The Present Conditions of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury at Rehabilitation Center in Bangladesh

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is one of the major cause of disability in developing country like Bangladesh. The study aims to identify present conditions of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury at Rehabilitation Center in Bangladesh. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 61 participants (47 from rural areas and 14 from urban areas) who were recruited through purposive sampling. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0. There were 61 patients involved in the research: 83.6% - male, 16.4% female. Average age:  18-35 years. 37.7% patients were tetraplegic whereas 62.3% were paraplegic, employment of participants in this study was 77.0%. Most common complication was: pressure sore 55.70%, decrease joint range of motion 67.20%, joint stiffness 34.40%, spasticity developed 83.6%, urinary tract infection 63.9%, autonomic dysreflexia 36.1%, leg swelling 47.5%, postural hypotension 42.6%, sexual problem 34.4%, mentally and psychologically change 100.0%, respiratory complication 37.7%. Finally, the study explained their current status after SCI the maximum patient were dependent and their pattern of working is long sitting. Moreover, most of they are interested to involve in non-bed exercise like group exercise and play activities in outdoor settings. So it is necessary to raise awareness in local community about post SCI healthy lifestyle

Analysis of Early Outcome of Surgery in Spontaneous Primary Intracerebral Haemorrahage in Relation to Preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale

Objectives : To correlate preoperative Glasgow coma scale with early outcome of surgery. Methods: This prospective study was done at the department of neurosurgery of Dhaka Medical College (from January 2009 to June 2010) on consecutively selected patients with a suspicion of intracerebral haemorrhage and subsequently confirmed by CT scan of brain. A total of 30 hypertensive patients with their age ranged from 41 to 80 years with Glasgow coma scale 6 to 12 were included in this study. Co-morbid patients like cardiac, respiratory and renal failure requiring artificial maintenance of blood pressure and respiration were excluded in this study. All these patients were evaluated on the basis of detailed history from attendants (as patients were stuporous and semicomatose), clinical examination and subsequently CT scan of brain (at presentation and at 7th postoperative day). All these patients were operated and followed up during hospital stay and at 30-day after operation, by observing Glasgow coma scale and Glasgow outcome scale. Results: 20 patients had Glasgow coma scale 6 to 8 on admission, among them Glasgow outcome scale was 5 in 4(20.0%) patients, was 3 in 4(20.0%) patients and was 1 in 12(60.0%) patients. 10 patients had Glasgow coma scale 9 to 12 on admission, among them Glasgow outcome scale was 5 in 6 (60.0%) patients, was 4 in 1(10.0%) patient and was 3 in 3(30.0%) patients. Conclusion: Surgery in relation to preoperative Glasgow coma scale (Glasgow coma scale) had a significant correlation with early outcome of surgery. From the current study removal of haematoma when Glasgow coma scale >8 lower the morbidity and mortality, which was statistically significant DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bsmmuj.v4i2.8633 BSMMU J 2011; 4(2):70-7

Quality of life of workers with disabilities in readymade garments factories in Bangladesh

Background: Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) sector has developed as a major employer for individuals with disabilities. The number of workers with disabilities in Bangladesh's RMG industry has grown over the past few years. In Bangladesh, there has no statistics about the quality of life of workers with disabilities after their employment, especially after training-based employment support. Therefore, the researcher is interested to find out the quality of life of workers with disabilities in readymade garments factories in Bangladesh that will determine satisfaction over their life in different aspects. The objectives of this paper were to find out the health-related quality of life and overall satisfaction with life among workers with disabilities in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design and recruited 102 participants with disabilities from various Bangladeshi garment factories who ranged up to 18 years by convenient sampling. The WHOQOL questionnaires were used for data collection through a combination of telephone and in-person interviews. Descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis. Results: Among the total participants 63% of them were women and 37% were men. The results revealed that education and job status significantly impacted on QOL. The majority of participants did not need any assistive devices; most of the participants resided in semi-urban areas, and physical disabilities predominated among them. On the other hand, most of the participants reported their quality of life as neither poor nor good but they were satisfied with health-related QOL. Conclusions: QOL is a vast aspect of every human being. This study finally concluded the overall QOL of maximum Workers with Disabilities in Readymade Garments Factories in Bangladesh was just average and most of them were satisfied with their health-related QOL

Thermal and mechanical properties of chitosan nanocomposites with cellulose modified in ionic liquids

In this paper, ionic liquid treatment was applied to produce nanometric cellulose particles of two polymorphic forms. A complex characterization of nanofillers including wide-angle X-ray scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and particle size determination was performed. The evaluated ionic liquid treatment was effective in terms of nanocrystalline cellulose production, leaving chemical and supermolecular structure of the materials intact. However, nanocrystalline cellulose II was found to be more prone to ionic liquid hydrolysis leading to formation larger amount of small particles. Each nanocrystalline cellulose was subsequently mixed with a solution of chitosan, so that composite films containing 1, 3, and 5% mass/mass of nanometric filler were obtained. Reference samples of chitosan and chitosan with micrometric celluloses were also solvent casted. Thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of films were tested and correlated with properties of filler used. The results of both, tensile tests and thermogravimetric analysis showed a significant discrepancy between composites filled with nanocrystalline cellulose I and nanocrystalline cellulose II

One size doesn’t fit all: cross-sectional associations between neighborhood walkability, crime and physical activity depends on age and sex of residents

Abstract Background Low-income African American adults are disproportionately affected by obesity and are also least likely to engage in recommended levels of physical activity (Flegal et al. JAMA 303(3):235-41, 2010; Tucker et al. Am J Prev Med 40(4):454-61, 2011). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is an important factor for weight management and control, as well as for reducing disease risk (Andersen et al. Lancet 368(9532):299-304, 2006; Boreham and Riddoch J Sports Sci 19(12):915-29, 2001; Carson et al. PLoS One 8(8):e71417, 2013). While neighborhood greenspace and walkability have been associated with increased MVPA, evidence also suggests that living in areas with high rates of crime limits MVPA. Few studies have examined to what extent the confluence of neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime might impact MVPA in low-income African American adults nor how associations may vary by age and sex. Methods In 2013 we collected self-reported data on demographics, functional limitations, objective measures of MVPA (accelerometry), neighborhood greenspace (geographic information system), and walkability (street audit) in 791 predominantly African-American adults (mean age 56 years) living in two United States (U.S.) low-income neighborhoods. We also acquired data from the City of Pittsburgh on all crime events within both neighborhoods. Exposure: To examine cross-sectional associations of neighborhood-related variables (i.e., neighborhood greenspace, walkability and crime) with MVPA, we used zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. Additionally, we examined potential interactions by age (over 65 years) and sex on relationships between neighborhood variables and MVPA. Results Overall, residents engaged in very little to no MVPA regardless of where they lived. However, for women, but not men, under the age of 65 years, living in more walkable neighborhoods was associated with more time engaged in MVPA in (β = 0.55, p = 0.007) as compared to their counterparts living in less walkable areas. Women and men age 65 years and over spent very little time participating in MVPA regardless of neighborhood walkability. Neither greenspace nor crime was associated with MVPA in age-sex subgroups. Conclusions Neighborhood walkability may play a stronger role on MVPA than accessible greenspace or crime in low-income urban communities. Walkability may differentially impact residents depending on their age and sex, which suggests tailoring public health policy design and implementation according to neighborhood demographics to improve activity for all.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135725/1/12889_2016_Article_3959.pd

Global, regional, and national incidence of six major immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019

Background The causes for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are diverse and the incidence trends of IMIDs from specific causes are rarely studied. The study aims to investigate the pattern and trend of IMIDs from 1990 to 2019. Methods We collected detailed information on six major causes of IMIDs, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis, between 1990 and 2019, derived from the Global Burden of Disease study in 2019. The average annual percent change (AAPC) in number of incidents and age standardized incidence rate (ASR) on IMIDs, by sex, age, region, and causes, were calculated to quantify the temporal trends. Findings In 2019, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease accounted 1.59%, 36.17%, 54.71%, 0.09%, 6.84%, 0.60% of overall new IMIDs cases, respectively. The ASR of IMIDs showed substantial regional and global variation with the highest in High SDI region, High-income North America, and United States of America. Throughout human lifespan, the age distribution of incident cases from six IMIDs was quite different. Globally, incident cases of IMIDs increased with an AAPC of 0.68 and the ASR decreased with an AAPC of −0.34 from 1990 to 2019. The incident cases increased across six IMIDs, the ASR of rheumatoid arthritis increased (0.21, 95% CI 0.18, 0.25), while the ASR of asthma (AAPC = −0.41), inflammatory bowel disease (AAPC = −0.72), multiple sclerosis (AAPC = −0.26), psoriasis (AAPC = −0.77), and atopic dermatitis (AAPC = −0.15) decreased. The ASR of overall and six individual IMID increased with SDI at regional and global level. Countries with higher ASR in 1990 experienced a more rapid decrease in ASR. Interpretation The incidence patterns of IMIDs varied considerably across the world. Innovative prevention and integrative management strategy are urgently needed to mitigate the increasing ASR of rheumatoid arthritis and upsurging new cases of other five IMIDs, respectively. Funding The Global Burden of Disease Study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project funded by Scientific Research Fund of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (2022QN38)

