Résumé indisponible. / In this thesis we have concerned ourselves with university timetabling problems both course timetabling and examination timetabling problems. Most of the timetabling problems are computationally NP-complete problems, which means that the amount of computation required to find solutions increases exponentially with problem size. These are idiosyncratic nature problems, for example different universities have their own set of constraints, their own definition of good timetable, feasible timetable and their own choice about the use of constraint type (as a soft or hard constraint). Unfortunately, it is often the case that a problem solving approach which is successfully applied for one specific problem may not become suitable for others. This is a motivation, we propose a generalized problem which covers many constraints used in different universities or never used in literature. Many university timetabling problems are sub problems of this generalized problem. Our proposed algorithms can solve these sub problems easily, moreover constraints can be used according to the desire of user easily because these constraints can be used as reference to penalty attached with them as well. It means that give more penalty value to hard constraints than soft constraint. Thus more penalty value constraints are dealt as a hard constraint by algorithm. Our algorithms can also solve a problem in two phases with little modification, where in first phase hard constraints are solved. In this work we have preferred and used two phase technique to solve timetabling problems because by using this approach algorithms have broader search space in first phase to satisfy hard constraints while not considering soft constraints at all. Two types of algorithms are used in literature to solve university timetabling problem, exact algorithms and approximation algorithms. Exact algorithms are able to find optimal solution, however in university timetabling problems exact algorithms constitute brute-force style procedures. And because these problems have the exponential growth rates of the search spaces, thus these kinds of algorithms can be applied for small size problems. On the other side, approximation algorithms may construct optimal solution or not but they can produce good practically useable solutions. Thus due to these factors we have proposed approximation algorithms to solve university timetabling problem. We have proposed metaheuristic based techniques to solve timetabling problem, thus we have mostly discussed metaheuristic based algorithms such as evolutionary algorithms, simulated annealing, tabu search, ant colony optimization and honey bee algorithms. These algorithms have been used to solve many other combinatorial optimization problems other than timetabling problem by modifying a general purpose algorithmic framework. We also have presented a bibliography of linear integer programming techniques used to solve timetabling problem because we have formulated linear integer programming formulations for our course and examination timetabling problems. We have proposed two stage algorithms where hard constraints are satisfied in first phase and soft constraints in second phase. The main purpose to use this two stage technique is that in first phase hard constraints satisfaction can use more relax search space because in first phase it does not consider soft constraints. In second phase it tries to satisfy soft constraints when maintaining hard constraints satisfaction which are already done in first phase. (...)

La malnutrition est identifiée comme l’un des facteurs potentiellement responsables des mortalités élevées de colonies d’abeilles des dernières années au Québec. Pour contrer cela, les apiculteurs donnent des suppléments de pollen à leurs colonies, mais les impacts d’une telle pratique à diverses périodes sont méconnus. Les effets de la disponibilité du pollen sur le développement de colonies d’abeilles ont été mesurés pendant 3 différentes périodes : au printemps, durant la pollinisation de la canneberge et à la fin de l’été. À chacune des périodes correspondait une expérience distincte utilisant 40 colonies. Pour chaque expérience, des conditions d’abondance de supplément de pollen et de restriction de pollen naturel étaient créées chez les colonies pendant un mois selon un plan d’expérience factorielle 2x2. L’élevage du couvain et la récolte de miel ont été mesurés jusqu’à la fin de l’été (début de l’été suivant pour l’expérience de fin d’été). Au printemps, les