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Introduction: According to reports, pediatric patients with hypothyroidism have a higher risk of complications following surgery than adults. Specifically, this Study's aimed to evaluate how complete thyroidectomy is in youth (18 years) and adults. Materials and Methods: A retrospective case-control study of all (n=100) complete thyroidectomies was performed on 32 pediatric and 68 adult patients who were consecutive from were compared at the Department of ENT, Head & Neck Surgery, Islami Bank Medical College and multicentral base hospital, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, from July 2018 to June 2021. Results: The average patient age in children was 9.7 years (range 3.4-17.9 years) against 44.9 years (range 18.4-84.2 years) in adults. Compared to adults, surgical procedures on children took an average of (2.18 ± 0.08 hrs.) longer to complete in adults (1.66 ± 0.03 hrs) (p = 0.003). The average weight of a thyroid specimen was 48.0 ± 6.4 grams in adults and 38.6.0 ± 8.9 grams in children (range, 6.6-203 grams; p = 0.34). Children had a higher ratio of thyroid weight to body weight (0.94 ± 0.11 gm/kg) than adults (0.67 ± 0.8 gm/kg; p = 0.05). After surgery, the hyperthyroid condition improved in every patient. There were no operational deaths, recurrences, or long-term hypoparathyroidism. Conclusion: It is clear that the technical difficulties associated with treating Graves' disease surgically in children and adults result in longer operational periods. There was no difference in the chances of long-term consequences, including recurrent laryngeal nerve damage or neck hematoma. Medicine Today 2023 Vol.35(1): 40-43

The study aims to examine the impact of religiosity, legal enforcement and good governance on tax evasion. The study utilizes a panel data of 7 SAARC countries covering the period of 2002 to 2015 and ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effect (FE) and random effect (RE) model have been applied as statistical technique to analyze the data. The results of the study show that (a) the religiosity has a negative impact on tax evasion, (b) enforcement level has been found positive in OLS and random effect but negative in fixed effect model, and (c) good governance in public sector has a negative impact on tax evasion. The results of the study are supposed to offer valuable insights to the researchers, tax practitioners and government for the development of an international tax framework, and implementing a sound policy. IIUC Business Review Vol. 7-8, Dec. 2018-19 pp. 61-88

This study aimed to assess the relationship between milk components and amino acid (AA) profiles among different buffalo crossbreds in Bangladesh. A total of thirty-six (36) lactating buffaloes were selected from Murrah, Nili-Ravi, and Mehsana crossbreds, and they were assigned to 03 groups, each with 12 buffaloes. The total experimental period was 10 weeks, including the initial 10 days of diet adjustment. The results from the experiment revealed that milk protein, fat, and total solids contents of Murrah crossbred was significantly (p0.05). In the case of milk amino acid contents, all the milk samples entailed a higher concentration of Glutamic acid (0.9-1.00 g/100 g of milk), whereas Cysteine had the lowest concentration (0.02-0.05 g/100 g). The most prevalent essential amino acids were Leucine, Lysine, and Phenylalanine, whereas the most prevalent non-essential amino acids were Glutamic acid, Proline, Asparagine, and Serine. Lysine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Phenylalanine, Cysteine, and Histidine concentrations differed significantly (p0.05). The highest Lysine: Methionine ratio observed in Murrah buffalo was about 3.20%, while in Mehsana and Nili-Ravi buffalo was about 2.80 and 2.50%, respectively. Thus, it was evident from the study that the raw milk components and amino acid composition vary considerably in the different lactating buffalo crossbreds. Finally, the compositional data of raw milk may create the way of sustainable use of milk from dairy buffalo crossbreds and improve food and nutrition security, particularly in developing countries.

The study aims to measure what factors influence corporate social responsibility (CSR) in manufacturing industries and how organizational strategic planning (OSP) instigates the factors to achieve better CSR performance. Structural equation modeling (SEM), along with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) has been used to analyze the data collected from the different levels of employees from the manufacturing industries of Bangladesh. The study finds that the OSP has a significant impact on social accountability and social investment (SASI), ethics and human resources (EHR), environmental protection and sustainability (EPS), and green practices and performance (GPP). The findings of the study suggest that the policymakers and stakeholders of the manufacturing industries should be more conscious of formulating sound strategic planning to ensure better CSR performance.

