Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'IHDS'

Det kommunala fastighetsbolaget AB Uppsala kommuns Industrihus, även kallat Ihus, har som mål att bli klimatneutralt till år 2030. Definitionen av klimatneutralitet är att de totala utsläppen av växthusgaser ska vara lika med noll. Detta kan vara svårt att uppnå i praktiken med enbart organisationsomställning, miljöledningssystem och livscykelanalyser (LCA) då nästan alla delar i en verksamhet ger upphov till växthusgasutsläpp i olika led. Inledningsvis identifierades och kvantifierades direkta och indirekta utsläpp. Verksamheten delades därför in i olika sektorer för att underlätta arbetet. Dessa sektorer valdes utifrån de utgifter som Ihus redovisar och delades upp i fem utgiftsposter. Dessa var renovering, säkerhet, fastighetsskötsel, konsult och avfallshantering. Företag vars verksamhet liknar den hos Ihus entreprenörer valdes ut för varje sektor. Genom att sedan undersöka deras utsläpp och omsättning beräknades sektorns utsläppsintensitet. Ihus utgiftsposter multiplicerades med motsvarande sektor och utsläppen från Ihus kunde bestämmas.  Kvantifieringen av Ihus utsläpp resulterade i en åtgärdsplan med konkreta åtgärder presenterade i en tidplan. Tidplanen bestod av tre milstolpar med fyra års mellanrum fram till 2030 då Ihus vill ha uppnått sitt mål med att bli klimatneutrala. Inom de fyra första åren bör Ihus fokusera på åtgärder som är relativt enkla att utföra samt åtgärder som lägger en grund för ett långsiktigt miljöarbete. Dessa inkluderar resurseffektivisering, specificerad fakturering, redovisning av entreprenörers transporter samt uppföljningsmetod för upphandling. Fram till milstolpe 2 rekommenderas Ihus att utföra LCA på relevanta delar av verksamheten, så som renovering, samt kräva att entreprenörer redovisar direkta utsläpp i samband med upphandling. Cirkulär resurshantering bör även införas. Fram till milstolpe 3 kommer Ihus med hjälp av en rad åtgärder enligt en åtgärdsplan att minska sina utsläpp. De utsläpp som kvarstår efter år 2030 rekommenderas Ihus att kompensera. Även krav på att entreprenörer ska redovisa indirekta utsläpp bör ställas fram till milstolpe 3.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le domaine de l’évaluation prédictive des interfaces homme-machine (IHMs) multi-utilisateurs pour le travail coopératif dans les systèmes dynamiques complexes. Dans cette thèse, une méthode d’évaluation des IHMs multi-utilisateurs est proposée : la méthode MESC (Méthode d’Evaluation du Support à la Communication). Le but de cette méthode est de caractériser la capacité offerte par l'interface pour favoriser la communication entre les utilisateurs du groupe de travail, lorsqu'ils sont engagés dans une tache commune. MESC est une méthode d’évaluation prédictive et orientée tâche, intégrant un processus d’évaluation qui se fonde sur la modélisation et la simulation de deux modèles : le modèle cognitif de communication et le modèle des spécifications conceptuelles de l'IHM multiutilisateurs. MESC est basée sur la théorie des actes de langage et la théorie cognitive de communication de Sperber et Wilson. MESC vise à évaluer l'utilisabilité du support à la communication (qui est mesurée en termes de connaissances mutuelles et de croyances mutuelles), car la communication est considérée un élément important pour la coopération. MESC s'inscrit comme une extension et une intégration de deux méthodes : la méthode ergonomique de conception d'un environnement coopératif et la méthode Diane+. La méthode MESC permet de connaître l'utilisabilité du support à la communication, de déterminer quelles tâches ont des problèmes pour le support à la communication, de réduire les cycles d’évaluation avec les utilisateurs dans la phase de conception, d’évaluer les alternatives de spécifications conceptuelles, etc. Sur le plan pratique, l'objectif de cette thèse est le développement d'un outil informatique de simulation. .<br>This thesis entered in the area of the predictive evaluation of multi-users interface for the cooperative work in complex dynamic systems. In this thesis, a multi-users interface evaluation method is proposed: the MESC method (evaluation method of the communication support). The goal of this method is to characterize the interface capacity to aid the communication between users of the work group, when they perform a common task. MESC is a predictive and task-oriented evaluation method, the method integrate an evaluation process based on the modelisation and simulation of the two models: the cognitive communication model and the conceptual specification model of the multi-users interface. MESC is based on the speech acts theory and the cognitive communication theory of sperber and Wilson. MESC aims to usability evaluation of the communication support (that is measured in terms of mutual knowledge and mutual beliefs), because the communication is considered an important element for the cooperation. MESC is an extension and an integration of two methods: the ergonomics method of cooperative environment design and the Diane+ method. The MESC method allows to know the communication support utilisability, to determine what tasks have problems for the communication support, to reduce cycles of evaluation with users in the design phase, to evaluate conceptual specification alternatives, etc. . . On the implementation aspect, the objective of this thesis is the development of a computer. .

Technologies and Artworks: An Interdisciplinary Exploration through Ihde and Latour discusses and applies the phenomenological framework described by the philosopher of science and technology Don Ihde, in his text Technology and the Lifeworld, in relation to recent artworks of sculpture and performance that incorporate technologies. The study considers closely Ihde’s embodiment, hermeneutic, and alterity variants for the purpose of developing conceptual tools to investigate the complicated human-technology relationships present in the works considered. A subsequent discussion of psychasthenia and its relationship to Ihde’s embodiment variant demonstrates the limitations of Ihde’s approach and the need for additional sources in order to create a more comprehensive study. Additionally, this study draws on Bruno Latour’s text Science in Action, and in particular on his concepts of modalities and black boxes in order to contrast to and complement Ihde’s approach. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the relationship between art and research, the increase in doctoral programs that accept or are designed for artists, a reflection on the effect of this study on the author’s own art practice, and the productive tension between the different processes involved in research and art.

Orientador: Paulo de Oliveira Camargo<br>Resumo: A definição e determinação da coordenada vertical de pontos da superfície terrestre é alvo de pesquisas atualmente. As técnicas de posicionamento Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) proporcionam o conhecimento das altitudes de forma rápida e fácil; porém, a componente fornecida por estas técnicas possui caráter geométrico, ou seja, a altitude corresponde à distância normal entre o ponto mensurado e o elipsoide de revolução. Esta altitude tem sua importância, porém não possui caráter físico. Em obras de engenharia, é fundamental o conhecimento da altitude física, pois é a do sentido de escoamento da água. Este fator físico corresponde ao geopotencial, que quando relacionado com dados gravimétricos resulta em uma altitude física que representa a distância entre a superfície equipotencial do ponto de interesse e a superfície equipotencial de referência. Em 2015, a International Association of Geodesy (IAG) publicou uma resolução de fundamental importância na integração dos sistemas de altitudes entre os países, visando à formação de um Sistema Internacional de Referência Altimétrico, o International Height Reference System (IHRS). Dessa forma, para que as altitudes possam ser integradas ao IHRS é necessário calcular o valor do geopotencial. Os dados gravimétricos disponíveis no estado de São Paulo possibilitaram o cálculo do geopotencial, uma vez que o estado possui distribuição gravimétrica homogênea, que é uma das sugestões de condições para determinar o valor do potenci... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo)<br>Abstract: Knowledge the vertical coordinate of points of the terrestrial surface is currently under investigation. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) techniques provide the heights quickly and easily; however, the component provided by these techniques has a geometric character, that is, the height corresponds to the normal distance between the measured point and the revolution ellipsoid. This height has its importance, but it does not have physical meaning. In engineering works, it is fundamental to know the physical height, because it is the one that the direction of water flow obeys. This physical factor corresponds to the geopotential, which when related to gravimetric data results in a physical height. Represents the distance between the equipotential surface of the point of interest and the equipotential reference surface. In 2015, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) published a resolution of fundamental importance in the integration of height systems between countries, aiming at the formation of a global altimetric system, the International Height Reference System (IHRS). Thus, in order for the heights to be integrated into the IHRS, it is necessary to calculate the potential value. Thus, considering the importance of integrating Brazilian heights with a global system, the geopotential number for the PPTE and NEIA stations in the state of São Paulo was calculated. In these calculations were applied the Global Geopotential Models (GGMs) EIGEN-6C4, GECO, GOCO05c ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)<br>Mestre

Uppsala municipality has set a goal in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for sustainable development to be fossil-free by 2030. To achieve this a lot of local companies have signed the Uppsala Climate Protocol. One of these companies is the municipal facility management company AB Uppsala Kommun Industrihus, Ihus. This project aimed to help Ihus map their emissions connected to facility maintenance and management and to enable them to reach their goal of becoming climate neutral by 2030.  The daily facility management was split up into the categories gardening, ventilation and installation, cleaning and facility work, materials and products, renovations, and painting. A sustainability spend analysis was performed on Ihus’ organisation and emissions per spent MSEK were calculated for each category by researching Ihus’ suppliers. By using those emission intensities, the two categories with the highest emissions could be identified as renovations and materials and products with intensities of 84.48 and 57.56 tonnes CO2e/MSEK, respectively. The remaining categories all had intensities below 3 tonnes CO2e/MSEK.  Sensitivity analyses were performed on the results by tweaking the values of which the emissions were based on. The results showed that to lessen Ihus’ climate impact the areas of improvement are life cycle assessments for their facilities and overseeing transports.

A segmentação é um procedimento importante na análise de imagens de sensoriamento remoto, que divide uma imagem em partes com propriedades uniformes e muda a menor unidade de uma imagem de pixel para segmento. Alguns fatores produzem resultados indesejados na segmentação de imagens de sensoriamento remoto e um desses fatores é a existência de sombras na cena. A iluminação afeta a segmentação de imagens porque as variações na iluminação da cena modificam os valores de pixel em todas as bandas espectrais. A concentração das informações de intensidade do sinal detectado em um canal minimiza os efeitos do brilho, sombras e degradês nos outros canais (i.e., matiz e saturação). A matiz está sendo usada para identificar objetos que se distinguem por esse atributo, e o mesmo princípio de detecção está sendo estendido para imagens de múltiplas bandas, embora não seja indicado em todos os casos. Para melhorar o processo é apresentado um modo de produzir um canal sintético de matiz fazendo-se a média de múltiplos canais de matizes ponderados pela saturação, correspondentes a bandas multiespectrais de uma imagem. A idéia central por trás dessa abordagem baseada em objetos é a capacidade de avaliar e alterar qualquer segmento antes da conclusão do processo de segmentação. Uma função de desvios (\textit{turning function}) é um modo de representação de polígonos pelos ângulos e comprimentos, que pode ser analisada e modificada conforme necessário. Cada segmento da imagem pertencente ao primeiro plano é submetido a análise e o segmento correspondente fica sujeito a alterações, quando necessário. Para se obter a função de desvios, primeiro o segmento é representado de modo binário (i.e., como um \textit{blob}) e, posteriormente, convertido para o código da cadeia de Freeman. O uso de índices é útil para categorizar formas e algumas métricas são apresentadas. Os algoritmos são implementados em linguagem IDL em dois modos: supervisionado e não-supervisionado. O primeiro consiste na indicação na imagem de uma pequena área do objeto. O segundo usa um algoritmo de crescimento de região com sementes aleatórias. Além da revisão do algoritmo original, ampliando suas capacidades, e a proposta de uma abordagem baseada em objeto para a técnica de segmentação esco-lhida, esta tese propõe um modo de fazer a segmentação em função do matiz extraído de imagens multiespectrais, utilizando um aplicativo de segmentação, e também cria uma banda sintética de matiz a partir das combinações das composições coloridas da imagem original.<br>Segmentation is an important procedure in remote sensing image analysis, which divides an image into parts with uniform properties and changes the smallest unit of an image from pixel to segmento Some factors produce undesired results in the segmentation of remote sensing imagery and one of such factors is due to illumination: the occurrence of shadows. Lighting affects image segmentation because variations on scene lighting modifies the pixel values in all spectral bands. The concentration of intensity on the sensed signal in one channel produces two other channels, hue and saturation, where the effects of glare, shadows and gradients are minimized. The hue is being used to identify objects that are distinguishable by this attribute, and the same principle of detection is being extended to multi-band images, but it is not suitable for all cases. To improve the process it is being presented a way to produce a saturation-weighted synthetic hue channel for multispectral imagery. The central idea behind this object-based approach is the ability to evaluate and change any segment before finishing the segmentation processo A turning function is a representation of polygons by angles and lengths and it may be analyzed and modified as necessary. Every segment identified as foreground undergoes to analysis and the corresponding segment is subject to changes. To obtain the turning function, the segment is first identified as a blob and then converted into a Freeman's chain co de formato The use of indexes is helpful to categorize shapes and some metrics are being presented. The algorithm is implemented in IDL language and it have two modes: unsupervised and supervised. The unsupervised uses a region growing algorithm with random seeds. The supervised consists on the manual indication of a small area of the object. Besides the enhancements on the algorithms and the proposal of a object-based approach for a chosen segmentation technique, this thesis also proposes a feasible way to make segmentation based on phase extracted from multispectral imagery using any segmentation software in addition to creating a synthetic hue band from the combinations of color compositions of the original imagery.

