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The continuously updated database of failures and censored data of numerous products has become large, and on some covariates, information regarding the failure times is missing in the database. As the dataset is large and has missing information, the analysis tasks become complicated and a long time is required to execute the programming codes. In such situations, the divide and recombine (D&R) approach, which has a practical computational performance for big data analysis, can be applied. In this study, the D&R approach was applied to analyze the real field data of an automobile component with incomplete information on covariates using the Weibull regression model. Model parameters were estimated using the expectation maximization algorithm. The results of the data analysis and simulation demonstrated that the D&R approach is applicable for analyzing such datasets. Further, the percentiles and reliability functions of the distribution under different covariate conditions were estimated to evaluate the component performance of these covariates. The findings of this study have managerial implications regarding design decisions, safety, and reliability of automobile components.

The synergistic effect of adding Silicon Carbide (SiC), Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3), and Graphene (GR) nanoparticles into Kevlar fiber-reinforced epoxy composites is investigated in this study. Within the epoxy matrix and Kevlar fibre reinforcement, these nanoparticles come in a variety of compositions. The mechanical and flammability features of the composite are revealed by experimental evaluation. Of the nanoparticles, graphene performs the best; the composite reinforced with graphene shows 324 MPa of tensile strength, 8 J/mm of impact strength, and 75.2 HRC of hardness. The composite layers' interior structure is investigated using scanning electron microscopy examination. To evaluate thermal stability of the composition the thermogravimetric (TG) and the differential thermal analysis (DTA) investigations were performed. Thermal stability is achieved by the graphene-reinforced composite at 775 °C. Additionally, corrosion tests and water absorption tests were conducted to assess the material's moisture sensitivity. The overall goal of the research is to ascertain whether adding various nanoparticles to Kevlar produces the best outcomes; graphene has demonstrated promising results in terms of improving mechanical and thermal stability.

Co-management is a promising forest governance strategy that integrates local communities’ traditional rights and forest dependencies while aiming to improve forest cover and ecosystem health. Bangladesh, facing high deforestation rates and limited per capita forest area, has implemented co-management initiatives since 2003 to restore forest cover and support the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. While the socio-economic impacts of co-management are well studied, its effects on forest cover remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by using three common spectral vegetation indices (NDVI, EVI, and MSAVI), calculated from Landsat 7 data, to analyze forest cover changes in five major protected areas under co-management. The results indicated that dense forest cover (41–71%) was initially prevalent in these areas, but a significant decline occurred between 2004 and 2015, with slope values ranging from −3.7 to −0.96. In contrast, the non-co-managed control site exhibited a much smaller decline (slope: −0.48 to −0.62) across all indices. Notable increases in agricultural land and forest–agriculture mosaics were also observed in the protected areas under co-management. Global Forest Watch data further confirmed substantial forest cover loss, particularly in CWS (158.77 ha) and SNP (0.49 ha). These findings highlight the need to reassess co-management strategies to address ongoing forest degradation.

Native mudskipper (Apocryptes bato) is a freshwater fish species found in the riverine coastal area of Bangladesh. However, nutritional compositions of this fish are still unknown. Thus, as pioneer report, the study aims to determine the chemical compositions, minerals content, amino acids and fatty acids profiles of male and female native mudskipper collected from the Payra River in Bangladesh. The results revealed that female mudskipper had significantly (p

Bangladesh is susceptible to climate change, thus a detailed study, including the analyses of trends, sub-trends, extreme events and indices was conducted to obtain a complete picture of the climate change pattern in Bangladesh utilizing daily rainfall, maximum, minimum and average temperature data of 26 stations from 1975 to 2019 using R 4.0.2 software. For the trend analysis Mann Kendal (MK), modified Mann Kendall (mMK), Innovative Trend Analysis (ITA) and Sen’s slope methods were used. Sub-trend analysis was conducted using ITA. Standard Anomaly Index (SAI) has been used to identify the frequency and severity of extreme events. ClimPACT2 software was used to check the homogeneity and calculate the extremes of temperature and rainfall data. Our analysis showed that during the last four decades, climate variables changed their patterns and trend heterogeneously over Bangladesh. Most stations showed decremental rainfall trend when central part of the country showed a substantial decrease. The northern and central parts of the country showed significant growth of trend for annual average temperature. The temperature in the monsoon season increased, whereas those in dry season decreased. The rainfall and maximum temperature were inversely related during monsoon whereas during dry season both of them decrease. The pre-monsoon and post-monsoonal rainfall also showed decreasing trends, indicating prevailing drought conditions especially in northern and central parts of the country. The SAI analysis showed alternating drought and wet years in almost all the stations. In the past 20 years, the country’s western region experienced more drought years than before whereas the coastal region experienced more wet years. The analysis of climate extreme indices suggests that, Consecutive Dry Days (CDD), Hot Days (TX90P) and Hot Nights (TN90P) show significant increasing trend throughout the country. The agricultural productivity, water resource management and food security are anticipated to benefit from this study.

Background and objectivesChild undernutrition is a leading global health concern, especially in low and middle-income developing countries, including Bangladesh. Thus, the objectives of this study are to develop an appropriate model for predicting the risk of undernutrition and identify its influencing predictors among under-five children in Bangladesh using explainable machine learning algorithms.Materials and methodsThis study used the latest nationally representative cross-sectional Bangladesh demographic health survey (BDHS), 2017-18 data. The Boruta technique was implemented to identify the important predictors of undernutrition, and logistic regression, artificial neural network, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting (XGB) were adopted to predict undernutrition (stunting, wasting, and underweight) risk. The models' performance was evaluated through accuracy and area under the curve (AUC). Additionally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were employed to illustrate the influencing predictors of undernutrition.ResultsThe XGB-based model outperformed the other models, with the accuracy and AUC respectively 81.73% and 0.802 for stunting, 76.15% and 0.622 for wasting, and 79.13% and 0.712 for underweight. Moreover, the SHAP method demonstrated that the father's education, wealth, mother's education, BMI, birth interval, vitamin A, watching television, toilet facility, residence, and water source are the influential predictors of stunting. While, BMI, mother education, and BCG of wasting; and father education, wealth, mother education, BMI, birth interval, toilet facility, breastfeeding, birth order, and residence of underweight.ConclusionThe proposed integrating framework will be supportive as a method for selecting important predictors and predicting children who are at high risk of stunting, wasting, and underweight in Bangladesh.

Background CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 are biologically potential genes responsible for prostate cancer. Aim We aimed to analyse the expression and association of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes in prostate cancer. Subjects and methods Web-based bioinformatics tools were used to assess the association of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes with prostate cancer risks. A case-control study of 210 prostate cancer cases and 207 controls was also approved to determine the allelic variants of the CYP3A4 gene- rs2740574 (CYP3A4*1B) and the variant of CYP3A5 gene-rs776746 (CYP3A5*3) using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The risk of prostate cancer was estimated as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using unrestricted logistic regression models. Results Our in silico data confirmed that both CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genes are significantly associated with higher prostate cancer risks. In the case of CYP3A4*1B polymorphism, the heterozygote (*1 A/*1B), mutant (*1B/*1B), and combined heterozygote plus mutant (*1A/*1B+*1B/*1B) genotypes showed 3.52-fold, 3.90-fold, and 3.67-fold increased risk of prostate cancer, respectively. In the case of CYP3A5*3 polymorphism, the heterozygote (*1/*3), mutant (*3/*3), and combined (*1/*3+*3/*3) genotypes were found to be significantly associated with 5.11-, 5.49-, and 5.28-fold greater risk of prostate cancer, respectively. Conclusion Our results indicate that CYP3A4*1B and CYP3A5*3 are significantly associated with increased prostate cancer risk.

The relationship between ecosystem functions and plant functional traits has been well documented and is considered to be one of the most vital topics in ecology. However, the correlation between anthropogenic disturbance and tree functional trait diversity remains largely unclear. The present study investigates the role of anthropogenic disturbance on selected tree functional traits in Ratargul Swamp Forest (RSF) – the only remnant tropical freshwater swamp forest ecosystem in Bangladesh. We established 50 plots and collected six plant traits, i.e., tree height, specific leaf area (SLA), wood density (WD), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), seed mass, and bark thickness. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to test the interaction between plant functional traits and anthropogenic disturbance in RSF. Our study found that anthropogenic disturbance has a significant (p< 0.05) influence on deciduous swamp forest tree species’ functional traits but none on evergreen tree species’ functional traits. For deciduous trees, disturbance has a significant positive effect on CWM.SLA (p< 0.05) and CWM.Height (p< 0.05) and a negative impact on CWM.Bark-thickness and CWM.Seed-mass (p< 0.05). There were no significant effects of disturbance on CWM.WD and CWM.LDMC. We believe the present study will contribute toward improving our understanding of the effect of disturbances on tree functional trait diversity in tropical human-dominated landscapes where anthropogenic pressure is increasing at an unprecedented rate. It will also function as an essential conservation for related decision-making of Ratargul Swamp Forest in northeastern Bangladesh and elsewhere in the tropics with a similar context.

The advent of antimicrobials-resistant (AMR), including colistin-resistant bacteria, poses a significant challenge to animal and human health, food safety, socio-economic growth, and the global environment. This study aimed to ascertain the colistin resistance prevalence and molecular mechanisms of colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. The colistin resistance was determined using broth microdilution assay, PCR; and Sanger sequencing of mcr genes responsible for colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae (n = 627), including Escherichia coli (436), Salmonella spp. (n = 140), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 51), obtained from chicken and chicken meats. Out of 627 Enterobacteriaceae, 8.6% of isolates exhibited colistin resistance phenotypically. Among these colistin resistant isolates, 9.3% (n = 37) were isolated from chicken meat, 7.2% (n = 11) from the cloacal swab of chicken and 7.9% (n = 6) from the litter samples. Overall, 12.96% of colistin-resistant isolates were positive with mcr genes, in which mcr-1 and mcr-5 genes were determined in 11.11% and 1.85% of colistin-resistant isolates, respectively. The E. coli isolates obtained from chicken meats, cloacal swabs and litter samples were found positive for mcr-1, and Salmonella spp. originated from the chicken meat sample was observed with mcr-5, whereas no mcr genes were observed in K. pneumoniae strains isolated from any of the collected samples. The other colistin resistance genes, including mcr-2, mcr-3, mcr-4, mcr-6, mcr-7, mcr-8, mcr-9, and mcr-10 were not detected in the studied samples. The mcr-1 and mcr-5 genes were sequenced and found to be 100% identical to the mcr-1 and mcr-5 gene sequences available in the NCBI database. This is the first report of colistin resistance mcr-5 gene in Malaysia which could portend the emergence of mcr-5 harboring bacterial strains for infection. Further studies are needed to characterize the mr-5 harbouring bacteria for the determination of plasmid associated with mcr-5 gene.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella provides an exemplar for the One Health approach as it encompasses public and animal health, food safety, and environmental considerations. The contribution of environmental aspects is currently less well-defined. The purpose of this study was to determine the carriage occurrence of non-typhoidal Salmonella in migratory birds in Bangladesh and assess the potential significance to public and animal health. Cloacal swabs (N = 453) were collected in the years 2018–2020 from Tanguar and Hakaluki Haors, important wetland ecosystems in Northeastern Bangladesh. The prevalence of Salmonella was 13.5% (61 positive swabs). Classical serotyping identified six serovars: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars Perth, Kentucky, Albany, Infantis, Weltevreden, and Brancaster. Resistance towards 14 antimicrobials was assessed by broth microdilution minimum inhibitory concentration determination and the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genotype established by whole-genome sequencing. S. Perth and S. Weltevreden isolates were susceptible and harbored no acquired AMR genes. Isolates from the remaining serovars were multidrug resistant, commonly possessing resistance to tetracycline, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin. Salmonella resistant to ciprofloxacin meets WHO criteria for priority pathogens. There was excellent concordance between resistance phenotype and the presence of corresponding AMR genes, many of which reside on Salmonella Genomic Islands. High-level ciprofloxacin resistance correlated with the presence of mutations in the chromosomal gyrB and/or parC genes. The S. Kentucky isolates were ST198, a widely distributed multidrug-resistant lineage reported in humans and animals, and constituting an ongoing risk to public health worldwide. We have demonstrated that multidrug-resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella of public health significance can be recovered from migratory birds. A potential for risk can manifest through direct interaction, transmission to food-producing livestock on farms, and dissemination via the long range migratory movements of birds. Risks can be mitigated by measures including continued surveillance and implementation of good farm biosecurity practices.

Background: and Purposes: The terminology “immune boost-up” was the talk of the topic in this Covid-19 pandemic. A significant number of the people took initiative to increase the body's defense capacity through boosting up immunity worldwide. Considering this, the study was designed to explain the natural products, vitamins and mineral that were proved by clinical trail as immunity enhancer. Methods: Information was retrieved from SciVerse Scopus ® (Elsevier Properties S. A, USA), Web of Science® (Thomson Reuters, USA), and PubMed based on immunity, nutrients, natural products in boosting up immunity, minerals and vitamins in boosting up immunity, and immune booster agents. Result: A well-defined immune cells response provide a-well functioning defense system for the human physiological system. Cells of the immune system must require adequate stimulation so that these cells can prepare themselves competent enough to fight against any unintended onslaught. Several pharmacologically active medicinal plants and plants derived probiotics or micronutrients have played a pivotal role in enhancing the immune boost-up process. Their role has been well established from the previous study. Immune stimulating cells, especially cells of acquired immunity are closely associated with the immune-boosting up process because all the immunological reactions and mechanisms are mediated through these cells. Conclusion: This article highlighted the mechanism of action of different natural products, vitamins and mineral in boosting up the immunity of the human body and strengthening the body's defense system. Therefore, it is recommended that until the specific immune-boosting drugs are available in pharma markets, anyone can consider the mentioned products as dietary supplements to boost up the immunity.

We evaluated the presence of influenza A(H5) virus environmental contamination in live bird markets (LBMs) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. By using Bernoulli generalized linear models and multinomial logistic regression models, we quantified LBM-level factors associated with market work zone–specific influenza A(H5) virus contamination patterns. Results showed higher environmental contamination in LBMs that have wholesale and retail operations compared with retail-only markets (relative risk 0.69, 95% 0.51–0.93; p = 0.012) and in March compared with January (relative risk 2.07, 95% CI 1.44–2.96; p

Objective: In this study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of remdesivir and tocilizumab combination therapy against dexamethasone for the management of severe COVID-19 patients.Methods: This was a multicenter study. Cases were randomly chosen and divided into two groups using an odd–even ratio of 1:1 applied to the hospital registration number. Group A received remdesivir [5 mg/kg (40 kg) on day 1 and then 2.5 mg/kg (40 kg) daily] + tocilizumab [8 mg/kg up to 800 mg highest 12 h apart], and group B was the control and received dexamethasone 6 mg/day. In addition, a broad-spectrum antibiotic and other essential treatments were received by all patients. To evaluate the mortality risk, the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score was calculated on day-1. Treatment outcomes were measured as time to clinical improvement; mortality rate; duration of ICU stay; total period of hospitalization; the rate of (Supplementary Material) oxygen use; time to clinical failure; National Early Warning Score-2 (NEWS), and the percentage of lung recovery on CT of chest on discharge. Clinical trial registration ID: NCT04678739.Results: Remdesivir-Tocilizumab group had a lower mortality rate (25.49%) than the control (30.77%). The time to clinical improvement (Group A-9.41; B-14.21 days), NEWS-2 on discharge (Group A-0.89; B-1.2), duration of ICU stay (Group A-7.68; B-10.58), and duration of hospitalization (Group A-9.91; B-14.68) were less in the treatment group. Group A had a better percentage of lung recovery on chest CT than the control (Group A-22.13; B-11.74). All these differences were statistically significant (p=

Abstract Background Sharing sensitive data across organizational boundaries is often significantly limited by legal and ethical restrictions. Regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Rules (GDPR) impose strict requirements concerning the protection of personal and privacy sensitive data. Therefore new approaches, such as the Personal Health Train initiative, are emerging to utilize data right in their original repositories, circumventing the need to transfer data. Results Circumventing limitations of previous systems, this paper proposes a configurable and automated schema extraction and publishing approach, which enables ad-hoc SPARQL query formulation against RDF triple stores without requiring direct access to the private data. The approach is compatible with existing Semantic Web-based technologies and allows for the subsequent execution of such queries in a safe setting under the data provider’s control. Evaluation with four distinct datasets shows that a configurable amount of concise and task-relevant schema, closely describing the structure of the underlying data, was derived, enabling the schema introspection-assisted authoring of SPARQL queries. Conclusions Automatically extracting and publishing data schema can enable the introspection-assisted creation of data selection and integration queries. In conjunction with the presented system architecture, this approach can enable reuse of data from private repositories and in settings where agreeing upon a shared schema and encoding a priori is infeasible. As such, it could provide an important step towards reuse of data from previously inaccessible sources and thus towards the proliferation of data-driven methods in the biomedical domain.

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is a global issue. In addition to managing acute cases, post-COVID-19 persisting symptoms/complaints and different hematological values are of great concern. These have an impact on the patient's well-being and are yet to be evaluated. Therefore, clinical and primary diagnosis based on routine laboratory findings bears high importance during the initial period of COVID-19, especially in regions with fewer diagnostic facilities.Methods: Clinical information and associated complaints of the COVID-19 illness confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were collected directly from the patients. Regular follow-ups were obtained on the phone every 2 weeks following recovery for 20 weeks. Initial hematological and radiology findings of the hospitalized patients except for intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency units (HDUs) and a follow-up evaluation after 4 weeks following recovery were analyzed.Results: The post-COVID-19 persisting symptoms/complaints were found among 21.4% of symptomatic patients, which persisted for ≥20 weeks and had a significant relationship with the duration of COVID-19 illness and the existing comorbidity (p < 0.05). Post-COVID-19 primary type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM, 0.64%) and hypertension (HTN, 1.28%) and unstable DM (54.55%) and HTN (34.78%) to the pre-existing diabetic and hypertensive patients were observed. Post-recovery remarkable changes in the laboratory values included leukocytosis (16.1%), lymphocytosis (14.5%), and an increased prothrombin time (PT, 25.8%). Abnormalities in the D-dimer, serum ferritin, hemoglobin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) levels were present to an extent. Laboratory findings like chest X-ray, ESR, white blood cell (WBC) count, lymphocyte count, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), serum ferritin, PT, D-dimer, and serum creatinine are important markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 illness (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Post-COVID-19 persisting symptoms and the changes in the laboratory values need to be considered with importance and as a routine clinical measure. Post-COVID-19 periodic follow-up for evaluating the patient's physical condition and the biochemical values should be scheduled with care and managed accordingly to prevent future comorbidity in patients with the post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Infection in nephrotic syndrome (NS) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity, especially during corticosteroid therapy. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of these infections can result in some severe consequences. Common infections are peritonitis, meningitis, pneumonitis, and cellulitis. They may even cause abdominal abscess formation. Although literature review reveals abdominal abscesses in NS, multiple loculated peritoneal abscesses are rare in childhood NS. Here, we report a case of multiple loculated peritoneal abscesses in an 8-year-old male child with NS.

Invertase, the key enzyme responsible for sucrose hydrolysis. Inhibition of invertase can decrease the postprandial blood sugar level in diabetic patients and keep the blood glucose level normal where cytotoxicity to fast-growing cells like those of brine shrimp (Artemia salina) nauplii is a great measurement for further important drug development like anticancer drugs. This study was aimed to investigate potential anti-diabetic and cytotoxic activities of the ethanol and acetone extracts of Swietenia macrophylla leaves, Syzygium cumini and Trigonella foenum-graecum seeds. Invertase inhibition activities of S. macrophylla leaves, S. cumini, and T. foenum-graecum seeds were measured by spectrophotometrically using standard protocols and cytotoxicities were measured by brine shrimp lethality bioassay. Among the plant extracts, all ethanol extracts showed higher invertase inhibition activities than all acetone extracts. S. cumini seed ethanol extract showed the highest invertase inhibition activity whereas S. macrophylla leaves acetone extract showed the lowest invertase inhibition activity. The maximum toxicity was observed in ethanol extract of T. foenum-graecum seed whereas the lowest toxicity was observed in acetone extract of S. macrophylla leaves. Both ethanol and acetone extract of T. foenum-graecum seeds showed significant cytotoxic activities. This investigation suggested that S. cumini and T. foenum-graecum seeds possess potential antidiabetic activities and T. foenum-graecum seeds have potential cytotoxicity.

ZnGeN2 films were grown on GaN-on-sapphire templates via metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy was used to estimate the Zn/(Zn + Ge) composition ratio in the films. This ratio decreased with an increase in growth temperature but increased with an increase in total reactor pressure or the Zn/Ge precursor flow rate ratio. Systematic mapping of these key growth parameters has allowed us to identify the growth window to achieve ZnGeN2 with stoichiometric cation composition. Compositional and statistical analyses performed on data acquired from atom probe tomography provided insight into the local compositional homogeneity. The cations Zn and Ge did not demonstrate segregation or clustering at the sub-nanometer level. Based on x-ray diffraction 2θ–ω scan profiles and transmission electron microscope nano-diffraction patterns, the films with near-stoichiometric cation ratios were single crystalline with planar surfaces, whereas zinc-rich or zinc-poor films were polycrystalline with nonplanar surfaces. The growth direction of the single crystalline ZnGeN2 films on GaN templates was along the c-axis. Room temperature Raman spectra showed features associated with the phonon density of states, indicating the presence of cation disorder in the lattice. A cathodoluminescence peak associated with transitions involving deep level defects was observed around 640 nm. The intensity of this peak increased by almost 2.5 times as the temperature was reduced to 77 K from room temperature. A similar peak was observed in the photoluminescence spectra collected at 80 K.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine whether regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25+T, Tregs) show abnormal mitophagy as well as the function of Tregs in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).Methods: CD4+T cells and CD4+CD25+Treg cells were obtained from 15 patients with MG (MG group) and 15 controls (N group). Tregs from the MG group were subjected to rapamycin-induced culture for 48 h (Rapa group) and 3-methyladenine-induced culture for 48 h (3-MA group). The levels of mitophagy in Tregs were then observed through electron and confocal microscopy. Expression of the autophagy-related protein LC3-II was detected by western blotting, and mitochondrial function in each group was evaluated by flow cytometry. Inhibition of Treg cell proliferation was detected by flow cytometry.Results: Mitophagy in the MG group was lower than that in the N group; it was higher in the Rapa group compared to that in the MG group and lowered in the 3-MA group than in the MG group. Expression of the autophagy-related protein LC3-II was lower in the MG group than in the N group, higher in the Rapa group than in the MG group, and lower in the 3-MA group than in the MG group. The mitochondrial membrane potential was lower in the MG group compared to that in the N group; it was higher in the Rapa group than in the MG group and lowered in the 3-MA group than in the MG group. Inhibition of Treg proliferation was lower in the MG group than in the N group; it was higher in the Rapa group than in the MG group and lowered in the 3-MA group than in the MG group.Conclusion: The decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and mitophagy in Tregs in the MG group may be related to a decreased inhibition of Treg proliferation. The mitochondrial membrane potential was increased after adding the autophagy agent Rapa to enhance mitophagy, and the proliferation inhibition function of Tregs was also enhanced. The autophagy agent 3-MA down-regulated mitophagy, which decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential and inhibitory effect of Tregs. These results reveal the possible cellular immune mechanism of Treg dysfunction in MG.

