Search

A thin and broadband frequency selective surface (FSS)-based magnetic absorber is presented for low-microwave frequency applications. The design consists of a double-layers of FSS with the combination of two different magnetic substrates, which provides a much broader bandwidth compared to existing single-layered designs. The magnetic materials are in-house made by mixing different ratios of carbonyl-iron powder with silicone elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The simple single-square loop (SSL) structure is used for both FSSs which are printed on a standard FR4 material using lossy resistive sheet. This configuration allows the use of a closed-form equivalent-circuit model for a fast and efficient bandwidth optimization. A genetic algorithm (GA) is utilized to obtain the design parameters for broadband absorption with minimum overall thickness. The measured results confirm that the proposed absorber operates from 0.78 to 4.8 GHz with -10 dB reflectivity. The design achieves 144% fractional-bandwidth with a 10.12 bandwidth-to-thickness ratio.

This work demonstrates a simple and inexpensive electrochemical biosensing pathway for selective and sensitive recognition of 17β-estradiol (E2) in environmental and food samples. The biosensing system is based on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C

Strengthening the early warning system to forecast extreme weather and provide action-oriented advisories may increase rice yield as well as enhance the income of the farmers through minimizing risks and losses, if proper use of the generated advisory is ensured. This study assessed the importance and impact of weather forecast based advisory service (WFBAS) in Bangladesh. Literature review and field experimental data were used in a sensitivity analysis to show the impact of WFBAS on rice production. Available literatures suggested that the weather based advisory service would enhance rice yield by around 6.7-10%, but the experimental findings revealed that yield advantage could be 21.48%. Besides, the adoption of this technology would reduce the cost of cultivation by 12%, whereas the aggregate impact would increase the farmers’ profit by 25%. In the sensitivity study, we considered the production and price of Aman and Boro seasons (actual and government procured prices for 2018-19) and assumed only 6.70% yield increase with 5% farmers adopting of WFBAS. As such, additional 0.172 million tons will be added to the national rough rice production and thus the nation will be benefited by 3143 million Bangladeshi taka (BDT) at the actual farmgate price and it would be 4478 million BDT at the government procured price. The return on one BDT investment in this technology would be 51-73 BDT based on actual and procured prices. The projection showed enhenced production of the rough rice at 0.119 million tons and 0.214 million tons by 2025 and 2030, on which the additional return would be BDT 2441 and BDT 5223 million at the projected actual farmgate price and BDT 3522 and BDT 6979 million at the projected Government procured price, respectively. Hence, the successful implementation of the WFBAS will help to develop resilient rice farming communities, minimize livelihood risk, reduce the cost of production, utilize resources efficienty, and enable the farmers to take maximum benefit from favorable weather conditions through improved agricultural extension services. Finally, the enhanced yield and loss reduction will help to achieve the target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) by 2030 through sustaining rice production in Bangladesh under changing climate. Bangladesh Rice J. 25 (1) : 51-74, 2021

Stroke is not only the third leading cause of death in Bangladesh but it also causes a high number of disability adjusted life years loss (485 per 10,000 people). Appropriate treatment of recurrent stroke has to be established. Here we present A 60 year's old male patient with history of recurrent stroke who came in our out patient department. He had progressing bilateral middle cerebral artery atherosclerotic stenosis (100.0% on right side and 52.0% on left side) which was less severs but symptomatic at dominant hemisphere (left). Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting was done to prevent further ischemia and to increase the blood supply of remaining brain parenchyma. On post stenting follow-up patient did not suffered from any new event of stroke for about 22 months. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting is an effective procedure to prevent recurrent stroke for intracranial atherosclerotic disease.

Small-scale commercial rollouts of Cellular-IoT (C-IoT) networks have started globally since last year. However, among the plethora of low power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies, the cost-effectiveness of C-IoT is not certain for IoT service providers, small and greenfield operators. Today, there is no known public framework for the feasibility analysis of IoT communication technologies. Hence, this paper first presents a generic framework to assess the cost structure of cellular and non-cellular LPWAN technologies. Then, we applied the framework in eight deployment scenarios to analyze the prospect of LPWAN technologies like Sigfox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, and EC-GSM. We consider the inter-technology interference impact on LoRaWAN and Sigfox scalability. Our results validate that a large rollout with a single technology is not cost-efficient. Also, our analysis suggests the rollout possibility of an IoT communication Technology may not be linear to cost-efficiency.

This cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted at Paediatrics department of BSMMU from July 2016 to June 2018 to find out histopathological pattern of Coeliac disease according to Modified Marsh criteria and to correlate it with tissue transglutaminase IgA level. A total of 62 children (age18 years) attending the Paediatrics department of BSMMU with clinical suspicion of celiac disease were enrolled for the study. Mean age of studied children was 7.87±4.67 years. Ratio of the male and female was 2.27:1. Maximum (66.1%) children came from middle income class family. Out of 62 children, 35.5% (22) were positive for IgA anti-tTG of who female were 11.3% and male 24.2%. Mean duration of symptoms was 44.07±21.77 months in serology positive patients and 34.49±30.52 months in serology negative patients. The age group, 10-14 year showed the highest (50.0%) prevalence of positive anti-tTG. In the tTG positive group mean Hb was 9.6±1.14gm/dl and which is lower than that in tTG negative group (11.7±1.47gm/dl). Among 22 sero-positive patients, histological changes compatible with CD were found in 19 (86.3%) cases and normal in 3 cases. Histological changes were of 3a category of Marsh was found in 12(63.2%) cases, 3b in 4(21.1%) cases and 3c in 3(15.8%) cases. Strong correlation was observed between the serological level of tTGA and histological types of CD by Modified Marsh criteria. In conclusion, screening for celiac disease may be included in diagnostic tests to investigate clinically suspected children and serum tTGA level can be used to predict histopathological severity of coeliac disease.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global pandemic that initially started in Wuhan, China, and spread exponentially across the globe infecting human being irrespective of age, sex and ethnicity. Given the nature of this virus, there is much still to be learned. People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms (e.g., common cold) to more severe diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, and even death. Comorbidity is an important factor in COVID-19 pandemic outcome often leading to rapid and severe progression of the disease process, even death. Objective: This study was carried out to see the socio-demographic characteristics and presenting features of COVID-19 disease as well as to assess impact of comorbidities on its hospital outcome. Methods: This observational study was carried out in the COVID-19 dedicated hospital of Faridpur from April 2020 to September 2020 for a period of 06 month. All clinically suspected patients confirmed by RT PCR were included as cases. Data were collected by detailed history from patients then those were checked, verified for consistency and edited for result. After editing and coding, the coded data were analyzed by using the SPSS\PC software package. Results: A total of 627 patients were included in the study of which 552 were treated in COVID ward and 75 patients were treated in ICU. Among COVID ward admitted (552) patients 354 (64.13%) were male and 198 (35.86%) were female with a male to female ratio of 1:0.56; young adult patients (19 to 50 years) were more affected and admitted (62.86%) and people living in urban area were more affected (52.71%) than rural area (47.28%). Fever, cough and shortness of breath (63.04%, 45.47% and 42.39% respectively) were predominant symptoms. Regarding comorbidities, 44.20% patients have one or more comorbidities whereas 55.79% patients have no comorbidity. Hypertension (17.57%) was the predominant comorbid condition followed by Diabetes (15.94%), ischemic heart disease (05.61%), COAD (05.61%), CKD (2.3%), Stroke (1.44%), Heart failure (0.54%) and Cancer (0.36%). A total of 75 patients needed ICU support; most of them were elderly patients (64 out of 75). Regarding hospital outcome, 96.74% (534 out of 552) COVID ward patients and 45.34% (34 out of 75) of ICU admitted patients discharged uneventfully whereas 03.2% COVID ward patients and 54.66%of ICU admitted patients expired. Deaths were more in elderly patients (n=43; 72.88%). Common comorbidities found among the patients who expired were Hypertension, Diabetes and Ischemic heart diseases (42.37%, 37.28% and 16.94% respectively). Conclusion: The predominant number of patients presented with fever, cough and shortness of breath in our setting. The percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations resulting in death remains high among elderly patients and those with one or more comorbid conditions. Therefore, elderly patients and those with comorbidities should take all necessary precautions to avoid getting infected with SARS CoV-2.

The experiment was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture research field, Mymensingh, Bangladesh during July-November 2015. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of manures (tobacco dust and sugarcane pressmud) and recommended doses of fertilizers on the soil health status and yield of summer rice. Rice cv. BINA Dhan-4 was grown under six combinations of fertilizers and manures such as i. Check, ii. Recommended Fertilizer Dose (RFD), iii. 75% RFD + one-ton pressmud (PM), iv. 75% RFD + two-tons PM, v. 75% RFD + one-ton tobacco dust (TD), and vi. 75% of RFD + two-tons TD. These treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results demonstrated that 75% RFD plus two-tons TD produced the highest yield and fetched the highest profit. The betterment of yield in this treatment might be attributed to the superior uptake of N, P, K, and S from the soil. Consequently, improved the status of organic matter, total N, available P and S, and exchangeable K status in the experimental soils. Hence, results confirmed that integrating two tons of tobacco dust with 75% of the recommended fertilizer rate is beneficial to obtain the maximum profit from rice cultivation, thereby improving soil health.

