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This study was to find out the trend of annual rainfall for 11 districts of Bastar plateau and the Northern hill zone of Chhattisgarh. Long-term rainfall data of (27 years) in respective districts were collected from the Department of Agro-meteorology. IGKV, Raipur (Chhattisgarh). The trend analysis of rainfall was computed with the help of the Mann-Kendall method and linear trend graph method. Results revealed that the annual rainfall of two districts i.e. Sukma and Kondagaon of the Bastar plateau zone recorded a significant increasing trend at a 5 % level of significance whereas two districts i.e. Bastar and Bijapur were showing a significant increasing trend at a 1 % level of significance. Jashpur district of Northern hill zone shows a significantly decreasing trend at a 5 % level of significance whereas rest five districts i.e. Dantewada, Narayanpur, Surguja, Surajpur, and Koria districts reported non-significant. Two districts showed a non-significant increasing trend i.e. Narayanpur and Balrampur districts. The maximum number of districts reported more or less stable rainfall during the years. On an annual basis, the Bijapur district recorded the maximum amount of rainfall i.e. 3144.5 mm in a year while the lowest rainfall was 511.4 mm in the Dantewada district. The maximum average annual rainfall over the study period was 1624.7 mm in the Sukma district and the lowest average annual rainfall was 1029.5 mm (in 17 years data set) in the Balrampur district.

The present study was conducted at department of Agrometeorology, IGKV Raipur (C.G.) during 2019-2021, to assess the district level vulnerability in different districts of Chhattisgarh with reference to climate change. The data on various components was collected from the Census department of Chhattisgarh (2001 and 2011), department of Agrometeorology, Raipur and the report of Directorate of Economics & Statistics Raipur, C.G. for the period 2000 to 2018 and divided into three different periods 2000-2005, 2006-2010 and 2011-2018 as districts increased. We have used the Hiremath and Shiyani methodology to prepare vulnerability index. The outcome of study indicates that the agricultural sector played major role and contributing significantly to quantify the vulnerability followed by climatic and demographic indicators during all most three periods which was considered for the study. During the period 2000-2005, the results indicates that district Dantewada ranked 1st followed by korba and Mahasamund district. While, district Surguja falls under least vulnerable followed by Durg and Raipur district. During the study period 2006-2010, district Bijapur observed in 1st position followed by Dantewada and korba districts. Whereas, district Durg was supposed to be least vulnerable followed by Surguja and Bilaspur district. During the period 2011-2018, district Sukma ranked 1st rank followed by Dantewada and Narayanpur districts. While, district Dhamtari belongs to least vulnerable followed by Balrampur and Janjgir-champa. On the basis of degree of vulnerability during year 2000-2005, out of 16 districts the 2 and 12 districts were falls under very highly vulnerable and highly vulnerable category, respectively. While, only 2 districts were belong to vulnerable category. During year 2006-2010, out of 18 districts the 5, 11 and 2 districts were supposed to be very highly vulnerable, highly vulnerable category and vulnerable category, respectively. During year 2011-18, out of 27 districts the 9 and 18 districts were belongs to very highly vulnerable and highly vulnerable category. We have not found less and moderately vulnerable districts during the period 2000-2005 and 2006-2010, while only two viz., highly vulnerable and very highly vulnerable districts found during the period 2011-2018.

Studies on plant development phases and yield component patterns of wheat are essential for a better understanding of adaptation in wheat. Temperature is an important climatic factor which has profound effects on the yield of rabi crops. Changes in temperature affect the grain yield, mainly through phenological development processes. Winter crops are especially vulnerable to high temperature during reproductive stages and differential response to temperature change (rise) to various crops has been noticed under different production environments. The effect of temperature on the wheat phenological can easily by seen in Central India because of high inter-annual fluctuations in the productivity due to fluctuations in temperature. The productivity of wheat is largely dependent on the magnitude of temperature change. 1 °C increase in temperature throughout the growing season will have no effect or slight increase on productivity in North India. But, an increase of 2 °C temperature reduced potential grain yield at most of the places (Agrawal and Sinha, 1993). Deshmukh et al. (2015) reported that significant increase yield when the wheat crop was sown at 45 MW than 48 MW. Grain yield was significantly higher when crop was sown at 45 MW sowing.

