Adsorption, kinetics, and thermodynamic studies of cacao husk extracts in waterless sustainable dyeing of cotton fabric

Natural dyes exhibit a low dye uptake when cellulosic fiber dyeing is carried out using a conventional water bath dyeing process. In this research, cotton fabric was exhaust dyed in a microemulsion dyebath containing cacao husk extracts dye and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) to achieve higher dye exhaustion percentage on cotton fiber, which is an environmentally beneficial dyeing process. The adsorption behavior of cacao husk extract dye in a D5 microemulsion system was investigated under conditions of varied dye mass (1–8% o.w.f), dyeing time (5–500 min), and dyeing temperatures (333–373 K). Kinetic modelling of cacao husk extracts dye/D5 adsorption on cotton fiber was studied by fitting experimental data to pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetics, and the intraparticle diffusion model. Early results indicated that the kinetic model of adsorption of cacao husk extracts dye on cotton fiber followed the pseudo second-order model. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin–Radushkevich adsorption isotherm models were employed to analyze the adsorption isotherms, and the results showed that the adsorption process fit well with the Langmuir model compared to the Freundlich isotherm. The mean adsorption energy from the Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm model implied that adsorption of the cacao husk extracts onto cotton was accompanied with a physical process. The values of standard enthalpy (ΔH° > 0), standard entropy (ΔS° > 0), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG° < 0) strongly reflected that the adsorption of the cacao husk extracts onto cotton was thermodynamically favourable and feasible. Thus, waterless dyeing of cotton fabric using a natural dye/D5 system explores a sustainable dyeing technology with higher dye exhaustion percentage

Research prioritisation on prevention and management of preterm birth in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) with a special focus on Bangladesh using the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method

Background Fifteen million babies are born preterm globally each year, with 81% occurring in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of newborn deaths and significantly impact health, quality of life, and costs of health services. Improving outcomes for newborns and their families requires prioritising research for developing practical, scalable solutions, especially in low-resource settings such as Bangladesh. We aimed to identify research priorities related to preventing and managing preterm birth in LMICs for 2021-2030, with a special focus on Bangladesh. Methods We adopted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method to set research priorities for preventing and managing preterm birth. Seventy-six experts submitted 490 research questions online, which we collated into 95 unique questions and sent for scoring to all experts. A hundred and nine experts scored the questions using five pre-selected criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, maximum potential for burden reduction, and effect on equity. We calculated weighted and unweighted research priority scores and average expert agreement to generate a list of top-ranked research questions for LMICs and Bangladesh. Results Health systems and policy research dominated the top 20 identified priorities for LMICs, such as understanding and improving uptake of the facility and community-based Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), promoting breastfeeding, improving referral and transport networks, evaluating the impact of the use of skilled attendants, quality improvement activities, and exploring barriers to antenatal steroid use. Several of the top 20 questions also focused on screening high-risk women or the general population of women, understanding the causes of preterm birth, or managing preterm babies with illnesses (jaundice, sepsis and retinopathy of prematurity). There was a high overlap between research priorities in LMICs and Bangladesh. Conclusions This exercise, aimed at identifying priorities for preterm birth prevention and management research in LMICs, especially in Bangladesh, found research on improving the care of preterm babies to be more important in reducing the burden of preterm birth and accelerating the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3 target of newborn deaths, by 2030

Cytotoxicity study of some indophenines and isatin derivatives

Eight indophenines were synthesized for the interest of studying biological activity especially for cytotoxicity. The cytotoxicity of some indophenines and some isatin derivatives was studied by the brine shrimp lethality bioassay. It was observed that all the indophenines from thiophene, thiazol and isatin derivatives showed potential cytotoxicity against brine shrimp nauplii and the Structure Activity Relationships (SAR) of these compounds have been reported

Characteristics of multi drug resistant tuberculosis cases at a selected tertiary level hospital

Background: This study was carried out to determine the characteristics of MDR-TB cases under treatment at National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH), Mohakhali, Dhaka. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study among 442 diagnosed MDR-TB patients admitted in NIDCH of which 303 MDR-TB patients were included as respondents. The respondents were selected purposively and they were interviewed with duly pre-tested research instruments. Results: Among the study populations (303), all were resistant to H &amp; R and 149 (57.7%) consumed standard drugs regimen contained H, R, E &amp; S. In addition the factors related to develop MDR-TB mostly as non-compliance, overcrowding and exposure to MDR-TB were 190 (73.7%), 261 (86.1%) and 81 (26,7%) respectively. In this study, time interval between completed anti-TB treatment and diagnosis of MDR-TB found 01 to 06 years among 55.4% respondents. Moreover tools used for diagnosis of MDR-TB were found in 258 (85.1%) as smear for AFB, Gene expert tests and Culture. Age group 16 to 30 yrs 184 (60.7%), income group 10001 to 20000 taka per month 143 (47.2%), educational qualification class VI-X 72 (23.8%) and urban population 180 (59.4%) were affected more. The association between type of house, crowding status and occurrence of MDR-TB were found statistically significant (p&lt;0.05) but source of drugs, compliance of treatment, availability of drugs and occurrence of MDR-TB shown statistically highly significant, (p&lt;.001). Correlation with age, family income and time gap of diagnosis MDR-TB was statistically significant (p&lt;0.05). Principal. Conclusion: Study findings demands establishment of standard diagnostics procedures/laboratories at all secondary and tertiary care hospitals and TB clinics in the country in support of uniformity of intervention therapy

