Evolutionary pathways driven by female mate choice : the curious case of the squalius alburnoides allopolyploid fish complex

Tese de doutoramento, Biologia (Etologia), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2018Many asexual animals are sexual parasites that reproduce with sympatric species, leading to genetic, ecological and behavioural challenges. Several mechanisms allow the coexistence of sexuals and asexuals, and, over time, the latter may regain sexual reproduction and develop an independent reproductive dynamics, paving the way to the arising of new species through hybrid speciation. Mate choice may play a relevant role in all evolutionary stages of asexual organisms, either contributing to their persistence in hybrid state or routing them towards hybrid speciation. Here, we studied mate choice in the allopolyploid cyprinid Squalius alburnoides, namely its role in driving the evolutionary pathways of this hybrid complex. Bridging together genetic, theoretical and experimental approaches, we aimed at assessing: a) the role of mate choice in driving population stability or routing populations towards hybrid speciation; b) the influence of egg allocation, fertilization rate and offspring survival in shaping the reproductive dynamics and genomotype composition of populations; and c) the gameplay between mate choice by hybrid females and genetic introgression and variability. In the one hand, mate choice by hybrid females seems able to uphold the persistence of populations in their hybrid state by maintaining the reproductive dynamics between the interdependent genomotypes and sympatric congeneric species, and also by guaranteeing the maintenance of high genetic variability. On the other hand, when particular conditions are met, mate choice by hybrid females may also route populations towards hybrid speciation, namely via tetraploidization. The findings reported herein also include the first ever described case of naturally occurring androgenesis in vertebrates. In a general perspective, Squalius alburnoides’ hard-to-combine features challenge even the most conservative views about the role of hybridization in species’ diversification. Studying this allopolyploid complex is like looking at a snapshot of evolution and, undoubtedly, a privilege to every passionate evolutionary biologist

A relação NATO-Rússia e o tratado START III

A presente dissertação efetua uma análise às relações entre a NATO e a Rússia nos últimos anos e procura saber se esta relação tem sido ou não condicionada pela conjuntura internacional. Neste trabalho verifica-se que a relação entre os dois atores internacionais, NATO-Rússia foi profundamente influenciada pelo conjunto de acontecimentos que decorreram no sistema internacional. Esta análise permite compreender melhor as atitudes, comportamentos da organização internacional que é a NATO e do Estado soberano Rússia e suas respetivas consequências para o sistema internacional. Ao destacar o que condiciona ou perturba as relações entre estes dois atores, que atualmente são parceiros, utiliza-se o caso concreto do Tratado START III para, de forma prática, mostrar que a relação é fortemente condicionada pela conjuntura internacional. Para a elaboração da dissertação utilizaram-se livros, revistas, sites e jornais da especialidade, com especial enfoque em sites oficiais de organismos e institutos especializados na temática.This thesis makes an analysis of the relations between NATO and Russia in recent years and asks whether this relationship has been or not conditioned by the international situation. In this work it appears that the relationship between the international actors, NATO-Russia was deeply influenced by the set of events that took place in the international system. This analysis helps to better understand the attitudes, behaviors, of the international organization that is NATO and Russia sovereign state and its consequences for the international system. By highlighting what conditions or disturbs the relations between these two actors, who are currently partners, we use the case of START III Treaty to, in a practical way, show that the relationship is strongly affected by the international conjuncture. For the dissertation were used books, magazines, websites and newspapers specialty, focusing on official websites of agencies and institutes specializing in the subject

Evaluation of the joint effect of glyphosate and dimethoate using a small-scale terrestrial ecosystem

In the present work a small-scale terrestrial ecosystem (STEM) containing a soil collected from an agricultural field in Central Portugal was used to evaluate the effects of the combination of the herbicide glyphosate and the insecticide dimethoate. Earthworms (Eisenia andrei), isopods (Porcellionides pruinosus), turnip seeds (Brassica rapa), and bait-lamina strips were placed in the STEM. The results showed that the application of the recommended field dose of both pesticides did not cause any effect on the weight variation of earthworms and growth of the plants. The application of the herbicide, even at 5 and 10 times the field dose, increased feeding activity in soil (bait-lamina test), although the application of dimethoate led to a decrease in feeding activity in all concentrations tested. The binary mixtures performed showed that according to the Independent Action model, synergism (higher effect than expected from the single exposures) was observed in both the shoot length and fresh weight of B. rapa at 5 times the field dose, but antagonism was observed at 10 times the field dose. Regarding the germination success, synergism was observed at the field dose, but antagonism was detected at 5 times and 10 times the field dose. There was a decrease on the earthworm's weight in all concentrations tested, although no statistical differences were observed in any of the treatments made. Regarding depth distribution of E. andrei, worms were found in the upper layer more than it was predicted for all concentrations. In the mixtures with the field and 5 times the field dose there was a decrease in the feeding activity (bait-lamina consumption) by the soil fauna. From the four biomarkers assessed on the isopods (Catalase, Acetylcholinesterase, Glutathione-S-transferase, and Lipid peroxidation), only a significant decrease in the Acetylcholinesterase activity upon dimethoate and the binary mixtures exposures performed with the field dose was observed and on Lipid peroxidation at the field doses of single and binary exposures. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Acetylcholine release and choline uptake by cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) optic lobe synaptosomes

Acetylcholine (ACh), which is synthesized from choline (Ch), is believed to hold a central place in signaling mechanisms within the central nervous system (CNS) of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and other coleoid cephalopods. Although the main elements required for cholinergic function have been identified in cephalopods, the transmembrane translocation events promoting the release of ACh and the uptake of Ch remain largely unsolved. The ACh release and Ch uptake were quantitatively studied through the use of in vitro chemiluminescence and isotopic methods on a subcellular fraction enriched in synaptic nerve endings (synaptosomes) isolated from cuttlefish optic lobe. The ACh release evoked by K+ depolarization was found to be very high (0.04 pmol ACh.s-(1).mg(-1) protein). In response to stimulation by veratridine, a secretagogue (a substance that induces secretion) that targets voltage-gated Na+ channels, the release rate and the total amount of ACh released were significantly lower, by 10-fold, than the response induced by KCl. The high-affinity uptake of choline was also very high (31 pmol Ch.min(-1).mg(-1) protein). The observed ACh release and Ch uptake patterns are in good agreement with published data on preparations characterized by high levels of ACh metabolism, adding further evidence that ACh acts as a neurotransmitter in cuttlefish optic lobe.FCTPOCTI/BSE/46721/2002SFRH/BPD/14677/2003SFRH/BD/1079/2000SFRH/BD/6403/2001SFRH/BD/18101/2004EC (to Y.D.) - LIPIDIET - QLK1-CT-2002-0017

Phase-resolved optical coherence elastography: an insight into tissue displacement estimation

Robust methods to compute tissue displacements in optical coherence elastography (OCE) data are paramount, as they play a significant role in the accuracy of tissue elastic properties estimation. In this study, the accuracy of different phase estimators was evaluated on simulated OCE data, where the displacements can be accurately set, and on real data. Displacement (∆) estimates were computed from (i) the original interferogram data (Δ) and two phase-invariant mathematical manipulations of the interferogram: (ii) its first-order derivative (Δ) and (iii) its integral (Δ). We observed a dependence of the phase difference estimation accuracy on the initial depth location of the scatterer and the magnitude of the tissue displacement. However, by combining the three phase-difference estimates (Δ), the error in phase difference estimation could be minimized. By using Δ, the median root-mean-square error associated with displacement prediction in simulated OCE data was reduced by 85% and 70% in data with and without noise, respectively, in relation to the traditional estimate. Furthermore, a modest improvement in the minimum detectable displacement in real OCE data was also observed, particularly in data with low signal-to-noise ratios. The feasibility of using Δ to estimate agarose phantoms’ Young’s modulus is illustrated.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through PTDC/EMD-EMD/32162/2017, UIDB/4950/2020, and , and by FEDER Funds through the Operational Program for Competitiveness Factors—COMPETEinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Monitoring the performance of the SKA CICD infrastructure

The selected solution for monitoring the SKA CICD (continuous integration and continuous deployment) Infrastructure is Prometheus and Grafana. Starting from a study on the modifiability aspects of it, the Grafana project emerged as an important tool for displaying data in order to make specific reasoning and debugging of particular aspect of the infrastructure in place. Its plugin architecture easily allow to add new data sources like prometheus and the TANGO-controls framework related data sources has been added as well. The main concept of grafana is the dashboard, which enable to create real analysis. In this paper the monitoring platform is presented which take advantage of different datasources and a variety of different panels (widget) for reasoning on archiving data, monitoring data, state of the system and general health of it

CI-CD practices at SKA

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an international effort to build two radio interferometers in South Africa and Australia forming one Observatory monitored and controlled from global headquarters (GHQ) based in the United Kingdom at Jodrell Bank. SKA is highly focused on adopting CI/CD practices for its software development. CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration & Delivery and/or Deployment. This paper analyses the CI/CD practices selected by the Systems Team (a specialised agile team devoted to developing and maintaining the tools that allow continuous practices) in relation to a specific software system of the SKA telescope, i.e. the Local Monitoring and Control (LMC) of the Central Signal Processor (CSP), from now on called CSP.LMC. CSP is the SKA element with the aim to process the data coming from the receivers in order to be used for scientific analysis. To achieve this, it is composed of several instruments, called subsystems, such as the Correlator Beam Former (CBF), the Pulsar Search (PSS) and the Pulsar Timing (PST). CSP.LMC communicates to the Telescope Manager (the software front-end to control the telescope operations) all the required information to monitor the CSP's subsystems and the interface to configure them and send the commands needed to perform an observation. In other words, CSP.LMC permits the TM to monitor and control CSP as a single entity

Reproduction and respiration of a climate change indicator species: effect of temperature and variable food in the copepod Centropages chierchiae

The abundance of the calanoid copepod Centropages chierchiae has increased at the northern limits of its distribution in recent decades, mainly due to oceanic climate forcing, suggesting this as a key species in monitoring climate change. Laboratory experiments were conducted to study the combined effect of temperature, food type and concentration on the egg production rate (EPR) and hatching success (HS) of C. chierchiae. Females were fed on two monoalgal diets (Gymnodinium sp. and Phaeodactylum tricornutum) at two food concentrations and at three different temperatures (13, 19, 24C). Respiration rates of both genders were measured at four different temperatures (8, 13, 19, 24C). EPR was significantly different between temperatures and food concentrations, the maximum EPR being attained when the copepods were exposed to high food levels and at 19C. Prey type significantly influenced EPR; feeding on P. tricornutum resulted in higher egg production than Gymnodinium sp. HS was significantly lower at 13C than at 19 and 24C and higher with Gymnodinium sp. Respiration rates were sex independent and increased exponentially with temperature. To maintain basal metabolism, the minimum food intake of P. tricornutum ranged between 0.4 and 1.8 g C and for Gymnodinium sp. between 0.03 and 0.13 g C. Food intake was always higher than the metabolic demands, except for the highest temperature tested (24C). The present results confirm the sensitivity of C. chierchiae to temperature variations and may help in understanding the successful expansion of its distribution towards northern latitudes.Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) [PTDC/MAR/098643/2008, PTDC/MAR/111304/2009, PTDC/MAR/0908066/2008]; FCT [SFRH/BD/28198/2006]; [SFRH/BPD/38332/2007

O Museu da Universidade de Aveiro: uma viagem para além do espaço físico

Os museus universitários, para além da sua função de conservação do património cultural para as gerações futuras, como qualquer outro museu, podem tornar-se centros de excelência no apoio ao ensino-aprendizagem e à investigação. O Museu da Universidade de Aveiro (MusA) pode constituir-se uma mais-valia e um potencial de oportunidades de investigação sobre as coleções que o núcleo de museologia integra. No entanto, a pluralidade de objetos existentes nas diferentes coleções e a necessidade de tornar visível tanto as coleções como a produção académica e científica resultante do estudo das mesmas, conduziu o MusA a equacionar sobre qual a melhor solução ao nível das plataformas de Sistemas Integrados de Gestão Museológica (SIGM), em open source. Neste contexto, apresentam-se as alternativas estudadas e avaliadas para a seleção do Sistema Integrado de Gestão Museológica, em open source, com base no modelo de avaliação QSOS e tendo em conta as dimensões, variáveis e indicadores de interesse para o MusA. Os resultados da avaliação apontaram para o Collective Access, como o software em open source que melhor respondia as necessidades do MusA.publishe