Uncovering the genetic basis of adaptive change: on the intersection of landscape genomics and theoretical population genetics

A workshop recently held at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) was dedicated to understanding the genetic basis of adaptive change, taking stock of the different approaches developed in theoretical population genetics and landscape genomics and bringing together knowledge accumulated in both research fields. Indeed, an important challenge in theoretical population genetics is to incorporate effects of demographic history and population structure. But important design problems (e.g. focus on populations as units, focus on hard selective sweeps, no hypothesis-based framework in the design of the statistical tests) reduce their capability of detecting adaptive genetic variation. In parallel, landscape genomics offers a solution to several of these problems and provides a number of advantages (e.g. fast computation, landscape heterogeneity integration). But the approach makes several implicit assumptions that should be carefully considered (e.g. selection has had enough time to create a functional relationship between the allele distribution and the environmental variable, or this functional relationship is assumed to be constant). To address the respective strengths and weaknesses mentioned above, the workshop brought together a panel of experts from both disciplines to present their work and discuss the relevance of combining these approaches, possibly resulting in a joint software solution in the future.

Genetic diversity in caribou linked to past and future climate change

Climate-driven range fluctuations during the Pleistocene have continuously reshaped species distribution leading to populations of contrasting genetic diversity. Contemporary climate change is similarly influencing species distribution and population structure, with important consequences for patterns of genetic diversity and species' evolutionary potential1. Yet few studies assess the impacts of global climatic changes on intraspecific genetic variation2, 3, 4, 5. Here, combining analyses of molecular data with time series of predicted species distributions and a model of diffusion through time over the past 21 kyr, we unravel caribou response to past and future climate changes across its entire Holarctic distribution. We found that genetic diversity is geographically structured with two main caribou lineages, one originating from and confined to Northeastern America, the other originating from Euro-Beringia but also currently distributed in western North America. Regions that remained climatically stable over the past 21 kyr maintained a high genetic diversity and are also predicted to experience higher climatic stability under future climate change scenarios. Our interdisciplinary approach, combining genetic data and spatial analyses of climatic stability (applicable to virtually any taxon), represents a significant advance in inferring how climate shapes genetic diversity and impacts genetic structure.

Managing Human Factor in Accounting Change - Introducing Activity Based Costing System to Organization

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on identifioida yleisimmät toimintolaskennan implementointiin liittyvät ongelmat ja muutosprojektin onnistumiseen vaikuttavat tekijät. Tavoitteena on myös saada kokonaisvaltainen kuva siitä, miksi laskentatoimen muutokset ovat vaikeita implementoida ja miten ihmisten käyttäytyminen vaikuttaa muutosprosessin onnistumiseen. Sekä laskentatoimen että muutosjohtamisen teorioita tarkastellaan laaja-alaisen kuvan saamiseksi siitä, miten ihmisiin ja heidän käyttäytymiseensä liittyvät tekijät vaikuttavat muutosprojektin onnistumiseen tai epäonnistumiseen. Tutkielma käyttää empiirisiä tutkimustuloksia pohjana aiheen tarkastelulle. Tutkielma tarjoaa ehdotuksia tulevaisuuden tutkimukselle liittyen laskentatoimen muutoksen kriittisiin tekijöihin. Kiinnostavimpia alueita tulevaisuuden tutkimukselle on pohtia tarkemmin, miten työntekijöiden oletukset johtajien motiiveista muutoksen takana vaikuttavat muutosvastarintaan sekä miten organisaation rakenne ja muutosvastarintavaikuttavat muutoksen institutionaalistamiseen.

