Response of rice to different organic and inorganic nutrient sources at Parwanipur, Bara district of Nepal

In order to reach an optimum and sustainable production, growers must know the fertilizing nutrient sources and their application rates. The present study aimed to determine the effect of different organic and inorganic source of fertilizers on growth and performance of rice. A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agriculture Research Station, Parwanipur, Bara, Nepal during summer season of 2013. Rice variety ‘Hardinath 1’ was used in these experiments. Treatments included a combination of organic and inorganic nutrients at eight rates (control, recommended dose of NPK, ½ NPK+FYM 10 t ha-1, ½ NPK+20 cm crop residue, ½ NPK+Chicken manure 10 t ha-1, ½ NPK+Vermicompost 10 t ha-1, FYM 10 t ha-1 and FYM 20 t ha-1).The experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. Treatments produced significant results for plant height, number of tillers per square meter, panicle length and grain yield but thousands grains weight was insignificant. Result showed that application of half of recommended N: P2O5: K2O from the inorganic fertilizer sources along with soil incorporation of 20 cm crop residue produced significantly higher value for plant height, number of tillers per square meter, panicle length and Grain yield. Treatments did not produce significant effect on after harvest soil properties: pH, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content

Designing of the Wireless Digital Portable Temperature and Humidity Monitoring Device and Analyzing Data at Different Part of Kathmandu Valley

The atmosphere of planet plays a great role in numerous weather phenomena which affects our life directly. To understand these phenomena, it requires knowledge about the relation between temperature and humidity.The effects of temperature on humidity influence the potential for precipitation. It also directly influences the human health and well-being. Relative humidity and dew point are the two parameters that are used by the meteorologists for understanding the interaction between temperature and humidity. Therefore there is a necessary of a smart monitoring system which is fully automated, accurate and capable enough to monitor all the parameters with accuracy. Besides, it should be portable and less expensive. For this purpose, the digital portable wireless temperature and humidity monitoring device is designed. This project consists of HC-05 Bluetooth module, DHT-11, Arduino UNO, 16 X 2 LCD, and smartphone. The data are recorded at different part of Kathmandu Valley with this device wirelessly by using smartphone and analyze it with the help of Origin software.

Effects of different doses of organic and inorganic fertilizers on cauliflower yield and soil properties

The experiment was conducted in research field of Agriculture Research Station at Belachapi, Dhanusha, Nepal from November, 2017 to February, 2018 to evaluate the effects of different doses of organic and inorganic fertilizers on Cauliflower yield parameters and soil properties. In the experiment, there were ten treatments consisting of different combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers. The cauliflower variety ‘Snow mystic’ was grown with these treatments laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The half dose of Organic manure (750 kg/ha) and half dose of farm yard manure (FYM) (20 t/ha) produced the highest curd yield (1019 g) and biomass (2046 g). The highest Nitrogen percent (0.10%), Organic matter percent (1.89%) and Phosphorus content (169.09 mg/kg) were obtained with the application of combined half dose of NPK (105:90:60 kg NPK/ha) and half FYM (20 t FYM/ha). The combined effect of application of Organic manures with inorganic fertilizers (NPK) was found to be better for crop growth and development as well as soil health improvement

Effects of different doses of Plant-Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) granules on wheat yield

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are the soil bacteria inhabiting around/on the root surface and are directly or indirectly involved in promoting plant growth and development. This study was conducted at research field of Agriculture Research Station, Belachapi, Dhanusa, Nepal in 2018 to identify the effects of PGPR on wheat production. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Eight treatments namely, T1: Control; T2: Recommended doses of fertilizers (RDF) (100:50:50 N:P2O5:K2O kg/ha); T3:10 t/ha Farm Yard Manure (FYM); T4: PGPR 12.5 kg/ha ; T5: PGPR 25 kg/ha; T6: PGPR 7 kg/ha; T7: PGPR 12.5 kg/ha + ½ RDF; T8:  PGPR 7 kg/ha + ½ FYM, were applied in this experiment. Wheat variety NL-971 was used. The results showed that the thousand grain weight showed significant result. The treatment with 10 t/ha FYM was found the best for spike length (8.267cm), grains per five spikes (160) and Thousand grain weight (49.28 g).  Whereas, the highest yield (2.064 t/ha) was obtained with application of PGPR 7 kg/ha + ½ FYM. The PH content was found the highest (5.453) with application of RDF. The maximum organic matter content (1.763) and N content (0.1179%) were found with application of PGPR 12.5 kg/ha. Similarly, the highest phosphorus content (75.83 mg/kg) was found with application of PGPR7 kg/ha while the highest potassium content (72.51 mg/kg) was obtained with application of PGPR 25kg/ha. Overall, there was positive impact of application of PGPR on wheat production

