"I need to terminate this pregnancy even if it will take my life": a qualitative study of the effect of being denied legal abortion on women's lives in Nepal.

BackgroundAlthough abortion was legalized in Nepal in 2002, many women are not able to obtain legal services. Using qualitative data from women who were denied legal abortion services, we examined reasons for seeking an abortion, options considered and pursued after being denied an abortion, reasons for delaying seeking care, as well as complications experienced among women who were denied legal abortion.MethodsAfter obtaining authorization from two health facilities in Nepal, we requested informed consent from all women who were seeking abortion services to complete a case report form to determine their eligibility for the study. We then recruited all eligible and interested women in to the study. Two months after recruitment, we conducted in-depth interviews with 25 women who were denied abortion services from the two recruitment facilities due to advanced gestational age (>12 weeks). Interviews were translated and transcribed, and the transcripts were analyzed through an iterative process grounded in thematic analysis, involving both a priori and emergent codes.ResultsEleven women were recruited from the government hospital and 14 from an NGO facility. The majority of women (15 women or 60 %) were living rural settings, ranged in age from 18 to 40 years and had an average of 2 children. None had completed any post-secondary education. Women most commonly cited financial concerns and health concerns as reasons for seeking termination. Not recognizing pregnancy, uncertainty about how to proceed, needing time to coordinate the trip to the facility or raise money, and waiting to know the sex of fetus were the commonly cited delays. Among the women interviewed, 12 decided to continue their pregnancies following denial, 12 terminated their pregnancies elsewhere, and one self-induced using medication. At least two women experienced significant complications after obtaining an abortion. Most women who continued their pregnancies anticipated negative consequences for their health, family relationships, and wellbeing.ConclusionsBarriers to seeking early abortion need to be addressed in order to reduce utilization of abortion services that may be unsafe and to improve women's health and wellbeing in Nepal

The Relationship Between DNA Damage Response and Accumulation of DNA Damage in LRRK2 G2019S Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects 7-10 million people worldwide. Among people with PD, an accumulation of DNA damage has been noted, with one possible explanation for this accumulation being a dysregulated DNA damage response. Studying this DNA damage can open doors for new therapeutic targets of PD. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the role of ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), a protein involved in DNA damage response, and leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), a kinase protein, in the accumulation of DNA damage in PD. I hypothesized that the implication of ATM and LRRK2 activation in LRRK2 G2019S PD indicates a relationship between a DNA damage response through ATM, LRRK2 kinase activity, and the accumulation of DNA damage. Western blot and immunocytochemistry (ICC) experimental methods were used to test this hypothesis in healthy control and LRRK2 G2019S lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). The results revealed increases in the phosphorylation of H2AX, a proxy for DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), in LRRK2 G2019S cells. Increased baseline phosphorylation of ATM in LRRK2 G2019S cells as well as a decrease in H2AX phosphorylation following inhibition of ATM kinase activity suggested a relationship between a DNA damage response through ATM and the accumulation of DNA damage. Interestingly, the results also showed a reversal in DNA damage following inhibition of LRRK2 kinase activity, implicating LRRK2 kinase activity in the accumulation of DNA damage in PD. Ultimately, the results of this study indicate a relationship between the accumulation of DSBs in PD, the DNA damage response via ATM, and LRRK2 kinase activity, although the exact nature of this relationship is still unknown.Bachelor of Scienc

Isolation, purification, characterization and applications of serine protease from Bacillus megaterium

Bacillus megaterium isolated from poultry farm soil was identified by standard biochemical tests and screened for the production of serine protease. Production of serine protease was done using 5 different medias by varying the type of amino acid added. The purification was done by salt precipitation, dialysis and DEAEcellulose ion exchange chromatography. The proline containing media obtained the highest fold purification out of the five different medias (leucine, lysine, proline, tryptophan and methionine cotaining media). The enzyme showedan optimal activity at the temperature 37°C and the pH 6 which are known as its optimum temperature and pH respectively. The enzyme was proved as a Mn2+ dependent serine protease as it was activated by Mn2+ ions and inhibited by PMSF. The molecular weight of the enzyme was determined by SDS-PAGE technique as around 30kDa. It showed an excellent detergent activity on the blood stains and a very good stability in presence of locally available detrgents. The enzyme acted on the keratin protein of the chicken feather and showed a degrading capacity on the protein. So it was proved that the recently studied serine protease has a keratinase activity also. From these datas I conclude that the protease isolated from Bacillus megaterium is a Mn2+ dependent serine protease which has both keratinase and detergent activity

Role of thrombophilia screening in recurrent pregnancy loss and poor pregnancy outcome

