Molecular evidence that phoronids are a subtaxon of brachiopods (Brachiopoda: Phoronata) and that genetic divergence of metazoan phyla began long before the early Cambrian

Concatenated SSU (18S) and partial LSU (28S) sequences (~2 kb) from 12 ingroup taxa, comprising 2 phoronids, 2 members of each of the craniid, discinid, and lingulid inarticulate brachiopod lineages, and 4 rhynchonellate, articulate brachiopods (2 rhynchonellides, 1 terebratulide and 1 terebratellide) were aligned with homologous sequences from 6 protostome, deuterostome and sponge outgroups (3964 sites). Regions of potentially ambiguous alignment were removed, and the resulting data (3275 sites, of which 377 were parsimony-informative and 635 variable) were analysed by parsimony, and by maximum and Bayesian likelihood using objectively selected models. There was no base composition heterogeneity. Relative rate tests led to the exclusion (from most analyses) of the more distant outgroups, with retention of the closer pectinid and polyplacophoran (chiton). Parsimony and likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian clade support values were generally high, but only likelihood analyses recovered all brachiopod indicator clades designated a priori. All analyses confirmed the monophyly of (brachiopods+phoronids) and identified phoronids as the sister-group of the three inarticulate brachiopod lineages. Consequently, a revised Linnean classification is proposed in which the subphylum Linguliformea comprises three classes: Lingulata, ‘Phoronata’ (the phoronids), and ‘Craniata’ (the current subphylum Craniiformea). Divergence times of all nodes were estimated by regression from node depths in non-parametrically rate-smoothed and other chronograms, calibrated against palaeontological data, with probable errors not less than 50 My. Only three predicted brachiopod divergence times disagree with palaeontological ages by more than the probable error, and a reasonable explanation exists for at least two. Pruning long-branched ingroups made scant difference to predicted divergence time estimates. The palaeontological age calibration and the existence of Lower Cambrian fossils of both main brachiopod clades together indicate that initial genetic divergence between brachiopod and molluscan (chiton) lineages occurred well before the Lower Cambrian, suggesting that much divergence between metazoan phyla took place in the Proterozoic

The Recovery of Healthcare: A case study of Javanese medical practices and related discussions about pluralism in healthcare

The use of 'traditional' medicine is a common phenomenon throughout Indonesia. In today’s Indonesian healthcare system 'traditional' and complementary medicine coexist with globalized biomedicine and even urban, educated households are still more likely to use 'traditional' than biomedical healthcare. This paper explores the fundamental differences between Western and Javanese understandings of health, illness and healing. It highlights first the Javanese relational perspective on healing, which involves resonance with the surrounding whole. It contrasts this with the entanglement of biomedical knowledge and economic interests, which is identified as a major problem of governmental healthcare services, as it enables overshadowing the medical objective of helping health-seeking persons with the objective of generating profit. Relationships with biomedical experts are described as shaped by monetary considerations, while rejecting non-biomedical treatment methods is suspected of being a way of protecting the interests of biomedical businesses. Based on these categorical and structural barriers between different medical traditions, the nationally structured and formally recognized system of healthcare is contrasted with a common informal, socially and culturally rooted way of navigating healing. Therefore, against the formal background of these conceptual differences, the paper highlights health seekers’ sensual experiences, embodied realities, and their common routines of tinkering and combining healthcare practices between conceptual differences. This provides glimpses into everyday informal cooperation between distinct medical traditions, which easily bridge categorical, structural and economic barriers.  Key words: Healthcare Bricolage; Indonesia; Jamu Medicine; Javanese Tradition Medical Degrowth; Medical Pluralism; Primary Healthcare; Traditional Knowledge; Traditional Medicine. &nbsp

Sensibilidade à recompensa e sensibilidade à punição em pessoas com fissura alimentar

