Country Case Study – Nepal

human development, climate change

Integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into the economic analysis of agricultural systems

Based on existing literature, this paper outlines the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services and food security. It additionally reviews tools which can be used to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services into analytic frameworks to allow a better understanding of the trade-offs between different agricultural systems and their ecosystem service provisioning, as well as the resulting impact on productivity and human well-being

Influence of Postharvest Treatment of Oxalic Acid on Shelf Life and Quality of Litchi Fruit cv. Muzaffarpur

A lab experiment was conducted in central laboratory of AFU, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal, in first week of June in 2015 to assess the influence of acid on the pericarp browning and other keeping quality of litchi fruits after harvest. The experiment was carried out in Completely Randomized Design comprising five treatments; control, distilled water dipping for 5 minutes, oxalic acid @ 1%, oxalic acid @ 3% and oxalic acid @ 5% with four replications. The fruits treated with oxalic acid @ 5% retained more acceptable colour than those on other treatments. The cumulative physiological loss in weight (PLW) was minimum (9.15 %) with oxalic acid @ 5% treated fruits. Also, minimum spoilage loss of 13.9 % was found in the treatment oxalic acid @ 5% as compare to control. Thus, oxalic acid @ 5% was observed promising to improve the shelf life of litchi fruits after harvest so that fruits could be kept in better condition for about 10 days

Diabetes prevention and management in South Asia: A call for action

Background: Globally, the number of people living with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has increased by four-folds since 1980. South Asia houses one-fifth of the world’s population living with diabetes and it was the 8th leading cause of deaths in 2013 for South Asians. Aim: To review and discuss the context of diabetes in South Asia with a particular focus on a) contributing factors and impact; b) national health policies around non-communicable diseases in the region and; c) to offer recommendations for prevention and management of diabetes. Method: We assessed relevant publications using PubMed, Scopus and OvidSP. Similarly, the World health Organization (WHO) and relevant ministries of each South Asian country were searched for reports and policy documents. Results: Emerging evidence supports that the prevalence of diabetes (ranges from 3.3% in Nepal up to 8.7% in India) in South Asia follows the global trend over the past decades. Urban populations in the region demonstrate a higher prevalence of diabetes although is also a public health concern for rural areas. Changes in the pattern and types of diet along with increasingly sedentary lifestyles are major causes for diabetes. Overall agenda of health promotion to prevent diabetes has not yet been established in the region and majority of the countries in the region are inadequately prepared for the therapeutic services for diabetes. Conclusion: The early onset of the diabetes, longevity of morbidity and early mortality may have a significant impact on people's health expenditure and health system as well as on the region's demographic composition. There is an urgent need to reduce the diabetes prevalence in the region through evidence-based interventions ranging from prevention and early detection to appropriate treatment and care. We suggest that a multi-sectorial collaboration across all stakeholders is necessary to raise awareness about diabetes, its prevention, treatment and care in the region

Guide to the design and application of online questionnaire surveys

Collecting research data through traditional approaches (face-to-face, postal or telephone survey) can be costly and time consuming. The emerging data collection approach based on internet/e-based technologies (e.g. online platforms and email), is a relatively cost effective survey alternative. These novel data collection strategies can collect large amounts of data from participants in a short time frame. Similarly, they also seem to be feasible and effective in collecting data on sensitive issues or with samples they are generally hard to reach, for example, men who have sex with men (MSM) or migrants. As a significant proportion of the population currently in the world are digitally connected, the shift from postal (paper-pencil) or telephone towards online survey use in research is in the interests of researchers in academia as well as in the commercial world. However, compared to designing and executing paper version of the questionnaire, there is limited literature to help a starting researcher with the design and a use of online questionnaires. This short paper highlights issues around: a) methodological aspect of online questionnaire survey; b) online survey planning and management; and c) ethical concerns that may arise while using this option. We believe that this paper will be useful for researchers who want to gain knowledge or apply this approach in their research

Nanoscale volume confinement and fluorescence enhancement with double nanohole aperture

International audienceDiffraction ultimately limits the fluorescence collected from a single molecule, and sets an upper limit to the maximum concentration to isolate a single molecule in the detection volume. To overcome these limitations, we introduce here the use of a double nanohole structure with 25 nm gap, and report enhanced detection of single fluorescent molecules in concentrated solutions exceeding 20 micromolar. The nanometer gap concentrates the light into an apex volume down to 70 zeptoliter (10 −21 L), 7000-fold below the diffraction-limited confocal volume. Using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and time-correlated photon counting, we measure fluorescence enhancement up to 100-fold, together with local density of optical states (LDOS) enhancement of 30-fold. The distinctive features of double nanoholes combining high local field enhancement, efficient background screening and relative nanofabrication simplicity offer new strategies for real time investigation of biochemical events with single molecule resolution at high concentrations. Plasmonic nanoantennas realize a new paradigm to concentrate light energy into nanoscale dimension

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