Space Science News: from archive to teaching resource, the secret life of newspapers

Worldwide, science education reform is aiming to promote 'scientific literacy' among young people. Typically, this is taken to include empowering them to engage critically with science in news media. This study explored the extent and nature of secondary science teachers' use of newspapers. It found that, though a great many use the resource, the majority do so incidentally and with the intention of showing the relevance of the subject rather than developing their students' criticality.

Ovariole number - a predictor of differential reproductive success among worker subfamilies in queenless honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies

A honeybee queen normally mates with 10-20 drones, and reproductive conflicts may arise among a colony's different worker patrilines, especially after a colony has lost its single queen and the workers commence egg laying. In this study, we employed microsatellite markers to study aspects of worker reproductive competition in two queenless Africanized honeybee colonies. First, we determined whether there was a bias among worker patrilines in their maternity of drones and, second, we asked whether this bias could be attributed to differences in the degree of ovary activation of workers. Third, we relate these behavioral and physiological factors to ontogenetic differences between workers with respect to ovariole number. Workers from each of three (colony A) and one (colony B) patrilineal genotypes represented less than 6% of the worker population, yet each produced at least 13% of the drones in a colony, and collectively they produced 73% of the drones. Workers representing these genotypes also had more developed follicles and a greater number of ovarioles per ovary. Across all workers, ovariole development and number were closely correlated. This suggests a strong effect of worker genotype on the development of the ovary already in the postembryonic stages and sets a precedent to adult fertility, so that

Estimating the Density of Honeybee Colonies across Their Natural Range to Fill the Gap in Pollinator Decline Censuses

Although pollinator declines are a global biodiversity threat, the demography of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) has not been considered by conservationists because it is biased by the activity of beekeepers. To fill this gap in pollinator decline censuses and to provide a broad picture of the current status of honeybees across their natural range, we used microsatellite genetic markers to estimate colony densities and genetic diversity at different locations in Europe, Africa, and central Asia that had different patterns of land use. Genetic diversity and colony densities were highest in South Africa and lowest in Northern Europe and were correlated with mean annual temperature. Confounding factors not related to climate, however, are also likely to influence genetic diversity and colony densities in honeybee populations. Land use showed a significantly negative influence over genetic diversity and the density of honeybee colonies over all sampling locations. In Europe honeybees sampled in nature reserves had genetic diversity and colony densities similar to those sampled in agricultural landscapes, which suggests that the former are not wild but may have come from managed hives. Other results also support this idea: putative wild bees were rare in our European samples, and the mean estimated density of honeybee colonies on the continent closely resembled the reported mean number of managed hives. Current densities of European honeybee populations are in the same range as those found in the adverse climatic conditions of the Kalahari and Saharan deserts, which suggests that beekeeping activities do not compensate for the loss of wild colonies. Our findings highlight the importance of reconsidering the conservation status of honeybees in Europe and of regarding beekeeping not only as a profitable business for producing honey, but also as an essential component of biodiversity conservation.

Diet of Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) feeding chicks at two Irish colonies highlights the importance of clupeids

We examined regurgitates from Black-legged Kittiwakes during the early chick-rearing period over two breeding seasons at two colonies in Ireland where diet has not been studied previously. Clupeids were the dominant food source at both colonies, which contrasts with other studies throughout the British Isles that suggest Kittiwakes feed mainly on sandeels during this period. Our study is limited
by sample size and restricted to the early breeding season, but suggests a link between reproductive success and dietary composition which should be investigated further.

Growth of human B cell colonies from peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Human B cell colonies were grown from peripheral blood of 12 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and from 12 healthy control subjects. The SLE group showed a large increase (p less than 0.001) in the number of colony forming cells (CFC) present in peripheral blood as compared with controls. The CFC were of the pre-B cell type. There was also a loss of OKT8+ cell inhibition of B cell colony growth in the SLE group compared with control subjects.

Πολιτικες ασύλου της ΕΕ- A critical review of the European policies of asylum: The re-positioning of asylum seekers from refugees/victims in need of protection to criminals (illegal immigrants)

This publication traces how asylum seekers are repositioned in the existing European asylum legislation from asylum seekers as victims in need of protection, to criminals . It is argued that this is due to the European legislation concerning the area of freedom, security and justice. The latest asylum legislation seems to undermine the refugee status which -as it is widely known- is safeguarded by the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its relevant 1967 Protocol. Additionally, in this paper the role of social workers and other social scientists to protect the rights of asylum seekers and question the existing legislation is presented.