634 research outputs found
Correction: Kolkiran, A.; Agarwal, G.S. Amplitude Noise Reduction in a Nano-Mechanical Oscillator. Math. Comput. Appl. 2011, 16(1), 290–300
No full textThe authors would like to remove Girish S. Agarwal from the author list of the paper [1]. Aziz Kolkiran will therefore serve as the single author.[...
HPV-Induced Field Cancerisation: Transformation of Adult Tissue Stem Cell Into Cancer Stem Cell
Get PDFField cancerisation was originally described as a basis for multiple head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and is a pre-malignant phenomenon that is frequently attributable to oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Our work on β-HPV-induced cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas identified a novel Lrig1+ hair follicle junctional zone keratinocyte stem cell population as the basis for field cancerisation. Herein, we describe the ability for HPV to infect adult tissue stem cells in order to establish persistent infection and induce their proliferation and displacement resulting in field cancerisation. By review of the HPV literature, we reveal how this mechanism is conserved as the basis of field cancerisation across many tissues. New insights have identified the capacity for HPV early region genes to dysregulate adult tissue stem cell self-renewal pathways ensuring that the expanded population preserve its stem cell characteristics beyond the stem cell niche. HPV-infected cells acquire additional transforming mutations that can give rise to intraepithelial neoplasia (IEN), from environmental factors such as sunlight or tobacco induced mutations in skin and oral cavity, respectively. With establishment of IEN, HPV viral replication is sacrificed with loss of the episome, and the tissue is predisposed to multiple cancer stem cell-driven carcinomas
Shaping the 'community' : Hindu nationalist imagination in Gujarat, 1880-1950
Get PDFThe concern of this research is the nature of the Hindu nationalist ideology in the western
Indian state of Gujarat from 1880 to 1950 since this period is crucial in forging a relationship
between Hindu and Muslim communities based on mutual suspicion. The attempt is to shed
light on the way a fundamentalist ideology is configured in increasingly exclusivist terms
whereby minorities in the subcontinent were gradually granted a marginal citizenship
subordinated to a Hindu cultural mainstream.
The deconstruction of the nationalistic discourses of some representative individual
figures and groups -the Arya Samaj, the Hindu Mahasabha, K.M. Munshi and Vallabhbhai
Patel- allowed unravelling a trajectory of this ideology identifying its major fluctuations. The
focus on Gujarati nationalism of Hindu tradition as opposed to a rather exceptional Gandhian
nationalism and its commitment to non-violence made possible to explain the current political
culture in India nowadays that inherited the legacy of the agitational politics of those years.
Along with the historiographical analysis of these discourses, the research explores
the mobilizational strategies accompanying the ideological dimension. The political
campaigns of these actors were fundamental in spreading a communal consciousness that
enabled a history of perennial confrontation between Hindus and Muslims, an aspect whose
origin can be traced in the colonial historiography on India.
In this sense, the research aims not only at being a contribution to the academic debate
on the formation of a national consciousness in Gujarat, but also attempts to elucidate the
motivations behind communal violence grounded on the circulation of stereotypes and their
exploitation. The study contributes to the understanding of contemporary violence as a result
of a gradual communalization of politics and daily life that imbibes from the distortion of the
historical paradigms that by the end of the nineteenth century still coped with
multiculturalism
Dasyproctus geethae Binoy & Girish Kumar 2021, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Dasyproctus geethae</i> Binoy & Girish Kumar, sp. nov. <p>(Figs 1–25)</p> <p>urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 414B390A-6289-47F6-B298-E80190F2EE14</p> <p> <b>Materials Examined:</b> Holotype ♀ India: Kerala, Kozhikode district, Elathur (11°20ʹ37ʺN 75°43ʹ6.74ʺE, 23m), 08.vii.2020, Coll. C. Binoy, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.14741. Paratypes: 2 ³, 2 ♀ (same locality as ho-lotype, all collected by C. Binoy). 1³, 03.viii.2020, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.14742; 1♀, 12.vii.2020, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.14743; 1♀, 21.viii.2020, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/ INV.14856; 1³, 01.ix.2020, ZSIK Regd. No. ZSI/ WGRC /IR/INV.14857.