• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.511-525
• /
• 2007

A seroprevalence study of small ruminant brucellosis was conducted in sheep and goat rearing selected areas of Mymensingh district and Dhaka district, Bangladesh, from March, 2005 to May, 2006. Sera from 62 sheep and 300 goats were tested by rose bengal plate test (RBPT), plate agglutination test (PAT), tube agglutination test (TAT) and mercaptoethanol test (MET). Out of the 62 sera tested 3.25% (n = 2) were positive to RBT, PAT and TAT and 4.84% (n = 3) were positive MET. In case of 300 goats, 1.67% (n = 5) were positive to RBT and PAT, 2% (n = 6) were positive to TAT and 2.33% (n = 7) were positive to MET. This investigation is the first of its type to be performed in small ruminants in Bangladesh. Higher prevalence rate (8.0 %) was found in BAU nutrition farm in case of sheep and 10 % in Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) Veterinary Clinic in case of goat while lower prevalence (0.0 %) was recorded in Pharmacology project and BAU adjacent villages in case of sheep and (0.0 %) in Dhamrai upazila in case of goats respectively. Brucella antibodies were more prevalent in sheep (8.84 %) than in goat (2.33 %).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.52-58
• /
• 2012

The experiment was conducted under the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh from June, 2001 to December, 2005 in two different locations (Central Cattle Breeding and Dairy Farm and Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute in Savar, Dhaka) to observe ovarian response to different doses of FSH in three different genotypes of cattle- indigenous Local, Pabna cattle and Friesian${\times}$Local cross. Five different dose levels used were 200, 240, 280, 320 and 360 mg. Ovarian response as corpus luteum (CL), recovered embryo (RE) and of transferable embryos (TE) count in Local were significant for 320, 280 and 280 mg respectively. In Pabna cattle CL, RE and TE count were found significant for 360, 320 and 320 mg respectively. In Friesian${\times}$Local cross CL, RE and TE count were found significant for 360, 320 and 320 mg respectively. The excellent quality embryos showed significantly the highest yield ($1.80{\pm}0.20$) in the 240 and 280 mg FSH levels in Local genotype. In Pabna cattle, the highest yield ($2.00{\pm}0.32$) was found at FSH level 320 mg. In Friesian${\times}$Local, the highest yield ($2.20{\pm}0.20$) was found at FSH level 280 mg.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2008.05a
• /
• pp.75-81
• /
• 2008

The water shortage in mega cities in Asia, which face a rapid growth in urban population, is an outstanding problem. It is important, therefore, to accurately estimate the water balance in each city in order to use the limited water resources effectively. In this study, we estimated the potential water resources in し sixteen mega cities in Asia. The target cities were Delhi and Calcutta, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Yangon, Myanmar; Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore; Jakarta, Indonesia; Hanoi, Vietnam; Beijing and Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China; Seoul, the People's Republic of Korea; Manila, the Philippines, and Sapporo and Tokyo, Japan. The potential water resources were estimated by subtracting the actual evaporation from the amount of rainfall. The actual evaporation was estimated using the potential evaporation obtained by Hamon's equation which requires the air temperature and the possible hours of sunshine. When the results of Hamon's and Penman's evaporation equations were compared, a considerable error appeared in the low latitude region. The estimation using Hamon's equation was corrected with the linear regression line of Hamon's and Penman's equations. A classification of the land cover was carried out based on satellite photographs of the target cities, and the volume of surface runoff for each city was obtained using the runoff ratios which depended on the land cover. As a result, the potential water resources in the above mega cities in Asia were found to be greater than the world average. However, the actual water resources which are available for one person to use are probably very limited.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.355-360
• /
• 2006

Plants have been used in traditional medicinal system for centuries. Bangladeshi medicinal plants have received considerable attention from the researchers for evaluation of their bioactivity. As a part of our ongoing research of screening the Bangladeshi medicinal plants, the ethanolic extract of Dendrophthoe falcata have been chosen for the present study. The ethanolic extract of the leaves of the plant have been assessed for their antioxidant, antinociceptive, and general toxicity. The extract showed potent antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}5.1{\mu}g/ml$) using DPPH radical scavenging assay, which is comparable to the standard ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}4.6{\mu}g/ml$). The extract significantly and dose dependently inhibited the acetic acid induced writhing in mice (71.2%, P < 0.001 and 28.0%, P < 0.05 for 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight, respectively). A general toxicity was assessed by a simple and low cost assay using brine shrimp lethality as an indicator. The extract showed low level of toxicity ($LC_{50}100{\mu}g/ml$). Using different chromatographic techniques, quercitrin (quercetin 3-O-${\alpha}$-rhamnoside) was separated as the major component from the extract. The structure was elucidated by detailed 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectral analysis.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.51-58
• /
• 2018

