Walkability and Greenness Do Not Walk Together: Investigating Associations between Greenness and Walkability in a Large Metropolitan City Context.

BACKGROUND: The existing environment literature separately emphasizes the importance of neighborhood walkability and greenness in enhancing health and wellbeing. Thus, a desirable neighborhood should ideally be green and walkable at the same time. Yet, limited research exists on the prevalence of such "sweet spot" neighborhoods. We sought to investigate this question in the context of a large metropolitan city (i.e., Sydney) in Australia. METHODS: Using suburb level normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), percentage urban greenspace, Walk Score® (Walk Score, Seattle, WA, USA), and other data, we explored the global and local relationships of neighborhood-level greenness, urban green space (percent park area) with walkability applying both non-spatial and spatial modeling. RESULTS: We found an overall negative relationship between walkability and greenness (measured as NDVI). Most neighborhoods (represented by suburbs) in Sydney are either walkable or green, but not both. Sweet spot neighborhoods that did exist were green but only somewhat walkable. In addition, many neighborhoods were both less green and somewhat walkable. Moreover, we observed a significant positive relationship between percentage park area and walkability. These results indicate walkability and greenness have inverse and, at best, mixed associations in the Sydney metropolitan area. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicates an overall negative relationship between greenness and walkability, with significant local variability. With ongoing efforts towards greening Sydney and improving walkability, more neighborhoods may eventually be transformed into becoming greener and more walkable

Factors affecting the intention to become an entrepreneur: A study from Bangladeshi business graduates' perspective

The current stage of entrepreneurial culture in Bangladesh encourages rethinking about the content and approach of teaching in entrepreneurship education. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying the factors influencing Bangladeshi graduates’ intention toward becoming entrepreneurs. A sample of 387 business graduate students was selected randomly from both private and public universities located in Dhaka and Rajshahi. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM) has been employed to test the structural relationship among variables that influence respondent’s entrepreneurial intention. This study has found that entrepreneurial education will provide skills and knowledge that might help the students to change their typical mind-set from searching job to creating jobs. Hence, focusing on developing entrepreneurial mind through education will have importance for the development of entrepreneurial culture as well as for the sustainable socioeconomic development in Bangladesh. Keywords—Attitude, Subjective Norm, Entrepreneurial Education, Self-Efficacy, Intention, Banglades

Noncommunicable Diseases, Park Prescriptions, and Urban Green Space Use Patterns in a Global South Context: The Case of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Urban green space use is often associated with improved physical and mental health and lower noncommunicable disease (NCDs) burdens. Factors that influence green space visits have been documented in cities of the Global North, but evidence of urban green space use patterns for cities in the Global South is scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate factors influencing urban green space use patterns in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a megacity of the Global South, with a particular focus on how poor health condition and healthcare professionals' prescriptions to exercise outdoors (park prescriptions-ParkRx) impact the green space use of middle-aged adults. We collected green space characteristics and use factors (i.e., availability, accessibility, attractiveness, and attachment), health condition, ParkRx, and urban green space use intensity (i.e., frequency and duration) via a self-reported questionnaire from 169 middle-aged residents of Dhaka. We used multivariate modeling to estimate the association of green space characteristics, health condition, and ParkRx with use intensity. We further applied a mediation analysis to determine the influence of ParkRx on the relationship between residents' poor health conditions and use intensity. We found that green space availability and accessibility did not significantly influence use intensity, but attractiveness was negatively associated with use intensity. Green space use intensity was significantly and positively associated with attachment to the green space, poor health condition (i.e., having noncommunicable diseases), and ParkRx. ParkRx significantly mediated the relationship between health condition and use intensity. We observed limited supply, poor access, and low attractiveness when studying the urban green spaces in Dhaka, but these qualities did not affect use intensity, as found in many case studies in the Global North. In contrast, urban green space use intensity in our case study is mostly dependent on poor health condition and park prescriptions

Sustainable Assessment in Supply Chain and Infrastructure Management

Assessing sustainability in supply chain and infrastructure management is important for any organization in the competitive business environment or public domain [...]</jats:p

Environment Kuznets Curve for Carbon Emissions: A Cointegration Analysis for Bangladesh

This article investigates the current status of the association between carbon emissions releases, use of energy, openness of trade and overall output of Bangladesh from its independence to 2012. The research outcomes for Bangladesh show that a robust long-run association is present there along with short-run dynamic adjustment among those variables. The research indicates that environmental degradation in Bangladesh may increase because of high economic growth in future and therefore, policies to tackle environmental pollution are imperative where the use of both market and non-market based management tools is important. Finally, this study provides some future research directions which were beyond the scope of this research. Keywords: Environment; Environmental Economics; Air Pollution. JEL Classifications: Q5; P42

