Fundamentals of Colorimetry

There are several kinds of analytical techniques following the principle of photometry in which colorimetry comes under absorption photometry. The colorimetry is commonly used analytical technique involved in quantitative estimation of color i.e. it is utilized to find out concentration of the colored substance in the sample solution e.g. water, biological samples at visible spectrum of light (380–780 nm). The colorimeter is an instrument in which this technique is used. It is also called absorptiometer. A substance must be colorful or should have property of forming chromogens through the addition of reagents which will absorb light according to their color intensity to be measured. The intensity of the color is in proportion to the concentration of colored compound. Most of the analytical techniques used in our clinical laboratory presently are based on this photometric principles in which absorbed, transmitted or emitted light are measured. When intensity at different wavelength on the whole range of electromagnetic spectrum is measured, it is called spectrophotometry. Smartphone accessories have been evolved to allow the simple, quick reproducible values of the molecules

Metachromatic Leucodystrophy: A Case Report

Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare autosomal recessive inherited disease, which is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme activity of Arylsulfatase A (ARSA). Deficiency of this enzyme results in intralysosomal storage of sphingolipid cerebroside 3-sulfates (sulfatides), which are abundant in myelin and neurons. Demyelination and neurodegeneration, causing multiple and ultimately lethal neurological symptoms is the hallmark of MLD. Though it is a rare disease of frequency 1/100,000 live birth, typical history and brain imaging is being reported here

Use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) in an Infant with COVID-19 patients in a tertiary care center of Gandaki Pradesh, Nepal

COVID-19 in infancy is a rare disease among all COVID-19 patients. Here we report a case of 2 months old male child who was brought by parents with the complain of fever and running nose for 2 days. He was being treated with antibiotics and antipyretics from local pharmacy without improvement and was admitted in hospital for intravenous antibiotics. On 5th day of admission baby developed grunting and respiratory distress so referred to tertiary center for possible covid-19 infection. Further investigations led to the positivity of COVID-19 in PCR test. He was treated with antibiotics, steroids and kept in CPAP during respiratory distress for 40 hours and then to high flow oxygen therapy via hood box. CPAP during respiratory distress responded to the treatment dramatically. COVID-19 infection among infant though rare, it is important to consider CPAP and oxygen therapy via hood box as an important treatment modality in COVID-19 patients

Determinants of Cognitive Development in the Early Life of Children in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Background: Children in low and middle income countries may have many risk factors for poor cognitive development, and are accordingly at a high risk of not reaching their developmental potential. Determinants for cognitive development in early life can be found among biological and socioeconomic factors, as well as in stimulation and learning opportunities. Objective: The present study aimed to identify determinants of cognitive, language and motor development in 6-11 months old Nepalese infants. Methods: Six hundred infants with a length-for-age z-score <-1 were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler development, 3rd edition (Bayley-III). Information on socioeconomic factors, child and maternal demographics, clinical and biological factors, and the home environment were collected. In a manual stepwise variable selection procedure, we examined the association between selected biological, socioeconomic and stimulation and learning opportunity variables and the Bayley-III cognitive, language and motor development subscale scores in multiple linear regression models. Results: The length-for-age z-scores was positively associated with the cognitive composite score [standardized beta (ß): 0.22, p < 0.001] and the motor composite score [(ß): 0.14, p = 0.001]. Children born with low birth weight (<2500 g) scored significantly lower on all subscale scores. Diarrheal history was associated with poor language composite scores, and females had higher language composite scores than boys [(ß): 0.11, p = 0.015]. Children who had been hospitalized during the first month of life had also lower cognitive and motor composite scores than those who had not been hospitalized. Parental reports of physical punishment and lack of spontaneous vocalization were associated with poor cognitive and language composite scores, respectively. The statistical models with the various subscale scores as dependent variables explained between 8 to 16 percent of the variability in the cognitive developmental outcomes. Conclusion: Our findings reveal important determinants for developmental scores in infancy, and underline the role of biological risk factors faced by marginalized children in low and middle income countries such as in Nepal. Copyright © 2019 Ranjitkar, Hysing, Kvestad, Shrestha, Ulak, Shilpakar, Sintakala, Chandyo, Shrestha and Strand.publishedVersio

Zinc and provitamin A biofortified maize genotypes exhibited potent to reduce hidden-hunger in Nepal

Zinc deficiency affects one third of the population worldwide, and vitamin A deficiency is a prevalent public health issue in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-Asia, including Nepal. Crop biofortification is the sustainable solution to these health—related problems, thus we conducted two different field trials in an alpha lattice design to identify zinc and provitamin A biofortified maize genotypes consistent and competitive in performance over the contrasting seasons (Season 1: 18 February to 6 July 2020 and Season 2: 31 August to 1 February, 2020/21). In our study, the performance of introduced maize genotypes (zinc—15 and provitamin A biofortified—24) were compared with that of the local check, focusing on the overall agro-morphology, yield attributes, yield, and kernel zinc and total carotenoid content. Zinc and total carotenoid in the tested genotypes were found in the range between 14.2 and 24.8 mg kg−1 and between 1.8 and 3.6 mg 100 g−1. Genotypes A1831-8 from zinc and EEPVAH-46 from provitamin A biofortified maize trial recorded kernel zinc and total carotenoid as high as 52.3, and 79.5%, respectively, compared to the local check (DMH849). The provitamin A genotypes EEPVAH-46 and EEPVAH-51 (total carotenoid: 3.6 and 3.3 mg 100 g−1), and zinc biofortified genotypes A1847-10 and A1803-42 (20.4 and 22.4 mg kg−1 zinc) were identified as superior genotypes based on their yield consistency over the environments and higher provitamin A and zinc content compared to the check. In addition, farmers can explore August sowing to harvest green cobs during December-January to boost up the emerging green cob business

EN-BIRTH Data Collector Training - Handbook and Manual

The EN-BIRTH study aims to validate selected newborn and maternal indicators for routine facility-based tracking of coverage and quality of care for use at district, national and global levels. The item contains the EN-BIRTH_Trainer's Manual (14 June 2017) and EN-BIRTH_Training Handbook (23 May 2017)