Ethical obligation and legal requirements: On informed consent practices in Bangladesh

Informed consent to medical intervention is fundamental in both ethics and law. But in practice it is often not taken seriously in developing countries. This paper provides an appraisal of informed consent practices in Bangladesh. Following a review of the ethical and legal principles of informed consent, it assesses the degree to which doctors adhere to it in Bangladesh. Based on findings of non-compliance, it then investigates the reasons for such non-compliance through an appraisal of informed consent practices in Bangladesh and provides recommendations aimed at improving such practices. The significance of this paper lies in unveiling the interdependence between the ethical and legal traits of informed consent and their ramifications on strengthening the patient-oriented approach of duty to care.     

Trace analysis of the MIF analogue pareptide in blood plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography and short-wavelength excitation fluorometry

A high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure was developed and applied to analysis of the pharmacologically active MIF analogue pareptide in human plasma. The procedure involves formation of a fluorescent 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzyl-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-(NBD-CI) pareptide derivative followed by separation of the NBD derivative from plasma components on a 30-cm microparticle octadecylsilane bonded column. The separated derivative was quantitated using a short-wavelength excitation fluorometric detector. The detection limit of pareptide in plasma samples was 5 ng or 17 pmoles per ml of plasma. In the absence of plasma, the corresponding on-column detection limit was 0.5 pmoles.     

Aphid population abundance and pestiferous effect on various bean plant species

The population abundance, infestation, and harmful effects of the aphid Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae) were studied on four bean plant species, namely the country bean (Lablab purpureus var. BARI Seem 1), the yard‐long bean (Vigna sesquipedalis var. BARI Borboti 1), the hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab var. BARI Seem 6), and the bush bean (Phaseolus vulgaris var. BARI Jar Seem 3). Aphid abundance and infestation on the leaves, inflorescences, flowers, and pods differed significantly among the bean plant species, with P. vulgaris and V. sesquipedalis having the lowest and highest results, respectively. Aphid severity grade and the number of trichomes of the bean plant species were negatively correlated. The duration of the growth stages among the bean plant species were significantly different, with V. sesquipedalis having the shortest durations. Aphid abundance and infestation significantly affected the physical and phytochemical characteristics of the bean plant species. The highest reduction of number of leaves, flower inflorescences, and pod inflorescences per plant, and moisture and chlorophyll content in the leaves was found in L. purpureus. The results for V. sesquipedalis revealed the highest reduction in plant height, seed weight, and pH, while those of D. lablab showed the highest reduction in leaf area.     

Three-Dimensional Self-Gravito-Acoustic Solitary Waves in a Degenerate Quantum Plasma System

Plasma Physics Reports - Three-dimensional self-gravito-acoustic solitary waves (SGASWs) in a general (but realistic) self-gravitating degenerate quantum plasma media consisting of heavy...     

Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Gamma (PPAR-ɣ): Molecular Effects and Its Importance as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Cerebral Ischemic Injury

Neurochemical Research - Cerebral ischemic injury is a leading cause of death and long-term disability throughout the world. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-?) is a...     

Association between Gestational Weight Gain and Postpartum Diabetes: Evidence from a Community Based Large Cohort Study

We have investigated the prospective association between excess gestational weight gain (GWG) and development of diabetes by 21 years post-partum using a community-based large prospective cohort study in Brisbane, Australia. There were 3386 mothers for whom complete data were available on GWG, pre-pregnancy BMI and self-reported diabetes 21 years post-partum. We used The Institute of Medicine (IOM) definition to categorize GWG as inadequate, adequate and excessive. We found 839 (25.78%) mothers gained inadequate weight, 1,353 (39.96%) had adequate weight gain and 1,194 (35.26%) had gained excessive weight during pregnancy. At 21 years post-partum, 8.40% of mothers self-reported a diagnosis of diabetes made by their doctor. In the age adjusted model, we found mothers who gained excess weight during pregnancy were 1.47(1.11,1.94) times more likely to experience diabetes at 21 years post-partum compared to the mothers who gained adequate weight. This association was not explained by the potential confounders including maternal age, parity, education, race, smoking, TV watching and exercise. However, this association was mediated by the current BMI. There was no association for the women who had normal BMI before pregnancy and gained excess weight during pregnancy. The findings of this study suggest that women who gain excess weight during pregnancy are at greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes in later life. This relationship is likely mediated through the pathway of post-partum weight-retention and obesity. This study adds evidence to the argument that excessive GWG during pregnancy for overweight mothers has long term maternal health implications.     

Monoxenic liquid culture with Escherichia coli of the free-living nematode Panagrolaimus sp. (strain NFS 24-5), a potential live food candidate for marine fish and shrimp larvae

The free-living, bacterial-feeding nematode Panagrolaimus sp. (strain NFS 24-5) has potential for use as live food for marine shrimp and fish larvae. Mass production in liquid culture is a prerequisite for its commercial exploitation. Panagrolaimus sp. was propagated in monoxenic liquid culture on Escherichia coli and parameters, like nematode density, population dynamics and biomass were recorded and compared with life history table data. A mean maximum nematode density of 174,278 mL^?1 and a maximum of 251,000 mL^?1 were recorded on day 17 after inoculation. Highest average biomass was 40 g L^?1 at day 13. The comparison with life history table data indicated that the hypothetical potential of liquid culture is much higher than documented during this investigation. Nematode development is delayed in liquid culture and egg production per female is more than five times lower than reported from life history trait analysis. The latter assessed a nematode generation time of 7.1 days, whereas the process time at maximum nematode density in liquid culture was 16 days indicating that a reduction of the process time can be achieved by further investigating the influence of nematode inoculum density on population development. The results challenge future research to reduce process time and variability and improve population dynamics also during scale-up of the liquid culture process.     

Identification of potential targets in Staphylococcus aureus N315 using computer aided protein data analysis

Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium, responsible for both community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection, resulting in a mortality rate of 39%. 43.2% resistance to methicilin and emerging resistance to Fluroquinolone and Oxazolidinone, have evoked the necessity of the establishment of alternative and effective therapeutic approach to treat this bacteria. In this computational study, various database and online software are used to determine some specific targets of Staphylococcus aureus N315 other than those used by Penicillin, Quinolone and Oxazolidinone. For this purpose, among 302 essential proteins, 101 nonhomologous proteins were accrued and 64 proteins which are unique in several metabolic pathways of S. aureus were isolated by using metabolic pathway analysis tools. Furthermore, 7 essentially unique enzymes involved in exclusive metabolic pathways were revealed by this research, which can be potential drug target. Along with these important enzymes, 15 non-homologous proteins located on membrane were identified, which can play a vital role as potential therapeutic targets for the future researchers.     

Unmasking Heavily O-Glycosylated Serum Proteins Using Perchloric Acid: Identification of Serum Proteoglycan 4 and Protease C1 Inhibitor as Molecular Indicators for Screening of Breast Cancer

Heavily glycosylated mucin glycopeptides such as CA 27.29 and CA 15–3 are currently being used as biomarkers for detection and monitoring of breast cancer. However, they are not well detected at the early stages of the cancer. In the present study, perchloric acid (PCA) was used to enhance detection of mucin-type O-glycosylated proteins in the serum in an attempt to identify new biomarkers for early stage breast cancer. Sensitivity and specificity of an earlier developed sandwich enzyme-linked lectin assay were significantly improved with the use of serum PCA isolates. When a pilot case-control study was performed using the serum PCA isolates of normal participants (n = 105) and patients with stage 0 (n = 31) and stage I (n = 48) breast cancer, higher levels of total O-glycosylated proteins in sera of both groups of early stage breast cancer patients compared to the normal control women were demonstrated. Further analysis by gel-based proteomics detected significant inverse altered abundance of proteoglycan 4 and plasma protease C1 inhibitor in both the early stages of breast cancer patients compared to the controls. Our data suggests that the ratio of serum proteoglycan 4 to protease C1 inhibitor may be used for screening of early breast cancer although this requires further validation in clinically representative populations.