An experiment was conducted during July to December, 2020 to optimize the stocking density of Heteropneustes fossilis while farming with carps (Rohu, Labeo rohita; catla, Catla catla; and silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) in homestead ponds of Tanore upazila (sub district) in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Three different stocking densities of stinging catfish were tested under three treatments such as T1:98800 fish/ha; T2:123500 fish/ha; and T3:148200 fish/ha in polyculture ponds stocked with similar density (988 fishes/ha) of carps (L. rohita 25%, C. catla 25% and H. molitrix 50%). Stinging catfish was fed with 35% protein content diet. Water quality was monitored monthly and found within acceptable range for fish culture. Treatment T2 varied significantly (P

In this age of global warming, academics and policymakers are increasingly concerned about firm environmental sustainability success. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance impacts sustainability performance through the mediating effect of firm innovation. To this end, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was deployed to analyze data collected from the employees of manufacturing industries in Bangladesh. The results revealed that ESG performance significantly enhances the innovation and sustainability performance of manufacturing industries, indicating that the higher the ESG performance of a firm, the greater its innovation and sustainability performance. Furthermore, the results confirmed that firm innovation performance fully mediates the relationship between ESG initiatives and sustainability performance. The findings of this study provide policymakers and industry authorities with valuable insight into the role of ESG and innovation performance in improving sustainability performance. Specifically, the study sheds knowledge on how firm ESG initiatives and innovation performance impact sustainability performance in the manufacturing sector of an emerging economy such as Bangladesh.

In this age of global warming, academics and policymakers are increasingly concerned about firm environmental sustainability success. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance impacts sustainability performance through the mediating effect of firm innovation. To this end, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was deployed to analyze data collected from the employees of manufacturing industries in an emerging economy like Bangladesh. The results revealed that ESG performance significantly enhances the innovation and sustainability performance of manufacturing industries, indicating that the higher the ESG performance of a firm, the greater its innovation and sustainability performance. Furthermore, the results confirmed that firm innovation performance fully mediates the relationship between ESG initiatives and sustainability performance. The findings of this study provide policymakers and industry authorities with valuable insight into the role of ESG and innovation performance in improving sustainability performance. Specifically, the study sheds knowledge on how firm ESG initiatives and innovation performance impact sustainability performance in the manufacturing sector of an emerging economy like Bangladesh.

The study was designed to envisage the changes in growth measurements and blood metabolites of crossbred dairy calves in response to calf starters feeding with different protein sources. All calves up to three days of age were kept on colostrum feeding. Then, calves were given 2.5 L of fresh whole milk for up to 10 days and 3 L of fresh whole milk for up to 56 days. Calves were fed a farm starter (control), other dietary groups starter containing mustard oil cake (MOC), soybean meal (SM), and a mixture of MOC and SM as MOCSM protein sources. Starting on day 21, all of the calves received starter feeds. On day 56, they were weaned, and the study included calves until day 70. Data were recorded on dry matter intake, growth measurements and blood nutrients profile. Calves consumed greater DM when MOC in the starter was supplied, which was 22.5% more than that of the control-fed group. Calves feeding with SM and MOCSM consumed almost similar quantities of DM at 220.87 and 224.87 g/head/day, respectively. The BWG of calves increased significantly by 5.04 and 4.06% more in the MOC-fed group than in the SM and MOCSM groups. MOC, SM, and MOCSM-fed calves had similar (p > 0.05) BLG; however, the control diet had significantly lower BLG. Blood glucose levels did not vary among the calves fed the control, MOC, SM, and MOCSM diets. Significantly higher serum albumin, urea, and BUN concentrations were found in MOC diet-fed calves than in others. Calcium and phosphorus concentration varied significantly among dietary groups and was noticeably lower in the control group compared to the other dietary groups. The results revealed that calf starters endowed with MOC as a protein source and in combination with SM were found advantageous in improving body growth and development.

There is a dearth of longitudinal studies of corporate social responsibility expenditure (CSRE) and corporate governance in Bangladesh, which has been the impetus for this study. The study aims to identify the relationship between ownership structure and CSR expenditure. The empirical study considered a longitudinal period of 2007–2019 of listed financial firms (banks and non-banking financial institutions) of Bangladesh. The final sample consisted of 461 firm-year observations for 53 firms. The study incorporated a set of theories, including agency cost theory and stakeholder theory. The study applied the ordinary least square (OLS) regression technique to test hypotheses. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that foreign ownership and managerial ownership contribute positively and significantly to CSRE. However, the study did not document any relationship between institutional ownership and CSRE. The study used rigorous and alternative measurement techniques to further verify the findings. It was concluded that value creation from CSRE is highly dependent on the ownership structure of financial firms. The empirical study has significant theoretical and managerial implications. AcknowledgmentComments and suggestions from the discussants and paper presenters and audiences of International Conference on Sustainable Innovation (ICoSI 2020) at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia, have been gratefully acknowledged, which helps us to improve the quality of this paper.

