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  1. Validating the Bangla version of the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ-18) for preschoolers
    Shaoli SS, Islam S, Haque S, Islam A
    Asian J Psychiatr, 2019 Aug;44:143-149.
    PMID: 31376798 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2019.07.044
    BACKGROUND: The Preschool version of the Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ-18) is a popular instrument to assess children's ability to master the environment through action or activity to explore, influence, or control the physical atmosphere. Although this instrument was originally developed in English, it has now been translated and validated in five other languages: Hungarian, Turkish, Chinese, Spanish, and Persian. As we notice a growing interest in research on the mastery motivation among Bangladeshi preschoolers, we have taken this effort to translate and validate the DMQ-18 and explore the factor structure of the Bangla version of this questionnaire.

    METHOD: After translating all 39 items of the questionnaire into Bangla, it was administered on 206 children, aged 3 to 6 years, recruited randomly from ten preschools in Dhaka. The schools were selected randomly from the official list of preschools prepared by the Dhaka City Corporation. Class teachers of the respective children completed the questionnaire with the assistant of research assistants.

    RESULTS: The Bangla version of the questionnaire retained all 39 items, with seven factors as they were in the English version. The Bangla version shows sufficient reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.87; test-retest reliability = 0.89 for whole questionnaire and .79-.89 for sub-scales; inter-rater reliability = 0.88 for whole questionnaire and .79-.88 for sub-scales), and validity (correlated positively with the English version; r = 0.85).

    CONCLUSION: Due to its robust psychometric properties, the Bangla DMQ-18 is suggested to be used for Bangladeshi preschool children to assess their mastery motivation.

  2. Fulltext Ultrathin Assembles of Porous Array for Enhanced H2 Evolution
    Islam A, Hwa Teo S, Awual MR, Taufiq-Yap YH
    Sci Rep, 2020 Feb 11;10(1):2324.
    PMID: 32047187 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59325-4
    Since the complexity of photocatalyst synthesis process and high cost of noble cocatalyst leftovers a major hurdle to producing hydrogen (H2) from water, a noble metal-free Ni-Si/MgO photocatalyst was realized for the first time to generate H2 effectively under illumination with visible light. The catalyst was produced by means of simple one-pot solid reaction using self-designed metal reactor. The physiochemical properties of photocatalyst were identified by XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, EDX, UV-visible, XPS, GC and PL. The photocatalytic activities of Ni-Si/MgO photocatalyst at different nickel concentrations were evaluated without adjusting pH, applied voltage, sacrificial agent or electron donor. The ultrathin-nanosheet with hierarchically porous structure of catalyst was found to exhibit higher photocatalytic H2 production than hexagonal nanorods structured catalyst, which suggests that the randomly branched nanosheets are more active surface to increase the light-harvesting efficiency due to its short electron diffusion path. The catalyst exhibited remarkable performance reaching up to 714 µmolh-1 which is higher among the predominant semiconductor catalyst. The results demonstrated that the photocatalytic reaction irradiated under visible light illumination through the production of hydrogen and hydroxyl radicals on metals. The outcome indicates an important step forward one-pot facile approach to prepare noble ultrathin photocatalyst for hydrogen production from water.
  3. Fulltext Target specificity of selective bioactive compounds in blocking α-dystroglycan receptor to suppress Lassa virus infection: an in silico approach
    Arefin A, Ismail Ema T, Islam T, Hossen S, Islam T, Al Azad S, et al.
    J Biomed Res, 2021 Nov 06;35(6):459-473.
