Academic literature on the topic 'PAACS'

AbstractThe preparation and characterization of Ti-pillared acid-activated clays (designated Ti PAACs) and conventional Ti-pillared clays (designated Ti PILCs) are described. Preliminary catalytic results show that these materials possess remarkably enhanced abilities to catalyse the dehydration of pentanol compared with their Al counterparts (in excess of 200% in the case of the PILCs and up to 82% for the PAACs). These activities approach those previously reported for non-pillared acid-activated clays.

This paper reports on synthesis, acid-base properties and self-structuring in water of chiral polyamidoamino acids (PAACs) obtained by polyaddition of N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide with l-alanine, l-valine and l-leucine (M-l-Ala, M-l-Val, M-l-Leu) with potential for selective interactions with biomolecules. The polymers maintained the acid-base properties of amino acids. In water, the circular dichroism spectra of PAACs revealed pH-dependent structuring in the range 3–11 and in the wavelength interval 200–280 nm. Taking as reference the values at pH 3, the differential molar ellipticities were plotted in the pH interval 3–11. Sigmoidal curves were obtained presenting inflection points at pH 8.1, 6.8 and 7.3 for M-l-Ala, M-l-Val and M-l-Leu, respectively, corresponding to the amine half-ionization. Theoretical modeling showed that PAACs assumed stable folded conformations. Intramolecular interactions led to transoid arrangements of the main chain reminiscent of protein hairpin motif. Oligomers with ten repeat units had simulated gyration radii consistent with the hydrodynamic radii obtained by dynamic light scattering.

Polyamidoamino acids (PAACs) are synthetic polymers prepared by the polyaddition of bisacrylamides with natural α-amino acids, which in the process maintain both their chirality and their amphoteric nature. This polymerization process is slow, but has the merits of taking place in water and of neither involving protection/de-protection steps nor releasing by-products. However, it leads to polydisperse polymers and, using α-amino acids mixtures, random copolymers. This paper presents a step-by-step polyaddition process leading to homo- and copolymeric PAACs with controlled sequences and controlled molecular weights. It exploits the much different rates of the two Michael addition steps of NH2 of α-amino acids with acrylamides, and the low solubility in organic solvents of the α-amino acid addition products. As a proof of principle, the controlled synthesis of the PAAC from l-arginine and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide was performed up to a monodisperse product with 11 monomeric units and molecular weight 1840. This synthetic procedure was also tested with l-alanine. All intermediates were isolated and characterized. Noticeably, all of them were α,ω-difunctionalized with either acrylamides or sec-amines and were, in fact, building blocks with potential for preparing complex macromolecular architectures. In a first instance, copolymers with controlled sequences of amidoamine- and amidoamino acid units were prepared.

Abstract Background: Longer lifespan and improved cancer treatment led to a rapid rise in the number of cancer survivors. However, many cancer survivors have physiological dysregulations at earlier chronological ages than those without cancer, suggesting that cancer survivors’ biological age is higher than their chronological age, i.e., they have accelerated aging. Cancer survivors’ biological age may be estimated by a novel proteomic aging clock (PAC). The deviation of PAC from chronological age is called proteomic age acceleration (PAA). To our knowledge, no studies examined whether PAA in cancer survivors is associated with increased all-cause mortality. We studied PAAs of two PACs – a newly created clock in ARIC (so called, “new” PAC) and the published 491-protein clock by Lehallier [2020] in relation to all-cause mortality in cancer survivors. Methods: ARIC is a prospective cohort of White and Black women and men, followed in 1987-2019. In 2011-13 (Visit 5), 5000 plasma proteins were measured using SomaScan, an aptamer-based assay. Using elastic net regression (alpha=0.5), we constructed a new PAC in a training set of two-thirds randomly selected cancer-free participants (N = 2466). This clock included 619 proteins and was internally validated in the remaining 1233 cancer-free participants (test set). We also computed Lehallier’s PAC using weights estimated in ARIC. We calculated PAA as residuals after regressing PAC on chronological age. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause mortality per 1 standard deviation (SD, ~2.6 yrs for PAAs for both PACs) increase in PAA in 806 survivors of all cancer at Visit 5, and survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. HRs were adjusted for chronological age, sex, race, center, education, BMI, smoking status, alcohol intake, eGFR, physical activity, time since cancer diagnosis, diabetes, and aspirin use. Results: 272 deaths were identified in 4963 person-yrs (median follow-up=6.98 yrs). In the test set, both PACs were correlated with chronological age [Pearson correlation coefficient (r): new PAC=0.75; Lehallier’s PAC=0.70] and with each other [r=0.89]. For both PACs, those with higher PAA tended to be White and have lower physical activity and a lower eGFR. Both PAAs were significantly associated with all-cause mortality in cancer survivors [per 1 SD: HR (95% CI): new PAC=1.42 (1.24-1.62); Lehallier’s PAC=1.40 (1.22-1.61)]. The HRs were not modified by sex or race. Both PAAs were significantly associated with all-cause mortality in 169 breast cancer survivors [HR: new PAC=1.54 (1.05-2.25); Lehallier’s PAC=1.72 (1.13-2.64)]. PAA of the new PAC was also associated with all-cause mortality in 78 colorectal cancer survivors [HR=1.96 (1.19-3.22)]. PAA for each PAC was not associated with all-cause mortality in 255 prostate cancer survivors. Conclusion: Proteomic aging clocks hold the promise as a potential biomarker for premature mortality in cancer survivors. Funding: NHLBI, NCI, NPCR Citation Format: Shuo Wang, Anne H. Blaes, Josef Coresh, Corinne E. Joshu, James S. Pankow, Bharat Thyagarajan, Elizabeth A. Platz, Weihua Guan, Anna Prizment. Proteomic age acceleration associated with all-cause mortality in cancer survivors in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. [R] [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Aging and Cancer; 2022 Nov 17-20; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;83(2 Suppl_1):Abstract nr A022.

