Entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom growers: A case study in Lamjung district of Nepal

Study on entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom growers in Lamjung District, Nepal was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018 in Marshyangdi Rural Municipality of Lamjung district. The Rural Municipality was selected purposely for the study due to the recent establishment of Cardamom Zone under the Prime Minister Agriculture Modernization Project in the Municipality focusing on large cardamom development. Altogether 80 large cardamom growers were selected randomly from 454 large cardamom growers of the study site. Data were collected through household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, personal observations, and other secondary sources. Results showed that a greater proportion of large cardamom growers were found to have medium level of innovativeness (45%), decision-making ability (51.2%), information-seeking ability (48.8%), risk orientation (46.2%), leadership ability (43.8%), achievement motivation (46.2%) and low management orientation (56.3%) which contributed to the overall medium entrepreneurial behavior (47.5%) of large cardamom growers in the study area. About 35 percent of farmers were belonging to the low entrepreneurial behavior and only a few numbers of farmers (17.5%) were under the high entrepreneurial behavior category. The high number of farmers with low and medium entrepreneurial behavior and a low number of farmers with high entrepreneurial behavior has resulted in poor commercialization of large cardamom in the study area. Educational status, landholding, extension participation, economic motivation, experience in large cardamom farming, and area of large cardamom cultivation were found to have a significant correlation with the entrepreneurial behavior of large cardamom farmers while age had a negative and significant effect. There is still scope to increase the number of large cardamom farmers with high entrepreneur behavior for commercializing large cardamom in the study area but programs should be designed and implemented accordingly

Study of In-vitro Antioxidant and Antibacterial activity of leaf extract of Azadirachta indica, and Ocimum sanctum in different organic solvents and Cow urine

Background: Neem (Azadirachta indica), Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) and Cow urine (Bos indicus) has been widely used as a therapeutic potential or additive agent in different ethnomedicinal practices as well as modern science also proved its therapeutic potential to treat various diseases and balance the body conditions. Aims: Alone study on Neem, Tulsi and Cow urine (CU) has been widely performed but this study aims to evaluate the individual as well as synergistic antioxidant and antibacterial activity of Neem, and Tulsi’s leaves extract in different organic solvents and Cow urine. Materials and Methods: Antioxidant activity was carried out by using 2,2-Diphenyl1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and the antibacterial activity was tested by the agar disc diffusion method against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus)  and gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris and Klebsiella species) bacteria. Results: The antioxidant and antibacterial activity is concentration-dependent. The neem extract in chloroform shows the highest ZOI against S. aureus (14±2). Similarly, the neem extract in cow urine (8±0.86) and tulsi extract in methanol (8±1.04) shows the highest ZOI against E. coli. Against K. species cow urine is most effective (9±0.29) followed by neem extract in chloroform and cow urine (8±0.77). In P. vulgaris almost all sample shows ZOI around 7 mm. In synergistic antibacterial study tulsi and neem extract in cow urine shows the highest ZOI against E. coli (12±1.75) and P. vulgaris (10±1.44). The tulsi and neem extract in hexane is not effective against S. aureus and E. coli but effective in P. vulgaris and K. species (ZOI 7 mm). Tulsi and neem extract in chloroform, methanol, and cow urine show similar ZOI (9 mm). In DPPH free radical scavenging activity the methanolic extract of tulsi shows the highest inhibition of free radicle (96.35±0.001), followed by methanolic extract of neem (84.85±0.042). The fresh cow urine inhibits (25.19±0.037) followed by neem extract in chloroform (24.53±0.003), neem extract in cow urine (21.8±0.012), tulsi extract in chloroform (20.86±0.047), tulsi extract in hexane (19.5±0.031), tulsi extract in cow urine (18.33±0.023) and the least inhibition by neem extract in hexane (6.74±0.042)

Participatory policy analysis in health policy and systems research: reflections from a study in Nepal