An accurate equivalent circuit (EC) design approach for wideband nonmagnetic absorbers operating at the low microwave frequency (1–10 GHz) is presented. Following the impedance matching approach, this communication introduces an EC model based on the simulated data and synthetic asymptotes for single- and double-layer frequency-selective surface (FSS)-based nonmagnetic absorbers. Two simple and commonly used resistive FSSs, i.e., square patch and single square loop, are considered in this communication. Compared to the full-wave simulations, the proposed EC model shows more than 95% accuracy. By employing the proposed model and genetic algorithm-based optimization, several designs of broadband absorbers are demonstrated. The presented single- and double-layer FSSs show 126% and 161% fractional bandwidth, respectively, with the total thickness close to the Rozanov limit. The results confirm that the proposed method is a simple and efficient way of designing thin wideband absorbers using single- or double-layer FSS configurations.

The study was aimed to assess the psychological aspects and relevant factors of the health-care workers (HCWs) working in COVID 19 pandemic condition in Bangladesh. This online cross-sectional survey was conducted from different tertiary, secondary and primary hospitals in Bangladesh. Eligible 638 HCWs who were directly involved in the caring of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients were recruited in this study. The mental health was assessed by the Patient Health Questionnare-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). High frequency of depression 536(84.0%), anxiety 386(60.5%) and insomnia 302(47.3%) was found among the HCWs, which were significantly higher in physicians (p0.001) than nurses. Moderate to severe depression was significantly higher in female, whereas minimal to mild depression was significant in male HCWs (p=0.014). Symptoms of depression (p0.001), anxiety (p0.001) and insomnia (p=0.004) were significantly higher among the HCWs of primary and secondary compared to the tertiary level. The HCWs developed psychological trauma due to family health (45.3%) and contagious disease property (66.6%). After adjusting confounders, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that physicians and HCWs of secondary hospital had significant symptoms of severe depression (OR=2.95, 95% CI=0.50-17.24; p0.001), anxiety (OR=2.64, 95% CI=0.80-8.72; p0.001) and insomnia (OR=2.67, 95% CI=1.23-5.84; p=0.018); whereas female HCWs had more risk of developing symptoms of severe insomnia (OR= 1.84; 95% CI=1.23-2.75; p=0.003). High rate of depression, anxiety and insomnia was found among HCWs working in the COVID-19 pandemic condition in this survey.

This work demonstrates a simple and inexpensive electrochemical biosensing pathway for selective and sensitive recognition of 17β-estradiol (E2) in environmental and food samples. The biosensing system is based on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and a conductive polymer 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). The proposed biosensor shows the ability to detect E2 in attomolar levels within a wide linear logarithm concentration range of 1×10− 6 to 1×10− 18 molL− 1 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 9.9×10− 19 molL− 1. The selectivity of the developed biosensor was confirmed by conducting the DPV of similarly structured hormones and naturally occurring substances. The proposed biosensor is highly stable and applicable to detect E2 in the presence of Spiked food and environmental samples with satisfactory recoveries ranging from 96.8 to 104.8%. So, the designed electrochemical biosensor might be an effective alternative tool for the detection of E2 and other endogenous substances to attain food safety.

A technique to measure the complex permittivity and permeability using two different types of calibration is presented in this article. The technique is based on a classical transmission-line analysis, implemented on a strip-line structure. A new calibration technique, namely object-reflect-line (ORL), is proposed to meet the challenge of an extremely low reflection line for accurate measurement. In the proposed calibration, the thru standard of conventional thru-reflect-line (TRL) is replaced by a standard with a known object. Since the ORL calibration uses only a single device, it reduces the fabrication cost, the measurement complexity, and the potential error in the thru measurement needed in the TRL method, which uses an additional device. The analysis is extended with consideration of the impact on material loss in measurement accuracy. The simulated and measured results with a variety of nonmagnetic and magnetic materials demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method over broadband microwave frequencies.

In the present paper, we study a Newton-like method for solving the variational inclusion defined by the sums of a Frechet differentiable function, divided difference admissible function and a set-valued mapping with closed graph. Under some suitable assumptions on the Frechet derivative of the differentiable function and divided difference admissible function, we establish the existence of any sequence generated by the Newton-like method and prove that the sequence generated by this method converges linearly and superlinearly to a solution of the variational inclusion. Specifically, when the Frechet derivative of the differentiable function is continuous, Lipschitz continuous, divided difference admissible function admits first order divided di_erence and the setvalued mapping is pseudo-Lipschitz continuous, we show the linear and superlinear convergence of the method. GANIT J. Bangladesh Math. Soc.Vol. 40 (2020) 43-53

Development of different fish products using boneless muscle is popular in this subcontinent. The present study was conducted to assess the changes in percent moisture content and sensory quality parameters of noodles prepared with silver carp mince along with wheat flour and to study the consumer’s preference to the fish noodles. Silver carp fish mince and other ingredients were incorporated with wheat flour in substitution levels of 0, 20, 25 and 30%. The prepared noodles were oven dried, cooled and stored in polythene and vacuum sealed packs during storage at ambient temperature (30 to 35 °C) for 6 months. During this storage period no remarkable change could be observed in the color, flavor, texture and taste of the noodle samples accept the moisture content of the samples. The percent moisture content of noodle samples slightly increased (i.e., percent moisture content increased from 6.37 to 12.38 in sealed polythene pack after 90 days of storage and to 10.02 in vacuum sealed pack after 180 days of storage in control noodle sample whereas in sample with 30% substitution level of fish mince the value increased from 11.94 to 13.44 in sealed polythene pack and to 12.88 in vacuum sealed pack after 90 days and 180 days of storage, respectively) with the lapse storage period. No mold growth could be found on noodle samples. Fish noodles prepared with 25% silver carp mince had the highest score 7.9 (out of 9) for taste though scores for the color (7.9), flavor (7.8), texture (8.1) and overall acceptability (8.4) were higher for the noodles prepared with 30% silver carp mince. Therefore, the study could be concluded as- fish noodles can be stored at room temperature for about 6 months in polythene pack and vacuum sealed packs without any major deterioration in sensory quality parameters accept little increase in moisture.

Fish stick was developed from silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) by using different kinds of food additives (0, 10, 15 and 20% mashed potato, wheat flour, 1.5% NaCl, 2% oil, 5% spices such as onion, ginger, garlic, green chili paste, hot spices (garam masala), 1.0% MSG and 1.0% sugar). Sensory, chemical and microbiological changes of silver carp fish stick were determined to evaluate it‟s quality changes at ambient temperature (28 to 32°C) during storage. It was observed that, the moisture, pH and protein contents in silver carp fish stick decreased than those parameters for fish mince but lipid and ash contents increased. Among the variable levels of mashed potato, 10% showed the best sensory performance and was recommended for further production. At room temperature, the sensory quality parameters deceased significantly (p

The experiments were conducted for grading unknown agarwood, to analyze the total phenolics, total flavonoids, antioxidant status of agarwood and its crude oil and also to identify the existing bacteria that assist in the fermentation of agarwood during soaking period. Grades of unknown agarwoods were determined based on density metric method and cross checked for ether extract. Total phenolics of agar wood and oils were analyzed through Foli¬n-Ciocalteu method and total flavonoid contents of agar oils were estimated using Aluminium chloride colorimetric method. For the determination of antioxidant status of agarwood oil, the inhibitory effects of oil extracts on DPPH radical was measured. To identify the bacterial genus, several biochemical tests were conducted. Results showed that insect infested agarwood was classified as Grade-1 agarwood (Calculated density was 0.641 g/cm3) and contained the highest amount ether extract of 18.90 ± 0.60%, total phenolic content of 3.5 ± 0.06 (mg GAE/g) and flavonoid content of 7.82 ± 0.23 (µg QE/ml). IC50 values obtained by DPPH activity for Aquillaria malaccensis oil extract was found to be 0.904µg/ml. Bacillus spp. was recognized as the mostly prevalent bacteria responsible for fermentation of agarwood which exhibit special role in increasing the yield of agar oil. If agarwood and agar oil can be graded properly high market value will be obtained by exporting them. [ J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther 2019; 2(2.000): 44-50]

ZnTe thin films were deposited on FTO-coated glass substrates by a low-cost, easy and simple electrodeposition method. The grown layers of ZnTe have been characterized by photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) measurement for determining carrier type, UV–visible spectrophotometer for optical characterization, X-ray diffraction (XRD) for structural analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the surface morphology. An annealing effect of the as-deposited thin films has also been investigated. PEC measurements of ZnTe film showed p type electrical conductivity. Optical measurement showed that ZnTe films have very high transmittance in the UV–visible region; moderate transmittance in the visible range; and moderate to lower transmittance in the visible–infrared region and have higher absorbance in the middle of the visible region to near-infrared region. Band gap values are estimated to vary from 2.3 to 1.90 eV for the ZnTe films deposited at different conditions. Band gap of ZnTe films is observed to decrease when the films are annealed at different temperatures in nitrogen environment. From the XRD and SEM study, ZnTe films are found to be polycrystalline with (111) preferential orientation of the cubic structure and appeared dense crack-free surfaces with regular granular-shaped grains without any cauliflower-like appearance. After annealing the as-deposited film transmittance, absorbance and intensity in XRD pattern are observed to increase and a good ZnTe crystal structure is observed to form. The values of average crystallite size are estimated to be 22.82 nm and 30.82 nm for as-deposited and annealed ZnTe films, respectively.

