Mapping the Health and Medical Research Excellence in Nepal: A Study of High-Cited Papers During 1994-2023.

Background: A bibliometric analysis was performed to map the current status and development trends in medical research in Nepal. It aims to visualize research hotspots within this field and provide effective guidance for future research directions.

Methods: A systematic search of the Scopus database was performed to identify high-cited papers (HCPs) on medical research in Nepal between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2023.

The Safety of Glycopeptide-Impregnated Calcium Sulphate Following Debridement, Antibiotics and Implant Retention (DAIR) for Infected Total Knee Replacement.

Background and objective The impact of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) stretches far beyond the physical nature of the disease. It can result in psychological and social consequences, with significant morbidity and mortality for patients. Calcium sulphate-based delivery agents are effective in the management of PJI, yet with associated risks of systemic adverse events.

Clinical Outcome for Lumbar Disc Herniation Treatment with Intradiscal Oxygen-ozone Therapy.

Background: Low back pain due to disc herniation is a common problem causing frequent hospital visits and loss of working days with major socio-economic impact. Conservative treatments like analgesics, physiotherapy do not work in all patients. Surgical treatment has been the mainstay of treatment when indicated but is associated with anesthetic and surgical complications.

Respiratory Morbidity and Mortality of Traumatic Cervical Spinal Injury.

Background: Traumatic cervical spinal injuries can severely affect respiratory function and cause significant morbidity and mortality. The typical respiratory morbidity in cervical spine injury is Atelectasis, Ventilator-associated pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and delayed weaning, etc. The study aims to see the prevalence of respiratory morbidity as well as mortality associated with cervical spine injury.

Demonstrating Agreement between Radio and Fluorescence Measurements of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory.

We show, for the first time, radio measurements of the depth of shower maximum (X_{max}) of air showers induced by cosmic rays that are compared to measurements of the established fluorescence method at the same location. Using measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory we show full compatibility between our radio and the previously published fluorescence dataset, and between a subset of air showers observed simultaneously with both radio and fluorescence techniques, a measurement setup unique to the Pierre Auger Observatory. Furthermore, we show radio X_{max} resolution as a function of energy and demonstrate the ability to make competitive high-resolution X_{max} measurements with even a sparse radio array.

Falciform Ligament Infarction: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

The falciform ligament is a double peritoneal fold that separates the left and right hepatic lobes anatomically. Fatty-falciform ligament appendage torsion (F-FLAT) is defined as torsion of the extraperitoneal fat within the falciform ligament causing fat infarction, which is an uncommon surgical presentation, scarcely documented within the current literature. The objective of presenting this case report and reviewing the literature on F-FLAT is to discuss the clinical presentation, possible associated factors and management strategies in regard to this rare pathology.

Co-constructing collaboration: An evidence-based approach to advance and evaluate equitable global public health research partnerships.

Equitable global health partnerships are essential to promote innovative research and strengthen research capacity to address critical public health challenges, but how to optimally evaluate such collaborations is unclear. This was a sequential, multi-method study that utilized an electronic survey informed by the literature followed by semi-structured interviews to comprehensively evaluate the experience of participating in a global research-capacity building collaboration between Nepal and U.S.

Guideline adherence and survival of patients with candidaemia in Europe: results from the ECMM Candida III multinational European observational cohort study.

Background: The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) collected data on epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes of patients with culture-proven candidaemia across Europe to assess how adherence to guideline recommendations is associated with outcomes.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, 64 participating hospitals located in 20 European countries, with the number of eligible hospitals per country determined by population size, included the first ten consecutive adults with culture-proven candidaemia after July 1, 2018, and entered data into the ECMM Candida Registry (FungiScope CandiReg). We assessed ECMM Quality of Clinical Candidaemia Management (EQUAL Candida) scores reflecting adherence to recommendations of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines.

Management and Leadership Development in Healthcare Professionals.

Unlabelled: In the healthcare system, leadership has never been more crucial. Initiatives to improve health care in underdeveloped nations frequently fail, not for lack of clinical and public health understanding, but rather for lack of management ability. However, there are currently few possibilities for thorough leadership development at any level of career.

How positive deviants helped in fighting the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic? A qualitative study exploring the roles of frontline health workers in Nepal.

Positive deviance is an approach wherein learnings from persons who fare better than their peers under similar circumstances are used to enable behavioral and social change. Such behaviors and solutions are likely affordable, acceptable, sustainable, and fit into the socio-cultural milieu. Despite the wide use of positive deviance in many public health programs and research, it has yet to be used to study frontline workers in the context of COVID-19.

Limits to Gauge Coupling in the Dark Sector Set by the Nonobservation of Instanton-Induced Decay of Super-Heavy Dark Matter in the Pierre Auger Observatory Data.

Instantons, which are nonperturbative solutions to Yang-Mills equations, provide a signal for the occurrence of quantum tunneling between distinct classes of vacua. They can give rise to decays of particles otherwise forbidden. Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory, we search for signatures of such instanton-induced processes that would be suggestive of super-heavy particles decaying in the Galactic halo.

Clinical effectiveness and safety of spinal anaesthesia compared with general anaesthesia in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery using a consensus-based core outcome set and patient-and public-informed outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Background: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of contemporary RCTs to determine the clinical effectiveness of spinal vs general anaesthesia (SA vs GA) in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery using a consensus-based core outcome set, and outcomes defined as important by patient and public involvement (PPI) initiatives.

Methods: RCTs comparing any of the core outcomes (mortality, time from injury to surgery, acute coronary syndrome, hypotension, acute kidney injury, delirium, pneumonia, orthogeriatric input, being out of bed at day 1 postoperatively, and pain) or PPI-defined outcomes (return to preoperative residence, quality of life, and mobility status) between SA and GA were identified from MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science (2000 to February 2022). Pooled relative risks (RRs) and mean differences (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were estimated.

Building a 'Virtual Library': continuing a global collaboration to strengthen research capacity within Nepal and other low- and middle-income countries.

To fill the gap in health research capacity-building efforts, we created the 'Virtual Library' (VL) - a web-based repository of context-relevant resources for health researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper describes the participatory process used to systematically develop the VL, and describes how our interprofessional team - representing both an LMIC (Nepal) and a high-income country (HIC) (USA, US) - engaged in shared meaning-making. A team of researchers and clinicians representing a range of subdisciplines from Nepal and the US created a replicable search strategy and standardized Resource Screening Guide (RSG) to systematically assess resources to be included within the VL.

Ultrasound Guided Nerve Blocks for Anterior Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome an Overlooked Cause of Chronic Abdominal Pain: A Case Series.

Entrapment abdominal neuropathy is not a common diagnosis in our context. Chronic Abdominal wall pain is often mistaken for gastritis, gynecological issue, thoracic spinal radiculopathy, rectus sheath hematoma, abdominal muscle injury or psychiatric disorder. Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome is one of the frequent causes of abdominal wall pain occurring due to trapped thoracic intercostal nerves between abdominal muscles.

Clinical Characteristics and outcome analysis of SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted to different Critical Care Units in Nepal.

Background: The clinical presentation, biochemical characteristics, and outcomes of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 can vary in different populations. The purpose of the study is to assess the clinical presentation and identify predictors of mortality among patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome admitted to different critical care units in Nepal.

Methods: An observational study was conducted among the confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted to different critical care units in seven provinces of Nepal.

Host-driven subspeciation in the hedgehog fungus, , an emerging cause of human dermatophytosis.

is a main cause of dermatophytosis in hedgehogs and is increasingly reported from human infections worldwide. This pathogen was originally described in the European hedgehog () but is also frequently found in the African four-toed hedgehog (), a popular pet animal worldwide. Little is known about the taxonomy and population genetics of this pathogen despite its increasing importance in clinical practice.

Combined Use of Presepsin and (1,3)-β-D-glucan as Biomarkers for Diagnosing Sepsis and Monitoring the Effectiveness of Treatment in Critically Ill Patients.

New biomarker panel was developed and validated on 165 critically ill adult patients to enable a more accurate invasive candidiasis (IC) diagnosis. Serum levels of the panfungal biomarker (1,3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) and the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein, presepsin (PSEP), and procalcitonin (PCT) were correlated with culture-confirmed candidemia or bacteremia in 58 and 107 patients, respectively. The diagnostic utility was evaluated in sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV).

Performance of custom made videolaryngoscope for endotracheal intubation: A systematic review.

Introduction: Videolaryngoscope is regarded as the standard of care for airway management in well-resourced setups however the technology is largely inaccessible and costly in middle and low-income countries. An improvised and cost-effective form of customized videolaryngoscope was proposed and studied for patient care in underprivileged areas however there were no distinct conclusions on its performances.

Method: The study follows PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and the protocol in International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews.

Growth Dynamics of Colloidal Silver-Gold Core-Shell Nanoparticles Studied by Second Harmonic Generation and Extinction Spectroscopy.

The growth dynamics of colloidal silver-gold core-shell (Ag@Au CS) nanoparticles (NPs) in water are monitored in a stepwise synthesis approach using time-dependent second harmonic generation (SHG) and extinction spectroscopy. Three sequential additions of chloroauric acid, sodium citrate, and hydroquinone are added to the silver nanoparticle solution to grow a gold shell around a silver core. The first addition produces a stable urchin-like surface morphology, while the second and third additions continue to grow the gold shell thickness as the surface becomes more smooth and uniform, as determined using transmission electron microscopy.

[Diagnosing dermatomycoses in a clinical mycology laboratory: guidelines proposed by the Czech Society for Medical Microbiology Working Group on Mycology].

This draft of guidelines for the laboratory diagnosis of dermatomycoses was developed based on discussion among members of the Czech Society for Medical Microbiology Working Group on Mycology. The document Guidelines for the Laboratory Diagnosis of Dermatomycoses was published for discussion on the Czech Society for Medical Microbiology website on 23 March 2020. Until recently, recommendations concerning this area of laboratory diagnosis in mycology were only limited to information in manuals and no comprehensive and systematic document concerning these issues was available.