Power and relational dynamics in participation : children and young people's opportunities and choices in decision-making in Bangladesh"

This thesis explores structures and processes that influence children and young people's opportunities to participate in decision-making and the actual choices that children and young people make regarding their participation in both private and public spaces in Bangladesh. An examination of children and young people's relationships with their families, society and the state is used to critique the liberal construction of the individual rights-bearing child. The experiences and perspectives of young people and adults in this study reveal the relational nature of children and young people's opportunities and choices to participate in decision-making, which is both social and political in nature. The analysis shows that at the micro level, the social values of duty, obligation, reciprocity, interdependence, deference, honour and shame in generational relationships contribute to developing children and young people's relational identity. Children and young people's engagement with social values reveals the power of moral economy in regulating their agency and shaping their experiences of participation in decision-making in relational contexts. The study demonstrates that children and young people's adherence to social norms and institutions shape their behavioural disposition and constrain their choices to participate in making decisions. In this process, generation and gender are revealed as the two key structuring factors of social, economic and political life which are further intersected by other social differentiations resulting in children and young people's social exclusion from influencing decisions. Understanding the cultural politics of childhood is thus crucial in understanding opportunities and choices of children and young people's participation in making decisions within various intergenerational and intra-generational social positions. Equally important is the analysis that reveals children and young people's real vulnerability to danger and risks that exist in the external environment in which they live. Therefore, concerns for children's protection from external vulnerabilities also cause their social exclusion and limit their agency in decision-making. At the macro level, the analysis reveals that a lack of political commitment to translate policy into practice is linked to normative and ideological views of childhood and inadequate institutional processes resulting in children and young people's systemic social, political and structural exclusion from influencing public and development policies and services. Moreover, children and young people's agency to influence policy decisions and service provisions are also shaped by powerful broader macro and structural forces such as neoliberal educational policy agenda. The analysis in this thesis thus underscores the power and relational dynamics present in children and young people's opportunities and choices in decision-making that affect their lives. This thesis therefore argues for considering socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts as spaces in which children and young people's participation in decision-making is embedded in various intergenerational and intra-generational relationships. These relationships as spaces are imbued with multiple dimensions of power and social control. A relational understanding of rights that considers the importance of rights at the macro level to hold the government accountable to realise social and economic rights and relationships at the micro level is therefore significant in taking children and young people's participation in decision-making forward

Risk of Newly-diagnosed Depression, Treatment and its Economic Outcomes among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries with Incident Breast, Colorectal or Prostate Cancer

Depression is a highly prevalent chronic condition among the elderly cancer survivors. It is estimated that 5-25% of elderly cancer survivors suffer from depression. Depression co-existing with cancer is associated with many negative health consequences such as high mortality, poor health related quality of life and high healthcare utilization and expenditures. However, depression is treatable with pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy or combination of both. There are no studies that examine the variations in the risk of depression by cancer types and there are few studies that examined the rates of depression treatment among elderly with cancer. In addition, there is lack of evidence on the impact of depression treatment on the economic outcomes of cancer survivors. To fill the knowledge gap, the three related aims of this dissertation were to: (1) examine the variations in the risk of depression by cancer types among elderly with incident breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer; (2) identify the rates of depression treatment and the factors associated with depression treatment among elderly with newly-diagnosed depression and incident breast, colorectal and prostate cancer; (3) analyze the impact of depression treatment on the healthcare expenditures among elderly with newly-diagnosed depression and incident breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. The study used a retrospective cohort study design, using multiple years (2002--2011) of the cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program linked with the Medicare claims data, the American community survey census-tract files and the Area Health Resource Files. In the first aim, among elderly with incident breast, colorectal and prostate cancer (N= 53,821), women with colorectal cancer had 28.0% higher risk of newly-diagnosed depression as compared to women with breast cancer; men with colorectal cancer had 104.0% higher risk of newly-diagnosed depression as compared to men with prostate cancer. Elderly diagnosed with cancer at an advanced stage had a 61.0% higher risk of newly-diagnosed depression as compared to those diagnosed with cancer at an early stage. Elderly with higher number of primary care providers visits had a higher newly-diagnosed depression as compared to those with lower number of primary care providers visits. In the second aim, among elderly with newly-diagnosed depression and incident breast, colorectal and prostate cancer (N= 1,673), 45.7% received antidepressants only; 8.8% received psychotherapy only; 18.4% received combined therapy; and 27.1% received no treatment for depression. Elderly cancer survivors who received ongoing cancer treatment were less likely to receive psychotherapy only, or combination therapy. Elderly living in counties with a higher percentage of psychologists were more likely to receive psychotherapy only, or combination therapy. In the third aim, among elderly with newly-diagnosed depression and incident breast, colorectal and prostate cancer (N= 1,502), the average 1-year total healthcare expenditures after depression diagnosis were higher among those who received depression treatment as compared to no depression treatment. The associations between depression treatment and the higher healthcare expenditures were observed across all types of healthcare expenditures (inpatient, outpatient, prescription drugs, and other expenditures). To summarize, this dissertation found that there are variations in the risk of newly-diagnosed depression by cancer type. Among cancer survivors with newly-diagnosed depression, one-quarter of cancer survivors did not receive any form of depression treatment; cancer-related factors were associated with depression treatment; and depression treatment was associated with increase in short-term healthcare expenditures

