Background Delhi, the capital city of India has experienced the problem of the great smog during November since a long time. Adverse meteorological conditions, stubble burning, and the celebration of Diwali were considered as the major responsible factors for the smog episodes. This study was designed to identify the concentration and relative risks associated with the exposure of PM2.5 in ambient air of Delhi during the episodic events.Methods 24-h average ambient levels of PM2.5 were procured for the year 2015–2020. Relative risks of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer diseases associated with PM2.5 exposure have been estimated using a probabilistic approach of risk assessment.Findings The average relative risks (2015–2020) for lung cancer mortality (RR 2.15; 95% CI 2.13, 2.17., p < 0.001) were observed higher than cardiopulmonary mortality (RR 1.66; 95% CI 1.65, 1.67., p < 0.001). An attempt has been done to identify the effect of high exposure concentration on relative risks particularly during smog period. The estimated relative risks during November (2016–2018) for lung cancer mortality were ranged as 2.51–2.68 and cardiopulmonary mortality were ranged as 1.85–1.93.Conclusion Such high levels of associated relative risks during such episodes could be considered as an important additive hazard factor for overall mortality burden.

Uttar Pradesh (UP), one of the most populous state of India is facing the highest mortality rate due to ambient air exposure. In this study, the Relative Risk (RR) and Excess Risk (ER) due to six criteria air pollutants namely PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O-3, and CO have been estimated for 11 non-attainment cities (NAC) of this State. Results indicated that the estimated total ER was 2.62 times higher when calculated using WHO 2021 Air Quality standards (AQS) and compared with estimates using India's CPCB 2009 AQS. Ghaziabad faces the highest ERs for both PM10 (6.20%) and PM2.5 (3.9%) as per WHO 2021 AQS. ER due to NO2 was observed highest for Kanpur. The ERs obtained for CO, SO2, and O-3 were found negative mainly because the estimated pollutant concentration was observed less than AQS and therefore possess no health risks. The study concludes that the present AQS of India's CPCB for air pollutants PM10, PM2.5, and NO2 are underestimating the excess health risks and need to be revised urgently for better action plans in saving lives.

To evaluate the outcomes of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) awaiting surgery admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with acute illness. In this retrospective study from a single center, the outcomes of children up to 18 y of age with unoperated CHD admitted to PICU with acute illness and factors affecting the outcomes, were evaluated. Fifty-eight (41 boys) children were included. Median age was 3.2 (1.5, 6) mo. Thirty-six (62

Indian government announced the complete lockdown from 25 March, 2020 for all outdoor activities across the country due to containment of COVID-19. This study is an attempt to assess the impacts of lockdown on ambient air quality in five cities of Indian National Capital Region including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. In this context, the data of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NOx, NO, NO2, SO2, NH3, SO2, CO, and C6H6) from 36 locations of the study area were analyzed from 1st March to 1st May, 2020. The results showed that PM10 and PM2.5 level decreased upto 55-65 %. NOx and NO have shown maximum reduction (∼ 50-78 %). Similarly, consistent and significant reduction in other air pollutants such as SO2 (∼33 %), CO (∼45 %), NH3 (∼27 %) and C6H6 (∼53 %) has been observed. During lockdown Air Quality Index (AQI) shows improvement as its value significantly decreased (∼ 45 %-68 %). An interesting feature observed that during first week of lockdown O3 decreased but later it increased by ∼19-27%. The study suggests that this pandemic gives lessons for interventions for urban air pollution mitigation in controlling the health impact due to urban air pollution.

