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Objective We described the clinical and laboratory characteristics of acute kidney injury (AKI) in infants with diarrhea. Methods This medical record analysis was conducted in Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research Bangladesh from January to December 2015. Infants with elevated serum creatinine (>50 µmol/L) constituted cases (n = 146). We randomly selected 150 infants with normal creatinine levels as the controls. Both groups had diarrhea. Events occurring from admission to discharge were analyzed and compared to assess differences in characteristics of the groups. Results Among the 146 patients with AKI, 130 (89%) were discharged after recovery. Logistic regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders (such as oral rehydration salt intake at home, convulsions, abnormal mentation, and hypoxemia) showed that infants with AKI were independently associated with hypernatremia (odds ratio (OR) = 8.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.88–19.22), sepsis (OR = 4.71, 95% CI = 2.07–10.73), and severe dehydration (OR = 3.76, 95% CI = 1.78–7.95). Persistently elevated creatinine was associated with radiological pneumonia (OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.09–4.31) and sepsis (OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.14–4.40). Conclusion Dehydration, sepsis, and hypernatremia were found to be associated with AKI in diarrheal infants. After proper correction of dehydration, persistently elevated creatinine could be associated with sepsis and pneumonia.

Background: Although phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) is endorsed as the standard for secondline drug testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it is slow and laborious. Methods: We evaluated the accuracy of two faster, easier methodologies that provide results for multiple drugs: a genotypic TaqMan® Array Card (TAC) and the Sensititrew MYCOTBTM plate. Both methods were tested at three central laboratories in Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Thailand with 212 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates and compared with the laboratories' phenotypic method in use. Results: The overall accuracy for ethambutol, streptomycin, amikacin, kanamycin, ofloxacin, and moxifloxacin vs. the phenotypic standard was 87% for TAC (range 70-99) and 88% for the MYCOTB plate (range 76-98). To adjudicate discordances, we re-defined the standard as the consensus of the three methods, against which the TAC and MYCOTB plate yielded 94-95% accuracy, while the phenotypic result yielded 93%. Some isolates with genotypic mutations and high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were phenotypically susceptible, and some isolates without mutations and low MIC were phenotypically resistant, questioning the phenotypic standard. Conclusions: In our view, the TAC, the MYCOTB plate, and the conventional phenotypic method have similar performance for second-line drugs; however, the former methods offer speed, throughput, and quantitative DST information.

Background Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for large numbers of hospital-related and community-acquired infections. In this study, we investigated the presence of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in 100 samples from animals (55 cattle, 36 dogs, and 9 cats) and 150 samples from hospitalized human patients. The samples were collected from healthy and diseased animals and from diseased humans and included milk, wound swab, pus, exudates, nasal swab and diabetic ulcer. Initially, S. aureus was isolated and identified by colony morphology, Gram staining, and biochemical tests (catalase and coagulase tests). The S. aureus-positive samples were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine their MRSA status. Results Of the 100 animal samples, 29 were positive for S. aureus. Four samples (13.8%) from dogs were MRSA-positive, but samples from cattle and cats were MRSA-negative. Of the 150 human samples we collected, 64 were S. aureus-positive and, of these, 34 (53.1%) were MRSA-positive. Most (28%) of the MRSA samples were isolated from surgical wound swabs, followed by the pus from skin infections (11%), exudates from diabetic ulcers (6%), exudates from burns (4%), and aural swabs (3%). By contrast, a low MRSA detection rate (n = 4) was seen in the non-human isolates, where all MRSA bacteria were isolated from nasal swabs from dogs. The antimicrobials susceptibility testing results showed that S. aureus isolates with mecA genes showed resistance to penicillin (100%), oxacillin (100%), erythromycin (73.5%), ciprofloxacin (70.6%), and gentamicin (67.7%). The lowest resistance was found against ceftazidime, and no vancomycin-resistant isolates were obtained. Conclusions We detected S. aureus and MRSA in both human and canine specimens. Isolates were found to be resistant to some of the antimicrobials available locally. MRSA carriage in humans and animals appears to be a great threat to effective antimicrobials treatment. The prudent use of antimicrobials will reduce the antimicrobial resistance. Our findings will help to find the most appropriate treatment and to reduce antimicrobial resistance in the future by implementing prudent use of antimicrobials. Further studies are required to better understand the epidemiology of MRSA human–animal inter-species transmission in Bangladesh. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12917-018-1611-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cultivation of shrimp mostly in unplanned way has been considered as one of the major environmental disasters of Shamnagar. Villagers surrounding the rivers are mainly involved with fish (shrimp) cultivation. So, fertile agriculture land has been converted to shrimp cultivation. Conversion of agriculture land to other usage is a common but acute problem for land resources of the country like Bangladesh. Conventional methods for collecting this information are relatively costly and time consuming. Contrarily, Remote Sensing satellite observation with its unique capability to provide cost-effective support in compiling the latest information about the natural resource. Remote sensing, in conjunction with GIS, has been widely applied and been recognized as a powerful and effective tool in detecting land use and land cover changes. RapidEye, Landsat8 images were used to identify land use and land cover of the area during the period 2008 and 2015. Google images were used to identify the micro-level land use features of the same period. Multi-spectral classifications using unsupervised and supervised classification were done and results have been compared based on the field investigation. The study reveals that during the period 2008 to 2015 agricultural practice has been reduced from 35 % to 21 % and shrimp cultivation area increased from 38 % to 50 %. Due to the impact of high salinity and salt water intrusion caused by natural disaster, agricultural activities is reduced and farmers have been converted to other practices, as a result shrimp farming is gaining popularity in the area.

