Prevalence of insomnia among the post-menopausal women who suffered from COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A nationwide cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The impact of the pandemic on sleeping problems in all age groups has been widely reported, but insomnia in post-menopausal women has been understudied worldwide. The study sought to determine the prevalence and associated factors for insomnia in post-menopausal women who were infected with COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Material and methods: A cross-sectional telephonic survey was conducted from August to December 2021 among post-menopausal women with a history of COVID-19 infection in Bangladesh. Data on socio-demographic factors, lifestyle and behavioral factors, COVID-19-associated factors, and self-reported pre-existing co-morbidities were collected. A validated scale Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was applied to assess the level of insomnia . Bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the associated factors with insomnia. Results: Of the total 900 participants, the prevalence of insomnia was reported at 70%, with 33.67% moderately severe, 25.11% subthreshold, and 11.22% severe insomnia. Participants with increased ISI scores were significantly more likely to be retired, had 2-4 children, felt disturbed by COVID-19 related news, hospitalized for COVID-19 management, receieved the first dose of vaccine, and experienced post COVID-19 symptoms such as fatigue, lack of concentration, and memory loss. On the other hand, living in a nuclear family and taking care of COVID-19-infected family members were significantly negatively associated with insomnia. Conclusions: Our findings indicate the need to safeguard the well-being considerations of post-menopausal women through a well-designed comprehensive social safety net program for the present pandemic and similar crises in the future.

Distribution and source apportionment of toxic and trace elements in some benthic and pelagic coastal fish species in Karnaphuli River Estuary, Bangladesh: Risk to human health.

The Karnaphuli River is one of the prime and most important streams in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. The favorable water current and the geographic location have rendered the Karnaphuly River estuary a suitable habitat and a breeding ground for diverse fish species. Reversely, this estuary has been polluted by discharges from many point and non-point sources due to its location in the catchment area of a heavily industrialized area, Chattagram port city. However, published research concerning the status of toxic and trace elements in some commercially important benthic and pelagic coastal fish species in Karnaphuli River estuary was not found in the existing literature. Therefore, it's an important field of study on the assessment of toxic and trace elements concentration in the commercially important benthic and pelagic coastal fish species and their health taxation in the Karnaphuli River Estuary. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) was used to quantify trace metal concentration in edible parts of the fish species. This study revealed that the rank of the trace metals concentration was as follows (mg/kg): Zn (37.1) > Mn (16.12) > V (11.16) > Cu (9.49) > Rb (5.62) > Pb (2.98) > Cr (1.59) > Co (1.17). The F-test showed that a significant difference at 95 % confidence level in the distribution pattern of trace metals concentration among the examined fish species in the study area. The metal pollution index (MPI) in the muscle of fishes were found to be in the following order: L. bata > P. monodon > T. cirratus > M. bleekeri > O. pabda > H. nehereus > L. calcarifer > P. argenteus > P. paradiseus > T. toli, and the MPIs for most of the benthic fish species were higher compared to the pelagic fishes. On the other hand, the examined fish species were significantly bio-accumulative with the highest bio-accumulation factor value for benthic species. The multivariate analysis identified that the sources of the trace metals were associated with anthropogenic activities. For the human health risk assessment concern, estimated daily intake, target hazard quotient and cancer-causing risk were estimated. The results for non-cancer hazardous index values were found to be lower than unity. On the other hand, the total cancer risk data ranging from 1.24E-05 to 1.70E-05 were fallen within the range for the threshold values (1.0E-06 to 1.0E-04). However, considering the suggested values set by the environmental and regulatory agencies, it has been recommended that no significant non-carcinogenic and cancer-causing health risk for humans was seen due to the consumption of the studied fish species.

Chemometric appraisal of water quality for domestic and agricultural purposes: a case study from establishing Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) area, Pabna District, Bangladesh.

Water is the main sources for domestic purposes and as well as for both farming and industrial activities. Therefore, this study investigated the quality of groundwater at Ishwardi, Pabna district of Bangladesh. This study showed that the heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cr, As, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Fe were remaining in trace amount. The groundwater quality index (GWQI), heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), and degree of contamination (Cd) revealed that all of the groundwater samples belonged to good quality condition for drinking purposes. Nevertheless, Cd provided better index than other indices. Subsequently, hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values for heavy metals indicated that there was no significant noncarcinogenic health risk due to oral ingestion of groundwater except three sites. However, the paired student t-test ([Formula: see text]) revealed that child was found to be more exposed compared to adult for noncarcinogenic health risk due to oral ingestion of the same groundwater samples. This study revealed that pH, EC, TDS, salinity, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, and NO3- values in water samples are in tolerable limit according to Bangladesh (DoE) and international standards (WHO, IS, FAO, USEPA, UCCC). Subsequently, combined approaches of numerous irrigation water quality indices, sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), total hardness (TH), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), and Kelley's ratio (KR), were applied to appraise the appropriateness of water for farming purposes. The irrigation water quality index (IWQI) revealed that majority of the groundwater samples were suitable for agricultural purposes. Classification based on Wilcox and US salinity hazard diagram indicated a consistent conclusion, which indicated that the water quality was in good condition for farming in the study area.