Knowledge of offspring production (recruitment) is fundamental to understanding and forecasting the dynamics of a population. In this thesis, I focus on two demographic characteristics of fish stocks that are important to recruitment: population density and age structure. First, populations produce more recruits at low density, but quantifying this response has proven difficult. Using data from hundreds of populations of walleye (Sander vitreus), an economically important freshwater fish, I demonstrate that the growing-degree-day metric (a temperature index) is better than age at explaining variation in density-dependent growth and maturity both within and among populations. I then incorporate multi-lake measures of density-dependent life history change into a temperature-based biphasic model of growth and reproduction to predict sustainable rates of mortality for walleye throughout most of their range. Second, the age (or size) structure of a population may also affect recruitment because of positive effects of maternal age on offspring production and survival; however, evidence for these ‘maternal influences’ on recruitment is limited. Using both an analytical model and a meta-analysis of stock-recruitment data from 25 species of exploited marine fish, I show that (i) maximum reproductive rate increased with the mean age of adults in a population, and (ii) the importance of age structure increased with a species’ longevity. I then demonstrate a similar effect of maternal influences on reproductive rate in a detailed study of Lake Erie walleye. By highlighting the importance of fisheries-induced demographic change to recruitment, this thesis provides insight into past and present failures. However, it also demonstrates clearly the benefits of proactive management strategies that (i) identify and respect the limits of exploitation, (ii) protect from exploitation reproductively valuable individuals—principles that apply generally to any freshwater, marine, or terrestrial species that is of recreational, commercial, or conservation value.

This thesis explores lifespan and intergenerational trauma effects experienced by Russian Mennonite women who fled from Stalinist Russia during WWII and migrated to Canada, and adult sons or daughters of this generation of women. As an adult child of survivors, I employed an autoethnographic methodology, conducting 1-on-1 interviews with eight women aged 78 to 96, and seven adult children aged 50 to 68. Older women demonstrated a lifelong emphasis on mental strength, faith, and resilience; the marginalization of emotions; evidence of insecure attachment styles; and potential for unresolved trauma to resurface in later life. The majority of adult children experienced attachment and identity issues; their life experiences are viewed through the lens of biological, psychological, familial, cultural (religious) transmission of trauma effects. Results highlight the importance of structural and narrative social work approaches that externalize and contextualize trauma and transform service environments that individualize and/or pathologize lifespan outcomes of trauma.

This thesis explores lifespan and intergenerational trauma effects experienced by Russian Mennonite women who fled from Stalinist Russia during WWII and migrated to Canada, and adult sons or daughters of this generation of women. As an adult child of survivors, I employed an autoethnographic methodology, conducting 1-on-1 interviews with eight women aged 78 to 96, and seven adult children aged 50 to 68. Older women demonstrated a lifelong emphasis on mental strength, faith, and resilience; the marginalization of emotions; evidence of insecure attachment styles; and potential for unresolved trauma to resurface in later life. The majority of adult children experienced attachment and identity issues; their life experiences are viewed through the lens of biological, psychological, familial, cultural (religious) transmission of trauma effects. Results highlight the importance of structural and narrative social work approaches that externalize and contextualize trauma and transform service environments that individualize and/or pathologize lifespan outcomes of trauma.

Our ability to learn from the outcomes of our actions and to adapt our decisions accordingly changes over the course of the human lifespan. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using computational models to understand developmental changes in learning and decision-making. Moreover, extensions of these models are currently applied to study socio-emotional influences on learning in different age groups, a topic that is of great relevance for applications in education and health psychology. In this article, we aim to provide an introduction to basic ideas underlying computational models of reinforcement learning and focus on parameters and model variants that might be of interest to developmental scientists. We then highlight recent attempts to use reinforcement learning models to study the influence of social information on learning across development. The aim of this review is to illustrate how computational models can be applied in developmental science, what they can add to our understanding of developmental mechanisms and how they can be used to bridge the gap between psychological and neurobiological theories of development.

No description available.

