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A pot experiment was conducted at the experimental net house of the Department of Soil Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh to observe the effect of fertilizers on yield and nutrient uptake of local aromatic rice varieties during the Aman season of 2015. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Five local aromatic rice varieties (Kalizira: V1, Muktasail: V2, Nagrasail: V3, Maloti: V4 and Chinigura: V5) and four packages of fertilizers (F1: Recommended package i.e. 45-10-20-10-0.5 kg ha-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn, F2: 2/3rd of recommended package, F3: 1/3rd of recommended package, and F4: Control) were used. Urea, TSP, MoP, gypsum and ZnSO4 were used as N, P, K, S and Zn source, respectively. According to the treatment, all fertilizers were applied as basal during final pot preparation while urea was applied in two equal splits (one half as basal and another half at 40 DAT). Nutrient content and uptake of the aromatic rice varieties were significantly affected by the application of different fertilizer packages (with few exceptions). Mostly Kalizira (1.10-0.44-2.31-0.67-13.75 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) and/or Nagrasail (1.15-0.46-2.70-0.62-11.74 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) varieties showed the highest nutrient uptake in grain and straw with recommended package of fertilizers. While in maximum cases Chinigura (0.41-0.16-0.76-0.197-3.17 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) was observed to have the lowest with control treatment. In case of post harvest soil nutrient analyses, Kalizira and/or Chinigura variety associated with recommended package of fertilizers showed the highest nutrient status.

Dengue virus (DENV) is the causative agent of dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic disease and dengue shock syndrome (DSS), transmitted predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions by Aedes aegypti. It infects millions of people and causes thousands of deaths each year, but there is no antiviral drug against DENV. Usnic acid lately piqued the interest of researchers for extraordinary biological characteristics, including antiviral activity. Based on high larvicidal activities against Aedes aegypti, this study aims to search usnic acid derivatives as novel anti-DENV agents through a combination of ligand-based and pharmacophore-based virtual screening. One hundred and sixteen (116) usnic acid derivatives were obtained from a database of 428 in-house usnic acid derivatives through pharmacophore filtering steps. Subsequent docking simulation on DENV-3 NS-5 RdRp afforded 41 compounds with a strong binding affinity towards the enzyme. The pharmacokinetics and drug likeness prediction resulted in seven hit compounds, which eventually undergo cytochrome P450 enzyme screening to obtain the lead compound, labelled as 362. In addition, molecular dynamic (MD) simulation of lead compound 362 was performed to verify the stability of the docked complex and the binding posture acquired in docking experiments. Overall, the lead compounds have shown a high fit value of pharmacophore, strong binding affinity towards RdRp enzyme, good pharmacokinetics, and drug likeness properties. The discovery of a new usnic acid derivative as a novel anti-DENV agent targeting RdRp could lead to further drug development and optimization to treat dengue.

This paper presents the results of two parametric finite-element studies that were carried out using the PLAXIS-3D finite element (FE) computer code. The following objectives and corresponding parameters were considered: (i) to evaluate the soil pressure on the steel trench box shield; the parameters studied were related to soil type and material, and the study considered till, dry sand, wet sand, and sensitive clay soil; (ii) to assess the effect of trench box material and geometry on earth pressure; the parameters studied were related to trench box material (steel versus aluminum) as well as geometry (plate thickness and strut diameter). These studies included simulation of two steel (or aluminum) trench box shields stacked upon each other to cover the total 6 m (20 ft) deep trench. A Mohr-Coulomb (MC) constitutive material model was chosen for FE analysis (FEA). The FEA results were compared to empirical apparent earth pressure diagrams for a sensitive clay. Comparisons showed that the parameters related to the soil and the trench box have a significant influence on earth pressures.

Ionic liquids (ILs) can play a vital role in clay swelling inhibition during hydraulic fracturing. Previous studies highlighted the effect of side-chain length attached to the cationic core and different anions possessing almost the same chemical properties on inhibition performance. However, polyatomic anions have the potential to superiorly inhibit swelling compared to monoatomic anions. In this study, three ILs, namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4), and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6), were utilized to assess the effects of polyatomic anions on clay swelling inhibition. These performances were compared with the performances of a conventional inhibitor, potassium chloride (KCl). X-ray diffraction (XRD) testing was applied to check the mineral components present in the bentonite clay sample studied in this research. Clay swelling inhibition performance and rheological properties of these ILs were evaluated by the bentonite plate soaking test, linear swelling test, and rheological test. The swelling inhibition mechanisms were investigated through ζ-potential measurement, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and contact angle measurement. Moreover, COSMO-RS computer simulation was conducted to explain the inhibition mechanisms theoretically. The results demonstrated that BMIMPF6 showed superior inhibition performance and reduced the swelling by 21.55%, while only 9.26% reduction was attained by potassium chloride (KCl). The adsorption ability on the bentonite surface through electrostatic attraction, higher activity coefficient, and less electronegativity of PF6- anion played a vital role in attaining such superior inhibition performance by BMIMPF6.

Receptor-interacting serine/threonine protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) is an important kinase of the innate immune system. Herein, we describe the optimization of a series of RIPK2 PROTACs which recruit members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family of E3 ligases. Our PROTAC optimization strategy focused on reducing the lipophilicity of the early lead which resulted in the identification of analogues with improved solubility and increased human and rat microsomal stability. We identified a range of IAP binders that were successfully incorporated into potent RIPK2 PROTACs with attractive pharmacokinetic profiles. Compound 20 possessed the best overall profile with good solubility, potent degradation of RIPK2, and associated inhibition of TNFα release. A proof-of-concept study utilizing a slow release matrix demonstrated the feasibility of a long-acting parenteral formulation with >1 month duration. This represents an attractive alternative dosing paradigm to oral delivery, especially for chronic diseases where compliance can be challenging.

