Use of MM5 model for weather forecasting over Bangladesh region

The severity of weather appears almost every year in Bangladesh. It causes damage of property and takes a very high death toll due to absence of timely and proper forecasting facility. Thus the focus of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of weather model for forecasting and estimating convective system. A high resolution mesoscale model MM5 has been used in this regard to observe the accurate rainfall estimation over Bangladesh. The model is run at two nested domains at 45 km and 15 km resolutions for two durations i.e. 31 March to 05 April 2002 and 20 to 25 May 2002. In both the cases, results indicate that the MM5 model has a good capability to estimate rainfall over Banglades

KAFUR (C. CAMPHORA L.)–AN UPDATED REVIEW OF ITS ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY, PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGY

The objective of present review was to provide comprehensive information on Cinnamomum camphora L. on its ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical, and pharmacological activities and provide insights into potential opportunities for future research. A thorough literature search was done to gather all the available updates on Kafūr for its mizāj (temperament), medicinal properties, and traditional uses. Classical Unani books and books on ethnomedicine and ethnobotany in English were referred for literature review. The information on phytochemical and pharmacological activities of C. camphora was collected from PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Research Gate using keywords C. camphora, Kafūr, kapur, and camphor. The species name was checked with www. theplantlist. org. The material published in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, and English was included in the review. C. camphora is used as an analgesic and antiseptic in Unani and other traditional systems of medicine for a long. It possesses various bioactive compounds viz. terpenoids, flavonoids, glycosides, coumarins, fatty acids, lignans, alkaloids, etc. Out of all these, camphor is one of the volatile compounds which has many pharmacological activities including anti-nociceptive, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, wound healing, and hepatoprotective

Bangladesh striving against double burden: Dengue outbreak surges amid COVID-19 pandemic

As one of the least developed countries of South Asia, Bangladesh continues experiencing a surge in the number of patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), while struggling with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of infected patients and deaths due to COVID-19 had risen rapidly since the beginning of July 2021 and broken all the previous records. The total number of dengue cases was also the highest in July. Now, the country is facing an unprecedented challenge of tackling a co-epidemic. Impoverished health infrastructure, ineffective intervention schemes against the disease and lack of awareness has made the country vulnerable to a risk of co-epidemic. Therefore, government and local authorities should take immediate actions, including capacity-building programs for both COVID-19 and dengue, while community engagement campaigns focusing on the destruction of breeding sources of Aedes mosquitoes can play a key role in reducing the effect of dengue at an early stage

Enhancing arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh: Findings from institutional, psychological, and technical investigations

As part of a trans-disciplinary research project, a series of surveys and interventions were conducted in different arsenic-affected regions of rural Bangladesh. Surveys of institutional stakeholders identified deep tubewells and piped water systems as the most preferred options, and the same preferences were found in household surveys of populations at risk. Psychological surveys revealed that these two technologies were well-supported by potential users, with self-efficacy and social norms being the principal factors driving behavior change. The principal drawbacks of deep tubewells are that installation costs are too high for most families to own private wells, and that for various socio-cultural-religious reasons, people are not willing to walk long distances to access communal tubewells. In addition, water sector planners have reservations about greater exploitation of the deep aquifer, out of concern for current or future geogenic contamination. Groundwater models and field studies have shown that in the great majority of the affected areas, the risk of arsenic contamination of deep groundwater is small; salinity, iron, and manganese are more likely to pose problems. These constituents can in some cases be avoided by exploiting an intermediate depth aquifer of good chemical quality, which is hydraulically and geochemically separate from the arsenic-contaminated shallow aquifer. Deep tubewells represent a technically sound option throughout much of the arsenic-affected regions, and future mitigation programs should build on and accelerate construction of deep tubewells. Utilization of deep tubewells, however, could be improved by increasing the tubewell density (which requires stronger financial support) to reduce travel times, by considering water quality in a holistic way, and by accompanying tubewell installation with motivational interventions based on psychological factors. By combining findings from technical and social sciences, the efficiency and success of arsenic mitigation in general - and installation of deep tubewells in particular - can be significantly enhanced

Comparison of vitamin D (25OHD) status between fertile and infertile men

Background: Vitamin D (25OHD) deficiency has become a modern-day epidemic, being the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. Many infertile men are experiencing low total sperm count or different semen abnormalities. The aim of this study was to compare serum vitamin D (25OHD) status among fertile and infertile men.Methods: This was an observational (cross sectional comparative) study and was conducted in the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, BSMMU, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from April 2019 to March 2020. The sample size was 112 men where 56 participants were in fertile men group and 56 participants were infertile men group. Statistical analyses were carried out by using Windows based Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 23.0).Results: The predictability of vitamin D insufficiency was significant. Holding the effects of vitamin D deficiency constant, males with vitamin D insufficiency were 3.28 times more likely to be infertile than males with vitamin D sufficiency. Subgroup analysis of infertile men was done regarding semen parameters in different vitamin D status categories. There was statistically significant difference in semen volume and sperm concentration between infertile men of different vitamin D status but no significant difference in case of motility and morphology.Conclusions: There was no significant different of serum vitamin D (25OHD) between fertile and infertile men. Men with vitamin D insufficiency (≥20 ng/ml to <30 ng/ml) are more likely to be infertile than men with vitamin D sufficiency.