In this study, newly isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were screened for the potential bioremediation capacity against toxic lead (Pb, II) and cadmium (Cd, II) with their bioaccessibility and survivability. Five strains were selected from eighteen previously isolated probiotic LAB strains based on heavy metal-resistant potentiality through in vitro disc-diffusion assay. These five strains were evaluated in vitro to explore the Pb and Cd binding and removal efficiencies using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. At the same time, their bioaccessibility and survivability were assessed in a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. The results revealed that all the tested strains were shown to have a high magnitude of minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 500 to 2000 mg/L with 5 to 25 mm growth inhibition zones. The results also demonstrated a significant (P 0.05) removal of Pb and Cd among five tested LAB strains. Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus LDMB02 showed the highest removal rates of Pb and Cd. It was also revealed that these strains significantly reduced Pb and Cd bioaccessibility from 42 to 50% and 40 to 58%, respectively. Moreover, these strains were shown to have significant survivability against Pb and Cd, ranging from 80.1 to 85.4% and 81.5 to 87.5%, respectively. This study recommends the immense potential exploit of LAB as a probiotic to protect human health from the adverse effects of Pb and Cd toxicity.

The objective of this study was to figure out the prevalence and probable causes of repeat breeding (RB) in dairy cows. Hence, a cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 265 dairy farms in Sirajganj, Bogura, Rangpur, Satkhira, and Munshiganj districts of Bangladesh from December 2018 to February 2019. Data were collected through a direct interview method using a survey questionnaire. The reproductive organs of repeat breeder cows were examined for anatomical defects, pathological, infectious, functional reasons, and genital tract abnormalities. Additionally, the influence of nutrition, season, and age on the frequency of RB was recorded. Of the 3824 cows examined, the prevalence of RB was 28%. In this study, 98% of RB cases were exhibited in crossbred cows (Holstein-Friesian, 73%) than the indigenous (2%) cows. The prevalence of RB was significantly highest (P P P P

Purpose This paper aims to examine the compliance status of Islamic banks in Bangladesh with Shari’ah-based accounting standards named Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) standard-4 and its association with corporate governance. Design/methodology/approach The six years of secondary data, including the annual reports of 2013–2018, were collected from the websites of all the seven listed Islamic banks, i.e. 100% of the population available during the period of study. The study used a content analysis approach for systematically categorizing and analysing the contents disclosed in the annual report. A total compliance score based on 133 reporting items of IFSB standard-4 were considered for content analysis. Furthermore, this study applied the ordinary least square to investigate the impact of corporate governance on IFSB standard-4. Findings This study found that the level of compliance with the IFSB standard by the Islamic banks in Bangladesh is poor, as the overall compliance status is 44.83%. Further, this study observed a significant and positive influence of the Shari’ah supervisory committee, the board size, accounting experts on the board, foreign ownership and institutional ownership on the level of compliance with IFSB standard-4. On the other hand, this study found a negative effect of directors’ ownership on the level of compliance with IFSB standard-4. Practical implications This study provides the management of Islamic banks an insight into developing their governance characteristics to comply with Islamic accounting and reporting standards. Moreover, this study expects to facilitate the management of Islamic banks in designing their accounting and reporting outlines to enhance the level of compliance with the IFSB standards. Originality/value This pioneering study on IFSB standards opens an avenue to the researchers exploring the accounting and reporting status of Islamic banks considering the requirements of the IFSB standards.

