Understanding Infertility and the Potential Role of Stem Cells in Infertility Treatment: A Short Communication

Infertility is increasing at a great rate across the globe. Various male as well as female factors are known to contribute to infertility. Although hormonal replacement therapy and assisted reproduction treatments like in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection are well established clinical modalities to treat infertility, stem cells are now being considered as potentially new therapeutic agents for the treatment of infertility due to their high differentiation potential. Several studies have shown that stem cell transplantation, also known as stem cell based therapy facilitates endometrial regeneration, ovarian regeneration, oocyte production in females; and activates the process of spermatogenesis in males. The present mini review is an attempt to understand the gravity of infertility as a disease, discuss some of the major causes leading to infertility in males and females and to summarize the current knowledge regarding the use of stem cells in reproductive medicine

Crowdfunding Prospects in New Emerging Markets: The Cases of India and Bangladesh

Crowdfunding is a viable approach to financing start-ups and supporting social causes in advanced economies. The World Bank estimates a vast potential for crowdfunding also in emerging markets. The South Asia region consists of predominantly collectivist societies where helping others through donations is an integral part of prevailing religious obligations and societal norms. Thus, these countries share certain cultural and religious traits that are highly consistent with the principles of crowdfunding. In the current chapter, we explore the history, ongoing activity, and future prospects of crowdfunding in new emerging markets, specifically, India and Bangladesh. We observe that India is largely dominating the crowdfunding activity in the region, which is otherwise limited