Thermal energy storage with phase change materials in building envelopes

Els materials de canvi de fase (PCM) han estat considerats per a l’emmagatzematge tèrmic en edificis des de 1980. Amb la inclusió dels PCM en plaques de guix, guix, formigó o altres materials que s’utilitzen per a cobrir les parets, l’emmagatzematge tèrmic pot ser part de les estructures fins i tot en edificis lleugers. Les noves tècniques de microencapsulació han obert moltes possibilitats en aplicacions per a edificis. El treball que es presenta és el desenvolupament d’un formigó innovador mesclat amb PCM microencapsulat, amb un punt de fusió de 26 oC i una entalpia de canvi de fase de 110 kJ/kg. El primer experiment va ser la inclusió del PCM microencapsulat dins del formigó i la construcció d’una caseta amb aquest nou formigó-PCM. Es va construir una segona caseta al costat de la primera amb les mateixes característiques i orientació però amb formigó convencional que serveix com a referència. Durant els anys 2005 i 2006 es va analitzar el comportament d’ambdues casetes i més tard es va edificar un mur Trombe a la paret sud de totes dues per investigar la seva influència durant la tardor i l’hivern.

More than Words? An Analysis on the Language and Structure of General Election Manifestos of the British Labour Party 1983-2005

The topic of this study is the language of the educational policies of the British Labour party in the General Election manifestos between the years 1983-2005. The twenty-year period studied has been a period of significant changes in world politics, and in British politics, especially for the Labour party. The emergence educational policy as a vote-winner of the manifestos of the nineties has been noteworthy. The aim of the thesis is two-fold: to look at the structure of the political manifesto as an example of genre writing and to analyze the content utilizing the approach of critical discourse analysis. Furthermore, the aim of this study is not to pinpoint policy positions but to look at what is the image that the Labour Party creates of itself through these manifestos. The analysis of the content is done by a method of close-reading. Based on the findings, the methodology for the analysis of the content was created. This study utilized methodological triangulation which means that the material is analyzed from several methodological aspects. The aspects used in this study are ones of lexical features (collocation, coordination, euphemisms, metaphors and naming), grammatical features (thematic roles, tense, aspect, voice and modal auxiliaries) and rhetoric (Burke, Toulmin and Perelman). From the analysis of the content a generic description is built. By looking at the lexical, grammatical and rhetorical features a clear change in language of the Labour Party can be detected. This change is foreshadowed already in the 1992 manifesto but culminates in the 1997 manifesto which would lead Labour to a landslide victory in the General Election. During this twenty-year period Labour has moved away from the old commitments and into the new sphere of “something for everybody”. The pervasiveness of promotional language and market inspired vocabulary into the sphere of manifesto writing is clear. The use of the metaphors seemed to be the tool for the creation of the image of the party represented through the manifestos. A limited generic description can be constructed from the findings based on the content and structure of the manifestos: especially more generic findings such as the use of the exclusive we, the lack of certain anatomical parts of argument structure, the use of the future tense and the present progressive aspect can shed light to the description of the genre of manifesto writing. While this study is only the beginning, it proves that the combination of looking at the lexical, grammatical and rhetorical features in the study of manifestos is a promising one.

Does phylogeographic structure relate to climatic niche divergence? A test using maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.)

Aim To disentangle the effects of environmental and geographical processes driving phylogenetic distances among clades of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster). To assess the implications for conservation management of combining molecular information with species distribution models (SDMs; which predict species distribution based on known occurrence records and on environmental variables). Location Western Mediterranean Basin and European Atlantic coast. Methods We undertook two cluster analyses for eight genetically defined pine clades based on climatic niche and genetic similarities. We assessed niche similarity by means of a principal component analysis and Schoener's D metric. To calculate genetic similarity, we used the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean based on Nei's distance using 266 single nucleotide polymorphisms. We then assessed the contribution of environmental and geographical distances to phylogenetic distance by means of Mantel regression with variance partitioning. Finally, we compared the projection obtained from SDMs fitted from the species level (SDMsp) and composed from the eight clade-level models (SDMcm). Results Genetically and environmentally defined clusters were identical. Environmental and geographical distances explained 12.6% of the phylogenetic distance variation and, overall, geographical and environmental overlap among clades was low. Large differences were detected between SDMsp and SDMcm (57.75% of disagreement in the areas predicted as suitable). Main conclusions The genetic structure within the maritime pine subspecies complex is primarily a consequence of its demographic history, as seen by the high proportion of unexplained variation in phylogenetic distances. Nevertheless, our results highlight the contribution of local environmental adaptation in shaping the lower-order, phylogeographical distribution patterns and spatial genetic structure of maritime pine: (1) genetically and environmentally defined clusters are consistent, and (2) environment, rather than geography, explained a higher proportion of variation in phylogenetic distance. SDMs, key tools in conservation management, better characterize the fundamental niche of the species when they include molecular information.

