Impact of Outdoor Environments on the Quality of Life

The characteristics of the outdoor environment in urban spaces and morphology distress the quality of life (QoL) of urban dwellers and visitors. The main purpose of this study is to develop an extensive hypothesis on the parametric evaluation related to the adaptation of the urban environment and dwellers' QoL by methodical literature review, field observation and proposal on an alternative design strategy. The parameters include microclimate, urban space and traffic, waste management and other influencing factors that are desired to envisage for effective investigation. Factors play a key role in the variation of QoL and instinctively affect the dwellers' approach and comportment.  

A Review of the Parametric Characteristics of Urban Environment and it's Influence to the Urban Quality of Life

This study covers the researchers' effort on the influence of the urban environment parameters and factors related to the quality of life of the urban inhabitants. The design and the construction industries have an increasing attention in and concern for environmental effects to the cycle of urban fabrics and structural health. The growth of urbanization had become an integral part of in various essential parametric matrix confronted by rapid structural growth and their influence on the life pattern of urban dwellers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the parametric characteristics of the urban environment at the multidimensional scale and which needs to be inspected and verified by experiments and observational processes. A valid model in neighborhood scale has been employed for the analysis of relevant data. Results displayed are vital importance to the environmental modification in micro level and enormous macro-level

Country diagnostic report, Bangladesh

Water security is a defining feature of the opportunities and limits for growth and development in Bangladesh. The country has made enormous strides in reducing poverty between 1990 and 2015. It is one of Asia’s most dynamic economies with water shaping its rich history and future growth. Complex hydrology, chronic water-related risks, high exposure to water-related hazards and rapid environmental change mean that Bangladesh is already addressing challenges that will affect other South Asian countries in the decades ahead. But poverty reduction and growth efforts will not achieve desired development outcomes unless they include productive investments in water security and protective interventions against water-related risks. This working paper highlights the key water security risks to Bangladesh’s growth and poverty reduction efforts and illustrates evidence of significant but uncertain water security risks. It examines the progress made by Bangladesh in reducing poverty and improving growth. It then proposes potential locations to establish REACH Water Security Observatories for ‘universal drinking water security’ and to reduce ‘water security risks for the coastal poor. This paper is an output from the REACH Improving Water Security for the Poor programm

Country diagnostic report, Bangladesh

Water security is a defining feature of the opportunities and limits for growth and development in Bangladesh. The country has made enormous strides in reducing poverty between 1990 and 2015. It is one of Asia’s most dynamic economies with water shaping its rich history and future growth. Complex hydrology, chronic water-related risks, high exposure to water-related hazards and rapid environmental change mean that Bangladesh is already addressing challenges that will affect other South Asian countries in the decades ahead. But poverty reduction and growth efforts will not achieve desired development outcomes unless they include productive investments in water security and protective interventions against water-related risks. This working paper highlights the key water security risks to Bangladesh’s growth and poverty reduction efforts and illustrates evidence of significant but uncertain water security risks. It examines the progress made by Bangladesh in reducing poverty and improving growth. It then proposes potential locations to establish REACH Water Security Observatories for ‘universal drinking water security’ and to reduce ‘water security risks for the coastal poor. This paper is an output from the REACH Improving Water Security for the Poor programm

Association Between Serum C- Reactive Protein With Migraine: A Case Control Study

Objective: The present case-control study was undertaken to find the association between serum level of CRP and attack of migraine.&#x0D; Methods: The study was carried out at the Headache Clinic and Outpatient Department of Neurology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka over a period of 2 years from January 2010 to December 2011. Migraine patients attending at the above mentioned places were enrolled as cases, while apparently healthy attendants of cases and other healthy persons, who did not have any history of migraine, were included as control. Based on predefined enrollment criteria, a total of 163 subjects were included in the study. Of them 87 were cases and 76 were controls. The serum levels of CRP of both cases and controls were measured and a serum level of &gt; 6 mg/L was considered as raised/ elevated CRP. Levels of CRP were compared between groups (case and control) using appropriate statistical tests.&#x0D; Result: The findings of the study showed that the age and sex distribution of case and control groups were almost comparable. The behavioral factors like food or smoking habit and tobacco leaf chewing had no difference between the groups. Over 20% of migraine patients had abnormally high CRP as compared to 7.9% in the control group (p = 0.021). The migraine patients were 3(95% CI = 1.1 - 8.1) times more likely to be associated with raised CRP (&gt; 6 mg/L) than their healthy counterparts. There were 7 migraine patients with aura and 80 without aura. The level of CRP was not found to be associated with type of migraine (with or without aura) (p = 0.960).&#x0D; Conclusion: Every one in five patients exhibits abnormally high CRP. The level of CRP does not vary whether the migraine is being associated with or without aura. The migraineurs carry higher risk of developing elevated CRP than their normal counterparts.&#x0D; Bangladesh Journal of Neuroscience 2015; Vol. 31 (1): 1-8</jats:p

Azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatory actions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once per day by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatment groups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment and were twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants and local study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to the outcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) were eligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was 65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomly allocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall, 561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median 10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days (rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, no significant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24). Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restricted to patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication. Funding UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research