Growth and yield of Brassica species largely depends upon change in environment during crop growth this change in environment can occur through many practices including sowing dates and water availability. For getting higher yield, sowing time of crop needs to be adjusted with suitable agro-climatic environment (Saha and Khan, 2008). Pradhan et al. (2014) reported that there was significant interaction between date of sowing and cultivars with respect to seed yield of mustard. It was concluded that normal or early sowing of Pusa Jai Kisan or Pusa Bold cultivar may be practiced for achieving higher seed yield, radiation and water use efficiency in semi-arid environment of north and north-western part of India. Indian-mustard is much sensitive to climatic variables; hence, climate change could have significant effect on its production. One month delay in sowing from mid of October resulted in 40.6% loss in seed yield (Lallu, et al., 2010). Gill and Bains (2008) observed a linear and positive relation between leaf area development and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) interception, which leads to higher dry matter production. LAI plays an important role for crop growth based on its interception and utilization of PAR for producing dry matter and with the delay in planting date, the higher mean temperature was experienced during flowering which led to accelerate the decrease in LAI and reduction in the flowering period.

The present investigation entitled “Studies on Heat unites on various phenophases of wheat (Triticum aestivum) under different growing environment” was carried out during Rabi season of 2016-2017, at the Research Farm of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidhyalaya, Raipur to find out the wheat varieties under late sowing conditions in a rice based cropping system. The treatment combinations of three sowing dates (1st December, 11th December and 21st December,) and three varieties (Ratan, GW-273, and GW-366) were laid out in a randomized block design with three replication. The value of GDD, PTU, HTU, RUE and HTU for different varieties were recorded and maximum value in these parameter was found highest in GW-273 under D1 (1st December) growing environment.

The present investigation entitled “Effect of different thermal environments on Yield and yield attributes of different mustard genotypes under Chhattisgarh plain climatic conditions” was carried out at the research farm, I.G.K.V., Raipur during rabi season of 2015-2016. Dry matter accumulation was significantly maximum in crop sown on 25th November and thereafter the rate of dry matter accumulation declined due to delayed in sowing up to 15th December. Leaf area index was faster right from 25 DAS to 55 DAS with maximum values at 55 DAS in case of crop sown on 25th November as compared to delayed sown crop. Highest siliqua length was recorded in crop sown on 25th November with a maximum value of 6.23 cm in variety PT-303 and minimum in variety PT-30 (5.11 cm). The maximum number of seeds siliqua-1 was recorded in crop sown on 25th November in variety Pusa Mustard-26 (13.60) while the lowest were recorded in crop sown on 15th December in variety PT-30 (11.20) and 1000-seed weight was also recorded maximum in crop sown on 25th November in variety Pusa Mustard (6.01 g) while lowest was recorded from variety PT-30 (4.93 g) crop sown on 15th December. Highest stover and seed yield were recorded in crop sown on 25th November as compared to delayed sowings. Among the varieties, higher seed yield was recorded from Pusa mustard-26 in all thermal environments as compared to other varieties.

The present investigation entitled “Effect of weather parameter on growth and development of wheat under different growing environment” was carried out during Rabi seasons of 2016-17 at Research and Instructional Farm of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur to examine to validate the results of crop weather relationship of different wheat varieties grown under different growing environments in factorial Randomized Block Design. Some of the important points that emerged from the study are summarized in the present chapter. Among the growth parameters plant height recorded significantly higher in early date of sowing i.e. 1st December as compared to other growing environments (sowing on 11th and 12th December). The interaction of date of sowing with different variety of wheat crop were founds significantly influenced on plant height of crops at 40 DAS and 100 DAS stages. Significantly maximum number of leaves per plant was found with 1st December of sowing. The interaction effect of different date of sowing and varieties were found significant at 60 DAS. Number of tillers per plants were found significantly influenced due to different date of sowing and different variety at 40 DAS. At 20 and 80 DAS plant accumulated significantly higher value of dry matter in crop sown on 1st December 2016.

The available daily rainfall data of 40 years (1980-2019) at SGCARS, Kumarawand, Jagdalpur, District Bastar was examined for long term rainfall averages on weekly basis for Kharif season and its temporal variability. Coefficient of variation of 24.14 per cent indicated that the season’s weekly rainfall was more or less stable over the years. The contribution to annual rainfall was 85.57 percent during Kharif season. Within the weeks, 30th week (23rd July to 29th July) was recorded as the highest rainfall contributing week with 8.16% followed by 26th week (25th June to 1st July) with 7.78% of total season’s weekly rainfall. Mean weekly precipitation amount and its assurance reaches the peak (>65 mm/week) during 25th SMW to 33rd SMW which is classified as heavy rainfall and again declined thereafter. In week 28th continuity of rainfall (

