Le développement des proportions métaphysaires chez les hominoïdes : croissance et influence de la locomotion

Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, les relations entre morphologie, locomotion et croissance chez les hominoïdes sont analysées sous l'angle des proportions métaphysaires et de leur acquisition. Plusieurs niveaux d'analyse — intermembre, supérieur et inférieur — sont abordés dans une perspective ontogénique. La masse corporelle et la direction des charges influencent la morphologie des surfaces articulaires et métaphysaires mais aussi leur développement. Les charges étant dépendantes du mode locomoteur et celui-ci se modifiant en fonction de l'âge, on tente de voir à quel(s) moment(s) les changements proportionnels ont lieu et pourquoi ils apparaissent. Des mesures linéaires ont été recueillies sur l'humérus, le radius, le fémur et le tibia sur un échantillon squelettique des espèces H. sapiens, P. troglodytes, G. gorilla et P. pygmaeus. À partir de ces mesures et du calcul de certains ratios, des comparaisons intra et interspécifiques ont été réalisées. Les différences les plus significatives entre les espèces se dévoilent au niveau intermembre et sont relatives aux différents pourcentages d'utilisation des membres supérieurs ou inférieurs. Au sein des espèces, les résultats révèlent une similarité dans les réactions des surfaces métaphysaires au niveau intermembre, supérieur et inférieur. Les changements proportionnels ont lieu entre les stades 0 et 1 pour H. sapiens (première marché indépendante), entre les stades 2 et 4 pour P. troglodytes (majorité du poids corporel soutenue par les membres inférieurs) et entre les stades 3 et 5 pour G. gorilla (taille adulte et quadrupédie très majoritaire). Pour P. pygmaeus aucun stade en particulier n'a été ciblé par les analyses et cela concorde avec l'homogénéité de ses modes de locomotion employés au cours de la vie. Les différences proportionnelles répondent à des changements locomoteurs majeurs. Australopithecus afarensis est intermédiaire entre H. sapiens et les grands singes pour de nombreuses comparaisons. Au niveau du genou, les plus jeunes individus A. afarensis ne montrent pas de morphologie bipède, similaire aux humains.

Analyse de la variation intra- et inter-populationnelle : application de deux méthodes craniométriques sur des collections amérindiennes-canadiennes

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Towards the identification of a neighbourhood park typology : a conceptual and methodological exploration

Peu d’études ont évalué les caractéristiques des parcs pouvant encourager l’activité physique spécifiquement chez les jeunes. Cette étude vise à estimer la fiabilité d’un outil d’observation des parcs orienté vers les jeunes, à identifier les domaines conceptuels des parcs capturés par cet outil à l’aide d’une opérationnalisation du modèle conceptuel des parcs et de l’activité physique et à identifier différents types de parcs. Un total de 576 parcs ont été évalués en utilisant un outil d’évaluation des parcs. La fiabilité intra-juges et la fiabilité inter-juges de cet outil ont été estimées. Une analyse exploratoire par composantes principales (ACP) a été effectuée en utilisant une rotation orthogonale varimax et les variables étaient retenues si elles saturaient à ≥0.3 sur une composante. Une analyse par grappes (AG) à l’aide de la méthode de Ward a ensuite été réalisée en utilisant les composantes principales et une mesure de l’aire des parcs. L’outil était généralement fiable et l’ACP a permis d'identifier dix composantes principales qui expliquaient 60% de la variance totale. L’AG a donné un résultat de neuf grappes qui expliquaient 40% de la variance totale. Les méthodes de l’ACP et l’AG sont donc faisables avec des données de parcs. Les résultats ont été interprétés en utilisant l’opérationnalisation du modèle conceptuel.

High-amylose carboxymethyl starch matrices for oral sustained drug-release : in vitro and in vivo evaluation

Les amidons non modifiées et modifiés représentent un groupe d’excipients biodégradables et abondants particulièrement intéressant. Ils ont été largement utilisés en tant qu’excipients à des fins diverses dans des formulations de comprimés, tels que liants et/ou agents de délitement. Le carboxyméthylamidon sodique à haute teneur en amylose atomisé (SD HASCA) a été récemment proposé comme un excipient hydrophile à libération prolongée innovant dans les formes posologiques orales solides. Le carboxyméthylamidon sodique à haute teneur en amylose amorphe (HASCA) a d'abord été produit par l'éthérification de l'amidon de maïs à haute teneur en amylose avec le chloroacétate. HASCA a été par la suite séché par atomisation pour obtenir le SD HASCA. Ce nouvel excipient a montré des propriétés présentant certains avantages dans la production de formes galéniques à libération prolongée. Les comprimés matriciels produits à partir de SD HASCA sont peu coûteux, simples à formuler et faciles à produire par compression directe. Le principal objectif de cette recherche était de poursuivre le développement et l'optimisation des comprimés matriciels utilisant SD HASCA comme excipient pour des formulations orales à libération prolongée. A cet effet, des tests de dissolution simulant les conditions physiologiques du tractus gastro-intestinal les plus pertinentes, en tenant compte de la nature du polymère à l’étude, ont été utilisés pour évaluer les caractéristiques à libération prolongée et démontrer la performance des formulations SD HASCA. Une étude clinique exploratoire a également été réalisée pour évaluer les propriétés de libération prolongée de cette nouvelle forme galénique dans le tractus gastro-intestinal. Le premier article présenté dans cette thèse a évalué les propriétés de libération prolongée et l'intégrité physique de formulations contenant un mélange comprimé de principe actif, de chlorure de sodium et de SD HASCA, dans des milieux de dissolution biologiquement pertinentes. L'influence de différentes valeurs de pH acide et de temps de séjour dans le milieu acide a été étudiée. Le profil de libération prolongée du principe actif à partir d'une formulation de SD HASCA optimisée n'a pas été significativement affecté ni par la valeur de pH acide ni par le temps de séjour dans le milieu acide. Ces résultats suggèrent une influence limitée de la variabilité intra et interindividuelle du pH gastrique sur la cinétique de libération à partir de matrices de SD HASCA. De plus, la formulation optimisée a gardé son intégrité pendant toute la durée des tests de dissolution. L’étude in vivo exploratoire a démontré une absorption prolongée du principe actif après administration orale des comprimés matriciels de SD HASCA et a montré que les comprimés ne se sont pas désintégrés en passant par l'estomac et qu’ils ont résisté à l’hydrolyse par les α-amylases dans l'intestin. Le deuxième article présente le développement de comprimés SD HASCA pour une administration orale une fois par jour et deux fois par jour contenant du chlorhydrate de tramadol (100 mg et 200 mg). Ces formulations à libération prolongée ont présenté des valeurs de dureté élevées sans nécessiter l'ajout de liants, ce qui facilite la production et la manipulation des comprimés au niveau industriel. La force de compression appliquée pour produire les comprimés n'a pas d'incidence significative sur les profils de libération du principe actif. Le temps de libération totale à partir de comprimés SD HASCA a augmenté de manière significative avec le poids du comprimé et peut, de ce fait, être utilisé pour moduler le temps de libération à partir de ces formulations. Lorsque les comprimés ont été exposés à un gradient de pH et à un milieu à 40% d'éthanol, un gel très rigide s’est formé progressivement sur leur surface amenant à la libération prolongée du principe actif. Ces propriétés ont indiqué que SD HASCA est un excipient robuste pour la production de formes galéniques orales à libération prolongée, pouvant réduire la probabilité d’une libération massive de principe actif et, en conséquence, des effets secondaires, même dans le cas de co-administration avec une forte dose d'alcool. Le troisième article a étudié l'effet de α-amylase sur la libération de principe actif à partir de comprimés SD HASCA contenant de l’acétaminophène et du chlorhydrate de tramadol qui ont été développés dans les premières étapes de cette recherche (Acetaminophen SR et Tramadol SR). La modélisation mathématique a montré qu'une augmentation de la concentration d’α-amylase a entraîné une augmentation de l'érosion de polymère par rapport à la diffusion de principe actif comme étant le principal mécanisme contrôlant la libération de principe actif, pour les deux formulations et les deux temps de résidence en milieu acide. Cependant, même si le mécanisme de libération peut être affecté, des concentrations d’α-amylase allant de 0 UI/L à 20000 UI/L n'ont pas eu d'incidence significative sur les profils de libération prolongée à partir de comprimés SD HASCA, indépendamment de la durée de séjour en milieu acide, le principe actif utilisé, la teneur en polymère et la différente composition de chaque formulation. Le travail présenté dans cette thèse démontre clairement l'utilité de SD HASCA en tant qu'un excipient à libération prolongée efficace.

Women Industrial Cooperatives- An Analysis of Its Structure, Performance and Growth in Kannur District

In the present study made an attempt to analyse the structure, performance and growth of women industrial cooperatives in kannur district, Kerala. The study encompasses all women industrial cooperatives registered at the district industries center, kannur and that currently exist. The women industrial cooperatives are classified into two ie; group with network and another group without network. In Kannur there are 54 units working as women industrial cooperatives. One of the main problems the women cooperatives face is the lack of working capital followed marketing problem. The competition between cooperatives and private traders is very high. The variables examined to analyse the performance of women industrial cooperatives in Kannur showed that there exists inter unit differences in almost all the variables. The financial structure structure shows that the short term liquidity of women cooperatives in Kannur favour more the units which have political networks; but the long term financial coverage is seen to be highly geared in this group, not because of a decline is net worth but due to highly proportionate increase in financial liabilities in the form of borrowings. The encouragement given by the government through financial stake and other incentives has been the major factor in the formation and growth of women cooperatives. As a result both productivity and efficiency improves in the cooperatives. In short the present study helped to capture the impact, role and dynamics of networking in general and socio political network in particular in relation to intra and inter unit differences on the structure, growth and performance of women industrial cooperatives societies in Kannur district

Laser induced thermal lens and near infrared absorption studies of ch overtones in some organic compounds

Vibrational overtone spectroscopy of X-H (X=C,N,O) containing molecules is an area of recent interest. The spectroscopic studies of higher vibrational levels yield valuable informations, regarding,the molecular structure, intra- and inter-molecular interactions, radiationless transitions, intra-molecular vibrational relaxations, multiphoton excitations and chemical reactivities, which cannot be z obtained by other spectroscopic methods. This thesis presents the results of experimental investigations on the overtone spectra of some organic compounds in the liquid phase for the characterization of CH bonds. The spectra in the fifth overtone region (1fiV=6) are recorded using a dual beam thermal lens setup and the lower overtones (.AV=2-5) are recorded spectrophotometrically.The thesis is presented in six chapters.

Exploratory and dust-bathing behaviour in laying hens kept in commercial aviaries and furnished cages

The aim of the present thesis was to identify management factors that affect the extent of exploratory behaviour (ground pecking, scratching) as well as quantitative and qualitative as-pects of dust-bathing behaviour in laying hens kept in commercial furnished cages (‘small group housing’) and aviaries. Based on the results, it should be considered which management measures can be recommended for farmers to enhance hen welfare. The feasibility of direct observations of dust-bathing behaviour as well as video observations of exploratory and dust-bathing behaviour was tested in two aviaries. The direct observations were judged to be unfeasible under the conditions encountered. For the analysis of the video recordings, different sampling intervals for instantaneous scan sampling, different extents of observation time, and intra- and inter-observer reliabilities were compared and the most ap-propriate observation scheme selected. Applying the selected scheme (observing the first 16 minutes of every hour distributed over two consecutive light days with a sample interval of two minutes), within the range of environmental conditions found in 22 aviaries, pecking, scratching and dust-bathing behaviour was performed on average 25, 2 and 7 % of the obser-vation time. Hen numbers in the litter were positively associated with stocking density and group size. More scratching was performed with increasing litter height as well as in humid litter. If no litter had been provided, thus substrate consisted of dust and faeces, a reduced proportion of dust-bathing was found. The same method was then used in 16 furnished cage systems. On average 12 % of the total hen number were found on the scratching mats. The hens spent 8 % of the observed time pecking at the mat, 4 % dust-bathing and 0.4 % scratch-ing. Higher proportions were found on the mats and more dust-bathing behaviour occurred, if substrate was provided. Also with increasing light intensity and stocking density more hens were observed on the mats. More pecking and scratching occurred in conditions of higher stocking density, probably due to social facilitation, and of increased mat area per hen. With increasing mat numbers per cage less pecking was observed. Wider mats led to increased dust-bathing behaviour. Finally, 129 dust-baths recorded in 17 aviaries were analysed in detail. On average they lasted 17 minutes, with the tossing phase taking 69 % of this time, including on average 2 vertical wing shakes and 3 scratches with one leg per minute tossing phase. Dust-bath duration de-creased with increasing litter height. Litter type influenced all recorded parameters: dust-bath duration was highest on straw and lowest on fine material and fine material mixed with straw, where on both also the proportion of the tossing phase was lowest. The number of vertical wing shakes during the dust-bath was highest on straw and lowest on fine material mixed with straw as against the frequency of vertical wing shaking that was lowest on straw and highest on fine material. If dust-bathing hens were disturbed twice or more, dust-bathing duration decreased. With increasing light intensity a decreased proportion of the tossing phase as well as a reduced number of vertical wing shakes were recorded. Possibly the light stimulated the hens to dust-bath more often with less tossing behaviour per performance. The observed variation of the dust-bathing parameters could reflect successful adaptation or frustration of the hens. The litter and light conditions on the investigated farms were predominantly restrictive in terms of stimulation of exploration and dust-bathing behaviour. Thus, it was only possible to analyse possible associations between these factors and exploration and dust-bathing behav-iour within the range found. Based on the results the following management recommendations can be given: To allow hens in furnished cages more normal activity, substrate availability should be improved and mat space and light intensity increased. With regard to aviaries as well litter availability should be improved. Litter height should not be too low. Disturbances during dust-bathing should be prevented, but no influencing factors could be identified.