Le rotture a fatica dei componenti sono dovute principalmente alle tensioni di trazione generate da carichi ciclici e variabili nel tempo. Le cricche causate da questo tipo di tensioni possono propagarsi e crescere fino a causare danni catastrofici nel componente. La fatica costituisce uno dei fattori principali di rottura delle strutture aeronautiche; in campo aeronautico sono quindi molto diffusi dei trattamenti superficiali che permettono di indurre tensioni di compressione che contrastano quelle di trazione, in modo tale da ritardare o prevenire le rotture dovute al fenomeno della fatica. Esistono diverse tecniche per raggiungere questo risultato e permettere di prolungare la vita a fatica di un componente metallico, la più nota è sicuramente il Laser Shock Peening (LSP). Nel corso degli ultimi anni la maggior parte delle ricerche condotte rispetto a questa tecnica sono state incentrate sugli effetti meccanici che questo trattamento ha sul materiale in modo da determinare la configurazione ottimale per ottenere una distribuzione delle tensioni il più efficace possibile ai fini della vita a fatica; sono state svolte diverse prove sperimentali per studiare il ruolo dei parametri del laser e ottimizzare la procedura del LSP. Tra le tecniche utilizzate per valutare gli effetti del LSP in termini di tensioni residue, spiccano, oltre ai metodi computazionali, l'X-ray Diffraction (XRD) e l'Incremental Hole Drilling (IHD). L'elaborato di tesi qui presentato ha come scopo il confronto tra i livelli di tensioni residue riscontrate all'interno di provini sottili in lega di alluminio, sottoposti a differenti trattamenti laser, attraverso i suddetti metodi XRD e IHD. I risultati, già noti, ottenuti con la tecnica l'XRD sono stati posti a verifica attraverso dei test svolti con l'IHD presso i laboratori MaSTeRLab della Scuola di Ingegneria dell'Università di Bologna.

This study revisits the effect of duration by residence in relation to smoking during pregnancy. It contributes to the literature by incorporating a health inequity perspective, and discusses whether immigrants tend to converge with Swedish women’s smoking. The study is based on Swedish Medical Birth Register and includes 1 1864 52 pregnancies between 1991 and 2012. Logistic regression was performed to attain crude and adjusted Odds Ratios and 95 % confidence intervals. Immigrants’ are divided by categorizing countries of origin depending on levels of Human Development (IHDI). Overall immigrant women show low levels of smoking during pregnancy when they arrive to Sweden, by duration of residence levels of smoking increase and converge with smoking patterns of Swedish women. I found that there are differences in smoking patterns depending on IHDI of the country. Immigrant women of higher categories of IHDI show higher levels of smoking although the increase of smoking is higher among immigrant women from categories of lower IHDI. However, immigrant women’s smoking during pregnancy is affected by duration of residence, and the increased smoking is associated with health inequalities related to their country of origins IHDI, and by socioeconomic inequalities in Sweden.

Over the last century, ischemic heart diseases (IHD) have been the worldwide leading cause of death. Major improvement in the prevalence and prognosis of IHD is dominantly related to the modulation of disease (atherosclerosis) risk factors rather than developing pharmacological approaches to treatment. Excessive inflammatory response, especially after ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR), represents a key feature in the progressive pathology of IHD. The kinetics of this inflammatory infiltration is well organized in a timely manner. Both the classical pathological phases of post ischemic heart injury and the process of healing are defined based on this cascade of inflammatory responses. However, the pathological demarcation between the harmful and healing responses is not well understood. Successful treatments in blocking excessive inflammatory responses and providing functional advantages in animal models, all failed in proving applicable clinical benefits. This disappointing outcome over the last 30 years has dampened the current vision related to the inflammatory response, thus, further understanding into this pathological process is needed. The basic scientific motivation for designing targeted-nanocarriers is to provide a tolerable and non-toxic nanocarrier system which can encapsulate cardio protective agents and transport them specifically to the ischemic tissue; thus overcoming all of the biological barriers. Moreover these targeted-nanocarriers aim to deliver the therapy to the specific site of the pathological process in a timely fashion, avoiding any pharmacokinetic problems, achieve effective therapeutic concentrations and reduce any cytotoxicity or unwanted side effects. Alternatively, they can act to target the pathological condition by selectively blocking the recruitment of harmful cells to the pathological site. To test targeted delivery, in this thesis, we present data on the biocompatible/biodegradable fungal protein (so called; RodA-hydrophobin) which was modified by incorporating the ischemic myocardium targeted peptide sequence “STSMLKA”. To test selective blocking of the pathological response, we studied Immunomodulatory microparticles (IMPs) and tested whether they indeed have the ability to modulate the ischemic injury by trafficking the inflammatory monocytes away from the site of injury (ischemic heart) as had been proposed by recent work from our institute. xiii The results of this thesis show for the first time that we were able to develop a flow cytometry kinetic model incorporating the blood, spleen and heart in a rat model of IR. When guided by our histological and IHC work, we found that the flow cytometry-leucocyte percentages and relative ratios within the circulation can be more predictive than their absolute counts as to the pathological changes occurring in the heart after the IR injury. Our study suggests that the leucocyte absolute counts can over-estimate the pathological role of the inflammatory response after the IR injury, thus misleading the beneficial effect of proposed treatments. Thus, our findings may have the potential to explain the failure in the clinical translation of the Immunomodulatory therapeutics within the field of IHD. The IMP treatment did not show any beneficial effect, did not reduce the inflammatory response, and unexpectedly, seemed to result in aggregation/clumping at site of vasculature. Thus, further study is required to understand the mode of action (MOA) of IMPs before clinical applications. The feasibility of designing RodA-based nanocarriers (polymers) with or without protein modifications is shown and that they have a biocompatible nature was derived by studying cultured heart cells (H9c2 cells). Unfortunately, our modified- RodA protein (after incorporating the targeted peptide sequence within the RodA structure) did not confer any preferential increase of RodA binding to the ischemic H9c2 cells or to the ischemic heart tissue from our rat model of 3 or 5 days AMI and IR injuries. However, the wild type RodA hydrophobin was able to target the ischemic heart tissue. Our study suggested that this targeting ability may be related to the progressive death of cardiomyocytes and possibly related to the α-helix region within the RodAhydrophobin structure.

In today’s society we depend on technology to perform the simplest tasks. Whether we are engaging in conversation with a friend or are navigating in traffic, we are likely to be found with some technological device in our hands. This dependence has grown over a period of time, and many of us have failed to reflect on the impact technology has had on our lives. The emergence of so-called One-to-One projects, where teachers and students gain access to a personal laptop, does however provide an excellent opportunity to do so. In this study we aim to highlight the teachers’ experiences of work with education after giving each staff member and student access to a personal laptop. We engage in this task by combining two analytical tools, and in doing so manage to bring forth an understanding of the effects of technology as something far more unpredictable than what can be found when presupposing that computers are mere tools used to achieve planned goals. Instead we find that computers affect the way in which teachers engage in the twilight between work and privacy as well as the percieved boundary between the school and the world of information outside of it. Furthermore, the nature of interaction with their students both in the classroom environment and outside of it has been altered. These highlighted effects call into question new perspectives on the roles of the computer and the teacher in modern society.

<p>Abstract Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems present a management problem for various industries including institutions of higher education (IHEs) because they are costly to acquire, challenging to implement, and often fail to meet anticipated expectations. ERP systems are highly complex due to the nature of the operations they support. This dissertation was conducted via a systematic review of the literature from 1998-2017 to synthesize available knowledge in various industries including IHEs in the United States. Through the lenses of Change Management Theory and The Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this systematic review highlighted critical success factors (CSFs) affecting the implementation of ERP systems in various industries and, also, sought to discover CSFs unique to institutions of higher education. Despite the challenges ERP presents to businesses, implementation of ERP systems continues to grow. This dissertation found that for various industries, the most often cited CSFs were: top management support, change management skills, effective communications, and ERP systems user training. For IHEs, institutional governance, staff engagement, lack of internal expertise, and conflicts with other priorities were the critical factors that played a significant role in ERP implementation. These findings suggested that industries must not only pay careful attention to the CSFs in various industries but that they can utilize the specific CSFs in IHEs, even though they may not appear to be as crucial for other industries. Future research may consider the extent to which organizations have mastered the skills necessary to effectively implement ERP systems. Keywords: enterprise resource planning systems, critical success factors, CSFs, implementation, higher education, innovation management

The major aim of this study is to evaluate the role of Turkish non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the consolidation of democracy in Turkey regarding the characteristics defined by the classical pluralist theories, starting with the ideas of Alexis de Tocqueville, and by contemporary pluralist approaches to civil society. To that end, characteristics of two examples, iHD and KiH-Y&Ccedil<br>V will be examined using three dimensions: effectiveness, enhancing solidarity and responsibility, and the dimension of inner democracy. As the methodology of the case study, in-depth interview techniques were adapted for capturing the qualities of the organizations in a detailed way. At that level, in-depth interviews from each organization were conducted with members having different positions. In addition to this, all written documents obtained from the organizations were scanned and the relevant ones have been examined for the sake of the study. Since the aim of the study is to understand what part Turkish NGOs play in the consolidation of democracy in Turkey considering the assumptions of classical and contemporary pluralist school in their analysis of voluntary associations and interest groups, this study espoused an associational concept of democracy as the method of work, which is a contemporary concept that underlines the democratic role of free and voluntary associations. In this context, this study tries to discuss the following questions: To what extent are Turkish NGOs independent from the state? To what extent can they have leverage on governmental policies? Do they mitigate conflict through overlapping interests? Do they enhance social trust, tolerance, compromise and a sense of solidarity in society and within their organization? To what extent are they democratic, pluralist and horizontally structured inside their organization and to what extent they are democratic regarding their decision making process? Are they open and inclusive enough in their membership recruitment techniques?

Cette étude concerne les sables bitumineux Crétacé de l’Athabasca, au Canada. Du fait de la forte viscosité des hydrocarbures, il est important de caractériser les hétérogénéités internes de ces réservoirs. Ce travail se base sur la stratigraphie, la sédimentologie, la modélisation réservoir et les simulations de production dans les sables à IHS (“Inclined Heterolithic Stratification”) de la formation du McMurray. Les études centrées sur les faciès, les ichnofaciès et les palynofaciès soulignent quatre environnements de dépôts: (i) un environnement continental; (ii) un environnement fluvio-estuarien; (iii) un environnement marin restreint; (iv) un environnement marin ouvert. Ces environnements de dépôts ne sont pas synchrones et les études montrent des séquences d’incision-remplissage de vallées incisées depuis la fin du Barrémien jusqu’au début de l’Albien. Les réservoirs à IHS sont contenus dans des dépôts de barres de méandre influencées par les courants tidaux dans un environnement saumâtre des cortèges transgressifs fluvio-estuariens. L’antagonisme existant entre les processus fluviaux et tidaux génère des hétérogénéités réservoir traduites par (i) des dépôts d’argiles à l’origine des IHS, (ii) des surfaces de réactivations et (iii) des accumulations de brèches argileuses. Ces hétérogénéités sont prises en compte dans la construction d’un modèle stratigraphique de terrain dans lequel est réalisé une modélisation réservoir et une simulation de récupération de bitume. Les simulations présentent des résultats très réalistes. Les hétérogénéités sédimentaires liées aux processus de dépôts, conformes à une ligne temps, sont restituées dans le modèle stratigraphique

