Mental disorders in Bangladesh: a systematic review

Background Mental disorders constitute a major public health problem globally with higher burden in low and middle-income countries. In Bangladesh, systematically-collected data on mental disorders are scarce and this leaves the extent of the problem not so well defined. We reviewed the literature on mental health disorders in Bangladesh to summarize the available data and identify evidence gaps. Methods We identified relevant literature on mental disorders within Bangladesh published between 1975 and October, 2013 through a systematic and comprehensive search. Relevant information from the selected articles was extracted and presented in tables. Results We identified 32 articles which met our pre-defined eligibility criteria. The reported prevalence of mental disorders varied from 6.5 to 31.0% among adults and from 13.4 to 22.9% among children. Some awareness regarding mental health disorders exists at community level. There is a negative attitude towards treatment of those affected and treatment is not a priority in health care delivery. Mental health services are concentrated around tertiary care hospitals in big cities and absent in primary care. Conclusions The burden of mental disorders is high in Bangladesh, yet a largely unrecognized and under-researched area. To improve the mental health services in Bangladesh, further well-designed epidemiological and clinical research are needed

Natural peste des petits ruminants virus infection in Black Bengal goats: virological, pathological and immunohistochemical investigation

BACKGROUND: Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), also known as Goat Plague, occurs in goats, sheep and related species. It is caused by a morbillivirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. In Bangladesh PPR is endemic and it causes serious economic losses. Pathology of PPR has been reported in different goat and sheep breeds from natural and experimental infections. Field results are better indicators of pathogenicity of the circulating virus. The severity of the disease varies with species, breed and immune status of the host. Pathological investigations of natural outbreaks of PPR in Balck Bengal goats are very limited. The current investigation was aimed at describing pathology and antigen localization in natural PPR infections in Black Bengal goats. RESULTS: A total of 28 outbreaks were investigated clinically and virologically. Average flock morbidity and mortality were 75% and 59%, respectively, with case fatality rate of 74%. Necropsy was conducted on 21 goats from 15 outbreaks. The major gross lesions were congestion of gastrointestinal tract, pneumonia, engorged spleen, and oedematous lymphnodes. Histopathological examination revealed severe enteritis with denudation of intestinal epithelium, severe broncho-interstitial pneumonia with macrophages within lung alveoli and extensive haemorrhages with depletion of lymphoid cells and infiltration of macrophages in the sinuses of spleen. In lymph nodes, the cortical nodules were replaced by wide sinusoids with severe depletion of lymphocytes, infiltration of mononuclear cells and some giant cells in sub-capsular areas and medullary sinuses. PPR virus antigen was found in pneumocytes and alveolar macrophages in lungs. Viral RNA could be detected by RT-PCR in 69 out of 84 nasal swab, 59 out of 84 blood and 21 out of 21 lymph node samples. Sequence analyses revealed closeness of Bangladeshi strains with other recent Asian isolates. CONCLUSION: Natural outbreaks of PPR in Black Bengal goats in Bangladesh resulted in 75% and 59% flock morbidity and mortality, respectively, with a case fatality rate of 74%. The striking histo-morphologic diagnosis of PPR was acute pneumonia and severe gastro-enteritis. A detailed experimental pathological study on Black Bengal goats infected with recent isolates is required

Microcredit, enhancement of entitlement and alleviation of poverty : an investigation into the Grameen Bank's role in Bangladesh

In developing countries, especially in Bangladesh, poor people are excluded from the formal financial sector credit services through the collateral requirement to receive a loan. Informal financial sector sources, especially moneylenders, are exploitative in nature. Therefore, poor people do not receive the minimum amount of capital, which is required to start any income generating activity, from either of the financial sector sources. The Grameen Bank initiated the microcredit programme in Bangladesh around 1976, to alleviate the poverty of poor households through providing them with the minimum amount of capital as credit without collateral and exploitation. The present study evaluates the impact of microcredit on the poverty of borrowing households. Both quasi-experimental as well as non-experimental designs have been formulated to achieve the objective. The survey-design covers one group of households (programme households), which have already received more than one loan, and another group of households (comparison households), which have just joined the programme. This study goes beyond earlier studies by developing a comprehensive framework, which covers income, consumption, assets, basic-needs, living standards, entitlement, poverty, and poverty risk of households, for assessing the impact of microcredit on the poverty of borrowing households. This study uses both subjective as well as objective measures of poverty for determining the poverty status of households. The present study compares income, consumption, basic-needs, some proxies for living standards, poverty, and poverty risk of programme households with those of comparison households to assess impacts of microcredit. On the basis of the results obtained, the study argues that microcredit increases income, consumption, expenditure, and assets of borrowing households. Through increasing income and assets, microcredit enhances entitlement of borrowing households. Microcredit also improves fulfilment of basic-needs and living standards of borrowing households. Finally, this study argues that microcredit reduces poverty risk and alleviates poverty of borrowing households significantly

Determination of Carbamate and Organophosphorus Pesticides in Vegetable Samples and the Efficiency of Gamma-Radiation in Their Removal

In the present study, the residual pesticide levels were determined in eggplants (Solanummelongena)

Developing a community of inquiry using an educational blog in higher education from the perspective of Bangladesh

Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, social networking, and podcasting have received attention in educational research over the last decade. Blogs enable students to reflect their learning experiences, disseminate ideas, and participate in analytical thinking. The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework has been widely used in educational research to understand and enhance online and blended learning platforms. There is insufficient research evidence to demonstrate the impact of educational blogging using the CoI model as a framework. This article explores how blogs can be used to support collaborative learning and how such an interaction upholds CoI through enhancing critical thinking and meaningful learning in the context of higher education (HE). An exploratory sequential mixed-method approach has been followed in this study. A convenience sampling method was employed to choose 75 undergraduate students from Dhaka University for a 24-week blogging project. Every publication on the blog was segmented into meaningful units. Whole texts of posts and comments are extracted from the blog, and the transcripts are analyzed in a qualitative manner considering the CoI framework, more specifically, through the lens of cognitive, social, and teaching presence. In addition, the semi-structured questionnaire is used to collect data from students irrespective of whether blogging expedited students' learning or not. The research findings indicate that cognitive presence, namely, the exploration component, is dominant in blog-based learning activity. Moreover, this research has demonstrated that blogs build reliable virtual connections among students through exchanging ideas and information and by offering opportunities for reflective practice and asynchronous feedback. This study also revealed challenges related to blogging in the context of developing countries, including lack of familiarity with blogs, restricted internet connectivity, limited access to devices, and low levels of social interaction. It is recommended that different stakeholders including policymakers, curriculum developers, and teachers take the initiative to synchronize the utilization of educational blogs with the formal curriculum, guaranteeing that blog activities supplement and improve traditional teaching–learning activities

Addressing Non-International Armed Conflicts Vis-À-Vis International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Regime

In contrast to traditional wars fought between States, most armed conflicts under international law have been fought within the boundary of States. Non-international armed conflicts (NIAC) are those internal wars or armed conflicts that occur inside the border of a State and include conflict between the government of a State and armed groups or only between armed organizations. Since these internal armed conflicts mirrored war between States in nearly every way, a need arose for a set of laws that might put efforts to 'humanize' their conduct at the same level as the laws regulating international armed conflict (IAC). This article highlights the significant debate between international and non-international armed conflicts and whether the difference has been virtually removed. This paper then discusses how NIAC is governed by the body of laws known as international humanitarian law (IHL). Lastly, this research looks at the debate on the difference between international and non-international armed conflicts from the standpoint of international human rights law (IHRL) to understand the characterization of armed conflicts under IHL. Indeed, there is a great deal of ambiguity in borderline circumstances due to the sliding scale for applying IHL and IHRL in NIAC, which also imposes differing obligations on the government and armed groups. Adopting a harmonious and cooperative approach may prevent any detrimental effects on the development of IHL and IHRL

Child tracking and hidden activities observation system through mobile app

The world is changing rapidly due to information technology, and all the people around the world are busy with their jobs, and business, adjusting to this race. Now, parents are giving more time at their business, office, and jobs, instead of passing the time at home, but they always get worried and scared about their children due to abuse of Information Technology and the country's law and order situation. So, parents are wanted to track and monitor their child's activities and location from anywhere to resolve their pressure. But is not possible for every parent to monitor their child physically due to many reasons. This paper presents a system that will help parents monitor their child activities from anywhere using a mobile phone to solve the problem. This android app uses global positioning system (GPS) and mobile services to find the child location and secretly stored all the call logs, hort message service (SMS) logs, contact lists, and accurate locations without knowing the children. Children assume that they are using Facebook, browsing the net or watching videos from youtube. It will not hamper any activities of the child. Parents can check all the activities of children using this app

A smart login system using face detection and recognition by ORB algorithm

We can identify human faces using a web Camera which is known as Face Detection.  This is a very effective technique in computer technology. There are used different types of attendance systems such as log in with the password, punch card, fingerprint, etc. In this research, we have introduced a facial recognition type of biometric system that can identify a specific face by analyzing and comparing patterns of a digital image.  This system is the latest login system based on face detection. Primarily, the device captures the face images and stores the captured images into the specific path of the computer relating the information into a database. When any body tries to enter into any room or premises through this login system, the system captures the image of that particular person and matches the image with the stored image. If this image matches with the stored image then the system allows the person to enter the room or premises, otherwise the system denies entry. This face recognition login system is very effective, reliable and secured. This research has used the Viola and Jones algorithm for face detection and ORB for image matching in face recognition and Java, MySql, OpenCV, and iReport are used for implementation

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of Corypha taliera Roxb

The methanol extract of Corypha taliera fruits as well as its n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane and aqueous soluble fractions were subjected to screening for antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. The methanolic crude extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 19.33 μg/ml as compared to 9.5 μg/ml for the standard agent, BHT). The crude methanol extract and its carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane and aqueous soluble fractions showed mild to moderate inhibition of microbial growth against some of the tested organisms. All the extractives exhibited strong cytotoxic properties, among which the methanol extract revealed the strongest cytotixicity (LC50 = 0.43 μg/ml).Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of Corypha taliera Roxb

The methanol extract of Corypha taliera fruits as well as its n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane and aqueous soluble fractions were subjected to screening for antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. The methanolic crude extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 19.33 μg/ml as compared to 9.5 μg/ml for the standard agent, BHT). The crude methanol extract and its carbon tetrachloride, dichloromethane and aqueous soluble fractions showed mild to moderate inhibition of microbial growth against some of the tested organisms. All the extractives exhibited strong cytotoxic properties, among which the methanol extract revealed the strongest cytotixicity (LC50 = 0.43 μg/ml).Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire