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The Kailashtila gas field (KGF) is situated in the northeastern part of Sylhet basin, Bangladesh. This paperpresents chemical characteristics of extractable natural gas in drilled well KTL-2, in order to examine their potentialsource and maturity of organic matter, and hydrocarbon accumulation mechanism in the basin. The gas condensate inthe KTL-2 composed primarily of methane (85.81 wt.%), ethane (6.68 wt.%), propane (2.13 wt.%), and traces of higherhydrocarbons (i-butane, 0.69 wt.%; n-butane, 0.73 wt.%; i-pentane, 0.50 wt.%; n-pentane, 0.44 wt.%; hexane, 1.27wt.%; heptane, 0.99 wt.%; octane, 0.24 wt.%). Nitrogen and CO2 contents in the gas condensate are low (0.46 wt.%and 0.05 wt.%, respectively). Average dry coefficient (C1/C1–5) value in the gas condensate is 0.93 (0.91–0.95), whichreflects relatively mature hydrocarbon migrating from nearby deeply buried source rocks. The δ13C1 (–39 to –40‰) andC1/C(2+3) (19.77) variation diagram show that gas condensate in the KGF is mainly controlled by type III kerogen, andthe organic matter was thermally mature in nature. However, the relationships between stable isotope value of methane(δ13C1), ethane (δ13C2) and propane (δ13C3) indicate mainly thermogenic origin of the studied gas condensate, andminor input from mixed thermogenic and bacteriogenic processes.

Bangladesh depends on the ground water resources to meet domestic and agricultural demands. Electrical Resistivity Sounding survey, borehole litho logs and the water quality data of the area have been analysed for the assessment of subsurface hydro geological condition of the study area, located in north eastern region of Bangladesh. Hydro geological data are needed to determine the basic parameters required for the characterization of aquifer. VES can provide subsurface information related to groundwater condition in conjunction with borehole and water quality information. Resistivity soundings were carried out to establish the characteristics of the aquifer in the study area. Results of resistivity soundings and borehole data reveal that the subsurface formations are made up of clay, silty clay, clayey sand, fine, medium and coarse sands. The hydro stratigraphic unit of the study area comprises of three aquifer systems separated by aquitards. Aquifer-1 known as shallow aquifer, shows thickness in the range from 4 m to 104 m. Maximum thickness of Aquifer-1 is about 104 m at At para, Kishoreganj and minimum thickness is about 4 m at Madan, Netrokona. Aquifer-2 shows thickness variation from 3 m to 135 m. Maximum thickness of Aquifer-2 is about 135 m at Madhabpur, Habiganj and minimum thickness is about 3 m at Bajitpur, Kishoreganj. Baseof Aquifer-3, the deep aquifer could not be identified. Maximum depth of the upper boundary of this unit is about 171 m at Madhabpur,Habiganj and minimum depth is about 100 m at Mohanganj, Netrokona. At Madan, Netrokona low resistivity value of about 7 ohm below 107 m depth is found against a fine to medium sand layer suggesting saline formation water.

The investigation was carried out under field conditions to characterize yield contributing traits of eighteen (18) advanced Aus rice lines (F5) and three commercial check varieties. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The field was divided into three blocks; each block was sub-divided into 21 plots (lines) where genotypes were randomly assigned. The experiment was conducted during the period of Transplanting Aus season (April 2015 to August 2015) at the genetics and plant breeding experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh. All the genotypes were characterized and categorized as per the descriptors developed by Biodiversity International, IRRI and WARDA-2007 for DUS test of inbred rice. All the genotypes were grouped and classified as well as described based on yield contributing characters as per descriptors so that all the observed genotypes containing described characters can be easily evaluated and identified at a glance for further studies.

The investigation was carried out under field conditions to characterize agro-morphological traits of twenty-one (21) advanced Aus rice lines (F5). The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The field was divided into three blocks; each block was sub-divided into 21 plots (lines) where genotypes were randomly assigned. The experiment was conducted during the period of Transplanting Aus season (April 2015 to August 2015) at the genetics and plant breeding experimental field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Bangladesh. All the genotypes were characterized and categorized as per the descriptors developed by Biodiversity International, IRRI and WARDA-2007 for DUS test of inbred rice. All the genotypes were grouped and classified as well as described based on morphological characters as per descriptors so that all the observed genotypes containing described characters can be easily evaluated and identified at a glance for further studies.

