Issue 4

Bakanae disease has been reported from almost all the rice growing countries in the world. The disease has been emerged as a major problem in some of the Asian countries including Bangladesh. Bakanae is becoming a serious threat to sustainable rice production in Bangladesh particularly in the northeastern part of the country and accounted for causing up to 25% yield losses. The disease has become difficult to manage due to lacking appropriate disease diagnosis. Fusarium fujikuroi mainly caused this disease but other Fusarium species are also reported to be involved for causing this disease. It, therefore, is crucial to understand the association of Fusarium species with Bakanae disease for sustainable rice disease management in Bangladesh.

The world has been fighting against a pandemic for more than a year, caused by a highly infectious disease named COVID-19 rooted by the novel coronavirus 2019. It has already been spread out in most of the countries and a few of which are experiencing second wave. The Novel coronavirus-2019 (SARS CoV-2) incurred more than 1.6 million deaths and 76 million cases in the world population (till 20 December 2020). Although some vaccines are being launched, however, their effectivity and availability are still unknown. Maintaining personal hygiene and social distance are the best way of protection. Hand washing is the utmost recommendation for the maintenance of personal hygiene since hands can be contaminated by the droplets easily. Particularly, in pandemic situations, it is crucial to interrupt the transmission chain of the virus by the practice of proper hand sanitization. The hand sanitization solely depends on the use of effective hand disinfecting agents. Natural formula-based disinfectants can be preferable to chemicals because of higher efficacy and lower adverse effects. Unani medicine is the system based on natural formulations. ‘Raihan’ (common sage, Salvia officinalis) is frequently used in Unani medicine for its higher disinfectant role. Common sage extract with ethanol may provide superior efficacy against COVID-19. In this article, we presented information on common sage and its potentiality using with ethanol as a natural, skin-friendly hand sanitizer to prevent harmful action of chemical mixing synthetic sanitizer.

The burden of serious pneumococcal disease is the heaviest in the developing world that focuses on its diagnostic importance. The incidence of pneumonoccoal disease in different regions of the world is not caused by some specific serotypes or serogroups of pneumonocci rather they are randomly distributed in population. A total number of 412 nasopharyngeal swab samples were cultures between January 2010 and December 2012. All the isolates were serotyped by using chessboard modification of quellung methods. A total of 102 S. pneumoniae isolates were found. The distribution among age groups shows that age groups 15 years and over 60 years are more frequent. The most common serotypes were 20 (17.6%), 33(16.7%), 6 (15.7%), 19 (14.7%) and 23 (10.8%) types. The addition of a pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) covering the prevalent serotypes in the immunization program could be useful for reducing the burden of pneumococcal diseases.

Shrimps are good source of protein and also good exportable item for its quality all over the world. Inappropriate use of antibiotics in the production of local and export quality shrimps can facilitate infiltration of antibiotic residues into human bodies which are toxic enough to cause serious health hazard. The present study was investigated to determine the antibiotic residues in some selected local market and export quality shrimps and also commercial shrimp feeds in chattogram. Local grade and export grade samples of Black tiger shrimps (Penaeus monodon) and feeds of four different companies were taken for the completion of this study. The permissible residual limit for the shrimp samples were- 0.3(µg/kg) for Chloramphenicol and 1.0 (µg/kg) for AHD, AMOZ, SEM, AOZ. Black tiger shrimps from local market 1 had high concentration of Chloramphenicol (0.35 µg/kg) and SEM (1.2 µg/kg) residues whereas Market 2 showed maximum residues in AMOZ (1.2 µg/kg) and SEM (1.1 µg/kg). Whereas, Market 3 showed negative result. Local market 4 had high concentration of Chloramphenicol (0.4 µg/kg) and AOZ (1.2 µg/kg) residues. However, in export grade shrimps antibiotic residues was found under the maximum residual limit in all samples. Also, among four feed tested, two of them were found positive for chlorampenicol and nitrofurans. The result was considered significant where P>0.05. So, legal actions should be taken against the farmers and the farms that overuse antibiotics in shrimps. Also, people should be made aware of the harmful effects of antibiotics so that the impact can be minimized.

Dietary patterns are evolving greatly during the last years and various diet and lifestyle related diseases are increasing day by day. The prevalence of double burden of malnutrition and various nutritional deficiency diseases among the reproductive aged women, the most vulnerable group has become a severe concern during the last decades. Therefore, the study focused on the nutritional status of reproductive aged women, their dietary food and nutrient intake and the adequacy of these consumed nutrients as compared to their requirements. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the randomly selected 355 households in Cumilla district in Bangladesh. The results showed that only about 32% of the participants were found having a normal BMI range. The percentage of underweight, overweight and obesity among the participants were 13.3% (95% CI: 10.25, 16.36), 35.8% (95% CI: 31.49, 40.12) and 19.6% (95% CI: 16.04, 23.17) respectively. Dietary protein, carbohydrate, total fat consumption was 11.87%, 65.22% and 18.9% of energy. Consumption of vitamin A, C, D, Folic acid, calcium, sodium, riboflavin and potassium was very poor and found below EAR/AI among the most respondents. Thiamin, zinc, iron, phosphorous intake was satisfactory among the most respondents.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is one of the highest volume chemicals produced world-wide and used in the manufacture of plastics and epoxy resins that are pervasive in our environment and daily lives. The present research was carried out to investigate the effects of two different doses of Bisphenol-A (BPA) on the body weight, hematological parameters and patho-physiological changes of kidney in mice. For this study, fifteen mice, 6 to 8 weeks of age with an average bwt 27.10±0.5 gm, were randomly divided into three groups (n= 5). Group A (control) received only normal mouse pellet while group B and group C received pellet mixed with BPA @ 50 mg and 100 mg / kg bwt daily for 12 weeks, respectively. At the end of the experiment, blood and tissues were collected and processed for hematological and histopathological examination. Results showed that BPA- treated mice caused significant elevation (p<0.01) in weight gain even treated with low dose (50mg) of BPA. The mice exposed to high dose of BPA (100 mg) showed marked reduction (p<0.05) in total erythrocyte count (TEC), significant decreased (p<0.01) in hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV). Histopathological alterations were detected in the kidneys of BPA-treated mice. In conclusion, this study suggested that BPA exerts deleterious impacts on hematological parameters including association with renal injuries.

The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on enhanced maturation, spawning, embryonic and larval development of endangered Gangetic Mystus (Mystus cavasius). Fishes were collected from the Brahmaputra River, Mymensingh, Bangladesh and stocked in the cisterns. Treated group was provided supplemental diet enriched with 1% squid extracted lipids as a source of PUFAs four months whereas controlled group fed the same diet except PUFAs. In comparison with the control group, treated group exhibited higher reproductive performances in spawning trial. The fertilization rate (79.5±1.49), hatching rate (72.29±1.78) and survival rate (64.31±0.48) of offspring were significantly higher in treated group compared to control. Consequently, early embryonic and larval development was observed in the treated fishes. Therefore, the present study indicates the enhanced reproductive and developmental performances of (Mystus cavasius) owing to PUFAs supplementation in diet.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of olive leaves with probiotics (OLP) on growth performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality, blood parameters and oxidative stability of meat in broiler. A total of 160 day old, unsexed Cobb-500 chicks were distributed in to five dietary treatment groups: Control (Basal diet), OLP-1 (Basal diet + 0.4% OLP, DM basis), OLP-2 (Basal diet + 0.8% OLP, DM basis), OLP-3 (Basal diet + 1.2% OLP, DM basis) and OLP-4 (Basal diet + 1.6% OLP, DM basis) having 4 replications with 8 birds in each in a completely randomized design. Results showed that the live weight, overall average daily gain (ADG) increased significantly (p<0.05) in all treatment groups compared to control. The weekly feed conversion ratio (FCR) reduced significantly (p<0.05) in 0-14 days and the weekly ADG improved in 15-28 days. Blood cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL) increased significantly (p<0.05) in all treatment groups except OLP-4 compared to control. The dressing percentage showed significant (p<0.05) difference among treatment groups and control. Organs weight were similar among treatment groups, although the breast meat and bursa weight differed significantly (p<0.05) in treatment groups. A significant increase (p<0.05) in meat crude protein (CP) and total ash content in treatment groups relative to control. Meat thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) significantly (p<0.05) decreased at 0.8%, 1.2% and 1.8% during 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd weeks and in average value as well. Net return and benefit cost ratio (BCR) substantially increased in all treatment groups compared to control (p<0.05). Finally, dietary OLP supplementation improved growth performance, meat CP and ash content, increased blood cholesterol, HDL content, net rutrun and BCR while reduced meat TBARS value. Thus, olive leaf probiotics can be a potential source to be used as feed additive in broiler.

