Ecologia alimentar de Tatu-Peba, Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758), na Fazenda Nhumirim, Pantanal da Nhecolância, MS

Studies on feeding ecology are important tools for the understanding of feeding strategies and niche dynamics. Information on the type of food consumed, how, and where it is acquired, enable the elucidation of species behavioral, evolutionary and ecological aspects. The diet study based on fecal material enables a low-cost, informative research and avoids the sacrifice of animals. The general aim of this study is to characterize the diet of Euphractus sexcinctus, the yellow-armadillo, based on fecal samples, to contribute with additional information on their feeding habits. The study was undertaken at the Nhumirim ranch, Pantanal da Nhecolândia, MS, during the months of February and March, 2014. The fecal material was collected during the manual capture of the animals and oven dried at 60°C. The food items found in the feces were sorted using a magnifying glass and separated in the following categories: plant matter, invertebrates and soil. Invertebrates were identified to the order level and the plant matter to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Aiming to evaluate the invertebrate availability in the soil, pitfall traps were installed next to the location where individuals were captured, during the months of April and May. We were able to estimate the frequency with which item was consumed during the studied period, and if there is a relationship between the frequency of consumed invertebrates and their availability environment. Among the analyzed samples, we could observe the frequency of occurrence (FO) of plant matter, invertebrates and soil in all the samples. The main invertebrate orders found in the samples were: Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera, with FO of 100%, 100% and 87,5%, respectively. Seeds were found in 100% of the samples. The FO of the Byrsonima orbignyana was high (62,5%), and evidences the potential of the yellow-armadillos as seed dispersers. The use of other techniques, such as the micro-histological...

Ecologia alimentar de Tatu-Peba, Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758), na Fazenda Nhumirim, Pantanal da Nhecolância, MS

Studies on feeding ecology are important tools for the understanding of feeding strategies and niche dynamics. Information on the type of food consumed, how, and where it is acquired, enable the elucidation of species behavioral, evolutionary and ecological aspects. The diet study based on fecal material enables a low-cost, informative research and avoids the sacrifice of animals. The general aim of this study is to characterize the diet of Euphractus sexcinctus, the yellow-armadillo, based on fecal samples, to contribute with additional information on their feeding habits. The study was undertaken at the Nhumirim ranch, Pantanal da Nhecolândia, MS, during the months of February and March, 2014. The fecal material was collected during the manual capture of the animals and oven dried at 60°C. The food items found in the feces were sorted using a magnifying glass and separated in the following categories: plant matter, invertebrates and soil. Invertebrates were identified to the order level and the plant matter to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Aiming to evaluate the invertebrate availability in the soil, pitfall traps were installed next to the location where individuals were captured, during the months of April and May. We were able to estimate the frequency with which item was consumed during the studied period, and if there is a relationship between the frequency of consumed invertebrates and their availability environment. Among the analyzed samples, we could observe the frequency of occurrence (FO) of plant matter, invertebrates and soil in all the samples. The main invertebrate orders found in the samples were: Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera, with FO of 100%, 100% and 87,5%, respectively. Seeds were found in 100% of the samples. The FO of the Byrsonima orbignyana was high (62,5%), and evidences the potential of the yellow-armadillos as seed dispersers. The use of other techniques, such as the micro-histological...

Recent and historical climate variability effects on the population dynamics of several marine species

