Economics of Rice Production in Pyuthan District of Nepal

A research was conducted at Pyuthan district in order to access the profitability of rice production in Pyuthan during the summer season of 2018-2019. Altogether of 70 respondents were selected randomly and surveyed with semi-structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the average land holding was 0.45 hectare, and the average rice cultivation area was 0.34 hectare. On the basis of average rice cultivation area, farmers were categorized as small (39) and large (31). The cost and return was calculated among both the category. t- test was used to compare the mean costs of inputs between small and large farmers. Cost for agronomic operations was found far higher (more than 70%) in both the category in compared to the cost of inputs. Contribution of rice grains and straw to overall return was 72.65% and 27.35% respectively. Benefit Cost ratio was found greater among large farmers. The average B:C ratio was 1.51, which was fairly higher than 1.14 in Dang district indicating the investment of rice production is expected to deliver a positive net return to the farmers of the study area. In a nutshell, rice cultivation is an important enterprise that should be encouraged, considering the fact that it is a major staple crop

Perceptions of the policing and crime mapping ‘Trailblazers’, Home Office Research Report 67

The research involved interviews with key staff involved and focus groups with members of the public to explore their views and opinions on the initiatives. The research highlights considerable public curiosity, and to an extent an appetite, for crime and criminal justice information. However a key message from the research was that providing more information should not be an end in itself. Information needs to be relevant, useable, of high quality and tailored to suit its purpose, whether that is crime prevention or holding the police to account

Drastic suppression of CDW (charge density wave) by Pd addition in TiSe2

TiSe2 is a known Topological semimetal (TSM) having both the semi-metallic and topological characters simultaneously and the Charge density wave (CDW) at below 200K. In the current short article, we study the impact of Pd addition on the CDW character of TiSe2 and the possible induction of superconductivity at low temperatures. Bulk samples of TiSe2 and Pd0.1TiSe2 are synthesized by solid-state reaction route, which is further characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively, for their structural and micro-structural details. The vibrational modes of both samples are being analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, showing the occurrence of both A1g and Eg modes. CDW of pure TiSe2 seen at around 200K in electrical transport measurements, in terms of sharp semi-metallic to metallic transition peak with hysteresis in cooling/warming cycles is not seen in Pd0.1TiSe2, and rather a near metallic transport is seen down to 2K. Although superconductivity is not seen down to 2K, the CDW transition is seemingly completely suppressed in Pd0.1TiSe2. Pd addition in TiSe2 suppresses CDW drastically. Trials are underway to induce superconductivity in Pd-added TiSe2. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show primary evidence of suppression of CDW by adding Pd in TiSe2 due to an increase in the density of states.Comment: 11 Pages Text + Figs: Accepted J. Sup. Novel Ma

Knowledge and awareness of basic life support among MBBS students in tertiary care hospital in Uttar Pradesh

Background: Every medical student in India have to undergo a compulsory rotatory internship for completion of their course where they encounter various medical emergencies and apply their medical knowledge. An early encounter to a basic life support course and training will increase the efficacy of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and thus the outcome of the patient. This study was designed to test knowledge of MBBS students in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This observational study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Uttar Pradesh and used a preformed validated questionnaire to test awareness and knowledge of basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a sample of 500 MBBS students. Descriptive analysis was performed on the questionnaire responses. All data obtained from the questionnaire was evaluated and statistically analysed using software IBM SPSS Statistics software version 24 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) for MS windows.Results: With a response rate of 47% among 500 MBBS students, the mean score obtained was 2.34±1.066 out of a maximum score of five. A maximum score of 2.804±1.055 obtained by 5th-year students. Surprisingly, first-year students achieved an average score of 2.66±0.97, which was higher than that of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. 87% of students were like-minded to participate in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) awareness program. Only 45% of students correctly answered the order of CPR as C-A-B (chest compression-airway-breathing).Conclusions: The study showed that though the awareness and importance of basic life support (BLS) are high among the medical students, the accurate knowledge required in performing BLS is inadequate. This study also showed that the National medical commission has taken a positive step in the incorporation of BLS in the curriculum

Smooth vortex precession in superfluid 4He

We have measured a precessing superfluid vortex line, stretched from a wire to the wall of a cylindrical cell. By contrast to previous experiments with a similar geometry, the motion along the wall is smooth. The key difference is probably that our wire is substantially off center. We verify several numerical predictions about the motion, including an asymmetry in the precession signature, the behavior of pinning events, and the temperature dependence of the precession.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

A Candidate Subspecies Discrimination System Involving a Vomeronasal Receptor Gene with Different Alleles Fixed in M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus

Assortative mating, a potentially efficient prezygotic reproductive barrier, may prevent loss of genetic potential by avoiding the production of unfit hybrids (i.e., because of hybrid infertility or hybrid breakdown) that occur at regions of secondary contact between incipient species. In the case of the mouse hybrid zone, where two subspecies of Mus musculus (M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus) meet and exchange genes to a limited extent, assortative mating requires a means of subspecies recognition. We based the work reported here on the hypothesis that, if there is a pheromone sufficiently diverged between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus to mediate subspecies recognition, then that process must also require a specific receptor(s), also sufficiently diverged between the subspecies, to receive the signal and elicit an assortative mating response. We studied the mouse V1R genes, which encode a large family of receptors in the vomeronasal organ (VNO), by screening Perlegen SNP data and identified one, Vmn1r67, with 24 fixed SNP differences most of which (15/24) are nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions between M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. We observed substantial linkage disequilibrium (LD) between Vmn1r67 and Abpa27, a mouse salivary androgen-binding protein gene that encodes a proteinaceous pheromone (ABP) capable of mediating assortative mating, perhaps in conjunction with its bound small lipophilic ligand. The LD we observed is likely a case of association rather than residual physical linkage from a very recent selective sweep, because an intervening gene, Vmn1r71, shows significant intra(sub)specific polymorphism but no inter(sub)specific divergence in its nucleotide sequence. We discuss alternative explanations of these observations, for example that Abpa27 and Vmn1r67 are coevolving as signal and receptor to reinforce subspecies hybridization barriers or that the unusually divergent Vmn1r67 allele was not a product of fast positive selection, but was derived from an introgressed allele, possibly from Mus spretus

Registration of \u27Manska\u27 Pubescent Intermediate Wheatgrass

\u27MANSKA\u27 pubescent intermediate wheatgrass [Thinopyrum intermedium subsp. barbulatum (Schur) Barkw. & Dewey] (Reg. no. CV-21, PI 562527) was tested as Mandan 12781 and released 16 April 1992 by the USDA-ARS in cooperation with the USDA-SCS; the Agricultural Research Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska; and the North Agricultural Experiment Station

Negative Feedback Regulation of HIV-1 by Gene Editing Strategy

The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method is comprised of the guide RNA (gRNA) to target a specific DNA sequence for cleavage and the Cas9 endonuclease for introducing breaks in the double-stranded DNA identified by the gRNA. Co-expression of both a multiplex of HIV-1-specific gRNAs and Cas9 in cells results in the modification and/or excision of the segment of viral DNA, leading to replication-defective virus. In this study, we have personalized the activity of CRISPR/Cas9 by placing the gene encoding Cas9 under the control of a minimal promoter of HIV-1 that is activated by the HIV-1 Tat protein. We demonstrate that functional activation of CRISPR/Cas9 by Tat during the course of viral infection excises the designated segment of the integrated viral DNA and consequently suppresses viral expression. This strategy was also used in a latently infected CD4+ T-cell model after treatment with a variety of HIV-1 stimulating agents including PMA and TSA. Controlled expression of Cas9 by Tat offers a new strategy for safe implementation of the Cas9 technology for ablation of HIV-1 at a very early stage of HIV-1 replication during the course of the acute phase of infection and the reactivation of silent proviral DNA in latently infected cells

Measurement of the rate of nu_e + d --> p + p + e^- interactions produced by 8B solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory

Solar neutrinos from the decay of $^8$B have been detected at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) via the charged current (CC) reaction on deuterium and by the elastic scattering (ES) of electrons. The CC reaction is sensitive exclusively to nu_e's, while the ES reaction also has a small sensitivity to nu_mu's and nu_tau's. The flux of nu_e's from ^8B decay measured by the CC reaction rate is \phi^CC(nu_e) = 1.75 +/- 0.07 (stat)+0.12/-0.11 (sys.) +/- 0.05(theor) x 10^6 /cm^2 s. Assuming no flavor transformation, the flux inferred from the ES reaction rate is \phi^ES(nu_x) = 2.39+/-0.34 (stat.)+0.16}/-0.14 (sys) x 10^6 /cm^2 s. Comparison of \phi^CC(nu_e) to the Super-Kamiokande Collaboration's precision value of \phi^ES(\nu_x) yields a 3.3 sigma difference, providing evidence that there is a non-electron flavor active neutrino component in the solar flux. The total flux of active ^8B neutrinos is thus determined to be 5.44 +/-0.99 x 10^6/cm^2 s, in close agreement with the predictions of solar models.Comment: 6 pages (LaTex), 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter