Comparative analyses of mitogenomes in the social bees with insights into evolution of long inverted repeats in the Meliponini

The insect mitogenome is typically a compact circular molecule with highly conserved gene contents.Nonetheless,mitogenome structural variations have been reported in specific taxa,and gene rearrangements,usually the tRNAs,occur in different lineages.Because synapomorphies of mitogenome organizations can provide information for phylogenetic inferences,comparative analyses of mitogenomes have been given increasing attention.However,most studies use a very few species to represent the whole genus,tribe,family,or even order,overlooking potential variations at lower taxonomic levels,which might lead to some incorrect inferences.To provide new insights into mitogenome organizations and their implications for phylogenetic inference,this study conducted comparative analyses for mitogenomes of three social bee tribes(Meliponini,Bombini,and Apini)based on the phylogenetic framework with denser taxonomic sampling at the species and population levels.Comparative analyses revealed that mitogenomes of Apini and Bombini are the typical type,while those of Meliponini show diverse variations in mitogenome sizes and organizations.Large inverted repeats(IRs)cause significant gene rearrangements of protein coding genes(PCGs)and rRNAs in Indo-Malay/Australian stingless bee species.Molecular evolution analyses showed that the lineage with IRs have lower dN/dS ratios for PCGs than lineages without IRs,indicating potential effects of IRs on the evolution of mitochondrial genes.The finding of IRs and different patterns of gene rearrangements suggested that Meliponini is a hotspot in mitogenome evolution.Unlike conserved PCGs and rRNAs whose rearrangements were found only in the mentioned lineages within Meliponini,tRNA rearrangements are common across all three tribes of social bees,and are significant even at the species level,indicating that comprehensive sampling is needed to fully understand the patterns of tRNA rearrangements,and their implications for phylogenetic inference.

Effect of Apis mellifera on community composition of local pollinator bees and their pollination network in Qinling Mountains and surrounding areas

The Qinling Mountains, known for their rich vegetation and diverse pollinating insects, have seen a significant decline in bee species richness and abundance over recent decades, largely due to the introduction and spread of Apis mellifera. This decline has caused cascading effects on the region's community structure and ecosystem stability. To improve the protection of native bees in the natural and agricultural landscape of the Qinling Mountains and its surrounding areas, we investigated 33 sampling sites within three habitats: forest, forest-agriculture ecotones, and farmland. Using a generalized linear mixing model, t-test, and other data analysis methods, we explored the impact of Apis mellifera on local pollinator bee richness, abundance, and the pollination network in different habitats in these regional areas. The results show that(1)Apis mellifera significantly negatively affects the abundance and richness of wild pollinator bees,while Apis cerana abundance is also affected by beekeeping conditions.(2)There are significant negative effects of Apis mellifera on the community structure of pollinator bees in the Qinling Mountains and its surrounding areas: the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Pielou evenness index, and Margalef richness index of bee communities at sites with Apis mellifera influence were significantly lower than those at sites without Apis mellifera influence.(3)The underlying driver of this effect is the monopolization of flowering resources by Apis mellifera. This species tends to visit flowering plants with large nectar sources, which constitute a significant portion of the local plant community. By maintaining a dominant role in the bee-plant pollination network, Apis mellifera competitively displaces native pollinator bees, reducing their access to floral resources. This ultimately leads to a reduction in local bee-plant interactions, decreasing the complexity and stability of the pollination network. These findings highlight the need for targeted conservation efforts to protect native pollinator species and maintain the ecological balance in the Qinling Mountains.

