Abnormal modulation of atmospheric parameters during the tsunami of 2004

This paper discusses the abnormal changes in weather elements observed at a tropical mountain location and a coastal station in India. Abnormal changes were noticed in the atmospheric parameters at a time close to the occurrence of tsunami on the Indian coasts due to high magnitude earthquakes in the Sumatra region on 26 December 2004. Close to the time of this earthquake occurrence, uncharacteristic and large magnitude changes in weather elements were recorded at Braemore (8o45â²N, 77o05â²E, 360 m amsl), a mountain field station at Western Ghats. Abnormal changes were also recorded at Minambakkam (13oN, 80o18â²E, 16 m SLP), close to eastern coastal belts. In the Braemore field station, simultaneous changes were observed in the atmospheric parameters; decrease in pressure by 0.6 hPa, increase in relative humidity by 30 and a prominent reduction in air temperature by more than 3oC on the day of tsunami. Also, unusually the relative humidity did not reach 100 on the previous night. However, in the Minambakkam station, the relative humidity increased by 10 associated with a sharp decrease in temperature by about 2.5oC. The changes in both the stations occurred almost at the same time and duration. Therefore, it may be concluded that these changes are associated with the high magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami

Predictive modelling of soils’ hydraulic conductivity using artificial neural network and multiple linear regression

As a result of heterogeneity nature of soils and variation in its hydraulic conductivity over several orders of magnitude for various soil types from fine-grained to coarse-grained soils, predictive methods to estimate hydraulic conductivity of soils from properties considered more easily obtainable have now been given an appropriate consideration. This study evaluates the performance of artificial neural network (ANN) being one of the popular computational intelligence techniques in predicting hydraulic conductivity of wide range of soil types and compared with the traditional multiple linear regression (MLR). ANN and MLR models were developed using six input variables. Results revealed that only three input variables were statistically significant in MLR model development. Performance evaluations of the developed models using determination coefficient and mean square error show that the prediction capability of ANN is far better than MLR. In addition, comparative study with available existing models shows that the developed ANN and MLR in this study performed relatively better

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke - the second leading cause of death worldwide - were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry(1,2). Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis(3), and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach(4), we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry(5). Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries.</p

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

Levocetirizine versus Bilastine as Monotherapy in the Management of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Introduction: Chronic urticaria is defined as the almost daily occurrence of wheals and pruritus for a minimum of six weeks, adversely affecting the quality of life and necessitating management with a drug with better efficacy and a high safety profile. This study was designed to determine how monotherapy with newer antihistamines benefits chronic spontaneous urticaria by producing earlier and longer periods of remission. Additionally, the study aimed to assess the adverse effects associated with the drugs. Aim: To compare the efficacy of Levocetirizine and Bilastine in chronic spontaneous urticaria. Materials and Methods: The study was a single-blinded randomised controlled trial conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India over 24 months from January 2020 to December 2021. A total of 163 patients with chronic urticaria were randomly divided into two groups: Group A with 82 patients and group B with 81 patients. The patients were treated with tablet Levocetirizine 5 mg and tablet Bilastine 20 mg for six months (with up-dosing to four-fold maximum) in Group A and Group B, respectively. The treatment response was assessed using the Urticaria Activity Score (UAS) at each follow-up. Patients were followed-up for an additional six months to observe the time of recurrence. Total 15 patients were lost to follow-up and were consequently excluded from the statistical analysis. Results: At the end of six months, the improvement observed in UAS was statistically similar in both groups (p-value=0.513). The time taken for remission was shorter with Levocetirizine (11.19±5.31 weeks) compared to Bilastine (14.59±5.02 weeks). Recurrence occurred earlier with Bilastine compared to Levocetirizine. Conclusion: Levocetirizine and Bilastine are equally effective in controlling urticaria at the end of six months of treatment. Patients on Levocetirizine experienced earlier remission as well as late recurrence compared to those on Bilastine