Professor Syed Mahbubul Alam

The inquisitive human mind burns the eternal flame of hope. Every century, every decade is a journey of transformation. There is innovation in every sector of life, and the velocity of inventions in the last fifty years has been unparallel to any in previous centuries. The strict boundaries of disciplines are spontaneously getting overturned by logical mergers of sciences; nanotechnology emerged as a blend of physics, material science and biology, g is a convergence of statistics, genetics, computer science and mathematics, and the diversity of mergers continues with science and social sciences as well. This is the outcome of the innate curiosity of being and it will continue for as long as there is life on earth.

Sir James W. Black was the recipient of the Nobel prize in 1988 for discovering the beta-blocker propranolol in the beginnings of 1960s and later Cimetidine, the Histamine 2 receptor blocker as an anti-ulcer drug for patients suffering from peptic ulcer disease. His discovery subsequently paved the way for selective receptor antagonist drug inventions for clinical use. In 2005 Barry Marshall and Robin Warren received the Nobel prize for discovering the Helicobacter pylori bacteria and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease that could be cured with antibiotics. The anti-ulcer drug discovery journey is more than a century old and the discomfort plagues one in ten people. In Bangladesh itself, this group of drugs are almost 14% of the total drug market size.

Metabolic syndrome is fast gaining traction as the root cause of many progressive diseases, especially Diabetes Mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and Fatty Liver Disease. Most non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now linked to insulin resistance and other risk factors of metabolic syndrome. How much do people know about this silent pandemic? This is an outcome of the fast-paced lives where children are also getting afflicted with NAFLD. A change in diet and lifestyle can beat this beast.

Dengue is the undeclared epidemic of this year. Despite battling with seasonal outbreaks for the last twenty years with vector control being the only known method of controlling the transmission, we have failed miserably. As Bangladesh has impressive network readiness with digital connectivity, a GIS tracking system of locating dengue infested areas and taking targeted intervention can give vector control authorities a guidance to reign in this menace.

There is a threat that artificial intelligence (AI) in health will make many diagnosticians, especially the radiologists obsolete. It does not hold truth for now, but AI will most certainly expedite diagnosis and make accurate predictions in population health. Bangladesh has a scarcity in health human resource and challenges in access to healthcare, however, the country’s impressive digital expansion can solve both the problems to a large extent with AI and smart solutions that are fast becoming available.

Contrary to popular belief, surgeons in Bangladesh are switching to minimally invasive surgeries and complicated rare cases like Achalasia Cardia are being laparoscopically corrected by competent surgeons in the country. Information on such successful case studies needs to be shared more for increasing awareness.

The local pharmaceutical industry has very ably contained the domestic needs of the population. But how much is being invested in research and development to develop new drugs locally? Why are we behind in manufacturing sophisticated molecular medicines? The west, especially the US spends billions of dollars in gene therapies, precision medicines, molecular derivatives, and next generation sequencing to detect the genomic disorders to move away from the “one size fits all” generic drug therapy module. How much longer till the government policies shift and our pharmaceutical industry starts developing such drugs? Are our health care providers and pharmacologists ready with the knowledge and skills yet?

The country and the healthcare sector are currently at an interesting phase. Just like all other sectors, the healthcare industry is vibrating with the energy to take that leap of transformation in health service delivery to ensure access to providers at an affordable cost where digital platform will play a pivotal role. The Coronal strives to bring together impactful innovations in practice that can be replicated to our culture, novel drug inventions, health policy proposals, and the new discoveries on science behind the diseases. We hope the contributions are enjoyable to our readers.

Contributions

Manuscript for publication should be submitted to the Chief Editor and Executive Editor through email: chiefeditor@thecoronal.org and executiveeditor@thecoronal.org.

Text Use Guideline

It is advised to check the latest issues of The Coronal to adhere to the stylizing. The script must be composed in English and submitted with illustrations in three hard copies (optional) and a soft copy (MS Word and PDF) sent via email. Texts must be drafted in Microsoft Word using Calibri or Arial style fonts in size 11 or 12 and printed on one side of A4-sized paper with a one-inch margin on all sides. An email notifying the editor or editors must follow the submission of hard and soft copies.

The manuscript must have a title with the name of the author(s), the authors’ full position with educational qualifications, and the affiliation of the institution if institutional data is used. There will be an introduction to the topic, the main body consisting of the problem and findings, followed by a solution or discussion, and then a conclusion. An abstract of 200 words is welcome and the full article must be contained within 2000 words. A list of three to six key words supplied by authors will help search engines reach to target audience. The main body of the article must have citations with references at the end of the article.

Copyright & Plagiarism Disclosure

All manuscripts submitted and consecutively published must be the original work of the author. The Coronal follows a strict ethical code to remain a credible platform and scrupulously avoid infringements on copyrights. Plagiarism is a serious ethical issue affecting intellectual rights. As per the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL), plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas or words without giving them proper credit. Plagiarism can range from unintentional (forgetting to include a source in a bibliography) to intentional (buying a paper online, using another writer’s ideas as your own to make your work sound smarter). Beginner writers and expert writers alike can plagiarize. Understand that plagiarism is a serious charge not only in academia but also in professional settings. The document published in The Coronal remains the journal's and the author’s asset. The author is requested to republish their work after receiving consent from the Chief Editor.

Citation and References

Authors must use their own words through original ideas, make a case of their opinion through collaging experts’ opinions, or make a case by citing experts’ opinions. While referring to other academicians’ work, the exact same sentences cannot be used, it must be paraphrased. The Coronal respects everyone’s work and expects the authors to submit their draft clearly citing other academicians’ opinions they have used within their manuscript, followed by references of the same appearing at the end. Authors must follow the American Medical Association’s (AMA) 11th Edition for citation and reference. For in-text citation, The Coronal follows the AMA guideline prescribed in the Purdue OWL where the superscript numerals must remain outside period and commas but inside colons and semicolons. Copy pasting from other manuscripts will be rejected.

Example of Citation and Reference

Reference

Reference

Abbreviations and Acronyms

The first time the full format must be used keeping the acronym or abbreviation within parentheses right next to the full format. Following this, the abbreviations or acronyms can be used in the rest of the manuscript. Example- The World Health Organization (WHO) states dengue prevention depends upon vector control. The WHO advised using only Acetaminophen to reduce fever in dengue.

Tables, Graphs, and Photographs

Tables, graphs, and photographs must have a heading or be explained below the table using numerals. Graphs and charts must be made in Microsoft Excel with titles and legends. Photos or illustrations used from any other publication must duly give credit to the original (cited); a description should be below the photo; and the figure should be numbered and need to be referred inside the manuscript (example: Figure 5). The photo must have high resolution for clear printing purposes.

Proofreading and Reference Checking

The submitted manuscript will be proofread and all references will be cross checked from the Editor’s office. Authors will be asked to correct their work after Editor’s feedback.

Declaration & Disclosure

Authors must sign a declaration that the submitted manuscript is their original work and that it has not been previously published. Republishing of previous work will be at the discretion of the Chief Editor, with written consent from the previous publisher. The Coronal will not be implicated if any legal action is taken by any outside authority in case of failure to cite and refer original academician/institute’s work within the submitted article. The responsibility will be borne by the author of the article. Co-authors are entitled to share the percentage of their contribution in the manuscript.