Introduction: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of death from a non-communicable disease globally. Multimorbidity - the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions - is becoming highly prevalent in patients suffering IHD. Recently, mood and metabolic disorders have been found to share mechanistic pathways in disease progression, with mood disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and chronic stress (CS), and metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and metabolic syndrome (MetS) contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and development, and worsening cardiovascular outcomes in IHD sufferers. The intertwining pathological mechanisms of how these metabolic and mood disorders promote cardiovascular disease (perhaps synergistically) is not well known and is currently under investigation. Emerging research suggests that subclinical levels of CS and consumption of a Western diet promote pathological impairments in cardiac infarct tolerance and may diminish the heart’s innate protective signalling pathways. We further investigated these claims and examined the impacts of CS exposure and/or WD consumption on cardiometabolic risk factor development, mood impairment, and cardiac responses to classical pre-conditioning stimuli. Methods: 64 male C57BL/6J 8-week-old mice were randomly allocated to one of four groups (control diet, CD; Western diet, WD; control diet + restraint stress, CD + RS; or a Western diet + restraint stress, WD + RS). Mice were fed either a CD (calorie content: 14% fat, 59% carbohydrates, and 19% protein) or a WD (57% carbohydrates, 32%, fat, and 11% from protein) for 17 weeks. At week 15, mice in RS groups were exposed to 14 days of twohour daily RS in a clear Perspex restraint device. Behavioural analyses (open field test and sucrose preference test) were undertaken at baseline (week 0) and post-intervention (week 17) to determine if these interventions had an impact on markers of mood. Fasted circulating glucose was measured at baseline and post-intervention, with serum samples taken at these times for subsequent assessment of fasted insulin, triglycerides, and cholesterol. After postintervention behavioural assessment and blood collection, mice were anaesthetised and euthanised via heart excision. Serum samples were taken from the thoracic cavity immediately after heart removal for assessment of circulating markers. These hearts were used for immediate Langendorff perfusion experiments. Hearts were divided into two groups: one group that underwent ischemia and reperfusion (I/R), and one that was subjected to an ischaemic preconditioning (IPC) protocol (3x cycles of 5 minutes ischemia/5 minutes reperfusion) before exposure to I/R. Myocardial ventricular tissue was isolated and underwent analysis via ELISA and Western Blot assessment. Efflux of the two cell damage markers, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and cardiac troponin, was assessed. Results and conclusions: The WD resulted in significant weight gain and development of insulin resistance, without changes in the lipid profile. RS alone did not have an impact on metabolic parameters. Mood disturbances were found in the mice exposed to RS, however the WD did not improve or worsen behaviour (in the absence or presence of RS). No differences were found in intrinsic cardiac function between the control or the intervention groups. The protective efficacy of IPC was reduced in hearts from WD vs. control diet animals. However, WD hearts were nonetheless able to be pre-conditioned, with improvements found in % recovery of left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and absolute recovery of end-diastolic pressure (EDP). Regardless of diet, chronic RS impaired or eliminated reperfusion function protective effects of IPC, an inhibitory effect associated with reduced AKT expression and a trend to increased GSK-3b phosphorylation (significant in WD+RS hearts). Thus, both a WD and chronic stress are detrimental to cardioprotection and kinase signalling, with these adverse effects of stress more pronounced than those of diet.<br>Thesis (Masters)<br>Master of Medical Research (MMedRes)<br>School of Pharmacy & Med Sci<br>Griffith Health<br>Full Text

The Heavy Draught Horse (IHDH) breed is commonly selected on the basis of linear type traits evaluated yearly at young age on the new born foals when aged approximately 6 months. This scheme represent a sort of performance test at population level that allows the genetic evaluation of stallion and mares for traits related to the main selection goals (i.e., heavy draught and meat production) from phenotypes of their products evaluated early in life. Animals retained for reproductions are however scored also at about 30 months of age, i.e., at the official admission to the stud book, but data on type traits obtained on adults have never been analysed. The general aims of this thesis have been the genetic analysis of linear type traits obtained on young foals, the type traits evaluated on adults IHDH mares and stallions and the genetic comparison of the same traits scored at different ages. Additionally, due to the increasing interest for fertility traits to be used for breeding purposes, this study has aimed also at implementing a lifetime fertility rate variable to be used for the analysis of its genetic components aimed at analysing its possible implementation in the present selection scheme of the IHDH breed. For the first study an amount of 17,725 records on type traits recorded on foals since 1997 were preliminarily extracted from the database of the national breeders association of IHDH. Because of the small number of records within single levels of stud-farms x year x classifier (SYC; average of 2 records), 6 different method of grouping the stud-farms were applied and analysed for their contribution to the model fitting. Subsequently, this study has aimed at evaluating the heritability and genetic correlation among type traits. The final dataset use consisted in 11,357 scores of young foals (7,530 females and 3,827 males), and accounting for 17,441 subjects in the pedigree files. On the basis of a likelihood ratio test, all the 6 different combinations of stud-farms in environmental groups showed a significant influence on the model fitting, but the percentage square biases, the mean absolute deviation and the standard deviation of residues, indicated in the combination with the greater complexity, a general better fitting, independently form the increased degrees of freedom. The genetic analysis carried out on single trait considering alternatively the SYC effect as fixed or random; indicate that the first approach was better suitable than the latter one, because of the increased fitting. The genetic analysis revealed that the most heritable trait was fleshiness (0.355), while the trait exhibiting the lower heritability was the upper line direction (0.048). However the 5 traits combined in the present selection index, (head size, temperament, fleshiness, fore and rear diameters) showed the greater heritability values, ranging from 0.355 to 0.198. Also the frame size showed a good heritability value (0.257), although it has to be considered a composite trait, accounting for stature, fore and rear diameters, thorax depth and knee height. The genetic correlations founded in this study, indicate a great correlations among traits linked to fleshiness. The greatest value was found indeed between fleshiness and rear diameters (0.929), while the correlations among fleshiness and the fore diameters was a little lower (0.833). The lower correlation estimated was that between head size e bone incidence (-0.600). The second study was carried out with the objective of analysing or the first time the genetic components of type traits scored at the adult age, analysing also the indirect genetic trends obtained as effect of the selection carried out since the 90’s on the basis of EBVs estimated on young foals. An amount of 7,133 records were obtained from stud book database of IHDH breed and relative to the linear type traits evaluation annually recorder. The dataset suitable for analyses included single records of 6,691 subjects (5,835 females, 856 males), aged about 30 months. Animal were scored linearly for 14 traits with a 9 point scale system (from 1 unfair, to 5 excellent, including half points) by 33 classifiers in 21 subsequent years of evaluation (i.e. from 1992 to 2013); the final score expressed by classifier was also considered in this analysis, becoming the 15th trait under genetic evaluation. The genetic analysis accounted for 11,012 animals in pedigree file. The combination of stud or group of stud combined by year and classifier was considered the one that gave the best fitting in the previous study, The heritability estimates obtained for adult type traits ranged from 0.03 (upper line length) to 0.40 (frame size). The heritability of the two traits related to outward appearance, i.e., head size expression and temperament resulted of medium-low magnitude, i.e., 0.32 and 0.21, respectively. Similar estimates were obtained for traits related to fleshiness, i.e., the fleshiness itself, the fore and rear diameters, whose h2 values ranged from 0.25 to 0.32. All traits related to conformation correctness showed low heritability values (i.e., from 0.04 to 0.13), while the final score reached a heritability of 0.30. High genetic correlations (rg) were obtained among traits related to muscular development: fleshiness and rear diameters (rg=0.91), fleshiness and fore diameters (rg=0.74), and fore and rear diameters (rg=0.76). Positive genetic trends were found in traits of selection interest (fleshiness traits, head size and temperament) in spite of the fact that a direct selection based on 30 months type evaluation has never been carried out. The study showed a significant genetic variance for many analysed traits, suggesting that type traits scored in adult animals instead in foals could be a feasible method for the IHDH selection plan. In the third step, the thesis was focussed on the analysis of genetic correlations between traits scored both at young an adult age, aiming also at analysing the effect produced by selection considering the alternative use of type traits obtained on young or adult animals. The initial databases consisted in 7,133 evaluations of adults and 15,945 of foals scored by 33 classifiers in 21 subsequent years (i.e. from 1992 to 2013) on 14 linear type traits with a 9 point scale system (from 1 to 5 including half points). After editing, 6,691 scores on adults and 11,357 scores on foals were retained for further analysis. Data were merged and 4,110 animals resulted scored at both ages. Bi-traits Gibbs Sampling analyses were carried out on a total of 18,048 records related to 18,773 animals in the pedigree. The model considered the following fixed effects: stud (group)-year-classifier (2,637 classes for foals and 1,663 for adults), sex (2 classes), age at evaluations (9 classes for foals and 5 for adults), and age of mare at foaling (5 classes, for foal data only). The genetic correlations between traits measured in young and adult age ranged from -0.67 to 0.92, and the phenotypic correlations ranged from -0.19 to 0.47. The lowest genetic correlations between foal and adult scores were observed on head size and bone incidence (i.e., -0.67). Greater genetic correlations were estimated for the same traits evaluated at young and adult age particularly on frame size (0.92), upper line direction (0.88), head size (0.87), bone incidence (0.86). While the correlation among traits correlated with muscularity (fleshiness, fore and rear diameters) ranged from 0.55 to 0.67. The correlation among overall score and traits score in the foals, showed medium low values, ranging from 0.02 to 0.66. An estimate of the genetic progress obtainable accounting for direct selection for the 5 traits at present considered in the total merit index (head size and expression, temperament, fleshiness, fore and rear diameters), and based on the use of EBVs from young foals or adults were compared. Results indicate a similar expected genetic trend for generation both using EBVs from young or adult horses. However, due to the lower generation interval allowed by the use of scores on young foals, a greater yearly genetic trend could be expected in this scenario as compare to the one accounting only on the genetic progress attainable using type traits scored on adults. Therefore, the choice of using the type traits instead of those obtained on foals, although feasible, cannot be considered an efficient solution. The aims of the fourth study were to find out a phenotypic variable able to express mares’ lifetime reproductive performance at a given endpoint and to analyze the genetic components the trait in order to exploit the possible implementation of a breeding for fertility process in the IHDH breed. In a first step of this study 1,487 mares born after 1990 were considered. Mares had at least 6 subsequent registered reproductive seasons (RS), and belonged to environmental units with at least 2 observations (group of studs in the same geographical area and common rearing system by year of birth), and had known parents. This training dataset was used to implement a set of predictive coefficients or equations to estimate foal production (FP) at the 6th RS depending on previous FP (i.e., after 3, 4 or 5 RS), and accounting or not for the age at first foaling (3 or 4 years when considered). The validation of predictive coefficients or equations was carried out by analyzing the mean biases using individual differences between actual and estimated lifetime foaling rate (LFR, i.e., the actual or estimated FP divided by the 6 opportunities of foaling). A further dataset accounting for 3,033 mares and obtained following the same editing restriction as above, but with at least 3 registered RS, was used to estimate the foaling rate at the 6th RS for mares with 3, 4, or 5 registered RS. This dataset contained actual (n=1,950) and estimated (n=1,443) LFR, obtained both with coefficients (LFR-C) and with equations (LFR-E). Arcsine transformed LFR were also analyzed. Heritability in single trait animal model accounting for 6,803 animals in the pedigree file was estimated and EBVs obtained were used to compare the 4 different LFR in term of genetic trends and rank correlations. The predictive equations resulted well validated when separate linear regression equations accounting for the age at first foaling were used to estimate LFR at 6th RS, with lower percentage square biases (0.0094), mean absolute deviation (0.0583) and standard deviation of residuals (0.0769). The estimated foaling rate showed a moderate but significant genetic variation, and the heritability of the trait resulted medium-low, i.e., 0.25. The arcsine transformation of bot LFR-C or LFR-E did not show any improvement of heritability, although increased slightly the fitting of the model (i.e., lower -2 Log likelihood). Rank correlations of EBVs for mares with phenotypic records or for sire with ≥9 daughters resulted extremely high comparing the 4 different LFR (average correlation coefficient of 0.996), and, as expected, genetic trends resulted unchanged for the 4 different LFR expression, although almost steady for both mares and stallions. The study indicates the possible use for breeding purposes in IHDH horse of a linear LFR variable expressed as actual or as estimated value at the 6th reproductive season for incomplete career. However, further analyses aimed at evaluating the relationship of fertility with the other productive traits are needed before the practical implementation of a breeding process for fertility in IHDH.<br>Il Cavallo Agricolo Italiano da Tiro Pesante Rapido (CAITPR) è comunemente selezionato sulla base dei caratteri lineari valutati in giovane età sui nuovi puledri nati, quando hanno un’età approssimativa di 6 mesi. Questo schema rappresenta una sorta di performance test a livello di popolazione, che permette la valutazione genetica di stalloni e fattrici per i caratteri legati al principale obiettivo di selezione (tiro pesante e produzione di carne) realizzando una valutazione fenotipica in vita in età precoce. Gli animali trattenuti per la riproduzione sono comunque punteggiati anche a 30 mesi circa di età, per l’ammissione ufficiale al libro genealogico. I dati rilevati sui caratteri lineari ottenuti dagli adulti non sono mai stati sottoposti ad analisi per il fine della valutazione genetica. Come scopo generale, questa tesi si è proposta di realizzare i seguenti obiettivi: condurre le analisi genetiche dei caratteri lineari ottenuti dai puledri di CAITPR, analizzare i caratteri lineari valutati sugli adulti, fattrici e stalloni, effettuare una comparazione genetica degli stessi caratteri rilevati a differenti età. Inoltre, a causa del crescente interesse per i caratteri legati alla fertilità nei programmi di selezione, questo studio ha avuto lo scopo di implementare un tasso di fertilità variabile, usato per le analisi della sua componente genetica, ai fini di una sua possibile implementazione nel presente schema di selezione del CAITPR. Per il primo studio è stato estratto dalla banca dati dell’associazione nazionale del CAITPR un ammontare di 17,725 dati di caratteri lineari registrati sui puledri a partire dal 1997. A causa dell’ammontare di record con meno di due puledri figli di diverso stallone per singolo livello di azienda-anno-valutatore (AAV), sono stati confrontati 6 differenti metodi di raggruppamento delle aziende ai fini di determinare quale si adattasse meglio al modello. Inoltre, questo studio ha avuto lo scopo di stimare l’ereditabilità e le correlazioni genetiche tra i caratteri lineari. Il dataset finale usato consisteva in 11,357 punteggi di giovani puledri (7,350 femmine e 3,287 fattrici), riferiti a 17,441 soggetti nel pedigree. Sulla base del Likelihood ratio test, tutte e 6 le differenti combinazioni di aziende nelle celle ambientali hanno mostrato una significativa influenza nell’adattamento del modello, ma le statistiche basate sull’analisi dei residui (percentage square biases, mean absolute deviation, residual standard deviation) hanno indicato un adattamento migliore per la combinazione con maggiore complessità, indipendentemente dai maggiori gradi di libertà. Le analisi genetiche single-trait, effettuate considerando alternativamente la l’effetto ambientale fisso o random, hanno suggerito un maggior adattamento per il modello con l’effetto ambientale fisso, maggiormente adatto quindi alle analisi. Le analisi genetiche hanno rilevato che il carattere più ereditabile è stato la muscolosità (0.355), mentre il carattere che ha esibito la più bassa ereditabilità è stato la direzione della linea dorsale (0.048). I 5 caratteri combinati nel presente indice di selezione, (distinzione, temperamento, muscolosità, diametri anteriori e posteriori) hanno mostrato i maggiori valori di ereditabilità, variando dal 0.355 al 0.198. Anche lo sviluppo generale ha mostrato un buon livello di ereditabilità, sebbene vada considerato come un carattere composito, che include statura, diametri anteriori e posteriori, profondità toracica e altezza al ginocchio. Le correlazioni genetiche trovate in questo studio sono risultate elevate tra muscolosità e diametri posteriori (0.929), e leggermente inferiori tra muscolosità e diametri anteriori (0.833). La più bassa correlazione stimata è stata tra distinzione e incidenza dell’impalcatura ossea. (-0.600). Il secondo studio è stato effettuato con l’obiettivo di analizzare per la prima volta la componente genetica dei caratteri lineari punteggiati in età adulta, analizzando anche il trend genetico indiretto ottenuto come effetto della selezione effettuata dagli anni 90’, sulla base degli EBV stimati nei puledri. Un ammontare di 7,133 dati riguardanti i caratteri lineari valutati annualmente sugli esemplari adulti è stato ottenuto dalla banca dati del libro genealogico. Il dataset preparato per le analisi includeva i singoli rilievi di 6,691 soggetti (5,835 femmine e 856 maschi) con un’età di 30 mesi circa. Gli animali sono punteggiati linearmente per 14 caratteri con una scala a 9 punti (da 1 insufficiente, a 5 eccellente, inclusi i mezzi punti), da 33 valutatori in 21 anni consecutivi di valutazioni (dal 1992 al 2013); il punteggio finale espresso dai valutatori è stato anch’esso considerato nelle analisi, diventando il 15° carattere nella valutazione genetica. L’analisi genetica ha riguardato un ammontare di 11,012 animali nel pedigree. L’effetto dato dalla combinazione dell’azienda o del gruppo di aziende con l’anno e il valutatore è stato considerato quello che nello studio precedente ha dato il miglior adattamento. L’ereditabilità stimata per i caratteri lineari rilevati negli adulti variava da 0.03 (lunghezza linea dorsale) a 0.40 (sviluppo generale). Le ereditabilità dei due caratteri legati all’aspetto esteriore, distinzione e temperamento, sono risultate di magnitudine medio-bassa, rispettivamente 0.32 e 0.21. Simile stime sono state ottenute per i caratteri relativi alla muscolosità, cioè la muscolosità stessa, e i diametri anteriori e posteriori, i cui valori di ereditabilità variavano dal 0.25 al 0.32. Tutti i caratteri relativi alla conformazione e correttezza hanno mostrato bassi valori di ereditabilità (dal 0.04 al 0.13), mentre il punteggio finale ha raggiunto un’ereditabilità di 0.30. Sono state ottenute correlazioni genetiche (rg) elevate tra i caratteri relativi allo sviluppo muscolare: muscolosità e diametri posteriori (rg=0.91), muscolosità e diametri anteriori (rg=0.74), diametri anteriori e posteriori (rg=0.76). Un incremento del valore genetico nel tempo è stato riscontrato nei caratteri interessati dalla selezione (muscolosità, distinzione e temperamento), nonostante non sia mai stata effettuata una selezione diretta basata sui caratteri lineari a 30 mesi. Lo studio ha mostrato una significativa variabilità genetica in molti dei caratteri analizzati, suggerendo che i caratteri lineari punteggiati negli animali adulti invece che nei puledri potrebbero essere efficacemente utilizzati nei piani di selezione del CAITPR. In una terza fase, la tesi si è focalizzata sull’analisi delle correlazioni genetiche tra i caratteri punteggiati nei puledri e negli adulti, considerando anche gli effetti prodotti dalla selezione in seguito all’uso dei caratteri lineari alternativamente ottenuti dai puledri o dagli adulti. Il dataset iniziale consisteva in 7,133 valutazioni di adulti e 15,495 di puledri punteggiati da 33 valutatori in 21 anni consecutivi (dal 1992 al 2013), su 11 dei 14 caratteri lineari con una scala di 9 punti (da 1 a 5 includendo i mezzi punti). A seguito dell’editing dei dati sono stati considerati per le successive analisi 6,691 punteggi negli adulti e 11,357 punteggi nei puledri, quindi uniti in un unico dataset comprendente 13938 animali di cui 4110 valutati in entrambe le età. Le analisi, effettuate su modelli bivariati applicando un algoritmo di gibbs-sampling, sono state realizzate su un totale di 18,048 dati relativi a 18,773 animali nel pedigree. Il modello considerava a i seguenti effetti fissi: allevamento (gruppo)-anno di valutazione-valutatore (2,637 classi per i puledri e 1,297 per gli adulti), sesso (2 classi), età alla valutazione (9 classi per i puledri e 5 per gli adulti), e età della madre al parto (5 classi solo per i dati dei puledri). Le correlazioni genetiche tra i caratteri misurati nei puledri e negli adulti variavano dal -0.67 al 0.92, e quelle fenotipiche -0.19 al 0.47. le più basse correlazioni tra adulti e puledri sono state osservate sui caratteri di distinzione e incidenza dell’impalcatura ossea (-0.67). Le correlazioni stimate per gli stessi caratteri valutati sia nei puledri che negli adulti sono risultate particolarmente elevate per i caratteri di sviluppo generale (0.92), direzione della linea dorsale (0.88) distinzione (0.87) e incidenza dell’impalcatura ossea (0.86). Le correlazioni tra i caratteri legati alla muscolosità (muscolosità diametri anteriori e posteriori) variavano invece da 0.55 a 0.66. Nello studio sono state inoltre confrontate tra loro delle stime di progresso genetico ottenute tenendo conto della selezione diretta per i 5 caratteri considerati nell’indice di selezione complessivo (distinzione, temperamento, muscolosità, diametri anteriori e posteriori) e alternativamente basate sugli EBVs dei puledri e degli adulti. I risultati hanno indicato un trend atteso di generazione simile nei due scenari (selezione basata sugli EBVs dei puledri e adulti). A causa però del basso intervallo generazionale permesso grazie all’uso dei punteggi registrati in giovane età, l’utilizzo dei puledri in ambito selettivo potrebbe portare ad un trend maggiore rispetto a quello che conta solo sul progresso genetico ottenibile usando solo i caratteri valutati negli adulti. Quindi, la scelta di usare i caratteri lineari degli adulti anziché quelli dei puledri, sebbene fattibile, non può essere considerata una soluzione efficiente. Lo scopo del quarto studio è stato trovare una variabile fenotipica capace di esprimere le prestazioni riproduttive in vita delle fattrici a un dato punto finale, e di analizzare la componente genetica del carattere in modo da considerare la possibile implementazione della valutazione della fertilità nell’ambito della gestione della razza CAITPR. In un primo step dello studio sono state considerate 1,487 fattrici nate dopo il 1990. Le fattrici sono state scelte seguendo i seguenti criteri: l’aver avuto almeno 6 eventi riproduttivi consecutivi registrati (RS), l’appartenere ad una cella ambientale con almeno due osservazioni (gruppo o allevamento nella stessa area geografica, e sistema di allevamento comune e stesso anno di nascita), e avere i genitori noti. Questo training dataset è stato usato per implementare una serie di coefficienti o equazioni per stimare la produzione di puledri (FP) al 6° RS in relazione al precedente FP (dopo 3,4 o 5 RS), e tenendo conto dell’età al primo parto (3 o 4 anni quando considerati). La validazione dei coefficienti, o equazioni predittive, è stata effettuata analizzando gli scarti medi ottenuti usando le differenze individuali tra il tasso di puledri prodotti in vita attuale e stimato (LFR, cioè l’FP attuale o stimato diviso per le 6 opportunità di parto). Un ulteriore dataset, comprendente 3,033 fattrici scelte sulla base dei precedenti criteri, ma con almeno 3 eventi RS registrati, è stato usato per predire la produzione di puledri al 6° RS per le fattrici con 3,4 o 5 RS registrati. Questo dataset conteneva i tassi di produzione di puledri attuale (n=1,950) e stimato (n=1,443), ottenuti entrambi con coefficienti (LFR-C) e con equazioni (LFR-E)..E’ stata inoltre considerata la trasformazione arcoseno del LFR. L’ereditabilità dei caratteri è stata ottenuta mediante single-trait animal model e utilizzando un pedigree di 6,803 animali. Gli EBVs ottenuti sono stati quindi usati per confrontare i 4 differenti LFR in termini di andamento genetico e correlazioni tra i ranghi. Le equazioni di previsione risultavano ben validate quando le equazioni indipendenti di regressione lineare tenevano conto dell’età al primo parto per stimare il LFR al 6° RS, e presentavano bassi valori, indice di validità del modello, di percentage square bias (0.0094), mean absolute deviation (0.0583) e residual standard deviation (0.0769). Il tasso stimato di puledri prodotti ha mostrato una varianza genetica moderata ma significativa, e l’ereditabilità del carattere LFR è risultata medio bassa e pari a 0.25. La trasformazione in arcoseno di entrambi LFR-C e LFR-E non ha mostrato incrementi di ereditabilità, sebbene l’adattamento del modello incrementi leggermente (valori più bassi du -2 Log likelihood). Le correlazioni dei ranghi degli EBVs per fattrici con dati fenotipici o per stalloni con ≥9 figli sono risultate estremamente elevata ponendo a confronto le 4 differenti LFR (la media del coefficiente di correlazione è di 0.996), e, come atteso, il trend genetico risulta invariato per le 4 differenti espressioni del LFR, sebbene costante per stalloni e fattrici. Lo studio ha indicato il possibile uso per scopi selettivi nel CITPR della variabile lineare LFR espressa come valore attuale o stimato alla 6° stagione riproduttiva per carriere incomplete. Comunque, successive analisi volte a valutare la relazione tra la fertilità e gli altri caratteri produttivi, saranno necessarie prima dell’implementazione pratica di un miglioramento genetico per la fertilità nel CAITPR.

