Bioefficacy of Plant Extracts to Control Cercospora Leaf Spot of Mungbean (Vigna radiata)

The experiment was conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute farm, Joydebpur, Gazipur during March to July 2007 to evaluate the bioefficacy of some plant extracts in controlling Cercospora leaf spot of mungbean. Six indigenous plant species i.e. Neem leaves extract (1:4 w/v), Garlic cloves extract (1:5 w/v), Biskatali leaves extract (1:4 w/v), Alamanda leaves extract (1:6 w/v), Arjun leaves extract (1:4 w/v) and Debdaru leaves extract (1:5 w/v) were used in this experiment. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with seven treatments and four replications. Data on disease incidence, severity, yield contributing characters and yield of mungbean were recorded. Naturally, infection of the disease was considered in this experiment. The lowest disease incidence (7.33%) at 60 DAS was found in T1. Lowest and similar disease severity (PDI= 4.55) was found in T2 and T3 at the same DAS. Neem extract treated plots gave better response in yield (1.26 t ha-1) and all the yield contributing parameters like inflorescences plant-1 (13.45), tallest plant (51.44 cm), the maximum number of pods plant-1 (26.81), length of pod (8.56 cm), number of seeds pod-1 (12.64) and 1000 seeds weight (27.33 g) followed by T2 and T3. The highest disease incidence (26.50%) and disease index (13.65%) were recorded in treatment T7 at 60 DAS. Yield and all yield contributing factors were lowest in same treatment. The results of the experiment suggested that the use of neem leaves extracts are effective for minimizing Cercospora leaf spot incidence, severity and increasing yield of mungbean. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 3 (1): 60-65, June, 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v3i1.1609

Control of Phomopsis Blight of Egg Plant through Fertilizer and Fungicide Management

The experiments were conducted at Laboratory of the Department of Plant Pathology and in the farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh during Rabi season of the year 2007-2008. Four fungicides viz. Bavistin 50 WP (Carbendazim), Tilt 250 EC (Propiconazole), Cupravit 50 WP (Copperoxychloride) and Dithane M-45 (Mancozeb) and micronutrients (Gypsum, ZnO and Boric acid) were evaluated against Phomopsis vexans causing Phomopsis blight and fruit rot of eggplant. The fungicides and micronutrients either applied individually or in combination showed significant effect in terms of per cent leaf infection, fruit infection, leaf area diseased and fruit area diseased in comparison to control. Effect of each fungicide applied in combination with micronutrients always showed better performance in reducing disease incidence and disease severity than the fungicides applied alone. Among the fungicides, Bavistin 50 WP (0.1%) proved to be effective arresting the spore germination and mycelia growth of Phomopsis vexans assayed in in vitro test. Reduction of leaf area diseased caused by Bavistin 50 WP (0.1%) in combination with micronutrients were 58.17, 67.37, 78.41 and 85.25%, respectively at preflowering, post-flowering, fruiting and fruit ripening stages while Bavistin 50 WP (0.1%) alone reduced by 52.22, 58.67, 74.19 and 83.09%, respectively at those stages. Similarly reduction of fruit area diseased caused by Bavistin 50 WP (0.1%) in combination with micronutrients were 57.93 and 79.79%, respectively at fruiting and fruit ripening stages while Bavistin 50WP (0.1%) alone reduced by 56.93 and 76.14%, respectively at those stages. Micronutrients had little effect against the disease but significantly better than control.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 3 (1): 66-72, June, 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v3i1.1609

Toxicity bioassay of chlorpyrifos on some local fish species of northern Bangladesh

Four fish species namely, stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis), spotted snakehead (Channa punctatus), climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) and tangra (Batasio tengana) were exposed to various concentrations of chlorpyrifos (Expert 20 EC) to investigate the mortality rate of fish species and the toxicity level of the pesticide. The LC50 values of chlorpyrifos on these fish species were 23.10, 20.32, 16.61 and 13.94 ppm, respectively at 96 hours of exposure. Among these results, it is clear that the lethal concentration is varying species to species because their strengths are different. During the experiments, some water quality parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity were also analyzed. The temperature values remained within the ranges of 17-20°C and the pH was 6.64-7.30. Fish behaved irregular and erratic movements followed by hyper excitability, loss of balance and settling to the bottom of the test chamber. At higher concentration of chlorpyrifos, alterations in physiological and behavioural responses especially erratic swimming, gulping, mucus secretion, increased opercular movement and profuse emission of mucus all above the body were observed during the primary stages of contact after which it became occasional. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 9 (1): 42-47, June, 201

Allelopathic potential of mustard crop residues on weed management and performance of transplant Aman rice

