THE IMPACT OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ON SELECTING POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS: THE CASE OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN BANGLADESH

With the advent of globalization, postsecondary education is considered a very significant part for any country's socio-economic development. Higher education in Bangladesh is in a state of flux while responding to the challenges of globalization and the privatization policies of the government in line with the neo-liberal economy have resulted in progressive growth of private universities in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of socioeconomic status on selecting postsecondary institution in Bangladesh. Survey method with a semi-structured questionnaire is used to explore the consequences and the result reveals that socioeconomic status of the students has been playing an important role on selecting post-secondary institutions in Bangladesh. Consequently, competent recommendations are proposed to improve the situation in institutional and policy levels.  Article visualizations

Depulping of fruits and soaking the seeds enhances the seed germination and initial growth performance of Terminalia beleria Roxb. seedlings

The study describes the effects of depulping the fruits and soaking the seeds of Terminalia belerica Roxb. on seed germination and seedling growth in nursery condition. Around half of the freshly collected fruits of T. belerica were depulped by rotting the fleshy pulp in water. Depulped seeds or intact fruits were dried in sun following storage in airtight container. Effects pre-sowing treatments were explored by soaking the dry intact fruits or depulped seeds in cold water for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h and sowed in polybags filled with soil mixed with decomposed cow dung. The study revealed that depulping of fruits and soaking the seeds significantly enhanced the seed germination and seedling growth performance in nursery condition. The fastest seed germination was observed in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 72 h (DT3) and slowest germination was in intact fruits without treatment (IT0). The highest germination percentage (93) was observed in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 48 h (DT2) followed by 85.6% in depulped seeds soaked in water for 24 h (DT1), which was significantly higher than the other treatments including the control (36.7). Although growth parameters such as shoot length, root length, total height, leaf number, leaf area and collar diameter of the seedlings were maximum in the seedlings developed through DT3, the vigor index was maximum in DT2 and minimum in IT0. Total dry mass per seedling was also maximum in the seedlings developed from the treatment DT3. Considered the imbibition period, germination percentage, growth performance including vigor index and total biomass produced per seedling, depulping the fruits and soaking the dry seeds in cold water for 48 h was recommended for obtaining maximum seed germination and seedling growth performance

Early detection of biofilm formation of selected bacterial isolates through a new screening method using 'image J'

Aim: The cells growing in biofilms are physiologically distinct even from the same microorganism in the planktonic state. Although mixed-species biofilms predominate in most of the environments, single-species biofilms exist in a large variety of infections, on the surface of medical implants and parts of the machineries in the food industries. Convenient method and early detection of these biofilms are therefore, necessary to avoid or prevent the important implants from the bacterial biofilm formation. Therefore present research was undertaken with the aim to establish an in vitro method for early detection and screening of biofilm with easily applicable image J. Methodology and results: Eight bacterial colonies were isolated from the poultry wastes (PW), dental plaques (DP) and hospital effluents (HE). Among them, three isolates were finally selected for the study based on their source of origin, colony characteristics and the biofilm forming ability determined by test tube assay. The isolates were provisionally identified as Salmonella arizonae (from PW), Micrococcus luteus (from DP) and Aerococcus viridians (from HE) and examined for their biofilm forming ability through a novel in vitro method, cover slip assay. The images of crystal violet stained biofilms of the isolates on the surface of the cover slips were captured and analysed by image-processing software image J. The results of the cover slip assay were then compared with those from test tube assays to conform the efficacy and reliability of the method for screening and evaluating biofilm formation. The results suggest that the novel in vitro method for biofilm screening by cover slip assay is effective for evaluating selected bacterial biofilms. The ability to form biofilm was not specifically correlated with the colony characteristics but the initial attachment for early development of the biofilm was significantly correlated with their motility. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The method of biofilm screening with the cover slip assay used in this study is novel, very simple but powerful and effective method, is expected to have significant impact and gain additional interest among the scientists for biofilm screening and study

Impact of pre-sowing treatment on seed germination and seedlings growth attributes of Calamus longisetus Griff. at nursery and field conditions

The paper describes the germination behaviour of Calamus longisetus Griff. seeds under three different pre-sowing treatments and seedlings growth performance in nursery and field condition. Whole fruits, seeds with pulp and cleaned seeds were sown in germination trays filled with soils mixed with decomposed cowdung at a ratio of 3:1. The growth performance of the seedlings were determined by transferring the young seedlings (having 2 – 3 leaves) from germination bed to the polybags filled with soil mix followed by outplanting (at 1-year old) in the field. Germination percentage was significantly (p ≤0.001) enhanced by the pre-sowing treatment where the highest germination percentage was in cleaned seeds followed by the seeds with pulp and lowest in whole fruits. The survival percentage was over 91% in the field after one year and the average height 126.2 cm after two years of planting. Clean seeds for nursery raising and one-year old seedlings for outplanting were found suitable for raising successful plantations for the species

