The moderating effects of production feedback and standards on the relationship between worker job attitudes and productivity

An experimental study was performed to investigate the impact of production feedback and standards, singly as well as jointly, as moderators of the worker job attitudes-productivity relationship in a repetitive production task. There was no substantial or consistent correlation between worker job attitudes and productivity and the correlation coefficient values in general were not statistically significant. The provision of production feedback and standards affected worker job attitudes and productivity differently and this in turn had an effect on the job attitudes-productivity relationship.     

Assigned and participative production standards and feedback affecting worker productivity in a repetitive production task

The main objective of this research was to determine the effects of assigned and participative standards in conjunction with feedback on worker productivity in a repetitive production task. An assigned hard standard and feedback was significantly better than a participative standard and feedback in terms of quality output but no significant difference in quantity output was found between them. Thus from the overall worker productivity viewpoint, the former condition was superior to the latter condition. Both conditions provided a significant improvement in worker productivity. The percentage increases in quantity and quality output for the assigned hard standard and feedback condition were 12% and 7%, respectively, compared to the control group. The assigned normal standard and feedback had a significant positive impact on quantity output but no significant effect was found in terms of quality output.     

Effects of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) queen insemination volume on worker behavior and physiology

Honey bee colonies consist of tens of thousands of workers and a single reproductive queen that produces a pheromone blend which maintains colony organization. Previous studies indicated that the insemination quantity and volume alter queen mandibular pheromone profiles. In our 11-month long field study we show that workers are more attracted to high-volume versus low-volume inseminated queens, however, there were no significant differences between treatments in the number of queen cells built by workers in preparation for supersedure. Workers exposed to low-volume inseminated queens initiated production of queen-like esters in their Dufour's glands, but there were no significant difference in the amount of methyl farnesoate and juvenile hormone in worker hemolymph. Lastly, queen overwintering survival was unexpectedly lower in high-volume inseminated queens. Our results suggest that the queen insemination volume could ultimately affect colony health and productivity.     

Effect of temperature and social environment on worker size in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi

Warm temperatures decrease insect developmental time and body size. Social life could buffer external environmental variations, especially in large social groups, either through behavioral regulation and compensation or through specific nest architecture. Mean worker size and distribution of worker sizes within colonies are important parameters affecting colony productivity as worker size is linked to division of labor in insect societies. In this paper, we investigate the effect of stressful warm temperatures and the role of social environment (colony size and size of nestmate workers) on the mean size and size variation of laboratory-born workers in the small European ant Temnothorax nylanderi. To do so, we reared field-collected colonies under medium or warm temperature treatments after having marked the field-born workers and removed the brood except for 30 first instar larvae. Warm temperature resulted in the production of fewer workers and a higher adult mortality, confirming that this regime was stressful for the ants. T. nylanderi ants followed the temperature size rule observed in insects, with a decreased developmental time and mean size under warm condition. Social environment appeared to play an important role as we observed that (i) larger colonies buffered the effect of temperature better than smaller ones (ii) colonies with larger workers produced larger workers whatever the rearing temperature and (iii) the coefficient of variation of worker size was similar in the field and under medium laboratory temperature. This suggests that worker size variation is not primarily due to seasonal environmental fluctuations in the field. Finally, we observed a higher coefficient of variation of worker size under warm temperature. We propose that this results from a disruption of social regulation, i.e. the control of nestmate workers over developing larvae and adult worker size, under stressful conditions.     

