Phone ladies - change agents to shape the bottom of the pyramid: experience of Bangladesh

If we stop thinking of the poor as victims of as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value -conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up (Prahalad, 2005). \u27Village phone\u27 is such a weapon of social revolution in rural Bangladesh that fights against poverty by facilitating entrepreneurship , reducing transaction costs, and substituting for slow, unreliable transport and postal systems. It is a tool to empower the nation\u27s rural women with earnings, information, dignity and status. The women are now acting as change agents in rural Bangladesh by serving the community as an umbrella of information to solve all the problems at the robust pace. This paper seeks to determine the factors that are influencing the growth of village phone in Bangladesh. Our findings suggest the role of personal characteristics and social factors as crucial determinants for playing the role of change agents in the society

HISTORY OF UNPRIVILEGEDGE PALESTINE: A RESEARCH REVIEW IN THE CONTEXT OF RECENT HAMAS-ISRAEL WAR

Today's Muslims are engulfed and conquered globally as a result of the malicious intent of their conquerors. They are now referred to as the world's downtrodden people. Given that Palestine is a contentious topic involving Muslims, Christians, and Jews, these colonialists specifically target the Muslims living in Palestine. For all of them, it is a holy and precious location. In addition to considering this land to be their inheritance, Jews have long attempted to establish themselves thereby oppressing Palestinian Muslims, according to their political and social self-interests. The Muslims of Palestine are continuously subjected to oppression by the unlawful Israeli (Jewish) state in Jerusalem. These Palestinian Muslims are also referred to be the world's persecuted people because of their oppression. The issue of persecution in Palestine is becoming increasingly widespread these days. Muslims are being killed by Israelis (Jews) and are being forced to flee this nation. Nowadays, Palestinians are immigrants who are fleeing various nations, but regrettably, they are also in difficulties and in appalling conditions. They just lack agency and are even denied their most fundamental rights. In light of this circumstance, a quick overview of the past and current of Palestinian Muslim persecution is provided in this article

Community Resilience in the face of Riverine Flooding:: Applying lessons from Resilient Competitions to Pennsylvania's vulnerable Communities

Flooding as an adverse effect of climate change is becoming more pronounced each day, making communities vulnerable to its threats. There is an urgent need for resilience planning and well-coordinated, science-based design intervention. There is significant information on coastal flooding as evident from recent resilience competitions. The goal of this paper is to learn from this information what can be done to address the lack of coordination and communication related to flooding in Pennsylvania's riverine communities. Only 186 out of more than 2500 communities are safe from high water, making flooding the most frequent and damaging disaster in Pennsylvania according to PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency). A recent survey carried out by DVPRC shows that riverine flooding represents risks in the form of flooding of private properties and roadways and stress on aging water infrastructure like sewer lines and dikes. While the US government has led initiatives to plan for resilience, there is a lack of expertise, coordination and communication to guide the process. Reports on the winning projects in recent competitions are a source to address current short-fallings. By taking a step forward and leading the path towards resilience planning, they have provided resources that can be translated to inform other regions and risks. This research undergoes a case-study review of a couple of resilience competitions to learn about their resilience design process. Using this knowledge, it aims to close the gap in knowledge and address limitations of a traditional planning process across Pennsylvania's riverine communities. Findings focus on effective community-engagement strategies, need for and ways to adopt multi- disciplinary collaboration, institutional changes required to facilitate resilience planning and the overall resilience design process. The paper concludes that traditional planning approaches by local government bodies could largely benefit from adopting or locally adapting the proposed resilient strategies

30-day readmission rate and its causes in general surgical patients

Objective: To find out the 30-day readmission rate for different surgical procedures and determine the causes for readmissions. Study Design: An audit report. Place and duration of study: Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in the calendar year 2014. Methodology: Records were retrospectively reviewed for 30-day readmission rate and their cause in general surgical patients who underwent a general surgical procedure at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, in the year 2014. Results: Out of 217 (6.4%) readmissions in 3,387 patients, more than 50% unplanned readmissions were avoidable. The highest readmission rate was after placement of feeding tubes (28.5%). Conclusion: More than half of the readmissions could have been prevented by proper patient/attendant education, good communication and provision of nursing services to these patients beyond the hospital

Formulation design and evaluation of metronidazole microspheres in a bioadhesive gel for local therapy of vaginal candidiasis

The purpose of this study was to design a novel vaginal delivery system composed of metronidazole microspheres dispersed within a bioadhesive gel. Microspheres were prepared by solvent evaporation method using Eudragit RS-100 and RL-100 polymers with different drug/polymer ratios. Microspheres were characterized by SEM, DSC, FT-IR and particle size analysis and evaluated for morphology, drug loading and in vitro drug release in simulated vaginal fluid. The % yield, actual drug loading and encapsulation were found to range between 79 ± 0.5 to 94 ± 0.6%, 19.6 ± 0.27 to 35.91 ± 0.66 %, 69.3 ± 0.78 to 81.2 ± 0.36 %, respectively. The FT-IR and DSC spectra revealed that there was no chemical interaction between drug and polymers used. SEM revealed that microspheres were spherical with nearly smooth surface morphology with a mean particle size ranging from 177 ± 0.4 to 456 ± 0.5 µm. The formulation F9 have shown better in vitro release 99 % at 10 h. To achieve bioadhesion to mucosal tissue, formulation F9 was incorporated in the bioadhesive gel made of carbopol 934P. Metronidazole microspheres gel (MTZMG) was characterized by in vitro drug release and antifungal activity. The drug release was controlled up to12 h. Inhibition effect on the C. albicans j1012 growth, suggested their effectiveness in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis. It may be concluded from present study that MTZ-MG can be used as a novel delivery system for local therapy of vaginal candidiasis.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Preparation and Optimization of Curcumin-HPβCD Complex Bioadhesive Vaginal Films for Vaginal Candidiasis by Factorial Design

The purpose of this work was to design and optimize a novel vaginal drug delivery system for more effective treatment against vaginal candidiasis. To achieve a better therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance in the treatment for vaginal candidiasis, herbal antifungal agent Curcumin which is 2.5 fold more potent than fluconazole at inhibiting the adhesion of candida albicans has been formulated in a bio-adhesive vaginal film. Curcumin was formulated in bio-adhesive film formulations that could be retained in the vagina for prolonged intervals. The polymeric films were prepared by solvent evaporation and optimized for various physicodynamic and aesthetic properties. Curcumin HPβCD (Hydroxypropyl β Cyclodextrin) was first developed to increase the solubility of curcumin. The formation of the Curcumin HPβCD complex was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and FT-IR and evaluated for its solubility. Curcumin HPβCD complex was formulated in a bio-adhesive film using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and Carbopol 934P and characterized. DSC and FT-IR data of Curcumin HPβCD indicate there was complex formation between the drug and HPβCD. The little moisture content (8.02±0.34% w/w) was present in the film, which helps them to remain stable and kept them from being completely dry and brittle. The mechanical properties, tensile strength, and percentage elongation at break reveal that the formulations were found to be soft and tough. The films showed good peelability, relatively good swelling index, and moderate tensile strength and retained vaginal mucosa up to 8 h. The developed Curcumin vaginal film could be a promising safe herbal medication and can ensure longer residence at the vagina and provide an efficient therapy for vaginal candidiasis

Preparation and Optimization of Curcumin-HPβCD Complex Bioadhesive Vaginal Films for Vaginal Candidiasis by Factorial Design

The purpose of this work was to design and optimize a novel vaginal drug delivery system for more effective treatment against vaginal candidiasis. To achieve a better therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance in the treatment for vaginal candidiasis, herbal antifungal agent Curcumin which is 2.5 fold more potent than fluconazole at inhibiting the adhesion of candida albicans has been formulated in a bio-adhesive vaginal film. Curcumin was formulated in bio-adhesive film formulations that could be retained in the vagina for prolonged intervals. The polymeric films were prepared by solvent evaporation and optimized for various physicodynamic and aesthetic properties. Curcumin HPβCD (Hydroxypropyl β Cyclodextrin) was first developed to increase the solubility of curcumin. The formation of the Curcumin HPβCD complex was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and FT-IR and evaluated for its solubility. Curcumin HPβCD complex was formulated in a bio-adhesive film using hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and Carbopol 934P and characterized. DSC and FT-IR data of Curcumin HPβCD indicate there was complex formation between the drug and HPβCD. The little moisture content (8.02±0.34% w/w) was present in the film, which helps them to remain stable and kept them from being completely dry and brittle. The mechanical properties, tensile strength, and percentage elongation at break reveal that the formulations were found to be soft and tough. The films showed good peelability, relatively good swelling index, and moderate tensile strength and retained vaginal mucosa up to 8 h. The developed Curcumin vaginal film could be a promising safe herbal medication and can ensure longer residence at the vagina and provide an efficient therapy for vaginal candidiasis

Non O1, non O139 vibrio cholerae bacteraemia in an infant; case report and literature review

Non 01, Non O139 Vibrio cholerae bacteraemia is a rare but potentially fatal occurrence. There have been very few incidents of this infection from around the world. The treatment regimen of antibiotics also varies in literature. We present a case of bacteraemia caused by Non O1, Non O139 Vibrio cholerae along with associated risk factors, disease manifestations, laboratory diagnosis and treatment regimen. This serves to add additional information regarding symptoms and signs of this infection along with management of patient. Knowledge regarding this topic shall be highly useful to professionals if further cases are detected. In the discussion section, a review of literature of previous cases is also presented

Formulation design and evaluation of bioadhesive vaginal films of metronidazole for vaginal candidiasis

The purpose of this work was to design and evaluate a novel vaginal delivery system for the local treatment of vaginal candidiasis. Bioadhesive vaginal films of metronidazole that could be retained in the vagina for prolonged period for more effective treatment against vaginal candidiasis were formulated by solvent casting technique using bioadhesive polymers such as chitosan, HPC and sodium CMC. Glycerine and propylene glycol were used as plasticizer. The films were characterized for various physical, mechanical, and aesthetic properties. Bioadhesive strength and in vitro release studies suggested that the prolonged release bioadhesive vaginal film formulation of metronidazole is useful and effective dosage form for treating vaginal candidiasis. It may be concluded from present study that MTZ bioadhesive vaginal film can be used as a novel delivery system for local therapy of vaginal candidiasis.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire