Nurul Absar

Hepatitis B Viral Load (HBV-DNA) with Age and Sex Stratifications in Bangladeshi People

Background: Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) is used for the detection of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and to predict disease progression. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to observe the pattern of HBV viral load levels among people in terms of age and sex distribution in Bangladesh. Method: Blood specimen was collected from 585 objects with HBsAg Positive and assayed for the quantity of hepatitis B virus using PCR based technique. Results: It is found from the study that the mean viral load was 353,500,000 DNA copies/ml for 20-35 age group, 249,300,000 DNA copies/ml for 35-50 age group and 104,800,000 DNA copies/ml for 50-65 age group. The median HBV viral loads for male and female were 58,494 and 103,287 DNA copies/ml, respectively. Conclusion: High viral load was observed in the 21-35 and 36-50 age group while females are at most risk due to HBV infection as their viral load is higher compared to male.

Food Poisoning and Intoxication: A Global Leading Concern for Human Health

Abstract Food, the major fundamental unit of living life, has several types of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as hydrogen ion concentration (pH), water activity ( a w ), redox potential ( Eh ), different types of nutrients, antimicrobial substances, temperature, and environmental conditions for storage that regulates the growth of pathogenic microorganisms responsible for food spoilage, poisoning, and toxicities, as well as foodborne illness. Sometimes food may also become poisonous due to the ingestion of some toxic chemicals or may be contaminated by pathogenic microbes due to the mistreatment of food, improper way of food processing and preparation, mixing of different types of flavoring agents without knowing its ingredients and reactions, intake of reheating food, unhealthy cooking and consumption policy, consumption of already contaminated food or foods infested by insects, use of the excessive amount of preservatives, or improper way of storage which may be the main causes of sickness; hospitalizations eventually leading to the death and can be referred to as foodborne diseases. Meat and poultry products, beef, or pork and their by-products are the vehicles for the transmission of foodborne diseases transmission. Recently, the outbreaks of food-related diseases and studies of sporadic gastrointestinal diseases etiologies indicate intake of food prepared at the restaurant and travel foods as vital sources of infection and are highly risky for the patients with immunodeficiency, diabetes, and pregnant woman. The incidence of foodborne illness in developing countries is less well understood and occurs extensively than in the developed countries, where the consumption of unhygienic food and water are the leading causes of death. Now it becomes necessary to understand how food becomes unsafe to eat and the proactive measures to be taken to keep the food safe.

A Computational workflow for the identification of the potent inhibitor of type II secretion system traffic ATPase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Bacterial type II secretion system has now become an attractive target for antivirulence drug development. The aim of the present study was to characterize the binding site of the type II secretion system traffic ATPase GspER of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and identify potent inhibitors using extensive computational and virtual screening approaches. Initially, the designed platform focused on the evolutionary relationship of ATPase GspER of P. aeruginosa, followed by protein-protein interaction network analysis to characterize its function. In addition, homology modeling, virtual screening and molecular dynamics simulation have been performed to identify potent hits and understand the ligand binding properties of ATPase GspER. According to the evolutionary relationship, high level of genetic change was observed for P. aeruginosa, bearing orthology relationships with P.alcaligenes and P.otitidis. Concurrently, the binding site analysis represented residue Gly268, Ser267, Thr270, Thr271and Lys269 in Walker A motif directly formed hydrogen bonds with the ATP, which modulates the function of ATPase GspER in the secretion process, is also validated by the molecular docking analysis and molecular dynamics simulation. Furthermore, ZINC04325133 is one of the most potent hits has been identified from virtual screening approach followed by molecular dynamics simulation and MM-GBSA binding energy analysis. These results may provide new knowledge for the development of novel therapeutic strategies against P. aeruginosa, as well as inhibiting secretion system process of a wide range of gram-negative bacteria.

A comparative analysis in the macro and micro nutrient compositions of bakery food products available in the Chittagong city corporation, Bangladesh

Purpose – The chicken sandwich is familiar fast food, not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world. The purpose of this paper is to make a comparative analysis of nutrient composition of this bakery product.Design/methodology/approach – For the study, four well reputed food industries of Chittagong city are selected: Well food (sample 1), Sizzle (sample 2), Food fair (sample 3), and Bonoful (sample 4). Among the parameters, the following were analyzed: ash, total protein, total lipid, water soluble protein, total sugar, reducing sugar, non‐reducing sugar and some mineral content. The nutrient composition was measured by using standard procedure and minerals were measured by using atomic absorption spectroscopy.Findings – Proximate analysis indicated total protein content in the range of 11.73 to 16.18 gm/100 gm, while water soluble protein content varied from 0.006 to 0.029 gm/100 gm in the samples. Total sugar ranged between 3.5 and 6.46 gm/100 gm and lipid was high in sample no 4 (34.83 gm/100 gm)...