A study was undertaken to determine the effect of different dietary protein levels on growth, survival and production of Mystus cavasius (Hamilton-Buchanan 1822) with three experimental diets containing 29%, 32% and 35% protein level applied simultaneously to three treatments T₁, T₂ and T₃ respectively each with three replications. The stocking density (1, 11, 150/ha), initial weight (3.00±00 g) and length (2.00±0.00 cm) of fish were same for all the treatments. No significant (P>0.05) difference was found for the mean values of water quality parameters. A suitable range of water quality parameters were recorded with the environment of experimental ponds. In terms of growth, production and survival, relatively highest performance was found in the treatment T₃. After 180 days of rearing, average weight gain was 29.16±0.43 g, 31.17±0.30 g and 37.44±0.32 g with the above three different feeds, respectively. The average daily gain (ADG) and specific growth rate (SGR) of all treatments showed significant difference (P<0.05) and the highest value (0.21±0.04 and 1.43±0.01%) was found with the 35% dietary protein level containing diet. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) improved with increase of dietary protein. The findings of FCR were 2.97±0.02 at 29% protein level (T₁), 2.64±0.02 at 32% protein level (T₂) and 2.20±0.01 at 35% protein level (T₃). The results of protein efficiency ratio (PER) values were fairly similar of 1.17±0.02 and 1.18±0.01 for 29% and 32% protein level containing diets respectively indicating low efficiency and the highest efficiency (1.30±0.01) was found with 35% protein level. The findings of condition factor in different treatments for Mystus cavasius were not significantly (P>0.05) varied with the treatments. Calculated values of condition factor were 1.04±0.00, 1.03±0.03 and 1.09±0.05 in treatment T₁, T₂ and treatment T_3, respectively. In pond culture, the performance of treatment T₃ was found to be better than the treatment T₁ and T_2. The production was of 3616±16.74 kg/ha in T₃ during the culture period of six months. The best cost benefit ratio (CBR) value (1.98±0.02) was also found with treatment T₃. The 35% dietary protein level with treatment T₃ resulted in best growth performance and was probably adequate to meet the dietary protein needs of Mystus cavasius (Hamilton-Buchanan, 1822).

In pregnancy a healthy dietary behavior is beneficial for the expecting mother and her fetus. Anemia is one of the most common nutritional deficiency disorders that can be prevented through promoting dietary behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the dietary behavior of pregnant woman with anemia in Bangladesh. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was applied. By using G* Power, 135 pregnant women were purposively recruited from MMCH, Dhaka. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, independent t-test and one way ANOVA. Findings showed the mean age of the participants was 25 (SD=4.96) years. Multi gravida was 55.6% and 68.1% reported their medium healthy condition. The average dietary behavior reported 56.03 (SD=6.15) and 67.4% participants’ hemoglobin concentration were within 10-10.9 g/dl. In bivariate analysis, finding showed that anemia has significantly related with age (F = 12.88, p < 001), level of education (F = 2.92, p = .036), income (r = 0.19, p = .027), gravida (F = 5.63, p = .004) health condition (F = 10.89, p < 001). The result of dietary behaviors showed that anemia has positively correlated (r = 0.21, p = .017) with dietary behavior. Dietary behavior is related with some factors, age, low level education, grand multi and primiparous, poor health condition found less hemoglobin concentration indicate as less dietary intake. Monthly income and dietary behavior impact in increasing Hemoglobin concentration. In this regards, maternal nurses might play a vital role for providing nursing intervention to improve pregnant women’s dietary behavior.

