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This study evaluated growth experiences and identified policy gaps with Bangladesh compared to a few advanced Asian countries. It used secondary data over 120 years in retrospect along with projection to some extent. Whether would Bangladesh be able to enter into subsequent stages along linear stages growth model was a major research question. Bangladesh entered into the third of five stages in the early 1990s. On the other hand, Malaysia reached at the fourth and South Korea at the fifth stage. Bangladesh was too envisioned to reach at peak within 20 years with creative industries and demographic dividend. Some industrial conglomerates and new industries were expanded here in the 2000s. This economy would soon enter into fourth stage satisfying stage-specific indicators like two other economies. It had some policy gaps identified through comparison of stage-specific policies and strategies with others. However, its government, in the second perspective plan (2021-2041), emphasized on ICT based product-innovation and job creation in industry 4.0. Major challenges to moving forward in here was to reducing gaps between planned and actual development.

Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii TUA4408L has the ability to grow and ferment soymilk and is able to modulate the innate immune response of intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. These two properties prompt us to evaluate whether the soymilk fermented with the TUA4408L strain can induce beneficial immunomodulatory effects in vivo. For this purpose, pigs were selected as a preclinical model. The studies performed here demonstrated that the L. delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii TUA4408L-fermented soymilk (TUA4408L FSM) reduced blood markers of inflammation and differentially regulated the expression of inflammatory and regulatory cytokines in the intestinal mucosa. These immunological changes induced by the TUA4408L FSM were associated to an enhanced resistance to pathogenic Escherichia coli and an improved grow performance and meat quality of pigs. The experiments and analysis in our study indicate that the immunobiotic TUA4408L FSM could be an interesting non-dairy functional food to beneficially modulate the intestinal immune system, improve protection against pathogens and reduce inflammatory damage. The preclinical study carried out here in pigs could have a better correlation in humans, compared to a rodent model. However, the clinical relevance of these findings still needs to be confirmed by further research, for example, in controlled human challenge studies.

Surface-functionalized Mg1−xCoxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1; Δx = 0.1) can be an exciting candidate as an MRI contrast agent and for thermotherapeutic applications.

In Bangladesh, 75% of the total cultivable area is under rice cultivation producing 25 million tons of rice and plays a vital role in the country’s GDP. The climatic variability is playing an important role in affecting the rice production. In this study, the impact of climatic variability (average maximum temperature (aMaxTemp), average minimum temperature (aMinTemp) and average rainfall (aRainfall)) on rice yield was determined in two different regions (northern and southern) of Bangladesh.The variability of rice yield and climate factors was determined by using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. The data was analyzed over the 44-years period (1971 to 2014) in order to estimate the magnitude of these fluctuations statistically and graphically. We observed that the climate variables had significant effect on rice yield that varies among three rice crops (e.g., Aus, Aman, and Boro rice). We observed that, aMaxTemp has positive effects for Aus and Aman rice yield but negative effect on Boro rice yield. On the other hand, aMinTemp has negative effects on Aus and Aman rice yield but has positive effect on Boro rice yield. The aRainfall has a positive relationship with all rice yields in both the regions.

Purpose: To increase yield and quality of fruit vegetables under high pressure of soil-borne pathogens, nematode, and unfavorable environments introducing vegetable grafting in agriculture are crucial. It also helps to reduce disease susceptibility and to increase tolerance against abiotic stresses. Findings: Grafting in vegetables is a centuries-old practice to improve yield through organic culture. It was introduced in USA and becoming more common in organic farming of vegetables. Vegetable grafting is popular practice in many European and North American countries, Japan, Korea, and China. Vegetable crops are exposed to many abiotic and biotic stress factors, including salinity, heat, heavy metals, excess trace elements, diseases, and pests, which have a significant effect on crop growth and productivity. Grafting is effective practices in solanaceous and cucurbitaceous vegetables to control soil-borne diseases including; Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, and bacterial wilt, and nematodes without using pesticides. Limitations: Despite of its numerous benefits, there are several difficulties associated with grafting which include added cost, graft mismatch, physiological complaints, and reductions in flower formation, quality, and yield of fruit. Directions for future research: Appropriate selection of scion and rootstock, scion–rootstock communication, and the reciprocal effect of the shoot and root system should be considered to get maximum benefits from this novel technique. New research should be conducted to evaluate and test diverse germplasm as a source of the viable rootstock, development of grafting tools ideal for the stable, year-round, and cost-effective yield.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate whether Bangladesh would avoid the middle-income trap (MIT) in its transition to a high-income country (HIC) according to its “Vision 2041”.Design/methodology/approachUsing both actual and forecasted secondary data, three MIT models of different approaches were used to evaluate the government’s vision-based projections. Moreover, crucial indicators of deindustrialization and institutional strength were linked to the investigation of potential transitions.FindingsAccording to the absolute definition and international forecasts, the Bangladesh economy might not fall into an MIT at its lower-middle-income level within the intended period due to being shorter than the defined limit. However, its real GDP per capita relative to the USA would remain far below the defined threshold limit of an upper-middle-income country (UMC) in 2041. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has reached the third of the five gradual phases and is awaiting a new transition in 2029. However, its vision-based plan would face challenges such as skills gaps, institutional reforms and successive global crises.Practical implicationsBangladesh might be trapped in MIT at the UMC level in the 2030s, with no path to renovate after the demographic dividend ends in 2047. In this regard, the government must demonstrate a strong political will to ensure the effectiveness of its policies and the viability of its institutions.Originality/valueThis study not only compared projections to forecasts using different MIT models but also connected transition phases to industrial policies and institutional strengths.