Long - term conservation agriculture increases nitrogen use efficiency by crops, land equivalent ratio and soil carbon stock in a subtropical rice - based cropping system

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is still a relatively new approach for intensively cultivated (3 crops yr-1) rice-based cropping systems that produce high crop yield and amounts of residues annually. With the recent development of transplanting of rice into tilled strips on non-puddled soil, CA could become feasible for rice-based cropping patterns. However, the effect of increased retention of crop residues on crop response to nitrogen (N) fertilization rate in strip tilled systems with the transplanted rice and other crops grown in the annual rotation is yet to be determined. For nine years, we have examined the effects of soil disturbance levels - strip tillage (ST) and conventional tillage (CT), two residue retention levels –15% residue by height (low residue, LR) and 30% residue (high residue, HR) and five N rates (60%, 80%, 100%, 120%, and 140% of the recommended N fertilizer doses (RFD)) for a rice-wheat-mungbean cropping sequence. The 100% RFD was 75, 100 and 20 kg N ha-1for rice, wheat, and mungbean, respectively. Rice yields were comparable between the two tillage systems for up to year-6, wheat for up to year-3 but mungbean yield markedly increased in ST from year-1; however, the land equivalent ratio increased from year-1, principally because of higher mungbean yield. Introduction of ST increased land equivalent ratio by 26% relative to CT, N use efficiency and partial factor productivity. Nitrogen fertilizer demand for maximum yield in ST was increased by about 10% for rice and 5% for mungbean but decreased by 5% for wheat. Although fertilizer N demand had increased in ST system due to higher yield than CT, the N requirement declined by50–90% when the same yield goal is considered for ST as for CT. The soil organic carbon stock (0–15 cm) after 8 years increased from 21.5 to 30.5 t ha-1 due to the effect of ST plus high crop residue retention. Annual gross margin increased by 57% in ST over CT practice and 26% in HR over LR retention. In conclusion, after 9 years practicing CA with increased residue retention under strip tillage, the crops had higher N use efficiency, grain yield, land equivalent ratio and annual gross margin in the rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system while the N fertilizer requirement increased minimally

Development and validation of a simplified algorithm for neonatal gestational age assessment - protocol for the Alliance for Maternal Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the Alliance for Maternal and Newborn Health Improvement (AMANHI) gestational age study is to develop and validate a programmatically feasible and simple approach to accurately assess gestational age of babies after they are born. The study will provide accurate, population-based rates of preterm birth in different settings and quantify the risks of neonatal mortality and morbidity by gestational age and birth weight in five South Asian and sub-Saharan African sites. METHODS: This study used on-going population-based cohort studies to recruit pregnant women early in pregnancy (<20 weeks) for a dating ultrasound scan. Implementation is harmonised across sites in Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Bangladesh and Pakistan with uniform protocols and standard operating procedures. Women whose pregnancies are confirmed to be between 8 to 19 completed weeks of gestation are enrolled into the study. These women are followed up to collect socio-demographic and morbidity data during the pregnancy. When they deliver, trained research assistants visit women within 72 hours to assess the baby for gestational maturity. They assess for neuromuscular and physical characteristics selected from the Ballard and Dubowitz maturation assessment scales. They also measure newborn anthropometry and assess feeding maturity of the babies. Computer machine learning techniques will be used to identify the most parsimonious group of signs that correctly predict gestational age compared to the early ultrasound date (the gold standard). This gestational age will be used to categorize babies into term, late preterm and early preterm groups. Further, the ultrasound-based gestational age will be used to calculate population-based rates of preterm birth. IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY: The AMANHI gestational age study will make substantial contribution to improve identification of preterm babies by frontline health workers in low- and middle- income countries using simple evaluations. The study will provide accurate preterm birth estimates. This new information will be crucial to planning and delivery of interventions for improving preterm birth outcomes, particularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

Arsenic safe drinking water in rural Bangladesh: Perceptions of households and willingness to pay

This study examined the Willingness To Pay (WTP) for Arsenic (As) free drinking water of rural Bangladeshi households across three different districts by applying a double bound discrete choice value elicitation approach. The majority of the households (87%) were willing to pay on average about 5% of their disposable average annual household income for As-free drinking water. However, the amount they were willing to pay for As safe water was very low compared to other household expenses. Factors which influenced WTP included the As contamination level, household income, water consumption, awareness of water source contamination, whether household members were affected by As contamination and whether they already had taken any mitigation measures

An analysis of institutional stakeholders' opinion on arsenic mitigation in Bangladesh

The extent and severity of Arsenic (As) contamination in groundwater throughout Bangladesh and its detrimental effects on human health are well known. While various mitigation measures have been undertaken by various organizations, most of them have not achieved their expected outcomes due to associated technical, spatial and socio-economic challenges. In this study, institutional stakeholders' opinions on various aspects of As mitigation were elicited to identify their preferences for and reservations on specific mitigation measures. The current status of As mitigation activities and the factors influencing the success of As mitigation were also explored. While institutional weakness, lack of accountability and a latency period were the major factors hindering sustainable As mitigation, stakeholders' understanding of the As problem and their preferences for the different mitigation measures also had a significant impact on mitigation effectiveness. Mitigation of As contamination was a complex issue that required coordinated effort from various levels of stakeholders and the concept of "paying for water", which is currently unknown in Bangladesh, needs to be developed to create a greater sense of user ownership of As safe water and thus better water management