Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on caregiver mental health and the child caregiving environment in a low-resource,rural context

Early child development has been influenced directly and indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic, and these effects are exacerbated in contexts of poverty. This study estimates effects of the pandemic and subsequent population lockdowns on mental health, caregiving practices, and freedom of movement among female caregivers of children 6–27 months (50% female), in rural Bangladesh. A cohort (N = 517) was assessed before and during the pandemic (May–June, 2019 and July–September, 2020). Caregivers who experienced more food insecurity and financial loss during the pandemic reported larger increases in depressive symptoms (0.26 SD, 95% CI 0.08–0.44; 0.21 SD, 0.04–0.40) compared to less affected caregivers. Stimulating caregiving and freedom of movement results were inconsistent. Increases in depressive symptoms during the pandemic may have consequences for child development.     

On dendritic cell-based therapy for cancers

Dendritic cells (DCs), the most prevalent antigen-presenting cell in vivo, had been widely characterized in the last three decades. DCs are present in almost all tissues of the body and play cardinal roles in recognition of microbial agents,autoantigens, allergens and alloantigen. DCs process the microbial agents or their antigens and migrate to lymphoid tissues to present the antigenic peptide to lymphocytes. This leads to activation of antigen-specific lymphocytes. Initially, it was assumed that DCs are principally involved in the induction and maintenance of adaptive immune responses, but now it is evident that DCs also have important roles in innate immunity. These features make DCs very good candidates for therapy against various pathological conditions including malignancies. Initially, DC-based therapy was used in animal models of cancers. Data from these studies inspired considerable optimism and DC-based therapies was started in human cancers 8 years ago. In general,DC-based therapy has been found to be safe in patients with cancers, although few controlled trials have been conducted in this regard. Because the fundamentals principles of human cancers and animal models of cancers are different, the therapeutic efficacy of the ongoing regime of DC-based therapy in cancer patients is not satisfactory. In this review, we covered the various aspects that should be considered for developing better regime of DC-based therapy for human cancers.     

Parental choice of schooling,learning processes and inter-ethnic friendship patterns: The case of Malay students in Chinese primary schools in Malaysia

This study surveys 200 Malay students enrolled in three Chinese primary schools in relation to three issues, i.e., parental choice of schooling, learning processes and inter-ethnic friendship patterns. The three issues are explored through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Parental expectations for their children's learning and academic outcomes emerge as the dominant factor influencing Malay enrollment in Chinese primary schools. Unfortunately, the Malay students are unable to meet these high expectations due to learning difficulties that stem from the lack of proficiency in the Chinese-medium of instruction, despite intervening measures by the school authorities. Their learning difficulties are also compounded by the lack of parental inputs as well as the limited use of code-switching by teachers. Meanwhile, the fostering of inter-ethnic friendships is impeded by ethnic differences, the rise of Islamic awareness and the increased numerical size of Malay students. However, there is a willingness among the Malay students to interact with the Chinese students through task-related activities, indicating that the fostering of inter-ethnic friendships needs to be guided by a convergence of interests.     

Additive Effect of Lipid Lowering Drug (Simvastatin) in Combination with Antidiabetic Drug (Glibenclamide) on Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rats with Long Term Dyslipidemia

High blood glucose level, elevated level of liver enzyme, necrosis and shrinkage of islets of Langerhans has been implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. High blood glucose cause oxidative stress, production of free radical as well as elevated SGPT and SGOT level. Both glibenclamide and simvastatin in fixed dose used as antihyperglycemic antidyslipidemic and antioxidative agents for type 2 diabetes treatment. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the antihyperglycemic, antidyslipidemic and antioxidative effect of fixed dose combination of glibenclamide (0.6 mg/70 kg body weight) and simvastatin (5 mg/70 kg body weight) on long term alloxan induced diabetic rats with cardiovascular disease using various diagnostic kits as a parameter of phamacotherapeutic and pharmacological effect. The study was carried out using 96 Swiss Albino male rats weighing about 200–220 g. Combination therapy induced a significant decrease in blood glucose level in alloxan induced diabetic rats, from 33.75 ± 1.65 to 5.80 ± 0.07 mmol/l 2 h after last dose administration, after 4 weeks treatment. In case of dyslipidemic effect, combination therapy reduced total cholesterol (45 %), triglyceride (36 %) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (32 %) levels significantly and increased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol level (57 %) in comparison with their respective diabetic control groups. Results of this study showed that combination therapy effectively decreased SGPT (ALAT) (55 %) and SGOT (ASAT) (51 %) in comparison with diabetic control group. It was also observed that catalase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activity was increased by 58 and 91 % respectively in comparison with diabetic control group after 4 weeks treatment with combination of both drugs. In conclusion, these findings of combination therapy (glibenclamide and simvastatin) on alloxan induced diabetes in rats are significantly better than monotherapy using single drug. The results of the present study suggest that, combination of the fixed dose of glibenclamide and simvastatin might be efficacious in patients with diabetic dyslipidemia and increased oxidative stress. Furthermore, this combination therapy offer dosage convenience to the patients and by virtue of its dual mode of action might be a useful addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for patients with diabetic dyslipidemia and oxidative stress.     

LQ preview state feedback with output regulation constraint

This paper addresses the output regulation problem for a class of preview control systems, and derives a state feedback law which suppresses the steady-state error caused by the excitation from polynomial or sinusoidal exogenous inputs. Recently, the output regulation condition for the broader class of distributed parameter systems is characterized via the operator regulator equation. We show that a solution of the operator regulator equation specialized to the preview control system is obtained by solving the matrix regulator equation, and provide the state feedback law which attenuates the transient error optimally with respect to an LQ (Linear Quadratic) performance index.     

Predicting behavioral intention to use e-learning system: A case-study in Begum Rokeya University,Rangpur, Bangladesh

Education and Information Technologies - Digital transformation and emerging technologies open a horizon to a new method of teaching and learning and revolutionizes the e-learning industry....