Motivational Strategies for Improving Healthy Eating Habits: A Thematic Analysis of a MyPlate Twitter Campaign

This study examined the #MyPlateMyWins Twitter campaign from ChooseMyPlate.gov to understand the motivational strategies used to influence people to change their eating habits. Although studies have explored healthy diet promotion in a variety of contexts, researchers have been slower to explore how Twitter is used in this regard. Applying Uses and Gratification (U&G) theory and using a thematic analysis, this paper found three major strategies used by the campaign: Starting with small changes in health behavior; being a healthy eating role model for kids; and, remaining physically active. These findings should be helpful for organizations or individuals to design effective strategies on social media platforms to advocate people to change their healthy eating behavior. A major limitation of this research is that it used data from only one campaign and one hashtag. Accordingly, I suggested conducting future research using persuasive contents from more than one campaign and hashtag to find the more refined outcome

Dynamique des inondations dans le continuum rivière-estuaire-océan littoral du delta du Bengale : synergie de la modélisation hydrodynamique et de la télédétection spatiale

Le delta du Bengale est le plus vaste au monde. Il est formé par la confluence des trois rivières transfrontalières que sont le Gange, le Brahmapoutre et la Meghna. Des inondations massives frappent régulièrement cette région côtière très densément peuplée, située à seulement quelques mètres au-dessus du niveau moyen de la mer. Elles résultent du puissant cycle saisonnier des débits fluviaux, de la marée océanique très ample, et des cyclones tropicaux fréquents. Au cours des cinquante dernières années, les inondations de la partie littorale du delta ont fait plus de 500'000 victimes. La montée du niveau moyen de la mer ne va faire qu'aggraver la vulnérabilité de cette région où le taux de pauvreté est très élevé. Le long du littoral, les estrans sont les zones alternativement inondées à marée haute et découvertes à marée basse. Leur topographie joue un rôle important dans l'hydrodynamique littorale et dans les submersions qui surviennent lors des évènements extrêmes. En mettant en œuvre une synergie entre l'imagerie par télédétection spatiale de la constellation Sentinel-2 et la modélisation numérique de la marée, nous avons cartographié la topographie de l'estran du delta du Bengale sur une superficie de 1134 km2, avec une résolution de 10 m. Les marées, qui sont le facteur dominant de la variabilité du niveau de la mer côtier, sont apparues comme sensibles à la montée du niveau de la mer. Dans une hiérarchie de scénarios de montée du niveau de la mer représentatifs de l'évolution attendue au 21ème siècle, nous avons conclu que l'amplitude de marée devrait augmenter significativement avec la montée du niveau de la mer, à la fois dans le Sud-Ouest et dans le Sud-Est du delta. Au contraire, l'extension graduelle et massive de la superficie des estrans dans la partie centrale du delta devrait induire une nette atténuation de la marée, dans ces scénarios futurs. La marée joue par ailleurs un rôle central dans l'évolution des surcotes cyloniques. Un exercice de prévision du dernier super-cyclone ayant frappé le delta du Bengale avec notre plate-forme de modélisation hydrodynamique couplée marée-surcote-vagues a révélé la nécessité du couplage dynamique entre ces trois composantes de la submersion, et nous avons pu confirmer le rôle-clé de la topographie côtière dans le succès des prévisions numériques. Grâce à une approche ensembliste basée sur la simulation numérique hydrodynamique de plusieurs milliers de cyclones synthétiques, cohérents tant du point de vue de la physique que de la statistique, nous avons pu conclure qu'il y a à l'heure actuelle de l'ordre de 10% de la population côtière du delta, soit trois millions de personnes, résidant dans la zone exposée à la submersion cinquentennale. La compréhension et la quantification des mécanismes de l'inondation exposés dans cette thèse constituent une information pertinente pour contribuer à l'ingénierie des infrastructures côtières, à la gestion du risque, ainsi qu'à l'élaboration de l'agenda de la recherche en hydrodynamique côtière sur le delta du Bengale.The Bengal delta is the largest in the world. It is formed by the confluence of three transboundary rivers - Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Flooding induced by large seasonal continental discharge, strong tide, and frequent deadly storm surges, regularly strikes this densely populated (density > 1000 person/km2), low-lying coastal region (<5 m above mean sea level). In the last five decades, coastal flooding took more than half a million lives. Ongoing global sea level rise (SLR) will only further aggravate the vulnerability of this impoverished region. Along the shoreline, intertidal zones are the first landmass that gets flooded, periodically between each high- and low-tide. Their topography plays an important role in the coastal hydrodynamics and associated flooding during extremes. A synergy between remote sensing from Sentinel-2 constellation and tidal numerical modelling allowed us to map an intertidal area of 1134 km2 and its topography at 10 m resolution. Tides, that prominently drive the variability of coastal sea level, are shown to be sensitive to SLR. In future SLR scenarios in line with the 21st century forecasts, we found that the tidal amplitude will significantly increase with SLR over both the south-western and south-eastern parts of the delta. In contrast, the central part of the delta will potentially experience massive free-flooding of river banks, hereby inducing a decay of the tidal amplitude. Tide plays a vital role in the evolution of storm surges also. Hindcast simulation of a recent super cyclone with our coupled tide-surge-wave model reveals the necessity of the coupling between tide, surge and wave modelling, and confirmed the crucial role played by the coastal topography for effective inundation modelling and forecast. With an ensemble forecast of thousands of physically and statistically consistent synthetic cyclones, we could conclude that about 10% of the coastal population of the Bengal delta, amounting to 3 million people, currently lives exposed to the 50-year return period flooding. The understanding and quantification of the inundation mechanisms extended in this study is expected to help with coastal infrastructure engineering, risk zoning, resource allocation and future adaptation to coastal flood across the Bengal delta

