Дисертації з теми "Long-term fate"

Lowering the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for arsenic in drinking water in the U.S., has caused a significant increase in the volume of Arsenic Bearing Solid Residuals (ABSRs) generated by drinking water utilities. Most of the affected utilities are smaller water treatment facilities, especially in the arid Southwest, and are expected to use adsorption onto solid sorbents for arsenic removal. Because of their high adsorption capacity and low cost, iron sorbents are used treatment technology and, when the sorbent's capacity is spent, these ABSRs are disposed in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills and as a consequence arsenic is likely being released into leachate. However, a mature landfill is a biotic, reducing environment, which causes arsenic reduction and mobilization from the ABSRs. It is well documented that iron and sulfur redox cycles largely control arsenic cycling and, because iron and sulfur are ubiquitous in MSW, it is suspected that they play key roles in arsenic disposition in the landfill microcosm. The purpose of this study is to investigate the degree to which sulfate can prevent arsenic from leaching into landfill through biomineralization and to study ABSRs biogeochemical weathering effect on arsenic sequestration. The primary routes of iron and sulfate reduction in landfills are microbially mediated and biomineralization is a common by-product. In this case, biomineralization is the transformation of ferric (hydr) oxides into ferrous iron phase and sulfate into sulfide minerals such as: siderite (FeCO₃), vivianite (Fe₃(PO₄)₂), iron sulfide (FeS), goethite (α-FeOOH), and realgar (AsS). In this work, long-term microbial reduction and biomineralization of iron, sulfur, and arsenic species are evaluated as processes that both cause arsenic release from landfilled ABSRs and may possibly provide a means to re-sequester As in a recalcitrant solid state. The work uses long-term, continuous flow-through laboratory-scale columns in which controlled conditions similar to those found in a mature landfill prevail. In these simulated landfill column experiments, formation of biominerals, same as those that would naturally occur in typical non-hazardous MSW landfills, will be investigated. The feed contains lactate as the carbon source and primary electron donor, and ferric iron, arsenate, and a range of sulfate concentrations as primary electron acceptors. Our results suggest that biomineralization changes the stability of arsenic through a number of different processes including (i) release of arsenic through reductive dissolution of iron-based ABSRs; and (ii) readsorption/incorporation of released arsenic to secondary biominerals. The influence of biominerals, which have less surface area and adsorption capacity than original AFH, on the retention of arsenic is also investigated in this study. Our results show that the concentration of sulfate fed to the system affects the biomineral formation, and that the relative amounts and sequence of precipitation of biominerals affect the free arsenic concentration that can seemingly be engineered by the concentration of sulfate fed to the system. Comparison between the columns with different sulfate concentrations indicate that inflow sulfate concentration higher than 2.08 mM decreases As mobilization to <50%.

L'activité agricole peut entraîner un déséquilibre des cycles du carbone (C) et de l'azote (N) dans les écosystèmes terrestres naturels et entrainer une diminution des stocks de C et N dans le sol, une augmentation de la lixiviation du nitrate et des pertes d'azote par voie gazeuse. Pour réduire ces impacts environnementaux, la mise en place de systèmes agricoles innovants et durables est encouragée, tels que les systèmes à bas niveau intrants, l'agriculture de conservation ou l'agriculture biologique. Les objectifs de cette thèse sont i) de quantifier l'impact à long terme des différents systèmes de culture sur le devenir du carbone et de l'azote dans le système sol-plante-atmosphère et ii) de simuler la dynamique de ces éléments avec le modèle agro-environnemental STICS. À cette fin, nous avons étudié trois essais de longue durée : l'essai de La Cage (France) établi en 1998, l'essai DOK (Suisse) débuté en 1978 et l'essai Foulum (Danemark) créé en 1998. Alors que l'essai de La Cage a permis une quantification in situ du stockage du carbone et de l'azote organiques du sol, de la lixiviation de l'azote, des émissions de protoxyde d’azote (N2O) et de la balance des gaz à effet de serre pour des systèmes de culture alternatifs, les essais danois et suisses ont permis l'estimation in silico du devenir du C et N en agriculture biologique, après adaptation du modèle STICS pour simuler de nouvelles pratiques culturales. Après 16 années d’expérimentation, une accumulation annuelle significative de SOC et de SON a été observée en agriculture et en agriculture biologique à La Cage, alors qu'aucun changement significatif n'a été observé dans les systèmes conventionnels et bas intrants. La minéralisation spécifique de SOC et SON des quatre systèmes, simulée sur AMG et mesurée lors d’incubation des sols pendant quatre mois, s’est montrée équivalente entre systèmes. Le stockage de C et N observé dans les systèmes de conservation et biologiques s’explique principalement par l'augmentation des résidus de cultures plutôt que par l'effet du non-labour en agriculture de conservation. De plus, le surplus azoté (différence entre apports et exportations d’azote) a été calculé pour chaque système de culture. Le devenir de l’excédent d’azote a été estimé entre stockage de N dans le sol, pertes gazeuses et lixiviation de l'azote. Les émissions cumulatives de N2O mesurées en continu pendant plus de trois ans sont fortement corrélées avec les pertes totales calculées de N par voix gazeuse (volatilisation et dénitrification), ces pertes étant les plus importantes dans le système de conservation. Enfin, la réalisation d’un bilan complet des émissions de GES a montré de fortes différences entre système et des phénomènes de compensation entre stockage et perte de C et N. Le modèle sol-culture STICS a ensuite été utilisé pour simuler le devenir de l’azote dans les essais DOK et Foulum. Après une adaptation du modèle, sa calibration et son évaluation ont été réalisées permettant de simuler de façon satisfaisante les rendements, l'absorption de N, le surplus de N et l’évolution des stocks de SON dans les systèmes conventionnels et biologiques. Les simulations suggèrent que le devenir de l’azote dans ces systèmes peut être contrasté en fonction de la fertilisation et de la gestion des cultures et que les pertes d'azote ne sont pas systématiquement réduites en agriculture biologique par rapport au conventionnel. Cette thèse remet en question les appréciations simplistes qui associent systématiquement systèmes de culture alternatifs et diminution des impacts environnementaux liés aux cycles de C et N
Agricultural activities can lead to imbalanced carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics compared to natural terrestrial eco-systems, causing potential damages for soil, water and air quality. Among these prejudices, decreased soil C and N stocks, increased nitrate leaching in waters and gaseous N emissions towards the atmosphere are of a major concern. To reduce these environmental impacts, innovative and sustainable farming systems are promoted, such as low inputs cropping systems, “conservation” agriculture or organic farming. The objectives of this work were i) to quantify the long term impact of different alternative cropping systems on the fate of C and N in the soil-plantatmosphere system and ii) to simulate C and N dynamics with the agro-environmental model STICS. For this purpose, we studied three long-term field trials: the experiment of La Cage (France) established in 1998, the DOK (Switzerland) started in 1978 and the Foulum Organic (Denmark) established in 1998. The methodological approach combined experimentation and modelling. While La Cage trial enabled an in situ quantification of soil organic C and N storage, N leaching, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) balance in alternative cropping systems compared to conventional, the Swiss and Danish experiments were used for in silico estimation of the C and N fates in organic cropping systems, after adaptation of the STICS model, followed by calibration and evaluation of the model. Significant annual SOC and SON accumulation was found under conservation agriculture and organic farming at La Cage, whereas no significant change was observed in the low input and the conventional systems. No difference of specific SOC and SON mineralization rates was found between systems in vitro or in silico : we conclude that the higher C and N storage in soil observed in the conservation and organic systems was mainly driven by increased crop residues, rather than by the effect of no tillage practiced in conservation agriculture. The N surplus, i.e. the difference between N inputs and N exports at the field scale, varied widely between treatments. The fate of this N surplus also varied between systems with wide variations in SON storage and gaseous losses but no differences in N leaching. The cumulative N2O emissions measured continuously for three years were highly correlated with the calculated gaseous N losses (volatilization and denitrification), with higher losses in the conservation system. These calculations allowed establishing a full GHG balance. Therefore the four agricultural systems dissimilarly impacted the N fate, which could not be predicted by the N surplus alone. The GHG balance is a much better indicator of the environmental impact of cropping systems relative to C and N fluxes. In the Danish and Swiss experiments, the soil-crop model STICS was used to mimic crop production, N uptake and N surplus. The model was first adapted and evaluated to simulate organic farming systems. The model could satisfactorily simulate crop production, N uptake, N surplus and SON storage in the organic and conventional systems of these two longterm experiments. Model outputs suggested that the N fate could be contrasted according to fertilization and crop management, and that N losses were not systematically reduced in organic compared to conventional cropping systems. This study challenges the frequent belief that alternative cropping systems systematically improve the global C and N environmental impacts of agriculture