Several materials (e.g. bio-binders and industrial waste products) have been developed and proposed as a sustainable extender or replacement for asphalt binder over the years. Sulphur is a promisin...

The per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of Saudi Arabia were more than three times the global average emissions in 2019. The energy sector is the most dominant GHG-emitting sector in the country; its energy consumption has increased over five times in the last four decades, from over 2000 quadrillion joules in 1981 to around 11,000 quadrillion joules in 2019, while the share of renewable energy in 2019 was only 0.1%. To reduce GHG emissions, the Saudi Arabian government has undertaken initiatives for improving energy efficiency and increasing the production of renewable energies in the country. However, there are few investigative studies into the effectiveness of these initiatives in improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This study provides an overview of the various energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives undertaken in Saudi Arabia. Then, it evaluates the effectiveness of energy-related policies and initiatives using an indicator-based approach. In addition, this study performs temporal and econometrics analyses to understand the trends and the causal relationships among various drivers of energy sector emissions. Energy intensity and efficiency have improved moderately in recent years. This study will support policymakers in identifying significant policy gaps in reducing the emissions from the energy sector; furthermore, this study will provide a reference for tracking the progress of their policy initiatives. In addition, the methodology used in this study could be applied in other studies to evaluate various climate change policies and their progress.

With the increasing integration of renewable energy resources (RESs) like photovoltaic (PV) systems to the rural consumer may affect the voltage stability during network disturbance situations. This is due to the fact that the conventional inverter system of the PV station cannot inject sufficient reactive power at a transient state. Therefore, to solve this issue, this paper proposes a virtual synchronous generator (VSG) control mechanism of the PV system to enhance voltage stability. The proposed VSG emulates the behavior of conventional power plants and control the reactive power more effectively during the network disturbance event. To justify the validity of the proposed VSG control PV system, simulation analysis, and comparison study has been done with the conventional control mechanism of the PV system.

While extreme heat events received wider attention in recent years, understanding heatwave vulnerability is still a challenging task that requires a clear understanding of a range of location-dependent climatic, socio-economic, physiological, and environmental parameters. This study investigates the spatial distribution of heatwave vulnerability in Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) — the commercial capital of Bangladesh. A heatwave vulnerability index (HVI) was developed, including various parameters related to three latent variables — exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity — derived using remote sensing and socio-economic data. Factor analysis was performed to assess all parameters related to HVI. Besides, spatial autocorrelation, cluster and outlier analyses, and hot spot analysis were carried out to investigate the spatial distribution of HVI. This study shows a spatial distribution of HVI in CCC, which is spatially associated with various individual parameters. A total of seven wards (smallest administrative zone of CCC) were found to be very highly vulnerable to the heatwave. This study further reveals that heatwave vulnerability is randomly distributed throughout the city, although the high land surface temperature is concentrated in the existing built-up areas. It also identified three major hot spots of heatwave vulnerability in CCC. The methodology and findings of this study will be of interest to the policymakers and city planners to prepare mitigation plans, policies, and strategies to mitigate this hazard.

Brain Tumor is one of the deadliest cancers. Treatment depends on early, accurate detection and the location of the tumor. Numerous CAD models based on machine learning approaches exist. However, the necessity of highly advanced tumor detection programs has been acknowledged so that specialists can easily detect brain tumors and come up with better treatment processes and save lives. The world is continuously changing, so the Self-learning methodology should be applied to machines to make them more intelligent. So In this study, we are going to introduce an incremental learning model for detecting brain tumors. The proposed model enables us to extract MRI images, detect brain tumors, accommodate new data, and be free from catastrophic forgetting. When new data is added, the algorithm does not require access to previously used data, but it does not neglect prior information. A dataset of MRI brain tumor images has been used to evaluate our model in contrast to Learn++, CNN, and Decision Tree algorithm and get the highest accuracy 85.07% and precision 83.95% among them. The evaluation was done based on the former’s error rate and accuracy, precision, and run time for the latter two.

