Bengal

www.biogeosciences.net/11/3819/2014

What drives the increased phytoplankton biomass in the Arabian Sea?

The seasonal variability of phytoplankton biomass in the Arabian Sea, though a well researched topic, its inter-annual variability is less explored and understood. Analysis of the satellite-derived chlorophyll pigment concentration in the Arabian Sea during 1997–2007 showed a weak increasing trend. Contrary to the earlier hypothesis, our analysis showed that this increased phytoplankton biomass was not driven by the strengthening winds during summer monsoon. In fact, the basin-averaged chlorophyll concentrations during summer monsoon tend to decline, whereas those in September–October and during the winter monsoon showed an increasing trend. Based on the analysis of wind and aerosol optical thickness data, we attribute the increased phytoplankton biomass during September–October to dust-induced iron fertilization when there is sufficient buildup of nitrate in the upper ocean. During winter, the enhanced evaporative cooling under the strengthening winds led to the increased convective mixing. Subsequent supply of subsurface nutrients to the euphotic zone coupled with the increased dust delivery support the observed increase in phytoplankton biomass during winter

Response of the Arabian Sea to global warming and associated regional climate shift

The response of the Arabian Sea to global warming is the disruption in the natural decadal cycle in the sea surface temperature (SST) after 1995, followed by a secular warming. The Arabian Sea is experiencing a regional climate-shift after 1995, which is accompanied by a five fold increase in the occurrence of “most intense cyclones”. Signatures of this climate-shift are also perceptible over the adjacent landmass of India as: (1) progressively warmer winters, and (2) decreased decadal monsoon rainfall. The warmer winters are associated with a 16-fold decrease in the decadal wheat production after 1995, while the decreased decadal rainfall was accompanied by a decline of vegetation cover and increased occurrence of heat spells. We propose that in addition to the oceanic thermal inertia, the upwelling-driven cooling provided a mechanism that offset the CO2-driven SST increase in the Arabian Sea until 1995

Comminuted olecranon fractures: locking compression plate fixation verses conventional plate fixation

Background: A variable consensus exists on the optimal management strategies for olecranon fractures. Though the mechanical properties of the conventional plates and the locking plates used show no difference, pre-contoured locking plates provide a significant advantage over non-locking plates in unstable fractures. The aim of the study was to compare clinical and radiological outcomes in the management of the comminute olecranon fractures by anatomically pre-contoured locking compression plates and the conventional plates.Methods: The present study was a prospective study of 50 patients with comminuted olecranon fracture, with 25 patients each randomized into two groups, those that underwent fixation of the fracture using a pre-contoured locking compression plate (group LCP) and those fixed using a conventional plate (3.5 mm reconstruction plate) (group CP). Patients were followed up to 1 year with functional outcome assessed at each follow-up with Mayo elbow performance score.Results: The mean MEPS (LCP vs CP) at 1.5 (47 vs. 43.4) and 3 (67.4 vs 61.6) months follow up showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups, but the difference was not significant at 6 (86.4 vs 85.6) and 12 (88.4 vs 87) months. The time to union (4.3 months vs 5.0 months) was not significantly different between the groups. There were 11 complications in group LCP and 12 complications in group CP.Conclusions: In the present study, we suggest that the use of a pre-contoured locking compression plate provides better outcomes at earlier periods as compared to the conventional plate; thus, returning the patient to normal function at the earliest

Vitamin C supplementation as adjuvant analgesic therapy in post-operative pain management in patients undergoing surgical decompression in a case of prolapsed intervertebral disc

Background: The management of postoperative pain has been a major challenge for the operating surgeons. Vitamin C has shown analgesic effects in specific clinical conditions, reducing patient suffering and improving the quality of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin C as an adjuvant in postoperative pain management and its effect on analgesia requirements in patients undergoing spinal decompression surgery.Methods: The present study was a prospective study of 50 patients aged 30-60 years with low back pain due to prolapsed intervertebral disc requiring surgical decompression, conducted in a tertiary care institute from 2018 to 2020. All patients underwent open discectomy. 25 patients each were randomized into two groups, those that were given vitamin c supplementation (group A) and those that weren't (group B). The patients were then followed up 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th week and the pain was graded at each follow-up according to the NRS scale. The total amount of diclofenac sodium consumed in the 6 weeks was calculated.Results: The mean NRS (A vs B) at 2 (2.68 vs 3.56) and 4 (0.88 vs 1.48) weeks follow-up showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups, but the difference was not significant at 6 (0.16 vs 0.36) weeks follow up. The difference in the consumption of analgesic (3.56 vs 5.46) at 6 weeks was statistically significant.Conclusions: In this clinical outcome-based study, we suggest that for postoperative pain management, vitamin C acts as an efficacious adjuvant with a dose-sparing effect on the consumption of analgesics

