Avalia����o das barreiras �� inova����o em sistemas de embalagens que visam a redu����o do desperd��cio/perda de carne bovina in natura

Coordena����o de Aperfei��oamento de Pessoal de N��vel Superior (CAPES)

Modelo matem��tico para determina����o do custo e produ����o de energia na cultura da cana-de-a����car

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

S��ntese de pol��meros supramoleculares derivados dos ��cidos palm��tico e mir��stico com meglumina e suas caracteriza����es em meio aquoso

P��s-gradua����o em Qu��mica - IQ

Aplica����o do valor presente ajustado (APV) para avalia����o do fluxo de caixa de uma empresa do setor automotivo no sistema inovar auto

The automobile industry shows relevance inside the Brazilian industrial scenario since it contributes with the development of a significant chain of supply, distributors, workshops, publicity agencies and insurance companies in the internal market, aside from being one of the five biggest worldwide market. Thereby, the federal government decreed in Dec, 17th 2012 by Law n�� 12.715 the Inovar-Auto Program. As the Adjusted Present Value (APV) is highly recommended, although not yet widespread to public politics of tax reduction, this work intends to apply the APV method on the cash flow analysis of an automobile sector's company, which has recently installed in national territory and wants to rely with governmental incentives proposed by Inovar-Auto Program. The developed work evaluates the company's current cash flow stochastically from mathematical modeling of variables such as price, demand and interest rate through probability distributions with the assist of Crystal Ball software, a Microsoft Excel Add-in, generating different scenarios from Monte Carlo Simulation. As results probabilities situations have been evaluated until the end of the Inovar-Auto's conducted period, in 2017. Beside APV others indicator such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and payback period were estimated for the investment project. For APV a sampling distribution with only 0.057% of risk, IRR of 29% were obtained and estimated project payback period was 4.13 years

Estudo da viabilidade de implanta����o do INOVAR-AUTO utilizando o m��todo do fluxo de caixa sob risco

The automobile industry has a growing importance in the Brazilian economic environment. The industry moves a huge chain that encompasses manufacturers, suppliers of raw materials, auto parts dealers, gas stations, insurance companies, repair shops, tire stores, media companies, advertising agencies, among others. Because of this importance in the current economic environment in Brazil, the federal government, through Law No. 12715 of 17 December 2012 established a Program for the Promotion of Innovation and Densification in the Productive Chain of Motor Vehicles called INOVAR-AUTO in order to support technological development, innovation, safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and quality of cars, trucks, buses and auto parts. The specific purpose of this study, a simulation for discussion of the viability of the program implementation using the Monte Carlo Simulation combined with the Cash-Flow-at-Risk was performed. To this end, an exploratory and documentary literature on the subject was held as well as a case study in a automobile company of Japanese origin

Influ��ncia da suplementa����o de alecrim (Rosmarinus oficinallis L.) na ra����o sobre a remodela����o card��aca em ratos submetidos ao infarto do mioc��dio

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Aplica����o do valor presente ajustado (APV) para avalia����o do fluxo de caixa de uma empresa do setor automotivo no sistema inovar auto

The automobile industry shows relevance inside the Brazilian industrial scenario since it contributes with the development of a significant chain of supply, distributors, workshops, publicity agencies and insurance companies in the internal market, aside from being one of the five biggest worldwide market. Thereby, the federal government decreed in Dec, 17th 2012 by Law n�� 12.715 the Inovar-Auto Program. As the Adjusted Present Value (APV) is highly recommended, although not yet widespread to public politics of tax reduction, this work intends to apply the APV method on the cash flow analysis of an automobile sector's company, which has recently installed in national territory and wants to rely with governmental incentives proposed by Inovar-Auto Program. The developed work evaluates the company's current cash flow stochastically from mathematical modeling of variables such as price, demand and interest rate through probability distributions with the assist of Crystal Ball software, a Microsoft Excel Add-in, generating different scenarios from Monte Carlo Simulation. As results probabilities situations have been evaluated until the end of the Inovar-Auto's conducted period, in 2017. Beside APV others indicator such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and payback period were estimated for the investment project. For APV a sampling distribution with only 0.057% of risk, IRR of 29% were obtained and estimated project payback period was 4.13 years

