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Salinity stress affects cultivable areas in coastal districts to varying degrees. Bangladesh's coastal and offshore areas include tidal areas, estuaries, and river floodplains in the south along the Bay of Bengal. Agricultural land use in these areas is very poor, accounting for roughly half of the national average. Bangladesh's main food crop is rice. Rice seed germination, plant height, tiller numbers, and leaf area index are all negatively affected by salinity. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important cereal crop in terms of cultivated area and total production. It accounts for nearly 20% of the world's dietary energy supply. Salinity is an important abiotic ecological factor that reduces rice and other plant growth and productivity globally. Soil salinity has a global impact on agricultural productivity. Soil salinization is caused by climate change, and the dynamic scarcity of freshwater has harmed crop production worldwide. Proper nutrient management could increase agricultural production throughout saline areas by reducing the negative effects of salinity. This research can be carried out to determine which nutrient element (or elements) benefit rice the most when it is salted.

A study was conducted to know the fertility status of coastal soils of Bangladesh for agricultural planning. Thirty composite soil samples were collected from different locations of Kalapara upazila under Patuakhali coastal district in Bangladesh with Geographic Positioning System (GPS) positions. The soil samples were analyzed for physical properties (moisture, texture, bulk density, particle density and porosity) and chemical properties (pH, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, organic carbon, exchangeable sodium, exchangeable potassium, available sulphur and available phosphorus). The range of moisture contents of collected soils was 24 to 29% and the textural class was silty clay. The bulk density ranged from 1.30 to 1.47 gcm-3. The particle density ranged from 2.31 to 2.49 gcm-3. The porosity of soil samples ranging from 40.96 to 46.06%. The pH ranged from 5.85 to 6.45. The EC value of collected soils ranged from 3.10 to 5.12 dSm-1. The total nitrogen and organic carbon content was low to medium. The exchangeable sodium and potassium content of soils ranged from 9.22 to 18.47 meq 100g-1 and 0.16 to 0.27 meq 100g-1, respectively. The available sulphur and phosphorus content of soils ranged from 17.21 to 33.21 mg kg-1 and 17.12 to 33.09 mg kg-1, respectively. The results revealed that the soils of the study area were slightly to moderately saline and thus the nutrients present in the soils were low to medium level. Hence, salinity problem of soils should be considered before agricultural planning in the study area.

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can lead to massive inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract causing severe clinical symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 infects lungs after binding its spike proteins with alveolar angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), and it also triggers inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract. SARS-CoV-2 invades the gastrointestinal tract by interacting with Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) that induces the expression of ACE2. The influx of ACE2 facilitates cellular binding of more SARS-CoV-2 and causes massive gastrointestinal inflammation leading to diarrhea. Diarrhea prior to COVID-19 infection or COVID-19-induced diarrhea reportedly ends up in a poor prognosis for the patient. Flavonoids are part of traditional remedies for gastrointestinal disorders. Preclinical studies show that flavonoids can prevent infectious diarrhea. Recent studies show flavonoids can inhibit the multiplication of SARS-CoV-2. In combination with vitamin D, flavonoids possibly activate nuclear factor erythroid-derived-2-related factor 2 that downregulates ACE2 expression in cells. We suggest that flavonoids have the potential to prevent SARS-CoV-2 induced diarrhea.

The economic expansion of estuarine mud crab Scylla olivacea necessitated for the inclusive research on its biological characteristics, especially morphological features. This study explored the gender- specific growth pattern and condition factors of S. olivacea from the coastal waters of Sundarbans, Bangladesh. A total of 360 S. olivacea were collected using a nonmechanized trap from the landing center of Rampal Upazila at Bagerhat District in Bangladesh, and their body weight (BW), carapace width (CW), carapace length (CL), abdominal length (AL), and propodus length (PL) were measured. The male-to-female ratio was 1:0.87, and females (BW: 107.02 ± 24.99 g, CW: 7.98 ± 0.74 cm) were significantly heavier than males (BW: 98.03 ± 24.00 g, CW: 7.48 ± 1.02 cm). The inter-relationship of CW with BW, CL, AL, and PL was significant. Body weight showed a negative allometric growth pattern with CW (b 3) in male crabs but an isometric growth pattern (b = 3) in female crabs. The calculated mean condition factors (Fulton’s condition factors, allometric condition factors, and relative condition factors), for male and female crabs were higher than or close to one, indicating crabs were in a healthy state and the average relative weight was 100 g and above for both male and female samples were in healthy physiological condition in the study area. This study provides knowledge on the current condition and distinguishing morphometric features of local S. olivacea which will assist fisheries resource managers and conservation biologists for the better management of this commercially important crab species in Bangladesh waters.

