Satkhira Municipality is located in the extreme South-Western coastal region of Bangladesh. This area exhibits complex hydro-geochemical characteristics along with the increasing tendency of soil and water salinity which created a need of groundwater quality assurance. The objectives of the study were to identify the composition of groundwater followed by attempts to investigate spatial distribution pattern of groundwater quality. This was done to identify places with the availability of best quality of drinking water. This was achieved by combining the geographical information system, statistical analysis and diagrammatic presentation. A total of 100 deep tube well (450 to 600 feet) water samples were collected during monsoon and dry season in 2018 and were analyzed for hydro-geochemical parameters. The groundwater was neutral to alkaline (pH 7.01 to 8.66) in nature. Total dissolved solids ranged from 132.7 to 1436.0 mg L -1 which gradually increased from North to South direction. Sodium was the most dominant cation with mean value of 48.28 (±27.48) mg L -1 in monsoon and 105.35 (±66.73) mg L -1 in dry season. On the contrary, Clion was the dominant anion with mean value of 546.99 (±34.07) in monsoon and 424.68 (±398.59) mg L -1 in dry season. The high loading (>0.6) in principal component analysis indicated that the major ions originated from mineralization of rocks and soils, which was supported by Gibbs diagram. Silicate weathering supposed to be the responsible factor for releasing Na + ion, while Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ion in groundwater came from both silicate and carbonate weathering. Three distinct types of groundwater facies e.g. the mixed NaCaCl, NaCaHCO 3 and NaCl were active along the study area, indicating that the underground cation exchange process. Our study will be helpful for the decision makers for planning a better operation and maintenance of groundwater resources.
Osteoporosis or bone loss affects many people, particularly the aged women, and leads to disabling bone fractures. An early diagnosis could provide preventive management. However, available bone densitometry equipment are very expensive and not available widely in the Third World. The present work presents the design & development of an innovative low cost bone densitometer based on conventional X-ray equipment available widely. The main innovation is the incorporation of a stack of aluminium with varying thickness placed beside the limb of a patient while taking an X-ray image. Then the optical density of the bone area in the developed film is compared to that from the aluminium stack, which eliminates variations due to all other processing factors, and gives a measure of the bone density. A low cost device has been developed to measure the optical density of the X-ray film over a circular area of about 1cm to give an average reading, which is more appropriate than spot metering in this application. Preliminary measurements of a few human subjects using this equipment clearly indicate the differences obtained due to expected osteoporosis. Calibration with standard bone densitometry equipment could provide values in standard units. This low cost innovative method and equipment appears to provide a low cost alternative to the diagnosis of osteoporosis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmp.v4i1.14693 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Physics Vol.4 No.1 2011 95-100
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