Estudo da viabilidade de implanta����o do INOVAR-AUTO utilizando o m��todo do fluxo de caixa sob risco

The automobile industry has a growing importance in the Brazilian economic environment. The industry moves a huge chain that encompasses manufacturers, suppliers of raw materials, auto parts dealers, gas stations, insurance companies, repair shops, tire stores, media companies, advertising agencies, among others. Because of this importance in the current economic environment in Brazil, the federal government, through Law No. 12715 of 17 December 2012 established a Program for the Promotion of Innovation and Densification in the Productive Chain of Motor Vehicles called INOVAR-AUTO in order to support technological development, innovation, safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and quality of cars, trucks, buses and auto parts. The specific purpose of this study, a simulation for discussion of the viability of the program implementation using the Monte Carlo Simulation combined with the Cash-Flow-at-Risk was performed. To this end, an exploratory and documentary literature on the subject was held as well as a case study in a automobile company of Japanese origin

Influ��ncia da suplementa����o de alecrim (Rosmarinus oficinallis L.) na ra����o sobre a remodela����o card��aca em ratos submetidos ao infarto do mioc��dio

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Introduction to the Software-defined Radio Approach

Telecommunications have been in constant evolution during past decades. Among the technological innovations, the use of digital technologies is very relevant. Digital communication systems have proven their efficiency and brought a new element in the chain of signal transmitting and receiving, the digital processor. This device offers to new radio equipments the flexibility of a programmable system. Nowadays, the behavior of a communication system can be modified by simply changing its software. This gave rising to a new radio model called Software Defined Radio (or Software-Defined Radio - SDR). In this new model, one moves to the software the task to set radio behavior, leaving to hardware only the implementation of RF front-end. Thus, the radio is no longer static, defined by their circuits and becomes a dynamic element, which may change their operating characteristics, such as bandwidth, modulation, coding rate, even modified during runtime according to software configuration. This article aims to present the use of GNU Radio software, an open-source solution for SDR specific applications, as a tool for development configurable digital radio.

Custos da cadeia de procedimentos no tratamento do infarto agudo do mioc��rdio em hospitais brasileiros de excel��ncia e especializados

OBJETIVO: Apresenta a metodologia e os resultados de uma pesquisa de campo para avaliar os custos da cadeia de procedimentos para tratamento do Infarto Agudo do Mioc��rdio (IAM), realizada em 11 hospitais brasileiros de excel��ncia e especializados. M��TODOS: A apura����o do custo utilizou o sistema de custo por procedimento e o sistema por patologia. Os procedimentos associados ao tratamento do IAM foram organizados com sua sequ��ncia l��gica (protocolos), dando origem a um fluxograma. Os instrumentos de coleta da pesquisa contemplavam informa����es relativas aos pre��os e as quantidades (particular, conv��nios, tabela SUS e Associa����o M��dica Brasileira - AMB), praticados no ano de 2008, bem como os custos pertinentes. RESULTADOS: De forma geral, o custo total dos procedimentos que integram o "tratamento-padr��o" do IAM, totalizou R$ 12.873,69 se a interven����o coron��ria percut��nea (ICP) n��o envolver utiliza����o de stent. Caso este se torne necess��rio, o custo se eleva para R$ 23.461,87. CONCLUS��O: Entre os resultados obtidos destacam-se: o fato de os valores dos procedimentos mais caros n��o apresentarem varia����es estat��sticas significativas entre os hospitais, independentemente de sua localiza����o, clientela predominante ou natureza jur��dica; e o fato de os hospitais, que tratam predominantemente de usu��rios do Sistema ��nico de Sa��de, registrar custos menores, mas n��o estatisticamente significativos, para toda a cadeia de procedimentos associada �� patologia.