Purpose There was no previous firm-level empirical research to examine cross-sectional differences in climate financing. The purpose of this study is to determine the key elements of the climate investment decision by business management. The study also explores how politics and media influence corporate climate investment decisions. Design/methodology/approach The study incorporates a theoretical lens of institutional, stakeholder and media setting agenda to explain the relationship of climate finance with political connection and media influence along with other institutional and firm-specific variables. The sample of the study is collected from the financial sector firms that financed climate/green projects. In total, 178 firm-year observations are documented during 2014–2018. The unbalanced panel data model uses a fixed effect and a 2SLS regression model to test a set of hypotheses. The study uses several alternate methods to check and verify the reliability of the study. Findings The empirical findings show that climate finance is positively and significantly associated with Islamic Sharīʿah and media visibility, and negatively and significantly related to financial constraints. Moreover, the empirical results document that listing regulation has no significant influence on climate investment. The political connection plays a negative moderating role between media and climate finance. The result indicates that if a former or current politician is on the board, the media’s positive impact on climate financing diminishes. Practical implications The study has significant managerial implications especially to the regulatory bodies, business management and policymakers. The central bank in the developing countries needs to take into consideration the finding of the study promoting climate/environmental/green finance and investment. Islamic Sharīʿah promotes climate finance that would be a prominent indicator for Islamic financial institutions. Social implications Politics can deter positive decisions on climate financing such that it negatively influences the media’s role of a watchdog of the society in developing countries. Climate investment would be an important mechanism to reduce carbon emissions and environmental hazards and to solve many social problems. Originality/value The study provides first-ever firm-level evidence of the determinants of climate finance and investment that has a significant value in the area of climate change and green investment by the financial firms.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of independent directors on the relationship between politicians on the board and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD). Design/methodology/approach The ordinary least square has been used to analyze the CSRD data collected from the annual reports of all 30 listed banks of Bangladesh covering six years period ranging from 2013–2018. Further, the study has applied the generalized method of moments to prove the robustness of the model across the endogeneity issue. Findings The study found a positive relationship between board independence and CSRD that indicates board independence enhances the CSRD to a great extent. On the contrary, the inclusion of politicians on the board has shown a negative impact on CSRD that implies the higher the presence of political members on the board of a bank, the lower the involvement of the bank in CSR activities. However, board independence positively and significantly moderates the politician directors on the CSRD. The findings imply that if the independent directors are empowered, they play the role of whistleblowers that, in turn, mitigates the negative role of politician directors to CSRD. Research limitations/implications The study suggests the banks’ management, and regulatory bodies formulate sound policies so that the banks are forced to include more independent directors with enough power and at the same time, reduce the politician directors on the board. Originality/value The study extends debate on the political CSR and CSRD through validating the role of board independence.

Good aquaculture practice (GAP) based carp fattening is a potential technique to obtain higher and safe fish production within shorter period in ponds of drought prone area. Sustainability of this technique, however, is constrained by high feed cost and poor water quality. Therefore, as an overcoming effort, three diets (protein content of 20%, 25% and 30%) under three different treatments (T1, T2 and T3) were tested during January-June, 2020 in fattening ponds of carps (Catla, Gibelion catla; silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix; rohu, Labeo rohita; mrigal, Cirrhinus cirrhosis; and carpio, Cyprinus carpio var. specularis) under Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Variation in protein level had no significant effect on environmental parameters of pond water. Combined fish yield was found to vary significantly (P

The study was carried out on milk clotting activity of the crude proteolytic enzymes from different parts of papaya plant (Carica papaya). Cottage cheese was prepared using whole cow milk collected from Bangladesh Agricultural University Dairy Farm. Diluted papaya latex (4 drops in 100 ml distilled water) was added and thoroughly mixed for coagulation of milk from different parts of the papaya plant. The treatment samples were named as A: mature papaya; B: immature papaya; C: papaya tree leaf; D: lower part stem and E: upper part stem. In case of organoleptic evaluation it was observed that flavor, body and texture, finish, color, and total score were ranked non-significantly higher in cheese sample using latex from immature papaya B (93.34±0.45) than rest of the samples. In chemical analysis, significant (p [J Bangladesh Agril Univ 2021; 19(1.000): 85-90]

This study determines the effects of economic growth, energy consumption, information and communication technology (ICT), military expenditure, and tourism on CO2 emissions for the G20 countries by employing panel data from 1980 to 2019. In the presence of cross-sectional dependence and mixed order of integration, the study employs Westerlund co-integration test and panel ARDL approach to obtain reliable, consistent, and unbiased long-run associations among the intended variables. The empirical results of the analysis demonstrate that energy consumption, ICT and military expenditure increase CO2 emissions while economic growth mitigates CO2 emissions. However, tourism has an insignificant effect on CO2 emissions. Hence, the study recommends that policymakers should take appropriate actions to control CO2 emissions through environment-friendly strategies.

This study aimed to assess the relationship between milk components and amino acid (AA) profiles among different crossbred buffaloes in Bangladesh. A total of thirty-six (36) lactating buffaloes were selected from Murrah, Nili-Ravi, and Mehsana crossbreds, and 03 groups were made, each with 12 buffaloes. The total experimental period was 10 weeks, including 10 days of diet adjustment. The results revealed that milk protein and total solids contents of Murrah, Mehsana, and Nili-Ravi crossbred buffaloes showed a higher to lower trend (p 0.05). The highest Lysine: Methionine ratio observed in Murrah buffalo is about 3.20%, while in Mehsana and Nili-Ravi buffalo is about 2.80 and 2.50%, respectively. Thus, it is evident from the study that the raw milk components and amino acid composition vary considerably in the different crossbred lactating buffaloes. Finally, the compositional data of raw milk may create the way of sustainable use of milk from crossbred dairy buffaloes and improve food and nutrition security, particularly in developing countries.

