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Sample records for honeybee caste determination

  1. Plant microRNAs in larval food regulate honeybee caste development.

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    Zhu, Kegan; Liu, Minghui; Fu, Zheng; Zhou, Zhen; Kong, Yan; Liang, Hongwei; Lin, Zheguang; Luo, Jun; Zheng, Huoqing; Wan, Ping; Zhang, Junfeng; Zen, Ke; Chen, Jiong; Hu, Fuliang; Zhang, Chen-Yu; Ren, Jie; Chen, Xi

    2017-08-01

    The major environmental determinants of honeybee caste development come from larval nutrients: royal jelly stimulates the differentiation of larvae into queens, whereas beebread leads to worker bee fate. However, these determinants are not fully characterized. Here we report that plant RNAs, particularly miRNAs, which are more enriched in beebread than in royal jelly, delay development and decrease body and ovary size in honeybees, thereby preventing larval differentiation into queens and inducing development into worker bees. Mechanistic studies reveal that amTOR, a stimulatory gene in caste differentiation, is the direct target of miR162a. Interestingly, the same effect also exists in non-social Drosophila. When such plant RNAs and miRNAs are fed to Drosophila larvae, they cause extended developmental times and reductions in body weight and length, ovary size and fecundity. This study identifies an uncharacterized function of plant miRNAs that fine-tunes honeybee caste development, offering hints for understanding cross-kingdom interaction and co-evolution.

  2. Molecular determinants of caste differentiation in the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera

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    Simões Zilá LP

    2007-06-01

    DEGs are co-regulated during caste development in honeybees. This network of interactions is activated by nutrition-driven stimuli in early larval stages. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that JH is a key component of the developmental determination of queen-like characters. Finally, we propose a conceptual model of caste differentiation in A. mellifera based on gene-regulatory networks.

  3. Molecular determinants of caste differentiation in the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera.

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    Barchuk, Angel R; Cristino, Alexandre S; Kucharski, Robert; Costa, Luciano F; Simões, Zilá L P; Maleszka, Ryszard

    2007-06-18

    In honeybees, differential feeding of female larvae promotes the occurrence of two different phenotypes, a queen and a worker, from identical genotypes, through incremental alterations, which affect general growth, and character state alterations that result in the presence or absence of specific structures. Although previous studies revealed a link between incremental alterations and differential expression of physiometabolic genes, the molecular changes accompanying character state alterations remain unknown. By using cDNA microarray analyses of >6,000 Apis mellifera ESTs, we found 240 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between developing queens and workers. Many genes recorded as up-regulated in prospective workers appear to be unique to A. mellifera, suggesting that the workers' developmental pathway involves the participation of novel genes. Workers up-regulate more developmental genes than queens, whereas queens up-regulate a greater proportion of physiometabolic genes, including genes coding for metabolic enzymes and genes whose products are known to regulate the rate of mass-transforming processes and the general growth of the organism (e.g., tor). Many DEGs are likely to be involved in processes favoring the development of caste-biased structures, like brain, legs and ovaries, as well as genes that code for cytoskeleton constituents. Treatment of developing worker larvae with juvenile hormone (JH) revealed 52 JH responsive genes, specifically during the critical period of caste development. Using Gibbs sampling and Expectation Maximization algorithms, we discovered eight overrepresented cis-elements from four gene groups. Graph theory and complex networks concepts were adopted to attain powerful graphical representations of the interrelation between cis-elements and genes and objectively quantify the degree of relationship between these entities. We suggest that clusters of functionally related DEGs are co-regulated during caste development in honeybees

  4. Hox gene expression leads to differential hind leg development between honeybee castes.

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    Bomtorin, Ana Durvalina; Barchuk, Angel Roberto; Moda, Livia Maria; Simoes, Zila Luz Paulino

    2012-01-01

    Beyond the physiological and behavioural, differences in appendage morphology between the workers and queens of Apis mellifera are pre-eminent. The hind legs of workers, which are highly specialized pollinators, deserve special attention. The hind tibia of worker has an expanded bristle-free region used for carrying pollen and propolis, the corbicula. In queens this structure is absent. Although the morphological differences are well characterized, the genetic inputs driving the development of this alternative morphology remain unknown. Leg phenotype determination takes place between the fourth and fifth larval instar and herein we show that the morphogenesis is completed at brown-eyed pupa. Using results from the hybridization of whole genome-based oligonucleotide arrays with RNA samples from hind leg imaginal discs of pre-pupal honeybees of both castes we present a list of 200 differentially expressed genes. Notably, there are castes preferentially expressed cuticular protein genes and members of the P450 family. We also provide results of qPCR analyses determining the developmental transcription profiles of eight selected genes, including abdominal-A, distal-less and ultrabithorax (Ubx), whose roles in leg development have been previously demonstrated in other insect models. Ubx expression in workers hind leg is approximately 25 times higher than in queens. Finally, immunohistochemistry assays show that Ubx localization during hind leg development resembles the bristles localization in the tibia/basitarsus of the adult legs in both castes. Our data strongly indicate that the development of the hind legs diphenism characteristic of this corbiculate species is driven by a set of caste-preferentially expressed genes, such as those encoding cuticular protein genes, P450 and Hox proteins, in response to the naturally different diets offered to honeybees during the larval period.

  5. Diet quantity influence phenotypic dimorphism during honey bee (Apis mellifera) caste determination

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    Queen and worker honey bees are genetically analogous, but morphologically and physiologically different. Nutritional differences in larval diets regulate caste determination. Our recent work indicates diet quantity has a strong influence on caste in honeybees, and that queen induction can occur in ...

  6. Genetic underpinnings of division of labor in the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

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    Lattorff, H Michael G; Moritz, Robin F A

    2013-11-01

    Honeybees have been studied for centuries, starting with Aristotle, who wrote the first book about bee breeding. More than 2000 years later, the honeybee entered the genomic era as the first social insect whose genome was sequenced, leading to significant insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying social behavior. In addition, gene expression studies and knockdown using RNAi have extended the understanding of social interactions. Much of the work has focused on caste determination - the mechanism that results in reproductive division of labor, division of labor within the worker caste, and worker reproduction - an essential process underlying eusociality. Here we review the molecular factors involved in caste determination and the differential regulation of caste-specific genes. Recent findings suggest that division of labor is influenced by a small number of loci showing high levels of pleiotropy, suggesting that changes in a small number of genes lead to large changes in the phenotype. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Rare royal families in honeybees, Apis mellifera

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    Moritz, Robin F. A.; Lattorff, H. Michael G.; Neumann, Peter; Kraus, F. Bernhard; Radloff, Sarah E.; Hepburn, H. Randall

    2005-10-01

    The queen is the dominant female in the honeybee colony, Apis mellifera, and controls reproduction. Queen larvae are selected by the workers and are fed a special diet (royal jelly), which determines caste. Because queens mate with many males a large number of subfamilies coexist in the colony. As a consequence, there is a considerable potential for conflict among the subfamilies over queen rearing. Here we show that honeybee queens are not reared at random but are preferentially reared from rare “royal” subfamilies, which have extremely low frequencies in the colony's worker force but a high frequency in the queens reared.

  8. Linking Genes and Brain Development of Honeybee Workers: A Whole-Transcriptome Approach.

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    Christina Vleurinck

    Full Text Available Honeybees live in complex societies whose capabilities far exceed those of the sum of their single members. This social synergism is achieved mainly by the worker bees, which form a female caste. The worker bees display diverse collaborative behaviors and engage in different behavioral tasks, which are controlled by the central nervous system (CNS. The development of the worker brain is determined by the female sex and the worker caste determination signal. Here, we report on genes that are controlled by sex or by caste during differentiation of the worker's pupal brain. We sequenced and compared transcriptomes from the pupal brains of honeybee workers, queens and drones. We detected 333 genes that are differently expressed and 519 genes that are differentially spliced between the sexes, and 1760 genes that are differentially expressed and 692 genes that are differentially spliced between castes. We further found that 403 genes are differentially regulated by both the sex and caste signals, providing evidence of the integration of both signals through differential gene regulation. In this gene set, we found that the molecular processes of restructuring the cell shape and cell-to-cell signaling are overrepresented. Our approach identified candidate genes that may be involved in brain differentiation that ensures the various social worker behaviors.

  9. Sex and caste-specific variation in compound eye morphology of five honeybee species.

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    Martin Streinzer

    Full Text Available Ranging from dwarfs to giants, the species of honeybees show remarkable differences in body size that have placed evolutionary constrains on the size of sensory organs and the brain. Colonies comprise three adult phenotypes, drones and two female castes, the reproductive queen and sterile workers. The phenotypes differ with respect to tasks and thus selection pressures which additionally constrain the shape of sensory systems. In a first step to explore the variability and interaction between species size-limitations and sex and caste-specific selection pressures in sensory and neural structures in honeybees, we compared eye size, ommatidia number and distribution of facet lens diameters in drones, queens and workers of five species (Apis andreniformis, A. florea, A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana. In these species, male and female eyes show a consistent sex-specific organization with respect to eye size and regional specialization of facet diameters. Drones possess distinctly enlarged eyes with large dorsal facets. Aside from these general patterns, we found signs of unique adaptations in eyes of A. florea and A. dorsata drones. In both species, drone eyes are disproportionately enlarged. In A. dorsata the increased eye size results from enlarged facets, a likely adaptation to crepuscular mating flights. In contrast, the relative enlargement of A. florea drone eyes results from an increase in ommatidia number, suggesting strong selection for high spatial resolution. Comparison of eye morphology and published mating flight times indicates a correlation between overall light sensitivity and species-specific mating flight times. The correlation suggests an important role of ambient light intensities in the regulation of species-specific mating flight times and the evolution of the visual system. Our study further deepens insights into visual adaptations within the genus Apis and opens up future perspectives for research to better understand the

  10. Linking Genes and Brain Development of Honeybee Workers: A Whole-Transcriptome Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Vleurinck, Christina; Raub, Stephan; Sturgill, David; Oliver, Brian; Beye, Martin

    2016-01-01

    Honeybees live in complex societies whose capabilities far exceed those of the sum of their single members. This social synergism is achieved mainly by the worker bees, which form a female caste. The worker bees display diverse collaborative behaviors and engage in different behavioral tasks, which are controlled by the central nervous system (CNS). The development of the worker brain is determined by the female sex and the worker caste determination signal. Here, we report on genes that are ...

  11. Notch signalling mediates reproductive constraint in the adult worker honeybee

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    Duncan, Elizabeth J.; Hyink, Otto; Dearden, Peter K.

    2016-01-01

    The hallmark of eusociality is the reproductive division of labour, in which one female caste reproduces, while reproduction is constrained in the subordinate caste. In adult worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) reproductive constraint is conditional: in the absence of the queen and brood, adult worker honeybees activate their ovaries and lay haploid male eggs. Here, we demonstrate that chemical inhibition of Notch signalling can overcome the repressive effect of queen pheromone and promote ovary activity in adult worker honeybees. We show that Notch signalling acts on the earliest stages of oogenesis and that the removal of the queen corresponds with a loss of Notch protein in the germarium. We conclude that the ancient and pleiotropic Notch signalling pathway has been co-opted into constraining reproduction in worker honeybees and we provide the first molecular mechanism directly linking ovary activity in adult worker bees with the presence of the queen. PMID:27485026

  12. 19 CFR 12.32 - Honeybees and honeybee semen.

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    2010-04-01

    ... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Honeybees and honeybee semen. 12.32 Section 12.32... semen. (a) Honeybees from any country may be imported into the U.S. by the Department of Agriculture for.... (b) Honeybee semen may be imported into the U.S. only from countries determined by the Secretary of...

  13. MicroRNA signatures characterizing caste-independent ovarian activity in queen and worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.).

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    Macedo, L M F; Nunes, F M F; Freitas, F C P; Pires, C V; Tanaka, E D; Martins, J R; Piulachs, M-D; Cristino, A S; Pinheiro, D G; Simões, Z L P

    2016-06-01

    Queen and worker honeybees differ profoundly in reproductive capacity. The queen of this complex society, with 200 highly active ovarioles in each ovary, is the fertile caste, whereas the workers have approximately 20 ovarioles as a result of receiving a different diet during larval development. In a regular queenright colony, the workers have inactive ovaries and do not reproduce. However, if the queen is sensed to be absent, some of the workers activate their ovaries, producing viable haploid eggs that develop into males. Here, a deep-sequenced ovary transcriptome library of reproductive workers was used as supporting data to assess the dynamic expression of the regulatory molecules and microRNAs (miRNAs) of reproductive and nonreproductive honeybee females. In this library, most of the differentially expressed miRNAs are related to ovary physiology or oogenesis. When we quantified the dynamic expression of 19 miRNAs in the active and inactive worker ovaries and compared their expression in the ovaries of virgin and mated queens, we noted that some miRNAs (miR-1, miR-31a, miR-13b, miR-125, let-7 RNA, miR-100, miR-276, miR-12, miR-263a, miR-306, miR-317, miR-92a and miR-9a) could be used to identify reproductive and nonreproductive statuses independent of caste. Furthermore, integrative gene networks suggested that some candidate miRNAs function in the process of ovary activation in worker bees. © 2016 The Royal Entomological Society.

  14. Dimorphic ovary differentiation in honeybee (Apis mellifera larvae involves caste-specific expression of homologs of ark and buffy cell death genes.

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    Rodrigo Pires Dallacqua

    Full Text Available The establishment of the number of repeated structural units, the ovarioles, in the ovaries is one of the critical events that shape caste polyphenism in social insects. In early postembryonic development, honeybee (Apis mellifera larvae have a pair of ovaries, each one consisting of almost two hundred ovariole primordia. While practically all these ovarioles continue developing in queen-destined larvae, they undergo massive programmed cell death (PCD in worker-destined larvae. So as to gain insight into the molecular basis of this fundamental process in caste differentiation we used quantitative PCR (qPCR and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH to investigate the expression of the Amark and Ambuffy genes in the ovaries of the two honeybee castes throughout the fifth larval instar. These are the homologs of ark and buffy Drosophila melanogaster genes, respectively, involved in activating and inhibiting PCD. Caste-specific expression patterns were found during this time-window defining ovariole number. Amark transcript levels were increased when ovariole resorption was intensified in workers, but remained at low levels in queen ovaries. The transcripts were mainly localized at the apical end of all the worker ovarioles, but appeared in only a few queen ovarioles, thus strongly suggesting a function in mediating massive ovariolar cell death in worker larvae. Ambuffy was mainly expressed in the peritoneal sheath cells covering each ovariole. The levels of Ambuffy transcripts increased earlier in the developing ovaries of queens than in workers. Consistent with a protective role against cell death, Ambuffy transcripts were localized in practically all queen ovarioles, but only in few worker ovarioles. The results are indicative of a functional relationship between the expression of evolutionary conserved cell death genes and the morphological events leading to caste-specific ovary differentiation in a social insect.

  15. Honeybee Venom Proteome Profile of Queens and Winter Bees as Determined by a Mass Spectrometric Approach

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    Danneels, Ellen L.; Van Vaerenbergh, Matthias; Debyser, Griet; Devreese, Bart; de Graaf, Dirk C.

    2015-01-01

    Venoms of invertebrates contain an enormous diversity of proteins, peptides, and other classes of substances. Insect venoms are characterized by a large interspecific variation resulting in extended lists of venom compounds. The venom composition of several hymenopterans also shows different intraspecific variation. For instance, venom from different honeybee castes, more specifically queens and workers, shows quantitative and qualitative variation, while the environment, like seasonal changes, also proves to be an important factor. The present study aimed at an in-depth analysis of the intraspecific variation in the honeybee venom proteome. In summer workers, the recent list of venom proteins resulted from merging combinatorial peptide ligand library sample pretreatment and targeted tandem mass spectrometry realized with a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS/MS). Now, the same technique was used to determine the venom proteome of queens and winter bees, enabling us to compare it with that of summer bees. In total, 34 putative venom toxins were found, of which two were never described in honeybee venoms before. Venom from winter workers did not contain toxins that were not present in queens or summer workers, while winter worker venom lacked the allergen Api m 12, also known as vitellogenin. Venom from queen bees, on the other hand, was lacking six of the 34 venom toxins compared to worker bees, while it contained two new venom toxins, in particularly serine proteinase stubble and antithrombin-III. Although people are hardly stung by honeybees during winter or by queen bees, these newly identified toxins should be taken into account in the characterization of a putative allergic response against Apis mellifera stings. PMID:26529016

  16. Honeybee venom proteome profile of queens and winter bees as determined by a mass spectrometric approach.

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    Danneels, Ellen L; Van Vaerenbergh, Matthias; Debyser, Griet; Devreese, Bart; de Graaf, Dirk C

    2015-10-30

    Venoms of invertebrates contain an enormous diversity of proteins, peptides, and other classes of substances. Insect venoms are characterized by a large interspecific variation resulting in extended lists of venom compounds. The venom composition of several hymenopterans also shows different intraspecific variation. For instance, venom from different honeybee castes, more specifically queens and workers, shows quantitative and qualitative variation, while the environment, like seasonal changes, also proves to be an important factor. The present study aimed at an in-depth analysis of the intraspecific variation in the honeybee venom proteome. In summer workers, the recent list of venom proteins resulted from merging combinatorial peptide ligand library sample pretreatment and targeted tandem mass spectrometry realized with a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (FT-ICR MS/MS). Now, the same technique was used to determine the venom proteome of queens and winter bees, enabling us to compare it with that of summer bees. In total, 34 putative venom toxins were found, of which two were never described in honeybee venoms before. Venom from winter workers did not contain toxins that were not present in queens or summer workers, while winter worker venom lacked the allergen Api m 12, also known as vitellogenin. Venom from queen bees, on the other hand, was lacking six of the 34 venom toxins compared to worker bees, while it contained two new venom toxins, in particularly serine proteinase stubble and antithrombin-III. Although people are hardly stung by honeybees during winter or by queen bees, these newly identified toxins should be taken into account in the characterization of a putative allergic response against Apis mellifera stings.

  17. Studies on the life cycle and morphometrics of honeybees, Apis ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The life cycle of the honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii, was studied in mangrove area by monitoring the developmental stages and morphology of the castes. It was observed that the fate of the eggs were predetermined at the onset leading to drones, queens or workers. It was also established that the three different castes ...

  18. Nutritionally driven differential gene expression leads to heterochronic brain development in honeybee castes.

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    Lívia Maria Moda

    Full Text Available The differential feeding regimes experienced by the queen and worker larvae of the honeybee Apis mellifera shape a complex endocrine response cascade that ultimately gives rise to differences in brain morphologies. Brain development analyzed at the morphological level from the third (L3 through fifth (L5 larval instars revealed an asynchrony between queens and workers. In the feeding phase of the last larval instar (L5F, two well-formed structures, pedunculi and calyces, are identifiable in the mushroom bodies of queens, both of which are not present in workers until a later phase (spinning phase, L5S. Genome-wide expression analyses and normalized transcript expression experiments monitoring specific genes revealed that this differential brain development starts earlier, during L3. Analyzing brains from L3 through L5S1 larvae, we identified 21 genes with caste-specific transcription patterns (e.g., APC-4, GlcAT-P, fax, kr-h1 and shot, which encode proteins that are potentially involved in the development of brain tissues through controlling the cell proliferation rate (APC4, kr-h1 and fasciculation (GlcAT-P, fax, and shot. Shot, whose expression is known to be required for axon extension and cell proliferation, was found to be transcribed at significantly higher levels in L4 queens compared with worker larvae. Moreover, the protein encoded by this gene was immunolocalized to the cytoplasm of cells near the antennal lobe neuropiles and proximal to the Kenyon cells in the brains of L4 queens. In conclusion, during the larval period, the brains of queens are larger and develop more rapidly than workers' brains, which represents a developmental heterochrony reflecting the effect of the differential feeding regime of the two castes on nervous system development. Furthermore, this differential development is characterized by caste-specific transcriptional profiles of a set of genes, thus pointing to a link between differential nutrition and

  19. Nutritionally driven differential gene expression leads to heterochronic brain development in honeybee castes.

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    Moda, Lívia Maria; Vieira, Joseana; Guimarães Freire, Anna Cláudia; Bonatti, Vanessa; Bomtorin, Ana Durvalina; Barchuk, Angel Roberto; Simões, Zilá Luz Paulino

    2013-01-01

    The differential feeding regimes experienced by the queen and worker larvae of the honeybee Apis mellifera shape a complex endocrine response cascade that ultimately gives rise to differences in brain morphologies. Brain development analyzed at the morphological level from the third (L3) through fifth (L5) larval instars revealed an asynchrony between queens and workers. In the feeding phase of the last larval instar (L5F), two well-formed structures, pedunculi and calyces, are identifiable in the mushroom bodies of queens, both of which are not present in workers until a later phase (spinning phase, L5S). Genome-wide expression analyses and normalized transcript expression experiments monitoring specific genes revealed that this differential brain development starts earlier, during L3. Analyzing brains from L3 through L5S1 larvae, we identified 21 genes with caste-specific transcription patterns (e.g., APC-4, GlcAT-P, fax, kr-h1 and shot), which encode proteins that are potentially involved in the development of brain tissues through controlling the cell proliferation rate (APC4, kr-h1) and fasciculation (GlcAT-P, fax, and shot). Shot, whose expression is known to be required for axon extension and cell proliferation, was found to be transcribed at significantly higher levels in L4 queens compared with worker larvae. Moreover, the protein encoded by this gene was immunolocalized to the cytoplasm of cells near the antennal lobe neuropiles and proximal to the Kenyon cells in the brains of L4 queens. In conclusion, during the larval period, the brains of queens are larger and develop more rapidly than workers' brains, which represents a developmental heterochrony reflecting the effect of the differential feeding regime of the two castes on nervous system development. Furthermore, this differential development is characterized by caste-specific transcriptional profiles of a set of genes, thus pointing to a link between differential nutrition and differential

  20. Drag reduction effects facilitated by microridges inside the mouthparts of honeybee workers and drones.

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    Li, Chu-Chu; Wu, Jia-Ning; Yang, Yun-Qiang; Zhu, Ren-Gao; Yan, Shao-Ze

    2016-01-21

    The mouthpart of a honeybee is a natural well-designed micropump that uses a reciprocating glossa through a temporary tube comprising a pair of galeae and labial palpi for loading nectar. The shapes and sizes of mouthparts differ among castes of honeybees, but the diversities of the functional microstructures inside the mouthparts of honeybee workers and drones remain poorly understood. Through scanning electron microscopy, we found the dimensional difference of uniformly distributed microridges on the inner galeae walls of Apis mellifera ligustica workers and drones. Subsequently, we recorded the feeding process of live honeybees by using a specially designed high-speed camera system. Considering the microridges and kinematics of the glossa, we constructed a hydrodynamic model to calculate the friction coefficient of the mouthpart. In addition, we test the drag reduction through the dimensional variations of the microridges on the inner walls of mouthparts. Theoretical estimations of the friction coefficient with respect to dipping frequency show that inner microridges can reduce friction during the feeding process of honeybees. The effects of drag reduction regulated by specific microridges were then compared. The friction coefficients of the workers and drones were found to be 0.011±0.007 (mean±s.d.) and 0.045±0.010, respectively. These results indicate that the mouthparts of workers are more capable of drag reduction compared with those of drones. The difference was analyzed by comparing the foraging behavior of the workers and drones. Workers are equipped with well-developed hypopharyngeal, and their dipping frequency is higher than that of drones. Our research establishes a critical link between microridge dimensions and drag reduction capability during the nectar feeding of honeybees. Our results reveal that microridges inside the mouthparts of honeybee workers and drones reflect the caste-related life cycles of honeybees. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

  1. Sex determination in honeybees: two separate mechanisms induce and maintain the female pathway

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gempe, Tanja; Hasselmann, Martin; Schiøtt, Morten

    2009-01-01

    Organisms have evolved a bewildering diversity of mechanisms to generate the two sexes. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) employs an interesting system in which sex is determined by heterozygosity at a single locus (the Sex Determination Locus) harbouring the complementary sex determiner (csd) gene....... Bees heterozygous at Sex Determination Locus are females, whereas bees homozygous or hemizygous are males. Little is known, however, about the regulation that links sex determination to sexual differentiation. To investigate the control of sexual development in honeybees, we analyzed the functions...... and the regulatory interactions of genes involved in the sex determination pathway. We show that heterozygous csd is only required to induce the female pathway, while the feminizer (fem) gene maintains this decision throughout development. By RNAi induced knockdown we show that the fem gene is essential for entire...

  2. A comparison of honeybee (Apis mellifera) queen, worker and drone larvae by RNA-Seq.

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    He, Xu-Jiang; Jiang, Wu-Jun; Zhou, Mi; Barron, Andrew B; Zeng, Zhi-Jiang

    2017-11-06

    Honeybees (Apis mellifera) have haplodiploid sex determination: males develop from unfertilized eggs and females develop from fertilized ones. The differences in larval food also determine the development of females. Here we compared the total somatic gene expression profiles of 2-day and 4-day-old drone, queen and worker larvae by RNA-Seq. The results from a co-expression network analysis on all expressed genes showed that 2-day-old drone and worker larvae were closer in gene expression profiles than 2-day-old queen larvae. This indicated that for young larvae (2-day-old) environmental factors such as larval diet have a greater effect on gene expression profiles than ploidy or sex determination. Drones had the most distinct gene expression profiles at the 4-day larval stage, suggesting that haploidy, or sex dramatically affects the gene expression of honeybee larvae. Drone larvae showed fewer differences in gene expression profiles at the 2-day and 4-day time points than the worker and queen larval comparisons (598 against 1190 and 1181), suggesting a different pattern of gene expression regulation during the larval development of haploid males compared to diploid females. This study indicates that early in development the queen caste has the most distinct gene expression profile, perhaps reflecting the very rapid growth and morphological specialization of this caste compared to workers and drones. Later in development the haploid male drones have the most distinct gene expression profile, perhaps reflecting the influence of ploidy or sex determination on gene expression. © 2017 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

  3. Determination of Pesticide Residues in Honeybees using Modified QUEChERS Sample Work-Up and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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    Żaneta Bargańska

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Increasing emissions of chemical compounds to the environment, especially of pesticides, is one of factors that may explain present honeybee colony losses. In this work, an analytical method employing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS was optimized for the simultaneous screening of 19 pesticides which have not been yet determined in honeybee samples from northern Poland (Pomerania. The sample preparation, based on the QuEChERS method combining salting-out liquid-liquid extraction to acetonitrile and a dispersive-SPE clean-up, was adjusted to honeybee samples by adding a small amount of hexane to eliminate beeswax. The recovery of analytes ranged from 70% to 120% with relative standard deviation ≤20%. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.91–25 ng/g. A total of 19 samples of honeybees from suspected pesticide poisoning incidents were analyzed, in which 19 different pesticides were determined.

  4. Determining casting defects in near-net shape casting aluminum parts by computed tomography

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    Li, Jiehua; Oberdorfer, Bernd; Habe, Daniel; Schumacher, Peter

    2018-03-01

    Three types of near-net shape casting aluminum parts were investigated by computed tomography to determine casting defects and evaluate quality. The first, second, and third parts were produced by low-pressure die casting (Al-12Si-0.8Cu-0.5Fe-0.9Mg-0.7Ni-0.2Zn alloy), die casting (A356, Al-7Si-0.3Mg), and semi-solid casting (A356, Al-7Si-0.3Mg), respectively. Unlike die casting (second part), low-pressure die casting (first part) significantly reduced the formation of casting defects (i.e., porosity) due to its smooth filling and solidification under pressure. No significant casting defect was observed in the third part, and this absence of defects indicates that semi-solid casting could produce high-quality near-net shape casting aluminum parts. Moreover, casting defects were mostly distributed along the eutectic grain boundaries. This finding reveals that refinement of eutectic grains is necessary to optimize the distribution of casting defects and reduce their size. This investigation demonstrated that computed tomography is an efficient method to determine casting defects in near-net shape casting aluminum parts.

  5. [Determination of 10-HDA in honeybee body by HPLC].

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    Fan, H; He, C; Han, H

    1999-05-01

    In the present work we found that in the honeybee body there exists an unsaturated fatty acid, trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), which was known only to be present in royal jelly. We established the analytical method of 10-HDA in honeybee body by HPLC and simplified the extraction method of 10-HDA. In the optimum conditions the linear range of detection was 10-1,000 ng, the correlation coefficient was 0.9998, the recovery was 96.5%-99.2% and the detectable limit was 0.53 microgram/g.

  6. Proteomic analysis of honeybee worker (Apis mellifera hypopharyngeal gland development

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    Li Jianke

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Hypopharyngeal glands (HG of honeybee workers play an important role in honeybee nutrition and caste differentiation. Previous research mainly focused on age-dependent morphological, physiological, biochemical and genomic characters of the HG. Here proteomics and biochemical network analysis were used to follow protein changes during the HG development. Results A total of 87, 76, 85, 74, 71, and 55 proteins were unambiguously identified on day 1, 3, 6, 12, 15 and 20, respectively. These proteins were major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs, metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, cytoskeleton, development regulation, antioxidant, molecule transporter, regulation of transcription/translation, proteins with folding functions. The most interesting is that MRJP's that have been detected in the HG of the newly emerged worker bees. The MRJP's expression is at peak level from 6-12 days, was validated by western blot analysis of MRJP1, 2 and 3. Moreover, 35 key node proteins were found in the biochemical networks of the HG. Conclusions HG secretes RJ at peak level within 6-12 days, but the worker bee can secrete royal jelly (RJ since birth, which is a new finding. Several key node proteins play an important role in the biochemical networks of the developing HG. This provides us some target proteins when genetically manipulating honeybees.

  7. Regulation of caste differentiation in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goewie, E.A.

    1978-01-01

    The nutritional environment of honey-bee larvae affects the juvenile hormone (JH) titre of larval haemolymph and tissues. In this investigation the mechanism for the regulation of caste differentiation has been studied.

    Chemo- and mechanoreceptors are found on larval mouthparts.

  8. Pesticide residues in honeybees, honey and bee pollen by LC-MS/MS screening: reported death incidents in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasiotis, Konstantinos M; Anagnostopoulos, Chris; Anastasiadou, Pelagia; Machera, Kyriaki

    2014-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate reported cases of honeybee death incidents with regard to the potential interrelation to the exposure to pesticides. Thus honeybee, bee pollen and honey samples from different areas of Greece were analyzed for the presence of pesticide residues. In this context an LC-ESI-MS/MS multiresidue method of total 115 analytes of different chemical classes such as neonicotinoids, organophosphates, triazoles, carbamates, dicarboximides and dinitroanilines in honeybee bodies, honey and bee pollen was developed and validated. The method presents good linearity over the ranges assayed with correlation coefficient values r(2)≥0.99, recoveries ranging for all matrices from 59 to 117% and precision (RSD%) values ranging from 4 to 27%. LOD and LOQ values ranged - for honeybees, honey and bee pollen - from 0.03 to 23.3 ng/g matrix weight and 0.1 up to 78 ng/g matrix weight, respectively. Therefore this method is sufficient to act as a monitoring tool for the determination of pesticide residues in cases of suspected honeybee poisoning incidents. From the analysis of the samples the presence of 14 active substances was observed in all matrices with concentrations ranging for honeybees from 0.3 to 81.5 ng/g, for bee pollen from 6.1 to 1273 ng/g and for honey one sample was positive to carbendazim at 1.6 ng/g. The latter confirmed the presence of such type of compounds in honeybee body and apicultural products. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Effects of honeybee ( Apis mellifera ) pollination on seed set in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was carried out to determine the efficiency of pollination with honeybee (Apis mellifera) on sunflower hybrid seed production under different types of pollination during 2005 and 2006 in Mustafakemalpasa-Bursa, Turkey. Three pollination types (1) in cages with honeybees, (2) hand pollination (in cages) and (3) in ...

  10. Analysis of the waggle dance motion of honeybees for the design of a biomimetic honeybee robot.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tim Landgraf

    Full Text Available The honeybee dance "language" is one of the most popular examples of information transfer in the animal world. Today, more than 60 years after its discovery it still remains unknown how follower bees decode the information contained in the dance. In order to build a robotic honeybee that allows a deeper investigation of the communication process we have recorded hundreds of videos of waggle dances. In this paper we analyze the statistics of visually captured high-precision dance trajectories of European honeybees (Apis mellifera carnica. The trajectories were produced using a novel automatic tracking system and represent the most detailed honeybee dance motion information available. Although honeybee dances seem very variable, some properties turned out to be invariant. We use these properties as a minimal set of parameters that enables us to model the honeybee dance motion. We provide a detailed statistical description of various dance properties that have not been characterized before and discuss the role of particular dance components in the commmunication process.

  11. Proteomics Improves the New Understanding of Honeybee Biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hora, Zewdu Ararso; Altaye, Solomon Zewdu; Wubie, Abebe Jemberie; Li, Jianke

    2018-04-11

    The honeybee is one of the most valuable insect pollinators, playing a key role in pollinating wild vegetation and agricultural crops, with significant contribution to the world's food production. Although honeybees have long been studied as model for social evolution, honeybee biology at the molecular level remained poorly understood until the year 2006. With the availability of the honeybee genome sequence and technological advancements in protein separation, mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics, aspects of honeybee biology such as developmental biology, physiology, behavior, neurobiology, and immunology have been explored to new depths at molecular and biochemical levels. This Review comprehensively summarizes the recent progress in honeybee biology using proteomics to study developmental physiology, task transition, and physiological changes in some of the organs, tissues, and cells based on achievements from the authors' laboratory in this field. The research advances of honeybee proteomics provide new insights for understanding of honeybee biology and future research directions.

  12. Africanized honeybees are slower learners than their European counterparts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Couvillon, Margaret J.; Degrandi-Hoffman, Gloria; Gronenberg, Wulfila

    2010-02-01

    Does cognitive ability always correlate with a positive fitness consequence? Previous research in both vertebrates and invertebrates provides mixed results. Here, we compare the learning and memory abilities of Africanized honeybees ( Apis mellifera scutellata hybrid) and European honeybees ( Apis mellifera ligustica). The range of the Africanized honeybee continues to expand, superseding the European honeybee, which led us to hypothesize that they might possess greater cognitive capabilities as revealed by a classical conditioning assay. Surprisingly, we found that fewer Africanized honeybees learn to associate an odor with a reward. Additionally, fewer Africanized honeybees remembered the association a day later. While Africanized honeybees are replacing European honeybees, our results show that they do so despite displaying a relatively poorer performance on an associative learning paradigm.

  13. Developmental regulation of ecdysone receptor (EcR and EcR-controlled gene expression during pharate-adult development of honeybees (Apis mellifera.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tathyana Rachel Palo Mello

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Major developmental transitions in multicellular organisms are driven by steroid hormones. In insects, these, together with juvenile hormone (JH, control development, metamorphosis, reproduction and aging, and are also suggested to play an important role in caste differentiation of social insects. Here, we aimed to determine how EcR transcription and ecdysteroid titers are related during honeybee postembryonic development and what may actually be the role of EcR in caste development of this social insect. In addition, we expected that knocking-down EcR gene expression would give us information on the participation of the respective protein in regulating downstream targets of EcR. We found that in Apis mellifera females, EcR-A is the predominantly expressed variant in postembryonic development, while EcR-B transcript levels are higher in embryos, indicating an early developmental switch in EcR function. During larval and pupal stages, EcR-B expression levels are very low, while EcR-A transcripts are more variable and abundant in workers compared to queens. Strikingly, these transcript levels are opposite to the ecdysteroid titer profile. 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E application experiments revealed that low 20E levels induce EcR expression during development, whereas high ecdysteroid titers seem to be repressive. By means of RNAi-mediated knockdown (KD of both EcR transcript variants we detected the differential expression of 234 poly-A+ transcripts encoding genes such as CYPs, MRJPs and certain hormone response genes (Kr-h1 and ftz-f1. EcR-KD also promoted the differential expression of 70 miRNAs, including highly conserved ones (e.g. miR-133 and miR-375, as well honeybee-specific ones (e.g. miR-3745 and miR-3761. Our results put in evidence a broad spectrum of EcR-controlled gene expression during postembryonic development of honeybees, revealing new facets of EcR biology in this social insect.

  14. Hygienic and grooming behaviors in African and European honeybees-New damage categories in Varroa destructor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nganso, Beatrice T; Fombong, Ayuka T; Yusuf, Abdullahi A; Pirk, Christian W W; Stuhl, Charles; Torto, Baldwyn

    2017-01-01

    Varroa destructor is an ectoparasitic pest of honeybees, and a threat to the survival of the apiculture industry. Several studies have shown that unlike European honeybees, African honeybee populations appear to be minimally affected when attacked by this mite. However, little is known about the underlying drivers contributing to survival of African honeybee populations against the mite. We hypothesized that resistant behavioral defenses are responsible for the survival of African honeybees against the ectoparasite. We tested this hypothesis by comparing grooming and hygienic behaviors in the African savannah honeybee Apis mellifera scutellata in Kenya and A. mellifera hybrids of European origin in Florida, USA against the mite. Grooming behavior was assessed by determining adult mite infestation levels, daily mite fall per colony and percentage mite damage (as an indicator of adult grooming rate), while hygienic behavior was assessed by determining the brood removal rate after freeze killing a section of the brood. Our results identified two additional undescribed damaged mite categories along with the six previously known damage categories associated with the grooming behavior of both honeybee subspecies. Adult mite infestation level was approximately three-fold higher in A. mellifera hybrids of European origin than in A. m. scutellata, however, brood removal rate, adult grooming rate and daily natural mite fall were similar in both honeybee subspecies. Unlike A. mellifera hybrids of European origin, adult grooming rate and brood removal rate did not correlate with mite infestation levels on adult worker honeybee of A. m. scutellata though they were more aggressive towards the mites than their European counterparts. Our results provide valuable insights into the tolerance mechanisms that contribute to the survival of A. m. scutellata against the mite.

  15. Abscisic acid enhances cold tolerance in honeybee larvae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramirez, Leonor; Negri, Pedro; Sturla, Laura; Guida, Lucrezia; Vigliarolo, Tiziana; Maggi, Matías; Eguaras, Martín; Zocchi, Elena; Lamattina, Lorenzo

    2017-04-12

    The natural composition of nutrients present in food is a key factor determining the immune function and stress responses in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera ). We previously demonstrated that a supplement of abscisic acid (ABA), a natural component of nectar, pollen, and honey, increases honeybee colony survival overwinter. Here we further explored the role of ABA in in vitro -reared larvae exposed to low temperatures. Four-day-old larvae (L4) exposed to 25°C for 3 days showed lower survival rates and delayed development compared to individuals growing at a standard temperature (34°C). Cold-stressed larvae maintained higher levels of ABA for longer than do larvae reared at 34°C, suggesting a biological significance for ABA. Larvae fed with an ABA-supplemented diet completely prevent the low survival rate due to cold stress and accelerate adult emergence. ABA modulates the expression of genes involved in metabolic adjustments and stress responses: Hexamerin 70b, Insulin Receptor Substrate, Vitellogenin , and Heat Shock Proteins 70. AmLANCL2, the honeybee ABA receptor, is also regulated by cold stress and ABA. These results support a role for ABA increasing the tolerance of honeybee larvae to low temperatures through priming effects. © 2017 The Author(s).

  16. Abscisic acid enhances cold tolerance in honeybee larvae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturla, Laura; Guida, Lucrezia; Vigliarolo, Tiziana; Maggi, Matías; Eguaras, Martín; Zocchi, Elena; Lamattina, Lorenzo

    2017-01-01

    The natural composition of nutrients present in food is a key factor determining the immune function and stress responses in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). We previously demonstrated that a supplement of abscisic acid (ABA), a natural component of nectar, pollen, and honey, increases honeybee colony survival overwinter. Here we further explored the role of ABA in in vitro-reared larvae exposed to low temperatures. Four-day-old larvae (L4) exposed to 25°C for 3 days showed lower survival rates and delayed development compared to individuals growing at a standard temperature (34°C). Cold-stressed larvae maintained higher levels of ABA for longer than do larvae reared at 34°C, suggesting a biological significance for ABA. Larvae fed with an ABA-supplemented diet completely prevent the low survival rate due to cold stress and accelerate adult emergence. ABA modulates the expression of genes involved in metabolic adjustments and stress responses: Hexamerin 70b, Insulin Receptor Substrate, Vitellogenin, and Heat Shock Proteins 70. AmLANCL2, the honeybee ABA receptor, is also regulated by cold stress and ABA. These results support a role for ABA increasing the tolerance of honeybee larvae to low temperatures through priming effects. PMID:28381619

  17. Development of molecular tools for honeybee virus research: the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Increasing knowledge of the association of honeybee viruses with other honeybee parasites, primarily the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, and their implication in the mass mortality of honeybee colonies, has resulted in increasing awareness and interest in honeybee viruses. In addition the identification, monitoring and ...

  18. Royal jelly-like protein localization reveals differences in hypopharyngeal glands buildup and conserved expression pattern in brains of bumblebees and honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Štefan Albert

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Royal jelly proteins (MRJPs of the honeybee bear several open questions. One of them is their expression in tissues other than the hypopharyngeal glands (HGs, the site of royal jelly production. The sole MRJP-like gene of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris (BtRJPL, represents a pre-diversification stage of the MRJP gene evolution in bees. Here we investigate the expression of BtRJPL in the HGs and the brain of bumblebees. Comparison of the HGs of bumblebees and honeybees revealed striking differences in their morphology with respect to sex- and caste-specific appearance, number of cells per acinus, and filamentous actin (F-actin rings. At the cellular level, we found a temporary F-actin-covered meshwork in the secretory cells, which suggests a role for actin in the biogenesis of the end apparatus in HGs. Using immunohistochemical localization, we show that BtRJPL is expressed in the bumblebee brain, predominantly in the Kenyon cells of the mushroom bodies, the site of sensory integration in insects, and in the optic lobes. Our data suggest that a dual gland-brain function preceded the multiplication of MRJPs in the honeybee lineage. In the course of the honeybee evolution, HGs dramatically changed their morphology in order to serve a food-producing function.

  19. What is the main driver of ageing in long-lived winter honeybees: antioxidant enzymes, innate immunity, or vitellogenin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aurori, Cristian M; Buttstedt, Anja; Dezmirean, Daniel S; Mărghitaş, Liviu A; Moritz, Robin F A; Erler, Silvio

    2014-06-01

    To date five different theories compete in explaining the biological mechanisms of senescence or ageing in invertebrates. Physiological, genetical, and environmental mechanisms form the image of ageing in individuals and groups. Social insects, especially the honeybee Apis mellifera, present exceptional model systems to study developmentally related ageing. The extremely high phenotypic plasticity for life expectancy resulting from the female caste system provides a most useful system to study open questions with respect to ageing. Here, we used long-lived winter worker honeybees and measured transcriptional changes of 14 antioxidative enzyme, immunity, and ageing-related (insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway) genes at two time points during hibernation. Additionally, worker bees were challenged with a bacterial infection to test ageing- and infection-associated immunity changes. Gene expression levels for each group of target genes revealed that ageing had a much higher impact than the bacterial challenge, notably for immunity-related genes. Antimicrobial peptide and antioxidative enzyme genes were significantly upregulated in aged worker honeybees independent of bacterial infections. The known ageing markers vitellogenin and IlP-1 were opposed regulated with decreasing vitellogenin levels during ageing. The increased antioxidative enzyme and antimicrobial peptide gene expression may contribute to a retardation of senescence in long-lived hibernating worker honeybees. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Aplicação de análises multivariadas para determinação da casta de abelhas Apis mellifera L. (Africanizadas, obtidas em laboratório Aplication of multivariate analysis for caste determination in Honeybees Apis mellifera L. (Africanized obtained in laboratory conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izabel Christina da Silva

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available A técnica de criação de larvas de abelhas Apis mellifera em laboratório tem sido utilizada freqüentemente em estudos de desenvolvimento larval, determinação de castas e, mais recentemente, em testes de patogênese. A quantidade e a qualidade do alimento fornecido às larvas em laboratório podem levar à formação de castas diferentes (rainha, operárias ou intercastas. Neste trabalho, crias de abelhas africanizadas foram desenvolvidas a partir de larvas de 18-24 horas de idade até atingir a fase adulta, utilizando-se durante a alimentação, 4, 15, 25, 50 e 70 µl de dieta por larva, respectivamente, do primeiro ao quinto dia de alimentação. Para determinar se as abelhas adultas obtidas em laboratório eram pertencentes à casta de operárias, de rainhas ou se eram intermediárias (intercastas, foram comparadas com um controle constituído por operárias e rainhas da mesma origem das operárias desenvolvidas no laboratório, utilizando-se o peso e as medidas dos seguintes caracteres: a comprimento da cabeça; b largura da cabeça; c comprimento do olho composto; d largura do olho composto; e comprimento do mesoscuto; f largura do mesoscuto; g comprimento da tíbia; h largura da tíbia. Foram utilizadas a Função Discriminante de Anderson e a técnica de Componentes Principais, de modo a efetuar a discriminação das castas das abelhas adultas obtidas em laboratório em relação àquelas desenvolvidas naturalmente. Entre os caracteres avaliados, os que menos contribuíram para a determinação das castas foram o comprimento do mesoscuto e a largura da cabeça, sendo, portanto, dispensáveis em estudos futuros.Apis mellifera honeybee brood rearing in laboratory conditions has been frequentely used to search for larval development, caste determination, and more recently for tests of pathogenesis. The amount and quality of food received by larvae during the feeding time can produce different castes (queen, worker or intercaste. In the

  1. Comparative psychophysics of bumblebee and honeybee colour discrimination and object detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyer, Adrian G; Spaethe, Johannes; Prack, Sabina

    2008-07-01

    Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) discrimination of targets with broadband reflectance spectra was tested using simultaneous viewing conditions, enabling an accurate determination of the perceptual limit of colour discrimination excluding confounds from memory coding (experiment 1). The level of colour discrimination in bumblebees, and honeybees (Apis mellifera) (based upon previous observations), exceeds predictions of models considering receptor noise in the honeybee. Bumblebee and honeybee photoreceptors are similar in spectral shape and spacing, but bumblebees exhibit significantly poorer colour discrimination in behavioural tests, suggesting possible differences in spatial or temporal signal processing. Detection of stimuli in a Y-maze was evaluated for bumblebees (experiment 2) and honeybees (experiment 3). Honeybees detected stimuli containing both green-receptor-contrast and colour contrast at a visual angle of approximately 5 degrees , whilst stimuli that contained only colour contrast were only detected at a visual angle of 15 degrees . Bumblebees were able to detect these stimuli at a visual angle of 2.3 degrees and 2.7 degrees , respectively. A comparison of the experiments suggests a tradeoff between colour discrimination and colour detection in these two species, limited by the need to pool colour signals to overcome receptor noise. We discuss the colour processing differences and possible adaptations to specific ecological habitats.

  2. Infections of Nosema ceranae in four different honeybee species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaimanee, Veeranan; Warrit, Natapot; Chantawannakul, Panuwan

    2010-10-01

    The microsporidium Nosema ceranae is detected in honeybees in Thailand for the first time. This endoparasite has recently been reported to infect most Apis mellifera honeybee colonies in Europe, the US, and parts of Asia, and is suspected to have displaced the endemic endoparasite species, Nosema apis, from the western A. mellifera. We collected and identified species of microsporidia from the European honeybee (A. mellifera), the cavity nesting Asian honeybee (Apis cerana), the dwarf Asian honeybee (Apis florea) and the giant Asian honeybee (Apis dorsata) from colonies in Northern Thailand. We used multiplex PCR technique with two pairs of primers to differentiate N. ceranae from N. apis. From 80 A. mellifera samples, 62 (77.5%) were positively identified for the presence of the N. ceranae. Amongst 46 feral colonies of Asian honeybees (A. cerana, A. florea and A. dorsata) examined for Nosema infections, only N. ceranae could be detected. No N. apis was found in our samples. N. ceranae is found to be the only microsporidium infesting honeybees in Thailand. Moreover, we found the frequencies of N. ceranae infection in native bees to be less than that of A. mellifera. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Impact of bifenthrin on honeybees and Culex quinquefasciatus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qualls, Whitney A; Xue, Rui-De; Zhong, He

    2010-06-01

    The impact of bifenthrin on honeybees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was evaluated in both laboratory and semifield assays. Ten serial dilutions of bifenthrin and an acetone control using the bottle bioassay protocol were used in the laboratory to determine killing time after 15-, 30-, and 60-min honeybee exposure. Both dose and exposure time significantly affected honeybee mortality (df = 6, F = 10.9, P Bifenthrin was applied at 9.7 ml/liter, 19.5 ml/liter, and 29.5 ml/liter of water to common landscape vegetation, Melampodium paludosum Melanie (show star) and Duranta erecta L. (golden dewdrop); a water control was also used. Bee mortality was significantly higher (P < 0.05, df = 2, F = 20.8) at 29.5 ml/liter compared to the mortality at 19.5-ml/liter and 9.7-ml/liter application rates after 24-h exposure to the treated vegetation. Mortality of Culex quinquefasciatus exposed to treated vegetation was significantly (P < 0.05, df = 10, F = 114) different by week and by application rate.

  4. THE HONEYBEE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    completed by pupils, followed by questions relating to the anatomy of the honeybee. Chapter Four: The Honeybee at Home. After the swarm1ng, the bu1ld1ng of the nest, the establish- ment of a new community and the mating of the queen and drones, we observe the development of the queen, drone and worker from egg ...

  5. Automatic behaviour analysis system for honeybees using computer vision

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tu, Gang Jun; Hansen, Mikkel Kragh; Kryger, Per

    2016-01-01

    We present a fully automatic online video system, which is able to detect the behaviour of honeybees at the beehive entrance. Our monitoring system focuses on observing the honeybees as naturally as possible (i.e. without disturbing the honeybees). It is based on the Raspberry Pi that is a low...

  6. Honeybee immunity and colony losses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Nazzi

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The decline of honeybee colonies and their eventual collapse is a widespread phenomenon in the Northern hemisphere of the globe, which severely limits the beekeeping industry. This dramatic event is associated with an enhanced impact of parasites and pathogens on honeybees, which is indicative of reduced immunocompetence. The parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the vectored viral pathogens appear to play a key-role in the induction of this complex syndrome. In particular, the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV is widespread and is now considered, along with Varroa, one of the major causes of bee colony losses. Several lines of evidence indicate that this mite/DWV association severely affects the immune system of honeybees and makes them more sensitive to the action of other stress factors. The molecular mechanisms underpinning these complex interactions are currently being investigated and the emerging information has allowed the development of a new functional model, describing how different stress factors may synergistically concur in the induction of bee immune alteration and health decline. This provides a new logical framework in which to interpret the proposed multifactorial origin of bee colony losses and sets the stage for a more comprehensive and integrated analysis of the effect that multiple stress agents may have on honeybees.

  7. Antennal proteome comparison of sexually mature drone and forager honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Mao; Song, Feifei; Aleku, Dereje Woltedji; Han, Bin; Fang, Yu; Li, Jianke

    2011-07-01

    functions. To the best of our knowledge, this result further provides extensive insight into the expression of the proteins in the antennae of drone and worker honeybees and adds vital information to the previous findings. It also provides a new angle for future detailed functional analysis of the antennae of the honeybee castes.

  8. Aspects of Honeybee Natural History According to the Solega

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aung Si

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Honeybees and their products are highly prized by many cultures around the world, and as a result, indigenous communities have come to possess rich and detailed knowledge of the biology of these important insects. In this paper, I present an in-depth investigation into some aspects of honeybee natural history, as related to me by the Solega people of southern India. The Solega recognize, name, and exploit four honeybee species, and are well aware of the geographical and temporal distributions of each one. In spite of not being beekeepers – as they only forage for wild honey – their knowledge of obscure and complex phenomena such as honeybee gender and reproduction rivals that of comparable, non-industrial beekeeping societies. Swarming, another hard-to-understand honeybee behavior, is also accurately explained by Solega consultants. I contrast this knowledge to that of European bee-keeping cultures, as evidenced by the writings of Aristotle and 18th century European beekeepers. This paper shows that the Solega have a reliable and internally consistent body of honeybee knowledge based entirely on brief encounters with these wild, migratory insects that are present in the forest for only part of the year.

  9. Modelling the spread of American foulbrood in honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Datta, Samik; Bull, James C.; Budge, Giles E.; Keeling, Matt J.

    2013-01-01

    We investigate the spread of American foulbrood (AFB), a disease caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, that affects bees and can be extremely damaging to beehives. Our dataset comes from an inspection period carried out during an AFB epidemic of honeybee colonies on the island of Jersey during the summer of 2010. The data include the number of hives of honeybees, location and owner of honeybee apiaries across the island. We use a spatial SIR model with an underlying owner network to simulate the epidemic and characterize the epidemic using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) scheme to determine model parameters and infection times (including undetected ‘occult’ infections). Likely methods of infection spread can be inferred from the analysis, with both distance- and owner-based transmissions being found to contribute to the spread of AFB. The results of the MCMC are corroborated by simulating the epidemic using a stochastic SIR model, resulting in aggregate levels of infection that are comparable to the data. We use this stochastic SIR model to simulate the impact of different control strategies on controlling the epidemic. It is found that earlier inspections result in smaller epidemics and a higher likelihood of AFB extinction. PMID:24026473

  10. Evidence for the evolutionary nascence of a novel sex determination pathway in honeybees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasselmann, Martin; Gempe, Tanja; Schiøtt, Morten

    2008-01-01

    and hemizygotes (haploid individuals) are males. Although at least 15 different csd alleles are known among natural bee populations, the mechanisms linking allelic interactions to switching of the sexual development programme are still obscure. Here we report a new component of the sex-determining pathway...... in honeybees, encoded 12 kilobases upstream of csd. The gene feminizer (fem) is the ancestrally conserved progenitor gene from which csd arose and encodes an SR-type protein, harbouring an Arg/Ser-rich domain. Fem shares the same arrangement of Arg/Ser- and proline-rich-domain with the Drosophila principal sex......, whereas the female-specific splice variant encodes the functional protein. We show that RNA interference (RNAi)-induced knockdowns of the female-specific fem splice variant result in male bees, indicating that the fem product is required for entire female development. Furthermore, RNAi-induced knockdowns...

  11. Visual discrimination transfer and modulation by biogenic amines in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vieira, Amanda Rodrigues; Salles, Nayara; Borges, Marco; Mota, Theo

    2018-05-10

    For more than a century, visual learning and memory have been studied in the honeybee Apis mellifera using operant appetitive conditioning. Although honeybees show impressive visual learning capacities in this well-established protocol, operant training of free-flying animals cannot be combined with invasive protocols for studying the neurobiological basis of visual learning. In view of this, different attempts have been made to develop new classical conditioning protocols for studying visual learning in harnessed honeybees, though learning performance remains considerably poorer than that for free-flying animals. Here, we investigated the ability of honeybees to use visual information acquired during classical conditioning in a new operant context. We performed differential visual conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) followed by visual orientation tests in a Y-maze. Classical conditioning and Y-maze retention tests were performed using the same pair of perceptually isoluminant chromatic stimuli, to avoid the influence of phototaxis during free-flying orientation. Visual discrimination transfer was clearly observed, with pre-trained honeybees significantly orienting their flights towards the former positive conditioned stimulus (CS+), thus showing that visual memories acquired by honeybees are resistant to context changes between conditioning and the retention test. We combined this visual discrimination approach with selective pharmacological injections to evaluate the effect of dopamine and octopamine in appetitive visual learning. Both octopaminergic and dopaminergic antagonists impaired visual discrimination performance, suggesting that both these biogenic amines modulate appetitive visual learning in honeybees. Our study brings new insight into cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying visual learning in honeybees. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  12. Proteomic analysis of honeybee (Apis mellifera L. pupae head development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aijuan Zheng

    Full Text Available The honeybee pupae development influences its future adult condition as well as honey and royal jelly productions. However, the molecular mechanism that regulates honeybee pupae head metamorphosis is still poorly understood. To further our understand of the associated molecular mechanism, we investigated the protein change of the honeybee pupae head at 5 time-points using 2-D electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. Accordingly, 58 protein spots altered their expression across the 5 time points (13-20 days, of which 36 proteins involved in the head organogenesis were upregulated during early stages (13-17 days. However, 22 proteins involved in regulating the pupae head neuron and gland development were upregulated at later developmental stages (19-20 days. Also, the functional enrichment analysis further suggests that proteins related to carbohydrate metabolism and energy production, development, cytoskeleton and protein folding were highly involved in the generation of organs and development of honeybee pupal head. Furthermore, the constructed protein interaction network predicted 33 proteins acting as key nodes of honeybee pupae head growth of which 9 and 4 proteins were validated at gene and protein levels, respectively. In this study, we uncovered potential protein species involved in the formation of honeybee pupae head development along with their specific temporal requirements. This first proteomic result allows deeper understanding of the proteome profile changes during honeybee pupae head development and provides important potential candidate proteins for future reverse genetic research on honeybee pupae head development to improve the performance of related organs.

  13. Do Honeybees Shape the Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aizenberg-Gershtein, Yana; Izhaki, Ido; Halpern, Malka

    2013-01-01

    Floral nectar is considered the most important reward animal-pollinated plants offer to attract pollinators. Here we explore whether honeybees, which act as pollinators, affect the composition of bacterial communities in the nectar. Nectar and honeybees were sampled from two plant species: Amygdalus communis and Citrus paradisi. To prevent the contact of nectar with pollinators, C. paradisi flowers were covered with net bags before blooming (covered flowers). Comparative analysis of bacterial communities in the nectar and on the honeybees was performed by the 454-pyrosequencing technique. No significant differences were found among bacterial communities in honeybees captured on the two different plant species. This resemblance may be due to the presence of dominant bacterial OTUs, closely related to the Arsenophonus genus. The bacterial communities of the nectar from the covered and uncovered C. paradisi flowers differed significantly; the bacterial communities on the honeybees differed significantly from those in the covered flowers’ nectar, but not from those in the uncovered flowers’ nectar. We conclude that the honeybees may introduce bacteria into the nectar and/or may be contaminated by bacteria introduced into the nectar by other sources such as other pollinators and nectar thieves. PMID:23844027

  14. Genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese honeybees ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese honeybees (Apis cerana) under microsatellite markers. T Ji, L Yin, G Chen. Abstract. Using 21 microsatellite markers and PCR method, the polymorphisms of 20 Apis cerana honeybee populations across China was investigated and the genetic structure and diversity of ...

  15. Altitude control in honeybees: joint vision-based learning and guidance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Portelli, Geoffrey; Serres, Julien R; Ruffier, Franck

    2017-08-23

    Studies on insects' visual guidance systems have shed little light on how learning contributes to insects' altitude control system. In this study, honeybees were trained to fly along a double-roofed tunnel after entering it near either the ceiling or the floor of the tunnel. The honeybees trained to hug the ceiling therefore encountered a sudden change in the tunnel configuration midways: i.e. a "dorsal ditch". Thus, the trained honeybees met a sudden increase in the distance to the ceiling, corresponding to a sudden strong change in the visual cues available in their dorsal field of view. Honeybees reacted by rising quickly and hugging the new, higher ceiling, keeping a similar forward speed, distance to the ceiling and dorsal optic flow to those observed during the training step; whereas bees trained to follow the floor kept on following the floor regardless of the change in the ceiling height. When trained honeybees entered the tunnel via the other entry (the lower or upper entry) to that used during the training step, they quickly changed their altitude and hugged the surface they had previously learned to follow. These findings clearly show that trained honeybees control their altitude based on visual cues memorized during training. The memorized visual cues generated by the surfaces followed form a complex optic flow pattern: trained honeybees may attempt to match the visual cues they perceive with this memorized optic flow pattern by controlling their altitude.

  16. Honeybees tolerate cyanogenic glucosides from clover nectar and flowers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lecocq, Antoine; Green, Amelia Ann; Pinheiro de Castro, Érika Cristina

    2018-01-01

    Honeybees (Apis mellifera) pollinate flowers and collect nectar from many important crops. White clover (Trifolium repens) is widely grown as a temperate forage crop, and requires honeybee pollination for seed set. In this study, using a quantitative LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry...... indicates that plant secondary metabolites found in nectar may protect pollinators from disease or predators. In a laboratory survival study with chronic feeding of secondary metabolites, we show that honeybees can ingest the cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and amygdalin at naturally occurring...

  17. CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in honeybee and pig

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pen, Anja

    2018-01-01

    Creating animal models by using genome modification has gotten significantly more accessible thanks to the CRISPR-Cas9 technique. In this study, we aimed to the implement the CRISPR-Cas9 methodology in the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) and pig (Sus scrofa) for generation of animal models. We...... want to use these animal models to study the development of honeybees and the pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a pig model of human disease. In order to simplify the production of these animal models, we test the use of sperm mediated gene transfer (SMGT) in combination with CRISPR...... mechanisms of honeybee development using genome modification will aid in uncovering these complex genetic regulatory systems. In honeybees, we have attempted to induce genome modification in the cinnabar gene through microinjection and feeding of CRISPR-Cas9 components to larvae. Additionally, we tested...

  18. Bainite obtaining in cast iron with carbides castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In these paper the possibility of upper and lower bainite obtaining in cast iron with carbides castings are presented. Conditions, when in cast iron with carbides castings during continuous free air cooling austenite transformation to upper bainite or its mixture with lower bainte proceeds, have been given. A mechanism of this transformation has been given, Si, Ni, Mn and Mo distribution in the eutectic cell has been tested and hardness of tested castings has been determined.

  19. Lateralization of visual learning in the honeybee

    OpenAIRE

    Letzkus, Pinar; Boeddeker, Norbert; Wood, Jeff T; Zhang, Shao-Wu; Srinivasan, Mandyam V

    2007-01-01

    Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). Here, we investigate lateralization of another sensory modality, vision. By training honeybees on a modified version of a visual proboscis extension reflex ta...

  20. Biophysics of the subgenual organ of the honeybee, Apis mellifera

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kilpinen, Ole; Storm, Jesper

    1997-01-01

    The subgenual organ of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) is suspended in a haemolymph channel in the tibia of each leg. When the leg is accelerated, inertia causes the haemolymph (and the subgenual organ) to lag behind the movement of the rest of the leg. The magnitude of this phase lag determines...

  1. Evaluation of the defensive behavior of two honeybee ecotypes using a laboratory test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia Andere

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Honeybee defensive behavior is a useful selection criterion, especially in areas with Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera L. In all genetic improvement programs the selected characters must be measured with precision, and because of this we evaluated a metabolic method for testing honeybee defensive behavior in the laboratory for its usefulness in distinguishing between honeybee ecotypes and selecting honeybees based on their level of defensive responses. Ten honeybee colonies were used, five having been produced by feral queens from a subtropical region supposedly colonized by Africanized honeybees and five by queens from a temperate region apparently colonized by European honeybees. We evaluate honeybee defensive behavior using a metabolic test based on oxygen consumption after stimulation with an alarm pheromone, measuring the time to the first response, time to maximum oxygen consumption, duration of activity, oxygen consumption at first response, maximum oxygen consumption and total oxygen consumption, colonies being ranked according to the values obtained for each variable. Significant (p < 0.05 differences were detected between ecotypes for each variable but for all variables the highest rankings were obtained for colonies of subtropical origin, which had faster and more intense responses. All variables were highly associated (p < 0.05. Total oxygen consumption was the best indicator of metabolic activity for defensive behavior because it combined oxygen consumption and the length of the response. This laboratory method may be useful for evaluating the defensive behavior of honey bees in genetic programs designed to select less defensive bees.

  2. Comparison of nectar foraging efficiency in the Cape honeybee ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    1987-03-17

    Mar 17, 1987 ... Comparison of nectar foraging efficiency in the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis Escholtz, and the African honeybee, Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille,. , in the western Cape Province. P.V. W-Worswick*. Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7700 Republic of South Africa.

  3. On the honeybee resistance to gamma radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Courtois, G.; Lecomte, J.

    1960-01-01

    The honeybee, when irradiated by gamma radiations from a cobalt-60 source can stand a 18000 r dose without any apparent harm. Noticeable harm is observed for 90000 r. while immediate death of 100% of the individuals is obtained with a 200000 r dose. The physiological condition of the honeybee plays an important role in its resistance to gamma radiation. Reprint of a paper published in Annales de l'abeille, IV, 1959, p. 285-290 [fr

  4. A review of African honeybees, behaviour and potential for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    African honeybees have a higher tendency to swarm, abscond and migrate than their counterparts in Europe and elsewhere, thus making it more difficult to maintain African honeybee colonies over years. They are also labeled as overly defensive, with a high propensity to sting, making their management a challenge.

