Challenges in Primary Level Inclusive Education in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s step towards inclusive education was given incentive by its involvement in major international declarations. Bangladesh agreed with the declaration of Education for All, in which education is to be provided to all children with an inclusive approach. In addition, Bangladesh is also committed to achieve Millennium Development Goals, which articulated the rights of all children into education through uniform system. It is important to note that the trend of enacting inclusive education policy and legislation in Bangladesh is mainly based upon the international treaties. The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges in inclusive education for the policy formulators, implementers, and future researchers to take measures accordingly to universalize inclusive education in the country. The challenges identified in inclusive education concerned unfulfilled requirements of children with special needs, unfriendly situation, inadequate material and non-conforming curriculum, misinterpretation and mismanagement by stakeholders, restricted political and social backing, and adverse physiography. Pre-service training of teachers, along with continued assessment, collaboration and coordination to overcome challenges of inclusive schooling is recommended

Bioconversion of crude glycerol to biofuels and value-added bioproducts

Increasing demand and the rising cost of fossil fuels, as well as a concern for global climate change have shifted global efforts to utilize renewable resources for the production of a ‘greener’ energy replacement. Biodiesel, a renewable fuel produced by transesterification of animal fats and vegetable oils, generates about 10% (v/v) of crude glycerol as a core by-product. Consequently, the recent booming of biodiesel industry all over the world has generated a large amount of crude glycerol, creating an oversupply problem. The economic feasibility of the biodiesel industry has been crucially affected due to a high volume (by worldwide surplus) of crude glycerol generated from the biodiesel production process. Consequently, with the increasing number of biodiesel production plants, a large number of glycerol production plants can be expected to be shut down within a few years due to the price drop that will result from the oversupply of glycerol. Therefore, this abundance of glycerol provides an opportunity for the development of new commercial uses. Glycerol, a core by-product of biodiesel production has become an inexpensive and easily obtainable product for which new applications have to be discovered. At present, there is a lack of microorganisms which can efficiently convert crude glycerol to value-added bio-products. The new isolate of bacteria that would permit screening, isolation and over-expression of enzyme would help overcome these challenges. Thus, this research is to identify novel bacterial strains which are capable of efficiently converting glycerol aerobically, and improve the strains for large scale production of value-added products. In Chapter 2 and 3, this study shows a number of bacterial strains isolated from environmental consortia were screened for their capability of converting low or negative-value biodiesel-derived crude glycerol to value-added products. Primarily, an aerobic batch biotransformation process was carried out to observe the kinetics of glycerol dehydrogenase (GDH) activity, bio-product formation and glycerol utilization. Therefore, the major bio-product obtained from this biotransformation of glycerol was 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) with minor co-products including acetoin, 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) and acetate. In this study, three bacterial species Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. variicola and Serratia liquefaciens newly isolated from soil and paper mill waste were the highest producers of 2,3-BD. The novel strains K. pneumoniae SRP2 and, K. variicola SRP3 were used to construct a co-culture, capable of simultaneously converting crude glycerol to concurrently produce up to 27.87 g/L of 2,3-BD, yielding 0.73g 2,3-BD per gram glycerol (0.73g/g) using 37.0 g/L glycerol under aerobic conditions in batch culture, showing great potential for biotransformation bioprocess. Therefore, an attempt has been made to produce a major product 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from glycerol as a sole carbon source using newly isolated novel bacterial strains Klebsiella variicola SRP3 and K. pneumoniae SRP2 in a series of batch and fed-batch processes under aerobic process. These studies also compare the bacterial cell biomass, bio-products and a key enzyme glycerol dehydrogenase (GDH) production of K. variicola SRP3 and K. pneumoniae SRP2 isolated from paper mill waste when grown in aerobic condition. The incubation temperature, pH, glycerol concentration and nitrogen sources were the most important factors ruling the GDH. This study also revealed that an increased GDH activity led to a substantially enhanced production of 2,3-BD as a principal product with 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), acetoin and acetate as minor. In Chapter 4-6, the studies of high production of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from pure and biodiesel derived crude glycerol using an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutant K. pneumoniae SRM2, and two adapted mutants K. variicola SRM3 and K. variicola SW3 developed from the newly isolated wild type strains K. pneumoniae SRP2 and K. variicola SRM2 respectively are reported. However, as stated in Chapter 4, an adapted mutant strain K. variicola SRM3 withstanding 200 g/L glycerol could efficiently convert glycerol to 29.87 g/L 2,3-BD and 7.08 g/L acetoin from 50.0 g/L glycerol in a batch culture, and an acidic initial pH (pH 5.0) led to enhanced 1.3-fold increased GDH activity of 721.5 units/mg protein from 558.2 units/mg protein

Software-related challenges in Swedish healthcare through the lens of incident reports: A desktop study

YesObjective: To identify a subset of software issues occurring in daily Swedish healthcare practice and devise a set of local solutions to overcome the challenges. Methods: A sample of 46 incident reports was collected from one of Sweden's national incident reporting repositories, ranging from June 2019 to December 2021. The reports were first subjected to an algorithm to identify if they were health information technology-related incidents and were analysed using an existing framework, i.e., the Health Information Technology Classification System, to identify the software-related incidents. The incidents associated with software issues were then subjected to thematic analysis, in which themes were extracted and presented under the category assigned by the existing framework used. Results: Of 46 reports, 45 (with one exception) were included using the algorithm. Of 45 incidents, 31 software-related incidents were identified using the classification system. Six types of software issues were identified, including software functionality (n = 10), interface with other software systems or components (n = 10), system configuration (n = 7), interface with devices (n = 2), record migration (n = 1) and increased volume of transactions (n = 1). Each issue was further categorised into different themes; for example, software interface-related problems were grouped into ‘two patients being active in the system simultaneously’ (n = 6) and ‘transfer of patient information’ (n = 4). Conclusions: The study provided some insights into software issues and relevant consequences. A set of local solutions were devised to overcome the present challenges encountered in Swedish healthcare in their daily clinical practice. Systematic identification and characterisation of such software challenges should be a routine part of clinical practice for all major health information technology implementations.This work has been part of being an Affiliated Researcher at the Department of Medicine and Optometry, Linnaeus University, Sweden. A publishing grant was received from Linnaeus University as a part of the University Library's research support

Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University students in Bangladesh

Background: In developing countries like Bangladesh, the demand of blood supply is increasing every year. To ensure safe and adequate blood supply and to motivate voluntary donors in blood donation processes, this study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of blood donation among Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University students in Bangladesh.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 students (200 females and 203 males), using a self administered structured questionnaire.Results: 59.05% students had good knowledge about blood donation. The knowledge score was significantly higher (p<0.05) in female than male. Students positive attitudes toward voluntary blood donation included- blood donation saves life (62.8% strongly agreed, 32% agreed), donation is a moral activity (57.1% strongly agreed, 37.5% agreed), young are more suitable to donate blood (40% strongly agreed, 49.1% agreed), the best way of donation is voluntary non-remunerated (22.3% strongly agreed, 41.4% agreed). Their negative attitudes included - best way to donate blood is at the request of relatives (24.3% strongly agreed, 38% agreed), donation in paid (only 3% strongly agreed, 10.7% agreed) or something in exchange (only 1% strongly agreed, 8.9% agreed) and blood donors contract disease (3.5% strongly agreed, 27.8% agreed). Among the participants 34.2% donated blood and males donated significantly more than females (p<0.001). Physically females were significantly unfit for donating blood (p<0.001).Conclusions: Although having positive attitudes blood donation practice is not substantial among students especially in females. Interactive awareness and motivation packages should be created to enhance voluntary blood donation

The Effects of Liquidity Risk and Interest-Rate Risk on Profitability and Firm Value among Banks in ASEAN-5 Countries

This study explores the issues relating to liquidity risk and interest-rate risk, recognizing that existing studies are mostly vague in emerging and developing markets. Panel data estimation technique is employed in the study based on data extracted from 63 commercial banks in ASEAN-5 countries over the period 2009 to 2017 making up to 567 observations. The empirical results reveal that loan to deposit ratio have a positive significant effect on firm value while liquid asset ratio, interest rate risk (net interest margin and asset interest yield) have a negative significant effect on firm value for ASEAN. The loan to deposit ratio have a positive significant impact on return on asset, interest rate risk and banks size have a significant negative effect on return on asset for ASEAN banks while GDP and inflation have a positive significant effect on return on asset. Also, the liquidity risk have a negative significant effect on return on equity while the interest rate risk have a positive significant effect, bank size have a significant negative effect on return on equity while inflation rate have a positive significant impact on return on equity. Hence, this empirical study provides implications that emphasizes on the need for banks to adhere to prudential and regulatory guidelines and ensure corporate management with respect to liquidity exposure that is capable of critically affecting banks profitability and firm value. The dynamics of interest rate volatility in banks operating environment necessitates that financial institutions use sound risk management practices in order to obtain higher valuations, achieve better financial performance and experience diminished costs of financial distress that's useful for policy implementations in ASEAN economies and suggest that further study can explore the interaction between abnormal loan growth and non-performing loans with a robust econometrics model

Characterizing patient details-related challenges from health information technology-related incident reports from Swedish healthcare

