The Impacts of Early-Life Experience on Bee Phenotypes and Fitness.

Across diverse animal species, early-life experiences have lifelong impacts on a variety of traits. The scope of these impacts, their implications, and the mechanisms that drive these effects are central research foci for a variety of disciplines in biology, from ecology and evolution to molecular biology and neuroscience. Here, we review the role of early life in shaping adult phenotypes and fitness in bees, emphasizing the possibility that bees are ideal species to investigate variation in early-life experience and its consequences at both individual and population levels. Bee early life includes the larval and pupal stages, critical time periods during which factors like food availability, maternal care, and temperature set the phenotypic trajectory for an individual's lifetime. We discuss how some common traits impacted by these experiences, including development rate and adult body size, influence fitness at the individual level, with possible ramifications at the population level. Finally, we review ways in which human alterations to the landscape may impact bee populations through early-life effects. This review highlights aspects of bees' natural history and behavioral ecology that warrant further investigation with the goal of understanding how environmental disturbances threaten these vulnerable species.

AD8 patient-informant discrepancy predicts insight and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease.

This study aimed to improve understanding of insight among individuals with Alzheimer's disease using patient and informant ratings of impairment on the AD8. Retrospective cohort data were used from 540 patients with a mean age of 81.1 (SD = 6.57). Informant AD8s were inversely related to patients' Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores (r = -.20, p < .001), while patient AD8s were not. Meanwhile, those with greater patient-informant AD8 discrepancies (suggesting low insight) endorsed fewer cognitive items on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Those with greater AD8 discrepancies also had significantly lower MoCA scores. Ultimately, the informant AD8 alone appears useful for identifying patients' degree of cognitive decline. However, when used in combination with the patient AD8 to calculate a discrepancy score, patients' degree of cognitive decline and level of insight can be better ascertained.

Maximizing the extent of tumor resection during transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary macroadenomas: can endoscopy replace intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging?

OBJECT: Endoscopic approaches to pituitary tumors have become an effective alternative to traditional microscopic transsphenoidal approaches. Despite a proven potential to decrease unexpected residual tumor, intraoperative MR (iMR) imaging is infrequently used even in the few operating environments in which such technology is available. Its use is prohibitive because of its cost, increased complexity, and longer operative times. The authors assessed the potential of intrasellar endoscopy to replace the need for iMR imaging without sacrificing the maximum extent of resection. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 27 consecutive patients underwent fully endoscopic resection of pituitary macroadenomas. Intrasellar endoscopy was used to determine the presence of residual tumor within the sella turcica and tumor cavity. Intraoperative MR imaging was used to identify rates of unexpected residual tumor and the need for further tumor resection. RESULTS: Intraoperative estimates of the extent of tumor resection were correct in 23 patients (85%). Of 4 patients with unacceptable tumor residuals, 3 underwent further tumor resection. After iMR imaging, the rate of successful completion of the planned extent of resection increased to 26 patients (96%). Rates of both endocrinopathy reversal and postoperative complications were consistent with previously published results for microscopic and endoscopic resection techniques. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this study provided quantitative evidence that intrasellar endoscopy has significant promise for maximizing the extent of tumor resection and is a useful adjunct to surgical approaches to pituitary tumors, particularly when iMR imaging is unavailable. A larger prospective study on the extent of resection following endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery would strengthen these findings.