The Nonlocal Model of Short-Range Wetting

Recently, a Nonlocal Model of short-range wetting was proposed that seems to overcome problems with simpler interfacial models. In this thesis we explore this model in detail, laying the foundations for its use. We show how it can be derived from a microscopic Hamiltonian by a careful coarse-graining procedure, based on a previous recipe proposed by Fisher and Jin. In the Nonlocal Model the substrate-interface interaction is described by a binding potential functional with an elegant diagrammatic expansion: W = a1 ∽ + b1+ ∽ + · · · . ∽ ∽ This model has the same asymptotic renormalisation group behaviour as the simpler model but with a much smaller critical region, explaining the mystery of 3D critical wetting. It also has the correct form to satisfy the covariance relation for wedge filling. We then proceed to check the robustness of the structure of the Nonlocal Model using perturbation theory to study the consequences of the use of a more general microscopic Hamiltonian. The model is robust to such generalisations whose only relevant effect is the change of the values of the coefficients of the Nonlocal Model. These same remarks are valid for the inclusion of a surface field: the generalised model still has the same structure, albeit with different coefficients. Another important extension is the inclusion of a longer-range substrate-fluid interaction or a bulk field. We finalise with a chapter exploring the structure of the correlation function at meanfield level. This allows us to prove that the Nonlocal Model obeys a sum-rule for complete wetting, and shed light on why the critical region is so small in the Nonlocal Model. The study of correlations at a capillary slit can provide a direct test of the Nonlocal Model

Formigas

Procedeu-se à descrição da comunidade de formigas, principais grupos sistemáticos e famílias géneros e espécies com maior presença em olivais, e seu papel ecológico

Aranhas

Procedeu-se à descrição da fauna de aranhas, principais grupos sistemáticos e famílias géneros e espécies com maior presença em olivais, e seu papel ecológico

Contribuição da variedade e da fermentação maloláctica para o perfil em compostos fenólicos de baixa massa molecular de vinhos varietais alentejanos

O presente trabalho teve como objectivo identificar a influência da variedade e o impacto da fermentação maloláctica, no perfil em compostos fenólicos de baixa massa molecular de vinhos varietais do Alentejo. Para o efeito, foram doseados alguns compostos fenólicos (aldeído protocatéquico e ácidos gálico, protocatéquico, caftárico, vanílico, fertárico, siringico, cafeíco, p-coumárico, ferúlico e coutárico) em 81 vinhos varietais produzidos na Adega Experimental da Universidade de Évora, 48 da casta Trincadeira, e os restantes das castas Aragonez, Cabernet Sauvignon, Alfrocheiro, Castelão e Touriga Nacional. A análise dos dados obtidos, através do método da partição de variância, permitiu identificar a variedade como a variável que mais influência teve no perfil em compostos fenólicos de baixa massa molecular dos vinhos varietai

Evaluating potential olive orchard sugar food sources for the olive fly parasitoid Psyttalia concolor

Olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Rossi) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a major olive pest in the Mediterranean basin where increasing insecticide resistance has enhanced damage and necessitates more reliance on other control strategies, such as biological control. Provision of floral resources has been reported to improve the effectiveness of natural enemies. Here, we tested the effect of six plant nectars and two honeydew sources on the survival of Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a parasitoid wasp used in the biological control of olive fruit fly. Our results showed a positive effect on survival associated with nectars of Anchusa azurea Mill., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lavatera cretica L. and Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi, while honeydew proved to be a valuable alternative food source. When offering flowers directly to insects, Anchusa azurea, Lavatera cretica, and Foeniculum vulgare L. were found to be the most beneficial species, indicating also that P. concolor feeds predominantly on shallow corollas.Research was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), with partial funding from the European Fund for Regional Development, through the project PTDC/AGR‐AAM/100979/200

Olive fruit fly symbiont population: impact of metamorphosis

The current symbiotic view of the organisms also calls for new approaches in the way we perceive and manage our pest species. The olive fruit fly, the most important olive tree pest, is dependent on an obligate bacterial symbiont to its larvae development in the immature fruit. This symbiont, Candidatus (Ca.) Erwinia dacicola, is prevalent throughout the host life stages, and we have shown significant changes in its numbers due to olive fruit fly metamorphosis. The olive fruit fly microbiota was analyzed through 16S metabarcoding, at three development stages: last instar larvae, pupae, and adult. Besides Ca. E. dacicola, the olive fruit flies harbor a diverse bacterial flora of which 13 operational taxonomic units (grouped in 9 genera/species) were now determined to persist excluding at metamorphosis (Corynebacterium sp., Delftia sp., Enhydrobacter sp., Kocuria sp., Micrococcus sp., Propionibacterium sp., Pseudomonas sp., Raoultella sp., and Staphylococcus sp.). These findings open a new window of opportunities in symbiosis-based pest management.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” (FCT—Portugal), through the research project PTDC/ASP-PLA/30650/201

Hidden Genetic Variability, Can the Olive Moth Prays oleae (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae or Praydidae?) be a Species’ Complex?