Jatropha curcas, has been established as a plant whose seeds contain a relatively high percentage of oil that is suitable for biodiesel production, among other industrial applications. Seed oil properties of J. curcas may vary depending on soils, age of plant, genotype of the plant, and agro-climatic conditions of a specific geographical region. Studies under such conditions have not yet been conducted. The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of genotype and age of the plant on the physicochemical properties of its seed oil. The seed oil was extracted using n-hexane as a solvent in the Soxhlet extraction apparatus from seed kernel collected from different genotypes and plants of different ages. Oil content in the kernel ranged from 49.78–53.75% (w/w) among the seed samples depending on genetic materials and plant age. The oil content showed very little but significant differences in density and specific gravity among the samples. The highest free fatty acid (FAA) was produced by the kernel oil of 3-year-old plants (7.78%), and 7- and 10-year-old plants gave the lowest FAA (1.26 and 1.31%, respectively). The kernel oil of 7-year-old plants produced the highest iodine value (93.60 mg/g oil) and the kernel oil of 3-year-old plants produced the lowest iodine value (61.10 mg/g oil). Kernel oil of 10-year-old plants gave the lowest (172.98 mg KOH/g) saponification value and 4-year-old Hybrid-3 gave the maximum value (209.97 mg KOH/g oil). The seed oil of Jatropha accessions showed very little difference (39.88–40.85 MJ/kg) for high heating values irrespective of their age. On the other hand, the cetane number varied from 55.32 to 59.58 in the oil samples. The age of plant and seed sources had a significant effect on seed oil content and the physio-chemical properties of Jatropha.

In this paper we used various fuzzy numbers to calculate wash time for washing machines and provided various decisions after comparison among them. Again, this paper shows the importance of fuzzy logic control-based washing machine to get an appropriate wash time for the degree of dirt and the quantity of grease present on the clothes. This method is predicated on a fuzzy inference system. A fuzzy inference system using the Mamdani controller type is illustrated in this paper. From the utilization of fuzzy logic control, the machine can respond in several conditions. The simulation was done by MATLAB programming language. J. Bangladesh Acad. Sci. 45(1); 105-116: June 2021

Sixty one country bean genotypes collected from the coastal region of Bangladesh and were evaluated for the genetic divergence of yield and yield traits. Research method: Divergence analysis was performed by Mahalanobis D2 statistics using Genstat 4.2 program. Findings: The results of the univariate analysis revealed that country bean genotypes differed significantly for 12 yield and related characters. Multivariate analysis grouped 61 genotypes into eight clusters. Cluster II and IV comprised the minimum number (2) of genotypes followed by V (4). Cluster VII contained the maximum number (16) of genotypes and sub-divided into five subgroups. The highest inter-genotypic distance was observed between the genotype CB-32, and CB-109 (2.238), and the lowest inter-genotypic distance between the genotypes CB-016 and CB-017 (0.252). The inter-cluster distance (D2) was maximum between cluster I and V (22.15) followed by the distance between cluster IV and V (19.21). The highest intra-cluster distance (1.17) was observed in cluster V revealed the maximum heterogeneity, while the least variation (0.60) was noticed in cluster VI signifying the closeness of the genotypes. Data suggested that the pod length, pod width, and individual pod weight were major characters that contribute mostly towards genetic divergence. Both PC1-PC2 and PC1-PC3 biplot graphs clearly indicated that pod yield per plant had strong positive correlation with raceme per plant, pods per raceme, pods per plant, pod length and hundred seed weight. Limitations: There was no significant limitation to the report. Originality/Value: The genotypes from cluster I and V could be selected for future hybridization program.