  5. Ecological stoichiometry of the honeybee: Pollen diversity and adequate species composition are needed to mitigate limitations imposed on the growth and development of bees by pollen quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Filipiak, Michał; Kuszewska, Karolina; Asselman, Michel; Denisow, Bożena; Stawiarz, Ernest; Woyciechowski, Michał; Weiner, January

    2017-01-01

    The least understood aspects of the nutritional needs of bees are the elemental composition of pollen and the bees' need for a stoichiometrically balanced diet containing the required proportions of nutrients. Reduced plant diversity has been proposed as an indirect factor responsible for the pollinator crisis. We suggest stoichiometric mismatch resulting from a nutritionally unbalanced diet as a potential direct factor. The concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of C, N, S, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu were studied in the bodies of honeybees of various castes and sexes and in the nectar and pollen of various plant species. A literature review of the elemental composition of pollen was performed. We identified possible co-limitations of bee growth and development resulting mainly from the scarcity of Na, S, Cu, P and K, and possibly Zn and N, in pollen. Particular castes and sexes face specific limitations. Concentrations of potentially limiting elements in pollen revealed high taxonomic diversity. High floral diversity may be necessary to maintain populations of pollen eaters. Single-species crop plantations, even if these species are rich in nectar and pollen, might limit bee growth and development, not allowing for gathering nutrients in adequate proportions. However, particular plant species may play greater roles than others in balancing honeybee diets. Therefore, we suggest specific plant species that may (1) ensure optimal growth and production of individuals by producing pollen that is exceptionally well balanced stoichiometrically (e.g., clover) or (2) prevent growth and development of honeybees by producing pollen that is extremely unbalanced for bees (e.g., sunflower). Since pollen is generally poor in Na, this element must be supplemented using "dirty water". Nectar cannot supplement the diet with limiting elements. Stoichiometric mismatch should be considered in intervention strategies aimed at improving the nutritional base for bees.

  6. Ecological stoichiometry of the honeybee: Pollen diversity and adequate species composition are needed to mitigate limitations imposed on the growth and development of bees by pollen quality.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michał Filipiak

    Full Text Available The least understood aspects of the nutritional needs of bees are the elemental composition of pollen and the bees' need for a stoichiometrically balanced diet containing the required proportions of nutrients. Reduced plant diversity has been proposed as an indirect factor responsible for the pollinator crisis. We suggest stoichiometric mismatch resulting from a nutritionally unbalanced diet as a potential direct factor. The concentrations and stoichiometric ratios of C, N, S, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu were studied in the bodies of honeybees of various castes and sexes and in the nectar and pollen of various plant species. A literature review of the elemental composition of pollen was performed. We identified possible co-limitations of bee growth and development resulting mainly from the scarcity of Na, S, Cu, P and K, and possibly Zn and N, in pollen. Particular castes and sexes face specific limitations. Concentrations of potentially limiting elements in pollen revealed high taxonomic diversity. High floral diversity may be necessary to maintain populations of pollen eaters. Single-species crop plantations, even if these species are rich in nectar and pollen, might limit bee growth and development, not allowing for gathering nutrients in adequate proportions. However, particular plant species may play greater roles than others in balancing honeybee diets. Therefore, we suggest specific plant species that may (1 ensure optimal growth and production of individuals by producing pollen that is exceptionally well balanced stoichiometrically (e.g., clover or (2 prevent growth and development of honeybees by producing pollen that is extremely unbalanced for bees (e.g., sunflower. Since pollen is generally poor in Na, this element must be supplemented using "dirty water". Nectar cannot supplement the diet with limiting elements. Stoichiometric mismatch should be considered in intervention strategies aimed at improving the nutritional base

  7. Modelling the subgenual organ of the honeybee, Apis mellifera

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storm, Jesper; Kilpinen, Ole

    1998-01-01

    In a recent study on the honeybee (Apis mellifera), the subgenual organ was observed moving inside the leg during sinusoidal vibrations of the leg (Kilpinen and Storm 1997). The subgenual organ of the honeybee is suspended in a haemolymph channel in the tibia of each leg. When the leg accelerates...

  8. A robotic system for researching social integration in honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karlo Griparić

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present a novel robotic system developed for researching collective social mechanisms in a biohybrid society of robots and honeybees. The potential for distributed coordination, as observed in nature in many different animal species, has caused an increased interest in collective behaviour research in recent years because of its applicability to a broad spectrum of technical systems requiring robust multi-agent control. One of the main problems is understanding the mechanisms driving the emergence of collective behaviour of social animals. With the aim of deepening the knowledge in this field, we have designed a multi-robot system capable of interacting with honeybees within an experimental arena. The final product, stationary autonomous robot units, designed by specificaly considering the physical, sensorimotor and behavioral characteristics of the honeybees (lat. Apis mallifera, are equipped with sensing, actuating, computation, and communication capabilities that enable the measurement of relevant environmental states, such as honeybee presence, and adequate response to the measurements by generating heat, vibration and airflow. The coordination among robots in the developed system is established using distributed controllers. The cooperation between the two different types of collective systems is realized by means of a consensus algorithm, enabling the honeybees and the robots to achieve a common objective. Presented results, obtained within ASSISIbf project, show successful cooperation indicating its potential for future applications.

  9. A robotic system for researching social integration in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griparić, Karlo; Haus, Tomislav; Miklić, Damjan; Polić, Marsela; Bogdan, Stjepan

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we present a novel robotic system developed for researching collective social mechanisms in a biohybrid society of robots and honeybees. The potential for distributed coordination, as observed in nature in many different animal species, has caused an increased interest in collective behaviour research in recent years because of its applicability to a broad spectrum of technical systems requiring robust multi-agent control. One of the main problems is understanding the mechanisms driving the emergence of collective behaviour of social animals. With the aim of deepening the knowledge in this field, we have designed a multi-robot system capable of interacting with honeybees within an experimental arena. The final product, stationary autonomous robot units, designed by specificaly considering the physical, sensorimotor and behavioral characteristics of the honeybees (lat. Apis mallifera), are equipped with sensing, actuating, computation, and communication capabilities that enable the measurement of relevant environmental states, such as honeybee presence, and adequate response to the measurements by generating heat, vibration and airflow. The coordination among robots in the developed system is established using distributed controllers. The cooperation between the two different types of collective systems is realized by means of a consensus algorithm, enabling the honeybees and the robots to achieve a common objective. Presented results, obtained within ASSISIbf project, show successful cooperation indicating its potential for future applications.

  10. Migration effects on population dynamics of the honeybee-mite interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honeybees are amazing and highly beneficial insect species that play important roles in undisturbed and agricultural ecosystems. Unfortunately, honeybees are increasingly threatened by numerous factors, most notably the parasitic Varroa mite (Varroa destructor Anderson and Trueman). A recent field s...

  11. Ocellar structure and neural innervation in the honeybee

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Shan eHung

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Honeybees have a visual system composed of three ocelli (simple eyes located on the top of the head, in addition to two large compound eyes. Although experiments have been conducted to investigate the role of the ocelli within the visual system, their optical characteristics, and function remain controversial. In this study, we created three-dimensional (3-D reconstructions of the honeybee ocelli, conducted optical measurements and filled ocellar descending neurons to assist in determining the role of ocelli in honeybees. In both the median and lateral ocelli, the ocellar retinas can be divided into dorsal and ventral parts. Using the 3-D model we were able to assess the viewing angles of the retinas. The dorsal retinas view the horizon while the ventral retinas view the sky, suggesting quite different roles in attitude control. We used the hanging drop technique to assess the spatial resolution of each retina. The lateral ocelli have considerably higher spatial resolution compared to the median ocellus. Moreover, in both types of ocellus the dorsal retina has a higher spatial resolution than the ventral retina. In addition, we established which ocellar retinas provide the input to five pairs of large ocellar descending neurons. We found that four of the neuron pairs had their dendritic fields in the dorsal retinas of the lateral ocelli, while the fifth had fine dendrites in the ventral retina. One of the neuron pairs also sent very fine dendrites into the border region between the dorsal and ventral retinas of the median ocellus.

  12. Vultures and honeybees

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ZeldaH

    in the Ganab area of the Namib-Naukluft. Park, Namibia, we came across an unusual occurrence: When we reached the chick in the nest, we found honeybees Apis mellifera, crowded over and covering the eyes of the young vulture. The Namib-Naukluft Park (NNP),. 49,785 km², is the largest conservation area in Namibia ...

  13. Nosema Tolerant Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Escape Parasitic Manipulation of Apoptosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kurze, Christoph; Le Conte, Yves; Dussaubat, Claudia

    2015-01-01

    conducted three inoculation experiments to investigate in the apoptotic respond during infection with the intracellular gut pathogen Nosema ceranae, which is considered as potential global threat to the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and other bee pollinators, in sensitive and tolerant honeybees. To explore...

  14. Genetic variation in natural honeybee populations, Apis mellifera capensis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hepburn, Randall; Neumann, Peter; Radloff, Sarah E.

    2004-09-01

    Genetic variation in honeybee, Apis mellifera, populations can be considerably influenced by breeding and commercial introductions, especially in areas with abundant beekeeping. However, in southern Africa apiculture is based on the capture of wild swarms, and queen rearing is virtually absent. Moreover, the introduction of European subspecies constantly failed in the Cape region. We therefore hypothesize a low human impact on genetic variation in populations of Cape honeybees, Apis mellifera capensis. A novel solution to studying genetic variation in honeybee populations based on thelytokous worker reproduction is applied to test this hypothesis. Environmental effects on metrical morphological characters of the phenotype are separated to obtain a genetic residual component. The genetic residuals are then re-calculated as coefficients of genetic variation. Characters measured included hair length on the abdomen, width and length of wax plate, and three wing angles. The data show for the first time that genetic variation in Cape honeybee populations is independent of beekeeping density and probably reflects naturally occurring processes such as gene flow due to topographic and climatic variation on a microscale.

  15. Conserving genetic diversity in the honeybee: comments on Harpur et al. (2012).

    Science.gov (United States)

    De la Rúa, Pilar; Jaffé, Rodolfo; Muñoz, Irene; Serrano, José; Moritz, Robin F A; Kraus, F Bernhard

    2013-06-01

    The article by Harpur et al. (2012) 'Management increases genetic diversity of honey bees via admixture' concludes that '…honey bees do not suffer from reduced genetic diversity caused by management and, consequently, that reduced genetic diversity is probably not contributing to declines of managed Apis mellifera populations'. In the light of current honeybee and beekeeping declines and their consequences for honeybee conservation and the pollination services they provide, we would like to express our concern about the conclusions drawn from the results of Harpur et al. (2012). While many honeybee management practices do not imply admixture, we are convinced that the large-scale genetic homogenization of admixed populations could drive the loss of valuable local adaptations. We also point out that the authors did not account for the extensive gene flow that occurs between managed and wild/feral honeybee populations and raise concerns about the data set used. Finally, we caution against underestimating the importance of genetic diversity for honeybee colonies and highlight the importance of promoting the use of endemic honeybee subspecies in apiculture. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Lateralization of visual learning in the honeybee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Letzkus, Pinar; Boeddeker, Norbert; Wood, Jeff T; Zhang, Shao-Wu; Srinivasan, Mandyam V

    2008-02-23

    Lateralization is a well-described phenomenon in humans and other vertebrates and there are interesting parallels across a variety of different vertebrate species. However, there are only a few studies of lateralization in invertebrates. In a recent report, we showed lateralization of olfactory learning in the honeybee (Apis mellifera). Here, we investigate lateralization of another sensory modality, vision. By training honeybees on a modified version of a visual proboscis extension reflex task, we find that bees learn a colour stimulus better with their right eye.

  17. Characterization of royal jelly proteins in both Africanized and European honeybees (Apis mellifera) by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sano, Osamu; Kunikata, Toshio; Kohno, Keizo; Iwaki, Kanso; Ikeda, Masao; Kurimoto, Masashi

    2004-01-14

    In this study, the proteins contained in royal jelly (RJ) produced by Africanized honeybees and European honeybees (Apis mellifera) haven been analyzed in detail and compared using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of each spot has been determined. Most spots were assigned to major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs). Remarkable differences were found in the heterogeneity of the MRJPs, in particular MRJP3, in terms of molecular weights and isoelectric points between the two species of RJ. Furthermore, during the determination of the N-terminal amino acid sequence of each spot, for the first time, MRJP4 protein has been identified, the existence of which had been only implied by cloning of its cDNA sequence. The presence of heterogeneous bands of glucose oxidase was also identified. Thus, the results suggest that two-dimensional gel electrophoresis provides a suitable method for the qualitative analysis of the proteins contained in RJ derived from different honeybee species.

  18. Protein pattern of the honeybee venoms of Egypt | Zalat | Egyptian ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The venom composition of the Egyptian honeybee Apis mellifera lamarckii, the Carniolan honeybee Apis mellifera carnica and a hybrid with unknown origin were analyzed using electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). All venoms shared six bands with molecular weights of 97.400, 67.400, 49.000, 45.000, 43.000 and 14.000D.

  19. THE HONEYBEE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper describes a teacher aid progra11111e on the honeybee, which is considered ... environment, and to create job opportunities. • generate a ... skill in architectural design and home building ... three interlinking, yet separate, units: 1.

  20. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Córdoba (Spain) by biomonitoring foraging honeybee

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gutiérrez, Miriam; Molero, Rafael; Gaju, Miquel; Steen, van der Sjef; Porrini, Claudio; Ruiz, José Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Due to features that make them outstanding environmental bioindicator, colonies of Apis mellifera are being used to study environmental pollution. The primary objective of this research was to use honeybee colonies to identify heavy metals and determine their utility for environmental management.

  1. Experimental evidence that honeybees depress wild insect densities in a flowering crop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindström, Sandra A M; Herbertsson, Lina; Rundlöf, Maj; Bommarco, Riccardo; Smith, Henrik G

    2016-11-30

    While addition of managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) improves pollination of many entomophilous crops, it is unknown if it simultaneously suppresses the densities of wild insects through competition. To investigate this, we added 624 honeybee hives to 23 fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) over 2 years and made sure that the areas around 21 other fields were free from honeybee hives. We demonstrate that honeybee addition depresses the densities of wild insects (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, marchflies, other flies, and other flying and flower-visiting insects) even in a massive flower resource such as oilseed rape. The effect was independent of the complexity of the surrounding landscape, but increased with the size of the crop field, which suggests that the effect was caused by spatial displacement of wild insects. Our results have potential implications both for the pollination of crops (if displacement of wild pollinators offsets benefits achieved by adding honeybees) and for conservation of wild insects (if displacement results in negative fitness consequences). © 2016 The Author(s).

  2. Barbs facilitate the helical penetration of honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) stingers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze; Zhao, Jieliang; Ye, Yuying

    2014-01-01

    The stinger is a very small and efficient device that allows honeybees to perform two main physiological activities: repelling enemies and laying eggs for reproduction. In this study, we explored the specific characteristics of stinger penetration, where we focused on its movements and the effects of it microstructure. The stingers of Italian honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) were grouped and fixed onto four types of cubic substrates, before pressing into different substrates. The morphological characteristics of the stinger cross-sections were analyzed before and after penetration by microscopy. Our findings suggest that the honeybee stinger undergoes helical and clockwise rotation during penetration. We also found that the helical penetration of the stinger is associated directly with the spiral distribution of the barbs, thereby confirming that stinger penetration involves an advanced microstructure rather than a simple needle-like apparatus. These results provide new insights into the mechanism of honeybee stinger penetration.

  3. Honeybee forage, bee visitation counts and the properties of honey ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of the survey was to document honeybee forage plants and asses honeybee visitation counts on different forage plants and properties of honey from selected agro-ecological zones of Uganda. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a survey of the apiaries and beekeepers was done by selecting fifteen bee ...

  4. Genetic structure of Balearic honeybee populations based on microsatellite polymorphism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moritz Robin FA

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The genetic variation of honeybee colonies collected in 22 localities on the Balearic Islands (Spain was analysed using eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. Previous studies have demonstrated that these colonies belong either to the African or west European evolutionary lineages. These populations display low variability estimated from both the number of alleles and heterozygosity values, as expected for the honeybee island populations. Although genetic differentiation within the islands is low, significant heterozygote deficiency is present, indicating a subpopulation genetic structure. According to the genetic differentiation test, the honeybee populations of the Balearic Islands cluster into two groups: Gimnesias (Mallorca and Menorca and Pitiusas (Ibiza and Formentera, which agrees with the biogeography postulated for this archipelago. The phylogenetic analysis suggests an Iberian origin of the Balearic honeybees, thus confirming the postulated evolutionary scenario for Apis mellifera in the Mediterranean basin. The microsatellite data from Formentera, Ibiza and Menorca show that ancestral populations are threatened by queen importations, indicating that adequate conservation measures should be developed for protecting Balearic bees.

  5. Nursing protects honeybee larvae from secondary metabolites of pollen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucchetti, Matteo A; Kilchenmann, Verena; Glauser, Gaetan; Praz, Christophe; Kast, Christina

    2018-03-28

    The pollen of many plants contains toxic secondary compounds, sometimes in concentrations higher than those found in the flowers or leaves. The ecological significance of these compounds remains unclear, and their impact on bees is largely unexplored. Here, we studied the impact of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) found in the pollen of Echium vulgare on honeybee adults and larvae. Echimidine, a PA present in E. vulgare pollen, was isolated and added to the honeybee diets in order to perform toxicity bioassays. While adult bees showed relatively high tolerance to PAs, larvae were much more sensitive. In contrast to other bees, the honeybee larval diet typically contains only traces of pollen and consists predominantly of hypopharyngeal and mandibular secretions produced by nurse bees, which feed on large quantities of pollen-containing bee bread. We quantified the transfer of PAs to nursing secretions produced by bees that had previously consumed bee bread supplemented with PAs. The PA concentration in these secretions was reduced by three orders of magnitude as compared to the PA content in the nurse diet and was well below the toxicity threshold for larvae. Our results suggest that larval nursing protects honeybee larvae from the toxic effect of secondary metabolites of pollen. © 2018 The Authors.

  6. Nursing protects honeybee larvae from secondary metabolites of pollen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucchetti, Matteo A.; Kilchenmann, Verena; Glauser, Gaetan; Praz, Christophe

    2018-01-01

    The pollen of many plants contains toxic secondary compounds, sometimes in concentrations higher than those found in the flowers or leaves. The ecological significance of these compounds remains unclear, and their impact on bees is largely unexplored. Here, we studied the impact of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) found in the pollen of Echium vulgare on honeybee adults and larvae. Echimidine, a PA present in E. vulgare pollen, was isolated and added to the honeybee diets in order to perform toxicity bioassays. While adult bees showed relatively high tolerance to PAs, larvae were much more sensitive. In contrast to other bees, the honeybee larval diet typically contains only traces of pollen and consists predominantly of hypopharyngeal and mandibular secretions produced by nurse bees, which feed on large quantities of pollen-containing bee bread. We quantified the transfer of PAs to nursing secretions produced by bees that had previously consumed bee bread supplemented with PAs. The PA concentration in these secretions was reduced by three orders of magnitude as compared to the PA content in the nurse diet and was well below the toxicity threshold for larvae. Our results suggest that larval nursing protects honeybee larvae from the toxic effect of secondary metabolites of pollen. PMID:29563265

  7. Barbs facilitate the helical penetration of honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica stingers.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianing Wu

    Full Text Available The stinger is a very small and efficient device that allows honeybees to perform two main physiological activities: repelling enemies and laying eggs for reproduction. In this study, we explored the specific characteristics of stinger penetration, where we focused on its movements and the effects of it microstructure. The stingers of Italian honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica were grouped and fixed onto four types of cubic substrates, before pressing into different substrates. The morphological characteristics of the stinger cross-sections were analyzed before and after penetration by microscopy. Our findings suggest that the honeybee stinger undergoes helical and clockwise rotation during penetration. We also found that the helical penetration of the stinger is associated directly with the spiral distribution of the barbs, thereby confirming that stinger penetration involves an advanced microstructure rather than a simple needle-like apparatus. These results provide new insights into the mechanism of honeybee stinger penetration.

  8. Parasites and Pathogens of the Honeybee (Apis mellifera and Their Influence on Inter-Colonial Transmission.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadège Forfert

    Full Text Available Pathogens and parasites may facilitate their transmission by manipulating host behavior. Honeybee pathogens and pests need to be transferred from one colony to another if they are to maintain themselves in a host population. Inter-colony transmission occurs typically through honeybee workers not returning to their home colony but entering a foreign colony ("drifting". Pathogens might enhance drifting to enhance transmission to new colonies. We here report on the effects infection by ten honeybee viruses and Nosema spp., and Varroa mite infestation on honeybee drifting. Genotyping of workers collected from colonies allowed us to identify genuine drifted workers as well as source colonies sending out drifters in addition to sink colonies accepting them. We then used network analysis to determine patterns of drifting. Distance between colonies in the apiary was the major factor explaining 79% of drifting. None of the tested viruses or Nosema spp. were associated with the frequency of drifting. Only colony infestation with Varroa was associated with significantly enhanced drifting. More specifically, colonies with high Varroa infestation had a significantly enhanced acceptance of drifters, although they did not send out more drifting workers. Since Varroa-infested colonies show an enhanced attraction of drifting workers, and not only those infected with Varroa and its associated pathogens, infestation by Varroa may also facilitate the uptake of other pests and parasites.

  9. Spider Movement, UV Reflectance and Size, but Not Spider Crypsis, Affect the Response of Honeybees to Australian Crab Spiders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llandres, Ana L.; Rodríguez-Gironés, Miguel A.

    2011-01-01

    According to the crypsis hypothesis, the ability of female crab spiders to change body colour and match the colour of flowers has been selected because flower visitors are less likely to detect spiders that match the colour of the flowers used as hunting platform. However, recent findings suggest that spider crypsis plays a minor role in predator detection and some studies even showed that pollinators can become attracted to flowers harbouring Australian crab spider when the UV contrast between spider and flower increases. Here we studied the response of Apis mellifera honeybees to the presence of white or yellow Thomisus spectabilis Australian crab spiders sitting on Bidens alba inflorescences and also the response of honeybees to crab spiders that we made easily detectable painting blue their forelimbs or abdomen. To account for the visual systems of crab spider's prey, we measured the reflectance properties of the spiders and inflorescences used for the experiments. We found that honeybees did not respond to the degree of matching between spiders and inflorescences (either chromatic or achromatic contrast): they responded similarly to white and yellow spiders, to control and painted spiders. However spider UV reflection, spider size and spider movement determined honeybee behaviour: the probability that honeybees landed on spider-harbouring inflorescences was greatest when the spiders were large and had high UV reflectance or when spiders were small and reflected little UV, and honeybees were more likely to reject inflorescences if spiders moved as the bee approached the inflorescence. Our study suggests that only the large, but not the small Australian crab spiders deceive their preys by reflecting UV light, and highlights the importance of other cues that elicited an anti-predator response in honeybees. PMID:21359183

  10. Spider movement, UV reflectance and size, but not spider crypsis, affect the response of honeybees to Australian crab spiders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llandres, Ana L; Rodríguez-Gironés, Miguel A

    2011-02-16

    According to the crypsis hypothesis, the ability of female crab spiders to change body colour and match the colour of flowers has been selected because flower visitors are less likely to detect spiders that match the colour of the flowers used as hunting platform. However, recent findings suggest that spider crypsis plays a minor role in predator detection and some studies even showed that pollinators can become attracted to flowers harbouring Australian crab spider when the UV contrast between spider and flower increases. Here we studied the response of Apis mellifera honeybees to the presence of white or yellow Thomisus spectabilis Australian crab spiders sitting on Bidens alba inflorescences and also the response of honeybees to crab spiders that we made easily detectable painting blue their forelimbs or abdomen. To account for the visual systems of crab spider's prey, we measured the reflectance properties of the spiders and inflorescences used for the experiments. We found that honeybees did not respond to the degree of matching between spiders and inflorescences (either chromatic or achromatic contrast): they responded similarly to white and yellow spiders, to control and painted spiders. However spider UV reflection, spider size and spider movement determined honeybee behaviour: the probability that honeybees landed on spider-harbouring inflorescences was greatest when the spiders were large and had high UV reflectance or when spiders were small and reflected little UV, and honeybees were more likely to reject inflorescences if spiders moved as the bee approached the inflorescence. Our study suggests that only the large, but not the small Australian crab spiders deceive their preys by reflecting UV light, and highlights the importance of other cues that elicited an anti-predator response in honeybees.

  11. Collective fluid mechanics of honeybee nest ventilation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gravish, Nick; Combes, Stacey; Wood, Robert J.; Peters, Jacob

    2014-11-01

    Honeybees thermoregulate their brood in the warm summer months by collectively fanning their wings and creating air flow through the nest. During nest ventilation workers flap their wings in close proximity in which wings continuously operate in unsteady oncoming flows (i.e. the wake of neighboring worker bees) and near the ground. The fluid mechanics of this collective aerodynamic phenomena are unstudied and may play an important role in the physiology of colony life. We have performed field and laboratory observations of the nest ventilation wing kinematics and air flow generated by individuals and groups of honeybee workers. Inspired from these field observations we describe here a robotic model system to study collective flapping wing aerodynamics. We microfabricate arrays of 1.4 cm long flapping wings and observe the air flow generated by arrays of two or more fanning robotic wings. We vary phase, frequency, and separation distance among wings and find that net output flow is enhanced when wings operate at the appropriate phase-distance relationship to catch shed vortices from neighboring wings. These results suggest that by varying position within the fanning array honeybee workers may benefit from collective aerodynamic interactions during nest ventilation.

  12. Photoresponsive molecularly imprinted hydrogel casting membrane for the determination of trace tetracycline in milk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qiang; Lv, Zhen; Tang, Qian; Gong, Cheng-Bin; Lam, Michael Hon Wah; Ma, Xue-Bing; Chow, Cheuk-Fai

    2016-03-01

    This study aimed to develop a photoresponsive molecularly imprinted hydrogel (MIH) casting membrane for the determination of trace tetracycline (TC) in milk. This MIH casting membrane combined the specificity of MIHs, the photoresponsive properties of azobenzene, and the portable properties of a membrane. Photoresponsive TC-imprinted MIHs were initially fabricated and then cast on sodium dodecyl sulfonate polyacrylamide gel. After TC removal, a photoresponsive MIH casting membrane was obtained. The photoresponsive properties of the MIH casting membrane were robust, and no obvious photodegradation was observed after 20 cycles. The MIH casting membrane displayed specific affinity to TC upon alternate irradiation at 365 and 440 nm; it could quantitatively uptake and release TC. The TC concentration (0.0-2.0 × 10(-4) mol l(-1)) in aqueous solution displayed a linear relationship with the photoisomerization rate constant of azobenzene within the MIH casting membrane. As such, a quick detection method for trace TC in aqueous foodstuff samples was established. The recovery of this method for TC in milk was investigated with a simple pretreatment of milk, and a high recovery of 100.54-106.35% was obtained. Therefore, the fabricated membrane can be used as a portable molecular sensor that can be easily recycled. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Predicting Spatial Distribution of Key Honeybee Pests in Kenya Using Remotely Sensed and Bioclimatic Variables: Key Honeybee Pests Distribution Models

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    David M. Makori

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Bee keeping is indispensable to global food production. It is an alternate income source, especially in rural underdeveloped African settlements, and an important forest conservation incentive. However, dwindling honeybee colonies around the world are attributed to pests and diseases whose spatial distribution and influences are not well established. In this study, we used remotely sensed data to improve the reliability of pest ecological niche (EN models to attain reliable pest distribution maps. Occurrence data on four pests (Aethina tumida, Galleria mellonella, Oplostomus haroldi and Varroa destructor were collected from apiaries within four main agro-ecological regions responsible for over 80% of Kenya’s bee keeping. Africlim bioclimatic and derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI variables were used to model their ecological niches using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt. Combined precipitation variables had a high positive logit influence on all remotely sensed and biotic models’ performance. Remotely sensed vegetation variables had a substantial effect on the model, contributing up to 40.8% for G. mellonella and regions with high rainfall seasonality were predicted to be high-risk areas. Projections (to 2055 indicated that, with the current climate change trend, these regions will experience increased honeybee pest risk. We conclude that honeybee pests could be modelled using bioclimatic data and remotely sensed variables in MaxEnt. Although the bioclimatic data were most relevant in all model results, incorporating vegetation seasonality variables to improve mapping the ‘actual’ habitat of key honeybee pests and to identify risk and containment zones needs to be further investigated.

  14. Mouthpart grooming behavior in honeybees: Kinematics and sectionalized friction between foreleg tarsi and proboscises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linghu, Zelin; Wu, Jianing; Wang, Changlong; Yan, Shaoze

    2015-11-01

    The mouthpart of a honeybee is prone to contamination by granular particles such as pollen or dirt from the field. To clean the contaminated mouthparts, a honeybee swings its foreleg tarsi forward and backward to brush the proboscis continuously, sweeping the contaminant from the surfaces of the labial palpi, galeae, and bushy haired tongue (glossa). This grooming behavior has been documented but the dynamic characteristics therein have not been investigated yet. We quantified the grooming behavior of a honeybee from the perspective of kinematic and tribological properties. We captured high-speed videos that recorded the mouthpart grooming patterns of honeybees from the front and side views and measured the friction on the grooming surfaces using a precision dynamometer. During grooming, a honeybee first positions the mouthpart and then places a pair of foreleg tarsi to the tubular-folded galea. The tarsi press the galea and labial palpi and slide downward while keeping close contact with the galea. Then, the hairy glossa stretches out of the temporary tube with the glossa setae erected. The tarsi slowly slide down when grooming the glossa. In the return stroke of grooming, the foreleg tarsi detach from the mouthpart and retreat swiftly. Friction analysis shows that the honeybees can coordinate the velocity of the foreleg tarsi to the sectionalized tribological property of the tarsus-mouthpart interface. The specific grooming pattern enables honeybees to save energy and resist wear, resulting in a possible highly evolved grooming strategy. These findings lead to further understanding of the honeybee's grooming behavior facilitated by the special motion kinematics and friction characteristics. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Functional characterization of transmembrane adenylyl cyclases from the honeybee brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balfanz, Sabine; Ehling, Petra; Wachten, Sebastian; Jordan, Nadine; Erber, Joachim; Mujagic, Samir; Baumann, Arnd

    2012-06-01

    The second messenger cAMP has a pivotal role in animals' physiology and behavior. Intracellular concentrations of cAMP are balanced by cAMP-synthesizing adenylyl cyclases (ACs) and cAMP-cleaving phosphodiesterases. Knowledge about ACs in the honeybee (Apis mellifera) is rather limited and only an ortholog of the vertebrate AC3 isoform has been functionally characterized, so far. Employing bioinformatics and functional expression we characterized two additional honeybee genes encoding membrane-bound (tm)ACs. The proteins were designated AmAC2t and AmAC8. Unlike the common structure of tmACs, AmAC2t lacks the first transmembrane domain. Despite this unusual topography, AmAC2t-activity could be stimulated by norepinephrine and NKH477 with EC(50s) of 0.07 μM and 3 μM. Both ligands stimulated AmAC8 with EC(50s) of 0.24 μM and 3.1 μM. In brain cryosections, intensive staining of mushroom bodies was observed with specific antibodies against AmAC8, an expression pattern highly reminiscent of the Drosophila rutabaga AC. In a current release of the honeybee genome database we identified three additional tmAC- and one soluble AC-encoding gene. These results suggest that (1) the AC-gene family in honeybees is comparably large as in other species, and (2) based on the restricted expression of AmAC8 in mushroom bodies, this enzyme might serve important functions in honeybee behavior. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. The absolute configurations of hydroxy fatty acids from the royal jelly of honeybees (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodai, Tetsuya; Nakatani, Takafumi; Noda, Naoki

    2011-03-01

    9-Hydroxy-2E-decenoic acid (9-HDA) is a precursor of the queen-produced substance, 9-oxo-2E-decenoic acid (9-ODA), which has various important functions and roles for caste maintenance in honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera). 9-HDA in royal jelly is considered to be a metabolite of 9-ODA produced by worker bees, and it is fed back to the queen who then transforms it into 9-ODA. Recently we found that 9-HDA is present in royal jelly as a mixture of optical isomers (R:S, 2:1). The finding leads us to suspect that chiral fatty acids in royal jelly are precursors of semiochemicals. Rather than looking for semiochemicals in the mandibular glands of the queen bee, this study involves the search for precursors of pheromones from large quantities of royal jelly. Seven chiral hydroxy fatty acids, 9,10-dihydroxy-2E-decenoic, 4,10-dihydroxy-2E-decenoic, 4,9-dihydroxy-2E-decenoic, 3-hydroxydecanoic, 3,9-dihydroxydecanoic, 3,11-dihydroxydodecanoic, and 3,10-dihydroxydecanoic acids were isolated. The absolute configurations of these acids were determined using the modified Mosher's method, and it was revealed that, similar to 9-HDA, five acids are present in royal jelly as mixtures of optical isomers.

  17. Varroa destructor mite in Africanized honeybee colonies Apis mellifera L. under royal jelly or honey production

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pedro da Rosa Santos

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available This study evaluated the level of invasion of Varroa mite into worker brood cells, the infestation rate on adult worker honeybees, total and effective reproduction rates of the mite in Africanized honeybee colonies under royal jelly or honey production. Invasion and infestation rates were not statistically different between honeybee colonies producing honey or royal jelly and the averages for these parameters were 5.79 and 8.54%, respectively. Colonies producing honey presented a higher (p < 0.05 total and effective reproduction of Varroa than colonies producing royal jelly. There was a negative correlation between levels of invasion and infestation with minimum external temperature, relative humidity and rainfall. The variables month and season influenced the development of the mite, but rates were low and within the range normally found in Brazil for Africanized honeybee colonies, which confirm the greater resistance of these honeybees to Varroa destructor than European honeybees.

  18. Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of honeybee ( Apis mellifera ligustica) propolis from subtropical eastern Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massaro, Carmelina Flavia; Simpson, Jack Bruce; Powell, Daniel; Brooks, Peter

    2015-12-01

    Propolis is a material manufactured by bees and contains beeswax, bee salivary secretions and plant resins. Propolis preparations have been used for millennia by humans in food, cosmetics and medicines due to its antibacterial effects. Within the hive, propolis plays an important role in bees' health, with much of its bioactivity largely dependent on the plant resins the bees select for its production. Few chemical studies are available on the chemistry of propolis produced by Australian honeybees ( Apis mellifera, Apidae). This study aimed to determine the chemical composition as well as in vitro antimicrobial effects of propolis harvested from honeybees in subtropical eastern Australia. Honeybee propolis was produced using plastic frames and multiple beehives in two subtropical sites in eastern Australia. Methanolic extracts of propolis were analysed by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection and high-resolution mass spectrometry (ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-UV-high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HR-MS/MS)) and by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The resulting chemical data were dereplicated for compound characterisation. The two crude extracts in abs. ethanol were tested in vitro by the agar diffusion and broth dilution methods, using a phenol standard solution as the positive control and abs. ethanol as the negative control. Chemical constituents were identified to be pentacyclic triterpenoids and C-prenylated flavonoids, including Abyssinoflavanone VII, Propolin C and Nymphaeol C. The two propolis crude extracts showed bactericidal effects at the minimal inhibitory concentrations of 0.37-2.04 mg mL-1 against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. However, the extracts were inactive against Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883 and Candida albicans ATCC 10231. The antistaphylococcal potential of propolis was discussed, also in relation to honeybees' health, as it warrants further investigations on the social and

  19. Honeybee odometry and scent guidance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vladusich, T; Hemmi, JM; Zeil, J

    2006-01-01

    We report on a striking asymmetry in search behaviour observed in honeybees trained to forage alternately at one of two feeder sites in a narrow tunnel. Bees were trained by periodically switching the position of a sucrose reward between relatively short and long distances in the tunnel. Search

  20. Reducing the Incidence of Cast-related Skin Complications in Children Treated With Cast Immobilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Difazio, Rachel L; Harris, Marie; Feldman, Lanna; Mahan, Susan T

    2017-12-01

    Cast immobilization remains the mainstay of pediatric orthopaedic care, yet little is known about the incidence of cast-related skin complications in children treated with cast immobilization. The purposes of this quality improvement project were to: (1) establish a baseline rate of cast-related skin complications in children treated with cast immobilization, (2) identify trends in children who experienced cast-related skin complications, (3) design an intervention aimed at decreasing the rate of cast-related skin complications, and (4) determine the effectiveness of the intervention. A prospective interrupted time-series design was used to determine the incidence of cast-related skin complications overtime and compare the rates of skin complications before and after an intervention designed to decrease the incidence of cast-related heel complications. All consecutive patients who were treated with cast immobilization from September 2012 to September 2014 were included. A cast-related skin complications data collection tool was used to capture all cast-related skin complications. A high rate of heel events was noted in our preliminary analysis and an intervention was designed to decrease the rate of cast-related skin complications, including the addition of padding during casting and respective provider education. The estimated cast-related skin events rate for all patients was 8.9 per 1000 casts applied. The rate for the total preintervention sample was 13.6 per 1000 casts which decreased to 6.6 in the postintervention sample. When examining the heel-only group, the rate was 17.1 per 1000 lower extremity casts applied in the preintervention group and 6.8 in the postintervention group. Incorporating padding to the heel of lower extremity cast was an effective intervention in decreasing the incidence of cast-related skin complications in patients treated with cast immobilization. Level II.

  1. Patients with massive honeybee stings: report of four cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahidi Sh

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available "nBackground: Insect stings can cause local or systemic reactions that range from mild to fatal, and are among the most common causes of anaphylaxis. The major allergens of honeybee venom are phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, acid phosphatase, allergen C and melitin. Phospholipase and melitin induce hemolysis, rhabdomyolysis and liver damage due to cell membrane breakdown, damage of the vascular endothelium and activation of the inflammatory response. Rhabdomyolysis has been implicated as the cause of acute renal failure in approximately 5-7% of cases. However, bee stings are a rare cause of rhabdomyolysis, and are usually associated with 50 or more stings. It has been reported that more than 250 bee stings are capable of causing death in humans. "nCase report: We report two cases of massive honeybee stings (>2000 with rhabdomyolysis, hemolysis and acute renal failure who survived with full recovery, and two cases of >500 honeybee stings who survived without significant complications.

  2. Protection of carniolan bee - preserve breed or race of honeybee?

    OpenAIRE

    Božič, Janko

    2015-01-01

    Slovenia protects authentic breed of carniolan bee based on zootechnical legislation. Different varieties of honeybee around the Earth are usually described with the term races and not breeds. Foundations for such nomenclature are in evolution of bee races with natural selection without considerable influence of the men. Acceptance of carniolan bee as a race determines environmental-protection approach in preservation of authentic carniolan bee population. Slovenia is locus typicus of the rac...

  3. Genetic reincarnation of workers as queens in the Eastern honeybee Apis cerana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, M J; Tan, K; Wang, Z; Oldroyd, B P; Beekman, M

    2015-01-01

    Thelytokous parthenogenesis, or the asexual production of female offspring, is rare in the animal kingdom, but relatively common in social Hymenoptera. However, in honeybees, it is only known to be ubiquitous in one subspecies of Apis mellifera, the Cape honeybee, A. mellifera capensis. Here we report the appearance of queen cells in two colonies of the Eastern honeybee Apis cerana that no longer contained a queen or queen-produced brood to rear queens from. A combination of microsatellite genotyping and the timing of the appearance of these individuals excluded the possibility that they had been laid by the original queen. Based on the genotypes of these individuals, thelytokous production by natal workers is the most parsimonious explanation for their existence. Thus, we present the first example of thelytoky in a honeybee outside A. mellifera. We discuss the evolutionary and ecological consequences of thelytoky in A. cerana, in particular the role thelytoky may play in the recent invasions by populations of this species.

  4. Determining the optimal index of heat stress in foundry, die casting and road construction industries using FAHP_Topsis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Dehghanipoor

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Heat stress is one of the harmful risks in casting and die casting industries, which can not only cause work-related diseases but also can impair the performance and safety of workers. Since the indicators that are used to evaluate heat stress are very different, it is very difficult to choose a suitable index. The aim of this study was to determine the optimum heat stress index in foundry, die-cast, and road construction industries using FAHP and Topsis methods. Material and Method: In order to determine optimum heat stress index in foundry, die-cast, and road construction industries, first, the prioritization criteria were defined by experts (including ease of measurement, measurement accuracy, comprehensiveness, time, cost, and correlation. Then, considering these criteria, the best heat stress index was determined based on experts’ opinions and using FAHP and Topsis methods. Result: The results of this study suggest that given the current conditions and criteria, WBGT and P4SR is the best indices for foundry, die casting and construction. Conclusion: The results showed that according to comprehensiveness, accuracy and correlation criteria, the WBGT index is considered as the best indicator of heat stress assessment in foundry, die-cast and road construction industries. Moreover, the HSI ranked in the last place due to the complexity and cost of its calculation.

  5. [Assessment of hypersensitivity to honey-bee venom in beekeepers by skin tests].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becerril-Ángeles, Martín; Núñez-Velázquez, Marco; Marín-Martínez, Javier

    2013-01-01

    Beekeepers are exposed to frequent honey-bee stings, and have the risk to develop hypersensitivity to bee venom, but long-term exposure can induce immune tolerance in them. Up to 30% of beekeepers show positive skin tests with honey-bee venom. The prevalence of systemic reactions to bee stings in beekeepers is from 14% to 42%. To know the prevalence of hypersensitivity to honeybee venom in Mexican beekeepers and non-beekeepers by the use of skin tests. A group of 139 beekeepers and a group of 60 non-beekeeper volunteers had a history and physical related to age, sex, family and personal atopic history and time of exposure to bee stings. Both groups received intradermal skin tests with honey-bee venom, 0.1 mcg/mL and 1 mcg/mL, and histamine sulphate 0.1 mg/mL and Evans solution as controls. The skin tests results of both groups were compared by chi-squared test. Of the group of beekeepers, 116 were men (83%) and 23 women, average age was 39.3 years, had atopic family history 28% and personal atopy 13%, average time of exposure to bee stings was 10.9 years, skin tests with honey-bee venom were positive in 16.5% and 11% at 1 mcg/mL and 0.1 mcg/mL, respectively. In the non-beekeepers group venom skin tests were positive in 13.3% and 6.7% at 1 mcg/mL and 0.1 mcg/mL. We did not find significant differences between the two venom concentrations tested in both groups, neither in the number of positive skin tests between the two groups. We found hypersensivity to honey-bee venom slightly higher in the beekeepers than in the group apparently not exposed. Both honey-bee venom concentrations used did not show difference in the results of the skin tests. The similarity of skin tests positivity between both groups could be explained by immune tolerance due to continued exposure of beekeepers.

  6. Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) as potential antiviral treatment in naturally BQCV infected honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aurori, Adriana C; Bobiş, Otilia; Dezmirean, Daniel S; Mărghitaş, Liviu A; Erler, Silvio

    2016-08-15

    Viral diseases are one of the multiple factors associated with honeybee colony losses. Apart from their innate immune system, including the RNAi machinery, honeybees can use secondary plant metabolites to reduce or fully cure pathogen infections. Here, we tested the antiviral potential of Laurus nobilis leaf ethanolic extracts on forager honeybees naturally infected with BQCV (Black queen cell virus). Total viral loads were reduced even at the lowest concentration tested (1mg/ml). Higher extract concentrations (≥5mg/ml) significantly reduced virus replication. Measuring vitellogenin gene expression as an indicator for transcript homeostasis revealed constant RNA levels before and after treatment, suggesting that its expression was not impacted by the L. nobilis treatment. In conclusion, plant secondary metabolites can reduce virus loads and virus replication in naturally infected honeybees. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Towards a systems approach for understanding honeybee decline: a stocktaking and synthesis of existing models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becher, Matthias A; Osborne, Juliet L; Thorbek, Pernille; Kennedy, Peter J; Grimm, Volker

    2013-08-01

    The health of managed and wild honeybee colonies appears to have declined substantially in Europe and the United States over the last decade. Sustainability of honeybee colonies is important not only for honey production, but also for pollination of crops and wild plants alongside other insect pollinators. A combination of causal factors, including parasites, pathogens, land use changes and pesticide usage, are cited as responsible for the increased colony mortality.However, despite detailed knowledge of the behaviour of honeybees and their colonies, there are no suitable tools to explore the resilience mechanisms of this complex system under stress. Empirically testing all combinations of stressors in a systematic fashion is not feasible. We therefore suggest a cross-level systems approach, based on mechanistic modelling, to investigate the impacts of (and interactions between) colony and land management.We review existing honeybee models that are relevant to examining the effects of different stressors on colony growth and survival. Most of these models describe honeybee colony dynamics, foraging behaviour or honeybee - varroa mite - virus interactions.We found that many, but not all, processes within honeybee colonies, epidemiology and foraging are well understood and described in the models, but there is no model that couples in-hive dynamics and pathology with foraging dynamics in realistic landscapes. Synthesis and applications . We describe how a new integrated model could be built to simulate multifactorial impacts on the honeybee colony system, using building blocks from the reviewed models. The development of such a tool would not only highlight empirical research priorities but also provide an important forecasting tool for policy makers and beekeepers, and we list examples of relevant applications to bee disease and landscape management decisions.

  8. Applying RP-FDM Technology to Produce Prototype Castings Using the Investment Casting Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Macků

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The research focused on the production of prototype castings, which is mapped out starting from the drawing documentation up to theproduction of the casting itself. The FDM method was applied for the production of the 3D pattern. Its main objective was to find out whatdimensional changes happened during individual production stages, starting from the 3D pattern printing through a silicon mouldproduction, wax patterns casting, making shells, melting out wax from shells and drying, up to the production of the final casting itself.Five measurements of determined dimensions were made during the production, which were processed and evaluated mathematically.A determination of shrinkage and a proposal of measures to maintain the dimensional stability of the final casting so as to meetrequirements specified by a customer were the results.

  9. Neonicotinoid-Coated Zea mays Seeds Indirectly Affect Honeybee Performance and Pathogen Susceptibility in Field Trials.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed Alburaki

    Full Text Available Thirty-two honeybee (Apis mellifera colonies were studied in order to detect and measure potential in vivo effects of neonicotinoid pesticides used in cornfields (Zea mays spp on honeybee health. Honeybee colonies were randomly split on four different agricultural cornfield areas located near Quebec City, Canada. Two locations contained cornfields treated with a seed-coated systemic neonicotinoid insecticide while the two others were organic cornfields used as control treatments. Hives were extensively monitored for their performance and health traits over a period of two years. Honeybee viruses (brood queen cell virus BQCV, deformed wing virus DWV, and Israeli acute paralysis virus IAPV and the brain specific expression of a biomarker of host physiological stress, the Acetylcholinesterase gene AChE, were investigated using RT-qPCR. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS was performed to detect pesticide residues in adult bees, honey, pollen, and corn flowers collected from the studied hives in each location. In addition, general hive conditions were assessed by monitoring colony weight and brood development. Neonicotinoids were only identified in corn flowers at low concentrations. However, honeybee colonies located in neonicotinoid treated cornfields expressed significantly higher pathogen infection than those located in untreated cornfields. AChE levels showed elevated levels among honeybees that collected corn pollen from treated fields. Positive correlations were recorded between pathogens and the treated locations. Our data suggests that neonicotinoids indirectly weaken honeybee health by inducing physiological stress and increasing pathogen loads.

  10. Molecular mechanisms underlying formation of long-term reward memories and extinction memories in the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    The honeybee (Apis mellifera) has long served as an invertebrate model organism for reward learning and memory research. Its capacity for learning and memory formation is rooted in the ecological need to efficiently collect nectar and pollen during summer to ensure survival of the hive during winter. Foraging bees learn to associate a flower's characteristic features with a reward in a way that resembles olfactory appetitive classical conditioning, a learning paradigm that is used to study mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation in the honeybee. Due to a plethora of studies on appetitive classical conditioning and phenomena related to it, the honeybee is one of the best characterized invertebrate model organisms from a learning psychological point of view. Moreover, classical conditioning and associated behavioral phenomena are surprisingly similar in honeybees and vertebrates, suggesting a convergence of underlying neuronal processes, including the molecular mechanisms that contribute to them. Here I review current thinking on the molecular mechanisms underlying long-term memory (LTM) formation in honeybees following classical conditioning and extinction, demonstrating that an in-depth analysis of the molecular mechanisms of classical conditioning in honeybees might add to our understanding of associative learning in honeybees and vertebrates. PMID:25225299

  11. Distinguishing feral and managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) using stable carbon isotopes

    OpenAIRE

    Anderson , Lucy; Dynes , Travis; Berry , Jennifer; Delaplane , Keith; McCormick , Lydia; Brosi , Berry

    2014-01-01

    International audience; The ability to distinguish feral and managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) has applications in studies of population genetics, parasite transmission, pollination, interspecific interactions, and bee breeding. We evaluated a diagnostic test based on theoretical differences in stable carbon isotope ratios generated by supplemental feeding. We evaluated (1) if carbon isotope ratios can distinguish feral and managed honeybees and (2) the temporal persistence of the signal aft...

  12. Extreme Recombination Frequencies Shape Genome Variation and Evolution in the Honeybee, Apis mellifera

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wallberg, Andreas; Glémin, Sylvain; Webster, Matthew T.

    2015-01-01

    Meiotic recombination is a fundamental cellular process, with important consequences for evolution and genome integrity. However, we know little about how recombination rates vary across the genomes of most species and the molecular and evolutionary determinants of this variation. The honeybee, Apis mellifera, has extremely high rates of meiotic recombination, although the evolutionary causes and consequences of this are unclear. Here we use patterns of linkage disequilibrium in whole genome resequencing data from 30 diploid honeybees to construct a fine-scale map of rates of crossing over in the genome. We find that, in contrast to vertebrate genomes, the recombination landscape is not strongly punctate. Crossover rates strongly correlate with levels of genetic variation, but not divergence, which indicates a pervasive impact of selection on the genome. Germ-line methylated genes have reduced crossover rate, which could indicate a role of methylation in suppressing recombination. Controlling for the effects of methylation, we do not infer a strong association between gene expression patterns and recombination. The site frequency spectrum is strongly skewed from neutral expectations in honeybees: rare variants are dominated by AT-biased mutations, whereas GC-biased mutations are found at higher frequencies, indicative of a major influence of GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC), which we infer to generate an allele fixation bias 5 – 50 times the genomic average estimated in humans. We uncover further evidence that this repair bias specifically affects transitions and favours fixation of CpG sites. Recombination, via gBGC, therefore appears to have profound consequences on genome evolution in honeybees and interferes with the process of natural selection. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the forces driving molecular evolution. PMID:25902173

  13. Applying RP-FDM Technology to Produce Prototype Castings Using the Investment Casting Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Macků M.

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The research focused on the production of prototype castings, which is mapped out starting from the drawing documentation up to the production of the casting itself. The FDM method was applied for the production of the 3D pattern. Its main objective was to find out what dimensional changes happened during individual production stages, starting from the 3D pattern printing through a silicon mould production, wax patterns casting, making shells, melting out wax from shells and drying, up to the production of the final casting itself. Five measurements of determined dimensions were made during the production, which were processed and evaluated mathematically. A determination of shrinkage and a proposal of measures to maintain the dimensional stability of the final casting so as to meet requirements specified by a customer were the results.

  14. Patterns of DNA methylation in development, division of labor and hybridization in an ant with genetic caste determination.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris R Smith

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is a common regulator of gene expression, including acting as a regulator of developmental events and behavioral changes in adults. Using the unique system of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex barbatus, we were able to document changes in DNA methylation during development, and also across both ancient and contemporary hybridization events. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sodium bisulfite sequencing demonstrated in vivo methylation of symmetric CG dinucleotides in P. barbatus. We also found methylation of non-CpG sequences. This validated two bioinformatics methods for predicting gene methylation, the bias in observed to expected ratio of CpG dinucleotides and the density of CpG/TpG single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP. Frequencies of genomic DNA methylation were determined for different developmental stages and castes using ms-AFLP assays. The genetic caste determination system (GCD is probably the product of an ancestral hybridization event between P. barbatus and P. rugosus. Two lineages obligately co-occur within a GCD population, and queens are derived from intra-lineage matings whereas workers are produced from inter-lineage matings. Relative DNA methylation levels of queens and workers from GCD lineages (contemporary hybrids were not significantly different until adulthood. Virgin queens had significantly higher relative levels of DNA methylation compared to workers. Worker DNA methylation did not vary among developmental stages within each lineage, but was significantly different between the currently hybridizing lineages. Finally, workers of the two genetic caste determination lineages had half as many methylated cytosines as workers from the putative parental species, which have environmental caste determination. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that DNA methylation may be a conserved regulatory mechanism moderating division of labor in both bees and ants. Current and historic

  15. A selective sweep in a microsporidian parasite Nosema-tolerant honeybee population, Apis mellifera

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Q.; Lattorff, H. M. G.; Kryger, P.

    2014-01-01

    Nosema is a microsporidian parasite of the honeybee, which infects the epithelial cells of the gut. In Denmark, honeybee colonies have been selectively bred for the absence of Nosema over decades, resulting in a breeding line that is tolerant toward Nosema infections. As the tolerance toward the ...

  16. Exposure to Sublethal Doses of Fipronil and Thiacloprid Highly Increases Mortality of Honeybees Previously Infected by Nosema ceranae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidau, Cyril; Diogon, Marie; Aufauvre, Julie; Fontbonne, Régis; Viguès, Bernard; Brunet, Jean-Luc; Texier, Catherine; Biron, David G.; Blot, Nicolas; El Alaoui, Hicham; Belzunces, Luc P.; Delbac, Frédéric

    2011-01-01

    Background The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is undergoing a worldwide decline whose origin is still in debate. Studies performed for twenty years suggest that this decline may involve both infectious diseases and exposure to pesticides. Joint action of pathogens and chemicals are known to threaten several organisms but the combined effects of these stressors were poorly investigated in honeybees. Our study was designed to explore the effect of Nosema ceranae infection on honeybee sensitivity to sublethal doses of the insecticides fipronil and thiacloprid. Methodology/Finding Five days after their emergence, honeybees were divided in 6 experimental groups: (i) uninfected controls, (ii) infected with N. ceranae, (iii) uninfected and exposed to fipronil, (iv) uninfected and exposed to thiacloprid, (v) infected with N. ceranae and exposed 10 days post-infection (p.i.) to fipronil, and (vi) infected with N. ceranae and exposed 10 days p.i. to thiacloprid. Honeybee mortality and insecticide consumption were analyzed daily and the intestinal spore content was evaluated 20 days after infection. A significant increase in honeybee mortality was observed when N. ceranae-infected honeybees were exposed to sublethal doses of insecticides. Surprisingly, exposures to fipronil and thiacloprid had opposite effects on microsporidian spore production. Analysis of the honeybee detoxification system 10 days p.i. showed that N. ceranae infection induced an increase in glutathione-S-transferase activity in midgut and fat body but not in 7-ethoxycoumarin-O-deethylase activity. Conclusions/Significance After exposure to sublethal doses of fipronil or thiacloprid a higher mortality was observed in N. ceranae-infected honeybees than in uninfected ones. The synergistic effect of N. ceranae and insecticide on honeybee mortality, however, did not appear strongly linked to a decrease of the insect detoxification system. These data support the hypothesis that the combination of the increasing

  17. Evidence of trapline foraging in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buatois, Alexis; Lihoreau, Mathieu

    2016-08-15

    Central-place foragers exploiting floral resources often use multi-destination routes (traplines) to maximise their foraging efficiency. Recent studies on bumblebees have showed how solitary foragers can learn traplines, minimising travel costs between multiple replenishing feeding locations. Here we demonstrate a similar routing strategy in the honeybee (Apis mellifera), a major pollinator known to recruit nestmates to discovered food resources. Individual honeybees trained to collect sucrose solution from four artificial flowers arranged within 10 m of the hive location developed repeatable visitation sequences both in the laboratory and in the field. A 10-fold increase of between-flower distances considerably intensified this routing behaviour, with bees establishing more stable and more efficient routes at larger spatial scales. In these advanced social insects, trapline foraging may complement cooperative foraging for exploiting food resources near the hive (where dance recruitment is not used) or when resources are not large enough to sustain multiple foragers at once. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  18. Acute contact toxicity test of insecticides (Cipermetrina 25, Lorsban 48E, Thionex 35) on honeybees in the southwestern zone of Uruguay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrasco-Letelier, Leonidas; Mendoza-Spina, Yamandú; Branchiccela, María Belén

    2012-07-01

    Glyphosate-resistant soybean cultivation is expanding rapidly in Uruguay, with its land area having increased by 95 times during the past 10 years. Because of the region's Neotropical conditions, insecticide use is required to ensure adequate soybean productivity. However, in areas shared by soybean crops and beekeepers - such as the southwestern zone of Uruguay (SWZU) - the use of insecticides can increase the risks of honeybee death and honey contamination. Uruguayan commercial and legal guidelines set out practices and field doses designed to prevent acute intoxication with insecticides. However, honeybees in the SWZU are predominantly a polyhybrid subspecies different from that used to set international reference values, and hence they may have a different acute toxicity response, thus rendering such precautions ineffective. The aim of this work was to assess the acute toxicity response of polyhybrid honeybees in the SWZU to cypermethrin (commercial formulation: Cipermetrina 25 Agrin®), chlorpyrifos (commercial formulation: Lorsban 48E®), and endosulfan (commercial formulation: Thionex 35®). Acute toxicity bioassays were conducted to determine the median lethal dose (LD(50)) of each insecticide for the honeybees. The results indicate that, compared with EU reference values, SWZU honeybees have a higher toxicological sensitivity to chlorpyrifos and endosulfan, and a lower toxicological sensitivity to cypermethrin, based on the commercial formulations tested. However, when these results were adjusted according to their field dose equivalents, only chlorpyrifos emerged as a potential problem for beekeeping, as the maximum recommended field dose of Lorsban 48E® for soybean crops in Uruguay is 23 times the corresponding LD(50) for honeybees in the SWZU. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Assessing honeybee and wasp thermoregulation and energetics-New insights by combination of flow-through respirometry with infrared thermography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stabentheiner, Anton; Kovac, Helmut; Hetz, Stefan K; Käfer, Helmut; Stabentheiner, Gabriel

    2012-04-20

    Endothermic insects like honeybees and some wasps have to cope with an enormous heat loss during foraging because of their small body size in comparison to endotherms like mammals and birds. The enormous costs of thermoregulation call for optimisation. Honeybees and wasps differ in their critical thermal maximum, which enables the bees to kill the wasps by heat. We here demonstrate the benefits of a combined use of body temperature measurement with infrared thermography, and respiratory measurements of energy turnover (O(2) consumption or CO(2) production via flow-through respirometry) to answer questions of insect ecophysiological research, and we describe calibrations to receive accurate results.To assess the question of what foraging honeybees optimise, their body temperature was compared with their energy turnover. Honeybees foraging from an artificial flower with unlimited sucrose flow increased body surface temperature and energy turnover with profitability of foraging (sucrose content of the food; 0.5 or 1.5 mol/L). Costs of thermoregulation, however, were rather independent of ambient temperature (13-30 °C). External heat gain by solar radiation was used to increase body temperature. This optimised foraging energetics by increasing suction speed.In determinations of insect respiratory critical thermal limits, the combined use of respiratory measurements and thermography made possible a more conclusive interpretation of respiratory traces.

  20. Barbs Facilitate the Helical Penetration of Honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) Stingers

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze; Zhao, Jieliang; Ye, Yuying

    2014-01-01

    The stinger is a very small and efficient device that allows honeybees to perform two main physiological activities: repelling enemies and laying eggs for reproduction. In this study, we explored the specific characteristics of stinger penetration, where we focused on its movements and the effects of it microstructure. The stingers of Italian honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) were grouped and fixed onto four types of cubic substrates, before pressing into different substrates. The morpholo...

  1. Side-Specific Reward Memories in Honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil, Mariana; Menzel, Randolf; De Marco, Rodrigo J.

    2009-01-01

    We report a hitherto unknown form of side-specific learning in honeybees. We trained bees individually by coupling gustatory and mechanical stimulation of each antenna with either increasing or decreasing volumes of sucrose solution offered to the animal's proboscis along successive learning trials. Next, we examined their proboscis extension…

  2. Honeybees as a model for the study of visually guided flight, navigation, and biologically inspired robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasan, Mandyam V

    2011-04-01

    Research over the past century has revealed the impressive capacities of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, in relation to visual perception, flight guidance, navigation, and learning and memory. These observations, coupled with the relative ease with which these creatures can be trained, and the relative simplicity of their nervous systems, have made honeybees an attractive model in which to pursue general principles of sensorimotor function in a variety of contexts, many of which pertain not just to honeybees, but several other animal species, including humans. This review begins by describing the principles of visual guidance that underlie perception of the world in three dimensions, obstacle avoidance, control of flight speed, and orchestrating smooth landings. We then consider how navigation over long distances is accomplished, with particular reference to how bees use information from the celestial compass to determine their flight bearing, and information from the movement of the environment in their eyes to gauge how far they have flown. Finally, we illustrate how some of the principles gleaned from these studies are now being used to design novel, biologically inspired algorithms for the guidance of unmanned aerial vehicles.

  3. Interpatch foraging in honeybees-rational decision making at secondary hubs based upon time and motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najera, Daniel A; McCullough, Erin L; Jander, Rudolf

    2012-11-01

    For honeybees, Apis mellifera, the hive has been well known to function as a primary decision-making hub, a place from which foragers decide among various directions, distances, and times of day to forage efficiently. Whether foraging honeybees can make similarly complex navigational decisions from locations away from the hive is unknown. To examine whether or not such secondary decision-making hubs exist, we trained bees to forage at four different locations. Specifically, we trained honeybees to first forage to a distal site "CT" 100 m away from the hive; if food was present, they fed and then chose to go home. If food was not present, the honeybees were trained to forage to three auxiliary sites, each at a different time of the day: A in the morning, B at noon, and C in the afternoon. The foragers learned to check site CT for food first and then efficiently depart to the correct location based upon the time of day if there was no food at site CT. Thus, the honeybees were able to cognitively map motivation, time, and five different locations (Hive, CT, A, B, and C) in two spatial dimensions; these are the contents of the cognitive map used by the honeybees here. While at site CT, we verified that the honeybees could choose between 4 different directions (to A, B, C, and the Hive) and thus label it as a secondary decision-making hub. The observed decision making uncovered here is inferred to constitute genuine logical operations, involving a branched structure, based upon the premises of motivational state, and spatiotemporal knowledge.

  4. Inhibitory neurotransmission and olfactory memory in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Hassani, Abdessalam Kacimi; Giurfa, Martin; Gauthier, Monique; Armengaud, Catherine

    2008-11-01

    In insects, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission through ligand-gated chloride channel receptors. Both GABA and glutamate have been identified in the olfactory circuit of the honeybee. Here we investigated the role of inhibitory transmission mediated by GABA and glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) in olfactory learning and memory in honeybees. We combined olfactory conditioning with injection of ivermectin, an agonist of GluCl receptors. We also injected a blocker of glutamate transporters (L-trans-PDC) or a GABA analog (TACA). We measured acquisition and retention 1, 24 and 48 h after the last acquisition trial. A low dose of ivermectin (0.01 ng/bee) impaired long-term olfactory memory (48 h) while a higher dose (0.05 ng/bee) had no effect. Double injections of ivermectin and L-trans-PDC or TACA had different effects on memory retention, depending on the doses and agents combined. When the low dose of ivermectin was injected after Ringer, long-term memory was again impaired (48 h). Such an effect was rescued by injection of both TACA and L-trans-PDC. A combination of the higher dose of ivermectin and TACA decreased retention at 48 h. We interpret these results as reflecting the involvement of both GluCl and GABA receptors in the impairment of olfactory long-term memory induced by ivermectin. These results illustrate the diversity of inhibitory transmission and its implication in long-term olfactory memory in honeybees.

  5. Neuroscience: Intelligence in the Honeybee Mushroom Body

    OpenAIRE

    Caron, Sophie; Abbott, Larry F.

    2017-01-01

    Intelligence, in most people’s conception, involves combining pieces of evidence to reach non-obvious conclusions. A recent theoretical study shows that intelligence-like brain functions can emerge from simple neural circuits, in this case the honeybee mushroom body.

