SummaryMany Bangladeshi women marry early, and many marry before the legal age of 18 years. This practice has been associated with a higher risk of health and medical morbidities, and also early pregnancy with higher pre- and postnatal complications. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, and factors associated with, child marriage among Bangladeshi women using multiple binary logistic regression analysis of data from the BDHS-2011. Further analysis on the trend of age at first marriage was performed (...) with additional data sets from previous surveys. The mean and median of ages at first marriage of Bangladeshi women in 2011 were 15.69±2.97 and 15.00 years, respectively. A remarkably high percentage married before the age of 18; of these, 5.5% married at a very early age. Binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that uneducated women were more likely to be married early than those with secondary and higher education. Child marriage was especially pronounced among women with uneducated husbands, Muslims, those with poor economic backgrounds and those living in rural areas. Further analysis including data from previous BDHS surveys showed that child marriage among Bangladeshi women had a decreasing trend from 1993–94 to 2011. These results show that child marriage was very common in Bangladesh, and closely associated with low level of education and low economic status. The decreasing trend in child marriage indicates an improvement over the past two decades but more effort is needed to further reduce and eventually eliminate the practice. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the nature of rhetoric and rhetorical strategies that are implicit in the standalone sustainability reporting of the top 24 companies of the Fortune 500 Global. We adopt Bormann’s :396–407, 1972) SCT framework to study the rhetorical situation and how corporate sustainability reporting messages can be communicated to the audience. The SCT concepts in the sustainability reporting’s communication are subject to different types of legitimacy strategies that are used by corporations as a validity (...) and legitimacy claim in the reports. A content analysis has been conducted and structural coding schemes have been developed based on the literature. The schemes are applied to the SCT model which recognizes the symbolic convergent processes of fantasy among communicators in a Society. The study reveals that most of the sample companies communicate fantasy type and rhetorical vision in their corporate sustainability reporting. However, the disclosure or messages are different across locations and other taxonomies of the SCT framework. This study contributes to the current CSR literature about how symbolic or fantasy understandings can be interpreted by the users. It also discusses the persuasion styles that are adopted by the companies for communication purposes. This study is the theoretical extension of the SCT. Researchers may be interested in further investigating other online communication paths, such as human rights reports and director’s reports. (shrink)

Management and business literature affirm the role played by stakeholders in corporate social responsibility practices as crucial, but what constitutes a true business–society partnership remains relatively unexplored. This paper aims to improve scholarly and management understanding beyond the usual managers’ perceptions on salience attributes, to include how stakeholders can acquire missing attributes to inform a meaningful partnership. In doing this, a model is proposed which conceptualises CSR practices and outcomes within the frameworks of stakeholder salience via empowerment, sustainable corporate social (...) performances and partnership quality. A holistic discussion leads to generation of propositions on stakeholder salience management, corporate social performance, corporate–community partnership systems and CSR practices, which have both academic and management implications. (shrink)

Seismic imaging of the shallow subsurface can be very challenging when reflections are absent and the data are dominated by ground roll. I analyzed the transmission coda to produce fine-scale, interpretable vertical and horizontal component seismic velocity models using full-waveform inversion. Application of FWI is tested through imaging two buried targets. The first target is a pair of well-documented utility pipes with known diameters and burial depths. The second target is a poorly documented former location of the pipe, which is (...) now a backfilled void. Data are acquired along a 23 m 2D profile using a static array with single-component vertical and horizontal geophones. Our results indicate considerable velocity updates in the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models across the pipes and backfill. The pipes appear as negative velocity updates in the final inverted [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models, whereas the backfilled area represents negative and positive velocity updates in the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models, respectively. Variations of the polarities in the inverted models across the backfill can be indicative of the medium, which respond differently to the vertical and horizontal component seismic waves. The attenuation models show a general decreasing trend with increasing depth. Therefore, simultaneous applications of vertical and horizontal component seismic velocity modeling can be an effective tool to understand the subsurface medium in near-surface characterization. (shrink)

