Background As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, many countries have imposed movement restrictions and implemented lockdowns. However, evidence from a variety of nations showed that the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated quarantine measures triggered a wide range of psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression, and stress in the general population. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among Tepi town residents during the pandemic lockdown. Methodology A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among residents of Tepi town from September 15 through September 25, 2020, and residents who have lived in Tepi town for at least 6 months were included. We have employed the depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21 (DASS-21) to evaluate depression, anxiety, and stress. The Chi-squared test of association and logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among residents of Tepi town. For all statistical analysis, we used (IBM) SPSS version 25. Results According to the current study, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were 37.7%, 39.0%, and 44.2%, respectively, among residents of Tepi town. Estimated odds of having depression, anxiety, and stress were as follows:

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The coronavirus pandemic is a global pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) resulting from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). Despite its numerous benefits for sharing health information, social media has raised several concerns in terms of posing panic among the general population around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of this study was to investigate the negative impact of social media during the COVID-19 outbreak. A web-based poll was used to collect data from social media users. Snowball sampling was used to acquire information from participants for 1 month, from September 1 to September 30, 2020. To examine the effect of social media on fear among participants, the study employed Cohen’s d statistic, analysis of variance, Chi-squared test, and linear regression analysis. The study results showed that more than three-fourth (73.26%) used Facebook followed by Telegram by 14.49%. Health news was the most frequently seen, read, or heard with 88.20% of the total. Moreover, 86.73% of respondents experienced panic, while only 13.27% was not. Compared to males, females were more likely to follow health news ( p < 0.001). The majority of participants reported being psychologically affected, while only a few were physically affected. Females were substantially more affected mentally and reported significantly more fear than males ( p < 0.001). The effect of social media panic is associated with participants’ age, and gender at a 5% level of significance. A significant positive link between social media and the diffusion of COVID-19 fear has been shown in this study. According to the result of regression analysis, social media usage has a significant effect on the spread of panic among participants at a 5% level of significance. Study revealed that social media use has a significant impact on the development of panic among people regarding the COVID-19 epidemic, with possibly detrimental psychological and mental health repercussions.This study also discovered a strong correlation between COVID-19 fear and social media. According to the findings, the impact of social media on respondents’ terror levels differs depending on their age and gender. The government should take steps to punish those who spread false information or fake news to the public.

Abstract. A study was conducted at four Village Development Committees (Masuriya, Udashipur, Basauti and Pahalmanpur) of Kailali dis- trict, Far western Region, Nepal in 2016/17 to find out the effect of different storage materials on the seed moisture content and germination percentage of wheat. Seeds of wheat were packed using five storage materials (metal seed bin, earthen pot, purdue improved crop storage / Pics/ bag, gunny bag and super grain bag). The stored seed samples were drawn at three-month intervals starting from May 2016 to January 2017. The experiment was arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in four replications. The results of analysis of variance revealed that the effect of storage materials was significant (P≤0.05) on seed moisture content and seed germination of wheat. After nine months of storage, the seeds stored in Pics bag recorded the lowest moisture (13.3%) and temperature (26.4°C), and the highest germination percentage (91.75%). The lowest quality performance (high moisture and temperature, low germination) of stored seeds was observed in an earthen pot. From the results obtained, it was concluded that wheat seed could be stored for a long time in Pics bag without deteriorating its quality parameters.