Mud crab (Scylla serrata Forsskal 1775) value chain analysis in the Khulna region of Bangladesh

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Shanghai Ocean UniversityA value chain analysis is a detailed description of all the activities and services needed to turn a raw product into a marketable good for delivery to final consumers. The mud crab business is considered by most marketing operators to be a profitable and viable business due to the high demand in the international market. Despite the importance of mud crab fishery, there is no structured marketing facilities in Bangladesh. This research aim to analyze the socioeconomic condition of actors, the profitability of farming, mapping the institutional and non-institutional barriers, and provide a better understanding of the possibility of technological interventions in the value chain. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through participatory rural appraisal tools that include 200 individual interviews, 16 focus group discussions, and 24 key informant interviews conducted in south-west Bangladesh from July to December of 2019. The mud crab value chain analysis revealed that the chain started with crab collection (cultivated and wild harvest), before sale to local vendors, and ended with exporters through several intermediaries. Results noted that most (±95%) exportable crab came from natural sources, with rest (±5%) from aquaculture sector. The average price (USD/kg) ranged from $10.59−14.12 and$12.94−19.42 for male crabs (grade: XXL), followed by $10.00−11.77 and$11.77−17.06 for female (grade: FF1) in domestic and international markets, respectively. Despite the high profitability of these sectors, the livelihood of these stakeholders has remained relatively hard. Multi-pronged approaches, like a nursery or increasing farming and backyard seed production, and possible value addition at the farm level may help farmers.Peer reviewe

The economic contribution of fish and fish trade in Bangladesh

Bangladesh possesses a large wetland area comprising diversified fisheries resources. Fish and fisheries are an integral part of Bangladesh and have earned its importance due to immense export and revenue potential. The objective of this study was to investigate the trend of fish production, export and import of Bangladesh during the last two decades. Several reviews of the literature were done, numerical data was obtained from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL), Department of Fisheries (DOF), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The results showed that fish production has increased in Bangladesh during the last two decades, starting from 17.81 lakh metric tons in 2000–01 and reaching up to 41.34 lakh metric tons in 2016–17. Due to the gradual decline in capture fishery, a significant percentage of total production comes from aquaculture. Hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) is the largest single-species fishery in Bangladesh which makes the highest contribution to the country's total fish production. Exports of the fish commodity in terms of quantity and value has declined in recent years due to food quality and safety standards. This study has highlighted the contribution of fisheries production in Bangladesh and trade to the country's economy. By paying more attention to the fisheries sector, Bangladesh can boost up its economy.Peer reviewe

The Premium of Hilsa Sanctuary: A Socio-Economic and Ecological Evaluation from the Meghna Estuary, Bangladesh

Sanctuaries are widely regarded as a protected area where fishing has been placed under some restrictions by local, state, regional and national authorities for the conservation and management of fisheries resources. These sanctuaries have a broad array of positive and negative social, economic, cultural and political impacts on fishers. This study aims to analyze the socio-economic and ecological benefits and costs of hilsa sanctuaries to protect single most important hilsa species using Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA). Under the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act of 1950, six sites along the Padma, Meghna, Tetulia, and Andharmanik rivers have been designated as hilsa sanctuaries. Findings of the current study revealed that most fishers perceived production of hilsa and other species were increased as a direct consequences of sanctuaries establishment. However, a considerable proportion of hilsa fishermen was found to have low socioeconomic capital, as measured by monthly income, housing circumstances and asset ownership. During the restricted fishing season in the sanctuaries, these households are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. The government’s compensation scheme is a good example of payment of ecosystem services in an open water fishery; however, this scheme does not include all the affected fishers. It is found that hilsa sanctuaries lead to income loss of the poor fishers which is insufficiently compensated by government support program. To compensate income loss, fishers resort illegal fishing which undermine the success of sanctuary. If the sanctuaries are to function effectively, affecting fishers must be addressed by offering enough compensation schemes so that fishers are able to support their families. Moreover, some fishers believed that a co-management approach involving fishers and government is the possible best management option for operating sanctuaries in a sustainable way

The Premium of Hilsa Sanctuary: A Socio-Economic and Ecological Evaluation from the Meghna Estuary, Bangladesh