Two experiments were conducted at Ramery para, Bandarban sadar, Bandarban, Bangladesh hill district in Chittagong under the AEZ (Agro Ecological Zone) 29 (Northern and Eastern Hills Tract) during March 2017 to November 2017 to study of USG and NPK briquette on the performance of Jhum rice. The experiment was conducted in two field and designed on Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD). The treatments consisted of 7(seven) levels of USG (Urea Super Granule) and NPK briquette i.e. T1: Control, T2: 100% USG and PK (RFD) (267.5 kg ha-1), T3: 80% USG and PK (RFD) (214.1 kg ha-1), T4: 80% USG and PK (RFD) (320.8 kg ha-1), T5 :100%NPK briquette (267.5 kg ha-1), T6: 80% NPK briquette (214.1 kg ha-1), T7: 120% NPK briquette (320.8 kg ha-1). The growth and yield of Jhum rice were significantly influenced by different levels of USG and NPK briquette. The highest plant height of jhum rice (139.23 cm), effective tillers hill-1 (16.60), panicle length (30.23 cm), highest number of filled grain panicle-1 (245.23), 1000 grain weight (28.0 gm), straw yield (4.15 t/ha) and grain yield (3.56 t/ha) were found from T5 treatment receiving 100%NPK briquette (267.5 kg ha-1) and for all cases lowest results were found in T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer (control).

The experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of next-generation fertilizers along with other recommended fertilizers on the growth and yield during the period from January 2015 to May 2015 at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The experiments were laid out in RCBD method with three replications. The experiment was conducted in boro rice with six treatments including control viz Treatment0=Control (no fertilizer), Treatment1=Recommended dose N140P20K60S18Zn2 kg ha-1, Treatment2=Bio-forge+N140P20K60S18Zn2, Treatment 3=Wuxal Super+N140P20K60S18Zn2, Treatment4=Root feed+N140P20K60S18Zn2, Treatment5=Nitro Plus+N140P20K60S18Zn2 and three rice varieties namely Variety1=BRRI dhan29, Variety2=BRRI dhan28 and Variety3=BRRI dhan58. Next-genaration fertilizer is a mixed fertilizer with the first generation and second generation fertilizer that provide required nutritions to plants. Among the next generation fertilizers, Bio-forge along with other recommended fertilizers performed the best compared to other treatments of the study in an aspect of growth and yield contributing characters mainly plant height, effective tiller hill-1, panicle length, filled grain panicle-1, 1000-grain weight, harvest index and grain yield (8.61 t ha-1). Among the varieties, BRRI dhan29 showed the best performance compared to the other two treatments. The next generation fertilizer viz. Bio-forge and Root feed along with other recommended fertilizers would be ideal for better crop growth and yield.

The experiment was conducted in the farm area of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka during the period of July to November, 2015 to find out the effect of plant growth regulator-flora on the growth and yield of transplanted aman rice (BR 11-Mukta). The experiment comprised of 8 treatments as- T0: Control condition (No chemical fertilizer, no Flora), T1: Recommended Fertilizer Doses-RFD (120, 20, 80, 16 and 2 kg ha-1 of N, P, K, S and Zn, respectively), T2: RFD+1 time spray of Flora, T3: RFD+2 times spray of Flora, T4: ½ RFD+1 time spray of Flora, T5: ½ RFD+2 times spray of Flora, T6: No chemical fertilizer+1 time spray of Flora and T7: No chemical fertilizer+2 times spray of Flora. Data on different yield contributing characters, yield, and characteristics of post-harvest soil was recorded and significant variation was observed for different treatments. At harvest, the tallest plant (117.60 cm) was recorded from T3, while the shortest plant (88.85 cm) in T0 treatment. The highest number of filled grains panicle-1 (86.27) was recorded in T3, whereas the lowest number (68.53) in T0 treatment. The highest grain yield (5.13 t ha-1) was recorded in T3, while the lowest (2.78 t ha-1) in T0 treatment. The highest total nitrogen (0.632%) was recorded from T3, while the lowest (0.369%) in T0 treatment.

