization and weak-tie resource mobilization as four types of organizational networking behaviors, which are reflected by their respective sub-types. The resulting conceptualization of organizational networking forms the basis for the operationalization of the construct in Study 2. While Study 1 takes an exploratory qualitative approach, Study 2 deploys a confirmatory quantitative approach since it is necessary to confirm/refute the resulting conceptualization and its types from Study 1. A rigorous scale construction and validation process was followed in this study. The conceptualization of the measurement model was carefully considered based on its theoretical underpinning. A second-order formative measurement structure was conceptualized, which required the employment of a multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model for the validation of such a measurement model. A dataset of 603 responses was collected and analyzed to confirm the structure of the four types of organizational networking behaviors, which is in line with the results of Study 1.The second issue that the thesis is concerned with is the influences of such organizational networking efforts, which are examined from a firm’s behavioral perspective. Study 3 examines how organizational networking behaviors serve as the driver of a firm’s customer-oriented, competitor-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors due to the sensing and seizing aspects of networking. It was also hypothesized that a firm’s customer-oriented, competitor-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors positively affect firm performance. The test of these hypotheses required survey data collection, which was done through an on-line questionnaire. A dataset of 354 responses was collected from UK managers, whose organizations operate in business-to-business markets in either the manufacturing or services sectors. The use of statistical modeling techniques is similar to that of Study 2. The research results indicate that a firm’s network-oriented behaviors positively impact on the development of customer-oriented and competitor-oriented behaviors. They also foster relationship coordination with its important business partners within the network. In addition, the effective management of the firm’s portfolio of relationships is found to mediate the positive impact of network-oriented behaviors on firm profitability.

Rigid body modeling has historically been used to study various features of the elbow joint including both physical and computational models. Computational modeling provides an inexpensive, easily customizable, and effective method by which to predict and investigate the response of a physiological system to in vivo stresses and applied perturbations. Utilizing computer topography scans of a cadaveric elbow, a virtual representation of the joint was created using the commercially available MIMICS(TM) and SolidWorks(TM) software packages. Accurate 3D articular surfaces, ligamentous constraints, and joint contact parameters dictated motion. The model was validated against two cadaveric studies performed by Chanlalit et al. (2011, 2012) considering monopolar and bipolar circular radial head replacements in their effects on radiocapitellar stability and respective reliance upon lateral soft tissues, as well as a comparison of these with a novel anatomic radial head replacement system in an elbow afflicted with the “terrible triad” injury. Rigid body simulations indicated that the computational model was able to accurately recreate the translation of forces in the joint and demonstrate results similar to those presented in the cadaveric data in both the intact elbow and in unstable injury states. Trends in the resulting data were reflective of the average behavior of the cadaveric specimens while percent changes between states correlated closely with the experimental data. Information on the transposition of forces within the joint and ligament tensions gleaned from the computational model provided further insight into the stability of the elbow with a compromised radial head.

Les espèces réactives de l'oxygène (ROS) sont produites en continu dans tous les organismes aérobies et sont impliquées dans la signalisation cellulaire, les défenses contre les pathogènes, mais aussi le stress oxydant. Ce dernier correspond à un déséquilibre entre la production des ROS et leur prise en charge par les défenses anti-oxydantes de la cellule. Le stress oxydant est associé à de nombreuses pathologies, notamment les maladies inflammatoires chroniques de l'intestin (MICI). Parmi les métallo-enzymes qui contrôlent la concentration en ROS, les superoxide dismutases (SOD) jouent un rôle essentiel. Ces enzymes sont responsables de la régulation du superoxyde le premier ROS produit lors de la réduction du dioxygène. Dans ces travaux, des complexes de Mn(II) mimant l'activité de la Mn-SOD (SODm) ont été conçus en utilisant une approche biomimétique. Leur intérêt pour limiter le stress oxydant et l'inflammation dans un modèle cellulaire des MICI a été examiné. En particulier, leur activité biologique a été étudiée au vu de leurs propriétés physico-chimiques et de leur biodisponibilité. Les résultats obtenus avec un complexe parent ont mené à la conception d'une deuxième génération de SODm couplés à une sonde multimodale, à des peptides pénétrants, ou à des peptides adressant aux mitochondries. L'étude du complexe parent fonctionnalisé par des peptides polyarginines a démontré l'influence de charges positives portées par le ligand sur la constante de vitesse. Dans la continuité de l'approche biomimétique développée ici, la conception de SODm de novo est présentée et constitue un premier pas vers l'imitation de l'influence de la seconde sphère de coordination
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced continuously in all aerobic organisms and are involved in cell signaling, defenses against pathogens, but also oxidative stress. This latter corresponds to an imbalance between ROS production and their consumption by the antioxidant defenses of the cell. Oxidative stress is associated with numerous pathologies, such as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Among the metalloenzymes controlling the concentration of ROS, superoxide dismutases (SOD) play a crucial role. These enzymes are responsibles for the regulation of superoxide, the first ROS produced by the reduction of oxygen. In this work, Mn(II) complexes mimicking the activity of the Mn-SOD (SODm) were designed using a biomimetic approach. Their relevance to limit oxidative stress and inflammation in a cellular model of IBD was investigated. In particular, their biological activity was studied in light of their physico-chemical properties and of their bioavailability. The results obtained with a parent complex led to the design of a second generation of SOD mimics conjugated with a single core multimodal probe, cell-penetrating peptides, or mitochondria-penetrating peptides. An effect of electrostatic interactions on the catalytic rate constant of the parent complex functionalized with polyarginines peptides was demonstrated, similarly to what is observed for the enzyme. In the continuity of the biomimetic approach envisioned here, the design of de novo SOD mimics is presented and constitutes a first step toward the mimicry of second sphere influence

Notre thèse interroge les formes et les enjeux des représentations de la douleur au XVIIIe siècle dans les arts graphiques, les dessins et les gravures revêtant à la fois un caractère d’expérimentation et d’indice dans la diffusion des thèmes. L’étude tient compte des conventions, des débats et des codifications dont elles faisaient alors l’objet dans le domaine esthétique, médical, social et politique. À l’heure où l’on estime que la douleur doit s’effacer, il nous paraît important d’évaluer ses occurrences et ses mises en scène passées. À cet égard, les arts figurés de la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle offrent, en France, un champ d’étude remarquable. Les débats esthétiques autour du groupe sculpté du Laocoon et du voile dit « de Timanthe », mais aussi, sur le plan médical, les interrogations à propos de la persistance de la douleur chez les suppliciés par décollation, témoignent de cet intérêt
This study aims to examine the forms and the issues of pain in graphic arts during the 18th century, as drawings and engravings take on an experimental aspect and constitute precious evidence of patterns diffusion. It considers the conventions, the debates and the codifications determining its figurative representations, in relation to aesthetic, médical, social and political matters. In a time when pain tends to be obscured by people who are supposed to be in charge of it, it seemed important to appraise its occurrences and its past depictions. Seen from this perspective, the French figurative arts through the second half of the 18th century offer a remarkable field of study. The aesthetic debates about the sculpted group of Laocoon and the veil of Timanthes, or, on a medical level, concenring pain persistence in persons convicted and decapitated, reveal that this passion was of great interest for the theorists at that time

