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Background: Good oral health plays an important role to improve the quality of life and general health of the people. Oral health depends on several factors including individual personal attitudes, behavior and perception. The aim was to assess the gingival health and oral hygiene among the population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in outpatient department of Community Dentistry among 369 patient of age group of 18-60 years. History taking and oral health examination was done to collect the information. The questionnaire covered demographic details, ethnicity, religion, oral hygiene habits and gingival health of the participants. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 20 version using descriptive test like frequencies, percentage. Chi square test was done to determine the association between brushing technique and gingival index score and Fischer exact test was used to see the association between material used and gingival index. Results: Majority of the participants were female (62.6%). Nearly 84% participants were from urban area. About 25% belong to Newar ethnicity. Most of them used horizontal method of cleaning (58.0%). About 99% of the participants used toothbrush and toothpaste. Most of the participants brushed once a day (68.6%). About 82% used before breakfast in the morning . Nearly half of the participants (49.9) % had mild gingivitis. Conclusions: The gingival health and oral hygiene practices play a important role. The oral hygiene practice has been adopted by majority of the participants however, more than half of the patient are suffering from any form of gingivitis which is comparatively higher than other population.

Background: Mandibular condyle has a variety of morphology. The changes in their shape and size has been attributed to ageing process, developmental abnormalities, distinct diseases, trauma, endocrine shock, radio therapy etc. Panoramic radiographs remain the easiest, safest and most cost-effective screening modality for temporomandibular joint abnormalities. The study aimed to assess the different shapes of condyles using orthopantomograms from the archives of the hospital data. The variations among the sexes and between the right and left sides of an individual were also determined. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at People’s Dental College and Hospital within the time period of 1 year (November 2019- November 2020). Orthopantomogram of patients falling within the inclusion criteria were studied. The different shapes of condylar process were traced using marker pencil for both right and left sides. Data collected was entered in Microsoft Office Excel sheet 2013-- and calculated in SPSS version 24 and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Out of the 874 mandibular condyles of 437 patients, the most common was the oval shaped in both the right (275) and the left sides (277), followed by bird beak, diamond, flat and crooked finger respectively. The oval shaped condyle appeared to be predominant in both sexes. The flat shaped and diamond shaped condyle appeared to be a rarity. Conclusions: The most common shape of condyle was found to be oval shape bilaterally and in both genders. Least observed shapes of condyle were flat shape in female patients and diamond shape in male patients.

Background: Medical research is the foundation for gaining scientific information and learning. However, in developing countries like Nepal, it is given low priority, mostly due to inadequate research funding. This study was aimed to assess the attitude and the barriers associated with medical research. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the medical professionals of Nepal from 10th October to 10th November 2021. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Collected data included demographics, a questionnaire related to attitude and barriers to research among medical professionals of Nepal. The data was collected, compiled, and analyzed by using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 26. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: In total 83 participants with a mean age of 32.8±4.7 years participated in the study. More than 90% of the participants were having a positive attitude regarding the role of research enriching medical education and that it promotes critical thinking. The majority of them believed that research is also helpful for securing a better academic position. More than 90% agreed that research should be included in the MBBS/BDS curriculum. The major obstacles reported were lack of adequate funding (72.3%), lack of well-equipped laboratory (65.1%), non-inclusion of research as a subject in the medical curriculum (62.7%). Conclusions: The majority of participants were positive towards research. The major obstacles faced by medical professionals were lack of adequate funding, non-inclusion of research as a subject in the medical curriculum, lack of a well-equipped laboratory, lack of mentorship and incentives.

Background: The knowledge of current motivation to choose dentistry and future plan of dental graduates is critical to health care systems and may result in major change for policies in dental education. This study aimed to assess the motivational factors that influenced students to choose dentistry as a profession and their future plan after graduation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the 120 students who have cleared the final Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) examination and were undergoing their mandatory internship program. The data was collected between January 2020 to April 2020. Data analysis was done using Statistical Prod­uct and Service Solution (SPSS) version 20 with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The leading professional reason was the flexible working hour, 54.8% (n=57). Job stability, 50% (n=52), the desire to help people, 49% (n=51) and a desire to be associated with a health profession, 69.2% (n=72) were the primary reasons on economic, vocational and personal domains respectively. Around half of the participants 52% (n=54) have planned for further study after graduation. Similarly, 28.8% (n=30) of the participants have planned to live and work outside Kathmandu valley, 28.8% (n=30) were planning to live and work within Kathmandu valley. Conclusions: This study found that the flexible working hour, job stability and desire to help people were the motivational factors for choosing dentistry. Majority have planned for further study. In future, only those from outside Kathmandu valley were willing to serve the people beyond the valley.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is increasing in alarming number world­wide. The main predisposing factor being daily lifestyle which leads to obesity and other complications. Early diagnosis and life style modifica­tion among high risk group can decrease the burden of disease. This study was done to find out the random blood sugar level and assess the relationships between body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR) and random blood sugar among the study population. Methods: A cross sectional study was done using retrospective data collected at the health camp conducted during month of October 2018. The study area was Nagarjun and Chandragiri municipalities of Kath­mandu district. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. The chi square test was used to assess relation between BMI,WHR and Random blood sugar. Results: The number of participants in this study was 274. Majority of the participants, (92.7%) had random blood sugar level 200mg/dl or less. Those having RBS of more than 200mg/dl were 7.3%. Among all participants, 16.06% were obese. Further the obese participants showed high waist hip ratio in 81.8% and 9.1% of them had moderate or low waist hip ratio. Further, 46 participants showed diabetic blood sugar level and were either overweight (39.13%) or obese (28.26%). Conclusions: This study concluded that those who had diabetic blood sugar level or high waist hip ratio had increases BMI. So such screening and preventive programme should be further expanded and even at clinical level. Additionally, patients must be counseled the reason for measuring BMI and RBS and its application for their health promotion.