Background Participatory policy analysis (PPA) as a method in health policy and system research remains underexplored. Using our experiences of conducting PPA workshops in Nepal to explore the impact of the country’s move to federalism on its health system, we reflect on the method’s strengths and challenges. We provide an account of the study context, the design and implementation of the workshops, and our reflections on the approach’s strengths and challenges. Findings on the impact of federalism on the health system are beyond the scope of this manuscript. Main body We conducted PPA workshops with a wide range of health system stakeholders (political, administrative and service-level workforce) at the local and provincial levels in Nepal. The workshops consisted of three activities: river of life, brainstorming and prioritization, and problem-tree analysis. Our experiences show that PPA workshops can be a valuable approach to explore health policy and system issues – especially in a context of widespread systemic change which impacts all stakeholders within the health system. Effective engagement of stakeholders and activities that encourage both individual- and system-level reflections and discussions not only help in generating rich qualitative data, but can also address gaps in participants’ understanding of practical, technical and political aspects of the health system, aid policy dissemination of research findings, and assist in identifying short- and long-term practice and policy issues that need to be addressed for better health system performance and outcomes. Conducting PPA workshops is, however, challenging for a number of reasons, including the influence of gatekeepers and power dynamics between stakeholders/participants. The role and skills of researchers/facilitators in navigating such challenges are vital for success. Although the long-term impact of such workshops needs further research, our study shows the usefulness of PPA workshops for researchers, for participants and for the wider health system. Conclusions PPA workshops can effectively generate and synthesize health policy and system evidence through collaborative engagement of health system stakeholders with varied roles. When designed with careful consideration for context and stakeholders’ needs, it has great potential as a method in health policy and systems research

Die Gefahr der Re-Invasion von invasiven Pflanzen : ein neuartiger experimenteller Test mit heimischem Lythrum salicaria und Lythrum salicaria aus dem Einwanderungsgebiet

Biological invasions have been considered as an important component of global environmental change, causing serious threat to native communities and ecological processes. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms behind their success in order to prevent future invasion and to control the spread of existing ones. Biological invasions provide unique opportunities to study evolutionary processes that are involved in invasion success. The evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis have important evolutionary implications, which presumes that, when introduced plants are released from specialist enemies in the new range they not only experience a direct fitness advantage but also reallocate resources away from herbivore defence mechanisms to traits providing a competitive advantage. To test the EICA hypothesis, a common garden experiment was established in the native range of Lythrum salicaria using seeds from population in introduced range (North America) and in the native range (European). Controlled crosses were performed between introduced and native populations to produced F1 generation and F1 hybrids seeds. In one of the study we expose plants to entire herbivore spectrum in the native range to compare herbivore damage and tolerance. Competitive effect and response (interspecific competition) was compared between native and introduced populations with naturally occurring neighbour Urtica dioica. Similarly, competitive ability of native, introduced and cross origin hybrid (German maternal hybrid, US maternal hybrid) was compared through intraspecific competition. Leaf damage was found higher for introduced populations of L. salicaria than the native populations in both years suggesting that this difference is genetic rather than the maternal effects because plants were controlled for the maternal effects for F1 generation seeds for second year. Tolerance to herbivory was large and did not differ among origin. Invasive plants maintained a much larger size than natives irrespective of damage. These results provide evidence for evolutionary changes in invasive plant. In interspecific competition experiment introduced populations were found to be larger than the native populations of L. salicaria. North American L. salicaria demonstrated much stronger competitive effects and low responses than European L. salicaria against co occurring natural neighbours. Our results show strong support for the EICA hypothesis, suggesting a rapid evolutionary change in the invasive populations of L. salicaria which express a superior competitive ability of invasive populations than individuals from its native range. In intraspecific competition experiment we found that introduced populations performed significantly better than the natives only in terms of height. We only found some pattern to support for the EICA hypothesis that introduced population of L. salicaria had more damage by herbivory than the other origin. The competition intensity for biomass and seed production was consistent for native, introduced and US hybrids, however German hybrids perform relatively bad under competition. These differences in hybrids performances imply that the alleles may follow the maternal line. Overall, our study shows support to the EICA hypothesis and reintroduction of invasive plant in the native range may have large effect on native plant communities. Therefore, important consideration should be taken early for effective management. We highlight the importance of future studies to consider genetic studies to identify different pathway of introduction and reintroduction to prevent establishment of such a problematic invader.Biologische Invasionen werden als wichtiger Bestandteil des globalen Wandels der Ökosysteme angesehen und stellen als solche eine ernsthafte Bedrohung für heimische Gemeinschaften und ökologische Prozesse dar. Um zukünftige Invasionen zu verhindern und die Ausdehnung bereits existierender zu kontrollieren müssen die zu Grunde liegenden Mechanismen verstanden werden. Biologische Invasionen bieten einzigartige Gelegenheiten um die am Erfolg der Invasionen beteiligten evolutiven Prozesse zu untersuchen. Die "evolution of increased competitive ability hypothesis" (EICA, Hypothese der Evolution erhöhter Konkurrenzfähigkeit) beinhaltet wichtige evolutive Auswirkungen, da sie annimmt, dass Pflanzen durch die Abwesenheit spezialisierter Gegenspieler im neuen Habitat nicht nur einen direkten Fitness Vorteil erfahren, sondern durch Umverteilung der zuvor zur Abwehr von Fressfeinden benötigen Ressourcen auch konkurrenzstärker werden. Die EICA Hypothese wurde mittels eines Gartenexperimentes im ursprünglichen Verbreitungsgebiet von Lythrum salicaria getestet, in welchem sowohl Samen aus dem heimischen Gebiet (Europa), als auch solche aus invadierten Gebieten (Nord Amerika) verwendet wurden. Durch kontrollierte Kreuzungen zwischen eingeschleppten und heimischen Populationen wurden F1 Samen und F1 Hybrid-Samen gezüchtet. In einer der Studien setzen wir die Pflanzen dem gesamten Spektrum an Herbivoren des Ursprungsgebiets aus um so Beeinträchtigung durch und Toleranz gegenüber Herbivorie zu vergleichen. Der Konkurrenzeffekt und die Konkurrenzreaktion (Interspezifische Konkurrenz) von heimischen sowie eingeschleppten Populationen wurde gegenüber dem natürlich vorkommenden Nachbarn Urtica dioica verglichen. In ähnlicher Art und Weise wurde die Konkurrenzfähigkeit von heimischen, eingeschleppten sowie den Hybriden (Hybrid mit deutscher Mutterpflanze, Hybrid mit US Mutterpflanze) in einem intraspezifischen Experiment verglichen. Der an Blättern der eingeschleppten Populationen von L. salicaria festgestellte Schaden war höher als derjenige bei ursprünglichen Populationen in beiden Jahren. Da die Pflanzen im zweiten Jahr im Hinblick auf maternale Effekte in der F1 Samengeneration kontrolliert wurden ist dies ein Hinweis auf genetische Unterschiede. Die Toleranz gegenüber Herbivorie war hoch und unterschied sich nicht zwischen den Ursprungsgebieten. Unabhängig vom Ausmaß der Herbivorieschäden wurden die invasiven Pflanzen viel größer als die einheimischen. Diese Ergebnisse dienen als Beleg für evolutive Veränderungen bei invasiven Pflanzen dar. Im Experiment zur interspezifischen Konkurrenz wuchsen eingeschleppte Populationen von L. salicaria höher als einheimische Populationen. L. Salicaria aus Nordamerika wies gegenüber dem natürlichem Nachbarn einen viel stärkeren Konkurrenzeffekt und schwächere Konkurrenzreaktion als europäischer L. salicaria auf. Unsere Resultate unterstützen die EICA Hypothese in hohem Maß und weisen auf schnelle evolutive Veränderung der invasiven Populationen hin, die in höherer Konkurrenzfähigkeit invasiver Populationen gegenüber einheimischen Populationen zum Ausdruck kommen. Im intraspezifischen Konkurrenz Experiment zeigten die eingeschleppten Populationen gegenüber den urspünglichen allein bei der Wuchshöhe eine bessere Leistung. Bezüglich der Herbivorie konnten wir lediglich ein, die EICA-Hypothese unterstützendes, Muster feststellen – eingeschleppte L. salicaria Populationen waren stärker beschädigt. Die Konkurrenzstärke bezüglich der Parameter Biomasse und Samenproduktion war für einheimische, eingeschleppte und Hybriden mit Mutter aus den USA einheitlich; Hybriden mit Deutscher Mutter hingegen wurden von Konkurrenz verhältnismäßig stark negativ beeinflusst. Diese Unterschiede in den Leistungen der Hybriden implizieren das die Allele der mütterlichen Linie folgen. Insgesamt unterstützt unsere Studie die EICA Hypothese und daher könnte die Wiedereinführung von invasiven Pflanzen in das ursprüngliche Verbreitungsgebiet einen großen Einfluss auf heimische Pflanzengemeinschaften haben. Daher sollten im Sinne eines wirkungsvollen Managements wichtige Erwägungen frühzeitig getätigt werden. Wir betonen die Wichtigkeit zukünftiger Studien welche genetische Studien in Betracht ziehen sollten um verschiedene Wege der Einführung und Wiedereinführung zu identifizieren um wiederum die Etablierung eines derart problematischen Eindringlings zu verhindern

