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Alga is a diverse and widely distributed microorganism across the globe. An endeavor has been made to study the algae of Toebrongchhu stream, Punakha district, Bhutan including their diversity and distribution pattern. It also assessed the relationship between algae and selected physicochemical parameters of stream water. Stratified systematic sampling was used for the study due to huge differences in altitude and climatic conditions in the study area. The stream was divided into three zones, downstream, mid-stream, and headwater stream along the altitudinal gradient. The algae were collected by scooping, scraping, and scrubbing different moist and submerged substrates from 36 plots along the stream and then preserved in 4% formaldehyde solution. Results present a total of 40 algae taxa including 25 algae identified up to species level, among which 19 are being reported for the first time from Bhutan. Species diversity was higher in downstream altitudinal zone ranging from 1200-1600 m a.s.l. Similarly, the microhabitat pool had higher species diversity. Spearman correlation showed a significant positive correlation of diversity with total dissolved solids, conductivity, salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH, and a negative correlation with altitude. Canonical correspondence analysis between algal species and parameters revealed that altitude is the main factor in the distribution of freshwater algae.

In this era of technology, a communication barrier is a thing of the past. With each passing day, different types of language-based applications are being launched. There are 109 official languages Google has translated to date. However, the Dzongkha translation has not been studied. The purpose of this paper was to study Dzongkha to English translation. The parallel corpus was collected from the Dzongkha development commission of Bhutan. The dataset consisted of 53018 sentence pairs. Unique words in Dzongkha and English were 13,393 and 12,506 respectively. Different neural machine translation models were implemented. The experimental results show that the bleu score of Seq2Seq models followed a fluctuating trend. However, the bleu score of the transformer model increases gradually. It was observed that the transformer outperformed the Seq2Seq models. The highest accuracy and the lowest training loss obtained were 84.46% and 0.014858 respectively with a bleu score of 64.89.

Studies have identified some of the key factors affecting the completion of homework in the process of learning in schools. Schools and teachers often struggle motivating the school children in completing their homework at a stipulated time. This study was aimed at investigating some of the factors affecting the completion of home work by the students in Bhutan in mathematics. This study employed quantitative methodology and administered survey questionnaire among 79 students from classes VII to X randomly in one of the Middle Secondary Schools in Bhutan. Majority of the students (n=68, 96%) reported that they were too tired to work on their assignment after a hectic day’s schedule followed by (n=66, 83.5%) lack of parental care. The study concludes that students are either overloaded or lacked motivation given no parental care. The study recommends proper planning of school activities and encourage active parental involvement in motivating students to complete their homework. Further studies involving larger number of students and schools in Bhutan would help formulate better homework management policy in motivating the school children in completing their homework for better learning.

This action research was intended to find out students’ perception of the practice of feedback in the classroom, its impact on their learning, their preference of modes of feedback, and the nature of feedback information and to improve the strategy of providing constructive feedback to students. This action research was conducted at Lhuentse Higher Secondary School and engaged participants from seventh to ninth grade. The total sample population was 86 students. The study employed a quantitative approach to research. In this quantitative research design, predetermined statements with pre-coded five-point Likert scale questionnaires were self-administered to the participants to gather data. The study revealed that constructive feedback has a positive bearing impact on the learning cycle of students. The study's findings revealed that descriptive feedback delivers a good amount of information, which ultimately helps students achieve learning goals. Furthermore, the study showed that most students want feedback while performing a learning task, immediately after completing the learning task and on the quality of the task and skills. The findings also revealed that students want to practice peer assessment vigorously. Additionally, the findings showed that feedback should be made accessible to students since the choice of words and handwriting also determine the accessibility of students to get accurate information to improve themselves.

This study was carried out to investigate the perceptions of teaching and learning Mathematics by the pre-service Mathematics teachers in Bhutan. The research has employed quantitative methods. A five-point Likert scale survey questionnaire was administered to collect the data. The participants included both male and female pre-service Mathematics teachers from 2 colleges of education in Bhutan aged 18-29 (N = 261). In order to examine the perceptions of Mathematics, the mean interpretation developed by Roble and Bacabac (2016) was used and found that perceptions of pre-service teachers teaching and learning Mathematics were high indicating they enjoy teaching and learning Mathematics. The analysis also showed that there was no significant difference between male and female pre-service teachers perceptions toward teaching and learning Mathematics in Bhutan. Further, the findings also indicated there was no significant difference in perceptions of teaching and learning Mathematics between pre-service teachers at College A and College B. The College of Education might consider devoting additional attention to improving teaching practices in order to experience the real classroom scenario.

