Choice of Performance Measures and Performance of Textile Sector in Bangladesh

This study seeks out to establish the influence of quality as well as performance-based manufacturing strategy, diverse in performance measures, firm’s size, their interrelationship, and joint effects with the subjective measures on textile firm’s performance. Financial, objective, subjective, and non-financial measures have been taken into consideration. Bangladesh needs competitive strategies and measures to meet the challenges & opportunities for creating a sustainable position in the global market. Performance measures have been taken by the textile industries of Bangladesh to improve the performance. The influence of those measures is not always improving the performance as found in the earlier study. Responses from mid-level managers of 30 textile industries in Bangladesh have been taken into consideration using survey method using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, regression and correlation analysis. The result shows extensive use of measures and only subjective measures do not increase the performance of the industry, but customer-oriented measures, sustainability measures, manufacturing quality strategy with firm size increase the performance of the textile sectors. The study will open the scope of further exploration in the performance of the textile sector of Bangladesh. JEL Classification Code: G 2

Abundant Exact Traveling Wave Solutions of the (2+1)-Dimensional Couple Broer-Kaup Equations

To describe the propagation of small amplitude waves in nonlinear dispersive media, it is frequently necessary to take account of dissipative mechanisms to perfectly reflect real situations in many branches of physics like plasma physics, fluid dynamics and nonlinear optics. In this paper, the exp(-Fi(Eta))-expansion method is employed to solve the (2+1)-Dimensional couple Broer-Kaup equations as a model for wave propagation in nonlinear media with dispersive and dissipative effects. As a result, a number of exact traveling wave solutions including solitary wave and periodic wave have been found for the equation. Some representative 3D profiles and 2D profiles for different values of variables of the wave solutions are graphically displayed and discussed

TEAR AND TENSILE STRENGTH OF 100% COTTON WOVEN FABRICS’ BASIC STRUCTURES: REGRESSION MODELLING

This research paper aims to estimate the tear and tensile strength of woven fabrics while considering a number of construction factors. Construction variables include ends per cm (EPCm), picks per cm (PPCm), an overall configuration of yarn, and fabric’s areal density or grams per square meter (GSM). While the statistical relationship in deciding the fabric strength is very complicated considering all variables, the correlation-regression model is used to explain the influence of structural parameters on the tear and tensile strength of various fundamental fabrics’ designs. With different thread densities varying reed counts, and heald count using 100 percent cotton yarn having 36.9 tex, eight different designs of plain, twill, and sateen are prepared for the study. Four regression models, built to predict the tear and tensile strength of the sample woven fabrics, are vital components of this research. It is noticed that the setting of yarn affects the tensile strength of the fabrics, and the fabric pattern determines the tear strength of the fabrics. For higher tear strength, matt weave, and tensile strength, a twill structure is desired within this scope of the fabric structures

Levels and determinants of complementary feeding based on meal frequency among children of 6 to 23 months in Bangladesh

Chowdhury MRK, Rahman MS, Khan MH. Levels and determinants of complementary feeding based on meal frequency among children of 6 to 23 months in Bangladesh. BMC Public Health. 2016;16(1): 944.Background Information concerning complementary feeding (CF) practice during infancy and early childhood is still scarce in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the level of CF among children of 6–23 months and identify individual, household and community level determinants in Bangladesh. Methods Secondary data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS) 2011 was used. A total of 2,373 children aged 6–23 months were selected. A simplified index called “dimension index” was used to estimate the level of CF. The score of this index was used either as continuous or categorical dependent variables. The highest score based on dimension index is associated to an adequate CF. Statistical analyses and tests were guided by types of variables. Finally, multivariable logistic regression (binary and multinomial) analyses were performed to identify the significant determinants of CF. Results The overall level of CF among children of 6–23 months was low. More than 90 % of children experienced either no (2.9 %) or inadequate CF (92.7 %). According to bivariable analyses, mean levels of CF as well as percentages of no/inadequate CF were significantly lower among children of the youngest age group, uneducated parents, unemployed/laborer fathers, socio-economically poor families, food insecure families and rural areas. No weekly exposure to mass media (namely watching TV and reading newspapers/magazines) also revealed significant associations with CF. However, only few variables remained significant for adequate CF in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. For example, the likelihood of experiencing adequate CF was significantly lower among children of 6–11 months (OR: 0.22, 95 % CI: 0.10–0.47), children of illiterate fathers (OR: 0.32, 95 % CI: 0.11–0.95) and socio-economically middle-class families (OR: 0.28, 95 % CI: 0.09–0.86) as compared to their reference categories. Conclusion A high level of inadequate CF leading to malnutrition may cause serious health problems among children of 6–23 months in Bangladesh. Vulnerable groups of children (e.g., the children aged 6 to 11 months and children of illiterate fathers), who received low levels of adequate CF, should be targeted by government and other stakeholders while developing strategies and interventions in order to improve overall situation of CF in Bangladesh

