We made the first and successful attempt to detect SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the vicinity wastewaters of an isolation centre i.e. Shaheed Bhulu Stadium, situated at Noakhali. Owing to the fact that isolation centre, in general, always contained a constant number of 200 COVID-19 patients, the prime objective of the study was to check if several drains carrying RNA of coronavirus are actually getting diluted or accumulated along with the sewage network. Our finding suggested that while the temporal variation of the genetic load decreased in small drains over the span of 50 days, the main sewer exhibited accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Other interesting finding displays that probably distance of sampling location in meters is not likely to have a significant impact on gene detection concentration, although the quantity of the RNA extracted in the downstream of the drain was higher. These findings are of immense value from the perspective of wastewater surveillance of COVID-19, as they largely imply that we do not need to monitor every wastewater system, and probably major drains monitoring may illustrate the city health. Perhaps, we are reporting the accumulation of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material along with the sewer network i.e. from primary to tertiary drains. The study sought further data collection in this line to simulate conditions prevailed in the most of developing countries and to shed further light on decay/accumulation processes of the genetic load of the SARS-COV-2.

Purpose: The present study aimed to compare and analyze the sex-specific epidemiological, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, and other information of confirmed COVID-19 patients from the southeast region in Bangladesh for the first time. Methods: 385 lab-confirmed cases were studied out of a total of 2471 tested samples between June 5 and September 10, 2020. RT-PCR was used for COVID-19 identification and SPSS (version 25) for statistical data analysis. Results: We found that male patients were roughly affected compared to females patients (male 74.30% vs. female 25.7%) with an average age of 34.86 +/- 15.442 years, and B (+ve) blood group has been identified as a high-risk factor for COVID-19 infection. Workplace, local market, and bank were signified as sex-specific risk zone (p < 0.001). Pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were identified among the patients. Less than half of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the southeast region were asymptomatic (37.73%) and more prevalent among females than males (male vs. female: 36.84% vs. 40.51%, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The findings may help health authorities and the government to take necessary steps for identification and isolation, treatment, prevention, and control of this global pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19, Coronavirus disease, Epidemiological, Clinical features, Asymptomatic, Comorbidities

Abstractβ-TCP was synthesized by changing the process parameters and all samples were characterized in terms of density, porosity, XRD and FTIR analysis. Density rose and porosity decreased with rising of pH value and density found maximum (2.31 g/cc) at pH 10. Sharp peaks in the XRD diffractograms ensured the crystallinity of samples which increased after calcination and sintering process. Average crystal size was found 28.21 nm. IR spectrum at 943.19 cm -1 and 972.12 cm -1 appeared in FTIR analysis proved the presence of pure β-TCP exists in resulting samples. Performance to stress increased with pH and maximum compressive strength was found at pH 10. Calcination was found maximum 3.485 Nmm -2 at 900°C minimum 1.352 Nmm -2 at 800°C.

The recovery and repurposing of valuable substances from iron-bearing wastes is challenging and vital from economic and environmental perspectives. Herein, maghemite (γ-Fe 2 O 3) particles were synthesized from different iron-containing waste materials by simple chemical precipitation method using HCl, NaOH, and Na 2 CO 3 , followed by calcination. Subsequently, the optimum pH value for the precipitation of iron from solution, and calcination temperature for getting γ-Fe 2 O 3 were found at 12 and 350°C, respectively. The final products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), particle size analysis (PSA), thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The formation of γ-Fe 2 O 3 was anticipated from XRD and FT-IR studies, while TG/DTA data supported their excellent thermal permanence. SEM studies showed that the γ-Fe 2 O 3 particles were relatively irregular, mostly spherical structured with a particle size ranged around 0.2-0.35 μm. PSA confirmed the high specific surface area of γ-Fe 2 O 3 particles, and the largest one was found from the iron dust. VSM measurement assured the existence of ferromagnetic properties in γ-Fe 2 O 3 particles at room temperature. The findings reveal that this procedure is a viable way to prepare γ-Fe 2 O 3 particles from iron-containing waste materials.

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