    PMID: 34857680 DOI: 10.7555/JBR.35.20210111
    Lassa hemorrhagic fever, caused by Lassa mammarenavirus (LASV) infection, accumulates up to 5000 deaths every year. Currently, there is no vaccine available to combat this disease. In this study, a library of 200 bioactive compounds was virtually screened to study their drug-likeness with the capacity to block the α-dystroglycan (α-DG) receptor and prevent LASV influx. Following rigorous absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) profiling, molecular docking was conducted with the top ligands against the α-DG receptor. The compounds chrysin, reticuline, and 3-caffeoylshikimic acid emerged as the top three ligands in terms of binding affinity. Post-docking analysis revealed that interactions with Arg76, Asn224, Ser259, and Lys302 amino acid residues of the receptor protein were important for the optimum binding affinity of ligands. Molecular dynamics simulation was performed comprehensively to study the stability of the protein-ligand complexes. In-depth assessment of root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), root mean square fluctuation (RMSF), polar surface area (PSA), B-Factor, radius of gyration (Rg), solvent accessible surface area (SASA), and molecular surface area (MolSA) values of the protein-ligand complexes affirmed that the candidates with the best binding affinity formed the most stable protein-ligand complexes. To authenticate the potentialities of the ligands as target-specific drugs, an in vivo study is underway in real time as the continuation of the research.
  4. Source, distribution and emerging threat of micro- and nanoplastics to marine organism and human health: Socio-economic impact and management strategies
    Mofijur M, Ahmed SF, Rahman SMA, Arafat Siddiki SY, Islam ABMS, Shahabuddin M, et al.
    Environ Res, 2021 04;195:110857.
    PMID: 33581088 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110857
    The nature of micro- and nanoplastics and their harmful consequences has drawn significant attention in recent years in the context of environmental protection. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an overview of the existing literature related to this evolving subject, focusing on the documented human health and marine environment impacts of micro- and nanoplastics and including a discussion of the economic challenges and strategies to mitigate this waste problem. The study highlights the micro- and nanoplastics distribution across various trophic levels of the food web, and in different organs in infected animals which is possible due to their reduced size and their lightweight, multi-coloured and abundant features. Consequently, micro- and nanoplastics pose significant risks to marine organisms and human health in the form of cytotoxicity, acute reactions, and undesirable immune responses. They affect several sectors including aquaculture, agriculture, fisheries, transportation, industrial sectors, power generation, tourism, and local authorities causing considerable economic losses. This can be minimised by identifying key sources of environmental plastic contamination and educating the public, thus reducing the transfer of micro- and nanoplastics into the environment. Furthermore, the exploitation of the potential of microorganisms, particularly those from marine origins that can degrade plastics, could offer an enhanced and environmentally sound approach to mitigate micro- and nanoplastics pollution.
  5. Socio-economic and demographic factors influencing nutritional status among early childbearing young mothers in Bangladesh
    Islam A, Islam N, Bharati P, Aik S, Hossain G
    BMC Womens Health, 2016;16:58.
    PMID: 27561311 DOI: 10.1186/s12905-016-0338-y
    Early childbearing influences women's health. This study aims to examine the effects of socio-demographic factors on nutritional status of early childbearing mothers in Bangladesh based on Body Mass Index (BMI) as the indicator.
  6. Fulltext Serological evidence of henipavirus exposure in cattle, goats and pigs in Bangladesh
    Chowdhury S, Khan SU, Crameri G, Epstein JH, Broder CC, Islam A, et al.
    PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2014 Nov;8(11):e3302.
    PMID: 25412358 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003302
    BACKGROUND: Nipah virus (NiV) is an emerging disease that causes severe encephalitis and respiratory illness in humans. Pigs were identified as an intermediate host for NiV transmission in Malaysia. In Bangladesh, NiV has caused recognized human outbreaks since 2001 and three outbreak investigations identified an epidemiological association between close contact with sick or dead animals and human illness.

    METHODOLOGY: We examined cattle and goats reared around Pteropus bat roosts in human NiV outbreak areas. We also tested pig sera collected under another study focused on Japanese encephalitis.

    PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We detected antibodies against NiV glycoprotein in 26 (6.5%) cattle, 17 (4.3%) goats and 138 (44.2%) pigs by a Luminex-based multiplexed microsphere assay; however, these antibodies did not neutralize NiV. Cattle and goats with NiVsG antibodies were more likely to have a history of feeding on fruits partially eaten by bats or birds (PR=3.1, 95% CI 1.6-5.7) and drinking palmyra palm juice (PR=3.9, 95% CI 1.5-10.2).

    CONCLUSIONS: This difference in test results may be due to the exposure of animals to one or more novel viruses with antigenic similarity to NiV. Further research may identify a novel organism of public health importance.

  7. Fulltext Seeded Growth Route to Noble Calcium Carbonate Nanocrystal
    Islam A, Teo SH, Rahman MA, Taufiq-Yap YH
    PLoS One, 2015;10(12):e0144805.
    PMID: 26700479 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144805
    A solution-phase route has been considered as the most promising route to synthesize noble nanostructures. A majority of their synthesis approaches of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) are based on either using fungi or the CO2 bubbling methods. Here, we approached the preparation of nano-precipitated calcium carbonate single crystal from salmacis sphaeroides in the presence of zwitterionic or cationic biosurfactants without external source of CO2. The calcium carbonate crystals were rhombohedron structure and regularly shaped with side dimension ranging from 33-41 nm. The high degree of morphological control of CaCO3 nanocrystals suggested that surfactants are capable of strongly interacting with the CaCO3 surface and control the nucleation and growth direction of calcium carbonate nanocrystals. Finally, the mechanism of formation of nanocrystals in light of proposed routes was also discussed.
  8. Scheduling the blended solution as industrial CO2 absorber in separation process by back-propagation artificial neural networks
    Abdollahi Y, Sairi NA, Said SB, Abouzari-lotf E, Zakaria A, Sabri MF, et al.
    Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc, 2015 Nov 5;150:892-901.
    PMID: 26119355 DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2015.06.036
    It is believe that 80% industrial of carbon dioxide can be controlled by separation and storage technologies which use the blended ionic liquids absorber. Among the blended absorbers, the mixture of water, N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) and guanidinium trifluoromethane sulfonate (gua) has presented the superior stripping qualities. However, the blended solution has illustrated high viscosity that affects the cost of separation process. In this work, the blended fabrication was scheduled with is the process arranging, controlling and optimizing. Therefore, the blend's components and operating temperature were modeled and optimized as input effective variables to minimize its viscosity as the final output by using back-propagation artificial neural network (ANN). The modeling was carried out by four mathematical algorithms with individual experimental design to obtain the optimum topology using root mean squared error (RMSE), R-squared (R(2)) and absolute average deviation (AAD). As a result, the final model (QP-4-8-1) with minimum RMSE and AAD as well as the highest R(2) was selected to navigate the fabrication of the blended solution. Therefore, the model was applied to obtain the optimum initial level of the input variables which were included temperature 303-323 K, x[gua], 0-0.033, x[MDAE], 0.3-0.4, and x[H2O], 0.7-1.0. Moreover, the model has obtained the relative importance ordered of the variables which included x[gua]>temperature>x[MDEA]>x[H2O]. Therefore, none of the variables was negligible in the fabrication. Furthermore, the model predicted the optimum points of the variables to minimize the viscosity which was validated by further experiments. The validated results confirmed the model schedulability. Accordingly, ANN succeeds to model the initial components of the blended solutions as absorber of CO2 capture in separation technologies that is able to industries scale up.
  9. Scaling up of levan yield in Bacillus subtilis M and cytotoxicity study on levan and its derivatives
    Ragab TIM, Malek RA, Elsehemy IA, Farag MMS, Salama BM, Abd El-Baseer MA, et al.
    J Biosci Bioeng, 2019 Jun;127(6):655-662.
