Photonic Probing of Structural Deformation of Brain Tissues due to Stress and Alcohol

Mesoscopic optical physics based Partial Wave Spectroscopy(PWS) and Inverse Participation Ratio(IPR) techniques are sensitive to nanoscale and submicron-scale changes respectively occurring in the biological cells. These changes occur due to several factors; stress and fetal alcoholism are deemed to be the major ones. The effects of chronic stress in adult brain cells and fetal alcoholism on the brain cells of fetus are studied using the respective animal models. PWS studies the effect of stress in brain tissues by measuring the optical backscattering spectra and quantifying the statistical properties of the nano-architecture of the tissues by the analysis of the fluctuating part of the reflected intensity. Spatially localized optical eigenfunctions of the optical lattices constructed from confocal images of in-utero ethanol-fed pups\u27 brain cells are analyzed to predict nano- to sub-micron level mass density (i.e. refractive index) fluctuations using IPR technique. The results interpreted in terms of physical parameter called disorder strength,Ld given by Ld=\u3cΔn2\u3e × lc, Δn being the fluctuation in refractive index and lc being correlation length of the fluctuations, showed quantitative changes in the structural disorder in stress-induced adult mice brain cells and fetal alcoholism-induced pups\u27 brain cells, bringing visible abnormalities in the brain cells. The potential applications of these techniques are also discussed

Homestead Vegetable and Poultry Production and Related Practices: An Assessment in Nepal

Consumption of nutrients-rich foods like diverse vegetables, eggs, and meat throughout a year remains a challenge in low- and middle-income countries due to poor availability, accessibility, and affordability. One important way to overcome the challenge is to promote households’ own production of these foods and encourage individuals to consume. Improving household production of the foods necessitates understanding whether active participation and performance of frontline workers in the communities and performing improved production-related practices can translate into improved production of nutrients-rich foods. This study had two specific aims. The first aim was to examine demographic, socio-economic, and programmatic determinants of active participation and performance of village model farmers (VMFs), the frontline workers in the HFP program. The second aim was to investigate whether improved gardening and poultry-raising practices promoted in the communities were associated with improved household vegetable and poultry production. To achieve these aims, two separate cross-sectional Suaahara-II, a multi-sectoral nutrition program, datasets were used. Information was collected from among 4,750 VMFs and 3,635 households from Suaahara-II. The active participation and performance of VMFs was defined as summed score of the number of four activities that they performed: registered their HFP group with the local government, conducted regular group meetings, discussed vegetable growing and chicken rearing practices with group members, or engaged in saving and credit activities in their HFP group. Improved gardening and poultry-raising practices scores were created by summing improved gardening and poultry-raising activities practiced by the households. Vegetable production was assessed using: (i) vegetable production diversity score (0 to 5), generated by categorizing 35 vegetables produced into 5 groups and summing them: dark-green leafy vegetables, other vitamin A-rich vegetables, beans and pulses, roots and tubers, and other vegetables, and (ii) quantity produced (kg). Poultry production was assessed by counting the number of chickens and eggs produced in the households in the last month. Potential socio-economic and demographic determinants were identified a priori and adjusted for clustering. Ordinal regression models were used to examine the association between the potential determinants and active participation of the VMFs. Linear mixed-effects and left-censored regression models were used to examine the associations between the practices and production. Higher levels of education, being a female community health volunteer, being from an upper caste household, and having received more additional trainings and inputs were associated with more active participation among the VMFs retained in the HFP program. Vegetable production diversity and quantity, egg, and chicken production were greater for those households performing a greater number of improved gardening and poultry raising practices, respectively. When designing large-scale nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs, providing trainings, but also inputs to the farming households to support their adoption of these improved practices will be critical for ensuring increased and more diverse household production of nutrients-rich foods

Seasonal variation in phytochemicals and antioxidant activities in different tissues of various Broccoli cultivars

Florets, leaves, and stems of twelve commercial broccoli cultivars grown in the spring and fall seasons at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science (NIHHS), Rural Development Administration (RDA), Suwon, South Korea were evaluated for glucosinolates, vitamin C, total phenol, and total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity. The levels of all phytochemicals and antioxidant activity were significantly influenced by cultivar (C), plant part (P), and growing season (S). Among the glucosinolates, glucoraphanin and glucobrassicin were the major constituents. The highest total glucosinolate content was found in the florets of plants grown in both seasons. Phenols and flavonoids were highest levels in leaves, while vitamin C was highest in stems, suggesting that broccoli leaves and stems may be good sources of such phytochemicals. The levels of all phytochemicals were generally higher in florets in the spring than in the fall, but were higher in leaves and stems during the fall than the spring. Furthermore, higher cultivar-dependent and tissue-dependent variation was observed in the spring than in the fall. Total phenol content exhibited a strong positive correlation (r = 0.674**) with antioxidant activity, followed by total flavonoid content (r = 0.497**), indicating their significant contribution to total antioxidant activity.Keywords: Antioxidant activity, broccoli, glucosinolate, seasonal variation, total phenol, vitamin CAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(4), pp. 604-615, 22 January, 201

Agricultural and Finance Intervention Increased Dietary Intake and Weight of Children Living in HIV-Affected Households in Western Kenya.

