Suchergebnisse

The study examined the role of technology to aquaculture farmers vulnerable to climate change and the study also identified common categories of aquaculture practices in the coastal district Noakhali, Bangladesh and the vulnerabilities associated with such aquaculture practices. The study focused on the sustainability of farmers' livelihood. The study used extensive field visits, interviews with the key informants of Regional Fisheries and Livestock Development Component (RFLDC) and farmers, personal communications and focus group discussion as the main procedures to collect data and information. The study also used the sustainable rural livelihood framework to show farmers' livelihood resources and transforming strategies to resilient livelihood outcome. The study found four common categories of aquaculture in the mainland, accreted and newly accreted lands of Noakhali and characterized those with technology level, size, dependencies, markets, ownership, species mix, constraints and vulnerabilities to changing climate. Average net returns from the technology induced aquaculture in community based ponds and waterlogged paddy lands were 905.33 and 362.78 USD/ha/year respectively. The study found the pond aquaculture in the newly accreted lands more vulnerable to climate change than other types. RFLDC which is a joint collaboration project of Government of Bangladesh and DANIDA, had been involved in extending technology to the poor farmers for sustainable development of the farmers' livelihood through agricultural activities. Farmer Field Schools, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), CBO associations and Union Parishad have been found to be playing very effective role for the development of aquaculture and livelihood diversification. Diversification in the culture systems has been suggested as a management practice in the study area which can increase farmers' resilience to the vulnerabilities.

A supply chain is the set of values adding activities connecting the enterprise's suppliers and its customers. Flow of Information has become a crucial function in setting objective, drawing strategy, taking right decision regarding supply chain of LP Gas throughout the whole country by linking the supplier, manufacturer, distributor, dealer/ retailer and customer to achieve optimum productivity, overall satisfaction and joyful relationship at competitive costing. As LP Gas is a necessary commodity, quick and effective information system helps a manager to understand the customer response, their demand, inventory in stock, amount to be produced, time frame and location of delivery. This study, we have focused on application of information systems in the supply chain of LPG industry. Here we used multi-method to get the best result. The study is compiled with the help of both primary and secondary data. We have collected data from 152 respondents in the relevant field. To achieve objective properly we developed a semi-structured interview schedule for collecting the information. We have analyzed our data by employing descriptive statistics and Cronbach's alpha test. This paper illustrated the role of IS in sourcing, network designing, transportation, inventory management, forecasting, aggregate planning, setting goal, benchmarking the goal, troubleshooting from very beginning of the supplier relationship to the end customer relationship keeping smooth internal information flow throughout the process. We found that, if we apply information systems in all steps and drivers of supply chain of LPG industry then it can develop the integrated supplier relationship, strong internal supply chain management, maintain the customer relationship management and so on. This study we have also given some recommendations to the LPG industry of Bangladesh for applying information systems in the supply chain process.

Background: Tropical cyclones have significant destructive features like strong winds, heavy rainfall, and storms. It happens frequently in Bangladesh because of its geographical position. The southern parts of Bangladesh suffer most, especially the south-western region. Cyclone YASS hit the same parts of the country as cyclone Amphan did in 2020. These areas are still reeling from the effects of the prior tragedies.
Methods: Secondary data has used to full fill the objective of the study investigating the damages of cyclone YASS in Bangladesh.
Results: Wind and storm surge of the cyclone affected the south-western of Bangladesh. In Patuakhali and Jhalokathi districts, people were mostly affected and houses were mostly damaged in Patuakhali district. Paddy fields were mostly damaged and fish farms in Satkhira district were mostly damaged due their proximity to the cyclone track. Some places have been affected due to the storm surge.
Conclusion: Due to the lack of suitable embankments in the coastal region, these areas are flooded by the storm surge. Authorities and government has to take necessary steps to overcome the losses.

OBJECTIVES: In Bangladesh, the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD) and their risk factors is increasing. We wanted to assess the vulnerability of women by analyzing the differences in risk factors by gender. METHODS: Between February to May 2018, we carried out a cross-sectional survey to determine the baseline status of the NCD risk factors and prevalence of hypertension and diabetes among >30 years old men and women in selected intervention and control sites in the rural and urban areas of an NCD project in Bangladesh. We interviewed 2464 men (1268 in rural and 1196 in urban areas) and 2466 women (1273 in rural and 1193 in urban areas) and administered blood pressure and anthropometric assessment using the World Health Organization STEPS questionnaire and standard operating procedures. We carried out descriptive analysis using STATA 13.0. RESULTS: Ninety seven % of men were married at the time of interview but 22% of women were widowed. Prevalence of inadequate fruits and vegetable consumption (77% vs 65%), lack of physical activity (78% vs 59%), overweight and obesity (37% vs 18%), high waist circumference (31% vs 5%), hypertension (28% vs 24%), uncontrolled hypertension after medication (44% vs 63%), self-reported diabetes (11% vs 9%) was higher among women than men. Treatment seeking from a doctor for hypertension (76% vs 73%), intake of anti-diabetic drugs (94% vs 89%) was lower among women than men. CONCLUSIONS: In Bangladesh, the prevalence of selected behavioral and clinical risk factors was higher among women than men. Treatment seeking behavior is slightly better among men than the women. The government should take the vulnerability of women into account while designing and implementing programs to prevent and control NCD in Bangladesh. FUNDING SOURCES: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

