Spatiotemporal evolution of global long-term patterns of soil moisture.

Surface soil moisture (SM) is essential for existence of biotic lifeform and geophysical processes. However, with increasing global warming due to climatic changes, its spatiotemporal evolution is uncertain and largely unknown. In this study we detected long-term (40 years; 1981-2020) SM patterns of global vegetated areas through spatial timeseries clustering using the state-of-the-art ERA5-Land dataset. In addition, we also analyzed long-term patterns of precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (bare soil evaporation (BSe) and vegetation transpiration (VT)), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Our results indicate that surface SM (0-7 cm depth) of about 48 % and 9 % of the global vegetated area is showing drying and wetting pattern over the past 40 years, respectively. The detected soil drying, and wetting patterns were largely consistent across different soil depth, with 90 % and 80 % pattern similarity of surface soil layer with 2nd soil layer (7-28 cm) and 3rd soil layer (28-100 cm), respectively. About 80 % of areas with drying soil pattern also showed increasing evapotranspiration and/or decreasing precipitation. Specifically, decreasing P, increasing BSe and VT pattern were detected for 11 % of the soil drying pattern area. Similarly, increasing BSe and VT pattern, only decreasing P and only increasing VT pattern were detected for 17 %, 25 % and 12 % of soil drying areas, respectively. Both decreasing precipitation and increasing evapotranspiration patterns showed about 40 % similarity with decreasing soil moisture patterns. Across different landcover types, broadleaved forests, and cropland areas showed largest drying pattern. Under the future global warming scenario, the global soil water is expected to decrease as evapotranspiration would increase with inconsistent trend of global precipitation change. Our findings are of utmost importance for global soil water resource conservation and management.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma of Cauda Equina: A Diagnostic Conundrum: Case Report.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is uncommon with scarce cases having involvement of the spinal cord. Cauda equina is unique in its location and shows very rare involvement by diseases pathologies. When the same occur, they pose a lot of diagnostic difficulties as the location is difficult to access with overlapping radiologic abnormalities. It is an unusual location for lymphomas to occur with only few cases reported in literature. The cauda equina lymphomas may mimic other entities which occur at that site. Histopathology is the gold standard for the same. Here, we report an unusual case of cauda equina lymphoma mimicking a myxopapillary ependymoma in a 50-year-old male.

A data-driven approach using the remotely sensed soil moisture product to identify water-demand in agricultural regions.

Effective agricultural water management requires accurate and timely identification of crop water stress at the farm-scale for irrigation advisories or to allocate the optimal amount of water for irrigation. Various drought indices are being utilized to map the water-stressed locations/farms in agricultural regions. Most of these existing drought indices provide some degree of characterization of water stress but do not adequately provide spatially resolved high-resolution (farm-scale) information for decision-making about irrigation advisories or water allocation. These existing drought indices need modeling and climatology information, hence making them data-intensive and complex to compute. Therefore, a reliable, simple, and computationally easy method without modeling to characterize the water stress at high-resolution is essential for the operational mapping of water-stressed farms in agricultural regions. The proposed new approach facilitates improved and quick decision-making without compromising much of the skills imparted by the established drought indices. This study aims to formulate a water-demand index (WDI) based on a parameter-independent data-driven approach using readily available remote sensing observations and weather data. We hypothesize that the WDI for an agricultural domain can be characterized by soil moisture, vegetative growth (NDVI), and heat unit (growing degree day, GDD). To this end, we used remote sensing-based soil moisture and NDVI and modeled ambient temperature datasets to generate weekly WDI maps at 1 km. The proposed methodology is verified over a few intensively irrigated agricultural-dominated areas with different climatic conditions. Our results suggest that the proposed approach characterizes water-stressed fields through WDI maps with good spatial representativeness. Overall, this study provides a framework to generate weekly WDI maps quickly with readily available measurements. These water-demand maps will help water resource managers to reduce dependence on established drought indices and prioritize the specific regions/fields with high water demand for optimum water allocations to improve crop health and ultimately maximize water-use efficiency.

Structural changes in retina (Retinal nerve fiber layer) following mild traumatic brain injury and its association with development of visual field defects.

BACKGROUND: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)is the most common form of traumatic brain injury accounting for 70-80% of all brain injuries annually. There is increasing evidence that long lasting morphological and functional consequence can be present in visual system following mTBI. Among all the visual manifestation, awareness of Visual field defects is important because it may compromise the social, personal or professional life of any individual. Retinal structural changes such as thinning of Retinal nerve fiber layer (RFNL)captured using optical coherence tomography have emerged as a possible biomarker in many neurological diseases however very little is known in cases with mTBI OBJECTIVE: (I) To demonstrate the structural changes/morphological changes in retina if any following mTBI. (II) Whether the structural changes in retina have any association with the development of Visual field deficits leading to Visual function impairment following mTBI (III) Clinical relevance of structural changes in retina as a possible biomarker for visual function impairment due to visual field deficits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study included 60 patients with mTBI who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All patients underwent a detailed ophthalmic evaluation with special focus on temporal recording of Retinal nerve layer thickness using SD- Optical Coherence Tomography and Visual field (Visual field Index) by Humphrey Automated Field Analyser. RESULTS: 30% of eyes had significant thinning of RFNL (> 30% of the base line thickness) at 6 months following mTBI. Visual function impairment due to visual field deficits (VFI < 80%) at 6 months was seen in 40% of the eyes. The structural changes and visual function impairment peaked at 6 months' post injury. A strong Association was noted between RFNL thinning and manifestation of Visual field deficits (VFI < 80%) leading to visual function impairment (P < 0.001). The Correlation Co-efficient between thinning of RFNL and Visual field deficits had a positive correlation(p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This novel study has demonstrated that visual functional impairment due to Visual field deficits is a real possibility following mTBI. Monitoring of retinal parameter such as thinning of Retinal nerve fiber layer, using Optical coherence tomography, can be a biomarker for early detection or development of visual field defects in mTBI.

