Search

In Bangladesh, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is provided without screening drug resistance‐associated mutations (DRM) among people living with HIV, while DRM might emerge and transmit to the newly infected individual. The present study was aimed to identify DRM among ART‐naive clients from an HIV testing and counseling (HTC) center in the initial stages of ART programs. Randomly selected (n = 64) archived plasma samples were used for the pol gene amplification and sequencing by sanger technology. Recovered sequences (n = 10) were genotyped using HIV genotyping tools of NCBI and analyzed using the Stanford University HIV drug resistance database (hivdb.stanford.edu). Various genotypes with a number of DRM were identified in HTC clients, who belonged to different risk groups based on behavioral data. The drug resistance algorithm showed that all samples were fully resistant to tipranavir/ritonavir drugs except for one intermediate resistance. Despite the small sample size, our understanding from this study warrants an ART policy with a DRM monitoring system for the country. Highlights: This study identified diverse HIV genotypes and the presence of drug resistant mutations among ART‐naive Bangladeshi people living with HIV.The HIV strains were resistant to tipranavir/ritonavir drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor health status is a common issue for the street children and adolescents in Bangladesh. This study investigates the health status of street children and adolescents in Bangladesh, and attempts to identify what increases the risk of their poor health. In this qualitative study, we collected data from a total of 39 participants in Khulna city of Bangladesh employing in-depth interview and focus group discussion methods. We considered the intersectionality theory as the guiding framework for this study as five overarching themes emerged from our findings. Findings show that street children and adolescents suffered from frequent injuries and illnesses such as fever, cough, headaches, respiratory infections, gastrointestinal diseases, skin diseases, and psychological trauma. Insufficient diet, unsafe water and sanitation, unhealthy living and working conditions, and drug abuse increased the susceptibility of their health vulnerabilities. Most of the children and adolescents reported of not having access to available health services because of financial hardship and lack of awareness making self-care the primary option during illnesses. We conclude that in line with the intersectionality theory, an inclusive approach coordinating the promotion of awareness and safety net programs for the street children and adolescents is necessary to improve their health and avoid morbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: In recent years, the government of Bangladesh has encouraged private sector involvement in producing mid-level health cadres including Medical Assistants (MAs). The number of MAs produced has increased significantly. We assessed students' characteristics, educational services, competencies and perceived attitudes towards health service delivery in rural areas. Methods: We used a mixed method approach using quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative (key informant interviews and roundtable discussion)methods. Altogether, five public schools with 238 students and 30 private schools with 732 students were included. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA v-12. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Findings: The majority of the students in both public (66%) and private medical assistant training schools (MATS) (61%) were from rural backgrounds. They spent the majority of their time in classroom learning (public 45% versus private 42%) and the written essay exam was the common form of a students' performance assessment. Compared with students of public MATS, students of private MATS were more confident in different aspects of educational areas, including managing emerging health needs (P < 0.001); evidence-based practice (P = 0.002); critical thinking and problem solving (P = 0.02), and use of IT/computer skills (P < 0.001). Students were aware of not having adequate facilities in rural areas (public 71%, private 65%), but they perceived working in rural areas will offer several benefits, including use of learnt skills; friendly rural people; and opportunities for real-life problem solving, etc. Conclusion: This study provides a current picture of MATS students' characteristics, educational services, competencies and perception towards working in rural areas. The MA students in both private and public sectors showed a greater level of willingness to serve in rural health facilities. The results are promising to improve health service delivery, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ovary dysfunction causes an aberrant endocrine surge at various reproductive cycle stages, negatively impacting fertility and economic profit. Optimizing dairy cow performance requires determining ovarian status and detecting early pregnancy. Still, little to no information is available about the diagnosis of the ovarian condition using urine chemical analysis at the field level in Bangladesh. This study aimed to develop a simple, inexpensive and portable on-farm technique for pregnancy diagnosis and ovary status determination in cows via chemical urine analysis. Fifty reproductively healthy cows were recruited from different donor farms. Prior to artificial insemination (AI), all selected cows were placed in a single ovsynch program. TAI (timed artificial insemination) was carried out. Urine was routinely collected from Day 0–55 days at estrus cycle stages for routine chemical analysis using barium chloride (BaCl 2), followed by commercially available protein strip tests. The developed techniques for pregnancy and ovary status diagnosis in cows were validated with rectal palpation (RP). Barium chloride (BaCl 2) analysis of urine revealed white precipitation corresponding to a mature follicle in the ovary during estrus and colorless precipitation corresponding to the corpus luteum during the diestrus period. Positive pregnancy was indicated by the