Egg Production in the Boxelder Bug \u3ci\u3eBoisea Trivittata\u3c/i\u3e (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae)

Boxelder bug females emerged from overwintering sites in the spring and rapidly provisioned eggs with yolk materials. Five discrete egg stages were identified based on egg size, protein content, and degree of chorion sclerotization. Females did not accumulate yolk materials into the egg until after melanization was completed, as unmelanized animals rarely possessed even stage 2 eggs. All adult females entering overwintering sites possessed only immature stage eggs (stage 1 and 2). The rate of egg vitellogenesis in the spring was rapid; a major change in numbers of more mature stage eggs (stage 3 and above) in the ovary occurred within approximately 6 days. Most mating pairs recovered in the field (92%, 12/13) possessed ovaries full of eggs in stages 3, 4 or 5. The remaining female contained only immature eggs of stage 1 and 2. This finding indicates that fully provisioned ovaries are not an absolute requirement for mating to occur. The signals that initiate vitellogenesis and control the movement of materials from fat body into eggs are unknown for the boxelder bug

Wigner Distribution Functions as a Tool for Studying Gas Phase Alkali Metal Plus Noble Gas Collisions

Wave packet propagation methods are used to compute scattering Wigner Distribution Functions (WDF) for the square well potential, square barrier potential, and the H+H2 and OH+CO, and several M+Ng collisions. The scattering WDF are used to interpret how probabilities flow among various potential energy surfaces as a function of time during a collision. Positive values of the scattering WDF correspond to the addition of probability to scatter into the state that corresponds to the asymptotic limit of the potential energy surface of interest. Negative values correspond to the loss of probability to scatter into the state that corresponds to the asymptotic limit of the surface of interest, and zero values correspond to probability associated with the wave packet that is still in the interaction region. The loss of probability on one surface corresponds to the addition of probability on another surface at different times. Bands of oscillating peaks and valleys that form in the structure of the scattering WDF correspond to presence of secondary transmission or reflection with significant probability. The square well frequencies at which probability arrive in a scattering channel corresponds to the depth and width of the well. Scattering WDF were computed for the following combinations: K+He, K+Ne, K+Ar, Rb+He, Rb+Ne, Rb+Ar, Cs+Ne, and Cs+Ar. The scattering WDF revealed that as the mass of the noble gas increased, a significant proportion of probability was transferred from the 2P3/2 pump state to the 2P1/2 lasing state for a larger number of total angular momentum values. Similarily, as the mass of the alkali metal decreased, there was a reduced transfer of probability to make a transition from the 2P3/2 state to the 2P1/2 state. The reduced probability to make a transition from the 2P3/2 to the 2P1/2 manifolds for the M+He collisions is compensated by the large average velocity of He

Stakeholder Participation in Watershed Management: An Evaluation of the Jordan Lake Stakeholder Project

The Jordan Lake Stakeholder Project (JLSP) was convened by the NC Department of Water Quality (DWQ) to gather public input in response to high levels of nutrients found in Jordan Lake, a reservoir in the central piedmont of North Carolina. The DWQ is a frequent convener of such time- and resource-intensive projects, yet lacks methods for evaluating their successes and benefits. By assessing public involvement in terms of substantive and procedural factors and practical outcomes, I evaluated the success of the JLSP. This evaluation template can be used by environmental regulators to guide future collaborative processes in watershed management

Janis-Newman-Winicour and Wyman solutions are the same

We show that the well-known most general static and spherically symmetric exact solution to the Einstein-massless scalar equations given by Wyman is the same as one found by Janis, Newman and Winicour several years ago. We obtain the energy associated with this spacetime and find that the total energy for the case of the purely scalar field is zero.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex, no figures, misprints corrected, to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Efficacy of a self-help manual in increasing resilience in carers of adults with depression in Thailand

Caring for a person with a mental illness can have adverse effects on caregivers; however, little is known about how best to help such caregivers. The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of a cognitive behaviour therapy-guided self-help manual in increasing resilience in caregivers of individuals with depression, in comparison to caregivers who receive routine support only. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted, following CONSORT guidelines, with 54 caregivers allocated to parallel intervention (self-help manual) (n = 27) or control (standard support) (n = 27) groups. Resilience was assessed at baseline, post-test (week 8), and follow up (week 12). Intention-to-treat analyses were undertaken. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated a significant difference in resilience scores between the three time points, showing a large effect. Pairwise comparisons between intervention and control groups indicated resilience to be significantly different between baseline and post-test, and between baseline and follow up, but not between post-test and follow up. Overall, the intervention group showed a slightly greater increase in resilience over time than the control group; however, the time–group interaction was not significant. Guided self-help is helpful in improving caregivers’ resilience and could be used as an adjunct to the limited support provided to carers by mental health nurses and other clinicians