Study on baseline characteristics and lipid profile abnormalities among type 2 diabetic patients attending urban diabetic care hospital, Bangladesh

Background: Altered levels of serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profile are prevalent in patients having type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM). Aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between serum HbA1c and lipid profile in T2DM to predict diabetic dyslipidemia.Methods: A structured questionnaire was filled up by each study subject to collect data according to study protocol including age, gender, BMI, BP, residential status, socio-economic status, educational status, physical activity, dietary habit, smoking and duration of diabetes. We collected blood samples from 270 type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients aged 30-65 years after overnight fasting (10-12 hours). Then blood samples collected from T2DM patients were used to measure serum levels of HbA1c, fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were estimated by standard laboratory methods.Results: In this study, increased levels of fasting blood glucose (8.61 mmo/l), HbA1c (7.86%), TC (226.15 mg/dl), TG (193.34 mg/dl) and LDL (147.37 mg/dl), and decreased levels of HDL (40.36 mg/dl) were observed in T2DM patients. Moreover, the strong positive correlation of HbA1c levels with FBG, TC, TG, and LDL levels were found in this study. Besides, a very strong and significant negative correlation (R2=0.1822) between the serum levels of HbA1c and HDL were noted in this study.Conclusions: This study revealed a strong correlation between dyslipidemia and serum levels of HbA1c in T2DM patients

Crustal Structures of Diebold Knoll and Adjacent Juan De Fuca Oceanic Crust from Integration of Seismic, Gravity and Magnetic Data

Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) has a long history of devastating earthquakes as the Juan de Fuca plate subducts beneath North America, where an imminent megathrust earthquake is expected. Compared to other subduction zones, CSZ exhibits unusually low seismic activity, particularly in the central region with respect to relatively high seismicity zones to the north and south. Some researchers attribute this behavior to subducted seamounts, although their impact on seismicity remains poorly understood and highly debated in the literature. Examining subducted seamounts is challenging due to complexity of the overburden strata. That is why this study focuses on an isolated not-yet-subducted intraplate seamount known as the Diebold Knoll, located approximately 60 km west of the deformation front. Seismic reflection, gravity, and magnetic data were acquired over that seamount during the cruise RR1718. The first objective of this research was to determine heterogeneities in physical properties of oceanic crust resulted from addition of the seamount by integrated geophysical analysis along two intersecting profiles. The second objective was to reveal the tectonic history of the Diebold Knoll by combining magnetic polarity reversals with cross-cutting relationship analysis of seismic structures and constrained by the nearby ocean drilling sites. These models revealed that Diebold Knoll does not require complete isostatic compensation. Instead, a flat Moho or a less than 1 km thick root is sufficient to satisfy gravity data; both of these Moho geometries are observed in the study area. To achieve a better fit with observed gravity and magnetic anomalies, lower density and magnetic susceptibility values within the top portion of the seamount are required, which are attributed to faulting and hydration. This finding is also in agreement with a recent study that analyzed seismic velocity variations within seamounts. Furthermore, the negative magnetic anomaly of the seamount and the cross-cutting relationships between sedimentary layers and the seamount body indicated that Diebold Knoll is a very young feature formed approximately 0.8-1.8 Ma. Advisor: Irina Filin

The Valuation of Water Quality: A Conceptual Framework for Households’ and Producers’ Willingness to Pay in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Restoring the freshwater ecosystems has drawn global attention, governmental and non-governmental organizations around the globe incorporating several strategies to revive the last remaining free-flowing rivers and other high priority freshwater ecosystems. Rivers in urban setting have social, economic and ecological importance and demise of such rivers might affect many of its inhabitant’s life and living which has been established, survived and flourished over the years. Often, restoration of the river ecosystem seems challenging to the policy makers because the river ecosystem services have no price tag. Improving water quality program requires precise information about the costs and benefits which in urban areas needs to incorporate an integrated approach that implement necessary societal and technical measures. This study provides a conceptual framework using both households’ and producers’ willingness to pay for the river water quality improvement to acquire maximum information for successful restoration program. This study provides useful information which may help for further improvement of the water quality in an alike problem of developing countries. Future studies should validate empirically the proposed research framework. Keywords: Urban River Restoration, Households’ WTP, Producers’ WTP, Conceptual Framework DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-2-1