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population and to increase the yield potential of rice would be a key factor for mitigating global demands of about 810 million tons of rice by 2025. To exploit the economic importance of heterosis, quantitative valuation was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications for 16 agronomic traits of 5x5 half diallel populations during boro season of 2017-2018. Diallel populations were generated by using five selected parents (P1: BRRI dhan28, P2: BRRI dhan74, P3: BINA dhan10, P4: IR59418-7B-21-3 and P5: BRRI dhan67) where, P1 was considered as standard check to estimate the economic heterosis. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant variability among the genotypes for most of the traits except grain length and length-breadth ratio. The results showed that none of the hybrid combination performed better for all the traits over the three types of heterosis. The highest relative heterosis was recorded in P3×P4 followed by P4×P5 for grain yield plant-1, filled grains panicle-1, effective tillers plant-1. Majority of the cross combinations (>60%) revealed highly significant positive heterosis for grain yield plant-1 over mid parent. Heterobeltiosis for grain yield plant-1 was observed significant for 50% cross combinations and could be utilized in hybrid breeding. Whereas, more than 70% crosses exhibited undesirable negative standard heterosis for grain yield plant-1. Only two cross combinations (P3×P5 and P3×P4) among ten revealed significant positive economic heterosis for grain yield plant-1 and those could be exploited in rice breeding. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 9(1): 45-53

Purpose: The experiment was conducted to investigate into the allelopathic potential of the aqueous extracts of different parts of Jatropha curcuson seven selected field crop species. Research method: The leaf, stem, bark, twig, root, pericarp, seed and oilcake extracts of J. curcus at four different concentrations (1:5, 1:10, 1:15 and 1:20 (w/v)) were tested against jute, mungbean, mustard, radish, rice, wheat and tomato. Control i.e. distilled water without extracts was also maintained in each case. The experiments were conducted following completely randomized design with three replications. Findings: Except few, the aqueous extracts of J. curcas plant parts significantly inhibited the seedling growth of all the test species at concentration more than 1:15 (w/v) whereas, at or below this level stimulated the seedling growth. Percent shoot and root growth inhibition of the test crops varied among J. curcus parts extract from 10 to 100, at 1:5 (w/v) concentration. At the same concentration, J. curcas oilcake extract completely (100%) inhibited the shoot and root growth of all the test crop species except rice. Similarly, seed extract completely inhibited (100%) the shoot and root growth of jute and mustard, whereas around or more than 70% inhibition of the shoot and root growth of all the test species except rice. These results confirm that J. curcushas allelopathic properties and may possess allelochemicals. Since oilcake of J. curcus extract had greater inhibitory activity than other parts, this could be used for isolation and identification of allelochemical(s). The results of this experiment will be helpful for the researchers to know the plant-plant interaction of J. curcus with its neighboring plant species or the intercrops introduce in Jatropha field. Limitations: There was no significant limitation to the report. Originality/Value: This research compares the allelopathic properties of different parts of Jatropha curcus on seven selected field crop species.

Forty four testcross progenies obtained from crossing between five CMS and forty one candidate lines were evaluated both in field and laboratory condition to identify candidate restorer line(s). Nineteen testcross progenies were recorded as fully fertile with 100% plant fertility by counting the number of fertile plants from the total number of plants per lines. On the other hand from pollen fertility test, 11 testcross progenies [206A × 001(6), 9905A × 030(2), 9905A × 027(6) (0.57), 206A × 37(1) (0.68), 9904A × 027(4) (0.83), 248A × 020(6) (1.08), 248A × 018 (1.12), 248A × 022 (1.13), 248A × 017 (1.58), 248A × 038(2) (1.96) and 248A × 001(6) (2.02)] were found with 0-2.02% pollen sterility that could be mentioned as fertile or restorer lines for making hybrids. Agronomic performances were also satisfactory for these selected test cross progenies. The genotype 248A × 017 took the shortest time (30.00) for first flowering as well as ripening followed by 248A × 007(1). The highest number of pods per plant was observed in the testcross progeny 248A × 022 (649.59) and the highest number of seeds per pod (30.33) in 248A × 020(6). For seed weight per plant, 206A × 001(6) was recorded with maximum value (0.08g) while the lowest (23.33) number of seeds per plant was found in this progeny. In case of seed yield per plant, 248A × 022 gave the highest yield (30.30). The seed yield of the progenies 248A × 017 (23.49), 9905A × 027(6) (20.39), 248A × 001(6) (17.26), 9904A × 027(4) (17.02) and 248A × 038(2) (16.53) were also in the highest level.

