2,260 research outputs found
So near and yet so far: Harmonic radar reveals reduced homing ability of nosema infected honeybees
Pathogens may gain a fitness advantage through manipulation of the behaviour of their hosts. Likewise, host behavioural changes can be a defence mechanism, counteracting the impact of pathogens on host fitness. We apply harmonic radar technology to characterize the impact of an emerging pathogen - Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) - on honeybee (Apis mellifera) flight and orientation performance in the field. Honeybees are the most important commercial pollinators. Emerging diseases have been proposed to play a prominent role in colony decline, partly through sub-lethal behavioural manipulation of their hosts. We found that homing success was significantly reduced in diseased (65.8%) versus healthy foragers (92.5%). Although lost bees had significantly reduced continuous flight times and prolonged resting times, other flight characteristics and navigational abilities showed no significant difference between infected and non-infected bees. Our results suggest that infected bees express normal flight characteristics but are constrained in their homing ability, potentially compromising the colony by reducing its resource inputs, but also counteracting the intra-colony spread of infection. We provide the first high-resolution analysis of sub-lethal effects of an emerging disease on insect flight behaviour. The potential causes and the implications for both host and parasite are discussed
So near and yet so far: Harmonic radar reveals reduced homing ability of nosema infected honeybees
Pathogens may gain a fitness advantage through manipulation of the behaviour of their hosts. Likewise, host behavioural changes can be a defence mechanism, counteracting the impact of pathogens on host fitness. We apply harmonic radar technology to characterize the impact of an emerging pathogen - Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) - on honeybee (Apis mellifera) flight and orientation performance in the field. Honeybees are the most important commercial pollinators. Emerging diseases have been proposed to play a prominent role in colony decline, partly through sub-lethal behavioural manipulation of their hosts. We found that homing success was significantly reduced in diseased (65.8%) versus healthy foragers (92.5%). Although lost bees had significantly reduced continuous flight times and prolonged resting times, other flight characteristics and navigational abilities showed no significant difference between infected and non-infected bees. Our results suggest that infected bees express normal flight characteristics but are constrained in their homing ability, potentially compromising the colony by reducing its resource inputs, but also counteracting the intra-colony spread of infection. We provide the first high-resolution analysis of sub-lethal effects of an emerging disease on insect flight behaviour. The potential causes and the implications for both host and parasite are discussed
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Tuning structural relaxations, mechanical properties, and degradation timescale of PLLA during hydrolytic degradation by blending with PLCL-PEG
Poly-L-lactide (PLLA) is a popular choice for medical devices due to its
bioresorbability and superior mechanical properties compared with other
polymers. However, although PLLA has been investigated for use in bioresorbable
cardiovascular stents, it presents application-specific limitations which
hamper device therapies. These include low toughness and strength compared with
metals used for this purpose, and slow degradation. Blending PLLA with novel
polyethylene glycol functionalised
poly(L-lactide-co--caprolactone) (PLCL-PEG) materials has been
investigated here to tailor the mechanical properties and degradation behaviour
of PLLA. This exciting approach provides a foundation for a next generation of
bioresorbable materials whose properties can be rapidly tuned. The degradation
of PLLA was significantly accelerated by addition of PLCL-PEG. After 30 days of
degradation, several structural changes were observed in the polymer blends,
which were dependent on the level of PLCL-PEG addition. Blends with low
PLCL-PEG content displayed enthalpy relaxation, resulting in embrittlement,
while blends with high PLCL-PEG content displayed crystallisation, due to
enhanced chain mobility brought on by chain scission, also causing
embrittlement. Moderate PLCL-PEG additions (10% PLCL(70:30)-PEG and 20 - 30%
PLCL(80:20)-PEG) stabilised the structure, reducing the extent of enthalpy
relaxation and crystallisation and thus retaining ductility. Compositional
optimisation identified a sweet spot for this blend strategy, whereby the
ductility was enhanced while maintaining strength. Our results indicate that
blending PLLA with PLCL-PEG provides an effective method of tuning the
degradation timescale and mechanical properties of PLLA, and provides important
new insight into the mechanisms of structural relaxations that occur during
degradation, and strategies for regulating these.Lucideon Lt
Maternal depressive symptoms and child social preference during the early school years: Mediation by maternal warmth and child emotion regulation
