Recognition of Bangladeshi Sign Language (BdSL) Words using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs)

In a world where effective communication is fundamental, individuals who are Deaf and Dumb (D&D) often face unique challenges due to their primary mode of communication—sign language. Despite the interpreters' invaluable roles, their lack of availability causes communication difficulties for the D&D individuals. This study explores whether the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) could be a potential solution. The primary objective is to assist D&D individuals with computer applications that could act as mediators to bridge the communication gap between them and the wider hearing population. To ensure their independent communication, we propose an automated system that could detect specific Bangla Sign Language (BdSL) words, addressing a critical gap in the sign language detection and recognition literature. Our approach leverages deep learning and transfer learning principles to convert webcam-captured hand gestures into textual representations in real-time. The model's development and assessment rest upon 992 images created by the authors, categorized into ten distinct classes representing various BdSL words. Our findings show the DenseNet201 and ResNet50-V2 models achieve promising training and testing accuracies of 99% and 93%, respectively. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-06-019 Full Text: PD

Cystatin C: A Marker of Renal Function

The most widely used investigation of renal function and GFR is the measurement of serum creatinine and creatinine clearance rate. This has been extremely popular in clinical medicine despite formidable difficulties associated with its quantification and interpretation. The main pathophysiological difficulties include variations in the rates of creatinine generation and its secretion by the renal tubules. Concentration of serum creatinine is now recognized as an unreliable measure of kidney function as it is affected by age, body weight, muscle mass, race and various medications. Several equations have been developed to improve the accuracy of serum creatinine level as a measure of GFR. The most widely used in adult populations are the Cockroft-Gault equation and the abbreviated Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation. Even with these equations, measurement of GFR is difficult because the equations are less accurate with higher levels of kidney function and are affected by interlaboratory variation in measuring creatinine level. In the above perspective, cystatin C concentration has become a promising marker for kidney function in both native and transplanted kidneys. Because of the possible potentiality of cystatin C to be an emerging endogenous marker for quick and accurate assessment of renal function, we have decided to review elaborately on cystatin C as a marker of renal function and to review the sensitivity and specificity of cystatin C as an endogenous marker compared to serum creatinine. Results of our review study suggest that cystatin C is a better marker of renal function compared to serum creatinine and other endogenous markers irrespective of age, sex and clinical condition

Evaluation of Performance of the Newly Developed de Cordova's Formula for Calculation of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol without Use of Triglycerides

Background: Various formulas are available to estimate serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. All of these are serum triglycerides (TG) dependent. But very recently de Cordova et al developed a simple formula (CF) to calculate LDL cholesterol without using serum TG and claimed it to be more accurate than Friedewald.s formula (FF). Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the CF for the calculation of LDL cholesterol in a Bangladeshi population. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixty adult Bangladeshi subjects were purposively included in this study. Serum total cholesterol (TC), TG, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were measured by direct automated methods. LDL cholesterol was also calculated by CF and FF. Results were expressed in conventional unit as mean ± SD and compared by two-tailed paired t test, bias against measured LDL cholesterol, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), Passing & Bablok regression and accuracy within ±10% of the measured LDL cholesterol. Results: The mean values of directly measured LDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol calculated by CF and FF were 117.7 ± 31.0, 111.8 ± 31.0 and 108.9 ± 39.7 mg/dL respectively. Bias of calculated LDL cholesterol against measured LDL cholesterol was -5.2% for CF and -9.6% for FF. The correlation coefficients of measured LDL cholesterol were 0.9796 (p<0.001) for CF and 0.9525 (p<0.001) for FF. Passing & Bablok regression yielded the equation y = 0.9938x - 6.2 for CF and y = 1.2774x - 40.9 for FF. Accuracy within ±10% of measured LDL cholesterol was 81% for CF and 49% for FF. Conclusion: This study revealed better performance of the de Cordova's formula than Friedewald's formula for approximate calculation of LDL cholesterol without using serum triglycerides

Tragedy in Savar: Management of Victims in Enam Medical College Hospital

Background: Rana Plaza collapse is the worst and deadliest man-made industrial disaster in the history of garment sector in the world. Around 1200 people died and thousands more were injured. Most of the victims of the disaster were treated in Enam Medical College Hospital (EMCH). We conducted this study to give an overview on the disaster victims and services provided by EMCH. Objective: The study was done to observe the length of time between accident and admission in EMCH, length of time between admission and discharge, to observe the numbers, types and sites of injuries to the victims, medical measures given to the victims and finally to observe the status of the victims at the time of discharge. Materials and Methods: This descriptive type of observational study was carried out among the victims of Rana Plaza tragedy during the period of May to October 2013. All admitted patients in EMCH were included in the study. Purposive nonprobability sampling technique was applied in this research work. Data were collected from the hospital record. After collection, data were manually compiled, edited and analyzed. Results: Among 621 victims treated in different wards, 276 (44.45%) were admitted to the hospital on the day of accident. Among the admitted patients, 255 (41.06%) stayed in the hospital for 1--3 days,133 (21.42%) for 4--7 days and 88 (14.17%) for more than 10 days. Fracture and dislocation were present in 32.70% patients, lacerated injury in 18.20%, abrasion in 15.78%, bruise in 13.53%, incised wound in 15.45% and punctured wound in 4.34% patients. Single injury was present in 56.68% and rest had multiple injuries. Lower limbs were the most (33.01%) affected part of the body followed by head and neck (22.06%), upper limbs (18.52%), thorax (17.55%) and abdomen (8.86%). Two hundred seventy two patients (43.80%) were improved after treatment and 56 (9.02%) were fully cured; 23.83% of the victims were referred to higher medical centers for special measures. Conclusion: The collapse of Rana Plaza has fueled a greater call for reform and safety in garment industry. At the same time, all health care centers should adopt a broad-based approach to disaster-preparedness by providing a framework to ensure a well-coordinated response to mass casualty event

