Self-Medication Practices among Adult Population in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The practice of self-medication (SM) is common worldwide and is an important component of medical self-care. However, improper practice can be dangerous. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of SM and the factors associated with it among Bangladeshi adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and June 2021 among Bangladeshi adults (aged > 19 years) using convenient sampling. A total of 1320 subjects were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standardized questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the practice of SM. RESULTS: Overall, 41% of adults in our survey reported SMP. The most common illnesses that prompted SM were common cold/flu (66.4%), gastric problems (65%), and headache (64.4%). The most frequent reasons for SM were to get better-perceived quality of care (30.6%), perceiving SM without side effects (23.3%), and saving time with effectiveness (14.56%). Potential risk factors included 10 years (AOR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.04-3.50) and >12 years of schooling (AOR = 5.03; 95% CI: 2.27-11.15), being a businessman (AOR = 4.64; 95% CI: 1.74-12.37), having ≤6 family members (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.40-3.24), being a member of a social group (AOR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.10-2.12), a health status check after every six months (AOR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.08-2.13), and current ill-health (AOR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06-1.87). Protective factors identified included ≤30 years of age (AOR = 0.40; 95% CI: 0.17-0.93), and practice of modern (AOR = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.22-0.69) and herbal (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21-0.97) treatment modality. CONCLUSION: More than one-third of the study participants reported practicing SM. Increasing the community's awareness of the adverse outcomes of SM and not just the average experience might sway individuals away from SM, and implementing strict jurisdiction could be a way to minimize inappropriate SM.

Mechanical properties and microstructure of brick aggregate concrete with raw fly ash as a partial replacement of cement.

In response to environmental concerns, researchers explore fly ash as a cement replacement material, and crushed bricks as a cost-effective and load-reducing aggregate, particularly where stone chips are scarce. Therefore, this study investigates the mechanical properties and microstructure of brick aggregate concrete (BAC) with raw fly ash (FA) as a partial replacement of cement. The research involved casting raw FA based BAC (FBAC) cylinders (100 mm diameter and 200 mm height) and prism (100 × 100 × 500 mm) with varying levels of FA (0-25%) using a constant mix proportion by volume of 1:1.5:3 (cement : fine aggregate : coarse aggregate) with a water to binder (w/b) ratio of 0.50 and three curing ages (7, 28, and 90 days). Tests for mechanical properties, including compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and Poisson's ratio were conducted to assess the behavior of FBAC, and microstructure were then investigated at 28 days. The results indicated that increasing the FA content up to 15% led to gradual improvement in compressive strength and tensile strength values. At 28 days, the highest values of compressive strength and split tensile strength were observed at 10% FA, with 7.9% and 14.2% increase, respectively, compared to the control concrete. However, the flexural strength of FBAC decreased gradually with cement replacement. On the other hand, modulus of elasticity and Poisson's ratio increased gradually up to 20% and 25% cement replacement, respectively. Up to 15% FA enhanced a more uniform and compact microstructure than that of control concrete. Several equations have been developed to express relationship between compressive strength and other mechanical properties of FBAC. Hence, up to 15% raw FA as a partial replacement of cement improved the mechanical properties and microstructure of BAC.

Microplastic pollution: a review of techniques to identify microplastics and their threats to the aquatic ecosystem.

Microplastics (MPs), small synthetic particles, have emerged as perilous chemical pollutants in aquatic habitats, causing grave concerns about their disruptive effects on ecosystems. The fauna and flora inhabiting these specific environments consume these MPs, unwittingly introducing them into the intricate web of the food chain. In this comprehensive evaluation, the current methods of identifying MPs are amalgamated and their profound impacts on marine and freshwater ecosystems are discussed. There are many potential risks associated with MPs, including the dangers of ingestion and entanglement, as well as internal injuries and digestive obstructions, both marine and freshwater organisms. In this review, the merits and limitations of diverse identification techniques are discussed, including spanning chemical analysis, thermal identification, and spectroscopic imaging such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and fluorescent microscopy. Additionally, it discusses the prevalence of MPs, the factors that affect their release into aquatic ecosystems, as well as their plausible impact on various aquatic ecosystems. Considering these disconcerting findings, it is imperative that appropriate measures should be taken to assess the potential risks of MP pollution, protect aquatic life and human health, and foster sustainable development.

Understanding the impact of socioeconomic and health factors on geriatric depression: A comparative study in rural and urban Bangladesh.

Background and Aims: The prevalence of depression among the elderly is a growing concern, and this study examines the differences between urban and rural areas in terms of geriatric depression. Methods: Using a two-stage random sampling approach in urban areas and a multistage random sampling approach in rural areas, the study surveyed 944 elderly individuals of both sexes. Results: The results indicate that the prevalence of depression was high, with 52.5% of the elderly population experiencing mild to severe depression. The study found that increasing age, female gender, nuclear family structure, and involvement of housewives or others were significant factors affecting depression in urban areas, while increasing age and elderly people without spouses were significant factors in rural areas. Additionally, the study identified hearing impairment, asthma, and arthritis as risk factors for depression in rural areas, and bronchitis, heart disease, and thyroid illness as significant factors in urban areas. Conclusion: These findings highlight the need for policymakers to focus on addressing the mental health needs of older people, particularly women and those without spouses.

Uncovering the impact of mega-scale shipbreaking yards on soil and crop quality in Bangladesh: A spatiotemporal dynamics and associated health risks of metal/loid contamination.

The uncontrolled release of harmful metal/loids from mega-scale shipbreaking activities in Bangladesh is a significant concern. This study investigated the impact of shipbreaking activities on soil and crop quality and human health in relation to metal/loid contamination. This work covered an area of 1221 km2 surrounding the shipbreaking yards in Chittagong during the wet and dry seasons between 2019 and 2020. Amongst the sixteen elements measured, the concentrations of Pb, Cd, As, V, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Sn in the soil, rice, and vegetables from the four exposure sites were significantly higher compared to the control site in both seasons. Soil pollution indices indicated moderate to higher contamination levels of Pb, Zn, Cd, As, and Se in 30-50% of soil, supporting their accumulation in food crops. Source apportionment analysis identified uncontrolled shipwrecking operations as the primary anthropogenic activity mainly contributing to metal/loid pollution. Health risk analysis showed inorganic arsenic (estimated), Cd, and Pb in food crops could pose potential health threats to the general population. Spinach leaf and gourd were identified as the highest-risk contributing vegetables in the dry and wet seasons. These findings help to inform management strategies to protect agroecosystems and public health.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of university students towards monkeypox in Bangladesh.

The recent outbreak of viral zoonotic disease-monkeypox-caused by the monkeypox virus, has infected many people worldwide. This study aims to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) concerning monkeypox among university students in Bangladesh. Data were collected using purposive snowball sampling from 887 university students through an online survey using Google Form. The participants were mostly in their twenties (M = 22.33 [SD 2.01] years), and they spent, on average, 2.59 [SD 1.91] hours/day on electronic and social media. The participants generally showed moderate knowledge (39.5%), low attitude (25.1%), and moderate practice (48.6%) toward monkeypox, with 47.6% having had a moderate KAP score. Findings further showed that personal attributes of university students, i.e., age, sex, year of schooling, residence, living status, geographical distribution, e.g., division, were statistically and significantly associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding monkeypox and overall KAP score. It is also apparent that health status, susceptibility to monkeypox, and exposure to social media were the most common factors significantly associated with knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding monkeypox and overall KAP score. The current study's findings underscore the need for developing appropriate information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and their dissemination, which could play an important role in reducing the risk of monkeypox and similar other infectious diseases, particularly among students in Bangladesh.

Association of workplace bullying and burnout with nurses' suicidal ideation in Bangladesh.