Objetivos: Comparar o efeito do controle estrito do biofilme supragengival (SUPRA), em comparação ao controle combinado dos biofilmes supra e subgengival (SUPRA+SUB), na microbiota subgengival de pacientes durante a fase de manutenção periódica preventiva (MPP), ao longo de 1 ano. Materiais e métodos: Sessenta e dois pacientes com periodontite moderada ou avançada (idade média 50.97 ± 9.26 anos, 40 mulheres, 24 fumantes) foram tratados de acordo com um protocolo não-cirúrgico. Finalizada a fase terapêutica, os pacientes iniciaram a fase de MPP e foram randomicamente alocados para receber a intervenção SUPRA ou SUPRA+SUB. Exames periodontais, instruções de higiene bucal, e as respectivas intervenções (SUPRA ou SUPRA+SUB) foram realizados em consultas trimestrais. Biofilme subgengival foi coletado ao baseline, 3, 6 e 12 meses. Técnica de PCR em Tempo Real foi utilizada para quantificar as espécies bacterianas Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Treponema denticola (Td), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), e o domínio Eubacteria (Bactérias totais). Equações de estimação generalizadas foram usadas para se estimar os efeitos dos tratamentos considerando-se a avaliação longitudinal. Resultados: Não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os grupos para as contagens de Pg, Td, Tf, e Bactérias totais ao longo de 1 ano. Contudo, a partir dos 3 meses, as contagens de Pg e Tf aumentaram significativamente em ambos os grupos. As contagens de Bactérias totais e Td foram mantidas longitudinalmente. Por outro lado, as contagens médias das espécies bacterianas alvo permaneceram em baixos níveis (≤ 103) durante todo o estudo. Paralelamente, os parâmetros clínicos foram mantidos sem alterações significativas. Conclusões: As intervenções de manutenção investigadas produziram resultados microbiológicos semelhantes ao longo do tempo, o que demonstra o grande e importante impacto do controle do biofilme supragengival durante a fase de MPP.
Aim: Compare the effects of supragingival scaling alone (SPG) against the combined supra and subgingival scaling (SPG+SBG), on subgingival microbiota from patients during periodontal maintenance period (PMP), along 1 year. Material and Methods: Sixty-two patients with moderate or severe periodontitis (mean age 50.97 ± 9.26, 40 females, 24 smokers) were treated according to a non-surgical protocol. Ended the therapy phase, they entered a PMP and were randomly allocated to receive SPG or SPG+SBG interventions. Periodontal exams, oral hygiene instructions, and the respective intervention (SPG or SPG+SBG) were performed at quarterly appointments. Subgingival biofilm was sampled at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Real-time PCR technique was used to quantify the bacteria species Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Treponema denticola (Td), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), and Eubacteria domain (Total bacteria). Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate treatment effects while accounting for longitudinal evaluation. Results: No significant inter-groups differences were observed to Pg, Td, Tf, and Total bacteria counts over 1 year. However, from 3 months onward, Pg and Tf counts increased significantly in both groups. Total bacteria and Td counts were maintained overtime. Still, the mean counts of target bacteria species remained at low levels (≤ 103) throughout the study. In parallel, the clinical parameters were maintained without significant changes. Conclusions: The PMP interventions yielded similar microbiological results along time, demonstrating the great impact and importance of supragingival biofilm control during PMP.

This research project investigates the long-term consequences of perinatal exposure to high-fat (HF) on the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system. Adult offspring of mothers fed a HF diet (30% fat, compared to 5% in control mothers (C)) during the last week of gestation and throughout lactation displayed decreased locomotion in response to an acute amphetamine challenge and decreased behavioral sensitization to repeated amphetamine compared to C animals. These behavioral effects were accompanied by small increases in tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the ventral tegmental area and significant increases in DA and DOPAC content in the NAc, suggesting an elevated DA tone in this target field. In the NAc, there were no significant changes in D1, D2 receptors or DA transporter (DAT) levels between diet groups. The behavioural and biochemical data were collected in adulthood, long after the termination of the diet suggesting that a HF perinatal diet is inducing permanent changes within the DA system and might contribute to the development of metabolic disturbances.

Studies concerning social consequences, gastrointestinal and urinary tract symptoms were conducted in a population-based cohort comprising patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes and matched control persons. Three different questionnaires were sent by mail to diabetic patients and control persons. After a mean duration of 28.7±2.6 years, compared to the controls the diabetic patients showed an almost 10 times higher mortality, a lower employment rate and greater need for welfare benefits. These differences were mainly due to diabetic late complications. Education, housing conditions, life-style, civil state, alcohol and smoking habits were similar in the two groups. The prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms was significantly higher in the diabetic patients than in the controls, and this was found to be attributable to the female diabetic patients. Female diabetic patients had been treated with antibiotics for urinary tract infections more often than controls, they experienced more social problems than controls in daily life because of urinary tract problems and used clamps to prevent wetting more often than did controls.

Body composition and bone mineral density were evaluated in parts of the cohort with long-standing type 1 diabetes and control persons in another population-based cohort comprising diabetic females aged 16-19 years with type 1 diabetes since childhood and matched controls. Besides a tendency to reduced abdominal fat mass in diabetic males, no difference was observed in fat mass, muscle mass or bone mineral density between the patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes and controls. Significant correlations were found between insulin dosage and whole body fat mass in diabetic females and between serum cholesterol levels and abdominal fat mass in diabetic males. The female adolescents had a higher body mass index than the controls, and their overweight was shown to consist almost entirely of an increased fat mass. The distribution of fat, expressed as abdominal-to-leg ratio, correlated significantly to HbA1c and daily dosage of insulin. Bone mineral density did not differ between the groups. IGF I was significantly lower both in patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes and in the adolescent diabetic females compared with their matched controls.

The adolescent period has been proposed to be exquisitely sensitive to the impacts of stress and juvenile stressor exposure is associated with anxiety- and depressive- like characteristics in adulthood. Among adult rats, access to a palatable diet has shown to mitigate the effects of stressors, a form of ‘self-medication.’ The present collection of studies sought to further characterize the long-term consequences of stressor exposure early in the juvenile period, as well as the use of palatable food as a coping strategy. The first study (Chapter 2) highlighted the importance of methodological rigor in the design of experiments employing social stressors. The second study (Chapter 3) provided further evidence that exposure to juvenile social defeat can have long-lasting consequences into adulthood, and access to a palatable diet may impart some resilience to initial stressor exposure. The third study (Chapter 4) demonstrated that access to a palatable diet can mitigate the long-term behavioral consequences of a 3-day sub chronic non-social stressor applied during juvenility in pair housed rats. The fourth study (Chapter 5) sought to replicate these findings in individually housed (purportedly more stressed) animals. Interestingly, access to a palatable diet was sufficient to protect against the neuroendocrine consequences of juvenile stress but did not mitigate the behavioral consequences, raising the question of an effectiveness “threshold” of self-medication via a palatable diet. The final study (Chapter 6) provided some preliminary evidence that exposure to juvenile stress amid access to a palatable diet has long-lasting changes on dopamine receptor expression in the nucleus accumbens, although the functional significance needs further characterization. Collectively, all studies provided further evidence that self-medication with a palatable diet comes at the price of poor metabolic outcomes. The results of this body of work provide further evidence that exposure to stress during juvenility can have protracted effects into adulthood, at the cost of poor metabolic outcomes. It also raises the suggestion of an effectiveness threshold of palatable food to cope with stress. Further understanding of the interplay between stress and diet may serve to inform the development of prevention based programs to mitigate the rising tide of concurrent childhood obesity and levels of perceived stress.

In this thesis, reviews are carried out concerning the establishment of asylums, the reasons for their closure, and the methods that have been used to evaluate care quality in services for people with long-term mental health problems. The studies carried out attempt to evaluate care quality in a service moving from asylum to community-based care. The first cross-sectional study comparing the care provided on the asylum ward and a community hostel suggested that institutional practices could be found in both. A second longitudinal study of the original asylum wards' closure and relocation to supported homes suggested that asylum closure could produce great turmoil. Although transfer to the community appeared to lead to some improvements in care, the study also highlighted how some of the measures used to determine care quality in asylums were less appropriate in community settings. A measure of interactions proved particularly useful in evaluating care in both settings and in two additional studies this was developed by using an event recorder and adding categories. Given the changes in population seen in the longitudinal study of ward closure, a further comparative study was carried out on the asylum population's level of functioning over a six year period. Discriminant analysis suggested that the more able had moved into community settings, while individuals with challenging behaviour such as verbal aggression, had remained in the asylum. Older residents had either died or moved to homes for the elderly. Over the eight years leading to the closure of the asylum evaluated in this thesis, there has been an increasing emphasis upon users' views. A cross-sectional study of subjective quality of life (comparing residents of a ward and people who had recently been discharged from the same ward) suggested improvements in subjective quality of life could follow a move to the community (although these differences were confounded by differences in the two populations). A longitudinal follow-up of the original residents once discharged to the community suggested fewer differences but also indicated that the nearness of final closure may be affecting how individuals perceived their move to the community.

This thesis examines the research and development of new approaches for face and facial expression recognition within the fields of computer vision and biometrics. Expression variation is a challenging issue in current face recognition systems and current approaches are not capable of recognizing facial variations effectively within human-computer interfaces, security and access control applications. This thesis presents new contributions for performing face and expression recognition simultaneously; face recognition in the wild; and facial expression recognition in challenging environments. The research findings include the development of new factor analysis and deep learning approaches which can better handle different facial variations.