Seismic imaging of the shallow subsurface can be very challenging when reflections are absent and the data are dominated by ground roll. I analyzed the transmission coda to produce fine-scale, interpretable vertical and horizontal component seismic velocity models using full-waveform inversion. Application of FWI is tested through imaging two buried targets. The first target is a pair of well-documented utility pipes with known diameters and burial depths. The second target is a poorly documented former location of the pipe, which is (...) now a backfilled void. Data are acquired along a 23 m 2D profile using a static array with single-component vertical and horizontal geophones. Our results indicate considerable velocity updates in the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models across the pipes and backfill. The pipes appear as negative velocity updates in the final inverted [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models, whereas the backfilled area represents negative and positive velocity updates in the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] models, respectively. Variations of the polarities in the inverted models across the backfill can be indicative of the medium, which respond differently to the vertical and horizontal component seismic waves. The attenuation models show a general decreasing trend with increasing depth. Therefore, simultaneous applications of vertical and horizontal component seismic velocity modeling can be an effective tool to understand the subsurface medium in near-surface characterization. (shrink)

Caffeine, a known CNS stimulant is given as an adjunct component in most abused drugs which could be fatal with repeated administration in many circumstances. This paper presents a study to investigate the effect of repeated administration of caffeine at high dose on rat liver, and discusses ethical and policy issues of caffeine use. Long Evans rats were treated with pure caffeine solution in distilled water through intragastric route once daily for consecutive 56 days. Three groups of rats recognized as (...) low dose, high dose and control group received 6mg caffeine / kg BW, 12mg caffeine / kg BW and distilled water, respectively. Rat plasma was examined for liver transaminases and alkaline phosphatases concentrations which were significantly increased in plasma as compared to the control. Both rat plasma and liver homogenate were subjected to estimate malondialdehyde, advanced oxidation protein product, nitric oxide, antioxidant enzyme catalase, glutathione and superoxide dismutase activity. MDA, AOPP, NO levels increased and SOD activity decreased significantly in both plasma and liver as compared to those of control where as CAT and GSH activity remain unchanged. Rat liver tissues were studied histochemically with Hematoxylin and Eosin, and Picro Sirius Red staining. Significantly increased infiltration of inflammatory cells and progressive deposition of collagen fibre were visible in liver tissue of caffeine treated both dose groups as compared to the control. Long term administration of caffeine at higher dose, significantly contributes to liver inflammation and consequent fibrogenesis. This raises significant ethical and policy issues. (shrink)

This book uses the writings of Syed Alam Khundmiri to look at issues such as: Islamic traditionalism in the context of meodernization; Islamic theology and politics; and Western and Indian notions of secularism.

This Editorial introduces the thematic series on 'Toward a New Psychiatry: Philosophical and Ethical Issues in Classification, Diagnosis and Care' http://www.biomedcentral.com/series/newpsychiatry.

Purpose The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment, scrapped a draconian law [Section 66 ] that gave the police absolute power to put behind bars anybody who was found posting offensive or annoying comments online. This paper aims to examine the take of people on the “Free Speech via Social Media” issue and their attitude towards the way sensitive messages/information are posted, shared and forwarded on social media, especially, Facebook. Design/methodology/approach The research was carried out on a (...) sample of 200 social media users, all picked up randomly, from five Indian states/Union Territories. Data were collected through a questionnaire, and users were contacted through e-mail. Data collected were analyzed through the Kolmogorov–Smirnov Z test. Findings The findings indicate that hate posts/messages are on the rise, and more and more users are joining in. Besides, prosecution happens only when the aggrieved party is influential or powerful. Practical implications The findings of this research give a strong insight into the social media behaviour of users in relation to hate contents/posts. The study establishes the fact that Indian people are in favour of free speech, but with a sense of restraint and responsibility. The work could form the basis for future research on various aspects of hate speech on social media. Researchers could study the trials and prosecutions that have happened over the past few years and whether punishment has acted as a deterrent. Originality/value The research is likely to be important for those involved in work on freedom of speech or hate speech through social media. Social networking sites such as Facebook would also get some insights into users’ perception towards free and hate speech mechanism on social media. (shrink)