Present Environmental Condition and Its Impact on Livelihood – A Case Study of Two Villages around the University of Barisal

The study was focused mainly on the level of knowledge and current situation on environmental pollution and degradation in the male, female and school going children living in Char Aicha and West Karnakathi villages in Barisal district. Data were collected randomly from 200 families (most of them consist of 6/7 members) by personal observation, focal group discussion and personal interviews during the period from January to June, 2016. The study revealed that majority of the people knew the basics of environmental pollution and degradation through television but they do not apply this in their way of living. On the other hand, about 30% of the people do not know what it is. The data showed that most of the women were not conscious about the devastation of pollution. As household wastes were not managed properly, the open area especially the ponds filled with waste. Pond is one of the prime sources of water for cooking and washing. Tree plantation program, hand washing program, school based awareness program, introduction of cheap water filtration process and discussion program on sustainable agricultural production revealed a positive attitude to manage environment. After these awareness programs, results showed that almost 90% of people follow the prescribed methods. In addition, primary school going children showed keen interest about the program and they play an important role in controlling pollution in the study area by sharing with their parents about the harmful effect of pollution in their regular life. The study will provide baseline information for controlling environmental pollution and degradation in the area. Key Words: Environmental Pollution, Degradation, Awareness program, Kirtonkhola River

Advertising Effectiveness and Influence of Consumer Buying Decision of LED Television

The main aim of the present study was to identify the influence of advertising effectiveness on the consumer buying decisions of different brands of ‘LED’ television. The study was descriptive. Five television showrooms in Dinajpur district, Bangladesh (Sony, Singer, Samsung, LG, and Walton) were purposively selected for collecting primary data for this study. The respondents were selected using a convenience sampling method that came to the television showroom for purchasing ‘LED’ television. The primary data for this study were collected through a structured questionnaire. The study result shows that advertisement has a positive effect on consumer buying decisions of ‘LED’ television, Sony brand (p =.000 &lt;0.05) and 43.9% of variation in consumer buying decision has been contributed by advertisement effectiveness. For Singer brand p =.010 &lt;0.05), Samsung brand p =.003 &lt;0.05), LG brand p =.341&gt;0.05) and the null hypothesis is accepted for LG band and Walton brand p =.000 &lt;0.05) and 42.3% of variation in consumer buying decision has been contributed by advertisement effectiveness

Type 2 diabetes and its correlates among adults in Bangladesh: a population based stud

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh. However, the correlates of type 2 diabetes among adults in Bangladesh remain unknown. We aimed to investigate the correlates of type 2 diabetes among the adults in Bangladesh. Methods : We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the nationally representative 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. A random sample of 7,543 (3,823 women and 3,720 men) adults of age 35 years and older from both urban and rural areas, who participated in the survey was included. Diabetes was defined as having a fasting plasma blood glucose level of ≥ 7 mm/L or taking diabetes medication during the survey. Hypothesized factors, e.g., age, sex, education, place of residence, social status, body mass index, and hypertension were considered in the analyses. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify the important correlates of type 2 diabetes. Results : Among the respondents, the overall prevalence of diabetes was 11 %, and the prevalence was slightly higher in women (11.2 %) than men (10.6 %). Respondents with the age group of 55–59 years had higher odds of having diabetes (odds ratios (OR) = 2.37, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.76–3.21) than the age group of 35–39 years. Moreover, respondents who had higher educational attainment (OR = 1.67, 95 % CI: 1.18–2.36) and higher social status (OR = 2.01, 95 % CI: 1.50–2.70) had higher odds of having diabetes than the respondents with no education and lower social status, respectively. We also found socioeconomic status, place of residence (rural or urban), regions of residence (different divisions), overweight and obesity, and hypertension as significant correlates of type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh. Conclusions: Our study shows that older age, higher socioeconomic status, higher educational attainment, hypertension, and obesity were found to be significant correlates of type 2 diabetes. Need-based policy program strategies including early diagnosis, awareness via mass media, and health education programs for changing lifestyles should be initiated for older age, wealthy, and/or higher educated individuals in Bangladesh. Moreover, area-specific longitudinal research is necessary to find out the underlying causes of regional variations