Development of polyaniline nanostructures using bio-soft-template approaches and graphene-based composites for supercapacitor applications

The focus of the current work is to develop a supercapacitor that has energy density which is comparable with high energy batteries, but with the advantages of supercapacitors such as high power density and long rechargeable cycle life. The selected approach was to enhance both the electrical double-layer capacitance and pseudo-capacitance. To achieve these, electrodes based on a graphene/polyaniline composite system that has the appropriate morphology, microstructure and composition to provide the optimum properties were developed. The 2D graphene sheets have the tendency to aggregate or stack which reduces the available surface area and limits the ion transport during electrochemical process. This makes it difficult for the stacked graphene assembly to achieve optimum device performance. Thus, we report a strategy to solve these problems by transforming the aggregated graphene sheet into an open assembly structure by introducing a spacer (p-phenylenediamine (PPD)) between the layers by covalent functionalization. Compared to stacked graphene sheet, the modified graphene sheet (GPPD) is capable of delivering a much higher specific capacitance and energy density of 232.96 F/g and 32.38 Wh/kg (almost 2-fold), respectively at the current density of 500 mA/g in aqueous 1 M H2SO4 solution. The retention of capacitance of this electrode was found to be 92.92% after 1000 charge-discharge cycles. Polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures (viz. nanotubes and nanofibers) networks with different morphology were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization method using the bio-molecules like vitamin C and heparin. We report the discovery of an unprecedented behavior of vitamin C which forms a rod-like assembly through hydrogen-bonding in water, which produced PANI nanotubes upon the addition of aniline monomer. The tubular growth of PANI at the nanometer scale can be controlled by the variation of molar ratio of vitamin C to aniline. The polymerization rate became slower at higher molar ratio, whereas at lower molar ratio of 0.25 (i.e. [Vitamin C]/[Aniline] = 0.25), uniform nanotubes (PANIV-0.25) were observed. The outer diameter of the nanotube was in the range of 80 - 120 nm. Surprisingly, no polymerization was observed at an equal molar ratio of vitamin C to aniline. Besides this, with heparin template, uniform nanofibers were also synthesized when the weight ratio of heparin to aniline was 0.25 (PANIH-0.25). The uniform nanofibers obtained had average diameters of between 80 - 110 nm. No uniform PANI nanofibers were formed at other weight ratios. We have further studied the novelty of PANI nanotubes and nanofibers as nanostructured electrode materials for supercapacitor applications. The PANIV-0.25 nanotube based electrodes showed higher capacitance and energy density values of 619.76 F/g and 86.14 Wh/kg at 500 mA/g current density in aqueous 1 M H2SO4 solution, respectively, with a cyclic stability of 76.74% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles. On the other hand, the PANI nanofiber electrode (PANIH-0.25) yielded a higher specific capacitance and energy density values of 732.18 F/g and 101.77 Wh/kg, respectively, where the retention of capacitance was 72.28% after 1000 cycles at the same current density. The observed capacitances were also elucidated and justified based on theoretical considerations, which showed the good agreement between the observed and theoretical values. The graphene/PANI nanostructures (nanotubes and nanofibers) based composites were then fabricated and evaluated. The graphene nanosheet/PANI nanotube composites were fabricated by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using vitamin C as a template. The G20PNT80 composite showed the best current-voltage response and the maximum specific capacitance was found to be 671.79 F/g at 500 mA/g current density in aqueous 1 M H2SO4 solution. The composite presented an excellent cycle life with 89.33% specific capacitance retention after 1000 cycles. The specific energy density was calculated to be 93.38 Wh/kg. Next, graphene/PANI nanofibers composites were synthesized using a novel in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline using heparin as a template.The novel G25PNF75 composite showed a high specific capacitance of 690.68 F/g and an excellent energy density of 96 Wh/kg at a discharge current density of 500 mA/g. When the current density was reduced to 250 mA/g, the composite showed specific capacitance and energy density values of 890.79 F/g and 123.81 Wh/kg, respectively. This energy density is comparable to that of high energy batteries. Moreover, the composite exhibited excellent cycle life with 88.78% specific capacitance retained after 1000 cycles. The significantly improved specific capacitance is due to the synergistic effect in the composite. The excellent cyclic stability over the entire cycle life can be attributed to the good mechanical stability of the composite electrode. Thus, this composite with such a high specific capacitance is a very promising electrode material for supercapacitor applications.DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (MAE