Gender inequality in Bangladesh

"Although, there has been steady progress in reducing gender inequality in different sectors (education, health, employment etc.) there exists a huge inequality in these sectors of Bangladesh and participation of women is very low compared to their male counterpart. Gender inequality has appeared as the major stumbling barrier in achieving the development targets.

Determinants of Living Arrangements, Health Status and Abuse among Elderly Women: A Study of Rural Naogaon District, Bangladesh

In this study, the socio-economic backdrops, living arrangements, health status and abuse of the women aged 60 years and older in the rural Naogaon district of Bangladesh are examined. The data were collected from seven villages by using probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling and the results show that an overwhelming majority of the elderly women in the age group 60-69 years who are widowed, illiterate, have no education and income, economically dependent, living with married children, unhealthy, suffer from arthritis related illness and are taking treatment from village doctors. Furthermore, the study shows that, nearly 35 percent elderly women are abused, mostly mentally abused due to poverty. Logistic regression analysis reveals the determinants of living arrangements, health status and abuse of the elderly women. The findings of the study should get due attention to provide secured later life of the elder especially female elderly in Bangladesh and developing nation as well

Socio-Economic Condition and Occupation Migration of Fisherman of the Jamuna River under Shirajgonj District in Bangladesh

A field study was conducted on the socio-economic condition of the fishermen community, occupation migration and fish biodiversity in the Jamuna River at Belkuchi char areas under Shirajgonj district, Bangladesh. The study was conducted from November 2012 to August 2013. Data were collected from randomly selected 100 respondents of fishermen community using semi-structured questionnaire interview and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Fish biodiversity data were also collected from four major markets. The result was calculated by collecting present data and 15 years ago data from the interviewers. The study indicated that most of the fishermen had improved their average annual income, housing condition, drinking water facility, sanitation facility, health facility etc. The fishermen are adapting to different occupations beside fishing such as fish culture, fish selling, agriculture, boat making, labor, looming, business, CNG driving and migration to town for seeking seasonal jobs. A significant amount of fishermen (30%) are adapting to these different livelihood options. Only 8% fishermen got subsidy in the study area. The main problems are extortion by the local extortionists, inadequate credit, lack of appropriate gear etc. A total of 57 species of fishes under 20 families and 9 orders were found in the Jamuna River. The study recommends that governmental and nongovernmental organizations should help the fishermen in adapting their livelihood in different sector during banning season. Government should also monitor the subsidy facility carefully till reaching the true fishermen. Besides, these organizations should also help in conserving the fish diversity of the Jamuna River to reduce the vulnerability of fishermen

Lymphoedema Presenting with Pleural Effusion: A Case Report

Lymphatic obstruction either congenitally determined (primary) or by a consequence of acquired lymphatic failurebecause of obstruction or damaged lymphatics (secondary). Milroy disease is an example of primary lymphoedemawhere edema is present at birth or soon thereafter. A 16 year old young boy presented with bilateral leg with scrotaloedema since birth with ups and downs of his symptoms. According to the statement of the mother the boy was seen byseveral physicians and also attended several tertiary hospitals in Dhaka city and eventually was diagnosed as a case ofMilroy disease in 2003. Patient was in a reasonably stable condition till July 2008 when he developed massive pleuraleffusion on right side and chylous fluid was aspirated. After that he developed five episodes of right sided pleuraleffusion at one to three month interval. Thoracic surgeon was consulted and intra thoracic tube drainage and pleurodesiswas done on 19. 02. 2009. After couple of weeks repeat chest x-ray revealed left sided pleural effusion and again left sidedpleurodesis was performed. He is now clinically stable except mild oedema in his both feet.DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i1.5514BSMMU J 2010; 3(1): 40-4

Lymphoedema Presenting with Pleural Effusion: A Case Report

Lymphatic obstruction either congenitally determined (primary) or by a consequence of acquired lymphatic failurebecause of obstruction or damaged lymphatics (secondary). Milroy disease is an example of primary lymphoedemawhere edema is present at birth or soon thereafter. A 16 year old young boy presented with bilateral leg with scrotaloedema since birth with ups and downs of his symptoms. According to the statement of the mother the boy was seen byseveral physicians and also attended several tertiary hospitals in Dhaka city and eventually was diagnosed as a case ofMilroy disease in 2003. Patient was in a reasonably stable condition till July 2008 when he developed massive pleuraleffusion on right side and chylous fluid was aspirated. After that he developed five episodes of right sided pleuraleffusion at one to three month interval. Thoracic surgeon was consulted and intra thoracic tube drainage and pleurodesiswas done on 19. 02. 2009. After couple of weeks repeat chest x-ray revealed left sided pleural effusion and again left sidedpleurodesis was performed. He is now clinically stable except mild oedema in his both feet.DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i1.5514BSMMU J 2010; 3(1): 40-4

The thermal and auto-ignition performance of a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine fuelled with diethyl ether and ethanol blends

This study aims to numerically investigate the thermal and auto-ignition performance of a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine fuelled with diethyl ether and ethanol blends at different inlet air temperatures and lambda values. In this study, DEE and DEE/ethanol blends with different volume percentages, such as 85% DEE/15% ethanol (D85E15) and 70% DEE/30% ethanol (D70E30) was used as test fuels. A four-stroke single-cylinder HCCI engine was designed to use reduced fuel chemistry to create a zero-dimensional single-zone model. The single-zone combustion model was developed with the first law of thermodynamics as a differential form. The inlet air temperature ranged from 360 K to 420 K at 15 K intervals, and the lambda ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 at 0.25 intervals to evaluate the combustion control in the HCCI engine. A numerical study was carried out at an engine speed of 1200 rpm. The numerical validation model results were well agreed with reported experimental results, and the significant trends of the combustion phases were varied with a minimum error of 5%. The numerical results show that the in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate are decreased for all test fuels with the increasing lambda. The combustion phase was found to be advanced, and the combustion duration was expanded with increasing inlet air temperature. Increasing the ethanol proportion in the test fuel delayed the start of combustion. For D85E15 and D70E30 at lambda of 2 and inlet air temperature of 420 K, the indicated mean effective pressure was increased by about 12.6% and 6.10 bar. Furthermore, with DEE and D85E15 at a lambda of 2, the indicated thermal efficiency was increased by approximately 11.4% and 49.17%. It is concluded that the combustion and performances characteristics for the HCCI engine are significantly affected by DEE and ethanol fuel blends