The current pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has as of December 2, 2020 resulted in 64,504,648 infected cases resulting in 1,493,082 deaths. Although at least three vaccines against the virus are on their way to get emergency approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration possibly by December 15, 2020, this may not be the final answer to the COVID-19 problem. Out of the three vaccines, two needs low temperatures for storage and the facility may not be available in the less developed countries. The less developed countries are not in a position to compete with the developed countries regarding vaccine availability for their people any time soon. Adverse effects, if any, of these vaccines are yet to be determined. The world population is now 7.8 billion. Importantly, all three vaccines need two doses to work effectively. The situation calls for the manufacture of 15.6 billion units to be given twice to far-flung people all over the world, which is not an easy task. The alternative search for more affordable and viable drugs led us to examine the binding of essential oil (EO) components of leaves of the plant Tasmannia lanceolata (Poiret) A.C. Smith (Winteraceae family) to the 3C-like protease of SARS-CoV-2, also known as the main protease or Mpro in molecular docking studies In silico and the process inhibit the protease, which plays a vital role in viral replication. Several compounds, including alloaromadendrene, cubebol, spathulenol, caryophyllene oxide and guaiol showed promising binding affinities to Mpro with binding energies at or below -6.3 kcal/mol. The compounds can be used in further studies through the synthesis of various derivatives and evaluation of their potential as possible anti-COVID-19 drugs.

A field experiment was conducted in Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from November, 2017 to March, 2018 in rabi season to observe the effect of biochar on the yield and quality of potato tuber and to find out the optimum dose of biochar along with inorganic fertilizer for achieving the maximum yield of potato. The experiment consist of 9 treatments as Control (no chemical fertilizer and biochar), Recommended Fertilizer Dose; Recommended Fertilizer Dose+Biochar @ 2.5 t ha-1; Recommended Fertilizer Dose+Biochar @ 5.0 t ha-1; Recommended Fertilizer Dose+Biochar @ 7.5 t ha-1; 1/2 of Recommended Fertilizer Dose+Biochar @ 2.5 t ha-1; ½ of Recommended Fertilizer Dose+Biochar @ 5.0 t ha-1; ½ of Recommended Fertilizer Dose + Biochar @ 7.5 t ha-1; Biochar @ 10 t ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The tested variety was BARI Alu-7 (Diamant). Data were collected on different yield attributes, growth and quality of potato and postharvest soil analysis. The results indicated that biochar application significantly (p

To reduce the existing yield gap of maize crop between research and farmer’s field, the experiment was carried out during the period from March, 2014 to June, 2014 at the experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The experiments were laid out in RCBD method with three replications and eight treatments including control viz. Treatment0 = control (no fertilizer), Treatment1=recommended dose N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1 kg ha-1, Treatment 2=American NPK+N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1, Treatment3=Bio-forge+N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1 , Treatment4=Wuxal+N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1, Treatment5=Peak+N250P50K100S25Zn2B1, Treatment6=Root Feed+N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1 and Treatment7=Nitro Plus+N250 P50 K100 S25 Zn2 B1 and three maize varieties namely Variety1=BARI Hybrid Bhutta-5, Variety2=BARI Hybrid Bhutta-6 and Variety3=BARI Hybrid Bhutta-9. Growth and yield contributing characters mainly plant height, cob length, cob weight, 100-kernel weight and kernel yield of maize crop were significantly influenced by the next generation fertilizers. Bio-forge along with other recommended fertilizers performed the best compared to other treatments of the study in aspect of kernel yield (5.95 t ha1) and statistically similar result showed by Root Feed along with other recommended fertilizers and produced 5.12 t ha1 kernel yield.