Suicidal ideation is a complex phenomenon influenced by several predisposing, contextual, and mediating factors that seem more common among healthcare workers, especially nurses. We investigated the association of bullying and burnout with suicidal ideation among Bangladeshi nurses and identified the associated factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 1264 nurses in Bangladesh between February 2021 and July 2021. We applied a modified Poisson regression model with robust error variance to determine the association of bullying and burnout with suicidal ideation. Among 1264 nurses, the female was 882 (70.02%), and the mean age was 28.41 (SD = 5.54) years. The prevalence of high levels of suicidal ideation was 13.26%. In the Poison regression model, high risk bullying (RR = 6.22, 95% CI 3.13-12.38), targeted to bullying (RR = 7.61, 95% CI 3.53-16.38), and burnout (RR = 8.95, 95% CI 2.84-28.20) were found to be significantly associated with suicidal ideation. Furthermore, we found significant interaction between workplace bullying and burnout with suicidal ideation (p < 0.05). The high prevalence of bullying, burnout, suicidal ideation, and their association indicate an unsafe workplace for the nurses. Initiatives are needed to make a favorable work environment to improve nurses' overall mental health and reduce suicide ideation.

Relationships between growth indicators, liver and kidney function markers, and blood concentrations of essential and potentially toxic elements in environmentally exposed young children.

Environmental exposure to multiple metals and metalloids is widespread, leading to a global concern relating to the adverse health effects of mixed-metals exposure, especially in young children living around industrial areas. This study aimed to quantify the concentrations of essential and potentially toxic elements in blood and to examine the potential associations between multiple elements exposures, growth determinants, and liver and kidney function biomarkers in children living in several industrial areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The blood distribution of 20 trace elements As, Ag, Bi, Br, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, I, Mn, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sb, Tl, V, U, and Zn, growth determinants such as body mass index and body fats, blood pressure, liver and kidney injury biomarkers including serum alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities, serum calcium, and creatinine levels, blood urea nitrogen, and hemoglobin concentrations, and glomerular filtration rate were measured in 141 children, aged six to 16 years. Among these elements, blood concentrations of Ag, U, V, Cr, Cd, Sb, and Bi were measured below LOQs and excluded from subsequent statistical analysis. This comprehensive study revealed that blood concentrations of these elements in children, living in industrial areas, exceeded critical reference values to varying extents; elevated exposure to As, Pb, Br, Cu, and Se was found in children living in multiple industrial areas. A significant positive association between elevated blood Tl concentration and obesity (ß = 0.300, p = 0.007) and an inverse relationship between lower As concentration and underweight (ß = -0.351, p < 0.001) compared to healthy weight children indicate that chronic exposure to Tl and As may influence the metabolic burden and physical growth in children. Concentration-dependent positive associations were observed between the blood concentrations of Cu, Se, and Br and hepatic- and renal dysfunction biomarkers, an inverse association with blood Mo and I level, however, indicates an increased risk of Cu, Se, and Br-induced liver and kidney toxicity. Further in-depth studies are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the observed associations. Regular biomonitoring of elemental exposures is also indispensable to regulate pollution in consideration of the long-term health effects of mixed-elements exposure in children.

StackDPP: Stacking-Based Explainable Classifier for Depression Prediction and Finding the Risk Factors among Clinicians.

Mental health is a major concern for all classes of people, but especially physicians in the present world. A challenging task is to identify the significant risk factors that are responsible for depression among physicians. To address this issue, the study aimed to build a machine learning-based predictive model that will be capable of predicting depression levels and finding associated risk factors. A raw dataset was collected to conduct this study and preprocessed as necessary. Then, the dataset was divided into 10 sub-datasets to determine the best possible set of attributes to predict depression. Seven different classification algorithms, KNN, DT, LGBM, GB, RF, ETC, and StackDPP, were applied to all the sub-datasets. StackDPP is a stacking-based ensemble classifier, which is proposed in this study. It was found that StackDPP outperformed on all the datasets. The findings indicate that the StackDPP with the sub-dataset with all the attributes gained the highest accuracy (0.962581), and the top 20 attributes were enough to gain 0.96129 accuracy by StackDPP, which was close to the performance of the dataset with all the attributes. In addition, risk factors were analyzed in this study to reveal the most significant risk factors that are responsible for depression among physicians. The findings of the study indicate that the proposed model is highly capable of predicting the level of depression, along with finding the most significant risk factors. The study will enable mental health professionals and psychiatrists to decide on treatment and therapy for physicians by analyzing the depression level and finding the most significant risk factors.

