Investigating the relative influence of genetic drift and natural selection in shaping patterns of population structure in Delphinids (Delphinus delphis; Tursiops spp.)

Speciation models relying on geographic barriers to limit gene flow gather widespread consensus, but are insufficient to explain diversification in highly mobile marine organisms. Adaptation to different environments has been suggested as an alternative driver for differentiation, particularly in cetaceans. In this study, patterns of population structure at neutral and functional markers were investigated for both common (Delphinus delphis) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops spp.), chosen due to high levels of morphological and ecological variation within each genus. Candidate functional markers were selected by investigating signals of positive selection in both mammals and cetaceans. No population structure was found in the European common dolphin for neutral microsatellite loci, in contrast to what is observed in other sympatric cetacean species. The previously described differention of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea population, probably results from a recent human-mediated bottleneck. Functional markers showed almost complete uniformity suggesting purifying selection. One non-synonymous mutation in β-casein and the DQβ1 locus were exceptions, with patterns of population differentiation possibly the result of differences in local selective pressures. Additionally, large mitogenomic sequences were used to investigate the worldwide phylogeography of several ecotypes/species within the genus Tursiops, with a recent biogeographical calibration point being used to calculate divergence times. Good node resolution with high statistical support was achieved, with good separation between most ecotypes in their own lineages. However, the results give no support for a monophiletic Tursiops. Divergence times are clustered in specific geological periods characterized by climatic fluctuations from cold to warmer periods. The Common and bottlenose dolphins exhibit contrasting patterns of population structure in an environment containing few geographical barriers. Such difference is speculated to be related with different feeding ecologies and social structures, although data on such are still limited. Although selection can be detected in the genomes of cetaceans both at the species and population level, current patterns of differentiation are thought to occur mainly due to drift

Review and analysis of networking challenges in cloud computing

Cloud Computing offers virtualized computing, storage, and networking resources, over the Internet, to organizations and individual users in a completely dynamic way. These cloud resources are cheaper, easier to manage, and more elastic than sets of local, physical, ones. This encourages customers to outsource their applications and services to the cloud. The migration of both data and applications outside the administrative domain of customers into a shared environment imposes transversal, functional problems across distinct platforms and technologies. This article provides a contemporary discussion of the most relevant functional problems associated with the current evolution of Cloud Computing, mainly from the network perspective. The paper also gives a concise description of Cloud Computing concepts and technologies. It starts with a brief history about cloud computing, tracing its roots. Then, architectural models of cloud services are described, and the most relevant products for Cloud Computing are briefly discussed along with a comprehensive literature review. The paper highlights and analyzes the most pertinent and practical network issues of relevance to the provision of high-assurance cloud services through the Internet, including security. Finally, trends and future research directions are also presented

Fostering a sustained design capability in non-design-intensive organizations: a knowledge transfer perspective

Service designers have been increasingly involved in the transmission of design knowledge to enable non-professional designers to apply design skills and approaches in their work. However, the understanding of the factors that favor the effective transmission of design knowledge is limited, making the goal to achieve a sustainable capability in organizations a challenge. In this paper, the authors adopt a knowledge transfer lens to identify the key determinants in the transference of knowledge in organizations and conduct a preliminary review of how they have been addressed in design research literature. This review revealed an unbalanced interpretation with limited consideration of the knowledge senders’ characteristics and contextual factors affecting the dissemination of design knowledge. The paper, therefore, concludes with the proposal of an initial model where the four groups of determinants identified in the knowledge transfer literature (knowledge, receivers, senders, and context) could constitute the core elements for studying this phenomenon

Analysis of immune system genetic variation in delphinids from the Portuguese coast

Proceedings of VII SPEMVP meetin

The use of assessment for learning in Physical Education classes: preservice teachers’ perceptions

Assessment is not a consensual topic among teachers, and several are the challenges it poses, especially to those in training. Among the different assessment perspectives, the use of it as a means of promoting learning has been gaining ground. This paper aims to capture the understandings, advantages, and problems that preservice teachers faced during the implementation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) in Physical Education classes during their school placement. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with four preservice teachers, chosen to participate in this study. Using a thematic analysis, three categories were defined: 1) understanding about AfL; 2) experience of preparing and implementing AfL, and 3) impact of this experience on their future as a teacher. Preservice teachers seem to have a similar understanding of AfL. They reported that planning is demanding but impacted positively on students’ motivation and participation. This experience changed their way of preparing classes to a student-centered approach

