The Hazaribagh tannery area of Bangladesh is considered an extremely polluted site owing to the disposal of untreated Cr-enriched tannery effluent. This study was undertaken from 2006–2008 to characterize the nature and extent of pollution in the area, the associated health risks, and to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the selected cleanup strategies. A comprehensive soil, wastewater, and groundwater sampling and detailed laboratory analysis were done. The results of the study indicated that the site is extremely polluted by Cr (up to 37,000 mg/kg dm), mineral oils, and extractable organohalogenic compounds (EOX), and the most severe soil pollution was confined up to a depth of 10–20 ft (3.048–6.096 m). The phenol index and chromium level in the tannery effluent were very high, and most of this Cr was found to adsorb onto suspended solids in the wastewater. Analysis of groundwater samples from tubewells in the Hazaribagh area indicated that groundwater is not contaminated by Cr or any other heavy metals. Soil leaching tests indicated a very low Cr mobility and thus a low risk of spreading with infiltrating rainwater. Most of the Cr in the subsoil exists as Cr(III) and was found to be very stable. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the Cr-containing soil structures showed that the Cr is predominantly present in association with clay mineral structures.
Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common causes of chronic childhood disability. To know the aetiopathogenesis, severity and prognosis of CP, neuroimaging is an important modality of investigation. Objective: This study was done to observe the findings in CT scan of brain in children with CP. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. One hundred and ten patients who were clinically diagnosed as cerebral palsy were enrolled in the study. After selection of the subjects, demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. All other comorbidities including visual and hearing impairments were identified. CT scan of brain was done in all children and reporting had been done by a single qualified radiologist. Results: The mean age of the studied children was 2.6±2.2 years (1 to 14 years). Seven types of CP were found in the study group. Among them quadriplegic CP were the most common (39.1%). History of perinatal asphyxia was found in 81.8% children. Cognitive delay was found in 90% children, speech delay was found in 88.2% children, visual impairment was found in 35.5% children and hearing impairment in 31.8% cases. Epilepsy was found in 44.4% among studied subjects. Most common finding on CT scan of brain was cerebral atrophy (62.7%), followed by encephalomalacia (15.5%), calcification (13.6%), and brain malformations (11.8%). Abnormal CT scan findings were found in 88.2% of study population. Conclusion: This study showed that most common type of CP was quadriplegic CP. Maximum children had abnormal CT scan findings. Most common CT scan finding was cerebral atrophy. J Enam Med Col 2021; 11(1): 18-23
A field experiment was conducted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur during the period from 2012-13 to verify the effectiveness of urea super granule (USG) and prilled urea (PU) on the yield and quality of broccoli, to assess the comparative performance of USG and PU on nutrient uptake and nitrogen use efficiency and to evaluate the effect of USG and PU on post-harvest nutrient status in Shallow Red-Brown Terrace Soil of Madhupur Tract (AEZ-28). The experiment was designed in a randomized complete block with three replications having 5 treatments as T1: Control, T2: USG-N140, T3: USG-N160, T4: USG-N180 and T5: PU-N180. Result showed that USG performed better than PU. The comparative performance of USG in relation to yield, head quality (ascorbic acid, β-carotene and chlorophyll content), SPAD value, nutrient (NPKS) uptake and N use efficiency was found higher as compared to PU. USG treated broccoli plants gave significantly higher yield where the highest yield (13.49 ton ha-1) was recorded with USG-N160 kg ha-1. Moreover, USG showed higher β-carotene and chlorophyll content over PU and those were increased with increasing levels of N. However, ascorbic acid content was slightly decreased with increasing rate of N fertilizer. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake increased with increasing N rate upto USGN180 but sulphur uptake was increased upto USG-N160. Nitrogen use efficiency was higher in USG treated plots than that of PU having the highest value of 111.71% with USG-N160 kg ha-1. Post-harvest soil nutrient status was not significantly influenced by the treatments although it was slightly higher in USG as compared to PU. Considering all, USG @ 160 kg N ha-1 (USG-N160) with other recommended fertilizers (@ 53 kg P, 83 kg K, 20 kg S, 2.0 kg Zn, 1 kg B and 0.8 kg Mo ha-1) could be the best USG based fertilizer dose for quality broccoli production in Shallow Red-Brown Terrace Soil of Madhupur Tract.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 43(4): 557-574, December 2018