Background: The primary aim of the medical therapy for BPH is to improve quality of life by relieving the lower urinary tract symptoms and prevent complications. Objectives: To compare efficacy and safety of double dose of tamsulosin monotherapy with combination of conventional dose of tamsulosin and finasteride in symptomatic BPH. Methods: This was a prospective study carried out in the Department of Urology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period of July 2005 to June 2006. Total 60 patients of 45-80 years of age were consequently selected according to inclusion criteria. After completion of baseline clinical evaluation and investigations, participants were divided into two groups, group A and group B. Group A were given tamsulosin 0.4 mg for 1 week. Then double dose of tamsulosin (0.8 mg) were given from 2nd week for 12 months. Group B were given tamsulosin 0.4 mg and finasteride 5 mg for the same duration. Efficacy was evaluated at 6 month and 12 month follow up visit and a comparison was made between them. During follow up each was observed for any adverse effect. The parameters monitored were International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Maximum urine flow rate (Qmax), Post Voidal Residual Volume (PVR) and Prostate volume. Results : Both double dose of tamsulosin 0.8 mg and combination of conventional dose of tamsulosin 0.4 mg and finasteride 5 mg are effective in relieving symptoms of BPH but combination dose is superior to double dose monotherapy. Outcome parameters at end point follow up after 12 months showed significant improvement of IPSS (p

Common fig (Ficus carica L.), an economically-important fruit species widely cultivated in the Mediterranean Basin, is gaining increasing interest in the tropical and subtropical regions. A vast genetic diversity of common fig is available; however, systematic studies of cultivar performance in a particular new environment are scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of 17 common fig cultivars grown under the Malaysian tropical climate. Evaluation was based on 15 parameters relevant to fruit yield, fruit quality and pest susceptibility. The results showed variable performance among the cultivars tested; 10 cultivars performed well for orchard establishment. Cultivar ‘A134’ produced the highest fruit yield per plant (3410 g) compared to the average yield of the cultivars studied (2500 g). Cultivars ‘Fen Chan Huang’ and ‘Wuhan’ produced the highest number of fruits per plant, 119 and 82 fruits, respectively. Mealybug infestation and ostiole-end splitting are major limitations to fig cultivation in Malaysia. Cultivar ‘Longue d’Aout’ was the most susceptible to mealybug infestation; whereas cultivar ‘B110’ was the most resistant. Above 60% of the fruits of cvs. ‘Brunswick’ and ‘Qing Pi’ had split ostiole; however, this was less than 20% in cvs. ‘Longue d’Aout’ and ‘Alma’. This study facilitates successful farming of figs in Malaysia and provides insights for future development programs.

It is crucial to analyze the population structure and genetic diversity of the samples to be studied before a breeding program can be launched. Thirty-one genotypes of papaya germplasm from Spain, Brazil, Ecuador, China, Taiwan, India, and several locations in Bangladesh were genotyped using ten polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers to investigate their molecular diversity as well as their genetic relatedness. The highest numbers of alleles, gene diversity and polymorphic information content were seen in the P3K1024CC and P6K900CC markers. This result confirms the suitability of these markers in the assay of the genetic diversity of papaya genotypes. The model-based population structure and the distance-based assessment categorized the genotypes into six different subcategories. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that 11% of the entire genetic diversity was due to differences among the populations, while 89% was a result of differences within the population. The FST value of 0.136 showed a high level of genetic diversity among the groups alongside a negative FIS (− 0.232) and FIT (− 0.065). The diverse material revealed by our research expands the current papaya genetic resources, which can be used effectively in genomic studies in papaya improvement programs as well as in germplasm conservation studies.

Osmotic stress is one of the major global constraints for the rice cultivation, especially in the rainfed cropping system practiced in Assam, India. Hence, exploration of the discrepancy in functional along with germplasm structure among the traditional rice cultivars is needed. Morpho-physiological traits induced by osmotic and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were considered to survey genetic array in growth chamber trials. Twenty one traditional rice cultivars from different agro-climatic regions of Assam, previously used in our laboratory were used in this study along with Sahbhagi and IR64 as control that revealed a high differentiation in phenotypic performance under osmotic stress. On the basis of standardized osmotic tolerant related morpho-physiological parameters, all the rice cultivars could be assembled into five clusters. The cultivars included in a single group revealed almost identical osmotic tolerance levels. The rice cultivars from different agroclimatic zone viz., upper Brahmaputra valley, lower Brahmaputra valley and hill Zones revealed highest genetic diversity as judged by Jaccard coefficient matrix with polymorphism information content (PIC) 0.30. Furthermore, rice cultivars were observed to be constituted into five major clusters depending on ISSR markers that were relatively congruous to the agro climatic regions and specific traditional cultivation practices. The mantel test of the rice varieties between morpho-physiological and ISSR markers exhibited low correlation. The variation observed in morpho-physiological traits associated with genetic diversity has paved a potentiality to design osmotic stress resistant varieties in future breeding programme.

