Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Potentials of Different Extracts of Aegiceras corniculatam L. and Ceriops tagal Pers

The chloroform extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum zone of inhibition of 13 mm against S. dysenteriae and S. cervaceae. Furthermore, the aqueous extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum antibacterial activity with 10 mm zone of inhibition against P. aeruginosa & S. dysenteriae. However, n-hexane, chloroform and aqueous leaf extracts of C. tagal did not exhibit promising antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical screening of both plant extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, tannins and resin. The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam proved the presence of reducing sugar, cardiac glycoside, anthraquinone glycoside and saponin. Most extracts of C. tagal contained reducing sugar, saponins and alkaloids. The results of this study support the use of mangrove plants as a source of antibiotic substance against human pathogenic organisms.The study was aimed to analyze the phytochemicals and antimicrobial potentials of different fractions of Aegiceras corniculatam and Ceriops tagal, two mangrove plants of Bangladesh. Leaves of A. corniculatam and C. tagal were extracted using methanol by cold extraction method followed by partitioning with n-hexane, chloroform and the remaining part was considered as aqueous fraction. All fractions were screened for phytochemicals and subjected to Disc diffusion method to investigate antimicrobial activity against fourteen microorganisms including gram (+ve) (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Sarcina lutea), gram (-ve) (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio mimicus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella boydii, Pseudomonus aeruginosa) and fungi (Saccharomyces cerevaceae, Candida albicans, Asperagillus niger).The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against all studied pathogenic microorganisms where n-hexane extract did not show any inhibitory activity.

Phytochemical investigations, in-vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial potential, and in-silico computational docking analysis of Euphorbia milii Des Moul

Euphorbia milii Des Moul is a deciduous bush indigenous to Madagascar. The present study aims to investigate the presence of the phytochemical, in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potency, and in-silico computational analysis of ethanolic and aqueous preparations of E. milii leaves and flowers. The ethanolic and aqueous extracts were tested for in-vitro antioxidant activity by DPPH, H2O2, TAC, and FRAP assay. In addition, antimicrobial potentials were assayed by agar well diffusion technique against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans for various clinical isolates. The qualitative phytochemical analysis results confirmed the existence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, and tannins. The quantitative analysis elicits the availability of a magnificent number of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, flavonols, and tannins. Among all the extracts, aqueous extracts of leaves exhibited potent antioxidant activity in DPPH, FRAP, and H2O2 assay with the IC50 value of 30.70, 60.05, and 82.92µg/mL, respectively. In agar well diffusion assay, all extracts displayed zone of inhibition varies from 2-24mm at different concentrations ranging from 10-320 mg/mL, whereas no activity was observed against Candida albicans. Furthermore, docking-based computational analysis has revealed that beta-sitosterol and taraxerol are the plant's active constituents responsible for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Research findings suggest that the E. milii plant has an excellent prospect for further study for its extended antioxidative and antimicrobial potential. It could be a natural source of various ailments and can be utilized to develop new drugs

TRIBAL FORMULATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF PAIN: A STUDY OF THE BEDE COMMUNITY TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PRACTITIONERS OF PORABARI VILLAGE IN DHAKA DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

