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Purpose: Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) was announced as being a global pandemic on 11 March, governments from all parts of the world declared a quarantine period, during which people were prohibited from leaving their homes (except for essential activities) to contain the spread of the virus. Since then, the population has faced different levels of restrictions (i.e., mobility, social activities) that limited participation in normal daily routines. Consequently, these restrictions may have adversely changed physical activity, diet, sleep patterns, and screen time or work routine. So, the pandemic has had profound influence on the mental health of the entire societies. As the mental health status of Bangladeshi patients living in rural area that have recovered from COVID-19 has not been previously studied, this gap is addressed through the present investigation focusing on one rural Bangladeshi community. Methods: A convenience sampling method was employed to recruit participants for this cross-sectional study. Data was gathered by conducting face-to-face interviews with 243 recovered COVID-19 patients (as confirmed by a positive Reverse Transcription PCR test) attending a local primary health care facility center and instructed to consider how they felt in the preceding week Results: By administering a validated Bengali version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure participants' mental health status, we noted that 24% of the sample exhibited depressive symptoms. In addition, 30.9% and 21.8% of the participants experienced stress symptoms and reported anxiety, respectively. Sociodemographic factors such as female sex, lower educational level, living away from family, smaller living accommodations, and lower economic status significantly predicted mental health outcomes in multivariate logistic regressions. Conclusion: These results may help health care providers formulate proper mental health interventions and preventive measures to minimize the mental health problems among patients that have recovered from COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A year round agronomical trial was conducted on station (Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute) to investigate the impact of seasonal variations on biomass production of Moringa oleifera at different fertilizer doses in Bangladesh. A 6×3 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD) was applied on 20m×12m =240 m2 size plot, established in 2006 with a plant density of 13,500/hectare, was equally divided into 18 sub-plots and randomly grouped into three; 6 plots was treated as control, 6 plots was treated as medium with medium doses of fertilizer and rest 6 was treated as high fertilizer dose with the ratio of N.P.K was 90:30:15 and 160:60:40 kg/ha, respectively. The obtained result revealed that, the summer was the best season and autumn, monsoon and spring was also favorable for getting maximum yield of Moringa oleifera with ambient temperature ranges 27-32°C and fertilization dose N:P:K= 90:30:15 is suitable for optimum moringa production and chemical composition of moringa varied with season and slightly with fertilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research is to develop a more realistic approach to solve project time-cost optimization problem under uncertain conditions, with fuzzy time periods. Design/methodology/approach: Deterministic models for time-cost optimization are never efficient considering various uncertainty factors. To make such problems realistic, triangular fuzzy numbers and the concept of α-cut method in fuzzy logic theory are employed to model the problem. Because of NP-hard nature of the project scheduling problem, Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been used as a searching tool. Finally, Dev-C++ 4.9.9.2 has been used to code this solver. Findings: The solution has been performed under different combinations of GA parameters and after result analysis best values of those parameters have been found for the near optimal or sustainable solution. Research limitations/implications: For demonstration of the application of the developed algorithm, a project on new product (Pre-paid electric meter, a project under government finance) launching has been chosen as a real case. The formulation of the model of the problem is developed under some assumptions that have been mentioned in section 5. Practical implications: The proposed model leads decision makers to choose the desired solution under different risk levels. Originality/value: Reports reveal that project optimization problems have never been solved under multiple uncertainty conditions. Here, the function has been optimized using Genetic Algorithm search technique, with varied level of risks and fuzzy time periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Bangladesh, there is a scarcity of nationally representative data on the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: To estimate the COPD prevalence in rural settings, this cross-sectional, population-based study was conducted in all eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh, and involved adults aged 40 years and above. By using multi-stage random sampling, 2,458 individuals were enrolled. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines were used to diagnose COPD based on post-bronchodilator lung function, while additional participant data was gathered through computer-assisted personal interviews. Results: A 2% COPD prevalence (95% CI: 1.45, 2.55) was found in the study sample with a statistically significant difference between males (2.7%; 95% CI: 1.8, 3.6) and females (1.2%; 95% CI: 0.59, 1.81). Increasing age significantly inflated the odds of having COPD irrespective of sex (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.05; P value < 0.05). Furthermore, prevalence of COPD was higher among manual workers, cigarette smokers, and those that used the indoor kitchen and did not have a primary education. Sex-based analysis showed that smokeless tobacco consumption was significantly associated with COPD occurrence among males (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.05, 4.37; P value < 0.05), but not females. Further, using an indoor kitchen increased the odds of developing COPD by 400% among female participants (OR: 4.39; 95% CI: 1.37, 14.10; P value < 0.05). Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive sex-based estimation of COPD prevalence among rural population and imparts significant contribution to the growing database on COPD prevalence in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The dimensional accuracy of three‐dimensional (3D) printed anatomical models is essential to correctly understand spatial relationships and enable safe presurgical planning. Most recent accuracy studies focused on 3D printing of a single pathology for surgical planning. This study evaluated the accuracy of medical models across multiple pathologies, using desktop inverted vat photopolymerization (VP) to 3D print anatomic models using both rigid and elastic materials. Methods: In the primary study, we 3D printed seven models (six anatomic models and one reference cube) with volumes ranging from ~2 to ~209 cc. The anatomic models spanned multiple pathologies (neurological, cardiovascular, abdominal, musculoskeletal). Two solid measurement landing blocks were strategically created around the pathology to allow high‐resolution measurement using a digital micrometer and/or caliper. The physical measurements were compared to the designed dimensions, and further analysis was conducted regarding the observed patterns in accuracy. All of the models were printed in three resins: Elastic, Clear, and Grey Pro in the primary experiments. A full factorial block experimental design was employed and a total of 42 models were 3D printed in 21 print runs. In the secondary study, we 3D printed two of the anatomic models in triplicates selected from the previous six to evaluate the effect of 0.1 mm vs 0.05 mm layer height on the accuracy. Results: In the primary experiment, all dimensional errors were less than 1 mm. The average dimensional error across the 42 models was 0.238 ± 0.219 mm and the relative error was 1.10 ± 1.13%. Results from the secondary experiments were similar with an average dimensional error of 0.252 ± 0.213 mm and relative error of 1.52% ± 1.28% across 18 models. There was a statistically significant difference in the relative errors between the Elastic resin and Clear resin groups. We explained this difference by evaluating inverted VP 3D printing peel forces. There was a significant difference between the Solid and Hollow group of models. There was a significant difference between measurement landing blocks oriented Horizontally and Vertically. In the secondary experiments, there was no difference in accuracy between the 0.10 and 0.05 mm layer heights. Conclusions: The maximum measured error was less than 1 mm across all models, and the mean error was less than 0.26mm. Therefore, inverted VP 3D printing technology is suitable for medical 3D printing if 1 mm is considered the cutoff for clinical use cases. The 0.1 mm layer height is suitable for 3D printing accurate anatomical models for presurgical planning in a majority of cases. Elastic models, models oriented horizontally, and models that are hollow tend to have relatively higher deviation as seen from experimental results and mathematical model predictions. While clinically insignificant using a 1 mm cutoff, further research is needed to better understand the complex physical interactions in VP 3D printing which influence model accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was undertaken to standardize the method for bottling process of sweet corn to enhance the diversified use of corn. In Bangladesh, corn has multifarious uses such as human consumption, poultry and dairy farm, fish feed preparation, etc. Actually, the lack of proper processing practices a lot of corn has lost from harvest to storage. Milky stage corn was collected from the farmer's field. For bottling process, the sweet corn was processed for blanching the ears at 850C for 4 minutes in the boiling water. There are five treatments using various sugar percentages with fixed amount of salt, potassium meta-bisulphate and citric acid was used for the experiment. Three bottles each of treatment were randomly selected each month for physical observation as well as analyzed for chemical composition of processed bottles. Among the observations, the total soluble solid was slightly decreased and substantial reduction was noted in the contents of an ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and β-carotene (vitamin A), pH as well as acidity of the samples during storage up to 3 months. However, the suitable formulation of bottling process was found in treatment T3; and these are 3% Sugar, 0.5% salt, 750 ppm potassium meta-bisulphate and 0.2g Citric acid. Using such formulation the processed sweet corn is stored well up to three month at ambient condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines whether a community case management by lady health workers (LHWs) with oral amoxicillin in children with severe pneumonia was equivalent to the present standard of care in Haripur district in Pakistan. It mentions that evidence have shown that community health workers can treat non-severe pneumonia effectively. It states that community case management could result in standardized treatment of the disease.