Diversity of butterflies with respect to altitudinal rise at various pockets of the Langtang National Park, central Nepal

The Langtang National Park which covers an area of 1760 sq.km was studied extensively for the occurrence and status of butterflies within the altitudinal ranges of 1500 m at Syaprubensi to 4300 m around Langtang glacier area. Addition to altitudes, the decline in floral diversity with temperature reduction in higher elevation basically controlled the species richness of butterflies specifically above 3000 m elevations. Habitat preference for diverse species of these colorful and agile insects is poorly represented above that elevation. This study conducted at different periods in 2010 and 2011 covering both the spring and summer seasons came up with a list of different status categories of 126 species. A rich diversity was noted at 1500 m (Syaprubensi) to 2900 m at Deurali on the way to the glacier (4300 m). Parnassius hardwickei and Parnassius epaphus epaphus which were seen with good population in previous studies at Dhimsa (3200 m) are at declining stage as a consequence of habitat loss and human interferences

Vegetation types and wildlife occurrence in Baghmara Buffer zone community forest

Baghmara Buffer Zone Community Forest (BBZCF) is located in the central lowland of Nepal by covering 215 ha area. A year round study was conducted on 2010 in the area to find out the vegetation types and associated large wild mammals in that vegetation. To collect the primary data on vegetation 34 parallel transects traversing east to west were established. The transect pass through the all habitat types of BBZCF. Total length of transects were 68 kilometers. Nested quadrates (n = 131) were laid in each transects to collect information about vegetation type and wildlife occurrence. Vegetation types of the area were classified on the basis of Importance Value (IV) of tree species for forest area and Prominance Value (PV) of herbs and grass species in grassland area. Six vegetation types namely Acacia catechu forest, Albizia julibrissin forest, Savana, Dalbergia sissoo forest, Trewia nudiflora forest, and Grassland were reported from the study area. Wildlife signs were found only from naturally regenerated forests areas of BBZCF. On the basis of the availability of indirect signs it was found that wildlife were distributed in Albizia julibrissin forest, Trewia nudiflora forest, and grasslands of the study area. From those vegetation types, Spotted deer, Sambhar, Wild boar, Barking deer, and Rhinos were recorded. Among the studied wildlife, Spotted deer and Sambhar preferred Trewia nudiflora forest and rest of the wildlife preferred Albizia julibrissin forest as their habitats

A Cross-sectional study on Out-of-Pocket expenditure towards Immunization and its consequences faced by families with under-five Children Residing at one of the Cities of Western India

Background: When immunization of under-five children results in Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE), it affects motivation of parents for vaccination inversely. Objectives: To assess determinants affecting preference for specific/mixed type of health facilities and to estimate out-of-pocket expenditure towards immunization of under-five children. To assess opinion of participants for prevention/decreasing OOPE towards immunization. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at one of zones of Ahmedabad city, selected by simple random sampling. Following technique of “30×7 cluster survey” with necessary house-hold information received from Municipal Corporation, selection of 7 children was pursued from each cluster reaching to sample-size of 210 (30 X 7). Results: Of 211 children included in study, 124(58.77%), 68(32.23%) and 19(9%) had taken immunization services from government, private and mixed variety respectively. Majority of families (110, 88.71%) preferring government healthcare-facility for immunization incurred expenses <5000 INR/child as while in other two groups, all beneficiaries had expensed>5000 INR/child. Conclusions: Determinants like child’s gender, parents’ education, Type of family, Socio-economic status, delivery place of child and occupation of father had statistically significant association with preferred place of vaccination. Fixation of upper ceiling-limit of vaccines which are recommended by pediatricians but not covered in government run program was one of suggestions

Heterosis in single cross inter and intra-specific hybrids of Desi cotton (Gossipium arboreum and G. herbaceaum) for their seed cotton yield, fibre quality and seed oil content