The American Indian/Alaska Natives people are plagued by Type II Diabetes. The poor management of this disease process has dire effects on the morbidity and mortality of this population. It is imperative to identify the challenges that this group of people face with the self-management of Type II Diabetes. The conceptual framework for this study was based on Dorothea Orem's health deviation of self-care requisites. These health deviations result from the disease state and are used for diagnosis and treatment (Orem, 1985). The literature review and the discussion of results with the relevant literature were organized according to Orem's six themes of health deviations in the self-management. A qualitative research method, involving open-ended interviews with five Native American participants, was used. The participants were asked questions regarding their diagnosis, challenges in self-management, knowledge of long term effects, and additional needed resources. The data were analyzed using Luborsky's (1994), method of thematic analysis to identify the challenges Native American adults encounter in the self-management of Type II Diabetes, resulting in 8 topics. These included: a) feelings about Type II Diabetes diagnosis and the implications for lifestyle changes, b) prior experiences with family who have Type II Diabetes, c) challenges and lifestyle changes in managing Type II Diabetes, d) personal contributing factors to poor management, e) support systems for managing Type II Diabetes, f) identification of good management of Type II Diabetes, g) knowledge of long term effects of Type II Diabetes, h) additional support and resources needed to manage Type II Diabetes. Diabetes is a complex disease process that requires ongoing education and consistent medical care. It is essential that health care providers evaluate and tailor their care to the challenges of their patient population to improve the health status of those with Type II Diabetes.

This study explores the function of female simulated orgasm in long-term relationships, and its significance for the individual’s perception of their own body and sexuality. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with subjects that have experiences with simulated orgasm, the study utilizes scripting theory to analyze and explain the meaning of the simulated orgasm. Four central themes in the narratives are identified: The demand for orgasm, the mutually rewarding orgasm, the orgasm as strategy, and the ethics of orgasm. The study concludes that several scripts are involved in the decision to simulate one’s own orgasm. Significantly, the study identifies that in some cases simulated orgasms can lead to the experience of a pseudo-orgasm – a state that is neither simulated nor authentic orgasm.

Dual-process models of recognition memory propose that recognition memory can be supported by either a general sense of familiarity or the recollection of the encoding context. One source of evidence supporting dual-process models comes from event-related potential (ERP) studies of recognition memory, which have identified distinct patterns of neural activity associated with familiarity and recollection (the mid frontal and left parietal old/new effects, respectively). In this thesis, dual-process accounts of recognition memory were investigated in a series of ERP studies using three categories of stimulus: previously unknown faces, famous faces, and names. For previously unknown faces, familiarity was associated with activity over posterior scalp electrodes while recollection was associated with topographically dissociable activity over anterior electrodes. These dissociable patterns of activity support dual-process models. However, the typical pattern of old/new effects was only observed for stimuli associated with pre-existing representations (i.e., names and famous faces), suggesting that the presence/absence of pre-existing representations may determine the particular retrieval processes that support recognition memory. Furthermore, recollection was associated with two different patterns of activity (anterior and left parietal effects), suggesting that recollection is not a homogenous process. Dual-process theories may represent an important starting point for investigating recognition memory, but neither familiarity nor recollection appear to be functionally homogenous processes when theorizing is constrained by the analysis of scalp recorded electrophysiological activity.

The block of glycogenolysis in the rat hippocampus impairs memory while L-lactate (but not equicaloric concentrations of glucose) rescues amnesia, suggesting that the metabolic coupling between astrocytes and neurons via lactate is required for long-term memory formation. The inactivation of glycogen metabolism and the consequent decrease of lactate production in hippocampal astrocytes leads to an impairment of long-term memory and defects in long-term potentiation (LTP). Since it has been demonstrated that LTP defects are associated with alterations in dendritic spines morphology and density, we studied whether anatomical differences in hippocampal excitatory synapses were related to defects in long-term memory in mice treated with the inhibitor of glycogen phosphorylase, 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (DAB), and if these defects were rescued by L-lactate administration. We first tested the effects associated to DAB administration on long-term memory using the passive avoidance (PA) task, a fear-aggravated test used to evaluate learning and memory in rodents. DAB was injected 15 minutes before training and long-term memory was tested 24 hours after the administration of the drug. The analysis of the PA test shows that DAB did not affect long-term memory. We then performed the novel object recognition (NOR) test to study intermediate- and long-term episodic memory after DAB injection into the hippocampus and here we showed that this treatment affected both intermediate- and long-term episodic memory, in a dose dependent manner. We performed low resolution analyses of spine density in apical dendrites from CA1 pyramidal neurons by means of the Golgi-Cox staining technique, 24 hours after training of mice treated with DAB and challenged with both PA and NOR tasks, to determine whether behavioural impairments are paralleled by defects on dendritic spine density. Our data demonstrated that 24 hours after treatment with DAB and following memory training, hippocampal neurons showed a marked reduction in dendritic spine density if compared to that of mice injected with vehicle, regardless of the memory paradigm used. To evaluate if this defect in spine density was associated to ultrastructural defects in hippocampal excitatory synapses, we performed a morphometric analysis on 2D transmission electron microscopy projections. These analyses highlighted a significant reduction of vesicle density in synapses of mice treated with DAB and an unvaried pre-synaptic surface. Interestingly, despite the effect of DAB on spine density, the post-synaptic density (PSD) architecture is unaffected as length and thickness were the same in animals treated with vehicle or DAB. We then analysed the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle’s role on the 3D architecture of excitatory synapses and mitochondria as a consequence of DAB administration. These data confirmed the observations obtained with the Golgi and the 2D analyses: the density of the dendritic spines was reduced and the PSD volume remained unvaried in mice treated with DAB. Altered brain metabolism is associated with changes in mitochondria dynamic cycles of fission and fusion. The remodelling of mitochondrial cristae and mitochondrial morphology are sensitive to the energetic demand of the cell, and they directly affects the development and maintenance of synapses. We analysed the mitochondrial structure in order to see whether the block of glycogen metabolism in astrocytes could affect the architecture of these organelles in neurons. We observed a significant change in dendritic mitochondria number, shape, and volume in DAB treated mice. Compared to uniformly compact and well-separated mitochondria in the hippocampi of mice treated with vehicle, DAB-treated neurons exhibited elongated mitochondria, in which two or more units were interconnected by tubular membrane extensions. Dendritic mitochondria in DAB treated mice were longer, reduced in number and bigger compared to dendritic mitochondria of mice treated with vehicle, suggesting that the alteration of glycogen metabolism induced by DAB could be the basis of mitochondria dynamics changes. L-lactate, was administered to investigate its ability to revert the DAB-induced memory impairment. Co-injection of DAB and L-lactate was able to revert the memory impairment induced by DAB, 24 hours after NOR training. Besides behavioural rescue, the Golgi-Cox staining showed that in mice treated with DAB and L-lactate there was a rescue of spine density in apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons, bringing back its value to that of mice treated with vehicle. Focusing our attention on the ultrastructure of excitatory synapses, we measured the pre-synaptic surface and vesicle density of these samples and we showed that the vesicle density was comparable to that found in the synapses of mice treated only with DAB. Our results suggest that, bilateral hippocampal injection of DAB caused an impairment of long-term memory formation 24 hours after NOR test. This behavioural alteration was accompanied by a strong morphological alteration of excitatory hippocampal synapses and dendritic mitochondria. L-lactate is able to rescue the behavioural phenotype, the reduction in spine density and the morphological alterations of dendritic mitochondria induced by this drug, but not the pre-synaptic effect induced by DAB on excitatory hippocampal synapses.