YesDespite many benefits offered by Health Information Technology (HIT) systems, new technology brings new and unforeseen risks to healthcare quality and patient safety if they're not properly planned, designed, implemented, and managed. This study examined health information technology-related (HIT) incidents to identify patient details-related issues, their association with contributing factors, and outcomes. Sources of information comprised retrospectively collected incident reports (n = 95) using two sampling methods, i.e., purposive and snowball sampling. The incident reports were analyzed using both the inductive method (thematic analysis) and the deductive approach using an existing framework, i.e., the International Classification for Patient Safety. The studies identified 90 incidents with 120 patient details-related issues-categorized as either information-related (48%) or documentation-related (52%) problems; around two-thirds of the 120 issues were characterized by human factors. Of the total sample, 87 contributing factors were identified, of which "medical device/system" (45%) and "documentation" (20%) were the most common contributing factors. Of 90 incidents, more than half (59%) comprised patient-related outcomes-patient inconvenience (47%) and patient harm (12%) and the remaining 41% (n = 37) included staff or organization-related outcomes. More than half of the incidents resulted in patient-related outcomes, namely patient inconvenience and patient harm, including disease risks, severe health deterioration, injury, and even patient death. Incidents associated with patient details can cause deleterious effects; therefore, characterizing them should be a routine part of clinical practice to improve the constantly changing healthcare system.A publishing grant has been received from Linnaeus University as a part of the University Library’s research support

Assessing the healthcare quality issues for digital incident reporting in Sweden: Incident reports analysis

YesObjective: This study explored healthcare quality issues affecting the reporting and investigation levels of digital incident reporting systems. Methods: A total of 38 health information technology-related incident reports (free-text narratives) were collected from one of Sweden’s national incident reporting repositories. The incidents were analysed using an existing framework, i.e., the Health Information Technology Classification System, to identify the types of issues and consequences. The framework was applied in two fields, ‘event description’ by the reporters and ‘manufacturer’s measures’, to assess the quality of reporting incidents by the reporters. Additionally, the contributing factors, i.e., either human or technical factors for both fields, were identified to evaluate the quality of the reported incidents. Results: Five types of issues were identified and changes made between before-and-after investigations: Machine to software- related issues (n = 8), machine to use-related issues (n = 5), software to software-related issues (n = 5), use to software- related issues (n = 4) and use to use-related issues (n = 1). Over two-thirds (n = 15) of the incidents demonstrated a change in the contributing factors after the investigation. Only four incidents were identified as altering the consequences after the investigation. Conclusion: This study shed some light on the issues of incident reporting and the gap between the reporting and investigation levels. Facilitating sufficient staff training sessions, agreeing on common terms for health information technology systems, refining the existing classifications systems, enforcing mini-root cause analysis, and ensuring unit-based local reporting and standard national reporting may help bridge the gap between reporting and investigation levels in digital incident reporting

Ethical and quality of care-related challenges of digital health twins in older care settings: Protocol for a scoping review

YesDigital health twins (DHTs) have been evolving with their diverse applications in medicine, specifically in older care settings, with the increasing demands of older adults. DHTs have already contributed to improving the quality of dementia and trauma care, cardiac treatment, and health care services for older individuals. Despite its many benefits, the optimum implementation of DHTs has faced several challenges associated with ethical issues, quality of care, management and leadership, and design considerations in older care settings. Since the need for such care is continuously rising and there is evident potential for DHTs to meet those needs, this review aims to map key concepts to address the gaps in the research knowledge to improve DHT implementation. The review aims to compile and synthesize the best available evidence regarding the problems encountered by older adults and care providers associated with the application of DHTs. The synthesis will collate the evidence of the issues associated with quality of care, the ethical implications of DHTs, and the strategies undertaken to overcome those challenges in older care settings. The review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology. The published studies will be searched through CINAHL, MEDLINE, JBI, and Web of Science, and the unpublished studies through Mednar, Trove, OCLC WorldCat, and Dissertations and Theses. Studies published in English from 2002 will be considered. This review will include studies of older individuals (aged 65 years or older) undergoing care delivery associated with DHTs and their respective care providers. The concept will include the application of the technology, and the context will involve studies based on the older care setting. A broad scope of evidence, including quantitative, qualitative, text and opinion studies, will be considered. A total of 2 independent reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts and then review the full text. Data will be extracted from the included studies using a data extraction tool developed for this study. The results will be presented in a PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews) flow diagram. A draft charting table will be developed as a data extraction tool. The results will be presented as a "map" of the data in a logical, diagrammatic, or tabular form in a descriptive format. The evidence synthesis is expected to uncover the shreds of evidence required to address the ethical and care quality-related challenges associated with applying DHTs. A synthesis of various strategies used to overcome identified challenges will provide more prospects for adopting them elsewhere and create a resource allocation model for older individuals. DERR1-10.2196/51153.A publishing grant has been received from Linnaeus University as part of the University Library’s research support