Essays on development and applied microeconomics

This thesis comprises three empirical chapters, which are self-contained but all related to household food consumption in Bangladesh. Chapter 2 examines the Engel curve for major expenditure categories and presents estimates of equivalence scales for Bangladesh. We compare Engel curves estimated by semi-parametric techniques to those arising from models based on consumer theory. Our analysis supports the argument for a quadratic food Engel curve for developing countries. Knowledge about the correct specification of Engel curves has important implications for modelling household responses to negative income shocks. Chapter 3 studies the effect of a sharp rice price increase on welfare and poverty in Bangladesh. We employ the household expenditure information to estimate the welfare loss induced by the price increase. Our findings suggest that we underestimate the proportionate welfare loss for rice producing households, and overestimate proportionate welfare loss of households who do not produce rice if we ignore indirect effects arising from a change in household consumption and production behaviour. Our estimates further support the hypothesis of a quadratic relationship between welfare loss and permanent household income. We also demonstrate that higher rice prices either increase or decrease the poverty head-count ratio, depending on the choice of the poverty line. However, if we consider the per capita income gap as a measure of poverty, we always observe that higher rice prices unambiguously increase poverty. In Chapter 4 we study the effect of the rice price increase between 2005 and 2010 on household rice consumption in Bangladesh. Using a simple difference-in-difference estimator and household level data, we find a negative effect on the value of non-rice food consumption of net rice buyers compared to self-sufficient households. On the other hand, there is no effect on the value of rice or non-food consumption. In contrast, we find that the higher rice price does not effect the value of rice consumption of rice sellers, but increases the value of other food and non-food consumption

Awareness and practice of computer-related ergonomics among resident doctors

This article has no abstract. The first 100 words appear below: The present study was designed to see the level of awareness and practice of computer-related ergonomics among resident doctors. A total of 227 residents participated in this study who had used a computer for at least a year.  They were selected by simple random sampling. A self-reporting questionnaire was used to conduct the study. For better understanding and convenience, the responses were categorized into good, fair, and poor. Awareness level was good in only 15% (n= 34) of residents, fair in 16.7% and the majority 68.3% (n= 155) of residents had a poor level of awareness about ergonomics

The impact of the 2005-2010 rice price increase on consumption in rural Bangladesh

This article studies the impact of the rice price increase between 2005 and 2010 on consumption in rural Bangladesh. Using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data, we compare net rice buyers and sellers to self-sufficient households. To identify the effect of rice price changes on household consumption of rice, nonrice food and nonfood items, we employ a difference-in-differences (DiD) technique. Our findings indicate that the surge in domestic rice prices between 2005 and 2010 reduced the nonrice food consumption of net rice buyer households by 7%, compared to the households who are self-sufficient in rice production. However, it did neither affect their rice nor their nonfood consumption. In contrast, while we find no significant effect of rice price increases on the rice consumption of net rice sellers, we observe a 9% increase in their nonrice food consumption. In such situation, a subsidy on low-quality rice may be effective in fulfilling the nutritional requirement of low-income households

Investigation on warpage and sink mark for injection moulded parts using taguchi method

Injection molding is a complex process for many production engineers as it involves selection of many process parameters to produce quality products to meet customer requirements. Determination of the optimal process parameters in injection moulding is an important design task as it influences part quality, production rate, and production cost and energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of selected process parameters in injection moulding on part quality. The paper applies Taguchi's parametric design and analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique to study the effect of process settings of plastic injection molding on part quality. Experimental data are used to identify the relationship between the injection molding process parameters and product quality. Mold surface temperature, melt temperature, mold open time and ejection temperature are selected as the process control parameters. Warpage and sink mark depth are selected as the multi-product quality characteristics

Major Insights in Dynamics of Host Response to SARS-CoV-2:Impacts and Challenges

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a pandemic declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, is caused by the infection of highly transmissible species of a novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of July 25, 2021, there are 194,372,584 cases and 4,167,937 deaths with high variability in clinical manifestations, disease burden, and post-disease complications among different people around the globe. Overall, COVID-19 is manifested as mild to moderate in almost 90% of the cases and only the rest 10% of the cases need hospitalization. However, patients with older age and those having different comorbidities have made worst the pandemic scenario. The variability of pathological consequences and clinical manifestations of COVID-19 is associated with differential host–SARS-CoV-2 interactions, which are influenced by the factors that originated from the SARS-CoV-2 and the host. These factors usually include the genomic attributes and virulent factors of the SARS-CoV-2, the burden of coinfection with other viruses and bacteria, age and gender of the individuals, different comorbidities, immune suppressions/deficiency, genotypes of major histocompatibility complex, and blood group antigens and antibodies. We herein retrieved and reviewed literatures from PubMed, Scopus, and Google relevant to clinical complications and pathogenesis of COVID-19 among people of different age, sex, and geographical locations; genomic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 including its variants, host response under different variables, and comorbidities to summarize the dynamics of the host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection; and host response toward approved vaccines and treatment strategies against COVID-19. After reviewing a large number of published articles covering different aspects of host response to SARS-CoV-2, it is clear that one aspect from one region is not working with the scenario same to others, as studies have been done separately with a very small number of cases from a particular area/region of a country. Importantly, to combat such a pandemic as COVID-19, a conclusive understanding of the disease dynamics is required. This review emphasizes on the identification of the factors influencing the dynamics of host responses to SARS-CoV-2 and offers a future perspective to explore the molecular insights of COVID-19