Chronic Kidney disease is becoming a global public health problem throughout the world. The aim of the study was to assess management status of the hemodialysis unit in a specialized hospital. It was a hospital based descriptive cross sectional study. A total of 17 participants were selected by purposive sampling method on the basis of defined selection criteria from January 2015 to December 2016. The place of study was National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU) hospital, Dhaka. The research instruments were a semi structured questionnaire and a checklist. The socio-demographic status of the respondents showed that 11.8 % (n=02) were doctor, 58.8 %( n=10) nurses and 29.4 %( n=05) were technician. Mean age of care providers was 38.82±8.79 years. Majority of respondents, were satisfied regarding the unit including physical facilities 76.5% (n=13) cleanliness of the unit 58.8% (n=10) and medical record facility 52.9% (n=9). Need to strengthen infection control measure and BCC activities among the service providers to improve the management status of the hemodialysis unit of NIKDU hospital.

5S-CQI-TQM is a management technique that is aimed at bringing satisfaction of staff as well as the patients through improvement of working environment. A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out among 226 respondents who were selected purposively from the selected study place from 1^st January to 31^st December 2017. Among 226 respondents, 113 were taken from Dhaka Medical College and another 113 were taken from Mugdha Medical College. Among 113 respondents, 56 respondents were health care providers and 57 respondents were health care receivers. The purpose of this study to compare the management of services in Total Quality Management implemented (Dhaka Medical College and Hospital) and non-implemented (Mugdha Medical College and Hospital) health facilities. A Semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire and an observational check list were developed to collect the data. Separate questionnaire was used for health care providers and health care receivers. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS (statistical package for social science) version 20 statistical software. Significant statistical differences were found between TQM implemented and TQM non-implemented hospital regarding workload (p=0.043), hospital authority always seriously consider staff’s suggestions for the improvement of quality of service (p<0.001), employees always respect to each other in the hospital (p<0.001) and 35 (62.5%) service providers expressed satisfactory opinion regarding management of the hospital.

The subclinical mastitis is more serious and is responsible for much greater loss to the dairy industry in Bangladesh. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of subclinical mastitis and identify the associated risk factors in randomly selected 200 lactating buffaloes (192 local and 8 crossbred) at some selected regions of Bhola district, Bangladesh during the period from March 2018 to February 2019. California Mastitis Test (CMT) was performed on each quarter milk sample of lactating buffaloes at field condition for the determination of subclinical mastitis in dairy buffaloes. Overall prevalence of subclinical mastitis was 10.50% (21/200). The prevalence of subclinical mastitis (SCM) was comparatively higher in crossbred (12.5%) as compared to local breed (10.42%). The highest prevalence of SCM in dairy buffaloes was also found in late lactation period (12.82%), age group 7 to 18 years (13.46%), rainy season (11.1%) and 2nd parity group (10.74%). Moreover, the buffaloes graze in free range areas; large and medium sized farms; poor health conditions and other diseases of post parturient period increasing the susceptibility of SCM. For early diagnosis of subclinical mastitis, CMT can be performed regularly as a control measures and emphasis should be provided on farm management practices; particularly on milking hygiene and udder sanitation.