Application of carbohydrate fatty acid (CFA) esters in food and beverage industries has increased their interest in other fields. Especially rhamnopyranoside esters having both the hydrophilic and lipophilic nature had broader applications including anticancer activities. Benzyl α-L-rhamnopyranoside, prepared from L-rhamnose, on 2,3-O-isopropylidene protection with 2,2-dimethoxypropane followed by acylation at C-4 hydroxyl position with different acylating agents furnished the corresponding 4-O-acyl-α-L-rhamnopyranosides in good yields. All the compounds were well characterized by spectroscopic techniques. In vitro antimicrobial activities against eight bacterial and two fungal pathogens indicated that these 2,3-O-isopropylidene protected rhamnopyranosides had weak to moderate inhibitory properties. To rationalize such moderate activities structural (conformational) distortion of these monoacetonide protected CFA esters were studied from the density functional theory (DFT) optimized structures. In addition, thermodynamic properties including frontier molecular orbitals of the synthesized rhamnopyranosides were calculated and discussed. Corroboration of all the studies signifies that the moderate antimicrobial efficacy of the isopropylidene protected rhamnopyranosides might be due to their distorted conformations, lower softness and smaller dipole moments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v13i3.1614

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor that is widely used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins and dental sealants. It has adverse effects on reproduction. Black seed oil is frequently used as folk medicine for the promotion of good health and treatment of many ailments. The study was carried out to investigate the effect of Bisphenol-A (BPA) and black seed oil (BSO) on hematological parameters, hormone, sperm parameters and patho-physiological changes of testis in mice. A total of 15 male Swiss Albino mice (Mus musculus), of 25-28 days were used and randomly divided into 3 groups consisting 5 mice in each group. Group A served as vehicle control whereas group B and group C were as BPA and BPA plus BSO group respectively. Both BPA @ 50 mg/kg/day and BSO @ 1ml/kg/day were administered orally. Results revealed that BPA caused reduced hematological parameters (Hb, TEC, and PCV) in mice. Inclusion of BSO in BPA treated mice prevented the alterations of those values. Serum T4 and testosterone concentration were significantly (p [J Bangladesh Agril Univ 2021; 19(2.000): 223-229]

Magnetic field dependence of the electronic spin polarization (P), polarization decay and spin oscillation in gallium arsenide quantum wells is investigated by spin-resolved photoluminescence measurements. In the presence of a magnetic field in the Voigt configuration, the spin-polarized electrons, generated by a circularly polarized light, are drifted by an electric field. The results show that P decays and oscillates with time as well as with the magnetic field. However, the electric field is found to play a vital role in spin dynamics and exchange coupling between the electron and hole spins in the wells.

The input–output power response of the glycerol solution with different glycerin concentrations is studied. It is found that there is an optical power limiting activity for glycerol. The transmission of the optical power is found to decrease with increasing the concentration. The decrease in optical power follows the well-known Beer–Lambert law at lower powers. However, at higher powers we observe an optical limiting property with saturated output powers. The saturated output power of the solution for various concentrations is estimated and is found to decrease with an increase in the concentration of the solution. The limiting mechanism is found to be reverse-saturable absorption and is discussed on the basis of the five level energy diagram of the molecular system.

Plasma agriculture is an emerging field. In this report, we studied the effect of medium pressure (~ 10 torr) low-frequency (3–5 kHz) glow discharge (LFGD) plasma on various agronomical and physiological attributes in wheat. Wheat seeds treated by LFGD plasma generated from Argon–Oxygen (Ar + O2) gas mixture and air showed a remarkable enhancement in seed germination by 12.38% and 7.14% respectively. Also, the morpho-physiological features significantly improved due to plasma treatment relative to control. In germinated wheat seedlings, H2O2 concentration markedly increased due to plasma treatments, suggesting that LFGD may be involved in nitrogen signaling in wheat. The SOD activity significantly increased in wheat seedlings subjected to Ar + O2 plasma, while APX activity showed a significant increase only in the shoot of wheat plants in the same condition. Besides, both plasma treatments (Ar + O2 and Air) caused a significant increase in CAT activity in the shoot but not in the root compared to non-treated plants. Analysis of wheat plants germinated from plasma treated seeds showed a notable increase in total soluble sugar and protein subjected to Ar + O2 plasma treatment. Results also revealed a significant increase in TGM, iron, manganese, fat, and ash content while moisture content significantly decreased in wheat grain due to plasma treatments relative to controls. These findings explore the potentialities of LFGD plasma in boosting germination, growth, and nutritional traits of wheat plants.

Medicinal plant-derived bioactive compounds have recently gained more interest in biological research as an important source of novel drug candidates. Phyllanthus acidus (L.) is a widely distributed herbal medicinal plant naturally used in Ayurvedic medicine in Bangladesh. The present study focused on exploring the biological potential as well as the inhibitory effect of EAC cell growth with a comparative analysis between Phyllanthus acidus fruit pulp and seed. Crude methanol extract of P. acidus (MEPA) fruit pulp and seed was assessed as DPPH and NO free radical scavengers. While Brine Shrimp lethality bioassay, the standard protocol of phytochemical screening and hemagglutination assay were performed successively to determine the toxic effect on normal cells, the identification of some crucial phytochemicals, and the existence of lectin protein. EAC (Ehrlich’s Ascites Carcinoma) cell growth inhibition was determined by hemocytometer and morphological changes of EAC cells were observed by a fluorescence microscope using Swiss albino mice. The IC50 value of MEPA fruit pulp and seed was obtained as 57.159 µg/ml and 288.743 µg/ml respectively where minimal toxic effects on Brine Shrimp nauplii demonstrates that it is a good source of natural antioxidant compounds. Again, MEPA fruit pulp and seed-mediated effective agglutination of mouse blood erythrocyte strongly support the presence of lectin protein. Furthermore, MEPA fruit pulp and seed extract-treated EAC cells showed 65.71% and 28.57% growth inhibition respectively. The fluorescent microscopic examination of EAC cells treated with MEPA fruit pulp has shown more remarkable structural changes in the nucleus than that of seed. Based on the above findings, the present study reveals that MEPA fruit pulp can be considered as a novel biological candidate for the treatment of fatal diseases shortly.

We present the design, modeling, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an electrodynamic wireless power transmission (EWPT) receiver for low-frequency ( $\cdot $ cm−3 power density) at 4 cm distance from a transmitter coil operating at 821 Hz and safely within allowable human exposure limits. This data corresponds to a normalized power density of 21.9 mW $\cdot $ cm $^{-3}\,\,\cdot $ mT−2, which is 44% higher than similar reported devices. Based on these results, this device shows great suitability for wirelessly charging mobile, wearable and bio-implantable devices. [2020-0161]

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is one of the highest volume chemicals produced world-wide and used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins that are pervasive in our environment and daily lives. The present research was carried out to investigate the effects of two different doses of Bisphenol-A (BPA) on the body weight, hematological parameters and patho-physiological changes of kidney in mice. For this study, fifteen mice, 6 to 8 weeks of age with an average bwt 27.10±0.5 gm, were randomly divided into three groups (n= 5). Group A (control) received only normal mouse pellet while group B and group C received pellet mixed with BPA @ 50 mg and 100 mg / kg bwt daily for 12 weeks, respectively. At the end of the experiment, blood and tissues were collected and processed for hematological and histopathological examination. Results showed that BPA- treated mice caused significant elevation (p

Mercury is a widespread environmental and industrial pollutant, which induces severe effects on human and animal bio-systems. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of different concentrations of mercuric chloride (Hgcl2) on the hemato-biochemical and histological changes of liver and kidney in female Swiss Albino mice. A total of 24 numbers of mice of 28-30 days’ age were randomly assigned into 4 equal groups (n=6) as A, B, C, D. Group A was kept as control. Mice of group B, C and D were provided Hgcl2 at a dose rate of 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg per kg body weight in distilled water daily for 12 weeks respectively. At the end of the experimental period, blood and tissues were collected and processed for hematological, biochemical and histopathological examination. Results showed that HgCl2 treated mice caused a significant decreased in weight gain even treated with low doses of HgCl2. Total Erythrocyte Count (TEC), hemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) were significantly decreased in HgCl2 treated mice than control one. Values of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine, serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG) glucose were significantly increased and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), high density lipoprotein (HDL) were decreased in mice treated with different concentrations of HgCl2 compared with control group. Histo-pathological study showed that atrophy of the glomerulus was found in the kidney and presence of vacuoles and dilatation of sinusoidal spaces in the liver of HgCl2 treated mice. In conclusion, this research suggested that HgCl2 exerts deleterious impacts including association with hepatic and renal injuries.

This study was carried out to determine the physicochemical characteristics such as intrinsic viscosity (IV), molecular weight (MW), water binding capacity (WBC), and fat binding capacity (FBC) of chitosan extracted Pleurotus ostreatus fruit body. Antibacterial activity of the gamma irradiated chitosan was also determined. The intrinsic viscosity, MW, WBC and FBC of the produced chitosan were 769.69 ml/g, 1.8×105 Da, 408% and 234%, respectively. The fungal chitosan was subjected to different doses (viz., 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 kGy) of radiation from 60Co gamma source to observe the effect of gamma radiation on its antibacterial activity. After irradiation, antibacterial activity was evaluated and compared with that of non-irradiated chitosan. Non-irradiated chitosan showed moderate antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli ATCC 35150, and Salmonella enteritidis ATCC 13076 whereas chitosan samples treated with 5, 10 and 20 kGy gamma irradiation separately have shown enhanced antibacterial activity than that of non-irradiated chitosan against the above-mentioned bacteria. However, higher doses of gamma irradiation (30 kGy and 40 kGy) caused a gradual decline of the antibacterial activity. Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 37 Number 2 December 2020, pp 52-55

Background: The objective of the present study was to identify the causative organisms of blood stream infection (BSI) and their resistance pattern to different antibiotics as well as prevalence of multi drug resistant (MDR) organisms in this region. This retrospective study included blood culture reports from 1899 suspected bacteraemia patients. Culture was done using BACT/Alert machine followed by culture on MacConkey (MC) agar, chocolate agar and blood agar plates. Isolated organisms were identified using standard laboratory procedures. Results: Total 383 bacterial isolates were yielded (rate of positive culture 20.2%). Staphylococcus aureus (41.8%) and Escherichia coli (41.8%) were most frequently isolated gram positive and gram-negative organisms respectively. Other commonly isolated organisms were Salmonella typhi (10.7%) and coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) (3.9%). More than 90% isolated organisms were multidrug resistant. Salmonella typhi (95.1%) and Staphylococcus aureus (91.2%) showed most frequently isolated MDR strains. All the organisms showed high resistance rate against commonly used antibiotics like azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Amoxycillin and clavulanic acid combination, cloxacillin and linezolid were sensitive against Staphylococcus aureus. Ceftriaxone as well as amikacin remained a sensitive drug to treat Salmonella typhi. Carbapenems and nitrofurantoin were mostly sensitive against all isolated organisms. Conclusion: Rational use of antibiotics based on regional epidemiology of causative organisms and sensitivity pattern can preserve the potentiality of available antibiotics and reduce the burden of MDR pathogens.

Rice (Oryza sativa) plants acquired excess photosynthates in the form of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) in their stems and grain. Despite keen interest in rice NSC, the dynamics of NSC accumulation, translocation and re-accumulation have not yet been well investigated. AG1 and AG2 QTLs associated with flooding tolerance through catalyzing starch into soluble sugar in germinating seeds. Here we conducted three experiments, greenhouse and field to lay the groundwork for large-scale diversity studies on grain NSC and some agronomic traits under direct-seeded rice (DSR) system, using elite lines incorporating AG1, AG2 and AG1-AG2 QTLs into the popular varieties PSB Rc82 and Ciherang-Sub1 along with the donors Kho Hlan On (AG1) and Ma-Zhan Red (AG2). In germinating seedlings, soluble sugars increased, while starch concentration decreased gradually especially in the tolerant checks and AG1-AG2 introgression lines under flooded soil. Soluble sugar accumulation in stem started to increase from the vegetative stage and peaked at the panicle initiation stage then gradually decreased towards the maturity stage. But Sub1-AG lines had higher sugar and starch concentrations at different growth stages than other genotypes in wet season 2016 and dry season 2017. Plant survival rate was positively correlated with the stem NSC at the early vegetative stage (21 days after sowing), and stem NSC was positively associated with plant height at different growth stages. Among the tested seeding rate, the most suitable seeding rate, 4 g/m2 with shallow burial depth (0.5 cm), resulted in better seedling establishment, relatively higher seedling vigor index and higher leaf area index under flooding in DSR system. Introgression of AG1-AG2 QTLs had no any negative impact on nonstructural carbohydrate, germination rate, and growth and biomass production.

Over the last few years, nanofibrous mats produced by electrospinning technique showed potential feasibility for skin repairing. It is expected that incorporation of plant extracts into such struct...

The surface of polycrystalline gold (Au (poly)) electrode was ex situ modified with self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of thiourea (TU) with a view of applying the electrode for the electrochemical oxidation of uric acid (UA) in alkaline media. UA undergoes an enhanced electrochemical oxidation at the monolayer of TU-modified Au (poly) (TU|Au (poly)) electrode at a remarkably lower potential with a higher current density as compared to the bare Au (poly) electrode. The enhanced activity of the electrode was achieved due to the effective blocking of harmful adsorption of UA that takes place strongly at the bare Au (poly) electrode surface. The TU|Au (poly) electrode was also found to be very effective towards simultaneous oxidations of UA, ascorbic acid (AA) and dopamine (DA) in their mixture with well separation of the peak current of the individual substance. This technique may be advantageously utilized for developing sensor for the purpose of detection of UA.

The effects of dietary energy and protein concentration on desi growing chickens under confined management system were evaluated through conductive feeding trial with 72 female desi growing chickens of 12-22 weeks of age. Four experimental diets were i) Conventional diet (CD), ii) low nutrient density (ME 2500 kcal/kg + CP 15%), iii) moderate nutrient density (ME 2700 kcal/kg + CP 17%) and iv) high nutrient density (ME 2900 kcal/kg + CP 19%). The contents of other nutrients including calcium and total phosphorous in the formulated diets were fitted with the requirements of the chickens. Results indicated that feed intake and weight gain increased significantly in birds received increased levels of nutrients in diets. It is concluded that the ME and CP requirements for indigenous (desi) female chicks between 12 and 22 weeks of age may be 2700 kcal/kg and 17% diet respectively for achieving proper weight gain before reaching sexual maturity. Bangladesh J. of Livestock Res. 20(1-2): 42-47, Jan-Dec 2013

Afforestation/Reforestation and conserving the forests are the low-cost measures to climate change mitigation. However, loss of forest biomass through over-extraction affects the overall carbon concentration in the forests. The present study conducted its attempts in the Hazarikhil forest under the Chittagong North forest division of Bangladesh with the primary objectives of getting a gain and loss quantification of carbon. The total highest biomass density, 348.93 ± 48.00 tha−1, was in the Acacia auriculiformis stands, while it was the lowest, 196.36 ± 32.54 tha−1 in the Senna siamea stands. The total biomass-carbon density was the highest, 174.47 ± 24.00 tCha−1, in the A. auriculiformis stands, while it was the lowest, 98.18 ± 5.45 tCha−1, in the S. siamea stands. The highest biomass loss, 10.65 ± 0.45 tha−1 yr−1, was in the A. auriculiformis stands while it was the lowest, 4.48 ± 0.87 tha−1 yr−1 in Chukrasia tabularis stands. Soil organic carbon stock was the highest, 19.10 ± 0.91 tCha−1 and 57.31 ± 2.72 tCha−1, in the Tectona grandis stands for both 0–10 cm soil depth and 0–30 cm soil depth, respectively. The lowest, 6.66 ± 1.22 tCha−1 and 19.97 ± 3.54 tCha−1, were in the S. siamea stands. However, the total of soil organic carbon and biomass-carbon was the highest, 191.13 ± 23.99 tCha−1 and 224.45 ± 24.13 tCha−1 in the A. auriculiformis stands for both 0–10 cm and 0–30 cm soil depth, respectively. The lowest, 104.84 ± 21.69 tCha−1 and 118.15 ± 24.56 tCha−1, total carbon was in the S. siamea stands for both the soil depths, respectively. The findings of the study can be useful to climate change mitigation practitioners in Bangladesh.

Abroma augusta (L.), one of the herbal medicinal plants, is widely used for treatment of various maladies. The present study was initiated to determine the antioxidant, hemolytic, cytotoxicity, and anticancer activities of methanolic extract from the bark of the plant. The phytochemical screening was done by analyzing different phytochemicals present in the extract. We observed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, reducing sugars, and glycosides in the bark extract which showed the highest antioxidant capacity. Antioxidant potential of the methanolic extract was evaluated in vitro by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging assay method. This extract showed prominent scavenging activity with IC50 value of 38.65 μg/ml. The hemolytic activity of the extract was evaluated at concentrations ranging from 250 to 1000 μg/ml. It was observed that the extract induced hemolysis percentage of 9.41% to 4.1%, which implies that the extract has no potent hemolytic activity. Cytotoxicity and anticancer activities were observed on Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells. In addition, the bark showed promising cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 329.41 μg/ml, and the study indicated that the extract was capable of inhibiting EAC cell growth by 75.5% when administered at 100 mg/kg/day body weight intraperitoneally for five consecutive days to Swiss albino mice. Morphological change of apoptotic cell was determined by fluorescence and optical microscopy. DNA fragmentation is another marker for apoptosis, and the bark extract-treated EAC cells showed smeared and fragmented DNA bands. Apoptosis correlated well with the upregulation of p53 and Bax and also with the downregulation of NF-κB and Bcl-2. Furthermore, activity and interaction of two A. augusta compounds were tested through molecular docking simulation study. In conclusion, our results suggest that A. augusta bark has the potential to be considered as an anticancer agent.

Bisphenol- A (BPA) is a multi-functional chemical produced in large volumes that is extensively used primarily in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Black seed oil (BSO) has been employed for many century as one of the main sources of nutrition and healthcare both for humans and animals. The study was carried out to investigate the effects of BPA and BSO on blood, hormone profile, and histopathological changes of ovary in female mice. Total 15 female Swiss Albino mice, aged between 6-8 weeks with an average body weight of 27.4±1g were randomly divided into 3 groups (5 mice/group). Group A act as vehicle control. Group B was administered 50 mg BPA /kg bw daily, while group C received both BPA and BSO and dose rate was 50 mg BPA /kg/day and 1ml BSO /kg/day respectively. Results revealed that Hb concentration, TEC and PCV (p [ J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther 2020; 3(1.000): 43-48]

Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) are heterobifunctional small-molecules that can promote the rapid and selective proteasome-mediated degradation of intracellular proteins through the recruitment of E3 ligase complexes to non-native protein substrates. The catalytic mechanism of action of PROTACs represents an exciting new modality in drug discovery that offers several potential advantages over traditional small-molecule inhibitors, including the potential to deliver pharmacodynamic (PD) efficacy which extends beyond the detectable pharmacokinetic (PK) presence of the PROTAC, driven by the synthesis rate of the protein. Herein we report the identification and development of PROTACs that selectively degrade Receptor-Interacting Serine/Threonine Protein Kinase 2 (RIPK2) and demonstrate in vivo degradation of endogenous RIPK2 in rats at low doses and extended PD that persists in the absence of detectable compound. This disconnect between PK and PD, when coupled with low nanomolar potency, offers the potential for low human doses and infrequent dosing regimens with PROTAC medicines., Mares et al. develop Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) that degrade its target RIPK2 in vivo at low doses for a prolonged period of time. This study suggests that PROTAC has a therapeutic potential that is superior to traditional RIPK2 small-molecule inhibitors.

Amorphous materials have recently gained much attention as electrode materials in supercapacitor application due to the presence of larger amount active sites which can efficiently increase the storage capacity of the materials. Nano engineering is an elegant approach to fully utilize the advantages of the amorphous structure. Moreover, large surface area and high conductivity of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) can efficiently increase the storage capacity of the system. Exploiting this idea, in the present work, we have successfully synthesized amorphous MoS2 of two different sizes on reduced graphene oxide and thoroughly investigated the supercapacitor behavior of the system. The specific capacitance of the composite structures has been found to be largely increased with decreasing size of the amorphous nano particle. The specific capacitance of amorphous MoS2-RGO composite containing nearly 50 nm of MoS2 found to be 270 F/g whereas when the particle size is reduced to 5–7 nm, value of specific capacitance increases to 460 F/g. The large increase in specific capacitance with the tuning of the size of amorphous nano particle has been explained by the presence of a large number of active sulfur edges of ultra-small MoS2 nano structure along with the better charge transport which can effectively increase the storage capacity of the overall system. The retention in the capacitance of the material has been found to be 90 % after 5000 cycles.

In the recent years, the medical sector is getting increasingly interested in the wound dressing materials that contain medicinal herb instead of metal nanoparticles to impart antibacterial or other desirable properties. Herein, a novel multicomponent nanofibrous mat has been successfully prepared by electrospinning technique from a blended solution of polyvinyl alcohol, honey and Curcumin longa (turmeric) extract for potential application as the wound dressing material. Ethyl acetate extraction was followed to obtain the restorative components of turmeric. The fabricated nanofibrous materials were characterized by scanning electron microscope, moisture management tester, bacterial assay and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to evaluate their morphological, moisture, antibacterial and chemical behavior, respectively. Nanofibers of fabricated mat show an average diameter of 340 nm with better moisture management properties compared to polyvinyl alcohol nanomat alone. The agar diffusion method has been used to evaluate the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus bacteria showing the formation of inhibition zone with a value of 29 mm and 38 mm. The presence of characteristic peaks in Fourier-transform infrared spectra reveals that all the desired components are present in the developed nanofibrous mats.

In order to explore new application opportunities of Barium Strontium Titanate (BST) ceramic composite by modifying the conventional ferroelectric properties of BST through La2O3 doping in BST matrix sintered at different temperature was investigated in this current study. Unadulterated Ba0.3Sr0.7TiO3 (BST) matrix was prepared from BaTiO3 (99.95%) and SrTiO3 (99.95%) taken in stoichiometric extents which later doped by La2O3 (99.99%) in varying extents (0.05 g, 0.10 g and 0.15 g) exploiting solid state reaction route. Doping caused drag effect for the penetration of impurities and sintering temperature helped the impurities migration to BST. Dielectric constant gets lower with rising of frequency, as electrons do not get enough time to polarize at high frequency. Dielectric constant and conductance are found maximum for the sample (0.1 g La2O3 doped BST) sintered at 1460°C and reverse is found in impedance analysis. These electrical properties showed visible frequency dependent response irrespective of sintering temperature and doping.

In the present investigation, the aboveground and belowground carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry tree species from seven sectors of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) campus was measured as a proxy of carbon fixation of agroforestry trees in Bangladesh. This campus occupies the area of 75.55 ha. Carbon emission has been increasing day by day due to anthropogenic activities and contributing to global climate change. Biomass production in different forms, i.e., aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), total biomass (TB), plays an essential role in carbon sequestration in trees. We estimated these biomasses by the nondestructive method to calculate the aboveground carbon (AGC), belowground carbon (BGC), total carbon (TC), and total CO2 of the study area. We found that the standing aboveground biomass and belowground biomass of agroforestry trees were 29.97 tha-1 and 7.79 tha-1 respectively, while the total standing biomass of agroforestry trees in 75.55 ha area was 37.76 tha-1. In the case of carbon, we observed that the total carbon sequestration and total carbon dioxide intake of agroforestry trees were 18.88 tha-1 and 69.29 tons CO2, respectively, in the study area. The highest carbon dioxide sequestration was observed in sector 6 (25%), and the lowest was observed in sector 3 (5%). The findings of carbon sequestration obtained from this study will be helpful for policymakers to take necessary steps against the adverse effect of global warming through carbon emission.

Given the growth of scientific literature on the web, particularly material science, acquiring data precisely from the literature has become more significant. Material information systems, or chemical information systems, play an essential role in discovering data, materials, or synthesis processes using the existing scientific literature. Processing and understanding the natural language of scientific literature is the backbone of these systems, which depend heavily on appropriate textual content. Appropriate textual content means a complete, meaningful sentence from a large chunk of textual content. The process of detecting the beginning and end of a sentence and extracting them as correct sentences is called sentence boundary extraction. The accurate extraction of sentence boundaries from PDF documents is essential for readability and natural language processing. Therefore, this study provides a comparative analysis of different tools for extracting PDF documents into text, which are available as Python libraries or packages and are widely used by the research community. The main objective is to find the most suitable technique among the available techniques that can correctly extract sentences from PDF files as text. The performance of the used techniques Pypdf2, Pdfminer.six, Pymupdf, Pdftotext, Tika, and Grobid is presented in terms of precision, recall, f-1 score, run time, and memory consumption. NLTK, Spacy, and Gensim Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools are used to identify sentence boundaries. Of all the techniques studied, the Grobid PDF extraction package using the NLP tool Spacy achieved the highest f-1 score of 93% and consumed the least amount of memory at 46.13 MegaBytes.

Industrial application of hydrophobic materials is numerous particularly as adsorption beads to remove organic pollutants. In this research combined effect of hydrophobicity and reactive epoxide group on the adsorption behavior of dye molecules by composite polymer particles was investigated. Lauryl methacrylate (LMA) a poor water soluble long chain vinyl monomer is commercially available. Polystyrene/poly(LMA-divinyl benzene) or PS/P(LMA-DVB) composite seed particles were first prepared by slightly modified activated swelling of micron-sized PS seed particles utilizing either water or water-ethanol dispersion medium. The influence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as steric stabilizer on the size and size distribution was evaluated. The poor solubility of LMA in the continuous phase hindered the homogeneous swelling of PS particles even in the presence of ethanol (5% w/w) and resulted in fairly polydispersed PS/P(LMA-DVB) composite seed particles. The composite seed particles were then functionalized with epoxide group by seeded polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) to produce PS/P(LMA-DVB)/PGMA composite polymer particles. The epoxide functionalized PS/P(LMA-DVB)/PGMA composite polymer particles were used to adsorb two kinds of azo dyes, congo red (CR) and direct red-75 (DR-75). The effects of initial dye concentration at 303 and 323 K on adsorption behavior were investigated and the adsorption was explained by adsorption isotherms. Temperature dependent adsorption measurements were also carried out at identical initial dye concentration. The adsorption results showed that inclusion of reactive epoxide group on/near the surface of hydrophobic PS/P(LMA-DVB) composite seed particles improved the adsorption capacity of dye molecules. Keywords: Hydrophobic composite, Epoxide, LMA, Adsorption isotherm, Dye

