Uma abordagem para o projeto do controle de frequência e de carga de sistemas de potência

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica

Parasitic diversity of wild camivores and considerations on their Conservation

Recolher dados para actualizar os conhecimento da diversidade parasitária dos mesocarnívoros mais abundantes nas regiões do sul de Portugal e relacionar a dispersão parasitária, a conservação e a saúde humana constituíram os principais objetivos deste estudo. Raposas (Vulpes vulpes), sacarrabos (Herpestes ichneumon), fuinhas (Martes foina), ginetes (Genetta genetta) e texugos (Meles meles) atropelados foram os carnívoros-hospedeiros em estudo. Um grupo de raposas caçadas foi também considerado parte da amostra. A informação geo-referenciada de todos os animais serviu para executar a análise espacial. Realizaram-se necrópsias meticulosas e procedeu­ se à recolha, identificação e preservação dos parasitas encontrados. Pela primeira vez em Portugal é registada a presença do parasita da gineta Ancytostoma martinezi. A correlação entre os factores humanos e ambientais e, a riqueza de espécies foi determinada estatisticamente. Densidade populacional, disponibilidade de égua, tipo de uso de solo e distância mínima às sedes de concelho não apresentaram uma relação estatisticamente significativa com a infecção parasitária das raposas. Os resultados obtidos relativamente à presença de parasitas zoonóticos nos animais silvestres em estudo fomentam o trabalho multidisciplinar entre a Biologia da Conservação e as ciências médicas. ABSTRACT; The aim of this study was to collect data in order to update the information related to the parasitic diversity of the predominant mesocarnívores in the southern regions of Portugal and to establish relationships between the parasite dispersal, conservation and human health. Road killed foxes (Vulpes vulpes), mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), stone marten (Martes foina), common genets (Genetta genetta) and euroasian badgers (Meles meles) were the considered carnivore-hosts. A sample of hunted foxes was also regarded.AD the animals had geo-reference information, ultimately used for spatial analysis. Thorough necropsies were performed and macroparasites collected, identified and preserved. For the first time in Portugal Ancylostoma martinezi, a common genets parasite.is recorded. Statistical species richness and correlation between human and environmental factors were determined. Human population density, water drainage, soil use, minimum distance to head council cities and the infection status of foxes proved no significant statistical relation. Results obtained on zoonotic parasites present in wild animals enhance the necessity of multidisciplinary work between Biology conservation and medical sciences

Spatiotemporal study of morpho-functional modifications on cell nucleus during African swine fever virus infection

Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Veterinárias. Especialidade de Ciências Biológicas e BiomédicasStudies on virus-host interactions are decisive to enhance our understanding on how African swine fever virus (ASFV) subverts cellular mechanisms, and also to better characterize host nucleus changes enabling this infection. Immunofluorescence studies and immunoblotting analysis of ASFV-infected cells, allowed us to identify the Ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) pathway as the specific DNA damage response (DDR) mechanism activated by ASFV infection. Additionally, the use of ATR kinase-dead cells confirmed that ATR has an essential role for the infection success. The viral intranuclear replication was then pursued using BrdU-pulse experiments, supported on previous reports about ASFV genome presence inside the host nucleus and the proven ATR activation. BrdU-labelled DNA molecules confirmed the active viral replication at early infection times, exclusively within the cell nucleus. Related spatial and morphological nuclear changes during ASFV infection were further addressed, particularly on subnuclear domains and host chromatin epigenetic signatures. Promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs), nuclear speckles and Cajal bodies displayed major alterations, accompanied by a repressive nuclear environment. PML knockdown revealed an essential proviral activity for ASFV successful infection. Herein, suggestions on how this work may help in the development of therapeutic strategies against ASFV infections can be found.ABSTRACT - Estudo espacio-temporal das alterações morfo-funcionais do núcleo celular durante a infeção pelo vírus da peste suína africana - Estudar as interacções vírus-núcleo da célula hospedeira é fundamental para melhor compreendermos a subversão dos mecanismos nucleares pelo Vírus da peste suína africana (VPSA), e como estas facilitam a infecção. Ensaios de imunofluorescência e expressão proteica (imunodetecção) permitiram a identificação da via ATR (Ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related) como mecanismo de reparação de ADN especificamente activado pelo VPSA. Seguidamente, através de células modificadas na expressão de ATR, confirmou-se o papel essencial do ATR para esta infecção. Atendendo às evidências de presença do vírus no núcleo celular e à activação da via ATR, quisemos desvendar a replicação intranuclear do VPSA pelo meio de ensaios pulso-caça de BrdU. Moléculas de ADN marcadas com BrdU confirmaram a replicação viral, exclusivamente no núcleo, na fase precoce da infecção. Seguiu-se o estudo das alterações espaciais e morfológicas do núcleo induzidas pelo VPSA, particularmente as modificações dos sub-domínios nucleares e das assinaturas epigenéticas da cromatina da célula. Domínios PML (Promyelocytic leukaemia), speckles nucleares e corpos de Cajal mostram-se alterados, associando-se a um ambiente nuclear repressivo. Estudos funcionais da proteína PML revelaram o seu papel proviral desta infecção. Nesta tese apresentam-se ainda sugestões acerca do potencial destes estudos para o desenvolvimento de estratégias terapêuticas no combate anti-viral

