Writing a Research Paper for Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council

Agricultural research findings are required to reach soon to the farmers, extensionists, media, researchers, policy makers, businessperson, students, teachers and so many other stakeholders. Among different types of publications, research paper is generally published in journal considered as standard type of publication in term of quality and recognition. Most of the journals follow similar pattern and framework; however, the style, format and process may be different with each other. A research (scientific) paper is a written describing original research result using standard methods and materials. The major sections in a journal paper are abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. Accordingly Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council has its own style and format. Author needs to follow guidelines strictly on the use of punctuation marks such as comma (,), period (.), space, justification etc; otherwise submitted manuscripts could be immediately return to author without considering in review process. In general, we received manuscripts with many errors on citation and references, poor elaboration of results of experiments, weak discussion, missing to acknowledge funding agencies, submitting non-editable figures, very few numbers of citations of Nepalese researchers, statements not in logical order, etc. In general, the scientific papers should be written in simple way with new but sufficient justification backed up by data in the form of tables, graphs, flow diagrams etc so that readers can understand easily with high readability. The submitted manuscript in the journal office are sent to two to three reviewers for specific recommendation on the originality of the work, appropriateness of the approach and experimental design, adequacy of experimental techniques, soundness of conclusions and interpretations, relevance of discussion and importance of the research. The language clarity and organization of the article are also asked with the reviewers. In response to reviewer's comments all authors are expected to reply each and every comments and suggestions of reviewers, if such comments and suggestion are not acceptable, the author/s can argue for their points, if genuine. Here in this paper we described detail contents of each section along with style and format for a research paper writing targeted to Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council

New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 5

Data on 54 new for China, India, Korea and Russia species of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi, including 22 new for science taxa of lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi, i.e.: Acarospora ulleungdoensis, Amandinea trassii, Aspicilia geumodoensis, Biatora ivanpisutii, Caloplaca patwolseleyae, Catillaria ulleungdoensis, Coenogonium agonimieoides, Gyalidea austrocoreana, G. ropalosporoides, Opegrapha briancoppinsii, O. ulleungdoensis, Phyllopsora loekoesii, Psoroglaena coreana, Psorotichia gyelnikii, Rinodina oxneriana, Scoliciosporum jasonhurii, Staurothele oxneri, Stigmidium coarctatae, Thelocarpon ulleungdoense, Thelopsis loekoesii, Toninia poeltiana, Unguiculariopsis helmutii, and and 7 new species to China (Caloplaca ussuriensis, Megaspora rimisorediata, Rinodina xanthophaea, Rusavskia dasanensis, Xanthoria splendens, Zeroviella coreana, Z. esfahanensis), and 1 new species to India (Zeroviella esfahanensis), and 24 new species to Korea (Agonimia blumii, Arthonia rinodinicola, Buelliella minimula, Dactylospora australis, Endococcus propinguus, Halecania santessonii, Laeviomyces aff. fallaciosus, Lecanora albescens, L. layana, Lecidella scabra, Micarea farinosa, Minutoexcipula aff. mariana, Opegrapha anomaea, O. aff. xerica, Phoma aff. lecanorina, Polycoccum rubellianae, Porina nucula, Pyrenidium actinellum, Rhexophiale rhexoblephara, Rimularia badioatra, Rinodina confragosa, R. milvina, R. occulta, Tremella phaeophysciae), as well as 1 new species to Russia (Verseghya klarae) are provided. Furthermore new for science species of lichenicolous fungus Polycoccum clauderouxii from China is described. Four new combinations, i.e.: Biatora pseudosambuci (Basionym: Lecanora pseudosambuci S. Y. Kondr., L. Lőkös et J.-S. Hur), Buellia pseudosubnexa (Basionym: Hafellia pseudosubnexa S. Y. Kondr., L. Lőkös et J.-S. Hur), Buellia extremoorientalis (Basionym: Hafellia extremorientalis S. Y. Kondr., L. Lőkös et J.-S. Hur), and Sagedia nunatakkorum (Basionym: Lecanora nunatakkorum Poelt) are proposed. Data on conidiomata and conidia for lichenicolous fungus Opegrapha anomea Nyl are for the first time provided

The changing status of working women of Kathmandu, Nepal

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Department of Sociology, 1993Includes bibliographical references (pages 62-64

Public opinion on energy crops in the landscape: considerations for the expansion of renewable energy from biomass

Public attitudes were assessed towards two dedicated biomass crops – Miscanthus and Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), particularly regarding their visual impacts in the landscape. Results are based on responses to photographic and computer-generated images as the crops are still relatively scarce in the landscape. A questionnaire survey indicated little public concern about potential landscape aesthetics but more concern about attendant built infrastructure. Focus group meetings and interviews indicated support for biomass end uses that bring direct benefits to local communities. Questions arise as to how well the imagery used was able to portray the true nature of these tall, dense, perennial plants but based on the responses obtained and given the caveat that there was limited personal experience of the crops, it appears unlikely that wide-scale planting of biomass crops will give rise to substantial public concern in relation to their visual impact in the landscape

Partial root zone drying irrigation in papaya (Carica papaya L.) for enhanced water use efficiency under limited water situations

