Colony Initiation Research Articles

KWAME NKRUMAH, DISABILITY, AND REHABILITATION IN GHANA, 1957–66

ABSTRACTThis article examines a rehabilitation program for disabled Ghanaians developed by Kwame Nkrumah's government between 1961 and 1966. Arising at a time when Nkrumah was moving away from welfarism in favor of a ‘big push’ for industrialization, rehabilitation sought to integrate disabled citizens into the national economy as productive workers. Nkrumah's program was preceded by a colonial rehabilitation project during the 1940s for disabled African soldiers. The colonial initiative drew heavily on the British model of social orthopaedics, which equated citizenship with work. This philosophy resonated with Nkrumah's vision of national development based on full employment. Although its economic focus had troubling implications for citizenship and welfare, Nkrumah's rehabilitation program was unique among newly independent African states, and it arguably produced a positive legacy.

Agricultural Utilization and Year-Round Rearing Techniques of Bumblebees in Korea

Commercially managed bees are available for pollination services and are used in large commercial fields, small gardens, or enclosures such as greenhouses and screen houses. This paper describes the current status and agricultural utilization of commercially managed bumblebees as well as bumblebee rearing techniques in Korea. We surveyed the use rate and number of bumblebees for the pollination of 10 major horticultural crops and fruit trees in Korea; in 2009, the use rates were approximately 7.9% and 2.8%, respectively. The use number of bumblebees as pollinators was more than 64,345 colonies, which included 51,400 colonies for 10 major horticultural crops and 12,945 colonies for 10 major fruit trees in 2009. The value of bumblebees as pollinators in 2009 in Korea was estimated at more than 5,100,000,000 won. We also describe feeding, rearing room conditions, colony initiation, mating and diapause breaks to establish year-round mass rearing techniques of the bumblebee Bombus ignitus.

Role of Relative Humidity in Colony Founding and Queen Survivorship in Two Carpenter Ant Species

Conditions necessary for optimal colony foundation in two carpenter ant species, Camponotus modoc Wheeler and Camponotus vicinus Mayr, were studied. Camponotus modoc and C. vicinus queens were placed in Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb. Franco) and Styrofoam blocks conditioned in sealed chambers at 70, 80, or 100% RH. Nanitic workers produced after 12 wk were used to assess the effects of substrate and moisture content on colony initiation. Queens of C. vicinus in Douglas-fir and Styrofoam produced worker numbers that did not differ significantly with moisture content; however, the number of colonies initiated by C. modoc differed significantly with moisture content. The results indicate that colony founding in C. vicinus is less sensitive to moisture content than C. modoc for Douglas-fir and Styrofoam. In another test, groups of queens of each species were exposed to 20, 50, 70, and 100% RH and the time until 50% mortality occurred was recorded for each species. C. vicinus lived significantly longer at each of the test humidities than C. modoc, suggesting that the former species is adapted to better survive under xeric conditions.

Establishment and maintenance of sand fly colonies

Sand flies used to have a reputation for being difficult and labour-intensive to breed. Here we summarize our experience with establishment and maintenance of sand fly colonies and their use for infective experiments: techniques for collection and handling wild-caught females, rearing larvae and adults and experimental infections of sand flies by Leishmania using membrane feeding. In addition, we compare major life cycle parameters between various colonies maintained under standard laboratory conditions. The sand fly rearing is tricky but some species can be reared in large numbers with a minimum of space and equipment. Initiation of new colonies from endemic sites is a prerequisite for accurate studies on parasite-vector interaction but it is more difficult step than routine maintenance of colonies already established in laboratory for many generations.

The ham-5, rcm-1 and rco-1 genes regulate hyphal fusion in Neurospora crassa.

