Covid-19 and Sustainable Tourism: Macroeconomic Effect and Policy Comparison among Europe, the USA and China

This study examines the potential macroeconomic effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector of Europe, the USA, and China as well as provides policy suggestions in light of previous scholarly works. The study finds that the global tourism sector is geocentric and the tourism sector of EU countries is interdependent. The study also finds strong domestic tourism in the USA and China whereas domestic tourism in EU countries is not that strong. As domestic tourism is less income-elastic than international tourism countries should promote domestic tourism to recover the loss of this sector from the adverse effect of Covid-19. Although the probable loss of the tourism sector can be estimated with reference to the recent previous global economic crises, the study assumes far-reaching and massive effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector due to strictly restricted or banned global and domestic travel as well as the unknown duration of the pandemic. The study also finds the similarity of age groups participating in tourism and infected and died by Covid-19. So, combined and comprehensive policies should be formulated to save the international tourism sector from the drastic catastrophe of Covid-19

Impact of Public and Private Investment on GDP Growth in Bangladesh: Crowding-in or Out?

The study investigates into the impact of public and private investment on GDP growth in Bangladesh over the period 1980-2016 within ARDL framework It also enquires into the causal relationship between investment public and private and GDP growth using Block Exogeneity Wald Test The study primarily finds that there exists a significant impact of both public and private investment on GDP growth in the long run In the short run public investment does not affect but private investment has a positive impact on GDP growth The study also uncovers a bidirectional association between public investment and GDP growth whereas unidirectional relationships from private investment to GDP growth and from public investment to private investment Consequently public investment crowds-in private investment Therefore increase in public investment is critical to moving to the next level of the country s growt

The Effects of Access to Finance, Competition, and Innovation on Female Ownership and Employment: Evidence from Bangladesh

This study identifies the effects of firm s access to finance competition and innovation on female ownership and employment in the manufacturing and service sector for Bangladesh We applied IV model to World Bank enterprise survey data on 1180 manufacturing firms and 262 service firms in 2013 The results of the study suggest that overdraft facility significantly increases the possibility of female ownership top managers and share of workers in the manufacturing sector whereas it reduces the probability of female-owned business in the service sector Audit of financial statement is a key determinant of female ownership and employment in both sectors Export-orientated firms are more likely to be owned by female than non-export-oriented firms both manufacturing and service sectors Informal competition has significant positive association with female ownership and top management in manufacturing sector whereas it does not significantly affect female in service secto

An internet of things framework for real-time aquatic environment monitoring using an Arduino and sensors

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms in natural, controlled marine and freshwater environments. The real-time monitoring of aquatic environmental parameters is very important in fish farming. Internet of things (IoT) can play a vital role in the real-time monitoring. This paper presents an IoT framework for the efficient monitoring and effective control of different aquatic environmental parameters related to the water. The proposed system is implemented as an embedded system using sensors and an Arduino. Different sensors including pH, temperature, and turbidity, ultrasonic are placed in cultivating pond water and each of them is connected to a common microcontroller board built on an Arduino Uno. The sensors read the data from the water and store it as a comma-separated values (CSV) file in an IoT cloud named ThingSpeak through the Arduino microcontroller. To validate the experiment, we collected data from 5 ponds of various sizes and environments. After experimental evaluation, it was observed among 5 ponds, only three ponds were perfect for fish farming, where these 3 ponds only satisfied the standard reference values of pH (6.5-8.5), temperature (16-24 °C), turbidity (below 10 ntu), conductivity (970-1825 μS/cm), and depth (1-4) meter. At the end of this paper, a complete hardware implementation of this proposed IoT framework for a real-time aquatic environment monitoring system is presented

Identifying and Prioritizing the Performance Criteria of Denim Washing Industry in Bangladesh Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