The prediction of seasonal and inter-annual climate variations and their impacts on the water resources in the eastern seaboard of Thailand

The research of this thesis dissertation covers developments and applications of short-and long-term climate predictions. The short-term prediction emphasizes monthly and seasonal climate, i.e. forecasting from up to the next month over a season to up to a year or so. The long-term predictions pertain to the analysis of inter-annual- and decadal climate variations over the whole 21st century. These two climate prediction methods are validated and applied in the study area, namely, Khlong Yai (KY) water basin located in the eastern seaboard of Thailand which is a major industrial zone of the country and which has been suffering from severe drought and water shortage in recent years. Since water resources are essential for the further industrial development in this region, a thorough analysis of the potential climate change with its subsequent impact on the water supply in the area is at the heart of this thesis research. The short-term forecast of the next-season climate, such as temperatures and rainfall, offers a potential general guideline for water management and reservoir operation. To that avail, statistical models based on autoregressive techniques, i.e., AR-, ARIMA- and ARIMAex-, which includes additional external regressors, and multiple linear regression- (MLR) models, are developed and applied in the study region. Teleconnections between ocean states and the local climate are investigated and used as extra external predictors in the ARIMAex- and the MLR-model and shown to enhance the accuracy of the short-term predictions significantly. However, as the ocean state – local climate teleconnective relationships provide only a one- to four-month ahead lead time, the ocean state indices can support only a one-season-ahead forecast. Hence, GCM- climate predictors are also suggested as an additional predictor-set for a more reliable and somewhat longer short-term forecast. For the preparation of “pre-warning” information for up-coming possible future climate change with potential adverse hydrological impacts in the study region, the long-term climate prediction methodology is applied. The latter is based on the downscaling of climate predictions from several single- and multi-domain GCMs, using the two well-known downscaling methods SDSM and LARS-WG and a newly developed MLR-downscaling technique that allows the incorporation of a multitude of monthly or daily climate predictors from one- or several (multi-domain) parent GCMs. The numerous downscaling experiments indicate that the MLR- method is more accurate than SDSM and LARS-WG in predicting the recent past 20th-century (1971-2000) long-term monthly climate in the region. The MLR-model is, consequently, then employed to downscale 21st-century GCM- climate predictions under SRES-scenarios A1B, A2 and B1. However, since the hydrological watershed model requires daily-scale climate input data, a new stochastic daily climate generator is developed to rescale monthly observed or predicted climate series to daily series, while adhering to the statistical and geospatial distributional attributes of observed (past) daily climate series in the calibration phase. Employing this daily climate generator, 30 realizations of future daily climate series from downscaled monthly GCM-climate predictor sets are produced and used as input in the SWAT- distributed watershed model, to simulate future streamflow and other hydrological water budget components in the study region in a multi-realization manner. In addition to a general examination of the future changes of the hydrological regime in the KY-basin, potential future changes of the water budgets of three main reservoirs in the basin are analysed, as these are a major source of water supply in the study region. The results of the long-term 21st-century downscaled climate predictions provide evidence that, compared with the past 20th-reference period, the future climate in the study area will be more extreme, particularly, for SRES A1B. Thus, the temperatures will be higher and exhibit larger fluctuations. Although the future intensity of the rainfall is nearly constant, its spatial distribution across the region is partially changing. There is further evidence that the sequential rainfall occurrence will be decreased, so that short periods of high intensities will be followed by longer dry spells. This change in the sequential rainfall pattern will also lead to seasonal reductions of the streamflow and seasonal changes (decreases) of the water storage in the reservoirs. In any case, these predicted future climate changes with their hydrological impacts should encourage water planner and policy makers to develop adaptation strategies to properly handle the future water supply in this area, following the guidelines suggested in this study.