Response to enemies in the invasive plant Lythrum salicaria is genetically determined

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The enemy release hypothesis assumes that invasive plants lose their co-evolved natural enemies during introduction into the new range. This study tested, as proposed by the evolution of increased competitive ability (EICA) hypothesis, whether escape from enemies results in a decrease in defence ability in plants from the invaded range. Two straightforward aspects of the EICA are examined: (1) if invasives have lost their enemies and their defence, they should be more negatively affected by their full natural pre-invasion herbivore spectrum than their native conspecifics; and (2) the genetic basis of evolutionary change in response to enemy release in the invasive range has not been taken sufficiently into account. METHODS: Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) from several populations in its native (Europe) and invasive range (North America) was exposed to all above-ground herbivores in replicated natural populations in the native range. The experiment was performed both with plants raised from field-collected seeds as well as with offspring of these where maternal effects were removed. KEY RESULTS: Absolute and relative leaf damage was higher for introduced than for native plants. Despite having smaller height growth rate, invasive plants attained a much larger final size than natives irrespective of damage, indicating large tolerance rather than effective defence. Origin effects on response to herbivory and growth were stronger in second-generation plants, suggesting that invasive potential through enemy release has a genetic basis. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support two predictions of the EICA hypothesis – a genetically determined difference between native and invasive plants in plant vigour and response to enemies – and point to the importance of experiments that control for maternal effects and include the entire spectrum of native range enemies

A comprehensive test of evolutionarily increased competitive ability in a highly invasive plant species

1) Congreso/Congress:   University of Rome "Roma Tre" (Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures). International Conference: Terms and Terminology in the European Context, 23-24 October 2014 (Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Via del Valco San Paolo, 19, Rome – ITALY).   For queries regarding the congress please contact: [email protected]   2) Congreso/Congress: “XI Congreso Traducción, Texto e Interferencias” (UNIA, Baeza)   Call for papers until 30 June 2014: http://www.uco.es/congresotraduccion/index.php?sec=home     3) Taller/Workshop:   4th International Workshop on Computational Terminology, CompuTerm 2014, COLING 2014 Workshop, 23rd or 24th August 2014, Dublin, Ireland, http://perso.limsi.fr/hamon/Computerm2014/   Submissions should follow the COLING 2014 instruction for authors (http://www.coling-2014.org/call-for-papers.php) and be formatted using the COLING 2014 stylefiles for latex, MS Word or LibreOffice (http://www.coling-2014.org/doc/coling2014.zip), with blind review and not exceeding 8 pages plus two extra pages for references.   The PDF files will be submitted electronically at https://www.softconf.com/coling2014/WS-9/     4)  Congreso/Congress:   34th TRANSLATOR’S WEEK, 1st INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATION SYMPOSIUM (SIT), São Paulo State University (Unesp), September 22-26, 2014, São José do Rio Preto (Brazil).   The official languages of the event are Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian and French.   Contact: Angélica (Comisión Organizadora), [email protected]   5) Congreso/Congress:   Cardiff University Postgraduate Conference, 27 May 14: “The Translator: Competence, Credentials, Creativity”.   Keynote speaker: Professor Theo Hermans (UCL).The event is kindly supported by the University Graduate College and the European School of Languages, Politics and Translation.   For queries, please contact [email protected].     6) Congreso/Congress:   International Conference, 3rd T&R (Theories & Realities in Translation & wRiting) Forum. Organized by the University of Western Brittany, Brest (FRANCE), in collaboration with KU Leuven/Thomas More (Campus Antwerpen, BELGIUM), with the support of AFFUMT (Association française des formations universitaires aux métiers de la traduction) and the participation of Università Suor Orsola Benincasa (Naples, ITALY):    “Traduire/écrire la science aujourd’hui - Translating/Writing Science Today” Please submit an abstract of approximately 300 words by 15 June 2014 to Jean-Yves Le Disez ([email protected], Joanna Thornborrow [email protected] and Winibert Segers ([email protected]). For more information on previous events and the forthcoming conference : http://www.univ-brest.fr/TR, http://www.lessius.eu/TNR     7) Congreso/Congress: “The International Conference of Journals and Translation”, Jinan University, Guangzhou, CHINA, on 28-29 June 2014. The conference is hosted by the School of Foreign Studies, Jinan University, Guangzhou, CHINA. The official languages of the conference are English and Chinese. Contact information: Yan, Fangming（颜方明86-13751750040; Li, Zhiyu（李知宇86-13824451625. 8) Congreso/Conference:   PACTE Group is organising two events on the subject of the didactics of translation. These events will be held at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (SPAIN) in July 2014.   SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH INTO THE DIDACTICS OF TRANSLATION (8-9 July 2014).   SECOND SPECIALIST SEMINAR ON THE DIDACTICS OF TRANSLATION (7 July 2014).   Further information about the conference and the seminar: http://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/pacte/en/content/didtrad-2014     9) Simposio/Symposium:   “Translation in Music” Symposium, held on 25-26 May 2014, and co-organized by the European School of Languages, Politics and Translation (Cardiff University).   Please see the following website for details: www.cardiff.ac.uk/music/translationinmusic     10) Revistas/Journals: “The Journal of Intercultural Communication and Mediation”, “CULTUS Journal” www.cultusjournal.com   Next Issue: Cultus7 : “Transcreation and the Professions” Call for papers (Issue 7, 2014): 9th June.   Submission info at: www.cultusjournal.com Contact: David Katan, Interlinguistic Mediation/Translation and Interpretation Department of Humanities, University of the Salento (Lecce), via Taranto 35 - 73100 Lecce (ITALY), tel.+39 0832/294111.     11) Revistas/Journals:   Invitation for Submissions (Vol. 3, 2014): Translation Spaces: A multidisciplinary, multimedia, and multilingual journal of translation, published annually by John Benjamins Publishing Company.   Please consult our guidelines, and submit all manuscripts through the online submission and manuscript tracking site, indicating for which track and Board member the manuscript is to be addressed: (1) Translation, Globalization, and Communication Technology (Frank Austermühl); (2) Translation, Information, Culture, and Society (Gregory M. Shreve); (3) Translation, Government, Law and Policy (Michael Geist); (4) Translation, Computation, and Information (Sharon O’Brien); (5) Translation and Entertainment (Minako O’Hagan); (6) Translation, Commerce, and Economy (Keiran J. Dunne); and (7) Translation as an Object of Study (Ricardo Muñoz Martín).     12) Revistas/Journals:   PR for Linguistica   The editorial board of the peer reviewed journal Linguistica Antverpiensia NS-Themes in Translation Studies is happy to announce the launch of its new Open Journal format. LANS-TTS published 11 annual issues devoted to current themes in Translation Studies between 2002 and 2012, and will continue to publish annually on selected TS themes, but in open access, and can be downloaded from: ‪https://lans-tts.uantwerpen.be   Its first digital issue is entitled “Research models and methods in legal translation”. It has been guest edited by Łucja Biel (University of Warsaw, POLAND) & Jan Engberg (Aarhus University, DENMARK).     13) Revistas/Journals: CALL FOR PAPERS   The Yearbook of Phraseology would like to invite you to submit papers on the relationship between phraseology and translation.   