A novel approach to analysing the regimes of temporary streams in relation to their controls on the composition and structure of aquatic biota

Temporary streams are those water courses that undergo the recurrent cessation of flow or the complete drying of their channel. The structure and composition of biological communities in temporary stream reaches are strongly dependent on the temporal changes of the aquatic habitats determined by the hydrological conditions. Therefore, the structural and functional characteristics of aquatic fauna to assess the ecological quality of a temporary stream reach cannot be used without taking into account the controls imposed by the hydrological regime. This paper develops methods for analysing temporary streams' aquatic regimes, based on the definition of six aquatic states that summarize the transient sets of mesohabitats occurring on a given reach at a particular moment, depending on the hydrological conditions: Hyperrheic, Eurheic, Oligorheic, Arheic, Hyporheic and Edaphic. When the hydrological conditions lead to a change in the aquatic state, the structure and composition of the aquatic community changes according to the new set of available habitats. We used the water discharge records from gauging stations or simulations with rainfall-runoff models to infer the temporal patterns of occurrence of these states in the Aquatic States Frequency Graph we developed. The visual analysis of this graph is complemented by the development of two metrics which describe the permanence of flow and the seasonal predictability of zero flow periods. Finally, a classification of temporary streams in four aquatic regimes in terms of their influence over the development of aquatic life is updated from the existing classifications, with stream aquatic regimes defined as Permanent, Temporary-pools, Temporary-dry and Episodic. While aquatic regimes describe the long-term overall variability of the hydrological conditions of the river section and have been used for many years by hydrologists and ecologists, aquatic states describe the availability of mesohabitats in given periods that determine the presence of different biotic assemblages. This novel concept links hydrological and ecological conditions in a unique way. All these methods were implemented with data from eight temporary streams around the Mediterranean within the MIRAGE project. Their application was a precondition to assessing the ecological quality of these streams.

Effects of Temperature, Salinity and Fish in Structuring the Macroinvertebrate Community in Shallow Lakes: Implications for Effects of Climate Change

Climate warming may lead to changes in the trophic structure and diversity of shallow lakes as a combined effect of increased temperature and salinity and likely increased strength of trophic interactions. We investigated the potential effects of temperature, salinity and fish on the plant-associated macroinvertebrate community by introducing artificial plants in eight comparable shallow brackish lakes located in two climatic regions of contrasting temperature: cold-temperate and Mediterranean. In both regions, lakes covered a salinity gradient from freshwater to oligohaline waters. We undertook day and night-time sampling of macroinvertebrates associated with the artificial plants and fish and free-swimming macroinvertebrate predators within artificial plants and in pelagic areas. Our results showed marked differences in the trophic structure between cold and warm shallow lakes. Plant-associated macroinvertebrates and free-swimming macroinvertebrate predators were more abundant and the communities richer in species in the cold compared to the warm climate, most probably as a result of differences in fish predation pressure. Submerged plants in warm brackish lakes did not seem to counteract the effect of fish predation on macroinvertebrates to the same extent as in temperate freshwater lakes, since small fish were abundant and tended to aggregate within the macrophytes. The richness and abundance of most plant-associated macroinvertebrate taxa decreased with salinity. Despite the lower densities of plant-associated macroinvertebrates in the Mediterranean lakes, periphyton biomass was lower than in cold temperate systems, a fact that was mainly attributed to grazing and disturbance by fish. Our results suggest that, if the current process of warming entails higher chances of shallow lakes becoming warmer and more saline, climatic change may result in a decrease in macroinvertebrate species richness and abundance in shallow lakes

Effect of the structure of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifier bases on the demulsification of water-in-crude oil emulsions: elucidation of the demulsification mechanism

Water-in-crude oil emulsions are formed during petroleum production and asphaltenes play an important role in their stabilization. Demulsifiers are added to destabilize such emulsions,however the demulsification mechanism is not completely known. In this paper, the performances of commercial poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) demulsifiers were studied using synthetic water-in-oil emulsions and model-systems (asphaltenes in organic solvent). No change in the asphaltene aggregate size induced by the demulsifier was observed. The demulsification performance decreased as the asphaltene aggregate size increased, so it can be suggested that the demulsification mechanism is correlated to the voids between the aggregates adsorbed on the water droplets surface.