Objectives: Smoking is a significant public health issue in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to examine peer smoking and smoking-related beliefs among college students in Bangladesh. Methods: College students at two universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh participated in a self-administered survey in May and June 2017. Results: First, being a current or former smoker is associated with lower levels of beliefs among respondents that they would not smoke even with smoker friends or nervousness, and lower levels of intentions that they would not smoke, while current smokers and former smokers have different smoking-related beliefs. Second, having smoker friends is associated with lower levels of intentions that they would not smoke. Third, higher levels of normative beliefs that it is important not to smoke are associated with higher levels of beliefs that they would not smoke even with smoker friends or nervousness, higher levels of intentions that they would not smoke, and higher levels of avoidance of smoking. Conclusions: Smoking-related beliefs and perceived norms in individuals' social networks are important components in promoting tobacco cessation in Bangladesh. But it is challenging to prevent or intervene in smoking because of the high rates of smoking in this country and the high prevalence of smokers in individuals' social networks. Future studies should examine the most effective interventions to combat smoking in high-smoking social networks, such as using mobile apps or social media, and evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.10
• /
• pp.1390-1393
• /
• 2006

Data spread over 11 years (1986-1996) pertaining to a synthetic population developed by inter se mating of half-breds of Corriedale and Russian Merino with Nali maintained at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar were utilized for the estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits. The means for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), six month body weight (SWT), yearling weight (YWT), preweaning daily gain (PRW) and post weaning daily gain (POW) were 3.35 kg, 10.79 kg, 13.28 kg, 18.96 kg, 82.6 gm and 27.6 gm, respectively. The effects of year and season of birth and sex of lamb were significant for all the traits under study except the effect of season of birth for WWT, SWT and PRW. No definite trend was observed over the years for the averages of body weight and gain. Lambs born during the spring season performed better for BWT, WWT and PRW while the performance of lambs born during autumn was better for the other traits included in the study. The male lambs were heavier than the females for body weight at all stages and gain in weight. The heritability estimates for WWT and PRW were low; for BWT and SWT were moderate and for YWT and POW were high. Birth weight had high heritability and high genetic correlations with subsequent body weights and gains but due to the presence of a maternal effect on BWT and WWT, a sequential selection procedure is recommended for the improvement of growth rate in sheep.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.17
• /
• pp.7291-7296
• /
• 2014

Different plant parts of Flacourtia indica have long been used in Ayurvedic medicine. Previous studies have demonstrated that the methanolic extract of F. indica possess anti-inflammatory properties. The present study was aimed at investigating the anticancer effects of methanol extract of Flacourtia indica (FIM) aerial parts in human colon cancer (HCT116) cells. Treatment of cells with FIM at a concentration of $500{\mu}g/ml$ for 24 hours significantly reduced cell viability and induced apoptosis, which was associated with the increased cytoplasmic expression of cytochrome c, activation of caspase-3, and the cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Incubation with FIM also inhibited the levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-xl and survivin, which are the markers of cell proliferation, whereas the expression of Bax remained unchanged. Treatment with FIM led to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a concentration-dependent manner. Pharmacological inhibition of ROS generation by pretreatment of cells with N-acetyl cysteine abrogated FIM-induced apoptosis in HCT116 cells. Thus, these results demonstrate that FIM has anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in HCT116 cells and the effects are, at least in part, due to the ROS dependent activation of caspases.

• Advances in environmental research
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.109-123
• /
• 2016

The Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Tongi canal is situated on the north of the city, which connected the Turag river to the west and the Balu river to the east. A total of 26 water samples were collected from the canal to measure irrigation water quality on the basis of their trace metal and major ionic constituents. Trace metals concentrations in water samples were determined using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The amount of Fe, Mn, Zn and Pb in water samples ranged from 0.01-0.80, trace-1.02, trace-0.054 and $0.43-0.64{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$, respectively. The mean concentration of Ca, Mg, Na, K, $HCO_3{^-}$, $Cl^-$, $BO{_3}^{3-}$, $PO{_4}^{3-}$ and $SO{_4}^{2-}$ in water samples were 45.32, 15.33, 151.65, 11.98, 516.06, 94.69, 0.33, 14.02 and $56.21{\mu}g\;mL^{-1}$, respectively. In respect of $HCO_3{^-}$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $PO{_4}^{3-}$ and K contents, most of the water samples were found problematic for irrigation. In context of RSC and hardness, 96 and 92% of water samples were graded as unsuitable and hard class, respectively. The study concluded that Pb content in canal water was comparatively high, so it is desirable to take necessary initiative to minimize the contamination level and to monitor its concentration in water routinely.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.9
• /
• pp.1242-1246
• /
• 2003

Data pertained to 335 crossbred cows comprising of 1/2 Friesian (F) + 1/2 Hariana (H), 1/2 F + 1/4 Jersey (J) + 1/4 H, 1/2 F + 1/4 Brown Swiss (BS) + 1/4 H, 1/2 F + 1/4 Red Dane (R) + 1/4 H, FR (I) and FRH (I) genetic groups extending over a period of 21 years (1970-1990) maintained at Animal Farm of CCS HAU, Hisar. The averages for first lactation milk yield was $2,486.24{\pm}80.26kg$ and peak yield of first three lactation were $11.35{\pm}0.72kg$, $13.97{\pm}0.60kg$ and $16.02{\pm}0.42kg$, respectively. The lifetime milk production was observed as $11,305.16{\pm}1,004.52kg$ in crossbred cattle. The average first lactation fat yield was observed as $102.06{\pm}0.01kg$ and peak fat yield of first three lactation were $0.458{\pm}0.01$, $0.490{\pm}0.01$ and $0.500{\pm}0.02kg$, respectively. The lifetime fat production was estimated as $502.31{\pm}45.90kg$. LTMP and LTFP had reasonably good additive genetic variance which could be exploited either through mass selection/combined with family or pedigree selection. FLMY, peak yields and LTMP had significant positive phenotypic correlation with FLFY and LTFP and the correlation at the genetic level were also higher and positive for these traits. Finally, peak week milk yield of first lactation (PMY1) was the earliest available trait having desirable and significant correlation at phenotypic and positive at genetic level with FLFY, PFY1 and PFY2, PFY3 and LTFP and selection for this trait will help in early evaluation of sires and dams and will increase genetic advancement per unit of time.

• Proceedings of the CALSEC Conference
• /
• 2004.02a
• /
• pp.65-72
• /
• 2004

The Internet is a social and economic foundation, apparently destined for human communication and interaction. It is supposed to allow for more interactive and innovative ways for people to do what they do in 'real lift'. There is no shilly-shallying to say that at present, Internet has become a commanding and useful tool for empowerment and income making in developing countries. It is very difficult to say that at present internet has turned into a popular and useful thing among the Bangladeshi people like students, doctors, engineers, businessmen, researchers as well as politician who are being logged into the internet for getting information what they want. Though the Internet was invented in 1970 but it came late in Bangladesh through UUCPs (Unix-to-Unix copy) email connectivity in 1993 and IP connectivity in 1996. Having launched Internet, on June 1996 National polls result were broadcast through the using of World Wide Web (WWW) that was the first ever practice trial in Bangladesh. On June 1996, the government has approved to allow VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) in the country's private sector to operate as Internet Service Provider (ISPs). At the end of year, there were only two ISPs in the country and number of users near about one thousand only. But next year in 1997, the total number of ISPs was more than a dozen and the clientele growth was ten times higher than that of the previous year. From then, the number of Internet users and ISPs are increasing significantly in Bangladesh. About 40 ISP are providing internet service among as many as 3, 20,000 users at present out of almost 130 license holder ISP provider but among the ISPs, most of the ISPs are placed in Dhaka and few are working in Comilla, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Khulna. It should be mention that currently, broadband internet (Radio, Cable) connection is working side by side dial -up connection where broadband accounts 10,000. This paper will have a comprehensive discussion on the current situations of Internet and some of the contemporary issues in the matter concerned.