A community based cross-sectional study was carried out by a self-structured questionnaire on 168 participants aged between 18 and 60 years at two arsenic prone area of Bangladesh to determine the association between extent of depression and socio-demographic as well as illness characteristics in arsenicosis population. The mean age ± SD was 42 ± 10.15 years. Female respondents were almost twice (63.1%) than the males (36.9%) in this study. Most of the respondents (94.0%) were shallow tube well water user. Among (...) them most (80.0%) of the respondents were detected as arsenic contaminated water consumer over more than six months. Study estimated that almost half (44.3%) of the participants had suffered from mild to moderate depression in the moderate arsenicosis group. Less than quarter (20.8%) participants suffered severe depression in severe arsenicosis group. Quarter (26.7%) had mild arsenicosis with no depression. This difference was not significant. Gender had significant influence on proportion of level of depression. Females significantly suffered more from depressive symptoms than males. More than two third of the female respondents suffered from some kind of depressive symptoms; where less than one third of the males were suffered from depressive symptoms. Age has no significant relation with depression. Respondents who were 48 years and above age group had highest percentages of severe depressive symptoms (35.8%). This age group also suffered from highest percentage of mild to moderate depression (37.1%). Though most of the respondent (85.1) had no diabetes and hypertension. Respondents with physical illness suffered more from some sorts of depression than those without illness, but the result is not statistically significant. We understood that depression has health challenges in adult arsenicosis patients. Therefore, physicians should take account depression in their treatment management when deal with arsenicosis patients. (shrink)

This paper considers the foundation of self-realization and the sense of morality that could justify Arne Naess’s claim ‘Self-realization is morally neutral,’ by focusing on the recent debate among deep ecologists. Self-realization, the ultimate norm of Naess’s ecosophy T, is the realization of the maxim ‘everything is interrelated.’ This norm seems to be based on two basic principles: the diminishing of narrow ego, and the integrity between the human and non-human worlds. The paper argues that the former is an extension (...) of Plato’s idea of self-development or self-mastery while the latter is implicit in Aristotle’s holism. It defends that Self-realization is morally neutral only if the term ‘moral’ is considered in the Kantian sense. However, Naess reluctantly distinguishes between ethics and morality, which makes his approach less credible. The paper concludes that Aristotle’s notion of eudaimonia supports Self-realization to qualify as a virtue. (shrink)

Lack of physical activity is one of the main cause of obesity. Currently, scientists proposed that teenagers and women are overweight or obese than men in Bangladesh. Furthermore, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are becoming more prevalent in Bangladesh. By 2050, the illness burden of non-communicable diseases will have a significant impact on the health budget. To reduce non-communicable diseases, physical activity is one of the options. However, the lack of public facilities for physical activities in each community is a concern. According (...) to the Department of Military Estate Administration, Central Circle, DOHS (Defense Officers' Housing Scheme) has a total of 2966 plots and 396.6327 acres of area (640 acres =1 square mile) including 5 DOSH in Bangladesh. However, each DOHS has all the public facilities including structures streets, parks, walking paths, squares, gyms, cultural and sports grounds, walkways, waterfronts, lakes, mosques, cafeterias, public toilets, sitting areas for elderly or passersby, etc for physical activities specially for women, children, and the disabled people. Gulshan, Baridhara, Banani, and Dhanmondi areas are other good examples from Bangladesh where dwellers specially, women and children have facilities for physical activities. Sangmoo Kim, urban specialist said, “it is not over-ambitious thinking to have public facilities; it is a basic need for each city dweller for a healthy life”. This report aims to explore what are the policy drawbacks of the Government of Bangladesh not providing public facilities to perform physical activities in each area. (shrink)

Coronary arteries were studied on 110 postmortem human hearts during January 2000 to December 2001 in the department of Anatomy and Microbiology, Bangladesh Medical College to observed. The pattern of coronary dominance and its relation with atherosclerosis was observed. Atherosclerosis was found in 49(44.5%) samples, among which 37(56.%) were from male and 12(26.7%) from female hearts. This difference was significant (P<0.01). Right dominance was observed in 72 (65.5%) cases while 17 (15.5%) had left dominance and 21 (19.1%) had balanced type (...) of circulation. Balanced type of circulation was observed more among females (14; 66.7%) while left dominance was more frequent among males (13; 76.5 %). This deference on the basis of sex was significant (P<0.05). Significant (P<0.001) relationship was also observed between atherosclerosis and dominance of coronary artery. It may be concluded that atherosclerosis was present in almost half of the studied subjects and was found more among males. Left dominance was more frequently present among males it was associated with atherosclerosis. (shrink)

Having scandalous unethical research practices in the mid and late 20th century, study protocols of biomedical research reviewed by the Ethics Committee (EC) has become the accepted international standard. The Declaration of Helsinki uniformly requires that all biomedical research involving human participants, including research on identifiable human material or data, should be approved by the EC. Today, concerns over the quality of the EC functions worldwide. There are research globally in this regard but no data are available from Bangladesh. Hence, (...) we conducted a questionnaire based pilot study on knowledge and attitude of EC members on bioethics and structure & function of EC in Bangladesh. (shrink)