Crop allelopathy may be useful to minimize serious problems in the present agricultural production such as environmental pollution, unsafe production, human health concerns, depletion of crop diversity, soil sickness and reduction of crop productivity. In this phenomenon an experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to evaluate the effect of crop residues of mustard on weed management and crop performance of T. aman rice. The experiment consisted of three cultivars of T. aman rice viz., BR11, BR23 and BRRI dhan49 and five different level of mustard crop residues such as no crop residues, mustard crop residues @ 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 t ha–1. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Five weed species belonging to three families infested the experimental plots. Weed population, weed dry weight and percent inhibition of weed were significantly influenced by mustard crop residues and cultivar. The maximum weed growth was noticed with the cultivar BR23 and the minimum was found in the cultivar BR11. The grain yield as well as the other yield contributing characters produced by BR11 was the highest among the studied varieties. The highest percent inhibition of 71.17, 69.19, 80.88, 70.48 and 86.97 was in Shama (Echinochlo acrusgalli), Panishapla (Nymphaea nouchali), Panichaise (Scirpus juncoides), Panikachu (Monochoria vaginalis) and Susnishak (Marsilea quadrifolia), respectively which was caused by the application of mustard crop residues @ 2 t ha–1. The highest loss of grain yield was obtained where no crop residues were incorporated. The highest numbers of tillers hill-1, numbers of grains panicle–1, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, straw yield were observed where mustard crop residues were incorporated @ 2.0 t ha–1. BR11 cultivar with all treatments produced the highest grain and straw yield among the treatment combination. The results of this study indicate that different amount of mustard crop residues showed potential activity to suppress weed growth

Difficulties faced by older Rohingya (forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals) adults in accessing medical services amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Background COVID-19 has seriously disrupted health services in many countries including Bangladesh. This research aimed to explore whether Rohingya (forcefully displaced Myanmar nationals) older adults in Bangladesh faced difficulties accessing medicines and routine medical care services amid this pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 416 Rohingya older adults aged 60 years and above residing in Rohingya refugee camps situated in the Cox's Bazar district of Bangladesh and was conducted in October 2020. A purposive sampling technique was followed, and participants' perceived difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care were noted through face-to-face interviews. Binary logistic regression models determined the association between outcome and explanatory variables. Results Overall, one-third of the participants reported difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care. Significant factors associated with facing difficulties accessing medicine included feelings of loneliness (adjusted OR (AOR) 3.54, 95% CI 1.93 to 6.48), perceptions that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 3.35, 95% CI 1.61 to 6.97) and required additional care during COVID-19 (AOR 6.89, 95% CI 3.62 to 13.13). Also, the notable factors associated with difficulties in receiving routine medical care included living more than 30 min walking distance from the health centre (AOR 3.57, 95% CI 1.95 to 6.56), feelings of loneliness (AOR 2.20, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.87), perception that older adults were at the highest risk of COVID-19 (AOR 2.85, 95% CI 1.36 to 5.99) and perception that they required additional care during the pandemic (AOR 4.55, 95% CI 2.48 to 8.35). Conclusion Many Rohingya older adults faced difficulties in accessing medicines and routine medical care during this pandemic. This call for policy-makers and relevant stakeholders to re-assess emergency preparedness plans including strategies to provide continuing care

Acute encephalitis syndrome surveillance, Kushinagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2011-2012

In India, quality surveillance for acute encephalitis syndrome (AES), including laboratory testing, is necessary for understanding the epidemiology and etiology of AES, planning interventions, and developing policy. We reviewed AES surveillance data for January 2011-June 2012 from Kushinagar District, Uttar Pradesh, India. Data were cleaned, incidence was determined, and demographic characteristics of cases and data quality were analyzed. A total of 812 AES case records were identified, of which 23\% had illogical entries. AES incidence was highest among boys<6 years of age, and cases peaked during monsoon season. Records for laboratory results (available for Japanese encephalitis but not AES) and vaccination history were largely incomplete, so inferences about the epidemiology and etiology of AES could not be made. The low-quality AES/Japanese encephalitis surveillance data in this area provide little evidence to support development of prevention and control measures, estimate the effect of interventions, and avoid the waste of public health resources

Genome-wide identification and prediction of SARS-CoV-2 mutations show an abundance of variants: Integrated study of bioinformatics and deep neural learning

Genomic data analysis is a fundamental system for monitoring pathogen evolution and the outbreak of infectious diseases. Based on bioinformatics and deep learning, this study was designed to identify the genomic variability of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide and predict the impending mutation rate. Analysis of 259044 SARS-CoV-2 isolates identified 3334545 mutations with an average of 14.01 mutations per isolate. Globally, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is the most prevalent mutational event. The prevalence of C > T (52.67%) was noticed as a major alteration across the world followed by the G > T (14.59%) and A > G (11.13%). Strains from India showed the highest number of mutations (48) followed by Scotland, USA, Netherlands, Norway, and France having up to 36 mutations. D416G, F106F, P314L, UTR:C241T, L93L, A222V, A199A, V30L, and A220V mutations were found as the most frequent mutations. D1118H, S194L, R262H, M809L, P314L, A8D, S220G, A890D, G1433C, T1456I, R233C, F263S, L111K, A54T, A74V, L183A, A316T, V212F, L46C, V48G, Q57H, W131R, G172V, Q185H, and Y206S missense mutations were found to largely decrease the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Conversely, D3L, L5F, and S97I were found to largely increase the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Multi-nucleotide mutations GGG > AAC, CC > TT, TG > CA, and AT > TA have come up in our analysis which are in the top 20 mutational cohort. Future mutation rate analysis predicts a 17%, 7%, and 3% increment of C > T, A > G, and A > T, respectively in the future. Conversely, 7%, 7%, and 6% decrement is estimated for T > C, G > A, and G > T mutations, respectively. T > G\A, C > G\A, and A > T\C are not anticipated in the future. Since SARS-CoV-2 is mutating continuously, our findings will facilitate the tracking of mutations and help to map the progression of the COVID-19 intensity worldwide