Adaptive Network Sustainability and Defense Based on Artificial Bees Colony Optimization Algorithm for Nature Inspired Cyber Security

Cyber Defense is becoming a major issue for every organization to keep business continuity intact.The presented paper explores the effectiveness of a meta-heuristic optimization algorithm-Artificial Bees Colony Algorithm(ABC)as an Nature Inspired Cyber Security mechanism to achieve adaptive defense.It experiments on the Denial-Of-Service attack scenarios which involves limiting the traffic flow for each node.Businesses today have adapted their service distribution models to include the use of the Internet,allowing them to effectively manage and interact with their customer data.This shift has created an increased reliance on online services to store vast amounts of confidential customer data,meaning any disruption or outage of these services could be disastrous for the business,leaving them without the knowledge to serve their customers.Adversaries can exploit such an event to gain unauthorized access to the confidential data of the customers.The proposed algorithm utilizes an Adaptive Defense approach to continuously select nodes that could present characteristics of a probable malicious entity.For any changes in network parameters,the cluster of nodes is selected in the prepared solution set as a probable malicious node and the traffic rate with the ratio of packet delivery is managed with respect to the properties of normal nodes to deliver a disaster recovery plan for potential businesses.

Correlation between the Change in the Number of Apis mellifera Worker Bees and Nectar Secretion of Nectariferous Plants

[Objective] This study aimed to clarify the correlation between changes of Apis mel ifera and the nectar secretion characteristics of nectariferous plants. [Method] Considering the nectar secretion characteristics of major and auxiliary nec-tariferous plants, six Apis mel ifera colonies were selected for measure the number of eggs, larvae, pupae and adult bees from Jan. to Dec. in 2012; based on that, their annual change curves were also plotted. [Result] The results showed that there were three peaks of the total number of A. mel ifera workers throughout the year：the first occurred on May 15th, with bees developed into an ideal population for col-lecting pomegranate nectar, and the second and third peaks occurred on July 15th and Oct. 15th, respectively, with bees developed into an ideal population for col ect-ing E. ciliate （Thuab） Hyland. [Conclusion] Prevention of Varroa jacobsoni should be carried out with two or more types of acaricides at the late nectar flow stages of the two nectariferous plants（pomegranate and E. ciliate （Thuab） Hyland） when there was a nectar deficiency. Prevention of Tropilaelaps clareae should be timely per-formed with sublimed sulfur in conjunction with acaricides. This study provides a theoretical basis for the high-quality and high-yielding production of honey, as wel as for the product safety.

Comparative Analyses of Proteome Complement Between Worker Bee Larvae of High Royal Jelly Producing Bees (A. m. ligustica) and Carniolian Bees (A. m. carnica)

This study is to compare the protein composition of the high royal jelly producing bee （A. m. ligustica） with that of Carniolian bee （A. m. carnica） during their worker larval developmental stage. The experiment was carried out by two- dimensional gel electrophoresis. The results showed that significant higher numbers of total proteins （283） were detected in larvae of high royal jelly producing bees （Jelly bee） than those of Carniolian bees （152） on 2-d-old larvae. Among them, 110 proteins were presented on both strains of bee larvae, whereas 173 proteins were specific to larvae of Jelly bees, and 42 proteins were exclusive to Carniolian larvae. However, on the 4th d, a significant higher number of total proteins （290） were detected in larvae of Jelly bees than those of Carniolian bees （240）, 163 proteins resolved to both bee larvae, and 127 proteins were specific to Jelly bees and 77 proteins to Camiolian bees. Until the 6th d, also a significant higher number of total proteins （236） were detected in larvae of Jelly bees than those of Carniolian bees （180）, 132 proteins were constantly expressed in two bee larvae, whereas 104 and 48 proteins are unique to Jelly bee and Carniolian bee larvae, respectively. We tentatively concluded that the metabolic rate and gene expression of Jelly bees larvae is higher than those of Carniolian bees based proteins detected as total proteins and proteins specific to each stage of two strains of bee larvae. Proteins constantly expressed on 3 stages of larval development with some significant differences between two bee strains, and proteins unique to each stage expressed differences in term of quality and quantity, indicating that larval development needed house keeping and specific proteins to regulate its growth at different development phage, but the expression mold is different between two strains of larval development.

