Challenges and Scope of Tourist Policing in Bangladesh: An Analysis

The global economy widely recognizes the tourism industry as a very prosperous and financially rewarding sector. The tourism sector is experiencing sustained growth in emerging and developed nations. Safety and security are crucial for achieving excellence in tourism. The objective of this study is to gain insight into the inherent difficulties associated with tourist policing and to examine the extent of their implementation in Bangladesh. The study employs a qualitative research approach, utilizing secondary sources to analyze the study's relative issues through thematic analysis. This study outlines the challenges faced by the tourist police in Bangladesh, including the controversy surrounding tourist destinations, infrastructure issues, manpower shortages, insufficient logistics support, planning and evaluation requirements, short-term posting, the deployment of untrained personnel, inadequate ICT-based tourism orientation, limited social media and online engagements, social and political instability, and conservatism. Tourist police play a crucial role in cultivating a robust brand image for tourist destinations, building tourist trust, promoting responsible tourism and eco-tourism, and contributing to the advancement of the tourism sector and economic growth in Bangladesh. Finally, this study suggests placing significant importance on training and skill development, providing enough logistical support, fostering cooperation among stakeholders, and improving coordination to prioritize providing a sense of security to tourists and ensure timely and effective responses to their needs. Keywords: Challenge, Policing, Safety, Security, Tourism. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/143-03 Publication date: October 30th 202

Dynamic topic modeling of the COVID-19 Twitter narrative among U.S. governors and cabinet executives

A combination of federal and state-level decision making has shaped the response to COVID-19 in the United States. In this paper, we analyze the Twitter narratives around this decision making by applying a dynamic topic model to COVID-19 related tweets by U.S. Governors and Presidential cabinet members. We use a network Hawkes binomial topic model to track evolving sub-topics around risk, testing, and treatment. We also construct influence networks amongst government officials using Granger causality inferred from the network Hawkes process

Predicting Virality on Networks Using Local Graphlet Frequency Distribution

The task of predicting virality has far-reaching consequences, from the world of advertising to more recent attempts to reduce the spread of fake news. Previous work has shown that graphlet distribution is an effective feature for predicting virality. Here, we investigate the use of aggregated edge-centric local graphlets around source nodes as features for virality prediction. These prediction features are used to predict expected virality for both a time-independent Hawkes model and an independent cascade model of virality. In the Hawkes model, we use linear regression to predict the number of Hawkes events and node ranking, while in the independent cascade model we use logistic regression to predict whether a k-size cascade will multiply by a factor X in size. Our study indicates that local graphlet frequency distribution can effectively capture the variances of the viral processes simulated by Hawkes process and independent-cascade process. Furthermore, we identify a group of local graphlets which might be significant in the viral processes. We compare the effectiveness of our methods with eigenvector centrality-based node choice

Source detection on networks using spatial temporal graph convolutional networks

Detecting the source of an outbreak cluster during a pandemic like COVID-19 can provide insights into the transmission process, associated risk factors, and help contain the spread. In this work we study the problem of source detection from multiple snapshots of spreading on an arbitrary network structure. We use a spatial temporal graph convolutional network based model (SD-STGCN) to produce a source probability distribution, by fusing information from temporal and topological spaces. We perform extensive experiments using popular compartmental simulation models over synthetic networks and empirical contact networks. We also demonstrate the applicability of our approach with real COVID-19 case data

Ventilator-associated pneumonia diagnosis: electrochemical sensors for rapid and sensitive detection of pyocyanin

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a severe condition in critically ill patients that requires timely diagnosis to improve patient outcomes. In this study, we developed an electrochemical sensor for pyocyanin detection using a TiO2-NiO-rGO catalyst and found that it could detect the concentration of pyocyanin required for mimicking the throat trachea’s environment (LOD: 0.2 μg/mL). We also investigated using DNA aptamer for detecting pyocyanin, a biomarker of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common causative agent of VAP. Our findings suggest that the TiO2-NiO-rGO catalyst without aptamer could provide a rapid and cost-effective diagnostic tool for VAP, and the electrochemical sensor has the potential to be made disposable for in vivo applications. Using the TiO2-NiO-rGO catalyst offers synergistic effects that enhance the detection process’s overall electrochemical performance, sensitivity, and selectivity. This work’s results demonstrate that electrochemical detection of pyocyanin using a TiO2-NiO-rGO catalyst holds great potential for various applications, such as clinical diagnostics and drug discovery. Further research and optimization of the catalyst composition, morphology, and surface modifications can contribute to advancing this pyocyanin electrochemical detection approach.This paper was supported by the International Research Collaboration Co-Fund (IRCC) grant of Qatar University under grant no. IRCC-2022-569. Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library

Comparison of immune response generated against Japanese encephalitis virus envelope protein expressed by DNA vaccines under macrophage associated versus ubiquitous expression promoters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the leading cause of viral encephalitis, with ~50,000 cases reported annually worldwide. Vaccination is the only measure for prevention. Recombinant vaccines are an efficient and safe alternative for formalin inactivated or live attenuated vaccines. Nowadays, incorporation of molecular adjuvants has been the main strategy for melioration of vaccines. Our attempt of immunomodulation is based on targeting antigen presenting cells (APC) "majorly macrophages" by using macrosialin promoter. We have compared the immune response of the constructed plasmids expressing JEV envelope (E) protein under the control of aforesaid promoter and cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate early promoter in mouse model. Protection of immunized mice from lethal challenge with JEV was also studied.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The E protein was successfully expressed in the macrophage cell line and was detected using immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and Western blotting. APC expressing promoter showed comparable expression to CMV promoter. Immunization of mice with either of the plasmids exhibited induction of variable JEV neutralizing antibody titres and provided protection from challenge with a lethal dose of JEV. Immune splenocytes showed proliferative response after stimulation with the JEV antigen (Ag), however, it was higher for CMV promoter. The magnitude of immunity provided by APC dominant promoter was non-significantly lower in comparison to CMV promoter. More importantly, immune response directed by APC promoter was skewed towards Th1 type in comparison to CMV promoter, this was evaluated by cytokine secretion profile of immune splenocytes stimulated with JEV Ag.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Thus, our APC-expressing DNA vaccination approach induces comparable immunity in comparison to ubiquitous promoter construct. The predominant Th1 type immune responses provide opportunities to further test its potency suitable for response in antiviral or anticancer vaccines.</p

Correlating nano-scale surface replication accuracy and cavity temperature in micro-injection moulding using in-line process control and high-speed thermal imaging

YesMicro-injection moulding (μIM) stands out as preferable technology to enable the mass production of polymeric components with micro- and nano-structured surfaces. One of the major challenges of these processes is related to the quality assurance of the manufactured surfaces: the time needed to perform accurate 3D surface acquisitions is typically much longer than a single moulding cycle, thus making impossible to integrate in-line measurements in the process chain. In this work, the authors proposed a novel solution to this problem by defining a process monitoring strategy aiming at linking sensitive in-line monitored process variables with the replication quality. A nano-structured surface for antibacterial applications was manufactured on a metal insert by laser structuring and replicated using two different polymers, polyoxymethylene (POM) and polycarbonate (PC). The replication accuracy was determined using a laser scanning confocal microscope and its dependence on the variation of the main μIM parameters was studied using a Design of Experiments (DoE) experimental approach. During each process cycle, the temperature distribution of the polymer inside the cavity was measured using a high-speed infrared camera by means of a sapphire window mounted in the movable plate of the mould. The temperature measurements showed a high level of correlation with the replication performance of the μIM process, thus providing a fast and effective way to control the quality of the moulded surfaces in-line.MICROMAN project (“Process Fingerprint for Zero-defect Net-shape MICRO MANufacturing”, http://www.microman.mek.dtu.dk/) - H2020 (Project ID: 674801), H2020 agreement No. 766871 (HIMALAIA), H2020 ITN Laser4Fun (agreement No. 675063

Global, regional and national burden of bladder cancer and its attributable risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study 2019

Introduction The current study determined the level and trends associated with the incidence, death and disability rates for bladder cancer and its attributable risk factors in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2019, by age, sex and sociodemographic index (SDI; a composite measure of sociodemographic factors). Methods Various data sources from different countries, including vital registration and cancer registries were used to generate estimates. Mortality data and incidence data transformed to mortality estimates using the mortality to incidence ratio (MIR) were used in a cause of death ensemble model to estimate mortality. Mortality estimates were divided by the MIR to produce incidence estimates. Prevalence was calculated using incidence and MIR-based survival estimates. Age-specific mortality and standardised life expectancy were used to estimate years of life lost (YLLs). Prevalence was multiplied by disability weights to estimate years lived with disability (YLDs), while disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are the sum of the YLLs and YLDs. All estimates were presented as counts and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population. Results Globally, there were 524 000 bladder cancer incident cases (95% uncertainty interval 476 000 to 569 000) and 229 000 bladder cancer deaths (211 000 to 243 000) in 2019. Age-standardised death rate decreased by 15.7% (8.6 to 21.0), during the period 1990–2019. Bladder cancer accounted for 4.39 million (4.09 to 4.70) DALYs in 2019, and the age-standardised DALY rate decreased significantly by 18.6% (11.2 to 24.3) during the period 1990–2019. In 2019, Monaco had the highest age-standardised incidence rate (31.9 cases (23.3 to 56.9) per 100 000), while Lebanon had the highest age-standardised death rate (10.4 (8.1 to 13.7)). Cabo Verde had the highest increase in age-standardised incidence (284.2% (214.1 to 362.8)) and death rates (190.3% (139.3 to 251.1)) between 1990 and 2019. In 2019, the global age-standardised incidence and death rates were higher among males than females, across all age groups and peaked in the 95+ age group. Globally, 36.8% (28.5 to 44.0) of bladder cancer DALYs were attributable to smoking, more so in males than females (43.7% (34.0 to 51.8) vs 15.2% (10.9 to 19.4)). In addition, 9.1% (1.9 to 19.6) of the DALYs were attributable to elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG) (males 9.3% (1.6 to 20.9); females 8.4% (1.6 to 19.1)). Conclusions There was considerable variation in the burden of bladder cancer between countries during the period 1990–2019. Although there was a clear global decrease in the age-standardised death, and DALY rates, some countries experienced an increase in these rates. National policy makers should learn from these differences, and allocate resources for preventative measures, based on their country-specific estimates. In addition, smoking and elevated FPG play an important role in the burden of bladder cancer and need to be addressed with prevention programmes.publishedVersio