A Strategy for Asymmetrical Measures to Reduce Bribery in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the most corrupt countries with a rampant bribery scenario. In the public service sector of this country, service is almost considered to be unattainable without bribing the service providers. From the viewpoint of specialists and ad-hoc academicians, symmetric punishment measure has been a failed mechanism to stop rampant bribery. This study initially pondered the reasoning behind the severity of the bribery scenario in Bangladesh using the dataset of the National Households Survey's 2017 (NHS) of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). It analyzed the legal jurisdictions of bribery especially the penal code 1860. In this study, following Basu argument on the asymmetric punishment system (harassment bribe) for India, an asymmetric punishment measure has been proposed through a game theoretical explanation about how it will work for Bangladesh instead of the current symmetric one. This game-theoretical analysis shows that asymmetric punishment is more efficient for reducing rampant bribery in a country than symmetric punishment. The study suggests the government initiate an asymmetric punishment policy on bribery with a strict punitive measure and monitoring of bribe-taking which, with a qualitative approach and case study

Prevalence of depression and anxiety among university students during COVID-19 in Bangladesh: A cross sectional study

Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak has become a challenging crisis for public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the indefinite closure of educational institutions in Bangladesh has a severe impact on the mental health of students. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that might have considerable influence on the mental health of students during quarantine in Bangladesh though they did not explore in previous studies on mental health status during the pandemic. Methodology: A standardized questionnaire was generated using PH9 and GAD7 to measure depression and anxiety levels. A total of 203 responses were collected from university students of Bangladesh through social media. Results: Descriptive statistics found that 37% of the students experienced moderate to severe anxiety while 54% faced moderate to severe depression. Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis found that anxiety is significantly related to gender, students’ current affiliation status in university (e.g., sophomore, masters), and time spent on watching TV while depression was related to family member’s contact with Covid-19, performing multiple activities as hobbies, and spending time in reading and writing. Conclusions: This study adds valuable findings in the existing literature, and it will help Students, university authorities, and government can take productive steps to tackle mental health issue

a study on the administrative cadre service in Bangladesh

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Public Policy,2013masterpublishedKhurshid Iqbal Rezvi, Md

ANALISIS GEN RDRP PADA VARIAN VIRUS SARS COV-2

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) teridentifikasi pertama kali di Wuhan pada Desember 2019. Infeksi SARS CoV-2 terus mengalami perkembangan akibat terjadinya mutasi pada genom virus sehingga menyebabkan munculnya varian virus baru. Salah satu gen yang mengalami mutasi pada SARS CoV-2 adalah RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), merupakan gen yang berperan dalam replikasi dan transkripsi virus. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui variasi gen RdRp pada varian SARS CoV-2. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif eksploratif dengan 251 sampel pada periode April 2020 sampai Maret 2022 yang memenuhi kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi. Tahapan awal mencakup ekstraksi menggunakan QIAamp viral RNA Mini Kit, pemeriksaan qRT-PCR dengan nilai cycle threshold (Ct value) <30, dan library preparation, kemudian dilanjutkan dengan sekuensing genom menggunakan Miseq Illumina sequencing machine. Analisis hasil sekuensing dilakukan menggunakan software CLC Genomics Workbench app sehingga didapatkan variasi gen RdRp pada setiap sampel penelitian. Pada penelitian ini ditemukan 167 sampel non-VOI-VOC variant, 49 sampel varian delta dan 35 sampel varian omicron. Analisis pada gen RdRp ditemukan 69 mutasi subtitusi dan 1 mutasi delesi. Titik mutasi terbanyak ditemukan pada urutan nukleotida C14408T, hampir di semua sampel penelitian dari semua varian (98,4%). Terdapat 28 missense mutation, termasuk C14408T yang mengubah asam amino proline menjadi leucine. Empat sampel penelitian yang tidak mengalami mutasi pada C14408T, merupakan sampel pada periode awal pandemi COVID-19 sebelum dilaporkannya varian-varian SARS-CoV-2. Dapat disimpulkan mutasi C14408T terjadi sebelum adanya mutasi dititik lain yang menimbulkan terbentuknya varian virus yang baru

Influence of Word of Mouth on Consumer Buying Decision: Evidence from Bangladesh Market.

The purpose of this study is to define how word of mouth influence consumer’s buying behavior.  Word of mouth is becoming a strong tool for building brand in present time. The research used primary and secondary data for analysis. In primary data, 500 respondents’ data were collected and Microsoft excel used for analysis. The findings recommend that word of mouth has impact on consumer buying behavior. The results suggest that word of mouth built by trust and loyalty. The findings are based on small sample size however; the framework may be used for future research. The significance of word of mouth, particularly consumer buying behavior, is increased rapidly. The paper will give marketers a better understanding of word of mouth as well as consumer perceptions. Keywords: Word of mouth, Network marketing, Consumer buying behaviour, Consumer trust, Consumer loyalty

Constrictive pericarditis in a post–renal transplant patient: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Constrictive pericarditis is a rare complication in the post–renal transplant period. It poses a diagnostic dilemma even in the modern era. Its incidence is not known and tuberculosis is implicated in some of the cases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 54-year-old Sri Lankan man, in the sixth year of transplant presented with resistant ascites, shortness of breath and elevated creatinine from the baseline. Pre-transplant he was empirically treated for tuberculosis pericarditis and was on isoniazid prophylaxis for 1 year following transplantation. Two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization confirmed the diagnosis, and pericardiectomy was performed, which resulted in full resolution of the symptoms as well as the graft function. The histology or bacteriology failed to demonstrate features suggestive of tuberculosis in the surgical specimen. CONCLUSION: In constrictive pericarditis, a causative factor is difficult to find. Isoniazid prophylaxis shows benefit in preventing tuberculosis-associated constrictive pericarditis

The Importance of Poisoning vs. Road Traffic Injuries as a Cause of Death in Rural Sri Lanka

Road traffic crashes are considered by the WHO to be the most important global cause of death from injury. However, this may not be true for large areas of rural Asia where road vehicles are uncommon. The issue is important, since emphasising the importance of road traffic crashes risks switching resources to urban areas, away from already underfunded rural regions. In this study, we compared the importance of road traffic crashes with other forms of injury in a poor rural region of South Asia.We collected data on all deaths from injury in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka (NCP; population 1,105,198 at 2001 census) over 18 months using coronial, hospital, and police data. We calculated the incidence of death from all forms of intentional and unintentional injury in the province. The annual incidence of death from injury in the province was high: 84.2 per 100,000 population. Half of the deaths were from self-harm (41.3/100,000). Poisoning (35.7/100,000)-in particular, pesticide self-poisoning (23.7/100,000)-was the most common cause of death, being 3.9-fold more common than road traffic crashes (9.1/100,000).In poor rural regions of South Asia, fatal self-harm and pesticide self-poisoning in particular are significantly more important than road traffic injuries as a cause of death. It is possible that the data used by the WHO to calculate global injury estimates are biased towards urban areas with better data collection but little pesticide poisoning. More studies are required to inform a debate about the importance of different forms of injury and how avoidable deaths from any cause can be prevented. In the meantime, marked improvements in the effectiveness of therapy for pesticide poisoning, safer storage, reduced pesticide use, or reductions in pesticide toxicity are required urgently to reduce the number of deaths from self-poisoning in rural Asia