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The present study was aimed to produce the isoperoxidase and protein marker for the maize cultivars from India and to find the isoperoxidase and protein expression on the various developmental stages. The leaf samples of Zea mays L. were harvested on 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, 19th, 23rd and 27th d for electrophoretic analysis of isoperoxidase and protein. The total protein and isoperoxidase were isolated using the standard procedure described by Sadasivam and Manickam. Isozyme and protein separation was carried out using 10% non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The banding pattern suggested several similarities as well as presence of unique isoperoxidase and protein in each stage. These studies will be useful for the identification of the major proteins present at different developmental stages of Z. mays.

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with neonatal near miss and mortality of the live birth cohort in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2015. Methods: Population-based retrospective cohort of live births (LB) of single pregnancy with 0–27 days of follow-up. Data were obtained from the Brazilian Live Birth and Mortality Information Systems. Logistic regressions with the analytical strategy of hierarchical determination were used for cases of near miss and deaths separately. Results: The cohort was composed of 85,850 LB. For every one thousand LB, about 16 were cases of near miss and six died. Maternal level of education, skin color, and age and adequacy of prenatal care were associated with neonatal near miss; for deaths, presentation of LB at delivery, birth weight, gestational age, and five-minute Apgar score are added. Conclusions: Besides confirming the effect of low birth weight, prematurity, and asphyxia on neonatal death, socioeconomic vulnerability markers – low education level and brown or black skin colors – were associated with neonatal death and near miss. Absent or inadequate prenatal care showed a strong association with both outcomes, being stronger for neonatal death. Investments in the quality of prenatal care and reduction of disparities in health care are necessary in Rio de Janeiro.

Background: Cutaneous tuberculosis (TB) forms a small subset of extrapulmonary TB and continues to be a significant diagnostic dilemma in routine practice. The present study is an attempt to find the incidence, clinical spectrum, and histopathological features of cutaneous TB in western Rajasthan. The relation of cutaneous TB with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was also assessed. Method: A total of 40 cases of newly diagnosed patients of cutaneous TB attending the dermatology outpatient department over a period of 1 year were included in the study. A detailed clinical examination and investigations including histopathological examination were carried out. Results: The overall incidence of cutaneous TB was 0.025% (40 of 160,000 outpatients). HIV concurrence was 5% (2 cases) of all cutaneous TB cases. The most common variants were scrofuloderma (40%), lupus vulgaris (30%), TB verrucosa cutis (8%), orificial TB (2%), and lichen scrofulosorum (2%). Males suffered more than females (2.07:1) and all patients belonged to lower socioeconomic class. The Mantoux test was positive in 65% of cases. Extracutaneous involvement occurred in 17 (42.50%) cases. Characteristic well-defined tuberculoid granulomas were seen in 60% of cases, whereas 40% of cases showed nonspecific changes. Conclusion: This study provides the epidemiological data of cutaneous TB in western Rajasthan, identifies the clinicohistopathological pattern, and calls the attention of the health-care professionals that they should improve the propaedeutics of neglected and underdiagnosed cases of cutaneous TB that is prevalent in the lower socioeconomic group. Due to the varied clinical presentations, physician awareness and a high index of suspicion are necessary to diagnose cutaneous forms of TB.

Background: Child marriage (marital age less than 18 years) is recognized as a violation of human rights. However, it remains a deep-rooted social problem in Nepal. We aimed to find out the relationship between child marriage and reproductive health and cervical neoplasia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2016 to January 2017 in the Jumla district of Karnali province, Nepal. Apparently healthy, married women ages 20–65 were invited to participate in a cervical screening awareness program followed by an interview and examination. Interviews to obtain sociodemographic and reproductive health information were followed by cervical cancer screening by cytology and visual tests. Results: Out of 2190 eligible participants, 1450 (66%) reported child marriage. Illiteracy, smoking, multiparity, number of living children, and abortion rates were all significantly higher among the women who had a marital age of less than 18. Reports of abnormal cytology, visual inspection with acetic acid, and Lugol's iodine were not significantly different among the two groups of women who married before or after the age of 18. Conclusions: Child marriage is highly prevalent in Jumla, Karnali of Nepal and is associated with poor reproductive health outcomes, but is not significantly associated with an increase in cervical neoplasia as judged by visual inspection or cytology. It is highly recommended that child marriage in Nepal be prevented by improving awareness of the risks of child marriage, education, socioeconomic status, and strict implementation of the existing marriage age law.

Introduction: The persistence positivity detected for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ribonucleic acid by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test in asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 positive patients has attracted a lot of attention. There is limited data on the duration of viral shedding. We aimed to determine the proportion of coronavirus disease patients with persistent positivity of real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test in a teaching hospital of Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using medical records from May to September 2020 in a teaching hospital of Nepal. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (Reference no 077/078/03). Convenient sampling method was used. Data was analysed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Point estimate at 90% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Of the total 95 cases, 9 (9.5%) cases (4.6-14.4 at 90% Confidence Interval), were repeat positive after achieving the first negative. The mean day required of achieving the last negative for the repeat positive group was 62.11±3.95, range (60-70 days). The mean time duration for the virus shedding was found to be 20.43±12.19 days (range 7-60 days) after the first positive test result. Conclusions: This study concludes that there might be a persistent positivity of the polymerase chain reaction test among patients with COVID-19. The majority of the patients were test positive for 8-14 days, and some were positive till 60-70 days.

Introduction: The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 pandemic is critically challenging the whole world. The real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction is the most widely used confirmatory test for COVID-19 detection. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of COVID-19 infection detected by gold standard reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test in a tertiary care center of Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Karnali Academy of Health Sciences from May to August 2020 after taking ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Jumla. Convenient sampling was used. A total of 361 participants enrolled in this study who have done real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for screening of COVID-19 infection. Also, a designated questionnaire was obtained from persons with a travel history and close contact. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used for the statistical analysis. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 was 167 (46.3%) (95% Confidence Interval= 41.16-51.44) by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test. Out of 361 samples, 339 (93.9%) were male and 22 (6%) were female. The highest frequency of the participants belongs to the age groups of 20-40 years. Conclusions: The findings showed a high prevalence of COVID-19 detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction test. Further studies are necessary to improve the precision of prevalence estimations.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common neoplastic diseases worldwide. Available biomarkers are not sensitive enough for the diagnosis of HCC, hence seeking new biomarkers of HCC is urgent and challenging. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of F-box and leucine-rich repeat protein 19-antisense RNA 1 (FBXL19-AS1) through a functional network and inquire into its diagnostic and prognostic value in HCC. A comprehensive strategy of genomic data mining, bioinformatics and experimental validation was used to evaluate the clinical value of FBXL19-AS1 in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC and to identify the pathways in which FBXL19-AS1 might be involved. FBXL19-AS1 was up-regulated in HCC tissues, and its high expression was associated with TNM stage and poor prognosis of HCC patients. The combination of FBXL19-AS1 and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in plasma could prominently improve the diagnostic validity for HCC. FBXL19-AS1 might stabilize FBXL19 to reduce the amount of macrophage M1, and then promote the occurrence and development of HCC. Meanwhile, FBXL19-AS1 might participate in regulating HCC related pathways through FBXL19-AS1-miRNA-mRNA network. Our findings indicated that FBXL19-AS1 not only serves as a potential biomarker for HCC diagnosis and prognosis, but also might be functionally carcinogenic.

A Gram negative hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) reducing bacteria, Ochrobactrum sp. Cr-B4 (genbank accession number: JF824998) was isolated from the aerator water of an activated sludge process of a wastewater treatment facility of a dye and pigment based specialty chemical industry. It showed a resistance for 1000 mg L−1 Cr(VI). It exhibited resistance against other heavy metal ions like Ni2+ (900 mg L−1), Cu2+ (500 mg L−1), Pb2+ (800 mg L−1), and Cd2+(250 mg L−1), Zn2+ (700 mg L−1), Fe3+ (800 mg L−1), and against selected antibiotics. Cr-B4 could efficiently reduce 200 mg L−1 Cr(VI) completely in nutrient and LB media and could convert Cr(VI) to Cr(III) efficiently. Cr(VI) reduction in nutrient media followed allosteric enzyme kinetics with Km values of 59.39 mg L−1 and Vmax values of 47.03 mg L−1 h−1. The reduction in LB media followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics with Km values of 99.52 mg L−1 and Vmax of 77.63 mg L−1 h−1. Scanning electron micrograms revealed the presence of extracellular polymeric secretions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is the severe leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Early detection of lung cancer can significantly increase their survival rate. However, conventional lung cancer screening methods such as sputum cytology, chest X-rays, low-dose computed tomography, positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, are radiational, and also expensive methods. Similarly, lung tumor tissue as invasive and difficult to obtain and potentially risky procedures, there is the immediate need of non-invasive, novel sensitive and reliable blood-based tumor markers which now has become an important area on research. This review will mainly focus on recently identified circulating biomarkers: circulating tumor cells, circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid, tumor-derived exosomes, circulating ribonucleic acid and micro ribonucleic acid, and tumoreducated platelets which may enable earlier diagnosis of lung cancer and their application in clinical practices.

Introduction: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death and disability in both developed and developing countries. The prevalence of hypertension is increasing rapidly worldwide. The aim of the study was to determine the knowledge of diet and exercise among hypertensive patients. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among 169 hypertensive patients at Kathmandu diabetes and thyroid center from May 2017 to July 2017 after taking ethical clearance from Nepal Health Research Council, Nepal. A convenience sampling method was used. Data was collected and entry was done in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0 point estimate at 95% confidence interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Out of total 169 participants enrolled in this study, only 79 (46.7%) had good knowledge and 90 (53.3%) had poor knowledge regarding diet and exercise. The mean age of participants was 54.68±13.91 years. Conclusions: This study revealed that the knowledge about diet and exercise among hypertensive patients is poor and this study suggests the need for a proper educational intervention to improve awareness and to control hypertension effectively.

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Nepal. The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and or HPV 18 among women with cervical pre-cancer and cancer is higher than the incidence of HPV in the world population. The population-based epidemiological data of HPV in the general population in most parts of the country remains unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and type distribution of HPV infection and association of abnormal cytology with high risk HPV infection among women in mid-western rural, Nepal. Methods A population-based cross sectional study was conducted in Jumla, one of the most remote districts in Nepal. A total of 1050 cervical samples were collected from married and non- pregnant women aged 20–65 years during mobile Cervical Cancer Screening Clinics conducted from May 2016 to January 2017. The presence of HPV DNA was firstly confirmed by HPV consensus PCR using PGMY09/PGMY11 designed primers, then HPV positive samples were further genotyped by the membrane hybridization method to detect the 21 high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and low-risk HPV types. The prevalence of HR-HPV among women with normal and abnormal cytology was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS software for Windows. P

Introduction: Teenage pregnancy is a public health concern. Maternal and neonatal health outcomes are negatively impacted in teenage pregnancy. The objective of the study is to find the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in a community hospital of rural Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Okhaldhunga Community Hospital, Okhaldhunga, Nepal. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee of the hospital. Data were retrieved from July 2007 to July 2017 from the hospital record books. The total of 7054 records of deliveries were reviewed from the hospital records and whole sampling was done. Subgroup analysis was done on basis of age, ethnicity, gravida, para, period of gestation, mode of delivery, maternal or neonatal complications and birth weight. Datas were entered and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results: The total of 7054 deliveries were conducted in ten years among which 2050 (29.06%) were teenage deliveries at the confidence interval of 95% (28.52% - 29.06%). The highest percentage of teenage delivery was found among Janajati ethnicity of 1056 (53.3%). Amongst teenage delivery, a significant tear was found in 157 (7.9%) as a maternal complication. Perinatal deaths were found in 27 (1.4%). The cesarean section rate was 839 (11.9%) among all deliveries. Conclusions: The trend of teenage pregnancy remains almost same over ten years in the Okhaldhunga Community Hospital. The overall prevalence of teenage delivery is higher than the national figure. Low birth weight babies, premature delivery, perineal and cervical tears were the common complications. Further health education and awareness programs might help to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate.