The study intends to assess water scarcity, seasonal variations, and social conflicts through a cross sectional study based on people's perceptions. A well-structured questionnaire coupled with an interview schedule was used for data collection from the 60 households living in the mountainous two villages at Waga union of Kaptai Upazila under Rangamati District, Bangladesh. The study employed a multi-stage random sampling technique. The analysis reveals that 90% of respondents in Sapchari Monpara village mostly rely on spring for water, while 83% of respondents in Debotachari village depend on tube-wells. The study also shows that 80% of the respondents have experienced water scarcity in domestic use, while 90% of respondents have reported short duration of the rainy season causes water scarcity. More than 80% of respondents believe that shifting cultivation in upland catchments causes water quality degradation in the study villages. Most of the respondents obtain water easily in a monsoon at Sapchari Monpara, while others get from tube-wells and traditional wells in all seasons. About (87%) of respondents mention that forest conservation around the water sources can increase water availability.

not available J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2022; 40: 106

A control system of the transport riding wheelchair has been illustrated in this paper. To support traumatized individuals in a sticky situation a navigating electric wheelchair is needed. In this paper eye-ball controlled wheelchair has been suggested to mitigate the dependency of disable person from others. Based on the movement of eye-ball the wheelchair has been controlled. A camera has been spotted in the goggles, to detect the location of the eye pupil and acquire the eye image by computer vision methods. The recommend control system can welfare for paralyzed individuals to refine their existence. In this paper hardware and software, architecture has been described. To detect eye pupil location the Open computer vision (OpenCV) library has been used. The main control mechanism of this whole system has been done by a raspberry pi.

The failure data of some products depend on factors or covariates such as the operating environment, usage conditions, etc. Under this situation, the parametric regression model is applied for modeling the failure data of the product as a function of covariates. Divide and recombine (D&R) is a new statistical approach to the analysis of big data. In the D&R approach, the data are divided into manageable subsets, an analytic method is applied independently to each subset, and the outputs are recombined. This chapter applies the D&R approach for analysis of an automobile component failure data using the Weibull regression model. Extensive simulation studies are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed methodology with comparison to the traditional statistical estimation method.

The study intends to assess water scarcity, seasonal variations, and social conflicts through a cross sectional study based on people's perceptions. A well-structured questionnaire coupled with an interview schedule was used for data collection from the 60 households living in the mountainous two villages at Waga union of Kaptai Upazila under Rangamati District, Bangladesh. The study employed a multi-stage random sampling technique. The analysis reveals that 90% of respondents in Sapchari Monpara village mostly rely on spring for water, while 83% of respondents in Debotachari village depend on tube-wells. The study also shows that 80% of the respondents have experienced water scarcity in domestic use, while 90% of respondents have reported short duration of the rainy season causes water scarcity. More than 80% of respondents believe that shifting cultivation in upland catchments causes water quality degradation in the study villages. Most of the respondents obtain water easily in a monsoon at Sapchari Monpara, while others get from tube-wells and traditional wells in all seasons. About (87%) of respondents mention that forest conservation around the water sources can increase water availability.

Dust accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) modules causes a significant reduction in the electrical energy output by partially blocking the solar irradiance incident on the PV modules. The effect is more pronounced during the dry season when the environment is dustier. In this work, an investigation is conducted to understand how dust particles can affect the performance of the PV panels installed on the rooftop of a high-rise building during the dry season. Two monocrystalline 20W PV panels, deployed on the rooftop of a seven-story building in Gabtoli, Dhaka, Bangladesh, have been used for this purpose. Measurements are carried out over four months, starting from 1st November 2019 to 29th February 2020, during which the weather remains mostly cold, dry, and dusty. It has been observed that dust accumulation monthly decreases the short-circuit current from a minimum of 5.52% to a maximum of 22.31% during this period. The maximum reduction in the daily output energy during this period is observed to be about 35%. The effect of dust has been observed to be most pronounced during December 2019, which shows a decrease of over 22% in total monthly energy output in the dusty panel compared to that of the clean panel.

This study presents a short-term performance analysis of the photovoltaic (PV) module considering weather impact in the context of Bangladesh by using machine learning. A Multilayer perceptron model is used to analyze the data and to predict the output. To collect the weather data and the output data, a weather station has been developed and deployed on the rooftop of a 7-story building in Gabtoli, Dhaka, Bangladesh. All the sensor data can be accessed remotely. In this study data from 1st November 2019 to 28th February 2020 are used in four separate data set for training purpose. It is observed that the output energy prediction improves with the increase in training data. The result shows that the temperature has the highest linear correlation with the module short circuit current among all the weather parameters i.e. humidity, wind speed, and air pressure.

Blumea lacera (Burm.f.) DC. is described as a valuable medicinal plant in various popular systems of medicine. The aim of the experiment reports the in vivo antiulcer activity of methanol extract of Blumea lacera (MEBLL) and in silico studies of bioactive constituents of MEBLL. In this study, fasted Long-Evans rat treated with 80 % ethanol (0.5 mL) to induce gastric ulcer, were pretreated orally with MEBLL at different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg, p.o., b.w) and omeprazole (20 mg/kg, p.o.) and distilled water were used as a reference drug and normal control respectively. In silico activity against gastric H+-K+ATPase enzyme was also studied. The findings demonstrated that the treatment with MEBLL attenuated markedly ulcer and protected the integrity of the gastric mucosa by preventing the mucosal ulceration altered biochemical parameters of gastric juice such total carbohydrate, total protein and pepsin activity. Additionally, the experimental groups significantly (p

This paper describes the assisting navigation system for wheelchairs. Maneuvering of an electric wheelchair is to assist the paralyzed people in the difficult situation. The proposed design can benefit disabled people and improve their survival and quality of life. The wheel chair is the most ubiquitously used aid to enhance the personal accessibility of people with disabilities. For those who are unable to propel a manual wheel chair, power wheel chairs are useful. Disable people face difficulties to travel here and there, this device will help them to climb the transport from the bus stop. This paper describes the overall architectural design of hardware and software, including the system of communication. Arduino, Solid-works and Proteus were used for software and hardware design and a joystick and keyboard were used to operate the chair.

Background: Transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) is the gold standard in the surgical treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Blood loss is one of the most common complications of TURP. Objective: To evaluate the effect of preoperative dutasteride on bleeding related to TURP in patients with BPH. Materials and Methods: This prospective interventional study was done in the department of urology, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period of July 2016 to June 2017. A total of 70 cases of BPH planned for TURP were included in this study according to the statistical calculation. Patients were randomly allocated to control group A (TURP without dutasteride) and dutasteride group B (TURP with dutasteride). Each group consisted of 35 patients. Group B patients were treated with dutasteride 0.5 mg/day for 4 weeks before TURP. The main outcome of blood loss was evaluated in terms of reduction in serum hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels, which were measured before and 24 hours after surgery. Data were analyzed and compared by statistical tests. Results: Comparison of outcome between groups shows that there was a significant difference in term of pre-post operative change of hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in the control group A compared to the dutasteride group B (Hb = 2.96 ± 0.80 gm/dl vs. 1.81 ± 0.71 gm/dl, respectively, p = 0.001; Hct = 11.20% ± 2.12% vs. 6.07% ± 2.02%, respectively, p = 0.02). A significant lower mean blood loss was observed in the dutasteride group compared to the control group. Conclusion: Preoperative dutasteride therapy reduces blood loss related to TURP in patients with BPH. This therapy can be practiced to reduce surgical bleeding associated with TURP.

Understanding the causes and effects of road accidents is critical for developing road and action plans in a country. The causation hypothesis elucidates how accidents occur and may be applied to accident analysis to more precisely anticipate, prevent, and manage road safety programs. Driving behavior is a critical factor to consider when determining the causes of traffic accidents. Inappropriate driving behaviors are a set of acts taken on the roadway that can result in aberrant conditions that may result in road accidents. In this study, using Al-Ahsa city in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province as a case study, a Bayesian belief network (BBN) model was established by incorporating an expectation–maximization algorithm. The model examines the relationships between indicator variables with a special focus on driving behavior to measure the uncertainty associated with accident outcomes. The BBN was devised to analyze intentional and unintentional driving behaviors that cause different types of accidents and accident severities. The results showed when considering speeding alone, there is a 26% likelihood that collision will occur; this is a 63% increase over the initial estimate. When brake failure was considered in addition to speeding, the likelihood of a collision jumps from 26% to 33%, more than doubling the chance of a collision when compared to the initial value. These findings demonstrated that the BBN model was capable of efficiently investigating the complex linkages between driver behavior and the accident causes that are inherent in road accidents.

