Micro-Finance for Women Empowerment: A Rural-Urban Analysis

This paper examined the micro-finance services towards empowerment of unprivileged women in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. A sample of 300 low profile unprivileged micro-finance service receiving women equally from rural and urban areas of Khulna district were surveyed during May, 2018. Data were collected on the usage and effectiveness of micro-finance services and were analyzed using STATA 12. Multiple regression model and descriptive statistics were used to interpret data. Economic empowerment, social empowerment, interpersonal empowerment and political empowerment were considered to measure women empowerment. The study found that proper use of microcredit, marital status of women, educational status of women and their husbands, personal income and their position in the family were the main determinants of women empowerment. Women empowerment score remained higher in urban areas than in rural areas. The availability of micro-finance services improved the status of unprivileged low profile suburban women in terms of income generation, saving mobilization, the creation of household assets and overall poverty reduction of rural women. Thus, microfinance has been a useful tool for women empowerment and economic development in both areas but more effective in urban areas.&nbsp

Effective role of the ‘loading’ dose of magnesium sulfate in the treatment of eclampsia

Background: Eclampsia is defined as the occurrence of one or more convulsions in association with the syndrome of preeclampsia. In Bangladesh, eclampsia is the 3rd major cause of maternal death. Magnesium sulfate is now the drug of choice for women with eclampsia for controlling convulsion with strong evidence that it is better than diazepam, phenytoin or lytic cocktail. Aim of the study was to find out the effective role of loading dose of magnesium sulfate in the treatment of the convulsion in eclampsia.Methods: Prospective comparative study. In the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH)" from January 2008 to December 2008. A total of 100 eclamptic patients who are eligible for magnesium sulfate therapy were purposively assigned to receive either only loading "dose or traditional dose for control of convulsion. Data was organized and the results were presented in tables, figures, diagram etc. by using SPSS-10 and MS-Excel 2016.Results: The mean (±SD) convulsion (fit) and delivery interval was 7.95±1.33. Regained consciousness was predominant 28(56.0%) patients after initiation of treatment. Maternal death was found 1 (2.00%). The cause of maternal mortality was due to renal failure. The mean (±SD) respiratory rate was 20.2±4.19min. Normal urine was found 43(86.0%). Normal knee jerks were found 45 (90.0%). No toxicity developed in any group assessed by the parameters like respiratory rate, urine volume and knee jerks.Conclusions: For the above reasons eclampsia can be treated effectively by only loading dose of Mgs04 in primary as well as tertiary level hospital which will significantly reduce the maternal morbidity and mortality

Histopathological studies of EUS affected shing, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) from a fish farm of Mymensingh, Bangladesh

An investigation was carried out to observe histopathological changes in liver and kidney of suspected epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS)-affected shing fish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch) collected from the "Agro-3 fish farm" situated at Boilor, Trishal, Mymensingh. Focal necrosis, haemorrhages and atrophy of the sinusoidal region were observed in the liver tissue. Fungal granulomas were found both in liver and kidney. In some cases fatty depositions were observed in all over the hepatic tissue. Degeneration and necrosis of renal tubular epithelial cells were also occurred. Missing of glomerulus and necrosis surrounding the Bowman's capsule in the kidney tissue were found

Experimental pathogenesis of Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria in shing Heteropneustes fossilis(Bloch)

Pathogenicity of Aeromonas hydrophila bacteria was tested on the stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis. Before artificial infection the morphological, biochemical and physiological characters of Aeromonas hydrophila were studied. The infections were done by two different methods, viz., intramuscular (IM) and intraperitoneal (IP) injection. In infection experiment, each group of 10 fish were injected either intramuscularly or intra peritoneally with one dose higher than the LD50 dose (9.6 x 107 CFU/fish). All the fish tested died within 1 to 9 days. Both in cases of intramuscular and intraperitoneal injection, external pathology were found. Haemorrhagic lesions were evident at the site of injection. The posterior end of the body surface was found to develop greyish-white lesion that was extended up to caudal fin. Hyperemic anal region and the fin bases were also observed. Total bacterial loads in liver, kidney and intestine were determined. Aeromonas hydrophila could be isolated from liver, kidney and intestine of the experimentally infected fish. In case of intramuscular injection the highest and the lowest bacterial load was found to be 2.4 x 107 CFU/g of liver and 2.1 x 102 CFU/g of kidney and in case of intraperitoneal injection they were found to be 3.6 x 106 CFU/g of kidney and 1.2 x 104 CFU/g of kidney respectively. It was concluded that A. hydrophila could cause serious disease condition to Heteropneustes fossilis and its pathogenesis in the fish was also very efficient

Miniaturized Spectacles Shaped Tapered Slotted Patch Antenna for UWB Applications, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2018, nr 1

A compact planner patch ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna is presented in this paper. The antenna configuration consists of a spectacles-shaped patch and a slotted ground plane. Different parameters are investigated for improving the antenna’s properties and for achieving the preferred UWB band (3.1–10.6 GHz). The experimental and simulated results demonstrate that the proposed antenna acquires an operating bandwidth of 117% (3–11.5 GHz) with a stable omnidirectional radiation pattern, about 89% of average radiation efficiency and 4.2 dBi of average gain with the maximum of 5.7 dBi at 10.2 GHz

A 15-year-old boy with huge facial swelling, recurrent severe epistaxis, progressive proptosis, nasal obstruction and impaired hearing on right side

This article has no abstract. The first 100 words appear below: A 15-year-old male hailing from Khagrachhari was admitted into the department with the complaints of swelling on the right side of face for 10 months with recurrent severe epistaxis, progressive proptosis, unilateral nasal obstruction and impairment of hearing for two months. On extraoral examination, there was a firm non-tender, nonmobile, fixed swelling on the right side of cheek causing facial asymmetry measuring about 10 × 12 cm in size extending from upper eyelid to middle of the right cheek supero-inferiorly and pre-auricular area to the medial wall of nose postero-anteriorl

A 15-year-old boy with huge facial swelling, recurrent severe epistaxis, progressive proptosis, nasal obstruction and impaired hearing on right side

This article has no abstract. The first 100 words appear below: A 15-year-old male hailing from Khagrachhari was admitted into the department with the complaints of swelling on the right side of face for 10 months with recurrent severe epistaxis, progressive proptosis, unilateral nasal obstruction and impairment of hearing for two months. On extraoral examination, there was a firm non-tender, nonmobile, fixed swelling on the right side of cheek causing facial asymmetry measuring about 10 × 12 cm in size extending from upper eyelid to middle of the right cheek supero-inferiorly and pre-auricular area to the medial wall of nose postero-anteriorl

Correlation between Glasgow coma scale on admission and clinical outcome of patients with unilateral chronic subdural hematoma after surgery

This study was undertaken to determine the influence of Glasgow coma scale (GCS) on admission on clinical outcome of patients with unilateral chronic subdural hematoma after surgery. A cross- sectional study was conducted on 33 consecutive patients, among them 28 were male, 5 were female with GCS 6 to 15. 19 patients out of 22 who had GCS 14-15 had favorable GOS at 24 hours as compared to 2 out of 7 in GCS 9-13 group and none in GCS ?8 group. All patients (22 out of 22) had favorable GOS at the time of discharge in GCS 14-15 group while 8 out of 9 had favorable GOS in GCS 9-14 group and 1 out of 2 patients had favorable GOS in GCS ?8 group. Chi square test showed significant difference in outcome between 14-15, 9-13 and ?8 GCS groups (p values 0.001, 0.015, 0.013 respectively). In conclusion, clinical outcome of patients with unilateral chronic subdural hematoma depends on Glasgow coma scale on admission.

Elevated atmospheric CO2 suppresses silicon accumulation and exacerbates endophyte reductions in plant phosphorus

Many temperate grasses are both hyper-accumulators of silicon (Si) and hosts of Epichloë fungal endophytes, functional traits which may alleviate environmental stresses such as herbivore attack. Si accumulation and endophyte infection may operate synergistically, but this has not been tested in a field setting, nor in the context of changing environmental conditions. Predicted increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations can affect both Si accumulation and endophyte function, but these have not been studied in combination. We investigated how elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2), Si supplementation, endophyte-presence and insect herbivory impacted plant growth, stoichiometry (C, N, P and Si), leaf gas exchange (rates of photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration rates) and endophyte production of anti-herbivore defences (alkaloids) of an important pasture grass (tall fescue; Lolium arundinaceum) in the field. eCO2 and Si supplementation increased shoot biomass (+52% and +31%, respectively), whereas herbivory reduced shoot biomass by at least 35% and induced Si accumulation by 24%. Shoot Si concentrations, in contrast, decreased by 17%–21% under eCO2. Si supplementation and herbivory reduced shoot C concentrations. eCO2 reduced shoot N concentrations which led to increased shoot C:N ratios. Overall, shoot P concentrations were 26% lower in endophytic plants compared to non-endophytic plants, potentially due to decreased mass flow (i.e. observed reductions in stomatal conductance and transpiration). Alkaloid production was not discernibly affected by any experimental treatment. The negative impacts of endophytes on P uptake were particularly strong under eCO2. We show that eCO2 and insect herbivory reduce and promote Si accumulation, respectively, incorporating some field conditions for the first time. This indicates that these drivers operate in a more realistic ecological context than previously demonstrated. Reduced uptake of P in endophytic plants may adversely affect plant productivity in the future, particularly if increased demand for P due to improved plant growth under eCO2 cannot be met. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. © 2023 The Authors. Functional Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society