The Bedes form one of the largest tribal or indigenous communities in Bangladesh and are popularly known as the boat people or water gypsies because of their preference for living in boats. They travel almost throughout the whole year by boats on the numerous waterways of Bangladesh and earn their livelihood by selling sundry items, performing jugglery acts, catching snakes, and treating village people by the various riversides with their traditional medicinal formulations. Life is hard for the community, and both men and women toil day long. As a result of their strenuous lifestyle, they suffer from various types of pain, and have developed an assortment of formulations for treatment of pain in different parts of the body. Pain is the most common reason for physician consultation in all parts of the world including Bangladesh. Although a number of drugs are available to treat pain, including non-steroidal, steroidal, and narcotic drugs, such drugs usually have side-effects like causing bleeding in the stomach over prolonged use (as in the case of rheumatic pain), or can be addictive. Moreover, pain arising from causes like rheumatism has no proper treatment in allopathic medicine. It was the objective of the present study to document the formulations used by the Bede traditional practitioners for pain treatment, for they claim to have used these formulations over centuries with success. Surveys were conducted among a large Bede community, who reside in boats on the Bangshi River by Porabari village of Savar area in Dhaka district of Bangladesh. Interviews of 30 traditional practitioners were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. It was observed that the Bede practitioners used 53 formulations for treatment of various types of pain, the main ingredient of all formulations being medicinal plants. Out of the 53 formulations, 25 were for treatment of rheumatic pain, either exclusively, or along with other types of body pain. A total of 65 plants belonging to 39 families were used in the formulations. The Fabaceae family provided 7 plants followed by the Solanaceae family with 4 plants. 47 out of the 53 formulations were used topically, 5 formulations were orally administered, and 1 formulation had both topical and oral uses. 8 formulations for treatment of rheumatic pain contained Calotropis gigantea, suggesting that the plant has strong potential for further scientific studies leading to discovery of novel efficacious compounds for rheumatic pain treatment

Deep Learning in Agriculture: A Review

Deep learning (DL) is a kind of sophisticated data analysis and image processing technology, with good results and great potential. DL has been applied to many different fields, and it is also being applied to the agricultural field. This paper presents a wide-ranging review of research with regards to how DL is applied to agriculture. The analyzed works were categorized in yield prediction, weed detection, and disease detection. The articles presented here illustrate the benefits of DL to agriculture through filtering and categorization. Farm management systems are turning into real-time AI-enabled applications that give in-depth insights and suggestions for farmer's decision support by using the proper utilization of DL and sensor data

A Review on Importance of Artocarpus heterophyllus L. (Jackfruit)

The Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) is well-known as “poor man’s food” fruit in Bangladesh. It is widely consumed by most of the rural people, and it is the national fruit of Bangladesh. The main aim of this review is to document the medicinal significance of jackfruit, major parts and uses of the jackfruit in Bangladesh. This article was based on mostly a literature review. All parts of the fruit and plant are used as human food, animal feed, and wood source for furniture. Although jackfruit is the main fruit of the tree, it is used as furniture for its beautiful texture and wood color. Jackfruit contains anti-bacterial, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-helminthic properties. The fruit is rich in carbohydrates, minerals, carboxylic acids, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The seed is rich in manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, and lectins and thus meets up nutritional requirements for the rural people. The present study attempted to review the medicinal importance, health-promoting effects of jackfruit and seeds with special emphasis on their applications in the food

Smart Tourism Ecosystem: A New Dimension toward Sustainable Value Co-Creation

Changes in information technology have a great influence on people’s preferences and lifestyles. Smart devices and technologies have taken the conventional way of traveling into a smart tourism system. The aim of this paper is to examine smart tourism, the integration of different activities of different tourism service providers, and their interactions with tourists. It also finds out the smart tourism tools, how they are being used by different actors, how the tourist and the network perceived and interact with them for making up a smart tourism ecosystem, and finally how they create the sustainable value co-created services. This paper is qualitative in nature and used a holistic approach. The data were collected through interviews of 24 service providers and 50 service receivers, mainly tourists from the study area, Bangladesh. Study shows that there are three phases by which actors are communicating with each other comprising pre-service delivery, during-service delivery, and post-service delivery. Smart tourism tools are being used throughout the phases which eventually create value in co-created services with three pillars of sustainability (economic, socio-cultural and environmental). This study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of smart tourism, value co-creation, and sustainability

Immunization status of mothers of children with cerebral palsy in rural Bangladesh

Vaccination is one of the most effective public health tools for prevention of infectious diseases, morbidity and disability. Little is known about the rate of maternal immunization among mothers of children with cerebral palsy (CP), as well as any possible role of maternal immunization in development of CP in the newborns.To determine the socio-demographic characteristics and self-reported vaccination status of mothers of children with CP and compare vaccination coverage in this cohort with national data on immunization. The study also aims to assess vaccination status of children with CP.A subset of the Bangladesh CP Register (BCPR) cohort of women who had children with CP were recruited during April 2017 from a community based early intervention and rehabilitation program going on in Shahjadpur . Socio-demographic characteristics and maternal immunization status were assessed using a semi-structured questionnaire . The vaccination status of the children was also assessed by interviewing mother and observing the BCG marks. All data were compared with the corresponding information among general population using national vaccination coverage survey reports of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh.Sixty-eight mothers were interviewed of which 17.6% mothers reported not receiving any vaccine during pregnancy. Tetanus vaccine was most commonly (82.0%) received during pregnancy. Overall coverage for at least two doses of tetanus toxoid (TT) among mothers of children with CP was significantly lower than the national tetanus coverage (79.4% versus 96.4%,

Effect of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation after Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

10.3329/uhj.v18i1.57878University Heart Journal18136-4

Neuropharmacological and Antidiarrheal Potentials of Duabanga grandiflora (DC.) Walp. Stem Bark and Prospective Ligand–Receptor Interactions of Its Bioactive Lead Molecules

Duabanga grandiflora (DC.) Walp. is an ethnomedicinally significant plant used to treat various illnesses, but there is little scientific evidence to support its use. This study explored the pharmacological activities of methanol extract of D. grandiflora stem barks (MEDG) through in vivo approaches in Swiss albino mice and a computer-aided molecular approach. The forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), elevated plus maze (EPM), and hole board test (HBT) were used to determine anti-depressant and anxiolytic activity in experimental mice. In addition, anti-diarrheal studies were performed using castor oil-induced diarrhea, castor oil-induced enter pooling, and the charcoal-induced gastrointestinal motility test. MEDG showed substantial depletions in the immobility times in both FST and TST after treatment with the MEDG extract, whereas moderate anxiolytic activity was manifested at a higher dose (400 mg/kg) compared with the control. Correspondingly, MEDG extract revealed a significant reduction in wet feces and decreased the small intestinal transit of charcoal meal in castor oil-induced diarrhea and charcoal-induced gastrointestinal motility test. In the computer-aided molecular approaches, vanillin displayed a promising binding score for both anxiolytic and anti-diarrheal activities, while duabanganal C showed a promising score for the anti-depressant activity. The present experimental findings along with a computer-aided model conclude that MEDG could be a possible Phyto therapeutic agent with potential anti-depressant, anxiolytic and anti-diarrheal activity

Climates of urbanization: local experiences of water security, conflict and cooperation in peri-urban South-Asia

This article explores changing water (in)securities in a context of urbanization and climate change in the peri-urban spaces of four South-Asian cities: Khulna (Bangladesh), Gurugram and Hyderabad (India), and Kathmandu (Nepal). As awareness of water challenges like intensifying use, deteriorating quality and climate change is growing, water security gets more scientific and policy attention. However, in peri-urban areas, the dynamic zones between the urban and the rural, it remains under-researched, despite the specific characteristics of these spaces: intensifying flows of goods, resources, people, and technologies; diversifying uses of, and growing pressures on land and water; and complex and often contradictory governance and jurisdictional institutions. This article analyses local experiences of water (in-)security, conflict and cooperation in relation to existing policies. It uses insights from the analysis of the case studies as a point of departure for a critical reflection on whether a ‘community resilience’ discourse contributes to better understanding these cases of water insecurity and conflict, and to better policy solutions. The authors argue that a community resilience focus risks neglecting important insights about how peri-urban water insecurity problems are experienced by peri-urban populations and produced or reproduced in specific socio-economic, political and policy contexts. Unless supported by in-depth hydro-social research, such a focus may depoliticize basically political questions of water (re) allocation, prioritization, and access for marginalized groups. Therefore, the authors plead for more critical awareness among researchers and policy-makers of the consequences of using a ‘community resilience’ discourse for making sense of peri-urban water (in-)security. Key policy insights There is an urgent need for more (critical) policy and scientific attention to peri-urban water insecurity, conflict, and climate change. Although a changing climate will likely play a role, more attention is needed to how water insecurities and vulnerabilities in South Asia are socially produced. Researchers and policy-makers should avoid using depoliticized (community) resilience approaches for basically socio-political problems.</p