Shifting the Paradigm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE): An Exploratory Study to Develop a Theoretical Framework

The main aim of the study is to explore and understand the potential for CSR practices to generate and confer unique benefits to a firm from their involvement in its activities, and exploring the scope to connect CSR and its accompanying benefits with the entrepreneurial practices of the firm. Following social constructionist philosophy this study was conducted to understand the construction of reality at the interface of CSR and entrepreneurship in large exemplary CSR practicing and entrepreneurial firms. Focusing on strategic CSR (SCSR) theories and opportunity based view of entrepreneurship, this study followed corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and social entrepreneurship (SE) theoretical underpinnings to establish a link between CSR and firm entrepreneurship to develop a theoretical framework for corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) for creating economic, social and shared value. This is a qualitative exploratory study and the research site was Bangladesh. Case study method was used as the main method in this study and semi structured interviews as the main method for data for case studies. Secondary sources of information, company records, project profiles and other archival data were also used in this study. Four purposively selected case firms which are exemplary CSR and entrepreneurial firms operating in Bangladesh are selected for case study along with other external stakeholders. Two phases of fieldwork were carried out as per the research plan to collect rich and deep data. Data analysis considered 32 usable interviews of first phase of fieldwork and 9 follow-up interviews of second phase of fieldwork. During the first phase of fieldwork after initial purposive sampling, snowballing also followed to capture deep and thick data to generate rich insights. Since this study mainly followed qualitative cross case analysis, four purposively selected case firms comprised main data set which are exemplary CSR and entrepreneurial firms operating in Bangladesh. Cross case analyses were done to draw out the findings. Transcribed interview data were analyzed using Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis software. Open coding was used to analyze data following thematic coding process. Code co-occurrence analyses were used to do cross case analysis. Within the fields of CSR and entrepreneurship, this study explored the interaction between CSR and firm entrepreneurship focusing on corporate entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship domains. Findings of the study suggest that the interaction of CSR practices with firm entrepreneurship may bring a better climate for exploring and exploiting business opportunities through promoting entrepreneurial behaviour, scope for innovation and better strategic and entrepreneurial practices for creating shared value. Moreover, this interaction along with social oriented vision, strategic management practices, internal environment and value based culture together are conducive for enacting corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) to promote robust CSR practices and greater value creation. Due to qualitative cross case analysis involving limited number of cases and primarily dependency on the interview data, generalizability of the findings are limited to theoretical inference. Based on the empirical work, developed CSE theoretical model is the outcome of data analysis in a triangulating fashion which offers validity and reliability. The main implications of this study is that addressing social problems through exploring and exploiting opportunities in the shared value creation space, managers may create an enabling environment and pursue strategies which are conducive for socio-entrepreneurial business practices. Also, CSE theoretical framework is expected to be strategic and entrepreneurial simultaneously which can be effective in bringing competitive advantage for firms

Chemical Enhancer: A Simplistic Way to Modulate Barrier Function of the Stratum Corneum

Human skin could be a prime target to deliver drugs into the human body as it is the largest organ of human body. However, the main challenge of delivering drug into the skin is the stratum corneum (SC), the outer layer of epidermis, which performs the main barrier function of the skin. Scientists have developed several techniques to overcome the barrier properties of the skin, which include other physical and chemical techniques. The most common and convenient technique is to use special formulation additives (chemical enhancers, CEs) which either drags the drug molecule along with it or make changes in the SC structure, thereby allowing the drug molecule to penetrate in to the SC. The main focus is to deliver drugs in the certain layers of the skin (for topical delivery) or ensuring proper percutaneous absorption (for transdermal delivery). However, skin drug delivery is still very challenging as different CEs act in different ways on the skin and they have different types of interaction with different drugs. Therefore, proper understanding on the mechanism of action of CE is mandatory. In this article, the effect of several CEs on skin has been reviewed based on the published articles. The main aim is to compile the recent knowledge on skin-CE interaction in order to design a topical and transdermal formulation efficiently. A properly designed formulation would help the drug either to deposit into the target layer or to cross the barrier membrane to reach the systemic circulation

Seipin oligomers can interact directly with AGPAT2 and lipin 1, physically scaffolding critical regulators of adipogenesis

This work was supported by a Merit Scholarship from the Islamic Development Bank (to M.M.U.T.), The Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore (A*STAR) (M.F.M.S), the Medical Research Council (MRC) [NIRG GO800203 and Research Grant MR/L002620/1 (to J.J.R.), Program GrantG09000554 (to S.O.R)], The Wellcome Trust [078986/Z/06/Z (to S.O.R.)], the MRC Centre for Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders (MRC-CORD) [GO600717] and the NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre [CG50826].Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Critical Success Factors of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Implementation: A Study in Bangladesh

This study aims to discover the perceptions of the critical success factors (CSFs) of the public and private sectors’ players that influence the implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects in Bangladesh. Methods: A questionnaire survey was adopted to discover public and private sector players’ perceptions of the CSFs and success subfactors (SSF) of PPP projects. Based on the literature review, CSFs and SSFs were identified, and the agreement between respondents from the public and private sectors was tested. A total of 59 responses were collected and examined to reveal the perceived gaps between sectors and rank CSFs and SSFs. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used. The results show that the top-ranking factor was “economic viability”, followed by “appropriate risk allocation”, “sound financial packages”, “favorable investment environment”, and “reliable concessionaire”. It was also found that the perceptions of the public and private sectors were mixed. The key conclusion of this study is that the identified factors must be effectively addressed in order to develop consensus and engage relevant stakeholders in Bangladesh

The Study of Hypoglycemic effect of microencapsulated Glimepiride In Long Evans Rats

In this study glimepiride was used as a model drug to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of microencapsulated or mucoadhesive drug delivery system. Sodium alginate based Microbeads of Glimepiride was prepared using Glycerine monostearate (GMS) for oral sustained release by Orifice-ionic gelation method. The microbeads were evaluated for physical appearance, floating properties, In-Vitro release study and In-Vivo evaluation. The microbeads were free flowing, spherical in shape and have the good content of uniformity of drugs. The spherical microbeads of 2 mm diameter were prepared by dropping sodium alginate incorporated with Glimepiride solution into aqueous solution of calcium chloride, causing the precipitation of calcium alginate. These Microbeads released the drug for a prolonged residence time of more than 2 hours. The hypoglycemic effect of the mucoadhesive floating drug delivery system is a valuable method for the long term delivery of Glimepiride on Long Evans Rats

Role of Mothers’ Nutritional Knowledge, Nutritional Factors on The School Performance

A cross sectional study was carried out to investigate the effects of mothers’ nutritional knowledge, health and nutritional factors and socio-economic parameters on school performance among class five students of University Laboratory School, Dhaka. All of the eighty students were selected for this study. This study found there is a strong relationship between mother’s knowledge score and school performance. It was found that mothers’ knowledge score was responsible for 91.1 percent change in school performance. The mean BMI of the mothers was 20.44. We found that the school performance measured by class roll number of the students is significantly related with mothers BMI. There was an imperfect negative association between socio-economic parameters and school performance. But the relationship between the school performances with socio-economic parameters was strongly significant. This study also observed the relationship between Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS) of respondent and marks achieved in class 4 final exam. It is alarming that consumption percentage were low for eggs (30) and milk and milk products (37.5), but majority of the students who consumed milk and milk products (63.3%) and eggs (66.7%) got the highest marks

Petrography and Diagenesis of Thin-Bed Reservoirs from the Eastern Folded Belt of Bangladesh

