Aplicação da cromatografia de partição gás-líquido no estudo da ecologia trófica da fase adulta de lampreia-marinha (Petromyzon marinus L.)

Apesar da relevância biológica e do impacto económico associado à sua exploração comercial, a informação existente acerca dos hábitos alimentares na fase marinha parasitária da lampreia-marinha é muito limitada e poucos estudos têm examinado a organização metabólica desta espécie. A inactividade alimentar associada à migração reprodutora confere algumas garantias de que a composição em ácidos gordos dos lípidos totais e/ou dos triacilgliceróis do músculo reflecte, até certo ponto, a dieta destes animais na fase marinha e, consequentemente, o grupo de hospedeiros preferenciais. O presente estudo foi conduzido com o intuito de caracterizar qualitativamente os ácidos gordos dos lípidos totais do músculo de 45 animais capturados durante a migração reprodutora nas bacias hidrográficas do Minho, Tejo e Guadiana e de avaliar se a existência de eventuais diferenças na composição em ácidos gordos poderiam indiciar dietas distintas, porventura características das zonas geográficas onde os animais foram capturados. Os lípidos totais do músculo foram extraídos pelo método de Folch et al. (1957). Os ésteres metílicos dos ácidos gordos dos lípidos totais foram preparados pelo método de Morrison & Smith (1964). De seguida, os ésteres metílicos dos ácidos gordos foram analisados num cromatógrafo Hewlett Packard HP 6890 Series GC System, com software HPChem (2002), equipado com injector split-splitless e detector de ionização por chama (FID). Foi utilizada uma coluna capilar Omegawax 320 (30 m de comprimento x 0.32 mm de diâmetro interno, 0.25 m de espessura de filme, da Supelco). A fase móvel foi hélio com um fluxo de 1,2 ml/min. A temperatura do injector e do detector foi de 250C e a temperatura do forno foi mantida a 200C. A razão de split foi de 100:1 A corrida foi feita a 200C sem rampa de temperatura durante 55 minutos. Os ésteres metílicos dos ácidos gordos foram identificados recorrendo à comparação dos tempos de retenção obtidos com os tempos de retenção dos ésteres metílicos dos ácidos gordos de uma mistura padrão de referência (Supelco). Cada éster metílico foi expresso em percentagem do total de ésteres metílicos identificados. Foi utilizada uma análise discriminante múltipla para avaliar o nível de segregação das amostras pertencentes às três bacias, tendo por base a composição em ácidos gordos dos lípidos totais do músculo. Verificou-se que os ácidos gordos mais abundantes no músculo das lampreias estudadas foram os ácidos gordos monoinsaturados, seguidos dos ácidos gordos saturados e por último dos ácidos gordos poliinsaturados. Constatou-se a existência de segregação das populações a nível geográfico, com uma separação mais evidente para a bacia hidrográfica do Tejo, sendo que os ácidos gordos que contribuíram para este resultado foram o ácido merístico (C14:0), o ácido eicosenóico (C20:1ω9), o ácido erúcico (C22:1ω9) e o ácido nervónico (C24:1ω9), estes três últimos pertencentes à família ω9. Verificando-se a hipótese destes ácidos gordos serem originários dos hospedeiros seleccionados pelas lampreias, então poder-se-á concluir que a sua proveniência geográfica promove diferenças na ecologia trófica desta espécie durante a fase marinha parasitária

Can heart tissue fatty acid profile be used as a tool to discriminate sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus, L.) populations in several Portuguese river basins?

This study proposes to evaluate the use of heart tissue fatty acid signature and multivariate analysis of fatty acid profile as a possible discriminating tool for sea lamprey P. marinus populations sampled in Portuguese river basins. Local fisherman collected adult sea lampreys in eight Portuguese river basins (Minho, Lima, Cávado, Douro, Vouga, Mondego, Tagus and Guadiana) at the beginning of their spawning migration. Heart total lipid extraction was obtained by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and FAMEs were prepared by transesterification with methanol-boron trifluoride and analysed by GC. FAMEs were identified by comparison of their retention times with known standards chromatographed in identical gas chromatography conditions. The fatty acid profile of the heart tissue varied among the individuals of the different river basins. In order to identify which fatty acid contributed most to the differences between river basins heart tissue, MDA was employed. The MDA proved to be statistically significant and the overall corrected classification rate estimated from cross-validation procedure was 86.2%. Although in the case of the individuals of Tagus and Guadiana 100% and 94.7 % of subjects were correctly classified, respectively, there are always a few individuals of the other 5 watersheds that have characteristics identical to those observed in these two river basins.The results are discussed in terms of fatty acid origin and hypothesis concerning the migratory behavior that could lead to these results. The fatty acid profile of heart is considered more stable than other organs, but it still exhibits some variability. This study seems to point out the potential for fatty acid compositions to discriminate sea lampreys from Portuguese river basins, which are probably related with environmental variables that they may have been exposed during early stages of their life cycle

