Introduction: A caesarean delivery is a major surgery with risks of severe bleeding, scarring, infections, reactions to anesthesia and long-lasting pain. The aim of the study was to determine the predictors of caesarean delivery at hospitals in Rajshahi city, Bangladesh. Methods: Data was collected from 194 women who delivered at three private and one public hospital maternity wards in Rajshahi city between January and March 2013. A questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic background of the mothers. Body mass index was computed to determine overweight and underweight status of the women. Results: The prevalence of caesarean delivery at the hospitals studied was 77.3%. Socio-demographic factors and nutrition status that were significantly associated with the type of birth delivery were considered as independent variables in a logistic regression model. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that older women (age z 25 year) were more likely to undergo caesarean delivery than younger women. Women with higher education were more likely to have caesarean delivery as compared to women without formal schooling. Overweight women had a higher likelihood of caesarean delivery than women with normal weight and underweight. Conclusion: The study recorded a high prevalence of caesarean deliveries at the hospitals in Rajshahi city. Age, educational level and BMI status of the women were associated with caesarian deliveries.

The high prevalence of underweight among children is a serious health concern in Bangladesh. Nutritional status influences students' academic performance directly or indirectly. This study aimed to determine factors that affect the academic performance of students in primary schools. Methods: Data were collected from several schools and madrasahs in Chapainawabganj district, Bangladesh using multistage stratified sampling with proportional allocation technique. Results: The prevalence of underweight children was 32.3%, with 43.0% of them being girls and 21.4% boys. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that normal weight children were more likely (p<0.05) to obtain good results (GPA >3.50) than underweight children. Children with gestational age of 39 to 41 weeks were more likely to obtain good results than those whose gestational age was 37 and 38 weeks. Children who were breastfed for <24 months were less likely (p<0.01) to perform well academically (GPA>3.50) compared to their counterparts. Children whose parents had a higher income or higher education had a significantly better chance of obtaining good results compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: These results suggest that childhood nutritional status, parents' education and economic level are significant common factors which affect children's academic performance. Consequently, under-nutrition and poverty can be considered as the major problems for good academic performance of Bangladeshi children and requires attention
Thinness ; Nutritional Status ; Schools ; Child ; Bangladesh

Objective: To investigate the comparative effects of Diospyros blancoi (Ebenaceae) leaves (DBL), root bark (DBRB) and stem bark (DBSB) on free radicals and cancer. Methods: The polyphenol contents, antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties were determined using standard spectrophotometric methods. Cytotoxicity and anticancer activ-ities were performed on brine shrimp nauplii and Ehrlich ascite carcinoma cells, respectively. Results: Among the extracts, DBSB showed the highest total antioxidant capacity and reducing capacity on ferrous ion. Based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, DBSB showed (95.760 ± 0.343)%and (67.460 ± 2.641)%scavenging with IC50 of (3.10 ± 0.17) and (50.00 ± 3.11) mg/mL, respectively. The IC50 values of standard butylated hydroxytoluene and catechin (CA) for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydroxyl radicals were (8.50 ± 0.25) and (75.00 ± 0.14) mg/mL, respectively suggesting that DBSB had a significant (P < 0.05) radical scavenging ac-tivity than standards. In lipid peroxidation inhibition assay, the inhibitory activity of the extracts and the standard was in the following order: DBSB > DBRB > CA > DBL. Also, the phenolic [(139.91 ± 3.924) mg gallic acid equivalent/g] and flavonoid contents [(412.00 ± 16.70) mg catechin equivalent/g)] of DBSB were higher than that of other extracts. In addition, the DBSB showed the moderate cytotoxic and anticancer properties. Conclusions: Our results indicate that Diospyros blancoi stem bark had the significant highest antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties as well as moderate anticancer activity. Hence, we assume that the anticancer activity of this plant can be, at least in part, attributed to its content in phenolic compounds as well as its significant free radical scavenging properties.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), diagnosed by symptom-based criteria due to lack of biomarkers, need translated-validated questionnaires in different languages. As Bengali, the mother tongue of Bangladesh and eastern India, is the seventh most spoken language in the world, we translated and validated the Enhanced Asian Rome III questionnaire (EAR3Q) in this language. METHODS: The EAR3Q was translated in Bengali as per guideline from the Rome Foundation. The translated questionnaire was validated prospectively on Bengali-speaking healthy subjects (HS, n = 30), and patients with functional dyspepsia (FD, n = 35), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS, n = 40) and functional constipation (FC, n = 12) diagnosed by clinicians using the Rome III criteria. The subjects were asked to fill-in the questionnaire again after 2 weeks, to check for its reproducibility. RESULTS: During translation, the original and the backward translated English versions of the questionnaire demonstrated high concordance. Sensitivity of the Bengali questionnaire to diagnose patients with FD, IBS, FC, and HS was 100%, 100%, 75%, and 100%, respectively, considering diagnosis by the clinicians as the gold standard. On test-retest reliability analysis, Kappa values for FD, IBS, FC, and HS were 1.0, 1.0, 0.83, and 1.0, respectively. The Bengali questionnaire detected considerable overlap of FD symptoms among patients with IBS, IBS among patients with FD, and FD among patients with FC, which were not detected by the clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully translated and validated the EAR3Q in Bengali. We believe that this translated questionnaire will be useful for clinical evaluation and research on FGIDs in the Bengali-speaking population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Bangladesh ; Biomarkers ; Constipation ; Diagnosis* ; Dyspepsia ; Gastrointestinal Diseases* ; Humans ; India ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; Mothers ; Prospective Studies ; Tongue

