Probabilistic and analytic aspects of ruin theory

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Mapping the Industrial Relations System of Samoa: An Assessment of Industrial Democracy and Employee Participation in Employment Relations Decisions in a Pacific Island Nation.

This thesis maps out the industrial relations system of Samoa with specific emphasis on industrial democracy and employee participation in the making of rules and decisions affecting worker's employment. The thesis outlines the impacts of the environmental contexts, social, political, legal and economic, of Samoan society on the scope and nature of industrial relations in Samoa. Using data collected through face-to-face interviews, workshop observation and the analysis of various secondary documents that include for example, the study of industrial relations in the South Pacific nations by Prasad, Hince, & Snell (2003) and several country reports and national policies on employment relations, the thesis utilises Dunlop's (1958) systems model of industrial relations to describe the employer, employee and state relationship within the system and their varying roles in the determination of workplace rules. Dunlop's systems model enables the researcher to identify a strong link between the industrial relations system and the social institutions of Samoan society that are structured around the fa'asamoa (Samoan customs and traditions) and the fa'amatai (chiefly) systems of social justice and traditional rule making. Dunlop's model (which suggests that the 'rule' is the fundamental goal of an industrial relations system) enables identification of the prevailing processes that employer, employee, state and their representing agencies use to determine the rules in the Samoan workplace. It suggests that while the worker (union) is considered to be one of the key actors' in the establishment of workplace rules, the nature and scope of union participation and influence on industrial relations decisions in Samoa do not reflect this: in the sense that unions play virtually no role in Samoa's industrial relations system. The thesis also attempts to uncover the 'shared ideology' that prescribes and defines the actors' roles, prestige, power and influence on the process of rule making in Samoa's IR system. In doing so it finds that Samoan government is the dominant player in industrial relations in the sense that the government can unilaterally make decisions and rules regarding employment relations both at the organisational and national level, without the involvement of employers and workers. While employee participation in employment decisions is clearly affected by economic, technological and market constraints, other factors relating to the culturally nuanced concepts of 'respect', 'loyalty' and 'trust' toward those who hold significant power and authority appear to be predominant influences in the determination of rules in all facets of Samoan society. This particular condition of the Samoan system of industrial relations is explained with reference to Dunlop's notion of 'shared ideology' and the 'locus and distribution of power' within wider society

Predictors of Family Stress in Taking Care of Patients with Schizophrenia

Introduction: Taking care of schizophrenia patients is challenging and causes stress for the family involved. The study was conducted to identify the predictors of family stress present when taking care of a patient with schizophrenia. The ABCX Stress Theory of Hill was used as the theoretical framework. Methods: This study used a correlational design. The sample was 137 families who were caring for patients with schizophrenia at the Menur Mental Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia. The sample was obtained by way of purposive sampling. The data was collected by a questionnaire and analysed by multiple regression to determine the relationship of the family’s structure, family knowledge, the burden of care, stigma, social support, the patient's illness duration, the patient’s frequency of relapse and the patient's severity level with family stress. Results: The results showed that the family’s stress was predicted by the family’s structure (p=0.029), stigma (p=0.000), the burden of care (p=0.000), and the patient’s frequency of relapse (p=0.005). The burden of care was the strongest predictor of family stress (Beta= 0.619). Conclusion: The patient's frequency of relapse and stigma were other kinds of family stressor. The stressors stimulated a negative perception, called the care burden. Limited adequacy of the family structure-function will inhibit the family in using other resources, creating family stress. Nurses may develop an assessment format that consists of the family stress predictors in order to create a nursing care plan specific to reframing the techniques of family stress management

Isolement et caractérisation des gènes d'immunoglobuline Vk-1 de la souche de souris BALB/c

