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Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continuation of breastfeeding until the second year are recommended for the healthy growth and development of infants and young children. However, the use of commercial milk formula has increased in recent decades in low and middle-income countries, including Nepal. Understanding the trends and determinants is crucial for designing evidence-based and context-specific infant and young child feeding support programs. There is limited evidence on the use of commercial milk formula in Nepal. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the trends and prevalence of commercial milk formula feeding practices and their associated factors among mothers of children aged 0-23 months in Nepal. We used data from four consecutive nationally representative surveys (2006, 2011, 2016, and 2022). A total weighted sample of 7,705 (0-5 months: 1,978; 6-23 months: 5,727) children aged 0-23 months was included in the analysis. The trends were presented as frequency distributions. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between individual and underlying factors with commercial milk formula feeding in the first two years of life. For enhanced analytical clarity and programmatic relevance, we stratified our analysis into two distinct age groups: 0-5 months and 6-23 months. Over the study period (2006-2022), the prevalence of commercial milk formula feeding among infants aged 0-5 months increased steadily from 1.95% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83-4.55) to 11.09% (95% CI: 8.01-15.16). A similar but less upward trend was observed among children aged 6-23 months, with prevalence rising from 2.03% (95% CI: 1.26, 3.27) to 6.68% (95% CI: 5.26, 8.45). Among 0-5 months, infants born to mothers with secondary and higher education (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 12.48; 95% CI: 2.63, 59.14), mothers aged 25-34 years (aOR: 2.29; 95% CI: 1.14, 4.60), and born by caesarean section (aOR: 2.16; 95% CI: 1.01, 4.59) were more likely to receive formula feeding compared to their counterparts. Similarly, among 6-23 months, children who were male (aOR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.15, 2.42), perceived as small at birth (aOR: 2.76; 95% CI: 1.48, 5.15), first born (aOR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.02, 6.56), born in health facilities (aOR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.16, 8.73), and whose fathers had secondary or higher education (aOR: 3.14; 95% CI: 1.22, 8.10) were more likely to receive commercial milk formula. The prevalence of commercial milk formula feeding practices has increased during 2006-2022. Evidence-informed, context-specific interventions are essential to halt and reverse commercial milk formula feeding practices and protect, promote, and support breastfeeding and recommended infant feeding practices. A program designed to address this issue should target vulnerable groups and leverage the specific factors identified in this study.

The NiO-PAni nanofibrous composite thin film were synthesized efficiently using a hybrid Dip-coating SILAR technique in which PAni films were activated by coating on a NiO precoated glass substrate. The analysis of structure was done using FTIR, which made evident of IR absorption bands specific to PAni as well as the appearance of new bands that are indicative of NiO particles. Surface morphology study carried out by employing SEM, demonstrated the nanofibrous PAni morphology with 50 to 60 nm width of fibers for 4 cycle NiO + PAni composite which decreased to 30 to 40 nm for 12 cycle NiO + PAni. As the cycles of NiO increased uneven morphology resulted in decrease in length of PAni nanofibers from around 500 nm to 100 nm. EDS gave elemental analysis in accordance with expected proportion. XRD study shown cubic crystalline phase for synthesized NiO with 10 to 30 nm crystallite size. TEM analysis indicated formation of NiO + PAni composite with 10 nm sized NiO particles embedded in PAni nanofibers. At a low operating temperature of 25 ± 5 °C, the NiO-PAni thin film gas sensor presented the best selectivity for NH 3 among the several other gases including C 2 H 5 OH, formaldehyde, LPG and H 2 S. Gas sensing studies were done with a custom fabricated gas sensor. All synthesized NiO-PAni thin films exhibited improved NH 3 sensing capabilities; the optimized NiO + PAni composite thin film showed the maximum sensitivity of 125.61% and 912.12% at 40 ppm and 1500 ppm, respectively.