First record of avian cestode Variolepis podicepsi n.sp. from Podiceps rufficolis (Pallas) from Jhansi, U.P., India

Twenty eight cestodes were obtained from three little grebs, Podiceps rufficolis (Pallas) from Jhansi. Morphological studies of the cestodes revealed that they belonged to the genus, Variolepis Spasskii and Spasskaja, 1954 of the sub family Hymenolepidinae Perrier, 1897 family Hymenolepidae Ralliet and Henery, 1909 and regarded as n.sp Variolepis podicepsi

Deterministic and Stochastic Dynamics of COVID-19: The Case Study of Italy and Spain

In December 2019, a severe respiratory syndrome (COVID-19) caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in China and spread rapidly around the globe. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. With eventually substantial global underestimation, more than 225 million cases were confirmed by the end of August 2021, counting more than 4.5 million deaths. COVID-19 symptoms range from mild (or no symptoms) to severe illness, with disease severity and death occurring according to a hierarchy of risks, with age and preexisting health conditions enhancing the risks of disease severity manifestation. In this paper, a mathematical model for COVID-19 transmission is proposed and analyzed. The model stratifies the studied population into two groups, older and younger. Applied to the COVID-19 outbreaks in Spain and in Italy, we find the disease-free equilibrium and the basic reproduction number for each case study. A sensitivity analysis to identify the key parameters which influence the basic reproduction number, and hence regulate the transmission dynamics of COVID-19, is also performed. Finally, the model is extended to its stochastic counterpart to encapsulate the variation or uncertainty found in the transmissibility of the disease. We observe the variability of the infectious population finding its distribution at a given time, demonstrating that for small populations, stochasticity will play an important role.Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 79249

Effect of Fodder Demonstrations in Rainfed Multi-location Conditions of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Presently green fodder availability is 64.66 M tons and dry fodder (64.23 M tons.) in Uttar Pradesh, India., the green fodder deficit is 28.3% and dry fodder surplus by 14.1% respectively. Whereas, in Uttrakhand. Green fodder availability is 4.07 M tons and dry fodder 2.83 M tons, green fodder deficit is 48.1% and dry fodder 42.1%. There are many limitations affecting the forage production such as small holding of farmers and preferential need of food grains crops, limited availability of quality seed of improved varieties of fodder crops, low priority for investment in fodder production by the farmers. There is varied problem soils (acid, salt affected and water logged) prevailing in the area, lack of post harvest management for surplus fodder, no priority for fodder seed production by the farmers/seed producing agencies, no MSP for any of the fodder crops and lack of mechanization in fodder farming. Therefore, Nation Initiative on Fodder Technology Demonstrations will focus on increasing productivity through adoption of improved and appropriate technology best suited to the agro-climatic conditions in the zone in both arable and non-arable land. The objective of the technology demonstration is i). Accelerating production of fodder through promotion of fodder production, conservation and utilization enhancing the availability of the fodder throughout the year ii). Developing seed and planting material demonstrations units at KVK for fulfill the requirements of their vicinity. iii). Establishing back ward and forward linkages with different stake holders for profitable forage based life style husbandry

In vivo antioxidant potential of lepidium sativum l. Seeds in albino rats using cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity

The present study was designed to investigate to possible potential nephrocurative, nephroprotective activity and in vivo antioxidant potential of 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg ethanolic extract of Lepidium sativum L. seeds was use to against cisplatin (5mg/kg, i.p.) induced nephrotoxicity. The experimental protocol designed as the animals were divided into six groups (n=6) like control, model control, two curative (200mg/kg and 400mg/kg), and two protective groups (200mg/kg and 400mg/kg, were received vehicle, cisplatin, cisplatin + extract, and extract + cisplatin respectively. After 6th days, blood collected from retro-orbital sinus of rats and determined urea and creatinine level in serum of each group after then rats were sacrificed for quantitative estimation of various enzymes and ATPase content in kidney tissue. A single dose of cisplatin induced loss in body weight, increase urine excretion, increased urea & creatinine level in serum; it was significantly recovered by 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg in curative and protective groups. The enzyme estimation in kidney tissue it found that increase malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, catalase and reduced glutathione level, it was significantly monitored by 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg in curative and protective groups. These are defined as vivo antioxidant potential. The level of brush border enzymes like Na+ / K+ ATPase, Ca++ ATPase and Mg++ATPase were found significantly reduced after single dose cisplatin injection. It was overcome by treatment of same extract in curative and protective groups. Finally it is concluded that the present study data conformed nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin due oxidative stress and ethanolic extract of Lepidium sativum L. seeds may have nephroprotective and curative activity.Keywords: Cisplatin; Nephrotoxicity; urea; creatinine; glutathione; Lipid peroxidatio