Physical and mechanical properties of Albizia procera glulam beam.

This research was done to evaluate the feasibility of using Albizia procera for manufacturing glulam beams. The physical and mechanical properties of the A. procera glulam beam were evaluated, and these properties were compared to those of the solid A. procera solid timber. The A. procera glulam beam's physical and mechanical properties were all superior to solid A. procera timber. In comparison to A. procera solid timber, A. procera glulam's density, water absorption (WA), linear expansion (LE), and thickness swelling (TS) all improved by 11.1, 48.4, 44.6, and 37.0%, respectively. Again, compared to A. procera solid timber, the modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the A. procera glulam beam increased by 27.6 and 29.2%, respectively. Additionally, the ASTM specifications were met by the A. procera glulam beam. As a result, based on the properties, it is possible to make A. procera glulam beams as structural timber products.

Foodborne pathogens awareness and food safety knowledge of street-vended food consumers: A case of university students in Ghana.

Food pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites are agents present in food or water that can cause foodborne illness. Some of these pathogens have been identified in Ghanaian foods and were responsible for the major foodborne disease outbreaks in Ghana. Thus, the current study assessed the awareness of foodborne pathogens and food safety knowledge of students in Ghana. The study employed non-probability techniques, as well as purposive and convenient techniques, to recruit institutions and students for the study. Out of 803 students, the majority (52.3%) were male, between the ages of 20 and 25 (52.8%), attended Ho Technical University (49.8%), and offered non-science-related courses (45.1%). The majority of the respondents were aware of foodborne pathogens, particularly Staphylococcus aureus (53.4%) and Salmonella typhimurium (53.5%). The mean overall score of foodborne pathogen awareness was 14.36 ± 4.57; the passing rate was 73.6%; tribe, institution, field of study, and level of study all had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on awareness of foodborne pathogens. The mean overall score of food safety knowledge was 12.43 ± 3.27; the passing rate was 77.3%; age, tribe, institution, field of study, and level of study all had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on food safety knowledge. Hence, food safety courses should be extended to all levels of education to increase awareness.

Prevalence and determinants of non-communicable diseases risk factors among reproductive-aged women: Findings from a nationwide survey in Bangladesh.

INTRODUCTION: Knowing the risk factors like smoking status, overweight/obesity, and hypertension among women of reproductive age could allow the development of an effective strategy for reducing the burden of non-noncommunicable diseases. We sought to determine the prevalence and determinants of smoking status, overweight/obesity, hypertension, and cluster of these non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors among Bangladeshi women of reproductive age. METHODS: This study utilized the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data from 2017-2018 and analyzed 5,624 women of reproductive age (age 18-49 years). This nationally representative cross-sectional survey utilized a stratified, two-stage sample of households. Poisson regression models with robust error variance were fitted to find the adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) for smoking, overweight/obesity, hypertension, and for the clustering of non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors across demographic variables. RESULTS: The average age of 5,624 participants was 31 years (SD = 9.1). The prevalence of smoking, overweight/obesity, and hypertension was 9.6%, 31.6%, and 20.3%, respectively. More than one-third of the participants (34.6%) had one non-noncommunicable diseases risk factor, and 12.5% of participants had two non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors. Age, education, wealth index, and geographic location were significantly associated with smoking status, overweight/obesity, and hypertension. Women between 40-49 years had more non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors than 18-29 years aged women (APR: 2.44; 95% CI: 2.22-2.68). Women with no education (APR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.00-1.33), married (APR: 2.32; 95% CI: 1.78-3.04), and widowed/divorced (APR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.59-2.89) were more likely to experience multiple non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors. Individuals in the Barishal division, a coastal region (APR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.28-1.63) were living with a higher number of risk factors for non-noncommunicable diseases than those in the Dhaka division, the capital of the country. Women who belonged to the richest wealth quintile (APR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.60-2.07) were more likely to have the risk factors of non-noncommunicable diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors are more prevalent among women from older age group, currently married and widowed/divorced group, and the wealthiest socio-economic group. Women with higher levels of education were more likely to engage in healthy behaviors and found to have less non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors. Overall, the prevalence and determinants of non-noncommunicable diseases risk factors among reproductive women in Bangladesh highlight the need for targeted public health interventions to increase opportunities for physical activity and reduce the use of tobacco, especially the need for immediate interventions in the coastal region.

Investigation of the impacts of simple electrolytes and hydrotrope on the interaction of ceftriaxone sodium with cetylpyridinium chloride at numerous study temperatures.

Herein, interactions between cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and ceftriaxone sodium (CTS) were investigated applying conductivity technique. Impacts of the nature of additives (e.g. electrolytes or hydrotrope (HDT)), change of temperatures (from 298.15 to 323.15 K), and concentration variation of CTS/additives were assessed on the micellization of CPC + CTS mixture. The conductometric analysis of critical micelle concentration (CMC) with respect to the concentration reveals that the CMC values were increased with the increase in CTS concentration. In terms of using different mediums, CMC did not differ much with the increase in electrolyte salt (NaCl, Na2SO4) concentration, but increased significantly with the rise of HDT (NaBenz) amount. In the presence of electrolyte, CMC showed a gentle increment with temperature, while the HDT showed the opposite trend. Obtained result was further correlated with conventional thermodynamic relationship, where standard Gibb's free energy change (ΔGmo), change of enthalpy (ΔHmo), and change of entropy (ΔSmo) were utilized to investigate. The ΔGmo values were negative for all the mixed systems studied indicating that the micellization process was spontaneous. Finally, the stability of micellization was studied by estimating the intrinsic enthalpy gain (ΔHmo,∗) and compensation temperature (Tc). Here, CPC + CTS mixed system showed more stability in Na2SO4 medium than the NaCl, while in NaBenz exhibited the lowest stability.

Screening for antimicrobial residues in poultry eggs in Bangladesh using Charm II radio-receptor assay technique following validation.

The aim of the study was to screen for the presence of antimicrobial residues in poultry eggs from Bangladesh using the Charm II radio-receptor assay in the absence of expensive confirmatory instrumentation. This was based on cut-off values as set in the validation guidelines according to Commission Decision 2002/657/EC and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/808. Fortified eggs spiked with fixed concentrations of doxycycline, erythromycin A, sulphamethazine, and benzylpenicillin were used to determine the cut-off values and detection capabilities (CCß). Other validation parameters included were applicability, ruggedness, and robustness. A total of 201 egg mix samples from native organic chicken, duck, and commercial farm-raised laying hens (both brown and white eggs) were tested and after analysis 13%, 10%, and 4.5% of the egg mix samples showed positive signals for sulphonamides, macrolides/lincosamides, and tetracyclines, respectively. Presence of multiple drug residues were also suspected in 11 out of 201 egg mix samples.

Cellulose-based bionanocomposites in energy storage applications-A review.

The growing demand for energy and environmental issues are the main concern for the sustainable development of modern society. Replacing toxic and expensive materials with inexpensive and biodegradable biomaterials is the main challenge for researchers. Nanocomposites are of the utmost consideration for their application in energy storage devices because of their specific electrochemical properties. Cellulose-based bionanocomposites have added a new dimension to this field since these are developed from available renewable biomaterials. Studies on developing electrodes, separators, collectors, and electrolytes for the batteries have been conducted based on these composites rigorously. Electrodes and separators made of these composites for the supercapacitors have also been investigated. Researchers have used a wide range of micro- and nano-structural cellulose along with nanostructured inorganic materials to produce cellulose-based bionanocomposites for energy devices, i.e., supercapacitors and batteries. The presence of cellulosic materials enhances the loading capacity of active materials and uniform porous structure in the electrode matrix. Thus, it has shown improved electrochemical properties. Therefore, these can help to develop biodegradable, lightweight, malleable, and strong energy storage devices. In this review article, the manufacturing process, properties, applications, and possible opportunities of cellulose-based bionanocomposites in energy storage devices have been emphasized. Its challenges and opportunities have also been discussed.

