Sarah E. Radloff

Cross-cultural Effects on IQ Test Performance: A Review and Preliminary Normative Indications on WAIS-III Test Performance

ABSTRACT This article presents a review of cross-cultural influences on Wechsler IQ tests, together with a preliminary investigation into WAIS-III test performance (English administration) for a southern African sample (age range 19–30) stratified for white English first language and black African first language, level and quality of education. (‘African language’ is the term used to denote the indigenous languages of black populations in southern Africa). A two-way ANOVA revealed highly significant effects for both level and quality of education within the black African first language group. Scores for the white English and black African first language groups with advantaged education were comparable with the US standardization, whereas scores for black African first language participants with disadvantaged education were significantly lower than this. Thus indications from this research are that normative studies should take account of the influential variable of quality of education, in addition to level of education. Alternatively faulty conclusions may be drawn about the effects of ethnicity, with the potential for neuropsychological misdiagnosis.

Honeybees of Asia

A multi-authored work on the basic biology of Asian honeybees, written by expert specialists in the field, this book highlights phylogeny, classification, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, biogeography, genetics, physiology, pheromones, nesting, self-assembly processes, swarming, migration and absconding, reproduction, ecology, foraging and flight, dance languages, pollination, diseases/pests, colony defensiveness and natural enemies, honeybee mites, and interspecific interactions. Comprehensively covering the widely dispersed literature published in European as well as Asian-language journals and books, Honeybees of Asia provides an essential foundation for future research.

Virus infections and winter losses of honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera)

Summary Apiculturists have recently been confronted with drastic and inexplicable winter losses of colonies, and virus infections may be involved. Here, we surveyed 337 Swiss honey bee colonies in the winter of 2005 and 2006 and categorized their health status as: 1. dead (= no or few live bees left); 2. weak (= dwindling, high mortality of adult bees); or 3. healthy (= normal overwintering colony). From each colony, pooled adult workers were analyzed for deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and Kashmir bee virus (KBV). Neither KBV nor CBPV were found, but significantly higher ABPV and DWV infections were found in dead vs. weak vs. healthy colonies (except DWV in 2006 between weak and healthy). Moreover, ABPV and DWV loads were positively correlated with each other. This is the first report demonstrating statistically significant correlations between viruses associated with Varroa destructor and winter mortality.

Bee-hawking by the wasp, Vespa velutina, on the honeybees Apis cerana and A. mellifera.

The vespine wasps, Vespa velutina, specialise in hawking honeybee foragers returning to their nests. We studied their behaviour in China using native Apis cerana and introduced A. mellifera colonies. When the wasps are hawking, A. cerana recruits threefold more guard bees to stave off predation than A. mellifera. The former also utilises wing shimmering as a visual pattern disruption mechanism, which is not shown by A. mellifera. A. cerana foragers halve the time of normal flight needed to dart into the nest entrance, while A. mellifera actually slows down in sashaying flight manoeuvres. V. velutina preferentially hawks A. mellifera foragers when both A. mellifera and A. cerana occur in the same apiary. The pace of wasp-hawking was highest in mid-summer but the frequency of hawking wasps was three times higher at A. mellifera colonies than at the A. cerana colonies. The wasps were taking A. mellifera foragers at a frequency eightfold greater than A. cerana foragers. The final hawking success rates of the wasps were about three times higher for A. mellifera foragers than for A. cerana. The relative success of native A. cerana over European A. mellifera in thwarting predation by the wasp V. velutina is interpreted as the result of co-evolution between the Asian wasp and honeybee, respectively.

Rare royal families in honeybees, Apis mellifera

The queen is the dominant female in the honeybee colony, Apis mellifera, and controls reproduction. Queen larvae are selected by the workers and are fed a special diet (royal jelly), which determines caste. Because queens mate with many males a large number of subfamilies coexist in the colony. As a consequence, there is a considerable potential for conflict among the subfamilies over queen rearing. Here we show that honeybee queens are not reared at random but are preferentially reared from rare “royal” subfamilies, which have extremely low frequencies in the colonys worker force but a high frequency in the queens reared.

Attitudes towards business ethics held by south african students

This study uses the ATBEQ, as published by J.F. Preble and A. Reichel (1988) to measure attitudes towards ethical business attitudes held by final year South African Bachelor of Commerce students at Rhodes University. Three samples of students were assessed over three consecutive years of 1989, 1990 and 1991, and results are compared with samples (1988) of American and Israeli students and a sample (1991) of Western Australian students. A significant difference in attitudes was found to exist between the Israeli and South African samples. A factor analysis of the questionnaire identified eleven factors of which seven are theoretically labelled. A revised version of the ATBEQ is suggested which excludes the poorly performing questions.

Population structure and classification of Apis cerana

Multivariate morphometric analyses of Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 across its full geographical range were performed. Principal components plots did not reveal distinct morphoclusters. Further substructuring of the principal component plots could not initially be derived but only by introducing local labelling did it reveal six main morphoclusters. We apply geographically based common epithets to the morphoclusters and designate them as: as “Northern cerana”, “Himalayan cerana” “Indian plains cerana” “Indochinese cerana” “Philippine cerana” and “Indo-Malayan cerana”. A. cerana naturally occurs in climatic zones ranging from rainforest, savanna, steppe, grasslands and deciduous forest to taiga. The distributions of the morphoclusters are related to these physiographic and climatic factors. The taxonomy of A. cerana is formally revised and synonymous specific and infraspecific names summarized.ZusammenfassungIn diesem Artikel berichten wir über die Ergebnisse einer über das gesamte Verbreitungsgebiet reichenden multivariaten morphometrischen Analyse von Apis cerana und die statistisch definierten Morphokluster und Subklusterpopulationen innerhalb dieser. (1) Morphokluster I, „nördliche cerana“, erstreckt sich vom nördlichen Afghanistan und Pakistan durch das nordwestliche Indien über das südliche Tibet, das nördliche Myanmar, China und dann nordöstlich nach Korea bis zum fernöstlichen Russland und Japan; (2) Morphokluster II, „himalaya cerana“ schließt die Bienen des nördlichen Indien und einige Regionen des südlichen Tibet und Nepal ein. (3) Morphokluster III „indische Ebene cerana“ besiedelt die Ebenen des zentralen und südlichen Indien und Sri Lanka. (4) In Morphokluster IV, „indo-chinesische cerana“ gruppieren sich die Bienen von Myanmar, Nordthailand, Laos und Südvietnam; (5) Morphokluster V „philippinische cerana“ ist auf die Philippinen beschränkt; (6) Morphokluster VI, hier als „indo-malayische cerana“ bezeichnet, erstreckt sich von Südthailand über Malaysia und Indonesien. Wir stellen die Beziehungen der Morphokluster untereinander und ihre geophysikalischen und ökologischen Umgebungen dar und erstellen eine neue Verbreitungskarte auf Grudlage der gesamten über A. cerana publizierten Literatur (Hepburn and Hepburn, 2006). Einige Anmerkungen zu Genfluss und zeitlicher reproduktiver Isolation werden aus Daten zu Schwärmen und Wanderungen abgeleitet.Nach moderner taxonomischer Praxis sind keine der historisch verwendeten “formellen” lateinischen Namen für die Variationen von Apis passend oder legitim. Daher sollten die Namen unter den Nomenklaturregeln ihrer Zeit gültig erstellten Namen sowie auch die übrigen, überwiegend nach 1970 erstellten Namen als Synonyme angesehen werden. Eine detaillierte synonymische Zusammenstellung im standardisierten taxonomischen Format findet sich bei Engel (1999). Als Konsequenz dieser publizierten Synonyme sind Trinomen wie A. c. japonica oder A. c. cerana unter den Regeln der ICZN keine offiziellen Bestandteile der Klassifikation von Apis mehr. Alle früheren Unterarten sind damit außer Gebrauch. Im gleichen Sinne sind Namen der Morphokluster wie „himalaya cerana“ und „indo-malayische cerana“ wie wir sie hier gebrauchen nicht bindend, sie bieten Bienenwissenschaftlern aber eine weitere Möglichkeit, die zusammenhängenden Populationen von A. cerana sinnvoll und biologisch begründet zu unterteilen. Die ICZN Zusamenfassung der Taxonomie für A. cerana ist hier zusammen mit der formellen Synonymie der Unterartnamen und anderen Namen zusammengestellt, wie es von der Nomenklatur gefordert wird.Zuletzt soll angemerkt werden, dass A. cerana in das nordöstliche China, nach der Ambon Insel, Iran und papua-Neuguinea eingeführt wurde. Von dort hat sie Inseln in der Torresstraße besiedelt (Dunn, 1992) und in neuerer Zeit Neubritannien und die Salomoninseln erreicht (Anderson, 2005 — unpubl. data). A. cerana von Papua-Neuguinea sind morphologisch von denen aus Java nicht unterscheidbar. A. cerana wurde darüber hinaus mehrere Male in Darwin, Brisbane und nahe Perth, Australien aufgegriffen.

The role of gaping behaviour in habitat partitioning between coexisting intertidal mussels

BackgroundEnvironmental heterogeneity plays a major role in invasion and coexistence dynamics. Habitat segregation between introduced species and their native competitors is usually described in terms of different physiological and behavioural abilities. However little attention has been paid to the effects of behaviour in habitat partitioning among invertebrates, partially because their behavioural repertoires, especially marine benthic taxa, are extremely limited. This study investigates the effect of gaping behaviour on habitat segregation of the two dominant mussel species living in South Africa, the invasive Mytilus galloprovincialis and the indigenous Perna perna. These two species show partial habitat segregation on the south coast of South Africa, the lower and upper areas of the mussel zone are dominated by P. perna and M. galloprovincialis respectively, with overlap in the middle zone. During emergence, intertidal mussels will either keep the valves closed, minimizing water loss and undergoing anaerobic metabolism, or will periodically open the valves maintaining a more efficient aerobic metabolism but increasing the risk of desiccation.ResultsOur results show that, when air exposed, the two species adopt clearly different behaviours. M. galloprovincialis keeps the shell valves closed, while P. perna periodically gapes. Gaping behaviour increased water loss in the indigenous species, and consequently the risk of desiccation. The indigenous species expressed significantly higher levels of stress protein (Hsp70) than M. galloprovincialis under field conditions and suffered significantly higher mortality rates when exposed to air in the laboratory. In general, no intra-specific differences were observed in relation to intertidal height. The absence of gaping minimises water loss but exposes the invasive species to other stresses, probably related to anoxic respiration.ConclusionsGaping affects tolerance to desiccation, thus influencing the vertical zonation of the two species. Valve closure exposes the invasive species to higher stress and associated energy demands, but it minimizes water loss, allowing this species to dominate the upper mussel zone, where the gaping indigenous P. perna cannot survive. Thus even very simple behaviour can influence the outcome of interactions between indigenous and invasive species.

Honeybee combs: construction through a liquid equilibrium process?

Geometrical investigations of honeycombs and speculations on how honeybees measure and construct the hexagons and rhombi of their cells are centuries old. Here we show that honeybees neither have to measure nor construct the highly regular structures of a honeycomb, and that the observed pattern of combs can be parsimoniously explained by wax flowing in liquid equilibrium. The structure of the combs of honeybees results from wax as a thermoplastic building medium, which softens and hardens as a result of increasing and decreasing temperatures. It flows among an array of transient, close-packed cylinders which are actually the self-heated honeybees themselves. The three apparent rhomboids forming the base of each cell do not exist but arise as optical artefacts from looking through semi-transparent combs.

The comparative incidence of reported concussions presenting for follow-up management in South African Rugby Union.

Objective:The objective of this study was to compare the seasonal concussion incidence for school, university, club and provincial level Rugby Union players in South Africa. Design:The study presents a retrospective statistical analysis of the number of reported concussions documented annually for groups of Rugby Union players as a proportion of those who received preseason neurocognitive assessment. Setting:Between 2002 and 2006, concussion management programs using computerized neuropsychological assessment were implemented for clinical and research purposes by psychologists in selected South African institutions involved in Rugby Union from school through to the professional level. Participants:The incidence figures were based on 175 concussive episodes reported for 165 athletes who were referred for neurocognitive assessment from a population of 1366 athletes who received preseason baseline testing. Interventions:Concussion management routines varied according to the protocols adopted by the different psychologists and rugby organizations. Main Outcome Measurements:It was expected that the incidence of concussion would vary significantly due to level of play and different management protocols. Results:There was wide disparity in the manner in which concussion follow-up was managed by the various organizations. Within broadly comparable cohorts, tighter control was associated with a relatively higher concussion incidence for athletes per rugby playing season, with average institutional figures ranging from 4% to 14% at school level and 3% to 23% at adult level. Conclusions:This analysis suggests that concussion goes unrecognized and therefore incorrectly managed in a number of instances. Recommendations for optimal identification of concussed athletes for follow-up management are presented.