Objectives: To isolate arsenic resistant Bacillus spp. and to determine plant growth promoting activities.  Methods: Eighteen soil samples were collected from the agricultural soil of Terai region of Nepal. Selective isolation of Bacillus species was done by heating the soil at 80 ºC for 15 minutes before the isolation. Nutrient agar was used as an isolation medium. Screening of arsenic resistant Bacillus species was done using nutrient agar supplemented with 100 ppm sodium arsenate and sodium arsenite. For plant growth promoting activity; IAA production was detected taking 0.1% tryptophane and measuring absorbance at 540 nm, NH3 production was tested by Nessler’s reagent and phosphate solubilization activity was detected by growing colonies on Pikovskaya’s agar. Sugar assimilation test was performed to identify the isolates. Most potent arsenic resistant isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Among 54 randomly selected isolates, 42 were found to be Gram-positive rod-shaped, spore-forming while 12 isolates were Gram-negative bacteria. The isolates IN12a, M12a and BG34a showed growth on 100 ppm sodium arsenite containing NA. Only isolate M12a tolerated up to 1000 ppm and 15000 ppm of sodium arsenite and sodium arsenate respectively, while other isolates could not grow above 400 ppm sodium arsenite. The isolates IN12a and M12a were able to produce IAA and solubilize phosphate while BG34a could not. Both the isolates IN12a and M12a were able to utilize the sugars glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, galactose, mannose, mannitol, maltose and xylose.  Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing, isolate M12a was identified to be Bacillus flexus with highest similarity of 99.2%. Conclusion: Arsenic resistant and plant growth promoting Bacillus spp. was isolated from the agricultural soil of Terai region of Nepal

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a myriad of different presentations and various complications. Aortitis is one of the less explored pathologies associated with COVID-19 infections. In this review, we searched PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus for case series and case reports involving adults patients who presented with aortitis and COVID-19. We found and reviewed four published case reports of aortitis in a setting of COVID-19 infection. The mean age of the four adult patients was 69 ± 1.732 years (range = 63-71 years), and all patients were males. Most of the patients (75%) did not have any preexisting comorbidities. All patients were treated conservatively and recovered with excellent outcomes.

21www.ijeas.org  Abstract-The unpredictable nature of output of alternative energy sources like Solar PV often become troublesome for the smooth operation of electrical energy transmission/distribution system. Hence, before interconnecting such sources to the transmission/distribution network, it is necessary to assess if the variation power quality parameters of the hosting system (Hosting Capacity) lies within the standard criterion. This study identifies the hosting capacity of Photo-Voltaic systems in a 33 kV network of Integrated Nepal Power System in Province No. 1, Nepal. Time domain load flow has been carried out to study the system margins to accommodate given size of photo voltaic system. Load flow simulation are also carried out for both Wet and Dry season indicating times with excess and scarce generation in the system. The size of the generating units fed to two different buses are gradually increased and the hosting capacity has been analysed. It is seen that, with existing infrastructures, installation of generating units up to 30 MWp is suitable.

Introduction: There have been increasing hospitalizations among young adults for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in the last decade. We compared the mean age of young PVD admissions with cardiovascular comorbidities and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) across two national cohorts 10-years apart. Methods: Two nationwide cohorts from 2007 and 2017 were analyzed for mean age at presentation with CVD risk factors and MACCE in young (18-44 years) PVD hospitalizations. Age at admission was reported as Mean± SD and compared between two groups using student’s t-test. Results: A total of 37,099 admissions in 2007 and 46,760 admissions in 2017 were identified for PVD among young adults. Total admissions increased from 0.4% to 0.5%.The 2017 cohort showed that non-elective PVD admissions occurred at significantly younger age (mean 35 vs 38 years) compared to 2007 cohort. Patients with PVD had comorbid risk factors including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, obesity, and congestive heart failure (CHF) with a mean age of 39±5 years at presentation in 2007 which decreased to 38±6 years for hypertension and diabetes, 36±6 years for smoking and 37±6 years for CHF and obesity (p<0.001) in 2017. Mean age for MACCE in PVD was 39±5 years in 2007 cohort which significantly reduced to 36±7 years in 2017 (p<0.001) (Table 1). Acute myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock and PCI procedures were recorded at a younger age in 2017 PVD cohort vs. 2007 PVD cohort. Similarly, the 2017 PVD cohort included relatively younger patients experiencing ventricular tachyarrhythmias and stroke. Conclusions: This study from two young cohorts selected 10-years apart shows increasing trends in PVD hospitalizations occurring at a significantly younger age with associated cardiovascular comorbidities and MACCE in recent years. The link between young age and complicated/severe PVD admissions with frequent comorbidities should be further investigated.

Introduction: Even after surgical correction, adults with a previously corrected Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) may remain at a significantly elevated risk of arrhythmias. However, there is not much known about the prevalence, comorbidity burden, and impact of arrhythmia in these patients. Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (2015 Oct-2017), adult admissions with previously corrected CHD were identified. The primary outcome was the prevalence of arrhythmia and secondary outcomes included comorbidities and outcomes between the arrhythmic vs. non-arrhythmic cohort. Results: Of 19,395 admissions with previously corrected CHD, 7675 (39.6%) patients experienced arrhythmias [median age 55 (39-68) years, male 51.7%, white 75%] (Table 1). The arrhythmic cohort often consisted of relatively older, male, white patients and had higher rates of hypertension (56.4% vs. 41%), hyperlipidemia (33.1% vs. 23%), diabetes (9% vs. 6.5%), renal failure (14% vs. 7.8%), and congestive heart failure (17.6% vs. 9.2%) compared to the non-arrhythmic cohort. The arrhythmic cohort had a higher frequency of patients with at least one CVD risk factor (75.5% vs. 65.4%). All-cause mortality was non-significantly higher in the cohort with arrhythmia (1.6% vs. 1.3%). Furthermore, the arrhythmic cohort was less often routinely discharged and had more frequent transfers/home healthcare requirements, prolonged hospital stay, and higher hospital charges. Conclusions: Nearly 40% of admissions among patients with a prior history of surgically corrected CHD experienced arrhythmias which were associated with a considerably higher comorbidity burden and healthcare resource utilization with non-significantly higher all-cause mortality.