Aggregations of unrelated Apis florea

International audienc

Genotype and clinical characteristics of congenital long QT syndrome in Thailand.

Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an inheritable arrhythmic disorder which is linked to at least 17 genes. The clinical characteristics and genetic mutations may be variable among different population groups and they have not yet been studied in Thai population. Clinical characteristics were retrospectively reviewed from children and young adults with congenital long QT syndrome whose blood samples were sent for genotyping during 1998-2017. Sangers sequencing was used to sequentially identify KCNQ1 or KCNH2 genetic variants. Whole exome sequencing (WES) was used to identify variants in all other known LQTS genes. Of the 20 subjects (17 families), 45% were male, mean QTc was 550.3 ± 68.8 msec (range 470-731 msec) and total Schwartz's score was 5.6 ± 1.2 points (range 3-8 points). Fifty percent of patients had events at rest, 30% had symptoms after adrenergic mediated events, and 20% were asymptomatic. We discovered pathogenic and likely pathogenic genetic variants in KCNQ1, KCNH2, and SCN5A in 6 (35%), 4 (24%), and 2 (12%) families, respectively. One additional patient had variance of unknown significance (VUS) in KCNH2 and another one in ANK2. No pathogenic genetic variant was found in 3 patients (18%). Most patients received beta-blocker and 9 (45%) had ICD implanted. LQT1 patients were either asymptomatic or had stress-induced arrhythmia. Most of the LQT2 and LQT3 patients developed symptoms at rest or during sleep. Our patients with LQTS were mostly symptomatic at presentation. The genetic mutations were predominantly in LQT1, LQT2, and LQT3 genes

Optimization of water management in polder areas

Water management in polders in The Netherlands, compared with water management in Thailand. With the Dutch case studies: Schieveen, Duifpolder, Hoge en Lage Abtswoudse polde

A model for optimisation of water management in rice polders in Thailand

This paper presents a mathematical model for the determination of optimal values for the main components of water management systems in rice polders in Thailand. The aim of the water management system in a rice area is to create good growing conditions for the crops. Under the hydrological conditions of Thailand the average rainfall during the rainy season is more than enough for growing rice or other crops. However, during the dry season there is a very small amount of rainfall. Thus the farmers are confronted with two quite different conditions and water management has to deal with irrigation and drainage issues. The main components of the water management system in a rice polder are the water level in the canals, the percentage of open surface water, discharge capacity from the field and discharge capacity of the pumping station or sluice. A model has been developed that takes into account damage due to flooding and drought as well as construction and maintenance cost for irrigation and drainage systems based on the hydrological conditions. Optimising of such a water management system means determining the main components in such a way that the equivalent annual costs are minimal. A case study has been done for a rice polder in Suphanburi province. It was found that the polder water level for rice under rainfed conditions could be kept above ground level to minimise loss of water from the rice field, whereas under irrigated conditions the polder water level has to be kept below ground level to get good drainage condition

Aggregations of unrelated Apis florea colonies

Intensive surveys of an area of woodland in Phitsanulok province, Thailand, revealed 15 colonies of Apis florea. The colonies had a highly aggregated spatial distribution (Standardized Morisita's Index of Dispersion = 0.59). Microsatellite analysis based on 5 loci showed that no colonies were related as mother-daughter, suggesting that unrelated colonies tend to nest near existing colonies

Moving home: nest-site selection in the Red Dwarf honeybee ('Apis florea')

The Red Dwarf honeybee ('Apis florea') is one of two basal species in the genus 'Apis. A. florea' differs from the well-studied Western Hive bee ('Apis mellifera') in that it nests in the open rather than in cavities. This fundamental difference in nesting biology is likely to have implications for nest-site selection, the process by which a reproductive swarm selects a new site to live in. In 'A. mellifera', workers show a series of characteristic behaviors that allow the swarm to select the best nest site possible. Here, we describe the behavior of individual 'A. florea' workers during the process of nest-site selection and show that it differs from that seen in 'A. mellifera'. We analyzed a total of 1,459 waggle dances performed by 197 scouts in five separate swarms. Our results suggest that two fundamental aspects of the behavior of 'A. mellifera' scouts -the process of dance decay and the process of repeated nest site evaluation- do not occur in 'A. florea'. We also found that the piping signal used by 'A. mellifera' scouts to signal that a quorum has been reached at the chosen site, is performed by both dancing and non-dancing bees in 'A. florea'. Thus, the piping signal appears to serve a different purpose in 'A. florea'. Our results illustrate how differences in nesting biology affect the behavior of individual bees during the nest-site selection process

A scientific note on the mating frequency of Apis dorsata

(without abstract