Evaluation of the Novel Method and the Regression Equation for Calculation of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol

Background: Friedewald’s formula (FF) is used worldwide to calculate low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-chol). But it has several shortcomings: overestimation at lower triglyceride (TG) concentrations and underestimation at higher concentrations. In FF, TG to very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-chol) ratio (TG/VLDL-chol) is considered as constant, but practically it is not a fixed value. Recently, by analyzing lipid profiles in a large population, continuously adjustable values of TG/VLDL-chol were used to derive a novel method (NM) for the calculation of LDL-chol. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the novel method compared with direct measurement and regression equation (RE) developed for Bangladeshi population. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study we used lipid profiles of 955 adult Bangladeshi subjects. Total cholesterol (TC), TG, HDL-chol and LDL-chol were measured by direct methods using automation. LDL-chol was also calculated by NM and RE. LDL-chol calculated by NM and RE were compared with measured LDL-chol by twotailed paired t test, Pearson’s correlation test, bias against measured LDL-chol by Bland-Altman test, accuracy within ±5% and ±12% of measured LDL-chol and by inter-rater agreements with measured LDL-chol at different cut-off values. Results: The mean values of LDL-chol were 110.7 ± 32.0 mg/dL for direct measurement, 111.9 ± 34.8 mg/dL for NM and 113.2 ± 31.7 mg/dL for RE. Mean values of calculated LDL-chol by both NM and RE differed from that of measured LDL-chol (p<0.01 for NM and p<0.0001 for RE). The correlation coefficients of calculated LDL-chol values with measured LDL-chol were 0.944 (p<0.0001) for NM and 0.945 (p<0.0001) for RE. Bland- Altman plots showed good agreement between calculated and measured LDL-chol. Accuracy within ±5% of measured LDL-chol was 49% for NM, 46% for RE and within ±12% of measured LDL-chol was 79% for both NM and RE. Inter-rater agreements (κ) between calculated and measured LDL-chol at LDL-chol <100 mg/dL, 100–130 mg/dL and >130 mg/dL were 0.816 vs 0.815, 0.637 vs 0.649 and 0.791 vs 0.791 for NM and RE respectively. Conclusion: This study reveals that NM and RE developed for Bangladeshi population have similar performance and can be used for the calculation of LDL-chol

Smoking Pattern in Students of a Selected Medical College in Bangladesh

Background: Smoking is a recognized harmful factor for general health. The prevalence of smoking is gradually increasing among the young people. Medical students are also vulnerable in this arena. Worldwide studies revealed that students start and continue smoking during their school and college periods. Objectives: To determine the current tobacco use among medical college students and to find out the risk factors associated with smoking and also to assess the knowledge of students regarding smoking. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students of different educational levels (first year to fifth year) in Enam Medical College, Savar, Dhaka during the period January to March 2012. An anonymous, pretested, selfadministered study questionnaire was distributed among the subjects. Data collected included smoking habits, demographic factors such as age, gender, parents’ occupation and monthly income. Study subjects were categorized as smokers, non-smokers and ex-smokers. Smoking-related knowledge was assessed and opinion regarding cessation of smoking was documented. The data were entered into the computer and statistical analyses were done using GraphPad Prism version 6.01. Results: Among the study subjects 290 were male and 202 were female. There were 79 (27.24%) smokers, 199 (68.62%) non-smokers and 12 (4.13%) ex-smokers among male and 197 (97.52%) non-smokers, 4 (1.98%) smokers and 1 (0.49%) ex-smoker in female. Regarding age, 196 (39.83%) students were below 20 years of age and 296 (60.16%) were more than 20 years of age. Most of the smokers (43.37%) are from affluent families. Influence of friends (44.57%) is the major reason of smoking followed by depression (27.71%). About 37.34% smokers have family members who are currently smoking. Regarding quitting smoking, 66% intended to stop smoking. The reasons for no intention to stop smoking include lack of incentive followed by addiction. There are significant differences among study subjects regarding smoking related knowledge. Conclusion: Even medical students are not fully aware of health consequences due to smoking and this lack of knowledge may lead to increase the number of smokers among students. Appropriate anti-smoking measures should be taken to create awareness about smoking and its health consequences and to reduce the incidence of smoking among the students