Sanctuaries are widely regarded as a protected area where fishing has been placed under some restrictions by local, state, regional and national authorities for the conservation and management of fisheries resources. These sanctuaries have a broad array of positive and negative social, economic, cultural and political impacts on fishers. This study aims to analyze the socio-economic and ecological benefits and costs of hilsa sanctuaries to protect single most important hilsa species using Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA). Under the Protection and Conservation of Fish Act of 1950, six sites along the Padma, Meghna, Tetulia, and Andharmanik rivers have been designated as hilsa sanctuaries. Findings of the current study revealed that most fishers perceived production of hilsa and other species were increased as a direct consequences of sanctuaries establishment. However, a considerable proportion of hilsa fishermen was found to have low socioeconomic capital, as measured by monthly income, housing circumstances and asset ownership. During the restricted fishing season in the sanctuaries, these households are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. The government’s compensation scheme is a good example of payment of ecosystem services in an open water fishery; however, this scheme does not include all the affected fishers. It is found that hilsa sanctuaries lead to income loss of the poor fishers which is insufficiently compensated by government support program. To compensate income loss, fishers resort illegal fishing which undermine the success of sanctuary. If the sanctuaries are to function effectively, affecting fishers must be addressed by offering enough compensation schemes so that fishers are able to support their families. Moreover, some fishers believed that a co-management approach involving fishers and government is the possible best management option for operating sanctuaries in a sustainable way

Short course palliative radiotherapy in advanced solid tumors: a pooled analysis (the SHARON project)

Previous trials showed the tolerability and efficacy of a palliative radiotherapy (RT) regimen (SHARON) based on the 4 fractions delivered in 2 days in different oncological settings. In order to identify possible predictors of symptomatic response, the purpose of this study is to perform a pooled analysis of previous trials. We analyzed the impact on symptomatic response of the following parameters: tumor site, histological type, performance status (ECOG), dominant symptom, and RT dose using the Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test. One-hundred-eighty patients were analyzed. Median RT dose was 20 Gy (range: 14-20 Gy). The overall response rate was 88.8% (95% CI 83.3-92.7%) while pre- and post-treatment mean VAS was 5.3 (+/- 7.7) and 2.2 (+/- 2.2), respectively (p < 0.001). The overall response rate of pain, dyspnea, bleeding, dysphagia, and other symptoms was 86.2%, 90.9%, 100%, 87.5%, and 100%, respectively. Comparing the symptomatic effect based on the analyzed parameters no significant differences were recorded. However, patients with locally advanced disease showed a higher rate of symptomatic responses than metastatic ones (97.3% vs 83.0%; p = 0.021). Finally, the complete pain response rate was more than double in patients with mild to moderate (VAS: 4-7) compared to those with severe (VAS > 7) pain (36.0% vs 14.3%; p = 0.028). This pooled analysis showed high efficacy of the SHARON regimen in the relief of several cancer-related symptoms. The markedly and significantly higher complete pain response rate, in patients with mild-moderate pain, suggests early referral to palliative RT for patients with cancer-related pain

Assessing the effectiveness of palliative radiotherapy for painful bone metastases in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

: Palliative radiotherapy (RT) effectively relieves pain in patients with bone metastases (BMs). Furthermore, several clinical trials, in most cases conducted in high-income countries (HICs), proved that single-fraction RT is equally effective compared to multi-fractionated RT. However, the evidence is scarce regarding low/middle-income countries (LMICs), where the diagnosis of BMs could be later and RT techniques less advanced. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate the efficacy of palliative RT of BMs in the LMIC setting. A literature search was performed independently by two authors on the PubMed, Cochrane and Scopus databases. Overall, 333 records were screened and after the selection process, 11 papers were included in the analysis. Complete pain response rates ranged from 11.5% to 37.1% (median: 22%) for single-fraction RT and from 0% to 35.1% (median: 19%) for multi-fractionated RT. Partial pain response rates ranged from 23.1% to 76.9% (median: 53.8%) for single fraction RT and from 23.8% to 84.6% (median: 65%) for multi-fractionated RT. Four randomized trials compared single-fraction RT with multiple-fraction RT and none of them showed significant differences in terms of pain relief. Our analysis showed that pain response rates after palliative RT recorded in LMIC are like those reported in studies performed in HIC. Even in this setting, RT in single fraction shows comparable pain response rates to multifractional RT

Dried fish more prone to microplastics contamination over fresh fish – Higher potential of trophic transfer to human body