Bus fares may be collected when passengers board or immediately before they alight. Little work has been done to quantify the impacts of entry fare and exit fare policies on passenger stop delay, namely the dwell time. The Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC), Pennsylvania, is one of few mass transit systems to currently employ both entry fare and exit fare policies. PAAC’s alternating fare policy offers an ideal natural experiment for investigating the effect of fare collection policy on dwell time. PAAC automated passenger counter and automatic vehicle location data were analyzed to estimate dwell time under no fare collection and entry fare and exit fare policies. The study found that the choice of fare policy can significantly affect the dwell time associated with fare payment but also that the effect of fare policy varies with route characteristics. The findings suggest that a transit system that seeks to minimize the contribution of fare payment to total trip dwell time may be most effective by operating an entry fare policy on local routes with frequent stops and evenly distributed ridership and an exit fare policy on express and bus rapid transit routes with fewer stops and substantial passenger movements at major stops.

Changes in demographic and economic trends, as well as reforms in health care and education, have encouraged speech-language pathologists to expand the service delivery options they offer. Practitioners are searching for service delivery models that promote clients’ functional skills, are cost-effective, and reflect accountability and efficacy. There is increasing demand for models that incorporate team decision-making and participation. This article provides clinicians with a framework for decision-making and service delivery by encouraging speech-language pathologists and their colleagues to consider the unique combination of providers, activities, and contexts (PACs) necessary to meet the specific needs of each individual with a communication disorder.