Mutants of Neurospora crassa unable to participate in vegetative hyphal fusion (anastomosis) were isolated and characterized. From this analysis, three genes, rcm-1, rco-1 and ham-5, were identified and shown to be required for hyphal fusion. The rcm-1 and rco-1 genes are homologues of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SSN6 and TUP1 genes, which encode a dimeric transcription factor in yeast. We demonstrate that in N. crassa the rcm-1 and rco-1 genes are required for hyphal fusion and normal hyphal morphology, and influence both asexual and sexual development. The ham-5 gene encodes a 1686 amino acid protein with two putative WD40 domains, which might participate in protein–protein interactions. ham-5 deletion mutants had a reduced rate of hyphal extension and altered hyphal morphology, and were unable to produce the conidial anastomosis tubes that are required for hyphal fusion during colony initiation.

Observation and Modeling of Stress Corrosion Cracking in High Pressure Gas Pipe Steel

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is commonly observed to form a colony of closely spaced multiple cracks. Four stages of SCC colony evolution are discussed. The first is the colony initiation stage (CIS), which is associated with formation of corrosion pits randomly distributed over a certain domain of the surface exposed to an aggressive environment. Electrochemical processes play a leading role in CIS. The individual crack growth (ICG) driven by a combination of mechanical stresses and electrochemical processes constitutes the second stage. At the end of the second stage, the individual cracks reach certain proximity of one another resulting in much crack interaction. This becomes a transition to the third, strong crack interaction and clusters formation, stage. Cluster growth and individual crack or a cluster instability leading to the ultimate failure constitute the final, fourth stage of the SCC evolution process. In this article, we present observations and a general approach to modeling the first two stages of SCC, i.e., CIS and ICG, that together constitute the major part of the total lifetime of an engineering structure serving under SCC conditions. A computer simulation of individual SC crack growth is developed and compared with a large set of SCC observation data.

Nest Initiation in Three North American Bumble Bees (Bombus): Gyne Number and Presence of Honey Bee Workers Influence Establishment Success and Colony Size

Three species of bumble bees, Bombus appositus Cresson, Bombus bifarius, Cresson and Bombus centralis Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were evaluated for nest initiation success under three sets of initial conditions. In the spring, gynes of each species were caught in the wild and introduced to nest boxes in one of three ways. Gynes were either introduced in conspecific pairs, singly with two honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) workers, or alone. Nesting success and colony growth parameters were measured to understand the effects of the various treatments on nest establishment. Colonies initiated from pairs of conspecific gynes were most successful in producing worker bees (59.1%), less successful were colonies initiated with honey bee workers (33.3%), and least successful were bumble bee gynes initiating colonies alone (16.7%). There was a negative correlation between the numbers of days to the emergence of the first worker in a colony to the attainment of ultimate colony size, indicating that gynes that have not commenced oviposition in 21 days are unlikely to result in colonies exceeding 50 workers. B. appositus had the highest rate of nest establishment followed by B. bifarius and B. centralis. Nest establishment rates in three western bumble bee species can be increased dramatically by the addition of either honey bee workers or a second gyne to nesting boxes at colony initiation.

Creating French Settlements Overseas: Pronatalism and Colonial Medicine in Madagascar

This article explores the reasons that pronatalists in the Third Republic aligned the resolution of the depopulation crisis with the fate of settler colonialism. Convinced that the French population grew more quickly when far away from the metropole, pronatalists presented colonial emigration and settlement as means by which to strengthen the French race. The demographic importance that pronatalists attached to imperialism also led them to study colonial initiatives in population growth, most notably those of Governor-General Joseph-Simon Gallieni in Madagascar. Gallieni's belief that a large indigenous labor force was essential to preparing the colony for more extensive French settlement led him to introduce a series of reforms intended to increase the colony's Merina population. Though Gallieni's reforms reflected racial and gender assumptions specific to Madagascar, pronatalists in France considered them applicable to their own efforts to address the gendered causes of French racial decline. Cet article examine la raison pour laquelle les natalistes soutenaient le peuplement colonial pendant la Troisième République. Croyant que la population française avait une natalité plus forte aux colonies qu'en France, les natalistes affirmaient que l'émigration coloniale pouvait répondre aux causes de la dépopulation et rendre plus forte la race française. Convaincus de l'importance démographique de l'empire colonial, les natalistes étudiaient les réformes natalistes introduites à Madagascar par le gouverneur-général Joseph Gallieni. Gallieni a conclu que le peuplement à Madagascar ne pouvait pas se développer sans l'existence d'une grande main-d'œuvre indigène. Pour cette raison, il a introduit plusieurs réformes pour favoriser l'accroissement de la population indigène de la colonie. Bien que ces réformes aient évoqué les suppositions basées sur les idées de race et du genre propres à Madagascar, les natalistes en France croyaient que de telles réformes aideraient leurs propres efforts tendant à rendre plus forte la race française.