Background: Mirizzi syndrome is a condition, difficult to diagnose pre-operatively and treat, represent a particular challenge for hepatobiliary surgeons. Furthermore, it increases the risk of intra-operative biliary injury, particularly during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The aims of this study were to point out some particular aspect of diagnosis and treatment of this condition that will be helpful for the surgeons. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all records of the patients, surgically treated for Mirizzi syndrome from January 2013 to January 2018 in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Sohrawardy Medical College Hospital and BIRDEM General Hospital. Patients’ presentation, diagnostic methods, treatment and complications were recorded. Results: During the study period, a total of 1320 cholecystectomy were performed, out of which 50 patients were diagnosed with Mirizzi syndrome, representing an incidence rate of 3.78%. Male to female ratio was 0.72:1 and mean age was 54.14 years. When we analyzed the main symptoms in the clinical debut, we found that common features were jaundice (31, 62%), cholangitis (20, 40%) and abdominal pain (22, 44%). Roux en Y hepaticojejunostomy was the treatment of choice and subtotal cholecystectomy were done for 7 cases and laparoscopic cholecystectomy for 2 cases. Mean hospital stay was 4.8±2.9 days. There was no post-operative mortality. Two cases of biliary fistula resolved with conservative management and another case required percutaneous treatment for resolution of an intraperitoneal postoperative collection. Conclusion: Mirizzi syndrome continues to be a disease of difficult diagnosis and treatment. General surgeons without long experience in hepatobiliary surgery should refer the patient to a specialized hepatobiliary surgical center. In most of the cases biliary reconstruction is inevitable. It is important for the surgeons to know the disease and possible intra-operative challenging situations. Birdem Med J 2020; 10(1): 7-11

During the 2018-2019 Boro season (dry season), 70 rice genotypes were examined with alpha lattice experimental design with the goal of measuring grain yield stability analysis. Results indicated that AMMI analysis explained 100% of the G×E variance, while captured 81.74% variance. Based on the GGE and AMMI analysis, the most stable and high yielding genotype was identified G41 followed by G22, G26, G58, G24 and G61. The AMMI 1 biplot analysis revealed that the first primary component of interaction (IPC1) factor was responsible for 64.2 % variation due to G × E interaction. On other hand, the second primary component (PC2) factor accounted for 35.8% variation of the G × E interaction. These two-primary component (PC1 and PC2), all together accounted for 100% variation of the G × E interaction. The contribution of G68 was highest to the interaction followed by G70, G58, G42, G61, G45, G38, G14, G33, G60, G53, and G9. Best environment analysis indicated that the ranking was Rajshahi < Gazipur < Cumilla. GGE biplot analysis accounted for 81.74% variation comprising two principal components PC1 and PC2 with 45.62% and 36.12% variations respectively. Rajshahi was more stable than Gazipur. Based on environment analysis genotypes, G22, G26, G58, and G44 can be recommended as best stable genotypes that breeding zone. However, the genotype G61 was identified adapted to Cumilla breeding zone.

Jatropha curcas L. is a potential biofuel crop grown in the tropics and subtropics. The present study was conducted to enumerate the genetic diversity of 17 morpho-agronomic traits of 45 Jatropha g...

Introduction:An experiment was conducted to study combining ability and heterosis for yield and related traits in chili during November 2015 to September 2017.Materials and Methods:The experimental material consisted of six parents and their fifteen F1’s developed by half diallel mating design. Analysis of variance for combining ability exhibited significant General and Specific Combining Ability (GCA and SCA) effects for all the characters studied.Results:The SCA variance was higher than GCA variance for all the traits except ten fresh fruit weight, fruit length and fruit width indicating the predominance of non-additive type of gene action. The parents P1and P6were identified as the best general combiners and the hybrids P1×P6, P1×P4and P2×P5were identified as the best specific combinations for fresh fruit yield per plant and related traits. The hybrids P1×P6, P1×P4and P3×P6showed significant average heterosis and heterobeltiosis for fresh fruit yield per plant and its related traits. (H1/D)0.5ratio indicated partial dominance effect of genes for all the traits.Conclusion:Therefore, it may be possible to take advantages of better heterotic effects to be fixed in the later generations to facilitate further selection and best specific combinations for development of the hybrid variety of chili which can help to increase the total production in Bangladesh.

