Escherichia coli causes several infections like intestinal diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and pneumonia, which are difficult to treat due to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared carbapenem-resistant E. coli a critical pathogen and called for the development of new antimicrobial agents. Phage therapy, a century-old technique, has been revitalised recently with many successful applications against multi-drug resistant infections. As such, phage therapy is considered one of the most effective alternatives or adjuvants to antibiotics and is also effective in treating multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. However, few phages that can kill pathogenic E. coli strains from Southeast Asia have been studied at a molecular level, although the burden of MDR, particularly carbapenem resistance, is high in this region. In this study, three closely related obligately virulent Escherichia phages (øEc_Makalu_001, øEc_Makalu_002, and øEc_Makalu_003) that could infect uropathogenic E. coli were isolated from sewage samples and characterized using morphological as well as sequence-based analysis. Further, a comparative genomic and phylogenetic analysis was done to predict the functional genes and evolutionary relationships. Electron microscopy and genome-based classification revealed that all three phages belonged Krischvirus genus of Straboviridae family. One-step growth curve showed that the latent period of the phages ranged from 15-20 min, the outbreak period was about 50 min, and the burst size ranged between 74-127 PFU/bacterium. Moreover, the phages could tolerate a pH range of 6 to 9 and a temperature range of 25-37°C for up to 180 minutes without significant loss of phage viability. Spotting the purified phages in different clinical isolates showed a broad host-range of isolated Escherichia phages and could lyse up to 30% of the tested pathogenic clinical isolates, including an intra-genus isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The genome organization of all three phages was almost identical and similar to T4-like phage with a full-length genome of ~163 kb. Around 284 coding sequences (CDS) were predicted in each phage, of which only 40% were functional with an average gene length of 951 bp. The coding density in all phages was approximately 95%, while the gene density was 1.73 gene/kbp. Putative lysin, holin, endolysin, and spanin genes were found in the genomes of all three phages, resembling that of T4-like phages implying their phylogenetic relatedness. Furthermore, various in silico sequence analysis tools confirmed that all three phages were strictly virulent with functional lysis modules but devoid of any known virulence or toxin genes, integron-associated genes and antimicrobial-resistance (AMR) genes. In summary, pre-clinical experimental analysis and exploration of genomic features suggest that all three phages may be suitable candidates for therapeutic applications against uropathogenic E. coli.

Crop productivity is directly dependent to soil fertility. High soil organic carbon (SOC) content in soil is vital as it leads to improved soil quality, increased productivity, and stable soil-aggregates. In addition, with the signing of the climate agreement, there is growing interest in carbon sequestration in landscapes. This paper looks at how SOC can be increased so that it not only contributes to reduction of CO₂, but also translates to increased food production thereby enhancing food security. This synergy between mitigation and enhancing food security is even more relevant for mountain landscapes of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region where there remains huge potential to increase CO₂ sequestration and simultaneously address food security in the chronic food deficit villages. Soil samples were collected from seven transects each in Bajhang and Mustang and from 4 land use types in each transect. Samples of soils were taken from two depths in each plot; 0-15 cm below the soil surface and 15-30 cm below the soil surface to compare the top soil and subsoil dynamics of the soil nutrients. The lab analysis was performed to assess the soil texture, soil color, soil acidity in 'power of hydrogen' (pH), macro-nutrients as soil fertility. Secondary data was used to analyze the level of food deficit in the villages. The result shows that most of the sample soils from Mustang were clay (82.1%) which is 46 samples out of 56. The pH value of soil from Bajhang ranged from 5.29 to 9.09. The pH value of soil ranged from 5.65 to 8.81 in Mustang. SOC contents of sampled soils from Bajhang ranged from 0.20% to 7.69% with mean amount of 2.47% ± 0.17. SOC contents of sampled soils from Mustang ranged from 0.51% to 8.56% with mean amount of 2.60% ± 0.25. By land use type, forest land had the highest carbon (C) content of 53.61 t ha^-1 in Bajhang whereas in Mustang, agricultural land had the highest C content of 52.02 tons ha-1. Based on these data, we can say that there is potential for increasing SOC through improved soil health and crop production and soil. Sustainable soil management should be practiced for higher productivity. Livestock may also provide farmyard manure, which can be used to fertilize cultivated soils, which increases soil productivity. Increasing productivity would aid in increasing the access and availability of food in these mountain villages.

Background: Dermatophytosis, commonly known as tinea, poses a significant public health concern worldwide, especially in environments with poor hygiene and overcrowding, such as prisons. Despite its prevalence and impact on quality of life, there is a lack of research on the knowledge and hygiene practices regarding dermatophytosis among prisoners, particularly in Nepal. Objective: The study aimed to assess prisoners' knowledge, hygiene practice and infection status regarding dermatophytosis in Central Prison, Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with a sample size of 184 respondents was designed to collect data using a validated pre-tested questionnaire from September 2023 to January 2024. The collected data was then analysed using IBM SPSS version 21. Knowledge and hygiene practices were measured on an eight and 11-point scale and rated as poor (≤4) and sound (>4), bad (≤6), and good (>6), respectively. Summary data were presented by descriptive, while Chi-square and logistic regression were used for inferential statistics at P < 0.05. Results: The findings revealed moderate knowledge among prisoners regarding dermatophytosis, with significant gaps in understanding its spread and prevention. While most prisoners recognised the importance of treatment, there were misconceptions about the inevitability of contracting dermatophytosis and the role of personal hygiene. Conclusions: Despite good knowledge levels, adherence to recommended hygiene practices was suboptimal, highlighting the need for targeted interventions. The study underscores the importance of addressing knowledge gaps, changing attitudes, and promoting hygienic practices to mitigate the burden of dermatophytosis among prisoners.

Solid waste management is a global issue that affects every individual living in the world directly or indirectly. Failing to manage the waste properly will cause harm on public health, our natural environment, and even our happiness and prosperity. When asked about the reason behind the failure of third time plastic ban in Bhutan, one of the Bhutanese said it’s because of the lack of cooperation from public to support the move of government. Clean Bhutan, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that aims Zero Waste Bhutan by 2030, has collected around 5,900 metric tons of waste from December 2014 to February 2018. This project will create some awareness regarding the management of waste at individual level when people come in contact with the family of the researcher. It also talks abot how waste management and biodiversity conservation can go side by side.

We interviewed 48 people including local communities, ex hunters and protected area management professionals. The purpose of the interviews was to understand the motivations for, and the nature of, illegal hunting of prey species of iconic predators - tigers and leopards - in the northern section of Bardia National Park. Participants reported that hunting of prey species occurs mostly in spring and autumn and is less common during the summer. In the past, hunting was primarily for the purposes of obtaining meat for household consumption. Since the introduction of a road network in the region, opportunities to sell wild meat at ad-hoc ‘highway markets’ have developed. The purported medicinal properties of wild meat was also cited as a driver for illegal hunting. Mostly, locally hand-made guns are used for hunting and the use of dogs in hunting was often reported. Protected area managers informed that illegal hunting problems in the study area are associated with a lack of presence of park authorities, remoteness and underdevelopment and poverty of the community. Our study suggested that skills development training for local community members might reduce dependency on wild meat for household consumption and earning thereby reducing illegal hunting.

Finding a good MIMO system model also major issue in Wireless Communication system. It is facing with so many problem, one of the major problem is finding good system model in terms of capacity and transmitting antenna system. In this paper, we analyze the channel capacity of various MIMO system model with some constant SNR level and outage probability. We establish a novel idea for MIMO system models as consider as 2^N- MIMO system model and find-out change in channel capacity when different transmitting antennas with constant SNR and outage probability. The channel capacity ratio CC_R is presented here on the basis of 2^N- MIMO channel capacity model. Number of transmitted antenna presented in MIMO system is increases is well-known however paper shows change in capacity in simple form.

The persistence of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) among Indigenous and local communities is often associated with socio-economic constraints, poverty, and lack of choices. Such a perspective argues against underpinning profound environmental consciousness and sustainable practices that underlie TEK. The paper challenges reductionism—viewing TEK solely as a creation of necessity—and tries to argue that it entails a sophisticated understanding of ecological balance and conservation ethics. Through various examples, the paper exemplifies how TEK contributes to environmental sustainability for biodiversity conservation, management and use of natural resources, and the enhancement of resilience to climatic change—the same elements crucial for culture, tradition, and community living.

The aim of this work is to present a design approach of a Shock-Induced Combustion Ramjet (Shcramjet) inlet, and present its optimization in terms of the flow and geometrical parameters. The flow properties of mixed compression type inlet of a Shcramjet are examined using analytical and numerical techniques. The geometries obtained with variations in the wedge angles, length, height and cowl lip positions are used to study the flow characteristics of inlet, identifying bow shock temperature ratio as the optimization parameter. The two-dimensional geometries of two-shock and three-shock inlet models designed analytically for shock-on-lip condition at Mach 12.5 and an altitude of 32.5 km are numerically simulated in OpenFOAM CFD Toolbox. A density based compressible CFD solver based on central upwind schemes of Kurganov and Tadmore is used to solve 2D inviscid Euler equations. The inlet total pressure recovery is expressed as a function of temperature ratios of compression shocks, and is found to have a maxima at a bow shock temperature ratio at the design condition when the bow and external shocks have equal strengths. The effect of considering the flow to be calorically imperfect is studied numerically, and the deviation from the analytical design is presented.

The adoption of environmental conservation agriculture (ECA) in Nepal is aligned with the country's goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, as ECA practices have been proven to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nepal's agricultural sector faces numerous challenges, including labor shortages, climate change impacts, and the necessity for environmentally friendly farming methods, making the adoption of ECA practices even more crucial. This paper thus explored farmer perspectives on the sustainability of ECA practices in Namobuddha municipality, Nepal, which is renowned as a leading hub of organic farming. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, together with key informant interviews and onsite observations. By analyzing various farmer perspectives, the study presents an analytical framework that highlights the economic, environmental, and social pillars of ECA's sustainability. The findings underscore the significance of economic viability for farmers, as damages to crops and farm products negatively drive their perception of ECA sustainability. Conversely, factors such as increased agriculture-related income, favorable prices, and sustainable productivity positively shape farmers' perceptions. In terms of environmental sustainability, farmers prioritize enhancing the local and global environment, viewing their farming methods as climate-smart and actively working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The study emphasizes the importance of strategic communication to effectively convey the benefits of ECA to rural communities. Overall, this research contributes to filling the knowledge gap concerning farmers' perceptions of ECA sustainability. The insights gained from this study have the potential to inform policy decisions and promote the widespread adoption of environmentally friendly farming practices in Nepal.

The evaluation of Eco-Environmental Quality (EEQ) is important to maintain the quality of ecology and is crucial for the protection of the environment and promote sustainable development. In the past 30 years, Rupandehi district has gone into rapid urbanization and population growth due to the migration of people causing drastic changes in Land use. This study takes Rupandehi district as a study area and analyses the land use change dynamics and its impact on the ecological environment from 1993 to 2023. The study utilizes the cloud computing capability of Google Earth Engine (GEE) to extract multiple indices using Landsat remote sensing data. We also applied the Thresholding approach to various spectral indices to extract land use information in GEE. The Remote Sensing Ecological Indices (RSEI) was constructed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to monitor the ecological quality and the effect of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change on the quality of ecology was analysed. The result shows that the overall ecological quality of the Rupandehi district is good ranging from 0.59 in 1993 to 0.67 in 2023 with a significant impact of land use change. The eco-environmental quality of the study area is deteriorating because of a sharp increase in built-up areas and deforestation as well as the loss of agricultural land. Meanwhile, the spatial and temporal distribution of land use change collides with the change in the ecological quality of the study area. This study provides an accurate and rapid assessment of ecological quality and monitors the impact of land use change on it providing a scientific basis for researchers, government, and others to preserve the ecology and promote sustainable and eco-friendly development.

Measuring the impact of land use regulation on the land market involves identifying and classifying relevant impact factors related to the land market. The objective of this study was to identify land market impact factors in the context of the introduction of land use regulation in Nepal. A desktop review was carried out to identify preliminary set of impact factors, which were reclassified through intuitive analysis based on the degree of thematic closeness. Perspective-based impact factors were identified through the qualitative analysis of primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with the Nepalese land market stakeholders. These independently derived impact factors were compared with the desktop literature review impact factors resulting in fourteen land market impact factors across four dimensions, including transaction cost, valuation, mortgage availability, taxation, and compensation across the economic dimension; lot size, subdivision restrictions, and coordination across the institutional dimension; awareness, expectation and proximity across the social dimension; and risk reduction, quality of residential land, and suitability of zoning classification across the environmental dimension. There was significant overlap and commonality across factors identified from both the literature review and semi-structured interviews. The land market impact factors determined in the study may be adapted and generalized across other countries and could be utilized to better understand the impacts of land policy decisions on urban planning and development. Further research is recommended on the process to operationalize the use of these factors to quantify the impact of land use regulation on different land markets.

This paper examines the marketing mix of rattan canes businesses, with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Rattan cane enterprises rely on both domestic and international sources for raw materials, and the market is largely unorganized, with individual-level operations dominating the industry. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the marketing mix in relation to the 7Ps framework, which includes price, product, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. A simple random sampling method was employed to select participants from rattan processing enterprises. A questionnaire survey was then conducted among 46 rattan entrepreneurs, representing a total of 66 enterprises, including rattan processing industries, rattan traders, and Community Forest User Groups. The findings of the study indicate that, among the seven Ps, place and process are relatively stronger aspects of service delivery, while price and people are considered moderate. However, product, promotion, and physical evidence are identified as weak areas in terms of service delivery within the rattan business. It is concluded that rattan processing industries continue to rely on traditional tools and technologies, which has resulted in a lack of competitiveness in penetrating both national and international markets. Furthermore, poorly segmented distribution channels have hindered their sales efforts, while limited promotional activities have restricted awareness of their products among potential customers. In conclusion, the study highlights the need for rattan businesses to modernize their operations and adopt more effective marketing strategies in order to enhance their competitiveness and expand their market reach.

Automation is the key aspect of science and technology field and refers to controlling the systems for efficient output requirements. The development of robotics and similar, technologies in 21st century is a vast topic of research and significant progress has been made on this field. This research study focuses on building a ribbon-cutting robot with a Bluetooth interface for event inaugurations. The entire system hinges on constructing a prototype that is mounted on a robotic car frame with four wheels and an Arduino controller. In this case, ribbons are cut using a nickel wire, and it may be paired with an Android device via Bluetooth or an application. The robot is one of the first steps toward the development of autonomous, cognitive robots and can be used in a variety of events. Efficient temperature monitoring is done with help of LM35 sensor and Bluetooth based communication in order to monitor the conditions and effectively control the actions for which robot is designed. The robot has significantly allowed authors for desired tests on ribbon cutting and final results obtained were very exciting for its desired application target. Ribbon-cutting robots find applications in various events, including inaugurations, exhibitions, and ceremonies. Their precision and novelty add value to such occasions.

The natural frequency of buildings decreases during a strong-motion earthquake, and the structure loses its stiffness. As a result, understanding the damaging process in the structure owing to changes in structural properties is critical during a seismic excitation. The time-frequency technique can detect the damaged building’s time-varying frequency contents. Wigner distributions (WD), Wigner-Ville distributions (WVD), pseudo-Wigner-Ville distributions (PWVD), smoothed pseudo-Wigner-Ville distributions (SPWVD), and synchrosqueezing transforms (SST) have all become popular in recent years for a variety of earthquake engineering applications, including building damage detection. This study proposes the local maximum synchrosqueezing transform (LMSST) for detecting frequency shifts in buildings during strong earthquakes. The data presented in the research show that the suggested method outperforms as compared to the conventional time-frequency methods for detecting frequency shifting in earthquake-damaged structures.

Bhutan lies to the East of Himalaya and it hosts around 11,248 species in all taxa. Bhutan’s lush and green forest covers 71 percent of land which comes under the five National Parks, four Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1 Strict Nature Reserve, Community Forests and biological corridors connecting different protected areas. More than half (51.44 percent) is protected by law and activities are restricted under certain circumstances. It is home to Takin (Budorcas taxicolor whitei), White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis), Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis), Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens), Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) and Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) that are globally threatened. Bhutan contributed around 23 new species between 2017 and 2020 which were new to science, and Bhutan’s biodiversity holds immense opportunities for researchers and environmental scientists as its biodiversity is in early stage of discovery. To date, Bhutan records 1 species as Extinct (EX), 1 species as Extinct in the Wild (EW) and 134 species as Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN) and Critically Endangered (CR) under International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. This paper aims to report a checklist of globally threatened species listed in IUCN Red List of Threatened Species from Bhutan. The paper also lists down the new species that were discovered in Bhutan since 2017. More researchers are needed to discover new species from Bhutan’s rich and lush forest.

A field experiment was conducted at farmer field of Sundarbazar, Lamjung during rainy season of 2020 with an objective to determine the dynamics of weed with respect different planting methods and varieties. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications where five Varieties (KabreKodo 1, KabreKodo 2, Dalle 1, Okhale 1 and local) were used as the main plot factor and three planting methods (Direct sowing;10*10cm, Conventional transplanting;10*10 cm with 15 days old seedlings and System of Crop Intensification;25*25 cm with 30 days old seedlings) as sub plot factor. Result showed that among 5 genotypes of weeds based on Importance value index, Cyperusrotundus was the most dominant during the initial stage but after the first weeding, Aegeratumhaustinianum dominated the field. Weed biomass and density was recorded highest in directly sown field than that in transplanted field. Among the transplanted crop, weed infestation was seen higher in SCI than in conventionally transplanted finger millet due to wider spacing. But after the first hand weeding, due to profuse root growth and tillering in SCI, weeds were suppressed and thus weed biomass was observed higher in CT. After one hand weeding, SCI showed higher weed control index, crop resistance index and planting method efficiency index in terms of yield. Weed infestation was observed higher in Dalle 1 among varieties.

Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of death in the United States in women. 1 in 8 women in their lifetime has a risk of developing breast cancer. With advances in omics technology, more data is available for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. The help of Machine Learning algorithms, a subdomain of Artificial Intelligence, would allow for a better clinical support tool. Machine Learning could be the key to answering a complex problem in BC. The methodology of this research question involves collecting and finding data such as RNA-Seq datasets, selecting and training appropriate machine learning algorithms, and evaluating the performance of the algorithms in predicting BC prognosis. Also, the study explores and tries to identify the most relevant genes and pathways through feature selection extraction and dimensionality reduction techniques. After applying feature extraction, the top 10 genes were extracted using the Univariate Feature Selection (UFS) method, precisely the SelectKBest technique. After employing different machine learning algorithms, such as Networks, Random Forest, Linear SVM, Logistic Regression, and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA), we found QDA was the best model in classifying the RNA-seq dataset with a 96% accuracy rate and 94% ROC AUC. This study suggests that AK2 and CD68 have a positive correlation with each other, and it could potentially be a biomarker and therapeutic target for BC.

The reproductive health of women is governed by an optimal balance between the host-microbiota interaction. Depletion in the beneficial vaginal microflora caused by depletion of Lactobacillus species and increased proliferation of pathogens results in gynecological infections. Among women of reproductive age, vaginal infections are increasingly prevalent. Attaining therapeutic efficacy using conventional formulations remains a challenge as vaginal fluids quickly remove or dilute the therapeutic formulations. Hydrogels have been widely exploited for targeted delivery of therapeutics directly into the vaginal mucus. With careful choice of polymers (natural, synthetic or semi-synthetic) hydrogels with specific properties such as stimuli-responsiveness, antimicrobial, and muco-adhesiveness can be tailored for higher therapeutic efficacy. In this review, the advnances in hydrogel strategies for the treatment of vaginal infections is presented with emphasis on the types and properties that play a significant role in vaginal drug delivery systems.

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a public health burden among non-pregnant women in developing countries, including Nepal. Hence, this study examined micronutrient deficiencies among non-pregnant Nepalese women aged 15-49 using the 2016 Nepal National Micronutrient Status Survey (NNMSS). Data on 2143 non-pregnant women was extracted from the 2016 NNMSS. The study analysed ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), red blood cell (RBC) folate and zinc. Multivariable logistic analysis was carried out to assess factors associated with micronutrient deficiencies. Prevalence of ferritin, sTfR, folate, and zinc were 19%, 13%, 16% and 21%, respectively. Non-pregnant women from the Janajati region were significantly less prone to ferritin [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.45; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.25, 0.80], and those who had body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m2 or higher had significantly higher odds of ferritin [AOR: 2.69; 95% CI: 1.01, 7.17]. Non-pregnant women aged 35-49 years were significantly less predisposed to folate deficiency [AOR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.83], and the likelihood of zinc deficiency was significantly lower among non-pregnant women from richer households [AOR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.76]. The study provides further insight into screening high-risk subgroups and instituting public health interventions to address the prevailing micronutrient deficiencies among non-pregnant Nepalese women.

Zinc deficiency, a common malnutrition in children and women is a global public health problem.Burden of zinc deficiencyis more in countries with low meat and high cereal food consumption like Nepal. Nationally representative data on zinc status in Nepal is lacking at present. This study analysed the data from the recent Nepal National Micronutrient status survey 2016(NNMSS-2016) to determinethe prevalence of zinc deficiency and associated risk factors among children aged 6-59 months (n=1462) and non-pregnant women aged 15-49 years(n=1923) from three ecological zones, Hill, Terai, and Mountainof the country. Venous blood was collected from the participants to measure micronutrients such as zinc, markers of anaemia, vitamin A, and markers of inflammation. Stool was collected to assessthe soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and Helicobacterpylori infection. Socio-demographic, household and other relevant information were collected by a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to examine the predictors of zinc deficiency among the participants.The overall zinc deficiency in children was found to be 22.9% while it was higher in non-pregnant women (24.7%). Predictors associated with zinc deficiency among enrolled children in the study were,living in rural areas (AOR=2.25, 95% CI, [1.13, 4.49]),occurrence of diarrhoea during the two weeks preceding the survey (AOR=1.57, 95% CI, [1.07, 2.30]), household wealth quintile (AOR= 0.48, 95% CI,[0.25, 0.92]) and vitamin A status (AOR=0.49, 95% CI,[0.28, 0.85]. Risk factors associated with zinc deficiency among the non-pregnant women were being underweight (AOR=1.60, 95% CI,[1.15, 2.23]), fever occurrence during two weeks preceding the survey (AOR=1.45, 95% CI,[ 1.06, 1.99]), H. pylori in the stool (AOR=1.32, 95% CI, [1.03, 1.70]), being rich (AOR=0.64, 95% CI,[0.42, 0.98]) and being in the risk of folate deficiency (AOR=0.60, 95% CI,[0.37, 0.96]). We conclude that community focused intervention programs including health and nutrition counselling and livelihood opportunities focusing groups at high-risk may improve the zinc status in Nepal.

Background: Health insurance (HI) run by government is providing health care service to large population. Due to poor accountability, participation and sustainability, cooperative health insurance is becoming more popular and effective in low and middle income and some high-income countries too. In Nepal, there are public and cooperative HI is in practice. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of public (government) and cooperative HI in relation to benefit packages, population coverage, inclusiveness, health care utilization, and promptness for treatment in these two health insurance models in Nepal. Method: This is an institution based concurrent mixed study consists of qualitative and quantitative variables from public and cooperative groups. We included all public HI operated by government hospitals and cooperatives groups those purchased hospital service in contract. Two separate study tools were applied to access the effectiveness of insurance models. The key questions were asked for the representatives of government and private health insurance. The numeric information consisted of in quantitative data and subjective response was included in qualitative approach. Descriptive statistics and Mean Whitney U test was applied in numeric data and qualitative information were analyzed by inductive approach Results: The study revealed that new enrolment was not increased, health care utilization rate was increased and the benefit package was almost same in both groups. The overall inclusiveness was higher for the government HI, but enrolment from the religious minority, proportion of negotiated amount during treatment were significantly higher (p<0.05). During illness, the response time to reach hospital was significantly faster in cooperative health insurance than government health insurance. Qualitative findings showed that level of participation, accountability, transparency and recording system was better in cooperative health insurance than public. Conclusion: Cooperative HI could be more sustainable and accountable to the community for all; low, middle and high-income countries.

Numerous elements, such as the composition and characteristics of carbon nanomaterials, the composition and characteristics of the matrix material, moisture levels, temperature, and loading circumstances, influence the piezoresistive behaviour of self-sensing cementitious composites. While some past research has explored the impact of some of these factors on the performance of self-sensing cementitious composites, additional investigations need to be conducted to delve into how loading conditions affect the sensitivity of self-sensing cement-stabilized composites. Therefore, this study explores the influences of various loading conditions (i.e., location of loading regarding the location of recording electrodes, and loading level) on the electromechanical performance of self-sensing cement-stabilized sand. To this end, firstly, the evaluation of the percolation threshold based on 10% cement-stabilized sand specimens containing various multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) was performed. Then, 10% cement-stabilized sand containing 4% MWCNTs/GNPs was tested under various cyclic compressive stresses. The results suggested that the distance between the loading area and the electrode location used for recording the electrical resistance significantly impacts the sensitivity of cement-stabilized sand. Optimal sensitivity was achieved when the electrodes were positioned directly beneath the loading area. Moreover, the study yielded that the stress sensitivity of self-sensing cement-stabilized sand increases proportionally with the stress level. Examination through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that the loading condition influences the bridging characteristics of carbon nanomaterials in cement-stabilized sand, leading to diverse electromechanical behaviors based on the loading condition. This study underscores the importance of considering specific parameters when designing the application of self-sensing cement-stabilized sand for practical field use.

The sympathetic restoration and conservation of built cultural heritage play a significant role in the management and preparedness for future climate scenarios by facilitating adaptive reuse, enhancing cultural resilience, preserving traditional knowledge, and boosting tourism. The importance of restoring damaged heritage sites after an earthquake drew international attention to Nepal after the 2015 Gorka Earthquake. UNESCO established an office in Kathmandu to promote the restoration of tangible and intangible heritage in the area. This included developing structural analyses of buildings with historical and cultural value that due to their nature cannot be intervened with the same methodology as modern buildings. In this paper, the case study of the earthquake-damaged Gopinath temple, is discussed. First, an initial visual inspection phase and the following diagnosis of the structure are discussed. Then, the results from a series of static and dynamic structural analyses performed to determine the safety level of the structure, together with a sensitivity analysis, are presented. A sympathetic intervention proposal capable of increasing the temple safety level and based on the addition of timber plates, has resulted in substantial improvements of the lateral behavior of the structure. The proposed intervention is deemed sustainable and able to increase the resilience of the temple in the face of future hazards.

The soybean aphid (SBA; Aphis glycines Matsumura) and the soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines Ichninohe) are major pests of the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Independent studies on these pests have made substantial progress in understanding the genetic basis of limiting these pests in both model and non-model plant systems. Classical linkage mapping and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified some major and minor QTLs in soybean. The studies on interactions of aphid and nematode effectors with host proteins allow us to identify molecular cues in various signaling components, including plant disease resistance and phytohormone genes. Here we review various resistance components of both SBA and SCN in terms of their effectors, their role in eliciting or attenuating host defense and update on findings on key quantitative trait loci (QTLs)/genes in soybean that could help in mitigating these widespread shifted virulent soybean aphid and SCN populations. We also provide an update on recent interaction studies of soybean-soybean aphid-SCN as well as interaction studies involving different aphids/nematodes and their host systems. PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT4 (PAD4) in soybean could possibly play a major role in providing resistance against both soybean aphid and SCN.

Global change is affecting vegetation cover and processes through multiple pathways. Long time series of surface land surface properties derived from satellite remote sensing offer a unique abilities to observe these changes, particularly in areas with complex topography and limited research infrastructure. Here, we focus on Nepal, a biodiversity hotspot where vegetation productivity is limited by moisture availability (dominated by a summer monsoon) at lower elevations and by temperature at high elevations. We analyze normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1981 to 2015 semimonthly, at 8 km spatial resolution. We use a random forest (RF) of regression trees to generate a statistical model of NDVI as a function of elevation, land use, CO2 level, temperature, and precipitation. We find that NDVI has increased over the studied period, particularly at low and middle elevations and during fall (post-monsoon). We infer from the fitted RF model that the NDVI linear trend is primarily due to CO2 level (or another environmental parameter that is changing quasi-linearly), and not primarily to temperature or precipitation trends. On the other hand, interannual fluctuation in NDVI is more correlated with temperature and precipitation. RF accurately fits the available data and shows promise for estimating trends and testing hypotheses about their causes.

This study aimed to examine the trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity and to determine the associated socioeconomic and household environmental factors among women in Nepal. Using nationally representative data from the 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 cross-sectional Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHSs) (n = 33,507), the prevalence of overweight–obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) among women aged 15–49 years were examined. From the latest NDHS 2016, non-pregnant women with recorded anthropometric measurements (n = 6165) were included in the final analyses. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the socioeconomic and household environmental factors associated with BMI ≥ 25 and BMI ≥ 30. Between 1996 and 2016, the prevalence of overweight–obesity increased from 1.8% to 19.7%, while the prevalence of obesity increased from 0.2% to 4.1%. Age, marital status, wealth index, province of residence, cooking fuel, refrigerator, and bicycle were significantly associated with having both overweight–obesity and obesity. Similarly, educational status, religion, type of toilet facility, television, and mobile phone were significantly associated with having overweight–obesity. Given the alarming increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Nepalese women, there is an urgent need of interventions addressing these critical socioeconomic and household environmental factors.

Premature failure and degradation of layers are the main problems for transportation infrastruc-ture. Addressing these issues necessitates implementing structural health monitoring (SHM) for transportation layers. This strategic approach is instrumental in mitigating maintenance expenses, prolonging the operational lifespan, and preventing accidents resulting from abrupt layer col-lapse. To this end, this research investigated the stress/strain and damage detection capabilities of a self-sensing cementitious composite developed for potential utilization in the construction of an intelligent subgrade layer. The prepared self-sensing cementitious composite consisted of 10% cement and hybrid conductive fillers, including multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in sand. Initial findings reveal that the electrical resistivity of the composite is significantly affected by the concentration of MWCNTs/GNPs, with a minimum concentration of more than 0.5% needed to achieve a responsive cementitious composite. More-over, the piezoresistive analysis indicates that an increase in the concentration of MWCNTs/GNPs and stress levels leads to an improvement in the stress/strain sensing perfor-mance. When the self-sensing cementitious composite is subjected to equivalent stress levels, variations in the FCR exhibit an increasing trend with decreasing resilient modulus, stemming from a decrease in stiffness due to the increased concentration of MWCNTs/GNPs. Additionally, the EIS analysis demonstrates a contraction for the Nyquist curves under compressive ramp loading prior to failure, followed by the expansion of these curves postfailure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images visually showcase the bridging effects of MWCNTs and the filling ef-fects of GNPs within the composite structure.

In this paper, we discuss major issues of mathematics teaching and learning in Nepal. The issues coming from theories such as social and radical constructivism suggest that teachers are not trained to use such approach in teaching mathematics, and there is a lack of teaching aids and materials and technological tools. The issues related to social aspects are gender issues, language issues, social justice issues, and issues related to the achievement gap. The cultural issues are related to the diversity of language and ethnicity. The issues related to political aspects are equity and access, economic status, pedagogical choice, and professional organizations and unions. The issues related to technology include the technological skills, use of technology, and affordance. Finally, we suggest that all the stakeholders should pay attention to resolving these issues by improving the curriculum, training teachers, resourcing the classroom with locally made and new technological tools.

During composting process, soils undergo many changes in their physical, chemical and biological properties. Composting has been widely known as an aerobic process during which organic matter is decomposed to humus like substances broken into many organic materials or compounds. The project aims to compare and analyze different combination of composting that yield different properties and nature of soils, and testing their soil physical properties. Dug three compost pits each 1.5 m in depth, labeled compost pit A consisting of potato peels – the only kitchen waste most common around the college hostels, compost pit B consisting of leaf litter and other garden trimmings and compost pit C consisting of cow dung and the other as a controlled experiment with no composting practices.

Sherubtse College under Royal University of Bhutan has a total of 1582 students, where 787 0f them are female. They suffer from menstrual and menstrual cramps every month and they use napkins to stay clean and healthy. As all the college girls are educated on the norms and use of sanitary napkins, the proper management of the waste generated is lacking. The disposal of used sanitary napkins and management is a challenge to the college management. This small research aims to investigate on how girls in college campus manage the menstural waste and the amount of sanitary napkins used. The lack of proper dumping areas leads to the improper sanitary waste management and sometimes the waste generated from the sanitary napkins are toxic and unhealthy. It is very important to initate some ways to dump the pads and its related problem should be seriously addressed by the college management. It is also important to come up with different soultion and management of these wastes for sustainable environment. Therefore, this research will be mainly mentioning about the suggestions and how the sanitary waste is being managed in Sherubtse College campus and the amount of sanitary pads used in a month or an year.

Background: To implement the new marker in clinical practice, reliability assessment, validation, and standardization of utilization must be applied. This study evaluated the reliability of TILs and TSR assessment through conventional microscopy by comparing observers’ estimations. Methods: Intratumoral and tumor-front stromal TILs, and TSR were assessed by three pathologists using 86 HE slides CRC. TSR and TILs were categorized using one and four different proposed cut-off systems, respectively and agreement was assessed using the intraclass coefficient (ICC) and Cohen’s kappa statistics. Pairwise evaluation of agreement was performed using the Fliess Kappa statistic and the concordance rate and it was visualized by Bland-Altman plots. Results: For the evaluation of intratumoral stromal TILs, ICC of 0.505 (95% CI:0.35-0.64) was obtained, Kappa values were in the range of 0.21 to 0.38, and concordance rates in the range of 0.61 to 0.72. For the evaluation of tumor-front TILs, ICC was 0.52 (95% CI:0.32 - 0.67), the overall kappa value ranged from 0.24 to 0.30, and the concordance rate ranged from 0.66 to 0.72. For estimating the TSR, the ICC was 0.48 (95% CI:0.35 - 0.60), the kappa value was 0.49 and the concordance rate was 0.76. Conclusion: The agreement between pathologists in estimating these markers corresponds to poor to the moderate agreement, however, implementing immune scores in daily practice requires more concentration in inter-observer agreements.

This paper responds to the research question, “can urban farming help Nepali cities become more sustainable”? Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, urban residents have begun to realize that food transported from long distances could not always be reliable. Urban farming can help produce fresh food locally and avoid long-distance transportation, and refrigeration. This practice also helps reduce greenhouse gases through plant carbon use efficiency (CUE). Urban farming not only helps city-dwellers towards achieving self-reliance in food production but also in vegetation carbon dynamics (VCD) while supporting the circular economy. Urban farming consists of edible landscapes, which can also be an aesthetic public space. As urban lands command higher prices than agricultural land, urban farming usually happens on residential yards, roofs, balconies, community gardens, and dedicated areas in public parks. Rainwater harvesting, and redirecting can help irrigate urban farms which can be part of rain gardens. The national census of 2021 (CBS 2022, p5) identifies that 66 percent of Nepal’s population live in urban areas. However, the World Bank (2018), shows that only 21 of Nepal’s population was projected to live in urban areas in 2021. It is not debatable that the urbanization process in Nepal is on the rise. Thus, urban agriculture can play an important role to supplement the residents’ food needs. Many cities in Nepal have already successfully adapted to urban farming where residents grow food on their building site, balconies, and rooftop often growing plants on pots, vases, and other types of containers. The UN-Habitat, with the support of European Union and local agencies, has published a rooftop farming training manual (2014) showing the feasibility of urban farming in Nepal.The paper discusses how Public Private Partnership (PPP) can promote urban agriculture and make the process more effective and attractive to urban farming households. It also analyzes how a PPP approach also facilitates the use of better technology, advisory support, and use of research extension activities. This paper draws on literature review, secondary data (e.g., from National Census Nepal 2021) and authors’ professional experiences related to best practices in the areas to analyze the benefits and challenges related to urban farming in Arizona, USA. The paper will provide recommendations for Nepali cities to maximize the benefit provided by urban farming. It is expected to be useful to Nepali policy makers, and government agencies, and nonprofit organizations which promote sustainability, and organic farming.

United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCC) conventions in their conference of parties (COPs) has continuously considered and agreed reducing emission level in order to minimize the impact of global climate change. Reducing emission due to deforestation and degradation (REDD) ,was considered as one of the major activities in this regard during Kyoto protocol in 2009 which laid foundation for the participating countries to be compensated financially for reduced carbon emission. Mexico convention -2012 required the countries to develop and implement a transparent and consistent monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) process. Later in Paris agreement-2015, the parties agreed to limit the global warming to 2 degree centigrade and with further efforts to 1.5-degree centigrade furthering entailing the parties to prepare and communicate nationally determined contributions (NDCs) every five years. Nepal aimed to decrease the average annual deforestation rate by 0.05 percent from existing 0.44 percent in the terai region and 0.1 percent in the Chure. Nepal decided to develop its forest reference level (FRL) in national level for the historical period 2000-2010 considering Carbon dioxide and carbon pools above and below ground. As per the Forestry Sector Strategy, Nepal aims to increase carbon stock growth by at least 5% by 2025 as compared to 2015 and decrease mean annual deforestation rate to 0.05. After major change in administrative division in Nepal, forest management responsibility has shifted down to the Sub-national level. But forest resource studies have not been conducted yet in these levels. Despite a small country, Nepal has at least four clear physiological regions. The amount of carbon stock stored by different forest type are different depending upon species distribution, carbon volume and density for each species, and their distribution along ecological and physiological regions. Sal (shorea Robusta), for example, having one of the highest carbon densities, is a major forest types in Nepal. The purpose of this study was to generate forest map of the country, calculate carbon stock, gain and loss, and their rate in each province due to deforestation/afforestation using remote sensing data. Further Sal forest map was generated and its contribution in carbon stock was calculated using averaged national carbon density as well as using regional density method. According to the study, around 5.1 million hectares of Nepali land was forest in 2015 increasing from 4.2 million hectares in 2005. However, Sal forest has decreased during the same period. Province 1 contributed the maximum (130 Tg) and Province 2 the minimum (40Tg) of Carbon stock in 2015. Using the conventional method of calculation with national average density (108.08 t/ha), a total of 36.7T CO2 yr-1 carbon sink was observed in the Country. Whereas, with the new approach of calculation, a total of 44.7 T CO2 e of carbon sink per year was estimated during the same period. This approach holds potential for qualifying as an MRV process of Nepal. The subnational level forest and carbon statistics produced during this study can be important assets for the better forest governance. This can also pave way for policy formation and preparation of action plan for sustainable forest management and intervention strategy and obtaining better financial incentives participating in the reduction of emission due to deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) plus programs.

Lane detection is a foundational technology for autonomous driving systems. It involves identifying the boundaries of lanes on the road and ensuring the vehicle stays within these boundaries. Accurate lane detection is crucial for safety, navigation and traffic management. This paper presents an artificial intelligent based autonomous road lane detection and navigation system for vehicles. The system can detect and analyze road lanes accurately and efficiently in real-time, with frame rates of up to 17 FPS. By utilizing image processing techniques, the system can identify the location and boundaries of road lanes and obstacles on the road and provide accurate and reliable navigation guidance to the driver. The system is integrated with sensors and actuators to provide comprehensive autonomous navigation. The efficiency of the proposed system is demonstrated using accuracy of lane detection on straight and curve lanes covering frames per second and motor of the speed as parameters for assessment. Results show that the proposed system detects lane as entire lane detection, partial lane detection and no detection status on different settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented an unprecedented challenge to the healthcare system. Identifying the genomics and clinical biomarkers for effective patient stratification and management is critical to controlling the spread of the disease. Omics datasets provide a wealth of information that can aid in understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms of COVID-19 and identifying potential biomarkers for patient stratification. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms have been increasingly used to analyze large-scale omics and clinical datasets for patient stratification. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the recent advances and predictive accuracies in AI and ML-based patient stratification modeling linking omics and clinical biomarker datasets, focusing on COVID-19 patients. Our ML model not only demonstrates that clinical features are enough an indicator of COVID-19 severity and survival but also infers what clinical features are more impactful, which makes our approach a useful guide for clinicians for prioritization of best-fit therapeutics for a given cohort of patients. Moreover, with weighted gene network analysis, we are able to provide insights into gene networks that have a significant association with COVID-19 severity and clinical features. Finally, we have demonstrated the importance of clinical biomarkers in identifying high-risk patients and predicting disease progression.

The seismic events of 2015 in Nepal exposed the challenges associated with constructing earthquake-resistant 2-story self-built stone masonry structures in high-elevation rural regions, especially post-disaster. The Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) provided designs that failed to preserve the local architectural landscape and craftsmanship while adding unfamiliar knowledge and technology. To address the challenges related to architecture, structure, and socio-economic concerns in designing and implementing post-earthquake houses, a need-based building development framework is required for standardized practice. This study presents a novel framework to assess, design, and implement a self-built house after a disaster, consisting of five stages: 1) post-disaster problem assessment, 2) need identification, 3) material selection, 4) design development, and 5) validation and implementation. Based on this framework, we proposed a novel gabions building construction technology for two-story stone masonry structures that effectively mitigate post-disaster challenges such as logistic, resilience, and socioeconomic aspects while improving disaster resiliency specifically in the high-elevation rural areas of Nepal. The proposed two-story gabion building preserves architectural values, enhances structural integrity, and provides cost-effectiveness when compared with its DUDBC peer models while providing much-needed relief to the vulnerable community. The proposed resilient house, G- 2.1, utilizes locally sourced materials and craftsmanship, and innovative gabion technology that ensures affordability and facilitates knowledge transfer. The contribution of this study includes a development framework and a two-story gabions house that is most suitable for self-built post-disaster reconstruction and resilient to local architecture and socio-economic conditions while providing structural integrity and safety.

Legacy IPv4 networks are strenuous to manage and operate. Network operators are in need to minimize the capital and operational expenditure of running network infrastructure. The implementation of Software-defined networking (SDN) addresses those issues by minimizing the expenditures in the long run. Legacy networks need to integrate with the SDN networks for the smooth migration towards the fully functional SDN environment. In this paper, we compare the network performance of the legacy network with the SDN network for IP routing in order to determine the feasibility of the SDN deployment in the Internet Service provider (ISP) network. The simulation of the network is performed in the Mininet test-bed and the network traffic is generated using distributed Internet traffic generator. Open network operating system is used as a controller for the SDN network in which SDN-IP application is used for IP routing. Round trip time, bandwidth, and packet transmission rate from both SDN and legacy networks are first collected and then the comparison is done. We found that SDN-IP performs better in terms of bandwidth and latency as compared to legacy routing. The experimental analysis of interoperability between SDN and legacy networks shows that SDN implementation in production level carrier-grade ISP network is viable and progressive.