Sublethal concentrations of the platinum(II) complex [Pt(O,O′‐acac)(γ‐acac)(DMS)] alter the motility and induce anoikis in MCF‐7 cells

We showed previously that a new Pt(II) complex ([Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)]) exerted high and fast apoptotic processes in MCF-7 cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] is also able to exert anoikis and alter the migration ability of MCF-7 cells, and to show some of the signalling events leading to these alterations. Cells were treated with sublethal doses of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)], and the efficiency of colony initiation and anchorage-independent growth was assayed; cell migration was examined by in vitro culture wounding assay. Gelatin zymography for MMP-2 and -9 activities, Western blottings of MMPs, MAPKs, Src, PKC-epsilon and FAK, after [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] treatment, were also performed. Sub-cytotoxic drug concentrations decreased the: (i) anchorage-dependent and -independent growth; (ii) migration ability; and (iii) expression and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9. [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] provoked the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the activation of p38MAPK, Src and PKC-epsilon. p38MAPK phosphorylation, cell anoikis and migration due to [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] were blocked by PKC-epsilon inhibition. Furthermore, Src inhibition blocked the [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)]-provoked activation of PKC-epsilon, while ROS generation blockage inhibited the activation of Src, and also the decrement of phosphorylated FAK observed in detached [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)]-treated cells. Sublethal concentrations of [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] induced anoikis and prevented events leading to metastasis via alterations in cell migration, anchorage independency, stromal interactions and MMP activity. Hence, [Pt(O,O'-acac)(gamma-acac)(DMS)] may be a promising therapeutic agent for preventing growth and metastasis of breast cancer.

전기를 이용한 호박벌(Bombus ignitus)의 산란유도장치 개발

작물의 화분매개를 위해 사용되고 있는 뒤영벌 종 토종 호박벌에 적합한 전기를 이용한 산란유도장치를 본 연구에서 처음으로 개발하였다. 개발된 산란유도장치는 여왕벌의 산란이 이루어지는 산란상자, 산란상자의 온도 유지를 위한 온도제어장치, 열전도부 및 이를 지탱할 수 있는 이동형 선반 등으로 구성되어 있다. 개발된 산란유도장치와 기존의 온수 보일러 장치를 이용하여 토종 호박벌의 산란성과 봉세발달을 조사한 결과, 개발된 산란유도장치에서 산란율이 3.9% 높고, 봉군형성율도 5.2% 높은 것으로 확인되었다. 특히 개발된 산란유도장치는 기존의 장치보다 설치비용을 75% 줄일 수 있었고, 에너지 절감이 가능하여 유지비용에 있어서도 효과적이었다. 이러한 결과들로 볼 때, 본 연구에서 새롭게 개발된 전기 산란유도장치는 비용절감과 함께 효과적인 산란유도에 따른 호박벌의 대량생산에 기여할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. Bumblebees are widely used to pollinate crops in greenhouses and fields. Here we firstly developed an apparatus for the oviposition induction of the bumblebee Bombus ignitus using electricity. The apparatus consists of boxes for colony initiation, part of temperature control, part of heat transfer, and moving shelf. The result shows that the rates of oviposition and colony foundation in the newly developed apparatus are respectively 3.9% and 5.2% higher than in the existing apparatus using hot water. More importantly, the newly developed apparatus is 75% cheaper in costs and can more save energy than existing apparatus. These results indicate that the newly developed apparatus could serve as an effective apparatus for the oviposition induction of B. ignitus.

