Partial Hamiltonian reduction of relativistic extended objects in light-cone gauge

The elimination of the non-transversal field in the standard light-cone formulation of higher-dimensional extended objects is formulated as a Hamiltonian reduction.Comment: 11 page

Human Microsporidial Infections

Microsporidia are eukaryotic, spore forming obligate intracellular parasites, first recognised over 100 years ago. Microsporidia are becoming increasingly recognised as infectious pathogens causing intestinal and extra-intestinal diseases in both immuno-competent and immuno-suppressed patients. They are characterised by the production of resistant spores that vary in size depending on the species; and poses a unique organelle, the polar tubule (polar filament), which is coiled inside the spore as demonstrated by its ultra structure. Other unusual characteristics are the lack of mitochondria and the prokaryotic-like ribosomes, which indicate the primitive nature of the group. Presently there are seven genera, Enterocytozoon, Encephalitozoon, Nosema, Pleistophora, Trachi pleistophora, Brachiola, vittaforma species which have been reported from human hosts as agents of systemic, ocular, intestinal and muscular infections, are described and the diagnosis, treatment, and source of infections discussed

First detection of intestinal microsporidia in Northern Nigeria

Microsporidia are intracellular spore-forming protozoa that are increasingly being recognized as pathogens in humans. Faecal samples were taken from 2250 HIV/AIDS and 1050 HIV-negative patients from Kano and Makurdi in Northern Nigeria, and were investigated for microsporidial infections by Giemsa staining technique (Light microscopy). In Kano, Enterocytozoon bienuesi was detected in 8 (14.17%) and Encephalitozoon intestinalis in 5 (2.60%) out of 192 HIV/AIDS patients screened. A mixed infection of both 0.52% was observed. Results from Makurdi showed that Enterocytozoon bienuesi was detected in 13 (0.65%) and Encephalitozoon intestinalis in 96 (4.78%) out of 2008 HIV/AIDS patients examined. No mixed infection was observed. Microsporidial spores were not found in 1050 HIV-negative patients screened from both areas. There was a significant difference (X2, p<0.05) in infection rates between the HIV/AIDS and HIV-negative patients. This study aimed at detecting the prevalence of intestinal microsporidia to provide baseline data on the status of this disease in Nigeria. Detection of Microsporidia in Immuno-compromised patients has not been described previously in this area

An inhomogeneous toy-model of the quantum gravity with explicitly evolvable observables

An inhomogeneous (1+1)-dimensional model of the quantum gravity is considered. It is found, that this model corresponds to a string propagating against some curved background space. The quantization scheme including the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and the "particle on a sphere" type of the gauge condition is suggested. In the quantization scheme considered, the "problem of time" is solved by building of the quasi-Heisenberg operators acting in a space of solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and the normalization of the wave function corresponds to the Klein-Gordon type. To analyze the physical consequences of the scheme, a (1+1)-dimensional background space is considered for which a classical solution is found and quantized. The obtained estimations show the way to solution of the cosmological constant problem, which consists in compensation of the zero-point oscillations of the matter fields by the quantum oscillations of the scale factor. Along with such a compensation, a slow global evolution of a background corresponding to an universe expansion exists.Comment: 18 page

Insecticidal Activity of Crude Extracts of Hyptis suaveolens (Bush Mint) on Anopheles Mosquitoes Collected from Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Anopheles gambiae is a vector that is responsible for the transmission of malaria parasites which causes high morbidity and mortality in Nigeria and the world at large. Human-vector contact can be reduced by the use of conventional repellents being sold in the market, though some of these repellent are not environmentally friendly and An. gambiae have developed resistance to some of these repellents. To this end, the phytochemical constituents and insecticidal activity of crude extracts of Hyptis suaveolens (bush mint) was determined on adult An. gambiae mosquitoes collected from Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria to evaluate its effect in controlling them. Here, 70% ethanolic and diethyl ether fat crude extracts were made from H. suaveolens dried leaves and used to carry out the experiment. The phytochemical screening of the ethanol extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoid, saponins, tannins, steroids and reducing sugar. Glycoside was not detected in the ethanol extract. Only steroids was detected in diethyl ether extract the rest of the phytochemical tested were absent. An. gambiae larvae were collected from the field and were raised to F1 progeny adults that were used for the study. WHO protocol for carrying out human bait repellency cage test was used. Human hand treated with the extracts was exposed to a cage containing 30 female mosquitoes for each of the extracts respectively. The ethanolic crude extract treatment proved to be more effective in repelling mosquitoes with 0% (0/30) mosquito landing than diethyl ether extract which had 40% (12/30) mosquitoes landing and the control hand (untreated left hand) had the highest landing rate 63.3% (19/30) which showed very high significant difference (χ2 = 27.2619, df = 2, P <0.00001) in relation to the treatments. After 24 hours holding period, the mortality rate of exposed mosquitoes was observed to be highest in the ethanolic treatment 73.3% (22/30). In conclusion, H. suaveolens extracts have repellency potential in controlling adult An. gambiae

