Exploring the effect of reporter-source relationship on reporting outcome

Quality of news story widely depends on the quality of the source. Avital part of the reporter’s job consists of cultivating sources, the lifelineof journalism. The present study attempts to study the impact of differentaspects of cultivating routine sources on their news related outcome inthe context of Bangladesh. For this study, data were collected throughstructured and self administered questionnaire from 105 reporters (N =105) working in different newspapers in the country’s second largestcity and commercial capital Chittagong. Chi-square (2) tests wereperformed between reporting outcome as the dependent variable anddifferent component of relationship as independent variables. Besides,Spearman’s correlation was employed to see the association betweenthe variables. The findings reveal that maintaining friendly relations,nurturing relationship in everyday life, showing respect to off the recordand concealing sources identity were appeared to be significant (p <0.01) predictor for high level of news outcome, while maintainingfriendly and good relationship and presenting gift were associated(p < 0.05) with outcome

Performance Variation with time of Apparel Sewing Workers: A Case Study

The purposes of this case study is to analyze and identify the variation of sewing workers’ performance of the apparel industry with respect to working hours in a day and different working days; and find out possible solutions to overcome these variations. Data was collected following the theory of work study and then statistical hypothesis test such as two-way ANOVA was done to uncover the variations within the work station relative to working hours and working days and the variations were occurred in around 70% work stations whereas 53% stations faced variation in hourly only. Furthermore, the findings were analyzed by Delphi technique with a group of experts to identify the causes and the corresponding solutions. The Delphi experts group used a cause and effect diagram to identify the causes and finally suggested short-term and long-term solutions

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Bangladesh: A Cointegration Analysis

This paper investigates the long-run relationship between GDP and FDI in Bangladesh for a period of 42 years ranges from 1972 to 2013 by using time series econometric technique. The empirical results show that there is a significant positive correlation between GDP and FDI. The results also show that FDI and GDP are cointegrated in the long-run. For the supplement of the results of cointegration analysis, this study also examine the causal relationships by using Granger causality test and find strong evidence for unidirectional causality running between GDP through FDI in the long run. Keywords: FDI, GDP, Unit Root, Cointegration, Granger Causality

Use of machine learning algorithms for prediction of fetal risk using cardiotocographic data

Background: A major contributor to under-five mortality is the death of children in the 1st month of life. Intrapartum complications are one of the major causes of perinatal mortality. Fetal cardiotocograph (CTGs) can be used as a monitoring tool to identify high-risk women during labor.Aim: The objective of this study was to study the precision of machine learning algorithm techniques on CTG data in identifying high-risk fetuses.Methods: CTG data of 2126 pregnant women were obtained from the University of California Irvine Machine Learning Repository. Ten different machine learning classification models were trained using CTG data. Sensitivity, precision, and F1 score for each class and overall accuracy of each model were obtained to predict normal, suspect, and pathological fetal states. Model with best performance on specified metrics was then identified.Results: Determined by obstetricians\u27 interpretation of CTGs as gold standard, 70% of them were normal, 20% were suspect, and 10% had a pathological fetal state. On training data, the classification models generated by XGBoost, decision tree, and random forest had high precision (\u3e96%) to predict the suspect and pathological state of the fetus based on the CTG tracings. However, on testing data, XGBoost model had the highest precision to predict a pathological fetal state (\u3e92%).Conclusion: The classification model developed using XGBoost technique had the highest prediction accuracy for an adverse fetal outcome. Lay health-care workers in low- and middle-income countries can use this model to triage pregnant women in remote areas for early referral and further management

BSpell: A CNN-Blended BERT Based Bangla Spell Checker

Bangla typing is mostly performed using English keyboard and can be highly erroneous due to the presence of compound and similarly pronounced letters. Spelling correction of a misspelled word requires understanding of word typing pattern as well as the context of the word usage. A specialized BERT model named BSpell has been proposed in this paper targeted towards word for word correction in sentence level. BSpell contains an end-to-end trainable CNN sub-model named SemanticNet along with specialized auxiliary loss. This allows BSpell to specialize in highly inflected Bangla vocabulary in the presence of spelling errors. Furthermore, a hybrid pretraining scheme has been proposed for BSpell that combines word level and character level masking. Comparison on two Bangla and one Hindi spelling correction dataset shows the superiority of our proposed approach. BSpell is available as a Bangla spell checking tool via GitHub: https://github.com/Hasiburshanto/Bangla-Spell-Checke

High-order approximate solutions of strongly nonlinear cubic-quintic Duffing oscillator based on the harmonic balance method

In this paper, a new reliable analytical technique has been introduced based on the Harmonic Balance Method (HBM) to determine higher-order approximate solutions of the strongly nonlinear cubicquintic Duffing oscillator. The application of the HBM leads to very complicated sets of nonlinear algebraic equations. In this technique, the high-order nonlinear algebraic equations are approximated in the form of a power series solution, and this solution produces desired results even for small as well as large amplitudes of oscillation. Moreover, a suitable truncation formula is found in which the solution measures better results than existing results and it saves a lot of calculation. It is highly noteworthy that using the proposed technique, the third-order approximate solutions gives an excellent agreement as compared with the numerical solutions (considered to be exact). The proposed technique is applied to the strongly nonlinear cubic-quintic Duffing oscillator to reveals its novelty, reliability and wider applicability

Masturbation Experience: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, masturbation is considered an impious activity. It has been widely documented that free access to internet porn has led to high incidences of masturbation, especially among the youth. This study attempts to understand the prevalence and practice of masturbation among university students in Bangladesh. The methodology adopted was semi-structured interviews with 299 students from a private university in Khulna, west Bangladesh. The sample was selected using stratified sampling techniques from different academic departments (strata) of the university. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were performed to examine the association between masturbation and access to online pornography. The prevalence of masturbation among the students was 33.00% and it was found to be significantly higher among male students (42.20%). Students who watched pornography at least once a week or once a month were more likely to masturbate, with OR 161.43 (OR: 161.43, CI=38.64-674.39) and 112.3 (OR: 112.30, CI=22.80-553.22). The study provides the foundation for understanding the practice of masturbation among students in Bangladesh, with the aim of normalizing this activity

Geography Dictates, But How? Topography, Spatial Concentration and Sectoral Diversification

This study investigates the ways in which terrain ruggedness affects sectoral diversification. A cross-country analysis using data from 142 countries over the period 1970‒2007 documents an inverted U-shaped link between terrain ruggedness and sectoral diversification, which mainly works through the extensive margin of diversification. A within-country analysis based on United States (US) state-level data over the period 1997‒2011 confirms this non-monotonic relationship. The within-country analysis further reveals that an important mechanism through which terrain ruggedness affects sectoral diversification is the spatial concentration of economic activity, as measured by the concentration of satellite-based night lights

Geography Dictates, But How? Topography, Spatial Concentration and Sectoral Diversification

This study investigates the ways in which terrain ruggedness affects sectoral diversification. A cross-country analysis using data from 142 countries over the period 1970‒2007 documents an inverted U-shaped link between terrain ruggedness and sectoral diversification, which mainly works through the extensive margin of diversification. A within-country analysis based on United States (US) state-level data over the period 1997‒2011 confirms this non-monotonic relationship. The within-country analysis further reveals that an important mechanism through which terrain ruggedness affects sectoral diversification is the spatial concentration of economic activity, as measured by the concentration of satellite-based night lights