Fungal phytopathogens cause serious losses of crop production worldwide, which causes serious losses of crop production. Bacteria play a role as the biocontrol agents for plant disease control. For this reason, the present study was conducted to determine the antagonistic potential of rhizosphere soil bacteria against selected phytopathogenic fungi. The screenings of potential antagonist isolated bacteria were applied by the dual culture technique with fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum melongenae. Molecular characterization was performed through 16S rDNA sequencing analysis. Sixteen (16) out of fifty (50) isolated bacteria showed different degrees of antagonism (25-67%) against both fungi F. oxysporum and C. melongenae. Among them, four (4) isolated bacteria (isolates A4, C1, C2, and E2) exhibited strong antagonism (more than 50% mycelial growth inhibition) against both fungi. The 16S rDNA sequences of the isolated bacteria A4, C1, C2 and E2 were 99-100% similar to Providencia sp. TT14, Bacillus subtilis 168, Bacillus subtilis RKP-2, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens IBSDG-11, respectively. Based on the capability for the control of mycelial growth against both fungi, B. subtilis IUBTC2 was selected for optimization of growth characteristics and identification the bioactive metabolites which can enhance plant growth and disease control capacity of plants against the phytopathogenic fungi.

Poultry meat production has been dramatically increased in the last few decades due to increased population rate. Glucocorticoids decrease the growth of poultry and increase fat accumulation in liver and meat. In the coming days, it is important to consider the quality of meat to fulfill the increasing demand of proteins. The morphological and biometric properties of meat are associated with the quality of meat. The present research aimed to study the adaptations of muscular biology in response to potential glucocorticoid treatment in broiler chicken. This experiment was conducted into three groups of broilers (i.e. control group: homemade ration, group A: commercial broiler ration, and group B: a high dose of glucocorticoid at 7 mg/kg) started from day 7 to 28. Meat and blood samples were collected at day 7, 14, 21, and 28. For gross morphology, color and weight of meat were measured. Histomorphology of meat was studied under light microscope by Hematoxylin & Eosin stain. The length and width of meat fibers were measured using calibrated stage micrometer. The blood cholesterol dynamics was measured by spectrophotometer. The color of breast meat was more yellowish and lighter than thigh meat. The weight of meat was negatively affected by glucocorticoid. Glucocorticoid treatment negatively influenced the number of myofibers in breast meat, while positively influenced the thigh meat. Excess dietary glucocorticoid increased the biometry of breast meat and decreased that of thigh meat in broiler. Glucocorticoid non-significantly increased the serum cholesterol level. These findings advance our knowledge about the action of glucocorticoid in the muscular system and provide basis for novel therapies to prevent glucocorticoid-induced muscular atrophy.

Poultry meat production has been dramatically increased in the last few decades due to increased population rate. Glucocorticoids decrease the growth of poultry and increase fat accumulation in liver and meat. In the coming days, it is important to consider the quality of meat to fulfill the increasing demand of proteins. The morphological and biometric properties of meat are associated with the quality of meat. The present research aimed to study the adaptations of muscular biology in response to potential glucocorticoid treatment in broiler chicken. This experiment was conducted into three groups of broilers (i.e. control group: homemade ration, group A: commercial broiler ration, and group B: a high dose of glucocorticoid at 7 mg/kg) started from day 7 to 28. Meat and blood samples were collected at day 7, 14, 21, and 28. For gross morphology, color and weight of meat were measured. Histomorphology of meat was studied under light microscope by Hematoxylin & Eosin stain. The length and width of meat fibers were measured using calibrated stage micrometer. The blood cholesterol dynamics was measured by spectrophotometer. The color of breast meat was more yellowish and lighter than thigh meat. The weight of meat was negatively affected by glucocorticoid. Glucocorticoid treatment negatively influenced the number of myofibers in breast meat, while positively influenced the thigh meat. Excess dietary glucocorticoid increased the biometry of breast meat and decreased that of thigh meat in broiler. Glucocorticoid non-significantly increased the serum cholesterol level. These findings advance our knowledge about the action of glucocorticoid in the muscular system and provide basis for novel therapies to prevent glucocorticoid-induced muscular atrophy.

