La influencia de Ovidio en Shakespeare: el mito de Píramo y Tisbe

La influencia clásica en el teatro isabelino ha sido un tema bastante común entre los estudios de diversos críticos y ensayistas a lo largo de la historia. Para la redacción de este TFG hemos escogido el relato mitológico de Píramo y Tisbe. Analizaremos su camino desde la obra 'Metamorphoseon libri' de Ovidio, estudiando su recorrido para saber cómo y a través de quién llegó a manos del dramaturgo inglés William Shakespeare, quien lo incorporará a su comedia A midsummer night's dream. Asimismo, haremos un análisis comparativo entre los dos textos que hemos elegido, basándonos en diferentes ensayos y artículos escritos sobre este tema.

Corpus de mensajes suicidas y emociones profundas en las redes sociales y Deep Web

En el Siglo XXI, donde las Nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación están a la orden del día, se suceden manifestaciones que tradicionalmente abarcaban otros entornos menos virtuales y engloban grupos etarios desconocidos en los que la diferenciación de género es manifiesta. Con la facilidad de acceso y conexión a Internet, muchos disponemos de herramientas suficientes como para escribir en Redes Sociales determinadas emociones en su grado extremo así como ideaciones suicidas. Sin embargo, hay ubicaciones más profundas y desconocidas por algunos usuarios, como la Deep Web (y su navegador Tor), que permiten un completo anonimato del usuario. Por tanto, surge necesidad de la creación de un corpus de mensajes de índole suicida y relacionados con las emociones profundas con el fin de analizar el léxico mediante el lenguaje computacional y una previa categorización de los resultados con el fin de fomentar la creación de programas que detecten estas manifestaciones y ejerzan una labor preventiva.

A suspensão do tempo na escultura de Rui Chafes

The work of Rui Chafes is the irreducible expression of a sculpturesque thinking that intends to overcome the limits of materiality, aiming the reencounter with a lost spirituality. From the various influences that his work welcomes, the spiritual legacy present in the late german gothic, the german romanticism, as well as the formal heritage of post-minimalism stand out. The objects build are only possible as the translation of an Idea, since, for the sculptor, the “matter is filthy and wrong”; denying their materiality, they’re solely the support of something which is before and after their own objectuality. Like so, by refusing them the matter, of which they are yet made of, and by providing, through the aesthetic experience, the spiritual transformation of the spectator, he irreversibly denies the time which resides in them, as a constituent of historical and chronological reality. Being time a fundamental dimension of the human existence, necessarily inherent to the artistic production, it seems suspended in the objects of Rui Chafes

Comparative assessment of the gelatin particle agglutination test and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of strongyloidiasis

The performances of the gelatin particle agglutination test (GPAT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the diagnosis of strongyloidiasis with reference to the results of the agar plate culture technique (APCT) were evaluated with samples from 459 individuals from communities in northeast Thailand where strongyloidiasis is endemic. The prevalence of strongyloidiasis in five sample groups determined by GPAT varied between 29.3 and 61.5% (mean, 38.8%). ELISA and APCT, employed concurrently, gave lower prevalence rates of 27.5% (range, 21.6 to 42.1%) and 22.7% (range, 12.7 to 53.8%), respectively. By using APCT as the standard method, the sensitivity of GPAT was generally higher than that of ELISA (81 versus 73%). The specificity of GPAT was slightly lower than that of ELISA (74 versus 86%). The resulting GPAT titers exhibited positive linear relationships with the ELISA values (optical density at 490 nm) (P < 0.05), which suggests that the GPAT titer also reflects the levels of specific antibody comparable to those reflected by the ELISA values. Based on the relative ease and simplicity of use of the technique as well as the acceptable rates of sensitivity and specificity of the test, GPAT is more practical for screening for strongyloidiasis than the conventional ELISA.