Características de personalidade podem contribuir para o comer excessivo quando combinadas um desejo intenso de consumo de alimentos. Esta dissertação teve como objetivo avaliar a relação entre personalidade e fissura por alimentos (FA) em dois estudos. No Estudo I, componentes sócio demográficos, psicológicos e de personalidade (i.e., sensibilidade à recompensa e punição) foram utilizados para predizer os níveis de FA em uma população não-clínica de estudantes universitários (n= 208). No Estudo II, participantes do Estudo 1 com Alta (n= 31) e Baixa FA (n= 29) realizaram uma tarefa de motivação implícita com estímulos de comida apetitivos e aversivos e os resultados foram correlacionados com escores de sensibilidade à recompensa e punição. Os resultados do Estudo I indicaram uma influência do histórico de obesidade familiar e da sensibilidade à punição sobre a FA. No Estudo II, os participantes com Alta FA apresentaram maiores níveis de sensibilidade à punição e respostas de evitação para estímulos aversivos mais acentuadas que o grupo de Baixa FA. Os resultados demonstraram que o fator de personalidade sensibilidade à punição (BIS-Anxiety) pode influenciar os níveis de FA e aumentar a reatividade para estímulos aversivos em indivíduos com altos níveis de FA.Personality characteristics can contribute to overeating when combined with an intense desire to consume food. The aim of this dissertation was to evaluate the relationship between personality and food craving (FC) in two studies. Study I , socio demographic, psychological and personality (i.e., reward and punishment sensitivity) components were used to predict the levels of FC in a non-clinical population of university students (n= 208). In Study II, participants from Study I with High (n= 31) and Low (n= 29) FC performed an computerized motivational task with appetitive and aversive food stimuli. In Study I, Family history of obesity and punishment sensitivity predicted FC. In Study II, participants with High FC presented higher levels of punishment sensitivity and avoidance responses to aversive stimuli than Low FC. Therefore, sensitivity to punishment (BIS-Anxiety) can be an aggravating to trait FC and influence motivational responses to food stimuli with aversive characteristics. The results shows that the sensitivity to punishment (BIS-Anxiety) personality factor can influence FC levels and increase the reactivity to aversive stimuli in individuals with high levels of craving

Diferenças comportamentais, computacionais e genéticas na explicação da relação entre obesidade e aprendizagem por reforçamento

A aprendizagem por reforçamento (AR) é a habilidade de associar estímulos do ambiente e adaptar o comportamento conforme suas consequências. Prejuízos na aprendizagem por reforçamento negativo (ARN) foram observados na obesidade e no consumo de dietas ricas em gordura saturada em modelos animais. O objetivo da tese foi aprofundar aspectos comportamentais, computacionais e genéticos da AR no contexto da obesidade e do consumo de dietas obesogênicas. Quatro estudos foram desenvolvidos. O estudo 1) investigou a relação entre obesidade e AR através de uma revisão sistemática, encontrando que a obesidade está associada a prejuízos na ARN. O estudo 2) apresenta a validação comportamental e computacional de um método online de avaliação da relação entre AR e memória de trabalho (MT). O estudo 3) utiliza o método do estudo 2) para avaliar de que maneira a obesidade ou o consumo de gordura saturada estão ligadas a alterações na AR e MT. Análises computacionais indicaram que o sobrepeso/obesidade está ligado à uma menor ARN e menor uso de estratégias cognitivas em jovens adultos. O consumo de gordura saturada também foi associado a prejuízos na AR em uma amostra distinta de jovens adultos. No estudo 4), o consumo de uma dieta rica em gordura saturada está associado a menor ARN em crianças com um escore poligênico associado à ARN (ePRS-D2-STR) em duas coortes independentes. Conclui-se que prejuízos na ARN na obesidade são provavelmente decorrentes do consumo excessivo de gordura saturada em adultos e que o consumo de gordura saturada interage com o genótipo para influenciar este tipo de aprendizagem em crianças.Reinforcement Learning (RL) is the ability to associate environmental stimuli and to change behavior according to its consequences. Impairments in negative reinforcement learning (NRL) were observed in obesity and consumption of saturated fat-rich diets in animal models. This dissertation aimed to deepen behavioral, computational, and genetic aspects of RL in the context of obesity and the context of obesogenic diet consumption. Four studies were conducted. Study 1) investigated the relationship between obesity and RL through a systematic review and found that obesity was more associated with impairments in NRL. Study 2) presented a behavioral and computational validation of the relationship between RL and working memory (WM). Study 3) applies the method developed in Study 2) to evaluate how obesity and saturated fat consumption were related to altered RL or WM. Computational analyses revealed that overweight/obesity was associated with decreased NRL and less use of cognitive strategies in young adults. Saturated fat consumption was related to impairments in RL in a distinct sample. In Study 4, consumption of saturated fat-rich diet was associated with decreased NRL in children presenting a polygenic score associated with NRL (ePRS-D2-STR), in two independent cohort. One concludes that NRL impairments in obesity are probably due to the excessive consumption of saturated fat in adults and that saturated fat consumption interacts with genotype in children to predict NRL

Microsatellite markers for the Arctic copepod Calanus glacialis and cross-amplification with C. finmarchicus

