Closing of the Krishna Basin: irrigation, streamflow depletion and macroscale hydrology

River basins / Physical geography / Climate / Stream flow / Hydrology / Rainfall runoff relationships / Evapotranspiration / Irrigation programs / Water allocation / Water transfer / Environmental effects / Water quality / India / Krishna River / Andhra Pradesh / Maharashtra / Karnataka

Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus against clinically isolated Klebsiella pneumoniae: an in vitro study

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae are Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen, belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae that can cause severe nosocomial infections particularly in immuno-compromised individuals. They exhibit co-resistance to multiple antibiotics which emphasize the need for non-antibiotic therapies. The goal of the presented study was to investigate the antimicrobial ability of probiotic Lactobacilli on clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, antimicrobial activities of probiotic L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus on K. pneumoniae were evaluated by Agar overlay interference technique. Clear zone around Lactobacilli were taken as positive inhibition. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of K. pneumoniae were determined by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, analyzed using interpretive standards of CLSI M100-S33 and categorized into MDR, XDR and Non MDR groups. Statistical analysis was done using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard error and inferential statistics such as ANOVA single factor. Results: K. pneumoniae exhibited positive inhibition with both the probiotic strain. On comparing the zone of inhibition of L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus (both treated-pH adjusted and untreated), L. acidophilus had greater zone of inhibition against K. pneumoniae but concluded that statistically the values are insignificant (p>0.05). Based on antibiotic susceptibility pattern of K. pneumoniae, 63% of isolates were XDR, 3% were MDR and 34% were Non MDR Conclusions: It can be concluded that L. acidophilus and L. rhamnosus had significant inhibitory effect against K. pneumoniae in vitro and should be further studied for their human health benefit

Technology for Improving Street Dog Welfare and Capturing Data in Digital Format during Street Dog Sterilisation Programmes

Street dogs survive on food handouts provided by individuals, or the wider community yet typically receive limited to no veterinary care. They can also carry a variety of zoonotic diseases such as rabies, posing a significant risk to human and dog population health. Dog sterilization is one of the most humane and effective methods available to control street dog populations. Dog sterilization programs, particularly those operating at a large-scale, often face a variety of challenges including limited resources, staffing, and less-than-ideal facilities. Record keeping is often a challenge as well, which can complicate the return of a sterilized dog to their location of capture. Street dogs are territorial, and the return of a dog to an incorrect location is fraught with various welfare issues, as well as an increased risk of postoperative complications, including death. Humane Society International developed a mobile phone-based application called ‘HSIApps’ drawing on years of field experience and data collection in street dog location recording, as well as clinical and postoperative treatment. HSIApps facilitates the return of dogs back to their exact captured location, which ensures dog welfare, and generates reports of a variety of useful data variables to maximize the efficacy and reliability of sterilization programs

Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study

18% of the world's population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates have not been available so far for all major diseases and risk factors. Thus, we aimed to estimate the disease burden and risk factors in every state of India as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016

Water scarcity effects on equitable water distribution and land use in a major irrigation project: case study in India

In many river basins, upstream development and interannual variations in rainfall can cause both episodic and chronic shortages in water supplies downstream. Continued rapid development of surface and groundwater throughout the Krishna Basin in southern India resulted in historically low inflows to the main canals of the Nagarjuna Sagar irrigation project _8,955 km2_ during a recent drought _2002-2004_. This paper presents an integrated approach to assess how cropping patterns and the spatial equity of canal flow changed with water supply shocks in the left canal command area _3,592 km2_ of Nagarjuna Sagar. We combined 3 years _2000- 2003_ of canal release data with census statistics and high temporal resolution _8-10 days_ moderate resolution imaging spectrometer _MODIS_ 500-m resolution satellite imagery. The impact of water scarcity on land use pattern, delineated by MODIS images with moderate spatial resolution, was comparable with the census statistics, while the MODIS data also identified areas with changes and delays in the rice crop area, which is critical in assessing the impact of canal operations. A 60% reduction in water availability during the drought resulted in 40% land being fallowed in the left-bank canal command area. The results suggest that head reach areas receiving high supply rates during a normal year experienced the highest risks of fluctuations in water supply and cropped area during a water short year compared to downstream areas, which had chronically low water supply, and better adaptive responses by farmers. Contrary to expectations, the spatial distribution of canal flows among the three major zones of the command area was more equitable during low-flow years due to decreased flow at the head reach of the canal and relatively smaller decreases in tail-end areas. The findings suggested that equitable allocations could be achieved by improving the water distribution efficiency of the canal network during normal years and by crop diversification and introduction of alternative water sources during water shortage years. The study identified areas susceptible to decreases in water supplies by using modern techniques, which can help in decision-making processes for equitable water allocation and distribution and in developing strategies to mitigate the effects of water supply shocks on cropping patterns and rural livelihoods

White-light emission from yttrium iron garnet (YIG)

Single-phase phosphors that emit broadband white-light are needed for white-light-emitting diodes (wLEDs) to reach their full potential. However, it is challenging to achieve broad white-light emission from single-phase materials. Consequently, polycrystalline inorganic bulk compounds that emit white-light sans doping are rare. We report on broadband white-light emission from a well-known garnet compound, i.e., yttrium iron garnet (YIG), without activator-ion doping. Upon near-UV excitation at 370 nm, polycrystalline bulk YIG emits broadband white-light with (1931) Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates as (0.28, 0.35) and correlated color temperature (CCT) as 8029 K. Variable excitation wavelengths ranging from 280 to 600 nm enable color-tunable emission as cyan-white-blue-green-yellow-orange-red, including near-white-light emission for a broad range of excitation from 325 to 390 nm. Moreover, a short lifetime (sub-nanosecond) is obtained, which is desirable for LED and other applications. We demonstrated the propriety of YIG as a single-phase converting phosphor for illumination by fabricating prototype wLEDs using commercial InGaN UV-LED chips (λ = 380 nm) for excitation. The CIE coordinates and CCT of prototype wLEDs were obtained as (0.34, 0.37) and 5284 K, respectively. We believe that the reported findings signify the great potential of YIG as a single-phase white-light-emitting phosphor for broadband emission, which offers a new perspective and a viable approach for the development of wLEDs

Closing of the Krishna Basin: irrigation, streamflow depletion and macroscale hydrology

Discharge from the Krishna River into the ocean decreased by 75 percent from 1960-2005, and was zero during a recent multi-year drought. This paper describes the physical geography and hydrology of the Krishna Basin, including runoff production and a basic water account based on hydronomic zones. More than 50 percent of the basin's irrigated area is groundwater irrigation, which is not currently included in inter-state allocation rules. Future water allocation will require inclusion of the interactions among all irrigated areas, including those irrigated by groundwater and surface water