The present study was conducted at the Department of Agrometeorology, IGKV Raipur (C.G.) from 2019 to 2021, to assess the zone-level vulnerability in three agro-climatic zones of Chhattisgarh with respect to climate change. The data on various components were collected from the Census directorate of Chhattisgarh (2001 and 2011), Department of Agrometeorology, Raipur and the report of Directorate of economics & statistics Raipur, C.G. for the period of 2000 to 2018 and divided into three different study periods i.e. 2000–2005, 2006–2010 and 2011–2018. We have used Hiremath & Shiyani and Iyenger & Sudershan's methodology to contract the vulnerability index. The outcome of the study indicates that the agricultural sector played a major role and contributed significantly to quantifying the vulnerability followed by climatic and demographic indicators during all three study periods. Results of the composite vulnerability index indicate that Bastar Plateau agro-climatic zone (BP ACZ) was categorized as a more vulnerable zone followed by the Northern Hills agro-climatic zone (NH ACZ) and Chhattisgarh Plain agro-climatic zone (CGP ACZ) in decreasing order of vulnerability in all the study periods. Zone-wise classification of degree of vulnerability, Chhattisgarh Plain agro-climatic zone (CGP ACZ) and the Northern Hills agro-climatic zone (NH ACZ) was categorized as highly vulnerable category, while Bastar Plateau agro-climatic zone (BP ACZ) fell under the Very highly vulnerable category, during all the three study period. We have not found the less vulnerable, moderately vulnerable and vulnerable categories of the zone during all the three study periods.

Background: Diagnosis of Trypanosoma evansi among goat in field is still challenging due to scarce information on clinical manifestation and non availability of rapid reliable diagnostics. Molecular test such as PCR employed to diagnose the T. evansi with accuracy in both blood and tissues. Limited reports are available from different parts of the country on natural infection of T. evansi in goat. Mainly subclinical form of disease occurred in goats owing to low level of parasitaemia of T. evansi. Methods: A Jamunapari goat aged 1.5 years and weighing ~25 Kg was suffering from circling movement, pale conjunctiva and anorexia and was found positive for T. evansi by buffy coat examination and polymerase chain reaction. Diminazene aceturate was given intramuscularly as 7% water solution at a dose of 3.5 mg/kg b.wt. After 3 days, blood smear and buffy coat were negative for T. evansi and no band was found after running the product on 1.7% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide. Result: The present study reveals first time report on caprine trypanosomosis from central India by conventional and PCR technique and placed on record. Hence, the goat should also be taken into consideration for control of trypanosomosis as goats are an important source of infection to other animals due to their reservoir nature for T. evansi.

Bovine tropical theileriosis caused by Theileria annulata, is a serious constraint to Indian dairy industry with more fatal infections in exotic cattle and substantial losses to cross-bred and indigenous zebu cattle. The present communication is to place on record the first report of molecular based confirmed case of cerebral theileriosis caused by T. annulata coupled with its morphological detection, clinical manifestations, haematological alterations and therapeutic management in a cross bred cattle calf from India. After preparation of peripheral thin blood smear from cross bred cattle calf at the site of collection and fixation with methanol, blood sample brought to Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science and A.H, Jabalpur and stained by standard protocol for Giemsa staining. Genomic DNA was isolated from the collected blood sample using QIAamp® DNA blood mini kit following the manufacturer’s recommendations and PCR was performed. The cross bred cow calf revealed high rise in temperature (105.5°F), increased heart rate, labored breathing with seromucous nasal discharge, enlargement of prescapular lymph node and animal exhibited tonic clonic convulsions in response to any sudden noise. Giemsa stained thin blood smear revealed intraerythrocytic piroplasm and Koch blue bodies of T. annulata within the cytoplasm of lymphocytes. The species of Theileria was confirmed by molecular amplification of genomic DNA as T. annulata.

The paper presents the impact of premonsoon meridional sea surface temperature (SST) gradient of a part of north Indian Ocean (84°E–92°E, 0°N–18°N) and frequency of north-west Pacific weather systems (mainly typhoons and super-typhoons) on the formation of monsoon depressions over Bay of Bengal. Analysis shows that decreasing frequency of monsoon depression over BOB may occur as a result of decreasing trend of premonsoon meridional SST gradients over the region 84°E–92°E and 0°N–18°N. Higher frequency of north-west Pacific weather systems (i.e. higher the total number of typhoons and super-typhoons) during the monsoon month (June, July, August, September-JJAS) may be considered as one of the important aspect for the reduction in monsoon depression frequency over BOB (mostly, during last decade). Tropical easterly jet (TEJ) strength (60°E–100°E, 5°N–20°N) is also analysed to check the relationship between convection over BOB and monsoon circulation pattern which is dependent on SST gradient as well as north-west Pacific weather system frequency. Possible explanation is also presented.