We developed a unique method to generate reservoir attributes by creating an artificial core for those wells that have no core, but that have gamma, neutron, and density logs. We examined sedimentary facies distributions, reservoir attributes, and mechanical parameters of the rock for noncored wells to increase the data density and improve the understanding of the reservoir. This method eventually helps to improve high-resolution 3D geocellular models, geomechanical models, and reservoir simulation in reservoir characterization. Artificial or synthetic cores are created (...) using a single curve that builds facies templates using the information from the cores of nearby offset wells, which belong to the same depositional environment. The single curve, called the fine particle volume, is the average of two shale volumes calculated from the gamma-ray log and from a combination of neutron and density logs. Using facies templates, the FPV curve builds the synthetic core for geocellular modeling and reservoir simulation, and it represents the sedimentary facies distribution in the well with all the reservoir attributes obtained from laboratory data of the original core. The vertical succession of the synthetic core has the characteristics of actual sedimentary facies with reservoir attributes such as porosity, permeability, and other rock properties. The result of creating the synthetic core was validated visually and statistically with the actual cores, and each of the cored wells was considered as a noncored well. The limitation of this method is associated with the accuracy of the logging data acquisition, normalization factors, and facies template selection criteria. (shrink)

The main objective of this paper is to assess the attitude of a group of Malaysian business students towards business ethics. The survey results indicate that the respondents in general are of the opinion that the businesses in Malaysia consider ethics as secondary. A greater emphasis on ethical values in the business curricular has been strongly supported by the respondents. Moreover, the majority of the respondents believe that moral/ethical education and top management attitudes are the most important factors influencing ethical (...) standards in business practices. (shrink)

This study is carried out to assess the state of business ethics in New Zealand organisations from the point view of middle and lower level managers. The survey results clearly indicate that companies in New Zealand give low priorities to ethics with other values in the corporate culture. A significant number of respondents also believe that pressures from the top to achieve results and the organisational climate and ruthless competition help create an unethical environment. A greater emphasis on ethical content (...) in the business curricula has been overwhelmingly supported by the respondents. Moreover, the majority of respondents also think that the ethical standard in New Zealand businesses has declined in the past decade.Finally, a number of suggestions have been put forward by the respondents to develop and maintain a high standard of ethical environment. These include mandatory moral/ethical education both in the educational institutions and in commerce and industry, commitment of top management and written and published code of ethics. (shrink)

We have developed a deterministic workflow in mapping the small-scale subseismic geologic facies and reservoir properties from conventional poststack seismic data. The workflow integrated multiscale data to estimate rock properties such as porosity, permeability, and grain size from the core data; effective porosity, resistivity, and fluid saturations using petrophysical analyses from the log data; and rock elastic properties from the log and poststack seismic data. Rock properties, such as incompressibility, rigidity, and density are linked to the fine-particle-volume ranges of different (...) facies templates. High-definition facies templates were used in building the high-resolution near-wellbore images. Facies distribution and reservoir properties between the wells were extracted and mapped from the FPV data volume built from the poststack seismic volume. Our study focused on the heavy oil-bearing Cretaceous McMurray Formation in northern Alberta. The internal reservoir architecture, such as the stacked channel bars, inclined heterolithic strata, and shale plugs, is intricate due to reservoir heterogeneity. Drilling success or optimum oil recovery will depend on whether the reservoir model accurately describes this heterogeneity. Thus, it is very important to properly identify the distribution of the permeability barriers and shale plugs in the reservoir zone. Dense vertical well control and dozens of horizontal well pairs over the area of investigation confirm a very good correlation of the geologic facies interpreted between the wells from the seismic volume. (shrink)

This article examined the effect of culture and religiosity on perceptions of business ethics among students in a tertiary institution in Malaysia. A structured questionnaire was developed with scenarios on various aspects of business ethics, and self-administered to the students in the business studies program. The results from 767 respondents showed that there were significant differences among the Malays, Chinese, and Indian students on seven scenarios namely selling hazardous products, misleading instructions, selling defective products, padding expense account, taking sick to (...) take a day off, keeping quiet on defective products, and respond to supplier's take good care of clients attitude. There was also an association between culture and religiosity. The MANOVA results also showed that culture and religiosity have an effect on perceptions of business ethics. (shrink)

