Summary Of Thesis Research Articles

THE EVALUATION OF TRANSIT TRANSPORT PROBABLE EFFECTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COUNTRY'S ECONOMY

The article describes the peculiarities of transit transport influence on the development of country's economy. The authors analyze transit transport definition and define the economic importance of transit trans- port. The first part of the article is assigned to the consideration of transit cargo transportation as an integral object of scientific research. The survey is supported with the comparative analysis of different scientists' ap- proaches to the transit transportation performance modelling. The evaluation of transit transport benefit for the economy of the country is presented. The concise summary of a principal thesis and conclusions may be useful for further analyses of different aspects or transit transport.

Fulminant hepatic failure/hemorrhagic fever in Amazon Basin: historical review, hepatic damage patterns and etiological diagnosis

SUMMARY OF THESIS* DIAS JUNIOR, Leonidas Braga - Hepatopatias fulminantes/febres hemorragicas na Amazonia: revisao historica, padroes de lesao hepaticae diagnostico etiologico. Sao Paulo, 2005. (Tese de Doutoramento - Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo). FULMINANT HEPATIC FAILURE/HEMORRHAGIC FEVER IN AMAZON BASIN: HISTORICAL REVIEW,HEPATIC DAMAGE PATTERNS AND ETIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS This study aimed at assessing morphological andimmunohistochemical aspects useful for the differential diagnosis ofyellow fever (YF), Labrea hepatitis (LH) and other entities by revisiting42 fulminant hepatic failure cases, from three historical series fromAmazon Basin. Additional studies were performed aiming at furtherunderstanding the morphogenesis of hepatocellular death, in relationto regeneration and fibrosis patterns and to vascular lesions, as recentlydescribed in chronic hepatic diseases. Among the extensive panel ofhistological criteria studied, liver cell death pattern and distribution,including midzonal apoptotic bodies, as well as hepatocellularballooning degeneration were YF most characteristic findings, whilemorula cells were the major hint for LH. Five cases were hereinsuggested as co-infected with YF, HBV and/or HDV, a finding notpreviously reported. Nineteen well characterized cases (10 YF and 9LH) were further submitted to immunohistochemical studies for YFantigen, HBsAg and Delta virus Ag. In both diseases, but mainly inLH, phlebitis, mainly of portal vein branches, was evident and closelyrelated to the degree of hepatocellular damage, with severe hepaticparenchymal extinction and portal tract approximation. Regenerationpattern was also remarkable: in YF cases, a high hepatocellularproliferative index was detected whereas in LH, multinucleation andpseudo-acinar transformation, associated with portal type I collagenand elastic fiber deposition were found. In conclusion,immunohistochemical viral antigen detection yielded further etiologicalcharacterization of these important historical cases of fulminant hepaticfailure from Amazon Basin, even in paraffin samples stored for up toseven decades. YF morphology depicted midzonal apoptosis, portalphlebitis and a high hepatocellular proliferative index, in patientswithout evidence of previous hepatic injury. On the other hand,fulminant LH showed extensive lytic hepatocellular necrosis, portaland hepatic vein phlebitis and the presence morula cells, in patientswith morphological evidences of chronic liver disease.Leonidas Braga Dias JuniorAv. Braz de Aguiar 9966035-000 Belem, Para, Brasilleonidas@supridad.com.br

Molecular diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis: expression of parasite stage-specific genes in amniotic fluid samples

