マイクロウエットミリングおよび真空噴霧乾燥によるオレンジ (Citrus unshiu) パウダーの製造

この博士論文は、全文公表に適さないやむを得ない事由があり要約のみを公表していましたが、解消したため、令和２（2020）年6月３日に全文を公表しました。筑波大学 (University of Tsukuba)201

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach For Determining Adoption Of Agricultural Price Risk Management Strategies

Australian wool producers have been slow to adopt price risk management strategies to stabilise the income from their wool sales. The highly volatile auction system accounts for 85% of raw wool sales while the remainder is sold by forward contract, futures and other hedging methods. Qualitative analysis was used to find behavioural factors associated with the adoption of price risk management strategies (specifically futures and forward contracts) for selling raw wool. Consideration was given to Diffusion of Innovations and the Theory of Planned Behaviour as theoretical frameworks in order to answer the research question: Are there any non-traditional behavioural factors that need to be incorporated into existing frameworks to determine adoption of price risk management strategies for selling raw wool? In contrast to these prominent theories, data from four focus groups conducted with wool producers in regional Western Australia showed that trust, habit and social cohesion were the major behavioural determinants that governed the adoption of price risk management strategies. The significance of this paper lies in its multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the dimensions of farm-level decision making.Qualitative analysis, trust, habit, social cohesion, forward contracts, wool., Agricultural Finance, Risk and Uncertainty,

Spectral Numerical Calculation of Non-isothermal Flow through a Rotating Curved Rectangular Duct with Moderate Curvature

The present paper investigates non-isothermal flow characteristics through a rotating curved rectangular duct, where co-existence of the rotational forces and fluid temperature gradients leads to the emergence of rotation-induced buoyancy effects. A spectral-based numerical scheme is employed as the principal tool for the simulation while Chebyshev polynomial and collocation method as the secondary tools. The outer wall of the duct is heated while the inner wall cooled, the top and bottom walls being thermally insulated. The emerging parameters controlling the flow characteristics are the rotation parameter, i.e., the Taylor number Tr ranging 0 to 2000, the Grashof number Gr = 100, the Prandtl number Pr, the aspect ratio, and the pressure-driven parameter, i.e., the Dean number Dn between 100 and 1000. The flow structures are examined under combined action of the centrifugal, Coriolis and buoyancy forces. As a result, asymmetric 2-cell structures are computed for small values of Tr while asymmetric 6-cell structures for large Tr. Unsteady flow characteristics show that the flow undergoes in the scenario ‘chaotic→ multi-periodic → periodic→ steady-state’, if Tr is increased in the positive direction. Typical contours of secondary flow patterns, temperature profiles and axial flow distribution are also obtained at several values of Tr, and it is found that there exist asymmetric two- to multi-vortex solutions. Heating the outer wall is found to generate a significant temperature gradient at the outer concave wall

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION MECHANISMS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: POLICY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN BANGLADESH

The Purposes of this study are to explore the existing quality status and analyze the gaps between existing practices and formal quality assurance and accreditation (QAA) systems, and to assess and tap the institutional learning and challenges of introducing QAA mechanism in Bangladesh. However, the intention is to explore the preparedness to introduce formal QAA mechanism and their implications on the institutional performance in the context of Bangladeshi Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The Mix method approach is applied here, where the primary data are collected from the university faculty members in order to determine the perceptions towards quality improvement initiatives in HEIs. The study revealed that HEIs in Bangladesh face a number of challenges in terms of formal quality assurance practices. The key variables brought from formal QA framework fell into six quality areas: leadership and institutional governance, curriculum, facilities, student, staff, and quality assurance process development. The study suggests that the main challenge lies with quality assurance process development to introduce formal QAA in HEIs. Existing quality status from this study shows that quality areas of student, curriculum and facilities remain above the average level of standard, but the quality areas of leadership and institutional governance, staff and quality assurance process development are below the average conditions. The findings would assist academicians to enhance quality assurance framework at national level as well as institutional level. However, the challenges the individual higher education institution would encounter to implement the formal QAA mechanism are addressed at length.  Article visualizations

Training curriculum on e-government: An empirical study on senior civil servants of Bangladesh

E-Government is to be ensured for good governance. There is a limited work in Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) to identify the need for e-Government knowledge and skill as well as attitude at the level of Joint Secretary. Therefore, the outcome of the research would contribute to identify the e-Government training need areas in terms of knowledge, skill and attitude of senior civil servant of Bangladesh, for which Senior Staff Course (SSC) curriculum may be redesigned.The objective of this study was to identify and assess the training needs of the participants of SSC to modify the Information and Computer Technology (ICT) curriculum of SSC; specifically to identify the relevant area of knowledge and skill of the SSC participant towards ensuring e-Government; to determine and identify the training need/module for SSC to manage e-Government and to suggest for policy guideline. As a research instrument this study is used structured questionnaire. This study extracted the core areas of training need related to e- government knowledge and skill and attitude. Thus, Principal Component Analysis has done with those core areas of skill and knowledge. Descriptive statistical results revealed that all those areas have high and significant relationship among the major variables and achieved high score of mean value. Descriptive statistics reveals that among the four major variables those are: ‘ICT Skill’; ‘E-government Management’;‘E-government Skill’; and ‘Attitude’ have relationship and those are important for Senior Level Civil Servant. But the mean score of those variables are not high as it is required. Therefore, these are the potential areas for the Joint Secretary Level official to formulate E-Government training module

