Impunity of frequent corporate homicides by recurrent fires at garment factories in Bangladesh: Bangladeshi culpable homicide compared with its equivalents in the United Kingdom and Australia

How corporations can be best prevented from causing deaths of others has been a critical concern of judges, legislators, prosecutors and academics alike around the world since the 19th century. Concerns for workplace safety have mounted globally in recent decades, propelling the demand for industrial manslaughter prosecution as a more effective use of criminal suits. Like the regulation of human conduct, criminal Jaw is considered to be an instrument for changing corporate behaviour in a way that fosters future conformity with the expectations of society

Risk Factors of Mortality in Severely-malnourished Children Hospitalized with Diarrhoea

This case-control study was conducted in the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B to identify the risk factors of mortality in severely-malnourished children hospitalized with diarrhoea. One hundred and three severely-malnourished children (weight-for-age <60% of median of the National Center for Health Statistics standard) who died during hospitalization were compared with another 103 severely-malnourished children who survived. These children were aged less than three years and admitted to the hospital during 1997. On admission, characteristics of the fatal cases and non-fatal controls were comparable, except for age. The median age of the cases and controls were six and eight months respectively (p=0.05). Patients with low pulse rate or imperceptible pulse had three times the odds of death compared to the control group (p<0.01). The presence of clinical septicaemia and clinical severe anaemia had 11.7 and 4.2 times the odds of death respectively (p<0.01). Patients with leukocytosis (>15,000/cm3) had 2.5 times the odds of death (p<0.01). Using logistic regression, clinical septicaemia [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=8.8, confidence interval (CI) 3.7-21.1, p=0.01], hypothermia (AOR=3.5, CI 1.3-9.4, p<0.01), and bronchopneumonia (AOR=3.0, CI 1.2-7.3, p<0.01) were identified as the significant risk factors of mortality. Severely-malnourished children (n=129) with leukocytosis, imperceptible pulse, pneumonia, septicaemia, and hypothermia had a high risk of mortality. The identified risk factors can be used as a prognostic guide for patients with diarrhoea and severe malnutrition

Vibrio cholerae in rural and urban Bangladesh, findings from hospital-based surveillance, 2000–2021

With more than 100,000 cases estimated each year, Bangladesh is one of the countries with the highest number of people at risk for cholera. Moreover, Bangladesh is formulating a countrywide cholera-control plan to satisfy the GTFCC (The Global Task Force on Cholera Control) Roadmap\u27s goals. With a particular focus on cholera trends, variance in baseline and clinical characteristics of cholera cases, and trends in antibiotic susceptibility among clinical isolates of Vibrio cholerae, we used data from facility-based surveillance systems from icddr,b’s Dhaka, and Matlab Hospitals from years 2000 to 2021. Female patients comprised 3,553 (43%) in urban and 1,099 (51.6%) in rural sites. Of the cases and most patients 5,236 (63.7%) in urban and 1,208 (56.7%) in the rural site were aged 15 years and more. More than 50% of the families belonged to the poor and lower-middle-class; in 2009 (24.4%) were in urban and in 1,791 (84.2%) were in rural sites. In the urban site, 2,446 (30%) of households used untreated drinking water, and 702 (9%) of families disposed of waste in their courtyard. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the risk of cholera has significantly increased due to waste disposal in the courtyard and the boiling of water has a protective effect against cholera. Rotavirus (9.7%) was the most prevalent co-pathogen among the under-5 children in both sites. In urban sites, the percentage of V. cholerae along with co-existing ETEC and Campylobacter is changing in the last 20 years; Campylobacter (8.36%) and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) (7.15%) were the second and third most prevalent co-pathogens. Shigella (1.64%) was the second most common co-pathogen in the rural site. Azithromycin susceptibility increased slowly from 265 (8%) in 2006–2010 to 1485 (47.8%) in 2016–2021, and erythromycin susceptibility dropped substantially over 20 years period from 2,155 (98.4%) to 21 (0.9%). Tetracycline susceptibility decreased in the urban site from 2051 (45.9%) to 186 (4.2%) and ciprofloxacin susceptibility decreased from 2,581 (31.6%) to 1,360 (16.6%) until 2015, then increased 1,009 (22.6%) and 1,490 (18.2%) in 2016–2021, respectively. Since 2016, doxycycline showed 902 (100%) susceptibility. Clinicians need access to up-to-date information on antimicrobial susceptibility for treating hospitalized patients. To achieve the WHO-backed objective of eliminating cholera by 2030, the health systems need to be put under a proper surveillance system that may help to improve water and sanitation practices and deploy oral cholera vaccines strategically

Risk Factors of Mortality in Severely-malnourished Children Hospitalized with Diarrhoea

This case-control study was conducted in the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B to identify the risk factors of mortality in severely-malnourished children hospitalized with diarrhoea. One hundred and three severelymalnourished children (weight-for-age &lt;60% of median of the National Center for Health Statistics standard) who died during hospitalization were compared with another 103 severely-malnourished children who survived. These children were aged less than three years and admitted to the hospital during 1997. On admission, characteristics of the fatal cases and non-fatal controls were comparable, except for age. The median age of the cases and controls were six and eight months respectively (p=0.05). Patients with low pulse rate or imperceptible pulse had three times the odds of death compared to the control group (p&lt;0.01). The presence of clinical septicaemia and clinical severe anaemia had 11.7 and 4.2 times the odds of death respectively (p&lt;0.01). Patients with leukocytosis (&gt;15,000/cm3) had 2.5 times the odds of death (p&lt;0.01). Using logistic regression, clinical septicaemia [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=8.8, confidence interval (CI) 3.7-21.1, p=0.01], hypothermia (AOR=3.5, CI 1.3-9.4, p&lt;0.01), and bronchopneumonia (AOR=3.0, CI 1.2-7.3, p&lt;0.01) were identified as the significant risk factors of mortality. Severely-malnourished children (n=129) with leukocytosis, imperceptible pulse, pneumonia, septicaemia, and hypothermia had a high risk of mortality. The identified risk factors can be used as a prognostic guide for patients with diarrhoea and severe malnutrition

Development of an Efficient in Vitro Regeneration System for Endangered Wild Orange Citrus Chrysocarpa L.

A method for in-vitro propagation of wild type Indian orange (Citrus chrysocarpa L.) was developed by shoot organogenesis from seed. Mature seed embryos were used as explants and treated with different hormones and plant growth regulators on MS medium for callus, shoots and roots induction. For callus inductio

In Silico Modeling and Immunoinformatics Probing Disclose the Epitope Based PeptideVaccine Against Zika Virus Envelope Glycoprotein

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an aedes mosquito borne pathogen belonging to the member of flaviviridae subgroup is the causative agent of an emerging disease called Zika fever, known as a benign infection usually presenting as influenza like illness with cutaneous rash. Due to recent epidemic outbreaks it is realized as a major health risk which need enhanced surveillance, but no attempt has been made to design an epitope based peptide vaccine against Zika virus. Viral envelope proteins are derived from host cell membrane proteins with some viral glycoproteins and are used to cover their protective protein capsid, help the viruses to enter host cells and help them to avoid the host immune response. In this study, amino acid sequence of ZIKV envelope glycoprotein was obtained from a protein database and examined with in silico approaches to determine the most immunogenic epitopes for B cell and T cell which could induce humoral as well as cell mediated immune response. Both the linear and conformational epitopes for B cell were predicted by immunoinformatics tools housed in IEDB resources. The peptide sequence DAHAKRQTVVVLGSQEGAV from position 121 and peptide sequence from 117-137 amino acids were predicted as most potential B cell linear and conformational epitopes respectively. Epitopes for CD4+ and CD8+ T cell were also predicted by using tools within IEDB resource and peptide sequence MMLELDPPF from position 250-258 amino acids was predicted as most immunogenic CD8+ T cell epitope with immune response evoking ability prediction score (I pMHC) of 0.09139 and conservancy of 52.17%. The innate immune response for ZIKV envelope glycoprotein was determined by interferon (IFN)-gamma effectuation and mimicking capacity by immunoinformatics and molecular docking study respectively. However, this is an introductory approach to design an epitope based peptide vaccine against Zika virus; we hope this model will be very much helpful in designing and predicting novel vaccine candidate

Determining clinical biomarkers to predict long-term SARS-CoV-2 antibody response among COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh

BackgroundInformation on antibody responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the magnitude and duration of responses, is limited. In this analysis, we aimed to identify clinical biomarkers that can predict long-term antibody responses following natural SARS-CoV-2 infection.MethodologyIn this prospective study, we enrolled 100 COVID-19 patients between November 2020 and February 2021 and followed them for 6 months. The association of clinical laboratory parameters on enrollment, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, procalcitonin (PCT), and D-dimer, with predicting the geometric mean (GM) concentration of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific IgG antibody at 3 and 6 months post-infection was assessed in multivariable linear regression models.ResultThe mean ± SD age of patients in the cohort was 46.8 ± 14 years, and 58.8% were male. Data from 68 patients at 3 months follow-up and 55 patients at 6 months follow-up were analyzed. Over 90% of patients were seropositive against RBD-specific IgG till 6 months post-infection. At 3 months, for any 10% increase in absolute lymphocyte count and NLR, there was a 6.28% (95% CI: 9.68, −2.77) decrease and 4.93% (95% CI: 2.43, 7.50) increase, respectively, in GM of IgG concentration, while any 10% increase for LDH, CRP, ferritin, and procalcitonin was associated with a 10.63, 2.87, 2.54, and 3.11% increase in the GM of IgG concentration, respectively. Any 10% increase in LDH, CRP, and ferritin was similarly associated with an 11.28, 2.48, and 3.0% increase in GM of IgG concentration at 6 months post-infection.ConclusionSeveral clinical biomarkers in the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection are associated with enhanced IgG antibody response detected after 6 months of disease onset. The measurement of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody responses requires improved techniques and is not feasible in all settings. Baseline clinical biomarkers can be a useful alternative as they can predict antibody response during the convalescence period. Individuals with an increased level of NLR, CRP, LDH, ferritin, and procalcitonin may benefit from the boosting effect of vaccines. Further analyses will determine whether biochemical parameters can predict RBD-specific IgG antibody responses at later time points and the association of neutralizing antibody responses