Background/Aims: Bangladesh is a densely populated country with an increased incidence of lung cancer, mostly due to smoking. Therefore, elucidating the association of mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 309 (rs2279744) with lung cancer risk from smoking in Bangladeshi population has become necessary. Methods: DNA was extracted from blood samples of 126 lung cancer patient and 133 healthy controls. The MDM2 SNP309 was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), using the restriction enzymes MspA1I. Logistic regression was then carried out to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate the risk of lung cancer. A meta-analysis of SNP309 was also carried out on 12,758 control subjects and 11,638 patient subjects. Results: In multivariate logistic regression, significantly increased risk of lung cancer was observed for MDM2 SNP309 in the dominant model (TG + GG vs. TT: OR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.29 to 3.53). Stratification analysis revealed that age, sex, obesity, and smoking also increases the risk of lung cancer when carrying the MDM2 SNP309. Our meta-analysis revealed that MDM2 SNP309 was considerably associated with lung cancer in Asian populations (TG + GG vs. TT: OR, 1.32; 95% CI , 1.12 to 1.56; p = 0.019 for heterogeneity). Conclusions The MDM2 SNP309 was associated with high risk of lung cancer in Bangladeshi and Asian population, particularly with increased age, smoking, and body mass index.

INTRODUCTIONCephalic index (CI), the ratio of head breadth to head length, is widely used to categorise human populations. The aim of this study was to access the impact of anthropometric measurements on the CI of male Japanese university students.

METHODSThis study included 1,215 male university students from Tokyo and Kyoto, selected using convenient sampling. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the effect of anthropometric measurements on CI.

RESULTSThe variance inflation factor (VIF) showed no evidence of a multicollinearity problem among independent variables. The coefficients of the regression line demonstrated a significant positive relationship between CI and minimum frontal breadth (p < 0.01), bizygomatic breadth (p < 0.01) and head height (p < 0.05), and a negative relationship between CI and morphological facial height (p < 0.01) and head circumference (p < 0.01). Moreover, the coefficient and odds ratio of logistic regression analysis showed a greater likelihood for minimum frontal breadth (p < 0.01) and bizygomatic breadth (p < 0.01) to predict round-headedness, and morphological facial height (p < 0.05) and head circumference (p < 0.01) to predict long-headedness. Stepwise regression analysis revealed bizygomatic breadth, head circumference, minimum frontal breadth, head height and morphological facial height to be the best predictor craniofacial measurements with respect to CI.

CONCLUSIONThe results suggest that most of the variables considered in this study appear to influence the CI of adult male Japanese students.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Body Height ; Cephalometry ; methods ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Head ; anatomy & histology ; Humans ; Japan ; Male ; Reference Values ; Regression Analysis ; Students ; Universities ; Young Adult

Objective: To investigate the comparative effects of Diospyros blancoi (Ebenaceae) leaves (DBL), root bark (DBRB) and stem bark (DBSB) on free radicals and cancer. Methods: The polyphenol contents, antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties were determined using standard spectrophotometric methods. Cytotoxicity and anticancer activities were performed on brine shrimp nauplii and Ehrlich ascite carcinoma cells, respectively. Results: Among the extracts, DBSB showed the highest total antioxidant capacity and reducing capacity on ferrous ion. Based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, DBSB showed (95.760 ± 0.343)% and (67.460 ± 2.641)% scavenging with IC

Introduction: The culture of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) has become wide spread because of its high productivity over a short period of time. Its production partially fulfills the demand for food in rural people in Bangladesh. However, the accumulation of toxic heavy metals in the human body through consumption of fish contaminated by it causes various diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the bioaccumulation of five heavy metals, namely, cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) in cultured Nile tilapia in the Noakhali region of Bangladesh. Methods: Fish were collected from three different fish farms in the Noakhali region and samples of gill, muscles and liver of tilapia were assayed for Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni and Cu using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Proximate composition of the tilapia was also determined. Results: Metal accumulation in different tissues was as follows: liver > gill > muscle. The accumulation of metals in the muscle, gill and liver was Ni > Pb > Cr > Cu > Cd, Pb > Ni > Cu > Cr > Cd and Pb > Cu > Ni > Cr > Cd, respectively. The bioaccumulation of lead was significantly increased in liver and gill while muscle showed the lowest value. Conclusion: It can be concluded that bioaccumulation of Pb, Cr and Ni in Nile tilapia in this study exceeds the permissible limits set for heavy metals by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-407. This is potentially risky for consumers.

Objective: To analyze in-vitro antimicrobial activities of some ethno-pharmacologically significant medicinal plants (methanol extract) against the pathogenic microorganisms (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans). Methods: The disc diffusion method was applied for antibacterial test and the poisoned food technique was applied for antifungal test. Results: The methanol extract of Terminalia chebula (bark), Phyllanthus acidus (fruits), Sarcochlamys pulcherrima (leaves) and Abelmoschus esculentus (fruits) had significant in vitro antibacterial activity angainst the entire test samples in comparison to standard drug ciprofloxacin. Most of the plant extracts showed low activity against Gram negative bacteria while potential activity against Gram positive bacteria. The antifungal activities of methanol extracts of these plants and standard drug griseofulvin were determined against two pathogenic fungi, and Polygonum lapathifolium (leaves) and Cinnamomum tamala (leaves) showed maximum activity, while Erioglossum rubiginosum (leaves) showed no antifungal activity. Conclusions: Further chemical and pharmacological investigations are required to identify and isolate chemical constituents responsible for these potential bioactivities and thus to determine their full spectrum of efficacy.

Arsenic/toxicity* ; Bangladesh ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth/chemically induced* ; Rural Population ; Zinc