Although phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) is endorsed as the standard for second-line drug testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it is slow and laborious.We evaluated the accuracy of two faster, easier methodologies that provide results for multiple drugs: a genotypic TaqMan(®) Array Card (TAC) and the Sensititre(®) MYCOTB(TM) plate. Both methods were tested at three central laboratories in Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Thailand with 212 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates and compared with the laboratories' phenotypic method in use.The overall accuracy for ethambutol, streptomycin, amikacin, kanamycin, ofloxacin, and moxifloxacin vs. the phenotypic standard was 87% for TAC (range 70-99) and 88% for the MYCOTB plate (range 76-98). To adjudicate discordances, we re-defined the standard as the consensus of the three methods, against which the TAC and MYCOTB plate yielded 94-95% accuracy, while the phenotypic result yielded 93%. Some isolates with genotypic mutations and high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were phenotypically susceptible, and some isolates without mutations and low MIC were phenotypically resistant, questioning the phenotypic standard.In our view, the TAC, the MYCOTB plate, and the conventional phenotypic method have similar performance for second-line drugs; however, the former methods offer speed, throughput, and quantitative DST information.

To examine the bacteriological quality of complementary foods (CF) and to correlate the results with diarrhoeal morbidity and nutritional status of Bangladeshi children aged 6-24 months.A total of 212 CF samples were tested, of which 72 were collected immediately before the first time of feeding (≤ 1 h of food preparation) and 140 were collected at second/third time of feeding from 140 households located in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. Anthropometry, food frequency data and demographic information of the children were collected.Of the first time feeding samples, 3% from each of urban and rural areas were found to be contaminated with faecal coliforms (FC) at ≥ 100 CFU/g. E. coli was isolated from 11% and 6% of samples, and B. cereus from 8% and 6% of samples from urban and rural areas, respectively. In contrast, 33% of the second/third time feeding samples from urban areas and 19% from rural areas were contaminated with FC at ≥ 100 CFU/g (P0.05). E. coli was isolated from 40% and 39% of samples, and B. cereus from 33% and 26% of samples from urban and rural areas, respectively. Significantly high numbers of wasted rural children had CF with a high aerobic plate count, which was also significantly associated with diarrhoeal morbidity in children.Around 40% of CF samples were contaminated with E. coli, which was mainly attributable to food preparation practices. Consumption of contaminated CF appeared to be associated with a higher frequency of diarrhoea and malnutrition in children.

This paper deals with the design and control of a power assist system for lifting objects. It was hypothesized that an operator's perception of weight due to inertial force might be different from the perceived weight due to gravitational force. The system was simulated for different sizes of objects. Results show that an increase in mechanical time constant reduces perceived heaviness and load forces. The results also show the technique for simultaneous optimization of motion and perceived heaviness. Psychophysical studies show that the power assist system reduces the weights of the lifted objects to 40%, 30%, and 25% of the actual weights for unimanual, bimanual, and cooperative lifting tasks, respectively. The studies also show that operators apply 6.30, 6.22, and 6.14 times larger than the actually required load forces for the unimanual, bimanual, and cooperative lifting tasks, respectively. Therefore, a novel control strategy was proposed that reduced the excessive load forces and thus enhanced maneuverability, safety, naturalness, etc., of the system. The feasibility of zero gravity and zero inertia was studied. The operator's load force characteristics in some worst cases were studied. The effects of friction between an object and the operator's hand on weight perception and load forces were also studied. Power-assisted manipulation of objects in harmonic motion was also considered. Finally, it was proposed to use the findings to design power assist systems for lifting heavy objects in industries such as manufacturing, logistics, transport, construction, military and rescue operations, mining, etc., that would enhance interactions with human users.

An experiment was conducted at Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BSRI), Ishurdi, Pabna, Bangladesh. In this study, biochemical composition, enzyme activity and some chemical parameter of sugarcane juice in the varieties Isd-16 and Isd-28 were investigated. Isd-28 showed higher amount of brix (20.85%), pol (18.53%), fiber (19.93%), ash (6.95%), minerals (Na 1.36 & K 3.12 gm/100 gm ash) and lipid (0.058%) than that of Isd-16. Other compositions such as reducing sugars (0.096%), commercial cane sugar (12.55%), moisture (88.97%), protein (0.328%) and vitamin-C (0.00351 gm/100 gm juice) were lower in Isd-28. Amylase enzyme activity (44.44 unit/ml) and cellulase enzyme activity (7.15 unit/ml) were higher in Isd-28 but invertase enzyme activity (10.88 unit/ml) was lower than that of Isd-16. Purity (91.34%) and extraction percentages (54.63%) were higher in Isd-16 whereas, recovery percentage (11.17%) was lower in the juice of Isd-16 variety than that of variety Isd-28 of sugarcane. Most of the biochemical compositions analyses were higher in Isd-28 than that of lsd-16. Reducing sugars were less in Isd-28 variety indicating less invertase activity.

Static structure factors, S(q), thermodynamic properties and shear viscosities for liquid Zn, Cd, Hg. In. Tl, Sn, Pb, Sb, and Bi are investigated systematically. A model pseudotential which combines the sp- and d-band contributions is employed to derive interionic interactions. The liquid state is described by using the thermodynamically self-consistent variational modified hypernetted chain (VMHNC) integral equation theory, and also by using the linearised version of the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (LWCA) thermodynamic perturbation theory of liquids. Results of calculations for all of the above properties are found to be in good agreement with available experimental data. The calculated results also reveal qualitatively that there is a relationship between the rate of change of viscosity with temperature and the depth of the potential well concerned.

We have investigated the roles of the coordination numbers and interatomic interactions on Einstien temperatures 0e for a number of bee 3d transition metals. We have employed a few of the popular transition metal pseudopotentials in the Calculations aiming at a comparative survey of the roles of these pseudopotentials on the Einstein temperature; the role of the neighboring atoms on the latter emerges as a by-product of the calculations.

Liquid structure for the 3d transition metals near melting is investigated using the linearized Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (LWCA) theory. Here the effective interionic pair potential is described by the Wills-Harrison model. Results show that LWCA predicts the structure factor much better than that of WCA. Results also show that in the middle of the 3d series LWCA predicts reasonable liquid structure where the WCA-ORPA has been unsuccessful.

Development of an accurate three dimensional (3D) model of human skull showing the shape and relative position of a tumor inside the cancerous brain is crucial for taking pre-surgical or pre-therapy measures. This paper presents a new method for automatic segmentation of volumetric image which is a collection of series of spatially distributed slice images of a cancerous brain. The proposed method provides a 3D visualization in order to identify the position, shape, and size of a tumor inside the brain of a skull. Each of the images of the series is segmented using a level-based segmentation method using the histogram of image intensities. Such a segmentation of single image in the series results in spurious regions which may cause misleading 3D shapes of tumors. In order to obtain an accurate 3D model of the tumor inside the brain, both the intra- and inter-slice area-based thresholds are exploited for removing the spurious regions from the initially segmented images. The proposed segmentation scheme not only removes the false regions regarding the segmentation of tumor, but also effectively maintains the size and shape of the original tumor. Extensive experimentations on a number of volumetric images reveal that the proposed method can provide minimum volumetric noise in the extraction process of a tumor as compared to the recently introduced vector flow method.

