Environmental and Human Microbiome for Health.

Microorganisms are an essential part of life on the earth and can exist in association with virtually any living thing. The environmental microbiome is much more diverse than the human microbiome. It is reported that most microbes existing in the environment are difficult to culture in the laboratory. Whereas both pathogenic and beneficial microbes may be prevailing in the environment, the human body can have three categories of microbes- beneficial, pathogenic, and opportunistic pathogenic. With at least 10-fold more cells than human cells, microbes as normal flora are critical for human survival. The microbes present in the human body play a crucial role in maintaining human health, and the environmental microbiome influences the human microbiome makeup. The interaction between the environmental and human microbiome highly influences human health, however it is poorly understood. In addition, as an established infection is associated with health-seeking behavior, a large number of studies have focused on the transmission and dynamics of infectious microorganisms than the noninfectious or beneficial ones. This review will summarize how the interaction between the environmental and human microbiome affects human health and identify approaches that might be beneficial for humans to improve health by being exposed to the natural environment.

Forest Cover Change and Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of Community Forest in Mechinagar and Buddhashanti Landscape (MBL), Nepal.

The community-based forest management program has been successful in the conservation of forest cover in Nepal. We investigated forest cover change for the Mechinagar and Buddhashanti Landscape (MBL) area within the Jhapa district, Nepal, during 1990-2019 using Landsat images and GIS tools and valuated the major ecosystem services (ES) of Kalika Community-managed Forest (KCF) within the MBL landscape using the economic approach-market price method (revealed price). Land cover analysis of the MBL area indicated that over the study period, there were increases in urban/built-up areas, forest, and tea plantations, and declines in cultivated land, shrub, barren land, water body, and grassland areas. In particular, forest cover increased by 8.6% from 41.5 sq.km to 45.1 sq.km, due to the conversion of 3.9 sq.km cultivated land and 2.4 sq.km shrub into forest cover. KCF, the selected case study area for ES valuation, has been successful in providing noticeable economic benefits from provisioning and cultural services. Of the provisioning services, wood and timber make the largest contribution with an average revenue collection of Nepali Rupees (NRs) 3091.4 thousands followed by non-timber forest products (NRs 883.1 thousands) and firewood (NRs 524.3 thousands), respectively, while ecotourism-based income is also important (NRs 458.4 thousands) and is increasing in later years. As monitoring forest cover in a rapidly changing landscape and evaluating the ES of the community-managed forest cover are imperative for sustainable environmental planning and policy formulation, these research outputs are expected to be a significant benchmark for planners, policy makers, and future researchers.

Prevalence and correlates of substance use among health care students in Nepal: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Substance use among health care students threatens professional standards and the delivery of quality services, potentially placing the public at risk. Therefore, our study aims to determine the prevalence and correlates associated with substance use among Nepalese health care students. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered health professional questionnaire was conducted among pharmacy, nursing, and public health students at three universities in Nepal in 2010. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 407 respondents (response rate, 82%) with a mean age of 22 years (standard deviation = 3.71). The overall lifetime prevalence of substance use (i. e., illegal use of prescription drugs and illegal drug use) was 42.8%. Marijuana was the most commonly used illegal drug (8.8%) and minor opiates (e.g., codeine cough syrups) were the most widely used illegal prescription drugs (32.4%). Substance use was directly associated with cigarette smoking, peer influence, and heavy drinking. In addition, respondents reported some major and minor dysfunctions because of their substance use. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of substance use among health care students at the three universities in Nepal was high. Peer influence, cigarette smoking, and heavy drinking were significant predictors of substance use.