Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) is a disease that affects tilapia fish, causing a high rate of sudden death at any stage in their life cycle. Unfortunately, there are currently no effective antiviral drugs ...or vaccines to prevent or control the progression of this disease. Researchers have discovered that the CRM1 protein plays a critical function in the development and spreading of animal viruses. By inhibiting CRM1, the virus's spread in commercial fish farms can be suppressed. With this in mind, this study intended to identify potential antiviral drugs from two different tropical mangrove plants from tropical regions: Heritiera fomes and Ceriops candolleana. To identify promising compounds that target the CRM1 protein, a computer-aided drug discovery approach is employed containing molecular docking, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) analysis, toxicity assessment as well as molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. To estimate binding affinities of all phytochemicals, molecular docking is used and the top three candidate compounds with the highest docking scores were selected, which are CID107876 (-8.3 Kcal/mol), CID12795736 (-8.2 Kcal/mol), and CID12303662 (-7.9 Kcal/mol). We also evaluated the ADME and toxicity properties of these compounds. Finally, MD simulation was conducted to analyze the stability of the protein-ligand complex structures and confirm the suitability of these compounds. The computational study demonstrated that the phytochemicals found in H. fomes and C. candolleana could potentially serve as important inhibitors of TiLV, offering practical utility. However, further in vivo investigations are necessary to investigate and potentially confirm the effectiveness of these compounds as antiviral drugs against the virus TiLV.
Background Facebook addiction (FA) has been suggested as a potential behavioral addiction. There is a severe lack of research evidence regarding the Facebook addiction behavior among university ...students during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with Facebook addiction among Bangladeshi university students. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 2,161 Bangladeshi university students during the COVID-19 pandemic from June 2021 to September 2021. A well fitted regression model in R programming language was used for this study. Results Female respondents and those whose family monthly income was <25,000 BDT were more addicted to Facebook than other respondents. Respondents who lost a family member or a relative to COVID-19, engaged in physical activities (exercise) during the pandemic, used Facebook for work purposes or used Facebook to relieve daily stress were more addicted to Facebook. Conclusion Overuse of social media is problematic as it can trigger several mental health symptoms, especially among students. Adequate and effective interventions are required to educate students about the dangers of Facebook addiction and to provide an alternative, healthy options.
Bangladesh is a small country with its large population struggled with several challenges over the last few decades, including overpopulation, power grid disruptions, floods, and global warming. ...Sufficient rate of energy production is must for a developing country, but quickly expanding population and overall economic growth interrupt the energy sector. Renewable energy plays a vital role to contribute in this sector. For becoming an agricultural country biomass is an important sustainable energy source for this country. Organic crop residues, animal waste, and municipal solid waste are the most accessible biomass energy sources in this country. On the other hand, by using the membrane gas separation technology the quality biogas can be improved and it helps the environment from the toxic CO2 which is a major element of biogas. This study represents the extension, potential and innovations identified with the utilization of biomass assets. Besides the improvement of biogas also discussed in this paper. This paper also represents the various initiatives conducted by the government that are all relevant to biomass energy. This work further can be studies to innovate different biomass technology and to improve the quality of biogas.
Display omitted
•Biomass is an alternative and sustainable renewable energy source in Bangladesh.•Thermal and bio-chemical methods are widely used for changing over biomass to energy.•Government plan is to produce electricity by utilizing natural gas, liquid fuel, and peat.•Membrane gas separation technology is used to increase the quality of gas.
•This research paper outlines a theoretical learning on a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) salinity sensor based on Sagnac Interferometer.•The achieved sensitivity reaches up to 37,500 nm/RIU and ...7.5 nm/% in the salinity range from 0% to 100%.•The maximum resolutions of 2.66 × 10−06 RIU and 1.33 × 10−02% are gained with high linearity of 0.9924 for 2.20 cm length of the proposed PCF.•The average sensitivity of the sensor is also high as 29,298 nm/RIU.•Owing to such promising results and simple structure, the proposed sensor has immense potential for salinity measurement of seawater.