Mountain centered icefields in northern Scandinavia

Mountain centered glaciers have played a major role throughout the last three million years in the Scandinavian mountains. The climatic extremes, like the present warm interglacial or cold glacial maxima, are very short-lived compared to the periods of intermediate climate conditions, characterized by the persistence of mountain based glaciers and ice fields of regional size. These have persisted in the Scandinavian mountains for about 65% of the Quaternary. Mountain based glaciers thus had a profound impact on large-scale geomorphology, which is manifested in large-scale glacial landforms such as fjords, glacial lakes and U-shaped valleys in and close to the mountain range. Through a mapping of glacial landforms in the northern Scandinavian mountain range, in particular a striking set of lateral moraines, this thesis offers new insights into Weichselian stages predating the last glacial maximum. The aerial photograph mapping and field evidence yield evidence that these lateral moraines were overridden by glacier ice subsequent to their formation. The lateral moraines were dated using terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide techniques. Although the terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide signature of the moraines is inconclusive, an early Weichselian age is tentatively suggested through correlations with other landforms and stratigraphical archives in the region. The abundance and coherent spatial pattern of the lateral moraines also allow a spatial reconstruction of this ice field. The ice field was controlled by topography and had nunataks protruding also where it was thickest close to the elevation axis of the Scandinavian mountain range. Outlet glaciers discharged into the Norwegian fjords and major valleys in Sweden. The process by which mountain based glaciers grow into an ice sheet is a matter of debate. In this thesis, a feedback mechanism between debris on the ice surface and ice sheet growth is presented. In essence, the growth of glaciers and ice sheets may be accelerated by an abundance of debris in their ablation areas. This may occur when the debris cover on the glacier surface inhibits ablation, effectively increasing the glaciers mass balance. It is thus possible that a dirty ablation area may cause the glacier to advance further than a clean glacier under similar conditions. An ice free period of significant length allows soil production through weathering, frost shattering, and slope processes. As glaciers advance through this assemblage of sediments, significant amounts of debris end up on the surface due to both mass wastage and subglacial entrainment. Evidence that this chain of events may occur, is given by large expanses of hummocky moraine (local name Veiki moraine) in the northern Swedish lowlands. Because the Veiki moraine has been correlated with the first Weichselian advance following the Eemian, it implies a heavily debris charged ice sheet emanating from the mountain range and terminating in a stagnant fashion in the lowlands.

Implantaci��n de un sistema de etiquetado en la pesca artesanal de Canarias

M��ster en Gesti��n Sostenible de los Recursos Pesqueros

Impatto di rifaximina sul microbiota intestinale: selezione di bifidobatteri antibiotico resistenti