Employees' retention strategy on quality of work life (QWL) dimensions of private commercial banks in Bangladesh

Quality of Work Life (QWL) is a philosophy on employees' organizational life satisfaction. Retention of experienced and trained employees is a challenging task for all organizations, especially for banking organizations. This research paper aims at identifying underlying dimensions of QWL program that shape employees' retention strategy in Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) in Bangladesh. The study is mainly based on primary data obtained through a structured questionnaire on 200 employees working at PCBs. Independent and dependent variables on a five - point "Likert -Type Scale" specifies how strongly the respondents agree or disagree with statements. Several statistical tools and techniques such as descriptive analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Zero Order Karl Pearson's correlation analysis and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) multiple regression analysis have been used to determine empirical findings and draw a conclusion. The findings of the study shows the effects which can impinge on employees' retention strategy with the dimensions (maintenance and supervisory) being particularly significant. The authority of PCBs in Bangladesh should address these dimensions to retain their experienced and trained employees

Bis[μ-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethano­lato]bis­[bromidocopper(II)]

The title compound, [Cu2Br2(C7H8NO)2], was synthesized by reaction of CuBr2 with 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanol (hep-H) in methanol. The asymmetric unit consists of one hep ligand and a CuBr unit. The Cu2+ ion is thereby coordinated by the N atom and the deprotonated hydroxy O atom in a distorted square-planar geometry that is completed by another O atom. The latter acts as bridging ligand towards the second, symmetry-equivalent, Cu atom, thus generating a centrosymmetric dimeric unit, with the inversion centre halfway between the Cu atoms. These units are linked via C—H⋯Br and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, leading to the formation of a hydrogen-bonded one-dimensional-polymeric chain along a.

Respiratory, Neurological and Other Health Outcomes among Plastic Factory Workers in Gazipur, Bangladesh

Background: Approximately three thousand plastic goods manufacturing factories (PGMF) are currently operating in Bangladesh involving numerous workers. Associated health problems of these workers are largely unknown. The key objectives of the current study were identifying plastic chemical exposures related health outcomes in these workers and comparing these outcomes before and after their joining in PGMFs. In addition, we aimed to investigate the relationships between work duration and the prevalence of health ailments among workers. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among factory workers (n=405) at six PGMFs in Gazipur district in Bangladesh. A simple random sampling method had been applied to select participants and data on their self-reported exposures to chemicals and associated respiratory, neurological, and other multiple health outcomes were collected through a validated questionnaire survey. Data were analyzed using different descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The categorical variables and continuous variables were interpreted using frequency distribution and standard deviation (SD) respectively. A Pearson chi-square (χ2) test was applied to evaluate the correlation between work duration and health outcomes. A p-value Results: The average age and work duration of the workers were 25.63±6.85 and 3.49±3.53 years, respectively, implying that most workers were young, and spent over 10% of their lifetime in PGMFs work. Most common health outcomes reported by the workers were nasal discharges: 60 (14.9%), headaches: 76 (18.9%), fatigues: 112 (27.8%), losses of appetites: 108 (26.8%), urination problems: 61 (13.1%), losses of body weights: 102 (25.3%), and nervousness: 70 (17.4%). Among the common health outcomes only headache (p=0.005); fatigue (p=0.04); urination problem (p=p=0.004) were significantly associated with the work duration. Furthermore, except for hypertension and tarry stool, all health outcomes among workers differ significantly before and after joining in PGMFs. Conclusion: This study first time identified important health outcomes of the PGMFs workers and generated baseline information on common health outcomes of the PGMFs workers in developing countries like Bangladesh. However, it might be important to identify potential causes of such health outcomes in PGMFs workers considering both biomarkers of exposures and real-time environmental samples to understand the disease pathology and to recommend mitigation measures to be taken by occupational health policymakers and practitioners in developing countries