An update on recent colony losses in Scotland from a sample survey covering 2006-2008

Peterson et al. (2009) reported figures on honey bee colony losses from a postal survey of beekeepers in Scotland carried out in early summer 2006 on behalf of the Executive of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA). We now provide updated figures on Scottish colony losses and on the reasons for these losses, from a repeat survey in late spring 2008 and covering the period April 2006 to April 2008

The SBA survey 2008 : some preliminary findings

Following the survey of SBA members in 2006, a second survey was carried out in late spring of 2008 to monitor the ongoing effects of Varroa and experiences of colony loss. It also attempted to collect information on various environmental factors rumoured to be possible causes of colony collapse disorder (CCD), to enable further investigation and modelling of the risk of sudden colony collapse. The design of this survey was described in the November 2008 issue of the Scottish Beekeeper

Colony losses in Scotland in 2004-2006 from a sample survey

In the early summer of 2006, a postal survey of beekeeping in Scotland was carried out on behalf of the Executive of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA), to obtain an overview of some general aspects of current beekeeping practice and experience in Scotland. Of particular interest were colony losses and also extent and impact of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman, 2000). The Scottish experience is of interest, as V. destructor is not yet universally present throughout the country

Varroa and losses of bee colonies in Scotland

In relation to Scotland, some interesting findings on unexplained colony losses and a possible link to Varroa infestation of bee colonies arise from a survey of members of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association (SBA) carried out in May 2006. This survey covered the period April 2004 to March 2006 and was undertaken largely as a response to reports of apparently newly emerging problems with queen rearing in parts of southern England and concern over the effects of the arrival of Varroa destructor in Scotland in 1996 and its subsequent wide spread across the country

Addressing gender-based violence in the Sierra Leone conflict: Notes from the field

Sierra Leone’s transition has witnessed a number of landmark procedural and legal innovations which have had widespread implications for international gender justice. The 11-year conflict had shattered the country, leaving more than a million people displaced and thousands of women coping with the aftermath of sexual violence. Then, in 1999, the Lomé Peace Accord in 1999 traded amnesty for peace and made provision for the establishment of the Sierra Leone Truth Commission. The United Nations Security Council subsequently established a Special Court to prosecute those who bore ‘the greatest responsibility’ for atrocities committed during the conflict

A characterization of baseline groundwater quality in the New York Southern Tier for Project SWIFT

The acquisition of quality baseline groundwater quality in the Southern Tier of New York State has been of concern due to the contention surrounding groundwater quality in areas where hydraulic fracturing for natural gas production has been developed. Little information on groundwater quality is publicly available for the Southern Tier, where natural gas production through hydraulic fracturing is feasible. This Capstone study, as a part of Project SWIFT at Syracuse University, seeks to determine the concentrations of several ionic compounds and elements in the groundwater of the New York counties which are most apt for hydraulic fracturing. Sample sites were determined by adherence to several criteria based on well construction as well as regularly spaced sample distribution throughout the study area. Streams were also sampled, selected according to drainage area. Results showed that groundwater contained higher concentrations of the majority of the compounds analyzed. Only a small number of samples yielded concentrations greater than the Maximum Contaminant Level set by the Environmental Protection Agency. This data will be used to help develop geochemical fingerprinting tool to detect the presence of hydraulic fracturing fluids and associated formation waters in shallow groundwater wells, as goaled by Project SWIFT

Book Review: Planning Paradise: Politics and Visioning of Land Use in Oregon by Peter Walker and Patrick Hurley

Book Review: Planning Paradise: Politics and Visioning of Land Use in Oregon by Peter Walker and Patrick Hurle

Alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies in multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory

The alternative separation of exchange and correlation energies proposed by Toulouse et al. [Theor. Chem. Acc. 114, 305 (2005)] is explored in the context of multi-configuration range-separated density-functional theory. The new decomposition of the short-range exchange-correlation energy relies on the auxiliary long-range interacting wavefunction rather than the Kohn-Sham (KS) determinant. The advantage, relative to the traditional KS decomposition, is that the wavefunction part of the energy is now computed with the regular (fully-interacting) Hamiltonian. One potential drawback is that, because of double counting, the wavefunction used to compute the energy cannot be obtained by minimizing the energy expression with respect to the wavefunction parameters. The problem is overcome by using short-range optimized effective potentials (OEPs). The resulting combination of OEP techniques with wavefunction theory has been investigated in this work, at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and multi-configuration self-consistent-field (MCSCF) levels. In the HF case, an analytical expression for the energy gradient has been derived and implemented. Calculations have been performed within the short-range local density approximation on H2, N2, Li2 and H2O. Significant improvements in binding energies are obtained with the new decomposition of the short-range energy. The importance of optimizing the short-range OEP at the MCSCF level when static correlation becomes significant has also been demonstrated for H2, using a finite-difference gradient. The implementation of the analytical gradient for MCSCF wavefunctions is currently in progress.Comment: 5 figure

The major histocompatibility complex of cattle with particular reference to some aspects of East Coast fever

Following an introduction and review of literature pertaining to relevant aspects of major histocompatibility systems and a review of literature on the bovine system specifically, an introduction to East Coast fever (ECF) and review of literature on ECF immunology and lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) vaccination is given.The development and application of a technique for selection of bovine lymphocyte antigen (BoLA) ~ defined subpopulations within established LCLs transformed by the causative organism of ECF (Theileria parva) is then described. The results are discussed in the context of T.parva-preferred target cells in in vitro transformation systems, and the possible application of the technique in producing LCLs lacking BoLA expression is considered. No evidence of modulation of BoLA phenotype (workshop specificities) as a consequence of Theileria~induced transformation was found.Two large scale LCL challenge experiments in cattle are reported, in which degrees of compatibility between LCLs and recipient cattle were quantified and the effect of this on the responses to LCL inoculation and subsequent stabilate challenge, assessed. Evidence is presented for the BoLA system being an important factor in determining the response to LCL inoculation and the generation of immunity to a second challenge with the homologous parasite, when cattle are inoculated with low numbers of cells initially.Also presented are the results of a series of experiments carried out to investigate the specificity of bovine alloreactive cytotoxic cells generated in vitro. The results suggest that BoLA workshop specificities, as defined by alloantisera, are restrictive in this system. The results also suggest that effects due to expression of the products of a BoLA locus other than that coding for the workshop specificities were being detected in some experiments.The significance of these results for future studies of the bovine immune system in general, and for studies of the immune response in ECF in particular, is discussed