Workplace environment is an integral part of a hospital. The workplace environment influences on nurses’ performance both positively and negatively. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Chittagong from 1^st January to 31^st December 2017 with the aim to assess the workplace environment and performance of nurses. Total respondents in this study were 210 nurses. Samples were selected by purposive sampling technique. After taking written consent from the respondents, data collection was done by face to face interview using a semi-structured questionnaire with the help of Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II and Performance Evaluation Rating Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The study findings revealed that 43.3% had good, 51.4% average and 5.2% poor state of physical environment and 10.0% had good, 88.1% average and 1.9% poor state of psychosocial environment. Therefore 70.5% respondents’ performance needed some improvement. The results revealed that there was a significant relationship between educational qualification and workplace performance of nurses (p< 0.001; pulled from χ² text) and psychosocial environment and workplace performance of nurses (p<0.015; pulled from χ² text). So, a conducive workplace environment is very crucial in every hospital to improve nurses’ performance and provide quality care.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is one of the causes of cervical cancer which is preventable. The study was a cross-sectional study with the objective was to determine the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage among working women. A total 236 educated working women were selected purposively from different working places in Dhaka city. A pretested semi- structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The knowledge was assessed by using modified Blooms cut off points which was developed with cervical cancer and vaccine knowledge related questions. The study result revealed that among 236 working women 71.2% knew about the risk factor of cervical cancer. It was found that 92.8% knew about the way of prevention of cervical cancer respectively. The overall knowledge on cervical cancer and vaccine was found to be having good knowledge 21.2%, satisfactory knowledge 41.9% and poor knowledge 36.9%. Out of the total working women only 5.1% had HPV vaccination coverage. Reason behind non vaccinations, 50% mentioned had no knowledge about vaccine, 35.3% mentioned can’t decide and 8.9% mentioned high cost of vaccine. Significant association has been observed in between vaccination coverage with over all knowledge of cervical cancer (p value .04). It may be concluded that HPV vaccination coverage is very low which needs awareness program on this issues through mass media, educational session, counseling and so on to reduce human papillomavirus associated cancers as well as economic burden.

Medical record is the most important document in the medical field. This cross sectional study was conducted at Chittagong Medical College hospital from January to December, 2017 with the aim to assess the existing medical record keeping practices. Around 214 patients’ record files were selected by systematic sampling method and 30 record keeping personnel were also interviewed. Data were collected by review of records by observational checklist and semi-structured questionnaire were administered to medical record keeping personnel. This study showed that, out of 44 items of patient record file among them 33 items were recorded in 100%. Majority of the medical records (89.7%) were satisfactorily completed. All of the respondents mentioned that they had no training regarding medical record keeping practices. All the respondents stated that some problem faced during keeping the medical record and (90.0%) respondents stated that computerized medical record system could solve the problem they faced. This study showed that, the medical recording status is good in majority areas but keeping practice was not organized at all. There were important defects in keeping the medical records. It seems that there are multiple factors contributing to the problem, such as lack of manpower, insufficient record room and they had no training about medical record keeping practice. It is necessary for the government to develop policies and strategies to improve medical record keeping practice for patient safety, to reduce error, repetition of investigations, protect the medico legal issues and future health care advancement.

Infection control and standard precautions is evidence-based practices that can reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms. Infection control education is a fundamental component of the Nursing curriculum. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and practices regarding infection control among nurses in secondary level hospital at 250 beds Chittagong General Hospital and Fouzderhat TB Hospital, Chittagong. The study period was 1^st January to 31^st December 2018. Total 182 nurses were included in this study. The respondents were selected by purposive sampling technique and data were collected by face to face interview. The study was found that (78.0%) respondents had fair knowledge and (90.2%) had fair practices regarding infection control. The study also revealed that, 161 (88.5%) respondents awarded about hand washing, 179 (98.4%) respondents were concerned about waste management and 93 (51.1%) respondents agree and 85 (46.7%) respondents strongly agree about PPE use is important. Significant statistical difference was found between working experience and knowledge level. This study can be concluded that in spite of practice level regarding infection control, nurses had fair knowledge level. These finding suggest that nurse knowledge and practice regarding infection control need further improvement.

This study was conducted at CRP Saver Dhaka, with a view to described the various factors that affect the physical disabilities and psychosocial status of the disabled patients, from January to December, 2015. The sample size was 150 and the data were collected by using purposive sampling technique with face-to-face interview. The study revealed that, counterpart (42%). Rural area was found to have highest (56.7%) of Physical disabilities than urban areas (43.3%). Majority of respondents were come from middle and low income group. Neuromuscular disability found higher numbered (67%) than that of musculo skeletal disability (33%). Regarding reasons of disability stroke (25.3%) was in highest position followed by fall from height (21.39%), RTA (16%) and occupational (5.30%) respectively. Physical disability was one of the major causes of psychological problem. Physical disability hamper the social status, (10.7%) of the respondents were lost their jobs due to disabilities. Study found the significance difference between the physical disabilities and interruption of community involvement (χ2 =34.162, p=<0.05). Studies regarding psychosocial aspect among the disabled are rare. This study might be improving the understanding of psychosocial problem of the physical disabled and thereby strengthening the design of more effective identification, prevention and intervention strategies.