This paper investigated the growth of (AlxGa1−x)2O3 thin films on semi-insulating (010) Ga2O3 substrates over the entire Al composition range (0% < x ≤ 100%) via metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). For the Al composition x < 27%, high quality single phase β-(AlxGa1−x)2O3 was achieved. A mixture of β and γ phases existed in (AlxGa1−x)2O3 when Al composition ranged between 27% and 40%, whereas a single γ-phase was observed for the films with Al composition x > 40%. The transition from the β to γ phase in AlGaO alloys was observed from x-ray diffraction spectra. The growth of γ-phase AlGaO with higher Al content was further confirmed via atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy imaging and nanodiffraction. Compositional and statistical analyses performed on data acquired from atom probe tomography provided insight on the local compositional homogeneity in AlGaO films with different Al compositions. For AlGaO with pure β or γ phases, the Al composition distribution showed homogeneity with similar Al composition values as extracted from the x-ray diffraction peak positions. For AlGaO films with mixed β and γ phases, inhomogeneity in the Al composition distribution became more obvious in the nm scale. A mechanism was proposed for the observed phase transformation between β and γ phases in MOCVD growth of AlGaO films.

BACKGROUND:Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a major mental disorder which not only affects the personal and social functioning of an individual, but also inflicts a huge economic burden on the family. Yet, the study of BPD in Bangladesh is rare and poorly documented. Responding to the dire need, we conducted a new study to determine the prevalence of, and detect the associated factors of, BPD among married women in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. METHODS:We conducted a cross-sectional study, selecting households in Rajshahi City using a multi-stage random sampling design. The data consisted of 279 married women, who were screened for BPD using the bipolar spectrum diagnostic scale (BSDS). Frequency distribution, chi-square test and binary logistic regression model were used respectively to determine the prevalence, identify the associated factors and quantify their effects on BPD. RESULTS:The prevalence of BPD among married women in Rajshahi City was 2.5%, with an additional 7.2% classified as probable BPD. A binary logistic regression analysis established the following six main factors of BPD: (1) comorbid mental disorder [AOR = 8.232, 95% CI = (1.397, 50.000), p

Abstract Background Previous studies have investigated the associations of paraoxonase 1 (PON1) rs854560 polymorphism with plasma lipid levels, but the results are inconclusive. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the associations of the rs854560 polymorphism with plasma lipid levels. Methods A comprehensive search of the literature was carried out by using the databases which include Medline, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang and VIP database up till August 2018. The pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the differences in lipid levels between the genotypes. Begg’s funnel plots and Egger’s test were used to examine the publication bias. Results A total of 41 studies (22,844 subjects) were identified for the associations of rs854560 polymorphism with plasma lipid levels. The M carriers had lower levels of high-density lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C) (SMD = − 0.15, 95% CI = − 0.23--0.07, P

Background: Myeloma, the most common malignant disease of bone, is incurable and occurring with increasing frequency in elderly population. Typical clinical features are weakness, fatigability, bone pain, anemia, renal insufficiency and hypercalcemia. Incidental discovery on comprehensive laboratory panels is common. Serum or urine protein electrophoresis or immunofixation and bone marrow aspirate analysis help the diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Objective: The aim of this study was to define and evaluate the clinico-laboratory features of newly diagnosed adult multiple myeloma (MM) patients in the context of Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in two centers, from October 2005 to January 2010 in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and July 2012 to June 2017 in Enam Medical College and Hospital (EMCH). Thirty two diagnosed valid cases of multiple myeloma were included in this study. Clinical history, physical and relevant laboratory findings were carefully recorded and analyzed. Results: In this study among 32 patients, 29 were males and 3 were females with mean age 51.94 ± 10.09 years. The common complaints were bone pain, weakness and fatigue. The common clinical findings were bone tenderness, pallor and high ESR (ESR of all the study patients was more than 100 mm in 1st hour). Hemoglobin level was 5.5 mg/L in 15 patients. Three patients were hypercalcemic. Lytic lesions were the most common radiological finding in the study. Conclusion: This study showed that multiple myeloma is a disease of the middle and elderly aged population with male preponderance, with high male female ratio. Multivenued studies are needed to view the real picture of multiple myeloma in the context of Bangladesh.

Abstract Background Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is playing a key role in therapeutic decision making for the cancer prognosis and treatment. The NGS technologies are producing a massive amount of sequencing datasets. Often, these datasets are published from the isolated and different sequencing facilities. Consequently, the process of sharing and aggregating multisite sequencing datasets are thwarted by issues such as the need to discover relevant data from different sources, built scalable repositories, the automation of data linkage, the volume of the data, efficient querying mechanism, and information rich intuitive visualisation. Results We present an approach to link and query different sequencing datasets (TCGA, COSMIC, REACTOME, KEGG and GO) to indicate risks for four cancer types – Ovarian Serous Cystadenocarcinoma (OV), Uterine Corpus Endometrial Carcinoma (UCEC), Uterine Carcinosarcoma (UCS), Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Endocervical Adenocarcinoma (CESC) – covering the 16 healthy tissue-specific genes from Illumina Human Body Map 2.0. The differentially expressed genes from Illumina Human Body Map 2.0 are analysed together with the gene expressions reported in COSMIC and TCGA repositories leading to the discover of potential biomarkers for a tissue-specific cancer. Conclusion We analyse the tissue expression of genes, copy number variation (CNV), somatic mutation, and promoter methylation to identify associated pathways and find novel biomarkers. We discovered twenty (20) mutated genes and three (3) potential pathways causing promoter changes in different gynaecological cancer types. We propose a data-interlinked platform called BIOOPENER that glues together heterogeneous cancer and biomedical repositories. The key approach is to find correspondences (or data links) among genetic, cellular and molecular features across isolated cancer datasets giving insight into cancer progression from normal to diseased tissues. The proposed BIOOPENER platform enriches mutations by filling in missing links from TCGA, COSMIC, REACTOME, KEGG and GO datasets and provides an interlinking mechanism to understand cancer progression from normal to diseased tissues with pathway components, which in turn helped to map mutations, associated phenotypes, pathways, and mechanism.