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São Paulo se expandiu rapidamente durante o Século XX e se tornou uma das maiores cidades do mundo, com aproximadamente 12 milhões de habitantes que realizam cerca de 25 milhões de deslocamentos urbanos diariamente. Seu sistema de transporte público (ônibus e metrô) é responsável por 37% dessas viagens e é notavelmente importante, especialmente para seus usuários intensivos – majoritariamente pessoas pobres cujos deslocamentos dependem dele. Os subsídios ao transporte e o valor da tarifa vêm se colocando no centro de um debate sobre política urbana durante os últimos anos. A Prefeitura de São Paulo gasta quase 7% de seu orçamento em subsídios diretos à tarifa de ônibus que se mantém estagnada em termos reais desde 2005 – empreendendo um valor três vezes maior do que era há dez anos. Ao mesmo tempo, o sistema de ônibus em São Paulo aparenta ser inefetivo em tirar carros das ruas. O ambiente urbano da cidade e a sustentabilidade fiscal desse sistema podem ser colocados em risco se essa situação permanecer, uma vez que um ciclo vicioso de quedas no nível de usuários e aumentos no subsídio podem comprometer o transporte público. O preço e a forma de precificação da tarifa são pontos centrais nessa questão, uma vez que a literatura em finanças púbicas diz que um serviço público pode ser fiscalmente sustentável e ensejar eficiência alocativa à economia se a cobrança por elefor precificada corretamente. O presente trabalho estima a elasticidade preço da demanda por ônibus em São Paulo, uma informação importante para responder se sua tarifa ajuda a: gerar eficiência alocativa na economia; atingir sustentabilidade financeira para o sistema de ônibus e fazer com que as pessoas priorizem o ônibus em detrimento do automóvel privado – e, assim, atingir sustentabilidade urbana. Para tal, modelos de Escolha Discreta são estimados para os anos de 1997 e 2007. Utilizando-se a Pesquisa Origem-Destino do Metrô calculam-se as elasticidades de curto prazo para ambos os anos. Posteriormente, a implementação do Bilhete Único (2004) é considerada um choque exógeno no preço das passagens para aqueles que usam mais de um ônibus para seus deslocamentos, sendo assim uma oportunidade para a estimação da elasticidade de longo-prazo na medida em que é virtualmente um choque exógeno de preço. Os resultados sugerem que a demanda por ônibus é inelástica com respeito ao preço tanto no curto quanto no longo-prazo, o que corrobora literatura prévia. Ainda que mais estudos sejam necessários para avaliar se os subsídios devem ser diminuídos, outras políticas além da forma de precificação devem ser consideradas a fim de se tornar o transporte público mais atrativo.
São Paulo expanded rapidly during the 20th Century and became one of the biggest cities in the World, with almost 12 million inhabitants that make around 25 million urban trips per day. Its transit system (bus and subway) accounts for 37% of those trips and is remarkably important, especially for its heavy users – mainly poor people whose commuting might depend on it. Not by chance, subsidies and fare price have been at the heart of an urban policy debate during the last years. Nowadays, São Paulo’s local government spends almost 7% of its budget in bus subsidies - a threefold increase in real terms in ten years - since costs are soaring and fare remains almost constant in real terms since 2005. Despite high subsidies, the city’s bus system seems to be ineffective in taking cars out of the street and ridership is slightly decreasing. São Paulo’s bus system’s fiscal sustainability might be put at risk if things remain unchanged, in that a vicious cycle of ridership decreasing and fare or subsidies increasing might jeopardize transit and harm urban environment. Fare price and its pricing form are central in this question, since literature on public finance says that one public service’s system can be fiscally sustainable and causes allocative efficiency if fare is priced correctly. The present work calculates price elasticity of bus demand in São Paulo, an important piece of information to answer whether fare helps achieving allocative efficiency for the economy, reaching fiscal sustainability on bus system, and making commuters shift from car to transit – and, hence, keeping the city’s urban sustainability. Discrete Choice Models are estimated for the years of 1997 and 2007 using a household survey on commuting. They directly provide short-term elasticities for both years. Then, Bilhete Único implementation (2004) is considered an exogenous shock on trips’ cost for those who use two buses or more on their commuting, therefore being used as an opportunity for estimating long-term elasticity. The results suggest that bus demand is inelastic with respect to price both in short- and long- term, which corroborates previous literature and provides insight for public policies. This indicates that fare is ineffective in taking cars off the streets, but more studies should be conducted to assess whether subsidies should be reduced, especially for reasons of affordability. Policies other than the pricing form should be conducted to achieve transportation sustainability by modal shifting from cars to transit.