Microalgae are a viable alternative for biofuel production to replace the world dependency on fossil fuel. It has a wide range of application for the sustainable production of biomaterials. Microalgae can convert solar energy into important natural components by utilizing marginal nutrients, wastewater and exhaust CO2 without sharing expensive crop field. Microalgae also have the potentiality to generate several promising components such as Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs), organic pigments and pharmaceutically important hydrocarbons. Cultivation and production of microalgae biomass have multifaceted challenges due to the requirement of large volume of water for the algae growth, high processing cost and contamination by pathogens. Genetic improvement and modifications are essential to construct superior microalgae for manufacturing industries using various methods such as selection of novel strain, stress tolerance, resistance to pathogens, product development and metabolic pathways and cellular contents. In addition, technologies related to cultivation, harvesting, extraction and processing are essential to develop for the growth of novel microalgae strains.

Objective: The purpose of this research was to observe the age-related growth and histomorphological changes in Japanese quail testes from post-hatching to sexual maturity as well as spermatogenesis.Materials and Methods: After collection, the testes weight, length, width, and index analysis were performed, and histomorphological, histological and immunohistochemical observations were conducted using hematoxylin-eosin, PAS-hematoxylin, and anti-Hsc70t staining, respectively at different ages.Results: The weight of the testes increased gradually with age and reached a peak at 70 days. The length and width of the testes were maximal at 70 days. The testis index was positively correlated with age and body weight (BW) toward sexual maturity. Histologically, at 15 days of age, the seminiferous tubules (STs) remained in immature state with undifferentiated spermatogenic cells of only one to two layers of epithelial cells. At 28 days, the spermatogenic cells were differentiated from spermatogonia to spermatocytes. At 42 days, remarkable enlargement of STs with a series of spermatogenic cell development up to the round spermatids and Leydig cells in the interstitial region. Finally, at 70 days, extremely enlarged STs containing all stages of spermatogenic cells. The diameter and height of STs were maximal at 70 days than that of 42 days of age. A strong Hsc 70t immunoreaction was found in the round to elongated spermatids/spermatozoa near to the lumen of STs, clearly indicating well-characterized spermatogenesis in quail testis at 70 days of age.Conclusion: The findings may contribute to our understanding of quail’s spermatology and provide basic knowledge for reproductive toxicology, physiology and pathology studies.

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.) is an important vegetable crop bearing health benefits and medicinal properties. Continuous increase in bottle gourd consumption, especially in the tropics and subtropics, is attributed to its purported health benefits. Successful cultivation of bottle gourd in these regions requires proper breeding strategies to develop superior genotypes with desired traits aimed at market-driven quality and high yield. For effective bottle gourd breeding, genetic diversity of this crop needs to be studied and documented. The monoecious and open-pollinated nature of bottle gourd supports conventional breeding by pure line selection, pedigree selection, recurrent selection and heterosis breeding. Besides traditional breeding, transgenic breeding, gene editing and marker-assisted selection are also needed to fully exploit the genetic resources of this crop to achieve desirable yield and quality. The main objective of this chapter is to provide an overall assessment of the importance of bottle gourd and its breeding strategies to develop high-yielding and nutritionally-rich varieties using conventional and advanced breeding tools.

Sweet gourd (Cucurbita moschata Duch. ex Poir) is an annual crop with an open-pollinated sexual reproductive system via cross-pollination and can easily be grown year-round. The reproductive system, mode of pollination and large monoecious flowers are extensively used for conventional breeding in sweet gourd and involves pedigree selection and hybrid breeding. Distant crossing between domesticated and wild species gives some success to overcome hybrid sterility and transfer of resistance genes by using different breeding tools. The advanced lines from distant hybridization may be useful in diverse cucurbit breeding programs. Backcrossing using non elite and wild germplasm donors is an effective strategy for a single trait transfer such as specific disease resistance or bush growth habit into a cultivar. It can also be bred into commercial lines via transgenesis. Application of biotechnological tools and molecular breeding may help sweet gourd breeders to improve yield, disease and pest resistance as well as nutritional quality. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of sweet gourd and its breeding strategies for the development of high yielding and nutritionally rich varieties using conventional and frontier breeding tools.

