Prevalence of Iron-deficiency Anaemia among University Students in Noakhali Region, Bangladesh

Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a common health problem in rural women and young children of Bangladesh. The university students usually take food from residential halls, and the food value of their diets is not always balanced. This cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of irondeficiency anaemia among the university students of Noakhali region, Bangladesh. Haemoglobin level of 300 randomly-selected students was measured calorimetrically, using Sahli\u2019s haemoglobinometer during October to December 2011. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS software for Windows (version 16) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). In the study, 55.3% students were found anaemic, of whom 36.7% were male, and 63.3% were female. Students aged 20-22 years were more anaemic (43.4%) than other age-groups. Majority (51.3%) of male students showed their haemoglobin level in the range of 13-15 g/dL, followed by 26.0% and 21.3% with 10-12 g/dL and 16-18 g/dL respectively. Although 50.5% anaemic and 51.1% non-anaemic female students showed normal BMI\u2014lower percentage than anaemic (60.7%) and nonanaemic (71.9%) male students, the underweight students were found more anaemic than the overweight and obese subjects. Regular breakfast-taking habit showed significant (p=0.035, 95% CI 0.5-1.0) influence on IDA compared to non-regular breakfast takers. Consumption of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or peanut butter regularly; junk food; multivitamins; and iron/iron-rich food showed insignificant (p=0.097, 95% CI 0.5-1.1; p=0.053, 95% CI 1.1-2.3; p=0.148, 95% CI 0.6-1.2; and p=0.487, 95% CI 0.7-1.4 respectively) role in provoking IDA. In the case of non-anaemic subjects, all of the above parameters were significant, except the junk food consumption (p=0.342, 95% CI 0.5-1.2). Our study revealed that majority of university students, especially female, were anaemic that might be aggravated by food habit and lack of awareness. The results suggest that anaemia can be prevented by providing proper knowledge on the healthful diet, improved lifestyle, and harmful effect of anaemia to the students

Global burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: update from the GBD 2019 study

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading cause of global mortality and a major contributor to disability. This paper reviews the magnitude of total CVD burden, including 13 underlying causes of cardiovascular death and 9 related risk factors, using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019. GBD, an ongoing multinational collaboration to provide comparable and consistent estimates of population health over time, used all available population-level data sources on incidence, prevalence, case fatality, mortality, and health risks to produce estimates for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 257 to 285 million) in 1990 to 523 million (95% UI: 497 to 550 million) in 2019, and the number of CVD deaths steadily increased from 12.1 million (95% UI:11.4 to 12.6 million) in 1990, reaching 18.6 million (95% UI: 17.1 to 19.7 million) in 2019. The global trends for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost also increased significantly, and years lived with disability doubled from 17.7 million (95% UI: 12.9 to 22.5 million) to 34.4 million (95% UI:24.9 to 43.6 million) over that period. The total number of DALYs due to IHD has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 182 million (95% UI: 170 to 194 million) DALYs, 9.14 million (95% UI: 8.40 to 9.74 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 197 million (95% UI: 178 to 220 million) prevalent cases of IHD in 2019. The total number of DALYs due to stroke has risen steadily since 1990, reaching 143 million (95% UI: 133 to 153 million) DALYs, 6.55 million (95% UI: 6.00 to 7.02 million) deaths in the year 2019, and 101 million (95% UI: 93.2 to 111 million) prevalent cases of stroke in 2019. Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of disease burden in the world. CVD burden continues its decades-long rise for almost all countries outside high-income countries, and alarmingly, the age-standardized rate of CVD has begun to rise in some locations where it was previously declining in high-income countries. There is an urgent need to focus on implementing existing cost-effective policies and interventions if the world is to meet the targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 and achieve a 30% reduction in premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases

Group III-nitride nanowire structures for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation

The performance of photochemical water splitting over the emerging nanostructured photocatalysts is often constrained by their surface electronic properties, which can lead to imbalance in redox reactions, reduced efficiency, and poor stability. We have investigated the impact of surface charge properties on the photocatalytic activity of InGaN nanowires. By optimizing the surface charge properties through controlled p-type dopant (Mg) incorporation, we have demonstrated an apparent quantum efficiency of ∼17.1% and ∼12.3% for InGaN nanowire arrays under visible light irradiation (400 nm–490 nm) in aqueous methanol and in the overall neutral-pH water splitting reaction, respectively

Photoelectrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide using Ge doped GaN nanowire photoanodes

We report on the direct conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in a photoelectrochemical cell consisting of germanium doped gallium nitride nanowire anode and copper (Cu) cathode. Various products including methane (CH₄), carbon monoxide (CO), and formic acid (HCOOH) were observed under light illumination. A Faradaic efficiency of ∼10% was measured for HCOOH. Furthermore, this photoelectrochemical system showed enhanced stability for 6 h CO₂ reduction reaction on low cost, large area Si substrates

Low Cardiac Output Syndrome: Incidence after Mitral Valve Replacement with or without Preservation of Mitral Valve Apparatus.

Mymensingh medical journal301164-17