Eliminadas las páginas en blanco

Interethnic Interaction Dynamics in the Russian Federation

The collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s also meant the end of the idea of a common soviet identity incarnated in the "soviet man" and the new "historic community of the soviet people". While this idea still lives on in the generations of the 1920s to 1940s, the younger generations tend to prefer identification with family, profession, ethnic group or religion. Ms. Alexakhina set out to investigate different interethnic interaction strategies in the multi-ethnic context of the Russian Federation, with an emphasis on analysing the role of cultural and ethno-demographic characteristics of minority ethnic groups. It aimed to identify those specific patterns of interaction dynamics that have emerged in response to the political and economic transformation at present under way. The basic supposition was that the size and growth of an ethnic population are defined not only by demographic features such as fertility, mortality and net migration, but are also dependent on processes interethnic interaction and ethnic transition. The central hypothesis of the project was that the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition of Russia is apparently manifesting itself in the ethnic minority groups in various forms, but particularly in the form of ethnic revival and/or assimilation. The results of these complex phenomena are manifested as changes in ethnic attachments (national re-identification and language behaviour (multi-lingualism, language transition and loss of the mother tongue). The stress of the political and economic crisis has stimulated significant changes in ethnographic, social and cultural characteristics of inter-ethnic dynamics such as the rate of national re-identification, language behaviour, migration activity and the spread of mixed marriages, among both those minorities with a long history of settlement in Russia and those that were annexed during the soviet period. Patterns of language behaviour and the spread of mixed marriages were taken as the main indicators of the directions of interethnic interaction described as assimilation, ethnic revival and cultural pluralism. The first stage of the research involved a statistical analysis of census data from 1959 to 1994 in order to analyse the changing demographic composition of the largest ethnic groups of the Russian Federation. Until 1989 interethnic interaction in soviet society was distinguished by the process of russification but the political and economic transformation has stimulated the process of ethnic revival, leading to an apparent fall in the size of the Russian population due to ethnic re-identification by members of other ethnic groups who had previously identified themselves as Russian. Cross-classification of nationalities by demographic, social and cultural indicators has shown that the most important determinants of the nature of interethnic interaction are cultural factors such as religion and language affiliation. The analysis of the dynamics of language shift through the study of bilingualism and the domains of language usage for different demographic groups revealed a strong correlation between recognition of Russian as a mother tongue among some non-Russian ethnic groups and the declining size of these groups. The main conclusion from this macro-analysis of census data was the hypothesis of the growing importance of social and political factors upon ethnic succession, that ethnic identity is no longer a stable characteristic but has become dynamic in nature. In order to verify this hypothesis Ms. Alexakhina conducted a survey in four regions showing different patterns of interethnic interaction: the Karelian Republic, Buryatiya, the Nenezkii Autonomous Region and Tatarstan. These represented the west, east, north and south of the Russian Federation. Samples for the survey were prepared on the basis of census lists so as to exclude mono-Russian families in favour of mixed and ethnic-minority families. The survey confirmed the significant growth in the importance of ethnic affiliation in the everyday lives of people in the Federation following the de-centralisation of the political and economic spheres. Language was shown to be a key symbol of the consciousness of national distinction, confirmed by the fact that the process of russification has been reversed by the active mastering of the languages of titular nationalities. The results also confirmed that individual ethnic identity has ceased to be a fixed personal characteristic of one's cultural and genetic belonging, and people's social adaptation to the current political, social and economic conditions is also demonstrated in changes in individual ethnic self-identification. In general terms, the dynamic nature of national identity means that ethnic identity is at present acquiring the special features of overall social identity, for which the frequent change of priorities is an inherent feature of a person's life cycle. These are mainly linked with a multi-ethnic environment and high individual social mobility. From her results Ms. Alexakhina concludes that the development of national languages and multi-lingualism, together with the preservation of Russian as a state language, seems to be the most promising path to peaceful coexistence and the development of the national cultures of different ethnic groups within the Russian Federation.

Reading Our Land Use Legacy in Groundwater: Nitrate Dynamics in the Judith River Watershed

Elevated nitrate in groundwater is common is agricultural areas where fertilizer has been added at high rates for decades. Within the Judith River Wastershed, high native soil fertility allowed for dryland wheat production without N fertilization until the 1980s, yet elevated nitrate levels were frequently observed in shallow aquifers. Dr. Stephanie Ewing presents results for soil, groundwater and surface water analyses from a hydrologically isolated strath terrace near Moccasin, MT. In context of this uniquely well constrained field setting, these observed data, along with land use history and a simple mass balance model, revel the long term development and perturbation of native soil fertility with cultivation.

First valence, then arousal: the temporal dynamics of brain electric activity evoked by emotional stimuli

The temporal dynamics of the neural activity that implements the dimensions valence and arousal during processing of emotional stimuli were studied in two multi-channel ERP experiments that used visually presented emotional words (experiment 1) and emotional pictures (experiment 2) as stimulus material. Thirty-two healthy subjects participated (mean age 26.8 +/- 6.4 years, 24 women). The stimuli in both experiments were selected on the basis of verbal reports in such a way that we were able to map the temporal dynamics of one dimension while controlling for the other one. Words (pictures) were centrally presented for 450 (600) ms with interstimulus intervals of 1,550 (1,400) ms. ERP microstate analysis of the entire epochs of stimulus presentations parsed the data into sequential steps of information processing. The results revealed that in several microstates of both experiments, processing of pleasant and unpleasant valence (experiment 1, microstate #3: 118-162 ms, #6: 218-238 ms, #7: 238-266 ms, #8: 266-294 ms; experiment 2, microstate #5: 142-178 ms, #6: 178-226 ms, #7: 226-246 ms, #9: 262-302 ms, #10: 302-330 ms) as well as of low and high arousal (experiment 1, microstate #8: 266-294 ms, #9: 294-346 ms; experiment 2, microstate #10: 302-330 ms, #15: 562-600 ms) involved different neural assemblies. The results revealed also that in both experiments, information about valence was extracted before information about arousal. The last microstate of valence extraction was identical with the first microstate of arousal extraction.

Dynamics of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Local Use and Conservation of Native Trees and Shrubs in the Bolivian Andes

Native trees and shrubs are essential components of rural landscapes in the semi-arid inner-Andean valleys of Bolivia. They can be found as hedges and bushes in various agroecosystems such as terrace walls, slopes, field boundaries and fallow land. Their distribution and floristic composition are the result of dynamic spatial and temporal interactions between local farmers and the environment. Local uses of natural resources and biodiversity reflect the constantly evolving Andean culture, which can be generally characterised as an intertwining of the human, natural, and spiritual worlds. The aim of the present ethnobotanical study was to analyse the dynamics of traditional ecological knowledge, to ascertain local farmers’ perceptions and uses of native woody species in Andean communities and to associate the results with local conservation activities for the trees and shrubs concerned. Our case study was carried out within two communities of the Tunari National Park (Dept. Cochabamba) in Bolivia. For data collection, research methods from social science (semi-structured interviews, participative observation, participatory mapping) as well as vegetation surveys were combined. Local actors included women and men of all ages as well as families from different social categories and altitudinal levels of permanent residence. Our study indicates that, due to a multitude of socio-economic pressures (e.g. migration of young people) as well as changes in use of biodiversity (e.g. replacement of native by exotic introduced species), the traditional ecological knowledge base of native trees and shrubs and their respective uses has become diminished over time. In many cases it has led to a decline in people’s awareness of native species and as a consequence their practical, emotional and spiritual relationships with them have been lost. However, results also show that applied traditional ecological knowledge has led to local conservation strategies, which have succeeded in protecting those tree and shrub species which are most widely regarded for their multifunctional, constant and exclusive uses (e.g. Schinus molle, Prosopis laevigata, Baccharis dracunculifolia). The presentation will discuss the question if and how applied traditional ecological knowledge positively contributes to local initiatives of sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in rural areas.

Characterization of Enhancing MS Lesions by Dynamic Texture Parameter Analysis of Dynamic Susceptibility Perfusion Imaging

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate statistical differences with MR perfusion imaging features that reflect the dynamics of Gadolinium-uptake in MS lesions using dynamic texture parameter analysis (DTPA). Methods. We investigated 51 MS lesions (25 enhancing, 26 nonenhancing lesions) of 12 patients. Enhancing lesions () were prestratified into enhancing lesions with increased permeability (EL+; ) and enhancing lesions with subtle permeability (EL−; ). Histogram-based feature maps were computed from the raw DSC-image time series and the corresponding texture parameters were analyzed during the inflow, outflow, and reperfusion time intervals. Results. Significant differences () were found between EL+ and EL− and between EL+ and nonenhancing inactive lesions (NEL). Main effects between EL+ versus EL− and EL+ versus NEL were observed during reperfusion (mainly in mean and standard deviation (SD): EL+ versus EL− and EL+ versus NEL), while EL− and NEL differed only in their SD during outflow. Conclusion. DTPA allows grading enhancing MS lesions according to their perfusion characteristics. Texture parameters of EL− were similar to NEL, while EL+ differed significantly from EL− and NEL. Dynamic texture analysis may thus be further investigated as noninvasive endogenous marker of lesion formation and restoration.

La representación de la prueba caballeresca como aventura familiar en tres imágenes del Ms.P del Libro del cavallero Zifar

El manuscrito P (Biblioteca Nacional de Francia) del Libro del cavallero Zifar es un códice de fines del siglo XV que, debido a las cerca de 240 ilustraciones que contiene, permite apreciar la dinámica particular de producción y recepción de aquellos manuscritos medievales en los que se conjugan el texto y la imagen como configuradores de sentido. A través de la focalización de un grupo de ilustraciones miniadas que dan cuenta de la dinámica de la aventura caballeresca, centrada tanto en Zifar como en su familia, el presente trabajo postula la relación de esas imágenes con el texto en una retórica deudora tanto de la redacción inicial del texto como de su recepción más de un siglo y medio después

La representación de la prueba caballeresca como aventura familiar en tres imágenes del Ms.P del Libro del cavallero Zifar

El manuscrito P (Biblioteca Nacional de Francia) del Libro del cavallero Zifar es un códice de fines del siglo XV que, debido a las cerca de 240 ilustraciones que contiene, permite apreciar la dinámica particular de producción y recepción de aquellos manuscritos medievales en los que se conjugan el texto y la imagen como configuradores de sentido. A través de la focalización de un grupo de ilustraciones miniadas que dan cuenta de la dinámica de la aventura caballeresca, centrada tanto en Zifar como en su familia, el presente trabajo postula la relación de esas imágenes con el texto en una retórica deudora tanto de la redacción inicial del texto como de su recepción más de un siglo y medio después

La representación de la prueba caballeresca como aventura familiar en tres imágenes del Ms.P del Libro del cavallero Zifar

El manuscrito P (Biblioteca Nacional de Francia) del Libro del cavallero Zifar es un códice de fines del siglo XV que, debido a las cerca de 240 ilustraciones que contiene, permite apreciar la dinámica particular de producción y recepción de aquellos manuscritos medievales en los que se conjugan el texto y la imagen como configuradores de sentido. A través de la focalización de un grupo de ilustraciones miniadas que dan cuenta de la dinámica de la aventura caballeresca, centrada tanto en Zifar como en su familia, el presente trabajo postula la relación de esas imágenes con el texto en una retórica deudora tanto de la redacción inicial del texto como de su recepción más de un siglo y medio después

Collective Organization of Complex Networks: Emergent Scales, Vulnerability, and Targeting of Desired Dynamics

Cuando una colectividad de sistemas dinámicos acoplados mediante una estructura irregular de interacciones evoluciona, se observan dinámicas de gran complejidad y fenómenos emergentes imposibles de predecir a partir de las propiedades de los sistemas individuales. El objetivo principal de esta tesis es precisamente avanzar en nuestra comprensión de la relación existente entre la topología de interacciones y las dinámicas colectivas que una red compleja es capaz de mantener. Siendo este un tema amplio que se puede abordar desde distintos puntos de vista, en esta tesis se han estudiado tres problemas importantes dentro del mismo que están relacionados entre sí. Por un lado, en numerosos sistemas naturales y artificiales que se pueden describir mediante una red compleja la topología no es estática, sino que depende de la dinámica que se desarrolla en la red: un ejemplo son las redes de neuronas del cerebro. En estas redes adaptativas la propia topología emerge como consecuencia de una autoorganización del sistema. Para conocer mejor cómo pueden emerger espontáneamente las propiedades comúnmente observadas en redes reales, hemos estudiado el comportamiento de sistemas que evolucionan según reglas adaptativas locales con base empírica. Nuestros resultados numéricos y analíticos muestran que la autoorganización del sistema da lugar a dos de las propiedades más universales de las redes complejas: a escala mesoscópica, la aparición de una estructura de comunidades, y, a escala macroscópica, la existencia de una ley de potencias en la distribución de las interacciones en la red. El hecho de que estas propiedades aparecen en dos modelos con leyes de evolución cuantitativamente distintas que siguen unos mismos principios adaptativos sugiere que estamos ante un fenómeno que puede ser muy general, y estar en el origen de estas propiedades en sistemas reales. En segundo lugar, proponemos una medida que permite clasificar los elementos de una red compleja en función de su relevancia para el mantenimiento de dinámicas colectivas. En concreto, estudiamos la vulnerabilidad de los distintos elementos de una red frente a perturbaciones o grandes fluctuaciones, entendida como una medida del impacto que estos acontecimientos externos tienen en la interrupción de una dinámica colectiva. Los resultados que se obtienen indican que la vulnerabilidad dinámica es sobre todo dependiente de propiedades locales, por tanto nuestras conclusiones abarcan diferentes topologías, y muestran la existencia de una dependencia no trivial entre la vulnerabilidad y la conectividad de los elementos de una red. Finalmente, proponemos una estrategia de imposición de una dinámica objetivo genérica en una red dada e investigamos su validez en redes con diversas topologías que mantienen regímenes dinámicos turbulentos. Se obtiene como resultado que las redes heterogéneas (y la amplia mayora de las redes reales estudiadas lo son) son las más adecuadas para nuestra estrategia de targeting de dinámicas deseadas, siendo la estrategia muy efectiva incluso en caso de disponer de un conocimiento muy imperfecto de la topología de la red. Aparte de la relevancia teórica para la comprensión de fenómenos colectivos en sistemas complejos, los métodos y resultados propuestos podrán dar lugar a aplicaciones en sistemas experimentales y tecnológicos, como por ejemplo los sistemas neuronales in vitro, el sistema nervioso central (en el estudio de actividades síncronas de carácter patológico), las redes eléctricas o los sistemas de comunicaciones. ABSTRACT The time evolution of an ensemble of dynamical systems coupled through an irregular interaction scheme gives rise to dynamics of great of complexity and emergent phenomena that cannot be predicted from the properties of the individual systems. The main objective of this thesis is precisely to increase our understanding of the interplay between the interaction topology and the collective dynamics that a complex network can support. This is a very broad subject, so in this thesis we will limit ourselves to the study of three relevant problems that have strong connections among them. First, it is a well-known fact that in many natural and manmade systems that can be represented as complex networks the topology is not static; rather, it depends on the dynamics taking place on the network (as it happens, for instance, in the neuronal networks in the brain). In these adaptive networks the topology itself emerges from the self-organization in the system. To better understand how the properties that are commonly observed in real networks spontaneously emerge, we have studied the behavior of systems that evolve according to local adaptive rules that are empirically motivated. Our numerical and analytical results show that self-organization brings about two of the most universally found properties in complex networks: at the mesoscopic scale, the appearance of a community structure, and, at the macroscopic scale, the existence of a power law in the weight distribution of the network interactions. The fact that these properties show up in two models with quantitatively different mechanisms that follow the same general adaptive principles suggests that our results may be generalized to other systems as well, and they may be behind the origin of these properties in some real systems. We also propose a new measure that provides a ranking of the elements in a network in terms of their relevance for the maintenance of collective dynamics. Specifically, we study the vulnerability of the elements under perturbations or large fluctuations, interpreted as a measure of the impact these external events have on the disruption of collective motion. Our results suggest that the dynamic vulnerability measure depends largely on local properties (our conclusions thus being valid for different topologies) and they show a non-trivial dependence of the vulnerability on the connectivity of the network elements. Finally, we propose a strategy for the imposition of generic goal dynamics on a given network, and we explore its performance in networks with different topologies that support turbulent dynamical regimes. It turns out that heterogeneous networks (and most real networks that have been studied belong in this category) are the most suitable for our strategy for the targeting of desired dynamics, the strategy being very effective even when the knowledge on the network topology is far from accurate. Aside from their theoretical relevance for the understanding of collective phenomena in complex systems, the methods and results here discussed might lead to applications in experimental and technological systems, such as in vitro neuronal systems, the central nervous system (where pathological synchronous activity sometimes occurs), communication systems or power grids.

Estudio de las dinámicas de pérdida de peso corporal en los programas de ejercicio físico y nutrición = Study of the dynamics of body weight loss in exercise and nutritional programs

Introducción. La obesidad puede definirse como una enfermedad metabólica crónica de origen multifactorial, lo que provoca trastornos o problemas físicos y psicológicos a la persona, con patologías asociadas que limitan la esperanza de vida y deterioran la calidad de la misma, siendo determinante para sus áreas sociales y laborales. Este trastorno metabólico crónico se caracteriza por una acumulación excesiva de energía en el cuerpo en forma de grasa, lo que lleva a un aumento de peso con respecto al valor esperado por sexo, edad y altura. La gestión y el tratamiento de la obesidad tienen objetivos más amplios que la pérdida de peso e incluyen la reducción del riesgo y la mejora de la salud. Estos pueden ser alcanzados por la pérdida modesta de peso (es decir, 10.5% del peso corporal inicial), la mejora del contenido nutricional de la dieta y un modesto incremento en la actividad física y condición física. La dieta es uno de los métodos más populares para perder peso corporal. El ejercicio es otra alternativa para perder peso corporal. El aumento de ejercicio provoca un desequilibrio cuando se mantiene la ingesta calórica. También tiene ventajas, como la mejora del tono muscular, la capacidad cardiovascular, fuerza y flexibilidad, aumenta el metabolismo basal y mejora el sistema inmunológico. Objetivos. El objetivo de esta tesis es contribuir en un estudio de intervención para aclarar la evolución del peso corporal durante una intervención de dieta y ejercicio. Para ello, se evaluaron los efectos de la edad, sexo, índice de masa corporal inicial y el tipo de tratamiento en las tendencias de pérdida de peso. Otro objetivo de la tesis era crear un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple capaz de predecir la pérdida de peso corporal después del periodo de intervención. Y, por último, determinar el efecto sobre la composición corporal (peso corporal, índice de masa corporal, la masa grasa, y la masa libre de grasa) de las diferentes intervenciones basadas en ejercicios (fuerza, resistencia, resistencia combinada con fuerza, y las recomendaciones de actividad física (grupo control)) en combinación con dieta de adultos con sobrepeso y obesidad, después de la intervención, así como los cambios de la composición corporal 3 años más tarde. Diseño de la investigación. Los datos empleados en el análisis de esta tesis son parte del proyecto “Programas de Nutrición y Actividad Física para el tratamiento de la obesidad” (PRONAF). El proyecto PRONAF es un estudio clínico sobre programas de nutrición y actividad física para el sobrepeso y la obesidad, desarrollado en España durante varios años de intervención. Fue diseñado, en parte, para comparar diferentes tipos de intervención, con el objetivo de evaluar su impacto en las dinámicas de pérdida de peso, en personas con sobrepeso y obesidad. Como diseño experimental, el estudio se basó en una restricción calórica, a la que, en algunos casos, se le añadió un protocolo de entrenamiento (fuerza, resistencia, o combinado, en igualdad de volumen e intensidad). Las principales variables para la investigación que comprende esta tesis fueron: el peso corporal y la composición corporal (masa grasa y masa libre de grasa). Conclusiones. En esta tesis, para los programas de pérdida de peso en personas con sobrepeso y obesidad con un 25-30% de la restricción calórica, el peso corporal se redujo significativamente en ambos sexos, sin tener en cuenta la edad y el tipo de tratamiento seguido. Según los resultados del estudio, la pérdida de peso realizada por un individuo (hombre o mujer) durante los seis meses puede ser representada por cualquiera de las cinco funciones (lineal, potencial, exponencial, logarítmica y cuadrática) en ambos sexos, siendo la cuadrática la que tiende a representarlo mejor. Además, se puede concluir que la pérdida de peso corporal se ve afectada por el índice de masa corporal inicial y el sexo, siendo mayor para las personas obesas que para las de sobrepeso, que muestran diferencias entre sexos sólo en la condición de sobrepeso. Además, es posible calcular el peso corporal final de cualquier participante involucrado en una intervención utilizando la metodología del proyecto PRONAF sólo conociendo sus variables iniciales de composición corporal. Además, los cuatro tipos de tratamientos tuvieron resultados similares en cambios en la composición