Immediate surgical coronary revascularisation in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction

Background: The number of patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and being untreatable by interventional cardiologists increased during the last years. Previous experience in emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in these patients spurred us towards a more liberal acceptance for surgery. Following a prospective protocol, patients were operated on and further analysed. Methods: Within a two year interval, 127 patients (38 female, age 68 +/- 12 years, EuroScore (ES) II 6.7 +/- 7.2\%) presenting with AMI (86 non-ST-elevated myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), 41 STEMI) were immediately accepted for emergency CABG and operated on within six hours after cardiac catheterisation (77\% three-vessel-disease, 47\% left main stem stenosis, 11\% cardiogenic shock, 21\% preoperative intraaortic balloon pump (IABP), left ventricular ejection fraction 48 +/- 15\%). Results: 30-day-mortality was 6\% (8 patients, 2 NSTEMI (2\%) 6 STEMI (15\%), p=0.014). Complete revascularisation could be achieved in 80\% of the patients using 2 +/- 1 grafts and 3 +/- 1 distal anastomoses. In total, 66\% were supported by IABP, extracorporal life support (ECLS) systems were implanted in two patients. Logistic regression analysis revealed the ES II as an independent risk factor for mortality (p<0.001, HR 1.216, 95\%-CI-Intervall 1.082-1.366). Conclusions: Quo ad vitam, results of emergency CABG for patients presenting with NSTEMI can be compared with those of elective revascularisation. Complete revascularisation obviously offers a clear benefit for the patients. Mortality in patients presenting with STEMI and cardiogenic shock is substantially high. For these patients, other concepts regarding timing of surgical revascularisation and bridging until surgery need to be taken into consideration

Clinical Profile of Enteric Fever in Children of a Tertiary Care Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal

Background: Enteric fever, commonly known as typhoid fever has becoming a global public health problem in the developing countries . It is one of the common infectious diseases of humans, fever lasting for more than 7 days. It is transmitted by feco-oral route and common in the societies of poor sanitation. Globally, majority of the Typhoid fever is caused by Salmonella enterica var typhi,  one fifth of the infection is caused by Salmonella enterica var paratyphi . Fever is the most common clinical manifestation present in almost all patients with enteric fever.  Methods: It is a descriptive cross-sectional research conducted in the Pediatric ward and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital (NMCTH), Atterkhel, Kathmandu, Nepal from 2015 January to 2015 December. Inclusion criteria: Children admitted in Pediatric ward and PICU from 13 months to 15 years old.  Result: A total of 920 children with the sign and symptom of fever were admitted in the inpatient department (Pediatrics) during the study period. All the enteric fever suspected children were tested for blood culture, Widal test and complete blood count, out of them 80 children were diagnosed as enteric fever. Male female ratio is 1.6:1. Fever is the most common clinical feature observed in 95% cases and other common features were loose motion (37.5%), vomiting (33.8%) and abdominal pain (27.5%). Hepato-splenomegaly were  common findings of Enteric fever reported in 85.0% and 43.7%. On investigation, majority of the patients had normal leucocyte count (71.0%) and leucopenia reported in 20.0%.   Conclusion: Fever and hepatosplenomegaly were the major clinical presentation of typhoid fever in our study. Other less common features were loose motion, vomiting and abdominal pain. This findings may be useful for the pediatrician and other health professionals for the early diagnosis of enteric fever

Content Analysis of Primary and Secondary School Textbooks Regarding Malaria Control: A Multi-Country Study

BACKGROUND: In tropical settings, malaria education at school is potentially useful, but textbook content related to malaria education has so far received little attention. This study aimed to examine whether school textbooks contain sufficient knowledge and skills to help children in primary and lower secondary schools and their family members to cope with malaria. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This was a descriptive, cross-country study. We collected textbooks that were used by children in grades one to nine from nine countries endemic for malaria: Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Niger, Benin, and Ghana. Two reviewers per country identified descriptions about malaria by seeking the term "malaria" or a local word that corresponds to malaria in languages other than English. The authors categorized the identified descriptions according to the content of the descriptions. Additionally, the authors examined whether the identified contents addressed life skill messages. Of a total of 474 textbooks collected, 35 contained descriptions about malaria. The most commonly included content was transmission mode/vector (77.1%), followed by preventive measures (60.0%), epidemiology (57.1%), cause/agent (54.3%), signs/symptoms (37.1%) and treatment (22.9%). Treatment-related content was not included in any textbooks from four countries and textbooks failed to recommend the use of insecticide-treated bed nets in five countries. Very few textbooks included content that facilitated prompt treatment, protection of risk groups, and use of recommended therapy. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Textbooks rarely included knowledge and skills that are crucial to protect schoolchildren and their families from malaria. This study identified the need for improvement to textbook contents regarding malaria