Injecting drug users (IDU) were enrolled from two detoxification clinics and two needle/syringe exchange programmes (NEP) in central and northwest Bangladesh. Syphilis, hepatitis C and HIV rates were highest in IDU from the NEP of central Bangladesh (23, 66.5 and 1.4%, respectively), whereas current hepatitis B infection rates were highest in IDU from the NEP of northwest Bangladesh (12%). Five HIV strains were subtype C and one E/B. The 32 base pair (bp) deletion of the CCR5 gene was not detected.

Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), widely scattered in the environment because of inadequate combustion of fuels, are an important class of toxicological compounds. In the past decade, PAHs have drawn considerable attention because of their possible contamination to the environment and foodstuffs. A crude extract of the fish samples collected from the most polluted part of Bangsai river at Saver industrial zone was analyzed for the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, anthracene, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A suitable procedure for the extraction of PAHs from the fish sample was developed. A multi-layer clean-up (silica gel) column was used, followed by glass fiber filter (GFF) paper to eliminate the interfering organic compounds as well as lipids, fat and foreign particles. It was observed that PAHs deposition on the samples takes place in different morphological parts of the biological materials. Analysis was made for environmentally important PAHs and the results, the methods and some associated problems are discussed. Anthracene was found in almost all fish samples with the concentration in edible fishes collected from the Bangsai river being 0.761 to 3.294 ig/g. This concentration is within the range reported for other comparable regions of the world. Thus, it was suggested PAHs is oil contamination originating from the effluents of different industries such as tannery, dye, plastic, chemical, fertilizer or spillage’s and/or heavy ship traffic. However, the high concentration of carcinogenic anthracene encountered in these fishes should be considered serious as it is hazardous to human health. Based on fish consumption by Bangladeshi population, the daily intake of total carcinogens was 0.15 ng/person/day. Recovery studies with fortified samples indicated that the recovery efficiency for anthracene was 85.32%. It is concluded that three fish samples: baim, bata and taki were contaminated by the various aspects such as industrial effluents, air, highway vehicle exhaust and highway tar samples.

The authors investigate the structural stability of the various random and intermetallic phases observed in the experimental phase diagrams of the LiAl system. A second-order pseudopotential theory is used in conjunction with the virtual crystal approximation to describe the structural energies of the random substitutional alloys. On the other hand the authors employ the augmented-spherical-wave (ASW) method on the same footing to calculate the total energies for the corresponding ordered phases. Even though these two methods are based on entirely different approaches, it is interesting to examine their separate roles in explaining the relative stability of different phases of LiAl alloys.

Bangladesh has been conducting annual serological surveillance for HIV and syphilis since 1998 among most at-risk populations including sex workers, males having sex with males, injecting drug users (IDUs) and heroin smokers. During the seventh round conducted between January and June 2006, 10,368 people were sampled and the overall HIV prevalence was 0.9%. The highest HIV rate was recorded in male IDUs from the capital city Dhaka (7%), and the rates have risen significantly over the rounds (P0.001). In Dhaka, most of the HIV-positive IDUs (10.5%) were localized in one neighbourhood, while in the remaining neighbourhoods 1% were positive (P0.001). In all other groups, HIV prevalence was1%. Active syphilis rates were highest in female IDUs (9.9%) followed by female street-based sex workers (8.6%). However, rates in female sex workers in Dhaka declined significantly over the years (P0.001). Bangladesh has to act urgently to prevent escalation of the epidemic.