Background: Though paediatric spinal anaesthesia has been used since early 20th century in developed countries even in neonates, still it is not common in our country. Spinal anaesthesia can be given in neonates and children for infraumbilical surgeries with an expert and experienced anaesthesiologist. Objective: The objective of this study was to establish spinal anaesthesia as a safe and effective regional anaesthetic procedure in children of 4–10 years. Materials and Methods: The study was done in the Department of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care Unit of Enam Medical College & Hospital during the period of June 2012 to May 2014. A total of 102 patients aged from 4 to 10 years with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA)-I and II were selected. After proper preoperative anaesthetic evaluation spinal anaesthesia was administered. All patients were premedicated with atropine, preloaded with crystalloid solution and sedated with ketamine 1 mg/kg or midazolam 0.03 mg/kg. 0.5% hyperberic bupivacaine was injected at L4/5 or L5/S1 level with spinocaine needle. After establishment of desired block, surgery was performed. All vital parameters, number of attempts for lumbar puncture, sensory and motor block were monitored and recorded. Results: Almost all patients achieved desired block (T8–T10) within 5 to 10 minutes. The success rate in our study was 96.1% and remaining 3.9% were considered as failure. No remarkable changes were observed in vital parameters after spinal anaesthesia. Lumbar puncture was successful in first attempt in 60 (58.82%) cases and in second attempt in 42 (41.18%) cases. Hypotension occurred in 2%, shivering in 3% and 3% developed restlessness. Conclusion: Spinal anaesthesia produces a reliable, profound and uniformly distributed block with rapid onset, good muscle relaxation, complete control of cardiovascular and stress responses compared with epidural or GA. There is also rapid recovery and minimal complications without special drugs or expensive equipments. However, greater acceptance and experience are still desired for this technique to become more popular.

Low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) has been used to produce high quality β-Ga2O3 materials with controllable n-type doping. In this work, we focus on the studies of key LPCVD growth parameters for β-Ga2O3 thin films, including oxygen/carrier gas flow rates, growth temperature, pressure, and the substrate to Ga crucible distance. These growth parameters play important roles during the LPCVD β-Ga2O3 growth and determine the thin film growth rate, n-type dopant incorporation, and electron mobilities. The dependence of the growth parameters on LPCVD of β-Ga2O3 was carried out on both conventional c-plane sapphire and 6 degree off-axis (toward ⟨11-20⟩ direction) sapphire substrates. To better understand the precursor transport and gas phase reaction process during the LPCVD growth, a numerical model for evaluating the growth rate was developed by using a finite element method and taking into account the gas flow rate, chamber pressure, and chamber geometry. The results from this work can provide guidance for the optimization of the LPCVD growth of β-Ga2O3 with targeted growth rate, surface morphology, doping concentration, and mobility. In addition, β-Ga2O3 grown on off-axis c-sapphire substrates features with faster growth rates with higher electron mobilities within a wide growth window.

Endometrial cancer (EC) arises from the lining of the uterus, and is a common female genital tract malignancy of post-menopausal women. Breast cancer (BC) is one of the risk factors for EC, but the molecular pathways and core genes shared by these two diseases have not yet been elucidated. In this study, we sought to identify the common molecular pathways and prognostic hub proteins in EC and BC that can be used for the prediction of the progression. We employed the statistical method Limma to perform differential analysis of transcriptomes of EC and BC downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus. The gene functional annotations were performed through gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analysis. Hub proteins were identified from the protein-protein interactions (PPI) network analysis using the STRING database, and survival analysis was done on the hub proteins to assess the prognostic values using SurvExpress. We analyzed the EC and BC transcriptomics datasets individually, and 57 common differentially expressed genes were identified, shared by both EC and BC. GO and pathway analysis showed that 57 commonly dysregulated genes were involved in several altered molecular pathways, including protein digestion and absorption, cysteine and methionine metabolism, ECM-receptor interaction, and drug metabolism. We have detected key hub proteins (CDC20, EZH2, TOP2A, SPTBN1) based on a topological analysis of the PPI network which play vital roles in the progression and regulation of EC and BC. The survival analysis of the hub genes demonstrated that they were significantly associated with worse survival outcomes in EC and BC. In the present study, we have identified novel pathways shared by EC and BC at the molecular level, and also identified possible gene expression links between EC and BC. Keywords: Endometrial cancer, Breast cancer, Differentially expressed genes, Molecular pathways, Protein–protein interaction, Survival analysis

