Background: Phytate, a potent inhibitor of calcium, iron, and zinc absorption, may hamper the bioavailability of these micronutrients at the time of pregnancy. This study assessed dietary phytate intake and its inhibitory effect on the bioavailability of calcium, iron, and zinc from the diets of pregnant women in rural Bangladesh. The study also explored significant determinants that predicted the absorption of these minerals from the diet. Methods: A multiple pass recall (MPR) approach was used for this study, with in-depth probing interview covering 24-h dietary recall conducted among 717 pregnant women who were in either their second or third trimester. Results: The mean daily phytate, calcium, iron and zinc intake of the pregnant women were found to be 695.1, 192.2, 5.1, and 5.7 mg respectively. The mean molar ratios of phytate to calcium, iron, zinc and (phytate x calcium)/zinc were 0.27, 12.8, 11.2, and 54.8 respectively. All the molar ratios were found to be significantly higher in a group with the highest phytate intake compared to other intake groups. Phytate inhibited iron absorption from the diet of all the pregnant women sampled, and inhibited calcium absorption among 52 % of the women while inhibition of zinc absorption was not found in a notable number (12 %) of the pregnant women. When using multivariate models, phytate intake, inadequate micronutrient intake, gestational age, and energy intake significantly predicted the variance in phytate to mineral molar ratios. The predicting models calculated about 92 %, 88 %, and 89 % variance in phytate to calcium, iron, and zinc molar ratios respectively. Phytate to calcium, iron, and zinc molar ratios would be expected to be respectively 0.05, 2.48, and 1.96 points higher for every 100 mg increment in daily phytate intake. Conclusions: Phytate intake was found to inhibit the bioavailability of iron and calcium from the diets of pregnant women. Moreover, phytate was one of the strongest inhibitory predictors of calcium, iron and zinc bioavailability.

Peripheral serum samples were collected from 8 pregnant dromedary camels and hormone secretion patterns were examined at specific time intervals. Mean serum progesterone concentrations began to rise 3-4 days after ovulation and remained reasonably constant at 3-5 ng mL-1 for the first 90-100 days of gestation. Concentrations then showed a definite fall, but thereafter remained constant again at 2-4 ng mL-1 throughout the rest of pregnancy. In contrast, serum oestrogen concentrations showed pronounced fluctuations during the first 100 days of gestation. Mean oestradiol-17 beta concentrations increased at around Day 50 to about 100 pg mL-1 and then remained relatively constant from Day 90 to Day 300. Mean oestrone sulfate concentrations, however, showed two definite peaks in early gestation, each reaching about 10 ng mL-1, with the first peak occurring around Day 25 and the second peak around Day 75. Oestrogen production then remained fairly constant until around Day 300, after which concentrations of both oestrone sulfate and free oestradiol-17 beta rose steeply over the next 80 days to reach mean peak values of 46 ng ML-1 and 518.7 pg mL-1, respectively, at the time of parturition. Concentrations of 13,14 dihydro-15-keto prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGFM) remained low and reasonably steady at 100-200 pg mL-1 during the first 320 days of pregnancy; thereafter, PGFM concentrations rose steeply over the next 50 days, before an explosive further increase to a peak of 1900 +/- 141 pg mL-1 mean +/- sem on the day of calving. These results suggest that, as in the cow, a major change in steroid synthetic capability and/or enzyme content of the placenta may occur at around 80% (Day 300) of gestation in the pregnant camel.

This study was carried out to assess the fishery resources of the Sibuti River estuary, Sarawak, Malaysia. Data were collected from the study area for a period of one year in different seasons. The estuary is relatively species-rich and a total of 4675 individuals of 32 families from 60 species of fish (55), crab (four) and shrimp (one) were collected. Coilia dussumieri was the dominant species (22.63%) followed by Nemapteryx caelata (11.85%), Otolithes ruber (7.85%) and Ilisha elongata (5.80%). Marked seasonal variations were found among most of the hydrobiological factors; however, seasonal variations were not significant for the diversity indices such as Shannon-Wiener, Margalef and Evenness. The number of fish taxa caught in different mesh size gill nets was 1 inch (42 species) > 2 inch (36 species) > 4 inch (25 species), suggesting that smaller mesh nets are more suitable for assessing the diversity of fishery resources. SIMPER analysis showed that Coilia dussumieri was the most abundant species in the dry (10.3%) and intermediate (8.1%) seasons, whereas N. caelata was most abundant in the wet season (7.1%). Significant differences (ANOSIM and nMDS) were observed in the species community structure between dry-intermediate and dry-wet seasons; however, species compositions were not significantly different between intermediate and wet seasons. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that most of the species assemblages were positively correlated with turbidity and chlorophyll a, followed by phosphate, nitrate and zooplankton density. The findings suggest that the Sibuti mangrove estuary is productive in terms of diversified fishery resources, which are influenced by the hydrobiological factors.