Clinical prediction of occupational and non-specific low back pain

Non-specific Occupational Low Back Pain (NOLBP) is a health condition that generates a high absenteeism and disability. Due to multifactorial causes is difficult to determine accurate diagnosis and prognosis. The clinical prediction of NOLBP is identified as a series of models that integrate a multivariate analysis to determine early diagnosis, course, and occupational impact of this health condition. Objective: to identify predictor factors of NOLBP, and the type of material referred to in the scientific evidence and establish the scopes of the prediction. Materials and method: the title search was conducted in the databases PubMed, Science Direct, and Ebsco Springer, between1985 and 2012. The selected articles were classified through a bibliometric analysis allowing to define the most relevant ones. Results: 101 titles met the established criteria, but only 43 metthe purpose of the review. As for NOLBP prediction, the studies varied in relation to the factors for example: diagnosis, transition of lumbar pain from acute to chronic, absenteeism from work, disability and return to work. Conclusion: clinical prediction is considered as a strategic to determine course and prognostic of NOLBP, and to determine the characteristics that increase the risk of chronicity in workers with this health condition. Likewise, clinical prediction rules are tools that aim to facilitate decision making about the evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis and intervention for low back pain, which should incorporate risk factors of physical, psychological and social.

Estimation of age- and stage-specific Catalan breast cancer survival functions using US and Catalan survival data

During the last part of the 1990s the chance of surviving breast cancer increased. Changes in survival functions reflect a mixture of effects. Both, the introduction of adjuvant treatments and early screening with mammography played a role in the decline in mortality. Evaluating the contribution of these interventions using mathematical models requires survival functions before and after their introduction. Furthermore, required survival functions may be different by age groups and are related to disease stage at diagnosis. Sometimes detailed information is not available, as was the case for the region of Catalonia (Spain). Then one may derive the functions using information from other geographical areas. This work presents the methodology used to estimate age- and stage-specific Catalan breast cancer survival functions from scarce Catalan survival data by adapting the age- and stage-specific US functions. Methods: Cubic splines were used to smooth data and obtain continuous hazard rate functions. After, we fitted a Poisson model to derive hazard ratios. The model included time as a covariate. Then the hazard ratios were applied to US survival functions detailed by age and stage to obtain Catalan estimations. Results: We started estimating the hazard ratios for Catalonia versus the USA before and after the introduction of screening. The hazard ratios were then multiplied by the age- and stage-specific breast cancer hazard rates from the USA to obtain the Catalan hazard rates. We also compared breast cancer survival in Catalonia and the USA in two time periods, before cancer control interventions (USA 1975–79, Catalonia 1980–89) and after (USA and Catalonia 1990–2001). Survival in Catalonia in the 1980–89 period was worse than in the USA during 1975–79, but the differences disappeared in 1990–2001. Conclusion: Our results suggest that access to better treatments and quality of care contributed to large improvements in survival in Catalonia. On the other hand, we obtained detailed breast cancer survival functions that will be used for modeling the effect of screening and adjuvant treatments in Catalonia

Spatial and temporal scale issues in determining biomass burning regimes in Bolivia and Peru

ATSR-2 active fire data from 1996 to 2000, TRMM VIRS fire counts from 1998 to 2000 and burn scars derived from SPOT VEGETATION ( the Global Burnt Area 2000 product) were mapped for Peru and Bolivia to analyse the spatial distribution of burning and its intra- and inter-annual variability. The fire season in the region mainly occurs between May and October; though some variation was found between the six broad habitat types analysed: desert, grassland, savanna, dry forest, moist forest and yungas (the forested valleys on the eastern slope of the Andes). Increased levels of burning were generally recorded in ATSR-2 and TRMM VIRS fire data in response to the 1997/1998 El Nino, but in some areas the El Nino effect was masked by the more marked influences of socio-economic change on land use and land cover. There were differences between the three global datasets: ATSR-2 under-recorded fires in ecosystems with low net primary productivities. This was because fires are set during the day in this region and, when fuel loads are low, burn out before the ATSR-2 overpass in the region which is between 02.45 h and 03.30 h. TRMM VIRS was able to detect these fires because its overpasses cover the entire diurnal range on a monthly basis. The GBA2000 product has significant errors of commission (particularly areas of shadow in the well-dissected eastern Andes) and omission (in the agricultural zone around Santa Cruz, Bolivia and in north-west Peru). Particular attention was paid to biomass burning in high-altitude grasslands, where fire is an important pastoral management technique. Fires and burn scars from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) data for a range of years between 1987 and 2000 were mapped for areas around Parque Nacional Rio Abiseo (Peru) and Parque Nacional Carrasco (Bolivia). Burn scars mapped in the grasslands of these two areas indicate far more burning had taken place than either the fires or the burn scars derived from global datasets. Mean scar sizes are smaller and have a smaller range in size between years the in the study area in Peru (6.6-7.1 ha) than Bolivia (16.9-162.5 ha). Trends in biomass burning in the two highland areas can be explained in terms of the changing socio-economic environments and impacts of conservation. The mismatch between the spatial scale of biomass burning in the high-altitude grasslands and the sensors used to derive global fire products means that an entire component of the fire regime in the region studied is omitted, despite its importance in the farming systems on the Andes.