In this study, we designed and synthesized a highly stable manganese (Mn2+)-based hepatobiliary complex by tethering an ethoxybenzyl (EOB) moiety with an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) coordination cage as an alternative to the well-established hepatobiliary gadolinium (Gd3+) chelates and evaluated its usage as a T1 hepatobiliary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent (CA). This new complex exhibits higher r1 relaxivity (2.3 mM-1 s-1) than clinically approved Mn2+-based hepatobiliary complex Mn-DPDP (1.6 mM-1 s-1) at 1.5 T. Mn-EDTA-EOB shows much higher kinetic inertness than that of clinically approved Gd3+-based hepatobiliary MRI CAs, such as Gd-DTPA-EOB and Gd-BOPTA. In addition, in vivo biodistribution and MRI enhancement patterns of this new Mn2+ chelate are comparable to those of Gd3+-based hepatobiliary MRI CAs. The diagnostic efficacy of the new complex was demonstrated by its enhanced tumor detection sensitivity in a liver cancer model using in vivo MRI.

The study was conducted to isolate, identify and characterize bacterial samples from broiler meat collected from 20 different upazilla markets of Jamalpur, Tangail, Netrokona and Kishoreganj districts of Bangladesh. A total of 20 samples were subjected to bacteriological isolation and identification, and the isolated bacteria were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using disc diffusion method. Among the samples, 75% (n=15) were contaminated with Campylobacter spp., 70% (n=14) were with Salmonella species and 85% (n=17) were contaminated with Escherichia coli. The Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. and E. coli were isolated and identified by culturing on Blood agar, Xylose-Lysine Deoxycholate (XLD) agar, and MacConky and eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar respectively. Isolates of Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. and E. coli were biochemically analyzed. Campylobacter specific 16S rRNA genes were amplified from the isolates. Campylobacter spp. and E. coli isolates were positive to 16S rRNA gene based polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Almost all isolates of Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. and E. coli showed highest susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and gentamicin. However, most isolates were resistant to amoxicillin and erythromycin. Some isolates showed susceptibility to tetracycline, streptomycin and azithromycin. The findings of this study revealed that there is presence of multidrug resistant isolates of Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. and E. coli in broiler meat. Results of this research project demonstrated the high level of microbial contamination and occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in broiler meat sold in markets of Bangladesh. Key words: Broiler meat, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, molecular detection, characterization.

In developing economies, environmental pressure increases faster than the income does at early stages of economic development and slows down relative to income growth at higher income levels. Bangladesh is a rapidly growing South Asian country with large and increasing population and deteriorating environment. However, the link between its historical per capita GDP and major environmental attributes has not been sufficiently investigated in any literature. This study evaluates the type of relationship between per capita GDP with each of ecological footprint, CO2 emission and energy consumption in Bangladesh- an emerging developing economy in the world. The study used traditional linear, quadratic, and log-models with standard specifications to investigate the aforementioned relationships. The models confirmed that a direct and monotonically increasing relationship exists between per capita GDP and each of the major environmental attributes under study. Thus, the country country’s environment is likely to face increasing pollution threats from potential economic growth in coming days. Stringent environmental policy is likely to help bring a balance between economic development and environmental stability. The study suggests for creation of massive environmental awareness, optimal tapping of natural resources, and adoption of green technologies to ensure sustainable economic growth while maintaining a healthy environment.

