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

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

First report on black spot disease of Phyllanthus emblica L. fruits caused by Thielaviopsis paradoxa in Bangladesh

Fruit spot disease of Phyllanthus emblica L. is one of theproblems, which reduce the quality of the fruits at pre-harvest period. Fungal pathogen was isolated using tissue planting methods during November 2016 to December 2017. The fungus, Thielaviopsis paradoxa was identified using both morphological and molecular characterization based on internal transcribe spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Mycelial growth of the isolated fungus was evaluated on six different fungal culture media viz, potato sucrose agar (PSA), Richard agar (RA), carrot agar (CA), potato dextrose agar (PDA), honey peptone agar (HPA) and Hansen’s agar (HA) in which RA and HPA media provided the utmost growth. The optimum temperature of the fungus was recorded at 25 to 35ºC. Alternate cycle of 12h/12h light dark and neutral to basic pH was preferred by the studied fungus. Aqueous crude extracts of three plants (garlic, black cumin, and turmeric) were evaluated against the isolated fungus in which the highest inhibition was recorded due to garlic extract. Two food preservatives (sodium benzoate and vinegar) were also tested in which sodium benzoate (100 mM) was most efficient for the inhibition of T. paradoxa. Therefore, garlic and food preservative-sodium benzoate could be used to control this fungal growth associated with amla fruits. To the best of our knowledge, occurrence of T. paradoxa on amla fruits is a new record in Bangladesh. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(2): 38-46, December 202

WLAN performance evaluation in different wireless access techniques (DCF, PCF, HCF)

IEEE 802.11x Wireless Local-Area-Network (WLAN) considered a powerful solution for the last mile wireless broadband(BB) access. WLAN becomes important element in 4G and 5G mobile networks because it can provide services to mobile users in areas not covered by eNBs. However, the 802.11 legacy protocol doesn’t support delay-sensitive services like VoIP because it adopts the best-effort method. In 2001 IEEE 802.11e standard was proposed to deploy QoS with new access techniques introduction. There are many parameters related to MAC layer which affect the WLAN network performance from the prospective of delay, and throughput. This study presents performance evaluation of voice traffic and FTP traffic in IEEE802.11 legacy protocol WLAN and IEEE802.11e WLAN via OPNET computer simulation. Network performance will be tested against different MAC access protocols and different MAC parameters

Solar pump irrigation system for green agriculture

Ever increasing fuel cost and doubtful availability of electricity hampers the irrigated crop production. Solar pump may be an alternative for irrigation for crop production especially in the off-grid areas. This paper presents the technical and economic suitability of solar pump irrigations of rice and no-rice crops in Bangladesh. Four submersible solar pumps (1050 Wp) were installed in different locations for irrigating rice, wheat and vegetables. The solar pump was used for drip irrigation and furrow irrigation for cultivation of brinjal and tomato during the winter seasons of 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13. There were no significant differences of yields of brinjal between drip and furrow irrigations in the year 2010-11 in Gazipur and during 2011-12 in Jamalpur. But in 2012-13, significantly higher yield of brinjal was obtained from drip irrigated plots (43.86 t/ha) than furrow irrigated plots (38.60 t/ha). There were no significant differences of yields of tomato between drip and furrow irrigation methods in Jamalpur. Significantly higher yields of tomato were found in Gazipur from drip irrigated plots than those of furrow irrigated plots in both the year 2011-12 and 2012-13. Water savings by drip irrigation over furrow irrigation for brinjal and tomato were 53.25% and 56.16%, respectively. The yield of summer tomato had been found 33.73 t/ha in drip irrigated plot and 31.86 t/ha in furrow irrigated plot during the period of 2011-12. Waters required by drip and furrow irrigation methods were 225 mm and 429 mm, respectively. For cultivation of wheat about 430 mm water was required and the yield was 3.00 t/ha. Boro rice was cultivated in Magura and Barisal during 2011-12 and 2012-13. During the cropping season total water requirement for boro rice cultivation in Magura was 1024 mm and in Barisal it was 1481 mm. Cultivations of solar irrigated wheat (BCR 2.31), tomato (BCR 2.22) and brinjal (BCR 2.34) were economically profitable but cultivation of boro rice with solar pump was not economically profitable (BCR 0.31). Solar is an environmentally sound and green irrigation technology

An Action Plan for Adaptation in Bangladesh Agriculture under Climate Change

This report is the outcome of a study titled 'An Action Plan for Adaptation in Bangladesh Agriculture under Climate Change', carried out with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). This report prepared by the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) delineates an action plan to prioritize adaptation options after considering the inputs by experts and scrutiny by stakeholders. It aims to promote precision agriculture and commercialization of crop agriculture with strong institutional and financial footing to tackle climate change

The Protective Role of Black Seeds (Nigella sativa) on the Tissues of Liver and Kidney in Female Rabbits Treated with Green Lean Body Capsule

The seeds of Nigella sativa (Ranunculaceae herbaceous plant), commonly known as black seed or black cumin, are used as herbal medicine all over the world for the treatment and prevention of a number of disease and conditions like asthma, diarrhea and dyslipidaemia. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of Nigella sativa in protection of the liver and kidney tissues against pathological changes caused by green lean body capsule in female rabbits. Fifteen female rabbits were involved in this study and were divided randomly into three groups (5 rabbits in each group) and treated as following daily for 30 days: control group drenched with 1ml normal saline orally; T1 group: drenched with (4.2mg/kg) of green lean body capsule orally; T2 group: drenched with green lean body capsule (4.2mg/kg) in addition to black seed (28mg/kg) orally. The (T1) group which received green lean body capsule only revealed approximately dominant destruction of liver and kidney tissues. While, group (T2) which received green lean body capsule in addition to black seeds revealed very mild destruction as compared with T1. On conclusion it seems likely that black seeds provided an excellent protection to liver and kidney tissues against oxidative stress of green lean body capsule

Activation of native TRPC1/C5/C6 channels by endothelin-1 is mediated by both PIP3 and PIP2 in rabbit coronary artery myocytes

We investigate activation mechanisms of native TRPC1/C5/C6 channels (termed TRPC1 channels) by stimulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptor subtypes in freshly dispersed rabbit coronary artery myocytes using single channel recording and immunoprecipitation techniques. ET-1 evoked non-selective cation channel currents with a unitary conductance of 2.6 pS which were not inhibited by either ET(A) or ET(B) receptor antagonists, respectively BQ-123 and BQ788, when administered separately. However, in the presence of both antagonists, ET-1-evoked channel activity was abolished indicating that both ET(A) and ET(B) receptor stimulation activate this conductance. Stimulation of both ET(A) and ET(B) receptors evoked channel activity which was inhibited by the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor chelerythrine and by anti-TRPC1 antibodies indicating that activation of both receptor subtypes causes TRPC1 channel activation by a PKC-dependent mechanism. ET(A) receptor-mediated TRPC1 channel activity was selectively inhibited by phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI-3-kinase) inhibitors wortmannin (50 nm) and PI-828 and by antibodies raised against phosphoinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP(3)), the product of PI-3-kinase-mediated phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)). Moreover, exogenous application of diC8-PIP(3) stimulated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. These results indicate that stimulation of ET(A) receptors evokes PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity through activation of PI-3-kinase and generation of PIP(3). In contrast, ET(B) receptor-mediated TRPC1 channel activity was inhibited by the PI-phospholipase C (PI-PLC) inhibitor U73122. 1-Oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol (OAG), an analogue of diacylglycerol (DAG), which is a product of PI-PLC, also activated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. OAG-induced TRPC1 channel activity was inhibited by anti-phosphoinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)) antibodies and high concentrations of wortmannin (20 μm) which depleted tissue PIP(2) levels. In addition exogenous application of diC8-PIP(2) activated PKC-dependent TRPC1 channel activity. These data indicate that stimulation of ET(B) receptors evokes PKC-dependent TRPC1 activity through PI-PLC-mediated generation of DAG and requires a permissive role of PIP(2). In conclusion, we provide the first evidence that stimulation of ET(A) and ET(B) receptors activate native PKC-dependent TRPC1 channels through two distinct phospholipids pathways involving a novel action of PIP(3), in addition to PIP(2), in rabbit coronary artery myocytes

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

© 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

Morpho butterfly-inspired optical diffraction, diffusion, and bio-chemical sensing

Morpho-butterfly is well-known for the blue colouration in its tiny wing scales and finds applications in colour filters, anti-reflecting coatings and optical devices. Herein, the structural optical properties of the Morpho peleides-butterfly wing scales were examined through light reflection, diffraction and optical diffusion. The light diffraction property from wing scales was investigated through experiments and computation modelling. Broadband reflection variation was observed from different parts of the dorsal wings at broadband light illumination due to tiny structural variations, as verified by electronic microscopic images. The periodic nanostructures showed well-defined first-order diffraction through monochromatic (red, green and blue) and broadband light at normal illumination. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embedded with Morpho peleides-butterfly wing scales acts as an optical diffuser to produce soft light. Light diffraction and diffusion properties were measured by angle-resolve experiments, followed by computational modelling. The maximum optical diffusion property at ∼185° from the wing scales was observed using broadband light at normal illumination. Finally, Morpho peleides-butterfly based submicron nanostructures were utilized to demonstrate bio-inspired chemical sensing