Solar Intranetwork Magnetic Elements: bipolar flux appearance

The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic axis orientation. On average, the sampled IN ERs have total maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{17} Mx, separation of 3-4 arcsec, and a lifetime of 10-15 minutes. The smallest IN ERs have a maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{16} Mx, separations less than 1 arcsec, and lifetimes as short as 5 minutes. Most IN ERs exhibit a rotation of their magnetic axis of more than 10 degrees during flux emergence. Peculiar flux appearance, e.g., bipole shrinkage followed by growth or the reverse, is not unusual. A few examples show repeated shrinkage-growth or growth-shrinkage, like magnetic floats in the dynamic photosphere. The observed bipolar behavior seems to carry rich information on magneto-convection in the sub-photospheric layer.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure

Quinze anos de monitorização das comunidades biológicas do estuário do Tejo no âmbito da construção e funcionamento das ETARs do Portinho da Costa e da Mutela (Concelho de Almada): Experiência adquirida e ensinamentos para futuros casos semelhantes.

Desde 2001 que a Câmara Municipal de Almada tem vindo a promover, em colaboração com o MARE, a monitorização ambiental das regiões estuarinas sob influência das ETARs do Portinho da Costa e da Mutela, que vieram substituir efluentes não tratados emitidos sensivelmente nas mesmas regiões. O objetivo deste programa de monitorização consiste em avaliar as principais alterações ocorridas (na maioria dos casos positivas) nos ecossistemas estuarinos dos vários locais, após a entrada em funcionamento de ambas as infraestruturas. Estes 15 anos de estudos das comunidades bentónicas e de peixes locais têm permitido identificar variações nos padrões espácio-temporais destes compartimentos biológicos e identificar quais dessas evoluções podem ser presumivelmente relacionáveis com o funcionamento das infraestruturas e quais derivam provavelmente de flutuações naturais. Nesta comunicação são enunciados os pressupostos do estudo, descritos os delineamentos experimentais e metodologias de tratamento dos dados adotados, apresentados os principais resultados obtidos e discutidas as grandes dificuldades sentidas para cumprir os objetivos estabelecidos. Este conjunto de elementos será analisado numa perspetiva de como a experiência adquirida pode ser útil, no futuro, para casos semelhantes, sobretudo numa ótica da correta identificação dos verdadeiros efeitos infraestruturais e de despiste da influência de outros fatores concorrentes

Universality of the Lyapunov regime for the Loschmidt echo

The Loschmidt echo (LE) is a magnitude that measures the sensitivity of quantum dynamics to perturbations in the Hamiltonian. For a certain regime of the parameters, the LE decays exponentially with a rate given by the Lyapunov exponent of the underlying classically chaotic system. We develop a semiclassical theory, supported by numerical results in a Lorentz gas model, which allows us to establish and characterize the universality of this Lyapunov regime. In particular, the universality is evidenced by the semiclassical limit of the Fermi wavelength going to zero, the behavior for times longer than Ehrenfest time, the insensitivity with respect to the form of the perturbation and the behavior of individual (non-averaged) initial conditions. Finally, by elaborating a semiclassical approximation to the Wigner function, we are able to distinguish between classical and quantum origin for the different terms of the LE. This approach renders an understanding for the persistence of the Lyapunov regime after the Ehrenfest time, as well as a reinterpretation of our results in terms of the quantum--classical transition.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figures, uses Revtex

Passage and freshwater habitat requirements of anadromous lampreys: Considerations for conservation and control

