16,481 research outputs found
A multi-protocol framework for ad-hoc service discovery
No full textDiscovering the appropriate services in ad-hoc computing environments where a great number of devices and software components collaborate discreetly and provide numerous services is an important challenge. Service discovery protocols make it possible for participating nodes in a network to locate and advertise services with minimum user intervention. However, because it is not possible to predict at design time which protocols will be used to advertise services in a given context/environment, it is now becoming clear that dynamic discovery mechanisms are required by mobile nodes to cope with the heterogeneity of discovery platforms. Existing adaptive mobile middleware solutions such as ReMMoC and INDISS have investigated this style of dynamic discovery. However, these have yet to consider the emerging suite of protocols for discovery in ad-hoc networks. In this paper we present a component-based service discovery framework for the development of an adaptive multi-personality service discovery middleware, which will operate in diverse environments e.g. fixed and ad-hoc networks. This supports a common architecture for individual discovery protocols to enhance configurability and re-configurability of the framework, and minimize resource usage through component reuse. Finally, to evaluate this framework we investigate the development of four existing ad-hoc service discovery protocols using our approach
Link stability estimation based on link connectivity changes in mobile ad-hoc networks
No full textDear Wang,
Re: Link Stability Estimation Based on Link Connectivity Changes in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks
I have not been able to assess if this is an author version peer-reviewed or is it an author version non peer reviewed. Could you please clarify this so I can proceed to add your paper to Spiral. Spiral digital repository only accept peer-reviewed papers.
30/11/12 author has confirmed peer reviewe
Planaeschna poumai Joshi & Kunte 2017, sp. nov.
No full textPlanaeschna poumai sp. nov. (Figs. 3–4) Holotype. ♂ (NCBS-AV 557), collected on the Senapati-Purul road near TNK village, Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.3756N, 94.2318E), 11.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg. Paratype. ♂ (NCBS-AV 585) and allotype ♀ (NCBS-AV 568): upstream from Mayangkhang village, Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.2304N, 94.0066E), 14.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg. Etymology. This species is named after the Poumai tribe, one of the larger extant Naga tribes in NE India, which predominantly inhabits the Senapati District of Manipur where the specimens were collected. There are no protected areas in this whole district, which makes community forests critical for biodiversity conservation. Description of the holotype. Head (Fig. 3 e). Labrum, labium, anteclypeus, postclypeus and frons yellow; mandibles brown; postclypeus with two faint brown markings; the crest of the frons and vertex black. Eyes dark green, in live specimens with blue in the center; postgenae marked yellow. Thorax (Fig. 3 d,f). Prothorax black, anterior edge of the mesostigmal plate yellow; propimeron greenish yellow. Synthorax with mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum marked with yellow; dorsal stripes on mesepisternum green, pointing outwards, faintly yellow at the antealar ridge; mesepimeron marked with a greenish yellow stripe, thinner towards the subalar ridge; a triangular spot below subalar ridge on the mesepimeron and a small spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron almost entirely yellow; both the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic stripes appear darker green towards the dorsal 1/3rd of its length in live specimens. Legs black; coxae and base of the femur marked with reddish brown; femur of the forelegs marked with yellow on the inside about half its length. Wings. Hyaline; triangle 3-celled (2 in left hw); anal loop 6/7-celled; anal triangle 3-celled; antenodals: 19/ 20 in the fw (a short incomplete nervure present on the left fw between the 2nd and 3rd nervures), 14 in the hw; venation denser towards the apices. Abdomen (Fig. 3 a,d,f). Marked with citron-yellow and green; S1 laterally marked with triangular spot pointing anteriorly, dorsal carina with a yellow stripe; S2 dorsally with a yellow stripe disconnected at the transverse carina; PD edge with a horizontal yellow stripe, laterally with bright yellow AL and PL markings separated by the auricle, the AL marking continuing on the lateral side of the auricle; the auricle posteriorly dark brown; S3–S7 with paired MD spots situated anteriorly about 2/3rd the length of each segment; S3–S7 also with AD and PD yellow stripes on the dorsal carina, reaching the MD spots on S3 and S4; the AD marking reduced on S5–S7, more pronounced and broader on S3; S3–S8 with paired anterio-ventral round yellow spots, these spots continuing dorsally connect to the small ML spots on S3–S7 and the base of the supplementary transverse carina; the ventral spots perfectly rounded on S8; S8 and S10 with paired round black ‘depressions’ dorsally, S9 and S10 black. Anal appendages (Fig. 4 a,b,d). Cerci black; paraprocts black, the central groove and ventral area dark yellow. Cerci twice the length of S10, paraprocts about half the length of cerci. Laterally both cerci and the paraprocts are curved upwards, the cerci are broader and curved slightly more upwards caudal 3/5th of its length, pointed at the apex. The apical 2/5th is spatulate divided in the middle by a lateral ridge. Laterally, the base is thinner and the dorsal half is concave. Paraprocts gently curved upwards, the tip conical, pointing upwards. Dorsally, the anterior cerci are thinner, the outer margin is straight for 1/10th the length of cerci, curved inwards thereafter; the apical spine of the cerci is pointed outwards, sharply pointed. Paraprocts triangular, blunt at the apex. Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.6, fw=33.9, hw=34.8. Variation in the paratype (Anal appendages: Fig. 4 d). Paratype male is very similar to the holotype. The PD markings on S2 edge without a thin yellow stripe like on the holotype. Triangle 3 or 4 (right hw) celled, anal triangle 3-celled, anal loop 5-celled. Antenodals: 16/ 17 in the fw, 14/ 16 in the hw. Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.5, fw=33.2, hw=33.7. Description of the allotype (Fig. 3 b–c, 4c). The specimen was accidentally decapitated while netting, and the head was lost in the stream beneath, hence the head is not described. Thorax (Fig. 3 c). Prothorax dark brown; the apex of the posterior lobe and the middle lobe black. Synthoracic markings very similar to the male; vibrant yellow-green. The propimeron, mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum bright yellow; the paired dorsal stripes on the mesepisternum curving slightly outwards at the anterior end; antealar edge marked with faint yellow spots; the mesepimeronic stripe broad and slightly angulated, thinner at the dorsal end with a triangular spot right next to it near the subalar edge; another spot directly above the triangular spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron marked almost entirely with bright yellowish green, ventral margin thinly brown; the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic markings appear more bright yellow towards the ventral half similar to the male. Legs black; coxae marked yellow posteriorly; basal half of the femur marked yellow posteriorly on the forelegs. Wings. Antenodals: 13–14 in the hw, 19 in the fw. Base of the wings tinted yellow and the area near the node faintly yellow. Median space not traversed by any cross-veins. The triangle is made up of four cells in the hw and three cells in the fw. Pterostigma dark brown, spanning a little more than 2 cells. Abdomen (Fig. 3 b,c). S1 laterally marked with a broad yellow stripe, broader posteriorly; dorsally marked with a thin yellow line; S2 yellow laterally, small, brown, rounded marking on both sides resembling the markings in the area posterior to the auricle of males; a dorsal yellow stripe on S2, S3–S7 with yellow ventro-lateral anterior spots, PL longitudinal spots on S3–S5; S3–S7 with thin yellow AD and PD stripes on the carina disconnected at the center where paired triangular MD spots are present, smaller than the male; S8 marked yellow at the posteriordorsal edge; S8, S9 and S10 black, lower half is dark yellow continuing on to the vulvar scale. Ovipositor (Fig. 4 c). Covered with dry mud suggesting that the female had oviposited or attempted to so in muddy waters. The sternite and ovipositor dark-brown; ovipositor and style extend posteriorly till the base of cerci; cerci about the length of S10, pointed at the apex. Measurements (mm): abdomen (including anal appendages)=47, fw=40, hw=42. Diagnosis. The shape of male anal appendages and the abdominal pattern is similar to P. intersedens (Martin, 1909), the only Indian species of this genus. P. poumai differs with respect to the following diagnostic characters: (a) in both sexes the abdominal pattern differs from P. intersedens in that the paired MD spots on S2 are not present, S9 and S10 unmarked with yellow dorsally, and the PD abdominal spots absent or reduced on S3– S10; (b) the lateral ridge divides the apex of cerci in equal proportions, whereas in P. intersedens the portion below the ridge is more expanded; (c) the posterior half of cerci is not as widely expanded as that in P. intersedens; (d) the apical expansion of cerci laterally angled straight, not curved upwards like P. intersedens; and (e) in both sexes of P. intersedens S2 is laterally yellow; but in P. poumai sp. nov. the lateral yellow markings on S2 of both males is broken posterior to the auricle; this lateral yellow stripe in the female is marked with a round brown spot. The reduced abdominal markings distinguish this species from all other Planaeschna species.Published as part of Joshi, Shantanu & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2017, Two new dragonfly species (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) from north-eastern India, pp. 259-268 in Zootaxa 4300 (2) on pages 263-266, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4300.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/83826
Cerebral atrophy in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease: rates and acceleration.
No full textOBJECTIVE: To quantify the regional and global cerebral atrophy rates and assess acceleration rates in healthy controls, subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and subjects with mild Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS: Using 0-, 6-, 12-, 18-, 24-, and 36-month MRI scans of controls and subjects with MCI and AD from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database, we calculated volume change of whole brain, hippocampus, and ventricles between all pairs of scans using the boundary shift integral. RESULTS: We found no evidence of acceleration in whole-brain atrophy rates in any group. There was evidence that hippocampal atrophy rates in MCI subjects accelerate by 0.22%/year2 on average (p = 0.037). There was evidence of acceleration in rates of ventricular enlargement in subjects with MCI (p = 0.001) and AD (p < 0.001), with rates estimated to increase by 0.27 mL/year2 (95% confidence interval 0.12, 0.43) and 0.88 mL/year2 (95% confidence interval 0.47, 1.29), respectively. A post hoc analysis suggested that the acceleration of hippocampal loss in MCI subjects was mainly driven by the MCI subjects that were observed to progress to clinical AD within 3 years of baseline, with this group showing hippocampal atrophy rate acceleration of 0.50%/year2 (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The small acceleration rates suggest a long period of transition to the pathologic losses seen in clinical AD. The acceleration in hippocampal atrophy rates in MCI subjects in the ADNI seems to be driven by those MCI subjects who concurrently progressed to a clinical diagnosis of AD
Planaeschna poumai Joshi & Kunte 2017, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Planaeschna poumai</i> sp. nov. <p>(Figs. 3–4)</p> <p> <b>Holotype.</b> ♂ (NCBS-AV 557), collected on the Senapati-Purul road near TNK village, Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.3756N, 94.2318E), 11.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg.</p> <p> <b>Paratype.</b> ♂ (NCBS-AV 585) and <b>allotype</b> ♀ (NCBS-AV 568): upstream from Mayangkhang village, Senapati District, Manipur, India (25.2304N, 94.0066E), 14.X.2016, Shantanu Joshi leg.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> This species is named after the Poumai tribe, one of the larger extant Naga tribes in NE India, which predominantly inhabits the Senapati District of Manipur where the specimens were collected. There are no protected areas in this whole district, which makes community forests critical for biodiversity conservation.</p> <p> <b>Description of the holotype</b>. <i>Head</i> (Fig. 3 e). Labrum, labium, anteclypeus, postclypeus and frons yellow; mandibles brown; postclypeus with two faint brown markings; the crest of the frons and vertex black. Eyes dark green, in live specimens with blue in the center; postgenae marked yellow.</p> <p> <i>Thorax</i> (Fig. 3 d,f). Prothorax black, anterior edge of the mesostigmal plate yellow; propimeron greenish yellow. Synthorax with mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum marked with yellow; dorsal stripes on mesepisternum green, pointing outwards, faintly yellow at the antealar ridge; mesepimeron marked with a greenish yellow stripe, thinner towards the subalar ridge; a triangular spot below subalar ridge on the mesepimeron and a small spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron almost entirely yellow; both the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic stripes appear darker green towards the dorsal 1/3rd of its length in live specimens. Legs black; coxae and base of the femur marked with reddish brown; femur of the forelegs marked with yellow on the inside about half its length.</p> <p> <i>Wings.</i> Hyaline; triangle 3-celled (2 in left hw); anal loop 6/7-celled; anal triangle 3-celled; antenodals: 19/ 20 in the fw (a short incomplete nervure present on the left fw between the 2nd and 3rd nervures), 14 in the hw; venation denser towards the apices.</p> <p> <i>Abdomen</i> (Fig. 3 a,d,f). Marked with citron-yellow and green; S1 laterally marked with triangular spot pointing anteriorly, dorsal carina with a yellow stripe; S2 dorsally with a yellow stripe disconnected at the transverse carina; PD edge with a horizontal yellow stripe, laterally with bright yellow AL and PL markings separated by the auricle, the AL marking continuing on the lateral side of the auricle; the auricle posteriorly dark brown; S3–S7 with paired MD spots situated anteriorly about 2/3rd the length of each segment; S3–S7 also with AD and PD yellow stripes on the dorsal carina, reaching the MD spots on S3 and S4; the AD marking reduced on S5–S7, more pronounced and broader on S3; S3–S8 with paired anterio-ventral round yellow spots, these spots continuing dorsally connect to the small ML spots on S3–S7 and the base of the supplementary transverse carina; the ventral spots perfectly rounded on S8; S8 and S10 with paired round black ‘depressions’ dorsally, S9 and S10 black.</p> <p> <i>Anal appendages</i> (Fig. 4 a,b,d). Cerci black; paraprocts black, the central groove and ventral area dark yellow. Cerci twice the length of S10, paraprocts about half the length of cerci. Laterally both cerci and the paraprocts are curved upwards, the cerci are broader and curved slightly more upwards caudal 3/5th of its length, pointed at the apex. The apical 2/5th is spatulate divided in the middle by a lateral ridge. <i>Laterally</i>, the base is thinner and the dorsal half is concave. Paraprocts gently curved upwards, the tip conical, pointing upwards. <i>Dorsally</i>, the anterior cerci are thinner, the outer margin is straight for 1/10th the length of cerci, curved inwards thereafter; the apical spine of the cerci is pointed outwards, sharply pointed. Paraprocts triangular, blunt at the apex.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm):</b> abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.6, fw=33.9, hw=34.8.</p> <p> <b>Variation in the paratype (Anal appendages: Fig. 4 d).</b> Paratype male is very similar to the holotype. The PD markings on S2 edge without a thin yellow stripe like on the holotype. Triangle 3 or 4 (right hw) celled, anal triangle 3-celled, anal loop 5-celled. Antenodals: 16/ 17 in the fw, 14/ 16 in the hw.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm):</b> abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.5, fw=33.2, hw=33.7.</p> <p> <b>Description of the allotype</b> (Fig. 3 b–c, 4c). The specimen was accidentally decapitated while netting, and the head was lost in the stream beneath, hence the head is not described.</p> <p> <i>Thorax</i> (Fig. 3 c). Prothorax dark brown; the apex of the posterior lobe and the middle lobe black. Synthoracic markings very similar to the male; vibrant yellow-green. The propimeron, mesokatepisternum and metakatepisternum bright yellow; the paired dorsal stripes on the mesepisternum curving slightly outwards at the anterior end; antealar edge marked with faint yellow spots; the mesepimeronic stripe broad and slightly angulated, thinner at the dorsal end with a triangular spot right next to it near the subalar edge; another spot directly above the triangular spot above the subalar ridge; metepimeron marked almost entirely with bright yellowish green, ventral margin thinly brown; the mesepimeronic and metepimeronic markings appear more bright yellow towards the ventral half similar to the male. Legs black; coxae marked yellow posteriorly; basal half of the femur marked yellow posteriorly on the forelegs.