Understanding and enabling nutrition and agriculture linkages: development and implementation of home-grown school feeding in Nepal

Providing nutritionally balanced diets through ecologically sustainable and equitable food systems is the most profound challenge facing us today. The current state of food and nutrition security is in many ways is a legacy of the green revolution and neoliberal market based political economy. Technocratic and market- based approaches have contributed to creating a highly homogenised food system at the expense of diversity, ecological sustainability and nutrition quality. The origin of agriculture around 10000 years ago and the processes of domestication provide useful insights on the key drivers of food production that influence policy and programmes even today. More importantly there is compelling evidence which shows how the transition to agriculture adversely impacted human health in a wide range of contexts. The study is an action research project primarily based on design, implementation and evaluation of ‘Home Grown School Feeding’ in eight districts across the three main agroecological zones of Nepal. It provides important policy and programmatic evidence on enabling decentralized food systems which are nutritionally and ecologically sensitive, as part of a government led universal food-based safety net project. Based on action research inquiry process, the thesis develops concepts and theories through the different chapters to contribute to our understanding of food systems and programme design. The intervention creates an effective platform for food system mediation through different pathways. Evidence on intervention governance through ‘food sovereignty’ lens demonstrates how HSGF interventions can also promote equity in food systems in terms of policies, funding and knowledge. COVID-19 pandemic control measures have contributed to undermining food and nutrition security, with the poorest being hit the hardest and young children potentially facing life-long consequences. Overall evidence from the thesis including the recent Covid crisis highlights the importance of resilient and context sensitive food production and it is an emphatic reminder of the need to have integrated public health-nutrition-ecology approach to food systems.Open Acces

TOWARDS A HOLISTIC AND INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY FOR STUDENTS FROM DIVERSE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUNDS

In a multilingual classroom, students come from various cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds. They have different ideologies, opinions, and needs. In this regard, ‘one size fits all’ pedagogy is not only irrelevant but also absurd because the instructions and interactions in the classroom do not cater to the needs of all the students. Therefore, a carefully planned pedagogy that addresses the needs of the individual learners differently in the classroom is needed. In this scenario, implementing multilingual pedagogy in the classroom might be a better idea as it can address the needs of individual learners by making education inclusive and accessible to all. Multilingual pedagogy here is defined as a set of principles that are used to varying degrees in different approaches depending on the teaching context, learners, and curriculum (Neuner, 2004). This paper discusses various approaches, methods, and strategies within the framework of multilingual pedagogy that can be implemented in a classroom consisting of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. To provide a clear picture of the theoretical ideas, the practical implementation of the ideas in some schools are also discussed. During the implementation, it is indicated that multilingual pedagogy holds the potential to enhance student learning

Hybrid biocomposites

Biocomposites are being explored by research communityfor the past few decades due to rising environmental concerns. Moisture uptake, poor interface and moderate to lower mechanical properties have proved to be a bottleneck for biocomposites to partially or fully replace synthetic composites. The concept of hybridising, i.e. incorporating two or more reinforcements instead of single reinforcement in a matrix, has the potential to overcome this bottleneck by exploiting the desired contribution of both the reinforcing phases. Although hybrid composites have already extensively explored for high-performance fibres, the studies on hybrid composites using biodegradable constituents still lag behind. This review addresses studies conducted on hybrid composites using at least one biodegradable component and the findings in terms of properties and factors affecting them are discussed. The analysis on synergistic effect reported by researchers along with the scope of ongoing research and prospects for hybrid biocomposites have also been discussed in detail

Recipe optimisation for sugarcane bagasse fibre reinforced soy protein biocomposite

