Microinsurance: The Choice among Delivery and Regulatory Mechanisms

We analyse the choice of the appropriate delivery mechanism(s) relevant to various types of microinsurance products in a developmental context like that prevailing in Bangladesh. By examining various delivery mechanisms under different institutional contexts, we analyse the conditions under which they operate best. Then we develop a few criteria that are likely to offer cost efficiency as well as customer acceptance, and judge between different schemes in light of these criteria, and dwell on the interface between the choice of the delivery model and the regulatory stance. Finally, we put forward a set of regulatory and supervisory directives that respect both product and process innovations and uphold the goals of cost efficiency, financial viability and client inclusivity

Implementation of Carbon Dioxide Gas Injection Method for Gas Recovery at Rashidpur Gas Field, Bangladesh

Natural gas plays an important role for the economic development of Bangladesh. It is the primary options to satisfy the environmentally clean energy, whereas coal is a dirty energy source and oil creates an unhealthy environment. Bangladesh is the seventh-largest producer of natural gas in Asia. Gas supplies meet 56% of domestic energy demand. The proven natural gas reserve in Bangladesh is only 19.73 Tcf. The Rashidpur Gas Field (RGF) is located in the Sylhet Basin, Northeast Bangladesh. It is 35 km long and 7 km anticlinal structure and asymmetric in nature with steeper eastern flank (22˚ to 25˚) and gentler western flank (8˚ to 12˚). There are two gas zones in depth between 1380m to 2787m below surface. Sandstone reservoirs of Miocene-Pliocene age and are considered to have been originated shallow marine depositional environment. The reservoir porosity-permeability values are very good, with estimated gas initially in place (GIIP) of the RGF was 2.242 Tcf with 58% recovery, thus recording an initial gas reserve is 1.309 Tcf. Five gas producing wells (RP-1, 3, 4, 6 and 7) in the RGF are producing 50 MMscf gas per day. Due to the demand of natural gas with decreasing production rate, this enhanced natural gas plays a vital role in the national economy of the country. This research depicts the development of the daily production of the RGF from 50 MMscfd to 99 MMscfd using software from the existing production wells. Thus the natural gas in the RGF would be enhanced/recovered using carbon dioxide (CO2) gas injection by Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) method from the RGF reservoir. Applying this method would play a vital role to increase the daily production rate of the RGF

Lymphoedema Presenting with Pleural Effusion: A Case Report

Lymphatic obstruction either congenitally determined (primary) or by a consequence of acquired lymphatic failurebecause of obstruction or damaged lymphatics (secondary). Milroy disease is an example of primary lymphoedemawhere edema is present at birth or soon thereafter. A 16 year old young boy presented with bilateral leg with scrotaloedema since birth with ups and downs of his symptoms. According to the statement of the mother the boy was seen byseveral physicians and also attended several tertiary hospitals in Dhaka city and eventually was diagnosed as a case ofMilroy disease in 2003. Patient was in a reasonably stable condition till July 2008 when he developed massive pleuraleffusion on right side and chylous fluid was aspirated. After that he developed five episodes of right sided pleuraleffusion at one to three month interval. Thoracic surgeon was consulted and intra thoracic tube drainage and pleurodesiswas done on 19. 02. 2009. After couple of weeks repeat chest x-ray revealed left sided pleural effusion and again left sidedpleurodesis was performed. He is now clinically stable except mild oedema in his both feet.DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i1.5514BSMMU J 2010; 3(1): 40-4

Lymphoedema Presenting with Pleural Effusion: A Case Report

Lymphatic obstruction either congenitally determined (primary) or by a consequence of acquired lymphatic failurebecause of obstruction or damaged lymphatics (secondary). Milroy disease is an example of primary lymphoedemawhere edema is present at birth or soon thereafter. A 16 year old young boy presented with bilateral leg with scrotaloedema since birth with ups and downs of his symptoms. According to the statement of the mother the boy was seen byseveral physicians and also attended several tertiary hospitals in Dhaka city and eventually was diagnosed as a case ofMilroy disease in 2003. Patient was in a reasonably stable condition till July 2008 when he developed massive pleuraleffusion on right side and chylous fluid was aspirated. After that he developed five episodes of right sided pleuraleffusion at one to three month interval. Thoracic surgeon was consulted and intra thoracic tube drainage and pleurodesiswas done on 19. 02. 2009. After couple of weeks repeat chest x-ray revealed left sided pleural effusion and again left sidedpleurodesis was performed. He is now clinically stable except mild oedema in his both feet.DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i1.5514BSMMU J 2010; 3(1): 40-4

Application of Electroporation Technique in Biofuel Processing

Biofuels production is mostly oriented with fermentation process, which requires fermentable sugar as nutrient for microbial growth. Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) represents the most attractive, low-cost feedstock for biofuel production, it is now arousing great interest. The cellulose that is embedded in the lignin matrix has an insoluble, highly-crystalline structure, so it is difficult to hydrolyze into fermentable sugar or cell protein. On the other hand, microbial lipid has been studying as substitute of plant oils or animal fat to produce biodiesel. It is still a great challenge to extract maximum lipid from microbial cells (yeast, fungi, algae) investing minimum energy. Electroporation (EP) of LCB results a significant increase in cell conductivity and permeability caused due to the application of an external electric field. EP is required to alter the size and structure of the biomass, to reduce the cellulose crystallinity, and increase their porosity as well as chemical composition, so that the hydrolysis of the carbohydrate fraction to monomeric sugars can be achieved rapidly and with greater yields. Furthermore, EP has a great potential to disrupt the microbial cell walls within few seconds to bring out the intracellular materials (lipid) to the solution. Therefore, this study aims to describe the challenges and prospect of application of EP technique in biofuels processing

Large-N transition temperature for superconducting films in a magnetic field

We consider the $N$-component Ginzburg-Landau model in the large $N$ limit, the system being embedded in an external constant magnetic field and confined between two parallel planes a distance $L$ apart from one another. On physical grounds, this corresponds to a material in the form of a film in the presence of an external magnetic field. Using techniques from dimensional and $zeta$-function regularization, modified by the external field and the confinement conditions, we investigate the behavior of the system as a function of the film thickness $L$. This behavior suggests the existence of a minimal critical thickness below which superconductivity is suppressed.Comment: Revtex, two column, 4 pages, 2 figure

INVESTIGATING OF MULTI LEVEL TOPOLOGY WITH REDUCED NUMBER OF SWITCHES

A novel three stage multilevel inverter with a little number of exchanging gadgets is proposed. Extensive electrical drives and utility application require propelled power gadgets converter to meet the powerful requests. Subsequently, multilevel force converter structure has been presented as an option in high power and medium voltage circumstances. A multilevel converter accomplishes high power rating as well as enhances the execution of the entire framework as far as sounds. In this paper the proposed inverter can yield more quantities of voltage levels with diminished number of changes when contrasted with course H-span inverter, which brings about decrease of establishment cost and have effortlessness of control framework. At long last, the reenactment and trial results approve the idea of this new topology

Switching specific biomolecular interactions on surfaces under complex biological conditions

Herein, electrically switchable mixed self-assembled monolayers based on oligopeptides have been developed and investigated for their suitability in achieving control over biomolecular interactions in the presence of complex biological conditions. Our model system, a biotinylated oligopeptide tethered to gold within a background of tri(ethylene glycol) undecanethiol, is ubiquitous in both switching specific protein interactions in highly fouling media while still offering the non-specific protein-resistance to the surface. Furthermore, the work demonstrated that the performance of the switching on the electro-switchable oligopeptide is sensitive to the characteristics of the media, and in particular, its protein concentration and buffer composition, and thus such aspects should be considered and addressed to assure maximum switching performance. This study lays the foundation for developing more realistic dynamic extracellular matrix models and is certainly applicable in a wide variety of biological and medical applications

Noise pollution from oil, gas, and petrochemical industries

The study of noise pollution from oil, gas, and petrochemical industries is critical for environmental noise specialists because it has a significant impact on human, physical, and mental health. This chapter addresses the concept of noise, noise parameters, the most disturbing and influential sounds from various industrial and commercial environments, the effect on human health and some preventive measures to reduce noise pollution. Noise is a type of sound produced at sound levels ranging from of 50–85 dB. The oil and gas industries are one of the major contributors to noise pollution in the modern world due to the use of a variety of production methods, machinery, and equipment. Long-term noise exposure from commercial sites can result in a variety of health problems, including hearing loss, high blood pressure, headaches, and abnormal mental states

Triple combination antibiotic therapy for carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae: a systematic review

Abstract Background The spread of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (CPKP) has become a significant problem worldwide. Combination therapy for CPKP is encouraging, but polymyxin resistance to many antibiotics is hampering effective treatment. Combination therapy with three or more antibiotics is being increasingly reported, therefore we performed a systematic review of triple combination cases in an effort to evaluate their clinical effectiveness for CPKP infections. Methods The PubMed database was searched to identify all published clinical outcomes of CPKP infections treated with triple combination therapy. Articles were stratified into two tiers depending on the level of clinical detail provided. A tier 1 study included: antibiotic regimen, regimen-specific outcome, patient status at onset of infection, and source of infection. Articles not reaching these criteria were considered tier 2. Results Thirty-three studies were eligible, 23 tier 1 and ten tier 2. Among tier 1 studies, 53 cases were included in this analysis. The most common infection was pneumonia (31%) followed by primary or catheter-related bacteremia (21%) and urinary tract infection (17%). Different combinations of antibiotic classes were utilized in triple combinations, the most common being a polymyxin (colistin or polymyxin B, 86.8%), tigecycline (73.6%), aminoglycoside (43.4%), or carbapenem (43.4%). Clinical and microbiological failure occurred in 14/39 patients (35.9%) and 22/42 patients (52.4%), respectively. Overall mortality for patients treated with triple combination therapy was 35.8% (19/53 patients). Conclusions Triple combination therapy is being considered as a treatment option for CPKP. Polymyxin-based therapy is the backbone antibiotic in these regimens, but its effectiveness needs establishing in prospective clinical trials