National One Call (United Kingdom)

Summary Stingless bees are globally important social corbiculate bees, fulfilling critical pollination roles in many ecosystems; however, their gut microbiota, especially fungal communities, are not well characterized to date. We collected 121 bee samples from two species, Tetragonula carbonaria and Austroplebeia australis , across a distance of 1,200 km of eastern Australia, and analysed their gut microbiomes. We found that the gut bacterial richness of T. carbonaria was influenced by geography (latitude and longitude) and positively correlated to an established fitness indicator in insects; namely, host forewing length/size that relates to flight capacity of stingless bees. We characterized the core microbiomes of the two bees and found that they consisted of the bacterial taxa Snodgrassella, Lactobacillus , Acetobacteraceae and Bombella , and the fungal taxa Didymellaceae, Monocilium mucidum, Malassezia restricta and Aureobasidium pullulans . Both host species identity and management (wild or managed) significantly influenced the gut microbial diversity and composition, and similarity between colonies declined as the geographical distance between them increased. This result was also supported by our co-existing network analyses. Overall, we have thoroughly analysed stingless bee gut microbiomes, and provided novel evidence that T. carbonaria bees with larger wings or from more southern populations have higher microbial diversity in their guts. Originality-Significance Statement Beneficial interactions between insects and their microbial symbionts are pivotal for their fitness. In this study, we analysed the gut microbiomes of two stingless bee species, Tetragonula carbonaria and Austroplebeia australis , that are widespread and important pollinators in Australia. We characterized their gut microbiomes and detected a significant positive correlation between gut bacterial richness and host forewing size for T. carbonaria ; the first time that gut microbial diversity has been linked to a morphological trait in stingless bees. Furthermore, we found that host species’ identity, management type (wild or managed) and geography all significantly influenced bee gut microbial diversity and composition, and were able to describe both bacterial and fungal core microbial taxa. This study reveals novel understandings of stingless bee gut microbiomes and provides the basis for utilizing microbial strategies to maintain colony health.

Abstract Background Anticipatory care planning (ACP) is a proactive person-centred approach for “thinking ahead”, exploring and recording a person’s goals and preferred actions when their health deteriorates. As a key part of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment of frail patients, care home (CH) residents would benefit from ACP. Introduction West Lothian has 16 care homes with 853 residents. Between Oct—Dec 2017, 5.21% of CH residents were admitted to hospital each month. Some of these admissions could have been avoided had there been robust ACP in place. Methods In 2017 West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership appointed a GP lead for Care Homes. Through standardising ACP for CH residents, the goal was to improve the pathway for managing medical emergencies and reduce unnecessary unscheduled care calls and admissions. In 2019 this role was taken over by a team of 2WTE Advanced Nurse Practitioners and 1WTE Staff Nurse. Outcome measures include hospital admission rates, number of ACPs in place and uptake of ACP training amongst CH staff. Interventions In collaboration with the Medicine of the Elderly Department at St John’s Hospital, a standardised ACP Summary document was developed for use in all CHs. A medical advice and emergency flowchart was created to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions. An continuous education programme was delivered across all CH staff to facilitate and implement this. Results Medical admission rates from CHs have decreased by 60% from 6 to 2.2 admissions per week. The largest reduction is in CHs with full ACP use. Conclusions Standardised ACP significantly reduces the number of medical admissions. Continuous education and training is crucial in maintaining its implementation, and ensuring its routine use throughout CHs in West Lothian.

Journal Article Reflections on the Invasion of Iraq Get access Tam Dalyell Tam Dalyell Labour MP for Linlithgow between 1962 and 2005 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 59, Issue 1, January 2006, Pages 181–187, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsj005 Published: 04 November 2005

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