Does the edge effect influence plant community structure in a tropical dry forest?

Edge effects are considered a key factor in regulating the structure of plant communities in different ecosystems. However, regardless to few studies, edge influence does not seem to be decisive in semiarid regions such as the Brazilian tropical dry forest known as Caatinga but this issue remains inconclusive. The present study tests the null hypothesis that the plant community of shrubs and trees does not change in its structure due to edge effects. Twenty-four plots (20 x 20 m) were set up in a fragment of Caatinga, in which 12 plots were in the forest edges and 12 plots were inside the fragment. Tree richness, abundance and species composition did not differ between edge and interior plots. The results of this study are in agreement with the pattern previously found for semiarid environments and contrasts with previous results obtained in different environments such as Rainforests, Savanna and Forest of Araucaria, which indicate abrupt differences between the border and interior of the plant communities in these ecosystems, and suggest that the community of woody plants of the Caatinga is not ecologically affected by the presence of edges.

Development of experimental structure and influence of high CO2 concentration in maize cro

Maize is a C4 plant that shows few or no response to high [CO2]. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the photosynthetic rate and yield of maize under high [CO2] and develop open-top chambers (OTC) to create an atmosphere enriched with CO2. The experiment was conducted between October 2008 and March 2009. The OTCs were developed in modular scheme. Measurement of photosynthetic rates, transpiration, stomata conductance, grain yield and dry matter were performed. The experimental design was randomized blocks with four replications and three treatments: P1 - plants grown in OTC with 700 ppm [CO2], P2 - plants grown in OTC with environmental [CO2], and P3 - control, cultivated in open field. The results were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey's test (Pr< 0.05). The chambers can reduce by 25% the photosynthetically active radiation and increase the air and leaf temperatures. Plants under high [CO2] (P1) showed the highest photosynthetic rates and the lowest stomata conductance and transpiration. The total weight of grains (g) and dry mass of shoots (g) showed no increases for P1, despite their higher photosynthetic rates.

Strategic Change Management Readiness Evaluation in Organizations

The objective of this study and paper was to find out how the strategic change management readiness in organizations can be evaluated. Based on theory and prior CMP model, the framework of strategic change management and issues related to it was constructed. Additionally a synthesis of the most important phases and interventions in strategic change process and project was created. These phases were starting point, planning, implementation and evaluation and securing phases. Qualitative approach was utilized in the empirical part of the study due to the need for in-depth information about the topics surveyed through semi-structured interview. There were 18 responders from the top management of large Finnish companies. In this study interventions, strengths and weaknesses during the various phases of strategic change projects were revealed. Additionally the interviewees’ opinion on the importance of each of the interventions in strategic change project success was asked. According to this study, the most important phases recognized through researching theoretical literature, prior CMP model and empirical information in starting point phase were analysis of current and desired state and need for change accompanied with guiding coalition formulation. In planning phase the most important interventions were project organization formulation, action plan creation, analysis of prior and current strategic change projects and organizational structure analysis. In the change project implementation phase the interventions of importance were launch, quick wins, sense of urgency creation, change resistance management and change communications. In the final evaluation and securing phase project evaluation was the most important intervention. Based on the results a tool for creating change management readiness profile was created.

