Study on baseline characteristics and lipid profile abnormalities among type 2 diabetic patients attending urban diabetic care hospital, Bangladesh

Background: Altered levels of serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profile are prevalent in patients having type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM). Aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between serum HbA1c and lipid profile in T2DM to predict diabetic dyslipidemia.Methods: A structured questionnaire was filled up by each study subject to collect data according to study protocol including age, gender, BMI, BP, residential status, socio-economic status, educational status, physical activity, dietary habit, smoking and duration of diabetes. We collected blood samples from 270 type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients aged 30-65 years after overnight fasting (10-12 hours). Then blood samples collected from T2DM patients were used to measure serum levels of HbA1c, fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were estimated by standard laboratory methods.Results: In this study, increased levels of fasting blood glucose (8.61 mmo/l), HbA1c (7.86%), TC (226.15 mg/dl), TG (193.34 mg/dl) and LDL (147.37 mg/dl), and decreased levels of HDL (40.36 mg/dl) were observed in T2DM patients. Moreover, the strong positive correlation of HbA1c levels with FBG, TC, TG, and LDL levels were found in this study. Besides, a very strong and significant negative correlation (R2=0.1822) between the serum levels of HbA1c and HDL were noted in this study.Conclusions: This study revealed a strong correlation between dyslipidemia and serum levels of HbA1c in T2DM patients

Isolation, Identification and In Vitro Antibiotic Sensitivity Pattern of Citrus Canker Causing Organism Xanthomonas axonopodis.

Background: Xanthomonas axonopodis or X. axonopodis is the devastating causal organism of citrus canker, widely spread bacterial disease of plants from both epidemiological and economic points of view. Furthermore, the situation is worsening by the advent of increased antibiotic resistance among this bacteria. The major interests of this study were isolation, identification and in vitro antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the causal organism. Besides, herbal sensitivity of those organisms was also tested. Methods: In this study, 9 isolates of the organism were identified based on morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics. All the isolates were tested for antibiotic sensitivity against 5 commonly used antibiotics namely, cefotaxime, bacitracin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin and gentamycin. Results: X. axonopodis was found 100% resistant to cefotaxime and 77.77% to bacitracin. Chloramphenicol was found most effective as all the isolates were sensitive to it. The herbal sensitivity of X. axonopodis was tested with the plant extract of Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Litchi chinensis, Vitis amurensis and Syzygium cumini. Among the plant extracts, the pathogens were found most sensitive to Allium sativum and Syzygium cumini and resistant to V. amurensis. Conclusion: The study showed herbal treatment can be implicated for the disease citrus canker caused by antibiotic resistant X. axonopodis in future

Ischemic Strokes: Observations from a Hospital Based Stroke Registry in Bangladesh.

Background. Stroke is an important morbidity for low and middle income countries like Bangladesh. We established the first stroke registry in Bangladesh. Methods. Data was collected from stroke patients who were admitted in Department of Neurology of BIRDEM with first ever stroke, aged between 30 and 90 years. Patients with intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid and subdural hemorrhage, and posttrauma features were excluded. Results. Data was gathered from 679 stroke patients. Mean age was 60.6 years. Almost 68% of patients were male. Small vessel strokes were the most common accounting for 45.4% of all the patients followed by large vessel getting affected in 32.5% of the cases. Only 16 (2.4%) died during treatment, and 436 (64.2%) patients had their mRS score of 3 to 5. Age greater than 70 years was associated with poor outcome on discharge [OR 1.79 (95% CI: 1.05 to 3.06)] adjusting for gender, duration of hospital stay, HDL, and pneumonia. Age, mRS, systolic blood pressure, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, and stroke severity explained the Barthel score. Conclusion. Mortality was low but most of patient had moderate to severe disability at discharge. Age, mRS, systolic blood pressure, urinary tract infection, pneumonia, and stroke severity influenced the Barthel score

Microbial lipid extraction from Lipomyces starkeyi using irreversible electroporation

The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using irreversible electroporation (EP) as a microbial cell disruption technique to extract intracellular lipid within short time and in an eco-friendly manner. An EP circuit was designed and fabricated to obtain 4 kV with frequency of 100 Hz of square waves. The yeast cells of Lipomyces starkeyi (L. starkeyi) were treated by EP for 2-10 min where the distance between electrodes was maintained at 2, 4, and 6 cm. Colony forming units (CFU) were counted to observe the cell viability under the high voltage electric field. The forces of the pulsing electric field caused significant damage to the cell wall of L. starkeyi and the disruption of microbial cells was visualized by field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) image. After breaking the cell wall, lipid was extracted and measured to assess the efficiency of EP over other techniques. The extent of cell inactivation was up to 95% when the electrodes were placed at the distance of 2 cm, which provided high treatment intensity (36.7 kWh m ). At this condition, maximum lipid (63 mg g ) was extracted when the biomass was treated for 10 min. During the comparison, EP could extract 31.88% lipid while the amount was 11.89% for ultrasonic and 16.8% for Fenton's reagent. The results recommend that the EP is a promising technique for lowering the time and solvent usage for lipid extraction from microbial biomass. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol

Enhanced biohydrogen production from citrus wastewater using anaerobic sludge pretreated by an electroporation technique

In the present study, the applicability of electroporation (EP) has been investigated as a pretreatment method for enriching hydrogen producers and eliminating hydrogen consumers in anaerobic sludge (AS). Citrus wastewater was used as a feed source for biohydrogen production. Different treatment intensities (TI) of EP for 0.5 min (TI = 30 kWh/m3), 1 min (TI = 60 kWh/m3), and 2 min (TI = 120 kWh/m3) were employed to observe the effects of EP on the microbial community of AS. Furthermore, sonication with a probe, sonication in a bath, and heat-shock pretreatments were also conducted to compare the hydrogen yield with EP. The cell inactivation was evaluated and visualized using colony-forming units (CFU) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), respectively. Among the different TIs, the TI of 60 kWh/m3 achieved higher methanogen inactivation with maximum hydrogen (896 mL) production compared to other EP pretreatments after 180 h of dark fermentation. In comparison with other pretreatments, the highest hydrogen production of 896 mL was achieved with EP treatment, followed by sonication with a probe (678 mL) and sonication in a bath (563 mL). The heat-shock pretreatment exhibited the lowest ultimate hydrogen production of 545 mL among the four different methods applied in this study. The outcome of this study suggests that EP is a promising technique for pretreating mixed cultures for the enhanced production of biohydrogen

Potentiality of petrochemical wastewater as substrate in microbial fuel cell

The petrochemical wastewater (PCW) from acrylic acid plant possesses very high chemical oxygen demand (COD) due to presence of acrylic acid along with other organic acids. The treatment of PCW by conventional methods is energy intensive. The treatment of PCW with concurrent power generation by employing microbial fuel cell (MFC) could be a potential alternative solving the problem of energy and environment. The goal of the present paper is to evaluate the viability of treating the wastewater using anaerobic sludge as biocatalyst in a dual- chamber MFC for simultaneous power generation and wastewater treatment. This study demonstrates that anaerobic sludge (AS) could work as a biocatalyst producing maximum power density of 0.75 W/m3at current density and open circuit voltage (OCV) of 412 mA/m2 and 0.45 V respectively using PCW with an initial COD of 45,000 mg/L. The COD removal efficiency and the columbic efficiency (CE) were found 40% and 13.11%, respectively. The mechanism of electron transfer in the anode was analyzed by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the resistances across the electrode/biofilm/solution interface were investigated by employing impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The current work proves the capability of the MFC for the treatment of acrylic acid plant PCW using anaerobic sludge (AS) as biocatalyst

Residual effects of organic manures with different levels of chemical fertilizers on rice

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the residual effects of organic manures and different level of recommended fertilizer dose (RFD) on the yield and nutrient uptake of BBRI dhan29 at the Soil Science Field Laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. The experiment containing seven treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The treatments were T0 (Control), T1 (100% RFD), T2 (75% RFD + residual effect of CD 5 t ha-1), T3 (75% RFD + residual effect of PM 3 t ha-1), T4 (75% RFD + residual effect of residual effect of Com. 5 t ha-1), T5 (75% RFD + residual effect of CD 2.5 t ha-1, PM 1.5 t ha-1, and Com 2.5 t ha-1) and T6 (50% RFD + residual effect of CD 2.5 t ha-1, PM 1.5 t ha-1, and Com. 2.5 t ha-1). The manures viz. cowdung (CD), poultry manure (PD) and compost (Com.) was applied to the previous crop (T. Aman rice). The recommended doses of fertilizers were used to supply N, P, K and S @ 140, 15, 60 and 15 kg ha-1, respectively to the present crop. Residual effects of organic manure with inorganic fertilizers significantly increased the yield attributes as well as grain and straw yields of rice. Treatment T6 (50% RFD + residual effect of CD 2.5 t ha-1, PM 1.5 t ha-1, and Com. 2.5 t ha-1) produced the highest grain yield (6.87 t ha-1) and straw yield (7.24 t ha-1). The lowest grain yield (3.22 t ha-1) and straw yield (4.55 t ha-1) were found in T0 (Control) treatment. Further, it was observed that T2 (75% RFD + CD 5 t ha-1) performed better compared to T3 (75% RFD + PM 3 t ha-1) and T4 (75% RFD + Com 5 t ha-1) in exerting residual effects. The NPKS contents and uptake were markedly influenced by residual effects of manures and fertilizers. Therefore, treatment T6 receiving 50% RFD along with the residual effect of 2.5 t ha-1 cowdung, 1.5 t ha-1 poultry manure and 2.5 t ha-1 compost was found to be the best combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers for obtaining the maximum yield of BRRI dhan29