Prevalence, correlates and common conditions associated with adolescent dietary supplement use: a cross-sectional survey in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: There is a broad spectrum of dietary supplements (DS) and their accessibility worldwide. However, little is known about the prevalence of DS use among Bangladeshi adolescents. This study estimates the prevalence, correlates and common conditions related to DS use. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, convenient sampling strategy was adopted using an interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire. SETTING: Kurigram and Patuakhali districts of Bangladesh. PARTICIPANTS: 702 adolescents aged 10-19 years. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of DS use was 83 %. The majority of participants (93·4 %) agreed that DS were good for health, and 28·3 % reported general health and well-being as the reason for using DS. The most frequently used supplements were multivitamins (38·6 %) and Ca (37 %). DS use was more common among adolescents who had ≤5 siblings, good health status, no chronic diseases, a positive impression that DS are good for health and who had the tendency to encourage DS to others. DS use was also higher among those who received DS information from healthcare providers, professional literature, friends, family and relatives. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of DS use is relatively higher among Bangladeshi adolescents compared to Bangladeshi adults and adolescents from other countries, highlighting the inclination towards DS use. Guidelines for safe DS use for adolescents are warranted to control DS use and prevent adverse effects.

Food safety and handling knowledge and practices among university students of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study.

Our study aimed to examine the practices and knowledge of food handling and safety among 1534 university students in Bangladesh (mean age 22.09 ± 1.78), as well as the relationship between these factors and their academic and demographic backgrounds. Participants in this study were undergraduate and graduate students from four public universities in Bangladesh from different religions, income levels, years and majors of study, residential areas, living alone or not, and whose mothers are working or non-working. The questionnaire included 14 questions on food handling practices and 16 on knowledge. Questions were related to food preparation, hygiene, cross-contamination, and storage. The overall mean score for food handling practices was 34.9% (SD = 13.7), while that of knowledge was 41.8% (SD = 16.5). Female students, those from food-related majors, and those engaged in cooking activities scored significantly higher in the knowledge and practice sections (p < 0.05). Students who lived with their families performed significantly better on the knowledge parts, while those who shared a home with roommates in mess performed significantly better on the practice part (p < 0.05). Students having housewife mothers, personal poisoning experience, and continuous involvement in food purchasing scored significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the practices section but not in the knowledge one. On the other hand, students living in urban areas scored significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the knowledge section but not in the practices one. Our results highlight the importance of educational interventions and initiatives to enhance food safety awareness among Bangladeshi university students.

Job insecurity and mental health related outcomes among the humanitarian workers during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 remains a public health burden that has caused global economic crises, jeopardizing health, jobs, and livelihoods of millions of people around the globe. Several efforts have been made by several countries by implementing several health strategies to attenuate the spread of the pandemic. Although several studies indicated effects of COVID-19 on mental health and its associated factors, very little is known about the underlying mechanism of job insecurity, depression, anxiety, and stress in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study determined the prevalence of job insecurity and depression, anxiety, stress as well as the association between job insecurity, mental health outcomes also contributing determinants amongst humanitarian workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. METHODS: We conducted a web-based cross-sectional study among 445 humanitarian workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in six sub-districts of Cox's bazar district of Bangladesh between April and May 2021. The questionnaire was composed of socio-demographic, lifestyle and work related factors. Psychometric instruments like job insecurity scale and depression, anxiety also stress scale (DASS-21) were employed to assess the level of job insecurity and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety and stress). STATA software version 14 was employed to perform statistical analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of job insecurity was 42%. The odds of job insecurity was higher in Kutubdia and Pekua (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.36, 7.22) Teknaf (AOR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.33, 6.41), the impact of dissatisfaction on salary (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.49, 3.58) was evident with job insecurity. The prevalence of moderate to severe depression, anxiety and stress among humanitarian worker were (26%, 7%), (25%, 10%) and (15%, 7%) respectively. Further, the region of work, being female, marital status, work environment, and salary dissatisfaction were contributing factors for poor mental health outcomes. Those with job insecurity were almost 3 times more likely to experience depression (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.85, 4.04), anxiety (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.76, 3.71) and stress (AOR: 2.8; 95% CI 1.89, 4.26), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that job security remains essential to help tackle the severity of depression, anxiety and stress in humanitarian workers. The results reflected the critical importance of local and international NGOs addressing poor mental health conditions of their employees to prevent mental health outbreaks.