The main purpose of the study is to identify the thin-bed reservoirs of the Eastern Folded Belt (Sylhet and Bandarban) and characterize them with diligence. A detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried out. It is based on thin-section petrographic analyses of sandstone samples. These samples are from the reservoir horizons of the Sylhet region and Bandarban region fields. The purpose of this analysis is to characterize the textural and mineralogical properties. Additionally, it aims to evaluate the post-depositional diagenetic changes. The results obtained from the field and laboratory analysis are studied extensively to characterize the thin-bed reservoirs. Samples from the Sylhet area are medium-coarse-grained, fairly sorted, tight packing, submature-mature sublithic characteristics. Contrarily, samples from the Bandarban region are mature-submature sublithic arenites, which are fine-medium-grained, moderately well-sorted, and moderately loosely packed. Despite the similarity of the detrital elements (quartz, feldspar, lithic grains, mica, etc.) in the two areas, silica cementation is more frequent in Sylhet region samples than early carbonate cementation in Bandarban region samples. Comparatively speaking, the sediments in the Sylhet region are more compact than those in the Bandarban region. The most important outcome of this study is that the thin bed of the unconventional reservoir and the conventional reservoir are in close proximity. The Thin-bed reservoir units of the Eastern Folded Belt are found to be medium to fine-grained and well sorted, with frequent alteration of sand-shale with the prevalence of parallel bedded sandstone. Average porosity is 4% to 12%, and pore spaces are interconnected. So, the permeability rate is good enough to flow the hydrocarbon through these pore spaces. Most importantly, the thin bed and tight reservoir (average porosity 4% to 12%, but pore spaces are not interconnected) are not more prominent than 1 meter or 2 meters. Subsequently, though the vertical thickness is not so high, they keep up a momentous tirelessness of horizontal progression. On the contrary, at whatever point it comes to a conventional reservoir, the vertical thickness is higher than that of the unconventional reservoir. But their lateral persistence is not as long as unconventional ones

Aberrant activation of TCL1A promotes stem cell expansion in clonal haematopoiesis

Mutations in a diverse set of driver genes increase the fitness of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), leading to clonal haematopoiesis1. These lesions are precursors for blood cancers2,3,4,5,6, but the basis of their fitness advantage remains largely unknown, partly owing to a paucity of large cohorts in which the clonal expansion rate has been assessed by longitudinal sampling. Here, to circumvent this limitation, we developed a method to infer the expansion rate from data from a single time point. We applied this method to 5,071 people with clonal haematopoiesis. A genome-wide association study revealed that a common inherited polymorphism in the TCL1A promoter was associated with a slower expansion rate in clonal haematopoiesis overall, but the effect varied by driver gene. Those carrying this protective allele exhibited markedly reduced growth rates or prevalence of clones with driver mutations in TET2, ASXL1, SF3B1 and SRSF2, but this effect was not seen in clones with driver mutations in DNMT3A. TCL1A was not expressed in normal or DNMT3A-mutated HSCs, but the introduction of mutations in TET2 or ASXL1 led to the expression of TCL1A protein and the expansion of HSCs in vitro. The protective allele restricted TCL1A expression and expansion of mutant HSCs, as did experimental knockdown of TCL1A expression. Forced expression of TCL1A promoted the expansion of human HSCs in vitro and mouse HSCs in vivo. Our results indicate that the fitness advantage of several commonly mutated driver genes in clonal haematopoiesis may be mediated by TCL1A activation

Increased prevalence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential amongst people living with HIV

People living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) have significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease in part due to inflammation and immune dysregulation. Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), the age-related acquisition and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells due to leukemogenic driver mutations, increases risk for both hematologic malignancy and coronary artery disease (CAD). Since increased inflammation is hypothesized to be both a cause and consequence of CHIP, we hypothesized that PLWH have a greater prevalence of CHIP. We searched for CHIP in multi-ethnic cases from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS, n = 600) and controls from the Atherosclerosis Risk in the Communities study (ARIC, n = 8111) from blood DNA-derived exome sequences. We observed that HIV is associated with a twofold increase in CHIP prevalence, both in the whole study population and in a subset of 230 cases and 1002 matched controls selected by propensity matching to control for demographic imbalances (SHCS 7%, ARIC 3%, p = 0.005). We also observed that ASXL1 is the most commonly mutated CHIP-associated gene in PLWH. Our results suggest that CHIP may contribute to the excess cardiovascular risk observed in PLWH