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Persistence of wind direction is a neglected subject. However, it is one of the significant parameters in dosage evaluation from short term releases of pollutants to the atmosphere. In this paper this topic is studied in detail using the continuous wind data from three nuclear power station sites in India. It is found from the analysis that longer persistence periods are less frequent. The frequency of occurrence of different persistence periods obeyed a log-normal distribution at two sites whereas at the third site, though the behaviour was qualitatively similar, no known analytic function could be fitted. The extrema and the averages of the wind speeds averaged over individual persistence periods, showed a dependence upon the persistence period as follows: 1. (1) the average maximum wind speed decreased with persistence; 2. (2) the average minimum wind speed increased with persistence; 3. (3) the average of the average wind speed first increased with increasing persistence and then tended to a stable value. Such analysis is useful in defining the worst meteorological conditions at nuclear station sites for applications in hazard evaluation. Some of the applications of the persistence analysis are discussed, and it is shown that dosage at any site from short term (h) continuous release of fission products has a maximum and that this maximum, which is different for different sites, can be used to grade the sites. An expression for return periods of persistences has been derived. This expression gives the return period in actual time units.

SUMMARY A series of 800 cases, of which 600 had pneumoperitoneum and chemotherapy and 200 chemotherapy alone, is analyzed. It has been found that pneumoperitoneum with chemotherapy diminishes the chances of relapse, and increases the incidence of cavity closure, especially the basal cavities. It is an effective mode of treatment in an economically underdeveloped country like India. (The material in this paper was used by one of us (R.P.D.) in a thesis accepted for the degree of M.D. at Kanpur Medical College, University of Lucknow.)

This paper deals with a composite gross, microscopic, and biochemical study of aortal and coronary arteries obtained from unselected medicolegal autopsies on subjects from 3 to 105 years of age in the Delhi area. Twenty-nine coronary arteries were studied grossly and microscopically; of these, biochemical analysis for total lipids and lipid fractions was made on 42 samples of normal intima and different types of atherosclerotic lesions. Eighty-eight aortas were studied microscopically in a similar manner. The study confirms previous observations that both in the aorta and coronary arteries, progression of early fatty streaks to more established lesions is distinctly slow in the local Indian population and that the frequency of fibrous plaques and complicated lesions is less than in the white population in the West. A diffuse sudanophilic thickening of the intima, as reported in the aorta, was observed in the coronary arteries also, starting as early as the second decade and increasing in incidence thereafter. This lesion is interpreted as a variant of the atherosclerotic lesion, representing a mode of evolution of the atherosclerotic process. The morphologic and biochemical studies show a sequential evolution of changes observed in the normal intima at one end of the spectrum, through diffuse intimal thickening, fatty streaks, and fibrous plaques to complicated lesions at the other end. A considerable overlap and histogenetic kinship of the lesions was obvious. The lipid pattern of the coronary intima showed interesting differences from that of the aorta, but in both vessels, it was basically similar to that reported in the Western white population. The observed geographic differences in the extent and severity of atherosclerosis cannot, therefore, be ascribed to differences in the quality and quantity of lipid deposition. The studies suggest two main bases for the observed differences. First, for reasons not fully understood, the intimal reaction to atherogenic stimuli among Indians is frequently of a diffuse nature, which does not compromise the lumen in an eccentric manner as the atheroma does. Second, fibrin deposits are rare in the early lesions of Indians. It is possible that these factors may account for tardy progression of the lesions to the occlusive variety. An unusual lesion of aortic medial calcification was found with high frequency. Its pathogenesis is obscure.

Summary This paper deals with the first record of virus infections (brinjal mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus) on Trianthema portulacastrum L., a common weed in India. Trianthema portulacastrwn L., locally known as “Bishkhapra”, is a common weed with medicinal properties, and grows extensively in summer everywhere. It is a succulent, prostrate, glabrous or slightly pubescent herb with many branched, angular stems, leaves broader towards the tip, fruits small like flowers, concealed in the base of the leaf stalk. Experiments were carried out to determine the utility of T. portulacastrum as a local lesion host. The culture of mosaic disease of brinjal (Seth et al. 1967) and SK strain of tobacco mosaic virus (Verma et al. 1972) were maintained on Nicotiana glutinosa L. and N. tabacum cv. White Burley, respectively. The test plants of T. portulacastrum were raised in 4 inch pots, filled with sterilized soil, and kept inside the insect-proof glasshouse. For inoculations, the conventional method of macerating the infected leaf material in a mortar and pestle and rubbing the test seedlings by means of a cotton wool swab was employed. The plants were maintained on glasshouse benches at a temperature of 29 to 30°C. Within 6”7 days of inoculation, distinct countable chlorotic local lesions appeared which turned necrotic with a yellow halo over a period of 10”12 days. The lesions produced by both these viruses on T. portulacastrum were slightly different in their size and necrotic reaction on this host. Leaves of T. portulacastrum developed at first a few local lesions, followed by mosaic mottling of the newly emerging leaves in case of brinjal mosaic virus. Systemic infection, however, does not occur by tobacco mosaic virus in this host. A perusal of literature suggested that this constitutes the only record of a virus infection on Φ in India and is the first record as a local lesion host for brinjal mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus SK strain. Kristensen (1955) reported T. portulacastrum a systemic host of Beet yellows virus from Denmark.