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Objective: This study aims to identify the incidence of malignancy in solitary nodule thyroid in a tertiary care hospital in Kalaburagi, Karnataka. Methods: This was a prospective non-randomized hospital-based interventional study carried out on 50 patients over a period of 1 y, who presented with clinically palpable solitary thyroid swellings and subsequently underwent surgery for the same at the Department of General surgery, Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi, Karnataka. Results: Over the total duration of the study period, there were 50 cases of clinically detected solitary thyroid nodule with a high female preponderance. The mean age of the incidence of solitary thyroid nodule was 40.6 y. The incidence of malignancy in solitary thyroid nodule was found to be 18%. Conclusion: It is concluded from the present study that 18% of solitary thyroid nodules are malignant, with female preponderance and a mean age of solitary thyroid nodule is 40.62 y.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of Persicaria lapathifolia (Pale smartweed) leaf and bark extracts prepared with methanol on in vitro activities like antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-arthritis, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic, as well as on some in vivo activities like analgesic and neuropharmacological properties in animal model. Methodology: The primary method for the methanolic extract of Persicaria lapathifolia leaf (MEPLL) and methanolic extract of Persicaria lapathifolia bark (MEPLB) were investigated for phytochemical screening. It was determined to look into the plant's potential for in vitro activities, such as phytochemical screening, antioxidant, anti-arthritis, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and cytotoxic, due to the pharmaceutical interest in its component parts. Its described effects on its in vivo analgesic and neuropharmacological activities in animal models are significant compared to the standard. This research was conducted between July 2022 and November 2022 in the Stamford University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Laboratory of Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, and Laboratory of Microbiology. Antioxidant, anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, cytotoxic, analgesic, and neuropharmacological activities of MEPLL and MEPLB were investigated. Phytochemical screening was performed utilizing a variety of test reagents. Antioxidant, total phenolic content, anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities were measured at various doses using the DPPH Free Radical Scavenging Assay, the Folin-Ciocalteu technique, the Inhibition of Protein Denaturation Assay, Egg Albumin Protein Denaturation Assay, the Disk Diffusion Method, and the Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay. The analgesic effectiveness was evaluated by using acetic acid to elicit writhing in Swiss albino mice and then testing the animals on a hot plate. Locomotor activity was measured by open field and hole cross tests as part of the neuropharmacological investigation. Results: Research performed on MEPLL and MEPLB's phytochemical screening yielded results that revealed the presence of a variety of different phytochemical components. In comparison to MEPLL's IC50 value of 1.49 µg/mL, MEPLB's value of 30.45 µg/mL indicates its superior antioxidant activity. Both extracts demonstrated significant anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory effectiveness in comparison to the standard drug. When compared to MEPLB, MEPLL exhibited much more antibacterial activity. In a lethality test using brine shrimp, MEPLL and MEPLB both had much higher LC50 values than the standard vincristine sulfate. Their respective values were 1.42 and 0.66 µg/mL. In contrast, MEPLL inhibited peripheral nociception in the acetic acid-induced writhing nociceptive paradigm with percent inhibitions of 60.72 and 67.56, respectively, while MEPLB inhibited 48.22 and 67.28, respectively, at the aforementioned doses. In addition, the hot plate test revealed a significant analgesic effect. The extract was also shown to have a more negative impact on motor coordination in the Open Field and Hole Cross Tests than the standard Diazepam. Conclusion: This research demonstrates a relationship between the existence of anti-oxidative, anti-arthritis, and anti-bacterial activities, as well as a strong cytotoxic, analgesic, and neuropharmacological activity, which substantiates all previously made claims against Persicaria lapathifolia.

A noninvasive detection technique of diabetes via monitoring the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath (EB) has been approaching to groundbreaking innovations in the very recent years (2008–2018). Not only various methods of detection have been studied but also the performance of several functional materials has been investigated in this application, and in the current decade further attention has been given to the engineering aspects of devising a cost-effective hand-held ‘exhaled breath acetone detector’ (EBAD). Considering the rapid growth of advanced technology in recent years on devising a robust EBAD, this review is aimed to present a footnote on the major progress and prospects of EBAD ongoing in the current decade. This review exemplifies that an EBAD could potentially become a supplementary device with the conventional glucometer by the end of this decade and will eliminate the need for the continuous blood test for diabetes patients.

In this fundamental research, we found that homo-oligo based dsDNA holds potential electrochemical characteristics in comparison to hetero-oligo based dsDNA which can be exploited in voltammetric and impedimetric biosensors. We prepared a homo-oligo based dsDNA from 20 deoxyribonucleotides of adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine (A20, G20, C20, and T20 respectively) and a hetero-oligo based dsDNA from two partially complementary oligos (5′-TTT TTT CAT CTA TCA ACA TCA GTC TGA TAA GCT ATA GAA GC-3′ and 5′-TTT TTT ATA GCT TTG ATA GA-3’. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 1 mM 0.1 M K3[Fe(CN)6]/KCl showed that Au working electrode modified with hetero-oligo based dsDNA (Au/hetero-oligo-dsDNA) was more resistive toward charge transfer of Fe(CN)63−/4- compared to Au working electrode modified with homo-oligo based dsDNA (Au/homo-oligo-dsDNA). Additionally, cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry showed that Au/homo-oligo-dsDNA produced quantifiable anodic and cathodic peak currents which were not observed for Au/hetero-oligo-dsDNA. Nyquist and Bode plots derived from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on three different electroactive areas (0.0705, 0.0747 and 0.0837 cm2) of Au working electrode showed no significant change in the capacitive behavior of Au/homo-oligo-dsDNA and Au/hetero-oligo-dsDNA in a linear range of frequency (10–100 Hz).

The COVID19 pandemic has been transmitted worldwide rapidly. The best ways of preventing this virus are to know about and act accordingly. An online cross sectional survey was conducted to know the knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID19 and to assess the risks of infections among Bangladeshi population. Among 2045 respondents, 54·87% respondents kept good knowledge. Knowledge was significantly diverged across age, gender, education levels, residences, income groups, and marital status. Despite the knowledge, the attitude and practices of Bangladeshi people are not impressive. Among population, 32·08%, and 44·30% people were in high, and in medium risk of infection respectively. Everybody is in risk. Reasons for the mediocre attitude and practices could be the poor knowledge, nonscientific and orthodox religious believe. Government and policy makers must consider these knowledge levels, attitude & practices and the risk of infection assessment to implement productive interventions for preventing the COVID19.

In this study, we proposed 'switching ultrasonic amplitude' as a new strategy of applying ultrasonic energy to prepare a hybrid of buckminsterfullerene (C

Following the efficient performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as recognition elements in gas sensors, biosensors based on MOFs are now being investigated to capture and quantify potential cancer biomarkers, such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), nucleic acids and proteins. The current status of MOF-based biosensors in the detection of early stages of cancer is in its infancy, although it has significantly emerged since the beginning of this decade. That said, salient research has been conducted in the past five years to utilize the distinctive porous crystalline structure of MOFs for highly sensitive and selective detection of cancer biomarkers. In this pursual, MOFs designed with bimetallic assembly, doped with magnetic nanoparticles, coated with polymers, and even conjugated with peptides or oligonucleotides have shown promising outcomes in detecting CTCs, nucleic acids and proteins. In particular, aptamer-conjugated MOFs are able to perform at a lower limit of detection down to the femtomolar, implying their efficacy for the point of care testing in clinical trials. In this way, aptasensors based on aptamer-conjugated MOFs present a newer sub-branch, to be coined as a MOFTA sensor in the current review. Considering the emerging progress and promising outcomes of MOFTA sensors as well as a variety of MOF-based techniques of detecting cancer biomarkers, this review will highlight their significant advances and related aspects in the recent five years on the context of detecting CTCs, nucleic acids and proteins for the early-stage detection of cancer.

The present investigation was conducted to determine the anthelmintic, analgesic and neuropharmacological activity of the methanolic extract from the barks of Abutilon indicum. Anthelmintic activity was investigated using earthworm (Pheretima posthuma) and fresh leaf juice of the plant. In anthelmintic activity test, the time of paralysis for leaves juice was range from 25min 37 sec to 65min 12 sec whereas the time ranges for standard drug albendazole was 31 min 57 sec to 75min 27 sec. On the other hand the time of death start from 31 min 43 sec and end to 72 min 09 sec for leaves juice and for albendazole the time of death start from 39 min 22 sec and end 84 min 19 sec respectively at different dose (5mg/ml, 10mg/ml, 20mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 100mg/ml) which indicate highly significant anthelmintic activity. Analgesic activity was investigated using two thermal (hot plate and tail immersion) and one chemical (acetic acid-induced writhing test) methods at the dose of 200 and 400 mg /kg in Swiss albino mice. In analgesic activity test, the latency time of thermal threshold was prolonged in hot plate and tail immersion tests, whereas it was inhibited by acetic acid-induced writhing test. Thus the extract of the Abutilon indicum barks showed moderate analgesic activity. Neuropharmacological activity of the plant was observed by open field, hole cross, and dark/light box tests at the doses of 200mg/kg and 400 mg /kg in Swiss albino mice. The extract significantly decrease the locomotor activity as shown by the open field, hole cross test which indicate highly significant antidepressant activity. The results also showed similar activity in dark/light box test. Thus the obtained results in the study provide a support for the use of this plant for medicinal purposes and encourage further investigations for more fruitful results., {"references":["Rajeshwari S, Sevarkodiyaone SP (2018), \"Medicinal properties of Abutilon indicum\", Open J Plant Sci., Volume 3, Issue 1, pp. 22−25.","Raquibul HSM, Hossain MM, Akter R et al. (2009), \"Sedative and anxiolytic effects of different fractions of the Commenlina benghalensis Linn.\", Drug. Discov. Ther., Volume 3, Issue 5, pp. 221−227.","Patil S, Dave AK, Singh VK (2009), \"In- vitro anthelmintic activity of Indian medicinal plant\", Agric. Food Chem.\", Volume 55, Issue 14, pp. 5809−5818.","Koster R, Anderson M, De-Beer KJ (1959), \"Acetic acid for analgesic screening\", Pharmacology and pharmacy., Volume 6, Issue 12, pp. 412−417.","Sewell RDE, Spencer PSJ, \"Antinociceptic activity of narcotic agonist and partial agonist analgesic and other agents in the tail-immersion test in mice and rats\", Neuropharmacology, Volume 15, pp. 683−688.","Meera S, Kumar NS, Guptatyam VSS (2008), \"Screening of Anti-Arthritic, Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Activity of a Polyherbal Formulation\", Int. J. Pharmacol., Volume 4, Issue 5, pp. 398−402.","DʼAmour FE, Smith DL (1941), \"A method for determining loss of pain sensation\", J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.\", Volume 72, pp. 74−79.","Eddy NB, Leimbach D (1953), \"Synthetic analgesic: ІІ. Dithienylbutinyl and Dithienybutylamines\", J Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., Volume 107, pp. 385−393.","Gupta BD, Dandiya PC, Gupta ML (1971), \"A psychopharmacological analysis of behavior in rat\", Jpn. J. Pharmacol., Volume 21, Issue 3, pp. 293−298.","Hascoet M, Bourin M (1998), \"A new approach to the light/dark test procedure in mice\", Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav.,; Volume 60, Issue 3, pp. 645−653."]}

Depression is a serious mental health issue for people world-wide irrelevant of their ages, genders and races. In this age of modern communication and technology, people feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts in social networking sites (SNS) almost every day. The objective of this paper is to propose a data-analytic based model to detect depression of any human being. In this proposed model data is collected from the users' posts of two popular social media websites: twitter and facebook. Depression level of a user has been detected based on his posts in social media. The standard method of detecting depression of a person is a fully structured or a semi-structured interview method (SDI) [1]. These methods need a huge amount of data from the person. Micro-blogging sites such as twitter and facebook have become so much popular places to express peoples' activity and thoughts. The data screening from tweets and posts show the manifestation of depressive disorder symptoms of the user. In this research, machine learning is used to process the scrapped data collected from SNS users. Natural Language Processing (NLP), classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes algorithm to detect depression potentially in a more convenient and efficient way.

A green and clean approach that requires low energy and avoids the use of any toxic or corrosive reagents/solvents for the synthesis of potential fullerenol moieties [C60(OH)n·mH2O] was proposed in this investigation, in which pristine fullerene (C60) in dil. H2O2 (30%) aqueous media was ultrasonicated (20 kHz, 200 W) at 30% amplitude for 1 h. The attachment of hydroxyl groups (–OH) was investigated via FTIR and the quantification of –OH groups attached to the C60 cage was conducted via elemental analysis. The number of secondary bound water molecules (mH2O) with each fullerenol molecule [C60(OH)n] was measured via TGA, and the estimated average structure of fullerenol was calculated to be C60(OH)8·2H2O. The synthesized fullerenol was moderately soluble in water and DMSO. Furthermore, the size of the synthesized C60(OH)8·2H2O particles determined by both AFM and DLS analysis was found to be in the range of 135–155 nm. The proposed ultrasound-assisted acoustic cavitation technique encompasses a one-step facile reaction strategy, requires less time for the reaction, and reduces the number of solvents required for the separation and purification of C60(OH)8·2H2O, which could be scalable for the commercial synthesis of fullerenol moieties in the future.

Purpose: This project was aimed to determine the effect of concurrent administration of sulfamethoxazole and diclofenac sodium. Methods: Equilibrium dialysis method was adopted to study different protein binding aspects of sulfamethoxazole and diclofenac sodium. Results: Sulfamethoxazole showed two types of association constants; high affinity constant 29.0±0.20×106 M-1 with lower number of binding sites of 0.7±1 and low affinity constant 1.13±0.20×106 M-1 with higher number of binding sites of 3.45±1 at pH 7.4 and 40 °C temperature. Diclofenac sodium showed high affinity constant 33.66±0.20×106 M-1 with lower number of binding sites of 1.01±1 and low affinity constant 1.72±0.20×106 M-1 with higher number of binding sites of 6.40±1 at the same condition. Site specific probe displacement data implied that site-I, warfarin sodium site, was the high affinity site, while site-II, diazepam site, was the low affinity site for these drugs. During concurrent administration, sulfamethoxazole increased the free concentration of diclofenac sodium from 17.5±0.14% to 70.0±0.014% in absence and from 22.5±0.07% to 83.0±0.014% in presence of site-I specific probe. Diclofenac sodium also increased the free concentration of sulfamethoxazole from 2.8±0.07% to 52.0±0.14% and from 8.5±0.014% to 64.4±0.07% in absence and presence of site-I specific probe respectively. Conclusions: The study revealed that the concurrent administration of sulfamethoxazole and diclofenac sodium may result drug concentration alteration in blood.

The main objective of this review is to derive the salient features of previously developed ultrasound-assisted methods for hydroxylating graphene and Buckminsterfullerene (C60). The pros and cons associated to ultrasound-assisted synthesis of hydroxy-carbon nanomaterials in designing the strategical methods for the industrial bulk production are also discussed. A guideline on the statistical methods has also been considered to further provide the scopes towards the application of the previously reported methods. Irrespective of many useful methods that have been developed in order to functionalize C60 and graphene by diverse oxygenated functional groups e.g. epoxide, hydroxyl, carboxyl as well as metal/metal oxide via a combination of organic chemistry and sonochemistry, there is no report dealing exclusively on the application of ultrasonic cavitation particularly to synthesising polyhydroxylated carbon nanomaterials. On this context, this review emphasizes in investigating the critical aspects of sono-nanochemistry and the statistical approaches to optimize the variables in the sonochemical process towards a large-scale synthesis of polyhydroxylated graphene and C60.

The aim of study was to evaluate the analgesic and neuropharmacological activities of the leaf of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia. The central analgesic activity of the methanolic extract was evaluated in Swiss Albino mice by using tail immersion, hot plate and acetic acid-induced writhing tests at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. These tests showed significant analgesic activity of the extract compared to the standard drug, diclofenac-Na (1 mg/kg b.w.). The neuropharmacological activities were evaluated using hole cross, open field, light/dark box and elevated plus maze stage tests in mice model at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. The results of neuropharmacological assays demonstrated potential CNS depressant activity of the extract when compared to the standard drug, diazepam (1 mg/kg b.w.)Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 18(2): 85-89, 2015

Designing a biosensor for versatile biomedical applications is a sophisticated task and how dedicatedly functionalized fullerene (C60) can perform on this stage is a challenge for today and tomorrow's nanoscience and nanotechnology. Since the invention of biosensor, many ideas and methods have been invested to upgrade the functionality of biosensors. Due to special physicochemical characteristics, the novel carbon material “fullerene” adds a new dimension to the construction of highly sensitive biosensors. The prominent aspects of fullerene explain its outstanding performance in biosensing devices as a mediator, e.g. fullerene in organic solvents exhibits five stages of reversible oxidation/reduction, and hence fullerene can work either as an electrophile or nucleophile. Fullerene is stable and its spherical structure produces an angle strain which allows it to undergo characteristic reactions of addition to double bonds (hybridization which turns from sp2 to sp3). Research activities are being conducted worldwide to invent a variety of methods of fullerene functionalization with a purpose of incorporating it effectively in biosensor devices. The different types of functionalization methods include modification of fullerene into water soluble derivatives and conjugation with enzymes and/or other biomolecules, e.g. urease, glucose oxidase, hemoglobin, myoglobin (Mb), conjugation with metals e.g. gold (Au), chitosan (CS), ferrocene (Fc), etc. to enhance the sensitivity of biosensors. The state-of-the-art research on fullerene functionalization and its application in sensor devices has proven that fullerene can be implemented successfully in preparing biosensors to detect glucose level in blood serum, urea level in urine solution, hemoglobin, immunoglobulin, glutathione in real sample for pathological purpose, to identify doping abuse, to analyze pharmaceutical preparation and even to detect cancer and tumor cells at an earlier stage. Employing fullerene-metal matrix for the detection of tumor and cancer cells is also possible by the inclusion of fullerene in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) known as peapods as well as in double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs), to augment the effectiveness of biosensors. This review discusses various approaches that have been reported for functionalizing fullerene (C60) derivatives and their application in different types of biosensor fabrication.

Glassy carbon particles (millimetric or micrometric sizes) dispersions in water were treated by ultrasound at 20kHz, either in a cylindrical reactor, or in a "Rosette" type reactor, for various time lengths ranging from 3h to 10h. Further separations sedimentation allowed obtaining few nanoparticles of glassy carbon in the supernatant (diameter

For years, a respective amount of PV latex has been exported from Malaysia to manufacture male contraceptives within the country. Recently, a project titled as ELPP, has been undertaken by the Govt. Pharmaceutical Company „Essential Drugs Company Ltd? to pioneer the implementation of processing natural raw latex (35-40% dry rubber content) [1] into concentrate latex (60% dry rubber content) [1] from the local resource at Modhupur region. The purpose of this project is to produce concentrate latex from local resource as the raw material for manufacturing male contraceptive instead of importing the latex from Malaysia or other countries. Several trials have been taken place to test the feasibility and productivity of the project with respect to the aspects in Bangladesh. The results and observations are found very satisfactory and the project is very much cost effective since it cuts off the foreign expense caused due to the import of concentrate latex from abroad at present days. An overall cost analysis shows that if the technology of processing concentrate latex is implemented with a proper utilization of the local resources it reduces the cost of production to a great extent. Moreover, rubber sheets produced as the byproduct from this process are very much useful and demandable in the field of rubber industries and add profit to the process. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jce.v27i2.17777 Journal of Chemical Engineering, IEB Vol. ChE. 27, No. 2, December 2012: 11-14

The methanolic extract of Litsea glutinosa (Lauraceae) was evaluated for in vitro antioxidant activity by determination of hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, total antioxidant capacity, assay of nitric oxide scavenging activity and reducing power test and in vivo antinociceptive effect in acetic acid induced writhing model in swiss albino mice. The results revealed the presence of pronounced antioxidant property as compared with ascorbic acid used as standard and a dose-dependent (250 and 500 mg/kg) analgesic effect. The antioxidant and antinociceptive properties observed seem to be in good accordance with the traditional uses of Litsea glutinosa. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 47(4) , 401-406, 2012 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjsir.v47i4.14069

to have incriminated p roperties and chemical constituents. In this study, t he crude methanolic extract of the A. humilis was evaluated for its possible cytotoxic, thrombolytic and antioxidant activities in different methods to justify some of its folklore use . Cytotoxic propert y of the extract was determined against brine shrimp nauplii. The thrombolytic activity was evaluated using the standard s treptokinase. The antioxidant activity was measured using free radical scaveng ing activity with 2 - 2 - diphenyl, 1 - picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) m ethod. The extract showed significan t cytotoxic effect in b rine s hrimp l ethality b ioassay where it showed the value of LC 50 and LC 90 2.26 µg/ml and 7.13 µg/ml after 24 hours respectively . The standard cytotoxic drug vincristine sulphate showed LC 50 and LC 9 0 of 0.81µg/ml and 6.33µg/ml after 24 hour respectively. The study gave a significant indication o f the use of the plant extract as a potential source for cytotoxic compounds. The extract showed moderate thrombolytic activity of 33.33 % clot lysis where the s tandard s treptokinase showed that of 84%. In DPPH free radical scavenging test, IC 50 value for the methanolic crude extract was found fairly significant ( 4. 305 µg/ml ) while compared to the IC 50 value of the reference standards ascorbic acid ( 2. 8 μg/ml ) . T he obtained results tend to suggest the probable c ytotoxic, thrombolytic and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract of A. humilis justify its use in folkloric remedies and those activities of other species of Ardisia .

This work proposes a new combination and proportion of chemicals available in the local market to prepare laundry detergent at low cost in context of Bangladesh. The proposed formula ensures good foaming and washing quality of the detergent that can compete the existing other laundry detergents in the market. The pH of the product is maintained at 10 which is close to that of other detergent powder being sold in market now. The cost analysis in accordance with the proposed formula shows that the production of 1 kg detergent powder costs 20-25 BDT; therefore, can be sold at a price lower than the other detergents available in market. The proposed formula can reduce the selling price of the detergent at 40-45 BDT, whereas the other companies are selling it from 50-140 BDT in the market. This offers a new scope to produce laundry detergent at a very low cost as well as good washing performance of the product using the locally available chemicals in Bangladesh. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jce.v26i1.10184 JCE 2011; 26(1): 50-53

Gout is a common metabolic disorder which occurs due to excessive deposition of uric acid in different bone joints. Increasing life expectancy, life style change, changes in diet are causing an increased incidence of the disease nowadays. The present study was aimed to understand the pattern and treatment of gout in Bangladesh. 150 patients at four tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka city were surveyed. The findings of the present study suggests that both male and female are suffering from the disease and age seems to be related to the disease as 62% of gout patients were found over 50 years of age. Body weight may be a contributing factor of the disease. Most of the gout patients under the survey were suffering from high blood pressure (65.33%). Primary gout was found more prevalent in this investigation (70.66%) and viral hepatitis was found to be the most common cause of the disease (50%). The patients presented common sign and symptoms of gout.

During September 2009, we performed a rapid cross-sectional study to investigate the extent of aflatoxin contamination among common Bangladeshi foods. We collected eight common human food commodities (rice, lentils, wheat flour, dates, betelnut, red chili powder, ginger and groundnuts) and poultry feed samples from two large markets in each of three cities in Bangladesh. We quantified aflatoxin levels from pooled subsamples using fluorescence high-performance liquid chromatography. Aflatoxin levels were highest in dates and groundnuts (maximum 623 and 423 ng/g), respectively. Samples of betelnut (mean 30.6 ng/g), lentils (mean 21.2 ng/g) and red chili powder (>20 ng/g) also had elevated levels. The mean aflatoxin level among poultry feed samples was 73.0 ng/g. Aflatoxin levels were above the US maximum regulatory levels of 20 ng/g in five of eight commonly ingested human food commodities tested.

Designing a biosensor for versatile biomedical applications is a sophisticated task and how dedicatedly functionalized fullerene (C60) can perform on this stage is a challenge for today and tomorrow's nanoscience and nanotechnology. Since the invention of biosensor, many ideas and methods have been invested to upgrade the functionality of biosensors. Due to special physicochemical characteristics, the novel carbon material "fullerene" adds a new dimension to the construction of highly sensitive biosensors. The prominent aspects of fullerene explain its outstanding performance in biosensing devices as a mediator, e.g. fullerene in organic solvents exhibits five stages of reversible oxidation/reduction, and hence fullerene can work either as an electrophile or nucleophile. Fullerene is stable and its spherical structure produces an angle strain which allows it to undergo characteristic reactions of addition to double bonds (hybridization which turns from sp(2) to sp(3)). Research activities are being conducted worldwide to invent a variety of methods of fullerene functionalization with a purpose of incorporating it effectively in biosensor devices. The different types of functionalization methods include modification of fullerene into water soluble derivatives and conjugation with enzymes and/or other biomolecules, e.g. urease, glucose oxidase, hemoglobin, myoglobin (Mb), conjugation with metals e.g. gold (Au), chitosan (CS), ferrocene (Fc), etc. to enhance the sensitivity of biosensors. The state-of-the-art research on fullerene functionalization and its application in sensor devices has proven that fullerene can be implemented successfully in preparing biosensors to detect glucose level in blood serum, urea level in urine solution, hemoglobin, immunoglobulin, glutathione in real sample for pathological purpose, to identify doping abuse, to analyze pharmaceutical preparation and even to detect cancer and tumor cells at an earlier stage. Employing fullerene-metal matrix for the detection of tumor and cancer cells is also possible by the inclusion of fullerene in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) known as peapods as well as in double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs), to augment the effectiveness of biosensors. This review discusses various approaches that have been reported for functionalizing fullerene (C60) derivatives and their application in different types of biosensor fabrication.

We assessed the relationship of fecal environmental contamination and environmental enteropathy. We compared markers of environmental enteropathy, parasite burden, and growth in 119 Bangladeshi children (≤ 48 months of age) across rural Bangladesh living in different levels of household environmental cleanliness defined by objective indicators of water quality and sanitary and hand-washing infrastructure. Adjusted for potential confounding characteristics, children from clean households had 0.54 SDs (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.06, 1.01) higher height-for-age z scores (HAZs), 0.32 SDs (95% CI = -0.72, 0.08) lower lactulose:mannitol (L:M) ratios in urine, and 0.24 SDs (95% CI = -0.63, 0.16) lower immunoglobulin G endotoxin core antibody (IgG EndoCAb) titers than children from contaminated households. After adjusting for age and sex, a 1-unit increase in the ln L:M was associated with a 0.33 SDs decrease in HAZ (95% CI = -0.62, -0.05). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that environmental contamination causes growth faltering mediated through environmental enteropathy.

The hydroethanolic extract of the flowering tops of Anthocephalus cadamba (Roxb.) Miq., Rubiaceae, a Bangladeshi medicinal plant, was studied for its potential hypoglycemic effect and antioxidant property in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The extract induced significant reduction in serum glucose, and transaminases, e.g. aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatases (ALP), activities. Significant changes in the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), peroxidase and catalase levels during the experimental period were also observed. The results established that the hydroethanolic extract of the flowering tops of A. cadamba possesses hypoglycemic property and is able to protect liver and brain from oxidative damages caused by diabetes.