Viewing DVM via general behaviors of zooplankton: A way bridging the success of individual and population

In this paper, we viewed the diel vertical migration (DVM) of copepod in the context of the animal's immediate behaviors of everyday concerns and constructed an instantaneous behavioral criterion effective for DVM and non-DVM behaviors. This criterion employed the function of 'venturous revenue' (VR), which is the product of the food intake and probability of the survival, to evaluate the gains and losses of the behaviors that the copepod could trade-off. The optimal behaviors are to find the optimal habitats to maximize VR. Two types of VRs are formulated and tested by the theoretical analysis and simulations. The sensed VR, monitoring the real-time changes of trade-offs and thereby determining the optimum habitat, is validated to be the effective objective function for the optimization of the behavior; whereas, the realized VR, quantifying the actual profit obtained by an optimal copepod in the sensed-VR-determined habitat, defines the life history of a specific age cohort. The achievement of a robust copepod overwintering stock through integrating the dynamics of the constituent age cohorts subjected to the instantaneous behavioral criterion for DVM clearly exemplified a possible way bridging the immediate pursuit of an individual and the end success of the population. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Uso de equipamentos de proteção individual na pulverização de videiras.

2006

Procedimentos para o alcance de metas quantitativas na Embrapa Gado de Leite.

Encontram-se descritos nesta publicação os principais indicadores das metas quantitativas objeto do trabalho individual, em equipe e coletivo dos empregados de nossa Unidade. É fruto da organização do Glossário de Indicadores disponibilizado pela SEA, em sua última versão, em 1de dezembro de 2000. A expectativa dos organizadores e da administração da Unidade é de que a leitura desse documento abra novos horizontes no planejamento, acompanhamento e avaliação das atividades de pesquisadores, técnicos, supervisores, gerentes de objetivos estratégicos e de núcleos temáticos, ensejando oportunidades de melhorias em metas com as quais temos tido, tradicionalmente, mais dificuldade em lidar. Seu objetivo, portanto, é facilitar a consulta dos colegas que contribuem com seus talento e esforço para que nossa Unidade tenha desempenho cada vez melhor, no cenário da Empresa. Consultas que demandam pormenores deverão ser conduzidas no documento da SEA, que se encontra na lntranet da Home Page da Embrapa Sede (http:/linternet.sede.embrapa.br/unid/seal index.htm). Uma das contribuições originais dos organizadores é o índice remissivo colocado no final da publicação, o qual contém as palavras-chave que identificam os indicadores, remetendo o leitor imediatamente àqueles de seu interesse.

Rubisco small subunit, chlorophyll a/b-binding protein and sucrose : fructan-6-fructosyl transferase gene expression and sugar status in single barley leaf cells in situ. Cell type specificity and induction by light

Chungui Lu, Olga A. Koroleva, John F. Farrar, Joe Gallagher, Chris J. Pollock, and A. Deri Tomos (2002). Rubisco small subunit, chlorophyll a/b-binding protein and sucrose : fructan-6-fructosyl transferase gene expression and sugar status in single barley leaf cells in situ. Cell type specificity and induction by light. Plant Physiology, 130 (3) pp.1335-1348 Sponsorship: BBSRC RAE2008

Individual variation in the milk yield response to bovine somatotropin in dairy cows

M. T. Rose, T. E. C. Weekes and P. Rowlinson (2004). Individual variation in the milk yield response to bovine somatotropin in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 87(7), 2024-2031. Sponsorship: industry RAE2008

Rapid compensatory evolution promotes the survival of conjugative plasmids

Conjugative plasmids play a vital role in bacterial adaptation through horizontal gene transfer. Explaining how plasmids persist in host populations however is difficult, given the high costs often associated with plasmid carriage. Compensatory evolution to ameliorate this cost can rescue plasmids from extinction. In a recently published study we showed that compensatory evolution repeatedly targeted the same bacterial regulatory system, GacA/GacS, in populations of plasmid-carrying bacteria evolving across a range of selective environments. Mutations in these genes arose rapidly and completely eliminated the cost of plasmid carriage. Here we extend our analysis using an individual based model to explore the dynamics of compensatory evolution in this system. We show that mutations which ameliorate the cost of plasmid carriage can prevent both the loss of plasmids from the population and the fixation of accessory traits on the bacterial chromosome. We discuss how dependent the outcome of compensatory evolution is on the strength and availability of such mutations and the rate at which beneficial accessory traits integrate on the host chromosome.