The design of chiral synthetic polymers capable of self-assembling into stable secondary structures represents an attracting approach with important biological applications, such as selective subcellular localization, protein surface mimicry and recognition. Chirality in polymers may be expressed based on the location of the stereogenic centers: i) main-chain chirality; ii) side-chain chirality and iii) self-assembled structures. Synthetic polymers as polyacetylenes, polyolefines and polymethacrylamides showing side-chain chirality may be synthesized by radical polymerization processes starting from modified α-amino acids. In previous work, a new family of biomimetic polymers showing side-chain chirality, named polyamidoamino acids (PAACs), were introduced. The first polymer of this family was named L-ARGO7, derived by the step-wise polyaddition of L-arginine with N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA). The reaction was carried out in water, at 50°C and pH > 9 for 6 days, yielding a polymer with Mw ≈8000 and PDI 1.4. L-ARGO7 turned to be highly cytocompatible (IC50 ≥ 8 mg mL-1) and easily internalized in mouse embryo fibroblasts balb/3T3 clone A31 cell line proving, in this respects, to share some of the unique biological properties of polyarginine cell-permeating peptides. The objectives of this work were multiple: to obtain a library of PAACs from the reaction of N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide with various natural α-amino acids following the same general procedure adopted for the synthesis of L-ARGO7, thus demonstrating the versatility of the synthetic process devised; to study the solution properties of PAACs, namely as acid-base behavior, ionization state, size and viscosity; to elucidate their conformational properties and ability to fold in aqueous media into compact and stable secondary structures; to study the responsiveness of these conformations to external stimuli; to study the fluorescent properties of PAACs from L-tryptophan; most important, to assess the PAAC ability to exhibit chirality-dependent interactions with biomolecules. The PAACs synthesized in this work can be classified based on the structural features of the α-amino acid residue: i) cationic arginine derived PAACs obtained from D-, L- and D,L-arginine; these polymers are moderately basic, since the guanidine group is internally neutralized by the carboxylate. Basicity is mainly due to the presence of the tert-amine; ii) hydrophobic alkyl-substituted PAACs derived from L-alanine (M-L-Ala), L-valine (M-L-Val) and L-leucine (M-L-Leu); these polymers are obtained by reacting slightly hydrophobic α-amino acids bearing lateral substituents of increased steric hindrance; iii) polar glutamine-derived PAAC obtained from L-glutamine (M-L-Gln); glutamine was chosen for its ability to form hydrogen bonds as protons donor or acceptor; iv) amphipathic homo- and copolymeric L-tryptophan-based PAACs synthesized from, respectively, L-tryptophan (M-L-Trp) and L-tryptophan/glycine mixtures (M-G-L-Trp); tryptophan was chosen for its fluorescence properties, used to characterized conformational and structural features of homo- and copolymers. EXPERIMENTAL PART: PAACs SYNTHESIS The synthetic procedure of the investigated PAACs is reported in Scheme 1. L-, D- and D,L-PAACs were obtained in variable yield (60-70 %) carrying out the polymerization in aqueous solutions at 50 °C and pH > 9 for 6 days. In no case, traces of hydrolytic degradation or formation of aggregates were seen. After 6 days, solutions were acidified to pH 4, purified by ultrafiltering through membranes with 100 and 5 kDa nominal molecular weight cut-off. The intermediated fractions were freeze-dried and structurally analysed by means of 1H and 13C NMR in D2O, at pH 4.5. Molecular weights (Mw and Mn) was measured by means of size exclusion chromatrographic (SEC) analysis, carried out in 0.1 M TRIS buffer pH 8.00 ± 0.05, with 0.2 M NaCl. RESULTS i) ARGO7 and Alkyl-substituted PAACs Circular dichroism (CD) measurements were recorded between 200 – 280 nm in the 3-12 pH interval. Spectra were consistent with the presence of pH-dependent ordered secondary structures, whose changes with pH were rapidly achieved and fully reversible. In addition, conformations resulted thermodynamically stable and reversible in the 3-70°C range. CD spectra were collected at ionic strength up to 2 M NaCl and in presence of denaturating agents, as urea and guanidinium chloride. Conformation of ARGO7 isomers resulted unaffected by ionic strength and presence of denaturants, whereas M-L-Ala, M-L-Val and M-L-Leu conformations changed with the introduction of guanidinium chloride. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed at Politecnico di Milano (prof. G. Raffaini and F. Ganazzoli) and revealed that ARGO7 and alkyl-substituted PAACs had a compact, coiled structure (Rgs 0.8-1.11 nm). MD showed that PAACs’ main chains were organized into a transoid arrangement characteristics of hairpin-like conformations. Structuring and size were mainly dictated by intramolecular interactions of electrostatic nature in the polymer main chain, with minor dependence from the amino acids side chain. Hydrodynamic radius (Rh) was determined by DLS as a function of pH, time, ionic strength and presence of denaturating agents (urea and guanidinium chloride). Results revealed that these PAACs had monomodal volumetric distributions of 1.5 ± 0.3 nm average radius, stable at 25 °C for at least 1 month and unaffected by pH, ionic strength and presence of denaturants. In addition, nanoparticles’ dimensions did not change by increasing the PAACs concentration in the 0.5 – 20 mg mL-1 range, suggesting these polymers may intramolecularly self-assembled into stable single chain nanoparticles. ii) glutamine-derived PAACs Differently from the other PAACs, M-L-Gln Mw and Mn values were more than two times higher than the others. This was tentatively ascribed to the presence of intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, further studied with CD and NMR spectroscopy. CD spectra resulted sensitive to the presence of urea, a protein denaturant known to form H-bonding, with time dependent spectral variations. DOSY, variable-temperature NMR (VT-NMR) and NOESY were used to obtain the structural and conformational features of M-L-Gln. DOSY showed only one diffusion coefficient, from which a Rh of 3.53 nm was calculated. VT-NMR was carried out at pH 4.5 and revealed that side-chain amide groups were involved in the formation of H-bonding, whereas only a small percentage of amides of the MBA backbone did the same. In addition, NOESY experiments measured two NOEs, both involving CH2 next to the tert-amine and CH2 in β and γ position of the glutamine side chain, respectively. Thus, M-L-Gln showed a coiled structure in which glutamine side chain moved closer to the main chain. iii) tryptophan-based PAACs Polymers bearing tryptophan as side substituent were synthesized by Michael-type polyaddition of MBA with L-tryptophan, its isomer, and different molar ratio of L-tryptophan/glycine mixtures. Differently from the other PAACs, these reactions were carried out under nitrogen flux and by portion wise addition of the base to avoid indole oxidation. UV–Vis absorption and scattering of polarized IR beam tests showed all of them to have composition- and pH-dependent solubility. CD studies and DLS measurements were comparable with the other PAACs. CD were consistent with the formation of pH dependent self-assembled structures, whose conformation was dictated by the polymer main chain and its average ionization degree. Rhs resulted stable for at least 1 month, unaffected by pH but, to some extent, sensitive to concentration in the range 1–30 mg·mL−1. Photoluminescence analyses, quantum yields, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence were measurements at different pH, polymers concentration and tryptophan content. Results indicated that the photoluminescence properties of tryptophan derived polymers were governed solely by tryptophan. All polymers exhibited pH-dependent quantum yields, lifetimes and emission maximum. Interestingly, fluorescence studies conducted on oxygen-free solution gave comparable results, indicating compact conformations where L-tryptophan moieties were not accessible to the quencher. Also, intermolecular quenching by approaching chains was studied and observed in M-L-Trp and M-G-L-Trp10. iv) L- and D-ARGO7 chiral recognition To assess ARGO7 chiral recognition ability, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), one of the components of bile salts, was chosen as a chiral model surface. Through a stepwise mechanism, NaDC can form chiral micelles, whose self-assembly behaviour is mainly affected by pH. In particular, NaDC showed three main pH dependent behaviour: homogenous solution (pH > 8), gel phase (pH 7 – 7.5), flocculation and aggregation (pH < 7). Pulsed-gradient spin echo NMR (PGSE-NMR), surface tension, circular dichroism (CD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential (ZP) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments were carried out on NaDC/L- and NaDC/D-ARGO7 mixtures, to assess chirality-dependent interactions. Surface tension, DLS, zeta potential and PGSE NMR measurements were recorded to characterize NaDC behaviour in solutions (CMC and self-assembly) as a function of pH and concentration and will not be considered in this report. CD measurements were carried out on 5 mg mL-1 of NaDC mixed with 0.5 mg mL-1 of either L-, D- or D,L-ARGO7 solutions, in the 190 – 300 nm range in a 1 mm cell. Prior to the analysis, solutions were corrected to pD (pH of D2O solutions) 9.06, and 7.50. At pD 9.06, the addition of NaDC did not result in any significant modification of the polymers’ spectra, in either L- or D- form of the polymers. Thus, no chiral discrimination could be found at this pH. At pD 7.30, CD spectra of NaDC gel phase showed different pattern upon addition of L- and D-ARGO7, whereas no changes were seen with D,L-ARGO7. Thus, the self-reorganization of NaDC into an ordered gel, was likely due to the chiral recognition of the different isomers. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements were carried out at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source facility (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Griffiths) to study chiral recognition, by looking at the conformational modifications of NaDC micelles upon introduction of the different isomeric forms of the polymer, at different pHs and concentrations. SANS collected at pD 8.5 - 8.8 for various NaDC concentrations were consistent with the presence of micelles, described by prolate ellipsoids with polar radius of 22 – 28 Å and equatorial radius of 7 – 10 Å. By decreasing pH, NaDC micelles’ structure changed from a prolate ellipsoid (pD 8.80) to an elongated rod (pD 7.30) described by elliptical cylinders of 487.6 ± 21.2 Å length and 2.88 ± 0.19 axis ratio (Figure. 1a, black curve). NaDC/ARGO7 mixtures were prepared adding 5 mg mL-1 of NaDC to 0.5 mg mL-1 solution of D-, L-, D,L-ARGO7 and an equimolar mixture obtained by mixing L- and D-isomer of the polymer (D-/L-ARGO7). All NaDC/ARGO7 mixtures showed superimposable curves. They were fitted with the same model used for NaDC solutions, that is micelles with prolate ellipsoidal morphology (Figure 1a). Only small changes in the total charge and in the semi-minor and semi-major axis were seen. This confirmed the modest effect of the electrostatic interactions between the two components, ARGO7 and NaDC, and the absence of chiral discrimination. Chiral recognition was then assessed collecting SANS data for 5 mg mL-1 NaDC gels (pD 7.3 – 7.5) with 0.5 mg mL-1 of D-, L-, D,L-ARGO7 or an equimolar mixture composed of 0.5 mg mL-1 D-ARGO7 and 0.5 mg mL-1 L-ARGO7. They showed that NaDC structure was differently affected by the chirality of the polymer (Figure 1b), confirming results obtained from CD spectra. In particular, D-, D,L-ARGO7 and the equimolar mixture changed SANS pattern in the same way. They retained the same rod-like structure of NaDC micelles, albeit with a lower axis ratio (1.51 ± 0.41). Different was the case of the NaDC/L-ARGO7 solutions, where L-ARGO7 appeared to trigger the formation of NaDC ellipsoidal clusters. In conclusion, PAACs represent singular examples of synthetic bioinspired chiral polymers that showed potential for biotechnological applications on account of their i) stimuli-responsiveness, ii) self-assembly ability and iii) selective interactions with chiral structures, including biological structures.

L’évolution des politiques de gouvernance environnementale internationale et la transition des contextes nationaux et locaux de conservation favorisent de plus en plus l’intégration de la dimension anthropique au sein des parcs nationaux (catégorie II-UICN). Cette dimension s’adresse d’une part aux populations locales qui habitent de manière permanente les diverses zones de protection, et d’autre part, aux acteurs économiques (légaux et illégaux) qui exploitent le territoire protégé (tourisme, orpaillage, bois, etc.) ou qui participent de manière directe et indirecte aux processus de construction territoriale du parc national. L’intégration de la dimension anthropique au sein de ces territoires naturels de protection favorise en conséquence l’émergence de nouvelles dynamiques et stratégies de gestion et de gouvernance participatives.Avec une triple approche scientifique construite autour des regards croisés de la géographie politique, de la géographie socioculturelle et de la political ecology, cette thèse s’intéresse à l’analyse de trois cas d’études particuliers du continent américain afin de comprendre comment l’intégration de cette dimension anthropique (socioculturelle et économique) favorise la transition de certains espaces naturels protégés classiques vers une nouvelle configuration que nous proposons d’identifier ici sous le nom de « parcs nationaux naturels anthropisés - PNNa ». L’analyse systémique de la structure et du fonctionnement des macrostructures de gouvernance et des microstructures de gestion du Parc amazonien de la Guyane en France, du Parc marin du Saguenay-Saint-Laurent au Québec (Canada) et du Parc national naturel Amacayacu en Amazonie colombienne, nous ont permis ainsi de mettre en évidence quelques aspects de cette transition dans la gestion territoriale des espaces naturels protégés de catégorie II, ainsi que les conflits de pouvoir qui en résultent
The evolution of international environmental policies and national and local conservation contexts gives increasing importance to the anthropic dimension within the national parks (category II UICN). Not only does this dimension takes into account the local population that lives permanently in these various natural areas, but also the economic actors who, legally or illegally, benefit from those protected areas (tourism, gold-washing, wood, etc.) or participate directly or indirectly in the process of the territorial elaboration of a national park. The integration of the anthropic aspect definitely help the emergence of new dynamics and strategies of collaborative management and policies. Building on political geography, socio-cultural geography and political ecology, this thesis aims to shed light how that anthropic dimension (sociocultural as well as economical) entails the transition of some protected areas from a classical type to a new category we identify as the “Nature and Anthropic National Park” (PNNa). We focus on three specific study cases in the American continent: the Amazonian park of the French Guiana, the Sea Park of Saguenay-Saint-Laurent of Québec, Canada, and the Amazonian Amacayacu National Park of Colombia. The systemic analysis of their structure and their functioning, as far as macrostructure of policies and microstructures of management are concerned, has allowed us to bring out that transition in the territorial management of these category II protected natural areas and the deriving conflicts for power
La evolución de las políticas de gobernanza medioambiental internacional y la transición de los contextos nacionales y locales de conservación, favorecen cada vez más la integración de la dimensión antrópica al interior de los parques nacionales (categoría II-UICN). Esta dimensión corresponde de una parte, a las poblaciones locales que habitan de manera permanente las diversas zonas de protección dentro del parque nacional, y de otra parte, a los actores económicos (legales e ilegales) que explotan el territorio protegido (Turismo, explotación minera, explotación de madera, etc), o que participan de manera directa o indirecta en los procesos de construcción territorial del parque nacional. La integración de la dimensión antrópica dentro de estos territorios naturales de protección favorece en consecuencia la emergencia de nuevas dinámicas y estrategias participativas de gestión y de gobernanza. A través de un triple enfoque científico construido mediante el cruce de diversos puntos de vista de la geografía política, de la geografía sociocultural y de la political ecology, esta tesis se interesa en el análisis de tres casos de estudio particulares del Continente americano. El objetivo de esta contribución es el de intentar mostrar, cómo la integración de la dimensión antrópica (sociocultural y económica) influencia la transición de algunos espacios naturales protegidos hacia una nueva configuración que nosotros proponemos identificar aquí bajo el nombre de “parques nacionales naturales antropizados – PNNa”.El análisis sistémico de la estructura y del funcionamiento de las macroestructuras de gobernanza y de las microestructuras de gestión participativa del Parque amazónico de la Guayana, en Francia, del Parque marino del Saguenay-Saint-Laurent en Quebec, Canadá, y del Parque nacional natural Amacayacu en Amazonia colombiana, nos permitieron poner en evidencia este tipo de transición en la gestión territorial de los espacios naturales protegidos de categoría II, así que los conflictos de poder que resultan de esta transformación

Précédée d'un véritable débat de société ainsi que de longues discussions juridiques et parlementaires, la loi du 15 novembre 1999 a créé le pacte civil de solidarité ( P PACS ). Présenté comme un contrat, il permet à deux personnes physiques majeures d'organiser leur vie commune. En réalité, la nature exacte de ce nouveau cadre juridique ouvert aux couples mérite d'être débattue : on ne peut le réduire à un simple contrat. Pour autant, il ne s'ait pas non plus d'une réelle institution. Le PACS consacre en effet une voie médiane : c'est n acte juridique particulier. Cette nature originale est lourde de conséquences quant à la 1 titude laissée aux partenaires pour entrer dans les liens d'un PACS et pour en sortir. Parce qu'il n'est pas un pur contrat, sa conclusion et sa rupture ne sont pas abandonnées aux seules partis. Les choix du législateur conduisent à placer le PACS, dès sa préparation et jusqu'à sa disparition, dans la sphère de la Justice. C'est justement cette interaction entre le PACS et la Justice que cette thèse a pour but d'étudier. Dès la préparation de la convention du pacte, l'intervention des auxiliaires de justice est indispensable. Lors de la conclusion et lors de la rupture, le législateur impose une déclaration au greffe du tribunal d'instance, rattachant ainsi, explicitement, le PACS à la Justice. En outre, les silences du texte sont tels qu'ils font peser sur le juge un véritable rôle de configurateur de ce nouveau statut, notamment lorsque celui-ci est saisi d'un contentieux
The law of November 15th, 1999 has created a new legal framework open to all couples : it is the civil solidarity pact (PACS). It is presented as a contract which offers legal recognition to adult cohabiting couples. But the true nature of this pact needs debating: it cannot be reduced to a mere contract. However, it is not a real institution either. As a matter of fact the PACS is halfway between both. It is a very specific juridical act. This original nature entals farreaching consequences as to the liberty allowed to the partners to register their union in the pact or to leave it. Given that it is not a sheer contract, neither its conclusion nor its breaking off can be left o the signatory parties alone. The choices of the legislator lead to set the PACS, from its preparation to its dissolution, in the judicial sphere. This interaction betw en the PACS and the Law is the very point of this doctoral thesis. As soon as the PACS agreement is under way, the intervention of the representatives of the Law is necessarily required. When the pact is concluded or broke, the legislator requires that it be declared at the Magistrates' Court, thus relating explicitly the PACS to the Law. Besides, the absences of legislation in the text are such that the judge has to assume the responsibility for establishing this new status, notably when he is apprised f a contentious procedure

