69 research outputs found

    Problem of access and rights of fishermen to water bodies in haor areas: a case study

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    Meat to water ratio used for washing was 1:3 for oil sardine and mackerel; but for pink perch and croaker, it was 1:2. Again the washing process was repeated three times for oil sardine and mackerel; but two times for pink perch and croaker. The washed meat was mixed with 2.5% NaC1 and set at +5°C and +40°C for 1, 2 and 3hrs. The gel strength and expressible water content was measured. Basing on this study, setting temperature at +40°C was selected and with respect to time 1hr for sardine and mackerel and 3hrs for pink perch and croaker was selected

    Depression, sleeping pattern, and suicidal ideation among medical students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional pilot study

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    © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Background: Depression is a major morbidity and the most common mental disorder among the medical students in medical schools globally. Undergraduate students suffer stress more due to their academic curriculum than the students of other faculties. In low-resource settings like Bangladesh, there is a dearth in research on the mental health of undergraduate medical students. This pilot study was conducted to add to the existing limited evidence by reporting the prevalence of depression and describing sleeping pattern and suicidal tendencies among medical students. Relevantly, we have investigated the overall mental health status among the medical students in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two medical colleges of Dhaka between July 2013 and December 2013, among 221 Bangladeshi medical students from first to fifth year. By the convenience sampling technique, data were collected by a pretested, structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done by SPSS version 18.0. Depression was assessed by the validated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) tool among the respondents. Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for assessing overall mental health status. Results: Depression was found in 38.9% of participants, with 3.6%, 14.5%, and 20.8% being severe, moderate, and mild depression, respectively. 17.6% of medical students had suicidal tendency or attempted suicide at least once after attending medical school. The sleeping hours were inadequate and altered after starting this stressful academic course. 33.5% of medical students had poor mental health status. There was a statistically significant association between poor mental health status in the age group less than 22 years old and initial academic study year (1st to 3rd of MBBS). Conclusion: The findings are suggestive of a higher prevalence of depression among early-year medical students and marginal predominance in males. Suicidal tendency is also higher. This calls for further investigation with situation analysis, qualitative explorations, and surveys to explore the burden of such disorders in Bangladesh

    Double-Stranded RNA Attenuates the Barrier Function of Human Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells

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    Circulating RNA may result from excessive cell damage or acute viral infection and can interact with vascular endothelial cells. Despite the obvious clinical implications associated with the presence of circulating RNA, its pathological effects on endothelial cells and the governing molecular mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. We analyzed the effects of double stranded RNA on primary human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (hPAECs). The effect of natural and synthetic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) on hPAECs was investigated using trans-endothelial electric resistance, molecule trafficking, calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis, gene expression and proliferation studies. Furthermore, the morphology and mechanical changes of the cells caused by synthetic dsRNA was followed by in-situ atomic force microscopy, by vascular-endothelial cadherin and F-actin staining. Our results indicated that exposure of hPAECs to synthetic dsRNA led to functional deficits. This was reflected by morphological and mechanical changes and an increase in the permeability of the endothelial monolayer. hPAECs treated with synthetic dsRNA accumulated in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Additionally, the proliferation rate of the cells in the presence of synthetic dsRNA was significantly decreased. Furthermore, we found that natural and synthetic dsRNA modulated Ca2+ signaling in hPAECs by inhibiting the sarco-endoplasmic Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) which is involved in the regulation of the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and thus cell growth. Even upon synthetic dsRNA stimulation silencing of SERCA3 preserved the endothelial monolayer integrity. Our data identify novel mechanisms by which dsRNA can disrupt endothelial barrier function and these may be relevant in inflammatory processes

    An Update of Lectins from Marine Organisms: Characterization, Extraction Methodology, and Potential Biofunctional Applications

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    Lectins are a unique group of nonimmune carbohydrate-binding proteins or glycopro-teins that exhibit specific and reversible carbohydrate-binding activity in a non-catalytic manner. Lectins have diverse sources and are classified according to their origins, such as plant lectins, animal lectins, and fish lectins. Marine organisms including fish, crustaceans, and mollusks produce a myriad of lectins, including rhamnose binding lectins (RBL), fucose-binding lectins (FTL), mannose-binding lectin, galectins, galactose binding lectins, and C-type lectins. The widely used method of extracting lectins from marine samples is a simple two-step process employing a polar salt solution and purification by column chromatography. Lectins exert several immunomodulatory functions, including pathogen recognition, inflammatory reactions, participating in various hemocyte functions (e.g., agglutination), phagocytic reactions, among others. Lectins can also control cell prolifer-ation, protein folding, RNA splicing, and trafficking of molecules. Due to their reported biological and pharmaceutical activities, lectins have attracted the attention of scientists and industries (i.e., food, biomedical, and pharmaceutical industries). Therefore, this review aims to update current information on lectins from marine organisms, their characterization, extraction, and biofunctionali-ties. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Ural Federal University, UrFUThe author O.N.K is grateful to the “Priority 2030” program of the Ural Federal University for support

    Reduced response to IKr blockade and altered hERG1a/1b stoichiometryin human heart failure

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    Heart failure (HF) claims 250,000 lives per year in the US, and nearly half of these deaths are sudden and presumably due to ventricular tachyarrhythmias. QT interval and action potential (AP) prolongation are hallmark proarrhythmic changes in the failing myocardium, which potentially result from alterations in repolarizing potassium currents. Thus,we aimed to examinewhether decreased expression of the rapid delayed rectifier potassiumcurrent, IKr, contributes to repolarization abnormalities in human HF. Tomap functional IKr expression across the left ventricle (LV), we optically imaged coronary-perfused LV free wall from donor and end-stage failing human hearts. The LV wedge preparation was used to examine transmural AP durations at 80% repolarization (APD80), and treatment with the IKr-blocking drug, E-4031, was utilized to interrogate functional expression. We assessed the percent change in APD80 post-IKr blockade relative to baseline APD80 (ΔAPD80) and found that ΔAPD80s are reduced in failing versus donor hearts in each transmural region, with 0.35-, 0.43-, and 0.41-fold reductions in endo-, mid-, and epicardium, respectively (p = 0.008, 0.037, and 0.022). We then assessed hERG1 isoform gene and protein expression levels using qPCR and Western blot. While we did not observe differences in hERG1a or hERG1b gene expression between donor and failing hearts, we found a shift in the hERG1a:hERG1b isoform stoichiometry at the protein level. Computer simulations were then conducted to assess IKr block under E-4031 influence in failing and nonfailing conditions. Our results confirmed the experimental observations and E-4031-induced relative APD80 prolongationwas greater in normal conditions than in failing conditions, provided that the cellularmodel of HF included a significant downregulation of IKr. In humanHF, the response to IKr blockade is reduced, suggesting decreased functional IKr expression. This attenuated functional response is associated with altered hERG1a:hERG1b protein stoichiometry in the failing human LV, and failing cardiomyoctye simulations support the experimental findings. Thus, of IKr protein and functional expression may be important determinants of repolarization remodeling in the failing human LV.We thank the Translational Cardiovascular Biobank & Repository (TCBR) at Washington University for provision of donor/patient records. The TCBR is supported by the NIH/CTSA (UL1 TR000448), Children's Discovery Institute, and Richard J. Wilkinson Trust. We also thank the laboratory of Dr. Sakiyama-Elbert for the use of the StepOnePlus equipment We appreciate the critical feedback on the manuscript by Dr. Jeanne Nerbonne. This work has been supported by the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI, R01 HL114395). K. Holzem has been supported by the American Heart Association (12PRE12050315) and the NHLBI (F30 HL114310).Holzem, KM.; Gómez García, JF.; Glukhov, AV.; Madden, EJ.; Koppel, AC.; Ewald, GA.; Trénor Gomis, BA.... (2016). Reduced response to IKr blockade and altered hERG1a/1b stoichiometryin human heart failure. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 96:82-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yjmcc.2015.06.008S82929

    Computational modelling of multiphase fluid flow behaviour over a stretching sheet in the presence of nanoparticles

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    Present study analysed hydrodynamic flow behaviour of multiphase radiative Casson and Maxwell fluids with the appearance of nano-sized particles. The impression of a nonlinear chemical reaction is also considered. Firstly, the time-dependent governing equations were computationally resolved using finite difference discretisation methods. Secondly, the convergence analysis with stabilisation of the numerical approach is carried out where the current model has converged for Le ≥ 0.025 and Pr ≥ 0.075. Finally, the impressions of various pertinent parameters are depicted diagrammatically along with tabular analysis on diversified flow fields. The main aim is to define and draw a comparison between Maxwell and Casson fluids on different flow fields. In addition, a comparative study between these two fluids is also newly carried out in this work through the analysis of streamlines and isotherms plotting. Furthermore, the thermal and mass properties found significantly improved mostly in the case of Maxwell fluid. However, Eckert number, Ec, has influenced the temperature field significantly for Casson fluid, and some parameters (Du, Nt, Nb, Le, Pr and Sr) have represented the identical impact on respective fields for both fluids. For the numerical validation, some comparisons are also shown with previous studies and satisfactory agreement is observed

