1,337 research outputs found
Parapharyngodon hemidactylii Gupta, Bhaskar & Gupta, 2009, n. sp.
No full textParapharyngodon hemidactylii n. sp. (n= 15 males, n= 20 females) The parasite is a tender white cylindrical worm tapering at both the ends. Prominent annulations visible beginning just behind cephalic extremity and continuing up to the anus. Sexual dimorphism is clearly distinct. Triangular oral opening is surrounded by 3 bilobed lips. Adult male (All measurements are in mm. unless otherwise stated). Cylindrical worm 0.755 (0.47–0.96) long, 0.236 (0.18–0.37) wide at its maximum width (Plate I Fig. 1; Plate III Fig. 1). Cuticle with annulations forming swollen rings in posterior region. Esophageal tube 0.283 (0.20–0.54) long and 0.031 (0.02–0.04) wide. Esophageal bulb 0.079 (0.05–0.11) long and 0.089 (0.07–0.11) wide (Plate I Fig. 2). Nerve ring not clearly distinct. Caudal papillae absent. Spicules 0.049 (0.035–0.085) long and pointed (Plate I Fig. 3). Tail filament 0.065 (0.01–0.09) long, terminal in position and directed posteriorly (Plate I Fig. 4, 5; Plate III Fig. 2). Adult female (All measurements are in mm. unless otherwise stated). Body length 3.47 (2.47–4.05), width 0.405 (0.33–0.51) at maximum width (Plate II Fig. 1, 2; Plate III Fig. 3). Cuticle with annulations approximately 0.032 (0.01–0.055) long and 0.021 (0.015–0.035) in width (Plate II Fig. 1; Plate III Fig. 4). Esophageal tube or corpus 0.55 (0.50–0.64) in length and 0.05 (0.045–0.06) in width and esophageal bulb 0.194 (0.17–0.215) in length and 0.225 (0.21–0.26) in width (Plate II Fig. 2; Plate III Fig. 5). Reproductive structures confined to body cavity between vulva and anus and the developing ova visible in the uterus (Plate III Fig. 6). Nerve ring not clearly distinct. Excretory pore and vulva situated at 1.18 and 1.44 (1.20–1.70) respectively from the anterior end (Plate II Fig. 3; Plate IV Fig. 1). Body with conical termination (Plate II Fig. 5; Plate IV Fig. 2). Tail 0.11 (0.075–0.135) long and 0.063 (0.045–0.10) wide (Plate IV Fig. 3). Eggs oval 0.08 (0.02–0.10) long, 0.041 (0.01–0.06) wide (Plate II Fig. 4, 6; Plate IV Fig. 4) PLATE I Camera lucida diagrams of Thelandros hemidactylii n. sp. Male showing Fig. 1 Anterior most region; Fig. 2 Anterior region; Fig. 3 Spicule; Fig. 4 Posterior region (dorsoventral view); Fig. 5 Posterior region (lateral view). PLATE II Camera lucida diagrams of Thelandros hemidactylii n. sp. Female showing Fig. 1 Anterior most region; Fig. 2 Anterior region with oesophagus and intestine; Fig. 3 Vulva region; Fig. 4 Egg; Fig. 5 Posterior region; Fig. 6 Middle region with eggs. PLATE III Photomicrographs of Thelandros hemidactylii n. sp. (X 400). Male showing Fig. 1 Anterior end; Fig. 2 Posterior end; female Fig. 3 Anterior end showing oesophageal region; Fig. 4 Surface of Thelandros showing cuticular annulations; Fig. 5 Oesophageal bulb and intestinal junction; Fig. 6 Intestinal region showing developing ova. PLATE IV Photomicrographs of Thelandros hemidactylii n. sp. (Fig. 1– 3 X 400). Female showing Fig. 1 Parasite showing vulva region; Fig. 2 Parasite showing posterior end with eggs; Fig. 3 Parasite showing tail region; Fig. 4 Parasite showing eggs (X 1000).Published as part of Gupta, Neelima, Bhaskar, Manju & Gupta, Dileep Kumar, 2009, Gastro-intestinal invasion in Hemidactylus flaviviridis with a new species of Parapharyngodon (Oxyuroidea: Pharyngodonidae), pp. 39-51 in Zootaxa 2165 on pages 40-44, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18908
Ecological attributes of Hepatozoon lacertilis Gupta et al., 2011 susceptibility in Indian lizards, Hemidactylus flaviviridis (Gekkonidae) and Calotes versicolor (Agamidae)
No full textEcological attributes of haematozoan parasites are poorly understood. In this study, we report haematozoan prevalence in two species of Indian lizards, Hemidactylus flaviviridis (Family: Gekkonidae) and Calotes versicolor (Family: Agamidae) under three macro-environmental variables: host location, weight and seasonal variations. Hemidactylus flaviviridis (n= 199) and Calotes versicolor (n= 34) were sampled from Bareilly, Chandausi and Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, India belonging to different weight groups [Group I (0-5 gm), Group II (5-10 gm) and Group III (10-15 gm)] and during various seasons [Summer (May-July), Rainy (August-October), Winter (November-January), Spring (February-April)] of the year. A haemogregarine, Hepatozoon Miller, 1908 was discovered from both host species. Test for identity of the parasites was conducted by feeding infected Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) on infection-free