La present tesi doctoral s’ha centrat en el repte d’aconseguir, mitjançant Fabricació Additiva (FA), models per a assaig quirúrgic, sota la premissa que els equips per fer-los haurien de ser accessibles a l’àmbit hospitalari. L’objectiu és facilitar l’extensió de l’ús dels prototips com a eina de preparació d’operacions quirúrgiques, transformant la pràctica mèdica actual de la mateixa manera que en el seu moment ho van fer tecnologies com les que van facilitar l’ús de radiografies. El motiu d’utilitzar FA, en lloc de tecnologies més tradicionals, és la seva capacitat de materialitzar de forma directa les dades digitals obtingudes de l’anatomia del pacient mitjançant sistemes d’escanejat tridimensional, fent possible l’obtenció de models personalitzats. Els resultats es centren en la generació de nou coneixement sobre com aconseguir equipaments d’impressió 3D multimaterials accessibles que permetin l’obtenció de models mimètics respecte als teixits vius. Per facilitar aquesta buscada extensió de la tecnologia, s’ha focalitzat en les tecnologies de codi obert com la Fabricació per Filament Fos (FFF) i similars basades en líquids catalitzables. La recerca s’alinea dins l’activitat de desenvolupament de la FA al CIM UPC, i en aquest àmbit concret amb la col·laboració amb l’Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona (HSJD). El primer bloc de la tesi inclou la descripció de l’estat de l’art, detallant les tecnologies existents i la seva aplicació a l’entorn mèdic. S’han establert per primer cop unes bases de caracterització dels teixits vius -sobretot tous- per donar suport a la selecció de materials que els puguin mimetitzar en un procés de FA, a efectes de millorar l’experiència d’assaig dels cirurgians. El caràcter rígid dels materials majoritàriament usats en impressió 3D els fa poc útils per simular tumors i altres referències anatòmiques. De forma successiva, es tracten paràmetres com la densitat, la viscoelasticitat, la caracterització dels materials tous a la indústria, l’estudi del mòdul elàstic de teixits tous i vasos, la duresa d’aquests, i requeriments com l’esterilització dels models. El segon bloc comença explorant la impressió 3D mitjançant FFF. Es classifiquen les variants del procés des del punt de vista de la multimaterialitat, essencial per fer models d’assaig quirúrgic, diferenciant entre solucions multibroquet i de barreja al capçal. S’ha inclòs l’estudi de materials (filaments i líquids) que serien més útils per mimetitzar teixits tous. Es constata com en els líquids, en comparació amb els filaments, la complexitat del treball en processos de FA és més elevada, i es determinen formes d’imprimir materials molt tous. Per acabar, s’exposen sis casos reals de col·laboració amb l’HJSD, una selecció d’aquells en els que el doctorand ha intervingut en els darrers anys. L’origen es troba en la dificultat de l’abordatge d’operacions de resecció de tumors infantils com el neuroblastoma, i a la iniciativa del Dr. Lucas Krauel. Finalment, el Bloc 3 té per objecte explorar nombrosos conceptes (fins a 8), activitat completada al llarg dels darrers cinc anys amb el suport dels mitjans del CIM UPC i de l’activitat associada a treballs finals d’estudis d’estudiants de la UPC, arribant-se a materialitzar equipaments experimentals per validar-los. La recerca ampla i sistemàtica al respecte fa que s’estigui més a prop de disposar d’una solució d’impressió 3D multimaterial de sobretaula. Es determina que la millor via de progrés és la de disposar d’una pluralitat de capçals independents a fi de capacitar la impressora 3D per integrar diversos conceptes estudiats, materialitzant-se una possible solució. Cloent la tesi, es planteja com seria un equipament d’impressió 3D per a models d’assaig quirúrgic, a fi de servir de base per a futurs desenvolupaments.
La presente tesis doctoral se ha centrado en el reto de conseguir, mediante Fabricación Aditiva (FA), modelos para ensayo quirúrgico, bajo la premisa que los equipos para obtenerlos tendrían que ser accesibles al ámbito hospitalario. El objetivo es facilitar la extensión del uso de modelos como herramienta de preparación de operaciones quirúrgicas, transformando la práctica médica actual de la misma manera que, en su momento, lo hicieron tecnologías como las que facilitaron el uso de radiografías. El motivo de utilizar FA, en lugar de tecnologías más tradicionales, es su capacidad de materializar de forma directa los datos digitales obtenidos de la anatomía del paciente mediante sistemas de escaneado tridimensional, haciendo posible la obtención de modelos personalizados. Los resultados se centran en la generación de nuevo conocimiento para conseguir equipamientos de impresión 3D multimateriales accesibles que permitan la obtención de modelos miméticos respecto a los tejidos vivos. Para facilitar la buscada extensión de la tecnología, se ha focalizado en las tecnologías de código abierto como la Fabricación por Hilo Fundido (FFF) y similares basadas en líquidos catalizables. Esta investigación se alinea dentro de la actividad de desarrollo de la FA en el CIM UPC, y en este ámbito concreto con la colaboración con el Hospital Sant Joan de Déu de Barcelona (HSJD). El primer bloque de la tesis incluye la descripción del estado del arte, detallando las tecnologías existentes y su aplicación al entorno médico. Se han establecido por primera vez unas bases de caracterización de los tejidos vivos – principalmente blandos – para dar apoyo a la selección de materiales que los puedan mimetizar en un proceso de FA, a efectos de mejorar la experiencia de ensayo de los cirujanos. El carácter rígido de los materiales mayoritariamente usados en impresión 3D los hace poco útiles para simular tumores y otras referencias anatómicas. De forma sucesiva, se tratan parámetros como la densidad, la viscoelasticidad, la caracterización de materiales blandos en la industria, el estudio del módulo elástico de tejidos blandos y vasos, la dureza de los mismos, y requerimientos como la esterilización de los modelos. El segundo bloque empieza explorando la impresión 3D mediante FFF. Se clasifican las variantes del proceso desde el punto de vista de la multimaterialidad, esencial para hacer modelos de ensayo quirúrgico, diferenciando entre soluciones multiboquilla y de mezcla en el cabezal. Se ha incluido el estudio de materiales (filamentos y líquidos) que serían más útiles para mimetizar tejidos blandos. Se constata como en los líquidos, en comparación con los filamentos, la complejidad del trabajo en procesos de FA es más elevada, y se determinan formas de imprimir materiales muy blandos. Para acabar, se exponen seis casos reales de colaboración con el HJSD, una selección de aquellos en los que el doctorando ha intervenido en los últimos años. El origen se encuentra en la dificultad del abordaje de operaciones de resección de tumores infantiles como el neuroblastoma, y en la iniciativa del Dr. Lucas Krauel. Finalmente, el Bloque 3 desarrolla numerosos conceptos (hasta 8), actividad completada a lo largo de los últimos cinco años con el apoyo de los medios del CIM UPC y de la actividad asociada a trabajos finales de estudios de estudiantes de la UPC, llegándose a materializar equipamientos experimentales para validarlos. La investigación amplia y sistemática al respecto hace que se esté más cerca de disponer de una solución de impresión 3D multimaterial de sobremesa. Se determina que la mejor vía de progreso es la de disponer de una pluralidad de cabezales independientes, a fin de capacitar la impresora 3D para integrar diversos conceptos estudiados, materializándose una posible solución. Para cerrar la tesis, se plantea cómo sería un equipamiento de impresión 3D para modelos de ensayo quirúrgico, a fin de servir de base para futuros desarrollos.

