-
Perspectives on Medical Education 2023The resilience of a healthcare system hinges on the adaptability of its teams. Thus far, healthcare teams have relied on well-defined scopes of practice to fulfill their...
The resilience of a healthcare system hinges on the adaptability of its teams. Thus far, healthcare teams have relied on well-defined scopes of practice to fulfill their safety mandate. While this feature has proven effective when dealing with stable situations, when it comes to disruptive events, healthcare teams find themselves navigating a fine balance between safety and resilience. Therefore, a better understanding of how the safety vs resilience trade-off varies under different circumstances is necessary if we are to promote and better train for resilience in modern healthcare teams. In this paper, we aim to bring awareness to the sociobiology analogy that healthcare teams might find useful during moments when safety and adaptability have the potential to conflict. Three principles underpin the sociobiology analogy: communication, decentralization, and plasticity. Of particular interest in this paper is plasticity whereby swapping roles or tasks becomes an adaptive, rather than a maladaptive, response teams could embrace when facing disruptive situations. While plasticity has naturally evolved in social insects, infusing plasticity in healthcare teams requires intentional training. Inspired by the sociobiology analogy, such training must value the ability: a) to read each other's cues and miscues, b) to step aside when others had the necessary skills, even if outside their scope, c) to deviate from protocols, and d) to foster cross-training. If the goal is to increase a team's behavioural flexibility and boost their resilience, this training mindset should become second nature.
Topics: Humans; Bees; Animals; Ants; Patient Care Team; Biology
PubMed: 37397182
DOI: 10.5334/pme.1051 -
Journal of the History of Biology Aug 2023When the sociobiology debate erupted in 1975, there were almost too many contributions to the heated exchanges between sociobiologists and their critics to count. In the...
When the sociobiology debate erupted in 1975, there were almost too many contributions to the heated exchanges between sociobiologists and their critics to count. In the fall of 1976, a Canadian educational film entitled Sociobiology: Doing What Comes Naturally sparked further controversy due to its graphic visuals and outrageous narration. While critics claimed the film was a promotional tool to further the sociobiological agenda in educational settings, sociobiologists quickly distanced themselves from the film and, in turn, accused the critics of consciously misrepresenting sociobiology by organizing showings of the film. Using audio, video, archival, and published sources, this paper explores the complicated history of Sociobiology: Doing What Comes Naturally and demonstrates how the public debate about the film reflects the positions, polemics, and polarization of the sociobiology debate as a whole.
PubMed: 37382807
DOI: 10.1007/s10739-023-09719-7 -
The Journal of Experimental Biology Jun 2023Polymorphic leaf-cutting ants harvest leaf fragments that correlate in size with the workers' body size. When cutting, workers anchor their hind legs on the leaf edge...
Polymorphic leaf-cutting ants harvest leaf fragments that correlate in size with the workers' body size. When cutting, workers anchor their hind legs on the leaf edge and rotate, removing approximately semicircular fragments. Workers show behavioural plasticity and modify their leg extension while holding onto the leaf edge depending on, for instance, leaf toughness, cutting smaller fragments out of tough leaves. What sensory information workers use to control the cutting trajectory remains unknown. We investigated whether sensory information from both the leg contact with the leaf edge and from head movements underlies fragment size determination. In the laboratory, we recorded Atta sexdens workers cutting standardised ®Parafilm pseudoleaves of different thickness, and quantified cutting behaviour and body reach, i.e. the distance between the mandible and the anchored hind leg tarsus. Experimentally preventing contact with the leaf edge resulted in smaller fragments, evincing that workers control the cutting trajectory using information from the contact of the hind legs with the leaf edge. However, ants were able to cut fragments even when contact of all six legs with the edge was prevented, indicating the use of additional sensory information. Ablation of mechanosensory hairs at the neck joint alone did not influence fragment size determination, yet simultaneously preventing sensory feedback from both mechanosensory hairs and edge contact led to a loss of control over the cutting trajectory. Leaf-cutting ants, therefore, control their cutting trajectory using sensory information from both the leg contact with the leaf edge and the lateral bending of the head.
Topics: Animals; Ants; Feedback; Feeding Behavior; Head Movements
PubMed: 37348454
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244246 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Jun 2023Many social insects display age polyethism: young workers stay inside the nest, and only older workers forage. This behavioural transition is accompanied by genetic and...
Many social insects display age polyethism: young workers stay inside the nest, and only older workers forage. This behavioural transition is accompanied by genetic and physiological changes, but the mechanistic origin of it remains unclear. To investigate if the mechanical demands on the musculoskeletal system effectively prevent young workers from foraging, we studied the biomechanical development of the bite apparatus in leaf-cutter ants. Fully matured foragers generated peak bite forces of around 100 mN, more than one order of magnitude in excess of those measured for freshly eclosed callows of the same size. This change in bite force was accompanied by a sixfold increase in the volume of the mandible closer muscle, and by a substantial increase of the flexural rigidity of the head capsule, driven by a significant increase in both average thickness and indentation modulus of the head capsule cuticle. Consequently, callows lack the muscle force capacity required for leaf-cutting, and their head capsule is so compliant that large muscle forces would be likely to cause damaging deformations. On the basis of these results, we speculate that continued biomechanical development post eclosion may be a key factor underlying age polyethism, wherever foraging is associated with substantial mechanical demands.
Topics: Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Ants; Muscles; Bite Force; Gastropoda
PubMed: 37312549
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0355 -
The Journal of Experimental Biology Jul 2023Atta leaf-cutter ants are the prime herbivore in the Neotropics: differently sized foragers harvest plant material to grow a fungus as a crop. Efficient foraging...
Atta leaf-cutter ants are the prime herbivore in the Neotropics: differently sized foragers harvest plant material to grow a fungus as a crop. Efficient foraging involves complex interactions between worker size, task preferences and plant-fungus suitability; it is, however, ultimately constrained by the ability of differently sized workers to generate forces large enough to cut vegetation. In order to quantify this ability, we measured bite forces of Atta vollenweideri leaf-cutter ants spanning more than one order of magnitude in body mass. Maximum bite force scaled almost in direct proportion to mass; the largest workers generated peak bite forces 2.5 times higher than expected from isometry. This remarkable positive allometry can be explained via a biomechanical model that links bite forces with substantial size-specific changes in the morphology of the musculoskeletal bite apparatus. In addition to these morphological changes, we show that bite forces of smaller ants peak at larger mandibular opening angles, suggesting a size-dependent physiological adaptation, probably reflecting the need to cut leaves with a thickness that corresponds to a larger fraction of the maximum possible gape. Via direct comparison of maximum bite forces with leaf mechanical properties, we demonstrate (i) that bite forces in leaf-cutter ants need to be exceptionally large compared with body mass to enable them to cut leaves; and (ii), that the positive allometry enables colonies to forage on a wider range of plant species without the need for extreme investment in even larger workers. Our results thus provide strong quantitative arguments for the adaptive value of a positively allometric bite force.
Topics: Animals; Ants; Bite Force; Mandible; Herbivory; Plant Leaves
PubMed: 37293932
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.245140 -
Children (Basel, Switzerland) May 2023Precision health aims to personalize treatment and prevention strategies based on individual genetic differences. While it has significantly improved healthcare for... (Review)
Review
Precision health aims to personalize treatment and prevention strategies based on individual genetic differences. While it has significantly improved healthcare for specific patient groups, broader translation faces challenges with evidence development, evidence appraisal, and implementation. These challenges are compounded in child health as existing methods fail to incorporate the physiology and socio-biology unique to childhood. This scoping review synthesizes the existing literature on evidence development, appraisal, prioritization, and implementation of precision child health. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase were searched. The included articles were related to pediatrics, precision health, and the translational pathway. Articles were excluded if they were too narrow in scope. In total, 74 articles identified challenges and solutions for putting pediatric precision health interventions into practice. The literature reinforced the unique attributes of children and their implications for study design and identified major themes for the value assessment of precision health interventions for children, including clinical benefit, cost-effectiveness, stakeholder values and preferences, and ethics and equity. Tackling these identified challenges will require developing international data networks and guidelines, re-thinking methods for value assessment, and broadening stakeholder support for the effective implementation of precision health within healthcare organizations. This research was funded by the SickKids Precision Child Health Catalyst Grant.
PubMed: 37238445
DOI: 10.3390/children10050897 -
Scientific Reports May 2023Formic acid is the main component of the ant's major weapon against enemies. Being mainly used as a chemical defense, the acid is also exploited for recruitment and...
