Plastic pollution in oceans, also known as marine debris, is a growing problem at local and global scales. Anthropogenic marine debris poses a serious threat to many marine species, both through physical harm such as ingestion or entanglement and by carrying toxins and pathogens. This debris accumulates in oceanic gyres, concentrating these effects in some specific areas. In addition, marine debris may have devastating impacts on tourism and fishing-based economies, especially where ocean currents direct this debris. Recently, a nonprofit organization called The Ocean Cleanup proposed the first large-scale in situ marine debris removal project. The Ocean Cleanup is a project attempting to use large, floating, semi-fixed screens to harness ocean currents and accumulate debris, where it can be efficiently collected and disposed of or recycled. The project currently is working on implementing itself in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” in the North Pacific Gyre. We examine this project case, as it is the first organization attempting to clean up marine debris at this scale. Understanding the potential efficacy and limitations of The Ocean Cleanup Project as a case study can give critical insights into how other projects could be created in the future to address marine plastic pollution worldwide. Using SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to assess a marine debris cleanup can inform both a nuanced evaluation of the specific case as well as provide a means to explore marine debris as a complex, global environmental problem.

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Background: Increased plasma homocysteine levels are recognized to exert oxidative damage resulting into risk factors for insulin resistance (IR) and vascular disease. Present study was conducted to observe post-partum persistence of abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT) and level of homocysteine after delivery in patient with GDM. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study encompassed 100 subjects (age: 28.58±4.26 years, BMI: 26.7±2.80 Kg/m2; mean±SD) who were diagnosed as GDM during their index pregnancy by any of the internationally acceptable standard criteria. At 6-12 weeks postpartum, each of them underwent anthropometric measurements, 75 gram 2 sample OGTT and measurement of plasma homocysteine level by utilizing the chemiluminescent Immunoassay method. Results: Of the 100 subjects, 32% converted to having AGT during 6 -12 week of post-partum follow up. Statistically significant difference was found in between the AGT and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) groups in circulating concentration of homocysteine (AGT vs NGT: 9.19±1.15 vs. 6.29±1.31 mmol/L; p=<0.001). Mean age and BMI were significantly higher in the AGT group (p<0.05 for both). Independent association was found between each of the variables age, history of macrosomia and higher homocysteine level with AGT in multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: Our study identified persistence of AGT and elevation of homocysteine levels are more prominent in women with GDM in post-partum period.

Introduction: Nepal started full lockdown from 24 March to 14 June 2020, followed by partial lockdowns multiple times as a precaution for the prevention of COVID-19 infection. Managing health care services was a major issue during the COVID-19 pandemic for both the patients and health care professionals including services targeting pregnant women in developing countries like Nepal. Objectives: To study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childbirth services attended at a district government hospital and to observe the impact on mode of delivery and maternal-child health. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to find out the impact on delivery services during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic duration that includes one year period from 22nd October 2019 to 22nd March 2020 (before pandemic) and from 23rd March 2020 to 23rd September 2020 (pandemic duration) at Ilam District Hospital. All the information used in this research was taken from Health Management Information System (HMIS) logbook. The permission to use the recorded data was obtained from the hospital. Anonymity and confidentiality of data were maintained and no personal information was used in this research to protect the identity of the patients. The data was collected from the HMIS records of the hospital and was then processed in Microsoft excel. Results: The result shows despite the lockdown and pandemic the percentage of patients coming to receive delivery services within the hospital increased about 9% which is an exceptionally good result. Emergency CS was found to be decreased by 3%. During the pandemic Hospital stay was significantly reduced for patient’s safety due to COVID-19. However, no adverse impact was observed on the health outcomes of the mother and baby due to a short stay at the hospital. Conclusion: Despite lockdown and pandemic, the number of parents receiving hospital delivery services increased at Ilam hospital. This was possible due to proper management and pre-plan services according to the government’s COVID-19 protocol to cope with the pandemic and demand of the health services as other nearby hospitals closed their door during the pandemic. In the future, a short stay at the hospital can be continued to cope with a high demand of the services in the maternity department as we found the health of both mother and baby has not been impacted due to short stay in the hospital during the pandemic.