SUMMARY OF THESIS* OKAY, Thelma Suely - Diagnostico molecular da toxoplasmose congenita. Expressao de genes especificos de estagio parasitario em amostrasde liquido amniotico. Sao Paulo, 2005. (Tese de Livre-Docencia - Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo). MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF CONGENITAL TOXOPLASMOSIS. EXPRESSION OF PARASITE STAGE-SPECIFIC GENES IN AMNIOTIC FLUID SAMPLES One hundred amniotic fluid samples of pregnant women whoseroconverted to toxoplasmosis and were treated were analyzed byDNA-PCR-B1. There were 50 positive and 50 negative amniotic fluidsamples. Afterwards, a DNA-nested-PCR-B1 was conducted anddetected other nine cases in a total of 50 previously negative samples(9/50 or 18%). The McNemar test found discordance between the twoamplification tests (p = 0.027; α = 5%). In the second part of the study,we determined the efficiency of treatment by means of three RT-nested-PCR (B1, SAG1, BAG1). The B1 gene is expressed in all parasiteforms, while SAG1 is specific of tachyzoites and BAG1 of bradyzoites.Among 59 DNA-positive samples, six were positive by RT-nested-PCR (four with B1, and two with SAG1). Thus, 53 of 59 (89.83%)women did not present with parasite replication, while 6/59 (10.17%)did, indicating therapeutic failure. The two positive SAG1 fetuses hadhydrocephalus. There were three samples that were RT-nested-PCR-B1 positive and DNA-nested-PCR negative, therefore indicating false-negative results of DNA amplification (3/50 or 6.9%). In conclusion,the DNA-nested-PCR-B1 is superior to the one-round amplification,and the anti-

Summary of thesis: ‘Wet work in relation to occupational dermatitis’

Summary of thesis: ‘Wet work in relation to occupational dermatitis’

THESIS SUMMARY: The Effects of Different Fragment Sizes on The Outcome of Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation

THESIS SUMMARY: The Effects of Different Fragment Sizes on The Outcome of Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation

Thesis summary

Thesis summary

Thesis Summary:Evaluation of Ultrasonography with Dopplervelocimetry and Hormonal Analysis in the Prediction of Finding Sperm in Testicular Biopsies of Patients with Azoospermia

Thesis Summary:Evaluation of Ultrasonography with Dopplervelocimetry and Hormonal Analysis in the Prediction of Finding Sperm in Testicular Biopsies of Patients with Azoospermia

Thesis Summary: Analysis of Abdominal Ultrasonography as an Auxiliary Method in the Embryo Transfer Process

Thesis Summary: Analysis of Abdominal Ultrasonography as an Auxiliary Method in the Embryo Transfer Process

Thesis Summary: Assesment of imaging complementery exams to select a routine method of studying uterine architecture and tubal permeability in infertile patients

Thesis Summary: Assesment of imaging complementery exams to select a routine method of studying uterine architecture and tubal permeability in infertile patients

Thesis Summary: lmpact of The Distance Between The Tip of The Catheter and The Uterine Fundus on The Success of Embryo Transfer

Thesis Summary: lmpact of The Distance Between The Tip of The Catheter and The Uterine Fundus on The Success of Embryo Transfer

Thesis Summary: Test Tubes and Clones Theories of Conception, Personhood and Kinship in The New Reproductive Technologies

Thesis Summary: Test Tubes and Clones Theories of Conception, Personhood and Kinship in The New Reproductive Technologies

De l'ancien français au français moderne : l'évolution vers un type « à part » à l'époque du moyen français

The paper presents a summary of my thesis (G. Eckert, Sprachtypus und Geschichte. Untersuchungen zum typologischen Wandel des Franzosischen, Tubingen 1986 a, 293 p., supervised by Eugenio Coseriu). It deals with a typological approach where “typus” is defined as the highest structural level of a language. The “typus” is realized at different systemic levels and at different positions within the architecture of a language, e.g. in the standard language as well as in the social, dialectal and stylistic variations of a language. E. Coseriu (1971) has shown that the Romance Languages synchronically and diachronically all function according to the “Romance typus”. Old French yet belongs to the Romance languages and applies the “Romance typus” in its different systems. As of Middle French, howewer, the linguistic development follows another direction : a “French typus” arises and develops through the history of the French language. Middle French does not appear to have different, disparate changes but rather shows the beginning of a new systematization which follows the principle of the “French typus” : the principle of “external” or “syntagmatic determination” without making a difference between “relational” and “non-relational” functions. The paper exemplarily investigates the categories number, gender, person, the comparative and word formation by comparing the different diachronic stages of French, Old French, Middle French and Modem French. It is shown that the approach is able to explain coherently not only the development of Standard French but also spoken French and even the deviations of « francais avance » (see G. Eckert 1986 b) in a typological framework from a diachronic perspective.