Study of the Distinguishing Features of Mughal Mosque in Dhaka: A Case of Sat Gambuj Mosque

Mosque is the main focal point of Islamic spirit and accomplishments. All over the world in the Muslim settlements mosque becomes an edifice of distinct significance which is introduced by Prophet Muhammad (Sm.). Since the initial stage of Islam, Muslim architecture has been developed as the base point of mosque. Mosque architecture in medieval time uncovering clearly its sacred identity especially during the pre-Mughal and Mughal period in Bengal. Dhaka, the capital city of independent Bangladesh, is known as the city of mosques. The Mughal mosques of Dhaka are the exceptional example of mosque architecture wherever the ideas and used materials with distinguishing features have been successfully integrated in the medieval context of Bengal. In this research study, the author selected a unique historical as well as Dhaka’s most iconic Mughal era Mosque named “Sat Gambuj Mosque” (Seven Domed Mosque). The mosque, built in the 17th century, is a glowing illustration of Mughal Architecture with seven bulbous domes crowning the roof of the mosque, covering the main prayer area. It is undoubted that this magnificent ancient Mughal mosque is the material evidence of our glorious past with research worthy features and architectural details. This study is an attempt to identify the tangible distinguishing features of the Mughal mosque as well as the selected outstanding  historical Mughal mosque. The overall research study conducted here is focused on the accomplishment of the findings in order to relate those distinguishing features with the Mughal mosque characteristics based on the morphological character, architectural features, structure and decoration which will be represented own belief, historical values and cultural exclusivity to the architecture. Search Keywords for This Page: City of mosques Dhaka, Why is dhaka known as the city of mosques, Dhaka city of mosques, Features of a mosque, Main features of a mosque, Dhaka mosque, City of mosques Bangladesh, Mosque architecture in Bangladesh, Mughal masjid, Mumber of mosques in Dhaka, Sat gumbad mosque, Mosque in Dhaka, Mughal architecture features, Shat gombuj mosque banglapedia, Dhakaa, Saat gombuj mosque, Historical mosque in Bangladesh, Antiquities of dacca, Mughal architecture characteristics, Mosques in Dhaka, The city of mosques, Mughal mosque, Masjid gumbad design, Mosque architecture, Characteristics of a mosque, Prayer time dhaka islamic foundation, History of mosque architecture, How many mosque in Dhak

Educational influences on student academic attainment: a multi-level analysis in the context of Bangladesh