Prays oleae is the second most important pest in Mediterranean olive groves, causing substantial damage on olive production. We used mitochondrial [cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5)] and nuclear [ribosomal protein S5 (RpS5)] amplicons to assess the population variability in five main olive producing regions from Tunisia, to support or dismiss the existence of two non-monophyletic groups within the species, as found within Portugal. Our phylogenetic analysis with cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) indeed displayed two distinct and well-supported clades of P. oleae, which were corroborated by the haplotype network reconstructed with both mitochondrial and nuclear amplicons. We were also able to dismiss the hypothesis that one of the clades would not develop on olive fruits. No correlation was observed between clades differentiation and geographic distribution. The existence of cryptic species can impact on the management of agroecosystems and on the perception of how these moths responds to environmental changes

Marked Genetic Differentiation between Western Iberian and Italic Populations of the Olive Fly: Southern France as an Intermediate Area.

The olive fly, Bactrocera oleae, is the most important pest affecting the olive industry, to which it is estimated to cause average annual losses in excess of one billion dollars. As with other insects with a wide distribution, it is generally accepted that the understanding of B. oleae population structure and dynamics is fundamental for the design and implementation of effective monitoring and control strategies. However, and despite important advances in the past decade, a clear picture of B. oleae's population structure is still lacking. In the Mediterranean basin, where more than 95% of olive production is concentrated, evidence from several studies suggests the existence of three distinct sub-populations, but the geographical limits of their distributions, and the level of interpenetration and gene flow among them remain ill-characterized. Here we use mitochondrial haplotype analysis to show that one of the Mediterranean mitochondrial lineages displays geographically correlated substructure and demonstrate that Italic populations, though markedly distinct from their Iberian and Levantine counterparts are more diverse than previously described. Finally, we show that this distinction does not result from extant hypothetical geographic limits imposed by the Alps or the Pyrenees nor, more generally, does it result from any sharp boundary, as intermixing is observed in a broad area, albeit at variable levels. Instead, Bayesian phylogeographic analysis suggests the interplay between isolation-mediated differentiation during glacial periods and bi-directional dispersal and population intermixing in the interglacials has played a major role in shaping current olive fly population structureFoundation for Science and Technology (FCT: www.fct.pt) under Strategic Project PEst-C/AGR/UI0115/2011 and project ALENT-07- 0324-FEDER-001747, as well as by FEDER Funds through the latter project and Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors—COMPETE. BA and LTC were funded by FCT grants SFRH/BPD/73108/ 2010 and Ciência2008- ICAAM, respectively

Hyperspectral refrectace as a basis to discriminate olive varieties - a tool for sustainable crop management

Worldwide sustainable development is threatened by current agricultural land change trends, particularly by the increasing rural farmland abandonment and agricultural intensification phenomena. In Mediterranean countries, these processes are a ecting especially traditional olive groves with enormous socio-economic costs to rural areas, endangering environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Traditional olive groves abandonment and intensification are clearly related to the reduction of olive oil production income, leading to reduced economic viability. Most promising strategies to boost traditional groves competitiveness—such as olive oil di erentiation through adoption of protected denomination of origin labels and development of value-added olive products—rely on knowledge of the olive varieties and its specific properties that confer their uniqueness and authenticity. Given the lack of information about olive varieties on traditional groves, a feasible and inexpensive method of variety identification is required. We analyzed leaf spectral information of ten Portuguese olive varieties with a powerful data-mining approach in order to verify the ability of satellite’s hyperspectral sensors to provide an accurate olive variety identification. Our results show that these olive varieties are distinguishable by leaf reflectance information and suggest that even satellite open-source data could be“Integrated protection of the Alentejo olive grove. Contributions to its innovation and improvement against its key enemies” with the reference ALT20-03-0145-FEDER-000029. co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund. under the ALENTEJO 2020 (Regional Operational Program of the Alentejo).PTDC/ASP-PLA/30650/2017 (“Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia”. FCT Portugal).National Funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology under the Project UIDB/05183/202

Hyperspectral Reflectance as a Basis to Discriminate Olive Varieties—A Tool for Sustainable Crop Management

Worldwide sustainable development is threatened by current agricultural land change trends, particularly by the increasing rural farmland abandonment and agricultural intensification phenomena. In Mediterranean countries, these processes are affecting especially traditional olive groves with enormous socio-economic costs to rural areas, endangering environmental sustainability and biodiversity. Traditional olive groves abandonment and intensification are clearly related to the reduction of olive oil production income, leading to reduced economic viability. Most promising strategies to boost traditional groves competitiveness—such as olive oil differentiation through adoption of protected denomination of origin labels and development of value-added olive products—rely on knowledge of the olive varieties and its specific properties that confer their uniqueness and authenticity. Given the lack of information about olive varieties on traditional groves, a feasible and inexpensive method of variety identification is required. We analyzed leaf spectral information of ten Portuguese olive varieties with a powerful data-mining approach in order to verify the ability of satellite’s hyperspectral sensors to provide an accurate olive variety identification. Our results show that these olive varieties are distinguishable by leaf reflectance information and suggest that even satellite open-source data could be used to map them. Additional advantages of olive varieties mapping were further discussed