Prevalence and risk factors of childhood anemia in Nepal: A multilevel analysis

Introduction Anemia is a common problem in children particularly in developing countries and taking steps to tackle it is one of the major public health challenges for Nepal. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of individual, household and community level determinants of childhood anemia in Nepal. Methods Data was taken from a nationally representative sample of 1,942 Nepalese children aged from 6–59 months. The Chi-square test was used to determine the bivariate relationship between the selected variables and childhood anemia and a multilevel logistic regression model with a random intercept at household and community level was used to identify important determinants of this kind of anemia. Results The results showed that 52.6% (95% CI: 49.8%-55.4%) of the children were anemic while 26.6% (95% CI: 24.0%-29.3%) of them were moderate to severe. The prevalence of overall anemia was higher among children aged less than 11 months as well as in underweight children, children of underweight, anemic and uneducated mothers and those in the terrain ecological regions. Multivariable analysis showed that children aged less than 11 months, who were underweight and had anemic mothers were more likely to have moderate or severe anemia. Children in the hilly ecological region were less likely to have it compared to mountain and terrain ecological regions. Children in middle-class families and children of mothers who completed secondary education were more likely to have anemia. Conclusion Nepal is facing a serious public health problem due to the high prevalence of childhood anemia. This adverse situation occurs due to socio-demographic and geographical factors such as age, malnutrition status, mother’s anemia status, socio-economic status and regional variations. Prevention of childhood anemia should be given top priority in Nepal and should be considered as a major public health intervention

indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Related Risk Factors for Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) at the Office and Home: A Systematic Review

The comfort and productivity of workers may be affected differently by the indoor air quality (IAQ) and related risk factors at the office and at home. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is one of the health issues usually faced by workers. SBS is generally associated with the time spent in a building, IAQ, and other related risk factors. The study reviewed papers published in journal articles and conferences regarding IAQ, environmental risk factors and SBS in the last ten years. The review employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020 items from two significant databases, Scopus and Web of Science. The review steps involved identification, screening, eligibility, data extraction and analysis. The study found that air quality in a building significantly influences work productivity and may contribute to SBS. Findings show that SBS symptoms are linked to various personal characteristics, sociodemographic, working environment and IAQ factors. The physical contaminants, chemical contaminants and ventilation rate have established relations with SBS symptoms. These findings can help to form interventions aiming to improve IAQ and the productivity of occupants

Continuous Practice of Conservation Agriculture for 3–5 Years in Intensive Rice-Based Cropping Patterns Reduces Soil Weed Seedbank

When farmers first shift from conventional tillage (CT) to conservation agriculture (CA) practices, the control of weeds may be more difficult, due to the absence of tillage. However, continuous CA, over several years, may alter the weed seedbank. The nature of the weed seedbank changes over time, in intensively cropped rice-based rotations that are typical of the Eastern Gangetic Plain, are not well understood. Two on-farm CA experiments were sampled (in Beluapara after 3 years and Digram after 5 years) in Bangladesh for the effects of strip planting (SP) and bed planting (BP) at both the sites, plus no-tillage (NT) in Beluapara, and increased retention of the residue of previous crops (20% vs. 50%). The conventional tillage (CT) and 20% residue was the control treatment. The weed seedbank in 0–15 cm soil was quantified by assessing the emergence of weeds from soils collected from the field after irrigation, (Boro) rice in Digram and wheat in Beluapara, and they were allowed to emerge in trays in a shade-house experiment. The year-round count of emerged weeds at both the locations revealed the fewest number of weed species (especially broadleaf weeds), and the lowest weed density and biomass in SP, followed by CT, BP, and NT, with 50% crop residue mulch. Relative to CT, the SP, BP, and NT produced relatively more perennials weeds, as follows: Alternanthera denticulata ((R.) Brown.), Cyperus rotundus (L.), Dentella repens (L.), Jussia deccurence (Walt.), Leersia hexandra (L.), and Solanum torvum (Sw.), which was the opposite of CT that was enriched with the following annual weeds: Cyperus iria (L.), Digitaria sanguinalis (L.), Euphorbia parviflora (L.), Fimbristylis miliacea (L.), Lindernia antipoda (L.), L. hyssopifolia (L.), and Monochoria hastata (L.). The soil weed seed bank reduced by 13% in SP, while it increased by 19% and 76% in BP and NT, respectively, compared with CT. The species diversity reduced in SP and NT, by 24% and 11%, respectively, but increased by 2% in BP. In 50% residue, the soil weed seed bank and species diversity reduced by 16% and 14%, respectively, relative to that of 20% residue. The continuous practice of CA, for 3 or more years, in two rice-based crop rotations, decreased the size of the weed seedbank, but increased the relative proliferation of specific perennial weeds