Temporal and geographic patterns of kinship structure in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) suggest site fidelity and female-biased long-distance dispersal

Social structure plays a crucial role in determining a species’ dispersal patterns and genetic structure. Cetaceans show a diversity of social and mating systems, but their effects on dispersal and genetic structure are not well known, in part because of technical difficulties in obtaining robust observational data. Here, we combine genetic profiling and GIS analysis to identify patterns of kin distribution over time and space, to infer mating structure and dispersal patterns in short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). This species is highly social, and exhibits weak spatial genetic structure in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, thought to result from fluid social structure and low levels of site fidelity. We found that although sampled groups were not composed of closely related individuals, close kin were frequently found in the same geographic location over several years. Our results suggest that common dolphin exhibits some level of site fidelity, which could be explained by foraging for temporally varying prey resource in areas familiar to individuals. Dispersal from natal area likely involves long-distance movements of females, as males are found more frequently than females in the same locations as their close kin. Long-distance dispersal may explain the near panmixia observed in this species. By analysing individuals sampled in the same geographic location over multiple years, we avoid caveats associated with divergence-based methods of inferring sex-biased dispersal. We thus provide a unique perspective on this species’ social structure and dispersal behaviour, and how it relates to the observed low levels of population genetic structure in European waters

Análise prospectiva do sistema produtivo da soja no estado do Tocantins, considerando cenários de riscos hídricos e climatológicos

Soy is one of the main commercial crops in the country, and at the same time it has influenced the change in land use, significantly in the deforestation of the Brazilian Cerrado. It is noteworthy that its demand is parameterized exponentially for various applications, cosmetics, food and biofuel generation, and that it is available as the major cause of territorial transformations in Brazil. Tocantins is on the list of federative units whose economic matrix is dominated by agribusiness, especially by the production chain of this oilseed. In view of the flexibility of state and federal laws in the treatment of some Conservation Units inserted in the Tocantins state limit, this work aims to prospect the advance of soy in the surroundings and in the interiors of these protected areas, as well as its dynamics from scenarios of climatic risks to the performance of this plant, which is highly correlated to water stress. Thus, a pedotransfer function was constructed to estimate the Available Water Capacity (AWC) in the State with Embrapa granulometric samples. This variable was considered an input for the water balance calculation simulation of 36 legume sowing dates to determine its Water Need Satisfaction Index (WNSI) by planting date. Other simulations were generated for two other climatic risk zonings of the crop under scrutiny, using simulated rainfall and average temperature averages simulated and corrected with observational data between 2021 and 2050 for 130 coordinates of pluviometric stations. Each zoning built belongs to a constant reflection of atmospheric radiation due to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the global circulation model MIROC5, RCP 4.5 W / m² and 8.5 W / m². These two paths representative of the climate were inserted as static variables in a model of uses and occupations (LUCC - land-use and land-cover change) of Dinamica EGO, which was calibrated for the weights of the transition probabilities and validated by the Hagen method (2003). Data from the State's forest inventory carried out by the State Government's Planning Secretariat (Seplan) allowed the quantification of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) resulting from the transition from areas of natural vegetation to a soybean production system and the degree of deforestation in UCs and in their buffer zones. In both scenarios, the Bananal/Cantão Island was the most affected by the pressure from agricultural investments. It had at least one planting date of low risk to water deficiency, WNSI in the phenological phase of flowering and filling of grains above 0.65, being highlighted for being with low climatic vulnerability between the years 2021 and 2050, in the two projections made. These temporal space models also identified investment leakages in the largest municipal producers, Campos Lindos and Mateiros, as they are geographically positioned in high frequency areas of WSNI below 0.55, both in the trend view and in the pessimistic view regarding the treatment of climate change policies.A soja é uma das principais culturas comerciais do país, sendo que ao mesmo tempo tem influenciado na mudança do uso do solo, de forma significativa no desmatamento do Cerrado brasileiro. Destaca-se que sua demanda é parametrizada exponencialmente por várias aplicações, cosméticas, alimentícias e de geração de biocombustíveis, e que se dispõe como a maior causa das transformações territoriais no Brasil. O Tocantins se encontra no rol das unidades federativas cuja matriz econômica é dominada pelo agronegócio especialmente pela cadeia produtiva desta oleaginosa. Face à flexibilização das legislações estaduais e federais no tratamento de algumas Unidades de Conservação inseridas no limite estadual tocantinense, este trabalho tem o intuito de prospectar o avanço da soja no entorno e nos interiores destas áreas protegidas, bem como de sua dinâmica a partir de cenários de riscos climáticos para o desempenho desta planta, que é altamente correlacionável ao estresse hídrico. Assim sendo construiu-se uma função de pedotransferência para estimativa da Capacidade de Água Disponível (CAD) no Estado com amostras granulométricas da Embrapa. Esta variável foi considerada de entrada para a simulação de cálculo de balanço hídrico de 36 datas de semeadura da leguminosa para determinação de seu Índice de Satisfação de Necessidade de Água (ISNA) por data de plantio para 130 coordenadas de estações pluviométricas. Outras simulações foram geradas para outros dois zoneamentos de riscos climáticos da cultura em escrutínio, utilizando- se de precipitações e temperaturas médias decendiais simuladas entre 2021 e 2050. Cada zoneamento construído pertence a uma constante de reflexão da radiação atmosférica em razão da concentração de gases de efeito estufa do modelo de circulação global MIROC5, RCP 4.5 W/m² e 8.5 W/m². Estes dois caminhos representativos do clima foram inseridos como variáveis estáticas em um modelo de usos e ocupações (LUCC - land-use and land-cover change) do Dinamica EGO, que foi calibrado quanto aos pesos das probabilidades de transição e validado pelo método de Hagen (2003). Dados do inventário florestal do Estado do Tocantins realizado pela Secretaria de Planejamento (Seplan) do governo estadual permitiram a quantificação de dióxido de carbono equivalente (CO2e) resultante da transição das áreas de vegetação natural em sistema produtivo da soja e o grau de desmatamento em UCs e em suas zonas de amortecimento. Em ambos os cenários, a APA da Ilha do Bananal/Cantão foi mais a prejudicada pela pressão dos investimentos agrícolas. A mesma possuiu pelo menos uma data de plantio de baixo risco à deficiência hídrica, ISNA na fase fenológica de florescimento a enchimento dos grãos acima de 0,65, sendo destaque por se figurar com baixa vulnerabilidade climática entre os anos de 2021 e 2050, nas duas projeções realizadas. Estes modelos espaço temporais também identificaram fugas de investimento nos maiores produtores municipais, Campos Lindos e Mateiros, pois estes posicionam-se geograficamente em áreas de alta frequência de ISNAs abaixo de 0,55, tanto na visão tendencial quanto na pessimista em relação ao tratamento das políticas de mudanças climáticas

