Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B Infection among First-Time Blood Donors in Faridpur, Bangladesh: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Hepatitis B infection is a global threat for people of all age groups and is common in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. Blood donors and blood donation can present important risk for hepatitis B infection. Our objective was to identify seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus among blood donors in Faridpur, Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 719 blood donors in the Faridpur district of Bangladesh from April to July 2013. Data was collected by non-probability convenient sampling maintaining inclusion and exclusion criteria. Face-to-face interview, blood grouping test, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) screening were conducted. Results: About 30% of the blood donors were between 19 and 23 years of age, and 87.5% of them were males. Two-thirds (64.1%) of the donors were replacement donors, while the remaining 35.9% of them were voluntary donors. The overall seropositivity of HBsAg was found to be 1.5%. All infected blood donors were males. Hepatitis B infection was more prevalent in the 34–38 years age group and least prevalent among those older than 48 years of age. About 2% of replacement blood donors were infected with hepatitis B virus, compared to 0.7% among voluntary blood donors. Conclusion: Hepatitis B infection among blood donors is relatively lower than in other high-risk groups for hepatitis B infection in Bangladesh. Predominance of HBsAg among older adult groups, replacement donors, and the male gender can be a matter of public health concern

Microorganisms assisted dissolution of smelter and matte-slag products

Abstract: Optimised flotation plants in the base metals industry in Botswana produced a 3.2%Ni, 0.18%Co and 4%Cu concentrate which was smelted in electric arc furnace before the flash furnace processing. Important amount of matte started to report into the slag due the changing feed mineralogy. Selected microorganisms were used to recover nickel from the matte-slag mixture. Bacillus spp. assisted dissolution of Ni, Cu and Co from matte-slag material showed a maximum recovery of 30%, 32% and 35% respectively

Wear Analysis on Silicon Carbide Coated HSS Pin on SS Disc Substrate

AbstractWear takes predominant role in reducing the cutting life time of tool materials. This investigation focuses on the influence of Silicon Carbide nanocoating on the HSS tool material. Silicon carbide powder was coated on the high speed steel pin by using physical vapour deposition (PVD) technique. The stainless steel was selected as a work piece material. The performance parameters like volume loss, wear rate, stresses developed and temperature rise were compared between coated high speed steel pin and uncoated high speed steel pin upon machining the stainless steel disc. The performance parameters were calculated by using coefficient of friction values which were obtained from the pin on disc test. Substantial resistance to wear has been achieved by the coating. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) Analysis and Energy dispersive analysis by X-ray (EDAX) were used as characterization techniques

Case Report An Elusive Bullet in the Gastrointestinal Tract: A Rare Case of Bullet Embolism in the Gastrointestinal Tract and a Review of Relevant Literature

Bullet embolism within the gastrointestinal system is extremely rare. Such bullet injuries are infrequently covered in the general literature, but the surgeon should be aware of the phenomenon. Smaller caliber bullets are more common in civilian gunshot wound (GSW) events. These bullets are able to tumble through the gastrointestinal tract and cause perforation of the intestinal lumen which is small enough to be easily missed. Bullets retained in the abdominal cavity should not be dismissed as fixed and should be carefully monitored to ensure that they do not embolize within the bowel and cause occult lesions during their migration. We present a unique case wherein a bullet caused a minute perforation in the small bowel, before migrating to the distal colon, which resulted in late presentation of sepsis secondary to peritonitis

An elderly man presented with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia- a consequence of severe corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19)

Autoimmune hemolytic anaemia (AIHA) can be caused by many diseases like connective tissue disease, lymphoproliferative disorder, certain infections and various medications. The coronavirus disease 19(COVID-19) can cause an increased risk of thrombosis. But, the association of AIHA with COVID-19 is not well understood. Here, in this case report a 45-year-old man who presented with fever, cough, anaemia and splenomegaly. On further investigation, he was confirmed as severe COVID-19 case with AIHA. Subsequently he was managed with prednisolone with good results. BSMMU J 2021; 14 (COVID -19 Supplement): 57-5

Synthesis of substituted 3', 4' -dihyrospiro [indane-l, 2'( l' H) naphthalene]- l' -ols and their catalytic dehydrogenation

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Importance of EMT Factor ZEB1 in cDC1 “MutuDC Line” Mediated Induction of Th1 Immune Response

The role of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) factor Zeb1 is well defined in metastasis and cancer progression but it's importance in dendritic cells (DCs) is unexplored until now. For the first time we report here that Zeb1 controls immunogenic responses of CD8α+ conventional Type-I (cDC1) DCs. We found that ZEB1 expression increases significantly after TLR9 stimulation and its depletion impairs activation, co-stimulation and secretion of important cytokines like IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12 in cDC1 MutuDC line. We further confirmed our findings in primary cDC1 DCs derived from bone marrow. Co-culture of these Zeb1 knock down (KD) DCs with OT-II CD4+ T helper cells skewed their differentiation toward Th2 subtype. Moreover, adoptive transfer of activated Zeb1 KD DCs cleared intestinal worms in helminth infected mice by increasing Th2 responses in vivo. Integrative genomic analysis showed Zeb1 as an activator of immune response genes in cDC1 MutuDCs as compared to other pathway genes. In addition, differentially regulated genes in Zeb1 KD RNA-seq showed significant enrichment of Th2 activation pathways supporting our in vitro findings. Mechanistically, we showed that decreased IL-12 secreted by Zeb1 KD DCs is the plausible mechanism for increased Th2 differentiation. Collectively our data demonstrate that Zeb1 could be targeted in DCs to modulate T-cell mediated adaptive immune responses