Background: Lesions in the oral cavity may be of variety of types. Their trends are also in­creasing day by day. The aim of the study was to determine the spectrum of oral lesions reporting at the tertiary care center in Nepal. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among from the medical records among the sam­ples sent for biopsy from the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at KIST Medical College from a period of 2008 to 2017 AD. The data was entered into excel and transferred into SPSS ver­sion 16 and analyzed using descriptive statistics presented in the form of table. Results: A total number of 84 cases were include into the study. Age of the patients were ranged from 7 to 87 years. Oral mucosa was the most common site followed by tongue. The most com­mon lesion reported was pyogenic granuloma followed by well differentiated oral squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions: The majority of the oral cavity lesions are diverse in nature. All lesion especially in the oral cavity should be biopsied to rule out malignancy. Diagnosis of any of these rare lesions is important from the management point of view.

Introduction: The Novel Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has sent humanity indoors, replacing human contact with an electronic connection. The mandatory online classes and work from home policy to maintain the social distancing during the pandemic has forced the individual to spend most of the time in front of laptops or mobile screens. Digital eye strain is a group of vision-related symptoms that result from the continuous use of devices with digital displays, such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. The present study is done to find out the prevalence of digital eye strain among the adult population in a tertiary care hospital in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done from January 2021 to July 2021 in a tertiary care hospital of Nepal after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (Registration number: 077/78/30). Convenience sampling was done. The sample size calculated in our study was 322. Data collection and entry were done in Microsoft Excel, point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: The prevalence of digital eye strain was 300 (94.3%) (91.8-96.8 at 95% Confidence Interval) among 318 respondents. Eye strain (irritation, heaviness) was the most common digital eye strain symptom 199 (62.6%) followed by the tiredness of eyes 162 (50.9%). Conclusions: The present study concluded that the prevalence of digital eye strain in the era of COVID-19 is high as compared to other studies conducted among adults.

Background: Menstrual health hygiene management (MHM) is the basic right of every female. In developing countries like Nepal, this right is less understood or utilized. Parental and family influences and hence the societal influences plays vital role in behavioral change. In urban sector, the girls studying in the private schools are mostly from privileged background. So there is a need to observe the pattern of practices among private school girls which reflects the scenarios in privileged urban sector. Aims and Objectives: This study is to explore the practices and challenges for menstrual health hygiene management among adolescent girls of a Private school in Urban Nepal. Material and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a private school selected purposely in the month of April and May 2019. Girls from grade seven and above were included in the study. Results: All the girls were aware about the process of menstruation. The practices and believes were influenced by their family and facilities provided to them rather knowledge gained at school. All the participants prefer to use disposal pads and 6.3% of participants reported that they use both pads and reusable cloths. Most girls did not change the pads at school (56.2%). All the participants reported that they were hesitant to take help from teachers due to awkwardness. Conclusions: Practices of the individuals is influenced by family beliefs. Again, adolescents spend many hours daily in schools. So strict measures to implement facility in schools for MHM should be taken.

Background: Reproductive health of women has been the central agenda of Cairo conference since its inception in 1999. As a signatory country for Cairo Conference, Nepal government is also committed for reproductive rights for Nepalese women. Despite this, reproductive health challenges do exist in Nepal. This prompted us to determine the reproductive health status of married women attending in cervical cancer screening in Kath­mandu. Methods: Cross sectional study was designed to include retrospective data of married women, obtained during cervical cancer screening camp conducted by KIST Medical College at Laga Khala Clinic, Lagan, Kathmandu on 12-02- 2017. Among married women (131) attended cervical 100 wom­en’s records with complete set of data for reproductive health variables required for the study were included in this study. Statistical analysis was done descriptively. Results: Participant’s age is between 21 years to 61 years, 83% are liter­ate and 46% are employed. Adolescence marriage and pregnancy were two main problems noted. Cervical examination in relation showed 3% (3) VIA positive, 33% (33) Cervicitis, 10% (10) cervical polyp, 7% (7) atrophic vaginitis, 4% (4) cervical erosion and 43% (43) healthy cervix. Regarding Knowledge about risk factor majority 92% (92) had either no knowledge or only some extent of knowledge. Conclusions: Married women who lives in Kathmandu has significant re­productive health problem. Urban health program should address these issues.