Boundary Terms and Junction Conditions for Generalized Scalar-Tensor Theories

We compute the boundary terms and junction conditions for Horndeski's panoptic class of scalar-tensor theories, and write the bulk and boundary equations of motion in explicitly second order form. We consider a number of special subclasses, including galileon theories, and present the corresponding formulae. Our analysis opens up of the possibility of studying tunnelling between vacua in generalized scalar-tensor theories, and braneworld dynamics. The latter follows because our results are independent of spacetime dimension.Comment: 13 pages, Equation corrected. Thanks to Tsutomu Kobayashi for informing us of the typ

Quantum states made to measure

Recent progress in manipulating quantum states of light and matter brings quantum-enhanced measurements closer to prospective applications. The current challenge is to make quantum metrologic strategies robust against imperfections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Commentary for Nature Photonic

Partition Functions for Maxwell Theory on the Five-torus and for the Fivebrane on S1XT5

We compute the partition function of five-dimensional abelian gauge theory on a five-torus T5 with a general flat metric using the Dirac method of quantizing with constraints. We compare this with the partition function of a single fivebrane compactified on S1 times T5, which is obtained from the six-torus calculation of Dolan and Nappi. The radius R1 of the circle S1 is set to the dimensionful gauge coupling constant g^2= 4\pi^2 R1. We find the two partition functions are equal only in the limit where R1 is small relative to T5, a limit which removes the Kaluza-Klein modes from the 6d sum. This suggests the 6d N=(2,0) tensor theory on a circle is an ultraviolet completion of the 5d gauge theory, rather than an exact quantum equivalence.Comment: v4, 37 pages, published versio

Mellin Amplitudes for Dual Conformal Integrals

Motivated by recent work on the utility of Mellin space for representing conformal correlators in $AdS$/CFT, we study its suitability for representing dual conformal integrals of the type which appear in perturbative scattering amplitudes in super-Yang-Mills theory. We discuss Feynman-like rules for writing Mellin amplitudes for a large class of integrals in any dimension, and find explicit representations for several familiar toy integrals. However we show that the power of Mellin space is that it provides simple representations even for fully massive integrals, which except for the single case of the 4-mass box have not yet been computed by any available technology. Mellin space is also useful for exhibiting differential relations between various multi-loop integrals, and we show that certain higher-loop integrals may be written as integral operators acting on the fully massive scalar $n$-gon in $n$ dimensions, whose Mellin amplitude is exactly 1. Our chief example is a very simple formula expressing the 6-mass double box as a single integral of the 6-mass scalar hexagon in 6 dimensions.Comment: 29+7 page

Anti-trypanosomal Activity of Bufonidae (Toad) Venom Crude Extract on Trypanosoma brucei brucei in Swiss Mice

Trypanosomiasis afflicts about 6 ~ 7 million people globally and to a large extent impedes livestock production in Africa. Naturally, trypanosomal parasites undergo genetic mutation and have developed resistance over a wide range of therapies. The utilization of animals and plants products has presented therapeutic potential for identifying novel anti-trypanosomal drugs. This study evaluated toad venom for anti-trypanosomal potency invivo in Swiss mice. Toads were collected from July to August 2019. The acute oral toxicity and biochemical characterization of the toad venom were determined. The experimental mice were administered various doses (130 mg/kg, 173 mg/kg and 217 mg/kg) of the toad venom crude extract and 0.75 mg/mL of Diamizan Plus standard drug for the treatment of trypanosomiasis, once daily for 3 days. The in-vivo anti-trypanosomal activity was evaluated by a curative test, after infecting the mice with Trypanosoma brucei brucei. The pre-patent period was 72 hours before treatment commenced. The overall results showed that trypanosomal load was highest in the control group while the group treated with Diamizan drug had the least trypanosomal load. As such, the mean trypanosomal load in relation to treatments showed a very high significant difference (P0.05) across treatment groups. The over 50% reduction in the trypanosomal load in the 130 mg/kg group in comparison with the control group brings to bare the anti-trypanosomal potency of the toad venom. The anti-trypanosomal activity demonstrated by the toad venom has provided basis for development of new therapeutic agents from different toad species. The study recommends further studies (both in-vivo and invitro) followed by the characterization of the active compounds present in the toad venom responsible for the anti-tyrpanosomal activity observed alongside the management and conservation of these species