Population assessment of the endangered Western Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolock Harlan, 1834 at Sheikh Jamal Inani National Park, Bangladesh, and conservation significance of this site for threatened wildlife species

Sheikh Jamal Inani National Park (Inani) is a wildlife habitat in Bangladesh located under the Cox’s Bazar South Forest Division, Cox’s Bazar. It constitutes significant habitat for the charismatic and globally ‘Endangered’ Western Hoolock Gibbon Hoolock hoolockin Bangladesh. Here, we show that Inani is a poorly-known gibbon habitat with a population of seven groups, comprising a total of 18 individuals. Among them, 77.8% were adults (males and females), and 11.1%, 5.6%, and 5.6% were sub-adults, juveniles, and infants, respectively, indicating low reproductive output. Five of seven groups had no offspring present in the group, and the mean group size of 2.57 individuals/group is low compared to other habitats in Bangladesh. Beside Western Hoolock Gibbon, Inani is home to many threatened wildlife species. The first record of the Slaty-backed Flycatcher Ficedula erithacus in Bangladesh occurred in Inani, adding this new species to the national bird checklist of Bangladesh. The presence of the globally ‘Endangered’ Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Phayre’s Langur Trachypithecus phayrei, & Elongated Tortoise Indotestudo elongata and the globally ‘Vulnerable’ Northern Pig-tailed Macaque Macaca leonina, Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus, Indian Leopard Panthera pardus, & Asiatic Softshell Turtle Amyda cartilaginea highlight the importance of Inani as a conservation area in Bangladesh. The Western Hoolock Gibbon and other threatened wildlife of Inani are now on the verge of local extinction due to a sharp increase in forest resource extraction resulting from the recent influx of large numbers of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, many of whom have settled around Inani. Through stakeholder interviews in the area, we have identified feasible and measurable conservation actions at Inani that are urgently needed to prevent further loss of wildlife and to protect this important gibbon habitat

The present status and distribution of Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis aurea (Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in Bangladesh

An investigation was carried out to determine the present status of the Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fasiculularis aurea I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1830) in the mangrove coastal belt along the Naf river of Teknaf, Chakaria Sunderbans and Maheshkhali Island of Bangladesh. Eighteen visits were made from July 2007 to February 2011 and one group of three macaques was found at Keruntoli near Teknaf Port living within the home of 7.91 ha

Occurrence of the red giant flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista: Sciuridae) in Bangladesh

This report confirms the presence of the red giant flying squirrel Petaurista petaurista from the Idgarh Reserve Forest in Cox's Bazar (North) Forest Division in the southern part of Bangladesh. The chestnut-red dorsal body colour, white ventral surface, large and flesh-coloured nostrils, and gray long tail with blackish tip confirm the observed species as a red giant flying squirrel. Long-term monitoring, habitat protection and its ecology need to be studied for initiating further steps to conserve it in Bangladesh

Growth of binder-free highly efficient supercapacitors electrode materials based on nickel sulfide nanostructures anchored on hierarchical nickel foam

The synthesis of highly efficient supercapacitor electrode materials (E-Ms) based on innovative nanostructured nickel sulfide is necessarily to reduce the energy crises. Herein, the highly efficient E-Ms based on nickel sulfide nanostructures are synthesized by a simple, home-made and cost-effective chemical vapor deposition technique. The values of structural parameters like peak intensity (292.63–359.58) and crystallite size (36.78–39.06 nm) of nickel sulfide E-Ms are increased while the values of dislocation density (7.46–6.55 nm−2) are decreased with increasing weight of sulfur powder. The microstructural features of nickel sulfide E-Ms is changed from irregular nano-sheets to nanoclusters with increasing weight of sulfur powder. The values of electrochemical parameters like specific capacitance (calculated from cyclic voltammetry and galvanometric charge–discharge profiles) of nanostructured nickel sulfide E-Ms are ranged from 5139 to 2804 F/g at 1 mVs−1 and 3079–1246 at 12 A/g respectively. The values of energy density are found to 52–28 Wh/kg (at power density = 2100 W/kg) are decreased to 21–7 Wh/kg (at power density = 6144 W/kg) with increasing weight of sulfur power (50–100 mg) respectively. The excellent cyclic stability and capacity retention (99–93 %) of nanostructured nickel sulfide E-Ms are observed. The appearance of negligibly small semicircle in electrochemical impedance analysis (in high frequency region) and the small equivalent series resistance (0.33–0.38 Ω) confirm the nanostructured nickel sulfide E-Ms can be used as highly efficient pseudocapacitor with 74 % capacitive nature. The Dunn’s Model simulation also predicts that the capacitive contribution of nanostructured nickel sulfide E-Ms is increased up to 74 % with increasing scan rates and thus can be used as highly efficient pseudocapacitor in portable energy storage devices. Results demonstrate that the highly electrochemical efficient pseudocapacitor based on nanostructures nickel sulfide can be synthesized by the said simple technique

Peningkatan Promosi Lembaga Pendidikan Melalui Pendampingan Pembuatan Website Sekolah

Utilization of information technology is urgently needed to keep up with the rapidly changing times, one of which is the distribution of information that can be accessed quickly and easily by everyone via the internet. The existence of this information is also expected as part of the promotion of the achievements achieved by the agency or organization, as part of the existence of the agency or organization. The existence of an organization is also influenced by the advanced use of information technology by the organization, one of which is the use of the website. School is one of the educational organizations that would be able to develop a website. With the presence of a website in schools, it will help convey school information to the public, which can indirectly increase the credibility of the school in the eyes of the community in its seriousness to improve the quality of education. Promotion improvement through Assistance in Making School Websites at SDN Dukuharum is carried out through several stages, namely design, implementation, and evaluation. Through assistance in the creation of a school website, which was created with this partner, it has an influence on increasing the promotion of SDN Dukuharum, so that it can also have an impact on increasing its achievement. Partners have high enthusiasm in the process of assisting the creation of school websites as promotional media. The impact of this assistance is that teachers and staff are able to operate the website that has been created. so that when the implementation of community service is complete, partners can independently operate the website. Partners through the use of the school's website can carry out public services at SDN Dukuharum in a more modern way and can continue to increase the credibility of the agency by utilizing the management information system. Keywords: mentoring, website creation, promotio

DNA barcoding elucidates the population genetic diversity of venomous cobra species (Reptilia: Elapidae) in Indo-Bangladesh region

The DNA barcode data of venomous cobra species (Naja naja and Naja kaouthia) are limited in the global database, especially from India and Bangladesh. Owing to the rapid success of DNA barcoding for discriminating a variety of species around the world, the present study aimed to generate the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene information of two morphologically identified deadly elapid species from the Mizoram state in northeast India and Rangpur in northern Bangladesh. The multiple species delimitation methods: Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), General Mixed Yule-Coalescent (GMYC), and Poisson-Tree-Processes (bPTP) revealed 14, 16, and 18 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) for 12 Naja species. The binocellate cobra, N. naja showed monophyletic clustering in both maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian (BA) trees, single MOTU in ABGD and GMYC, and negligible intra-species genetic distance (0.2%) with two haplotypes. However, the monocellate cobra, N. kaouthia showed paraphyletic and polytomy in ML and BA phylogenies respectively; more than one MOTUs in ABGD, GMYC, and bPTP analyses; and sufficient intra-species genetic distances (0.6–2.3%) with five haplotypes related to the diverse geographical locations in Bangladesh, China, India, and Thailand. By superimposing the executed species delimitation criteria, the present molecular-based investigation concludes the presence of cryptic diversity of N. kaouthia in Indo-Bangladesh, China, and Thailand

Snake bite in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh: a study of bitten patients who developed no signs of systemic envenoming.

The demographics, epidemiology, first aid, clinical management, treatment and outcome of snake bites causing no significant signs of systemic envenoming were documented in Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh, between May 1999 and October 2002. Among 884 patients admitted, 350 were systemically envenomed and 534 were without signs of either systemic or significant local envenoming. The average age of patients with physical evidence of snake bite but no systemic envenoming was 26.4 years. Most had been bitten on their feet or hands. Ligatures had been applied proximal to the bite site in >95% of cases and the bite site had been incised in 13%. Patients were typically discharged at 24h. Those with clinical signs of systemic envenoming resembled the non-envenomed cases demographically and epidemiologically except that they arrived at hospital significantly later than non-envenomed patients, having spent longer with traditional healers. No non-envenomed patient was treated with antivenom and none went on to develop symptoms of systemic envenoming after discharge. The potential complications and confusing signs caused by ligatures and incision demand that all patients admitted with a history of snake bite be kept under observation for 24h after admission even if they have no signs of systemic envenoming

Electrospun Nanofiber/Textile Supported Composite Membranes with Improved Mechanical Performance for Biomedical Applications

Textile-supported nanocomposite as a scaffold has been extensively used in the medical field, mainly to give support to weak or harmed tissues. However, there are some challenges in fabricating the nanofiber/textile composite, i.e., suitable porous structure with defined pore size, less skin contact area, biocompatibility, and availability of degradable materials. Herein, polyamide-6 (PA) nanofibers were synthesized using needleless electrospinning with the toothed wheel as a spinneret. The electrospinning process was optimized using different process and solution parameters. In the next phase, optimized PA nanofiber membranes of optimum fiber diameter with uniform distribution and thickness were used in making nanofiber membrane–textile composite. Different textile fabrics (woven, non-woven, knitted) were developed. The optimized nanofiber membranes were combined with non-woven, woven, and knitted fabrics to make fabric-supported nanocomposite. The nanofiber/fabric composites were compared with available market woven and knitted meshes for mechanical properties, morphology, structure, and chemical interaction analysis. It was found that the tear strength of the nanofiber/woven composite was three times higher than market woven mesh, and the nanofiber/knitted composite was 2.5 times higher than market knitted mesh. The developed composite structures with woven and knitted fabric exhibited improved bursting strength (613.1 and 751.1 Kpa), tensile strength (195.76 and 227.85 N), and puncture resistance (68.76 and 57.47 N), respectively, than market available meshes. All these properties showed that PA nanofibers/textile structures could be utilized as a composite with multifunctional properties

Harnessing the antimicrobial potential of natural starch and mint extract in PVA-based biodegradable films against staphylococcus aureus bacteria

Sustainable packaging solutions are of paramount importance in addressing the environmental challenges posed by conventional non-biodegradable materials. This study addresses this critical need by introducing a novel approach to crafting antimicrobial biodegradable polymer films. Leveraging the benefits of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a base material, combined with corn-starch (CS) and mint extract (ME), these films offer a compelling synergy of eco-friendliness, antimicrobial efficacy, and mechanical strength. The antimicrobial property was imparted by adding mint extract, and boric acid (BA) was added as a cross-linker for better mechanical properties. All process was done by solution casting method followed by mechanical stirring. After 7 days, starch-PVA blend showed 50% weight loss; however, after adding mint extract, the action of microbes was reduced, and a 50% reduction in weight was observed after 12 days. The excellent mechanical properties were achieved by adding 10% aqueous solution of BA as a cross-linker. The confirmation of BA in the blend was done by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to check the thermal properties of the films. Antimicrobial results showed that mint extract was resistant to staphylococcus aureus bacteria. These biodegradable films offer a multifaceted solution, aligning with sustainability objectives, showcasing antimicrobial potential, and demonstrating mechanical robustness. As such, they hold promise for a diverse array of applications, particularly in the realm of environmentally conscious food packaging. In the pursuit of greener alternatives, these films stand as a testament to innovative materials engineering that harmonizes functionality with ecological responsibility

Bites by the Monocled Cobra, Naja kaouthia, in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh : epidemiology, clinical features of envenoming and management of 70 identified cases

We describe 70 cases of monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia) bite admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. The biting snakes were identified by examining the dead snake and/or detecting N. kaouthia venom antigens in patients' serum. Bites were most common in the early morning and evening during the monsoon (May-July). Ligatures were routinely applied to the bitten limb before admission. Thirty-seven patients consulted traditional healers, most of whom made incisions around the bite site. Fifty-eight patients experienced severe neurotoxicity and most suffered swelling and pain of the bitten limb. The use of an Indian polyvalent antivenom in patients exhibiting severe neurotoxicity resulted in clinical improvement but most patients experienced moderate-to-severe adverse reactions. Antivenom did not influence local blistering and necrosis appearing in 19 patients; 12 required debridement. Edrophonium significantly improved the ability of patients to open the eyes, endurance of upward gaze, and peak expiratory flow rate suggesting that a longer-acting anticholinesterase drug (neostigmine) could be recommended for first aid. The study suggested that regionally appropriate antivenom should be raised against the venoms of the major envenoming species of Bangladesh and highlighted the need to improve the training of staff of local medical centers and to invest in the basic health infrastructure in rural communities