BackgroundBangladesh has been suffering from an epidemiological transition from infectious and maternal diseases to non-communicable lifestyle-related diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers etc. The burden of diabetes has been increasing rapidly due to high incidence as well as poor glycemic control leading to various macro and micro-vascular complications. In this study, we aim to assess the attitude towards diabetes and social and family support among the Bangladeshi type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) patients.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study among 144 patients with T2DM at the medicine outpatient department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in Dhaka, Bangladesh between 1 July and 31 July 2014. Data collection was done by interviewing patients using structured questionnaire. Understanding diabetes, education/advice received, attitude towards diabetes, family and friend support were measured by validated scales adapted from diabetes care profile.ResultsThis study includes a total of 144 patients (101 males and 43 females) with type 2 diabetes aged between 20 and 84 years. 87 % of the patients had inadequate blood glucose control (fasting blood sugar >7.2 mmol/L or >130 mg/dl). Statistically significant differences were observed in the mean scores of various attitude scales (i.e. positive, negative, care ability and self-care adherence scale) among patients with adequate and inadequate blood glucose control (p < 0.05). Statistically significant positive correlations were found between these three categories of social and family support. Self-satisfaction with diabetic care was significantly associated with adequate blood glucose control (p = 0.05).ConclusionsPositive attitude towards diabetes management and support from friends and family were associated with adequate diabetes management. Appropriate public health interventions should be designed to educate and motivate the family members to offer greater support to the diabetes patients.

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Tenualosa ilisha, the national fish of Bangladesh, is a member of the Clupeidae family and an exigent stuff of fish production in the country. It is locally called ilish, hilsa, hilsa herring, or hilsa shad. It can be found in almost every river, estuary, and marine environment in the country and has been recognizes as the largest single species of fish (Ahmed et al., 2008) and 12% of total fish production of the country came from this Hilsa fishery (Nima et al., 2020). Hilsa adds 0.35 million metric tons (MT) annually ARTICLE INFO

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Conceptualization, A.K.S.A.; supervision, A.K.S.A.; methodology, M.B.U.A.; manuscript 18 editing, M.S.; sample collection, B.K.D; data arrangement, M.F.R; investigation, M.A.A.; 19 funding acquisition, A.B.; writing -original draft preparation, M.B.U.A.; writing -review and 20 editing, M.A.A.; project administration, Y.M. 2 21 Abstract 22The assessment of age and growth patterns provides crucial information on numerous 23 aspects of the population dynamics in fish, which can, in turn, be used to determine a 24 sustainable fishing rate and inform effective resource management practices. However, 25 studies on the age and growth pattern of Tenualosa ilisha (commonly referred to as hilsa) are 26 plagued by a lack of essential information; addressing this data gap is the aim of the present 27 study. Six diverse habitats across Bangladesh were chosen as sampling sites for hilsa 28 collection. For age determinations, the lunar rings in the otolith of the hilsa fish that are 29 periodically-deposited in accordance with the lunar cycle were used to reflect 14-day 30 increments of time. The length and weight of each fish were recorded prior to otolith 31 extraction. The resulting otoliths were polished to enable the visualization and quantification 32 of their lunar rings with a high-magnification microscope. Except for the Kali River and 33 Gaglajur Haor samples, the age of the fish correlated strongly with both their length and 34 weight (r > 0.95; p < 0.05). Again, aside from those from the Kali River and Gaglajur Haor, 35 all of the samples exhibited positive allometric growth patterns (b > 3) with the fish from the 36 Tetulia River being the most positive (b = 3.48). The causes these variations are not yet 37 clearly understood, however; the nutrient availability, environmental variation, and genetic-38 environmental interactions are likely contributors to the diversities displayed by the hilsa 39 from different regions of Bangladesh.40 41