MONTBLEX data archival centre

A co-ordinated project Monsoon Trough Boundary Layer Experiment (MONTBLEX) to study the atmospheric boundary layer in the monsoon trough region was taken up during 1990. 30-m high instrumented towers were erected at Kharagpur, Banaras, Delhi and Jodhpur. Sophisticated equipment like Doppler sodar and Kytoon were used at Kharagpur. Sodars were exposed at Calcutta, Delhi and Jodhpur. ORV Sagarkanya cruises were arranged in the Bay of Bengal. The India Meteorological Department set up new surface and radiation observatories and released special radio-sonde, pilot balloons. Using the above mentioned platforms, data were collected during April - September 1990 and after proper editing the entire data were archived at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune. The DST-MONTBLEX data bank was started at IITM on 25th November 1991. The paper contains the details of this data

Atmospheric tidal oscillations. Part I : Historical Development

The invention of the barometer in the seventeenth century lead to the discovery of Atmospheric tidal oscillations with a pronounced solar semi-diurnal component

On the northward advance of the ITCZ and the onset of the southwest monsoon rains over the southeast Bay of Bengal ( Kerala).

It is found that at the island stations south of 10oN the summer monsoon rains set in on the average towards the end of April which is a month in advance of the onset of the monsoon over the south Kerala coast of peninsular India. At the island stations to the north of 10oN the onset occurs about the first week of May. These dates are ahead of those shown in the existing diagrams giving the average onset dates of the summer monsoon over the SE Bay of Bengal. -from Author

Atmospheric tidal oscillations. Part 2 : Diurnal variation of pressure over India

Hourly surface pressure data (annually and monthly) over a network of Indian stations have been harmonically analyzed

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Not AvailableClassical swine fever (CSF) is endemic in Karnataka and its outbreaks are reported every year. In the present study, blood was used for early detection of CSF virus (CSFV) in pigs by reverse transcription-polymerase chaini reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 113 blood samples were collected from 12 outbreaks suspected for CSF in nine different districts of Karnataka, of which 20 CSFV were positive by Antigen ELISA, whereas 40 samples were CSFV positive by RT-PCR using primers specific to NS5B genomic region of CSFV. Among 12 suspected outbreaks, 9 were confirmed as that of CSF. Among these, 44 samples were from pigs showing clinical symptoms and 69 samples were from in contact pigs without clinical symptoms. RT-PCR confirmed CSF from all the 30 samples from pigs with clinical symptoms in addition to 10 samples from pigs without clinical symptoms, indicating there by that the assay detected the presence of 449 bp amplicon specific to NS5B region before the appearance of the clinical symptoms. ELISA did not detect the presence of viral antigen in blood samples of in contact pigs without clinical symptoms. Our findings suggested that blood represents the most appropriate sample for early detection of CSFV infection in pigs.Not Availabl

Post-intravitreal anti-VEGF endophthalmitis in the United Kingdom : incidence, features, risk factors, and outcomes

To describe the incidence, features, management, and risk factors of post-intravitreal anti-VEGF endophthalmitis (PIAE) in patients undergoing treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration in the United Kingdom. Prospective observational case control study. Forty-seven cases of PIAE were identified through the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit from January 2009 to March 2010. Data collected at diagnosis and at 6 months follow-up included patient demographics, intravitreal injection details, pre- and post-injection management, visual acuity, clinical features and management of PIAE, causative organisms, and clinical outcomes. Details were compared with 200 control cases from 10 control centres to identify potential risk factors. Estimated PIAE was 0.025%. Culture-positive PIAE incidence was 0.015%. Mean age of presentation was 78 years. Mean number of intravitreal injections before PIAE was 5. Mean days to presentation was 5 (range 1-39). Positive microbiology culture was found in 59.6%. The majority of causative organisms were Gram positive (92.8%). Significant risk factors were failure to administer topical antibiotics immediately after the injection (P=0.001), blepharitis (P=0.006), subconjunctival anaesthesia (P=0.021), patient squeezing during the injection (P=0.021), and failure to administer topical antibiotics before anti-VEGF injection (P=0.05). The incidence of PIAE in the United Kingdom is comparable to other studies at a rate of 0.025%. The most common causative organisms were Gram positive. Measures to minimise the risk of PIAE include treatment of blepharitis before injection, avoidance of subconjunctival anaesthesia, topical antibiotic administration immediately after injection with consideration to administering topical antibiotics before injection