Globally, microplastics (MPs) contamination in aquatic organisms is emerging as an alarming phenomenon. In the present study, we investigated MPs in three commercially important fishes (Bombay duck Harpadon nehereus, ribbon fish Trichiurus lepturus and hairfin anchovy Setipinna phasa) in fresh and dried conditions collected from two sites (Chattogram and Kuakata) of the Bay of Bengal. It was evident that fresh T. lepturus ingested highest amount of MPs through the gills (6.41 mps/g) from Chattogram followed by in the gastrointestinal tract, GIT (6.20 mps/g) and in the muscle (1.20 mps/g) from Kuakata. Among the fresh fishes, H. nehereus from Kuakata accumulated highest amount of MPs (0.21 mps/g), while S. phasa from Kuakata contained the least amount of MPs (0.06 mps/g). On the other hand, among the dried fishes, T. lepturus from Kuakata contained highest amount of MPs (46.00 mps/g), while S. phasa from Kuakata retained lowest amount of MPs (2.17 mps/g). Strangely, all the dried fishes showed significantly higher amount of MPs compared to fresh fishes from both the locations. Fiber was the most dominant type of shape of MPs which accounted 66 %, followed by fragment (27.38 %), microbeads (3.59 %), film (1.48 %), foam (1.31 %) and pellet (0.25 %). Size-wise, the major portion (39.66 %) of MPs was present to be in size range less than 0.5 mm followed by 37.67 % in the size range of 0.5–1.0 mm group and rest 22.67 % within 1.0–5.0 mm. Red (41.55 %) colored MPs was the most prominent, followed by brown (22.11 %), blue (16.32 %), pink (11.69 %), purple (5.10 %), and green (2.25 %). Among polymer types, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was the most common (38 %), followed by polystyrene (PS-22 %), polyvinyl chloride (PVC-16 %), polyamide (PA-13 %) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA-9 %). The present study confirms high occurrence of MPs in the dried fishes over the fresh fishes from the Bay of Bengal, with high potential of trophic transfer to the human body

Feasibility of 2D-conformal radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma

The purpose of the present study was to propose an optimized 2D technique (2D-conformal) for radiotherapy (RT) of pancreatic cancer (CaP). This technique is based on double simulation which resolves the problems of radiographic image distortion. Five patients with locally advanced CaP were identified and enrolled. Treatment planningwas simulated in 3 different ways: Two dimensional-standard (2D-SRT), 2D-conformal (2D-CRT), and three dimensional-conformal (3D-CRT) techniques for 10 MV LINAC. Simulation for a cobalt machine was also performed using only the 2D techniques. 2D-SRT technique was planned with fields definition based on anatomical landmarks (bone and duodenum). 3D-CRT was planned with standard virtual simulation technique, and 3D dose evaluation and optimization. 2D-CRT technique was based on manual information transfer from a diagnostic CT-scan to simulation radiograms. To eliminate the X-ray image distortion, a double simulation was employed and the profile of the GTV was delineated on radiographs bearing the simulator isocenter into the target center. Concerning target irradiation of either LINAC (10 MV) or cobalt source, the PTV constraints (ICRU 62) were met in all patients (Dmin>95%, Dmax<107%) with all techniques (2D-SRT, 3D-CRT, 2D-CRT). For organs at risk irradiation, in terms of Dmaxto both duodenum and spinal cord, similar results were recorded with all techniques using the LINAC (10 MV). Liver and kidneys Dmeangradually improved from 2D-SRT to 2D-CRT and 3D-CRT. The 2D-CRT compared to 2D-SRT technique, halved the average dose to the liver and reduced to about 1/3 the average dose to the kidneys. With the cobalt source, using the 2D-CRT produced a reduction of Dmeanto the kidneys (median from 30.7 to 16.9%) and liver (median from 33.4 to 22.3%) compared to 2D-SRT. This analysis showed better planning results in RT treatment of CaP while using a 2D-CRT compared to 2D-SRT technique and therefore presents an example for optimized 2D RT use

Disease characteristics and serological responses in patients with differing severity of COVID-19 infection: A longitudinal cohort study in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

BackgroundCOVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 ranges from asymptomatic to severe disease and can cause fatal and devastating outcome in many cases. In this study, we have compared the clinical, biochemical and immunological parameters across the different disease spectrum of COVID-19 in Bangladeshi patients.Methodology/principal findingsThis longitudinal study was conducted in two COVID-19 hospitals and also around the community in Dhaka city in Bangladesh between November 2020 to March 2021. A total of 100 patients with COVID-19 infection were enrolled and classified into asymptomatic, mild, moderate and severe cases (n = 25/group). In addition, thirty age and sex matched healthy participants were enrolled and 21 were analyzed as controls based on exclusion criteria. After enrollment (study day1), follow-up visits were conducted on day 7, 14 and 28 for the cases. Older age, male gender and co-morbid conditions were the risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease. Those with moderate and severe cases of infection had low lymphocyte counts, high neutrophil counts along with a higher neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at enrollment; this decreased to normal range within 42 days after the onset of symptom. At enrollment, D-dimer, CRP and ferritin levels were elevated among moderate and severe cases. The mild, moderate, and severe cases were seropositive for IgG antibody by day 14 after enrollment. Moderate and severe cases showed significantly higher IgM and IgG levels of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 compared to mild and asymptomatic cases.Conclusion/significanceWe report on the clinical, biochemical, and hematological parameters associated with the different severity of COVID-19 infection. We also show different profile of antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 in relation to disease severity, especially in those with moderate and severe disease manifestations compared to the mild and asymptomatic infection