corporal al final del período de intervención, con la única excepción de la masa libre de grasa, siendo los grupos de entrenamiento los que la mantuvieron durante la restricción calórica. Por otro lado, sólo el grupo combinado logra mantener la reducción de la masa grasa (%) 3 años después del final de la intervención. ABSTRACT Introduction. Obesity can be defined as a chronic metabolic disease from a multifactorial origin, which leads to physical and psychological impacts to the person, with associated pathologies that limit the life expectancy and deteriorate the quality of it, being determinant for the social and labor areas of the person. This chronic metabolic disorder is characterized by an excessive accumulation of energy in the body as fat, leading to increased weight relative to the value expected by sex, age and height. The management and treatment of obesity have wider objectives than weight loss alone and include risk reduction and health improvement. These may be achieved by modest weight loss (i.e. 5–10% of initial body weight), improved nutritional content of the diet and modest increases in physical activity and fitness. Weight loss through diet is one of the most popular approaches to lose body weight. Exercise is another alternative to lose body weight. The increase of exercise causes an imbalance when the caloric intake is maintained. It also has advantages such as improved muscle tone, cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility, increases the basal metabolism and improves immune system. Objectives. The aim of this thesis is to contribute with an interventional study to clarify the evolution of the body weight during a diet and exercise intervention. For this, the effects of age, sex, initial body mass index and type of treatment on weight loss tendencies were evaluated. Another objective of the thesis was to create a multiple linear regression model able to predict the body weight loss after the intervention period. And, finally, to determine the effect upon body composition (body weight, body mass index, fat mass, and fat-free mass of different exercise-based interventions (strength, endurance, combined endurance and strength, and physical activity recommendations group (control group)) combined with diet in overweight and obese adults, after intervention as well as body composition changes 3 years later. Research Design. The data used in the analysis of this thesis are part of the project "Programs of Nutrition and Physical Activity for the treatment of obesity" (PRONAF). The PRONAF project is a clinical trial program about nutrition and physical activity for overweight and obesity, developed in Spain for several years of intervention. It was designed, in part, to compare different types of intervention, in order to assess their impact on the dynamics of weight loss in overweight and obese people. As experimental design, the study was based on caloric restriction, which, in some cases, added a training protocol (strength, endurance, or combined in equal volume and intensity). The main research variables comprising this thesis were: body weight and body composition outcomes (fat mass and fat-free mass). Conclusions. In this thesis, for weight loss programs in overweight and obese people with 25-30% of caloric restriction, the body weight was significantly decreased in both sexes, regardless the age and type of followed treatment. According to the results of the study, the weight loss performed by an individual (male or female) during six months can be represented by any of the five functions (linear, power law, exponential, logarithmic and quadratic) in both sexes, being the quadratic one which tends to represent it better. In addition, it can be concluded that the body weight loss is affected by the initial body mass index and sex condition, being greater for the obese people than for the overweight one, showing differences between sexes only in the overweight condition. Moreover, it is possible to calculate the final body weight of any participant engaged in an intervention using the PRONAF Project methodology only knowing their initial body composition variables. Furthermore, the four types of treatments had similar results on body composition changes at the end of the intervention period, with the only exception of fat-free mass, being the training groups the ones that maintained it during the caloric restriction. On the other hand, only the combined group achieved to maintain the fat mass (%) reduced 3 years after the end of the intervention.