Conflict is one of the major organizational phenomena. Where there is an employee involvement, conflict is obvious to occur. Workplace conflicts happen everywhere and ignoring them can be costly. The objectives of this research are to identify the causes and effects of workplace conflicts and also forecast the ways for the prevention of the occurrence of conflicts in future. A survey was carried out in this regard among the employees of Midland Bank Ltd., Dhanmondi Branch. According to the survey we found that it is the employees’ behavior that causes conflicts in organization. Majority of the participants in the survey agreed that the main causes of workplace conflict are the negative criticism & gossip, denying personal mistakes, jealousy, and moral corruption and using abusive language. The effects that workplace conflicts have in this organization are broken relationship (top most reason), instability and insecurity, loss of commitment to work, voluntary resignation etc. It is recommended that bank should introduce a formal system of information dissemination, manager should learn to practice delegation of authority and there should be adequate interaction and dialogue in conflict resolution.

A novel manganese(II) complex based on an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) coordination cage bearing a benzothiazole aniline (BTA) moiety (Mn-EDTA-BTA) was designed and synthesized for use as a liver-specific MRI contrast agent with high chelation stability. In addition to forming a hydrophilic, stable complex with Mn2+, this new Mn chelate was rapidly taken up by liver hepatocytes and excreted by the kidneys and biliary system. The kinetic inertness and R1 relaxivity of the complex were much higher than those of mangafodipir trisodium (MnDPDP), a clinically approved liver-specific MRI contrast agent. The diagnostic utility of this new Mn complex in MRI was demonstrated by high-sensitivity tumor detection in an animal model of liver cancer.

SummaryThis study aimed to investigate the regional variations in the prevalence of child marriage in Bangladesh with a view to providing recommendations for division-specific policy interventions. Data from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. Substantial regional variations in child marriage were found in Bangladesh. Rangpur and Khulna had more than four times higher odds of child marriage than Sylhet (4.57 and 4.11 times, respectively). Barisal and Rajshahi had more than three times higher odds of child marriage than Sylhet (3.70 and 3.48 times, respectively). Chittagong and Dhaka had about two times odds of child marriage than Sylhet (1.98 and 2.67 times, respectively), even after controlling for selected socio-demographic, economic and cultural characteristics. Respondent’s education, employment status, husband’s education and wealth index were inversely associated with the prevalence of child marriage. The policy implications of these findings are discussed in the context of Bangladesh.

BackgroundMaternal and child health is one of the most important issues in a developing country like Bangladesh. This study evaluates the trends in maternal and child health indicators of Bangladesh.MethodsThe secondary data used in this study was extracted from the World Bank Dataset. The selected indicators were maternal mortality ratio (MMR), under-five children mortality and neonatal mortality rate, and prevalence of stunting and wasting of under-five children. Trend analysis technique and ARIMA forecasting models were used in this study to find currents trend and predict the future of selected indicators.ResultsThis study revealed clear evidence that neonatal, under-five child and maternal mortality in Bangladesh had been gradually decreasing during the last two and half decades. The decreasing rate of these indicators suggests that it should be possible to achieve the national target of sustainable development goals (SDGs) of Bangladesh by 2021. While, it was observed that the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among under-five children was still high, these indicators have been slowly decreasing over time. The decreasing rate of these indicators displayed that without guided measures, the Bangladesh government would not be able to achieve the target goal of child malnutrition by 2021 under SDG-2.2.ConclusionIt is recommended that the government, as well as non-government health organizations (NGOs), and other policy makers should provide programs that are effective so that the national target goals can be achieved by the year 2030. Consequently, our findings should assist in the achievement of the national goals in Bangladesh regarding these health issues.

Reliability of public transit systems is a chronic concern for transit operators, authorities, and users, in terms of system utilization and level of service. This paper develops a theoretical model to evaluate factors that influence the reliability of public transit systems and examines their performance based on stochastic variations in passenger arrival, boarding, alighting, and travel time on the regularity of headway along the route with multiple stops. The model is based on a Markov chain technique to obtain numerical estimates of performance. The predictions of this model are verified based on replicating the well-observed phenomenal relationship between the mean and variance of delay experienced by passengers. The numerical examples offer insights into the factors that affect the reliability of public transit systems. This investigation provides a better understanding of determinants of reliability of public transit systems and it can be used as an analysis tool by transit planners to evaluate the effectiveness of various policies.

Children are becoming increasingly vulnerable to contagious disease around the world. It also leads to chronic health problems. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of contagious diseases in children of 5 - 12 years from five government primary schools (class II to V) in Tangail City, Bangladesh using multistage sampling method. Data were collected using a carry home questionnaire and diseases screening examination was done in the school. Prevalence of common contagious diseases was calculated. A total of 84 students were screened to have contagious diseases by clinical examination, giving a prevalence rate of 8.76% from 958 participated school children. The prevalence of contagious disease among the affected children in the study was found 30.95% for scabies, while 20.24% for influenza and 7.14%, 9.52%, 15.48%, 5.95%, & 10.71% for typhoid, chicken pox, measles, pneumonia, and whooping cough, respectively. Anthropometric measurements were recorded which indicated that 48.8% of children were well-nourished and 21.4%, 17.9%, & 11.9% of children were underweight, stunted, and wasted, respectively. However, these data are extremely important to define the problem and to design proper intervention strategies.

Recently non-fermenting Gram negative rods (NFGNR) are playing an important role in healthcare associated infections. This observational study in a tertiary care hospital of Dhaka city conducted during 01August 2007 to 30 June 2013 found that 34.8% isolated organisms from patients with healthcare associated infections were NFGNR. Majority (74.3 %) of these infections were occurring inside critical care areas. Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter together constituted 79.6% of the total NFGNR whereas Burkholderia cephacia complex (15.4%), Stenotrophomonas (4.3%) and Chryseobacterium species (0.7%) combined constituted remaining 20.4%. Out of total NFGNRs, Pseudomonas was responsible for highest number of catheter associated urinary tract infections (55.6%), ventilator associated pneumonia (46.3%), respiratory tract infection (65.8%) and surgical site infection (70.6%). Blood stream infection was predominantly caused by Burkholderia cephacia complex (33.5%) and Acinetobacter spp. (39.5%). Other than colistin most of the organisms were resistant to antibiotics commonly recommended for NFGNR.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmm.v7i2.19326 Bangladesh J Med Microbiol 2013; 07(02): 6-12

This study examines the impact of age at immigration on socioeconomic attainment of visible minority immigrant women in Canada using data from the 2001 Census of Canada. Multivariate regression analysis indicates that among visible minority immigrant women child immigrants have higher educational attainment, and higher occupational prestige and higher income attainment than teen immigrants. The interaction effect shows that child immigrant women of visible minority have higher educational attainment, higher occupational prestige and higher income attainment compared to teen immigrant women of not visible minority. These findings are explained in the context of a theoretical framework that considers, among other factors, the importance of differential parental expectations for their immigrant children with regard to educational attainment.

Modern healthcare systems are undergoing a paradigm shift from in-hospital care to in-home monitoring, leveraging the emerging technologies in the area of bio-sensing, wireless communication, mobile computing, and artificial intelligence. In-home monitoring promises to significantly reduce healthcare spending by preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and visits to healthcare professionals. Most of the in-home monitoring systems, proposed in the literature, focus on monitoring a set of specific vital signs. However, from the perspective of caregivers it is infeasible to maintain a collection of specialized monitoring systems. In this paper, we view the problem of in-home monitoring from the perspective of caregivers and present a framework that supports various monitoring capabilities while making the complexity transparent to the end users. The essential idea of the framework is to define a 'general purpose architecture' where the system specifies a particular protocol for communication and makes it public. Then any bio-sensing system can communicate with the system as long as it conforms to the protocol. We then argue that as the system grows in terms of number of patients and bio-sensing systems, artificial intelligence technologies need to be employed for patients' risk assessment, prioritization, and recommendation. Finally, we present an initial prototype of the system designed according to the proposed framework.

