The adult of honey bee, Apis mellifera, performs an age-dependent division of labor with nurse bees and foragers. Foragers fly outside the hive to collect pollen and nectar, while nurses feed and care for the larvae and queen inside the hive. Foragers are considered to be frequently exposed to agrochemicals, although nurses, stayed inside the hive, are potentially exposed to pesticides through application of miticides and pesticidecontaminated food provided by forager. Therefore, physiological effects of pesticides to nurses should be elucidated to understand the adverse effects of the chemicals on entire honey bee colony. In this study, we investigated the expression changes of the genes associated with labor division (task genes) and the nursing behavior of nurse bees fed four pesticides: acetamiprid (ACE), carbaryl (CB), imidacloprid (IMI), and fenitrothion (FEN). When nurses were exposed to ACE, IMI, and FEN, expression levels of task genes were up- and down-regulated, and their nursing behaviors were also suppressed and enhanced, respectively. CB did not alter the gene expression levels, however increased nursing behavior. These suggest the potential of pesticide that breaks the balance of labor distribution in honey bee colony.

Subunit vaccines are being developed as a potential therapy for preventing microbial pathogen infection. In this study, the immunogenicity of recombinant Brucella (B.) abortus Fe/Mn superoxide dismutase (rFe/Mn SOD) protein as a subunit vaccine against B. abortus was investigated in BALB/c mice model. Brucella Fe/Mn SOD gene was cloned into a pcold-TF DNA vector. The bacterial recombinant protein was expressed using the Escherichia coli DH5α strain with a size of 82.50 kDa. The western blotting assay showed that rFe/Mn SOD reacted with Brucella-positive serum, indicating the potential immunoreactivity of this recombinant protein. After the second and third vaccinations, the peripheral CD4+ T cell population was increased significantly in the rFe/Mn SOD-immunized mice group compared to the PBS control group. Moreover, immunization of this recombinant protein increased the CD4+ T cell population from the first vaccination to the third vaccination. Meanwhile, the CD8+ T cells were slightly enhanced after the second vaccination compared to the first vaccination and compared to control groups. Fourteen days after the bacterial infection, the splenomegaly and the number of bacteria in the spleen were evaluated. The result showed that both rFe/Mn SOD and positive control RB51 decreased the bacterial replication in the spleen and the splenomegaly compared to control groups. Altogether, these results suggested that rFe/Mn SOD could induce host immunity against B. abortus infection.

Racism has changed its form over the decades and has become more subtle and indirect than the blatant forms in the past (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2005; Sue et al., 2007; Sue, 2010; Tropp & Molina, 2012). As a result, it is becoming more difficult for minority groups to identify and call them out (Sue et al., 2007). Subtle racism can be detrimental to minority groups in that they can deteriorate performances and when accumulated, they can have negative consequences such as mental and physical health problems (Sue et al., 2007; Sue, 2010; Ong et al., 2013). Recognizing the issues regarding subtle racism, the research questions were the following: (1) Are there differences in the experience of indirect discrimination in a retail context between racial minorities and majorities?; (2) Do minorities use different strategies to solve these situations and why?; and (3) What are the consequences of subtle discrimination in the retail environment? To test the research questions, a total of 599 participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were randomly assigned to read either a racial microaggression scenario or a control scenario (a scanner unable to read a discount coupon) and they were asked to select why the incident happened to them. Further, they were asked to answer how they felt after reading the scenario and then respond to the outcome variables repatronage intention, word of mouth, and complaint intention. The findings of the study showed that Asians tend to attribute their racial identity as to why retail employees maltreated them. While Caucasians would simply state that an employee was busy or would not put much thought as to why a service failure occurred, Asians were more burdened by the thought that their race was an issue. After an employee showed subtle discriminations, Asians experienced less positive emotions than Caucasians, which resulted in them deciding to avoid the retail store. This may be due to their belief that they have less control over the situation and would rather not confront the employee or a manager on the issue. Implications and future research directions are discussed.