Brain Injury and Dementia in Pakistan:Current Perspectives

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 50-75% of all cases, with a greater proportion of individuals affected at older age range. A single moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with accelerated aging and increased risk for dementia. The fastest growth in the elderly population is taking place in China, Pakistan, and their south Asian neighbors. Current clinical assessments are based on data collected from Caucasian populations from wealthy backgrounds giving rise to a diversity crisis in brain research. Pakistan is a lower-middle income country (LMIC) with an estimated one million people living with dementia. Pakistan also has an amalgamation of risk factors that lead to brain injuries such as lack of road legislations, terrorism, political instability, and domestic and sexual violence. Here, we provide an initial and current assessment of the incidence and management of dementia and TBI in Pakistan. Our review demonstrates the lack of resources in terms of speciality trained clinician staff, medical equipment, research capabilities, educational endeavors, and general awareness in the fields of dementia and TBI. Pakistan also lacks state-of-the-art assessment of dementia and its risk factors, such as neuroimaging of brain injury and aging. We provide recommendations for improvement in this arena that include the recent creation of Pakistan Brain Injury Consortium (PBIC). This consortium will enhance international collaborative efforts leading to capacity building for innovative research, clinician and research training and developing databases to bring Pakistan into the international platform for dementia and TBI research

Binding interaction of four azo linked copper (II) complexes with Human Serum Albumin (HSA): Spectroscopic and molecular docking explorations

Four copper (II) complexes [Cu(L1)2] (1), [Cu(L2)2] (2), [Cu(L3)2] (3) and [Cu(L4)2] (4) with azo linked O,O donar ligands viz 2-hydroxy-5 (phenyldiazenyl)benzaldehyde (HL1), 1-(2-hydroxy-5-(phenyldiazenyl)phenyl)ethanone (HL2), 2-Hydroxy-5-p-tolylazo-benzaldehyde (HL3), 1-(2-Hydroxy-5-p-tolylazo-phenyl)-ethanone (HL4) have been prepared and characterized by different spectroscopy methods and published earlier by our research group. We investigated the interaction of Human Serum Albumin (HSA) with complexes 1–4 under physiological condition in phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.4 using various spectroscopic techniques. The fluorescence titration spectrum disclosed that the complex 1–4 quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA robustly through a static quenching mechanism. Binding constants (Kb) and the number of binding sites (n ≈ 1) were evaluated using modified Stern–Volmer equations. Binding constants were found to be 1.9, 6.6, 0.99 and 1.2x 105 (M−1) for complex 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The CD spectra of free HSA and HSA with complexes 1–4 showed that the complexes have negligibleimpact on the secondary structure of HSA as theyremain helical even after the addition of complexes. Molecular docking study was performed to analyse the binding mode of complexes 1-4with HSA. Docking study revealed that hydrophobic and Vander waals interactions were considered to be the main interaction forces involved in the binding of HSA with complexes 1–4

Significance of Sustainable Packaging: A Case-Study from a Supply Chain Perspective

The present case study-based research provides insights of the current packaging practices with a supply chain perspective and proposed sustainable packaging options that would cut down the environmental impact from supply chain operations at Midas Safety. The case study is based on qualitative research that used semi-structured open-ended interviews and observations to understand the current processes of the packaging and supply chain department of Midas Safety and how they are planning to adapt sustainability to their processes. Considering the current packaging practices, the study aimed to develop improved sustainable packaging practices with a supply chain aspect in order to cut down the negative environmental aspect such as standardization in packaging for all customers, elimination of wood pallets, developing local suppliers, change in packaging design, making the packaging more compact and lightweight, reducing carbon footprint and fuel consumption by encouraging trade through sea instead of air. The results concluded that internal factors such as alternate packaging material (like Mondi’s Aegispaper, Arjowiggins’ and Corrugated Bubble Wrap) along with the suggested sustainable packaging practices discussed above and external factors such as availability of local vendors are important requirements for successful sustainable packaging development