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The main objective of the study is to find out the knowledge, practice and use of Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) among workers of cement factory limited located at Mirchaiya, Siraha, Nepal. We have tried to identify the various sources of information regarding occupational hazards, frequency of health visit in case of health problems or illness, hygiene practices among factory workers and sociodemographic characteristics like age, sex, marital status, income among the workers of cement factory. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study containing both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary data has been collected through semi-structured questionnaire assisted by researcher. Non-purposive sampling technique was used during the collection of data. Nearly three fourths of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge about occupational hazards. 86% workers responded as Tuberculosis to be the disease caused during work in cement factories. All the workers had some basic knowledge about PPE but only 33% of workers said that mask, gloves, boot and clothes fall under PPE. More than three fourths had knowledge regarding the effectiveness of the PPE. 96% of the total respondents used PPE during their working time. About 31% workers had been suffering from illness. 72% workers had a trend to visit doctor only in case of illness or if required. Only 82% workers had a trend to wash eyes with water only in case of dust present in eye. Similarly, only 78% workers had a practice of hand washing with water. And, only 4% of the co-workers had information regarding occupational hazards and use of PPE. We conclude that the variables having significant influence on the knowledge and practice of workers about occupational hazards were education, receiving information about the job-associated hazards, and attending a training course about occupational health and safety. These variables should be taken into consideration in any program addressing occupational health and safety issues in Nepal.

The robust capacity of skeletal muscle stem cells (SkMSCs, or satellite cells) to regenerate into new muscles in vivo has offered promising therapeutic options for the treatment of degenerative muscle diseases. However, the practical use of SkMSCs to treat muscle diseases is limited, owing to their inability to expand in vitro under defined cultivation conditions without loss of engraftment efficiency. To develop an optimal cultivation condition for SkMSCs, we investigated the behavior of SkMSCs on synthetic maltose-binding protein (MBP)-fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2)-immobilized matrix in vitro . We found that the chemically well-defined, xeno-free MBP-FGF2-immobilized matrix effectively supports SkMSC growth without reducing their differentiation potential in vitro . Our data highlights the possible application of the MBP-FGF2 matrix for SkMSC expansion in vitro .

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The descriptive study conducted to assess the knowledge on tuberculosis among students of higher secondary school, Lalitpur, Nepal was carried out utilizing non-probability purposive sampling technique among +2 students.

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Introduction Thyroid dysfunction is one of the most common endocrine disorders in people living with HIV (PLHIV). The abnormality in thyroid function has been linked with the adverse effects of prolonged antiretroviral therapy (ART) in PLHIV, but its prevalence remains obscure. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of impaired thyroid function and its relationship to ART duration in Nepalese people living with HIV. Methods This cross-sectional clinical laboratory based study was conducted at SRL Diagnostics Nepal, Pvt. Ltd. from October 2021 to May 2022. Two hundred and three HIV-seropositive patients enrolled at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Kathmandu, Nepal were examined for their thyroid function test (TFT) by analyzing the serum T3, T4, and TSH concentrations using a fully automated COBAS e411 analyzer (Roche Diagnostics, USA) based on the electrochemiluminescence assay (ECLIA). Results Out of 203 PLHIV, 22 (10.83%) had a thyroid disorder, with subclinical hypothyroidism ( n = 16, 72.73%) being the most common, followed by subclinical hyperthyroidism ( n = 3, 13.63%). Thyroid dysfunction had no significant correlation with HIV/ART duration ( p = 0.304) and sex ( p = 0.419), whereas, the risk of thyroid dysfunction was induced with the rise in the age of the PLHIV ( p = 0.002, ϕ = 0.274). There were no significant differences in the mean serum T3, T4 and TSH values among different sexes and the HIV/ART duration, however a significant difference in the mean values of TSH (F (3, 199) = 3.231, p = 0.023) and T3 (F (3, 199) = 4.587, p = 0.004) among the different age-groups were shown. The mean T3 values also indicated a gradual decrease with increasing age. Conclusion The study revealed subclinical hypothyroidism as the prevailing thyroid disorder associated with PLHIV. The risk of thyroid dysfunction in PLHIV was neither gender specific nor being attributed by the ART duration in Nepalese population; however, elderly PLHIV were highly susceptible to the risk of thyroid disorder.

Klebsiella pneumonia is the second most causing agent of urinary tract bacterial infection among human beings. Its ability to grow and to produce siderophores is dependent on the iron content and the type of carbon sources in the culture medium. This study has aimed to find out the unique properties of siderophore production by Klebsiella species in fluctuating iron concentrations. The study was carried out on 252 urine samples collected from UTI patients at Doon (PG) Paramedical College and Teaching Hospital, Dehradun, India. All urine samples were tested microbiologically using standard procedure and biochemical panel tests were performed to identify and to isolate Klebsiella pneumonia from colonies obtained on differential media plate used for urine culture and the result was interpreted according to National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) guide line to confirm the Klebsiella pneumonia. Then CAS siderophore detection method was applied to quantify the siderophore production in various iron concentration supplied to culture medium. A total of 47 patients out of 252 UTI patients were found to be infected by Klebsiella pneumonia. Women were more prone to be UTI infected by Klebsiella pneumonia in comparison to men (14.89% men, 85.1% women). Most of the UTI patients infected by Klebsiella pneumonia were in the age group of 50-79 years (53.19%) which was followed by 20-49 years (23.40%) and 80-99 years (14.89%) respectively. Least people having age below 19 years old were prone to be urinary tract infected by Klebsiella pneumonia. In the same way, siderophore production was found to be increased significantly when there was no iron in the culture medium and its production was decreased gradually with increase in iron concentration up to 200mg/L in the culture medium. Siderophore is an important metabolite product for pathogenic Klebsiella pneumonia to survive and cause pathogenicity in low iron concentration medium.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2015, 1(1): 130-138