Preliminary checklist of butterfly diversity from the Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, India

Butterflies are the bio-indicator species for monitoring the health of the ecosystem. A preliminary checklist of the butterfly diversity was prepared by a long-term survey from 2019 to 2022 in varied habitats in the agriculture landscape of the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (HPAU), India. The study recorded 77 butterfly species belonging to six families Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae, Papilionidae and Riodinidae. In addition, there are some rare records of butterfly species such as Common Wall (Lasiommata schakra), Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis), Ringed Argus (Callerebia annada) and Pioneer (Belenois aurota). Some butterflies are habitat specific and few also show local migration from high-elevation areas of the surrounding Dhauladhar ranges. The preliminary checklist prepared from the present study was also compared with Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) located in the similar landscape of the study area. This will help to understand the long-term effect of habitat degradation from human-modified environment and agricultural activities to facilitate effective conservation strategies to protect Himalayan ecosystem

Comparing the effect of statins on hepatic fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in Wistar rats

Background: The clinical studies have shown contrary results regarding hepatoprotective effect of statins. However, antifibrotic properties of statins in in vitro and in vivo experimental models have been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare the effect of statins on serum liver enzymes and their antifibrotic effects.Methods: Forty two rats were divided into 7 groups (I to VII) (n=6). Liver toxicity was induced by injecting carbon tetrachloride (1 ml/kg). Control groups received corn oil (0.1 ml/100 gm) and carboxy methyl cellulose (0.50%) respectively. Group III to VII received carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) for 6 weeks and then groups IV, V, VI and VII received simvastatin (10 mg/kg), atorvastatin (15 mg/kg), rosuvastatin (2 mg/kg) and silymarin (50 mg/kg) for another 8 weeks respectively. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were estimated in all the groups at baseline, 6 weeks and 14 weeks. At 14 weeks, histopathology of liver was done in all groups.Results: At 14 weeks, all the test groups (IV, V and VI) showed a significant decrease in serum ALT, AST and ALP levels as compared to control (p<0.05) and group III (p<0.05). On intergroup comparison, liver enzymes in rats in group VI (rosuvastatin) and group V (atorvastatin) were decreased more in comparison to group IV (simvastatin) but the difference was not statistically significant except for AST levels where the difference was significant between the statins. There was decrease in hepatic fibrosis by statins with rosuvastatin being superior followed by atorvastatin and simvastatin.Conclusions: In the present study statins decreased the serum AST, ALT and ALP levels and histopathological changes were reversed by statins in CCl4 induced hepatotoxic models

Artificial Intelligence-Based Machine and Deep Learning Techniques That Use Brain Waves to Detect Depression

Electroencephalogram (EEG) lsignal-based lemotion lrecognition lhas lattracted lwide linterests in lrecent lyears land lhas lbeen lbroadly ladopted in lmedical, laffective lcomputing, land lother lrelevant lfields. Depression has lbecome la lleading lmental ldisorder lworldwide. Evidence lhas lshown lthat lsubjects lwith ldepression lexhibit ldifferent lspatial lresponses in lneurophysiologic lsignals lfrom lthe lhealthy lcontrols lwhen lthey lare lexposed lto lpositive land lnegative. Depression isla common lreason lfor an increase in lsuicide lcases lworldwide. EEG lplays an important lrole in lE-healthcare lsystems, lespecially in lthe lmental lhealthcare larea, lwhere lconstant land lunobtrusive lmonitoring lis ldesirable. EEG lsignals lcan lreflect lactivities lof lthe lhuman lbrain land lrepresent different lemotional lstates. Mental lstress lhas lbecome la lsocial lissue land lcould lbecome la lcause lof lfunctional ldisability lduring lroutine lwork. This lResearch presents ldeep llearning ltechnique lfor ldetecting ldepression lusing lEEG. The lalgorithm lfirst lextracts lfeatures lfrom lEEG lsignals land lclassifies lemotions lusing lmachine land ldeep llearning ltechniques, in lwhich ldifferent lparts lof la ltrial lare lused lto ltrain lthe lproposed lmodel land lassess lits limpact lon lemotion lrecognition lresults. The simulation is performed lusing lthe lPython lspyder lsoftware. The lprecision lof lthe lproposed lwork lis l99% lwhile in lthe lprevious lwork lit lis l91.00%. lSimilarly lthe lother lparameters llike lRecall land lF_Measure lis l94% land l97% lby lthe lproposed lwork land l88.00% land l89.00% lby lthe lprevious lwork. The loverall laccuracy lachieved lby lthe lproposed lwork lis l96.48% lwhile lprevious lit lis lachieved l91.00%. The error rate of proposed technique is l3.52% lwhile l9.008% in existing lwork. Therefore, lit lis clear lfrom lthe lsimulation lresults; lthe lproposed lwork lis lachieved significant lbetter lresults lthan lexisting lwork

Diagnostic and prognostic utility of an inexpensive rapid on site malaria diagnostic test (ParaHIT f) among ethnic tribal population in areas of high, low and no transmission in central India

BACKGROUND: Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge in most tropical countries. Rapid detection of the malaria parasite and early treatment of infection still remain the most important goals of disease management. Therefore, performance characteristics of the new indigenous ParaHIT f test (Span diagnostic Ltd, Surat, India) was determined among ethnic tribal population in four districts of different transmission potential in central India to assess whether this rapid diagnostic test (RDT) could be widely applied as a diagnostic tool to control malaria. Beyond diagnosis, the logical utilization of RDTs is to monitor treatment outcome. METHODS: A finger prick blood sample was collected from each clinically suspected case of malaria to prepare blood smear and for testing with the RDT after taking informed consent. The blood smears were read by an experienced technician blinded to the RDT results and clinical status of the subjects. The figures for specificity, sensitivity, accuracy and predictive values were calculated using microscopy as gold standard. RESULTS: The prevalence of malaria infection estimated by RDT in parallel with microscopy provide evidence of the type of high, low or no transmission in the study area. Analysis revealed (pooled data of all four epidemiological settings) that overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the RDT were >90% in areas of different endemicity. While, RDT is useful to confirm the diagnosis of new symptomatic cases of suspected P. falciparum infection, the persistence of parasite antigen leading to false positives even after clearance of asexual parasitaemia has limited its utility as a prognostic tool. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the ParaHIT f test was easy to use, reliable and cheap. Thus this RDT is an appropriate test for the use in the field by paramedical staff when laboratory facilities are not available and thus likely to contribute greatly to an effective control of malaria in resource poor countries

Therapeutic efficacy of artemether–lumefantrine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria from three highly malarious states in India

Additional file 1. Flowchart showing site-wise enrolment and follow-up profile

Measurement of the top quark forward-backward production asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric and chromomagnetic moments in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric (d̂ t) and chromomagnetic (μ̂ t) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The linearized variable AFB(1) is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate t t ¯ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for t t ¯ final states. The values found for the parameters are AFB(1)=0.048−0.087+0.095(stat)−0.029+0.020(syst),μ̂t=−0.024−0.009+0.013(stat)−0.011+0.016(syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of | d̂ t| &lt; 0.03 at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe