Connectivity patterns inferred from the genetic structure of white seabream (Diplodus sargus L.)

Themarine environment seems, at first sight, to be a homogeneousmediumlacking barriers to species dispersal. Nevertheless, populations of marine species show varying levels of gene flow and population differentiation, so barriers to gene flow can often be detected. Weaimto elucidate the role of oceanographical factors ingenerating connectivity among populations shaping the phylogeographical patterns in the marine realm, which is not only a topic of considerable interest for understanding the evolution ofmarine biodiversity but also formanagement and conservation of marine life. For this proposal,we investigate the genetic structure and connectivity between continental and insular populations ofwhite seabreamin North East Atlantic (NEA) and Mediterranean Sea (MS) aswell as the influence of historical and contemporary factors in this scenario using mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear (a set of 9 microsatellite) molecular markers. Azores population appeared genetically differentiated in a single cluster using Structure analysis. This result was corroborated by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Monmonier algorithm which suggested a boundary to gene flow, isolating this locality. Azorean population also shows the highest significant values of FST and genetic distances for both molecular markers (microsatellites and mtDNA). We suggest that the breakdown of effective genetic exchange between Azores and the others' samples could be explained simultaneously by hydrographic (deep water) and hydrodynamic (isolating current regimes) factors acting as barriers to the free dispersal of white seabream(adults and larvae) and by historical factors which could be favoured for the survival of Azorean white seabream population at the last glaciation. Mediterranean islands show similar genetic diversity to the neighbouring continental samples and nonsignificant genetic differences. Proximity to continental coasts and the current system could promote an optimal larval dispersion among Mediterranean islands (Mallorca and Castellamare) and coasts with high gene flow.

FLOOD RISK ASSESSMENT UNDER HISTORICAL AND PREDICTED LAND USE CHANGE USING CONTINUOUS HYDROLOGIC MODELING

Current procedures for flood risk estimation assume flood distributions are stationary over time, meaning annual maximum flood (AMF) series are not affected by climatic variation, land use/land cover (LULC) change, or management practices. Thus, changes in LULC and climate are generally not accounted for in policy and design related to flood risk/control, and historical flood events are deemed representative of future flood risk. These assumptions need to be re-evaluated, however, as climate change and anthropogenic activities have been observed to have large impacts on flood risk in many areas. In particular, understanding the effects of LULC change is essential to the study and understanding of global environmental change and the consequent hydrologic responses. The research presented herein provides possible causation for observed nonstationarity in AMF series with respect to changes in LULC, as well as a means to assess the degree to which future LULC change will impact flood risk. Four watersheds in the Midwest, Northeastern, and Central United States were studied to determine flood risk associated with historical and future projected LULC change. Historical single framed aerial images dating back to the mid-1950s were used along with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing models (SPRING and ERDAS) to create historical land use maps. The Forecasting Scenarios of Future Land Use Change (FORE-SCE) model was applied to generate future LULC maps annually from 2006 to 2100 for the conterminous U.S. based on the four IPCC-SRES future emission scenario conditions. These land use maps were input into previously calibrated Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) models for two case study watersheds. In order to isolate effects of LULC change, the only variable parameter was the Runoff Curve Number associated with the land use layer. All simulations were run with daily climate data from 1978-1999, consistent with the 'base' model which employed the 1992 NLCD to represent 'current' conditions. Output daily maximum flows were converted to instantaneous AMF series and were subsequently modeled using a Log-Pearson Type 3 (LP3) distribution to evaluate flood risk. Analysis of the progression of LULC change over the historic period and associated SWAT outputs revealed that AMF magnitudes tend to increase over time in response to increasing degrees of urbanization. This is consistent with positive trends in the AMF series identified in previous studies, although there are difficulties identifying correlations between LULC change and identified change points due to large time gaps in the generated historical LULC maps, mainly caused by unavailability of sufficient quality historic aerial imagery. Similarly, increases in the mean and median AMF magnitude were observed in response to future LULC change projections, with the tails of the distributions remaining reasonably constant. FORE-SCE scenario A2 was found to have the most dramatic impact on AMF series, consistent with more extreme projections of population growth, demands for growing energy sources, agricultural land, and urban expansion, while AMF outputs based on scenario B2 showed little changes for the future as the focus is on environmental conservation and regional solutions to environmental issues.

Climate, Land Use and Hydrologic Sensitivities of Stormwater Quantity and Quality in Complex Coastal Urban Watersheds

The study analyzed hydro-climatic and land use sensitivities of stormwater runoff and quality in the complex coastal urban watershed of Miami River Basin, Florida by developing a Storm Water Management Model (EPA SWMM 5). Regression-based empirical models were also developed to explain stream water quality in relation to internal (land uses and hydrology) and external (upstream contribution, seawater) sources and drivers in six highly urbanized canal basins of Southeast Florida. Stormwater runoff and quality were most sensitive to rainfall, imperviousness, and conversion of open lands/parks to residential, commercial and industrial areas. In-stream dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus in the watersheds were dictated by internal stressors while external stressors were dominant for total nitrogen and specific conductance. The research findings and tools will be useful for proactive monitoring and management of storm runoff and urban stream water quality under the changing climate and environment in South Florida and around the world.

Integration of a Sedimentation Module to a Hydrologic Model and its Application to a Mercury TMDL Analysis

This research is part of continued efforts to correlate the hydrology of East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) and Bear Creek (BC) with the long term distribution of mercury within the overland, subsurface, and river sub-domains. The main objective of this study was to add a sedimentation module (ECO Lab) capable of simulating the reactive transport mercury exchange mechanisms within sediments and porewater throughout the watershed. The enhanced model was then applied to a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) mercury analysis for EFPC. That application used historical precipitation, groundwater levels, river discharges, and mercury concentrations data that were retrieved from government databases and input to the model. The model was executed to reduce computational time, predict flow discharges, total mercury concentration, flow duration and mercury mass rate curves at key monitoring stations under various hydrological and environmental conditions and scenarios. The computational results provided insight on the relationship between discharges and mercury mass rate curves at various stations throughout EFPC, which is important to best understand and support the management mercury contamination and remediation efforts within EFPC.

High interannual variability in connectivity and genetic pool of a temperate clingfish matches oceanographic transport predictions

Adults of most marine benthic and demersal fish are site-attached, with the dispersal of their larval stages ensuring connectivity among populations. In this study we aimed to infer spatial and temporal variation in population connectivity and dispersal of a marine fish species, using genetic tools and comparing these with oceanographic transport. We focused on an intertidal rocky reef fish species, the shore clingfish Lepadogaster lepadogaster, along the southwest Iberian Peninsula, in 2011 and 2012. We predicted high levels of self-recruitment and distinct populations, due to short pelagic larval duration and because all its developmental stages have previously been found near adult habitats. Genetic analyses based on microsatellites countered our prediction and a biophysical dispersal model showed that oceanographic transport was a good explanation for the patterns observed. Adult sub-populations separated by up to 300 km of coastline displayed no genetic differentiation, revealing a single connected population with larvae potentially dispersing long distances over hundreds of km. Despite this, parentage analysis performed on recruits from one focal site within the Marine Park of Arrábida (Portugal), revealed self-recruitment levels of 2.5% and 7.7% in 2011 and 2012, respectively, suggesting that both long- and short-distance dispersal play an important role in the replenishment of these populations. Population differentiation and patterns of dispersal, which were highly variable between years, could be linked to the variability inherent in local oceanographic processes. Overall, our measures of connectivity based on genetic and oceanographic data highlight the relevance of long-distance dispersal in determining the degree of connectivity, even in species with short pelagic larval durations.