Bangladesh has made significant progress in terms of improving student access and gender disparity at primary and secondary levels of education. Currently, the major concern is the quality of education. In the national interest, the government of Bangladesh has undertaken a number of intervention programmes to increase the quality of primary and secondary education. Recently, researchers and practitioners are more engaged in investigating the quality of education, particularly at primary and secondary levels, where they have focused on the following themes: • internal efficiency • achievement of basic competency • acquisition of terminal competencies • teacher education • private expenditure on education There has been little application of School Effectiveness Research (SER) in Bangladesh, though SER became one of the most important educational movements and discourses in the West and came to prominence very rapidly in other developed and developing countries, namely Australia, Canada, South Africa, Indonesia, China and India. Therefore, the current study is significant in that it explores contemporary issues in the Bangladesh education system, which influence student academic attainment and present the findings of the first school effectiveness study in Bangladesh using multi-level analysis. Reviewing SER in other developed and developing countries, I discuss the status of SER in Bangladesh. This is followed by an assessment of the education system, educational management and policy making procedure at secondary level in Bangladesh to aid readers’ understanding. Different perspectives of what constitutes ‘school effectiveness’ are illustrated, in the light of important issues such as models and the theory of SER, effect size, consistency and stability. Various criticisms of SER are also illustrated, along with a number of counterpoints to justify the importance of SER. The significant methodological aspect (i.e. multi-level analysis with ‘value added’ approach) is introduced, along with other different types of statistical analysis, for example, descriptive and cross tabulation (chi-square) analysis and exploratory factor analysis. The normalised public examination scores of 2,462 students nested into 90 classes and 45 schools are analysed by means of multi-level modelling. The multi-level analysis of the data shows that most of the variations were found at the student level. A significant proportion of variations was also found at class level accounting for prior attainment, background factors and some class level process factors implying that teacher effect on pupil attainment is greater than school effect. It is argued that it is possible to construct a model of school effectiveness in the Bangladeshi setting. The findings of my research indicate that factors external to the schools are more important than school level factors for academic attainment. Student academic attainment and academic self-concept were found to be positively correlated. The interrelation between the two variables is significantly higher at school level than at class and student levels. A significant proportion of variation in academic attainment was found to be at class level, implying that teachers ‘make the difference’, not schools and that the teachers who teach individual classes within the school are the key factors for effective teaching and learning outcome. Finally, the policy implications of my findings are discussed and a framework is proposed for measuring school effectiveness in Bangladesh

Students’ Satisfaction in Journalism Education in Bangladesh

Despite availing with some dissatisfaction and fewer opportunities among the public and private university students as a whole most of the students are satisfied and showing hopes in journalism education This study discusses the comparative results of students satisfaction level in both public and private university students and student s perception and expectations from journalism education are focused and explained simultaneously Overall results show that some newly established and periphery universities are lagging behind comparatively from the old and centered universities But along with all disadvantages and fewer opportunities close-ratio differences in satisfaction level are seen among those universities especially among public and private universities respectively Most of the students of 76 67 have changed their negative perception after schooling in departments Though the majority of the students of 90 67 are enjoying journalism study now the reverse things are found in liking teaching methods 51 of private university students dislike teaching methods which depict less satisfaction level On the other hand 61 students of public universities like teaching methods which shows a high satisfaction leve

The Cause of Low Implementation of ICT in Education Sector Considering Higher Education: A Study on Bangladesh

Education is one of the main keys to economic development and improvements in human welfare. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has turned out to be an effective educational technology which promotes some dramatic changes in teaching and learning process. ICT may change the way of livelihood and education system of a country. This study is to focus the ICT used by the teachers and their attitude towards using ICT in the classroom. Though the education sectors of Bangladesh are suffering hundreds of problems, ICT can change the present scenario. This research is to identify the current ICT status on higher education specially a government college in Bangladesh

Developing a Theoretical Model of Knowledge Management processes (KMP): Taxonomies Review

This paper reviewed the definition of Knowledge Management processes (KMP) in academic literature, the main research topic is: there is no comprehensive KMP model that has been explored and applied in details, This has been attained throughout carrying out a deep analysis of accessible studies insist to propose a comprehensive model for KM proceeses which has appeared at all obtainable studies from all available resources. The comprehensive model for KM processes consisting of master classification of the sub-phases of KM processes  are (a) verification process: there are five sub phases that have to be in use. Those activities include identification, acquiring, capturing , generation, and  creation of knowledge; (b) knowledge allocating: there are five sub-phases which include organizing, codification, sharing, storage and integration of knowledge; (3) knowledge distribution: there are three sub-phases: diffusion, transfer and dissemination of knowledge; (d) knowledge executive: there are three sub-phases of these process which include the implementation, application and utilization of knowledge It was recommended in this paper that Organizations may have different motives in inspiring the use of KM processes to enhance performance of their products Keywords: Knowledge Management Processes, Knowledge Verification, Knowledge Distribution Knowledge Allocation, Knowledge Execution

Access to pharmaceutical products in six European countries – analysis of different pharmaceutical distribution systems