Calanus glacialis is a major component of Arctic zooplankton and a keystone species in Arctic marine ecosystems. Due to the observed climate warming, its numbers are being reduced to the advantage of a sibling Atlantic species Calanus finmarchicus. We developed and characterized the first set of microsatellite markers in this species to investigate its population genetic structure and dispersal capabilities. Nine polymorphic loci displayed an average of 7.3 alleles (range between 2 and 13) and the levels of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.039 to 0.806. These provide a valuable tool to understand present connectivity patterns across Arctic regions, look for signatures of past climate effects and predict the response to future climate-driven environmental changes. Additionally, due to the cross-amplification with C. finmarchicus, the markers can be used to discriminate between these sibling species.National Science Centre, Poland [2011/03/B/NZ8/02876]; FCT, Portugal [PTDC/MAR/72630/2006]; EU FP7 Project ATP [226248]; European Community (ASSEMBLE-MARINE) [227799]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ativismo de design : sistematização e proposição de estratégias projetuais para estimular o processo de transição cultural e social rumo à moda sustentável

O atual sistema da moda tem sido questionado e repensado, ao mesmo tempo em que os modos de engajamento e práticas sustentáveis têm sido ampliados. Nesse momento de transição cultural, caracterizado por uma morfologia social organizada em redes, observa-se o surgimento de organizações colaborativas orientadas pelo design. Nessa perspectiva, o presente trabalho buscou compreender como designers especialistas podem alimentar o diálogo cultural e social, a fim de estimular consciência ambiental e apoiar a transição para uma sociedade sustentável. O estudo fundamentou-se na abordagem do ativismo de design, entendendo que ele é capaz de provocar e propor novas alternativas, especialmente quando as inovações sociais são fracas ou inexistem. A coleta e codificação dos dados da amostra foram realizadas por meio dos procedimentos da Teoria Fundamentada. Estes procedimentos proporcionaram a identificação das ações oriundas do ativismo de design das marcas de moda sustentável investigadas nesta pesquisa. Os resultados apontam que o modo como estas marcas se comunicam e se relacionam com a sociedade, por meio das mídias on-line ou em ações presenciais, é potencializado por artefatos de comunicação. Esses artefatos projetados viabilizam um sistema de relações entre as marcas e os atores sociais, configurando uma das importantes contribuições do ativismo de design para o processo de transição. A contribuição original desta tese é a sistematização e a proposição de estratégias de ativismo compiladas em um fluxo projetual que busca instrumentalizar marcas e projetistas no codesign de novos artefatos.The current fashion system has been questioned and reconsidered to the extent that engagement and sustainable practices have gained strength. This cultural transition moment, characterised by a social morphology organised in networks, has given rise to design-oriented collaborative organisations. From this perspective, the present study sought to understand how specialist designers can feed into cultural and social dialogue with the purpose of encouraging environmental awareness and supporting the transition towards a sustainable society. The study was founded on the design activism approach, based on its capability of provoking and proposing new alternatives especially when social innovation is weak or non-existing. The data gathering and codification was done through the procedures laid out in Grounded Theory. These procedures provided identification of actions generated by the design activism of the sustainable fashion brands investigated by this research project. The results indicate that the way in which these brands communicate and relate to society through online media or in-person actions has its potential strengthened by communication artefacts. Such designed artefacts make a system of relations between the brands and social actors viable, thus configuring one of the important contributions of design activism to the transition process. The original contribution of this thesis is the systematisation and proposition of activism strategies compiled in a project flow which seeks to better equip brands and project designers to co-design new artefacts

Postglacial expansion of the arctic keystone copepod calanus glacialis

Calanus glacialis, a major contributor to zooplankton biomass in the Arctic shelf seas, is a key link between primary production and higher trophic levels that may be sensitive to climate warming. The aim of this study was to explore genetic variation in contemporary populations of this species to infer possible changes during the Quaternary period, and to assess its population structure in both space and time. Calanus glacialis was sampled in the fjords of Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Kongsfjorden) in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2012. The sequence of a mitochondrial marker, belonging to the ND5 gene, selected for the study was 1249 base pairs long and distinguished 75 unique haplotypes among 140 individuals that formed three main clades. There was no detectable pattern in the distribution of haplotypes by geographic distance or over time. Interestingly, a Bayesian skyline plot suggested that a 1000-fold increase in population size occurred approximately 10,000 years before present, suggesting a species expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum.GAME from the National Science Centre, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Iuventus Plus [IP2014 050573]; FCT-PT [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; [2011/03/B/NZ8/02876

Febre aftosa e volatilidade dos preços do produtor de carne suína

FMD focuses were found again in Brazil in 2004 and 2005, which caused embargo for Brazilian exports of pork meat. This paper investigates the volatility of prices received by pig producers after the FMD focus were found. Using a GARCH model, including a variable indicating FMD events, we cannot reject the hypothesis that the disease caused high pork price volatility. The conclusion is the FMD disease is related not only to losses due to embargoes but also to the increase of pork price volatility, which brings about instability to businesses and to pig producers income.Foot and mouth disease, Pork, Volatility, GARCH, Demand and Price Analysis,