H. flaviviridis and C. versicolor and blood examinations on 22nd day (H. flaviviridis) and 25th day (C. versicolor) post feeding (pf) revealed similar haematozoan parasites and were identified as Hepatozoon lacertilis Gupta et al., 2011. Infectivity from different locations indicated a prevalence of 5.26% (Bareilly) and 16.36% (Mirzapur) in H. flaviviridis whereas infectivity was comparatively higher (19.23%) in C. versicolor. In different weight groups, Group III indicated highest infectivity in both lizards being 21.42% (C. versicolor) and 17.85% (H. flaviviridis). Parasites showed highest prevalence during spring season (H. flaviviridis : 9.52%C. versicolor : 25%). Values of significance were determined by chisquare
test to compare the prevalence within different variables (host location, weight and season). The study has importance for its contribution to the knowledge on the diversity of reptilian hosts infected by haemogregarines. It is the first record of Hepatozoon infectivity in both lizard species with respect to the three macro-environmental variables
A 5-Approximation for Universal Facility Location
No full textIn this paper, we propose and analyze a local search algorithm for the Universal facility location problem. Our algorithm improves the approximation ratio of this problem from 5.83, given by Angel et al., to 5. A second major contribution of the paper is that it gets rid of the expensive multi operation that was a mainstay of all previous local search algorithms for capacitated facility location and universal facility location problem. The only operations that we require to prove the 5-approximation are add, open, and close. A multi operation is basically a combination of the open and close operations. The 5-approximation algorithm for the capacitated facility location problem, given by Bansal et al., also uses the multi operation. However, on careful observation, it turned out that add, open, and close operations are sufficient to prove a 5-factor for the problem. This resulted into an improved algorithm for the universal facility location problem, with an improved factor
Replica Placement on Directed Acyclic Graphs
No full textThe replica placement problem has been well studied on trees. In this paper, we study this problem on directed acyclic graphs. The replica placement problem on general DAGs generalizes the set cover problem. We present a constant factor approximation algorithm for the special case of DAGs having bounded degree and bounded tree-width (BDBT-DAGs). We also present a constant factor approximation algorithm for DAGs composed of local BDBT-DAGs connected in a tree like manner (TBDBT-DAGs). The latter class of DAGs generalizes trees as well; we improve upon the previously best known approximation ratio for the problem on trees. Our algorithms are based on the LP rounding technique; the core component of our algorithm exploits the structural properties of tree-decompositions to massage the LP solution into an integral solution
Constant Factor Approximation Algorithm for Uniform Hard Capacitated Knapsack Median Problem
No full textIn this paper, we give the first constant factor approximation algorithm for capacitated knapsack median problem (CKnM) for hard uniform capacities, violating the budget by a factor of 1+epsilon and capacities by a 2+epsilon factor. To the best of our knowledge, no constant factor approximation is known for the problem even with capacity/budget/both violations. Even for the uncapacitated variant of the problem, the natural LP is known to have an unbounded integrality gap even after adding the covering inequalities to strengthen the LP. Our techniques for CKnM provide two types of results for the capacitated k-facility location problem. We present an O(1/epsilon^2) factor approximation for the problem, violating capacities by (2+epsilon). Another result is an O(1/epsilon) factor approximation, violating the capacities by a factor of at most (1 + epsilon) using at most 2k facilities for a fixed epsilon>0. As a by-product, a constant factor approximation algorithm for capacitated facility location problem with uniform capacities is presented, violating the capacities by (1 + epsilon) factor. Though constant factor results are known for the problem without violating the capacities, the result is interesting as it is obtained by rounding the solution to the natural LP, which is known to have an unbounded integrality gap without violating the capacities. Thus, we achieve the best possible from the natural LP for the problem. The result shows that the natural LP is not too bad
Replica Placement via Capacitated Vertex Cover
