The Chittagong story: studies on the ecology of rat floods and bamboo masting

Rodent population outbreaks due to the 50-year cycle of gregarious flowering and seed masting of Melocanna baccifera were first noted in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh during the crop production cycle of 2008. The wave of flowering has steadily moved southward through the region each year, with seed masting still occurring in some areas of the CHT during 2010. Because of a lack of surveillance, it is not yet known whether all Melocanna bamboo forests across the region have now initiated flowering. Ecological surveys carried out during the masting event have provided some preliminary evidence that nearly all rodent species are able to exploit Melocanna bamboo seeds as a food resource, with nearly 30% of the seed fallen in forests damaged by rodents. Breeding potential of the predominant species found, Rattus rattus, appears to confirm that aseasonal breeding occurs due to the abundant supply of bamboo seed during masting events. These preliminary results obtained from ongoing research surveys are discussed in the context of the management response to the regional famine triggered by the severe crop damage caused by rodent population outbreaks

Effect of different orchard management practices on the growth and production of rejuvenated of pomegranates (Punica granatum L.) cv. Kandhari Kabuli

Orchard management practices are the most important cultural tools for successful and sustainable cultivation of any fruit crop including pomegranate. Orchard management systems have an effect on growth, yield and fruit quality through their smoothening effects on the availability of nutrients, conservation of moisture and reduction of weed competition. Orchard management practices treatments viz., five orchard floor management treatments viz., T1: Grass mulch (10 cm thick), T2: Black polythene mulch, T3: Clean basin + Herbicidal treatment (Glyphosate 7ml/ litre), T4: Ridge basin + Grass mulch and T5: Control (No mulching). The results of the experiment, black several that polythene mulch proved to be most effective in increasing plant growth (51.80 cm), yield (13.05 kg/plant) of superior fruits and also in conservation of soil moisture. Grass mulch was better when compared to other orchard floor man-agement practices in terms of growth (47.00 cm) and yield (12.35 kg). The orders of the orchard floor management practices in moisture conservation are: black polythene mulch 13.51 %> grass mulch 12.38 % > ridge basin + grass mulch 9.31% > clean basin + Herbicidal treatment (Glyphosate 7 ml/litre) 9.20 %> control 7.64 %. Orchard floor management treatments did not exert any significant effect in controlling bacterial blight disease on leaf and fruit surface

Surveillance of the Disease Incidence and Severity of Papaya Ringspot Virus at Four Selected Districts of Bangladesh

An experiment was conducted to survey the prevalence of disease incidence and severity of Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) at eight locations of four districts in Bangladesh. Papaya is one of the most popular fruits in the world. It suffers from several diseases including fungi, bacteria, nematodes and viruses. Among them, viral diseases are found to cause considerable yield loss, with the most important one being PRSV. The survey was conducted at three plain districts and one hill tract area from July 2016 to December 2016. During the survey period, six different symptoms were found in the selected fields and were identified as PRSV based on symptomology. These symptoms were mild mosaic (MM), mosaic (MO), severe mosaic (SM), fern leaf (FL), leaf distortion (LD) and vein clearing (VC). The highest disease incidence (36.24%) was found in BSMRAU farm in Gazipur whereas the lowest (12.04%) was found in Panchari, Khagrachari hill tract. The maximum severity (11.53%) was found in BSMRAU campus, Gazipur on the country and the lowest severity (2.50%) was found in Panchari, Khagrachari hill tract. The yield and yield contributing parameters of papaya found to be differ significantly among the surveyed area. The lowest fruit weight (324.3 gm) due to PRSV infection was recorded in BSMRAU, Gazipur while the highest fruit weight (643.6 gm) was conducted in SAU Campus, Dhaka

Rat floods and water floods: the ecological and sociological dynamics of rodent management in Bangladesh

Chakma, N., Belmain, S.R., Sarker, N.J., Sarker, S.U., Kamal, N.Q., Sarker, S.K

Globalization and Health: developing the journal to advance the field

Founded in 2005, Globalization and Health was the first open access global health journal. The journal has since expanded the field, and its influence, with the number of downloaded papers rising 17-fold, to over 4 million. Its ground-breaking papers, leading authors -including a Nobel Prize winner- and an impact factor of 2.25 place it among the top global health journals in the world. To mark the ten years since the journal’s founding, we, members of the current editorial board, undertook a review of the journal’s progress over the last decade. Through the application of an inductive thematic analysis, we systematically identified themes of research published in the journal from 2005 to 2014. We identify key areas the journal has promoted and consider these in the context of an existing framework, identify current gaps in global health research and highlight areas we, as a journal, would like to see strengthened

Patient pathways and perceptions of hypertension treatment, management, and control in rural Bangladesh: a qualitative study

Aliya Naheed,1,* Victoria Haldane,2,* Tazeen H Jafar,3,4 Nantu Chakma,1 Helena Legido-Quigley2 On behalf of the COBRA-BPS Study Group 1Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr), Dhaka, Bangladesh; 2Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore; 3Program for Health Services and Systems Research, Duke NUS Medical School, Singapore; 4Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Hypertension is an increasing threat to global public health, a leading cause of premature death, and an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Despite evidence on the efficacy of antihypertensive medication for blood-pressure control and mortality prevention, a large proportion of individuals are undiagnosed and untreated, especially in resource-constrained settings. This qualitative study explored patient pathways to care, as well as knowledge of and adherence to hypertension care. Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 hypertensive patients in two rural districts in Bangladesh. Interviews were conducted and transcribed in Bangla and translated to English. QSR NVivo 10 software was used for analyses. We mapped patient pathways and report here on patient experiences accessing care from local pharmacies, the government, and private clinics. Results: Overall, most patients reported hypertension awareness prior to diagnosis and were conscious about consequences of hypertension. However, patients had little knowledge about prevention and treatment strategies. Most patients considered hypertension an important disease, albeit reporting taking medication only when symptomatic. Patients were aware of dietary advice; however, they were largely sedentary. Qualified doctors in both private and government settings diagnosed hypertension in the majority of the patients, and some were diagnosed by an informal provider and a few reported self-care at home. Patients followed three pathways: specialized hospitals for acute care, private hospitals/local pharmacy for nonacute symptoms, and incidental hypertension identification while being treated for another condition. Conclusion: We identify barriers to access to hypertension prevention and care that prevented patients from seeking and receiving treatment from government facilities. Challenges included a lack of support to enable community screening by government health workers, long waiting times, and inadequate supplies for hypertension treatment. Expanding community-health workers’ scope in the dissemination of chronic-disease information may improve patient pathways to hypertension care in rural communities in Bangladesh. Keywords: Bangladesh, hypertension, diagnosis, awareness, medication, barrier, qualitativ