Psychiatric disorders among the children of 5 to 18 years old of 'SIDR' affected areas

Background: Natural disasters give raise a significant amount of physical and mental impairment in human beings. Any sort of disaster acts as a causative and maintaining factor for any psychiatric morbidity. In November 15, 2007, the cyclone "SIDR" intensified to reach peak winds of 215 km/h (135 mph) according to the IMD, a peak of 250 km/h (155 mph) according to the JTWC. "SIDR" officially made landfall around 1700 UTC later that day, with sustained winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). As it intensified to a Category 4-equivalent cyclone and thus coastal districts of Bangladesh faced heavy rainfall as an early impact of the cyclone. The damage in Bangladesh was extensive, including tin shacks flattened, houses and schools blown away and enormous tree damage. The entire cities of Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalokati District were hit hard by the storm surge of over 5 meters ( 16 ft). The head of the Red Crescent in Bangladesh expects the death toll to reach as high as 10,000. Over 3,000 other fishermen were reported missing on over 500 fishing boats. The "SIDR" left its strong impact on those who survived. Objectives: The Study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric disorder among children and adolescents in the "SIDR" affected areas. Method: This was cross sectional, qualitative study done among the children and adolescent groups of 5 to 18 years old to see the effect of natural disaster on the people of southern part of Bangladesh. The whole of the children population who attended in the health camp were included in the study during the study period. Three teams have worked among the four "SIDR" affected districts. Each team consists of Psychiatrists, General Physicians, and Clinical Psychologist.Results: A total of 158 children in four defined areas revealed that the prevalence rate of psychiatric disorder was 48%.Conclusion: This type of study should be done in multi-centers in SIDR affected disti.icts of Bangladesh to find out the actual prevalence rate of child and adolescent psychiatric disorder

Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) Levels Do Not Predict Disease Severity or Progression in Emphysema

Rationale: Though matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are critical in the pathogenesis of COPD, their utility as a disease biomarker remains uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) or plasma MMP measurements correlated with disease severity or functional decline in emphysema. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and luminex assays measured MMP-1, -9, -12 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the BALF and plasma of non-smokers, smokers with normal lung function and moderate-to-severe emphysema subjects. In the cohort of 101 emphysema subjects correlative analyses were done to determine if MMP or TIMP-1 levels were associated with key disease parameters or change in lung function over an 18-month time period. Main Results: Compared to non-smoking controls, MMP and TIMP-1 BALF levels were significantly elevated in the emphysema cohort. Though MMP-1 was elevated in both the normal smoker and emphysema groups, collagenase activity was only increased in the emphysema subjects. In contrast to BALF, plasma MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were actually decreased in the emphysema cohort compared to the control groups. Both in the BALF and plasma, MMP and TIMP-1 measurements in the emphysema subjects did not correlate with important disease parameters and were not predictive of subsequent functional decline. Conclusions: MMPs are altered in the BALF and plasma of emphysema; however, the changes in MMPs correlate poorly with parameters of disease intensity or progression. Though MMPs are pivotal in the pathogenesis of COPD, these findings suggest that measuring MMPs will have limited utility as a prognostic marker in this disease. © 2013 D'Armiento et al

An Actuarial Analysis of Calibration of Crop Insurance Premiums to Heterogeneous Risks

This paper examines whether the loadings on the crop insurance premium rates for risks such as moral hazard and adverse selection are adequate. From the discrete choice (tobit) analysis conducted, we discover that the premium loadings for 75% coverage level are not adequate, resulting in losses for the Risk Management Agency

Microhabitat ecology of semi-aquatic Varanus flavescens (Reptilia: Varanidae) in altered habitats

A potential microhabitat is very important for the survival and successful reproduction of any wildlife species. In this study we assessed the microhabitat characteristics of Varanus flavescens in the human altered ecosystems of Chalan beel area, Baraigram, Natore by flowing the Visual Encounter Survey method and by using several important material. A semi-aquatic microhabitat of canal and river was preferred by the species as compared to other identified microhabitats. The slow moving water of the river and canal was fresh and somewhat cloudy in character but stagnant water of the pond and beel (floodplain) was semitransparent having lots of phytoplankton and zooplankton. The soil was mostly silty clay. As the study species is cold blooded, the environmental variables like soil, air and water temperatures inside and outside of the microhabitat play major roles for their activity patterns. In order to regulate their body temperature, during a hot sunny day they were more active within the shady area of the microhabitats but at dawn and dusk they were more seen in the sunny areas where temperature was relatively higher. In winter months, the monitor lizards were almost inactive. During that time of the year they live inside the burrow to avoid the extreme cold and foggy weather but during heavy sunshine they come outside of the hole for thermoregulation purpose for a certain time. We noticed that extensive agricultural practice and the excessive use of insecticides may be having a detrimental effect on the microhabitat features important to this semiaquatic lizard. Still the study species is more seen in the human altered ecosystems of Bangladesh. So, to ensure their existence in our close proximity there is an urgent need to create consciousness of the people regarding this beneficial non-venomous species and their respective microhabitat

A comprehensive review on biodiesel cold flow properties and oxidation stability along with their improvement processes

Biodiesel, which comprises fatty acid esters, is derived from different sources, such as vegetable oils from palm, sunflower, soybean, canola, Jatropha, and cottonseed sources, animal fats, and waste cooking oil. Biodiesel is considered as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. However, biodiesel has poor cold flow behavior (i.e., high cloud point & pour point) and oxidation stability compared with petroleum diesel because of the presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acid esters. Consequently, the performance of biodiesel during cold weather is affected. When biodiesel is oxidized, the subsequent dregs can adversely affect the performance of the fuel system as well as clog the fuel filter, fuel lines, and injector. This phenomenon results in start-up and operability problems. Cold flow behavior is usually assessed through the pour point (PP), cloud point (CP), and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). Earlier studies on cold flow focused on reducing the devastating effect of poor cold flow problems, such as lowering the PP, CP, and CFPP of biodiesel. This present paper provides an overview of the cold flow behavior and oxidation stability of biodiesel, as well as their effect on the engine operation system. The improvements on the behavior of cold flow of biodiesel are also discussed.I. M. Monirul, H. H. Masjuki, M. A. Kalam, N. W. M. Zulkifli, H. K. Rashedul, M. M. Rashed, H. K. Imdadul and M. H. Mosaro

A comprehensive review on the assessment of fuel additive effects on combustion behavior in CI engine fuelled with diesel biodiesel blends

Development in transport technology is a major issue owing to the increase the number of vehicles, which in turn increases emissions, which result in global warming. The world’s present transportation systems are greatly dependent on petroleum which will deplete rapidly due to limited reserves of fossil fuel. In addition, transportation is responsible for more than 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and this share is rising, which is a threat for future. As an alternative, biodiesel has drawn attention due to its renewability, biodegradability, high conductivity, low sulfur content, flash point, low aromatic content, increased lubricity etc. with less carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emission. On the other hand, as the viscosity of biodiesel is greater than diesel due to its higher molecular mass and chemical structure, problems such as pumping, combustion, atomization in the injector system, injector deposit, plugging of filters, carbon deposits on piston and head of engine occur. Most previous studies concluded that although particulate emissions from biodiesel fuelled engines are much less than in gasoline, NOx emissions increases significantly. The adjustment of ignition delay in the premixed combustion phase, faster rate of fuel burn, advanced start of combustion, low radiation heat transfer and variable adiabatic flame temperature is mainly responsible for NOx formation and other emissions. Hence fuel additives may play an important role to counteract such problems and achieve various specified standards. Researchers have used many additives to improve the quality of biodiesel such as metal-based additives, oxygenated additives, cetane improvers, ignition promoters, cold-flow improvers, antioxidants and lubricity improvers etc. This literature review characterizes the combustion behavior of diesel engines fuelled by diesel, biodiesel and its blends including additives. It was found that combustion characteristics were improved by introducing additives into diesel and biodiesel blends, while exhaust emissions are also reduced.H. K. Imdadul, H. H. Masjuki, M. A. Kalam, N. W. M. Zulkifli, M. M. Rashed, H. K. Rashedul, I. M. Monirul and M. H. Mosaro

Boron-functionalized graphene oxide-organic frameworks for highly efficient CO2 capture

The capture and storage of CO2 have been suggested as an effective strategy to reduce the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Hence, in recent years, many studies have been carried out to develop highly efficient materials for capturing CO2. Until today, different types of porous materials, such as zeolites, porous carbons, N/B-doped porous carbons or metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have been studied for CO2 capture. Herein, the CO2 capture performance of new hybrid materials, graphene-organic frameworks (GOFs) is described. The GOFs were synthesized under mild conditions through a solvothermal process using graphene oxide (GO) as a starting material and benzene 1,4-diboronic acid as an organic linker. Interestingly, the obtained GOF shows a high surface area (506 m2 g−1) which is around 11 times higher than that of GO (46 m2 g−1), indicating that the organic modification on the GO surface is an effective way of preparing a porous structure using GO. Our synthetic approach is quite simple, facile, and fast, compared with many other approaches reported previously. The synthesized GOF exhibits a very large CO2 capacity of 4.95 mmol g−1 at 298 K (1 bar), which is higher those of other porous materials or carbon-based materials, along with an excellent CO2/N2 selectivity of 48.8