The communication gap between the deaf and public is the concern for both parents and the government of Bhutan. The deaf school urges people to learn Bhutanese Sign Language (BSL) but learning Sign Language (SL) is difficult. This paper presents the BSL digits recognition system using the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a first-ever BSL dataset which has 20,000 sign images of 10 static digits collected from different volunteers. Different SL models were evaluated and compared with the proposed CNN model. The proposed system has achieved 97.62% training accuracy. The system was also evaluated with precision, recall, and F1-score.

Farmers in Bhutan practice hot water blanching and sun drying of green chillies as one of the preservation measures. The blanched dried chilli is known as ema shukam locally and is used in preparing various traditional cuisines. Blanching is done for 2-3 minutes by immersing in boiling water and drying in open sun. However, blanching and drying process lead to quality changes such as texture, colour, flavour, and nutritional value. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the proximate compositions of sun dried and oven dried green-blanched chillies. An experiment with two drying methods and two levels of blanching durations with three replications for each treatment were conducted to examine the proximate compositions of the dried and blanched chillies. Blanching duration of two minutes retained higher carbohydrates (x͂ = 31.78) than three minutes (x͂ = 26.08). However, the Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant effect of blanching duration on carbohydrate (U = 7.5, z = - .690, p > .05). Drying methods had significant effect only on fat content with oven drying retaining higher fat content (x͂ = 4) compared to sun drying method (x͂ = 2); (U = 2, z = -2.713, p < .01). Blanching for three minutes resulted in higher loss of Vitamin C content. The colour of oven dried chilli was dark brownish green even at lower temperature of 37 oC. Hot water blanching of green chillies for two minutes followed by sun drying produced desired colour of dried chillies.

A study was carried out at Lingmethang to find out the ecological requirement for the growth of Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) trees in Bhutan. It also aimed to determine the preferred hosts of Sandalwood in the study site and to map its habitat suitability in the country. Plot size of 20 x 20 m2 for trees, 10 x 10 m2 for shrubs, and 5 x 5 m2 for regenerations and herbs were used. Soil samples were collected by digging soil to 25-30 cm depth from each plot. PC-ORD software was used for finding the relation of the variable with seedling abundance. A total of 19 tree species under 14 families and 40 undergrowth species under 24 families were recorded in the areas where Sandalwood is growing naturally. Mallotus philippensis and Albizia sikkimensis were the co-dominant tree species with chirpine as the dominant tree. Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) was the most preferred host species of the Sandalwood seedlings followed by Murraya koenigii. Mature Sandalwood tree was found parasitizing on Desmodium sp. (Fabaceae). Slope was one of the most determinant factors for the growth of Sandalwood (r = .951, p < .05), but rainfall had greater influence even though negative (r = -.943, p < .05) in the valley. Soil Nitrogen did not have much effect on the seedling abundance but mature trees prefered Fabaceae as hosts. A total of 16 dzongkhags are suitable for plantation of Sandalwood. Among these, Zhemgang Dzongkhag has the maximum potential area (469.62 km2) and Punakha Dzongkhag has the least (2.88 km2).

The recurrence of similar evolutionary patterns within different habitats often reflects parallel selective pressures acting upon either standing or independently occurring genetic variation to produce a convergence of phenotypes. This interpretation (i.e. parallel divergences within adjacent streams) has been hypothesized for drainage-specific morphological ‘ecotypes’ observed in polyploid snowtrout (Cyprinidae: Schizothorax ). However, parallel patterns of differential introgression during secondary contact are a viable alternative hypothesis. Here, we used ddRADseq ( N = 35 319 de novo and N = 10 884 transcriptome-aligned SNPs), as derived from Nepali/Bhutanese samples ( N = 48 each), to test these competing hypotheses. We first employed genome-wide allelic depths to derive appropriate ploidy models, then a Bayesian approach to yield genotypes statistically consistent under the inferred expectations. Elevational ‘ecotypes’ were consistent in geometric morphometric space, but with phylogenetic relationships at the drainage level, sustaining a hypothesis of independent emergence. However, partitioned analyses of phylogeny and admixture identified subsets of loci under selection that retained genealogical concordance with morphology, suggesting instead that apparent patterns of morphological/phylogenetic discordance are driven by widespread genomic homogenization. Here, admixture occurring in secondary contact effectively ‘masks’ previous isolation. Our results underscore two salient factors: (i) morphological adaptations are retained despite hybridization and (ii) the degree of admixture varies across tributaries, presumably concomitant with underlying environmental or anthropogenic factors.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is an economically viable alternative to traditional radar-based surveillance for use in Air Traffic Management (ATM). For implementation of ADS-B system, prior RF coverage design is crucial. A software defined radio (SDR)-based ADS-B measurement system is developed. Calibration of the system, test measurement at few probable sites and preliminary coverage analysis are reported. In mountainous terrains, the 1090 MHz RF coverage of ADS-B system is affected mainly by receiver locations. Measurement of the RF signal for validation of prediction methods to be used for final coverage is essential.

This paper describes an approach to the ADS-B coverage design being undertaken for the mountainous terrains of Bhutan. Existing ADS-B implementation studies have mostly focused on coverage design based on interference criteria. There is a lack of ADS-B coverage design studies in challenging terrain like in the Himalayan kingdom, where about 98% of the land cover is mountains. To account for the unique environment, a physical optics-based deterministic channel modeling methodology is adopted. A radio siting algorithm developed to determine the best location of additional ADS-B receivers is outlined. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by applying it to determine the location of additional ADS-B receiver at PARO control zone to improve coverage in areas critical to flight operations. This study will be augmented by analysis of opportunistic ADS-B signal measurements being carried out before the ADS-B receiver network is implemented for use in air traffic management purpose.

The emerging communication difficulty between deaf people and the public is the increasing concern in Bhutan. The government of Bhutan and the deaf institute are prioritizing the issue by urging people to learn sign language but learning Bhutanese Sign Language (BSL) is difficult. However, the progress in computer vision has allowed the development of gesture recognition systems. The purpose of this study was to introduce technology to the BSL by developing the alphabets recognition system. This paper presents a hand-shaped Dzongkha alphabets dataset created from 1200 videos recorded from 40 people from 5 countries. Using the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) inspired by the VGGNet architecture, the images were trained by fine-tuning the different parameters to give the best performance of the system. The proposed method obtained the training and validation accuracy of 98.27% and 99.72% respectively.

The Himalayan uplift, a tectonic event of global importance, seemingly disseminated aquatic biodiversity broadly across Asia. But surprisingly, this hypothesis has yet to be tested. We do so herein by sequencing 1,140 base-pair of mtDNA cytochrome-b for 72 tetraploid Nepalese/Bhutanese Snowtrout (Schizothorax spp.), combining those data with 67 GENBANK® sequences (59 ingroup/8 outgroup), then reconstructing phylogenetic relationships using maximum likelihood/ Bayesian analyses. Results indicate Snowtrout originated in Central Asia, dispersed across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), then into Bhutan via south-flowing tributaries of the east-flowing Yarlung-Tsangpo River (YLTR). The headwaters of five large Asian rivers provided dispersal corridors into southeast Asia. South of the Himalaya, the YLTR transitions into a westward-flowing Brahmaputra River that facilitated successive colonization of Himalayan drainages: First Bhutan, then Nepal, followed by far-western drainages subsequently captured by the Indus River. We found greater species-divergences across rather than within-basins, implicating vicariant evolution as a driver. The Himalaya is a component of the “third-pole” [Earth’s largest (but rapidly shrinking) glacial reservoir outside the Arctic/Antarctic]. Its unique aquatic biodiversity must not only be recognized (as herein) but also conserved through broad, trans-national collaborations. Our results effectively contrast phylogeography with taxonomy as a necessary first step in this process.The Himalaya is the most extensive and recently evolved mountain system on Earth (length=2400km; width=240km; elevation=75-8800m), with a global significance underscored by its large-scale lithospheric, cryospheric, and atmospheric interactions [1]. These have not only driven global climate, but also defined the cultural and biological endemism of the region [2]. Massive, tectonically derived mountain chains such as the Alps and the Himalaya are hypothesized as being fundamental to the formation of global biodiversity gradients via vicariance and local adaptation, with a significantly stronger signal in terrestrial rather than aquatic systems [3]. Here we test how orogeny (the deformation and folding of Earth’s crust by lateral compression) has contributed to the diversification of freshwater fishes broadly across Asia. We do so by evaluating the phylogeography of an endemic high-elevation fish, the Snowtrout (Schizothorax: Cyprinidae).

Automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) is an emerging and more economically viable means of aeronautical surveillance. Aircraft periodically broadcasts surveillance information such as its own position and velocity. Although ADS-B was originally developed for air traffic control, measurement of opportunistic ADS-B signals can be applied to radio propagation study. This paper presents a comparison on the received signal strength (RSS) between measurements of opportunistic ADS-B signals and predictions by a Physical-Optics-based tool with terrain data in the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan. Two measurement scenarios were studied: one with the receiver at the airport located in the bottom of a mountainous valley and another with the receiver on the top of a mountain that surrounds the valley. The comparison is aimed at 1) investigating the ADS-B signal propagation in the mountainous region, 2) demonstrating a site-survey by opportunistic ADS-B signals, and 3) demonstrating verification of a propagation prediction tool.

To use millimeter wave bands in future cellular and wireless networks, characterization of the radio propagation channel in outdoor urban small cell or pico cell environment is vital. In this paper we present results from analysis of wideband full polarimetric directional channel measurements in an urban pico-cell environment using the double directional millimeter wave channel sounding system we developed. Multipath clusters with excess gain ranging from −9.6 dB to −22 dB in both line of sight (LOS) and obstructed LOS cases are seen. The most significant clusters were due to first and second order reflection, and diffraction. The clusters ranged from being highly specular in nature with very small (nearly 0°) angular spread to having angular spreads of up to 5.8° in azimuth and 6.3° in elevation. Similarly the delay spread of the clusters ranged up to 2.1 ns.

There are numerous claim that playing electronic device game may be beneficial for education purpose or just the reverse. However the academic research done in order to check whether or not disclosure of students playing such games which influences the academic performance in Bhutan has been very limited till date. This paper explores the connection of the college students between gaming density and their academic achievements where variables used are measured by the amount of the time students invest their time in playing games and another as measured by their semester examination marks respectively. Using a sample of 180 students in CST (College of Science and Technology), comparative analysis between gaming density and academic performance for students were carried out. The results show that examination marks are negatively reflected with frequent garners than those who never play games. Frequent gamers achieve lower marks compared to students who play games less frequently. This paper intents to address the student of CST for proper management of time during their stay at college in future if they are gamers.

There are many choices in regard to selection of ma terials in any type of constructions. Due to growin g interest in sustainable construction, engineers and architects are motivate d to choose the materials which are more sustainabl e. Green concrete capable for sustainable construction is characterized by applic ation of industrial wastes to reduce consumption of natural resources and energy and pollution of the environment. Replacement of ma terials over nominal concrete is what makes green cmore environmental friendly concrete. Marble sludge powder, quarry roc ks, crushed concrete and fly ashes are some of the materials used for making green concrete, a sustainable construction.

This paper presented dominant propagation mechanisms in an outdoor open area environment through the channel measurement and ray-tracing (RT) simulation at an mm-wave band of 58.5 GHz assuming an outdoor hotspot access scenario in 5G mobile systems and WLANs. From the data analysis, multi-path clusters by first- and second-order reflection, first-order diffraction and scattering mechanisms were identified. The measurement result revealed that the multi-path clusters have relatively small power less than approximately 20 dB to the direct path other than first-order reflection from nearby buildings that can be predicted in a deterministic manner, and the channel can be well expressed by the quasi-deterministic (Q-D) channel model which supports natural description of environment-specific deterministic components separately from the other random components. Based on Q-D model, this paper presented extracted statistical channel model parameters of the random components by using RT simulation.

In this paper, the shadowing correlations among the multiple links between a coordinate node and sensor nodes in wireless BAN systems were investigated by measurements under everyday-life scenarios. We have developed a body-worn RSSI (receive signal strength indicator) logging system with off-the-shelf ZigBee sensor devices at 2.4 GHz for long time continuous and synchronized measurement among sensor nodes. The cross correlation coefficients calculated within a short time window were statistically characterized. The shadowing correlation will become useful information to develop and evaluate a multi-hop relay and a cooperative transmission scheme for increasing the reliability and power efficiency.

Dzongkha Development Commission of Bhutan (DDC) is trying to computerize Dzongkha. However, the computerization of Dzongkha poses numerous challenges. Currently, the support for Dzongkha in modern technology is limited to printing, typing, and storage. Typewriting a single Dzongkha word requires several keypresses. As a result, typing Dzongkha is tedious. In this paper, the Dzongkha word label prediction was studied. The purpose of the study was to further reduce keystrokes and make Dzongkha typing much faster. The dataset encompasses different genres curated by DDC. The dataset consisted of 10000 sentences and 4820 unique words. Next, 52150 sequences were generated using N-gram methods followed by vectorizing text using embedding techniques. Different RNN-based models were evaluated for the next Dzongkha words prediction. Two Bi-LSTM layers with 512 hidden layer neurons gave the best accuracy of 73.89% with a loss of 1.0722.