Předkládaná dizertační práce se zabývá využitím techniky vysoce rozlišovací ultrazvukové spektroskopie (HRUS) při analýze huminových látek, za účelem získání hlubšího vhledu do problematiky vztahu mezi jejich primárními charakteristikami (elementární složení a rozložení uhlíku ve funkčních skupinách) a agregačními vlastnostmi. V literární rešerši jsou shrnuty nejnovější poznatky z oblasti studia huminových látek a představeny základní principy HRUS. Dále jsou uvedeny základní informace z oblasti fraktální analýzy a její aplikace na data získaná pomocí různých metod při studiu huminových látek. První úkol experimentální části je zaměřen na výhodné využití HRUS pro výzkum huminových látek, zde reprezentovaných standardy Mezinárodní společnosti pro huminové látky (IHSS) a to sodnými solemi huminových a fulvinových kyselin. Fulvinové kyseliny v jejich protonované formě byly taktéž zkoumány a to z důvodu objasnění vlivu sodného kationu. Pro popis chování vzorků byla použita mocninná funkce, jejíž empirické parametry byly korelovány s primárními charakteristikami. Byla vytvořena metoda fraktální analýzy a následně byla aplikována na data získána ultrazvukovou spektroskopií. Data získaná pomocí ultrazvukové spektroskopie byla zpracována i alternativní metodou. Ta spočívala v globálním pohledu na závislost ultrazvukové rychlosti na koncentraci a využití lineární regrese. Druhým z cílů práce je získání informací o vlivu teploty na stabilitu agregátů HS (IHSS standardy). Byl zkoumán vliv teplotních gradientů na chování agregátů při čtyřech různých koncentracích. V třetí části práce pak byly zkoumány koncentrační závislosti u vzorků pocházejících především z lokalit příliš nezasažených lidskou činností. HRUS data byla proložena mocninnou funkcí a zkoumána pomocí fraktální analýzy. Takto získané parametry byly korelovány s primárními vlastnostmi. Ze znalosti hustoty při dané koncentraci mohly být stanoveny velikosti hydratačních obálek. Jak se v současné době ukazuje, informace o agregačním chování huminových biomolekul mohou být v budoucnu velmi důležité pro navrhování průmyslových aplikací huminových látek, zejména v zemědělství a v ochraně životního prostředí, ale také například v medicíně.

In the dominant mode of art discourse the apparatus features as a blind spot. It is most often treated as an indexical trace of the image, as a readable text or conversely an unreadable formal gesture. This practice-led research draws on conceptions of the apparatus developed in the philosophy of science and technology. In doing so, it offers a new approach to understanding the apparatus in practice by foregrounding the material presence of technologies, their 'performative agency' and the perceptual dimensions of spectatorship.

Over the past 30 years, knowledge concerning the in vivo relevance of bilirubin has evolved from being an inert waste product of haem catabolism to a physiologically important antioxidant and biomarker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Elevated serum bilirubin concentrations, as observed in human Gilbert’s syndrome (GS), are associated with reduced incidence of atherosclerosis, ischaemic heart disease (IHD), and a reduction in overall cardiovascular mortality. However, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that might explain these associations remains to be delineated. Aside from its potent antioxidant capacity, bilirubin inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation, intima-media thickening and influences vascular tone, all of which could represent additional mechanisms by which bilirubin could protect from CVD and associated mortality. This thesis addressed three aims; 1) to investigate whether endogenously elevated bilirubin affects cardiac structure and function in healthy rats; 2) to determine whether endogenously and exogenously elevated bilirubin impacts on cardiac stress resistance in aged and young rat hearts; and 3) to explore the effects of elevated endogenous bilirubin on expression of genes in left ventricular myocardium. If bilirubin was found to protect from myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury, the research within this thesis could underpin the development of therapies for myocardial infarction, for which there is currently no treatment.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>School of Medical Science<br>Griffith Health<br>Full Text

A região Amazônica, apesar de possuir importantes depósitos minerais em seus terrenos, e uma região pouco pesquisada, no que diz respeito às relações entre a geologia, o relevo, os solos e a cobertura vegetal. Esta falta de conhecimento e causada por vários fatores, tais como, dificuldade de acesso a área, complexidade ambiental, ausência de estudos multidisciplinares, etc. Estes problemas podem ser parcialmente resolvidos por meio do uso de dados de sensoriamento remoto e de geofísica. Neste contexto, o presente estudo foi baseado na extração de informações geológicas, através da integração digital de dados de sensoriamento remoto (TM-LANDSAT) e de geofísica (magnetometria), utilizando-se a transformação IHS (intensity, hue e saturation). Para esta pesquisa foram utilizados os seguintes dados: imagens digitais de magnetometria (redução ao polo e ao equador magnéticos, susceptibilidade magnética, primeiro e segundo derivativos e continuação para cima) a partir do campo magnético total, derivadas de perfis aerotransportados; imagens TM-LANDSAT (6 bandas refletidas na faixa do visível ao infravermelho); fotografias aéreas; mapas geológicos e geobotânicos. Os dados geofísicos (perfis N-S) foram convertidos para grades regulares, com um espaçamento de 30 metros e posteriormente, para imagens digitais com o auxilio de um algoritmo de interpolação Cubic Spline. Estas imagens foram integradas com as imagens TM, no espaço IHS, com o objetivo de promover uma melhor visualização das correções existentes entre as informações. Um mapa fotogeológico foi confeccionado no contexto de subsidio aos resultados obtidos com a transformação IHS e no aperfeiçoamento de conhecimento geológico da área do Pojuca. Na transformação IHS foram integradas a primeira componente principal das seis bandas utilizadas do TM (canal intensidade)e a imagem transformada de redução ao equador (canal de hue). O produto final forneceu informações adicionais, principalmente, em relação às feições texturais e topográficas (componente principal) "coloridas" pelos padrões magnéticos da área. Além disso, a transformação IHS confirmou a maioria das classes geobotânicas detectadas previamente para a área do Pojuca.<br>The Amazon region has very few geological surveys, in spite of having several mineral districts. The relationship between geology, reflief, soils and vegetation cover is poorly investigated. This lack of knowledge is caused by many factors, such as the non-accessibility to the area, its environmental complexity, the absence of systematic and integrated multidisciplinary studies, etc. These problems can be partially solved by the use of remote sensing and geophysical data. In this context, the present study was based on the extraction of geological information from the digital integration of remote sensing (LANDSAT-TM) and geophysical (magnetometry) data, using the HIS transform. In order to perform this research, the following data were analyzed: digital magnetic images (reduction to magnetic equator and pole, magnetic susceptibility, first and second derivatives, upward continuation) obtained from total field image, derived from aerial profiles; TM-LANDSAT-5 images (6 reflective bands); aerial photographs; geological and geobotanical maps. The geophysical data (N-s profiles) were converted to a regular grid of 30m and subsequently, to a black and white digital image with a Cubic Spline interpolation algorithm. These images were integrated with TM-images in the IHS space, in order to improve a better correlation between geological and geophysical information. A photogeological map was done in order to compare the HIS results and to improve the geological knowledge of the Pojuca Test Area. The HIS transform combined the first principal component of the six reflective LANDSAT bands (intensity channel) and the reduction to magnetic equator transformed image (hue channel). The final product provides additional information on the textural and topographical features (principal components) colored by the magnetic patterns. In addition, the HIS transform confirmed many existing geobotanical classes in the study area.

Ce manuscrit de thèse propose la première étude sédimentologique exhaustive de l’escarpement du Dur At Talah (150 km de long sur 120 m de hauteur). Ce dernier affleure dans la dépression d’Abu Tumayam, dans la partie méridionale du Bassin de Syrte (Libye). La Formation du Dur At Talah offre une séquence sédimentaire régressive (au 2nd ordre), allant de faciès marins peu profonds à des faciès fluviatiles, datée de l’Eocène supérieur. Les exceptionnelles conditions d'affleurement ont permis une analyse sédimentologique approfondie (lithofaciès, ichnofaciès, géométries et découpage séquentiel) conduisant à une caractérisation multiscalaire d'un système margino-littoral dominé par la dynamique tidale. Parmi les résultats saillants de cette étude figure l'identification de deux processus sédimentaires : la progradation signée par des structures clinoformes et l’accrétion latérale caractérisée par des stratifications hétérolithiques inclinées (IHS). Dès lors, plusieurs corps sédimentaires se distinguent sans ambiguïté tel que les barres d’embouchure hétérolithiques et les barres de méandres de chenaux tidaux. L'auscultation de ces grands corps sédimentaires permet alors d'en définir les critères de reconnaissance et le contexte séquentiel de mise en place, mais aussi d'en contraindre le potentiel réservoir<br>This manuscript provides the first exhaustive sedimentological study of the Dur At Talah escarpment (≈120 m high and ≈150 km length). This latter is exposed in the Abu Tumayam Trough, in the southern Sirt Basin (Libya). The Dur At Talah Formation forms a 2nd order regressive sequence, from shallow marine to fluviatile deposits, dated as upper Eocene. This exceptional outcrop allows an extensive and detailed sedimentological analysis (lithofaciès, ichnofaciès, geometries and sequence stratigraphy) leading to a multi-scale characterization of nearshore to paralic environments dominated by tidal dynamic. Among outstanding results, two sedimentary processes have been recognized and characterized: the progradation is expressed by large-scale clinoform structures and the lateral accretion is characterized by inclined heterolithic stratifications (IHS). Several sedimentary bodies are, thus, unequivocally distinguishable such as heterolithic mouth-bars and tidal channel point-bars. Thorough analysis of these sedimentary bodies allows to define diagnostic criteria to recognize them. They can be replaced in a consistent stratigraphic framework explaining their architecture and their vertical evolution in order to be used as reservoir analog

O cobre (Cu) é um íon essencial para as plantas, animais e para a saúde humana. Em elevadas concentrações, este elemento pode ser extremamente tóxico para os organismos. A determinação das variáveis físico químicas da água, índice do estado trófico, alterações histológicas, o índice hepatosomático, bioacumulação do Cu nos tecidos branquial e hepático e marcadores de estresse oxidativo como superóxido dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutationa peroxidase (GPx) nos fígados foram realizados. Os resultados mostraram que as maiores concentrações estavam na fração Cu dissolvido, no período chuvoso. A exposição a maiores concentrações de Cu provocou alterações como, descolamento do epitélio basal das lamelas, aneurismas, fusão lamelar entre outros nas brânquias, vacuolização e necroses no fígado. Os fígados mostraram-se grandes acumuladores do metal, por outro lado, o índice hepatosomático apresentou uma diminuição em relação ao aumento do Cu. As atividades enzimáticas não apresentaram diferenças significativas, com exceção da CAT. De forma geral, as atividades das enzimas antioxidantes CAT, SOD e GPX, apresentaram alterações após 120 horas de exposição ao Cu, proveniente dos 4 pontos de coleta da Represa Guarapiranga.<br>Copper is an essential ion for plants, animals and for human health. Although the crucial role of Cu in several enzymatic processes, this heavy metal can exert adverse toxicological effects, when present in high concentrations in water. The determination of waters physic chemistry parameters, trophic index, histological alterations, hepatosomatic index, Cu bioaccumulation in livers and gills and oxidative stress enzymes like, CAT, SOD and GPX were done. Our results show that the higher values of Cu concentration were in the dissolved Cu and in the rainy season. The exposition o the fishes to a higher Cu concentrations altered the gills; aneurism, lamellar fusion, basal epithelium lifting. In the liver the alterations were, vacuolization and necrosis among others. The livers were the greatest bioaccumulation organs, and the other hand the hepatosomatic index decreased with higher Cu concentrations. There was no significant difference in the enzyme activities with the exception of CAT that increased with Cu increase, nevertheless in general, the enzyme activities of SOD, CAT and GPx were altered some how after 120 hours of Cu treatment, with water sample from 4 points located at Guarapiranga Reservoir.

The diploma thesis "Data Standard of the Health Information Systems" deals with the structure of data standard including XML language. Further the thesis is focusing on hospital information system CLINICOM with the inclusion of the access to data records from its database Caché company InterSystems. Description of the National registers of health is also included.The concept of web application is also one part of the thesis which enables to generate reports in the data standard of the Ministry of Healt of the Czech Republic for mandatory reporting by NHIS registers in the time interval from the Caché database. Found records from the database can be printed for archiving. The work also deals with security access to the HIS server and data communication between health organizations.

This thesis discusses the design and the utilization of the artificial neural networks as ECG classifiers and the detectors of heart diseases in ECG signal especially myocardial ischaemia. The changes of ST-T complexes are the important indicator of ischaemia in ECG signal. Different types of ischaemia are expressed particularly by depression or elevation of ST segments and changes of T wave. The first part of this thesis is orientated towards the theoretical knowledges and describes changes in the ECG signal rising close to different types of ischaemia. The second part deals with to the ECG signal pre-processing for the classification by neural network, filtration, QRS detection, ST-T detection, principal component analysis. In the last part there is described design of detector of myocardial ischaemia based on artificial neural networks with utilisation of two types of neural networks back – propagation and self-organizing map and the results of used algorithms. The appendix contains detailed description of each neural networks, description of the programme for classification of ECG signals by ANN and description of functions of programme. The programme was developed in Matlab R2007b.

The classroom of the Knowledge Age requires different roles for teachers and students, and a different learning and teaching paradigm, from traditional Industrial Age education. Teacher education institutions are currently charged with the responsibility of developing in pre-service teachers both skills and understandings so that they can take their place in the 21st century. These teachers must be skilled in the appropriate use of information technology rather than merely adopting the use of computers in keeping with a transmission pedagogy of education. The study reported in this thesis, took place at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 1998. It tracked a cohort of Bachelor of Education (Primary) pre-service teachers through the frrst year of their course where they undertook two units of information technology education as core to their degree. Adaptations of already existing informal surveys were used to explore the changes to the pre-service teachers' feelings towards computers, perceived competence with computers, and perceptions oftherole of information technology in education. Data from the cohort were analysed in conjunction with the fmdings of in-depth analysis often key informants, chosen to be a purposeful sample of participants. The main cognitive device used within the study, based on Lakoff and Johnston's (1980) Metaphors we live by and Black's (1962) interactive view of metaphor, was to ask the pre-service teachers to construct a personal metaphor that reflected their relationship with computers. This was asked for at four times throughout the year. The pre-service teachers' metaphors for computers were categorised using grounded theory principles and the categories inserted into the sections of Ihde's (1979) Technics and praxis theory that provided a meta-schema for analysis of the changes that occurred throughout the year. Ihde's schema was modified in accordance with the understanding of teacher progression through learning stages as identified by Russell (1996). Ihde (1979) proposed that different relationships with technology lead to amplification/reduction/selectivity parameters. The study identified whether preservice teachers' relationship with computers influenced their perception of the role of information technology in education. The research data did not uphold this hypothesis. However, the study found interesting occurrences. Pre-service teachers almost unanimously related that they gained in competence throughout the year and most developed more positive feelings towards computers. The pre-service teachers' perceptions of the role of information technology in education expanded from stereotypical responses, such as access to information, to roles more in keeping with the underlying pedagogy of classrooms of the Knowledge Age. The roles that emerged were divided into three sections-the role of the teacher, the learning process, and the role of information technology. The study further developed a theory for information technology education in preservice teacher education that is iterative rather than progressive, acknowledging that pre-service teachers had had limited modelling of the effective use of information technology in education on entry into the course. This theory was developed into a model to inform pre-service teacher education of Teacher preparation and skills for the Knowledge Age. Although the area under study is subject to constant change the underlying principles of teacher praxis upon which the two units of information technology education were based still remain constant. The construction of a personal metaphor for computers provided the pre-service teachers with a novel and effective way to track their changing relationships with computers.

碩士<br>國立交通大學<br>土木工程研究所<br>83<br>In some applications, minpulation color is found to be more efficient in the perceptual color spaces. The performance of image classification in the perceptual color spaces is investigated for remotely sensed images. Both supervised and non-supervised vonventional classification schemes are applied. Three bands are selected form the test images and transformed into IHS color space for classification. The classification results are then comapred with those obtained with the original images. From the experiments conducted with two different images, neither the CIE derived nor the geometry based IHS color space has demonstrated better accuracy. The results are analyzed with both kappa and Tau statistics, and Z-test is performed.

碩士<br>國防大學理工學院<br>空間科學碩士班<br>97<br>Along with the prosperous developments of science and technology, the resolution of satellite imagery is also improved. High resolution panchromatic and low resolution multispectral imagery can be provided by satellites, such as IKONOS and QuickBird. The user can use depend on demand. For imagery interpretation, detailed features and relief can be acquired by the panchromatic imagery, but the color information of multispectral imagery is often assisted for target recognition. Image fusion techniques, however, can combine the advantages of panchromatic and multispectral imagery into a single one. The color distortion is hardly unavoidable during the process of image fusion. The saturation stretching IHS (SSIHS) method can compensate the problem of saturation compression by IHS method. Hence, the improved IHS fusion technique is based on SSIHS. It considers both spectral characteristic of satellite imagery and reasonable parameter of saturation stretching. The result imagery indeed can improve color distortion effectively, and be suited for the applications of imagery interpretation.

För att minska den globala uppvärmningen bär utbyggnaden av förnybar energiproduktion en stor vikt i dagens samhälle. Av den anledningen är det av stor betydelse som nya tekniker för energiproduktion testas. För att undersöka huruvida dessa tekniker är effektiva och lönsamma är det viktigt att deras produktionsdata publiceras och görs tillgänglig för allmänheten. Det är anledningen till att det här projektet beställts från Ihus via STUNS energi. Projektidén var att samla in högfrekvent uppmätt produktionsdata från en soltracker, ett vindkraftverk och ett batterilager. Dessutom skulle väderdata samlas från en väderstation och solinstrålningsmätare för att sedan offentliggöra datan via STUNS Energiportal. För genomförandet av projektet användes en enklare dator för att ta emot information från olika sensorer. För att kommunicera med enheterna användes olika standardiserade kommunikationsprotokoll. Enheterna konfigurerades och kopplades in i datorn. Den insamlade datan bearbetades med en programmerad kod. Programmet sände iväg datan till en molnlagringsplattform för att sedan publicera den. Uppkoppling mot soltrackerns växelriktare samt pyranometern lyckades. Den insamlade informationen från de två enheterna publicerades sedan på Energiportalen. Väderstationen producerade data men kommunikation med det ursprungligt tänkta protokollet lyckades inte att upprättas. Genom ett annat protokoll erhölls värden, men inte genom den implementerade koden. Dessutom uppstod problem med batterilagret och vindkraftverket. Ingen information lyckades hämtas från någon av dem. I projektets gång har det samlats in mätpunkter var femte sekund för respektive enhet. Utifrån det erhållna resultatet kan de konstateras att vid högfrekvent insamling av väder- och produktionsdata, blir viktig information tydligare för vardera energiproduktionsenhet. Denna information kan gå förlorad vid lågfrekvent datainsamling. Det beror på vädrets hastiga fluktuation. En lågfrekventare datainsamling ger således en sämre uppfattning av hur värdena egentligen ändras med tiden.

碩士<br>國立陽明大學<br>醫務管理研究所<br>103<br>Background World Health Organization (World Health Organization, WHO) noted that the cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of the death worldwide in January 2015. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), a major kind of the heart disease, has developed as important Public Health and health care issues in the major developed and developing countries. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment can be divided into medical therapy and coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Readmission after CABG has become an important monitoring article to assess the quality of care in many countries. In view of this, the purpose of this study desires to observe the status during readmission and emergency department visits after CABG in our country, in order to understand whether medical resources misuse to be under the limited National Health Insurance resources, as the consult of promotion in quality of care and making the best use of Health Insurance resources available. Material and Methods The study is a retrospective follow-up study, analyzing the data of the National Health Insurance medical use in myocardial infarction patients after CABG, mainly from a sample file of millions of people in 2005, captured in National Health Insurance database collection from 2000 to 2010. Result The rate of readmission within 30 days reached 9.43% in myocardial infarction patients after CABG, of which surgical wound infection is a major factor accounting for 11.3%, ischemic heart disease and heart failure accounted for 10.3%, 8.7% respectively. They are mostly male gender, age and comorbidity index are higher in readmission group. No significant differences exist between the two groups in the distribution of the case, regardless of the hospital hierarchy, tenure or teaching hospital in the relevant hospital variables. The track in emergency department visits one month after surgery revealed that male gender, age and comorbidity index are higher in the emergency group in person-related variables section. No significant differences exist between the two groups in the distribution of the case, regardless of the hospital hierarchy, tenure or teaching hospital in the relevant hospital variables. The hospital-stay was longer in emergency group, and mortality rate was higher in non-emergency group. In view of one-year survival after discharge, males constituted a higher proportion in survivors, age and comorbidity index are higher in the death in personally relevant variables section. Regardless of the hospital hierarchy, tenure or teaching hospital in the relevant hospital variables, there was also no significant differences in one-year survival after discharge. Conclusion Re-admission and emergency department visits within 30 days after discharge has nothing to do with the one-year survival of CABG, also irrelevant with the patient level and hospital level characteristics. Mortality rate within one year was higher in the CABG group via emergency department visit. So National Health Insurance may use the policy of more payment for medical institutions without readmission within 30 days, to encourage the better patient care and to reduce readmissions. By the way we can decrease medical resources consumption, patients’ readmissions and death risk to create a win-win situation.

碩士<br>國立中興大學<br>資訊科學與工程學系<br>104<br>The technique improvement makes a big progress in satellite imagery resolution. IKONOS and QuickBird satellite images can provide 1 meter and 0.6 meters of resolutions in panchromatic images (PAN image), and 2.8 to 4 meters of resolution in a low-resolution multispectral imaging(MS image), respectively. Although, the panchromatic image can provide landscape details, it still needs color information of multispectral images to improve the accuracy of object identification. Therefore, image fusion technology which combines panchromatic image and multispectral images into a new high-resolution colorful image is developed and has become a popular research topic over the past decades. The most widely used fusion technology is IHS (Intensity-Hue-Saturation) fusion technique. The biggest drawback of this method is color distortion, which occurs due to the difference between PAN image and intensity component of multispectral image in the fusion process; however, the tone itself is one of the relatively important factors in the identification of object surface and vegetation in landscape. In this paper, we employ unsharp masking to break down PAN and intensity component image into high and low frequencies, respectively, and then combine the high frequency of PAN image and the low frequency of intensity component of multispectral image into a new image. With our approach, the difference between PAN image and intensity component of multispectral image is significantly reduced so that the fused results retain both the detail of panchromatic image and the tone of multispectral image. To verify our method, experiments in 14 images are conducted and performance is measured through visual observation and seven quantitative measurements, including RMSE, ERGAS, CC, SAM, SID, Q index and Spatial Quality. Experimental results shows that our method oupacts other compared methods and without indroduing the side effects found in other compared methods.

The countries within the Caribbean region are pursuing the development of national integrated health information systems (iHIS). The model of the Belize Health Information System (BHIS) is referenced as the implementation guide. There are no established standards to facilitate independent evaluation of these types of systems. This study utilizes existing knowledge to determine the common approaches for evaluating health information systems (HIS) and applies these findings to formulate an evaluation approach for these regional systems. This approach is intended to strengthen the regional capacity for evaluating national iHISs by examining the contextual factors and providing an evaluation tool, CHEATS+, for systems lifecycle evaluation.

This study explores the problem of how we perceive built space and relate to its abstract representations. In 1897, Poincaré presented the problem of space for the 20th century in his essay ‘The Relativity of Space’, in which the human body and technics in our spatial experiences were already implied. Merleau-Ponty and Don Ihde's work is based on the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and has been influenced to different degrees by Martin Heidegger. The study is presented as a comparative historical-thematic textual study. For Merleau-Ponty, our primordial perception is general, pre-self-conscious and ambiguous. It is only in reflecting on our lived experiences that we can adequately describe our perceptions. One's own body is the means of having a world that is already intersubjective. Merleau-Ponty explicates the fusion of body and soul, as well as our irreducible relation to the world by referring to studies of behavioural pathologies. From these studies the motility and spatiality of one's body, as well as habit acquisition are already informative on general spatial experiences, the syntheses of our perceptions and the unity of the world. The body-subject is the nexus of all levels of perceptions. Merleau-Ponty describes the constitution of embodiment relations (by means of habit acquisition) with artefacts that mediate our interaction and perceptions in the world. Ihde extends this aspect of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. Building on Merleau-Ponty's explications of the body, Ihde poses a structure of human-technology relations with different variations: embodiment, hermeneutic, alterity, background and horizonal relations that transform our perceptions of the world and ourselves. Ihde's 'body one' and 'body two' are based on the notion that perception is meaningful and culturally informed. Ihde (after Husserl), shows that geometry and Euclidean space are instances of cultural habitus as an abstraction from the lifeworld. The different human-technology relations are present in our lifeworld-experiences of which built space is constantly part in the background or foreground of our projects and actions. By comparing both philosophers' work in a phenomenological explication of built space, new light is thrown on our experiences and perceptions thereof which have implications on architectural education.<br>Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011.<br>Philosophy<br>unrestricted

碩士<br>清雲科技大學<br>資訊管理所<br>100<br>It is well known that the photo-interpretation of radar images is substantially different from the optical images due to SAR’s scattering mechanism. Merging optical images with SAR imagery can provide complementary information in order to improve understanding the structure of the features within the SAR. To achieve the goal, this research has developed an extension model of the SA-IHS-BT approach (eSA-IHS-BT) with multi-optional adjustments for image fusion. The model provides four fusion methods of Pan-MS, SAR-MS, Pan-SAR and SAR-Pan-MS by setting two parameters. Apart from that, the SAR-Pan-MS image fusion method can show better performance in assisting SAR image understanding because of reasonable contents of spatial details and texture features by tuning one parameter for adjusting the proportion of Pan to SAR image information.