The present investigation was carried out to assess the expression of per se performance and heterotic effect for fibre quality and seed oil content besides seed cotton yield, studied involving ten desi cotton (Gossipium arboreum and G. herbaceaum) genotypes and their 45 cross combinations in half diallel analysis. F-1 hybrids GBhv-282 x G 27 (67.36%), GBhv- 287 x 824 (58.14%), GBhv- 282 x GAM- 173 (35.00%), GBhv- 286 x G 27 (20.50%), and GBhv- 283 x 824 (18.75%) recorded highest per se performance and significant positive standard heterosis while the maximum heterobeltiosis for seed cotton yield per plant was exhibited by the hybrid GBhv- 287 x 824(155.60 %) followed by GBhv- 282 x G 27 (151.29%) and GBhv- 282 x GAM- 173 (130.30%). Similar trend of heterosis for numbers of boll per plant were observed in above hybrids. For fibre quality traits none of the cross showed consistent high performance for all the characters. Cross GBhv- 283 x 824 was exhibited high standard heterosis for 2.5 % span length, fibre strength, fibre elongation percentage as well as for short fibre index (SFI) while cross GBhv- 286 x 824 were promising for 2.5 per cent span length, fibre strength and fibre fineness. In case of oil content intraarboreum crosses resulted as better crosses and among them cross combination 824 x GAM- 173 was best. Desi cotton hybrids are having lower fibre quality and yield. So, improvement for yield and fibre quality of diploid native varieties through heterosis breeding provided better hybrids for rainfed farming

G-band Spectral Synthesis in Solar Magnetic Concentrations

Narrow band imaging in the G-band is commonly used to trace the small magnetic field concentrations of the Sun, although the mechanism that makes them bright has remained unclear. We carry out LTE syntheses of the G-band in an assorted set of semi-empirical model magnetic concentrations. The syntheses include all CH lines as well as the main atomic lines within the band-pass. The model atmospheres produce bright G-band spectra having many properties in common with the observed G-band bright points. In particular, the contrast referred to the quiet Sun is about twice the contrast in continuum wavelengths. The agreement with observations does not depend on the specificities of the model atmosphere, rather it holds from single fluxtubes to MIcro-Structured Magnetic Atmospheres. However, the agreement requires that the real G-band bright points are not spatially resolved, even in the best observations. Since the predicted G-band intensities exceed by far the observed values, we foresee a notable increase of contrast of the G-band images upon improvement of the angular resolution. According to the LTE modeling, the G-band spectrum emerges from the deep photosphere that produces the continuum. Our syntheses also predict solar magnetic concentrations showing up in continuum images but not in the G-band . Finally, we have examined the importance of the CH photo-dissociation in setting the amount of G-band absorption. It turns out to play a minor role.Comment: To appear in ApJ, 554 n2 Jun 20, 33 pages and 9 figure

Testing non-linear force-free coronal magnetic field extrapolations with the Titov-Demoulin equilibrium

CONTEXT: As the coronal magnetic field can usually not be measured directly, it has to be extrapolated from photospheric measurements into the corona. AIMS: We test the quality of a non-linear force-free coronal magnetic field extrapolation code with the help of a known analytical solution. METHODS: The non-linear force-free equations are numerically solved with the help of an optimization principle. The method minimizes an integral over the force-free and solenoidal condition. As boundary condition we use either the magnetic field components on all six sides of the computational box in Case I or only on the bottom boundary in Case II. We check the quality of the reconstruction by computing how well force-freeness and divergence-freeness are fulfilled and by comparing the numerical solution with the analytical solution. The comparison is done with magnetic field line plots and several quantitative measures, like the vector correlation, Cauchy Schwarz, normalized vector error, mean vector error and magnetic energy. RESULTS: For Case I the reconstructed magnetic field shows good agreement with the original magnetic field topology, whereas in Case II there are considerable deviations from the exact solution. This is corroborated by the quantitative measures, which are significantly better for Case I. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the strong nonlinearity of the considered force-free equilibrium, the optimization method of extrapolation is able to reconstruct it; however, the quality of reconstruction depends significantly on the consistency of the input data, which is given only if the known solution is provided also at the lateral and top boundaries, and on the presence or absence of flux concentrations near the boundaries of the magnetogram.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Research Not

