Clinal variation in life-history traits of the invasive plant species Echium plantagineum L.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Science.Range expansion during the invasion of a novel environment requires that invading species adapt to geographical variation in climate and maintain positive population growth in the face of environmental heterogeneity. Thus, invasive species are expected to undergo adaptive evolutionary changes as they encounter novel selection pressures. The aim of this thesis was to identify adaptive changes in plant growth and reproductive traits throughout the lifecycle of a model invasive species to determine which traits are vital to the success of invasive species encountering novel environments. The model species used in this study was the widespread European invader, Echium plantagineum, which has invaded over 33 million ha across Australia, causing ~$30 million (AUD) damage per annum. I investigated geographic variation in life-history traits of 34 populations of E. plantagineum across a 1,000 km arid-mesic gradient throughout south-eastern NSW, Australia. Seeds were collected for each population along the arid-mesic gradient, germinated in the laboratory and grown in the glasshouse in a common environment. I found that E. plantagineum has rapidly adapted to environmental selection pressures throughout its range, resulting in two major clines linked to plant flowering time and seed size of progeny. Compared with populations from mesic habitats along the arid-mesic gradient, plant populations from arid environments had significantly higher relative growth rate and leaf production which was associated with much earlier flowering time and reduced time between stem production and flower production. Plants from arid regions also produced significantly larger seeds compared with plants from mesic habitats. Interestingly, seeds from all E. plantagineum populations along the arid-mesic gradient germinated rapidly (within 48 hours of water exposure) allowing them to quickly and opportunistically take advantage of available resources. Considered together, these adaptations allow E. plantagineum to grow rapidly, reproduce and produce progeny before conditions become unsuitable. The findings in this thesis provide compelling evidence for the rapid development, within 150 years, of clines in reproductive strategies linked to flowering and seed size evolution. My results support the notion that the successful invasive spread of species can be increased through genetic divergence of populations along arid-mesic climatic gradients. The climate of south-eastern Australia is predicted to change to become hotter and drier inducing many species to adapt or perish. The range and distribution of E. plantagineum is unlikely to be altered by these climatic changes as pre-adapted genotypes currently exist in the range margins and have persisted in arid regions for over 100 years. Consequently, further work is required to investigate the evolutionary capacity of other native and invasive species to determine how ecosystem dynamics and composition may change in the future

The momentum effect exemplifies the influence of investors' irrational behaviour on prices of shares and stocks: An analysis of the momentum effect on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

An efficient market should not show any anomalies. When new information reaches a market which is efficient, it should automatically translate into prices of assets, which ought to eliminate the possibility of gaining an advantage over other investors, thus preventing excess profits. However, studies on capital markets indicate that in reality it is possible to earn unusually high profits by taking advantage of certain anomalies which occur on a given market. Among such anomalies there is the momentum effect. This study performed on the Stock Exchange in Warsaw has shown that the momentum effect occurred throughout the entire analyzed time period. Positive returns demonstrated for investment strategies based on the momentum effect were unexplainable by the classical theory of finances. A correlation was found between the economic situation on the stock exchange and portfolio return rates, but it was too weak to attribute the effect to a single decisive factor. In addition, the returns from investments based on the momentum effect were statistically higher in January than in the other months, which was caused by the January effect, stimulating the occurrence of statistically higher returns at the beginning of a year rather than later on during the analyzed period of time. Research in this field carried out in other countries justifies the claim that there are many irrational factors which together create the momentum effect on the stock exchange. Thus, it is possible to conclude that irrational decisions may have strong impact on the pricing of stocks on the capital market. The momentum effect persisted throughout the entire analyzed period, although its power changed cyclically, which coincides with results of research carried out in other countries. The fact that the momentum effect did not disappear may suggest that the factors involved in its creation are an indispensable part of the market, and this seems to undermine the commonly accepted hypothesis about the efficiency of capital markets

Rapid Development of Adaptive, Climate-Driven Clinal Variation in Seed Mass in the Invasive Annual Forb Echium plantagineum L.

We examined adaptive clinal variation in seed mass among populations of an invasive annual species, Echium plantagineum, in response to climatic selection. We collected seeds from 34 field populations from a 1,000 km long temperature and rainfall gradient across the species' introduced range in south-eastern Australia. Seeds were germinated, grown to reproductive age under common glasshouse conditions, and progeny seeds were harvested and weighed. Analyses showed that seed mass was significantly related to climatic factors, with populations sourced from hotter, more arid sites producing heavier seeds than populations from cooler and wetter sites. Seed mass was not related to edaphic factors. We also found that seed mass was significantly related to both longitude and latitude with each degree of longitude west and latitude north increasing seed mass by around 2.5% and 4% on average. There was little evidence that within-population or between-population variation in seed mass varied in a systematic manner across the study region. Our findings provide compelling evidence for development of a strong cline in seed mass across the geographic range of a widespread and highly successful invasive annual forb. Since large seed mass is known to provide reproductive assurance for plants in arid environments, our results support the hypothesis that the fitness and range potential of invasive species can increase as a result of genetic divergence of populations along broad climatic gradients. In E. plantagineum population-level differentiation has occurred in 150 years or less, indicating that the adaptation process can be rapid. © 2012 Konarzewski et al

Czy program 500+ podwyższył osiągnięcia szkolne uczniów z biedniejszych rodzin?

Two models of the poverty effect on school achievement were defined: insufficient expenditure and refusal of recognition. The first of them was verified, using the selective increase in the income of the poorer part of the Polish parents’ population in 2016–2019 by the state support for families with children, Family 500+. Data on achievement in mathematics and science and attitudes towards school and learning of Polish fourth-graders from two editions of the TIMSS survey: 2019 and 2015 were compared. In the 2019 cohort, there was no increase in the achievement of lower-class students, despite the fact that their families received the largest funds from the 500+ program. The model of insufficient expenditure has not been validated but has not been overturned either due to validity limitations of the study.Two models of the poverty effect on school achievement were defined: insufficient expenditure and refusal of recognition. The first of them was verified, using the selective increase in the income of the poorer part of the Polish parents’ population in 2016–2019 by the state support for families with children, Family 500+. Data on achievement in mathematics and science and attitudes towards school and learning of Polish fourth-graders from two editions of the TIMSS survey: 2019 and 2015 were compared. In the 2019 cohort, there was no increase in the achievement of lower-class students, despite the fact that their families received the largest funds from the 500+ program. The model of insufficient expenditure has not been validated but has not been overturned either due to validity limitations of the study

Limits to sustained energy intake XII : is the poor relation between resting metabolic rate and reproductive performance because resting metabolism is not a repeatable trait?

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

DETEKTOR IGŁOWY PROMIENIOWANIA X I GAMMA

The article presents the developed structure of the novel needle proportional gas detector (NPC – Needle Proportional Counter) used for the detection of X-rays and gamma rays. The advantage of the detector is its simple mechanical construction and the possibility of detection of incident radiation in a direction parallel to the needle. The measured energy spectrum of the isotope Fe-55 by means of the developed detector is presented. Artykuł przedstawia opracowaną konstrukcję nowego typu gazowego detektora igłowego, służącego do detekcji promieniowania X i gamma. Zaletą detektora jest jego prosta konstrukcja mechaniczna i możliwość detekcji promieniowania w kierunku równoległym do igły. Zmierzono widmo energetyczne izotopu Fe-55 opracowanym detektorem

Timelessness of mies van der rohe’s houses architecture in the twenties of the XX century in ban shigeru’s case study project – sagaponac house #4 from XXI century – extended version

This paper presents a method of forming detached houses architecture in modern times. Taking advantage of the inspiration on unrealized concept of building from the year 1924 has been indicated. The realization of Sagaponac House #4 from 2006 has been compared with the project of Brick Country House from Twenties of previous century

MHC influences infection with parasites and winter survival in the root vole Microtus oeconomus

Selective pressure from parasites is thought to maintain the polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. Although a number of studies have shown a relationship between the MHC and parasitic infections, the fitness consequences of such associations are less well documented. In the present paper, we characterised the variation in exon 2 of MHC class II DRB gene in the root vole and examined the effects of that gene on parasite prevalence and winter survival. We identified 18 unique exon 2 sequences, which translated into 10 unique amino acid sequences. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of three distinct clusters, and allele distributions among these individuals suggested that the clusters correspond to three different loci. Although the rate of synonymous substitutions (dS) exceeded the rate of nonsynonymous substitutions (dN) across sequences, implying purifying selection, dN was significantly elevated at antigen-binding sites, suggesting that these sites could be under positive selection. Screening for parasites revealed a moderate prevalence of infection with gastrointestinal parasites (24 % infected), but a high infection rate for blood parasites (56 % infected). Infection with the blood parasite Babesia ssp. decreased survival almost twofold (25.7 vs. 13.9 %). Animals possessing the amino acid sequence AA*08 survived better than others (44.9 vs. 22 %), and they were infected with Babesia ssp. less often (13.9 vs 25.7 %). In contrast, individuals carrying allele AA*05 were infected more often (31.7 vs. 15.3 %). Heterozygosity at one of the putative loci was associated with a lower probability of infection with Babesia ssp., but at the other locus, the association was reversed. The unexpected latter result could be at least partly explained by the increased frequency of the susceptible allele AA*05 among heterozygotes. Overall, we demonstrate that infection with Babesia ssp. is a strong predictor of winter survival and that MHC genes are important predictors of infection status as well as survival in the root vole