The study was investigated to develop the lactose-free probiotic acidophilus milk (PAM) enriched with novel probiotic strains (Lactobacillus acidophilus LDMB01, Lactococcus lactis LDMB10, and Streptococcus thermophilus LDMB09), as well as fortified with cocoa powder. The physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses were performed to see how the formulations worked. Two probiotic acidophilus milk formulations were made with β-galactosidase lactose hydrolysis, one with cocoa (5% m/v). A constant sugar level of 5% was used. The lactose-free acidophilus milk did not differ in acid content and showed values below 0.1% for lactose. The incorporation of cocoa in the PAM provided higher initial pH values reduced with the storage period and higher syneresis values throughout 28 days of storage. In addition, the probiotic bacteria showed high viability during storage, with counts above 7 log CFU/mL. In terms of sensory evaluation, most judges assigned both products an overall acceptability score of 8 for the characteristics (appearance, aroma, taste, texture, and overall acceptance). On the other hand, the sample containing cocoa achieved higher mean scores for appearance and texture. As a result, these products have much potential for industrial use, especially for lactose-intolerant people.

Aquaculture of homestead ponds under drought prone areas is climatically challenged by increased temperature and decreased water level. These ponds are potentials for farming of a short cycle aquaculture species like Heteropneustes fossilis with carps but lack of appropriate species combination is the major constraint for promotion of this technique. To address this problem, an experiment was carried out during July to December, 2019 to evaluate the production and economics of H. fossilis based polyculture under different carp species combinations in homestead ponds in Tanore of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Three different combination of carps were tested under three treatments as T1: Labeo rohita dominant carps (L. rohita 50%, Gibelion catla 25% and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix 25%); T2: G. catla dominant carps (L. rohita 25%, G. catla 50% and H. molitrix 25%); and T3: H. molitrix dominant carps (L. rohita 25%, G. catla 25% and H. molitrix 50%), each with three replications. Stocking densities were 123500 ha–1 for of H. fossilis was and 988 ha–1 for carps. Water quality was monitored monthly and found within acceptable range. T3 was found significantly (p < 0.05) better than other groups in terms of yield and cost benefit ratio.

Increased temperature, decreased water level and reduced culture period of the ponds with lack of guidelines in selecting appropriate stocking size, density and combination of species are major constraints for safe production of fattening based carps in drought prone barind area of Bangladesh. In order to address these problems, an experiment was conducted during July-December, 2018 to determine the suitable species combination for fattening ponds of overwintered carps in Tanore upazila (sub district) of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Three different combinations of surface (G. catla and H. molitrix), column (L. rohita) and bottom (C. cirrhosus and C. carpio var. specularis) feeding carp species were tested under 3 treatments (T1, T2 and T3), each with 3 replications: T1 (Surface-30%, column-40%, and bottom-30%), T2 (Surface-40%, column-30%, and bottom-30%) and T3 (Surface-35%, column-35%, and bottom-30%). Application of good aquaculture practices in the studied ponds was found to improve the environmental conditions of pond. Significantly (P< 0.05) highest fish yield was obtained from treatment T2 which was 21.47% and 11.89% higher than T1 and T3, respectively. Significantly (P

As tax evasion is an acute problem in developing countries, the study aims to examine the factors that influence the taxpayers' attitudes towards tax evasion encompassing the moderating effect of demographic characteristics on tax evasion. The study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) as the tool to analyze the primary data collected from different sections of respondents. The study shows that fairness perception, tax knowledge, audit, and enforcement initiatives negatively influence taxpayers' attitudes towards tax evasion, while corruption, discrimination, and complexity in the tax system influence them positively. Further, the study found that males, younger, married, graduate, self-employed, and people with low-income become more influenced by the factors of tax evasion than female, older, unmarried, under-graduated, job holders, and people with high income. The findings of this study provide the governments of the developing countries and their tax authorities a valuable understanding, which in turn helps them reform the taxpayers' compliance framework.