High Fidelity Models for Near-Earth Object Dynamics

Motivado por los últimos hallazgos realizados gracias a los recientes avances tecnológicos y misiones espaciales, el estudio de los asteroides ha despertado el interés de la comunidad científica. Tal es así que las misiones a asteroides han proliferado en los últimos años (Hayabusa, Dawn, OSIRIX-REx, ARM, AIMS-DART, ...) incentivadas por su enorme interés científico. Los asteroides son constituyentes fundamentales en la evolución del Sistema Solar, son además grandes concentraciones de valiosos recursos naturales, y también pueden considerarse como objectivos estratégicos para la futura exploración espacial. Desde hace tiempo se viene especulando con la posibilidad de capturar objetos próximos a la Tierra (NEOs en su acrónimo anglosajón) y acercarlos a nuestro planeta, permitiendo así un acceso asequible a los mismos para estudiarlos in-situ, explotar sus recursos u otras finalidades. Por otro lado, las asteroides se consideran con frecuencia como posibles peligros de magnitud planetaria, ya que impactos de estos objetos con la Tierra suceden constantemente, y un asteroide suficientemente grande podría desencadenar eventos catastróficos. Pese a la gravedad de tales acontecimientos, lo cierto es que son ciertamente difíciles de predecir. De hecho, los ricos aspectos dinámicos de los asteroides, su modelado complejo y las incertidumbres observaciones hacen que predecir su posición futura con la precisión necesaria sea todo un reto. Este hecho se hace más relevante cuando los asteroides sufren encuentros próximos con la Tierra, y más aún cuando estos son recurrentes. En tales situaciones en las cuales fuera necesario tomar medidas para mitigar este tipo de riesgos, saber estimar con precisión sus trayectorias y probabilidades de colisión es de una importancia vital. Por ello, se necesitan herramientas avanzadas para modelar su dinámica y predecir sus órbitas con precisión, y son también necesarios nuevos conceptos tecnológicos para manipular sus órbitas llegado el caso. El objetivo de esta Tesis es proporcionar nuevos métodos, técnicas y soluciones para abordar estos retos. Las contribuciones de esta Tesis se engloban en dos áreas: una dedicada a la propagación numérica de asteroides, y otra a conceptos de deflexión y captura de asteroides. Por lo tanto, la primera parte de este documento presenta novedosos avances de apliación a la propagación dinámica de alta precisión de NEOs empleando métodos de regularización y perturbaciones, con especial énfasis en el método DROMO, mientras que la segunda parte expone ideas innovadoras para la captura de asteroides y comenta el uso del “ion beam shepherd” (IBS) como tecnología para deflectarlos. Abstract Driven by the latest discoveries enabled by recent technological advances and space missions, the study of asteroids has awakened the interest of the scientific community. In fact, asteroid missions have become very popular in the recent years (Hayabusa, Dawn, OSIRIX-REx, ARM, AIMS-DART, ...) motivated by their outstanding scientific interest. Asteroids are fundamental constituents in the evolution of the Solar System, can be seen as vast concentrations of valuable natural resources, and are also considered as strategic targets for the future of space exploration. For long it has been hypothesized with the possibility of capturing small near-Earth asteroids and delivering them to the vicinity of the Earth in order to allow an affordable access to them for in-situ science, resource utilization and other purposes. On the other side of the balance, asteroids are often seen as potential planetary hazards, since impacts with the Earth happen all the time, and eventually an asteroid large enough could trigger catastrophic events. In spite of the severity of such occurrences, they are also utterly hard to predict. In fact, the rich dynamical aspects of asteroids, their complex modeling and observational uncertainties make exceptionally challenging to predict their future position accurately enough. This becomes particularly relevant when asteroids exhibit close encounters with the Earth, and more so when these happen recurrently. In such situations, where mitigation measures may need to be taken, it is of paramount importance to be able to accurately estimate their trajectories and collision probabilities. As a consequence, advanced tools are needed to model their dynamics and accurately predict their orbits, as well as new technological concepts to manipulate their orbits if necessary. The goal of this Thesis is to provide new methods, techniques and solutions to address these challenges. The contributions of this Thesis fall into two areas: one devoted to the numerical propagation of asteroids, and another to asteroid deflection and capture concepts. Hence, the first part of the dissertation presents novel advances applicable to the high accuracy dynamical propagation of near-Earth asteroids using regularization and perturbations techniques, with a special emphasis in the DROMO method, whereas the second part exposes pioneering ideas for asteroid retrieval missions and discusses the use of an “ion beam shepherd” (IBS) for asteroid deflection purposes.

Methods for the analysis of multi-scale cell dynamics from fluorescence microscopy images