The objective of this research is to investigate three classes of block copolymers, the vesicle structures they form, their response to stimuli in solution and their capabilities for use in biomimicry. The self-assembled structures of all classes of polymers will be used as a basis for templating hydrogel materials, in the interior of the vesicles, and the resulting particles will be designed to show the structural and mechanical properties similar to living cells. The synthetic block copolymers are a poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(butadiene) (PEO-b-PBd) copolymer, a poly(ethylene glycol) and a poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PEO-b-PDMS) copolymer and the polypeptide block copolymer is a lysine and glycine (K-b-G) copolymer. Investigation using the synthetic block copolymers will focus on whether the polymer can form vesicles, size limitations of vesicle structures, and the formation of internal polymer networks. Subsequent investigations will look at the needed steps for biomimicry. The PDMS copolymer is a novel entrant into amphiphilic block copolymers. Although characterization of the copolymer solution behavior is known, the mechanical properties of the polymer are not known. PDMS was investigated along with the PBd polymer due to the similar chemical structure and nature. The lysine-glycine copolymers are a new system of materials that form fluid vesicle structures. Therefore, characterization of how K-b-G assembly behavior and investigations of how K-b-G responds to solution conditions are needed before incorporating this copolymer into a cellular mimic. The size and mechanical behavior of the lysine-glycine vesicles are measured to compare and contrast to the synthetic systems. The goals in creating a biomimic are a hollow sphere structure with a fluid bilayer, a vesicle that has controllable mechanical properties, and with a controllable surface chemistry and density. Overall, these experiments were successful; the various properties are easily controllable: the size of vesicles created, the material properties of the vesicle interior and shell, as well as the surface chemistry of the vesicles. Investigations into the novel block copolymers were conducted, and the polypeptide block copolymer showed the ability to create vesicles that are responsive to changing salt and pH concentrations. The PDMS block copolymer system offers a new material system that will perform as well as the PBd system, but without some of the inherent drawbacks.