This experiment was conducted in a mango garden at Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati district in hilly area of Bangladesh from 15 October 2015 to 30 May 2017 to study the effects of integrated nutrient management on the performance of mango in hills. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. There were four treatments Mango (5-10 yrs. old). The treatments are: 4 (four) Fertilizer packages * T1= Control, T2= N230P53K100 S 36Zn3 B4 + CD/Compost 20000 g/plant, T3= 125% of T2 and T4= 150% of T2. In Khagrachari site, Mango yield varied from 7.72-22.30 kg/plant. The highest mango yield 22.30 kg/plant wasin T4 treatment (150% of T2). In Bandarban site, Mango yield ranged between24.13-48.25 kg/plant. The highest mango yield 48.25 kg/plant found in T3 treatment (125% of T2). In Rangamati site, Mango yield varied from 9.62-23.10 kg/plant. The highest mango yield 23.10 kg/plant found in T4 treatment (150% of T2). In most cases the significant difference in yields were found in T4 treatments in three districts.

The experiments were conducted in the hill district of Bangladesh (CHTs) i.e Bandarban, under the AEZ 29 (Northern and Eastern Hills Tract) during March 2016 to November 2017 to study effect of slope length on the soil and nutrients loss from the upland (hill) of Bangladesh. The experiments were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments for the experiment were: T1 30m slope length, T2 20m slope length, T310m slope length and T45m slope length. The highest soil loss of 50.0 t/ha/yr was recorded in treatment L1 having the slope length of 30 m and the plot size 150 m2 (30 m × 5 m). The lowest soil erosion was noted (4.75 t/ha/yr) for L4 treatment with the 5m slope length having area coverage area of 25 m2. The amount of soil loss in L2 (20 m length) and L3 treatments (10 m length) were 42.7 and 21.9 t/ha/yr, respectively. Nutrient depletion increased with the increasing lengths of the hilly land along the slope. The highest depletion of OM and plant nutrients were recorded under the maximum slope length of 30 m (L1) being followed by the losses observed in L2 (20 m), L3 (10 m) and L4 (5 m) plots respectively. The maximum losses of OM, total N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S were 2542, 93.1, 0.295, 2.73, 35.2, 20.6, and 1.34 kg/ha/yr, respectively for L1 (30 m) plot. Slope length created a very positive impact on yield of Jhum rice. The maximum yield of Jhum rice was produced under 30m slope length (2.25 t/ha). Slope length had considerable influence on the performance of Jhum crops like sweet gourd, marpha, maize, white gourd and cowpea.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effect of different fertilizer packages on the yield performance of cauliflower and tomato in the upland and hill valley. Influences of different fertilizer packages on yields and fruit quality of cauliflower and tomato were compared during 2015 to 2017 growing periods under field conditions. The experiments were conducted in two hill district of Bangladesh (CHTs) i.e Bandarban and Khagrachari under the AEZ 29 (Northern and Eastern Hills Tract). In this experiments Cauliflower and Tomato in the upland hill valley soil were used as the test crop. The experiment was designed on Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with three replication. The treatments consider as Cauliflower: *T1= Farmers Practice, T2= N100P50K90 S18 Zn2.3 B0.5 kg/ha, Cowdung 5 ton/ha, T3= 125% of T2 and T4= 150% of T2. Tomato: *T1= Control, T2= N100P50K90 S18 Zn2.3 B0.5 kg/ha, Cowdung 5 ton/ha & lime 1.5 t/ha, T3= 125% of T2 and T4= 150% of T2. In khagrachari, the highest yield of cauliflower (44.98, 59.07 and 45.67 t/ha) and in Bandarban site (57.98, 53.47 and 55.66 t/ha) was recorded with T4 treatment that received 150% of T2 while the lowest yield was observed with T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer. In case of tomato, the highest yield (59.72, 55.73 and 36.07 t/ha) in Khagrachari site and in Bandarban site (56.43, 58.33 and 59.64 t/ha) was recorded with T4 treatment that received 150% of T2while the lowest yield was observed with T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer.

