Mohammad Asaduzzaman

Background: Glucose variability is an indicator and independent predictors of mortality and severity of sepsis in critically septic patients of intensive care unit. Objectives: This study evaluated the relationship of glucose variability in critically ill septic patients in relation with serum lactate. Method: It is a prospective observational study was conducted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Department of Anesthesia, Pain, Palliative Care and Intensive Care, Dhaka Medical College hospital, Dhaka over a period of one year in between 1st January- 31st December, 2015. Total 51 septic adult patients were included in the study according to the selection criteria. In this study, 8 consecutive capillary blood samples were taken with a periodic interval of 3 hours starting from admission. Mean and standard deviation (SD) blood glucose were computed to see the glucose variability and agreement done with serum lactate and severity of sepsis. All collected data were registered documented and analyzed in the statistical program Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. Result: Among total 51 patients, 52.9% study cases were of 4th decade with a mean age of 46±12 years had a mild female predominance. Glycemic variability was taken as >2SD. High glycemic variability observed in 70.6% cases. Good agreement observed in glucose variability with serum lactate by Kappa Statistics. Conclusion: Glucose variability shows the prediction of sepsis and it could be used as a useful alternative tool to predict sepsis and severity of sepsis. Bangladesh Crit Care J March 2022; 10 (1): 10-14

Ovarian follicle growth and oocyte maturation depend on the viability of granulosa cells (GC). We quantified GC in whole mouse follicles. Single follicles were isolated from adult mouse ovaries and stained with DAPI or Live-Dead stain before fixation. An objective image analysis protocol for counting fluorescent labeled GC was developed that used Image J software to measure GC cytoplasmic and nuclear areas. These data were compared to the number of GC obtained by disaggregating 96 follicles with enzymes to produce a suspension of GC, which then was stained with trypan blue and assessed using a hemocytometer. We found a linear relation between GC/follicle and follicle diameter. Viability of GC/follicle ranged from 40 ± 11 to 72 ± 7%. The coefficient of variation for image analysis of DAPI stained GC by different assessors was 4%, but the number of GC obtained from image analysis was approximately 50% less than from disaggregated follicles. The number of GC in intact mouse follicles was greater than the number reported earlier for fixed ovarian sections. We found that the number of GC was less in fluorescence labeled follicles; it is possible that the three-dimensional structure of the intact follicles obscured the fluorescent signal. Direct quantification of viable GC isolated from follicles appears to be the most accurate method.

Bats are important wildlife to their ecologic system, but they are also a zoonotic disease reservoir. Close bat–human interaction can lead to pathogen spillover. We conducted a qualitative study in two districts of Bangladesh and interviewed 30 bat hunters who hunt bats primarily for consumption, to understand the process and their reasons for hunting bats and their perceptions about bats and bat-borne disease. Most hunters catch bats during winter nights, using a net. Bat meat is used for household consumption, and the surplus is sold to cover household expenditures. They prepare the bat meat at home to sell it in their own and in neighboring communities. They also sell live bats to traditional healers. They report that the bat population has declined compared with 5 or 10 years ago, a decline they attribute to hunting and deforestation. Many have heard of a disease from bat-contaminated date palm sap but do not believe that bats can spread such disease to humans. Close bat–human interaction reported in this study pose a risk of pathogen spillover. Conservation initiatives have the potential to reduce such interaction and so both reduce disease risk and support the ecology.