An Analysis of the Economic Consequences of Modifying the Property Tax on Motor Vehicles in Georgia: Alternative Proposals and Revenue Effects

An analysis of revenue effects and distribution consequences on eliminating tax on motor vehicles

The Neural Encoding of Cocaine-Induced Devaluation in The Ventral Pallidum

Cocaine experience affects motivation structures such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and its major output target, the ventral pallidum (VP). Previous studies demonstrated that both NAc activity and hedonic responses change reliably as a taste cue comes to predict cocaine availability. Here we extended this investigation to examine drug-experience induced changes in hedonic encoding in the VP. VP activity was first characterized in adult male Sprague–Dawley rats in response to intraoral infusions of palatable saccharin and unpalatable quinine solutions. Next, rats received 7 daily pairings of saccharin that predicted either a cocaine (20 mg/kg, ip) or saline injection. Finally, the responses to saccharin and quinine were again assessed. Of 109 units recorded in 11 rats that received saccharin–cocaine pairings, 71% of responsive units significantly reduced firing rate during saccharin infusions and 64% increased firing rate during quinine exposure. However, as saccharin came to predict cocaine, and elicited aversive taste reactivity, VP responses changed to resemble quinine. After conditioning, 70% of saccharin-responsive units increased firing rate. Most units that encoded the palatable taste (predominantly reduced firing rate) were located in the anterior VP, while most units that were responsive to aversive tastes were located in the posterior VP. This study reveals an anatomical complexity to the nature of hedonic encoding in the VP

\u3ci\u3eUrophora Quadrifasciata\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Tephritidae), An Introduced Seedhead Fly New to Midwestern North America

The Old World tephritid Urophora quadrifasciata, a gall-inducing seed- head fly, was released in western and eastern North America for the biological control of knapweeds, Centaurea spp. (Asteraceae). Its establishment in the West (BC, CA, ID, MT, OR, WA) and in the East (CT, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV) has been previously reported. Collections from eastern Minnesota and western Michigan in 1995 are the first for the Northcentral region of North America

Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Scutelleridae) Associated With the Dioecious Shrub Florida Rosemary, \u3ci\u3eCeratiola Ericoides\u3c/i\u3e (Ericaceae)

Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides), an ericaceous shrub with needlelike leaves, is characteristic of Florida scrubs and certain other xeric plant communities of well-drained sands. The plant is dioecious, its inconspicuous male and female flowers borne on separate individuals. From 2003 to 2012 (mainly 2007–2012), rosemary was sampled periodically (with all months included at least once during the period) in sand ridges of peninsular Florida and two riverine dunes in southeastern Georgia. Branches of male and female plants were tapped separately into a beating net. Sampling during the final three years was female-plant-biased to facilitate work on fruit- and seed-feeding heteropterans. Nymphs and adults of three pentatomoid species were found on C. ericoides: the pentatomid Thyanta custator custator (F.) and scutellerids Diolcus chrysorrhoeus (F.) and Homaemus proteus Stål. Only T. c. custator was taken in both states, occurring at 19 sites (19 nymphs, 53 adults); D. chrysorrhoeus was found in Florida at 16 sites (9 nymphs, 165 adults). The collection of T. c. custator and D. chrysorrhoeus from female rosemary plants essentially throughout the sampling period, including nymphs, exuviae, and mating pairs, coupled with their near absence from male plants, suggests that the bugs are not incidental on rosemary but feed on its fruits. Whether either species completes its life cycle on rosemary is unknown. Three nymphs and eight adults of the little-known H. proteus were collected from female rosemary plants at four sites, but the scutellerid’s relationship to C. ericoides remains to be determined. Briefly noted is the collection of the pentatomid Euschistus obscurus (Palisot de Beauvois) and scutellerid Stethaulax marmoratus (Say), whose adults were collected infrequently on female rosemary plants in Florida

Holarctic Insects Adventive in Michigan: New and Additional Records (Homoptera, Heteroptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera)

Fourteen European insects in the Homoptera (4 species), Heteroptera (5), Coleoptera (4), and Neuroptera (1) are reported from Michigan. Ten are new state records (one new Ohio record is given). The point of entry for most of the species is assumed to be the northeastern United States or Maritime Provinces of Canada. Possibilities of dispersal (natural and human-assisted) from centers of introduction in the Northeast, multiple introductions from Europe, and direct entry into the Great Lakes region are discussed

Late Lilac, \u3ci\u3eSyringa Villosa\u3c/i\u3e: New Host of the Lace Bug \u3ci\u3eLeptoypha Mutica\u3c/i\u3e (Heteroptera: Tingidae)

The lace bug Leptoypha mutica, a specialist on trees and shrubs of the Oleaceae, feeds mainly on ash, Fraxinus spp., and fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus. In July 1987 and 1988, nymphs and adults were observed on late lilac, Syringa villosa, in a landscape planting in northwestern Pennsylvania. Infested leaves showed chlorotic blotches, the damage concentrated around midribs and lateral veins. This is the first report of lilac serving as a host for a North American tingid

\u3ci\u3eSlaterobius Insignis\u3c/i\u3e (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae): Association With Granite Ledges and Outcrops in Minnesota

Adults and late-instar nymphs of the wide-ranging myrmecomorphic lygaeid Slaterobius insignis were collected in northern Minnesota from cracks of granite outcrops and ledges, a habitat differing somewhat from that reported elsewhere. At two of the four sites, S. insignis was observed in plant-and litter-filled cracks with nymphs of the lygaeid Trapezonotus arenarius. All adults of the polymorphic S. insignis observed on granite were brachypters that belonged to the dark color morph of the species. Individuals occurred on rock surfaces with a black ant, Formica subsericea, which they resembled in appearance and behavior

The Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera) of Northeastern North America with Emphasis on the Fauna of Illinois. J. E. McPherson. 240 pages. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1982. $30.00.

(excerpt) Among the most conspicuous of the true bugs are the pentatomoid Hemiptera, stink bugs and their relatives, many of which are large, or moderately so, and brightly colored. Unwary berry pickers probably can recount an unpleasant experience with fruit tainted by the noisome odor of a stink bug, and the characteristic, barrel-shaped eggs of most Pentatomidae, often ornate and arranged in neat rows, have evoked the wonderment of naturalists and prompted numerous technical descriptions from entomologists. Contributing to the importance of this group are the crop losses inflicted by certain plant-feeding species and the destruction of insect pests by predatory stink bugs (Asopinae)

Hawthorn Lace Bug (Hemiptera: Tingidae), First Record of Injury to Roses, with a Review of Host Plants

Hawthorn lace bug, Coryrhucha cydoniae (Fitch), is reported for the first time as damag- ing roses. Injury to climbing and hybrid Tea roses is described, and a list of known host plants is provided based on observations in Pennsylvania and review of literature. Preferred hosts are native and cultivated species of Amelanchier and Craraegus and ornamental Cotoneasrer and Pyracanrha. Damage to crabapple. fruit trees, mountain ash. and other rosaceous plants may occur when they are grown near more favored hosts

Introducing the black hole

The quasi-stellar object, the pulsar, the neutron star have all come onto the scene of physics within the space of a few years. Is the next entrant destined to be the black hole? If so, it is difficult to think of any development that could be of greater significance. A black hole, whether of “ordinary size” (approximately one solar mass, 1 M⊙) or much larger (around 10^6 M⊙ to 10^10 M⊙, as proposed in the nuclei of some galaxies), provides our “laboratory model” for the gravitational collapse, predicted by Einstein's theory, of the universe itself