Aim: Diffuse low-grade glioma (LGG) patients have a tendency to develop glioblastoma multiforme within 5–10 years, with only 15 months life expectancy. The present study aimed to decode a diagnostic and prognostic gene signature in LGG and identify repositioned potential candidate biomarker therapeutics. Methods: We have utilized a publicly available transcriptomics dataset to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) using Limma. The functional annotation of the DEGs was performed to identify Gene Ontology and pathways. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of the (DEGs) encoding proteins was analyzed utilizing STRING via NetworkAnalyst. The ROC analysis and survival analysis of the hub gene was also performed in R and SurvExpress-a biomarker validation tool. We have utilized the L1000CDS2 to identify candidate small molecules or drugs to target the diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Results: We have identified 238 genes as DEGs in LGG compared to non-LGG samples involved in the biological process of signaling and metabolic systems. We then identified molecular pathways enriched by the DEGs including the VEGF signaling pathway, Fc epsilon RI signaling pathway, and p38 signaling mediated by MAPKAP kinases. We identified hub proteins (MAPK11, MRPL1, RAF1, CDC20, NOP2, TUBB4B, CTNND1, PWP2, FGR, BMP2) from PPI analysis. The ROC and survival analysis of the hub genes revealed that these biomarkers can be utilized as diagnostic and prognostic biomarker signatures in LGG. Several novel candidate drugs were repositioned; among them penfluridol, perheiline maleate is used for purposes other than cancer. Other repositioned drugs: AG14361, NCGC00185094-01, BRD-K61717269, C8273, BRD-A28970875, KIN001-127, BYL719, JW-7-24-1, HG-6-64-01, radicicol, MK-2206, and WZ-4-14 have not been described in the literature for treatment purposes. Conclusions: Our analysis of LGG datasets identified 10 hub genes as diagnostic and prognostic signatures, and the candidate repositioned drugs linked to these biomarkers. These biomolecules and repositioned drugs may be utilized as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, and for development of a treatment strategy for LGG. Keywords: Low grade glioma, Diagnostic gene signature, Prognostic gene signature, Protein-protein interaction, Drug repositioning, Molecular biomarkers

Cancer is a major cause of death throughout the world. Oral cancer is one of the six most frequently occurring cancer.1 In Bangladesh, the number of new cancer cases of whole body per year is about 200000 of which oral cancer is about 20%.2 In our neighboring country India, accounts for thirty-five percent of all newly diagnosed cancers in men. The etiology of oral cancer is well established in most instances with consumption of tobacco in any form and alcohol being the most common etiologic agents. Recently, however, exposure to the human papilloma virus has been implicated in young patients with oral carcinoma. The exact mechanism of carcinogenesis in this setting remains to be elucidated .3 Surgery is the most well established mode of initial definitive treatment for a majority of oral cancers. The factors that affect the choice of treatment are related to the tumor and the patient. Primary site, location, proximity to bone and depth of infiltration are factors, which influence particular surgical approach. Advanced reconstructive techniques that allow free transfer of soft tissue and bone improve the functional and aesthetic outcomes following major ablative surgery .Over the course of the past thirty years there has been improvement in the overall survival of patients with oral carcinoma largely due to the improved understanding of the biology of local progression, early identification and treatment of metastatic lymph nodes in the neck and employment of adjuvant post-operative radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Either the role of surgery in oral cancer has evolved with integration of multidisciplinary treatment approaches employing chemotherapy and radiotherapy sequentially or concurrently .Surgical expertise is required for rehabilitation of functional and aesthetic defects created by initial treatment of cancer. Thus, surgery and services of a surgeon remain central to the management of oral cancer.4 A cross sectional study of 31patients undergoing surgery for the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma was carried out at Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery ,Dhaka Dental college & hospital from May 2016 to July2017. Here 31 patients, of them male 13 and female 18 having 31 to 80years age ranges of oral squamous cell carcinoma who underwent surgery and reconstruction were included in this study. All patients were referred to oncologist after surgery. Aim of this study was to assess the status of disease, to provide the patient surgical treatment as a first line therapy, to find out any post-operative complications. Update Dent. Coll. j: 2018; 8 (2): 10-13

The retrospective cross sectional study was undertaken to determine the pattern and different meth- ods of treatment of mandible fractures. Four hundred and thirty five patients with mandibular fractures were treated during the year 2014-2015. Among the patients attended with facial trauma during men- tioned period at casualty department of Dhaka Dental College hospital with the mandible fracture not associated with others facial bone fracture who were managed in this department and whose clinical record file are available in our record book were included in this study. A review of patients’ records and radiographs was conducted. Data regarding age, gender, cause of fracture, anatomic site and treatment modalities were reviewed. Data were presented by table and diagram. Age, location of fracture in table form, gender distribution, treatment in pie chart, etiology of fracture by histogram. There was higher prevalence in male (3.9:1), with occurrence peak between 21-30 years. The princi- pal causes of fracture in this study were RTA (Road Traffic Accidents) representing 54.02 %( n=235), followed by physical assault 17.24% (n=75), Fall, Sports injury, Blow by heavy objects, Tube well injury & others. The most injured sites were in decreasing order parasymphysis (26.31%) followed by angle of mandible 17.89% then symphysis, condyle, body of mandible dentoalveolar, ramus, coronoid process of mandible. Most patients of mandibular fractures were treated by closed reduction (arch bar, arch bars with intermaxillary fixation IMF,eyelet wiring& lateral compression plate). Rest of the patients were treated with open reduction ( miniplates fixation. 3D plate fixation) .Only 8.05% patients were managed by conservative approach. This study reflects patterns of mandibular fracture within the community and discuuss various methods of mandible fracture management in the department of Maxillofacial casualty in Dhaka Dental college hospital. It is hoped that assessment presented here will be valuable to government agencies and health care professionals involved in planning future programs of prevention & treatment of mandible fracture. Update Dent. Coll. j: 2018; 8 (1): 11-16

