Evolution of Expending Extra Effort in Making a Dung Mass before Making a Brood Ball in the Nesting Behavior of the Female Dung Beetle <i>Copris acutidens</i> (Coleoptera; Scarabaeoidea)

Nutrient limitations have often caused the evolution of mechanisms for efficient nutrient acquisition. The mouthparts of adult dung beetles efficiently acquire nutrients from a fiber-rich diet. Conversely, primitive mouthparts force larvae to survive on a low-quality diet despite experiencing the most demanding growth stages. In this study, we investigated the nutritional conditions and microbial community of the larval diet through the nesting behavior of the dung beetle Copris acutidens. We revealed that diet quality (C/N ratio) increased during the process of making the brood ball, irrespective of dung type. The sequencing of the bacterial community based on a partial 16S rRNA gene and the fungal community that targeted ITS2 region revealed that the fungal community in the female gut was the closest to the larval diet, whereas the bacterial community was not. The proportion of fungal Trichosporonaceae tended to increase with a decreasing C/N ratio irrespective of dung type and was alive in the larval gut. We suggest that Trichosporonaceae is a gut symbiont of both the adult female and larvae of C. acutidens, which is transmitted to the dung mass and then to larval gut through the brood ball, and that females have evolved the extra effort processes in their nesting behavior to compensate for larval diet quality, which is likely associated with symbiont fungi within the family Trichosporonaceae

Spinal block and delirium in oncologic patients after laparoscopic surgery in the Trendelenburg position: A randomized controlled trial.

Delirium is the most common postsurgical neurological complication and has a variable incidence rate. Laparoscopic surgery, when associated with the Trendelenburg position, can cause innumerable physiological changes and increase the risk of neurocognitive changes. The association of general anesthesia with a spinal block allows the use of lower doses of anesthetic agents for anesthesia maintenance and facilitates better control over postoperative pain. Our primary outcome was to assess whether a spinal block influences the incidence of delirium in oncologic patients following laparoscopic surgery in the Trendelenburg position. Our secondary outcome was to analyze whether there were other associated factors. A total of 150 oncologic patients who underwent elective laparoscopic surgeries in the Trendelenburg position were included in this randomized controlled trial. The patients were randomized into 2 groups: the general anesthesia group and the general anesthesia plus spinal block group. Patients were immediately evaluated during the postoperative period and monitored until they were discharged, to rule out the presence of delirium. Delirium occurred in 29 patients in total (22.3%) (general anesthesia group: 30.8%; general anesthesia plus spinal block: 13.8% p = 0.035). Patients who received general anesthesia had a higher risk of delirium than patients who received general anesthesia associated with a spinal block (odds ratio = 3.4; 95% confidence interval: 1.2-9.6; p = 0.020). Spinal block was associated with reduced delirium incidence in oncologic patients who underwent elective laparoscopic surgeries in the Trendelenburg position