Measuring Customer Satisfaction through SERVQUAL Model: A Study on Beauty Parlors in Chittagong

Everyone wants to be beautiful. One’s beauty can be enriched with proper nourishment, treatment and care. For that reason beauty parlors have been established in cities and towns. It’s a flourishing business in service sector. This study attempts to measure customer satisfaction on parlors in Chittagong city. A structured questionnaire is developed on SERVQUAL model. The survey is conducted among 100 respondents in 5 most popular beauty parlors in Chittagong. The purpose of the study is to identify customer perception on tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy in beauty parlors in Chittagong and to evaluate the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction. The statistical tools SPSS is used to calculate the mean and linear regression analysis. The findings show that tangibility has the highest mean score among five factors. Moreover, tangibility factor has significant influence on customer satisfaction. Beauty parlors should consider these factors more to satisfy customer. Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, SERVQUAL Model, Beauty Parlor

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Top Tourist Destinations in the World

COVID-19, a variant of novel corona virus, spread all over the world in eight to nine months. Almost all business sector of the world is affected by this global pandemic. Tourism industry is not a single industry, but it is connected with many other industries directly or indirectly. For example, the transportation systems airlines, bus, train, cruise ships and accommodation facilities like hotel, motel, home stay and other tourism service provider like travel agency or tour operator all of these are connected with this industry. Thousands of flights are cancelled, luxurious hotels are empty, no business for tour operator and travel agencies, people involved with tourism industry are losing jobs or not getting salaries fully.  The COVID-19 situation has paused all of these sectors’ businesses. The purpose of this study is to show the impact of covid-19 in the most popular tourist destinations in the world and provide some recommendations to overcome the crisis. Qualitative in manner, the research paper used secondary method of data from website materials, newspapers, organizational statistics on COVID-19 occurrences all over the popular tourist destinations in the world. This review illustrates a concrete overview about the impact of COVID-19 in popular destinations and provides some recommendations further to overcome it. This paper may guide further research in quantitative method. Keywords: COVID-19, Tourism destinations, Economy, Tourism Industry DOI: 10.7176/JTHS/50-07 Publication date:September 30th 202

A review of the water quality indices of riverine ecosystem, Bangladesh

Rivers have been the most important freshwater resource, and our ancient civilizations have flourished along the banks of rivers. River water finds multiple uses like agriculture, industry, transportation, aquaculture, and public water supply. Natural waters are being contaminated as the quality of water is being affected by anthropogenic activities, in developing countries like Bangladesh. From the point of view, the physicochemical parameters (water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, DO, BOD, alkalinity, total hardness, nitrate) of seventeen rivers in Bangladesh were reviewed from January 2021 to June 2021. The water quality parameters of some rivers were found to be far above the suitable limits, which is dangerous for human health, agriculture, and fisheries. It is therefore necessary to check the water quality at regular interval of time to conserve the natural ecosystem of the rivers of Bangladesh. Furthermore, this study would help to create and develop awareness among the people to help maintain the quality of the river waters

Polymers for Extrusion‐Based 3D Printing of Pharmaceuticals: A Holistic Materials–Process Perspective

Three dimensional (3D) printing as an advanced manufacturing technology is progressing to be established in the pharmaceutical industry to overcome the traditional manufacturing regime of ʹone size fits for allʹ. Using 3D printing, it is possible to design and develop complex dosage forms that can be suitable for tuning drug release. Polymers are the key materials that are necessary for 3D printing. Among all 3D printing processes, extrusion‐based (both fused deposition modeling (FDM) and pressure‐assisted microsyringe (PAM)) 3D printing is well researched for pharmaceutical manufacturing. It is important to understand which polymers are suitable for extrusion‐based 3D printing of pharmaceuticals and how their properties, as well as the behavior of polymer–active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) combinations, impact the printing process. Especially, understanding the rheology of the polymer and API–polymer mixtures is necessary for successful 3D printing of dosage forms or printed structures. This review has summarized a holistic materials–process perspective for polymers on extrusion‐based 3D printing. The main focus herein will be both FDM and PAM 3D printing processes. It elaborates the discussion on the comparison of 3D printing with the traditional direct compression process, the necessity of rheology, and the characterization techniques required for the printed structure, drug, and excipients. The current technological challenges, regulatory aspects, and the direction toward which the technology is moving, especially for personalized pharmaceuticals and multi‐drug printing, are also briefly discussed

Typing of human rotaviruses: Nucleotide mismatches between the VP7 gene and primer are associated with genotyping failure