Det individuella möter det kollektiva. Självbiografiskt stoff i barndomsskildringar från det svenska folkhemmet

The subject of the article are autobiographical threads present in Swedish stories about childhood and adolescence published after 1986 that form part of the narrative pertaining to the origins, evolution and decline of the Swedish welfare state (folkhemmet). With reference to such concepts as autobiographical pact, autobiographical novel and auto-fiction, the author discusses the various ways six contemporary Swedish writers (PC Jersild, Kjell Johansson, Susanna Alakoski, Jonas Gardell and Lena Andersson) use their biographies. Special focus is given to the notion of how a cogitation upon individual fate becomes universal when placed in a social context. Another problem analysed by the author is the significance of autobiographical threads for building relationships between the writer and the reader and for the reception of a literary text.

Qualidade de vida relacionada com a saúde oral

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Psicologia, ramo de Psicologia Clínica e da Saúde

Application-Level Document Caching in the Internet

With the increasing demand for document transfer services such as the World Wide Web comes a need for better resource management to reduce the latency of documents in these systems. To address this need, we analyze the potential for document caching at the application level in document transfer services. We have collected traces of actual executions of Mosaic, reflecting over half a million user requests for WWW documents. Using those traces, we study the tradeoffs between caching at three levels in the system, and the potential for use of application-level information in the caching system. Our traces show that while a high hit rate in terms of URLs is achievable, a much lower hit rate is possible in terms of bytes, because most profitably-cached documents are small. We consider the performance of caching when applied at the level of individual user sessions, at the level of individual hosts, and at the level of a collection of hosts on a single LAN. We show that the performance gain achievable by caching at the session level (which is straightforward to implement) is nearly all of that achievable at the LAN level (where caching is more difficult to implement). However, when resource requirements are considered, LAN level caching becomes much more desirable, since it can achieve a given level of caching performance using a much smaller amount of cache space. Finally, we consider the use of organizational boundary information as an example of the potential for use of application-level information in caching. Our results suggest that distinguishing between documents produced locally and those produced remotely can provide useful leverage in designing caching policies, because of differences in the potential for sharing these two document types among multiple users.

Searching the Sky with CONFIGR-STARS

SyNAPSE program of the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (HRL Laboratories LLC, subcontract #801881-BS under DARPA prime contract HR0011-09-C-0001); CELEST, a National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center (SBE-0354378)

Work experience in transition year: a mixed methods study of subject and career choices

Transition Year (TY) has been a feature of the Irish Education landscape for 39 years. Work experience (WE) has become a key component of TY. WE is defined as a module of between five and fifteen days duration where students engage in a work placement in the broader community. It places a major emphasis on building relationships between schools and their external communities and concomitantly between students and their potential future employers. Yet, the idea that participation in a TY work experience programme could facilitate an increased awareness of potential careers has drawn little attention from the research community. This research examines the influence WE has on the subsequent subjects choices made by students along with the effects of that experience on the students’ identities and emerging vocational identities. Socio-cultural Learning Theory and Occupational Choice Theory frame the overall study. A mixed methods approach to data collection was adopted through the administration of 323 quantitative questionnaires and 32 individual semi-structured interviews in three secondary schools. The analysis of the data was conducted using a grounded theory approach. The findings from the research show that WE makes a significant contribution to the students’ sense of agency in their own lives. It facilitates the otherwise complex process of subject choice, motivates students to work harder in their senior cycle, introduces them to the concepts of active, experience-based and self-directed learning, while boosting their self-confidence and nurturing the emergence of their personal and vocational identities. This research is a gateway to further study in this field. It also has wide reaching implications for students, teachers, school authorities, parents and policy makers regarding teaching and learning in our schools and the value of learning beyond the walls of the classroom.

Investigation of polyhydroxyalkanoate production by an activated sludge microbial consortium treating artificial dairy wastewater

