Thunderstorm Electrical Parameters vis-a-vis Rainfall and Surface Air Temperatures over a Tropical Inland Station, Pune, India

The relationship of lightning with rainfall and temperature is investigated on the basis of a four-year (2004-2007) data set over the Pune region. It is found that the annual variations of stroke count and rainfall both are bimodal with the first peak value of rainfall showing a one month time lag from the first peak value of stroke count. This is attributed to the prime period of the onset phase of summer monsoon rainfall over the Pune region. Lightning is found to be highly correlated with rainfall (r = 0:792, significant at 0.4), but by excluding the data for the month of July. The annual variation in the monthly mean surface wet bulb temperature and stroke count for the period under study over the Pune region shows similar peaks in June and September. These two parameters are well-correlated and show a positive correlation coefficient of 0.59, which is significant at the 5 level. A massive reduction in the lightning stroke count during July and August is attributed to low ground temperature that gives rise to lower updraft velocities and shallower cloud depth. There is good parallelism in the variation of surface air temperature and Point Discharge Current (PDC). The correlation coefficient between these two parameters is 0.934, and it is highly significant

Radiative forcing of black carbon over Delhi

The radiative effects of black carbon (BC) aerosols over New Delhi, the capital city of India, for the period August 2010–July 2011, have been investigated using Santa Barbara DISTORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model in the present paper. The monthly mean BC concentrations in Delhi, an urban location, vary in between 15.935 ± 2.06 μg m−3 (December 2010)–2.44 ± 0.58 μg m−3 (July 2011). The highest value for monthly mean BC forcing has been found to be in November 2010 (66.10 ± 6.86 Wm−2) and the lowest in July 2011 (23 ± 3.89 Wm−2). Being the host city for the XIX Commonwealth Games (CWG-2010), government of Delhi set up a plan to reduce emissions of air pollutants during Games, from 03 October to 14 October, 2010. But opposite to the expectations, the emission controls implemented were not sufficient to reduce the pollutants like black carbon (BC), and therefore relatively a high value of BC radiative forcing (44.36 ± 2.4) was observed during the month of October 201

Insights into iguanodontian dental architecture from an Early Cretaceous Chinese basal hadrosauriform maxilla (Ornithischia: Iguanodontia)

Basal hadrosauriform iguanodontian dinosaurs have been invaluable towards understanding the evolution of the complex and highly efficient advanced hadrosauriform tooth battery dental system. Here we report a new basal hadrosauriform maxilla specimen - IVPP V22529 - from the Dashuiguo Formation of Maortu, Nei Mongol, China that preserves a corrugated middle ventrolateral margin that differs from the straight and undulating ventral margins found in most iguandontian and non-iguanodontian dinosaurs. The uniqueness of this ventrolateral margin relates to a new dental structure - cementum ‘jackets’ that wrap about the labial sides of the teeth. To our knowledge this is the first time that cementum has been described migrated onto the tooth crowns of iguandontians (and other dinosaurs), but this trait is common amongst mammals. This dental morphology - seen in a similar form in the basal hadrosauriform Equijubus – therefore broadens our knowledge of iguanodontian maxillary anatomy and shows that the basal hadrosauriform dental system was more morphologically complex than previously thought. IVPP V22529 resembles maxillae specimens of Probactrosaurus gobiensis, a contemporaneous taxon known from the same locality in North China, in sharing an inferred subtriangular shape, a relatively flat lateral surface bearing a low row of foramina as well as similar-looking teeth. However, the presence of a unique corrugated middle ventrolateral margin in IVPP V22529, a low row of foramina on its lateral surface that also open anteriorly and increase in size posteriorly as well as a prominent medial shelf suggests that this specimen does not belong to P. gobiensis. However, these differences could conceivably be related to ontogenetic and sexual variation, which have not been fully documented in P. gobiensis. More detailed comparisons of IVPP V22529 and Probactrosaurus are also hampered by the missing posterior portion of IVPP V22529 as well as the missing anterior ramii in Probactrosaurus maxillae specimens. It is clear though that IVPP V22529 is different from the more advanced Northern Chinese hadrosauriforms Bactrosaurus and Gilmoreosaurus. The latter lack well-developed maxillary grooves on their medial shelves, unlike IVPP V22529, but all three taxa possess less-developed ones on the medial surfaces of the anteromedial processes of the anterior ramii. Different to IVPP V22529, Gilmoreosaurus also has foramina that are more highly-positioned on the lateral surface of its maxilla as well as a row of larger and more circular ‘special’ foramina on its medial surface. Thus, at this time, IVPP V22529 is identified as a basal hadrosauriform and not as a new genus or as a new species of Probactrosaurus.published_or_final_versio

Effectiveness of counseling for anxiety and depression in mothers of children ages 0-30 months by community workers in Karachi, Pakistan: a quasi experimental study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prevalence of anxiety/depression is quite high during the perinatal period but unfortunately its detection and treatment have been less than satisfactory. Moreover, many women are reluctant to take pharmacotherapy for fear of excretion of drugs into their breast milk. This study assesses the effectiveness of counseling from minimally trained community health workers in reducing anxiety/depression, the rate of recurrence and the interval preceding recurrence in women during first two and a half years after childbirth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a quasi-experimental study, community women from two under-privileged communities were trained in data gathering, teaching healthy child-rearing practices, basic counseling skills, and screening for anxiety/depression by using an indigenously developed questionnaire, the Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). The diagnosis was further confirmed by a clinical psychologist using DSM IV criteria. After obtaining consent, 420 women were screened and 102 were identified as having anxiety/depression. Screening was carried out after 1, 2, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months of a live birth. Only 62 out of 102 agreed to be counseled and received eight weekly sessions. AKUADS was re-administered at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after the beginning of counseling; this was followed by the clinical psychologist's interview for confirmation of response. After recovery, screening was continued every 3 months for detection of recurrence throughout the study period. Out of the women who had declined counseling 12 agreed to retake AKUADS after 4 and 8 weeks of diagnosis. Independent samples t-test, chi-square test, Repeated Measures ANOVA and Kaplan Meier technique were used for the analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant decline in level of anxiety/depression was found in both the counseled and the non-counseled groups at 4 and 8 weeks (p-value < 0.001) but the counseled group fared better than the non-counseled for recovery, reduction in the rate of recurrence and increase in the duration before relapse.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>As our results cannot be generalized; further studies need to be carried out, to assess the benefit of incorporating minimal counseling skills in the training of community health workers.</p

Walker-Independent Features for Gait Recognition from Motion Capture Data

MoCap-based human identification, as a pattern recognition discipline, can be optimized using a machine learning approach. Yet in some applications such as video surveillance new identities can appear on the fly and labeled data for all encountered people may not always be available. This work introduces the concept of learning walker-independent gait features directly from raw joint coordinates by a modification of the Fisher’s Linear Discriminant Analysis with Maximum Margin Criterion. Our new approach shows not only that these features can discriminate different people than who they are learned on, but also that the number of learning identities can be much smaller than the number of walkers encountered in the real operation

Non-minimal Quintessence: Dynamics and coincidence problem

Brans--Dicke scalar--tensor theory provides a conformally coupling of the scalar field with gravity in Einstein's frame. This model is equivalent to an interacting quintessence in which dark matter is coupled to dark energy. This provides a natural mechanism to alleviate the coincidence problem. We investigate the dynamics of this model and show that it leads to comparable dark energy and dark matter densities today.Comment: To appear in Pramana Journal of Physics, 201

UBC-Nepal expedition: markedly lower cerebral blood flow in high-altitude Sherpa children compared with children residing at sea level

Developmental cerebral hemodynamic adaptations to chronic high-altitude exposure, such as in the Sherpa population, are largely unknown. To examine hemodynamic adaptations in the developing human brain, we assessed common carotid (CCA), internal carotid (ICA), and vertebral artery (VA) flow and middle cerebral artery (MCA) velocity in 25 (9.6 ± 1.0 yr old, 129 ± 9 cm, 27 ± 8 kg, 14 girls) Sherpa children (3,800 m, Nepal) and 25 (9.9 ± 0.7 yr old, 143 ± 7 cm, 34 ± 6 kg, 14 girls) age-matched sea level children (344 m, Canada) during supine rest. Resting gas exchange, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and heart rate were assessed. Despite comparable age, height and weight were lower (both P < 0.01) in Sherpa compared with sea level children. Mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and ventilation were similar, whereas oxygen saturation (95 ± 2 vs. 99 ± 1%, P < 0.01) and end-tidal Pco2 (24 ± 3 vs. 36 ± 3 Torr, P < 0.01) were lower in Sherpa children. Global cerebral blood flow was ∼30% lower in Sherpa compared with sea level children. This was reflected in a lower ICA flow (283 ± 108 vs. 333 ± 56 ml/min, P = 0.05), VA flow (78 ± 26 vs. 118 ± 35 ml/min, P < 0.05), and MCA velocity (72 ± 14 vs. 88 ± 14 cm/s, P < 0.01). CCA flow was similar between Sherpa and sea level children (425 ± 92 vs. 441 ± 81 ml/min, P = 0.52). Scaling flow and oxygen uptake for differences in vessel diameter and body size, respectively, led to the same findings. A lower cerebral blood flow in Sherpa children may reflect specific cerebral hemodynamic adaptations to chronic hypoxia

External validation and recalibration of an incidental meningioma prognostic model – IMPACT: protocol for an international multicentre retrospective cohort study

Introduction: Due to the increased use of CT and MRI, the prevalence of incidental findings on brain scans is increasing. Meningioma, the most common primary brain tumour, is a frequently encountered incidental finding, with an estimated prevalence of 3/1000. The management of incidental meningioma varies widely with active clinical-radiological monitoring being the most accepted method by clinicians. Duration of monitoring and time intervals for assessment, however, are not well defined. To this end, we have recently developed a statistical model of progression risk based on single-centre retrospective data. The model Incidental Meningioma: Prognostic Analysis Using Patient Comorbidity and MRI Tests (IMPACT) employs baseline clinical and imaging features to categorise the patient with an incidental meningioma into one of three risk groups: low, medium and high risk with a proposed active monitoring strategy based on the risk and temporal trajectory of progression, accounting for actuarial life expectancy. The primary aim of this study is to assess the external validity of this model. Methods and analysis: IMPACT is a retrospective multicentre study which will aim to include 1500 patients with an incidental intracranial meningioma, powered to detect a 10% progression risk. Adult patients ≥16 years diagnosed with an incidental meningioma between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2010 will be included. Clinical and radiological data will be collected longitudinally until the patient reaches one of the study endpoints: intervention (surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery or fractionated radiotherapy), mortality or last date of follow-up. Data will be uploaded to an online Research Electronic Data Capture database with no unique identifiers. External validity of IMPACT will be tested using established statistical methods. Ethics and dissemination: Local institutional approval at each participating centre will be required. Results of the study will be reported through peer-reviewed articles and conferences and disseminated to participating centres, patients and the public using social media