This paper presents the results of archaeobotanical and malacological analyses of a midden dating to Ocucaje Phases 3 to 4 (c. 750 BC) in secure stratigraphic association beneath the contexts of an Early Nasca canal fragment in the Ullujaya Basin in the lower Ica Valley, on the south coast of Perú. Such preservation of early occupation contexts is otherwise rare within the landscape of the Lower Ica Valley, the topography of much of which is determined today by the long effects of wind erosion upon its once extant stratigraphy. These ancient rubbish remains contain no domesticated plant remains other than cotton, but only sea urchin debris and other marine and terrestrial mollusc resources gathered from the lomas and Pacific Ocean some 25 kilometres distant. They do contain some plant remains, including gathered wild foods such as huarango beans, and other plants typical of riparian woodland. We present these results in the context of other data from the Samaca and Ullujaya Basins, including the remains of middens from later time periods and a pollen sequence, to argue that, together, they show a steady intensification of agriculture in these basins during the subsequent Early Intermediate, but which culminates ultimately in a collapse of agricultural production here and a return to the gathering of wild marine and plant resources much later, during the Middle Horizon.
Este artículo presenta los resultados de análisis arqueobotánicos y malacológicos realizados en los materiales de un basural fechado hacia las fases Ocucaje 3 a 4 (c. 750 a.C.), con asociación estratigráfica segura debajo de los contextos de una sección de canal del Periodo Nasca Temprano en la cuenca de Ullujaya, en el valle bajo de Ica, costa sur del Perú. Semejante conservación de contextos de ocupación tempranos es poco común al interior del paisaje de esta zona, cuya topografía está determinada, en la actualidad, por los prolongados efectos de la erosión eólica sobre la que tenía en el pasado. Estos antiguos restos de basura no contienen vestigios de plantas domesticadas, con excepción del algodón, además de restos de erizos de mar y otros recursos en forma de mariscos marinos y terrestres recolectados de las lomas y el océano Pacífico, distante 25 kilómetros. Sin embargo, sí contienen algunos restos de plantas, entre las que están alimentos silvestres como semillas de huarango y otras plantas típicas de bosques ripícolas. Se presentan estos resultados en el contexto de otros datos procedentes de las cuencas de Samaca y Ullujaya —como, por ejemplo, los restos de basurales de épocas posteriores y una secuencia palinológica— con el objeto de mostrar, en conjunto, la sostenida intensificación de la agricultura en estas zonas durante el subsiguiente Periodo Intermedio Temprano, lo que desembocó en el colapso de la producción agrícola y el retorno a la recolección de recursos marinos y vegetales durante el Horizonte Medio.

Two experiments were used to evaluate the potential interaction of fat source and vitamin E (VE) in heavy slaughter weight pigs. In Experiment 1, a total of 64 individually-fed pigs (28.41 ± 0.83 kg) were randomly assigned to 8 dietary treatments in a 4×2 factorial arrangement. Fat treatments included cornstarch (CS), tallow (TW), corn-oil (CO), and coconut-oil (CN). VE treatments were dietary α-tocopheryl acetate (ATA) at 11 and 200 ppm. In Experiment 2, a total of 72 individually fed pigs (28.55 ± 1.16 kg) were randomly assigned to 12 dietary treatments in a 2 × 6 factorial arrangement. Fat treatments were TW and CO. VE treatments included four levels of ATA (11, 40, 100, and 200 ppm) and two levels of mixed tocopherols (primarily γ-tocopherol; 40 and 100 ppm). VE deposition, growth performance, and meat quality were measured in both experiments. In both experiments, interaction between fat sources and VE were detected (P < 0.01) on plasma VE concentration, which increased (P < 0.01) with time and with increasing dietary VE, but increased faster (P < 0.05) in pigs fed with CN and TW compared to pigs fed CS and CO. Compared to CO, more saturated dietary fat sources (CN and TW) led to firmer belly (P < 0.01), which had more (P < 0.01) SFA and MUFA while less (P < 0.05) Feed/Gain in Phase 4 and Phase 5. In Experiment 2, increasing dietary ATA increased overall ADG (linear, P = 0.02), with an interaction (P < 0.05) with fat sources on cumulative ADG during Phase 1-4, wherein pigs fed CO, but not TW, had increased ADG with increasing dietary ATA. Increasing dietary ATA increased (quadratic, P < 0.05) liver SOD activity, and decreased (quadratic, P < 0.05) liver MDA content. The oxidative stability of loin was improved (P < 0.01) when dietary ATA increased over 40 ppm. In summary, both dietary fat source and VE supplementation affected the response measures.

Igenkänning av ansikten har främst undersökts i form av korttidsretention. Via sådan forskning har det kunnat påvisas att människor generellt har en bättre förmåga till igenkänning av ansikten jämfört med visuella stimulus av liknande komplexitet. Det har även påvisats effekter av extraversion och kön på förmågan att känna igen ansikten. Denna studie undersökte långtidsretention av ansikten och detta i relation till extraversion och kön. Utöver detta undersökte studien relationen mellan igenkänning av ansikten och annat visuellt stimulus (hundar). Detta studerades genom en experimentell inomgruppsdesign där deltagarna utförde ett datorbaserat igenkänningstest direkt och 24 timmar efter inlärning. Extraversion mättes med självskattningsformuläret Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI R). Studien inkluderade 51 deltagare (31 kvinnor, 19 män, en icke-binär, M = 27.69 år). Resultaten visade en fördel för igenkänning av ansikten, men kunde inte påvisa någon skillnad i nedgång stimulusen emellan. Vidare visade resultaten en signifikant stimulus × kön interaktion, där kvinnor presterade bättre än män på igenkänning av ansikten men inte på igenkänning av hundar. En effekt av extraversion hittades enbart i extremgrupperna på kontinuumet extraversion. Slutligen visade studien att det inte fanns något signifikant samband mellan prestation på igenkänning av hundar och ansikten vid det första testtillfället. I studien diskuteras implikationerna ett holistiskt processande verkar ha på inlärning men inte på minneskonsolidering över tid. Studien belyser också brister i tidigare studier som undersökt extraversion i relation till ansiktsigenkänning och fördjupar sig i eventuella orsaker till uppmätta könsskillnader.
Face-recognition has foremost been studied with a focus on short-term retention. This research has concluded that in general people are a better in recognizing faces in comparison to recognition of stimuli with matching complexity. Studies have also shown that extraversion and sex affect face-recognition ability. This study investigated long-term memory retention of faces in relation to extraversion and sex. In addition, this study explored the relationship between recognition of faces, and another visual stimulus (dogs). This was conducted by using an experimental within-subjects-design in which the participants performed a computer-based recognition-test both immediately after the study phase, as well as 24 hours later. Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI R) was used to measure extraversion. The study had 51 participants (31 women, 19 men, one non-binary, M = 27.69 years). The results showed an advantage in recognition of faces but failed to show a difference in decline between stimuli. There was a stimulus × sex interaction, where women showed an advantage compared to men in recognition of faces but not regarding recognition of dogs. Extraversion was shown to have an effect on the performance only when the most and least extraverted was compared. Finally, there was no relationship between face-recognition and recognition of dogs in the short-term retention test. The study highlights shortcomings in earlier studies investigating extraversion in relation to face recognition and discusses possible reasons for the obtained sex differences. The study also discusses whether holistic processing is implicated in learning, but not with respect to long-term memory consolidation.