The various pedagogical methods applied for teaching dental anatomy to dental students includes lectures, analysis of extracted natural teeth and carving of wax blocks to accurately replicate the morphology of teeth. The thorough knowledge of dental morphology is indispensable for a successful dental practice. This study was thus aimed to assess the perceived relevance of tooth carving using wax block among the dental practitioners.A cross-sectional study was designed with the objective of involving dental practitioners working in Kathmandu. Self-administered questionnaires were used for the data collection. The results were later analyzed for descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 16 software.About 232 (98.3%) participants practiced tooth carving using wax block to study dental anatomy. More than 96% of the participants agreed that tooth carving exercises have helped them better understand tooth morphology and more than 85% feel that their manual dexterity was developed by these exercises. A total of 223 (94.5%) were of the opinion that tooth carving should be continued in the BDS preclinical curriculum.The dental wax carving is an effective pedagogical strategy to develop manual dexterity of dental students by recreating tooth morphological features using a wax block, thereby achieving the mandatory psychomotor skills.

Mid-level health workers are deployed in a large proportion with the expectation of similar patient outcomes as with physicians. Mid-level practitioners are Health Assistants and Auxiliary Health Workers who provide clinical care at remote locations. National Health Training Center has been providing 60 days in-service Mid-level Practicum training since 2009 AD for the mid-level practitioners with the aim to enhance quality of patient care in Nepal.An observational study conducted using retrospective data from onsite follow-up assessment of 180 Mid-level Practitioner from 18 districts of Nepal between July 2015 to June 2019. The retention of competency onsite follow-up was calculated as percentage of assessment score at the end of Mid-level Practicum training. Percentage retention of competency and association of retention with factors were analyzed using independent t-test.Majority of participants were male (85.6%), and working in a Health Post (84.4%). Average clinical competency retention in each domain at their work place was 68.79% in knowledge, 73.80% in patient encounter skill, 82.84% in clinical decision-making skill and 87.58% in clinical procedure skill. Higher age groups, longer years of experience and participants from Terai region found to be associated with lower retention of knowledge. A better enabling environment and higher case load retained higher patient encounter skill.The competency retention among Mid-level Practicum trained mid-level health workers was found to be higher. Factors found associated with competency retention were age, geographic region, years of experience, case load and enabling environment.

No abstract available.

In this paper, after an a review of the previous work done in this field, the most frequently used approach using Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is used for implementation for phonetic segmentation. A baseline HMM phonetic segmentation tool is used for segmentation and analysis of speech at phonetic level. The results are approximately same as obtained using manual segmentation. General Terms Speech Synthesis, Automatic Segmentation

Introduction: We are increasingly noticing isolated left axis deviation (LAD) in electrocardiogram in younger people with diabetes without obvious heart disease and association of LAD with glucose intolerance has not been explicitly raised before. We planned a study of ambulatory adults with borderline (0o to –30o) and moderate-to-marked (

Aim: This study was done to compare the effectiveness of drotaverine hydrochloride and valethamate bromide in shortening duration of labour. Methods: It is a hospital based prospective study, carried out in the department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital (KMCTH), Sinamangal from 1st June to 31st August 2005. 99 patients, who were in active labour, were taken into the study. Out of which 50 were in drotaverine group (Group 1) who had received 40 mg of drotaverine hydrochloride intramuscularly at 3 to 5 cm dilatation of the cervix. Rest of 49 patients were in valethamate bromide group (Group 2). They received 3 doses of 8 mg valethamate bromide and 20 mg hyoscin butyl bromide intravenously half an hour interval. Result: The injection-delivery interval was studied in both Groups. The duration of injection-delivery interval was found to be almost equal in primigravidae of both Groups (p=0.72). But in multigravidae interval was significantly shorter in drotaverine Group (p=0.03). Conclusion: Both drotaverine and valethamate bromide are equally effective in shortening duration labour in primigravidae, where as drotaverine is more effective in multigravidae in accelerating labour. Keywords: Drotaverine, Valethamate bromide, cervical dilatation, labour acceleration doi:10.3126/njog.v2i2.1447 N. J. Obstet. Gynaecol 2007 Nov-Dec; 2 (2): 9 - 11