Le vieillissement est un processus complexe déterminé par des facteurs génétiques et environnementaux qui varie d’un individu à l’autre. Bien que le vieillissement soit la cause principale de nombreuses maladies, nos connaissances sur le sujet sont relativement limitées. Tout au long de ce travail, j’ai utilisé la levure bourgeonnante Saccharomyces cerevisiae pour identifier les facteurs génétiques et environnementaux influant sur le vieillissement et pour comprendre les interactions qu’ils entretiennent entre eux. Jusqu’à présent, les approches classiques de génétique ont permis de découvrir un certain nombre de gènes impliqués dans la régulation du vieillissement chronologique de la levure (CLS), basé sur la longévité de celle-ci en conditions non-prolifératives. Or, ces approches se sont essentiellement centrées sur des souches de laboratoire et n’ont que très peu exploité les richesses de la biodiversité. Dans une première partie, j’ai utilisé une large cohorte de levures composée de plus de 1000 souches naturelles de S. cerevisiae afin d’estimer la variabilité de longévité existant au sein de l’espèce. Leur longévité a été étudiée dans différentes conditions connues pour freiner le vieillissement : sous restriction calorique ou en présence d’un agoniste de la restriction calorique, la molécule rapamycine, qui inhibe directement la voie de signalisation TOR. Les microorganismes passent la majeure partie de leur vie dans des environnements défavorables, pauvres en ressources nutritives. Leur capacité à survivre à ces périodes de restriction (CLS) est donc primordiale. J’ai observé que les souches sauvages ont tendance à spontanément initier le programme de méiose aboutissant à la formation de spores lorsque les conditions environnementales deviennent restreintes. En revanche, les souches domestiques préfèrent entrer en quiescence, ce qui leur confère une viabilité et une résistance accrues. De plus, en ayant recours à une approche basée sur des gènes présélectionnés et à une étude d’association pangénomique, j’ai observé que la variabilité de longévité entre les différentes souches est déterminée par un large spectre de polymorphismes génétiques, tels que des mutations non-synonymes ou non-sens, et par l’absence ou la présence de certains gènes. Toutes ces composantes génétiques interagissent pleinement avec l’environnement. Dans une deuxième partie, j’ai réalisé une analyse de liaison génétique grâce à 1056 souches descendantes de deux souches parentales. La longévité (CLS) de ces 1056 souches a été mesurée dans le but d’identifier des locus de caractères quantitatifs (QTLs). Le vieillissement chronologique a été déterminé à la fois à partir d’un milieu riche, d’un milieu restreint en calories, ou en présence de rapamycine. J’ai identifié 30 QTLs distincts, certains d’entre eux sont communs et récurrents dans plusieurs environnements, tandis que d’autres sont plus spécifiques et occasionnels. Les deux QTLs principaux, associés aux gènes HPF1 et FLO11, codent tous deux des protéines du mur cellulaire, et sont jusqu’à présent non reconnus comme régulateurs du vieillissement. Etonnement, ces deux gènes contiennent des répétitions d’ADN en tandem qui s’avèrent être massivement amplifiées dans une des deux souches parentales d’origine. Alors que les allèles courts de HPF1 et FLO11 n’ont pas d’effet sur le vieillissement, les allèles longs sont relativement délétères, hormis en présence de rapamycine. Après investigation, il semble que la forme allongée de HPF1 provoque la flottaison des cellules de levure au cours de la phase de croissance, les exposants à des taux plus élevés d’oxygène. / Aging is a classical complex trait varying quantitatively among individuals and affected by both the genetic background and the environment. While aging is the highest risk factor for a large number of diseases, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Identifying the causal genetic variants underlying natural variation in longevity and understanding their interaction with the genetic background and the environment remains a major challenge. In this work, I used the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, to identify environmental and genetic factors contributing to aging. While extensive classical genetic studies discovered several genes involved in the regulation of chronological lifespan (CLS), which measures cell viability dynamic in non-dividing condition, using laboratory strains in standard conditions, there are only few studies exploiting variations in natural populations. In the first part, I used a large cohort of more than 1000 sequenced natural S. cerevisiae strains to provide a species-wide overview of CLS variability. Longevity was measured in different environments, including calorie restriction (CR), a natural intervention known to increase lifespan, and in the presence of rapamycin (RM), a drug that mimics CR by downregulating the TOR pathway. Unicellular microorganisms spend most of their lifetime in harsh restricted environments interrupted by short windows of growth, making CLS an important and likely adaptive trait. I found that wild strains subjected to CLS tend to trigger the meiotic developmental process leading to the formation of gametes wrapped into a very resistant cell wall. In contrast, domesticated strains tend to enter quiescence state when starved and display a tremendous variability in their survival capacity. Moreover, using both candidate gene approach and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), I demonstrated that variability in CLS is determined by a full spectrum of genetic variant that include gene presence/absence, copy number variation, non-synonymous SNPs and loss of function. All these genetic features were strongly regulated by the environment. In the second part, I performed linkage analysis using 1056 diploid segregants derived from a two parent advanced intercross. These 1056 diploid segregants were phenotyped for CLS to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs). The CLS was measured in complete media, CR and RM environments across multiple time points. I mapped 30 distinct QTLs, with some shared across different environments and time points, while others were unique to a specific condition. The two major effect size QTLs were linked with natural variation in the cell wall glycoproteins FLO11 and HPF1, previously unknown to regulate CLS. Interestingly, both genes presented massive intragenic tandem repeat expansions in one of the founder strain used in the crossing scheme. While the short versions of FLO11 and HPF1 alleles did not impact CLS, tandem repeat expansions within those genes were sufficient to confer a dominant detrimental effect that was partially buffered by rapamycin treatment. Further investigation revealed that the extended form of HPF1 makes cells floating during exponential phase, exposing them to higher oxygen rates, and leading to perturbation of redox homeostasis, activation of misfolded protein response, and alteration of multiple genes involved in methionine, ribosome and lipid biosynthesis, eventually contributing to CLS shortening. Taken together, my work provided an unprecedented overview of natural variation in CLS in a genetic model system and revealed multiple genetic and environmental factors that shape the species phenotypic variation.

Our ability to learn from the outcomes of our actions and to adapt our decisions accordingly changes over the course of the human lifespan. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in using computational models to understand developmental changes in learning and decision-making. Moreover, extensions of these models are currently applied to study socio-emotional influences on learning in different age groups, a topic that is of great relevance for applications in education and health psychology. In this article, we aim to provide an introduction to basic ideas underlying computational models of reinforcement learning and focus on parameters and model variants that might be of interest to developmental scientists. We then highlight recent attempts to use reinforcement learning models to study the influence of social information on learning across development. The aim of this review is to illustrate how computational models can be applied in developmental science, what they can add to our understanding of developmental mechanisms and how they can be used to bridge the gap between psychological and neurobiological theories of development.

The nicotinamide riboside (NR) form of vitamin B3and the ketone body ß-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) are two of the most promising natural compounds yet identified for the treatment of aging and aging-related diseases. Forms of vitamin B3are precursors for the synthesis of the coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(H)) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP(H)). In aged cells levels of NAD+decline, decreasing metabolism and decreasing activity of protective sirtuin protein deacetylases. In aged cells NR, but not more common forms of vitamin B3, boost NAD+levels. BHB is naturally produced by the body when individuals fast or consume a ketogenic (KD) or calorically restricted (CR) diet. These diets have been shown to extend lifespan in mice, while they are also protective in many disease models. Caenorhabditis elegans, a roundworm with a short mean lifespan of roughly 2 to 3 weeks depending upon the temperature, is used as a model system to study aging. BHB has been previously shown to increase lifespan by roughly 20% when administered to C. elegans.We administered NR and BHB individually and together to C. elegans starting at two different developmental stages (larval stages 1 and 4) and measured lifespan. We found that administration of 20 mM DL-BHB decreased lifespan when first given at the L1 stage, while it robustly increased lifespan when first given at the L4 stage. Administration of 0.5 mM NR increased lifespan when first given at L1, with only a very slight increase when first given at L4. When initiating administration at L1, NR greatly mitigated the BHB-mediated decline in longevity, however, NR did not increase BHB-mediated lifespan extension when first administered at L4.

Tesis por compendio / [ES] Esta tesis se centra en el desarrollo de nuevas técnicas automatizadas que permiten inspeccionar nematodos Caenorhabidits elegans (C. elegans) en placas de Petri estándar, para el análisis de sus comportamientos. C. elegans es un nemátodo de 1mm de longitud, con el cual se pueden realizar distintos experimentos para analizar los efectos de fármacos, compuestos o alteraciones genéticas en su longevidad, su salud física o su cognición. El campo principal metodológico del presente trabajo para el análisis de esos efectos es la visión por computador; y con ello, el desarrollo completo del sistema de visión activo: sistema de iluminación inteligente, sistema de captura óptimo, procesamiento de las imágenes para detección y clasificación de nematodos. Los campos secundarios en esta investigación son el control y robotización. Los C. elegans son animales sensibles a la luz y por ello el primero de los métodos está en la rama de la iluminación inteligente, con el cual se permite regular la intensidad y las longitudes de onda de la luz que reciben los nematodos. El siguiente método es el procesado para la detección y clasificación de movimiento a partir de las imágenes obtenidas con esa iluminación controlada. Tener el ambiente controlado es fundamental, los nematodos son muy sensibles a las condiciones ambientales por lo que puede alterarse su actividad biológica, y con ello los resultados, así que el tercer método es la integración de las técnicas en un nuevo dispositivo que permite automatizar ensayos de lifespan y validar los resultados automáticos comparándolos con los manuales. El movimiento del animal es clave para poder realizar inferencias estadísticas que puedan mostrar tendencias en sus comportamientos, por ello la estimulación automatizada que provoque una reacción de su movilidad es el cuarto de los métodos. Por último, el aumento de la resolución en las imágenes muestra mayor detalle, mejorando el procesamiento y extracción de características. El quinto método es un robot multivista que posibilita tomar imágenes a distintas resoluciones, lo que permite mantener el seguimiento global de los gusanos, al mismo tiempo que se toman imágenes con un encuadre de mayor detalle del nematodo objetivo. / [CA] Esta tesi doctoral se centra en el desentrollament de noves tècniques automatitzades que permeten inspeccionar nemàtodes Caenorhabidits elegans (C. elegans) en plaques de Petri estàndar, per a l'anàlisi dels seus comportaments. C. elegans és un nemàtode d'1mm de llargària, ab el qual se poden realitzar distints experiments per a analitzar els efectes de fàrmacs, composts o alteracions genètiques en sa longevitat, la seua salut física o la seua cognició. El camp principal metodològic del present treball per a l'anàlisi d'eixos efectes és la visió per computador; i ab açò, el desentrollament complet del sistema de visió actiu: sistema d'il.luminació inteligent, sistema de captura òptim, processament de les imàtgens per a detecció i classificació de nematode. Els camps secundaris en esta investigació són el control i robotització. Els C. elegans són animals sensibles a la llum i por ello el primer dels mètodes està en la branca de la il.luminació intel.ligent, ab el qual es permet regular la intensitat i les longituds d'ona de la llum que reben els nematodes. El següent mètode és el processat per a la detecció i classificació de moviment a partir de les imàtgens obtinguda ab eixa il.luminació controlada. Tindre l'ambient controlat és fonamental, els nemàtodes són molt sensibles a les condicions ambientals per lo que pot alterar-se la seua activitat biològica, i ab aço els resultats, aixina que el tercer mètode és la integració de les tècniques en un nou dispositiu que permet automatitzar ensajos de lifespan i validar els resultats automàtics comparant-los ab els manuals. El moviment de l'animal és clau per a poder realitzar inferencies estadístiques que puguen mostrar tendències en el seus comportaments, per això la estimulació automatitzada que provoque una reacció de la seua mobilitat és el quart dels mètodes. Per últim, l'augment de la resolució en les imàtgens mostra major detall, millorant el processament i extracció de característiques. El quint mètode és un robot multivista que possibilita prendre imàtgens a distintes resolucions, lo que permet mantindre el seguiment global dels cucs, al mateix temps que se prenguen imàtgens ab un enquadrament de major detall del nematode objectiu. / [EN] This thesis focuses on the development of new automated techniques that allow the inspection of Caenorhabidits elegans nematodes (C. elegans) in Petri dishes, for the analysis of their behavior. This nematode is a 1mm long worm, with which different experiments can be carried out to analyze the effects of drugs, compounds or genetic alterations on its longevity, physical health or cognition. The main methodological field of the present work for the analysis of these effects is computer vision; and with it, the complete development of the active vision system: intelligent lighting system, optimal capture system, image processing for detection and classification of nematodes. The secondary fields in this research are control and robotization. C. elegans are light-sensitive animals and therefore the first method is in the field of intelligent lighting, with which it is possible to regulate the intensity and wavelength of the light that nematodes receive. The next method is the processing for the detection and classification of movement from the images obtained with that controlled lighting. Having a controlled environment is essential, worms are very sensitive to environmental conditions so it can alter biological activity, and with it the results, so the third method is the integration of techniques in a new device that allows automating tests of lifespan and validate the automatic results comparing them with the manual ones. The movement of the animal is key to be able to carry out statistical conferences that can show trends in its behaviors, therefore the automated stimulation that causes a reaction of its mobility is the fourth of the methods. Finally, increasing the resolution in the images shows greater detail, improving the processing and extraction of features. The fifth method is a multiview robot that enables images to be taken at different resolutions, allowing global tracking of worms to be maintained, while at the same time taking images with a more detailed frame of the target worm. / Puchalt Rodríguez, JC. (2022). Development and Evaluation of New Methods for Automating Experiments with C. Elegans Based on Active Vision [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/181359 / TESIS / Compendio