The thesis presented is a continuation of my bachelor thesis which engaged in the mimetic in nature. In the introductory part there are hypothesis whether Phasmatodea are appropriate didactic group that could be used in the biology and ecology classes, whether there are some easily bred species of Phasmatodea, which could be possibly recommended to scholar insectariums and whether school textbooks for elementary and high schools engage with breeding Phasmatodea and the topic of mimetic. These hypotheses are refuted or confirmed at the end of the thesis. The next part origins from detailed study of many species of Phasmatodea where there are specific species described with detailed information. The next part of the thesis is about breeding few kinds of this sort, the opportunities of beginning the breeding in school environment with advices from real practice, in which way it is possible to manage the insectarium and the breeding and whether Phasmatodea in general can be used as appropriate didactic group in biology and ecology classes. The following part is full of specific motifs of observing and tests in school, thus the didactic use is regarded especially for teachers of elementary and high schools. Both aforementioned parts of the thesis are accompanied by pictures and photographs - some of...

Avian brood parasitism is an ideal system for the study of coevolution. Brood parasites and their hosts have developed interesting adaptations during co-evolution allowing them to maximize their fitness. The evolution of these adaptations has a character of an "arms race" where the evolution of one trait in the host is tied with the evolution of another trait in the parasite. In my doctoral thesis, I deal with two of these adaptations: recognition of parasitic eggs by hosts and mimicry of eggs in parasites. Since both these adaptations are influenced by birds' visual system, in all my studies I used an objective method to measure the colour and the modelling of avian visual system that is quite different from the human visual system. For instance, humans in contrast to birds cannot perceive ultraviolet (UV) light. However, this part of spectrum influences behaviour of birds substantially (e.g. courtship or foraging). We found that the hosts of brood parasites can use UV light when recognizing parasitic eggs. However, it seems that this part of spectrum is not the main cue in egg recognition (manuscript 1). Ambient light has also an important impact on colour perception. We determined whether the light conditions in nests influence host responses to alien eggs. The Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) was an ideal...

This thesis seeks to create, and relate, holistic depictions of demographic and political identity, using data from the Australian National University’s 2016 Australian Election Study. We thus create new spectra of identity, and produce a multivariate model to explore demographic influences on political ideology. From a statistical perspective, we build a foundation for, and expand upon, techniques for model selection. From a political science perspective, we create a modern, data-driven Australian political spectrum, produce key findings on how this spectrum is influenced by demography, and build a stronger understanding of the ways political thought can diverge from expectations. We first note that the 2016 Australian Election Study is too complicated to model directly. Instead, we seek simple representations of demographic and political identities. After exploring the literature on mathematical ways of reducing the dimensions of variables, we produce a new spectrum of political ideology for Australia, as well as a new spectrum of demographic identity. The spectra are mathematically designed to be comprised of axes representing the issues that most unite, and most divide, Australians. Our new political spectrum is interpreted in the context of current conceptions of political thought. We explore models to connect our demographic and political spectra, with the goal of explaining relationships between them in a clear and concise manner. We do not attempt to make predictions about individuals, but rather, explain relationships that exist in the population at large. We seek to build a multivariate model, to describe all dimensions of our new political spectrum simultaneously. We introduce, construct, and prove results relating to four candidate models, each of which elucidates key relationships in subtly different ways. We explain that a traditionally-used model to predict multiple outcomes simultaneously, the multivariate regression model, makes assumptions about the data that cannot be justified. We develop new tools for comparing models. In our model selection process, we put emphasis on the models’ errors; it is dangerous to ignore the ways in which our expectations might be wrong. Our tools for comparing the four candidate models thus place emphasis on selecting a model that is most accurate when it comes to its error distribution’s assumptions. Our tools are placed in the context of the historical literature on the issue, as well as in conjunction with other criteria by which a model could be selected. Our model’s results are interpreted in a political science context. We explore, with reference to other research in the area, emergent associations between demographic and political identity. These include the positive relationships between socio-economic status and education, and social inclusivity, and between stage of life and trust in authority, as well as the negative relationships between stage of life and social inclusivity, and socio-economic status and high social spending. We discuss the relationships between different political views that persist after accounting for demographic influences. These associations are of particular relevance in light of trends towards populist movements around the world, with evidence of low trust in ‘elites’ being common especially among a small cluster of socially non-inclusive people. With a process established for relating underlying constructs in large and complex surveys, our methodologies have the capacity to be implemented to surveys of varying geographical and temporal origin. This leads to two paths for future analysis: questioning how the associations between demographic and political identity have changed over time in Australia; and questioning how these associations differ internationally.
Thesis (MPhil) -- University of Adelaide, School of Mathematical Sciences, 2019

In this master thesis i was tested the effectiveness of the myrmecomorphy.The animals which ones were tested are Phrurolithus festivus the myrmecomorphic spider and the predator, great tit(Parus major). I want to know the adventages and disadventages of myrmecomorph mimicry compared whit other common invertebrates in natural habitat of great tits.