Lead poisoning is one of the burning issues in Bangladesh. This study assessed the relation of blood lead level with IQ and peripheral nerve function in environmental lead exposed primary school children in Dhaka.Blood lead level (BLL) was measured in 84 primary school children in an urban industrial area of Dhaka. IQ was measured with Wechsler Intelligence Scales- Revised for children. Electrophysiological evaluation was done in 31 children.Verbal, Performance and Full scale IQ had a negative correlation with blood lead level (p<0.001). Decrement in Verbal, Performance and Full scale IQ associated with 1 microgram per deciliter increase in blood lead level were 0.99, 0.86 and 0.95 respectively (p<0.001). None had clinical features of neuropathy. Statistical analysis also did not show any significant difference in NCS between children with normal and elevated BLL (p value >0.05).It was found that IQ of children decreased in a linear trend with increasing blood lead level. This study did not find any clinical or electrophysiological evidence of peripheral nerve dysfunction in the environmental lead exposed children. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/medtoday.v25i1.15899 Medicine Today 2013 Vol.25(1): 1-5
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome is a disorder characterized by presence of an accessory pathway which predisposes patients to tachyarrhythmias and sudden death. Among patients with WPW syndrome, atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT) is the most common arrhythmia, accounting for 95% of re-entrant tachycardias. It has been estimated that one-third of patients with WPW syndrome have atrial fibrillation (AF). AF is a potentially life-threatening arrhythmia. If an accessory pathway has a short anterograde refractory period, then rapid repetitive conduction to the ventricles during AF can result in a rapid ventricular response with subsequent degeneration to ventricular fibrillation (VF). The study population included a total of 255 patients in whom 175 (68.62%) were men and 80 (31.38%) were women. Demographic data and clinical characteristics are depicted in Table 1. Left and right WPW syndrome were existing in 70.59% and 29.41% of patients respectively. Documented narrow QRS SVT was present in 96.86%, broad QRS SVT was in 2.75% and AF was in 3.14% of patients. Antiarrhythmic drugs most frequently used were Digitalis, Metoprolol, Sotalol, Amiodarone and Verapamil DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bmj.v41i2.18809 Bangladesh Medical Journal 2012 Vol. 41 No. 2: 50-53
The crude ethanolic extract of the seeds of Hyptis suaveolens was evaluated for its analgesic,antidiarrhoeal and cytotoxic activities. The extract significantly and dose dependently inhibited the acetic acid induced writhing in mice (69.7%, P < 0.001 and 60.6%, P < 0.001 for 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight,respectively), comparable to the standard drug diclofenac sodium. The extract also decreased the frequency of defecation and increased mean latent period significantly (P< 0.05) at the doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight respectively compared with the control group. Moreover, it displayed considerable general toxicity towards brine shrimps. The LC50 value of the extract was 80 µg/ml which was comparable to that of standard drug chloramphenicol (43 µg/ml). All the results tend to justify the traditional uses of the seeds of Hyptis suaveolens.
Abstract Farmers generally use more nitrogen fertilizer than others for crop production in Bangladesh because of its visible growth symptoms. Such practice is responsible for extra reactive N (Nr) load to the environment, but data are not available. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) data were collected from a field trial following static closed-chamber technique, which were used for calibration and validation of DeNitrification and DeComposition model along with soil clay fraction, pH, bulk density and organic carbon contents. The model was well fitted and estimated about 364 g N 2 O–N ha −1 emission in Rajshahi region and only 15 g N 2 O–N ha −1 in Barisal region. District-wise N 2 O–N emissions varied from < 1–15.96 t season −1 . In 2011–2016, N 2 O–N emissions from wheat fields were about 103–129 t yr −1 in Bangladesh. The model estimated nitric oxide (NO), ammonia (NH 3 ) and nitrate (NO 3 ) fluxes varied from 0.012 to 0.447, 7 to 12.5 and 0 to 4.7 kg N ha −1 , respectively, under ambient temperature condition. In about 79% yield variabilities were explainable by N 2 O emission. In dominant wheat growing areas, if sowing is started from 15 to 30 November, N 2 O emission could be reduced by 8–40% with 5–13% reduction in yields compared to 10 November sowing. In similar areas and same sowing date with 1.5 °C temperature rise, N 2 O emission may increase by 8–45% and wheat yield might reduce by about 4–8%. Time of seeding and other cultural management in wheat cultivation would be the main avenue for reducing Nr loads to the environment.
