Maize Response to TIME of Nitrogen Application and Planting Seasons

Nitrogen (N) response by maize differs due to growing seasons, growth stages, duration and growing domain as N losses is higher due to leaching as well as volatilization. Objective of this study was to know the response of split applications of N and growing seasons on maize under Chitwan environments. Field experiments were conducted for two consecutive years at the research field of NMRP Rampur during the winter, spring, and summer seasons of 2012/013 and 2013/014. Experiments were laid out in factorial randomized complete block design with four replications for all the seasons. Early maturing maize genotype Arun-1 EV was used for the experiments. Five splits of recommended dose of N were tested. Grain yield, days to flowering, plant height, ear height, kernel rows per ear, no. of kernels per row, ear length and thousand grain weight significantly differed due to growing seasons and split applications of N. Significantly higher grain yield (3911 kg ha-1) was obtained with the application of 30 kg N ha-1 each at 30, 45, 60, and 75 days after sowing as compared to control (2801 kg ha-1). Regarding the growing seasons, highest grain yield was obtained in winter (4393 kg ha-1) followed by spring (3791 kg ha-1) and summer (2468 kg ha-1) season, respectively. Results of these studies revealed that four splits of N viz. application of 30 kg N each at 30, 45, 60, and 75 days after sowing respectively, would be more economical to minimize N losses from the soil and efficient use of N at critical growth and development stages of maize

Incidence of intrapartum stillbirth and associated risk factors in tertiary care setting of Nepal: a case-control study

Background: Each year, 1.2 million intrapartum stillbirths occur globally. In Nepal, about 50% of the total number of stillbirths occur during the intrapartum period. An understanding of the risk factors associated with intrapartum stillbirth will facilitate the development of preventative strategies to reduce the burden of death. This study was conducted in a tertiary-care setting with the aim to identify the risk factors associated with intrapartum stillbirth. Methods: A case-control study was completed from July 2012 to September 2013. All women who had an intrapartum stillbirth during the study period were included as cases, and 20% of women with live births were randomly selected on admission to make up the referent population. Information from the clinical records of case and referent women was retrieved. In addition, interviews were completed with each woman on their demographic and obstetric history. Results: During the study period, 4,476 women with live births were enrolled as referents and 136 women with intrapartum stillbirths as cases.  The following factors were found to increase the risk for intrapartum stillbirth: poor familial wealth quintile (Adj OR 1.8, 95% CI-1.1-3.4); less maternal education (Adj OR, 3.2 95% CI-1.8-5.5); lack of antenatal care (Adj OR, 4.8 95% CI 3.2-7.2); antepartum hemorrhage (Adj OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.2); multiple births (Adj. OR-3.0, 95% CI- 1.9-5.4); obstetric complication during the labor period (Adj. OR 4.5, 95% CI-2.9-6.9); lack of fetal heart rate monitoring per protocol (Adj. OR-1.9, 95% CI 1.5-2.4); no partogram use (Adj. OR-2.1, 95% CI 1.1-4.1); small weight for gestational age (Adj. OR-1.8, 95% CI-1.2-1.7); premature birth (Adj. OR-5.4, 95% CI 3.5-8.2); and being born premature and with small weight for gestational age (Adj. OR-9.0, 95% CI 7.3-15.5). Conclusion: Inadequate Fetal heart rate monitoring and partogram use are risk factors associated with intrapartum stillbirth and increasing the adherence to the interventions that can reduce the risk of intrapartum stillbirth. Preterm birth and small weight for gestational age were the factors that had the highest risk for intrapartum stillbirth, which indicates that adequate antenatal care can improve the health and growth of the baby and prevent premature death

Yield Interactions of Wheat Genotypes to Dates of Seeding in Eastern Mid Hills of Nepal

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the major cereal crops and staple food sources in Nepal. Wheat varieties being popular in mid hill regions are still in the early stages of adoption. Identification of appropriate date of seeding plays important role in enhancing the adoption rate ensuring the sustainable production. Therefore, three dates viz 15th November, 1st and 15th December for seeding and twenty eight wheat genotypes were evaluated in a split plot design with two replications for two consecutive seasons in 2011/12 and 2012/13 at an altitude of 2200 masl of eastern Nepal. The results showed genetic differences and interaction effect of genotypes with the dates of sowing on grain yield, panicle length and effective tillers per square meter. The wheat sown on 1st December showed the highest yield as compared to other sown dates. Similarly, WK1907, WK1911, WK1803, WK1915, WK1909, WK1714 and WK1803 produced highest yield among the tested genotypes with retaining maximum number of effective tillers and posed suitable maturity across all sowing date.Journal of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Vol.1 2015 pp.33-3

Stage progression and neurological symptoms in Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness: role of the CNS inflammatory response

Background: Human African trypanosomiasis progresses from an early (hemolymphatic) stage, through CNS invasion to the late (meningoencephalitic) stage. In experimental infections disease progression is associated with neuroinflammatory responses and neurological symptoms, but this concept requires evaluation in African trypanosomiasis patients, where correct diagnosis of the disease stage is of critical therapeutic importance. Methodology/Principal Findings: This was a retrospective study on a cohort of 115 T.b.rhodesiense HAT patients recruited in Eastern Uganda. Paired plasma and CSF samples allowed the measurement of peripheral and CNS immunoglobulin and of CSF cytokine synthesis. Cytokine and immunoglobulin expression were evaluated in relation to disease duration, stage progression and neurological symptoms. Neurological symptoms were not related to stage progression (with the exception of moderate coma). Increases in CNS immunoglobulin, IL-10 and TNF-α synthesis were associated with stage progression and were mirrored by a reduction in TGF-β levels in the CSF. There were no significant associations between CNS immunoglobulin and cytokine production and neurological signs of disease with the exception of moderate coma cases. Within the study group we identified diagnostically early stage cases with no CSF pleocytosis but intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis and diagnostically late stage cases with marginal CSF pleocytosis and no detectable trypanosomes in the CSF. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that there is not a direct linkage between stage progression, neurological signs of infection and neuroinflammatory responses in rhodesiense HAT. Neurological signs are observed in both early and late stages, and while intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis is associated with neurological signs, these are also observed in cases lacking a CNS inflammatory response. While there is an increase in inflammatory cytokine production with stage progression, this is paralleled by increases in CSF IL-10. As stage diagnostics, the CSF immunoglobulins and cytokines studied do not have sufficient sensitivity to be of clinical value

Hybrid Rules with Well-Founded Semantics

A general framework is proposed for integration of rules and external first order theories. It is based on the well-founded semantics of normal logic programs and inspired by ideas of Constraint Logic Programming (CLP) and constructive negation for logic programs. Hybrid rules are normal clauses extended with constraints in the bodies; constraints are certain formulae in the language of the external theory. A hybrid program is a pair of a set of hybrid rules and an external theory. Instances of the framework are obtained by specifying the class of external theories, and the class of constraints. An example instance is integration of (non-disjunctive) Datalog with ontologies formalized as description logics. The paper defines a declarative semantics of hybrid programs and a goal-driven formal operational semantics. The latter can be seen as a generalization of SLS-resolution. It provides a basis for hybrid implementations combining Prolog with constraint solvers. Soundness of the operational semantics is proven. Sufficient conditions for decidability of the declarative semantics, and for completeness of the operational semantics are given