On the inadequacy of environment impact assessments for projects in Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park of Goa, India : a peer review

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is a regulatory framework adopted since 1994 in India to evaluate the impact and mitigation measures of projects, however, even after 25 years of adoption, EIAs continue to be of inferior quality with respect to biodiversity documentation and assessment of impacts and their mitigation measures. This questions the credibility of the exercise, as deficient EIAs are habitually used as a basis for project clearances in ecologically sensitive and irreplaceable regions. The authors reiterate this point by analysing impact assessment documents for three projects: the doubling of the National Highway-4A, doubling of the railway-line from Castlerock to Kulem, and laying of a 400-kV transmission line through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in the state of Goa. Two of these projects were recently granted ‘Wildlife Clearance’ during a virtual meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) without a thorough assessment of the project impacts. Assessment reports for the road and railway expansion were found to be deficient on multiple fronts regarding biodiversity assessment and projected impacts, whereas no impact assessment report was available in the public domain for the 400-kV transmission line project. This paper highlights the biodiversity significance of this protected area complex in the Western Ghats, and highlights the lacunae in biodiversity documentation and inadequacy of mitigation measures in assessment documents for all three diversion projects. The EIA process needs to improve substantially if India is to protect its natural resources and adhere to environmental protection policies and regulations nationally and globally

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Rotational Cooling Dynamics Of Hot Trapped Oh^− Ions Probed By Vmi Photoelectron Spectroscopy

A VMI photoelectron spectroscopy inside an electrostatic ion beam trap (EIBT) is used to probe the time dependent dynamics of rotational states population. The photodetachement of OH$^{-}$ ion results neutral OH in its $\Pi$$_{3/2}$ and $\Pi$$_{1/2}$ states and corresponding VMI photoelectron spectra of unresolved P-branch transitions are shown in figure for different times in the EIBT. As storage time increases, the peak radius of P-transitions decreases indicate that population of high rotational levels shift to the low rotational levels. Intersting findinds on internal dynamics of OH$^{-}$ as a function of storage time, change in individual rotational states population as a function of storage time, rate coefficients of such cooling process will be discussed in details during presentation. \begin{wrapfigure}{l}{18cm} \centering \includegraphics[scale=0.3]{OH-_cooling.eps} \caption{Figure: VMI spectra of OH$^{-}$ probed by a CW laser (682nm) as a function of trapping time} \end{wrapfigure

Microwave spectrum of hydrogen bonded Hexafluoroisopropanol•••water complex

Stabilizing $\alpha$-helical structure of protein and dissolving a hard to dissolve polymer, polythene terphthalete, are some of the unique properties of the organic solvent Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). After determining the complete microwave spectrum of HFIP monomer\footnote{A. Shahi and E. Arunan, Talk number RK16, 68th International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy 2013, Ohio, USA.}, we have recorded the spectrum of HFIP•••\chem{H_2O} complex. Ab initio calculations were used to optimize three different possible structures. The global minimum, structure 1, had HFIP as proton donor. Another promising structure, Structure 2, has been obtained from a molecular dynamic study\footnote{ Yamaguchi, T.; Imura, S.; Kai, T.; Yoshida, K. Zeitschrift für Naturforsch. A 2013, 68a, 145.}. A total of 46 observed lines have been fitted well for obtaining the rotational and distortion constants within experimental uncertainty. The observed rotational constants are A = 1134.53898(77) MHz, B = 989.67594(44) MHz and C = 705.26602(20) MHz. Interestingly, the rotational constants of structure 1, structure 2 and experiments were very close. Experimentally observed distortion constants were close to structure 1. $\it{b-type}$ transitions were stronger than $\it{c-type}$ which is also consistent with the calculated dipole moment components of structure 1. Calculations predict a non-zero a-dipole moment but experimentally $\it{a-type}$ transitions were absent. Microwave spectra of two of the deuterium isotopologues of this complex i.e. HFIP•••\chem{D_2O} (30 transitions) and HFIP•••HOD (33 transitions) have been also observed. Search for other isotopologues are in progress. To characterize the nature of hydrogen bonding, Atoms in Molecules and Natural Bond Orbital theoretical analysis have been done. Experimental structure and these theoretical analyses indicate that the hydrogen bonding in HFIP•••\chem{H_2O} complex is stronger than that in water dimer

ROTATIONAL SPECTRUM OF HEXAFLUOROISOPROPANOL AND COMAPRISION TO HEXAFLUOROISOBUTENE

Author Institution: Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India-560012Last year, the rotational spectra of hexafluoroisopropanol(HFIP) and its OD species was presented. Microwave spectra of three more isotopologues of HFIP (two $^{13}$C and one CD-OD) have now been recorded and fitted within experimental uncertainty.Many new lines for the parent species have also been observed (making it to total 111 transitions for the parent species). Previous IR studies show that the molecule exists in two conformers: antiperiplanar (AP) and synclinical (SC). Ab initio calculations show that the AP conformer is more stable than the SC conformer. Moreover, AP conformer has \textit{bc}-plane of symmetry and thus has no \textit{a}-dipole moment. The fitted rotational constants and absence of any \textit{a}-type transition confirm that the observed spectra correspond to the AP-conformer. Kraitchman's analysis further support this observation. There was no signature for the SC conformer however, nearly 35 lines still remain unassigned. Unlike the similar molecule hexafluoroisobutene, HFIP does not show any doubling in transitions though both the molecules have very similar frequency for the puckering mode. Moreover, HFIP offers different posibilities for H-bonding and search for its water complex is in progress. Details will be presented in the talk

Hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding and lithium bonding: an atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital perspective towards conservation of total bond order, inter- and intra-molecular bonding

One hundred complexes have been investigated exhibiting D-X center dot center dot center dot A interactions, where X = H, Cl or Li and DX is the `X bond' donor and A is the acceptor. The optimized structures of all these complexes have been used to propose a generalized `Legon-Millen rule' for the angular geometry in all these interactions. A detailed Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theoretical analysis confirms an important conclusion, known in the literature: there is a strong correlation between the electron density at the X center dot center dot center dot A bond critical point (BCP) and the interaction energy for all these interactions. In addition, we show that extrapolation of the fitted line leads to the ionic bond for Li-bonding (electrostatic) while for hydrogen and chlorine bonding, it leads to the covalent bond. Further, we observe a strong correlation between the change in electron density at the D-X BCP and that at the X center dot center dot center dot A BCP, suggesting conservation of the bond order. The correlation found between penetration and electron density at BCP can be very useful for crystal structure analysis, which relies on arbitrary van der Waals radii for estimating penetration. Various criteria proposed for shared-and closed-shell interactions based on electron density topology have been tested for H/Cl/Li bonded complexes. Finally, using the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis it is shown that the D-X bond weakens upon X bond formation, whether it is ionic (DLi) or covalent (DH/DCl) and the respective indices such as ionicity or covalent bond order decrease. Clearly, one can think of conservation of bond order that includes ionic and covalent contributions to both D-X and X center dot center dot center dot A bonds, for not only X = H/Cl/Li investigated here but also any atom involved in intermolecular bonding

MICROWAVE SPECTRUM OF HEXAFLUOROISOPROPANOL

Author Institution: Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-560012, IndiaHexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) is an important organic solvent and probably the only solvent which can dissolve polythene. IR studies, on this molecule confirm the existence of antiperiplanar ({\bf{ap}}) and synclinical ({\bf{sc}}) conformers. We have observed pure rotational spectrum of this molecule and the fitted rotational constants (A= 2105.1208(11) MHz, B= 1053.9942(3) MHz, C= 932.3398(3) MHz) confirm the presence of {\bf{ap}} conformer. There are many other observed lines which most probably corresponds to {\bf{sc}} structure and due to the large amplitude motion of H-atom, some of these transitions show tunneling splitting. Work is in progress for the deuterated (OD) and C-13 isotopologues of the monomer. HFIP is expected to exhibit interesting hydrogen bonding properties and we are planning to investigate them by studying its complex with water. The results will be presented in this talk

Steroid receptor status and its clinicopathological correlation in post-menopausal breast cancer patients of Kumaon region of Uttarakhand

Background: Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status has been used since the mid-1970s in the management of breast cancer as an indicator of endocrine responsiveness and as a prognostic factor for early recurrence. Aim: To study the steroid receptor profile and its clinico-pathological correlation in post-menopausal breast cancer patients. Setting and Design: A retrospective and prospective analysis of 80 and 68 patients, respectively, was undertaken to study the prevalence of ER and PR in post-menopausal breast cancer patients. The result of collective observations was analyzed statistically. Material and Methods: In this study, retrospective data on hormonal receptor status of 80 post-menopausal breast cancer patients and prospective data of 68 patients were collected and analyzed. Statistical Analysis Used: Student "t" test, Chi-square test. Results: Receptor positivity was high in higher age group but unlike earlier studies the receptor positivity was lower in incidence. The study showed an incidence of 37.83% receptor positive tumors in post-menopausal women. ER was positive in 27.03% patients of whom 16.2% were also PR positive, while the remaining patients were ER/PR negative. ER was negative in 72.47% patients of whom PR was positive in 10.8% and negative in the remaining. Out of 148 cases, 128 (86.48%) had palpable axillary lymph nodes. Out of 148 patients, 36 (24.34%) had supraclavicular lymph node involvement (Chi-square = 1.70, P = 0.193). Out of 148 cases, 144 (92.29%) were infiltration ductal carcinomas. Grade I tumors were more common in receptor positive tumors while grade II and III tumors were more common in receptor negative tumors. Receptor negative tumors were more aggressive in terms of peau de\u2032 orange, ulceration, fungation and chest wall invasion. Metastases and axillary lymph node involvement was observed more in receptor negative tumors; however, supraclavicular lymph node involvement was equal in both the groups. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma was the most common type of carcinoma in both the groups. Conclusion: The receptor positivity of steroid receptors was more in higher age groups, but the incidence of receptor positivity was lower than that reported in earlier studies. No statistically significant association was found between receptor status and clinical presentation of breast cancer, histopathological status of tumor and metastases

Ultrafast F

We present time-resolved coincidence imaging of F2− photodissociation by 400nm and intense 800nm ultrafast pulses. Coincidence fragment imaging reveals parallel and perpendicular single photon dissociation on 2Σg+ and 2πg states, and additional intense-field dissociation features