Safety in Numbers: Developing a Shared Analytics Services for Academic Libraries

Purpose It is clear that libraries consider the use of data to inform decision making a top priority in the next five years. Jisc’s considerable work on activity data has highlighted the lack of tools and services for libraries to exploit this data. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of a shared analytics service for UK academic libraries and introduce the Jisc Library Analytics and Metrics Project (LAMP). The project aims to help libraries effectively management collections and services as well as delivering pre-emptive indicators and ‘actionable insights’ to help identify new trends, personalise services and improve efficiencies, economies and effectiveness (student attainment and satisfaction and institutional reputation, for example) . The project builds on the Library Impact Data Project at the University of Huddersfield and the work of the Copac Activity Data and Collections Management tools. The paper will deliver a case study of the project, its progress to date, the challenges of such an approach and the implications the service has for academic libraries. Design, methodology or approach The paper will be a case study of the project and its institutional partners and early adopters work to date and explore both the technical and cultural challenges of the work as well as its implications for the role of the library within the institution and the services it provides. Specifically the case study will comprise of the following aspects: 1. A brief history of the work and the context of library analytics services in the UK (and internationally). A description of the approach adopted by the project, and the vision and goals of the project 2. Exploration of the challenges associated with the project. In particular the challenges around accessing and sharing the data, ‘warehousing’ and data infrastructure considerations and the design challenge of visualising the data sources in a useful and coherent way 3. Outline of the implications of the project and the resultant service. In particular the implications for benchmarking (within the UK and beyond), standards development for library statistics and impact (in particular the development of ISO 16439), service development, the role of the library within the wider institution and skills and expertise of librarians. Findings This paper will report on the initial findings of the project, which will run from January 2013 to October 2013. In particular it will consider the issues surfaced through the close engagement with the academic library community (through the projects community advisory and planning group) and the institutional early-adopters around data gathering and analysis. Practical implications Data accumulated in one context has the potential to inform decisions and interventions elsewhere. While there are a number of recognised and well understood use-cases for library analytics these tend to revolve around usage and collection management. Yet, the potential of a shared analytics service is in uncovering those links and indicators across diverse data sets. The paper will consider a number of practical impacts: Performance: benchmarking, student attainment, research productivity Design: fine tuning services, personalised support Trends: research landscape, student marketplace, utilisation of resources. The case study will explore these practical implications for libraries and what they mean for the future of the library within the academy. Originality and value of the proposal The paper will present a case study of a unique service that currently fills an important gap within the library analytics space. The paper will focus on the services potential to transform both the way the library works and how it is erceived by its users, as well as its role and relationship within the broader institution

Safety in Numbers: Developing a Shared Analytics Service for Academic Libraries

Purpose It is clear that libraries consider the use of data to inform decision making a top priority in the next five years. Jisc’s considerable work on activity data has highlighted the lack of tools and services for libraries to exploit this data. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of a shared analytics service for UK academic libraries and introduce the Jisc Library Analytics and Metrics Project (LAMP). The project aims to help libraries effectively management collections and services as well as delivering pre-emptive indicators and ‘actionable insights’ to help identify new trends, personalise services and improve efficiencies, economies and effectiveness (student attainment and satisfaction and institutional reputation, for example) . The project builds on the Library Impact Data Project at the University of Huddersfield and the work of the Copac Activity Data and Collections Management tools. The paper will deliver a case study of the project, its progress to date, the challenges of such an approach and the implications the service has for academic libraries. Design, methodology or approach The paper will be a case study of the project and its institutional partners and early adopters work to date and explore both the technical and cultural challenges of the work as well as its implications for the role of the library within the institution and the services it provides. Specifically the case study will comprise of the following aspects: 1. A brief history of the work and the context of library analytics services in the UK (and internationally). A description of the approach adopted by the project, and the vision and goals of the project 2. Exploration of the challenges associated with the project. In particular the challenges around accessing and sharing the data, ‘warehousing’ and data infrastructure considerations and the design challenge of visualising the data sources in a useful and coherent way 3. Outline of the implications of the project and the resultant service. In particular the implications for benchmarking (within the UK and beyond), standards development for library statistics and impact (in particular the development of ISO 16439), service development, the role of the library within the wider institution and skills and expertise of librarians. Findings This paper will report on the initial findings of the project, which will run from January 2013 to October 2013. In particular it will consider the issues surfaced through the close engagement with the academic library community (through the projects community advisory and planning group) and the institutional early-adopters around data gathering and analysis. Practical implications Data accumulated in one context has the potential to inform decisions and interventions elsewhere. While there are a number of recognised and well understood use-cases for library analytics these tend to revolve around usage and collection management. Yet, the potential of a shared analytics service is in uncovering those links and indicators across diverse data sets. The paper will consider a number of practical impacts: Performance: benchmarking, student attainment, research productivity Design: fine tuning services, personalised support Trends: research landscape, student marketplace, utilisation of resources. The case study will explore these practical implications for libraries and what they mean for the future of the library within the academy. Originality and value of the proposal The paper will present a case study of a unique service that currently fills an important gap within the library analytics space. The paper will focus on the services potential to transform both the way the library works and how it is erceived by its users, as well as its role and relationship within the broader institution

