An Integrative Conceptual Model of Vietnam as an Emerging Destination for Offshore Outsourcing of Software Development for Finnish Companies

Companies are constantly under pressure to develop software within tight budgets and more efficiently. Offshore outsourcing has been seen as one solution to the dilemma, and lucrative outsourcing businesses have evolved in many countries. Vietnam is now emerging within this global outsourcing sector. This study conducts an in-depth literature review and analyzes a number of important issues related to developing countries in general and Vietnam in particular, as an offshore outsourcing destination for Finnish companies for developing their software. From the analysis, an integrative conceptual model of software development through offshore outsourcing was developed. The study found challenges as well as potential in Vietnam’s software outsourcing industry. In addition, it provides valuable information for practitioners interested in outsourcing to Vietnam and for further research within the area

Cross-Border IT-Support for the Management of International Subsidiary Operations: The Diffusion of Innovations-Based Conceptual Model

Rapid and effective internationalization has increasingly become important for high-tech companies. Establishing a foreign subsidiary can facilitate effective internationalization for a high-tech company. This study investigates how IT can provide cross-border support to manage international subsidiary operations and makes important theoretical contributions. The research results exhibit how companies can use cross-border IT-support to effectively share and utilize information from the target country environment for international subsidiary operations. This paper also introduces the diffusion of innovations-based conceptual model which deals with various factors that should be taken into account while operating a foreign subsidiary through IT support. The findings are useful for both practice and further research

A behaviour change communication intervention trial to reduce the risk of Nipah virus spillover in Bangladesh

INTRODUCTION Nipah virus infection is a bat-borne zoonosis transmitted to humans through consumption of raw date palm sap contaminated by Pteropus bats. In Bangladesh, raw sap is a delicacy. The objective of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a behaviour change communication intervention to prevent Nipah virus transmission. We also measured the cost of the Nipah virus prevention intervention and estimated the potential cost of scaling it up to districts where spillover has been identified in the past. METHODS We developed and implemented a behaviour change communication intervention to reduce the risk of Nipah virus transmission testing two different messages, using community mobilization, interpersonal communication, posters and television as communication channels to reach community residents. During the 2012-14 sap harvesting seasons, we targeted one district that we denominated as the “no raw sap” area, recommending stopping drinking raw date palm sap. During the 2013-14 sap harvesting season, we targeted a different district denominated as the “only safe sap” area, promoting the use of a traditional method locally called bana, used by sap harvesters (gachhis), to cover the sap with a barrier that interrupts bats' access to sap, recommending drinking only bana-protected sap. We conducted baseline and endline surveys to measure the proportion of people reached by our intervention and their change of behaviour. Before implementing the intervention during the 2012-13 sap harvesting season, the evaluation team collected baseline survey data from community residents in the “no raw sap” area, and a control area. Before the 2013-14 sap harvesting season, the team collected baseline data among community residents and gachhis in the “only safe sap” area, and the control area again. After the intervention, from March 31 to April 21, 2014, the team collected endline survey data among community residents and gachhis from the two intervention areas and the control. In all areas, the team also observed raw sap consumption and bana usage among gachhis. We calculated the implementation cost of our intervention and also estimated future scaling up cost covering the 30 districts where Nipah virus spillover has been identified. RESULTS The evaluation team interviewed a total of 6220 community residents and 665 gachhis during baseline and endline surveys. They also observed 214 gachhis harvesting and selling sap. Survey data suggest that community residents’ and gachhis’ knowledge about Nipah virus/a disease from raw sap, significantly increased in both intervention areas from baseline to endline. This increase was markedly higher in the intervention areas than the control area. In the “no raw sap” area, reported raw sap consumption decreased markedly between baseline and endline, from 43% to 18%, and from 57% to 40%, in the control area. The difference in the intervention area was not significantly larger than the control. Our observation data suggest that the proportion of observations of at least one person consuming raw sap at the gachhi’s place declined more in the “no raw sap” area (46% to 22%) than in the control (61% to 53%; difference in difference 95% CI -45%, 15% and p=0.30). In addition, exposure to individual intervention communication elements in the “no raw sap” area was not associated with reported avoidance of raw sap consumption. In the “only safe sap” area reported overall raw sap consumption decreased markedly, between baseline and endline, from 60% to 44%, and from 49% to 40%, in the control area. The difference in the intervention areas was not significantly larger than the control. Reported consumption of unprotected sap declined in the “only safe sap” (59% to 26%) and the control (36% to 29%) areas. The decline in the intervention area, however, was significantly larger than the control (-26% difference in difference analysis, 95% CI -33%, -18%, p<0.001). Restricting the analysis to residents who consumed sap, reported consumption of bana-protected sap significantly increased in the intervention area (3% to 43%) while it hardly changed in the control (26% to 27%). In the “only safe sap” area respondents with direct exposure to at least one intervention communication element: were more likely to report consuming raw sap from a protected source than those with no exposure (25% vs. 15%, OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5-2.6, p<0.001). In the “only safe sap” area, gachhi-reported bana usage increased from 11% to 90% between baseline to endline. In the control, an unexpectedly high proportion of gachhis reported bana use during baseline, though it decreased during endline (66% to 57%). The intervention group’s increase was significantly higher than the change in the control. However, our observation data suggest a higher percentage of gachhis using banas in the control (55%) than in the “only safe sap” area (31%). In terms of implementation costs, the intervention’s cost was US$30,000 in the “no raw sap” area and US$55,000 in the “only safe sap” area. The highest cost was conducting meetings and interpersonal communication efforts. The lowest cost was broadcasting the public service announcements on local TV channels. To scale up a similar intervention in 30 districts where Nipah virus spillover has occurred would cost between 2.6 and 3.5 million US$for one season. Placing the posters would cost US$96,000, and only broadcasting the public service announcement through local channels in the same region would cost US$26,000. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results from the “no raw sap” area suggest that convincing people to abstain from drinking a traditional delicacy are difficult to achieve. Promoting the use of banas, an existing preventive method, in the “only safe sap” area seems to be an effective approach to modify raw sap drinking behaviour. To reduce the risk of Nipah virus transmission, a future “only safe sap” approach intervention should focus on increasing direct exposure to the communication elements to help prevent Nipah virus infection. Broadcasting the TV public service announcement would be a low cost next step to advance Nipah virus prevention, supplemented with posters and targeted interpersonal communication in districts with a high risk of Nipah virus spillover