</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis</b>. The female of <i>Dasyproctus geethae</i> runs to <i>Dasyproctus pentheri</i> Leclercq, 1956 in the key to Asian and Oceanic <i>Dasyproctus</i> (Leclercq 2015) due to the overall appearance and texture of the body. It resembles the widespread <i>D. pentheri</i> in the punctation of head, mesosoma and metasoma; robustness of first metasomal tergum; conspicuous interocular carina dividing the frons, followed by a regular, concave and vaguely foveolate excavation and carina from one orbit to the other; maculation pattern on metasomal terga and well-imprinted supra-orbital fossa smaller than median ocellus. However, <i>D. geethae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> differs from <i>D. pentheri</i> in having: clypeus with two well produced lobes apico-medially and pointed lateral process, no median indentations (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, clypeus quadridentate with a median indentation formed by an overhanging prolongation of median carina); with macula of Gt 2 elongated and similar to macula of Gt 3 and Gt 4 (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, macula of Gt 2 is rounded and smaller than maculae of Gt 3 –Gt 5); punctation on mesopleuron similar to that of the head, mesosoma and metasoma (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, punctation of mesopleuron is obsolete); POD almost equal to OOD (in <i>D. pentheri</i> POD is distinctly shorter than OOD); pronotum anterolaterally distinctly rugose with vertical wrinkles (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, pronotum has no large vertical wrinkles anterolaterally); Gt 1 with anterior third distinctly and conspicuously rugose (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, Gt 1 uniformly sculptured with widely separated pits and alutaceous interspaces); length of Gt 1 distinctly less than 2×, its greatest width, 1.4× Gt 2 (in <i>D. pentheri</i>, length of Gt 1 roughly 2× its greatest width, not greatly exceeding the length of Gt 2). In the key to males of <i>Dasyproctus</i> from Asia and Oceania (Leclercq 2015), the male of <i>D. geethae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> runs to the couplet separating <i>D. pentheri</i> and <i>D. percarus</i> Leclercq. It resembles <i>D. pentheri</i> in having Gt 5 –Gt 6 with wide bands and punctation on head and mesosoma and a sturdy, short Gt 1. The male differs from <i>D. pentheri</i> in having pronotum with distinct rugae anterior to the collar (in <i>D. pentheri</i> pronotum without rugae or wrinkles anteriorly); Gt 2 finely punctured (in <i>D. pentheri</i> Gt 2 impunctate). The male of <i>D. geethae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> resembles <i>D. percarus</i> in having Gt 2 punctate and pronotum with distinct rugae anterior to the collar. However, the new species differs in that: Gt 2 –Gt 6 maculated (in <i>D. percarus</i> all terga immaculate); Gt 1 short and sturdy (in <i>D. percarus</i> Gt 1 slenderer); punctation moderate on head and mesosoma (in <i>D. percarus</i> punctation on head and mesosoma is conspicuous and dense with reticulate interspaces).</p> <p> <b>Description</b>. Both male and female of <i>D. geethae</i> Binoy & Girish Kumar, <b>sp. nov.</b> are easily associated by the following characters: <i>Colour</i>. black with pronotal collar (except medial notch) and prepectus yellow, axilla and two almost contiguous spots on anterior half of scutellum yellow; metasomal terga with yellow maculae. <i>Head.</i> Mandible tridentate, with inner tooth smallest; clypeus markedly setose with surface concealed by thick silvery bristles; gena with moderate silvery white setae; POD almost equal to OOD; well imprinted supra-orbital furrow, almost circular, narrower than diameter of an ocellus (Figs 5 & 19); head, mesosoma and metasoma uniformly punctate with matt interspaces and presence of a distinct, concave excavated and foveolate interocular furrow (Figs 3 & 17); frons and vertex along occiput with scattered erect dirty white setae arising from pits. <i>Mesosoma.</i> Mesosoma with dirty white scattered pubescence; propodeum with longer white setae; metasoma setose with dirty white setae; mesopleuron and mesosternum with distinct setigerous punctures (Figs 8 & 15). <i>Metasoma.</i> Gt 1 distinctly rugose anteriorly (Figs 11 & 20).</p> <p> <b>FEMALE.</b> Holotype ♀ (Figs 1–14, 24). Body length 9.90 mm; fore wing 6.93 mm.