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The present investigation was carried out in the plain areas of Chitwan to determine the promising plant growth regulators (PGR) promoting growth and yield of chilli cultivars Jwala and Suryamukhi during wintersummer season of 2003/2004. Suryamukhi ranked superior to Jwala for most of the yield attributing characters, whereas Jwala was better in vegetative characters than Suryamukhi. Among PGRs, 2,4-D at 2 ppm was better for fruit set, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, number of seeds per fruit, seed weight per fruits, 1000 seed weight and fruit yield where as NAA at 40 ppm gave the highest leaf area index (LAI). PGRs were ineffective in promoting flowering and fruiting during winter season. GA 3 at 10 ppm exhibited maximum amount of ascorbic acid content. The treatments, 2 ppm 2,4-D, 5 ppm triacontanol, 40 ppm NAA and 10 ppm GA 3 produced 28.75%, 25.70%, 13.61% and 2.30% higher fruit yield over control, respectively. The highest net profit and B:C ratio were recorded in case of 2 ppm 2,4-D. The use of GA 3 as foliar spray was not economical.

Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2007; 89: 276-280 276Hepatitis C viral transmission is an important issue in orthopaedic surgery since there are no known vaccines or effective prophylaxis. Orthopaedic surgeons are at risk of sharps injuries and, therefore, at risk of occupationally acquired viral transmission. Controversy exists as to whether hepatitis C infected surgeons should be transferred to lowrisk duties. 1The prevalence of hepatitis C infection is 0.07-1.4% in the general population, 2 although the prevalence of hepatitis C infection in a high-risk group, such as intravenous drug abusers, is much higher (44%).3 Studies have shown healthcare workers are at an increased risk of acquiring hepatitis C infection. 4 The average risk of hepatitis C seroconversion following sharps injury from a hepatitis C positive donor has been quoted as up to 10%.5 When 3411 orthopaedic surgeons attending a recent conference were anonymously tested for hepatitis C, 0.8% were found to be infected. This rose to 1.4% with increasing age of the surgeon. 6 The aims of our questionnaire study (Appendix 1) were to determine orthopaedic surgeons' perceptions and attitudes regarding the risks of hepatitis C viral infection as well as the precautions used against infection. It was hoped this paper would stimulate debate regarding the role of routine testing of patients and surgeons. Materials and MethodsAnonymous questionnaires were sent to all orthopaedic surgeons who were listed in the British Orthopaedic Association Handbook (2004) as members of the British Hip Society (BHS), British Trauma Society (BTS), British Association of Surgeons of the Knee (BASK) and British Society of Surgeons of the Hand (BSSH). The aim was to obtain a cross-section of sub-specialities in order to assess orthopaedic surgeons' perceptions as a whole. A total of 763 questionnaires were sent with 261 (34.2%) being returned within the designated period of 1 month. Twelve replies were from surgeons retired from practice, these being excluded from analysis. Therefore, 249 questionnaires were used in the analysis. ResultsThe mean age of respondents was 50.7 years (range, 32-71 years), although 5 gave no answer. The mean number of

Anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth and maize cob heart may reduce the nuisance value and environmental pollution problem created by this organic biomass and considerable amount of biogas can be obtained. The rate of biogas can be enhanced under a short period by giving certain fungal treatments prior to anaerobic digestion. Pre-treatment of these wastes with Volveriella diplasia and Phanerochaete chrysosporium was found to increase the amount of gas production within short hydraulic retention time, through solubulization of lignocellulosic biomass in water due to which choking problem of the biogas plant could be sorted out.