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) belongs to the family Malvaceae and is suitable for cultivation in tropical warm and humid regions. The calyces are plentiful of phytochemical and antioxidants, thus can be used in healthy and nutritious food formulations. There has been increased awareness of nutritional and health benefits while considering various kinds of fruit juice and beverages globally. In this essence, roselle could offer a wide range of nutritional and health benefits in the formulation of food products. Roselle is a seasonal crop, so it needs care to process and lengthen its shelf life by adopting various processing technologies including drying, storing, and new types of food product development. Roselle also offers a number of processed food products blended with various types of fruits. This chapter describes the usages of roselle in the domestic and industrial scale, drying of calyces and their preservation, physicochemical properties of calyces, and various food products developed from roselle.

Hibiscus sabdariffa L. is a plant of the Malvaceae family, commonly known as roselle. Roselle is mainly used as a vegetable, but it is also traditionally used for medicinal purposes, especially as alternative medicine. Roselle has been scientifically proven to contain cholesterol-lowering, anti-obesity, high antioxidant activity, insulin resistance reduction, antihypertensive, antiaging, antinociceptive activity, antidiarrheal, antiinflammatory activity, antiproliferative, anticarcinogenic, and skin cancer chemopreventive properties. The objectives of this chapter are to discuss the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical significance of roselle for industrial uses.

The world is not on track to meet its goal for ensuring availability and sustainable management of water quality for all—as indicated in United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). Quality of water crisis continues to be rated as a top global risk considering pollution severity and threat to public health trend in the face of climate change. This chapter highlights the issue of “coordination gaps” in terms of policymaking, pollution prevention technology, financing, monitoring and data management, accountability, risk assessment, and capacity building as a part of water governance for improving water quality. In this context, this chapter attempts to promote policy understanding and coordination at horizontal and vertical level institutions to take risk-informed integrated decision. This chapter also emphasized on science-driven policy solutions and adopting good practices including engagement of public, private, and civil society for reducing water risk and uncertainty at local to global context.

Ligilactobacillus salivarius FFIG58 was isolated from the intestine of a wakame-fed pig and sequenced with an Illumina HiSeq system. FFIG58 genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 1,984,180 bp, with 1,994 protein-coding genes and a GC content of 32.9%. This draft genome sequence will contribute to a better understanding of the porcine gut microbiome.

Ligilactobacillus salivarius TUCO-L2 was isolated from llama milk in Bio-Bio, Chile, and sequenced with the Illumina MiSeq platform. TUCO-L2 genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 1,600,747 bp with 1,691 protein-coding genes and a GC content of 33%. This draft genome sequence will contribute to a better understanding of the microbiome of llama milk.

Correction for ‘Efficacy of surface-functionalized Mg1−xCoxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1; Δx = 0.1) for hyperthermia and in vivo MR imaging as a contrast agent’ by M. Aminul Islam et al., RSC Adv., 2022, 12, 7835–7849, DOI: 10.1039/D2RA00768A.

The present investigation was undertaken to analyze the antioxidant potential of sixteen different potato genotypes. Eleven yellow fleshed potato genotypes namely Forza, Courage, Laura, Rosa Gold, Lady Rosetta, Cumbica, Asterix, Coronada, Granola, Cardinal and Diamant and five purple fleshed potato genotypes namely Jam Alu, KAC 10063, KAC 10064, KAC 10069, KAC 10097 were used as experimental materials. Total carotenoids, anthocyanin, phenolics, flavonoids, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity in the above mentioned genotypes were determined to compare the antioxidant potentials of the genotypes. Analysis of above mentioned parameters resulted significant variation in their contents in both yellow and purple fleshed genotypes. The results indicate the purple fleshed genotypes showed significantly higher carotenoids, anthocyanin, flavonoids and total antioxidant activity than those of yellow fleshed genotypes. The findings also suggested the antioxidant activity of the genotypes positively correlates to the total content of carotenoids, anthocyanin and flavonoids. Since, purple fleshed genotypes showed higher antioxidant properties, the results of this study claim that the purple fleshed genotypes would be suitable for direct consumption as vegetables which might increase the health and food security of human beings.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 43(3): 369-381, June 2018