Sex ratio conflict and worker production in eusocial hymenoptera

The best known of the conflicts occurring in eusocial Hymenoptera is queen-worker conflict over sex ratio. So far, sex ratio theory has mostly focused on optimal investment in the production of male versus female sexuals, neglecting the investment in workers. Increased investment in workers decreases immediate sexual productivity but increases expected future colony productivity. Thus, an important issue is to determine the queen's and workers' optimal investment in each of the three castes (workers, female sexuals, and male sexuals), taking into account a possible trade-off between production of female sexuals and workers (both castes developing from diploid female eggs). Here, we construct a simple and general kin selection model that allows us to calculate the evolutionarily stable investments in the three castes, while varying the identity of the party controlling resource allocation (relative investment in workers, female sexuals, and male sexuals). Our model shows that queens and workers favor the investment in workers that maximizes lifetime colony productivity of sexual males and females, whatever the colony kin structure. However, worker production is predicted to be at this optimum only if one of the two parties has complete control over resource allocation, a situation that is evolutionarily unstable because it strongly selects the other party to manipulate sex allocation in its favor. Queens are selected to force workers to raise all the males by limiting the number of eggs they lay, whereas workers should respond to egg limitation by raising a greater proportion of the female eggs into sexual females rather than workers as a means to attain a more female-biased sex allocation. This tug-of-war between queens and workers leads to a stable equilibrium where sex allocation is between the queen and worker optima and the investment in workers is below both parties' optimum. Our model further shows that, under most conditions, female larvae are in strong conflict with queens and workers over their developmental fate because they value their own reproduction more than that of siblings. With the help of our model, we also investigate how variation in queen number and number of matings per queen affect the level of conflict between queens, workers, and larvae and ultimately the allocation of resource in the three castes. Finally, we make predictions that allow us to test which party is in control of sex allocation and caste determination.     

Effect of high temperature-humidity conditions on milk production of dairy herds grazed on farms in a pasture-based feed system

The influence of stressful temperature-humidity conditions on output from dairy cows on farms near Wauchope (31°S Lat.), Australia, was examined by comparing weekly milk production and Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) values over a two-year period (1973 to 1975). Production during weeks with relatively high THI values (70 or over) was higher than production in weeks with lower temperature-humidity stress. In autumn and winter when THI values were low, the quantity and quality of pasture available was inadequate to sustain high levels of milk production. Short-term (weekly) responses of milk output to changes in temperature-humidity conditions above THI values of 70 were not consistent, either in terms of the direction or magnitude of production change. THI values may not have been high enough to adversely affect week-to-week production from predominantly Jersey herds, although some depression in lactation yields may have occurred. The reduction in digestibility and palatability of grasses during late summer appeared to be of greater importance in influencing production patterns than the direct effects of stressful temperature-humidity conditions on cows.     

Noradrenaline, propranolol and adrenochrome interactions with the dynamic of haemolymph lipids in worker honeybees

Injection of worker honeybees with noradrenaline, in vivo, depresses the haemolymph levels of phospholipid, steroid and triacylglycerols. The major fatty acids fraction shows large amplitude variations which seem to be dependent on several distinct factors. Adrenochrome exhibits a tendency to induce global hypoglycemic effects without evident correlation with the other hormones, whereas propranolol counteracts the effects of noradrenaline, particularly for phospholipids, steroids and diacylglycerols. The results suggest that the major lipoproteic complex is partly under the control of low specificity adrenoceptors.     

Classification of worker exposures

The classification of jobs or workers by exposure is an important undertaking in any occupational epidemiological study. Hitherto, the exposure classification designs have been strongly motivated by a desire to generate a sufficient number of exposure classes for the determination of a potential exposure-response relationship. Thus, the partitioning of exposures has been more or less arbitrary. The misclassification problems created by the selection of an arbitrary number of exposure assignment classes have not been addressed. In any quantitative exposure classification scheme, specific job titles may be indistinguishable in existing employment records; therefore, between worker variability must be addressed when characterizing worker exposures. Also, industrial hygiene exposure measurements frequently used to characterize worker exposures are often treated as valid representations of exposures; but they are neither random nor systematic evaluations of worker exposures. As a result they do not represent sampling from the proper exposure stratification of workers. These observations suggest that the selection of exposure groups should be based on a more rigorous examination of the data and its limitations. Considering the probability of any given worker being placed into the proper class as the probability of finding the mean exposure for that worker within the class boundary, the general equations to quantify the misclassification rates for any classification design as well as the exposure class limits and their width for any acceptable misclassification rate are developed. If between worker variability could not be calculated from the available exposure measurements, then it might be estimated from the proper data compiled from the literature. By considering an acceptable level of exposure misclassification, it is possible to calculate the allowable number of exposure classes and the proper partitioning ratio for these classes. Thus, the trade-off between misclassification and number of exposure classes might be a satisfactory solution to this difficulty encountered in occupational epidemiology.     

The relationship between the distribution of worker sizes and new worker production in the ant Formica neorufibarbis

While it is commonly assumed that variation in worker sizes within a single ant colony increases colony efficiency, there is little causal evidence of a link between worker size variation and colony performance. I tested whether the range of worker sizes within colonies of the ant species Formica neorufibarbis affected new worker production. Removing large workers from colonies lowered the rate of new worker production. A study of unmanipulated colonies indicated that colonies did not maintain a full range of worker sizes; mean worker head widths varied from 0.89-1.24 mm. Colonies naturally missing large workers did not have lower rates of worker production, suggesting that the relative size, not the absolute size, of workers within colonies was important. These are the first results to directly link the range of worker sizes to a component of colony fitness in a natural setting.     

