Association of serum ferritin with insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Emerging scientific evidence has disclosed unsuspected influences between iron metabolism, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Even mildly elevated body iron stores are associated with statistically significant increases in glucose homeostasis indices. But till now high serum ferritin associated with type 2 diabetes is not recognized as an entity in the current clinical guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes.Methods: This was a Cross sectional study carried out from September 2016 to March, 2017 at PCO clinic of infertility outpatient department (OPD), department of obstetrics and gynecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study population consisted of all the diagnosed PCOS patients. Purposive sampling Main outcome variable: serum ferritin level and insulin resistance index (Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance: HOMA-IR).Results: Most of the (90.9%) patients were aged 20-30 years having BMI >25 kg/m2, mostly overweight (52.53%) or obese (25.25%). Significant increase of serum ferritin level (72.89±34.97; p=0.001) was noted in PCOS patients with insulin resistance. Marked increase in serum ferritin (82.81±31.57, p<0.001), fasting serum insulin (16.39±7.1; p<0.001), HOMA-IR (3.51±1.55; p<0.001) and more cases with insulin resistance (78.3%; p<0.001) were found in women with high ferritin level (when ≥45.5 ng/ml). Statistically significant strong positive correlation between serum ferritin level and fasting insulin level (r=0.528; p<0.001) as well as HOMA-IR (r=0.492; p<0.001) were observed.Conclusions: These results demonstrated that elevated level of serum ferritin was associated with insulin resistance in PCOS women

An Approach to Utilize Crust Leather Scrapes, Dumped into the Land, for the Production of Environmental Friendly Leather Composite

Among all the natural fiber, leather fiber is one of the animal fibers which is bearing hydrophilic and hydrophobic functional group. Leather is tanned with different types of chemicals and scraped crust leather containing chemical are coming from the leather industry after preparing footwear and leather products. In this was varied from 100 ml to 40 ml and benzoyl peroxide was used as a radical initiator. Tensile strength (TS), Young modulus and elongation at break (Eb) were measured. Tensile strength found to increase from 9.80 Mpa to 10.85 MPa. Young's modulus was found highest in 70:5 ratios and it was 158.16 Mpa research an attempt was taken to prepare composite with waste scrape crust leather. Leather fiber reinforced polyester resin based composites were prepared by wet layup method. Polyester content in the composite.Scraped crust reinforced composite will reduce the environmental pollution. So it can be concluded that scraped crust leather reinforced composite found to have better result than matrix and reinforced material

Comparative studies of mechanical and interfacial properties between jute and bamboo fiber-reinforced polypropylene-based composites

Jute and bamboo fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) based composites (50wt% fiber) were fabricated by compression molding. Tensile strength (TS), bending strength (BS), tensile modulus (TM), and bending modulus (BM) of the jutereinforced PP composite were found to be 48, 56, 900, and 1500 MPa, respectively. Then, bamboo fiber-reinforced PP-based composites (50 wt% fiber) were fabricated and the mechanical properties evaluated. The TS, BS, TM, and BM of bambooreinforced PP composites were found to be 60, 76, 4210, and 6210 MPa, respectively. It was revealed that bamboo fiber-based composites had higher TS, BS, TM, and BM compared to jute-based composites. Degradation tests of the composites (jute fiber/PP and bamboo fiber/PP) were performed in soil at ambient conditions for up to 24 weeks. It was revealed that bamboo fiber/PP composite retained its original mechanical properties higher than that of jute fiber/PP composite. The interfacial shear strength of the jute and bamboo fiber-based composites was investigated using the single-fiber fragmentation test and it was found to be 2.14 and 4.91 MPa, respectively. Fracture sides of the composites were studied by scanning electron microscope, and the results revealed poor fiber matrix adhesion for jute fiber-based composites compared to that of the bamboo fiber-based composites

BIOTRANSFORMATION OF DEHYDROABIETIC ACID WITH MICROBIAL CELL CULTURES AND α-GLUCOSIDASE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF RESULTING METABOLITES

Dehydroabietic acid (DHA, 1), a natural occurring diterpene resin acid, is an abundant resin acid in conifers, representing a natural wood protectant. The aim of this study was to use microbial cell cultures as tools for modification of 1 in order to obtain value-added functional derivatives. A scaled-up biotransformation of 1 by filamentous fungus Cunninghamella elegans, Rhizopus stolonifer, Gibberella fujikuroi, and Cephalosporium aphidicola were conducted for the first time. Three hydroxylated metabolites; 1b-hydroxydehydroabietic acid (2); 15-hydroxy dehydroabietic acid (3); and 16-hydroxy dehydroabietic acid (4). The structure of the hydroxylated metabolites were elucidated by 1-D (1H, 13C) and 2-D NMR (COSY, HMBC, HMQC, NOESY) techniques and MS analyses. Dehydroabietic acid (1) and their transformed products 2-4 exhibited a promising α-Glucosidase inhibitory activity. Compound 1 showed 38 times more active than the standard α-Glucosidase inhibitor, deoxynojirimycin. Compound 1 and its transformed metabolites 2-4 also showed significant antibacterial activities

Relationship Between Parental Rejection and Personality

Background: Parental rejection plays an important role in individual's life at different stages of their development. Some types of personality are the major predictors of mental illness and individuals' maladjustment. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to explore the possible relationship between parental rejection and personality of adults in the context of Bangladesh. Methods: A total 100 adults (39 male and 61 female) participated in this study. Their age range was 18 to 60 years. They were selected from Department of Psychiatry, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, University of Dhaka and some residential areas of Dhaka city by purposive sampling. The instruments used in this study were a Demographic questionnaire, validated Bangla version of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), validated Bangla version of Adult version of Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for Father (Adult PARQ: Father) and Adult version of Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for Mother (Adult PARQ: Mother). Results: From this study, we found that paternal rejection is positively correlated with psychoticism but negatively correlated with extraversion at the 0.05 levels of significance. The result showed that there was no significant correlation between paternal rejection and neuroticism. Results also showed that maternal rejection is positively correlated with psychoticism and neuroticism at the 0.01 level of significance but negatively correlated with extraversion (at the 0.05 levels). Conclusion: These results suggest that there is an association between parental rejections and individual's personality. Key word: Parental rejection; Personality; Psychoticism; Neuroticism; Extraversion. DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v2i2.4759 BSMMU J 2009; 2(2):61-6

Anthropometric Indices of Giardia-Infected Under-Five Children Presenting with Moderate-to-Severe Diarrhea and Their Healthy Community Controls: Data from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study

Among all intestinal parasitosis, giardiasis has been reported to be associated with delayed growth in malnourished children under 5 living in low- and middle-income countries. Relevant data on the nutritional status of children aged 0-59 months presenting with moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) and giardia infection were collected from sentinel health facilities of the Global Enteric Multicenter Study's (GEMS) seven field settings, placed in diverse countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia between, December 2007 and February 2011. Then, this study analyzed a robust dataset of study participants (n = 22,569). Children having giardiasis with MSD constituted as cases (n = 1786), and those without MSD constituted as controls (n = 3470). Among the seven field sites, symptomatic giardiasis was 15% and 22% in Asian and African sites, respectively, whereas asymptomatic giardia infection (healthy without MSD) in Asian and African sites was 21.7% and 30.7%, respectively. Wasting and underweight were more frequently associated and stunting less often associated with symptomatic giardiasis (for all, p < 0.001). Symptomatic giardiasis had a significant association with worsening of nutritional status in under-five children. Improved socio-economic profile along with proper sanitation and hygienic practices are imperative to enhance child nutritional status, particularly in resource limited settings

Ongoing efforts to improve the management of patients with diabetes in Bangladesh and the implications