Surgical outcome of empyema thoracis patients with special correlation to pre-operative contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CECT) thorax morphometry.

PURPOSE: Empyema thoracis is a very common disease. The surgical outcome of empyema patients depends upon various factors. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study in literature describing the surgical outcome of patients in relation to the contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CECT) thorax morphometric findings. In this study, we examined the surgical outcome of empyema thoracis patients in relation to both clinical and radiological findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a prospective hospital-based study conducted between October 2016 and August 2018. A total of 30 patients, who underwent decortication during the study period, were included. They were divided into three performance groups (excellent performance, average performance and poor performance groups) according to the outcome. The surgical outcome was correlated with the pre-operative clinical, radiological, intra-operative and post-operative parameters. RESULTS: Intra-operative ability to complete decortication, intra-operative expansion of the lungs and presence of broncho-pleural fistula were significantly different between the three performance groups. Duration of the disease, pre-operative duration of antitubercular therapy (ATT) intake and duration of pre-operative intercostal drain (ICD) were statistically insignificant between groups. In computed tomography (CT) morphometry, residual lung volume of the involved lung and volume of empyema were found to be significantly different between the performance groups. The residual volume of the involved lung (expressed in terms of the percentage of lung volume of the normal opposite lung) can predict the complete expansion of the lung with sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 70%. CONCLUSION: The pre-operative residual lung volume of the involved lung, empyema volume, completeness of decortication, intra-operative expansion of the lung and presence or absence of broncho-pleural fistula can determine the surgical outcome in empyema thoracis patients.

The Onset and Recovery Timeline of Visual Photosensitivity Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury with Special Focus on Habitual Digital Device Screens Users.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Visual photosensitivity following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can cause mild discomfort to significant pain and can affect a person's ability to lead a regular life and perform normal activities. The purpose of the present study is twofold: (1) To determine the recovery pattern of visual photosensitivity following mTBI and (2) to find out whether the onset of visual photosensitivity and its recovery pattern is any different among habitual screen users (HSU) (chronic exposure to digital device screens). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a hospital-based prospective, analytical, observational study. The study period was from July 2017 to March 2019. All the mTBI patients with visual photosensitivity who fulfilled the inclusion Criteria were followed up for 1 year to capture their recovery profile. RESULTS: In 60% of the patients, the time of appearance of visual photosensitivity was at around 3 month's post-mTBI. Nearly 66.6% of patients suffering from visual photosensitivity following mTBI recovered within 3 months following the onset of their symptoms. The symptoms of visual photosensitivity appeared earlier among the HSU as compared to nonscreen users (P = 0.0039). The recovery from the symptoms of visual photosensitivity following mTBI is delayed in HSU (P = 0.0028). The patients in whom the symptoms of visual photosensitivity persisted beyond a year were predominantly HSU (P = 0.0062). CONCLUSIONS: The present study has given a new insight on the timeline of recovery for the patients with visual photosensitivity following mTBI. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only study which has shown how chronic exposure to blue light from digital device screens can affect the recovery of visual symptoms such as visual photosensitivity following mTBI.

Earth observations and integrative models in support of food and water security.

Global food production depends upon many factors that Earth observing satellites routinely measure about water, energy, weather, and ecosystems. Increasingly sophisticated, publicly-available satellite data products can improve efficiencies in resource management and provide earlier indication of environmental disruption. Satellite remote sensing provides a consistent, long-term record that can be used effectively to detect large-scale features over time, such as a developing drought. Accuracy and capabilities have increased along with the range of Earth observations and derived products that can support food security decisions with actionable information. This paper highlights major capabilities facilitated by satellite observations and physical models that have been developed and validated using remotely-sensed observations. Although we primarily focus on variables relevant to agriculture, we also include a brief description of the growing use of Earth observations in support of aquaculture and fisheries.

The Regional Hydrologic Extremes Assessment System: A software framework for hydrologic modeling and data assimilation.

The Regional Hydrologic Extremes Assessment System (RHEAS) is a prototype software framework for hydrologic modeling and data assimilation that automates the deployment of water resources nowcasting and forecasting applications. A spatially-enabled database is a key component of the software that can ingest a suite of satellite and model datasets while facilitating the interfacing with Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. The datasets ingested are obtained from numerous space-borne sensors and represent multiple components of the water cycle. The object-oriented design of the software allows for modularity and extensibility, showcased here with the coupling of the core hydrologic model with a crop growth model. RHEAS can exploit multi-threading to scale with increasing number of processors, while the database allows delivery of data products and associated uncertainty through a variety of GIS platforms. A set of three example implementations of RHEAS in the United States and Kenya are described to demonstrate the different features of the system in real-world applications.