THE EFFORT OF THE NON-PARTY CARETAKER GOVERNMENT TO MAKE THE NINTH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 2008 IN BANGLADESH FREE, FAIR AND CREDIBLE

Abstract This study focuses the electoral reforms and the practical performances of the Non-party Caretaker Government in terms of its role to ensure that the ninth parliamentary elections be free, fair and credible. In Bangladesh, after Parliament had been dissolved, the constitutionally-mandated Non-party Caretaker Government was appointed to oversee the parliamentary elections, its main purpose being to assure free, free and credible democratic elections. Thus, the Non-party Caretaker Government (2007-2008) has undertaken an ambitious electoral reforms programme which includes reconstitution of the Bangladesh Election Commission, electoral law reform, voter registration with photographs and political party registration with Election Commission. In this study, I have analysed why the Non-party Caretaker Government has undertaken these electoral measure and how they have been applied in the electoral process. Besides, I have examined their influences on making the elections transparent and credible. It is found that collectively, these electoral measures have facilitated to create a more independent election management body, and provided the basic conditions for genuine elections, such as the right of political parties and candidates to participate, and a level playing field for conducting the campaigns. Moreover, this effort has made the ninth Parliamentary Elections more transparent and credible than previously held elections

Effect of grazing hour on growth performance of crossbred sheep from southwest coastal region of Bangladesh

Sheep are small ruminants that require small amounts of feed and can graze on poor-quality pastures, including fallow lands, roadsides, dikes and playgrounds. Therefore, the experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the grazing length on growth performance of crossbred sheep in the southwestern region of Bangladesh. Sixteen crossbred female sheep were divided into four treatment groups and randomly allowed four different grazing periods. The experimental design was based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Lambs were initially weighed and grouped by keeping the average weight of the four treatment groups approximately the same. The grazing hours allocated to the four treatment groups were 6, 8, 10 and 12 hours, respectively. During this period, the sheep of particular treatment groups were housed when their allocated grazing period was completed. Empty body weight data were taken fortnightly in the morning before they were allowed to graze. The results revealed that body weight increased with increasing grazing length but the mean difference did not differ significantly (p>0.05). In most cases, the highest body weight was observed in sheep grazing for 12 hours per day. Average growth rates of grazing sheep varied significantly between the 6 to 8 hour and 10 to 12 hour grazing groups. But between the 6 to 8 hour grazing group and the 10 and 12 hour grazing group, the growth rate of crossbred sheep did not vary significantly (p>0.05). The growth rate (g day-1) of crossbred sheep ranged from 22.44±4.75 to 92.00±11.95, highest in 12 hour grazing group and lowest in 6 hour group. It can be concluded that the body weight and growth rate of crossbred sheep increased with an increase in grazing length. However, 10 hours of grazing meets the requirements for their maintenance and growth due to good pasture quality. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 14(1): 104-107, June 202

Hydrochemistry, water quality and land use signatures in an ephemeral tidal river : implications in water management in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh

Despite its complexity and importance in managing water resources in populous deltas, especially in tidal areas, literatures on tidal rivers and their land use linkage in connection to water quality and pollution are rare. Such information is of prior need for Integrated Water Resource Management in water scarce and climate change vulnerable regions, such as the southwestern coast of Bangladesh. Using water quality indices and multivariate analysis, we present here the land use signatures of a dying tidal river due to anthropogenic perturbation. Correlation matrix, hierarchical cluster analysis, factor analysis, and bio-geo-chemical fingerprints were used to quantify the hydro-chemical and anthropogenic processes and identify factors influencing the ionic concentrations. The results show remarkable spatial and temporal variations (p <0.05) in water quality parameters. The lowest solute concentrations are observed at the mid reach of the stream where the agricultural and urban wastewater mix. Agricultural sites show higher concentration of DO, Na+ and K+ reflecting the effects of tidal spill-over and shrimp wastewater effluents nearby. Higher level of Salinity, EC, Cl-, HCO3 (-), NO3 (-), PO4 (3-) and TSS characterize the urban sites indicating a signature of land use dominated by direct discharge of household organic waste into the waters. The spatial variation in overall water quality suggests a periodic enhancement of quality especially for irrigation and non-drinking purposes during monsoon and post-monsoon, indicating significant influence of amount of rainfall in the basin. We recommend that, given the recent trend of increasing precipitation and ground water table decrease, such dying tidal river basins may serve as excellent surface water reservoir to supplement quality water supply to the region.Peer reviewe

Biodegradable Mulches : Field Experiment Results from Finland

Mulching, as a cultivation technique, has been adopted since the early twentieth century in agriculture for improving various aspects of crop production. However, the use of mulching was boosted by the introduction of plastic mulch, which has been reported as a harmful substance to the farm environment. Therefore, the need for an environmentally benign mulch material is obvious. The present study investigated the effects of paper and biodegradable plastic mulches on the cucumber yield, soil temperature and moisture content (at 10 cm depth), and the control of weed growth in an agricultural field located at the University of Helsinki in Southern Finland. The degradability of mulches was also investigated. The null hypothesis was that all the mulches would have a similar effect on the abovementioned aspects. Four paper mulches, i.e., BP, KB, CK, and OB, accompanied by biodegradable mulch (BIO) and a bare soil (BG) treatment were under investigation. Each of these treatments had 4 replicates, and a randomized complete block design (RCBD) was adopted. Sensors were installed at 10 cm depth in each study plot to measure the soil temperature and moisture content. In addition, the experimental plots were watered by drip irrigation. All the attained data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. The results of the study revealed noteworthy positive effects (P<0.05) of mulch application on cucumber yields together with soil temperature, early fruiting, and weed growth regulation compared to the un-mulched bare ground, exclusive of soil moisture content. The daytime soil temperature (DST) was higher than at night (NST), indicating a positive association of the mulch effect with plant growth and crop earliness. However, no suggestive improvement in soil moisture was found through mulch application during the study period. Edge degradation was only found for paper mulches during the study period, suggesting their environment friendliness. The CK and KB papers were the most effective and most environmentally positive mulch materials, and could be a suitable choice for Finnish vegetable growers. The findings of this study could assist paper manufacturers in improving the qualities of mulch papers regarding vegetable production. Future research aims at assessing the effects of mulches on the physiology of plants studied under mulched techniques together with the development of cheaper and more environmentally benign mulch materials

Overgang til Sirkulær Plastøkonomi: En komparativ studie mellom Bangladesh og Norge

Masteroppgave i Global ledelse (tidl. energiledelse) - Nord universitet 202

A HTTP Streaming Video Server with Dynamic Advertisement Splicing

The Internet today is experiencing a large growth in the amount of traffic due to the number of users consuming streaming media. For both the operator and content providers, streaming of media generates most of its revenue through advertisements inserted in the content. One common approach is to pre-stitched (i.e. insert) advertisements into the content. Another approach is dynamic advertisement insertion, which inserts advertisements at run-time while the media is being streamed. Dynamic advertisement insertion gives operators the flexibility to insert advertisements based on context, such as the user's geographic location or the user's preferences. Developing a technique to successfully insert advertisements dynamically into the streaming media has several challenges, such as maintaining synchronization of the media, choosing the appropriate transport format for media delivery, and finding a splicing boundary that starts with a key frame. The details of these challenges are detailed in this thesis. We carried out extensive research to find the best transport format for delivery of media and we studied prior work in an effort to find an appropriate streaming solution to perform dynamic advertisement insertion. Based upon this research and our study of prior work we identify the best transport format for delivery of media chunks, then propose, implement, and evaluate a technique for advertisement insertion.Idag har internet mycket trafik på grund av att alltfler servrar erbjuder högkvalitativa videon som strömmas till internetanvändare. Både för operatörer och leverantörer av sådan innehåll genererar direktuppspelning mest intäkter genom annonser som lagts till i videon. Det är väldigt vanligt att lägga till annonser i videon genom att sy in dem i videofiler. En annan metod är att lägga till annonser dynamiskt. Det betyder att resulterande videofilen genereras medan den blir strömmad till användare. Att sätta in annonser dynamiskt har som fördel för operatörer att välja reklam beroende på kontexten, såsom användarens position eller preferenser. Det är utmanande att utveckla den teknik som krävs för att kunna sätta in annonser dynamiskt i strömmade videofiler. Till exempel är det viktigt att tänka på följande: synkronisering av strömmad innehåll, val av lämplig transportformat för videoleveransen och gränsen för skarvning (så kallad splicing boundary). Detaljerna kring denna teknik finns i denna avhandling. Vi har forskat på att hitta det bästa transportformatet för videoleverans och vi har studerat relevant arbete som gjorts tidigare för att hitta en lämplig mekanism för dynamisk annonsinsättning. Baserat på vår forskning och studerande av tidigare arbeten har vi klassificerat det bästa formatet för leveransen av videostycken, implementerat och evaluerat en teknik för annonsinlägg

Checklist of Zooplankton of the Halda River, Chattogram, Bangladesh

The River Halda is one of the important natural breeding grounds of Indian major carp (Labeo rohita, Labeo calbasu, Gibelion catla, Cirrhinus mrigala) in Bangladesh for its unique physicochemical and biological properties of water. The productivity of the Halda ecosystem mainly depends on the plankton diversity. Zooplankton directly affects the productivity of the Halda River ecosystem. Research work was conducted for the two years extending from January 2017 to December 2018 to identify the zooplankton community of the Halda River. A total of 71 species of zooplankton under 37 genera belonging to 9 groups were identified. The dominant group of zooplankton was 44 species of Rotifers (61.98 %) followed by 12 species of Copepods (12.68 %), 5 species of Cladocerans (7.05 %), 3 species of Protozoans (4.22 %), 2 species of Mollusks larvae (2.82 %), 2 species of Insects (2.82 %), 1 species of Cnidarian (1.41 %), 1 species of Nematode (1.41 %) and 1 species of Ostracod (1.41 %). Therefore, the water body of the Halda is eutrophic in its nature

Polymorphisms in Gene and Susceptibility of Colorectal Cancer in Bangladeshi Population: A Case-Control Analysis

Objective Interleukin-17A ( IL-17A ) genetic polymorphisms are associated with multiple cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, no previous study was performed in the Bangladeshi population to evaluate the association. Our study aimed to find the association between two IL-17A variants (rs10484879 C/A and rs3748067 G/A) and susceptibility of CRC. Methods and Materials This retrospective case-control study comprised 292 CRC patients and 288 age, sex, and BMI matched healthy volunteers. Genotyping of both variants was done by the tetra-primer ARMS-PCR method, and the results were analyzed by the SPSS software package (version-25.0). Results Logistic regression analysis indicated that in case of IL-17A rs10484879 polymorphism, AC and AA genotype carriers showed 2.44- and 3.27-times significantly increased risk for CRC development (OR = 2.44, P = .0008 and OR = 3.27, P = .0133, individually). A significant association was also observed for AC + AA genotype (OR = 2.58, P = .0001). Again, over-dominant and allelic model revealed statistically significant link to CRC risk (OR = 2.13, P = .0035 and OR = 2.22, P = .001). For rs3748067 polymorphism, AG and AA genotype carriers showed 2.30- and 2.45-times enhanced risk for CRC (OR = 2.30, P = .005 and OR = 2.45, P = .031). A statistically significant association was also observed for AG + AA genotype (OR = 2.35, P = .001), over-dominant model (OR = 2.05, P = .014), and allelic model (OR = 2.11, P = .0004). Conclusion This study highlights that IL-17A rs10484879 and rs3748067 polymorphisms may be associated with CRC development. However, further functional research with larger samples may reveal more statistically significant outcomes

Association of MMP1 gene polymorphisms with breast cancer risk: A narrative review

Abstract Background and Aims Breast cancer is a multifactorial malignancy with different clinicopathological and molecular characteristics. It is the most frequent cancer in women in terms of both incidence and mortality. Matrix metallopeptidase 1 or MMP1 is a zinc‐dependent endopeptidase associated with several physiological processes through the modification of the extracellular matrix and tumor microenvironment. However, previous results did not suggest any concluding remarks on the correlation between MMP1 gene polymorphisms and the risk of breast cancer. Methods A comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed database to retrieve relevant articles and extract data from suitable ones. The literature written only in English was selected for this review. Results A total of 26 articles were included in the present narrative review. From the available studies, it is observed that MMP1 is upregulated in breast cancer tissues and found to be correlated with metastasis and invasion. The expression of MMP1 gene is mediated by numerous factors, including polymorphisms which act as a potential risk factor for the progression of breast cancer. To establish the correlation between genetic polymorphisms in MMP1 and the risk of breast cancer, several case‐control studies, as well as genetic analyses, have been carried out in different ethnicities. The association of genetic polymorphisms in MMP1 with the risk and survival of breast cancer in different populations has been reviewed in this study. Moreover, the structural domain of MMP1 and the role of MMP1 in breast cancer metastasis and invasion are also discussed which will help to understand the potential impact of MMP1 as a genetic biomarker. Conclusions This review provides an overview of the MMP1 gene polymorphisms in breast cancer. However, we recommend future studies concentrating on combined analysis of multiple SNPs, gene‐gene interactions, and analysis of epigenetics, proteomics, and posttranscriptional modifications that will provide the best outcome