Bangladesh suffered the century's worst flood during July-October 1998 and appealed for assistance. To provide information for appropriate interventions to tackle nutritional problems, a rapid assessment survey was conducted to look at the nutritional situation, problems encountered by the community, their coping mechanisms and rehabilitation priorities in six rural areas. The survey was repeated after four months to measure the outcome of activities during the flood and the necessity for future assistance. There were 3,048 children measured in both surveys (1,597 and 1,451). The sample of most interest was a sub-group of 180 children present in two previous independent surveys. The analysis found that while moving from the crisis period to post-flood phase there was evidence of a 'crossover phenomenon' in the recovery pattern of nutritional status. Sixty-eight per cent of the children who were malnourished (WHZ < -2SD) during the crisis period (18 per cent) recovered enough to cross the cut-off point and became normal after four months. Another 8 per cent of children (9 per cent of all normal) who were normal during the crisis period, after four months had deteriorated to be malnourished. Thus, despite there being a shift in the overall distribution of nutritional status, there has been another shift that reduced the net effect. Subsequent episodes of diarrhoea, access to food and loan burden had also influenced the recovery pattern of the children's nutritional status as evident from the statistically significant associations. These findings raise questions about targeting acute malnutrition during emergencies, and using the same criteria during both the crisis and rehabilitation phases.

This study extends the inclusive growth literature on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by addressing two conspicuous gaps. First, the study examines the effects of social equity policies and economic integration on inclusive growth. Second, the study investigates the joint effects of economic integration and resource allocation on inclusive growth. Using data on 43 SSA countries for the period 1980-2019, we provide robust evidence from the GMM estimator to show that relative to economic integration, social equity policies are rather remarkable in enhancing inclusive growth. The results further reveal that, although economic integration induces inclusive growth, the effect is pronounced in the presence of productive resource allocation. Policy recommendations are provided in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement and the reversals of welfare gains due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Climate change is a global threat to the world especially for Bangladesh, due to its geographical location. The present study was carried out to the impacts of climate change on livelihood of the fishers at the Meghna, Laukhati and Galachipa river in Bangladesh. The study was assessing the effects of climate change on fishersˊ community in the Meghna, Laukhati and Galachipa rivers near Chandpur and Patuakhali districts. The data on fishersˊ livelihood were collected by using a well-developed questionnaire from the selected areas. The average temperature was recorded as 30.5±0.90°C, 27.1±1.05°C and 27.4±0.60°C and the dissolved oxygen was as 6.37±1.11 mg/L, 5.63±0.33 mg/L and 6.33±0.51 mg/L in the Meghna, Laukhati and Galachipa rivers, respectively. The pH was as 8.3±0.59, 8.03±0.50 and 7.8±0.50 and the salinity was as 0.10±0.10, 0.23±0.13 and 1.2±0.15 ppt in the Meghna, Galachipa and Laukhati rivers, respectively. In the present study, it was found that most of the fishers were belonged to the age groups of 41 to 60 years (45%), represented by 75% muslim and joint family type (61%) was the predominant among the fishers. The highest annual income of fishers was found 20,080 and 24,000 BDT per year at Chandpur and Patuakhali districts, respectively. There has not been conducted much empirical research about the impacts of climate change in the present research areas. Therefore, Government and NGOs should take proper steps by taking various need based projects and providing some sorts of management policy to rescue the vulnerable communities from climate change impacts. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. March 2020, 6(1): 81-92

Bats are known reservoirs of Nipah virus (NiV) and some filoviruses and also appear likely to harbor the evolutionary progenitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). While bats are considered a reservoir of deadly viruses, little is known about people’s knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of bat conservation and ecology. The current study aimed to assess community people’s knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of bat ecology, myths, and the role of bats in transmitting NiV in Bangladesh. Since 2001, NiV has been a continuous threat to public health with a mortality rate of approximately 70% in Bangladesh. Over the years, many public health interventions have been implemented to raise awareness about bats and the spreading of NiV among the community peoples of Nipah outbreak areas (NOAs) and Nipah non-outbreak areas (NNOAs). We hypothesized that people from both areas might have similar knowledge of bat ecology and myths about bats but different knowledge regarding their role in the spreading of NiV. Using a four-point Likert scale-based questionnaire, our analysis showed that most people lack adequate knowledge regarding the role of bats in maintaining the ecological balance and instead trust their beliefs in different myths about bats. Factor score analysis showed that respondents’ gender (p = 0.01), the outbreak status of the area (p = 0.03), and their occupation (p = 0.04) were significant factors influencing their knowledge of bat ecology and myths. A regression analysis showed that farmers had 0.34 times the odds of having correct or positive knowledge of bat ecology and myths than businesspersons (odds ratio (OR) = 0.34, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.15–0.78, p = 0.01). Regarding the spreading of NiV via bats, people had a lower level of knowledge. In NOAs, age (p = 0.00), occupation (p = 0.00), and level of education (p = 0.00) were found to be factors contributing to the amount of knowledge regarding the transmission of NiV, whereas in NNOAs, the contributing factors were occupation (p = 0.00) and level of education (p = 0.01). Regression analysis revealed that respondents who were engaged in services (OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.07–8.54, p = 0.04) and who had completed primary education (OR = 3.06, 95% CI = 1.02–9.17, p < 0.05) were likely to have correct knowledge regarding the spreading of NiV. Based on the study results, we recommend educational interventions for targeted groups in the community, highlighting the ecosystem services and conservation of bats so as to improve people’s current knowledge and subsequent behavior regarding the role of bats in ecology and the spreading of NiV in Bangladesh.

Pabdah catfish, Ompokpabdawas collected from the Old Brahmaputra river and successfully induced to breed by injecting pituitary gland extract to evaluate spawning performances and developmental stages under a photo microscope from February 2018 to August 2018. In this study, absolute fecundity of the O. pabdafemales varied from 6,676 to 20,410 eggs per fish. The GSI value of male and female was lower during September and gradually attained its maximum level in June with the highest average value 6.75±0.2 and 1.053±0.2 in female and male, respectively. The average fertilization and hatching rate of eggs were found 78.67±1.33% and 70.21±0.73%, respectively at 24.5±1.0°C. Fertilized eggs were brownish in color, very transparent and adhesive in nature with 1.0 to 1.2 mm in diameter. Cleavage stages were completed at 1.50 h of post fertilization and it eventually took 23.00 h for hatching. Larva was appeared with prominent three pairs of barbells after 12.00 h of hatching. It took 3 d post hatching to absorb their yolk sac and feeding exogenously. The present work supplemented to the deficient information on detailed spawning and developmental biology of O. pabdain order to save this species from extinction. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. September 2020, 6(3): 449-459