    A Novel Approach for Transcatheter Management of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defect with a Subaortic Ridge

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    Introduction. Surgical closure of the perimembranous ventricular septal defect (PM VSD) and resection of the subaortic ridge are the standard methods of management, but there is no definitive agreement regarding the timing of surgery. Objectives. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the management of patients with PM VSD and subaortic ridge with or without AR via transcatheter closure of the defect and compressing the ridge against the ventricular septum using Amplatzer ductal occluder type I (ADO-I). Patients and Methods. We introduced a new approach for transcatheter management of PM VSD and subaortic ridge by closing the VSD and capturing or compressing the ridge against the interventricular septum (IVS) using the ADO-I device. Thirty-eight (9.5%) of 398 patients with a PM VSD were found to have subaortic ridge and were enrolled in this study from August 1, 2014, to February 1, 2018, at the Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq. Results. The ages and weights of patients ranged from 1.5 to 25 years and 7 to 73 kg, respectively. The male-to-female ratio was 2.2 : 1. The VSD sizes ranged from 4 to 8 mm, and the median distance of the ridge from the proximal edge of the VSD was 2.5 mm. Prior to closure, 13 patients (34.2%) had mild and mild-to-moderate aortic regurgitation (AR), and nine patients (23.7%) had mild-to-moderate left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction. The mean AR pressure half-time increased significantly after intervention (from 385 ± 38 ms to 535 ± 69 ms (significant P value, 0.001)), and the mean of the peak pressure gradient across the LVOT decreased from 33 ± 7 mmHg to 15 ± 2.4 mmHg (significant P value, 0.001). Successful procedures were achieved in 33 patients (86.8%). Conclusion. Transcatheter management of patients with PM VSD and subaortic ridges with or without AR is feasible and effective

    Development of fertilizer recommendation for cabbage production in Low Ganges River Floodplain of Bangladesh

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    The study was conducted during rabi season of 2013-14 and 2014-15 at the farmers field of Farming System Research and Development (FSRD) site, Hatgobindapur, Faridpur under On-Farm Research Division (OFRD), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) to evaluate the performance of chemical fertilizers for maximum yield of cabbage and higher economic return. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with five dispersed replications. The experiment consisted of eight treatments viz. N242P120K33S19Zn1.4B0.6 kg ha-1 (100% NPKSZnB from Soil Test Based (STB) dose, T1), T1+ 25% N (T2), T1+ 25% NP (T3), T1+ 25% NK (T4), T1+ 25% PK (T5), T1+ 25% NPK (T6), 75% of T1 (T7) and Native nutrient (control, T8). The treatment 100 % NPKSZnB (STB) and additional 25% NPK (T6) treatment produced maximum head yield of cabbage (78.89 t ha-1) which was statistically identical with 100 % soil test based NPKSZnB (T1), 100 % NPKSZnB with additional 25% N (T2), 100 % NPKSZnB with additional 25% NP (T3) and 100 % NPKSZnB with additional 25% NK (T4) treatments. The lowest head yield (33.92 t ha-1) was obtained from native nutrient (control). The highest gross margin (Tk.756093.00 ha-1) was obtained from T6 (100% NPKSZnB from STB with additional 25% NPK) followed by T2 (T1 with additional 25% N) and T1 treatments. The results indicated that, the marginal rate of return (MRR) of changing from T7 to T1 was 1818% (for every Tk. 100 of additional investment Tk. 1818 was obtained) and a changing from T1 to T2 gave MRR of 319%. From the experimental results, it was concluded that application of 100% chemical fertilizers of N242P120K33S19Zn1.4B0.6 kg ha-1 from STB (T1) would be suitable for higher yield and economic return of cabbage production in calcareous soil under Low Ganges River Floodplain (Agroecological Zone 12). [Fundam Appl Agric 2018; 3(1.000): 355-362
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