  6. Detection of Illicit Drugs by Trained Honeybees (Apis mellifera.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias Schott

    Full Text Available Illegal drugs exacerbate global social challenges such as substance addiction, mental health issues and violent crime. Police and customs officials often rely on specially-trained sniffer dogs, which act as sensitive biological detectors to find concealed illegal drugs. However, the dog "alert" is no longer sufficient evidence to allow a search without a warrant or additional probable cause because cannabis has been legalized in two US states and is decriminalized in many others. Retraining dogs to recognize a narrower spectrum of drugs is difficult and training new dogs is time consuming, yet there are no analytical devices with the portability and sensitivity necessary to detect substance-specific chemical signatures. This means there is currently no substitute for sniffer dogs. Here we describe an insect screening procedure showing that the western honeybee (Apis mellifera can sense volatiles associated with pure samples of heroin and cocaine. We developed a portable electroantennographic device for the on-site measurement of volatile perception by these insects, and found a positive correlation between honeybee antennal responses and the concentration of specific drugs in test samples. Furthermore, we tested the ability of honeybees to learn the scent of heroin and trained them to show a reliable behavioral response in the presence of a highly-diluted scent of pure heroin. Trained honeybees could therefore be used to complement or replace the role of sniffer dogs as part of an automated drug detection system. Insects are highly sensitive to volatile compounds and provide an untapped resource for the development of biosensors. Automated conditioning as presented in this study could be developed as a platform for the practical detection of illicit drugs using insect-based sensors.

  7. Detection of Illicit Drugs by Trained Honeybees (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schott, Matthias; Klein, Birgit; Vilcinskas, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Illegal drugs exacerbate global social challenges such as substance addiction, mental health issues and violent crime. Police and customs officials often rely on specially-trained sniffer dogs, which act as sensitive biological detectors to find concealed illegal drugs. However, the dog "alert" is no longer sufficient evidence to allow a search without a warrant or additional probable cause because cannabis has been legalized in two US states and is decriminalized in many others. Retraining dogs to recognize a narrower spectrum of drugs is difficult and training new dogs is time consuming, yet there are no analytical devices with the portability and sensitivity necessary to detect substance-specific chemical signatures. This means there is currently no substitute for sniffer dogs. Here we describe an insect screening procedure showing that the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) can sense volatiles associated with pure samples of heroin and cocaine. We developed a portable electroantennographic device for the on-site measurement of volatile perception by these insects, and found a positive correlation between honeybee antennal responses and the concentration of specific drugs in test samples. Furthermore, we tested the ability of honeybees to learn the scent of heroin and trained them to show a reliable behavioral response in the presence of a highly-diluted scent of pure heroin. Trained honeybees could therefore be used to complement or replace the role of sniffer dogs as part of an automated drug detection system. Insects are highly sensitive to volatile compounds and provide an untapped resource for the development of biosensors. Automated conditioning as presented in this study could be developed as a platform for the practical detection of illicit drugs using insect-based sensors.

  8. Detection of Methyl Salicylate Transforted by Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Using Solid Phase Microextration (SPME) Fibers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    BENDER, SUSAN FAE ANN; RODACY, PHILIP J.; BARNETT, JAMES L.; BENDER, GARY L.

    2001-12-01

    The ultimate goal of many environmental measurements is to determine the risk posed to humans or ecosystems by various contaminants. Conventional environmental monitoring typically requires extensive sampling grids covering several media including air, water, soil and vegetation. A far more efficient, innovative and inexpensive tactic has been found using honeybees as sampling mechanisms. Members from a single bee colony forage over large areas ({approx}2 x 10{sup 6} m{sup 2}), making tens of thousands of trips per day, and return to a fixed location where sampling can be conveniently conducted. The bees are in direct contact with the air, water, soil and vegetation where they encounter and collect any contaminants that are present in gaseous, liquid and particulate form. The monitoring of honeybees when they return to the hive provides a rapid method to assess chemical distributions and impacts (1). The primary goal of this technology is to evaluate the efficiency of the transport mechanism (honeybees) to the hive using preconcentrators to collect samples. Once the extent and nature of the contaminant exposure has been characterized, resources can be distributed and environmental monitoring designs efficiently directed to the most appropriate locations. Methyl salicylate, a chemical agent surrogate was used as the target compound in this study.

  9. Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Stephen J.; Beekman, Madeleine; Wossler, Theresa C.; Ratnieks, Francis L. W.

    2002-01-01

    Relocation of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, by bee-keepers from southern to northern South Africa in 1990 has caused widespread death of managed African honeybee, A. m. scutellata, colonies. Apis mellifera capensis worker bees are able to lay diploid, female eggs without mating by means of automictic thelytoky (meiosis followed by fusion of two meiotic products to restore egg diploidy), whereas workers of other honeybee subspecies are able to lay only haploid, male eggs. The A. m. capensis workers, which are parasitizing and killing A. m. scutellata colonies in northern South Africa, are the asexual offspring of a single, original worker in which the small amount of genetic variation observed is due to crossing over during meiosis (P. Kryger, personal communication). Here we elucidate two principal mechanisms underlying this parasitism. Parasitic A. m. capensis workers activate their ovaries in host colonies that have a queen present (queenright colonies), and they lay eggs that evade being killed by other workers (worker policing)-the normal fate of worker-laid eggs in colonies with a queen. This unique parasitism by workers is an instance in which a society is unable to control the selfish actions of its members.

  10. Impact of chronic neonicotinoid exposure on honeybee colony performance and queen supersedure.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christoph Sandrock

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Honeybees provide economically and ecologically vital pollination services to crops and wild plants. During the last decade elevated colony losses have been documented in Europe and North America. Despite growing consensus on the involvement of multiple causal factors, the underlying interactions impacting on honeybee health and colony failure are not fully resolved. Parasites and pathogens are among the main candidates, but sublethal exposure to widespread agricultural pesticides may also affect bees. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To investigate effects of sublethal dietary neonicotinoid exposure on honeybee colony performance, a fully crossed experimental design was implemented using 24 colonies, including sister-queens from two different strains, and experimental in-hive pollen feeding with or without environmentally relevant concentrations of thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Honeybee colonies chronically exposed to both neonicotinoids over two brood cycles exhibited decreased performance in the short-term resulting in declining numbers of adult bees (-28% and brood (-13%, as well as a reduction in honey production (-29% and pollen collections (-19%, but colonies recovered in the medium-term and overwintered successfully. However, significantly decelerated growth of neonicotinoid-exposed colonies during the following spring was associated with queen failure, revealing previously undocumented long-term impacts of neonicotinoids: queen supersedure was observed for 60% of the neonicotinoid-exposed colonies within a one year period, but not for control colonies. Linked to this, neonicotinoid exposure was significantly associated with a reduced propensity to swarm during the next spring. Both short-term and long-term effects of neonicotinoids on colony performance were significantly influenced by the honeybees' genetic background. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Sublethal neonicotinoid exposure did not provoke increased winter losses. Yet

  11. Assessing honeybee and wasp thermoregulation and energetics-New insights by combination of flow-through respirometry with infrared thermography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stabentheiner, Anton, E-mail: anton.stabentheiner@uni-graz.at [Institut fuer Zoologie, Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz (Austria); Kovac, Helmut, E-mail: he.kovac@uni-graz.at [Institut fuer Zoologie, Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz (Austria); Hetz, Stefan K. [Department of Animal Physiology/Systems Neurobiology and Neural Computation, Philippstrasse 13-Leonor Michaelis Haus, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, 10115 Berlin (Germany); Kaefer, Helmut; Stabentheiner, Gabriel [Institut fuer Zoologie, Karl-Franzens-Universitaet Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz (Austria)

    2012-04-20

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We demonstrate the benefits of a combined use of infrared thermography with respiratory measurements in insect ecophysiological research. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Infrared thermography enables repeated investigation of behaviour and thermoregulation without behavioural impairment. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Comparison with respirometry brings new insights into the mechanisms of energetic optimisation of bee and wasp foraging. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Combination of methods improves interpretation of respiratory traces in determinations of insect critical thermal limits. - Abstract: Endothermic insects like honeybees and some wasps have to cope with an enormous heat loss during foraging because of their small body size in comparison to endotherms like mammals and birds. The enormous costs of thermoregulation call for optimisation. Honeybees and wasps differ in their critical thermal maximum, which enables the bees to kill the wasps by heat. We here demonstrate the benefits of a combined use of body temperature measurement with infrared thermography, and respiratory measurements of energy turnover (O{sub 2} consumption or CO{sub 2} production via flow-through respirometry) to answer questions of insect ecophysiological research, and we describe calibrations to receive accurate results. To assess the question of what foraging honeybees optimise, their body temperature was compared with their energy turnover. Honeybees foraging from an artificial flower with unlimited sucrose flow increased body surface temperature and energy turnover with profitability of foraging (sucrose content of the food; 0.5 or 1.5 mol/L). Costs of thermoregulation, however, were rather independent of ambient temperature (13-30 Degree-Sign C). External heat gain by solar radiation was used to increase body temperature. This optimised foraging energetics by increasing suction speed. In determinations of insect respiratory critical thermal limits

  12. In situ Neutron Diffraction during Casting: Determination of Rigidity Point in Grain Refined Al-Cu Alloys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drezet, Jean-Marie; Mireux, Bastien; Szaraz, Zoltan; Pirling, Thilo

    2014-02-12

    The rigidity temperature of a solidifying alloy is the temperature at which the solid plus liquid phases are sufficiently coalesced to transmit long range tensile strains and stresses. It determines the point at which thermally induced deformations start to generate internal stresses in a casting. As such, it is a key parameter in numerical modelling of solidification processes and in studying casting defects such as solidification cracking. This temperature has been determined in Al-Cu alloys using in situ neutron diffraction during casting in a dog bone shaped mould. In such a setup, the thermal contraction of the solidifying material is constrained and stresses develop at a hot spot that is irradiated by neutrons. Diffraction peaks are recorded every 11 s using a large detector, and their evolution allows for the determination of the rigidity temperatures. We measured rigidity temperatures equal to 557 °C and 548 °C, depending on cooling rate, for a grain refined Al-13 wt% Cu alloy. At high cooling rate, rigidity is reached during the formation of the eutectic phase and the solid phase is not sufficiently coalesced, i.e. , strong enough, to avoid hot tear formation.

  13. In situ Neutron Diffraction during Casting: Determination of Rigidity Point in Grain Refined Al-Cu Alloys

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Marie Drezet

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The rigidity temperature of a solidifying alloy is the temperature at which the solid plus liquid phases are sufficiently coalesced to transmit long range tensile strains and stresses. It determines the point at which thermally induced deformations start to generate internal stresses in a casting. As such, it is a key parameter in numerical modelling of solidification processes and in studying casting defects such as solidification cracking. This temperature has been determined in Al-Cu alloys using in situ neutron diffraction during casting in a dog bone shaped mould. In such a setup, the thermal contraction of the solidifying material is constrained and stresses develop at a hot spot that is irradiated by neutrons. Diffraction peaks are recorded every 11 s using a large detector, and their evolution allows for the determination of the rigidity temperatures. We measured rigidity temperatures equal to 557 °C and 548 °C, depending on cooling rate, for a grain refined Al-13 wt% Cu alloy. At high cooling rate, rigidity is reached during the formation of the eutectic phase and the solid phase is not sufficiently coalesced, i.e., strong enough, to avoid hot tear formation.

  14. Vibration transmission characteristics of the legs of freely standing honeybees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rohrseitz, Kristin; Kilpinen, Ole

    1997-01-01

    as the stimulator. This was also the case in freely standing honeybees, except around 400 Hz, where an average attenuation of approximately 6 dB was observed. In the fixed bee preparation, the vertical movements of the legs were also measured during horizontal stimulation. The vertical vibration amplitude...... of the legs was 15-20 dB lower than the horizontal stimulation amplitude. The electrophysiologically and behaviourally determined thresholds for vibration stimulation increased by approximately 10 dB, when the stimulus direction was changed from vertical to horizontal. These observations support the notion...

  15. MALDI Imaging Analysis of Neuropeptides in Africanized Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Brain: Effect of Aggressiveness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pratavieira, Marcel; Menegasso, Anally Ribeiro da Silva; Esteves, Franciele Grego; Sato, Kenny Umino; Malaspina, Osmar; Palma, Mario Sérgio

    2018-05-18

    The aggressiveness in honeybees seems to be regulated by multiple genes, under the influence of different factors, such as polyethism of workers, environmental factors, and response to alarm pheromones, creating a series of behavioral responses. It is suspected that neuropeptides seem to be involved with the regulation of the aggressive behavior. The role of allatostatin and tachykinin-related neuropeptides in honeybee brain during the aggressive behavior is unknown; thus, worker honeybees were stimulated to attack and to sting leather targets hanged in front of the colonies. The aggressive individuals were collected and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen; the heads were removed, and sliced at sagittal plan. The brain slices were submitted to MALDI-Spectral-Imaging analysis, and the results of the present study reported the processing of the precursors proteins into mature forms of the neuropeptides AmAST A (59-76) (AYTYVSEYKRLPVYNFGL-NH2), AmAST A (69-76) (LPVYNFGL-NH2), AmTRP (88 - 96) (APMGFQGMR-NH2), and AmTRP (254 - 262) (ARMGFHGMR-NH2), which apparently acted in different neuropils of honeybee brain, during the aggressive behavior, possibly playing the neuromodulation of different aspects of this complex behavior. These results were biologically validated performing aggressiveness-related behavioral assays, using young honeybee workers that received 1 ng of AmAST A (69-76) or AmTRP (88 - 96) via hemocele. The young workers that were not expected to be aggressive individuals, presented a complete series of the aggressive behaviors, in presence of the neuropeptides, corroborating the hypothesis that correlates the presence of mature AmASTs A and AmTRPs in honeybee brain with the aggressiveness of this insect.

  16. NUMERICAL MODELING OF HARDENING OF UNINTERRUPTEDLY-CASTED BRONZE CASTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. I. Marukovich

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The three-dimensional numerical model for calculation of thermal fields during solidification of continuously casted bronze casting is developed. Coefficients of heat transfer on borders of calculation areas on the basis of the solution of inverse heat transfer conduction problem are determined. The analysis of thermal fields, depending on loop variables of drawing and the sizes of not cooled zone of crystallizer is curried out.

  17. FLIGHT RANGE OF AFRICANIZED HONEYBEES, Apis mellifera L. 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae IN AN APPLE GROVE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PARANHOS B.A.J

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available Africanized honeybees from five colonies were marked with P-32 and taken to an apple grove for a flight behavior study. The method used to determine the flight range was to put out an array of tagged trees in a cross pattern with the colonies arranged in the center point of a 0.8 ha test area. The tagged trees were located 10 meters apart in the 4 rows of 50 meters each, arranged according to the North, South, East, and West directions. Bees were collected while visiting the tagged tree flowers twice a day, during a ten-day period. The number of honeybees marked decreased in relation to the distance from the hives. Analysis of variance showed that a linear regression was highly significant to describe the process. Geographic directions did not affect the activity of the bees.

  18. Germ cell development in the Honeybee (Apis mellifera; Vasa and Nanos expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dearden Peter K

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies of specification of germ-cells in insect embryos has indicated that in many taxa the germ cells form early in development, and their formation is associated with pole plasm, germ plasm or an organelle called the oosome. None of these morphological features associated with germ cell formation have been identified in the Honeybee Apis mellifera. In this study I report the cloning and expression analysis of Honeybee homologues of vasa and nanos, germ cell markers in insects and other animals. Results Apis vasa and nanos RNAs are present in early honeybee embryos, but the RNAs clear rapidly, without any cells expressing these germ cell markers past stage 2. These genes are then only expressed in a line of cells in the abdomen from stage 9 onwards. These cells are the developing germ cells that are moved dorsally by dorsal closure and are placed in the genital ridge. Conclusion This study of the expression of germ cell markers in the honeybee implies that in this species either germ cells are formed by an inductive event, late in embryogenesis, or they are formed early in development in the absence of vasa and nanos expression. This contrasts with germ cell development in other members of the Hymenoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera.

  19. Mast Cells Can Enhance Resistance to Snake and Honeybee Venoms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metz, Martin; Piliponsky, Adrian M.; Chen, Ching-Cheng; Lammel, Verena; Åbrink, Magnus; Pejler, Gunnar; Tsai, Mindy; Galli, Stephen J.

    2006-07-01

    Snake or honeybee envenomation can cause substantial morbidity and mortality, and it has been proposed that the activation of mast cells by snake or insect venoms can contribute to these effects. We show, in contrast, that mast cells can significantly reduce snake-venom-induced pathology in mice, at least in part by releasing carboxypeptidase A and possibly other proteases, which can degrade venom components. Mast cells also significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. These findings identify a new biological function for mast cells in enhancing resistance to the morbidity and mortality induced by animal venoms.

  20. Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers ( Apis mellifera capensis Esch.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moritz, Robin F. A.; Pirk, Christian W. W.; Hepburn, H. Randall; Neumann, Peter

    2008-06-01

    The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host-parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.

  1. 76 FR 54072 - Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program, Livestock Indemnity...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-31

    ... for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program, Livestock Indemnity Program, and General... clarifying amendments and corrections to the regulations for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) and the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) to clarify when...

  2. Detection of Methyl Salicylate Transforted by Honeybees (Apis mellifera) Using Solid Phase Microextration (SPME) Fibers; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    BENDER, SUSAN FAE ANN; RODACY, PHILIP J.; BARNETT, JAMES L.; BENDER, GARY L.

    2001-01-01

    The ultimate goal of many environmental measurements is to determine the risk posed to humans or ecosystems by various contaminants. Conventional environmental monitoring typically requires extensive sampling grids covering several media including air, water, soil and vegetation. A far more efficient, innovative and inexpensive tactic has been found using honeybees as sampling mechanisms. Members from a single bee colony forage over large areas ((approx)2 x 10(sup 6) m(sup 2)), making tens of thousands of trips per day, and return to a fixed location where sampling can be conveniently conducted. The bees are in direct contact with the air, water, soil and vegetation where they encounter and collect any contaminants that are present in gaseous, liquid and particulate form. The monitoring of honeybees when they return to the hive provides a rapid method to assess chemical distributions and impacts (1). The primary goal of this technology is to evaluate the efficiency of the transport mechanism (honeybees) to the hive using preconcentrators to collect samples. Once the extent and nature of the contaminant exposure has been characterized, resources can be distributed and environmental monitoring designs efficiently directed to the most appropriate locations. Methyl salicylate, a chemical agent surrogate was used as the target compound in this study

  3. Therapeutic Properties of Bioactive Compounds from Different Honeybee Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cornara, Laura; Biagi, Marco; Xiao, Jianbo; Burlando, Bruno

    2017-01-01

    Honeybees produce honey, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom, bee pollen, and beeswax, which potentially benefit to humans due to the bioactives in them. Clinical standardization of these products is hindered by chemical variability depending on honeybee and botanical sources, but different molecules have been isolated and pharmacologically characterized. Major honey bioactives include phenolics, methylglyoxal, royal jelly proteins (MRJPs), and oligosaccharides. In royal jelly there are antimicrobial jelleins and royalisin peptides, MRJPs, and hydroxy-decenoic acid derivatives, notably 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuromodulatory, metabolic syndrome preventing, and anti-aging activities. Propolis contains caffeic acid phenethyl ester and artepillin C, specific of Brazilian propolis, with antiviral, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Bee venom consists of toxic peptides like pain-inducing melittin, SK channel blocking apamin, and allergenic phospholipase A2. Bee pollen is vitaminic, contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant phenolics, as well as antiatherosclerotic, antidiabetic, and hypoglycemic flavonoids, unsaturated fatty acids, and sterols. Beeswax is widely used in cosmetics and makeup. Given the importance of drug discovery from natural sources, this review is aimed at providing an exhaustive screening of the bioactive compounds detected in honeybee products and of their curative or adverse biological effects.

  4. Therapeutic Properties of Bioactive Compounds from Different Honeybee Products

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Cornara

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Honeybees produce honey, royal jelly, propolis, bee venom, bee pollen, and beeswax, which potentially benefit to humans due to the bioactives in them. Clinical standardization of these products is hindered by chemical variability depending on honeybee and botanical sources, but different molecules have been isolated and pharmacologically characterized. Major honey bioactives include phenolics, methylglyoxal, royal jelly proteins (MRJPs, and oligosaccharides. In royal jelly there are antimicrobial jelleins and royalisin peptides, MRJPs, and hydroxy-decenoic acid derivatives, notably 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA, with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuromodulatory, metabolic syndrome preventing, and anti-aging activities. Propolis contains caffeic acid phenethyl ester and artepillin C, specific of Brazilian propolis, with antiviral, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Bee venom consists of toxic peptides like pain-inducing melittin, SK channel blocking apamin, and allergenic phospholipase A2. Bee pollen is vitaminic, contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant phenolics, as well as antiatherosclerotic, antidiabetic, and hypoglycemic flavonoids, unsaturated fatty acids, and sterols. Beeswax is widely used in cosmetics and makeup. Given the importance of drug discovery from natural sources, this review is aimed at providing an exhaustive screening of the bioactive compounds detected in honeybee products and of their curative or adverse biological effects.

  5. Genetic diversity and population structure of Chinese honeybees ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    2011-02-28

    Feb 28, 2011 ... honeybees (Apis cerana) under microsatellite markers. Ting Ji, Ling Yin and ... from Apis mellifera introduced into China since 1896 (Yang, 2005). With the ..... Commercial and Feral Honey Bees in Western Australia. J. Econ.

  6. The application of optical measurements for the determination of accuracy of gear wheels casts manufactured in the RT/RP process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Budzik

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the possibilities of using optical measurements for defining the geometric accuracy of gear wheels casts manufactured in the rapid prototyping process. The tested gear wheel prototype was cast using an aluminum alloy. The casting mould was made by means of the three-dimensional print method (3DP with the use of a Z510 Spectrum device. The aim of the tests was to determine the geometric accuracy of the cast made by the ZCast technology in the rapid prototyping process. The tests were conducted with the use of the coordinate optical measuring method and a GOM measuring device. The prototype measurements were made in the scanning mode. The results of the measurements, saved in the STL format with the use of the scanning device software, were compared with the gear wheel 3D-CAD nominal model. The measurements enabled the determination of the real accuracy of prototypes manufactured in casting moulds by means of the ZCast technology. The selection of the measuring method was also analyzed in terms of measurement accuracy and the RP technology precision.

  7. Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Thomas D; Tarpy, David R

    2006-01-01

    Most species of social insects have singly mated queens, but in some species each queen mates with numerous males to create a colony with a genetically diverse worker force. The adaptive significance of polyandry by social insect queens remains an evolutionary puzzle. Using the honeybee (Apis mellifera), we tested the hypothesis that polyandry improves a colony's resistance to disease. We established colonies headed by queens that had been artificially inseminated by either one or 10 drones. Later, we inoculated these colonies with spores of Paenibacillus larvae, the bacterium that causes a highly virulent disease of honeybee larvae (American foulbrood). We found that, on average, colonies headed by multiple-drone inseminated queens had markedly lower disease intensity and higher colony strength at the end of the summer relative to colonies headed by single-drone inseminated queens. These findings support the hypothesis that polyandry by social insect queens is an adaptation to counter disease within their colonies. PMID:17015336

  8. Function and distribution of 5-HT2 receptors in the honeybee (Apis mellifera.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus Thamm

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Serotonin plays a pivotal role in regulating and modulating physiological and behavioral processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera, serotonin has been implicated in division of labor, visual processing, and learning processes. Here, we present the cloning, heterologous expression, and detailed functional and pharmacological characterization of two honeybee 5-HT2 receptors. METHODS: Honeybee 5-HT2 receptor cDNAs were amplified from brain cDNA. Recombinant cell lines were established constitutively expressing receptor variants. Pharmacological properties of the receptors were investigated by Ca(2+ imaging experiments. Quantitative PCR was applied to explore the expression patterns of receptor mRNAs. RESULTS: The honeybee 5-HT2 receptor class consists of two subtypes, Am5-HT2α and Am5-HT2β. Each receptor gene also gives rise to alternatively spliced mRNAs that possibly code for truncated receptors. Only activation of the full-length receptors with serotonin caused an increase in the intracellular Ca(2+ concentration. The effect was mimicked by the agonists 5-methoxytryptamine and 8-OH-DPAT at low micromolar concentrations. Receptor activities were blocked by established 5-HT receptor antagonists such as clozapine, methiothepin, or mianserin. High transcript numbers were detected in exocrine glands suggesting that 5-HT2 receptors participate in secretory processes in the honeybee. CONCLUSIONS: This study marks the first molecular and pharmacological characterization of two 5-HT2 receptor subtypes in the same insect species. The results presented should facilitate further attempts to unravel central and peripheral effects of serotonin mediated by these receptors.

  9. Molecular, pharmacological, and signaling properties of octopamine receptors from honeybee (Apis mellifera) brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balfanz, Sabine; Jordan, Nadine; Langenstück, Teresa; Breuer, Johanna; Bergmeier, Vera; Baumann, Arnd

    2014-04-01

    G protein-coupled receptors are important regulators of cellular signaling processes. Within the large family of rhodopsin-like receptors, those binding to biogenic amines form a discrete subgroup. Activation of biogenic amine receptors leads to transient changes of intracellular Ca²⁺-([Ca²⁺](i)) or 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate ([cAMP](i)) concentrations. Both second messengers modulate cellular signaling processes and thereby contribute to long-lasting behavioral effects in an organism. In vivo pharmacology has helped to reveal the functional effects of different biogenic amines in honeybees. The phenolamine octopamine is an important modulator of behavior. Binding of octopamine to its receptors causes elevation of [Ca²⁺](i) or [cAMP](i). To date, only one honeybee octopamine receptor that induces Ca²⁺ signals has been molecularly and pharmacologically characterized. Here, we examined the pharmacological properties of four additional honeybee octopamine receptors. When heterologously expressed, all receptors induced cAMP production after binding to octopamine with EC₅₀(s) in the nanomolar range. Receptor activity was most efficiently blocked by mianserin, a substance with antidepressant activity in vertebrates. The rank order of inhibitory potency for potential receptor antagonists was very similar on all four honeybee receptors with mianserin > cyproheptadine > metoclopramide > chlorpromazine > phentolamine. The subroot of octopamine receptors activating adenylyl cyclases is the largest that has so far been characterized in arthropods, and it should now be possible to unravel the contribution of individual receptors to the physiology and behavior of honeybees. © 2013 International Society for Neurochemistry.

  10. Function and distribution of 5-HT2 receptors in the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thamm, Markus; Rolke, Daniel; Jordan, Nadine; Balfanz, Sabine; Schiffer, Christian; Baumann, Arnd; Blenau, Wolfgang

    2013-01-01

    Serotonin plays a pivotal role in regulating and modulating physiological and behavioral processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera), serotonin has been implicated in division of labor, visual processing, and learning processes. Here, we present the cloning, heterologous expression, and detailed functional and pharmacological characterization of two honeybee 5-HT2 receptors. Honeybee 5-HT2 receptor cDNAs were amplified from brain cDNA. Recombinant cell lines were established constitutively expressing receptor variants. Pharmacological properties of the receptors were investigated by Ca(2+) imaging experiments. Quantitative PCR was applied to explore the expression patterns of receptor mRNAs. The honeybee 5-HT2 receptor class consists of two subtypes, Am5-HT2α and Am5-HT2β. Each receptor gene also gives rise to alternatively spliced mRNAs that possibly code for truncated receptors. Only activation of the full-length receptors with serotonin caused an increase in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration. The effect was mimicked by the agonists 5-methoxytryptamine and 8-OH-DPAT at low micromolar concentrations. Receptor activities were blocked by established 5-HT receptor antagonists such as clozapine, methiothepin, or mianserin. High transcript numbers were detected in exocrine glands suggesting that 5-HT2 receptors participate in secretory processes in the honeybee. This study marks the first molecular and pharmacological characterization of two 5-HT2 receptor subtypes in the same insect species. The results presented should facilitate further attempts to unravel central and peripheral effects of serotonin mediated by these receptors.

  11. Honeybees' speed depends on dorsal as well as lateral, ventral and frontal optic flows.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geoffrey Portelli

    Full Text Available Flying insects use the optic flow to navigate safely in unfamiliar environments, especially by adjusting their speed and their clearance from surrounding objects. It has not yet been established, however, which specific parts of the optical flow field insects use to control their speed. With a view to answering this question, freely flying honeybees were trained to fly along a specially designed tunnel including two successive tapering parts: the first part was tapered in the vertical plane and the second one, in the horizontal plane. The honeybees were found to adjust their speed on the basis of the optic flow they perceived not only in the lateral and ventral parts of their visual field, but also in the dorsal part. More specifically, the honeybees' speed varied monotonically, depending on the minimum cross-section of the tunnel, regardless of whether the narrowing occurred in the horizontal or vertical plane. The honeybees' speed decreased or increased whenever the minimum cross-section decreased or increased. In other words, the larger sum of the two opposite optic flows in the horizontal and vertical planes was kept practically constant thanks to the speed control performed by the honeybees upon encountering a narrowing of the tunnel. The previously described ALIS ("AutopiLot using an Insect-based vision System" model nicely matches the present behavioral findings. The ALIS model is based on a feedback control scheme that explains how honeybees may keep their speed proportional to the minimum local cross-section of a tunnel, based solely on optic flow processing, without any need for speedometers or rangefinders. The present behavioral findings suggest how flying insects may succeed in adjusting their speed in their complex foraging environments, while at the same time adjusting their distance not only from lateral and ventral objects but also from those located in their dorsal visual field.

  12. Effect of juvenile hormone on short-term olfactory memory in young honeybees (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maleszka, R; Helliwell, P

    2001-11-01

    Reliable retention of olfactory learning following a 1-trial classical conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex (PER) is not achieved in honeybees until they are 6-7 days old. Here we show that treatment of newly emerged honeybees with juvenile hormone (JH) has a profound effect on the maturation of short-term olfactory memory. JH-treated individuals display excellent short-term (1 h) memory of associative learning at times as early as 3 days of age and perform consistently better than untreated bees for at least the first week of their lives. By contrast, the retention of long-term (24 h) memory following a 3-trial conditioning of the PER is not significantly improved in JH-treated bees. Our study also shows that experience and (or) chemosensory activation are not essential to improve learning performance in olfactory tasks. The lack of accelerated development of long-term retention of olfactory memories in JH-treated honeybees is discussed in the context of neural circuits suspected to mediate memory formation and retrieval in the honeybee brain. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

  13. Honeybee health in South America

    OpenAIRE

    Maggi , Matías; Antúnez , Karina; Invernizzi , Ciro; Aldea , Patricia; Vargas , Marisol; Negri , Pedro; Brasesco , Constanza; De Jong , David; Message , Dejair; Teixeira , Erica Weinstein; Principal , Judith; Barrios , Carlos; Ruffinengo , Sergio; Da Silva , Rafael Rodríguez; Eguaras , Martín

    2016-01-01

    International audience; AbstractHoneybees are essential components to modern agriculture and economy. However, a continuous increase in cases of colony losses and colony depopulation are being reported worldwide. This critical situation has put the fragile equilibrium between bees and plants on the edge. As a consequence, several scientists have begun to focus their lines of research on this issue. Most researchers agree that there is no single explanation for the observed colony losses. Inst...

  14. Temporal pattern of africanization in a feral honeybee population from Texas inferred from mitochondrial DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, M Alice; Rubink, William L; Coulson, Robert N; Patton, John C; Johnston, J Spencer

    2004-05-01

    The invasion of Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in the Americas provides a window of opportunity to study the dynamics of secondary contact of subspecies of bees that evolved in allopatry in ecologically distinctive habitats of the Old World. We report here the results of an 11-year mitochondrial DNA survey of a feral honeybee population from southern United States (Texas). The mitochondrial haplotype (mitotype) frequencies changed radically during the 11-year study period. Prior to immigration of Africanized honeybees, the resident population was essentially of eastern and western European maternal ancestry. Three years after detection of the first Africanized swarm there was a mitotype turnover in the population from predominantly eastern European to predominantly A. m. scutellata (ancestor of Africanized honeybees). This remarkable change in the mitotype composition coincided with arrival of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, which was likely responsible for severe losses experienced by colonies of European ancestry. From 1997 onward the population stabilized with most colonies of A. m. scutellata maternal origin.

  15. Effects of a honeybee sting on the serum free amino acid profile in humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Matysiak

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to assess the response to a honeybee venom by analyzing serum levels of 34 free amino acids. Another goal of this study was to apply complex analytic-bioinformatic-clinical strategy based on up-to-date achievements of mass spectrometry in metabolomic profiling. The amino acid profiles were determined using hybrid triple quadrupole/linear ion trap mass spectrometer coupled with a liquid chromatography instrument. Serum samples were collected from 27 beekeepers within 3 hours after they were stung and after a minimum of 6 weeks following the last sting. The differences in amino acid profiles were evaluated using MetaboAnalyst and ROCCET web portals. Chemometric tests showed statistically significant differences in the levels of L-glutamine (Gln, L-glutamic acid (Glu, L-methionine (Met and 3-methyl-L-histidine (3MHis between the two analyzed groups of serum samples. Gln and Glu appeared to be the most important metabolites for distinguishing the beekeepers tested shortly after a bee sting from those tested at least 6 weeks later. The role of some amino acids in the response of an organism to the honeybee sting was also discussed. This study indicated that proposed methodology may allow to identify the individuals just after the sting and those who were stung at least 6 weeks earlier. The results we obtained will contribute to better understanding of the human body response to the honeybee sting.

  16. Africanization in the United States: Replacement of Feral European Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) by an African Hybrid Swarm

    OpenAIRE

    Pinto, M. Alice; Rubink, William L.; Patton, John C.; Coulson, Robert N.; Johnston, J. Spencer

    2005-01-01

    The expansion of Africanized honeybees from South America to the southwestern United States in 50 years is considered one of the most spectacular biological invasions yet documented. In the American tropics, it has been shown that during their expansion Africanized honeybees have low levels of introgressed alleles from resident European populations. In the United States, it has been speculated, but not shown, that Africanized honeybees would hybridize extensively with European ho...

  17. Honeybees, Butterflies, and Ladybugs: Partners to Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, Ashley

    2009-01-01

    Honeybees, butterflies, and ladybugs all have fascinating mutually beneficial relationships with plants and play important ecosystem roles. Children also love these creatures. But how do we teach children about these symbiotic interactions and help them appreciate their vital roles in our environment? One must is to give children direct experience…

  18. Nosema spp. infections cause no energetic stress in tolerant honeybees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kurze, Christoph; Mayack, Christopher; Hirche, Frank

    2016-01-01

    closely related and highly host dependent intracellular gut pathogens, Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae, on the energetic state in Nosema tolerant and sensitive honeybees facing the infection. We quantified the three major haemolymph carbohydrates fructose, glucose, and trehalose using high......-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a measure for host energetic state. Trehalose levels in the haemolymph were negatively associated with N. apis infection intensity and with N. ceranae infection regardless of the infection intensity in sensitive honeybees. Nevertheless, there was no such association...

  19. Diffusion of C and Cr During Creation of Surface Layer on Cast Steel Casting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szajnar J.

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available In paper a method of improvement in utility properties of unalloyed cast steel casting in result of diffusion of C and Cr in process of creation of surface layer is presented. The aim of paper was determination of diffusion range of basic elements of alloyed surface layer. Moreover a quantitative analysis of carbides phase strengthens alloyed surface layer of casting was carried out. The results of studies shown that important factors of surface layer creation are maximal temperature Tmax on granular insert – cast steel boundary dependent of pouring temperature, granularity Zw of Fe-Cr-C alloy insert and thickness of casting wall gśo. On the basis of obtained results was affirmed that with increase of thickness of casting wall increases range of diffusion in solid state in Fe-Cr-C grains and in liquid state. Moreover the range of Tmax = 13001500oC favours creation of the proper alloyed surface layers on cast steel.

  20. Behavioural and neurophysiological study of olfactory perception and learning in honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Christophe eSandoz

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The honeybee Apis mellifera has been a central insect model in the study of olfactory perception and learning for more than a century, starting with pioneer work by Karl von Frisch. Research on olfaction in honeybees has greatly benefited from the advent of a range of behavioural and neurophysiological paradigms in the Lab. Here I review major findings about how the honeybee brain detects, processes, and learns odours, based on behavioural, neuroanatomical and neurophysiological approaches. I first address the behavioural study of olfactory learning, from experiments on free-flying workers visiting artificial flowers to laboratory-based conditioning protocols on restrained individuals. I explain how the study of olfactory learning has allowed understanding the discrimination and generalization ability of the honeybee olfactory system, its capacity to grant special properties to olfactory mixtures as well as to retain individual component information. Next, based on the impressive amount of anatomical and immunochemical studies of the bee brain, I detail our knowledge of olfactory pathways. I then show how functional recordings of odour-evoked activity in the brain allow following the transformation of the olfactory message from the periphery until higher-order central structures. Data from extra- and intracellular electrophysiological approaches as well as from the most recent optical imaging developments are described. Lastly, I discuss results addressing how odour representation changes as a result of experience. This impressive ensemble of behavioural, neuroanatomical and neurophysiological data available in the bee make it an attractive model for future research aiming to understand olfactory perception and learning in an integrative fashion.

  1. MtDNA COI-COII marker and drone congregation area: an efficient method to establish and monitor honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) conservation centres.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertrand, Bénédicte; Alburaki, Mohamed; Legout, Hélène; Moulin, Sibyle; Mougel, Florence; Garnery, Lionel

    2015-05-01

    Honeybee subspecies have been affected by human activities in Europe over the past few decades. One such example is the importation of nonlocal subspecies of bees which has had an adverse impact on the geographical repartition and subsequently on the genetic diversity of the black honeybee Apis mellifera mellifera. To restore the original diversity of this local honeybee subspecies, different conservation centres were set up in Europe. In this study, we established a black honeybee conservation centre Conservatoire de l'Abeille Noire d'Ile de France (CANIF) in the region of Ile-de-France, France. CANIF's honeybee colonies were intensively studied over a 3-year period. This study included a drone congregation area (DCA) located in the conservation centre. MtDNA COI-COII marker was used to evaluate the genetic diversity of CANIF's honeybee populations and the drones found and collected from the DCA. The same marker (mtDNA) was used to estimate the interactions and the haplotype frequency between CANIF's honeybee populations and 10 surrounding honeybee apiaries located outside of the CANIF. Our results indicate that the colonies of the conservation centre and the drones of the DCA show similar stable profiles compared to the surrounding populations with lower level of introgression. The mtDNA marker used on both DCA and colonies of the conservation centre seems to be an efficient approach to monitor and maintain the genetic diversity of the protected honeybee populations. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Honeybee colony marketing and its implications for queen rearing ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Honeybee colony marketing and its implications for queen rearing and beekeeping development in Werieleke ... Thus, colony marketing is an important venture in Werieleke district of Tigray region. ... EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT

  3. Clean Cast Steel Technology - Machinability and Technology Transfer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    C. E. Bates; J. A. Griffin

    2000-05-01

    There were two main tasks in the Clean Cast Steel Technology - Machinability and Technology Transfer Project. These were (1) determine the processing facts that control the machinability of cast steel and (2) determine the ability of ladle stirring to homogenize ladle temperature, reduce the tap and pouring temperatures, and reduce casting scrap.

  4. Understanding the logics of pheromone processing in the honeybee brain: from labeled-lines to across-fiber patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nina Deisig

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Honeybees employ a very rich repertoire of pheromones to ensure intraspecific communication in a wide range of behavioral contexts. This communication can be complex, since the same compounds can have a variety of physiological and behavioral effects depending on the receiver. Honeybees constitute an ideal model to study the neurobiological basis of pheromonal processing, as they are already one of the most infl uential animal models for the study of general odor processing and learning at behavioral, cellular and molecular levels. Accordingly, the anatomy of the bee brain is well characterized and electro- and opto-physiological recording techniques at different stages of the olfactory circuit are possible in the laboratory. Here we review pheromone communication in honeybees and analyze the different stages of olfactory processing in the honeybee brain, focusing on available data on pheromone detection, processing and representation at these different stages. In particular, we argue that the traditional distinction between labeled-line and across-fi ber pattern processing, attributed to pheromone and general odors respectively, may not be so clear in the case of honeybees, especially for social-pheromones. We propose new research avenues for stimulating future work in this area.

  5. Honeybees Increase Fruit Set in Native Plant Species Important for Wildlife Conservation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cayuela, Luis; Ruiz-Arriaga, Sarah; Ozers, Christian P.

    2011-11-01

    Honeybee colonies are declining in some parts of the world. This may have important consequences for the pollination of crops and native plant species. In Spain, as in other parts of Europe, land abandonment has led to a decrease in the number of non professional beekeepers, which aggravates the problem of honeybee decline as a result of bee diseases In this study, we investigated the effects of honeybees on the pollination of three native plant species in northern Spain, namely wildcherry Prunus avium L., hawthorn Crataegus monogyna Jacq., and bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus L. We quantified fruit set of individuals from the target species along transects established from an apiary outwards. Half the samples were bagged in a nylon mesh to avoid insect pollination. Mixed-effects models were used to test the effect of distance to the apiary on fruit set in non-bagged samples. The results showed a negative significant effect of distance from the apiary on fruit set for hawthorn and bilberry, but no significant effects were detected for wildcherry. This suggests that the use of honeybees under traditional farming practices might be a good instrument to increase fruit production of some native plants. This may have important consequences for wildlife conservation, since fruits, and bilberries in particular, constitute an important feeding resource for endangered species, such as the brown bear Ursus arctos L. or the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus L.

  6. Honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) drone embryo proteomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jianke; Fang, Yu; Zhang, Lan; Begna, Desalegn

    2011-03-01

    Little attention has been paid to the drone honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) which is a haploid individual carrying only the set of alleles that it inherits from its mother. Molecular mechanisms underlying drone embryogenesis are poorly understood. This study evaluated protein expression profiles of drone embryogenesis at embryonic ages of 24, 48 and 72h. More than 100 reproducible proteins were analyzed by mass spectrometry on 2D electrophoresis gels. Sixty-two proteins were significantly changed at the selected three experimental age points. Expression of the metabolic energy requirement-related protein peaked at the embryonic age of 48h, whereas development and metabolizing amino acid-related proteins expressed optimally at 72h. Cytoskeleton, protein folding and antioxidant-related proteins were highly expressed at 48 and 72h. Protein networks of the identified proteins were constructed and protein expressions were validated at the transcription level. This first proteomic study of drone embryogenesis in the honeybee may provide geneticists an exact timetable and candidate protein outline for further manipulations of drone stem cells. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Environmental contaminants of honeybee products in Uganda detected using LC-MS/MS and GC-ECD.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah Ruth Amulen

    Full Text Available Pollinator services and the development of beekeeping as a poverty alleviating tool have gained considerable focus in recent years in sub-Saharan Africa. An improved understanding of the pervasive environmental extent of agro-chemical contaminants is critical to the success of beekeeping development and the production of clean hive products. This study developed and validated a multi-residue method for screening 36 pesticides in honeybees, honey and beeswax using LC-MS/MS and GC-ECD. Of the 36 screened pesticides, 20 were detected. The highest frequencies occurred in beeswax and in samples from apiaries located in the proximity of citrus and tobacco farms. Fungicides were the most prevalent chemical class. Detected insecticides included neonicotinoids, organophosphates, carbamates, organophosphorus, tetrazines and diacylhydrazines. All detected pesticide levels were below maximum residue limits (according to EU regulations and the lethal doses known for honeybees. However, future risk assessment is needed to determine the health effects on the African genotype of honeybees by these pesticide classes and combinations of these. In conclusion, our data present a significant challenge to the burgeoning organic honey sector in Uganda, but to achieve this, there is an urgent need to regulate the contact routes of pesticides into the beehive products. Interestingly, the "zero" detection rate of pesticides in the Mid-Northern zone is a significant indicator of the large potential to promote Ugandan organic honey for the export market.

  8. Risk indicators affecting honeybee colony survival in Europe: one year of surveillance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jacques, Antoine; Laurent, Marion; Bougeard, Stéphanie

    2016-01-01

    The first pan-European harmonized active epidemiological surveillance program on honeybee colony mortality (EPILOBEE) was set up across 17 European Member States to estimate honeybee colony mortality over winter and during the beekeeping season. In nine Member States, overwinter losses were higher...... and statistically different from the empirical level of 10 % under which the level of overwinter mortality was considered as acceptable with usual beekeeping conditions. In four other countries, these losses were lower. Using multivariable Poisson regression models, it was showed that the size of the operation...

  9. Antimicrobial activity of plant extracts against the honeybee pathogens, Paenibacillus larvae and Ascosphaera apis and their topical toxicity to Apis mellifera adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaimanee, V; Thongtue, U; Sornmai, N; Songsri, S; Pettis, J S

    2017-11-01

    To explore alternative nonchemical control measures against two honeybee pathogens, Paenibacillus larvae and Ascosphaera apis, 37 plant species were screened for antimicrobial activity. The activity of selected plant extracts was screened using an in vitro disc diffusion assay and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by the broth microdilution method. The results showed that 36 plant extracts had some antibacterial activity on P. larvae by disc diffusion assay. Chromolaena odorata showed the greatest antibacterial activity against P. larvae (MIC 16-64 μg ml -1 ). Of the 37 tested plants, only seven species, Amomum krervanh, Allium sativum, Cinnamomum sp., Piper betle, Piper ribesioides, Piper sarmentosum and Syzygium aromaticum had inhibitory effects on A. apis (MICs of 32-64 μg ml -1 ). The results demonstrated that promising plant extracts were not toxic to adult bees at the concentrations used in this study. The results demonstrate the potential antimicrobial activity of natural products against honeybee diseases caused by P. larvae and A. apis. Chromolaena odorata in particular showed high bioactivity against P. larvae. Further study is recommended to develop these nonchemical treatments against American foulbrood and chalkbrood in honeybees. This work proposes new natural products for the control of American foulbrood and chalkbrood in honeybees. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

  10. Plant origin of Okinawan propolis: honeybee behavior observation and phytochemical analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumazawa, Shigenori; Nakamura, Jun; Murase, Masayo; Miyagawa, Mariko; Ahn, Mok-Ryeon; Fukumoto, Shuichi

    2008-08-01

    Propolis is a natural resinous product collected by honeybees from certain plants. It has gained popularity as a food and alternative medicine. Poplar and Baccharis are well known as the source plants of European and Brazilian propolis, respectively. However, the propolis from Okinawa, Japan, contains some prenylflavonoids not seen in other regions such as Europe and Brazil, suggesting that the plant origin of Okinawan propolis is a particular plant that grows in Okinawa. To identify the plant origin of Okinawan propolis, we observed the behavior of honeybees as they collected material from plants and caulked it inside the hive. Honeybees scraped resinous material from the surface of plant fruits of Macaranga tanarius and brought it back to their hive to use it as propolis. We collected samples of the plant and propolis, and compared their constituents by high-performance liquid chromatography with a photo-diode array detector. We also compared their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl radical scavenging activity. The chemical constituents and biological activity of the ethanol extracts of the plant did not differ from those of propolis. This indicates directly that the plant origin of Okinawan propolis is M. tanarius.

  11. Effects of erectable glossal hairs on a honeybee's nectar-drinking strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Heng; Wu, Jianing; Yan, Shaoze

    2014-06-01

    With the use of a scanning electron microscope, we observe specific microstructures of the mouthpart of the Italian bee (Apis mellifera ligustica), especially the distribution and dimensions of hairs on its glossa. Considering the erection of glossal hairs for trapping nectar modifies the viscous dipping model in analyzing the drinking strategy of a honeybee. Theoretical estimations of volume intake rates with respect to sucrose solutions of different concentrations agree with experimental data, which indicates that erectable hairs can significantly increase the ability of a bee to acquire nectar efficiently. The comparison with experimental results also indicates that a honeybee may continuously augment its pumping power, rather than keep it constant, to drink nectar with sharply increasing viscosity. Under the modified assumption of increasing working power, we introduce the rate at which working power increases with viscosity and discuss the nature-preferred nectar concentration of 35% by theoretically calculating optimal concentration maximizing energetic intake rates under varying increasing rates. Finally, the ability of the mouthparts of the honeybee to transfer viscous nectar may inspire a concept for transporting microfluidics with a wide range of viscosities.

  12. Determination of heat production zones at open-cast mine dump

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schreck, M.; Nishigaki, M.; Glaser, H.R.; Christoph, G.; Grosswig, S.; Hurtig, E.; Kasch, M.; Kuhn, K.

    1998-01-01

    The chemical processes and their thermal effects taking place inside a dump of an open-cast mine (Cospuden) during a reclamation process were investigated. Fiber-optic-distributed-temperature sensing (DTS) was applied together with a soil ground water monitoring system (SGM-System). An optical fiber was mounted at the entire length of a double-pipe SGM-System. The temperature was measured monthly, along the depth of 50 m, with a spatial resolution of 0.5 m. The system was utilized for the localization of heat production zones in the subsurface, for the determination of the temperature variation's penetration depth from the surface into the soil of the dump and for the determination of the influence of the SGM-System on the subsurface temperature balance. The results were compared with a heat transport model and then interpreted

  13. Workers make the queens in melipona bees: identification of geraniol as a caste determining compound from labial glands of nurse bees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarau, Stefan; van Veen, Johan W; Twele, Robert; Reichle, Christian; Gonzales, Eduardo Herrera; Aguilar, Ingrid; Francke, Wittko; Ayasse, Manfred

    2010-06-01

    Reproductive division of labor in advanced eusocial honey bees and stingless bees is based on the ability of totipotent female larvae to develop into either workers or queens. In nearly all species, caste is determined by larval nutrition. However, the mechanism that triggers queen development in Melipona bees is still unresolved. Several hypotheses have been proposed, ranging from the proximate (a genetic determination of caste development) to the ultimate (a model in which larvae have complete control over their own caste fate). Here, we showed that the addition of geraniol, the main compound in labial gland secretions of nurse workers, to the larval food significantly increases the number of larvae that develop into queens. Interestingly, the proportion of queens in treated brood exactly matched the value (25%) predicted by the two-locus, two-allele model of genetic queen determination, in which only females that are heterozygous at both loci are capable of developing into queens. We conclude that labial gland secretions, added to the food of some cells by nurse bees, trigger queen development, provided that the larvae are genetically predisposed towards this developmental pathway. In Melipona beecheii, geraniol acts as a primer pheromone representing the first caste determination substance identified to date.

  14. Impact of honeybee (Apis mellifera L. density on wild bee foraging behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goras Georgios

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Honey bees are globally regarded as important crop pollinators and are also valued for their honey production. They have been introduced on an almost worldwide scale. During recent years, however, several studies argue their possible competition with unmanaged pollinators. Here we examine the possible effects of honey bees on the foraging behaviour of wild bees on Cistus creticus flowers in Northern Greece. We gradually introduced one, five, and eight honey-bee hives per site, each containing ca. 20,000 workers. The visitation frequency and visit duration of wild bees before and after the beehive introductions were measured by flower observation. While the visitation frequencies of wild bees were unaffected, the average time wild bees spent on C. creticus increased with the introduction of the honey-bee hives. Although competition between honey bees and wild bees is often expected, we did not find any clear evidence for significant effects even in honey-bee densities much higher than the European-wide average of 3.1 colonies/km2.

  15. Wax combs mediate nestmate recognition by guard honeybees

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    D'Ettorre, Patrizia; Wenseleers, Tom; Dawson, Jenny

    2006-01-01

    Research has shown that the wax combs are important in the acquisition of colony odour in the honeybee, Apis mellifera. However, many of these studies were conducted in the laboratory or under artificial conditions. We investigated the role of the wax combs in nestmate recognition in the natural...

  16. Morphofunctional Experience-Dependent Plasticity in the Honeybee Brain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrione, Mara; Timberlake, Benjamin F.; Vallortigara, Giorgio; Antolini, Renzo; Haase, Albrecht

    2017-01-01

    Repeated or prolonged exposure to an odorant without any positive or negative reinforcement produces experience-dependent plasticity, which results in habituation and latent inhibition. In the honeybee ("Apis mellifera"), it has been demonstrated that, even if the absolute neural representation of an odor in the primary olfactory center,…

  17. Sperm use economy of honeybee (Apis mellifera) queens

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Baer, Boris; Collins, Jason; Maalaps, Kristiina

    2016-01-01

    the fecundity and longevity of queens and therefore colony fitness. We quantified the number of sperm that honeybee (Apis mellifera) queens use to fertilize eggs. We examined sperm use in naturally mated queens of different ages and in queens artificially inseminated with different volumes of semen. We found...

  18. From honeybees to Internet servers: biomimicry for distributed management of Internet hosting centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakrani, Sunil; Tovey, Craig

    2007-12-01

    An Internet hosting center hosts services on its server ensemble. The center must allocate servers dynamically amongst services to maximize revenue earned from hosting fees. The finite server ensemble, unpredictable request arrival behavior and server reallocation cost make server allocation optimization difficult. Server allocation closely resembles honeybee forager allocation amongst flower patches to optimize nectar influx. The resemblance inspires a honeybee biomimetic algorithm. This paper describes details of the honeybee self-organizing model in terms of information flow and feedback, analyzes the homology between the two problems and derives the resulting biomimetic algorithm for hosting centers. The algorithm is assessed for effectiveness and adaptiveness by comparative testing against benchmark and conventional algorithms. Computational results indicate that the new algorithm is highly adaptive to widely varying external environments and quite competitive against benchmark assessment algorithms. Other swarm intelligence applications are briefly surveyed, and some general speculations are offered regarding their various degrees of success.

  19. Amtyr1: characterization of a gene from honeybee (Apis mellifera) brain encoding a functional tyramine receptor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blenau, W; Balfanz, S; Baumann, A

    2000-03-01

    Biogenic amine receptors are involved in the regulation and modulation of various physiological and behavioral processes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. We have cloned a member of this gene family from the CNS of the honeybee, Apis mellifera. The deduced amino acid sequence is homologous to tyramine receptors cloned from Locusta migratoria and Drosophila melanogaster as well as to an octopamine receptor cloned from Heliothis virescens. Functional properties of the honeybee receptor were studied in stably transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells. Tyramine reduced forskolin-induced cyclic AMP production in a dose-dependent manner with an EC50 of approximately 130 nM. A similar effect of tyramine was observed in membrane homogenates of honeybee brains. Octopamine also reduced cyclic AMP production in the transfected cell line but was both less potent (EC50 of approximately 3 microM) and less efficacious than tyramine. Receptor-encoding mRNA has a wide-spread distribution in the brain and subesophageal ganglion of the honeybee, suggesting that this tyramine receptor is involved in sensory signal processing as well as in higher-order brain functions.

  20. Social exclusion, caste & health: a review based on the social determinants framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nayar, K R

    2007-10-01

    Poverty and social exclusion are important socio-economic variables which are often taken for granted while considering ill-health effects. Social exclusion mainly refers to the inability of our society to keep all groups and individuals within reach of what we expect as society to realize their full potential. Marginalization of certain groups or classes occurs in most societies including developed countries and perhaps it is more pronounced in underdeveloped countries. In the Indian context, caste may be considered broadly as a proxy for socio-economic status and poverty. In the identification of the poor, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes and in some cases the other backward castes are considered as socially disadvantaged groups and such groups have a higher probability of living under adverse conditions and poverty. The health status and utilization patterns of such groups give an indication of their social exclusion as well as an idea of the linkages between poverty and health. In this review, we examined broad linkages between caste and some select health/health utilization indicators. We examined data on prevalence of anaemia, treatment of diarrhoea, infant mortality rate, utilization of maternal health care and childhood vaccinations among different caste groups in India. The data based on the National Family Health Survey II (NFHS II) highlight considerable caste differentials in health. The linkages between caste and some health indicators show that poverty is a complex issue which needs to be addressed with a multi-dimensional paradigm. Minimizing the suffering from poverty and ill-health necessitates recognizing the complexity and adopting a perspective such as holistic epidemiology which can challenge pure technocentric approaches to achieve health status.

  1. Nodular cast iron and casting monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper quality monitoring of nodular cast iron and casting made of it is presented. A control system of initial liquid cast iron to spheroidization, after spheroidization and inoculation with using of TDA method was shown. An application of an ultrasonic method to assessment of the graphite form and the metal matrix microstructure of castings was investigated.

  2. Stimulating natural supersedure of honeybee queens, Apis mellifera

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hendriksma, H.P.; Calis, J.N.M.; Boot, W.J.

    2004-01-01

    When a honeybee queen starts to fail, she is often superseded by a young queen that takes over reproduction inside the colony. Natural supersedure in winter leads to an unfertilised young queen and colony loss. To reduce these losses we tried to stimulate supersedure of queens earlier in the season.

  3. The Standardization of the Honeybee Colonies Evaluation Methodology, with Application in Honeybee Breeding Programs, in Romanian Conditions

    OpenAIRE

    Eliza Cauia; Adrian Siceanu; Silvia Patruica; Marian Bura; Agripina Sapcaliu; Maria Magdici

    2010-01-01

    It is well known that breeding is based on phenotypic and behavioural performance assessed at the level of each honeybee colony. By selection, the genes responsible for the desired characters have to be favoured, by evaluation and classification of all colonies involved in a breeding program. Generally, in the beekeeping practice, the most applied method of selection is the mass selection regarding the main objective- honey production. Some more elaborated programs use selection simultaneous ...

  4. Acute Contact Toxicity Test of Oxalic Acid on Honeybees in the Southwestern Zone of Uruguay Prueba de Toxicidad Aguda por Contacto de Ácido Oxálico en Abejas de la Zona Sudoeste de Uruguay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonidas Carrasco-Letelier

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This work studies the acute contact toxicity of oxalic acid (OA on a honeybee polyhybrid subspecies (Apis mellifera, which is the dominant biotype in southwestern zone of Uruguay (SWZU and the country's most important honey-producing region. We determined the mean lethal dose (LD50, as well as the no observed effect level (NOEL and the lowest observed effect level (LOEL values. We also estimated the total number of honeybees per hive in the test area. The aim was to assess the relationship between the maximum OA dose used in Uruguay (3.1 g OA per hive and the toxicological parameters of honeybees from SWZU. The current dose of 3.1 g OA per hive corresponds to 132.8 OA per honeybee since determined NOEL is 400 OA per honeybee; our results indicate that the current dose could be increased to 9.3 g OA per hive. The results also highlight some differences between the LD50 value in SWZU honeybees (548.95 OA per honeybee and some published LD50 values for other honeybee subspecies.Este trabajo estudió la toxicidad aguda por contacto del ácido oxálico (AO sobre una subespecie poli-híbrida de abejas (Apis mellifera, la cual es el biotipo dominante en la zona sudoeste de Uruguay (SWZU, la región más importante para la producción de miel en este país. Este estudio determinó la dosis letal 50 (DL50, así como el nivel de efecto no observado (NOEL, el nivel de efecto mínimo observado (LOEL, y el número total de individuos por colmena. El propósito fue evaluar la relación entre la dosis máxima de AO usada en Uruguay (3.1 g AO por colmena y los parámetros toxicológicos de las abejas de la SWZU. Los resultados mostraron que es posible elevar la dosis actual de AO por colmena a 9.3 g, ya que la dosis actual de 3.1 g de AO corresponde a 132.8 AO por abeja, y el NOEL determinado es 400 AO por abeja. Los resultados también destacaron algunas diferencias entre la DL50 de las abejas del SWZU (548.95 AO por abeja y algunos valores de DL50 publicados

  5. Biomonitoring, status and source risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using honeybees, pine tree leaves, and propolis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kargar, Navid; Matin, Golnar; Matin, Amir Abbas; Buyukisik, Hasan Baha

    2017-11-01

    In this study, to identify and quantify the sources of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we gathered honeybee, pine tree leaf, and propolis samples to serve as bioindicators from five stations in the village of "Bozkoy" in the Aliaga industrial district of Izmir (Turkey) during April-May 2014. The PAH concentrations which measured by gas chromatography (GC) varied from 261.18 to 553.33 μg kg -1 dry weight (dw) in honeybee samples, 138.57-853.67 μg kg -1 dw in pine leaf samples, and 798.61-2905.53 μg kg -1 dw in propolis samples. The total PAH concentrations can be ranked as follows: propolis > pine leaves > honeybees. The ring sequence pattern was 5 > 3 > 6 > 4 > 2 for honeybees, 5 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 2 for pine leaves, and 5 > 4 > 6 > 3 > 2 for propolis. The diagnostic ratios [fluoranthene/fluoranthene + pyrene], [indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene/indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene + benzo(g,h,i)perylene], and [benzo(a)anthracene/benzo(a)anthracene + chrysene] indicate coal and biomass combustion to be the dominant PAH source in the study area. In biomonitoring studies of airborne PAHs based on honeybees, fluoranthene is considered to be a characteristic PAH compound. Distribution maps with different numbers of PAH rings among the sampling sites show the advantages of honeybee samples as indicators due to the honeybee's provision of a broader range of information with respect to heavier pollutants that are typically not in the gas or suspended phase for long periods of time. Our correlation, factor analysis, and principal components analysis (PCA) results indicate potential sources of PAH pollution in pine leaves and honeybees from airborne emissions, but we found propolis to be contaminated by PAHs due to the replacement of herbal sources of resins with synthetic gummy substances from paving materials (e.g., asphalt and tar leaks). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Beehold : the colony of the honeybee (Apis mellifera L) as a bio-sampler for pollutants and plant pathogens

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steen, van der J.J.M.

    2016-01-01

    Bio-sampling is a function of bio-indication. Bio-indication with honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera L) is where the research fields of environmental technology and apiculture overlap. The honeybees are samplers of the environment by collecting unintentionally and simultaneously, along

  7. Assessing pollinators’ use of floral resource subsidies in agri-environment schemes: An illustration using Phacelia tanacetifolia and honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rowan Sprague

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background Honeybees (Apis mellifera L. are frequently used in agriculture for pollination services because of their abundance, generalist floral preferences, ease of management and hive transport. However, their populations are declining in many countries. Agri-Environment Schemes (AES are being implemented in agricultural systems to combat the decline in populations of pollinators and other insects. Despite AES being increasingly embedded in policy and budgets, scientific assessments of many of these schemes still are lacking, and only a few studies have examined the extent to which insect pollinators use the floral enhancements that are part of AES and on which floral components they feed (i.e., pollen and/or nectar. Methods In the present work, we used a combination of observations on honeybee foraging for nectar/pollen from the Californian annual plant Phacelia tanacetifolia in the field, collection of pollen pellets from hives, and pollen identification, to assess the value of adding phacelia to an agro-ecosystem to benefit honeybees. Results It was found that phacelia pollen was almost never taken by honeybees. The work here demonstrates that honeybees may not use the floral enhancements added to a landscape as expected and points to the need for more careful assessments of what resources are used by honeybees in AES and understanding the role, if any, which AES play in enhancing pollinator fitness. Discussion We recommend using the methodology in this paper to explore the efficacy of AES before particular flowering species are adopted more widely to give a more complete illustration of the actual efficacy of AES.

  8. Pharmacologic inhibition of phospholipase C in the brain attenuates early memory formation in the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shota Suenami

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Although the molecular mechanisms involved in learning and memory in insects have been studied intensively, the intracellular signaling mechanisms involved in early memory formation are not fully understood. We previously demonstrated that phospholipase C epsilon (PLCe, whose product is involved in calcium signaling, is almost selectively expressed in the mushroom bodies, a brain structure important for learning and memory in the honeybee. Here, we pharmacologically examined the role of phospholipase C (PLC in learning and memory in the honeybee. First, we identified four genes for PLC subtypes in the honeybee genome database. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that, among these four genes, three, including PLCe, were expressed higher in the brain than in sensory organs in worker honeybees, suggesting their main roles in the brain. Edelfosine and neomycin, pan-PLC inhibitors, significantly decreased PLC activities in homogenates of the brain tissues. These drugs injected into the head of foragers significantly attenuated memory acquisition in comparison with the control groups, whereas memory retention was not affected. These findings suggest that PLC in the brain is involved in early memory formation in the honeybee. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a role for PLC in learning and memory in an insect.

  9. Genetics of reproduction and regulation of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) social behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Robert E; Rueppell, Olav; Amdam, Gro V

    2012-01-01

    Honeybees form complex societies with a division of labor for reproduction, nutrition, nest construction and maintenance, and defense. How does it evolve? Tasks performed by worker honeybees are distributed in time and space. There is no central control over behavior and there is no central genome on which selection can act and effect adaptive change. For 22 years, we have been addressing these questions by selecting on a single social trait associated with nutrition: the amount of surplus pollen (a source of protein) that is stored in the combs of the nest. Forty-two generations of selection have revealed changes at biological levels extending from the society down to the level of the gene. We show how we constructed this vertical understanding of social evolution using behavioral and anatomical analyses, physiology, genetic mapping, and gene knockdowns. We map out the phenotypic and genetic architectures of food storage and foraging behavior and show how they are linked through broad epistasis and pleiotropy affecting a reproductive regulatory network that influences foraging behavior. This is remarkable because worker honeybees have reduced reproductive organs and are normally sterile; however, the reproductive regulatory network has been co-opted for behavioral division of labor.

