Impact of landslides on highways and their control

Indian Himalayan region constantly faces the challenge of balancing natural ecosystem with the fast expanding population and overgrowing economic developmental demands. Construction of new road network in rugged terrain of Himalaya or their ongoing expansion into "all weather roads" is causing high impact on the natural slopes which if not monitored or treated well, can lead to recurring landslide failures these Highways.The highways/roads constructed across the hills and mountains of Himalayan terrain face severe landslide problems during every year. The frequency of their recurrence/occurrence is very high to the extent that states generally find them helpless in properly addressing these issues, not speaking about the rehabilitation and short term/long term mitigation and management issues. The processes keeps repeating and costs on only restoration works, increases many fold. Landslides not only disrupt the existing public roadways but also impacts the associated infrastructure and surrounding environment in many different ways which also affects the socioeconomic condition of the region. In spite of the modern technology of investigation, construction, mapping etc. the highways continue to suffer uninterruptedly. This paper discusses landslide some of the important issues and gaps pertaining to planning, construction and maintenance of highways/roads including landslide control in Himalaya. izLrkouk ioZrh

Impact of landslides on highways and their control

87-94Indian Himalayan region constantly faces the challenge of balancing natural ecosystem with the fast expanding population and overgrowing economic developmental demands. Construction of new road network in rugged terrain of Himalaya or their ongoing expansion into "all weather roads" is causing high impact on the natural slopes which if not monitored or treated well, can lead to recurring landslide failures these Highways.The highways/roads constructed across the hills and mountains of Himalayan terrain face severe landslide problems during every year. The frequency of their recurrence/occurrence is very high to the extent that states generally find them helpless in properly addressing these issues, not speaking about the rehabilitation and short term/long term mitigation and management issues. The processes keeps repeating and costs on only restoration works, increases many fold. Landslides not only disrupt the existing public roadways but also impacts the associated infrastructure and surrounding environment in many different ways which also affects the socioeconomic condition of the region. In spite of the modern technology of investigation, construction, mapping etc. the highways continue to suffer uninterruptedly. This paper discusses landslide some of the important issues and gaps pertaining to planning, construction and maintenance of highways/roads including landslide control in Himalaya

Depression and inflammation: Pathophysiology and therapeutic implications

Depression may result in far reaching adverse health outcomes in addition to impaired sociooccupational or quality of life. Depression is commonly associated with greater cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Dysregulated inflammation has been suggested as one of the plausible underlying mechanism relating the two. Several studies have reported elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins in depression patients. The proinflammatory cytokines have been shown to alter various signaling pathway relevant to depression such as neurotransmitter metabolism, neuroendocrine dysfunction, and synaptic plasticity after reaching the brain. Potential pathways which have been implicated in mediating the depression and inflammation include the tryptophan-kynurenine pathway, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation, and neuronal plasticity. Inflammation appears to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of depression but only in subset of depressive patients. It may prove to be an effective target to develop several treatment modalities and thus open avenues for development of potential therapeutic strategies in vulnerable at risk depressive patients

A study of changes in inflammatory markers in patients of depression

Background: Depression may result in unfavorable health outcomes as it has been associated with cardiovascular morbidity. Recent researches have suggested the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of depression and co-morbidities associated with it although the underlying mechanism relating the two is still unclear. Aim: The present study aimed to explore the association between depression and inflammatory markers including interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and high sensitive c-reactive protein (hsCRP). Materials and Methods: Thirty drug-naοve patients of depression diagnosed on the basis of ICD-10 criteria, in the age group of 20-45 years were included in the study. They were compared with 30 age, gender, body mass index, socio-economic and educational status matched apparently healthy controls. The blood samples were taken after an overnight fast and serum samples were immediately stored until the time of analysis. Results: The serum levels of hsCRP were significantly higher (P = 0.042) in depression group as compared to the control group. Although the mean serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were higher in patients of depression, they were not statistically significant (IL-6: P = 0.055, TNF-α: P = 0.053). Conclusion: It can be inferred from our study that depression is associated with underlying low-grade inflammation, which might contribute to increased morbidity in patients of depression

Glacier changes in the Garhwal Himalaya, India, from 1968 to 2006 based on remote sensing

Glacier outlines are mapped for the upper Bhagirathi and Saraswati/Alaknanda basins of the Garhwal Himalaya using Corona and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) satellite images acquired in 1968 and 2006, respectively. A subset of glaciers was also mapped using Landsat TM images acquired in 1990. Glacier area decreased from 599.9 ± 15.6 km2 (1968) to 572.5 ± 18.0 km2 (2006), a loss of 4.6 ± 2.8%. Glaciers in the Saraswati/Alaknanda basin and upper Bhagirathi basin lost 18.4 ± 9.0km2 (5.7±2.7%) and 9.0 ± 7.7km2 (3.3±2.8%), respectively, from 1968 to 2006. Garhwal Himalayan glacier retreat rates are lower than previously reported. More recently (1990–2006), recession rates have increased. The number of glaciers in the study region increased from 82 in 1968 to 88 in 2006 due to fragmentation of glaciers. Smaller glaciers (50 km2) which lost 2.8 ± 2.7% (0.074 ± 0.071% a–1). From 1968 to 2006, the debris-covered glacier area increased by 17.8 ± 3.1% (0.46 ± 0.08% a–1) in the Saraswati/Alaknanda basin and 11.8 ± 3.0% (0.31 ± 0.08% a–1) in the upper Bhagirathi basin. Climate records from Mukhim (∼1900 m a.s.l.) and Bhojbasa (∼3780 m a.s.l.) meteorological stations were used to analyze climate conditions and trends, but the data are too limited to make firm conclusions regarding glacier–climate interactions