Genotypic variation between maize (Zea mays L.) single cross hybrids in response to drought stress

Effects of soil drought on growth and productivity of 16 single cross maize hybrids were investigated under field and greenhouse experiments. The Drought Susceptibility Index (DSI) was evaluated in a three year field experiment by the determination of grain loss in conditions of two soil moisture levels (drought and irrigated) and in a pot experiment by the effects of periodical soil drought on seedling dry matter. In the greenhouse experiment response to drought in maize genotypes was also evaluated by root to shoot dry mater ratio, transpiration productivity index, indexes of kernel germination and index of leaf injury by drought and heat temperature. The obtained values of DSI enabled the ranking of the tested genotypes with respect to their drought tolerance. The values of DSI obtained in the field experiment allow to divide the examined genotypes into three, and in the greenhouse experiment into two groups of drought susceptibility. The correlation coefficients between the DSI of maize hybrids in the field and the greenhouse experiments was high and statistically significant, being equal to 0.876. The ranking of hybrids drought tolerance, identified on the basis of field experiments was generally in agreement with the ranking established on the basis of the greenhouse experiment. In the greenhouse experiment statistically significant coefficients of correlation with DSI values in hybrids were obtained for the ratio of dry matter of overground parts to dry matter of roots, both for control and drought treatments, whereas in the estimation of the transpiration productivity coefficient and total dry matter the correlation coefficients were not statistically significant. In this study several laboratory tests were carried out for the drought tolerance of plants (kernel germination, leaf injury) on 4 drought resistant and 4 drought sensitive maize hybrids. Statistically significant correlation coefficients between DSI and the examined parameter of grain germination and leaf injury were obtained for the determination of promptness index (PI), seedling survival index (SS) and leaf injuries indexes (IDS, ITS) as a result of exposure to 14 days of soil drought, osmotic drought −0.9 MPa and exposure to high temperature 45 ° or 50 °C. The results of laboratory tests show that in maize the genetic variation in the degree of drought tolerance is better manifested under severe conditions of water deficit in the soil.     

Breeding behaviour, relatedness and sex-investment ratios inLeptothorax tuberum Fabricius

The ant speciesLeptothorax tuberum was shown to be predominantly monogynous. Queens usually mate once only but some nests may have a multiply-mated queen or are partially or serially polygynous. As expected from these results, within nest relatedness between workers and between workers and alate queens was found to be high. Almost fifty percent of nests had no nest queen which may indicate high queen mortality, queens leaving to found new nests or nest fragmentation. Observed female investment frequencies (IF _o ) were not significantly different from those expected on the basis of worker control of sexual production and the relatedness estimates of workers to alate queens and workers to males calculated from isozyme data (IF _E ). These values were not consistent with queen control. There was no evidence for lower IF _o s in queenless nests nor for higher IF _o s in larger nests classified by worker number. When nests were classified by sexual productivity, however, there was a strong rank correlation between productivity and female bias. This is the first study of an ant species to test observed IF against expected IF calculated without inferring between caste relatedness from worker data or pooling of data from different castes.     

A comparison of worker exposure to inhalable and total dust, inorganic arsenic, and borates using two types of particulate sampling assemblies in a borate mining and processing facility

This study describes a comparison of worker exposure to total and inhalable dust, inorganic As, and borates using two types of particulate sampling assemblies as part of a comprehensive industrial hygiene evaluation in a borate mining and processing facility. Employees were segmented into similar exposure groups (SEG) based on work location within the facility, job classification, and type of chemical agent. Approximately 10% of the employees from each SEG wore two personal sampling devices simultaneously for the purpose of collecting total and inhalable particulate fractions using a closed face, 37-mm mixed cellulose ester matched-weight filters (MMW), and Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) sampling assembly. Sample results indicated that the IOM concentrations were consistently higher than the corresponding MMW concentrations for all three agents. An analysis was performed to investigate a relationship between MMW and IOM. The data revealed correlation coefficient values of 0.72, 0.82, and 0.84 for total dust (n = 197), inorganic As (n = 137), and borates (n = 194), respectively. These positive correlation coefficients indicate that the IOM and MMW measurements are consistent with each other, and can be used for predicting exposure levels. The total dust and borate large mean ratios should be considered in developing inhalable fraction-based regulatory standards.     

Environmental and genetic influences on queen and worker body size in the social wasp Vespula maculifrons

Many social insects exhibit morphologically distinct worker and queen castes that perform different functions. These functional differences may generate unique selection regimes operating on body size. For example, queens may be under directional selection for large body size, whereas directional selection on worker body size may be limited. Such contrasting selection pressures may differentially affect levels of genetic variation associated with size variation in the two castes. This study sought to determine if genetic effects underlying phenotypic differences varied between the worker and queen castes of the social wasp Vespula maculifrons. We predicted that directional selection would remove genetic variation associated with size differences in the queen caste, whereas a lack of directional selection would tend to maintain genetic variation associated with size differences in the worker caste. We thus (1) calculated broad and narrow sense heritabilities for several morphological traits, (2) examined whether some paternal genotypes produced more morphologically diverse offspring than others, and (3) determined whether trait size variation was associated with genetic variation within colonies. We found that few morphological traits were significantly heritable, indicating that little genetic variance for those traits existed within our study population. We also found that some patrilines produced more morphologically variable offspring than others, suggesting a role of genotype in phenotypic plasticity. And finally, no significant correlations between genetic diversity arising from multiple mating by queens within colonies and trait variation in either caste were found. Overall, our findings indicate a weak effect of genotype on both worker and queen body size variation and are suggestive of a large environmental influence on morphological trait size. Moreover, our results do not indicate that levels of genetic variation underlying size variation differ substantially between castes in this species.     

Provincial level-based emergy evaluation of crop production system and development modes in China

This paper presented a multi-objective indicator system for the performance evaluation of crop production system based on emergy method. Eight emergy indicators were selected to analyze the crop production system in the 31 provinces of mainland China to compare intensive use, scale management, investment density, environmental pressure, output benefit, output density, output per capita, and economic benefit. This paper conducted a comparison of each indicator in different provinces, and divided the 31 provinces into 10 groups by cluster analysis. The results show that: the crop production system among provinces has a significant difference and it is summarized into 10 development modes; with the development of modern agriculture, Chinese crop production system still complies with the input–output balance; the majority of provinces cannot achieve win-win between economic investment and environmental health; most of the underdeveloped provinces with high productivity may not be able to obtain good economic benefit; there is a significant positive correlation between the scale management degree and emergy output per capita in the crop production system; 10 development modes and policy suggestions are deduced. It is concluded that emergy-based multi-objective indicators can serve as an effective method in the evaluation of crop production system.     

Queen-signal modulation of worker pheromonal composition in honeybees

Worker sterility in honeybees is neither absolute nor irreversible. Whether under queen or worker control, it is likely to be mediated by pheromones. Queen-specific pheromones are not exclusive to queens; workers with activated ovaries also produce them. The association between ovarian activation and queen-like pheromone occurrence suggests the latter as providing a reliable signal of reproductive ability. In this study we investigated the effect of queen pheromones on ovary development and occurrence of queen-like esters in workers' Dufour's gland. Workers separated from the queenright compartment by a double mesh behaved like queenless workers, activating their ovaries and expressing a queen-like Dufour's gland secretion, confirming that the pheromones regulating both systems are non-volatile. Workers with developed ovaries produced significantly more secretion than sterile workers, which we attribute primarily to increased ester production. Workers separated from the queenright compartment by a single mesh displayed a delayed ovarian development, which we attribute to interrupted transfer of the non-volatile pheromone between compartments. We suggest that worker expression of queen-like characters reflects a queen-worker arms race; and that Dufour's gland secretion may provide a reliable signal for ovarian activation. The associative nature between ovary development and Dufour's gland ester production remains elusive.     