</p> <p> <i>Colour</i>. Body matt black with the following variously coloured parts. Scape and pedicel bright yellow, mandible medio-basally pale yellowish brown, apically and ventrally black, labial palpus pale yellowish brown. Pronotal collar, pronotal lobe, and an oblique patch beneath, fore and mid femora basally and apically yellow with median black patch, hind femur black with apical yellow spot, all tibiae externally yellow, internally brownish black, all basitarsi pale yellow, remaining tarsomeres dark brown, arolium black, tegula brownish yellow, veins deep brown, Gt 1 –Gt 4 maculate with macula on Gt 1 small, oval, rest longer, similar bright yellow patches laterally (Fig. 12); anterior 2/3 rds of Gt 5 completely bright yellow, remainder black; sterna black with posterior margins paler (Fig. 13).</p> <p> <i>Head</i>. As seen from above transverse, 2.01× as wide as long (Fig. 5); clypeus apico-medially produced into pair of distinct diverging lobes and pair of lateral pointed processes, median carina well defined on the lamina, almost reaching apical margin, obsolete at apex (Figs 4 & 24); antennal toruli almost touching the inner ocular margin but separated from one another, scapal basins moderately excavated, divided medially by longitudinal furrow (that meets dorsally the interocular foveolate furrow) separating it into separate setose compartments (Fig. 3); frons matt, with scattered well imprinted setaceous pits, fine longitudinal median furrow running from interocular furrow onto the median ocellus, fine remnant of the same along ocellar triangle beyond posterior ocelli, not reaching occiput; vertex similarly sculptured, slightly convex beyond ocellar triangle; occipital carina conspicuous, complete, clearly reaching hypostomal carina; POD 1.2× OOD (Fig. 5); scape with two carinae ventrally; relative lengths of antennal scape: pedicel: flagellomeres I to X (last) = 8.5: 4: 4: 3.2: 2.3: 1.9: 2.1: 2: 1.8: 1.5: 1.1: 3.6.</p> <p> <i>Mesosoma.</i> Pronotum anteriorly much lower than mesoscutum, with three conspicuous transverse carinae and several finer striae; mesoscutum and scutellum rather matt, with well-impressed punctures; lateral mesoscutal margins carinate, posterior margin finely sinuate; apical margin of scutellum coarsely foveolate; metanotum rugose with coarse longitudinal rugae, laterally deeply excavated (Fig. 6); hind femur medially enlarged, as wide as the basal width of Gt 1; hind tibia with five stout brown thorny serrations (six thorny serrations in <i>D. pentheri</i> (Leclercq 1956)) (Fig. 8); fore wing moderately setose, with brown tinge (Fig. 9); propodeal enclosure with fine rugae, mostly longitudinal but superficial and evanescent on more granulose background; propodeum outside enclosure shiny with several incomplete longitudinal carinae arising from anterior margin, surface finely pitted anteriorly, posteriorly finely rugose, densely setose, submedian carina converging posteriorly onto petiolar sulcus (Fig. 10).</p> <p> <i>Metasoma.</i> Subsessile with Gt 1 robust; all terga matt black with bright yellow maculae; Gt 1 1.26× as long as wide, anterior third distinctly rugose, remainder alutaceous with well-impressed setigerous pits (Fig. 11); pygidial plate present, medially excavated, pale yellowish brown with thick yellow bristles (Fig. 14).</p> <p> <b>MALE.</b> Paratype ³ (Figs 1–14, 24). Body size 5.47 mm; fore wing 3.46 mm.</p> <p> <i>Colour</i>. Body matt black with the following colour pattern: scape yellow with dorso-basal brown streak, extending to middle of scape; pedicel brown; tegulae brown; scapal basin rugose-reticulate with lesser setosity and smaller bristles; mandible entirely brownish black; hind tibia liver brown with dorso-medial yellow streak; Gt 1 immaculate; Gt 2 –Gt 4 with a maculation on lateral sides; Gt 5 –Gt 6 with yellow band medially.</p> <p> <i>Head</i>. As seen from above transverse, 1.57× as wide as long (Fig. 19); well imprinted punctation, pits wider than that in females; POD 1.05× OOD; antennae slender with flagellomeres ventrally keeled; clypeus medially produced, weakly bilobed (Figs 18 & 25); conspicuous and deep punctures on head; scapal basins moderately excavated, not divided as in female; relative lengths of antennal scape: pedicel: flagellomeres I to XI (last) = 5.5: 0.9: 1.4: 1.2: 1.2: 1.0: 0.9: 0.8: 0.8: 0.8: 0.7: 1.5.</p> <p> <i>Mesosoma.</i> Pronotum anteriorly much lower than mesoscutum, no conspicuous carinae anteriorly; pronotal collar medially notched, with conspicuous anterior and posterior bordering carinae, lateral corners slightly angulate (Figs 16 & 19); pronoto-mesoscutal and mesoscuto-scutellar grooves smooth; posterior margin of mesoscutum sinuate; axillae small; metanotum with irregular areolate rugae; propodeum smooth with radiating several longitudinal and cross rugae; hind femur almost as wide as the basal width of Gt 1; propodeal enclosure with fine rugae, mostly longitudinal (Fig. 20).</p> <p> <i>Metasoma.