The incidence of renal disease is increasing at an alarming rate in Bangladesh. Malnutrition is directly correlated with the prevalence with these diseases. A total of 120 dialysis patients from both sexes having mean age 45±13. 79 years undergoing hemodialysis were enrolled for the study in Khulna city, Bangladesh. Information regarding disease history and associated co morbidities were collected from patient’s files. The personal information, prevalent vices, exercise behavior, dietary modifications and clinical and health status of the patients were recorded by using pre-tested questionnaire. Etiology of the chronic renal disease, complications and biochemical parameters were documented from the case files. Renal failure was more prevalent among male than in female. Diabetes mellitus (31.67%) were the most common etiology for chronic renal failure. Pallor of eyes was the most prevailing sign and the most common symptoms are breathlessness (98%), oliguria (88%), anorexia (67%) and nausea (60%). Nutritional status was assessed by anthropometric measurements using body mass index (BMI), mid arm circumference (MAC) and waist hip ratio (WHR). According to BMI, 43% male are grouped in normal category whereas majority of females (52%) are underweight with no overweight female respondents. 80% male had low adequacy of energy whereas all the female patients had adequacy of energy, carbohydrate and protein on low level. Dietary data was obtained by using 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency questionnaire. Actual intake of calories, protein, fats and minerals was lower than the recommended intake for hemodialysis patients. More than 50 percent of patient on hemodialysis were at risk of malnutrition. Around 32% respondents included fruits as per doctor’s advice whereas water and salted foods were restricted to three fourth of patients to protect kidney. Proper assessment of nutritional status, nutritional management and dietary modification can play a central role in preventing malnutrition of hemodialysis patients.

Rhinacanthus nasutus is an ethnomedical plant used in the traditional system of medicine for treating skin diseases. As no adequate studies available on R. nasutus grown in Sri Lanka, this study aimed on exploring anti-oxidant, anti-parasitic and pesticidal activity of leaves of the plant. Antioxidant capacity of the crude extract of leaves was evaluated using DPPH free radical scavenging assay and FRAP assay using ascorbic acid and FeSO₄.7H₂O as the standards respectively. Pediculicidal efficacy was carried out against head lice using 0.0010% (w/v) methanolic, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts of leaves by following modified filter paper diffusion bioassay. Pesticidal activity of leaves was evaluated using modified filter paper contact bioassay against mealybugs, P. marginatus, resides on papaw and guava trees. The IC₅₀ value of DPPH assay was found to be 514.3 µgmL^-1 and FRAP value was found to be 594.33±2.93 µmol Fe²⁺/g in anti-oxidant assay. The LT₅₀ (median Lethal Time) values for  0.0010% (w/v)  concentration of  methanolic, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts were 263, 347 and 676 min respectively in pediculicidal assay. LC₅₀ (50% mortality) value was found  to be 0.0011% (w/v) after 240 minutes whereas LT₅₀ values of 0.0020% (w/v) of methanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions of R. nasutus for adult were found as 31, 124 and 189 hours and for nymph were 14, 18 and 29 hours respectively in pesticidal assay. Accordingly, methanolic extract was effective in controlling nymph stage of mealybug life cycle than adults with the LC₅₀ of 0.0015% (w/v) within 14 hours. This study confirmed promising pediculicidal and pesticidal activity and significant anti-oxidant capacity of leaves of R. nasutus.