Le but de ce projet consiste à isoler et caractériser des gènes germinaux reliés au groupe Vk-1 des régions variables des chaînes kappa dans la souche de souris BALB/c. Dans ce projet on essaie de répondre à une question soulevée par la contradiction entre le nombre de gènes encodant le groupe Vk-1 suggéré par les études de "Southern blotting" d'une part et par la comparaison des séquences VK-1 exprimées, d'autre part. En effet, la comparaison des séquences des acides aminés de 53 chaînes légères du groupe Vk-1 exprimées dans des immunoglobulines de myélome et hybridome de diverses spécificités, a permis leur classification en 5 sous-groupes: Vk-1A, Vk-1B, Vk-1C, VK-1D, Vk-1E dont au moins 4 sont présents dans la souche de souris BALB/c. Dans le cas de BALB/c, toutes les séquences décrites jusqu'à date peuvent être codées par seulement 5 gènes gérminaux. D'autre part, les résultats de "Southern blotting" avec les sondes dérivées des gènes Vk-1 montrent deux résultats différents dépendamment des conditions de lavage des filtres. Sur un blot de l'ADN de BALB/c digéré avec Bam Hi, dans des conditions de lavages sévères, la sonde détecte 2 bandes majeures correspondant aux gènes Vk-1C (8.5 Kb) et Vk-1A (6.3 Kb). Par contre avec les lavages dans des conditions plus douces, on remarque environ 8 bandes en plus des 2 bandes mentionnées ci-dessus. On se demande si ces bandes représentent d'autres familles de gènes Vk ou si elles représentent d'autres sous-groupes de Vk-1. Afin de répondre à ces questions, on a procédé au criblage d'une bibliothèque de BALB/c (dont l'ADN génomique a été digéré partiellement avec Eco R1 et ligué au vecteur Embl4) dans des conditions d'hybridation et de lavage légères. La sonde utilisée est un fragment d'un allèle de VK-1C, Vk-1Cf (obtenu d'une souche de souris CE) et est nommée PPV101. De 21 clones positifs isolés, 9 contenaient le gène Vk-1A, 8 le gène Vk-1C et 4 des nouveaux gènes reliés au groupe Vk-1. L'analyse de ces derniers clones digérés avec Bam H1 a montré que tous les quatres contenaient des fragments de 5.4 Kb hybridant avec la sonde PPV101. Les fragments de 5.4 kb (BamHI) ont été sous-clonés dans le phagemide M13+. Une analyse détaillée des 4 sous-clones a révélé que 3 semblaient avoir des inserts identiques et que le quatrième était différent. Deux clones ont été choisis (DCDX et BA43) pour la caractérisation au niveau de la séquence. La comparaison des séquences des régions V des clones DCDX a montré que les deux gènes étaient de véritables membres du groupe Vk-1 mais qu'ils codent pour des séquences d'acides aminés qui n'ont pas été reportées dans les chaînes kappa exprimées. Ils sont eux-mêmes étroitement reliés (>96% d'homologie de séquence). Ceci indique une duplication très récente comme origine des deux gènes. Malgré le fait que les deux gènes possèdent environ 85% d'homologie avec les autres membres du groupe Vk-1 dans la région codante, l'homologie de séquence s'arrête immédiatement avant et après les régions codantes des gènes. De plus, l'analyse des séquences a démontré que les deux gènes sont des pseudogènes, chacun possédant une délétion différente et non-chevauchante dans la région 5'. Cette observation suggère que les deux gènes ont subi les délétions après leur duplication. Deux possibilités sont considérées pour expliquer l'élimination rapide de ces deux gènes en évolution soit (i) qu'il y ait eu une sélection négative contre l'existence de ces gènes (supposant qu'ils codent pour un anticorps spécifique; dangereux pour la survie de l'animal) ou (ii) que la structure ou position des gènes sur le chromosome leur a confié une instabilité

La comprensión lectora en alumnos ingresantes según modalidad de ingreso en una universidad particular

El presente trabajo de carácter descriptivo–comparativo tiene como propósito la medición de los niveles de comprensión lectora en alumnos universitarios del primer semestre académico de una universidad privada de Lima según su modalidad de ingreso, para este estudio consideramos dos modalidades de ingreso que son el examen general de admisión y examen por aptitud académica y con los resultados obtenidos se pueden proponer algunas acciones y estrategias futuras para mejorar su rendimiento académico. Para llevar a cabo el estudio se planteó la siguiente pregunta ¿Cuál es el nivel de comprensión lectora en alumnos ingresantes según dos modalidades de ingreso: examen general de admisión y por aptitud académica en una universidad privada de Lima? Considerando la siguiente hipótesis: Los niveles de comprensión lectora de los alumnos difieren según la modalidad de ingreso, sea entre la modalidad de examen general de admisión, con la modalidad de examen por aptitud académica de una universidad privada. El marco teórico conceptual toma como base los planteamientos sobre la comprensión de lectura y el desarrollo de lenguaje de Piaget. El método de investigación empleado es descriptivo y el diseño descriptivo – comparativo. La muestra seleccionada estuvo conformada por 262 alumnos ingresantes, hombres y mujeres, entre 17 y 20 años, divididos en dos grupos 131 alumnos ingresantes por examen general de admisión y 131 alumnos ingresantes por examen aptitud académica de las diferentes carreras que se ofrecen en la universidad. El instrumento utilizado estuvo conformado por una prueba previamente validada que exploraba la comprensión lectora y pensamiento crítico sobre la base del instrumento de Sánchez y Reyes. El procesamiento de datos ha consistido en estadística descriptiva e inferencial y la utilización de la prueba no paramétrica de U de Mann – Whitney. Los resultados han permitido encontrar diferencias entre los alumnos ingresantes de las modalidades examen general de admisión y aptitud académica favorable a los de aptitud académica.Tesi

Structural basis of dimerization and nucleic acid binding of human DBHS proteins NONO and PSPC1.

The Drosophila behaviour/human splicing (DBHS) proteins are a family of RNA/DNA binding cofactors liable for a range of cellular processes. DBHS proteins include the non-POU domain-containing octamer-binding protein (NONO) and paraspeckle protein component 1 (PSPC1), proteins capable of forming combinatorial dimers. Here, we describe the crystal structures of the human NONO and PSPC1 homodimers, representing uncharacterized DBHS dimerization states. The structures reveal a set of conserved contacts and structural plasticity within the dimerization interface that provide a rationale for dimer selectivity between DBHS paralogues. In addition, solution X-ray scattering and accompanying biochemical experiments describe a mechanism of cooperative RNA recognition by the NONO homodimer. Nucleic acid binding is reliant on RRM1, and appears to be affected by the orientation of RRM1, influenced by a newly identified 'β-clasp' structure. Our structures shed light on the molecular determinants for DBHS homo- and heterodimerization and provide a basis for understanding how DBHS proteins cooperatively recognize a broad spectrum of RNA targets

NONO enhances mRNA processing of super-enhancer-associated GATA2 and HAND2 genes in neuroblastoma

High-risk neuroblastoma patients have poor survival rates and require better therapeutic options. High expression of a multifunctional DNA and RNA-binding protein, NONO, in neuroblastoma is associated with poor patient outcome; however, there is little understanding of the mechanism of NONO-dependent oncogenic gene regulatory activity in neuroblastoma. Here, we used cell imaging, biochemical and genome-wide molecular analysis to reveal complex NONO-dependent regulation of gene expression. NONO forms RNA- and DNA-tethered condensates throughout the nucleus and undergoes phase separation in vitro, modulated by nucleic acid binding. CLIP analyses show that NONO mainly binds to the 5′ end of pre-mRNAs and modulates pre-mRNA processing, dependent on its RNA-binding activity. NONO regulates super-enhancer-associated genes, including HAND2 and GATA2. Abrogating NONO RNA binding, or phase separation activity, results in decreased expression of HAND2 and GATA2. Thus, future development of agents that target RNA-binding activity of NONO may have therapeutic potential in this cancer context

f(R) Theories of Supergravities and Pseudo-supergravities

We present f(R) theories of ten-dimensional supergravities, including the fermionic sector up to the quadratic order in fermion fields. They are obtained by performing the conformal scaling on the usual supergravities to the f(R) frame in which the dilaton becomes an auxiliary field and can be integrated out. The f(R) frame coincides with that of M-theory, D2-branes or NS-NS 5-branes. We study various BPS p-brane solutions and their near-horizon AdS \times sphere geometries in the context of the f(R) theories. We find that new solutions emerge with global structures that do not exist in the corresponding solutions of the original supergravity description. In lower dimensions, We construct the f(R) theory of N=2, D=5 gauged supergravity with a vector multiplet, and that for the four-dimensional U(1)^4 gauged theory with three vector fields set equal. We find that some previously-known BPS singular "superstars" become wormholes in the f(R) theories. We also construct a large class of f(R) (gauged) pseudo-supergravities. In addition we show that the breathing mode in the Kaluza-Klein reduction of Gauss-Bonnet gravity on S^1 is an auxiliary field and can be integrated out.Comment: Latex, 46 page

Fulminant and Fatal Multiple Organ Failure in a 12-Year-Old Boy With Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) is a unique pathogen that causes not only pulmonary but also extrapulmonary manifestations that must be rapidly diagnosed. A 12-year-old boy, with no relevant medical history, presented with fever, severe epigastric pain, and vomiting. Laboratory findings showed fulminant and cholestatic hepatitis, hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, acute kidney injury, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, acute myocardial infarction, and rhabdomyolysis. His clinical condition rapidly deteriorated during intubation and continuous renal replacement therapy. Despite intensive treatment, he did not recover. We report a case of fulminant and fatal multiple organ failure in a previously healthy boy with Mp infection, describing the possible pathomechanisms of multiple organ failure involved in the disease

TOM40 Mediates Mitochondrial Dysfunction Induced by α-Synuclein Accumulation in Parkinson's Disease.

Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) accumulation/aggregation and mitochondrial dysfunction play prominent roles in the pathology of Parkinson's disease. We have previously shown that postmortem human dopaminergic neurons from PD brains accumulate high levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions. We now addressed the question, whether alterations in a component of the mitochondrial import machinery -TOM40- might contribute to the mitochondrial dysfunction and damage in PD. For this purpose, we studied levels of TOM40, mtDNA deletions, oxidative damage, energy production, and complexes of the respiratory chain in brain homogenates as well as in single neurons, using laser-capture-microdissection in transgenic mice overexpressing human wildtype α-Syn. Additionally, we used lentivirus-mediated stereotactic delivery of a component of this import machinery into mouse brain as a novel therapeutic strategy. We report here that TOM40 is significantly reduced in the brain of PD patients and in α-Syn transgenic mice. TOM40 deficits were associated with increased mtDNA deletions and oxidative DNA damage, and with decreased energy production and altered levels of complex I proteins in α-Syn transgenic mice. Lentiviral-mediated overexpression of Tom40 in α-Syn-transgenic mice brains ameliorated energy deficits as well as oxidative burden. Our results suggest that alterations in the mitochondrial protein transport machinery might contribute to mitochondrial impairment in α-Synucleinopathies