Determinants of Profitability- A Case from the State-owned Commercial Banks of Bangladesh

This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of bank-specific and economy-specific determinants on the performance of selected State-owned Commercial Banks (SCB) operating in Bangladesh in terms of their profitability. This study considers three prominent SCBs, six bank specific determinants, two economy-specific determinants collected as secondary data from 2007-2014. Different financial ratios and statistical tools (descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation & regression analysis) have utilized for verifying the hypotheses. The results showed that SCBs’ profitability (Return on Assets) has positive relationships with capital adequacy ratio(CAR), cost of fund ratio (COF), cost to income ratio (CIR), GDP growth ratio (GDPR) and negative relationship with classified loans to total loans ratio(CLTL), bank’s size (SIZ) and inflation (INFL).  Among them, CAR and GDPR are the significant determinants of their profitability over the study period. Keywords:  Profitability, State-owned commercial Banks, Internal & External determinants

Determinants of Profitability- A Case from the State-owned Commercial Banks of Bangladesh

This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of bank-specific and economy-specific determinants on the performance of selected State-owned Commercial Banks (SCB) operating in Bangladesh in terms of their profitability. This study considers three prominent SCBs, six bank specific determinants, two economy-specific determinants collected as secondary data from 2007-2014. Different financial ratios and statistical tools (descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation & regression analysis) have been utilized for verifying the hypotheses. The results showed that SCBs’ profitability (Return on Assets) has positive relationships with capital adequacy ratio(CAR), cost of fund ratio (COF), cost to income ratio (CIR), GDP growth ratio (GDPR) and negative relationship with classified loans to total loans ratio(CLTL), bank’s size (SIZ) and inflation (INFL).  Among them, CAR and GDPR are the significant determinants of their profitability over the study period. Keywords:  Profitability, State-owned commercial Banks, Internal & External determinants

Review on Extraction and Application of Natural Dyes

With the improvement of living standards, everybody is very much conscious about the environmental protection and health safety. Natural dyes have attracted more attention to the industry due to exhibiting better biodegradability and more compatibility with the environment. Characteristic colours that are gathered from common assets can be categorized as either plant, creature, mineral, or microbial colours and can be used for colouring a wide range of regular filaments. Late examination shows that it can likewise be utilized to colour a portion of the manufactured filaments too. Normal colours are not just utilized in the shading of material filaments, they are also utilized for food, prescriptions, handiwork articles, and leather preparing. Extraction and purification play a vital role in the processing of natural dyes. There are different types of extraction process currently available for these natural dyes, such as solvent extraction, aqueous extraction, enzymatic extraction and fermentation, extraction with microwave or ultrasonic energy, supercritical fluid extraction, and alkaline or acid extraction. All these extraction processes have their own advantages as well as some drawbacks depending on the parameters that need to be maintained during the extraction process. Appropriate extraction can be beneficial for specific types of such dyes. In this paper, the classification, characteristics, extraction methods, and the application of natural dyes are introduced in an organized manner

Review on Extraction and Application of Natural Dyes

With the improvement of living standards, everybody is very much conscious about the environmental protection and health safety. Natural dyes have attracted more attention to the industry due to exhibiting better biodegradability and more compatibility with the environment. Characteristic colours that are gathered from common assets can be categorized as either plant, creature, mineral, or microbial colours and can be used for colouring a wide range of regular filaments. Late examination shows that it can likewise be utilized to colour a portion of the manufactured filaments too. Normal colours are not just utilized in the shading of material filaments, they are also utilized for food, prescriptions, handiwork articles, and leather preparing. Extraction and purification play a vital role in the processing of natural dyes. There are different types of extraction process currently available for these natural dyes, such as solvent extraction, aqueous extraction, enzymatic extraction and fermentation, extraction with microwave or ultrasonic energy, supercritical fluid extraction, and alkaline or acid extraction. All these extraction processes have their own advantages as well as some drawbacks depending on the parameters that need to be maintained during the extraction process. Appropriate extraction can be beneficial for specific types of such dyes. In this paper, the classification, characteristics, extraction methods, and the application of natural dyes are introduced in an organized manner

In Vitro Screening for Antioxidant and Anticholinesterase Effects of Uvaria littoralis Blume.: A Nootropic Phytotherapeutic Remedy

Background: Oxidative stress is strongly linked in the development of numerous chronic and degenerative disorders. Medicinal plants with antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities exert a key role for the management of oxidative stress related disorders mainly Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore the purpose of this study was to assess antioxidant potentiality and anticholinesterase inhibitory activity of crude methanolic extract (CME), petroleum ether fraction (PEF), chloroform fraction (CLF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) and aqueous fraction (AQF) of Uvaria littoralis (U. littoralis) leaves. Methods: The antioxidant compounds namely total flavonoids contents (TFCs) and total proanthocyanidins contents (TPACCs) were determined for quantities constituent’s characterization. Antioxidant capacity of U. littoralis leaves were estimated by the iron reducing power (IRPA), 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and nitric oxide (NO) radical scavenging capacity. Anticholinesterase effects were estimated for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinestrase (BChE) activity. Results: The EAF of U. littoralis leaves showed the highest TFCs as compared to CLF, CME, PEF and AQF. TPACCs were also found highest in EAF. The highest absorbance for IRPA was found in EAF (2.220 nm) with respect to CME and other fractions at the highest concentration. The EAF showed best DPPH and NO radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 31.63 and 55.47 μg/mL, respectively with regard to CME and remaining fractions. The PEF represents highest AChE inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 35.19 μg/mL and CLF showed highest BChE inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 32.49 μg/mL. Conclusions: The findings of the current study demonstrate the presence of antioxidant phytochemicals, likewise, turns out antioxidant and anticholinesterase potentiality of U. littoralis leaves which could be a prestigious candidate for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases especially AD

Effects of stocking density on the growth, survival and production of endangered bata, Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) in primary nursing

Effect of stocking densities on the growth, survival and production of bata, Labeo bata fry and fingerlings were tested in a primary nursery rearing system. The experiment was conducted for a period of 4 weeks in six earthen nursery ponds having an area of 0.032 ha each. Four-day-old fry stocked at 1.0 million/ha was designated as treatment-1 (T1), 1.5 million/ha as treatment-2 (T2) and 2.0 million/ ha as treatment-3 (T3). At stocking, all fry were of same age with a mean length and weight of 1.03±0.03 cm and 0.12±0.01 g, respectively. Fry in all the treatments were fed with Mega commercial fish feed. Physico-chemical parameters such as water temperature, transparency, dissolve oxygen, pH and total alkalinity in all the treatments were suitable ranges for fry and fingerling rearing. Plankton population (both phytoplankton and zooplankton) were found to be at optimum level for fish culture. Highest weight gain was observed in T1 (3.46±0.08) and lowest in T3 (1.98±0.03). Final length, final weight and survival of fingerlings also followed the same trends as weight gain. Fingerlings in T1 produced significantly higher specific growth rate (12.15±0.08) than T2 (11.31±0.03) and T2 (10.22±0.05). Feed conversion ratio was significantly lower in T1 (0.26±0.01) than T2 (0.42±0.02) and T3 (0.65±0.01). Significantly higher number of fingerlings was produced in T3 (1177700±4700) than T2 (963300±9900) and T1 (717850±7350), respectively. Despite of this, consistently higher net benefits were found from T1 than T2 and T3. Overall, highest growth (3.60±0.16 g), survival (71.79 ± 1.04%) and net benefits (TK. 127,087.00) of fingerlings were obtained at a density of 1.0 million hatchlings/ha. Therefore, out of three stocking densities, 1.0 million fry/ha appears to be most suitable stocking density for nursing and rearing of L. bata fry and fingerlings in primary nursing

Multi-functions of hydrogel with bilayer-based lamellar structure

A novel hybrid hydrogel has been developed by combining bilayer-based lamellar structure of a self-assembled polymer surfactant and polymer network of conventional hydrogel system. A wide range of lamellar structure from micro-domain up to macro-domain (cm-scale) has been successfully generated in the hydrogel. Flat, infinitely large, and perfectly aligned lamellar macro-domain was formed by applying mechanical shear to the gel forming precursor solution containing monomer, cross-linker, and initiator. The obtained hydrogel system contains macroscopic, single-domain, periodical stacking of integrated microscopic lamellar bilayers inside the polymer matrix of the hydrogel. Periodical stacking of the bilayers in the hydrogel selectively diffract visible light to exhibit magnificent structural color. Due to the uniaxial orientation of the bilayer, the hydrogel possesses superb functions that have never been realized before, such as the one-dimensional swelling, anisotropic Young's modulus, anisotropic molecular permeation, and diffusion. Furthermore, the hydrogel exhibits excellent color tuning ability over a wide spectrum range by mechanical stimuli. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Super tough double network hydrogels and their application as biomaterials

The double-network (DN) technique, developed by authors' group, provides an innovative and universal pass way to fabricate hydrogels with super high toughness comparable to rubbers. The excellent mechanical performances of DN hydrogels originate from the specific combination of two networks with contrasting structures. The first brittle network serves as sacrificial bonds, which breaks into small clusters to efficiently disperse the stress around the crack tip into the surrounding damage zone, while the second ductile polymer chains act as hidden length, which extends extensively to sustain large deformation. Based on the principle of DN hydrogel, the author's group recently has developed several novel systems and techniques, which has greatly expanded the practical accessibility of DN technique for practical use. The DN principle and the DN gel have already attracted much attention in the soft matter community. Inspired by the DN principle, many research groups have also designed and developed some innovative hydrogels with large enhancement in their mechanical strength and toughness. Some tough hydrogels fabricated by the DN technique also exhibit good biocompatibility and low friction resistance with promising prospective in industrial and medicine fields, especially for load-bearing artificial soft tissues such as artificial cartilage. In this feature article, we address the major concept and toughening mechanism of DN gel, then we describe some recent novel hydrogel systems based on the DN concept, and finally the applicability of DN gel as soft biomaterials is discussed