Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry.

Despite Apis mellifera being the most widely managed pollinator to enhance crop production, they are not the most suitable species for highbush blueberries, which possess restrictive floral morphology and require buzz-pollination. Thus, the South American bumblebee Bombus pauloensis is increasingly managed as an alternative species in this crop alongside honeybees. Herein, we evaluated the foraging patterns of the two species, concerning the potential pollen transfer between two blueberry co-blooming cultivars grown under open high tunnels during two seasons considering different colony densities. Both managed pollinators showed different foraging patterns, influenced by the cultivar identity which varied in their floral morphology and nectar production. Our results demonstrate that both species are efficient foragers on highbush blueberry and further suggest that they contribute positively to its pollination in complementary ways: while bumblebees were more effective at the individual level (visited more flowers and carried more pollen), the greater densities of honeybee foragers overcame the difficulties imposed by the flower morphology, irrespective of the stocking rate. This study supports the addition of managed native bumblebees alongside honeybees to enhance pollination services and emphasizes the importance of examining behavioural aspects to optimize management practices in pollinator-dependent crops.

Pollen reinforces learning in honey bee pollen foragers but not in nectar foragers.

Searching for reward motivates and drives behaviour. In honey bees Apis mellifera, specialized pollen foragers are attracted to and learn odours with pollen. However, the role of pollen as a reward remains poorly understood. Unlike nectar, pollen is not ingested during collection. We hypothesized that pollen (but not nectar) foragers could learn pollen by sole antennal or tarsal stimulation. Then, we tested how pairing of pollen (either hand- or bee-collected) and a neutral odour during a pre-conditioning affects performance of both pollen and nectar foragers during the classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response. Secondly, we tested whether nectar and pollen foragers perceive the simultaneous presentation of pollen (on the tarsi) and sugar (on the antennae) as a better reinforcement than sucrose alone. Finally, we searched for differences in learning of the pollen and nectar foragers when they were prevented from ingesting the reward during the conditioning. Differences in pollen-reinforced learning correlate with division of labour between pollen and nectar foragers. Results show that pollen foragers performed better than nectar foragers during the conditioning phase after being pre-conditioned with pollen. Pollen foragers also performed better than nectar foragers in both the acquisition and extinction phases of the conditioning, when reinforced with the dual reward. Consistently, pollen foragers showed improved abilities to learn cues reinforced without sugar ingestion. We discussed that differences in how pollen and nectar foragers respond to a cue associated with pollen greatly contribute to the physiological mechanism that underlies foraging specialization in the honeybee.

Análise de parâmetros funcionais relacionados aos fatores de risco ocupacionais da atividade de enfermeiros de UTI / Analysis of functional parameters related to occupational risk factors of ICU nursing activity / Análisis de parámetros funcionales relacionados a los factores de riesgos laborales de la actividad de enfermeros de UTI

A avaliação de fatores como fadiga e aspectos funcionais pode identificar sobrecargas durante a atividade de enfermeiros. O objetivo foi avaliar a necessidade de descanso, prevalência de desconfortos musculoesqueléticos, capacidade de trabalho e esforço físico de enfermeiros de Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (UTI). Participaram 24 enfermeiros (idade 40±8 anos; 14 homens e 10 mulheres). Foram aplicados: questionário nórdico de sintomas, índice de capacidade para trabalho (ICT), escala de necessidade de descanso (ENEDE) e escala de esforço percebido (Borg). Diferenças entre sexos foram verificadas pelo teste t de Student e na prevalência pelo teste exato de Fisher. Verificou-se prevalência de 75% nos últimos 12 meses, sendo 100% das mulheres e 42% dos homens (diferença significante; p=0,024). As mulheres classificaram o trabalho como mais intenso em comparação aos homens (p<0,05). Não houve diferenças entre ENEDE/ICT. Ressalta-se a importância de ações preventivas focadas na atividade do enfermeiro e estratégias para a prevenção de desconforto no sexo feminino.

Evaluating factors such as fatigue and functional aspects can identify overloads during nursing activities. The aim was to evaluate need for recovery, prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort, working capacity and perceived exertion of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurses. Twenty-four nurses participated (aged 40±8 years; 10 men and 14 women). The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire, work ability index (WAI), need for recovery scale (NRE) and scale of perceived exertion (Borg) were applied. Gender differences were evaluated by Student's t-test and the prevalence by Fisher's exact test. There was a prevalence of 75% in the last 12 months, 100% of women and 42% of men (significant difference; p=0.024). Women rated work as more intense than men (p<0.05). There were no differences between NRE/WAI. The study emphasizes the importance of preventive actions focused on nursing activities and strategies for prevention of discomfort in females.

La evaluación de factores como fatiga y aspectos funcionales pueden identificar sobrecargas durante la actividad de los enfermeros. El objetivo fue evaluar la necesidad de descanso, prevalencia de molestias musculoesqueléticas, capacidad de trabajo y esfuerzo físico de enfermeros de UTI. Participaron 24 enfermeros (edad 40±8 años; 14 hombres/10 mujeres). Fueron aplicados: cuestionario nórdico de síntomas, índice de capacidad para el trabajo (ICT), escala de necesidad de descanso (ENEDE) y escala de esfuerzo percibido (Borg). Diferencias entre sexos fueron verificadas por el test t de Student y la prevalencia por el test exacto de Fisher. Se verificó la prevalencia del 75% en los últimos 12 meses, siendo el 100% de las mujeres y 42% de los hombres (diferencia significativa; p=0,024). Las mujeres clasificaron el trabajo como más intenso en comparación a los hombres (p<0,05). No hubo diferencias entre ENEDE/ICT. Se resalta la importancia de acciones preventivas enfocadas en la actividad de enfermería y estrategias para prevención de molestias en el sexo femenino.