Status of fish and shellfish diversity and their decline factors in the Rupsa River of Khulna in Bangladesh

The study was aimed to find out the present status and causes of fish and shellfish diversity reduction in the Rupsa River of Bangladesh. Studies were conducted for a period of 6 months from July to December 2016. Focus group discussions (FGD), questionnaire interviews (QI) and key informant interviews (KII) were done to collect appropriate data from the local fishers and resource persons. A total of 62 species of fish and shellfish from 23 families were found in the river and 9 species disappeared in last 10 years. The species availability status was remarked in three categories and obtained as 14 species were commonly available, 28 species were moderately available and 20 species were rarely available. The highest percentage of fishes was catfishes (24.19%). There was a gradual reduction in the species diversity from previous 71 species to present 62 species with 12.68% declined by last 10 years. Average fish catch per fishermen per day reduced from 8.35 kg to 2.95 kg in last 10 years. Combined effects of some manmade and environmental factors are responsible for the loss of biodiversity. Majority of the respondents (90%) agreed that two manmade factors namely overfishing and navigation are mainly responsible for the loss of fish and shellfish diversity in the river followed by use of illegal fishing gears (86%), pollution (72.5%) and urbanization (64%). During the survey, 93.25% respondents reported water depth reduction as the main environmental factor followed by siltation and sedimentation (91%), temperature (61.75%) and turbidity (56%). The present work recommends preventing water pollution, maintaining fishing gears, increasing fishers’ awareness, implementing fisheries laws and establishing fish sanctuary to conserve finfish and shellfish diversity in the river. Moreover, counter and random surveys are also recommended to crosscheck the fishes’ status and decline causes for ensuring their proper management and conservation

Sector 17-A, Yamuna Expressway

Oral route is the most preferred route for administration of different drugs because it is regarded as safest, most convenient, and economical route. Fast disintegrating tablets are very popular nowadays as they get dissolved or facilely disintegrated in mouth within few seconds of administration without the need of water. The disadvantages of conventional dosage form, especially dysphagia (arduousness in swallowing), in pediatric and geriatric patients have been overcome by fast dissolving tablets. Natural materials have advantages over synthetic ones since they are chemically inert, non-toxic, less expensive, biodegradable and widely available. Natural polymers like locust bean gum, banana powder, mango peel pectin, Mangifera indica gum, and Hibiscus rosasinenses mucilage ameliorate the properties of tablet and utilized as binder, diluent, and superdisintegrants increase the solubility of poorly water soluble drug, decrease the disintegration time, and provide nutritional supplement. Natural polymers are obtained from the natural origin and they are cost efficacious, nontoxic, biodegradable, eco-friendly, devoid of any side effect, renewable, and provide nutritional supplement. It is proved from the studies that natural polymers are more safe and efficacious than the synthetic polymers. The aim of the present article is to study the FDA-approved natural polymers utilized in fast dissolving tablets

Financial Difficulties Correlate With Mental Health Among Bangladeshi Residents Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat which has challenged mental resilience and impacted the psychological well-being of people across all age groups globally. The present study aimed to investigate how financial difficulties during the pandemic correlate with mental health among residents of Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 4,020 residents from different parts of Bangladesh between July and September 2020, during a period of elevated risk of COVID-19 infection. A self-reported online questionnaire comprising socio-demographic, financial difficulties and psychometric measures (to assess depression, anxiety and stress) was used to gather information from participants. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with mental health consequences. Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in the sample were 71.1%, 62.3%, and 56.7%, respectively. Levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher among participants who reported female sex, being unmarried, smaller families, higher monthly family income, poor self-perceived health status, living near people who had been infected by COVID-19, probability of decreased income, food scarcity (both during the pandemic and in the future) and the possibility of unemployment. However, due to the nature of the cross-sectional study performed with a convenience sampling method, the causal relationship between variables cannot be justified. Conclusions: After several months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, more than half of the respondents rated their mental health concerns as moderate to severe. The findings highlight the contributing factors of poor mental health which warrant the creation of interventions that address the economic, financial and mental health impacts of the pandemic

Role of microRNA 214 in cyclic stretch induced aortic valve pathogenesis

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is one of the most prevalent valvular diseases among the elderly population. Unfortunately, there are no therapeutic drugs available to treat this disease. In this regard, mechanosensitive miRNAs have been considered as potential therapeutic candidates for CAVD, due to their role in modulating gene expression. microRNA 214 (miR-214) is a major miRNA which is significantly downregulated in calcified aortic valves (AVs). Previously, miR-214 has been shown to be shear-sensitive in AV. However, the effect of cyclic stretch on miR-214 expression and its functional effect in AV are poorly understood. Hence, this work aims to evaluate the effect of cyclic stretch on the expression of miR-214 and one of its well-known targets (ATF4) and downstream genes (CHOP and BCL2L1) in porcine AVs ex vivo. Also, the effect of miR-214 overexpression on porcine AV calcification is evaluated. This would give a better understanding on the potential therapeutic role of miR-214 in CAVD.M.S