The experiments were conducted in three hill district of Bangladesh i.e. Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati under the Agro Ecological Zone (AEZ) 29 (Northern and Eastern Hills Tract) during March 2018 to November 2019 to study the fertilizers packages, NPK briquette and residual effect of fertilizers for continuous jhum cultivation. In this experiments, jhum crops were used as the test crop. The experiment was designed on Randomized Completely Block Design. The treatments consider as normal fertilizers packages (N60P20K30 S12 kg/ha), NPK briquette (N50P20K30 S12 kg/ha) and residual effect of fertilizers instead of farmers practice. By different fertilizers packages the results showed that the highest yield of Jhum rice was 3.81 tha-1 at Khagrachari, Maize (0.436 tha-1) at Rangamati, Sweet gourd (1.679 tha-1) at Bandarban, Chili (0.348 tha-1) at Khagrachari, Sesame (0.361 tha-1) at Bandarban and Marpha (Cucumis sativus) (0.742 tha-1) at Bandarban over farmers’ practice. Instead of normal fertilizer application, fertilizer NPK briquette was used with the highest yield of rice was 4.18 t ha-1 at Khagrachari, Maize (0.674 tha-1) at Bandarban, Sweet gourd (1.06 tha-1) at Bandarban, Chili (0.514 tha-1) at Khagrachari, Sesame (0.753 tha-1) at Khagrachari and Marpha (0.316 tha-1) at Khagrachari. After cultivation of jhum crops another short duration leguminous crops could be cultivated without fertilizers management. The highest yield of cowpea (1.043 tha-1) was obtained at Bandarban site. Yard long bean and Bean yield was also obtained 1.02 and 1.5 tha-1 respectively.

Karatoya River is an important freshwater system that is home to different types of fish species. In the present study, the seasonal abundance and diversity indices of fish assemblage and their relationship with physicochemical parameters were studied. Fifty-four fish species were recorded from four stations for 12 months. The highest number of fish was recorded during the post-monsoon season and the lowest was recorded in the monsoon season. Analysis of similarity evidenced a significant difference (P

The study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of NPK briquette for increasing the yield of jhum rice. Two experiments were conducted at Ramery para, Bandarban sadar, Bandarban hill district in Chittagong under the AEZ 29 (Northern and Eastern Hills Tract) during March 2017 to November 2017 to study the effect of NPK briquette on growth and development of Jhum rice. In this experiment, Jhum rice was used as the test crop. The experiment was conducted in two field and designed on Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD). The treatments consisted of 7(seven) levels of NPK briquette i.e. T1: Control, T2: 100% RFD (267.5 kg ha-1), T3: 120% RFD (320.8 kg ha-1), T4: 80% RFD (214.1 kg ha-1), T5: 100% NPK briquette (267.5 kg ha-1), T6: 120% NPK briquette (320.8 kg ha-1), T7: 80% NPK briquette (214.1 kg ha-1). Ratio in 100 kg NPK briquette contain 50 kg urea: 30 kg TSP: 20 kg MoP and RFD value was N 60 kgha-1, P 20 kg ha-1 and K 30 kg ha-1. The growth and yield of Jhum rice were significantly influenced by different levels of NPK briquette. The highest plant height of jhum rice (138.3 cm), effective tillers hill-1 (16.03), panicle length (30.10 cm), highest number of filled grain panicle-1 (202.8), 1000 grain weight (27.67 gm), straw yield (4.13 t/ha) and grain yield (3.54 t/ha) were found from T5 treatment receiving 100% NPK briquette (267.5 kg ha-1) and for all cases lowest results were found in T1 treatment receiving no fertilizer (control). Yield of Jhum rice mainly vary with RFD and NPK briquette but highest yield obtained from NPK briquette treatment compared with control.

A field experiment was carried out at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Farm during the Rabi season of November 2008 to March 2009 to investigate effect of different levels of potassium fertilizer on the yield components of BARI Bush Bean-2. The red brown terrace soil of Tejgaon was silty clay loam having pH 5.6. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experiment comprises 4 levels of potassium in the form of MoP (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg potassium/ha). The results revealed that different levels of potassium showed significant variations on the yield and yield components of BARI Bush Bean-2. The treatment K40 (40 kg potassium) gave the maximum pod length (10.90 cm), pod diameter (2.95 cm), average single pod weight (5.49 g), total pod weight per plant (25.37 g), pod yield per plot (1795.83 g) and pod yield per hectare (4.38 ton). Thus the results of the experiment suggested that the use of 40 kg potassium produced highest yield of BARI Bush Bean-2 in red brown terrace soil of the Tejgaon series.

A field experiment was carried out at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Farm during the Rabi season of 2008 to investigate the effect of nitrogen and potassium on the yield and yield components of BARI Bush Bean-2. The red brown terrace soil of Tejgaon was silty clay loam in texture having pH 5.6. The experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The experiment comprises 4 levels of nitrogen in the form ofurea (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg nitrogen/ha) and 4 levels of potassium from Muriate of Potash (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg potassium /ha). There was combination of sixteen treatments including control (no fertilizer). The results obtained revealed that different levels of nitrogen and potassium showed significant variations on the parameters studied. The treatment N80K40 (80 kg nitrogen + 40 kg potassium) gave the highest pod length (11.67 cm), pod diameter (3.13 cm), average single pod weight (5.99 g), total pod weight per plant (29.07 g), pod yield per plot (2033.33 g) and pod yield per hectare (4.96 tons).Thus the findings of the experiment suggested that combined use of 80 kg nitrogen + 40 kg potassium produced the maximum yield of BARI Bush Bean-2 in red brown terrace soil of the Tejgaon series.

A field experiment was carried out at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Research Farm during the Rabi season of 2008 to investigate the response of BARI Bush Bean-2 at different levels of nitrogen fertilization in respect of various yield components. The soil of the experimental area belongs to the ModhupurTract (AEZ No. 28) which had shallow red brown terrace soil. The selected plot was medium highland and the soil series was Tejgaon. The experiment was laid out in a RCBD design with three replications. The experiment comprises 4 levels of nitrogen in the form urea (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg ha-1 N). The results obtained revealed that different levels of nitrogen showed significant variations on the different parameters studied. Among the different treatments of the study the treatment N80 (80 kg N) gave the highest pod length (11.15 cm), pod diameter (2.93 cm), average single pod weight (5.42 g), total pod weight plant-1 (25.63 g), pod yield plot-1 (1789.58 g) and pod yield hectare-1 (4.37 ton). Thus the findings of the experiment revealed that the use of 80 kg N maximally influence the yield and yield contributing characters of BARI Bush Bean-2 in the selected red brown terrace soil of the Tejgaon series.

Biochar increases crop yield, soil reliability, and carbon sequestration. This study examined how biochar affected soil properties and tomato yield in saline soil. The experiment was conducted in areas surrounding Khulna Agricultural University and in farmers’ fields close to Khulna, Bangladesh. The experiment’s layout was a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Tomato cultivation with eight treatments and three replications used biochar with the recommended fertilizer dose (RFD). Using biochar in saline soil significantly influenced tomato growth and yield character. Days after planting, plant height was dramatically impacted by various biochar treatment levels. The height of tomato plants ranged from 65.38 to 46.37 cm, yielding 49.23 tons per hectare. The experiments used biochar treatments to grow more tomatoes than traditional fertilizers and a control treatment. Compared with control treatments, biochar also changed the properties of salty soil after it was harvested. The soil’s pH is 6.51 and its particle density is highest at 2.65. The control treatments had the highest EC value, which was 2800, and the biochar application treatments had the lowest EC values. At 100 s/cm, the EC value made the soil 0.6 ppt saltier in the control treatment without biochar, but adding biochar made the soil 0.1 ppt less salty. The percentages of carbon, nitrogen, and organic matter were also the highest that they had been (1.88%, 1.073%, and 2.58%, respectively). The phosphorus concentration in the soil was 19.47 g/g after harvesting. The majority of K and S values used to treat salty soils are interchangeable. Significant changes in tomato growth, yield, and soil properties occurred when biochar was combined with recommended fertilizer doses and applied to saline soil for tomato cultivation.

