Awareness and Health Beliefs of Osteoporosis Among Middle Aged Women in Selected Municipality of Kathmandu

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a bone disorder characterized by a reduction in bone density accompanied by increasing porosity and brittleness. It is one of the major public health problem globally and its prevalence is rapidly increasing particularly in women.  Osteoporosis causes more than 8.9 million fractures annually, resulting in an osteoporotic fracture every 3 seconds. Therefore the objectives of the study was to assess the existing awareness and health belief of osteoporosis  among middle aged women. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used on a sample of 328 middle aged  women residing  in Nagarjun Municipality, Kathmandu. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. Data was collected after informed consent through face to face interview schedule using  Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT) and Osteoporosis Health Beliefs Scale (OHBS). Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Chi-Square test) were used for data analysis at 5% level of significance. Results: The overall osteoporosis awareness and  health beliefs mean scores were  9.39 ± 2.93 and 146.18 ±11.58 respectively.  Majority (60.0%) of the respondents were unaware of osteoporosis. Existing awareness of respondents was significantly  associated with age (p=0.000) and level of education (p= 0.038). Based on the OHBS subscale score, the highest perception was on  health motivation ( 22.73 ± 2.81) and the lowest perception was on barriers to calcium intake (mean score 17.71 ± 4.32). Conclusion: Based on the findings, it is concluded  that the middle aged women of  Nagarjun Municipality-6 are unaware about osteoporosis. Therefore, community based awareness campaigns on osteoporosis should be reinforced.

Response of Wheat Genotypes to Different Levels of Nitrogen

A field experiment was conducted using six genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for response to different levels of nitrogen (N) use. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) as main plots and six wheat genotypes (BL 3623, BL 3629, BL 3872, NL 1008, NL 1055 and Vijay, a check variety) as sub-plots. Grain yield and other yield components increased linearly in response to N concentrations in both seasons. Only two parameters: days to heading (DOH) and days to maturity (DTM) varied significantly (p ≤ 0.05) among wheat genotypes in both the years. None of the parameters showed interaction effects in both seasons. Vijay showed highest grain yield of 3.12 t ha-1 in 2013 with the application of 100 kg N ha-1, and 3.23 t ha-1 in 2014 with 150 kg N ha-1. Spike length, productive tillers m-2, number of spikes m-2 and test weight were greater with higher N rates. The straw yield of wheat fertilized with 150 kg N ha-1 was the highest in Vijay (4.35 t ha-1) and BL 3872 (4.33 t ha-1), respectively. Vijay with 100 kg N ha-1 produced the highest number of productive tillers m-2 (276.33) in 2013 and 296.00 with the application of 150 kg N ha-1 in 2014

Individual patient-centered target-driven intervention to improve clinical outcomes of diabetes, health literacy, and self-care practices in Nepal: A randomized controlled trial

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of a culturally and linguistically appropriate, patient-centered, target-driven lifestyle intervention with video education training in improving clinical outcomes, health literacy, and diabetic self-care practices in newly diagnosed patients in Nepal. Methods: A total of 110 participants with newly and consequently diagnosed Type 2 were randomly allocated into intervention (mean age = 45 ± 9.7 years) and control (mean age = 47 ± 12.5 years) groups. Intervention group participants were trained on a culturally and linguistically appropriate diabetic video education program and were given a customized dietary and physical activity plan with specific targets to practice at home. Participants’ compliance was monitored weekly via telephone calls. Both groups received the usual treatment from their doctor and were followed up after three months. Outcome measures included changes in: i. diabetic health literacy, diet, and physical activity measured using self-reported questionnaires; and ii. blood glucose (glycated hemoglobin, HbA1c), cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, and visual acuity. Clinical outcome measures were blinded from randomization and intervention allocation. Results: After three months, HbA1c decreased to 6.1% from the baseline value of 7.2% in the intervention group compared to 6.6% in the control group from the baseline value of 7.1% (p <0.05). The intervention group had mean total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein of 174 and 95.5 mg/dL, which were significantly lower than 186 and 107.5 mg/dL in the control group. Daily white rice consumption decreased by 36.5% in the intervention vs. 4% in the control group (p <0.05). After three months, the intervention group participants exercised more than the control group (p <0.05). All intervention group participants self-initiated retinal screening checks since the baseline visit among which 13% showed early diabetic retinopathy signs compared to 0% in the control group. Health literacy improvement in the intervention group was found to be sustained after three months too. Conclusions: A culturally appropriate, target-driven lifestyle intervention with video education training is effective in improving clinical outcomes, health literacy, and self-care practice in newly diagnosed diabetic patients in Nepal, i.e., at a time period when effective diabetes control is vital to prevent further complications. The training intervention could be rolled out nationwide in order to reduce the risk of diabetic-related complications and improve people’s quality of life and productivity

Porous activated carbon materials from Triphala seed stones for high-performance supercapacitor applications

Porous activated carbon materials derived from biomass could be the suitable materials for high-rate performance electrochemical supercapacitors as it exhibits high surface area due to well-defined pore structure. Here, we report the novel porous activated carbon from Triphala seed stones by chemical activation with zinc chloride at different carbonization temperature (400-700 °C) under the nitrogen gas atmosphere. The activated carbon was characterized by Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman scattering and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements was used to study the surface properties (effective surface areas, pore volumes and pore size distributions). The electrochemical measurements were performed in an aqueous 1 M sulphuric acid (H2SO4) solution in a three-electrode cell set up. Triphala seed stones-derived porous carbon materials with well-defined micro- and mesopores exhibit high specific surface area ranges from 878.7 to 1233.3 m2 g-1 and total pore volume ranges from 0.439 to 0.626 cm3 g-1. The specific capacitance obtained by electrochemical measurement experiment was 208.7 F g-1 at 1 A g-1. These results indicate that the prepared nanoporous activated carbon material from Triphala seed stones would have significant possibility as supercapacitor electrode material for high-energy-storage supercapacitor applications

Response of Wheat Genotypes to Different Levels of Nitrogen

A field experiment was conducted using six genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for response to different levels of nitrogen (N) use. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) as main plots and six wheat genotypes (BL 3623, BL 3629, BL 3872, NL 1008, NL 1055 and Vijay, a check variety) as sub-plots. Grain yield and other yield components increased linearly in response to N concentrations in both seasons. Only two parameters: days to heading (DOH) and days to maturity (DTM) varied significantly (p ≤ 0.05) among wheat genotypes in both the years. None of the parameters showed interaction effects in both seasons. Vijay showed highest grain yield of 3.12 t ha-1 in 2013 with the application of 100 kg N ha-1, and 3.23 t ha-1 in 2014 with 150 kg N ha-1. Spike length, productive tillers m-2, number of spikes m-2 and test weight were greater with higher N rates. The straw yield of wheat fertilized with 150 kg N ha-1 was the highest in Vijay (4.35 t ha-1) and BL 3872 (4.33 t ha-1), respectively. Vijay with 100 kg N ha-1 produced the highest number of productive tillers m-2 (276.33) in 2013 and 296.00 with the application of 150 kg N ha-1 in 2014

Use of telehealth services among Nepali living overseas during Covid-19 pandemic: The opportunities, limitations, lessons learned and recommendations.

There are estimated over 8 million Nepali migrants spread across various countries around the globe. Though the majority of them enjoy good health in general, a large proportion of them suffer from non-communicable diseases, mental health issues and communicable diseases. Telemedicine services, which are organized by Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), have been proven to be effective in addressing some of the health and medical needs of the migrant Nepali workers. The purpose of this study is to assess the use of tele-health services among Nepali migrant population and examine the limitations. During the pandemic period from March 2020 through August 2021, Nepali in different countries utilized telehealth services. Mental health issues, chronic diseases, skin diseases were the most common ailments people sought telehealth services for. Many of them sought for urgent medical consultations related to Covid-19 symptoms and ailments. Digital gap, lack of cross-border regulations and unwillingness to utilize telemedicine were the challenges the service faced in the optimal utilization of such services. Training and education, use of easy Apps and subsidies from the government would help in the long-term use and sustainability of telehealth services amongst the Nepali migrants

Secretory Carcinoma of Minor Salivary Gland in Buccal Mucosa: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Secretory carcinoma (SC) of the salivary gland was recently added to the fourth edition of the World Health Organization classification of head and neck tumors. Some salivary tumors, including acinic cell carcinoma, have been reclassified as SC. Most of these tumors are located on the parotid gland with very few cases reported in the minor salivary glands of the buccal mucosa. Herein, we present a case of SC of buccal mucosa, which appeared clinically as a benign lesion in a 54-year-old Japanese female patient. Histopathologically, the tumor cells presented with an eosinophilic cytoplasm with microcytic structure along with eosinophilic secretory material and hemosiderin deposit. Immunohistochemical staining revealed strongly positive staining for S100, vimentin, and mammaglobin and negative staining for DOG-1. The tumor was finally diagnosed as secretory carcinoma of the buccal mucosa. We present a review of the medical literature of SC arising from minor salivary glands. We found only 15 cases of SC of buccal mucosa out of 63 cases of SC in the minor salivary glands. They showed good prognoses and only one case of SC in the buccal mucosa exhibited local recurrence and lymph node metastases