As pollinators, bees are cornerstones for terrestrial ecosystem stability and key components in agricultural productivity. All animals, including bees, are associated with a diverse community of microbes, commonly referred to as the microbiome. The bee microbiome is likely to be a crucial factor affecting host health. However, with the exception of a few pathogens, the impacts of most members of the bee microbiome on host health are poorly understood. Further, the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape and change the microbiome are unclear. Here, we discuss recent progress in our understanding of the bee microbiome, and we present challenges associated with its investigation. We conclude that global coordination of research efforts is needed to fully understand the complex and highly dynamic nature of the interplay between the bee microbiome, its host, and the environment. High-throughput sequencing technologies are ideal for exploring complex biological systems, including host-microbe interactions. To maximize their value and to improve assessment of the factors affecting bee health, sequence data should be archived, curated, and analyzed in ways that promote the synthesis of different studies. To this end, the BeeBiome consortium aims to develop an online database which would provide reference sequences, archive metadata, and host analytical resources. The goal would be to support applied and fundamental research on bees and their associated microbes and to provide a collaborative framework for sharing primary data from different research programs, thus furthering our understanding of the bee microbiome and its impact on pollinator health.

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This work presents an investigation on TFTs which have been fabricated with very similar process flows with the exception of the placement of the gate electrode. Bottom-gate TFTs with back-channel passivation that demonstrate good performance and resistance to aging have been realized, however bias-stress stability continues to remain a challenge. Top-gate TFTs have demonstrated improvement in the uniformity of device operation as well as bias-stress stability, and have the potential to offer an advantage in off-state performance. Double-gate TFTs take further advantage of improved electrostatics, but present additional challenges in process integration. Device operation and response to applied bias-stress of all three gate electrode configurations will be compared, with reference to TCAD simulations that utilize common bulk and interface defect models. Electrical measurements and TCAD simulations are also used to develop a hypothesis on the origin of non-ideal behavior observed on scaled devices, which can be addressed by appropriate gate electrode option.