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e Telemática
A imagem médica é hoje um meio complementar de diagnóstico fundamental nas instituições de saúde. Historicamente, estes meios têm custos muito significativos para as instituições, quer em aquisição de equipamentos, quer na manutenção da infraestrutura. Numa ótica da redução de custos operacionais e melhoria dos processos, as instituições médicas tem explorado os avanços na área das Tecnologias da Informação, com o objetivo de melhorar a aquisição, arquivo, distribuição e visualização dos estudos. Estes sistemas, denominados como PACS, começaram por se impor no interior das instituições. No entanto, a tendência atual é para interligar essas redes, criando ambientes de trabalho geograficamente distribuídos. O bom desempenho destas redes é fundamental para suportar a prática clínica, nomeadamente, no que diz respeito à latência associada às comunicações. Assim, é vital desenvolver tecnologias para melhorar o desempenho, segurança e robustez destas redes. Esta dissertação propõe e avalia um conjunto de soluções tecnológicas que objetivam melhorar a utilização de PACS em ambientes distribuídos.
Nowadays, medical imaging is used as a primary method of diagnosis in healthcare institutions. Typically, those environments have huge costs related to acquisition equipment and infrastructure maintenance. In order to reduce costs and improve workflows, healthcare institutions have been exploring new information technologies to support the acquisition, storage, distribution and visualization of medical imaging studies. Those systems, denominated as PACS, are very used inside the institutions’ networks. However, the actual tendency in PACS is to interconnect multiple institutional systems, thus creating geographically distributed medical imaging networks. The performance of these architectures must not delay or deteriorate the medical processes. As a result, the development of new technologies is fundamental to improve the performance, safety and reliability of these architectures. This thesis proposes and assesses a set of technological approaches that aim to improve PACS deployment and utilization in distributed environments.

La ville de Đà Lạt se préparait aux grandes périodes de transformation pour devenir une magnifique ville de système de parcs à l’époque coloniale française. Mais actuellement, l’urbanisation et la mutation de l’agriculture amènent de forts changements dans le paysage de la ville. Il est nécessaire d’analyser l’évolution de la transformation du paysage de la ville sous l’interaction de l’agriculture et de la mutation urbaine entre trois époques, celle de l’époque coloniale française, celles des époques d’avant et d’après le Đổi Mới de 1986. Sous l’impact des différents acteurs et des stratégies du gouvernement actuel, Đà Lạt se développe comme une ville socialiste vietnamienne et multifonctionnelle. On n’est plus dans l’idée première d’une ville de villégiature et de système de parcs. Dalat suit les influences d’urbanisation comme les autres villes du Vietnam et a tendance à perdre la caractéristique de sanatorium d’altitude. Elle ne retrouvera sa qualité que grâce à une orientation dans le développement durable, tout en connectant les espaces d’agricultures, les espaces urbains et les espaces paysagers. Ainsi, Dalat peut à nouveau se mettre en valeur comme une véritable ville de système de parcs
The city of Đà Lạt was being transformed to be a magnificent city with a system of parks since the French colonial period. But in fact, the urbanization and the mutation of agriculture cause a great change of the city’s landscape. It is necessary to analyze the evolution of the transformation of the landscape regarding to the interaction of agriculture and the urban mutation in three periods, those are the period of French colonial, the period of Vietnam Republic and the period of Renovation ( Đổi Mới) since 1986. Through many activities of different strategies by the present authority, Đà Lạt is developing as a socialist and multifunctional city. People no longer think of Đà Lạt as a resort with a system of parks as before. The city is being influenced by the urbanization as other cities in Vietnam and losing her characteristic of an altitude resort. The city has not found her own orientation from quality grace in durable development, all together is connected with the space of agriculture, the space of urban and the space of landscape. Therefore Đà Lạt would be able to be regarded as a valuable city with a system of parks

"Cette thèse étudie les aires protégées ayant le statut de "parcs nationaux" et possédant une composante marine importante. Dans cette recherche, des parcs nationaux marins, insulaires et littoraux du Canada, de Croatie, de Finlande, de France et des Seychelles sont examinés; La démarche comparative est choisie en vue de déterminer s'il peut exister un modèle spatial de gestion de parc marin, insulaire et littoral (PMIL). La première partie de cette thèse, historique, revient sur le passé des parcs nationaux. La seconde s'interesse à la problématique et à la méthode utilisée. La troisième présente les parcs étudiés dans leur environnement naturel, leurs populations et leurs activités économiques. La quatrième explique le contexte politique dans lequel évoluent les parcs nationaux et nous présente leur fonctionnement interne. La cinquième et dernière partie fait la synthèse des données étudiées et propose un modèle spatial de gestion de ce type d'espace protégé. "
This thesis studies protected areas having the status of "national parks" and possesses an important component. The research examines marine, insular and littoral national parks of Canada, Croatia, Finland, France and the Seychelles. A comparative approach is chosen in order to determine wether a spatial model of management can be created for marine, insular and littoral parks (MILP). The first part of this thesis, historical, looks at national parks past. The second involves the problematics and the methods used. The third introduce the parks studied in their natural environment, their population and their economic activities. The fourth explains the political context in which national parks evolve and shows us their internal functioning. The fifth and las t part synthetizes all these studies and suggests a spatial model of management for this type of protected area

