Siphoderina hustoni n. sp. (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda: Cryptogonimidae) from the Maori snapper Lutjanus rivulatus (Cuvier) on the Great Barrier Reef

A new cryptogonimid trematode, Siphoderina hustoni n. sp., is reported, collected off Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia, from the Maori snapper Lutjanus rivulatus (Cuvier). The new species is moderately distinctive within the genus. It is larger and more elongate than most other species of Siphoderina Manter, 1934, has the shortest forebody of any, a relatively large ventral sucker, a long post-testicular zone, and is perhaps most recognisable for the substantial space in the midbody between the ventral sucker and ovary devoid of uterine coils and vitelline follicles, the former being restricted to largely posterior to the ovary and the latter distributed from the level of the anterior testis to the level of the ovary. In phylogenetic analyses of 28S ribosomal DNA, the new species resolved with the other nine species of Siphoderina for which sequence data are available, all of which are from Queensland waters and from lutjanid and haemulid fishes. Molecular barcode data were also generated, for the ITS2 ribosomal DNA and cox1 mitochondrial DNA markers. The new species is the first cryptogonimid known from L. rivulatus and the first metazoan parasite reported from that fish in Australian waters

Cosmological diagrammatic rules

A simple set of diagrammatic rules is formulated for perturbative evaluation of ``in-in" correlators, as is needed in cosmology and other nonequilibrium problems. These rules are both intuitive, and efficient for calculational purposes.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Linking the trans-Planckian and the information loss problems in black hole physics

The trans-Planckian and information loss problems are usually discussed in the literature as separate issues concerning the nature of Hawking radiation. Here we instead argue that they are intimately linked, and can be understood as "two sides of the same coin" once it is accepted that general relativity is an effective field theory.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Replaced with the version to be published in General Relativity and Gravitatio

A new microbothriid monogenean Dermopristis pterophilus n. sp. from the skin of the Critically Endangered green sawfish Pristis zijsron Bleeker, 1851 (Batoidea: Pristidae) in Western Australia

A new microbothriid monogenean Dermopristis pterophilus n. sp. is described from the skin of the Critically Endangered green sawfish Pristis zijsron Bleeker, 1851 in the Ashburton River delta, northern Western Australia. Analyses of the 28S ribosomal DNA marker and the molecular barcoding markers Histone 3 and Elongation Factor 1 α confirmed position among the Microbothriidae, with close affinity to the only other sequenced representative of Dermopristis Kearn, Whittington and Evans-Groing, 2010. The new species is morphologically consistent with the concept of Dermopristis; it has two testes, lacks a male copulatory organ and has a simple haptor. It is smaller than its two congeners D. paradoxus Kearn, Whittington and Evans-Gowing, 2010 and D. cairae Whittington and Kearn, 2011 and is most similar to the former, distinguished only in that it lacks the strong, transverse, parallel ridges on the ventral body surface that characterise that species. It is more easily distinguished from D. cairae, differing in body shape, possession of a seminal receptacle, and relative position and size of the haptor. It may further differ from both species by fine details of the gut diverticula, although these details are difficult to ascertain. Spermatophores were observed in the new species, similar to those previously reported for D. cairae. The new species exhibits site attachment preference: infections were greatest on and immediately adjacent to the host pelvic fins (including male reproductive organs, i.e. claspers), moderate in proximity to the dorsal and pectoral fins, few on the caudal fin and peduncle, and infrequently, isolated worms occurred elsewhere on the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body. There was no incidence of infection on the head (including rostrum). We presume D. pterophilus is restricted to P. zijsron and thus likely faces the same threat of extinction

The Kramers-Moyal Equation of the Cosmological Comoving Curvature Perturbation

Fluctuations of the comoving curvature perturbation with wavelengths larger than the horizon length are governed by a Langevin equation whose stochastic noise arise from the quantum fluctuations that are assumed to become classical at horizon crossing. The infrared part of the curvature perturbation performs a random walk under the action of the stochastic noise and, at the same time, it suffers a classical force caused by its self-interaction. By a path-interal approach and, alternatively, by the standard procedure in random walk analysis of adiabatic elimination of fast variables, we derive the corresponding Kramers-Moyal equation which describes how the probability distribution of the comoving curvature perturbation at a given spatial point evolves in time and is a generalization of the Fokker-Planck equation. This approach offers an alternative way to study the late time behaviour of the correlators of the curvature perturbation from infrared effects.Comment: 27 page