Kinetics of Length Scale Dependent Deformation of Gold Microspheres and Micropillars

In this thesis length and time scale dependence of the operative plastic deformation mechanisms in Au is studied. Uniaxial compression tests were performed at various loading rates on FIB-milled Au micropillars and single-crystalline Au microspheres of diameter ranging from 0.8 to 6.0 µm to investigate the incipient and bulk plasticity events. Constant-load ambient-temperature creep tests were performed on the micropillars to study the time-dependent plasticity at very slow strain rates. Uniaxial compression tests were also performed on coated Au microspheres to study the effect of extrinsic constraint on the deformation mechanisms. During uniaxial compression, both the Au micropillars and microspheres displayed strain jumps, the frequency of which decreased with increasing sample diameter and increasing resolved shear stress. The bulk flow stress, corresponding to 5% – 20% average compressive strain, was dependent upon both the strain rate and the specimen diameter. Analysis of the apparent activation volume, V*, and energy, Q*, of the deformation process indicated that the operative deformation mechanism for the small 0.8 µm diameter pillars and spheres was characteristic of a mechanism limited by surface nucleation of dislocations while larger diameter samples displayed values indicative of the more common dislocation-obstacle interaction limited deformation mechanism. The deformation-rate dependence of incipient plastic deformation of the Au micropillars and microspheres was also dependent upon the strain rate and sample diameter. For the smallest, sub-micrometer size, samples the incipient plasticity was controlled by heterogeneous dislocation nucleation events, while a dislocation-obstacle interaction limited glide process was found to be operative in the larger specimens. In the extrinsic constraint study, Au microspheres that were coated with a 40 – 80 nm thick Ni layer displayed a slightly increased flow stress compared to similar size uncoated microspheres. The estimated V* and Q* values for the coated microspheres suggest that the mechanism responsible for the initiation of first dislocation motion is essentially the same regardless of the presence of a constraining coating

The Concept of Corporate Governance and Its Evolution in Asia

Corporate governance is one of the most imperative research topics all over the world for its contribution to the corporations and the global economy. Besides, Asian economy is currently the major contributor of the world economy. Laws and regulations in the Asian region have been enacted extensively and different standards have been developed during the last decade. This descriptive study attempts to summarize these developments in Asia along with the discussion of core concept of corporate governance for the new researchers in this field and other concern parties. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Evolution, Asi

BUILDING A HERITAGE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BLUEPRINT FOR BANGLADESH: AN EXPLORATIVE INVESTIGATION

Purpose of the study: Bangladesh is blessed with all the possibility to be an imperative heritage destination on global premises, whereas there are a number of obstacles that can obstruct the effective development of the heritage tourism segment in the country. As a result, the present study targets to explore major issues that are critical in the development process of heritage tourism. Methodology: The study has organised 25 semi-structured interview procedures for data collection. The respondents are judgementally selected on the basis of their frequent tourism activities. Findings: The analysis has revealed some critical issues related to governance, institutional requirements, integration, and resource allocation. Application: The findings of the study can possibly help the authority to formulate a suitable strategy regarding the development of heritage tourism in Bangladesh. The outcomes of the study also serve a direction on how better tourist experience can be configured in the country's heritage destinations. Novelty/Originality of the study: The explorative nature of the investigation has the benefit of accumulating useful and insightful info about heritage tourism issues in Bangladesh comparing to what can obtain through quantitative testings. It is also one of the few attempts to identify and categorise the valuable heritage tourism products inside Bangladesh

Processing Seismic, Gravity And Magnetic Data Over Diebold Knoll On Juan De Fuca Plate

The Juan de Fuca plate is subducting beneath the North American plate along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The CSZ is associated with multiple earthquakes, although compared to other subduction zones, it is less active. Many studies suggest that subduction will cause major mega thrust earthquake in near future, while others oppose this view. This project is focused on the Diebold Knoll on the JdF plate Various geophysical methods will be integrated to determine its origin and tectonic history