The ideal approach for the long term treatment of intestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is represented by a safe and well tolerated therapy able to reduce mucosal inflammation and maintain homeostasis of the intestinal microbiota. A combined therapy with antimicrobial agents, to reduce antigenic load, and immunomodulators, to ameliorate the dysregulated responses, followed by probiotic supplementation has been proposed. Because of the complementary mechanisms of action of antibiotics and probiotics, a combined therapeutic approach would give advantages in terms of enlargement of the antimicrobial spectrum, due to the barrier effect of probiotic bacteria, and limitation of some side effects of traditional chemiotherapy (i.e. indiscriminate decrease of aggressive and protective intestinal bacteria, altered absorption of nutrient elements, allergic and inflammatory reactions). Rifaximin (4-deoxy-4���-methylpyrido[1���,2���-1,2]imidazo[5,4-c]rifamycin SV) is a product of synthesis experiments designed to modify the parent compound, rifamycin, in order to achieve low gastrointestinal absorption while retaining good antibacterial activity. Both experimental and clinical pharmacology clearly show that this compound is a non systemic antibiotic with a broad spectrum of antibacterial action, covering Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms, both aerobes and anaerobes. Being virtually non absorbed, its bioavailability within the gastrointestinal tract is rather high with intraluminal and faecal drug concentrations that largely exceed the MIC values observed in vitro against a wide range of pathogenic microorganisms. The gastrointestinal tract represents therefore the primary therapeutic target and gastrointestinal infections the main indication. The little value of rifaximin outside the enteric area minimizes both antimicrobial resistance and systemic adverse events. Fermented dairy products enriched with probiotic bacteria have developed into one of the most successful categories of functional foods. Probiotics are defined as ���live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host��� (FAO/WHO, 2002), and mainly include Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species. Probiotic bacteria exert a direct effect on the intestinal microbiota of the host and contribute to organoleptic, rheological and nutritional properties of food. Administration of pharmaceutical probiotic formula has been associated with therapeutic effects in treatment of diarrhoea, constipation, flatulence, enteropathogens colonization, gastroenteritis, hypercholesterolemia, IBD, such as ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn���s disease, pouchitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Prerequisites for probiotics are to be effective and safe. The characteristics of an effective probiotic for gastrointestinal tract disorders are tolerance to upper gastrointestinal environment (resistance to digestion by enteric or pancreatic enzymes, gastric acid and bile), adhesion on intestinal surface to lengthen the retention time, ability to prevent the adherence, establishment and/or replication of pathogens, production of antimicrobial substances, degradation of toxic catabolites by bacterial detoxifying enzymatic activities, and modulation of the host immune responses. This study was carried out using a validated three-stage fermentative continuous system and it is aimed to investigate the effect of rifaximin on the colonic microbial flora of a healthy individual, in terms of bacterial composition and production of fermentative metabolic end products. Moreover, this is the first study that investigates in vitro the impact of the simultaneous administration of the antibiotic rifaximin and the probiotic B. lactis BI07 on the intestinal microbiota. Bacterial groups of interest were evaluated using culture-based methods and molecular culture-independent techniques (FISH, PCR-DGGE). Metabolic outputs in terms of SCFA profiles were determined by HPLC analysis. Collected data demonstrated that rifaximin as well as antibiotic and probiotic treatment did not change drastically the intestinal microflora, whereas bacteria belonging to Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus significantly increase over the course of the treatment, suggesting a spontaneous upsurge of rifaximin resistance. These results are in agreement with a previous study, in which it has been demonstrated that rifaximin administration in patients with UC, affects the host with minor variations of the intestinal microflora, and that the microbiota is restored over a wash-out period. In particular, several Bifidobacterium rifaximin resistant mutants could be isolated during the antibiotic treatment, but they disappeared after the antibiotic suspension. Furthermore, bacteria belonging to Atopobium spp. and E. rectale/Clostridium cluster XIVa increased significantly after rifaximin and probiotic treatment. Atopobium genus and E. rectale/Clostridium cluster XIVa are saccharolytic, butyrate-producing bacteria, and for these characteristics they are widely considered health-promoting microorganisms. The absence of major variations in the intestinal microflora of a healthy individual and the significant increase in probiotic and health-promoting bacteria concentrations support the rationale of the administration of rifaximin as efficacious and non-dysbiosis promoting therapy and suggest the efficacy of an antibiotic/probiotic combined treatment in several gut pathologies, such as IBD. To assess the use of an antibiotic/probiotic combination for clinical management of intestinal disorders, genetic, proteomic and physiologic approaches were employed to elucidate molecular mechanisms determining rifaximin resistance in Bifidobacterium, and the expected interactions occurring in the gut between these bacteria and the drug. The ability of an antimicrobial agent to select resistance is a relevant factor that affects its usefulness and may diminish its useful life. Rifaximin resistance phenotype was easily acquired by all bifidobacteria analyzed [type strains of the most representative intestinal bifidobacterial species (B. infantis, B. breve, B. longum, B. adolescentis and B. bifidum) and three bifidobacteria included in a pharmaceutical probiotic preparation (B. lactis BI07, B. breve BBSF and B. longum BL04)] and persisted for more than 400 bacterial generations in the absence of selective pressure. Exclusion of any reversion phenomenon suggested two hypotheses: (i) stable and immobile genetic elements encode resistance; (ii) the drug moiety does not act as an inducer of the resistance phenotype, but enables selection of resistant mutants. Since point mutations in rpoB have been indicated as representing the principal factor determining rifampicin resistance in E. coli and M. tuberculosis, whether a similar mechanism also occurs in Bifidobacterium was verified. The analysis of a 129 bp rpoB core region of several wild-type and resistant bifidobacteria revealed five different types of miss-sense mutations in codons 513, 516, 522 and 529. Position 529 was a novel mutation