The Yearbook of Phraseology is published by Mouton de Gruyter (Berlin, Boston) and has already been indexed by many scientific databases. It has recently been added to the MLA International Bibliography. Our editorial board includes reknown linguists such as Dmitrij Dobrovol’kij (Moscow), Christiane Fellbaum (Princeton), Sylviane Granger (Louvain), Wolfgang Mieder (Vermont), Alison Wray (Cardiff) and others. We have also been able to rely on international experts for reviewing our submissions: Igor Mel’cuk, Doug Biber, Uli Heid, Barbara Wotjak, etc.   The web page of the journal is: http://www.degruyter.com/view/serial/42771   For more information, please contact: Dr. Jean-Pierre Colson (Institut Marie Haps / Université catholique de Louvain), Yearbook of Phraseology / Editor.   14) Libros/Books:   Peter Lang Oxford invites proposals for the book series: New Trends in Translation Studies (www.peterlang.com?newtrans).   Series Editor: Jorge Díaz-Cintas (Director), Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS), University College London (UK).   Advisory Board: Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick, UK Lynne Bowker, University of Ottawa, Canada Frederic Chaume, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain Aline Remael, Artesis University College Antwerp, Belgium   This series is based at the Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS), University College London (www.ucl.ac.uk/centras).   For more information, please contact Dr. Laurel Plapp, Commissioning Editor, Peter Lang Oxford, 52 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LU (UK). Email: [email protected]. Tel: 01865 514160.     15) Libros/Books: New book: Transfiction. Research into the realities of translation fiction, edited by Klaus Kaindl & Karlhienz Spitzl, Series: Benjamins Translation Library (BTL 110), ISSN: 0929-7316 16) Libros/Books:   New book on classical Chinese literature and translation: CHAN, KELLY  K.Y.: Ambivalence in poetry: Zhu Shuzhen, a classical Chinese poetess? http://www.amazon.com/Ambivalence-poetry-Shuzhen-classical-Chinese/dp/3639700791     17) Libros/Books:   Nueva publicación de TRAMA: MARTÍ FERRIOL, JOSÉ LUIS: El método de traducción: doblaje y subtitulación frente a frente www.tenda.uji.es/pls/www/!GCPPA00.GCPPR0002?lg=CA&isbn=978-84-8021-940-2     18) Libros/Books:   Piotr de Bończa Bukowski  & Magda Heydel (Eds.), Anthology of Polish Translation Studies, published in Kraków (POLAND). For further details : http://www.wuj.pl/page,produkt,prodid,2184,strona,Polska_mysl_przekladoznawcza,katid,126.html.     19) Libros/Books:   Nuevo libro: Nicolas Froeliger: Les noces de l’analogique et du numérique, París: Les Belles Lettres, 2014.     20) Libros/Books:   New book on the reception of Italian Literature in Spain:   CAMPS, Assumpta (2014). Traducción y recepción de la literatura italiana en España. Barcelona: Edicions UB.   21) Libros/Books:   New book on the reception of Italian Literature in Spain:   CAMPS, Assumpta (2014). Italia en la prensa periódica durante el franquismo. Barcelona: Edicions UB.     22) Cursos de verano/Summer Courses: EMUNI Ibn Tibbon Translation Studies Summer School, June 2014.   Application is now open for the Ibn Tibbon Translation Studies Doctoral and Teacher Training Summer School, organized by University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Boğaziçi University (Turkey), University of Turku and University of East Finland (Finland), University of Granada (Spain), and to be held at the University of Granada (Spain) in June 2014.   The School is open to doctoral students, teachers of translation at the MA level, and other academics and professionals who are involved in research in Translation Studies.   For more information, please visit: http://www.prevajalstvo.net/emuni-doctoral-summer-school http://tradinter.ugr.es/pages/emuni   Or contact: [email protected]     23) Cursos de verano/Summer Courses: Intensive Summer Course in Translation Technology, held by the Centre for Translation Studies at UCL, London (UK), in August 2014.   This is open to professionals and teachers as well as students.   Application deadline: 23rd May 2014   For more information, visit : www.ucl.ac.uk/centras/prof-courses/summer-translation/translation-tech-intensive   To apply for a place, email Lindsay Bywood: [email protected]     24) Cursos de verano/Summer Courses: The Nida School of Translation Studies 2014   Call for participants: The Nida School of Translation Studies ,2014  May 26 – June 6, 2014 San Pellegrino University Foundation Campus Misano Adriatico (Rimini), Italy “Translation as Interpretation” This year marks the Nida School’s eighth year of advancing research and providing specialized training in translation studies through a transdisciplinary approach that incorporates a focus on religious discourse. NSTS is seeking engaged scholars and qualified professionals looking to expand their skills, engage with peers, and explore the interface of practice and cutting edge theory.   The NSTS 2014 Associate Application form may be found here: https://secure.jotform.us/mhemenway/nsts2014app. For more information on the 2014 session or to apply, go to http://nsts.fusp.it/nida-schools/nsts-2014, or contact Dr. Roy E. Ciampa at [email protected].     25) Cursos de verano/Summer Courses: POSTCOLONIAL TRANSLATION STUDIES AND BEYOND: RESEARCHING TRANSLATION IN AFRICA - SUMMER SCHOOL FOR TRANSLATION STUDIES IN AFRICA The Departments of Linguistics and Language Practice at the University of the Free State, Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of Stellenbosch and Literature and Language at the University of Zambia, in cooperation with IATIS, are presenting the Third Summer School for Translation Studies (SSTSA) in Africa from 18 to 22 August 2014.  The hosts are the University of Zambia in Lusaka.   SSTSA 2014 will be followed by a regional conference hosted by IATIS at the same venue on 23 and 24 August 2014. For participants to SSTSA 2014, entry to the conference is free, provided they read a paper.   For detailed information and registration forms, visit the website of the Summer School at: http://www.ufs.ac.za/SSTSA

A MAC Protocol for CR-WSN without a Dedicated Common Control Channel

We present a decentralized medium access control protocol for cognitive radio wireless sensor networks. The proposed protocol allows secondary wireless sensors nodes to recognize spectrum opportunities and transmits data based on the licensed users’ arrival prediction on the channel. It estimates the number of active cognitive wireless sensor nodes and it also adjusts the sleep cycle in order to conserve energy. The proposed protocol does not need a dedicated common control channel to negotiate for the data channels. We evaluate delay, energy consumption, and goodput, which are the three important qualities of service parameters through simulation. The simulation results show that the proposed approach achieves higher energy conservation with a small cost of delay and adequate aggregated goodput

Seed germination ecology of Ageratum houstonianum: A major invasive weed in Nepal.

In recent years, spread of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) has been a major concern in Nepal. One such IAPS is Ageratum houstonianum, an Asteraceae, that is a prolific seed producer and difficult-to-control in farmland and various ecological regions causing crop yield and biodiversity losses. However, very little information is available on the germination biology and ecology of this species. Therefore, experiments were conducted to assess the effect of water stress, pH level, and light requirement on seed germination, and the effect of seed burial depth on seedling emergence. Water stress was simulated by polyethylene glycol solutions ranging from 0-5.56 MPa and pH solutions ranging from 4 to 9 were prepared using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. Germination tests were conducted in petri dishes lined with filter paper and placed in a controlled environment chamber set at 20° C. Light requirement comparisons were made by having petri dishes wrapped with aluminum foil or left unwrapped. Seedling emergence was evaluated by placing seeds at depths ranging from 0 to 20 mm in the soil. Results indicated that this species was moderately drought-tolerant because germination ceased beyond 0.51 MPa. Greater germination occurred at neutral to acidic than at alkaline pH levels. The seeds were positively photoblastic because no germination occurred under dark condition. No seedlings emerged from seeds placed more than 2 mm deep in the soil, indicating that this is a primarily surface germinating species. These findings will help predict future invasions and in development of management strategies for this IAPS