Formic acid is the main component of the ant's major weapon against enemies. Being mainly used as a chemical defense, the acid is also exploited for recruitment and trail marking. The repelling effect of the organic acid is used by some mammals and birds which rub themselves in the acid to eliminate ectoparasites. Beekeepers across the world rely on this effect to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. Varroa mites are considered the most destructive pest of honey bees worldwide and can lead to the loss of entire colonies. Formic acid is highly effective against Varroa mites but can also kill the honeybee queen and worker brood. Whether formic acid can also affect the behavior of honey bees is unknown. We here study the effect of formic acid on sucrose responsiveness and cognition of honey bees treated at different live stages in field-relevant doses. Both behaviors are essential for survival of the honey bee colony. Rather unexpectedly, formic acid clearly improved the learning performance of the bees in appetitive olfactory conditioning, while not affecting sucrose responsiveness. This exciting side effect of formic acid certainly deserves further detailed investigations.
Topics: Bees; Animals; Ants; Cognition; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; Mitochondrial ADP, ATP Translocases; Sucrose; Varroidae; Mammals
PubMed: 37225773
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35540-7 -
Journal of Comparative Physiology. A,... Jul 2023The neural basis underlying spatial orientation in arthropods, in particular insects, has received considerable interest in recent years. This special issue of the...
The neural basis underlying spatial orientation in arthropods, in particular insects, has received considerable interest in recent years. This special issue of the Journal of Comparative Physiology A seeks to take account of these developments by presenting a collection of eight review articles and eight original research articles highlighting hotspots of research on spatial orientation in arthropods ranging from flies to spiders and the underlying neural circuits. The contributions impressively illustrate the wide range of tools available to arthropods extending from specific sensory channels to highly sophisticated neural computations for mastering complex navigational challenges.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Orientation, Spatial; Space Perception; Insecta; Spiders
PubMed: 37198448
DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01635-9 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences May 2023The behavioural state of animals has profound effects on neuronal information processing. Locomotion changes the response properties of visual interneurons in the insect...
The behavioural state of animals has profound effects on neuronal information processing. Locomotion changes the response properties of visual interneurons in the insect brain, but it is still unknown if it also alters the response properties of photoreceptors. Photoreceptor responses become faster at higher temperatures. It has therefore been suggested that thermoregulation in insects could improve temporal resolution in vision, but direct evidence for this idea has so far been missing. Here, we compared electroretinograms from the compound eyes of tethered bumblebees that were either sitting or walking on an air-supported ball. We found that the visual processing speed strongly increased when the bumblebees were walking. By monitoring the eye temperature during recording, we saw that the increase in response speed was in synchrony with a rise in eye temperature. By artificially heating the head, we show that the walking-induced temperature increase of the visual system is sufficient to explain the rise in processing speed. We also show that walking accelerates the visual system to the equivalent of a 14-fold increase in light intensity. We conclude that the walking-induced rise in temperature accelerates the processing of visual information-an ideal strategy to process the increased information flow during locomotion.
Topics: Animals; Bees; Visual Perception; Light; Locomotion; Walking; Reaction Time
PubMed: 37192665
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0460 -
American Journal of Botany Jun 2023Many flowering plants depend on insects for pollination and thus attract pollinators by offering rewards, mostly nectar and pollen. Bee pollinators rely on pollen as...
PREMISE
Many flowering plants depend on insects for pollination and thus attract pollinators by offering rewards, mostly nectar and pollen. Bee pollinators rely on pollen as their main nutrient source. Pollen provides all essential micro- and macronutrients including substances that cannot be synthesized by bees themselves, such as sterols, which bees need for processes such as hormone production. Variations in sterol concentrations may consequently affect bee health and reproductive fitness. We therefore hypothesized that (1) these variations in pollen sterols affect longevity and reproduction in bumble bees and (2) can thus be perceived via the bees' antennae before consumption.
METHODS
We studied the effect of sterols on longevity and reproduction of Bombus terrestris workers in feeding experiments and investigated sterol perception using chemotactile proboscis extension response (PER) conditioning.
RESULTS
Workers could perceive several sterols (cholesterol, cholestenone, desmosterol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol) via their antennae but not differentiate between them. However, when sterols were presented in pollen, and not as a single compound, the bees were unable to differentiate between pollen differing in sterol content. Additionally, different sterol concentrations in pollen neither affected pollen consumption nor brood development or worker longevity.
CONCLUSIONS
Since we used both natural concentrations and concentrations higher than those found in pollen, our results indicate that bumble bees may not need to pay specific attention to pollen sterol content beyond a specific threshold. Naturally encountered concentrations might fully support their sterol requirements and higher concentrations do not seem to have negative effects.
Topics: Bees; Animals; Phytosterols; Reproduction; Sterols; Pollen; Perception
PubMed: 37071779
DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16165