Thunderstorms over a tropical Indian station, Minicoy: Role of vertical wind shear

In this study, an attempt has been made to bring out the observational aspects of vertical wind shear in thunderstorms over Minicoy. Case studies of thunderstorm events have been examined to find out the effect of vertical wind shear and instability on strength and longevity of thunderstorms. Role of vertical wind shear in thunderstorms and its mechanism has been explored in this study. Results reveal that for prolonged thunderstorms high and low instability along with moderate to high vertical wind shear (moderate: 0.003 S-1 vertical wind shear 0.005 S-1 and high: > 0.005 S-1) play a significant role in longevity and strength of thunderstorms. The mechanism of vertical wind shear in thunderstorms was investigated in a few cases of thunderstorm events where the duration of thunderstorm was covered by the radiosonde/rawin ascent observation taken at Minicoy. Empirical model has been developed to classify thunderstorm type and to determine the strength and longevity of thunderstorms. Model validation has been carried out for selected cases. Model could classify thunderstorm type for most of the cases of thunderstorm events over island and coastal stations

Simulation of heavy rainfall over Mumbai on 26 july 2005 using high resolution icosahedral gridpoint model GME

In this paper an attempt has been made to simulate the exceptionally heavy rainfall event over Mumbai (Bombay) on 26 July 2005. Santa Cruz observatory near the International Airport of Mumbai recorded 944.2 mm of rainfall between 0300 UTC of 26 July 2005 and 0300 UTC of 27 July 2005 breaking all previous records. Some nearby places also recorded very heavy rainfall. Consequently, a deluge flooded the city and life in Mumbai came to a standstill. Mesoscale models or regional models are normally used to simulate such a small scale phenomenon. The model used in this paper to simulate the rainfall is the operational global numerical weather prediction model (GME) developed by the Deutscher Wetterdienst, The German Weather Service. Using European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast-ECMWF at T511 L91 data as the initial condition for the GME model, 24 hours accumulated precipitation has been computed. The model has a horizontal resolution of 40 km with 40 vertical levels and time step of 133s. The computed rainfall agrees reasonably well with the actual precipitation. The localized heavy rainfall might have occurred over Mumbai possibly due to several factors such as: well-marked low pressure over Orissa and adjoining Jharkhand with associated cyclonic circulation extending up to mid-troposheric level; off-shore trough on the west coast of India; low level jet over the peninsular India; intense convection and orographic lifting and interactions among these meteorological phenomena of different scales

Current Developments in Intraspinal Agents for Cancer and Noncancer Pain

Since the late 1980s, intrathecal (IT) analgesic therapy has improved, and implantable IT drug delivery devices have become increasingly sophisticated. Physicians and patients now have myriad more options for agents and their combination, as well as for refining their delivery. As recently as 2007, The Polyanalgesic Consensus Conference of expert panelists updated its algorithm for drug selection in IT polyanalgesia. We review this algorithm and the emerging therapy included. This article provides an update on newly approved as well as emerging IT agents and the advances in technology for their delivery

Inhibition of Gastric Lipase as a Mechanism for Body Weight and Plasma Lipids Reduction in Zucker Rats Fed a Rosemary Extract Rich in Carnosic Acid

BACKGROUND: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extracts (REs) exhibit hepatoprotective, anti-obesity and anti-inflammatory properties and are widely used in the food industry. REs are rich in carnosic acid (CA) and carnosol which may be responsible for some of the biological activities of REs. The aim of this study was to investigate whether inhibition of lipase activity in the gut may be a mechanism by which a RE enriched in CA (40%) modulates body weight and lipids levels in a rat model of metabolic disorders and obesity. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: RE was administered for 64 days to lean (fa/+) and obese (fa/fa) female Zucker rats and body weight, food intake, feces weight and blood biochemical parameters were monitored throughout the study. Lipase activity (hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylbutyrate) was measured in the gastrointestinal tract at the end of the study and the contents of CA, carnosol and methyl carnosate were also determined. Sub-chronic administration of RE moderately reduced body weight gain in both lean and obese animals but did not affect food intake. Serum triglycerides, cholesterol and insulin levels were also markedly decreased in the lean animals supplemented with RE. Importantly, lipase activity was significantly inhibited in the stomach of the RE-supplemented animals where the highest content of intact CA and carnosol was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that long-term administration of RE enriched in CA moderates weight gain and improves the plasma lipids profile, primarily in the lean animals. Our data also suggest that these effects may be caused, at least in part, by a significant inhibition of gastric lipase and subsequent reduction in fat absorption

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Seasonal variation of lightning activity over the Indian subcontinent