The Informal Sector in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Rural and Urban Street Vendors

he informal sector contributes significantly to the overall economy of many countries including Bangladesh. Heightened unemployment rate coupled with widespread poverty has led street vendors progressively to become a prevalent informal group in Bangladesh. Studies on street vending in Bangladesh are very limited. The present study was carried out to address some important gaps in the existing literature. Principally, it examines the socio-demographic features of the street vendors in Bangla desh. Then, it portrays an economic sketch of the street vending profession. Finally, it looks at the threats, insecurities and sup ports associated with street vending in Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire survey was administered in both rural and urban areas of 33 districts (out of 64). The size of the sample was 777. It was found that mostly the illiterate younger males with a larger family size are predominantly engaged in different trades of street vending. Despite having potentials, street vending cannot be la beled as decent entrepreneurship as investments, income and savings of the vendors are minimal. The government does not have any specific measure for supporting their entrepreneurship development rather it often adopts harsh measures against street vendors. Few recommendations have been put in place to over come the obstacles in this sector.Institute for Social and Health Studies (ISHS

Molecular characterization of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from human urine infections with their antibiogram profile

ICLE Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the leading cause of hospitalization due to bacterial infection, and the frequency of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli isolates from these infections is increasing worldwide. The current study aims to isolate and characterize antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli and their antibiogram typing from urine samples of humans. From April to December 2019, a total of 60 human urine samples were collected aseptically and treated to primary isolation by propagation in nutrient broth followed by culture on various agar media. Gram’s staining, string techniques, biochemical characterization, PCR, and Sanger sequencing were performed to confirm E. coli. The Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique was used to test the susceptibility of all bacterial strains to thirteen typically prescribed antibiotics. The overall prevalence of E. coli in UTI was 66.67%. Three variations were noted in E. coli, all of which were single substitutions (A>T, C>T, and T>A). Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA revealed that the E. coli discovered in this study belonged to the genus Escherichia but was distinct from those identified in other countries. The antibiograms revealed that all the isolates (100%) were resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, and amoxicillin; 94.87% to doxycycline; 79.16% to gentamycin; 75.48% to ciprofloxacin; 73.07% to erythromycin; 71.66% to levofloxacin; 47.36% to ceftriaxone; and 46.66% to tetracycline. In contrast, all E. coli strains were sensitive to amikacin (95%), vancomycin (92.50%), and azithromycin (92.50%). People with a UTI often have multidrug-resistant E. coli in their urine samples, which calls for a one-health strategy to deal with this rapidly changing condition

Assessment of sleep quality and its association with problematic internet use among university students: a cross-sectional investigation in Bangladesh

Objectives: Problematic internet use (PIU) is a major behavioral problem that has been closely associated with poor sleep quality in many different countries, but is poorly studied in Bangladesh. This study was conducted to investigate the sleep quality and its association with PIU among university students in Bangladesh. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between May 2019 and December 2019 among 400 students attending four public universities in Bangladesh. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to determine sleep quality and Young’s internet addiction test (IAT) was used to describe the degree of PIU. Results: A significant negative association emerged between good sleep quality and PIU (p<0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression, students having PIU were 0.28 folds less likely to have good sleep quality (AOR: 0.28, 95%CI=0.18-0.43, p<0.001) when compared to non-PIU students. In addition, significant associations between sleep quality and socio-demographic and lifestyle factors were identified.Conclusion: Implementation of an effective awareness program and development of education strategies are required to reduce internet addictive behaviors and improve sleep quality among Bangladeshi university students

Socio-economic situational analysis of tea plantation workers: a case study from Lubachhara Tea Garden, Sylhet

Tea is the second most highly consumed beverage in the world. The British colonial rulers introduced tea plantation in the early 1830s in the Indian subcontinent. Since then, it has been cultivated and consumed in enormous quantities. In Bangladesh, the first tea plantation was launched in the Sylhet district. Tea is an important cash crop in Bangladesh. , It is widely consumed locally and exported to a few countries. The present study was carried out in Lubachhara tea garden, Sylhet as a case to examine the socio economic situation of the tea plantation workers. Using a mixed method approach with a sample of 252 workers, the study explored the state of the workers with respect to some basic needs, such as health, sanitation, housing, nutrition, education, wages, and service benefits which were found to be very deplorable and inhumane. Based on the findings of the study, some courses of actions are suggested to improve the socio-economic situation of the workers.Institute for Social and Health Studies (ISHS

Utilization of Fermented Rice Milk as a Novel Coagulant for Development of Paneer (Soft Cheese)

In this study, fermented rice milk was used as a novel coagulant for a type of soft cheese named as paneer. Rice milk was produced by a wet milling system in a process where brown rice was first soaked in water at a ratio of 1:2 (w/w), then milled by micro wet milling. Rice milk was pasteurized and gelatinized followed by the saccharification and lactic acid fermentation process. Paneer was produced using whole dairy milk mixed with 10%, 20%, and 30% of simultaneous saccharified and fermented (SSF) rice milk as a coagulant, and was analyzed for its physicochemical, microbial, and sensory properties. The results indicated that fermented rice milk has constructive effects on the physicochemical properties, texture, and shelf life of paneer, as there were no obvious defects observed for up to 12 days of storage at 4 °C. The sensory evaluation revealed that the acceptability score of the samples containing rice milk reduced slightly compared to the control samples. No significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were observed among all the paneer samples incorporated with different percentages of rice milk, and the product was rated acceptable