Discretionarily Enhanced Sentences Based Upon Suspected Perjury at Trial

A judge\u27s discretion is a vital aspect of our judicial system. However, a judge must be cognizant of the impact that his decisions and his beliefs have upon a defendant\u27s constitutional rights. This note addresses the concern of judges enhancing sentencing of defendants convicted of a crime because the judges feel that at trial, the defendant may have committed perjury. Ultimately, it is important that the defendant not be penalized without a proper trial or proceeding to determine whether or not perjury actually occurred. In doing so, rights are protected and justice is served

Barbara Wetterer to Mr. Meredith (27 September 1962)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mercorr_pro/1271/thumbnail.jp

Can We Influence How Students View Physics?

Using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey Assessment and student interviews, we examine changes in introductory physics student’s beliefs towards physics in general and toward reasoning and consistency checks when problem solving in particular.We present our results in relationship to previously done assessments and both what our results say about influencing student’s beliefs on physics and the reasoning behind student responses

First North American Records of the Old-World Tramp Ant Syllophopsis sechellensis(Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Syllophopsis  sechellensis  (Emery)  (formerly  Monomorium  sechellense) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a small, inconspicuous ant species native to the Old-World tropics. Syllophopsis sechellensis is widespread in Asia and Australia, and on islands the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. In the New  World,  all  published  records  come  from  West  Indian  islands.  Here,  I report the first records of S. sechellensis from North America: from four sites in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Florida, more than 1500 km from the closest records in the West Indies. The ants of Florida have been well-studied in the past, so S. sechellensis appears to be a recent arrival

Long-term impact of exotic ants on the native ants of Madeira

1. The earliest exotic records for two notorious invasive ants, the big-headed ant ( Pheidole megacephala ) and the Argentine ant ( Linepithema humile ), both come from the Atlantic islands of Madeira, where the two species underwent population explosions in the 1850s and 1890s respectively. Researchers have long assumed that these invaders spread across all of Madeira and exterminated most or all native ants, despite no research actually documenting such impact. 2. Re-examination of first-hand nineteenth century accounts suggest that P. megacephala and L. humile may never have spread beyond coastal lowland areas, representing < 10% of Madeira’s land area. In 2002, native ants dominated most of Madeira; P. megacephala and L. humile were restricted to ≈ 0.3% and ≈ 6% of Madeira’s land area respectively. 3. Of the 10 native ant species known from Madeira, only one ( Temnothorax wollastoni ) was not present in 1999 – 2002 surveys. Although exotic ants may have exterminated T. wollastoni , it seems likely that this species still survives. 4. Thus, even after 150 or more years of residence, P. megacephala and L. humile have come to occupy only a small part of Madeira, and appear to have had little impact. 5. Most of Madeira may be too cool for P. megacephala and perhaps too moist for L. humile to dominate. Also, Madeira’s vast natural areas may generally lack weedy vegetation that can support high densities of plant-feeding Hemiptera critical for the ecological dominance of invasive ants. Finally, a dominant native ant, Lasius grandis , inhabiting ≈ 84% of Madeira, may actively exclude P. megacephala and L. humileinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exotic spread of Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) beyond North America

The South America fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren arrived in Mobile, Alabama by ship sometime before 1945. Since then, S. invicta has spread in North America across the southern US and northeastern Mexico. More recently, it has invaded the West Indies and parts of the Old World. Here, I examine this more recent exotic spread of S. invictabeyond North America, reporting new West Indian records and questioning some Asian records. In 1981, S. invicta was first found in the West Indies, on Puerto Rico. With my new records from Vieques, Aruba, and Jamaica, S. invicta is now known from 28 West Indian islands. In 2001, the first Old World populations of S. invicta were discovered in New Zealand and Australia. Nascent populations of S. invicta in New Zealand have been exterminated and Australia populations have been kept in check through intensive control efforts. Populations of S. invicta in Taiwan and China first found in 2003-2004, however, have spread broadly. Published reports of S. invicta from Malaysia and Singapore were based on misidentifications, presumably of the more widespread Neotropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius). Reports of S. invicta from India and the Philippines seem questionable and need confirmation. Where S. invicta has invaded, it has displaced S. geminata in open habitats, leaving remnant S. geminata populations, primarily in forested areas. In working to limit the spread and impacts of fire ants, it will be important to differentiate among the species, and recognize their similarities and their differences

Worldwide Spread of the Moorish sneaking Ant, Cardiocondyla mauritanica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cardiocondyla spp. are small, inconspicuous ants, native to the Old World. Until recently, Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1890 was a little known species recorded almost exclusively from the semi-arid subtropics of North Africa, the Middle East, and neighboring islands. In contrast, Cardiocondyla nuda Mayr, 1866 was considered a cosmopolitan tramp species, spread broadly around the world through human commerce. A recent taxonomic reanalysis by B. Seifert, however, found genuine C. nuda restricted to Australia, New Guinea, and Western Oceania, and that published records of ‘C. nuda’ from outside this region were based on misidentifications of other species, notably C. mauritanica. In addition, Cardiocondyla ectopia, known from North America, was found to be a junior synonym of C. mauritanica. Here, I examine theworldwide spread of C. mauritanica. I compiled published and unpublished C. mauritanica specimen records from &gt;250 sites, documenting the earliest known records for 47 geographic areas (countries, island groups, major islands, and US states), including several for which I found no previously published records: Barbados, Bonaire, Curaçao, Grenada, Saba, and Saudi Arabia. Cardiocondyla mauritanica is found primarily in semi-arid and urban environments. Cardiocondyla mauritanica shows an apparently continuous distribution and geographic variation in morphology from northwest Africa to India suggesting that C. mauritanica is native throughout this subtropical expanse. Old World records of C. mauritanica far from this range come from Ascension, Zimbabwe, and several Indo-Pacific islands. The sole temperate record of C. mauritanica comes from Ukraine. Cardiocondyla mauritanica was first found in the New World in 1967, and has spread through the southwestern US, northern Mexico, Florida, and the West Indies. Part of the success of C. mauritanica in exotic locales may relate to its ability to co-exist with dominant invasive ants, such as the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868)

Geographic Spread of Solenopsis globularia (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

            Several species of Solenopsis have spread beyond their native ranges and have become exotic pests, most notably Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) and Solenopsis invicta Buren. Here, I examine the geographic spread of a smaller, less conspicuous Solenopsis species, Solenopsis globularia (Smith). I compiled S. globularia specimen records from &gt;700 sites. I documented the earliest known S. globularia records for 59 geographic areas (countries, US states, and major West Indian islands), including many for which I found no previously published records: Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Barbuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Congo, Curaçao, Dominica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Martin, San Andrés Island, Senegal, Tobago, and Trinidad. Solenopsis globularia has a broad distribution in the New World, from Corrientes, Argentina (28.4°S) in the south to Craven County, North Carolina (35.1°N) in the north. Most S. globularia records came from islands. It is unclear whether S. globularia is native throughout its New World range. For example, it is possible that this species is exotic to the Galapagos Islands. All populations of S. globularia outside the New World are probably exotic, introduced through human commerce, including populations on Atlantic islands (Ascension, Cabo Verde, St Helena), Pacific islands (Hawaii, French Polynesia, Philippines), and Africa (Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal). On the Cabo Verde islands, off the coast of West Africa, S. globularia is extremely widespread on all nine inhabited islands. Records from nine diverse sites in Ivory Coast indicates that S. globularia is well able to spread in continental Africa as well

Geographic range of Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) is a widespread and conspicuous New World ponerine ant (subfamily Ponerinae). To examine the geographic distribution of P. harpax, I compiled and mapped published and unpublished specimen records from &gt;1500 sites. I documented the earliest known P. harpax records for 28 geographic areas (countries, West Indian islands, and US states), including four for which I found no previously published records: the islands of Guadeloupe, Margarita, and Tobago and the US state of Georgia. Pachycondyla harpax has been recorded from every country in South and Central America except Chile and Uruguay. Pachycondyla harpax is also now known from six West Indian islands: Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Margarita, Trinidad, and Tobago. The known continental range of P. harpax appears to be essentially continuous, extending from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the south (31.8°S) to Wood County, Texas in the north (32.8°N), including the continental islands of Margarita, Tobago, and Trinidad. Isolated island populations of P. harpax on Grenada, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica may be exotic, introduced through human commerce. In the US, it is unclear why P. harpax populations are only known from Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia, when there would appear to be suitable habitat for this species all along the Gulf coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.