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus genotyping is performed by using reverse transcription PCR with type-specific-primers. Because the high rotavirus mutation rate generates an extensive genomic variation, different G-type-specific primer sets are applied in different geographical locations. In Bangladesh, a significant proportion (36.9%) of the rotavirus strains isolated in 2002 could not be G-typed using the routinely used primer set. To investigate the reason why the strains were untypeable, nucleotide sequencing of the VP7 genes was performed. RESULTS: Four nucleotide substitutions at the G1 primer-binding site of the VP7 gene of Bangladeshi G1 rotaviruses rendered a major proportion of circulating strains untypeable using the routine primer set. Using an alternative primer set, we could identify G1 rotaviruses as the most prevalent genotype (44.8%), followed by G9 (21.7%), G2 (15.0%) and G4 (13.8%). CONCLUSION: Because of the natural variation in the rotaviral gene sequences, close monitoring of rotavirus genotyping methods is important

Prevalence of G2P[4] and G12P[6] Rotavirus, Bangladesh

Rotavirus strains not covered by licensed vaccines are increasing

Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Findings Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52–0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88–1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Interpretation Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. Funding London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Real Estate Industry in Chittagong (Bangladesh): A Survey on Customer Perception and Expectation

Bangladesh is an over populated country and day by day population is increasing rapidly which created the housing problem. Land prices skyrocketed. Due to high price, insufficiency of land, high cost of land registration, and high price of building materials, people are now not interested to buy a land for building their own house. This article shows the customer perception and expectation in different dimensions - budget, types of apartment, size of apartment, favorable location in Chittagong city, favorable facility in an apartment, factors related to purchase decision, factors in selecting developer company, how customers determine about quality, company brand selection, desired services from a particular company, preference between apartment and land, the risk factors perceived by the customers. Geographically, this study focuses on the Chittagong, and can be considered as a little contribution to the understanding of the real estate industry, particularly in Chittagong and particularly from the customer perspective. But the findings may be relevant for other cities also. Real estate companies and developers can take these factors into consideration while making their business strategy and marketing strategy.  On the other hand, Policy makers can take the customer perception and expectation cited in this study, into consideration while making related regulatory policies and framework. Keywords: Real Estate, Bangladesh, Chittagong, Customer perception and expectatio

Does globalization escalate the carbon emissions? Empirical evidence from selected next-11 countries

Adverse consequences are observed in developing countries due to the impact of the globalization process. Therefore, our study aims to empirically verify whether globalization escalates carbon dioxide emissions in selected N-11 (next-11) countries between 1990 and 2019. The study also analyzes how per capita GDP, per capita GDP2, population growth, and renewable energy consumption affect carbon emissions. For this reason, the researchers used several econometric methods, including the slope homogeneity test, the cross-sectional dependency test, the panel unit root test, the panel cointegration test, the method of moment’s panel quantile regression analysis, and the Wald test. The estimated results of panel quantile regression show how carbon emissions change across a range of quantiles (0.1 to 0.9). The findings show that per capita GDP significantly impacts the overabundance of carbon emissions in N-11 countries. Over time, the study found that the positive coefficient value of per capita GDP decreased from the first to the last (7.41 to 5.87), leading to the validation of the EKC hypothesis. The adverse correlation between per capita GDP2 and environmental contamination confirms that the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis is valid for selected N-11 countries. Globalization deteriorates the environment by directly affecting CO2 emissions. It increases monotonically from the lower quantile to the upper quantile (0.972 to 1.002). At the quantile level of 0.1 to 0.9, population growth and renewable energy consumption increase impede carbon dioxide emissions in these selected countries. Coefficient values in the quantile 0.1 to 0.9 (-0.35 to -0.53) suggest that governments can reduce carbon emissions more due to renewable energy consumption over time. But the negative coefficient values of the population (-0.97, -0.93, -0.90, -0.88, -0.86, -0.85, -0.83, -0.81, and -0.77) decrease from the lower quantile to the upper quantile. The Wald test supports the asymmetric effects of different quantiles. As a robustness check of estimators, the study used FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR, which show the variables’ long-run elasticity. The research developed targeted policy recommendations for sustainably mitigating carbon emissions based on the above results

Improving mental health and wellbeing among sexual and gender minorities using digital interventions: a systematic review

Background: High burden of mental disorders among sexual minorities including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population is well documented. Digital platforms are increasingly being used by sexual minorities to communicate with each other, but there is no systematic review of digital interventions that can improve mental health among sexual minorities. This systematic review identified and evaluated the digital interventions for mental health among different sexual minorities. Methodology: We searched literature from six major databases and included studies published in the English language, describing interventions that have a component to improve mental health among any of the sexual minorities delivered through any of the digital platforms, and reporting mental health outcomes. Results: Among 1936 citations, only 11 studies fulfilled our criteria. In those studies, most (n=9) interventions were implemented in the U.S. The interventions included varying components including on increasing acceptance and affirmation, increase social support and health education, cognitive behavioral therapy to manage stress, depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. Only 6 studies had randomized control design. Most of the studies reported reduction in bi/homonegativity and increased affirmation, decreased smoking and substance abuse, improved coping skills, reduced level of depression, anxiety, and stress among participants in the intervention groups. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that evaluated digital intervention for mental health among sexual and gender minorities. Despite a low number of studies and heterogeneity across studies, the findings suggest potential improvements in mental health among sexual and gender minorities using digital interventions