Many organisms are sexually dimorphic for ecologically and socially important traits. One of the major foci of biology is to understand the evolution of such sexually dimorphic traits. Here I present my work on the evolution of a dimorphic trait, female-limited Batesian mimicry, in Papilio swallowtail butterflies. I begin by developing a character state path network to study the diversity of mimicry types and directionality of trait change during the evolution of female-limited mimicry. My phylogenetic analysis showed that female-limited mimicry has evolved independently in several groups of swallowtails, mainly via single-step character changes from monomorphic non-mimetic ancestors to female-limited mimetic descendents. Mimetic polymorphism has evolved in tandem with female-limited mimicry, the two being tightly correlated among mimetic species. Most traditional explanations of female-limited mimicry and mimetic polymorphism invoke sexual selection. In reviewing these hypotheses, I show that their key assumptions and predictions remain untested, and that sexual selection cannot maintain female polymorphism under some conditions. Sexual selection hypotheses are also unable to explain community ecological aspects of mimicry rings. Hence, I developed a novel model of female-limited mimicry based on sex-specific, frequency- and density-dependent advantages of mimicry. This model shows that both-sex mimicry, female-limited mimicry and mimetic polymorphism are favored along a gradient of relative mimic frequency. My ecological data from south Indian mimicry rings support a key prediction of this model. Finally, I employ the patterns of female-limited mimicry among swallowtail butterflies to highlight the contrast between Darwin’s sexual selection model and Wallace’s natural selection model of sexual dimorphism. I show that most of the sexual dimorphism in swallowtail wing color patterns is a product of natural selection for protective female coloration, predominantly in the form of female-limited mimicry. Thus, swallowtails support Wallace’s model of sexual dimorphism, underlining the importance of natural selection.
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Research on green roofs has shown their potential to moderate stormwater runoff and excessive heat in large cities. This has supported the implementation of a bylaw in Toronto, Canada which mandates large scale green roof construction. However, designers lack knowledge on appropriate plant selection for local green roofs. European research has demonstrated that healthy plant cover can significantly improve stormwater capture and cooling on green roofs. This thesis employed two methodologies to select native plants suitable for green roofs. Plants species were first identified from Ontario ecosystems with conditions similar to extensive green roofs including alvars, rock barrens, talus and cliffs. Secondly, plant surveys of existing extensive green roofs in Toronto and other southern Ontario locations to discover plant species already in use. Formal testing of the plant species generated from both methodologies can eventually provide designers with knowledge of dependable plant assemblages for extensive green roofs in Toronto.

The chemistry of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase and synthetic organoselenium enzyme mimics has been a significant research interest for more than three decades. In this work, the results of a computational study employing modern electronic structure methods to model the reactions of a synthetic glutathione peroxidase mimic are presented. The ability of nine density-functional theory methods and thirteen basis sets to predict both molecular geometries and bond dissociation energies in organoselenium compounds is examined. This is used to determine the best methodology to employ for the study of glutathione peroxidase mimics. The key reactions in the catalytic mechanism of the organoselenium antioxidant N,N-dimethyl-benzylamine-2-selenol are the focus of the remainder of the document. This is a three-step mechanism which includes many of the organic forms adopted by selenium compounds, including selenol, oxoacids, and selenylsulfides. In the first step of the cycle, the well-studied reduction of hydrogen peroxide by a selenol and a diselenide is modelled. The second step modelled is a substitution reaction at the selenium centre of a selenenic acid with a thiol. The final step discussed is the reduction of the selenium centre in a selenylsulfide, regenerating the selenol and forming a disulfide species. Each mechanism is evaluated by discussing both molecular geometries and reaction energetics. To close the document, the peroxide reduction reaction is revisited to determine the effects of substitution on the phenyl ring of the synthetic antioxidant. This serves as a preliminary attempt to improve the antioxidant efficiency of this compound. In addition to a discussion of the changes in reaction energetics predicted, the topology of the electron density is studied using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules to better understand how the distribution of electron density is affected by substituents.