The present study investigated the natural radioactivity levels of Ra, Th, and K in various construction and building materials commonly used in Central Nepal, expressed in Bq kg , and analyzed the associated 13 radiological parameters for the evaluation of risks. Activity concentrations were determined using a thallium-activated sodium iodide crystal NaI(Tl) 3" 3" scintillator detector. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to discern trends and depict the data. Among the material studied, granites, sand, and bricks exhibited concentrations and associated radiological parameters that exceeded world average. However, remaining aggregate, cement, concrete bricks, marble, and tiles showed activity concentrations and hazard indices comparable to or lower than the global average value reported by UNSCEAR, 1993 for building materials. The overall revealed mean ± S.D. concentration of Ra, Th and K across 41 different materials as 43.2 ± 1.0 Bq kg , 56.8 ± 1.4 Bq kg , and 281.1 ± 5.3 Bq kg , respectively. The average values Ra, Th were above the world population average values of 50 and 50 Bq kg whereas the concentration of K was well below the average value 500 Bq kg respectively. From this, it is concluded that the studied samples are safe to use. However, regulations are needed to evaluate the natural activity concentrations of radionuclides in geologically derived samples and the associated health implications related to materials utilized from the internal resources of the country and imported materials from a different country.

ABSTRACT Rapid population growth, urbanization, and changing weather patterns have significantly impacted water quality and quantity in the peri-urban region of Nepal, leading to water scarcity. This study assessed the Water Quality Index (WQI) of six different water sources in the Thaha Municipality, Makwanpur district, during the monsoon (September 2022) and winter (January 2023) seasons. The water sources evaluated included spring water distributed by a pipe (SP1, SP2, SP3, and SP4), bore-well water distributed by a pipe (BP), and a well (W). The mean values of electrical conductivity, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium hardness, chloride, biological oxygen demand, nitrate, and arsenic, were within the World Health Organization (WHO) and National Drinking Water Quality Standards (NDWQS) limits. However, the mean values of turbidity, iron, ammonia, and phosphate exceeded the standard limits of the WHO and NDWQS. E. coli was detected in all six sources during the winter season and in four sources (SP1, SP2, BP, and SP4) in the monsoon season. In the monsoon season, the WQI for SP1 (4.23) and BP (4.78) was in the excellent category, while SP3 (29.27) was good. In the winter season, the WQI for SP1 (84.57) and SP3 (78.68) was very poor, and SP4 (43.94) was poor. SP2 (44.11) and SP4 (43.94) were good, while W was unsuitable for drinking (>100) in both seasons. The poor water quality of some sources could be attributed to various anthropogenic activities around water sources. Fluctuating WQI underscores the need for continuous oversight and interventions to ensure safe drinking water for peri-urban areas.

The Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), despite their larger physical structure and strength, are often attacked by microorganisms, like gastrointestinal (GI) parasites, resulting in higher morbidity and mortality. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence and diversity of GI parasites in the endangered Asiatic elephants reared in captivity in and around Chitwan National Park in Central Nepal. With age and sex variants, 63 fresh faecal samples (N = 63) were collected non-invasively and transferred to the research laboratory for microscopic examination. Our findings showed a 95.2% prevalence rate, along with 17 identified diverse species of GI parasites, including protozoa (6 spp.) and helminths (11 spp.) and two unknown species (1 protozoan and 1 helminth). The prevalence of protozoa (84.1%) was higher than that of helminths (77.8%). Female/cows and old-age elephants were reported to harbour a higher rate of parasites. Sharing overlapping niches with domestic and wild animals, irregular medication and the existence of critical stressors were speculated to be the major risks for parasitosis. The captive elephant population in Central Nepal harbours a greater prevalence and huge diversity of GI parasites, most of which are implicated with serious pathological conditions and zoonotic potentiality. The presence of GI parasites must be considered a challenging threat. Thus, government bodies, non-governmental organizations, elephant owners and conservationists need to participate in strategic medication and seek measures to lessen the probable health risk for sustainable conservation and welfare of the endangered species in Nepal.

Precipitation plays a vital role in the hydrological cycle, directly affecting water resource management and influencing flood and drought risk prediction. This study proposes a Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) framework to integrate multiple precipitation datasets. The framework enhances estimation accuracy for hydrological simulations. The BMA framework synthesizes four precipitation products—Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS), the fifth-generation ECMWF Atmospheric Reanalysis (ERA5), Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP), and Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals (IMERG)—over China’s Ganjiang River Basin from 2008 to 2020. We evaluated the merged dataset’s performance against its constituent datasets and the Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) at daily, monthly, and seasonal scales. Evaluation metrics included the correlation coefficient (CC), root mean square error (RMSE), and Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE). The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model was further applied to assess how these datasets affect runoff simulations. The results indicate that the BMA-merged dataset substantially improves precipitation estimation accuracy when compared with individual inputs. The merged product achieved optimal daily performance (CC = 0.72, KGE = 0.70) and showed superior seasonal skill, notably reducing biases in autumn and winter. In hydrological applications, the BMA-driven VIC model effectively replicated observed runoff patterns, demonstrating its efficacy for regional long-term predictions. This study highlights BMA’s potential for optimizing hydrological model inputs, providing critical insights for sustainable water management and risk reduction in complex basins.

Jumli Marshi (J. Marshi), a native rice cultivar in Nepal, is gaining popularity owing to its health benefits for obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. However, scientific evidence verifying its therapeutic potential is lacking until November 2024. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the phytoconstituents and evaluate the antioxidant, antibacterial, and antidiabetic properties of J. Marshi, along with its ADME toxicity profile, using both in vitro and in silico approaches. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of a 70% methanol extract from J. Marshi identified ten plant-based compounds, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, and γ-oryzanol. The extract exhibited significant antioxidant properties, neutralizing DPPH free radicals with a fifty-percentage inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 42.65 ± 3.9 µg/mL, compared to ascorbic acid's IC50 of 4.12 ± 0.7 µg/mL. It also showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with a zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranging from 7 to 11 mm and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.56 mg/mL, compared to standard antibiotics meropenem (ZOI: 24 ± 1.6 mm; MIC: 1.56 mg/mL). The enzymatic assay demonstrated that the J. Marshi extract inhibits fifty percent of enzyme activity at a concentration (EC50) of > 1000 µg/mL for α-amylase and 250 ± 2.5 µg/mL for α-glucosidase, in contrast to the standard acarbose, exhibiting an EC50 of 35.5 ± 1.5 µg/mL for α-amylase and 189.5 ± 1.9 µg/mL for α-glucosidase. In silico docking studies revealed strong interactions of rice phytoconstituents with target protein catalytic residues, particularly gamma-oryzanol for α-amylase (-10.0 kcal/mol) and chlorogenic acid for α-glucosidase (-7.7 kcal/mol), compared to acarbose (-6.9 to -7.1 kcal/mol). ADME toxicity analysis suggested that tricin and gamma-oryzanol had the best drug-likeness and safety profiles. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal the presence of bioactive phenolic acids and flavonoids. Furthermore, it offers scientific evidence supporting significant antioxidant and α-glucosidase-inhibitory properties, confirming the potential applications of J. Marshi rice as a functional food used for the management of diabetes.

Considering the medicinal importance of alkaloids from Stephania glandulifera Miers, five major compounds (stepharine, stepharanine, stepholidine, palmatine and tetrahydropalmatine) from the plant were analyzed for their acetylcholinesterase activity using molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations and in silico pharmacokinetics. As acetylcholinesterase has been significantly studied for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, the enzyme from Torpedo californica (PDB ID: 1QTI) was taken as a receptor protein. AutoDock Vina was used to study the docking affinities during the initial screening of compounds where, stepharine showed promising binding energy (−10.3 kcal/mol) forming crucial interactions with active site residues (His 440, Tyr 121, and Trp 84). Molecular dynamics simulations were performed for 200 ns to analyze the stability of the docked complex. The study of trajectories obtained after simulation showed stepharine with a strong binding affinity and stability with AChE. Moreover, drug likeness and ADMET analysis conducted via Swiss ADME and pKCSM affirmed stepharine’s favorable pharmacological properties. Overall, this research highlights stepharine as a potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor which could be further developed as potential drug against Alzheimer’s disease.

Olfactory fossa is a depression in anterior cranial cavity whose floor is formed by cribriform plate of ethmoid bone and is susceptible to injury during functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), especially when fossa is deep. Understanding of patient's ethmoid roof anatomy and its possible variations is crucial for countering possible complications during functional endoscopic sinus surgery. So, objective of this study was to evaluate olfactory fossa depth. In this descriptive cross sectional study, olfactory fossa depth was measured on Computed Tomographic images of 280 patients in the Department of Radiology, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The data were grouped according to Keros classification and their distributions were analyzed according to side and gender. Association between olfactory fossa depth with different parameters were evaluated with descriptive statistics, independent t-test, ANOVA and Chi-square test. Among 280 participants, 144 were male and 136 female. The mean depth of right and left olfactory fossa was found 5.10 ± 1.58 mm and 5.28 ± 1.62 mm respectively. Keros type II was the most common, found in 209 cases (74.60%) on left side and 194 (69.30%) on right side while type III was the least common. The difference between left and right olfactory fossa depth was significant though it was insignificant between male and female. No significant association was found between Keros type with sides and with gender. Variation in olfactory fossa depth was common. Thus, preoperative assessment of ethmoid roof and Keros type is cruicial for warning the surgeon to minimize the critical complications. Computed Tomography; olfactory fossa depth; para nasal sinus.