The present study investigated the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of leaves of Aegle marmelos and Murraya koenigii in dairy cows with endometritis. Sixteen cows with a history of repeat breeding were enrolled in the study. Endometritis was initially diagnosed on the basis of mucopurulent/cloudy cervico-vaginal discharge or presence of pus flakes in uterine lavage. The diagnosis was confirmed by endometrial cytology using >5% polymorphonuclear (PMN) as the cut-off point. Twelve of the 16 enrolled cows were diagnosed with endometritis and allocated to treatment (n = 6) and control (n = 6) groups. Cows in the treatment group were supplemented with 200 gm of Aegle marmelos and Murraya koenigii leaf powder daily for 9 days through oral route. The antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects were assessed by evaluating the changes in bacterial load, PMN cell count and oxidative parameters [malondialdehyde (MDA), ascorbic acid (ASCA), reduced glutathione (R-GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)], respectively. Results indicated significant reduction in the bacterial load and PMN cell count in the herb supplemented cows. The MDA concentration decreased drastically, whereas ASCA and R-GSH concentrations and TAC increased significantly in herb supplemented cows as compared to control. Although the SOD activity was not significantly different between the groups, there was a tendency of higher activity in herb supplemented cows. In conclusion, Aegle marmelos and Murraya koenigii reduce bacterial load and inflammation in endometritic dairy cows with a concurrent increase in the endogenous antioxidants.

TB as the cause of uveitis varies from 0.5 to 10.5%; low sensitivity of confirmatory laboratory investigations and inconsistency of diagnostic criteria leads to paucity of data. Diagnosis requires a high level of suspicion and is often presumptive based on indirect evidences. Interferon gamma, Interleukin-2 and Neopterin are key biomarkers in immuno-regulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The relative shift from Interleukin-2 towards Interferon gamma (Interferon gamma/Interleukin-2) is more discriminatory for active tuberculosis. Protein carbonyl and Malondialdehyde, as oxidative stress markers, characterize active tuberculosis. A case of disseminated TB presenting with acute uveitis had a recurrent tubercular lymphadenitis after completing category I treatment under revised national tuberculosis control programme. The present study evaluates the potential utility of above mentioned biomarkers to predict atypical presentation in difficult cases of tuberculosis. Though tuberculous uveitis is amenable to treatment in early course of disease, the delay in diagnosis can have serious consequences for the patient.

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of partial deoxygenation of extender on sperm quality, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) during cryopreservation of semen. Semen extender was prepared freshly and split into three sub-extenders [Extender I: control (non-deoxygenated), Extender II (partially deoxygenated by using LN2 flushing) and Extender III (partially deoxygenated mechanically by vacuum pump)]. Amounts of dissolved oxygen (DO) were determined in all the three extenders and also in post-thaw semen. Ejaculates with mass motility of ≥3+ and individual progressive motility of 70% or greater were collected from Murrah buffalo bulls and utilized in the study. Each semen sample was divided into Groups I (diluted with Extender I), II (diluted with Extender II) and III (diluted Extender III) with a maximum of 60 × 106 sperm/mL. French mini straws (0.25 mL) were filled with the extended semen samples, sealed with polyvinyl alcohol powder, kept for 3 h at 5 °C for equilibration and then stored in an automatic programmable freezer until the temperature of straws reached −145 °C followed by plunging the straws into liquid nitrogen (–196 °C). Semen samples were evaluated at pre-freeze and post-thaw stages for various variables [sperm motility, live sperm count, acrosomal integrity, hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) response, LPO and ROS concentrations]. The mean DO was less (P

The Indian summer monsoon rainfall forecast and its verification has a direct impact on various sectors of public interest besides economy of the country. The present study highlights the verification of distribution forecast of synoptic method issued daily for six met subdivisions, comprising of five states of eastern India namely West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Three years monsoon season rainfall data from 2011 through 2013 are used for the study area. The distribution-oriented verification is done for different rainfall classes like dry, isolated, scattered, fairly widespread and widespread to understand the usefulness of the synoptic method. Statistics are presented for both combined classes of Percentage Correct (PC) and Heidke Skill Score (HSS) of the met subdivision wise forecast and PC, POD and CSI for individual classes. It has been observed that among the met subdivision the efficiency of the method is highest in Sub Himalayan West Bengal (SHWB) & Sikkim followed by Gangetic West Bengal (GWB), Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.

In image processing or computer vision, image segmentation is a vital issue for applications such as scene understanding, medical image evaluation, robotic perception, video surveillance, increased reality or compression, etc. Every year in road accidents caused because of human mistake, the numbers of dead and injured are rising. Drowsiness and driving are particularly risky and difficult to recognize. The second leading cause of road crashes in drowsiness after alcohol. Detecting driver drowsiness is a technology of safety for vehicles that helps placed an end to driver injuries that are dozy. One of the main causes of road accidents is driver drowsiness. It is a very serious issue for road safety. We have presented various methods for detecting the drowsiness of the driverin this paper and the comparisons among such methods are extremely challenging. For this purpose, we have compared machine learning methods based on facial expression, especially on eye state. Apart from eye detection, it performed experiments on mouth detection and face detection as well. This paper explores several methods for machine learning, like SVM, CNN, or HMM. From the analysis, we have found that the HMM model achieved more accurate results in comparisonto others.