We tested whether a multisectoral household agricultural and finance intervention increased the dietary intake and improved the nutritional status of HIV-affected children. Two hospitals in rural Kenya were randomly assigned to be either the intervention or the control arm. The intervention comprised a human-powered water pump, microfinance loan for farm commodities, and training in sustainable farming practices and financial management. In each arm, 100 children (0-59 mo of age) were enrolled from households with HIV-infected adults 18-49 y old. Children were assessed beginning in April 2012 and every 3 mo for 1 y for dietary intake and anthropometry. Children in the intervention arm had a larger increase in weight (β: 0.025 kg/mo, P = 0.030), overall frequency of food consumption (β: 0.610 times · wk-1 · mo-1, P = 0.048), and intakes of staples (β: 0.222, P = 0.024), fruits and vegetables (β: 0.425, P = 0.005), meat (β: 0.074, P < 0.001), and fat (β: 0.057, P = 0.041). Livelihood interventions have potential to improve the nutrition of HIV-affected children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01548599

Cost-benefit analysis and resource use efficiency of rice production system in different agriculture landscapes in Chitwan district, Nepal

The study was conducted to determine the cost-benefit analysis and resource use efficiency of the rice production system in different agriculture landscapes in the Chitwan district in 2018. The sample size of 102 rice-growing farmers out of 600 farmers, having an area of farm size greater than 0.5 hectares, was determined using Raosoft Inc. Software. A simple random sampling technique was used to collect 102 rice-growing household information in four municipalities (2 in plain and 2 in hilly area) using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and statistical tools including Cobb-Douglas production function. Results showed that the use of inputs like seeds, chemical fertilizer and machinery like tractor were found significantly higher in the plain area whereas the use of inputs like labor, farmyard manure (FYM) and bullocks was found in higher in the hilly area. The costs of fertilizer, machinery, pesticide, and transportation were found higher in the plain area whereas the costs of seed, FYM, labor and bullocks were significantly higher in the hilly area. Production of rice per household was 1.87 ton whereas productivity was 5.2 ton/ha, gross profit was NRs. 41435and benefit-cost ratio was 1.59 in the plain area which was found significantly higher than the hilly area. The return to scale was found to be 0.48 which revealed that inputs used in rice production were ineffectively utilized in which organic fertilizer and labor resource were overused and seed, fertilizer, machinery and bullocks, pesticides and transportation were underused resources. The optimal allocation of these resources will increase the profitability of rice farming

Design of Automated Rainout Shelter to Conduct Experiment on Drought Tolerant Maize Genotype

Uneven and low precipitation areas of Nepal are continuously suffering from drought and received low productivity because of unavailability of suitable drought tolerant maize genotype. An attempt has been made first time in Nepal by constructing an automated rainout shelter with soil moisture based automated drip irrigation system at National Maize Research Program in 2018-2019 to conduct an experiment on drought tolerant maize genotype. The rainout shelters automatically covers the cropping area as soon as the rain sensor received a single drop of precipitation and also if the light intensity decreased to value set in the control panel. Likewise, the soil water level in different treatments were maintained on the basis of the treatment controlled with automatic drip irrigation system set to irrigate at threshold value set in the microcontroller. The complete system had found very useful in determining accurate amount of water required to cultivate drought tolerant maize genotype. We have tested drought tolerant variety RampurSo3Fo8 under 10 level of irrigation and it was determined that 495.2 mm of water is maximum level of water to produce highest yield of 3.32 t/ha whereas 445.6 mm to 247.6 mm of water could can be manage to produce competitive yield without any reduction. An experiment under such kind of infrastructure provide useful information on irrigation management practices required for drought variety in the natural environment. The research output also guides farmers and agriculturist in making Nepalese agricultural more sustainable, mechanized and productive

Boron nitride nanotubes: Recent advances in their synthesis, functionalization, and applications

A comprehensive overview of current research progress on boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) is presented in this article. Particularly, recent advancements in controlled synthesis and large-scale production of BNNTs will first be summarized. While recent success in mass production of BNNTs has opened up new opportunities to implement the appealing properties in various applications, concerns about product purity and quality still remain. Secondly, we will summarize the progress in functionalization of BNNTs, which is the necessary step for their applications. Additionally, selected potential applications in structural composites and biomedicine will be highlighted

Prospect of Protected Agricultural Structure and its Constraints for Utilizing in Nepal

Protected agricultural structures have been adopted by commercial farmers throughout the world including Nepal to cope with climate change and its adverse effects on agriculture. Technology based production system is important for sustainable agricultural development. It could be the tool for low-income countries like Nepal where agriculture is the priority of income generation for the rural people. A field study was conducted in 2021 and 2022 to understand the prospects of protected agriculture structures adaptation by farmers and agricultural entrepreneur in Nepal. The study was traversed with both physical observation and the user’s interviews. The opportunities and the constraints have been critically analysed based on these field study along with the review of different policy documents and success stories published. This study found that the protected cultivation practice has been rapidly increased with increasing number of protected structures like plastic house or tunnel framed with bamboo or GI pipe, Agri-net house, naturally ventilated poly house and semi or hi-tech green house. In contrary, the import of horticulture products has also been increased more than 200% in last 10 years. This study finds the gap mismatching between technology enhancement, production and import of horticulture crops