Search

Background: There are very few researches from Nepal that have evaluated clinical profile of end stage renal disease patients. Our main objective was to study the clinical profile of end stage renal disease patients, who were under maintenance hemodialysis for at least three months duration in two dialysis centers located in Chitwan Nepal. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among 138 end stage renal disease patients, who were undergoing maintenance hemodialysis at two government centers located in Chitwan, Nepal. Results: Among 138 patients in our study, 42 (30.4%) patients had diabetic nephropathy and 11 (8%) patients had hypertensive nephropathy as the leading causes of end stage renal disease; however the cause could not be ascertained in 63 (45.7%) patients. 47 (34.1%) patients had started hemodialysis within one month of diagnosis of their kidney disease. Fatigue and musculoskeletal pain were the commonest symptoms found in 78 (56.6%) patients, whereas hypotension and fever were the two most common intra-dialytic complications found in 73 (52.9%) and 61 (44.2%) patients respectively. Anemia was present in 127 (92%) patients, 41 (29.7%) had hyperkalemia, 54 (39.1%) had hypocalcemia, 116 (84.1%) had hyperphosphatemia and 43 (31.2%) had hyperuricemia. Regular use of erythropoietin analogs was significantly associated with higher hemoglobin levels (p value- 0.000) and lesser frequency of blood transfusions (p value- 0.000) in our study. Conclusions: Diabetic nephropathy was the leading cause of end stage renal disease in our study. Cause of ESRD could not be ascertained in nearly half of the total patients. Keywords: Chronic renal failure; end stage renal disease; hemodialysis; Nepal

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is an invasive endoscopic procedure done more often for therapeutic rather than diagnostic purposes. There are various complications of this procedure like pancreatitis, cholangitis, hemorrhage, perforation and other rare adverse events. In this case report, we discuss a case of a 40 years female who was referred to our center for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. After the procedure she complained of bilateral loss of vision which was an unknown complication to us. But after looking back to literature we found two such case reports attributed to isolated bilateral lateral geniculate body infarct.

Recurrent or persistent positivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in clinically recovered COVID-19 patients have been reported worldwide. However, replication competent live viruses were not recovered beyond two to three weeks from onset of symptoms in mild to severe cases of COVID-19. End stage renal disease is characterized by uremia induced immune dysfunction that increases the risk of infectious diseases including COVID-19. The clinical implications of recurrent or persistently positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA in immunocompromised patients are difficult to be generalized to findings as in immunocompetent patients. We report a case of end stage renal disease with recent history of recovered COVID-19 pneumonia, who again presented with positive reverse transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

Rainfall is the key weather element which regulates the hydrological cycle, availability of water resources and crop production. In this study, spatial and temporal variability of rainfall has been investigated on seasonal and annual time scales of the 149 blocks of Chhattisgarh State using 120 years (1901–2020) of rainfall data. Non-parametric, and Theil and Sen's slope estimator were used to identify possible trends and ascertain the variability in the magnitude. The results revealed that there exists a well-marked spatial variability in rainfall over Chhattisgarh on annual and seasonal time scales. Out of 149 blocks, a significant negative rainfall was noticed in 105 blocks. Annual rainfall showed a significant positive trend in a few blocks like Bhopalpattnam, Bijapur, Usur, and Konta. A similar pattern of trend was noticed in the monsoon season. The results of the study demand the urgent need to formulate policies and strategies for water resource management and planning. The blocks which showed the positive rainfall trends can be identified to intensify the cultivation of more water-requiring crops based on the suitability for that region. The findings of this study can be used as valuable information for crop planning, policy-making and preparation of contingency plans. HIGHLIGHTS Significant shift change point identified as 1961, signifying a shift in rainfall patterns.; The monsoon season demonstrated the highest positive trends, contrasting with negative trends in winter during 1901–1961.; Positive trends in the monsoon season persisted, while negative trends continued in the winter during 1962–2020.; The Theil–Sen slope method indicated an overall decline in annual rainfall for most blocks.; The present study highlights the comprehensive micro-level study of the 149 blocks of Chhattisgarh State, and it could be helpful for agro-advisory and policy-making for the state.;

Background: While working in a multidisciplinary team, many a time there is lack of clarity or connivance who will work on what issue and how to decide about a referral to another team member, particularly to the psychiatric social worker. So, a need was felt to develop a screening tool for the same purpose. Aim: To develop a screening tool for the assessment of psychosocial problems, and to test its reliability and validity. Methods: A 12-item scale was developed following the scientific tool development steps. Content validity of the tool was established by accepting more than 70% validity index for each item. To test the reliability, it was applied to 100 family members of persons with mental illness. Results: Statistical analyses showed good internal consistency by Cronbach’s alpha (r=0.76) and Spearman-Brown prophecy formula (r=0.73). Scores of all the 12 individual items significantly correlated with the total score of the tool indicating acceptable sensitivity. A significant correlation was found among the scores of items indicating good construct validity of the tool. Conclusion: The Screening Tool for Assessment of Psychosocial Problems (STAPP) is a brief and simple to use instrument, which has acceptable psychometric properties (valid and reliable). It is suitable for screening of the psychosocial problems of family members of person with a mental illness. It can be used for screening in routine clinical practice.

Abstract Background Cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the second most important vegetable crop after potato and a member of thirteen interfertile species of Solanum genus. Domestication and continuous selection for desirable traits made cultivated tomato species susceptible to many stresses as compared to the wild species. In this study, we analyzed and compared the genomes of wild and cultivated tomato accessions to identify the genomic regions that encountered changes during domestication. Results Analysis was based on SNP and InDel mining of twentynine accessions of twelve wild tomato species and forty accessions of cultivated tomato. Percentage of common SNPs among the accessions within a species corresponded with the reproductive behavior of the species. SNP profiles of the wild tomato species within a phylogenetic subsection varied with their geographical distribution. Interestingly, the ratio of genic SNP to total SNPs increased with phylogenetic distance of the wild tomato species from the domesticated species, suggesting that variations in gene-coding region play a major role in speciation. We retrieved 2439 physical positions in 1594 genes including 32 resistance related genes where all the wild accessions possessed a common wild variant allele different from all the cultivated accessions studied. Tajima’s D analysis predicted a very strong purifying selection associated with domestication in nearly 1% of its genome, half of which is contributed by chromosome 11. This genomic region with a low Tajima’s D value hosts a variety of genes associated with important agronomic trait such as, fruit size, tiller number and wax deposition. Conclusion Our analysis revealed a broad-spectrum genetic base in wild tomato species and erosion of that in cultivated tomato due to recurrent selection for agronomically important traits. Identification of the common wild variant alleles and the genomic regions undergoing purifying selection during cultivation would facilitate future breeding program by introgression from wild species.

Witchcraft or witchery is practiced since long across the globe which is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical worldview. Witch hunting is a matter of great concern in which the victim who is labelled as a witch is subjected to torments. This editorial attempted to depict this issue with special reference to the Jharkhand state of India. Some of the areas covered are the regional terminology, historical evidences of practices, current efforts to deal with it, and finally, possibility of mental health aspect of it.

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential polyunsaturated fatty acid compound present in deep water fishes and dietary supplements, with a wide spectrum of potential health benefits, ranging from neurological to anti-inflammatory. Methods: Due to the fact that DHA is considered a breast cancer risk reducer, we examined the impact of DHA on MCF-7 breast cancer cells’ viability and its inhibitory properties on protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), a pro-oncogenic phosphatase. Results: We found that DHA is able to lower both the enzymatic activity of PTP1B phosphatase and the viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We showed that unsaturated DHA possesses a significantly higher inhibitory activity toward PTP1B in comparison to similar fatty acids. We also performed a computational analysis of DHA binding to PTP1B and discovered that it is able to bind to an allosteric binding site. Conclusions: Utilizing both a recombinant enzyme and cellular models, we demonstrated that DHA can be considered a potential pharmacological agent for the prevention of breast cancer.