Improving multidisciplinary team working to support integrated care for people with frailty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

Multidisciplinary team (MDT) working is essential to optimise and integrate services for people who are frail. MDTs require collaboration. Many health and social care professionals have not received formal training in collaborative working. This study investigated MDT training designed to help participants deliver integrated care for frail individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers utilised a semi-structured analytical framework to support observations of the training sessions and analyse the results of two surveys designed to assess the training process and its impact on participants knowledge and skills. 115 participants from 5 Primary Care Networks in London attended the training. Trainers utilised a video of a patient pathway, encouraged discussion of it, and demonstrated the use of evidence-based tools for patient needs assessment and care planning. Participants were encouraged to critique the patient pathway, reflect on their own experiences of planning and providing patient care. 38% of participants completed a pre-training survey, 47% a post-training survey. Significant improvement in knowledge and skills were reported including understanding roles in contributing to MDT working, confidence to speak in MDT meetings, using a range of evidence-based clinical tools for comprehensive assessment and care planning. Greater levels of autonomy, resilience, and support for MDT working were reported. Training proved effective; it could be scaled up and adopted to other settings

Modelling the evolution of the Sun's open and total magnetic flux

Solar activity in all its varied manifestations is driven by the magnetic field. Particularly important for many purposes are two global quantities, the Sun's total and open magnetic flux, which can be computed from sunspot number records using models. Such sunspot-driven models, however, do not take into account the presence of magnetic flux during grand minima, such as the Maunder minimum. Here we present a major update of a widely used simple model, which now takes into account the observation that the distribution of all magnetic features on the Sun follows a single power law. The exponent of the power law changes over the solar cycle. This allows for the emergence of small-scale magnetic flux even when no sunspots are present for multiple decades and leads to non-zero total and open magnetic flux also in the deepest grand minima, such as the Maunder minimum, thus overcoming a major shortcoming of the earlier models. The results of the updated model compare well with the available observations and reconstructions of the solar total and open magnetic flux. This opens up the possibility of improved reconstructions of sunspot number from time series of cosmogenic isotope production rate

Fine structure, magnetic field and heating of sunspot penumbrae

We interpret penumbral filaments as due to convection in field-free, radially aligned gaps just below the visible surface of the penumbra, intruding into a nearly potential field above. This solves the classical discrepancy between the large heat flux and the low vertical velocities observed in the penumbra. The presence of the gaps causes strong small-scale fluctuations in inclination, azimuth angle and field strength, but without strong forces acting on the gas. The field is nearly horizontal in a region around the cusp-shaped top of the gap, thereby providing an environment for Evershed flows. We identify this region with the recently discovered dark penumbral cores. Its darkness has the same cause as the dark lanes in umbral light-bridges, reproduced in numerical simulations by Nordlund and Stein (2005). We predict that the large vertical and horizontal gradients of the magnetic field inclination and azimuth in the potential field model will produce the net circular polarization seen in observations. The model also explains the significant elevation of bright filaments above their surroundings. It predicts that dark areas in the penumbra are of two different kinds: dark filament cores containing the most inclined (horizontal) fields, and regions between bright filaments, containing the least inclined field lines.Comment: submitted to A&

MHD simulations of penumbra fine structure

We present results of numerical 3D MHD simulations with radiative energy transfer of fine structure in a small sunspot of about 4 Mm width. The simulations show the development of filamentary structures and flow patterns that are, except for the lengths of the filaments, very similar to those observed. The filamentary structures consist of gaps with reduced field strength relative to their surroundings. Calculated synthetic images show dark cores like those seen in the observations; the dark cores are the result of a locally elevated $\tau=1$ surface. The magnetic field in these cores is weaker and more horizontal than for adjacent brighter structures, and the core support a systematic outflow. Movies show migration of the dark-cored structures towards the umbra, and fragments of magnetic flux that are carried away from the spot by a large scale `moat flow'. We conclude that the simulations are in qualitative agreement with observed penumbra filamentary structures, Evershed flows and moving magnetic features.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Ap