The impacts of climate change on the winter water cycle of the western Himalaya

Some 180 million people depend on the Indus River as a key water resource, fed largely by precipitation falling over the western Himalaya. However, the projected response of western Himalayan precipitation to climate change is currently not well constrained: CMIP5 GCMs project a reduced frequency and vorticity of synoptic-scale systems impacting the area, but such systems would exist in a considerably moister atmosphere. In this study, a convection-permitting (4 km horizontal resolution) setup of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to examine 40 cases of these synoptic-scale systems, known as western disturbances (WDs), as they interact with the western Himalaya. In addition to a present-day control run, three experiments are performed by perturbing the boundary and initial conditions to reflect pre-industrial, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 background climates respectively. It is found that in spite of the weakening intensity of WDs, net precipitation associated with them in future climate scenarios increases significantly; conversely there is no net change in precipitation between the pre-industrial and control experiments despite a significant conversion of snowfall in the pre-industrial experiment to rainfall in the control experiment, consistent with the changes seen in historical observations. This shift from snowfall to rainfall has profound consequences on water resource management in the Indus Valley, where irrigation is dependent on spring meltwater. Flux decomposition shows that the increase in future precipitation follows directly from the projected moistening of the tropical atmosphere (which increases the moisture flux incident on the western Himalaya by 28%) overpowering the weakened dynamics (which decreases it by 20%). Changes to extreme rainfall events are also examined: it is found that such events may increase significantly in frequency in both future scenarios examined. Two-hour maxima rainfall events that currently occur in 1-in-8 WDs are projected to increase tenfold in frequency in the RCP8.5 scenario; more prolonged (one-week maxima) events are projected to increase fiftyfold

Topiramate-induced angle closure with acute myopia, macular striae

Topiramate is a sulfamate-substituted monosaccharide used in the treatment of seizures, and prophylaxis of migraine. A number of ocular side-effects have been described with use of topiramate, like bilateral angle closure, acute myopia and macular striae. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) clinches the diagnosis after ruling out other causes of shallow anterior chamber. Previous studies have not demonstrated internal limiting membrane folds presenting as macular striae. We report a case of topiramate-induced acute myopia with angle closure and macular striae in a young adult. This is the first report wherein striae formation after low doses of topiramate and their resolution have been documented by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

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Not AvailableThe present study explores the possibility of developing statistical models for prediction of dry fibre yield of tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) in India. Sixty plants of 110 days age were randomly selected from the study area, and their basal diameter and dry fibre yield were measured for analysis and fitting of models. Basal diameter was found to be a very good predictor of dry fibre yield and was included in the model. Various functions (linear, monomolecular, logistic, Gompertz, allometric, Chapman) were fitted to estimate a relationship between dry fibre yield and basal diameter of the plant. The adjusted R2 values were > 0.72 for all six models and Chapman model (Y = k × (1-exp (-a×X))b) was found as best performing with highest R2 (0.77) lowest Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) value (68.40) . The paired t statistics value between observed and predicted fibre yield was found non-significant (p>0.05), which clearly indicates the validity of the model. The models developed in the present study will be of immense help to the jute cultivators in estimating dry fibre yield before harvesting, by simply measuring the basal diameter values of the jute plants. The estimated fibre yield is 34 q/ha with average basal diameter of 1.3 cm and 4 lakh/ha plant density.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableWith the increasing world’s population, higher demand for sustainable food production so as to meet the requirement. It has increased tremendously due to excessive use of agrochemicals. Since, the imbalanced application of agrochemicals in agricultural field leads to soil and environmental degradation. Nowadays, the scientific community has shifted their focus on alternative eco-friendly management approach. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mycorrhizae has huge potential to substitute agrochemicals. These efficient eco-friendly microbes have different plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities; hence PGPR and mycorrhizae are gaining importance for restoring soil sustainability and agricultural productivity. Application of these efficient microbes in the soil–plant–environment system will be suitable strategies for improving the soil and crop productivity.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableWith the increasing world’s population, higher demand for sustainable food production so as to meet the requirement. It has increased tremendously due to excessive use of agrochemicals. Since, the imbalanced application of agrochemicals in agricultural field leads to soil and environmental degradation. Nowadays, the scientific community has shifted their focus on alternative eco-friendly management approach. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and mycorrhizae has huge potential to substitute agrochemicals. These efficient eco-friendly microbes have different plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities; hence PGPR and mycorrhizae are gaining importance for restoring soil sustainability and agricultural productivity. Application of these efficient microbes in the soil–plant–environment system will be suitable strategies for improving the soil and crop productivity.Not Availabl