Suspended sediment dynamics on a seasonal scale in the Mandovi and Zuari estuaries, Central West coast of India

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) collected at regular stations from the Mandovi and Zuari estuaries indicates that the peaks of high SPM coincide with peaks of high rainfall and low salinity and also with peaks of moderate/low rainfall coupled with high salinity during the monsoon. The estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) is a characteristic feature, it occurs in the channel accompanying spring tide during the monsoon and pre-monsoon, and shifts to the bay on neap tide during post-monsoon. ETM remains at the same position in the Mandovi River, both during the monsoon and pre-monsoon, whereas in Zuari it stretched upstream during monsoon and migrates seaward of the channel during pre-monsoon. The ETM coincides with the freshwater-seawater interface during the monsoon and is formed by the interaction between tidal currents and river flows. The ETM during pre-monsoon is associated with high salinities and is generated by tidal and wind-induced currents. The turbidity maximum on neap tide during post-monsoon may be due to the erosion and resuspension of sediments from the emergent tidal flats and transport of these turbid waters into the bay. Funneling effect of the narrowing bay in the Zuari estuary and associated physical processes effectively enhance the magnitude of the currents and transports sediments to the channel. SPM retention percentage indicates that the estuarine channel is prone to siltation

Rapid Screening of Ellagitannins in Natural Sources via Targeted Reporter Ion Triggered Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Complex biomolecules present in their natural sources have been difficult to analyze using traditional analytical approaches. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC-MS/MS) methods have the potential to enhance the discovery of a less well characterized and challenging class of biomolecules in plants, the ellagitannins. We present an approach that allows for the screening of ellagitannins by employing higher energy collision dissociation (HCD) to generate reporter ions for classification and collision-induced dissociation (CID) to generate unique fragmentation spectra for isomeric variants of previously unreported species. Ellagitannin anions efficiently form three characteristic reporter ions after HCD fragmentation that allows for the classification of unknown precursors that we call targeted reporter ion triggering (TRT). We demonstrate how a tandem HCD-CID experiment might be used to screen natural sources using UHPLC-MS/MS by application of 22 method conditions from which an optimized data-dependent acquisition (DDA) emerged. The method was verified not to yield false-positive results in complex plant matrices. We were able to identify 154 non-isomeric ellagitannins from strawberry leaves, which is 17 times higher than previously reported in the same matrix. The systematic inclusion of CID spectra for isomers of each species classified as an ellagitannin has never been possible before the development of this approach

Design as a tool for reformation in the juvenile justice system through a participatory approach

Reformation and rehabilitation of children below 18 years of age who come in conflict with the law is overseen by the Juvenile Justice System in India. (4) The system reinforces “reformation” over deterrence but has been largely inaccessible and lesser known for long. (3) Through its Children’s Homes, the system aims at reformation but the varying attitudes and lack of sensitization while dealing with children has affected what reformation means. This paper starts with a look at the reformation in the juvenile justice system through a human centred lens throwing light on the pain-points of stakeholders at multiple stages and challenges to reformation. It further expands on research methodology led by design. These methods centred around gamifying research process helped greatly to interact with the children in the sensitive environment to build a conducive atmosphere where real insights could be shared. The ability to empathize with the stakeholders and using the design process to identify their needs, prototype and test new frameworks with them gave us an advantage as designers. Through dialogue, workshops and interactive sessions in the homes; the children presented perspectives which questioned the current view of reformation. The paper concludes with design interventions to make reformation a participatory process led by child as a contributing element of the society and a model critiquing and questioning aspects of the current system

Curriculum Learning for Reinforcement Learning Domains: A Framework and Survey

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a popular paradigm for addressing sequential decision tasks in which the agent has only limited environmental feedback. Despite many advances over the past three decades, learning in many domains still requires a large amount of interaction with the environment, which can be prohibitively expensive in realistic scenarios. To address this problem, transfer learning has been applied to reinforcement learning such that experience gained in one task can be leveraged when starting to learn the next, harder task. More recently, several lines of research have explored how tasks, or data samples themselves, can be sequenced into a curriculum for the purpose of learning a problem that may otherwise be too difficult to learn from scratch. In this article, we present a framework for curriculum learning (CL) in reinforcement learning, and use it to survey and classify existing CL methods in terms of their assumptions, capabilities, and goals. Finally, we use our framework to find open problems and suggest directions for future RL curriculum learning research