‘Jibon Thekey Neya' (Glimpses of Life, 1970) : The First Political Film in Pre- Liberation Bangladesh and a Cinematic Metaphor for Nationalist Concerns’

The year 1970 was significant for Bangladeshi cinema. It was the time when the collective aspirations to construct a new national and cultural identity appeared on Bangladeshi screens, in tandem with the contemporary political situation. Just a few years earlier, in 1966, a new wave of a militant movement had swept over Pakistan when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced the Six Point programme. The Six Point, which was widely referred to as the Magna Carta of the Bengalis, drew strength from secular consciousness of the Bengali people and from the economic deprivation of East Pakistan. Slowly it cemented the struggle for a new nation. Jibon Thekey Neya (Glimpses of life, 1970), a film by Zahir Raihan, captures the crucial moment of Pakistani repression by presenting the national experiences and exploitation of Bengalis under the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. This paper explores how the film, within a family melodrama, introduced a new cinematic style by transforming personal stories into collective and symbolic narratives. The paper argues that by presenting contemporary facts and the identifiable shared narrative of Bengalis through a metaphoric form of fiction, Jibon Thekey Neya can be seen as the first instance of ‘national cinema’ in Bangladesh, even before its emergence as an independent state. The author also looks at how gender difference is constructed, interpreted and entangled with the concept of nation in the crisis moment of history

Folic acid, vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels following olanzapine administration in schizophrenia patients

The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of folic acid, vitamin B12 and homocysteine in the serum of schizophrenia patients (n=20) and to evaluate the effect of olanzapine on these biomarkers. The blood was also collected from the 10 healthy volunteers as control. Compared to control, the serum folic acid (p=0.005) and vitamin B12 levels (p=0.211) were higher in the schizophrenia patients, whereas no difference was evident in the serum homocysteine level. But significantly higher levels of serum folic acid (p=0.005), vitamin B12 (p=0.047) and significantly lower level of serum homocysteine (p=0.000) were observed after 10 weeks of olanzapine administration. BPRS score was reduced significantly after intervention. The Pearson correlation coefficient test showed a statistically not significant negative relationship between the serum folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels. In conclusion, olanzapine can significantly elevate the  serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels whereas it can lower the serum homocysteine level which may contribute to the improvement of symptoms of schizophrenia

Association of gestational diabetes mellitus with vitamin D status among women attending at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an important cause of maternal and perinatal morbidities. Vitamin D is associated with glucose metabolism. The present study was aimed to assess the association of maternal serum vitamin D level with GDM. This case-control study was conducted among 80 pregnant women at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka. Among the 80 patients, 40 were GDM patients (cases) and 40 pregnant women without GDM (controls). The serum vitamin D level was measured for all of them. The mean vitamin D level of the cases and controls were 18.8±5.5 ng/ ml and 22.1±7.3 ng/ml, respectively (P=0.025). There was significant difference regarding the vitamin D adequacy in between case and control groups (P= 0.006) and the respondents with vitamin D <30.0 ng/ml had 7.2 times more chances to have GDM compared to that of the respondents with vitamin D ≥30 ng/ml (OR=7.2; 95% confidence interval =1.5-35.1). There was a significant negative correlation between serum vitamin D level and plasma glucose level 2-hour after 75 gm glucose drink (r= -0.33, P= 0.004). In conclusion, serum vitamin D level was found low in patient with GDM compared to those without GDM. BSMMU J 2022; 15(3): 162-16

Framing Pain as Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Wartime Films of Bangladesh

The Liberation War of 1971 (Muktijuddho in Bengali) is the most significant and celebrated event in the history of Bangladesh. Covering the films made during the Liberation War, this paper aims to explore the language and aesthetics of wartime films of Bangladesh. The traumatic suffering, the human rights abuses against the Bangladeshis, and their revolt against the Pakistani army were the subject of numerous documentary films during the period. Local and international film makers recorded the unfolding events of the war. Scrutinizing the interests and perspectives of different directors both from the local and the international arena, this paper considers how wartime films tackled and negotiated the issues of atrocity, memory, and witness. In addition, I closely analyze the film Stop Genocide (1971) by the Bangladeshi film director, Zahir Raihan (1935-72). Stop Genocide is acclaimed as the most authentic and influential visual text in shaping the cultural memories of the war. Along with its third cinema aesthetics, I look at its re-inscription of gender stereotypes of nationalist struggle. I also pay attention to the complex relationship between language, culture, ethics, identity, and other discourses related to violence and suffering

Fragmented Memory, Incomplete History: Women and Nation in War Films of Bangladesh

The most important and celebrated chapter in the history of Bangladesh is its nine-month long Liberation War (Muktijuddho in Bengali) of 1971. My research explores the ways in which memories and histories of the war are shaped by the gender dynamics of nationalism in different periods through examining war-themed films of Bangladesh. By covering both mainstream and alternative war films produced just before, during and after the war, from 1970 to 2011, I trace the various ways in which men and women are represented in war films and construct the idea of nation. I also aim to unpack the politics and aesthetics of war films, contextualizing them as they intersect with the socio-historical contexts. Employing textual and visual analyses with using solid theoretical scholarship, both from the East and the West, concerning cinematic representation of the past, women and nation, I argue that the different power structures of men and women constructed in war films are in accordance with the dominant ideology of the society. The Liberation War was a people’s war, involving manifold participation of both men and women from different classes, religions and localities. Despite this reality, cinematic representations of the War have always portrayed the combat experience as an exclusively masculine enterprise. By contrast, women have been constructed in the films as passive victims or in subordinate roles. Woman is valorized in one instance, in her idealized portrayal as the ‘mother-nation’; this iconic projection of woman, however, highlights men’s heroic defence of their motherland. On the other hand, female rape victims in the war are framed as shame or dishonour for the nation and are offered a customary exclusion by suicide, death or occasionally by some other means at the end of the war films. I have argued that war films exclude the raped women from the narratives in order to maintain a perceived purity of the nationalist discourse, following the national politics, culture and historiography of Bangladesh

Exploration of the Lessons Learned by Students Attending Peer-led Workshops

The study is conducted with students attending an additional one-hour a week peer-led workshop associated with their Pre-Calculus class. The study focuses on the following research questions: Do peer-led workshops help students become better at problem solving? What are the lessons learned from peer-led workshops that can be useful and applicable in future courses? Data will be collected through administrating surveys to the students in the peer-led workshop. The data will be organized, analyzed and presented at the poster session

Panning from the Past to the Present: The Climate, Context and Concept of Bangladeshi National Cinema

This paper aims to outline the historical and regional context of Bangladeshi cinema, exploring its different integral aspects, such as production value, style, cultural content, representation, nation state policies, distribution and exhibition practices, transnational connections and other industrial factors. At the same time, this paper examines the role of film in the formation of Bangladeshi national culture and the analytical approaches and complexities revolving around the concept of national cinema in Bangladesh. The concept of ‘national cinema’ has been commonly linked to the sociological thinking of the nation and its national identity, and it is also rooted within the geopolitical and cultural boundaries of a nation state. Again the idea of national cinema is not perennial like the idea of nation. National cinema has been a negotiated and changing concept, shaped by both the inward contemporary cultural specificity of a nation state and the outward cultural influence gained through its transnational encounter. Therefore, in order to study the concept of national cinema of Bangladesh in this paper, I address and discuss a series of issues: the concept of Bangladeshi nationalism, its relation to Bangladeshi film culture, a brief context and the conditions of contemporary film industry, the transnational affects and effects of rapidly changing mediascape on Bangladeshi film culture

Folic acid, vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels following olanzapine administration in schizophrenia patients

The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of folic acid, vitamin B12 and homocysteine in the serum of schizophrenia patients (n=20) and to evaluate the effect of olanzapine on these biomarkers. The blood was also collected from the 10 healthy volunteers as control. Compared to control, the serum folic acid (p=0.005) and vitamin B12 levels (p=0.211) were higher in the schizophrenia patients, whereas no difference was evident in the serum homocysteine level. But significantly higher levels of serum folic acid (p=0.005), vitamin B12 (p=0.047) and significantly lower level of serum homocysteine (p=0.000) were observed after 10 weeks of olanzapine administration. BPRS score was reduced significantly after intervention. The Pearson correlation coefficient test showed a statistically not significant negative relationship between the serum folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels. In conclusion, olanzapine can significantly elevate the  serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels whereas it can lower the serum homocysteine level which may contribute to the improvement of symptoms of schizophrenia