Appetite for self-destruction: suicidal biting as a nest defense strategy in Trigona stingless bees

Self-sacrificial behavior represents an extreme and relatively uncommon form of altruism in worker insects. It can occur, however, when inclusive fitness benefits are high, such as when defending the nest. We studied nest defense behaviors in stingless bees, which live in eusocial colonies subject to predation. We introduced a target flag to nest entrances to elicit defensive responses and quantified four measures of defensivity in 12 stingless bee species in São Paulo State, Brazil. These included three Trigona species, which are locally known for their aggression. Species varied significantly in their attack probability (cross species range = 0–1, P < 0.001), attack latency (7.0–23.5 s, P = 0.002), biting duration of individual bees (3.5–508.7 s, P < 0.001), and number of attackers (1.0–10.8, P < 0.001). A “suicide” bioassay on the six most aggressive species determined the proportion of workers willing to suffer fatal damage rather than disengage from an intruder. All six species had at least some suicidal individuals (7–83 %, P < 0.001), reaching 83 % in Trigona hyalinata. Biting pain was positively correlated with an index of overall aggression (P = 0.002). Microscopic examination revealed that all three Trigona species had five sharp teeth per mandible, a possible defensive adaptation and cause of increased pain. Suicidal defense via biting is a new example of self-sacrificial altruism and has both parallels and differences with other self-sacrificial worker insects, such as the honey bee. Our results indicate that suicidal biting may be a widespread defense strategy in stingless bees, but it is not universal

Honey and Children: The Effect of Honey from Apis cerana Bees on Children’ Nutritional Status in East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesia

This study aims to examine the effect of honey from Apis cerana bee colonies on nutritional status in children aged two to five years old in the working area of ​​Mok Community Health Center, Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesia. The study was conducted in May - June 2018, with quasi-experiment design with pre and post test in one group. The sample in this study amounted to 35 children under five years old, with malnutritional status. Nutritional status is determined by the weight-for-age. The used honey was honey from the A. cerana bee colonies harvested in Manggarai Regency. Honey was consumed by children as much as 5 mL, twice a day, morning and evening, for 8 weeks. Nutritional status measurements were taken at 0 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks before and after honey consumed regularly. Post-Hoc data analysis using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The results showed a significant increase in children's nutritional status at week 4 and week 8. The percentage of children with malnutritional status after being given honey A. cerana regularly for 4 weeks fell to 57% and good nutrition increased to 43%. Meanwhile, after 8 weeks of honey, the malnutritional status has decreased to 31%, and vice versa 69% of children have increased their nutritional status to good nutrition. The results of a comparative test of increasing nutritional status between 4 and 8 weeks showed that there was a significant difference between improving the nutritional status of children under five years old who consumed honey for 4 weeks and for 8 weeks. The research &nbsp;shows the length of time consumed &nbsp;A. cerana honey regularly in children aged two to five years old, will have a positive effect to the nutritional status from poor to good nutritional status

Pollination services in the UK: how important are honeybees?

Pollination services are known to provide substantial benefits to human populations and agriculture in particular. Although many species are known to provide pollination services, honeybees (Apis mellifera) are often assumed to provide the majority of these services to agriculture. Using data from a range of secondary sources, this study assesses the importance of insect pollinated crops at regional and national scales and investigates the capacity of honeybees to provide optimal pollination services to UK agriculture. The findings indicate that insect pollinated crops have become increasingly important in UK crop agriculture and, as of 2007, accounted for 20% of UK cropland and 19% of total farmgate crop value. Analysis of honeybee hive numbers indicates that current UK populations are only capable of supplying 34% of pollination service demands even under favourable assumptions, falling from 70% in 1984. In spite of this decline, insect pollinated crop yields have risen by an average of 54% since 1984, casting doubt on long held beliefs that honeybees provide the majority of pollination services. Future land use and crop production patterns may further increase the role of pollination services to UK agriculture, highlighting the importance of measures aimed at maintaining both wild and managed species

Identification of Multiple Functional Receptors for Tyramine on an Insect Secretory Epithelium

The biogenic amine tyramine (TA) regulates many aspects of invertebrate physiology and development. Although three TA receptor subtypes have been identified (TAR1-3), specific receptors have not been linked to physiological responses in native tissue. In the Malpighian (renal) tubule of Drosophila melanogaster, TA activates a transepithelial chloride conductance, resulting in diuresis and depolarization of the transepithelial potential. In the current work, mutation or RNAi-mediated knockdown in the stellate cells of the tubule of TAR2 (tyrR, CG7431) resulted in a dramatic reduction, but not elimination, of the TA-mediated depolarization. Mutation or knockdown of TAR3 (tyrRII, CG16766) had no effect. However, deletion of both genes, or knockdown of TAR3 on a TAR2 mutant background, eliminated the TA responses. Thus while TAR2 is responsible for the majority of the TA sensitivity of the tubule, TAR3 also contributes to the response. Knockdown or mutation of TAR2 also eliminated the response of tubules to the related amine octopamine (OA), indicating that OA can activate TAR2. This finding contrasts to reports that heterologously expressed TAR2 is highly selective for TA over OA. This is the first report of TA receptor function in a native tissue and indicates unexpected complexity in the physiology of the Malpighian tubule