Introduction Improved hygiene and sanitation practices in educational settings are effective for the prevention of infections, controlling the transmission of pathogens, and promoting good health. Bangladesh has made remarkable advances in improving higher education in recent decades. Over a hundred universities were established to expand higher education facilities across the country. Hundreds of thousands of graduate students spend time in university settings during their studies. However, little is known about the sanitation and hygiene practice of the university-going population. This study aims to understand and uncover which factors influence students’ sanitation and hygiene behavior in university settings. Methods This study was conducted in a public university named Shahjalal University of Science and Technology located in a divisional city of Bangladesh. Based on the Integrated Behavioral Model for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (IBM-WASH), we adopted an exploratory qualitative study design. We developed semi-structured interview guides entailing sanitation and hygiene behavior, access, and practice-related questions and tested their efficacy and clarity before use. We conducted seventeen in-depth interviews (IDIs), and four focus group discussions (FGDs, [6–8 participants per FGD]) with students, and seven key informant interviews (KIIs) with university staff. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Triangulation of methods and participants was performed to achieve data validity. Results Despite having reasonable awareness and knowledge, the sanitation and hygiene practices of the students were remarkably low. A broad array of interconnected factors influenced sanitation and hygiene behavior, as well as each other. Individual factors (gender, awareness, perception, and sense of health benefits), contextual factors (lack of cleanliness and maintenance, and the supply of sanitary products), socio-behavioural factors (norms, peer influence), and factors related to university infrastructure (shortage of female toilets, lack of monitoring and supervision of cleaning activities) emerged as the underpinning factors that determined the sanitation and hygiene behavior of the university going-population. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that despite the rapid expansion of on-campus university education, hygiene practices in public universities are remarkably poor due to a variety of dynamic and interconnected factors situated in different (individual, contextual, socio-phycological) levels. Therefore, multi-level interventions including regular supply of WASH-related materials and agents, promoting low-cost WASH interventions, improving quality cleaning services, close monitoring of cleaning activities, promoting good hygiene behavior at the individual level, and introducing gender-sensitive WASH infrastructure and construction may be beneficial to advance improved sanitation and hygiene practices among university students.

There are more than 100 different arsenic with different characteristics in the soil-water-plant ecosystem. The identification and quantification of individual arsenic species is essential for understanding the distribution, environmental fate and behavior, metabolism and toxicity of arsenic. Due to the hazardous nature of arsenic, people have a high interest in the measurement of arsenic species. The reaction of the formation of arsenic speciation in the soil-water-plant environment is briefly studied. There is little information on methods used to quantify arsenic forms and species in contaminated soil, water and plant. The purpose of this article is to understand the available sample pretreatment, extraction, separation, detection and method validation techniques for arsenic speciation analysis of arsenic species in soil, water and plant. The performances of various sample preparation and extraction processes, as well as effective separation techniques, that contribute greatly to excellent sensitivity and selectivity in arsenic speciation when coupling with suitable detection mode, and method validity are discussed. The outlines of arsenic speciation techniques are discussed in view of the importance to the completeness and accuracy of analytical data in the soil-water-plant samples. To develop cheap, fast, sensitive, and reproducible techniques with low detection limits, still needed to confine research on arsenic speciation present in environmental matrices.

The X-ray diffraction (XRD) is studied in thermally evaporated cadmium iodide (CdI2) thin films with various thicknesses. The grain size, calculated from the XRD, is found to increase with increasing the thickness of the film, while the reflectivity and refractive index decease with increasing the wavelength of the exciting light. The optical absorption spectra show both allowed direct and indirect interband transitions across a fundamental gap in CdI2. It is found that both indirect and direct band gap (Eg) decrease with increasing the thickness of the film and that the indirect Eg is lower than the direct Eg by an amount of about 0.7 eV. The direct Eg is also decreased with increasing both the grain size and temperature. However, the temperature dependence of Eg follows the Varshni relation. Our results highlight the possibility of engineering or tuning the Eg of CdI2 by controlling the thickness of the film, grain size as well as temperature.

Plasma agriculture is an emerging technology, although the application of non-thermal plasma in wheat productivity is still in its early stage. This study deciphers the effect and mechanistic basis of non-thermal air-generated LPDBD (low-pressure dielectric barrier discharge) plasma in boosting germination, growth and nutritional properties in wheat. Seeds treated with LPDBD plasma exhibited cracked periphery and discernible expansion during seed germination. LPDBD plasma applied for 6 min showed a 22.11% increase in the germination percentage and a substantial increase in iron content in grains compared to non-treated controls. At the cellular level, the concentration of H2O2 in leaves significantly increased (3.56 µM g−1 FW) due to LPDBD treatment compared to controls. This increased level of H2O2 may act as a stimulating agent to trigger the physiological functions in wheat plants. In addition, plants sprouted from air-treated seeds exhibited a marked elevation in CAT and SOD activity accompanied by the increased expression of TaCAT and TaSOD genes in roots of wheat. Interestingly, the grain yield of wheat increased by 27.06% in response to plasma treatment compared to control. Further, grains harvested from plasma-treated plants showed a substantial elevation in iron and fat content as well as decreased moisture content that may contribute to the increased shelf life. The study will open up a new avenue for practical application of plasma in agriculture.