La embriogénesis es el proceso mediante el cual una célula se convierte en un ser un vivo. A lo largo de diferentes etapas de desarrollo, la población de células va proliferando a la vez que el embrión va tomando forma y se configura. Esto es posible gracias a la acción de varios procesos genéticos, bioquímicos y mecánicos que interaccionan y se regulan entre ellos formando un sistema complejo que se organiza a diferentes escalas espaciales y temporales. Este proceso ocurre de manera robusta y reproducible, pero también con cierta variabilidad que permite la diversidad de individuos de una misma especie. La aparición de la microscopía de fluorescencia, posible gracias a proteínas fluorescentes que pueden ser adheridas a las cadenas de expresión de las células, y los avances en la física óptica de los microscopios han permitido observar este proceso de embriogénesis in-vivo y generar secuencias de imágenes tridimensionales de alta resolución espacio-temporal. Estas imágenes permiten el estudio de los procesos de desarrollo embrionario con técnicas de análisis de imagen y de datos, reconstruyendo dichos procesos para crear la representación de un embrión digital. Una de las más actuales problemáticas en este campo es entender los procesos mecánicos, de manera aislada y en interacción con otros factores como la expresión genética, para que el embrión se desarrolle. Debido a la complejidad de estos procesos, estos problemas se afrontan mediante diferentes técnicas y escalas específicas donde, a través de experimentos, pueden hacerse y confrontarse hipótesis, obteniendo conclusiones sobre el funcionamiento de los mecanismos estudiados. Esta tesis doctoral se ha enfocado sobre esta problemática intentando mejorar las metodologías del estado del arte y con un objetivo específico: estudiar patrones de deformación que emergen del movimiento organizado de las células durante diferentes estados del desarrollo del embrión, de manera global o en tejidos concretos. Estudios se han centrado en la mecánica en relación con procesos de señalización o interacciones a nivel celular o de tejido. En este trabajo, se propone un esquema para generalizar el estudio del movimiento y las interacciones mecánicas que se desprenden del mismo a diferentes escalas espaciales y temporales. Esto permitiría no sólo estudios locales, si no estudios sistemáticos de las escalas de interacción mecánica dentro de un embrión. Por tanto, el esquema propuesto obvia las causas de generación de movimiento (fuerzas) y se centra en la cuantificación de la cinemática (deformación y esfuerzos) a partir de imágenes de forma no invasiva. Hoy en día las dificultades experimentales y metodológicas y la complejidad de los sistemas biológicos impiden una descripción mecánica completa de manera sistemática. Sin embargo, patrones de deformación muestran el resultado de diferentes factores mecánicos en interacción con otros elementos dando lugar a una organización mecánica, necesaria para el desarrollo, que puede ser cuantificado a partir de la metodología propuesta en esta tesis. La metodología asume un medio continuo descrito de forma Lagrangiana (en función de las trayectorias de puntos materiales que se mueven en el sistema en lugar de puntos espaciales) de la dinámica del movimiento, estimado a partir de las imágenes mediante métodos de seguimiento de células o de técnicas de registro de imagen. Gracias a este esquema es posible describir la deformación instantánea y acumulada respecto a un estado inicial para cualquier dominio del embrión. La aplicación de esta metodología a imágenes 3D + t del pez zebra sirvió para desvelar estructuras mecánicas que tienden a estabilizarse a lo largo del tiempo en dicho embrión, y que se organizan a una escala semejante al del mapa de diferenciación celular y con indicios de correlación con patrones de expresión genética. También se aplicó la metodología al estudio del tejido amnioserosa de la Drosophila (mosca de la fruta) durante el cierre dorsal, obteniendo indicios de un acoplamiento entre escalas subcelulares, celulares y supracelulares, que genera patrones complejos en respuesta a la fuerza generada por los esqueletos de acto-myosina. En definitiva, esta tesis doctoral propone una estrategia novedosa de análisis de la dinámica celular multi-escala que permite cuantificar patrones de manera inmediata y que además ofrece una representación que reconstruye la evolución de los procesos como los ven las células, en lugar de como son observados desde el microscopio. Esta metodología por tanto permite nuevas formas de análisis y comparación de embriones y tejidos durante la embriogénesis a partir de imágenes in-vivo. ABSTRACT The embryogenesis is the process from which a single cell turns into a living organism. Through several stages of development, the cell population proliferates at the same time the embryo shapes and the organs develop gaining their functionality. This is possible through genetic, biochemical and mechanical factors that are involved in a complex interaction of processes organized in different levels and in different spatio-temporal scales. The embryogenesis, through this complexity, develops in a robust and reproducible way, but allowing variability that makes possible the diversity of living specimens. The advances in physics of microscopes and the appearance of fluorescent proteins that can be attached to expression chains, reporting about structural and functional elements of the cell, have enabled for the in-vivo observation of embryogenesis. The imaging process results in sequences of high spatio-temporal resolution 3D+time data of the embryogenesis as a digital representation of the embryos that can be further analyzed, provided new image processing and data analysis techniques are developed. One of the most relevant and challenging lines of research in the field is the quantification of the mechanical factors and processes involved in the shaping process of the embryo and their interactions with other embryogenesis factors such as genetics. Due to the complexity of the processes, studies have focused on specific problems and scales controlled in the experiments, posing and testing hypothesis to gain new biological insight. However, methodologies are often difficult to be exported to study other biological phenomena or specimens. This PhD Thesis is framed within this paradigm of research and tries to propose a systematic methodology to quantify the emergent deformation patterns from the motion estimated in in-vivo images of embryogenesis. Thanks to this strategy it would be possible to quantify not only local mechanisms, but to discover and characterize the scales of mechanical organization within the embryo. The framework focuses on the quantification of the motion kinematics (deformation and strains), neglecting the causes of the motion (forces), from images in a non-invasive way. Experimental and methodological challenges hamper the quantification of exerted forces and the mechanical properties of tissues. However, a descriptive framework of deformation patterns provides valuable insight about the organization and scales of the mechanical interactions, along the embryo development. Such a characterization would help to improve mechanical models and progressively understand the complexity of embryogenesis. This framework relies on a Lagrangian representation of the cell dynamics system based on the trajectories of points moving along the deformation. This approach of analysis enables the reconstruction of the mechanical patterning as experienced by the cells and tissues. Thus, we can build temporal profiles of deformation along stages of development, comprising both the instantaneous events and the cumulative deformation history. The application of this framework to 3D + time data of zebrafish embryogenesis allowed us to discover mechanical profiles that stabilized through time forming structures that organize in a scale comparable to the map of cell differentiation (fate map), and also suggesting correlation with genetic patterns. The framework was also applied to the analysis of the amnioserosa tissue in the drosophila’s dorsal closure, revealing that the oscillatory contraction triggered by the acto-myosin network organized complexly coupling different scales: local force generation foci, cellular morphology control mechanisms and tissue geometrical constraints. In summary, this PhD Thesis proposes a theoretical framework for the analysis of multi-scale cell dynamics that enables to quantify automatically mechanical patterns and also offers a new representation of the embryo dynamics as experienced by cells instead of how the microscope captures instantaneously the processes. Therefore, this framework enables for new strategies of quantitative analysis and comparison between embryos and tissues during embryogenesis from in-vivo images.