colonies restreintes en pollen naturel ont élevé 18% moins de couvain (p<0.05) pendant la période de restriction et 11% de moins à la fin de l’été alors que l’utilisation du supplément n’a eu aucun effet (p>0.05). Les colonies supplémentées durant la pollinisation des canneberges ont élevé moins de couvain (p<0.05) à la fin de l’été. Pour l’expérience de fin d’été, les colonies supplémentées ont eut une meilleure reprise printanière (p<0.05) de l’élevage du couvain (60% de plus) alors qu’une restriction en pollen naturel avait un effet négatif (p>0.05). Les récoltes de miel ont été augmentées (p<0.05) de 1,3 kg pendant la pollinisation de la canneberge alors qu’elles ont été diminuées (p<0.05)par une restriction en pollen naturel de 4,2 kg à la fin de l’été et de 15 kg au printemps. / The use of pollen supplement is a countermeasure to honey bee malnutrition which is identified as one of the factors causing high colonies losses over the past few years in Quebec. There is little documentation on the results of using pollen supplement during different periods. The effects of pollen availability and supplementation on the development of honey bee colonies were examined during 3 different periods: in spring, during cranberry pollination and in late summer. Each period was a distinct study using 40 different colonies. In each study, pollen supplemented and pollen restricted conditions were created for one month in 10 colonies per treatment group in a 2x2 factorial design experiment. Brood rearing and honey yield were monitored until the end of summer for the spring and the cranberry pollination studies and until the end of the following spring for the late summer study. In the spring study, pollen restricted colonies reared 18% less brood (p<0.05) during the restriction period and 11% less brood (p<0.05) by the end of summer while pollen supplement had no effect (p>0.05). Colonies supplemented during cranberry pollination study reared less brood (p<0.05) by the end of summer. In the late summer study, supplemented colonies had a greater (p<0.05) spring build-up (60% more brood) and pollen restriction negatively influence (p<0.05) brood rearing. Honey yield was decreased (p<0.05) by 15 kg in colonies exposed to a pollen restriction in spring. It was increased by 1.3 kg (p<0.05) in pollen supplemented colonies during the cranberry pollination study and was reduced by 4.2 kg (p<0.05) in pollen restricted colonies in the late summer study. In conclusion, pollen supplement improved colonies population when fed in late summer and not during spring or in cranberry pollination and was without impact on honey yield.

Measuring the diversity of bees was provided in two rapeseed fields (Dešenice, Miletice) in western Bohemia, where various species of bees were caught at eight different locations during two periods (March - April, May June). The bees were collected by using Moerickeho cups (yellow traps) with a concentrated solution of water and detergent.

This diploma thesis ,,buckwheat attractivity for bees" deals mainly with native nectar plants for the processing of bees to honey. Work is folded in two parts. The theoretical part deals with the migration of colonies, both for nectar crops and plants with bee pollination needs. In ractical part of this thesis microscopic pollen analysis were performed and contents of pollen grains in honey from colonies, which were relocated to buckwheat growth was evaluated. Comparison of this honey with honey from the hives with similaar location, but without access to buckwheat growth was done.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Bees of the genus Apis are widely distributed throughout the tropical regions of the planet, playing fundamental role as pollinators. In Brazil they are a polihibrid formed by the crossbreed of African subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata and European subspecies, where due generalist habits the introgression of alleles of the African subspecies has led to a predominance of the your characteristics in relation to European subspecies. The scope of this work was to characterize the divergence among 71 colonies of Africanized honey bees located in three distinct ecoregions (Forest zone, Ecotone and Semiarid) of the State of Sergipe Brazilian northeast, through morphological and behavioral analyses, in order to assess the relationship between the effects of seasonality and the different patterns morphoclimatic ecoregions in morphology, behavior and distribution of these groups of bees. In this work we used geometric morphometric techniques observing the anatomical landmarks of the wing venation with the aid of software Tps / DIG and evaluation of hygienic behavior by pin-killing method in two distinct seasonal periods, the dry and rainy. The correlation between the hygienic behavior indexes and environmental variables was obtained by Spearman correlation and the causal relations by path analysis, with the aid of software R. The morphometric analyzes were performed by means of multivariate analysis with the aid of software MORPHOJ and PAST. Thus, the results of this study demonstrated that the high gene flow evidenced between studied colonies and pronounced differences in apiaries and ecoregions with influence of altitude on shape (r=0,06239; p= 0.05) and size (0.001) contributed therefore for the separation of these groups as result of phenotypic plasticity rather than genetic divergence among populations of Africanized honey bees. Furthermore, the results also demonstrated significant difference in hygienic behavior of these populations between the dry and rainy season (p= 0,022; α=0,05) and between ecoregions (p=0,001; α=0,05) with the influence of temperature (ρ=0,065; p=0,471; α=0,05) and altitude (ρ=-0,294; p=0,001 α=0,05) upon pluviosity (ρ=0,274; p=0,002; α=0,05) that demonstrated be the main modulator of hygienic behavior, thus reinforcing the influence of environmental factors on the expression of this trait. Therefore, it is concluded by the influence of stochastic factors in the morphology, behavior and distribution of Africanized honey bees, where polyphenisms found denote the high genetic variability of these populations, a fact that can be exploited in future conservation, handling and breeding programs. / As abelhas do genero Apis estao amplamente distribuidas pelas regioes tropicais do planeta, sendo fundamentais no papel de polinizadores. No Brasil, estas sao um poliibrido formado pelo cruzamento entre a subespecie africana Apis mellifera scutellata e as subespecies europeias. Devido a habitos generalistas, a introgressao de alelos da subespecie africana tem levado a uma predominancia nas caracteristicas desta em relacao as europeias. O presente trabalho teve como escopo a caracterizacao da divergencia entre 71 colonias de A. mellifera africanizadas, situadas em tres distintas ecorregioes (Zona da Mata, Agreste e Sertao) do Estado de Sergipe, nordeste do Brasil, por meio de analises morfologicas e comportamentais, com o objetivo de avaliar as relacoes entre os efeitos da sazonalidade e dos distintos padroes morfoclimaticos das ecorregioes na morfologia, comportamento e distribuicao desses grupos de abelhas. Neste estudo foram utilizadas tecnicas de morfometria geometrica, com observacao dos marcos anatomicos da venacao alar, com o auxilio do software Tps/DIG e avaliacao do comportamento higienico pelo metodo de perfuracao de crias em dois periodos estacionais, o seco e o chuvoso. A correlacao entre os indices de comportamento higienico e as variaveis ambientais foi obtida por meio da correlacao de Spearman e as relacoes de causalidade por meio da analise de trilha, com o auxilio do software R. As analises morfometricas foram realizadas por meio de tecnicas de analise multivariada, com o auxilio dos softwares MORPHOJ e PAST. Assim, os resultados deste trabalho demonstraram que o intenso fluxo genico evidenciado entre as colonias estudadas e as diferencas pronunciadas nos distintos apiarios e ecorregioes, com influencia da altitude na forma (r=0,06239; p= 0.05) e tamanho (0.001) contribuiram, portanto, para a separacao desses grupos como resultado da plasticidade fenotipica e nao de divergencia genetica entre as populacoes de abelhas africanizadas. Alem disso, os resultados tambem demonstraram haver diferenca significativa no comportamento higienico dessas populacoes, entre os periodos seco e chuvoso (p= 0,022 ¿=0,05) e entre as ecorregioes (p=0,001; ¿=0,05), com influencia da temperatura ( Ï=0,065 p=0,471; ¿=0,05) e altitude ( Ï=-0,294; p=0,001; ¿=0,05) sobre a pluviosidade ( Ï=0,274 p=0,002; ¿=0,05) sendo esta o principal modulador do comportamento higienico, reforcando a influencia de fatores ambientais na manifestacao dessa caracteristica. Portanto, conclui-se pela influencia de fatores estocasticos na morfologia, comportamento e distribuicao das abelhas africanizadas, onde os polifenismos encontrados denotam a grande variabilidade genetica dessas populacoes, fato esse que pode ser explorado em futuros programas de conservacao, manejo e melhoramento.

L’abeille fait partie des organismes non-cibles pour lesquels le risque présenté par les pesticides est évalué avant leur mise sur le marché. Actuellement, la procédure d’évaluation du risque chez l’abeille est remise en cause, notamment à cause du décalage qui existe avec l’état des connaissances scientifiques. Ce travail se focalise sur le cas précis de l’exposition des abeilles aux pesticides lors de pulvérisations. Le but étant d’identifier les points d’amélioration et de proposer des alternatives pertinentes à la procédure actuelle régissant l’homologation des produits phytopharmaceutiques.Tout d’abord, nous avons pu montrer qu’une grande variabilité de la DL50 pouvait exister en fonction des pesticides. Ceci nous a amené à proposer l’utilisation d’une nouvelle valeur toxicologique critique plus protectrice (BMD5). Dans un deuxième temps, c’est l’exposition des abeilles aux pesticides pulvérisés qui nous a intéressés. La surface d’exposition d’une abeille a été déterminée, permettant ainsi le calcul d’une dose d’exposition par individu sur la base des doses par hectare. Puis, le cas particulier d’une exposition aux pesticides via les ailes a été étudié révélant sa potentielle importance dans les scénarios d’exposition. Enfin, nous avons montré que l’abeille métabolise rapidement les pesticides contrairement à ce que le séquençage de son génome peut laisser penser.Ce travail apporte de nouveaux éclairages concernant l’évaluation du risque présenté par les pesticides chez l’abeille et souligne l’importance d’une évaluation pertinente à la fois de la toxicité des pesticides et de l’exposition pour l’établissement de rapports de risque pertinents. / The honey bee is both an animal of production and a polylectic pollinator. It is partly because of this double status that the honey bee is one of the non-target organisms for which the effects of pesticides are evaluated before they are placed on market. Today, the procedure of risk assessment in the honey bee is reconsidered, in particular because of the gap that exists with the scientific knowledgeThis work is focused on the special case of exposure of the honey bee subjected to pesticide sprays. The intended aim is to identify points that can be improved and to propose relevant alternatives to the current registration procedure of plant protection products. First, we showed that a great variability of the DL50 exists according to pesticides. This led us to propose the use of a more protective critical toxicicty value as reference (BMD5). Second, we were interested in the exposure to pesticides when the honeybee is subjected to pesticide sprays. The exposure surface area of a bee was determined allowing the calculation of an individual dose of exposure on the basis of field rates (g/ha). Then, we focused on the specific case of an exposure to pesticides through the wings and reveal its potential importance in the exposure assessment. Finally, we showed that the honey bee has a fast pesicide metabolism contrary to what the sequencing of its genome can let think. This work provides new insights concerning the pesticide risk assessment in honey bees and highlights the importance to perform a relevant assessment of the pesticide toxicity and exposure for the calculation of pertinent the hazard quotients.

Lactobacillus kunkeei is one of the most abundant bacteria within the honey crop of the honey bee. Genome sequencing of L. kunkeei isolated from honey bees all over the world showed several genes unique for L. kunkeei. Among these orphan genes, an array of four to five highly conserved genes coding for giant extracellular proteins were found. Cryogenic electron microscopy imaging of a giant-protein preparation from L. kunkeei A00901 showed an overall structure similar to a long string with a knot at the end. Further analysis showed high similarity between the different giants at the N-terminus, and secondary structure predictions showed that the same region was rich in β-sheets.  These results, combined with the knowledge of other large extracellular proteins, led to the hypothesis that the “knot” domain is located at the N-terminus and that these proteins are used by the cell to latch on to the intestine lining or other cells in the honey crop. In this study, predictions were made to locate the N-terminal domains of two of these giant proteins. Four different constructs were made for each protein, where three constructs were designed for expression and purification of the N-terminal domain with different end-positions, and one construct was for a predicted β-solenoid domain located downstream from the N-terminal domain. The protein constructs were recombinantly produced in E. coli, and three of the N-terminal constructs from both proteins were purified. Thermal stability was tested using nano differential scanning fluorimetry (nanoDSF), Thermofluor, and circular dichroism (CD), which all showed characteristic melting curves at low melting temperatures, ranging from 33 °C to 44 °C, for all three constructs. During CD measurements, all three constructs showed refolding after thermal denaturation and a higher abundance of antiparallel β-sheets over α-helices. Looking at the protein structure, small angle X-ray scattering data indicated that all three proteins formed elongated structures. These results indicate that a folded domain has been found for both proteins. Although, further analysis will be required to determine the boundaries of the N-terminal domains, and to elucidate if these domains have anything to do with ligand binding and the L. kunkeei ability to latch onto the honey crop.

