Use of Gis for Spatial Mapping of Soil Fertility in Dhanusha, Nepal

Soil fertility evaluation is an important aspect in the context of sustainable agricultural production of an area. This study was carried out to find the soil fertility status of the Dhanushadham Municipality, Dhanusha, Nepal located at 26°52’N, 86o02’E using GPS and GIS. A total of 61 soil samples were collected based on land use, slope, and aspects with the use of Google Earth Pro (GEP) and ArcGIS. The soil was analyzed for its texture, soil pH, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, and potassium. The majority of the study area (36.35%) has loam soils followed by (28.17%) sandy loam soil. The soil pH was strongly acidic to nearly neutral with pH values ranging from 5.2 to 7.5. The Soil organic matter (SOM) varied from 1.14% to 1.83% with a mean value of 1.52% and was medium in most of the soil. The mean total Nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were 0.08 %, 120.96 kg/ha, and 146.13 kg/ha respectively. The total nitrogen was found to be medium in content, Phosphorus is high in content and potassium is low in content in the study area. To maintain the nutrient status of soil, use of organic manure, reduced use of chemical fertilizers, and different soil management practices should be adopted in this area. The study can conclude that GPS and GIS based soil fertility mapping helps farmers, scientists, planners, researchers, and students in providing soil test based fertilizer recommendation for sustainable soil management as well as developing future research strategies in the farm

Aedes aegypti lachesin protein binds to the domain III of envelop protein of Dengue virus-2 and inhibits viral replication.

Dengue virus (DENV) comprises of four serotypes (DENV-1 to -4) and is medically one of the most important arboviruses (arthropod-borne virus). DENV infection is a major human health burden and is transmitted between humans by the insect vector, Aedes aegypti. Ae. aegypti ingests DENV while feeding on infected humans, which traverses through its gut, haemolymph and salivary glands of the mosquito before being injected into a healthy human. During this process of transmission, DENV must interact with many proteins of the insect vector, which are important for its successful transmission. Our study focused on the identification and characterisation of interacting protein partners in Ae. aegypti to DENV. Since domain III (DIII) of envelope protein (E) is exposed on the virion surface and is involved in virus entry into various cells, we performed phage display library screening against domain III of the envelope protein (EDIII) of DENV-2. A peptide sequence showing similarity to lachesin protein was found interacting with EDIII. The lachesin protein was cloned, heterologously expressed, purified and used for in vitro interaction studies. Lachesin protein interacted with EDIII and also with DENV. Further, lachesin protein was localised in neuronal cells of different organs of Ae. aegypti by confocal microscopy. Blocking of lachesin protein in Ae. aegypti with anti-lachesin antibody resulted in a significant reduction in DENV replication

Overexpression of native ferritin gene MusaFer1 enhances iron content and oxidative stress tolerance in transgenic banana plants.

Iron is an indispensable element for plant growth and defense and hence it is essential to improve the plant's ability to accumulate iron. Besides, it is also an important aspect for human health. In view of this, we attempted to increase the iron content in banana cultivar Rasthali using MusaFer1 as a candidate gene. Initially, the expression of all five genes of the MusaFer family (MusaFer1-5) was quantified under iron-excess and -deficient conditions. The supplementation of 250 and 350 μM iron enhanced expression of all MusaFer genes; however, MusaFer1 was increased maximally by 2- and 4- fold in leaves and roots respectively. Under iron deficient condition, all five MusaFer genes were downregulated, indicating their iron dependent regulation. In MusaFer1 overexpressing lines, iron content was increased by 2- and 3-fold in leaves and roots respectively, as compared with that of untransformed lines. The increased iron was mainly localized in the epidermal regions of petiole. The analysis of MusaFer1 promoter indicated that it might control the expression of iron metabolism related genes and also other genes of MusaFer family. MusaFer1 overexpression led to downregulated expression of MusaFer3, MusaFer4 and MusaFer5 in transgenic leaves which might be associated with the plant's compensatory mechanism in response to iron flux. Other iron metabolism genes like Ferric reductase (FRO), transporters (IRT, VIT and YSL) and chelators (NAS, DMAS and NAAT) were also differentially expressed in transgenic leaf and root, suggesting the multifaceted impact of MusaFer1 towards iron uptake and organ distribution. Additionally, MusaFer1 overexpression increased plant tolerance against methyl viologen and excess iron which was quantified in terms of photosynthetic efficiency and malondialdehyde content. Thus, the study not only broadens our understanding about iron metabolism but also highlights MusaFer1 as a suitable candidate gene for iron fortification in banana

Histopathological analysis of skin adnexal tumors: A three year study of 110 cases at a tertiary care center