This study determined the influence of different cooking procedures on the removal of toxic elements (TEs) including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) along with other nutrient elements from different commercially available rice brands sold in Bangladeshi markets. We observed 33%, 35%, and 27% average removal of As, Cd, and Pb accordingly from rice when cooked with a rice to water ratio of 1:6 after washing 5 times. We also found a significant reduction in essential elements: Zn (17%), Cu (10%), Mn (22%), Se (49%), and Mo (22%), when rice cooking was performed as in traditional practice. Daily dietary intakes were found to be between 0.36 and 1.67 µg/kgbw for As, 0.06 and 1.15 µg/kgbw for Cd, and 0.04 and 0.17 µg/kgbw for Pb when rice was cooked by the rice cooker method (rice:water 1:2), while in the traditional method (rice:water 1:6) daily intake rates ranged from 0.23 to 1.3 µg/kgbw for As, 0.04 to 0.88 µg/kgbw for Cd, and 0.03 to 0.15 µg/kgbw for Pb for adults. The HQ and ILCR for As, Cd, and Pb revealed that there is a possibility of noncarcinogenic and carcinogenic risk for As but no appreciable risk for Cd and Pb from consumption of rice.

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of several viral diseases, including various zoonotic diseases such as the current pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Other viruses, which possess pandemic-causing potential include avian flu, Ebola, dengue, Zika, and Nipah virus, as well as the re-emergence of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) coronaviruses. Notably, effective drugs or vaccines against these viruses are still to be discovered. All the newly approved vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2-induced disease COVID-19 possess real-time possibility of becoming obsolete because of the development of ‘variants of concern’. Flavonoids are being increasingly recognized as prophylactic and therapeutic agents against emerging and old viral diseases. Around 10,000 natural flavonoid compounds have been identified, being phytochemicals, all plant-based. Flavonoids have been reported to have lesser side effects than conventional anti-viral agents and are effective against more viral diseases than currently used anti-virals. Despite their abundance in plants, which are a part of human diet, flavonoids have the problem of low bioavailability. Various attempts are in progress to increase the bioavailability of flavonoids, one of the promising fields being nanotechnology. This review is a narrative of some anti-viral dietary flavonoids, their bioavailability, and various means with an emphasis on the nanotechnology system(s) being experimented with to deliver anti-viral flavonoids, whose systems show potential in the efficient delivery of flavonoids, resulting in increased bioavailability.

In this paper, a highly sensitive photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor is proposed and analyzed. Well-known hexagonal lattice with all circular air holes as well as metal deposition outside the PCF surface gives this sensor a straightforward design. Using the finite element method (FEM), sensing performances are investigated in the measurement range from 1.33 to 1.40. The maximum amplitude sensitivities are reached to 1086 RIU−1 and 1656 RIU−1 and maximum wavelength sensitivity is obtained about 12,000 nm/RIU for both plasmonic material gold and silver, respectively, in the y-polarized propagation mode. Owing to the simple design and high sensitivity, the proposed biosensor can be applicable to detect the biochemical and biological samples.

The multilevel inverter is a power electronic circuit that can give output voltage with multiple levels and be worked in inverter or rectifier mode. It is a highly efficient technique for DC to AC power conversion in solar photovoltaic systems due to its low total harmonic distortion (THD), low switching loss, low electromagnetic distortion for medium voltage and high-power applications. This paper describes a newly effective topology which has only eighteen switches, six voltage sources and six power diodes for three phase seven level inverter. For the controlling process of multilevel inverter different phase disposed carrier wave modulations are used. The aim is to thoroughly investigate and evaluate some optimum conditional points for these control techniques based on which proposed inverter will be more feasible and efficient. The effectiveness of the proposed system has been verified through simulation analysis in the MATLAB/Simulink software environment. From the simulation, it is observed that the proposed topology reduces the number of switches, voltage sources and power diodes among existing topologies. Based on the simulation result, it is also observed that the optimum modulation index and carrier frequency for PODSPWM are 1.10 and 1000Hz and for PODTRPWM are 1.10 and 1000Hz and for PODSDPWM are 1.0 and 1000Hz and also for PODTHPWM is 1.0 and 1000Hz and PODTRPWM offers better result in terms of THDs and PODSDPWM offers less switching losses among different topologies. The proposed asymmetric multilevel inverter offers less amount of switching devices. Besides, the efficiency of the inverter is increased due to minimum switching loss as well as reduced overall system installation cost.

