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A study was conducted at four Village Development Committees (Masuriya, Udashipur, Basauti and Pahalmanpur) of Kailali district, Far western Region, Nepal in 2016/17 to find out the effect of different storage materials on the seed moisture content and germination percentage of wheat. Seeds of wheat were packed using five storage materials (metal seed bin, earthen pot, purdue improved crop storage / Pics/bag, gunny bag and super grain bag). The stored seed samples were drawn at three-month intervals starting from May 2016 to January 2017. The experiment was arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in four replications. The results of analysis of variance revealed that the effect of storage materials was significant (P=0.05) on seed moisture content and seed germination of wheat. After nine months of storage, the seeds stored in Pics bag recorded the lowest moisture (13.3%) and temperature (26.4°C), and the highest germination percentage (91.75%). The lowest quality performance (high moisture and temperature, low germination) of stored seeds was observed in an earthen pot. From the results obtained, it was concluded that wheat seed could be stored for a long time in Pics bag without deteriorating its quality parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural and food industries concrete facilities face chemically aggressive conditions that can damage their microstructure and reduce their lifespan. They are particularly exposed to ammonium-rich environments from natural microbial activity. The poorly crystalline mineralogy of hydrated cement pastes, the compositional variability of the phases and their reactivity make the geochemical behaviour of such materials difficult to investigate and predict over both large periods of time and wide variety of chemical compositions. This work aims (i) to assess the stability of the cement phases involved in ammonium-rich conditions as well as to identify the alteration products, and (ii) to understand the mechanisms and intensity of alteration. To do this, experiments were carried out both on OPC paste powder and on monolithic OPC pastes, degraded by an ammonium nitrate solution in semi-batch conditions. The powder was gradually added to the aggressive solution while the monoliths were immersed for 16 weeks in regularly renewed solution. The pH and the concentration of the chemical elements in solution were monitored over the experiments. The microstructural, chemical and mineralogical changes of the samples were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, electron probe micro-analysis and X-Ray diffraction and showed phenomena of dissolution, leaching and carbonation.

Background: In China, since 1989, an estimated 120 million children have been immunised with the SA 14-14-2 live-attenuated Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine at ages 1, 2, and 6 years. A case-control study of licensed vaccine found two doses to be 98% effective. Subsequently, researchers found that single-dose vaccine efficacy was high; we aimed to confirm this result.Methods: During July 11-24, 1999, 160000 doses of JE vaccine were given to children aged 1-15 years, resident in three districts of Nepal. Several cases of JE were admitted to hospital from early August. We obtained names and addresses of cases with serological evidence of a recent infection from Bheri Zonal Hospital, Nepalgunj. We did a matched case-control study and calculated the odds ratio of vaccination among JE cases and age-sex matched village controls.Findings: 20 children, aged 1-15 years, were identified whose illness conformed with the JE case definition and were resident in villages receiving the vaccine. None of 20 JE cases had received JE vaccine compared with 326 of 557 age-sex matched village controls. The efficacy of a single dose of JE vaccine was 99.3% (CI 94.9-100%).Interpretation: A single dose of JE vaccine is highly efficacious in preventing Japanese encephalitis when administered only days or weeks before exposure to infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]