In the midst of the negative growth of textile and RMG industries, the mother industry of Bangladesh, the denim industry, has been doing its part incessantly. While the prospect of the denim industry looks promising from the last few years, the factors that drive this industry forward remain unanswered. Among the process chain of denim manufacturing, most value addition occurs in denim washing. This paper focuses on identifying and prioritizing the performance criteria of the denim washing sector in particular. In this context, export-oriented denim washing factories are chosen and the identified criteria are evaluated by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study is qualitative in nature and the secondary data about the factors were collected initially through review of previous literature, magazines, books, and newspapers. A structured questionnaire was developed to collect data from 35 factories. The results of the study show that cost, time, quality, and flexibility are the critical factors for success. The findings also seem to be consistent in general in regard to the test results, and it provides insight for improvement in the denim washing industry of Bangladesh

An atypical presentation and diagnostic dilemma of sickle cell disease

A 5½ year old male child of a consanguineous couple presented with moderately high fever, hepatosplenomegaly and severe pain in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen for four days. On examination, the child was found severely anemic, ill-looking and mildly icteric but the abdomen was soft and non-tender. Radiological investigations and ultrasonography of the whole abdomen revealed the diagnosis of space occupying lesions which may be either due to splenic abscess/cyst or leukemia/lymphoma. However, blood film revealed the features of hereditary hemolytic anemia and later on hemoglobin electrophoresis initially commented as HbSbeta thalassemia but subsequent family screening of the patient turned out to a case of homozygous sickle cell anemia or sickle cell disease. To resolve such diagnostic dilemma, it is very much essential to analyze critically the history including family history, clinical and physical findings as well as investigational findings

Irrigation water quality assessment of Betagi Upazila under Barguna district in Bangladesh

Irrigation water quality is important for the successful crop production. The present study aimed to assess the quality of both ground and surface water for use of irrigation purposes at Betagi Upazila under Barguna district in Bangladesh. Forty two water samples were collected from different locations and their important chemical properties including pH, EC, the concentration of PO43-, SO42-, K+, and Na+ were analyzed.  Results revealed that the pH of the ground and surface water were ranged from 7.23 to 8. 49 and 6.98 to 7.96, respectively. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the water samples were 590 to 1950 µ Scm-1 and 110 to 380 µ Scm-1 respectively. The PO43- concentration in groundwater was 0.10 to 0.74 mgL-1 and surface water was 0.05 to 0.20 mgL-1. The SO42- concentration of groundwater ranged from 1.29 to 3.10 mgL-1 and surfacewater was 2.11 to 7.28 mgL-1. The K+ ion concentration was 4.55 to 11.38 mgL-1 in groundwater and 6.12 to 22.44 mgL-1 in surface water. The PO43- and SO42- concentration in most of the ground and surface water samples within the “safe” limit for irrigation, whereas the pH, EC, and K+ concentration in both ground and surface water were not in the safe limit. Besides this, Na+ concentration was higher in groundwater than surface water. Based on chemical properties, surface water is more suitable as irrigation water compared to groundwater in the study area

Sustainability of smallholder seed enterprises (SSE): A case study of Nagarpur and Shahjadpur Upazila, Bangladesh

Smallholders’ seed production, processing, and marketing of major crops such as rice, wheat, and maize have been important issues for seed security worldwide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization reports, the smallholder’s seed enterprise (SSE) is the best way of ensuring the availability of quality non-hybrid seeds. The concept of SSE is built to fulfill the farmer’s seed demand by the development of their own seed production system. It is so important for sustainable agriculture. Although, this system does not perform properly due to some limitations. So, the present study aimed to assess the important indicators that directly related to the sustenance of smallholder’s seed enterprises. It will be helpful to enhance SSEs effectiveness. Data were collected from 120 smallholders of six villages of Nagarpur and Shahjadpur Upazila under Tangail and Sirajganj districts in Bangladesh, respectively. Results revealed that 92.5% of the smallholder had moderate to highly sustainable seed enterprises. Based on standardized coefficients, institutional functions, price of seed, human capital and marketing facilities considered as highly influential indicators. Finally, the existing institutions play a key role in achieving the sustainability of SSEs by providing necessary supports