The objective of present study was to investigate the effects of two different levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) i.e. 4 and 8 ppm in the extenders on physico-morphological attributes and functional membrane integrity of crossbred bull spermatozoa following cryopreservation. Only those ejaculates that had a mass activity of ³ 3+ and individual progressive motility of ³ 70% were utilized. Each of the ejaculates were divided and extended to have 80×106 spermatozoa/ mL of extender in three groups i.e. Group I (control), Group II (4 ppm) and Group III (8 ppm). Progressive motility (%) was higher (p Lass Than 0.05) in Group II and III as compared to Group I at both pre-freeze and post-thaw stage. Per cent live sperm and HOST reactive sperm were higher (p Lass Than 0.05) in Group II and in Group II and III as compared to Group I at pre-freeze and post-thaw stage, respectively. Sperm abnormality (%) was lower (p Lass Than 0.05) in Group II at post-thaw stage. Per cent acrosome intact sperm did not differ (p>0.05) among the groups at pre-freeze stage, but, were higher (p Lass Than 0.05) in Group II and III as compared to Group I at post-thaw stage. In conclusion, cryopreservation of semen having DO level of 4 ppm in semen extender yielded better results followed by 8 ppm in terms of semen quality parameters and functional membrane integrity of crossbred bull spermatozoa.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of two different concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO, 4 and 8) ppm in the extender on oxidative stress affecting plasma membrane integrity (PMI), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage of bull spermatozoa following cryopreservation. For the experiment, nitrogen (N2) gassing of the extender for varied time intervals yielded extender with DO concentration of 4 ppm and 8 ppm (Groups II and III, respectively). For the Control (Group I) without N2 gassing, a DO concentration of 11.7 ppm was recorded. Following sample selection, ejaculates were divided into three aliquots and were extended to have 80 × 106 spermatozoa/mL of extender in the three groups. Semen samples were evaluated for reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation (LPO), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) at the fresh, pre-freeze, and post-thaw stages. Evaluation of PMI, MMP, and DNA damage were conducted on frozen-thawed samples. There were greater (P

This investigation was carried out to study the correlation of sperm quality parameters with antioxidant and oxidant status of buffalo bull semen during various stages of cryopreservation. Semen samples were evaluated for sperm parameters (mass motility [MM], concentration [CON], progressive motility [PM], viability [VIB], acrosomal integrity [AI] and hypo-osmotic swelling [HOS] response), antioxidants (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT], glutathione peroxidase [GPx] and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]) and oxidants (Lipid peroxidation [LPO] and reactive oxygen species [ROS]) at fresh, pre-freeze and post-thaw stages. Sperm parameters (PM, VIB, AI and HOS response) and antioxidants (SOD, CAT and TAC) were significantly (p < .05) reduced at fresh stage, and oxidants (LPO and ROS) were significantly (p < .05) increased at pre-freeze and post-thaw stages. At fresh stage, MM was negatively correlated with LPO (p < .05), and CON was positively correlated with SOD, TAC and CAT, negatively correlated with LPO and CAT was positively (p < .01) correlated with VIB and HOS response. At pre-freeze stage, CAT was positively correlated with PM and AI (p < .05), and AI was negatively (p < .05) correlated with ROS. At post-thaw stage, CAT was positively correlated with PM, VIB, HOS response and AI,, and LPO was negatively correlated with HOS, AI and VIB. The study of correlations of these parameters at different preservation stages with bull fertility may play an important role in developing models for predicting future fertility of bulls in the absence of conception rate data.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the in-vitro antibacterial effect of 2 different extracts of A marmelos and M. koenigii either alone or in a combination against the bacteria isolated from the cows suffering from endometritis. Uterine swabs were taken from 12 cows suffering from endometritis, and isolates were positive for bacterial infection. The ethanolic and aqueous extract of A marmelos and M. koenigii were prepared to evaluate the in-vitro bacterial sensitivity against the isolated bacteria. Extract of both the plants showed antibacterial activity against the isolated bacteria, either alone or in combination, in a various degree. The ethanolic extract of both plant leaves showed better efficacy than the aqueous extract and also extract from combination of both plant leaves showed better and synergistic effect. The results demonstrated the potential antibacterial effect of A. marmelos and M. koenigii leaf extract on the bacterial species isolated from endometritic cows.

