Vesicles and lamella: outcome of the changing formation path of a sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate hydrate/1-decanol/water system

Vesicles are closed bilayers that enclose a part of the continuous phase inside the core. In spherical shape, they attain the minimum free energy state. Conversely, lamella with maximum free energy remain in planer bilayer shape in the colloidal dispersion. Even with the same amphiphile concentration the colloidal structures depend on different parameters, many of these already addressed in different reports. However, the effect of mixing procedure as a formation path is unidentified. Here we reported water in 1-decanol and 1-decanol in water; these two different mixing procedures yield vesicles and lamella at the same point of the phase diagram of a sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate hydrate/1-decanol/water system. It was found that the favorable and unfavorable contact of water with the weak tertiary ammonium cation in amino-acid head-group plays the crucial role in this process. Moreover, this weak cationic property of this amphoteric surfactant can be exploited to carry DNA for gene therapy with a nontoxic system instead of cationic

Micronutrient Adequacy in the Diet of Reproductive-Aged Adolescent Girls and Adult Women in Rural Bangladesh

Micronutrient deficiencies remain a serious nutritional concern in Bangladesh, especially among rural women of reproductive age (WRA). This study assesses the diet quality of reproductive-aged adolescent girls and adult women (referred to together as WRA in this study), including socio-demographic factors associated with their diet quality. The diet quality of adolescent girls was compared with that of adult women to assess which group was most at risk. The diet quality was measured by calculating the nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), using the preceding 24 h dietary recall method. The mean adequacy ratio (MAR) was calculated as an overall measure of diet quality using the NAR. Nearly three quarters of WRA (adolescents: 73.1–88.5%; adult women: 72.9–86.4%) had an inadequate intake of calcium, vitamin A, folic acid, and vitamin B12. The prevalence of inadequate dietary intakes of calcium, zinc, and energy was significantly higher in adolescent girls (p < 0.001) than in adult women. Overall diet quality was significantly better in adult women (0.51 ± 0.21, p < 0.001) than in adolescent girls (0.49 ± 0.22). Age, marital status, educational level, and monthly household income were important factors associated with the diet quality of WRA. Micronutrient inadequacy is widely prevalent in the diets of WRA in Bangladesh, and adolescent girls with poor socio-economic status and lower educational levels are at higher risk

Comparison of combined disc synergy test and double disc synergy test for phenotypic detection of metallo-ß-lactamase among the clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli

Background: Metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) have a wide spectrum of activity and they confer a higher level of resistance to all β-lactams antibiotics including Carbapenem. The active site in MBLs contains either 1 or 2 Zn2+ ions for their catalytic mechanism. All MBLs share a common feature of being inhibited by EDTA. Metallo-β-lactamase-producing gram-negative bacteria are the most important nosocomial pathogens. The present study was conducted to detect Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) production in gram-negative bacilli by Combined Disc Synergy Test (CDST) and Double Disc Synergy Test (DDST) with 0.1M EDTA as a chelator and to see their antibiotic susceptibility pattern of them.Methods: The cross-sectional observational study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Chittagong Medical College, during the period of July 2015 to June 2016. Samples were collected from patients admitted to CMCH. Standard Microbiological procedures and biochemical tests were carried out for the isolation and identification of MBL. SPSS software is used for data analysis.Results: When 66 screening positive MBL isolates were subjected to the phenotypic confirmatory test CDST detected 50 (25.4%) and DDST detected 48 (24.4%) as MBL producers. Among these isolates, we found Acinetobacter spp. 7 (100%), as the leading MBL producer followed by Pseudomonas spp. 16 (32.6%), E. coli 10 (20%) and Klebsiella spp. 15 (17.4%).Conclusions: In a laboratory where multiplex PCR molecular set-up is not available CDST and DDST are convenient phenotypic methods and can be implemented in routine microbiological laboratories as well as in primary health care setup for daily application to monitor the production of MBLs

Antibiotic resistance and sensitivity pattern of Metallo-β-Lactamase producing gram-negative Bacilli in ventilator-associated pneumonia in the intensive care unit of a public medical school hospital in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICU), accounting for 25% of all ICU infections. Antimicrobial resistance is increasing and becoming a significant health problem worldwide, increasing hospital length of stay, mortality and costs. Identifying antibiotic resistance patterns in VAP is important as this can cause outbreaks in ICUs. To date, there have been limited studies assessing this in Bangladesh. Consequently, the primary objective of this research was to study the species of bacterial growth and to determine the antibiotic resistance patterns of Metallo-β-Lactamase (MBL) producing gram-negative bacilli among ICU patients with VAP in a public medical school hospital, Bangladesh. In addition, identify the factors associated with a positive culture to provide future guidance. METHOD: Cross-sectional study performed in the Chattogram Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. Mueller Hinton agar plates were used for antibiotic sensitivity testing by the Kirby-Buer disc diffusion test. RESULTS: Among 105 clinically suspected VAP cases, qualitative cultures were positive in 95 (90%) of them. The most common bacteria identified were Acinetobacter spp. (43.2%), Klebsiella spp. (20%) and Pseudomonas spp. (18.9%). A positive culture was not associated with patients' age or gender. Among 41 isolated Acinetobacter spp., 38 (92.7%) were resistant to gentamicin followed by 36 (87.8%) to ceftriaxone. Among 24 isolated Klebsiella spp., 22 (83.3%) were resistant to ceftriaxone. Among 18 isolated Pseudomonas spp., 16 (88.8%) were resistant to ciprofloxacin, and 13 (72.2%) were resistant to ceftriaxone. Among nine isolated E.coli, all were resistant to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin. All four Proteus spp. (100%) isolated were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Additionally, phenotype MBL producing was 65.22% and genotype was 45.65% among imipenem resistant pathogens. Imipenem resistant pathogens were sensitive to amoxyclav, amikacin¸ azithromycin, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, colistin and gentamycin. CONCLUSION: A positive culture was detected in 90% of VAP patients, but it was not associated with the patients' age and gender. The most common bacteria identified were Acinetobacter spp., Klebsiella spp. and Pseudomonas spp., where the majority of these were resistant to ceftriaxone. The results are being used to provide future guidance on the empiric management of VAP in this hospital

Comparative study of CDST & multiplex PCR to detect MBL producing Gram-negative bacilli among VAP patients admitted in a public medical college hospital of Bangladesh

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most common nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICU), which accounts for 25% of all ICU infection. Documenting carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacilli is very important as these strains may often cause outbreaks in the ICU setting and are responsible for the increased mortality and morbidity or limiting therapeutic options. The classical phenotypic method cannot provide an efficient means of diagnosis of the metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) producer. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays have lessened the importance of the phenotypic approach by detecting metallo-β-lactamase resistance genes such as New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM), Imipenemase (IMP), Verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamase (VIM), Sao Paulo metallo-β-lactamase (SPM), Germany Imipenemase (GIM). Objective: To compare the results of the Combined Disc Synergy Test (CDST) with that of the multiplex PCR to detect MBL-producing gram-negative bacilli. Materials and Method: A total of 105 endotracheal aspirates (ETA) samples were collected from the ICU of a public school in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Chittagong for quantitative culture, CDST test, and multiplex PCR for blaIMP, blaVIM, blaNDM genes of MBL producers. Results: Among the 105 clinically suspected VAP cases, the quantitative culture was positive in 95 (90%) and among 95 g-negative bacilli isolated from VAP patients, 46 (48.42%) were imipenem resistant, 30 (65.22%) were MBL producers by CDST, 21 (45.65%) were identified as MBL producers by multiplex PCR. Conclusion: PCR was highly sensitive and specific for the detection of MBL producers

The Order of Limiting Amino Acids in a Wheat–Sorghum-Based Reduced-Protein Diet for Laying Hens

Understanding the order of limiting amino acids (AA) in reduced-protein (RP) diets for laying hens will facilitate precise feed formulation and ensure that AA requirements are met costeffectively. The order of the first three limiting AAs—lysine (Lys), methionine (Met), and threonine (Thr)—has been well established in RP laying hen diets. This study aimed to determine the priority order of eight additional limiting AAs (critically important AAs) when formulating wheat–sorghumbased RP diets for laying hens: tryptophan (Trp), valine (Val), isoleucine (Ile), arginine (Arg), leucine (Leu), histidine (His), phenylalanine (Phe), and glycineequivalent (Gly). A total of 330 Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly assigned to 11 dietary treatments (30 replicates of individual birds per treatment) from 20 to 39 weeks of age (WOA). Treatments were a standard-protein (17.24% CP) diet as the control (SP)" a reduced-protein (15.00% CP) diet with sufficient levels of Lys, Met, and Thr but insufficient levels of the eight experimental essential AA (RP)" a reduced-protein diet with sufficient levels of all essential AAs (RP-EAA)" and eight subsequent dietary treatments of the RP-EAA diet with one of the experimental essential AAs removed: Trp (RP-EAA-Trp), Val (RP-EAA-Val), Ile (RP-EAA-Ile), Arg (RP-EAA-Arg), Leu (RP-EAA-Leu), His (RP-EAA-His), Phe (RP-EAA-Phe), and Gly (RP-EAA-Gly). Eggs were collected and weighed daily, and feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated weekly. External and internal egg quality was measured at 29 and 39 WOA. Nutrient digestibility, serum uric acid concentration, caecal microbiota composition, and tibia parameters were measured at 40 WOA. Overall, hens fed the RP-EAA-Val, RP-EAA-Ile, and RP diets presented significantly lower egg mass compared to hens fed the SP, RP-EAA-His, and RP-EAA-Gly diets (

Preoperative needed and received information in patients undergoing thoracic surgery in Bangladesh

Thesis (M.N.S., Nursing Science)--Prince of Songkla University, 201

Inclusive Education in the Education Policies of Bangladesh and Indonesia (A Case Study in the Dhaka (Bangladesh) City and Yogyakarta (Indonesia) City)

This study was aimed at describing and exploring the national education policies of Bangladesh and Indonesia and to find out the reflections of inclusive education in those policies. The framework of the research study was formulated around the aspects of responsible authority, education provision, teacher’s qualification, student’s entrance, curriculum, medium of instruction, and evaluation procedure. In addition, the comments on these aspects from experts and implementation personnel were also counted. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied to describe and analyze the education policies of those countries. The data were collected through content analysis of the policies and questionnaire for the experts and implementation personnel of the two cities (Dhaka, Bangladesh and Yogyakarta, Indonesia). The items of the questionnaire were centered to find out the respondents’ view about the sufficiency of exiting statement in the policy and their agreement or disagreement on some issues of identified aspects. There were 2 experts related with inclusive education and 10 inclusive education implementation personnel from each of the cities. The finding showed that there was no reflection of inclusive education in the identified aspects in National Education Policy 2000 of Bangladesh and the statement in Primary Education (Compulsory) Act 1990 was found enough to implement inclusive education in Bangladesh. On the other hand, in Indonesia the Undang-Undang Sistem Pendidikan Nasional No 20 Tahun 2003 already included inclusive education as a provision of special education and the statement of Wajib Belajar (Compulsory) was found enough to implement inclusive education in Indonesia. The majority of the respondents from Dhaka city agreed strongly with the issues of taking responsibility by Ministry of Education in Bangladesh, including inclusive education under general education system, having training on inclusive education as a qualification of regular school teachers, simplifying and modifying the curriculum for special needs children, applying flexibility in evaluation procedures and teacher collaboration. The respondents however agreed slightly with the issue of medium of instruction. Furthermore, the respondents from Yogyakarta also agreed strongly to include the issues of teachers’ qualification, curriculum, evaluation procedures and medium of instruction and teacher collaboration in the national education polices and plans. Therefore, policy maker should consider issues of inclusive education in national education policies