The present study was conducted to characterize and assess the magnitude and severity of particulate matter bound B[a]P in outdoor air of Delhi and its potential risks on humans health. For this purpose, the sampling of B[a]P was carried out at six different locations in Delhi for summer and winter seasons. The ambient air samples were collected on Whatman glass fibre filter. The characterization and quantification of PM10 bound B[a]P was carried out in the laboratory through Gas Chromatography. It was found that the levels of B[a]P were much higher in winter (0.54–13.42 ng/m3) as compared to summer (0.08–2.21 ng/m3). Average B[a]P level was found higher than the permissible limit of 1 ng/m3. Statistical analysis suggests that meteorological parameters plays a significant role in B[a]P accumulation in ambient air. The size of particulate matter also affects the B[a]P bounding affinity. The finer particles have shown greater tendency to accumulate organic pollutants on their surface. The Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILTCR) was estimated by adopting USEPA methodology. It was found that during winter the estimated ILTCR were higher than permissible limit of 1.0E-06 at all locations except an institutional area. The risk vulnerability of different populations groups indicated significant difference in the potential risks. Roadside vendors/workers are more prone to B[a]P associated health risks in comparison of daily commuters mainly due to more exposure time in unfavorable and toxic environmental condition. The ILTCR was found to be almost two times higher for children (1.24E-07–2.07E-05) than for adults (6.42E-08–1.08E-05).

This study integrates the time series of satellite data, i.e. (terrestrial water storage (TWS) extracted from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), soil moisture (SM) from Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), rainfall from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)) with in-situ data, i.e. (groundwater (GW) observatory well data and surface water (SW) as reservoir level from Tamil Nadu Public Work Department (TN PWD)) to estimate the water storage of the study area for the period from 2002 March to 2016 December. The study area encompasses three districts of Tamil Nadu State – Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. It was previously observed that the groundwater level in this study area is decreasing at an alarming rate. Trends and residuals of the times series of all the previously stated components were analyzed. Negative trends were observed in the case of ΔSW, ΔSM, ΔGW, ΔTWS-GRACE, but rainfall shows a slight positive trend. Rainfall, being the input for water storage, a marginal increase in rainfall cannot affect the variability of ΔSM, ΔSW, ΔGW and ΔTWS-GRACE. ΔTWS decreases approximately 0.12 cm yr−1 averaged water level equal to a total volume −7.5 km3. The result of this study shows a decrease in the total storage of groundwater in the study area during the study period from 2002 March to 2016 December. Seawater intrusion due to an increase in sea surface height also shows an impact on ΔTWS derived from grace, in the form of anomalously elevated ΔTWS. A good agreement between ∆TWS-GRACE and ∆TWS-in-situ is found except where sea-water intrusion occurs.

The present study investigates the effect of lockdown on ambient air quality of 16 Indian cities constituting the major hotspots for COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 lockdown resulted in cleaner air in India. Significant reduction of nearly 62%, 52% and 69% are observed in PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 levels as compared to preceding years. However, there is no significant effect of lockdown on other gaseous pollutants (SO2 and O3). The lockdown in India was found to be an effective way to restrict the virus spread rate and measure control ambient air pollutant levels.

In the present paper, a model is suggested to study the temperature dependence of surface tension in liquids and is applied in more than sixty liquids including liquid metals, rare gas liquids, inorganic and organic liquids. A very good agreement is found between the experimental values and the computed results in case of each liquid. KeywordsSurface tension, temperature, liquid metals and liquefied gases, organic and inorganic liquids

Studies were carried out during 2015 and 2016 at Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh to determine the genetic variability of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) in Cauliflower. The diamondback moth population collected from 4 locatitons viz. three from Himachal Pradesh and one from Punjab revealed significant variability existing among them. The life table analysis revealed that the female from Palampur laid maximum eggs (368.93eggs/female). The innate capacity for increase (rc) was maximum in the Theog population (0.238) and Solan population had lowest rc value (0.209). The intrinsic rate of natural increase (rm) was estimated from rc values for different populations. The Theog population had highest value of rm value (0.242) followed by the Palampur (0.236) and Fatehgarh (0.221). The least value of rc was observed in the Solan population (0.211). On comparing fertility parameters of P. xylostella, it was found that the Theog population was the most prolific among all the populations while the Solan population was the least prolific.

Rice is a major food grain crop grown in North-eastern Himalayan region of India with varying level of mechanization. Rice field remains wet and loose for a considerable period of growing season. Land preparation of rice field is one of the critical operations both in terms of timeliness and energy requirement. The losses up to 70%-80% of input power are reported while negotiating wetland terrain by tractors or power tillers, particularly in difficult terrain. This paper described the attempts made to address the issue of wetland traction primarily relevant to mechanization of rice cultivation in North-eastern Himalayan region of India. There is a variety of design of cage wheels used on power tillers with varying levels of performances based on the soil conditions. An innovative lug of split type has been developed, tested and compared with non-split lugs of identical contact area in the sandy loam soils of wetland rice fields of the region. Cage wheel lugs interact with the soil and thrust is generated to move the power tiller forward. The strength of supporting soil and area of contact governs the generated thrust. In general, the pull developed by cage wheel is positively correlated with area of interaction especially in better soil condition. Release of loose soil trapped beneath the cage wheel lugs, so as to bring hard layers of soil in contact with the interacting lug surface, is attempted through split lugs instead of solid lugs (non-split). A set of lugs with split (S) and non-split (NS) having 3 varying sizes (8000, 12000 and 16000 mm2 surface area) were fabricated as per suitability of a typical walking type tractor (power tiller). Each set of lugs were fitted on cage wheel frame at 450 angular spacing for testing its field performance at two levels of soil moisture contents (23% and 36%). During experiments the performance enhancement of split lugs was found better in moist (36%) soil than a relatively dry (23%) soil. Newly designed lug fitted power tiller operation resulted higher (0.052 ha/h) field capacity (about 17% higher than the identical non-split lug). The fuel consumptions of split lugs were found less compared to non-split lugs of all sizes. Split lug cage wheel fitted power tiller operation resulted about 27% less wheel slip associated with about 14% saving of fuel (L/ha) in comparison of non-split lug in moist field.

Background: This study aimed to describe the pulmonary hemodynamic changes during the course of pregnancy and to observe any significant effects on symptomatology and outcome of pregnancy due to these changes.Methods: A total of 75 patients were recruited for the study, 60 pregnant women from first trimester to third trimester and 6 weeks of puerperium for the study group and 15 non-pregnant patients. All the subjects were interrogated about their complaints like excessive cough, exertional dyspnea, palpitations, orthopnea, syncope, exertional chest pain and lower extremity edema along with their duration. Baseline investigations, echocardiography (ECG) and Doppler echo were done.Results: The commonest symptoms were palpitations (40%), exertional dyspnea (35%) and lower extremity edema (47%). Palpitations and dyspnea were also present in control group. Right axis deviation was the next most common abnormality in study group (12.3% patients). Pulmonary blood flow was decreased by more than 50% of predelivery value at the end of puerperium. Fall in pulmonary vascular resistance returned to base line values. Increased pulmonary artery pressure was seen during the pregnancy, which was not statistically significant.Conclusion: During pregnancy, though the pulmonary blood flow increases significantly, the pulmonary artery pressure remains unchanged due to substantial fall in pulmonary vascular resistance in early gestation.

The groundwater resources in Odisha, one of the eastern states of India, suffer from the dual problems of under-development and under-utilization of available irrigation potential.The present paper has unravelled the pattern of groundwater development and its utilization, has evaluated the prospects of energy regulation and has suggested technological and policy options for sustainable management of groundwater resources.About a quarter of the groundwater structures in Odisha are non-functional and these may be targeted on priority to improve the irrigation infrastructure.The cost of groundwater extraction in the hard rock region is 2-3 times more than in the coastal/alluvial region, depending on the type of wells and energy sources.The assured and quality electricity supply can accelerate groundwater utilization.A part of investment for such infrastructure can accrue from the reducing existing subsidy on power.The groundwater extraction cost with higher electricity tariff after removal of subsidy is lower than that incurred using diesel-operated pumps, even at the subsidized diesel price.There is ample opportunity to harness the potential of groundwater resources through suitable technological interventions and energy regulations for accelerated agricultural growth in Odisha.

A 57-year-old male presented with low-grade fever and upper abdominal pain for 2 months. He was known to have Type 2 diabetes mellitus, systemic hypertension, and ischemic heart disease. He had pallor, jaundice, and had no other signs. He had severe thrombocytopenia and features of microangiopathic hemolysis. A diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) due to clopidogrel was made excluding the other causes, and he was started on plasmapheresis. After a few cycles of plasmapheresis, he developed altered behavior. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain revealed multiple regions of restricted diffusion in both cerebral hemispheres, with cortical laminar necrosis and microhemorrhages within most lesions; suggestive of hemorrhagic infarcts [Figure 1]. Plasmapheresis was continued, but despite all efforts he succumbed to his illness 2 days later. End-organ dysfunction in TTP is due to microangiopathic disturbances. In TTP, thrombi formation occurs due to release of multimers of von Willebrand factor due to deficiency of ADAMTS13enzyme. Damage to endothelial cells within the blood vessel wall accelerates formation of platelet-rich microthrombi which cause microinfarctions of affected tissue and consequent neurological manifestations. [1] Imaging patterns in TTP include Frank hematoma, ischemic infarctions, and reversible bilateral cerebral edema. [2,3] Multifocal hemorrhagic infarctions due to TTP is very rare. Only one single similar case has been described. [4] Plasma exchange remains the mainstay of treatment for TTP. Other

Three-year (2007/2008–2009/2010) field experiment was conducted at the Directorate of Water Management Research Farm under Deras command in Odisha, India to assess the crop yield, irrigation water use efficiency (WUE), sustainable yield index (SYI), land utilization index (LUI) and changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) for dominant rice systems, viz. rice-maize-rice, rice-cowpea-rice, rice-sunflower-rice, rice-tomato-okra and rice-fallow-rice. Results revealed that crop yield, in terms of total system productivity (TSP) increased by 273, 113, 106 and 58% in rice-tomato-okra, rice-sunflower-rice, rice-maize-rice and rice-cowpea-rice, respectively, when compared to rice-fallow-rice. Irrigation WUE was 49–414% greater in rice-based diversified systems than the existing rice-fallow-rice (2.98 kg ha−1 mm−1). The SYI ranged from 0.65 to 0.75 indicating greater sustainability of the systems. Three crops in a sequence resulted in greater LUI and production efficiency compared to rice-fallow-rice. The gross economic return and benefit-cost ratio was in the order: rice-tomato-okra > rice-maize-rice > rice-sunflower-rice > rice-cowpea-rice > rice-fallow-rice. The SOC storage ranged from 40.55 Mg ha−1 in rice-fallow-rice to 46.23 Mg ha−1 in rice-maize-rice system. The other systems had also very close values of SOC storage with the rice-maize-rice system; there was a positive change of SOC (7.20 to 12.52 Mg ha−1) for every system, with highest in rice-maize-rice system and the lowest in rice-fallow-rice. It is concluded that the appropriate rice-based system would be rice-tomato-okra followed by rice-maize-rice, rice-sunflower-rice and rice-cowpea-rice. Rice-fallow-rice is not advisable because of its lower productivity, lower LUI and economic return.

This paper presents the design & analysis of a planar multiband antenna (Iterated Pythagorean fractal tree antenna) with impedance steps in base path. Impedance steps are adopted with finite ground plane for better impedance matching, multiband & bandwidth characteristics as compare to non-iterated form. As tree iteration increases new resonance frequency will obtained, Iterated Pythagorean fractal multiband tree antenna (IPTFA) has compact size of 41.08*41.08*1.57 mm 3 and operates over the frequency band of 2.4 GHz. The improvement in multiband behavior id investigated & discussed with VSWR<2.