</p> <p> <i>Wings.</i> Antenodals: 13–14 in the hw, 19 in the fw. Base of the wings tinted yellow and the area near the node faintly yellow. Median space not traversed by any cross-veins. The triangle is made up of four cells in the hw and three cells in the fw. Pterostigma dark brown, spanning a little more than 2 cells.</p> <p> <i>Abdomen</i> (Fig. 3 b,c). S1 laterally marked with a broad yellow stripe, broader posteriorly; dorsally marked with a thin yellow line; S2 yellow laterally, small, brown, rounded marking on both sides resembling the markings in the area posterior to the auricle of males; a dorsal yellow stripe on S2, S3–S7 with yellow ventro-lateral anterior spots, PL longitudinal spots on S3–S5; S3–S7 with thin yellow AD and PD stripes on the carina disconnected at the center where paired triangular MD spots are present, smaller than the male; S8 marked yellow at the posteriordorsal edge; S8, S9 and S10 black, lower half is dark yellow continuing on to the vulvar scale.</p> <p> <i>Ovipositor</i> (Fig. 4 c). Covered with dry mud suggesting that the female had oviposited or attempted to so in muddy waters. The sternite and ovipositor dark-brown; ovipositor and style extend posteriorly till the base of cerci; cerci about the length of S10, pointed at the apex.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm):</b> abdomen (including anal appendages)=47, fw=40, hw=42.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> The shape of male anal appendages and the abdominal pattern is similar to <i>P. intersedens</i> (Martin, 1909), the only Indian species of this genus. <i>P. poumai</i> differs with respect to the following diagnostic characters: (a) in both sexes the abdominal pattern differs from <i>P. intersedens</i> in that the paired MD spots on S2 are not present, S9 and S10 unmarked with yellow dorsally, and the PD abdominal spots absent or reduced on S3– S10; (b) the lateral ridge divides the apex of cerci in equal proportions, whereas in <i>P. intersedens</i> the portion below the ridge is more expanded; (c) the posterior half of cerci is not as widely expanded as that in <i>P. intersedens</i>; (d) the apical expansion of cerci laterally angled straight, not curved upwards like <i>P. intersedens</i>; and (e) in both sexes of <i>P. intersedens</i> S2 is laterally yellow; but in <i>P. poumai</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> the lateral yellow markings on S2 of both males is broken posterior to the auricle; this lateral yellow stripe in the female is marked with a round brown spot. The reduced abdominal markings distinguish this species from all other <i>Planaeschna</i> species.</p>Published as part of <i>Joshi, Shantanu & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2017, Two new dragonfly species (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) from north-eastern India, pp. 259-268 in Zootaxa 4300 (2)</i> on pages 263-266, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4300.2.7, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/838265">http://zenodo.org/record/838265</a>
A trust framework for peer-to-peer interaction in ad hoc networks
No full textPhDAs a wider public is increasingly adopting mobile devices with diverse applications,
the idea of who to trust while on the move becomes a crucial one. The need to find
dependable partners to interact is further exacerbated in situations where one finds
oneself out of the range of backbone structures such as wireless base stations or
cellular networks. One solution is to generate self-started networks, a variant of
which is the ad hoc network that promotes peer-to-peer networking. The work in
this thesis is aimed at defining a framework for such an ad hoc network that provides
ways for participants to distinguish and collaborate with their most trustworthy
neighbours.
In this framework, entities create the ability to generate trust information by directly
observing the behaviour of their peers. Such trust information is also shared in order
to assist those entities in situations where prior interactions with their target peers
may not have existed.
The key novelty points of the framework focus on aggregating the trust evaluation
process around the most trustworthy nodes thereby creating a hierarchy of nodes that
are distinguished by the class, defined by cluster heads, to which they belong.
