On the recent changes in surface temperature trends over India

Marked differences from global trends in terms of diurnal asymmetry of temperature trends were reported earlier for India, indicating that the warming over India was solely contributed by maximum temperatures. We report substantial recent changes in the nature of trends, using updated data sets up to 2003, with special focus on the last three decades. While all-India mean annual temperature has shown significant warming trend of 0.05°C/10yr during the period 1901-2003, the recent period 1971-2003 has seen a relatively accelerated warming of 0.22°C/10yr, which is largely due to unprecedented warming during the last decade. Further, in a major shift, the recent period is marked by rising temperatures during the monsoon season, resulting in a weakened seasonal asymmetry of temperature trends reported earlier. The recent accelerated warming over India is manifest equally in daytime and nighttime temperatures

Maladaptive coping style and stress among married working and non-working adult women with Independent children: A comparative study

Abstract Background The outbreak of unwanted perceived stress in married women threatened their mental health. Generally, women have always been vulnerable to stress and have a maladaptive coping style. Thus, determining maladaptive coping styles and stress among married women with independent childrenis vital to reducing psychological disorders and illnesses. This study compared stress and maladaptive coping styles between working and non-working adult married women with independent children. Methods This study was conducted using a random sampling technique. 120 adult married couples, working and nonworking, in the age range of 28 to 58 years, took part in the study. Both groups were assessed using the following instruments: The perceived Stress Scale by Seldon and Cohen and; Stress Coping Techniques Scale by Vijaya Lakshmi and Shruti Narain. Results There is a significant difference in maladaptive coping styles and stress between working and non-working adult married women with independent children. There is also a significant positive correlation between maladaptive coping styles and stress. Conclusion Married working women prefer to use maladaptive coping styles compared to nonworking married women to decrease stress. If stress decreases, then maladaptive habits also decrease, and vice versa

Characteristic features of winter precipitation and its variability over northwest India

Northwestern parts of India receive considerable amount of precipitation during the winter months of December-March. Although, it is only about 15 of the annual precipitation, the precipitation is very important for rabi crops and to maintain the glaciers extend in the Himalaya, which melt and supply water to the rivers during other seasons. The precipitation is mainly associated with the sequence of synoptic systems known as 'western disturbances'. The precipitation has considerable spatial and temporal variability, with maximum precipitation occurring particularly over northern hilly regions, with decreasing influence southwards. The spatially coherent winter precipitation series has been prepared for the largest possible area comprising nine meteorological subdivisions of northwest India, which constitute about 32 of the total area of the country, having similar precipitation characteristics. The precipitation series has been statistically analysed to understand its characteristics and variability. The seasonal precipitation series is found to be homogeneous, Gaussian (normal) distributed and free from persistence. The precipitation variability has increased during the most recent three decades with more excess and deficient years

Long term temperature trends at major, medium, small cities and hill stations in India during the period 1901-2013

Industrialization and urbanization are the most dominant causal factors for long-term changes in surface air temperatures. To examine this fact, the long term changes in the surface-air temperatures have been evaluated by the linear trend for the different periods, i.e. 1901-2013, 1901-1970 and recent period 1971-2013 as rapid industrialization was observed during the recent four decades. In the present study, seasonal and annual mean, maximum and minimum temperature data of 36 stations for the period 1901-2013 have been used. These stations are classified into 4 groups, namely major, medium, small cities and hill stations. During the period 1901-1970, less than 50% stations from each group showed a significant increasing trend in annual mean temperature, whereas in the recent period 1971-2013, more than 80% stations from all the groups except small city group showed a significant increasing trend. The minimum temperature increased faster than that of the maximum temperature over major and medium cities, while maximum temperature increased faster than the minimum temperature over the small cities and hill stations. The annual mean temperature of all the coastal stations showed a significant increasing trend and positive correlation with Precipitable Water Vapour (PWV). The effect of PWV is more pronounced on minimum temperature than that of the maximum

Phleboscore in chronic venous disease

Background: Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a multifactorial condition affecting among populations worldwide. The symptoms appear early in the progression of the disease and as the time progresses the severity of the disease increases. Thus a proper clinical management tool is essential to prevent potential harms of the disease, which also entails a significant loss of the quality of life in these individuals. The aim of the present study is to make use of the tool phleboscore for the patients with lower limb problems to quantify the risk of developing CVD complications. Methods: A prospective observational study with 2788 patients with lower limb complaints of venous disease was conducted in the out-patient department at A. J. Institute of medical sciences, Mangalore. Patients were asked about the symptoms of the venous diseases like sensation in the limb, any changes in the limb. The patients with two or more symptoms were assessed with phleboscore questions. Based on the phleboscore a descriptive analysis of the collected data was done. Results: With regards to the phleboscore patients were divided into three classes; low risk, moderate risk and high risk. Almost 73.6% patients were at medium risk of developing CVD. 7.6% patients at high risk. 63.5% of patients with sedentary lifestyle were at medium risk. Conclusions: Phleboscore is an essential tool to assess the potential risk of patients developing CVD. This tool helps in early identification of patients who are about to go into high risk group and help them by early interventions to prevent the development of more serious disease

Characteristic features of winter precipitation and its variability over northwest India

Northwestern parts of India receive considerable amount of precipitation during the winter months of December–March. Although, it is only about 15% of the annual precipitation, the precipitation is very important for rabi crops and to maintain the glaciers extend in the Himalaya, which melt and supply water to the rivers during other seasons. The precipitation is mainly associated with the sequence of synoptic systems known as ‘western disturbances’. The precipitation has considerable spatial and temporal variability, with maximum precipitation occurring particularly over northern hilly regions, with decreasing influence southwards. The spatially coherent winter precipitation series has been prepared for the largest possible area comprising nine meteorological subdivisions of northwest India, which constitute about 32% of the total area of the country, having similar precipitation characteristics. The precipitation series has been statistically analysed to understand its characteristics and variability. The seasonal precipitation series is found to be homogeneous, Gaussian (normal) distributed and free from persistence. The precipitation variability has increased during the most recent three decades with more excess and deficient years