碩士<br>國立中興大學<br>資訊科學與工程學系所<br>100<br>In this paper, a new fusion approach for panchromatic and multispectral images is proposed. To deal with MS image, we firstly apply IHS transform to MS image in order to separate the intensity component from hue and saturation ones. Then, the salient and complementary information of PAN and MS images are extracted by using multi-scale bilateral filtering strategy so that high-frequency information in PAN images, such as edge and texture, are extracted as much as possible, and most of spectral information in the intensity component of MS image is also held in the last approximation image. The fused intensity image is generated by reversing the multi-scale bilateral filtering with the last approximation image of PAN image replaced by that of MS image. Finally our fusion result is obtained by performing reverse IHS transform with new fused intensity image together with the original saturation and hue of MS image. With our fusion scheme, high-frequency information from PAN image is preserved as much as possible and spectral distortion problem can be reduced. In our experiments, SAM, ERGAS and PSNR measurements are adapted to fairly evaluate the performance of each method. In three typical image sets, our fusion method performs better than others in the quantitative and visual analysis.

Introduction Worldwide, 99% of deaths of women in their reproductive ages are due to childbirth and pregnancy complications. Maternal mortality is the subject of the fifth United Nations’ millennium development goal: the aim is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters from 1990 to 2015. Although much research has been conducted in recent years, knowing the spatial pattern of maternal mortality in developing countries will help target scarce resources and intervention programs to high risk areas for the greatest impact, since nationwide interventions are costly. Objective This study assessed the spatial patterns and trends of, and causes and risk factors associated with, maternal mortality in the Ifakara Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IHDSS) in Tanzania, from 2006 to 2010, with a view to providing information that may help reduce maternal mortality in this country. Method A secondary data analysis of a longitudinal study using data from the IHDSS was conducted. Inverse distance weighted (IDW) method of interpolation in ArcGIS was used to assess spatial patterns. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify and quantify risk factors associated with maternal mortality. Results A total of 36 792 women aged 15 to 49 were included in the study of which 77 died due to childbirth or pregnancy related complications. The overall maternal mortality rate for the five years was 0.79 per 1000 person years. The trend declined from 90.42 per 1000 person years in 2006 to 57.42 per person years in 2010. There were marked geographical differences in maternal mortality patterns with high levels of mortality occurring in areas with close proximity to health facilities in some instances. The main causes of maternal death were eclampsia (23%), haemorrhage (22%) and abortion-related complications (10%). Maternal age, marital status and socioeconomic status were found to be risk factors. There was a reduced risk of 82% (HR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.05-0.74) and 78% (HR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05 – 0.92) for women aged 20-29 and 30-39 years, respectively, compared with those younger than 20 years. While being married had a protective effect of 94% (HR: 0.06, 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.51) compared to being single, women who were widowed had an increased risk of 813% (HR: 9.13, 95% CI: (1.017 – 81.942). Higher socioeconomic status had a protective effect on maternal mortality: women who were in the poorer and least poor socioeconomic groups were 70% (HR: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.11 – 0.81) and 75% (HR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.06 - 1.09) less likely to die from maternal causes, respectively, compared to those in the poorest category. Conclusion There has been a decline in maternal mortality in rural southern Tanzania, with geographical differences in patterns of death. Eclampsia, haemorrhage and abortion-related complication are the three leading causes of maternal death in rural southern Tanzania, with risk factors being maternal age less than 20 years, marital status (single, widowed), and lower socioeconomic status. Keywords: maternal mortality, risk factors, spatial pattern, maternal mortality rate, verbal autopsy

Background: CVD is a major cause of premature death in Nova Scotia, Canada. Objective: To determine the role of inflammation in the relationships between obesity, physical activity and IHD. Methods: Secondary analysis using exposure data from the 1995 Nova Scotia Health Survey, morbidity data from CIHI and mortality data from Statistics Canada. Results: A statistically significant association was found between abdominal obesity and IHD for women; the relationship between physical inactivity and IHD was of borderline statistical significance in men. Inflammatory markers were independently associated IHD for women. Conclusions: Abdominal obesity was a risk factor for IHD for women, whereas physical inactivity was the was the strongest predictor of IHD in men. Inflammation was found to be an independent risk factor for IHD in women but not men. There was no evidence that inflammation plays a mediating role in the obesity-IHD and physical activity-IHD relationships for women and men, respectively.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Engenharia Mecânica apresentada à Faculdade de Ciência e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra<br>No presente trabalho foi utilizada uma metodologia para quantificar o efeito da furação durante a aplicação da técnica do furo incremental (IHD) para a determinação de tensões residuais em compósitos laminados, em particular, nos compósitos de matriz polimérica (PMC) reforçada com fibras de carbono (CFRP). A metodologia aplicada, permitindo quantificar as deformações induzidas pela operação de furação, visa a otimização destas operações pela minimização daquelas deformações. Deste modo, tendo em consideração as dificuldades inerentes às operações de corte neste tipo de materiais, as operações de furação poderão ser melhoradas, não só para a aplicação da técnica do furo, mas também para os processos de furação industriais em geral. A metodologia utilizada no presente estudo é baseada num procedimento de calibração experimental seguido de uma simulação numérica de todo o processo. A comparação direta dos resultados experimentais e numéricos permite avaliar a deformação induzida pelo processo de furação no compósito. A metodologia foi aplicada no estudo do processo de furação a alta velocidade de dois tipos de laminados carbono/epóxido: Laminado unidirecional “single-ply” (0º)4 e laminado multidirecional “cross-ply” (0º2/90º2)2s. Nos dois provetes foi estudado o efeito da velocidade de corte, mantendo-se todos os outros parâmetros de furação inalterados, incluindo a geometria da ferramenta. O processo de furação utilizado foi a fresagem a alta velocidade usando ar comprimido, um processo normalmente utilizado com a técnica do furo. A variação da velocidade de corte foi conseguida através da alteração da pressão do ar à saída do compressor, sendo regulada a pressão entre 2,7 bar e 4 bar. A comparação dos resultados obtidos na calibração experimental e na simulação numérica, permitiram concluir que as deformações parasitas induzidas pela furação diminuem com o aumento da velocidade de corte. Além disso, os resultados obtidos permitem concluir que a técnica do furo poderá ser desenvolvida no futuro para ser aplicada na determinação de tensões residuais neste tipo de materiais.

As habilidades sociais (HS) são um dos constructos mais relevantes quando se estuda a população universitária e as suas interações e adaptação ao/no contexto académico. Para apoiar a sua aquisição, manutenção ou melhoria, a sua avaliação torna-se imprescindível. O reportório de HS, de cada um pode, todavia, ser influenciado por diversas variáveis. Tendo em conta a importância da temática nesta população em específico, e a lacuna existente no que respeita a instrumentos de avaliação das HS em território nacional, com o presente estudo pretendeu-se caraterizar as HS de estudantes universitários e analisar a sua relação com traços de personalidade e variáveis sociodemográficas, tendo como objetivo secundário a tradução e contributo para a validação do Inventário de Habilidades Sociais – IHS de Del Prette e Del Prette (2001) para a população portuguesa. Assim, tendo em atenção os objetivos propostos, a presente dissertação encontra-se organizada em 4 capítulos/artigos: uma revisão narrativa da literatura acerca da temática, uma revisão sistemática sobre a avaliação das HS, uma análise das relações conceptuais e empíricas entre HS e traços de personalidade, culminando num estudo empírico que visou caraterizar e identificar correlatos sociodemográficos e de personalidade das HS de universitários. Neste estudo, participaram 200 estudantes de três instituições de Ensino Superior do norte do país, com idades compreendidas entre os 18 e os 66 anos, que responderam a um questionário sociodemográfico, ao IHS e ao NEO-FFI, em contexto de sala de aula. Os resultados demonstraram que a amostra apresentava globalmente, um reportório de HS alto, com variações nas diferentes habilidades. Foram ainda encontradas diferenças no reportório de HS em função do sexo e do curso. Quanto à relação com os cinco grandes fatores de personalidade, estes mostraram-se preditores das habilidades estudadas. Assim, os resultados sugerem que o IHS é um instrumento promissor para avaliar as HS de estudantes universitários Portugueses, fornecendo pistas para a sua promoção/treino.<br>Social skills are one of the most relevant constructs when studying the university population and their interactions and adaptation to in the academic context. To support social skills acquisition, maintenance or improvement, their assessment is indispensable. However, the social skills repertoire of each individual may be influenced by several variables. Considering the importance of the theme in this specific population, and the existing gap regarding social skills assessment instruments in Portugal, the present study aimed to characterize the social skills of university students and analyze their relation with personality traits and sociodemographic variables. Its secondary objective was the translation and contribution to the validation of the Social Skills Inventory (IHS) of Del Prette and Del Prette (2001) for the Portuguese population. Thus, considering the proposed objectives, the present dissertation is organized in 4 chapters/articles: a narrative review of the literature on the subject, a systematic review on the evaluation of social skills, an analysis of the conceptual and empirical relationships between social skills and personality traits, culminating in an empirical study that aimed to characterize and identify sociodemographic and personality correlates of university students social skills. In this study, 200 students from three higher education institutions from the north of Portugal, aged between 18 and 66, participated. They answered to a sociodemographic questionnaire, to the HIS and to the NEO-FFI in classroom. The results showed that, globally, the sample had a medium high social skills repertoire with variations across skills. Differences were also found in the social skills repertoire as a function of gender and degree. As to the relation with the big five personality factors, these were predictors of the social skills studied. The results suggest that the HIS is a promising instrument to assess the social skills of Portuguese university students, offering clues for its promotion/training.

Many countries are deploying smart meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure systems as part of demand management and grid modernisation efforts. Several of these projects are facing consumer resistance. The advertised benefits to the consumer appear mainly monetary but detailed analysis shows that financial benefits are hard to realise since the fixed services charges are high. Additionally, the data collected from smart meters have security and privacy implications for the consumer. These projects failed to consider end-users as an important stakeholder group during planning stages resulting in the design and roll-out of expensive systems, which do not demonstrate clear consumer benefits. The overall goal of the research reported in this thesis was to improve the smart metering system to deliver consumer benefits that increase confidence and acceptance of these projects. The smart metering system was examined from an end-user perspective for realistic insights into consumer concerns. Processes from Design Science Research methodology were utilised to conduct this research due to the utilitarian nature of the objective. Consumer segmentation was central to the proposed measures. Initially, a consumer-friendly risk analysis framework was devised, and appropriate requirement elicitation techniques were identified. Control options for smart meter data transfer and storage were explored. Various scenarios were analysed to determine consumer-friendly features in the smart metering system, including control options for smart meter data transfer and storage. Proposed functionalities (billing choices, feedback information and specific configurations to match the needs of different user segments) were studied using the Australian smart metering system. Smart meters vary in capabilities depending on the manufacturer, mode and place of deployment. The research showed that features proposed in this thesis are implementable in smart meters, by examining their applicability to those used in Victoria (Australia). This study demonstrated that intelligent systems for demand and distribution-side management can be built without the use of detailed consumption data from the consumer. Many issues related to smart meter data could be avoided by distributing intelligent metering devices across the network. A check-list was generated to guide project proponents to achieve a consumer-friendly outcome. This research establishes that by applying well-established theories during the planning process, in particular, requirement elicitation and risk analysis, consumer support can be gained leading to the deployment of user-friendly and sustainable systems. The check-list generated will help the industry to appropriately plan and develop systems that can avoid opposition and even stimulate adoption. Options proposed provide choices for different consumer segments without affecting major operations such as billing. On evaluation, it has been identified that the proposed measures do not affect the quality attributes of the system. Since the proposals presented in this thesis were based on smart meters used in Victoria (Australia), smart meters used in other areas may require upgrades or revisions to support these functions. The scope of this research is limited to identifying improvements in the system that will benefit the residential consumer and does not extend to the analysis of the effects of these improvements on the profitability of the investors.