AbstractOverweight and obesity are considered major public health concerns all over the world. They have the potential to increase the risk of developing non-communicable diseases in reproductive age women, increasing their risk of pregnancy related complications and adverse birth outcome. This study was carried out to identify the trend of prevalence of overweight and obesity, along with their determinants, among reproductive age women (15–49 years) in Nepal. Data were taken from the nationally representative 2006, 2011 and 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHSs). Women were considered to be overweight or obese when their BMI was 23.0–27.5 kg/m2 or ≥27.5 kg/m2, respectively. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed, with significance taken at p<0.05. The prevalences of overweight and obesity both showed rising trends in women of reproductive age in Nepal from 2006 to 2016, particularly among those with no education, only primary education and poor women. The presence of overweight and obesity was found to be significantly associated with the sample women's age, educational status, wealth index, place of residence, ecological zone, developmental region, number of household members, marital status and ethnicity. In 2016 one in every three women of reproductive age in Nepal was either overweight or obese. As overweight and obesity have detrimental effects on women's health, the Government of Nepal, in collaboration with other government and non-government organizations, should take action to halt the rising trends in overweight and obesity in the country.

AbstractGroundwater and soil contaminated with arsenic (As) are significant environmental health concerns worldwide and have become a serious health issue for millions of Bangladeshis. This contaminated groundwater is commonly used for Boro rice production during the dry season in Bangladesh, leading to long-term As deposition in soils. The consequences of long-term irrigation with As-contaminated groundwater for bioaccumulation in food crops and hence dietary exposure to As and other metals are a threat to the resident. Highly arsenic (292 µg L−1) contaminated groundwater used to irrigate in the study area increases the As content (mean: 24.5 mg kg−1) in irrigated soil than non-irrigated soil (mean: 8.43 mg kg−1). The high enrichment factor (mean: 16.8) and geo-accumulation index (mean: 2.33) revealed that the soil of that particular area is strongly contaminated by As. In paddy, roots showed the maximum As concentration (mean: 139.8 mg kg−1) followed by straws (mean: 5.25 mg kg−1) and grains (mean: 1.23 mg kg−1) where 85–95% As exist in the roots of paddy, and only 0.8–1% As translocate to the harvesting part of the rice in the study area. In food samples, two rice grains (R-1, R-3) and a drumstick (FS-5) exceed the Indian standard of As concentration (As: 1.1 mg kg−1) in food. According to World Health Organization, the metals concentrations in all food samples exceeded the permissible limit except for Cu and Pb in red amaranth; Cr, Cd, and Pb in guava; and Cu and Cd in drumsticks. Higher values of bioaccumulation factor (BAF: 2.94) and the net translocation coefficient (NTC: 6.17) indicate As-accumulation in food from adjacent contaminated soil. Daily metal intake from food consumption suggests that the heavy metal(loid)s like As, Ni, and Pb represent high concentrations and exceed the daily ingestion limits (As: 3 µg kg−1 day−1, Ni: 1.3 µg kg−1 day−1, and Pb: 3.57 µg kg−1 day−1) developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization and European Food Safety Authority. Carcinogenic (> 10–6) and non-carcinogenic (HQ > 1) health risks of As, Pb, Cd, and Cu suggest that the community was at potential health risk according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

This paper proposes a low-cost automated traffic detection system based on image processing. Dhaka is one of the crowded cities in the world with highly challenging traffic system. There is substantial lack of awareness among the drivers of transport system. As a result, citizens do not follow the rules and regulation while driving in Dhaka city. The tendency of violating the traffic regulation is noticeable throughout the country. As a result, the whole traffic system collapses very often and sometimes it ends-up with severe accidents. In recent days, the government has taken different initiatives including enlargement of pedestrian walkways, building new flyovers and foot-over bridges, expansion of existing roads. But, violation still the outcome of all these initiatives could not improve the situation significantly. The proposed system will automatically detect the traffic through live streaming video so that the detected images can be used to detect traffic violation. Later on, the law enforcement agency will be able to take necessary legal steps based on the stored information on the database.

AbstractThe objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the gender differences in hypertension awareness, antihypertensive use and blood pressure (BP) control among the adult Nepalese population (≥18 years) using data from the nationally representative Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. A weighted sample of 13,393 adults (5620 males and 7773 females) was included in the final analysis. After conducting descriptive analyses with the selective explanatory variable, multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between the outcome variable and the explanatory variables. The strength of the association was expressed in adjusted odds with 95% confidence intervals. A higher proportion of women had their BP checked (87.7% females vs 73.0% males, p<0.001) and were aware of their raised BP (43.9% females vs 37.1% males, p<0.001) compared with men. Although female hypertensive individuals had a higher prevalence of antihypertensive medication use than their male counterparts (50.1% females vs 47.5% males), a higher proportion of male hypertensive participants had their BP controlled (49.2% females vs 53.5% males). Women with the poorest wealth index had a lower prevalence of antihypertensive use than their male counterparts. The odds of having their own BP measured increased with age among men but decreased with age among women. The household wealth index was positively associated with the odds of BP measurement, awareness of own BP and antihypertensive use. This study revealed that although women had a higher prevalence of hypertension awareness and antihypertensive medication use, the practice did not translate into better BP control. Inequality in antihypertensive medication use was observed among the poorest wealth quintiles. Public health programmes in Nepal should focus on reducing these inequalities. Further research is needed to learn why females have poorer control of BP, despite having higher antihypertensive medication use.