This paper attempts to design a power assist system for maneuvering heavy objects in industries based on human operator's perception of object weight. The perceived weight of an object maneuvered with a power assist system is always very much less than the actual weight of the object. But, the human operator cannot differentiate between the perceived weight and the actual weight and eventually applies forces in accordance with the actual weight of the object. This faulty force programming gives faulty motion to the power assist system and jeopardizes its maneuverability, ease of use, human-friendliness, safety etc. The research presented herein, firstly, subjectively determines the optimum maneuverability conditions for lifting objects with a power assist system, secondly, establishes a psychophysical relationship between the actual weights of objects and the perceived weights of the same objects by human operators when the objects are vertically lifted with the power assist system as well as analyzes human's manipulative force characteristics for lifting objects with the system, thirdly, compares human's manipulative force characteristics for lifting power assisted objects with that for lifting actual objects, and finally, attempts to use these findings to design the feedback position control law for the power assist system. This type of psychophysical considerations with power assist system enhances maneuverability, operability, ease of use, human-friendliness, safety etc. of the system in an optimal fashion.

A case control study was conducted in Dhaka city to measure the energy intake and expenditure among 220 obese children of 4-10 years age group and 220 randomly selected age and sex matched controls. A 24 hour dietary recall was used to assess the energy intake. Data on energy expenditure was obtained by 24 hour physical activity recall. The mean energy intake of obese children (2056 +/- 751 kcal/d) was found to be significantly higher (P0.001) compared to the non obese (1508 +/- 529 kcal/d). No sex difference was found in both obese and non obese groups. Mean energy expenditure of the obese children (1868 +/- 313 kcal/d vs 1495 +/- 200 kcal/d) was significantly higher than the non-obese (P0.001). Of the obese, boys expended more energy than the girls (P=0.01). Furthermore, physical activity level (1.40 +/- 0.09 vs 1.35 +/- 0.14) was significantly higher among the non obese than their obese counterpart (P0.001). However, energy balance was significantly higher among the obese (P0.001). Dose response of energy balance shows the estimated relative risk of obesity increases with higher level of energy balance (P0.001). The findings of this study revealed that energy balance as a result of higher energy intake and lower energy expenditure was one of the important risk factors for the development of obesity among the children of Dhaka city. Thus, appropriate interventions like behavioural change regarding food habits and physical activities are recommended.

The chemical compositions of essential oil of Oscimum basilicum extracted by hydrodistillation and different solvent extractions were analyzed by GC-MS. Qualitative analysis of the essential oil as well as other extracts showed that majority of these are mono and sesquiterpenes. Most of the identified compounds are biologically important. Further the Oscimum basilicum leaf possesses certain characteristics that can be ascribed to cultivation on a domestic plantation.Keywords: Ocimum basilicum; Essential oil; Hydrodistillation; Different extracts; GC-MS.© 2011 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved.doi:10.3329/jsr.v3i1.5409 J. Sci. Res. 3 (1), 197-206 (2011)

The electrical resistivity of liquid noble-metal alloys, i.e. CuAu and AgAu, is calculated as a function of concentration. The calculations employ transition-metal-pseudopotentials which include non-local effects, hybridization and corrections due to hole orthogonalization. Hard-sphere structure factors are used, optimal values of the hard-sphere diameters being determined by variational calculations. The calculated resistivities are compared to experimental values and to available theoretical results.

Shear viscosity and self-diffusion coefficients are calculated for certain less-simple liquid metals at various temperatures. The basic assumption undertaken is that these properties of a liquid metal resemble those of an appropriate hard sphere fluid. The temperature dependence of the basic ingredients, i.e. the hard sphere diameter and packing fraction is considered via a full thermodynamic perturbation formalism. The essential features inherited by these metals are included in the relevant electron-ion interactions. A variational procedure leading to a minimization of the free energy is employed to determine the optimum values of the hard sphere diameters and packing fractions. These optimal and self-consistent ingredients are employed in computing the shear viscosity and self-diffusion coefficients of Ag, Hg, Ga, and Sn. The calculated results are found to be in agreement with the experimental and the available theoretical results for most of these metals. Die Scherviskositat und die Selbstdiffusionskoeffizienten fur bestimmte, weniger simple flussige Metalle bei verschiedenen Temperaturen werden berechnet. Die Grundannahme dabei ist, das diese Eigenschaften eines flussigen Metalls derjenigen einer Flussigkeit geeigneter harter Kugeln ahneln. Die Temperaturabhangigkeit der Hauptanteile – Durchmesser der harten Kugeln und Packungsanteil – wird uber einen vollstandigen thermodynamischen Storungsformalismus berucksichtigt. Die wesentlichen Charakteristiken, die von den Metallen herruhren, sind in den relevanten Elektronen-Ionen-Wechselwirkungen enthalten. Ein Variationsverfahren, das zu einer Minimierung der freien Energie fuhrt, wird benutzt, um die optimalen Werte fur die Durchmesser der harten Kugeln und die Packungsanteile zu bestimmen. Diese optimalen und selbstkonsistenten Ergebnisse werden benutzt, um die Scherviskositat und die Selbstdiffusionskoeffizienten von Ag, Hg, Ga und Sn zu berechnen. Die berechneten Ergebnisse sind in Ubereinstimmung mit den experimentellen und erhaltlichen theoretischen Ergebnissen fur die meisten dieser Metalle.