Betty Hirsch — "Mother" of the Blind

Betty Hirsch is revered throughout Germany for her pioneer work in getting blind people into employment; yet in the country of her second home she is hardly known. The article is a summary of a doctoral thesis by Christine Pluhar, "Betty Hirsch: the road of a blind woman", published in 1989. The quotations are from Betty Hirsch's reminiscences, written towards the end of her life. The article, which is slightly amended and translated by Hans Cohn, first appeared in HORUS 3/99, the organ of the Deutsche Verband Blinde und Sehbehinderte in Studium und Beruf, to whom we are grateful for permission to reprint.

Thesis summary

Thesis summary

Research in Family and Consumer Sciences Education, 1985–2000

This review addresses significant events that have influenced research in family and consumer sciences education, major publication outlets, leading researchers, problems studied, methodologies used, and a summary of thesis and dissertation research completed from 1985 to 1999. Nearly three fourths of the 237 research articles reviewed were published in the Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences Education. Research topics focused primarily on professional roles and characteristics of family and consumer sciences educators, program evaluation, and priority issues including the need for family and consumer sciences teachers. Collaborative research efforts, focus on critical issues in family and consumer sciences education, use of interpretive frameworks and qualitative methods, and progress in using theory are cited as strengths. Challenges for future research include avoiding overreliance on empirical and survey methods, strengthening interaction between research and theory, increasing the number of individuals engaged in research on a continuing basis, and strengthening graduate student research.

TTV: prevalence and phylogenetic characterization of a novel blood-borne DNA virus in different groups from São Paulo, Brazil

SUMMARY OF THESIS* BASSIT, Leda Cattini – TTV: prevalencia e caracterizacao do novo virus de DNA transmissivel pelo sangue em diferentes populacoes de Sao Paulo.Sao Paulo, 2001. (Tese de Doutoramento – Faculdade de Ciencias Farmaceuticas da Universidade de Sao Paulo). TTV: PREVALENCE AND PHYLOGENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL BLOOD-BORNE DNAVIRUS IN DIFFERENT GROUPS FROM SAO PAULO, BRAZIL Recently, an infection caused by a novel TT-virus (TTV), whichwas initially associated with post-transfusion non-A-G hepatitis, led usto investigate the TTV infection (clinic-epidemiological aspects,phylogenetic characterization and distribution of TTV genotypes) indifferent groups from Sao Paulo. The study included (i.) 138 childrenwithout history of blood transfusion or of liver disease, (ii.) 401 blooddonors and (iii.) 130 Patients with Bleeding Disorders (PBD). TTVinfection was investigated by PCR-based amplification of the untranslatedregion (UTR) and its prevalence was as high in low-risk groups (81-85%) as in PBD (98%). The distribution of this infection according tothe age groups only showed significant difference in the children group.Almost all the children aging 2 to 4 years (95%) were infected by TTV.However, this prevalence decreased continuously thereafter and reacheda lower prevalence of 47% in adolescents of male gender aging 15 to 17years. TTV DNA was also detected by a hemi-nested PCR amplificationdirected to the N22 region in blood donor and PBD samples; sequencingof these amplified products was also performed. Concerning PBD, ahigh frequency of N22 was found in 42% in comparison to 5.5% inblood donors. There was no association of N22 findings with ALT leveland epidemiological aspects in the prior group. Therefore, there was anassociation of N22 with patients co-infected with HCV, hemophilia Aand patients who had been treated with fresh blood products. Thedistribution of TTV genotypes was similar in both studied groups andgenotypes 1 and 2 of the Group I prevailed on the others. A less frequentGroup of TTV (Group II) was also observed in two patients. The TTVgenotype varied in the same patient when samples were collected in thecourse of time. The high prevalence of the UTR-specific isolates foundfor the low-risk groups indicates that the parenteral route of transmissiondoes not seem to play a major role for this infection. These findingswidely contributed for the epidemiological studies of TTV infection andfor its phylogenetic characterization in Brazil.