No full textIn this paper, we study the replica placement problem on trees and present a constant factor approximation algorithm (with an additional additive constant factor). This improves the best known previous algorithm having an approximation ratio dependent on the maximum degree of the tree. Our techniques also extend to the partial cover version. Our algorithms are based on the LP rounding technique. The core component of our algorithm exploits a connection between the natural LP solutions of the replica placement problem and the capacitated vertex cover problem
Measuring the growth of structure with multi-wavelength surveys of galaxy clusters
No full textCurrent and near-future galaxy cluster surveys at a variety of wavelengths are expected to provide a promising way to obtain precision measurements of the growth of structure over cosmic time. This in turn would serve as an important precision probe of cosmology. However, to realize the full potential of these surveys, systematic uncertainties arising from, for example, cluster mass estimates and sample selection must be well understood. This work follows several different approaches towards alleviating these uncertainties.
Cluster sample selection is investigated in the context of arcminute-resolution millimeter-wavelength surveys such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT). Large-area, realistic simulations of the microwave sky are constructed and cluster detection is simulated using a multi-frequency Wiener filter to separate the galaxy clusters, via their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal, from other contaminating microwave signals. Using this technique, an ACT-like survey can expect to obtain a cluster sample that is 90% complete and 85% pure above a mass of 3 x 10^14 Msun.
Cluster mass uncertainties are explored by comparing X-ray and weak-lensing mass estimates for shear-selected galaxy clusters in the Deep Lens Survey (DLS) to study possible biases in using cluster baryons or weak-lensing shear as tracers of the cluster total mass. Results are presented for four galaxy clusters that comprise the top-ranked shear-selected system in the DLS, and for three of these clusters there is agreement between X-ray and weak-lensing mass estimates. For the fourth cluster, the X-ray mass estimate is higher than that from weak-lensing by 2-sigma, and X-ray images suggest this cluster may be undergoing a merger with a smaller cluster, which may be biasing the X-ray mass estimate high.
The feasibility of measuring galaxy cluster peculiar velocities using an ACT-like instrument is also investigated. Such a possibility would allow one to measure structure growth via large-scale velocity fields and circumvent the uncertainties associated with measuring cluster masses. We show that such measurements are possible and yield statistical uncertainties of roughly 100 km/sec given either a temperature prior with 1-sigma errors of less than 2 keV or additional lower frequency millimeter-band observations.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references
Metallic nanoparticles-based drug delivery for pancreatic cancer
No full textAdvances in bionanotechnology have led scientists to study organic and inorganic materials that are biocompatible, nontoxic and highly efficient for the treatment of various diseases. Metallic nanoparticles are one of those exceptionally versatile bio-nanotechnological materials, as they can be obtained in different sizes and compositions, which determine their physicochemical properties. These “smart” nanoagents can be used as stimulus-sensitive drug delivery systems for various biomedical applications and therapies. The responsiveness of nanoparticles to various stimuli can be tailored due to their excellent surface modification capabilities, allowing different biocompatible and biodegradable materials to facilitate easy and targeted delivery of nanoparticles to the target site in response to an intrinsic or extrinsic stimulus. This chapter deals with the synthesis and biofunctionalization of several customized metal nanoparticles for use in pancreatic cancer therapeutics.Fil: Moya Betancourt, Sara Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Uranga, Jorge Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Daboin Lujano, Viviana Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Bercoff, Paula Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; ArgentinaFil: Riva, Julieta Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentin
Clinico-radiological and immunological profile of patients of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps
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