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A field experiment was conducted at the Regional Research Station (Hill Zone), Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, West Bengal, during 2019 and 2020 to study the effect of weed diversity, growth and yield of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose) as influenced by organic mulching and alternative weed management practices. The randomized block design, having seven varying treatments with three replications was used. The treatments consisted of dry weed biomass mulch @ 5.0 t/ha (T1), paddy straw mulch @ 5.0 t/ha (T2), FYM Mulch @ 5.0 t/ha (T3), dry leaves of Schima wallichi@ 5.0 t/ha (T4), dry leaves of Artimesia sp. and Eupatorium sp. @ 5.0 t/ha (T5), hand weeding (twice) at 45 and 90 DAS (T6) and unweeded control (T7). The result showed that hand weeding twice at 45 and 90 DAS (T6) appreciably reduced the total weed population/m2 and total dry weight of weeds than unweeded control plot (T7) at all the stages of crop growth. The highest plant height (82.10 cm), number of leaves/clump (65.41), number of pseudostem/clump (5.17), rhizome length (7.22 cm), rhizome width (5.50 cm), number of fingers/rhizome (6.42), yield/plant (0.268 kg/plant), yield (20.33 t/ha) and weed control efficiency were recorded under the hand weeding twice at 45 and 90 DAS (T6) compared to other treatments. The results showed that it is necessary to cover the soil surface with different mulch materials and manual weed control practices to achieve a good control of weeds along with enhanced yield attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being planar and having many applications of microstrip patch antennas, nowadays these also have applications in biomedical field (for detection of cancer). As EM radiations are hazardous so direct experiments on human body and EM radiation are impossible. So this paper is focused on a breast model to detect the presence of tumor inside it along with antenna structure as a radiation source. HFSS simulation software is used for designing and simulation part. Antenna is resonating at 2.46 GHz in frequency range 2.41-2.5 GHz of ISM band suitable for medical purpose. Two models, one of which has microstrip patch antennas along with breast model without tumor and the other with tumor, are designed and simulated, and their radiation properties are compared. For cancer detection near E-field results are important, so near Efield plots for both models are shown in this paper. The differences in these results of two models can be used to diagnose tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: India is the second most populous country in the world with current Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.3. A wide range of contraceptive services are available under National Family Planning Program. Despite this, unsafe abortions significantly contribute to maternal mortality. This study was conducted to assess knowledge and practices about contraceptive methods to identify areas that need strengthening. Materials and methods: A hospital based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017 in out-patient gynaecology clinic in a Government Medical College, Himachal Pradesh, India. Four hundred and four women of reproductive age-group (18-45) were interviewed and data was collected on predesigned structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 404 women except two women knew about at least one modern method of family planning. Media (51%) and health care professionals (46%) were the main sources of information. The most commonly used method was tubectomy (46.5%). Barrier method was used by 37.1%. Intrauterine contraceptive device was used by 8.4% women and oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) were use only by 6.9% women. Emergency contraception was used by 5.94%. Injectable contraception was the least used method (0.49%). Conclusion: Sterilization services are well accepted but spacing methods need to be promoted. Focus of family planning services should now shiti towards individualised services with increased focus on spacing methods without disturbing the current network of sterilization services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present problem concerns with the effects of the magnetic field, mass flux diffusion and heat transfer on demixing of a binary mixture of incompressible viscous electrically conducting fluids in steady, laminar boundary layer flow in presence of a point sink at the vertex of a cone. The momentum, energy and concentration equations are reduced to non-linear coupled ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations and are solved numerically by using MATLAB's built in solver bvp4c. The local skin friction, the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number are tabulated for various values of the parameters. These numerical results have been demonstrated graphically from which it is observed that the effects of various parameters are to separate the components of the binary mixture by collecting the rarer and lighter component near the surface of the cone and throwing the heavier one away from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Third Pole (TP) is a high mountain region in the world, and is well-known for its pristine environment, but recent development activities in the region have degraded its air quality. Here, we investigate the spatial and temporal changes of the air pollutants ammonia (NH₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) in TP, and reveal their sources using satellite measurements and emission inventory. We observe a clear seasonal cycle of NH 3 in TP, with high values in summer and low values in winter. The intense agriculture activities in the southern TP are the cause of high NH₃ (6-8 × 10 16 molec./cm 2 ) there. Similarly, CO shows a distinct seasonal cycle with high values in spring in the southeast TP due to biomass burning. In addition, the eastern boundary of TP in the Sichuan and Qinghai provinces also show high values of CO (about 1.5 × 10 18  mol/cm 2 ), primarily owing to the industrial activities. There is no seasonal cycle found for SO₂ distribution in TP, but relatively high values (8-10 mg/m 2 ) are observed in its eastern boundary. The high-altitude pristine regions of inner TP are also getting polluted because of increased human activities in and around TP, as we estimate positive trends in CO (0.5-1.5 × 10 16  mol/cm 2 /yr) there. In addition, positive trends are also found in NH₃ (0.025 × 10 16 molec./cm 2 /yr) during 2008-2020 in most regions of TP and SO₂ (about 0.25-0.75 mg/m 2 /yr) in the Sichuan and Qinghai region during 2000-2020. As revealed by the emission inventory, there are high anthropogenic emissions of NH 3 , SO 2 and CO within TP. There are emissions of pollutants from energy sectors, oil and refinery, agriculture waste burning and manure management within TP. These anthropogenic activities accelerate the ongoing development in TP, but severely erode its environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We analyse the long-term (1980-2020) changes in aerosols over the Third Pole (TP) and assess the changes in radiative forcing (RF) using satellite, ground-based and reanalysis data. The annual mean aerosol optical depth (AOD) varies from 0.06 to 0.24, with the highest values of around 0.2 in the north and southwest TP, which are dominated by dust from Taklimakan and Thar deserts, respectively. However, Organic Carbon (OC), Black Carbon (BC) and sulphate aerosols have significant contributions to the total AOD in the south and east TP. High amounts of dust are observed in spring and summer, but BC in winter. Trajectory analysis reveals that the air mass originated from East and South Asia carries BC and OC, whereas the air from South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East brings dust to TP. Significant positive trends in AOD is found in TP, with high values of about 0.002/yr in the eastern and southern TP. There is a gradual increase in BC and OC concentrations during 1980-2020, but the change from 2000 is phenomenal. The RF at the top of the atmosphere varies from -10 to 2 W/m 2 in TP, and high positive RF of about 2 W/m 2 is estimated in Pamir, Karakoram and Nyainquentanglha mountains, where the massive glacier mass exists. The RF has increased in much of TP during recent decades (2001-2020) with respect to previous decades (1981-2000), which can be due to the rise in BC and dust during the latter period. Therefore, the positive trend in BC and its associated change in RF can amplify the regional warming, and thus, the melting of glaciers or ice in TP. This is a great concern as it is directly connected to the water security of many South Asian countries., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background Emergence of antibiotic resistance among microbes contaminating the fresh meat products is a global public health concern as they can be easily transmitted to humans through their consumption and contact. Objective The current study was conducted to determine the distribution of antimicrobial resistance among Salmonella species isolated from fresh chicken liver samples with special emphasis on extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production. Method A total of 200 fresh chicken liver samples were cultivated for the isolation of Salmonella and further subcultivated to detect extended spectrum beta-lactamase production among them. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) was done by disk diffusion method using a panel of 7 antimicrobials. Result Out of 200 samples analyzed, 61 (30.5%) samples harbored Salmonella species out of which 15 (7.5%) samples showed the presence of Salmonella Typhi. A significant association was noted in the incidence of Salmonella with various factors pertaining to the butchers, such as age, sex, literacy rate, practices of washing knives and chopping board, wearing aprons and gloves and type of water used (p < 0.05). Salmonella isolates were highly sensitive to amikacin (82.0%) and least sensitive to tetracycline (3.3%). All the isolates were resistant to colistin. Sixty (98.4%) isolates were identified as multi-drug resistant (MDR). The total number of extended spectrum betalactamase producers reported among Salmonella isolates was 29 (47.5%). Conclusion The results indicate that the fresh chicken liver samples sold in Bharatpur Metropolis are reservoirs of multi-drug resistant Salmonella, including extended spectrum betalactamase producers, that could potentially be transmitted to the humans by direct contact or through inadequate cooking.