We present a review about histological sub-lethal effects due to anthropogenic contaminants on the midgut of bees and other aculeate hymenopterans. Contaminant types, damage types, and methodology were extracted and summarized from 74 published articles, and then quantitatively analyzed. We found that the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is by far the most widely used model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHoneybees ( Linnaeus, 1758) are managed pollinators in anthropized landscapes but suffer adverse physiological effects from urbanization due to increased pollution, higher temperatures and a loss of habitat quality. Previous studies in various animal taxa have shown how responses of digestive enzymes, such as Aminopeptidase N (APN), can indicate stress conditions and thus be used to measure the harmfulness of anthropogenic disturbance. However, no studies have focused on bees.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Due to global warming, the worldwide retreat of glaciers is causing changes in species diversity, community composition, and species interactions. However, the impact of glacier retreat on interaction diversity and ecological networks remains poorly understood. An integrative understanding of network dynamics may inform conservation actions that support biodiversity and ecosystem functioning after glacier extinction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAttentional deficits have tragic consequences on road safety. These deficits are not solely caused by distraction, since they can also arise from other mental impairments such as, most frequently, mental fatigue. Fatigue is among the most prevalent impairing conditions while driving, degrading drivers' cognitive and physical abilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeilstein J Nanotechnol
November 2024
The extraordinary adaptations that Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, ants, and bees) exhibit on their body surfaces has long intrigued biologists. These adaptations, which enabled the immense success of these insects in a wide range of environments and habitats, include an amazing array of specialized structures facilitating attachment, penetration of substrates, production of sound, perception of volatiles, and delivery of venoms, among others. These morphological features offer valuable insights for biomimetic and bioinspired technological advancements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of sewage sludge as a soil improver has been promoted in agroecosystems. However, sludges can contain toxic trace elements because of suboptimal wastewater treatment. Nonetheless, field studies investigating the negative effects of these practices on pollinators are lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Hospital pharmacists collaborate in clinical trials by managing the reception, conservation, distribution, return and destruction of the investigational medical products (IMP). However, errors can happen during the simultaneous management of multiple trials because each clinical trial stipulates its own method for managing the drug under study. In order to promote optimal management by hospital pharmacists, we developed a method for calculating a risk of error index for each experimental protocol, and wrote standard procedures for managing trials assigned low, moderate and high risk levels, to provide hospital pharmacists with a systematic tool for reducing human error in the management of IMPs for multiple clinical trials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn insects, different pigments, such as melanins and pterins, are involved in thermoregulation. The degree of melanisation often varies along geographical gradients, according to the so-called thermal melanism hypothesis, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe human factor plays a key role in the automotive field since most accidents are due to drivers' unsafe and risky behaviors. The industry is now pursuing two main solutions to deal with this concern: in the short term, there is the development of systems monitoring drivers' psychophysical states, such as inattention and fatigue, and in the medium-long term, there is the development of fully autonomous driving. This second solution is promoted by recent technological progress in terms of Artificial Intelligence and sensing systems aimed at making vehicles more and more accurately aware of their "surroundings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Res Parasitol Vector Borne Dis
September 2023
The genus Skuse (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are blood-sucking midges known to pester humans and domestic animals. In certain Mediterranean areas, midges occur in large numbers during summer and limit the use of recreational areas, also raising serious health and social concerns. Despite such impact, the diversity and distribution of in Maremma Regional Park (Tuscany Region, Italy), a heavily infested area, is not well known, and neither molecular nor detailed morphological studies exist.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe "Sterile Insect Technique" (SIT), a promising method to control Aedes albopictus, the Asian tiger mosquito, is gaining increasing interest. Recently, the role of microbiota in mosquito fitness received attention, but the link between microbiota and larval diet in mass rearing programs for SIT remains largely unexplored. We characterized the microbiota of four larval instars, pupae and eggs of non-wild (NW) lab-reared Ae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRepairing potholes is a task for municipalities to prevent serious road user injuries and vehicle damage. This study presents a low-cost, high-performance pothole monitoring system to maintain urban roads. The authors developed a methodology based on photogrammetry techniques to predict the pothole's shape and volume.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences embrace a series of different disciplines. Pharmacy practice has been defined as "the scientific discipline that studies the different aspects of the practice of pharmacy and its impact on health care systems, medicine use, and patient care". Thus, pharmacy practice studies embrace both clinical pharmacy and social pharmacy elements.
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