The Antiquity and Evolutionary History of Social Behavior in Bees

A long-standing controversy in bee social evolution concerns whether highly eusocial behavior has evolved once or twice within the corbiculate Apidae. Corbiculate bees include the highly eusocial honey bees and stingless bees, the primitively eusocial bumble bees, and the predominantly solitary or communal orchid bees. Here we use a model-based approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of eusociality and date the antiquity of eusocial behavior in apid bees, using a recent molecular phylogeny of the Apidae. We conclude that eusociality evolved once in the common ancestor of the corbiculate Apidae, advanced eusociality evolved independently in the honey and stingless bees, and that eusociality was lost in the orchid bees. Fossil-calibrated divergence time estimates reveal that eusociality first evolved at least 87 Mya (78 to 95 Mya) in the corbiculates, much earlier than in other groups of bees with less complex social behavior. These results provide a robust new evolutionary framework for studies of the organization and genetic basis of social behavior in honey bees and their relatives

Murdoch’s Aspirations and Pathways for University (MAP4U) Project: Developing and supporting low SES students’ aspirations for higher education participation using school-based university outreach programs

Students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and schools in the southwest corridor of Perth, Australia, are far less likely to enter higher education than those from a high SES background. On-campus university outreach programs have long been the tool of choice to engage with low SES students to raise and support their aspirations for higher education. The Murdoch Aspirations and Pathways for University Project sought to engage with secondary-level students through school-based outreach programs that were developed and offered as long-haul, curriculum-based activities with university and industry professionals as mentors and role models. The project sought to promote and support inclusion and diversity in higher education (HE) and contribute to the literature on HE participation for low SES youth in Western Australia. Twelve hundred and twenty-three students across 23 schools participated in the program. This chapter discusses the effects of the programs on aspirations for higher education participation, how their aspirations were supported by important socialisers at home, school and in the neighbourhood. Students also reported personal changes and stronger social and cultural connections with their parents and carers, teachers and friends; thus providing them with supported strategies to achieve school completion and to realise their expectations for a transition to higher education after school graduation

Antibiotic Use in Ontario Facilities That Provide Chronic Care

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and variability of antibiotic use in facilities which provide chronic care and to determine how often clinical criteria for infection are met when antibiotics are prescribed in these facilities. DESIGN: A prospective, 12-month, observational cohort study. SETTING: Twenty-two facilities which provide chronic care in southwestern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who were treated with systemic antibiotics over the study period. MEASUREMENTS: Characteristics of antibiotic prescriptions (name, dose, duration, and indication) and clinical features of randomly selected patients who were treated with antibiotics. RESULTS: A total of 9,373 courses of antibiotics were prescribed for 2,408 patients (66% of all patients in study facilities). The incidence of antibiotic prescriptions in the facilities ranged from 2.9 to 13.9 antibiotic courses per 1,000 patient-days. Thirty-six percent of antibiotics were prescribed for respiratory tract infections, 33% for urinary infections, and 13% for skin and soft tissue infections. Standardized surveillance definitions of infection were met in 49% of the 1,602 randomly selected patients who were prescribed antibiotics. Diagnostic criteria for respiratory, urinary, and skin infection were met in 58%, 28%, and 65% of prescriptions, respectively. One third of antibiotic prescriptions for a urinary indication were for asymptomatic bacteriuria. Adverse reactions were noted in 6% of prescriptions for respiratory and urinary infections and 4% of prescriptions for skin infection. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic use is frequent and highly variable amongst patients who receive chronic care. Reducing antibiotic prescriptions for asymptomatic bacteriuria represents an important way to optimize antibiotic use in this population