Le sujet de cette thèse est la dynamique des populations. Nous en étudions les caractéristiques en absence ou en présence d'une structure spatiale, et cela se reproduit dans la subdivision du manuscrit en deux parties. Dans la première, où nous considérons la compétition comme se manifestant entre tous les individus en même temps, nous prouvons qu'une condition de bilan détaillé est vérifiée dans des différents régimes d'évolution (et non seulement dans le cas de successional-mutations). On montre que la dynamique adaptative d'une population présente nombreux aspects en commun avec la dynamique vitreuse hors-équilibre, le rôle de la température étant joué par la dimension de la population. Des nombreuses applications d'une telle analogie sont suggérées. Dans la suite, nous considérons l'évolution de populations monomorphes interagissants. Nous montrons comment le couplage génère une séparation des échelles temporales d'adaptation, et il est possible qu'une hiérarchie soit crée selon les degrés d'adaptation des populations. Dans le cas de populations en compétition dans l'espace, la dynamique évolutive est fortement modifiée par la localité des interactions. Les mécanismes de sélection sont moins efficaces pour ce qui est de favoriser la fixation du phénotype mieux adapté. Nous montrons de façon quantitative comment un taux de mutation plus élevé occasionne un désavantage évolutif, car la présence de mutants ralentit la croissance spatiale d'une population. On montre que, si le taux de mutation est variable, la sélection favorise non seulement un taux de reproduction élevé, mais aussi un taux de mutation réduit. / The subject of this thesis is population dynamics. We study its characteristics in the absence or in presence of a spatial structure, and this is reproduced in the subdivision of the manuscript into two parts. In the first, where we consider the competition as concerning all the individuals at the same time, we prove that a detailed balance condition holds in different regimes of evolution (and not only in the case of successional-mutations) . We show that the adaptive dynamics of a population has several aspects in common with out of equilibrium glassy dynamics, the role of the temperature being played by the size of the population. Several applications of such an analogy are suggested. Later, we consider the evolution of monomorphic interacting populations. We show how the presence of a coupling engenders a separation of the adaptative time-scales, and it is possible that a hierarchy is created, according to the degrees of adaptation of populations.In the case of competing populations in space, the evolutionary dynamics is strongly modified by locality interactions. Selection mechanisms are less effective in promoting the fixation of the fittest phenotype. We show quantitatively how a higher mutation rate constitutes an evolutionary disadvantage, because the presence of mutants slows down the spatial growth of a population. It is shown that if the mutation rate is variable, selection promotes not only a high rate of reproduction, but also a reduced mutation rate.

All real-world populations are composed of a finite number of individuals. Due to the intrinsically random nature of interactions between individuals, the dynamics of finite-sized populations are stochastic processes. Additionally, for many types of interaction not all effects occur instantaneously. Instead there are delays before effects are felt. The centrepiece of this thesis is a method of analytically studying stochastic population dynamics with delay reactions. Dynamics with delay reactions are non-Markovian, meaning many of the widely used techniques to study stochastic processes break down. It is not always possible to formulate the master equation, which is a common starting point for analysis of stochastic effects in population dynamics. We follow an alternative method, and derive an exact functional integral approach which is capable of capturing the effects of both stochasticity and delay in the same modelling framework. Our work builds on previous techniques developed in statistical physics, in particular the Martin-Siggia-Rose-Janssen-de Dominicis functional integral. The functional integral approach does not rely on an particular constraints on the population dynamics, for example the choice of delay distribution. Functional integrals can not in general be solved exactly. We show how the functional integral can be used to derive the deterministic, chemical Langevin, and linear-noise approximations for stochastic dynamics with delay. In the later chapters we extend Gillespie’s approximate method of studying stochastic dynamics with delay reactions, which can be used to derive the chemical Langevin equation, by-pass the functional integral. We also derive an extension to the functional integral approach so that it also covers systems with interruptible delay reactions. To demonstrate the applicability of our results we consider various models of population dynamics, arising from ecology, epidemiology, developmental biology, and chemistry. Our analytical calculations are found to provide excellent agreement with exact numerical simulations.

Le renforcement des populations naturelles exploitées par des individus captifs est rarement évalué, bien qu'il puisse induire des modifications notables sur la population naturelle à de nombreux niveaux : démographie, comportement, morphologie, génétique, pathogènes. Ce travail de thèse concerne les introductions de canards colverts Anas platyrhynchos réalisées à des fins cynégétiques. Cette pratique est très répandue en Europe, depuis plus de trente ans. Du fait de leur domestication en élevage, les canards lâchés subissent une mortalité naturelle très forte comparée aux oiseaux sauvages, à laquelle s'ajoute une plus grande vulnérabilité à la chasse. Une différenciation génétique marquée permet de discriminer les oiseaux lâchés de leurs congénères sauvages. Des croisements entre les deux groupes sont détectés, mais l'introgression reste limitée. Globalement, la contribution démographique et génétique des individus d'élevage à la population sauvage est faible, même si une modification morphologique attribuable aux lâchers a été constatée dans la population sauvage en trente ans. Les conséquences écologiques pour la population réceptrice semblent donc limitées, mais une vigilance continue doit s'exercer concernant la diffusion de pathogènes (forte prévalence occasionnelle de virus Influenza A dans les élevages) et les risques génétiques associés au renforcement sur le long terme. / The consequences of releasing captive-reared game animals into the wild have received little attention, despite their potential impact for receiving populations in terms of demography, behaviour, morphometrics, genetics and pathogens. The present study considers Mallards Anas platyrhynchos released for hunting purposes, an increasing practice in Europe over the last 30 years. Because of domestication process in game farm facilities, our study shows high natural mortality of these ducks once released compared to wild Mallards, in addition to high vulnerability to hunting. A clear genetic differentiation allows discrimination of released and wild Mallards. Hybridization with wild Mallards exists, but did not result into significant introgression. Generally, genetic as well as demographic contributions of captive-bred birds to the natural population were low, but a morphological modification associated with releases was recorded over 30 years in natural population. Ecological consequences of the releases for the wild population seem to be limited, but caution should be maintained on the possible transmission of pathogens (occasionally high prevalence of avian Influenza A in some breeding facilities) and the genetic risks associated with long-term releases.

Orientador: Hyun Mo Yang / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Insituto de Matemática, Estatística e Computação Científica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T12:53:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Soares_CintiaDalila_M.pdf: 1073130 bytes, checksum: c67bf91f276f3e8d7c75fa4f960e19a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Doenças infecciosas de transmissão direta causadas por microrganismos podem ser descritas por modelos compartimentais do tipo suscetíveis (X), infecciosos (H), infectantes (Y ) e recuperados (Z). Essas doenças são frequentes na infância, por isso a importância em se considerar a heterogeneidade etária. Além do mais, o risco de infecção pode depender da idade em que a doença é adquirida, como no caso da rubéola, que é uma doença geralmente benigna, mas que pode causar malformações no embrião em infecções nas mulheres grávidas. A heterogeneidade etária é considerada nas variáveis X, H, Y e Z e também na taxa de contato, ß, entre indivíduos suscetíveis e infecciosos dada por uma função contínua. Condições para a existência da solução não trivial do sistema são estabelecidas. Definimos um operador cujo ponto fixo é a solução da equação que representa a densidade de indivíduos infectantes na idade a. Definimos R0 como o raio espectral da derivada de Fréchét em zero deste operador. O modelo descrito é aplicado à rubéola e um ajuste dos parâmetros epidemiológicos é realizado com dados de número de casos da doença no México. Os efeitos da intervenção através da vacinação são estudados através do deslocamento da idade média de infecção / Abstract: Infectious diseases transmitted directly caused by microparasites can be described by compartmental models of the type susceptible (X), infectious (H), infective (Y ) and recovered (Z). These diseases are common in childhood, hence the importance in considering the heterogeneous age group. Moreover, the risk of infection may depend on the age at which the disease is acquired, as in the case of rubella, a disease that is usually benign but can cause embryo malformations in infected pregnant women. The heterogeneous age group is considered in the variables X, H, Y and Z and also in contact rate ß, between infectious and susceptible individuals given by a continuous function. Conditions for the existence of nontrivial solution of the system were established. We defined an operator which fixed point was the solution of the equation that represented the density of infective individuals in the age a. We defined R0 as the spectral radius of the Fréchet derivative of this operator at zero The model described was applied to rubella and an adjustment of parameters was performed with epidemiological data on the number of disease cases in Mexico. The effects of intervention through vaccination were studied by dislocating the average age of infection / Mestrado / Matematica Aplicada / Mestre em Matemática Aplicada

Cette thèse porte sur la modélisation probabiliste de l’hétérogénéité des populations humaines et de son impact sur la longévité. Depuis quelques années, de nombreuses études montrent une augmentation alarmante des inégalités de mortalité géographiques et socioéconomiques. Ce changement de paradigme pose des problèmes que les modèles démographiques traditionnels ne peuvent résoudre, et dont la formalisation exige une observation fine des données dans un contexte pluridisciplinaire. Avec comme fil conducteur les modèles de dynamique de population, cette thèse propose d’illustrer cette complexité selon différents points de vue: Le premier propose de montrer le lien entre hétérogénéité et non-linéarité en présence de changements de composition de la population. Le processus appelé Birth Death Swap est défini par une équation dirigée par une mesure de Poisson à l’aide d’un résultat de comparaison trajectoriel. Quand les swaps sont plus rapides que les évènements démographiques, un résultat de moyennisation est établi par convergence stable et comparaison. En particulier, la population agrégée tend vers une dynamique non-linéaire. Nous étudions ensuite empiriquement l’impact de l’hétérogénéité sur la mortalité agrégée, en s’appuyant sur des données de population anglaise structurée par âge et circonstances socioéconomiques. Nous montrons par des simulations numériques comment l’hétérogénéité peut compenser la réduction d’une cause de mortalité. Le dernier point de vue est une revue interdisciplinaire sur les déterminants de la longévité, accompagnée d’une réflexion sur l’évolution des outils pour l’analyser et des nouveaux enjeux de modélisation face à ce changement de paradigme. / This thesis deals with the probabilistic modeling of heterogeneity in human populations and of its impact on longevity. Over the past few years, numerous studies have shown a significant increase in geographical and socioeconomic inequalities in mortality. New issues have emerged from this paradigm shift that traditional demographic models are not able solve, and whose formalization requires a careful analysis of the data, in a multidisciplinary environment. Using the framework of population dynamics, this thesis aims at illustrating this complexity according to different points of view: We explore the link between heterogeneity and non-linearity in the presence of composition changes in the population, from a mathematical modeling viewpoint. The population dynamics, called Birth Death Swap, is built as the solution of a stochastic equation driven by a Poisson measure, using a more general pathwise comparison result. When swaps occur at a faster rate than demographic events, an averaging result is obtained by stable convergence and comparison. In particular, the aggregated population converges towards a nonlinear dynamic. In the second part, the impact of heterogeneity on aggregate mortality is studied from an empirical viewpoint, using English population data structured by age and socioeconomic circumstances. Based on numerical simulations, we show how a cause of death reduction could be compensated in presence of heterogeneity. The last point of view is an interdisciplinary survey on the determinants of longevity, accompanied by an analysis on the evolution of tools to analyze it and on new modeling issues in the face of this paradigm shift.

<div>Pulsed electric fields (PEFs) can induce numerous biophysical phenomena, especially perturbation of the outer and inner membranes, that may be used for applications that include nonthermal pasteurization, enhanced permeabilization of tumors to improve the transport of chemotherapeutics for cancer therapy, and enhanced membrane permeabilization of individual cells to enhance RNA and DNA delivery for gene therapy. The applied electric field and pulse duration determine the density, size, and reversibility of the created membrane pores. PEFs with durations longer than the outer membrane’s charging time will induce pore formation with the potential for application in irreversible electroporation for cancer therapy and microorganism inactivation. Shorter duration PEFs, particularly on the nanosecond timescale (nsPEFs), induce a larger density of smaller membrane pores with the potential to permeabilize intracellular membranes, such as the mitochondria, to induce programmed cell death. Thus, the PEFs can effectively kill multiple types of cells, dependent upon the cells. This thesis assesses the ability of nsPEFs to kill different cell types, specifically microorganisms with and without antibiotics as well as varying the parameters to affect populations of immortalized leukemia cells (Jurkats).</div><div>Antibiotic resistance has been an acknowledged challenge since the initial development of penicillin; however, recent discoveries by the CDC and the WHO of microorganisms resistant to last line of defense drugs combined with predictions of potential infection cases reaching 50 million a year globally and the absence new drugs in the discovery pipeline highlight the need to develop novel ways to combat and overcome these resistance mechanisms. Repurposing drugs, exploring nature for new drugs, and developing enzymes to counter the resistance mechanisms may provide potential alternatives for addressing the scarcity of antibiotics effective against gram-negative infections. One may also leverage the abundance of drugs effective against gram-positive infections by using nsPEFs to make them effective against gram-negative infections, including bacterial species with multiple natural and acquired resistance mechanisms. Numerous drug and microbial combinations for different doses and pulse treatments were tested and presented here.</div><div>Low intensity PEFs may selectively target cell populations at different stages of the cell cycle (quiescence and mitosis) to modify cancer cell population dynamics. Experimental studies of cancer cell growth when exposed to a low number of nsPEFs, while varying pulse duration, field intensity and number of pulses reveals a threshold beyond which cell recovery is not possible, but also a point of diminishing returns if cell death is the intention. A theory comprised of coupled differential equations representing the proliferating and quiescent cells showed how changing PEF parameters altered the behavior of these cell populations after treatment. These results may provide important information on the impact of PEFs with sub-threshold intensities and durations on cell population growth and potential recurrence.</div>

The Space Shuttle Program at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Brevard County made a significant impact on the aerospace industry, but what is unknown is how it impacted the county surrounding it, specifically through land use/land cover (LU/LC) change and population dynamics. This research collected land cover and population data throughout the program to determine the impact, while also creating a record of the state of LU/LC and population in Brevard County in general during the same period. Urbanization and tourism were also evaluated as possible catalysts for change when analyzing the LU/LC maps created in ArcMap and the population graphs from Microsoft Excel. Calculated area for different LU/LC classes were the main focus of this research, which led to the finding that urbanization has been a major factor of change in Brevard County through expanding residential areas rather than tourism and change from the Space Shuttle Program was centered in cities closest to the KSC. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MS)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

Butterflies fulfill a unique role among insect pollinators as long-distance flyers. This makes butterflies particularly valuable as vectors of genetic diversity among spatially isolated plant populations. Like many insects, though, butterfly populations have experienced significant declines in recent years. To help inform conservation efforts, and to investigate community and species level dynamics, I studied butterflies and their floral resources as part of a three year pollinator survey across the state of North Dakota. At the community level, I analyzed butterfly-flower interaction networks across space and time. I then examined the specialization of individual species within those networks and their contributions to network structure. I also evaluated spatial and temporal distribution patterns of monarch butterflies, regal fritillaries, and their plant resources. Results revealed dynamic spatiotemporal relationships between butterflies and their plant resources that have important implications for conservation efforts and the study of ecological communities.

Understanding eco-evolutionary dynamics in cancer tumors, species invasions, and the human microbiome is vital for numerous health and economic applications. However, spatial structure and population heterogeneity make this challenging. This dissertation tackles these challenges using a population dynamics approach, wherein systems evolve through individual growth and dispersal. The bulk of this dissertation studies expanding populations, such as growing microbial colonies, species range expansions, and cancer tumors. In this context, I first study the effect of a directional bias in dispersal: I develop a model for the stochastic growth of left-right or chirally asymmetric cells that quantitatively reproduces experimental patterns in microbial colonies. Using the model, I demonstrate that chiral dispersal provides an evolutionary advantage and affects spatial population structure in expanding populations. Second, I investigate the impact of environmental structure affecting both dispersal and growth on expanding populations. I show that cooperative population expansions in a periodic environment can be pinned to a particular location or locked to specific velocities determined by the environmental periodicity. Third, I study the problem of a phenotypically heterogeneous population, with each phenotype differing in growth and dispersal abilities. I determine the exact velocity of an expanding population where phenotypes move ballistically and explain the connection to the explosive growth transition in experimental microtubule asters. The final chapter of the dissertation examines the challenge of assembling microbial communities for performing functions such as biofuel production, nitrogen fixation, or health remediation. Due to the exponential number of possible species combinations, bioengineers resort to heuristic search strategies to find the optimal community. I identify biological properties and develop statistical measures to help bioengineers estimate their chance of success in assembling an optimal community. / 2023-02-06T00:00:00Z