Changes in endogenous cellulase gene expression levels and reproductive characteristics of primary and secondary reproductives with colony development of the termite Reticulitermes speratus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

The unique feature of eusociality is reproductive division of labor. At the termite colony initiation stage, there are only reproductives plus larvae and eggs that need to be cared for. As workers increase in number with colony development, reproductives are thought to be relieved of the cost of brood care and able to resume reproduction. This transition of responsibility for the care of offspring from parents to their offspring has been considered as a crucial step in the evolution of termite eusociality (trophic shift model). Here, we studied the endogenous cellulase gene expression levels and reproductive characteristics of alates and primary reproductives at 30, 50, 100, and 400 days after colony foundation in the termite Reticulitermes speratus. As a result, when the numbers of workers reached about 100 (400 days), wood digestion abilities of alates and primary reproductives decreased significantly while ovaries and testis were well developed. Moreover, wood digestion abilities of female secondary reproductives with well-developed ovaries, collected in the field colony, were lower than those of any stages of primary queens. These results were consistent with the trophic shift model, and suggested the importance of switch from parental care to alloparental care for reproductive division of labor and evolution of termite eusociality.

Nuclear Dynamics, Mitosis, and the Cytoskeleton during the Early Stages of Colony Initiation in Neurospora crassa

Neurospora crassa macroconidia form germ tubes that are involved in colony establishment and conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs) that fuse to form interconnected networks of conidial germlings. Nuclear and cytoskeletal behaviors were analyzed in macroconidia, germ tubes, and CATs in strains that expressed fluorescently labeled proteins. Heterokaryons formed by CAT fusion provided a rapid method for the imaging of multiple labeled fusion proteins and minimized the potential risk of overexpression artifacts. Mitosis occurred more slowly in nongerminated macroconidia (1.0 to 1.5 h) than in germ tubes (16 to 20 min). The nucleoporin SON-1 was not released from the nuclear envelope during mitosis, which suggests that N. crassa exhibits a form of "closed mitosis." During CAT homing, nuclei did not enter CATs, and mitosis was arrested. Benomyl treatment showed that CAT induction, homing, fusion, as well as nuclear migration through fused CATs do not require microtubules or mitosis. Three ropy mutants (ro-1, ro-3, and ro-11) defective in the dynein/dynactin microtubule motor were impaired in nuclear positioning, but nuclei still migrated through fused CATs. Latrunculin B treatment, imaging of F-actin in living cells using Lifeact-red fluorescent protein (RFP), and analysis of mutants defective in the Arp2/3 complex demonstrated that actin plays important roles in CAT fusion.

Induction of colony initiation by Japanese native bumble bees using cocoons of the exotic bumblebee Bombus terrestris

AbstractThe colony initiation rates of Bombus hypocrita (a native Japanese bumblebee) and Bombus terrestris (a European species) foundresses were compared after 4 weeks of exposure to B. terrestris cocoons. The B. terrestris cocoons, when replaced weekly, were effective for inducing oviposition by foundresses of both species. There were no significant differences in the colony initiation rates of B. terrestris and B. hypocrita, either with the control treatment or with the cocoons. The cocoon method was also tested for five species and two subspecies of native Japanese bumblebees. The colony initiation rate was higher for foundresses of the subgenus Bombus s. str. than for foundresses of the subgenera Pyrobombus, Diversobombus, and Thoracobombus. When replaced weekly, the cocoons of B. terrestris are effective inducers of colony foundation in three Japanese native species, namely B. ignitus, B. hypocrita hypocrita, and B. h. sapporoensis.