Structural brain connectivity and cognitive ability differences: A multivariate distance matrix regression analysis

Neuroimaging research involves analyses of huge amounts of biological data that might or might not be related with cognition. This relationship is usually approached using univariate methods, and, therefore, correction methods are mandatory for reducing false positives. Nevertheless, the probability of false negatives is also increased. Multivariate frameworks have been proposed for helping to alleviate this balance. Here we apply multivariate distance matrix regression for the simultaneous analysis of biological and cognitive data, namely, structural connections among 82 brain regions and several latent factors estimating cognitive performance. We tested whether cognitive differences predict distances among individuals regarding their connectivity pattern. Beginning with 3,321 connections among regions, the 36 edges better predicted by the individuals' cognitive scores were selected. Cognitive scores were related to connectivity distances in both the full (3,321) and reduced (36) connectivity patterns. The selected edges connect regions distributed across the entire brain and the network defined by these edges supports high-order cognitive processes such as (a) (fluid) executive control, (b) (crystallized) recognition, learning, and language processing, and (c) visuospatial processing. This multivariate study suggests that one widespread, but limited number, of regions in the human brain, supports high-level cognitive ability differences. Hum Brain Mapp, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Home range, residency and movements of Diplodus sargus and Diplodus vulgaris in a coastal lagoon: Connectivity between nursery and adult habitats

Acoustic telemetry and standard tag-recapture were used to determine the home range and residency of juveniles and sub-adults of Diplodus sargus and Diplodus vulgaris in the Ria Formosa (Portugal) coastal lagoon. Maximum time between recaptures for the standard tag-recapture method was 128 days for D. sargus and 30 days for D. vulgaris. The majority of the fish were recaptured in the vicinity of the tagging location. Fish tagged with acoustic transmitters had a maximum period of time between first and last detections of 62 days for D. sargus and 260 days for D. vulgaris. Minimum convex polygons areas ranged between 148 024 m(2) and 525 930 m(2) for D. sargus and between 23 786 m(2) and 42134 m(2) for D. vulgaris. Both species presented a high residency index between first and last detections. Two D. sargus tagged with acoustic tags were recaptured by fishermen outside the coastal lagoon at distances of 12 km and 90 km from the tagging position, providing evidence that this species leaves the Ria Formosa during the winter time for the adjacent coastal waters. The results of this study reinforce the importance of Ria Formosa as a nursery for D. sargus and D. vulgaris in the south coast of Portugal. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing landscape functional connectivity in a forest carnivore using path selection functions

Context Understanding connectivity patterns in relation to habitat fragmentation is essential to landscape management. However, connectivity is often judged from expert opinion or species occurrence patterns, with very few studies considering the actual movements of individuals. Path selection functions provide a promising tool to infer functional connectivity from animal movement data, but its practical application remains scanty. Objectives We aimed to describe functional connectivity patterns in a forest carnivore using path-level analysis, and to explore how connectivity is affected by land cover patterns and road networks. Methods We radiotracked 22 common genets in a mixed forest-agricultural landscape of southern Portugal. We developed path selection functions discriminating between observed and random paths in relation to landscape variables. These functions were used together with land cover information to map conductance surfaces. Results Genets moved preferentially within forest patches and close to riparian habitats. Functional connectivity declined with increasing road density, but increased with the proximity of culverts, viaducts and bridges. Functional connectivity was favoured by large forest patches, and by the presence of riparian areas providing corridors within open agricultural land. Roads reduced connectivity by dissecting forest patches, but had less effect on riparian corridors due to the presence of crossing structures. Conclusions Genet movements were jointly affected by the spatial distribution of suitable habitats, and the presence of a road network dissecting such habitats and creating obstacles in areas otherwise permeable to animal movement. Overall, the study showed the value of path-level analysis to assess functional connectivity patterns in human-modified landscapes.

