Mindfulness-based Self-care Practices of Counselors for Nurturing Wellbeing: An Auto/ethnographic Inquiry

This study explores mindfulness-based self-care practices of counsellors working in school setting and how it contributes to wellbeing. The study demonstrates that mindfulness improves self-care and wellbeing, reduces stress and burnout, balances mental and physical health, and compassion towards self and others. This study further unpacks how counselors notice signs of stress and burnout, their existing self-care practices, and how they practice mindfulness in their daily life to enhance their wellbeing. This study follows a Buddhist perspective and is centralized within Buddhist principles. The study was done within three months using the auto/ethnographic method. The narratives offer experiences of school counselors’ challenges in school and how they deal with them, experiences of stress and burnout, existing self-care practices in their life areas, and reflection on need for changes in their self-care practices. Semi-structured interviews as well as arts-based work and photographs with three counselors working in school setting and journaling of Author 1 throughout the research period was documented. The first author reflects on her roles as counselor, Gestalt psychotherapist, mindfulness practitioner, and Buddhist student, in conversation with the second author role as mentor and educator with an Eastern perspective. Through an auto/ ethnographic inquiry, the study uses self-reflection of mindfulness practice and mindful inquiry with four counselors to gather, analyze and interpret self-reflective materials. This study contributes to knowledge that possibly enhances the development of the university curriculum in terms of the teaching, training, and supervision of self-care practices. It advocates the need for self-care for counselors in school

Societal Stigma and the Caregiver’s Dilemma in Inclusive School Settings

The study explores the impact of societal stigma on caregivers in inclusive school settings in Nepal, highlighting the emotional exhaustion, isolation, and disengagement experienced by those raising neurodiverse children despite progressive educational policies. Using narrative inquiry, the study shows how affiliate stigma, or stigma experienced by association, undermines the wellbeing of caregivers, leading to internalized shame and participate less in support networks. The study offers culturally specific insight into how institutional barriers and deeply held beliefs perpetuate stigma and hinder the progress of inclusive education. Based on the lived experiences of caregivers and educators working in inclusive schools, the study advocates for stigma-informed practices and integrated mental health support. It also assesses Nepali educational resources for caregivers, identifying policy gaps and highlighting the impact of stigma on inclusive education. Finally, the study offers implications for improvements such as enhanced institutional support for caregivers, the creation of safe emotional spaces, and culturally sensitive awareness campaigns to strengthen caregivers' resilience and promote equitable, inclusive education

Comparative analysis of time series forecasting for Nepal Airlines passenger data: ARIMA vs. LSTM model

This paper presents a comparative study of time series forecasting methods applied to Nepal Airlines passenger data, focusing on the ARIMA and LSTM models. The study aims to analyze the forecasting performance of these models and identify the most accurate approach for predicting future airline passenger numbers. The ARIMA model captures linear trends and seasonality, while the LSTM neural network is employed for its ability to model complex patterns and non-linear relationships within the data. Both models are evaluated using standard performance metrics, and the results provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each forecasting technique. The results indicate that ARIMA provided more accurate forecasts with MAE: 0.74 and RMSE: 1.78, compared to LSTM having MAE: 0.87 and RMSE: 2.02, underscoring its suitability for datasets with linear trends and seasonality

Modeling COVID-19 dynamics in Nepal: SEIQR compartmental model with quarantine

Mathematical modeling is crucial to understand the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and to develop effective control strategies. In this study, we introduce a compartmental SEIQR model (Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Quarantine-Recovered) that incorporates quarantine measures to analyze the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in Nepal. The next generation approach is used to compute the model’s basic reproduction number. The model’s equilibrium points are obtained, and their stability is assessed with the help of the basic reproduction number. Sensitivity analysis is used to examine the importance and influence of the model parameters on the spread of disease

Analysis of influencing factors of e-wallet adoption in Nepal

The rapid growth of digital payment options, particularly E-wallets, has transformed the financial landscape. This research study employs a quantitative approach to explore the critical determinants influencing the widespread adoption of E-wallets among users. The study hypothesizes six key factors driving E wallet adoption: ease of use, social influence, security, occupation, frequency of financial transactions, and literacy. A detailed survey was conducted to collect primary data from a diverse sample of E-wallet users, and quantitative analysis techniques, including descriptive analysis and correlation tests, were utilized to analyze the data. The results confirm the significant impact of these factors on users’ decisions to adopt E-wallets. Understanding the factors that influence E-wallet adoption is essential for aiming to enhance user experiences and encourage the widespread adoption of E-wallets in the digital payment ecosystem

Linguistic Landscape and Language in Education in South Asia: A Critical Appraisal

This article examines the linguistic diversity, language hegemony, and policy initiatives aimed at resisting the dominance of English and other mainstream national languages, while promoting indigenous languages, cultures, and epistemologies in South Asia. The article critically assesses the adverse impact of British Raj  and its education policies, which aimed to produce “Brown Englishmen,” as well as the recent multilingual turn taken by South Asian countries through their language education and language-in-education policies. Additionally, the article discusses the prevailing influence of English due to globalization and general public perception of English proficiency that provides linguistic, cultural, and economic capital. Nine authors from various countries in South Asia critically reflect on the language in education policies and practices, sharing the shortcomings and the way forward. The article reports on the policy practice gap, that despite numerous efforts by South Asian countries to promote and revitalize local languages through policy interventions, many private and public schools are shifting towards English-medium instruction, thereby further marginalizing indigenous languages. The article argues for the decolonial reimagination of language policies and practices. It advocates for the thoughtful implementation of language in education policies to promote local languages, cultures, and epistemologies. The article concludes that, although macro-level policies are progressive, celebrating pluralism and linguistic diversity, these policies do not align with the meso-level (institutional) and micro-level classroom practices of teachers, hindering the preservation of linguistic heritage in South Asia

A landmark-based addressing framework for urban navigation using geospatial clustering and pathfinding algorithm

Urban navigation in rapidly growing cities often faces challenges due to incomplete addressing systems, especially in cities like Kathmandu, Nepal, where traditional street-based systems are unreliable. This study proposes a landmark-based addressing framework that integrates culturally significant landmarks with modern geospatial tools such as OpenStreetMap (OSM), GeoPandas, Hierarchical Hexagonal Indexing (H3), Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN), and A* search for optimized pathfinding, supported by PostgreSQL and its spatial extension, PostGIS for scalable data management. A web-based interface built with Leaflet.js and FastAPI provides real-time access to landmark-based navigation tools. Simulation results, conducted on a comprehensive dataset of 149,054 buildings in Kathmandu, reveal that the landmark-based system significantly outperforms traditional approaches. The average path length was reduced by 37.7% (from 69.22 to 43.12 nodes), and the average travel time decreased by 22.9% (from 550.86 to 424.92 seconds). This system offers a practical and scalable solution for urban navigation, emergency response, and service delivery in cities with informal or incomplete addressing infrastructures

Influence of heat input and shielding gas flow-rate on the microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar welded AA1100 and AA6070

This study examined the influence of heat input and shielding gas flow-rate on the microstructure and mechanical properties of V-joint welded aluminium alloys of 1100 and 6070 plates. The as-received AA6070 was an off-cut billet and was cast into a flat plate of 5 mm using the green sand moulding technique. AA1100 was used in the as-received condition. Plates of dimension 50 x 50 x 5 mm were prepared for the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding with heat input ranged between 52.5 J/mm and 69.1 J/mm and shielding gas (argon) flow rate of 7 and 13 L/min. The visual inspection indicated that welds were free common defects with no distortion. The results obtained from the experiments showed that the predominant phases in the microstructure of the samples were α − Al, AlSiO2 and AlFeSiO2, which characterised the strengthening mechanism of the weld joints. At a currentof 70A, and shielding gas flow rate of 7L min,the microstructure showed more of dendritic structure, which mainly contained α − Al and AlSiO2. When the gas flow rate increased to 10 L/min, the dendritic structure broke into platelets with no oxygen gas diffusion. The weld joint demonstrated the highest hardness value of 72 HV at 70 A and 13 L/min gas flow rate. The weld joint demonstrated the highest ultimate tensile strength of 86 MPa at 130 A and 10 L/min

Language challenges in earthquake science communication through mass media in Nepal

The occurrence of earthquakes and the ongoing construction of structures without following building code have made immediate effective earthquake communication necessary in Nepal. Across the country, government and nongovernment authorities use different mass media channels to deliver earthquake-related communication to the public. Likewise, people depend on mass media as their source of information about related disasters and safety measures for various reasons. Nepali media are still a powerful information source and suitable for crisis communication in Nepal. The Gorkha earthquake hit Nepal in 2015, causing heavy losses of infrastructures and casualties. The disaster exposed a communication gap between science and society and indicated the need for an improved science communication strategy tailored to the Nepali context. Hence, this study aims to detect specific linguistic aspects of this potential gap between science and society, analyzing the frequency and impact of problematic linguistic features, namely English words, jargons, and complex structures in Nepali texts used to communicate earthquake information. A questionnaire survey was initially done on the perspectives of house owners and construction workers. Only a small percentage of participants (19.1%) ever grasped the information given to them about earthquakes.  The majority of them blamed their understanding problems on the communicators' use of jargon, technical terms, and communication style. Then, quantitative content analysis was carried out on the earthquake-related articles written by the experts and published in the Gorkhapatra, a government national daily, from 2015 to 2023. The quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles revealed frequent use of English terminology, technical words (jargons), complicated sentences, and passive voice. It implied that the linguistic problem of inaccessible science communication is significant, if not entirely, due to the usage of English terminology, technical words (jargon), and complicated sentence structures coupled with the prevalence of passive structures. Linguistic standards may be required to be adopted by science communicators for successful communication to empower communities to be better informed and prepared at large

Living and Evolving as Women English Language Teachers

This paper explores how women English Language teachers evolve, navigating personal and professional struggles in their teaching careers through their lived experiences. We adopted narrative inquiry as a research method and conducted in-depth interviews with the participants, which allowed us to delve into their stories. We highlight the hindrances they encountered and the motivation and resilience that enabled them to remain committed to the profession. The analysis of their lived experiences, informed by the post-structural feminist perspective, reveals how sociocultural responsibilities, institutional expectations, and personal initiatives shape the identity of women teachers. They are pursuing higher studies to keep up with the evolving demands of the time and prove themselves; they are no less than males. Despite the obstacles posed by family responsibilities, the women teachers demonstrated their strengths in navigating challenges through determination and hard work. This research paper contributes to understanding the lived experiences of women teachers and how they grow, implying the supportive environment they require to foster their professional development