To assess the perception regarding the quality of life, a qualitative study was conducted on 20 old people of balance gender in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Most of the participants of our study were upper poor class and literate. Male participants were a little higher than females. The majority were between 60 and 65years. They were significantly more active, independent, and took part in productive work contributing in the country’s economy, and had significantly greater decision power than other age group. Quality of (...) life of the elderly is related to physical and, economical wellbeing and coping mechanism during old age. The government of Bangladesh has taken varying degrees of initiative to improve the elder condition, but that was not publicized well. Old age Allowance should be increased to BDT 5000/ ($50). Family attachment and emotional support is also related to the self-assurance, self-respect, and self-drive of the elderly. Parent's Care Act 2013 should be implemented for retrospective care of seniors. (shrink)

A new world has probably emerged through the progression of technology which has led to significant debates on social, cultural, legal, and ethical issues, especially in the biomedical field in this century. Application of physician-patient relationship, principles of pluralism, autonomy, democracy, human dignity, and human rights is being challenged within the medicine and health-care system of today. Development of technology-based remedies has fostered greater degrees of medicalization. Hence, the automatic application of such technologies risks distorting the nature of medicine. To (...) be sure, there is a cultural shift that is affecting the society that is increasingly unable to adapt to traditional legal systems. This cultural shift, perhaps, demands new ethics. This entry aims to evaluate the gap between traditional deontological nature of medicine and the emerging new ethics and assess why bioethical reflection is needed. (shrink)

Environmental ethics and sustainable development maintain a very close relationship with each other. Environmental ethics gives priority to the future generation, and sustainable development also says about development considering the next generation. In this essay, the Rampal coal power plant in Bangladesh has been analyzed, focusing on future generation's sustainability. From this essay, it is found that the environmental specialists and UNESCO argue to stop the project, but from the government is arguing, showing the logic that the project is not (...) harmful to the environment and the project authority can manage the probable environmental degradation because of it. The author of this essay has also found a more persuasive argument against the project. (shrink)

A review of Failure by Arjun Appadurai and Neta Alexander.

With the shortage of physicians and surgeons and increase in demand worldwide due to situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a growing interest in finding solutions to help address the problem. A solution to this problem would be to use neurotechnology to provide them augmented cognition, senses and action for optimal diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, doing so can negatively impact them and others. We argue that applying neurotechnology for human enhancement in physicians and surgeons can cause injustices, and (...) harm to them and patients. In this paper, we will first describe the augmentations and neurotechnologies that can be used to achieve the relevant augmentations for physicians and surgeons. We will then review selected ethical concerns discussed within literature, discuss the neuroengineering behind using neurotechnology for augmentation purposes, then conclude with an analysis on outcomes and ethical issues of implementing human augmentation via neurotechnology in medical and surgical practice. (shrink)

This paper summarizes the seminar AI in Medicine in Context: Hopes? Nightmares? that was held at the Centre for Ethics at the University of Toronto on October 17, 2017, with special guest assistant professor and neurosurgeon Dr. Sunit Das. The paper discusses the key points from Dr. Das' talk. Specifically, it discusses about Dr. Das' perspective on the ethical and moral issues that was experienced from applying artificial intelligence (AI) in law and how such issues can also arise when applying (...) AI to medicine, and concludes with a brief discussion on how such issues can be prevented. (shrink)

Environmental ethics and sustainable development maintain a very close relationship with each other. Environmental ethics gives priority to the future generation, and sustainable development also says about development considering the next generation. In this essay, the Rampal coal power plant in Bangladesh has been analyzed, focusing on future generation's sustainability. From this essay, it is found that the environmental specialists and UNESCO argue to stop the project, but from the government is arguing, showing the logic that the project is not (...) harmful to the environment and the project authority can manage the probable environmental degradation because of it. The author of this essay has also found a more persuasive argument against the project. (shrink)

Death is a biological phenomenon, define as the permanent and irreversible cessation of all biological functions of a being. Many people are afraid of discussing, thinking, or planning their own deaths because of we do not know about death and why death occur. If we know what is death we can think for planning our life, preparing a will, or deciding whether we will remain home or seek help before death. Moreover, after death, we transfer to another world passing out (...) along with funeral according to religious. People seek help to religious cleric, as there is vast information regarding death in religion. As the death is the inevitable system and part and percale of life, therefore we must aware of what death is. We need do good deed in term of one day we will die and after death we will be nowhere but our benevolent works remain and may make us eternal or we will be rewarded heaven or hell or transmigrate to a new body according to our conduct. (shrink)