Ornamental Bee Plants as Foraging Resources for Urban Bees in Southern Brazil

Ornamental plants are distinguished by the shape and color of their leaves/flowers and their use in landscaping and gardening. In urban areas, their presence is relevant for the maintenance of bees. Aiming to list the ornamental bee plants species occurring in Santa Catarina State (SC), southern Brazil, a survey of forage resources for bees, recorded in the State, was performed. We refer all published works developed in SC (resulting in the period 1983-2014) which include data from reports of scientific research, monographs, dissertations, Masters Dissertations, Doctoral Thesis, annals of scientific events, scientific articles and books. From the 28 ensuant works, we listed, as ornamental bee plants occurring in SC, 201 species, of 156 genera and 66 botanical families. Of these species, 92 are native (N), 26 endemic to Brazil and 109 exotic (E). Families with more ornamental bee species are: Fabaceae (22 species), Asteraceae (20), Solanaceae (11), Rosaceae (10) and Lamiaceae (8). The most cited species are: Lantana camara L. (N) (Verbenaceae) (9 quotes), Aloysia virgata (N) (Ruiz & Pav.) Juss. (Verbenaceae) (8), Hedychium coronarium J. Koenig (naturalized) (Zingiberaceae) (6) and Brachyscome multifida (E) (Asteraceae) (5), regarding habitus, herbs (48.5%) predominate, followed by bushes (21.5%), trees (16.5%) and vines (10.5%). Preferred colours of flowers by bees are, in decreasing order: white, yellow, red/pink, and others. The genus Ipomoea, Calliandra, Passiflora, Prunus and Senecio have more ornamental bee plant species. A large botanical diversity arises, demonstrating the possibilities for urban bee foraging and ornamental featuring, in a perspective of sustainability.

Bio-Inspired Binary Bees Algorithm for a Two-Level Distribution Optimisation Problem

Two uncoupleable distributions, assigning missions to robots and allocating robots to home stations, accompany the use ofmobile service robots in hospitals.In the given problem, two workload-related objectives and five groups of constraints areproposed.A bio-mimicked Binary Bees Algorithm (BBA) is introduced to solve this multiobjective multiconstraint combinatorialoptimisation problem, in which constraint handling technique (Multiobjective Transformation, MOT), multiobjectiveevaluation method (nondominance selection), global search strategy (stochastic search in the variable space), local searchstrategy (Hamming neighbourhood exploitation), and post-processing means (feasibility selection) are the main issues.TheBBA is then demonstrated with a case study, presenting the execution process of the algorithm, and also explaining the change ofelite number in evolutionary process.Its optimisation result provides a group of feasible nondominated two-level distributionschemes.

Design of a Two-dimensional Recursive Filter Using the Bees Algorithm

This paper presents the first application of the bees algorithm to the optimisation of parameters of a two-dimensional （2D） recursive digital filter. The algorithm employs a search technique inspired by the foraging behaviour of honey bees. The results obtained show clear improvement compared to those produced by the widely adopted genetic algorithm （GA）.

Profile Analysis of the Proteome of the Egg of the High Royal Jelly Producing Bees (Apis mellifera L.)

The protein composition of the egg development in the high royal jelly producing bees （Apis mellifera L.） was investigated. This pioneer study was to separate and quantify the proteins in the egg of the high royal jelly producing worker bees （Apis mellifera L.） by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis along with their three-day development. The results showed that 160, 195, and 176 proteins, with a wide range of molecular weight （17-80 KDa） and relatively narrow scope of pI （4. 00-8.40） could be detected on day 1, day 2, and day 3, respectively, during the developmental process of the egg. Meanwhile 44 protein spots were constantly detected along with the egg development. Among them 36% were in the uptrend along with the egg development, 14% were in the downtrend, and 39% were of the largest expressed volume on day 2. In addition, the specific proteins were expressed on day 1, day 2, and day 3 （89, 77, and 80, respectively）. Besides the coexistent and specific proteins, 24 proteins were expressed on day 1 and day 2, but silenced on day 3, 49 proteins were expressed on day 2 and day 3, but silenced on day 1, only 3 proteins were expressed on day 1 and day 3, but silenced on day 2. The result indicates that egg development is a sequential and complex gene controlled process, where the eggs of day 2 express the most active proteins. The coexistent proteins suggest that it is conservative and indispensable for this event. These specific proteins suggest that the different developmental stage needs specific proteins to regulate it.