Leaders and managers of today''s multinational corporations face a plethora of problems and issues directly attributable to the fact that they are operating in an international context. With work-sites, plants and/or customers based in another country, or even several countries, representing a vast spectrum of cultural differences, international trade and offshore operations, coupled with increased globalisation in respect to political, social and economic realities, contribute to new dilemmas that these leaders must deal with. Not the least of these being a (...) Code of Ethics and ethical decision making.This paper examines the differences in culture between a group of managers from the United States and similar group from Croatia using Hofstede''s theory of International Cultures. The study explores how these cultural dimensions may help in our understanding of the differences in reported whistleblowing. The authors then postulate four hypotheses regarding various aspects of whistleblowing. These Hypotheses were than tested using a survey administered to a sample of U.S.A. and Croatian managers. Finally, the paper discusses the findings and practical implications for contemporary managers in the international arena. (shrink)

The Infectious Diseases Act entered into force officially on 14 November 2018 in Bangladesh. The Act is designed to raise awareness of, prevent, control, and eradicate infectious or communicable diseases to address public health emergencies and reduce health risks. A novel coronavirus disease was first identified in Bangladesh on 8 March 2020, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a gazette on 23 March, listing COVID-19 as an infectious disease and addressing COVID-19 as a public health emergency. The (...) gazette empowers the government to monitor the spread of infection. Despite there being an infrastructure of research ethics committees in almost all hospitals in Bangladesh, a lack of such committees in the clinical setting often forces healthcare professionals to allocate scarce healthcare resources to the task. These personnel are often either influenced by materialistic matters or guided by the emergency policies, without reaching a consensus on how to allocate scarce resources in times of need, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethical dilemmas often arise when a number of patients with COVID-19, especially in poor and middle-class areas, are denied care while elites are prioritized to receive such scarce resources. Resource allocation in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh appears to be unethical and in direct conflict with the biomedical principles of non-maleficence and procedural justice. The findings of this study suggest that the Act needs substantive changes in the stipulation of policy directing hospitals in the provision of resource allocation framework. Furthermore, parliament should produce guidance outlining how to successfully implement the law with the aim of protecting public health in times of emergency, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

The convergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance (CG) has changed the corporate accountability mechanism. This has developed a socially responsible ‘corporate self-regulation’, a synthesis of governance and responsibility in the companies of strong economies. However, unlike in the strong economies, this convergence has not been visible in the companies of weak economies, where the civil society groups are unorganised, regulatory agencies are either ineffective or corrupt and the media and non-governmental organisations do not mirror the corporate conscience. (...) Using the case of Bangladesh, this article investigates the convergence between CSR and CG in the self-regulation of companies in a less vigilant environment. (shrink)

SummaryThis study aimed to investigate the regional variations in the prevalence of child marriage in Bangladesh with a view to providing recommendations for division-specific policy interventions. Data from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey were analysed using multivariate logistic regression. Substantial regional variations in child marriage were found in Bangladesh. Rangpur and Khulna had more than four times higher odds of child marriage than Sylhet. Barisal and Rajshahi had more than three times higher odds of child marriage than Sylhet. (...) Chittagong and Dhaka had about two times odds of child marriage than Sylhet, even after controlling for selected socio-demographic, economic and cultural characteristics. Respondent’s education, employment status, husband’s education and wealth index were inversely associated with the prevalence of child marriage. The policy implications of these findings are discussed in the context of Bangladesh. (shrink)

The abundance of information technology and electronic resources for academic materials has contributed to the attention given to research on plagiarism from various perspectives. Among the issues that have attracted researchers’ attention are perceptions of plagiarism and attitudes toward plagiarism. This article presents a critical review of studies that have been conducted to examine staff’s and students’ perceptions of and attitudes toward plagiarism. It also presents a review of studies that have focused on factors contributing to plagiarism. Our review of (...) studies reveals that most of the studies on perceptions of plagiarism and attitudes toward plagiarism lack an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the perceptions of plagiarism and other contextual, sociocultural and institutional variables, or the relationship between attitudes toward plagiarism and students’ perceptions of various forms of plagiarism. Although our review shows that various factors can contribute to plagiarism, there is no taxonomy that can account for all these factors. Some suggestions for future research are provided in this review article. (shrink)