In Vitro Comparative Cardioprotective Activity of Methanol Extract of Caesalpinia Digyna (Rottl.) Stems and Senna Sophera (L.) Roxb. Stems

The present study was meant to explore the thrombolytic action of methanol extract of Senna sophera stems (MESS) and Caesalpinia digyna stems (MECD) alongside streptokinase as positive control and saline water as negative control. In the In vitro thrombolytic model, the MESS stems and MECD stems has been indicated 32.79±4.51% and 9.19±0.80% clot lysis individually. Between two extracts, MESS stems. has been demonstrated the noteworthy percent of clot lysis (32.79±4.51%) with reference to streptokinase (66.09±2.37%). From our investigation it has been uncovered that between the plants, MESS stems uncovered moderate thrombolytic action. In this way, steps ought to be taken to search in vitro clot dissolving potential and to isolate dynamic segments of MESS Stem for clot lysis are proposed to found. After found, MESS Stem could be recommended as a clot lysis agent in the treatment of patients experiencing disease related with blood clot (Myocardial Infraction, Hypertension, atherosclerosis, Peripheral artery sickness, heart attack and so forth)”

Effects of Albizia saman (Jacq. Mull) leaf mulch on vegetative growth of maize (Zea mays L.) and soil chemical properties through biomass transfer

The study presents the effects of Albizia saman (Jacq. Mull) leaves in a biomass transfer as a source of organic fertilizer on the soil chemical properties and vegetative growth of maize (Zea mays) compared with NPK (15-15-15) in greenhouse condition. Albizia saman leaves and NPK (15-15-15) were applied at the rate of 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 t/ha or 60, 90 and 120 kg/ha respectively, separately or in combination. The findings revealed that application of 2.5 t/ha A. saman leaves produced the maximum values for mean leaf number, leaf area and stem height (7.77, 212.24 cm2 and 49.67 cm, respectively) among the leaf much treatments but were not significantly different from those obtained by applying 90 kg/ha NPK fertilizer (7.86, 225.55 cm2 and 48.78 cm, respectively). However, the maximum number of leaf (8.4), leaf area (240.5 cm2), plant height (54.64 cm) and biomass (16.17 g) were obtained from the combination of 2.5 t/ha leaves with 90 kg/ha NPK. There was significant improvement in the soil chemical status with the application of 2.5 or 5.0 t/ha A. saman leaves whereas the application of 5.0 t/ha A. saman leaves experienced the highest value for organic carbon (3.56%), total nitrogen (0.23%) and potassium (0.16 mg/kg) and 2.5 t/ha leaves gave the highest value for available phosphorus (22.30 mg/kg). It can, therefore, be inferred that the application of 2.5 t/ha A. saman leaves as source of organic fertilizer will give a better growth of maize and the combination of this quantity with 90 kg/ha of NPK would give better results in crop yield and maintenance of soil fertility

Effects of deforestation on physicochemical properties and microbial population of soils in a South-East Asian tropical forest

The study was conducted in deforested land and adjacent natural forest in Chittagong Forest South Division, Bangladesh, to explore the effects of deforestation on physico-chemical properties of soil and the soil microbial population. Soil samples from surface (0-10 cm depth) or subsurface (10-20 cm depth) of two hill positions (top and bottom) of deforested land and an adjacent natural forest were collected and analysed for their physico-chemical properties and microbial population. The study reveals that there was no significant (p≤0.05) difference in soil texture for soil surfaces or hill positions between the deforested land and natural forest. However, significantly (p≤0.05) low moisture content and high pH was observed in both the surfaces and hill position in deforested land compared to the natural forest. The microbial community i.e., the fungal and bacterial population was also significantly (p≤0.05) lower in both surfaces (0-10 cm and 10-20 cm) of hill positions in the deforested land compared to natural forest. Fungal population ranged from 59 to 76 million g-1 and 78 to 153 million g-1 of dry soil in deforested land and in natural forest, respectively, whereas bacterial population ranged from 70 to 146 million g-1 in deforested land and from 127 to 218 million g-1 in natural forest. A total of seven genera of fungi were primarily identified from the soils of natural forest and six from the deforested land. The six common genera of identified fungi in both the land used were Mucor, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Trichoderma and the different one was Colletotrichum from the natural forest. Three genera of bacteria coccus, Streptococcus and Basillus were noticed in natural forest and two genera (coccus and Streptococcus) were recorded from deforested land