  10. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Córdoba (Spain) by biomonitoring foraging honeybee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutiérrez, Miriam; Molero, Rafael; Gaju, Miquel; van der Steen, Josef; Porrini, Claudio; Ruiz, José Antonio

    2015-10-01

    Due to features that make them outstanding environmental bioindicator, colonies of Apis mellifera are being used to study environmental pollution. The primary objective of this research was to use honeybee colonies to identify heavy metals and determine their utility for environmental management. Five stations each with two A. mellifera hives were strategically located in urban, industrial, agricultural and forested areas within the municipality of Córdoba (Spain), and foraging bees were collected from April to December in 2007, 2009 and 2010 to analyse spatial and temporal variation in Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd pollution. Metal concentrations, in milligram per kilogram of honeybee, were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Significant differences in concentrations were found among the various locations and periods. The highest number of values exceeding the upper reference thresholds proposed for this study (Pb, 0.7 mg/kg; Cr, 0.12 mg/kg; Ni, 0.3 mg/kg; and Cd, 0.1 mg/kg) was observed for Pb and Cr (6.25% respectively), station S4 (13.22%), year 2007 (20.83%) and in months of May and July (11.90% each). Regarding the Cd, which was analysed only in 2010, the highest number of values exceeding the upper reference thresholds was 40%. Biomonitoring with colonies of A. mellifera could contribute to improved surveillance and control systems for atmospheric pollution by integrating qualitative and quantitative assessments, thus facilitating prevention and readiness in the event of environmental crises.

  11. Synergistic parasite-pathogen interactions mediated by host immunity can drive the collapse of honeybee colonies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Nazzi

    Full Text Available The health of the honeybee and, indirectly, global crop production are threatened by several biotic and abiotic factors, which play a poorly defined role in the induction of widespread colony losses. Recent descriptive studies suggest that colony losses are often related to the interaction between pathogens and other stress factors, including parasites. Through an integrated analysis of the population and molecular changes associated with the collapse of honeybee colonies infested by the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, we show that this parasite can de-stabilise the within-host dynamics of Deformed wing virus (DWV, transforming a cryptic and vertically transmitted virus into a rapidly replicating killer, which attains lethal levels late in the season. The de-stabilisation of DWV infection is associated with an immunosuppression syndrome, characterized by a strong down-regulation of the transcription factor NF-κB. The centrality of NF-κB in host responses to a range of environmental challenges suggests that this transcription factor can act as a common currency underlying colony collapse that may be triggered by different causes. Our results offer an integrated account for the multifactorial origin of honeybee losses and a new framework for assessing, and possibly mitigating, the impact of environmental challenges on honeybee health.

  12. Casting Technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Michael D.; And Others

    1992-01-01

    Three articles discuss (1) casting technology as it relates to industry, with comparisons of shell casting, shell molding, and die casting; (2) evaporative pattern casting for metals; and (3) high technological casting with silicone rubber. (JOW)

  13. Temporal pattern of africanization in a feral honeybee population from Texas inferred from mitochondrial DNA

    OpenAIRE

    Pinto, M. Alice; Rubink, William L.; Coulson, Robert N.; Patton, John C.; Johnston, J. Spencer

    2004-01-01

    The invasion of Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in the Americas provides a window of opportunity to study the dynamics of secondary contact of subspecies of bees that evolved in allopatry in ecologically distinctive habitats of the Old World. We report here the results of an 11-year mitochondrial DNA survey of a feral honeybee population from southern United States (Texas). The mitochondrial haplotype (mitotype) frequencies changed radically during the 11-year study peri...

  14. Fertility and reproductive rate of Varroa mite, Varroa destructor, in native and exotic honeybee, Apis mellifera L., colonies under Saudi Arabia conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yehya Alattal

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Varroa mite is the most destructive pest to bee colonies worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, preliminary data indicated high infestation levels in the exotic honeybee colonies; such as Apis mellifera carnica and Apis mellifera ligustica, compared to native honeybee subspecies Apis mellifera jemenitica, which may imply higher tolerance to Varroasis. In this study, fertility and reproductive rate of Varroa mite, Varroa destructor, in capped brood cells of the native honeybee subspecies were investigated and compared with an exotic honeybee subspecies, A. m. carnica. Mite fertility was almost alike (87.5% and 89.4% in the native and craniolan colonies respectively. Similarly, results did not show significant differences in reproduction rate between both subspecies (F = 0.66, Pr > F = 0.42. Number of adult Varroa daughters per fertile mother mite was 2.0 and 2.1 for native and craniolan honeybee subspecies respectively. This may indicate that mechanisms of keeping low infestation rates in the native honeybee colonies are not associated with Varroa reproduction. Therefore, potential factors of keeping lower Varroa infestation rates in native honey bee subspecies should be further investigated.

  15. Molecular recognition of floral volatile with two olfactory related proteins in the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hongliang; Zhang, Linya; Ni, Cuixia; Shang, Hanwu; Zhuang, Shulin; Li, Jianke

    2013-05-01

    The honeybee relies on its sensitive olfaction to perform the foraging activities in the field. In the antennal chemoreception system of honeybee, odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory protein (CSPs) are major two protein families capable of binding with some plant volatiles and chemical ligands. However, the chemical binding interaction of plant odors with OBPs and CSPs in the honeybee olfactory system is still not clear yet. Hence, complex fluorescent spectra, ultraviolet absorption spectra, circular dichroism spectra and molecular docking were used to investigate the binding property of AcerASP2 (an OBP of Apis cerana) and AcerASP3 (a CSP of Apis cerana) with β-ionone, one of ordinary floral volatiles in botanical flower. As a result, β-ionone had a strong capability to quench the fluorescence that the two proteins produced, and their interaction was a dynamic process that was mainly driven by a hydrophobic force. AcerASP2 had a larger hydrophobic cavity than that of AcerASP3 and the conformation of AcerASP2 was changed less than AcerASP3 when binding with β-ionone. Our data suggests that OBPs like AcerASP2 might make a large contribution toward assisting the honeybee in sensing and foraging flowers, and A. cerana has evolved a good circadian rhythm to perceive a flower's odor following the fluctuation of temperature in the olfactory system. This significantly extends our knowledge on how to strengthen the honeybees' pollination service via manipulation of target proteins in the olfactory system. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Mating flights select for symmetry in honeybee drones ( Apis mellifera)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaffé, Rodolfo; Moritz, Robin F. A.

    2010-03-01

    Males of the honeybee ( Apis mellifera) fly to specific drone congregation areas (DCAs), which virgin queens visit in order to mate. From the thousands of drones that are reared in a single colony, only very few succeed in copulating with a queen, and therefore, a strong selection is expected to act on adult drones during their mating flights. In consequence, the gathering of drones at DCAs may serve as an indirect mate selection mechanism, assuring that queens only mate with those individuals having a better flight ability and a higher responsiveness to the queen’s visual and chemical cues. Here, we tested this idea relying on wing fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as a measure of phenotypic quality. By recapturing marked drones at a natural DCA and comparing their size and FA with a control sample of drones collected at their maternal hives, we were able to detect any selection on wing size and wing FA occurring during the mating flights. Although we found no solid evidence for selection on wing size, wing FA was found to be significantly lower in the drones collected at the DCA than in those collected at the hives. Our results demonstrate the action of selection during drone mating flights for the first time, showing that developmental stability can influence the mating ability of honeybee drones. We therefore conclude that selection during honeybee drone mating flights may confer some fitness advantages to the queens.

  17. Mating flights select for symmetry in honeybee drones (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaffé, Rodolfo; Moritz, Robin F A

    2010-03-01

    Males of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) fly to specific drone congregation areas (DCAs), which virgin queens visit in order to mate. From the thousands of drones that are reared in a single colony, only very few succeed in copulating with a queen, and therefore, a strong selection is expected to act on adult drones during their mating flights. In consequence, the gathering of drones at DCAs may serve as an indirect mate selection mechanism, assuring that queens only mate with those individuals having a better flight ability and a higher responsiveness to the queen's visual and chemical cues. Here, we tested this idea relying on wing fluctuating asymmetry (FA) as a measure of phenotypic quality. By recapturing marked drones at a natural DCA and comparing their size and FA with a control sample of drones collected at their maternal hives, we were able to detect any selection on wing size and wing FA occurring during the mating flights. Although we found no solid evidence for selection on wing size, wing FA was found to be significantly lower in the drones collected at the DCA than in those collected at the hives. Our results demonstrate the action of selection during drone mating flights for the first time, showing that developmental stability can influence the mating ability of honeybee drones. We therefore conclude that selection during honeybee drone mating flights may confer some fitness advantages to the queens.

  18. Hybrid origins of Australian honeybees (Apis mellifera)

    OpenAIRE

    Chapman , Nadine C.; Harpur , Brock A.; Lim , Julianne; Rinderer , Thomas E.; Allsopp , Michael H.; Zayed , Amro; Oldroyd , Benjamin P.

    2016-01-01

    International audience; Abstract With increased globalisation and homogenisation, the maintenance of genetic integrity in local populations of agriculturally important species is of increasing concern. The western honeybee (Apis mellifera) provides an interesting perspective as it is both managed and wild, with a large native range and much larger introduced range. We employed a newly created 95 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) test to characterise the genetic ancestry of the Australian c...

  19. Africanization in the United States: replacement of feral European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) by an African hybrid swarm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinto, M Alice; Rubink, William L; Patton, John C; Coulson, Robert N; Johnston, J Spencer

    2005-08-01

    The expansion of Africanized honeybees from South America to the southwestern United States in feral population from the southern United States undergoing Africanization. Our microsatellite data showed that (1) the process of Africanization involved both maternal and paternal bidirectional gene flow between European and Africanized honeybees and (2) the panmitic European population was replaced by panmitic mixtures of A. m. scutellata and European genes within 5 years after Africanization. The post-Africanization gene pool (1998-2001) was composed of a diverse array of recombinant classes with a substantial European genetic contribution (mean 25-37%). Therefore, the resulting feral honeybee population of south Texas was best viewed as a hybrid swarm.

  20. Resilience of honeybee colonies via common stomach: A model of self-regulation of foraging.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Schmickl

    Full Text Available We propose a new regulation mechanism based on the idea of the "common stomach" to explain several aspects of the resilience and homeostatic regulation of honeybee colonies. This mechanism exploits shared pools of substances (pollen, nectar, workers, brood that modulate recruitment, abandonment and allocation patterns at the colony-level and enable bees to perform several survival strategies to cope with difficult circumstances: Lack of proteins leads to reduced feeding of young brood, to early capping of old brood and to regaining of already spent proteins through brood cannibalism. We modeled this system by linear interaction terms and mass-action law. To test the predictive power of the model of this regulatory mechanism we compared our model predictions to experimental data of several studies. These comparisons show that the proposed regulation mechanism can explain a variety of colony level behaviors. Detailed analysis of the model revealed that these mechanisms could explain the resilience, stability and self-regulation observed in honeybee colonies. We found that manipulation of material flow and applying sudden perturbations to colony stocks are quickly compensated by a resulting counter-acting shift in task selection. Selective analysis of feedback loops allowed us to discriminate the importance of different feedback loops in self-regulation of honeybee colonies. We stress that a network of simple proximate mechanisms can explain significant colony-level abilities that can also be seen as ultimate reasoning of the evolutionary trajectory of honeybees.

  1. Rough case-based reasoning system for continues casting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Wenbin; Lei, Zhufeng

    2018-04-01

    The continuous casting occupies a pivotal position in the iron and steel industry. The rough set theory and the CBR (case based reasoning, CBR) were combined in the research and implementation for the quality assurance of continuous casting billet to improve the efficiency and accuracy in determining the processing parameters. According to the continuous casting case, the object-oriented method was applied to express the continuous casting cases. The weights of the attributes were calculated by the algorithm which was based on the rough set theory and the retrieval mechanism for the continuous casting cases was designed. Some cases were adopted to test the retrieval mechanism, by analyzing the results, the law of the influence of the retrieval attributes on determining the processing parameters was revealed. A comprehensive evaluation model was established by using the attribute recognition theory. According to the features of the defects, different methods were adopted to describe the quality condition of the continuous casting billet. By using the system, the knowledge was not only inherited but also applied to adjust the processing parameters through the case based reasoning method as to assure the quality of the continuous casting and improve the intelligent level of the continuous casting.

  2. Solidification and casting

    CERN Document Server

    Cantor, Brian

    2002-01-01

    INDUSTRIAL PERSPECTIVEDirect chillcasting of aluminium alloysContinuous casting of aluminium alloysContinuous casting of steelsCastings in the automotive industryCast aluminium-silicon piston alloysMODELLING AND SIMULATIONModelling direct chill castingMold filling simulation of die castingThe ten casting rulesGrain selection in single crystal superalloy castingsDefects in aluminium shape castingPattern formation during solidificationPeritectic solidificationSTRUCTURE AND DEFECTSHetergeneous nucleation in aluminium alloysCo

  3. Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardoso-Júnior, Carlos A M; Fujimura, Patrícia Tieme; Santos-Júnior, Célio Dias; Borges, Naiara Araújo; Ueira-Vieira, Carlos; Hartfelder, Klaus; Goulart, Luiz Ricardo; Bonetti, Ana Maria

    2017-01-01

    Stingless bees of the genus Melipona, have long been considered an enigmatic case among social insects for their mode of caste determination, where in addition to larval food type and quantity, the genotype also has a saying, as proposed over 50 years ago by Warwick E. Kerr. Several attempts have since tried to test his Mendelian two-loci/two-alleles segregation hypothesis, but only recently a single gene crucial for sex determination in bees was evidenced to be sex-specifically spliced and also caste-specifically expressed in a Melipona species. Since alternative splicing is frequently associated with epigenetic marks, and the epigenetic status plays a major role in setting the caste phenotype in the honey bee, we investigated here epigenetic chromatin modification in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. We used an ELISA-based methodology to quantify global methylation status and western blot assays to reveal histone modifications. The results evidenced DNA methylation/demethylation events in larvae and pupae, and significant differences in histone methylation and phosphorylation between newly emerged adult queens and workers. The epigenetic dynamics seen in this stingless bee species represent a new facet in the caste determination process in Melipona bees and suggest a possible mechanism that is likely to link a genotype component to the larval diet and adult social behavior of these bees.

  4. Epigenetic modifications and their relation to caste and sex determination and adult division of labor in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos A.M. Cardoso-Júnior

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Stingless bees of the genus Melipona, have long been considered an enigmatic case among social insects for their mode of caste determination, where in addition to larval food type and quantity, the genotype also has a saying, as proposed over 50 years ago by Warwick E. Kerr. Several attempts have since tried to test his Mendelian two-loci/two-alleles segregation hypothesis, but only recently a single gene crucial for sex determination in bees was evidenced to be sex-specifically spliced and also caste-specifically expressed in a Melipona species. Since alternative splicing is frequently associated with epigenetic marks, and the epigenetic status plays a major role in setting the caste phenotype in the honey bee, we investigated here epigenetic chromatin modification in the stingless bee Melipona scutellaris. We used an ELISA-based methodology to quantify global methylation status and western blot assays to reveal histone modifications. The results evidenced DNA methylation/demethylation events in larvae and pupae, and significant differences in histone methylation and phosphorylation between newly emerged adult queens and workers. The epigenetic dynamics seen in this stingless bee species represent a new facet in the caste determination process in Melipona bees and suggest a possible mechanism that is likely to link a genotype component to the larval diet and adult social behavior of these bees.

  5. The effect of cast-to-cast variations on the quality of thin section nickel alloy welded joints

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lambert, J.A.

    1989-02-01

    The welding behaviour of 26 commercial casts of Alloy 800 has been quantified for mechanised, autogenous, full penetration, bead-on-strip tungsten inert gas welding tests. Weld front and back widths have been measured and correlated with minor element variations. Casts with similar welding responses have been sorted into groups. The behaviour of the weld pool, surface slags and arc have been compared and a convection controlled model has been used to account for differences between the groups of casts. The main factors governing laboratory process control variability have been identified and a statistical method has been used to identify all the components of weld variance. An optimum size of welding test matrix has been proposed to determine typical cast-to-cast variations at high significance levels. (author)

  6. Immune and clinical response to honeybee venom in beekeepers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Matysiak

    2016-03-01

    The differences in the immune response to a bee sting between the beekeepers and individuals not exposed to bees were probably due to the high exposure of the beekeepers to honeybee venom allergens. This may suggest a different approach to the bee venom allergy diagnostic tests in this occupational group.

  7. Inside Honeybee Hives: Impact of Natural Propolis on the Ectoparasitic Mite Varroa destructor and Viruses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drescher, Nora; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Neumann, Peter; Yañez, Orlando; Leonhardt, Sara D

    2017-02-06

    Social immunity is a key factor for honeybee health, including behavioral defense strategies such as the collective use of antimicrobial plant resins (propolis). While laboratory data repeatedly show significant propolis effects, field data are scarce, especially at the colony level. Here, we investigated whether propolis, as naturally deposited in the nests, can protect honeybees against ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor and associated viruses, which are currently considered the most serious biological threat to European honeybee subspecies, Apis mellifera , globally. Propolis intake of 10 field colonies was manipulated by either reducing or adding freshly collected propolis. Mite infestations, titers of deformed wing virus (DWV) and sacbrood virus (SBV), resin intake, as well as colony strength were recorded monthly from July to September 2013. We additionally examined the effect of raw propolis volatiles on mite survival in laboratory assays. Our results showed no significant effects of adding or removing propolis on mite survival and infestation levels. However, in relation to V. destructor , DWV titers increased significantly less in colonies with added propolis than in propolis-removed colonies, whereas SBV titers were similar. Colonies with added propolis were also significantly stronger than propolis-removed colonies. These findings indicate that propolis may interfere with the dynamics of V. destructor -transmitted viruses, thereby further emphasizing the importance of propolis for honeybee health.

  8. Inside Honeybee Hives: Impact of Natural Propolis on the Ectoparasitic Mite Varroa destructor and Viruses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drescher, Nora; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Neumann, Peter; Yañez, Orlando; Leonhardt, Sara D.

    2017-01-01

    Social immunity is a key factor for honeybee health, including behavioral defense strategies such as the collective use of antimicrobial plant resins (propolis). While laboratory data repeatedly show significant propolis effects, field data are scarce, especially at the colony level. Here, we investigated whether propolis, as naturally deposited in the nests, can protect honeybees against ectoparasitic mites Varroa destructor and associated viruses, which are currently considered the most serious biological threat to European honeybee subspecies, Apis mellifera, globally. Propolis intake of 10 field colonies was manipulated by either reducing or adding freshly collected propolis. Mite infestations, titers of deformed wing virus (DWV) and sacbrood virus (SBV), resin intake, as well as colony strength were recorded monthly from July to September 2013. We additionally examined the effect of raw propolis volatiles on mite survival in laboratory assays. Our results showed no significant effects of adding or removing propolis on mite survival and infestation levels. However, in relation to V. destructor, DWV titers increased significantly less in colonies with added propolis than in propolis-removed colonies, whereas SBV titers were similar. Colonies with added propolis were also significantly stronger than propolis-removed colonies. These findings indicate that propolis may interfere with the dynamics of V. destructor-transmitted viruses, thereby further emphasizing the importance of propolis for honeybee health. PMID:28178181

  9. PRELIMINARY RESEARCHES REGARDING THE GENETIC AND MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF HONEYBEES (A. MELLIFERA L. FROM ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ELIZA CAUIA

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available The international investigations regarding the honeybees’ diversity carried out until now have revealed a certain degree of genetic pollution in different countries from Europe, because of the import of more productive honeybees’ races or of some interracial honeybees’ hybrids. This fact might have a negative impact on the success adaptability of honeybees at the ecosystem. Although, the Romanian honeybees (Apis mellifera carpathica are well adapted to the local conditions and express a good resistance to diseases, the introgression (genetic pollution of different honeybees’ races could be an imminent event. So that, starting from 2007, by a cooperation between the Institute for Beekeeping Research and Development from Bucharest and the Institute of Genetics of the University of Bucharest, we have initiated different investigations in order to obtain a more accurate state of the Romanian honeybees’ diversity. We have performed specific molecular analyses, using mtDNA (the COI-COII test extracted from 32 different honeybees samples collected from several regions from Romania. For a better and detailed characterization of the collected honeybee’s samples we have also carried out some morphometric measurements of their wings. Our data have shown that the Romanian population of honeybees is almost homogenous from the genetic and the morphometric points of views. These types of investigations represent a premiere for Romania.

  10. The Acute Oral Toxicity of Commonly Used Pesticides in Iran, to Honeybees (Apis Mellifera Meda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rasuli Farhang

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The honey bee is credited with approximately 85% of the pollinating activity necessary to supply about one-third of the world’s food supply. Well over 50 major crops depend on these insects for pollination. The crops produce more abundantly when honey bees are plentiful. Worker bees are the ones primarily affected by pesticides. Poisoning symptoms can vary depending on the developmental stage of the individual bee, and the kind of chemical employed. The oral toxicity of these insecticides: (phosalone and pirimicarb, acaricide (propargite, insecticide and acaricide (fenpropathrin, fungicides, and bactericides (copper oxychloride and the Bordeaux mixture, were evaluated for the purposes of this research. The results showed that fenpropathrin had high acute oral toxicity (LC50-24h and LC50-48 were 0.54 and 0.3 ppm, respectively. Propargite had 7785 ppm (active ingredient for LC50-24h and 6736 ppm (active ingredient for LC50-48h in honeybees and is therefore, non-toxic to Apis mellifera. On the other hand, copper oxychloride had minimum acute oral toxicity to honeybees (LC50-24h and LC50-48 were 4591.5 and 5407.9 ppm, respectively and was therefore considered non-toxic. Also, the Bordeaux mixture was safe to use around honeybees. Phosalone and primicarb were considered highly and moderately toxic to honeybees, respectively.

  11. Ethanol self-administration in free-flying honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in an operant conditioning protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokolowski, Michel B C; Abramson, Charles I; Craig, David Philip Arthur

    2012-09-01

    This study examines the effect of ethanol (EtOH) on continuous reinforcement schedules in the free-flying honeybee (Apis mellifera L.). As fermented nectars may be encountered naturally in the environment, we designed an experiment combining the tools of laboratory research with minimal disturbance to the natural life of honeybees. Twenty-five honeybees were trained to fly from their colonies to a fully automated operant chamber with head poking as the operant response. Load size, intervisit interval, and interresponse times (IRTs) served as the dependent variables and were monitored over the course of a daily training session consisting of many visits. Experimental bees were tested using an ABA design in which sucrose only was administered during condition A and a 5% EtOH sucrose solution was administered during condition B. Control bees received sucrose solution only. Most bees continued to forage after EtOH introduction. EtOH significantly reduced the load size and the intervisit interval with no significant effect on IRTs. However, a look on individual data shows large individual differences suggesting the existence of different kinds of behavioral phenotypes linked to EtOH consumption and effects. Our results contribute to the study of EtOH consumption as a normal phenomenon in an ecological context and open the door to schedule-controlled drug self-administration studies in honeybees. Copyright © 2012 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

  12. Localization of deformed wing virus (DWV) in the brains of the honeybee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Karan S; Evans, Elizabeth C; Pizzorno, Marie C

    2009-10-30

    Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a positive-strand RNA virus that infects European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) and has been isolated from the brains of aggressive bees in Japan. DWV is known to be transmitted both vertically and horizontally between bees in a colony and can lead to both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in bees. In environmentally stressful conditions, DWV can contribute to the demise of a honeybee colony. The purpose of the current study is to identify regions within the brains of honeybees where DWV replicates using in-situ hybridization. In-situ hybridizations were conducted with both sense and antisense probes on the brains of honeybees that were positive for DWV as measured by real-time RT-PCR. The visual neuropils demonstrated detectable levels of the DWV positive-strand genome. The mushroom bodies and antenna lobe neuropils also showed the presence of the viral genome. Weaker staining with the sense probe in the same regions demonstrates that the antigenome is also present and that the virus is actively replicating in these regions of the brain. These results demonstrate that in bees infected with DWV the virus is replicating in critical regions of the brain, including the neuropils responsible for vision and olfaction. Therefore DWV infection of the brain could adversely affect critical sensory functions and alter normal bee behavior.

  13. Localization of deformed wing virus (DWV in the brains of the honeybee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evans Elizabeth C

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Deformed wing virus (DWV is a positive-strand RNA virus that infects European honeybees (Apis mellifera L. and has been isolated from the brains of aggressive bees in Japan. DWV is known to be transmitted both vertically and horizontally between bees in a colony and can lead to both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in bees. In environmentally stressful conditions, DWV can contribute to the demise of a honeybee colony. The purpose of the current study is to identify regions within the brains of honeybees where DWV replicates using in-situ hybridization. Results In-situ hybridizations were conducted with both sense and antisense probes on the brains of honeybees that were positive for DWV as measured by real-time RT-PCR. The visual neuropils demonstrated detectable levels of the DWV positive-strand genome. The mushroom bodies and antenna lobe neuropils also showed the presence of the viral genome. Weaker staining with the sense probe in the same regions demonstrates that the antigenome is also present and that the virus is actively replicating in these regions of the brain. Conclusion These results demonstrate that in bees infected with DWV the virus is replicating in critical regions of the brain, including the neuropils responsible for vision and olfaction. Therefore DWV infection of the brain could adversely affect critical sensory functions and alter normal bee behavior.

  14. Filter effectiveness in the manufacture of high-chromium steel castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Garbiak

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of studies on the application of ceramic filters in the manufacture of cast hearth plates at the WestPomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. Castings were poured from the heat-resistant G-X40CrNiSi27-4 cast steel in greensand moulds. The development of casting manufacturing technology included the following studies: analysis of the causes of nonmetallicinclusions in high-chromium alloys, computer simulation of mould filling with liquid metal using standard gating systems without filters and new systems with the built-in filter, making pilot castings, quantitative determination of the content of non-metallicinclusions, determination of the oxygen and nitrogen content, and evaluation of the extent of occurrence of the raw casting s urfacedefects. As a result of the conducted studies and analyses, the quality of produced castings was improved, mainly through the reducedcontent of non-metallic inclusions and better raw casting surface quality.

  15. Determination of a seasonal variation in the food exchanges between worker honeybees (Apis mellifica ligustica S.) by means of a radioisotope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Douault, Philippe; Roger, Bernard; Pain, Janine

    1975-01-01

    Food exchanges have been studied during the whole year between workers of unknown age and 4-days old workers. Variations exist between both groups. The mean percentage of shared food is 27% in the group of honeybees of unknown age and 40% in the group of 4-days old workers with respect to the initial intake of the giver. The effect of the season appears among workers of unknown are particularly [fr

  16. Comparison of marginal accuracy of castings fabricated by conventional casting technique and accelerated casting technique: an in vitro study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, S Srikanth; Revathi, Kakkirala; Reddy, S Kranthikumar

    2013-01-01

    Conventional casting technique is time consuming when compared to accelerated casting technique. In this study, marginal accuracy of castings fabricated using accelerated and conventional casting technique was compared. 20 wax patterns were fabricated and the marginal discrepancy between the die and patterns were measured using Optical stereomicroscope. Ten wax patterns were used for Conventional casting and the rest for Accelerated casting. A Nickel-Chromium alloy was used for the casting. The castings were measured for marginal discrepancies and compared. Castings fabricated using Conventional casting technique showed less vertical marginal discrepancy than the castings fabricated by Accelerated casting technique. The values were statistically highly significant. Conventional casting technique produced better marginal accuracy when compared to Accelerated casting. The vertical marginal discrepancy produced by the Accelerated casting technique was well within the maximum clinical tolerance limits. Accelerated casting technique can be used to save lab time to fabricate clinical crowns with acceptable vertical marginal discrepancy.

  17. Impaired Olfactory Associative Behavior of Honeybee Workers Due to Contamination of Imidacloprid in the Larval Stage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, En-Cheng; Chang, Hui-Chun; Wu, Wen-Yen; Chen, Yu-Wen

    2012-01-01

    The residue of imidacloprid in the nectar and pollens of the plants is toxic not only to adult honeybees but also the larvae. Our understanding of the risk of imidacloprid to larvae of the honeybees is still in a very early stage. In this study, the capped-brood, pupation and eclosion rates of the honeybee larvae were recorded after treating them directly in the hive with different dosages of imidacloprid. The brood-capped rates of the larvae decreased significantly when the dosages increased from 24 to 8000 ng/larva. However, there were no significant effects of DMSO or 0.4 ng of imidacloprid per larva on the brood-capped, pupation and eclosion rates. Although the sublethal dosage of imidacloprid had no effect on the eclosion rate, we found that the olfactory associative behavior of the adult bees was impaired if they had been treated with 0.04 ng/larva imidacloprid in the larval stage. These results demonstrate that a sublethal dosage of imidacloprid given to the larvae affects the subsequent associative ability of the adult honeybee workers. Thus, a low dose of imidacloprid may affect the survival condition of the entire colony, even though the larvae survive to adulthood. PMID:23166680

  18. The endangered Iris atropurpurea (Iridaceae) in Israel: honey-bees, night-sheltering male bees and female solitary bees as pollinators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watts, Stella; Sapir, Yuval; Segal, Bosmat; Dafni, Amots

    2013-01-01

    Background and Aims The coastal plain of Israel hosts the last few remaining populations of the endemic Iris atropurpurea (Iridaceae), a Red List species of high conservation priority. The flowers offer no nectar reward. Here the role of night-sheltering male solitary bees, honey-bees and female solitary bees as pollinators of I. atropurpurea is documented. Methods Breeding system, floral longevity, stigma receptivity, visitation rates, pollen loads, pollen deposition and removal and fruit- and seed-set were investigated. Key Results The main wild pollinators of this plant are male eucerine bees, and to a lesser extent, but with the potential to transfer pollen, female solitary bees. Honey-bees were found to be frequent diurnal visitors; they removed large quantities of pollen and were as effective as male sheltering bees at pollinating this species. The low density of pollen carried by male solitary bees was attributed to grooming activities, pollen displacement when bees aggregated together in flowers and pollen depletion by honey-bees. In the population free of honey-bee hives, male bees carried significantly more pollen grains on their bodies. Results from pollen analysis and pollen deposited on stigmas suggest that inadequate pollination may be an important factor limiting fruit-set. In the presence of honey-bees, eucerine bees were low removal–low deposition pollinators, whereas honey-bees were high removal–low deposition pollinators, because they removed large amounts into corbiculae and deposited relatively little onto receptive stigmas. Conclusions Even though overall, both bee taxa were equally effective pollinators, we suggest that honey-bees have the potential to reduce the amount of pollen available for plant reproduction, and to reduce the amount of resources available to solitary bee communities. The results of this study have potential implications for the conservation of this highly endangered plant species if hives are permitted inside

  19. Relationship between casting modulus and grain size in cast A356 aluminium alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niklas, A; Abaunza, U; Fernández-Calvo, A I; Lacaze, J

    2012-01-01

    Microstructure of Al-Si alloy castings depends most generally on melt preparation and on the cooling rate imposed by the thermal modulus of the component. In the case of Al-Si alloys, emphasis is put during melt preparation on refinement of pro-eutectic (Al) grains and on modification of the Al-Si eutectic. Thermal analysis has been used since long to check melt preparation before casting, i.e. by analysis of the cooling curve during solidification of a sample cast in an instrumented cup. The conclusions drawn from such analysis are however valid for the particular cooling conditions of the cups. It thus appeared of interest to investigate how these conclusions could extrapolate to predict microstructure in complicated cast parts showing local changes in the solidification conditions. For that purpose, thermal analysis cups and instrumented sand and die castings with different thermal moduli and thus cooling rates have been made, and the whole set of cooling curves thus recorded has been analysed. A statistical analysis of the characteristic features of the cooling curves related to grain refinement in sand and die castings allowed determining the most significant parameters and expressing the cube of grain size as a polynomial of these parameters. After introduction of a further parameter quantifying melt refining an excellent correlation, with a R 2 factor of 0.99 was obtained.

  20. Melting and casting of FeAl-based cast alloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sikka, V.K. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Wilkening, D. [Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., Columbia Falls, MT (United States); Liebetrau, J.; Mackey, B. [AFFCO, L.L.C., Anaconda, MT (United States)

    1998-11-01

    The FeAl-based intermetallic alloys are of great interest because of their low density, low raw material cost, and excellent resistance to high-temperature oxidation, sulfidation, carburization, and molten salts. The applications based on these unique properties of FeAl require methods to melt and cast these alloys into complex-shaped castings and centrifugal cast tubes. This paper addresses the melting-related issues and the effect of chemistry on the microstructure and hardness of castings. It is concluded that the use of the Exo-Melt{trademark} process for melting and the proper selection of the aluminum melt stock can result in porosity-free castings. The FeAl alloys can be melted and cast from the virgin and revert stock. A large variation in carbon content of the alloys is possible before the precipitation of graphite flakes occurs. Titanium is a very potent addition to refine the grain size of castings. A range of complex sand castings and two different sizes of centrifugal cast tubes of the alloy have already been cast.

  1. A fifth major genetic group among honeybees revealed in Syria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alburaki, Mohamed; Bertrand, Bénédicte; Legout, Hélène; Moulin, Sibyle; Alburaki, Ali; Sheppard, Walter Steven; Garnery, Lionel

    2013-12-06

    Apiculture has been practiced in North Africa and the Middle-East from antiquity. Several thousand years of selective breeding have left a mosaic of Apis mellifera subspecies in the Middle-East, many uniquely adapted and survived to local environmental conditions. In this study we explore the genetic diversity of A. mellifera from Syria (n = 1258), Lebanon (n = 169) and Iraq (n = 35) based on 14 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in the context of reference populations from throughout the Old World (n = 732). Our data suggest that the Syrian honeybee Apis mellifera syriaca occurs in both Syrian and Lebanese territories, with no significant genetic variability between respective populations from Syria and Lebanon. All studied populations clustered within a new fifth independent nuclear cluster, congruent with an mtDNA Z haplotype identified in a previous study. Syrian honeybee populations are not associated with Oriental lineage O, except for sporadic introgression into some populations close to the Turkish and Iraqi borders. Southern Syrian and Lebanese populations demonstrated high levels of genetic diversity compared to the northern populations. This study revealed the effects of foreign queen importations on Syrian bee populations, especially for the region of Tartus, where extensive introgression of A. m. anatolica and/or A. m. caucasica alleles were identified. The policy of creating genetic conservation centers for the Syrian subspecies should take into consideration the influence of the oriental lineage O from the northern Syrian border and the large population of genetically divergent indigenous honeybees located in southern Syria.

  2. The virulent, emerging genotype B of Deformed wing virus is closely linked to overwinter honeybee worker loss

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Natsopoulou, Myrsini Eirini; McMahon, Dino P.; Doublet, Vincent

    2017-01-01

    Bees are considered to be threatened globally, with severe overwinter losses of the most important commercial pollinator, the Western honeybee, a major concern in the Northern Hemisphere. Emerging infectious diseases have risen to prominence due to their temporal correlation with colony losses...... of elevated overwinter honeybee loss. Its potential emergence in naïve populations of bees may have far-reaching ecological and economic impacts....

  3. A Locomotor Deficit Induced by Sublethal Doses of Pyrethroid and Neonicotinoid Insecticides in the Honeybee Apis mellifera

    OpenAIRE

    Charreton, Merc?d?s; Decourtye, Axel; Henry, Micka?l; Rodet, Guy; Sandoz, Jean-Christophe; Charnet, Pierre; Collet, Claude

    2015-01-01

    The toxicity of pesticides used in agriculture towards non-targeted organisms and especially pollinators has recently drawn the attention from a broad scientific community. Increased honeybee mortality observed worldwide certainly contributes to this interest. The potential role of several neurotoxic insecticides in triggering or potentiating honeybee mortality was considered, in particular phenylpyrazoles and neonicotinoids, given that they are widely used and highly toxic for insects. Along...

  4. Economical surface treatment of die casting dies to prevent soldering in high pressure casting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fraser, D.T.; Jahedi, M.Z.

    2001-01-01

    This paper describes the use of a gas oxidation treatment of H13 tool steel to develop a compact iron oxide layer at the surface of core pins to prevent soldering in high pressure die casting. The performance of oxide layers in the protection of die steel against soldering during high pressure die casting was tested in a specially designed die using removable core pins and Al-11 Si-3 Cu casting alloy. The gas oxidation treatment can be applied at low temperatures and to large areas of the die surface. In addition this process is very cost effective compared to other coating processes such as physical vapour deposition (PVD), or thermo-reactive diffusion (TRD) coatings. This work demonstrated that surface treatment producing pure magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ) layers are more protective than oxide layers containing a combination of Fe 3 O 4 (magnetite) and Fe 3 O 3 (haematite). The magnetite layer acts as a barrier between the die steel/casting alloy interface and prevents the formation of inter-metallic phases. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope were used to determine the thickness of the oxide layer, while X-ray diffraction was performed to determine the oxide phase structure

  5. Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies

    OpenAIRE

    Seeley, Thomas D; Tarpy, David R

    2006-01-01

    Most species of social insects have singly mated queens, but in some species each queen mates with numerous males to create a colony with a genetically diverse worker force. The adaptive significance of polyandry by social insect queens remains an evolutionary puzzle. Using the honeybee (Apis mellifera), we tested the hypothesis that polyandry improves a colony's resistance to disease. We established colonies headed by queens that had been artificially inseminated by either one or 10 drones. ...

  6. Context odor presentation during sleep enhances memory in honeybees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwaka, Hanna; Bartels, Ruth; Gora, Jacob; Franck, Vivien; Culo, Ana; Götsch, Moritz; Menzel, Randolf

    2015-11-02

    Sleep plays an important role in stabilizing new memory traces after learning [1-3]. Here we investigate whether sleep's role in memory processing is similar in evolutionarily distant species and demonstrate that a context trigger during deep-sleep phases improves memory in invertebrates, as it does in humans. We show that in honeybees (Apis mellifera), exposure to an odor during deep sleep that has been present during learning improves memory performance the following day. Presentation of the context odor during wake phases or novel odors during sleep does not enhance memory. In humans, memory consolidation can be triggered by presentation of a context odor during slow-wave sleep that had been present during learning [3-5]. Our results reveal that deep-sleep phases in honeybees have the potential to prompt memory consolidation, just as they do in humans. This study provides strong evidence for a conserved role of sleep-and how it affects memory processes-from insects to mammals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Microsegregation in Nodular Cast Iron with Carbides

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper results of microsegregation in the newly developed nodular cast iron with carbides are presented. To investigate the pearlitic and bainitic cast iron with carbides obtained by Inmold method were chosen. The distribution of linear elements on the eutectic cell radius was examined. To investigate the microsegregation pearlitic and bainitic cast iron with carbides obtained by Inmold method were chosen.The linear distribution of elements on the eutectic cell radius was examined. Testing of the chemical composition of cast iron metal matrix components, including carbides were carried out. The change of graphitizing and anti-graphitizing element concentrations within eutectic cell was determined. It was found, that in cast iron containing Mo carbides crystallizing after austenite + graphite eutectic are Si enriched.

  8. Microsegregation in Nodular Cast Iron with Carbides

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pietrowski S.

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper results of microsegregation in the newly developed nodular cast iron with carbides are presented. To investigate the pearlitic and bainitic cast iron with carbides obtained by Inmold method were chosen. The distribution of linear elements on the eutectic cell radius was examined. To investigate the microsegregation pearlitic and bainitic cast iron with carbides obtained by Inmold method were chosen. The linear distribution of elements on the eutectic cell radius was examined. Testing of the chemical composition of cast iron metal matrix components, including carbides were carried out. The change of graphitizing and anti-graphitizing element concentrations within eutectic cell was determined. It was found, that in cast iron containing Mo carbides crystallizing after austenite + graphite eutectic are Si enriched.

  9. Sensing the intruder: a quantitative threshold for recognition cues perception in honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappa, Federico; Bruschini, Claudia; Cipollini, Maria; Pieraccini, Giuseppe; Cervo, Rita

    2014-02-01

    The ability to discriminate among nestmates and non-nestmate is essential to defend social insect colonies from intruders. Over the years, nestmate recognition has been extensively studied in the honeybee Apis mellifera; nevertheless, the quantitative perceptual aspects at the basis of the recognition system represent an unexplored subject in this species. To test the existence of a cuticular hydrocarbons' quantitative perception threshold for nestmate recognition cues, we conducted behavioural assays by presenting different amounts of a foreign forager's chemical profile to honeybees at the entrance of their colonies. We found an increase in the explorative and aggressive responses as the amount of cues increased based on a threshold mechanism, highlighting the importance of the quantitative perceptual features for the recognition processes in A. mellifera.

  10. Chemical Composition of Different Botanical Origin Honeys Produced by Sicilian Black Honeybees (Apis mellifera ssp. sicula).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mannina, Luisa; Sobolev, Anatoly P; Di Lorenzo, Arianna; Vista, Silvia; Tenore, Gian Carlo; Daglia, Maria

    2015-07-01

    In 2008 a Slow Food Presidium was launched in Sicily (Italy) for an early warning of the risk of extinction of the Sicilian native breed of black honeybee (Apis mellifera L. ssp sicula). Today, the honey produced by these honeybees is the only Sicilian honey produced entirely by the black honeybees. In view of few available data regarding the chemical composition of A. mellifera ssp. sicula honeys, in the present investigation the chemical compositions of sulla honey (Hedysarum coronarium L.) and dill honey (Anethum graveolens L.) were studied with a multimethodological approach, which consists of HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSn and NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, three unifloral honeys (lemon honey (obtained from Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck), orange honey (Citrus arantium L.), and medlar honey (Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl)), with known phenol and polyphenol compositions, were studied with NMR spectroscopy to deepen the knowledge about sugar and amino acid compositions.

  11. Widespread exploitation of the honeybee by early Neolithic farmers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roffet-Salque, Mélanie; Regert, Martine; Evershed, Richard P; Outram, Alan K; Cramp, Lucy J E; Decavallas, Orestes; Dunne, Julie; Gerbault, Pascale; Mileto, Simona; Mirabaud, Sigrid; Pääkkönen, Mirva; Smyth, Jessica; Šoberl, Lucija; Whelton, Helen L; Alday-Ruiz, Alfonso; Asplund, Henrik; Bartkowiak, Marta; Bayer-Niemeier, Eva; Belhouchet, Lotfi; Bernardini, Federico; Budja, Mihael; Cooney, Gabriel; Cubas, Miriam; Danaher, Ed M; Diniz, Mariana; Domboróczki, László; Fabbri, Cristina; González-Urquijo, Jesus E; Guilaine, Jean; Hachi, Slimane; Hartwell, Barrie N; Hofmann, Daniela; Hohle, Isabel; Ibáñez, Juan J; Karul, Necmi; Kherbouche, Farid; Kiely, Jacinta; Kotsakis, Kostas; Lueth, Friedrich; Mallory, James P; Manen, Claire; Marciniak, Arkadiusz; Maurice-Chabard, Brigitte; Mc Gonigle, Martin A; Mulazzani, Simone; Özdoğan, Mehmet; Perić, Olga S; Perić, Slaviša R; Petrasch, Jörg; Pétrequin, Anne-Marie; Pétrequin, Pierre; Poensgen, Ulrike; Pollard, C Joshua; Poplin, François; Radi, Giovanna; Stadler, Peter; Stäuble, Harald; Tasić, Nenad; Urem-Kotsou, Dushka; Vuković, Jasna B; Walsh, Fintan; Whittle, Alasdair; Wolfram, Sabine; Zapata-Peña, Lydia; Zoughlami, Jamel

    2015-11-12

    The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolution agriculture, as evidenced by the widespread presence of ancient Egyptian bee iconography dating to the Old Kingdom (approximately 2400 BC). There are also indications of Stone Age people harvesting bee products; for example, honey hunting is interpreted from rock art in a prehistoric Holocene context and a beeswax find in a pre-agriculturalist site. However, when and where the regular association of A. mellifera with agriculturalists emerged is unknown. One of the major products of A. mellifera is beeswax, which is composed of a complex suite of lipids including n-alkanes, n-alkanoic acids and fatty acyl wax esters. The composition is highly constant as it is determined genetically through the insect's biochemistry. Thus, the chemical 'fingerprint' of beeswax provides a reliable basis for detecting this commodity in organic residues preserved at archaeological sites, which we now use to trace the exploitation by humans of A. mellifera temporally and spatially. Here we present secure identifications of beeswax in lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels of Neolithic Old World farmers. The geographical range of bee product exploitation is traced in Neolithic Europe, the Near East and North Africa, providing the palaeoecological range of honeybees during prehistory. Temporally, we demonstrate that bee products were exploited continuously, and probably extensively in some regions, at least from the seventh millennium cal BC, likely fulfilling a variety of technological and cultural functions. The close association of A. mellifera with Neolithic farming communities dates to the early onset of agriculture and may provide

  12. Immunosuppression in Honeybee Queens by the Neonicotinoids Thiacloprid and Clothianidin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandt, Annely; Grikscheit, Katharina; Siede, Reinhold; Grosse, Robert; Meixner, Marina Doris; Büchler, Ralph

    2017-07-05

    Queen health is crucial to colony survival of honeybees, since reproduction and colony growth rely solely on the queen. Queen failure is considered a relevant cause of colony losses, yet few data exist concerning effects of environmental stressors on queens. Here we demonstrate for the first time that exposure to field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides can severely affect the immunocompetence of queens of western honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). In young queens exposed to thiacloprid (200 µg/l or 2000 µg/l) or clothianidin (10 µg/l or 50 µg/l), the total hemocyte number and the proportion of active, differentiated hemocytes was significantly reduced. Moreover, functional aspects of the immune defence namely the wound healing/melanisation response, as well as the antimicrobial activity of the hemolymph were impaired. Our results demonstrate that neonicotinoid insecticides can negatively affect the immunocompetence of queens, possibly leading to an impaired disease resistance capacity.

  13. Seminal fluid of honeybees contains multiple mechanisms to combat infections of the sexually transmitted pathogen Nosema apis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Yan; Grassl, Julia; Millar, A Harvey; Baer, Boris

    2016-01-27

    The societies of ants, bees and wasps are genetically closed systems where queens only mate during a brief mating episode prior to their eusocial life and males therefore provide queens with a lifetime supply of high-quality sperm. These ejaculates also contain a number of defence proteins that have been detected in the seminal fluid but their function and efficiency have never been investigated in great detail. Here, we used the honeybee Apis mellifera and quantified whether seminal fluid is able to combat infections of the fungal pathogen Nosema apis, a widespread honeybee parasite that is also sexually transmitted. We provide the first empirical evidence that seminal fluid has a remarkable antimicrobial activity against N. apis spores and that antimicrobial seminal fluid components kill spores in multiple ways. The protein fraction of seminal fluid induces extracellular spore germination, which disrupts the life cycle of N. apis, whereas the non-protein fraction of seminal fluid induces a direct viability loss of intact spores. We conclude that males provide their ejaculates with efficient antimicrobial molecules that are able to kill N. apis spores and thereby reduce the risk of disease transmission during mating. Our findings could be of broader significance to master honeybee diseases in managed honeybee stock in the future. © 2016 The Author(s).

  14. Interaction between Varroa destructor and imidacloprid reduces flight capacity of honeybees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blanken, Lisa; Langevelde, van F.; Dooremalen, van J.A.

    2015-01-01

    Current high losses of honeybees seriously threaten crop pollination. Whereas parasite exposure is acknowledged as an important cause of these losses, the role of insecticides is controversial. Parasites and neonicotinoid insecticides reduce homing success of foragers (e.g. by reduced orientation),

  15. The effects of casting speed on steel continuous casting process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sadat, Mohammad; Honarvar Gheysari, Ali; Sadat, Saeid [Islamic Azad University, Department of Mechanics, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2011-12-15

    A three dimensional simulation of molten steel flow, heat transfer and solidification in mold and ''secondary cooling zone'' of Continuous Casting machine was performed with consideration of standard k-{epsilon} model. For this purpose, computational fluid dynamics software, FLUENT was utilized. From the simulation standpoint, the main distinction between this work and preceding ones is that, the phase change process (solidification) and flow (turbulent in mold section and laminar in secondary cooling zone) have been coupled and solved jointly instead of dividing it into ''transient heat conduction'' and ''steady fluid flow'' that can lead to more realistic simulation. Determining the appropriate boundary conditions in secondary cooling zone is very complicated because of various forms of heat transfer involved, including natural and forced convection and simultaneous radiation heat transfer. The main objective of this work is to have better understanding of heat transfer and solidification in the continuous casting process. Also, effects of casting speed on heat flux and shell thickness and role of radiation in total heat transfer is discussed. (orig.)

  16. A Casting Yield Optimization Case Study: Forging Ram

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kotas, Petr; Tutum, Cem Celal; Hattel, Jesper Henri

    2010-01-01

    This work summarizes the findings of multi-objective optimization of a gravity sand-cast steel part for which an increase of the casting yield via riser optimization was considered. This was accomplished by coupling a casting simulation software package with an optimization module. The benefits...... of this approach, recently adopted in foundry industry world wide and based on fully automated computer optimization, were demonstrated. First, analyses of filling and solidification of the original casting design were conducted in the standard simulation environment to determine potential flaws and inadequacies...

  17. Color Difference and Memory Recall in Free-Flying Honeybees: Forget the Hard Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrian G. Dyer

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Free-flying honeybees acquire color information differently depending upon whether a target color is learnt in isolation (absolute conditioning, or in relation to a perceptually similar color (differential conditioning. Absolute conditioning allows for rapid learning, but color discrimination is coarse. Differential conditioning requires more learning trials, but enables fine discriminations. Currently it is unknown whether differential conditioning to similar colors in honeybees forms a long-term memory, and the stability of memory in a biologically relevant scenario considering similar or saliently different color stimuli. Individual free-flying honeybees (N = 6 were trained to similar color stimuli separated by 0.06 hexagon units for 60 trials and mean accuracy was 81.7% ± 12.2% s.d. Bees retested on subsequent days showed a reduction in the number of correct choices with increasing time from the initial training, and for four of the bees this reduction was significant from chance expectation considering binomially distributed logistic regression models. In contrast, an independent group of 6 bees trained to saliently different colors (>0.14 hexagon units did not experience any decay in memory retention with increasing time. This suggests that whilst the bees’ visual system can permit fine discriminations, flowers producing saliently different colors are more easily remembered by foraging bees over several days.

  18. AmTAR2: Functional characterization of a honeybee tyramine receptor stimulating adenylyl cyclase activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reim, Tina; Balfanz, Sabine; Baumann, Arnd; Blenau, Wolfgang; Thamm, Markus; Scheiner, Ricarda

    2017-01-01

    The biogenic monoamines norepinephrine and epinephrine regulate important physiological functions in vertebrates. Insects such as honeybees do not synthesize these neuroactive substances. Instead, they employ octopamine and tyramine for comparable physiological functions. These biogenic amines activate specific guanine nucleotide-binding (G) protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Based on pharmacological data obtained on heterologously expressed receptors, α- and β-adrenergic-like octopamine receptors are better activated by octopamine than by tyramine. Conversely, GPCRs forming the type 1 tyramine receptor clade (synonymous to octopamine/tyramine receptors) are better activated by tyramine than by octopamine. More recently, receptors were characterized which are almost exclusively activated by tyramine, thus forming an independent type 2 tyramine receptor clade. Functionally, type 1 tyramine receptors inhibit adenylyl cyclase activity, leading to a decrease in intracellular cAMP concentration ([cAMP] i ). Type 2 tyramine receptors can mediate Ca 2+ signals or both Ca 2+ signals and effects on [cAMP] i . We here provide evidence that the honeybee tyramine receptor 2 (AmTAR2), when heterologously expressed in flpTM cells, exclusively causes an increase in [cAMP] i . The receptor displays a pronounced preference for tyramine over octopamine. Its activity can be blocked by a series of established antagonists, of which mianserin and yohimbine are most efficient. The functional characterization of two tyramine receptors from the honeybee, AmTAR1 (previously named AmTYR1) and AmTAR2, which respond to tyramine by changing cAMP levels in opposite direction, is an important step towards understanding the actions of tyramine in honeybee behavior and physiology, particularly in comparison to the effects of octopamine. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Agonistic interactions between the honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) and the European wasp (Vespula germanica) reveal context-dependent defense strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pusceddu, Michelina; Floris, Ignazio; Buffa, Franco; Salaris, Emanuele; Satta, Alberto

    2017-01-01

    Predator-prey relationships between sympatric species allow the evolution of defense behaviors, such as honeybee colonies defending their nests against predatory wasps. We investigated the predator-prey relationship between the honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) and the European wasp (Vespula germanica) by evaluating the effectiveness of attack and defense behaviors, which have coevolved in these sympatric species, as well as the actual damage and disturbance caused to the colonies under attack. Attack and defense behaviors were recorded in front of the hive to observe attacks at the hive entrance (68 attacks in 279 h) and at ground level on isolated and weakened honeybees close to the hive (465 attacks in 32 h). We found that V. germanica attacked the hive entrance infrequently due to the low success rate of this strategy and instead preferred a specialized attack method targeting adult honeybees at ground level, demonstrating opportunistic scavenger behavior. Individual honeybees usually responded effectively to an attack by recruiting an average of two nestmates, causing the wasp to flee, whereas collective balling behavior was only observed on four occasions. V. germanica does not appear to disrupt the foraging activity of the colonies under attack. We found that agonistic events supported by other nestmates were typically the most intense ones, involving physical combat and prolonged attacks at the entrance to the hive. These observations support the hypothesis that A. mellifera ligustica can adapt its behavior to match the severity of the threat and the context of the attack.

  20. Chronic neonicotinoid pesticide exposure and parasite stress differentially affects learning in honeybees and bumblebees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piiroinen, Saija; Goulson, Dave

    2016-04-13

    Learning and memory are crucial functions which enable insect pollinators to efficiently locate and extract floral rewards. Exposure to pesticides or infection by parasites may cause subtle but ecologically important changes in cognitive functions of pollinators. The potential interactive effects of these stressors on learning and memory have not yet been explored. Furthermore, sensitivity to stressors may differ between species, but few studies have compared responses in different species. Here, we show that chronic exposure to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid clothianidin impaired olfactory learning acquisition in honeybees, leading to potential impacts on colony fitness, but not in bumblebees. Infection by the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae slightly impaired learning in honeybees, but no interactive effects were observed. Nosema did not infect bumblebees (3% infection success). Nevertheless, Nosema-treated bumblebees had a slightly lower rate of learning than controls, but faster learning in combination with neonicotinoid exposure. This highlights the potential for complex interactive effects of stressors on learning. Our results underline that one cannot readily extrapolate findings from one bee species to others. This has important implications for regulatory risk assessments which generally use honeybees as a model for all bees. © 2016 The Author(s).

  1. Chronic neonicotinoid pesticide exposure and parasite stress differentially affects learning in honeybees and bumblebees

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-01-01

    Learning and memory are crucial functions which enable insect pollinators to efficiently locate and extract floral rewards. Exposure to pesticides or infection by parasites may cause subtle but ecologically important changes in cognitive functions of pollinators. The potential interactive effects of these stressors on learning and memory have not yet been explored. Furthermore, sensitivity to stressors may differ between species, but few studies have compared responses in different species. Here, we show that chronic exposure to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid clothianidin impaired olfactory learning acquisition in honeybees, leading to potential impacts on colony fitness, but not in bumblebees. Infection by the microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae slightly impaired learning in honeybees, but no interactive effects were observed. Nosema did not infect bumblebees (3% infection success). Nevertheless, Nosema-treated bumblebees had a slightly lower rate of learning than controls, but faster learning in combination with neonicotinoid exposure. This highlights the potential for complex interactive effects of stressors on learning. Our results underline that one cannot readily extrapolate findings from one bee species to others. This has important implications for regulatory risk assessments which generally use honeybees as a model for all bees. PMID:27053744

  2. Field-relevant doses of the systemic insecticide fipronil and fungicide pyraclostrobin impair mandibular and hypopharyngeal glands in nurse honeybees (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zaluski, Rodrigo; Justulin, Luis Antonio; Orsi, Ricardo de Oliveira

    2017-11-09

    Global decreases in bee populations emphasize the importance of assessing how environmental stressors affect colony maintenance, especially considering the extreme task specialization observed in honeybee societies. Royal jelly, a protein secretion essential to colony nutrition, is produced by nurse honeybees, and development of bee mandibular glands, which comprise a reservoir surrounded by secretory cells and hypopharyngeal glands that are shaped by acini, is directly associated with production of this secretion. Here, we examined individual and combined effects of the systemic fungicide pyraclostrobin and insecticide fipronil in field-relevant doses (850 and 2.5 ppb, respectively) on mandibular and hypopharyngeal glands in nurse honeybees. Six days of pesticide treatment decreased secretory cell height in mandibular glands. When pyraclostrobin and fipronil were combined, the reservoir volume in mandibular glands also decreased. The total number of acini in hypopharyngeal glands was not affected, but pesticide treatment reduced the number of larger acini while increasing smaller acini. These morphological impairments appeared to reduce royal jelly secretion by nurse honeybees and consequently hampered colony maintenance. Overall, pesticide exposure in doses close to those experienced by bees in the field impaired brood-food glands in nurse honeybees, a change that could negatively influence development, survival, and colony maintenance.

  3. Weight watching and the effect of landscape on honeybee colony productivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lecocq, Antoine; Kryger, Per; Vejsnæs, Flemming

    2015-01-01

    sites can give valuable insight on the influence of landscape on their productivity and might point towards future directions for modernized beekeeping practices. Using data on honeybee colony weights provided by electronic scales spread across Denmark, we investigated the effect of the immediate...

  4. Metallic Fuel Casting Development and Parameter Optimization Simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fielding, Randall S.; Kennedy, J.R.; Crapps, J.; Unal, C.

    2013-01-01

    Conclusions: • Gravity casting is a feasible process for casting of metallic fuels: – May not be as robust as CGIC, more parameter dependent to find right “sweet spot” for high quality castings; – Fluid flow is very important and is affected by mold design, vent size, super heat, etc.; – Pressure differential assist was found to be detrimental. • Simulation found that vent location was important to allow adequate filling of mold; • Surface tension plays an important role in determining casting quality; • Casting and simulations high light the need for better characterized fluid physical and thermal properties; • Results from simulations will be incorporated in GACS design such as vent location and physical property characterization

  5. Fibreglass Total Contact Casting, Removable Cast Walkers, and Irremovable Cast Walkers to Treat Diabetic Neuropathic Foot Ulcers: A Health Technology Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Vania; Tu, Hong Anh; Wells, David; Weir, Mark; Holubowich, Corinne; Walter, Melissa

    2017-01-01

    Background Diabetic neuropathic foot ulcers are a risk factor for lower leg amputation. Many experts recommend offloading with fibreglass total contact casting, removable cast walkers, and irremovable cast walkers as a way to treat these ulcers. Methods We completed a health technology assessment, which included an evaluation of clinical benefits and harms, value for money, and patient preferences for offloading devices. We performed a systematic literature search on August 17, 2016, to identify randomized controlled trials that compared fibreglass total contact casting, removable cast walkers, and irremovable cast walkers with other treatments (offloading or non-offloading) in patients with diabetic neuropathic foot ulcers. We developed a decision-analytic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of fibreglass total contact casting, removable cast walkers, and irremovable cast walkers, and we conducted a 5-year budget impact analysis. Finally, we interviewed people with diabetes who had lived experience with foot ulcers, asking them about the different offloading devices and the factors that influenced their treatment choices. Results We identified 13 randomized controlled trials. The evidence suggests that total contact casting, removable cast walkers, and irremovable cast walkers are beneficial in the treatment of neuropathic, noninfected foot ulcers in patients with diabetes but without severe peripheral arterial disease. Compared to removable cast walkers, ulcer healing was improved with total contact casting (moderate quality evidence; risk difference 0.17 [95% confidence interval 0.00–0.33]) and irremovable cast walkers (low quality evidence; risk difference 0.21 [95% confidence interval 0.01–0.40]). We found no difference in ulcer healing between total contact casting and irremovable cast walkers (low quality evidence; risk difference 0.02 [95% confidence interval −0.11–0.14]). The economic analysis showed that total contact casting and irremovable

  6. Automatic methods for long-term tracking and the detection and decoding of communication dances in honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando eWario

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The honeybee waggle dance communication system is an intriguing example of abstract animal communication and has been investigated thoroughly throughout the last seven decades. Typically, observables such as durations or angles are extracted manually directly from the observation hive or from video recordings to quantify dance properties, particularly to determine where bees have foraged. In recent years, biology has profited from automation, improving measurement precision, removing human bias, and accelerating data collection. As a further step, we have developed technologies to track all individuals of a honeybee colony and detect and decode communication dances automatically. In strong contrast to conventional approaches that focus on a small subset of the hive life, whether this regards time, space, or animal identity, our more inclusive system will help the understanding of the dance comprehensively in its spatial, temporal, and social context. In this contribution, we present full specifications of the recording setup and the software for automatic recognition and decoding of tags and dances, and we discuss potential research directions that may benefit from automation. Lastly, to exemplify the power of the methodology, we show experimental data and respective analyses for a continuous, experimental recording of nine weeks duration.

  7. Cooperative random Levy flight searches and the flight patterns of honeybees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reynolds, A.M.

    2006-01-01

    The most efficient Levy flight (scale-free) searching strategy for N independent searchers to adopt when target sites are randomly and sparsely distributed is identified. For N=1, it is well known that the optimal searching strategy is attained when μ=2, where the exponent μ characterizes the Levy distribution, P(l)=l -μ , of flight-lengths. For N>1, the optimal searching strategy is attained as μ->1. It is suggested that the orientation flights of honeybees can be understood within the context of such an optimal cooperative random Levy flight searching strategy. Upon returning to their hive after surveying a landscape honeybees can exchange information about the locations of target sites through the waggle dance. In accordance with observations it is predicted that the waggle dance can be disrupted without noticeable influence on a hive's ability to maintain weight when forage is plentiful

  8. Development of improved molecular methods for the detection of deformed wing virus (DWV) in honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) and mites ( Varroa destructor Oud.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parrella, G; Caprio, E; Mazzone, P

    2006-01-01

    A simple and rapid method for the extraction of total nucleic acid from honeybee and mite, useful either as template for RT-PCR or in nucleic acids hybridization, was developed. Sensitivity of the methods were evaluated up to 10(9) and 10(6) dilution of TNAs extracted from a single honeybee, for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and molecular hybridization respectively. The two diagnostic methods developed could be useful for the study of the molecular biology and the pathology of DWV. For practical applications dot-blot hybridization could be used in order to study the incidence of DWV in honeybees populations. The method is enough sensitive, rapid and less affected by contamination problems compared to RT-PCR and thus it could be applied to the sanitary certification of honeybees and their products.

  9. Structure Distribution in Precise Cast Iron Moulded on Meltable Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Skrbek B.

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Topic of this work is to compare metalurgy of cast irons poured into sand moulds and into shell molds at IEG Jihlava company and from it following differencies in structures of thin- and thick-walled castings. This work is dealing with investigation and experimental measurement on surfaces and sections suitable thin- and thick-walled investment castings at IEG Jihlava. Cast irons with flake graphite (grey cast iron and cast irons with spheroidal graphite (ductile cast iron. Both mechanical and physical properties are determined using calculations from as measured values of wall thicknesses L and Lu, Vickers hardness and remanent magnetism. Measurement results are discussed, findings are formulated and methods for castings metallurgical quality improvement are recommended finally.

  10. Detection of neural activity in the brains of Japanese honeybee workers during the formation of a "hot defensive bee ball".

