A few new Western Australian earthworms (Oligochaeta: Megadrilacea: Megascolecidae sensu Blakemore, 2000)

Earthworm samples, apparently collected in the 1980’s from the northern Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forests of Western Australian and deposited in the London Natural History Museum, were studied. Due to limited time and budget only a few of the hundred samples were inspected. Description of just five new taxa are reported here

Contralateral manual compensation for velocity-dependent force perturbations

It is not yet clear how the temporal structure of a voluntary action is coded allowing coordinated bimanual responses. This study focuses on the adaptation to and compensation for a force profile presented to one stationary arm which is proportional to the velocity of the other moving arm. We hypothesised that subjects would exhibit predictive coordinative responses which would co-vary with the state of the moving arm. Our null hypothesis is that they develop a time-dependent template of forces appropriate to compensate for the imposed perturbation. Subjects were trained to make 500 ms duration reaching movements with their dominant right arm to a visual target. A force generated with a robotic arm that was proportional to the velocity of the moving arm and perpendicular to movement direction acted on their stationary left hand, either at the same time as the movement or delayed by 250 or 500 ms. Subjects rapidly learnt to minimise the final end-point error. In the delay conditions, the left hand moved in advance of the onset of the perturbing force. In test conditions with faster or slower movement of the right hand, the predictive actions of the left hand co-varied with movement speed. Compensation for movement-related forces appeared to be predictive but not based on an accurate force profile that was equal and opposite to the imposed perturbatio

Miscellaneous earthworm types in the Natural History Museum, London (Annelida: Oligochaeta: Megadrilacea: Eudrilidae, Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae, Moniligastridae, Octochaetidae)

Recently restored Lumbricus terrestris Linnaeus, 1758 neotype (NHM Register No. 1973.1.1) is described in greater detail. A lectotype is designated for Amynthas morrisi (Beddard, 1892) and an informal A. morrisi clonal speciescomplex is proposed. Once combined under A. gracilis (Kinberg, 1867), the nominal taxon is revised since its restoration and representation of A. morrisi species-group sensu Sims & Easton (1972), now unwieldy with forty or so members. A restricted A. morrisi sensu stricto is proposed with re-evaluation of its erstwhile synonyms based on types. Limited DNA COI barcode comparisons are appended. A lectotype for A. barbadensis (Beddard, 1892) now becomes a junior synonym of Amynthas gracilis removing it from nomenclatural consideration. Lectotypes of contenders, A. mauritianus (Beddard, 1892) itself closer to A. gracilis, and A. insulae (Beddard, 1896) appear separate from A. morrisi. Next, A. pallidus (Michaelsen, 1892) is restored with retention of some of its synonyms, but A. loveridgei (Gates, 1968) syntype is maintained. An exotic species from Queensland, Australia is a new member of A. morrisi species-group described as Amynthas talus sp. nov. Taxonomic ‘housekeeping’ of Queensland taxa requires re-allocation of Terrisswalkerius leichhardti Jamieson, McDonald et James, 2013 to prior Perionychella Michaelsen, 1907. New Zealand’s possibly extinct Tokea? orthostichon (Schmarda, 1861) and imperfectly known Anisochaeta antarctica (Baird, 1871) are revised in new combinations with slight revision of the genus Tokea Benham, 1904. Samples labelled as Hamburg syntypes of Japanese Metaphire hilgendorfi (Michaelsen, 1892) are briefly noted as are various other megadriles, such as divers pheretimoids and lumbricids, some also on loan, in the Museum’s collection

Darwin’s earthworms (Annelida, Oligochaeta, Megadrilacea) with review of cosmopolitan Metaphire peguana–species group from Philippines.

A chance visit to Darwin allowed inspection of and addition to Northern Territory (NT) Museum’s earthworm collection. Native Diplotrema zicsii sp. nov. from Alligator River, Kakadu NP is described. Town samples were dominated by cosmopolitan exotic Metaphire bahli (Gates, 1945) herein keyed and compared morpho-molecularly with M. peguana (Rosa, 1890) requiring revision of allied species including Filipino Pheretima philippina (Rosa, 1891), P. p. lipa and P. p. victorias sub-spp. nov. A new P. philippina-group now replaces the dubia-group of Sims & Easton, 1972 and Amynthas carinensis (Rosa, 1890) further replaces their sieboldi-group. Lumbricid Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) and Glossoscolecid Pontoscolex corethrurus (Müller, 1857) are confirmed introductions to the NT. mtDNA barcodes newly include Metaphire houlleti (Perrier, 1872) and Polypheretima elongata (Perrier, 1872) spp.-complexes from the Philippines. Pithemera philippinensis James & Hong, 2004 and Pi. glandis Hong & James, 2011 are new synonyms of Pi. bicincta (Perrier, 1875) that is common in Luzon. Vietnamese homonym Pheretima thaii Nguyen, 2011 (non P. thaii Hong & James, 2011) is replaced with Pheretima baii nom. nov. Two new Filipino taxa are also described: Pleionogaster adya sp. nov. from southern Luzon and Pl. miagao sp. nov. from western Visayas