The effectiveness of sucrose and glucose electrolyte solutions as fluid replacement in cholera and severe diarrheas from other causes was compared. Subjects in this study which took place in Bangladesh were of both sexes and were aged 5 years or older. Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 oral solutions; both had concentrations of 96 mEq of sodium, 25 mEq of Potassium, 72 mEq of chloride, 24 mEq of bicarbonate, and 25 mEq of citrate, and 1 solution had 40 gm of sucrose and the other 20 gm of glucose. The solutions were coded and the test was double-blind. Of 122 patients, 69 were given sucrose and 53 the glucose solution. The total success rate was 86% from sucrose-electrolyte solution and 87% for glucose. In addition, total volumes needed for successful therapy were essentially the same. In 10 of 17 failures (7 sucrose and 3 glucose) the same therapy was used again after intravenous therapy, and only 2 cases remained failures. Thes results suggest that sucrose can effectively replace glucose in an oral electrolyte solution for severe diarrhea in patients over 5 years of age.

The authors have investigated the structural phase stability of certain brass-type alloys in terms of a third-order pseudopotential theory. The third-order contributions to the structural free energy are found to play important roles in predicting the crystal structures of these alloys.

A 2 year study of enteric pathogens associated with diarrhea was conducted at a diarrhea treatment center in rural Bangladesh. (ETEC) Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was the most frequently identified pathogen in patients of all ages whereas rotavirus was isolated from nearly 50% of the < 2 year old patients. ETEC was isolated in approximately 25% of these young children. A bacterial or viral pathogen was identified for 70% of the < 2 year olds and for 56% of all patients with diarrhea. Most ETEC isolates were obtained in the hot dry months of March-April and the hot wet months of August-September. Rotavirus identification peaked in the cool dry months of December-January but infected patients were found year round. The low case fatality rates for patients with watery diarrhea and substantial dehydration further documents the usefulness of treating diarrhea patients with either a glucose or sucrose base electrolite solution such as those used in this treatment center. (Authors modified)

It is shown that the binding energy per valence electron of a simple metal is well described, in atomic units, experimentally and theoretically by the formula a+bz/4rc. Here z is the valency, rc is the empty-core radius, a approximately=0.1 and, in all except the group 1A and 2A cases, 0.9

The basic epidemiology of acute diarrhoeal disease seen at a rural Bangladesh hospital in 1975 is reviewed. V. cholerae 01 was isolated from 28% of 1 964 patients. Significant differences in hospitalisation rates were observed between males and females in several age groups. Overall hospital case fatality was 9/1000 cases. We estimate that approximately a quarter to half of the hospitalised patients would have died had no rehydration therapy been available. The region's total mortality was reduced by approximately 7%-15%, at a cost of United States $0.14 per capita. Mortality from acute diarrhoeal diseases was greatly reduced for all age groups, and total mortality and mortality from all diarrhoeal diseases were particularly reduced for young children and young adults. Rehydration therapy used in a field hospital was apparently highly effective in reducing general mortality and mortality from acute diarrhoeal diseases.

