Accumulation of Poly-hydroxy-butyric Acid (PHB) by Bacillus Strain Isolated from Paddy Field of Kathmandu University Premises

In this study, the effect of applying nutrient limitation on the production of Poly-hydro-oxy-butyric acid (PHB) from soil bacteria was examined. PHB is a biodegradable polymer which provides a reserve of carbon and energy. PHB was extracted by chloroform dispersion method. The amount of synthesized PHB was determined as crotonic acid by spectrophotometry. We found that Nitrogen limiting condition stimulated PHB accumulation. The highest level of PHB accumulation was observed in DNB-6 strain which accumulated 31 % of the dry mass at 20 % glucose concentration. The probabilistic identification of bacteria by PIBwin software version 1.9.2 showed that the strain DNB-6 was close in nature to Bacillus cereus.Nepal Journal of Biotechnology. Dec. 2015 Vol. 3, No. 1: 2-

Neural Network Pruning for Real-time Polyp Segmentation

Computer-assisted treatment has emerged as a viable application of medical imaging, owing to the efficacy of deep learning models. Real-time inference speed remains a key requirement for such applications to help medical personnel. Even though there generally exists a trade-off between performance and model size, impressive efforts have been made to retain near-original performance by compromising model size. Neural network pruning has emerged as an exciting area that aims to eliminate redundant parameters to make the inference faster. In this study, we show an application of neural network pruning in polyp segmentation. We compute the importance score of convolutional filters and remove the filters having the least scores, which to some value of pruning does not degrade the performance. For computing the importance score, we use the Taylor First Order (TaylorFO) approximation of the change in network output for the removal of certain filters. Specifically, we employ a gradient-normalized backpropagation for the computation of the importance score. Through experiments in the polyp datasets, we validate that our approach can significantly reduce the parameter count and FLOPs retaining similar performance

Technical efficiency of rice production in terai district of Nepal

   This paper aimed to estimate the technical efficiency of rice production, also identifying the factors affecting technical efficiency. Jhapa, the Terai district of Nepal, having the highest rice production in the country, was purposely selected for the study. The primary information was collected from 100 rice growing farmers, randomly selected from the sampling frame, using the pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule. Also, two Key Informant Surveys were done. Besides, the secondary information was collected by reviewing the related literatures. Descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier model with Cobb-Douglas production function, and tobit model were used for data analysis. The stochastic production frontier model revealed that with the increase in seed, chemical fertilizer, human labor, and tractor power by 1 percent, the rice yield increases by 0.25 (P<0.05), 0.15 (P<0.01), 0.13 (P<0.05) and 0.21 (P<0.01) percent respectively. The average technical efficiency of the rice growing farmers in the study area was estimated 92%; in addition, majority of the farmers (62%) were operating at an efficiency level of 0.91- 0.95 followed by 32% at 0.86- 0.90. The tobit regression model revealed that farming experience (P<0.01), membership of the organization (P<0.01), and major occupation being agriculture (P<0.05) have statistically significant and positive on technical efficiency; while, schooling years (P<0.05) and number of economically active family members (P<0.05) have statistically significant but negative effect. There is still scope to increase the rice yield through efficient use of available resources with existing technologies

Response of Wheat Genotypes to Different Levels of Nitrogen

A field experiment was conducted using six genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for response to different levels of nitrogen (N) use. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) as main plots and six wheat genotypes (BL 3623, BL 3629, BL 3872, NL 1008, NL 1055 and Vijay, a check variety) as sub-plots. Grain yield and other yield components increased linearly in response to N concentrations in both seasons. Only two parameters: days to heading (DOH) and days to maturity (DTM) varied significantly (p ≤ 0.05) among wheat genotypes in both the years. None of the parameters showed interaction effects in both seasons. Vijay showed highest grain yield of 3.12 t ha-1 in 2013 with the application of 100 kg N ha-1, and 3.23 t ha-1 in 2014 with 150 kg N ha-1. Spike length, productive tillers m-2, number of spikes m-2 and test weight were greater with higher N rates. The straw yield of wheat fertilized with 150 kg N ha-1 was the highest in Vijay (4.35 t ha-1) and BL 3872 (4.33 t ha-1), respectively. Vijay with 100 kg N ha-1 produced the highest number of productive tillers m-2 (276.33) in 2013 and 296.00 with the application of 150 kg N ha-1 in 2014

Microbial Spectrum of Complete Denture Wearer in Old Age People of Chitwan

Background: Human oral cavity contains many microorganisms, the habitat of which may be changed by complete denture among edentulous people. The complete dentures favor aggregation of microorganism. The aim of this study was to identify the microorganisms present in the complete dentures of old age people of Chitwan and assess the sensitivity pattern of the microorganisms to the common antibiotics. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Chitwan Medical College, Chitwan, Nepal among 45 old age people who have been wearing dentures above one year. The duration of the study was from 18th Nov 2021 to 12th May 2022. Swab was taken from the polished and tissue surfaces of both maxillary and mandibular dentures in the Department of Prosthodontics while the laboratory-based experiments were conducted in the Department of Microbiology. Antibiotic sensitivity was also done. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were used. The data was presented in form of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results: Streptococcus spp. was predominant microorganism followed by Coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus. The highest sensitivity pattern was observed to Amikacin, Nalidixic acid and Ciprofloxacin while the most resistant antibiotics were Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and Cefixime. Escherichia coli was sensitive to all the tested antibiotics. Conclusions: In this study, Streptococcus spp. followed by Coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequently identified microorganisms from the dentures of old age people. Amikacin, Nalidixic acid and Ciprofloxacin were highly sensitive among the people of old age. Keywords: Antibiotic sensitivity; complete denture; microorganism

Response of Wheat Genotypes to Different Levels of Nitrogen

A field experiment was conducted using six genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for response to different levels of nitrogen (N) use. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) as main plots and six wheat genotypes (BL 3623, BL 3629, BL 3872, NL 1008, NL 1055 and Vijay, a check variety) as sub-plots. Grain yield and other yield components increased linearly in response to N concentrations in both seasons. Only two parameters: days to heading (DOH) and days to maturity (DTM) varied significantly (p ≤ 0.05) among wheat genotypes in both the years. None of the parameters showed interaction effects in both seasons. Vijay showed highest grain yield of 3.12 t ha-1 in 2013 with the application of 100 kg N ha-1, and 3.23 t ha-1 in 2014 with 150 kg N ha-1. Spike length, productive tillers m-2, number of spikes m-2 and test weight were greater with higher N rates. The straw yield of wheat fertilized with 150 kg N ha-1 was the highest in Vijay (4.35 t ha-1) and BL 3872 (4.33 t ha-1), respectively. Vijay with 100 kg N ha-1 produced the highest number of productive tillers m-2 (276.33) in 2013 and 296.00 with the application of 150 kg N ha-1 in 2014