Geostatistical based soil fertility mapping of Horticultural Research Station, Rajikot, Jumla, Nepal

Geostatistical soil mapping is important for determining spatial distribution of soil parameters. This study was conducted to assess soil spatial distribution of the Horticultural Research Station, Rajikot, Jumla, Nepal. The total 27 samples were collected randomly at a depth of 0-20 cm by using soil sampling auger. A GPS device was used for determination of geographical position of soil sampling points. The collected samples were analyzed following standard analytical methods in the laboratory of National Soil Science Research Centre, Khumaltar. The Arc-GIS 10.1 software was used for the mapping spatial distribution of various soil parameters. The observed data revealed the structure was sub-angular blocky and granular, whereas colour were dark brown to dark grayish brown and dark yellowish brown. The sand, silt and clay content were ranged 24.40-72.10%, 19.40-63.10% and 6.20-14.50%, respectively and categorized loam, sandy loam and silt loam in texture. The soil pH was slightly acidic to moderately alkaline (5.01-8.06), and very low available sulphur (0.59-2.41 mg/kg) and very low to low available boron (0.04-0.87 mg/kg).  Moreover, very low to medium available manganese (2.18-13.46 mg/kg), very low to very high available iron (4.50-138.58 mg/kg), and low to medium available magnesium (7.20-177.60.53 mg/kg) and zinc (0.26-1.66 mg/kg). Similarly, medium total nitrogen (0.09-0.22%), medium to high organic matter (1.71-6.26%) and available calcium (1200-3144 mg/kg), medium to very high available phosphorus (3.71-82.4 mg/kg) and potassium (59.37-173.05 mg/kg). Correspondingly, high to very high available copper (0.78-4.20 mg/kg). The determined soil test data can be used for sustainable soil management as well as developing future research strategy in the farm

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

The first teresomatan caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Eastern Ghats of India—a new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1880

Agarwal, Ishan, Wilkinson, Mark, Mohapatra, Pratyush P., Dutta, Sushil K., Giri, Varad B., Gower, David J. (2013): The first teresomatan caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Eastern Ghats of India—a new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1880. Zootaxa 3696 (4): 534-546, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3693.4.

Systematics and phylogeny of Sitana (Reptilia: Agamidae) of Peninsular India, with the description of one new genus and five new species

We revise the taxonomy of the agamid genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829, a widely distributed terrestrial lizard from the Indian subcontinent based on detailed comparative analyses of external morphology, osteology and molecular data. We sampled 81 locations spread over 160,000 km(2) in Peninsular India including type localities, which represented two known and five previously undescribed species. Based on general similarity in body shape and dewlap all species were hitherto identified as members of the genus Sitana. However, Sitana deccanensis and two other morphotypes, which are endemic to north Karnataka and Maharashtra in Peninsular India, are very distinct from the rest of the known members of the genus Sitana based on their external morphology and osteology. Moreover, members of this distinct morphological group were monophyletic in the molecular tree, and this Glade (Glade 1) was sister to two well-supported clades (2 and 3) constituting the rest of the Sitana. The interclade genetic divergence in mtDNA between Glade 1 and clades 2 and 3 was 21-23%, whereas Glade 2 and Glade 3 exhibited 14-16% genetic divergence. Thus, we designate a new genus name ``Sarada'' gen. nov. for species represented in Clade 1, which also includes the recently resurrected Sitana deccanensis. We describe two new species in Sarada gen. nov. and three new species in Sitana. Similarity in the dewlap of Sitana and Sarada gen. nov. is attributed to similar function (sexual signaling) and similarity in body shape is attributed to a similar terrestrial life style and/or common ancestry

FIGURE 2a & 2b in A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae)

FIGURE 2a &amp; 2b. Photographs of the habitat close to the type locality where CES09/985 was found.Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Datta-Roy, Aniruddha, Mohapatra, Pratyush P., Dutta, Sushil K., Giri, Varad B., Veerappan, Deepak, Maddock, Simon T., Raj, Prudhvi, Agarwal, Ishan &amp; Karanth, Praveen, 2013, A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae), pp. 55-62 in Zootaxa 3670 (1)&lt;/i&gt; on page 59, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3670.1.4, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10097988"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/10097988&lt;/a&gt

FIGURE 1 in A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae)

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Sepsophis punctatus in the Eastern Ghats. The blue dot represents the type locality and the black dots represent the additional localities where S. punctatus was found.Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Datta-Roy, Aniruddha, Mohapatra, Pratyush P., Dutta, Sushil K., Giri, Varad B., Veerappan, Deepak, Maddock, Simon T., Raj, Prudhvi, Agarwal, Ishan &amp; Karanth, Praveen, 2013, A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae), pp. 55-62 in Zootaxa 3670 (1)&lt;/i&gt; on page 58, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3670.1.4, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10097988"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/10097988&lt;/a&gt

FIGURE 3. a in A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae)

FIGURE 3. a: Dorsal view of CES09/985 in life; b: Close up photograph showing the vestigial forelimbs.Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Datta-Roy, Aniruddha, Mohapatra, Pratyush P., Dutta, Sushil K., Giri, Varad B., Veerappan, Deepak, Maddock, Simon T., Raj, Prudhvi, Agarwal, Ishan &amp; Karanth, Praveen, 2013, A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae), pp. 55-62 in Zootaxa 3670 (1)&lt;/i&gt; on page 60, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3670.1.4, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10097988"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/10097988&lt;/a&gt

A long-lost relic from the eastern ghats: morphology, distribution and habitat of sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae)

Sepsophis punctatus Beddome 1870, the only species of a monotypic genus, was described based on a single specimen from the Eastern Ghats of India. We rediscovered the species based on specimens from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh state, India, after a gap of 137 years, including four specimens from close to the type locality. The holotype was studied in detail, and we present additional morphological characters of the species with details on natural history, habitat and diet. The morphological characters of the holotype along with two additional specimens collected by Beddome are compared with the specimens collected by us. We also briefly discuss the distribution of other members of the subfamily Scincinae and their evolutionary affinities