Background: Endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) has become accepted as a suitable treatment for patients with chronic dacryocystitis. In this study authors did endoscopic dacrocystorhinosomy using a microdebrider, which is a recent advancement tool being used successfully in other endoscopic sinus surgeries also. Limited studies are available as of now on this topic.Methods: A total number of 33 patients (with 40 affected eyes) presenting with complains of epiphora having nasolacrimal duct obstruction were selected. They underwent an endoscopic DCR in which dissection of some nasal mucosa and widening of bony ostium was done using a microdebrider. Silicone stent was passed into the nasolacrimal duct through both punctum. Patient outcome was assessed by using both objective (endoscopy and dye test) and subjective (improved symptoms) criteria. Standard follow up time for clinical course was kept 3 months with weekly visits.Results: Patients which got relief from epiphora in 37 eyes (92.5% cases) had no obstruction on endoscopy and positive dye test. Rest (7.5 % cases) had presence of granulation tissue at rhinostoma site and negative dye test, which was cited as the cause of failure.Conclusions: The use of microdebrider is potentially beneficial in endoscopic endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy. By using such an instrument, the minimal amount of tissue damage occurs, a large fistula is formed, and the recurrence due to the formation of adhesions/synechiae/granulations is prevented/reduced thus reducing the time of surgery, complications and failure rate.

Aim: The experiment was conducted to study the total seminal plasma protein (TSPP) and heparin-binding proteins (HBPs) in relation to initial semen quality of buffalo bull. Materials and Methods: Semen from two Murrah buffalo bulls (bull no. 605 and 790) with mass motility of ≥3+ were used for the study and categorized into three groups (Group I- Mass motility 3+, Group II- Mass motility 4+ and Group III- Mass motility 5+). Seminal plasma from semen was separated by centrifugation. HBPs was isolated and purified from heparin-agarose affinity column by modified elution buffer. TSPP and isolated HBPs concentration was estimated by Lowry’s method. The purified HBPs were resolved on Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to check the protein profile of two bulls. Results: The mean values of TSPP concentrations in bull no. 605 and 790 in Group I, II and III were 30.64±0.12, 31.66±0.09, 32.53±0.19 and 28.51±0.09, 29.49±0.15, 30.45±0.17 mg/mL, respectively. The mean values of HBPs concentrations in bull no. 605 and 790 in Group I, II and III were 3.11±0.07, 3.32±0.06, 3.46±0.08 and 2.51±0.08, 2.91±0.05, 3.10±0.03 mg/mL, respectively. Both the values of TSPP and HBPs were significantly higher (p

In this paper, a simple relationship is employed to investigate the relative impacts on the movement and landfall of tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal region when wet component of atmospheric refractivity of different tropospheric levels is used as an input. Four tropical cyclones during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season over the Bay of Bengal region were selected for the study. The radiosonde/radiowind data of coastal stations, namely Kolkata (Dumdum), Agartala, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Machlipatnam, Chennai and Karaikal, were collected for the period of the cyclones under study. The wet component of atmospheric refractivity of different standard levels was plotted against time for the stations for every cyclone. The study suggests that the cyclone moves towards and crosses near the station having a relatively steeper increase in the wet component of atmospheric refractivity up to mid-tropical level. A possible explanation is also presented.

The paper presents the nature of variation of refractive index of atmospheric medium before the onset of squall over kolkata (22°34′N 88°22′E), India. The variation of the refractive index with surface temperature and relative humidity during squall is also presented. It is concluded that sharp decrease of the refractivity may be taken as a possible method of forecasting squall. This kind of study is very much helpful from the standpoint of aviation hazards and communication. Possible explanation for the observed results is also presented.

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are synoptic scale intense low pressure systems which form over the warm tropical oceans characterised by strong cyclonic winds and organised convection with heavy rainfall. The TC causes enormous damage to life and property at the time of crossing the coast and subsequent movement over the land. The TCs can impact over a wide area with its strong winds, heavy rains and storm surges. Gray (Hurricanes: their formation structure and likely role in the tropical circulation. In: Shaw DB (ed) Meteorology over the Tropical Oceans. Royal Meteorological Society, Bracknell, pp 155–218,1979) prepared a detailed climatology of the TCs in the global ocean basins. He observed that annually about 80 TCs form globally of which half to two thirds reach hurricane strength (maximum sustained winds greater than 33 m/s). East coast of India is frequently affected by TCs that form over Bay of Bengal (Tyagi et al., Inter-annual variation of frequency of cyclonic disturbances landfalling over WMO/ESCAP Panel Member Countries. WMO/TD-No. 1541 on 1st WMO International conference on Indian Ocean tropical cyclones and climate change, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 8–11 March 2009, WWRP-2010/2, 2010). During the period 1891–2010, about 134 severe TCs crossed the east coast of India (IMD, Cyclone e-Atlas-IMD tracks of cyclones and depressions over North Indian Ocean. www.rmcchennaieatlas.tn.nic.in, 2011; Atlas of storm track). Anthes (Tropical cyclones: their evolution, structure and effects. Meteorological Monographs, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1982) has extensively studied the three dimensional structure of TC. He observed that the surface pressure is lowest at the centre of the TC and increases outward. The wind speed reaches its maximum value at nearly 40–80 km from the centre beyond which it decreases. The central parts are warmer than the surroundings and the temperature anomaly could be more than 10° K at the upper troposphere. The TC grows upto a height of 10–15 km. Intense TCs frequently develop an eye, which is a cloud free region at the centre of the storm characterised by the presence of subsidence.