CEO Turnover in Large Banks: Does Tail Risk Matter?

Using a unique international dataset, we show that the CEOs of large banks exhibit an increased probability of forced turnover when their organizations are more exposed to idiosyncratic tail risks. The importance of idiosyncratic tail risk in CEO dismissals is strengthened when there is more competition in the banking industry and when stakeholders have more to lose in the case of distress. Overall, we document that the exposure to idiosyncratic tail risk offers valuable signals to bank boards on the quality of the choices made by CEOs and these signals are different from those provided by accounting and market measures of bank performance and by idiosyncratic volatility. In contrast, systematic tail risk is usually filtered out from the firing decision, only becoming important for forced CEO turnovers in the presence of a major variation in the costs that the exposure to this risk generates for shareholders and the organization

Seasonally Forced SIR Systems Applied to Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Bifurcations, and Chaos

We investigate models to describe respiratory diseases with fast mutating virus pathogens such that after some years the aquired resistance is lost and hosts can be infected with new variants of the pathogen. Such models were initially suggested for respiartory diseases like influenza, showing complex dynamics in reasonable parameter regions when comparing to historic empirical influenza like illness data, e.g., from Ille de France. The seasonal forcing typical for respiratory diseases gives rise to the different rich dynamical scenarios with even small parameter changes. Especially the seasonality of the infection leads for small values already to period doubling bifurcations into chaos, besides additional coexisting attractors. Such models could in the future also play a role in understanding the presently experienced COVID-19 pandemic, under emerging new variants and with only limited vaccine efficacies against newly upcoming variants. From first period doubling bifurcations, we can eventually infer at which close by parameter regions complex dynamics including deterministic chaos can arise.Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 79249

SN 2015as: A low luminosity Type IIb supernova without an early light curve peak

We present results of the photometric (from 3 to 509 days past explosion) and spectroscopic (up to 230 days past explosion) monitoring campaign of the He-rich Type IIb supernova (SN) 2015as. The {\it (B-V)} colour evolution of SN 2015as closely resemble those of SN 2008ax, suggesting that SN 2015as belongs to the SN IIb subgroup that does not show the early, short-duration photometric peak. The light curve of SN 2015as reaches the $B$-band maximum about 22 days after the explosion, at an absolute magnitude of -16.82 $\pm$ 0.18 mag. At $\sim$ 75 days after the explosion, its spectrum transitions from that of a SN II to a SN Ib. P~Cygni features due to He I lines appear at around 30 days after explosion, indicating that the progenitor of SN 2015as was partially stripped. For SN~2015as, we estimate a $^{56}$Ni mass of $\sim$ 0.08 M$_{\odot}$ and ejecta mass of 1.1--2.2 M$_{\odot}$, which are similar to the values inferred for SN 2008ax. The quasi bolometric analytical light curve modelling suggests that the progenitor of SN 2015as has a modest mass ($\sim$ 0.1 M$_{\odot}$), a nearly-compact ($\sim$ 0.05$\times$10$^{13}$ cm) H envelope on top of a dense, compact ($\sim$ 2$\times$10$^{11}$ cm) and a more massive ($\sim$ 1.2 M$_{\odot}$) He core. The analysis of the nebular phase spectra indicates that $\sim$ 0.44 M$_{\odot}$ of O is ejected in the explosion. The intensity ratio of the [Ca II]/[O I] nebular lines favours either a main sequence progenitor mass of $\sim$ 15 M$_{\odot}$ or a Wolf Rayet star of 20 M$_{\odot}$.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, 10 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 16 February, 201