The methanol extract of the leaves of Tabernaemontana pauciflora (METP) was screened to investigate the qualitative phytochemical, in vivo anti-depressant, anxiolytic and in vitro thrombolytic activities. The in vivo antidepressant activity of METP was examined by force swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), whereas anxiolytic activity was examined by using hole-board test (HBT) and elevated plus maze test (EPM) on mice model. Additionally, qualitative phytochemical assay was performed to identify some secondary metabolites, namely alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids. The in vitro thrombolytic model was used to evaluate the clot lysis effect of METP. In the antidepressant assay, METP (200 and 400 mg/kg) exhibited significant anti-depression activity (P < 0.001) on FST (45.64% and 58.31%) and TST (38.67% and 63.62%) whereas the notable anxiolytic effect was observed in EPM (67.67% and 56.06%) and HBT (35.53% and 50%) in dose dependent manner which compared with control. In in vitro thrombolytic assessment of METP exposed 22.66% inhibition of clot. The current results proposed that METP might be effective in neuropharmacological and thrombolytic response due to the presence of alkaloids, tannins and flavonoids, which required further studies to investigate the mechanism.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) are among the most widely used nanoparticles that show a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. Green synthesis of Ag-NPs from plant extract is the most popular method in vitro. In this study, Ag-NPs were biologically synthesized from the leaf extract of Moringa oleifera and the antimicrobial activity was observed. Furthermore, a comparative assessment of antimicrobial activity of biologically synthesized Ag-NPs and crude plant extract was performed. Initially, 11 pathogenic bacterial strains were used to evaluate the antibacterial potentiality of crude leaf sample. However, the result showed that the crude leaf extract exerted maximum potential against Proteus vulgaris. Additionally, the application of biologically synthesized Ag-NPs was assessed against the same pathogenic strains and observed enhanced antibacterial activities with larger inhibited zones. Thus, our results suggest that the biological synthesis of Ag-NPs significantly enhanced the antibacterial activity of M. oleifera leaf extract against selected pathogenic bacterial strains. M. oleifera could be a potential source of Ag-NPs for successful use as an antibacterial agent in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

A double nutritional burden (DBM) has increased rapidly in Vietnam. Finding a solution to reduce the rates of overweight & obesity and thinness was necessary, especially at the age of 15-17 years. This study aimed to investigate nutritional status and elucidate the associated factors in children aged 15-17 years in the suburban of Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was carried out from November to December 2019 in Vietnam. Total of 424 students aged 15-17 years (153 boys and 271 girls) from Hong Thai Highschool using a randomized sampling method. The nutritional status of studied subjects was determined based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria of sex and age specific BMI cut-off points for children between 5 and 19 years old (2007). Rates of overweight and obesity was 8.96%, thinness was 8.02%, there was a statistically significant difference between boys’ and girls’ group (p=0.02). Correlation between BMI and WC, HC showed that WC or HC could be another indicator to determine the nutritional status of children. Having milk or a light meal before going to bed was also found to decrease the risk of being overweight by 66.4% (OR = 0.336, 95% CI: 0.116 – 0.972). Eating as much as possible increases the risk of overweight and obesity 2.2 times (p=0.017). Moreover, fast food consumption and physical activity time were no significant difference between the obesity & overweight and non-overweight groups. Especially, compared with the walking group, the group with adults taken had the risk of overweight and obesity 14 times higher, the group traveling by motorbike had the risk of overweight and obesity 5.056 times higher (with p=0.018 and p=0.04, respectively). The results suggest that there was the DBM for children in suburban, nutrition status was not similar among boys and girls. Public health programs should therefore be developed or improved in order to promote good eating habits and physical activity, especially how to move to school among children in Vietnam.