Characterization of activated sludge bacteria capable of growth on toluene and other aromatic compounds

A total of fifteen bacteria from activated sludge were isolated for th eir ability to grow on aromatic substrates as the sole source of carbon and energy. They were identified as members of the genera Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. Four P . putida spp. To-1, To-3, To-5, Na-13 and one A. caviae sp.To-4 capable of good growth on toluene were selected for fu rther study. All five bacteria were capable of growth on toluene, benzoic acid, m-toluic acid, ethylbenzene, pseudocumene, m - and p-xylene and m - and p -chlorophenol. A. caviae To-4 alone was capable of growth on phenol and naphthalene. The growth of these bacteria was investigated under different cultural conditions - solid culture, liquid culture, directly added toluene and in the presence of other carbon sources. Growth was b e tter when toluene was supplied in the vapour phase. The toxic effect of directly added toluene was alleviated by the addition of a readily metabolizable carbon source and by the acclimation of the cells to toluene. Strains To-4 and To-5 were selected as representative strains of the genera to investigate the removal of toluene. Both of the strains behaved similarly in respect to the utilization of toluene and the utilization of toluene was dependent on the availability of toluene and oxygen. The optimum pH for growth of all the isolates in the presence of toluene was between pH 5.8 to pH 7.4. All five isolates showed greater meta activity thanortho activity in degrading toluene. However following growth on non-aromatic substrates the Pseudomonas spp. showed meta activity and the Aeromonassp. showed ortho activity. A large plasmid band (85 - 120 kb) was detected in all the P seudomonasspp. following growth on aromatic and non-aromatic substrates. The stra in A. caviae To-4 did not carry any plasmid following growth on nonaromatic substrates. This stra in carried a large plasmid (85 - 120 kb) only when grown in the presence of toluene. The identification of the plasmid was confirmed by dot blot hybridization using a TOL probe. Restriction analyses of the plasmid DNA of A . caviae To-4 and P . putida To-5 were compared to that of the TOL plasmid of P . putida NCIB 10432 and the presence of specifi sequences of the TOL plasmid were confirmed by Southern hybridization using both a digoxigenin-labelled and a radioactively labelled probe. The strains To-4 and To-5 carried an identical TOL plasmid which contained some of the sequences of the TOL plasmid of P . putida NCIB 10432

Motherlands of the Mind: A Study of the Women Characters of Attia Hosain\u27s Sunlight on a Broken Column and Salman Rushdie\u27s Midnight\u27s Children

In my thesis I examine the portrayal of women characters by two post-colonial Indian writers, Attia Hosain and Salman Rushdie, respectively in Sunlight on a Broken Column (1961) and Midnight\u27s Children (1980). I show how Hosain\u27s and Rushdie\u27s ideas of identity, nation and nationality influence their depiction of these women characters. In the section analyzing Sunlight on a Broken Column, I argue that there is a spatial veil separating the feudal world of Ashiana from the outside world with its political disturbances, the life of a woman as an individual from the life of a woman as a part of a community. Through her narrator-protagonist Laila, Hosain depicts a feudal Muslim society with its restrictions and purdah system. Witnessing the political upheavals and partition of India into India and Pakistan, Hosain\u27s women characters go through a transition from the pre-colonial to the post-colonial period. In the discussion of Midnight\u27s Children, I show that Rushdie\u27s women characters also go through a similar transition. But they do not belong to the feudal class, but rather to middle-class mercantile society. Moreover, Rushdie\u27s women characters function on two narrative levels-they are characters as well as metaphors. In society they perform the roles of mothers, wives and grandmothers, and on the metaphorical level they represent India. Hosain\u27s Sunlight on a Broken Column expresses a yearning for the India of the colonial period with feudalism as the basis of social structure and hierarchy. This nostalgia imbues the depiction of her women characters. Rushdie, a midnight\u27s child, on the other hand, in Midnight\u27s Children is vexed with the political situation in post-independence India. His notion of the history of India is complex, as he says, the nature of Indian culture has always been multiplicity, plurality and mingling. Like the country his women characters have multiple meanings. Though Attia Hosain and Salman Rushdie belong to two different generations, the concerns that underlie Sunlight on a Broken Column and Midnight\u27s Children are similar-nation and national identity. Both the authors write about India from England, from the metropolis. Nation and national identity are all the more important to them because they are exiles. To them the past is home, albeit a lost home in a lost city in the mists of lost time (Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands 9)

Reasons behind the Drop out of Street Children from Non-formal Primary Education Program

The aim of this study is to find out the inner reasons of dropping out of street children from non-formal primary education program. With this study also we can have a figure of the lifestyle, needs and social conditions of street children. To have the findings of my study qualitative research method will be conducted. In accordance with the study objectives from the large areas only 1 authority member, 1 teacher, 5 admitted children and 5 dropped out children were selected as sample. I designed open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview to collect my data. The thematic analysis method was used for data analysis. I have a variation in findings because of using questionnaire for teacher and authority and interview for children. Moreover in commonly I can say the demographic conditions, lacking’s of parental care and guidance, lacking’s of Interest and awareness, lacking’s of facilities, lacking’s of economic support, effects of misguidances, lacking’s of proper relationship among program stuff with parents and children’s are major problems that disturbed the street children to continue their education. Considering the findings it can be recommended that increasing of education program or giving support with educational equipment is not enough to continue education in this marginal sector of society. It is more important to grow consciousness, make them understood the importance of education, giving them a link of better future through education and make a reliable environment between education program and parents-children. Keywords: Street Children, Non-formal Education Program, Drop ou