Background and purposeThe aim of this study was to systematically review the efficacy and tolerability of gabapentin in the treatment of sleep disturbance in patients with medical illness.MethodsPubMed was searched for randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials that reported sleep changes during gabapentin treatment up to November 2015.FindingsThis review included 26 studies involving 4,684 participants. Except for Composite Endpoint 3 [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.09, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.05–0.22] compared with the placebo group, the gabapentin group showed superior outcomes on our endpoints: Composite Endpoint 1 (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.28–0.71), Composite Endpoint 2 (SMD = −0.53, 95% CI: −0.77 to −0.30), Composite Endpoint 4 (SMD = −0.38, 95% CI: −0.58 to −0.19), Composite Endpoint 5 [risk ratio (RR) = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.24–2.58], and Composite Endpoint 6 (RR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.32–0.72). However, the patients in the gabapentin group showed worse tolerance than those in the placebo group (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.08–1.76).ImplicationsThis study is the first to systematically assess the clinical value of gabapentin for the treatment of sleep disorders. We found that regardless the type of sleep outcomes, gabapentin displayed stable treatment efficacy for sleep disturbance in patients with medical illness. However, when an average dose of approximately 1,800 mg/day was used, the risk of treatment discontinuation or drug withdrawal was relatively high. We recommend that further studies confirm these findings in patients with primary sleep disorders.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative results of mandibular parasymphysis fracture containing tooth in the fracture line. Materials and methods: The study was conducted at department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Dhaka Dental College and hospital. A total of 20 Patients included as study population, who were divided into two groups. Group I (retained group) consisted of 10 patients (50%) in which the teeth were retained in the fracture line. Group II (Extracted group) consisted of 10 patients (50%) in which teeth were extracted following specific criteria. All Patients were treated by open reduction and fixation with stainless steel miniplate and monocortical screw. Patients were followed up at 1st week, 8th week,12th week and 24th week of postoperative period and evaluated for healing related complications of fracture like infection, delayed union, malunion, and nonunion. Results: Out of 20 cases 3 patients (15%) had developed complications. In the retained group only one complication developed which was malunion. Where as in the extracted group two complications developed, one was delayed union and another one was infection. Postoperative complications rate in retained group was 10% and in extracted group it was 20%. In the early postoperative period the frequency of infection was more in both group and was decreased gradually with passage of time. In the 1st week of postoperative period the infection rate in extracted group was 20%. On the other hand in retained group it was 10%. No case of infection was found at following 8th and 12th week. After 24th week, 10% infection rate was found in extracted group and it was 0% in retained group. 10% delayed union was found in extracted group but absent in retained group. No case of malunion was found in extracted group but it was 10% in retained group. The complications rates were lesser in retained group than extracted group. Conclusion: Teeth associated with mandibular parasymphysis fracture should not be removed on a prophylactic basis to reduce the risk of complications of fractures site without an absolute indication for removal. Update Dent. Coll. j: 2016; 6 (2): 06-12

Deep neck infection is an infection in the potential spaces and fascial planes of either with abscess formation or cellulitis .However some of may still result in fatal complications. This paper described the etiology of deep neck infection, their predisposing factors and microbial pattern. More than 50% subject of this study were of younger age group ( below 40 years) with male predominance (65%). Regarding the neck space submandibular space was the most commonly involved(32%). Etiology of neck abscess showed that odontogenic cause was the most common (60%) among the respondent, then come infected cyst, tumour. Among the predisposing factors of deep neck infection, Anaemia comprises the highest percentage (45.2%). Then comes diabetes and Liver disease, Oral hygiene, index relates with the odontogenic cause. Among the odontogenic cause patient (71.8%) had poor oral hygiene index. Regarding microbial pattern streptococcus was the highest predominance followed by Staphylococcus and E coli. This results correlates with the common dental infective microorganism which also stands for odontogenic cause of deep neck abscess. This study concluded that maintenance of good oral hygiene can prevent deep neck abscess and their devastating effect of Bangladeshi people. Update Dent. Coll. j: 2016; 6 (2): 13-20

Chronic exposure to arsenic is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, plausible biomarker for early prediction and the underlying mechanism of arsenic-related CVD have not yet been clearly understood. Endothelial dysfunction plays a central role in the development of CVD. We hypothesized that endothelial damage or dysfunction is an important aspect and may be an early event of arsenic-related CVD. Soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) in serum is thought to be a specific and stable marker for endothelial damage or dysfunction. This study was designed to evaluate the association between chronic exposure to arsenic and sTM among human subjects in arsenic-endemic and non-endemic rural areas in Bangladesh. A total of 321 study subjects (217 from arsenic-endemic areas and 104 from a non-endemic area) were recruited. Subjects' arsenic exposure levels (i.e., drinking water, hair and nail arsenic concentrations) were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy. The subjects' serum sTM levels were quantified by immunoassay kit. The average sTM levels of the subjects in arsenic-endemic and non-endemic areas were 4.58 ± 2.20 and 2.84 ± 1.29 (ng mL-1) respectively, and the difference was significant (p

Aerobic rice has the advantage of saving water. Most published work has focused on improving its yield, while few reported on its micronutrient status. In fact, Fe deficiency is a common nutritional problem in the production of aerobic rice. Short-term hydroponic culture experiments were conducted to study the response of aerobic rice to Fe deficiency and the effect of root exudates from Fe-deficient wheat on its Fe uptake ability. The results indicate that the amount of phytosiderophores (PS) released from aerobic rice did not increase under Fe deficient conditions. The Fe(III) reducing capacity of Fe-deficient aerobic rice did not increase and the solution pH did not decrease significantly. What's more, no obvious swelling was observed in the root tips. Aerobic rice did not show special responses to improve their Fe nutrition under Fe deficiency as both strategy I and II plants though they were very sensitive to Fe deficiency. This may be a reason which causes Fe deficiency problem in aerobic rice. However, root exudates from Fe-deficient wheat (PSw) could improve its Fe nutrition in the presence of insoluble Fe(OH)3. This suggests that aerobic rice could utilize Fe activated by PSw.

Objective: To evaluate the protective role of leaves of Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) Lam. against arsenic-induced toxicity in mice. Methods: Swiss albino male mice were divided into four groups. The first group was used as non-treated control group while, the second, third, and fourth groups were treated with M. oleifera leaves (50 mg/kg body weight per day), sodium arsenite (10 mg/kg body weight per day) and sodium arsenite plus M. oleifera leaves, respectively. Serum indices related to cardiac, liver and renal functions were analyzed to evaluate the protective effect of Moringa leaves on arsenic-induced effects in mice. Results: It revealed that food supplementation of M. oleifera leaves abrogated the arsenic-induced elevation of triglyceride, glucose, urea and the activities of alkaline phospatase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in serum. M. oleifera leaves also prevented the arsenic-induced perturbation of serum butyryl cholinesterase activity, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conclusions: The results indicate that the leaves of M. oleifera may be useful in reducing the effects of arsenic-induced toxicity.