Furthermore, the impact of such a framework in generating additional overheads for
the network is minimised through the use of clusters. By design, the framework also
houses a rule-based mechanism to thwart misbehaving behaviour or non-cooperation.
Key performance indicators are also defined within this work that allow a framework
to be quickly analysed through snapshot data, a concept analogous to those used
within financial circles when assessing companies. This is also a novel point that
may provide the basis for directly comparing models with different underlying
technologies.
The end result is a trust framework that fully meets the basic requirements for a
sustainable model of trust that can be developed onto an ad hoc network and that
provides enhancements in efficiency (using clustering) and trust performance
Cephalaeschna acanthifrons Joshi & Kunte 2017, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Cephalaeschna acanthifrons</i> sp. nov. <p>(Figs. 1–2)</p> <p> <b>Holotype.</b> ♂ (NCBS-AQ 279), collected between Ramalingam camp and Lama camp, Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh, India (precise GPS coordinates unknown); 30.IX.2015; Tarun Karmarkar & Subhajit Mazumder leg.</p> <p> <b>Paratype.</b> ♂ (NCBS-AQ 373), same locality and collectors as the holotype; date of collection: 4.X.2015.</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The name ‘ <i>acanthifrons</i> ’ means “pointed face”, derived form the Greek <i>acanthi</i> [=thorn], and Latin <i>frons</i> [=forehead](Fig. 2 a,b).</p> <p> <b>Description of the holotype.</b> <i>Head.</i> Eyes colored dark green. Labrum greenish yellow, postclypeus greenish yellow with two irregular rounded brown markings on the basal half. Anteclypeus, labium, mandibles dark brown. Frons greenish yellow basally. This color gradually changes to dark brown towards the border so that the greenish yellow is framed by the dark brown markings. Frons>1/2 width of the face, pointed at apex with a small dark black median ‘horn’, pointed anteriorly in dorsal view. Dark brown near the vertex and the sides. Vertex black, postgenae with yellow markings on both sides near the eye margin, base of the antennae dark brown.</p> <p> <i>Thorax</i> (Fig. 1 b). Prothorax yellow on sides along with propimeron; median lobe and posterior lobe dorsally dark brown; mesostigma with greenish yellow markings on the sides. Synthorax with vivid green and yellow markings; dorsal carina black with two green yellow spots at the antealar ridge; the paired dorsal stripes on the mesepisternum of uniform width, anterior 1/4th narrowing outwards; mesepimeron with a broad green stripe almost covering it entirely, marked with a conspicuous circular yellow marking near the metastigma about halfway of the length of the stripe; metepisternum with a short triangular stripe; base of the metepisternum marked with a faint green-yellow triangular marking pointing outwards containing the metastigma; small yellow-green spots on both sides above the metepisternum; metepimeron with a green stripe narrowing anteriorly, with a dark brown basal margin; the green stripe marked with a conspicuous, slightly oblique, longitudinally oval yellow spot like the mesepimeronic stripe. Legs mainly colored with black and brown; coxae brown, marked with a small thin yellow marking on mid and hind legs posteriorly; femur and tibia mainly reddish brown, tarsi and the claws black; the junction of the femur and tibia black, the black marking continuing on the anterior femur about 2/3rd of its length.</p> <p> <i>Wings.</i> Tinted brown, especially at the apices and the posterior margins; antenodals 19 in the fw, 15(left)– 16(right) in the hw; triangle with 4 cells in the hw and 3 (left) and 4 cells (right) in the fw, anal triangle divided into 5 cells, anal loop divided into 6 cells; pterostigma maroon, weakly braced. IRP2 forking nearer to the pterostigma than the nodus.