Reaction time is an indirect index of the processing speed of the central nervous system. It is affected by several factors including dominant and non-dominant hands and obesity. Obesity can be measured by body mass index. Thus, the aim of this study was to find out the relationship between body mass index, dominant and non-dominant hand with visual reaction time in healthy young females. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, among 89 females. The height and weight were recorded, and the body mass index was calculated. The subjects were divided into four groups, underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese according to WHO criteria. Visual reaction time was measured using the ruler drop method in milliseconds. The data were analyzed by using the paired t-test and one-way ANOVA using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 22. Out of 89 participants, 26 (29.21%) were underweight, 47 (52.80%) had normal weight, 12 (13.48%) and four (4.49%) were overweight and obese with mean reaction time in the dominant hand and non-dominant hand were (176.75±16.68 vs. 186.58±16.21), (175.12±15.03 vs. 185.43±15.64), (188.74±16.07 vs. 190.70±17.88), and (200.7±9.77 vs. 210.50±9.50) respectively. All participants were right-handers. In right-handers, the right hand reacted faster than the left hand. Reaction time was prolonged in underweight, overweight,and obese; when compared with normal weight individuals. Our study showed that the reaction time of people appears to be influenced by body mass index, dominant, and non-dominant hand, which was an indirect measure of the sensory motor association.

Therapeutic advances for vocal fold (VF) disorders are limited by the scarcity of VF-derived epithelial cells (VFEs). Despite their substantial self-renewal capability in vivo, VFEs expand for only a few passages in vitro before succumbing to growth arrest. This has led to the extensive use of alternative cellular sources that are not exposed to physiological stresses of phonation. To address this, we developed an ideal culture strategy that enables long-term expansion of rabbit VFEs (rbVFEs), by utilizing Rho kinase inhibitor (ROCKi), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and mitomycin-treated STO cells or its conditioned media (STO-CM). ROCKi only could support short-term proliferation, and rbVFEs eventually underwent senescence. Further enhancement to ROCKi-containing media with EGF or STO-CM promoted sustained proliferation of rbVFEs. Mechanistically, non-self-renewing rbVFEs exhibited cytoskeletal remodeling associated with increased nuclear YAP localization, elevated focal adhesion, and higher traction forces, whereas self-renewing rbVFEs had cytoplasmic YAP retention, decreased adhesion, and reduced cellular tension. Our optimized culture strategy provides a robust supply of rbVFEs for advancing regenerative approaches in VF research.

This research paper examined the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the financial performance of Nepalese commercial banks. The study embraced the secondary data of 6 commercial banks and overall, the 60 observations were comprised in this study. The study employed descriptive research design and casual comparative research design. This study employed descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression for the analysis of data. The findings revealed that the EPS and CRR were positively and significantly associated with return on equity (ROE) which indicates that an increase in earnings per share and cash reserve ratio leads to an increase in profitability. In contrast, NPLR, CAR, and CDR found a negative relationship with ROE, which indicates that an increase in the non-performing loan ratio, capital adequacy ratio, and credit-to-deposit ratio leads to a decrease in profitability. Similarly, BS holds a weak positive relationship with ROE.

Background: Public transport drivers are constantly being exposed to stimuli and are at risk of disorder of peripheral nervous system which can be further complicated by comorbidities. Thus, we wanted to examine intactness of tactile discriminatory ability in healthy drivers by comparing it to healthy samples of non-driving population. Since two point discrimination (TPD) test is frequently used for neurological assessment of tactile stimulation we determined and compared various locations in hands of two populations. Methods: Participants were asked to answer whether they feel one point or two points touch by blunted end of simple compass divider in their hand. The minimum distance between the points at which the participants could answer correctly was noted as two point discrimination value. Results: Drivers had TPD range of 2-4mm with mean 2.53±0.62 and, 1-4mm with mean 2.6±0.72 at middle finger of right and left hand respectively. Following t-test between drivers versus students, significant difference in the mean TPD value in the proximal palm supplied by median nerve (p=0.016) and proximal palm corresponding to ulnar nerve (p=0.032) on the right hand was found. On the left hand, significant difference in the mean TPD value is found in the proximal palm corresponding to median nerve (p=0.008) and ulnar nerve (p=0.043) respectively. Conclusion: Healthy public transport drivers have less tactile discriminating prowess at proximal palmar surface of hand. Examined distal phalanges and distal palm showed no significant difference in mean of TPD values for healthy drivers versus students.