Male mice emit distinct ultrasonic vocalizations when the female leaves the social interaction arena.

Adult male mice emit large number of complex ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) when interacting with adult females. Call numbers and call categories differ greatly among inbred mouse strains. Little is known about USV emissions when the social partner departs. To investigate whether call repertoires and call rates are different when the male is interacting with a female and after the removal of the female, we designed a novel male-female social interaction test in which vocalizations were recorded across three phases. During phase 1, the male subject freely interacts with an unfamiliar estrus female mouse in a clean cage for 5 min. During phase 2, the female is removed while the male remains in the cage for 3 min. During phase 3, the same female is returned to the cage to rejoin the male subject mouse for 3 min. C57BL/6J (B6), FVB.129P2-Pde6b(+) Tyr(c-ch)/Ant (FVB), and BTBR T+ tf/J (BTBR) male subject mice were tested in this paradigm. All three strains emitted USVs during their initial interaction with the female partner. When the female was reintroduced in phase 3, numbers of USVs were similar to the initial introductory phase 1. Strain comparisons indicated fewer calls in pairs of BTBR males and stimulus females than in pairs of B6 males and stimulus females and pairs of FVB males and stimulus females. In the absence of the female, all FVB males vocalized, while only one third of B6 males and one third of BTBR males vocalized. In all three strains, changes in call category repertoires were detected after the female was removed. Call categories reverted to the phase 1 pattern when the female was returned in phase 3. Present findings indicate that males of commonly used inbred strains emit USVs when a partner female leaves the testing arena, suggesting that removing a salient social stimulus may be a unique approach to elicit USVs from mice. Our three-phase paradigm may also be useful for studying attention to social cues, and qualitative differences in vocalizations when a social partner is present vs. suddenly absent

Mapping the Americanization of English in Space and Time

As global political preeminence gradually shifted from the United Kingdom to the United States, so did the capacity to culturally influence the rest of the world. In this work, we analyze how the world-wide varieties of written English are evolving. We study both the spatial and temporal variations of vocabulary and spelling of English using a large corpus of geolocated tweets and the Google Books datasets corresponding to books published in the US and the UK. The advantage of our approach is that we can address both standard written language (Google Books) and the more colloquial forms of microblogging messages (Twitter). We find that American English is the dominant form of English outside the UK and that its influence is felt even within the UK borders. Finally, we analyze how this trend has evolved over time and the impact that some cultural events have had in shaping it.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Published versio

All in one Graphical Tool for the management of DIET a GridRPC Middleware

Also available as LIP Research Report 2008-24Grid Middleware are the link between large scale (and distributed) platforms and applications. Managing such a software system and the Grid environment itself can be a hard task when no dedicated (and integrated) tool exist. Some can be used through nice graphical interfaces, but they are usually dedicated to one or some limited tasks. They do not fulfill all the needs of a Grid end-user who wants to deploy Grid applications easily and rapidly. The aim of this paper is to present the case study of an all-in-one software system, designed for the management of a Grid Middleware and gathering user-friendly graphical interfaces answering to the various needs of end-users. Moreover the software system eases the use of the Grid by avoiding the scripting layer under a nice GUI enabling the user a faster and more efficient use of the Grid environment. By this means we demonstrate how the DietDashboard fulfills all the needs of a unified tool for Grid management. This paper gives a comparison with existing and well-known tools dedicated to some specific tasks such as Grid resources management, Grid monitoring, or Middleware management

Application of machine learning techniques on the discovery and annotation of transposons in genomes

Tese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Cloud Computing Resource Management through a Grid Middleware: A Case Study with DIET and Eucalyptus

The Cloud phenomenon is quickly growing towards becoming the de facto standard of Internet Computing, storage and hosting both in industry and academia. The large scalability possibilities offered by Cloud platforms can be harnessed not only for services and applications hosting but also as a raw on-demand computing resource. This paper proposes the use of a Cloud system as a raw computational on-demand resource for a Grid middleware. We illustrate a proof of concept by considering the DIET-Solve Grid middleware and the EUCALYPTUS open-source Cloud platform