Cloudlet is a recent topic that has attained much interest in network system research. It can be characterized as a PaaS (Platform as a Service) layer that allows mobile clients to execute their code in the cloud. Cloudlet can be seen as a layer at the edge of the communication network.In this thesis, we present a cloudlet architecture design which includes cloudlet code as a part of client application itself. We first provide an overview of related work and describe existing challenges which need to be addressed. Next, we present an overview design for a cloudlet-based implementation. Finally, we present the cloudlet architecture including a prototype of both client application and cloudlet server. For the prototype of a CO2 data visualization application, we focus on how to format the functions in client side, how to schedule cloudlet PaaS in the server, and how to make the server scalable. Finally, we conclude with a performance evaluation.Cloudlet technology is likely to be widely applied in IoT projects, such as data visualization of air quality and water quality, for fan control and traffic steering, or other use cases. Compared to the traditional centralized cloud architecture, cloudlet has high responsiveness, flexibility and scalability.
Cloudlet är en ny teknik som har fått stort intresse inom nätverksforskning. Tekniken kan beskrivas som en PaaS-plattform (Platform as a Service) som tillåter mobila klienter att exekvera sin kod i molnet. Cloudlet kan ses som ett lager i kanten av kommunikationsnätet.I denna rapport presenteras en cloudlet-baserad arkitektur som inkluderar cloudlet-kod som en del av själva tillämpning på klient-sidan. Vi ger först en översikt av relaterat arbete inom området och beskriver existerande utmaningar som behöver adresseras. Därefter presenterar vi en övergripande design för en cloudlet-baserad implementering. Slutligen presenterar vi cloudlet-arkitekturen, inklusive en prototypimplementation av både klient-tillämpning och cloudlet-server. I vår prototyp av en datavisualiseringstillämpning för CO2, fokuserar vi på hur man formaterar funktionerna på klientsidan, hur man schemalägger cloudlet-PaaS på serversidan, samt hur servern kan göras skalbar. Rapporten avslutas med en prestandautvärdering.Cloudlet-tekniken bedöms i stor utsträckning att användas i IoT-projekt, såsom datavisualisering av luftkvalitet och vattenkvalitet, fläktstyrning och trafikstyrning eller andra användningsområden. Jämfört med den traditionella centraliserade molnarkitekturen har cloudlet hög respons, flexibilitet och skalbarhet.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) has produced a huge impact on how we can offer easy and scalable software that adapts to the needs of the users. This has allowed the possibility of systems being capable to easily configure themselves upon the demand of the customers. Based on these features, a large interest has emerged to try and offer virtualized Hadoop solutions based on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) architectures in order to easily deploy completely functional Hadoop clusters in platforms like Amazon EC2 or OpenStack. Throughout the thesis work, it was studied the possibility of enhancing the capabilities of KTHFS, a modified Hadoop platform in development; to allow automatic configuration of a whole functional cluster on IaaS platforms. In order to achieve this, we will study different proposals of similar PaaS platforms from companies like VMWare or Amazon EC2 and analyze existing node orchestration techniques to configure nodes in cloud providers like Amazon or Openstack and later on automatize this process. This will be the starting point for this work, which will lead to the development of our own orchestration language for KTHFS and two artifacts (i) a simple Web Portal to launch the KTHFS Dashboard in the supported IaaS platforms, (ii) an integrated component in the Dashboard in charge of analyzing a cluster definition file, and initializing the configuration and deployment of a cluster using Chef. Lastly, we discover new issues related to scalability and performance when integrating the new components to the Dashboard. This will force us to analyze solutions in order to optimize the performance of our deployment architecture. This will allow us to reduce the deployment time by introducing a few modifications in the architecture. Finally, we will conclude with some few words about the on-going and future work.

Le parc industriel présente une importance prépondérante dans la littérature en science régionale et constitue un enjeu économique vital pour les pays en développement. L'expérience est d'autant plus probante que l'émergence économique de la Chine pourra s'expliquer par la construction massive des parcs industriels sur tout le territoire national depuis des années 1980. La politique chinoise des parcs industriels vise à promouvoir la croissance et l'innovation par la concentration et la mise en réseau des acteurs économiques et technologiques. Elle renvoie à la question de la colocalisation et de l'interaction, qui est étudiée par l'approche de la proximité au sujet des dynamiques localisées, et qui se renforce par une analyse des relations interpersonnelles et inter organisationnelles. Partant de cette approche, notre thèse présente trois études de cas sur les parcs industriels de Jiuquan, de Shuangliu et de Shenzhen qui ont tous une orientation sectorielle vers la manufacture des équipements pour les énergies nouvelles (éolienne, solaire et nucléaire). L'essentiel de nos données provient des entretiens semi-directifs et des observations réalisés dans deux programmes de recherche soutenus par les gouvernements locaux de la province du Gansu en Chine. Nos études empiriques nous permettent notamment d'explorer la dynamique des parcs industriels chinois fondée sur les planifications (spatiale et sectorielle) et les réformes institutionnelles, l'importance des réseaux sociaux (Guanxi) au niveau local, la relativisation des dynamiques de coordination par la stratégie d'intégration et par la rivalité entre entreprises locales du même secteur
As a crucial economic issue for developing countries, the industrial park has a significant importance in regional science literature. Since the 1980s, China's economic emergence is related to the massive construction of industrial parks throughout the entire national territory. The Chinese industrial park policy aims to promote economic growth and innovation by concentrating and networking the economic and technological actors. It refers to the issue of colocation and interaction, which is studied by the proximity approach about localized dynamics, and which is reinforced by an analysis of interpersonal and inter-organizational relations. Based on this approach, our thesis provides three case studies about industrial parks of Jiuquan, Shuangliu and Shenzhen who all have a sectoral focus on manufacture of new energy equipments (wind, solar and nuclear). Our data comes mainly from semi-structured interviews and observations that were conducted during two research programs with the support of local governments in Gansu Province. The empirical studies allow us to explore the dynamic of Chinese industrial parks based on planning (spatial and sectoral) and institutional innovation, the importance of social networks (Guanxi) at local level, the relativization of coordination dynamics by the integration strategy and rivalry between local firms in the same sector

Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is the first boiling water reactor (BWR) NPP in Taiwan. It has two units of BWR/4 reactor made by GE Company and each rated thermal power was 1775 MW without power uprate (now its rated thermal power is 1805 MW after power uprate). This research focuses on the development of the Chinshan NPP TRACE (TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine)/PARCS (Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator) model. The model is done in two steps: The first step is the development of a TRACES/PARCS model of Chinshan NPP which includes the vessel, fuel assemblies, the main steam lines and important control systems (such as the feedwater control system, recirculation flow control system, etc.). Key parameters (such as power, feedwater flow rate, reactor dome temperature, etc.) were identified to refine the model further in the frame of a steady state analysis. The second step is development of TRACE/PARCS model for the load rejection transient. In order to check the system response of the Chinshan NPP TRACE/PARCS model, this study uses the load rejection transient results of startup tests to benchmark the analysis results of Chinshan NPP TRACE/PARCS model. The trends of TRACE/PARCS analysis results were consistent with the startup test data. It indicates that there is a respectable accuracy in the Chinshan NPP TRACE/PARCS model for the load rejection transient.

A vasta biodiversidade da floresta amazônica abre portas para muitos estudos, inclusive acerca da utilização de métodos computacionais para anali- sar fauna e flora. Verificando uma lacuna no estudo de plantas comestı́veis não convencionais (PANCs) na Região do Oeste do Pará, objetivou-se utilizar de técnicas de visão computacional para identificação automática de plantas per- tencentes à esta categoria. Para obter tal resultado, avaliou-se a utilização de sete classificadores para reconhecimento em imagens digitais das PANCs. Os resultados apresentaram uma boa precisão no reconhecimento das classes das imagens de teste. Como impacto direto do estudo, destaca-se a possibilidade de se desenvolver um aplicativo de suporte à decisão para reconhecimento automático de PANCs a fim de ser utilizado por órgãos reguladores.

The Czech Republic National Radiation Protection Institute (SURO) provides technical support to the Czech Republic State Office for Nuclear Safety, providing safety analysis and reviewing of the technical documentations for Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). For this reason, several computational models created in SURO were prepared using different codes as tools to simulate and investigate the design base and beyond design base accidents scenarios. This paper focuses on the creation of SCALE and PARCS neutronic models for a proper analysis of the VVER-440 reactor analysis. In particular, SCALE models of the VVER-440 fuel assemblies have been created in order to produce collapsed and homogenized cross sections necessary for the study with PARCS of the whole VVER-440 reactor core. The sensitivity study of the suitable energy threshold to be adopted for the preparation with SCALE of collapsed two energy-group homogenized cross sections is also discussed. Finally, the results obtained with PARCS core model are compared with those reported in the VVER-440 Final Safety Report.

El cas (Psidium friedrichsthalianum ) es un fruta perteneciente a la familia Myrtaceae, originario de América Central que principalmente se encuentra en Costa Rica y representa una pieza clave en la dieta de los costarricenses (Pino et al.,2002). Sin embargo, es una fruta desconocida a nivel mundial a la cual se le desconocen sus componentes fitoquímicos y sus propiedades (Flores et al., 2013). Dentro de estos componentes destacan las proantocianidinas (PACs).El consumo de frutas con alto contenido de PACs (tipo A), como el arándano, las manzanas entre otros, ha atraído una atención cada vez mayor debido a sus posibles beneficios nutricionales, considerándolas súper frutas. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo realizar una caracterización de las PACS mediante técnicas de espectrometría de masas (ESI-MS) y (MALDI-ToF). Para ello, Las PACs se extrajeron de la fruta liofilizada con acetona (70% v / v) en un baño ultrasónico y centrifugación. Los sobrenadantes se concentraron por evaporación rotatoria hasta sequedad y se solubilizaron en etanol. Los extractos etanólicos se cargaron en una columna empaquetada con Sephadex LH-20 y se eluyeron con etanol, etanol: metanol (1:1) y acetona (80% v / v). Finalmente, las fracciones de acetona se concentraron y se liofilizaron para obtener extractos enriquecidos con PACs, las cuales se caracterizaron por las técnicas de espectrometría de masas anteriormente mencionadas (Feliciano et al., 2012). En la caracterización, los espectros del MALDI-TOF muestran la presencia de PACs con alto grado de polimerización (DP= 8). Los métodos de deconvolución determinaron las relaciones entre los enlaces interflavan de tipo A y B en las PACs, indicando una abundancia para el tipo A de (39%) (3). En cuanto a composición de los oligómeros, Los espectros de ESI-MS revelaron la presencia de iones [M+H]- consistentes con las masas de (epi) afzelequina (EA), (epi) catequina (EC), and (epi) gallocatequina (EG). Dentro de ellos, la EC es la más abundante con un 93%. Los Dímeros encontrados se encontraron en el rango de los (543 -609) Da, siendo los de EA-EC (2%), EC-EC (85%) y EG-EG (12%) los de mayor abundancia y con predominancia de enlaces tipo B de 75% para EC-EC. El trímero de mayor abundancia fue el EC-EC-EC (95%) con una presencia de enlaces tipo B de 65%. En conclusión debido a la alta concentración PACs tipo A (39%), el cas puede ser considerada una super fruta y competir en mercados internacionales como lo hacen otras súper frutas tales como arándano y la granadilla real.

Research Centre Rez solves several safety related projects dealing with safety of Czech NPPs, some of which require fully functioning Three Dimensional (3D) model of the reactor core. While in a number of safety analysis of various accident scenarios it is sufficient to use one point reactor kinetics, there are selected types of accidents in which it is useful to model the space (3D) neutron kinetics, in particular control rod ejections, boron dilution scenarios, including transitions from design basis to beyond design basis accidents. This paper is focused to analyze the present model of the core of VVER1000/V320 reactor. Which is applicable for 3D modeling of neutron kinetics in selected design and beyond design basis accidents. The model is based on a cross-sections library created by SCALE 6.1.2/TRITON simulations. PARCS 3.2 code uses homogenized cross-sections libraries to calculate neutronic and other core parameters of the PWR reactors. Similar model is prepared with MCNP6 for comparison between deterministic (Pn spherical-harmonics method used in PARCS) and the stochastic (Monte Carlo) approach (used in MCNP6). Such comparison will serve as a demonstration of the capability of the PARCS code for VVER1000/V320 analyses.

