The Leucocytozoidae of South African birds. The Muscicapidae sensu latu

The leucocytozoids of the Muscicapidae sensu latu are reviewed and Leucocytozoon phylbscopus of the Sylviinae, L. liothricis of the Timaliinae, L. dubreuili, L. mcclurei and L. shaartusicum of the Turdinae are redescribed. Leucocytozoon francai, L. gbvannolia and L. mirandae are declared synonyms of L. dubreuili. Leucocytozoon timaliae n. sp. is described from a South African babbler

First African record of Leucocytozoon tawaki (Apicomplexa: Leucocytozoidae) from the Jackass Penguin Spheniscus demersus

The occurrence of Leucocytozoon tawaki is recorded from blood smears of the jackass penguin Spheniscus demersus taken along the South African coast. Illese records represent both the first African specimens of this parasite as well as the first records since its description from the Fiordland crested penguin Eudyptes pachyrhynchus in New Zealand in 1976

The haemoproteids of the shrikes of the avian family Laniidae (Passeriformes)

The two haemoproteids parasitizing members of the avian family Laniidae are reviewed. Haemoproteus lanii de Mello, 1937 is re-described and a neohapantotype designated; H. lanii var. nucleophilus Helmy Mohammed, 1958 is considered to be the same as H. lanii and therefore the varietal (= subspecific) designation is suppressed; it is confirmed that H. lanuidae Yakunin, 1976 is declared a nomen nudum; Haemoproteus cublae Peirce, 1984 is re-described

The Leucocytozoidae of South African birds. The Coliiformes and Coraciiformes

The leucocytozoids of the avian orders Coliiformes and Coraciiformes are reviewed. Leucocytozoon colius of the Coliidae, L. alcedinis and L. dacelo of the Alcedinidae and L. bucerotis of the Bucerotidae are described as new species. Leucocytozoon eurystomi, L. nyctyornis and L. communis of the Coraciidae, Meropidae and Upupidae respectively are redescribed. Leucocytozoon coraciae, L. francae, L. leitaoi and L. melloi are declared synonyms of L. eurystomi. Leucocytozoon apiaster of the Meropidae and L. musajevi of the Coraciidae have previously been declared nomina nuda

Babesia peircei sp. nov. from the jackass penguin

An avian piroplasm, Babesia peircei sp. nov. is described from the jackass penguin Spheniscus demersus. Morphological differences between Babesia peircei sp. nov. and the other valid Babesia spp. are discussed together with the possible vectors

Neutrino-induced lepton flavor violation in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking

Gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking is known to greatly suppress flavor changing neutral current effects. However, we show that gauge mediation in the context of leptogenesis implies potentially large lepton flavor violating signals. If the heavy right-handed neutrinos that participate in leptogenesis are lighter than the messenger scale of gauge mediation, they will induce flavor off-diagonal masses to the sleptons which in turn can induce large effects in mu to e gamma, tau to mu gamma, and mu-e conversion in nuclei. We demonstrate this result and compute numerically the lepton-flavor violating decay and conversion rates in scenarios of direct gauge mediation.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Detecting a stochastic background of gravitational radiation: Signal processing strategies and sensitivities

We analyze the signal processing required for the optimal detection of a stochastic background of gravitational radiation using laser interferometric detectors. Starting with basic assumptions about the statistical properties of a stochastic gravity-wave background, we derive expressions for the optimal filter function and signal-to-noise ratio for the cross-correlation of the outputs of two gravity-wave detectors. Sensitivity levels required for detection are then calculated. Issues related to: (i) calculating the signal-to-noise ratio for arbitrarily large stochastic backgrounds, (ii) performing the data analysis in the presence of nonstationary detector noise, (iii) combining data from multiple detector pairs to increase the sensitivity of a stochastic background search, (iv) correlating the outputs of 4 or more detectors, and (v) allowing for the possibility of correlated noise in the outputs of two detectors are discussed. We briefly describe a computer simulation which mimics the generation and detection of a simulated stochastic gravity-wave signal in the presence of simulated detector noise. Numerous graphs and tables of numerical data for the five major interferometers (LIGO-WA, LIGO-LA, VIRGO, GEO-600, and TAMA-300) are also given. The treatment given in this paper should be accessible to both theorists involved in data analysis and experimentalists involved in detector design and data acquisition.Comment: 81 pages, 30 postscript figures, REVTE

The Leucocytozoidae of South African birds : Passeriformes

The leucocytozoids of ten families of Passeriformes - Estrildidae, Fringillidae, Laniidae, Nectariniidae, Passeridae, Ploceidae, Promeropidae, Pycnonotidae, Sturnidae and Zosteropidae-are reviewed. Leucocytozoon roubaudi from the Estrildidae, L. fringillinarum from the Fringillidae, L. balmorali from the Laniidae, L. gentili from the Passeridae, L. bouffardi from the Ploceidae, L. brimonti from the Pycnonotidae and L. zosteropis from the Zosteropidae are re-described. Leucocytozoon dutoiti, L. nectariniae, L. deswardti, L. pycnonoti and L. sturni are new species described from the Fringillidae (Carduelinae), Nectariniidae, Promeropidae, Pycnonotidae and Sturnidae respectively while L. monardi is considered to be a synonym of L. gentili and L. molpastis is considered to be a synonym of L. brimonti.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Foundation for Research Development of the Republic of South Africa.mn201

The Leucocytozoidae of South African birds: Caprimulgidae, Columbidae, Gruidae and Spheniscidae

Four species of Leucocytozoon, L. caprimulgi of the Caprimulgidae (nightjars), L. marchouxi of the Columbidae (pigeons and doves), L. grusi of the Gruidae (cranes) and L. tawaki of the Spheniscidae (penguins) are re-described. Leucocytozoon turtur is declared a synonym of L. marchouxi.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Foundation for Research Development of the Republic of South Africa.mn201

Gluino Decays in Split Supersymmetry

We compute the gluino lifetime and branching ratios in Split Supersymmetry. Using an effective-theory approach, we resum the large logarithmic corrections controlled by the strong gauge coupling and the top Yukawa coupling. We find that the resummation of the radiative corrections has a sizeable numerical impact on the gluino decay width and branching ratios. Finally, we discuss the gluino decays into gravitino, relevant in models with direct mediation of supersymmetry breaking.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure