Les maladies allergiques constituent une part importante des préoccupations de santé publique. Parmi elles, la maladie du poumon d’éleveur d’oiseaux (PEO) est une pathologie respiratoire liée à l’inhalation répétée de protéines antigéniques, localisées dans les fientes, les plumes et les squames des oiseaux. Actuellement, on connait peu de chose sur la nature des antigènes impliqués dans la maladie.La mise en évidence d’immunoglobulines G (IgG) spécifiques des agents étiologiques est un élément important dans la prise en charge diagnostique et thérapeutique. L’objectif de la thèse est d’identifier les protéines antigéniques de pigeon et de les produire par génie génétique afin de développer un test sérologique efficace et standardisé de type ELISA. L’approche immuno-protéomique développée combine l’utilisation d’analyses sérologiques (western blot, ELISA) et l’identification par spectrométrie de masse des protéines antigéniques et des protéines totales (shotgun) des fientes, squames et sérum de pigeon. Ainsi, 14 protéines antigéniques principalement localisées dans les fientes et les squames de pigeon ont été identifiées et 2 protéines recombinantes ont été produites, puis testées en ELISA. Les protéines recombinantes Immunoglobulin-lambda-like polypeptide-1 et Proprotéinase E sont très performantes pour le diagnostic sérologique du PEO avec une spécificité et une sensibilité respectives de 100% et 84%. Des protéines orthologues, potentiellement impliquées dans les réactions antigéniques croisées ont été identifiées à partir des fientes de perruche et de poule. Ce travail a permis d’identifier les protéines antigéniques des fientes de pigeon, d’apporter des précisions sur leur localisation, et de développer des antigènes recombinants standardisés et performants pour améliorer le diagnostic sérologique du PEO. Des études complémentaires, sur des modèles animaux et cellulaires, devront être menées pour explorer l'implication de ces protéines dans l'induction de la maladie. / Allergic diseases represent one of the most important public health concerns. Among them, Bird Fancier’s Lung disease (BFL) is a respiratory illness associated with repeated inhalation of antigenic proteins, present in bird droppings, feathers and blooms. Currently, little is known about the nature of the antigens involved in the disease. The detection of immunoglobulin G (IgG) specific etiologic agents is an important factor in diagnostic and therapeutic management.The objective of this thesis is to identify the antigenic proteins of pigeons and to produce them by genetic engineering in order to develop an effective and standardized ELISA-type serological test. The immuno-proteomic approach created combines the use of serological analyses (western blot, ELISA) and the identification by mass spectrometry of antigenic proteins and total proteins (shotgun) of pigeon droppings, blooms and serum. Thus, 14 antigenic proteins mainly located in droppings and blooms were identified, and 2 recombinant proteins were produced and then tested with ELISA.The recombinant proteins Immunoglobulin-lambda-like polypeptide-1 and Proproteinase E are highly effective for the serological diagnosis of BFL,with specificity and sensitivity rates of 100% and 84%, respectively. Orthologous proteins potentially involved in cross-antigen reactions were identified from budgerigar and hen droppings. This work made it possible to identify the antigenic proteins of pigeon droppings, to provide further details on their location, and to develop standardized and efficient recombinant antigens to improve the serological diagnosis of BFL.Additional studies on animals and cell models will be needed to explore the role of these proteins in the induction of the disease.

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1 Abstract Aim of the present study was to test antipredatory function of fulguration (or flash display), which means sudden exposition of conspicous body part on otherwise cryptic animal during escape. Adult squash bugs (Coreus marginatus; Heteroptera) were used as model prey, while as model predator served two species of passerine birds - blue tit (Cyanistes caerulus) and great tit (Parus major). Three approaches were undertaken. Test of palatability should have assessed the efficiency of squash bug chemical defence against bird predators. Experiment was carried out in experimental cage without interference of experimenter and without occurrence of fulguration. The results show that chemical defense of squash bug is less efficient than defense of other species of true bugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus, Graphosoma lineatum) and that the efficiency differs between two generations of squash bugs. In the test of efficiency of fulguration, the prey was forced by experimenter to fly in response to bird attack. Blue tits attacked the immobile prey more often than the flying and fulgurating one, but the same relation wasn't significant with great tits. The latencies of birds' returns to the bugs that landed after fulguration wasn't influenced by colour of the bugs' abdomen. Third experiment consisted of computer...

Le maintien de la connectivité à travers les paysages urbains, par nature très fragmentés, est un enjeu majeur de conservation de la biodiversité urbaine. On observe une prise en compte croissante de la connectivité dans les politiques d’aménagement du territoire, notamment avec l’établissement de la trame verte et bleue. De multiples outils cartographiques permettent de mettre en évidence les continuités écologiques (zones de forte connectivité), mais leur validation fonctionnelle fait souvent défaut. L’objectif de cette thèse est de valider les prédictions d’un modèle de chemin de moindre coût, sur plusieurs villes et avec différents modèles biologiques. Les espèces étudiées présentent différents modes et capacités de dispersion (vol, marche, reptation) et des exigences écologiques spécifiques (préférences pour les milieux herbacés ou boisés). Des protocoles de validation basés sur l’écologie du mouvement et la génétique du paysage sont appliqués, dans un souci de réplication (au sein de plusieurs villes) et de contrôle de la variabilité inter-individuelle. Nos résultats montrent des mouvements accrus au sein des continuités écologiques comparés à ceux observés en contextes paysagers prédits comme non connectés : les hérissons transloqués s’y déplacent sur des distances plus longues, plusieurs passereaux répondent à la repasse de chant sur de plus longues distances et les papillons de nuit montrent des taux de recapture beaucoup plus élevés. Par ailleurs, les analyses indirectes réalisées sur l’escargot petit-gris montrent une relation assez faible entre la différenciation génétique des populations et les modèles de connectivité. Ce travail fournit des arguments scientifiques pour soutenir la mise en place de continuités écologiques en milieu urbain. / Maintaining connectivity across urban landscape, intrinsically fragmented, is a major issue of urban biodiversity conservation. Connectivity is increasingly taken into account by policy and stakeholders, especially through the establishment of the blue-green infrastructure. Multiple mapping tools allow to detect ecological networks (highly connected areas), however their functionnal validation is often lacking. The objective of this study is to validate least cost path analysis predictions in several cities with different biological models. Studied species vary in terms of dispersal means and capacities (flight, walk, crawling) and habitat requirement (e.g. herbaceous or forested habitats). Several protocols based on movement ecology and landscape genetic are applied, focusing on replication (within and among cities) and control of inter-individual variability. Our results indicate that movement is increased in predicted ecological networks when compared with areas predicted as poorly connected: the translocated hedgehogs travelled longer distances, several passerine responded to song playback over longer distances, and moths showed increased recapture rates. Indirect analysis on the garden snail showed a weak relation between population genetic differentiation and connectivity models. This work provides scientific support for the establishment of ecological networks in urban landscapes.

The aim of this master’s thesis was to study the portrayal of discrimination that occurs because of multiple factors in Maya Angelou’s book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. The analysis has been conducted through the lens of Critical Race theory as the theory draws on the affiliation between race, racism and power. The main focal point of this essay was the intersectionality of race, gender and social class. The results of this study showed recurring events in which the characters in the book are marginalized. However, the study also showed the resilience and resistance the characters manifests in their exertion for an equal society. Additionally, this Master’s thesis addressed how the English as a Foreign Language classroom with the inclusion of Caged Bird and the usage of Critical Race pedagogy can start a development of fundamental values such as equality and gender roles whilst diminishing prejudice.