The experiment was conducted with 144 broiler chicks from day-old to 5 weeks of age to investigate the efficacy of a water additive in broiler production. The chicks were randomly distributed into four different treatments namely T1 (control), T2 (water additive as per recommendation level), T3 (25% less than recommendation) and T4 (25% more than recommendation). Body weight of control group was higher in 2nd week of age, but at the end of the experiment additive groups showed higher values compare to control (p

Introduction Organ preservation is an important step in transplantation. Perfusion fluid plays a vital role in this matter. As in many other developing countries, perfusion fluid is not readily available and is costly. Alternatively, the commonly used Hartmann's solution does not have preservation quality. Hence, to meet the demand, a modified perfusion fluid was prepared following standard preservative flush principles. Materials and Methods Hartmann's solution was modified by adding potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, mannitol, dexamethasone, and insulin. The whole process was performed under aseptic conditions. The final composition was a hypertonic solution similar to Marshall's solution. Results Upon use in 14 renal transplantation operations we observed the modified solution to be protective for kidney storage for more than 4 hours, namely, a mean cold ischemia time of 187.50 ± 30.58 minutes (range 156–254 minutes). There was no apparent deterioration in posttransplantation graft function. All 14 grafts worked from the operative day with a mean creatinine reduction rate in the first 24 hours of 198.90 ± 46.12 μmol/L and mean serum creatinine level at 21 days of 138.70 ± 16.16 μmol/L. These results were not significantly different from those achieved with Collin's solution. Conclusion A modified perfusion fluid was effective, cheaper, and easy to prepare; therefore it is suitable for transplantation in developing countries.

Journal of Population and Social Studies (JPSS), 24, 2

A flip or edge-replacement is considered as a transformation by which one edge e of a geometric object is removed and an edge f (f e) is inserted such that the resulting object belongs to the same class as the original object. Here, we consider Hamiltonian planar paths as geometric objects. A technique is presented for transforming a given planar path into another one for a set S of n points in convex position in the plane. Under these conditions, we show that any planar path can be transformed into another planar path by at most 2n-5 flips. For the case when the points are in general position we provide experimental results regarding transformability of any planar path into another. We show that for n=

The binding of atenolol (selective β1-blocker) and amlodipine (calcium channel blocker) to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was studied by equilibrium dialysis method in order to have an insight into the binding chemistry of these two to BSA. Free atenolol concentration was increased due to addition of amlodipine which reduced the binding of the compounds to BSA. However, the free fraction was increased to a level as it was expected from direct competitive displacement while the free atenolol concentration was increased according to increasing the amlodipine concentration when only the BSA was present. The result obtained when the binding site was blocked by sufficient amount of amlodipine was that the increment of free concentration of atenolol was prominent. When no amlodipine was added the free concentration of atenolol was only 28% whereas this release was 93 % to 98.01% when amlodipine was added with increasing concentration.

This paper develops a model based on the Markov Chain technique to evaluate performance of a public transport route. The model addresses a special situation where a passenger left behind by a bus leaves the system without any further waiting to make an alternative travel arrangement. Such reneging behavior is indicative of an infinite penalty associated with further waiting from a passenger viewpoint. Apart from the theoretical derivations for the various attributes of interest, numerical examples to analyze the system performance (such as expected number of passengers served, expected number of abandoned passengers, and expected amount of unused space on the transit system) are presented. This provides insights for optimum selection of fleet size and size of vehicles

A total of forty-three Listeria species were screened for virulence and antibiotic resistance genes through in silico tools. In silico polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detected both virulence and antibiotic resistance genes. The hlyA gene, responsible for hemolysis in red blood cell, was detected in 76.4% (n=33) of the isolates and thirty-eight isolates harboured plcA genes. These two (hlyA and plcA) genes are required for destruction of phagosome. Internalin genes, inlA (37.21%) and inlB (81.39%) were responsible for adherence and internalization of Listeria species. About 76.4% (n=33) isolates had the prfA gene that regulate internalins expression. Thirty-one isolates (72.09%) expressed the actA gene while only four isolates (9.30%) had the invasion associated gene, iap. The daptomycin resistance gene, mpr was the most prevalent (81.39%) followed by parC (72.09%), gyrB (48.83%), gyrA (39.53%) and parE (30.23%) genes. Genotype 1 harboured most of the virulence genes while genotype 2 expressed mainly antibiotic resistance genes. This data helps to predict the virulence genes associated with listeriosis infections. This data also provides information to choose effective antibiotic against listeriosis infections.