Though remarkable literature exploring productivity and efficiency has emerged since the last half of the previous century, but dearth studies have been found in showing the impact of corporate governance on banks’ productivity. The study aims to investigate the banks’ productivity and its relationship with corporate governance. For this purpose, the study examines the productivity of 30 listed banks of Bangladesh deploying a Malmquist Productivity Index (an extension of Data Envelopment Analysis) with a panel data covering the period of five years from 2013 to 2017. The empirical results show that the average productivity of the banks is 1.03%. Finally, the ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effect (FE), and random effect (RE) regression were run separately. The research outcomes show that the productivity of the Bangladeshi banks is significantly influenced by financial performance, ownership structure, and board characteristics. The study provides the researchers, academicians, management of the banks, and regulatory body a new insight of how corporate governance influences the banks’ productivity so that they can formulate a better policy to generate more productivity.

Milk chocolate can be formulated with the addition of probiotics. This study was conducted to investigate the physicochemical properties, sensory attributes, and probiotic viability in milk chocolates during storage and in vitro gastrointestinal digestion. Probiotic milk chocolate was prepared by adding the potential probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus LDMB-01 and stored at 4 and 25 °C for up to 90 days. Control milk chocolate was prepared without probiotics. The stored chocolate samples were analysed for viscosity, pH, water activity, sensory properties, and probiotic viability. The viscosity of probiotic chocolate declined steadily as the storage time progressed, with water activity being slightly increased and pH was unaffected during refrigerated storage up to 90 days. The probiotic cell was found to be viable up to 90 days of storage at 4 °C (>6 log CFU g−1) which is sufficient in number to provide potential health benefits to the consumer. As a carrier, chocolate matrix showed a protective effect to the novel probiotics in the gastrointestinal environments compared to free cells. The overall sensory results suggested that the probiotic supplementation had no significant effect on sensory attributes. This study concludes that milk chocolate matrix can potentially be used as a carrier of novel probiotics L. acidophilus LDMB-01 with optimum probiotic viability and unaltered physicochemical properties.

Using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, this study measures the profitability, marketability, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure efficiencies from 2012 to 2021 of listed banks in Bangladesh. The results show that Bangladeshi banks are, on average, inefficient in terms of all efficiencies, profitability (0.703), marketability (0.56), and CSR disclosure (CSRD) (0.903) over the sample period. Further, the study compared the three efficiencies between Islamic and conventional banks and found that conventional banks are more efficient than Islamic banks in terms of profitability and marketability at 5% and 8%, respectively, while, in terms of CSRD efficiency, Islamic banks are by 1% more efficient than conventional banks. Furthermore, ordinary least square (OLS) regression has been used to investigate the impact of financial constraints, political connections, and

The growing number of internet banking (i-banking) users in Bangladesh requires examining their behavioral intention (BI) to adopt i-banking services. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence the customers’ intention in i-banking adoption encompassing the moderating effect of demographic characteristics. This study uses an expansive approach of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with customer satisfaction. The structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used to analyze the data collected from the internet banking users of Bangladesh. Findings of the study conclude that the higher the level of performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE) and social influence (SI), the greater the level of customers’ inclination to adopt i-banking. Whereas, facilitating condition negatively affects their BI in i-banking adoption. Moreover, this study finds a positive and significant impact of system, service and information quality and security, privacy and trust (SPT) on customers’ satisfaction, which, in turn, substantially influence their intention toward i-banking adoption. While investigating the moderating effect of demographic characteristics, this study finds that all categories of customers, regardless of their age, gender, experience and education, are influenced by the customers’ satisfaction of services qualities and trust perception in i-banking adoption. Therefore, it is suggested to the policymakers that they should take such initiatives in designing the i-banking system that satisfy the customers’ expectations.

Crop production is a constant battle with weeds, in which weeds, generally, are victorious. Therefore, rather than channeling our efforts into the development of a “silver bullet” to control weeds, the focus should be on sustainable weed management in both natural- and agro-ecosystems. However, sustainable weed management can be a challenge in the context of global climate change. Over the past few decades, global climate change, mostly indicated by phenomena such as increased atmospheric temperature and elevated CO2 levels, is evident due to human activities and natural events. These phenomena also affect regional/local climate, resulting in significant influences on the agricultural systems of a particular region. Rising CO2 levels may give comparative advantages to C3 plants through increased photosynthesis, biomass production and yield, compared to C4 plants. Plants with C4 photosynthetic pathways, on the other hand, are likely to benefit more from rising global temperatures than C3 plants. Thus, the differential responses of C3 and C4 plants to climate change may alter crop–weed interactions and competition outcomes, most likely at the expense of the crop. Climate change will likely cause shifts in weed community compositions, their population dynamics, life cycle, phenology, and infestation pressure. Some weed species may go extinct, while some others may become more aggressive invaders. Weeds are, generally, colonizers and have some unique biological traits and ecological amplitudes that enable them to successfully dominate crops in a habitat with changed environmental conditions. Moreover, climate shifts, especially erratic rainfall and drought, may affect herbicide selectivity and efficacy or the success of bio-control agents resulting in an establishment of a mixed and complex population of C3 and C4 weed species adding to the complexity of weed management. Although elevated CO2 levels will stimulate the productivity of major C3 crops, most troublesome agricultural weeds will likely be more responsive to a rise in CO2 than crops, and thus may dominate the agro-ecosystem. It is predicted that, as temperature rises, the majority of the C4 weeds will flourish and will pose serious crop yield losses. Understanding and assessment of the impact of simultaneous changes in multiple climate factors and their complex interactions on crops and weeds are therefore necessary to formulate an adaptive weed management approach and build resilience. Moreover, strategic policies and strong actions need to be taken to reduce the root causes of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the impact of climate change on weed biology and management.

The study was aimed at assessing the productive performance of dairy buffalo and milk marketing approaches in different agro-climatic districts of Bangladesh. Three (03) districts of Bangladesh viz. Bhola, Mymensingh, and Dinajpur were chosen from the coastal, river basin and semi-arid region, respectively. A triangulation method of survey was used to collect the data and the components of the triangle were buffalo farms, buffalo farmers and buffalo herdsmen. The investigation duration was twelve (12) months. The study revealed that the highest milk yield (5 L/h/d; p=0.010) was found in the river basin and semi-arid region. Lactation yield was also recorded double in the river basin and semi-arid districts compared to coastal districts (p=0.000). In the case of lactation length, the river basin buffaloes possessed 33 and 36% longer than coastal and semi-arid districts, respectively. All the chemical components were found significantly different (p≤0.050) but fat. Among different agro-climatic districts, about 92% of milk was traded in the coastal region after meeting the household's need but it was noted that the farmers from the semi-arid region kept more than 21% of milk for family consumption (p=0.000). The highest unit price (BDT 72/L) of milk was observed in the river basin district (p=0.011). In conclusion, the current situations of buffalo farming and milk marketing approaches in Bangladesh, varies considerably.

The present study was conducted involving 62 F3 genotypes of Brassica napus L. at the experimental farm of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh to ponder the genetic variability, phenotypic, genotypic and environmental coefficient of variation, heritability and genetic advance, correlation, path coefficient and genetic diversity analysis in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with sixty-two genotypes (treatments) with three replications during November 2014 to February 2015. The investigations aimed to select the best segregating genotypes for the yield improvement of Brussica napus (rapeseed). Analysis of variance indicated that the genotypes were found significantly different for all the characters considered. The relative phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits investigated. The high GCV value was observed for the number of siliqua per plant (NSP), plant height (PH), silique length (SL), number of seed per silique (NSS) and seed yield per plant (SYP) indicated high broad sense heritability. The significant positive correlation with seed yield per plant (SYP) was found in plant height (PH) (0.368**), the number of primary branches per plant (NPB) (0.332**), number of secondary branches per plant (NSB) (0.382**), number of silique per plant (NSP) (0.549**), and siliqua length (SL) (0.037**). The results of path coefficient analysis uncovered that plant height (PH) (0.582), days to 50% flowering (50F) (0.390), days to maturity (DM) (0.575), number of primary branches per plant (NPB) (0.678), number of secondary branches per plant (NSB) (0.182),and thousand seed weight (TSW) (0.289) had a positive direct impact on seed yield per plant (SYP) and thus it was concluded that these traits could be exploited for the enhancement of yield potential of rapeseed. This study showed that based on the agronomic performance execution, genotypes G8, G14, G19, G21, G47, and G55 might be proposed for future hybridization program in Bangladesh and this could help rapeseed breeders to upgrade their breeding activities.

The study examines the relationship between doing business factors and tax evasion in Asian countries. To this end, Ordinary Least Square (OLS), along with a fixed and random effect model, was used to analyze the 5-year data (2011–2015) of 35 Asian countries obtained from the global competitiveness report and World Development Indicators. The findings indicated that a high level of corruption, a high tax rate, limited access to finance, strict tax regulation, government instability, and poor ethics promote tax evasion. Extending the socio-economic theory, the findings of the study provide the tax administration and governments of Asian countries with insights into the mechanism by which certain business factors influence tax evasion. Moreover, the study offers some valuable guidelines for formulating suitable economic policies that engender a reduction in tax evasion.

Since the empirical evidence on the relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) and firm productivity is scarce in the context of the banking industry, the study examines whether CSRD leads banks in Bangladesh to higher productivity. Using annual report data of all 30 banks listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Bangladesh from 2011 to 2018, the study applied a data envelopment analysis (DEA) to determine the productivity of the sample banks, and then ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis to examine the impact of CSR on the banks’ productivity. Furthermore, the study utilized two-stage least squares (2SLS) and a generalized method of moments (GMM) to check the robustness of the findings amid the detection of endogeneity issues. The study also used several alternative variables to check and verify the reliability of the study. The findings indicate that the greater a bank’s contribution to CSR, the higher its productivity. However, banks with more debt to assets are less productive. Additionally, the study observed that the impact of CSRD on bank productivity is higher in GRI banks compared to non-GRI banks, non-politically connected banks as opposed to politically connected banks, and conventional banks compared to Islamic banks. The study provides valuable insight into how CSR activities can promote bank productivity, thus motivating the banks to execute a well-thought-out action plan to ensure more CSR contribution. This study is the first ever bank-level evidence that provides insight into how the patterns of CSR activity of publicly traded banks impact their productivity.

Corruption is a major concern globally, particularly in developing countries, such as Bangladesh, where it is the main obstacle to economic development. Corruption is also mentioned as the major impediment to accomplishing sustainable development. There is a dearth of studies on anti-corruption disclosure (ACD), political corporate social responsibility (PCSR), and cash holding in Bangladesh magnitude of this research. This study investigates different drivers and motivations of ACD practice of a less control of corruption country’s firm-level observations. This study incorporates an institutional and legitimacy theoretical lens to explain anti-corruption disclosure practice. In order to draw the best picture of corruption disclosure, the study uses all financial sector companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. Therefore, the total firm-year observations are 245 from 2012–2016. The authors developed a diverse set of 97 keywords as content for ACD. The regression results show that CSR expenditures, political corporate social responsibility (PCSR), financial constraint, internationalization of reporting, and media visibility positively and significantly affect firm-level ACD. Furthermore, cash holdings show negative and significant relationships. The study provides new evidence on CSR expenditure, PCSR, cash holdings, and media visibility from a developing country’s perspective. Therefore, the results suggest that policymakers and regulatory authorities can deal with ACD as a legitimization tool for society and stakeholders.

The study investigates whether the firms' characteristics, including ownership structure, audit, and familiarity affect tax evasion. The study has used the ordinary least square (OLS) to analyze cross-sectional data of 85 countries between 2007 and 2015 collected from the world enterprise survey. The study finds that the domestic, foreign, and government ownership in the firm increases tax evasion, whereas proprietorship and female ownership decreases the tax evasion. Further, the results show that familiar firms with international recognition are less inclined to evade tax. Similarly, the negative relationship between audit and tax evasion implies that the government should make it compulsory to check the financial statements of the firms by the external auditors, which, in turn, reduces the firms' tax evasion. Moreover, the firms that face more financial constraints evade more tax than the firms with access to the bank loan and solvent ones. The tax authorities should also consider reducing the corporate tax rate as the higher tax rates stimulate the firms to evade more tax.

Background: Reducing the sugar content of processed products has been claimed to be one of the most efficient strategies for decreasing sugar intake. To investigate what level of sugar reduction is accepted in set-type yogurt, we conducted a hedonic test focusing on the sensory attributes and assessed the nutritional quality of the yogurt. Methods: We prepared a total of 12 set-type yogurt samples using four sugar concentrations (viz. 0, 4, 5 and 12%). The starter culture was used as a 1:1 ratio mixture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. The sensorial, chemical and microbiological analyses were performed. Result: From the investigation, yogurt containing at least 4 and 5% added sugar was found acceptable based on overall sensory score. On the hedonic scale, yogurt containing 12% sugar was more often described as too sweet compared with yogurt containing 4 and/or 5% sugar. On the other hand, the sweetness and aroma intensity for yogurt containing 0% sugar was judged as too low. The 4 and 5% added sugar yogurt was recorded highest with protein content 4.35 and 4.53%, respectively. The initial total viable count (TVC) of the yogurt made was found highest in 4 and 5% sugar yogurt each with » 5 log10 cfu/mL. These results indicate that consumers would accept set-type yogurts with 4 to 5% added sugar instead of 12 to 15%, but 0 to 3% sugar would be too low.