MALDI-TOF: A Rapid Identification of Dairy Pathogens

Abstract The proposed research study is a field validation study to benchmark against proven methods, a new methodology for the detection of microorganisms (Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry or MALDI-ToF) isolated from dairy farm and critical for safety and quality. The MALDI-TOF is a relatively new molecular technique extremely advantageous in terms of cost effectiveness, sample preparation easiness, turn-around time and result analysis accessibility. Although already successfully deployed in clinical diagnostic, it has not been evaluated for agricultural applications yet. In the dairy industry, Mastitis causes the most financial loss and a rapid diagnostic method as MALDI-TOF, will assist in the control and prevention program of mastitis, in addition to the sanitation and safety level of the dairy farms and processing facility. In the present study, we prospectively compared MALDI-TOF MS to the conventional 16S rRNA sequencing method for the identification of environmental mastitis isolates (481) and thermoduric isolates of pasteurized milk (248). Among the 481 environmental isolates, 454 (94.4%) were putatively identified to the genus level by MALDI-TOF MS and 426 (88.6%) were identified to the species level, but no reliable identification was obtained for 17 (3.5%), and 27 (5.6%) discordant results were identified. Future studies can help to overcome the limitation of MALDI database and additional sample preparation steps might help to reduce the number of discordance in identification. In conclusion, our results show that MALDI-TOF MS is a fast and reliable technique which has the potential to replace conventional identification methods for most dairy pathogens, routinely isolated from the milk and dairy products. Thus it’s adoption will strengthen the capacity, quality, and possibly the scope of diagnostic services to support the dairy industry

Interrelationships Among Marketing Mix Strategies, Service Quality and Firms’ Business Performance in Readymade Garments Sector, Bangladesh

The garment industry in Bangladesh has experienced substantial growth over the past three decades. The sector plays a crucial role in the nation's economic development by providing employment opportunities to a significant number of individuals, particularly women and those with limited skills. Although significant, the contribution of this factor to the country's GDP remains relatively modest. To maintain competitiveness in the marketplace, it is crucial to adopt a suitable marketing mix strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of marketing mix strategies on the business performance of Bangladeshi garment organisations. This investigation further assesses the role of service quality as a mediator between marketing mix strategies and firm business performance. McCarthy's (1964) four P's—product, place, price, and promotion—serve as the basis for this study's marketing mix components. This study's data were collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. A total of 327 employees from various garment factories in CEPZ were conveniently chosen for this investigation. The data was analysed using SPSS 24.0 and Smart PLS 3.0. The study's findings indicate that the strategies related to product, place, price, and promotion had a substantial linkage with the service quality of firms. Furthermore, the service quality significantly mediates the correlation between marketing mix strategies and the business performance of the garments industry. The findings suggest that companies can gain a competitive edge by prioritising their marketing strategies and improving the quality of their related services.

Rural Tourism-Prospects in Rustic Bengal

Rural tourism, a “could be variant of Ecotourism”, is a relatively new branch  of activity that has been becoming inscreasingly popular in the developing countries in the recent time. Despite Bangladesh being the heartland of an array of  distinctive endowments, rural tourism is still in it’s budding stage. The current  study probes to  explore the problems and prospects of the growth of rural tourism in Bangladesh that could play an important role in sustainable development of rural societies. Rural tourism not only connects the visitor from the frenetic present with the traditional assets of communities but also bring socio-economic and environmental benefits to the area concerned. But this promising sector requires sound planning procedures with emphasis on the development of infrastructure, strengthening security measures, promoting tourist attractions, encouraging private sector participations and ensuring sustainability. Thus an effective framework to upgrade rural tourism can be developed which can turn out to be a befitting vehicle for rural or overall development of the whole nation. Keywords: Rural Tourism, Bangladesh

Bangladeshi Tourists’ Attitude towards their Economic Responsibility

Responsible Tourism (RT) is taking responsibility for making tourism more sustainable. Ensuring economic responsibility (ER) of Responsible Tourism Management (RTM) from tourists’ part whilst developing and managing a destination is potentially less harmful than continuing to manage it in an unchecked manner. Moreover, domestic tourism market can play a noteworthy part for practicing ER thus eventually will ensure economic sustainability of a destination. However, worldwide only a few studies partially tried to find out domestic tourists’ attitudes towards ER. Moreover, they are principally missing in case of developing countries where the domestic tourism market is more significant than international market. Besides, in Bangladesh, no study exists yet that exclusively tried to discover the Bangladeshi tourists’ attitudes towards ER component of RTM. So, this research was a step to fulfill the recognized gaps, as well as, an initiative to append the empirical findings to the existing RTM literature. After conducting an extensive literature review, this study followed both exploratory (in-depth interview) and single cross-sectional descriptive research design (survey method) to conduct it. Further, this study used Descriptive statistics (Frequency distribution analysis) and multivariate dependence data analysis technique (Multiple Regression analysis) to analyze the data collected from the 385 sample respondents through stratified random sampling. Based on the findings, the present study supports that, Bangladeshi tourists have positive attitudes to the ER of RTM however scopes are still available to enhance it further. This study also suggests including tourists’ socio-demographic characteristics whilst measuring their attitudes, as their attitudes considerably vary as a result of variation in their socio-demographic characteristics. With the support of and reference to this study, the Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) can work on the ER components of RTM to enhance the positive attitudes of Bangladeshi tourists towards RT practices at Cox’s Bazar (CB), Bangladesh. Moreover, the frameworks of this study also useful to study similar subject areas at other destinations in Bangladesh. This study on CB, Bangladesh also contributes to the RTM literature and minimizes the known literature gap for developing countries. Keywords: Responsible Tourism, Responsible Tourism Management, Domestic Tourism, Domestic Tourists, Economic Responsibility, Attitude, and Cox’s Baza