Reductive Detriflylation of <i>N</i>‑Triflylamides with Red-Al

Reduction of <i>cis</i>-<i>N</i>-triflylaziridines with 10 equiv of Red-Al in toluene at −40 to 0 °C selectively afforded corresponding deprotected parent aziridines in good to high yields. <i>N,N</i>-Dialkyltriflylamides were also successfully cleaved under similar reaction conditions

Effect of gestational homocysteine on fetal growth in Bangladeshi women

Hyperhomocysteinemia has been reported among the women of south Asian countries including Bangladesh. It affects fetal development through intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and is one of the important issues associated with low birth weight (LBW) of newborns. If its association with IUGR can be established, then maternal serum Hcy could help diagnose IUGR cases and ultimately provide scope for prevention and treatment of the cases by supplementation of B-vitamins and folic acid. In this case control study, 80 pregnant women were enrolled, of which 30 were IUGR cases while 50 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) pregnancies worked as control. Maternal Hcy at 3rd trimester of all the subjects were measured and its effects on neonatal size were analyzed. The maternal Hcy of the IUGR cases was significantly higher than the control. The babies born to IUGR cases had a significantly lower birth weight, lower height and lower OFC compared to the babies born to control mothers. Weight, length and OFC of the newborns showed significant inverse correlation with maternal Hcy. Hyperhomocysteinemia was found to be a significant risk factor for LBW (OR 5.23, 95% CI 1.92-14.23), short stature (OR 2.19, CI 0.792-6.06 ) and low OFC (OR 3.04, CI 1.15-8.04) of the newborns. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2009; 3(1): 13-1

Original Article EFFECT OF GESTATIONAL HOMOCYSTEINE ON FETAL GROWTH IN BANGLADESHI WOMEN

Hyperhomocysteinemia has been reported among the women of south Asian countries including Bangladesh. It affects fetal development through intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and is one of the important issues associated with low birth weight (LBW) of newborns. If its association with IUGR can be established, then maternal serum Hcy could help diagnose IUGR cases and ultimately provide scope for prevention and treatment of the cases by supplementation of B-vitamins and folic acid. In this case control study, 80 pregnant women were enrolled, of which 30 were IUGR cases while 50 appropriate for gestational age (AGA) pregnancies worked as control. Maternal Hcy at 3rd trimester of all the subjects were measured and its effects on neonatal size were analyzed. The maternal Hcy of the IUGR cases was significantly higher than the control. The babies born to IUGR cases had a significantly lower birth weight, lower height and lower OFC compared to the babies born to control mothers. Weight, length and OFC of the newborns showed significant inverse correlation with maternal Hcy. Hyperhomocysteinemia was found to be a significant risk factor fo

Growth of very low birth weight infants and its association with feeding regimens

Clinical care of infants with very low birth weight (weighing<1500 gm at birth) in developing countries can be labour intensive and is often associated with a prolonged stay in hospital. Although several studies have shown the benefits of early discharge from the hospital for premature infants, it is still a common practice to delay discharge of these infants until they reach a weight of 2000 gm or more. The present study was undertaken to test the assumption that very low birth weight (VLBW) infants can attain optimum growth at home and to find its association with feeding regimens. This prospective observational study was conducted at Neonatal Out-patient Department, Dhaka Shishu Hospital over a period of 1 year from January 2010 to December 2010. A total of 92 very low birth weight neonates were enrolled during discahrge in the Neonatal Unit of Dhaka Shisu Hospital. Out of these 92 neonates 16 neonates expired while 7, 4 and 1 neonates dropped out in the first, second and third follow up respectively. The neonates after discharge were fed on three types of feeding regimens at home. The feeding regimens were expressed breast milk (EBM), EBM+ infant formula (mixed feeding) and infant formula only).The outcome variable was growth in terms of increase in weight, length and occiputo-frontal circumference (OFC). The other outcome measures were respiratory tract infection (RTI), diarrhoea and anaemia, visit to physician and readmission to hospital for the morbidities they encountered. The neonates were observed up to three consecutive follow-ups from their date of discharge. The median gestational age at birth was 31 weeks. Approximately 57% of the neonates were admitted within 72 hours of birth with median age at admission being 24 hours. Females were slightly higher (54.3%) than the males (45.7%). The mean weight, length and OFC at admission were 1208 gm 39.8 cm and 28.3 cm respectively. The study demonstrated a steady increase of weight, length and OFC of the infants up to a median age of 6 months with mixed and EBM feeding compared to infant formula group. Regarding RTI, diarhoea and anaemia the breast fed group suffered less frequently than the groups fed with infant formula and EBM+infant formula groups. The frequency of visits to physician and hospital admission were significantly lower in the EBM group than the other two groups. Higher frequency of breast feeding reduced the chance of infection and its severity. Infants discharged below1500 gm grew well with exclusive breast milk. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2011; 5(2): 54-5