The correlation of pore morphology, interconnectivity and physical properties of 3D ceramic scaffolds with bone ingrowth

In the design of tissue engineering scaffolds, design parameters including pore size, shape and interconnectivity, mechanical properties and transport properties should be optimized to maximize successful inducement of bone ingrowth. In this paper we describe a 3D micro-CT and pore partitioning study to derive pore scale parameters including pore radius distribution, accessible radius, throat radius, and connectivity over the pore space of the tissue engineered constructs. These pore scale descriptors are correlated to bone ingrowth into the scaffolds. Quantitative and visual comparisons show a strong correlation between the local accessible pore radius and bone ingrowth; for well connected samples a cutoff accessible pore radius of approximately 100 microM is observed for ingrowth. The elastic properties of different types of scaffolds are simulated and can be described by standard cellular solids theory: (E/E(0))=(rho/rho(s))(n). Hydraulic conductance and diffusive properties are calculated; results are consistent with the concept of a threshold conductance for bone ingrowth. Simple simulations of local flow velocity and local shear stress show no correlation to in vivo bone ingrowth patterns. These results demonstrate a potential for 3D imaging and analysis to define relevant pore scale morphological and physical properties within scaffolds and to provide evidence for correlations between pore scale descriptors, physical properties and bone ingrowth.

Dynamic Lock Synchronisation for collaborative 3D applications

In a typical collaborative application, users contends for common resources by mutual exclusion. The introduction of multi-modal environment, however, introduced problems such as frequent dropping of connection or limited connectivity speed of mobile users. This paper target 3D resources which require additional considerations such as dependency of users' manipulation command. This paper introduces Dynamic Locking Synchronisation technique to enable seamless and collaborative environment for large number of user, by combining the contention-free concepts of locking mechanism and the seamless nature of lockless design.

HABITAT : a longitudinal multilevel study of physical acitvity change in mid-aged adults

Purpose. To explore the role of the neighborhood environment in supporting walking Design. Cross sectional study of 10,286 residents of 200 neighborhoods. Participants were selected using a stratified two-stage cluster design. Data were collected by mail survey (68.5% response rate). Setting. The Brisbane City Local Government Area, Australia, 2007. Subjects. Brisbane residents aged 40 to 65 years. Measures. Environmental: street connectivity, residential density, hilliness, tree coverage, bikeways, and street lights within a one kilometer circular buffer from each resident’s home; and network distance to nearest river or coast, public transport, shop, and park. Walking: minutes in the previous week categorized as < 30 minutes, ≥ 30 < 90 minutes, ≥ 90 < 150 minutes, ≥ 150 < 300 minutes, and ≥ 300 minutes. Analysis. The association between each neighborhood characteristic and walking was examined using multilevel multinomial logistic regression and the model parameters were estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Results. After adjustment for individual factors, the likelihood of walking for more than 300 minutes (relative to <30 minutes) was highest in areas with the most connectivity (OR=1.93, 99% CI 1.32-2.80), the greatest residential density (OR=1.47, 99% CI 1.02-2.12), the least tree coverage (OR=1.69, 99% CI 1.13-2.51), the most bikeways (OR=1.60, 99% CI 1.16-2.21), and the most street lights (OR=1.50, 99% CI 1.07-2.11). The likelihood of walking for more than 300 minutes was also higher among those who lived closest to a river or the coast (OR=2.06, 99% CI 1.41-3.02). Conclusion. The likelihood of meeting (and exceeding) physical activity recommendations on the basis of walking was higher in neighborhoods with greater street connectivity and residential density, more street lights and bikeways, closer proximity to waterways, and less tree coverage. Interventions targeting these neighborhood characteristics may lead to improved environmental quality as well as lower rates of overweight and obesity and associated chromic disease.