This paper aimed to assess the technical efficiency of maize seed production and the major factors contributing on technical efficiency. Maize is the second most important staple crop in Nepal, but the average yield of maize is very low as compared to other countries having similar agro-climatic requirements. Inefficient use of resources had led to low yield in maize crop. The software Raosoft was used to determine the required sample size and total of 182 samples were selected using simple random technique in June, 2016. Stochastic production frontier model and Tobit model were used to derive the results. The average technical efficiency of maize seed production ranged from 0.25-0.92 with an average of 0.71which revealed the scope of increasing technical efficiency by 29 percent. The majority of the farmers (29.1%) were at higher technical efficiency level of 0.8-0.9 followed by 28.6 percent at 0.7-0.8 and 23.1 percent at 0.6-0.7. Age and schooling of household head, experience on maize seed production, area shared by maize crop and dummies variables such as livestock holding, source of seed and access to extension service had found significantly affecting on the technical efficiency level. For the least developed country like Nepal it would be better to use the available resources wisely and improvement of existing technologies would be more cost effective than that of discovering new technologies. The study recommended that the concerned organizations should focus on mixed agricultural farming system, access to better quality seed and provide technical knowledge which would help in improving technical efficiency.

The ionospheric scintillation is a rapid phase and amplitude fluctuation of satellite signals due to the small-scale irregularity of electron density in the ionosphere. The characterization of the scintillation index in a proper way is a crucial aspect of the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals for the purpose of space-based navigation, satellite communication, space weather as well as earth observation applications. In the current study, we analyzed the ionospheric scintillation index during the year of 2018 to 2019 over the Nepal region which locates itself almost being sandwiched between India and China and in the vicinity of low latitudes. The characteristic variations of scintillation occurrence are studied during the several geomagnetic storm and quiet days. The results show that the S4 indexes are varying from the 0.05 to 0.45 during the whole year. The S4 indexes behave higher variations during the whole day in the starting of the year and start to decrease at end of the day as well as at the ending months of the year 2019. The S4 values become completely less during the sunset time, while they have higher values during the sunrise. Especially, the S4 index during the storm days are larger than during the quiet days. It is worthy to note that the variations of S4 index studied in this current study do not follow the sunset property during the year of 2019. Consequently, the causes should be discovered and discussed additionally in the next research paper.

Study of spatiotemporal dynamics of temperature is vital to assess changes in climate, especially in the Himalayan region where livelihoods of billions of people living downstream depends on water coming from the melting of snow and glacier ice. To this end, temperature trend analysis is carried out in Narayani river basin, a major river basin of Nepal characterized by three climatic regions: tropical, subtropical and alpine. Temperature data from six stations located within the basin were analyzed. The elevation of these stations ranges from 460 to 3800 m a.s.l. and the time period of available temperature data ranges from 1960–2015. Multiple regression and empirical mode decomposition (EMD) methods were applied to fill in missing data and to detect trends. Annual as well as seasonal trends were analyzed and a Mann-Kendall test was employed to test the statistical significance of detected trends. Results indicate significant cooling trends before 1970s, and warming trends after 1970s in the majority of the stations. The warming trends range from 0.028 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 to 0.035 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 with a mean increasing trend of 0.03 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C year−1" style="position: relative;">−1 after 1971. Seasonal trends show highest warming trends in the monsoon season followed by winter, pre-monsoon, and the post-monsoon season. However, difference in warming rates between different seasons was not significant. An average temperature lapse rate of −0.006 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1 with the steepest value (−0.0064 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1) in pre-monsoon season and least negative (−0.0052 ∘" style="position: relative;">∘C m−1" style="position: relative;">−1) in winter season was observed for this basin. A comparative analysis of the gap-filled data with freely available global climate datasets show reasonable correlation thus confirming the suitability of the gap filling methods.

The majority of the population in developing countries resides in the rural area. Development itself cannot address the challenges of the rural area since its economic, political and environmental landscape is different from an urban area. The paper attempts to assess the rural dimension aspect of Nepali Agriculture Policy since rural development and agricultural development is closely resembled due to an agrarian-based economy of the country and a large rural population. Therefore, a critical review of National Agriculture Policy, 2004 (NAP-2004) was carried out under “Commercialization of Agriculture”, “Food Security”, “Rural Infrastructure”, “Gender”, “Climate Change” and “Social Inclusion” thematic area. The results showed that NAP-2004 satisfactorily address rural development albeit ample space for improvement. The findings of the paper could be beneficial to policymakers and development workers in the field of rural development and agriculture along with academicians having interest in it.

The government of Nepal (GoN) has developed and implemented climate policies, plans and frameworks such as NAPA, National Climate Change Policy, LAPA and currently in the process of developing National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). These policies and plans are in different states of its implementation with diverse opinions and perceptions of the stakeholders. The paper has explored these opinions and experiences of climate experts in Nepal on state of climate policies, inter-linkages, roles and responsibilities of ministries/departments, important factors and subjective indicators for effective implementation of the policies. Altogether 30 experts responded the questionnaire sent via the email, LinkedIn and Skype Interview in the 1^st phase of Delphi research technique. The experiences of these experts range from 2-30 years representing government, non-government sectors, media and independent experts. As per most of the experts interviewed, the policies and plans are progressing in strategic direction with national and local priorities. The LAPA is the pioneer framework to address the local climatic issues, originated in Nepal. However, lack of clarity on roles/responsibilities and coordination among the ministries/departments; clear mechanisms for implementation of these policies; lack of sensitization, decentralization and delegation of finance and technologies; capacity of the stakeholders are the major challenges identified.

With growing global concern of food and water insecurity, an efficient method to monitor irrigation projects is essential, especially in the developing world, where irrigation performance is often suboptimal. In Nepal, the irrigated area has not been objectively recorded, although their assessment has substantial implications on national policy, project’s annual budgets, and donor fund-ing. Here we present the application of Landsat images to measure irrigated areas in Nepal for the past 17 years to contribute to the assessment of the irrigation performance. Landsat 5 TM (2006-2011) and Landsat 8 OLI (2013-2022) images were used to develop a machine-learning model which classifies irrigated and non-irrigated areas in study areas. The random forest classification achieved overall accuracy of 82.2% and kappa statistics of 0.72. For the class of irrigation areas, the producer’s accuracy and the consumer’s accuracy were 79% and 96%, respectively. Our regionally trained machine-learning model outperforms the existing global cropland map, highlighting the need of such models for local irrigation project evaluations. We assess irrigation project performance and its drivers by combining long-term changes in satellite-derived irrigated area with local data related to irrigation performance, such as annual budget, irrigation service fee, crop yield, precipitation, and main canal discharge.

Waste-to-Hydrogen (Wahh) is a process of converting waste into hydrogen gas through various methods such as thermal conversion, biological conversion, and chemical conversion. This process not only helps in managing waste but also provides a clean source of energy as hydrogen is a renewable energy source that produces zero greenhouse gas emissions during combustion. Wahh has the potential to provide a sustainable solution for energy generation and waste management in the current scenario of globally increasing energy demands. This study aims to examine the properties and energy efficiencies of various renewable fuels including fuelwood, biogas, biomethane, and biohydrogen with a specific focus on differentiating the characteristics of biohydrogen. The paper explores the emerging concepts of waste-to-hydrogen microgrids, biohydrogen refineries, biohydrogen prosumer networks, and a biohydrogen circular economy, as well as Public-Private-People Partnerships (4Ps) and the hydrogen-centric renewable energy revolution, which are taking shape in industrialized countries. The study presents a comprehensive feasibility analysis of these concepts in the context of Nepal. The results of this research will provide valuable insights into the potential for adopting these innovative technologies in Nepal and will contribute to the development of a sustainable and efficient energy system.

Climate change is a buzzword in the world. Scientist has approved it as global warming with its projection of undesired and unpredicted frequent extreme events and their vulnerabilities not only at present but also at future. There is an assumption of occurrence of adaptive capacity and behavior of farmers in agriculture production activity at some extent to neutralize climate change vulnerabilities of flood and landslides on paddy production. This paper empirically examines the effects of climate change in paddy production and farmer’s adaptive behaviors to neutralize such climatic shocks and events in paddy production by employing CD production function based econometric model. The study employed primary data collected through 642 household surveys. The study finds that climatic shocks and events have huge loss (60%) in paddy production and revenue income in such plot where farmers have not indigenous knowledge and practices. But both small and larger farmers who have adaptive capacity and behavior with their indigenous knowledge have less loss in paddy production and revenue income, although they have heterogeneity in their socio-economic characteristics (income, asset holding, literacy, experience, land holding and age). The farmers who have used adaptive behavior have indigenous knowledge and experiences including bamboo wall construction to control flood and landslides and seed change to resist climatic shocks and events. In hilly region, the farmers have not sufficient alternative measures, except both adaptive measures because of their poverty, illiteracy and remote locations. The study finds their higher effective level to minimize vulnerabilities to paddy production and revenue per farm plot, although these adaptive behaviors are cost effective and local entity. Comparatively, bamboo wall construction is more effective measure in the paddy production than others are (seed switch) to minimize the flooding materials from the flood and the landslides. Thus, low cost indigenous adaption behavior of farmers is effective measure to climate change and climate change induced disasters and events vulnerability in paddy production.

Abstract Depending upon altitudinal gradient in the Himalayas, the rate of climate change varies from lowland to upland. The Chitwan Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) is the central part of the Himalayas and covers all bioclimatic zones. Analysis of time series data (1970-2019) of temperature and precipitation was carried out in seven bioclimatic zones extending from lowland Terai to higher Himalayas. The non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was applied to determine the trend, which was quantified by Sen’s slope. Annual and decade interval average temperature, precipitation trends, and lapse rate were analyzed in each bioclimatic zone. Out of seven bioclimatic zones, four zones showed a decreasing precipitation trend (lower tropical, upper tropical, upper subtropical, and alpine bioclimatic zones)at the rate of 1.8, 1.98, 2.06, and 1.80 mm/year, and in lower sub-tropical, temperate, and lower subalpine bioclimatic zones, increasing at the rate of 0.45, 1.81 and 1.28mm/year, respectively. Precipitation did not show any particular trend at decade intervals. The average annual temperature at different bioclimatic zones clearly indicates that temperature at higher elevations is significantly increasing more than at lower elevations. In lower tropical bioclimatic zone (LTBZ), upper tropical bioclimatic zone(UTBZ), lower subtropical bioclimatic zone (LSBZ), upper subtropical bioclimatic zone(USBZ), and temperate bioclimatic zone(TBZ), the average temperature increased by 0.022, 0.030, 0.036, 0.042 and 0.051oC/year, respectively. The decade level temperature scenario revealed that the hottest decade was from 1999-2009. The average temperature was found as 24.1, 21.8, 19.7, 17.5, and 13.3oC in LTBZ, UTBZ, LSBZ, USBZ, and TBZ, respectively, and the average annual precipitation in LTBZ, UTBZ, LSBZ, USBZ, TBZ, LBZ, and ABZ was 2002.1, 2613.1, 2223.9, 3146.9, 1447.2, 952.1, and 361.7mm/year, respectively, in CHAL. With the impact of climate change site and region-specific, this information highlights the need to mitigate climate change in different bioclimatic zones.

Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for lower abdominal discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory (POPDI-6). Women with higher load carrying exposures had on average higher discomfort scores in both Tanzania (adjusted prevalence difference (PDa)=3.7; 95% CI: -3.8-11.3; p=0.33) and Nepal (PDa=9.3; 95% CI: -4.9-23.6; p=0.18). We identified trends suggestive of an association between increasing heavy load carrying exposures and symptoms of lower abdominal discomfort. Our findings underscore the need for larger epidemiologic studies of the potential adverse reproductive health effects of heavy load carrying activities on women in developing countries.

The corrosion inhibition behavior of cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC) on mild steel (MS) in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution was examined using the weight loss method and potentiodynamic polarization method. The experimented MS surface was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Corrosion rate and corrosion efficiency was calsulated via weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods where the corrosion rate in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ , 0.000192 M, and 0.0077 M of CPC solution was 12.09×10^-3, 8.23×10^-3, 6.63×10^-5 (mm/Year), respectively and the inhibition efficiency of 94.42% and 98.54%. FESEM studies demonstrated the corrosion attack on MS surface. Also, the EDX showed the presence of nitrogen of CPC. Thus, CPC acts as an important corrosion inhibitor.

Nepal is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, as highlighted by the recent devastating 2015, Mw7.8 Gorkha earthquake and a robust assessment of seismic hazard is paramount for the design of earthquake-resistant structures. In this study we present a new probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) model for Nepal. We considered data and findings from recent scientific publications, which allowed us to develop a unified homogenized seismicity catalogue, propose alternative Seismic Source Characterization (SSC) models including up-to-date parameters of major thrust faults like Main Frontal Thrust – MFT and Main Boundary Thrust – MBT, while also considering existing SSC models and various hazard modelling strategies within a logic tree framework. The sensitivity analyses show the hazard levels are generally higher for SSC models integrating the major thrust faults, followed by homogenous volume sources and smoothed seismicity approach. The hazard maps covering entire Nepal is presented as well as the Uniform Hazard Spectra (UHS) for 5 selected locations (Kathmandu, Pokhara, Biratnagar, Nepalganj and Dipayal) at return periods of 475- and 2,475-years considering Vs,30=760 m/s. The results obtained are generally consistent with most recent studies. However, a notable variability in hazard levels and several discrepancies with respect to the Nepal Building Code NBC105: 2020 [1] and Global Hazard Model, GEM [2] are noted and possible causes are discussed.

Residential satisfaction with post-disaster housing is crucial for the success and sustainability of a resettlement project. However, little attention has been given to this aspect in the permanent houses developed after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. To bridge this gap, the study examined factors affecting residential satisfaction among poor displaced households resettled in the Panipokhari Integrated Settlement of Nepal. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey, interviews, and field observation. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed using Cronbach's Alpha test, while satisfaction was measured by mean satisfaction scores. The relative importance index ranked the factors, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analyzed their relationship with overall residential satisfaction. The study identified several crucial fac-tors influencing residential satisfaction, including the design and layout of the house, space for modification, provision of a kitchen garden and cattle shed, thermal comfort, completeness of the house, provision of a hearth, and spaces for rituals and cultural events. These findings shed light on the resettlement decisions of affected populations and provide valuable insights for policymakers, implementers, and researchers aiming for successful and sustainable resettlement outcomes.

Herdsmen use different techniques, as per varying geographies and cultures, to keep the cohesion within herds and avoid animals getting lost or predated. However, there is no study on the social behaviour of yaks and on herdsmen management practices. Therefore, this ethology study was initiated by ethnographic inquiries. In Manang, the success of the shepherd is dictated by his personal attribute of “Khula man” or open-heartedness. This attribute refers to good intentions and emotions such as empathy that allows the shepherd to focus more on others than on ownself. This cultural method of assessing the skills required to become a successful and knowledgable shepherd guided us to study the effect of cultural values on the herd’s social behavior. We collected data from two herds living at the same settlement (Yak kharka, 4,100 m altitude, Nepal) by equipping them with loggers. One of the herdsman used the tether rope while other did not. Moreover, the Thaku herd had a more proactive shepherd than the Phurba one. In each herd, 17 animals were equipped with one actigraph wgt3x-BT to measure activity using accelerometer and spatial associations using proximity recorder. One of the herds was equipped with GPS (N=11) as well. Using GPS locations and activity, we showed that the two herds were cohesive and synchronised their activities but the herd with the tether rope was more cohesive. The shepherds also have personal knowledge of the social relationships of their herds and use these relationships to keep the group cohesive and to well manage cattle.

Statistical management policy and system plays significant role in development of any nation as it guides the planner to analyze the gaps, design programs and allocate budget in efficient manner. Globally, design and usage of statistical management system varies relying on country specific ability and resources availability. Government of Nepal has been managing database in individual as well as thematic manner. Policy wise, thematic database is in operation based on Statistics Act 1958 and individual database is in operation based on Birth, Death and Other Personal Related Events Registration Act 1976. Though civil registration related policies have been either updated or newly formed, sectoral statistic management related policy has not been updated since its first promulgation period (1958). With no policy supporting the consolidated statistical management system, government as well as non-government agencies has been investing millions of dollars annually to collect, compile and analyze individual related data and fulfill their respective objectives. It has forced the government services and performance to be paper-based, time-consuming and tedious thus creating dis-trust among citizen each passing day. Though, formulation of legal instrument promoted digital movement and mandated shift towards e-government modality, the process has been low. Theoretically, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) state the need of having advanced and efficient technology to be in place in current setting to improve governance, efficiency, accountability, transparency and trust. Also, the same theory state the requirement of strong willingness and motivation from the users (government, non-government and citizen) to adopt the technology based policy and system. As the integrated statistical management policy emphasizes on technology-based system or digital system, the perspectives of Technology Acceptance Model also termed as Information System Theory aid in understanding the context, conceptualizing and addressing the needs with an establishment and implementation of digital system or technology based system. This policy paper applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAP) to examine the underlying opportunities and challenges associated with an integrated statistical management policy. With existing gaps in existing policy, system and practice alongside an overview of opportunities and challenges, this paper recommends the need of stand-alone integrated statistical management policy to consolidate sectoral as well as civil related information through single system based on recommended policy.

The purpose of this article is to review a two year long implementation of an electronic health record (EHR) system at the outpatient department of a private hospital in Kathmandu, possibly a first implementation of its kind in Nepal. Procedures: The strategy designed for EHR implementation was based on Professor John P. Kotter's work on successful change management. Main findings: We found that keeping a close watch on the social dynamics affecting adoption decisions among users of the system was crucial for implementing the EHR; this was partly because the project received limited support from an erratically changing hospital leadership and lacked an EHR system suited to the needs of the users. Conclusions: The implementation described in this article is a good lesson on moving from control to drift in information systems implementation, and we hope this work will be useful to health IT professionals working in the space of digital transformation in resource-constrained environments.

Human activities (e.g., exploitation, utilization, and conservation) exert substantial impact on forest ecological functions (FEF). The human influence on FEF significantly varies across developmental stages, which are attributed to the temporal and spatial in nature. This study evaluates some notable FEF indices (FEFI) in the 448 counties within the Yellow River basin (YRB) using panel data from the Seventh to Ninth National Forest Inventory. Data analysis involves employing the residual trends, geographical and temporal weighted regression. Results indicate that, firstly, the overall forest ecological function in the YRB is moderate to inferior, with superior FEF in counties endowed with more natural forest resources. Afforestation demonstrates a short-term improvement, but its effectiveness diminishes over time. Secondly, the positive spatial correlation is stronger among counties, characterized by both high-high and low-low agglomeration effects. Scattered planting, simple stand structure, and concentrated harvesting of forests at the identical stand ages hinder the formation of complex and large-scale FEF agglomerations. Thirdly, significant spatial-temporal differences exist in the impact of human activities on FEF. In the upper reaches of the basin, increased vegetation coverage through agricultural and forestry production benefited FEF, however, some over-exploitation of forests and grasslands is observed there. In the middle reaches, the economic development, expanding population and the greening activities help to improve FEF effectively, but excessive water using in agricultural production brought more difficulties to FEF improvement. In the lower reaches of the basin, improved wastelands and forest protection positively influence FEF. This study recommends that county governments should prioritize forest management with multi-species and multi-layered complex forests. Each county should define its position in regional development and ecological protection, considering the potential impacts on neighboring regions. This holistic approach promotes more effective integrated regional management.

Climate change is a buzzword in the world. Scientist has approved it as global warming with its projection of undesired and unpredicted frequent extreme events and their vulnerabilities not only at present but also at future. There is an assumption of occurrence of adaptive capacity and behavior of farmers in agriculture production activity at some extent to neutralize climate change vulnerabilities of flood and landslides on paddy production. This paper empirically examines the effects of climate change in paddy production and farmer’s adaptive behaviors to neutralize such climatic shocks and events in paddy production by employing CD production function based econometric model. The study employed primary data collected through 642 household surveys. The study finds that climatic shocks and events have huge loss (60%) in paddy production and revenue income in such plot where farmers have not indigenous knowledge and practices. But both small and larger farmers who have adaptive capacity and behavior with their indigenous knowledge have less loss in paddy production and revenue income, although they have heterogeneity in their socio economic characteristics (income, asset holding, literacy, experience, land holding and age). The farmers who have used adaptive behavior have indigenous knowledge and experiences including bamboo wall construction to control flood and landslides and seed change to resist climatic shocks and events. In hilly region, the farmers have not sufficient alternative measures, except both adaptive measures because of their poverty, illiteracy and remote locations. The study finds their higher effective level to minimize vulnerabilities to paddy production and revenue per farm plot, although these adaptive behaviors are cost effective and local entity. Comparatively, bamboo wall construction is more effective measure in the paddy production than others are (seed switch) to minimize the flooding materials from the flood and the landslides. Thus, low cost indigenous adaption behavior of farmers is effective measure to climate change and climate change induced disasters and events vulnerability in paddy production.

Accumulating evidences demonstrate that the host genome's epigenetic modificationsare essential for living organisms to adapt extreme conditions.DNA methylation, covalent modifications of histone, andinter-association of non-coding RNAs facilitate the cellular manifestation ofepigenetic changes in the genome. Out of various factors involved in the epigenetic programming of the host, miRNA (microRNA) and LncRNA (Long non-coding RNA) are new generationnon-coding molecules that influence a variety of cellular processes like immunity, cellular differentiation, and tumor development. During tumor development, temporal changes in miRNA/LncRNA rheostat influence sterile inflammatory responses accompanied by the changes in the carcinogenic signalling in the host. At the cellular level, this is manifested by the up-regulation of Inflammasome and inflammatory pathways, which promotes cancer-related inflammation. In view of this, we discuss the potential of lncRNA and miRNA directed interventions in regulating inflammation and tumor development in the host.

Studies have established the crucial role of sleep among the students which plays a significant role in their mood. This study aimed to examine the mood disorders and sleep quality among undergraduate students at the University of Georgia (UG) and comparison between students’ nationality.This cross-sectional study was a self-reported questionnaire comprised of demographics including age, gender, year of study, current location, lifestyle data (Exercise and smoking), the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DAS21) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). We performed a descriptive analysis, and the Chi-square was statistically significant at p<0.05. The prevalence was at a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as multivariate analysis examined the multicollinearity. The female students were most of the respondents, below the age of 20 years. The student's mean age was 20.20 (SD± 3.0). DAS report presented 72.7% of students with depressive symptoms, 77.8% with anxiety symptoms, and 62.2% had stress. Georgian students were more at risk of having depressive complaints (95% Cl[1.567-3.788]), anxiety (95% Cl[1.612-4.285]), and stress symptoms (95% Cl[1.743-3.831]). There was a strong relationship between the students who experienced poor sleeping patterns and depressive complaints (aOR 0.10). The students who were smokers (aOR 0.39) were more likely to report anxiety symptoms than the students that do not exercise (aOR 1.68). It was observed that students with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and complaints of stress had a significantly high risk of poor sleep quality. Further studies are recommended to curb psychological symptoms of mood changes in association with sleep disorders among students.

The guthi, an ancient institution deeply embedded in Nepal's social, cultural, and economic fabric, has long overseen the maintenance of temples, shrines, festivals, and heritage sites since the Lichchhavi era (400-750). Since 1960, however, this system has been challenged by government land reforms, which has impacted its influence on sustainable heritage conservation. Nevertheless, there's compelling evidence that land nationalization and the guthi's declining authority have harmed local heritage conservation. Nevertheless, the guthi system has endured, serving as an important informal means of heritage conservation and highlighting the adaptability of traditional institutions. These community-based trusts, originally established for social and religious purposes, have played a pivotal role in preserving cultural practices, monuments, and temples for future generations. This article aims to demonstrate the central role of the guthi as the cornerstone of Nepal's efforts to conserve and manage both tangible and intangible cultural treasures. Using observational techniques, case studies, and a qualitative approach, it explores the historical evolution of heritage conservation through the lens of the guthi, taking into account subjective, valued, and constructed realities. The paper concludes by urging policymakers to recognize the significant contribution of indigenous systems such as the guthi in achieving sustainable heritage conservation. Embracing such traditional strategies can mitigate multifaceted problems and effectively preserve Nepal's cultural heritage through the guthi.

Micro elastofluidics is a transformative branch of microfluidics, leveraging fluid-structure interaction (FSI) at the microscale to enhance the functionality and efficiency of various microdevices. This review paper elucidates the critical role of advanced computational FSI methods in the field of micro elastofluidics. By focusing on the interplay between fluid mechanics and structural responses, these computational methods facilitate the intricate design and optimisation of microdevices such as microvalves, micropumps, and micromixers, which rely on the precise control of fluidic and structural dynamics. In addition, these computational tools extend to the development of biomedical devices, enabling precise particle manipulation and enhancing therapeutic outcomes in cardiovascular applications. Furthermore, this paper addresses the current challenges in computational FSI and highlights the necessity for further development of tools to tackle complex, time-dependent models under microfluidic environments and varying conditions. Our review highlights the expanding potential of FSI in micro elastofluidics, offering a roadmap for future research and development in this promising area.

The nationwide lockdown imposed to control the spread of novel coronavirus induced dramatic alterations in different sectors of the Nepalese governance, including Solid Waste Management (SWM) practices. The study identifies SW collection gaps in seven major cities of Nepal and highlights the municipal and public households on SW management practices before and during the lockdown to emphasize the linkage between COVID-19 and SWM. It includes information on solid waste status, collection frequency and coverage, workers safety practices, types of vehicles operated for collection and alternative methods adopted by households to manage SW during the lockdown. For this, 1329 households survey and key informant interviews were conducted in seven cities of Nepal during the lockdown. It was found that although the coverage of the collection service was similar during the pandemic, there was a drastic decrease in the collection frequency leading to a collection gap of around 570 tons/day. More than 50% of the surveyed households adopted no proper alternative measures as they claimed that they stored solid waste with proper management so that municipal authorities can take it. The study reveals poor occupational health and safety practices among the solid waste workers due to the unavailability of safety gears and equipment despite being aware of the modes of transmission of the virus. The pandemic exacerbated the challenges of smooth SWM as it is an essential and needy service. This study highlights the need for a timely strategic management framework to be developed by the government to continue the smooth SWM practices during the lockdown.

Riverbed farming (RbF) has emerged as an alternative form of agriculture. This farming supports the poor and marginalized farmers to adapt to climate change, especially in the degraded lands because of floods and flood-induced riverbank erosions every year. The government and non-government organizations (GOs/NGOs) have supported and built capacities of farmers to adopt this as an effective adaptation strategy in the region. This study aims to analyze the determinants of riverbed farming at the household level mainly in Deukhuri valley of Western Terai, Nepal. A total of 150 households were selected randomly for the study in Sisahaniya rural municipality for the household survey. The determinants of the adoption of riverbed farming have been analyzed utilizing independent variables such as age, gender, education, occupation, ethnicity, family size, and others. Education and occupation are positively significant for the adoption of riverbed farming whereas the family size is negatively significant. Agriculture is the main occupation in the area and education helped them to understand the concept and procedure of RbF as alternative farming in the degraded lands. However, not all the family members have actively contributed to the RbF. This is an interesting study that could be expanded with the support of GOs/NGOs.

Ecosystem services (ES) are increasingly recognized as a means to adapt to the ongoing impact of climate change and associated impacts. However, these ES itself are facing adverse impact of climate change especially in developing countries where most of the people are dependent on these services for their livelihood. Very little is known about the relationship between the climate change and ES. Here we assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem services in ES rich landscape of Panchase Mountain Ecological Region of western Nepal. The study area was divided into three ecoregions from lowland through midland to the upland region. Focus group discussion, and key informant interview were used to elicit the required data for the study, which was further supported by transect walk, field observation and secondary source of information. Major impacts of climate change were observed are, reduced availability of water, reduced food production, forest ecosystem, shifting species composition in forest ecosystem, farmland abandonment, and their associated ecosystem services. We recommend to initiate the management actions to help ES adapt to climate change, and which in return could support the ecosystem itself and people dependent on the ES in adaptation to climate change by providing various goods and services.

