Giant hornet (Vespa soror) attacks trigger frenetic antipredator signalling in honeybee (Apis cerana) colonies.

Asian honeybees use an impressive array of strategies to protect nests from hornet attacks, although little is understood about how antipredator signals coordinate defences. We compared vibroacoustic signalling and defensive responses of Apis cerana colonies that were attacked by either the group-hunting giant hornet Vespa soror or the smaller, solitary-hunting hornet Vespa velutina. Apis cerana colonies produced hisses, brief stop signals and longer pipes under hornet-free conditions. However, hornet-attack stimuli-and V. soror workers in particular-triggered dramatic increases in signalling rates within colonies. Soundscapes were cacophonous when V. soror predators were directly outside of nests, in part because of frenetic production of antipredator pipes, a previously undescribed signal. Antipredator pipes share acoustic traits with alarm shrieks, fear screams and panic calls of primates, birds and meerkats. Workers making antipredator pipes exposed their Nasonov gland, suggesting the potential for multimodal alarm signalling that warns nestmates about the presence of dangerous hornets and assembles workers for defence. Concurrent observations of nest entrances showed an increase in worker activities that support effective defences against giant hornets. Apis cerana workers flexibly employ a diverse alarm repertoire in response to attack attributes, mirroring features of sophisticated alarm calling in socially complex vertebrates.

Honey bees (Apis cerana) use animal feces as a tool to defend colonies against group attack by giant hornets (Vespa soror).

Honey bees (genus Apis) are well known for the impressive suite of nest defenses they have evolved to protect their abundant stockpiles of food and the large colonies they sustain. In Asia, honey bees have evolved under tremendous predatory pressure from social wasps in the genus Vespa, the most formidable of which are the giant hornets that attack colonies in groups, kill adult defenders, and prey on brood. We document for the first time an extraordinary collective defense used by Apis cerana against the giant hornet Vespa soror. In response to attack by V. soror, A. cerana workers foraged for and applied spots of animal feces around their nest entrances. Fecal spotting increased after colonies were exposed either to naturally occurring attacks or to chemicals that scout hornets use to target colonies for mass attack. Spotting continued for days after attacks ceased and occurred in response to V. soror, which frequently landed at and chewed on entrances to breach nests, but not Vespa velutina, a smaller hornet that rarely landed at entrances. Moderate to heavy fecal spotting suppressed attempts by V. soror to penetrate nests by lowering the incidence of multiple-hornet attacks and substantially reducing the likelihood of them approaching and chewing on entrances. We argue that A. cerana forages for animal feces because it has properties that repel this deadly predator from nest entrances, providing the first report of tool use by honey bees and the first evidence that they forage for solids that are not derived from plants. Our study describes a remarkable weapon in the already sophisticated portfolio of defenses that honey bees have evolved in response to the predatory threats they face. It also highlights the strong selective pressure honey bees will encounter if giant hornets, recently detected in western North America, become established.

Recommended Workflow Methodology in the Creation of an Interactive Application for Patient's Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in the UK. However, public knowledge and understanding of the pancreas is generally poor, therefore pancreatic cancer patients often have to contend with understanding large quantities of new information at a pivotal time in their lives.Despite utilisation of digital visualisation techniques in medical education, very rarely are they being used to help clinicians communicate information to their patients. Specifically, there is no literature describing use of an interactive digital application for use by healthcare professionals to aid discussions specific to pancreatic cancer.Therefore, we developed a workflow methodology, and created an interactive application, thus creating a tool that could help clinicians explain pancreatic cancer anatomy, and staging, to their patients. Three-dimensional (3D) digital models were created using ZBrush and Autodesk 3DS Max, and exported into the Unity game engine. Within Unity, the interactivity of models was maximally utilised, and a simple user interface created.The application centres on anatomically accurate, visually simple, 3D digital models, demonstrating a variety of common scenarios that arise in pancreatic cancer. The design of the application is such that the clinician can select which model is relevant to the patient, and can give an explanation of the anatomy and disease process at a speed and level appropriate to that person. This simple, robust and effective workflow methodology for the development of an application could be useful in any clinical setting that needs visual and interactive tools to enhance patient understanding of a clinical condition.

The role of eicosanoids in 17α, 20ß-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one-induced ovulation and spawning in Danio rerio.

This study employed a hormone bioassay to characterize the eicosanoids involved in zebrafish ovulation and spawning, in particular the prostaglandin (PG) products of cyclooxygenase (COX) metabolism and the leukotriene (LT) products of lipoxygenase (LOX) metabolism. Exposure to the teleost progestogen 17α, 20ß-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20ßP) induced ovulation, but not spawning, in solitary females and both ovulation and spawning in male-female pairs. Transcription of the eicosanoid-synthesizing enzymes cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA(2)) and COX-2 increased and LTC(4) synthase decreased in peri-ovulatory ovaries of 17,20ßP-exposed fish. Ovarian PGF(2α) levels increased post-spawning in 17,20ßP-exposed fish, but there was no difference in LTB(4) or LTC(4). Pre-exposure to cPLA(2) or LOX inhibitors reduced 17,20ßP-induced ovulation rates, while a COX inhibitor had no effect on ovulation or spawning. Collectively, these findings suggest that eicosanoids, in particular LOX metabolites, mediate 17,20ßP-induced ovulation in zebrafish. COX metabolites also appear to be involved in ovulation and spawning but their role remains undefined.

Retained faecolith: an avoidable complication of laparoscopic appendicectomy.

A 26-year-old woman presented to the accident and emergency department 9 days post laparoscopic appendicectomy for a non-perforated, but gangrenous appendicitis. She was found to have a retained faecolith with a pelvic abscess. This case demonstrates one of the common pitfalls of the laparoscopic appendicectomy and we discuss some technical points to avoid such complications.

Pubertal trajectory in females with Rett syndrome: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Rett syndrome is a severe genetic neurodevelopmental disorder mainly affecting females. The aim of this study was to describe pubertal development in a population-based cohort of females with Rett syndrome. METHODS: To assess pubertal trajectory we used six waves of data provided by parents of girls and women, recruited through the Australian population-based Rett Syndrome Database. The age at which adrenarche, thelarche or menarche occurred was used as the parameter for time to event (survival) analysis. The relationships between BMI, mutation type and the trajectories were investigated, using Cox proportional hazards. RESULTS: One quarter of girls reached adrenarche by 9.6 years, half by 11 years and three quarters by 12.6 years. Half reached menarche by 14 years (range 8-23). Being underweight was associated with later age at adrenarche, thelarche and menarche, while higher BMI (overweight) was associated with earlier onset. In general, girls with C-terminal deletions and early truncating mutations reached pubertal stages earlier and those with the p.R168X mutation reached them later. CONCLUSION: The pubertal course in Rett syndrome may be abnormal, sometimes with early adrenarche but delayed menarche. These features may be genotype dependent and may have varying relationships with growth and bone acquisition.