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atsushi Ugajin

    Full Text Available Anti-predator behaviors are essential to survival for most animals. The neural bases of such behaviors, however, remain largely unknown. Although honeybees commonly use their stingers to counterattack predators, the Japanese honeybee (Apis cerana japonica uses a different strategy to fight against the giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia japonica. Instead of stinging the hornet, Japanese honeybees form a "hot defensive bee ball" by surrounding the hornet en masse, killing it with heat. The European honeybee (A. mellifera ligustica, on the other hand, does not exhibit this behavior, and their colonies are often destroyed by a hornet attack. In the present study, we attempted to analyze the neural basis of this behavior by mapping the active brain regions of Japanese honeybee workers during the formation of a hot defensive bee ball. First, we identified an A. cerana homolog (Acks = Apis cerana kakusei of kakusei, an immediate early gene that we previously identified from A. mellifera, and showed that Acks has characteristics similar to kakusei and can be used to visualize active brain regions in A. cerana. Using Acks as a neural activity marker, we demonstrated that neural activity in the mushroom bodies, especially in Class II Kenyon cells, one subtype of mushroom body intrinsic neurons, and a restricted area between the dorsal lobes and the optic lobes was increased in the brains of Japanese honeybee workers involved in the formation of a hot defensive bee ball. In addition, workers exposed to 46°C heat also exhibited Acks expression patterns similar to those observed in the brains of workers involved in the formation of a hot defensive bee ball, suggesting that the neural activity observed in the brains of workers involved in the hot defensive bee ball mainly reflects thermal stimuli processing.

  11. Appetitive but Not Aversive Olfactory Conditioning Modifies Antennal Movements in Honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cholé, Hanna; Junca, Pierre; Sandoz, Jean-Christophe

    2015-01-01

    In honeybees, two olfactory conditioning protocols allow the study of appetitive and aversive Pavlovian associations. Appetitive conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) involves associating an odor, the conditioned stimulus (CS) with a sucrose solution, the unconditioned stimulus (US). Conversely, aversive conditioning of the sting…

  12. Control of cast iron and casts manufacturing by Inmold method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the usability of cast iron spheroidizing process in mould control by ATD method as well as by ultrasonic method were presented. Structure of instrumentation needed for control form performance of cast iron spheroidizing by Inmold method was illustrated. Author, pointed out that amount of magnesium master alloy should obtain 0,8 ÷ 1,0% of mass in form at all. Such quantity of preliminary alloy assure of obtain of nodular graphite in cast iron. In consequence of this, is reduce the cast iron liquidus temperature and decrease of recalescence temperature of graphite-eutectic crystallization in compare with initial cast iron. Control of casts can be carried out by ultrasonic method. In plain cast iron, ferritic-pearlitic microstructure is obtaining. Additives of 1,5% Cu ensure pearlitic structure.

  13. Sleep Deprivation affects Extinction but Not Acquisition Memory in Honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hussaini, Syed Abid; Bogusch, Lisa; Landgraf, Tim; Menzel, Randolf

    2009-01-01

    Sleep-like behavior has been studied in honeybees before, but the relationship between sleep and memory formation has not been explored. Here we describe a new approach to address the question if sleep in bees, like in other animals, improves memory consolidation. Restrained bees were observed by a web camera, and their antennal activities were…

  14. The casting of western sculpture during the XIXth century: sand casting versus lost wax casting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beentjes, T.P.C.

    2014-01-01

    This paper will discuss research into bronze casting techniques as practiced during the XIXth and early XXth century. Both natural sand casting (fonte au sable naturel) and lost wax casting (fonte à la cire perdue) were employed during this period and sometimes rivalled for commissions. Before the

  15. Agonistic interactions between the honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica and the European wasp (Vespula germanica reveal context-dependent defense strategies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelina Pusceddu

    Full Text Available Predator-prey relationships between sympatric species allow the evolution of defense behaviors, such as honeybee colonies defending their nests against predatory wasps. We investigated the predator-prey relationship between the honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica and the European wasp (Vespula germanica by evaluating the effectiveness of attack and defense behaviors, which have coevolved in these sympatric species, as well as the actual damage and disturbance caused to the colonies under attack. Attack and defense behaviors were recorded in front of the hive to observe attacks at the hive entrance (68 attacks in 279 h and at ground level on isolated and weakened honeybees close to the hive (465 attacks in 32 h. We found that V. germanica attacked the hive entrance infrequently due to the low success rate of this strategy and instead preferred a specialized attack method targeting adult honeybees at ground level, demonstrating opportunistic scavenger behavior. Individual honeybees usually responded effectively to an attack by recruiting an average of two nestmates, causing the wasp to flee, whereas collective balling behavior was only observed on four occasions. V. germanica does not appear to disrupt the foraging activity of the colonies under attack. We found that agonistic events supported by other nestmates were typically the most intense ones, involving physical combat and prolonged attacks at the entrance to the hive. These observations support the hypothesis that A. mellifera ligustica can adapt its behavior to match the severity of the threat and the context of the attack.

  16. Do honeybees, Apis mellifera scutellata, regulate humidity in their nest?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Human, Hannelie; Nicolson, Sue W.; Dietemann, Vincent

    2006-08-01

    Honeybees are highly efficient at regulating the biophysical parameters of their hive according to colony needs. Thermoregulation has been the most extensively studied aspect of nest homeostasis. In contrast, little is known about how humidity is regulated in beehives, if at all. Although high humidity is necessary for brood development, regulation of this parameter by honeybee workers has not yet been demonstrated. In the past, humidity was measured too crudely for a regulation mechanism to be identified. We reassess this issue, using miniaturised data loggers that allow humidity measurements in natural situations and at several places in the nest. We present evidence that workers influence humidity in the hive. However, there are constraints on potential regulation mechanisms because humidity optima may vary in different locations of the nest. Humidity could also depend on variable external factors, such as water availability, which further impair the regulation. Moreover, there are trade-offs with the regulation of temperature and respiratory gas exchanges that can disrupt the establishment of optimal humidity levels. As a result, we argue that workers can only adjust humidity within sub-optimal limits.

  17. A Foreign Body Granuloma of the Buccal Mucosa Induced by Honeybee Sting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuhiko Yamamoto

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A foreign body granuloma of the buccal mucosa induced by honeybee sting was reported. The patient was an 82-year-old female who presented with a submucous mass at the right buccal mucosa. The mass was 20 mm in diameter, elastically firm, partly mobile without pain or tenderness, and covered with almost normal mucosa. MR image did not delineate the lesion clearly. Under clinical diagnosis of a benign tumor, the lesion was excised under local anesthesia. The excised lesion was 14×11×9 mm in size and solid and yellowish in cut surface. Histologically, the lesion consisted of granulomatous tissue with a few narrow, curved, eosinophilic structures compatible with decomposed fragments of a honeybee sting and was diagnosed as a foreign body granuloma, although the patient did not recall being stung.

  18. Thermodynamic stability of austenitic Ni-Mn-Cu cast iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Janus

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The performed research was aimed at determining thermodynamic stability of structures of Ni-Mn-Cu cast iron castings. Examined were 35 alloys. The castings were tempered at 900 °C for 2 hours. Two cooling speeds were used: furnace-cooling and water-cooling. In the alloys with the nickel equivalent value less than 20,0 %, partial transition of austenite to martensite took place. The austenite decomposition ratio and the related growth of hardness was higher for smaller nickel equivalent value and was clearly larger in annealed castings than in hardened ones. Obtaining thermodynamically stable structure of castings requires larger than 20,0 % value of the nickel equivalent.

  19. An attempt of assessing the production perspectives concerning malleable iron castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.S. Soiński

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a historical outline of production of the malleable cast iron castings on the territory of Poland during the past over a hundred years. There have been also gathered data concerning the total quantity of castings and the quantity of malleable iron and nodular iron castings produced in twelve selected countries over the period from 1993 to 2006. The percentage of malleable iron to total production of castings, and for a purpose of comparison the percentage of nodular cast iron to total production of castings, has been determined for these countries. A distinct decreasing tendency can be seen with respect to the production of malleable iron castings, while an increasing trend exists in production of nodular iron castings.

  20. Transcriptome differences in the hypopharyngeal gland between Western Honeybees (Apis mellifera) and Eastern Honeybees (Apis cerana).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hao; Wang, Zi-Long; Tian, Liu-Qing; Qin, Qiu-Hong; Wu, Xiao-Bo; Yan, Wei-Yu; Zeng, Zhi-Jiang

    2014-08-30

    Apis mellifera and Apis cerana are two sibling species of Apidae. Apis cerana is adept at collecting sporadic nectar in mountain and forest region and exhibits stiffer hardiness and acarid resistance as a result of natural selection, whereas Apis mellifera has the advantage of producing royal jelly. To identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that affect the development of hypopharyngeal gland (HG) and/or the secretion of royal jelly between these two honeybee species, we performed a digital gene expression (DGE) analysis of the HGs of these two species at three developmental stages (newly emerged worker, nurse and forager). Twelve DGE-tag libraries were constructed and sequenced using the total RNA extracted from the HGs of newly emerged workers, nurses, and foragers of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. Finally, a total of 1482 genes in Apis mellifera and 1313 in Apis cerana were found to exhibit an expression difference among the three developmental stages. A total of 1417 DEGs were identified between these two species. Of these, 623, 1072, and 462 genes showed an expression difference at the newly emerged worker, nurse, and forager stages, respectively. The nurse stage exhibited the highest number of DEGs between these two species and most of these were found to be up-regulated in Apis mellifera. These results suggest that the higher yield of royal jelly in Apis mellifera may be due to the higher expression level of these DEGs. In this study, we investigated the DEGs between the HGs of two sibling honeybee species (Apis mellifera and Apis cerana). Our results indicated that the gene expression difference was associated with the difference in the royal jelly yield between these two species. These results provide an important clue for clarifying the mechanisms underlying hypopharyngeal gland development and the production of royal jelly.

  1. Fiber laser cladding of nickel-based alloy on cast iron

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arias-González, F., E-mail: felipeag@uvigo.es [Applied Physics Dpt., University of Vigo, EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo E-36310 (Spain); Val, J. del [Applied Physics Dpt., University of Vigo, EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo E-36310 (Spain); Comesaña, R. [Materials Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Construction Dpt., University of Vigo, EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo E-36310 (Spain); Penide, J.; Lusquiños, F.; Quintero, F.; Riveiro, A.; Boutinguiza, M.; Pou, J. [Applied Physics Dpt., University of Vigo, EEI, Lagoas-Marcosende, Vigo E-36310 (Spain)

    2016-06-30

    Highlights: • Fiber laser cladding of Ni-based alloy on cast iron was experimentally studied. • Two different types of cast iron have been analyzed: gray and ductile cast iron. • Suitable processing parameters to generate a Ni-based coating were determined. • Dilution is higher in gray cast iron samples than in ductile cast iron. • Ni-based coating presents higher hardness than cast iron but similar Young's modulus. - Abstract: Gray cast iron is a ferrous alloy characterized by a carbon-rich phase in form of lamellar graphite in an iron matrix while ductile cast iron presents a carbon-rich phase in form of spheroidal graphite. Graphite presents a higher laser beam absorption than iron matrix and its morphology has also a strong influence on thermal conductivity of the material. The laser cladding process of cast iron is complicated by its heterogeneous microstructure which generates non-homogeneous thermal fields. In this research work, a comparison between different types of cast iron substrates (with different graphite morphology) has been carried out to analyze its impact on the process results. A fiber laser was used to generate a NiCrBSi coating over flat substrates of gray cast iron (EN-GJL-250) and nodular cast iron (EN-GJS-400-15). The relationship between processing parameters (laser irradiance and scanning speed) and geometry of a single laser track was examined. Moreover, microstructure and composition were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The hardness and elastic modulus were analyzed by means of micro- and nanoindentation. A hardfacing coating was generated by fiber laser cladding. Suitable processing parameters to generate the Ni-based alloy coating were determined. For the same processing parameters, gray cast iron samples present higher dilution than cast iron samples. The elastic modulus is similar for the coating and the substrate, while the Ni

  2. Duration of the Unconditioned Stimulus in Appetitive Conditioning of Honeybees Differentially Impacts Learning, Long-Term Memory Strength, and the Underlying Protein Synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marter, Kathrin; Grauel, M. Katharina; Lewa, Carmen; Morgenstern, Laura; Buckemüller, Christina; Heufelder, Karin; Ganz, Marion; Eisenhardt, Dorothea

    2014-01-01

    This study examines the role of stimulus duration in learning and memory formation of honeybees ("Apis mellifera"). In classical appetitive conditioning honeybees learn the association between an initially neutral, conditioned stimulus (CS) and the occurrence of a meaningful stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus (US). Thereby the CS…

  3. Laurel leaf extracts for honeybee pest and disease management: antimicrobial, microsporicidal, and acaricidal activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damiani, Natalia; Fernández, Natalia J; Porrini, Martín P; Gende, Liesel B; Álvarez, Estefanía; Buffa, Franco; Brasesco, Constanza; Maggi, Matías D; Marcangeli, Jorge A; Eguaras, Martín J

    2014-02-01

    A diverse set of parasites and pathogens affects productivity and survival of Apis mellifera honeybees. In beekeeping, traditional control by antibiotics and molecules of synthesis has caused problems with contamination and resistant pathogens. In this research, different Laurus nobilis extracts are tested against the main honeybee pests through an integrated point of view. In vivo effects on bee survival are also evaluated. The ethanol extract showed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 208 to 416 μg/mL, having the best antimicrobial effect on Paenibacillus larvae among all substances tested. Similarly, this leaf extract showed a significant antiparasitic activity on Varroa destructor, killing 50 % of mites 24 h after a 30-s exposure, and on Nosema ceranae, inhibiting the spore development in the midgut of adult bees ingesting 1 × 10(4) μg/mL of extract solution. Both ethanol extract and volatile extracts (essential oil, hydrolate, and its main component) did not cause lethal effects on adult honeybees. Thus, the absence of topical and oral toxicity of the ethanol extract on bees and the strong antimicrobial, microsporicidal, and miticidal effects registered in this study place this laurel extract as a promising integrated treatment of bee diseases and stimulates the search for other bioactive phytochemicals from plants.

  4. Validation of attenuation-corrected equilibrium radionuclide angiographic determinations of right ventricular volume: comparison with cast-validated biplane cineventriculography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dell'Italia, L.J.; Starling, M.R.; Walsh, R.A.; Badke, F.R.; Lasher, J.C.; Blumhardt, R.

    1985-01-01

    To determine the accuracy of attenuation-corrected equilibrium radionuclide angiographic determinations of right ventricular volumes, the authors initially studied 14 postmortem human right ventricular casts by water displacement and biplane cineventriculography. Biplane cineventriculographic right ventricular cast volumes, calculated by a modification of Simpson's rule algorithm, correlated well with right ventricular cast volumes measured by water displacement (r = .97, y = 8 + 0.88x, SEE = 6 ml). Moreover, the mean volumes obtained by both methods were no different (73 +/- 28 vs 73 +/- 25 ml). Subsequently, they studied 16 patients by both biplane cineventriculography and equilibrium radionuclide angiography. The uncorrected radionuclide right ventricular volumes were calculated by normalizing background corrected end-diastolic and end-systolic counts from hand-drawn regions of interest obtained by phase analysis for cardiac cycles processed, frame rate, and blood sample counts. Attenuation correction was performed by a simple geometric method. The attenuation-corrected radionuclide right ventricular end-diastolic volumes correlated with the cineventriculographic end-diastolic volumes (r = .91, y = 3 + 0.92x, SEE = 27 ml). Similarly, the attenuation-corrected radionuclide right ventricular end-systolic volumes correlated with the cineventriculographic end-systolic volumes (r = .93, y = - 1 + 0.91x, SEE = 16 ml). Also, the mean attenuation-corrected radionuclide end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were no different than the average cineventriculographic end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (160 +/- 61 and 83 +/- 44 vs 170 +/- 61 and 86 +/- 43 ml, respectively)

  5. A dynamic control water distribution model of steel in continuous casting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Jianxun; Hwang, Weng-Sing; Tsai, De-Chang; Tsai, Ming Hsiu; Wang, Chien-Hsun

    2012-01-01

    After investigation in many continuous casting shop of steel, a dynamic water distribution model is proposed for flexible control on secondary cooling in continuous casting. In this model, the water cooling intensity is determined by the model casting speed instead of the real casting speed. When the casting speed is steady, the model casting speed is equal to the real casting speed. When the real casting speed is changing, the model casting speed according to calculating algorithm to adjust and approaches to the real one, but there is a time delay between them, so it can avoid the slab surface temperature fluctuated due to casting speed changes. The secondary cooling can be dynamically controlled by monitoring the model casting speed. The compare of the simulation results and the measured results reveals that the temperature field and thickness of slab shell in simulations agree very well with the real production situations.

  6. Flight, orientation, and homing abilities of honeybees following exposure to 2.45-GHz CW microwaves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gary, N E; Westerdahl, B B

    1981-01-01

    Foraging-experienced honeybees retained normal flight, orientation, and memory functions after 30 minutes' exposure to 2.45-GHz CW microwaves at power densities from 3 to 50 mW/cm2. These experiments were conducted at power densities approximating and exceeding those that would be present above receiving antennas of the proposed solar power satellite (SPS) energy transmission system and for a duration exceeding that which honeybees living outside a rectenna might be expected to spend within the rectenna on individual foraging trips. There was no evidence that airborne invertebrates would be significantly affected during transient passage through microwaves associated with SPS ground-based microwave receiving stations.

  7. Alternative splicing of a single transcription factor drives selfish reproductive behavior in honeybee workers (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jarosch, Antje; Stolle, Eckart; Crewe, Robin M; Moritz, Robin F A

    2011-09-13

    In eusocial insects the production of daughters is generally restricted to mated queens, and unmated workers are functionally sterile. The evolution of this worker sterility has been plausibly explained by kin selection theory [Hamilton W (1964) J Theor Biol 7:1-52], and many traits have evolved to prevent conflict over reproduction among the females in an insect colony. In honeybees (Apis mellifera), worker reproduction is regulated by the queen, brood pheromones, and worker policing. However, workers of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, can evade this control and establish themselves as social parasites by activating their ovaries, parthenogenetically producing diploid female offspring (thelytoky) and producing queen-like amounts of queen pheromones. All these traits have been shown to be strongly influenced by a single locus on chromosome 13 [Lattorff HMG, et al. (2007) Biol Lett 3:292-295]. We screened this region for candidate genes and found that alternative splicing of a gene homologous to the gemini transcription factor of Drosophila controls worker sterility. Knocking out the critical exon in a series of RNAi experiments resulted in rapid worker ovary activation-one of the traits characteristic of the social parasites. This genetic switch may be controlled by a short intronic splice enhancer motif of nine nucleotides attached to the alternative splice site. The lack of this motif in parasitic Cape honeybee clones suggests that the removal of nine nucleotides from the altruistic worker genome may be sufficient to turn a honeybee from an altruistic worker into a parasite.

  8. Interactive effects of large- and small-scale sources of feral honey-bees for sunflower in the Argentine Pampas.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agustín Sáez

    Full Text Available Pollinators for animal pollinated crops can be provided by natural and semi-natural habitats, ranging from large vegetation remnants to small areas of non-crop land in an otherwise highly modified landscape. It is unknown, however, how different small- and large-scale habitat patches interact as pollinator sources. In the intensively managed Argentine Pampas, we studied the additive and interactive effects of large expanses (up to 2200 ha of natural habitat, represented by untilled isolated "sierras", and narrow (3-7 m wide strips of semi-natural habitat, represented by field margins, as pollinator sources for sunflower (Helianthus annus. We estimated visitation rates by feral honey-bees, Apis mellifera, and native flower visitors (as a group at 1, 5, 25, 50 and 100 m from a field margin in 17 sunflower fields 0-10 km distant from the nearest sierra. Honey-bees dominated the pollinator assemblage accounting for >90% of all visits to sunflower inflorescences. Honey-bee visitation was strongly affected by proximity to the sierras decreasing by about 70% in the most isolated fields. There was also a decline in honey-bee visitation with distance from the field margin, which was apparent with increasing field isolation, but undetected in fields nearby large expanses of natural habitat. The probability of observing a native visitor decreased with isolation from the sierras, but in other respects visitation by flower visitors other than honey-bees was mostly unaffected by the habitat factors assessed in this study. Overall, we found strong hierarchical and interactive effects between the study large and small-scale pollinator sources. These results emphasize the importance of preserving natural habitats and managing actively field verges in the absence of large remnants of natural habitat for improving pollinator services.

  9. Interactive effects of large- and small-scale sources of feral honey-bees for sunflower in the Argentine Pampas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sáez, Agustín; Sabatino, Malena; Aizen, Marcelo A

    2012-01-01

    Pollinators for animal pollinated crops can be provided by natural and semi-natural habitats, ranging from large vegetation remnants to small areas of non-crop land in an otherwise highly modified landscape. It is unknown, however, how different small- and large-scale habitat patches interact as pollinator sources. In the intensively managed Argentine Pampas, we studied the additive and interactive effects of large expanses (up to 2200 ha) of natural habitat, represented by untilled isolated "sierras", and narrow (3-7 m wide) strips of semi-natural habitat, represented by field margins, as pollinator sources for sunflower (Helianthus annus). We estimated visitation rates by feral honey-bees, Apis mellifera, and native flower visitors (as a group) at 1, 5, 25, 50 and 100 m from a field margin in 17 sunflower fields 0-10 km distant from the nearest sierra. Honey-bees dominated the pollinator assemblage accounting for >90% of all visits to sunflower inflorescences. Honey-bee visitation was strongly affected by proximity to the sierras decreasing by about 70% in the most isolated fields. There was also a decline in honey-bee visitation with distance from the field margin, which was apparent with increasing field isolation, but undetected in fields nearby large expanses of natural habitat. The probability of observing a native visitor decreased with isolation from the sierras, but in other respects visitation by flower visitors other than honey-bees was mostly unaffected by the habitat factors assessed in this study. Overall, we found strong hierarchical and interactive effects between the study large and small-scale pollinator sources. These results emphasize the importance of preserving natural habitats and managing actively field verges in the absence of large remnants of natural habitat for improving pollinator services.

  10. How do honeybees use their magnetic compass? Can they see the North?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Válková, T; Vácha, M

    2012-08-01

    While seeking food sources and routes back to their hive, bees make use of their advanced nervous and sensory capacities, which underlie a diverse behavioral repertoire. One of several honeybee senses that is both exceptional and intriguing is magnetoreception - the ability to perceive the omnipresent magnetic field (MF) of the Earth. The mechanism by which animals sense MFs has remained fascinating as well as elusive because of the intricacies involved, which makes it one of the grand challenges for neural and sensory biology. However, investigations in recent years have brought substantial progress to our understanding of how such magneto-receptor(s) may work. Some terrestrial animals (birds) are reported to be equipped even with a dual perception system: one based on diminutive magnetic particles - in line with the original model which has also always been hypothesized for bees - and the other one, as the more recent model describes, based on a sensitivity of some photochemical reactions to MF (radical-pair or chemical mechanism). The latter model postulates a close link to vision and supposes that the animals can see the position of the geomagnetic North as a visible pattern superimposed on the picture of the environment. In recent years, a growing body of evidence has shown that radical-pair magnetoreception might also be used by insects. It is realistic to expect that such evidence will inspire a re-examination and extension or confirmation of established views on the honeybee magnetic-compass mechanism. However, the problem of bee magnetoreception will not be solved at the moment that a receptor is discovered. On the contrary, the meaning of magnetoreception in insect life and its involvement in the orchestration of other senses is yet to be fully understood. The crucial question to be addressed in the near future is whether the compass abilities of the honeybee could suffer from radio frequency (RF) smog accompanying modern civilization and whether the

  11. An abbreviated SNP panel for ancestry assignment of honeybees (Apis mellifera)

    Science.gov (United States)

    This paper examines whether an abbreviated panel of 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has the same power as a larger and more expensive panel of 95 SNPs to assign ancestry of honeybees (Apis mellifera) to three ancestral lineages. We selected 37 SNPs from the original 95 SNP panel using alle...

  12. Brood temperature, task division and colony survival in honeybees : A model

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Becher, Matthias A.; Hildenbrandt, Hanno; Hemelrijk, Charlotte K.; Moritz, Robin F. A.

    2010-01-01

    One of the mechanisms by which honeybees regulate division of labour among their colony members is age polyethism. Here the younger bees perform in-hive tasks such as heating and the older ones carry out tasks outside the hive such as foraging. Recently it has been shown that the higher

  13. Resolution and sensitivity of the eyes of the Asian honeybees Apis florea, Apis cerana and Apis dorsata.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somanathan, Hema; Warrant, Eric J; Borges, Renee M; Wallén, Rita; Kelber, Almut

    2009-08-01

    Bees of the genus Apis are important foragers of nectar and pollen resources. Although the European honeybee, Apis mellifera, has been well studied with respect to its sensory abilities, learning behaviour and role as pollinators, much less is known about the other Apis species. We studied the anatomical spatial resolution and absolute sensitivity of the eyes of three sympatric species of Asian honeybees, Apis cerana, Apis florea and Apis dorsata and compared them with the eyes of A. mellifera. Of these four species, the giant honeybee A. dorsata (which forages during moonlit nights) has the lowest spatial resolution and the most sensitive eyes, followed by A. mellifera, A. cerana and the dwarf honeybee, A. florea (which has the smallest acceptance angles and the least sensitive eyes). Moreover, unlike the strictly diurnal A. cerana and A. florea, A. dorsata possess large ocelli, a feature that it shares with all dim-light bees. However, the eyes of the facultatively nocturnal A. dorsata are much less sensitive than those of known obligately nocturnal bees such as Megalopta genalis in Panama and Xylocopa tranquebarica in India. The differences in sensitivity between the eyes of A. dorsata and other strictly diurnal Apis species cannot alone explain why the former is able to fly, orient and forage at half-moon light levels. We assume that additional neuronal adaptations, as has been proposed for A. mellifera, M. genalis and X. tranquebarica, might exist in A. dorsata.

  14. Quality of royal jelly produced by Africanized honeybees fed a supplemented diet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Josiane Sereia

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of artificial supplements prepared with soybean protein isolate, brewer's yeast, mixture of soybean protein isolate with brewer's yeast, linseed oil, palm oil, and a mixture of linseed oil with palm oil on the physicochemical and microbiological composition of royal jelly produced by Africanized honey bee colonies. Considering these results, providing supplements for Africanized honeybee colonies subjected to royal jelly production can help and strengthen the technological development of the Brazilian beekeeping industry increasing its consumption in the national market. This research presents values of royal jelly a little different from those established by the Brazilian legislation. This fact shows that is important to discuss or change the official method for royal jelly analysis. The characterization of physicochemical and microbiological parameters is important in order to standardize fresh, frozen, and lyophilized royal jelly produced by Africanized honeybees.

  15. Effects of abamectin and deltamethrin to the foragers honeybee workers of Apis mellifera jemenatica (Hymenoptera: Apidae under laboratory conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dalal Musleh Aljedani

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed at evaluating the toxicity of some insecticides (abamectin and deltamethrin on the lethal time (LT50 and midgut of foragers honeybee workers of Apis mellifera jemenatica were studied under laboratory conditions. The bees were provided with water, food, natural protein and sugar solution with insecticide (concentration: 2.50 ppm deltamethrin and 0.1 ppm abamectin. The control group was not treated with any kind of insecticides. The mortality was assessed at 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hour (h after insecticides treatment and period to calculate the value of lethal time (LT50. But the samples the histology study of midgut collected after 24 h were conducted by Scanning Electron Microscope. The results showed the effects of insecticides on the current results show that abamectin has an adverse effect on honeybees, there is a clear impact on the lethal time (LT50 was the abamectin faster in the death of honeybee workers compared to deltamethrin. Where have reached to abamectin (LT50 = 21.026 h, deltamethrin (LT50 = 72.011 h. However, abamectin also effects on cytotoxic midgut cells that may cause digestive disorders in the midgut, epithelial tissue is formed during morphological alterations when digestive cells die. The extends into the internal cavity, and at the top, there is epithelial cell striated border that has many holes and curves, abamectin seems to have crushed the layers of muscle. Through the current results can say abamectin most toxicity on honeybees colony health and vitality, especially foragers honeybee workers.

  16. Marginal Accuracy of Castings Fabricated with Ringless Casting Investment System and Metal Ring Casting Investment System: A Comparative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kalavathi, M; Sachin, Bhuvana; Prasanna, B G; Shreeharsha, T V; Praveen, B; Ragher, Mallikarjuna

    2016-02-01

    The thermal expansion of the investment can be restricted by the metal casting ring because the thermal expansion of the ring is less than that of the investment. The ringless casting procedure is in use in clinical dentistry, though there is little scientific data to support its use in fixed partial dentures. In this study, marginal discrepancy of castings produced with the ringless casting technique and the conventional technique using the metal rings were compared. A total of 30 wax patterns were fabricated directly on a metal die. Optical stereomicroscope was used to measure the marginal discrepancy between the metal die and wax patterns. A total of 15 castings were invested using Bellavest T phosphate-bonded investment with the ringless technique and 15 were invested with the same investment with a metal ring; 30 castings were produced using a nickel-chromium ceramo-metal alloy. The internal surface of the castings was not modified and seated with finger pressure. The vertical marginal discrepancy was measured using an optical stereomicroscope at a magnification of 100x. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using students t-test (paired t-test and unpaired t-test). The castings of the ringless technique provided less vertical marginal discrepancy (240.56 ± 45.81 μ) than the castings produced with the conventional metal ring technique (281.98± 53.05 μ). The difference was statistically significant. The ringless casting technique had produced better marginal accuracy compared with conventional casting technique. Ringless casting system can be used routinely for clinical purpose.

  17. Cure shrinkage in casting resins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spencer, J. Brock [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2015-02-01

    A method is described whereby the shrinkage of a casting resin can be determined. Values for the shrinkage of several resin systems in frequent use by Sandia have been measured. A discussion of possible methods for determining the stresses generated by cure shrinkage and thermal contraction is also included.

  18. Travelling Through Caste

    OpenAIRE

    Kumar, Raj

    2016-01-01

    With its peculiar caste system, India is considered the most stratified of all known societies in human history. This system is ‘peculiar’ as it divides human beings into higher and lower castes and this division is backed by certain religious sanctions based on the sociological concepts of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’. While the higher caste is associated with ‘purity’, the lower caste is associated with ‘pollution’. The people of the lower castes are not allowed to undertake religious journeys ...

  19. Analysis of four dental alloys following torch/centrifugal and induction/ vacuum-pressure casting procedures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Geoffrey A; Luo, Qing; Hefti, Arthur

    2013-12-01

    Previous studies have shown casting methodology to influence the as-cast properties of dental casting alloys. It is important to consider clinically important mechanical properties so that the influence of casting can be clarified. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how torch/centrifugal and inductively cast and vacuum-pressure casting machines may affect the castability, microhardness, chemical composition, and microstructure of 2 high noble, 1 noble, and 1 base metal dental casting alloys. Two commonly used methods for casting were selected for comparison: torch/centrifugal casting and inductively heated/ vacuum-pressure casting. One hundred and twenty castability patterns were fabricated and divided into 8 groups. Four groups were torch/centrifugally cast in Olympia (O), Jelenko O (JO), Genesis II (G), and Liberty (L) alloys. Similarly, 4 groups were cast in O, JO, G, and L by an inductively induction/vacuum-pressure casting machine. Each specimen was evaluated for casting completeness to determine a castability value, while porosity was determined by standard x-ray techniques. Each group was metallographically prepared for further evaluation that included chemical composition, Vickers microhardness, and grain analysis of microstructure. Two-way ANOVA was used to determine significant differences among the main effects. Statistically significant effects were examined further with the Tukey HSD procedure for multiple comparisons. Data obtained from the castability experiments were non-normal and the variances were unequal. They were analyzed statistically with the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test. Significant results were further investigated statistically with the Steel-Dwass method for multiple comparisons (α=.05). The alloy type had a significant effect on surface microhardness (Pcasting did not affect the microhardness of the test specimen (P=.465). Similarly, the interaction between the alloy and casting technique was not significant (P=.119). A high

  20. Lower disease infections in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies headed by polyandrous vs monandrous queens

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarpy, David R.; Seeley, Thomas D.

    2006-04-01

    We studied the relationship between genetic diversity and disease susceptibility in honeybee colonies living under natural conditions. To do so, we created colonies in which each queen was artificially inseminated with sperm from either one or ten drones. Of the 20 colonies studied, 80% showed at least one brood disease. We found strong differences between the two types of colonies in the infection intensity of chalkbrood and in the total intensity of all brood diseases (chalkbrood, sacbrood, American foulbrood, and European foulbrood) with both variables lower for the colonies with higher genetic diversity. Our findings demonstrate that disease can be an important factor in the ecology of honeybee colonies and they provide strong support for the disease hypothesis for the evolution of polyandry by social insect queens.

  1. Neonicotinoids interfere with specific components of navigation in honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Johannes Fischer

    Full Text Available Three neonicotinoids, imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiacloprid, agonists of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the central brain of insects, were applied at non-lethal doses in order to test their effects on honeybee navigation. A catch-and-release experimental design was applied in which feeder trained bees were caught when arriving at the feeder, treated with one of the neonicotinoids, and released 1.5 hours later at a remote site. The flight paths of individual bees were tracked with harmonic radar. The initial flight phase controlled by the recently acquired navigation memory (vector memory was less compromised than the second phase that leads the animal back to the hive (homing flight. The rate of successful return was significantly lower in treated bees, the probability of a correct turn at a salient landscape structure was reduced, and less directed flights during homing flights were performed. Since the homing phase in catch-and-release experiments documents the ability of a foraging honeybee to activate a remote memory acquired during its exploratory orientation flights, we conclude that non-lethal doses of the three neonicotinoids tested either block the retrieval of exploratory navigation memory or alter this form of navigation memory. These findings are discussed in the context of the application of neonicotinoids in plant protection.

  2. Neonicotinoids Interfere with Specific Components of Navigation in Honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Johannes; Müller, Teresa; Spatz, Anne-Kathrin; Greggers, Uwe; Grünewald, Bernd; Menzel, Randolf

    2014-01-01

    Three neonicotinoids, imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiacloprid, agonists of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the central brain of insects, were applied at non-lethal doses in order to test their effects on honeybee navigation. A catch-and-release experimental design was applied in which feeder trained bees were caught when arriving at the feeder, treated with one of the neonicotinoids, and released 1.5 hours later at a remote site. The flight paths of individual bees were tracked with harmonic radar. The initial flight phase controlled by the recently acquired navigation memory (vector memory) was less compromised than the second phase that leads the animal back to the hive (homing flight). The rate of successful return was significantly lower in treated bees, the probability of a correct turn at a salient landscape structure was reduced, and less directed flights during homing flights were performed. Since the homing phase in catch-and-release experiments documents the ability of a foraging honeybee to activate a remote memory acquired during its exploratory orientation flights, we conclude that non-lethal doses of the three neonicotinoids tested either block the retrieval of exploratory navigation memory or alter this form of navigation memory. These findings are discussed in the context of the application of neonicotinoids in plant protection. PMID:24646521

  3. Caste and power

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Roy, Dayabati

    2011-01-01

    This paper explores the institution of caste and its operation in a micro-level village setting of West Bengal, an Indian state, where state politics at grass roots level is vibrant with functioning local self-government and entrenched political parties. This ethnographic study reveals that caste...... relations and caste identities have overarching dimensions in the day-to-day politics of the study villages. Though caste almost ceases to operate in relation to strict religious strictures, under economic compulsion the division of labour largely coincides with caste division. In the cultural......–ideological field, the concept of caste-hierarchy seems to continue as an influencing factor, even in the operation of leftist politics....

  4. Effects of selected casting methods on mechanical behaviour of Al-Mg-Si alloy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henry Kayode TALABI

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the effects of selected casting methods on mechanical behaviour of Al-Mg-Si alloy. The casting methods used was spin, sand and die casting, these were done with a view to determine which of the casting methods will produce the best properties. The pure aluminium scrap, magnesium and silicon were subjected to chemical analysis using spectrometric analyzer, thereafter the charge calculation to determine the amount needed to be charged into the furnace was properly worked out and charged into the crucible furnace from which as-cast aluminium was obtained. The mechanical properties of the casting produced were assessed by hardness and impact toughness test. The optical microscopy and experimental density and porosity were also investigated. From the results it was observed that magnesium and silicon were well dispersed in aluminium matrix of the spin casting. It was observed from visual examination after machining that there were minimal defects. It was also observed that out of the three casting methods, spin casting possesses the best mechanical properties (hardness and impact toughness.

  5. Technological Aspects of Low-Alloyed Cast Steel Massive Casting Manufacturing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szajnara J.

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In the paper authors have undertaken the attempt of explaining the causes of cracks net occurrence on a massive 3-ton cast steel casting with complex geometry. Material used for casting manufacturing was the low-alloyed cast steel with increased wear resistance modified with vanadium and titanium. The studies included the primary and secondary crystallization analysis with use of TDA and the qualitative and quantitative analysis of non-metallic inclusions.

  6. Consumption rate of some proteinic diets affecting hypopharyngeal glands development in honeybee workers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Ghamdi, Ahmad AlKazim; Al-Khaibari, Abeer M.; Omar, Mohamed O.

    2010-01-01

    The experiment was carried out under laboratory condition to study the consumption of some proteinic diets and their effect on hypopharyngeal glands (HPG) development during nursing period. The results showed that the bee bread and the pollen loads mixture with sugar (1:1) were more consumed by honeybee workers followed by Nectapol® and Yeast-Gluten mixture. The lowest consumption amount was recorded with traditional substitute. Clear differences were found in HPG development under feeding with different diets. The maximum development degree was observed when fed with bee bread followed by pollen loads and mixture from Yeast, Gluten and sugar (1:1:2). The acinal surface of HPG showed clear difference under feeding with difference diets. The largest area was recorded when honeybee workers fed on bee bread followed by Yeast-Gluten-sugar mixture (diet,4) and pollen loads(diet,2). PMID:23961106

  7. Lower limb intracast pressures generated by different types of immobilisation casts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhury, Salma; Hazlerigg, Alexandra; Vusirikala, Anuhya; Nguyen, Joseph; Matthews, Stuart

    2017-02-18

    To determine if complete, split casts and backslabs [plaster of Paris (POP) and fiberglass] generate different intracast pressures and pain. Increased swelling within casts was modeled by a closed water system attached to an expandable bag placed directly under different types of casts applied to a healthy lower limb. Complete fiberglass and POP casts, split casts and backslabs were applied. Twenty-five milliliter aliquots of saline were injected into the system and the generated intracast pressures were measured using a sphygmomanometer. The subject was blinded to the pressure scores to avoid bias. All casts were applied to the same right limb on the same subject to avoid the effects of variations in anatomy or physiology on intracast pressures. Pain levels were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Score after each sequential saline injection. Each type of cast was reapplied four times and the measurements were repeated on four separate occasions. Sample sizes were determined by a pre-study 90% power calculation to detect a 20% difference in intracast pressures between cast groups. A significant difference between the various types of casts was noted when the saline volume was greater than 100 mL ( P = 0.009). The greatest intracast pressure was generated by complete fiberglass casts, which were significantly higher than complete POP casts or backslabs ( P = 0.018 and P = 0.008 respectively) at intracast saline volumes of 100 mL and higher. Backslabs produced a significantly lower intracast pressure compared to complete POP only once the saline volume within casts exceeded 225 mL ( P = 0.009). Intracast pressures were significantly lower in split casts ( P = 0.003). Split POP and fiberglass casts produced the lowest intracast pressures, even compared to backslabs ( P = 0.009). Complete fiberglass casts generated the highest pain levels at manometer pressures of 75 mmHg and greater ( P = 0.001). Split fiberglass casts had significantly reduced pain levels ( P = 0

  8. Modelling collective foraging by means of individual behaviour rules in honey-bees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vries, Han de; Biesmeijer, J.C.

    1998-01-01

    An individual-oriented model is constructed which simulates the collective foraging behaviour of a colony of honey-bees, Apis mellifera. Each bee follows the same set of behavioural rules. Each rule consists of a set of conditions followed by the behavioural act to be performed if the

  9. Giant honeybees ( Apis dorsata) mob wasps away from the nest by directed visual patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kastberger, Gerald; Weihmann, Frank; Zierler, Martina; Hötzl, Thomas

    2014-11-01

    The open nesting behaviour of giant honeybees ( Apis dorsata) accounts for the evolution of a series of defence strategies to protect the colonies from predation. In particular, the concerted action of shimmering behaviour is known to effectively confuse and repel predators. In shimmering, bees on the nest surface flip their abdomens in a highly coordinated manner to generate Mexican wave-like patterns. The paper documents a further-going capacity of this kind of collective defence: the visual patterns of shimmering waves align regarding their directional characteristics with the projected flight manoeuvres of the wasps when preying in front of the bees' nest. The honeybees take here advantage of a threefold asymmetry intrinsic to the prey-predator interaction: (a) the visual patterns of shimmering turn faster than the wasps on their flight path, (b) they "follow" the wasps more persistently (up to 100 ms) than the wasps "follow" the shimmering patterns (up to 40 ms) and (c) the shimmering patterns align with the wasps' flight in all directions at the same strength, whereas the wasps have some preference for horizontal correspondence. The findings give evidence that shimmering honeybees utilize directional alignment to enforce their repelling power against preying wasps. This phenomenon can be identified as predator driving which is generally associated with mobbing behaviour (particularly known in selfish herds of vertebrate species), which is, until now, not reported in insects.

  10. Survey of diseases and parasites of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in Sudan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Niweiri, M. A.; El-Sarrag, M. S. A.; Satti, A. A.

    2009-01-01

    A survey of the honeybee diseases and parasites including questionnaires were carried out in eight bee areas in Sudan during the season 2002/03. About 117 local colonies and 324 packages of imported colonies of Apis mellifera were inspected, in addition to 25 colonies of Apis florea. All areas were found to be free of most bacterial brood diseases and fungal diseases, except the bacterial brood disease (Serratia marcescens) which was merely detected in 2.6% of Khartoum colonies. However, non infective dysentery was the only adult disease found during this study infecting 18.2% of Kordofan colonies. On the other hand, the parasitic mite (Varroa jacobsoni) was reported as first record in Sudan, detected only in Khartoum State infecting about 75% of colonies in apiaries and 27% of wild colonies. Sudanese honeybees were found to be characterized by hygienic behaviour of colonies which resist most pests and diseases, and no chemicals were used for control.(Author)

  11. Effects of sublethal concentrations of bifenthrin and deltamethrin on fecundity, growth, and development of the honeybee Apis mellifera ligustica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Ping-Li; Wang, Qiang; Sun, Ji-Hu; Liu, Feng; Wang, Xing; Wu, Yan-Yan; Zhou, Ting

    2010-03-01

    Bifenthrin and deltamethrin have been widely used as pesticides in agriculture and forestry and are becoming an increasing risk to honeybees. The honeybee, Apis mellifera ligustica, is widely recognized as a beneficial insect of agronomic, ecological, and scientific importance. It is important to understand what effects these chemicals have on bees. Effects of two pesticides at sublethal concentrations on fecundity, growth, and development of honeybees were examined with the feeding method for a three-year period (2006-2008). It was shown that both bifenthrin and deltamethrin significantly reduced bee fecundity, decreased the rate at which bees develop to adulthood, and increased their immature periods. The toxicity of bifenthrin and deltamethrin on workers of Apis mellifera ligustica was also assessed, and the results from the present study showed that the median lethal effects of bifenthrin and deltamethrin were 16.7 and 62.8 mg/L, respectively.

  12. A heritable component in sex ratio and caste determination in a Cardiocondyla ant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heinze Jürgen

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Studies on sex ratios in social insects provide among the most compelling evidence for the importance of kin selection in social evolution. The elegant synthesis of Fisher's sex ratio principle and Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory predicts that colony-level sex ratios vary with the colonies' social and genetic structures. Numerous empirical studies in ants, bees, and wasps have corroborated these predictions. However, the evolutionary optimization of sex ratios requires genetic variation, but one fundamental determinant of sex ratios - the propensity of female larvae to develop into young queens or workers ("queen bias" - is thought to be largely controlled by the environment. Evidence for a genetic influence on sex ratio and queen bias is as yet restricted to a few taxa, in particular hybrids. Because of the very short lifetime of their queens, ants of the genus Cardiocondyla are ideal model systems for the study of complete lifetime reproductive success, queen bias, and sex ratios. We found that lifetime sex ratios of the ant Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi have a heritable component. In experimental single-queen colonies, 22 queens from a genetic lineage with a highly female-biased sex ratio produced significantly more female-biased offspring sex ratios than 16 queens from a lineage with a more male-biased sex ratio (median 91.5% vs. 58.5% female sexuals. Sex ratio variation resulted from different likelihood of female larvae developing into sexuals (median 50% vs. 22.6% female sexuals even when uniformly nursed by workers from another colony. Consistent differences in lifetime sex ratios and queen bias among queens of C. kagutsuchi suggest that heritable, genetic or maternal effects strongly affect caste determination. Such variation might provide the basis for adaptive evolution of queen and worker strategies, though it momentarily constrains the power of workers and queens to optimize caste ratios.

  13. A heritable component in sex ratio and caste determination in a Cardiocondyla ant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frohschammer, Sabine; Heinze, Jürgen

    2009-10-28

    Studies on sex ratios in social insects provide among the most compelling evidence for the importance of kin selection in social evolution. The elegant synthesis of Fisher's sex ratio principle and Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory predicts that colony-level sex ratios vary with the colonies' social and genetic structures. Numerous empirical studies in ants, bees, and wasps have corroborated these predictions. However, the evolutionary optimization of sex ratios requires genetic variation, but one fundamental determinant of sex ratios - the propensity of female larvae to develop into young queens or workers ("queen bias") - is thought to be largely controlled by the environment. Evidence for a genetic influence on sex ratio and queen bias is as yet restricted to a few taxa, in particular hybrids.Because of the very short lifetime of their queens, ants of the genus Cardiocondyla are ideal model systems for the study of complete lifetime reproductive success, queen bias, and sex ratios. We found that lifetime sex ratios of the ant Cardiocondyla kagutsuchi have a heritable component. In experimental single-queen colonies, 22 queens from a genetic lineage with a highly female-biased sex ratio produced significantly more female-biased offspring sex ratios than 16 queens from a lineage with a more male-biased sex ratio (median 91.5% vs. 58.5% female sexuals). Sex ratio variation resulted from different likelihood of female larvae developing into sexuals (median 50% vs. 22.6% female sexuals) even when uniformly nursed by workers from another colony.Consistent differences in lifetime sex ratios and queen bias among queens of C. kagutsuchi suggest that heritable, genetic or maternal effects strongly affect caste determination. Such variation might provide the basis for adaptive evolution of queen and worker strategies, though it momentarily constrains the power of workers and queens to optimize caste ratios.

  14. Cognitive Aspects of Comb-Building in the Honeybee?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincent Gallo

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The wax-made comb of the honeybee is a masterpiece of animal architecture. The highly regular, double-sided hexagonal structure is a near-optimal solution to storing food and housing larvae, economizing on building materials and space. Elaborate though they may seem, such animal constructions are often viewed as the result of ‘just instinct,’ governed by inflexible, pre-programmed, innate behavior routines. An inspection of the literature on honeybee comb construction, however, reveals a different picture. Workers have to learn, at least in part, certain elements of the technique, and there is considerable flexibility in terms of how the shape of the comb and its gradual manufacture is tailored to the circumstances, especially the available space. Moreover, we explore the 2-century old and now largely forgotten work by François Huber, where glass screens were placed between an expanding comb construction and the intended target wall. Bees took corrective action before reaching the glass obstacle, and altered the ongoing construction so as to reach the nearest wooden wall. Though further experiments will be necessary, these results suggest a form of spatial planning skills. We discuss these findings in the context of what is now known about insect cognition, and ask if it is possible that the production of hexagonal wax combs is the result of behavioral heuristics where a complex structure emerges as the result of simple behavioral rules applied by each individual, or whether prospective cognition might be involved.

  15. Effects of heat pipe cooling on permanent mold castings of aluminum alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, C.; Mucciardi, F.; Gruzleski, J.E.

    2002-01-01

    The temperature distribution within molds is a critical parameter in determining the ultimate casting quality in permanent mold casting processes, so there is a considerable incentive to develop a more effective method of mold cooling. Based on this consideration, a novel, effective and controllable heat pipe has been successfully developed and used as a new method of permanent mold cooling. Symmetric step casting of A356 alloy have been produced in an experimental permanent mold made of H13 tool steel, which is cooled by such heat pipes. The experimental results show that heat pipes can provide extremely high cooling rates in permanent mold castings of aluminum. The dendrite arm spacing of A356 alloy is refined considerably, and porosity and shrinkage of the castings are redistributed by the heat pipe cooling. Moreover, the heat pipe can be used to determine the time when the air gap forms at the interface between the mold and the casting. The effect of heat pipe cooling on solidification time of castings of A356 alloy with different coating types is also discussed in this paper. (author)

  16. Experimental Investigation on Corrosion of Cast Iron Pipes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Mohebbi

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is well known that corrosion is the predominant mechanism for the deterioration of cast iron pipes, leading to the reduction of pipe capacity and ultimate collapse of the pipes. In order to assess the remaining service life of corroded cast iron pipes, it is imperative to understand the mechanisms of corrosion over a long term and to develop models for pipe deterioration. Although many studies have been carried out to determine the corrosion behavior of cast iron, little research has been undertaken to understand how cast iron pipes behave over a longer time scale than hours, days, or weeks. The present paper intends to fill the gap regarding the long-term corrosion behaviour of cast iron pipes in the absence of historical data. In this paper, a comprehensive experimental program is presented in which the corrosion behaviour of three exservice pipes was thoroughly examined in three simulated service environments. It has been found in the paper that localised corrosion is the primary form of corrosion of cast iron water pipes. It has also been found that the microstructure of cast irons is a key factor that affects the corrosion behaviour of cast iron pipes. The paper concludes that long-term tests on corrosion behaviour of cast iron pipes can help develop models for corrosion-induced deterioration of the pipes for use in predicting the remaining service life of the pipes.

  17. Interactions of visual odometry and landmark guidance during food search in honeybees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vladusich, T; Hemmi, JM; Srinivasan, MV; Zeil, J

    How do honeybees use visual odometry and goal-defining landmarks to guide food search? In one experiment, bees were trained to forage in an optic-flow-rich tunnel with a landmark positioned directly above the feeder. Subsequent food-search tests indicated that bees searched much more accurately when

  18. Modelling collective foraging by means of individual behaviour rules in honey-bees

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Vries, H; Biesmeijer, JC

    1998-01-01

    An individual-oriented model is constructed which simulates the collective foraging behaviour of a colony of honey-bees, Apis mellifera. Each bee follows the same set of behavioural rules. Each rule consists of a set of conditions followed by the behavioural act to be performed if the conditions are

  19. Total contact cast for neuropathic diabetic foot ulcers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, R.; Yaqoob, M.Y.

    2008-01-01

    To determine the outcome of diabetic neuropathic foot ulcers treated with Total Contact Cast (TCC) in terms of percentage of ulcers healed and time to heal. The study included diabetic patients with non-ischemic neuropathic foot ulcers of upto grade 2 of Wagner's classification. Ulcers were debrided off necrotic tissues and Total Contact Cast (TCC) was applied. TCC was renewed every 2 weeks till healing. Cases were labeled as cast failure when there was no reduction in wound size in 4 consecutive weeks or worsening to a higher grade. Main outcome measures were the percentage of ulcers healed and time to heal in the cast. Thirty four (87.17%) patients were males and 5(12.82%) were females. The mean age was 62 +- 13.05 years. All patients had NIDDM. Out of the 52 ulcers, 41(78.84%) healed with TCC in an average 2 casts duration (mean 32 days). There were 11(21.15%) cast failure. Majority (63.63%) of cast failure ulcers were located on pressure bearing area of heel. Most (90%) of the ulcers on forefoot and midsole region healed with TCC (p<0.001). Longer ulcer duration (mean 57.45 +- 29.64 days) significantly reduced ulcer healing (p<0.001). Total contact cast was an effective treatment modality for neuropathic diabetic foot ulcers of Wagner's grade 2, located on forefoot and midsole region. (author)

  20. Insights into social insects from the genome of the honeybee Apis mellifera

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hauser, Frank; Cazzamali, Giuseppe; Williamson, Michael

    2006-01-01

    Here we report the genome sequence of the honeybee Apis mellifera, a key model for social behaviour and essential to global ecology through pollination. Compared with other sequenced insect genomes, the A. mellifera genome has high A+T and CpG contents, lacks major transposon families, evolves more...... slowly, and is more similar to vertebrates for circadian rhythm, RNA interference and DNA methylation genes, among others. Furthermore, A. mellifera has fewer genes for innate immunity, detoxification enzymes, cuticle-forming proteins and gustatory receptors, more genes for odorant receptors, and novel...... genes for nectar and pollen utilization, consistent with its ecology and social organization. Compared to Drosophila, genes in early developmental pathways differ in Apis, whereas similarities exist for functions that differ markedly, such as sex determination, brain function and behaviour. Population...

  1. Vibration-processing interneurons in the honeybee brain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hiroyuki Ai

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The afferents of the Johnston’s organ (JO in the honeybee brain send their axons to three distinct areas, the dorsal lobe, the dorsal subesophageal ganglion (DL-dSEG, and the posterior protocerebral lobe (PPL, suggesting that vibratory signals detected by the JO are processed differentially in these primary sensory centers. The morphological and physiological characteristics of interneurons arborizing in these areas were studied by intracellular recording and staining. DL-Int-1 and DL-Int-2 have dense arborizations in the DL-dSEG and respond to vibratory stimulation applied to the JO in either tonic excitatory, on-off-phasic excitatory, or tonic inhibitory patterns. PPL-D-1 has dense arborizations in the PPL, sends axons into the ventral nerve cord (VNC, and responds to vibratory stimulation and olfactory stimulation simultaneously applied to the antennae in long-lasting excitatory pattern. These results show that there are at least two parallel pathways for vibration processing through the DL-dSEG and the PPL. In this study, Honeybee Standard Brain was used as the common reference, and the morphology of two types of interneurons (DL-Int-1 and DL-Int-2 and JO afferents was merged into the standard brain based on the boundary of several neuropiles, greatly supporting the understanding of the spatial relationship between these identified neurons and JO afferents. The visualization of the region where the JO afferents are closely appositioned to these DL interneurons demonstrated the difference in putative synaptic regions between the JO afferents and these DL interneurons (DL-Int-1 and DL-Int-2 in the DL. The neural circuits related to the vibration-processing interneurons are discussed.

  2. Multiple reversal olfactory learning in honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theo Mota

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available In multiple reversal learning, animals trained to discriminate a reinforced from a non-reinforced stimulus are subjected to various, successive reversals of stimulus contingencies (e.g. A+ vs. B-, A- vs. B+, A+ vs. B-. This protocol is useful to determine whether or not animals learn to learn and solve successive discriminations faster (or with fewer errors with increasing reversal experience. Here we used the olfactory conditioning of proboscis extension reflex to study how honeybees Apis mellifera perform in a multiple reversal task. Our experiment contemplated four consecutive differential conditioning phases involving the same odors (A+ vs. B- to A- vs. B+ to A+ vs. B- to A- vs. B+. We show that bees in which the weight of reinforced or non-reinforced stimuli was similar mastered the multiple olfactory reversals. Bees which failed the task exhibited asymmetric responses to reinforced and non-reinforced stimuli, thus being unable to rapidly reverse stimulus contingencies. Efficient reversers did not improve their successive discriminations but rather tended to generalize their choice to both odors at the end of conditioning. As a consequence, both discrimination and reversal efficiency decreasedalong experimental phases. This result invalidates a learning-to-learn effect and indicates that bees do not only respond to the actual stimulus contingencies but rather combine these with an average of past experiences with the same stimuli.  

  3. Effect of cast steel production metallurgy on the emergence of casting defects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Čamek

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The paper documents metallurgical possibilities of high alloy cast steel production in open induction medium frequency furnaces and an electric arc furnace in a gravity die casting foundry. The observation was focused on the emergence of gas defects in steel castings. The content of gases achieved during the metallurgical processes was evaluated for every unit of the production equipment and the casting ladle before casting into disposable sand moulds. The sand mould area was considered to be constant. The aim was to evaluate the current metallurgical possibilities of affecting the content of gases in high alloy cast steel in the current technical conditions of the foundry.

  4. Plastic-casting intrinsic-surface unique identifier (tag)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palm, R.G.; De Volpi, A.

    1995-04-01

    This report describes the development of an authenticated intrinsic-surf ace tagging method for unique- identification of controlled items. Although developed for control of items limited by an arms control treaty, this method has other potential applications to keep track of critical or high-value items. Each tag (unique-identifier) consists of the intrinsic, microscopic surface topography of a small designated area on a controlled item. It is implemented by making a baseline plastic casting of the designated tag area and usually placing a cover (for example, a bar-code label) over this area to protect the surface from environmental alteration. The plastic casting is returned to a laboratory and prepared for high-resolution scanning electron microscope imaging. Several images are digitized and stored for use as a standard for authentication of castings taken during future inspections. Authentication is determined by numerically comparing digital images. Commercially available hardware and software are used for this tag. Tag parameters are optimized, so unique casting images are obtained from original surfaces, and images obtained from attempted duplicate surfaces are detected. This optimization uses the modulation transfer function, a first principle of image analysis, to determine the parameters. Surface duplication experiments confirmed the optimization

  5. SPRAY CASTING

    OpenAIRE

    SALAMCI, Elmas

    2010-01-01

    ABSTRACT This paper is designed to provide a basic review of spray casting. A brief overview of the historical development of spray  casting and the description of plant and equipment have been given. Following metallurgical characteristics of spray formed alloys, process parameters and solidification mechanism of spray deposition have been discussed in detail. Finally, microstructure and mechanical properties of the selected spray cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys have been presented and comp...

  6. Spontaneous Recovery After Extinction of the Conditioned Proboscis Extension Response in the Honeybee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandoz, Jean-Christophe; Pham-Delègue, Minh-Hà

    2004-01-01

    In honeybees, the proboscis extension response (PER) can be conditioned by associating an odor stimulus (CS) to a sucrose reward (US). Conditioned responses to the CS, which are acquired by most bees after a single CS-US pairing, disappear after repeated unrewarded presentations of the CS, a process called extinction. Extinction is usually thought to be based either on (1) the disruption of the stored CS-US association, or (2) the formation of an inhibitory “CS-no US” association that is better retrieved than the initial CS-US association. The observation of spontaneous recovery, i.e., the reappearance of responses to the CS after time passes following extinction, is traditionally interpreted as a proof for the formation of a transient inhibitory association. To provide a better understanding of extinction in honeybees, we examined whether time intervals during training and extinction or the number of conditioning and extinction trials have an effect on the occurrence of spontaneous recovery. We found that spontaneous recovery mostly occurs when conditioning and testing took place in a massed fashion (1-min intertrial intervals). Moreover, spontaneous recovery depended on the time elapsed since extinction, 1 h being an optimum. Increasing the number of conditioning trials improved the spontaneous recovery level, whereas increasing the number of extinction trials reduced it. Lastly, we show that after single-trial conditioning, spontaneous recovery appears only once after extinction. These elements suggest that in honeybees extinction of the PER actually reflects the impairment of the CS-US association, but that depending on training parameters different memory substrates are affected. PMID:15466313

  7. Honeybees in a virtual reality environment learn unique combinations of colour and shape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusch, Claire; Roth, Eatai; Vinauger, Clément; Riffell, Jeffrey A

    2017-10-01

    Honeybees are well-known models for the study of visual learning and memory. Whereas most of our knowledge of learned responses comes from experiments using free-flying bees, a tethered preparation would allow fine-scale control of the visual stimuli as well as accurate characterization of the learned responses. Unfortunately, conditioning procedures using visual stimuli in tethered bees have been limited in their efficacy. In this study, using a novel virtual reality environment and a differential training protocol in tethered walking bees, we show that the majority of honeybees learn visual stimuli, and need only six paired training trials to learn the stimulus. We found that bees readily learn visual stimuli that differ in both shape and colour. However, bees learn certain components over others (colour versus shape), and visual stimuli are learned in a non-additive manner with the interaction of specific colour and shape combinations being crucial for learned responses. To better understand which components of the visual stimuli the bees learned, the shape-colour association of the stimuli was reversed either during or after training. Results showed that maintaining the visual stimuli in training and testing phases was necessary to elicit visual learning, suggesting that bees learn multiple components of the visual stimuli. Together, our results demonstrate a protocol for visual learning in restrained bees that provides a powerful tool for understanding how components of a visual stimulus elicit learned responses as well as elucidating how visual information is processed in the honeybee brain. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  8. Casting and stress-strain simulations of a cast ductile iron component using microstructure based mechanical behavior

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olofsson, Jakob; Svensson, Ingvar L

    2012-01-01

    The industrial demand for increased component performance with concurrent reductions in component weight, development times and verifications using physical prototypes drives the need to use the full potential of casting and Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations to correctly predict the mechanical behavior of cast components in service. The mechanical behavior of the component is determined by the casting process, and factors as component geometry and casting process parameters are known to affect solidification and microstructure formation throughout the component and cause local variations in mechanical behavior as well as residual stresses. Though residual stresses are known to be an important factor in the mechanical behavior of the component, the importance of local mechanical behavior is not well established and the material is typically considered homogeneous throughout the component. This paper deals with the influence of solidification and solid state transformation on microstructure formation and the effect of local microstructure variations on the mechanical behavior of the cast component in service. The current work aims to investigate the coupling between simulation of solidification, microstructure and local variations in mechanical behavior and stress-strain simulation. This is done by performing several simulations of a ductile iron component using a recently developed simulation strategy, a closed chain of simulations for cast components, able to predict and describe the local variations in not only elastic but also plastic behavior throughout the component by using microstructural parameters determined by simulations of microstructural evolution in the component during the casting process. In addition the residual stresses are considered. The results show that the FEM simulation results are significantly affected by including microstructure based mechanical behavior. When the applied load is low and the component is subjected to stress levels

  9. Hot forging of roll-cast high aluminum content magnesium alloys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kishi, Tomohiro; Watari, Hisaki; Suzuki, Mayumi; Haga, Toshio

    2017-10-01

    This paper reports on hot forging of high aluminum content magnesium alloy sheets manufactured using horizontal twin-roll casting. AZ111 and AZ131 were applied for twin-roll casting, and a hot-forging test was performed to manufacture high-strength magnesium alloy components economically. For twin-roll casting, the casting conditions of a thick sheet for hot forging were investigated. It was found that twin-roll casting of a 10mm-thick magnesium alloy sheet was possible at a roll speed of 2.5m/min. The grain size of the cast strip was 50 to 70µm. In the hot-forging test, blank material was obtained from as-cast strip. A servo press machine with a servo die cushion was used to investigate appropriate forging conditions (e.g., temperature, forging load, and back pressure) for twin-roll casts (TRCs) AZ111 and AZ131. It was determined that high aluminum content magnesium alloy sheets manufactured using twin-roll casting could be forged with a forging load of 150t and a back pressure of 3t at 420 to 430°C. Applying back pressure during hot forging effectively forged a pin-shaped product.

  10. Triple Plate Mold Final Report: Optimization of the Mold Design and Casting Parameters for a Thin U-10mo Fuel Casting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aikin, Jr., Robert M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-01-04

    This work describes the experiments and modeling that have been performed to improve and try to optimize the simultaneous casting of three plates of U-10wt%Mo in a single coil vacuum induction melting (VIM) furnace. The plates of interest are 280 mm wide by 203 mm tall by 5 mm thick (11" x 8" x 0.2"). The initial mold design and processing parameters were supplied by Y-12. The mold and casting cavity were instrumented with a number of thermocouples, and the casting performed to determine the thermal history of the mold and casting. The resulting cast plates were radiographed and numerous defects identified. Metallography was performed to help identify the nature of the radiographically observed defects. This information was then used to validate a mold filling and solidification model of that casting. Based on the initial casting, good casting design practice, and process simulation of several design alternatives, a revised design was developed with the goal of minimizing casting defects such as porosity. The redesigned mold had a larger hot-top and had its long axis along the horizontal direction. These changes were to try to develop a strong thermal gradient conducive to good feeding and minimization of micro- and macroporosity in the cast plates. An instrumented casting was then performed with the revised mold design and a linear distributor. This design yielded cast plates with significantly less radiographically identified defects. Unfortunately, there was significant variation in plate weight and metal content in their hot-tops. Fluid flow simulations were then performed on this mold/distributor design. This helped identify the issue with this linear distributor design. Additional simulations were then performed on candidate distributor redesigns and a preferred distributor annular design was identified. This improved annular design was used to produce a third instrumented casting with favorable results. These refined designs and their radiographic

  11. TECHNOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF SLUGS CASTING OF GREY CAST IRON BY FROSTING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. I. Marukovich

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The relation of geometrical parametres of casting with technological ones is shown. The monogram for definition of basic technological parametres of obtaining of castings by the method of continuously-cyclic iterative casting by freezing-up is presented.

  12. Lost foam casting of aluminum alloy-SiCp composite material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baalasuburamaniam, R.; Cvetnic, C.; Ravindran, C.

    2002-01-01

    Metal matrix composites are a viable alternative to cast irons in automotive components with possible increase in strength-to-weight ratio. Lost foam casting of aluminum alloy matrix composite containing 20 volume percent SiC was carried out at 690, 730, and 770 o C with a view to determining the effects of cooling rate on microstructure, particle distribution, microporosity and mechanical properties. These results were compared with those for the matrix material cast under similar conditions. The results and the correlations are of particular interest as there is no published literature on lost foam casting of composite materials. (author)

  13. Functional Morphology of the Divided Compound Eye of the Honeybee Drone (Apis mellifera)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Menzel, J.G.; Wunderer, H.; Stavenga, D.G.

    1991-01-01

    Using different approaches, the functional morphology of the compound eye of the honeybee drone was examined. The drone exhibits an extended acute zone in the dorsal part of its eye. The following specializations were found here: enlarged facet diameters; smaller interommatidial angles; red-leaky

  14. Determination of Coherency and Rigidity Temperatures in Al-Cu Alloys Using In Situ Neutron Diffraction During Casting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drezet, Jean-Marie; Mireux, Bastien; Szaraz, Zoltan; Pirling, Thilo

    2014-08-01

    The rigidity temperature of a solidifying alloy is the temperature at which the solid phase is sufficiently coalesced to transmit tensile stress. It is a major input parameter in numerical modeling of solidification processes as it defines the point at which thermally induced deformations start to generate internal stresses in a casting. This temperature has been determined for an Al-13 wt.% Cu alloy using in situ neutron diffraction during casting in a dog-bone-shaped mold. This setup allows the sample to build up internal stress naturally as its contraction is not possible. The cooling on both sides of the mold induces a hot spot at the middle of the sample that is irradiated by neutrons. Diffraction patterns are recorded every 11 s using a large detector, and the very first change of diffraction angles allows for the determination of the rigidity temperature. We measured rigidity temperatures equal to 557°C and 548°C depending on the cooling rate for grain refined Al-13 wt.% Cu alloys. At a high cooling rate, rigidity is reached during the formation of the eutectic phase. In this case, the solid phase is not sufficiently coalesced to sustain tensile load and thus cannot avoid hot tear formation.

  15. Quantitative weight of evidence assessment of higher tier studies on the toxicity and risks of neonicotinoids in honeybees. 3. Clothianidin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solomon, Keith R; Stephenson, Gladys L

    2017-01-01

    A quantitative weight of evidence (QWoE) methodology was used to assess higher tier studies on the effects of clothianidin (CTD) on honeybees. Assessment endpoints were population size and viability of commercially managed bees and quantity of hive products. A colony-level no-observed-adverse effect concentration (NOAEC) of 25 µg CTD/kg syrup, equivalent to an oral no-observed-adverse effect-dose (NOAED) of 7.3 ng/bee/d for all responses measured. Based on a NOAEC of 19.7 µg/kg pollen, the NOAED for honeybee larvae was 2.4 ng/bee larva/d. For exposures via dust, a no-observed-adverse effect rate of 4 g CTD/ha was used to assess relevance of exposures via deposition of dust. The overall weight of evidence suggested that there is minimal risk to honeybees from exposure to CTD from its use as a seed treatment. For exposures via dust, dust/seed and dust/foliar applications, there were no exposures greater than the NOAED for CTD in nectar and pollen, indicating a de minimis risk to honeybees when the route of exposure was via uptake in plants. Analysis of effect studies in the field indicated a consistent lack of relevant effects, regardless of the way CTD was applied. For exposures via dust, there were no adverse effects because of these applications and there were no exposures greater than the NOAED for CTD in nectar and pollen. The overall weight of evidence based on many studies indicated no adverse effects on colony viability or survival of the colony. Thus, the overall conclusion is that clothianidin, as currently used in good agricultural practices, does not present a significant risk to honeybees at the level of the colony.

  16. Colour Metallography of Cast Iron - Chapter 3: Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron (Ⅳ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Jiyang

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Cast iron, as a traditional metal material, has advantages of low total cost, good castability and machinability, good wear resistance and low notch sensitivity, and is still facing tough challenge in quality, property and variety of types etc. Experts and engineers studying and producing iron castings all around world extremely concern this serious challenge. Over more than 30 years, a great of research work has been carried out on how to further improve its property, expand its application and combine cast iron technology with some hi-techs (for example, computer technology. Nevertheless, cast iron is a multi-element and multi-phase alloy and has complex and variety of structures and still has great development potential in structure and property. For further studying and developing cast iron, theoretical research work is important promise, and the study on solidification process and control mechanism of graphite morphology is fundamental for improving property of cast iron and developing new type of cast iron. Metallography of cast iron normally includes two sections: liquid phase transformation and solid phase transformation. The book, Colour Metallography of Cast Iron, uses colour metallography technique to study solidification structures of cast irons: graphite, carbides, austenite and eutectics; and focuses on solidification processes. With progress of modern solidification theory, the control of material solidification process becomes important measure for improving traditional materials and developing new materials. Solidification structure not only influences mechanical and physical properties of cast iron, but also affects its internal quality. The book uses a large amount of colour photos to describe the formation of solidification structures and their relations. Crystallization phenomena, which cannot be displayed with traditional metallography, are presented and more phase transformation information is obtained from these colour

  17. Colour Metallography of Cast Iron - Chapter 3: Spheroidal Graphite Cast Iron (Ⅰ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Jiyang

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Cast iron, as a traditional metal material, has advantages of low total cost, good castability and machinability, good wear resistance and low notch sensitivity, and is still facing tough challenge in quality, property and variety of types etc. Experts and engineers studying and producing iron castings all around world extremely concern this serious challenge. Over more than 30 years, a great of research work has been carried out on how to further improve its property, expand its application and combine cast iron technology with some hi-techs (for example, computer technology. Nevertheless, cast iron is a multi-element and multi-phase alloy and has complex and variety of structures and still has great development potential in structure and property. For further studying and developing cast iron, theoretical research work is important promise, and the study on solidification process and control mechanism of graphite morphology is fundamental for improving property of cast iron and developing new type of cast iron. Metallography of cast iron normally includes two sections: liquid phase transformation and solid phase transformation. The book, Colour Metallography of Cast Iron, uses colour metallography technique to study solidification structures of cast irons: graphite, carbides, austenite and eutectics; and focuses on solidification processes. With progress of modern solidification theory, the control of material solidification process becomes important measure for improving traditional materials and developing new materials. Solidification structure not only influences mechanical and physical properties of cast iron, but also affects its internal quality. The book uses a large amount of colour photos to describe the formation of solidification structures and their relations. Crystallization phenomena, which cannot be displayed with traditional metallography, are presented and more phase transformation information is obtained from these colour

  18. Colour Metallography of Cast Iron - Chapter 4: Vermicular Graphite Cast Iron (Ⅱ

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Jiyang

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Cast iron, as a traditional metal material, has advantages of low total cost, good castability and machinability, good wear resistance and low notch sensitivity, and is still facing tough challenge in quality, property and variety of types etc. Experts and engineers studying and producing iron castings all around world extremely concern this serious challenge. Over more than 30 years, a great of research work has been carried out on how to further improve its property, expand its application and combine cast iron technology with some hi-techs (for example, computer technology. Nevertheless, cast iron is a multi-element and multi-phase alloy and has complex and variety of structures and still has great development potential in structure and property. For further studying and developing cast iron, theoretical research work is important promise, and the study on solidification process and control mechanism of graphite morphology is fundamental for improving property of cast iron and developing new type of cast iron. Metallography of cast iron normally includes two sections: liquid phase transformation and solid phase transformation. The book, Colour Metallography of Cast Iron, uses colour metallography technique to study solidification structures of cast irons: graphite, carbides, austenite and eutectics; and focuses on solidification processes. With progress of modern solidification theory, the control of material solidification process becomes important measure for improving traditional materials and developing new materials. Solidification structure not only influences mechanical and physical properties of cast iron, but also affects its internal quality. The book uses a large amount of colour photos to describe the formation of solidification structures and their relations. Crystallization phenomena, which cannot be displayed with traditional metallography, are presented and more phase transformation information is obtained from these colour

  19. Development of casting technology and localization for a medical radioisotope transport cask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Y. S.; Kim, H. S.; Jang, S. J.; Seo, K. S.; Kim, C. G.

    2003-01-01

    In order to localize the shielding casks for shipping medical isotopes, this research was carried out. The various casting factors such as the diameter of shielding casting, the temperature of melt and the temperature gradient of a mold were determined with the calculation results of solidification analysis computer code. Through the experiment, the manufacturing method of Ti core was developed to have no defects causing casting failure. As a results of casting experiment, depleted uranium shielding castings were successfully cast without any defect. Also as the results of the radiation shielding capability test, it was good enough to satisfied the standards of transport regulations

  20. Does Fine Color Discrimination Learning in Free-Flying Honeybees Change Mushroom-Body Calyx Neuroarchitecture?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommerlandt, Frank M J; Spaethe, Johannes; Rössler, Wolfgang; Dyer, Adrian G

    2016-01-01

    Honeybees learn color information of rewarding flowers and recall these memories in future decisions. For fine color discrimination, bees require differential conditioning with a concurrent presentation of target and distractor stimuli to form a long-term memory. Here we investigated whether the long-term storage of color information shapes the neural network of microglomeruli in the mushroom body calyces and if this depends on the type of conditioning. Free-flying honeybees were individually trained to a pair of perceptually similar colors in either absolute conditioning towards one of the colors or in differential conditioning with both colors. Subsequently, bees of either conditioning groups were tested in non-rewarded discrimination tests with the two colors. Only bees trained with differential conditioning preferred the previously learned color, whereas bees of the absolute conditioning group, and a stimuli-naïve group, chose randomly among color stimuli. All bees were then kept individually for three days in the dark to allow for complete long-term memory formation. Whole-mount immunostaining was subsequently used to quantify variation of microglomeruli number and density in the mushroom-body lip and collar. We found no significant differences among groups in neuropil volumes and total microglomeruli numbers, but learning performance was negatively correlated with microglomeruli density in the absolute conditioning group. Based on these findings we aim to promote future research approaches combining behaviorally relevant color learning tests in honeybees under free-flight conditions with neuroimaging analysis; we also discuss possible limitations of this approach.

  1. A Locomotor Deficit Induced by Sublethal Doses of Pyrethroid and Neonicotinoid Insecticides in the Honeybee Apis mellifera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charreton, Mercédès; Decourtye, Axel; Henry, Mickaël; Rodet, Guy; Sandoz, Jean-Christophe; Charnet, Pierre; Collet, Claude

    2015-01-01

    The toxicity of pesticides used in agriculture towards non-targeted organisms and especially pollinators has recently drawn the attention from a broad scientific community. Increased honeybee mortality observed worldwide certainly contributes to this interest. The potential role of several neurotoxic insecticides in triggering or potentiating honeybee mortality was considered, in particular phenylpyrazoles and neonicotinoids, given that they are widely used and highly toxic for insects. Along with their ability to kill insects at lethal doses, they can compromise survival at sublethal doses by producing subtle deleterious effects. In this study, we compared the bee's locomotor ability, which is crucial for many tasks within the hive (e.g. cleaning brood cells, feeding larvae…), before and after an acute sublethal exposure to one insecticide belonging to the two insecticide classes, fipronil and thiamethoxam. Additionally, we examined the locomotor ability after exposure to pyrethroids, an older chemical insecticide class still widely used and known to be highly toxic to bees as well. Our study focused on young bees (day 1 after emergence) since (i) few studies are available on locomotion at this stage and (ii) in recent years, pesticides have been reported to accumulate in different hive matrices, where young bees undergo their early development. At sublethal doses (SLD48h, i.e. causing no mortality at 48 h), three pyrethroids, namely cypermethrin (2.5 ng/bee), tetramethrin (70 ng/bee), tau-fluvalinate (33 ng/bee) and the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (3.8 ng/bee) caused a locomotor deficit in honeybees. While the SLD48h of fipronil (a phenylpyrazole, 0.5 ng/bee) had no measurable effect on locomotion, we observed high mortality several days after exposure, an effect that was not observed with the other insecticides. Although locomotor deficits observed in the sublethal range of pyrethroids and thiamethoxam would suggest deleterious effects in the field, the case of

  2. A Locomotor Deficit Induced by Sublethal Doses of Pyrethroid and Neonicotinoid Insecticides in the Honeybee Apis mellifera.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mercédès Charreton

    Full Text Available The toxicity of pesticides used in agriculture towards non-targeted organisms and especially pollinators has recently drawn the attention from a broad scientific community. Increased honeybee mortality observed worldwide certainly contributes to this interest. The potential role of several neurotoxic insecticides in triggering or potentiating honeybee mortality was considered, in particular phenylpyrazoles and neonicotinoids, given that they are widely used and highly toxic for insects. Along with their ability to kill insects at lethal doses, they can compromise survival at sublethal doses by producing subtle deleterious effects. In this study, we compared the bee's locomotor ability, which is crucial for many tasks within the hive (e.g. cleaning brood cells, feeding larvae…, before and after an acute sublethal exposure to one insecticide belonging to the two insecticide classes, fipronil and thiamethoxam. Additionally, we examined the locomotor ability after exposure to pyrethroids, an older chemical insecticide class still widely used and known to be highly toxic to bees as well. Our study focused on young bees (day 1 after emergence since (i few studies are available on locomotion at this stage and (ii in recent years, pesticides have been reported to accumulate in different hive matrices, where young bees undergo their early development. At sublethal doses (SLD48h, i.e. causing no mortality at 48 h, three pyrethroids, namely cypermethrin (2.5 ng/bee, tetramethrin (70 ng/bee, tau-fluvalinate (33 ng/bee and the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (3.8 ng/bee caused a locomotor deficit in honeybees. While the SLD48h of fipronil (a phenylpyrazole, 0.5 ng/bee had no measurable effect on locomotion, we observed high mortality several days after exposure, an effect that was not observed with the other insecticides. Although locomotor deficits observed in the sublethal range of pyrethroids and thiamethoxam would suggest deleterious effects in the field

  3. The structure of abrasion-resisting castings made of chromium cast iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Kopyciński

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study presents the analyse of chrome iron cast structure (as-cast condition which are used in rugged conditions abrasion-percussive and high temperature. While producing the casts of chrome iron major influence has been preserve the structure of technologi cal process parameters. The addition to Fe-C-Cr alloy Ni, Mo or Cu and then proper heat treatment leads to the improvement of functional and mechanical cast qualities. Then it is possible to develop high mechanical properties which are recommended by PN-EN12513. As can it be seen from the above research silicon is an adverse chemical element in this kind of alloy cast iron. However, the reason of cracksappearing in chrome iron casts are phosphorus eutectic microareas. When the compound of Si and P reach the critical point, described inPN-88/H-83144 outdated standard, the microareas might appear.

  4. The deformation of wax patterns and castings in investment casting technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Herman

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The dimensional accuracy of the final casting of Inconel alloy 738 LC is affected by many aspects. One of them is the choice of method and time of cooling wax model for precision investment casting. The main objective was to study the initial deformation of the complex shape of the casting of the rotor blades. Various approaches have been tested for cooling wax pattern. When wax models are cooling on the air, without clamping in jig for cooling, deviations from the ideal shape of the casting are very noticeable (up to 8 mm and most are in extreme positions of the model. When blade is cooled in fixing jig in water environment, the resulting deviations compared with cooling in air are significantly larger, sometimes up to 10 mm. This itself does not mean that the final shape of the casting is dimensionally more accurate with usage of wax models, which have deviations from the ideal position smaller. Another deformation occurs when shell mould is produced around wax pattern and furthermore deformations emerge while casting of blade is cooling. This paper demonstrates first steps in describing complex process of deformations of Inconel alloy blades produced with investment casting technology by comparing results from thermal imagery, simulations in foundry simulation software ProCAST 2010 and measurements from CNC scanning system Carl Zeiss MC 850. Conclusions are so far not groundbreaking, but it seems deformations of wax pattern and deformations of castings do in some cases cancel each other by having opposite directions. Describing entirely whole process of deformations will help increase precision of blade castings so that models at the beginning and blades in the end are the same.

  5. CaMKII knockdown affects both early and late phases of olfactory long-term memory in the honeybee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scholl, Christina; Kübert, Natalie; Muenz, Thomas S; Rössler, Wolfgang

    2015-12-01

    Honeybees are able to solve complex learning tasks and memorize learned information for long time periods. The molecular mechanisms mediating long-term memory (LTM) in the honeybee Apis mellifera are, to a large part, still unknown. We approached this question by investigating the potential function of the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), an enzyme known as a 'molecular memory switch' in vertebrates. CaMKII is able to switch to a calcium-independent constitutively active state, providing a mechanism for a molecular memory and has further been shown to play an essential role in structural synaptic plasticity. Using a combination of knockdown by RNA interference and pharmacological manipulation, we disrupted the function of CaMKII during olfactory learning and memory formation. We found that learning, memory acquisition and mid-term memory were not affected, but all manipulations consistently resulted in an impaired LTM. Both early LTM (24 h after learning) and late LTM (72 h after learning) were significantly disrupted, indicating the necessity of CaMKII in two successive stages of LTM formation in the honeybee. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  6. Whole-genome resequencing of honeybee drones to detect genomic selection in a population managed for royal jelly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wragg, David; Marti-Marimon, Maria; Basso, Benjamin; Bidanel, Jean-Pierre; Labarthe, Emmanuelle; Bouchez, Olivier; Le Conte, Yves; Vignal, Alain

    2016-06-03

    Four main evolutionary lineages of A. mellifera have been described including eastern Europe (C) and western and northern Europe (M). Many apiculturists prefer bees from the C lineage due to their docility and high productivity. In France, the routine importation of bees from the C lineage has resulted in the widespread admixture of bees from the M lineage. The haplodiploid nature of the honeybee Apis mellifera, and its small genome size, permits affordable and extensive genomics studies. As a pilot study of a larger project to characterise French honeybee populations, we sequenced 60 drones sampled from two commercial populations managed for the production of honey and royal jelly. Results indicate a C lineage origin, whilst mitochondrial analysis suggests two drones originated from the O lineage. Analysis of heterozygous SNPs identified potential copy number variants near to genes encoding odorant binding proteins and several cytochrome P450 genes. Signatures of selection were detected using the hapFLK haplotype-based method, revealing several regions under putative selection for royal jelly production. The framework developed during this study will be applied to a broader sampling regime, allowing the genetic diversity of French honeybees to be characterised in detail.

  7. RNA-sequence analysis of gene expression from honeybees (Apis mellifera) infected with Nosema ceranae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fougeroux, André; Petit, Fabien; Anselmo, Anna; Gorni, Chiara; Cucurachi, Marco; Cersini, Antonella; Granato, Anna; Cardeti, Giusy; Formato, Giovanni; Mutinelli, Franco; Giuffra, Elisabetta; Williams, John L.; Botti, Sara

    2017-01-01

    Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are constantly subjected to many biotic stressors including parasites. This study examined honeybees infected with Nosema ceranae (N. ceranae). N. ceranae infection increases the bees energy requirements and may contribute to their decreased survival. RNA-seq was used to investigate gene expression at days 5, 10 and 15 Post Infection (P.I) with N. ceranae. The expression levels of genes, isoforms, alternative transcription start sites (TSS) and differential promoter usage revealed a complex pattern of transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene regulation suggesting that bees use a range of tactics to cope with the stress of N. ceranae infection. N. ceranae infection may cause reduced immune function in the bees by: (i)disturbing the host amino acids metabolism (ii) down-regulating expression of antimicrobial peptides (iii) down-regulation of cuticle coatings and (iv) down-regulation of odorant binding proteins. PMID:28350872

  8. Combating Varroa destructor in Honeybee Colonies Using Flumethrin or Fluvalinate

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Gregorc

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Mite mortality in two apiaries, one with 32 and the other with 15 honeybee (Apis mellifera carnica colonies, was recorded prior to and after flumethrin or fluvalinate treatments and after a control, oxalic-acid application. During the 42- and 51-day pre-treatment periods, the average daily natural mite drop was 0.04 (± 0.04 and 2.82 (± 2.19, respectively, which represents 1.09% (± 1.06 and 3.84% (± 3.04 of the total number of mites found during the experiment. The flumethrin or fluvalinate applications resulted in an average mite mortality at the two apiaries of 214.46 (± 260.02 and 4,098.64 (± 2,508.31. The treatments resulted in a 19.11% (± 14.62 and a 39.28% (± 10.47 reduction in the number of mites in slightly infested colonies and 94.30% (± 4.26 and 96.24% (± 3.14 in highly infested colonies. The difference in treatment efficacy between both apiaries was significant (P < 0.001 and indicates that fluvalinate and flumethrin are highly efficacious in dealing with highly infested honeybee colonies with sealed brood. The importance of effective mite control in colonies with a high level of natural mite mortality is discussed in this study.

  9. Neonicotinoid pesticides can reduce honeybee colony genetic diversity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadège Forfert

    Full Text Available Neonicotinoid insecticides can cause a variety of adverse sub-lethal effects in bees. In social species such as the honeybee, Apis mellifera, queens are essential for reproduction and colony functioning. Therefore, any negative effect of these agricultural chemicals on the mating success of queens may have serious consequences for the fitness of the entire colony. Queens were exposed to the common neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam and clothianidin during their developmental stage. After mating, their spermathecae were dissected to count the number of stored spermatozoa. Furthermore, their worker offspring were genotyped with DNA microsatellites to determine the number of matings and the genotypic composition of the colony. Colonies providing the male mating partners were also inferred. Both neonicotinoid and control queens mated with drones originating from the same drone source colonies, and stored similar number of spermatozoa. However, queens reared in colonies exposed to both neonicotinoids experienced fewer matings. This resulted in a reduction of the genetic diversity in their colonies (i.e. higher intracolonial relatedness. As decreased genetic diversity among worker bees is known to negatively affect colony vitality, neonicotinoids may have a cryptic effect on colony health by reducing the mating frequency of queens.

  10. A selective sweep in a Varroa destructor resistant honeybee (Apis mellifera) population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lattorff, H Michael G; Buchholz, Josephine; Fries, Ingemar; Moritz, Robin F A

    2015-04-01

    The mite Varroa destructor is one of the most dangerous parasites of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) causing enormous colony losses worldwide. Various chemical treatments for the control of the Varroa mite are currently in use, which, however, lead to residues in bee products and often to resistance in mites. This facilitated the exploration of alternative treatment methods and breeding for mite resistant honeybees has been in focus for breeders in many parts of the world with variable results. Another approach has been applied to a honeybee population on Gotland (Sweden) that was exposed to natural selection and survived Varroa-infestation for more than 10years without treatment. Eventually this population became resistant to the parasite by suppressing the reproduction of the mite. A previous QTL mapping study had identified a region on chromosome 7 with major loci contributing to the mite resistance. Here, a microsatellite scan of the significant candidate QTL regions was used to investigate potential footprints of selection in the original population by comparing the study population on Gotland before (2000) and after selection (2007). Genetic drift had caused an extreme loss of genetic diversity in the 2007 population for all genetic markers tested. In addition to this overall reduction of heterozygosity, two loci on chromosome 7 showed an even stronger and significant reduction in diversity than expected from genetic drift alone. Within the selective sweep eleven genes are annotated, one of them being a putative candidate to interfere with reduced mite reproduction. A glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase (GMCOX18) might be involved in changing volatiles emitted by bee larvae that might be essential to trigger oogenesis in Varroa. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Direct Cast U-6Nb – 2017 Progress on Cylindrical Castings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aikin, Jr., Robert M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-10-04

    This report describes work to further develop a sound technical basis and best practices for mold design and process parameters for the Direct Casting of U-6wt%Nb components. One major challenge to the production of U-6Nb components is the propensity for niobium segregation during casting and solidification. This is especially true for cylindrical castings where the vertical side walls allow flotation of Nb resulting in severe inverse macrosegregation. In this work, a small (120 mm diameter by 180 mm tall) and large cylinder (250 mm diameter by 310 mm tall) are examined with a focus on reducing, or eliminating, niobium segregation. It is demonstrated that counter gravity casting (top-to-bottom solidification) can be used to minimize segregation in the small cylinder. Attempts to counter gravity cast the large cylinder were unsuccessful, in large part due to size limitations of the current furnace. A path forward for casting of the large cylinders is discussed.

  12. Heat Transfer Coefficient at Cast-Mold Interface During Centrifugal Casting: Calculation of Air Gap

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bohacek, Jan; Kharicha, Abdellah; Ludwig, Andreas; Wu, Menghuai; Karimi-Sibaki, Ebrahim

    2018-06-01

    During centrifugal casting, the thermal resistance at the cast-mold interface represents a main blockage mechanism for heat transfer. In addition to the refractory coating, an air gap begins to form due to the shrinkage of the casting and the mold expansion, under the continuous influence of strong centrifugal forces. Here, the heat transfer coefficient at the cast-mold interface h has been determined from calculations of the air gap thickness d a based on a plane stress model taking into account thermoelastic stresses, centrifugal forces, plastic deformations, and a temperature-dependent Young's modulus. The numerical approach proposed here is rather novel and tries to offer an alternative to the empirical formulas usually used in numerical simulations for a description of a time-dependent heat transfer coefficient h. Several numerical tests were performed for different coating thicknesses d C, rotation rates Ω, and temperatures of solidus T sol. Results demonstrated that the scenario at the interface is unique for each set of parameters, hindering the possibility of employing empirical formulas without a preceding experiment being performed. Initial values of h are simply equivalent to the ratio of the coating thermal conductivity and its thickness ( 1000 Wm-2 K-1). Later, when the air gap is formed, h drops exponentially to values at least one order of magnitude smaller ( 100 Wm-2 K-1).

  13. Anodization of cast aluminium alloys produced by different casting methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Labisz

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the usability of two casting methods, of sand and high pressure cast for the anodization of AlSi12 and AlSi9Cu3 aluminium cast alloys was investigated. With defined anodization parameters like electrolyte composition and temperature, current type and value a anodic alumina surface layer was produced. The quality, size and properties of the anodic layer was investigated after the anodization of the chosen aluminium cast alloys. The Alumina layer was observed used light microscope, also the mechanical properties were measured as well the abrasive wear test was made with using ABR-8251 equipment. The researches included analyze of the influence of chemical composition, geometry and roughness of anodic layer obtained on aluminum casts. Conducted investigations shows the areas of later researches, especially in the direction of the possible, next optimization anodization process of aluminum casting alloys, for example in the range of raising resistance on corrosion to achieve a suitable anodic surface layer on elements for increasing applications in the aggressive environment for example as materials on working building constructions, elements in electronics and construction parts in air and automotive industry.

  14. Genetic structure of drone congregation areas of Africanized honeybees in southern Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thais Collet

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available As yet, certain aspects of the Africanization process are not well understood, for example, the reproductive behavior of African and European honeybees and how the first Africanized swarms were formed and spread. Drone congregation areas (DCAs are the ideal place to study honeybee reproduction under natural conditions since hundreds of drones from various colonies gather together in the same geographical area for mating. In the present study, we assessed the genetic structure of seven drone congregations and four commercial European-derived and Africanized apiaries in southern Brazil, employing seven microsatellite loci for this purpose. We also estimated the number of mother-colonies that drones of a specific DCA originated from. Pairwise comparison failed to reveal any population sub-structuring among the DCAs, thus indicating low mutual genetic differentiation. We also observed high genetic similarity between colonies of commercial apiaries and DCAs, besides a slight contribution from a European-derived apiary to a DCA formed nearby. Africanized DCAs seem to have a somewhat different genetic structure when compared to the European.

  15. Genetic structure of drone congregation areas of Africanized honeybees in southern Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collet, Thais; Cristino, Alexandre Santos; Quiroga, Carlos Fernando Prada; Soares, Ademilson Espencer Egea; Del Lama, Marco Antônio

    2009-10-01

    As yet, certain aspects of the Africanization process are not well understood, for example, the reproductive behavior of African and European honeybees and how the first Africanized swarms were formed and spread. Drone congregation areas (DCAs) are the ideal place to study honeybee reproduction under natural conditions since hundreds of drones from various colonies gather together in the same geographical area for mating. In the present study, we assessed the genetic structure of seven drone congregations and four commercial European-derived and Africanized apiaries in southern Brazil, employing seven microsatellite loci for this purpose. We also estimated the number of mother-colonies that drones of a specific DCA originated from. Pairwise comparison failed to reveal any population sub-structuring among the DCAs, thus indicating low mutual genetic differentiation. We also observed high genetic similarity between colonies of commercial apiaries and DCAs, besides a slight contribution from a European-derived apiary to a DCA formed nearby. Africanized DCAs seem to have a somewhat different genetic structure when compared to the European.

  16. Cast iron - a predictable material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorg C. Sturm

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available High strength compacted graphite iron (CGI or alloyed cast iron components are substituting previously used non-ferrous castings in automotive power train applications. The mechanical engineering industry has recognized the value in substituting forged or welded structures with stiff and light-weight cast iron castings. New products such as wind turbines have opened new markets for an entire suite of highly reliable ductile iron cast components. During the last 20 years, casting process simulation has developed from predicting hot spots and solidification to an integral assessment tool for foundries for the entire manufacturing route of castings. The support of the feeding related layout of the casting is still one of the most important duties for casting process simulation. Depending on the alloy poured, different feeding behaviors and self-feeding capabilities need to be considered to provide a defect free casting. Therefore, it is not enough to base the prediction of shrinkage defects solely on hot spots derived from temperature fields. To be able to quantitatively predict these defects, solidification simulation had to be combined with density and mass transport calculations, in order to evaluate the impact of the solidification morphology on the feeding behavior as well as to consider alloy dependent feeding ranges. For cast iron foundries, the use of casting process simulation has become an important instrument to predict the robustness and reliability of their processes, especially since the influence of alloying elements, melting practice and metallurgy need to be considered to quantify the special shrinkage and solidification behavior of cast iron. This allows the prediction of local structures, phases and ultimately the local mechanical properties of cast irons, to asses casting quality in the foundry but also to make use of this quantitative information during design of the casting. Casting quality issues related to thermally driven

  17. A primary report on honeybee space-flight breeding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Jun; Shi Wei; Ding Guiling; Lv Liping; Liu Zhiguang

    2009-01-01

    The semen of honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica and Apis mellifera carnica) was carried by the recoverable satellite for a spaceflight and was inseminated instrumentally to the virgin queens after returning to the earth. The preliminary results showed that both the vitality of the sperm and the survival rate of SP 1 queen were lower than those of the control. Obvious variations in morphology appeared on the progeny workers of queens in SP 2 and in SP 3 generations, but most of variation were unfavorable. Mutants with desirable characters were not found after the space fight. (authors)

  18. Evaluation of Cracking Causes of AlSi5Cu3 Alloy Castings

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    Eperješi Š.

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Recently, the castings made from aluminum-silicon alloys by pressure die casting are increasingly used in the automotive industry. In practice, on these castings are high demands, mainly demands on quality of their structure, operating life and safety ensuring of their utilization. The AlSi5Cu3 alloy castings are widely used for production of car components. After the prescribed tests, the cracks and low mechanical properties have been identified for several castings of this alloy, which were produced by low pressure casting into a metal mould and subsequent they were heat treated. Therefore, analyses of the castings were realized to determine the causes of these defects. Evaluation of structure of the AlSi5Cu3 alloy and causes of failure were the subjects of investigation presented in this article.

  19. Dimensional control of die castings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karve, Aniruddha Ajit

    The demand for net shape die castings, which require little or no machining, is steadily increasing. Stringent customer requirements are forcing die casters to deliver high quality castings in increasingly short lead times. Dimensional conformance to customer specifications is an inherent part of die casting quality. The dimensional attributes of a die casting are essentially dependent upon many factors--the quality of the die and the degree of control over the process variables being the two major sources of dimensional error in die castings. This study focused on investigating the nature and the causes of dimensional error in die castings. The two major components of dimensional error i.e., dimensional variability and die allowance were studied. The major effort of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively study the effects of casting geometry and process variables on die casting dimensional variability and die allowance. This was accomplished by detailed dimensional data collection at production die casting sites. Robust feature characterization schemes were developed to describe complex casting geometry in quantitative terms. Empirical modeling was utilized to quantify the effects of the casting variables on dimensional variability and die allowance for die casting features. A number of casting geometry and process variables were found to affect dimensional variability in die castings. The dimensional variability was evaluated by comparisons with current published dimensional tolerance standards. The casting geometry was found to play a significant role in influencing the die allowance of the features measured. The predictive models developed for dimensional variability and die allowance were evaluated to test their effectiveness. Finally, the relative impact of all the components of dimensional error in die castings was put into perspective, and general guidelines for effective dimensional control in the die casting plant were laid out. The results of

  20. Quantitative proteomics reveals divergent responses in Apis mellifera worker and drone pupae to parasitization by Varroa destructor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surlis, Carla; Carolan, James C; Coffey, Mary; Kavanagh, Kevin

    Varroa destructor is a haemophagous ectoparasite of honeybees and is considered a major causal agent of colony losses in Europe and North America. Although originating in Eastern Asia where it parasitizes Apis cerana, it has shifted hosts to the western honeybee Apis mellifera on which it has a greater deleterious effect on the individual and colony level. To investigate this important host-parasite interaction and to determine whether Varroa causes different effects on different castes we conducted a label free quantitative proteomic analysis of Varroa-parasitized and non-parasitized drone and worker Apis mellifera pupae. 1195 proteins were identified in total, of which 202 and 250 were differentially abundant in parasitized drone and worker pupae, respectively. Both parasitized drone and worker pupae displayed reduced abundance in proteins associated with the cuticle, lipid transport and innate immunity. Proteins involved in metabolic processes were more abundant in both parasitized castes although the response in workers was more pronounced. A number of caste specific responses were observed including differential abundance of numerous cytoskeletal and muscle proteins, which were of higher abundance in parasitized drones in comparison to parasitized workers. Proteins involved in fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolism were more abundant in parasitized workers as were a large number of ribosomal proteins highlighting either potentially divergent responses to Varroa or a different strategy by the mite when parasitizing the different castes. This data improves our understanding of this interaction and may provide a basis for future studies into improvements to therapy and control of Varroasis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Odor experiences during preimaginal stages cause behavioral and neural plasticity in adult honeybees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela eRamirez

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available In eusocial insects, experiences acquired during the development have long-term consequences on mature behavior. In the honeybee that suffers profound changes associated with metamorphosis, the effect of odor experiences at larval instars on the subsequent physiological and behavioral response is still unclear. To address the impact of preimaginal experiences on the adult honeybee, colonies containing larvae were fed scented food. The effect of the preimaginal experiences with the food odor was assessed in learning performance, memory retention and generalization in 3-5- and 17-19-day-old bees, in the regulation of their expression of synaptic-related genes and in theperception and morphology of their antennae. Three-5 day old bees that experienced 1-hexanol (1-HEX as food scent responded more to the presentation of the odor during the 1-HEX conditioning than control bees (i.e. bees reared in colonies fed unscented food. Higher levels of PER to 1-HEX in this group also extent to HEXA, the most perceptually similar odor to the experienced one that we tested. These results were not observed for the group tested at older ages. In the brain of young adults, larval experiences triggered similar levels of neurexins and neuroligins expression, two proteins that have been involved in synaptic formation after associative learning. At the sensory periphery, the experience did not alter the number of the olfactory sensilla placoidea, but did reduce the electrical response of the antennae to the experienced and novel odor. Our study provides a new insight into the effects of preimaginal experiences in the honeybee and the mechanisms underlying olfactory plasticity at larval stage of holometabolous insects.

  2. Patterns of DNA Methylation in Development, Division of Labor and Hybridization in an Ant with Genetic Caste Determination

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, Chris R.; Mutti, Navdeep S.; Jasper, W. Cameron; Naidu, Agni; Smith, Christopher D.; Gadau, Jürgen

    2012-01-01

    BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is a common regulator of gene expression, including acting as a regulator of developmental events and behavioral changes in adults. Using the unique system of genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex barbatus, we were able to document changes in DNA methylation during development, and also across both ancient and contemporary hybridization events. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Sodium bisulfite sequencing demonstrated in vivo methylation of symmetric CG dinucle...

  3. Brain modulation of Dufour's gland ester biosynthesis in vitro in the honeybee ( Apis mellifera)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katzav-Gozansky, Tamar; Hefetz, Abraham; Soroker, Victoria

    2007-05-01

    Caste-specific pheromone biosynthesis is a prerequisite for reproductive skew in the honeybee. Nonetheless, this process is not hardwired but plastic, in that egg-laying workers produce a queen-like pheromone. Studies with Dufour’s gland pheromone revealed that, in vivo, workers’ gland biosynthesis matches the social status of the worker, i.e., sterile workers showed a worker-like pattern whereas fertile workers showed a queen-like pattern (production of the queen-specific esters). However, when incubated in vitro, the gland spontaneously exhibits the queen-like pattern, irrespective of its original worker type, prompting the notion that ester production in workers is under inhibitory control that is queen-dependent. We tested this hypothesis by exposing queen or worker Dufour’s glands in vitro to brain extracts of queens, queenright (sterile) workers and males. Unexpectedly, worker brain extracts activated the queen-like esters biosynthesis in workers’ Dufour’s gland. This stimulation was gender-specific; queen or worker brains demonstrated a stimulatory activity, but male brains did not. Queen gland could not be further stimulated. Bioassays with heated and filtered extracts indicate that the stimulatory brain factor is below 3,000 Da. We suggest that pheromone production in Dufour’s gland is under dual, negative positive control. Under queenright conditions, the inhibitor is released and blocks ester biosynthesis, whereas under queenless conditions, the activator is released, activating ester biosynthesis in the gland. This is consistent with the hypothesis that queenright workers are unequivocally recognized as non-fertile, whereas queenless workers try to become “false queens” as part of the reproductive competition.

  4. Sensory coding of nest-site value in honeybee swarms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Thomas D; Visscher, P Kirk

    2008-12-01

    This study investigates the first stage of the decision-making process of a honeybee swarm as it chooses a nest site: how a scout bee codes the value of a potential nest site in the waggle dances she produces to represent this site. We presented honeybee swarms with a two-alternative choice between a high-value site and a medium-value site and recorded the behavior of individually identifiable scout bees as they reported on these two alternatives. We found that bees performed equally lengthy inspections at the two sites, but that, on the swarm cluster, they performed more dance circuits per bee for the high-value site. We also found that there was much individual-level noise in the coding of site value, but that there were clear population-level differences in total dance circuits produced for the two sites. The first bee to find a site had a high probability of reporting the site with a waggle dance, regardless of its value. This discoverer-should-dance phenomenon may help ensure that a swarm gives attention to all discovered sites. There was rapid decay in the dance response; the number of dance circuits produced by a bee after visiting a site decreased linearly over sequential visits, and eventually each bee ceased visiting her site. This decay, or ;leakage', in the accumulation of bees at a site improves a swarm's decision-making ability by helping a swarm avoid making fast-decision errors.

  5. The Effect of Ductile Cast Iron Matrix on Zinc Coating During Hot Dip Galvanising of Castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Kopyciński

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The growth kinetics of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting made from ductile iron grade EN-GJS-500-3 was investigated. To produce homogenous metal matrix in test samples, the normalising and ferritising annealing was carried out. Studies showeda heterogeneous structure of cast iron with varying content of the phases formed. This was followed by hot dip galvanising treatment at450°C to capture the growth kinetics of the zinc coating (the time of the treatment ranged from 60 to 600 seconds. Nonlinear estimation of the determined growth kinetics of the alloyed layer of a zinc coating was made and an equation of the zinc coating growth was derived.Based on the results of the investigations it was concluded that thickness of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting with a 100% pearlitic matrix makes 55% of the thickness of coating formed on the surface in 100% ferritic.

  6. The Effect of Ductile Cast Iron Matrix on Zinc Coating During Hot Dip Galvanising of Castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kopyciński D.

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The growth kinetics of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting made from ductile iron grade EN-GJS-500-3 was investigated. To produce homogenous metal matrix in test samples, the normalising and ferritising annealing was carried out. Studies showed a heterogeneous structure of cast iron with varying content of the phases formed. This was followed by hot dip galvanising treatment at 450°C to capture the growth kinetics of the zinc coating (the time of the treatment ranged from 60 to 600 seconds. Nonlinear estimation of the determined growth kinetics of the alloyed layer of a zinc coating was made and an equation of the zinc coating growth was derived. Based on the results of the investigations it was concluded that thickness of the zinc coating formed on the surface of casting with a 100% pearlitic matrix makes 55% of the thickness of coating formed on the surface in 100% ferritic.

  7. Does Fine Color Discrimination Learning in Free-Flying Honeybees Change Mushroom-Body Calyx Neuroarchitecture?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank M J Sommerlandt

    Full Text Available Honeybees learn color information of rewarding flowers and recall these memories in future decisions. For fine color discrimination, bees require differential conditioning with a concurrent presentation of target and distractor stimuli to form a long-term memory. Here we investigated whether the long-term storage of color information shapes the neural network of microglomeruli in the mushroom body calyces and if this depends on the type of conditioning. Free-flying honeybees were individually trained to a pair of perceptually similar colors in either absolute conditioning towards one of the colors or in differential conditioning with both colors. Subsequently, bees of either conditioning groups were tested in non-rewarded discrimination tests with the two colors. Only bees trained with differential conditioning preferred the previously learned color, whereas bees of the absolute conditioning group, and a stimuli-naïve group, chose randomly among color stimuli. All bees were then kept individually for three days in the dark to allow for complete long-term memory formation. Whole-mount immunostaining was subsequently used to quantify variation of microglomeruli number and density in the mushroom-body lip and collar. We found no significant differences among groups in neuropil volumes and total microglomeruli numbers, but learning performance was negatively correlated with microglomeruli density in the absolute conditioning group. Based on these findings we aim to promote future research approaches combining behaviorally relevant color learning tests in honeybees under free-flight conditions with neuroimaging analysis; we also discuss possible limitations of this approach.

  8. Determination of the distribution and content of boron in aluminium casting strands. 1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rachlitz, R.

    1987-01-01

    Neutron-induced autoradiography was applied to investigate and optimize grain refining in the production of aluminium casting strands. The behaviour of the alloy AlTi5B1 used for grain refining was studied by analysis of both content and distribution of boron. This paper is concerned with the quantitative determinatin of track densities by means of the image analyzer type A 6471 and the results obtained are discussed in comparison with the amount of tracks visually counted. Boron contents as calculated from track densities are compared with calibration functions relating track density to the boron content determined by chemical analysis. The content of boron depends on the position of the autoradiographed plane in the sample, allowing, with its distribution taken into consideration, grain-refining processes to be studied. (author)

  9. Compound cast product and method for producing a compound cast product

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meyer, Thomas N.; Viswanathan, Srinath

    2002-09-17

    A compound cast product is formed in a casting mold (14) having a mold cavity (16) sized and shaped to form the cast product. A plurality of injectors (24) is supported from a bottom side (26) of the casting mold (14). The injectors (24) are in fluid communication with the mold cavity (16) through the bottom side (26) of the casting mold (14). A molten material holder furnace (12) is located beneath the casting mold (14). The holder furnace (12) defines molten material receiving chambers (36) configured to separately contain supplies of two different molten materials (37, 38). The holder furnace (12) is positioned such that the injectors (24) extend downward into the receiving chamber (36). The receiving chamber (36) is separated into at least two different flow circuits (51, 52). A first molten material (37) is received in a first flow circuit (51), and a second molten material (38) is received into a second flow circuit (52). The first and second molten materials (37, 38) are injected into the mold cavity (16) by the injectors (24) acting against the force of gravity. The injectors (24) are positioned such that the first and second molten materials (37, 38) are injected into different areas of the mold cavity (16). The molten materials (37, 38) are allowed to solidify and the resulting compound cast product is removed from the mold cavity (16).

  10. Multi-layers castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Szajnar

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In paper is presented the possibility of making of multi-layers cast steel castings in result of connection of casting and welding coating technologies. First layer was composite surface layer on the basis of Fe-Cr-C alloy, which was put directly in founding process of cast carbon steel 200–450 with use of preparation of mould cavity method. Second layer were padding welds, which were put with use of TIG – Tungsten Inert Gas surfacing by welding technology with filler on Ni matrix, Ni and Co matrix with wolfram carbides WC and on the basis on Fe-Cr-C alloy, which has the same chemical composition with alloy, which was used for making of composite surface layer. Usability for industrial applications of surface layers of castings were estimated by criterion of hardness and abrasive wear resistance of type metal-mineral.

  11. Effect of Microstructures on Working Properties of Nickel-Manganese-Copper Cast Iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Medyński

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available In the paper, the effects, on basic usable properties (abrasive wear and corrosion resistance, of solidification (acc. to the stable and non-stable equilibrium system and transformations occurring in the matrix during the cooling of castings of Ni-Mn-Cu cast iron were determined. Abrasive wear resistance was mainly determined by the types and arrangements of high-carbon phases (indicated by eutectic saturation degree, and the kinds of matrices (indicated by the nickel equivalent value, calculated from chemical composition. The highest abrasive wear resistance was found for white cast iron, with the highest degree of austenite to martensite transformation occurring in its matrix. Irrespective of solidification, a decrease of the equivalent value below a limit value resulted in increased austenite transformation, and thus, to a significant rise in hardness and abrasive wear resistance for the castings. At the same time, corrosion resistance of the alloy was slightly reduced. The examinations showed that corrosion resistance of Ni-Mn-Cu cast iron is, too a much lesser degree, decided by the means of solidification of the castings, rather than transformations occurring in the matrix, as controlled by nickel equivalent value (especially elements with high electrochemical potential.

  12. Two Waves of Transcription Are Required for Long-Term Memory in the Honeybee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lefer, Damien; Perisse, Emmanuel; Hourcade, Benoit; Sandoz, JeanChristophe; Devaud, Jean-Marc

    2013-01-01

    Storage of information into long-term memory (LTM) usually requires at least two waves of transcription in many species. However, there is no clear evidence of this phenomenon in insects, which are influential models for memory studies. We measured retention in honeybees after injecting a transcription inhibitor at different times before and after…

  13. Experimental analysis of flow of ductile cast iron in stream lined gating systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov-Hansen, Søren Peter; Tiedje, Niels Skat

    2008-01-01

    Streamlined gating systems have been developed for production of high integrity ductile cast iron parts. Flow of ductile cast iron in streamlined gating systems was studied in glass fronted sand moulds where flow in the gating system and casting was recorded by a digital video camera. These results...... show how the quality of pouring, design of ingates, design of bends and flow over cores influence melt flow and act to determine the quality of the castings....

  14. Determination of entrance loss coefficients for pre-cast reinforced concrete box culverts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-01

    There is an increased interest in constructing Pre-Cast (PC) Twin and Triple Reinforced Concrete Box (RCB) culverts : in Iowa due to the efficiency associated with their production in controlled environment and decrease of the construction : time at ...

  15. Survival rate of honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers after exposure to sublethal concentrations of imidacloprid

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Blacquiere, T.

    2010-01-01

    Imidacloprid is a commonly used systemic insecticide which can induce several sublethal effects. Previous research has not shown any increased mortality in bees that were fed with sublethal doses. However, there is very little research conducted with the focus on survival rate of honeybees in the

  16. Numerical Simulation of Cast Distortion in Gas Turbine Engine Components

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inozemtsev, A A; Dubrovskaya, A S; Dongauser, K A; Trufanov, N A

    2015-01-01

    In this paper the process of multiple airfoilvanes manufacturing through investment casting is considered. The mathematical model of the full contact problem is built to determine stress strain state in a cast during the process of solidification. Studies are carried out in viscoelastoplastic statement. Numerical simulation of the explored process is implemented with ProCASTsoftware package. The results of simulation are compared with the real production process. By means of computer analysis the optimization of technical process parameters is done in order to eliminate the defect of cast walls thickness variation. (paper)

  17. Interaction between Varroa destructor and imidacloprid reduces flight capacity of honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanken, Lisa J.; van Dooremalen, Coby

    2015-01-01

    Current high losses of honeybees seriously threaten crop pollination. Whereas parasite exposure is acknowledged as an important cause of these losses, the role of insecticides is controversial. Parasites and neonicotinoid insecticides reduce homing success of foragers (e.g. by reduced orientation), but it is unknown whether they negatively affect flight capacity. We investigated how exposing colonies to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid affect flight capacity of foragers. Flight distance, time and speed of foragers were measured in flight mills to assess the relative and interactive effects of high V. destructor load and a field-realistic, chronic sub-lethal dose of imidacloprid. Foragers from colonies exposed to high levels of V. destructor flew shorter distances, with a larger effect when also exposed to imidacloprid. Bee body mass partly explained our results as bees were heavier when exposed to these stressors, possibly due to an earlier onset of foraging. Our findings contribute to understanding of interacting stressors that can explain colony losses. Reduced flight capacity decreases the food-collecting ability of honeybees and may hamper the use of precocious foraging as a coping mechanism during colony (nutritional) stress. Ineffective coping mechanisms may lead to destructive cascading effects and subsequent colony collapse. PMID:26631559

  18. Using whole genome sequencing to study American foulbrood epidemiology in honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joakim Ågren

    Full Text Available American foulbrood (AFB, caused by Paenibacillus larvae, is a devastating disease in honeybees. In most countries, the disease is controlled through compulsory burning of symptomatic colonies causing major economic losses in apiculture. The pathogen is endemic to honeybees world-wide and is readily transmitted via the movement of hive equipment or bees. Molecular epidemiology of AFB currently largely relies on placing isolates in one of four ERIC-genotypes. However, a more powerful alternative is multi-locus sequence typing (MLST using whole-genome sequencing (WGS, which allows for high-resolution studies of disease outbreaks. To evaluate WGS as a tool for AFB-epidemiology, we applied core genome MLST (cgMLST on isolates from a recent outbreak of AFB in Sweden. The high resolution of the cgMLST allowed different bacterial clones involved in the disease outbreak to be identified and to trace the source of infection. The source was found to be a beekeeper who had sold bees to two other beekeepers, proving the epidemiological link between them. No such conclusion could have been made using conventional MLST or ERIC-typing. This is the first time that WGS has been used to study the epidemiology of AFB. The results show that the technique is very powerful for high-resolution tracing of AFB-outbreaks.

  19. Optimal location selection for the installation of urban green roofs considering honeybee habitats along with socio-economic and environmental effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gwak, Jae Ha; Lee, Bo Kyeong; Lee, Won Kyung; Sohn, So Young

    2017-03-15

    This study proposes a new framework for the selection of optimal locations for green roofs to achieve a sustainable urban ecosystem. The proposed framework selects building sites that can maximize the benefits of green roofs, based not only on the socio-economic and environmental benefits to urban residents, but also on the provision of urban foraging sites for honeybees. The framework comprises three steps. First, building candidates for green roofs are selected considering the building type. Second, the selected building candidates are ranked in terms of their expected socio-economic and environmental effects. The benefits of green roofs are improved energy efficiency and air quality, reduction of urban flood risk and infrastructure improvement costs, reuse of storm water, and creation of space for education and leisure. Furthermore, the estimated cost of installing green roofs is also considered. We employ spatial data to determine the expected effects of green roofs on each building unit, because the benefits and costs may vary depending on the location of the building. This is due to the heterogeneous spatial conditions. In the third step, the final building sites are proposed by solving the maximal covering location problem (MCLP) to determine the optimal locations for green roofs as urban honeybee foraging sites. As an illustrative example, we apply the proposed framework in Seoul, Korea. This new framework is expected to contribute to sustainable urban ecosystems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Accuracy of single-abutment digital cast obtained using intraoral and cast scanners.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jae-Jun; Jeong, Ii-Do; Park, Jin-Young; Jeon, Jin-Hun; Kim, Ji-Hwan; Kim, Woong-Chul

    2017-02-01

    Scanners are frequently used in the fabrication of dental prostheses. However, the accuracy of these scanners is variable, and little information is available. The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the accuracy of cast scanners with that of intraoral scanners by using different image impression techniques. A poly(methyl methacrylate) master model was fabricated to replicate a maxillary first molar single-abutment tooth model. The master model was scanned with an accurate engineering scanner to obtain a true value (n=1) and with 2 intraoral scanners (CEREC Bluecam and CEREC Omnicam; n=6 each). The cast scanner scanned the master model and duplicated the dental stone cast from the master model (n=6). The trueness and precision of the data were measured using a 3-dimensional analysis program. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the different sets of scanning data, followed by a post hoc Mann-Whitney U test with a significance level modified by Bonferroni correction (α/6=.0083). The type 1 error level (α) was set at .05. The trueness value (root mean square: mean ±standard deviation) was 17.5 ±1.8 μm for the Bluecam, 13.8 ±1.4 μm for the Omnicam, 17.4 ±1.7 μm for cast scanner 1, and 12.3 ±0.1 μm for cast scanner 2. The differences between the Bluecam and the cast scanner 1 and between the Omnicam and the cast scanner 2 were not statistically significant (P>.0083), but a statistically significant difference was found between all the other pairs (POmnicam, 9.2 ±1.2 μm for cast scanner 1, and 6.9 ±2.6 μm for cast scanner 2. The differences between Bluecam and Omnicam and between Omnicam and cast scanner 1 were not statistically significant (P>.0083), but there was a statistically significant difference between all the other pairs (POmnicam in video image impression had better trueness than a cast scanner but with a similar level of precision. Copyright © 2016 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by

  1. Antennal tactile learning in the honeybee: effect of nicotinic antagonists on memory dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dacher, M; Lagarrigue, A; Gauthier, M

    2005-01-01

    Restrained worker honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) are able to learn to associate antennal-scanning of a metal plate with a sucrose reinforcement delivered to the mouthparts. Learning occurs reliably in a single association of the two sensory stimuli. The involvement of nicotinic pathways in memory formation and retrieval processes was tested by injecting, into the whole brain through the median ocellus, either mecamylamine (0.6 microg per bee) or alpha-bungarotoxin (2.4 ng per bee). Saline served as a control. Mecamylamine injected 10 min before the retrieval test impairs the retention level tested 3 h and 24 h after single- or multi-trial learning. Retrieval tests performed at various times after the injection show that the blocking effect of mecamylamine lasts about 1 h. The drug has no effect on the reconsolidation or extinction processes. Mecamylamine injected 10 min before conditioning impairs single-trial learning but has no effect on five-trial learning and on the consolidation process. By contrast, alpha-bungarotoxin only impairs the formation of long-term memory (24 h) induced by the five-trial learning and has no effect on medium-term memory (3 h), on single-trial learning or on the retrieval process. Hence, owing to previous data, at least two kinds of nicotinic receptors seem to be involved in honeybee memory, an alpha-bungarotoxin-sensitive and an alpha-bungarotoxin-insensitive receptor. Our results extend to antennal mechanosensory conditioning the role of the cholinergic system that we had previously described for olfactory conditioning in the honeybee. Moreover, we describe here in this insect a pharmacological dissociation between alpha-bungarotoxin sensitive long-term memory and alpha-bungarotoxin insensitive medium-term memory, the last one being affected by mecamylamine.

  2. Effect of honeybee stinger and its microstructured barbs on insertion and pull force.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ling, Jintian; Song, Zhenhua; Wang, Jiarui; Chen, Keyun; Li, Jiyu; Xu, Shujia; Ren, Lei; Chen, Zhipeng; Jin, Dianwen; Jiang, Lelun

    2017-04-01

    Worker honeybee is well-known for its stinger with microscopic backward-facing barbs for self-defense. The natural geometry of the stinger enables painless penetration and adhesion in the human skin to deliver poison. In this study, Apis cerana worker honeybee stinger and acupuncture microneedle (as a barbless stinger) were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The insertion and pull process of honeybee stinger into rabbit skin was performed by a self-developed mechanical loading equipment in comparison with acupuncture needle. In order to better understand the insertion and pull mechanisms of the stinger and its barbs in human multilayer skin, a nonlinear finite element method (FEM) was conducted. Experimental results showed that the average pull-out force of the stinger was 113.50mN and the average penetration force was only 5.75mN. The average penetration force of the stinger was about one order of magnitude smaller than that of an acupuncture microneedle while the average pull-out force was about 70 times larger than that of an acupuncture microneedle. FEM results showed that the stress concentrations were around the stinger tip and its barbs during the insertion process. The barbs were jammed in and torn the skin during the pull process. The insertion force of the stinger was greatly minimized due to its ultrasharp stinger tip and barbs while the pull force was seriously enhanced due to the mechanical interlocking of the barbs in the skin. These excellent properties are mainly a result of optimal geometry evolved by nature. Such finding may provide an inspiration for the further design of improved tissue adhesives and micro-needles for painless transdermal drug delivery and bio-signal recording. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Incidence and etiology of unplanned cast changes for fractures in the pediatric population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiPaola, Matthew J; Abzug, Joshua M; Pizzutillo, Peter D; Herman, Martin J

    2014-09-01

    The majority of pediatric fractures are treated in casts due to the child's ability to heal rapidly and remodel. Unplanned cast changes are a time and economic burden with potentially adverse effects on fracture management. The purpose of this study is to document the incidence, etiology, and complications related to unplanned cast changes. A prospective study was conducted over a 6-month period to determine the incidence of unplanned cast changes. All casts applied were nonwaterproof. Data collected include the reason for cast placement, type of cast placed, duration of wear before the unplanned change, reason for the unplanned change, experience level of the original cast applicator, and cast-related complications. A total of 1135 casts were placed with 58% placed by a resident, 38% by a cast technician, 2% by a physician's assistant, and 2% by an attending physician. Sixty casts (5.3%) required an unplanned change including 19 short-arm casts, 18 short-leg casts, 17 long-arm casts, 4 thumb spica casts, and 2 long-leg casts. The average duration from cast application until the unplanned change was 13 days. Twenty-eight (47%) were changed for wetness, 20 (33%) for wear/breakage, 2 (3%) for skin irritation, and 10 (17%) for other reasons including objects in the cast and patient self-removal. Two patients had superficial skin infections requiring oral antibiotics. No fracture reductions were lost secondary to an unplanned cast change. The need for an unplanned cast change did not correlate with the level of experience of the applicator. Most unplanned cast changes were the result of patient nonadherence to instructions and not related to cast application technique. Improved patient and family education regarding cast care may reduce the frequency of unplanned cast changes, thus reducing an economic and time burden on the health care system. Level II--prognostic study.

  4. Association of Amine-Receptor DNA Sequence Variants with Associative Learning in the Honeybee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lagisz, Malgorzata; Mercer, Alison R; de Mouzon, Charlotte; Santos, Luana L S; Nakagawa, Shinichi

    2016-03-01

    Octopamine- and dopamine-based neuromodulatory systems play a critical role in learning and learning-related behaviour in insects. To further our understanding of these systems and resulting phenotypes, we quantified DNA sequence variations at six loci coding octopamine-and dopamine-receptors and their association with aversive and appetitive learning traits in a population of honeybees. We identified 79 polymorphic sequence markers (mostly SNPs and a few insertions/deletions) located within or close to six candidate genes. Intriguingly, we found that levels of sequence variation in the protein-coding regions studied were low, indicating that sequence variation in the coding regions of receptor genes critical to learning and memory is strongly selected against. Non-coding and upstream regions of the same genes, however, were less conserved and sequence variations in these regions were weakly associated with between-individual differences in learning-related traits. While these associations do not directly imply a specific molecular mechanism, they suggest that the cross-talk between dopamine and octopamine signalling pathways may influence olfactory learning and memory in the honeybee.

  5. Optimization of Power Utilization in Multimobile Robot Foraging Behavior Inspired by Honeybees System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad, Faisul Arif; Ramli, Abd Rahman; Samsudin, Khairulmizam; Hashim, Shaiful Jahari

    2014-01-01

    Deploying large numbers of mobile robots which can interact with each other produces swarm intelligent behavior. However, mobile robots are normally running with finite energy resource, supplied from finite battery. The limitation of energy resource required human intervention for recharging the batteries. The sharing information among the mobile robots would be one of the potentials to overcome the limitation on previously recharging system. A new approach is proposed based on integrated intelligent system inspired by foraging of honeybees applied to multimobile robot scenario. This integrated approach caters for both working and foraging stages for known/unknown power station locations. Swarm mobile robot inspired by honeybee is simulated to explore and identify the power station for battery recharging. The mobile robots will share the location information of the power station with each other. The result showed that mobile robots consume less energy and less time when they are cooperating with each other for foraging process. The optimizing of foraging behavior would result in the mobile robots spending more time to do real work. PMID:24949491

  6. Bainitic high-strength cast iron with globular graphite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silman, G. I.; Makarenko, K. V.; Kamynin, V. V.; Zentsova, E. A.

    2013-07-01

    Special features of formation of bainitic structures in grayed cast irons are considered. The influence of the graphite phase and of the special features of chemical composition of the iron on the intermediate transformation in high-carbon alloys is allowed for. The range of application of high-strength cast irons with bainitic structure is determined. The paper is the last and unfinished work of G. I. Silman completed by his disciples as a tribute to their teacher.

  7. Conditional withholding of proboscis extension in honeybees (Apis mellifera) during discriminative punishment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, B H; Abramson, C I; Tobin, T R

    1991-12-01

    Proboscis extension conditioning of honeybee workers was used to test the ability of bees to respond to appetitive and aversive stimuli while restrained in a harness that allows subjects to move their antennae and mouthparts (Kuwabara, 1957; Menzel, Erber, & Masuhr, 1974). Subjects were conditioned to discriminate between two odors, one associated with sucrose feeding and the other associated with a 10 V AC shock if they responded to the sucrose unconditioned stimulus (US) in the context of that odor. Most Ss readily learned to respond to the odor followed by sucrose feeding and not to the odor associated with sucrose stimulation plus shock. Furthermore, in the context of the odor associated with shock, significantly more subjects withheld or delayed proboscis extension on stimulation with the sucrose US than they did in the context of the odor associated with feeding. Thus, restrained honeybees can readily learn to avoid shock according to an odor context by withholding proboscis extension to a normally powerful releaser. Analysis of individual learning curves revealed that subjects differed markedly in performance on this task. Some learn the discrimination quickly, whereas others show different kinds of response patterns.

  8. Focused Molding Using Adhesive Pads in Mehta Casting for Early-Onset Scoliosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abraham, Roby; Sponseller, Paul D

    2014-11-01

    Prospective clinical series. To determine the effect of adhesive pads placed over the apex of scoliosis curves on curve correction 1) after the first cast and 2) after the final cast. Early-onset scoliosis is often effectively managed by serial casting. Properly localizing the apex of the molds with the cast in place is challenging. The authors explored the effectiveness of a novel technique: incorporation of adhesive pads placed over the major curve apex before Mehta casting. The 27 patients who received body casts (2000-2013) were divided into 2 groups: those without and with apical adhesive pads (5-6 layers of pads placed on the major curve's apex during casting): non-pad (NP) group (n = 12) and pad (P) group (n = 15), respectively. Groups were compared regarding the percentage of Cobb angle change from the first cast and curve correction to a Cobb angle of cast curve correction was 39% ± 18% and 56% ± 17% in the NP and P groups, respectively. Of the 26 patients out of a cast, 11 (42%) had a Cobb angle of casting were effective in increasing the amount of major curve correction from the first cast for idiopathic early-onset scoliosis and in decreasing curves to <25° at final follow-up. Copyright © 2014 Scoliosis Research Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Clean Metal Casting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makhlouf M. Makhlouf; Diran Apelian

    2002-02-05

    The objective of this project is to develop a technology for clean metal processing that is capable of consistently providing a metal cleanliness level that is fit for a given application. The program has five tasks: Development of melt cleanliness assessment technology, development of melt contamination avoidance technology, development of high temperature phase separation technology, establishment of a correlation between the level of melt cleanliness and as cast mechanical properties, and transfer of technology to the industrial sector. Within the context of the first task, WPI has developed a standardized Reduced Pressure Test that has been endorsed by AFS as a recommended practice. In addition, within the context of task1, WPI has developed a melt cleanliness sensor based on the principles of electromagnetic separation. An industrial partner is commercializing the sensor. Within the context of the second task, WPI has developed environmentally friendly fluxes that do not contain fluorine. Within the context of the third task, WPI modeled the process of rotary degassing and verified the model predictions with experimental data. This model may be used to optimize the performance of industrial rotary degassers. Within the context of the fourth task, WPI has correlated the level of melt cleanliness at various foundries, including a sand casting foundry, a permanent mold casting foundry, and a die casting foundry, to the casting process and the resultant mechanical properties. This is useful in tailoring the melt cleansing operations at foundries to the particular casting process and the desired properties of cast components.

  10. Data Package for Secondary Waste Form Down-Selection-Cast Stone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Serne, R. Jeffrey; Westsik, Joseph H.

    2011-01-01

    Available literature on Cast Stone and Saltstone was reviewed with an emphasis on determining how Cast Stone and related grout waste forms performed in relationship to various criteria that will be used to decide whether a specific type of waste form meets acceptance criteria for disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) at Hanford. After the critical review of the Cast Stone/Saltstone literature, we conclude that Cast Stone is a good candidate waste form for further consideration. Cast stone meets the target IDF acceptance criteria for compressive strength, no free liquids, TCLP leachate are below the UTS permissible concentrations and leach rates for Na and Tc-99 are suiteably low. The cost of starting ingredients and equipment necessary to generate Cast Stone waste forms with secondary waste streams are low and the Cast Stone dry blend formulation can be tailored to accommodate variations in liquid waste stream compositions. The database for Cast Stone short-term performance is quite extensive compared to the other three candidate waste solidification processes. The solidification of liquid wastes in Cast Stone is a mature process in comparison to the other three candidates. Successful production of Cast Stone or Saltstone has been demonstrated from lab-scale monoliths with volumes of cm3 through m3 sized blocks to 210-liter sized drums all the way to the large pours into vaults at Savannah River. To date over 9 million gallons of low activity liquid waste has been solidified and disposed in concrete vaults at Savannah River.

  11. Data Package for Secondary Waste Form Down-Selection—Cast Stone

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Serne, R. Jeffrey; Westsik, Joseph H.

    2011-09-05

    Available literature on Cast Stone and Saltstone was reviewed with an emphasis on determining how Cast Stone and related grout waste forms performed in relationship to various criteria that will be used to decide whether a specific type of waste form meets acceptance criteria for disposal in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) at Hanford. After the critical review of the Cast Stone/Saltstone literature, we conclude that Cast Stone is a good candidate waste form for further consideration. Cast stone meets the target IDF acceptance criteria for compressive strength, no free liquids, TCLP leachate are below the UTS permissible concentrations and leach rates for Na and Tc-99 are suiteably low. The cost of starting ingredients and equipment necessary to generate Cast Stone waste forms with secondary waste streams are low and the Cast Stone dry blend formulation can be tailored to accommodate variations in liquid waste stream compositions. The database for Cast Stone short-term performance is quite extensive compared to the other three candidate waste solidification processes. The solidification of liquid wastes in Cast Stone is a mature process in comparison to the other three candidates. Successful production of Cast Stone or Saltstone has been demonstrated from lab-scale monoliths with volumes of cm3 through m3 sized blocks to 210-liter sized drums all the way to the large pours into vaults at Savannah River. To date over 9 million gallons of low activity liquid waste has been solidified and disposed in concrete vaults at Savannah River.

  12. General principles in motion vision: color blindness of object motion depends on pattern velocity in honeybee and goldfish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stojcev, Maja; Radtke, Nils; D'Amaro, Daniele; Dyer, Adrian G; Neumeyer, Christa

    2011-07-01

    Visual systems can undergo striking adaptations to specific visual environments during evolution, but they can also be very "conservative." This seems to be the case in motion vision, which is surprisingly similar in species as distant as honeybee and goldfish. In both visual systems, motion vision measured with the optomotor response is color blind and mediated by one photoreceptor type only. Here, we ask whether this is also the case if the moving stimulus is restricted to a small part of the visual field, and test what influence velocity may have on chromatic motion perception. Honeybees were trained to discriminate between clockwise- and counterclockwise-rotating sector disks. Six types of disk stimuli differing in green receptor contrast were tested using three different rotational velocities. When green receptor contrast was at a minimum, bees were able to discriminate rotation directions with all colored disks at slow velocities of 6 and 12 Hz contrast frequency but not with a relatively high velocity of 24 Hz. In the goldfish experiment, the animals were trained to detect a moving red or blue disk presented in a green surround. Discrimination ability between this stimulus and a homogenous green background was poor when the M-cone type was not or only slightly modulated considering high stimulus velocity (7 cm/s). However, discrimination was improved with slower stimulus velocities (4 and 2 cm/s). These behavioral results indicate that there is potentially an object motion system in both honeybee and goldfish, which is able to incorporate color information at relatively low velocities but is color blind with higher speed. We thus propose that both honeybees and goldfish have multiple subsystems of object motion, which include achromatic as well as chromatic processing.

  13. Analysis of European honeybee (Apis mellifera) wings using ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy: A pilot study

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Machovič, Vladimír; Lapčák, L.; Havelcová, Martina; Borecká, Lenka; Novotná, M.; Novotná, M.; Javůrková, I.; Langrová, I.; Hájková, Š.; Brožová, A.; Titěra, D.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 48, č. 1 (2017), s. 22-29 ISSN 1211-3174 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : honeybee wings * ATR-FTIR * Raman spectroscopy * protein * lipid * chitin Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation OBOR OECD: Analytical chemistry

  14. Friction welding of ductile cast iron using interlayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winiczenko, Radoslaw; Kaczorowski, Mieczyslaw

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: → The results of the study of the friction welding of ductile cast iron using interlayers are presented. → The results of the analysis shows that the joint has the tensile strength compared to that of basic material. → In case of ductile cast iron, it is possible to reach the tensile strength equals even 700 MPa. → The process of friction welding was accompanied with diffusion of Cr, Ni and C atoms across the interface. -- Abstract: In this paper, ductile cast iron-austenitic stainless steel, ductile cast iron-pure Armco iron and ductile cast iron-low carbon steel interlayers were welded, using the friction welding method. The tensile strength of the joints was determined, using a conventional tensile test machine. Moreover, the hardness across the interface of materials was measured on metallographic specimens. The fracture surface and microstructure of the joints was examined using either light stereoscope microscopy as well as electron microscopy. In this case, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied. The results of the analysis shows that the joint has the tensile strength compared to that of basic material. In case of ductile cast iron, it is possible to reach the tensile strength equals even 700 MPa. It was concluded that the process of friction welding was accompanied with diffusion of Cr, Ni and C atoms across the ductile cast iron-stainless steel interface. This leads to increase in carbon concentration in stainless steel where chromium carbides were formed, the size and distribution of which was dependent on the distance from the interface.

  15. Caste System

    OpenAIRE

    Hoff, Karla

    2016-01-01

    In standard economics, individuals are rational actors and economic forces undermine institutions that impose large inefficiencies. The persistence of the caste system is evidence of the need for psychologically more realistic models of decision-making in economics. The caste system divides South Asian society into hereditary groups whose lowest ranks are represented as innately polluted. ...

  16. SLIP CASTING METHOD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allison, A.G.

    1959-09-01

    S>A process is described for preparing a magnesium oxide slip casting slurry which when used in conjunction with standard casting techniques results in a very strong "green" slip casting and a fired piece of very close dimensional tolerance. The process involves aging an aqueous magnestum oxide slurry, having a basic pH value, until it attains a specified critical viscosity at which time a deflocculating agent is added without upsetting the basic pH value.

  17. Gating Systems for Sizeable Castings from Al Alloys Cast into Ceramic Moulds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Stachovec

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available In contrast to casting to conventional non-reusable “sand” moulds, for which calculating technique for an optimum design of the gating system is comparatively well-developed, a trial-and-error method is applied mostly for casting to ceramic shell moulds made by the investment casting technology. A technologist selects from gating systems of several types (that are standardized by the foundry mostly on the basis of experience. However, this approach is not sustainable with ever growing demands on quality of castings and also the economy of their fabrication as well as with new types of complex sizeable castings introduced to the production gradually (by new customers from the aircraft industry above all any more. The simulation software may be used as a possible tool for making the process of optimising gating systems more effective.

  18. Aging and demographic plasticity in response to experimental age structures in honeybees (Apis mellifera L).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rueppell, Olav; Linford, Robyn; Gardner, Preston; Coleman, Jennifer; Fine, Kari

    2008-08-01

    Honeybee colonies are highly integrated functional units characterized by a pronounced division of labor. Division of labor among workers is mainly age-based, with younger individuals focusing on in-hive tasks and older workers performing the more hazardous foraging activities. Thus, experimental disruption of the age composition of the worker hive population is expected to have profound consequences for colony function. Adaptive demography theory predicts that the natural hive age composition represents a colony-level adaptation and thus results in optimal hive performance. Alternatively, the hive age composition may be an epiphenomenon, resulting from individual life history optimization. We addressed these predictions by comparing individual worker longevity and brood production in hives that were composed of a single age cohort, two distinct age cohorts, and hives that had a continuous, natural age distribution. Four experimental replicates showed that colonies with a natural age composition did not consistently have a higher life expectancy and/or brood production than the single cohort or double cohort hives. Instead, a complex interplay of age structure, environmental conditions, colony size, brood production, and individual mortality emerged. A general trade-off between worker life expectancy and colony productivity was apparent, and the transition from in-hive tasks to foraging was the most significant predictor of worker lifespan irrespective of the colony age structure. We conclude that the natural age structure of honeybee hives is not a colony-level adaptation. Furthermore, our results show that honeybees exhibit pronounced demographic plasticity in addition to behavioral plasticity to react to demographic disturbances of their societies.

  19. THEORETICAL GROUNDS OF THE LEADED TAPES CONTINUOUS CASTING BY MEANS OF DIRECT ROLLING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. F. Baranovskij

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The results of experimental and theoretical investigations of leaded tape forming at continuous casting in roll crystallizer with flanges are presented. The monogram for determination of optimum casting speed is built.

  20. The effect of microstructure of low-alloy spheroidal cast iron on impact strength

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Szykowny

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The study presents an evaluation of the effect of microstructure of low-alloy spheroidal cast iron on impact strength within the temperature range from –60 to 100°C. Analyses were conducted on one type of cast iron containing 0.51% Cu and 0.72% Ni. Cast iron was austempered or normalized. Values of KCV and static mechanical properties were determined. Structural and fractographic analyses were based on light and scanning microscopy as well as X-ray diffraction. It was found that thermal processing considerably improves impact strength in relation to cast iron after casting. At the same time static mechanical properties are enhanced.

  1. Multiscale modeling for the prediction of casting defects in investment cast aluminum alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, R.W.; See, D.; Butler, S.; Lee, P.D.

    2003-01-01

    Macroscopic modeling of heat transfer and fluid flow is now routinely used for the prediction of macroscopic defects in castings, while microscopic models are used to investigate the effects of alloy changes on typical microstructures. By combining these two levels of modeling it is possible to simulate the casting process over a wider range of spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents a multiscale model where micromodels for dendrite arm spacing and microporosity are incorporated into a macromodel of heat transfer and in order to predict the as cast microstructure and prevalence of microscopic defects, specifically porosity. The approach is applied to aluminum alloy (L169) investment castings. The models are compared with results obtained by optical image analysis of prepared slices, and X-ray tomography of volume samples from the experiments. Multiscale modeling is shown to provide the designer with a useful tool to improve the properties of the final casting by testing how altering the casting process affects the final microstructure including porosity

  2. Aluminide protective coatings on high–temperature creep resistant cast steel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Kubicki

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of research on aluminide protective coatings manufactured on high–temperature creep resistant cast steel. The main purpose of these coatings is protection against the high temperature corrosion, especially at high carburizing potential atmosphere. Coatings were obtained on cast steel type G–XNiCrSi36–18 with the following methods: pack cementation, paste method, cast method and slurry cementation. The phase composition, thickness and morphology of coatings were determined. Coatings capacity of carbon diffusion inhibition and thermal shocks resistance of coatings were determined with different methods. It was found, that all of the coatings reduce carbon diffusion in different degree and all coatings liable to degradation in consequence cracking and oxidation. Coating life time is mainly dependent on morphology, phase composition and service condition (thermal shocks first of all.

  3. [The surface roughness analysis of the titanium casting founding by a new titanium casting investment material].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Qin-ye; Wu, Xia-yi; Lin, Xue-feng

    2012-04-01

    To investigate the surface roughness property of the titanium castings cast in a new investment for titanium casting. Six wax patterns (20 mm × 20 mm × 0.5 mm) were invested using two investments: three in a new titanium investment material and three in the control material (Rematitan Plus). Six titanium specimens were obtained by conventional casting. After casting, surface roughness of the specimens were evaluated with a surface profilometer. The surface roughness of the specimens cast in new titanium investment material was (1.72 ± 0.08) µm, which was much smaller than that from Rematitan Plus [(1.91 ± 0.15) µm, P cast using these two investment materials are both smooth enough to fulfill the demand of the titanium precision-casting for prosthodontic clinical use.

  4. Examination and Elimination of Defects in Cone Casting Made of Ductile Cast Iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guzik E.

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available In the scope of existing cooperation with the Foundry of Cast Iron ZM “WSK Rzeszów” Ltd. there was carried out research work of microstructure and mechanical properties in the walls of a cone casting made of ductile cast iron. The particular attention was being put to the search of the potential brittle phases which have deleterious effect on ductility and dynamic properties of highly strained use of the casting prone to the potential risk of cracks during the highly strained use.

  5. Accuracy of ringless casting and accelerated wax-elimination technique: a comparative in vitro study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Rahul; Al-Keraif, Abdulaziz Abdullah; Kathuria, Nidhi; Gandhi, P V; Bhide, S V

    2014-02-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ringless casting and accelerated wax-elimination techniques can be combined to offer a cost-effective, clinically acceptable, and time-saving alternative for fabricating single unit castings in fixed prosthodontics. Sixty standardized wax copings were fabricated on a type IV stone replica of a stainless steel die. The wax patterns were divided into four groups. The first group was cast using the ringless investment technique and conventional wax-elimination method; the second group was cast using the ringless investment technique and accelerated wax-elimination method; the third group was cast using the conventional metal ring investment technique and conventional wax-elimination method; the fourth group was cast using the metal ring investment technique and accelerated wax-elimination method. The vertical marginal gap was measured at four sites per specimen, using a digital optical microscope at 100× magnification. The results were analyzed using two-way ANOVA to determine statistical significance. The vertical marginal gaps of castings fabricated using the ringless technique (76.98 ± 7.59 μm) were significantly less (p castings fabricated using the conventional metal ring technique (138.44 ± 28.59 μm); however, the vertical marginal gaps of the conventional (102.63 ± 36.12 μm) and accelerated wax-elimination (112.79 ± 38.34 μm) castings were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). The ringless investment technique can produce castings with higher accuracy and can be favorably combined with the accelerated wax-elimination method as a vital alternative to the time-consuming conventional technique of casting restorations in fixed prosthodontics. © 2013 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

  6. A DNA barcoding approach to characterize pollen collected by honeybees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Galimberti

    Full Text Available In the present study, we investigated DNA barcoding effectiveness to characterize honeybee pollen pellets, a food supplement largely used for human nutrition due to its therapeutic properties. We collected pollen pellets using modified beehives placed in three zones within an alpine protected area (Grigna Settentrionale Regional Park, Italy. A DNA barcoding reference database, including rbcL and trnH-psbA sequences from 693 plant species (104 sequenced in this study was assembled. The database was used to identify pollen collected from the hives. Fifty-two plant species were identified at the molecular level. Results suggested rbcL alone could not distinguish among congeneric plants; however, psbA-trnH identified most of the pollen samples at the species level. Substantial variability in pollen composition was observed between the highest elevation locality (Alpe Moconodeno, characterized by arid grasslands and a rocky substrate, and the other two sites (Cornisella and Ortanella at lower altitudes. Pollen from Ortanella and Cornisella showed the presence of typical deciduous forest species; however in samples collected at Ortanella, pollen of the invasive Lonicera japonica, and the ornamental Pelargonium x hortorum were observed. Our results indicated pollen composition was largely influenced by floristic local biodiversity, plant phenology, and the presence of alien flowering species. Therefore, pollen molecular characterization based on DNA barcoding might serve useful to beekeepers in obtaining honeybee products with specific nutritional or therapeutic characteristics desired by food market demands.

  7. The organization of honeybee ocelli: Regional specializations and rhabdom arrangements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribi, Willi; Warrant, Eric; Zeil, Jochen

    2011-11-01

    We have re-investigated the organization of ocelli in honeybee workers and drones. Ocellar lenses are divided into a dorsal and a ventral part by a cusp-shaped indentation. The retina is also divided, with a ventral retina looking skywards and a dorsal retina looking at the horizon. The focal plane of lenses lies behind the retina in lateral ocelli, but within the dorsal retina in the median ocellus of both workers and drones. Ventral retinula cells are ca. 25μm long with dense screening pigments. Dorsal retinula cells are ca. 60μm long with sparse pigmentation mainly restricted to their proximal parts. Pairs of retinula cells form flat, non-twisting rhabdom sheets with elongated, straight, rectangular cross-sections, on average 8.7μm long and 1μm wide. Honeybee ocellar rhabdoms have shorter and straighter cross-sections than those recently described in the night-active bee Megalopta genalis. Across the retina, rhabdoms form a fan-shaped pattern of orientations. In each ocellus, ventral and dorsal retinula cell axons project into two separate neuropils, converging on few large neurons in the dorsal, and on many small neurons in the ventral neuropil. The divided nature of the ocelli, together with the particular construction and arrangement of rhabdoms, suggest that ocelli are not only involved in attitude control, but might also provide skylight polarization compass information. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Colour Metallography of Cast Iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Jiyang

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Cast iron, as a traditional metal material, has advantages of low total cost, good castability and machinability, good wear resistance and low notch sensitivity, and is still facing tough challenge in quality, property and variety of types etc. Experts and engineers studying and producing iron castings all around world extremely concern this serious challenge. Over more than 30 years, a great of research work has been carried out on how to further improve its property, expand its application and combine cast iron technology with some hi-techs (for example, computer technology. Nevertheless, cast iron is a multi-element and multi-phase alloy and has complex and variety of structures and still has great development potential in structure and property. For further studying and developing cast iron, theoretical research work is important promise, and the study on solidification process and control mechanism of graphite morphology is fundamental for improving property of cast iron and developing new type of cast iron.Metallography of cast iron normally includes two sections: liquid phase transformation and solid phase transformation. The book, Colour Metallography of Cast Iron , uses colour metallography technique to study solidification structures of cast irons: graphite, carbides, austenite and eutectics; and focuses on solidification processes. With progress of modern solidification theory, the control of material solidification process becomes important measure for improving traditionalmaterials and developing new materials. Solidification structure not only influences mechanical and physical properties of cast iron, but also affects its internal quality. The book uses a large amount of colour photos to describe the formation of solidification structures and their relations. Crystallization phenomena, which cannot be displayed with traditional metallography, are presented and more phase transformation information is obtained from these colour

  9. In vitro evaluation of four methods of attaching transfixation pins into a fiberglass cast for use in horses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClure, S R; Watkins, J P; Hogan, H A

    1996-07-01

    To compare the axial stability provided by 4 methods of attaching transfixation pins into a fiberglass cast. Axial stability of 4 methods of transfixation pin attachment to a fiberglass cast cylinder was determined in vitro. Methods of attachment included simple incorporation of the pins into the cast, placement of a washer and nut on the pin and incorporation into the cast, extension of pins beyond the cast and attachment to a steel halo, and washers within the cast and attachment to a steel halo. A model was designed to simulate a transfixation cast applied to the equine metacarpus. 8 identical constructs were present in each of the 4 groups. 6 fiberglass cylinders were also tested to identify the contribution of the cast cylinder to the overall stability of the transfixation cast. Load-sufficient curves were recorded, and a stiffness modulus was calculated for each treatment group and for a simple fiberglass cylinder without transfixation pins. There was no significant difference among the 4 methods of attachment. The fiberglass cast material appears to be the major determinant of axial stability.

  10. Casting characteristics of Al-Mg alloy 535 cast in permanent moulds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fasoyinu, F.A.; Thomson, J.; Cousineau, D.; Castles, T.; Sahoo, M.

    2002-01-01

    Aluminum alloy 535 could be used for automotive and marine applications because of its good corrosion resistance against mild alkaline and salt spray exposure. The majority of components from this alloy are usually produced by sand casting because it is prone to hot shortness and has poor fluidity when poured in permanent moulds. In an attempt to improve its castability in permanent moulds, casting characteristics such as casting fluidity and hot tear resistance have been studied. In addition, the effectiveness of titanium, boron, scandium, zirconium and a combination of selected elements from this group as grain refiners were evaluated. It s shown that alloy 535 exhibits good casting fluidity when poured with adequate metal superheat and that there is significant improvement in hot tear resistance following grain refinement. (author)

  11. The proboscis extension reflex to evaluate learning and memory in honeybees ( Apis mellifera): some caveats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frost, Elisabeth H.; Shutler, Dave; Hillier, Neil Kirk

    2012-09-01

    The proboscis extension reflex (PER) is widely used in a classical conditioning (Pavlovian) context to evaluate learning and memory of a variety of insect species. The literature is particularly prodigious for honeybees ( Apis mellifera) with more than a thousand publications. Imagination appears to be the only limit to the types of challenges to which researchers subject honeybees, including all the sensory modalities and a broad diversity of environmental treatments. Accordingly, some remarkable insights have been achieved using PER. However, there are several challenges to evaluating the PER literature that warrant a careful and thorough review. We assess here variation in methods that makes interpretation of studies, even those researching the same question, tenuous. We suggest that the numerous variables that might influence experimental outcomes from PER be thoroughly detailed by researchers. Moreover, the influence of individual variables on results needs to carefully evaluated, as well as among two or more variables. Our intent is to encourage investigation of the influence of numerous variables on PER results.

  12. Method for Determining the Time Constants Characterizing the Intensity of Steel Mixing in Continuous Casting Tundish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pieprzyca J.

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available A common method used in identification of hydrodynamics phenomena occurring in Continuous Casting (CC device's tundish is to determine the RTD curves of time. These curves allows to determine the way of the liquid steel flowing and mixing in the tundish. These can be identified either as the result of numerical simulation or by the experiments - as the result of researching the physical models. Special problem is to objectify it while conducting physical research. It is necessary to precisely determine the time constants which characterize researched phenomena basing on the data acquired in the measured change of the concentration of the tracer in model liquid's volume. The mathematical description of determined curves is based on the approximate differential equations formulated in the theory of fluid mechanics. Solving these equations to calculate the time constants requires a special software and it is very time-consuming. To improve the process a method was created to calculate the time constants with use of automation elements. It allows to solve problems using algebraic method, which improves interpretation of the research results of physical modeling.

  13. Casting of microstructured shark skin surfaces and possible applications on aluminum casting parts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Todor Ivanov

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Within the project Functional Surfaces via Micro- and Nanoscaled Structures?which is part of the Cluster of Excellence 揑ntegrative Production Technology?established and financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG, an investment casting process to produce 3-dimensional functional surfaces down to a structural size of 1 μm on near-net-shape-casting parts has been developed. The common way to realize functional microstructures on metallic surfaces is to use laser ablation, electro discharge machining or micro milling. The handicap of these processes is their limited productivity. The approach of this project to raise the efficiency is to use the investment casting process to replicate microstructured surfaces by moulding from a laser-microstructured grand master pattern. The main research objective deals with the investigation of the single process steps of the investment casting process with regard to the moulding accuracy. Actual results concerning making of the wax pattern, suitability of ceramic mould and core materials for casting of an AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy as well as the knock-out behavior of the shells are presented. By using of the example of an intake manifold of a gasoline race car engine, a technical shark skin surface has been realized to reduce the drag of the intake air. The intake manifold consists of an air-restrictor with a defined inner diameter which is microstructured with technical shark skin riblets. For this reason the inner diameter cannot be drilled after casting and demands a very high accuracy of the casting part. A technology for the fabrication and demoulding of accurate microstructured castings are shown. Shrinkage factors of different moulding steps of the macroscopic casting part as well as the microscopic riblet structure have been examined as well.

  14. Application of the Billet Casting Method to Determine the Onset of Incipient Melting of 319 Al Alloy Engine Blocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lombardi, A.; Ravindran, C.; MacKay, R.

    2015-06-01

    The increased use of Al for automotive applications has resulted from the need to improve vehicle fuel efficiency. Aluminum alloy engine blocks fulfil the need of lightweighting. However, there are many challenges associated with thermo-mechanical mismatch between Al and the gray cast iron cylinder liners, which result in large tensile residual stress along the cylinder bores. This requires improced mechanical properties in this region to prevent premature engine failure. In this study, replicating billet castings were used to simulate the engine block solution heat treatment process and determine the onset of incipient melting. Microstructural changes during heat treatment were assessed with SEM and EDX, while thermal analysis was carried out using differential scanning calorimetry. The results suggest that solution heat treatment at 500 °C was effective in dissolving secondary phase particles, while solutionizing at 515 or 530 °C caused incipient melting of Al2Cu and Al5Mg8Cu2Si6. Incipient melting caused the formation ultra-fine eutectic clusters consisting of Al, Al2Cu, and Al5Mg8Cu2Si6 on quenching. In addition, DSC analysis found that incipient melting initiated at 507 °C for all billets, although the quantity of local melting reduced with microstructural refinement as evidenced by smaller endothermic peaks and energy absorption. The results from this study will assist in improving engine block casting integrity and process efficiency.

  15. Aluminium Foam and Magnesium Compound Casting Produced by High-Pressure Die Casting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iban Vicario

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays, fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are two of the main focal points in vehicle design, promoting the reduction in the weight of vehicles by using lighter materials. The aim of the work is to evaluate the influence of different aluminium foams and injection parameters in order to obtain compound castings with a compromise between the obtained properties and weight by high-pressure die cast (HPDC using aluminium foams as cores into a magnesium cast part. To evaluate the influence of the different aluminium foams and injection parameters on the final casting products quality, the type and density of the aluminium foam, metal temperature, plunger speed, and multiplication pressure have been varied within a range of suitable values. The obtained compound HPDC castings have been studied by performing visual and RX inspections, obtaining sound composite castings with aluminium foam cores. The presence of an external continuous layer on the foam surface and the correct placement of the foam to support injection conditions permit obtaining good quality parts. A HPDC processed magnesium-aluminium foam composite has been developed for a bicycle application obtaining a suitable combination of mechanical properties and, especially, a reduced weight in the demonstration part.

  16. Composition of organic matter in earthworm casts depending on litter quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerbrock, R. H.; Gerke, H. H.; Schrader, S.; Leue, M.

    2009-04-01

    Earthworms contribute to decomposition and stabilization of organic matter (OM) in soil. The digestion during intestinal passage inside worms may lead to a change in the composition of OM. It is largely unknown if and how the type of litter the earthworm is feeding on is affecting the OM composition in the casts. Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is used to determine the hydrophobic CH- (A) and the hydrophilic CO- (B) functional groups in OM. The objective was to compare the A/B- ratios of litter samples with that of (i) the corresponding casts of the primary decomposer Lumbricus terrestris and (ii) the water contact angles of ground cast samples and at intact cast surfaces. Litter from 10 different plant species including leaves of birch, beech, oak, spruce, pear, mustard and wheat straw (3 replicates) was offered separately to L. terrestris in microcosms containing a Luvisol soil. The OM composition of litter and that of casts, collected from the soil surface after 4-weeks was analyzed with FTIR (DRIFT technique). The A/B ratio of casts was generally increased as compared to that of the soil. For most litter types, the A/B ratio of cast was relatively similar except for casts from birch (Betula pendula) and pear (Pyrus communis) where the OM show a 3-times higher A/B ratio as compared to wheat (Triticum aestivum) or beech (Fagus sylvatica) casts. The higher A/B ratios seem to be related to the relative higher C/N ratios in the casts from Betula pendula and Pyrus communis feeding experiments. The results indicate that digestion of litter by the worm may change OM composition. The assumption that earthworm casts may enrich hydrophobic OM components could be verified only partly. However particulate and soluble OM fractions in the earthworm casts could have contributed to such differentiation.

  17. Genetic diversity within honeybee colonies increases signal production by waggle-dancing foragers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattila, Heather R; Burke, Kelly M; Seeley, Thomas D

    2008-01-01

    Recent work has demonstrated considerable benefits of intracolonial genetic diversity for the productivity of honeybee colonies: single-patriline colonies have depressed foraging rates, smaller food stores and slower weight gain relative to multiple-patriline colonies. We explored whether differences in the use of foraging-related communication behaviour (waggle dances and shaking signals) underlie differences in foraging effort of genetically diverse and genetically uniform colonies. We created three pairs of colonies; each pair had one colony headed by a multiply mated queen (inseminated by 15 drones) and one colony headed by a singly mated queen. For each pair, we monitored the production of foraging-related signals over the course of 3 days. Foragers in genetically diverse colonies had substantially more information available to them about food resources than foragers in uniform colonies. On average, in genetically diverse colonies compared with genetically uniform colonies, 36% more waggle dances were identified daily, dancers performed 62% more waggle runs per dance, foragers reported food discoveries that were farther from the nest and 91% more shaking signals were exchanged among workers each morning prior to foraging. Extreme polyandry by honeybee queens enhances the production of worker–worker communication signals that facilitate the swift discovery and exploitation of food resources. PMID:18198143

  18. Blue colour preference in honeybees distracts visual attention for learning closed shapes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morawetz, Linde; Svoboda, Alexander; Spaethe, Johannes; Dyer, Adrian G

    2013-10-01

    Spatial vision is an important cue for how honeybees (Apis mellifera) find flowers, and previous work has suggested that spatial learning in free-flying bees is exclusively mediated by achromatic input to the green photoreceptor channel. However, some data suggested that bees may be able to use alternative channels for shape processing, and recent work shows conditioning type and training length can significantly influence bee learning and cue use. We thus tested the honeybees' ability to discriminate between two closed shapes considering either absolute or differential conditioning, and using eight stimuli differing in their spectral characteristics. Consistent with previous work, green contrast enabled reliable shape learning for both types of conditioning, but surprisingly, we found that bees trained with appetitive-aversive differential conditioning could additionally use colour and/or UV contrast to enable shape discrimination. Interestingly, we found that a high blue contrast initially interferes with bee shape learning, probably due to the bees innate preference for blue colours, but with increasing experience bees can learn a variety of spectral and/or colour cues to facilitate spatial learning. Thus, the relationship between bee pollinators and the spatial and spectral cues that they use to find rewarding flowers appears to be a more rich visual environment than previously thought.

  19. Perception of contextual size illusions by honeybees in restricted and unrestricted viewing conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Scarlett R; Avarguès-Weber, Aurore; Garcia, Jair E; Stuart-Fox, Devi; Dyer, Adrian G

    2017-11-29

    How different visual systems process images and make perceptual errors can inform us about cognitive and visual processes. One of the strongest geometric errors in perception is a misperception of size depending on the size of surrounding objects, known as the Ebbinghaus or Titchener illusion. The ability to perceive the Ebbinghaus illusion appears to vary dramatically among vertebrate species, and even populations, but this may depend on whether the viewing distance is restricted. We tested whether honeybees perceive contextual size illusions, and whether errors in perception of size differed under restricted and unrestricted viewing conditions. When the viewing distance was unrestricted, there was an effect of context on size perception and thus, similar to humans, honeybees perceived contrast size illusions. However, when the viewing distance was restricted, bees were able to judge absolute size accurately and did not succumb to visual illusions, despite differing contextual information. Our results show that accurate size perception depends on viewing conditions, and thus may explain the wide variation in previously reported findings across species. These results provide insight into the evolution of visual mechanisms across vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, and suggest convergent evolution of a visual processing solution. © 2017 The Author(s).

  20. Casting AISI 316 steel by gel cast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ozols, A; Thern, G; Rozenberg, S; Barreiro, M; Marajofsky, A

    2004-01-01

    The feasibility of producing AISI 316 steel components from their powders and avoiding their compaction is analyzed. A casting technique is tested that is similar to gel casting, used for ceramic materials. In the initial stage, the process consists of the formulation of a concentrated barbotine of powdered metal in a solution of water soluble organic monomers, which is cast in a mold and polymerized in situ to form a raw piece in the shape of the cavity. The process can be performed under controlled conditions using barbotines with a high monomer content from the acrylimide family. Then, the molded piece is slowly heated until the polymer is eliminated, and it is sintered at temperatures of 1160 o C to 1300 o C under a dry hydrogen atmosphere, until the desired densities are attained. The density and micro structure of the materials obtained are compared with those for the materials compacted and synthesized by the conventional processes. The preliminary results show the feasibility of the process for the production of certain kinds of structural components (CW)

  1. In-Depth N-Glycosylation Reveals Species-Specific Modifications and Functions of the Royal Jelly Protein from Western (Apis mellifera) and Eastern Honeybees (Apis cerana).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Mao; Fang, Yu; Han, Bin; Xu, Xiang; Fan, Pei; Hao, Yue; Qi, Yuping; Hu, Han; Huo, Xinmei; Meng, Lifeng; Wu, Bin; Li, Jianke

    2015-12-04

    Royal jelly (RJ), secreted by honeybee workers, plays diverse roles as nutrients and defense agents for honeybee biology and human health. Despite being reported to be glycoproteins, the glycosylation characterization and functionality of RJ proteins in different honeybee species are largely unknown. An in-depth N-glycoproteome analysis and functional assay of RJ produced by Apis mellifera lingustica (Aml) and Apis cerana cerana (Acc) were conducted. RJ produced by Aml yielded 80 nonredundant N-glycoproteins carrying 190 glycosites, of which 23 novel proteins harboring 35 glycosites were identified. For Acc, all 43 proteins glycosylated at 138 glycosites were reported for the first time. Proteins with distinct N-glycoproteomic characteristics in terms of glycoprotein species, number of N-glycosylated sites, glycosylation motif, abundance level of glycoproteins, and N-glycosites were observed in this two RJ samples. The fact that the low inhibitory efficiency of N-glycosylated major royal jelly protein 2 (MRJP2) against Paenibacillus larvae (P. larvae) and the absence of antibacterial related glycosylated apidaecin, hymenoptaecin, and peritrophic matrix in the Aml RJ compared to Acc reveal the mechanism for why the Aml larvae are susceptible to P. larvae, the causative agent of a fatal brood disease (American foulbrood, AFB). The observed antihypertension activity of N-glycosylated MRJP1 in two RJ samples and a stronger activity found in Acc than in Aml reveal that specific RJ protein and modification are potentially useful for the treatment of hypertensive disease for humans. Our data gain novel understanding that the western and eastern bees have evolved species-specific strategies of glycosylation to fine-tune protein activity for optimizing molecular function as nutrients and immune agents for the good of honeybee and influence on the health promoting activity for human as well. This serves as a valuable resource for the targeted probing of the biological

  2. Evaluation of the Mechanical Properties of Gray Cast Iron Using Electrical Resistivity Measurement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bieroński M.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper an attempt to determine the relationship between the electrical resistivity and the tensile strength and hardness of cast iron of carbon equivalent in the range from 3.93% to 4.48%. Tests were performed on the gray cast iron for 12 different melts with different chemical composition. From one melt poured 6 samples. Based on the study of mechanical and electro-resistive determined variation characteristics of tensile strength, hardness and resistivity as a function of the carbon equivalent. Then, regression equations were developed as power functions describing the relationship between the resistivity of castings and their tensile strength and hardness. It was found a high level of regression equations to measuring points, particularly with regard to the relationship Rm=f(ρ. The obtained preliminary results indicate the possibility of application of the method of the resistance to rapid diagnostic casts on the production line, when we are dealing with repeatable production, in this case non variable geometry of the product for which it has been determinated before a regression equation.

  3. The Phenotypic Effects of Royal Jelly on Wild-Type D. melanogaster Are Strain-Specific.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefanie L Morgan

    Full Text Available The role for royal jelly (RJ in promoting caste differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens rather than workers is well characterized. A recent study demonstrated that this poorly understood complex nutrition drives strikingly similar phenotypic effects in Drosophila melanogaster, such as increased body size and reduced developmental time, making possible the use of D. melanogaster as a model system for the genetic analysis of the cellular mechanisms underlying RJ and caste differentiation. We demonstrate here that RJ increases the body size of some wild-type strains of D. melanogaster but not others, and report significant delays in developmental time in all flies reared on RJ. These findings suggest that cryptic genetic variation may be a factor in the D. melanogaster response to RJ, and should be considered when attempting to elucidate response mechanisms to environmental changes in non-honeybee species.

  4. Modeling and Optimization of Direct Chill Casting to Reduce Ingot Cracking

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, Subodh K.

    2006-01-09

    A successful four-year project on the modeling and optimization of direct chill (DC) casting to reduce ingot cracking has been completed. The project involved close collaboration among private industries, national laboratories, and universities. During the four-year project, 16 quarterly meetings brought the industrial partners and the research team together for discussion of research results and research direction. The industrial partners provided guidance, facilities, and experience to the research team. The research team went to two industrial plants to measure temperature distributions in commercial 60,000-lb DC casting ingot. The collaborative research resulted in several major accomplishments or findings: (1) Surface cracks were shown to be a result of hot tearing rather than cold cracks, as was thought before this project. These cracks form on the surface of a DC cast ingot just above the impingement point of the secondary cooling water jets. The cracks form along dendrite and grain boundaries, where solute and impurity elements are highly segregated. This understanding led to the development of a new technique for determining the mechanical properties in the nonequilibrium mushy zone of alloys and to thermodynamic predictions of the hot tearing propensity of DC cast ingots. (2) The apparent heat transfer coefficient (HTC) at the ingot surface in the water cooling region during DC casting was determined on the basis of temperature measurements in commercial DC casting ingots and an inverse heat transfer analysis. HTCs were calculated as a function of temperature and time, and covered the different regimes of heat transfer expected during DC casting. The calculated values were extrapolated to include the effect of water flow rate. The calculated HTCs had a peak at around 200 C, corresponding to the high heat transfer rates during nucleate boiling, and the profile was consistent with similar data published in the literature. (3) A new method, termed the

  5. Simulation of Distortion and Residual Stress Development During Heat Treatment of Steel Castings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beckermann, Christoph; Carlson, Kent

    2011-07-22

    Heat treatment and associated processing, such as quenching, are critical during high strength steel casting production. These processes must be managed closely to prevent thermal and residual stresses that may result in distortion, cracking (particularly after machining), re-work, and weld repair. The risk of casting distortion limits aggressive quenching that can be beneficial to the process and yield an improved outcome. As a result of these distortions, adjustments must be made to the casting or pattern design, or tie bars must be added. Straightening castings after heat treatments can be both time-consuming and expensive. Residual stresses may reduce a casting's overall service performance, possibly resulting in catastrophic failure. Stress relieving may help, but expends additional energy in the process. Casting software is very limited in predicting distortions during heat treatment, so corrective measures most often involve a tedious trial-and-error procedure. An extensive review of existing heat treatment residual stress and distortion modeling revealed that it is vital to predict the phase transformations and microstructure of the steel along with the thermal stress development during heat treatment. After reviewing the state-of-the-art in heat treatment residual stress and distortion modeling, an existing commercial code was selected because of its advanced capabilities in predicting phase transformations, the evolving microstructure and related properties along with thermal stress development during heat treatment. However, this software was developed for small parts created from forgings or machined stock, and not for steel castings. Therefore, its predictive capabilities for heat treatment of steel castings were investigated. Available experimental steel casting heat treatment data was determined to be of insufficient detail and breadth, and so new heat treatment experiments were designed and performed, casting and heat treating modified versions

  6. Fabrication of uranium alloy fuel slug for sodium-cooled fast reactor by injection casting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jong Hwan Kim; Hoon Song; Ki Hwan Kim; Chan Bock Lee

    2014-01-01

    Metal fuel slugs of U-Zr alloys for a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) have been fabricated using an injection casting method. However, casting alloys containing volatile radioactive constituents such as Am can cause problems in a conventional injection casting method. Therefore, in this study, several injection-casting methods were applied to evaluate the volatility of the metal-fuel elements and control the transport of volatile elements. Mn was selected as a volatile surrogate alloy since it possesses a total vapor pressure equivalent to that of minor actinide-bearing fuels for SFRs. U-10 wt% Zr and U-10 wt% Zr-5 wt% Mn metal fuels were prepared, and the casting processes were evaluated. The casting soundness of the fuel slugs was characterized by gamma-ray radiography and immersion density measurements. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy was used to determine the chemical composition of fuel slugs. Fuel losses after casting were also evaluated according to the casting conditions. (author)

  7. Analysis of ToxCast data for food-relevant compounds by ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    The ToxCast program has generated a wealth of in vitro high throughput screening data, and best approaches for the interpretation and use of these data remain undetermined. We present case studies comparing the ToxCast and in vivo toxicity data for two food contact substances using the RISK21 approach. Available exposure data, toxicity data, and model predictions were analyzed for sodium pyrithione and dibutyltin dichloride. In-vitro to in-vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) was performed to determine oral equivalent doses (OEDs) for the ToxCast data bioactivity. For sodium pyrithione, calculated OEDs corresponded to doses that demonstrated toxicity in animal studies. For dibutyltin dichloride, calculated OEDs were below the doses that demonstrated toxicity in animals, but this was confounded by the conservative estimates used in the IVIVE calculations. These studies highlight the potential of the ToxCast approach while also indicating areas where additional data or predictive tools are needed. We present case studies comparing the ToxCast and in vivo toxicity data for two food contact substances using the RISK21 approach.

  8. Fatigue Reliability Analysis of Wind Turbine Cast Components

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rafsanjani, Hesam Mirzaei; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard; Fæster, Søren

    2017-01-01

    .) and to quantify the relevant uncertainties using available fatigue tests. Illustrative results are presented as obtained by statistical analysis of a large set of fatigue data for casted test components typically used for wind turbines. Furthermore, the SN curves (fatigue life curves based on applied stress......The fatigue life of wind turbine cast components, such as the main shaft in a drivetrain, is generally determined by defects from the casting process. These defects may reduce the fatigue life and they are generally distributed randomly in components. The foundries, cutting facilities and test...... facilities can affect the verification of properties by testing. Hence, it is important to have a tool to identify which foundry, cutting and/or test facility produces components which, based on the relevant uncertainties, have the largest expected fatigue life or, alternatively, have the largest reliability...

  9. Symptomatic stent cast.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Keohane, John

    2012-02-03

    Biliary stent occlusion is a major complication of endoscopic stent insertion and results in repeat procedures. Various theories as to the etiology have been proposed, the most frequently studied is the attachment of gram negative bacteria within the stent. Several studies have shown prolongation of stent patency with antibiotic prophylaxis. We report the case of stent occlusion from a cast of a previously inserted straight biliary stent; a "stent cast" in an 86-year-old woman with obstructive jaundice. This was retrieved with the lithotrypter and she made an uneventful recovery. This is the first reported case of a biliary stent cast.

  10. Fracture Mechanisms in Steel Castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stradomski Z.

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The investigations were inspired with the problem of cracking of steel castings during the production process. A single mechanism of decohesion - the intergranular one - occurs in the case of hot cracking, while a variety of structural factors is decisive for hot cracking initiation, depending on chemical composition of the cast steel. The low-carbon and low-alloyed steel castings crack due to the presence of the type II sulphides, the cause of cracking of the high-carbon tool cast steels is the net of secondary cementite and/or ledeburite precipitated along the boundaries of solidified grains. Also the brittle phosphor and carbide eutectics precipitated in the final stage solidification are responsible for cracking of castings made of Hadfield steel. The examination of mechanical properties at 1050°C revealed low or very low strength of high-carbon cast steels.

  11. Modelling the Cast Component Weight in Hot Chamber Die Casting using Combined Taguchi and Buckingham's π Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Rupinder

    2018-02-01

    Hot chamber (HC) die casting process is one of the most widely used commercial processes for the casting of low temperature metals and alloys. This process gives near-net shape product with high dimensional accuracy. However in actual field environment the best settings of input parameters is often conflicting as the shape and size of the casting changes and one have to trade off among various output parameters like hardness, dimensional accuracy, casting defects, microstructure etc. So for online inspection of the cast components properties (without affecting the production line) the weight measurement has been established as one of the cost effective method (as the difference in weight of sound and unsound casting reflects the possible casting defects) in field environment. In the present work at first stage the effect of three input process parameters (namely: pressure at 2nd phase in HC die casting; metal pouring temperature and die opening time) has been studied for optimizing the cast component weight `W' as output parameter in form of macro model based upon Taguchi L9 OA. After this Buckingham's π approach has been applied on Taguchi based macro model for the development of micro model. This study highlights the Taguchi-Buckingham based combined approach as a case study (for conversion of macro model into micro model) by identification of optimum levels of input parameters (based on Taguchi approach) and development of mathematical model (based on Buckingham's π approach). Finally developed mathematical model can be used for predicting W in HC die casting process with more flexibility. The results of study highlights second degree polynomial equation for predicting cast component weight in HC die casting and suggest that pressure at 2nd stage is one of the most contributing factors for controlling the casting defect/weight of casting.

  12. Steroid Hormone (20-Hydroxyecdysone) Modulates the Acquisition of Aversive Olfactory Memories in Pollen Forager Honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geddes, Lisa H.; McQuillan, H. James; Aiken, Alastair; Vergoz, Vanina; Mercer, Alison R.

    2013-01-01

    Here, we examine effects of the steroid hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-E), on associative olfactory learning in the honeybee, "Apis mellifera." 20-E impaired the bees' ability to associate odors with punishment during aversive conditioning, but did not interfere with their ability to associate odors with a food reward (appetitive…

  13. Aging of cast duplex stainless steels in LWR systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chopra, O.K.; Chung, H.M.

    1984-10-01

    A program is being conducted to investigate the significance of in-service embrittlement of cast duplex stainless steels under light-water reactor operating conditions. The existing data are evaluated to determine the expected embrittlement of cast components during the operating lifetime of reactors and to define the objectives and scope of the investigation. This presentation describes the status of the program. Data for the metallurgical characterization of the various cast stainless steels used in the investigation are presented. Charpy impact tests on short-term aged material indicate that CF-3 stainless steels are less susceptible to embrittlement than CF-8 or CF-8M stainless steels. Microstructural characterization of cast stainless steels that were obtained from Georg Fischer Co. and aged for up to 70,000 h at 300, 350, and 400 0 C reveals the formation of four different types of precipitates that are not α'. Embrittlement of the ferrite phase is primarily due to pinning of the dislocations by two of these precipitates, designated as Type M and Type X. The ferrite phase is embrittled after approx. 8 y at 300 0 C and shows cleavage fracture. Examination of the fracture surfaces of the impact-test specimens indicates that the toughness of the long-term aged material is determined by the austenite phase. 8 figures, 3 tables

  14. Involvement of Phosphorylated "Apis Mellifera" CREB in Gating a Honeybee's Behavioral Response to an External Stimulus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gehring, Katrin B.; Heufelder, Karin; Feige, Janina; Bauer, Paul; Dyck, Yan; Ehrhardt, Lea; Kühnemund, Johannes; Bergmann, Anja; Göbel, Josefine; Isecke, Marlene; Eisenhardt, Dorothea

    2016-01-01

    The transcription factor cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) is involved in neuronal plasticity. Phosphorylation activates CREB and an increased level of phosphorylated CREB is regarded as an indicator of CREB-dependent transcriptional activation. In honeybees ("Apis mellifera") we recently demonstrated a particular high…

  15. Assessing the health status of managed honeybee colonies (HEALTHY-B): a toolbox to facilitate harmonised data collection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Søren Saxmose

    2016-01-01

    Tools are provided to assess the health status of managed honeybee colonies by facilitating further harmonisation of data collection and reporting, design of field surveys across the European Union (EU) and analysis of data on bee health. The toolbox is based on characteristics of a healthy managed...... is very important when assessing its health status, but tools are currently lacking that could be used at apiary level in field surveys across the EU. Data on ‘beekeeping management practices’ and ‘environmental drivers’ can be collected via questionnaires and available databases, respectively....... Integrating multiple attributes of honeybee health, for instance, via a Health Status Index, is required to support a holistic assessment. Examples are provided on how the toolbox could be used by different stakeholders. Continued interaction between the Member State organisations, the EU Reference Laboratory...

  16. Mechanism and application of a newly developed pressure casting process: horizontal squeeze casting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Peijie

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Compared to traditional high-pressure die casting (HPDC, horizontal squeeze casting (HSC is a more promising way to fabricate high-integrity castings, owing to a reduced number of gas and shrinkage porosities produced in the casting. In this paper, the differences between HSC and HPDC are assessed, through which it is shown that the cavity filling velocity and the size of the gating system to be the most notable differences. Equipment development and related applications are also reviewed. Furthermore, numerical simulation is used to analyze the three fundamental characteristics of HSC: slow cavity filling, squeeze feeding and slow sleeve filling. From this, a selection principle is given based on the three related critical casting parameters: cavity filling velocity, gate size and sleeve filling velocity. Finally, two specific applications of HSC are introduced, and the future direction of HSC development is discussed.

  17. Tape cast isotropic, fine-grained tungsten for thermo-cyclic loading applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sommerer, Mathias, E-mail: Mathias.Sommerer@tum.de [Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffkunde und Werkstoffmechanik, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching (Germany); Li, Muyuan [Max-Planck-Institut für Plasma Physik, Boltzmannstraße 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Werner, Ewald [Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffkunde und Werkstoffmechanik, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching (Germany); Dewitz, Hubertus von; Walter, Steffen; Lampenscherf, Stefan [Siemens AG, Corporate Technology, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6, 81730 München (Germany); Arnold, Thomas [Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Henkestr. 127, 91052 Erlangen (Germany)

    2016-04-15

    Highlights: • The tape casting process for tungsten is described. • A set-up of a HHF test facility for standing anodes is presented. • The thermo-cyclic behavior of tape cast tungsten and a reference is investigated. • The evolution of crack patterns is described in dependency of HHF-loadings. • The surface roughness of X-ray anodes is related to the microstructural evolution. - Abstract: This paper introduces tape casting as a new route for the production of isotropic and fine-grained tungsten components. Microstructural and thermal properties of tape cast tungsten samples are determined. Thermal shock behavior according to the thermo-cyclic loading of standing X-ray anodes is investigated and compared to the behavior of a rolled tungsten grade. The development of surface roughness during the thermal shock loading is discussed in relation to the development of the grain structure and crack pattern. The fine-grained and stable microstructure of the tape cast material exhibits less roughening under such test conditions.

  18. AIS/DOE Technology Roadmap Program: Strip Casting: Anticipating New Routes To Steel Sheet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prof. Alan W. Camb; Prof. Anthony Rollett

    2001-08-31

    To determine the potential for strip casting in the steel industry and to develop the fundamental knowledge necessary to allow the role of strip casting in the modern steel industry to be understood. Based upon a study of carbon steel strip castings that were either produced for the program at British Steel or were received from a pre-commercial production machine, the following conclusions were made. Strip casting of carbon steels is technically feasible for sheet material from slightly less than 1 mm thick to 3 mm thick, and, assuming that it is economically viable, it will be first applied in carbon steel markets that do not require stringent surface quality or extensive forming. The potential of strip casting as a casting process to be developed for steel castings is very high as the cast strip has some very novel characteristics. Direct cast carbon strip has better surface quality, shape and profile than any other casting process currently available. The more rapidly solidified structure of direct cast strip tends to be strong with low ductility; however, with adequate thermal treatment, it is possible to develop a variety of properties from the same grade. The process is more amenable at this time to production tonnages per year of the order of 500,000 tons and as such will first find niche type applications. This technology is an additional technology for steel production and will be in addition to, rather than a replacement for, current casting machines.

  19. PROTEINS OF THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM OF THE HONEYBEE, Apis mellifera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Micas, André Fernando Ditondo; Ferreira, Germano Aguiar; Laure, Helen Julie; Rosa, José Cesar; Bitondi, Márcia Maria Gentile

    2016-09-01

    The integument of insects and other arthropods is composed of an inner basal lamina coated by the epidermis, which secretes the bulk of the outer integument layer, the cuticle. The genome sequencing of several insect species has allowed predicting classes of proteins integrating the cuticle. However, only a small proportion of them, as well as other proteins in the integumentary system, have been validated. Using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry, we identified 45 different proteins in a total of 112 selected gel spots derived from thoracic integument samples of developing honeybee workers, including 14 cuticular proteins (AmelCPR 3, AmelCPR 12, AmelCPR 16, AmelCPR 27, apidermin 2, apidermin 3, endocuticle structural glycoprotein SgAbd-8-like, LOC100577363, LOC408365, LOC413679, LOC725454, LOC100576916, LOC725838, and peritrophin 3-C analogous). Gene ontology functional analysis revealed that the higher proportions of the identified proteins have molecular functions related to catalytic and structural molecule activities, are involved in metabolic biological processes, and pertain to the protein class of structural or cytoskeletal proteins and hydrolases. It is noteworthy that 26.7% of the identified proteins, including five cuticular proteins, were revealed as protein species resulting from allelic isoforms or derived from posttranslational modifications. Also, 66.7% of the identified cuticular proteins were expressed in more than one developmental phase, thus indicating that they are part of the larval, pupal, and adult cuticle. Our data provide experimental support for predicted honeybee gene products and new information on proteins expressed in the developing integument. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Development of heat pipe technology for permanent mold casting of magnesium alloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elalem, K.; Mucciardi, F.; Gruzleski, J.E.; Carbonneau, Y.

    2002-01-01

    One of the key techniques for producing sound permanent mold castings is to use controlled mold cooling such as air cooling, water cooling and heat pipe cooling. Air-cooling has limited applications in permanent mold casting due to its low cooling capability and high cost. Water-cooling is widely used in permanent mold casting, but has some disadvantages such as safety issues and the facilities required. The early applications of heat pipes in permanent mold casting have shown tremendous results due to their high cooling rates, low cost and safety. In this work, a permanent mold for magnesium casting has been designed with the intention of producing shrinkage defects in the castings. Novel heat pipes that can generate high cooling rates have been constructed and used to direct the solidification in order to reduce the shrinkage. In this paper, the design of the mold and that of the heat pipes are presented. The results of some of the computer simulations that were conducted to determine casting conditions along with the potential of using heat pipes to direct the solidification are also presented. Moreover, a preliminary evaluation of the performance of heat pipes in the permanent mold casting of magnesium will also be discussed. (author)

  1. Fatigue properties of ductile cast iron containing chunky graphite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferro, P., E-mail: ferro@gest.unipd.it [Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Stradella S. Nicola 3, I-36100 Vicenza (Italy); Lazzarin, P.; Berto, F. [Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padova, Stradella S. Nicola 3, I-36100 Vicenza (Italy)

    2012-09-30

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Experimental determination of high cycle fatigue properties of EN-GJS-400. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Evaluation of the influence of chunky graphite morphology on fatigue life. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Metallurgical analysis and microstructural parameters determination. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Nodule counting and nodularity rating. - Abstract: This work deals with experimental determination of high cycle fatigue properties of EN-GJS-400 ductile cast iron containing chunky graphite. Constant amplitude axial tests were performed at room temperature under a nominal load ratio R = 0. In order to evaluate the influence of chunky graphite morphology on fatigue life, fatigue tests were carried out also on a second set of specimens without this microstructural defect. All samples were taken from the core of a large casting component. Metallurgical analyses were performed on all the samples and some important microstructural parameters (nodule count and nodularity rating, among others) were measured and compared. It was found that a mean content of 40% of chunky graphite in the microstructure (with respect to total graphite content) does not influence significantly the fatigue strength properties of the analysed cast iron. Such result was attributed to the presence of microporosity detected on the surface fracture of the specimens by means of electron scanning microscope.

  2. Fatigue properties of ductile cast iron containing chunky graphite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferro, P.; Lazzarin, P.; Berto, F.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Experimental determination of high cycle fatigue properties of EN-GJS-400. ► Evaluation of the influence of chunky graphite morphology on fatigue life. ► Metallurgical analysis and microstructural parameters determination. ► Nodule counting and nodularity rating. - Abstract: This work deals with experimental determination of high cycle fatigue properties of EN-GJS-400 ductile cast iron containing chunky graphite. Constant amplitude axial tests were performed at room temperature under a nominal load ratio R = 0. In order to evaluate the influence of chunky graphite morphology on fatigue life, fatigue tests were carried out also on a second set of specimens without this microstructural defect. All samples were taken from the core of a large casting component. Metallurgical analyses were performed on all the samples and some important microstructural parameters (nodule count and nodularity rating, among others) were measured and compared. It was found that a mean content of 40% of chunky graphite in the microstructure (with respect to total graphite content) does not influence significantly the fatigue strength properties of the analysed cast iron. Such result was attributed to the presence of microporosity detected on the surface fracture of the specimens by means of electron scanning microscope.

  3. Geometrical modulus of a casting and its influence on solidification process

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Havlicek

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Object: The work analyses the importance of the known criterion for evaluating the controlled solidification of castings, so called geometrical modulus defined by N. Chvorinov as the first one. Geometrical modulus influences the solidification process. The modulus has such specificity that during the process of casting formation it is not a constant but its initial value decreases with the solidification progress because the remaining melt volume can decrease faster than its cooling surface.Methodology: The modulus is determined by a simple calculation from the ratio of the casting volume after pouring the metal in the mould to the cooled mould surface. The solidified metal volume and the cooled surface too are changed during solidification. That calculation is much more complicated. Results were checked up experimentally by measuring the temperatures in the cross-section of heavy steel castings during cooling them.Results: The given experimental results have completed the original theoretical calculations by Chvorinov and recent researches done with use of numerical calculations. The contribution explains how the geometrical modulus together with the thermal process in the casting causes the higher solidification rate in the axial part of the casting cross-section and shortening of solidification time. Practical implications: Change of the geometrical modulus negatively affects the casting internal quality. Melt feeding by capillary filtration in the dendritic network in the casting central part decreases and in such a way the shrinkage porosity volume increases. State of stress character in the casting is changed too and it increases.

  4. Casting thermal simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shamsuddin bin Sulaiman

    1994-01-01

    The whole of this study is concerned with process simulation in casting processes. This study describes the application of the finite element method as an aid to simulating the thermal design of a high pressure die casting die by analysing the cooling transients in the casting cycle. Two types of investigation were carried out to model the linear and non-linear cooling behavior with consideration of a thermal interface effect. The simulated cooling for different stages were presented in temperature contour form. These illustrate the successful application of the Finite Element Method to model the process and they illustrate the significance of the thermal interface at low pressure

  5. Effect of Temperature on the Biotic Potential of Honeybee Microsporidia▿

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Meana, Aránzazu; García-Palencia, Pilar; Marín, Pilar; Botías, Cristina; Garrido-Bailón, Encarna; Barrios, Laura; Higes, Mariano

    2009-01-01

    The biological cycle of Nosema spp. in honeybees depends on temperature. When expressed as total spore counts per day after infection, the biotic potentials of Nosema apis and N. ceranae at 33°C were similar, but a higher proportion of immature stages of N. ceranae than of N. apis were seen. At 25 and 37°C, the biotic potential of N. ceranae was higher than that of N. apis. The better adaptation of N. ceranae to complete its endogenous cycle at different temperatures clearly supports the observation of the different epidemiological patterns. PMID:19233948

  6. Clean Metal Casting; FINAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Makhlouf M. Makhlouf; Diran Apelian

    2002-01-01

    The objective of this project is to develop a technology for clean metal processing that is capable of consistently providing a metal cleanliness level that is fit for a given application. The program has five tasks: Development of melt cleanliness assessment technology, development of melt contamination avoidance technology, development of high temperature phase separation technology, establishment of a correlation between the level of melt cleanliness and as cast mechanical properties, and transfer of technology to the industrial sector. Within the context of the first task, WPI has developed a standardized Reduced Pressure Test that has been endorsed by AFS as a recommended practice. In addition, within the context of task1, WPI has developed a melt cleanliness sensor based on the principles of electromagnetic separation. An industrial partner is commercializing the sensor. Within the context of the second task, WPI has developed environmentally friendly fluxes that do not contain fluorine. Within the context of the third task, WPI modeled the process of rotary degassing and verified the model predictions with experimental data. This model may be used to optimize the performance of industrial rotary degassers. Within the context of the fourth task, WPI has correlated the level of melt cleanliness at various foundries, including a sand casting foundry, a permanent mold casting foundry, and a die casting foundry, to the casting process and the resultant mechanical properties. This is useful in tailoring the melt cleansing operations at foundries to the particular casting process and the desired properties of cast components

  7. 14 CFR 23.621 - Casting factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Casting factors. 23.621 Section 23.621... Casting factors. (a) General. The factors, tests, and inspections specified in paragraphs (b) through (d... structural castings except castings that are pressure tested as parts of hydraulic or other fluid systems and...

  8. Hair casts

    OpenAIRE

    Sweta S Parmar; Kirti S Parmar; Bela J Shah

    2014-01-01

    Hair casts or pseudonits are circumferential concretions, which cover the hair shaft in such a way that, it could be easily removed. They are thin, cylindrical, and elongated in length. We present an unusual case of an 8-year-old girl presenting with hair casts. Occurrence of these is unusual, and they may have varied associations. This patient was suffering from developmental delay. It is commonly misdiagnosed as and very important to differentiate from pediculosis capitis.

  9. Pollen sources in the Bojanów forest complex identified on honeybee pollen load by microscopic analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ernest Stawiarz

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine sources of pollen for the honeybee in the Bojanów forest complex, Nowa Dęba Forest District (southeastern Poland. Sampling of pollen loads from bees extended from the beginning of May until the end of September 2016 and was carried out at 7-day intervals using pollen traps mounted at the entrance of beehives. A total of 73 pollen load samples were collected from the study area. Fifty-nine taxa from 31 plant families were identified in the analyzed material. From 4 to 21 taxa (average 9.5 were recorded in one sample. The pollen of Brassicaceae (“others”, Taraxacum type, Solidago type, and Rumex had the highest frequency in the pollen loads examined. Apart from these four taxa, pollen grains of Rubus type, Poaceae (“others”, Calluna, Fagopyrum, Trifolium repens s. l., Phacelia, Aster type, Melampyrum, Quercus, Cornus, and Veronica were recorded in the dominant pollen group. The forest habitat taxa that provided pollen rewards to honeybees in the Bojanów forest complex were the following: Rubus, Calluna, Prunus, Tilia, Frangula alnus, Pinus, Quercus, Cornus, Robinia pseudoacacia, Salix, and Vaccinium. Apart from forest vegetation, the species from meadows and wastelands adjacent to this forest complex, represented by Taraxacum, Rumex, Plantago, Poaceae, Trifolium repens, and Solidago, proved to be an important source of pollen. The study indicates that forest communities are a valuable source of pollen for pollinating insects from early spring through to late fall.

  10. The Influence of Home Scrap on Porosity of MgAl9Zn1 Alloy Pressure Castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konopka Z.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The work presents the results of examinations concerning the influence of various amounts of home scrap additions on the porosity of castings made of MgAl9Zn1 alloy. The fraction of home scrap in the metal charge ranged from 0 to 100%. Castings were pressure cast by means of the hot-chamber pressure die casting machine under the industrial conditions in one of the domestic foundries. Additionally, for the purpose of comparison, the porosity of specimens cut out directly of the MgAl9Zn1 ingot alloy was also determined. The examinations consisted in the qualitative assessment of porosity by means of the optical microscopy and its quantitative determination by the method of weighting specimens in air and in water. It was found during the examination that the porosity of castings decreases with an increase in the home scrap fraction in the metal charge. The qualitative examinations confirmed the beneficial influence of the increased home scrap fraction on the porosity of castings. It was concluded that the reusing of home scrap in a foundry can be a good way of reduction of costs related to the production of pressure castings.

  11. Floral biology and behavior of Africanized honeybees Apis mellifera in soybean (Glycine max L. Merril

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wainer César Chiari

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available This research was carried out to evaluate the pollination by Africanized honeybees Apis mellifera, the floral biology and to observe the hoarding behavior in the soybean flowers (Glycine max Merril, var. BRS-133. The treatments were constituted of demarcated areas for free visitation of insects, covered areas by cages with a honeybee colony (A. mellifera and also covered areas by cage without insects visitation. All areas had 24 m² (4m x 6m. The soybean flowers stayed open for a larger time (82.82 ± 3.48 hours in covered area without honeybees. The stigma of the flowers was also more receptive (P=0.0021 in covered area without honeybees (87.3 ± 33.0% and at 10:42 o'clock was the schedule of greater receptivity. The pollen stayed viable in all treatments, the average was 99.60 ± 0.02%, which did not present differences among treatments. The percentage of abortion of the flowers was 82.91% in covered area without honeybees, this result was superior (P=0.0002 to the 52.66% and 53.95% of the treatments uncovered and covered with honeybees, respectively. Honeybees were responsible for 87.7% of the pollination accomplished by the insects. The medium amounts of total sugar and glucose measured in the nectar of the flowers were, 14.33 ± 0.96 mg/flower and 3.61 ± 0.36 mg/ flower, respectively, not showing differences (PEste experimento teve como objetivos avaliar a polinização realizada por abelhas Apis mellifera, estudar a biologia floral e observar o comportamento de coleta nas flores de soja (Glycine max L. Merril, variedade BRS-133 plantadas na região de Maringá-PR. Os tratamentos constituíram de áreas demarcadas de livre visitação por insetos, áreas cobertas por gaiolas, com uma colônia de abelhas (A. mellifera no seu interior e plantas também cobertas por gaiola que impedia a visitação por insetos. Todas as áreas possuíam 24 m² (4 m x 6 m. As flores de soja permaneceram abertas por um tempo maior (82,82 ± 3,48 horas no

  12. Constitutive behavior of as-cast AA1050, AA3104, and AA5182

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Haaften, W. M.; Magnin, B.; Kool, W. H.; Katgerman, L.

    2002-07-01

    Recent thermomechanical modeling to calculate the stress field in industrially direct-chill (DC) cast-aluminum slabs has been successful, but lack of material data limits the accuracy of these calculations. Therefore, the constitutive behavior of three aluminum alloys (AA1050, AA3104, and AA5182) was determined in the as-cast condition using tensile tests at low strain rates and from room temperature to solidus temperature. The parameters of two constitutive equations, the extended Ludwik equation and a combination of the Sellars-Tegart equation with a hardening law, were determined. In order to study the effect of recovery, the constitutive behavior after prestraining at higher temperatures was also investigated. To evaluate the quantified constitutive equations, tensile tests were performed simulating the deformation and cooling history experienced by the material during casting. It is concluded that both constitutive equations perform well, but the combined hardening-Sellars-Tegart (HST) equation has temperature-independent parameters, which makes it easier to implement in a DC casting model. Further, the deformation history of the ingot should be taken into account for accurate stress calculations.

  13. Honeybee males use highly concentrated nectar as fuel for mating flights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Masaki; Nakamura, Jun; Sasaki, Ken; Harano, Ken-Ichi

    Honeybees use nectar held in the crop as their main source of energy for flight but the mass of the crop nectar load may be a cost burden. This study investigated whether males of the honeybee Apis mellifera adjust their nectar fuel load and concentration to enhance the success of mating flights. When the crop content was compared between males staying in the hive and those departing, the latter group had the larger volume (median, 5.0μl; range, 0.0-17.8μl) and higher concentration (median, 71.6%; range, 49.0%-77.6%), indicating that departing males load concentrated nectar as fuel before mating flights. Moreover, the crop nectar concentration was significantly higher in departing males than in departing workers. These results suggest that concentrated nectar is advantageous to males because it provides more sugar for energy at lower mass and secures longer or more effective mating flights for higher chance of reproductive success. No significant effect of age was detected in crop volume, and concentration and amount of dissolved sugars in the crop content. In addition, laboratory experiments showed that males had only about 5μl of nectar in the crop soon after feeding, irrespective of fed volume (5-15μl), suggesting they do not hold much nectar in the crop but send it rapidly to the midgut, unlike workers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. HFIR Fuel Casting Support

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Imhoff, Seth D. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Gibbs, Paul Jacob [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Solis, Eunice Martinez [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-09-28

    Process exploration for fuel production for the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) using cast LEU-10wt.%Mo as an initial processing step has just begun. This project represents the first trials concerned with casting design and quality. The studies carried out over the course of this year and information contained in this report address the initial mold development to be used as a starting point for future operations. In broad terms, the final billet design is that of a solid rolling blank with an irregular octagonal cross section. The work covered here is a comprehensive view of the initial attempts to produce a sound casting. This report covers the efforts to simulate, predict, cast, inspect, and revise the initial mold design.

  15. Sixty Years of Casting Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, John

    2015-11-01

    The 60 years of solidification research since the publication of Chalmer's constitutional undercooling in 1953 has been a dramatic advance of understanding which has and continues to be an inspiration. In contrast, 60 years of casting research has seen mixed fortunes. One of its success stories relates to improvements in inoculation of gray irons, and another to the discovery of spheroidal graphite iron, although both of these can be classified as metallurgical rather than casting advances. It is suggested that true casting advances have dated from the author's lab in 1992 when a critical surface turbulence condition was defined for the first time. These last 20 years have seen the surface entrainment issues of castings developed to a sufficient sophistication to revolutionize the performance of light alloy and steel foundries. However, there is still a long way to go, with large sections of the steel and Ni-base casting industries still in denial that casting defects are important or even exist. The result has been that special ingots are still cast poorly, and shaped casting operations have suffered massive losses. For secondary melted and cast materials, electro-slag remelting has the potential to be much superior to expensive vacuum arc remelting, which has cost our aerospace and defense industries dearly over the years. This failure to address and upgrade our processing of liquid metals is a serious concern, since the principle entrainment defect, the bifilm, is seen as the principle initiator of cracks in metals; in general, bifilms are the Griffith cracks that initiate failures by cracking. A new generation of crack resistant metals and engineering structures can now be envisaged.

  16. Modeling and Analysis of The Pressure Die Casting Using Response Surface Methodology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kittur, Jayant K.; Herwadkar, T. V.; Parappagoudar, M. B.

    2010-01-01

    Pressure die casting is successfully used in the manufacture of Aluminum alloys components for automobile and many other industries. Die casting is a process involving many process parameters having complex relationship with the quality of the cast product. Though various process parameters have influence on the quality of die cast component, major influence is seen by the die casting machine parameters and their proper settings. In the present work, non-linear regression models have been developed for making predictions and analyzing the effect of die casting machine parameters on the performance characteristics of die casting process. Design of Experiments (DOE) with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been used to analyze the effect of effect of input parameters and their interaction on the response and further used to develop nonlinear input-output relationships. Die casting machine parameters, namely, fast shot velocity, slow shot to fast shot change over point, intensification pressure and holding time have been considered as the input variables. The quality characteristics of the cast product were determined by porosity, hardness and surface rough roughness (output/responses). Design of experiments has been used to plan the experiments and analyze the impact of variables on the quality of casting. On the other-hand Response Surface Methodology (Central Composite Design) is utilized to develop non-linear input-output relationships (regression models). The developed regression models have been tested for their statistical adequacy through ANOVA test. The practical usefulness of these models has been tested with some test cases. These models can be used to make the predictions about different quality characteristics, for the known set of die casting machine parameters, without conducting the experiments.

  17. Engineering design of centrifugal casting machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kusnowo, Roni; Gunara, Sophiadi

    2017-06-01

    Centrifugal casting is a metal casting process in which metal liquid is poured into a rotating mold at a specific temperature. Given round will generate a centrifugal force that will affect the outcome of the casting. Casting method is suitable in the manufacture of the casting cylinder to obtain better results. This research was performed to design a prototype machine by using the concept of centrifugal casting. The design method was a step-by-step systematic approach in the process of thinking to achieve the desired goal of realizing the idea and build bridges between idea and the product. Design process was commenced by the conceptual design phase and followed by the embodiment design stage and detailed design stage. With an engineering design process based on the method developed by G. E. Dieter, draft prototype of centrifugal casting machine with dimension of 550×450×400 mm, ¼ HP motor power, pulley and belt mechanism, diameter of 120-150mm, simultaneously with the characteristics of simple casting product, easy manufacture and maintenance, and relatively inexpensive, was generated.

  18. Clean Cast Steel Technology, Phase IV

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Charles E. Bates

    2003-02-24

    The objective of the Clean Cast Steel Technology Program was to improve casting product quality by removing or minimizing oxide defects and to allow the production of higher integrity castings for high speed machining lines. Previous research has concentrated on macro-inclusions that break, chip, or crack machine tool cutters and drills and cause immediate shutdown of the machining lines. The overall goal of the project is to reduce the amount of surface macro-inclusions and improve the machinability of steel castings. Macro-inclusions and improve the machinability of steel castings. Macro-inclusions have been identified by industrial sponsors as a major barrier to improving the quality and marketability of steel castings.

  19. Decision-making in honeybee swarms based on quality and distance information of candidate nest sites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laomettachit, Teeraphan; Termsaithong, Teerasit; Sae-Tang, Anuwat; Duangphakdee, Orawan

    2015-01-07

    In the nest-site selection process of honeybee swarms, an individual bee performs a waggle dance to communicate information about direction, quality, and distance of a discovered site to other bees at the swarm. Initially, different groups of bees dance to represent different potential sites, but eventually the swarm usually reaches an agreement for only one site. Here, we model the nest-site selection process in honeybee swarms of Apis mellifera and show how the swarms make adaptive decisions based on a trade-off between the quality and distance to candidate nest sites. We use bifurcation analysis and stochastic simulations to reveal that the swarm's site distance preference is moderate>near>far when the swarms choose between low quality sites. However, the distance preference becomes near>moderate>far when the swarms choose between high quality sites. Our simulations also indicate that swarms with large population size prefer nearer sites and, in addition, are more adaptive at making decisions based on available information compared to swarms with smaller population size. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Estimation of shell thickness in a continuously cast steel billet using radiotracers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prasad, A.S.; Pandey, J.C.; Kaur, G.

    1994-01-01

    In the continuous casting of steel, one of the factors which limits the rate of faster withdrawal of the casting from the mould is the thickness of the solid shell below the mould. If the shell can not contain the liquid pool, breakouts occur and process of casting disrupts. Estimates of shell thickness have been made on the basis of heat- transfer considerations. The shell thickness could also be delineated, to some extent, by adding radiotracers during casting and subsequently determining the dispersion of radioactivity by autoradiography. The paper presents the results of the estimation of shell thickness based on the heat-transfer model and validation of the model by plant trials using radiotracers. (author). 11 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

  1. Modeling and Optimization of Direct Chill Casting to Reduce Ingot Cracking

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, S.K.; Ningileri, S.; Long, Z.; Saito, K.; Khraisheh, M.; Hassan, M.H.; Kuwana, K.; Han, Q.; Viswanathan, S.; Sabau, A.S.; Clark, J.; Hyrn, J. (ANL)

    2006-08-15

    the ingot before rolling, and by eliminating butt sawing. Full-scale industrial implementation of the results of the proposed research would lead to energy savings in excess of 6 trillion Btu by the year 2020. The research undertaken in this project aimed to achieve this objective by a collaboration of industry, university, and national laboratory personnel through Secat, Inc., a consortium of aluminum companies. During the four-year project, the industrial partners and the research team met in 16 quarterly meetings to discuss research results and research direction. The industrial partners provided guidance, facilities, and experience to the research team. The research team went to two industrial plants to measure temperature distributions in commercial 60,000-lb DC casting ingot production. The project focused on the development of a fundamental understanding of ingot cracking and detailed models of thermal conditions, solidification, microstructural evolution, and stress development during the initial transient in DC castings of the aluminum alloys 3004 and 5182. The microstructure of the DC casting ingots was systematically characterized. Carefully designed experiments were carried out at the national laboratory and university facilities as well as at the industrial locations using the industrial production facilities. The advanced computational capabilities of the national laboratories were used for thermodynamic and kinetic simulations of phase transformation, heat transfer and fluid flow, solidification, and stress-strain evolution during DC casting. The achievements of the project are the following: (1) Identified the nature of crack formation during DC casting; (2) Developed a novel method for determining the mechanical properties of an alloy at the nonequilibrium mushy zone of the alloy; (3) Measured heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) between the solidifying ingot and the cooling water jet; (4) Determined the material constitutive model at high temperatures

  2. The Phenotypic Effects of Royal Jelly on Wild-Type D. melanogaster Are Strain-Specific

    OpenAIRE

    Morgan, Stefanie L.; Seggio, Joseph A.; Nascimento, Nara F.; Huh, Dana D.; Hicks, Jasmin A.; Sharp, Katherine A.; Axelrod, Jeffrey D.; Wang, Kevin C.

    2016-01-01

    The role for royal jelly (RJ) in promoting caste differentiation of honeybee larvae into queens rather than workers is well characterized. A recent study demonstrated that this poorly understood complex nutrition drives strikingly similar phenotypic effects in Drosophila melanogaster, such as increased body size and reduced developmental time, making possible the use of D. melanogaster as a model system for the genetic analysis of the cellular mechanisms underlying RJ and caste differentiatio...

  3. The cyanobacterial neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) induces neuronal and behavioral changes in honeybees

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Okle, Oliver, E-mail: oliver.okle@uni-konstanz.de [Human and Environmental Toxicology, University of Konstanz, Jacob-Burckhardt-Strasse 25, 78457 Konstanz (Germany); Rath, Lisa; Galizia, C. Giovanni [Zoology and Neurobiology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz (Germany); Dietrich, Daniel R., E-mail: daniel.dietrich@uni-konstanz.de [Human and Environmental Toxicology, University of Konstanz, Jacob-Burckhardt-Strasse 25, 78457 Konstanz (Germany)

    2013-07-01

    The cyanobacterially produced neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is thought to induce amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS/PDC)-like symptoms. However, its mechanism of action and its pathway of intoxication are yet unknown. In vivo animal models suitable for investigating the neurotoxic effect of BMAA with applicability to the human are scarce. Hence, we used the honeybee (Apis mellifera) since its nervous system is relatively simple, yet having cognitive capabilities. Bees fed with BMAA-spiked sugar water had an increased mortality rate and a reduced ability to learn odors in a classical conditioning paradigm. Using {sup 14}C-BMAA we demonstrated that BMAA is biologically available to the bee, and is found in the head, thorax and abdomen with little to no excretion. BMAA is also transferred from one bee to the next via trophallaxis resulting in an exposure of the whole beehive. BMAA bath application directly onto the brain leads to an altered Ca{sup 2+} homeostasis and to generation of reactive oxygen species. These behavioral and physiological observations suggest that BMAA may have effects on bee brains similar to those assumed to occur in humans. Therefore the bee could serve as a surrogate model system for investigating the neurological effects of BMAA. - Highlights: • Investigating of neurotoxic effects of BMAA in honeybees • BMAA impairs ALS markers (ROS, Ca{sup 2+}, learning, memory, odor) in bees. • A method for the observation of ROS development in living bees brain was established. • Honeybees are a suitable model to explore neurodegenerative processes. • Neurotoxic BMAA can be spread in bee populations by trophallaxis.

  4. The cyanobacterial neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) induces neuronal and behavioral changes in honeybees

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okle, Oliver; Rath, Lisa; Galizia, C. Giovanni; Dietrich, Daniel R.

    2013-01-01

    The cyanobacterially produced neurotoxin beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is thought to induce amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS/PDC)-like symptoms. However, its mechanism of action and its pathway of intoxication are yet unknown. In vivo animal models suitable for investigating the neurotoxic effect of BMAA with applicability to the human are scarce. Hence, we used the honeybee (Apis mellifera) since its nervous system is relatively simple, yet having cognitive capabilities. Bees fed with BMAA-spiked sugar water had an increased mortality rate and a reduced ability to learn odors in a classical conditioning paradigm. Using 14 C-BMAA we demonstrated that BMAA is biologically available to the bee, and is found in the head, thorax and abdomen with little to no excretion. BMAA is also transferred from one bee to the next via trophallaxis resulting in an exposure of the whole beehive. BMAA bath application directly onto the brain leads to an altered Ca 2+ homeostasis and to generation of reactive oxygen species. These behavioral and physiological observations suggest that BMAA may have effects on bee brains similar to those assumed to occur in humans. Therefore the bee could serve as a surrogate model system for investigating the neurological effects of BMAA. - Highlights: • Investigating of neurotoxic effects of BMAA in honeybees • BMAA impairs ALS markers (ROS, Ca 2+ , learning, memory, odor) in bees. • A method for the observation of ROS development in living bees brain was established. • Honeybees are a suitable model to explore neurodegenerative processes. • Neurotoxic BMAA can be spread in bee populations by trophallaxis

  5. Wear Resistance of TiC Reinforced Cast Steel Matrix Composite

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sobula S.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Wear resistance of TiC-cast steel metal matrix composite has been investigated. Composites were obtained with SHSB method known as SHS synthesis during casting. It has been shown the differences in wear between composite and base cast steel. The Miller slurry machine test were used to determine wear loss of the specimens. The slurry was composed of SiC and water. The worn surface of specimens after test, were studied by SEM. Experimental observation has shown that surface of composite zone is not homogenous and consist the matrix lakes. Microscopic observations revealed the long grooves with SiC particles indented in the base alloy area, and spalling pits in the composite area. Due to the presence of TiC carbides on composite layer, specimens with TiC reinforced cast steel exhibited higher abrasion resistance. The wear of TiC reinforced cast steel mechanism was initially by wearing of soft matrix and in second stage by polishing and spalling of TiC. Summary weight loss after 16hr test was 0,14÷0,23 g for composite specimens and 0,90 g for base steel.

  6. Model of the best-of-N nest-site selection process in honeybees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reina, Andreagiovanni; Marshall, James A. R.; Trianni, Vito; Bose, Thomas

    2017-05-01

    The ability of a honeybee swarm to select the best nest site plays a fundamental role in determining the future colony's fitness. To date, the nest-site selection process has mostly been modeled and theoretically analyzed for the case of binary decisions. However, when the number of alternative nests is larger than two, the decision-process dynamics qualitatively change. In this work, we extend previous analyses of a value-sensitive decision-making mechanism to a decision process among N nests. First, we present the decision-making dynamics in the symmetric case of N equal-quality nests. Then, we generalize our findings to a best-of-N decision scenario with one superior nest and N -1 inferior nests, previously studied empirically in bees and ants. Whereas previous binary models highlighted the crucial role of inhibitory stop-signaling, the key parameter in our new analysis is the relative time invested by swarm members in individual discovery and in signaling behaviors. Our new analysis reveals conflicting pressures on this ratio in symmetric and best-of-N decisions, which could be solved through a time-dependent signaling strategy. Additionally, our analysis suggests how ecological factors determining the density of suitable nest sites may have led to selective pressures for an optimal stable signaling ratio.

  7. Effect of inlet geometry on macrosegregation during the direct chill casting of 7050 alloy billets: experiments and computer modelling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, L; Miroux, A; Subroto, T; Katgerman, L; Eskin, D G

    2012-01-01

    Controlling macrosegregation is one of the major challenges in direct-chill (DC) casting of aluminium alloys. In this paper, the effect of the inlet geometry (which influences the melt distribution) on macrosegregation during the DC casting of 7050 alloy billets was studied experimentally and by using 2D computer modelling. The ALSIM model was used to determine the temperature and flow patterns during DC casting. The results from the computer simulations show that the sump profiles and flow patterns in the billet are strongly influenced by the melt flow distribution determined by the inlet geometry. These observations were correlated to the actual macrosegregation patterns found in the as-cast billets produced by having two different inlet geometries. The macrosegregation analysis presented here may assist in determining the critical parameters to consider for improving the casting of 7XXX aluminium alloys.

  8. Effect of inlet geometry on macrosegregation during the direct chill casting of 7050 alloy billets: experiments and computer modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, L.; Eskin, D. G.; Miroux, A.; Subroto, T.; Katgerman, L.

    2012-07-01

    Controlling macrosegregation is one of the major challenges in direct-chill (DC) casting of aluminium alloys. In this paper, the effect of the inlet geometry (which influences the melt distribution) on macrosegregation during the DC casting of 7050 alloy billets was studied experimentally and by using 2D computer modelling. The ALSIM model was used to determine the temperature and flow patterns during DC casting. The results from the computer simulations show that the sump profiles and flow patterns in the billet are strongly influenced by the melt flow distribution determined by the inlet geometry. These observations were correlated to the actual macrosegregation patterns found in the as-cast billets produced by having two different inlet geometries. The macrosegregation analysis presented here may assist in determining the critical parameters to consider for improving the casting of 7XXX aluminium alloys.

  9. Simultaneous morphological and functional imaging of the honeybee's brain by two-photon microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haase, A.

    2011-01-01

    Thanks to its rather simply structured but highly performing brain, the honeybee (Apis mellifera) is an important model for neurobiological studies. Therefore there is a great need for new functional imaging modalities adapted to this species. Herein we give a detailed report on the development and performance of a platform for in vivo functional and morphological imaging of the honeybee's brain, focusing on its primary olfactory centres, the antennal lobes (ALs). The experimental setup consists of a two-photon microscope combined with a synchronized odour stimulus generator. Our imaging platform allows to simultaneously obtain both morphological measurements of the ALs functional units, the glomeruli, and in vivo calcium recording of their neural activity. We were able to record the characteristic glomerular response maps to odour stimuli applied to the bee's antennae. Our approach offers several advantages over the commonly used conventional fluorescence microscopy. Two-photon microscopy provides substantial enhancement in both spatial and temporal resolutions, while minimizing photo damage. Calcium recordings show a more than fourfold improvement in the functional signal with respect to the techniques available up to now. Finally, the extended penetration depth, thanks to the infrared excitation, allows the functional imaging of profound glomeruli which have not been optically accessible up to now.

  10. Application of optical scanning for measurements of castings and cores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Wieczorowski

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In the paper application of non destructive method for dimensional control of elements in initial phase of car manufacturing, at Volks-wagen Poznań foundry was presented. VW foundry in Poznań is responsible of series production of chill and dies castings made of light alloys using contemporary technologies. Castings have a complex shape: they are die castings of housings for steering columns and gravity chill castings of cylinder heads, for which cores are manufactured using both hot box and cold box method. Manufacturing capabilities of VW foundry in Poznań reach 26.000 tons of aluminum castings per year. Optical system ATOS at Volkswagen Poznań foundry is used to digitize object and determination of all dimensions and shapes of inspected object. This technology is applied in car industry, reverse engineering, quality analysis and control and to solve many similar tasks. System is based on triangulation: sensor head projects different fringes patterns onto a measured object while scanner observes their trajectories using two cameras. Basing on optical transform equations a processing unit automatically and with a great accuracy calculates 3D coordinates for every pixel of camera. Depending on camera reso-lution as an effect of such a scan we obtain a cloud of up to 4 million points for every single measurement. In the paper examples of di-mensional analysis regarding castings and cores were presented.

  11. The effect of equipment efficiency on occurrence of non-conforming products in die casting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Borkowski

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This study focuses on determination of the relationships between equipment efficiency in casting machines and the level of quality. The determination was made based on coefficients of Total Productive Maintenance and r correlation coefficient. The degree at which break-downs and downtime affect the occurrence of non-conforming products was also evaluated. The goal of further investigations is to deter-mine the structure of downtime and finding which downtime types have greatest impact on the quality of die-casting products.

  12. Impact of as-cast structure on structure and properties of twin-roll cast AA8006 alloy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Slamova, M.; Ocenasek, V. [Vyzkumny Ustav Kovu, Panenske Brezany (Czechoslovakia); Juricek, Z.

    2000-07-01

    Sheet production by twin-roll casting (TRC) process is a well established practice in the aluminium industry because it offers several advantages in comparison with DC casting and hot rolling, esp. lower production and investment costs. Thin strips exhibiting a combination of good strength and high ductility are required for various applications and for this reason alloys with higher Fe and Mn content such as AA 8006 displace AA 1xxx or AA 8011 alloys. However, TRC of AA 8006 strips involves several problems, e.g. casting conditions and subsequent treatment procedures need fine tuning. The results of an investigation of the effect of casting conditions on structure and properties of AA 8006 strips are presented. The influence of casting speed, grain refiner addition, molten metal level in the tundish, tip setback and roll separating force was investigated. The impact of imperfect as-cast structure on structure and properties of thin strips in H22 and O tempers was evaluated and compared with strips from good as-cast material. (orig.)

  13. Comparison of residual stresses in sand- and chill casting of ductile cast iron wind turbine main shafts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sonne, M R; Hattel, J H; Frandsen, J O

    2015-01-01

    In this work, simulations of pouring, solidification and cooling, and residual stress evolution of sand and chill cast wind turbine main shafts is performed. The models are made in the commercial software MAGMAsoft. As expected, the cooling rate of the sand casting is shown to be much lower than for the chill casting, resulting in a very course microstructure. From the simulations the nodule count is found to be 17 nodules per mm 2 and 159 nodules per mm 2 for the sand and chill casting, respectively, in the critical region of the main bearing seat. This is verified from nodule counts performed on the real cast main shafts. Residual stress evaluations show an overall increase of the maximum principal stress field for the chill casting, which is expected. However, the stresses are found to be in compression on the surface of the chill cast main shaft, which is unforeseen. (paper)

  14. Comparison of residual stresses in sand- and chill casting of ductile cast iron wind turbine main shafts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sonne, Mads Rostgaard; Frandsen, J. O.; Hattel, Jesper Henri

    2015-01-01

    In this work, simulations of pouring, solidification and cooling, and residual stress evolution of sand and chill cast wind turbine main shafts is performed. The models are made in the commercial software MAGMAsoft. As expected, the cooling rate of the sand casting is shown to be much lower than...... for the chill casting, resulting in a very course microstructure.From the simulations the nodule count is found to be 17 nodules per mm2 and 159 nodules permm2 for the sand and chill casting, respectively, in the critical region of the main bearing seat.This is verified from nodule counts performed on the real...... cast main shafts. Residual stressevaluations show an overall increase of the maximum principal stress field for the chill casting,which is expected. However, the stresses are found to be in compression on the surface of thechill cast main shaft, which is unforeseen....

  15. Optimizing the Gating System for Steel Castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan Jezierski

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The article presents the attempt to optimize a gating system to produce cast steel castings. It is based on John Campbell’s theory and presents the original results of computer modelling of typical and optimized gating systems for cast steel castings. The current state-of-the-art in cast steel casting foundry was compared with several proposals of optimization. The aim was to find a compromise between the best, theoretically proven gating system version, and a version that would be affordable in industrial conditions. The results show that it is possible to achieve a uniform and slow pouring process even for heavy castings to preserve their internal quality.

  16. Wear resistance of cast iron

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper investigations of abrasive and adhesive wear resistance of different cast iron grades have been presented. Examinations showed, that the most advantageous pair of materials is the cast iron – the hardened steel with low-tempered martensite. It was found, that martensitic nodular cast iron with carbides is the most resistant material.

  17. National Metal Casting Research Institute final report. Volume 2, Die casting research

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, D. [University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA (United States). Dept. of Industrial Technology] [comp.

    1994-06-01

    Four subprojects were completed: development and evaluation of die coatings, accelerated die life characterization of die materials, evaluation of fluid flow and solidification modeling programs, selection and characterization of Al-based die casting alloys, and influence of die materials and coatings on die casting quality.

  18. Preparation of antioxidant enzymatic hydrolysates from honeybee-collected pollen using plant enzymes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marinova, Margarita D; Tchorbanov, Bozhidar P

    2011-01-09

    Enzymatic hydrolysates of honeybee-collected pollen were prepared using food-grade proteinase and aminopeptidases entirely of plant origin. Bromelain from pineapple stem was applied (8 mAU/g substrate) in the first hydrolysis stage. Aminopeptidase (0.05 U/g substrate) and proline iminopeptidase (0.03 U/g substrate) from cabbage leaves (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), and aminopeptidase (0.2 U/g substrate) from chick-pea cotyledons (Cicer arietinum L.) were involved in the additional hydrolysis of the peptide mixtures. The degree of hydrolysis (DH), total phenolic contents, and protein contents of these hydrolysates were as follows: DH (about 20-28%), total phenolics (15.3-27.2 μg/mg sample powder), and proteins (162.7-242.8 μg/mg sample powder), respectively. The hydrolysates possessed high antiradical scavenging activity determined with DPPH (42-46% inhibition). The prepared hydrolysates of bee-collected flower pollen may be regarded as effective natural and functional dietary food supplements due to their remarkable content of polyphenol substances and significant radical-scavenging capacity with special regard to their nutritional-physiological implications.

  19. The evaluation of working casts prepared from digital impressions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Y C; Park, Y S; Kim, H K; Hong, Y S; Ahn, J S; Ryu, J J

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the reproducibility of working casts of a digital impression system by comparing them with the original, virtual, and rapid prototyping casts. A total of 54 cast sets in clinically stable occlusion were used. They were scanned by an iTero intraoral scanner and converted into STL format virtual casts. Rapid prototyping casts and polyurethane casts were fabricated from the iTero milling system based on the virtual casts. Several horizontal and vertical measurements were performed from the four types of casts, that is, original stone casts, virtual casts, rapid prototyping casts, and polyurethane casts of iTero. Measurement error, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and differences among the casts were calculated and compared. Casts from iTero milling machines exhibited greater dimensional differences and lower ICC values than did other casts. In addition, many of the measurements of the iTero working casts showed statistically significant differences in comparison to the three other types of casts. In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences between the virtual and original casts. Virtual casts made by the iTero intraoral scanner exhibited excellent reproducibility. However, the casts from the iTero milling machine showed greater dimensional differences and lower reproducibility compared to other types of casts.

  20. Temperature and microstructure characteristics of silumin casting AlSi9 made with investment casting method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Pietrowski

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available This work presents the research result of the temperature distribution and the microstructure in certain parts of the field-glass body frame casting made from silumin AlSi9 using the investment casting method in the ceramic mould. It was proved that the highest temperature of the silumin appears in the sprue in which the silumin is in the liquid-solid state, though the process of silumin crystallization in the casting is finished. It was stated that in certain elements of the casting the side opposite to the runner crystallizes and cools fastest. The differences in the rate of crystalline growth and cooling of certain casting elements cause differ- ent microstructure in them which can also influence the mechanic properties.It is necessary to state that the temperature of the initial heating of the ceramic mold equal to 60oC guarantees obtaining of the castings without defects and of little porosity. Incomplete modification of the silumin with strontium causes silica precipitation to appear close to the spherical ones.

  1. Earthworm Cast Biomass Under Three Managed Ecosystems ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study was conducted to determine earthworm cast biomass under three managed ecosystems, Gmelina, Cashew and Banana plantations at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and its impact on the soil physicochemical parameters. Seven, five and four plots of 3 m2 each were sampled in Gmelina, Cashew and ...

  2. Acute exposure to a sublethal dose of imidacloprid and coumaphos enhances olfactory learning and memory in the honeybee Apis mellifera.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Sally M; Baker, Daniel D; Wright, Geraldine A

    2013-06-01

    The decline of honeybees and other pollinating insects is a current cause for concern. A major factor implicated in their decline is exposure to agricultural chemicals, in particular the neonicotinoid insecticides such as imidacloprid. Honeybees are also subjected to additional chemical exposure when beekeepers treat hives with acaricides to combat the mite Varroa destructor. Here, we assess the effects of acute sublethal doses of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, and the organophosphate acaricide coumaphos, on honey bee learning and memory. Imidacloprid had little effect on performance in a six-trial olfactory conditioning assay, while coumaphos caused a modest impairment. We report a surprising lack of additive adverse effects when both compounds were administered simultaneously, which instead produced a modest improvement in learning and memory.

  3. Getter Incorporation into Cast Stone and Solid State Characterizations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asmussen, Robert M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lawter, Amanda R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Stephenson, John R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Bowden, Mark E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Washton, Nancy M. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Neeway, James J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Du, Yingge [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Pearce, Carolyn I. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Clayton, Ray E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Saslow, Sarah A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Buck, Edgar C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Cordova, Elsa [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Qafoku, Nikolla [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

    2016-09-28

    Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) is collecting relevant available data on waste forms for use as a supplemental immobilization technology, to provide the additional capacity needed to treat low-activity waste (LAW) in Hanford Site tanks and complete the tank waste cleanup mission in a timely and cost-effective manner. One candidate supplemental waste form, fabricated using a low-temperature process, is a cementitious grout called Cast Stone. Cast Stone has been under investigation for this application at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since initial screening tests in FY13. This report is the culmination of work to lower the diffusivities of Tc and I from Cast Stone using getters. Getters are compounds added to a system designed to selectively sequester a species of interest to provide increased stability to the species. The work contained within this report is related to waste form development and testing, and does not directly support the 2017 integrated disposal facility (IDF) performance assessment. However, this work contains valuable information which may be used in performance assessment maintenance past FY17, and in future waste form development. This report on performance characterization of Tc and I getters in Cast Stone fabricated with simulated LAW covers several areas of interest and major findings to WRPS: investigating performance of potassium metal sulfide (KMS-2-SS) and tin (II) apatite (Sn-A) as Tc getters when incorporated into Cast Stone; investigating performance of silver exchanged zeolite (Ag-Z) and argentite (Arg) as I getters when incorporated into Cast Stone; utilizing sequential addition of Tc and I getters to overcome any deleterious interactions between the getters in solution; determining, for the first time, Tc distribution within the cured Cast Stone and its evolution during leaching; and performing solid state characterization of getters and Cast Stone samples to support leach test findings and develop a

  4. Comparative analysis of two immunohistochemical methods for antigen retrieval in the optical lobe of the honeybee Apis mellifera: Myosin-v assay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LUCIANA KAREN CALÁBRIA

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The present study compared two heating methods currently used for antigen retrieval (AR immunostaining: the microwave oven and the steam cooker. Myosin-V, a molecular motor involved in vesicle transport, was used as a neuronal marker in honeybee Apis mellifera brains fixed in formalin. Overall, the steam cooker showed the most satisfactory AR results. At 100 ºC, tissue morphology was maintained and revealed epitope recovery, while evaporation of the AR solution was markedly reduced; this is important for stabilizing the sodium citrate molarity of the AR buffer and reducing background effects. Standardization of heat-mediated AR of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections results in more reliable immunostaining of the honeybee brain.

  5. Segregation in cast products

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    The agreement with experimental data is mostly qualitative. The paper also ... For example, a high degree of positive segregation in the central region .... solute in a cast product, important ones being: size of casting, rate of solidification, mode.

  6. Modernity of parts in casting machines and coefficients of total productive maintenance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Borkowski

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of equipment efficiency in casting machines on the quality of die castings made of Al-Si alloys in consideration of their modernity. Analysis focused on two cold-chamber die-casting machines. The assessment of modernity ofthe equipment was made based on ABC analysis of technology and Parker’s scale. Then, the coefficients of total productive maintenance(TPM were employed for assessment of the efficiency of both machines. Using correlation coefficients r allowed authors to demonstrate the relationships between individual TPM coefficients and the number of non-conforming products. The finding of the study is pointing to the differences between the factors which determine the quality of castings resulting from the level of modernity of machines.

  7. Genetic structure of Rajaka caste and affinities with other caste populations of Andhra Pradesh, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parvatheesam, C; Babu, B V; Babu, M C

    1997-01-01

    The present study gives an account of the genetic structure in terms of distribution of a few genetic markers, viz., A1A2B0, Rh(D), G6PD deficiency and haemoglobin among the Rajaka caste population of Andhra Pradesh, India. The genetic relationships of the Rajaka caste with other Andhra caste populations were investigated in terms of genetic distance, i.e., Sq B (mn) of Balakrishnan and Sanghvi. Relatively lesser distance was established between the Rajaka and two Panchama castes. Also, the pattern of genetic distance corroborates the hierarchical order of the Hindu varna system.

  8. On the honeybee resistance to gamma radiation; Sur la resistance au rayonnement gamma de l'abeille ouvriere

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Courtois, G.; Lecomte, J. [Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives - CEA, Section des Applications des Radioelements, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires, Saclay, Station de Recherches Apicoles, Bures-sur-Yvette (France)

    1960-07-01

    The honeybee, when irradiated by gamma radiations from a cobalt-60 source can stand a 18000 r dose without any apparent harm. Noticeable harm is observed for 90000 r. while immediate death of 100% of the individuals is obtained with a 200000 r dose. The physiological condition of the honeybee plays an important role in its resistance to gamma radiation. Reprint of a paper published in Annales de l'abeille, IV, 1959, p. 285-290 [French] L'Abeille butineuse irradiee par le rayonnement gamma issu d'une source de Cobalt 60 supporte sans dommages apparents une dose de 18000 r. Des dommages tres appreciables sont observes pour 90000 r. Une dose de 200000 r entraine la mort immediate de 100% des individus. L'etat physiologique de l'Abeille joue un role important dans la resistance au rayonnement gamma. Reproduction d'un article publie dans Annales de l'abeille, IV, 1959, p. 285-290.

  9. Optimizing cast blasting efficiency using ANFO with liners

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Madsen, A.

    2007-01-15

    As part of a five research project funded by the National Science Foundation, Peabody Energy studied three experimental cast blasts conducted at the North Antelope Rochelle mine site on July 24,28 and 31 2005. The initial purpose of this research project was to determine the influence that blast initiation sequence have on: NOx production; Face Displacement; Highwall damage; Explosive performance; Vibration emissions; Displacement; Surface swell; and Cast benefit. Two new discoveries on velocity of detonation (VoD) and pressure of detonation (PoD) were made as a result of this research project. Furthermore, a relationship between surface swell velocity and face velocity was also noted. 7 figs., 3 tabs.

  10. Microstructural causes of negative creep in cast superalloys

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frank, G.

    1990-01-01

    The dissertation examines by means of microstructural investigations and modelling calculations two types of superalloys: the nickel-base cast alloy IN 738 LC (γ'-hardened, containing MC and M 23 C 6 carbides), and the cobalt-base cast alloy FSX 414 (containing M 23 C 6 carbides, solid solution-hardened). The task was to determine the causes of microstructural volume contraction, in order to improve and facilitate explanation and extrapolation of the materials' long-term behaviour at high temperatures, and to derive if possible information on appropriate measures preventing negative creep, which may lead to critical damage of bolted joints, for instance. (orig./MM) [de

  11. Deposition of ultrafine aerosols in F344/N rat nasal casts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheng, Y S; Hansen, G K; Su, Y F; Yeh, H C; Morgan, K T [Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)

    1988-12-01

    Determination of regional respiratory deposition of inhaled aerosols is critical for evaluation of the health effects of air pollutants. Information on deposition of larger particles (> 0.02 {mu}m) in the nasal passages of laboratory animals is available; the deposition fraction increases with increasing particle size. Little information on ultrafine particles less than 0.2 {mu}m is available. Molds (models) were prepared from replica casts of the nasal passages of F344/N rats, using clear casting plastic. Total deposition of ultrafine aerosols in these casts was then determined using a unidirectional flow system. Measured pressure drops in the casts were a function of flow rate to the power of 1.4-1.6, indicating that the flow through the nasal passage was not laminar. Deposition data were obtained from these casts, using monodisperse sodium chloride aerosols with particle size ranging from 0.2 to 0.005 {mu}m, at inspiratory and expiratory flow rates of 200 to 600 cc/min. Similar deposition data were obtained for the three casts studied. The deposition efficiency was greatest for the smallest particles, and decreased with increasing particle size and flow rate, indicating that diffusion was the dominant mechanism for deposition. At an inspiratory flow rate of 400 cc/min, which is comparable to a respiratory minute volume of 200 cc/min for mature male F344/N rats, deposition efficiencies reached 40 and 70% for 0.01 and 0.005 {mu}m particles, respectively. Turbulent diffusion was considered to be the dominant mechanism for deposition of ultrafine particles in the nasal passage. This information is important for understanding the toxicity and carcinogenicity of submicrometer particles, including diesel soot, radon progeny and vapors. (author)

  12. Rate of solidification of aluminium casting in varying wall thickness of cylindrical metallic moulds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katsina Christopher BALA

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The quality of final casting mainly depends on the rate of solidification as rapid solidification produces fine grains structures with better mechanical properties. The analysis of heat transfer during the casting and solidification of aluminium alloy as well as the experimental investigation of the rate of solidification in varying thicknesses of cylindrical metallic mould was carried out. The temperature variation with time of the casting was recorded from which cooling curves were obtained for the determination of solidification time of the cast. The results showed that as the cylindrical mould thickness increases the solidification time decreases due to the chilling effect of the mould.

  13. THE INFLUENCE OF PRE-HEAT TREATMENT ON WHITE CAST IRONS PLASTICITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. M. Myronova

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The development of heat treatment modes of white cast irons for structure changes in their eutectic constituent, namely in disturbing the monolithic structure of ledeburite colonies cementite structure and eutectic net continuity. Also the mentioned heat treatment modes are targeted to the eutectic net shift for the most suitable position from the point of plastic deforming. Methodology. The hypoeutectic white cast irons with 2.92…3.35 % carbon content and additionally alloyed by 3.18 % vanadium have been used as the research materials. The mentioned alloys have been pre-heat treated and hot twist tested. Findings. The research results showed that the carbide net breaking by plastic deforming leads to cast irons mechanical properties increasing but has difficulties in implementation due to the white cast irons low plasticity. The influence of different pre-heat treatment modes on structure and plasticity of white hypoeutectic cast irons have been investigated. They include the isotherm soaking under the different temperatures as well as multiply soakings and thermo-cycling. The influence of eutectic level, as well as pre heat treatment modes on different composition white cast irons hot plasticity have been investigated. Originality. It was determined that the heat treatment, which leads to double α→γ recrystallization under 860 – 950 °С and reperlitization under 720-680 °С results in significant increase of plasticity, as well as in un-alloyed and alloyed by vanadium white cast irons. It takes place due to carbide matrix phase separation in ledeburite colonies by new phase boundaries forming especially due to carbide transformations under vanadium alloying. Practical value. The implementation of pre-heat treatment with phase recrystallization resulted in hypoeutectic white cast irons plasticity increasing. The obtained level of cast iron plasticity corresponds to the one of carbide class steels, which ensures the successful

  14. White cast iron with a nano-eutectic microstructure and high tensile strength and considerable ductility prepared by an aluminothermic reaction casting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    La, Peiqing; Wei, Fuan; Hu, Sulei; Li, Cuiling; Wei, Yupeng

    2013-01-01

    A white cast iron with nano-eutectic microstructure was prepared by an aluminothermic reaction casting. Microstructures of the cast iron were investigated by optical microscope (OM), electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical properties of the cast iron were tested. The results showed that the cast iron consisted of pearlite and cementite phases. Lamellar spacing of the pearlite phase was in a range of 110–275 nm and much smaller than that of the Ni-Hard 2 cast iron. Hardness of the cast iron was 552 Hv, tensile strength was 383 MPa, total elongation was 3% and compressive strength was 2224 MPa. Tensile strength and hardness of the cast iron was same to Ni-Hard 2 cast iron, besides the ductility was much better than that of the Ni-Hard 2 cast iron which is much expensive than the cast iron.

  15. Contribute to quantitative identification of casting defects based on computer analysis of X-ray images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Ignaszak

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available The forecast of structure and properties of casting is based on results of computer simulation of physical processes which are carried out during the casting processes. For the effective using of simulation system it is necessary to validate mathematica-physical models describing process of casting formation and the creation of local discontinues, witch determinate the casting properties.In the paper the proposition for quantitative validation of VP system using solidification casting defects by information sources of II group (methods of NDT was introduced. It was named the VP/RT validation (virtual prototyping/radiographic testing validation. Nowadays identification of casting defects noticeable on X-ray images bases on comparison of X-ray image of casting with relates to the ASTM. The results of this comparison are often not conclusive because based on operator’s subjective assessment. In the paper the system of quantitative identification of iron casting defects on X-ray images and classification this defects to ASTM class is presented. The methods of pattern recognition and machine learning were applied.

  16. Method for casting thin metal objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pehrson, Brandon P; Moore, Alan F

    2015-04-14

    Provided herein are various embodiments of systems for casting thin metal plates and sheets. Typical embodiments include layers of mold cavities that are oriented vertically for casting the metal plates. In some embodiments, the mold cavities include a beveled edge such that the plates that are cast have a beveled edge. In some embodiments, the mold cavities are filled with a molten metal through an open horizontal edge of the cavity. In some embodiments, the mold cavities are filled through one or more vertical feed orifices. Further disclosed are methods for forming a thin cast metal plate or sheet where the thickness of the cast part is in a range from 0.005 inches to 0.2 inches, and the surface area of the cast part is in a range from 16 square inches to 144 square inches.

  17. Aspects of the use of honeybees and bumblebees as vector of antagonistic micro-organisms in plant diseas control

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steen, van der J.J.M.; Langerak, C.J.; Tongeren, van C.A.M.; Dik, A.J.

    2003-01-01

    Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) and bumblebees (Bombus terrestris L.) are used for pollination in agriculture and horticulture. The morphological and behavioural characteristics of bees make them good pollinators. Thanks to this, bees may also be used as vector of antagonistic micro-organisms for

  18. The effect of antagonistic micro-organisms on the brood of honeybees (Apis mellifera) and bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) 2003

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Steen, van der J.J.M.; Dik, A.J.

    2002-01-01

    Several plant pathogenic fungi enter the plant trough open flowers. Spores of antagonistic micro-organisms present on the flowers can successfully compete with the possible pathogens. Honeybees and bumblebees can be used for transporting these antagonistic micro-organisms from the hive into flowers

  19. Modelling of flow phenomena during DC casting

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zuidema, J.

    2005-01-01

    Modelling of Flow Phenomena during DC Casting Jan Zuidema The production of aluminium ingots, by semi-continuous casting, is a complex process. DC Casting stands for direct chill casting. During this process liquid aluminium transforms to solid aluminium while cooling down. This is not an

  20. Mechanical properties of as-cast microalloyed steels produced via investment casting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Najafi, H.; Rassizadehghani, J.; Norouzi, S.

    2011-01-01

    Tensile and room temperature Charpy V-notch impact tests were used to evaluate the variations in the as-cast mechanical properties of a low-carbon steel produced via shell mould investment casting and containing combinations of vanadium, niobium and titanium. Tensile results indicate that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) have increased up to respectively 615 MPa and 770 MPa due to the fine-scale microalloy precipitates in the microalloyed samples. Room temperature impact test results show that while addition of vanadium individually has not changed the impact energy, Nb has decreased it considerably. However, examination of fracture surfaces reveals that all microalloyed samples have failed by transgranular cleavage. Based on the transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies, it seems that carbonitrides being greater than 50 nm in size and formed along prior austenite grain boundaries before γ transformation are responsible for the observed reduction in impact energies and brittle fracture. In comparison to sand mould casting, the yield and UTS obtained from investment casting are superior. Furthermore, although the impact energies of Nb-containing alloys are approximately the same as those obtained from sand moulds, the impact energy of the alloy containing only vanadium has improved considerably.

  1. Four quantitative trait loci associated with low Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) spore load in the honeybee Apis mellifera

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Qiang; Kryger, Per; Le Conte, Yves

    2014-01-01

    Nosema ceranae has been recently introduced into the honeybee Apis mellifera as a novel microsporidian gut parasite. To locate the genetic region involved in N. ceranae infection tolerance, we fed N. ceranae spores to haploid drones of a F1 hybrid queen produced from a cross between a queen...

  2. Lethal infection thresholds of Paenibacillus larvae for honeybee drone and worker larvae (Apis mellifera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behrens, Dieter; Forsgren, Eva; Fries, Ingemar; Moritz, Robin F A

    2010-10-01

    We compared the mortality of honeybee (Apis mellifera) drone and worker larvae from a single queen under controlled in vitro conditions following infection with Paenibacillus larvae, a bacterium causing the brood disease American Foulbrood (AFB). We also determined absolute P. larvae cell numbers and lethal titres in deceased individuals of both sexes up to 8 days post infection using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Our results show that in drones the onset of infection induced mortality is delayed by 1 day, the cumulative mortality is reduced by 10% and P. larvae cell numbers are higher than in worker larvae. Since differences in bacterial cell titres between sexes can be explained by differences in body size, larval size appears to be a key parameter for a lethal threshold in AFB tolerance. Both means and variances for lethal thresholds are similar for drone and worker larvae suggesting that drone resistance phenotypes resemble those of related workers. © 2010 Society for Applied Microbiology and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  3. Spatial Bimetallic Castings Manufactured from Iron Alloys

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Cholewa

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper a conception for manufacturing method of skeleton castings with composite features was shown. Main application of such castings are the working organs of machines subjected to intensive abrasive and erosive wear. Skeleton geometry was based on three-dimensional cubic net consisting of circular connectors and nodes joining 6 connectors according to Cartesian co-ordinate system. Dimension of an elementary cell was equal to 10 mm and diameter of single connector was equal to 5 mm. For bimetallic castings preparation two Fe based alloys were used: L25SHMN cast steel for skeleton substrate and ZlCr15NiMo cast iron for working part of the casting. In presented work obtained structure was analyzed with indication of characteristic regions. Authors described phenomena occurring at the alloys interface and phases in transition zone. A thesis was formulated concerning localization of transition zone at the cast iron matrix – cast steel reinforcement interface. Direction of further studies were indicated.

  4. Expert explanations of honeybee losses in areas of extensive agriculture in France: Gaucho compared with other supposed causal factors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maxim, L [Institut des Sciences de la Communication, CNRS UPS 3088, 27 Rue Damesme, 75013 Paris (France); Van der Sluijs, J P, E-mail: laura.maxim@iscc.cnrs.f, E-mail: J.P.vanderSluijs@uu.n [Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation, Department of Science, Technology and Society, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht (Netherlands)

    2010-01-15

    Debates on causality are at the core of controversies as regards environmental changes. The present paper presents a new method for analyzing controversies on causality in a context of social debate and the results of its empirical testing. The case study used is the controversy as regards the role played by the insecticide Gaucho, compared with other supposed causal factors, in the substantial honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) losses reported to have occurred in France between 1994 and 2004. The method makes use of expert elicitation of the perceived strength of evidence regarding each of Bradford Hill's causality criteria, as regards the link between each of eight possible causal factors identified in attempts to explain each of five signs observed in honeybee colonies. These judgments are elicited from stakeholders and experts involved in the debate, i.e., representatives of Bayer Cropscience, of the Ministry of Agriculture, of the French Food Safety Authority, of beekeepers and of public scientists. We show that the intense controversy observed in confused and passionate public discourses is much less salient when the various arguments are structured using causation criteria. The contradictions between the different expert views have a triple origin: (1) the lack of shared definition and quantification of the signs observed in colonies; (2) the lack of specialist knowledge on honeybees; and (3) the strategic discursive practices associated with the lack of trust between experts representing stakeholders having diverging stakes in the case.

  5. Expert explanations of honeybee losses in areas of extensive agriculture in France: Gaucho compared with other supposed causal factors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maxim, L; Van der Sluijs, J P

    2010-01-01

    Debates on causality are at the core of controversies as regards environmental changes. The present paper presents a new method for analyzing controversies on causality in a context of social debate and the results of its empirical testing. The case study used is the controversy as regards the role played by the insecticide Gaucho, compared with other supposed causal factors, in the substantial honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) losses reported to have occurred in France between 1994 and 2004. The method makes use of expert elicitation of the perceived strength of evidence regarding each of Bradford Hill's causality criteria, as regards the link between each of eight possible causal factors identified in attempts to explain each of five signs observed in honeybee colonies. These judgments are elicited from stakeholders and experts involved in the debate, i.e., representatives of Bayer Cropscience, of the Ministry of Agriculture, of the French Food Safety Authority, of beekeepers and of public scientists. We show that the intense controversy observed in confused and passionate public discourses is much less salient when the various arguments are structured using causation criteria. The contradictions between the different expert views have a triple origin: (1) the lack of shared definition and quantification of the signs observed in colonies; (2) the lack of specialist knowledge on honeybees; and (3) the strategic discursive practices associated with the lack of trust between experts representing stakeholders having diverging stakes in the case.

  6. Modelling of Filling, Microstructure Formation, Local Mechanical Properties and Stress – Strain Development in High-Pressure Die Cast Aluminium Castings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kotas, Petr; Hattel, Jesper Henri; Thorborg, Jesper

    2009-01-01

    .e. whether the casting is based on cast iron- or aluminium-alloys. The distribution of local properties in a casting might vary substantially which makes it complex to optimize the casting with good accuracy. Often, mechanical simulations of the load situation are based on the assumption that the cast...... in an aluminium alloy is considered including simulation of the entire casting process with emphasis on microstructure formation related to mechanical properties such as elastic modulus, yield stress, ultimate strength and elongation as well as residual stresses. Subsequently, the casting is subjected to service...... loads and the results of this analysis are discussed in relation to the predicted local properties as well as the residual stresses originating from the casting simulation....

  7. Comparative Evaluation of Conventional and Accelerated Castings on Marginal Fit and Surface Roughness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jadhav, Vivek Dattatray; Motwani, Bhagwan K.; Shinde, Jitendra; Adhapure, Prasad

    2017-01-01

    Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the marginal fit and surface roughness of complete cast crowns made by a conventional and an accelerated casting technique. Settings and Design: This study was divided into three parts. In Part I, the marginal fit of full metal crowns made by both casting techniques in the vertical direction was checked, in Part II, the fit of sectional metal crowns in the horizontal direction made by both casting techniques was checked, and in Part III, the surface roughness of disc-shaped metal plate specimens made by both casting techniques was checked. Materials and Methods: A conventional technique was compared with an accelerated technique. In Part I of the study, the marginal fit of the full metal crowns as well as in Part II, the horizontal fit of sectional metal crowns made by both casting techniques was determined, and in Part III, the surface roughness of castings made with the same techniques was compared. Statistical Analysis Used: The results of the t-test and independent sample test do not indicate statistically significant differences in the marginal discrepancy detected between the two casting techniques. Results: For the marginal discrepancy and surface roughness, crowns fabricated with the accelerated technique were significantly different from those fabricated with the conventional technique. Conclusions: Accelerated casting technique showed quite satisfactory results, but the conventional technique was superior in terms of marginal fit and surface roughness. PMID:29042726

  8. Why, and how, is India protecting the caste system at the national and international arena?

    OpenAIRE

    Gravaas, Gunnhild

    2015-01-01

    Caste is a hierarchical system, distinguishing people’s status by determining one’s purity and pollution. Indian structure of society has been formed by a Hindu conviction through generations, institutionalised through culture and religious structures. This makes caste difficult to change. The problem statement in this study is: why, and how, is India protecting the caste system at the national and international arena? The problem statement is studied from both a national and internatio...

  9. Cast dielectric composite linear accelerator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanders, David M [Livermore, CA; Sampayan, Stephen [Manteca, CA; Slenes, Kirk [Albuquerque, NM; Stoller, H M [Albuquerque, NM

    2009-11-10

    A linear accelerator having cast dielectric composite layers integrally formed with conductor electrodes in a solventless fabrication process, with the cast dielectric composite preferably having a nanoparticle filler in an organic polymer such as a thermosetting resin. By incorporating this cast dielectric composite the dielectric constant of critical insulating layers of the transmission lines of the accelerator are increased while simultaneously maintaining high dielectric strengths for the accelerator.

  10. Cavitation Erosion of Nodular Cast Iron − Microstructural Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orłowicz A.W.

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with susceptibility of nodular cast iron with ferritic-pearlitic matrix on cavitation erosion. Cavitation tests were carried out with the use of a cavitation erosion vibratory apparatus employing a vibration exciter operated at frequency of 20 kHz. The study allowed to determine the sequence of subsequent stages in which microstructure of cast iron in superficial regions is subject to degradation. The first features to be damaged are graphite precipitates. The ferritic matrix of the alloy turned out to be definitely less resistant to cavitation erosion compared to the pearlitic matrix component.

  11. Evaluation of porosity in Al alloy die castings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Říhová

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Mechanical properties of an Al-alloy die casting depend significantly on its structural properties. Porosity in Al-alloy castings is one of the most frequent causes of waste castings. Gas pores are responsible for impaired mechanical-technological properties of cast materials. On the basis of a complex evaluation of experiments conducted on AlSi9Cu3 alloy samples taken from the upper engine block which was die- cast with and without local squeeze casting it can be said that castings manufactured without squeeze casting exhibit maximum porosity in the longitudinal section. The area without local squeeze casting exhibits a certain reduction in mechanical properties and porosity increased to as much as 5%. However, this still meets the norms set by SKODA AUTO a.s.

  12. Serial Casting for Infantile Idiopathic Scoliosis: Radiographic Outcomes and Factors Associated With Response to Treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iorio, Justin; Orlando, Giuseppe; Diefenbach, Chris; Gaughan, John P; Samdani, Amer F; Pahys, Joshua M; Betz, Randal R; Cahill, Patrick J

    Serial casting for early-onset scoliosis has been shown to improve curve deformity. Our goal was to define clinical and radiographic features that determine response to treatment. We retrospectively reviewed patients with idiopathic infantile scoliosis with a minimum of 2-year follow-up. Inclusion criteria were: progressive idiopathic infantile scoliosis and initial casting before 6 years of age. Two groups were analyzed and compared: group 1 (≥10-degree improvement in Cobb angle from baseline) and group 2 (no improvement). Twenty-one patients with an average Cobb angle of 48 degrees (range, 24 to 72 degrees) underwent initial casting at an average age of 2.1 years (range, 0.7 to 5.4 y). Average follow-up was 3.5 years (range, 2 to 6.9 y). Sex, age at initial casting, magnitude of spinal deformity, and curve flexibility (defined as change in Cobb angle from pretreatment to first in-cast radiograph) were not significantly different between groups (P>0.05). Group 1 had a significantly higher body mass index (BMI) than group 2 at the onset of treatment (17.6 vs. 14.8, Pcasted at less than 1.8 years of age had a Cobb angle casting does not confirm treatment success. Key aspects of treatment that may determine success include age of less than 1.8 years at initiation of casting and derotation of the spine to correct rib vertebral angle difference of <20 degrees. Level IV-Therapeutic.

  13. Androgenic effect of honeybee drone milk in castrated rats: roles of methyl palmitate and methyl oleate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seres, A B; Ducza, E; Báthori, M; Hunyadi, A; Béni, Z; Dékány, M; Hajagos-Tóth, J; Verli, J; Gáspár, Róbert

    2014-04-28

    Numerous honeybee (Apis mellifera) products have been used in traditional medicine to treat infertility and to increase vitality in both men and women. Drone milk (DM) is a relatively little-known honeybee product with a putative sexual hormone effect. The oestrogenic effect of a fraction of DM has recently been reported in rats. However, no information is available on the androgenic effects of DM. The purpose of the present study was to determine the androgen-like effect of DM in male rats and to identify effective compounds. A modified Hershberger assay was used to investigate the androgenic effect of crude DM, and the plasma level of testosterone was measured. The prostatic mRNA and protein expression of Spot14-like androgen-inducible protein (SLAP) were also examined with real-time PCR and Western blot techniques. GC-MS and NMR spectroscopic investigations were performed to identify the active components gained by bioactivity-guided fractionation. The crude DM increased the relative weights of the androgen-dependent organs and the plasma testosterone level in castrated rats and these actions were flutamide-sensitive. DM increased the tissue mRNA and protein level of SLAP, providing further evidence of its androgen-like character. After bioactivity-guided fractionation, two fatty acid esters, methyl palmitate (MP) and methyl oleate (MO), were identified as active compounds. MP alone showed an androgenic effect, whereas MO increased the weight of androgen-sensitive tissues and the plasma testosterone level only in combination. The experimental data of DM and its active compounds (MO and MP) show androgenic activity confirming the traditional usage of DM. DM or MP or/and MO treatments may project a natural mode for the therapy of male infertility. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A Mathematical Model of Intra-Colony Spread of American Foulbrood in European Honeybees (Apis mellifera L..

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo O Jatulan

    Full Text Available American foulbrood (AFB is one of the severe infectious diseases of European honeybees (Apis mellifera L. and other Apis species. This disease is caused by a gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. In this paper, a compartmental (SI framework model is constructed to represent the spread of AFB within a colony. The model is analyzed to determine the long-term fate of the colony once exposed to AFB spores. It was found out that without effective and efficient treatment, AFB infection eventually leads to colony collapse. Furthermore, infection thresholds were predicted based on the stability of the equilibrium states. The number of infected cell combs is one of the factors that drive disease spread. Our results can be used to forecast the transmission timeline of AFB infection and to evaluate the control strategies for minimizing a possible epidemic.

  15. Serial casting for elbow flexion contractures in neonatal brachial plexus palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duijnisveld, B J; Steenbeek, D; Nelissen, R G H H

    2016-09-02

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of serial casting of elbow flexion contractures in neonatal brachial plexus palsy. A prospective consecutive cohort study was performed with a median follow-up of 5 years. Forty-one patients with elbow flexion contractures ≥ 30° were treated with serial casting until the contracture was ≤ 10°, for a maximum of 8 weeks. Range of motion, number of recurrences and patient satisfaction were recorded and analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and Cox regression tests. Passive extension increased from a median of -40° (IQR -50 to -30) to -15° (IQR -10 to -20, p casting had to be prematurely replaced by night splinting due to complaints. Serial casting improved elbow flexion contractures, although recurrences were frequent. The severity of elbow flexion contracture is a predictor of recurrence. We recommend more research on muscle degeneration and determinants involved in elbow flexion contractures to improve treatment strategies and prevent side-effects.

  16. Some Theoretical Considerations on Caste

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Madhusudan Subedi

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Caste as a system of social stratification was an encompassing system in the past. There was reciprocal system of exchange goods and services. With time, occupation and mode of generation of livelihood of various caste groups changed, and the traditional form of jajmani system fizzled out. This paper provides an account of changing perspectives of caste relations in social science writing and political discourse. The discourse of caste has been shifted from ritual hierarchy and social discrimination to an instrument to mobilize people for economic and political gain. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v7i0.10437 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 7, 2013; 51-86

  17. The Influence of Gustatory and Olfactory Experiences on Responsiveness to Reward in the Honeybee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramírez, Gabriela P.; Martínez, Andrés S.; Fernández, Vanesa M.; Corti Bielsa, Gonzalo; Farina, Walter M.

    2010-01-01

    Background Honeybees (Apis mellifera) exhibit an extraordinarily tuned division of labor that depends on age polyethism. This adjustment is generally associated with the fact that individuals of different ages display different response thresholds to given stimuli, which determine specific behaviors. For instance, the sucrose-response threshold (SRT) which largely depends on genetic factors may also be affected by the nectar sugar content. However, it remains unknown whether SRTs in workers of different ages and tasks can differ depending on gustatory and olfactory experiences. Methodology Groups of worker bees reared either in an artificial environment or else in a queen-right colony, were exposed to different reward conditions at different adult ages. Gustatory response scores (GRSs) and odor-memory retrieval were measured in bees that were previously exposed to changes in food characteristics. Principal Findings Results show that the gustatory responses of pre-foraging-aged bees are affected by changes in sucrose solution concentration and also to the presence of an odor provided it is presented as scented sucrose solution. In contrast no differences in worker responses were observed when presented with odor only in the rearing environment. Fast modulation of GRSs was observed in older bees (12–16 days of age) which are commonly involved in food processing tasks within the hive, while slower modulation times were observed in younger bees (commonly nurse bees, 6–9 days of age). This suggests that older food-processing bees have a higher plasticity when responding to fluctuations in resource information than younger hive bees. Adjustments in the number of trophallaxis events were also found when scented food circulated inside the nest, and this was positively correlated with the differences in timing observed in gustatory responsiveness and memory retention for hive bees of different age classes. Conclusions This work demonstrates the accessibility of

  18. Fabrication of sacrificial anode cathodic protection through casting method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Sharif Sattar; Muhamad Daud; Siti Radiah Mohd Kamarudin; Azali Muhamad; Zaiton Selamat; Rusni Rejab

    2007-01-01

    Aluminum is one of the few metals that can be cast by all of the processes used in casting metals. These processes consist of die casting, permanent mold casting, sand casting (green sand and dry sand), plaster casting, investment casting, and continuous casting. Other processes such as lost foam, squeeze casting, and hot isostatic pressing are also used. Permanent mold casting method was selected in which used for fabricating of sacrificial anode cathodic protection. This product was ground for surface finished and fabricated in the cylindrical form and reinforced with carbon steel at a center of the anode. (Author)

  19. 14 CFR 29.621 - Casting factors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Casting factors. 29.621 Section 29.621... STANDARDS: TRANSPORT CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT Design and Construction General § 29.621 Casting factors. (a... approved specifications. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section apply to structural castings except...

  20. Influence of ecologically friendly cores on surface quality of castings based on magnesium alloys

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Lichý

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Constructional materials as Al - alloys can be replaced by other materials with high strength to low mass density ratio, e.g. Mg-alloys. In order to pre-casting of holes and cavities cores based on pure inorganic salt can be applied due to easy cleaning of even geometrically complex pre-cast holes. This technology is applied mainly for gravity and low-pressure casting technology. This contribution is aimed at studying of mutual interaction of the Mg-alloy and the salt core. Experiments were focused on surface quality; macro- and microstructure of testing casting samples determination. Metallographic analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM with X-ray energy-dispersion superficial and spot microanalysis (EDAX were employed.