Seaweeds are able to produce a great variety of secondary metabolites that are characterized by a broad spectrum of biological activities. Two seaweeds species, namely Hypnea musciformis and Enteromorpha intestinalis were studied to evaluate the phytochemical constituency and antimicrobial activities. First of all, crude extracts of both sea weeds were prepared by two different extraction methods (soaking and water bath) using different solvents. Phytochemicals profiling results revealed the presence of bioactive compounds (flavonoids, alkaloids, tannin, saponin and phenols) in both seaweed extracts. Quantification results for ethanolic extracts of H. musciformis and E. intestinalis estimated 51 mg and 43 mg tannins in per gram of dried samples and flavonoids contents were found 67 mg and 57 mg/g (Quercetin equivalents) QE/g, respectively. Total phenolic contents were determined in terms of gallic acid equivalent (GAE). H. musciformis exhibited higher amount of phenolics (59 ± 0.0002 mg GAE/g) than E. intestinalis extracts (41 ± 0.0002 mg GAE/g).In antimicrobial activity test, ethanol extracts of H. musciformis and E. intestinalis were found 10 mm of inhibition diameter against all of the bacterial strains. Besides, methanol extracts of E. intestinalis were more susceptible to Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas which was close to the inhibition diameter (>15 mm) of the mainstream antibiotic, gentamicin. Moreover, Klebsiella sp. was found more susceptible to ethanol and methanol extracts of H. musciformis as it showed inhibition zone greater than 15 mm. Both Seaweed extracts possessed higher amount of phytochemicals and showed promising antimicrobial activities when compared with the standards.

Duck plague (DP) is one of the most important viral diseases which affects the duck population across the globe including Bangladesh. The present work was conducted to detect DP virus (DPV) from haor areas using a molecular-based approach and compared with the contemporary isolate through molecular and phylogenetic analysis. For this purpose, 38 individual samples were collected from the Netrokona (n=20) district of the Mymensingh division and Kishoreganj (n=18) district of the Dhaka division. The identification of DVP was carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting DPV specific DNA polymerase genes followed by sequencing. PCR positive viral samples were used to propagate into 11-13 days old embryonated duck eggs through chorio-allantoic membrane (CAM) route for virus isolation. DPV were then propagated into duck embryo fibroblast (DEF) monolayer cell culture and confirmed by PCR. Among the 38 samples, 27 isolates were confirmed as DPV with the PCR amplicon size of 446 bp. Pathogenicity tests through the inoculation into day-old ducklings confirmed pathogenic strain. The PCR products of the isolated DPV specific DNA polymerase gene were sequenced commercially and submitted to GenBank (GenBank Accession No. KX768734.1). The sequence showed resemblance to isolates previously reported in India (GenBank Accession No. KX511893.1, KJ451479.1, KM012009.1), and China (GenBank Accession No. EF643559.1). Sequencing data also revealed nucleotide differences between Anatid herpes 1_BAU_DMH (previous report from our laboratory) and the present isolates. Further characterization, such as nucleotide and amino acid sequencing, would help to understand the strains along with its epidemiology.

Aspergillus flavus NSH9 is a potential source of a-amylase and glucoamylases. Between two of its glucoamylases, one can digest the raw starch granules, while both being pH and thermostable. The purpose of the study was to enhance the production of amylases (a-amylase and Glucoamylase) from A. flavus NSH9 by random mutagenesis using Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and Ethidium bromide (EtBr) treatment. Glucoamylase and a-amylase activity were evaluated by 3, 5-dinitrosalicyclic acid (DNS) method and starch-iodine method, respectively. Mutated A. flavus NSH9 by EtBr treatment (10µg/ml) in PDA plate produced highest amount of both crude glucoamylases (GA) (1.47 ± 0.087 U/mL/min) and raw starch degrading glucoamylase (RSD-GA) (0.839 ± 0.036 U/mL/Hour). The highest value was 1.6 and 1.5 times higher compared to control for GA and RSD-GA, respectively. Here as, UV induced radiation produced about 1.3 and 1.4 times more GA and RSD-GA compared to control, respectively. The activity of a-amylase was about 1.7 times higher in the treatment group with 5µg/ml EtBr in sublethal condition than without the treatment group. In conclusion, both UV and EtBr treatment increased the amylases production from A. flavus NSH9. As the single mutation process of A. flavus NSH9 enhanced all three enzymes, the strains could be used for the commercial production of amylase.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) is a major cytokine for inflammatory response in human body. This is also well linked with obesity and causing different pathophysiological problems in type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) patients because of its pro-inflammatory over expression. However, seemingly harmless nucleotide changes in the promoter region often cause oscillation in expression, results in complications like dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis that ultimately exploit to coronary heart disease (CHD). Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate association between TNF-a (-308G>A) polymorphism at promoter region and CHD in T2DM patients from the northern region (Rajshahi) of Bangladesh. The total number of participants was 96 T2DM patients. TNF-a polymorphism were detected using high resolution melting (HRM) curve analysis. A total of 32 participants were suffering from CHD and 8 polymorphism (3 homozygous and 5 heterozygous) were detected among them. From Fisher’s Exact test, we found significant (P < 0.05) relationship between TNF-a (-308G>A) polymorphism and CHD in T2DM patients. According to Kendall’s Tau correlation matrix (r = 0.218), there is a good correlation between target polymorphism and CHD. Therefore, the overall results suggest that TNF-a promoter (-308G>A) polymorphism influences CHD in T2DM patients.

Since the beginning of time, microorganisms have been in existence. With time, new pathogens have emerged as a result of complex interplay of anthropogenic and natural factors like, human migration, shifts in weather pattern, genetic shuffling of the organisms themselves and more which have been discussed in detail. This review article focuses solely on emerging and re-emerging viruses: Chikungunya, Coronavirus, Dengue, Ebola, Hepatitis C, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Influenza and Zika; and the latest progresses made in finding effective antiviral drugs via drug repurposing as we know this approach outplays de novo production significantly with respect to time and money. In a time where new diseases are being reported once every year, drug repurposing will certainly come in handy in developing antiviral therapeutics promptly. Moreover, the article also discusses major challenges in drug repurposing from finding a patent, dealing with all relevant governing frameworks, to careful and safe handling of viruses, these are some challenges faced by drug repurposing, to name a few. Additionally, the study elaborates on the mechanisms of actions of these drugs as well as the targets whilst including recent and well-known incidences of deadly, viral outbreaks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered global waste generation dynamics, which is a challenging task for poor countries having inefficient waste management system. On an average, 6,180 tons of medical waste (MW) during this COVID-19 pandemic is generated per month in the Dhaka city. This voluminous amount of MW generated in the Dhaka city is remained poorly managed, and thus, posing a serious threat to public health and environment. To protect any risk of spread of SARS-CoV-2 through MW, a concerted and prompt effort from municipal authorities, hospital administration, and concerned non-government organization (NGOs) is needed to adopt new ways of state-of-the-art, safe and cost-effective MW management system for the Dhaka city. Furthermore, research should be directed to find out to find out other potential sources (e.g., inanimate objects or aquatic bodies) of SARS-CoV-2 infections to track it’s spatial and temporal dynamics, and also to get early warning in case of future outbreaks.

Dhanwantaram Kashayam (DK) is a polyherbal decoction used in Ayurveda for the postnatal care of mothers and for treating gynaecological diseases. It is also used as a growth stimulant in children as well as a regenerative medicine. Present study was to assess the various phytochemicals present in DK and to elucidate the role of DK as an effective antioxidant and free radical scavenger. Phytochemicals such as total phenolic content, total flavonoids and total tannins were assessed using standard biochemical methods. This study also investigated it’s in vitro antioxidant activity by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and the free radical scavenging activity by assessing the scavenging activities on 2’2-Diphenyl-1-Picryl Hydrazine (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS), phosphomolybdenum, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide and the hydroxyl radical. Phytochemical assay reported fairly high levels of tannins 0.22 ± 0.015mg/g, total flavonoids 1.23 ± 0.043 mg/g and total poly phenolic content 10.05 ± 0.94 mg/g. DK was found to have very good antioxidant activity and it scavenged the different free radicals in a dose dependent manner with low IC50 values (DPPH: 2.08±0.051, ABTS:38.46±2.75, phosphomolybdenum 50.4±2.63, H2O2: 57.9±3.15, NO: 57.25±3.7, all expressed in µg/ml. Values were significant with p<0.05). Results of this study clearly revealed that the DK is rich in phytochemicals and is a good source of natural antioxidants and is an efficient scavenger of peroxide radicals. This supports the use of DK in Ayurveda as a regenerative medicine, but further studies are needed to correlate the in vitro observations with its pharmacological effects in vivo.