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to draw a comprehensive picture of the pharmaceutical wholesale sector, outlining its socio-economic importance compared to different distribution systems such as short-line wholesaling, direct sales from manufacturers, Reduced Wholesale Arrangements (RWA) and Direct to Pharmacy (DTP) arrangements. Its role is considered from an economic, effectiveness and, most importantly, a public health viewpoint with qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.METHODS: First, data has been sourced from annual GIRP and IMS-Health statistics; second, a systematic literature research verified the empirical findings; third, an online-questionnaire was directed to pharmacies. Further data have been sourced from a questionnaire, addressing GIRP-full-member associations and wholesale companies (return rate 86%).RESULTS: On a weighted average, pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers in the observed countries alone pre-finance € 10.2 bn over a period of 41 days the entire medicine-market and secure the cash-flow of the social-insurers (Germany: € 2.60 bn for 38 days; Italy: € 2.27 bn for 68 days; the UK: € 1.48 bn for 36 days; France: € 1.28 bn for 22 days; Spain: € 969.76 m for 27 days; the Netherlands: € 399.09 m for 30 days on average). On average, pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers are bundling products of 18.28 manufacturers per delivery. The process costs would increase by € 164,922.43 to € 171,510.06 per year, if there were no pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers. These additional costs would have to be paid by manufacturers, pharmacies and finally by patients. Regarding the satisfaction with different distribution models, the results of the online-questionnaire show that pharmacists in the observed countries are very satisfied with the distribution through their pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers.CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that pharmaceutical full-line wholesalers have an important and unique position in the pharmaceutical supply chain. Special functions like the pre-financing of the entire medicinal product market, or the guarantee of the continuous supply of all medicinal products verify these findings

Obstacles To Scientific Research In Light Of A Number Of Variables

The present study aimed to identify the scientific research obstacles facing faculty members in the College of Education at Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) and to determine the differences in the obstacles according to age, academic rank, scientific specialty, marital status, number of completed studies, and time since the last academic rank was received. An initial data form and questionnaire were prepared to identify the obstacles to scientific research. The questionnaire assessed personal and family obstacles, social factors, technical skills, organizational and professional obstacles, and societal obstacles. The researcher assessed the validity and reliability of the survey instrument by testing it on a sample of 23 faculty members at the university. The results demonstrated a high degree of validity (i.e., high internal consistency) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: .97). The study instrument was administered to a final sample of 69 faculty members (out of 111) at the university. The results demonstrated a decrease in the averages of the obstacles. The arithmetic averages for the obstacles were organizational and professional obstacles (2.76), societal obstacles (2.64), personal and family obstacles (1.87), and skills-related obstacles (1.70). The results demonstrated no significant differences for any obstacles with respect to age, academic rank or scientific specialization. There were significant differences in skills-related obstacles according to the number of completed studies; researchers with no completed projects faced greater obstacles. The results also demonstrated significant differences in societal obstacles associated with the length of time since the last academic rank was received

Red Blood Cell Fragility and Reticulocyte Count in Hemolytic Anemic Patients with and Without G-6PD Enzyme Deficiency

Background: Erythrocyte G-6PD enzyme deficiency is an important cause of Hemolytic anemia with consequent increasein reticulocyte count. Objective: To assess the osmotic fragility of RBC status and reticulocyte count in G-6PD enzymedeficient patients with hemolytic anemia in order to find their hemolytic status. Methods: The cross sectional study wascarried out in the Department of Physiology, BSMMU, Dhaka from July 2002 to June 2003 to observe the osmotic fragilityof RBC status and reticulocyte count in patients with hemolytic anemia. For this, total number of 50 hemolytic anemicpatients (Group-B) with age ranged from 5 to 30 years of both sexes were studied. Among them, 25 were without G-6PDdeficient hemolytic anemia (group-B1) and 25 were hemolytic anemia with G-6PD enzyme deficiency (group-B1). Age& sex matched 30 apparently healthy subjects with normal blood G-6PD level were included to observe the baseline data(Group-A) and also for comparison. All the subjects were selected from Out Patient Department of Hematology,Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSSMU), Dhaka. Blood erythrocyte G-6PD enzyme level, osmoticfragility of RBC & reticulocyte count were measured by standard laboratory techniques. Analysis of data was done byunpaired Student 't' test. Result: Mean starting & completing points of hemolysis of RBC were significantly higher inGroup B2 vs Group A and also with Group B1 and similar higher levels of these values were also observed in Group B1than those of Group A, but the differences between them were not statistically significant. Reticulocyte count wassignificantly higher in Group-B2 vs Group B1 and also with Group A and similar higher levels of this values were alsoobserved in Group B1 vs Group A which was also statistically significant. Conclusion: From this study, it may beconcluded that, increased hemolysis of RBC with higher reticulocyte count occur in G-6PD deficient hemolytic anemicpatients which may be due to membrane defect.Key words: Osmotic fragility; Reticulocyte count; G-6PD enzyme; Hemolytic anemia.DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i1.5510BSMMU J 2010; 3(1): 23-2