The plight of the Bangladeshi silk industry: An empirical investigation

In spite of having a glorious history in the sericulture industry Bangladesh still is not a bright name in silk production and export. Although the agro-climatic situation in Bangladesh greatly favors the development of silk industry, Bangladesh produces very little amount of silk products every year, whereas India, situated beside Bangladesh, is the second largest producer of sericulture. To investigate the reason behind this, a questionnaire survey has been undertaken in which only the owners or managers have been considered as representatives of the industry. A total of 21 silk enterprises was randomly sampled. Data analyses show that almost 57% of the silk enterprises have less than 40 decimal of land while only 19% have more than 100 decimal of land. These enterprises provided very limited facilities for their workers and mostly depended on imported raw materials. Owners pointed out several constraints to the development of silk industry in Bangladesh including insufficient government patronization and recommended several remedial measures including that the Bangladesh Silk Board (BSB) gives out production credit without too much conditions, adoption of modern technology, and information dissemination . It is evident that government, through BSB and BSRTI (Bangladesh Silk Research and Training Institute) has to play a crucial role to pull this industry up from the brink of destruction

DNA recognition by the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium transcription factor SlyA

The Salmonella regulatory protein, SlyA is implicated in virulence, survival in macrophages and resistance to oxidative stress and anti-microbial peptides.  SlyA is a member of the MarR family of winged-helix transcription factors. Systematic mutational analysis of the SlyA operator sequence and of the predicted DNA-binding region of SlyA shows that no single base pair in the palindromic SlyA operator sequence is essential for DNA binding, and identifies amino acid residues required to allow SlyA to recognise DNA. Combining the structure-function studies described here and elsewhere with the structures of MarR family proteins suggests a possible model for regulation of SlyA binding to DNA

Karachi cancer registry (KCR): Age-standardized incidence rate by age-group and gender in a mega city of Pakistan

Objectives: To estimate the cancer incidence by age group and gender for the population of Karachi Division by analyzing the Karachi Cancer Registry data of 2017-19.Settings: The population of Karachi division is 16.1 million according to national census 2017. \u27Karachi Cancer Registry\u27 which is a part of \u27National Cancer Registry\u27 is collecting data from eight major hospitals in Karachi since 2017. For outcome measures, cancer counts and the age standardized incidence rates (ASIR) per 100,000 population were computed for age groups (0-14, 15-19 and ≥20 years), in both genders and all cancer site/type.Methods: The population denominators were based on the population of Karachi division estimated at 16.1 million in the population census, 2017. Counts and age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) were calculated for each of the three age categories.Results: From Jan 2017 till Dec 2019 a total of 33,309 malignant cases were recorded in KCR database comprising 17,490 (52.5%) females and 15,819 (47.5%) males. ASIRs in age groups 0-14, 15-19 and ≥ 20 years, among female were 11.5, 2.4 and 223.6 and in males were 17.6, 3.2 and 216.7 respectively. The commonest diagnosis in children, adolescent and adults were (1) among females: children; bone (3.12), leukemia (2.09) brain/CNS (1.26); in adolescents: bone (0.78), brain/CNS (0.27), connective and soft tissue (0.11), in adults: breast cancer (76.07), oral cancer (16.68) and ovary (10.89) respectively, and (2) among males: children; bone (4.56), leukemia (2.79) and brain/CNS (1.88); in adolescent; bone (1.19), brain/CNS (0.31) and leukemia (0.21) and in adults: oral cancer (42.83), liver (16.10) and bone (13.37) respectively.Conclusion: Oral Cancer, a largely preventable cancer is the leading cancer in Karachi adult males while in female adults Breast Cancer is the leading cancer followed by Oral Cancer. In children and adolescents Bone, Leukemia and Brain/CNS malignancies are most common.

Studies on the SlyA transcription regulators of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Combined effect of salinity and mechanical disturbance on the energy status of soft shell clam Mya arenaria

In shallow coastal areas, salinity fluctuation and sediment reworking due to wave action are two major stressors. Together these stressors can affect the ecological performances of the soft bottom organisms through affecting their energy metabolism and bioenergetics. In this data set, we estimated the energy reserves (protein, lipid and carbohydrate) and ETS capacity in soft shell clam, Mya arenaria under different salinity regime (5 psu, 15 psu and daily salinity cycle between 5 and 15 psu), exercise group (resting, burrowing and exhausted) and the interaction of salinity and exercise group

Effect of salinity acclimation on mitochondrial respiration of soft shell clam Mya arenaria

Salinity change in coastal zone is a common phenomena which can put several coastal soft bottom organisms under stressed condition. These stress could be mediated through their mitochondrial functions. In this data set, we present the effect of acclimation to three different salinity regime (normal: 15 psu, low: 5 psu and fluctuating: daily salinity cycle between 5 and 15 psu) on the mitochondrial performance (MO2) of soft shell clam, Mya arenaria. Clams were acclimated to normal, low and fluctuating salinity; the mitochondrial respiration of these clams was then measured under two different osmolarity (450 and 150 mOsm, representing 15 and 5 psu, respectively). MO2 was measured sequentially, starting with the addition of pyruvate and malate, succinate, ADP, oligomycin, CCCP, rotenon, antimycin A, TMPD and ascorbate, and finally KCN

Effect of salinity and mechanical disturbance on the energy status and mitochondrial respiration of soft shell clam Mya arenaria

Bioturbation of sediments by burrowing organisms plays a key role in the functioning of coastal ecosystems. Burrowing is considered an energetically expensive activity, yet the energy costs of burrowing and the potential impacts of multiple stressors (such as salinity stress and wave action) on bioenergetics and burrowing performance of marine bioturbators are not well understood. We investigated the effects of mechanical disturbance and salinity stress on the burrowing behavior, aerobic capacity and energy expense of digging in a common marine bioturbator, the soft-shell clam Mya arenaria from the Baltic Sea (control salinity 15). Mya arenaria showed large individual variability in the burrowing efficiency, with an average of ~7% of the body energy reserves used per burial. Clams with higher mitochondrial capacity and lower energy expenditure per burial showed higher endurance. Acclimation for 3-4 weeks to low (5) or fluctuating (5-15) salinity reduced the burrowing speed and the number of times the clams can rebury but did not affect the mitochondrial capacity of the whole body or the gill. Acclimation to the fluctuating salinity shifted the predominant fuel use for burrowing from proteins to lipids. Our data indicate that the reduced burrowing performance of clams under the salinity stress is not due to the limitations of energy availability or aerobic capacity but must involve other mechanisms (such as impaired muscle performance). The reduction in the burrowing capacity of clams due to salinity stress may have important implications for survival, activity and ecological functions of the clams in shallow coastal ecosystems

Effect of salinity on burrowing behavior of soft shell clams Mya arenaria

Salinity changes in coastal zones is a frequent phenomena and coastal soft bottom organisms withstand these changes in a daily basis. This fluctuation in salinity can affect the ecological functions (like, bioturbation) of many organisms (bivalves, worms, polychaetes). In this dataset we present the effect of three different salinity regimes (normal: 15 psu, low: 5 psu and fluctuating: daily salinity cycles between 5 and 15 psu) on the burrowing capability (average burial time, number of times the animal can burry before exhaustion) of soft shell clams, Mya arenaria

Effects of hypoxia and reoxygenation on the intermediary metabolites of Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas

Coastal ecosystems are periodically exposed to short- and long-term hypoxia. Coastal organisms are thus exposed to these hypoxic conditions, though, many intertidal species are tolerant to this situation. The hypoxia tolerant species can endure hypoxia through metabolic rate depression. However, the effect of hypoxia and the following reoxygenation phase on the homeostasis of the intermediate metabolites are yet to be understood. In this study, we focused on the effects of 1 day and 6 days of hypoxia and 1 hour of reoxygenation after each hypoxic conditions on the homeostasis of the intermediate metabolites in the gill and helatopancreas tissue of two intertidal species, Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas. According to our findings, the effect of hypoxia and reoxygenation on the intermediate metabolites in hypoxia tolerant C. gigas were (s)lower compared to the more sensitive M. edulis. The observed changes in multiple metabolic pathways were consistent with the higher resistance to oxidative injury during hypoxia-reoxygenation