Global pollinator declines have been attributed to habitat destruction, pesticide use, and climate change or some combination of these factors, and managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, are part of worldwide pollinator declines. Here we exposed honey bee colonies during three brood generations to sub-lethal doses of a widely used pesticide, imidacloprid, and then subsequently challenged newly emerged bees with the gut parasite, Nosema spp. The pesticide dosages used were below levels demonstrated to cause effects on longevity or foraging in adult honey bees. Nosema infections increased significantly in the bees from pesticide-treated hives when compared to bees from control hives demonstrating an indirect effect of pesticides on pathogen growth in honey bees. We clearly demonstrate an increase in pathogen growth within individual bees reared in colonies exposed to one of the most widely used pesticides worldwide, imidacloprid, at below levels considered harmful to bees. The finding that individual bees with undetectable levels of the target pesticide, after being reared in a sub-lethal pesticide environment within the colony, had higher Nosema is significant. Interactions between pesticides and pathogens could be a major contributor to increased mortality of honey bee colonies, including colony collapse disorder, and other pollinator declines worldwide.
The provision of ethical and responsive treatment to clients of diverse cultural backgrounds is expected of all practicing psychologists. While this is mandated by the American Psychological Association's ethics code and is widely agreed upon as a laudable goal, achieving this mandate is often more challenging than it may seem. Integrating culturally responsive practices with more traditional models of psychotherapy into every practitioner's repertoire is of paramount importance when considering the rapidly diversifying population we serve. Psychologists are challenged to reconsider their conceptualizations of culture and of culturally responsive practice, to grapple with inherent conflicts in traditional training models that may promote treatments that are not culturally responsive, and to consider the ethical implications of their current practices. Invited expert commentaries address how conflicts may arise between efforts to meet ethical standards and being culturally responsive, how the application of outdated theoretical constructs may result in harm to diverse clients, and how we must develop more culturally responsive views of client needs, of boundaries and multiple relationships, and of treatment interventions. This article provides additional considerations for practicing psychologists as they attempt to navigate dimensions of culture and culturally responsive practice in psychology, while negotiating the ethical challenges presented in practice.
The importance of continuing and updated training for professional psychologists in essential areas of practice and career development-that is, advocacy, ethical business practices, understanding of legislative and regulatory issues, leadership, and culturally informed policies and practices-has spawned the development and implementation of multiple mentoring programs within organized professional psychology. Four such programs are discussed that have been developed through or supported by the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice within the American Psychological Association (APA). These programs provide mentoring for graduate students, early career psychologists, and experienced practicing psychologists in the areas of effective and ethical business practices, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and ethnic minority leadership development. Included are descriptions of mentoring programs developed and implemented by the Massachusetts Psychological Association, the Texas Psychological Association, the APA Practice Federal Advocacy Coordinator network, and the APA State Leadership Conference Diversity Initiative.
Those involved with pollinator risk assessment know that agricultural crops vary in attractiveness to bees. Intuitively, this means that exposure to agricultural pesticides is likely greatest for attractive plants and lowest for unattractive plants. While crop attractiveness in the risk assessment process has been qualitatively remarked on by some authorities, absent is direction on how to refine the process with quantitative metrics of attractiveness. At a high level, attractiveness of crops to bees appears to depend on several key variables, including but not limited to: floral, olfactory, visual and tactile cues; seasonal availability; physical and behavioral characteristics of the bee; plant and nectar rewards. Notwithstanding the complexities and interactions among these variables, sugar content in nectar stands out as a suitable quantitative metric by which to refine pollinator risk assessments for attractiveness. Provided herein is a proposed way to use sugar nectar concentration to adjust the exposure parameter (with what is called a crop attractiveness factor) in the calculation of risk quotients in order to derive crop‐specific tier I assessments. This Perspective is meant to invite discussion on incorporating such changes in the risk assessment process. © 2016 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
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