Clinico-pathologic profile of women with palpable breast lumps in Chitwan Medical College, Nepal

Background: Spectrum of female breast diseases is manifold and includes various non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions. This study focused on the clinico-pathological profile of several breast diseases, including fibrocystic change, fibroadenoma and breast carcinoma. Methods: This cross sectional analytic observational study included Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology cases of female breast diseases diagnosed over three years from 2011 to 2014 in Chitwan Medical College Teaching hospital in Central Nepal. Univariate analysis was carried out to find out age group-wise proportion of the diseases in relation to five cytologic categories and various cytomorphologic diagnoses. Independent samples t-test was used to find out the significance of difference between mean age of benign and malignant breast diseases. Results: The proportion of benign, suspicious for malignancy and malignant breast diseases was 90.4 %, 0.8% and 8.8 % respectively. The mean age of patients at diagnosis for benign diseases and malignant disease was 31.7± 10.4 years and 49.2 ± 12.0 years respectively. t-test showed difference in mean age between benign and malignant diseases to be statistically significant (t=8.79, p= <0.001). Fibrocystic change and fibroadenoma were the most common breast disease overall and the most common neoplasm respectively. 58.1 %, 25.9 % and 6.5 % of all carcinoma cases in this study were found below 50, below 40 and below 30 years of age respectively. Conclusions: Fibrocystic change and fibroadenoma are most common disease of breast and most common neoplasm of breast respectively. Breast cancer occurs in younger women in Nepal in comparison to women in developed countries. Therefore, breast cancer prevention programs in Nepal should target young women also.

Indigenous use and bio-efficacy of medicinal plants in the Rasuwa District, Central Nepal

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>By revealing historical and present plant use, ethnobotany contributes to drug discovery and socioeconomic development. Nepal is a natural storehouse of medicinal plants. Although several ethnobotanical studies were conducted in the country, many areas remain unexplored. Furthermore, few studies have compared indigenous plant use with reported phytochemical and pharmacological properties.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ethnopharmacological data was collected in the Rasuwa district of Central Nepal by conducting interviews and focus group discussions with local people. The informant consensus factor (F_IC) was calculated in order to estimate use variability of medicinal plants. Bio-efficacy was assessed by comparing indigenous plant use with phytochemical and pharmacological properties determined from a review of the available literature. Criteria were used to identify high priority medicinal plant species.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 60 medicinal formulations from 56 plant species were documented. Medicinal plants were used to treat various diseases and disorders, with the highest number of species being used for gastro-intestinal problems, followed by fever and headache. Herbs were the primary source of medicinal plants (57% of the species), followed by trees (23%). The average F_IC value for all ailment categories was 0.82, indicating a high level of informant agreement compared to similar studies conducted elsewhere. High F_ICvalues were obtained for ophthalmological problems, tooth ache, kidney problems, and menstrual disorders, indicating that the species traditionally used to treat these ailments are worth searching for bioactive compounds: <it>Astilbe rivularis</it>, <it>Berberis asiatica</it>, <it>Hippophae salicifolia, Juniperus recurva</it>, and <it>Swertia multicaulis</it>. A 90% correspondence was found between local plant use and reported plant chemical composition and pharmacological properties for the 30 species for which information was available. Sixteen medicinal plants were ranked as priority species, 13 of which having also been prioritized in a country-wide governmental classification.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The <it>Tamang </it>people possess rich ethnopharmacological knowledge. This study allowed to identify many high value and high priority medicinal plant species, indicating high potential for economic development through sustainable collection and trade.</p

Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and characterization of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus especially methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) continues to be a problem for clinicians worldwide. However, few data on the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S. aureus isolates in South Africa have been reported and the prevalence of MRSA in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province is unknown. In addition, information on the characterization of S. aureus in this province is unavailable. This study investigated the susceptibility pattern of 227 S. aureus isolates from the KZN province, South Africa. In addition, characterization of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA are reported in this survey. METHODS: The in-vitro activities of 20 antibiotics against 227 consecutive non-duplicate S. aureus isolates from clinical samples in KZN province, South Africa were determined by the disk-diffusion technique. Isolates resistant to oxacillin and mupirocin were confirmed by PCR detection of the mecA and mup genes respectively. PCR-RFLP of the coagulase gene was employed in the characterization of MSSA and MRSA. RESULTS: All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin, teicoplanin and fusidic acid, and 26.9% of isolates studied were confirmed as MRSA. More than 80% of MRSA were resistant to at least four classes of antibiotics and isolates grouped in antibiotype 8 appears to be widespread in the province. The MSSA were also susceptible to streptomycin, neomycin and minocycline, while less than 1% was resistant to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin and mupirocin. The inducible MLS(B )phenotype was detected in 10.8% of MSSA and 82% of MRSA respectively, and one MSSA and one MRSA exhibited high-level resistance to mupirocin. There was good correlation between antibiotyping and PCR-RFLP of the coagulase gene in the characterization of MRSA in antibiotypes 1, 5 and 12. CONCLUSION: In view of the high resistance rates of MRSA to gentamicin, erythromycin, clindamycin, rifampicin and trimethoprim, treatment of MRSA infections in this province with these antibacterial agents would be unreliable. There is an emerging trend of mupirocin resistance among S. aureus isolates in the province. PCR-RFLP of the coagulase gene was able to distinguish MSSA from MRSA and offers an attractive option to be considered in the rapid epidemiological analysis of S. aureus in South Africa. Continuous surveillance on resistance patterns and characterization of S. aureus in understanding new and emerging trends in South Africa is of utmost importance

Publisher Correction:Network inference from glycoproteomics data reveals new reactions in the IgG glycosylation pathway

Correction to: Nature Communications (2017) 8:1231. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-01525-

Experiences of children impacted by maternal imprisonment living in children’s homes in Nepal

There is a dearth of knowledge about the children who have a parent or parents in Nepal's prisons in both academic and non-academic literature. This PhD study explored the largely unheard voices of the children of mother prisoners living in children's homes across Nepal. This study adopted an ethnographic approach based on social constructionism epistemology and symbolic interactionism philosophy. Accordingly, ethnographic fieldwork was carried out in Nepal in 2018. The fieldwork included multiple visits to children's homes and ongoing observations in those settings, complemented by many other formal and informal activities. Based on the Mosaic approach, this fieldwork centred on children's voices, offering children child-centred and multiple ways to communicate their experiences and perspectives. Children were invited to make drawings on several topics and were interviewed informally and more formally as I got to know them. The key issues discussed with children included children's lives before living in the children's home, their education, family members, their ongoing contact with parent(s), and children's concerns and perceptions on numerous other things that mattered to them. In addition, some staff members who worked in the homes were interviewed, and this enhanced contextual knowledge. Transcripts were analysed thematically, supported by the learning I gained from reading about data analysis in qualitative inquiry. This study's findings differ in many respects from what I presumed before commencing the research. Contrary to my initial thoughts, many children were keen to be involved in the work. I experienced and witnessed many child-unfriendly practices during my childhood in Nepal, and I was uncertain whether children would want to participate in the research. Many of the children are most likely from vulnerable families already struggling with poor socio-economic status and have undergone various difficulties since an early age. Many accounts suggest there are numerous benefits of living in a children's home, and the homes play an essential role in their lives. Those advantages include secure accommodation, access to school, regular meals, a celebration of festivals, and socialisation with adults and other children living in the children's homes. Many of them were also assisted in maintaining contact with their parent(s) in prison. Although many children spoke about living in a children's home in positive terms, a few also spoke about their bitter experiences of transitioning from prison to a children's home. For some, they must leave their parent(s), adapt to a new atmosphere, and adjust to other socio-cultural aspects, such as learning a new language. This is clearly another potential trauma in their lives. Many of the children's stories indicated that the role children's homes play in their lives is crucial to giving them both necessities and helping them build self-confidence and resiliency. The prison visits and contacts seemed pivotal for the imprisoned mothers to continue to care for their children from inside prison. The extended prison visits that some children made seemed to be of further help in continuing and maintaining mother-child connections. The data shows that many of these children are thriving despite various hurdles in the past, and they can build relationships with other children and adults in the children's homes and prisons. Their stories also indicate that they consider themselves as hopefully becoming future social changemakers. I am aware that children's homes in Nepal often face criticism for failing to meet the minimum standard set up by government agencies. Therefore, it is important to note that the findings discussed in this thesis are not generalisations of all the children living in all children's homes across Nepal. In addition to giving voice to the children of prisoners, this thesis also provides space and opportunity to unmute and unfold the researcher's inner selves. Consequently, based on informing findings from data analysis, this thesis also offers critical thoughts and discussion on reflective thoughts on the methodological choices and this PhD journey. This thesis argues that the researcher's experience of this PhD journey is a crucial learning process. Therefore, my learnings across multiple pieces of analysis carried out during this PhD are critically discussed. Accordingly, my personal experiences, feelings, reflections, and emotional expressions about being in the research field and doing this research are highlighted throughout the thesis. It also includes a discussion on some of the challenges I experienced while writing this PhD in English as my second language. Importantly, this thesis also discusses research as a political intervention. It argues that doing research and writing this PhD is not only about learning and contributing knowledge to the field but is also about playing a strong role in a process to intervene in existing practices for improvements. This thesis concludes by recommending key ideas that need further research and activism in the context of Nepal

Internal defect detection in fruit by using NIR spectroscopy

Retailers commonly stipulate rejection of fruit lots with an incidence of internal defects >2%, but current assessment, based on destructive assessment of a few fruit per lot, is unreliable. Non-invasive detection of three defects of commercial importance, apple browning, Mandarin dryness and pineapple translucency was attempted using several methods. Reference assessment methods were explored for each defect, including (i) juiciness; (ii) visual assessment of a cut surface; (iii) image analysis of a cut surface. Density sorting, chlorophyll fluorescence and acoustic methods were not consistently associated with the apple disorder. Computed tomography X-ray was capable of imaging the Mandarin disorder but line X-ray was also not reliable. Practical results were obtained using a shortwave near infrared transmission unit, employing partial least square regression and linear discriminant analysis for detection of defect in apple and Mandarin fruit

Fruit internal defect sorting: Rejection makes the rest the best

Retailers commonly stipulate rejection of apple fruit lots with incidence of internal browning. However, the current assessment protocols are based on destructive assessment of a few fruit per lot, and are thus unreliable. The performance of an internal defect sorting system is described in context of assessment of this disorder, in terms of the impact of measurement error, population average and spread on the criterion required for effective sorting. The sorting goal is to maintain the incidence of disorder to a level acceptable to the retailers, while rejecting a minimum number of fruit

Assessment of internal flesh browning in intact apple using visible-short wave near infrared spectroscopy

Walsh, KB ORCiD: 0000-0002-3033-8622© 2016 Elsevier B.V.Certain cultivars of apple are prone to an internal flesh browning defect following extended controlled atmosphere storage. A number of (destructive) reference methods were assessed for scoring the severity of this defect in a fruit, including visual assessment, image analysis (% cross section area affected), International Commission on Illumination (CIE) chromameter Lab values of a cut surface and juice Abs420, of which visual scoring on a 5 point scale and a colour index based on CIE Lab were recommended. Non-invasive detection of this disorder using three instruments operating in the visible-shortwave near infrared (NIR) but varying in optical geometry (interactance, partial transmission and full transmission) was attempted. Quantitative prediction of defect level was best assessed using visible-shortwave NIRS in a transmission optical geometry, with a typical partial least squares (PLS) regression model with correlation coefficient of determination, R2p = 0.83 and root mean square of errors of prediction = 0.63 (5 point defect score scale). The binary classification approaches of linear discriminant analysis, PLS discriminant analysis, support vector machine approach and logistic regression were trialled for separation of acceptable fruit, with the best result achieved using the PLS discriminant analysis method, followed by linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine classification. Classification accuracy [(True Positive + True Negative)/(Positive + Negative)] on an independent validation population of >95% and a false discovery rate [False Positive/(True Positive + False Positive)]of <2% was achieved

Selection of non-timber forest species for community and private plantations in the high and low altitude areas of Makawanpur District, Nepal

The domestication of non-timber forest species (NTFS) is receiving increasing attention from developing economies. However, little is known about the selection of NTFS in Nepal for commercial uses. Sixteen selection criteria were developed and NTFS were ranked for community and private plantations in both low altitude and high altitude areas of Makawanpur district, Nepal, by workshops of multiple NTFS stakeholders. The rigorous scoring of 12 ecologically screened NTFS against the 16 selection criteria revealed that kurilo and sarpagandh are highly preferred NTFS for low altitude areas whereas chiraito and jatamanshi are highly preferred for high altitude. This finding coincides with the general perception of participants and contemporary literature. These are the species being rapidly depleted from the natural forests. Rapid decline of valuable species creates strong motivation from stakeholders for planting them on community and private lan