The long term trial, on a Templeton fine sandy loam, is a factorial combination of 3 pasture swards (pure WL320 lucerne, lucerne-'Grasslands Matua' prairie grass and lucerne-'Grasslands Maru' phalaris) and 2 grazing durations (long and short). The 0.04ha plots were sown in November 1986 with lucerne drilled across the grass rows. For the water use study, in 1988-89, 8 m* mini plots of pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris, and lucerne-prairie in deep or shallow soil were selected. Pure lucerne plots produced annual dry matter (DM) yields of 12700 kg/ha, lucerne-phalaris 11600 and lucerne-prairie 10400. Deep soils had higher production (12600 kg/ha) than did shallow soils (10900 kg/ha). The lucerne-phalaris mixture had about 75-95% lucerne, while lucerne in the lucerne-prairie mixture ranged from 25% in winter to 65% in summer. The lucerne-prairie plots with deep soils had at last 60% lucerne while shallow soils had as little as 25%. Mean water use efficiency (WUE) was 25, 22 and 20 kg DM/ha/mm for pure lucerne, lucern-ephalaris and lucetne-prairie, respectively. Shallow soils had WUE of 21 kg DM/ha/mm H,O and deep soils 24 kg DM/ha/mm. Soil water extraction 'patterns differed little in shallow soils, but in deep soils pure lucerne extracted water to at least 100 cm while lucerne-phalaris and lucerne-prairie extracted soil moisture down to about 80 cm. Lucerne and phalaris roots were both found down to 90 cm and from O-20 cm most of the root mass was lucerne. With the lucerne-prairie mixture from O-20 cm, root mass was about 50% for each species and lucerne root mass was significantly reduced below 50 cm. Keywords: lucerne, alfalfa, prairie grass, lucerne-grass mixtures, water use, yield, roots, Medicago saliva, Bromus willdenowii, Phalaris aquatica

No abstract

Background: Rabies kills approximately 59,000 people in the world each year worldwide. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of rabies is important for instituting rapid containment measures and for advising the exposed people for postexposure treatment. The application of a rapid diagnostic tests in the field can greatly enhance disease surveillance activities, especially in resource poor settings.Methods: From 2012 to 2017, a total of 179 brain tissue samples collected from different animal species (113 dogs, 50 cattle, 10 cats, 3 goats, 2 horses, and 1 bear) suspected of having died due to rabies were selected and tested using the rapid immunochromatographic kit from BioNote© company and compared to the Gold Standard Fluorescent Antibody test (FAT) for diagnosis of rabies.Results: Among 179 samples examined in this study, there was concordance in results by the rapid test and FAT in 115 positive samples and 54 negative samples. Test result were discordant in 10 samples which were positive by FAT, but negative (false negative) by rapid kit. The rapid test kit showed a sensitivity of 92% (95% CI: 85.9 – 95.6) and specificity of 100% (95% CI: 93.4 – 100) using FAT as the gold standard. The positive and negative predicative values were found to be 100% (95% CI:96.7 – 100) and 84% (95% CI: 73.6 – 91.3), respectively. Overall there was 94.41% (95% CI: 90 – 96.9) test agreement (almost perfect agreement) between rapid test and FAT (Kappa value = 0.874).Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the potential value of the rapid test kit for countries with limited diagnostic resources, including Bhutan. The rapid kit’s inability to correctly detect 10 FAT-positive samples (10 out of 179 (5.6%) were false negatives) in our study could have been due to the low viral load in the samples (< 102.0LD50/0.03ml) which could not be detected by the rapid kit as compared with the FAT. The human factor related to the varying experiences of the technicians who performed the test in the field also may have influenced the test result. The rapid test kit is inexpensive, rapid and easy to use in the field or in laboratory setting without the need for special training and can support to enhance rabies surveillance in resource poor countries.

Dharma R. Maharjan (Technical Support and Layout Design) Printed and bound in Nepal byHill Side Press (P) Ltd. Kathmandu ReproductionThis publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or nonprofit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source.No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from ICIMOD. NoteThe views and interpretations in this publication are those of the contributor(s). They are not attributable to ICIMOD or SDC and do not imply the expression of any opinion concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or the endorsement of any product.The affiliation and professional positions of the various participants were those current at the time of the meeting.

No abstract