The impact of Er:YAG laser enamel conditioning on the microleakage of a new hydrophilic sealant — UltraSeal XT® hydro™

UltraSeal XT® hydro™ is a new hydrophilic, light-cured, methacrylate-based pit and fissure sealant which has been developed by Ultradent Products, USA. The sealant is highly filled with a 53 wt.% mixture of inorganic particles which confer both thixotropy and radiopacity. The principal purpose of this study was to investigate the microleakage of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ as a function of different enamel etching techniques. The occlusal surfaces of sound, extracted human molars were either acid etched, Er:YAG laser irradiated or successively laser irradiated and acid etched. UltraSeal XT® hydro™ was applied to each group of teeth (n=10) which were subjected to a thermocycling process consisting of 2500 cycles between 5 and 50°C with a dwell time of 30s. Microleakage assessments were then carried out using 0.5 % fuchsin dye and optical microscopy. The microleakage score data were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni adjustment. No significant differences in microleakage were noted between the individually acid etched and laser-irradiated groups (p>0.05); however, teeth treated with a combination of laser irradiation and acid etching demonstrated significantly lower microleakage scores (p<0.001). Electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that the mineral filler component of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ essentially comprises micrometre-sized particles of inorganic silicon-, aluminium- and barium-bearing phases. Laser etching increases the roughness of the enamel surface which causes a concentrated zoning of the filler particles at the enamel-sealant interface

Effect of Er:YAG laser enamel conditioning and moisture on the microleakage of a hydrophilic sealant

For a given sealant, successful pit and fissure sealing is principally governed by the enamel conditioning technique and the presence of moisture contamination. A new generation of hydrophilic resin sealants is reported to tolerate moisture. This study investigates the impact of Er:YAG laser pre-conditioning and moisture contamination on the microleakage of a recent hydrophilic sealant. Occlusal surfaces of extracted human molars were either acid etched (n = 30), or successively lased and acid etched (n = 30). Ten teeth from each group were either air-dried, water-contaminated, or saliva-contaminated prior to sealing with UltraSeal XT® hydro™. Samples were inspected for penetration of fuchsin dye following 3000 thermocycles between 5 and 50 °C, and the enamel–sealant interfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Significant differences in microleakage were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni adjustment (p = 0.05). Laser pre-conditioning significantly reduced dye penetration irrespective of whether the enamel surface was moist or dry. Microleakageof water-contaminated acid etched teeth was significantly greater than that of their air-dried or saliva-contaminated counterparts. SEM analysis demonstrated good adaptation in all groups with the exception of water-contaminated acid etched teeth which exhibited relatively wide gaps. In conclusion, this hydrophilic sealant tolerates the presence of saliva, although water was found to impair its sealing ability. Laser pre-conditioning significantly decreases microleakage in all cases

The 2022 dengue outbreak in Bangladesh: hypotheses for the late resurgence of cases and fatalities

Abstract Bangladesh reported the highest number of annual deaths (n = 281) related to dengue virus infection in 2022 since the virus reappeared in the country in 2000. Earlier studies showed that &amp;gt;92% of the annual cases occurred between the months of August and September. The 2022 outbreak is characterized by late onset of dengue cases with unusually higher deaths in colder months, that is, October–December. Here we present possible hypotheses and explanations for this late resurgence of dengue cases. First, in 2022, the rainfall started late in the season. Compared to the monthly average rainfall for September and October between 2003 and 2021, there was 137 mm of additional monthly rainfall recorded in September and October 2022. Furthermore, the year 2022 was relatively warmer with a 0.71°C increased temperature than the mean annual temperature of the past 20 yr. Second, a new dengue virus serotype, DENV-4, had recently reintroduced/reappeared in 2022 and become the dominant serotype in the country for a large naïve population. Third, the post-pandemic return of normalcy after 2 yr of nonpharmaceutical social measures facilitates extra mosquito breeding habitats, especially in construction sites. Community engagement and regular monitoring and destruction of Aedes mosquitoes’ habitats should be prioritized to control dengue virus outbreaks in Bangladesh.</jats:p