MicroRNAs and Messenger RNAs in Cyclic Stretch Induced Aortic Valve Pathogenesis

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is one of the most prevalent valvular diseases among the elderly population. Unfortunately, there are no therapeutic drugs available to treat this disease. Since calcified aortic valves (AVs) have distinct miRNA and gene expression profiles compared to healthy AVs, microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) based therapies hold a lot of promise as potential drugs. In this regard, mechanosensitivity of AV calcification-specific miRNAs and mRNAs can serve as a critical criterion in identifying the most effective candidates, as it has been shown that altered mechanical environment plays a key role in AV pathogenesis. To this day, majority of the studies have focused on disturbed flow-induced changes in miRNA and mRNA expression related to CAVD. However, identification and functional description of stretch-sensitive miRNAs and mRNAs in CAVD are poorly studied. Hence, this work aims to identify and functionally describe AV calcification-specific miRNAs and mRNAs that are stretch-sensitive. Our hypothesis is that stretch-sensitive miRNAs and mRNAs play a significant role in the pathogenesis of AV calcification; consequently, overexpression or inhibition of these miRNAs and mRNAs are potential candidates for therapeutic application. To test this hypothesis, the following aims are proposed: (1) investigate the effects of physiological and pathological cyclic stretch on miRNA expression in AV, and (2) investigate the effects of physiological and pathological cyclic stretch on mRNA expression in AV. This research work will help in identifying important stretch-sensitive miRNAs and mRNAs as potential therapeutic candidates for CAVD.Ph.D

Aerodynamic Shape Optimization of NREL S809 Airfoil for Wind Turbine Blades Using Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes Model—Part II

Sustainability has become one of the most significant considerations in everyday work, including energy production. The fast-growing trend of wind energy around the world has increased the demand for efficient and optimized airfoils, which has paved the way for energy harvesting systems. The present manuscript proposes an aerodynamically optimized design of the well-known existing NREL S809 airfoil for performance enhancement of the blade design for wind turbines. An integrated code, based on a genetic algorithm, is developed to optimize the asymmetric NREL S809 airfoil by class shape transformation (CST) and the parametric section (PARSEC) parameterization method, analyzing its aerodynamic properties and maximizing the lift of the airfoil. The in-house MATLAB code is further incorporated with XFOIL to calculate the coefficient of lift, coefficient of drag and lift-to-drag ratio at angles of attack of 0° and 6.2° by the panel technique and validated with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) experimental results provided by The Ohio State University (OSU). On the other hand, steady-state CFD analysis is performed on an optimized S809 airfoil using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equation with the K–ω shear stress transport (SST) turbulent model and compared with the experimental data. The present method shows that the optimized airfoil by CST is predicted, with an increment of 11.8% and 9.6% for the lift coefficient and lift-to-drag ratio, respectively, and desirable stability parameters obtained for the design of the wind turbine blades. These characteristics significantly improve the overall aerodynamic performance of new optimized airfoils. Finally, the aerodynamically improved results are reported for the design of the NREL Phase II, Phase III and Phase VI HAWT blades

Steady nanofluid flow with variable fluid possessions over a linearly extending surface: A Lie group exploration

The temperament of stream characteristic, heat and mass transfer of MHD forced convective flow over a linearly expanding porous medium has been scrutinized in the progress exploration. The germane possessions of the liquid like viscosity along with thermal conductivity are believed to be variable in nature, directly influenced by the temperature of flow. As soon as gaining the system of leading equations of the stream, Lie symmetric group transformations have been employed to come across the fitting parallel conversions to alter the central PDEs into a suit of ODEs. The renovated system of ODE with appropriate boundary conditions is numerically solved with the assistance of illustrative software MAPLE 17. The consequences of the relevant factors of the system have been exemplified through charts and graphs. An analogous qualified survey has been prepared among present inquiry and subsisting reads and achieved an admirable accord between them. The variable viscosity parameter has more significant effect on nanofluid velocity than regular fluid and temporal profile as well as nanoparticle concentration is also influenced with variable viscosity. Keywords: Nanofluid, Stretching sheet, Variable viscosity, Variable thermal conductivity, Lie symmetry grou

FDA-Approved Natural Polymers for Fast Dissolving Tablets

Oral route is the most preferred route for administration of different drugs because it is regarded as safest, most convenient, and economical route. Fast disintegrating tablets are very popular nowadays as they get dissolved or facilely disintegrated in mouth within few seconds of administration without the need of water. The disadvantages of conventional dosage form, especially dysphagia (arduousness in swallowing), in pediatric and geriatric patients have been overcome by fast dissolving tablets. Natural materials have advantages over synthetic ones since they are chemically inert, non-toxic, less expensive, biodegradable and widely available. Natural polymers like locust bean gum, banana powder, mango peel pectin, Mangifera indica gum, and Hibiscus rosa-sinenses mucilage ameliorate the properties of tablet and utilized as binder, diluent, and superdisintegrants increase the solubility of poorly water soluble drug, decrease the disintegration time, and provide nutritional supplement. Natural polymers are obtained from the natural origin and they are cost efficacious, nontoxic, biodegradable, eco-friendly, devoid of any side effect, renewable, and provide nutritional supplement. It is proved from the studies that natural polymers are more safe and efficacious than the synthetic polymers. The aim of the present article is to study the FDA-approved natural polymers utilized in fast dissolving tablets

Fast multilayer perceptron neural network-based control algorithm for shunt compensator in distribution systems

In this study, a fast learning method of back-propagation (BP) multilayer perceptron neural network-based control algorithm for shunt compensator in three-phase distribution systems is presented. The proposed method comprises of quadratic linear and non-linear errors to determine optimisation criterion error function to train the BP algorithm while the existing methods have used only linear quadratic error term. The newly developed optimisation criterion error function accelerates the convergence efficiency of BP algorithm for performance improvement of shunt compensator at point of common coupling under non-linear loading conditions. With the help of the proposed algorithm, the weighted amplitude of fundamental active and reactive current components of the load current are extracted from which the reference source currents are estimated. The performance analysis of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using two case studies for zero-voltage regulation and power factor correction. The total harmonic distortions are improved in comparison with standard BP algorithm which has been validated in above-mentioned two case studies. This is the quite important advantage of the proposed control algorithm to improve the power quality over existing control algorithms for shunt compensator