Aphanamixis polystachya (Wall.) R.Parker, locally known as Pithraj, is a medicinal herb having enormous traditional applications. However, the scientific rationale underlying the ethnomedicinal claims was not well-founded. The current investigation aimed to explore the mechanistic insights of protective effects of ethanol extract of A. polystachya leaf (PT), given orally, on the chemical-intoxicated hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in Long-Evans female overiectomized rats. The GC-MS and HPLC-DAD analysis of PT revealed the presence of several bioactive metabolites, including polyphenolic compounds. Catechin hydrate, caffeic acid, syringic acid, epicatechin and p-coumaric acid have been identified and quantified in the ethanol extract of PT leaf. Intoxication with CCl4 developed the oxidative stress, fibrosis and inflammation in liver of rats. Moreover, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), nitric oxide (NO), advanced protein oxidation product (APOP) level were found increased; whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities in the plasma and liver were decreased in CCl4 administered rats. Treatment with PT prominently mitigated the oxidative stress (TBARS, NO, APOP), and inflammatory (MPO) markers and improved the endogenous antioxidant enzymes (catalase and SOD) activities in CCl4-intoxicated rats. Additionally, histological assessment confirmed the clear manifestation of inflammation and fibrosis in the liver of CCl4-intoxicated rats, which was prevented by PT and silymarin treatment. In conclusion, PT treatment may protect the liver in CCl4-administered rats, probably by mitigating oxidative stress, inflammation and fibrosis, and also augmenting the function of the antioxidant enzymes.

Amorphous materials have low mobility due to their nature of disorder. Surprisingly, some disordered materials showed photocurrent amplification not by conventional photoconductive gain. Recently, amorphous Silicon (a-Si) photodiodes with thin a-Si layer (∼40 nm) have shown a gain-bandwidth product of over 2 THz with very low excess noise and also have been used as a gain media in a cascaded system with single photon sensitivity. To unveil the true gain mechanism, we performed theoretical modeling and numerical analysis along with experimental data at different frequencies. We show evidence of highly effective carrier multiplication process within a-Si as the primary gain mechanism, especially at high frequency. We also show presence of trap-induced junction modulation at much lower frequency. We modeled the gain mechanism in a-Si by solving the transport equations including dynamics of defect states and carrier multiplication via the local field model. We further justified the application of local field model for thin a-Si, based on the property that in a-Si, the mean-free path for energy relaxation is orders of magnitude greater than the mean-free-path for momentum relaxation. The analysis further suggests that the carrier multiplication process in thin a-Si can be much more efficient than in thick a-Si, even stronger than single crystalline Si in some cases. Although seemingly counter intuitive, this is consistent with the proposed cycling excitation process where the localized states in the bandtails of disordered materials such as a-Si relax the k -selection rule and increase the rate of carrier multiplication.

Chemical fertilization in agriculture is threatening to the ecosystem. Therefore, the use of eco-friendly stimulant for crop revolution is highly desirable. This study investigates the effects of plasma activated water (PAW) created by treating de-ionized water with high voltage discharge on black gram. Results showed significant improvements in different agronomic traits. Significant changes in H2O2, a reactive-oxygen-species (ROS) were observed in seeds, leaves, and roots. Increase in catalase (ROS scavenger) was also observed in roots of plants grown from 3 and 6 min PAW treated seeds which was consistent with the upregulation of VmCAT gene. This reveals that PAW is associated with elevated H2O2 in black gram in a tightly regulated manner by the upregulation of CAT activity resulted in increased germination, growth, and development. Non-covalent binding pattern of H2O2 with CAT through docking strongly supports this phenomenon. It does suggest that the increase of H2O2 tightly regulated by the upregulation of CAT provides optimum conditions for improved seed germination and growth in black gram. These findings reveal the benefits of PAW for enhanced crop production.

Triclosan (TCS) has been widely used as a disinfectant and antiseptic in multiple consumer and healthcare products due to its clinical effectiveness against various bacteria, fungi and protozoa. Recently, several studies have reported the adverse effects of TCS on various nerve cells, arousing concerns about its potential neurotoxicity. The present study aimed to investigate the neurotoxicity of TCS in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. After differentiation, the stabilized PC12 cells were treated with 1, 10, 50 μM TCS for 12 h. At the end of the treatment, the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), protein expression of apoptotic-related genes, AMPK-AKT/mTOR, as well as p38 in PC12 cells were determined. The concentrations were chosen based on the results of cell viability and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) assays in response to TCS treatment (ranging from 0.001 to 100 μM) for varied time periods. The results showed that TCS is cytotoxic to PC12 cells, causing decreased cell viability accompanied by increased LDH release. TCS treatment at 10 and 50 μM for 12 h increased the mRNA and protein expression of the pro-apoptotic gene Bax, while Bcl-2 levels remained unchanged. Moreover, an increase in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was found in TCS-treated PC12 cells at the concentrations of 1 and 10 μM. Pretreatment with 100 μM N-acetyl cysteine (NAC- ROS scavenger) for 1 h normalized the ROS generations in TCS-treated PC12 cells. Additionally, the suppression of the phosphorylation of Akt and mTOR was observed in TCS-treated PC12 cells at 10 and 50 μM for 12 h, concomitant with the activation of p38 MAPK pathway at 50 μM TCS. However, there were no effects of TCS on the phosphorylation of AMPK in these cells. Taken together, these results suggest that TCS may cause adverse effects and oxidative stress in PC12 cells accompanied by inhibition of Akt/mTOR and activation of p38.

Long-term intake of high-fat food disrupts lipid metabolism, resulting in fat accumulation, obesity, and hyperlipidemia. Curcumin, active ingredients of turmeric plants, has been shown to possess potent antioxidant and hypolipidemic properties. The study was conducted to observe the effects of curcumin on butter induced hyperlipidemia, hematological values and physio-pathological alterations in liver and aorta in mice. A total of 40 Swiss Albino mice (Mus musculus), aged 28-30 days with an average body weight of 27g were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group A was considered as non-treated control (NT) (n=8) and fed on standard mice pellet and fresh drinking water. Another group was considered as butter group (n=32), fed on standard mice pellet enriched with 10% butter and after 5 weeks, mice of butter group were subdivided into 4 equal groups (n=8). Group B was considered as butter treated (BT) group fed on standard mice pellet enriched with 10% butter. Group C (C1%), group D (C2%) and group E (C3%) fed on standard mice pellet enriched with 10% butter plus curcumin 1%, 2% and 3% in drinking water respectively. The experiment was carried out for period of another 10 weeks. Body weight gain of all mice was gradually increased and maximum weight gain was recorded in mice of butter fed group. Supplementation of curcumin to butter treated mice (group C, D and E) prevented weight gain. Mice treated with butter fat had significantly (p

