Scientific Note Research Articles

A Note on Roma Mental Health and the Statement by Géza Jeszenszky

In 2005 a course text book was published which was written by Géza Jeszenszky and used for courses taught by Jeszenszky at the Corvinus University. In the text book there is a sentence which generated a great deal of debate and controversy. "The reason why many Roma are mentally ill is because in Roma culture it is permitted for sisters and brothers or cousins to marry each other or just to have sexual intercourse with each other" (Jeszenszky, 2005, 273). In November 2012 the Corvinus Rector issued a statement which declared the Corvinus University did not agree with the sentence. Péter Csermely in a Magyar Nemzet (newspaper) editorial responded to criticism of Jeszenszky’s sentence and stated that the author had simply drawn some conclusions from “evident facts”, “supported by many researchers” (Magyar Nemzet, 2012). It was suggested in late 2012 that the Corvinus University establish a commission to provide an academic and scientific statement on the sentence with a view to seeking Jeszenszky’s endorsement of the note and clarifying the actual expert opinion on these matters in order to diminish the damage caused by confusion and or acceptance of unsubstantiated claims. In May 2013 at a conference on Roma issues hosted by the Corvinus University the Vice Rector Zoltán Szántó stated he now felt it was an appropriate time to initiate the commission. The scientific note summarises the findings of the commission which was established to investigate this issue.

Scientific note on microsatellite DNA analyses revealing diploid and haploid drones in bumblebee mass breeding

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A scientific note on diploid males in a reproductive event of a eusocial bee

A scientific note on diploid males in a reproductive event of a eusocial bee

A scientific note on the first detection of black queen cell virus in honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Mexico

A scientific note on the first detection of black queen cell virus in honey bees (Apis mellifera) in Mexico

Primer registro de Dirofilaria immitis (Spirurida: Onchocercidae) en coyotes de México

In Mexico, studies of parasites of wild canids are incidental. We present the results of a necropsy of a road-killed male coyote found near Queretaro City, Mexico. No metazoans parasites were collected in the digestive tract, lungs or internal cavity, yet, we collected 40 nematodes of Dirofilaria immitis or heartworms. This scientific note is the first record of Dirofilaria immitis in coyotes of Mexico.

A scientific note on the comparison of airborne volatiles produced by commercial bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) and honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies

Investigators have shown (Stanghellini et al. 2000; Spiewok and Newman 2006; Hoffman et al. 2008) that commercial bumble bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson, Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies can serve as potential alternative hosts for the small hive beetle (SHB, Aethina tumida Murray, Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a honey bee pest (Lundie 1940; Neumann and Elzen 2004; Ellis and Hepburn 2006). Using olfactory choice tests, Graham et al. (2011) found that SHB attraction to bumble bee colonies is chemically mediated. Since SHBs are attracted to bumble bee and honey bee colonies, we expected the volatile profiles produced by bumble bee and honey bee colony components to be similar. To test this, airborne volatiles produced by bumble bee and honey bee adults, brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae), honey, stored pollen (= bee bread), and wax were collected and analyzed. In June 2007, two commercial bumble bee (B. impatiens) quads (= eight colonies; Koppert Biological Systems, Inc., Romulus, MI) were established at the University of Florida’s Bee Biology Unit in Gainesville, FL (37.629′′29° N, 21.405′′82° W). Both quads consisted of four bumble bee colonies containing a reproductive queen, 200–250 workers, brood, and nesting material. Eight queenright honey bee colonies were housed in typical Langstroth style equipment at the University of Florida’s Bee Biology Unit in Gainesville, FL. Volatiles were collected from colony components using methods modified from Suazo et al. (2003). The colony components (adult bees, brood, honey, pollen, and wax) were extracted from eight bumble bee and eight honey bee colonies. The samples were placed in glass volatile collection chambers (3.8 L) by component and colony at the USDA-ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE, Gainesville, FL). All volatile collections were conducted in a controlled environmental chamber maintained without light and at an ambient temperature of ∼33 °C. Charcoal-filtered and humidified air, controlled by carboloy flowmeters, was passed through the volatile collection chambers and into SuperQ filters at a rate of 0.5 L/min. All component volatiles were collected for 14 h with the exception of brood volatiles that were collected for 7 h. The abbreviated time frame for volatile collection of brood was intended to avoid stressing the unattended brood, recognizing the fact that brood may still be stressed in the absence of adult workers. Adult bees were provisioned with a cotton wick saturated with a 50 % sugar water solution and an autoclaved steel mesh platform on which the adults could crawl to minimize stress. Volatiles trapped on the SuperQ filters were extracted by eluting the filter with 500 μL of methylene chloride. These samples were pooled by component and bee type and stored in a −70 °C freezer (Revco Scientific, Inc., Asheville, NC) at CMAVE until use. volatile / Bombus impatiens / bumble bee / Apis mellifera / honey bee / olfaction

A scientific note on a protozoan pathogen of the small hive beetle

A scientific note on a protozoan pathogen of the small hive beetle

A scientific note on the evidence for the production and use of wax by a captive female Bombus sylvestris

The presence of wax glands in the socially parasitic subgenus Bombus (Psithyrus) was established only recently (Sramkova and Ayasse, 2008), but the uses for the produced wax are unknown. In this investigation nest-searching Bombus sylvestris females were collected and kept in darkness, in conditions of controlled temperature and relative humidity, using rearing conditions for non-parasitic bumblebees. The results show that in Bombussylvestris not only wax glands are present but they also can produce wax which can be used as a building material.