Background: Prevalence rates of patients with diabetes are growing across countries, and Bangladesh is no exception. Associated costs are also increasing, driven by costs associated with the complications of diabetes including hypoglycaemia. Long-acting insulin analogues were developed to reduce hypoglycaemia as well as improve patient comfort and adherence. However, they have been appreciably more expensive reducing their affordability and use. Biosimilars offer a way forward. Consequently, there is a need to document current prescribing and dispensing rates for long-acting insulin analogues across Bangladesh, including current prices and differences, as a result of affordability and other issues. Methods: Mixed method approach including surveying prescribing practices in hospitals coupled with dispensing practices and prices among community pharmacies and drug stores across Bangladesh. This method was adopted since public hospitals only dispense insulins such as soluble insulins free-of-charge until funds run out and all long-acting insulin analogues have to be purchased from community stores. Results: There has been growing prescribing and dispensing of long-acting insulins in Bangladesh in recent years, accounting for over 80% of all insulins dispensed in a minority of stores. This has been helped by growing prescribing and dispensing of biosimilar insulin glargine at lower costs that the originator, with this trend likely to continue with envisaged growth in the number of patients. Consequently, Bangladesh can serve as an exemplar to other low- and middle-income countries struggling to fund long-acting insulins for their patients. Conclusions: It was encouraging to see continued growth in the prescribing and dispensing of long-acting insulin analogues in Bangladesh via the increasing availability of biosimilars. This is likely to continue benefitting all key stakeholder groups

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of medical, dental and non-medical healthcare professionals in Bangladesh : findings and connotation

Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had an appreciable impact on the education of all medical, dental, and non-medical healthcare professional (HCP) students. These included the closure of universities necessitating a rapid move to e-learning and new approaches to practical’s. However initially, there was a lack of knowledge and expertise regarding e-learning approaches and the affordability of internet bundles and equipment. We initially con-ducted two pilot studies to assess such current challenges, replaced by a two-stage approach including a full investigation involving 32 private and public universities during the early stages of the pandemic followed by a later study assessing the current environment brought about by the forced changes. Top challenges at the start of the pandemic included a lack of familiarity with e-learning approaches, cost of the internet, lack of IT equipment and the quality of the classes. Universities offered support to staff and students to a varying degree to address identified challenges. Since then, e-learning approaches have widened the possibilities for teaching and learning at convenient times. However, challenges remain. In conclusion, there were considerable challenges at the start of them pandemic. Several key issues have been addressed with hybrid learning here to stay. Remaining challenges include a lack of ICT equipment. However, new innovations will continue

Understanding Communication of Sustainability Reporting: Application of Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of rhetoric and rhetorical strategies that are implicit in the standalone sustainability reporting of the top 24 companies of the Fortune 500 Global. We adopt Bormann’s (Q J Speech 58(4):396–407, 1972) SCT framework to study the rhetorical situation and how corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) messages can be communicated to the audience (public). The SCT concepts in the sustainability reporting’s communication are subject to different types of legitimacy strategies that are used by corporations as a validity and legitimacy claim in the reports. A content analysis has been conducted and structural coding schemes have been developed based on the literature. The schemes are applied to the SCT model which recognizes the symbolic convergent processes of fantasy among communicators in a Society. The study reveals that most of the sample companies communicate fantasy type and rhetorical vision in their corporate sustainability reporting. However, the disclosure or messages are different across locations and other taxonomies of the SCT framework. This study contributes to the current CSR literature about how symbolic or fantasy understandings can be interpreted by the users. It also discusses the persuasion styles that are adopted by the companies for communication purposes. This study is the theoretical extension of the SCT. Researchers may be interested in further investigating other online communication paths, such as human rights reports and director’s reports

T2182C Mutation in 23S rRNA Is Associated with Clarithromycin Resistance in Helicobacter pylori Isolates Obtained in Bangladesh

Twelve clarithromycin-resistant (MIC, ≥1 μg/ml) Helicobacter pylori isolates were analyzed for point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene. Sequence analysis of all of the resistant isolates revealed a T-to-C transition mutation at position 2182. Transformation experiments confirmed that a single T-to-C transition mutation at position 2182 is associated with clarithromycin resistance