Online tutorial – meeting students’ needs

Pretendemos dar a conhecer um estudo piloto que foi desenvolvido com alunos do ensino superior e cujo objectivo passou pelo ensejo de potenciar o trabalho colaborativo entre os mesmos, bem como as suas capacidades de pesquisa. Os recursos informáticos utilizados foram espaços virtuais de colaboração, uma vez que são espaços com grandes potencialidades ao nível da colaboração e da interacção. O grupo-alvo foi constituído por estudantes de primeiro ano do ensino superior politécnico. Os estudantes estavam divididos em turmas: um grupo a tempo inteiro e outro em pós aboral, ambos frequentando o mesmo curso e a mesma unidade curricular. A estratégia de tutória adoptada iniciou-se com a apresentação de um desafio por parte da docente. Após o desafio lançado os estudantes pesquisaram acerca da temática e partilharam, no Diigo, os links/documentos que encontraram e consideraram serem pertinentes para o desenvolvimento do tema. No final, os estudantes tinham que escrever um artigo acerca do tema, tendo em conta as pesquisas desenvolvidas, as leituras efectuadas e as discussões colaborativas realizadas. Para facilitar o desenvolvimento de uma compreensão partilhada, os estudantes, além de disponibilizarem e comentarem a informação no Diigo, também participaram em sessões virtuais de discussão na plataforma Second Life®. O estudo piloto conduzido, e descrito neste documento, permitiu reunir indicadores sobre as mais valias das ferramentas online utilizadas, nomeadamente no que se refere ao grau e qualidade da participação, colaboração e interacção dos estudantes, aliados à inexistência de constrangimentos de ordem temporal e/ou física.This article will present a pilot study that was developed with students from higher education on approaches to increase the collaborative work between students, and to enhance their research skills. The methodology we are evaluating is designed around collaborative virtual spaces which offer some benefits for deeper collaboration and interaction. The target group was students from the 1st year of a Higher Level Course. One group of students was in full-time education and a second group was mature students in part-time education. Both groups are engaged on an identical course. The tutorial strategy adopted began with the teacher setting the class a challenge. Students were then invited to research the question and post whatever links/documents they consider relevant using a Diigo group, and comment on what they found (using the share and comment capabilities). The task for students was to write an article about the topic based on their research, readings and collaborative discussions. To facilitate the development of a shared understanding the students posted information and participated in virtual on-line meetings (Second Life®). The pilot study implemented, and described in this article, demonstrated some gains from the use of online tools, in particular related with the level and quality of participation, collaboration and interaction among students. The use of virtual environments allows students to participate in richer interactions at times that are more convenient to their work/study patterns, with no physical restrictionsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Recuperação Ecológica de Pedreiras no Parque Natural da Arrábida

Entende-se por recuperação ecológica o processo de auxílio ao restabelecimento de um ecossistema que foi degradado, danificado ou destruído,devendo-se assumir a conservação da sua biodiversidade de modo a garantir a possibilidade de retorno à sua trajectória histórica ou à desejada, tornando-o auto-sustentável. É neste contexto, que foram seleccionadas 2 pedreiras do núcleo Achada e Calhariz, das 11 licenciadas no Parque Natural da Arrábida (PNA), onde foram implementados, nas áreas já exploradas, os Planos Ambientais e de Recuperação Paisagística (PARP). No sentido de incentivar a implementação desses planos foi celebrado, em regime de parceria, um protocolo com o objectivo de produção de plantas autóctones (1999-2006) que envolveu a EDP, o INETI (actualmente LNEG), o PNA e os municípios de Setúbal e Palmela. Este protocolo resultou do desenvolvimento do projecto “Valorização de Efluentes Térmicos em Agricultura Protegida”, o qual deu origem à Estação de Propagação de Plantas Autóctones (EPPA) na Central Termoeléctrica de Setúbal (CTS), onde se produziram espécies vegetais autóctones e algumas com estatuto de protecção, que foram utilizadas neste núcleo e em outros planos de outras áreas protegidas e em locais de intervenção do grupo EDP. As espécies para a recuperação, das áreas já exploradas destas pedreiras, foram seleccionadas pelo PNA de acordo com os habitats pré-existentes e que ocorrem nas áreas envolventes para plantação entre 2001-2004 e monitorizadas desde então

Thermal energy production by a dual solar pound

A Salt Gradient Solar Pond (SGSP) is a salt water basin that collects and stores solar energy. These devices rely on the existence of a non-convective zone (NCZ) that functions as a transparent thermal insulation zone, created by a salt gradient. Salinity and temperature gradients in this zone can give rise to double diffusive problems that can decrease the insulation properties of this zone. The stability of this zone is thus crucial in a SGSP. Stability control, analysis of energy extraction, device efficiency and maintenance strategies are determinant for the correct performance of the SGSP. The implementation of these strategies can be expensive and not sufficient to prevent instability problems. This paper intends to give a contribution to the maintenance problem presenting a new concept of a SGSP utilisation: The Dual Solar Pond (DSP