Construction of copy number variation landscape and characterization of associated genes in a Bangladeshi cohort of neurodevelopmental disorders

Introduction: Copy number variations (CNVs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) among children. In this study, we aim to identify clinically relevant CNVs, genes and their phenotypic characteristics in an ethnically underrepresented homogenous population of Bangladesh. Methods: We have conducted chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for 212 NDD patients with male to female ratio of 2.2:1.0 to identify rare CNVs. To identify candidate genes within the rare CNVs, gene constraint metrics [i.e., “Critical-Exon Genes (CEGs)”] were applied to the population data. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) was followed in a subset of 95 NDD patients to assess the severity of autism and all statistical tests were performed using the R package. Results: Of all the samples assayed, 12.26% (26/212) and 57.08% (121/212) patients carried pathogenic and variant of uncertain significance (VOUS) CNVs, respectively. While 2.83% (6/212) patients’ pathogenic CNVs were found to be located in the subtelomeric regions. Further burden test identified females are significant carriers of pathogenic CNVs compared to males (OR = 4.2; p = 0.0007). We have observed an increased number of Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within cases with 23.85% (26/109) consanguineous parents. Our analyses on imprinting genes show, 36 LOH variants disrupting 69 unique imprinted genes and classified these variants as VOUS. ADOS-2 subset shows severe social communication deficit (p = 0.014) and overall ASD symptoms severity (p = 0.026) among the patients carrying duplication CNV compared to the CNV negative group. Candidate gene analysis identified 153 unique CEGs in pathogenic CNVs and 31 in VOUS. Of the unique genes, 18 genes were found to be in smaller (<1 MB) focal CNVs in our NDD cohort and we identified PSMC3 gene as a strong candidate gene for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Moreover, we hypothesized that KMT2B gene duplication might be associated with intellectual disability. Conclusion: Our results show the utility of CMA for precise genetic diagnosis and its integration into the diagnosis, therapy and management of NDD patients

Phytol: A review of biomedical activities

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Auguist 2018) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policyPhytol (PYT) is a diterpene member of the long-chain unsaturated acyclic alcohols. PYT and some of its derivatives, including phytanic acid (PA), exert a wide range of biological effects. PYT is a valuable essential oil (EO) used as a fragrance and a potential candidate for a broad range of applications in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry. There is ample evidence that PA may play a crucial role in the development of pathophysiological states. Focusing on PYT and some of its most relevant derivatives, here we present a systematic review of reported biological activities, along with their underlying mechanism of action. Recent investigations with PYT demonstrated anxiolytic, metabolism-modulating, cytotoxic, antioxidant, autophagy- and apoptosis-inducing, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, immune-modulating, and antimicrobial effects. PPARs- and NF-κB-mediated activities are also discussed as mechanisms responsible for some of the bioactivities of PYT. The overall goal of this review is to discuss recent findings pertaining to PYT biological activities and its possible applications

Population Enumeration and Household Utilization Survey Methods in the Enterics for Global Health (EFGH): Shigella Surveillance Study

Background: Accurate estimation of diarrhea incidence from facility-based surveillance requires estimating the population at risk and accounting for case patients who do not seek care. The Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella surveillance study will characterize population denominators and healthcare-seeking behavior proportions to calculate incidence rates of Shigella diarrhea in children aged 6–35 months across 7 sites in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Methods: The Enterics for Global Health (EFGH) Shigella surveillance study will use a hybrid surveillance design, supplementing facility-based surveillance with population-based surveys to estimate population size and the proportion of children with diarrhea brought for care at EFGH health facilities. Continuous data collection over a 24 month period captures seasonality and ensures representative sampling of the population at risk during the period of facility-based enrollments. Study catchment areas are broken into randomized clusters, each sized to be feasibly enumerated by individual field teams. Conclusions: The methods presented herein aim to minimize the challenges associated with hybrid surveillance, such as poor parity between survey area coverage and facility coverage, population fluctuations, seasonal variability, and adjustments to care-seeking behavior