Proceedings of The First Danish Human-Computer Interaction Research Symposium, Aarhus, Denmark, 27. November 2001

"The First Danish Human-Computer Interaction Research Symposium has been realised as a joint effort between sigchi.dk and Centre for Human-Machine Interaction. The primary motivation for this effort has been to stimulate networking and to create an overview of recent Danish HCI research. The present proceedings consist of the 25 extended abstracts accepted for the symposium, presenting a very broad range of work, characteristic for Danish HCI research. In addition, 3 thesis (in progress) summaries from the doctoral colloquium are included."

Thesis Summaries

Thesis Summaries

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: clinical, laboratory, histopathologic evaluation and search for mutations in the HFE gene. Casuistic from a reference center

SUMMARY OF THESIS* DEGUTI, Marta Mitiko – Esteato-hepatite nao alcoolica: avalia cao clinica, laboratorial, histopatol ogica e pesquisa de muta coes do gene HFE.Casuistica de um Centro de Refer encia. Sao Paulo, 2000. (Disserta cao de Mestrado – Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de S ao Paulo). NON-ALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS: CLINICAL, LABORATORY, HISTOPATHOLOGIC EVALUATIONAND SEARCH FOR MUTATIONS IN THE HFE GENE. CASUISTIC FROM A REFERENCE CENTER Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) consists of steatosis and hepaticlobular inflammation in non-alcoholic individuals. It occurs in associationto obesity, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, female sex, drug therapyand jejunoileal bypass. Recently, iron overload, secondary to mutations inthe HFE gene in hereditary hemochromatosis has also been evidenced innon-obese, non-diabetic male patients with NASH. This study involvespatients with NASH from the outpatient clinic of Hospital das Cl inicas ofthe University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, and its objective was todefine patients ´clinical, laboratory and histological profiles and search formutations in the HFE gene, compare results for associations and reviewthe literature. Thirty-two individuals were characterized for 14 clinicalfeatures, 12 laboratory parameters and 11 histopathological variables. TheC282Y and H63D mutations in 31 of these individuals were searchedusing PCR-RFLP techniques, using restriction enzymes SnaB I and Bcl I,respectively. Age varied from 32 to 76 yrs old, with an average of 49.2yrs. Female Sex (59%), obesity (50%), hyperlipidemia (53%) and diabetesmellitus (31%) had a lower incidence than those in the first series in theliterature. Other features observed were amiodarone and prednisone use,inhalation of industrial chemical substances and extensive enterectomy.Its incidence was higher among Caucasians (72%) and Asians (12%) thanthe general population, contrary to other ethnic types such as Black (absent)and Mulattos (12%) which presented lower incidences. Perivenular fibrosiswas present in all cases, proportional to the degree of necroinflammatoryactivity. Mallory ´s hyalines were identified in 78% of the cases, but hepaticsiderosis was identified in only 9%. Around two-thirds of the casuistic didnot have abdominal complaints. Among the hepatic enzymes, ALT wasthe most frequently altered with the highest magnitudes and the AST/ALT ratio was <2 in all cases. The incidence of the mutations studied wassimilar to those found in the general population. The iron overload inperipheral blood was neither statistically correlated to the histologicalaggression, nor to the presence of mutations. NASH diagnosis dependson multiple features, but in the population studied, there was no associationwith hepatic iron overload as well as with the known mutations in theHFE gene.

