Suspension of GSP: Image Crisis for Bangladesh

The most troubled sector of recent times is Ready-made Garments (RMG) sector of Bangladesh which is the backbone of our economy. This labor intensive industry has accommodated 4.5 million workers 80% of whom are women in the last fiscal year. So there are about 5,000 garments factories scattered across the country. 78% of our foreign earnings come from this sector. This sector keeps our economy moving, but the industry has been facing numerous problems. Poor working conditions, bad industrial relations, low wage, the arrogant and ruthless attitude of the owners or management and lack of solid and positive initiative on behalf of successive governments has made this sector questionable in the world market. It has lost GSP (Generalized System of Preference) advantage in the U.S market which has created an image crisis for the industry. This is fear of loosing GSP advantage in the EU market as well. To save the employment generation and one of the largest foreign currency earning sectors, BGMEA, BKMEA and Government should adopt an integrated approach on the one hand and boost up the image of this industry on the other.  Key words: Ready Made Garment, GSP, Suspension of GSP

Multi-hazard groundwater risks to water supply from shallow depths: challenges to achieving the sustainable development goals in Bangladesh

Background: Groundwater currently provides 98% of all drinking-water supply in Bangladesh. Groundwater is found throughout Bangladesh but its quality (i.e. arsenic and salinity contamination) and quantity (i.e., water-storage depletion) vary across hydrological environments, posing unique challenges to certain geographical areas and population groups. Yet, no national-scale, multi-parameter groundwater hazard maps currently exist enabling water resources managers and policy makers to identify vulnerable areas to public health. Methods: We develop, for the first time, groundwater multi-hazard maps at the national scale of Bangladesh combining information on arsenic, salinity and water storage. We apply geospatial techniques in ‘R’ programming language and ArcGIS environment, linking hydrological indicators for water quality and quantity to construct risk maps. A range of socio-economic variables including access to drinking and irrigation water supplies and social vulnerability (i.e., poverty) are overlaid on these risk maps to estimate exposures. Results: Our multi-parameter groundwater hazard maps show that a considerable proportion of land area (5% to 24% under extremely-high to high risks) in Bangladesh is currently under combined risk of arsenic and salinity contamination, and groundwater-storage depletion. As small as 6.5 million (2.2 million poor) to 24.4 million (8.6 million poor) people are exposed to a combined risk of high arsenic, salinity and groundwater-storage depletion. Conclusions: Our groundwater hazard maps reveal areas and exposure of population groups to water risks posed by arsenic and salinity contamination and depletion of water storage. These geospatial hazard maps can potentially guide policymakers in prioritizing mitigation and adaptation measures in order to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals across the water, agriculture and public health sectors in Bangladesh

Successful Transplantation of Primary Hepatocytes from DsRed Mice into Fah-/-;Scid/Scid Mice; A Future In Vivo Model System for Receiving Human Hepatocytes

We have developed a system for studying hepatocellular growth potential in which liver cells are introduced into the diseased livers of Fah-/-; Scid/Scid double knockout mice. To use this system to study cell transplantation, DsRed  liver cells were introduced into severe immunodeficient Fah-/-; Scid/Scid double knockout  mice. In regenerated recipient livers, up to 20% of the mouse liver is repopulated by DsRed mouse hepatocytes demonstrating the creation of a functional mouse liver in which parenchyma is derived from DsRed mouse hepatocytes. The severe immunodeficient Fah-/-;Scid/Scid double knockout mice provide a tool for studying hepatocellular biology. Keywords: Human Hepatocytes, Transplantation, DsRed and Fah-/-;Scid/Scid Mice

The multimodal Munich Clinical Deep Phenotyping study to bridge the translational gap in severe mental illness treatment research

Introduction: Treatment of severe mental illness (SMI) symptoms, especially negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, remains a major unmet need. There is good evidence that SMIs have a strong genetic background and are characterized by multiple biological alterations, including disturbed brain circuits and connectivity, dysregulated neuronal excitation-inhibition, disturbed dopaminergic and glutamatergic pathways, and partially dysregulated inflammatory processes. The ways in which the dysregulated signaling pathways are interconnected remains largely unknown, in part because well-characterized clinical studies on comprehensive biomaterial are lacking. Furthermore, the development of drugs to treat SMIs such as schizophrenia is limited by the use of operationalized symptom-based clusters for diagnosis. Methods: In line with the Research Domain Criteria initiative, the Clinical Deep Phenotyping (CDP) study is using a multimodal approach to reveal the neurobiological underpinnings of clinically relevant schizophrenia subgroups by performing broad transdiagnostic clinical characterization with standardized neurocognitive assessments, multimodal neuroimaging, electrophysiological assessments, retinal investigations, and omics-based analyzes of blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Moreover, to bridge the translational gap in biological psychiatry the study includes in vitro investigations on human-induced pluripotent stem cells, which are available from a subset of participants. Results: Here, we report on the feasibility of this multimodal approach, which has been successfully initiated in the first participants in the CDP cohort; to date, the cohort comprises over 194 individuals with SMI and 187 age and gender matched healthy controls. In addition, we describe the applied research modalities and study objectives. Discussion: The identification of cross-diagnostic and diagnosis-specific biotype-informed subgroups of patients and the translational dissection of those subgroups may help to pave the way toward precision medicine with artificial intelligence-supported tailored interventions and treatment. This aim is particularly important in psychiatry, a field where innovation is urgently needed because specific symptom domains, such as negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction, and treatment-resistant symptoms in general are still difficult to treat

Enhanced stability of a chimeric hepatitis B core antigen virus-like-particle (HBcAg-VLP) by a C-terminal linker-hexahistidine-peptide

Abstract Background Virus-like-particles (VLPs) are attractive nanoparticulate scaffolds for broad applications in material/biological sciences and medicine. Prior their functionalization, specific adaptations have to be carried out. These adjustments frequently lead to disordered particles, but the particle integrity is an essential factor for the VLP suitability. Therefore, major requirements for particle stabilization exist. The objective of this study was to evaluate novel stabilizing elements for functionalized chimeric hepatitis B virus core antigen virus-like particles (HBcAg-VLP), with beneficial characteristics for vaccine development, imaging or delivery. Results The effects of a carboxy-terminal polyhistidine-peptide and an intradimer disulfide-bridge on the stability of preclinically approved chimeric HBcAg-VLPs were assessed. We purified recombinant chimeric HBcAg-VLPs bearing different modified C-termini and compared their physical and chemical particle stability by quantitative protein-biochemical and biophysical techniques. We observed lower chemical resistance of T = 3- compared to T = 4-VLP (triangulation number) capsids and profound impairment of accessibility of hexahistidine-peptides in assembled VLPs. Histidines attached to the C-terminus were associated with superior mechanical and/or chemical particle stability depending on the number of histidine moieties. A molecular modeling approach based on cryo-electron microscopy and biolayer interferometry revealed the underlying structural mechanism for the strengthening of the integrity of VLPs. Interactions triggering capsid stabilization occur on a highly conserved residue on the basis of HBcAg-monomers as well as on hexahistidine-peptides of adjacent monomers. This new stabilization mechanism appears to mimic an evolutionary conserved stabilization concept for hepadnavirus core proteins. Conclusions These findings establish the genetically simply transferable C-terminal polyhistidine-peptide as a general stabilizing element for chimeric HBcAg-VLPs to increase their suitability

Pathogenesis of POLR1C-dependent type 3 treacher collins syndrome revealed by a zebrafish model

[[abstract]]Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS) is a rare congenital birth disorder (1 in 50,000 live births) characterized by severe craniofacial defects, including the downward slanting palpebral fissures, hypoplasia of the facial bones, and cleft palate (CP). Over 90% of patients with TCS have a mutation in the TCOF1 gene. However, some patients exhibit mutations in two new causative genes, POLR1C and POLR1D, which encode subunits of RNA polymerases I and III, that affect ribosome biogenesis. In this study, we examine the role of POLR1C in TCS using zebrafish as a model system. Our data confirmed that polr1c is highly expressed in the facial region, and dysfunction of this gene by knockdown or knock-out resulted in mis-expression of neural crest cells during early development that leads to TCS phenotype. Next generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of the polr1c mutants further demonstrated the up-regulated p53 pathway and predicted skeletal disorders. Lastly, we partially rescued the TCS facial phenotype in the background of p53 mutants, which supported the hypothesis that POLR1C-dependent type 3 TCS is associated with the p53 pathway

Imaging for the diagnosis and response assessment of renal tumours

Purpose: Imaging plays a key role throughout the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patient pathway, from diagnosis and staging of the disease, to the assessment of response to therapy. This review aims to summarise current knowledge with regard to imaging in the RCC patient pathway, highlighting recent advances and challenges. Methods: A literature review was performed using Medline. Particular focus was paid to RCC imaging in the diagnosis, staging and response assessment following therapy. Results: Characterisation of small renal masses (SRM) remains a diagnostic conundrum. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been increasingly applied in this field, as have emerging technologies such as multiparametric MRI, radiomics and molecular imaging with 99mtechnetium-sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography/CT. CT remains the first-line modality for staging of locoregional and suspected metastatic disease. Although the staging accuracy of CT is good, limitations in determining nodal status persist. Response assessment following ablative therapies remains challenging, as reduction in tumour size may not occur. The pattern of enhancement on CT may be a more reliable indicator of treatment success. CEUS may also have a role in monitoring response following ablation. Response assessments following anti-angiogenic and immunotherapies in advanced RCC is an evolving field, with a number of alternative response criteria being proposed. Tumour response patterns may vary between different immunotherapy agents and tumour types; thus, future response criteria modifications may be inevitable. Conclusion: The diagnosis and characterisation of SRM and response assessment following targeted therapy for advanced RCC are key challenges which warrant further research.</p