Efficient shared segment protection in optical networks

This thesis introduces a new shared segment protection scheme that ensures both node and link protection in an efficient manner in terms of cost. Although the segment protection scheme exhibits an interesting compromise between link and path protection schemes and attempts to encompass all their advantages, it has been much less explored than the other protection approaches. The proposed work investigates two different Shared Segment Protection (SSP) schemes: Basic Shared Segment Protection (BSSP) and a new segment protection, called Shared Segment Protection with segment Overlap (SSPO). For both BSSP and SSPO schemes, we propose two novel efficient and scalable ILP formulations, based on a column generation mathematical modeling. SSPO offers more advantages over BSSP as it ensures both node and link protections, in addition to shorter delays. It is not necessarily more expensive while BSSP ensures only link protection. Indeed, depending on the network topology and the traffic instances, it can be shown that neither of the two SSP schemes is dominant in terms of cost. The mathematical models have been solved using column generation techniques. Simulations have been conducted to validate the two segment protection models and to evaluate the performance of the two segment protection schemes under different traffic scenarios. In addition, we have estimated when an additional cost (and how much) is needed in order to ensure node protection

Effects of Social Media on the Interpersonal Relationship among the Married Couples: A Study on a Selected Neighborhood (or Wards) of Dhaka City in Bangladesh

It is clearly shown that at present social media plays a vital role in our daily life and the progression in the internet in current years have made new way available to education, health service, business, transportation etc. However, in recent years many sociologists, advocates, educators, psychologists and policy makers have expressed concerns regarding the existing negative impact of social media usage. Some studies have indicated that social media use may be led to negative interpersonal relationship, including infidelity, divorce, disrespect, detachment which often occurs suicide, increases loneliness. Other studies have found evidence for harm what have indicated that social media use may be not so beneficial for some individuals especially in married life. The research was conducted on the neighborhood of Dhaka city with regards to the effects of social media on the interpersonal relationships of married couples. The report identifies the rationale of the research by drawing from popular literature which claims that social media has detrimental effects on quality of marriage. Then relevant literature is reviewed including both national and international researches with regards to the findings regarding effects of social media usage and marriage quality. Usually the usage of Internet among couples was negatively associated with marital satisfaction and commitment of both partners. At the end of the paper, the author discusses the results, along with implications, limitations and recommended future research directions with regards to the acquired information

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF FISHERMEN OF COX’S BAZAR IN BANGLADESH

This study was performed at Somiti Para of Cox’s Bazar in order to examine the social issues of fishermen. Sites of the study and number of fishermen (146) were selected purposively. Selected fishermen were interviewed with the help of prestructurred questionnaires. About 20.55% respondents’ age were between 23-27. Among the fishermen, 52.05% were educated at primary level. The study reflects that 61.21% of the respondents had smoking habit. Most of the respondents had various diseases such as 64.38% suffered from cough and cold while 25.43% got fever. Respondents received treatment for the diseases mainly from traditional village doctors. The social status of the respondents were 23.53% lower class, 64.71% lower middle class, 5.88% upper middle class and 5.88% upper class. As the fishermen were poor socio-economic class and education level not satisfactory, special attention should be taken to improve the living condition of this community. Measures should also be taken to lessen their occupational health hazards

The Impact of Co-management on the Sundarbans Fisheries: Evidence from Sharankhola, Bagerhat, Bangladesh

The study was conducted in the Sarankhola, Bagerhat during the period from August to October, 2012 to determine the impact of co-management on the Sundarbans fisheries. At present only one co-management organization is working in the study area. The co-management organization is performing various activities to make fisheries resources of the Sarankhola, Sundarbans sustainable. Co-management initiatives included: awareness raising, alternate income generation, eco-tourism and efforts towards social mobilization. The key regulatory measures and steps of co-management included: Limited Boat License Certificate (BLC), protection of parents hilsa and protection of jatka. Integrated Resources Management Plans (IRMP) was formulated by the Forest Department for sustainable fisheries management of the Sundarbans. IRMP made two major guidelines: One was fisheries resource conservation measures and the other was fisheries improvement measures. Fisheries improvement measures in the study area were weak. The production data revealed that fish production in the Sundarbans is declining in the recent years. It is an important breeding and nursery ground of a wide range of estuarine, offshore and marine fishes and shrimps. Fisheries resource is being degraded due to lack of proper co-management of the resource. So, effective co-management activity is essential for sustainable fisheries resources conservation-management in the Sundarbans. Keywords: Co-management, Integrated Resources Management Plans (IRMP) DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-2-07 Publication date: January 31st 202