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The cereal-based intensive cropping practices have posed the yield at a plateau and reduced the energy use efficiency (EUE) of the cropping systems in the Indo-genetic plains (IGPs). The long-term cropping systems experimentations with 4 diversified legumes and cereal cropping systems and a grassland fallow system were studied for >10 years representing different agro-ecological regions at the agricultural research farm, IAS, BHU-Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh of IGPs to assess their impacts on system productivity and energy use efficiency. Out of 4 cropping systems viz, Pigeon pea-Pigeon pea (PP-PP) and Rice-Maize (R-M) systems were managed as conventional cultivation running under the breeding project, however; Dryland Rice-Lentil (R-L) and Zero-till Rice-Wheat (R-W) systems were running under agronomy project. The grassland fallow system was maintained in the agronomy block. The maximum system productivity was seen in the zero till rice-wheat (8185 kg ha-1) system and the lowestpigeon peanpea- pigeonpea system (1615 kg ha-1). However, the maximum EUE was found in pigeonpea system (13.23 MJ ha-1) and the lowest in the zero till rice-wheat system (8.88 MJ ha-1). The study suggests that the inclusion of legumes in the cropping system is vital in enhancing the system productivity and energy use efficiency than the long-term cereal-based system in long-run to the alluvial soils of IGPs.

Wheat is the major staple cereal crop of the world population. In developing countries like Nepal, cultivation of wheat is dependent upon the monsoon and the irregular monsoon gives way to the drought condition. The studies and researches of recent years have found pronounced effect of drought on the wheat production. The drought stress in crop leads to several changes in the physiological, morphological and biochemical traits leading to the economic losses. The morphological changes can be viewed through two ways as change in shoot and root system such as effect on plant height, leaf senescence, flowering and so on. Similarly, physiological changes involve change in cell growth pattern, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis disturbance and biochemical changes occur in concentration of different chemicals and activity of different enzymes, hence resulting alteration in the natural processes in different phenological stages of wheat. To reduce the effect of drought stress, various approaches have been made but the more focus has been given in the identification of traits that yields high rather than introducing those traits which show better responses towards environmental irregularities. This review study is done to assess the various changes in characters of wheat due to drought and their effect on the crop yield and productivity.

This article critically reviews the theoretical and practical issues posing barrier to women for pursuing higher education and reaching professionally leading position in the Nepalese education sector. This article is based on the secondary resources such as cases and materials available in the public domain, and writer’s own experiences. The study concludes that Nepali women are facing numerous obstacles in all sectors, from household to public institution as well as in the education sector. However, the nature and intensity of obstacles differ among certain ethnic groups.

In Nepal, Twitter has recently been one of the fastest means of communication and information sharing app. This social networking site is used to express ideas, communicate messages, dispute opinions and expression of others and vent frustrations. What is striking is the use of hybridity or bilingualism in tweets in which Nepali and English are used freely and almost inseparably not just in chitchats but also in communicating information of public importance. Curious to see if such ybridity has the potential to contribute to changing perspectives on teaching and learning English, a brief study was undertaken in November-December 2018 as wells in June 2019. The study included selection of random tweets within the specific period of time and their analysis in terms of the currency and diversity of opinions expressed. The results show that hybridity is popular among Nepali tweeters not just in casual expressions, but also in serious communications, such as in formal complaints/notices, advertisements and commentaries on issues of public concern. The result also indicates that the ELT community cannot remain aloof of the language pattern.

Background: Worldwide thyroid diseases are one of the most common endocrine disorders. India is also no exception. Thyroid disorders affect all organ systems leading to decreased quality of life and long-term morbidity. The altered levels of thyroid hormone also affect respiratory system. They lead to disorders of respiratory function and disturbances in ventilation. Aims and Objectives: This study was aimed to explore the respiratory disease pattern in thyroid dysfunction (both hyperthyroid and hypothyroid). Materials and Methods: After taking clearance from institutional ethical committee, we undertook this case–control observational study. A total of 105 participants were included in the study, 60 euthyroid controls and 45 patients of thyroid disorder (hypothyroid = 30 and hyperthyroid = 15). Convenient sampling technique was used for the study, and simple random sampling technique was used for selecting control groups. Patients were then assessed for thyroid profile. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), fT3, and fT4 were measured by mini-VIDAS. Once diagnosed with thyroid disorder, these patients were subjected to a battery of pulmonary function test (PFT). We measured the PFT parameters of both cases and controls by SPIRODOC (Spiro PRO6.6 spirometry standard mode, version no. A23-OW-06145). Differences between the study group and controls were examined using SPSS version 19.0. The statistical analysis included one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference post hoc test. Pearson’s correlation was calculated among various parameters. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant with confidence interval of 95%. Results: The forced expiratory volume in 1(FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) in euthyroids, hypothyroids, and hyperthyroid was 82.83 ± 1.09, 83.76 ± 2.80, and 83.3 ± 1.77, respectively. FVC in euthyroids was 3.29 ± 0.66, in hypothyroids 2.70 ± 0.52, and in hyperthyroids 2.97 ± 0.48. A restrictive pattern was found in hypothyroid patients whereas we could not find any significant difference in pulmonary functions of hyperthyroid patients when compared with euthyroids. We found a positive linear relation between FEV1 and TSH for both hyperthyroid and hypothyroids (r = 0.54 and r = 0.19, respectively). Conclusion: Our study shows a restrictive pattern with FEV1/FVC raised in hypothyroid whereas we could not find any statistically significant differences in PFT in hyperthyroid patients.