Real-Time Traffic Prediction Using Monte Carlo Simulation: A Case Study of Kantipath Road, Kathmandu, Nepal

This paper deals with the model development for the analysis of traffic data to improve efficiency and sustainability of the existing transportation system of a section of the Kantipath road, Kaiser Library to Jamal. The traffic data of the two extreme locations of the section of the road were taken using digital video recorders. The data were extracted manually and statistically analyzed to test the different statistical distribution of traffic flow using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk test, and to find out different categories of vehicles along with their flow and peak hour. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test reveals the traffic flow distribution is the same as Cauchy, Normal, Inverse Gaussian, Logistic, Gamma, and Beta distributions. The dataset of Kaiser Library was used to predict the real-time traffic flow of Jamal employing Monte Carlo Simulation in accordance to normal distribution. The forecasted and observed traffic flows show better agreement. BIBECHANA 19 (2022) 83-8

Real-Time Traffic Prediction Using Monte Carlo Simulation: A Case Study of Kantipath Road, Kathmandu, Nepal

This paper deals with the model development for the analysis of traffic data to improve efficiency and sustainability of the existing transportation system of a section of the Kantipath road, Kaiser Library to Jamal. The traffic data of the two extreme locations of the section of the road were taken using digital video recorders. The data were extracted manually and statistically analyzed to test the different statistical distribution of traffic flow using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk test, and to find out different categories of vehicles along with their flow and peak hour. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test reveals the traffic flow distribution is the same as Cauchy, Normal, Inverse Gaussian, Logistic, Gamma, and Beta distributions. The dataset of Kaiser Library was used to predict the real-time traffic flow of Jamal employing Monte Carlo Simulation in accordance to normal distribution. The forecasted and observed traffic flows show better agreement. BIBECHANA 19 (2022) 83-8

Clinicopathological profile of colorectal cancer managed at a university teaching hospital, Nepal

Introductions: Colorectal carcinoma is the third most common cancer worldwide. The incidence is increasing in developing countries including Nepal. The aim of this study is to find out the clinicopathological pattern of colorectal carcinoma locally.  Methods: Data were recorded retrospectively by reviewing the charts of the patients who were diagnosed and treated for in patients having colorectal cancer managed during three years period of 2016-9 at Patan Hospital, the university teaching hospital of Patan Academy of health sciences, Nepal. Clinicopathological profile, age, gender, surgery, histopathological findings were descriptively analised. Results:  There were 36 colorectal cancer patients, male 20 (56%) and females 16 (44%), mean age 56.9 years (range 24 to 89). Curative surgery was possible in 17 (47.2%) and adenocarcinoma of moderate differentiation was found in 25 (70%) of the resected specimen. Conclusions: Colorectal carcinoma was found in old age, slightly more in male than female, adenocarcinoma being most common histology type.  Keywords: adenocarcinoma, colorectal carcinoma (CRC), curative resectio

Outcome of gastrointestinal surgery during COVID-19 lockdown in a tertiary care hospital, Nepal

Introduction: Perioperative strategies have been changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the risk of postoperative complications and transmission of infection. This study was aimed to assess the outcome of gastrointestinal surgery and the risk of transmission by implementing COVID-19 testing criteria and surgical strategy. Method: This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted at the department of surgery at Patan Hospital, Nepal, during COVID-19 lock-down from 24 march to 15 June 2020. All patients who underwent gastrointestinal (GI) surgery were included. High-risk patients (as defined by the Hospital Incident Command System, HICS) were tested for COVID-19 preoperatively. Surgery was performed in COVID operating room with full protective gear. Low-risk patients were not tested for COVID-19 preoperatively and performed surgery in non-COVID OR. Data from patient’s case-sheets were analyzed descriptively for age, gender, comorbidities, hospital stay, RT-PCR results, surgeries, and postoperative complications. Result: There were total 44 GI surgeries performed; 31(70.5%) were emergency, 5(11.3%) semi-emergency and 8(18.2%) oncology. There were 11(25%) patients tested for COVID-19 preoperatively and were negative. Nine HCWs tested for COVID-19 randomly were negative. Severe postoperative complications developed in 3 patients, with one mortality. Conclusion: Among GI surgeries, there was no increase in postoperative complications and transmission of COVID-19 to the patients or HCWs following the implementation of standard testing criteria and surgical strategy

