Perceptions of Quality of Care for Serious Illness at Different Levels of Facilities in a Rural Area of Bangladesh

This study was conducted to explore care-seeking for perceived serious morbidities and users' perceptions about quality of care at different facilities in Matlab, Bangladesh. This is a secondary analysis of baseline community survey data of the Matlab Essential Obstetric Care Project conducted in 2001. Principal component and factor analysis methods were used for computing summary quality and socioeconomic indicators. During perceived serious morbidity of any household member within the last one year, 88.1% (776/881) used health resource outside home. Of them, 25.6% visited informal care providers, 17.8% peripheral public facilities, 7.9% tertiary hospitals, 7.3% facilities of non-governmental organizations, and 41.4% private facilities as the highest healthcare resources. Socioeconomic status and type of morbidity were significant predictors for choice of the highest level of care. Most (86.1%) of those who sought care outside the home were satisfied with the quality of services provided for their last serious morbidities. Users of organized private-sector and tertiary facilities perceived the quality of services better than users of informal care providers and peripheral public facilities. Behaviour and attitude of the service providers and availability of medicines were significant predictors for perceived quality of care. Peripheral public-health facilities were of poor quality and grossly under-used. Further research should explore the technical aspect of quality of care in different facilities, along with perceptions of service providers to design client-focused interventions to impact the use of healthcare services. There is no reason to overlook informal care providers, they should rather be trained and monitored

On certain equations of arbitrary length over torsion-free groups

Let $G$ be a non-trivial torsion free group and $t$ be an unknown. In this paper we consider three equations (over $G$) of arbitrary length and show that they have a solution (over $G$) provided two relations among their coefficients hold. Such equations appear for all lengths greater than or equal to eight and the results presented in this article can substantially simplify their solution.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1903.0650

Zero-tillage Technology and Farm Profits: A Case Study of Wheat Growers in the Rice Zone of Punjab

This study presents the results from a field survey of the wheat growers in the rice-wheat zone of Punjab. The late maturing basmati rice varieties and the post paddy-harvest conventional tillage practices to prepare seedbed for wheat sowing often result in delayed planting of the crop. The late sowing is a major factor responsible for low wheat yields obtained by the farmers of the area. Introduction of the new zero-tillage seed drill in the area during early 1980s made it possible to sow wheat in freshly harvested untilled paddy fields utilizing residual moister. Presently, more than eighty thousand hectares of wheat are sown with zero-tillage drill technology. The partial budget analysis showed that zero-tillage is more profitable than conventional wheat sowing methods of ‘wadwatter’ or ‘rauni’. The new technology saves tillage and irrigation costs, results in yield gains through a possible improvement in sowing time and enhanced fertilizer and water use efficiencies. The results showed that the zero-tillage adopters earn an extra income of 253 and 2278 rupees per acre of wheat over that earned from wheat sown with rauni and wadwattar methods respectively. The results of multiple regression analysis confirmed that the zero-tillage technology enhances water and fertilizer use efficiency. However, sufficient evidence was not present to prove any positive or adverse affect of the technology on the incidence of weeds in wheat crop. It is suggested that this aspect of zero-tillage technology be focused more in future research.wheat; Zero-tillage; technology; irrigated Punjab; rice-wheat zone; Pakistan

Zero-tillage Technology and Farm Profits: A Case Study of Wheat Growers in the Rice Zone of Punjab

The rice-wheat cropping zone of Punjab is the main producer of high-valued and fine quality basmati rice in Pakistan. The rice produced in this area is famous for its grain length and aromatic characteristics. Being an important export item, rice contributes significantly to the national foreign exchange earnings. Wheat is the other major crop of the rice-wheat system and being the staple food is central to national agricultural policies. Rice is grown on a vast area in this zone during Kharif mostly followed by wheat in the Rabi season. Studies have shown that a large gap exists between the potential and yields actually realised by the wheat growers of the area [Byerlee, et al. (1984); Hobbs (1985) and Sheikh, et al. (2000)]. Farmers’ practices regarding land preparation for paddy, wheat planting time, and other conflicts endogenous to the rice-wheat based cropping system were identified as the major factors limiting wheat yield in the area. The flooded and puddled soils that are well suited for paddy production as compared to well-drained conditions required for wheat is such an example of the system conflicts. The farmers in the rice-wheat zone of the Punjab predominantly grow basmati varieties, which are late maturing as compared to coarse varieties of rice. Therefore, paddy harvest is generally delayed at most of the farms in this zone. The late paddy harvest coupled with poor soil structure and loose plant residues create problems for preparation of a good seedbed and planting of wheat often gets late [Byerlee, et al. (1984)]. The farmers also had to resort to the broadcast method for wheat sowing which results in poor and patchy plant stands.

Representation of Man and Woman in the Selected Novels of Sidhwa and Singh: A Corpus Stylistic Analysis

The present study is a comparative stylistic analysis of two novels Train to Pakistan and The Ice Candy Man by Khuswant Singh (1956) and Bapsi Sidhwa (1988) respectively. The purpose of this study is to explore the depiction of Man and Woman in the selected texts to find out the similarities and differences through which these characters are represented. The study utilizes a mixed method approach which combines both qualitative and quantitative methods. The focus of the research is the analysis of adjectives that have been used with Man and Woman in both the texts. For this purpose, the study utilizes corpus linguistic tool AntConc (3.2.1) to carry out a stylistic analysis of the texts. A total number of 56 adjectives with a total frequency of 107 times were analyzed. The study has found that women are underrepresented in the selected texts as more adjectives are used to represent men. Moreover, both the male and female writers, mostly, portray men positively while women are portrayed negatively. It is expected that this study will open new doors for future researchers and teachers to explore and understand the language of literature from new perspectives

The Determinants of Services Sector Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Developed and Developing Economies

This study empirically examines the possible factors that determine the services sector growth, both in selected developed and developing economies. For estimation purpose, the study employs the static as well as the dynamic panel data estimation technique with panel data over the period 1990-2014. The results suggest that GDP per capita, FDI net inflow, trade openness and innovations are the common factors that significantly affect the services sector growth both in developed and in developing economies. However, the productivity gap is the only factor that does not have any significant impact on services sector growth, both in developed and developing economies, which indicates that the Baumol's cost disease has been cured. Keywords: Services Sector Growth, Panel Data Analysis, Innovation

Assessment of Self-medication Practices During COVID-19 Pandemic in Hyderabad and Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Lack of appropriate treatment for COVID-19 infection led the general population of Pakistan toward self-medication and symptomatic treatment; almost 80% of the population collected medications for future use during pandemic. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the use of medication as symptomatic treatment preventive strategy. Methods: This descriptive cross–sectional study was conducted on a local population of Hyderabad and Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The study duration was six months (April– September 2020). A total of 698 responders were selected via random sampling method. The number of participants were recruited based on 95% confidence interval with 5% margin error. Data were transferred into analysis sheet descriptively. Results: Most participants responded to the use of different over-the-counter (OTC) products for headache. The use of antibiotics with prescription due to allergic conditions, cough, respiratory tract infections including sore throat, and urinary tract infections was also found among the majority. Few respondents had self-medication practice with sedatives due to difficulty in falling asleep, and 9.5% had self-medication practice due to pain. About 20.8% of the population agreed that lockdown was a contributing factor in the self-medication practice. Conclusion: Pharmacists and healthcare professionals are advised to counsel the general public regarding the use of medication. A close collaboration is required at this stage to fight against COVID-19 and preventing the situation from worsening. Keywords: self-medication, covid-19, Hyderabad, Karachi, Pakista

Effects of extraction system on antioxidant attributes of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek]

The effects of three extraction techniques (shaking, soaking, and stirring) and two solvents (80% methanol and 80% ethanol) on the antioxidant attributes of extracts from seeds of mungbean have been investigated. The yield of mungbean extracts varied between 6.90 and 9.65 g/100 g of dry matter. Mungbean extracts contained a considerable amount of phenolics (0.78–1.12 g GAE/100 g) and flavonoids (1.23–1.78 g CE/100 g). An appreciable level of reducing power (1.46–2.18) at 10 mg/mL extract concentration, inhibition of linoleic acid peroxidation (85.2–90.4%), and DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 value 16.4–42.9 μg/mL) were also documented. Overall, the efficacy of an extraction system in isolating potent antioxidant components from mungbean seeds followed the order: shaking, 80% methanol > shaking, 80% ethanol > stirring, 80% methanol > stirring, 80% ethanol > soaking, 80% ethanol > soaking, 80% methanol. The yield and antioxidant activity of the mungbean extracts varied significantly (p < 0.05) as function of extraction techniques and solvents employed

Quality of Obstetric Care in Public-sector Facilities and Constraints to Implementing Emergency Obstetric Care Services: Evidence from High- and Low-performing Districts of Bangladesh

This study explored the quality of obstetric care in public-sector facilities and the constraints to programming comprehensive essential obstetric care (EOC) services in rural areas of Khulna and Sylhet divisions, relatively high- and low-performing areas of Bangladesh respectively. Quality was explored by physically inspecting all public-sector EOC facilities and the constraints through in-depth interviews with public-sector programme managers and service providers. Distribution of the functional EOC facilities satisfied the United Nation's minimum criteria of at least one comprehensive EOC and four basic EOC facilities for every 500,000 people in Khulna but not in Sylhet region. Human-resource constraints were the major barrier for maternal health. Sanctioned posts for nurses were inadequate in rural areas of both the divisions; however, deployment and retention of trained human resources were more problematic in rural areas of Sylhet. Other problems also plagued care, including unavailability of blood in rural settings and lack of use of evidence-based techniques. The overall quality of care was better in the EOC facilities of Khulna division than in Sylhet. ‘Context' of care was also different in these two areas: the population in Sylhet is less literate, more conservative, and faces more geographical and sociocultural barriers in accessing services. As a consequence of both care delivered and the context, more normal vaginal and caesarian-section deliveries were carried out in the public-sector EOC facilities in the Khulna region, with the exception of the medical college hospitals. To improve maternal healthcare, there is a need for a human-resource plan that increases the number of posts in rural areas and ensures availability. All categories of maternal healthcare providers also need training on evidence-based techniques. While the centralized push system of management has its strengths, special strategies for improving the response in the low-performing areas is urgently warranted