Understanding the relationship between a species and its habitats is important for both conservation of imperiled species and control of invasive species. For migratory species, we hypothesize that maintaining connectivity between segregated habitats is more important than improving the quality of each habitat. In the case of anadromous lampreys of conservation concern, we posit that restoring passage routes between spawning, rearing and feeding habitats will result in higher larval abundance upstream from barriers than efforts to improve quality of these freshwater habitats. To explore this hypothesis, we reviewed conservation actions for native anadromous lampreys in freshwater and found that: i) improving passage between habitats results in immediate and quantifiable increases in larval abundance, ii) anadromous lampreys are capable of existing in suboptimal habitats, and iii) small reservoirs of production drive rapid expansion when anadromous lampreys are released from passage constraints. Hence, maintaining habitat connectivity is clearly crucial for conservation of anadromous lampreys. There are fewer examples of improvements to freshwater habitat that increased larval lamprey abundance, perhaps because lampreys are rarely the focus of these efforts. However, habitat limitations such as stream de-watering, chemical pollution, and scour occur and will likely be exacerbated by climate change. Documenting habitat actions that reverse these problems may provide evidence for the merits of lamprey-specific habitat improvement. Our observations are relevant to sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes because barriers and chemical treatment are key instruments of population regulation, and can be strategically deployed to limit production

Small-scale solar magnetic fields

As we resolve ever smaller structures in the solar atmosphere, it has become clear that magnetism is an important component of those small structures. Small-scale magnetism holds the key to many poorly understood facets of solar magnetism on all scales, such as the existence of a local dynamo, chromospheric heating, and flux emergence, to name a few. Here, we review our knowledge of small-scale photospheric fields, with particular emphasis on quiet-sun field, and discuss the implications of several results obtained recently using new instruments, as well as future prospects in this field of research.Comment: 43 pages, 18 figure

The cross between valuing fish andsustainability of resources

As members of the Animal Science and Technology group (FST), our area of intervention are: on diadromous species (migratory) in the 7 Portuguese river basins; on a very relevant exotic species in main reservoirs in Alentejo (largemouth bass) and on experimental diets for breeding of wild trout in Campelo Aquaculture Station. Diadromous fish are those that migrate between freshwater and saltwater. Only 1% of the known fish species are included in this group, but many of those are that we appreciate gastronomically. We are talking about sea lamprey, shad, sturgeon, European eel, among others. Our team has been developing a partnership with fishermen so that the biological resource is valued, through an analysis of its nutritional, sensory and safety characteristics

European lampreys: new insights on postglacial colonization, gene flow and speciation.

Ice ages are known to be the most dominant palaeoclimatic feature occurring on Earth, producing severe climatic oscillations and consequently shaping the distribution and the population structure of several species. Lampreys constitute excellent models to study the colonization of freshwater systems, as they commonly appear in pairs of closely related species of anadromous versus freshwater resident adults, thus having the ability to colonize new habitats, through the anadromous species, and establish freshwater resident derivates. We used 10 microsatellite loci to investigate the spatial structure, patterns of gene flow and migration routes of Lampetra populations in Europe. We sampled 11 populations including the migratory L. fluviatilis and four resident species, L. planeri, L. alavariensis, L. auremensis and L. lusitanica, the last three endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. In this southern glacial refugium almost all sampled populations represent a distinct genetic cluster, showing high levels of allopatric differentiation, reflecting long periods of isolation. As result of their more recent common ancestor, populations from northern Europe are less divergent among them, they are represented by fewer genetic clusters, and there is evidence of strong recent gene flow among populations. These previously glaciated areas from northern Europe may have been colonized from lampreys expanding out of the Iberian refugia. The pair L. fluviatilis/L. planeri is apparently at different stages of speciation in different locations, showing evidences of high reproductive isolation in the southern refugium, and low differentiation in the north

Intercalibration of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at start-up

Calibration of the relative response of the individual channels of the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector was accomplished, before installation, with cosmic ray muons and test beams. One fourth of the calorimeter was exposed to a beam of high energy electrons and the relative calibration of the channels, the intercalibration, was found to be reproducible to a precision of about 0.3%. Additionally, data were collected with cosmic rays for the entire ECAL barrel during the commissioning phase. By comparing the intercalibration constants obtained with the electron beam data with those from the cosmic ray data, it is demonstrated that the latter provide an intercalibration precision of 1.5% over most of the barrel ECAL. The best intercalibration precision is expected to come from the analysis of events collected in situ during the LHC operation. Using data collected with both electrons and pion beams, several aspects of the intercalibration procedures based on electrons or neutral pions were investigated