Cette thèse présente une étude multi-échelle du rôle des vagues, du niveau de la mer et des infrastructures humaines pour comprendre l'évolution à long terme des 400 km de côte sableuse dans la Baie du Bénin (Golfe de Guinée, Afrique de l'Ouest). La morphologie côtière et les forçages océaniques sont mesurés au niveau local par un système d'observation vidéo et au niveau régional par télédétection satellite. De nouvelles améliorations des techniques vidéo montrent le potentiel des systèmes vidéo dans l'estimation journalière du profil de la plage, des vagues et du niveau de la mer à la côte. Les résultats révèlent l'influence dominante des vagues sur la variabilité côtière aux échelles événementielle (journalière) et saisonnière, tandis qu'aux échelles intrasaisonnière et interannuelle, le trait de côte est modulé de manière dominante par les changements du niveau de la mer. Sur des périodes plus longues (décennies), les influences anthropiques, telles que les ports en eau profonde et la réduction des flux sédimentaires fluviaux (à l'exemple de la Volta et le Niger) due aux barrages, modifient considérablement le transport sédimentaire, conduisant à l'apparition de plusieurs zones d'érosion. Ces observations à long terme sont reproduites de manière satisfaisante par le modèle de trait de côte mis en œuvre, en particulier à proximité des ports, et permettent d'estimer, par exemple, la quantité de sédiments nécessaire pour limiter l'érosion en aval du port de Lagos. Outre leur intérêt fondamental, ces résultats constituent un cadre solide pour l'amélioration des politiques côtières dans la région
This thesis presents a multi-scale investigation of the role of waves, sea level and human settlements to understand long-term coastal evolution of the 400-km long sandy Bight of Benin coast (Gulf of Guinea, West Africa). Coastal morphology and its ocean drivers are monitored using local shore-based video camera and regional satellite remote sensing. New video developpements show the potential of video camera in sensing daily beach profile, waves and sea level at the coast. The results reveal the dominant influence of waves on shoreline variability at the event (daily) and seasonal scales, whereas at the intraseasonal and interannual scales, the shoreline is dominantly modulated by sea level changes. Over longer periods (decades), anthropogenic influence, such as deep water harbours and the reduction of sediment river (such as Volta and Niger) discharge due to dams significantly alter sediment transport, creating several erosion zones. These observations over the long term are satisfactorily reproduced by the implemented shoreline model, specially in the vicinity of the harbors, and allows to estimate, for example, the amount of sediment nourishment necessary to limit erosion downstream of Lagos harbor. Beside their fundamental interest, these results put strong basis to improve regional coastal policies

Táto diplomová práca sa venuje automatickému rozpoznávaniu ludí v obrazových dátach s využitím konvolučných neurónových sieti na určenie polohy tváre a následnej analýze získaných dát. Výsledkom analýzy tváre je určenie pohlavia, emócie a veku osoby. Práca obsahuje popis použitých architektúr konvolučných sietí pre každú podúlohu. Sieť na odhad veku má natrénované nové váhy, ktoré sú vzápätí zmrazené a majú do svojej architektúry vložené LSTM vrstvy. Tieto vrstvy sú samostatne dotrénované a testované na novom datasete vytvorenom pre tento účel. Výsledky testov ukazujú zlepšenie predikcie veku. Riešenie pre rýchlu, robustnú a modulárnu detekciu tváre a ďalších ludských rysov z jedného obrazu alebo videa je prezentované ako kombinácia prepojených konvolučných sietí. Tieto sú implementované v podobe skriptu a následne vysvetlené. Ich rýchlosť je dostatočná pre ďalšie dodatočné analýzy tváre na živých obrazových dátach.

An emplaced source of coal tar creosote within the sandy Borden research aquifer has provided an opportunity to document the long term (5140 days) natural attenuation for this complex mixture. Plumes of dissolved chemicals were produced by the essentially horizontal groundwater flowing at about 9 cm/day. Eleven chemicals were extensively sampled seven times using a monitoring network of ~280 14-point multilevel samplers. A model of source dissolution using Raoult’s Law adequately predicted the dissolution of nine of eleven compounds analysed. Mass transformation has limited the extent of the plumes as groundwater flowed more than 500 m yet the plumes are no longer than 50 m. Phenol and xylenes were removed and naphthalene was attenuated from its maximum extent on day 1357. Some compound plumes reached an apparent steady state and the plumes of other compounds (dibenzofuran and phenanthrene) are expected to continue to expand due to an increasing mass flux and limited degradation potential. Biotransformation is the major process controlling natural attenuation at the site. The greatest organic mass loss is associated with the high solubility compounds. However, the majority of the mass loss for most compounds has occurred in the source zone. Oxygen is the main electron acceptor yet the amount of organics lost cannot be accounted for by aerobic mineralization or partial mineralization alone. After 10 years the source zone was treated with permanganate in situ to reduce the flux of contaminants into the dissolved plume and to permit natural attenuation to further reduce the plume extent. A sufficient mass of permanganate was injected to oxidize ~10% of the residual source. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that eight of ten of the study compounds were readily oxidized by permanganate. Once treated oxidized compounds displayed a reduced plume mass and mass discharge while they migrated through the monitoring network. Once beyond the monitoring network the mass discharge and plume mass of these compounds returned to pre-treatment trends. Non-reactive compounds displayed no significant decrease in mass discharge or plume mass. Overall the partial in situ chemical oxidation of the coal tar creosote source produced no long-term effect on the dissolved plumes emanating from the source.