GIS assessing traditional and modern agricultural land use/land cover change. A case study 1959-2005: Rekijoki, Somero, SW-Finland

Finland’s rural landscape has gone through remarkable changes from the 1950’s, due to agricultural developments. Changed farming practices have influenced especially traditional landscape management, and modifications in the arable land structure and grasslands transitions are notable. The review of the previous studies reveal the importance of the rural landscape composition and structure to species and landscape diversity, whereas including the relevance in presence of the open ditches, size of the field and meadow patches, topology of the natural and agricultural landscape. This land-change study includes applying remote sensed data from two time series and empirical geospatial analysis in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The aims of this retrospective research is to detect agricultural landscape use and land cover change (LULCC) dynamics and discuss the consequences of agricultural intensification to landscape structure covering from the aspects of landscape ecology. Measurements of LULC are derived directly from pre-processed aerial images by a variety of analytical procedures, including statistical methods and image interpretation. The methodological challenges are confronted in the process of landscape classification and combining change detection approaches with landscape indices. Particular importance is paid on detecting agricultural landscape features at a small scale, demanding comprehensive understanding of such agroecosystems. Topological properties of the classified arable land and valley are determined in order to provide insight and emphasize the aspect the field edges in the agricultural landscape as important habitat. Change detection dynamics are presented with change matrix and additional calculations of gain, loss, swap, net change, change rate and tendencies are made. Transition’s possibility is computed following Markov’s probability model and presented with matrix, as well. Thesis’s spatial aspect is revealed with illustrative maps providing knowledge of location of the classified landscape categories and location of the dynamics of the changes occurred. It was assured that in Rekijoki valley’s landscape, remarkable changes in landscape has occurred. Landscape diversity has been strongly influenced by modern agricultural landscape change, as NP of open ditches has decreased and the MPS of the arable plot has decreased. Overall change in the diversity of the landscape is determined with the decrease of SHDI. Valley landscape considered as traditional land use area has experienced major transitional changes, as meadows class has lost almost one third of the area due to afforestation. Also, remarkable transitions have occurred from forest to meadow and arable land to built area. Boundaries measurement between modern and traditional landscape has indicated noticeable proportional increase in arable land-forest edge type and decrease in arable land-meadow edge type. Probability calculations predict higher future changes for traditional landscape, but also for arable land turning into built area.

Structure and dynamics of a woody plant community of a tropical semi-deciduous seasonal forest in the "Estação Ecológica do Panga", municipality of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Studies of plant community dynamics are essential in understanding the demographic patterns of species since changes in demographic rates can affect the floristic composition and future structure. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the changes in the community structure and floristic composition of woody plants in a tropical semi-deciduous forest in Uberlândia in central Brazil, during a 10-years period. The data were collected in 1989 and in 2000 in 50 quadrats (10 m x 10 m) where all trees with a minimum circumference at breast height of 10 cm were sampled. In 1989, 93 species and 1103 individuals were registered. Over a period of 10 years, seven new species were added to the community, although eight disappeared. The main change that occurred during this period in the floristic composition was the replacement of savannah species occurring in forest gaps by those from the forest understory.

Pursuit of change versus organizational inertia: a study on strategic renewal in the Finnish broadcasting company

This doctoral dissertation explores the intra-organizational dynamics of a strategic renewal process. The main research question is how the pursuit of change and organizational inertia co-exist, intertwine, and collide in organizational cognition and capabilities during the strategic renewal. It is a comprehensive study on how organizational capabilities, organizational cognition, and structure enhance and inhibit change. Theoretically, the study is positioned in the modern tradition of strategy research, using the dynamic capability view and the organizational and managerial cognition research tradition as the main theoretical frames. Empirically, the study is a longitudinal case study of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), following the organizational changes during the years of 2011-1014. The analysis is based on both quantitative and qualitative data, which was collected during the research process using surveys, interviews, and archives. The main theoretical contribution is the application of the two theoretical approaches in one study. Empirically, the study contributes to operationalization of the concepts related to the dynamic capability view and organizational cognition, in a media context that is going through drastic changes due to digitalization. Furthermore, the case of a public broadcasting company extends the application of the theoretical concepts to the context of public management. The results suggest that renewal is a complex process, in which an organization’s perceptions intertwine with the strategic actions and decision-making. The change evolves pathdependently: the past experiences, routines, and organizational structures tend to dictate the future visions, desires, and actions. The study also reveals how the public nature of an organization adds to the tensions between change and organizational inertia, and hampers the decision-making. The doctoral dissertation consists of six research papers, each of which explores the phenomenon under study from a different perspective.