</i> Subsessile with Gt 1 robust, 1.83× as long as wide (Figs 20 & 21); all terga matt black with small bright yellow maculae on Gt 2 –Gt 6; sterna black with posterior margins paler; Gt 2 with anterior smooth band, remain-der matt with impressed pits (Fig. 21); epipygium small, posteriorly pitted (Fig. 22); gonostyli with appressed and a pair of long spines apically (Fig. 23).</p> <p> <b>Prey.</b> Adult Diptera belonging to the families Dolichopodidae (Sciapodinae, <i>Condylostylus</i> sp.) (Fig. 50), Hybotidae (Hybotinae, <i>Syneches</i> sp.) (Fig. 51), Lauxaniidae (Homoneurinae, <i>Homoneura</i> sp.) (Fig. 52), and Stratiomyidae (Sarginae, <i>Microchrysa</i> sp.) (Fig. 53).</p> <p> <b>Etymology.</b> The species is named after first author’s mother, Mrs. Geetha Rajeevan, who helped in the collection of the type specimen and also encouraged and helped the first author during the study of the developmental stages of the new species.</p>Published as part of <i>Binoy, C., Kumar, P. Girish & Santhosh, S., 2021, A new species of square-headed wasp Dasyproctus Lepeletier & Brullé (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae: Crabronini) from India, with notes on its biology, pp. 223-234 in Zootaxa 4920 (2)</i> on pages 224-227, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4920.2.4, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/4475185">http://zenodo.org/record/4475185</a>
Enhanced Spontaneous Skin Tumorigenesis and Aberrant Inflammatory Response to UVB Exposure in Immunosuppressed Human Papillomavirus Type 8‒Transgenic Mice
No full text: Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) from the beta genus are commensal viruses of the skin usually associated with asymptomatic infection in the general population. However, in individuals with specific genetic backgrounds, such as patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, or those with immune defects, such as organ transplant recipients, they are functionally involved in sunlight-induced skin cancer development, mainly keratinocyte carcinoma. Despite their well-established protumorigenic role, the cooperation between β-HPV infection, impaired host immunosurveillance, and UVB exposure has never been formally shown in animal models. In this study, by crossing skin-specific HPV8-transgenic mice with Rag2-deficient mice, we have generated a preclinical mouse model, named Rag2‒/‒:K14-HPV8. These mice display an unhealthy skin phenotype and spontaneously develop papilloma-like lesions spreading to the entire skin much more rapidly compared with Rag2+/+:K14-HPV8 mice. Exposure to low doses of UVB radiation is sufficient to trigger severe skin inflammation in Rag2‒/‒:K14-HPV8 but not in Rag2+/+:K14-HPV8 mice. Their inflamed skin very much resembled that observed in cutaneous field cancerization in organ transplant recipients, showing high levels of UVB-damaged cells, enhanced production of proinflammatory cytokines, and mast cell recruitment to the dermis. Overall, this immunocompromised HPV8-transgenic mouse model shows that the coexistence of immune defects, β-HPV, and UVB exposure promotes skin cancer development
β-HPV Infection Correlates with Early Stages of Carcinogenesis in Skin Tumors and Patient-Derived Xenografts from a Kidney Transplant Recipient Cohort
Get PDFMany malignancies that occur in high excess in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) are due to viruses that thrive in the setting of immunosuppression. Keratinocyte carcinoma (KC), the most frequently occurring cancer type in KTR, has been associated with skin infection by human papillomavirus (HPV) from the beta genus. In this report, we extend our previous investigation aimed at identifying the presence of active β-HPV infection in skin tumors from KTRs through detection of viral protein expression. Using a combination of antibodies raised against the E4 and L1 proteins of the β-genotypes, we were able to visualize infection in five tumors [one keratoacanthoma (KA), three actinic keratoses (AKs), and one seborrheic keratoses (SKs)] that were all removed from two patients who had been both transplanted twice, had developed multiple KCs, and presented with a long history of immunosuppression (>30 years). These infected tissues displayed intraepidermal hyperplasia and increased expression of the ΔNp63 protein, which extended into the upper epithelial layers. In addition, using a xenograft model system in nude mice displaying a humanized stromal bed in the site of grafting, we successfully engrafted three AKs, two of which were derived from the aforementioned KTRs and displayed β-HPV infection in the original tumor. Of note, one AK-derived xenograft, along with its ensuing lymph node metastasis, was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In the latter, both β-HPV infection and ΔNp63 expression were no longer detectable. Although the overall success rate of engrafting was very low, the results of this study show for the first time that β-HPV+ and ΔNp63+ intraepidermal hyperplasia can indeed progress to an aggressive SCC able to metastasize. Consistent with a series of reports attributing a causative role of β-HPV at early stages of skin carcinogenesis through ΔNp63 induction and increased keratinocytes stemness, here we provide in vivo evidence that these events are also occurring in the affected skin of KTRs. Due to these β-HPV-driven molecular pathways, the nascent tumor cell is able to acquire a high enough number of carcinogenic insults that its proliferation and survival will eventually become independent of viral gene expression
Modi: a bibliography
No full textBharatiya Janata Party. Election Manifesto 2014. Ek Bharat: Shreshtha Bharat, Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, New Delhi, BJP, 2014 Barnes, Tom. “Indian Labour Movements under Modi.” Gilded Age, edited by Ivan Franceschini and Nicholas Loubere, ANU Press, Australia, 2018, pp. 186–189. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvgd1hr.41. Charrin, Eve « Inde, une croissance inéquitable », Alternatives économiques, vol. 346, no. 5, 2015, pp. 42-42. Girish Patel. “Narendra Modi's One-Day Cricket: What and Wh..
Primary-level worker interventions for the care of mental disorders and distress in low- and middle-income countries (Cochrane review update protocol)
No full textThis is an updated protocol to the 2013 Cochrane review:
Non-specialist health worker interventions for the care of mental, neurological and substance-abuse disorders in low- and middle-income countries
Nadja van Ginneken1,2, Prathap Tharyan3, Simon Lewin4,5, Girish N Rao6, SM Meera2, Jessica Pian7, Sudha Chandrashekar7,8, Vikram Patel1,2
Editorial group: Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group.
Publication status and date: New, published in Issue 11, 2013.
Review content assessed as up-to-date: 2 October 2012.
Citation: van Ginneken N, Tharyan P, Lewin S, Rao GN, Meera SM, Pian J, Chandrashekar S, Patel V. Non-specialist health worker interventions for the care of mental, neurological and substance-abuse disorders in low- and middle-income countries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 11. Art. No.: CD009149. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009149.pub2.
Copyright © 2013 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009149.pub2/ful
Exporting environment awareness to mobile applications
No full textIn mobile computing, factors such as add-on hardware components and heterogeneous networks result in an environment made up of changing resource constraints. An application in such a constrained environment must react to these changes so that available resources are properly utilized. In this paper, we propose an architecture to report changes in the environment to interested applications. The architecture is based on an event delivery mechanism that decouples event detection from delivery, giving the flexibility and extensibility that is necessary in a mobile computing environment. Information associated with the event is delivered as part of the event notification, while delivery latency is reduced by clever thread scheduling. We demonstrate the utility of our architecture by structuring an environment aware networking subsystem around a prototype implementation. The performance of this implementation is competitive with current event delivery mechanisms such as the Unix signal.Technical report lcsr-tr-27
Event delivery abstractions for mobile computing
No full textAn application intended for a mobile computing environment is different from more traditional ones in that it is more event driven. The reason is that mobile computing is associated with constraints, both in terms of mobile host hardware and the network environment. The effect of these constraints is complicated by the fact that the environment in which a mobile host operates changes as it moves. An application in such an environment will have to metamorphose as changes occur, in order to make the best possible use of the constrained environment and thus provide the best possible quality of service to a user. We choose to model these changes in the environment as events which are delivered to each application that is interested. This paper describes a language abstraction to deliver events along with the run-time support required. The idea itself is not restricted to the mobile computing environment: it could be used in all such environments where an application may be interested in altering its behavior in response to changes in the state of its environment.Technical report lcsr-tr-24
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