Porous activated carbon materials from Triphala seed stones for high-performance supercapacitor applications

Porous activated carbon materials derived from biomass could be the suitable materials for high-rate performance electrochemical supercapacitors as it exhibits high surface area due to well-defined pore structure. Here, we report the novel porous activated carbon from Triphala seed stones by chemical activation with zinc chloride at different carbonization temperature (400-700 °C) under the nitrogen gas atmosphere. The activated carbon was characterized by Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements was used to study the surface properties (effective surface areas, pore volumes and pore size distributions). The electrochemical measurements were performed in an aqueous 1 M sulphuric acid (H2SO4) solution in a three-electrode cell set up. Triphala seed stones-derived porous carbon materials with well-defined micro- and mesopores exhibit high specific surface area ranges from 878.7 to 1233.3 m2 g-1 and total pore volume ranges from 0.439 to 0.626 cm3 g-1. The specific capacitance obtained by electrochemical measurement experiment was 208.7 F g-1 at 1 A g-1. These results indicate that the prepared nanoporous activated carbon material from Triphala seed stones would have significant possibility as supercapacitor electrode material for high-energy-storage supercapacitor applications

Outbreaks of Serratia marcescens and Serratia rubidaea bacteremia in a central Kathmandu hospital following the 2015 earthquakes.

BACKGROUND: Human infections with Serratia spp. are generally limited to Serratia marcescens and the Serratia liquefaciens complex. There is little data regarding the infections caused by the remaining Serratia spp., as they are seldom isolated from clinical specimens. METHODS: In this health care setting in Kathmandu, Nepal routine blood culture is performed on all febrile patients with a temperature >38°C or when there is clinical suspicion of bacteremia. During 2015 we atypically isolated and identified several Serratia spp. We extracted clinical data from these cases and performed whole genome sequencing on all isolates using a MiSeq system (Ilumina, San Diego, CA, USA). RESULTS: Between June and November 2015, we identified eight patients with suspected bacteremia that produced a positive blood culture for Serratia spp., six Serratia rubidaea and five Serratia marcescens. The S. rubidaea were isolated from three neonates and were concentrated in the neonatal intensive care unit between June and July 2015. All patients were severely ill and one patient died. Whole genome sequencing confirmed that six Nepalese S. rubidaea sequences were identical and indicative of a single-source outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: Despite extensive screening we were unable to identify the source of the outbreak, but the inferred timeline suggested that these atypical infections were associated with the aftermath of two massive earthquakes. We speculate that deficits in hygienic behavior, combined with a lack of standard infection control, in the post-earthquake emergency situation contributed to these unusual Serratia spp. outbreaks

Evaluation of an Electricity-free, Culture-based Approach for Detecting Typhoidal Salmonella Bacteremia during Enteric Fever in a High Burden, Resource-limited Setting

Background: In many rural areas at risk for enteric fever, there are few data on Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhi (S. Typhi) and Paratyphi (S. Paratyphi) incidence, due to limited laboratory capacity for microbiologic culture. Here, we describe an approach that permits recovery of the causative agents of enteric fever in such settings. This approach involves the use of an electricity-free incubator based upon use of phase-change materials. We compared this against conventional blood culture for detection of typhoidal Salmonella. Methodology/Principal Findings: Three hundred and four patients with undifferentiated fever attending the outpatient and emergency departments of a public hospital in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal were recruited. Conventional blood culture was compared against an electricity-free culture approach. Blood from 66 (21.7%) patients tested positive for a Gram-negative bacterium by at least one of the two methods. Sixty-five (21.4%) patients tested blood culture positive for S. Typhi (30; 9.9%) or S. Paratyphi A (35; 11.5%). From the 65 individuals with culture-confirmed enteric fever, 55 (84.6%) were identified by the conventional blood culture and 60 (92.3%) were identified by the experimental method. Median time-to-positivity was 2 days for both procedures. The experimental approach was falsely positive due to probable skin contaminants in 2 of 239 individuals (0.8%). The percentages of positive and negative agreement for diagnosis of enteric fever were 90.9% (95% CI: 80.0%–97.0%) and 96.0% (92.7%–98.1%), respectively. After initial incubation, Salmonella isolates could be readily recovered from blood culture bottles maintained at room temperature for six months. Conclusions/Significance: A simple culture approach based upon a phase-change incubator can be used to isolate agents of enteric fever. This approach could be used as a surveillance tool to assess incidence and drug resistance of the etiologic agents of enteric fever in settings without reliable local access to electricity or local diagnostic microbiology laboratories.Boston Children's Hospital (Frederick H. Lovejoy Fund)Harvard Global Health InstituteNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Grant AI100023)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (Grant AI077883