Global Hegemony and the South : Experiences of Bangladesh, a Peripheral Economy

Global hegemony is about a one-way relationship, an unequal exercise of power by one or a few persons over many others, a concentration of wealth and power in some parts of the world at the expense of many. This scenario of global hegemony goes against the real spirit of the globalization process. Because of the hegemonic relationship, globalization becomes monopolization, a system of unequal opportunities, wastage, plunder and coercion. There are two major interpretations of the term Globalization. The two appear to conflict with, and even oppose, each other. The first one -the mainstream view- considers globalization as the rational outcome of global economic progress. This view describes it as a process of (i) expansion of free trade; (ii) further integration of world economies; (iii) increased communication amongst different regions; (iv) faster diffusion of knowledge; (v) increasing mobility of capital and labor; (vi) increasing competition; and (vii) emergence of a global economy/global market. Supporters of this view believe that there is no alternative (TINA) to this. (...)Introduction Legacy of Bangladeshs Economy and Polity Integration with the Global Economy: Factors and Actors Initial Stage World Banks Support and Agenda From Krug to PRSP The direction of the Economy: Polarization, Decomposition and New Formation Transition from an Agricultural to a Service Economy: Malls over Mills Manufacturing: Upwards and Downwards Expansion of Trade Women in the Labor Market Rural Non-Farm Activity Increase in Market Orientation From Multicrop to Monocrop Urban Informal Sector Communication Foreign Direct Investment NGO: New Corporate Body Criminal Economy From Poverty to Poverty Class Composition Conclusion: Growth and Erosion, Affluence and Poverty Reference

A pathway of signals regulating effector and initiator caspases in the developing Drosophila eye

Regulated cell death and survival play important roles in neural development. Extracellular signals are presumed to regulate seven apparent caspases to determine the final structure of the nervous system. In the eye, the EGF receptor, Notch, and intact primary pigment and cone cells have been implicated in survival or death signals. An antibody raised against a peptide from human caspase 3 was used to investigate how extracellular signals controlled spatial patterning of cell death. The antibody crossreacted specifically with dying Drosophila cells and labelled the activated effector caspase Drice. It was found that the initiator caspase Dronc and the proapoptotic gene head involution defective were important for activation in vivo. Dronc may play roles in dying cells in addition to activating downstream effector caspases. Epistasis experiments ordered EGF receptor, Notch, and primary pigment and cone cells into a single pathway that affected caspase activity in pupal retina through hid and Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins. None of these extracellular signals appeared to act by initiating caspase activation independently of hid. Taken together, these findings indicate that in eye development spatial regulation of cell death and survival is integrated through a single intracellular pathway

Fabrication and Characterization of ZnSCubic : P3HT, ZnSHexa : P3HT and ZnSHexa : P3HT:PVA-Ag Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

This paper describes the fabrication of P3HT based bulk heterojunction solar cell using ZnS nanoparticles of sphalarite and wurtzite crystal structure and discusses their photovoltaic characteristics. It is found that the device of P3HT : ZnS can give higher Voc and surface modified wurtzite ZnS is able to give higher Voc (~ 1.3 V) as well as higher current density (229.60 A/cm2) and comparable efficiency (0.032 %). Active layer (P3HT : ZnS) showed a broad optical absorption from 320 nm to 650 nm and it is seen that the absorption intensity increased in the blend than the pristine P3HT

Differentiating Acute Otitis Media and Acute Mastoiditis in Hospitalized Children

Acute otitis media is a common infection in children. Most acute otitis media episodes can be treated at an outpatient setting with antimicrobials, or only expectant observation. Hospital treatment with parenteral medication, and myringotomy or tympanostomy, may be needed to treat those with severe, prolonged symptoms, or with complications. The most common intratemporal complication of acute otitis media is acute mastoiditis. If a child with acute mastoiditis does not respond to this treatment, or if complications develop, further examinations and other surgical procedures, including mastoidectomy, are considered. Since the treatment of complicated acute otitis media and complicated acute mastoiditis differs, it is important to differentiate these two conditions. This article focuses on the differential diagnostics of acute otitis media and acute mastoiditis in children.Peer reviewe

Effects of gadolinium and tin to the production of oxidative enzymes and the growth of five basidiomycetous fungi