Effects of different stimulation methods on colony initiation and development of Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) queens

The effects of different stimulation methods on colony development of Bombus terrestris queens were examined to increase rearing efficiency and reduce production costs. A total of 350 hibernated queens obtained from a commercial company were used. Each queen was placed separately in the starting box and four starting methods were tested: only the queen (q), one queen stimulated with one B. terrestris worker (qtw), one honeybee worker (qhw), and one B. terrestris pupa (qtp). There were significant differences among the treatments in terms of egg laying, colony production and saleable production ratio, the colony initiation time, the time of the emergence of the first worker, the number of egg cells in the first brood. Starting methods had no significant effect on the other colony characteristics. The highest egg laying ratio, colony production ratio and saleable colony production ratio were found in the qtw group (82.8, 53.3, 39.0%) followed by qtp (72.8, 42.8, 28.5%), qhw (57.1, 28.6, 16.2%) and q (35.7, 17.1, 14.3%) groups, respectively. The queens with qtw treatment developed more egg cells (4.39±0.21) in the first brood and started egg laying (11.75±0.83 days) earlier than in the other treatments. The results showed that adding a B. terrestris worker is the best starting method for the mass rearing of B. terrestris. Qtp treatment was found to be the second most successful starting method.

Impact of artificial photoperiodism on the colony development of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris

AbstractThis study investigated the effect of the photoperiodic regimes 0 h light : 24 h dark (LD 0:24), LD 8:16, LD 16:8 and LD 24:0 at 28°C and 50% Relative Humidity (RH) on the colony development of hibernated (2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 months) bumblebee queens. The queens which had hibernated for 3.0 months and which were reared in a LD 8:16 photoperiod showed the highest rate of colony initiation (88.2%), colony foundation (67.6%) and progeny queen production (38.2%). The photoperiod LD 8:16 also produced the shortest period of colony initiation and colony foundation. The highest number of sexual males (171.2 ± 12.2) and queens (91.2 ± 9.9) were produced in the colonies when 3.5 and 3.0 month hibernated queens were kept in an LD 8:16 photoperiod. The results show that light regime and hibernation duration affect colony characteristics of Bombus terrestris.

High-throughput culturing of fungi from plant litter by a dilution-to-extinction technique

High-throughput bacterial cultivation has improved the recovery of slow-growing and previously uncultured bacteria. The most robust high-throughput methods are based on techniques of 'dilution to extinction' or 'extinction culturing'. The low-density partitioning of CFUs in tubes or microwells exploits the fact that the number of culturable species typically increases as inoculum density decreases. Bacterial high-throughput culturing methods were adapted to fungi to generate large numbers of fungal extinction cultures. The efficiency of extinction culturing was assessed by comparing it with particle filtration and automated plate-streaking. Equal volumes of particle suspension from five litter collections of the New Zealand forest tree Elaeocarpus dentatus were compared. Dilute particle suspensions of litter were pipetted into 48-well tissue culture plates containing 1 mL of agar medium per well. Particle volumes from the same samples were applied to continuous agar surfaces in Omnitray plates by automated streaking, and fungal diversity and richness were measured. The spectrum of isolates was assessed by microscopy and sequencing of the ITS or 28S region of the rRNA gene. Estimates of species diversity between the two methods were comparable, but extinction culturing increased species richness. Compared with plating methods using continuous surfaces, extinction culturing distributes fungal propagules over partitioned surfaces. Intercolony interactions are reduced, permitting longer incubation times, and colony initiation and recovery improved. Effort to evaluate and recover colonies from fungal isolation plates was substantially reduced.

Persistence of ?Folk Hinduism? in Malaysia and Singapore

This article examines contemporary forms of religiosity prevalent among Hindu communities in the modern-nation states of Malaysia and Singapore, recently separated as such, but with a long shared socio-cultural and religious history. The theoretical concerns in this paper—rethinking such categories as ‘folk Hinduism’ and exploring the shape of Hinduism in the Diaspora—are grounded in the current religious lives of Tamil, Hindu migrants, whose ancestors were moved into British Malaya from the mid-nineteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth century, as part of a larger colonial initiative. Today their descendants in the region are conspicuous in staunchly adhering to a range of ‘traditional’ Hindu religious practices imported from India, even as this domain is invented. The paper is grounded in primary ethnographic data that allow a mapping of the current field of ‘folk Hinduism’ in these regions. The discussion also centers on broader questions about the significance and consequences of this attachment to, and preference for, ‘folk’ Hindu elements amongst urban-based, formally educated individuals who also self-define themselves as rational, modern and progressive Hindus.