Md. Sayeedur Rahman 11.6568 Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} In this study, for the detection of distinct genotype of E. histolytica of human, a nested Real-Time PCR amplification of SREHP gene using SYBR Green I and melting curve analysis was done. A total of 60 specimens (stool and liver aspirate specimens), which were found Entamoeba histolytica positive by E. histolytica specific ELISA and ssrRNA gene PCR, were selected and the experiment was conducted during the period of July 2003 to June 2004. After melting curve analysis of amplified PCR products from these isolates of stool and liver aspirate specimens, 5 genotypes were found belonging to the melting temperatures 84°C, 83°C, 82°C, 81°C and 79°C. All these 5 genotypes were present in intestinal amoebiasis patients and when the genotypes from intestinal amoebiasis patients were compared with the genotypes of amoebic liver amoebiasis patients, the genotype 84°C melting temperature was found to be absent in amoebic liver amoebiasis patients. For both the cases of intestinal and amoebic liver amoebiasis patients the genotype belonging to 83°C melting temperature was more prevalent than the other genotypes which suggest that this genotype is more responsible for the development of amoebiasis. In comparison to conventional PCR method where we found 23 different banding patterns, the Real-Time PCR and melting curve analysis method was found to be more reliable for the detection of distinct genotypes of E. histolytica because with this method we found only 5 genotypes. In conclusion, this Real-Time PCR using SYBR Green I and melting curve analysis for the genotyping of E. histolytica , excludes the need of post PCR manipulations and would be helpful for the rapid detection and screening of E. histolytica genotypes among endemic population and also for the epidemiological study. Key words: Entamoeba histolytica , genotype, diarrhoea, Real-Time PCR, melting curve analysis doi:10.3329/bjvm.v4i1.1526 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2006). 4 (1): 53-60

A field experiment was conducted at ARS, Raikhali, Rangamati during October, 2003 to July 2005 to determine the optimum spacing and seed rate to maximize yield and profitability of Bilatidhonia ( Eryngium foetidum L.). A factorial randomized complete block design was followed consisting four methods of sowing (D 1 = broadcast, D 2 = line sowing (10 cm), D 3 = line sowing (15 cm), and D 4 = line sowing (20 cm) and three levels of seed rate viz., S 1 = 20, S 2 = 30, and S 3 = 40 kg/ha. Broadcasting and closer spacing (10 cm) with 40 kg seeds/ha showed better performance in respect of yield, yield attributes and profitability. The maximum number of plants/rn 2 (590), fresh yield (46.89 t/ha), gross return (Tk. 1031 thousand), gross margin (Tk. 858.1 thousand/ha) and benefit cost ratio (5.32) were obtained from broadcast method of sowing with 40 kg-seed/ha. Keywords: Seed rate and method of sowing; Eryngium foetidum . DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v35i2.5885 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 35(2) : 227-234, June 2010

We report a case of middle aged man who presented with inflammatory low back pain with restriction of movement and enthesopathy. Later on the developed inflammatory pain affecting small and large joints of upper and lower limbs associated with morning stiffness with deformities. There is also positive family history. So, though the incidence is very rare the co-existence of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in this case would be a possibility. DOI: 10.3329/taj.v22i1.5040 TAJ 2009; 22(1): 144-146

A major cause of morbidity and mortality among children in developing countries is acute diarrhoea and rotavirus, a reovirus-like agent, is found to be a leading causative agent. We report here the incidence of rotavirus infection among infants and young children with gastro-enteritis treated at the Children's Hospital in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One hundred and fifty children, aged between 1 and 60 months, suffering from diarrhoeal illness, were selected as the study cohort; another 150 hospitalized children of the same age group, but not suffering from diarrhoea, served as controls. Sixty-two per cent of the study children complained of watery diarrhoea and 39% of vomiting; all had mild to moderate dehydration. Seventy-two per cent had fever and 30% associated respiratory illness. Worst affected were those 7-12 months old, among whom rotavirus was detected by ELISA techniques in 39.6%, compared with 7.5% of the control children of comparable age group. We could not detect any rotavirus from control children aged over 36 months, whereas approximately 15% of the study children in this age group yielded rotavirus from the stool. The second most common pathogen isolated was Shigella ssp. It was isolated from 18.7% of children under study as against 3% of the controls.