Studies on sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the Parque Estadual do Turvo, RS, Brazil, and their role in Leishmania transmission

SUMMARY OF THESIS* SILVA, Onilda Santos da - Studies on sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) of the Parque Estadual do Turvo, RGS, Brazil, and their role in Leishmaniatransmission. Tubingen, Germany, 2000. (Thesis presented to Department of Medical Entomology, Hygiene Institute of the Eberhard-Karls-University, to obtain a Doctor Degree in Biological Sciences). STUDIES ON SANDFLIES (DIPTERA: PSYCHODIDAE) OF THE PARQUE ESTADUAL DO TURVO, RS,BRAZIL, AND THEIR ROLE IN Leishmania TRANSMISSION To identify the local sandfly fauna of the Parque Estadual do Turvo,and estimate their role in Leishmania transmission in the Park’s marginalforest zone (27°10' - 27°20' S and 53°40' - 54°10' W), sandflies werecollected during three summer seasons (Nov 1996 to Feb 1997, Nov1997 to Jan 1998 and Nov 1998 to Jan 1999). Domicile sites sampledby aspirator were the indoor and outdoor surfaces of the walls of thehouse. Peridomicile sites were a chicken pen and cattle shelter. The forestsite was sampled by a Shannon trap 3 km west of the lodge.Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) probes were applied to 2,270females to identify natural infection by Leishmania (Viannia), thecausative agent of ACL.A total of 5,244 specimens were collected comprising 12 Lutzomyiaand 2 Brumptomyia species. The species belonged to Lu. migonei, Lu.pessoai, Lu. lanei, Lu. misionensis, Lu. neivai, Lu. shannoni, Lu.monticola, Lu. fischeri, Lu. bianchigalatiae, Lu. schreiberi, Lu.correalimai, Lu. alphabetica, B. pintoi and B. nitzulescui. All threesurveys revealed that Lu. migonei and Lu. pessoai predominate in thedomicile and peridomicile areas, while Lu. misionensis was the mostnumerous species in the forest.Naturally infected females were only found during the first survey.From 920 females examined Leishmania (V.) infections were detectedby kDNA amplification in two Lu. pessoai females from the domicilearea and one Lu. misionensis female from the forest area. Lu. misionensishas never been found before carrying a natural infection of Leishmania(V.).While identifying the sandflies it was noticed that one male hadblood in the alimentary canal. By careful examination of 1,743 malescollected, 62 were found to have blood in the gut (55 Lu. migonei, 5 Lu.pessoai, 1 Lu. fischeri and 1 B. pintoi). The presence of mammalianerythrocytes was confirmed by examining the gut by Giemsa-stainedsmears. All blood-fed males were caught in the peridomicile area.To obtain more information about the mechanism of blood feedingin males, the mouthparts of both males and females of Lu. migonei werecompared by scanning electron microscopy and light microscope.Mandibles are posses in both sexes but in males they are reduced and incontrast to females no teeth were observed. As in females, the laciniae inmales are highly sclerotised, but the number of lateral teeth are reducedand retrorse teeth are absent. Only females present teeth at the tip of thehypopharynx while in males they are substituted by spicula. Except forthe length from the junction with the hypopharynx to the tip, that isshorter in males than in females, the labrum is similar in both sexes interms of form and sensilla. On the labrum of males sensilla could bedetected, similar to the apical sensilla of females which might play arole in the identification of blood. However, further studies should identifyif the function of these sensilla in males Lu. migonei , are homologous tothose in females.Because of the epidemiological importance of Lu. migonei on Le.(V.) braziliensis transmission, studies were conducted to investigate DNApolymorphism in samples originating from three areas of Brazil (SaoPaulo, Turvo park and Santa Maria, RGS), and one sample reared inlaboratory, originating from Venezuela. The sudies were conducted usingrandom-amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR). From ten decamer primers tested, only three were able todiscriminate between the samples. In the Brazilian samples, only constantfragments were obtained when compared with Venezuelan samples. Thisdifferentiation among the samples could be associated with geographicaldistribution or be may due to particular adaptive strategies related to thebiology of these species.