B-Vitamins Influence the Consumption of Macronutrients in Honey Bees

Insects require dietary sources of B-vitamins, but relatively little is known about whether they regulate B-vitamin intake in the same way they regulate other nutrients. Honey bees meet their B-vitamin requirements mainly from the pollen they collect. Employing the geometric framework for nutrition, we found that honey bees actively regulate their vitamin intake following Bertrand’s rule. We fed bees with a diet of essential amino acids (EAAs) and carbohydrate (C) to identify how the addition of B-vitamins affected the regulation of these macronutrients. In our experiments, honey bees preferred vitamins in concentrations comparable to those found in honey bee food (pollen, beebread, and royal jelly). Honey bees actively regulated niacin around an optimal value. Supplementing honey bee diets with B-vitamins influenced the amount of EAAs and carbohydrate ingested differently depending on the type of the vitamin. The impact of these vitamins was observed over the course of seven days where honey bees’ mortality increased on diets of low and medium folic acid concentrations. This study provides insights into honey bee food intake regulation and the feeding preferences and sets the basis for future studies considering B-vitamins in honey bees diets

Behavioral alteration in the honeybee due to parasite-induced energetic stress

2012 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Parasites are dependent on their hosts for energy and honeybee foragers with their high metabolic demand due to flight are especially prone to an energetic stress when they are infected. The microsporidian gut parasite Nosema ceranae is relatively new to the honeybee, Apis mellifera and because it is less co-evolved with its new host the virulence from infection can be particularly high. Using a series of feeding and survival experiments, I found that bees infected with N. ceranae have a higher appetite and hunger level, and the survival of infected bees is compromised when they are fed with a limited amount of food. However, if fed ad libitum the survival of infected individuals is not different from that of uninfected bees, demonstrating that energetic stress is the primary cause of the shortened lifespan observed in infected bees. I then developed a high throughput colorimetric assay to analyze hemolymph sugar levels of individual bees to demonstrate that the parasite mediated energetic stress is expressed as lower trehalose levels in free-flying bees, which suggests that infected bees are not only likely to have a reduced flight capacity but they are also unable to compensate for their lower energetic state. One of the ways in which the changing energetic state of an individual is predicted to impact its behavior is its sensitivity to risk although this has never been convincingly demonstrated. According to the energy budget rule of Risk Sensitivity Theory, it is adaptive for an animal to be risk averse when it is on a positive energy budget and be risk prone when it is on a negative budget because the utility of a potential large reward is much higher in the latter case. By constructing an empirical utility curve and conducting choice tests using a Proboscis Extension Response assay in bees that have been variously manipulated with respect to their energy budgets, I comprehensively demonstrated that bees shift between risk averse to risk prone behavior in accordance with the energy budge rule. Even more importantly, I showed that this shift is contingent upon a change in the energy budget as bees maintained on constant high or low energy budgets were found to be risk indifferent. Given that Nosema infected bees have been seen to forage precociously and inclement weather, my results suggest that such risky foraging might be a consequence of the lower energetic state of infected foragers. As these previous results suggest that parasitism, by lowering their energetic state could have a significant influence on how infected bees forage, I decided to test if the energetic state of an individual can regulate its foraging independent of the colony level regulation of foraging. I uncoupled the energetic state of the individual from that of the colony by feeding individual bees with the non-metabolizable sugar sorbose, thereby creating hungry bees in a satiated colony. I found that these energy depleted bees initially compensate for their lower energetic state by being less active within the colony and taking fewer foraging trips, but not by feeding more within the colony. However, with further depletion in their energetic state, these bees increase their foraging frequency showing that foraging is still partly regulated at the individual level even in a eusocial animal such as the honeybee. My research therefore shows that the energetic stress from a parasite could be a general mechanism that leads to significant behavioral alterations in infected individuals. Since the energetic state of an animal is a fundamental driver of its behavior, such a mechanism underlying behavioral alterations could have a significant impact on the life history of the host and transmission dynamics of a disease. More specifically, these results also suggest that a parasitic infection leading to energy depleted bees going out to forage in a risky manner also provides a plausible mechanism that explains the recent observations of bees disappearing from their colonies

Microscopic and molecular detection of Nosema spp. in honeybees of Turkey

International audienceAbstractIn this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of Nosema spp. in honeybees of Turkey. For this aim, adult honeybee (Apis mellifera) samples were collected from 1621 colonies within 95 apiaries located in 22 provinces of Turkey. Samples were examined microscopically. In case of positivity, spore identification was done by multiplex PCR. At the end of microscopic examination, Nosema spp. spores were detected in 7 out of 22 provinces (31.8 %), and 16 out of 95 colonies (16.8 %) that represent 1621 colonies. According to PCR results, 1 out of 16 isolates (6.25 %) was Nosema apis, and 15 out of 16 isolates (93.75 %) were Nosema ceranae. The result of our study indicated that N.ceranae is the dominant species in Turkey