A scientific note on Israeli acute paralysis virus infection of Eastern honeybee Apis cerana and vespine predator Vespa velutina

Financial support was provided to OY and PN by the COST funded project VIVA and to VD by the Qian-Tang River expert program.

A scientific note on the lack of effect of mandible ablation on the synthesis of royal scent by honeybee queens

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20100481435 and 201104739) and RMC and CWWP were funded by National Research Foundation and University of Pretoria.

A scientific note on a trend towards bivoltinism in Western North American bumblebees

A scientific note on a trend towards bivoltinism in Western North American bumblebees

A scientific note: migration of tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) to old winter honey bees

A scientific note: migration of tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) to old winter honey bees

A scientific note on a new assay to measure honeybee mite-grooming behavior

A scientific note on a new assay to measure honeybee mite-grooming behavior

Scientific note on PCR inhibitors in the compound eyes of honey bees, Apis mellifera

Scientific note on PCR inhibitors in the compound eyes of honey bees, Apis mellifera

First report of parasitism on pupae of Opsiphanes invirae amplificatus Stichel (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) by Conura (Conura) maculata (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

First report of parasitism on pupae of Opsiphanes invirae amplificatus Stichel (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) by Conura (Conura) maculata (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This scientific note records the parasitism on pupae of Opsiphanes invirae amplificatus Stichel (1904) by Conura (Conura) maculata (Fabricius). This is a report of this interaction in the subtropical region of South America and the first report of the occurrence of this parasitoid in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Bilateral transtentorial herniation and isolated fourth ventricle: A scientific note

Bilateral transtentorial herniation and isolated fourth ventricle: A scientific note

A scientific note on the detection of spores ofPaenibacillus larvaein naturally and artificially contaminated honey: comparison of cultural and molecular methods

The detection of Paenibacillus larvae spores in honey produced by infected colonies enables an early identification of American foulbrood (Ritter, 2003). Bacterial culture with colony counting is the reference method for P. larvae spores assessment in honey (OIE, 2008), but it is time consuming and the overgrowth of other Bacilli can confuse the results. Kilwinski et al. (2004) developed a threereaction PCR protocol with high specificity towards P. larvae for accurate species identification. Given the specificity of that protocol, in our study we assessed the sensitivity of one of those reactions as a faster alternative to culture for the detection of P. larvae spores in honey samples. The reaction was chosen for its superior efficiency compared to the others (unpublished data). The analytical sensitivity of both PCR and bacterial culture was determined. Then, PCR was compared to culture to determine its ability to discriminate non-contaminated from contaminated samples with different loads of spores. One hundred and two samples were tested. They included 91 honeys from apicultural production, 4 artificially-contaminated honey samples containing approximately 10 000, 1000, 100 and 10 spores of P. larvae per gram, 1 spore-free honey, 6 water suspensions of P. larvae spores ranging from 104 to 10−1 spores/mL. The spores for water suspensions and artificially-contaminated honeys were

Scientific note: Antagonistic activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisan italian salami

Scientific note: Antagonistic activity of lactic acid bacteria isolated from artisan italian salami

Primeiro registro do gênero Toxorhynchites Theobald (Diptera, Culicidae) em Mata Atlântica, Viçosa, Minas Gerais

Durante os meses de março e abril de 2007 foi verificada a presença do gênero Toxorhynchites (Diptera, Culicidae) em fragmentos de Mata Atlântica no município de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil. No experimento foram utilizadas 500 armadilhas de oviposição. Registrando-se, pela primeira vez na região de Viçosa o gênero Toxorhynchites, sendo as espécies T. pusillus (Costa Lima, 193 1) e T. theobaldi (Dyar & Knab, 1906) encontradas pela primeira vez no Estado de Minas Gerais. As espécies relatadas como primeiro registro e sua distribuição são citadas e discutidas.

A scientific note about spectroscopic analysis of honey bee brood comb cappings in hygienic and non-hygienic honey bee colonies

Hygienic behavior (HB) involves the detectionof diseased, dead, and infected larvae or pupae andtheir selective removal from brood cells by workerbees (Arathi et al., 2000;ArathiandSpivak,2001).The efficiency of HB is affected by the ability ofbees to recognize infected or infested brood (bychemical and physical cues). Among the variousfactors that have been studied that could influencethe detection of cells with dead or diseased brood(Arathi et al., 2000), visual cues had not been inves-tigated. We examined the light transmittance char-acteristics of the cappings of brood combs to deter-mine if it would be possible for bees to detect ab-normal brood within capped cells using visual cues.Cell cappings from old and new brood combs(50 each) from each of three colonies of hygienicand non-hygienic bee lines were removed andtested. These previously selected hygienic colonieshad a mean of 99.8% HB, while the non-hygieniccolonies had a mean of 2.3% HB.The cappings were fixed in a support device(mask) that permitted light passage only throughthe cappings. Initially, the intensity of the light thatpassed through the mask was measured without acapping. This corresponds to the incident light in-tensity (