Engagement design in studies on pregnancy and infant health using social media: Systematic review

Social media utilization is prevalent among reproductive-age women. The literature on how researchers engage women in studies using social media platforms is scarce. This systematic review analyzed participant engagement design in studies using social media and focused on pregnancy and infant health. Methods: A literature search of EBSCO and PubMed databases was conducted. Included studies had to be completed with quantitative data, focus on pregnancy, postpartum or infant health, and use social media in the research process. A matrix of three engagement designs (passive, interactive, independent) and three research processes (recruitment, data analysis, intervention) was used for analysis. Findings: Thirty-one articles that reported 30 studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, four were randomized controlled trials (RCT), four were non-RCT interventions, and 22 were observational/descriptive studies. The main purpose of using social media was for recruitment (n = 16), data analysis (n = 6), intervention (n = 8), or both recruitment and intervention (n = 1). Passive engagement was a fundamental design approach in all studies to access a data source that was either the participant or the data provided by the participants in social media. Interactive engagement, mostly for recruitment and intervention, was to engage participants in completing study enrollment or in interacting with the study team or fellow participants. Independent engagement involved off-line activities and appeared sporadically in intervention studies. Conclusions: Passive and interactive engagement designs are more frequently used than independent engagement design. Researchers should select suitable designs when studying pregnancy and infant health using social media

Online Class Adaptation of Graduate and Post Graduate Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Online class is defined as a mode of class conducted using electronic devices through the internet. There are various obstacles to adapting online classes smoothly. The objective of the study was to evaluate the adaptation of online classes of graduate and postgraduate students and to scrutinize the barriers and benefits of it. There are both primary and secondary data used in this study. The research was conducted from January - May of 2021 surveying a questionnaire of 890 samples. Some simple statistical tools; pie-chart, bar diagram and tables were used to analyze data and present the result. The findings showed poor connection; poor motivation; unreliable technology; limited timeframe of class; inappropriate support; and minimal course design were the limitations of online class and had limited benefits. The government and institutional authorities should take academic decisions focusing on the barriers. Keywords: Online Class, Covid-19 Pandemic, Online Platform, Barriers, Bangladesh DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-16-05 Publication date:August 31st 2021

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Potentials of Different Extracts of Aegiceras corniculatam L. and Ceriops tagal Pers

The chloroform extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum zone of inhibition of 13 mm against S. dysenteriae and S. cervaceae. Furthermore, the aqueous extract of A. corniculatam showed maximum antibacterial activity with 10 mm zone of inhibition against P. aeruginosa & S. dysenteriae. However, n-hexane, chloroform and aqueous leaf extracts of C. tagal did not exhibit promising antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical screening of both plant extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, tannins and resin. The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam proved the presence of reducing sugar, cardiac glycoside, anthraquinone glycoside and saponin. Most extracts of C. tagal contained reducing sugar, saponins and alkaloids. The results of this study support the use of mangrove plants as a source of antibiotic substance against human pathogenic organisms.The study was aimed to analyze the phytochemicals and antimicrobial potentials of different fractions of Aegiceras corniculatam and Ceriops tagal, two mangrove plants of Bangladesh. Leaves of A. corniculatam and C. tagal were extracted using methanol by cold extraction method followed by partitioning with n-hexane, chloroform and the remaining part was considered as aqueous fraction. All fractions were screened for phytochemicals and subjected to Disc diffusion method to investigate antimicrobial activity against fourteen microorganisms including gram (+ve) (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Sarcina lutea), gram (-ve) (Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio mimicus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Shigella boydii, Pseudomonus aeruginosa) and fungi (Saccharomyces cerevaceae, Candida albicans, Asperagillus niger).The chloroform and aqueous extract of A. corniculatam exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against all studied pathogenic microorganisms where n-hexane extract did not show any inhibitory activity.

A Study to assess the Prevalence and Reasons for Smoking and Alcohol Use among Students of Selected Colleges of New Delhi

Introduction: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence and reasons of smoking and alcohol use among students of selected colleges.Method: The research approach selected for the study was quantitative. A descriptive survey design was selected to identify the prevalence and reasons for smoking and alcohol use. Sample was selected by simple random sampling for finding the prevalence, and purposive sampling was used to find out the reasons for smoking and alcohol use. The tool used for data collection was a structured questionnaire to assess the prevalence and reasons for smoking and alcohol use.Results: Findings on prevalence revealed that 24% students were smokers and 18% were alcohol users. The most accepted reason for smoking and alcohol use was to look mature that is 75% and 72.22% respectively and the second most accepted reason for smoking was to get motivated and feel confident, while for alcohol use it was to feel relaxed.Conclusion: The study concluded that less than one fourth of the students were smokers and alcohol users and majority of the students were smoking and taking alcohol to look mature

Phytochemical investigations, in-vitro antioxidant, antimicrobial potential, and in-silico computational docking analysis of Euphorbia milii Des Moul

Euphorbia milii Des Moul is a deciduous bush indigenous to Madagascar. The present study aims to investigate the presence of the phytochemical, in-vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potency, and in-silico computational analysis of ethanolic and aqueous preparations of E. milii leaves and flowers. The ethanolic and aqueous extracts were tested for in-vitro antioxidant activity by DPPH, H2O2, TAC, and FRAP assay. In addition, antimicrobial potentials were assayed by agar well diffusion technique against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans for various clinical isolates. The qualitative phytochemical analysis results confirmed the existence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, and tannins. The quantitative analysis elicits the availability of a magnificent number of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, flavonols, and tannins. Among all the extracts, aqueous extracts of leaves exhibited potent antioxidant activity in DPPH, FRAP, and H2O2 assay with the IC50 value of 30.70, 60.05, and 82.92µg/mL, respectively. In agar well diffusion assay, all extracts displayed zone of inhibition varies from 2-24mm at different concentrations ranging from 10-320 mg/mL, whereas no activity was observed against Candida albicans. Furthermore, docking-based computational analysis has revealed that beta-sitosterol and taraxerol are the plant's active constituents responsible for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Research findings suggest that the E. milii plant has an excellent prospect for further study for its extended antioxidative and antimicrobial potential. It could be a natural source of various ailments and can be utilized to develop new drugs