Hard-hydrophobic nano-CuO coating via electrochemical oxidation for heat transfer performance enhancement

The heat transfer performance of a material is mainly affected by the surface-to-volume ratio and specific surface area. This paper presents an evaluation of hard-hydrophobic nano-CuO coating on the heat transfer performance of copper. Granular coating consisting of nano-sized CuO grains was developed using the electrochemical oxidation method in 0.1 M oxalate solution at ambient temperature. The nano-CuO coating was characterized using electrical resistivity meter, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The average grain size of the coated material was 47 nm with an average coating thickness of 13 μm. The nano-CuO-coated samples’ thermal resistance was lower than that of the uncoated specimens with an increment in thermal conductivity. The nano-CuO coating demonstrated a hard coat with a hydrophobic characteristic feature on the surface. The maximum coatings hardness attainment was 178 H.V. The nano-coating also enhanced the efficiency of heat transfer (∆Q%) by ~ 95%. This enhancement was due to the increase in the specific surface area by 272 times, which in turn increased heat transfer performance across the nano-coated surface by about 22 times compared to the uncoated surface. This result confirmed the feasibility of this current hard-hydrophobic nano-CuO coating for enhancement of hardness, hydrophobicity, and heat transfer performance of the copper material in cooling and heating technology, especially for the reduction in the required size of heat transfer equipment, increasing reliability, and improvement of surface protection characteristics

Arsenic uptake by aquatic macrophyte Spirodela polyrhiza L.: Interactions with phosphate and iron

金沢大学理工研究域物質化学系The uptake of arsenate (As(V)) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMAA) by aquatic macrophyte Spirodela polyrhiza L. was investigated to determine the influence of arsenic interaction with PO43- and Fe ions. Plants were grown hydroponically on standard Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture solutions. Arsenic concentrations in Fe-oxide (Fe-plaque) on plant surfaces were determined by citrate-bicarbonate-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CBE) technique. S. polyrhiza L. accumulated 51-fold arsenic from arsenate solution compared to that from DMAA solution with initial concentrations of 4.0 and 0.02 μM of arsenic and phosphate, respectively. The arsenate uptake was negatively (p 0.05) with iron accumulation. The results suggest that adsorption of arsenate on Fe-plaque of the surface of S. polyrhiza L. contributes to the arsenic uptake significantly. Thus, arsenate uptake in S. polyrhiza L. occurred through the phosphate uptake pathway and by physico-chemical adsorption on Fe-plaques of plant surfaces as well. The S. polyrhiza L. uses different mechanisms for DMAA uptake. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

TIG torch surfacing of metallic materials – a critical review

This article aims to review and highlight the significant and development of tungsten inert gas (TIG) torch surfacing of metallic materials. The emphasis is on the surfacing method of metallic materials using melting processing route. The fusion surfacing methods such as powder injection, wire feed and preplace powder are elaborated. The comparison of TIG torch surfacing method compare to the electron beam welding, laser cladding and thermal spraying are tabulated to give a better understanding of each surfacing method. The application of TIG torch surfacing technique on various metallic materials is reviewed based on a number of works from previous researchers. The significant of processing variables of TIG torch surfacing technique are highlighted and it can be said that the heat input and welding speed are the most influential factors. This paper also showed the potential application of TIG torch surfacing for the hybridization of composite coated hard surface layer formation in metallic materials

Growth, immunity and ammonia excretion of albino and normal Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) feeding with various experimental diets

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of six experimental diets on growth performance, ammonia excretion and immunity of albino and normal Apostichopus japonicus. A factorial design was used, the factors being type of diets (six levels) and colour of A. japonicus (two levels). A total of 30 randomly selected albino A. japonicus were housed in each (60 × 50 × 30 cm3) of 18 blue plastic aquaria to form six groups in triplicate, and the same set-up was used for the normal A. japonicus. Each group of animals was fed with one of the six experimental diets. Apparent dry matter digestibility (ADMD) and apparent crude protein digestibility (ACPD) were analysed using acid-insoluble ash (AIA) content method. At the end of the experiment, all A. japonicus were harvested and weighed to calculate growth parameters. After weighing, six individuals from each aquarium were randomly sampled for immune indices. Results indicated that all growth parameters of A. japonicus increased with decreasing nutrient content in their diets (p < .01), whereas an opposite result was observed in case of the ammonia-nitrogen production by A. japonicus. Normal A. japonicus grew better (p < .01) and produced lower (p < .01) quantity of ammonia nitrogen compared to the albino A. japonicus. Immunity particularly superoxide dismutase and lysozyme activities was higher (p < .05) in normal compared to albino A. japonicus. Considering all measured variables, D1 (diet containing crude protein, crude lipid, carbohydrate and crude ash 51.8, 8.7, 231.3, 708.2 g/kg, respectively) was the best diet among all experimental diets. More research is still needed to optimize nutrients in the diet of A. japonicus, as this study does not provide information about critical threshold level of nutrients in diets. Until then, diet D1 can be recommended for A. japonicus aquaculture