The perception of self-produced sensory stimuli in patients with auditory hallucinations and passivity experiences: evidence for a breakdown in self-monitoring

BACKGROUND: To test the hypothesis that certain psychotic symptomatology is due to a defect in self-monitoring, we investigated the ability of groups of psychiatric patients to differentiate perceptually between self-produced and externally produced tactile stimuli. METHODS: Responses to tactile stimulation were assessed in three groups of subjects: schizophrenic patients; patients with bipolar affective disorder or depression; and normal control subjects. Within the psychiatric groups subjects were divided on the basis of the presence or absence of auditory hallucinations and/or passivity experiences. The subjects were asked to rate the perception of a tactile sensation on the palm of their left hand. The tactile stimulation was either self-produced by movement of the subject's right hand or externally produced by the experimenter. RESULTS: Normal control subjects and those psychiatric patients with neither auditory hallucinations nor passivity phenomena experienced self-produced stimuli as less intense, tickly and pleasant than identical, externally produced tactile stimuli. In contrast, psychiatric patients with these symptoms did not show a decrease in their perceptual ratings for tactile stimuli produced by themselves as compared with those produced by the experimenter. This failure to show a difference in perception between self-produced and externally produced stimuli appears to relate to the presence of auditory hallucinations and/or passivity experiences rather than to the diagnosis of schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that auditory hallucinations and passivity experiences are associated with an abnormality in the self-monitoring mechanism that normally allows us to distinguish self-produced from externally produced sensations

Stochastic Dynamics of Magnetosomes in Cytoskeleton

Rotations of microscopic magnetic particles, magnetosomes, embedded into the cytoskeleton and subjected to the influence of an ac magnetic field and thermal noise are considered. Magnetosome dynamics is shown to comply with the conditions of the stochastic resonance under not-too-tight constraints on the character of the particle's fastening. The excursion of regular rotations attains the value of order of radian that facilitates explaining the biological effects of low-frequency weak magnetic fields and geomagnetic fluctuations. Such 1-rad rotations are effectively controlled by slow magnetic field variations of the order of 200 nT.Comment: LaTeX2e, 7 pages with 3 figure

Co_3O_4 Nanoparticle Water-Oxidation Catalysts Made by Pulsed-Laser Ablation in Liquids

Surfactant-free, size- and composition-controlled, unsupported, <5-nm, quantum-confined cobalt oxide nanoparticles with high electrocatalytic oxygen-evolution activity were synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in liquids. These crystalline Co_3O_4 nanoparticles have a turnover frequency per cobalt surface site among the highest ever reported for Co_3O_4 nanoparticle oxygen evolution catalysts in base and overpotentials competitive with the best electrodeposited cobalt oxides, with the advantage that they are suitable for mechanical deposition on photoanode materials and incorporation in integrated solar water-splitting devices

Relation among concentrations of incorporated Mn atoms, ionized Mn acceptors, and holes in p-(Ga,Mn)As epilayers

The amount of ionized Mn acceptors in various p-type Mn-doped GaAs epilayers has been evaluated by electrochemical capacitance-voltage measurements, and has been compared systematically with concentrations of incorporated Mn atoms and holes for wide range of Mn concentration (10^17 ~ 10^21 cm^-3). Quantitative assessment of anomalous Hall effect at room temperature is also carried out for the first time.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, tabl

On the Energy Transfer Performance of Mechanical Nanoresonators Coupled with Electromagnetic Fields

We study the energy transfer performance in electrically and magnetically coupled mechanical nanoresonators. Using the resonant scattering theory, we show that magnetically coupled resonators can achieve the same energy transfer performance as for their electrically coupled counterparts, or even outperform them within the scale of interest. Magnetic and electric coupling are compared in the Nanotube Radio, a realistic example of a nano-scale mechanical resonator. The energy transfer performance is also discussed for a newly proposed bio-nanoresonator composed of a magnetosomes coated with a net of protein fibers.Comment: 9 Pages, 3 Figure