BOOK REVIEW: Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can\u27t stop talking. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. 333 pp., ISBN: 9780307352149.

BOOK REVIEW: Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can\u27t stop talking. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. 333 pages. ISBN: 9780307352149

Young people's knowledge, attitude, and behaviour on STI/HIV/AIDS in the context of Nepal: a systematic review.

Sexual and reproductive health of young people has become a major health problem in recent decades. Recent and rapidly increasing Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) rates show an urgent need for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV prevention interventions in Nepal

Shrinkage of Nepal's second largest lake (Phewa Tal) due to watershed degradation and increased sediment influx

Phewa Lake is an environmental and socio-economic asset to Nepal and the city of Pokhara. However, the lake area has decreased in recent decades due to sediment influx. The rate of this decline and the areal evolution of Phewa Lake due to artificial damming and sedimentation is disputed in the literature due to the lack of a historical time series. In this paper, we present an analysis of the lake's evolution from 1926 to 2018 and model the 50-year trajectory of shrinkage. The area of Phewa Lake expanded from 2.44 ± 1.02 km2 in 1926 to a maximum of 4.61 ± 0.07 km2 in 1961. However, the lake area change was poorly constrained prior to a 1957-1958 map. The contemporary lake area was 4.02 ± 0.07 km2 in April 2018, and expands seasonally by ~0.18 km2 due to the summer monsoon. We found no evidence to support a lake area of 10 km2 in 1956-1957, despite frequent reporting of this value in the literature. Based on the rate of areal decline and sediment influx, we estimate the lake will lose 80% of its storage capacity in the next 110-347 years, which will affect recreational use, agricultural irrigation, fishing, and a one-megawatt hydroelectric power facility. Mitigation of lake shrinkage will require addressing landslide activity and sediment transport in the watershed, as well as urban expansion along the shores

Identification of Arabidopsis \u3ci\u3eGPAT9\u3c/i\u3e (At5g60620) as an Essential Gene Involved In Triacylglycerol Biosynthesis

The first step in the biosynthesis of nearly all plant membrane phospholipids and storage triacylglycerols is catalyzed by a glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT). The requirement for an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized GPAT for both of these critical metabolic pathways was recognized more than 60 years ago. However, identification of the gene(s) encoding this GPAT activity has remained elusive. Here, we present the results of a series of in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) designed to assign this essential function to AtGPAT9. This gene has been highly conserved throughout evolution and is largely present as a single copy in most plants, features consistent with essential housekeeping functions. A knockout mutant of AtGPAT9 demonstrates both male and female gametophytic lethality phenotypes, consistent with the role in essential membrane lipid synthesis. Significant expression of developing seed AtGPAT9 is required for wild-type levels of triacylglycerol accumulation, and the transcript level is directly correlated to the level of microsomal GPAT enzymatic activity in seeds. Finally, the AtGPAT9 protein interacts with other enzymes involved in ER glycerolipid biosynthesis, suggesting the possibility of ER-localized lipid biosynthetic complexes. Together, these results suggest that GPAT9 is the ER-localized GPAT enzyme responsible for plant membrane lipid and oil biosynthesis

Nkx2-5 and Sarcospan genetically interact in the development of the muscular ventricular septum of the heart

The muscular ventricular septum separates the flow of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood in air-breathing vertebrates. Defects within it, termed muscular ventricular septal defects (VSDs), are common, yet less is known about how they arise than rarer heart defects. Mutations of the cardiac transcription factor NKX2-5 cause cardiac malformations, including muscular VSDs. We describe here a genetic interaction between Nkx2-5 and Sarcospan (Sspn) that affects the risk of muscular VSD in mice. Sspn encodes a protein in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. Sspn knockout (Sspn(KO)) mice do not have heart defects, but Nkx2-5(+/−)/Sspn(KO) mutants have a higher incidence of muscular VSD than Nkx2-5(+/−) mice. Myofibers in the ventricular septum follow a stereotypical pattern that is disrupted around a muscular VSD. Subendocardial myofibers normally run in parallel along the left ventricular outflow tract, but in the Nkx2-5(+/−)/Sspn(KO) mutant they commonly deviate into the septum even in the absence of a muscular VSD. Thus, Nkx2-5 and Sspn act in a pathway that affects the alignment of myofibers during the development of the ventricular septum. The malalignment may be a consequence of a defect in the coalescence of trabeculae into the developing ventricular septum, which has been hypothesized to be the mechanistic basis of muscular VSDs

Allocative Efficiency of Resource use on Beekeeping in Chitwan District of Nepal

Agriculture is facing with increasing pollinators decline all over the world affecting the functioning of regulatory and production service of pollination in adverse manner. Study on ways to conserve pollinating agents like bee is crucial in modern intensive agriculture. In this context a study was conducted to estimate the productivity and resource use efficiency of bee keeping in Chitwan district of Nepal. The study used data collected from randomly selected 48 bee keepers using face to face interview technique in the year 2014. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, benefit cost analysis and multiple regression analysis using Cob-Douglas form were employed to achieve study objectives. It was found that farmers were rearing honey bee on an average of about 34 hives per farm with annual productivity of bee products equivalent to 36 Kg honey per hive. Gross margin of beekeeping in the research area was found to be NRs. 3111.55 per hive with undiscounted benefit cost ratio of 1.71. Human labour use, expenditure on sugar, drugs and comb foundation and; migration cost were significantly contributing to the productivity of beekeeping and were required to increase their use by 39%, 34% and 74%, respectively to achieve optimum profit. It was suggested to increase the level of all variable inputs through loan, subsidy and insurance to promote beekeeping enterprise in the study area for ensuring optimum profit to farmers and conservation of the most important agent of pollination

Preservation of geochemical characteristics in Permo-Triassic mudstones by metagenesis and low-grade metamorphism in the Tethys Himalaya, Central Nepal

Abstract HKT-ISTP 2013 A

The genetic architecture of a congenital heart defect Is related to Its fitness cost

In newborns, severe congenital heart defects are rarer than mild ones. This epidemiological relationship between heart defect severity and incidence lacks explanation. Here, an analysis of ~10,00