The vital role of the private sector in the overall development of a country is crucial as proven by private tertiary industries. Despite its phenomenal success all over the world, private sectors are facing enormous challenges due to the frequent turnover of Generation Y (Gen Y). Such phenomena cause massive overt and covert losses. Gen Y workers are optimistic, practical and often have attrition tendencies at workplaces. Extensive literature indicates the turnover problem of Gen Y remains unresolved. Frustration acts as (...) the most crucial factor contributing to frequent turnover. The employers state similar effects. Turnover studies have been performed in the Western sense, though turnover problems exist all over the world, which include a developing country like Bangladesh. Another problem is the turnover rate in the public sector is lower than in the private sector. Since each company strives to achieve the best output and lower turnover to avoid brain drain, they refrain from high turnover costs and maintaining competent staff. This quantitative study discovers that there is an urgent need to establish retention-friendly approaches to mitigate Gen Y frustration and retain them in the workplace. Gen Y retention approaches, management initiatives, soft HRM, work-life balance, and employee satisfaction are vital resources for Gen Y retention in the private sector. (shrink)

Older people are encouraged to participate more in the economic, social, and governmental sectors as part of progressive aging policies worldwide. Very little is known about applying engagement techniques or carrying out strategies in Bangladesh that are important for involving seniors in social engagement. Therefore, this qualitative research was conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, among 385 people aged sixty or above to assess their understanding of the quality of life and the gap in government policy. Results showed that between 60 and (...) 65 were more mobile, creative, engaged in productive activity, and had significantly higher decision-making power (p<0.000). Aging greatly enhances dependency (p<0.000). Lower-educated people were significantly dependent on their families (p<0.000).Moreover, elderly income and the cost of treatment were significantly correlated to abuse (p<0.001). Furthermore, 10% of participants reported negative relationships with family members (p<0.031). However, most (61.6%) were unaware of the 2013 Parent's Care Act. Though most participants (73.2%) knew of the government-funded Old Age Allowance, 92.5% received no non-governmental assistance. The research concluded that education and economic condition have a long-term relationship with reducing dependency. In recommendation, Government can increase the retirement age from 59 to 65 years which may increase self of security, respect, and self-esteem and reduce harassment. Parent's Care Act 2013 should implement. Government should include Community Health and Social Service centers for the quality of life of the elderly. (shrink)

The elderly face very challenging situations due to their mental and physical conditions. Like the other country in the world, Bangladesh Government has enacted laws to protect the elderly rights. However, the law does not seem to represent what the elderly actually needs. Therefore, 385 elderly people, aged between 60 and 90 years were surveyed to understand their expectations from family, society, and government. There were 57.1% men and 42.9% women. Most of the elderly (80%) were educated. Just over half (...) (53.5%) had ordinary mental and physical health, while a quarter (31.4%) had good status. More than half (53%) of the participants required 2000–5000 BDTK (Bangladeshi Taka) equivalent to $20-50 to cover monthly treatment expenditures. The majority (67.3%) felt government Old Age Allowance should be increased to BDT 5,000 ($50). Of 13.8% of individuals experienced harsh discourse from family because of the cost of therapy. However, 16.9% of people choose not to respond to this question. More than half (57.4%) of the respondents’ thought caregivers were insufficient. One-third felt that legislation should be changed to take care of parents (33.5%) and One-third felt that children should take care of more (33.5%). Some (3.6%) thought that children should act as they did in their childhood respectively. Almost half (44.2%) of respondents did not know that the elderly should receive a separate senior citizen card for preferential treatment, yet 51.9% thought this. Some (44.7%) felt the elderly should get priority in any queue and discounts in Bus/Uber/Rickshaw. Results also showed that expectation is more than the service provided. Further, a one-stop elderly care clinic is required to provide integrated care and support for the quality of life of the elderly. (shrink)

In this paper the sameness and difference between two distinguished Indian authors, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932) and Mahasweta Devi (b. 1926), representing two generations almost a century apart, will be under analysis in order to trace the generational transformation in women’s writing in India, especially Bengal. Situated in the colonial and postcolonial frames of history, Hossain and Mahasweta Devi may be contextualized differently. At the same time their subjects are also differently categorized; the former is not particularly concerned (...) with subalterns whereas the latter specifically focuses on the effect of race and class on gender. The quest for the ‘self’ and ‘subjectivity’ is more pertinent in the latter and consequently the appeal for agency is based on a crude power struggle. Hossain, a philanthropist who championed the woman question, believed that striving for equality should be a collective process which could be achieved by spreading awareness among fellow-inmates inhabiting the prison of patriarchy. Like Euro-American first-wave feminists, Rokeya advocated the necessity of education among women in order for them to be able to comprehend their plight and ‘awake’ for the cause. She addresses fundamental issues of feminism like education and the systematized claustrophobia within the domestic space. Whereas Mahasweta Devi, has been an activist writer who is regarded as the brand ambassador for the support of the marginalized, deprived and denotified tribes of India. It is her mission to provide succour to the marginalized sections, especially tribes from the Purulia district of West Bengal, like the Kherias and Shabars. As an activist writer she explores tribal life and allied socio-political issues which reflect their agony. (shrink)