中美英语词汇比赛模式的比较研究——以“词达人”和“Spelling Bee”为例

词汇比赛是考察学生词汇能力的有效方式,一直备受重视。通过比较我国“词达人”全国大学生英语词汇能力大赛和美国SpellingBee拼读比赛在组织模式、题型设置两方面的差异,可以梳理出当前以“词达人”为代表的国内词汇拼写类比赛可能存在的问题。研究者在此基础上为如何增加“词达人”比赛的观赏性以及扩大比赛影响力提出了可行的方案。

Massive Envenomation by Bees Sting in a Child in Togo

Attacks by swarm of bees realize arrays of mass poisoning. We report the case of a 9 years old boy whoes severity was related to the large number of bees which was about 400 and their locations spread throughout the skin surface with a preponderance to the cephalic end. Complications were hemolytic anemia, kidney failure and convulsions. The outcome was favorable with symptomatic care and hemodialysis.

Preliminary Analyses of Expression of Learning and Memory Related Genes in Honey Bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) in Free-Choice Learning Paradigms

Honey bees are an established animal model for studying learning and memory related behaviors. In recent years, honey bees have become more common as a model for investigations of molecular biology, including gene expression. Honey bees have been used to extrapolate genetic functions found in other invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster. The honey bee model has also provided a means for isolating novel genes, including non-coding microRNA fragments. Integrating the study of learning and memory with molecular genetics, the present work examines the effect of learning acquisition and memory consolidation in free-choice paradigms on the expression of a suite of genes of interest. Results suggest that short-term learning acquisition causes differential expression of microRNA fragments, while memory consolidation differentially affects the expression of the serine/threonine protein kinase gene in honey bees. These results corroborate previous findings suggesting the importance of protein kinases in the formation of long term memory, and suggest that microRNA may play a large role in regulation of cytoskeletal scaffolding proteins.

Application and management of continuous glucose monitoring in diabetic kidney disease

Diabetic kidney disease(DKD)is a common complication of diabetes mellitus that contributes to the risk of end-stage kidney disease(ESKD).Wide glycemic var-iations,such as hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia,are broadly found in diabetic patients with DKD and especially ESKD,as a result of impaired renal metabolism.It is essential to monitor glycemia for effective management of DKD.Hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c)has long been considered as the gold standard for monitoring glycemia for>3 months.However,assessment of HbA1c has some bias as it is susceptible to factors such as anemia and liver or kidney dysfunction.Continuous glucose monitoring(CGM)has provided new insights on glycemic assessment and management.CGM directly measures glucose level in interstitial fluid,reports real-time or retrospective glucose concentration,and provides multiple glycemic metrics.It avoids the pitfalls of HbA1c in some contexts,and may serve as a precise alternative to estimation of mean glucose and glycemic variability.Emerging studies have demonstrated the merits of CGM for precise monitoring,which allows fine-tuning of glycemic management in diabetic patients.Therefore,CGM technology has the potential for better glycemic monitoring in DKD patients.More research is needed to explore its application and management in different stages of DKD,including hemodialysis,peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplantation.

Association of physical activity with risk of chronic kidney disease in China:A population-based cohort study

Background:Information on the association between physical activity(PA)and the risk of chronic kidney disease(CKD)is limited.We aimed to explore the associations of total,domain-specific,and intensity-specific PA with CKD and its subtypes in China.Methods:The study included 475,376 adults from the China Kadoorie Biobank aged 30-79 years during 2004-2008 at baseline.An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the information about PA,which was quantified as metabolic equivalent of task hours per day(MET-h/day)and categorized into 4 groups based on quartiles.Cox regression was used to analyze the association between PA and CKD risk.Results:During a median follow-up of 12.1 years,5415 incident CKD cases were documented,including 1159 incident diabetic kidney disease(DKD)cases and 362 incident hypertensive nephropathy(HTN)cases.Total PA was inversely associated with CKD risk,with an adjusted hazard ratio(HR,95%confidence interval(95%CI))of 0.83(0.75-0.92)for incident CKD in the highest quartile of total PA as compared with participants in the lowest quartile.Similar results were observed for risk of DKD and HTN,and the corresponding HRs(95%CIs)were 0.75(0.58-0.97)for DKD risk and 0.56(0.37-0.85)for HTN risk.Increased nonoccupational PA,low-intensity PA,and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA were significantly associated with a decreased risk of CKD,with HRs(95%CIs)of 0.80(0.73-0.88),0.85(0.77-0.94),and 0.85(0.76-0.95)in the highest quartile,respectively.Conclusion:PA,including nonoccupational PA,low-intensity PA,and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA,was inversely associated with the risk of CKD,including DKD,HTN,and other CKD,and such associations were dose dependent.

Study of Direction Probability and Algorithm of Improved Marriage in Honey Bees Optimization for Weapon Network System

To solve the weapon network system optimization problem against small raid objects with low attitude,the concept of direction probability and a new evaluation index system are proposed.By calculating the whole damaging probability that changes with the defending angle,the efficiency of the whole weapon network system can be subtly described.With such method,we can avoid the inconformity of the description obtained from the traditional index systems.Three new indexes are also proposed,i.e.join index,overlap index and cover index,which help manage the relationship among several sub-weapon-networks.By normalizing the computation results with the Sigmoid function,the matching problem between the optimization algorithm and indexes is well settled.Also,the algorithm of improved marriage in honey bees optimization that proposed in our previous work is applied to optimize the embattlement problem.Simulation is carried out to show the efficiency of the proposed indexes and the optimization algorithm.

Effect of wall-disruption on nutrient composition and in vitro digestion of camellia and lotus bee pollens

The nutrient digestion,absorption and biological activity of bee pollen may be limited due to the complex pollen wall.Here,the effect of superfine grinding technology on the release of nutrients from bee pollen were investigated,and their antioxidant activities and in vitro digestion were explored in this study.Results showed that the content of nutrients in bee pollen increased after wall disruption.Among them,fat content increased by 22.55%-8.31%,protein content increased by 0.54%-4.91%,starch content increased by 36.31%-48.64%,soluble sugar content increased by 20.57%-29.67%,total phenolic acid content increased by 11.73%-86.98%and total flavonoids content increased by 14.29%-24.79%.At the same time,the antioxidant activity increased by 14.84%-46.00%.Furthermore,the active components such as phenolic compounds in the wall-disruption bee pollen were more readily to be released during the in vitro digestion,and easier to be absorbed because of their higher bioaccessibility.Antioxidant activities during in vitro digestion were also improved in walldisruption bee pollen.These findings provide evidence that bee pollen wall disruption was suggested,thus,it is more conducive to exerting the value of bee pollen in functional foods.

Effect of different drying methods on the amino acids,α-dicarbonyls and volatile compounds of rape bee pollen

The significant demand for high quality food has motivated us to adopt appropriate processing methods to improve the food nutritional quality and flavors.In this study,the effects of five drying methods,namely,pulsed vacuum drying(PVD),freeze drying(FD),infrared drying(IRD),hot-air drying(HAD)and sun drying(SD)on free amino acids(FAAs),α-dicarbonyl compounds(α-DCs)and volatile compounds(VOCs)in rape bee pollen(RBP)were determined.The results showed that FD significantly released the essential amino acids(EAAs)compared with fresh samples while SD caused the highest loss.Glucosone was the dominantα-DCs in RBP and the highest loss was observed after PVD.Aldehydes were the dominant volatiles of RBP and SD samples contained more new volatile substances(especially aldehydes)than the other four drying methods.Comprehensively,FD and PVD would be potential methods to effectively reduce the quality deterioration of RBP in the drying process.

Meta-analysis of the association between chronic periodontitis and chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND Many scholars have performed several clinical studies have investigated the association between chronic periodontitis(CP)and chronic kidney disease(CKD).However,there are still differences between these research results,and there is no unified conclusion.Therefore,a systematic review is required to understand this issue fully.AIM To explore the correlation between CP and CKD.METHODS Literature on the correlation between CP and CKD,as well as the clinical attachment level(CAL)and pocket probing depth(PPD)of CKD and non-CKD,were retrieved from PubMed,Embase,the Cochrane Library,and Web of Science repositories until January 2024.After the effective data were extracted,data processing and statistics were performed using Stata 12.0.RESULTS Of the 22 studies,13 were related to CP and CKD,and 9 reported CAL and PPD in patients with CKD and healthy controls.Meta-analysis of the correlation between CP and CKD revealed that CKD probability in people with CP was 1.54 times that of healthy individuals[relative risk=1.54,95%confidence interval(CI):1.40-1.70],and CP incidence in patients with CKD was 1.98 times that of healthy individuals[overall risk(OR)=1.98,95%CI:1.53-2.57].Meta-analysis of CAL and PPD evaluations between CKD patients and healthy individuals showed that CAL and PPD levels were higher in CKD patients[standard mean difference(SMD)of CAL=0.65,95%CI:0.29-1.01;SMD of PPD=0.33,95%CI:0.02-0.63].CONCLUSION A bidirectional association exists between CP and CKD.CKD risk is increased in CP patients and vice versa.Periodontal tissue or tooth loss risks increase over time in CKD patients.

Human pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids:Current progress and challenges

Human pluripotent stem cell(hPSC)-derived kidney organoids share similarities with the fetal kidney.However,the current hPSC-derived kidney organoids have some limitations,including the inability to perform nephrogenesis and lack of a corticomedullary definition,uniform vascular system,and coordinated exit path-way for urinary filtrate.Therefore,further studies are required to produce hPSC-derived kidney organoids that accurately mimic human kidneys to facilitate research on kidney development,regeneration,disease modeling,and drug screening.In this review,we discussed recent advances in the generation of hPSC-derived kidney organoids,how these organoids contribute to the understanding of human kidney development and research in disease modeling.Additionally,the limitations,future research focus,and applications of hPSC-derived kidney organoids were highlighted.

Structure of the Venom Apparatus of Large Carpenter Bees, Xylocopa fenestrata （Fabricius） （Hymenoptera： Apidae）

The venom apparatus in the large carpenter bees, Xylocopafenestrata （Fabricius） （Hymenoptera： Apidae） has been studied It consists of typical parts, i.e., the venom sac, free filament, Dufour gland, sting shaft and accessory sclerites. It is highly sclerotized and concealed by the 7th abdominal tergite and sternite. The venom sac serves as a reservoir for the venom which synthesized by the convoluted gland present in it, which is remarkably uniform to that of ants. The median duct extends from lower portion of venom sac, which measures 2.5 ±0.17 mm （mean ＋ SD） （n = 20） in length. The Dufour gland is a tube-like structure which is inserted in the sting-bulb. The triangular plate is attached at terminal portion of rami, which is in turn attached with lancets. The gonostyli are paired long and tubular structure with 5.29 ± 0.23 mm （n = 20） in length. The sting length is 5.29 ±0.23 mm （n = 20）. The fulcral arm is well-developed with an inverse Y-shaped structure present beneath the sting-bulb. Barbs on the sting shaft are weakly developed in X fenestrata but well developed in ants. The venom apparatus ofX. fenestrata when compared is similar to the bees but differs from that of the wasps and ants.