presence of a colorless precipitate in the BaCl 2 test, and a protein value of less than 100 mg/dl was found in the protein strip test. The maximum accuracy (42/50, 84%) was observed between 25 and 35 days, as confirmed by RP. Perplexing results were seen 45–55 days after AI, between pregnancies and luteal cystic disease. In both cases, we discovered that the BaCl 2 precipitation was colorless. However, the protein value in the context of luteal cystic disease was found to be higher than 100 mg/dl. The barium chloride test, followed by protein strip tests, is a simple and portable way to diagnose pregnancy and determine ovarian status in cows at the field level. [Display omitted] • Urine analysis by Barium Chloride detects the ovary status during the estrus cycle period. • Protein quantification followed by a Barium Chloride test in urine detects early pregnancy (25-30 Days) in cattle. • Protein quantification in urine can differentiate pregnant CL from cystic CL. • Urine analysis revealed a short, inexpensive, portable on-farm test for early pregnancy diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mymensingh municipality lies in one of the most earthquake-prone areas of Bangladesh. The town was completely destroyed during the Great Indian Earthquake of 12 June 1897, for which the surface-wave magnitude was 8.1. In this study the 1897 Great Indian Earthquake was used as a scenario event for developing seismic microzonation maps for Mymensingh. For microzonation purposes SPT data from 87 boreholes were collected from different relevant organizations. To verify those data ten boreholes of depth up to 30 m were drilled. Intensity values obtained for different events were calibrated against attenuation laws to check applicability to the study area. Vibration characteristics at diverse points of the study area were estimated by employing the one-dimensional wave-propagation software SHAKE. SHAKE discretizes the soil profile into several layers and uses an iterative technique to represent the non-linear behavior of the soil by adjusting the material properties at each iteration step. The required input information includes depth, shear wave velocity, damping factor, and unit weight of each soil layer. The liquefaction resistance factor and the resulting liquefaction potential were estimated to quantify the severity of liquefaction. Quantification of secondary site effects and the weighting scheme for combining the various seismic hazards were heuristic, based on judgment and expert opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To evaluate the water quality of recently flooded tube wells in Bangladesh and the effect of spot chlorination on improving bacteriological quality. Methods and Results: The study team identified and tested water samples from 127 tube wells that were flooded within the preceding 4 weeks. Twenty-six of the tube wells with the highest concentration of thermotolerant coliform bacteria were randomly assigned to spot chlorination vs control. On initial screening, water samples from 56 recently inundated tube wells (44%) were contaminated with thermotolerant coliforms. Among the 13 wells randomized to chlorination, there was no change in the proportion of water samples that had no detectable thermotolerant coliform bacteria immediately before chlorine treatment ( n = 4, 23%) and 60 min following chlorine treatment ( n = 4, 23%). Similarly, there was no difference in the proportion of water samples that had no detectable thermotolerant coliforms between chlorine spot treated and control tube wells 7–18 days later (31 vs 23% P = 0·66). Conclusions: Spot chlorine treatment of inundated tube wells in Bangladesh three to 6 weeks after the flooding did not improve drinking water quality. Significance and Impact of the Study: Unless modified methods improve effectiveness, resources should not be spent promoting spot chlorination of flooded tube wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) proves to be an obstacle for Bangladeshi patients due to the lack of facilities and specialist doctors in regional sections of the country. This study aimed to record different attributes of Bangladeshi TBI patients over a year i.e., their injury characteristics, treatments received and understand their impacts on the severity of TBI., Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 280 TBI patients treated in a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka. The physicians determined TBI's severity and prognosis as per the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) respectively., Results: Most TBI patients were male (76.1%) and aged between 18 and 50 years (52.2%), as in previous studies in South Asian countries. However, the prevalence of TBI due to road traffic accidents (RTAs) was much higher (67.9%) than in the earlier studies in South Asia. Additionally, more patients suffered from severe TBI (29.3%) and moderate TBI (35.7%), and a higher percentage of patients went through surgery (56.8%) compared to previous studies. A significant association of demographic (residence) and clinical characteristics (consciousness after injury, CT scan findings and treatment type) with the severity of TBI was found in bivariate analysis. It also revealed the significant dependence of clinical characteristics (TBI etiology, post-injury consciousness, treatment type and TBI severity) on TBI prognosis. Multivariate analysis showed that patients who were unconscious after TBI and with evident brain injury observed in CT scans have a substantially higher risk of having moderate or severe TBI than mild TBI. Moreover, patients with TBI due to RTAs or falls, evident brain injury in CT scans, post-surgical seizure, and moderate or severe TBI have a significantly higher risk of getting a more unfavorable TBI prognosis than moderate disability., Conclusions: In this study, RTAs were found to be the major cause of TBI. Additionally, some variables were identified as possible determinants of TBI severity and prognosis among Bangladeshi patients. The correlation of these variables with TBI should be further studied with the hopes that steps will be taken to reduce TBI incidents and improve its management to reduce the overall burden.