Insekten besitzen das Potenzial, als alternative Nahrungsquelle einen Beitrag zur Sicherstellung der Ernährung der wachsenden Weltbevölkerung zu leisten. Rechtlich gelten sie gemäß Vorgaben der Verordnung (EU) 2015/2283 als neuartige Lebensmittel und dürfen im Rahmen der Übergangsvorschriften dieser Verordnung unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen bereits in der Europäischen Union vermarktet werden. Da sie als wirbellose Tiere bisher aus dem Anwendungsbereich vieler Vorgaben herausfallen, stellen die rechtliche Beurteilung und vergleichbare Ergebnisgenerierung im Rahmen der amtlichen Lebensmittelüberwachung besondere Herausforderungen dar. Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation ist es, die Nutzung, das Inverkehrbringen und die Planung von Untersuchungsschwerpunkten durch die amtlichen Lebensmittelüberwachungs- sowie Untersuchungsbehörden, Produzenten und Lebensmittelunternehmer zu erleichtern, indem die aktuelle Rechtslage zum Thema Speiseinsekten zusammengefasst und die Anwendbarkeit von Methoden der Amtlichen Sammlung von Untersuchungsverfahren geprüft wird. Außerdem werden die Besonderheiten der Spezies Honigbienen-Drohnenbrut herausgestellt. Zur Beurteilung der aktuellen Rechtslage erfolgte neben der Einbeziehung der EU-Gesetzgebung eine Abfrage von 28 EU-Mitgliedsstaaten sowie der zuständigen Behörden für die Lebensmittelüberwachung der 16 Bundesländer in Deutschland bezüglich des aktuellen Umgangs mit Speiseinsekten und zu Änderungen, die im Zusammenhang mit den Übergangsregelungen der Verordnung (EU) 2015/2283 stehen. Zur Prüfung der Anwendbarkeit der Methoden der Amtlichen Sammlung von Untersuchungsverfahren nach § 64 Lebens- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch für die Parameter Wasser, Asche, Rohprotein, Fett und Natrium als standardisierte Methoden zur Bestimmung der Nährwerte, wurden vier Insektenspezies ausgewählt. Für diese lag bereits ein Antrag als neuartige Lebensmittel vor und sie repräsentierten die Variabilität dieser Lebensmittelmatrix. Nach Probenvorbereitung und Homogenitätstest erfolgte ein Werteabgleich mit vier Laboren. Um die Ergebnisse mit den entsprechenden Vorgaben zu vergleichen, wurden mit der Hilfe von unabhängigen Zielstandardabweichungen z-Scores berechnet und zur Leistungsbewertung herangezogen. In einem Übersichtsartikel wurden zudem Informationen zu der Nährstoffzusammensetzung, Sensorik, bisherigen Verwendungsmöglichkeiten, zum rechtlichen Rahmen und zu Risiken von Drohnenbrut als Lebensmittel zusammengefasst. Außerdem erfolgten mittels Flüssigchromatographie mit Massenspektrometrie-Kopplung Untersuchungen zum Nachweis von Pestizidrückständen in 37 Drohnenbrutproben. Die Darstellung der geltenden rechtlichen Aspekte sowie deren Umsetzung in den EU-Mitgliedsstaaten sowie in den Bundesländern in Deutschland zeigen, dass der gesetzliche Rahmen des Inverkehrbringens von Speiseinsekten bisher nicht mit dem von Lebensmitteln anderer Kategorien vergleichbar ist. Die Notwendigkeit der Anpassungen der gültigen Vorgaben vor allem in den Bereichen Kennzeichnung, allgemeinen Hygienevorschriften, tierseuchen-, tierschutz- sowie umweltrechtlichen Aspekten wurde herausgestellt. Es konnte außerdem nachgewiesen werden, dass die überprüften Methoden zur Bestimmung der Parameter Wasser, Asche, Rohprotein, Gesamtfett und Natrium die spezifischen Anforderungen für gefrorene Speiseinsekten erfüllen. Damit können sie nach einer Verifizierung als standardisierte Methoden von Laboren eingesetzt werden. Im Rahmen der eigenen Untersuchungen konnten keine Pestizidrückstände in Drohnenbrut detektiert werden. Auch die Zusammenfassung der bisherigen Studien ergaben keine Gefahren für die Verbraucher. Aufgrund der geringen Datenmengen sollten jedoch weitere Studien und regelmäßige Kontrollen durchgeführt werden. Die vorliegende Dissertation liefert für Produzenten, Unternehmer, gesetzgebende Institutionen und überwachende Behörden einen Überblick darüber, welche Vorgaben aktuell gelten und welche rechtlichen Überarbeitungen zukünftig notwendig sind. Außerdem wurde mit Hilfe der neuen Erkenntnisse die Beurteilung von Insektenproben nicht nur vereinfacht, sondern auch vereinheitlicht und damit vergleichbar gemacht. Da bisher keine Gefahren ausgehend von Drohnenbrut als Lebensmittel festgestellt werden konnten, ist deren Nutzung nicht nur ökologisch und ernährungsphysiologisch sinnvoll, sondern kann daneben einen Baustein zur Sicherstellung der Versorgung der anwachsenden Menschheit liefern. Von besonderer Bedeutung für die Etablierung von Speiseinsekten auf dem deutschen Markt sind die zeitnahe Publikation einer nationalen Leitlinie sowie Aufklärungsarbeit bezüglich Insekten als Lebensmittel zu leisten.

<p>  </p> <p>Mutations drive evolution, generating variation that selection can act upon. Germline mutations are heritable genetic alterations that occur in the gametes prior to fertilization and until embryogenesis. The study of germline mutations is vital to understanding the genetic basis of heritable diseases and evolution. Somatic mutations are genetic alterations across the body that arise post-fertilization in non-gametic cells. Although somatic mutations in most animals cannot be inherited, they can still significantly affect an organism's reproductive success. In humans, for example, cancers can be the result of somatic mutations. Somatic mutations originate from both exogenous mutagens (e.g. UV radiation) and endogenous processes (e.g. DNA replication, aging). Beyond their origins, we know little about the distribution and frequency of somatic mutations across Animalia. Honey bees provide a unique model for the study of somatic mutations as they are haplodiploid: males come from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, while females come from fertilized eggs and are diploid. It is therefore possible to sequence and robustly identify somatic mutations in haploid males. I have developed a unique exploratory study to elucidate the distribution of somatic mutation accumulation in honey bee drones. With this, I aim to investigate processes generating somatic mutations. Our findings demonstrate that variance in somatic mutational load is better captured across individuals rather than within individuals (across tissues). I provide a comprehensive tissue atlas of somatic mutagenesis in haploids. Our findings drive us to enhance our view of mutagenesis from the tissue level down to the cellular level. </p>

<p>Across the tree of life, novel genes are thought to be a source of much of the unique behaviors and adaptions between the different taxa. This is especially true in the social insects where novel genes are proposed to contribute to novel social behaviors. In the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), a group of novel genes called the major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) are proposed to be important to the expression of novel social behaviors, particularly those related to nursing versus foraging tasks. Unfortunately, identifying the functional role of novel genes is often not possible due to a lack of functional genomic tools in non-model species such as the honey bee. Here I have developed a novel ectopic expression system in Drosophila melanogaster and used it to elucidate how the MRJPs contribute to behavioral and transcriptional changes in the insect brain. I found that the MRJPs regulated the expression of hundreds of genes in Drosophila, and these overlap with genes regulated differentially between nursing and foraging honey bees. Furthermore, I found that MRJP expression impairs or negatively regulated phototaxis. My results demonstrate the MRJPs play a role in behavioral plasticity and highlight that the MRJPs may have a much larger role in the nurse-forager transition than previously thought.</p>