Field experiments were conducted during 2015-17 at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bengaluru, to standardize the partial root zone drying irrigation in papaya with 12 treatments in RBD design. The results indicated that better soil moisture in the root zone could be maintained under drip irrigation by shifting laterals on either side at fortnightly intervals as compared to fixed laterals with thesame amount of water. Significantly more primary roots (16.5/plant) were observed when irrigation was scheduled on one side with single emitter meeting 60% of the evaporative demand. PRD irrigation through shifting of laterals recorded significantly higher transpiration rate especially at 50% of ER (8.05 m mol m-2 s-1) as compared to the control (3.95m mol m-2 s-1). Further, the same treatment recorded significantly lower fruit cavity index (0.26) with relatively higher fruit volume (1388 cm3). Irrigating papaya only on one side with single emitter resulted in significantly higher T.S.S (13.0%). Higher water productivity (23.7 kg/m3) could be obtained by scheduling the irrigation at 40% evaporation replenishment through shifting of laterals with saving of substantial water (1285m3/ha) resulting in higher water use efficiency (237.4 kg/ha.mm)

Using stated preference methods to assess environmental impacts of forest biomass power plants in Portugal

As a renewable energy source, the use of forest biomass for electricity generation is advantageous in comparison with fossil fuels, however the activity of forest biomass power plants causes adverse impacts, affecting particularly neighbouring communities. The main objective of this study is to estimate the effects of the activity of forest biomass power plants on the welfare of two groups of stakeholders, namely local residents and the general population and we apply two stated preference methods: contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments, respectively. The former method was applied to estimate the minimum compensation residents of neighbouring communities of two forest biomass power plants in Portugal would be willing to accept. The latter method was applied among the general population to estimate their willingness to pay to avoid specific environmental impacts. The results show that the presence of the selected facilities affects individuals’ well-being. On the other hand, in the discrete choice experiments conducted among the general population all impacts considered were significant determinants of respondents’ welfare levels. The results of this study stress the importance of performing an equity analysis of the welfare effects on different groups of stakeholders from the installation of forest biomass power plants, as their effects on welfare are location and impact specific. Policy makers should take into account the views of all stakeholders either directly or indirectly involved when deciding crucial issues regarding the sitting of new forest biomass power plants, in order to achieve an efficient and equitable outcome

Pleosporales

One hundred and five generic types of Pleosporales are described and illustrated. A brief introduction and detailed history with short notes on morphology, molecular phylogeny as well as a general conclusion of each genus are provided. For those genera where the type or a representative specimen is unavailable, a brief note is given. Altogether 174 genera of Pleosporales are treated. Phaeotrichaceae as well as Kriegeriella, Zeuctomorpha and Muroia are excluded from Pleosporales. Based on the multigene phylogenetic analysis, the suborder Massarineae is emended to accommodate five families, viz. Lentitheciaceae, Massarinaceae, Montagnulaceae, Morosphaeriaceae and Trematosphaeriaceae

COVID-19 disease and comorbidity: an outcome? A study on Indian population in a COVID care hospital

Background: The world has been severely affected by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Continuously rising number of cases has put a significant strain on healthcare resources of all countries of the world. Preliminary studies show that people suffering from comorbid conditions are at a relatively higher risk of severe disease and poor outcome.Methods: We studied the risk of ICU admission in 152 Covid-19 positive patients with comorbidity compared to those without comorbid conditions. We studied effect of old age (>65 years), male sex, presence of at least one comorbidity, presence of multiple comorbidities, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, CAD, respiratory disease, neurological disease, skin disease, and hypothyroidism on outcome of coronavirus disease with two tailed Student’s t-test, odds ratio, Chi-square test was used to test significance of results at 95% confidence interval 95% (95% CI). Fisher’s test was also used if one expected value (row total × column total/grand total) was less than 5.Results: In this study, 23 (15.13%) required ICU care. We found higher odds of ICU admission in Covid-19 patients in case of presence of comorbid condition (OR=7.3, 95% CI=2.674, 20.038), diabetes mellitus (OR=2.8, 95% CI=1.035, 8.028), hypertension (OR=1.3, 95% CI=0.396, 4.258), coronary artery disease (OR=2.3, 95% CI=0.430, 12.978) and malignancy (OR=6.5, 95% CI=1.516, 28.54). Case fatality rate (CFR) of those with comorbid conditions was higher (7.55) compared to those without comorbidity (3.03).Conclusions: This study shows that presence of comorbid conditions in Covid-19 positive patients results in significantly higher risk of ICU admission and poor outcome

Application of frequency ratio, statistical index, and weights-of-evidence models and their comparison in landslide susceptibility mapping in Central Nepal Himalaya

The Mugling–Narayanghat road section falls within the Lesser Himalaya and Siwalik zones of Central Nepal Himalaya and is highly deformed by the presence of numerous faults and folds. Over the years, this road section and its surrounding area have experienced repeated landslide activities. For that reason, landslide susceptibility zonation is essential for roadside slope disaster management and for planning further development activities. The main goal of this study was to investigate the application of the frequency ratio (FR), statistical index (SI), and weights-of-evidence (WoE) approaches for landslide susceptibility mapping of this road section and its surrounding area. For this purpose, the input layers of the landslide conditioning factors were prepared in the first stage. A landslide inventory map was prepared using earlier reports, aerial photographs interpretation, and multiple field surveys. A total of 438 landslide locations were detected. Out these, 295 (67 %) landslides were randomly selected as training data for the modeling using FR, SI, and WoE models and the remaining 143 (33 %) were used for the validation purposes. The landslide conditioning factors considered for the study area are slope gradient, slope aspect, plan curvature, altitude, stream power index, topographic wetness index, lithology, land use, distance from faults, distance from rivers, and distance from highway. The results were validated using area under the curve (AUC) analysis. From the analysis, it is seen that the FR model with a success rate of 76.8 % and predictive accuracy of 75.4 % performs better than WoE (success rate, 75.6 %; predictive accuracy, 74.9 %) and SI (success rate, 75.5 %; predictive accuracy, 74.6 %) models. Overall, all the models showed almost similar results. The resultant susceptibility maps can be useful for general land use planning