Semiclassical relations and IR effects in de Sitter and slow-roll space-times

We calculate IR divergent graviton one-loop corrections to scalar correlators in de Sitter space, and show that the leading IR contribution may be reproduced via simple semiclassical consistency relations. One can likewise use such semiclassical relations to calculate leading IR corrections to correlators in slow-roll inflation. The regulated corrections shift the tensor/scalar ratio and consistency relation of single field inflation, and non-gaussianity parameters averaged over very large distances. For inflation of sufficient duration, for example arising from a chaotic inflationary scenario, these corrections become of order unity. First-order corrections of this size indicate a breakdown of the perturbative expansion, and suggest the need for a non-perturbative description of the corresponding regime. This is analogous to a situation argued to arise in black hole evolution, and to interfere with a sharp perturbative calculation of "missing information" in Hawking radiation.Comment: 32 pages, 2 figures; v2: running of spectral index included and other minor changes; v3: minor changes to agree with published versio

Irish athletes’ attitudes towards seeking sport psychology consultation

The aim of this study was to replicate previous research examining attitudes to sport psychology consultation conducted in the United States, Germany, and United Kingdom (Martin, Lavallee, Kellmann & Page, 2004), and New Zealand (Anderson, Hodge, Lavallee, & Martin, 2004). The study employed the Sport Psychology Attitudes-Revised (SPA-R) questionnaire (Martin, Kellman, Lavallee & Page, 2002) in order to develop an understanding of the attitudes elite Irish athletes (N=240) hold toward sport psychology and also compare these attitudes with those found in other countries. Irish athletes in this study reported a generally positive attitude toward sport psychology provision overall, and also were identified as being open to receiving sport psychology assistance, reported moderately high levels of confidence in sport psychology, and indicated the lack of accessibility and availability to these services as distinguishing factors. Comparison of results with athletes from other countries suggested that positive attitudes toward sport psychology may be based on factors not directly associated with personal experiences of sport psychology. As the provision of sport psychology increases, practitioners need to better understand athletes' attitudes toward sport psychology so they can tailor their services to best meet the needs of athletes. In order to do this, further research related to cultural and national differences is required

Structure and Magnetization of Two-Dimensional Vortex Arrays in the Presence of Periodic Pinning

Ground-state properties of a two-dimensional system of superconducting vortices in the presence of a periodic array of strong pinning centers are studied analytically and numerically. The ground states of the vortex system at different filling ratios are found using a simple geometric argument under the assumption that the penetration depth is much smaller than the spacing of the pin lattice. The results of this calculation are confirmed by numerical studies in which simulated annealing is used to locate the ground states of the vortex system. The zero-temperature equilibrium magnetization as a function of the applied field is obtained by numerically calculating the energy of the ground state for a large number of closely spaced filling ratios. The results show interesting commensurability effects such as plateaus in the B-H diagram at simple fractional filling ratios.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figures, submitted for publicatio

Close temporal coupling of neuronal activity and tissue oxygen responses in rodent whisker barrel cortex

Neuronal activity elicits metabolic and vascular responses, during which oxygen is first consumed and then supplied to the tissue via an increase in cerebral blood flow. Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of blood and tissue oxygen (To(2)) responses following neuronal activity is crucial for understanding the physiological basis of functional neuroimaging signals. However, our knowledge is limited because previous To(2) measurements have been made at low temporal resolution (>100 ms). Here we recorded To(2) at high temporal resolution (1 ms), simultaneously with co-localized field potentials, at several cortical depths from the whisker region of the somatosensory cortex in anaesthetized rats and mice. Stimulation of the whiskers produced rapid, laminar-specific changes in To(2). Positive To(2) responses (i.e. increases) were observed in the superficial layers within 50 ms of stimulus onset, faster than previously reported. Negative To(2) responses (i.e. decreases) were observed in the deeper layers, with maximal amplitude in layer IV, within 40 ms of stimulus onset. The amplitude of the negative, but not the positive, To(2) response correlated with local field potential amplitude. Disruption of neurovascular coupling, via nitric oxide synthase inhibition, abolished positive To(2) responses to whisker stimulation in the superficial layers and increased negative To(2) responses in all layers. Our data show that To(2) responses occur rapidly following neuronal activity and are laminar dependent