Comparative morphometric and molecular genetic analyses of triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Triatomine bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) are the vectors of Chagas disease in South and Central America. Chagas disease predominantly affects poor rural communities with simply constructed housing susceptible to infestation by triatomines. Chagas disease is restricted to the Americas largely due to the limited distribution of triatomine bugs. The global diversity of triatomines is -130 species, of which only -10% are known to occur outside the Americas, one species (Triatoma rubrofasciata) is tropicopolitan, and the others are concentrated on the Indian subcontinent (Linshcosteus spp. ) and adjacent south east Asian island groups (Triatoma spp. ). The main objectives of this PhD programme were to: a) assess the facility of morphometric approaches (measurement and robust statistical analysis of morphological variation) in the study of population structure of vector species with proximal domestic and silvatic distributions to detect population structure and give information on the risk of reinvasion, b) study interspecific and higher taxonomic level relationships of New World and Old World triatomine bugs. To these ends geometric morphometric analyses were conducted in concert with molecular genetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. The principal question being: Does the relatively low cost method of morphometrics reveal patterns consistent with population structure, as otherwise determined by more expensive molecular genotyping methods? Or are such patterns disrupted by environmental effects and intraspecific convergent/divergent morphological evolution? Combined morphometrics and molecular genetics were used to study vector populations in three of the countries that continue to be most affected by Chagas disease. In Venezuela and Ecuador Rhodnius species (R. prolixus and R. ecuadoriensis respectively) were studied, in areas where they occur in both domestic and silvatic environments, and in Paraguay T. infestans from a domestic and a putative silvatic focus. Head and wing morphometrics were compared to mitochondrial DNA sequence data to assess the population structure and disparity among domestic and silvatic samples in each case. The results presented suggest that head shape variation is subject to morphological plasticity and/or selective pressure and functional constraint and does not correlate well with the 11 Abstract phylogeny. However, in all examples, wing shape was found to be congruent with the phylogenetic patterns inferred from sequence analysis. Consequently, it is recommended that wing shape and not head shape be used in morphometric assessments of population dynamics. It is also asserted here that if population structure is suggested by morphometrics, it should be followed by robust population genetic analysis. As such, morphometrics could be used as a tool for broad surveillance to identify areas of concern. A further objective was to elucidate the broader phylogeny of Triatominae and their relationships with other reduviid subfamilies. To investigate the debated polyphyletic origin of the Triatominae molecular approaches were used. Combined head and wing morphometric and molecular genetic analyses of New World and Old World Triatominae have revealed patterns of convergent morphological evolution (among New World and Old World Triatoma) and striking examples of strongly divergent morphological evolution (between Old World Triatoma and Linshcosteus). Applying a molecular clock based on the rate of sequence divergence for a fragment of ribosomal DNA (D2-28S), calibrated to the fossil record and vicariant events (the divergence of ancestral lineages due to separation by topographical or ecological barriers) it has been possible to reconstruct a likely evolutionary history for the Triatominae and the Reduviidae as a whole. The weight of evidence presented supports a polyphylectic origin for blood-feeding for the Triatominae. The apparent independent development of blood feeding among the main lineages of the Triatominae represented by the genera Triatoma and Rhodnius highlights a fundamental biological difference among important vector species. This difference is likely to become evident in the eventual post genomic era in studies of vector/parasite interactions and it highlights the importance of sequencing genomes from different vector genera.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Passivhus vid polcirkeln : Fungerar det?

This report is the product of the course AF101X, a bachelors degree in Samhällsbyggnad at KTH. . The task of the course is to design a small house at a given location and also implement a deepening study. The house in this report is located in Kiruna in the north of Sweden, where the climate is much colder than in the rest of the country. The deepening study of this report is to evaluates how realistic passive housing north of the Polar Circle is based on those facts. The house will to some extent be designed to fit the passive housing standard. This standard serves also as a base for calculations in account of energy use. The passive house standard given in FEBY 12 says that the maximum energy use for a passive house is allowed to be 31 kWh/m2, year and the heat loss coefficient (VFT) is allowed to be 19 W/m2Atemp. The main part of this report have been to dimension the climate shell as good as possible and the heat exchange the ventilation system to recycle as much energy as possible. The result was that the heat loss coefficient is 17 W/m2Atemp and the energy use is 51 kWh/m2,year, which means that the passive housing standard could not be satisfied with the given conditions

Passivhus vid polcirkeln : Fungerar det?

