Sustainability Reporting Practices: A Study of Selected Banking Companies of Bangladesh

This study examines the current reporting practices of sustainability issues of Bangladeshi Banks. This paper examines the annual report of 2016 of selected Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) in consideration of GRI G4 guidelines. This study has found that 100% of the sample bank has participated in sustainability reporting. Most reported sectors are labor, product responsibility, energy, emission. Most of the banks have used a separate section in annual report for sustainability reporting. Mostly narrative disclosures have been used by most of the banks. Even though banks have reported about different issues mentioned in G4, most of the disclosure lacks specificity and clear initiatives. Keywords: Sustainability, Reporting, GRI, Disclosure, Private Commercial Banks

A cross sectional study to assess the prevalence of malocclusion in 08-12 years old school age children of the selected urban & rural community of Bangladesh

Objective: To determine the prevalence of malocclusion in school-age children from a selective area of the urban and rural community of Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 748 children aged 08-12 years old were examined from October 2019 to September 2020 in Sylhet Sardar Upazila, Bangladesh. Angle”s classification was used for recording molar relationship with malocclusion traits. The study participants were examined by disposable dental tools (calibrated probs and mirror) including torchlight. After the collection of all data, it was compiled and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Windows version 23. Chi-square test was used for categorical variables. P values <0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Result: The prevalence of malocclusion in urban school-age children was 237(63.4%) and in rural 213(57.0%).In urban area, the prevalence of malocclusion was 109(58.3%) in boys and 128(68.4%) in girls group. The majority (70.5%) were found Angle’s class I in urban group and 148(69.5%) in rural. One forty three (60.3%) patients were found increased overbite with malocclusion in urban group and 124(58.2%) in rural. Angle’s class-I malocclusion and Increased overbite were the most commonly occurring malocclusion. Conclusion: Prevalence of malocclusion was more in urban school age children when compared with rural. Malocclusion was significantly more in girls than boys in both urban and rural area. Angle’s class-I malocclusion and Increased overbite were the most commonly occurring malocclusion of school age children from a selected urban and rural community of Bangladesh

Cephalometric Norms of Bangladeshi Young Children Based on McNamara’s Analysis

Objective: To evaluate the cephalometric norms of Bangladeshi young children using McNamara’s analysis. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in the Department of Orthodontics, BSMMU among the dental patients visiting Dental OPD of BSMMU. The test sample was 40 Cephalometric radiographs of patients of which 20 were boys (group I) and 20 were girls (group II). The study respondents were of Bangladeshi origin, aged between 11 and 18 years at the time of cephalometric radiograph taken. A randomized sampling technique was followed to collect samples. Results: The mean cephalometric values of McNamara variables were measured and compared with the Caucasian children and Bangladeshi adults. The p values of all variables for Group I (boys) and Group II (girls) were more than 0.05 which was not significant. So it was interpreted that there was no significant difference in the values of McNamara variables between Bangladeshi boys and girls. But in comparison to Caucasian children the p-value of all the variables was significant (<0.05) except Pogonion to Nasion perpendicular. This result suggested that the McNamara variables for Bangladeshi children were significantly different from Caucasian children. Conclusion: The values observed by this study can be used in Bangladeshi children irrespective of gender because there is no statistically significant gender difference. It was also observed that the maxilla of the Bangladeshi children was slightly protrusive but the mandible was retrusive than the Caucasian children and both upper and lower incisors were found proclined

Relation between Environmental Accounting & Disclosure Practices and Corporate Performance Indicators: A Study of Selected Listed Banks of Bangladesh

The purpose of this paper is to examine the corporate performance indicators- age, size, EPS, NPAT, ROA, NAVPS influencing the level of environmental disclosure information from a sample of 15 Bangladeshi listed banks. Multiple regression analysis shows a negative and significant impact of age on environmental accounting disclosure practice. New banks tend to disclose more about environmental issues. However, profitability (measured by EPS, ROA, NPAT) and size (NAVPS) have no impact on the disclosure level. The study’s findings help understand Bangladeshi listed banks behavior in terms of environmental disclosure. Therefore, this study concludes that level of environmental accounting and disclosure is not significantly influenced by corporate performance indicators. Keywords: Environmental Accounting, Disclosure, Corporate Performance, Banks, Bangladesh. DOI: 10.7176/JESD/14-4-02 Publication date: February 28th 2023