The assessment of residual behavior of imidacloprid (Admire 20SL) in the soil of country bean agroecosystem and its risk assessment for consumption was studied. QuEChERS method was used for the extraction and clean-up of samples and the residues of imidacloprid was estimated using Gas Chromatography. The dissipation studies in the soil system were carried out by application of imidacloprid at five different dosages i.e. 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 g a.i. ha-1. Average initial deposits of imidacloprid were found to be 0.99, 1.33, 1.62, 1.83 and 2.20 mg.kg-1. The residues reached below determination limit (BDL) of 0.01 mg kg-1 in 9 days for recommended dose and 12 days for remaining higher dosages. Half-life (T1/2)) of imidacloprid in the soil was observed to be 1.88, 1.74, 1.73, 1.56 and 1.52 days for 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 g a.i. ha-1, respectively. The chemodynamics study of imidacloprid spray indicated that only 27.20 -28.40% sprays were deposited to the target site (plant canopy) and 71.60-72.80% were lost to non-target site such as soil and air. The drift of imidacloprid to soil (39.47-40.20%) was higher than the air (32.13-32.60%). Based on degradation pattern and maximum, the recommended preharvest interval (PHI) might be eight 9 days and a waiting period of two days might be suggested for reapplication of the imidacloprid in country bean agroecosystem. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 44(1): 89-101, March 2019

Nitrogen (N) fertilization mostly determines the productivity of a crop. The supply of N can be ensured in both inorganic and organic means. Slowly released organic N can be combined with inorganic N to minimize the detrimental effect of chemical fertilizers to environment as well as to ensure the sustainable production. To observe the response of baby corn in integration of organic and inorganic N field experiments were conducted in N deficit soil in consecutive winter and summer. There were five nutrient levels as treatment in the experiment. The treatments used in the winter season were T1=N 0 kg + CD 15 t ha-1, T2=N 60 kg + CD 15 t ha-1, T3= N 90 kg + CD 10 t ha-1, T4= N 120 kg + CD 5 t ha-1 and T5= N 150 kg + CD 0 t ha-1 while in the summer season T1=N 30 kg + CD 15 t ha-1 varied and others remained same as in the winter season. The lowest cob yield without husk was found where minimum inorganic N was combined with organic N in both seasons. Plant received only N from inorganic source represented highest cob yield. Statistically similar yield was also obtained from one combination of inorganic and organic N (120 kg N + 5 ton CD ha-1), where the rate of inorganic N was 20% lower than that of sole inorganic N source. Between seasons, significantly positive yield response was recorded in winter irrespective of nutrient levels. Therefore, one fifth of inorganic N application can be minimized in terms of integrated N management from organic and inorganic sources without affecting potential yield of baby corn.

The determination of aminopolycarboxylate chelators in environmental samples has remained an analytical challenge due to the structural similarities of these species and their minute concentrations in such matrices. Herein, we report a fast and sensitive technique for the determination of multiple chelator complexes in an aqueous matrix using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Eight chelators, including non-biodegradable (EDTA, EDTAOH, GEDTA, DPTAOH and DTPA) and biodegradable (EDDS, GLDA, and MGDA) variants were examined after complexation with CuII. The detection of these species using reverse-phase chromatography was compared with that achieved with hydrophilic interaction chromatography based on the corresponding peak resolution and retention time. The effect of varying the composition and pH of the mobile phase on the corresponding peak profiles and intensities for the chelator complexes was also evaluated. The CuII-derivatives of the chelators were individually detected under the optimized operating conditions. Relative to high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a photodiode array detector, the developed UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technique provides rapid determination of chelator complexes in aqueous matrices with high sensitivity and superior peak resolution. The limit of detection ranged from 1.7–36 nmol L–1, and the limit of quantification ranged from 5.7–120 nmol L–1 for the eight chelator complexes in solution. The coefficients of determination (R2) were 0.962–0.999 for the chelators with an average relative uncertainty of 2.2%. The method was validated using a simulated mixed matrix and river water by standard addition (recovery: 83−100%).

Functionalization of graphene oxide (GO) by crown ether moiety to attach Li+ in the cage of five oxygens is a useful tool to achieve 2D material for Li ion battery. The attachment of crown ether occurs only through the reaction with epoxy groups of GO. In the present work, epichlorohydrin is used to increase the number of the epoxy group to enhance and precise control of the Li+ content for tuning the activation energy of Li+ migration. The Li+ containing sample is annealed at 220 °C under vaccum and after 115 °C (flash point of crown ether moiety) Li+ ions will be attached to the graphene surface through cation–π interaction due to the removal of epichlorohydrin and crown moiety. By varying the epichlorohydrin and Li+ content, the minimum activation energy of 0.24 eV much lower than the literature value (∼0.4 eV) is achieved. AC measurements on samples show that follow almost Debye-type relaxation with the exponent value nearly 1. To exploit the interaction of alkali metal ion with crown ether moiety, the supercapacitor behavior of the FGOC composite has been studied. It is seen that the specific capacitance increases significantly with the increase in crown ether moiety. We believe, this idea of using functionalized graphene oxide having strong affinity on alkali ions will be helpful to achieve better material with high storage capacity.

The effect of lime and fertilizer application, as the management of soil acidity, on the growth and yield of rice cv. BRRI dhan50 was investigated during Aman rice season at the Agronomy Field Laboratory of Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh. The experiment was consisted of two factors namely lime and fertilizer. There were four levels of lime (0, 0.50, 1.00, and 1.50 t ha–1 of CaCO3.MgCO3) and three levels of fertilizers (control, FYM @ 10 t ha–1, and chemical fertilizer @ 100-30-42-4-3-0.4 kg ha–1 of N-P-K-Ca-S-Zn). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications where the unit plot size was 4.0 m x 2.5 m. Growth parameters, yield components and yield of BRRIdhan 50 rice increased with increasing lime rate in association of fertilizer in acidic soil. The highest grain yield (2.90 t ha–1) was recorded from the application of 1.50 t ha–1 lime and the lowest (2.06 t ha–1) was from control (0t ha–1), irrespective of fertilizer. On the other hand, the best effect of fertilizers on grain yield (3.08 t ha–1) was found with the application of FYM @ 10 t ha–1 and the lowest yield (1.59 t ha–1) was in control. The treatment combination of lime 1.50 t ha–1 and FYM (@ 10 t ha–1 produced the highest grain yield (3.60 t ha–1), which was followed by treatment combination of lime 1.50 t ha–1 and chemical fertilizer @ 100-30-42-4-3-0.4 kg ha–1 of N-P-K-Ca-S-Zn (3.28 t ha–1). Additionally, application of lime and FYM improved the soil fertility and properties of acidic soil for crop production by increasing the pH, organic matter and availability of some essential nutrients. From the study, it was indicated that both FYM and lime could affect to enhance the grain yield of rice in acidic soil. J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 16(3): 357–365, December 2018