Converting a nutrient management plan from commercial fertilizers to poultry litter helps effectively utilize waste from the nearly 10 billion broiler birds across the United States. Nine field scale watersheds from the USDA ARS Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory near Riesel, TX were evaluated for P inputs and P outputs to determine phosphorus budgets for 15 years of annual application of poultry litter ranging from 75 – 219 kg P ha^-1 yr^-1 on cultivated and pasture/grazed fields. The cumulative net P continued to increase regardless of the application rate and had a positive relationship with soil level P (Mehlich-3 P) and flow weighted mean concentration (FWMC) for dissolved reactive P for both cultivated and pasture managed fields. We assessed hydrological connectivity within two nested watersheds by using the before-after-control-impact (BACI) design. Results showed hydrological connectivity during high rainfall years whereas low rainfall years had minimal connectivity compared to the controls. These results suggest the P contributions from upstream fields receiving poultry litter, even at high application rates, did not exhibit a treatment effect during the low rainfall years at downslope monitoring stations.

As nutrient source variability increases in nutrient management plans, improving our ability to differentiate P sources and their fate in soils is critical. We evaluated soils with unique P inputs: inorganic P, poultry litter, and cattle grazing for isotopic signatures by forming silver phosphate and determining the δ¹⁸O_P. Isotopic signatures of the oxygen molecules which are strongly bound to P, provided signatures of 17.09‰, 18.00‰, and 17.20‰ for fields receiving commercial fertilizer, poultry manure, and cattle grazed, respectively. Significant effort was made to determine critical steps in the method to successfully precipitate Ag₃PO₄ for analysis. Results show adding a cation removal step as well as monitoring and adjusting pH throughout the method increases probability of successful Ag₃PO₄ precipitation. Findings from this study provide a valuable framework for future analysis to confirm unique δ¹⁸O_P signatures which can be used to differentiate the fate of different phosphorus sources in agricultural systems.

碩士
國立臺北教育大學
社會與區域發展學系碩士班
103
After careful consideration of costs and benefits, both genders make a choice on their mates. In previous studies mainly explores the mating preferences of both genders from the perspective of the evolution. Based on the theories of the evolution, men prefer short-term mating patterns while women prefer long-term ones, which are long-term evolution of mate choice under psychological reactions. Recent studies on sexual mating issue will conduct further researches on the conditions of consideration by both men and women in mate selection and their purposes of communication. Exchanges of different length of periods can affect different sexual strategies. Because of the differences between long-term and short-term social purposes, both sexes may consider different factors, showing different considerations in face and body, appearance and income. This study will still follow the research direction of Jaime c. Confer et al. in two sexes’ long-term and short-term mating preferences, but changes research method, which is divided into two parts to investigate the differences of mating preferences in long- and short-term exchanges for face and body, appearance and income. The study extends the research scope into body color, legs body ratio, large calf ratio, height and other four projects. For two kinds of questionnaires of short-term and long-term design, the participants choose the subjects in their mind through forced choice method of choosing one between face or body, and appearance or income. This study found that the proportion of men’s preference for women of pretty face and poor body in long-term mating is increasing compared with short-term mating, which only increases in long-term mating. .However, the proportion of women’s preference for men of pretty face and poor body in short-term mating is increasing compared with long-term mating, which only increases in short-term mating. Moreover, the study of both sexes in the long-term and short-term appearance and income difference of mating preferences found that the proportion of men’s preference for women of poor face and high income in long-term mate selection was increasing compared with short-term mating. Women also show the same results, but the proportion of women’s preference for men of poor face and high income in long-term mate selection was much larger than men.

Obesity is a world-wide health problem. The increasing incidence of this pathology among women of reproductive age and children highlights the main question of the role played by maternal obesity in setting up a state of individual susceptibility to metabolic disorders in the adult offspring. A growing body of evidence suggests that maternal obesity and maternal adiposity, per se, are associated with adverse acute maternal and neonatal outcomes. It has been stated that maternal obesity and, more in general, maternal over-nutrition, such as maternal feeding a diet rich in fats (high-fat diet - HFD), are strongly associated with a raised offspring susceptibility to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic impairment, such as hyperglycaemia and hyperinsulinemia, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity at adulthood. Obesity is a pathophysiological condition characterized by a low-grade chronic inflammation which contributes to the mechanism for obesity-related metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance (IR) and diabetes. Increased physiological levels of oxidative stress (OS) may be causatively linked to the development and progression of complications associated to obesity and over-nutritional state. Clinical as well as experimental studies support the theory of the “developmental origins of health and disease” according to which the prenatal environmental adversities may exert lifelong consequences by programming the offspring’s development. However, a comprehensive and multi-levels characterization of the long-term impact of maternal HFD is still lacking. In addition, very few studies have paid attention to the long-term effects of exposure to a maternal HFD during the in utero life only. The general aim of the work presented in this thesis was to evaluate the impact of maternal HFD both on mother and offspring in a long-term perspective and to study the effects of metabolic disturbances occurring in a sensitive time window of the individual life (i.e. fetal development and pregnancy) on the stress response, as well as on the metabolic and emotional profiles. We also aimed at investigating the interaction between an early metabolic stimulus (maternal HFD) and a physiological condition of reduced OS. In particular, in Chapter 2, we report about the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to maternal HFD assessing the metabolic, neuroendocrine as well as the behavioral profile of young adult offspring in a transgenic mouse model characterized by reduced oxidative stress, the p66Shc-/-. In Chapter 3 we report the effects of a prenatal exposure to N-acetyl-cysteine, a drug characterized by remarkable antioxidant properties, to thwart the physiological response to maternal HFD in utero. These studies relied on the assessment of a physiological (Chapter 2) or pharmacological (Chapter 3) condition of reduced OS able to represent a protective condition toward the maternal HFD. Chapter 4 describes the effects of HFD feeding before and during pregnancy on the neuroendocrine and behavioral profile of dams in the perinatal period. In addition, in this chapter we propose to investigate the potential role of HFD as a metabolic stressor for the mother with a negative impact for the developing fetus. Results are discussed considering the impact of HFD feeding during pregnancy on the dam and the possible consequences on the offspring at multiple levels (behavioral, metabolic and endocrine). Particular attention has been paid to a physiological or pharmacological condition of reduced OS as a potential protective factor. Results obtained in this thesis might drive the attention on selected markers useful to detect potential unhealthy states and to develop future preventive strategies as well as pharmacological therapies to limit the effects associated to maternal HFD.