Search

Climate variability coupled with anthropogenic pressures is the most critical driver in the Himalayan region for forest ecosystem vulnerability. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (D.Don) Soo is an important yet highly threatened medicinal orchid from the Himalayan region. Poor regenerative power and growing demand have resulted in the steep decline of its natural habitats populations. The present study aims to identify the habitat suitability of D. hatagirea in the Western Himalaya using the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt). The community climate system model (CCSM ver. 4) based on representative concentration pathways (RCPs) was used to determine suitable future areas. Sixteen least correlated (< 0.8) bioclimatic, topographical and geomorphic variables were used to construct the species climatic niche. The dominant contributing variables were elevation (34.85%) followed by precipitation of the coldest quarter (23.04%), soil type (8.77%), land use land cover (8.26%), mean annual temperature (5.51%), and temperature seasonality (5.11%). Compared to the present distribution, habitat suitability under future projection, i.e., RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 (2050 and 2070), was found to shift to higher elevation towards the northwest direction, while lower altitudes will invariably be less suitable. Further, as compared to the current distribution, the climatic niche space of the species is expected to expand in between11.41–22.13% in the near future. High habitats suitability areas are mainly concentrated in the forest range like Dharchula and Munsyari range, Pindar valley, Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, West of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, and Uttarkashi forest division. The present study delineated the fundamental niche baseline map of D. hatagirea in the Western Himalayas and highlighted regions/areas where conservation and management strategies should be intensified in the next 50 years. In addition, as the species is commercially exploited illegally, the information gathered is essential for conservationists and planners who protect the species at the regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest resources are the primary livelihood sources for native communities. These are rich in biodiversity, hence are accredited as the green pearl of the Himalayan region. This life-supporting system is under great biotic stress and has become vulnerable due to an ever-increasing anthropogenic pressure. This study, therefore, aims to identify critically assessing indicators, their role in forest degradation of Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh in terms of climate, hazards and anthropogenic activities using prioritisation matrix survey. Interview of the communities, direct field observation, secondary data sources, Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys, and Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (RS&GIS) applications have been the major tools and techniques used in this study. The results showed that a total of 49.64 km2 area is under stress and the forest ecosystem has become vulnerable due to landslides and soil erosion among forest and non-forest land use and land cover classes. Similarly, climatic variability was also found to be high in the study area. The construction of hydropower projects has caused rampant felling of large trees at both the dam and powerhouse sites leading to frequent landslides and soil erosion. Besides, the study area has been hit by earthquakes more than 28 times from 1964 to 2009 with a magnitude of >4.0 on the Richter scale. These incidences, directly or indirectly, have, therefore, an impact on forest vulnerability and biodiversity loss. Research highlights: Forest resources are the major source of livelihood options to the local communities. About 49.64 km2 area got affected and became vulnerable due to a variety of hazards. HEPs construction caused large trees felled at dam site (Lamber) and powerhouse site (near Rispa). Maximum temperature increased 0.05º, minimum 0.07ºC year−1 and precipitation 1.48 mm year−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountains are considered as the early indicators of climate change. The study aims to understand how the Himalayan communities perceive climate change, and how this change has impacted the livelihood and sustenance of local people particularly in the remote and rural areas of the region. In view of this, 994 households of 25 villages were interviewed from five basins five villages per basin) of the Indian Himalayan Region. Their perceptions mainly of climate change were validated/compared with the available climatic indices. People perceived rainfall pattern to be less predictable, greater change in land-use pattern, adverse impacts on forests and human health and overall reduction in their harvests. Seasonal increase in temperature was also reported. Capacity-building programmes for the inhabitants, including the most vulnerable communities in the wake of climate change would be significantly fruitful by way of mitigation and adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transcatheter left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) has become a suitable alternative to anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, volume-outcome relationships at the individual operator level have not been studied.Methods: Study population included 425 consecutive patients with AF undergoing LAAO from August 2015 to November 2018 by seven operators at BUMC-Phoenix. Operator volume was divided in tertiles by those with <40 cases/year (2 operators), 41-80 cases/year (3 operators) and >80 cases/year (2 operators). Patient data including comorbidities, labs, medications, procedural characteristics and outcomes were collected. The primary composite outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including mortality, stroke, bleeding and vascular complications.Results: Mean age was 75 ± 8 years and 251 (59%) were males. Mean CHA2DS2-VASc score was 4.5 ± 1.3 points and mean HASBLED score was 3.9 ± 1.0 points. MACE outcome was similar in the three operator groups in both unadjusted (p = 0.83) and adjusted (OR = 0.59: 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.15-2.29, p = 0.45) analysis. The occurrence MACE was also similar between Interventional Cardiologist (IC) and Electrophysiologist (EP) operators in an unadjusted (p = 0.24) and adjusted (OR = 0.60: 95% CI: 0.21-1.68, p = 0.33) analysis. The secondary outcome of technical success did not differ among the three tertiles (p = 0.37) and among IC & EP operators respectively (p = 0.24) as well.Conclusion: Operator experience does not affect MACE and technical success even after adjusting for comorbidities. These results suggest a lower learning curve for LAAO with high technical success achievable even by low volume operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes for patients with significant calcification have been consistently inferior compared to patients without significant calcification. Procedural success and long-term outcomes after PCI have been worse in patients with severe coronary calcium.Objective: A Bayesian meta-analysis of outcomes comparing rotational atherectomy (RA) with orbital atherectomy (OA) was performed.Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched through 30th November 2018 and identified 4 observational studies.Results: The primary end-point, Major Adverse Cardiac Event (MACE) composing of death, MI and stroke at 1 year was more likely with RA (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.11-2.33; p = 0.01) as compared to OA. The driver of the difference in MACE between the two groups was a statistically significant difference in mortality favoring OA (OR = 4.65; 95% CI: 1.36-15.87; p = 0.01). Peri-procedural MI, the other component of the primary end-point was 1.3 times more likely in the RA arm (OR = 1.35; 95% CI 0.95-1.92; p-0.09) and was not statistically different between the groups. The odds of a vascular complication were not different in the two groups (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 0.73-2.17; p = 0.41). In an adjusted Bayesian analysis, mortality (OR = 3.69; 95% CI: 0.30-38.51), MACE (OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 0.55-5.49), MI (OR = 1.42; 95% CI: 0.50-4.29) and dissections/perforations (OR = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.10-1.38) were not different in RA and OA groups.Conclusion: Our study is the first published Bayesian meta-analysis comparing MACE and peri-procedural outcomes in RA compared to OA. These findings lay the foundation for a randomized comparison between the two competing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discuss the need of strategic environmental assessment of hydropower projects in India, to meet the demand and supply of energy. It mentions needs of harnessing hydropower projects in Indian Himalayan Region for maximum economic development. It discusses strategic plan for the future development of hydropower projects.