</p> <p> <i>Abdomen</i> (Fig. 1 a,b). Marked with greenish yellow, the dorsal markings not continuous; S1 with a small ‘diamond-shaped’ marking dorsally; laterally greenish yellow with the lateral markings connected on the dorsum anteriorly; S2 dorsally marked with a longitudinally triangular AD spot; paired MD spots very minute embedded in the supplementary transverse carina; the PD half of the S2 with a dorsal stripe broadening slightly towards the center connected to the AD spot; S2 with the ventral half irregularly brown, with a conspicuous AL greenish yellow spot, this longitudinally pointed marking continuing on the auricle till the apex; the anterior half of the auricle laterally bright green-yellow whereas the cavity and the posterior half brown, the serrations black; S3–S6 marked with paired triangular MD spots; S3–S6 thinly yellow at the PD edge this yellow marking continuing on the dorsal carina towards the MD spots but not reaching them, both the MD spots and the PD line reduced on S7; the MD and PD markings more bright yellow-green than the AD and ML markings; S3–S7 with a thin yellow AD stripe, on S3 this line continuing about 2/3rd the length till the transverse carina (jugal line); not extending beyond ½ of the jugal area in other segments, very faint in S6–S7; S8 with a triangular area of tubercles at the posterior end peculiar to this group of dragonflies; this triangular patch contains a small yellow line running about half the length of the segment; S10 with very small AD spots on both sides; longitudinally flattened; S9 and S10 with the ventral half dark yellow; a small triangular spot pointing upwards on the posterior side of the transverse carina on S3–S9, this marking connects very faintly to the MD spots via the transverse carina on S4–S5; S4–S8 with extremely small AL spots at the ventral edge of the segments; reduced on S7–S8.</p> <p> <i>Anal appendages</i> (Fig. 1 c,d). Ventrum of S10 and paraprocts covered with dried soil; cerci colored black, paraprocts dark brown. <i>Dorsally</i> posterior 2/3 of cerci expanded, outer margin straight, inner margin curved, apical margin rounded pointing slightly outwards, outer margin of cerci faintly yellow. Paraprocts dark brown laterally, ventrally, and on dorsal margin. The central groove of the paraprocts dark-yellow. Paraprocts reaching about half the length of cerci in lateral view, slightly curved upwards, darkened at the apex. <i>Laterally</i> apex of cerci pointed; a medial ridge running on cerci, the ventral margin is straight while the upper margin is curved for apical 1/3 of cerci, medially.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm):</b> abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.9, hw=38, fw=37.4.</p> <p> <b>Variation in the paratype.</b> Paratype is a younger male than the holotype (wings completely hyaline vs. wings tinted brown in the holotype). Triangle divided into 5 cells in all wings; anal loop 7-celled in right hw, 6-celled in other three wings. Only the PL half of S1 marked with a green-yellow stripe connecting dorsally. The PD edge of the S2 marked thinly with yellow. The AL spots on S4–S8 larger and more conspicuous than the holotype, yellow line at the PD edge less broad. The yellow markings on the outer margin of cerci are very faint in the paratype compared to the type.</p> <p> <b>Measurements (mm):</b> abdomen (including anal appendages)=38.5, hw=38.1, fw=37.6.</p> <p> <b>Female:</b> Unknown.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis.</b> This species can be distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: (a) outwardly pointed apex of cerci in dorsal view; (b) distinctive abdominal markings; and (c) the apex of the frons elevated into a blunt ‘horn’. The dorsal stripe present on the posterior half of S3–S7 is thin, a condition similar to the Indian <i>C. viridifrons</i> (Fraser, 1922). The pointed and protruding frons is an interesting character also shared by the Chinese <i>C. cornifrons</i> Zhang & Cai 2013; add the Indian <i>C. acutifrons</i> (Martin, 1909) also has pointed frons but not sharply pointed as in <i>cornifrons</i> or <i>acanthifrons</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> as seen in dorsal view (Figure 2). <i>C. acanthifrons</i> can be diagnosed from <i>C. acutifrons</i> by the number of cells in the anal triangle (3 vs. 5) and from <i>C. cornifrons</i> by the reduced abdominal markings and the shape of cerci in dorsal view (Zhang & Cai 2013).