Columbus Surpassed: Biophysical Aspects of How Stingless Bees Place an Egg Upright on Their Liquid Food

The highly eusocial stingless bees (reviewed in [1, 2]) constitute a phylogenetically old group [3] within the Apidae. Probably related to this ancient origin is their mass provisioning of brood cells: they deposit all the food on which the larva will develop into the brood cell, prior to oviposition and subsequent closure of the cell. The other social members of the Apidae, the honeybees and the bumblebees, regularly visit the larvae in their cells to administer small amounts of liquid food at a time. This system is called progressive provisioning. Mass provisioning is practiced by almost all the other bees. However, while most of them have a solid type of larval food, the stingless bees produce a liquid food. In relation to this, their cylindrical brood cells are constructed vertically and are often arranged in horizontal combs. The food, regurgitated from the stomach, consists of a mixture of pollen, nectar, and glandular secretions [1, 2, 4]. After the workers have put this liquid food into the cell, the queen oviposits. Her egg, with its elongated shape, stands upright on the fluid

TRACEABILITY AND CERTIFICATION IN MEAT SUPPLY CHAINS

Food safety problems such as the BSE and dioxin crises focused attention on traceability systems and the certification of such systems. This study analyzes the status and perspectives of traceability systems and certification schemes, and reviews their potential costs and benefits. Results indicate that traceability and certification in meat supply chains comprise a very dynamic area with an increasing impact. Necessary transparency, control of livestock epidemics, increasing due diligence, and a declining role for governments are critical factors. Findings also reveal there is a general focus on the technical characteristics of traceability and certification, and there is a lack of economic considerations. Therefore, specific topics are emphasized for an economic research agenda, such as an analysis of the break-even point for the level of detail of traceability systems, the reconsideration of liability and recall insurance schemes, and regulatory incentives to motivate adoption by free-riders.certification, cost-benefit analysis, livestock production, supply chain, traceability, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,

High Humidity in the Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Brood Nest Limits Reproduction of the Parasitic Mite Varroa jacobsoni Oud.

Factors influencing reproduction of the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni have become a central theme of honey bee pathology. In large parts of the world the mite has made it impossible for colonies of the honey bee Apis mellifera to survive if no measures of treatment are applied [1]. Originally a parasite of the Eastern honey bee A. cerana, the mite was detected in colonies of A. mellifera only less than 4 decades ago [2]. A. cerana colonies are not damaged by V. jacobsoni because several factors prevent the build-up of a large mite population [3]. The most important factor is that in colonies of A. cerana the parasite, which can reproduce only in capped brood cells, reproduces exclusively in drone brood cells while in colonies of A. mellifera it reproduces in worker brood cells as well [4]. In cold, temperate, and Mediterranean climates the mite population grows exponentially until the colony collapses, due mainly to a high percentage of bees damaged by V. jacobsoni during their pupal development [5]

Neuro fuzzy control of the FES assisted freely swinging leg of paraplegic subjects

The authors designed a neuro fuzzy control strategy for control of cyclical leg movements of paraplegic subjects. The cyclical leg movements were specified by three `swing phase objectives', characteristic of natural human gait. The neuro fuzzy controller is a combination of a fuzzy logic controller and a neural network, which makes the controller self tuning and adaptive. Two experiments have been performed, in which the performance of the neuro fuzzy control strategy has been compared with conventional PID control strateg