Seasonal variations of the relationship between some ENSO parameters and Indian rainfall

Canonical correlation analysis is used to examine the seasonal relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall by analysing their 12 monthly values for an 80-year period. Three ENSO indices are considered. These ENSO indices are the Darwin surface pressure, the sea-surface temperature of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and rainfall of central equatorial Pacific islands (hereafter denoted as DSP, SST, and RAIN respectively). The ENSO indices are also analysed for relationships between themselves. The analysis reveals that the seasonal variations of these ENSO indices are highly intercoupled with no lag. These indices show the minimum association during April and the maximum after the monsoon season. Further, the seasonal variation of the Indian rainfall is found to be better associated with the seasonal variations of SST as compared with that of DSP or RAIN. This association is at its strongest during the period August-October. An apparent reversal in the relationship between ENSO and Indian rainfall is also observed from summer to winter. The warm ENSO years are associated with weak summer monsoon rainfall and at the same time high winter monsoon rainfall

Forecasting Indian summer monsoon rainfall by outgoing longwave radiation over the Indian Ocean

The satellite derived outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) over the Indian Ocean (30°N-30°S and 40°E-100°E) from 1974 to 1996 has been analysed for the relationship with the Indian summer monsoon total (June-September) rainfall. The OLR of two regions appears to be related to summer monsoon rainfall. One of the regions is located over the Head Bay of Bengal (near 22.5°N and 92.5°E) during May and the other one over the south Indian Ocean (near 30°S and 97.5°E) during April. The average OLR (index) for these two regions shows a strong and stable relationship with the Indian summer monsoon rainfall and they are found to be independent. A multiple linear regression equation is developed to predict the Indian summer monsoon rainfall using these indexes and the empirical relations are verified on independent data. Good results were obtained in forecasting the summer monsoon rainfall for the whole of India. The forecast of summer monsoon rainfall for west-central India and all-India rainfall for July also appears to be encouraging. The indexes, thus, seem to be useful in long-range forecasting of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall

A study of the empirical functions of the height fields over India and their relation with the rainfall

The empirical orthogonal functions have been obtained for the individual summer monsoon (June through September) months using the grid point values of monthly 700 mb geopotential heights over Indian region. The data for 21 summer monsoon months for the years 1958 to 1978 have been used in the present computation. The major variance reduction is due to the first three dominant functions accounting over 80 of the total variance in each month. The variance reduction only due to the first function ranges from 45 to 65. The first function has in-pbase oscillation throughout the area indicating that the area under study is homogeneous and the centre of the oscillation lies over northwest India. The amplitudes of the first function also show generally quasipers stence in their sign within a season. The second function has two centres of action over the region of monsoon trough which are in phase. The third function has also two centres oriented in the east-west direction but they are in the opposite phase. Fairly large values of correlation coefficients between the patterns of the different monsoon months suggest that the patterns for these months corresponding to the first and the second functions respectively are quite similar. The patterns for these months also evolve with time in a related way. The spectrum analysis to the time series of amplitudes indicates the presence of the quasi-periodicity of 3 years during these monsoon months. The amplitudes corresponding to the dominant functions are found to be significantly related with the rainfall of central and western parts of Indi

CHARGE syndrome

CHARGE syndrome was initially defined as a non-random association of anomalies (Coloboma, Heart defect, Atresia choanae, Retarded growth and development, Genital hypoplasia, Ear anomalies/deafness). In 1998, an expert group defined the major (the classical 4C's: Choanal atresia, Coloboma, Characteristic ears and Cranial nerve anomalies) and minor criteria of CHARGE syndrome. Individuals with all four major characteristics or three major and three minor characteristics are highly likely to have CHARGE syndrome. However, there have been individuals genetically identified with CHARGE syndrome without the classical choanal atresia and coloboma. The reported incidence of CHARGE syndrome ranges from 0.1–1.2/10,000 and depends on professional recognition. Coloboma mainly affects the retina. Major and minor congenital heart defects (the commonest cyanotic heart defect is tetralogy of Fallot) occur in 75–80% of patients. Choanal atresia may be membranous or bony; bilateral or unilateral. Mental retardation is variable with intelligence quotients (IQ) ranging from normal to profound retardation. Under-development of the external genitalia is a common finding in males but it is less apparent in females. Ear abnormalities include a classical finding of unusually shaped ears and hearing loss (conductive and/or nerve deafness that ranges from mild to severe deafness). Multiple cranial nerve dysfunctions are common. A behavioral phenotype for CHARGE syndrome is emerging. Mutations in the CHD7 gene (member of the chromodomain helicase DNA protein family) are detected in over 75% of patients with CHARGE syndrome. Children with CHARGE syndrome require intensive medical management as well as numerous surgical interventions. They also need multidisciplinary follow up. Some of the hidden issues of CHARGE syndrome are often forgotten, one being the feeding adaptation of these children, which needs an early aggressive approach from a feeding team. As the child develops, challenging behaviors become more common and require adaptation of educational and therapeutic services, including behavioral and pharmacological interventions

Splenectomy and proximal lieno-renal shunt in a factor five deficient patient with extra-hepatic portal vein obstruction

BACKGROUND: The clinico-surgical implication and successful management of a rare case of factor five (V) deficiency with portal hypertension and hypersplenism due to idiopathic extra-hepatic portal venous obstruction is presented. CASE PRESENTATION: A 16-year old boy had gastro-esophageal variceal bleeding, splenomegaly and hypersplenism. During preoperative workup prolonged prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time were detected, which on further evaluation turned out to be due to factor V deficiency. Proximal lieno-renal shunt and splenectomy were successfully performed with transfusion of fresh frozen plasma during and after the surgical procedure. At surgery there was no excessive bleeding. The perioperative course was uneventful and the patient is doing well on follow up. CONCLUSION: Surgical portal decompressive procedures can be safely undertaken in clotting factor deficient patients with portal hypertension if meticulous surgical hemostasis is achieved at operation and the deficient factor is adequately replaced in the perioperative period

Validation of the modified Fresno Test: assessing physical therapists' evidence based practice knowledge and skills

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health care educators need valid and reliable tools to assess evidence based practice (EBP) knowledge and skills. Such instruments have yet to be developed for use among physical therapists. The Fresno Test (FT) has been validated only among general practitioners and occupational therapists and does not assess integration of research evidence with patient perspectives and clinical expertise. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a modified FT to assess EBP knowledge and skills relevant to physical therapist (PT) practice.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The FT was modified to include PT-specific content and two new questions to assess integration of patient perspectives and clinical expertise with research evidence. An expert panel reviewed the test for content validity. A cross-sectional cohort representing three training levels (EBP-novice students, EBP-trained students, EBP-expert faculty) completed the test. Two blinded raters, not involved in test development, independently scored each test. Construct validity was assessed through analysis of variance for linear trends among known groups. Inter and intra-rater reliability, internal consistency, item discrimination index, item total correlation, and difficulty were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 108 participants (31 EBP-novice students, 50 EBP-trained students, and 27 EBP-expert faculty), there was a statistically significant (p < 0.0001) difference in total score corresponding to training level. Total score reliability and psychometric properties of items modified for discipline-specific content were excellent [inter-rater (ICC (2,1)] = 0.91); intra-rater (ICC (2,1)] = 0.95, 0.96)]. Cronbach's α was 0.78. Of the two new items, only one had strong psychometric properties.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The 13-item modified FT presented here is a valid, reliable assessment of physical therapists' EBP knowledge and skills. One new item assesses integration of patient perspective as part of the EBP model. Educators and researchers may use the 13-item modified FT to evaluate PT EBP curricula and physical therapists' EBP knowledge and skills.</p

DEP and AFO Regulate Reproductive Habit in Rice

Sexual reproduction is essential for the life cycle of most angiosperms. However, pseudovivipary is an important reproductive strategy in some grasses. In this mode of reproduction, asexual propagules are produced in place of sexual reproductive structures. However, the molecular mechanism of pseudovivipary still remains a mystery. In this work, we found three naturally occurring mutants in rice, namely, phoenix (pho), degenerative palea (dep), and abnormal floral organs (afo). Genetic analysis of them indicated that the stable pseudovivipary mutant pho was a double mutant containing both a Mendelian mutation in DEP and a non-Mendelian mutation in AFO. Further map-based cloning and microarray analysis revealed that dep mutant was caused by a genetic alteration in OsMADS15 while afo was caused by an epigenetic mutation in OsMADS1. Thus, OsMADS1 and OsMADS15 are both required to ensure sexual reproduction in rice and mutations of them lead to the switch of reproductive habit from sexual to asexual in rice. For the first time, our results reveal two regulators for sexual and asexual reproduction modes in flowering plants. In addition, our findings also make it possible to manipulate the reproductive strategy of plants, at least in rice