Tribological performance of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C: H) DLC coating when lubricated with biodegradable vegetal canola oil

Increasing environmental awareness and demands for lowering energy consumptions are strong driving forces behind the development of the vehicles of tomorrow. Without the advances of lubricant chemistry and adequate lubricant formulation, expansion of modern engines would not have been possible. Considering environmental awareness factors as compared to mineral oils, vegetal oil based biolubricants are renewable, biodegradable, non-toxic and have a least amount of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, improvement in engine performance and transmission components, which were impossible to achieve by applying only lubricants design, is now possible through diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings. DLC coatings exhibit brilliant tribological properties, such as good wear resistance and low friction. In this regard, tribological performance of a-C: H DLC coating when lubricated with Canola vegetal oil has been investigated by the help of a ball-on-flat geometry. Experimental results demonstrated that the a-C: H DLC coating exhibited better performance with Canola oil in terms of friction and wear as compared to the uncoated materials. Large amount of polar components in the Canola oil significantly improved the tribological properties of the a-C:H coating. Thus, usage of a-C: H DLC coating with Canola oil in the long run may have a positive impact on engine life

Chemical analysis of essential oil extracted from pomelo sourced from Bangladesh

This research aims to extract essential oils from the peel of two varieties of Citrus maxima- White pomelo and Red pomelo of Bangladeshi origin by hydrodistillation (HD) method and characterization of the extracted oils. The study also looked into the effect of different conditions, such as type of peels, and extraction time, on the yield amount. To determine the chemical components of oil, the Gas Chromatography-mass spectrum (GC-MS) technique has been used. The three major components were, for white pomelo, limonene (67.58%), β-linalool (7.53%) and Neral (6.61%), and for red pomelo, limonene (73.82%), β-linalool (5.42%) and Neral (4.11%). The morphological changes in the oil glands of the peels of both varieties were compared to understand changes before and after the extraction. The result showed that white pomelo (WP) provides a slightly higher yield percentage in similar extraction time than red pomelo (RP), 1.09 and 0.96%, respectively. GC-MS results showed that the presence of limonene is the highest for both pomelos, although the amount is higher in RP than that of WP. However, the digital microscopy showed the drawbacks of the hydrodistillation process. The pressure in the oil glands during the distillation is too low to rupture the oil glands fully. This study will be able to broaden the path for future studies on related physicochemical and biochemical properties of pomelo varieties of Bangladesh

Land Use, Productivity, and Profitability of Traditional Rice–Wheat System Could be Improved by Conservation Agriculture

Power tiller-driven plow tillage and crop residue exclusionary Traditional Agriculture practices are expensive, labor demanding, soil damaging, and eco-unfriendly. Over the last several years, pursuits of crop production through sustaining the productive capacity of soils, and environmental quality, have raised concern to adopt Conservation Agriculture worldwide. Single tillage combined with herbicides and crop residue retention principles of Conservation Agriculture are being developed. Between 2016–2017 and 2017–2018, a two-year on-farm experiment was done in Bangladesh. We practiced two crop establishment methods; Traditional Agriculture: Plow tillage followed by three manual weeding without residue preservation of previous crop and Conservation Agriculture: Pre-plant herbicide + single tillage + pre-emergence herbicide + post-emergence herbicide; under rice–wheat and rice–wheat–mungbean systems. Data reveal that the Conservation Agriculture was more cost-effective crop establishment technique than Traditional Agriculture in rice, wheat, and mungbean by increasing the ratio of benefit to costs by 24.3%, 35.7% and 48.8%, respectively, with a savings in tillage operations (66.3%, 58.1%, and 57.6%, respectively), weeding expenditures (59.2%, 24.5%, and 42.2%, respectively), and manpower requirements (25.1%, 27.2%, and 31.3%, respectively). This has resulted in an increase of 32% productivity of rice–wheat–mungbean systems with the yield advantage of 16%, 31% and 37% in rice, wheat and mungbean, respectively. When mungbean was added, the rice–wheat system’s productivity rose by 43%. The rice–wheat–mungbean system under Traditional Agriculture had the highest land utilization efficiency (99.45%), followed by Conservation Agriculture (92.05%), which expanded the scope to include additional crops into rice–wheat–mungbean system. Moreover, the Conservation Agriculture had a 59.7% greater production efficiency than Traditional Agriculture, where the rice–wheat–mungbean system having the highest production efficiency (53.00 kg–1 ha–1 day–1), followed by the rice–wheat system (45.57 kg–1 ha–1 day–1)