Agro-morphological Diversity of High Altitude Bean Landraces in the Kailash Sacred Landscape of Nepal

Many varieties of bean are widely grown across diverse agro-ecological zones in Nepal. And opportunities exist for improving the crops and enhancing their resilience to various biotic and abiotic stressors. In this context, an experiment was conducted from June to October 2016 in Khar VDC of Darchula district to study the phenotypic traits of nine landraces of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The bean landraces were planted using randomized complete block design in three sites (Dhamidera, Dallekh and Sundamunda villages), with three replications in each site for their comparative analysis. The study considered the following phenotypic traits: days to emergence, days to 50% flowering, days to 90% pod maturity, number of nodes, pod length, pod width, number of pods, number of seeds per pod and weight and grain yield for 100 seeds. Kruskal-Wallis test showed significant differences in the landraces both within and among locations. KA-17-08-FB and KA-17-04-FB were late  flowering (63 and 65 days respectively) compared to other landraces whereas KA-17-07-FB flowered earliest (within 42 days). In all three sites, three landraces namely KA-17-07-FB, KA-17-04-FB and KA-17-06-FB were found to be relatively more resistant to pest and diseases than other landraces. Eight out of nine landraces in Dhamidera and Dallekh villages and seven out of nine in Sundamunda village produced seeds greater than 1.0 t/ha. Among the nine varieties KA-17-02-FB was the highest yielding variety, with an average yield of 3.8 t/ha. This study is useful for identifying suitable landraces for future promotion based on their maturity, grain yield, diseases resistance and other qualitative and quantitative characteristics

A systematic review of current knowledge of HIV epidemiology and of sexual behaviour in Nepal

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review information on HIV epidemiology and on sexual behaviour in Nepal with a view to identifying gaps in current knowledge. METHODS: Systematic review covering electronic databases, web-based information, personal contact with experts and hand searching of key journals. RESULTS: HIV-1 seroprevalence has been rising rapidly in association with high-risk behaviours, with current levels of 40% amongst the nation's injecting drug users and approaching 20% amongst Kathmandu's female commercial sex workers (FCSWs). HIV seroprevalence remains low in the general population (0.29% of 15–49 year olds). There are significant methodological limitations in many of the seroprevalence studies identified, and these estimates need to be treated with caution. There are extensive migration patterns both within the country and internationally which provide the potential for considerable sexual networking. However, studies of sexual behaviour have focused on FCSWs and the extent of sexual networks within the general population is largely unknown. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst some of the ingredients are present for an explosive HIV epidemic in Nepal, crucial knowledge on sexual behaviour in the general population is missing. Research on sexual networking is urgently required to guide HIV control in Nepal. There is also a need for further good-quality epidemiological studies of HIV seroprevalence

Adapting Livestock Production Systems to Climate Change in Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities

To assess climate change impacts and identify challenges and opportunities for livestock climate change adaption, we conducted a comprehensive study in the Thulokhola watershed of Nuwakot district in Nepal from June 1, 2011 to January 31, 2013. We established nine community livestock groups (CLGs) consisting of 51 members and trained the CLG members in daily livestock record keeping and monitoring surface water quality. Monthly fecal samples from 50 cattle, 50 goats, and 50 buffaloes were collected for the determination of gastrointestinal parasites. Soil and fodder samples were also collected and analyzed. Group discussions, Participatory Rural Appraisals, and full-fledged household survey of 97 households were done. A survey of 41 water sources in the watershed was also conducted. While 85.3 % of the water sources have either dried up or decreased in flow in recent years, drought conditions had great toll on agricultural production. Prevalence rates of helminthes on goats, cattle, and buffalo was 53.8%, 31.32%, and 23.52%, respectively, and animal deaths were remarkably high. Declining pregnancy rates on livestock along with waning supply of fodder and forages and poor soil quality were additional major problems. Although local communities have undertaken several measures including adding new breed, destocking, purchasing fodder and forages, and planting grasses for livestock climate change adaptation, the problems of animal health, breeding conditions, soil fertility, forest degradation, increasing women workload, and water shortages were largely unaddressed. Opportunities for livestock climate change adaptation in Nepal include agroforestry intervention, groundwater utilization, rainwater harvesting, enhancing feed efficiency, and community capacity-building

Effective Biosorption of Phosphate from Water Using Fe(III)-Loaded Pomegranate Peel

Removal of phosphate from wastewater is necessary for the safety of public health and environmental protection. The present study used an easily available and affordable biosorbent obtained from the pomegranate peel for the excision of phosphate from water. The biosorption behavior of raw pomegranate peel powder (RPGPP) was found negligible. The RPGPP was further saponified with Ca(OH)2 followed by Fe(III) loading to obtain Fe(III)-loaded pomegranate peels (Fe(III)-PGPP), which was then employed for the phosphate uptake. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the biosorbent. The batch adsorption test was used to evaluate the adsorption viability of biosorbents for removing phosphate from aqueous solution. Fe(III)-PGPP was determined to have a pHPZC of 5.40. The experimental data were best explained by the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Fe(III)-PGPP had the largest phosphate biosorption capacity of 99.30 mg g–1 at the optimum pH of 3.0 and 2.5 hours of contact time. From the results obtained, Fe(III)-PGPP adsorbent can be regarded as an effective and cost-efficient material for the treatment of phosphate-anion-contaminated water

Impact of trust on local residents' Mega-Event perceptions and their support

This study examines the influence of residents' trust in government and organizing committee on their impact perceptions and support for a mega-event, namely, 2014 FIFA World Cup. Findings suggest significant relationships between impact perceptions and support. While trust in government is found to be a significant determinant of impact perceptions, findings indicate no significant relationship between trust in government and support, which suggest that the relationship is mediated by impact perceptions. While a positive relationship between trust in the organizing committee and positive impact perceptions is found, findings suggest no significant relationship between trust in the organizing committee and negative impact perceptions. Trust in the organizing committee is also found to have significant positive impact on support.CNPq-Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico, Brasil (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development," Brazil)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optical conductivity and vibrational spectra of the narrow-gap semiconductor FeGa3_3

Intermetallic narrow-gap semiconductors have been intensively explored due to their large thermoelectric power at low temperatures and a possible role of strong electronic correlations in their unusual thermodynamic and transport properties. Here we study the optical spectra and vibrational properties of $\mathrm{FeGa_3}$ single crystal. The optical conductivity indicates that $\mathrm{FeGa_3}$ has a direct band gap of $\sim 0.7$\,eV, consistent with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Most importantly, we find a substantial spectral weight also below 0.4~eV, which is the energy of the indirect (charge) gap found in resistivity measurements and ab initio calculations. We find that the spectral weight below the gap decreases with increasing temperature, which indicates that it originates from the impurity states and not from the electronic correlations. Interestingly, we did not find any signatures of the impurity states in vibrational spectra. The infrared and Raman vibrational lines are narrow and weakly temperature dependent. The vibrational frequencies are in excellent agreement with our DFT calculations, implying a modest role of electronic correlations. Narrow M\" ossbauer spectral lines also indicate high crystallinity of the sample

Results from the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment at Soudan

We report the result of a blinded search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) using the majority of the SuperCDMS Soudan dataset. With an exposure of 1690 kg days, a single candidate event is observed, consistent with expected backgrounds. This analysis (combined with previous Ge results) sets an upper limit on the spin-independent WIMP--nucleon cross section of $1.4 \times 10^{-44}$ ($1.0 \times 10^{-44}$) cm$^2$ at 46 GeV/$c^2$. These results set the strongest limits for WIMP--germanium-nucleus interactions for masses $>$12 GeV/$c^2$