Sistema de informações geograficas aplicado a sistemas de abastecimento de agua

Orientador: Jose Geraldo Pena de AndradeDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia CivilResumo: A crescente escassez de água adequada ao abastecimento e a maior exigência de uma melhor qualidade na distribuição, por parte dos clientes e também pelos órgãos financiadores, estão forçando os Sistemas de Abastecimento de Água (SAA), a modernizarem toda sua estrutura administrativa, gerencial e operacional, levando-os inclusive a reverem seu real papel junto à sociedade. O presente trabalho, tem como principal objetivo apresentar e integrar duas ferramentas computacionais, SIG Sistema de Informação Geográfica e MCSH - Modelo Computacional de Simulação Hidráulica, capazes de auxiliar na operação, gerenciamento e planejamento dos SAA, não importando seu porte, unificando todas as informações necessárias em uma única base de dados. O desenvolvimento do trabalho foi baseado num Estudo de Caso, tendo sido escolhido um pequeno SAA, que já dispunha de uma base de dados digital, a qual se tornaria o elo de ligação entre o SIG e o MCSH. A experiência profissional do autor, a revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema e o Estudo de Caso, permitiram formular duas metodologias básicas sobre o assunto, que são destinadas aos SAA; a primeira, para planejamento e implantação do SIG e a segunda, para seleção e digitalização de documentos; permitindo validar o método,. que compartilha a base de dados do SIG pelo MCSHAbstract: The Water Supply Systems (WSS) are being forced to modernize its administrative, operational and. management structures due to increase in the water demand and requirement for a better service quality from customers and financial agencies. This research work shows that two computer tools, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Hydraulic Simulation Computational Model (HSCM), are able to help engineers deal with operation, manage and plan of a WSS, offering the advantage of using only one data base. This method allows to share GIS database with HSCM. It has been applied in a small WSS and showed to be possible generalized for a bigger ones. The application was divided in two parts, first planning and GIS implementation and second document selection and digitalizationMestradoRecursos HidricosMestre em Engenharia Civi