Convenience and short comings among paediatric cochlear implant candidates

Background: Cochlear implants have revolutionized the treatment of severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss in children. However, the convenience and shortcomings experienced by pediatric cochlear implant candidates in various settings remain understudied. This study aimed to assess the convenience and shortcomings among pediatric cochlear implant candidates in home, school, and other social settings. Methods: This was a prospective clinical study that was conducted in the Cochlear Implant (CI) Center, Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka and Chattogram, Bangladesh from July 2015 to December 2022. A total of 200 parents of pediatric cochlear-implanted children were enrolled in this study as the study subjects. A simple random sampling technique was used in sample selection. All data were processed, analyzed, and disseminated by using MS Excel and SPSS version 22.0 program as per necessity. Results: The study analyzed information collected during the study period, focusing on the convenience and shortcomings reported by the parents of cochlear implant recipients. The findings revealed that the highest level of convenience was reported in some other social settings (82.84%), followed by home (75.67%) and school (64.4%). In contrast, shortcomings were reported primarily in the home environment (63.6%), followed by school (34.6%) and other social settings (31.45%). Conclusions: In the majority of cochlear implant children, convenience is observed in some other social settings than home or school. In the majority of cochlear implant children, shortcomings are observed in their homes

Germination of black gram (VIGNA MUNGO L.) seed is influenced by different storage containers and storage periods

A laboratory test was carried out to examine the influence of various storage containers and periods on the germination percentage of black gram seed. In this research, three seed containers, viz. sealed tin container, poly bag and gunny bag were used to store the seeds, as well as seeds were stored for three different storage periods, viz. 15, 30 and 45 days and thereby conducted germination tests. The results revealed that storage and storage periods considerably influenced the germination percentage (GP) of black gram seed. The highest GP of 87.73% was found in the seeds stored at sealed tin container, while the lowest GP (71.08%) was observed in the seeds stored in gunny bag. Among the three storage containers, the GP reduced rapidly in the seeds stored in gunny bags (6.52%), followed by poly bag (18.98%). The maximum values of GP (85.43%) of black gram seed were recorded when 15 days after storage (DAS), whereas the lowest GP (68.33%) was at 45 DAS, and the GP decreased noticeably with the increase of storage periods from 15 to 30 and to 45 DAS. In combination influence of storage containers and storage periods, the maximum GP (85.90%) was recorded at when seeds kept in sealed tin container with stored for the shortest duration (15 DAS), while the minimum (58.11%) was recorded in the seeds stored in gunny bag for the longest period with 45 DAS. Seeds stored in the sealed tin containers exhibited an excellent performance regarding GP with the shortest storage periods and, thereby, black gram should be kept in sealed tin containers or like this air tight containers for storage, as well as seeds should be sun dried after a short period for maintaining seed quality

Goat Genomic Resources: The Search for Genes Associated with Its Economic Traits

Goat plays a crucial role in human livelihoods, being a major source of meat, milk, fiber, and hides, particularly under adverse climatic conditions. The goat genomics related to the candidate gene approach is now being used to recognize molecular mechanisms that have different expressions of growth, reproductive, milk, wool, and disease resistance. The appropriate literature on this topic has been reviewed in this article. Several genetic characterization attempts of different goats have reported the existence of genotypic and morphological variations between different goat populations. As a result, different whole-genome sequences along with annotated gene sequences, gene function, and other genomic information of different goats are available in different databases. The main objective of this review is to search the genes associated with economic traits in goats. More than 271 candidate genes have been discovered in goats. Candidate genes influence the physiological pathway, metabolism, and expression of phenotypes. These genes have different functions on economically important traits. Some genes have pleiotropic effect for expression of phenotypic traits. Hence, recognizing candidate genes and their mutations that cause variations in gene expression and phenotype of an economic trait can help breeders look for genetic markers for specific economic traits. The availability of reference whole-genome assembly of goats, annotated genes, and transcriptomics makes comparative genomics a useful tool for systemic genetic upgradation. Identification and characterization of trait-associated sequence variations and gene will provide powerful means to give positive influences for future goat breeding program

Seroprevalence of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Chattogram Metropolitan Area, Bangladesh

Seroprevalence studies of COVID-19 are used to assess the degree of undetected transmission in the community and different groups such as health care workers (HCWs) are deemed vulnerable due to their workplace hazards. The present study estimated the seroprevalence and quantified the titer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody (IgG) and its association with different factors. This cross-sectional study observed HCWs, in indoor and outdoor patients (non-COVID-19) and garment workers in the Chattogram metropolitan area (CMA, N = 748) from six hospitals and two garment factories. Qualitative and quantitative ELISA were used to identify and quantify antibodies (IgG) in the serum samples. Descriptive, univariable, and multivariable statistical analysis were performed. Overall seroprevalence and among HCWs, in indoor and outdoor patients, and garment workers were 66.99% (95% CI: 63.40–70.40%), 68.99% (95% CI: 63.8–73.7%), 81.37% (95% CI: 74.7–86.7%), and 50.56% (95% CI: 43.5–57.5%), respectively. Seroprevalence and mean titer was 44.47% (95% CI: 38.6–50.4%) and 53.71 DU/mL in the non-vaccinated population, respectively, while it was higher in the population who received a first dose (61.66%, 95% CI: 54.8–68.0%, 159.08 DU/mL) and both doses (100%, 95% CI: 98.4–100%, 255.46 DU/mL). This study emphasizes the role of vaccine in antibody production; the second dose of vaccine significantly increased the seroprevalence and titer and both were low in natural infection