A series of biodegradable composites has been prepared using sugarcane bagasse fibres as reinforcement and soy protein isolate (SPI) as matrix. Sugarcane bagasse has been pretreated with 2% NaOH solution for improving its reinforcement. Recipe for matrix includes soy protein isolate as prime ingredient, glyoxal as crosslinking agent and glycerol as plasticizer. The composites are characterised for tensile properties. Three-factor and three-level Box-Behnken design is used to optimize the mass fraction of fibres, percentage of crosslinking and plasticizing agent. The model predicts that the best possible results would be achieved with the recipe having 20% fibres with matrix recipe of 11% glyoxal, 17.7% glycerol and 51.3% SPI by weight. The predicted and observed tensile strength of composite is found to be comparable. The glycerol content is found to play an important role in improvement of tensile property of composite

PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANALGESIC POTENTIAL OF LITCHI CHINENSIS GAERTN.(SONN.)

Objective: Litchi chinensis Gaertn. is a tropical fruit tree used traditionally for several ailments including inflammatory and painful disorders. This study was designed to investigate the potential of hydroalcohol extract of Litchi chinensis Gaertn. leaves (HLCL) for anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity in laboratory animals. Methods: Hydro-alcoholic extract of leaves were sequentially prepared by Soxhlet apparatus and subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by employing carrageenan induced paw edema in rats and analgesic activity was evaluated using acetic acid induced writhing test and hot plate method in mice. Results: The preliminary phytochemical analysis of extracts indicated the presence of terpenoids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins. Oral administration of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of HLCL exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory activity and maximum effect was observed after 4 hour of carrageenan administration. The percentage inhibition of glacial acetic acid induced writhing was found to be 11%, 26.3%, 45% at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg dose respectively. Similar results were observed in hot plate model indicating the analgesic activity. Conclusion: The results showed that HA extract of Litchi chinensis Gaertn. produced significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity in rats and mice respectively

Hybrid biocomposites

224-246Biocomposites are being explored by research communityfor the past few decades due to rising environmental concerns. Moisture uptake, poor interface and moderate to lower mechanical properties have proved to be a bottleneck for biocomposites to partially or fully replace synthetic composites. The concept of hybridising, i.e. incorporating two or more reinforcements instead of single reinforcement in a matrix, has the potential to overcome this bottleneck by exploiting the desired contribution of both the reinforcing phases. Although hybrid composites have already extensively explored for high-performance fibres, the studies on hybrid composites using biodegradable constituents still lag behind. This review addresses studies conducted on hybrid composites using at least one biodegradable component and the findings in terms of properties and factors affecting them are discussed. The analysis on synergistic effect reported by researchers along with the scope of ongoing research and prospects for hybrid biocomposites have also been discussed in detail

Is There an Association Between Living in a Rural Area and the Incidence of Postoperative Complications or Hospital Readmissions Following Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Implantation, Compared to Urban LVAD Recipients?

Background: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are utilized as a therapeutic option for patients with end-stage heart failure. While LVAD implantation can significantly improve survival rates and quality of life, the procedure is not without risks, and postoperative complications are common. This review aims to investigate whether there is an association between living in a rural area and the incidence of postoperative complications or hospital readmissions following LVAD implantation, compared to urban LVAD recipients. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted, examining studies that compared postoperative outcomes between rural and urban LVAD recipients. Data were extracted on adverse events, hospitalizations, and mortality rates, with a focus on the impact of geographic location on these outcomes. Results: The review found that rural LVAD recipients may be at a higher risk for certain postoperative complications, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, ventricular arrhythmias, LVAD complications, and stroke. Rural patients also had higher instances of emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. Despite these challenges, survival rates and heart transplantation outcomes at 1 year were similar between rural and urban recipients. However, rural patients exhibited a higher driveline infection rate at 1 year. Conclusion: The findings of this review suggest that rural residency may be associated with an increased risk of certain postoperative complications and hospital readmissions following LVAD implantation. These results highlight the need for tailored healthcare strategies to address the unique challenges faced by rural LVAD recipients. Further research is necessary to fully understand the relationship between geographic location and LVAD outcomes, and to develop interventions that can improve postoperative care for this vulnerable populatio