Die Paarbeziehung ist ein sozialer Kontext, der individuelle Entwicklung und erfolgreiches Altern beeinflusst. Größere Ähnlichkeit zwischen Partnern wird häufig als adaptiv für das Wohlbefinden des Individuums und die Qualität der Beziehung angesehen; neuere Übersichtsarbeiten weisen allerdings auf die Notwendigkeit diverserer Forschungsdesigns, Analysen und Stichproben hin, die auch das höhere Lebensalter umfassen. Diese Dissertation baut auf sozio-kontextuellen Theorien der Lebensspannenpsychologie auf, und nutzt Längsschnittdaten des Sozio-Ökonomischen Panels (SOEP) mit bis zu 31 jährlichen Erhebungen, sowie Experience Sampling Daten einer einwöchigen Tagebuchstudie zum Alltag älterer Ehepaare. Konkret werden a) die Wohlbefindensähnlichkeit zwischen Lebenspartnern über die Lebensspanne, ihre Korrelate und ihre Entwicklung über die Zeit beschrieben, b) die adaptive Funktionalität größerer Ähnlichkeit im affektiven und evaluativen Wohlbefinden für die Beziehung analysiert sowie c) die Rolle der Kontrollüberzeugung des Partners für das Wohlbefinden des Individuums untersucht. Partner wurden sich nicht ähnlicher in ihrer Lebenszufriedenheit über Jahre und Jahrzehnte, wie Mehrebenenwachstumsmodelle zeigten, allerdings war größere, und steigende, Ähnlichkeit prädiktiv für größere Zufriedenheit mit dem Familienleben. Größere durchschnittliche, und Momente von überdurchschnittlicher Ähnlichkeit im negativen Affekt war assoziiert mit dem Gefühl, den Alltag mit dem Partner gemeinsam besser zu meistern. Größere Kontrollüberzeugung als üblich im einen Partner gingen einher mit höherem Wohlbefinden im anderen Partner, wie Actor-Partner-Interdependence-Modelle zeigen konnten. Die Ergebnisse werden im Rahmen des kollektiven Modells selektiver Optimierung mit Kompensation diskutiert und betonen ein weiteres Mal die Wichtigkeit von Partner- und Beziehungsdynamiken sowie individueller und dyadischer Kontrollüberzeugung für Wohlbefinden und erfolgreiches Altern. / The romantic relationship is a social context that influences individual development and successful aging. Greater similarity between partners, e.g. in emotional well-being, has often been argued to be beneficial for the faring of individual and relationship; however, recent reviews suggest the need for more diverse designs, analyses and samples, which cover not only earlier but also later points in the lifespan. The aim of this dissertation is to make a solid contribution to our understanding of well-being similarity and dynamics between romantic partners across the lifespan and in old age. To do so, it draws on notions of socio-contextual theories of lifespan development and utilizes data from a macrolongitudinal study spanning more than 31 annual waves (SOEP) and an extensive experience sampling study on older couples’ everyday life. Specifically, this dissertation a) describes the nature and development of well-being similarity over time and its correlates b) investigates the adaptive potential of well-being similarity for relationship functioning, and c) explores how the individual’s well-being is influenced by the partner’s control perceptions. Multilevel growth models showed that partners did not grow more similar over time in their life satisfaction, and that greater, and increasing, similarity in life satisfaction similarity predicted greater satisfaction with family life. Actor–partner interdependence models revealed that average, and momentary, similarity in negative affect was positively related to everyday perceptions of dyadic mastery, and that the partner's higher momentary control beliefs were associated with lower negative affect in the individual.