Irrigation-led expansion of crop farming raised demand for groundwater in Bangladesh. This study aimed to reconcile cropped areas compatible to future water demand using secondary data on cropped area, crop yield, food intake, water footprint, rainfall, river-flow, etc. Yearly and seasonal time series were used in forecasting of areas and yields for all categories of crops. Out of total 76.5 bm3 water consumption for crop farming in the early 2010s, 34.1 bm3 was supplied through irrigation of which 79.8% was from groundwater and that would reach at 100.5, 46.6 and 88.2%, respectively in 2029–30. However, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and potato were identified as feasible crops on the basis of groundwater demand, dietary-balanced self-sufficiency and domestic resource cost ratio. Any reduction of cereal and sugarcane areas over projections and its adjustment with feasible crops would save about one and a half billion m3 of groundwater in dry season. The demand for diversification effort index justified the necessity of initiating special crop diversification projects for the country’s Eastern Hills, North Central and North East regions. Moreover, any initiatives for building water reservoirs might facilitate for sustainable groundwater management in the long run.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the pattern of expansion of overseas market for wage earners, inflow of remittances, its disposal pattern and the extent of non-productive investments. Design/methodology/approach It analyzed behavioral differences between semi-urban and rural households using primary data collected from 78 remittance recipients in Comilla district. Most of the results were produced using arithmetic analytical tools. Besides, one regression model was fit to quantify the effect of a few identical factors on remittance receipts for semi-urban and rural households. Findings Members of semi-urban families were early expatriates, who remitted larger amount than rural ones. Years of schooling and overseas experiences had larger marginal effects on remittance amount in rural area compared to semi-urban one. However, aging and overseas labor freedom influenced negatively anywhere. Rural households were more cautious in spending who had lower remittance elasticity than that of semi-urban ones except of capital items. Household assets were concentrated to lands, home appliances and gold ornaments, the rate of return of which were one-tenth of market interest rate. Practical implications Non-productive investments were concentrated the most to land for rural households and to ornaments for semi-urban ones. However, education and healthcare appeared as necessary elements in livelihoods, for which households might move toward human resource-related investment schemes. Originality/value This study measured the sensitivity with household spending to remittance receipts and why the remittance was not moving into productive schemes in the process of urbanization.

Twenty one hybrids along with two check varieties of maize were assessed for genotype environment interaction (GEI) and stability for selection of the best hybrid maize in three different Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) of Bangladesh during rabi season 2014/2015. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model was used to analyze the genotype-environment interaction over three locations to select the hybrids having higher yield (yld) and other potential attributes. The mean sum of square for genotypes was highly significant for the studied characters. Similarly, environmental variances were also highly significant for all characters. Variances due to genotype × environment interaction were highly significant for cob length and thousand seed weight (TSW). AMMI Component 1 showed variation for TSW. But AMMI Component 2 and G×E (Linear) revealed insignificant variation for all the characters. The highly significant effects of environment indicated high differential genotypic response across the different environments. The environments of Gazipur (Ij=-1.42**) and Barisal (Ij=-0.068) were poor but Rangpur (Ij=1.49)) was a favourable environments due to positive environmental index for tested maize hybrids. Considering the mean, bi and S2di for all the parameters, it was evident that all the genotypes showed different response of adaptability under different environmental conditions. Among the hybrids , WL4×WL5, WL1×WL3, WL2×WL3, WL1×WL4 and the check NK 40 exhibited the higher grain yield; bi~1 and S2di~0 indicated that these hybrids were stable across the environment. All the hybrids showed insignificant values for regression co-efficient and also deviation from regression except WL1×WL5. The AMMI biplot showed four grouping of genotypes having none of them, low yielding and unstable; one hybrid was low yielding but moderately stable; eight were high yielding and stable hybrids, and fourteen were high yielder but highly unstable. Key words: Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model, hybrid maize, stability analysis.

Seed oil was extracted using n-hexane as solvent in the Soxhlet extraction method where oil content varied from minimum (37.44%) in Hybrid-6 (first filial generation between parents P2 and P3) to maximum (47.82%) in Hybrid-12 (first filial generation between parents P3 and P6) among seed kernel of different hybrids. Density, specific gravity, and refractive index of oil showed very little but significant differences among the seed samples. Seed oil of parental genotype P5 had the highest free fatty acid (FFA) content (5.50%) and the lowest (1.25%) was found in parent P4. Seed oil of Hybrid-11 had the highest FFA content (6.51%) and the lowest was in Hybrid-6 (1.11%). Seed oil of parent P2 had the highest iodine value (111.50 mg/g oil) and the lowest was (99.10 mg/g oil) in P5. The lowest saponification value was obtained from seed oil of parent P4 (184.19 mg KOH/g) and the Hybrid-11 (174.97 mg KOH/g oil). Maximum higher heating value (41.00 MJ/kg) was obtained from the seed oil of Hybrid-3 and Hyb...