Staphylococcus aureus is a global public health issue in both community and hospital settings. Management of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections are tough owing to its resistance to ...many antibiotics. Macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) antibiotics are commonly used for the management of MRSA. This study was aimed to determine the occurrence of inducible clindamycin- and methicillin-resistant S. aureus at a tertiary care hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.
A total of 1027 clinical samples were processed following standard laboratory procedures and antibiotic susceptibility testing of S. aureus was performed by disc diffusion method. MRSA isolates were detected phenotypically using cefoxitin disc, and inducible clindamycin resistance was detected phenotypically using the D-zone test.
Of 1027 samples, 321 (31.2%) were culture positive, of which 38 (11.8%) were S. aureus. All S. aureus isolates were susceptible to vancomycin, and 25 (67%) of S. aureus isolates were multidrug-resistant. Similarly, 15 (39.5%) of S. aureus were MRSA and 14 (36.5%) were inducible clindamycin-resistant phenotypes.
Inducible clindamycin and methicillin resistance were common in S. aureus. This emphasizes that the methicillin resistance test and the D-zone test should be incorporated into the routine antibiotic susceptibility testing in hospital settings.
Information on the role of boron (B) on soil physico-chemical and biological entities is scarce, and the precise mechanism in soil is still obscure. Present field investigation aimed to assessing the ...implication of direct and residual effect of graded levels of applied-B on soil biological entities and its concomitant impact on crop productivity. The treatments comprised of five graded levels of B with four replications. To assess the direct effect of B-fertilization, cauliflower was grown as a test crop wherein, B-fertilization was done every year. For assessment of succeeding residual effects of B-fertilization, cowpea and okra were grown as test crops and, B-fertilization was phased out in both crops. The 100% recommended dose of NPK (RDF) along with FYM was uniformly applied to all crops under CCOCS. Results indicated that the direct effect of B had the edge over residual effect of B in affecting soil physico-chemical and biological entities under CCOCS. Amongst the graded levels of B, application of the highest B level (2 kg ha
–1
) was most prominent in augmenting microbiological pools in soil at different crop growth stages. The order of B treatments in respect of MBC, MBN, and soil respiration at different crop growth stages was 2.0 kg B ha
–1
> 1.5 kg B ha
–1
> 1.0 kg B ha
–1
> 0.5 kg B ha
–1
> 0 kg B ha
–1
, respectively. Moreover, maximum recoveries of potentially mineralizable-C (PMC) and potentially mineralizable-N (PMN) were noticed under 2 kg B ha
–1
. Analogous trend was recorded in soil microbial populations at different crop growth stages. Similarly, escalating B levels up to 2 kg B ha
–1
exhibited significantly greater soil enzymatic activities
viz.
, arylsulphatase (AS), dehydrogenase (DH), fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and phosphomonoesterase (PMA), except urease enzyme (UE) which showed an antagonistic effect of applied-B in soil. Greater geometric mean enzyme activity (GMEA) and soil functional diversity index were recorded under 2 kg B ha
–1
in CCOCS, at all crop growth stages over control. The inclusive results indicated that different soil physico-chemical and biological properties CCOCS can be invariably improved by the application of graded levels of B up to 2 kg B ha
–1
in an acid Inceptisol.
Nurses and midwives play a critical role in the provision of care and the optimization of health services resources worldwide, which is particularly relevant during the current COVID-19 pandemic. ...However, they can only provide quality services if their work environment provides adequate conditions to support them. Today the employment and working conditions of many nurses worldwide are precarious, and the current pandemic has prompted more visibility to the vulnerability to health-damaging factors of nurses' globally. This desk review explores how employment relations, and employment and working conditions may be negatively affecting the health of nurses in countries such as Brazil, Croatia, India, Ireland, Italy, México, Nepal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Nurses' health is influenced by the broader social, economic, and political system and the redistribution of power relations that creates new policies regarding the labour market and the welfare state. The vulnerability faced by nurses is heightened by gender inequalities, in addition to social class, ethnicity/race (and caste), age and migrant status, that are inequality axes that explain why nurses' workers, and often their families, are exposed to multiple risks and/or poorer health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, informalization of nurses' employment and working conditions were unfair and harmed their health. During COVID-19 pandemic, there is evidence that the employment and working conditions of nurses are associated to poor physical and mental health.
The protection of nurses' health is paramount. International and national enforceable standards are needed, along with economic and health policies designed to substantially improve employment and working conditions for nurses and work-life balance. More knowledge is needed to understand the pathways and mechanisms on how precariousness might affect nurses' health and monitor the progress towards nurses' health equity.
Pathogenic potentials of the gastric pathogen,
Helicobacter pylori
, have been proposed, evaluated, and confirmed by many laboratories for nearly 4 decades since its serendipitous discovery in 1983 ...by Barry James Marshall and John Robin Warren.