</p> <p> <i>Cephalaeschna masoni</i> (Martin, 1909) and <i>acanthifrons</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> are similar to each other, having the apex of the frons dark, anal triangle with 5 cells each, IRiii forking nearer to the pterostigma and green thoracic stripes. However, <i>acanthifrons</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> can be diagnosed from <i>C. masoni</i> based on: (a) the middorsal yellow line, running intermittently with transverse striae at the posterior of each segment; and (b) the elevated pointed medial lobe of frons (rounded in <i>C. masoni</i>), pointing anteriorly in dorsal view.</p>Published as part of <i>Joshi, Shantanu & Kunte, Krushnamegh, 2017, Two new dragonfly species (Odonata: Anisoptera: Aeshnidae) from north-eastern India, pp. 259-268 in Zootaxa 4300 (2)</i> on pages 260-263, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4300.2.7, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/838265">http://zenodo.org/record/838265</a>
Towards a reference model for m-commerce over ad hoc wireless networks
No full textWireless trading outside established computer networks is an emerging class of mobile application for which there seems to be a growing demand. It enables mobile users to engage wirelessly in online trading regardless of time or location. However, better understanding of the complex issues at stake is needed before effective systems of this kind can be designed and built. Developing a reference model is one way to provide this understanding. M-commerce is defined and its elements, requirements and issues are discussed. The characteristics, functional components, application types, security requirements and issues of ad hoc m-commerce are then analyzed and distinguished
A Fair and Secure Cluster Formation Process for Ad Hoc Networks
No full textAn efficient approach for organizing large ad hoc networks is to divide the nodes
into multiple clusters and designate, for each cluster, a clusterhead which is responsible for
holding intercluster control information. The role of a clusterhead entails rights and duties.
On the one hand, it has a dominant position in front of the others because it manages the
connectivity and has access to other node¿s sensitive information. But on the other hand, the
clusterhead role also has some associated costs. Hence, in order to prevent malicious nodes
from taking control of the group in a fraudulent way and avoid selfish attacks from suitable
nodes, the clusterhead needs to be elected in a secure way. In this paper we present a novel
solution that guarantees the clusterhead is elected in a cheat-proof manner
PATHOGENIC ROLE OF MICROGLIA-DERIVED MICROVESICLES IN NEURODEGENERATION
No full textThe characteristic feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the presence of extracellular amyloid-beta (Abeta) plaques, which are surrounded by activated microglial cells. Microglial cells during the long course of the disease can induce neuroinflammation and drive neurodegeneration. Recent evidence indicates that neuroinflammation negatively co-relates with cognitive state in AD. Furthermore it’s well accepted now that soluble pre-fibrillar Abeta species, rather than insoluble fibrils, are the most toxic forms of Abeta. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that plaque load reaches plateau before the clinical onset of AD.
We investigated whether membrane microvesicles (MVs) released extracellularly by reactive microglia may contribute to AD degeneration. We found that production of myeloid MVs is strikingly high in AD patients and in subjects with mild cognitive impairment, and that AD MVs are toxic for cultured neurons. We demonstrated the mechanism responsible for MV neurotoxicity in vitro, using MVs produced by primary microglia. We found that MV lipids can promote formation of soluble Aβ species from extracellular insoluble aggregates. Moreover we showed that MVs can be carriers of neurotoxic Aβ forms that are trafficked to MVs after internalization into microglia. Neurotoxicity of MVs was neutralized by the Aβ interacting protein PrP and anti- Aβ antibodies, which prevented binding to neurons of neurotoxic soluble Aβ species. Finally, administration of the MV shedding inhibitor FTY720 for a period of 6 weeks significantly improved memory performance and reduced brain inflammation in APP/PS1 mice. This study identifies microglial MVs as a novel mechanism by which reactive microglia contribute to AD degeneration and suggests that FTY720, by inhibiting MV shedding can ameliorate the pathophisiology and cognitive defects in a mouse AD model
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