Closed Superstring in Noncommutative Compact Spacetime

In this paper we study the effects of noncommutativity on a closed superstring propagating in the spacetime that is compactified on tori. The effects of compactification and noncommutativity appear in the momentum, quantization, supercurrent, super-conformal generators and in the boundary state of the closed superstring emitted from a D$_p$-brane with the NS$\otimes$NS background $B$-field.Comment: 11 pages, Latex, no figur

Improved MPPT Methods for PV Array Under Patrially Shaded Condition

Under partially shaded conditions PV string exhibits complex output characteristics, i.e., the current-voltage curve (I-V) shows multiple current stairs whereas power –voltage (P-V) curves presents multiple voltage peaks. Therefore the use of conventional maximum power point tracking is not beneficial in the case of tracking accuracy or on tracking speed. This paper introduces two global MPPT methods one is search-skip-judge global MPPT(SSJ-GMMPT) and another is rapid global MPPT (R-GMPPT) methods. These two methods proposed helps to reduce searching voltage range based on study of I-V and P-V characteristics of P-V string. The real maximum power under any shading condition can be tracked by SSJ-GMPPT and therefore high accuracy and rapid tracking speed can be achieved without any additional circuits and sensors. The tracking speed of long string having huge PV modules can be improved by R-GMPPT methods which degrades more than 90% of tracking time that is required by conventional global searching method. Comparing these two propose method with other methods highlights that these proposed methods are good and powerful

Hepatitis E: Genotypes, strategies to prevent and manage, and the existing knowledge gaps

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is considered an emergent source of viral hepatitis worldwide, with an increasing burden of jaundice, liver failure, extrahepatic illnesses, and deaths in developed countries. With the scarcity of data from efficient animal models, there are still open-ended questions about designing new models to study pathogenesis, types, virology, and evolution of these viruses. With an emphasis on available data and updates, there is still enough information to understand the HEV life cycle, pathogen interaction with the host, and the valuation of the role of vaccine and new anti-HEV therapies. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) preferred to stress prevention and control measures of HEV infections in animals, zoonotic transmission, and foodborne transmission. It is being reviewed that with current knowledge on HEV and existing prevention tools, there is an excellent room for in-depth information about the virus strains, their replication, pathogenicity, and virulence. The current knowledge set also has gaps regarding standardized and validated diagnostic tools, efficacy and safety of the vaccine, and extrahepatic manifestations specifically in pregnant females, immunocompromised patients, and others. This review highlights the areas for more research exploration, focusing on enlisted research questions based on HEV infection to endorse the need for significant improvement in the current set of knowledge for this public health problem

Granulomatous gastritis: a diagnostic dilemma?

Granulomatous inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract is an uncommon entity, an aetiopathogenic diagnosis can be reached only by combining the morphological examination with clinical and laboratory investigations. We report two cases of granulomatous gastritis: a 27-year-old woman presenting with weight loss and a 55-year-old woman presenting with epigastric pain and vomiting. Upper oesophagastroduodenoscopy in these cases showed antral hyperaemia and histopathology showed non-caseating gastric granulomatous inflammation. Both the cases were extensively worked-up for possible tuberculosis (TB) as the Patients lived in an endemic area, before starting steroids for the possibility of Crohn\u27s disease (CD). The first Patient improved but the second Patient had a flare of underlying undiagnosed TB. Granulomatous gastritis present a diagnostic challenge for treating physicians because of similar clinical, laboratory and endoscopical features between CD and intestinal TB

Effects of Parasitic Infections on Erythrocyte Indices of Camels in Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and effect of parasitic infection on erythrocyte indices in trade camels slaughtered in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Two hundred adult one humped camels comprised of 87 (43.5 %) males and 113 (56.5 %) females were examined for helminths and hemoparasites at their slaughter time according to the standard procedures. An overall prevalence of 79 % for single and mixed infections was observed. Examination of faecal samples from camels shows 82 (41 %) were harbouring different nematodes, mostly Strongyle, Strongyloides and Hemonchus species. Buffy coat and thin smear examination of blood samples showed Babesia and Anaplasma species. More females (44.5 %) than males (34.5 %) were positive for various parasitic infections. But the percentage was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Packed cell volume (PCV), mean haemoglobin concentration (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red blood cell counts were significantly (P < 0.01) affected in the infected camels compared to the non-infected ones. Parasite infection in camels leads to macrocytic anaemia

In vitro Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Activity of Leaf Extracts of Mangrove Plant, Phoenix paludosa Roxb

Purpose: To investigate the anti-proliferative and antioxidant potentials of four different solvent extracts of Phoenix paludosa Roxb leaves.Methods: Four different solvent (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) leaf extracts of the plant were tested for cytotoxicity against four cancer cells, viz, MCF-7 (oestrogen positive breast cancer cell line), MDA-MB-231 (triple negative breast cancer cell line), SK-BR-3 (breast adenocarcinoma) and ACHN (renal adenocarcinoma) as well as two normal cell lines, namely, HEK-293 (embryonic kidney cells) and MCF-10A (normal mammary epithelial cells)]. 2, 2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2, 29-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) free radical scavenging assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the crude extracts.Results: The methanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity (DPPH, half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) = 30.17 ± 6.21 μg/mL) and (ABTS, IC50 = 27.91 ± 3.21 μg/mL). Of the four extracts, methanol extract showed the strongest significant (p &lt; 0.05) cytotoxicity to all four cancer cell lines at 24 and 48 h of incubation followed by the chloroform extract (IC50 of methanol extract (24 and 48 h): 36.71 ± 8.72 and 33.19 ± 5.53 μg/mL (MCF-7), 159.7 ± 32.09 and 141.9 ± 26.2 μg/mL (MDA-MB-231), 103.3 ± 18.9 and 75.39 ± 19.39 μg/mL (SKBR-3), 57.21 ± 3.72 and 43.16 ± 10.25 μg/mL (MCF-10A), 37.48 ± 5.75 and 26.99 ± 1.85 (ACHN) and 66.83 ± 14.26 and 60.34 ± 10.66 μg/mL (HEK-293)). Furthermore, the methanol extract was least cytotoxic to normal cell lines.Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that the methanol leaf extract of P. paludosa exhibit potent antioxidant and cytotoxic activities and has the potential of being developed into an anti-cancer agent.Keywords: Phoenix paludosa, antiproliferative, antioxidant, cytotoxicit

Isolation of cytotoxic triterpenes from the mangrove plant, Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea C.F.Gaertn (Rubiaceae)

Purpose: To isolate active cytotoxic compounds from the hexane and chloroform  extracts of the leaves of the mangrove plant, Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea C.F. Gaertn (Rubiaceae), grown in Sri Lanka.Methods: Dried pulverized leaves of S. hydrophyllacea were extracted with hexane and chloroform. Vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC), column chromatography (size exclusion chromatography, Sephadex LH-20) and reversed phase preparative recycling high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques were used to isolate three compounds (compounds 1, 2 and 3). The structures of the isolated compounds were established with the aid of 1H, 13C and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) and electron ionization-mass spectrometry (EI-MS) techniques. 3-(4,5- Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of the compounds on oestrogen receptor positive breast (MCF-7) and non-small cell lung (NCIH- 292) cancer cells.Results: The isolated compounds were identified as oleanolic acid (1), ursolic acid (2) and eichlerianic acid (3). Ursolic acid and eichlerianic acid showed strong  cytotoxic effects {IC50- ursolic acid: 8.47 μg/mL (24 h, MCF-7), 7.78 μg/mL (24 h, NCI-H292) and eichlerianic acid: 8.86 μg/mL (24 h, MCF-7), 10.15 μg/mL (24 h, NCI-H292)} in MCF-7 and NCI-H292 cancer cells at 24, 48 and 72 h  post-incubation periods.Conclusion: Hexane and chloroform extracts of the leaves of S. hydrophyllacea yielded three compounds namely oleanolic acid, eichlerianic acid and ursolic acid. Ursolic acid and eichlerianic acid have been isolated for the first time from the leaves of S. hydrophyllacea grown in Sri Lanka and demonstrate in-vitro cytotoxic effects in oestrogen receptor positive (MCF-7) and non-small lung cancer (NCI-H-292) cells.Keywords: Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, eichlerianic acid, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, MCF-7, NCI-H-29

Effects of Tectonics and Large Scale Climatic Changes On the Evolutionary History of \u3ci\u3eHyalomma\u3c/i\u3e ticks

Hyalomma Koch, 1844 are ixodid ticks that infest mammals, birds and reptiles, to which 27 recognized species occur across the Afrotropical, Palearctic and Oriental regions. Despite their medical and veterinary importance, the evolutionary history of the group is enigmatic. To investigate various taxonomic hypotheses based on morphology, and also some of the mechanisms involved in the diversification of the genus, we sequenced and analysed data derived from two mtDNA fragments, three nuclear DNA genes and 47 morphological characters. Bayesian and Parsimony analyses based on the combined data (2242 characters for 84 taxa) provided maximum resolution and strongly supported the monophyly of Hyalomma and the subgenus Euhyalomma Filippova, 1984 (including H. punt Hoogstraal, Kaiser and Pedersen, 1969). A predicted close evolutionary association was found between morphologically similar H. dromedarii Koch, 1844, H. somalicum Tonelli Rondelli, 1935, H. impeltatum Schulze and Schlottke, 1929 and H. punt, and together they form a sister lineage to H. asiaticum Schulze and Schlottke, 1929, H. schulzei Olenev, 1931 and H. scupense Schulze, 1919. Congruent with morphological suggestions, H. anatolicum Koch, 1844, H. excavatum Koch, 1844 and H. lusitanicum Koch, 1844 form a clade and so also H. glabrum Delpy, 1949, H. marginatum Koch, 1844, H. turanicum Pomerantzev, 1946 and H. rufipes Koch, 1844. Wide scale continental sampling revealed cryptic divergences within African H. truncatum Koch, 1844 and H. rufipes and suggested that the taxonomy of these lineages is in need of a revision. The most basal lineages in Hyalomma represent taxa currently confined to Eurasia and molecular clock estimates suggest that members of the genus started to diverge approximately 36.25 million years ago (Mya). The early diversification event coincides well with the collision of the Indian and Eurasian Plates, an event that was also characterized by large scale faunal turnover in the region. Using S-Diva, we also propose that the closure of the Tethyan seaway allowed for the genus to first enter Africa approximately 17.73 Mya. In concert, our data supports the notion that tectonic events and large scale global changes in the environment contributed significantly to produce the rich species diversity currently found in the genus Hyalomma

A novel succinate dehydrogenase type B mutation in an Iranian family. Its genetic and clinical evaluation

Succinate Dehydrogenase-B (SDH-B) gene mutations constitute one of the most frequent forms of hereditary paragangliomas (PGL). Genetic study is advised in all cases for the evaluation of tumour behaviour, the selection of optimal management and the surveillance of the first degree relatives. There are limited data on the genetic characteristics of patients with PGLs from Middle East countries, and to our knowledge this is the first study from Iran. We present the clinical and genetic characteristics of a 29-year old woman who presented with hypertension secondary to a para-aortic PGL. She was shown to have a novel mutation in the SDH-B gene and her family was subsequently screened. We also emphasize the problems in diagnosing and treating patients in this region. © 2014 Hellenic Endocrine Society. All rights reserved