    PMID: 30795878 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2018.09.008
    This study focused on kinetics of levan yield by Bacillus subtilis M, in a 150 L stirred tank bioreactor under controlled pH conditions. The optimized production medium was composed of (g/L): commercial sucrose 100.0, yeast extract 2.0, K2HPO4 3.0 and MgSO4⋅7H2O 0.2; an increase in both carbohydrates consumption and cell growth depended on increasing the size of the stirred tank bioreactor from 16 L to 150 L. The highest levansucrase production (63.4 U/mL) and levan yield of 47 g/L was obtained after 24 h. Also, the specific levan yield (Yp/x) which reflects the cell productivity increased with the size increase of the stirred tank bioreactor and reached its maximum value of about 29.4 g/g cells. These results suggested that B. subtilis M could play an important role in levan yield on a large scale in the future. Chemical modifications of B. subtilis M crude levan (CL) into sulfated (SL), phosphorylated (PL), and carboxymethylated levans (CML) were done. The difference in CL structure and its derivatives was detected by FT-IR transmission spectrum. The cytotoxicity of CL and its derivatives were evaluated by HepGII, Mcf-7 and CaCo-2. In general most tested levans forms had no significant cytotoxicity effect. In fact, the carboxymethylated and phosphrylated forms had a lower anti-cancer effect than CL. On the other hand, SL had the highest cytotoxicity showing SL had a significant anti-cancer effect. The results of cytotoxicity and cell viability were statistically analyzed using three-way ANOVA.
  10. Prospects of Graphene as a Potential Carrier-Transport Material in Third-Generation Solar Cells
    Chowdhury TH, Islam A, Mahmud Hasan AK, Terdi MA, Arunakumari M, Prakash Singh S, et al.
    Chem Rec, 2016 Apr;16(2):614-32.
    PMID: 26816190 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.201500206
    Third-generation solar cells are understood to be the pathway to overcoming the issues and drawbacks of the existing solar cell technologies. Since the introduction of graphene in solar cells, it has been providing attractive properties for the next generation of solar cells. Currently, there are more theoretical predictions rather than practical recognitions in third-generation solar cells. Some of the potential of graphene has been explored in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but it has yet to be fully comprehended in the recent third-generation inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells. In this review, the diverse role of graphene in third-generation OPVs and DSSCs will be deliberated to provide an insight on the prospects and challenges of graphene in inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells.
  11. Probing the self-defining period in memories of the Bangladesh independence war generation
    Islam A, Haque S
    Memory, 2021 Nov;29(10):1296-1307.
    PMID: 34534045 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1978500
    This study investigated the self-defining periods (SPs) in private and public memories of Bangladeshi older adults (N = 476; mean age = 67.16 years) who, during adolescence and early adulthood, witnessed the 1960s Bengali nationalist movement and the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence. Each participant retrieved three private and three public memories they considered to be highly significant. The lifespan distributions for private and public memories were identical; in both cases, participants recalled more than half of their memories from 10 to 29 years of age. The calendar-year distributions revealed that nearly one-fourth of private and one-third of public memories were recalled from the year of the War of Independence. The memory content analysis showed that participants sampled more negative than positive memories: 55% versus 45% for private memory and 66% versus 34% for public memory. The enhanced recollection of private and public memories from 10 to 29 years of age was predominantly shaped by memories of the independence struggle-a period that was self-defining for the entire Bangladeshi society.
  12. Fulltext Predicting the potential for zoonotic transmission and host associations for novel viruses
    Pandit PS, Anthony SJ, Goldstein T, Olival KJ, Doyle MM, Gardner NR, et al.
    Commun Biol, 2022 Aug 19;5(1):844.
    PMID: 35986178 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03797-9
    Host-virus associations have co-evolved under ecological and evolutionary selection pressures that shape cross-species transmission and spillover to humans. Observed virus-host associations provide relevant context for newly discovered wildlife viruses to assess knowledge gaps in host-range and estimate pathways for potential human infection. Using models to predict virus-host networks, we predicted the likelihood of humans as hosts for 513 newly discovered viruses detected by large-scale wildlife surveillance at high-risk animal-human interfaces in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Predictions indicated that novel coronaviruses are likely to infect a greater number of host species than viruses from other families. Our models further characterize novel viruses through prioritization scores and directly inform surveillance targets to identify host ranges for newly discovered viruses.
  13. Fulltext Phytochemical Constituents and Allelopathic Potential of Parthenium hysterophorus L. in Comparison to Commercial Herbicides to Control Weeds
    Motmainna M, Juraimi AS, Uddin MK, Asib NB, Islam AKMM, Ahmad-Hamdani MS, et al.
    Plants (Basel), 2021 Jul 15;10(7).
    PMID: 34371648 DOI: 10.3390/plants10071445
    The allelopathic effect of various concentrations (0, 6.25, 12.5, 50 and 100 g L-1) of Parthenium hysterophorus methanol extract on Cyperus iria was investigated under laboratory and glasshouse conditions. No seed germination was recorded in the laboratory when P. hysterophorus extract was applied at 50 g L-1. In the glasshouse, C. iria was mostly injured by P. hysterophorus extract at 100 g L-1. The phytochemical constituents of the methanol extract of P. hysterophorus were analyzed by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS=MS. The results indicated the presence of phenolic compounds, terpenoids, alkaloids, amino acids, fatty acids, piperazines, benzofuran, indole, amines, azoles, sulfonic acid and other unknown compounds in P. hysterophorus methanol extract. A comparative study was also conducted between P. hysterophorus extract (20, 40 and 80 g L-1) with a synthetic herbicide (glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium at 2 L ha-1) as a positive control and no treatment (negative control) on Ageratumconyzoides, Oryzasativa and C. iria. The growth and biomass of test weeds were remarkably inhibited by P. hysterophorus extract. Nevertheless, no significant difference was obtained when P. hysterophorus extract (80 g L-1) and synthetic herbicides (glyphosate and glufosinate ammonium) were applied on A.conyzoides.
  14. Fulltext Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Ageratum conyzoides, Oryza sativa f. spontanea (Weedy Rice) and Cyperus iria to Parthenium hysterophorus Methanol Extract
    Motmainna M, Juraimi AS, Uddin MK, Asib NB, Islam AKMM, Ahmad-Hamdani MS, et al.
    Plants (Basel), 2021 Jun 14;10(6).
    PMID: 34198474 DOI: 10.3390/plants10061205
    The current study was designed to investigate the effect of Parthenium hysterophorus L. methanol extract on Ageratum conyzoides L., Oryza sativa f. spontanea (weedy rice) and Cyperus iria L. in glasshouse condition. Here, Parthenium hysterophorus methanol extract at 20, 40, and 60 g L-1 concentrations was applied on the test species to examine their physiological and biochemical responses at 6, 24, 48 and 72 h after spraying (HAS). The phytotoxicity of P. hysterophorus was strong on A. conyzoides compared to weedy rice and Cyperus iria at different concentrations and exposure times. There was a reduction in photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, chlorophyll content and carotenoid content when plants were treated with P. hysterophorus extract concentrations. Exposure to P. hysterophorus (60 g L-1) at 24 HAS increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline content by 152% and 130%, respectively, in A. conyzoides compared with control. The activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD)) were also increased in the presence of P. hysterophorus extract. Present findings confirm that the methanol extract of P. hysterophorus can disrupt the physiological and biochemical mechanism of target weeds and could be used as an alternative to chemical herbicides.
  15. Fulltext Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of Bangladeshi honeys stored for more than one year
    Islam A, Khalil I, Islam N, Moniruzzaman M, Mottalib A, Sulaiman SA, et al.
    BMC Complement Altern Med, 2012;12:177.
    PMID: 23043497 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-177
    There is no available information on physicochemical and antioxidant properties on Bangladeshi honey. We investigated five different monofloral and three different multifloral honey samples collected from different parts of Bangladesh.
  16. Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of Algerian honey
    Khalil I, Moniruzzaman M, Boukraâ L, Benhanifia M, Islam A, Islam N, et al.
    Molecules, 2012 Sep 20;17(9):11199-215.
    PMID: 22996344
    The aim of the present study was to characterize the physical, biochemical and antioxidant properties of Algerian honey samples (n = 4). Physical parameters, such as pH, moisture content, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), color intensity, total sugar and sucrose content were measured. Several biochemical and antioxidant tests were performed to determine the antioxidant properties of the honey samples. The mean pH was 3.84 ± 0.01, and moisture the content was 13.21 ± 0.16%. The mean EC was 0.636 ± 0.001, and the mean TDS was 316.92 ± 0.92. The mean color was 120.58 ± 0.64 mm Pfund, and the mean 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content was 21.49 mg/kg. The mean total sugar and reducing sugar contents were 67.03 ± 0.68 g/mL and 64.72 ± 0.52 g/g, respectively. The mean sucrose content was 2.29 ± 0.65%. High mean values of phenolic (459.83 ± 1.92 mg gallic acid/kg), flavonoid (54.23 ± 0.62 mg catechin/kg), ascorbic acid (159.70 ± 0.78 mg/kg), AEAC (278.15 ± 4.34 mg/kg), protein (3381.83 ± 6.19 mg/kg) and proline (2131.47 ± 0.90) contents, as well as DPPH (39.57% ± 4.18) and FRAP activities [337.77 ± 1.01 µM Fe (II)/100 g], were also detected, indicating that Algerian honey has a high antioxidant potential. Strong positive correlations were found between flavonoid, proline and ascorbic acid contents and color intensity with DPPH and FRAP values. Thus, the present study revealed that Algerian honey is a good source of antioxidants.
  17. Fulltext Parental knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use for acute upper respiratory tract infections in children: a cross-sectional study in Palestine
    Zyoud SH, Abu Taha A, Araj KF, Abahri IA, Sawalha AF, Sweileh WM, et al.
    BMC Pediatr, 2015;15:176.
    PMID: 26561029 DOI: 10.1186/s12887-015-0494-5
    BACKGROUND: In primary health care centres, upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in children are commonly encountered by physicians. Viruses cause most URTIs, but parents' attitudes often represent an important reason for antibiotic abuse, which leads to the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The goal of this study was to examine parents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about antibiotic use for children with URTIs in Palestine.
    METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed in primary health care centres in Nablus city from 1 June to 31 October 2012. A questionnaire was developed and administered to determine parents' KAP regarding antibiotic use for their children with URTIs.
    RESULTS: Three hundred and eighty-five parents completed the questionnaire. A total of 79.7% of the parents were attentive to the truth that antibiotic misuse is responsible for bacterial resistance. Only 18.9% of parents thought that antibiotics did not have any harmful side effects. Fifty nine per cent of parents did not agree that URTIs are mostly viral in origin and are self-limited. Almost 73% of parents choose antibiotics as a treatment for URTIs, while earache (68%) and fever (64%) were the most common reasons for which parents expected antibiotics. However, more than 38% of the parents never asked the paediatrician to prescribe antibiotics, and only 6% congratulated their paediatricians for not prescribing antibiotics.
    CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a trusted relationship between parents and paediatricians, Palestinian parents have insufficient knowledge related to antibiotic use for URTIs in children, which results in inappropriate attitudes and practices. Educational interventions for both parents and physicians will reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and resistance.
  18. Novel micro-structured carbon-based adsorbents for notorious arsenic removal from wastewater
    Islam A, Teo SH, Ahmed MT, Khandaker S, Ibrahim ML, Vo DN, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2021 Jun;272:129653.
