Applying Citizen Science for Sustainable Development: Rainfall Monitoring in Western Nepal

We introduce a case-study agnostic framework for the application of citizen science in a sustainable development context. This framework is tested against an activity in two secondary schools in western Nepal. While the purpose of this activity is to generate locally relevant knowledge on the physical processes behind natural hazards, we concentrate here on its implementation, i.e., to obtain a better understanding of the dynamic of the activity and to learn how it should be implemented. We determined the social capital of secondary schools as a gateway to the local community: they provide a unique setting to bring different stakeholders together. We find that co-designing a teaching programme is an effective means of both complementing local curricula and ensuring continued buy-in of local stakeholders (i.e., teachers). Student engagement depends on the local relevance of teaching materials, with more holistic or global concepts, such as climate change of lesser importance. Our activity focused on rainfall, including student-led data collection. These rainfall data provide a very good fit to co-located rain gauge data, with an average difference on weekly readings of 11.8%, reducing to 8.3% when averaged over all student readings. The autonomous development of student-organized science clubs suggested that our original framework underestimated students' capacity to apply knowledge elsewhere creatively. These clubs may be used to obtain participant feedback to improve and tailor future activities. Quantitative assessment of long-term sustainability remains challenging, due in part to high levels of student turnover. We suggest that integrating scientists wherever possible within a school or local community has a direct and positive result on participant retention

Neglected wooden foreign body in the parotid gland: A case report

Foreign body anywhere in the body can be a diagnostic challenge to a doctor, especially if it is wooden and hardly symptomatic. A foreign body in the parotid gland, whether from the oral cavity or through the skin is extremely uncommon. We are presenting a case of a wooden foreign body in the parotid gland of a 61-year-old patient who did not want to be examined or treated initially as it was not causing him any troublesome symptoms

Oral myiasis in brain hemorrhage

Myiasis is a rare condition which arises from the invasion of body tissues or cavities of living animals or humans by maggots or larvae of certain species of flies. Oral myiasis is seen especially in individuals with neurologic deficit, secondary to oral wounds, suppurative lesions, and extraction wounds. The halitosis and neglected oral hygiene attracts flies to lay eggs in oral wounds which results in oral myiasis. We present a case of oral myiasis in a 63-year-old female patient who was medically compromised since 6 months

Chemotherapeutic Interventions Against Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is the second leading cause of infectious deaths globally. Many effective conventional antimycobacterial drugs have been available, however, emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has overshadowed the effectiveness of the current first and second line drugs. Further, currently available agents are complicated by serious side effects, drug interactions and long-term administration. This has prompted urgent research efforts in the discovery and development of new anti-tuberculosis agent(s). Several families of compounds are currently being explored for the treatment of tuberculosis. This review article presents an account of the existing chemotherapeutics and highlights the therapeutic potential of emerging molecules that are at different stages of development for the management of tuberculosis disease

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma of maxilla: Radiologic–Pathologic correlation

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma (DA) is a rare variant of ameloblastoma, and less than 170 patients have been reported in the literature. The present case deserves special importance because of its rare occurrence, unfamiliar appearance, potentially aggressive nature, and high chances of misdiagnosis. Moreover, the radiographic features of this lesion rarely point towards ameloblastoma. Desmoplastic variant of ameloblastoma tends to infiltrate between bone trabeculae. The risk of recurrence is high. This report is an attempt to help the dental community in developing familiarity with the clinical presentation and at the same time advocating to develop a high index of suspicion in recognizing such cases

Applying Citizen Science for Sustainable Development: Rainfall Monitoring in Western Nepal

We introduce a case-study agnostic framework for the application of citizen science in a sustainable development context. This framework is tested against an activity in two secondary schools in western Nepal. While the purpose of this activity is to generate locally relevant knowledge on the physical processes behind natural hazards, we concentrate here on its implementation, i.e., to obtain a better understanding of the dynamic of the activity and to learn how it should be implemented. We determined the social capital of secondary schools as a gateway to the local community: they provide a unique setting to bring different stakeholders together. We find that co-designing a teaching programme is an effective means of both complementing local curricula and ensuring continued buy-in of local stakeholders (i.e., teachers). Student engagement depends on the local relevance of teaching materials, with more holistic or global concepts, such as climate change of lesser importance. Our activity focused on rainfall, including student-led data collection. These rainfall data provide a very good fit to co-located rain gauge data, with an average difference on weekly readings of 11.8%, reducing to 8.3% when averaged over all student readings. The autonomous development of student-organized science clubs suggested that our original framework underestimated students' capacity to apply knowledge elsewhere creatively. These clubs may be used to obtain participant feedback to improve and tailor future activities. Quantitative assessment of long-term sustainability remains challenging, due in part to high levels of student turnover. We suggest that integrating scientists wherever possible within a school or local community has a direct and positive result on participant retention

Antibiotic resistance among Escherichia coli isolates from stool samples of children aged 3 to 14 years from Ujjain, India

Background: Antibiotic resistance is a major global public health concern, particularly in settings where few treatment options are available. Limited research has been done on antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli of Indian children at community level. Therefore we studied antibiotic resistance patterns in E. coli isolates from stool samples of children aged 3-14 years from Ujjain, Central India, to investigate associations of resistance with demographic variables. Methods: Children, 3-14 years of age, were included from 30 randomly selected villages of Palwa demographic surveillance site, Ujjain, India. Parents were interviewed using a questionnaire, and stool samples were collected from participating children. E. coli were isolated from stool samples (n = 529), and susceptibility testing to 18 different antibiotics was done using standard methods. Results: The proportions of isolates resistant to various antibiotics were, nalidixic acid, (45%), tetracycline (37%), ampicillin (37%), sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (29%) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (29%). No isolates were resistant to imipenem. Overall, 72% of isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 33% were multi-drug resistant. High rates of cross-resistance were seen for 15 (83%) of the antibiotics studied. E. coli isolates from children with literate mothers were more resistant to penicillins and fluoroquinolones. ESBL-producers comprised 9% of the isolates. Conclusion: Antibiotic resistance and cross-resistance were common in E. coli from stools of children. Resistance rates were associated with maternal literacy

Inter-organisational systems and peace processes: restoring the local dimension (introduction)

Peacebuilding is nowadays characterised by its polymorphism, with a variety of ostensibly complementary actors involved in the political, socio-economic and military domains. Instead of focusing on institutional discourses or designs that often prevail in academic literature, this special issue returns to concrete interventions. It addresses mechanisms of inter-organisational cooperation in the making. Based on the study of various local settings (Somalia, Liberia, Burundi and Kosovo), the three articles offer new insights into on-the-ground workings of cooperation. They show a discrepancy between the high-value international actors – first and foremost, international organisations – attach to cooperation and the frequently lacklustre results and occasional reverses thereof. On top of that, this special issue relies on several sociological tools and methods that are helpful to understand the complex interactions involved in inter-organisational cooperation in peace processes