51 research outputs found

    An Efficient Algorithm For Chinese Postman Walk on Bi-directed de Bruijn Graphs

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    Sequence assembly from short reads is an important problem in biology. It is known that solving the sequence assembly problem exactly on a bi-directed de Bruijn graph or a string graph is intractable. However finding a Shortest Double stranded DNA string (SDDNA) containing all the k-long words in the reads seems to be a good heuristic to get close to the original genome. This problem is equivalent to finding a cyclic Chinese Postman (CP) walk on the underlying un-weighted bi-directed de Bruijn graph built from the reads. The Chinese Postman walk Problem (CPP) is solved by reducing it to a general bi-directed flow on this graph which runs in O(|E|2 log2(|V |)) time. In this paper we show that the cyclic CPP on bi-directed graphs can be solved without reducing it to bi-directed flow. We present a ?(p(|V | + |E|) log(|V |) + (dmaxp)3) time algorithm to solve the cyclic CPP on a weighted bi-directed de Bruijn graph, where p = max{|{v|din(v) - dout(v) > 0}|, |{v|din(v) - dout(v) < 0}|} and dmax = max{|din(v) - dout(v)}. Our algorithm performs asymptotically better than the bidirected flow algorithm when the number of imbalanced nodes p is much less than the nodes in the bi-directed graph. From our experimental results on various datasets, we have noticed that the value of p/|V | lies between 0.08% and 0.13% with 95% probability

    Global extent and drivers of mammal population declines in protected areas under illegal hunting pressure

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    Illegal hunting is a persistent problem in many protected areas, but an overview of the extent of this problem and its impact on wildlife is lacking. We reviewed 40 years (1980–2020) of global research to examine the spatial distribution of research and socio-ecological factors influencing population decline within protected areas under illegal hunting pressure. From 81 papers reporting 988 species/site combinations, 294 mammal species were reported to have been illegally hunted from 155 protected areas across 48 countries. Research in illegal hunting has increased substantially during the review period and showed biases towards strictly protected areas and the African continent. Population declines were most frequent in countries with a low human development index, particularly in strict protected areas and for species with a body mass over 100 kg. Our results provide evidence that illegal hunting is most likely to cause declines of large-bodied species in protected areas of resource-poor countries regardless of protected area conservation status. Given the growing pressures of illegal hunting, increased investments in people’s development and additional conservation efforts such as improving anti-poaching strategies and conservation resources in terms of improving funding and personnel directed at this problem are a growing priority

    The SARAO MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey

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    We present the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS), a 1.3 GHz continuum survey of almost half of the Galactic Plane (251○ ≤l ≤ 358○ and 2○ ≤l ≤ 61○ at |b| ≤ 1 5). SMGPS is the largest, most sensitive and highest angular resolution 1 GHz survey of the Plane yet carried out, with an angular resolution of 8″ and a broadband RMS sensitivity of ∼10–20 μJy beam−1. Here we describe the first publicly available data release from SMGPS which comprises data cubes of frequency-resolved images over 908–1656 MHz, power law fits to the images, and broadband zeroth moment integrated intensity images. A thorough assessment of the data quality and guidance for future usage of the data products are given. Finally, we discuss the tremendous potential of SMGPS by showcasing highlights of the Galactic and extragalactic science that it permits. These highlights include the discovery of a new population of non-thermal radio filaments; identification of new candidate supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and planetary nebulae; improved radio/mid-IR classification of rare Luminous Blue Variables and discovery of associated extended radio nebulae; new radio stars identified by Bayesian cross-matching techniques; the realisation that many of the largest radio-quiet WISE H II region candidates are not true H II regions; and a large sample of previously undiscovered background H I galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance

    Viral replication kinetics and in vitro cytopathogenicity of parental and reassortant strains of bluetongue virus serotype 1, 6 and 8

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    Bluetongue virus (BTV), a segmented dsRNA virus, is the causative agent of bluetongue (BT), an economically important viral haemorrhagic disease of ruminants. Bluetongue virus can exchange its genome segments in mammalian or insect cells that have been co-infected with more than one strain of the virus. This process, may potentially give rise to the generation of novel reassortant strains that may differ from parental strains in regards to their phenotypic characteristics. To investigate the potential effects of reassortment on the virus’ phenotype, parental as well as reassortant strains of BTV serotype 1, 6, 8, that were derived from attenuated and wild type strains by reverse genetics, were studied in vitro for their virus replication kinetics and cytopathogenicity in mammalian (Vero) cell cultures. The results indicate that genetic reassortment can affect viral replication kinetics, the cytopathogenicity and extent/mechanism of cell death in infected cell cultures. In particular, some reassortants of non-virulent vaccine (BTV-1 and BTV-6) and virulent field origin (BTV-8) demonstrate more pronounced cytopathic effects compared to their parental strains. Some reassortant strains in addition replicated to high titres in vitro despite being composed of genome segments from slow and fast replicating parental strains. The latter result may have implications for the level of viraemia in the mammalian host and subsequent uptake and transmission of reassortant strains (and their genome segments) by Culicoides vectors. Increased rates of CPE induction could further suggest a higher virulence for reassortant strains in vivo. Overall, these findings raise questions in regards to the use of modified-live virus (MLV) vaccines and risk of reassortment in the field. To further address these questions, additional experimental infection studies using insects and/or animal models should be conducted, to determine whether these results have significant implications in viv
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