Background: Glioma surgery was remarkably renewed in the past 2 decades, with improved safety and limited but yet improved life expectations. Fluorescence-guided resection of high-grade gliomas (HGG) plays a central role in this sense, by allowing higher degrees of extent of resection (EOR). The introduction of the exoscopic guided surgery may be considered an implementation for fluorescence techniques over the traditional microscopes. We present the application and the advantages of the exoscopic guided surgery compared to the microscopic surgery in tumor resection guided by 5-ALA fluorescence in patients with HGG. Methods: ten consecutive patients underwent a surgery for HGG resection. The surgery was performed via an exoscopic-guided procedure (Olympus Orbeye) and after oral administration of Gliolan 5 hours before the procedure. During surgery, the procedure was shifted to microscope (Kinevo 900, Zeiss) view. The intensity of the fluorescence under the two different was subjectively measured in different picture samples during the surgery in a 1 to 5 (from minimum to maximum) scale. The brightness of the surgical field and the detailing of the anatomy were also analyzed comparatively. Results: among the ten patients the histopathological diagnosis was an high grade glioma in all cases. In 9 cases was possible to achieve the gross total resection. There was no perioperative mortality. The median fluorescence intensity, on a scale of 1–5, was 4.5 in the exoscope group and 3.5 in the microscope group (p<0.01). Conclusions: The exoscopic guided surgery adds advantages to the traditional fluorescence- guided surgery with 5-aminolevulinic acid. Beyond the important advantage of low cost and the possibility to perform collaborative surgeries, it adds a plain and continuous visualization of the tumor and the surgical field in the fluorescence guided glioma surgery compared to the microscopic guided one.

Ethnomedicine refers to the use of medicinal plants by a society, ethnic group or tribe for health benefits and for the prevention, treatment, and cure of different ailments. The healthy relationship between plants and humans has been continuing since the start of human civilization. The present study aims to document the medicinal information about plants used by ethnic people in different wards of Suryabinyak Municipality, Bhaktapur district, to conserve and utilize the traditional knowledge. Ethnomedicinal data were collected by a Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) method such as door to door surveys, direct observation. Individual interviews, field visits, and a questionnaire survey with the guidance of key informants. The present study has documented 107 medicinal plant species under 60 families which are used for prevention and treatment of 39 different diseases like Jaundice, diarrhea, dysentery, and cancer and 46 distinct health benefits like cough, cold, anti-bleeding, stomachache, diarrhea, fever, blood pressure, fracture, toothache, etc. Suryabinayak Municipality has a rich diversity in culture, ethnic groups, and medicinal plants, along with a wide geographic and climatic condition. However, with modernization, urbanization, deforestation, and increasing residential areas, the occurrence and use of medicinal plants have been diminished. Thus, documentation of this research is vital for further pharmaceutical research and enhancement and preservation of traditional knowledge of local people living in Suryabinayak Municipality and Nepal.

This study assessed farmers’ perception of climate change, estimated the determinants of, and evaluated the relationship among adaptation practices using the multivariate probit model. A survey in 300 agricultural households was carried out covering 10 sample districts considering five agro-ecological zones and a vulnerability index. Four adaptation choices (change in planting date, crop variety, crop type and investment in irrigation) were deemed as outcome variables and socioeconomic, demographic, institutional, farm-level and perceptions variables were deployed as explanatory variables. Their marginal effects were determined for three climatic variables—temperature, precipitation and drought. Age, gender and education of head of household, credit access, farm area, rain-fed farming and tenure, are found to be more influential compared to other factors. All four adaptation-options are found to be complimentary to each other. Importantly, the intensity of impact of dependent variables in different models, and for available adaptation-options, are found to be unequal. Therefore, policy options and support facilities should be devised according to climatic variables and adaptation options to achieve superior results.

Background: Disability and caste are two different forms of oppression, however Dalits and people with disabilities commonly face similar types of marginalities. Dalit women with disabilities may experience double discrimination because of the intersectionality of disability and caste. This study examines whether the disability and caste identity of women together affects and compounds the utilization of maternal healthcare services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire among a total of 354 Dalit and non-Dalit women, with and without a disability aged between 15 – 49 years. Maternal healthcare service utilization was assessed by Ante-Natal Care (ANC), health facility (HF) delivery, and Post-Natal Care (PNC) during the last pregnancy. Logistic regression was performed to detect the predictors of service utilization and identify whether disability and caste were associated with service utilization. First, disability and caste were fitted separately in models. Secondly, the intersectionality of disability and caste was tested by the inclusion of disability*caste interaction term. Finally, the confounding effect of socio-demographic factors was investigated. Results: Out of surveyed women, 73% had 4+ ANC visits, 65% had HF delivery and 29% had a PNC visit during their last pregnancy. Women with a disability had lower odds of HF delivery (OR 0.50, CI 0.30 – 0.84) and PNC (OR 0.47, CI 0.25 – 0.88) than women without a disability. Adjustment for women’s age and household wealth explained associations in HF delivery by women with disabilities. There was no association between caste and service utilization. Disability overrode caste and there was no other evidence of effect modification by women’s caste status in the utilization. However, a weak interaction effect in the utilization of ANC services was found in the caste group by their education (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.05 – 0.74). Conclusions: Disabled women – whether Dalit or non-Dalit - had lower rates of utilizing all maternal healthcare services than non-disabled women. However, Dalit women with disabilities were more likely to receive PNC than non-Dalit women with disabilities. Increasing equity in maternal healthcare service utilization requires that traditional approaches to service development and program intervention to be re-examined and more nuanced interventions considered to ensure improved access and outcome among all vulnerable groups.

This qualitative study explores the implementation and conformation process of digital devices in teaching and learning before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal. Using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory as a framework, the study examines the adoption and adaptation of digital devices by in-service secondary mathematics teachers (n=62) and their perceptions and preferences towards instructional modality. The findings suggest that despite the increased reliance on digital devices during the pandemic, there is a less likelihood of using them in face-to-face classrooms in developing countries like Nepal. The adoption of online learning has not yet reached the confirmation stage, even after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, online learning was not widely implemented or confirmed by teachers in developing countries societies. The study also provides important insights into the challenges and opportunities of using digital devices in post-COVID-19 classrooms, and its implications for policymakers and educators in Nepal.

Background: Mental health is a growing concern worldwide. It is not well understood whether Nepali workers, including international labour migrants from Nepal, are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. The purpose of our study is to determine the prevalence of and examine the risks factors for depression among returnee migrants and non-migrant working male adults in Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of a probability-based sample of 725 participants was conducted in February 2020. The sample was comprised of two groups based on migration status: returning migrants and non-migrants. Logistic regression was applied to investigate factors associated with symptoms depression.Results: The overall prevalence of depression was 10.1%. However, the prevalence of depression was lower (7%) among returnee migrants compared to non-migrants (13.7%). Participants in the lower income group were more at risk of depression (OR=5.38, 95% CI: 1.96-14.78) than those in the higher income group. Similarly, Buddhists and Christians were more likely to be depressed (OR=2.17, 95% CI: 1.02-4.64) than Hindus. Interestingly, participants having more than two children had a higher prevalence of depression (OR=5.14, 95% CI: 1.22-21.63) compared with those having no children. Unmarried participants were more likely to be depressed (OR=4.05, 95%, CI:1.10-14.93) than those who were married. Conclusion: The working Nepali adult male population in Nepal, including returning migrants, is at risk of depression, but this risk is lower in those in the higher income group, returnee migrants, married, Hindus and those with no children. This study highlights the need to monitor and develop national policies to ensure the mental health of Nepali male adult population, including returnee migrants.

The Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) is a high mountain protected area in eastern Nepal undergoing socio-economic and environmental changes that are unprecedented in the region’s history. In the following paper, we discuss recent changes involving new road construction, climate change, adventure tourism, and the wildlife/forest cover/medicinal plant sectors. Our assessments are based on the collective results of past and recent field research, remote sensing analysis, oral histories, and literature reviews. While similar changes are occurring in mountain protected areas (MPA) throughout Nepal, it is suggested that the KCA differs from other regions in that it still retains the option of conducting detailed feasibility, environmental, and impact assessments prior to the implementation of major change-associated projects, particularly the construction of roads. In turn, the KCA might avoid many of the environmental, social, and economic problems experienced elsewhere in Nepal, while enhancing its status, income-generating capacities, and sustainability as a global destination for adventure, nature, and cultural tourism.

Acid lime [Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle] is a fruit crop, enriched with high commercial value and is cultivated in 60 out of 75 districts representing all geographical landscapes of Nepal. Lack of high yielding cultivars is probably one of the main reason for its extremely reduced productivity which warrants a deep understanding of genetic diversity in existing germplasm. Hereby, we aim to access the genetic diversity of acid lime germplasm cultivated at 3-different ecological gradients of eastern Nepal employing PCR-based Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats markers (ISSR). Altogether, 21 polymorphic ISSR markers were used to assess the genetic diversity in 60 acid lime cultivars sampled from different geographical locations. Analysis of binary data matrix was performed on the basis of bands obtained, scoring of the data was done accordingly, and principal coordinate analysis and phenogram were constructed using different computer algorithms. ISSR profiling yielded 234 amplicons, of which 87.18% were found to be polymorphic. The number of amplified fragments ranged from 7-18 with amplicon size ranging from 250-3200 bp. The NTSYS based Cluster analysis using UPGMA algorithm taking Dice Similarity coefficient separated 60 accessions into 2-major and 3-minor clusters. The genetic diversity analysis revealed the highest for Terai and the lowest for High-hill zone. Cluster I comprised of accessions from High-hill and Mid-hill regions revealing the close genetic relationship, whereas cluster II comprised of accessions from all three agro-ecological zones and the exotic varieties. Furthermore, our results revealed the accessions harvested from different geographical gradients were not genetically distinct, but highest diversity was observed in Terai accessions in comparison to the regions belonging to the High and Mid-hills. Thus, our data indicate that the ISSR provides a better option for evaluating the genetic diversity of Nepalese Acid Lime cultivars and furnished significant information, assisting parental selection in current and future breeding programs and germplasm conservation which ultimately may help to provide a technological breakthrough for the farmers of the developing country like Nepal.

Sleep and stress significantly affect emotions, productivity, and overall well-being, crucial for optimal health and performance. However, limited research examines how Nepalese nurses' quality of life relates to their sleep quality and stress levels. This study aims to assess this relationship among nurses in private hospitals in Kathmandu. Three private hospitals were selected for this cross-sectional analytical study. Eligible nurses were chosen through purposive sampling, and data were analysed using IBM SPSS v25, employing Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis. Research revealed a high rate of poor sleep quality (83.9%) among individuals with a mean age of 24.33 ± 3.08 years. Initially, significant associations were found with the factors like bachelor's degree, no tobacco use, absence of insomnia, good sleep quality, and low stress with good quality of life. After adjustment, the association with bachelor's degree [AOR:2.025, CI at 95%: 1.021-4.016, p

This study evaluated the impact of didactic videos and service user testimonial videos on mental illness stigma among medical students. Two randomized controlled trials were conducted in Nepal. Study 1 examined stigma reduction for depression. Study 2 examined depression and psychosis. Participants were Nepali medical students (Study 1:n=94, Study 2:¬n=213) randomized to three conditions: a didactic video based on the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP), a service user video about living with mental illness, or a control condition with no videos. In Study 1, videos only addressed depression. In Study 2, videos addressed depression and psychosis. In Study 1, both didactic and service user videos reduced stigma compared to the control (F2,91=6.37, p=0.003). In Study 2 (depression and psychosis), there were no differences among the three arms (F2,210=2.07, p=0.13). When comparing Study 1 and 2, there was greater stigma reduction in the service user video arm with only depression versus service user videos with depression and psychosis (t(31)=-3.04, p=0.005). In summary, didactic and service user videos were associated with decreased stigma when content addressed only depression. However, no stigma reduction was seen when including depression and psychosis. This calls for different strategies based on types of mental illnesses. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03231761

Purpose: Proximal Femur Fractures (PFFs) in elder patients lead to decreased productivity. Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) are non-home destinations for post-discharge disposition. This study aims to evaluate the loss of independence (LOI) following PFFs and examine the economic impact it entails. Method: Literature from various databases was collected and analyzed retrospectively. The inclusion criteria included patients age >18 years and articles published after 1990. All studies were screened and a PRISMA chart was used to demonstrate the search process. 24 studies were finally used for review. Results: LOI following PFFs significantly increases with age. Fractures in geriatrics avail a significant amount of post-care resources and had longer lengths of stay. Furthermore, six pre-operative risk factors were identified for non-home disposition including age >75, female, non-Caucasian race, Medicare status, prior depression, Charlson Comorbidity Index. Patients discharged directly to home have lower total cost compared to those discharged to rehabilitation units. Loss of independence increases with advancing age. Discussion: PFFs can lead to serious loss of independence among elderly patients with direct impact on economic, social, psychological aspects and the healthcare system.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a single-stranded RNA virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, poses a significant global health threat, with severe complications observed in vulnerable populations. The only licensed vaccine, IXCHIQ, approved by the USFDA, is insufficient to address the growing disease burden, particularly in endemic regions lacking herd immunity. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), explicitly targeting structural proteins E1/E2, demonstrate promise in passive transfer studies, with mouse and human-derived mAbs showing protective efficacy. The article explores various vaccine candidates, including live attenuated, killed, nucleic-acid-based (DNA/RNA), virus-like particle, chimeric, subunit, and adenovirus vectored vaccines. RNA vaccines emerge as promising candidates due to their rapid response capabilities and enhanced safety profile. The review underscores the importance of E1 and E2 proteins as immunogens, emphasising their antigenic potential. Several vaccine candidates, such as CHIKV/IRES, measles vector (MV-CHIK), synthetic DNA-encoded antibodies, and mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccines, demonstrate encouraging preclinical and clinical study results. In addition to identifying potential molecular targets for antiviral therapy, the study looks into the roles played by Toll-like receptors, RIG-I, and NOD-like receptors in the immune response to CHIKV. It also offers insights into novel tactics and promising vaccine candidates.

The home is becoming a key location for healthcare delivery, including the use of technology driven by autonomous systems (AS) to monitor and support healthcare plans. Using the example of a smart mirror, this paper describes the outcomes of focus groups with people with multiple sclerosis (MS; n=6) and people who have had a stroke (n=15) to understand their attitudes towards the use of AS for healthcare in the home. We thematic analysis to analyse the data. The results indicate that the use of such technology depends on the level of adaptability and responsiveness to the users’ specific circumstances, including their relationships with the healthcare system. A smart mirror would need to support manual entry, responsive goal setting, effective aggregation of data sources and integration with other technology, have a range of input methods, be supportive rather than prescriptive in messaging, and give the user full control of their data. Barriers to adoption include a perceived lack of portability and practicality, lack of accessibility and inclusivity, a sense of redundancy, being overwhelmed by multiple technological devices, and a lack of trust in data sharing. These results inform the development and deployment of future health technologies based on the lived experiences of people with health conditions who require ongoing care.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is one of the most flood-prone regions in the world, yet heavy cloud cover and limited in-situ observations have hampered efforts to monitor the impact of heavy rainfall, flooding, and inundation during severe weather events. This paper introduces HydroSAR, a Sentinel-1 SAR-based hazard monitoring service that was co-developed with in-region partners to provide year-round, low-latency weather-hazards information across the HKH. The paper describes the end-user focused concept and overall design of the HydroSAR service. It introduces the main processing algorithms behind HydroSAR’s broad product portfolio, which includes qualitative visual layers as well as quantitative products measuring surface water extent and water depth. We summarize the cloud-based implementation of the developed service, which is providing capability to scale automatically with event size. A performance assessment of our quantitative algorithms is described, demonstrating capabilities to map flood extent and water depth at an accuracy of >90% and

Abstract The article discusses about the current situation of Novel Corona Virus also called as the COVID-19 that hinder for all human’s life including the education. Rapidly escalating COVID-19, has caused havoc in quality education and every educational institution are closed. As the UNESCO report it showed that 1.6 billion children being affected due to the close of institution across 191 countries. With the alternative method every education institution started blended learning virtual classes in order to continue learning environment in students. The articles investigate COVID-19 impact on student’s quality education in Nepal and social work implication. The findings of the study shows that the COVID-19 has seriously effects on the students learning environment. It showed the huge gap between getting the good education in Nepal. However, Nepal has also made some policies to provide equal quality education to all the children through the ICT and also encourage social work to actively participate on providing education to all the majority of group children in Nepal. Whereas social work applied the micro, messo, and macro level of implication in practice to provide the education for children in remote area of Nepal.

Background: Disparity in adult mortality (AM) with reference to social dynamics and health care has not been sufficiently examined. This study aimed to identify the gap in the understanding of AM in relation to religion, political stability, economic level, and universal health coverage (UHC). Methods: A cross-national study was performed with different sources of data, using the administrative record linkage theory. We created a new data set using data from the 2013 World Bank data catalogue by region, The Economist (Political instability index 2013), Stuckler David et al. (Universal health coverage, 2010), and religious categories of all UN country members. Descriptive statistics, a t-test, an ANOVA followed by a post hoc test, and a linear regression were used where applicable. Result: The average AM rate for males and females was 0.20 ± 0.10 and 0.14 ± 0.10, respectively. AM was significantly higher in economically weak countries, countries with political instability, countries with traditional religion, without achievement of UHC, and Sub-Saharan Africa (p<0.01). There was high disparity of AM between countries with and without UHC (F = male: 61.89, female: 51.85, p<0.001) and between groups with low and high income (F = male: 36.33, female: 42.39, p<0.001). UHC and political stability would significantly reduce AMR by > 0.41 in both sexes and high economic status would reduce male AMR by 0.44, and female AMR by 0.70, in relation to countries without UHC, with political instability, and low economic status. Conclusions: Disparities in AM can be reduced after the achievement of UHC and economically productive activities for those adults affected by conflict and political unrest.

Nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a complex cardiovascular condition often characterized by genetic pathogenesis. Comprehensive genetic testing has become a crucial aspect of DCM diagnosis and management, offering insights into prognosis and the identification of at-risk individuals. This case series and mini literature review examines the diagnostic and therapeutic dimensions of DCM, emphasizing the role of genetic evaluation. We delve into distinct genetic pathways associated with DCM and their pathogenetic mechanisms, emphasizing the evolving significance of genetic markers, particularly in cases where arrhythmia risk is heightened. The historical reliance on cardiac morphology to subtype cardiomyopathies is being complemented by the identification of genetic variants, further refining DCM subtypes, and aiding in clinical management.The giant sarcomere protein, titin, is a pivotal determinant of cardiomyocyte stiffness and plays a crucial role in cardiac strain sensing. Titin's extensive size and complexity make it susceptible to dysregulation, which has far-reaching consequences in cardiac disorders. This case series with a literature review explores the molecular mechanisms governing titin-based forces in both health and disease. It highlights the influence of isoform diversity and post-translational modifications on myocardial stiffness and contractility. In the context of cardiac diseases, we discuss how titin properties are altered, focusing on changes in titin stiffness and protein quality control. Notably, we address the pathomechanisms associated with truncation in the titin gene (TTN) in human cardiomyopathy, shedding light on potential therapeutic approaches for conditions such as HFpEF and TTN-truncation cardiomyopathy.This comprehensive understanding of DCM and Titin’s role in cardiac physiology and pathology provides a solid foundation for addressing cases like that of our patients, who were presented with features of heart failure and arrhythmias. Despite immediate and extensive resuscitative measures, the patient's protracted response to the treatment raised questions about the potential underlying genetic factors contributing to their clinical presentation. These cases underscore the importance of genetic evaluation in unraveling the complexity of cardiomyopathies, ultimately enhancing our ability to manage and treat such challenging cases.

Alginate-silver nanocomposites in the form of spherical beads and films were prepared using a green approach by using the aqueous extract of Ajwa dates seeds. The nanocomposites were fabricated by in situ reduction and gelation method by ionotropic crosslinking using calcium ions in solution. The rich phytochemicals of the dates seeds extract played a dual role as reducing and stabilizing agent in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The formation of silver nanoparticles was studied using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and a distinct surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak at 421 nm characteristic of silver nanoparticles confirmed the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The morphology of the nanocomposite beads and film was compact with even distribution of silver nanoclusters. The catalytic property of the nanocomposite beads was evaluated for the degradation of 2-nitrophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride. The degradation followed pseudo-first order kinetics with a rate constant of 1.40 ´ 10^-3 s^-1 at 23 °C with an activation energy of 18.45 kJ mol^-1. The thermodynamic parameters such as changes in enthalpy and entropy were evaluated to be 15.22 kJ mol^-1 and -197.50 J mol^-1 K^-1, respectively. The nanocomposite exhibited properties against three clinically important pathogens (Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria)

This review systematically examines the progression of the You Only Look Once (YOLO) object detection algorithms from YOLOv1 to the recently unveiled YOLOv10. Employing a reverse chronological analysis, this study examines the advancements introduced by YOLO algorithms, beginning with YOLOv10 and progressing through YOLOv9, YOLOv8, and subsequent versions to explore each version's contributions to enhancing speed, accuracy, and computational efficiency in real-time object detection. The study highlights the transformative impact of YOLO across five critical application areas: automotive safety, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, surveillance, and agriculture. By detailing the incremental technological advancements that each iteration brought, this review not only chronicles the evolution of YOLO but also discusses the challenges and limitations observed in each earlier versions. The evolution signifies a path towards integrating YOLO with multimodal, context-aware, and General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) systems for the next YOLO decade, promising significant implications for future developments in AI-driven applications.

It is crucial to immediately curb the spread of a disease once an outbreak is identified in a pandemic. An agent based simulator will enable the policymakers to evaluate the effectiveness of different hypothetical strategies and policies with a higher level of granularity. This will allow them to identify the vulnerabilities and asses the threat level more effectively, which in turn can be used to build resilience within the community against a pandemic. This study proposes a PanDemic SIMulator (PDSIM ) which is capable of modeling complex environments while simulating realistic human motion patterns. The ability of PDSIM to track the infection propagation patterns, contact paths, places visited, characteristics of people, vaccination, and testing information of the population, allows the user to check the efficacy of different containment strategies and testing protocols. The results obtained based on the case studies of Covid-19 are used to validate the proposed model. However, it is highly extendable to all pandemics in general, enabling robust planning for more sustainable communities.

The emergence of the H3N2 influenza virus in 1968 marked a significant event as it crossed the species barrier. Since then, ongoing mutational dynamics have led to the formation of antigenic clusters, prompting the World Health Organization to advocate for regular updates to H3N2 vaccines. Research in the Western Pacific region underscores the necessity for heightened awareness and effective control strategies. Stemming from avian influenza A, the 1968 H3N2 influenza pandemic resulted in the deaths of one million people globally, with its seasonal variants primarily affecting older individuals and causing severe illness due to antigenic drift. To address the challenge of vaccine efficacy against H3N2 mutations, researchers are exploring innovative strategies such as precise antigenic material administration, controlled release patterns, understanding immune system mechanisms, and glycan engineering. This review comprehensively examines various aspects of the Influenza A (H3N2) virus, encompassing its virological characteristics, evolutionary trends, global epidemiology, vaccination strategies, antiviral interventions, and emerging diagnostic approaches. It underscores the impact of antigenic variation on vaccine design and effectiveness, seasonal outbreak patterns, pandemic potential, and the interplay between viral factors and host immune responses. Moreover, the review evaluates antiviral therapies and the issue of drug resistance, emphasising the necessity for multidisciplinary approaches involving researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to comprehend H3N2 and enhance public health interventions.

Milk serves as a crucial source of natural bioactive compounds essential for human nutrition and health. The gastrointestinal digestion of milk proteins releases various biologically active peptides that positively impact human health and enhance physiological performance. With the growing production of cheese, Greek yogurt, and other dairy products, the volume of unutilized acid whey is significantly increasing. Acid whey, containing almost all whey proteins and approximately one-quarter of casein, presents a valuable raw material for generating peptides with potential health benefits. These peptides exhibit properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, antithrombotic, opioid, mineral-binding, and growth-stimulating activities, contributing to improved human immunity and the treatment of chronic diseases. Enzymatic hydrolysis of milk proteins has been developed as a method to produce these peptides, facilitating their use in food fortification. To incorporate whey into functional beverages, it undergoes fermentation by lactic acid bacteria with proteolytic activity. To specifically enrich these beverages with peptides exhibiting targeted bioactivities, it is essential to select lactic acid bacteria strains possessing the requisite protease profiles. Additionally, the sensory properties of the final product can be enhanced using starter cultures with diverse metabolic capabilities, even in the absence of added flavoring agents. Given the imperative to develop waste-free technologies and enhance the profitability of the dairy industry, there is a growing need to efficiently utilize and transform acid whey into a broad spectrum of valuable products and food additives. This approach is justified not only by the nutritional benefits of the bioactive components in whey but also by the commercial potential of safe and health-enhancing products.

The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

In order to shorten the detection time and improve the average precision on embedded devices, A lightweight and high accuracy model is proposed for passion fruit in complex environments (backlight, occlusion, overlap, sunny, cloudy, rainy). Firstly, replacing the backbone network of YOLOv5 with a lightweight GhostNet model reduces the number of parameters and computation while improving detection speed. Secondly, a new feature branch is added to the GhostNet network, and the feature fusion layer in the neck network is reconstructed to effectively combine the lower-level and higher-level features, which not only improves the accuracy of the model but also maintains its lightweight. Finally, the knowledge distillation methods are used to transfer the knowledge from the more capable teacher model to the less capable student model, which significantly improving the detection accuracy. The improved model is denoted as G-YOLO-NK. The average accuracy of the G-YOLO-NK network is 96.00%, which is 1.00% higher than the original YOLOv5s model. Furthermore, the improved model size is 7.14MB, reduced to half of the original model, and the real-time detection frame rate is 11.25 FPS on the Jetson Nano. Compared to the state-of-the-art model, the proposed model outperforms them in terms of average precision and detection performance. The present work provides an effective model for real-time detection of passion fruits in complex orchard scenes, which can provide valuable technical support for the development of orchard picking robots and greatly improve the intelligence level of orchards.

The impact of interaction SS with MJO on rainfall along Java Island to East Nusa Tenggara has been studied using daily rainfall observation data from 2140 weather observation stations, which are also equipped with GSMaP, OLR, and ERA5 data. There were 61 SS events found, 17 during active MJO and 44 in inactive MJO. Rainfall increases more in the western study area when the active MJO and more in the eastern study area when the inactive MJO is due to SS. SS reduces rainfall in the Jakarta region, regardless of the activity or inactivity of the MJO. SS causes extreme rainfall to only occur in a small part of certain areas, so it tends to significantly reduce the possibility of extreme rainfall. In the southern part of the IMC, SS predominates over MJO in supporting increased water vapor transport. Large-scale synoptic circulations like the monsoon, SS, and MJO can interact with local land-sea wind circulation to produce spatiotemporal variability in rainfall on Java Island. Rainfall mostly increases in the afternoon and decreases in the morning when SS occurs, whether there is MJO or not. Convective instability analysis indicates that SS increases precipitation, most likely by lowering CIN and raising VIMFC.

The Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) scanner is an easy and portable Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data acquisition device. Its main output is a 3D point cloud covering the scanned scene. Regarding the importance of accuracy in the survey domain, this paper aims to assess the accuracy of two SLAM scanners: the NavVis VLX and the BLK2GO Scanner. This assessment is conducted for both outdoor and indoor environments. In this context, two types of reference data are used: the Total Station (TS) and the static scanner Z+F Imager 5016. To carry out the assessment, four comparisons are tested: cloud to cloud, cloud to mesh, mesh to mesh, and edge detection board assessment. However, the results of the assessments confirm that the accuracy of indoor SLAM scanner measurements (5 mm) is greater than that of outdoor ones (between 10 mm and 60 mm). Moreover, the comparison of cloud to cloud provides the best accuracy regarding direct accuracy measurement without manipulations. Finally, based on the high accuracy, scanning speed, flexibility, and the accuracy differences between tested cases, it is confirmed that SLAM scanners are effective tools for data acquisition.

Glycosidic linkage analysis was conducted on the unfractionated polysaccharides in the alcohol-insoluble residues (AIRs) prepared from six red seaweeds (Gracilariopsis sp., Prionitis sp., Mastocarpus papillatus, Callophyllis sp., Mazzaella splendens, and Palmaria palmata) using GC-MS/FID analysis of partially methylated alditol acetates (PMAAs). The cell walls of P. palmata primarily contained mixed-linkage xylans and small amounts of sulfated galactans and cellulose. In contrast, the unfractionated polysaccharides of the other five species were rich in galactans displaying diverse 3,6-anhydro-galactose and galactose linkages with varied sulfation patterns. Different levels of cellulose were also observed. This glycosidic linkage method offers advantages for cellulose analysis over traditional monosaccharide analysis that is known for underrepresenting glucose in crystalline cellulose. Relative linkage compositions calculated from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements showed that anhydro sugar linkages generated more response in the latter detection method. This improved linkage workflow presents a useful tool for studying polysaccharide structural variations across red seaweed species. Furthermore, for the first time, relative linkage compositions from GC-MS and GC-FID measurements, along with normalized FID and total ion current (TIC) chromatograms without peak assignments, were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the technique's potential to differentiate various red seaweed species.

Background: Educating college students about the importance of good sleep habits could lead to the adoption of healthier sleep routines, including sufficient sleep duration and sleep quality. The current pre-post study examines the impact of completing a sleep education program called “Sleep 101” on (1) sleep hygiene practices, (2) sleep quality, and (3) weekday and weekend sleep behaviors among college students. “Sleep 101” is an interactive online course developed to educate college students about the importance of sleep by addressing basic sleep physiology, the impact of sleep on mood, academic and physical performance, the interactions between sleep and various substances, and common sleep disorders. Methods: 338 college students were recruited from a midsized public university in the US and invited to participate in “Sleep 101”, of which 25 participants completed the baseline and post-intervention questionnaire. The Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) was utilized to evaluate sleep hygiene practices, while standard questions were employed to assess weekday and weekend sleep behaviors and overall sleep quality. Results: Those who completed the study demonstrated a significant increase in weekday sleep duration and were less likely to engage in negative prior bedtime activities. In addition, 40% of those who completed baseline and post-intervention assessments noticed improvements in their sleep quality. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a brief online program is beneficial in improving sleep behaviors among college and could be a scalable approach to addressing current sleep issues and preventing future sleep problems in college students.

The profile of secondary metabolites occurring in apple cuticular layer is not only characteristic for particular apple cultivar, but also dynamically reflects various external factors in growing environment. In this study, the possibility to authenticate apple samples based on analysis of their cuticular layer extracts was investigated. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS) was employed for obtaining metabolomic fingerprints. In total, 274 authentic apple samples, four cultivars harvested within the seasons 2020 to 2022 in the Czech Republic and Poland were analysed. The generated complex data processed by univariate and multivariate statistical methods enabled to build classification models for discrimination of apple cultivars as well as their geographical origin. The models showed very good performance in differentiation of Czech and Polish samples for three of four cultivars: ‘Gala’, ‘Golden Delicious’ and ‘Idared’, moreover, the validity of the models was verified over harvest seasons. The diagnostic markers, besides metabolites of triterpene biosynthetic pathway, mainly represented wax esters. ‘Jonagold’, which is known to be susceptible to mutations, was the only cultivar for which the unambiguous classification of geographical origin was not possible.

Superior fiber quality is one of the most important objectives in cotton breeding. To detect the genetic basis underlying fiber quality, an F2 population containing 413 plants was constructed by crossing Jifeng 914 and Jifeng 173, both of which have superior fiber quality, with Jifeng 173 being better. Five fiber quality traits were investigated in the F2, F2:3, F2:4, and F2:5 populations. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping was conducted based on a high-density genetic map containing 11,488 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and spanning 4,202.12 cM in length. Transgressive segregation patterns and complex correlations in the five tested traits were observed. A total of 108 QTLs were found, including 27 for fiber length (FL), 16 for fiber strength (FS), 24 for micronaire (MC), 17 for fiber uniformity (FU), and 24 for fiber elongation rate (FE). Chromosome A7 contained 12 QTL, ranking the first. No QTL was found on chromosome D1 and D11. Each QTL contributed 1.98%–21.45% to the phenotypic variation (PV), including 13 major effect QTLs that contributed more than 10% toward PV. Two QTLs could be repeatedly detected in three populations, including qFL-D3-2 in F2, F2:4, and F2:5 with 9.18%–21.45% of PV, qFS-A11-1 in F2:3, F2:4 and F2:5 with 6.05%–10.41% of PV. Another seven stable QTLs could be detected in two populations, including four major effect QTLs: qFL-A12-3, qFS-D10-2, qMC-D6-2, and qMC-D8-1. Fourteen QTL-overlapping regions were found, which might explain the complex correlations among the five phenotypic traits. Four regions on chromosome A11, D3, D6, and D10 covered by both stable and major effect QTLs are promising for further fine mapping. The genomic regions of the two QTLs detected in three populations and the four major effect QTLs contain 810 genes. Gene functional analysis revealed that the annotated genes are mainly involved in protein binding and metabolic pathways. Fifteen candidate genes in the qFL-D3-2 region are highly expressed in fiber or ovules during fiber initiation, elongation, secondary cell wall thickening, or maturation stages. qRT-PCR revealed that Ghir_D03G005440.1 and Ghir_D03G011310.1 may play a role in promoting fiber initiation, Ghir_D03G006470.1 may be beneficial for promoting fiber elongation. This study provides more information for revealing the molecular genetic basis underlying cotton fiber quality.

Nepal, primarily an agricultural country, heavily relies on agricultural residue and fuelwood for daily energy requirements. In 2022, total energy consumption was 640 PJ, with traditional sources accounting for 64.17%, and fuelwood comprising 58.53% of total fuel consumption. The estimated potential supply of agricultural residue is 26 million tonnes, yielding about 442 million GJ of energy in 2021. Biomass trading often emphasizes volume or weight, necessitating a rapid and non-destructive assessment of energy properties for mutual benefit, aiding in the identification, management, and utilization of biomass sources. In this study, 200 biomass samples were collected in two batches (126 and 74 samples) from various locations in Nepal. Using Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR), a model was developed correlating higher heating value (HHV) from a bomb calorimeter and spectral data from Fourier Transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIRS) (3595 – 12,489 cm-1) sensor. PLSR models incorporated raw spectra, eight preprocessing techniques, the multi-preprocessing five-range method, and a genetic algorithm. Outliers in the first batch were identified, and the first batch divided into an 80% calibration set and a 20% validation set, while the second batch was designated as an unknown sample set. The optimum PLSR model, utilizing first derivative preprocessing, improved accuracy by 6.77%, with coefficients of determination in the calibration set, validation set, and unknown set as 0.9694, 0.9578, and 0.8089, respectively. Root mean square errors were 132.4790 J/g, 189.4800 J/g, and 360.8845 J/g for the calibration set (RMSEC), validation set (RMSEP), and unknown set (RMSEUN), respectively. The prediction to deviation ratio (RPD) for the validation set and unknown set was 4.9 and 2.4, respectively. The cross validation model of combined sample data of every sets showed the R2CV of 0.95 and RPDCV of 4.6 indicating the model could serve as a reliable and swift non-destructive alternative for evaluating biomass HHV using NIRS and ready for updating for industrial use. However, incorporating a larger number of representative samples is crucial to enhance accuracy and develop a more comprehensive global model for predicting biomass HHV.

Currently there are fewer depth models applied to pepper picking detection, while the existing generalized neural networks have problems such as large model parameters, long training time, and low model accuracy.In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a Yolo-chili target detection algorithm for chili pepper detection. First, the classical target detection algorithm yolov5 is used as a benchmark model, and an adaptive spatial feature pyramid structure combining the attention mechanism and the idea of multi-scale prediction is introduced to improve the model's detection effect on occluded peppers and small target peppers. Secondly, a three-channel attention mechanism module is introduced to improve the algorithm's long-distance recognition ability and reduce the interference of redundant testers. Finally, the quantized pruning method is used to reduce the model parameters and realize the lightweight processing of the model. Applying the method to the homemade chili pepper dataset, the AP value of chili pepper reaches 93.11%; the accuracy rate is 93.51% and the recall rate is 92.55%.The experimental results show that yolo-chili is able to achieve accurate and real-time pepper detection under complex orchards.

The temporary immersion system bioreactor named GreenTray®[2], [3]presents advantages over the existing ones. Firstly, there is no need to use forceps to move the shoots or plantlets in or out of the recipient, neither the use of scalpel to divide them. Secondly, the basis of the shoot can remain in the GreenTray® and can sprout again in several cycles of growth. These two characteristics reduce the costs in the process of micropropagation. Besides, shoots or plantlets development is enhanced by the aeration of the recipient, thus enriching with CO2 the recipient atmosphere. The chapter describes and provides images and values of interest in (1) the micropropagation process of some commercial Prunus or Pyrus rootstocks; (2) the plantlet growth under autotrophic conditions; and (2) the inoculation of plants with pathogens that reproduce in vitro the symptoms observed in vivo, using the GreenTray® bioreactor.

Aiming at the problems of inaccurate segmentation of long object and information loss of small object in real-time semantic segmentation algorithm, this paper proposes a lightweight multi-branch real-time semantic segmentation network based on BiseNetV2. The new auxiliary branch makes full use of spatial details and context information to cover the long object in the field of view. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the inference speed of the model, the asymmetric convolution is used in each stage of the auxiliary branch to design a structure with low computational complexity. In the multi-branch fusion stage, the alignment and fusion module is designed to provide guidance information for deep and shallow feature mapping, so as to make up for the problem of feature misalignment in the fusion of information at different scales, and thus reduce the loss of small target information. In order to further improve the model’s awareness of key information, a global context module is designed to capture the most important features in the input data. The proposed network uses NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU experiment, on the road street view data set Cityscapes and CamVid average occurring simultaneously ratio reached 77.1% and 78.4% respectively, with running speed of 127 frames/s respectively and 112 frames/s. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve real-time segmentation and improve the accuracy significantly, showing good semantic segmentation performance

Strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora is one of the main diseases of strawberry and significantly impacts the yield and quality of strawberry fruit. There are now no effective control techniques available except for fungicide sprays, which may directly impact consumers. Biological control is becoming an alternative method for the control of plant diseases to replace or decrease the application of traditional synthetic chemical fungicides. Trichoderma is widely used as a biological agent for controlling strawberry root rot. In order to provide resources for screening the highly effective biocontrol fungus for controlling strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora, the biocontrol mechanism,the control effects of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 against strawberry root rot and growth-promoting effects on strawberry seedlings were investigated by plate culture, microscopy observation and root drenching methods.The results showed that CMT10 had obvious competitive, antibiotic and hyperparasitism effects on Neopestalotiopsis clavispora CMGF3. The CMT10 could quickly occupy nutritional space, and the inhibition rates of CMT10 against CMGF3 in confrontation culture on 7 d was 65.49%. The inhibition rates of volatile metabolite and fermentation metabolite produced by CMT10 against CMGF3 were 79.67% and 69.84%, respectively. The mycelium of strain CMT10 can act as hyperparasites by making contacting, winding and penetrating hyphae of CMGF3. Pot experiment showed that the biocontrol efficacy of CMT10 on strawberry root rot caused by Neopestalotiopsis clavispora was 63.00%. CMT10 had obvious promotion effect on strawberry growth, the plant height, root length, total fresh weight, root fresh weight, stem fresh weight and root dry weight, with the promotion rates were 20.09%, 22.39%, 87.11%, 101.58%, 79.82% and 72.33%, respectively. Overall, this study showed the ability of Trichoderma asperellum CMT10 to control strawberry root rot and their potential to develop as novel biocontrol agents to replace chemical fungicides for eco-friendly, sustainable agriculture.

In this paper we study a class of impulsive delayed neural networks with parameter uncertainties and reaction-diffusion terms. Using the properties of M-matrices and some inequality techniques, some sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the global exponential stability of the given system. The results obtained are presented by simple algebraic inequalities, which are certainly more concise than previous methods. Finally, the validity and usefulness of our results are illustrated by arithmetic examples.

Pyrops candelaria is one of the common pests of fruit trees, but the research on the pathogenic microorganisms it may carry is very limited. Therefore, it is essential to reveal the pathogenic microbes it carries and their potential hazards. This study found a new virus from the transcriptome of P. candelaria, which was first reported in P. candelaria and named as PyCaV (Pyrops candelaria associated virus). RACE and bioinformatics assay revealed that the full-length of PyCaV is 10855 bp with the polyA tail, containing a single open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polyprotein consisting of 3171 amino acid (aa). The virus has a typical Iflavirus structure, including two rhv domains, a RNA helicase domain (HEL), a 3C cysteine protease domain (Pro), and a RNA-dependent RNA polymerase domain (RdRp). Further phylogenetic analysis revealed that this virus belongs to family Iflaviridae and sequence alignements analysis suggedted PyCaV is new member in unassigned genus of family Iflaviridae. Further in-depth analysis of virus-infection-part showed that PyCaV is distributing in the whole longan lanternfly, including its head, chest, and abdomen, but more PyCaV was identified in the chest. The distribution of PyCaV in different parts of P. candelaria was further explored, which showed that more PyCaV were detected in its piercing-sucking mouthparts and chest viscera. Statistical analysis showed that the PyCaV infection was affected by time and locations.

Apis mellifera, especially weak ones, are highly vulnerable to Carpoglyphus lactis mites, which can rapidly infest and consume stored pollen, leading to weakened colonies and potentially colony collapse. This study aimed to ascertain and investigate the prevalence of this mite in honeybee colonies across 9 provinces in the Republic of Korea (ROK). A total of 615 honeybee colonies were collected, from 66 apiaries during the spring and 58 apiaries during the summer of 2023. A 1,242 bp segment of the the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The detection levels of C. lactis in the honeybees were compared between winter and summer. Based on the COI sequence analysis, the nucleotide sequence similarity of C. lactis mites isolated in the ROK with those from China (NC048990.1) was found to be 99.5%, and with those from the United Kingdom (KY922482.1) was 99.3%. This study is the first report of C. lactis in Korean apiaries. The findings in this study demonstrate a significantly higher detection rate in winter, which is 4.1 times greater than that in summer (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the results underscore the usefulness of molecular diagnostic techniques for detecting C. lactis mites.