In this paper an attempt has been made to study climatological characteristics and forecasting aspects of heavy rainfall over Kolkata for data of 34 years of period from 1974 to 2007. Total 184 events has been found out and the data set has been subjected to various types of analysis along with favourable synoptic system and critical index for occurrence of heavy rainfall over Kolkata. Average occurrence is found as 5.4 events per year. Monthly distribution shows maximum of 26% events in July followed by September 20%, August17% and June as 14%. Seasonal distribution naturally indicates maximum of 77% occurrence during monsoon followed by post-monsoon with 14% and pre-monsoon with 09 %. Synoptic analysis revealed that majority of heavy rainfall events occurred due to low pressure system (LPS). Study of 167 cases (during June to October) suggests that when any one of the favourable synoptic condition prevailed over the region and DPD-Wind-PW-WS index reaches a critical value, heavy to very heavy rain occurred over Kolkata and suburban areas.

In this paper a simple relationship is employed to investigate relative impacts on the movement and landfall of tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal region when geopotential height of different troposphere levels is used as an input. Five tropical cyclone during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season over the Bay of Bengal region has been selected for the study. The RS/RW data of coastal stations namely Kolkata (Dumdum), Dhaka, Agartala, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Machlipatnam, Chennai and Karaikal has been collected for the period of the cyclones under study. The geopotential height of different standard levels has been plotted against the time for the stations for every cyclone. The study suggests that the cyclone moves towards and cross near the station having relatively steeper decrease in geopotential height upto mid tropical level followed by increased in geopotential height.

Climatologically thunderstorm activity is quite common features over Guwahati Airport and its vicinity during premonsoon season. But a severe hailstorm with large size of hailstones and long duration is a rare event. Such a hailstorm with hailstone size of about 25mm occurred over Guwahati Airport (26.1°N, 91.6°E) on 2nd April, 2006 during midnight. In this paper an attempt has been made to investigate prerequisite synoptic and thermodynamic conditions of the atmosphere associated with this hailstorm. Under favourable synoptic and instability condition of thunderstorm occurrence, veering of winds over Guwahati between freezing level and 500 hPa level with vertical wind shear of horizontal winds exceeding 6.2 ms-1km-1 more appears to be conductive for the development of a hailstorm. Stability Indices viz., Showalter, K, Total-Total and Severe Weather Threat (SWEAT) index have shown predictability for this event.

Premonsoon season in north-east India is known for thunderstorm activity with moderate to heavy rain, gusty wind, squall and sometimes with the occurrences of hail fall. In this paper an attempt has been made to find out the climatological and synoptical aspects of hailstorms as well as squall over Guwahati Airport (26.18° N, 91.75° E) during Premonsoon season. 20 years data from 1987 to 2006 have been analyzed. The frequency of hail and squall during premonsoon season is observed to be 1.35 and 3.65 respectively. The most favourable time of occurrence of hail is during afternoon to late evening and that for the occurrence of squall is during evening to early morning over Guwahati Airport. The significant synoptic situations associated with occurrence of hail are Sea level trough from East Uttar Pradesh/Bihar to North-East India and low level cycir over Bihar and neighbourhood.

In qualitative phytochemical analysis of petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol extracts of the leaves of Cocculus hirsutus Diels, the important secondary plant metabolites detected are Carbohydrates, Steroids, Glycosides, Tannins, Saponins and Flavonoids. The methanol extract and fresh leaves juice are subjected to wound healing activity in incision and excision wound models taking Soframycin sulphate as standard. The results revealed that the methanol extract ointment 10%w/w has highest wound healing potency among the test groups and is comparable with the standard and thus the results offer a scientific support to the treatment of traditional healers of this region.

