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Nowadays, countries are required to develop the architectural plans by using vernacular and climatic architectures so that they can provide comfort to residents in addition to protect them from adverse climate factors such as wind, cold, and extreme heat. Vernacular architecture in both Nepal and Iran is seen as a precious model of climate adaptive design. The cold and mountainous climate of these two countries has created special conditions for residents. The purpose of current paper is to record the climatic design patterns of the two countries and to compare them in order to present new approaches derived from the vernacular architecture. From this point of view, this article provides a great help to researchers and designers in this field. Moreover, the present research is derived from library, documentary and statistical sources in an analytical and research method and finally, the conclusion is comparative to the promotional approach and to the practical goals. The results were obtained after collecting, recording, and adjusting the climate design patterns of the two countries. Finally, Nepal's vernacular architectural solutions, which were in line with vernacular and climatic architecture, were presented to guide the vernacular architecture of Iran for the benefit of residents. It is hoped that by using these solutions, we can take a step forward in protecting the environment and saving energy.

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This paper presents the analysis of the onset and withdrawal dates and the duration of summer monsoon over Nepal for last 63 years (1951-2013). The trend analysis revealed that both the onset and withdrawal of summer monsoon are delayed in recent years. The statistical analysis using cumulative deviation and Worsley likelihood tests showed a step jump in mean withdrawal date after the year 1997. The mean withdrawal date after 1997 is later than the normal withdrawal date by 10 days. Although, the trend for onset is statistically insignificant, the trend for withdrawal is significant at 5% level. Stationarity tests for the period of 1951-1996 and 1997-2013 also revealed that both the onset and withdrawal series are non-stationary. A step change in withdrawal date with delayed trend on both onset and withdrawal coupled with longer duration suggests a temporal shift in the monsoon pattern over Nepal after 1997. The temporal shift in the monsoon is consistent with published findings on the effect of global climate change on the dynamics of the South Asian summer monsoon precipitation. The shifting pattern of the summer monsoon exerts a strong stress on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems, human health and the overall economy of the country.

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Increasing roads become the serious conservation threats to the animal populations. The most direct effect of roads on them is deadly collision with vehicles, leading to high levels of injury or death. Estimates of detectability of road-killed higher vertebrates have been determined but not for the invertebrates like butterflies, although they are frequently killed insects group on roads. This is the first comprehensive mortality census of road-killed butterflies in Nepal. The main aim of this study was to estimate the detectability of road-killed butterflies in Mahendra Highway, the busiest highway in Nepal. We established eight transects, each of 500 m long within the randomly selected forest and human settlement landscapes. Pearson’s correlation was calculated to test the link between the number of road-killed and living butterflies. All together 1000 butterfly individuals were counted throughout the study periods including road-killed and living butterflies. Among them, 364 butterflies were counted raodkilled whereas 636 butterflies were living. Forest landscape contributed higher number in both road-killed and living butterflies than human settlement landscape. Also, the number of butterflies killed on the roads were significantly correlated with number of living butterflies on the road. Our results indicate that road has the significant impact on loss of butterfly population. Also, higher the number of living butterflies more will be road mortality. The public awareness and maintaining the habitats with high forbs cover, gardening, avoid depositing asphalts, etc. in the vicinity of road can denigrate the rate of road mortality of butterflies.

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Previously published works of literature were reviewed to prepare the checklist of grasshoppers under the family Acrididae from Nepal. The present checklist of grasshoppers under the family Acrididae includes 69 species belonging to 41 genera, and 18 tribes with 11 subfamilies. Oedipodinae (17) was the most species-richest subfamily followed by Gomphocerinae (12), Catantopinae (9), Oxyinae (7), Cyrtacanthacridinae (6), Acridinae (6), Eyprepocnemidinae (4), Coptacrinae (3), Hemiacridinae (2), Calliptaminae (2), and Spathosterninae (1). This checklist will be also helpful to forecast outbreaks of grasshopper species and apply appropriate management approaches.

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The adverse effect of climate change on agriculture has increased the importance of weather index insurance, particularly in developing countries. By using several econometric models, this study estimated the price and evaluated its effectiveness in rainfall index insurance for rice and wheat in Nepal. Crop yields associated with seasonal rainfall in three crop reporting districts were applied for actuarial estimation. The primary findings suggest that well designed weather index insurance is helpful to reduce the yield risk and stabilize farm income for rice, but results vary across crops and districts. The study results imply that rainfall index insurance is a promising insurance product, particularly for rice. Implementation of rainfall index insurance could increase the investment in cereal production in Nepal.