Puff or pass: do social media and social interactions influence smoking behaviour of university students? A cross-sectional mixed methods study from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the odds of being a smoker differ based on social media use and social interactions among urban university students in Bangladesh. HYPOTHESIS: Social media use and social interactions influence the smoking behaviour of Bangladeshi university students, particularly in starting and maintaining cigarette smoking. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study using mixed methods on 600 student smokers and non-smokers recruited from two public and two private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a lower middle-income country with limited resources. Exclusion criteria were those who did not use any form of social media and PhD students. RESULTS: Odds of smoking were significantly higher for those who socialised more than 4 hours/day (p<0.05; OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.12 to 2.75) and typically at night (p<0.05; OR 2.80; 95% CI 1.95 to 4.00). Odds of smoking were also higher for those who liked (p<0.05; OR 4.85; 95% CI 3.32 to 7.11), shared (p<0.05; OR 20.50; 95% CI 13.02 to 32.26) and followed (p<0.05; OR 2.88; 95% CI 1.36 to 6.11) tobacco-related content on social media. Qualitative analysis resulted in emergent themes of smokers imitating tobacco-related photos or videos seen on social media and peers as an influence for smoking initiation. CONCLUSION: This study suggests social media and social interactions may influence smoking behaviour in university students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Future research should continue to investigate the roles social media and social interaction have on smoking in order to explore social media-based smoking cessation interventions or dissemination of smoking health hazards through social media

Unmet need for mass campaign in reducing the risk of cervical cancer among Bangladeshi married women.

This paper aims at addressing the growing need for mass campaign on the risk of cervical cancer among the married women of Bangladesh. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 subjects, aged between 34 and 54, randomly selected from different areas representing different socio-demographic strata.

Epidemiology of Dyslipidemia Among Adult Population of Bangladesh

Background and aims: evatedEl level serum of lipids stimulate atherosclerosis, which is the risk factor for stroke, peripheral vascular taeohrrratrrocvtra disease. The aim of this study was to explore the pattern and associated factors of dyslipidemia among Bangladeshi adult population

Plasmonic Spherical Heterodimers: Reversal of Optical Binding Force Based on the Forced Breaking of Symmetry

Abstract The stimulating connection between the reversal of near-field plasmonic binding force and the role of symmetry-breaking has not been investigated comprehensively in the literature. In this work, the symmetry of spherical plasmonic heterodimer-setup is broken forcefully by shining the light from a specific side of the set-up instead of impinging it from the top. We demonstrate that for the forced symmetry-broken spherical heterodimer-configurations: reversal of lateral and longitudinal near-field binding force follow completely distinct mechanisms. Interestingly, the reversal of longitudinal binding force can be easily controlled either by changing the direction of light propagation or by varying their relative orientation. This simple process of controlling binding force may open a novel generic way of optical manipulation even with the heterodimers of other shapes. Though it is commonly believed that the reversal of near-field plasmonic binding force should naturally occur for the presence of bonding and anti-bonding modes or at least for the Fano resonance (and plasmonic forces mostly arise from the surface force), our study based on Lorentz-force dynamics suggests notably opposite proposals for the aforementioned cases. Observations in this article can be very useful for improved sensors, particle clustering and aggregation

A cross sectional study of Infectious Bursal Disease and Newcastle Disease in poultry in Narsingdi district of Bangladesh

Objective: A cross sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) and Newcastle Disease (ND) in poultry of Narsingdi district, Bangladesh. Materials and methods: Post mortem of a total of 208 dead birds were done for the diagnosis purpose. Different poultry species included in this study included broilers, layers, pigeon, duck etc. Results: Among the examined birds, 38% were found to be affected with IBD, and 11% were affected with ND. Age of the birds for both IBD (19.95; 95%CI: 16-23) and ND (122.23; 95%CI: 98.62-145.83); and flock size only for IBD (1317; 95%CI: 1175-1460) was found significantly associated. The chicks aging between 16-23 days and flock size between 1175-1460 were found to be the most susceptible group to IBD, and adult poultry (98.62-145.83 days old) was mostly susceptible to ND. Conclusion: IBD and ND are highly prevalent in the study area. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct effective control measures to reduce the prevalence of these diseases. This study can help in designing appropriate control measures considering risk factors of these diseases. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2016; 3(4.000): 406-412

Generalized anxiety disorder among Bangladeshi university students during COVID-19 pandemic: gender specific findings from a cross-sectional study.

In the current COVID-19 pandemic there are reports of deteriorating psychological conditions among university students in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), but very little is known about the gender differences in the mental health conditions on this population. This study aims to assess generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among university students using a gender lens during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted using web-based Google forms between May 2020 and August 2020 among 605 current students of two universities in Bangladesh. Within the total 605 study participants, 59.5% (360) were female. The prevalence of mild to severe anxiety disorder was 61.8% among females and 38.2% among males. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, females were 2.21 times more likely to have anxiety compared to males [AOR: 2.21; CI 95% (1.28-53.70); p-value: 0.004] and participants' age was negatively associated with increased levels of anxiety (AOR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.05-0.57; p = 0.001). In addition, participants who were worried about academic delays were more anxious than those who were not worried about it (AOR: 2.82; 95% CI 1.50-5.31, p = 0.001). These findings of this study will add value to the existing limited evidence and strongly advocate in designing gender-specific, low-intensity interventions to ensure comprehensive mental health services for the young adult population of Bangladesh