Consumer choice behavior towards mobile phone operators in Bangladesh

Volume 2, Issue 4, October 201

Farmers’ Perception and Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in Faridpur District of Bangladesh

This study mainly focused on exploring perception of farmers' towards agroforestry practices and identifying the demographic factors influencing agroforestry adoption in Faridpur district. Field survey was conducted during November-December, 2016 using semi-structured questionnaire. Multi-stage random sampling was used to select upazillas, unions and villages. Snowball purposive sampling was applied to select 84 respondents in total for the questionnaire survey. Chi-square was used to test variables at 5% level of significance. Homestead agroforestry was found to be the most common agroforestry practice (39.28%), followed by fruit-based agroforestry (21.42%), woodlot plantation (13.09%) and so on. Agroforestry was perceived to increase farm productivity by 82.14% of the respondents, 73.8% opined that agroforestry increase household income, while 30.95% perceived it as a means to food security. On the contrary, 34.52% opined that agroforestry practices decrease cash crops production, 17.85% of the respondents stated agroforestry as a difficult practice. Chi-square test showed no significant association between the adoption of agroforestry practices and respondent's age (P > 0.05) or income range (P > 0.05) of the respondents. On the other hand, there is a positive significant association between the adoption of agroforestry practices and educational level (p< 0.05) as well as the farm size (p< 0.05) of the respondents. The study suggests raising awareness regarding the benefits of agroforestry practices as well as providing technical assistance

Cross linked Core-shell Silica Nanoparticles Mechanical, Structural & Viscoelastic Behavior

Shell cross-linked core-shell nanoparticles (SCCSNs) were prepared via miniemulsion polymerization of styrene in the presence of silane modified inorganic silica. The polystyrene (PS) shell of 69.8% in weight fraction was cross-linked using divinylbenzene. SCCSNs were spherical with a diameter distribution from 37 to 96 nm determined by dynamic light scattering. Dynamic rheology of SCCSNs suspended in PS/toluene solution was compared with that of suspensions of naked silica. The critical strain for onset of rheological nonlinearity was independent of SCCSN concentration above a concentration threshold, which differs from the silica suspensions. Linear dynamic rheological investigation revealed that SCCSN suspensions with a PS volume fraction of 25% were fluid-like at low particle concentrations while suspensions containing 4.5 vol% SCCSNs formed a gel-like structure. On the contrary, the silica suspensions with 20.0 vol% PS underwent a fluid-to-solid-like transition with increasing silica concentration. Reasons for the different rheological behaviors of the naked silica and SCCSN suspensions are discussed

Construction of copy number variation landscape and characterization of associated genes in a Bangladeshi cohort of neurodevelopmental disorders

Introduction: Copy number variations (CNVs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) among children. In this study, we aim to identify clinically relevant CNVs, genes and their phenotypic characteristics in an ethnically underrepresented homogenous population of Bangladesh. Methods: We have conducted chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for 212 NDD patients with male to female ratio of 2.2:1.0 to identify rare CNVs. To identify candidate genes within the rare CNVs, gene constraint metrics [i.e., “Critical-Exon Genes (CEGs)”] were applied to the population data. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) was followed in a subset of 95 NDD patients to assess the severity of autism and all statistical tests were performed using the R package. Results: Of all the samples assayed, 12.26% (26/212) and 57.08% (121/212) patients carried pathogenic and variant of uncertain significance (VOUS) CNVs, respectively. While 2.83% (6/212) patients’ pathogenic CNVs were found to be located in the subtelomeric regions. Further burden test identified females are significant carriers of pathogenic CNVs compared to males (OR = 4.2; p = 0.0007). We have observed an increased number of Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within cases with 23.85% (26/109) consanguineous parents. Our analyses on imprinting genes show, 36 LOH variants disrupting 69 unique imprinted genes and classified these variants as VOUS. ADOS-2 subset shows severe social communication deficit (p = 0.014) and overall ASD symptoms severity (p = 0.026) among the patients carrying duplication CNV compared to the CNV negative group. Candidate gene analysis identified 153 unique CEGs in pathogenic CNVs and 31 in VOUS. Of the unique genes, 18 genes were found to be in smaller (<1 MB) focal CNVs in our NDD cohort and we identified PSMC3 gene as a strong candidate gene for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Moreover, we hypothesized that KMT2B gene duplication might be associated with intellectual disability. Conclusion: Our results show the utility of CMA for precise genetic diagnosis and its integration into the diagnosis, therapy and management of NDD patients

In vitro anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and cytotoxic effects of extracted colorants from two species of dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.)

To evaluate the medicinal value of natural colorants derived from dragon fruit, this research measures the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities of extracted colorant from two species (Hylocereus polyrhizus and Hylocereus undatus) of dragon fruit at different concentrations. The cold extraction method was used for extraction. Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cytotoxic assay were measured using free radical scavenging, denaturation, and hemolytic inhibitory, disk diffusion, liquid microdilution assay, brine shrimp lethality and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2- thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, respectively. The aqueous extract showed high levels of phytochemicals (phenolics and flavonoids) in contrast to the other two (ethanol and ethyl acetate) extracts. Aqueous extract colorants exhibited better antioxidant and anti-inflammation activity than other two extracts (p<0.05; <0.001). Promising antibacterial activity was observed in a range of concentrations (50–200 mg/mL) of the aqueous extract colorants against tested bacteria; the inhibiting zone ranged from 6.00±0.50 to 8.54±0.23 mm. The both species of dragon fruits extract could inhibit the selected microorganism under study with variable minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Lack of cytotoxic activity was evident in the aqueous extract colorant relative to the other (LC50 for the aqueous extracts ranged from 748.78 to 886.63 µg/mL). Subsequently, the aqueous extract colorant from the two dragon fruit species could be an excellent source of color for food additive purposes, and as an ingredient in pharmaceutical medications