New Michigan State Record for a Sphecine Wasp, \u3ci\u3ePodium Rufipes\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Podium rufipes, previously unrecorded from Michigan, has been found occupy- ing trap nests in the southwestern lower peninsula

Parasitism of \u3ci\u3eAncistrocerus Antilope\u3c/i\u3e (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae) by Leucospis Affinis (Hymenoptera: Leucospididae)

The chalcid wasp Leucospis affinis has been known to parasitize only megachilid bees. Its rare occurrence as a parasite of the eumenid wasp Ancistrocerus antilope indicates that eumenid wasps may be a large resource this chalcid is not exploiting

Carnivory in Adult Female Eumenid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) and Its Effect on Egg Production

Seventy captive adult female wasps of the eumenid genera Ancistrocerus and Euodynerus were observed to feed on multiple prey items. It was shown experimentally that E. foraminatus females that fed on prey had significantly larger egg volumes than adult wasps deprived of prey

Methods for Artificial Rearing of Solitary Eumenid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)

Solitary eumenid wasps of the genera Ancistrocerus and Euodynerus can be reared in small cages. Laboratory-reared larvae of the spruce budworm caterpillars, Choristoneura fumiferana (Lepidoptera: Torlricidae) are suitable prey

Spin echo without an external permanent magnetic field

The spin echo techniques aim at the elimination of the effect of a random magnetic field on the spin evolution. These techniques conventionally utlize the application of a permanent field which is much stronger than the random one. The strong field, however, may also modify the magnetic response of the medium containing the spins, thus altering their ``natural'' dynamics. We suggest an iterative scheme for generating a sequence of pulses which create an echo without an external permanent field. The approximation to the ideal echo improves with the sequence length

Multiplicities in ultrarelativistic proton-(anti)proton collisions and negative binomial distribution fits

Likelihood ratio tests are performed for the hypothesis that charged-particle multiplicities measured in proton-(anti)proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9 and 2.36 TeV are distributed according to the negative binomial form. Results indicate that the hypothesis should be rejected in the all cases of ALICE-LHC measurements in the limited pseudo-rapidity windows, whereas should be accepted in the corresponding cases of UA5 data. Possible explanations of that and of the disagreement with the least-squares fitting method are given.Comment: 14 pages, clarified version, reference added. To appear in International Journal of Modern Physics

First- and second-time parents’ couple relationship: from pregnancy to second year postpartum

First- and second-time parents’ couple relationships were studied from early pregnancy to the second year postpartum. The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) was administered to Portuguese couples (N = 82), first- or second-time parents, at the first, second and third pregnancy trimester, childbirth, 3 and 18 months postpartum. Adverse changes in positive and negative partner relationship dimensions were reported from early pregnancy to the second year postpartum by all participants; in the same way by mothers and fathers and by first- and second-time parents. Second-time parents reported a worse couple relationship (lower RQ-positive scores) than first-time parents, but only during pregnancy. Results from the present study suggest a decline in partner relationship quality during the transition to parenthood both in mothers and fathers, as well as in first- and second-time parents.This research was supported by FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade – COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under the project [PTDC/SAU/ SAP/116738/2010]