The triple alliance: how a plant-ant, living in an ant-plant, acquires the third partner, a scale insect

Mutualistic associations between ants and plants often involve a third partner, scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea). In southeast Asia, plant-ants of the genus Cladomyrma live together with coccoids in hollowed twigs of a wide range of ant-plants (myrmecophytes). Established colonies never lack sap-sucking scale insects and the ants appear to be dependent on the honeydew excretions of their trophobionts. Acquisition of scale insects thus seems to be an important step in the successful establishment of a new colony on a host plant. Coccoids may either be transported by a foundress ant on her nuptial flight (vertical transmission via co-dispersal) or ant and coccoid disperse on their own and associate anew during colony initiation (horizontal transmission). Here we test the assumption that founding gynes of Cladomyrma do not transport scale insects during their dispersal flight, and we determine when and how trophobionts are acquired. The results obtained in this study show that although coccoids are not carried by foundresses, their numbers within founding chambers of Cladomyrma increased with the founding stage. In all Cladomyrma species, colony-founding is claustral and the entrance hole into the nest chamber is first plugged with pith debris and later grows over by wound callus. However, access of trophobionts into hollow twigs is facilitated either by additional small openings (‘secondary slits’) produced by the foundress ant after hollowing out a nest chamber or by the maintenance of an orifice at the entrance hole during the founding period. Immature pseudococcids experimentally placed onto twigs close to a Cladomyrma foundation readily entered these slits. Exclusion experiments suggest that foundresses of C. petalae are less successful in rearing their first offspring if entry of coccoids into founding chambers is prevented.

Persistence of 'Folk Hinduism' in Malaysia and Singapore

This article examines contemporary forms of religiosity prevalent among Hindu communities in the modern-nation states of Malaysia and Singapore, recently separated as such, but with a long shared socio-cultural and religious history. The theoretical concerns in this paper—rethinking such categories as ‘folk Hinduism’ and exploring the shape of Hinduism in the Diaspora—are grounded in the current religious lives of Tamil, Hindu migrants, whose ancestors were moved into British Malaya from the mid-nineteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth century, as part of a larger colonial initiative. Today their descendants in the region are conspicuous in staunchly adhering to a range of ‘traditional’ Hindu religious practices imported from India, even as this domain is invented. The paper is grounded in primary ethnographic data that allow a mapping of the current field of ‘folk Hinduism’ in these regions. The discussion also centers on broader questions about the significance and consequences of this attachment to, and preference for, ‘folk’ Hindu elements amongst urban-based, formally educated individuals who also self-define themselves as rational, modern and progressive Hindus.

Divergent Patterns of Nest Construction in Eusocial Wasps

In most species of social insects, the nest is enlarged gradually as the colony grows. Here we call attention to some striking exceptions to this general rule of continuous nest construction. A common pattern among the swarm-founding, eusocial wasp species is explosive nest construction, in which the nest is built rapidly to a large size in the first one to three weeks after colony initiation. Nest size then remains static for weeks or months. We document this pattern of nest growth for the swarm-founding wasp, Polybia occidentalis. Data showing a high percentage of empty cells in pre-emergence-stage nests suggest that a similar pattern holds for some other swarm-founding polistine genera. In contrast, certain other genera seem to follow the continuous construction pattern of the independent founders. We propose five potential factors that could favor a strategy of explosive nest construction: maximization of colony productivity, work-group efficiency, protection of the brood, protection of the swarm adults, and enhancement of reproductive competition. We discuss evidence from both groups of swarm founders that provides circumstantial support for some of these, but not for others.