Approaches of dengue control: vaccine strategies and future aspects

Dengue, caused by the dengue virus (DENV), affects millions of people worldwide every year. This virus has two distinct life cycles, one in the human and another in the mosquito, and both cycles are crucial to be controlled. To control the vector of DENV, the mosquito Aedes aegypti, scientists employed many techniques, which were later proved ineffective and harmful in many ways. Consequently, the attention shifted to the development of a vaccine; researchers have targeted the E protein, a surface protein of the virus and the NS1 protein, an extracellular protein. There are several types of vaccines developed so far, such as live attenuated vaccines, recombinant subunit vaccines, inactivated virus vaccines, viral vectored vaccines, DNA vaccines, and mRNA vaccines. Along with these, scientists are exploring new strategies of developing improved version of the vaccine by employing recombinant DNA plasmid against NS1 and also aiming to prevent the infection by blocking the DENV life cycle inside the mosquitoes. Here, we discussed the aspects of research in the field of vaccines until now and identified some prospects for future vaccine developments

Harnessing the therapeutic potential of Coccinia grandis phytochemicals in diabetes: A computational, DFT calculation and MMGBSA perspective on aldose reductase inhibition

The role of aldose reductase (ALR), the key enzyme of the polyol pathway, has been firmly established in hyperglycemia-induced diabetic complications. Therefore, the present study focused on the screening of phytochemicals reported in Coccinia grandis against ALR using in-silico methodologies encompassing molecular docking, pharmacokinetics, molecular dynamic simulation, free energy calculation (MMGBSA), and quantum mechanics. A comprehensive array of 101 compounds from C. grandis documented in IMPPAT database and different literatures have been selected in this study. These compounds were meticulously docked with the ALR (PDB ID: 1EL3), yielding docking scores spanning a range of −5.8 to −11.0 kcal/mol compared to the positive control epalrestat with a score of −7.9kcal/mol. Among them, four compounds have been emerged as the most promising ALR inhibitors: tiliroside, lukianol B, formononetin, and trachelogenin, with docking scores of −11.0, −10.7, −10.4, and −10.2, respectively. Importantly, these compounds exhibited notable stability throughout 100 ns dynamic simulations compared to the control drug, aligning with Lipinski's rule of 5, standard ADME properties, and evincing an absence of anomalous toxic effects. Therefore, these compounds hold great promise as leads to the development of potent ALR inhibitors; however, further studies are needed to warrant their uses in ameliorating diabetic complications

Bamboo stumps that are artificially in use put pressure on dengue and chikungunya vector control in Dhaka city, Bangladesh

Background &objectives: Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes breed in natural and artificial containers, and they transmit dengue and chikungunya. A study was conducted to identify the contribution of bamboo stumps to these disease vectors that were used in the flower garden as pillars to hold the bamboo flex fence. Methods: Two sizes of whole bamboo were used to hold fences around gardens at Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and were painted red and green. Mosquito larvae and pupae were collected from bamboo stumps between July and August, and vectors were identified up to the species level. The data were analyzed using the STATA/MP 14.2 version. Results: 83.5% and 0.2% were Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti, respectively, and the remaining were Culex and Ar-migeres species. Ae. albopictus, Ae. aegypti, and both species-positive bamboo stumps were 46.9, 0.7, and 47.1%, respectively. 54.5% of the bamboo stumps had at least one mosquito species. The average stump depth for Aedes positive stumps (mean=11.7 cm, SE = 0.5) was significantly (p <0.001) higher than the Aedes negative stumps (mean = 9.5 cm, SE = 0.4). 53.8% and 38.0% stumps were found Aedes positive on the ground and upper sides of fences, respectively, and found significant (p<0.01) differences between both sides. A zero-inflated negative binomial count model is significant at a 5% level of significance, χ2(4) = 11.8, p = 0.019 (<0.05) for Ae. albopictus. Stump depth is found to have a significant positive effect on the number of Aedes-positive stumps. Interpretation & conclusion: Artificially used natural containers are adding pressure to current mosquito control activities as mosquitoes are breeding on them, which needs additional attention

Susceptibility of field-collected Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae) sand flies from Bangladesh and Nepal to different insecticides