Functional classification of phytoplankton could be a valuable tool in water quality monitoring in the eutrophic riverine ecosystems. This study is novel from the Bangladeshi perspective. In this study, phytoplankton cell density and diversity were studied with particular reference to the functional groups (FGs) approach during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon at four sampling stations in Karatoya River, Bangladesh. A total of 54 phytoplankton species were recorded under four classes, viz. Chlorophyceae (21 species) Cyanophyceae (16 species), Bacillariophyceae (15 species), and Euglenophyceae (2 species). A significantly higher total cell density of phytoplankton was detected during the pre-monsoon season (24.20 × 10

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can lead to disability conditions with swollen joints, pain, stiffness, cartilage degradation, and osteoporosis. Genetic, epigenetic, sex-specific factors, smoking, air pollution, food, oral hygiene, periodontitis, Prevotella, and imbalance in the gastrointestinal microbiota are possible sources of the initiation or progression of rheumatoid arthritis, although the detailed mechanisms still need to be elucidated. Probiotics containing Lactobacillus spp. are commonly used as alleviating agents or food supplements to manage diarrhea, dysentery, develop immunity, and maintain general health. The mechanism of action of Lactobacillus spp. against rheumatoid arthritis is still not clearly known to date. In this narrative review, we recapitulate the findings of recent studies to understand the overall pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis and the roles of probiotics, particularly L. casei or L. acidophilus, in the management of rheumatoid arthritis in clinical and preclinical studies.

In this paper, a highly sensitive gold-coated plasmonic microbiosensor, based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF), is proposed and numerically analyzed. To minimize the fabrication challenge and to aid the real-time detection capability of the sensor, the external sensing approach is utilized here. To introduce birefringence property, two rings with some missing air holes are used. Both the wavelength interrogations, as well as the amplitude interrogation method, have been used to determine the sensitivity of the modeled sensor. To demonstrate better performance, different structural parameters, e.g., the thickness of gold layer, pitch, and the diameter of air holes of the PCF, have been varied and investigated. The sensor shows a maximum possible wavelength sensitivity of 10,000 nm/RIU and a maximum possible amplitude sensitivity of 1250 RIU−1 with a sensor wavelength resolution of $$ 1.0 \times 10^{ - 5} $$ RIU. The proposed sensor exhibits an admirable figure of merit (FOM) of the highest value of 260.86 RIU−1 with an excellent linearity property of resonance wavelength in terms of analyte refractive indices. The designed sensor reveals promise for sensing and detecting different biological and biochemical liquid analytes of refractive index (RI) ranging from 1.33 to 1.39 with having enhanced performance.

A surface plasmon resonance based D-shaped tunable and broadband single-polarization filter is proposed. The complex propagation constants and the guided modes’ corresponding field profiles are calculated using the full-vector finite element method based COMSOL Multiphysics v5.0 software. From the simulation study, it is found that the confinement losses of the desired x-polarized mode are 0.17 dB/cm, and 0.30 dB/cm at the resonance wavelength of 1.31 µm, and 1.55 µm, respectively, while the losses for y-polarized unwanted guided mode are 736.30 dB/cm, and 573.32 dB/cm at the mentioned wavelengths, respectively. It is also evident that the proposed fiber offers a crosstalk of 625.10 dB at the wavelength of 1.31 µm, and 495.31 dB at the wavelength of 1.55 µm with the corresponding bandwidth of 490 nm and 485 nm over which the crosstalk is more than 20 dB for a fiber length of 1.0 mm. The study also underpins that the resonant peak shifts linearly with the change of lattice constant, radius of the gold-coated channel in the polished surface, and the size and the distance between the tuning air holes of the proposed filter. Hence, this filter can be a potential fit for micro-integration in optical systems.