For a sensor, high sensitivity, structural simplicity, and longevity are highly desired for measurement of salinity in seawater. This work proposed an ultrahigh sensitive photonic crystal fiber (PCF) salinity sensor based on the sagnac interferometer (SI). The propagation characteristics of the proposed PCF are analyzed by the finite element method (FEM). The achieved sensitivity reaches up to 37,500 nm/RIU and 7.5 nm/% in the salinity range from 0% to 100%. The maximum resolutions of 2.66 × 10−06 RIU and 1.33 × 10−02% are achieved with high linearity of 0.9924 for 2.20 cm length of the proposed PCF. Owing to such excellent results, this proposed sensor offers the potential to measure the salinity of seawater.
Background. Most maternal deaths occur during childbirth and after childbirth. This study was aimed at determining the trends of health facilities during delivery in Bangladesh, as well as their ...influencing factors. Methods. This study used secondary data from three Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICSs) in 2006, 2012–13, and 2019. The study’s target sample was those women who gave birth in the last two years of the survey. A two-level logistic regression was applied to determine the effects on health facility delivery separately in these two survey points (MICSs 2012–13 and 2019). Results. The results show that the delivery of health facilities has increased by almost 37.4% in Bangladesh, from 16% in 2006 to 53.4% in 2019. The results of two-level logistic regression show that the total variation in health facility delivery across the community has decreased over recent years. After adding community variables, various individual-level factors such as women with secondary education (OR=0.55 in 2012-13 vs. OR =0.60 in 2019), women from middle wealth status (OR=0.49 in 2012-13 vs. OR=0.65 in 2019), religion, and child ever born showed a strong relationship with health facility delivery in both survey years. At the community level, residents showed significant association only in the 2012-13 survey and indicated a 43% (OR=1.43 for 2012-13) greater availability of health facilities in urban residences than in rural residences. Using media showed a highly significant connection with health facility delivery in both years as well as an increasing trend over the years in Bangladesh (OR=1.19 in 2012-13 vs. OR=1.38 in 2019). However, division, prenatal care, and skilled services all contribute greatly to increasing the delivery of health facilities in Bangladesh. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that policymakers need to pay attention to individual and community-level factors, especially women’s education, poverty reduction, and adequate prenatal care provided by well-trained caregivers.
Display omitted
•Employing density functional theory, an investigation was conducted into the diverse physical properties of MSnI3 (M = K, Rb) perovskites under different hydrostatic pressures.•This ...exploration revealed a noteworthy semiconductor-to-metallic transition under applied pressures, resulting in the reduction of band gaps.•The pressure-induced red shift in the absorption edge enhances optical functions, making MSnI3 perovskites more versatile for optoelectronic applications.•External pressure also influences the ductile and anisotropic nature of MSnI3, impacting mechanical qualities and performance in different conditions.
In optoelectronic device applications, perovskite materials have overtaken other compounds because of their exceptional power conversion efficiencies. Lead-based perovskites have found extensive use; however, their widespread adoption is hindered by the inherent toxicity associated with lead content. In contrast, lead-free metal halide perovskites have taken the dominant position in the commercialization of optoelectronic devices by offering high efficiency, affordability, flexibility, tunability, and environmental benefits. To better understand the structural, electronic, bonding, optical, elastic, and mechanical properties of the non-toxic MSnI3 (M = K, Rb) metal halides under different hydrostatic pressures, a first-principles simulation has been carried out with the use of density functional theory (DFT). Lattice parameters and electronic band structures have been computed using both the Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) and the non-local hybrid sX (Hartree-Fock screened exchange) functional. Utilizing the sX method results in enhanced band gap values for MSnI3 (M = K, Rb) perovskite compounds. The application of pressure has led to a decrease in both lattice parameters and band gaps, marking a transition from a semiconductor to a metallic state. The projection of the density of states and their electronic orbital contributions are also explored to evaluate the band structure tuning of MSnI3 (M = K, Rb) under pressure. The bond length calculation and the charge density mapping confirm the existence of both the ionic and covalent bonds in MSnI3 (M = K, Rb). Additionally, the pressure-induced calculation suggests that the bonds between both compounds will be stronger at high pressure. Increasing hydrostatic pressure causes a dramatic movement of the absorption edge of MSnI3 (M = K, Rb) perovskites into the low energy region (a red shift), which is revealed by the analysis of optical functions. The optical functions’ investigation indicates that the hydrostatic pressure allows the compounds even better for a number of possible uses. The mechanical qualities are a direct reflection of the ductile and anisotropic nature of the compounds, both of which are significantly influenced by the external pressure.
Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are nanomaterials with a particle size range of 2 to 10 nm. CQDs have a wide range of applications such as medical diagnostics, bio-imaging, biosensors, coatings, solar ...cells, and photocatalysis. Although the effect of various experimental parameters, such as the synthesis method, reaction time, etc., have been investigated, the effect of different feedstocks on CQDs has not been studied yet. In this study, CQDs were synthesized from hydroxymethylfurfural, furfural, and microcrystalline cellulose via hydrothermal carbonization at 220 °C for 30 min of residence time. The produced CQDs showed green luminescence behavior under the short-wavelength UV light. Furthermore, the optical properties of CQDs were investigated using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and emission spectrophotometer, while the morphology and chemical bonds of CQDs were investigated using transmission electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Results showed that all CQDs produced from various precursors have absorption and emission properties but these optical properties are highly dependent on the type of precursor. For instance, the mean particle sizes were 6.36 ± 0.54, 5.35 ± 0.56, and 3.94 ± 0.60 nm for the synthesized CQDs from microcrystalline cellulose, hydroxymethylfurfural, and furfural, respectively, which appeared to have similar trends in emission intensities. In addition, the synthesized CQDs experienced different functionality (e.g., C=O, O-H, C-O) resulting in different absorption behavior.
A global health hazard, dengue fever causes or contributes to the deaths of 10,000 people and 100 million cases of symptomatic cases every year in more than half of the globe. The goal of this work ...is to construct a compartmental vector-borne dengue model that takes into account the typical incidence connection between infected humans and susceptible vectors in order to examine the impact of model parameters that are within our control on the basic reproduction number. In order to determine the basic reproduction number \(R_0\), the next-generation matrix is used. The theoretical study reveals that disease-free equilibrium occurs as a locally asymptotically stable if \(R_0<1\). To measure the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points' global stability, LaSalle's concept is applied. The normalized forward sensitivity index methods show that the epidemic spread can reduce by increasing the rate of symptomatically infected humans to isolated infected humans and the rate of recovery of symptomatically infected humans.
•Cytokines consist of large protein families such as interleukins, lymphokines, chemokines, interferons and involve in the regulation of the immune response such as immunotolerant activity through ...complex signaling pathways.•Several cytokines (IL-2, IL-11, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-γ, etc.) are already approved as disease therapeutics, and many other cytokines are being investigated for their anti-cancer, anti-microbial, immunomodulatory properties in the preclinical studies and trials.•Interleukins, interferons, and other cytokines are potential immunoadjuvants as they can influence the development of antigen-specific responses when applied with a vaccine as an adjuvant.•Various properties of cytokines make them potential candidates for using them as therapeutic agents or vaccine adjuvant against both microbial diseases and cancer despite having some limitations.
Cytokines are a protein family comprising interleukins, lymphokines, chemokines, monokines and interferons. They are significant constituents of the immune system, and they act in accordance with specific cytokine inhibiting compounds and receptors for the regulation of immune responses. Cytokine studies have resulted in the establishment of newer therapies which are being utilized for the treatment of several malignant diseases. The advancement of these therapies has occurred from two distinct strategies. The first strategy involves administrating the recombinant and purified cytokines, and the second strategy involves administrating the therapeutics which inhibits harmful effects of endogenous and overexpressed cytokines. Colony stimulating factors and interferons are two exemplary therapeutics of cytokines. An important effect of cytokine receptor antagonist is that they can serve as anti-inflammatory agents by altering the treatments of inflammation disorder, therefore inhibiting the effects of tumour necrosis factor. In this article, we have highlighted the research behind the establishment of cytokines as therapeutics and vaccine adjuvants, their role of immunotolerance, and their limitations.