Petrochemical plastics/polymers are a common feature of day to day living as they occur in packaging, furniture, mobile phones, computers, construction equipment etc. However, these materials are produced from non-renewable materials and are resistant to microbial degradation in the environment. Considerable research has therefore been carried out into the production of sustainable, biodegradable polymers, amenable to microbial catabolism to CO2 and H2O. A key group of microbial polyesters, widely considered as optimal replacement polymers, are the Polyhydroxyalkaonates (PHAs). Primary research in this area has focused on using recombinant pure cultures to optimise PHA yields, however, despite considerable success, the high costs of pure culture fermentation have thus far hindered the commercial viability of PHAs thus produced. In more recent years work has begun to focus on mixed cultures for the optimisation of PHA production, with waste incorporations offering optimal production cost reductions. The scale of dairy processing in Ireland, and the high organic load wastewaters generated, represent an excellent potential substrate for bioconversion to PHAs in a mixed culture system. The current study sought to investigate the potential for such bioconversion in a laboratory scale biological system and to establish key operational and microbial characteristics of same. Two sequencing batch reactors were set up and operated along the lines of an enhanced biological phosphate removal (EBPR) system, which has PHA accumulation as a key step within repeated rounds of anaerobic/aerobic cycling. Influents to the reactors varied only in the carbon sources provided. Reactor 1 received artificial wastewater with acetate alone, which is known to be readily converted to PHA in the anaerobic step of EBPR. Reactor 2 wastewater influent contained acetate and skim milk to imitate a dairy processing effluent. Chemical monitoring of nutrient remediation within the reactors as continuously applied and EBPR consistent performances observed. Qualitative analysis of the sludge was carried out using fluorescence microscopy with Nile Blue A lipophillic stain and PHA production was confirmed in both reactors. Quantitative analysis via HPLC detection of crotonic acid derivatives revealed the fluorescence to be short chain length Polyhydroxybutyrate, with biomass dry weight accumulations of 11% and 13% being observed in reactors 1 and 2, respectively. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for medium chain length methyl ester derivatives revealed the presence of hydroxyoctanoic, -decanoic and -dodecanoic acids in reactor 1. Similar analyses in reactor 2 revealed monomers of 3-hydroxydodecenoic and 3-hydroxytetradecanoic acids. Investigation of the microbial ecology of both reactors as conducted in an attempt to identify key species potentially contributing to reactor performance. Culture dependent investigations indicated that quite different communities were present in both reactors. Reactor 1 isolates demonstrated the following species distributions Pseudomonas (82%), Delftia acidovorans (3%), Acinetobacter sp. (5%) Aminobacter sp., (3%) Bacillus sp. (3%), Thauera sp., (3%) and Cytophaga sp. (3%). Relative species distributions among reactor 2 profiled isolates were more evenly distributed between Pseudoxanthomonas (32%), Thauera sp (24%), Acinetobacter (24%), Citrobacter sp (8%), Lactococcus lactis (5%), Lysinibacillus (5%) and Elizabethkingia (2%). In both reactors Gammaproteobacteria dominated the cultured isolates. Culture independent 16S rRNA gene analyses revealed differing profiles for both reactors. Reactor 1 clone distribution was as follows; Zooglea resiniphila (83%), Zooglea oryzae (2%), Pedobacter composti (5%), Neissericeae sp. (2%) Rhodobacter sp. (2%), Runella defluvii (3%) and Streptococcus sp. (3%). RFLP based species distribution among the reactor 2 clones was as follows; Runella defluvii (50%), Zoogloea oryzae (20%), Flavobacterium sp. (9%), Simplicispira sp. (6%), Uncultured Sphingobacteria sp. (6%), Arcicella (6%) and Leadbetterella bysophila (3%). Betaproteobacteria dominated the 16S rRNA gene clones identified in both reactors. FISH analysis with Nile Blue dual staining resolved these divergent findings, identifying the Betaproteobacteria as dominant PHA accumulators within the reactor sludges, although species/strain specific allocations could not be made. GC analysis of the sludge had indicated the presence of both medium chain length as well short chain length PHAs accumulating in both reactors. In addition the cultured isolates from the reactors had been identified previously as mcl and scl PHA producers, respectively. Characterisations of the PHA monomer profiles of the individual isolates were therefore performed to screen for potential novel scl-mcl PHAs. Nitrogen limitation driven PHA accumulation in E2 minimal media revealed a greater propensity among isoates for mcl-pHA production. HPLC analysis indicated that PHB production was not a major feature of the reactor isolates and this was supported by the low presence of scl phaC1 genes among PCR screened isolates. A high percentage distribution of phaC2 mcl-PHA synthase genes was recorded, with the majority sharing high percentage homology with class II synthases from Pseudomonas sp. The common presence of a phaC2 homologue was not reflected in the production of a common polymer. Considerable variation was noted in both the monomer composition and ratios following GC analysis. While co-polymer production could not be demonstrated, potentially novel synthase substrate specificities were noted which could be exploited further in the future.

Correlations in low dimensional quantum systems

In this thesis I present the work done during my PhD in the area of low dimensional quantum gases. The chapters of this thesis are self contained and represent individual projects which have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in respected international journals. Various systems are considered, the first of which is a two particle model which possesses an exact analytical solution. I investigate the non-classical correlations that exist between the particles as a function of the tunable properties of the system. In the second work I consider the coherences and out of equilibrium dynamics of a one-dimensional Tonks-Girardeau gas. I show how the coherence of the gas can be inferred from various properties of the reduced state and how this may be observed in experiments. I then present a model which can be used to probe a one-dimensional Fermi gas by performing a measurement on an impurity which interacts with the gas. I show how this system can be used to observe the so-called orthogonality catastrophe using modern interferometry techniques. In the next chapter I present a simple scheme to create superposition states of particles with special emphasis on the NOON state. I explore the effect of inter-particle interactions in the process and then characterise the usefulness of these states for interferometry. Finally I present my contribution to a project on long distance entanglement generation in ion chains. I show how carefully tuning the environment can create decoherence-free subspaces which allows one to create and preserve entanglement.