Issue 2

Feeding the ever increasing population in a safe way has become a rising challenge because of reckless use of natural resources. Substitution of traditional farming system with cost effective integration of different production units has emerged as potential solution. In this regards, aquaponics has already put back the traditional farming systems in facing the burning issues of food safety. The experiment was designed to make a comparison of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) production between aquaponics (T₁) and traditional soil growbeds (T₂) in laboratory condition at the Aquaponics Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh. Each of the treatment has three replications that were placed randomly. A Seven hundred fifty liter water tank was set for fish rearing where 50 tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and 20 magur (Clarias batrachus) fry were released. Tilapia was fed with commercial floating feed while magur with sinking feed. Six (44×26×24 cm3) containers, three for each treatment, were used for lettuce sapling plantation. The fish waste water was irrigated into aquaponics beds and then returned to the fish tank as the thumb role of aquaponics. Fish, plants, water and soil quality parameters were sampled fortnightly, analyzed chemically in the aquaponic laboratory. The results revealed that the performance of T₂was better than the T₁ in terms of lettuce growth in respect of plant height, leaf number, plant and root weight. Lettuce production was comparatively higher in T₂ (123.25 tons/ha/89 days), than T₁ (107.89 tons/ha/89 days). This might be attributed to the higher nutrient content of the traditional soil (T₂). At The end of the experiment, the survival rates were 96 and 80% for tilapia and magur respectively whereas the total productions were 47.33 and 4.19 tons/ha/105days respectively. Further research needed to ascertain the superiority of these systems in food production.

In this study, effects of age and breed on the trace elements content in different muscles (M. longissimus dorsi, M. longissimus thoracis, M. psoas major, M. intercostalis internus, M. semispinalis capitis, M. biceps femoris, M. biceps brachii) and edible offal (liver, kidney, heart) of cattle were investigated. Iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd)contents of muscles and edible offal were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).According to the results obtained in this study, the content of Cu in M. longissimus dorsi of Eastern Anatolian Red (EAR) breed cattle was higher than Brown Swiss (BS) breed cattle, and the content of Cu in M. longissimus dorsi was statistically significant among the breeds (p<0.05). On the other hand, the highest Cu content in kidney and the highest Cd content in liver were observed the 4-year-old cattle, and the content of Cu in kidney and the content of Cd in the liver were statistically significant among the ages (p <0,05). Besides, the highest contents of Fe, Cu and Cd were found in the edible offal of EAR breed cattle aged 4 years. The mean values of the trace elements found in cattle muscles were ranked as Zn>Cu>Fe>Pb>Cd, whereas the mean values of the trace elements found in edible offal of cattle were ranked as Cu>Fe>Zn>Pb>Cd. Our results suggest that trace element content may vary in both muscles and offal depend on the breed and age of the cattle.

Herbal preparations are used traditionally in wound management to promote wound healing process. In Bangladesh, there are limited researches on the use of herbal products to assist healing process. Therefore, this experiment was carried out to exploit turmeric (Curcuma longa) and durba (Cynodon dactylon) pastes in the treatment of surgical wounds in cattle and to study their healing effect on wound sutured with horizontal mattress using nylon. A total of 36 surgical wounds were made in six cattle. Tincture benzoin was used as control group. Follow-up information was recorded from day 0 to day 21 postoperatively. Some morphological characters such as swelling area of wound, elevation of sutured line from the skin surface, width of sutured area and contraction length per week were recorded to determine the healing process of the wounds. Bacteriological and histopathological studies were also performed. All wounds were closely monitored to observe any complications such as swelling, wound dehiscence, suture abscess, local infection and exudation etc. Results showed that Tr. Benzoin seal caused marked tissue reaction in wounds in comparison to turmeric and durba paste. Turmeric paste showed splendid results in the healing of the wounds produced in cattle. Durba paste also has wound healing activity but less effective than that of turmeric. This study could help veterinarians to consider herbal products especially turmeric for healing of wounds with minimum complications. Dissemination of these findings among the farmers may prevent skin degradation caused by the postoperative complications of the wound and thus improve the health status of livestock.

A total of eighty stool samples from forty street children living in Karwan Bazar, Tejgaon area were collected to study the prevalence of intestinal helminths during February 2017 to May 2017. The highest prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuiris trichiura was observed among the children aged 13-15 (70%) years old followed by the age group 7-9. Male children were more A. lumbricoides prevalent (53.57%) followed by T. trichiura (46.43%) than the female children (41.67%; for both the A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura). Except Enterobius vermicularis and hookworm, heavy infestation with other worms was reduced; esspecially A. lumbricoides (50% to 12.5%) and T. trichiura (45% to 15%), after administering Mebendazole (Vermox 500mg, single dose). Children who collected waste material from dustbin were highly helminth prevalent group (91.67%) followed by vegetable shop worker (66.67%). In February 2017, double infection showed the highest occurrence (32.5%). After administering single dose of mebendazole, in May 2017, single infection was at the peak (55%). With the initiation of broad-spectrum anthelminthic drugs that are low-priced, non-hazardous and simple to deliver, further control programs should include health education, public and good personal hygiene practices among the street children.

Despite of recent progress in reducing the incidence of child malnutrition in Bangladesh, there are large disparities exists across gender, geographical regions, ethnic and economic groups. Adivasi‟s (tribal people) are regarded as one of the most exploited and deprived section of the society and their children are one of the worst victims of under-nutrition. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of malnutrition in different tribal children aged 24-59 months. Data was extracted from a project named “Adivasi Fisheries Project (AFP)” and the study considered 125 children from four purposively selected household (HH) clusters of four ethnic groups (Santal, Garo, Oraon, and Hajong) by quota-sampling design using the farmer field school (FFS) as the sampling frame. Malnutrition status was determined by measuring underweight, stunting and wasting and the associations between variables and malnutrition status were found out. Regression analysis then confirmed the contributions of risk factors. The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 28%, 42% and 13% respectively. Malnutrition was found to be higher among Hajong and Oraon compared to Santal and Garo. Significant association was observed between family income and malnutrition status. Having a family income below 4000 BDT (~$50) significantly increased the risk for underweight, stunting and wasting. Moreover, younger mother‟s (age < 20 years) was more prone to have underweight and wasted children than their older counterparts. The study pinpointed that the standard of living of adivasi (tribal) people need to be improved and socio-demographic issues need to be addressed to tackle the malnutrition status of their children.

A crossbreeding experiment between Hilly, a locally adapted chicken type in Bangladesh and Fayoumi, an egg type light chicken breed was carried out to evaluate phenotypic performances and to estimate genetic parameters for body weight and egg production at sexual maturity. Results show the mean hatch weight of Hilly♂ × Fayoumi♀ (H♂×F♀) crosses was 35±0.1 gm. In this study, H♂×F♀ crossbred showed a heavier body weight (1551± 32.0 gm/bird) at 20 weeks in comparison with other indigenous chicken genotypes in Bangladesh. The highest body weight gain was found in 8-10 weeks of age. H♂×F♀ crossbred hens exhibited sexual maturity at an average age of 147.5±1.6 days with an average body weight of 1350± 16.8 gm/bird. The mean weight of eggs at sexual maturity was 33.7±0.5 gm/egg. The estimates of heritability for body weight were ranged from 0.15 to 0.26. We observed a positive genetic correlation between weight at sexual maturity (WSM) and egg weight at sexual maturity (EWSM), meaning that hens with high weight at sexual maturity would produce heavier eggs.

The present study was undertaken to analyze the microbial quality of tap water samples obtained from different upazilla markets of Jamalpur, Tangail, Kishoreganj and Netrokona districts. For achieving the above mentioned objectives, 20 tap water samples were collected and the methods of heterotrophic plate count (HPC) and total coliform count (TCC) were applied. Moreover, isolated E. coli from tap water samples were characterized by using biochemical test, molecular method and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. HPC was highest in market tap water collected from Sarishabari of Jamalpur district and TCC was highest in market tap water collected from Durgapur of Netrokona district. The geometric mean of HPC of Jamalpur, Tangail, Kishoreganj and Netrokona districts water were 4.2x107, 2.7x107, 2.4x107 and 4.4x107 CFU/ml respectively. Out of 13 isolates of E. coli, 13 isolates were amplified by using 16S rRNA gene based PCR. The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern showed that the isolates were highly resistant to amoxicillin. Most of the E. coli isolates were susceptible to tetracycline, azithromycin, streptomycin, norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. Furthermore, a few E. coli isolates were intermediate resistant to erythromycin and gentamycin. Moreover, out of 13 E. coli isolates 2 (15.4%) isolates were detected as multidrug resistant. This study indicated the presence of multidrug resistant E. coli isolates in tap water in Jamalpur, Tangail, Kishoreganj and Netrokona districts that warrant particular attention.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of ipil ipil and bean leaves supplementation on egg production, egg quality and growth performance of Japanese quail. A total of 40 “Japanese Quail” at the age of 42 days (06 weeks) old were divided into four groups T₀, T₁, T₂ and T₃ respectively. Group T₀ was considered as control which fed only with commercial layer ration. Group T₁ was supplemented with formulation of 2 gm grinded ipil ipil leaves, Group T₂ with 2 gm grinded Bean leaves and Group T₃ with 2 gm grinded ipil ipil leaves plus 2 gm grinded Bean leaves per kg feed respectively. Observations were recorded for growth performance, egg production and egg quality of quail. Increased egg production rate was observed in ipil ipil supplemented groups (group T₁). Body weights were increased significantly (p<0.05) in all treated groups in respect to the control and highest was recorded in combined ipil ipil and Bean leaves supplemented groups (Group T₃). In treatment groups, there were significant increase in egg production, but in case of control group, the egg production was not increased. There was no significant pathological change in any internal organs of the layer of treated groups. Best result was found in the group T₃. The present study reveals that combined supplementation of ipil ipil and bean leaves gives better result over the other groups in respect to growth performance, egg production and egg quality.

