Critical role of biobanks in COVID-19 pandemic

7-10Proper collection of infectious biosamples is critically important for better understanding of the disease pathogenesis and health. These precious samples are stored in biobanks. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the recently discovered novel coronavirus named SARS-COV-2. Currently, specific drugs are not available against this virus though efforts on development of vaccines by various agencies have shown some positive results. Limited knowledge about the pathogenesis mechanism is a critical gap in developing intervention options. Access of COVID-19 biosamples for research could provide more insight into the disease. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) designated National Liver Disease Biobank (NLDB) as one of the dedicated facilities for collection and storage of COVID-19 biosamples for research purposes. Samples are collected, processed, and stored with proper security at NLDB. In this minireview, we have made an attempt to provide comprehensive coverage on the role of biobanking in Covid-19 pandemic

Critical role of biobanks in COVID-19 pandemic

The collection of infectious biosamples is critically important for developing a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis and health. These precious samples are stored in biobanks. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the recently discovered novel coronavirus named SARS-COV-2. Currently, specific drugs and vaccines are not available against this virus. Limited knowledge about the pathogenesis mechanism is a critical gap in developing intervention options. Access of COVID-19 biosamples for research could provide more insight into the disease. The Indian council of Medical Research (ICMR) designated National Liver Disease Biobank (NLDB) as one of the dedicated facility for the collection and storage of COVID-19 biosamples for research purposes. Samples are collected, processed, and stored with proper security at NLDB.

Identification of 22 novel mutations in patients with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessive inherited platelet function defect that characterized by reduction in, or absence of, platelet aggregation in response to multiple physiologic agonists. GT is characterized by normal platelet count, prolonged bleeding time, and abnormal clot retraction. The defect is caused by mutations in the genes encoding GPIIb or GPIIIa that result in qualitative or quantitative abnormalities of the platelet membrane GPIIb/IIIa. GT occurs in high frequency in certain ethnic populations with an increased incidence of consanguinity, such as Indians, Iranians, Iraqi Jews, Palastinian and Jordanian Arabs and French gypsies. Forty-five unrelated patients of GT were enrolled in the study to identify the causative molecular defects and also to correlate the genotype with the phenotype. Molecular modeling was performed for the novel missense mutations. The current study identifies 22 novel mutations in these patients. Missense mutations were identified as the defects responsible for most of the GT patients (59%). Even though missense was common, the study concludes that the genetic defect is heterogeneous in nature and difficult to design a DNA marker for carrier detection in GT

DRUG ABUSE- A MEDICOLEGAL ASPECT

Drug abuse is an improper use of a therapeutic or non therapeutic drug resulting impulses to use that leads to significant problems or distress. Drug dependence is used to cover both drugs of addiction i.e. which cause both psychological and physiological dependence, as well as drugs which only cause habit formation i.e., which cause only psychological dependence. A part from medical problems drug abuse is a constant threat to family, society, nation and the world. This paper will aim to explore its different definitions and related issues.Keywords: Drug abuse, Dependence, Addiction

Infective complications after percutaneous nephrolithotomy in relation to preoperative urine culture status

Introductions: Fever and sepsis after percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) secondary to urinary tract infection is a major determinant of overall post PCNL complications. This study aims to analyse infective complications after PCNL in relation to pre-operative urine culture status. Methods: A comparative analysis of post PCNL infective complications in pre-operative urine culture positive (Group A) and negative (Group B) was done for one year during June 2017 to May 2018 in department of urology, Bir Hospital, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal. Demographics, stone characteristics, mean operative time, post-operative hospital stay and post-operative complications as per Modified Clavien classification were compared between the two groups. Results: Out of total 136 PCNL patients, 51 were in Group A and 85 in Group B. Infective complications were significantly high, 28 (54.90%) in group A compared to 20 (23.53%) in group B, p=0.004. The most common isolate was Escherichia coli 19 (37.25%), sensitive to amikacin 37 (72.55%). The mean operation time, transfusion and hospital stay was not statically different in two groups. Morality occurred in 1 (1.96%) in group A. Conclusions: Infective complications were significantly high after PCNL in patients with preoperative positive urine culture, even when it was treated to sterile with sensitive antibiotics, compared to patients with preoperative negative urine culture. Keywords: modified Clavien classification, percutaneous nephrolithotomy PCNL, sepsis, urine cultur

A Case Control Study on Risk Factors Associated with Low Birth Weight Babies in Eastern Nepal

Background. This study was done to assess the maternal and sociodemographic factors associated with low birth weight (LBW) babies. Methods. An unmatched case control study was done involving 159 cases (mothers having LBW singleton babies) and 159 controls (mothers having normal birth weight singleton babies). Results. More than 50% of LBW babies were from the mothers with height ≤145 cm while only 9.43% of NBW babies were from the mothers with that height. Finally, after multivariate logistic regression analysis, maternal height, time of first antenatal care (ANC) visit, number of ANC visits, iron supplementation, calcium supplementation, maternal education, any illness during pregnancy, and hypertension were found as the significant predictors of LBW. However, maternal blood group AB, normal maternal Body Mass Index (BMI), mother’s age of 30 or more years, and starting ANC visit earlier were found to be protective for LBW. Conclusion. Study findings suggest that selectively targeted interventions such as delay age at first pregnancy, improving maternal education and nutrition, and iron and calcium supplementation can prevent LBW in Nepal

Pattern of Cancer in Nepal from 2003 to 2011

Correction: On 15th January 2017, the authors Sunil Kumar Sah and Naval Kishor Yadav were added to the author list.Cancer is global burden of disease in developed and developing countries. It is one of the main causes of death. The environmental factor and life styles are major causes of cancer.This hospital based retrospective study was carried out using data retrieved from the register maintained at seven cancer centers. The most common basis of diagnosis were microscopic (histopathological and cytopathological examination). The diagnosis was also based on clinical examination, radiological examination, endoscopy, biochemical and immunological tests.Most of the cancer cases were diagnosed at BPKMCH (23908) followed by BPKIHS (9668) and BH (5959) and few cases from KCH (518) in 2003 to 2011. The total number of cancer cases were increasing from 2003 to 2011 and it become double in 2011. Out of 75 district of Nepal, more number of cancer cases was found in Kathmandu, Sunsari, Morang, Chitwan, Lalitpur, Jhapa, Kaski, Nawalparasi, Rupendehi and Kavrepalchowk in 2010. Similarly, in 2011 more number of cancer cases was found in Kathmandu, Morang, Jhapa, Sunsari, Chitwan, Lalitpur, Rupendehi, Kaski, Saptari, Bhaktapur. Lung cancer was the common cancer and similarly, other prevalent cancers were cervical, breast, stomach, ovarian and colo-rectum cancer in 2003 to 2011. The common cancers were lung, cervical, breast, stomach, ovarian and colo-rectum. The number of patients is increasing, which may be due to change in life style and lack of education

Soil conservation issues in India

Despite years of study and substantial investment in remediation and prevention, soil erosion continues to be a major environmental problem with regard to land use in India and elsewhere around the world. Furthermore, changing climate and/or weather patterns are exacerbating the problem. Our objective was to review past and current soil conservation programmes in India to better understand how production-, environmental-, social-, economic- and policy-related issues have affected soil and water conservation and the incentives needed to address the most critical problems. We found that to achieve success in soil and water conservation policies, institutions and operations must be co-ordinated using a holistic approach. Watershed programmes have been shown to be one of the most effective strategies for bringing socio-economic change to different parts of India. Within both dryland and rainfed areas, watershed management has quietly revolutionized agriculture by aligning various sectors through technological soil and water conservation interventions and land-use diversification. Significant results associated with various watershed-scale soil and water conservation programmes and interventions that were effective for reducing land degradation and improving productivity in different parts of the country are discussed

Identification of EST–SSRs and molecular diversity analysis in Mentha piperita

EST sequences of Mentha piperita available in the public domain (NCBI) were exploited to develop SSR markers. A total of 1316 ESTs were assembled into 155 contigs and 653 singletons and of these, 110 sequences were found to contain 130 SSRs, with a frequency of 1 SSR/3.4 kb. Dinucleotide repeat SSRs were most frequent (72.3%) with the AG/CT (43.8%) repeat motif followed by AT/AT (16.2%). Primers were successfully designed for 68 SSR-containing sequences (62.0%). The 68 primers amplified 13 accessions of M. piperita and 54 produced clear amplicons of the expected size. Of these 54, 33 (61%) were found to be polymorphic among M. piperita accessions, showing from 2 to 4 alleles with an average of 2.33 alleles/SSR, and the polymorphic information content (PIC) value varied between 0.13 and 0.51 (average 0.25). All the amplified SSRs showed transferability among four different species of Mentha, with a highest in Mentha arvensis (87.0%) and minimum in Mentha citrata (37.0%). The newly developed SSRs markers were found to be useful for diversity analysis, as they successfully differentiated among species and accessions of Mentha

Determinants of severe acute malnutrition among under 5 children in Satar community of Jhapa, Nepal.

BackgroundSevere acute malnutrition (SAM) is the most extreme and visible form of undernutrition plagued by chronic poverty, household food insecurity, lack of education. One of the indigenous and marginalized community of Nepal, Satar/Santhal has often been neglected and is devoid of good education and are economically deprived. This predisposes under 5 children of Satar into malnutrition. The study aims to assess determinants of SAM among children under 5 years of age in Satar community of Jhapa district, Nepal.Material & methodsA community based matched case control study was carried from September 2019 to February 2020 among under five children of Satar community residing in Jhapa district. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select 50 cases and 100 controls in the ratio of 1:2. Information was collected through personal interview with the parents and anthropometric measurement of the children was measured. Bivariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis was used to explore the determinants of severe acute malnutrition.ResultsA total of 664 children between the age group of 6-59 months were screened for SAM. The prevalence of SAM was found 7.53%. Factors like, low economic status, birth interval less than 2 years, frequency of breast feeding ConclusionLow economic status and frequency of breast feeding less than 8times/day were major determinants of SAM among children under 5yrs of age. Ending malnutrition will require greater efforts and integrated approaches to eradicate extreme poverty. Multi-sector approaches have been conducting for SAM in Nepal but there are no specific approaches for marginalized community