This report is the product of the course AF101X, a bachelors degree in Samhällsbyggnad at KTH. . The task of the course is to design a small house at a given location and also implement a deepening study. The house in this report is located in Kiruna in the north of Sweden, where the climate is much colder than in the rest of the country. The deepening study of this report is to evaluates how realistic passive housing north of the Polar Circle is based on those facts. The house will to some extent be designed to fit the passive housing standard. This standard serves also as a base for calculations in account of energy use. The passive house standard given in FEBY 12 says that the maximum energy use for a passive house is allowed to be 31 kWh/m2, year and the heat loss coefficient (VFT) is allowed to be 19 W/m2Atemp. The main part of this report have been to dimension the climate shell as good as possible and the heat exchange the ventilation system to recycle as much energy as possible. The result was that the heat loss coefficient is 17 W/m2Atemp and the energy use is 51 kWh/m2,year, which means that the passive housing standard could not be satisfied with the given conditions

Numerical simulations of concrete slabs on grade with gradient shrinkage and reinforcement for crack control

Betongplattor på mark är en ofta använd grundläggningsmetod. Trots detta är sprickbildning ett vanligt problem där kraven på maximala sprickvidder ofta inte uppfylls. De sprickor som bildas i plattorna uppkommer bl.a. till följd av dess uttorkning, och då olika fuktförhållanden råder på var sida om plattan utvecklas en krympning som varierar med en gradient över tvärsnittet. Vid dimensionering av armeringen för denna inre last och sprickbildningen den orsakar, finns endast otillräckliga analysermetoder att tillgå i normer. Att analysera det tvång som uppstår vid krympningen är mycket svårt, speciellt då betongen spricker och lastfallet blir statiskt obestämt. I detta arbete undersöks sprickbildningen i krympande betongplattor på mark så att noggrannare dimensionering av den sprickfördelande armeringen skall kunna utföras. Analyserna har utförts med numeriska simuleringar i FEM-programmet Atena 2D där ett antal olika plattor med varierande betongklass, armeringsinnehåll och platthöjd undersökts. Arbetet omfattar en jämförelse av de erforderliga sprickfördelande armeringsinnehållen samt de analytiskt beräknade sprickvidder som erhålls dels enligt huvuddokumentet för Eurokod 2 och dels enligt huvuddokumentet och den tyska nationella bilagan. Armeringen har då dimensionerats utifrån en spänningsfördelning som varierar linjärt över tvärsnittet, på samma sätt som krympningen varierar. Studien behandlar även en jämförande undersökning av sprickutvecklingen vid inre respektive yttre last för att påvisa skillnader i sprickbeteendet. De numeriska simuleringarna visade att en ökad sprickfördelande förmåga och en minskning av sprickvidder erhålls då armeringsinnehållet i en platta ökas. Av de undersökta plattorna nås armeringens flytspänning inte i något fall, vilket tyder på att mängden armering kan minskas ytterligare utan att s.k. single cracks uppstår. Även vid underarmering, då armeringen minskas till 64 % av vad Eurokods huvuddokument anger, behålls den sprickfördelande funktionen. Undersökningarna visade att den sprickbildning som sker av den inre lasten vid krympning är beroende av uppsprickningen, till skillnad från sprickbildning vid yttre last. Den jämförande studien över armeringsinnehåll enligt Eurokod 2 visar att dimensionering enligt tyska nationella bilagan under verkan av inre last ger en reducerad erforderlig armeringsarea med 20 % i förhållande till huvuddokumentet. De analytiska beräkningarna över sprickvidder tyder på att beräkningsmetoden enligt Eurokod 2 ger större sprickvidder än den som beräknats enligt den tyska nationella bilagan