Introduction: The classification of strokes subtypes is important, since they have different management and prognoses. This study aims to verify associations between the etiologies of the stroke according to the TOAST classification and the clinical presentation by the subtypes of the Oxfordshire scale. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study, with patients admitted to a stroke unit of a reference hospital in Salvador-BA between 11/2017 and 03/2020. We included patients over 18 years of age and didn’t include patients with inaccuracies in the filling of medical records or who didn’t meet the criteria for admission to the cohort. Results: 300 patients between 25 and 98 years old (mean: 64 years; SD: 13.34) were analyzed. Regarding cardioembolic etiology (CE), 34 patients (45.3%) had lacunar syndromes (LACS) and 25 (33.3%) Partial Anterior Circulation Syndrome (PACS). Patients with Large Artery Atherosclerosis (LAA) 24 (40.7%) had PACS while 21 (35.6%) of the LACS patients diagnosed with small vessel occlusion (SVO) 22 (62.9%) had LACS. Futhermore, patients with cryptogenic strokes (CS) had predominantly PACS and LACS, 27 (31%) and 40 (46%) respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results of acute strokes of CE, SVO and CS origin are related to LACS. The events originated by LAA are more associated with PACS. Events caused by SVO were related to lacunar syndromes, corroborating with findings in the literature.

ABSTRACT Background: Efficiency while paying attention to service quality is the top priority of the hospital. The efficiency in radiology installations has also not gone unnoticed. The implementation of Picture Archiving and Commucating System (PACS) and Radiology Information System (RIS) is one of the efforts to control costs in radiology installations, especially in consumables’ efficiency (BHP). Bukittinggi National Stroke Hospital (RSSN), as one of the vertical hospitals located in the City of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, has become a precursor to the implementation of PACS and RIS in this province. This study aimed to determine effect of material using ct scan and mri after use of picture archiving and communicating system and radiology information system at radiological installation of Bukittinggi national hospital, West Sumatra. Subjects and Method: This was a descriptive study conducted at Radiological Installation Of Bukittinggi National Hospital, West Sumatra from July 2020. The data were collected by observation and monthly report data. Results: The results of the analysis of the use of PACS and RIS had a significant impact on the cost efficiency of BHP CT scans and MRIs in the RSSN radiology installation reaching 97.9%. Conclusion: Transfer of CT scan and MRI results from film to DVD-R for internal RSSN patients with considerable efficiency. Keyword: PACS, RIS, cost control, BHP Correspondence: Widya. Postgraduate Administrative Studies, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia. Pondok Cina, Kecamatan Beji, Kota Depok, Jawa Barat 12345. Email: mnwidya@gmail.com. Mobile: (021) 7864975 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.05.23

The object of this paper is to understand the realistic behavior in Lungmen ABWR (Advanced Boiling Water Reactor) during a control rod drop accident (CRDA) transient. The CRDA transient would lead the reactor through an extremely fast and localized power excursion, requiring an accurate core modeling. The CRDA analysis for Lungmen ABWR was performed by coupling the 3D neutron kinetic code, PARCS, and two-phase thermal-hydraulic (T-H) code, TRACE. After TRACE/PARCS coupling calculation, the output data from TRACE/PARCS would be inputted into FRAPTRAN code as a function of time-dependent fuel rod power and coolant boundary conditions to calculate the fuel damage. The CRDA analysis for Lungmen ABWR was performed for two conditions: a) case1: hot-full-power (HFP) at beginning of cycle (BOC); b) case2: hot-zero-power (HZP) at BOC. Under these conditions, the damage mechanisms of fuel rod are: 1) cladding ballooning and burst; 2) embrittlement and failure by high-temperature oxidation; 3) melting of cladding and/or fuel pellets. And the relevant quantities for fuel performance are the maximum fuel enthalpy and the melting temperatures of cladding and fuel pellet. The results of CRDA analysis show that a) case1: no fuel failure occurs under HFP condition at BOC; b) case2: the fuel rod nearby the dropped control rod failed under HZP condition at BOC, and the FRAPPTRAN data exposes that the main reason of rod failure is the cladding high temperature.

Broomrapes (Orobanche/Phelipanchespp.) are holo parasitic plants that subsist on the roots of a variety of agricultural crops and cause severe losses to the yield quality and quantity. Effective methods for controlling parasitic weeds are scarce, with only a few known cases of genetic resistance. In the current study, we proposed an improved strategy for the control of parasitic weeds based on trans-specific gene-silencing of three parasite genes at once. We used two strategies to express dsRNA containing selected sequences of three Phelipancheaegyptiacagenes PaACS, PaM6PR and PaPrx1 (pma): transient expression using Tobacco rattle virus (TRV:pma) as a virus-induced gene-silencing (VIGS) vector and stable expression in transgenic tomato Solanumlycopersicum(Mill.) plants harboring a hairpin construct (pBINPLUS35:pma). siRNA-mediated transgene-silencing (20–24 nt) was detected in the host plants. Our results demonstrate that the quantities of PaACSand PaM6PR transcripts from P. aegyptiacatubercles grown on transgenic tomato or on Tobacco rattle virus-infected Nicotianabenthamianaplants were significantly reduced. However, only partial reductions in the quantity of PaPrx1 transcripts were observed in the parasite tubercles grown on tomato and on N. benthamianaplants. Concomitant with the suppression of the target genes, there were significant decreases in the number and weight of the parasite tubercles that grew on the host plants, in both the transient and the stable experimental systems. The results of the work carried out using both strategies point to the movement of mobile exogenous siRNA from the host to the parasite, leading to the impaired expression of essential parasite target genes. In light of the importance of parasitic weeds to world agriculture and the difficulty of obtaining resistance by conventional methods, we assume that genetic resistance based on the silencing of key metabolic genes in the parasite is now feasible. BARD Report - Project4622 Page 2 of 60