Until recently, there have been only few published reports concerning the use of mangrove macroalgae as biomonitors to assess the estuarine metal contamination. Therefore, the present study was an effort to investigate the biomonitoring of metal contamination using mangrove macroalgae in the tropical Miri estuary of Sarawak, Malaysia. The metal concentrations (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) were determined in the surface sediments, estuarine water, and six dominant macroalgae species that epiphytically grow on mangrove pneumatophores. The results showed that the scheme of metal occurrences in estuarine surface water and sediments was Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu and Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu, respectively. Among the studied metals in algal tissues, irrespective of macroalgal species, the concentration of Fe was found to be the highest. Significant positive correlations were found between Cu and Zn in all macroalgal species (except Caloglossa ogasawaraensis and Dictyota sp.), indicating the common origin of those elements. Concentrations of each of the studied metal in algal tissues varied among macroalgal species, probably because of the differences of structure, age, and growth of thallus among macroalgal species. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive report describing the biomonitoring of metal contamination using macroalgae from Malaysian mangrove systems.

Fisheries and the aquaculture sector can play a significant role in the achievement of several of the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda. However, the current COVID-19 situation can negatively impact the fisheries sector, impeding the pace of the achievement of development goals. Therefore, this paper highlighted the performance and challenges of the fisheries sector in Bangladesh, emphasising the impact of COVID-19 and the significance of this sector for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through primary fieldwork and secondary data. The total fish production in the country has increased more than six times over the last three decades (7.54 to 43.84 lakh MT) with improved culture techniques and extension services. Inland closed water contributions have increased to 16%, while inland open water has declined to 10%, and marine fisheries have dropped to 6% over the past 18 financial years (2000–2001 to 2018–2019). COVID-19, a significant health crisis, has also affected various issues associated with aquatic resources and communities. Transportation obstacles and complexity in the food supply, difficulty in starting production, labour crisis, sudden illness, insufficient consumer demand, commodity price hikes, creditor’s pressure, and reduced income were identified as COVID-19 drivers affecting the fisheries sector. The combined effect of these drivers poses a significant threat to a number of the SDGs, such as income (SDG1), nutrition (SDG2), and food security (SDG3 and SDG12), which require immediate and comprehensive action. Several recommendations were discussed, the implementation of which are important to the achievement of the SDGs and the improved management of the aquatic sector (SDG14—life below, and SDG16—life above water).

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Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a higher risk of neonatal mortality and the development of adult-onset chronic disease. Understanding the ongoing contribution of maternal hemoglobin (Hgb) levels to the incidence of LBW in South Asia is crucial to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition target of a 30% reduction in LBW by 2025. We enrolled pregnant women from the rural Tangail District of Bangladesh in a Maternal Newborn Health Registry established under The Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research. We measured the Hgb of pregnant women at enrollment and birth weights of all infants born after 20 weeks gestation. Using logistic regression to adjust for multiple potential confounders, we estimated the association between maternal Hgb and the risk of LBW. We obtained Hgb measurements and birth weights from 1,665 mother–child dyads between July 2019 and April 2020. Using trimester-specific cutoffs for anemia, 48.3% of the women were anemic and the mean (±SD) Hgb level was 10.6 (±1.24) g/dL. We identified a U-shaped relationship where the highest risk of LBW was seen at very low (< 7.0 g/dL, OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 0.43–7.01, P = 0.31) and high (> 13.0 g/dL, OR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.01–4.38, P = 0.036) Hgb levels. The mechanisms underlying this U-shaped association may include decreased plasma expansion during pregnancy and/or iron dysregulation resulting in placental disease. Further research is needed to explain the observed U-shaped relationship, to guide iron supplementation in pregnancy and to minimize the risk of LBW outcomes.