A Pilot project on ‘Severe Thunderstorm Observation and Regional Modeling (STORM)’ was undertaken by the Department of Science and Technology during April and May 2006. Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati too participated in this project and attempted to monitor each and every severe thunderstorm event. A total of 62 events have been identified on 30 days during 1st April to 25th May. The experiment was restricted upto 25th May in view of onset of monsoon on 27th May. Significant features of all these events are discussed in detail. Satellite imagery and radar echoes of selected events are included to describe the developments of these events. Thermodynamic state of atmosphere along with prevailing synoptic situation associated with the events has been discussed broadly. Results of the study confirm that the ‘Assam valley’ along Brahmaputra river experiences maximum number of events. Lower Assam is more prone to these events as compared to upper and south Assam. High thermodynamic instability, inhomogeneity in horizontal distribution of air temperatures and moisture near ground level and Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) value at four stations namely Guwahati, Agartala, Siliguri and Dibrugarh are the key factors in presence of the favourable lower level convergence exhibited by cyclonic circulation over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and adjoining west Assam moving eastwards along Brahmaputra valley with divergence aloft for occurrence of severe thunderstorm over this region. Also In some cases severe thunderstorm outbursts happen in the environment of very low CAPE value also due to proximity of complex terrain feature of this region.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of incubation on freezability of cholesterol loaded cyclodextrin (CLC) treated buffalo spermatozoa. Materials and Methods: Semen samples with mass motility of 3+ and greater, collected from Murrah buffalo bulls were utilized. Immediately after collection, four equal groups of semen sample were made. Group I was kept as control and diluted with Tris upto concentration of 60×106 sperm/ml, where as Groups II, III, and IV were treated with CLC at 3 mg/120× 106 spermatozoa, incubated at 37°C for action of CLC for 10, 15 and 20 min, respectively, and diluted with tris upto concentration of 60×106 sperm/ml. All groups were subjected to equilibration and freezing. The evaluation of semen samples from all groups was carried out at fresh, pre-freeze and post-thaw stage for progressive motility, viability and hypo-osmotic swelling response (HOS response). Results: At the pre-freeze stage, significantly (p

Purpose: To evaluate nine eyes that developed corneal infection after radial keratotomy (RK) and their subsequent management. Setting: Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, New Delhi, India. Method: The parameters evaluated were interval between RK and development of the ulcer, number of keratotomy incisions, nature of surgery (primary or secondary), status at presentation, and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Corneal scrapings were taken from all eyes for microbiological evaluation. Initial therapy was based on clinical impression and subsequent therapy, on the microbiological report. Results: Staphylococcus species were the most frequently isolated bacteria followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Two eyes had fungal growth, and no organisms were isolated from one. All but one eye responded to medical therapy; healing took 23 to 26 days: Therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) was done in one eye. Presenting BCVA of hand movement to 6/36 improved to hand movement to 6/18 after the ulcer healed. Final BCVA was 6/36 to 6/9 after lamellar keratoplasty or PKP or with contact lens or spectacle correction. Conclusion: Our study shows that corneal infection is a potential complication of RK. Therefore, persistent postoperative irritation should be carefully observed to ensure early diagnosis and prompt therapy.

The effect of uterine infection on size and follicular fluid composition of the largest follicle was studied in buffalo. Reproductive tracts were collected from 102 graded Murrah buffaloes at an abattoir. Uterine infection was diagnosed by physical examination of uterine mucus, white side test and uterine cytology. Samples with pus-containing mucus, positive reaction on white side test and/or5% neutrophils were considered to be positive for uterine infection. Diameter of the largest follicle was measured, and follicular fluid was aspirated and assayed for nitric oxide (NO), ascorbic acid (AA), cholesterol, oestradiol (E(2)) and progesterone (P(4)). Infected buffaloes had smaller-sized (p0.0001) largest follicles than non-infected buffaloes. Follicular fluid collected from the largest follicle in infected buffaloes had greater (p0.0001) NO and P(4) concentrations coincident with lesser AA (p0.001), cholesterol (p0.0001) and E(2) (p0.0001) concentrations. Results indicated that uterine infection has an inhibitory effect on growth of the largest follicle in buffalo. The changes in follicular fluid composition in infected buffaloes suggest that the direct effect of uterine infection on ovarian function may be mediated through an alteration in the follicular microenvironment. Greater NO and lesser AA concentrations in the follicular fluid of infected animals are novel findings.

The monoclonal antibodies can selectively target specific molecules, proteins or receptors in the body responsible for pathogenesis of a particular disorder. Some cytokines play key role in the development of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, neovascular age related macular degeneration, glaucoma and many other inflammatory conditions of eye. Monoclonal antibodies against VEGF and TNF-alpha such as bevacizumab, ranibizumab, infliximab and adalimumab have been used to control neovascularization and inflammation in eye with significant positive results whereas others have been used to target CD20, CD52, CD11a, and IL-2. The growing interest in these drugs with current progress in biotechnology and genetic engineering has kindled active research and with more understanding of the molecular basis of many ocular disorders these antibodies are being explored in a variety of different pathological conditions of the eye. Various sight threatening serious eye disorders which are resistant to the conventional available therapy have responded favorably to these drugs. Despite the limitations of high cost and uncertainty around long term safety profile, rational use of the monoclonal antibodies holds immense promise in management of various ocular conditions.