TRIBAL FORMULATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF PAIN: A STUDY OF THE BEDE COMMUNITY TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PRACTITIONERS OF PORABARI VILLAGE IN DHAKA DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

The Bedes form one of the largest tribal or indigenous communities in Bangladesh and are popularly known as the boat people or water gypsies because of their preference for living in boats. They travel almost throughout the whole year by boats on the numerous waterways of Bangladesh and earn their livelihood by selling sundry items, performing jugglery acts, catching snakes, and treating village people by the various riversides with their traditional medicinal formulations. Life is hard for the community, and both men and women toil day long. As a result of their strenuous lifestyle, they suffer from various types of pain, and have developed an assortment of formulations for treatment of pain in different parts of the body. Pain is the most common reason for physician consultation in all parts of the world including Bangladesh. Although a number of drugs are available to treat pain, including non-steroidal, steroidal, and narcotic drugs, such drugs usually have side-effects like causing bleeding in the stomach over prolonged use (as in the case of rheumatic pain), or can be addictive. Moreover, pain arising from causes like rheumatism has no proper treatment in allopathic medicine. It was the objective of the present study to document the formulations used by the Bede traditional practitioners for pain treatment, for they claim to have used these formulations over centuries with success. Surveys were conducted among a large Bede community, who reside in boats on the Bangshi River by Porabari village of Savar area in Dhaka district of Bangladesh. Interviews of 30 traditional practitioners were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. It was observed that the Bede practitioners used 53 formulations for treatment of various types of pain, the main ingredient of all formulations being medicinal plants. Out of the 53 formulations, 25 were for treatment of rheumatic pain, either exclusively, or along with other types of body pain. A total of 65 plants belonging to 39 families were used in the formulations. The Fabaceae family provided 7 plants followed by the Solanaceae family with 4 plants. 47 out of the 53 formulations were used topically, 5 formulations were orally administered, and 1 formulation had both topical and oral uses. 8 formulations for treatment of rheumatic pain contained Calotropis gigantea, suggesting that the plant has strong potential for further scientific studies leading to discovery of novel efficacious compounds for rheumatic pain treatment

Radioprotectant Activity of 5-Diethylsulfonamoylsalicylatocopper(II) in Gamma Irradiated Mice

Survival and changes in mean body mass of whole-body irradiated mice were determined to examine the radioprotectant activity of 5-diethylsulfonamoylsalicylatocopper(II) [Cu(II) (5-DESS)]. One of four groups of 25 female C57BL/6 mice were treated subcutaneously (sc)with 0, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, or 120 μmol Cu(II)(5- DESS)/kg of body mass 3 hours before exposure to 8.0 Gy, gamma irradiation. In this paradigm, doses of Cu(II)(5- DESS) increased survival up to 92% above vehicle-treated control mice (P = 0.008). Mean body mass determinations revealed that mice treated with 80 to 120 μmol Cu(II)(5-DESS)/kg of body mass exhibited a smaller decrease in body mass than other complex-treated groups. These results support the hypothesis that Cu(II)(5-DESS) is an effective radioprotectant

Reversible self-assembly of gold nanoparticles in response to external stimuli

Noble metal nanoparticles are highly attractive, owing to their optical, physical, electrical and chemical properties. Specifically, ease of surface modification, exceptional plasmonic and optical properties of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have created increasing interest in the assembly process. Once assembly is achieved successfully, the disassembly of the Au NPs is considered to be an exciting challenge. There are different kinds of forces involved in the assembly and disassembly process of Au NPs with a great deal involving the chemistry of surfactants. These forces can be externally triggered to achieve reversible assembly and disassembly. Less effort has been devoted to collate the study and mechanism involved behind environmentally or chemically triggered reversible assembly of Au NPs. Hence, the emphasis of this review is to highlight a number of promising stimuli such as light, pH, temperature and magnetic fields that can cause the reversible assembly of Au NPs. In addition, the surfactants utilized for assembly and disassembly of Au NPs under external stimuli response are examined. Furthermore, this review gives an account of the mechanism and chemistry of reversible assembly of Au NPs, taking into account the latest published literature. Indeed, it covers many ligands, biomolecules and thiol-mediated surfactants that can be linked to the surface of Au NPs and can also respond to external stimuli, realizing reversible assembly. The emerging challenges and an outlook on future developments in this research area are also discussed. The ultimate goal of this review is to encourage synthetic chemists to use ligand functionalized Au NPs (building blocks) for complex chemical systems as it will revolutionize the organic ligand synthetic processes that are responsive to different stimuli

Deep Learning in Agriculture: A Review

Deep learning (DL) is a kind of sophisticated data analysis and image processing technology, with good results and great potential. DL has been applied to many different fields, and it is also being applied to the agricultural field. This paper presents a wide-ranging review of research with regards to how DL is applied to agriculture. The analyzed works were categorized in yield prediction, weed detection, and disease detection. The articles presented here illustrate the benefits of DL to agriculture through filtering and categorization. Farm management systems are turning into real-time AI-enabled applications that give in-depth insights and suggestions for farmer's decision support by using the proper utilization of DL and sensor data