Background: Skin adnexal tumors (SAT) encompass wide spectrum of benign and malignant tumors that differentiate toward one or more adnexal structures found in normal skin. Overall incidence of SATs is low yet they can be challenging to diagnose. Aims: The aim of this study is to study the spectrum and microscopic features of SATs. Materials and Methods: It was a retrospective cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted over a period of 3 years. Formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathological analysis. Results: Out of the total 34,400 biopsies, 110 cases were diagnosed as SATs comprising 39.09% of tumors with follicular differentiation followed by tumors showing sweat gland differentiation (37.27%), and sebaceous differentiation (23.63%). The age ranged from 5 years to 85 years and male:female ratio was 1.03:1. Most of the tumors were benign (82.73%) while only 17.27% were malignant. Pilomatricoma (28.2%) was the most common benign tumor while sebaceous carcinoma (11.8%) was the most common malignant tumor. Conclusion: Architectural features are of great importance in differentiating benign tumors from malignant

Flavone Glycoside Based Validated RP-LC Method for Quality Evaluation of Prishniparni (Uraria picta)

An LC method is developed for the quantitation of rhoifolin in Uraria picta, a plant of high usage frequency in all Asian traditional systems of medicine. An isocratic RP-LC method using C18 column, UV detection 265 nm and specificity with PDA and MS is speeding up, reliable and comprehensive analysis of rhoifolin in U. picta. Good linearity was obtained in the working range (0.02–0.10 mg mL-1), with correlation coefficients >0.99. LOD and LOQ were 2.33 and 7.69 ng, respectively. The method was validated following international guidelines. The described method can be utilized for assays and stability tests of U. picta extracts as well as Ayurvedic drugs based on Prishniparni

Use of Gis for Spatial Mapping of Soil Fertility in Dhanusha, Nepal

Soil fertility evaluation is an important aspect in the context of sustainable agricultural production of an area. This study was carried out to find the soil fertility status of the Dhanushadham Municipality, Dhanusha, Nepal located at 26°52’N, 86o02’E using GPS and GIS. A total of 61 soil samples were collected based on land use, slope, and aspects with the use of Google Earth Pro (GEP) and ArcGIS. The soil was analyzed for its texture, soil pH, total nitrogen, available phosphorous, and potassium. The majority of the study area (36.35%) has loam soils followed by (28.17%) sandy loam soil. The soil pH was strongly acidic to nearly neutral with pH values ranging from 5.2 to 7.5. The Soil organic matter (SOM) varied from 1.14% to 1.83% with a mean value of 1.52% and was medium in most of the soil. The mean total Nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were 0.08 %, 120.96 kg/ha, and 146.13 kg/ha respectively. The total nitrogen was found to be medium in content, Phosphorus is high in content and potassium is low in content in the study area. To maintain the nutrient status of soil, use of organic manure, reduced use of chemical fertilizers, and different soil management practices should be adopted in this area. The study can conclude that GPS and GIS based soil fertility mapping helps farmers, scientists, planners, researchers, and students in providing soil test based fertilizer recommendation for sustainable soil management as well as developing future research strategies in the farm

Effect of different fertilizer doses on the production of Chaite-5 paddy variety in Dhanusha District, Nepal

The application of inorganic nutrient sources is necessary for proper agricultural growth that can ensure high quality food production. A field experiment was carried out in Hansapur, Dhanusha from March 2021 to July 2021 to study the effect of different fertilizer doses on the growth and yield of rice. The experiment was set up in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 7 different treatments following three replications. The treatments were named as T1: Control, T2: RDF (Recommended dose of fertilizers - 100:30:30 kg NPK/ha), T3: Double dose of RDF (200: 60: 60 kg NPK/ha), T4: A half dose of RDF (50: 15: 15 kg NPK/ha), T5: 125% dose of RDF (125: 37.5: 37.5 kg NPK/ha), T6: Locally available Azolla (300 kg/ha), and T7: FYM (6 ton/ha), respectively. Different doses of RDF showed a significant effect on growth, yield, and yield contributing characters of Chaite-5 variety. Results of the study showed that the application of a double dose of RDF (200: 60: 60 kg NPK/ha) gave the maximum yield (9.50 ton/ha). It was also recorded that 125% dose of RDF, recommended dose of fertilizers and FYM gave satisfactory results. Results revealed that the highest plant height, effective tillers/hill, panicle number, panicle length, total spikelet/hill, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, and straw yield were obtained from the use of a double dose of RDF (200: 60: 60 kg NPK/ha). It was observed that yield of rice can be increased substantially with the application of higher doses of nitrogenous fertilizers. Hence, a double dose of fertilizer can be the best supplement for improving growth and yield in rice