Context : Air being the free source is used in different ways commercially. In earlier days windmills generate power, water, and electricity. The excessive establishment of windmills for commercial purposes affected avifauna. Most of the birds lost their lives due to collisions with windmills. Turbines used to generate power near airports are also one of the causes for the extinction of birdlife. According to a survey in 2011 in Canada a total of 23,300 bird deaths were caused by wind turbines and also it is estimated that the number of deaths would increase to 2,33,000 in the following 10-15 years. Objectives : The main objective of this thesis is to find a suitable software solution to detect the birds on a series of grayscale images in real-time and in minimum full HD resolution with at least a 15 FPS rate. User-Driven Design Methodology is used for developing, tools are Python and Open-CV. Methods : In this research, a system is designed to detect the bird in an HD Video. Possible methods that can be considered are convolutional neural networks (CNN), vision based detection with background subtraction, contour detection and confusion matrix classification. These methods detect birds in raw images and with help of a classifier make it possible to see the bird in desired pixels with full resolution. We will investigate a bird classification method consisting of two steps, background subtraction, and then object classification. Background subtraction is a fundamental method to extract moving objects from a fixed background. For classification, we will use the YOLO v3 model version for object classification. Results : The project is expected to result in a system design and prototype for the bird identification on a grayscale video stream in at least full HD resolution in a minimum of 15 FPS. The bird should be distinguished from other moving objects like wind turbine blades, trees, or clouds. The proposed solution should identify up to 5 birds simultaneously. Conclusion : After completing each step and arriving at the classification, the methods we have tried, such as Haar Cascades and mobile-net SSD, were not providing us with the desired results. So we opted to use YOLO v3, which had the best accuracy in classifying different objects. By using the YOLO v3 classifier, we have detected the bird with 95% accuracy, blades with 90% accuracy, clouds with 80% accuracy, trees with 70% accuracy. Moreover, we conclude that there is a need for further empirical validation of the models in full-scale industry trials.

The purpose of this report has been to examine reason(s) behind the return of the red kite (Milvus milvus) to Hornborgasjön (a government-protected lake situated in the southwest of Sweden). The method of the study has been mainly based on observation-data reaching back to the latter part of the 19th century and ending with the year 2018, with the emphasis on the increasing numbers of nesting red kites during the 21st century. As a part of the study, email correspondence with ornithologists, mainly from Hornborgasjön field station, was also conducted, as well as comparison with other scientific research studies on the red kite. The results indicate that the red kite was a common bird of prey in the southern part of Sweden until the mid-19th century, after which the population started to decline. The main reasons seem to be both direct and indirect persecution. As a part of this the red kite, as well as many other birds of prey, were severely affected by different kinds of biocides used in the agriculture and in the forest industry. The return of the red kite seem to be a result of three factors, firstly it became protected in the 1920th, secondly a cease of the use of the most severely effecting biocides and thirdly a conservation project that started in Skåne in the mid-1970s. As the population of red kites increased in Skåne they started to extend their population northwards and thereby made their way back to Hornborgasjön. / <p>På grund av Covid-19 hölls presentationen via zoom</p>

Birdsong is one of the most fascinating communication tools in the animal kingdom, whether it is used for attracting a mate or in territory defense. In my dissertation, I present evidence that we can successfully study the role of birdsong in territorial behaviour, its seasonal variability, and ultimately its role in evolutionary processes thanks to modern bioacoustic and ecoacoustic approaches. By combining the bioacoustic approach with molecular analyses, I demonstrate that in the model system of two closely related passerine species, the heterospecific song convergence in their secondary contact zone is based on cultural transmission, and not on interspecific hybridisation and/or gene introgression. My dissertation further extends into the tropical zone, which is generally characterized by less pronounced environmental seasonality compared to the temperate zone. The study of potential seasonality in singing activity and the proportion of vocalizing species in this zone therefore requires year-round monitoring, which is possible thanks to the quite recent development of automated recording units (ARU). First, we confirmed that using ARU provides very similar estimates of community composition, species richness, and abundance to traditional field methods (point counts) in the specific conditions...

The aim of the thesis is to create a landscape that supports water retention and helps the river Dyje to create a branched, meandering watercourse. The design also deals with the permeability of the territory and the design of wooden objects that respond in function and shape to the created landscape.

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