CREATING & EVALUATING Artificial Domiciles for Bumble Bees

Most biologists agree that the availability of suitable nesting sites is a limiting factor for bumble bee populations (Free, 1959). Bumble bees always select areas with preexisting insulation for nesting. Fur-lined abandoned rodent dens are especially attractive, but occasionally, abandoned man-made materials are inhabited. It is not rare to find multiple dead queens in a nest indicating that they have fought for ownership. Despite our knowledge of bumble bee nest site selection, most efforts to attract bumble bees to artificial domiciles have been met with limited success (Fye & Medler, 1954; Hobbs et al.,1960). Creating and evaluating artificial domiciles provides students an opportunity to investigate a real problem. In conducting their investigation, they will learn about the biology and life cycle of bumble bees, their vital role as pollinators, and the interdependence of the bees and plants they visit. They will also have an opportunity to contribute to solving a problem that could greatly enhance bumble bee conservation efforts. Developing a highly-attractive artificial domicile would help to increase local bumble bee populations and benefit the plants they pollinate, including many fruit and vegetable crops. An attractive artificial domicile would also be invaluable to researchers who study bumble bees

Sensitivity of Second-Generation Enzyme Immunoassay for Detection of Hepatitis C Virus Infection among Oncology Patients

Background: The second-generation hepatitis C virus (HCV) enzyme immunoassay (EIA 2), an antibody-detection test, has high sensitivity and is one of the recommended screening tests for detecting HCV infection in the United States. However, its sensitivity among oncology patients is unknown. Objective: Assess the EIA 2 sensitivity among a group of oncology patients at a Nebraska clinic where an HCV outbreak occurred during 2000–2001 using nucleic acid testing (NAT) and recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) as the gold standards. Study design: Serum specimens were collected from patients 16 months after transmission had stopped. We tested the specimens using EIA 2 (Abbott HCV EIA 2.0), a NAT assay based on transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) (Gen-Probe TMA assay) and RIBA (Chiron RIBA® HCV 3.0 SIA). HCV infection was defined as a positive RIBA or TMA test in an oncology patient. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were determined in EIA 2-negative/TMA-positive samples. Results: A total of 264 samples were included in the study.We identified 92 HCV infections, 76 of which were Abbott EIA 2 positive. Abbott EIA 2 sensitivity was 83% (76/92), lower than that reported among healthy adults (90%) (p = 0.01) and poor sensitivity was associated with receipt of chemotherapy during the outbreak period (p = 0.02). Only 1 (6%) of the 16 EIA 2-negative cases had elevated ALT. Conclusions: In this study, EIA 2 sensitivity among oncology patients was lower than that previously reported among immunocompetent persons. Impaired antibody production related to cancer and/or chemotherapy might explain the reduced sensitivity. These findings indicate that, when assessing HCV status in oncology patients, a NAT test should be routinely considered in addition to EIA