Three distinct models of political economy are articulated in this article to chart out the possible politico-economic futures of the Arab World. Of these, the present predicaments of the revolutionizing Arab populace are argued to have been caused by the continuance of the wrong social choices. It depended for a long time now on the alienating model of differentiation and alienation of the Arab nations by their rulers, and by their uncritical immersing in the equally debilitating globalization agenda. Two models (...) of the alienating and unfeasible types are formulated as the prevailing ones today. The arguments and empirical study of limited socioeconomic data with the examples of Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, which are considered as exemplary of the revolutionary Arab World, point out that social factors based on the demand for participation and representation, self-reliant social change, and opportunities are the overwhelming factors of politico-economic change. These factors, as opposed to the purely economic factors, must be embedded in a synergistic way with the rest in a distinctive future model of Arab political economy. Three formal models of possible political economy of the future Arab World with their evolutionary futures are formalized. Necessary social and policy implications are drawn in reference to these three evolutionary Arab futures in political economy. (shrink)

This paper examines the effects of three different types of father absence on the timing of life history events among women in rural Bangladesh. Age at marriage and age at first birth are compared across women who experienced different father presence/absence conditions as children. Survival analyses show that daughters of fathers who divorced their mothers or deserted their families have consistently younger ages at marriage and first birth than other women. In contrast, daughters whose fathers were labor migrants have consistently (...) older ages at marriage and first birth. Daughters whose fathers died when they were children show older ages at marriage and first birth than women with divorced/deserted fathers and women with fathers present. These effects may be mediated by high socioeconomic status and high levels of parental investment among the children of labor migrants, and a combination of low investment, high psychosocial stress, and low alloparental investment among women with divorced/deserted fathers. Our findings are most consistent with the Child Development Theory model of female life history strategies, though the Paternal Investment and Psychosocial Acceleration models also help explain differences between women in low paternal investment situations (e.g., father divorced/abandoned vs. father dead). Father absence in and of itself seems to have little effect on the life history strategies of Bangladeshi women once key reasons for or correlates of absence are controlled, and none of the models is a good predictor of why women with deceased fathers have delayed life histories compared with women whose fathers are present. (shrink)

SummaryEarly onset of menarche has been shown to be associated with breast cancer and ischaemic heart disease. Studies on age at menarche of the Malaysian population are poorly documented. This study aimed to determine the influence of anthropometric and socio-demographic factors on the age at menarche of university students in Malaysia. Data were obtained in 2010–11 from 961 students between the ages of 18 and 25 years from the University of Malaya using stratified sampling, and multiple regression analysis was applied. (...) Sixty-three per cent of students reached menarche at the age of 12 or 13 years, with the mean and median of age at menarche being 12.45±1.17 and 12.01 years, respectively. Menarcheal age was positively associated with height and negatively associated with BMI. Students from urban areas attained menarche earlier than those from rural areas. Students from small-sized families attained menarche earlier than those from larger families. First-born students experienced menarche earlier than those who were seventh-born or later. Obese and overweight students reached menarche earlier than students who were underweight or of normal weight. The variations in age at menarche among the Malaysian ethnic groups were statistically insignificant. The results suggest that heavier and first-born students from small families are more likely to attain menarche earlier than their counterparts. (shrink)

A review of economic thought since the sixteenth century reveals two streams of economic discourse, dirigisme and laissez-faire. Starting with the mercantilists, dirigiste approaches to economics embrace the real-world complexity of commodities that often differ greatly in attributes that are growth- and rent- augmenting. Most importantly, this means that free trade is likely to be polarising: it concentrates growth- and rent-augmenting commodities in countries that already enjoy a head start in these commodities. Advanced countries, therefore, support laissez-faire, while lagging countries (...) tend to support dirigisme. In order to rationalise their laissez-faire stance, advanced countries began developing a new economic discourse that strips commodities of their complexity. The foundations for this ideological reconstruction of economics were first laid by Adam Smith; this process eventually reached its climax with the neoclassical economists who stripped commodities down to one attribute: their capital intensity. In opposition to this laissez-faire economics, other writers, supportive of the interests of lagging countries, brought complexity back into their economic discourse; they argued that lagging countries had a fighting chance of catching up to advanced economies only by indigenising a growing array of growth- and rent-augmenting commodities. (shrink)