A total of 10 NERICA lines (7 mutants along with 3 parents) of advanced generations were used for morphological and molecular characterization. The experiments were conducted  in both Aus and Aman season, 2014 under different field conditions at the field of Biotechnology division, BINA, BAU Campus, Mymensingh-2202 following Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The genotypes differed significantly for all the traits. The seasonal differences on all the traits except 100-seed weight were also highly significant. The season’s × genotypes interactions were highly significant. The mean value of days to maturity was the lowest in Aman season than Aus season and the mean yield of rice lines was the highest in Aman season than Aus season. The phenotypic co-efficient of variations (PCV) were higher than genotypic co-efficient of variations (GCV) for all the traits studied indicating that they all interacted with the environment to some extent. All the traits studied expressed moderate to high heritability estimates ranging from 53.70 to 99.54%. High heritability along with high genetic advance was noticed for the traits, number of filled grain panicle^-1, number of unfilled grain panicle^-1 and plant height. Significant positive correlations were recorded for yield plot^-1 with effective tillers hill^-1 and panicle length and significant negative correlations were recorded for yield plot^-1 with days to maturity and unfilled grains panicle^-1. Plant height, total tillers hill^-1, effective tillers hill^-1, panicle length, filled grains panicle^-1 and 100-seed weight showed direct positive effect on yield plot^-1 at both genotypic and phenotypic level. Therefore, these characters would be reliable criteria for improving yield.

The experiment was conducted to compare the effects of animal fat (ghee) and vegetable fat (dalda) in respect to hemato-biochemical changes in mice. A total of twenty one, 45 days old (Swiss Albino) mice were randomly divided into three equal experimental groups as A, B and C (n=7). Group A was considered as control and fed only broiler pellet, group B was fed broiler pellet with ghee (25 gm/1000 gm feed) and group C was fed broiler pellet with dalda (25 gm/1000 gm feed) respectively. At day 40, all mice were sacrificed to collect blood for hematological parameters where blood profile was analyzed by biochemical tests. Total erythrocyte counts were significantly (p<0.05) higher in ghee and dalda supplemented mice (B: 8.99±.34 million/cu. mm. and C: 8.27±.43 million/cu.mm.) compared to control group (A: 7.49±.22 million/cu.mm.). The significantly (P<0.05) higher hemoglobin concentration was recorded in ghee supplemented group B (9.02±.18 gm/dl) than other groups and control group A showed lowest value (7.59±.52 gm/dl). In Blood profile analysis, serum cholesterol and HDL value were higher in ghee and dalda supplemented group than control group. On the other hand triglyceride value was significantly (P<0.05) lower in control group (A: 44±4.58 mg/dl) than ghee and dalda supplemented group (B: 80.33±2.51 mg/dl, C: 71.2±4.26 mg/dl). The study suggests that ghee and dalda supplementation with regular diet would be able to significantly increase cholesterol and triglyceride in mice.

Diabetes can be linked with impaired host immunity that subsequently increases the rate of various infections including tuberculosis (TB), particularly in developing countries where TB is endemic. The objectives of this case control study were to determine the prevalence and the risk of LTBI among diabetic patients. It is a prospective case control study conducted in Azadi Teaching Hospital from September 2017 until May 2018. The diabetic patients included in this study were randomly selected. The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM) was made according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Diabetes mellitus patients and the control participants were offered a voluntary tuberculin skin test (TST). The TST ≥10 mm was considered positive. The results were analyzed by entering the data in SPSS (statistical package for the social sciences, version 16; SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Two hundred DM patients and 208 control individuals participated in this study. Collectively, 28 patients had positive TST results. Based on the sputum smear microscopy and CXR, none of these patients showed active TB disease. The differences between the DM patients and the control group had no statistical significance apart from previous hospitalization. The prevalence of LTBI was 23.53% in the diabetic group, whereas, it was 9.62% in the control group. The frequency of LTBI in diabetic patients was significantly higher than the control group. When the diabetic group was compared with the control group in terms of diabetic control and the duration of diabetes disease, there was a statistically significant association of diabetes duration ≥ 10 years and TST positivity. In conclusion, the previous hospitalization was a significant risk factor for diabetic patients to acquire TB bacilli. Latent TB infection was more common in diabetics than non diabetics and there was an increased likelihood of having LTBI with the duration of diabetes ≥ 10 years. To avoid the threatening of TB control program, prophylactic treatment of LTBI in diabetic patients is paramount.