Autonomic, biometric and oculomotor correlates of myopia in young adults

The principal work reported in this thesis is the examination of autonomic profile of ciliary muscle innervation as a risk factor in myopia development. Deficiency in sympathetic inhibitory control of accommodation has been proposed as a contributory factor in the development of late onset myopia (LOM). Complementary measurements of ocular biometry, oculomotor function and dynamic accommodation response were carried out on the same subject cohort, thus allowing cross-correlation of these factors with. autonomic profile. Subjects were undergraduate and postgraduate students of Aston University. A 2.5 year longitudinal study of refractive error progression in 40 subjects revealed the onset of LOM in 10, initially emmetropic, young adult subjects (age range 18-24 years) undertaking substantial amounts of near work. A controlled, double blind experimental protocol was conducted concurrently to measure post-task open-loop accommodative regression following distance (0 D) or near (3 D above baseline tonic accommodation) closed-loop tasks of short (10 second) or long (3 minute) duration. Closed-loop tasks consisted of observation of a high contrast Maltese cross target; open-loop conditions were imposed by observation of a 0.2 c/deg Difference of Gaussian target. Accommodation responses were recorded continuously at 42 Hz using a modified Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 open-view infra-red optometer. Blockade of the sympathetic branch of accommodative control was achieved by topical instillation of the non-selective b-adrenoceptor antagonist timolol maleate. Betaxolol hydrochloride (non-selective b1-adrenoceptor antagonist) and normal saline were employed as control agents. Retarded open-loop accommodative regression under b2 blockade following the 3 minute near task indicated the presence of sympathetic facility. Sympathetic inhibitory facility in accommodation control was found in similar proportions between LOM and stable emmetropic subjects. A cross-sectional study (N=60) of autonomic profile showed that sympathetic innervation of ciliary muscle is present in similar proportions between emmetropes, early-, and late-onset myopes. Sympathetic facility was identified in 27% of emmetropes, 21% of EOMs and 29% of LOMs.

Sympathetic innervation of ciliary muscle and oculomotor function in emmetropic and myopic young adults

Purpose: Evidence exists for an additional inhibitory accommodative control system mediated by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This work aims to show the relative prevalence of sympathetic inhibition in young emmetropic and myopic adults, and to evaluate the effect of sympathetic facility on accommodative and oculomotor function. Methods: Profiling of ciliary muscle innervation was carried out in 58 young adult subjects (30 emmetropes, 14 early onset myopes, 14 late onset myopes) by examining post-task open-loop accommodation responses, recorded continuously by a modified open-view infrared optometer. Measurements of amplitude of accommodation, tonic accommodation, accommodative lag at near, AC/A ratio, and heterophoria at distance and near were made to establish a profile of oculomotor function. Results: Evidence of sympathetic inhibitory facility in ciliary smooth muscle was observed in 27% of emmetropes, 21% of early-onset myopes and 29% of late-onset myopes. Twenty-six percent of all subjects demonstrated access to sympathetic facility. Closed-loop oculomotor function did not differ significantly between subjects with sympathetic facility, and those with sympathetic deficit. Conclusions: Emmetropic and myopic groups cannot be distinguished in terms of the relative proportions having access to sympathetic inhibition. Presence of sympathetic innervation does not have a significant effect on accommodative function under closed-loop viewing conditions. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of nutritional supplementation on the multifocal electroretinogram in healthy eyes

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated an increase in macular pigment optical density (MPOD) with lutein (L)-based supplementation in healthy eyes. However, not all studies have assessed whether this increase in MPOD is associated with changes to other measures of retinal function such as the multifocal ERG (mfERG). Some studies also fail to report dietary levels of L and zeaxanthin (Z). Because of the associations between increased levels of L and Z, and reduced risk of AMD, this study was designed to assess the effects of L-based supplementation on mfERG amplitudes and latencies in healthy eyes. METHODS: Multifocal ERG amplitudes, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, MPOD and dietary levels of L and Z were assessed in this longitudinal, randomized clinical trial. Fifty-two healthy eyes from 52 participants were randomly allocated to receive a L-based supplement (treated group), or no supplement (non-treated group). RESULTS: There were 25 subjects aged 18-77 (mean age ± SD; 48 ± 17) in the treated group and 27 subjects aged 21-69 (mean age ± SD; 43 ± 16) in the non-treated group. All participants attended for three visits: visit one at baseline, visit two at 20 weeks and visit three at 40 weeks. A statistically significant increase in MPOD (F = 17.0, p ≤ 0.001) and shortening of mfERG ring 2 P1 latency (F = 3.69, p = 0.04) was seen in the treated group. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results were not clinically significant, the reported trend for improvement in MPOD and mfERG outcomes warrants further investigation.

Efeito da oxigenação hiperbárica no reparo ósseo de ratos diabéticos

The chronic state of hyperglycemia due to diabetes mellitus affects multiples organs impairing life quality. In bone, diabetes alters strength and mineral density and also suppresses the osteoblast activity, leading to an unbalanced bone healing process. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is suggested as an adjuvant treatment to accelerate bone repair. This study evaluated the effects of HBO in the number of mast cells and in new bone formation at the initial stage of bone repair in normoglycemic and diabetic rats. It was hypothesized that HBO treatment may improve bone repair in diabetic bone. The rats were equally divided in four groups: Control (C); Control + HBO (CH); Diabetes (D) and Diabetes + HBO (DH). Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (65mg/kg) and femoral bone defects were created thirty days after diabetes induction in all groups. HBO initiated immediately after surgery procedure and was performed daily, for 7 days, in the CH e DH groups. Seven days after surgery, all animals were euthanized. The femur diaphyses were removed, fixated, decalcified and processed for paraffin embedding. The semi-serial histological sections obtained were stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE), Mallory Trichrome and Toluidine Blue. The qualitative analysis was conducted in the histology slides stained with HE, where it was evaluated the morphological aspects of bone repair in the lesion area, observing the presence of clot, inflammatory cells, granulation tissue, type of bone tissue, morphology of bone cells, and thickness and organization of bone trabeculae. In the slides stained with Mallory Trichrome and Toluidine Blue were evaluated the percentage of new bone formation and number of mast cells, respectively. The qualitative analysis showed that the CH group presented a more advanced stage of bone repair compared to the C group, showing thicker trabeculae and greater bone filling of the lesion area. In D and DH group, the lesion area was partially filled with new bone formation tissue and presented thinner trabeculae and fewer areas associated to osteoclasts compared to control group. The histomorphometric analysis showed a significant improvement in new bone formation (p<0.001) comparing CH (38.08 ± 4.05) and C (32.05 ± 5.51); C and D (24.62 ± 2.28 and CH and DH (27.14 ± 4.21) groups. In the normoglycemic rats there was a significant increasing in the number of mast cells (p<0.05) comparing C (8.06 ± 5.15) and CH (21.06 ± 4.91) groups. In conclusion, this study showed that diabetes impaired bone repair and HBO was only able to increase new bone formation and the number of mast cells in the normoglycemic animals.

Exact solutions for the agricultural and the two-dimensional packing problems

Objectives and study method: The objective of this study is to develop exact algorithms that can be used as management tools for the agricultural production planning and to obtain exact solutions for two of the most well known twodimensional packing problems: the strip packing problem and the bin packing problem. For the agricultural production planning problem we propose a new hierarchical scheme of three stages to improve the current agricultural practices. The objective of the first stage is to delineate rectangular and homogeneous management zones into the farmer’s plots considering the physical and chemical soil properties. This is an important task because the soil properties directly affect the agricultural production planning. The methodology for this stage is based on a new method called “Positions and Covering” that first generates all the possible positions in which the plot can be delineated. Then, we use a mathematical model of linear programming to obtain the optimal physical and chemical management zone delineation of the plot. In the second stage the objective is to determine the optimal crop pattern that maximizes the farmer’s profit taken into account the previous management zones delineation. In this case, the crop pattern is affected by both management zones delineation, physical and chemical. A mixed integer linear programming is used to solve this stage. The objective of the last stage is to determine in real-time the amount of water to irrigate in each crop. This stage takes as input the solution of the crop planning stage, the atmospheric conditions (temperature, radiation, etc.), the humidity level in plots, and the physical management zones of plots, just to name a few. This procedure is made in real-time during each irrigation period. A linear programming is used to solve this problem. A breakthrough happen when we realize that we could propose some adaptations of the P&C methodology to obtain optimal solutions for the two-dimensional packing problem and the strip packing. We empirically show that our methodologies are efficient on instances based on real data for both problems: agricultural and two-dimensional packing problems. Contributions and conclusions: The exact algorithms showed in this study can be used in the making-decision support for agricultural planning and twodimensional packing problems. For the agricultural planning problem, we show that the implementation of the new hierarchical approach can improve the farmer profit between 5.27% until 8.21% through the optimization of the natural resources. An important characteristic of this problem is that the soil properties (physical and chemical) and the real-time factors (climate, humidity level, evapotranspiration, etc.) are incorporated. With respect to the two-dimensional packing problems, one of the main contributions of this study is the fact that we have demonstrate that many of the best solutions founded in literature by others approaches (heuristics approaches) are the optimal solutions. This is very important because some of these solutions were up to now not guarantee to be the optimal solutions.

Heavy metal release due to aging effect during zero valent iron nanoparticles remediation

Zero valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) represent a promising agent for environmental remediation. Nevertheless, their application presents some limitations regarding their rapid oxidation and aggregation in the media. The aim of this study was to determine the effect that nZVI aging has in heavy metal remediation in water. Contaminants studied were Zn, Cd, Ni, Cu and Cr, which are typical elements found in ground and wastewater. Results show a high contaminant removal capacity by the nZVI in the first 2 h of reaction. Nevertheless, for longer reaction times, some of the metal ions that had already been adsorbed in the nZVI were delivered to the water. Cd and Ni show the maximum delivery percentages (65 and 27% respectively after 21 days of contact time). The starting delivery time was shortened when applying lower nZVI amounts. No re-dissolution of Cr was observed in any circumstance because it was the only element incorporated into the nanoparticles core, as TEM images showed. Contaminant release from nZVI is probably due to nanoparticles oxidation caused by aging, which produced a pH decrease and nZVI surface crystallization.