Integrated Heterogeneous System (IHS) processors pack throughput-oriented GPGPUs along-side latency-oriented CPUs on the same die sharing certain resources, e.g., shared last level cache, network-on-chip (NoC), and the main memory. They also share virtual and physical address spaces and unify the memory hierarchy. The IHS architecture allows for easier programmability, data management and efficiency. However, the significant disparity in the demands for memory and other shared resources between the GPU cores and CPU cores poses significant problems in exploiting the full potential of this architecture. In this work, we propose adding a large capacity stacked DRAM, used as a shared last level cache, for the IHS processors. The reduced latency of access and large bandwidth provided by the DRAM cache can help improve performance respectively of CPU and GPGPU while the large capacity can help contain the working set of the IHS workloads. However, adding the DRAM cache naively leaves significant performance on the table due to the disparate demands from CPU and GPU cores for DRAM cache and memory accesses. In particular, the imbalance can significantly reduce the performance benefits that the CPU cores would have otherwise enjoyed with the introduction of the DRAM cache. This necessitates a heterogeneity-aware management of this shared resource for improved performance. To address this, in this thesis, we propose three simple techniques to enhance the performance of CPU application while ensuring very little or no performance impact to the GPU. Specifically, we propose (i) PrIS, a prioritization scheme for scheduling CPU requests at the DRAM cache controller, (ii) ByE, a selective and temporal bypassing scheme for CPU requests at the DRAM cache and (iii) Chaining, an occupancy controlling mechanism for GPU lines in the DRAM cache through pseudoassociativity. The resulting cache, HAShCache, is heterogeneity-aware and can adapt dynamically to address the inherent disparity of demands in an IHS architecture with simple light weight schemes. We enhance the gem5-gpu simulator to model an IHS architecture with stacked DRAM as a cache, coherent GPU L2 cache and CPU caches and a shared unified physical memory. Using this setup we perform detailed experimental evaluation of the proposed HAShCache and demonstrate an average system performance (combined performance of CPU and GPU cores) improvement of 41% over a naive DRAM cache and over 100% improvement over a baseline system with no stacked DRAM cache.

博士<br>國立中央大學<br>生命科學系<br>105<br>The incidences of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and neurodegenerative disease increase with age. When tissue injury occurs, cardiomyocytes and neural cells are unable to undergo repair due to poor regenerative capacity. In recent years, stem cell therapy appears to provide a new therapeutic strategy for both IHD and neurodegenerative diseases. Recipient-derived stem cells have been shown to repair and improve damaged tissue through many modalities, including self-renewal, differentiation, and paracrine effects. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive stem cell type, which have been isolated from many adult organs and tissues. However, these adult MSCs undergo replicative senescence during in vitro expansion to reach the cell volumes needed for therapeutic use. This especially limits the number of autologous stem cells, which are usually isolated from older adult patients. Moreover, the incidence of ischemic and degenerative diseases increase with age, thus the use of any type of autologous adult MSCs would lose efficacy as the patient ages. Hence, alternative sources of MSCs are likely necessary. New sources of highly renewable MSCs can be derived from fetal-stage tissue (F) and pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). We therefore explored the application of F- MSCs on IHD, as well as MSCs derived from human PSCs, including human embryonic stem cells (ES) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), on neurodegenerative diseases. Our results showed that PDMCs could promote survival and decrease apoptosis in cardiomyocytes through the paracrine function of secreted factors. Furthermore, these paracrine functions could be enhanced by modulation of extracellular matrix proteins. On the other hand, we also found that PSC-derived MSCs (PSC-MSCs) had potent capacity to undergo more committed neural differentiation through standard neural differentiation in conjunction with cytoskeletal rearrangement. Our findings give support to the use of PDMCs and PSC-MSCs as possible candidate stem cells for therapeutic application towards the respective areas of IHD and neurodegenerative disease.

As técnicas de captação dos sinais bioelétricos têm sido utilizadas ao longo dos anos no âmbito da medicina, na realização de análises e estudos sobre determinadas patologias que uma pessoa possa ter. De entre as mais usuais destacam-se a Eletroencefalografia (EEG), a Eletrocardiografia (ECG) e a Eletromiografia (EMG). A implementação destas técnicas em outras áreas tecnológicas é vista com bons olhos pela comunidade científica. O objetivo desta dissertação consiste no desenvolvimento e na implementação de um sistema para uma “Interacção Humano-Sistema” (IHS) que permita estabelecer uma comunicação entre um utilizador e um determinado sistema de controlo. Em concreto, pretende-se captar os sinais bioelétricos provenientes dos músculos de uma pessoa recorrendo a técnica de eletromiografia e através deles conseguir controlar a navegação de um veleiro atuando nas ações da “vela” e do “leme”. No desenvolvimento e implementação deste sistema recorre-se à utilização de uma Shield EKG-EMG da distribuidora Olimex, de forma a adquirir os sinais, à aplicação de “Modelos de Interpretação de Sinais” para realizar uma modelação dos sinais de interesse e ainda o uso de Redes de Petri (RdP) através dos ambientes de desenvolvimento “IOPTTools” e “IOPT-Flow” para a construção do controlador do veleiro.

The present M. A. theses COUNT FRANZ ANTON SPORCK - SUPPORTER OF JANSENISM THOUGHTS AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE deals with Baroque period, the so called "Bohemian Baroque" in the 17th - 18th century, and ends at the beginning of the Enlightenment. On the main representatives of the Czech lands was Count Franz Anton Sporck. The first chapter looks at the emergence of the movement of Jansenism, founded by Cornelius Otto Jansen, and mentions the root movement within the environment of the University of Leuven. Cornelius Otto Jansen influenced French Jansenism which had been led by Jean-Antoine Duvergier de Hauranne (First Abbe de Saint-Cyran) at the monastery of Port-Royal des Champs, and a major French personality of the movement. The other major figures were Martin de Barcos, Antoine Arnauld, Blaise Pascal and Pasquier Quesnel, who were influenced by the Jansenism environment in the Czech lands. At the same time, the first chapter focuses on the Jesuit Order, which acts as a counterpoint to the same idea of Catholic reform during the time of post Trident. In the second chapter, the personalities of Czech Jansenism - Valerian Magni and Jerome Hirnhaim are introduced. This chapter deals with the central figure of the thesis, Count Franz Anton Sporck, who became the most significant personality of the Czech Catolic...

The heparan sulfate (HS) component of heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) has been implicated in the initiation of several viral infections, including vaccinia virus (VACV). A cell infected with VACV releases two different forms of VACV, namely the mature virus (MV) released following the death of infected cells and which infects neighbouring cells, and the enveloped virus (EV) ejected from infected cells for long-range dissemination. The relative role of HS in the infectivity of the different forms of VACV is unclear. Furthermore, there is little known about the fine specificity of the VACV-HS interactions. Therefore, in order to develop HS based molecules that could potentially have antiviral properties against HS-dependent viral infection, VACV was used as a prototype virus to understand the structural and functional consequences of the interaction between VACV and HS. ELISA studies described in Chapter 3 were used to evaluate the specificity of the MV form of VACV for heparin, differentially sulfated HS, chondroitin sulfate (CS) A-D and hyaluronic acid (HA). Lack of appropriate EV specific antibodies meant that similar ELISA studies could not be performed for the EV form of VACV. Nevertheless, the MV form of VACV bound to immobilized heparin and highly sulfated HS (HShi) with high avidity, compared to lowly sulfated HS (HSlow). The MV particles also bound to CS A-D, however, very weakly. Furthermore, the ability of the MV rich Western Reserve (WR) strain of VACV to form plaques in vitro was affected by soluble heparin, WR plaque numbers being reduced 5-fold with an incremental increase in plaque size. The formation of plaques by the EV rich International Health Department-J (IHD-J) strain was also affected in the presence of heparin, there being a 10-fold reduction in plaque numbers, an incremental increase in plaque size and the disappearance of the trademark ‘comet’ shaped plaques. These data suggest that HS recognition plays a significant role in both MV and EV infectivity, with this recognition being more important for EV infectivity. To better understand the interaction between heparin/HS and the two forms of VACV, green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing recombinant strains of VACV were constructed, as described in Chapter 4. Subsequent inhibition of infectivity assays, performed using soluble glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), suggested that sulfated GAGs more easily inhibited EV infections than the MV infections, with heparin and HShi being highly potent inhibitors of infection. Furthermore, the ability of the EV form of VACV to establish an infection was significantly reduced in cells treated with the HS-degrading enzyme heparanase and in cells genetically deficient in HS production, compared to the MV form of VACV which appeared largely unaffected. These findings confirmed that recognition of cell surface HS is vital for EV infectivity but less important for the infectivity of the MV form of VACV. In Chapter 5, the ability of soluble heparin/HS molecules and HS mimetics to inhibit VACV infections was further investigated to identify structural features of these molecules that are responsible for their interaction with VACV particles. The study also aimed to determine whether HS-based molecules could be used as possible antivirals against VACV and potentially against other HS-dependent viral infections. It was observed that the 2-O-sulfate of uronic acid and the 6-O and N-sulfate groups of glucosamine residues were important for VACV infectivity, with 6-O-sulfate being particularly crucial and EV infections being more dependent on these groups than MV infections. Furthermore, the length of heparin chains did not affect their ability to interact with and inhibit VACV infectivity. However, the linkages of different D-glucose-based HS mimetics had a profound effect on the ability of the sulfated molecule to inhibit VACV infections, with the order of potency being β(1g4) > α(1g6) > α(1g4) > β(1g3). Interestingly, however, a D-mannose-based sulfated oligosaccharide mixture (PI-88, Muparfostat) was identified as the only HS mimetic that was a more potent inhibitor of MV infections than of EV infections, in fact it was a stronger inhibitor of MV infections than unfractioned heparin (UFH). These data suggest that the EV and MV forms of VACV interact with different structural aspects of HS chains and that synthetic HS-based molecules could be designed with the ability to inhibit both EV and MV forms of VACV. In Chapter 6 studies are described that attempted to identify the proteins on the surface of the EV form of VACV that are responsible for the interaction of the VACV with cell surface HS. Thus, EV and MV outer membrane proteins were solubilised and identified by Western blotting using polyclonal anti-VACV antibodies. Four potential heparin-binding proteins were identified in the EV outer membrane extracts, being 150 kDa, 85 kDa, 60 kDa and 25 kDa proteins. The 150 kDa heparin binding protein was further analysed using 1D nanoLC ESI MS/MS and was found to be a poxvirus DNA directed RNA polymerase, with sequence similarity to the 65 kDa VACV F12 protein, a protein important in EV formation. Bioinformatic searches were also performed to determine possible HS-binding motifs in VACV proteins and identified the 64 kDa VACV B4R protein and a 78 kDa RNA helicase as likely candidates. Overall, it was concluded that there are multiple HS binding proteins on the outer EV envelope and that it is likely that in many instances the heparin/HS binding site(s) of these EV proteins may not be composed of linear amino acid sequences. Since both MV and EV forms of VACV bind HS, in Chapter 7 experiments are described that examined the role of heparanase in VACV spread, it being predicted that heparanase may aid spread by releasing VACV from cell surface and extracellular matrix (ECM) HS. Wild type (WT) and heparanase deficient (HPSE -/-) mice were inoculated with the WR strain of VACV via intranasal (i.n.) and intramuscular (i.m.) routes to evaluate the spread of infection in the two groups of mice. The WR strain of VACV was inoculated via the i.n. route when there was a 24 hr delay in weight loss in the HPSE -/- mice compared to the WT mice. Furthermore, this delay in weight loss correlated with a delay in the onset of disease with there being a 24-48 hr delay in the spread of infection from the primary site of inoculation to distant organs like the ovaries. Similarly, when VACV was delivered by the i.m. route, there was a 24-48 hr delay in the infection of the ovaries, although there was a similar delay in infection of the spleen, despite there being no weight loss difference. Overall, the results suggest that VACV depends on host-derived heparanase to aid its spread. Since heparanase mediated degradation of HS aids the infiltration of leukocytes with antiviral activity into sites of infection, the results obtained from the current study are contrary to the prevailing immunological paradigm. In conclusion, VACV like several other viruses interacts with cell surface HS prior to infecting cells. Furthermore, VACV relies on host-derived heparanase to degrade cell surface and ECM HS to aid its spread. Thus, synthetic HS-based molecules could be designed that could inhibit EV and MV forms of VACV from infecting cells and may simultaneously act as heparanase inhibitors and consequently prevent VACV spread.