Abstract Background The sand fly Phlebotomus argentipes is the vector for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Indian sub-continent. In Bangladesh since 2012, indoor residual spraying (IRS) was applied in VL endemic areas using deltamethrin. In Nepal, IRS was initiated in 1992 for VL vector control using lambda-cyhalothrin. Irrational use of insecticides may lead to vector resistance but very little information on this subject is available in both countries. The objective of this study was to generate information on the susceptibility of the vector sand fly, P. argentipes to insecticide, in support of the VL elimination initiative on the Indian sub-continent. Methods Susceptibility tests were performed using WHO test kits following the standard procedures regarding alpha cypermethrin (0.05%), deltamethrin (0.05%), lambda-cyhalothrin (0.05%), permethrin (0.75%), malathion (5%) and bendiocarb (0.1%) in six upazilas (sub-districts) in Bangladesh. In Nepal, the tests were performed for two insecticides: alpha cypermethrin (0.05%) and deltamethrin (0.05%). Adult P. argentipes sand flies were collected in Bangladesh from six VL endemic upazilas (sub-districts) and in Nepal from three endemic districts using manual aspirators. Results The results show that VL vectors were highly susceptible to all insecticides at 60 minutes of exposure in both countries. In Bangladesh, corrected mortality was 100% at 15 minutes as well as 30 minutes of exposure. The study sites in Nepal, however, showed some diverse results, with a mortality rate less than 90% for 15 minutes of exposure with alpha cypermethrin and deltamethrin in two districts but was above 95% after 30 minutes of exposure. Conclusions These results suggest that the insecticides tested can still be used in the national programmes of Bangladesh and Nepal. However, insecticide rotation should be performed to mitigate the possible development of insecticide resistance. Periodic susceptibility tests should be performed by the countries to get timely alerts regarding insecticide resistance

Control of Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae) sand fly in Bangladesh: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: A number of studies on visceral leishmaniasis (VL) vector control have been conducted during the past decade, sometimes came to very different conclusion. The present study on a large sample investigated different options which are partially unexplored including: (1) indoor residual spraying (IRS) with alpha cypermethrin 5WP; (2) long lasting insecticide impregnated bed-net (LLIN); (3) impregnation of local bed-nets with slow release insecticide K-O TAB 1-2-3 (KOTAB); (4) insecticide spraying in potential breeding sites outside of house using chlorpyrifos 20EC (OUT) and different combinations of the above. Methods: The study was a cluster randomized controlled trial where 3089 houses from 11 villages were divided into 10 sections, each section with 6 clusters and each cluster having approximately 50 houses. Based on vector density (males plus females) during baseline survey, the 60 clusters were categorized into 3 groups: (1) high, (2) medium and (3) low. Each group had 20 clusters. From these three groups, 6 clusters (about 300 households) were randomly selected for each type of intervention and control arms. Vector density was measured before and 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 22 months after intervention using CDC light traps. The impact of interventions was measured by using the difference-in-differences regression model. Results: A total of 17,434 sand flies were collected at baseline and during the surveys conducted over 9 months following the baseline measurements. At baseline, the average P. argentipes density per household was 10.6 (SD = 11.5) in the control arm and 7.3 (SD = 8.46) to 11.5 (SD = 20.2) in intervention arms. The intervention results presented as the range of percent reductions of sand flies (males plus females) and rate ratios in 9 measurements over 22 months. Among single type interventions, the effect of IRS with 2 rounds of spraying (applied by the research team) ranged from 13% to 75% reduction of P. argentipes density compared to the control arm (rate-ratio [RR] ranged from 0.25 to 0.87). LLINs caused a vector reduction of 9% to 78% (RR, 0.22 to 0.91). KOTAB reduced vectors by 4% to 73% (RR, 0.27 to 0.96). The combination of LLIN and OUT led to a vector reduction of 26% to 86% (RR, 0.14 to 0.74). The reduction for the combination of IRS and OUT was 8% to 88% (RR, 0.12 to 0.92). IRS and LLIN combined resulted in a vector reduction of 13% to 85% (RR, 0.15 to 0.77). The IRS and KOTAB combination reduced vector densities by 16% to 86% (RR, 0.14 to 0.84). Some intermediate measurements for KOTAB alone and for IRS plus LLIN; and IRS plus KOTAB were not statistically significant. The bioassays on sprayed surfaces or netting materials showed favourable results (>80% mortality) for 22 months (IRS tested for 12 months). In the KOTAB, a gradual decline was observed after 6 months. Conclusions: LLIN and OUT was the best combination to reduce VL vector densities for 22 months or longer. Operationally, this is much easier to apply than IRS. A cost analysis of the preferred tools will follow. The relationship between vector density (males plus females) and leishmaniasis incidence should be investigated, and this will require estimates of the Entomological Inoculation Rate