Showing papers by "St. Joseph's College, Devagiri published in 2011"

A comparison of the pitfall trap, Winkler extractor and Berlese funnel for sampling ground-dwelling arthropods in tropical montane cloud forests.

Abstract: Little is known about the ground-dwelling arthropod diversity in tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) Due to unique habitat conditions in TMCFs with continuously wet substrates and a waterlogged forest floor along with the innate biases of the pitfall trap, Berlese funnel and Winkler extractor are certain to make it difficult to choose the most appropriate method to sample the ground-dwelling arthropods in TMCFs Among the three methods, the Winkler extractor was the most efficient method for quantitative data and pitfall trapping for qualitative data for most groups Inclusion of floatation method as a complementary method along with the Winkler extractor would enable a comprehensive quantitative survey of ground-dwelling arthropods Pitfall trapping is essential for both quantitative and qualitative sampling of Diplopoda, Opiliones, Orthoptera, and Diptera The Winkler extractor was the best quantitative method for Psocoptera, Araneae, Isopoda, and Formicidae; and the Berlese funnel was best for Collembola and Chilopoda For larval forms of different insect orders and the Acari, all the three methods were equally effective

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel: Effect of hydrophilicity on controlled release of ibuprofen at different pH

Abstract: Stimuli-sensitive drug delivery systems (DDSs) have attracted considerable attention in medical and pharmaceutical fields; thermo-sensitive DDS dealing with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) have been widely studied. Hydrogels composed of temperature-sensitive NIPAM and biocompatible and pH-sensitive maleic acid (MAc) were synthesized by sedimentation polymerization. Experiments on drug release from the crosslinked NIPAM-co-MAc hydrogel loaded with ibuprofen into different pH buffer solutions were successfully carried out at temperature swing between 25 and 40°C. The in vitro release studies have showed that the release rate depended on acidity or basicity (polarity) of the medium and the gel and swelling ratio of the gel network as a function of the environmental pH and temperature. The SEM image of the dry bead gave more insight into the surface architecture and the thermal studies shine light on the decomposition pattern and glass transition temperature of the gel. The mechanism of the drug release was discussed in relation to the diffusion rate and the abrupt change in the pH of the medium. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

Cloud Forest Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in the Western Ghats, a Global Biodiversity Hotspot in Southwestern India:

Abstract: First-time comprehensive data on the community structure, species composition and regional endemism of dung beetle assemblage in a tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) from South Asia is provided. ...

Faunal survey, endemism and possible species loss of Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in the western slopes of the moist South Western Ghats, South India

Abstract: Species composition, distribution patterns and endemism are outlined for the dung beetles in the ecoregions of the western slopes of the moist South Western Ghats, South India. Among the 142 dung beetle species known, 35 are endemic to the Western Ghats; 29 are endemic to the moist South Western Ghats; 25 are regionally endemic to the South Western Ghats montane rain forests ecoregion; and one each to the Malabar Coast moist deciduous forest ecoregion and the South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests ecoregion. Five species, including the 3 flightless species, are local endemics to the upper montane tropical montane cloud forests. The montane rain forests ecoregion has the highest number of endemics in the moist south Western Ghats and the moist deciduous forests ecoregion and Malabar Coast moist deciduous forest ecoregion have the lowest levels of endemism. Of the 137 dung beetle species known prior to the deforestation and habitat modification of the region, only 87 have been collected recently.

Markovian queueing system with random balking

Abstract: An M/M/1queueing system with the customer impatience in the form of random balking is considered in this paper. Effecting in the model a system size-based balking according to which a new customer will join the queue with probability q k if he finds k(≥0) customers in the system on his arrival, we obtained the stationary distribution of the system size, its mean and variance. Further the stationary characteristics of the system for various balking probability functions are investigated. The maximum likelihood estimate of the balking parameter is also discussed. The models we treated here find practical application in helping the management of any enterprises to provide adequate service for its customers with tolerable waiting, whenever, customer impatience becomes sufficiently strong and customers leave before being served.

Taxonomy of the dung beetle genus Ochicanthon Vaz-de-Mello (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of the Indian subcontinent, with notes on distribution patterns and flightlessness

Abstract: The taxonomy of the genus Ochicanthon Vaz-de-Mello of the Indian subcontinent is revised and an identification key to the species is provided. The number of Ochicanthon species from the region is increased to 15, eight of which are new: O. besucheti Cuccodoro sp. nov., O. ceylonicus Cuccodoro sp. nov., O. devagiriensis Sabu & Latha sp. nov., O. ernei Cuccodoro sp. nov., O. gauricola Cuccodoro sp. nov., O. murthyi Vinod & Sabu sp. nov., O. mussardi Cuccodoro sp. nov. and O. vazdemelloi Latha & Sabu sp. nov. Four species from the upper montane cloud forests are wingless, raising the number of wingless species of Ochicanthon to five. At least two groups of Ochicanthon exist in the Indian subcontinent: i) the O. tristis group with dorsum predominantly black-brown, with a distinct pattern of orange-yellow patches on the elytra and ii) the O. laetus group with dorsum entirely brown or black and with or without a faint orange patch. The distributions in the moist forests of the southwestern and northeastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, the possible origin of the genus in the Western Ghats in the southwest of the subcontinent and the flightlessness of montane species are discussed.

Weak Wiener–Ditkin sets

Abstract: A weak form of Wiener–Ditkin set is introduced and some of its properties are studied. As a consequence, a weak form of C-set-S-set problem has come up.

Ochicanthon fernandoi: a replacement name for the primary junior homonym O . vazdemelloi Latha and Sabu 2011 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)

Abstract: Ochicanthon vazdemelloi Latha & Sabu 2011, a wingless new species of dung beetle, was described from the tropical montane cloud forests in the Western Ghats, India (Latha et al . 2011). Authors named the species after Fernando Z. Vaz-de-Mello (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiaba, Brazil). However, we discovered after publication that this species name was a primary junior homonym of another Ochicanthon species from Sumatra: Ochicanthon vazdemelloi Ochi, Kon & Hartini, 2009 (Ochi et al . 2009). Hence, Ochicanthon fernandoi Sabu & Latha, new name is here proposed as a replacement name for Ochicanthon vazdemelloi Latha & Sabu 2011.