Size‐Fractionated Phytoplankton and Relationships with Metazooplankton in a Newly Flooded Reservoir

In order to yield some insights into the planktonic food web structure of new reservoirs, size‐fractionated biomass and productivity of phytoplankton were examined from 1996 to 1997 (following the 1995 flooding of the Sep Reservoir, Puy‐de‐Dôme, France), in relation to nutrients (P, N) and metazooplankton (Rotifers, Cladocera, Copepods). Autotrophic nanoplankton (ANP, size class 3–45 μm) dominated the phytoplankton biomass (as Chlorophyll a) and production, while autotrophic picoplankton (APP, 0.7–3 μm) exhibited the lowest and relatively constant biomass and production. Cells of the autotrophic microplankton (AMP, >45 μm) were considered inedible for planktonic herbivores. The production‐biomass diagram for the different size classes and the positive correlation between APP production and ANP + AMP production suggested that grazing was potentially more important than nutrients in shaping the phytoplankton size structure. Metazooplankton biomass was low compared to other newly flooded reservoirs or to natural lakes with phytoplankton biomass similar to that of the Sep Reservoir. This resulted in low ratios (metazooplankton to edible phytoplankton) both in terms of production (average 0.43% in 1996 and 0.76% in 1997) and biomass, suggesting that only a small fraction of phytoplankton was directly consumed by metazooplankton. We suggest that the observed low ratios in the Sep Reservoir, reflect possible low metazooplankton inputs in the main influents, changes in hydrologic conditions and a high potential role of microheterotrophs. The latter role was supported by (i) the positive inter‐annual correlation between ciliates and phytoplankton, (ii) the significant and negative correlations between ciliates and metazooplankton, and (iii) the significant and negative correlations between total metazooplankton biomass and total phosphorus (TP), whereas neither TP nor total metazooplankton biomass was correlated with phytoplankton variables.     

The evolution of worker caste diversity in social insects

Morphological diversification of workers is predicted to improve the division of labor within social insect colonies, yet many species have monomorphic workers. Individual-level selection on the reproductive capacities of workers may counter colony-level selection for diversification, and life-history differences between species (timing of caste determination, colony size, genetic variation available) may mediate the strength of this selection. We tested this through phylogenetically independent contrast analyses on a new data set for 35 ant species. Evidence was found that early divergence of queen-worker developmental pathways may facilitate the evolution of worker diversity because queen-worker dimorphism was strongly positively associated with diversity. By contrast, risks for colonies that invest in specialized workers and colony size effects on costs of worker reproduction seem unlikely to strongly affect the evolution of worker diversity because there was no significant association between colony size and diversity when controlling statistically for queen-worker dimorphism. Finally, worker diversity was greater in species with multiple lineages per colony, and it was negatively associated with relatedness in monogynous species. This could be due to high intracolonial genetic variance favoring the expression and evolution of great worker diversity or to diversity evolving more easily when there is selection for repression of worker reproduction (worker policing).     

Significant reproductive skew in the facultatively polygynous ant Pheidole pallidula

Reproductive skew - the extent to which reproduction is unevenly shared between individuals in a social group - varies greatly between and within animal species. In this study, we investigated how queens share parentage in polygynous (multiple queen) colonies of the Mediterranean ant Pheidole pallidula. We used highly polymorphic microsatellites markers to determine parentage of gynes (new queens), males and workers in P. pallidula field colonies. The comparison of the genotypes of young and adult workers revealed a very low queen turnover (less than 2%). The first main finding of the study of reproductive skew in these colonies was that there was a significant departure from equal contribution of queens to gyne, male and worker production. Reproductive skew was greater for male production than for queen and worker production. There was no relationship between the magnitude of the reproductive skew and the number of reproductive queens per colony, their relatedness and the overall colony productivity, some of the factors predicted to influence the extent of reproductive skew. Finally, our study revealed for the first time a trade-off in the relative contribution of nestmate queens to gyne and worker production. The queens contributing more to gyne production contributed significantly less to worker production.     

抽穗扬花期高温胁迫对水稻主要品质指标的影响

高温热害对水稻生产造成了巨大的损失。利用国际水稻研究所耐热圃材料,在抽穗扬花期进行高温处理,研究了该时期高温胁迫对水稻主要品质评价指标的影响,结果如下：水稻耐热圃材料的耐热性有较大的差别,依然存在高温相对敏感材料;抽穗扬花期高温胁迫对水稻主要品质评价指标影响较大;高温胁迫对水稻籽粒的透明度、长宽比、垩白率、糊化温度和蛋白质含量等品质指标与品种的耐热性相关关系不大;高温胁迫下直链淀粉含量变化与品种耐热系数表现出显著的正相关关系（r=0.659 78）;高温胁迫下胶稠度变化与不同水稻品种的耐热系数呈显著的负相关关系（r=-0.516 70）。