Migraine is one of the most disabling types of headache. It affects 4-6% of men and 13-18% of women; more than 80% of them are under 30 years. Many theories to explain mechanism of migraine are present; role of serum magnesium is one of them. This Cross-sectional analytical study was designed to see serum magnesium level status of migraine patients in Bangladesh and to find out any relation. The study was carried out in Outpatient Department of Neurology of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh from July 2017 to September 2018. Seventy (70) patients between 18-60 years of both sexes with headache fulfilling the criteria for migraine were enrolled as migraine group. Patients with headache who did not fulfill the criteria of migraine enrolled as non migraine group. Patients were included in both groups after exclusion of structural lesions, magnesium containing drug intake, pregnancy, menstruation, alcoholism, renal or GIT problems. Serum magnesium levels were studied in both groups and compared with each other. All related factors such as age, sex, family history of migraine, occupation were assessed. Fifty one (51) of 70 patients (72.85%) was female and 19(27.15%) were male in migraine group. Thirty eight (54.28%) of cases were between 18 and 30 years old. Thirty nine (55.71%) of migraine patients had history of similar headache in their family. Severe headache in 51.43% of migraine patients and 30% had more than three attacks per month. Mean serum magnesium level was 1.70 mg/dl in migraine group and 1.85 mg/dl in non migraine group (p=0.001). Serum magnesium level was also lower in severe migraine headache in comparison to mild to moderate headache (p=0.01). No significant difference was found in serum magnesium level compared according to age, sex, frequency of attack and presence or absence of aura. The study concludes that serum magnesium in migraine patients was significantly lower than non migraine group. It was also lower in migraine patient having severe headache in comparison with mild to moderate headache, though in both conditions they were within normal range.

The study was undertaken to investigate the effects of Spirulina platensis on body weight, blood glucose and lipid profile on alloxan induced diabetic rats. Fifteen Long Evans male rats at six weeks of age were used for the experiment. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan@ 150 mg/kg and experiment was carried out for a period of 6 weeks. Rats were divided into three groups of 5 rats each. The groups were i)healthy control, ii) diabetic control with both receiving rats’ pellet as supplement, and iii) diabetic treated with oral administration of Spirulina platensis @ 400 mg/kg bwt. Results from the study showed that Spirulina platensis reduced blood glucose significantly ( P< 0.01) and increased body weight significantly (P< 0.05) in contrast to diabetic control group after 6 weeks. Lipid profile analysis with Spirulina platensis @ 400 mg/kg showed that total cholesterol, plasma triglycerides, and LDL were lowered significantly compared to diabetic groups in contrast to HDL levels which were increased following the use of Spirulina platensis . Our findings showed that oral administration of Spirulina platensis could reduce the adverse effect of alloxan induced diabetes in rats. Based on this research it can be concluded that Spirulina platensis has antihyperglycemic and hypolipidimic effects in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Progressive Agriculture 29 (2): 139-146, 2018

The study aims to evaluate the effect of Tribulus terrestris and Andrographis paniculata on body weight, blood glucose, lipid profile and renal protective capability in alloxan induced type-1 diabetic mice. Six groups of five male Swiss Albino mice each, at four weeks of age were used in this experiment. Group-X were fed saline water and Group-Y with combined herbal formulation at a high dose (1 g/kg bwt) to asses toxicity .The remaining four groups were designated into healthy control, diabetic control , diabetic + Amaryl® 800 µg/kg , Diabetic + Formulation 200 mg/kg bwt .The combined formulation improved body weight loss and lowered blood glucose levels significantly (P

Crop-cut is a widely used and well accepted procedure for estimating rice yield. This yield is then multiplied by the area planted under rice cultivation to determine rice production of the country. In Bangladesh, crop-cut is used to estimate transplanted rice yield. Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) as the public agencies provide estimate on area and production of rice but they use different methods of crop-cut. The estimates of these two agencies on area and production of rice are different posing a question to the users on the reliability of the estimates. An attempt has been made with the objective to formulate a protocol that provides reliable and unique estimates on rice area and production. It is suggested to make at least three cuts in each plot to minimize the chance of over or under estimation of the whole plot yield and the radius of the circle should be 178.5cm so that the cut area becomes 10 m2 in order to easy conversion of the crop-cut yield to t ha-1.Bangladesh Rice j. 2016, 20(1): 11-16

Forecasting of rice area and production is an essential procedure in supporting policy decision regarding food security and environmental issues. The main aim of this paper is to forecast Aus rice area and production in Bangladesh. Box-Jenkins Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) time-series methodology is considered for modeling and forecasting country's Aus rice area and production data commencing from 1971-72 to 2013-14. It was observed that ARIMA (1, 1, 5) and ARIMA (1, 1, 4) model were performed better than the other ARIMA models for forecasting Aus area and production respectively. The Aus rice areas were forecasted 1041.12 and 499.31 thousand hectares and for production it was 2059.642 and 1781.545 thousand metric tons in 2014-15 and 2023-24 respectively. The forecasted Aus rice area and production both were showed a decreasing trend. Government should create an enabling environment to develop HYV rice varieties for Aus rice crop to ensure ongoing food security by increasing cultivated area and production.Bangladesh Rice j. 2016, 20(1): 1-10

Susac syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease, which is characterized by microangiopathic changes that affects the brain, retina and cochlea. A 60-years-old female Muslim housewife, hypertensive, non-diabetic patient was admitted into Ophthalmology department of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh on 18 December 2017 presented with the complains of gross dimness of vision of left eye for 10 years, vitiligo over the whole body for 5years,hearing loss with tinnitus in both ear for one year. Fluoresce in fundus angiography of Left eye shows Central retinal artery occlusionwas treated by Pan retinal photocoagulation in left eye, Magnetic resonance image of brain shows hyper intense lesions in periventricular white mattercorpus callosum, pure tone audiometry shows bilateral sensorineural type of hearing loss. Early diagnosis and early initiation of treatment is important in reducing the permanent disability.

Sympathetic ophthalmitis (SO) is defined as bilateral granulomatous panuveitis occurring after penetrating ocular trauma or intraocular surgery. It is now rare due to micro-surgical repair of ocular injury and use of steroid. An 18 years old boy admitted into Ophthalmology department of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh on 2nd March 2018. He got penetrating corneal injury in R/E with sharp pointed object 01 month back. It was conservatively managed but his right eye became phthisical. After 04 weeks his left eye was affected in which VA became 3/60, features of panuveitis developed. It was managed with high dose steroid and immunomodulatory drug (Azathioprine). Ultimately his vision of left eye is fully preserved (6/6). So, after a trauma or surgery to one eye, another eye should be meticulously examined and followed up. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of Sympathetic Ophthalmitis may prevent from blindness.

Disease of the spinal cord is called myelopathy which are frequently devastating. They produce motor weakness in the form of quadriplegia or paraplegia, sensory impairment, with a definite anatomical level, and loss of sphincteric function far beyond the site of damage. Many spinal cord diseases are reversible if known and treated at an early stage. Purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical presentation and aetiology of myelopathic patients on the basis of history, clinical examination and investigations. Patients getting admission in indoor of Medicine, Neuromedicine and Neurosurgery units of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh from March 2013 to August 2013, having complains of spastic paraplegia and quadriplegia or flaccid type of paralysis with sensory level or bowel bladder disturbance. This cross-sectional descriptive study was done with total 44 myelopathic patients were evaluated. Out of 44 patients, 75% were male and 25% were female (ratio 3:1), mean age 35±13.9 years (range 13-65 years). Among them 54.5% patients had paraparesis and 45.5% patients had quadriparesis. Sensory disturbance had 70.45%, 68.18% had urinary sphincter disturbance and 22.72% had bladder sphincter disturbance. Among the aetiology of myelopathy the commonest cause was cervical spondylotic myelopathy 31.8%, second cause was acute transverse myelitis 20.5% and third cause was Pott's disease 18.2%. It was observed that majority (75%) of them had compressive type and 25% patients had non-compressive type of involvement. Myelopathy was three times more common in male than female. Cervical spondylotic myelopathytransverse myelopathy was the main aetiology of compressive and non compressive myelopathy respectively.

This techno-economic study introduces a framework to study the deployment cost of IoT radio access network and to compare the cost and capacity of LPWAN, LPLAN, and Cellular-IoT systems. There are a plethora of Communication technologies available today. Small rollout and pilot projects are visible for most of the IoT connectivity technologies. However, The economic viability of cellular and non-cellular IoT connectivity technologies are not definite. The primary objective of this work is to analyze the cost structure of SigFox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and WiFi-HaLow. In this paper, we study an urban scenario with the consideration of an Greenfield and Brownfield actor to understand the technology selection strategy of communication service prodvider’s perspective. One of our findings indicates that the maintenance cost is the key cost driver for IoT radio access networks. We also point out certain bounds where a technology is potentially cost-effective.

It is imperious to know the reproductive parameters of the subsisting swine breed for profitable farming in Bangladesh. This study was designed to compare the reproductive parameters of sows at hilly areas between the local and crossbred at farm and backyard level. A total of 116 breedable sows were included. The data on age at puberty, litter size, birth weight, weaning weight, gestation length, interval between farrowing and number of piglets born per sow in local and crossbred sows were determined and direct questionnaire method was used for data collection. The present study revealed that age at puberty between farm and backyard system of crossbred sows was 8.88±0.153 and 9.85±0.221 months, respectively. The farrowing interval was shorter in crossbred sows which were kept in farming system rather than backyard system. The interval between farrowing and onset of estrus was shorter in crossbred sows. The gestation length was almost similar between backyard and farm condition. The number of litter size per sow per farrowing was 8.45±0.41 in crossbred and 7.17±0.250 in local pigs at backyard system. The birth weight and weaning weight were more in farm conditions than backyard system. The age at puberty in local breed was lower than the crossbred and litter size was 8.45±0.407 in crossbred which was higher than local breed 7.17±0.250 in backyard system. These results suggest that reproductive parameters of local sow need to be improved for better production and crossbred sows should be reared for obtaining desired productivity.

A study on Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) was conducted on broiler chicks (N=200+70) of strains: Cobb-500 and Hubbard classic at Laxmipur district of Bangladesh. The blood sample were collected at day old chicks (1st day), pre-vaccinated flocks (11th day) and post-vaccinated flocks (26th day), to measure the antibody titer by indirect ELISA method. Maternal derived antibody (MDA) mean titer of day old chicks (N=40) were found 9621.65 ± 780.78 and 4232.60 ± 301.66 for Cobb-500 and Hubbard classic respectively. MDA mean titer was measured at day eleven chicken (N=60) before vaccination and found 1963.00 ± 143 and 984.16 ± 126.4037 respectively. Of these two titers; Cobb-500 strain was found to be protective (>1000) where Hubbard classic was below protective (

In this paper, a disc-shaped monopole antenna has been investigated for super-wideband applications with a structure of parasitic element. The proposed SWB antenna consists of disc-shaped patch and a partial ground plane with a structure of parasitic element. The parasitic element consists of 4 rectangular embedded slots on the ground plane. This parasitic element on the ground plane leads the UWB frequency band into the SWB frequency band. This proposed SWB antenna is fed by a microstrip line and is printed on low dielectric FR4 material of 1.6 mm thickness. All the simulations are performed using commercially available, finite element method (FEM) based Ansoft high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) software and CST Microwave Studio. Measured results exhibit that the proposed disc-shaped antenna shows a wide bandwidth which covers from 2.90 GHz to more than 20 GHz, with a compact dimension of 25 mm x 33 mm for VSWR = 2062. 22) are a good deal sounder than the existing super wideband antennas which make it appropriate for many wireless communication systems such as L, C, X, UWB, Ku, and SWB bands.

A pot experiment was carried out under semi-controlled environmental condition in the Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh during December 2012 through March 2013 aiming to alleviate the salinity stress effects on chickpea using salicylic acid (SA) and gibberelic acid (GA 3 ). Chickpea variety BARI Chola-5 was used in the experiment. Salt solution was prepared by adding tap water in sea water to make 5, 7.5 and 10 dS m -1 salinity level. Plants were irrigated with 5, 7.5 and 10 dSm -1 concentrations of saline water from 14 th days after sowing (DAS) to maturity (100 DAS) and control plants were irrigated with tap water. Different concentration of SA (200 ppm and 400 ppm) and GA 3 (10 ppm and 20 ppm) were applied as foliar spray once in a week from 20 DAS to flowering stage. The data for chlorophyll content in leaf and water relation traits such as relative water content (RWC) and water retention capacity (WRC) were measured 7 days after foliar spray of plant growth regulators at flowering stage. Total dry weight (root+shoot), yield and yield contributing characters were measured at maturity. Results indicated that salinity decreased total dry weight, chlorophyll content, relative water content, water retention capacity and yield of chickpea. Foliar application of SA and GA 3 at different doses under different salinity conditions had the positive effects related to mitigation of salinity stress effect but low concentration i.e., SA and GA 3 @ 200 ppm and 10 ppm, respectively were found to alleviate the adverse effects significantly on the above parameters at low salinity condition (5 dSm -1 ). Bangladesh Agron. J. 2015, 18(1): 81-88

A new design and analysis of cellular phone casing based on shielding technique is presented in this study to reduce the EM absorption in the human head. A dual band PIFA is designed to operate at 900 MHz and 1900 MHz GSM frequency bands as an internal handset antenna. The specific absorption rate (SAR) in the human head and total absorbed power by the cell phone user are calculated along with antenna performances. It is found that the SAR in the head is reduced due to the proposed casing considerably for both the lower and upper frequency bands. The new mobile casing provides 48.2% reduction in the SAR at 900 MHz and 44.8% reduction at 1900 MHz. In addition, the mobile casing improves the radiation efficiency for 6% and 7% in comparison with without casing configuration at the lower and upper GSM frequency bands respectively.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of the distances between the human head and internal cellular device antenna on the specific absorption rate (SAR). This paper also analyzes the effects of inclination angles between user head and mobile terminal antenna on SAR values. The effects of the metal-glass casing of mobile phone on the SAR values were observed in the vicinity of the human head model. Moreover, the return losses were investigated in all cases to mark antenna performance. This analysis was performed by adopting finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method on Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio. The results indicate that by increasing the distance between the user head and antenna, SAR values are decreased. But the increase in inclination angle does not reduce SAR values in all cases. Additionally, this investigation provides some useful indication for future design of low SAR mobile terminal antenna.

In this paper, we analyze different types of sharing economy services. The sharing economy is a wide concept where many types of activities and services can be included. Overall we aim to identify recurrent patterns but also similarities and differences between different types of sharing services. We discuss a multitude of different services, e.g. car pools, bike pools, sharing of tools and equipment, sharing of land for farming, sharing of parking and homes, and co-working spaces. It is a mix of different set ups regarding if it is commercial or community driven, type of service provider, usage fee or for free, open or closed access.

Pituitary adenoma is the third most common primary intracranial neoplasm involving the adult population with clinical features due to excess or deficient hormone secretion or due to its mass effect. Debate about the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of MRI imaging in detecting pituitary adenoma has been continuing. The study was aimed to evaluate the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of MR imaging in detecting pituitary adenoma. This cross sectional study was conducted in the Department of Radiology and imaging, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib medical University (BSMMU) from July 2013 to August 2015. It was carried out in 50 pituitary adenoma cases of which, 28 male and 22 female to see the impact of MRI in the diagnosis of pituitary of adenoma. Out of 50 cases 43 cases were diagnosed by MRI, 3 were normal and 2 were pituitary apoplexy, one was immature teratoma as confirmed through histopathology. So, MRI has got major impact in the diagnosis of pituitary adenoma.

Internet of Things (IoT) is anticipated as a ‘game changer’ for communication service providers. Numerous IoT devices will deploy in areas where humans already inhabit. It is increasing the importance of indoor area coverage to support IoT services. This again brings the historically important questions, ‘what roles an actor play and who will control the indoor coverage?’ In this paper, we discuss the business actors' roles in IoT indoor service context. We identify the possible roles and activities needed to provide end-to-end indoor IoT services. Additionally, we analyze the actors' roles in IoT ecosystem. We compare the actors' roles in the context of the suitable technology and deployment choices. Our identification of roles and initial analysis shows the impact of technology and rollout choices over network business strategy. With our presented analysis, we evaluate the possible paths for mobile network operators (MNOs) on low-power wide area (LPWAN) or low-power wireless local area (LPWLAN) network deployment.

A multiband compact printed monopole antenna is proposed for mobile phone. In this configuration, the antenna comprises a slotted rectangular-shaped radiator, microstrip-fed line, and a slotted ground plane on FR-4 substrate. The total antenna dimensions with ground plane are 78 x 40 x 0.8 mm(3). The measured results show that the proposed antenna has an impedance bandwidth 358.4 MHz (0.60-0.95 GHz, lower band), and 1 GHz (1.7-2.7 GHz, upper band), which can cover GSM 900 MHz, DCS 1800 MHz, PCS 1900 MHz, GSM 1900 MHz, UMTS 2100 MHz, Bluetooth 2400 MHz, WLAN II.b (2400 MHz), and LTE (2300-2400 MHz) bands. The proposed antenna shows very good radiation efficiencies and gain values and near omnidirectional radiation patterns at those frequency bands. Moreover, the proposed antenna produces lower specific absorption rate values in the human head than that of a dipole antenna, helical antenna, and planar inverted-F antenna. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In this paper, a metamaterial embedded planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) is proposed for cellular phone. A dual band PIFA is designed to operate both GSM 900 MHz and DCS 1800 MHz. The ground plane of conventional PIFA is modified using a double negative (DNG) metamaterial array. The investigation is performed using the Finite Integration Technique (FIT) of CST Microwave Studio. The specific absorption rate (SAR) values are calculated considering two different holding positions-cheek and tilt. The results indicate that the proposed metamaterial embedded antenna produces lower SAR in the human head compared to conventional PIFA. Moreover, the modified antenna substrate leads to slight improvement of the antenna performances.