The seasonal variation of lightning flash activity over the Indian subcontinent (0°N–35°N and 60°E–100°E) is studied using the quality checked monthly lightning flash data obtained from lightning imaging sensor on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. This paper presents results of spatio-temporal variability of lightning activity over the Indian subcontinent. The study of seasonal total lightning flashes indicates that the lightning flash density values are in qualitative agreement with the convective activity observed over this region. Maximum seasonal total flash counts are observed during the monsoon season. The propagation of the inter-tropical convergence zone over this region is also confirmed. Synoptic conditions responsible for variation of lightning activity are also investigated with the help of an observed dataset. The mean monthly flash counts show a peak in the month of May, which is the month of maximum temperatures over this region. Maximum flash density (40.2 km−2 season−1) is observed during the pre-monsoon season at 25.2°N/91.6°E and the annual maximum flash density of 28.2 km−2 year−1 is observed at 33.2°N/74.6°E. The study of the inter-annual variability of flash counts exhibits bimodal nature with the first maximum in April/May and second maximum in August/Septembe

Improvement in convective and stratiform rain fractions over the Indian region with introduction of new ice nucleation parameterization in ECHAM5

Improvement in the simulation of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall by modifying the existing microphysical scheme in Atmospheric General Circulation Model (AGCM), ECHAM5, is of great interest in this present study. New formulations for the cloud ice formation have been implemented and tested in this sensitivity studies. Core monsoon zone rainfall is better captured by modification experiments as compared to the control simulations. Modification experiments give indication of improvement in cloud ice production. The overestimation of total cloud cover over the oceanic region is improved a lot in modification experiments. The major improvement appears in the realistic simulations of the proper ratio of convective and stratiform rain products. It depicts better resemblance with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR) observations. The changes in cloud ice production arise due to different formulations used in this study, and it is manifested in the monsoon rainfall by the production of proper convective to total rain ratio. Ice nucleation which is a function of supersaturation (called as experiment MOD1) performs better for the Indian monsoon region. A new formulation used in this study provides promise for the better simulation of monsoon and it will further accelerate the future development of a reliable prediction system of ISM using dynamical models

Influence of Eurasian snow on Indian summer monsoon in NCEP CFSv2 freerun

The latest version of the state-of-the-art global land-atmosphere-ocean coupled climate forecast system of NCEP has shown considerable improvement in various aspects of the Indian summer monsoon. However, climatological mean dry bias over the Indian sub-continent is further increased as compared to the previous version. Here we have attempted to link this dry bias with climatological mean bias in the Eurasian winter/spring snow, which is one of the important predictors of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). Simulation of interannual variability of the Eurasian snow and its teleconnection with the ISMR are quite reasonable in the model. Using composite analysis it is shown that a positive snow anomaly, which is comparable to the systematic bias in the model, results into significant decrease in the summer monsoon rainfall over the central India and part of the Equatorial Indian Ocean. Decrease in the summer monsoon rainfall is also found to be linked with weaker northward propagation of intraseasonal oscillation (ISO). A barotropic stationary wave triggered by positive snow anomaly over west Eurasia weakens the upper level monsoon circulation, which in turn reduces the zonal wind shear and hence, weakens the northward propagation of summer monsoon ISOs. A sensitivity experiment by reducing snow fall over Eurasian region causes decrease in winter and spring snow depth, which in turn leads to decrease in Indian summer monsoon rainfall. Results from the sensitivity experiment corroborate with those of composite analysis based on long free run. This study suggests that further improvements in the snow parametrization schemes as well as Arctic sea ice are needed to reduce the Eurasian snow bias during winter/spring, which may reduce the dry bias over Indian sub-continent and hence predictability aspect of the model

Evaluation of cloud properties in the NCEP CFSv2 model and its linkage with Indian summer monsoon

Cloud fraction, which varies greatly among general circulation models, plays a crucial role in simulation of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR). The NCEP Climate Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2) model is evaluated in terms of its simulation of cloud fraction, cloud condensate, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and tropospheric temperature (TT). Biases in these simulated quantities are computed using observations from CALIPSO and reanalysis data from MERRA. It is shown that CFSv2 underestimates (overestimates) high- (mid-) level clouds. The cloud condensate is also examined to see its impact on different types of clouds. The upper-level cloud condensate is underestimated, particularly during the summer monsoon period, which leads to a cold TT and a dry precipitation bias. The unrealistically weak TT gradient between ocean and land is responsible for the underestimation of ISMR. The model-simulated OLR is overestimated which depicts the weaker convective activity. A large underestimate of precipitable water is also seen along the cross-equatorial flow and particularly over the Indian land region collocated with a dry precipitation bias. The linkages among cloud microphysical, thermodynamical, and dynamical processes are identified here. Thus, this study highlights the importance of cloud properties, a major cause of uncertainty in CFSv2, and also proposes a pathway for improvements in its simulation of the Indian summer monsoon