The study was conducted to find out the effect of beef cattle diet on the performance of upgraded Holstein Friesian bulls at BAPARD cattle farm in Bangladesh. For this purpose, twelve Local x Holstein-Friesian upgraded bulls (L×F) of average 20 months of age and 213 kg live weight were divided into three equal groups. Three different diets such as (i) a mixed concentrate ration (T₁), (ii) mixed concentrate ration and UMS at a ratio of 1:1 on DM basis (T₂) and (iii) green Grass based ration without concentrate and UMS. The results found that the average daily live weight gains of three groups was 350g, 330g and 340g respectively, which were not differ significantly (P<0.05). Daily DM intake was significantly higher in T3 but the digestibility found lower than other treatments. In case of feed conversion ratio (FCR), the highest FCR was found in T₁ (2.96) but cost of per kg live weight gain was the lowest in T₃ (BDT 90) compared to T₁ (BDT 140) and T₂ (BDT 142). Therefore, considering the FCR and cost of per unit beef production, a beef diet of green grass might be the appropriate diet for the floodplains area for Local x Holstein-Friesian upgraded bulls.

The aim of the study was to compare the efficiency of organic matter degradation between composting and vermicomposting as well as the possibility of making compost and vermicompost using cattle manure. The experiment was conducted with two treatments, where one was conventional composting (T₁) and another was vermicomposting (T₂) from cattle manure. The sample from composted materials was collected at 0, 20, 40 and 60^th day of experiment. Parameter studied were dry matter (DM), crude fiber (CF), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash content of the samples as well as pH and temperature change during the experimental period. Results found that a significant higher DM (P<0.01) was found in T₁ compared to T₂. The CF degradation rate was significantly higher (P<0.01) in T₂ compared to T₁ group. The CP content also found significantly higher (P<0.05) in T₂ compared to T₁ group. There were no significant differences in EE and ash content as well as pH between the treatment groups. A typical temperature curve was found in T₁ during active composting phase but the temperature was more or less same in T₂ during the whole experimental period. From the experiment, it was found that crude fiber degradation rate is faster and CP content was higher in the T₂ compared to T₁ that might be indicated that vermicomposting is more beneficial than composting.

Climate change is a contemporary global threat to the whole world especially in the coastal area like Bangladesh. Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts because of its geographical location. This research is an attempt to assess the impacts of climate change on fishersʹ livelihood of a selected climate hotspot zone Munshiganj. In the study area, the average sex ratios of male and female were 56.67% and 43.33%, respectively and their religion ratio were Islam 45% and Hindu 55%. There was 60% nuclear family and 40% joint family. About 86.4% house was tin-shed and drinking water source was only tube well. In Munshiganj, 11% fishers were illiterate, 27% had primary, 38% had secondary, 16% had higher secondary and 8% had bachelor. Most of the people about 59% were depended on Upazila Health Complex for their health issues. Highest percentage of fishers about 40% had an annual income of 20,001 to 24,000 BDT. About 62.7% fishers were agreed with the statements: reduce fish production, damage fishing ground, blockage of fish migration road, damage biodiversity, increasing temperature, enhance soil erosion, reduce rainfall, siltation, water flow, storm frequency, changing spawning season, decrease fish production, extinction fish species. In study area, women and children are affected severely i.e. malnutrition, education, treatment, early marriage etc. The present study clearly indicates that there are visible changes in livelihood condition of fishers‟ in the study areas of Munshiganj.

Components of essential newborn care (ENC) and neonatal resuscitation are proven interventions for reducing neonatal mortality rate and stillbirth rates. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 354 rural mothers to assess the level of knowledge and practice of ENC. The study was conducted from 1st January to 31st December 2019 in Panchagarh district. Rural mothers were interviewed with a semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire and an observational check list was also used. This study revealed that, majority of the respondents 306 (86.4%) knew that baby should be kept warmth by wrapping with dry cloth and 39(11.0%) respondents should be kept in skin to skin contact immediately after delivery to maintain thermoregulation. From the total respondents 202 (57.1 %) knew that once should start breast feeding immediately after birth. Out of 354 respondents 344 (97.2%) gave colostrum to their baby. The study also finds that, 210 (59.3%) respondents had inadequate knowledge regarding essential new born care while 144 (40.7%) had adequate knowledge and 164 (46.3%) respondents had inadequate practice regarding essential new born care while 190 (53.7%) had adequate practice. Respondents who had inadequate knowledge had significantly more inadequate practice than others (p<0.001). Effective  interventions can improve key newborn care practices, care-seeking and, in high mortality settings, reduce newborn mortality.

