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Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, displays remarkable adaptability to diverse environmental conditions through morphological changes that enhance its pathogenicity and influence the global epidemiology of the disease. This study examines the motility differences between filamentous and comma-shaped forms of the V. cholerae O1 strain under various viscosity conditions. Utilizing the El Tor strain, we induced filamentous transformation and conducted a comparative analysis with the canonical comma-shaped morphology. Our methodology involved assessing motility patterns, swimming speeds, rotation rates, kinematics, and reversal frequencies using dark-field microscopy and high-speed imaging techniques. The results show that filamentous V. cholerae cells retain enhanced motility in viscous environments, indicating an evolutionary adaptation for survival in varied habitats, particularly the human gastrointestinal tract. Filamentous forms exhibited increased reversal behavior at mucin interfaces, suggesting an advantage in penetrating the mucus layer. Furthermore, the presence of filamentous cells in bile-supplemented medium underscores their relevance in natural infection scenarios., Importance: This study highlights the enhanced motility of filamentous Vibrio cholerae in viscous environments, an adaptation that may provide a survival advantage in the human gastrointestinal tract. By demonstrating increased reversal behavior at mucin interfaces, filamentous V. cholerae cells exhibit a superior ability to penetrate the mucus layer, which is crucial for effective colonization and infection. Filamentous cells in bile-supplemented media further underscores their potential role in disease pathogenesis. These findings offer critical insights into the morphological flexibility of V. cholerae and its potential implications for infection dynamics, paving the way for more effective strategies in managing and preventing cholera outbreaks., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Liver fibrosis is potentially a reversible form of liver disease that evolved from the early stage of liver scarring as a consequence of chronic liver injuries. Recurrent injuries in the liver without any appropriate medication cause the injuries to get intense and deeper, which gradually leads to the progression of irreversible cirrhosis or carcinoma. Unfortunately, there are no approved treatment strategies for reversing hepatic fibrosis, making it one of the significant risk factors for developing advanced liver disorders and liver disease-associated mortality. Consequently, the interpretation of the fundamental mechanisms, etiology, and pathogenesis is crucial for identifying the potential therapeutic target as well as evaluating novel anti-fibrotic therapy. However, despite innumerable research, the functional mechanism and disease characteristics are still obscure. To accelerate the understanding of underlying disease pathophysiology, molecular pathways and disease progression mechanism, it is crucial to mimic human liver disease through the formation of precise disease models. Although various in vitro and in vivo liver fibrotic models have emerged and developed already, a perfect clinical model replicating human liver diseases is yet to be established, which is one of the major challenges in discovering proper therapeutics. This review paper will shed light on pathophysiology, signaling pathways, preclinical models of liver fibrosis, and their limitations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest ☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI) is commonly utilized for evaluating how dysphagia impacts the quality of life (QoL) of patients across physical, functional, and emotional dimensions. The primary aim of the research was to linguistically validate and culturally adapt the DHI to the Bangla version. A cross-sectional study design was chosen, with Beaton's protocol as the guiding framework for validating and adapting the DHI. It has followed a systematic process of forward translation, participation in expert discussions, and subsequent back translation to obtain a reviewed version. The Bangla version, DHI-Ban, was administered purposefully to 50 dysphagia patients in the Clinical Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Department of the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralyzed (CRP) and was also administered to 50 healthy individuals for comparison. Of the fifty, eighteen dysphagia subjects were assigned again after two weeks for the retest. The DHI-Ban demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89) and good test-retest reproducibility (ICC = 0.86). The Spearman test confirmed significant construct validity (p < 0.01), and the Wilcoxon test identified significant differences (p < 0.001) between patients and healthy individuals. Feedback from participants was also taken into account for acceptance and clarity. In conclusion, the adapted DHI-Ban has emerged to be a reliable patient-reported tool for assessing dysphagia in Bangla-speaking individuals. Incorporating the Bangla language framework facilitates its comprehension and effectiveness, further solidifying its reliability., Competing Interests: Declarations. I the undersigned declare that the manuscript is original, has not been published anywhere before and is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Ethical approval: Approval has been taken from the ethical board/committee of CRP, Institutional Review Board (IRB) and later accepted by BHPI (Bangladesh health Professions Institute). Then permission has also been taken from the original author of DHI via e-mail and clinical branch of Speech and Language therapy at CRP to run the research study smoothly. Consent to participate: A verbal consent has been taken from the participants to take part in this study. The authors concerned the participants about ins and outs of this study. And they are completely aware that they wouldn’t get anything (money and additional treatment facilities) directly due to joining in the study. This is a voluntary approach and they can withdraw anytime if they don’t want to continue their participation in this study. Besides, authors also assured the participants about maintaining their confidentiality. Financial or non-financial interest: The authors have no involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that there is no competing interest associated with this publication., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Heavy metal contamination of fish is a serious public health concern worldwide, including in Bangladesh. In this study, six commonly consumed fish species namely Hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha), Kachki (Corica soborna), Punti (Puntitus ticto), Taki (Channa punctatus), Meni (Nandus nandus), and Tengra (Mystus tengara) were analyzed for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni), by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The fish samples were collected from wholesale markets in Dhaka city, the main business hub of Bangladesh where the fishes converged from countrywide and are redistributed to the whole city. The metal concentration varied among the studied fish species. Hilsha, the national fish of Bangladesh, contained the highest As among the other fishes of this study, whereas Zn, Cd, Cu, Mn, and Ni were the highest in Kachki, and Pb and Cr were the highest in Tengra. The probable source of metal accumulation in the fish species may be the river or marine water that can be contaminated by industrial waste, pesticide, and/or fertilizer use in agriculture and/or commercial fish feeds. All analyzed fish species showed serious heavy metal pollution, having high average pollution load index (APLI) values (> 1). The estimated daily intake (EDI) values for the metals were lower than the maximum tolerable daily intake (MTDI). The hazard index (HI) for all the fish species was above 1 for adults, showing non-carcinogenic health risks. The target carcinogenic risk (TCR) values were below the acceptable limit (10 -4 ) for most of the metals, indicating safe for consumption with respect to the risk of cancer., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)