Enhancing seed germination and seedling growth attributes of a medicinal tree species Terminalia chebula through depulping of fruits and soaking the seeds in water

Terminalia chebula (Gaertn.) Retz. is an important medicinal tree species in the Asian countries. Large scale planting program for the species is often difficult due to its limited seed germination capacity and longer germination period in the natural conditions. This study describes various pre-sowing treatments attributed to the seed germination and seedling growth of T. chebula. A total of 1200 fruits were subjected to various treatments of which 600 were depulped by rotting the fleshy pulp in water while rests were kept intact and dried followed by their storage in airtight containers until setting up for the experiments. The effects of depulping and soaking period (0, 24, 48 and 72h) on seed germination and seedling growth performance were explored. The fastest seed germination and highest germination percentage (73.8%) was observed in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 48 h followed by 72 h and delayed germination with lowest percentage was in intact fruits without treatment. Growth parameters including shoot length, root length, total height, leaf number, leaf area, collar diameter, dry mass and vigor index were also maximum and significantly higher in the same treatment compared to others. Considering the practicability of the nursery raising technique for the species, the best treatment option obtained in this study was depulping the fruits and soaking the seeds in cold water for 48h which could be useful for large scale plantation programs. Introduction Medicinal plants play vital roles in healing various diseases throughout the world since time immemorial. Medicinal plants are now being used by Unani and Ayurvedic practitioners as well as by the common people to heal ailments at home. Plants with medicinal properties can also provide raw materials for downstream processing operations in the pharmaceutical industries

Gibberellic acid (GA3) affects growth and development of some selected kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) cultivars

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.), is a potential alternative of natural wood fibers for biocomposite and pulp and paper industry. However, the average fiber length of kenaf is usually shorter than the critical length to be used for high quality biocomposite materials. Increasing fiber length and quality can diversify its application in fiber based industries. Gibberellic acid (GA3) is an important plant growth regulator that is actively involved in cell elongation and other important physiological functions in plant growth, development and flowering. To investigate the effects of gibberellin on growth, morphology, and fiber quality, some selected cultivars of kenaf plants were treated with aqueous solution of varying concentrations of GA3. The effects on vegetative and reproductive growth were evaluated weekly for sixteen consecutive weeks and fiber morphology after harvesting at 18th week. Gibberellin treatment significantly reduced the vegetative growth in terms of stem diameter, leaf number, and leaf size but stimulated fiber elongation, resulted in a tall and slender plant with curled leaves. Gibberellin treatment also impaired reproductive growth by inhibiting floral initiation and development in all treated plants whereas the control plants were in its seed harvesting stage. This study provided novel insights into the effects of GA3 in regulating vegetative and reproductive growth of kenaf as well as improving its fiber properties

Determination of pond water quality for aquaculture and ecosystem management

Fish is the main source of animal protein for the common people of Bangladesh. About 37% of the inland fishes are obtained from the closed water fish culture where ponds play vital roles in the production system. The present study was carried out to determine the water quality (physico-chemical and biological factors) of five uncultivated or under cultivated ponds in the Chittagong University campus, Bangladesh, for aquaculture and ecosystem management. Temperature, pH, EC, BOD, COD, TSS, turbidity, NO2-, PO4 -, free CO2, CO3 -, HCO3-, Cl-, total viable bacterial count and total coliform were determined. Isolation and identification of Escherichia coli and Salmonella sp. from the water samples were performed to investigate the antibiotic sensitivity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against ciprofloxacin was also investigated. The findings reveal that there was no significant difference in temperature (19°C to 20°C), pH (6.7 to 7.4), electrical conductivity and Cl- values in the water among the ponds and that was within the range of the requirements for the fish cultivation. Both turbidity and total dissolved solids was highest in the uncultivated botanical garden pond 2 (BGP2). BOD, COD, NO2- , PO 4-2, HCO3-, and free CO2 concentration was beyond the permissible limits for aquaculture. Total viable count and total coliform ranged from 1.3 × 10 4 to 6.6 × 10 5 cfu ml-1 and from 0.0205×10 2 to 1.10×10 2 ml-1 respectively, among the ponds where both these parameters were highest in the naturally polluted BGP2. Most of the isolated E. coli and Salmonella sp. were sensitive but few showed resistance against the antibiotics, especially in BGP1, where fishes were cultivated commercially