Effects of gadolinium (Gd) and tin (Sn) on the growth and production of oxidative enzymes with five basidiomycetous fungi were tested. For this study we have selected well-known white-rot fungi Obba rivulosa and Kuehneromyces mutabilis, in addition to this we have tested three new isolates, the white-rot fungus Phlebia subochracea, the litter-degrading fungus Gymnopus dryophilus and the brown-rot fungus Heliocybe sulcata. This approach allowed us to find possible new sources for oxidative enzymes, such as laccases and versatile peroxidases (VPs). All five tested fungi grew in the presence of Gd (0-200 mg/l) or Sn (0-200 mg/l) on ABTS (2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) containing plates. The growth rate of H. sulcata was tolerant to Gd and Sn (0- 200 mg/l). The growth rates of P. subochracea and G. dryophilus were sensitive to Gd (5-200 mg/l) and Sn (5-200 mg/l). O. rivulosa, K. mutabilis, P. subochracea and G. dryophilus formed colour zones on the ABTS plates indicating that these fungi produced oxidative enzymes, most probably laccases. The brown-rot fungus H. sulcata did not form colour zone on the ABTS plate indicating that this fungus did not produce laccase. The production of laccase with G. dryophilus and K. mutabilis was tolerant to Gd (0-200 mg/l) and Sn (0-200 mg/l). The production of laccase with P. subochracea was sensitive to Gd (5-200 mg/l) and Sn (5-200 mg/l). P. subochracea decolorized the dye Reactive Black 5 without or with Gd and Sn (0- 200 mg/l) indicating the production of VP. O. rivulosa, K. mutabilis, G. dryophilus and H. sulcata did not produce VP. The production of VP by P. subochracea was sensitive to 200 mg/l Gd and Sn.Peer reviewe

Optimization and characterization of silver nanoparticle synthesis from the microalgae, Isochrysis galbana

The present study was aimed to carry out a green synthesis of Silver Nano Particless by using marine micro algae and its characterization by SEM, EDAX, Particle analyzer and Zeta potential. Microalgae samples (Isochrysis galbana and Nannochloropsis sp.) were collected from phytoplankton laboratory, Tuticorin Research Centre of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. The culture media of I. galbana and Nannochloropsis sp. were taken for the preliminary synthesis of SNPs. Hence, Nannochloropsis sp. was not synthesized for its SNPs, I. galbana was selected for further study. Culture media, cell filtrate and supernatant of I. galbana were subjected to the SNPs synthesis in order to find out the maximum yield of silver with low chloride content. Among these, the supernatant of I. galbana showed maximum yield with low chloride content. It was confirmed by colorimetric reading at 450 nm. Synthesized SNPs from I. galbana contained 80.68% of silver and 15.25% of chloride as detected by EDAX analysis. Size of the SNPs was analyzed by particle analyzer and ranged from 16.6 to 205.3 nm and average size was 40.6 nm. Zeta potential of SNPs from I. galbana was -44.0 mV, which reveals the high stability of SNPs. This is the first authenticated work of I. galbana with respect to complete characterization of its SNPs

Prediction of depression in European general practice attendees: the PREDICT study

Background Prevention of depression must address multiple risk factors. Estimating overall risk across a range of putative risk factors is fundamental to prevention of depression. However, we lack reliable and valid methods of risk estimation. This protocol paper introduces PREDICT, an international research study to address this risk estimation. Methods/design This is a prospective study in which consecutive general practice attendees in six European countries are recruited and followed up after six and 12 months. Prevalence of depression is assessed at baseline and each follow-up point. Consecutive attendees between April 2003 and September 2004 who were aged 18 to 75 were asked to take part. The possibility of a depressive episode was assessed using the Depression Section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. A selection of presumed risk factors was based on our previous work and a systematic review of the literature. It was necessary to evaluate the test-retest reliability of a number of risk factor questions that were developed specifically, or adapted, for the PREDICT study. In a separate reliability study conducted between January and November 2003, consecutive general practice attendees in the six participating European countries completed the risk factor items on two occasions, two weeks apart. The overall response rate at entry to the study was 69%. We exceeded our expected recruitment rate, achieving a total of 10,048 people in all. Reliability coefficients were generally good to excellent. Discussion Response rate to follow-up in all countries was uniformly high, which suggests that prediction will be based on almost a full cohort. The results of our reliability analysis are encouraging and suggest that data collected during the course of PREDICT will have a satisfactory level of stability. The development of a multi-factor risk score for depression will lay the foundation for future research on risk reduction in primary care. Our data will also provide the necessary evidence base on which to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce the prevalence of depression

Superrevivals in the quantum dynamics of a particle confined in a finite square well potential

We examine the revival features in wave packet dynamics of a particle confined in a finite square well potential. The possibility of tunneling modifies the revival pattern as compared to an infinite square well potential. We study the dependence of the revival times on the depth of the square well and predict the existence of superrevivals. The nature of these superrevivals is compared with similar features seen in the dynamics of wavepackets in an anharmonic oscillator potential.Comment: 8 pages in Latex two-column format with 5 figures (eps). To appear in Physical Review