    PMID: 33486455 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129653
    The contamination of groundwater by arsenic (As) in Bangladesh is the biggest impairing of a population, with a large number of peoples affected. Specifically, groundwater of Gangetic Delta is alarmingly contaminated with arsenic. Similar, perilous circumstances exist in many other countries and consequently, there is a dire need to develop cost-effective decentralized filtration unit utilizing low-cost adsorbents for eliminating arsenic from water. Morphological synthesis of carbon with unique spherical, nanorod, and massive nanostructures were achieved by solvothermal method. Owing to their intrinsic adsorption properties and different nanostructures, these nanostructures were employed as adsorption of arsenic in aqueous solution, with the purpose to better understanding the morphological effect in adsorption. It clearly demonstrated that carbon with nanorods morphology exhibited an excellent adsorption activity of arsenite (about 82%) at pH 3, remarkably superior to the two with solid sphere and massive microstructures, because of its larger specific surface area, enhanced acid strength and improved adsorption capacity. Furthermore, we discovered that iron hydroxide radicals and energy-induced contact point formation in nanorods are the responsible for the high adsorption of As in aqueous solution. Thus, our work provides insides into the microstructure-dependent capability of different carbon for As adsorption applications.
  19. Fulltext Nipah virus dynamics in bats and implications for spillover to humans
    Epstein JH, Anthony SJ, Islam A, Kilpatrick AM, Ali Khan S, Balkey MD, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2020 11 17;117(46):29190-29201.
    PMID: 33139552 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000429117
    Nipah virus (NiV) is an emerging bat-borne zoonotic virus that causes near-annual outbreaks of fatal encephalitis in South Asia-one of the most populous regions on Earth. In Bangladesh, infection occurs when people drink date-palm sap contaminated with bat excreta. Outbreaks are sporadic, and the influence of viral dynamics in bats on their temporal and spatial distribution is poorly understood. We analyzed data on host ecology, molecular epidemiology, serological dynamics, and viral genetics to characterize spatiotemporal patterns of NiV dynamics in its wildlife reservoir, Pteropus medius bats, in Bangladesh. We found that NiV transmission occurred throughout the country and throughout the year. Model results indicated that local transmission dynamics were modulated by density-dependent transmission, acquired immunity that is lost over time, and recrudescence. Increased transmission followed multiyear periods of declining seroprevalence due to bat-population turnover and individual loss of humoral immunity. Individual bats had smaller host ranges than other Pteropus species (spp.), although movement data and the discovery of a Malaysia-clade NiV strain in eastern Bangladesh suggest connectivity with bats east of Bangladesh. These data suggest that discrete multiannual local epizootics in bat populations contribute to the sporadic nature of NiV outbreaks in South Asia. At the same time, the broad spatial and temporal extent of NiV transmission, including the recent outbreak in Kerala, India, highlights the continued risk of spillover to humans wherever they may interact with pteropid bats and the importance of limiting opportunities for spillover throughout Pteropus's range.
  20. Fulltext Near Surface Mounted Composites for Flexural Strengthening of Reinforced Concrete Beams
    Hosen MA, Jumaat MZ, Alengaram UJ, Islam ABMS, Bin Hashim H
    Polymers (Basel), 2016 Mar 03;8(3).
    PMID: 30979167 DOI: 10.3390/polym8030067
    Existing structural components require strengthening after a certain period of time due to increases in service loads, errors in design, mechanical damage, and the need to extend the service period. Externally-bonded reinforcement (EBR) and near-surface mounted (NSM) reinforcement are two preferred strengthening approach. This paper presents a NSM technique incorporating NSM composites, namely steel and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars, as reinforcement. Experimental and analytical studies carried out to explore the performance of reinforced concrete (RC) members strengthened with the NSM composites. Analytical models were developed in predicting the maximum crack spacing and width, concrete cover separation failure loads, and deflection. A four-point bending test was applied on beams strengthened with different types and ratios of NSM reinforcement. The failure characteristics, yield, and ultimate capacities, deflection, strain, and cracking behavior of the beams were evaluated based on the experimental output. The test results indicate an increase in the cracking load of 69% and an increase in the ultimate load of 92% compared with the control beam. The predicted result from the analytical model shows good agreement with the experimental result, which ensures the competent implementation of the present NSM-steel and CFRP technique.
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