Effects of shipwrecks on spatiotemporal dynamics of metal/loids in sediments and seafood safety in the Bay of Bengal.

Metal/loid pollution from shipwrecking activities has drawn significant concern due to their persistent threat to the marine ecosystem and human health. We investigated the spatiotemporal distribution, pollution characteristics, risks, sources, and potential impact of metal/loids in the sediments and seafood in the Bay of Bengal at nearby open beaching shipwrecking yards in Bangladesh. We collected 78 sediments and 208 seafood samples from the exposed and control sites from 2018 to 2020 during the dry and wet seasons. The concentrations of 16 elements, including cadmium, arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese, copper, zinc, iron, tin, antimony, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, vanadium, selenium, and thallium were measured using validated inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) methods. Based on the pollution indices (enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index, pollution index, and pollution load index), lead, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, copper, zinc, and tin from the dry season showed higher contaminations compared to the wet and their concentrations were increased from 2018 to 2020 with seasonal fluctuations. Sediment cadmium and arsenic posed relatively higher and moderate ecological risks. Health risk analysis indicated that lead, cadmium, and inorganic arsenic (estimated) in seafood species pose a possible health threat to the general population. Further, there were possible ecological and health risks for the metal/loids in combination based on the ecological risk index in sediment and the hazard index in seafood, respectively. Source apportionment suggested that anthropogenic activities through uncontrolled shipwrecking operations over the last four decades were the largest polluting dominator, contributing 55-77% of the metal/loid concentrations. Therefore, the data may inform mitigation strategies for emission control at the shipwrecking yards to protect marine ecosystems and their local population.

Association of food habit with the COVID-19 severity and hospitalization: A cross-sectional study among the recovered individuals in Bangladesh.

Background: It was assumed that dietary habits might influence the status of COVID-19 patients. Aim: We aimed at the identification of association of dietary habits with the COVID-19 severity and hospitalization. Methods: It was a retrospective cross-sectional study (n = 1025). We used bivariate and multivariate analyses to correlate the association between self-reported dietary patterns and COVID-19 severity and hospitalization. Results: Dietary habits (black tea, milked tea, pickles, black caraway seeds, honey, fish, fruits, vegetables, garlic, onion and turmeric) were identified with lower risk of COVID-19 severity and hospitalization. Interestingly, the consumption frequency (one-, two- or three-times/day) of rice - the staple food in Bangladesh - was not associated with COVID-19 severity and hospitalization for comorbid patients. In contrast, a moderate rice-eating habit (two times/day) was strongly associated with the lower risk of severity and hospitalization for non-comorbid patients. However, for both comorbid and non-comorbid patients, consumption of black tea, milked tea, pickles and honey were associated with a lower likelihood of severity and hospitalization. Overall, a high consumption (three-times/day) of fish, fruits and vegetables, a moderate consumption of garlic, onion and turmeric spices and a daily intake of black/milked tea, and honey were associated with reduced risk of COVID-19 severity and hospitalization. Conclusions: To reduce the severity of COVID-19, a habitual practice of intaking black tea, milked tea, black caraway seeds and honey along with dietary habit (rice, fish and vegetables) and with a moderate consumption of ginger, garlic, onion, mixed aromatic spices (cinnamon + cardamom + cloves) and turmeric might be suggested.