Background: The pathophysiology of recurrent pregnancy loss is poorly understood and some factors have been implicated as causes of RPL including genetics, metabolic and infections. But still in majority of RPL cases, cause remains unexplained (around 40-50%). Recent few studies have shown that there is significant association between thrombophilia and RPL. The genetic predisposition to venous thrombosis such as factor V Leiden, factor V HR2 haplotype, factor V HongKong/Cambridge and PAI-1 4G/5G promoter polymorphism have been reported to be associated with RPL. This study examined the specific prevalence of genetic thrombophilic markers in women with recurrent miscarriage.Methods: A retrospective case-control study designed with 50 RPL cases and 50 healthy controls. Genotyping of the four thrompohilic mutation were performed by PCR-RFLP and AS-PCR methods.Results: The frequencies of factor V HR2 haplotype mutant heterozygous form (OR=1.46; p=0.758), PAI-1-675 4G/4G (OR=1.13; p=0.806) and PAI-1 -675 5G/5G (OR=1.24; p=0.815) were moderately higher in RPL patients than controls. While, the mutant form of factor V Hong Kong and factor V Cambridge were completely absent in this study population.Conclusions: To our best knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association of Factor V HR2 haplotype, factor V Hong Kong/Cambridge and PAI-1 (-675 4G/5G) mutations with RPL in South Indian population. However, this study did not reveal any significant association between studied mutations and RPL due to small sample size

Denial of abortion in legal settings.

BackgroundFactors such as poverty, stigma, lack of knowledge about the legal status of abortion, and geographical distance from a provider may prevent women from accessing safe abortion services, even where abortion is legal. Data on the consequences of abortion denial outside of the US, however, are scarce.MethodsIn this article we present data from studies among women seeking legal abortion services in four countries (Colombia, Nepal, South Africa and Tunisia) to assess sociodemographic characteristics of legal abortion seekers, as well as the frequency and reasons that women are denied abortion care.ResultsThe proportion of women denied abortion services and the reasons for which they were denied varied widely by country. In Colombia, 2% of women surveyed did not receive the abortions they were seeking; in South Africa, 45% of women did not receive abortions on the day they were seeking abortion services. In both Tunisia and Nepal, 26% of women were denied their wanted abortions.ConclusionsThe denial of legal abortion services may have serious consequences for women's health and wellbeing. Additional evidence on the risk factors for presenting later in pregnancy, predictors of seeking unsafe illegal abortion, and the health consequences of illegal abortion and childbirth after an unwanted pregnancy is needed. Such data would assist the development of programmes and policies aimed at increasing access to and utilisation of safe abortion services where abortion is legal, and harm reduction models for women who are unable to access legal abortion services

Gajah. Securing the Future for Elephants in India.

It is estimated that six in every ten wild Asian elephants live in India. This report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in India outlines plans to safeguard the species and associated habitats in the face of rapid economic expansion and development pressures

Synthesis, docking study and biological evaluation of novel N-(1,3-benzothiazole-2-yl)-2-(pyridine-3-ylformohydrazido) acetamide derivatives

1721-1737A series of N-(1,3-benzothiazole-2-yl)-2(pyridine-3-ylformohydrazido acetamide derivatives have been synthesized by facile and efficient conventional method. The structures of the compounds have been elucidated with the aid of elemental analysis, IR, ESI-MS, and 1H and 13C NMR spectral data. Molecular docking revealed that synthesized derivatives and target proteins are actively involved in the binding pattern and had a significant correlation with biological activity. Molecular dynamics studies have also been performed and ADME parameters for the synthesized compounds determined. Biological evaluation of all synthesized compounds have been carried out in vitro for their antibacterial, antituberculosis and antifungal efficacy against various bacterial and fungal strains and H37Rv. The different studies indicate that newly synthesized compounds possess moderate to good biological activities

Impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Nepal

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Bats in the Ghats: Agricultural intensification reduces functional diversity and increases trait filtering in a biodiversity hotspot in India

The responses of bats to land-use change have been extensively studied in temperate zones and the neotropics, but little is known from the palaeotropics. Effective conservation in heavily-populated palaeotropical hotspots requires a better understanding of which bats can and cannot survive in human-modified landscapes. We used catching and acoustic transects to examine bat assemblages in the Western Ghats of India, and identify the species most sensitive to agricultural change. We quantified functional diversity and trait filtering of assemblages in forest fragments, tea and coffee plantations, and along rivers in tea plantations with and without forested corridors, compared to protected forests. Functional diversity in forest fragments and shade-grown coffee was similar to that in protected forests, but was far lower in tea plantations. Trait filtering was also strongest in tea plantations. Forested river corridors in tea plantations mitigated much of the loss of functional diversity and the trait filtering seen on rivers in tea plantations without forested corridors. The bats most vulnerable to intensive agriculture were frugivorous, large, had short broad wings, or made constant frequency echolocation calls. The last three features are characteristic of forest animal-eating species that typically take large prey, often by gleaning. Ongoing conservation work to restore forest fragments and retain native trees in coffee plantations should be highly beneficial for bats in this landscape. The maintenance of a mosaic landscape with sufficient patches of forest, shade-grown coffee and riparian corridors will help to maintain landscape wide functional diversity in an area dominated by tea plantations