Introduction: In Nepal, cervical cancer is the most common female cancer. Unfortunately, there is no uniform effective screening system available all around the country. The objective of this study is to evaluate the cytology, Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and with Lugol’s Iodine alone or in combination to detect a pre-cancerous lesion in rural Nepal. Methods: It is an analytical cross-sectional study. Convenience sampling technique was used to select participants who were apparently healthy, married, non- pregnant women of aged 20-65 years for cervical cancer screening program. Screening tests were performed on all eligible women (n=2143) after socio-demographic and reproductive health data collection. A biopsy was applied as a gold standard test. Cross-tabulations were used to describe the test sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value at a 95% confidence interval. Diagnostic odds ratio was also calculated. Results: A majority, 2143 (94%), of women accepted and participated in this study. The sensitivity vs specificity of cytology, VIA, and VILI was 57.1% vs 98.3%, 71.4% vs 88.8% and 78.6% vs 85.1%, and of the co-testing of ‘Both positive VIA and VILI’ and ‘Either positive VIA or VILI’ was 64.3% vs 85.7% and 90.1% vs 83.7% respectively. Negative predictive value of all tests exceeded 99.7%. Cytology had the highest Diagnostic odds ratio (64.9), followed by the co-test ‘Either positive VIA or VILI’ (27.7). Conclusions: Cervical cancer screening by co-testing ‘Either positive VIA or VILI’ is more useful than cytology; VIA and or VILI are easy, safe, feasible and well-accepted tests in a low resource setting, Nepal.

Resumo: Neste trabalho, avaliam-se quantitativa e qualitativamente as informações do Sistema de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos (SINASC). A cobertura das informações por município foi estimada pela razão entre nascidos vivos informados e estimados. Para avaliação da qualidade das informações do SINASC, relacionou-se o sistema à base de dados do estudo Nascer no Brasil, 2011-2012, e foram estimados coeficientes kappa de concordância. Em 2013, a cobertura das informações foi alta e homogênea em todas as Unidades da Federação. Entretanto, a análise por município brasileiro apresentou maior heterogeneidade espacial. Quanto à qualidade de preenchimento das informações do SINASC, os coeficientes kappa de concordância foram estatisticamente diferentes de zero para todas as variáveis testadas (p < 0,001), e as distribuições marginais para todas as variáveis consideradas foram semelhantes nas duas bases de dados. A idade gestacional foi a variável que mostrou pior concordância, com valor de kappa de 0,461. O indicador que descreve as inconsistências, medido pela soma do quadrado das diferenças entre os percentuais de prematuridade informados e esperados por faixa de peso ao nascer, teve o valor mais alto na Região Norte e o menor na Região Sul, apontando para desigualdades geográficas na mensuração da idade gestacional.

Apesar da redução da mortalidade na infância, as causas ainda são majoritariamente evitáveis, e a sobrevida pode estar condicionada à situação de ameaça à vida ao nascer. Foram estimadas a carga de ameaça à vida ao nascer, de near miss neonatal, e a mortalidade, com ênfase na evitabilidade, e sobrevida na infância, em coortes de nascidos vivos. Estudo de coorte retrospectiva de nascidos vivos residentes no Município do Rio de Janeiro (2012-2016). Os bancos de dados dos Sistemas de Informações sobre Nascidos Vivos e sobre Mortalidade foram relacionados. Critérios pragmáticos foram utilizados para definir ameaça à vida e near miss. Óbitos foram classificados segundo a lista brasileira de causas de mortes evitáveis. Foram estimados indicadores de morbimortalidade e a sobrevida (Kaplan-Meier). Dos 425.505 nascidos vivos, 2,2% apresentaram ameaça à vida ao nascer. As taxas de mortalidade na infância, infantil e neonatal foram, respectivamente: 0,01; 0,06 e 14,97 por mil pessoas-dia. Causas evitáveis, não claramente evitáveis e mal definidas corresponderam, respectivamente, a 61%, 35% e 4% dos óbitos. O risco de morte por causas evitáveis atribuível ao nascimento com ameaça à vida foi de 97,6%. A sobrevida foi menor entre recém-nascidos com ameaça à vida, comparados àqueles sem ameaça à vida. Os critérios pragmáticos de ameaça à vida determinaram o perfil de mortalidade proporcional por causas de morte segundo os três grupos de causas da lista brasileira de causas de mortes evitáveis. Nascer com ameaça à vida define crianças com maior risco de morbimortalidade e põe, em pauta, a discussão sobre a vulnerabilidade e as necessidades de assistência às crianças e do apoio social às suas famílias.