The aim of microarrays technology is to discover genes, which are differentially expressed as outliers between two or more groups of patients are an important task in the genomics community. The regular pattern of genes may often breakdown due to the presence of outliers and it is essential to detect those genes whose behavior looks abnormal in experimental and biological conditions. Several statistical techniques - t-statistic, cancer outlier profile analysis (COPA), outlier sums (OS), outlier robust t-statistic (ORT), maximum ordered subset t-statistics (MOST) and least sum of ordered subset square t-statistics (LSOSS) were developed to address the problem of detecting outlier genes in microarray data but these methods are affected by some problems especially if there is an unusual observation in such dataset then the standard assumptions of distribution parameter may be violated and these techniques might not be suitable to detect outliers genes as well. For these consequences, I have developed a new statistical technique that is “Propose t-statistic (PT)”. The performance of the newly proposed method PT statistic compare with the other existing methods applied to the monte carlo simulation data, package data, and real cancer datasets. The result shows that the outlier genes are identified by using the proposed method PT as well and will give the best and identical results than other methods. The performance of the proposed approach significantly improves than the traditional methods and it can extensively contribute to the medical as well as the genomic community.

Sharp medical waste is infectious and hazardous because of their high potential diseases transmission and injury. It poses serious threats to environmental health. A cross sectional study was done to assess the level of knowledge and practices of health workers on safe disposal of sharp medical wastes. This study was done in Pirojpur Sadar Hospital, Nazirpur Upazilla Health Complex and Zia Nagar Upazilla Health Complex. Sample size was 200 Health Workers. A Semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were processed and analyzed with the help of SPSS (Version 20) software on the basis of different variables. The period of study was from January to December 2016. The study result shows that among 200 respondent mean age was 44.05 (±7.01) years. The designation varieties were nurses (70.0%), doctor (10.0%), Aya/ward boy (15.0%). This study found that, majority of the respondents had knowledge about the concept of medical waste and sharp medical waste. Among the respondents (90.0%) respondents knew the correct color bin to segregate sharp medical waste. Multiple responses of the respondents (80%) mentioned that they got information from Course curriculum. Knowledge of the respondents on sharp medical waste disposal (64.5%) had Good knowledge, (23%) had Fair Knowledge and (12.5%) had Poor Knowledge. Most of the respondents (47.5%) had Good practices, (33%) had Fair and (20%) had Poor practices regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste disposal. Adequate supply of equipment’s and strict monitoring system should be established to improvement the practice of the health care providers regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste. Training on sharp medical waste disposal will help the participants to improve their knowledge and practices.

Slaughter-houses are the places from where people get the meat for consumption, but the time is to utilize the by-products to increase the GDP’s rate from livestock. A field survey was conducted regarding usage of the by-products of slaughterhouses and/or meat selling centers in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Data were collected from total 60 slaughterhouses and/or meat selling centers randomly from different part of Dhaka city consisting 20 large animal (cattle, buffalo), 20 small animal (goat, sheep) and 20 poultry bird (chicken, duck) slaughterhouses and/or meat selling centers. Following slaughtering process huge amount of different byproducts are also produced that have good economic and nutritive value. The results revealed that edible byproducts such as head trimmings, brain, tongue, heart, stomach, lungs, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidney and tail were used by 100% as human food. Inedible by-products had diversified uses but to some extent they were also rejected. However, no one of the inedible by-products was fully rejected. Among the inedible by-products the hides had a great industrial value. Poultry by-products like blood, intestines and feather wastes were generally found to utilize as fish feed. Most slaughterhouses were found to maintain moderate to poor hygienic conditions where very few maintained good condition. Almost two-third (61.67%) slaughterhouses were used water container as water supply followed by hose pipe (33.33%) and tape water (5%) for cleaning purpose. It can be concluded that by-products are valuable materials but due to lack of management and industrial mind slaughterhouses of the Dhaka city cannot utilize those materials. Therefore, proper usages of by-products can run a new prospective business in Bangladesh.