Does Digitalization Matter for Grievance Redress Mechanism? An Analysis of the E-Government Procurement in the Local Government

Public procurement denotes the attainment of goods, works, or services required by governments through contracts. Public procurement is usually plagued with covert practices and exclusive forms of corruption in Bangladesh. The cost of development finance is much higher in public procurement than that of others in Bangladesh. There have been no unified rules or laws regarding government purchases since 2006. The Government of Bangladesh enacted its ever first act of public procurement, the Public Procurement Act, 2006 (PPA, 2006), and the Public Procurement Rules, 2008 (PPR, 2008). The procurement entity must disseminate procurement information through electronic medium i.e. Electronic Government Procurement (hereinafter e-GP). Despite passing over an era since its enactment, the role of the PPA, 2006 remains seriously under-researched area, specifically there is no research on the issue of the grievance redress mechanisms. The study has been done using a qualitative case study methodology, backed by both primary and secondary documentary analysis. Based on empirical data, this paper explained the role of digitalization in the process of government procurement and depicted changes that have been brought by the implementation of e-GP in government purchases. However, it concluded that the grievance redress mechanism in the process of procurement is only existing in the policy papers which need mandatory implementation for a transparent and accountable governance system. Despite the significant changes and up-gradation in digital government procurement, it is hardly found that the GRM process is digitalized. And the mass tenderers are yet to be acquainted with the improvised system apart from the consistent efforts of the government

In vitro evaluation of antibiotic performances on Trichoderma harzianum and some crop infecting fungi

An in vitro experiment was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of antibiotics at different concentrations on growth and development of Trichoderma harzianum, Phytophthora infestans, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Corticium theae and Fusarium oxysporum found in tea plantation. Three samples viz. sample-1 (Validamycin 60% w/w) @ 45, 60 and 75 ppm, sample-2 (Hexaconazole 2.5% w/w+Validamycin 8.5% w/w) @ 55, 82.5 and 110 ppm and sample-3 (Streptomycin 9% w/w+Tetracyclin hydrochloride 1% w/w) @ 50, 75 and 100 ppm were tested. The result showed that Antibiotics have inhibitory effects on T. harzianum. Unsatisfactory performances in terms of per cent growth inhibition (<80) were recorded on crop infecting fungi. C. theae treated with sample-1 @ 75 ppm and C. gloeosporioides with sample-2 @ 110 ppm had shown maximum 25.50 and 54.19 per cent growth inhibition, respectively. The highest 70.53 per cent growth inhibition of C. theae was observed in sample-3 treated @ 100 ppm. Considering the findings it can be recommended not to use above antibiotics with their respective concentrations in plant agriculture for controlling diseases caused by the said fungi

Risk for Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1) in Backyard Chickens, Bangladesh

Risk factors were feeding slaughter remnants of purchased chickens, having a body of water nearby, and contact with pigeons

Avian Influenza Outbreaks in Chickens, Bangladesh

To determine the epidemiology of outbreaks of avian influenza A virus (subtypes H5N1, H9N2) in chickens in Bangladesh, we conducted surveys and examined virus isolates. The outbreak began in backyard chickens. Probable sources of infection included egg trays and vehicles from local live bird markets and larger live bird markets

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events

Effect of Filling Ratio on Heat Transfer Characteristics and Performance of a Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe

AbstractThermal control is a generic need for any heat dissipation system. Heat pipes emerge as the most appropriate technology and most thermal effective solution due to their excellent heat transfer capability, heat transfer efficiency and structural simplicity. In many engineering applications higher heat flux is important. Two phase passive devices are proven solutions for modern microelectronics thermal management. This paper attempts to describe the heat transfer characteristics of closed loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) which are new entrants in the family of closed passive two phase heat transfer system. It also shows the comparison of thermal efficiency of CLPHP for different filling ratios with two different working fluids, water and ethanol. This device is a combination of lot of events and mechanisms like bubble nucleation, collapse and agglomeration, bubble pumping action, pressure and temperature perturbations, flow regime changes, dynamic instabilities, meta-stable non equilibrium conditions, flooding, bridging etc. All contribute towards the thermal performance of a device. But, such a complex operating mechanism is not understood well yet and the present state of the art cannot predict the required design parameters for a given task. The aim of research work presented in this paper is to better understand the heat transfer characteristics of these mechanisms through experimental investigations. Experiments are conducted on a CLPHP made of capillary tube of 2.2mm inner diameter. The heat transfer characteristics and the performance of the CLPHP are investigated for filling ratios of 100%, 82.5%, 63%, 41.3% and 28%. The results indicate that the performance of this device changes with the changing of working fluid, filling ratios and heat input

Bibliometric Evidence on the Trend and Future Direction of the Research on Textile Coloration with Natural Sources

Synthetic dyes used for the coloration of textile goods are not readily biodegradable and are a major concern for water pollution. Nature has abundant sources of potential colorants for textile applications. There are many challenges in textile coloration using natural dyes and pigments, and significant research efforts are currently put into replacing synthetic textile dyes successfully. In order to gain insight into the future trajectory of dyeing research utilizing natural colorants, a bibliometric analysis from 1990 to 2021 using the Science Citation Index Expanded database was conducted. The analysis focused on how well the publication performed in terms of outputs and citations annually, mainstream journals, Web of Science categories, top universities, top nations, research trends, and hotspots. An overview of the most frequently used keywords derived from terms in the article title analysis, authors’ keyword analysis, and KeyWords Plus analysis served as the foundation for determining current research goals and future trends. The findings indicated that no noteworthy research on this topic was conducted in the final decade of the previous century but that it did begin to get the attention of scholars in the first decade of this century. The use of natural dyes in industry has significantly expanded during the past ten years. “Fastness” is the interest point that has received the most attention. Mordants, or environmentally friendly extraction techniques such as ultrasonic, gamma irradiation, etc., represent the future of this research area. On the other hand, ultraviolet protection and antibacterial or antimicrobial properties are becoming more and more popular in the field of textile dyeing research using natural colorants

Validation of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to detect virus titer and thermostability of Newcastle disease live virus vaccine

Background and Aim: Newcastle disease is one of the most common diseases affecting poultry in Bangladesh. The disease can cause up to 100% mortality but is preventable if birds are timely and properly vaccinated with a vaccine of standard virus titer. Different live vaccines are commercially available in the country - most, if not all, are produced using lentogenic strains of the virus with variable virulence. One of the disadvantages of these vaccines is that they are not stable at high environmental temperature, and therefore, a proper cold chain must be maintained during transportation and storage. Information on how long these vaccine viruses can withstand environmental temperature, which is near the vicinity of 37°C in the summer season in Bangladesh, is scanty. The aim of this research was to measure the effect of temperature on virus titer of live ND virus vaccines and to develop a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) standard curve to indirectly determine hemagglutination (HA) titer of virus by this highly sensitive method. Materials and Methods: In this study, thermostability of five commercial live vaccines containing LaSota, F, Clone 30, and B1 type LaSota strains was observed for up to 35 days keeping them at 37°C. From the most thermostability yielding sample, two rRT-PCR standard curves were developed: (1) By plotting the cycle threshold (CT) values as obtained from 10-fold serial dilutions up to 10-3 against their corresponding log (to the base 10) dilutions and (2) by plotting the CT values obtained from serial HA dilutions up to 2-4 against their corresponding HA titer dilutions. The PCR efficiencies based on which the graphs were fitted were also evaluated. Results: The vaccine from the LaSota strain withstood 37°C for 35 days with a gradual declination of HA titer over time, and this vaccine also had the highest initial HA titer, which was 211. The vaccine made from F strain was inactivated quickly, and it had the lowest HA titer at the beginning of the study. The first standard curve developed can be used to assess the level of virus titer in a diluted sample compared with the titer in the original undiluted vaccine preparation by plotting the CT value obtained from the dilution by rRT-PCR. The second standard curve can be used to calculate the HA titer of a vaccine dilution by plotting the CT value as obtained from the dilution by rRT-PCR. Conclusion: The regression equations for the first and second graphs were y=–3.535x+14.365 and y=–1.081x+13.703, respectively, suggesting that, for every 3.53 cycles, the PCR product would have increased 10 times and 2 times for every 1.08 cycles, respectively, indicating nearly (but not exactly) 100% PCR efficiency