This longitudinal study examined processes that mediate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and peer social preference during the early school years. Three hundred and fifty six kindergarten children (182 boys) and their mothers participated in the study. During kindergarten, mothers reported their level of depressive symptomatology. In first grade, teachers rated children's emotion regulation at school and observers rated the affective quality of mother-child interactions. During second grade, children's social preference was assessed by peer nomination. Results indicated that mothers' level of depressive symptomatology negatively predicted their child's social preference 2 years later, controlling for the family SES and teacher-rated social preference during kindergarten. Among European American families, the association between maternal depressive symptoms and social preference was partially mediated by maternal warmth and the child's emotion regulation. Although the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children peer preference was stronger among African American families than Europrean American families, its mediation by the maternal warmth and child's emotion regulation was not found in African American families. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201
Comparison and relative utility of inequality measurements: as applied to Scotlandâs child dental health
This study compared and assessed the utility of tests of inequality on a series of very large population caries datasets. National cross-sectional caries datasets for Scotlandâs 5-year-olds in 1993/94 (n = 5,078); 1995/96 (n = 6,240); 1997/98 (n = 6,584); 1999/00 (n = 6,781); 2002/03 (n = 9,747); 2003/04 (n = 10,956); 2005/06 (n = 10,945) and 2007/08 (n = 12,067) were obtained. Outcomes were based on the d3mft metric (i.e. the number of decayed, missing and filled teeth). An area-based deprivation category (DepCat) measured the subjectsâ socioeconomic status (SES). Simple absolute and relative inequality, Odds Ratios and the Significant Caries Index (SIC) as advocated by the World Health Organization were calculated. The measures of complex inequality applied to data were: the Slope Index of Inequality (absolute) and a variety of relative inequality tests i.e. Gini coefficient; Relative Index of Inequality; concentration curve; Koolman and Doorslaerâs transformed Concentration Index; Receiver Operator Curve and Population Attributable Risk (PAR). Additional tests used were plots of SIC deciles (SIC10) and a Scottish Caries Inequality Metric (SCIM10). Over the period, mean d3mft improved from 3.1(95%CI 3.0â3.2) to 1.9(95%CI 1.8â1.9) and d3mft = 0% from 41.1(95%CI 39.8â42.3) to 58.3(95%CI 57.8â59.7). Absolute simple and complex inequality decreased. Relative simple and complex inequality remained comparatively stable. Our results support the use of the SII and RII to measure complex absolute and relative SES inequalities alongside additional tests of complex relative inequality such as PAR and Koolman and Doorslaerâs transformed CI. The latter two have clear interpretations which may influence policy makers. Specialised dental metrics (i.e. SIC, SIC10 and SCIM10) permit the exploration of other important inequalities not determined by SES, and could be applied to many other types of disease where ranking of morbidity is possible e.g. obesity. More generally, the approaches described may be applied to study patterns of health inequality affecting worldwide populations
Parental Leave policies, gender equity and family well being in Europe: a comparative perspective
Leave policies and the protection of working parents' rights have changed significantly
in Europe during the last few decades. While policies introduced immediately
after World War II were largely based on a male-breadwinner model, the post-1970s
policies have recognised the increase in maternal employment, the growing diversity
of work/family arrangements and working parents' needs for state support in caring
for young children. Paid maternity leave and paid or unpaid parental leave are
now available throughout Europe - Western, Central and Eastern - and policy developments
have encouraged more gender-neutral leaves and longer periods of paid
leave (Deven and Moss 2005)
Genome-wide linkage analysis of 972 bipolar pedigrees using single-nucleotide polymorphisms.
Because of the high costs associated with ascertainment of families, most linkage studies of Bipolar I disorder (BPI) have used relatively small samples. Moreover, the genetic information content reported in most studies has been less than 0.6. Although microsatellite markers spaced every 10âcM typically extract most of the genetic information content for larger multiplex families, they can be less informative for smaller pedigrees especially for affected sib pair kindreds. For these reasons we collaborated to pool family resources and carried out higher density genotyping. Approximately 1100 pedigrees of European ancestry were initially selected for study and were genotyped by the Center for Inherited Disease Research using the Illumina Linkage Panel 12 set of 6090 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Of the ~1100 families, 972 were informative for further analyses, and mean information content was 0.86 after pruning for linkage disequilibrium. The 972 kindreds include 2284 cases of BPI disorder, 498 individuals with bipolar II disorder (BPII) and 702 subjects with recurrent major depression. Three affection status models (ASMs) were considered: ASM1 (BPI and schizoaffective disorder, BP cases (SABP) only), ASM2 (ASM1 cases plus BPII) and ASM3 (ASM2 cases plus recurrent major depression). Both parametric and non-parametric linkage methods were carried out. The strongest findings occurred at 6q21 (non-parametric pairs LOD 3.4 for rs1046943 at 119âcM) and 9q21 (non-parametric pairs logarithm of odds (LOD) 3.4 for rs722642 at 78âcM) using only BPI and schizoaffective (SA), BP cases. Both results met genome-wide significant criteria, although neither was significant after correction for multiple analyses. We also inspected parametric scores for the larger multiplex families to identify possible rare susceptibility loci. In this analysis, we observed 59 parametric LODs of 2 or greater, many of which are likely to be close to maximum possible scores. Although some linkage findings may be false positives, the results could help prioritize the search for rare variants using whole exome or genome sequencing
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