Role of Tobacco Consumption Habits in the Causation of Precancerous Lesions: A Cross Sectional Study

Oral carcinoma is quite common and increasing trend in India and worldwide. Smoking and smokeless tobacco both are increasing worldwide. The common oral precancerous lesions are oral leukoplakia, erythroplakia, nicotina palati and oral sub mucous fibrosis (OSMF). Screening is best tool to find out such lesions. The current study is conducted to know the prevalence of tobacco consumption and also to examine oral cavity of tobacco consumer to detect precancerous lesions among the staff. Method: The present study was cross sectional study carried out tertiary care hospital staff. The study was conducted over a period of 6 month from May 2017 to October 2017. Ethical clearance for study was obtained from Institutional Ethical Committee. The staff members of class 3 and class 4 of hospital were taken as a study participants involving both of sex and who provided written informed consent. Sample of 120 staff members were enrolled for the study from provided sampling frame with the use of random sampling method. Study participants with previous history of hospital admission for any systemic illness, immunodeficiency or immunosuppressive patients, and participants who already diagnosed to have malignant cancer lesions in any part of body were excluded. Result: Of 120 study participants, 40% were belongs to 31 – 40 years of age group and majority were male (80%) and belonged to Hindu (90.83%) religion. The prevalence of tobacco consumption in any of form is 85%; of them 43.33% used smokeless tobacco and 10.83% used to with smoking and 30.83% had both forms of tobacco. Oral Sub Mucosal Fibrosis (OSMF) was the most common (70.58%) precancerous lesion found in the present study, followed by leukoplakia (16.67%). Conclusion: Current study revealed the high prevalence. There is urgent need to plan de-addiction at various level. Also those having the precancerous lesion need to warn and treat accordingly

High density linkage mapping of genomic and transcriptomic SNPs for synteny analysis and anchoring the genome sequence of chickpea

This study presents genome-wide discovery of SNPs through next generation sequencing of the genome of Cicer reticulatum. Mapping of the C. reticulatum sequenced reads onto the draft genome assembly of C. arietinum (desi chickpea) resulted in identification of 842,104 genomic SNPs which were utilized along with an additional 36,446 genic SNPs identified from transcriptome sequences of the aforementioned varieties. Two new chickpea Oligo Pool All (OPAs) each having 3,072 SNPs were designed and utilized for SNP genotyping of 129 Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs). Using Illumina GoldenGate Technology genotyping data of 5,041 SNPs were generated and combined with the 1,673 marker data from previously published studies, to generate a high resolution linkage map. The map comprised of 6698 markers distributed on eight linkage groups spanning 1083.93 cM with an average inter-marker distance of 0.16 cM. Utility of the present map was demonstrated for improving the anchoring of the earlier reported draft genome sequence of desi chickpea by ~30% and that of kabuli chickpea by 18%. The genetic map reported in this study represents the most dense linkage map of chickpea , with the potential to facilitate efficient anchoring of the draft genome sequences of desi as well as kabuli chickpea varieties

Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography-Related Early Perforations: A Study of Effects of Procedure Duration, Complexity, and Endoscopist Experience

BACKGROUND: Perforations (Perf) during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) are rare (\u3c 1%) but potentially fatal events (up to 20% mortality). Given its rarity, most data is through case series studies from centers or analysis of large databases. Although a meta-analysis has shown fewer adverse events as a composite (bleeding, pancreatitis, Perf) during ERCP performed at high-volume centers, there is very little real-world data on endoscopist and center procedural volumes, ERCP duration and complexity on the occurrence of Perf. AIM: To study the profile of Perf related to ERCP by center and endoscopist procedure volume, ERCP time, and complexity from a national endoscopic repository. METHODS: Patients from clinical outcomes research initiative-national endoscopic database (2000-2012) who underwent ERCP were stratified based on the endoscopist and center volume (quartiles), and total procedure duration and complexity grade of the ERCP based on procedure details. The effects of these variables on the Perf that occurred were studied. Continuous variables were compared between Perf and no perforations (NoPerf) using the Mann-Whitney U test as the data demonstrated significant skewness and kurtosis. RESULTS: A total of 14153 ERCPs were performed by 258 endoscopists, with 20 reported Perf (0.14%) among 16 endoscopists. Mean patient age in years 61.6 ± 14.8 CONCLUSION: Overall adverse events as a composite during ERCP are known to occur at a lower rate with higher volume endoscopists and centers. However, Perf studied from the national database show prolonged and more complex procedures performed by high-volume endoscopists at high-volume centers contribute to Perf

Analysis of cardiac autonomic modulation in normotensive obese and eutrophic adults of Nepal

Background: Obese people have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, though unknown mechanism, supposed to be due to autonomic dysfunction which is still in controversy. This study aimed to assess and compare heart rate variability (HRV) between normotensive obese and adults.Methods: The study was conducted on 30 normotensive obese adults (mean age 32.07±7.25 years) with BMI>30 and 29 age- and sex-matched normal weight controls (mean age 30.48±8.01 years) with BMI: 18-24 Kg/m2. Short-term HRV variables were assessed using standard protocol. The data were compared between the groups using Mann Whitney ‘U’ test.Results: In obese group, there was significant increase in the mean heart rate [79.17±8.80 Vs 71.48±8.41 beats/min, p=0.001], systolic blood pressure [121.20±9.89 Vs 113.24±11.07, mmHg, p=0.004] and diastolic blood pressure [84.97±7.87 Vs 74.83±10.31 mmHg, p=0.000]. The HRV parasympathetic indicators were less [RMSSD {28.75(16.72-38.35) Vs 41.55(30.6-56.75) ms, p=0.018}, NN50 {15.5(2-39) Vs 83.5(32.75-116.25), p=0.010}], and sympathetic indicator LF/HF ratio [1.2(0.65-2.20) Vs 0.79(0.5-1.02), p=0.004] was more in obese group.Conclusions: Obese persons have increased sympathetic activity with a reduction in parasympathetic (vagal) tone indicating poor autonomic cardiac rhythm control. Moreover, the altered autonomic activity could be the reason for increased mean heart rate and blood pressures in normotensive obese persons

Biomarker role of maternal soluble human leukocyte antigen G in pre-eclampsia: A meta-analysis

Abstract Introduction Human leukocyte antigen‐G (HLA‐G) is a non‐classical class I HLA molecule shown to regulate the immunomodulation of maternal immune cells to prevent fetal tissue destruction. Low levels of freely circulating maternal soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G) have been observed in pre‐eclampsia, however, no pooled evidence exists. This meta‐analysis aimed to generate pooled findings on the association of sHLA‐G levels with pre‐eclampsia and is the first study to perform a trimester‐wise comparison of the levels of sHLA‐G in preeclamptic cases and normal pregnant controls. Methods The databases PubMed, Emba, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through May 31, 2023. Preeclamptic women were defined as cases and normal pregnancies as controls. Data on the level of sHLA‐G in cases and controls was extracted and subjected to a meta‐analysis using a random‐effects model. The pooled effect was expressed in terms of standardized mean difference (SMD). Sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effect of the exclusion of each study on the pooled results. Publication bias was assessed statistically. Results Nine studies with altogether 567 PE cases and 1132 normal pregnancy controls were included in the meta‐analysis. The first and third trimester levels of sHLA‐G in PE cases were significantly lower than that of normal pregnant controls: (SMD: −0.84 [−1.29; −0.38]; p = .003; I2 = 54%) and (SMD: −0.39 [−0.71; −0.06]; p = .02; I2 = 79%) respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed significant fluctuations in the pooled findings when few studies were excluded, raising questions on the consistency of results among studies. Conclusion Although we found that first and third‐trimester sHLA‐G levels in pre‐eclampsia are significantly lower, taking into consideration the inconsistent results from the sensitivity analysis, our findings advocate the demand for more studies with larger sample sizes to generate solid ground pooled evidence on the predictive role of sHLA‐G in pre‐eclampsia

A genomic toolkit for winged bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

A sustainable supply of plant protein is critical for future generations and needs to be achieved while reducing green house gas emissions from agriculture and increasing agricultural resilience in the face of climate volatility. Agricultural diversification with more nutrient-rich and stress tolerant crops could provide the solution. However, this is often hampered by the limited availability of genomic resources and the lack of understanding of the genetic structure of breeding germplasm and the inheritance of important traits. One such crop with potential is winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), a high seed protein tropical legume which has been termed ‘the soybean for the tropics’. Here, we present a chromosome level winged bean genome assembly, an investigation of the genetic diversity of 130 worldwide accessions, together with two linked genetic maps and a trait QTL analysis (and expression studies) for regions of the genome with desirable ideotype traits for breeding, namely architecture, protein content and phytonutrients