Dragon Fruit (<i>Hylocereus polyrhizus</i>): A Green Colorant for Cotton Fabric

The textile industry has been exploring sustainable chemicals and natural alternatives to replace harmful and carcinogenic substances used in different stages of textile production for dyeing textiles. Natural dyes are gaining popularity, as they are environmentally friendly and less harmful. Betacyanin, a type of pigment obtained from red pitahaya, commonly known as red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus), has peels that are available as agricultural waste and can be used to meet the demand for natural dye production. This study aimed to explore and utilize dragon fruit’s peel as a natural colorant for dyeing 100% cotton knit fabric (scoured and bleached single jersey plain knit) of 170 g/m2, which could transform a low-value material into a valuable product. However, cotton’s phenolic nature and oxidation process result in negative charges on its surface, making natural dyeing challenging. Cationization with cationic agents (ForCat NCH, a mixture of cationic polyamine and 1,3,dichlori-2-propanol) and mordanting (potassium alum or potassium aluminum sulfate) were carried to improve dye exhaustion and enhance colorfastness properties. Spectrophotometer 800 was used to measure color strength (K/S), and several fastness tests, including wash, perspiration, and rubbing were conducted to assess the final product’s performance. The process parameters, such as temperatures, times, pH levels, and dye concentrations were varied to understand better the optimum conditions

Coagulase-positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus circulating in clinical mastitic goats in Bangladesh

Background and Aim: Staphylococcus aureus is argued as one of the principal organisms responsible for mammary gland infection in lactating goats, causing both clinical and subclinical mastitis. Being highly zoonotic potential, pathogen emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has a significant clinical impact on treatment and management of clinical mastitis. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the prevalence of coagulase-positive S. aureus (CoPS), antimicrobial resistance profile of Staphylococcus spp., prevalence of MRSA, and association between different clinical parameters with CoPS. Materials and Methods: A total of 67 clinical mastitic goats were sampled based on clinical examination and California mastitis test. Standard bacteriological methods were performed to isolate and identify Staphylococcus spp. CoPS were confirmed by nuc gene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All staphylococcal isolates were further examined for antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion method. MRSA was confirmed based on mecA gene-based PCR. Results: Here, 49 (73.13%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 61.41-82.35) samples were positive for Staphylococcus spp., of which 17 (34.69%; 95% CI, 22.88-48.73) isolates were CoPS and rest of the isolates (32; 65.30%; 95% CI, 51.27-77.12) were identified as coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (coagulase-negative staphylococci [CNS]). Both, CoPS and CNS isolates displayed the highest resistance against tetracycline (76.47% and 75%, respectively) and oxacillin (70.58% and 68.75%, respectively). Notably, all staphylococcal isolates were multidrug-resistant (showed resistance to ≥3 classes of antimicrobials). mecA gene was found in 6 (8.96%; 95% CI, 3.84-18.52) CoPS isolates indicating MRSA strains. Among different clinical parameters, presence of high body temperature (p<0.05), firm udder consistency (p<0.01), bloodstained milk (p<0.00), and pus in milk (p<0.00) were significantly associated with the presence of CoPS in mastitic caprine milk. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of MRSA isolated from clinical caprine mastitis cases in Bangladesh. The findings of this study would help in cautious selection as well as administration of antimicrobials for therapeutic management of mastitic goats