Econometric models for spatio-temporal count data

To contribute to a better understanding of the fundamental process behind the spatial and temporal correlation as well as to describe the resulted dynamics, sometimes still less reflected in econometric models, is the aim of this study. It is intended to improve the development of the necessary economic analysis which allow to optimize management policies in the most diverse areas of activity, be it hospital, road or other. This work develops and applies econometric models for count data with dependencies in space and time. The existing models are often based on the Gaussian assumption, which is sometimes inadequate. It is interesting to extend it to other types of distributions, generalizing the applicability of the available models and accompanying this development with estimation methods that make them useful. Bayesian spatial autoregressive and hierarchical models are considered as alternatives to the aforementioned models, since they are a valid and flexible alternative in the modeling of spatial effects. Spatial and spatio-temporal versions of autoregressive Bayesian models are proposed, establishing the same mathematical framework for autoregressive and hierarchical models for counting data. This is an area still underdeveloped within econometrics, given the associated but necessary complexity, and it is essential to quantify the advantages and disadvantages of its use. For the proposed methodologies, it is considered its application and implementation, in several areas of activity with scientific and technological interest, namely in the health area. In this context, a study of hospital management data is carried out, specifically the calls for the national health care line, Saúde24, in order to the development of indicators for decision support, evaluation and implementation of management and government policies, as well as to the prediction of future behavior under different scenarios. Another application in the area of road safety is also considered

Event-related brain potentials in the study of inhibition: cognitive control, source localization and age-related modulations

In the previous 15 years, a variety of experimental paradigms and methods have been employed to study inhibition. In the current review, we analyze studies that have used the high temporal resolution of the event-related potential (ERP) technique to identify the temporal course of inhibition to understand the various processes that contribute to inhibition. ERP studies with a focus on normal aging are specifically analyzed because they contribute to a deeper understanding of inhibition. Three time windows are proposed to organize the ERP data collected using inhibition paradigms: the 200 ms period following stimulus onset; the period between 200 and 400 ms after stimulus onset; and the period between 400 and 800 ms after stimulus onset. In the first 200 ms, ERP inhibition research has primarily focused on N1 and P1 as the ERP components associated with inhibition. The inhibitory processing in the second time window has been associated with the N2 and P3 ERP components. Finally, in the third time window, inhibition has primarily been associated with the N400 and N450 ERP components. Source localization studies are analyzed to examine the association between the inhibition processes that are indexed by the ERP components and their functional brain areas. Inhibition can be organized in a complex functional structure that is not constrained to a specific time point but, rather, extends its activity through different time windows. This review characterizes inhibition as a set of processes rather than a unitary process

Incidência de retinopatia da prematuridade no hospital universitário da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina entre 2010 e 2011

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Curso de Medicina. Dapartamento de Clínica Cirúrgica

STRUCTURE-FUNCTION ANALYSIS OF MULTI-COPPER OXIDASES

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Biochemistry, Structural BiochemistryDioxygen is a ubiquitous electron acceptor in aerobic biological systems, playing a vital role in many biological processes upon its activation and reduction. However, the precise routes through which such mechanisms occur are still poorly understood for many enzyme families. The work presented in this dissertation focuses on Multi-copper oxidases (MCOs), a family of enzymes able to couple the one-electron oxidation of a vast array of substrate molecules with the four-electron reduction of dioxygen to water.(...

Incompatibilidades intersemióticas em memes: um estudo a partir de resultados de tradução automática do inglês para o português

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar achados recentes acerca do uso de resultados do Google Tradutor em contextos multimodais. O desenvolvimento e avaliação de tradução automática frequentemente enfocam o componente linguístico, contudo há pouca exploração manual de relações texto-imagem em documentos multimodais. Assim, este trabalho busca descrever algumas relações texto-imagem em memes do inglês traduzidos automaticamente para o português. A metodologia envolve a seleção e análise de 100 memes, encontrados em páginas do Instagram e do Facebook e suas relações intersemióticas tanto em inglês (como texto-fonte) como em português (como texto-alvo). Dos memes analisados, 73% resultaram em traduções corretas, 17% tiveram erros sem qualquer tipo de incompatibilidade intersemiótica, e apenas 10% apresentaram um desvio linguístico que alterou a relação entre texto e imagem do meme. Desses 10% de incompatibilidades, emergiram amostras de incompatibilidades envolvendo, por exemplo i) palavras incorretas e relação aditiva; e ii) palavra desconhecida e homoespacialidade. Ao fim, os resultados encontrados demonstram que a tradução automática de alguns memes, cuja relação semântica entre texto e imagem compartilham maior congruência, apresentam um número maior de incompatibilidades em comparação com aqueles em que isso não acontece

Intersemiotic mismatch in memes: a study of machine translation output from English into Portuguese

Articl

An efficient numerical integration algorithm for the single mode compressible Leonov model – Complas XI

In this contribution, an algorithm for numerical integration of the Leonov elastoviscoplastic model is proposed. The operator split methodology and the Newton-Raphson method are used to derive the state update algorithm and obtain the numerical solution of the discretized evolution equations. Particular effort is devoted to the reduction of the number of required residual equations in order to have a more efficient numerical implementation. The consistent tangent module is expressed in a closed form as a result of the exact linearization of the discretized evolution equations. The performance of the algorithm is validated through comparison with existing experimental data