Parenting Style and Suicidal Behavior: A Focused Review

Objectives. Parenting is the general child-rearing practice that has both long- and short-term impacts on the physical, emotional, mental, and social development of the children. We aims at seeing the relationship between parenting style and suicidal behaviors. Methods. A search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and PsychINFO to identify the articles assessing the relationship between different types of parenting styles and suicidal behavior. We included 32 articles in the review published from inception to search date. Results. Among the 32 studies, 27 studies used a cross-sectional study design, 17 were published between 2011 and 2020, and most of the studies included respondents with ages between 9 and 21 years. A wide variety of the used instruments to assess suicidal behavior, and parenting style was noted. Eight studies revealed that authoritarian parenting style is one of the predictors of suicidal behavior, while one study reported the authoritarian parenting style as a resilient factor. Both dominating and flexible parenting styles were associated with higher suicidal behavior, and two studies reported that the permissive style is a contributing factor to suicidal ideation among participants. Conclusion. This review identified the supportive notion that authoritarian parenting style has an association with suicidal behavior in adolescence, and later life. However, a prudential judgment is warranted due to the heterogeneity of study methods, population, contexts, and measurement tools

Critical Success Factors for Supply Chain Sustainability in the Wood Industry: An Integrated PCA-ISM Model

Due to the increasing popularity of cost-based outsourcing and growing stakeholder concern about environmental, social, and technological issues, supply chain sustainability is vital in both developed and emerging economies. Bangladesh is an emerging economy and wood industry of Bangladesh is suffering from severe sustainability issues besides its growth. Hence, this article aims to examine the critical success factors (CSFs) for sustainability in the Bangladeshi wood industry, which is crucial to help supply chain managers engage in achieving sustainable development goals. This research investigated the CSFs and uncovered their interdependencies through the development of a methodology integrating a literature review, principal component analysis (PCA), interpretive structural modelling (ISM), and Matriced Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquee aunClassement (MICMAC) techniques. PCA (n = 150) was used to identify and rank the CSFs for sustainability in the Bangladeshi wood industry while ISM (n = 9) and MICMAC were used to determine the driving and dependence power of the CSFs. The findings reveal that research and development, supplier relations, and using eco-friendly technology are the most significant CSFs of the Bangladeshi wood industry. Indispensable links revealing the driving and dependence power among the CSFs were also reported. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that examined the CSFs for supply chain sustainability in the Bangladeshi wood industry. The proposed methodology and findings will help managers in the Bangladeshi wood industry as well as other similar industries to understand the CSFs and reduce the complexity of decision-making in managing business process towards sustainability journey

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characteristics of Antimicrobial Resistance in Citrobacter freundii Isolated from Domestic Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) in Bangladesh

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Citrobacter freundii poses a serious challenge as this species is one of the sources of nosocomial infection and causes diarrheal infections in humans. Ducks could be the potential source of multidrug-resistant (MDR) C. freundii; however, AMR profiles in C. freundii from non-human sources in Bangladesh have remained elusive. This study aimed to detect C. freundii in domestic ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) in Bangladesh and to determine their phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic susceptibility patterns. A total of 150 cloacal swabs of diseased domestic ducks were screened using culturing, staining, biochemical, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) to detect C. freundii. Phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic susceptibility patterns were done by the disk diffusion method and PCR, respectively. In total, 16.67% (25/150) of the samples were positive for C. freundii. C. freundii isolates showed a range of 20% to 96% resistance to cefotaxime, gentamicin, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, tetracycline, ampicillin, and cephalexin. More than 60% of the isolates were phenotypically MDR, and the index of multiple antibiotic resistance ranged from 0.07 to 0.79. Genes encoding resistance to beta-lactams [blaTEM-1-88% (22/25), blaCMY-2-56% (14/25), blaCMY-9-8% (2/25), and blaCTX-M-14-20% (5/25)], sulfonamides [sul1-52% (13/25), sul2-24% (6/25)], tetracyclines [tetA-32% (8/25) and tetB-4% (1/25)], aminoglycosides [aacC4-16% (4/25)], and fluoroquinolones [qnrA-4% (1/25), qnrB-12% (3/25), and qnrS-4% (1/25)] were detected in the isolated C. freundii. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Bangladesh to detect MDR C. freundii with their associated resistance genes from duck samples. We suggest addressing the burden of diseases in ducks and humans and associated AMR issues using the One Health approach

Modeling drivers to big data analytics in supply chains

The recent emergence of data-driven business markets and the ineligibility of traditional data management systems to trace them have fostered the application of Big Data Analytics (BDA) in supply chains of the present decade. Literature reviews reveal that the successful implication of BDA in a supply chain mainly depends on some key drivers considering the size and operations of an organization. However, collective analysis of all these drivers is still neglected in the existing research field. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify and prioritize the most significant drivers of BDA in the supply chains. To this aim, a novel Best-worst method (BWM) based framework has been proposed, which has successfully identified and sequenced the twelve most significant drivers with the help of previous literature and experts’ opinions. Theoretically, this study contributes to the BDA literature by offering some unique drivers to BDA in supply chains. The findings show that ‘sophisticated structure of information technology’ and ‘group collaboration among business partners’ are the top most significant drivers. ‘Digitization of society’ is identified as the least significant driver of BDA in this study. The outcome of this study is expected to assist the industry managers to find out the most and least preferable drivers in their supply chains and then take initiatives to improve the overall efficiency of their organizations accordingly