Vision-based topological mapping and localisation

Competent navigation in an environment is a major requirement for an autonomous mobile robot to accomplish its mission. Nowadays, many successful systems for navigating a mobile robot use an internal map which represents the environment in a detailed geometric manner. However, building, maintaining and using such environment maps for navigation is difficult because of perceptual aliasing and measurement noise. Moreover, geometric maps require the processing of huge amounts of data which is computationally expensive. This thesis addresses the problem of vision-based topological mapping and localisation for mobile robot navigation. Topological maps are concise and graphical representations of environments that are scalable and amenable to symbolic manipulation. Thus, they are well-suited for basic robot navigation applications, and also provide a representational basis for the procedural and semantic information needed for higher-level robotic tasks. In order to make vision-based topological navigation suitable for inexpensive mobile robots for the mass market we propose to characterise key places of the environment based on their visual appearance through colour histograms. The approach for representing places using visual appearance is based on the fact that colour histograms change slowly as the field of vision sweeps the scene when a robot moves through an environment. Hence, a place represents a region of the environment rather than a single position. We demonstrate in experiments using an indoor data set, that a topological map in which places are characterised using visual appearance augmented with metric clues provides sufficient information to perform continuous metric localisation which is robust to the kidnapped robot problem. Many topological mapping methods build a topological map by clustering visual observations to places. However, due to perceptual aliasing observations from different places may be mapped to the same place representative in the topological map. A main contribution of this thesis is a novel approach for dealing with the perceptual aliasing problem in topological mapping. We propose to incorporate neighbourhood relations for disambiguating places which otherwise are indistinguishable. We present a constraint based stochastic local search method which integrates the approach for place disambiguation in order to induce a topological map. Experiments show that the proposed method is capable of mapping environments with a high degree of perceptual aliasing, and that a small map is found quickly. Moreover, the method of using neighbourhood information for place disambiguation is integrated into a framework for topological off-line simultaneous localisation and mapping which does not require an initial categorisation of visual observations. Experiments on an indoor data set demonstrate the suitability of our method to reliably localise the robot while building a topological map.

Self landcape - Hotspot

Self Landscape is an introductory image of the author's exhibition Lightsite, which toured Western Australian galleries from February 2006 to November 2007. It is a five-minute-long exposure photographic image captured inside a purpose-built, room-sized pinhole camera which is demountable and does not have a floor. Self Landscape depicts an inverted image of the outside environment - a revegetated farmland in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The light from the exterior landscape passes though the pinhole camera's aperture and illuminates the internal scene which includes that part of the landscape upon which the floorless room is erected, along with the author who is standing inside. The text "Hotspot" appears where the author has scribed that word with a torch during the long exposure. The image evokes the temporality of light. Here, light itself is portrayed as the primary medium through which we both perceive and describe landscape. It is through the agency of light that we construct our connectivity to landscape.

The light of Gairdner

The Light of Gairdner is a key work of the author's exhibition Lightsite, which toured Western Australian galleries from February 2006 to November 2007. It is a five-minute-long exposure photographic image captured inside a purpose-built, room-sized pinhole camera which is demountable and does not have a floor. The Light of Gairdner depicts two brothers Allan and Harvey Lynch during their barley harvest. Allan is standing outside the pinhole camera-room in the barley field. The light from this exterior landscape is 'projected' inside the camera-room and illuminates the interior scene which includes that part of the barley field upon which the floorless room is erected, along with Harvey who is standing inside. The image evokes the temporality of light. Here, light itself is portrayed as the primary medium through which we both perceive and describe landscape. It is through the agency of light that we construct our connectivity to landscape. The exhibition/catalogue statement. "Harvey and Allan Lynch lost their father Frank, in a crop dusting crash five years ago. They now manage their dad's 6000 acre farm and are photographed here at the time of their barley harvest."

The light of Gairdner 2

The Light of Gairdner 2 is a key work of the author's exhibition Lightsite, which toured Western Australian galleries from February 2006 to November 2007. It is a five-minute-long exposure photographic image captured inside a purpose-built, room-sized pinhole camera which is demountable and does not have a floor. The Light of Gairdner 2 depicts two brothers Allan and Harvey Lynch during their barley harvest. Allan is standing outside the pinhole camera-room in the barley field with their new 'CASE' harvester. The light from this exterior landscape is 'projected' inside the camera-room and illuminates the interior scene which includes that part of the barley field upon which the floorless room is erected, along with Harvey who is standing inside. The image evokes the temporality of light. Here, light itself is portrayed as the primary medium through which we both perceive and describe landscape. In this way it is through the agency of light that we construct our connectivity to landscape. The exhibition/catalogue statement. "Harvey and Allan Lynch lost their father Frank, in a crop dusting crash five years ago. They now manage their dad's 6000 acre farm and are photographed here at the time of their barley harvest. The Light of Gairdner 2 features their new 'CASE' harvester, and in the distance, the grain silos of Gairdner."