Safety and efficacy of whole-body chlorhexidine gluconate cleansing with or without emollient in hospitalised neonates (NeoCHG): a multicentre, randomised, open-label, factorial pilot trial

BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infections account for substantial neonatal in-hospital mortality. Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) whole body skin application could reduce sepsis by lowering bacterial colonisation density, although safety and optimal application regimen is unclear. Emollients, including sunflower oil, may independently improve skin condition, thereby reducing sepsis. We aimed to inform which concentration and frequency of CHG, with or without emollient, would best balance safety and the surrogate marker of efficacy of reduction in bacterial colonisation, to be taken forward in a future pragmatic trial evaluating clinical outcomes of sepsis and mortality. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, open-label, factorial pilot trial, neonates in two hospital sites (South Africa, Bangladesh) aged 1-6 days with gestational age ≥ 28 weeks and birthweight 1000-1999 g were randomly assigned in a factorial design stratified by site to three different concentrations of CHG (0.5%, 1%, and 2%), with or without emollient (sunflower oil) applied on working days vs alternate working days. A control arm received neither product. Caregivers were unblinded although laboratory staff were blinded to randomisation Co-primary outcomes were safety (change in neonatal skin condition score incorporating dryness, erythema, and skin breakdown) and efficacy in reducing bacterial colonisation density (change in total skin bacterial log10 CFU from randomisation to day-3 and day-8). The trial is registered at the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN 69836999. FINDINGS: Between Apr 12 2021 and Jan 18 2022, 208 infants were randomised and 198 were included in the final analysis. Skin condition scores were low with mean 0.1 (sd = 0.3; N = 208) at baseline, 0.1 (sd = 0.3; N = 199) at day 3 and 0.1 (sd = 0.3; N = 189) at day 8, with no evidence of differences between concentration (1% CHG vs 0.5% estimate = -0.3, 95% CI = (-1.2, 0.6), p = 0.55. 2% CHG vs 0.5% CHG estimate = 0.5 (-0.4, 1.4), p = 0.30), increasing frequency (estimate = -0.4; 95% CI = (-1.1, 0.4), p = 0.33), emollient (estimate = -0.5, (-1.2, 0.3), p = 0.23) or with control (estimate = -0.9, (-2.3, 0.4), p = 0.18). Mean log10 CFU was 4.9 (sd = 3.0; N = 208) at baseline, 6.3 (sd = 3.1; N = 198) at day 3 and 8.4 (sd = 2.6; N = 183) with no evidence of differences between concentration (1% CHG vs 0.5% estimate = -0.4; 95% CI = (-1.1, 0.23); p = 0.23. 2% CHG vs 0.5% CHG estimate = 0.0 (-0.6, 0.6), p = 0.96), with increasing frequency (estimate = -0.4; 95% CI = (-0.9, 0.2); p = 0.17), with emollient (estimate = 0.4, 95% CI = (-0.2, 0.9); p = 0.18) or with control (estimate = -0.2, 95% CI = (-1.3, 0.9); p = 0.73). By day-8, overall 158/183 (86%) of neonates were colonised with Enterobacterales, and 72/183 (39%) and 69/183 (9%) with Klebsiella spp resistant to third-generation cephalosporin and carbapenems, respectively. There were no CHG-related SAEs, emollient-related SAEs, grade 3 or 4 skin scores or grade 3 or 4 hypothermias. INTERPRETATION: In this pilot trial of CHG with or without sunflower oil, no safety issues were identified, and further trials examining clinical outcomes are warranted. The relatively late start application of emollient, at a mean of 3.8 days of life, may have reduced the impact of the intervention although no subgroup effects were detected. There was no clear evidence in favour of a specific concentration of chlorhexidine, and there was rapid colonisation with Enterobacterales with frequent antimicrobial resistance, regardless of skin application regimen. FUNDING: The MRC Joint Applied Global Health award, the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), MRC Clinical Trials Unit core funding (UKRI) and St. George's, University of London