site, not previously described, and position 522 appeared interesting for both the double point substitutions and the heterogeneous profile of nucleotide changes. The sequence heterogeneity of codon 522 in Bifidobacterium leads to hypothesize an indirect role of its encoded amino acid in the binding with the rifaximin moiety. These results demonstrated the chromosomal nature of rifaximin resistance in Bifidobacterium, minimizing risk factors for horizontal transmission of resistance elements between intestinal microbial species. Further proteomic and physiologic investigations were carried out using B. lactis BI07, component of a pharmaceutical probiotic preparation, as a model strain. The choice of this strain was determined based on the following elements: (i) B. lactis BI07 is able to survive and persist in the gut; (ii) a proteomic overview of this strain has been recently reported. The involvement of metabolic changes associated with rifaximin resistance was investigated by proteomic analysis performed with two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Comparative proteomic mapping of BI07-wt and BI07-res revealed that most differences in protein expression patterns were genetically encoded rather than induced by antibiotic exposure. In particular, rifaximin resistance phenotype was characterized by increased expression levels of stress proteins. Overexpression of stress proteins was expected, as they represent a common non specific response by bacteria when stimulated by different shock conditions, including exposure to toxic agents like heavy metals, oxidants, acids, bile salts and antibiotics. Also, positive transcription regulators were found to be overexpressed in BI07-res, suggesting that bacteria could activate compensatory mechanisms to assist the transcription process in the presence of RNA polymerase inhibitors. Other differences in expression profiles were related to proteins involved in central metabolism; these modifications suggest metabolic disadvantages of resistant mutants in comparison with sensitive bifidobacteria in the gut environment, without selective pressure, explaining their disappearance from faeces of patients with UC after interruption of antibiotic treatment. The differences observed between BI07-wt e BI07-res proteomic patterns, as well as the high frequency of silent mutations reported for resistant mutants of Bifidobacterium could be the consequences of an increased mutation rate, mechanism which may lead to persistence of resistant bacteria in the population. However, the in vivo disappearance of resistant mutants in absence of selective pressure, allows excluding the upsurge of compensatory mutations without loss of resistance. Furthermore, the proteomic characterization of the resistant phenotype suggests that rifaximin resistance is associated with a reduced bacterial fitness in B. lactis BI07-res, supporting the hypothesis of a biological cost of antibiotic resistance in Bifidobacterium. The hypothesis of rifaximin inactivation by bacterial enzymatic activities was verified by using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Neither chemical modifications nor degradation derivatives of the rifaximin moiety were detected. The exclusion of a biodegradation pattern for the drug was further supported by the quantitative recovery in BI07-res culture fractions of the total rifaximin amount (100 ��g/ml) added to the culture medium. To confirm the main role of the mutation on the �� chain of RNA polymerase in rifaximin resistance acquisition, transcription activity of crude enzymatic extracts of BI07-res cells was evaluated. Although the inhibition effects of rifaximin on in vitro transcription were definitely higher for BI07-wt than for BI07-res, a partial resistance of the mutated RNA polymerase at rifaximin concentrations > 10 ��g/ml was supposed, on the basis of the calculated differences in inhibition percentages between BI07-wt and BI07-res. By considering the resistance of entire BI07-res cells to rifaximin concentrations > 100 ��g/ml, supplementary resistance mechanisms may take place in vivo. A barrier for the rifaximin uptake in BI07-res cells was suggested in this study, on the basis of the major portion of the antibiotic found to be bound to the cellular pellet respect to the portion recovered in the cellular lysate. Related to this finding, a resistance mechanism involving changes of membrane permeability was supposed. A previous study supports this hypothesis, demonstrating the involvement of surface properties and permeability in natural resistance to rifampicin in mycobacteria, isolated from cases of human infection, which possessed a rifampicin-susceptible RNA polymerase. To understand the mechanism of membrane barrier, variations in percentage of saturated and unsaturated FAs and their methylation products in BI07-wt and BI07-res membranes were investigated. While saturated FAs confer rigidity to membrane and resistance to stress agents, such as antibiotics, a high level of lipid unsaturation is associated with high fluidity and susceptibility to stresses. Thus, the higher percentage of saturated FAs during the stationary phase of BI07-res could represent a defence mechanism of mutant cells to prevent the antibiotic uptake. Furthermore, the increase of CFAs such as dihydrosterculic acid during the stationary phase of BI07-res suggests that this CFA could be more suitable than its isomer lactobacillic acid to interact with and prevent the penetration of exogenous molecules including rifaximin. Finally, the impact of rifaximin on immune regulatory functions of the gut was evaluated. It has been suggested a potential anti-inflammatory effect of rifaximin, with reduced secretion of IFN-�� in a rodent model of colitis. Analogously, it has been reported a significant decrease in IL-8, MCP-1, MCP-3 e IL-10 levels in patients affected by pouchitis, treated with a combined therapy of rifaximin and ciprofloxacin. Since rifaximin enables in vivo and in vitro selection of Bifidobacterium resistant mutants with high frequency, the immunomodulation activities of rifaximin associated with a B. lactis resistant mutant were also taken into account. Data obtained from PBMC stimulation experiments suggest the following conclusions: (i) rifaximin does not exert any effect on production of IL-1��, IL-6 and IL-10, whereas it weakly stimulates production of TNF-��; (ii) B. lactis appears as a good inducer of IL-1��, IL-6 and TNF-��; (iii) combination of BI07-res and rifaximin exhibits a lower stimulation effect than BI07-res alone, especially for IL-6. These results confirm the potential anti-inflammatory effect of rifaximin, and are in agreement with several studies that report a transient pro-inflammatory response associated with probiotic administration. The understanding of the molecular factors determining rifaximin resistance in the genus Bifidobacterium assumes an applicative significance at pharmaceutical and medical level, as it represents the scientific basis to justify the simultaneous use of the antibiotic rifaximin and probiotic bifidobacteria in the clinical treatment of intestinal disorders.

Elementi postmoderni nell'horror americano contemporaneo. Forme testuali e culturali della mutazione 1968-1998

This research argues for an analysis of textual and cultural forms in the American horror film (1968- 1998), by defining the so-called postmodern characters. The ���postmodern��� term will not mean a period of the history of cinema, but a series of forms and strategies recognizable in many American films. From a bipolar re-mediation and cognitive point of view, the postmodern phenomenon is been considered as a formal and epistemological re-configuration of the cultural ���modern��� system. The first section of the work examines theoretical problems about the ���postmodern phenomenon��� by defining its cultural and formal constants in different areas (epistemology, economy, mass-media): the character of convergence, fragmentation, manipulation and immersion represent the first ones, while the ���excess��� is the morphology of the change, by realizing the ���fluctuation��� of the previous consolidated system. The second section classifies the textual and cultural forms of American postmodern film, generally non-horror. The ���classic narrative��� structure ��� coherent and consequent chain of causal cues toward a conclusion ��� is scattered by the postmodern constant of ���fragmentation���. New textual models arise, fragmenting the narrative ones into the aggregations of data without causal-temporal logics. Considering the process of ���transcoding���1 and ���remediation���2 between media, and the principle of ���convergence��� in the phenomenon, the essay aims to define these structures in postmodern film as ���database forms��� and ���navigable space forms.��� The third section applies this classification to American horror film (1968-1998). The formal constant of ���excess��� in the horror genre works on the paradigm of ���vision���: if postmodern film shows a crisis of the ���truth��� in the vision, in horror movies the excess of vision becomes ���hyper-vision��� ��� that is ���multiplication��� of the death/blood/torture visions ��� and ���intra-vision���, that shows the impossibility of recognizing the ���real��� vision from the virtual/imaginary. In this perspective, the textual and cultural forms and strategies of postmodern horror film are predominantly: the ���database-accumulation��� forms, where the events result from a very simple ���remote cause��� serving as a pretext (like in Night of the Living Dead); the ���database-catalogue��� forms, where the events follow one another displaying a ���central��� character or theme. In the first case, the catalogue syntagms are connected by ���consecutive��� elements, building stories linked by the actions of a single character (usually the killer), or connected by non-consecutive episodes about a general theme: examples of the first kind are built on the model of The Wizard of Gore; the second ones, on the films such as Mario Bava���s I tre volti della paura. The ���navigable space��� forms are defined: hyperlink a, where one universe is fluctuating between reality and dream, as in Rosemary���s Baby; hyperlink b (where two non-hierarchical universes are convergent, the first one real and the other one fictional, as in the Nightmare series); hyperlink c (where more worlds are separated but contiguous in the last sequence, as in Targets); the last form, navigable-loop, includes a textual line which suddenly stops and starts again, reflecting the pattern of a ���loop��� (as in Lost Highway). This essay analyses in detail the organization of ���visual space��� into the postmodern horror film by tracing representative patterns. It concludes by examining the ���convergence���3 of technologies and cognitive structures of cinema and new media.