Helicobacter pylori
is the first bacterium to be categorized as a definite carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO). Half of the world’s population carries
H. pylori
, which may be responsible for severe gastric diseases like peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. These two gastric diseases take more than a million lives every year. However, the role of
H. pylori
as sole pathogen in gastric diseases is heavily debated and remained controversial. It is still not convincingly understood, why most (80–90%)
H. pylori
infected individuals remain asymptomatic, while some (10–20%) develop such severe gastric diseases. Moreover, several reports indicated that colonization of
H. pylori
has positive and negative associations with several other gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI diseases. In this review, we have discussed the state of the art knowledge on “
H. pylori
factors” and several “other factors,” which have been claimed to have links with severe gastric and duodenal diseases. We conclude that
H. pylori
infection alone does not satisfy the “necessary and sufficient” condition for developing aggressive clinical outcomes. Rather, the cumulative effect of a number of factors like the virulence proteins of
H. pylori
, local geography and climate, genetic background and immunity of the host, gastric and intestinal microbiota, and dietary habit and history of medicine usage together determine whether the
H. pylori
infected person will remain asymptomatic or will develop one of the severe gastric diseases.
Abstract Doping is considered a promising material engineering strategy in electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), provided the role of the active site is rightly identified. This work ...concerns the doping of group VIB metal in Ag 3 PO 4 to enhance the active site density, accompanied by d‐p orbital mixing at the active site/N 2 interface. Doping induces compressive strain in the Ag 3 PO 4 lattice and inherently accompanies vacancy generation, the latter is quantified with positron annihilation lifetime studies (PALS). This eventually alters the metal d‐electronic states relative to Fermi level and manipulate the active sites for NRR resulting into side‐on N 2 adsorption at the interface. The charge density deployment reveals Mo as the most efficient dopant, attaining a minimum NRR overpotential, as confirmed by the detailed kinetic study with the rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) technique. In fact, the Pt ring of RRDE fails to detect N 2 H 4 , which is formed as a stable intermediate on the electrode surface, as identified from in‐situ attenuated total reflectance‐infrared (ATR‐IR) spectroscopy. This advocates the complete conversion of N 2 to NH 3 on Mo/Ag 3 PO 4 ‐10 and the so‐formed oxygen vacancies formed during doping act as proton scavengers suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction resulting into a Faradaic efficiency of 54.8% for NRR.
Doping is considered a promising material engineering strategy in electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), provided the role of the active site is rightly identified. This work concerns the ...doping of group VIB metal in Ag3PO4 to enhance the active site density, accompanied by d-p orbital mixing at the active site/N2 interface. Doping induces compressive strain in the Ag3PO4 lattice and inherently accompanies vacancy generation, the latter is quantified with positron annihilation lifetime studies (PALS). This eventually alters the metal d-electronic states relative to Fermi level and manipulate the active sites for NRR resulting into side-on N2 adsorption at the interface. The charge density deployment reveals Mo as the most efficient dopant, attaining a minimum NRR overpotential, as confirmed by the detailed kinetic study with the rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) technique. In fact, the Pt ring of RRDE fails to detect N2H4, which is formed as a stable intermediate on the electrode surface, as identified from in-situ attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. This advocates the complete conversion of N2 to NH3 on Mo/Ag3PO4-10 and the so-formed oxygen vacancies formed during doping act as proton scavengers suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction resulting into a Faradaic efficiency of 54.8% for NRR.Doping is considered a promising material engineering strategy in electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), provided the role of the active site is rightly identified. This work concerns the doping of group VIB metal in Ag3PO4 to enhance the active site density, accompanied by d-p orbital mixing at the active site/N2 interface. Doping induces compressive strain in the Ag3PO4 lattice and inherently accompanies vacancy generation, the latter is quantified with positron annihilation lifetime studies (PALS). This eventually alters the metal d-electronic states relative to Fermi level and manipulate the active sites for NRR resulting into side-on N2 adsorption at the interface. The charge density deployment reveals Mo as the most efficient dopant, attaining a minimum NRR overpotential, as confirmed by the detailed kinetic study with the rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) technique. In fact, the Pt ring of RRDE fails to detect N2H4, which is formed as a stable intermediate on the electrode surface, as identified from in-situ attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. This advocates the complete conversion of N2 to NH3 on Mo/Ag3PO4-10 and the so-formed oxygen vacancies formed during doping act as proton scavengers suppressing hydrogen evolution reaction resulting into a Faradaic efficiency of 54.8% for NRR.
AbstractWater generally leaves a supply reservoir through a narrow rectangular concrete channel and enters a large trapezoidal earthen channel. The two channels are connected by a transition. Among ...the most common types of transitions, a wedge transition is relatively simple to construct. Even in well-designed transitions, the flow is often accompanied by a large zone of flow separation, causing considerable head loss. For the first time, this experimental study has explored modifications to a wedge transition to reduce the separation and head loss. The characteristics of three-dimensional flow in both the wedge and the modified wedge systems were investigated using non-intrusive measurements of the flow field. Transition flow parameters, including longitudinal flow profile, transition energy loss, maximum velocity at the transition outlet, and turbulence intensity in the downstream trapezoidal channel, were determined. Flow separation characteristics were recorded by tracing the separation zone and the points of reattachment based on velocity data, and were confirmed by visual observation involving dye tests. For both systems, separation occurred on one side and the flow was three dimensional. Compared with the wedge transition, the modified wedge transition effectively guides the flow and prevents abrupt changes in flow direction. The modified wedge transition results in a much earlier recovery of the flow in the downstream channel, lower levels of turbulence, and a less strong secondary flow. It also achieves a small gain in the energy at the flow recovery location and reduces the head loss coefficient as a result of the reduced separation zone.
Fruit leathers, which are also known as fruit rolls, are dehydrated fruit-based products. Despite the popularity of Lapsi fruit leather, its production is limited to home-scale industries, which lack ...uniformity in quality. Moreover, scientific research to address this issue is very limited. Therefore, in this study, Lapsi fruit leather was prepared and its nutritional, phytochemicals, and sensorial properties were studied. The fruit pulp and sugar were mixed at the proportion of 50:50, 80:20, 57.5:42.5, 72.5:27.5, and 65:35 to prepare leather and labeled as samples A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The drying behavior was studied at 55°C in cabinet dryer. Among these samples, B had higher amount of crude fat (0.88 g/100 g sample), crude protein (3.87 g/100 g sample), crude fiber (10.95 g/100 g sample), and total ash (1.09 g/100 g sample); however, carbohydrate and energy value was significantly higher in sample A with the value of 83.21 g and 284 kcal per 100 g leather, respectively. Similarly, sample B was rich in phytochemicals containing 67 mg vitamin C/, total polyphenol of 88.33 mg GAE/g dry extract, total flavonoid of 37.57 mg QE/g dry extract and DPPH inhibition activity of 43.17%. Sample A was dried in 8.83 h, which had moisture diffusivity of 8.723 × 10
−7
m
2
/sec, and sample B was dried in 7.33 h, which had moisture diffusivity of 10.0 × 10
−7
m
2
/sec. Though there was significant effect (p < .05) on the taste, flavor, texture, and overall acceptability except for color of the product, sample C was preferred by the panelists. Thus, nutritionally rich and underutilized lapsi fruit can be processed into fruit leather with high consumer acceptance.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background: Acute and severe pain after surgery is the major concern of operated patients and health professionals where the vital responsibilities goes to the nurses for managing pain ...satisfactorily. Hence, the nurses require to have adequate knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) to carry out such responsibilities.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to find out the nurses’ KAP regarding postoperative pain (POP) management. Total 74 nurses of postoperative wards were selected from four hospitals at Bharatpur with non-probability enumerative sampling technique. Data were collected with the structured self-administered questionnaire for knowledge, five-point Likert scale for attitude and observation checklist for practice. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics for levels of KAP; Chi-square for association between levels of KAP with selected variables and spearman rank correlation to determine relationship among KAP regarding POP management.
Results: The study showed that 85.1% nurses had low level of knowledge, 55.4% had satisfactory level of attitude and 52.7% had low level of practice. Statistically significant association was found between level of practice and age (p=0.010) of nurses and with professional qualification (p=0.002). There was no statistically significant relationship among KAP scores regarding POP management.
Conclusions: Majority of the nurses had low level of knowledge, more than half had satisfactory level of attitude but low level of practice regarding POP management. The age and the professional qualifications of the nurses found to be associated with the practice of POP management.
Background: Acute and severe pain after surgery is the major concern of operated patients and health professionals where the vital responsibilities goes to the nurses for managing pain ...satisfactorily. Hence, the nurses require to have adequate knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) to carry out such responsibilities.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to find out the nurses’ KAP regarding postoperative pain (POP) management. Total 74 nurses of postoperative wards were selected from four hospitals at Bharatpur with non-probability enumerative sampling technique. Data were collected with the structured self-administered questionnaire for knowledge, five-point Likert scale for attitude and observation checklist for practice. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics for levels of KAP; Chi-square for association between levels of KAP with selected variables and spearman rank correlation to determine relationship among KAP regarding POP management.
Results: The study showed that 85.1% nurses had low level of knowledge, 55.4% had satisfactory level of attitude and 52.7% had low level of practice. Statistically significant association was found between level of practice and age (p=0.010) of nurses and with professional qualification (p=0.002). There was no statistically significant relationship among KAP scores regarding POP management.
Conclusions: Majority of the nurses had low level of knowledge, more than half had satisfactory level of attitude but low level of practice regarding POP management. The age and the professional qualifications of the nurses found to be associated with the practice of POP management.
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