Identifying Existing Bus Service Condition and Analyzing Customer Satisfaction of Bus Service in Dhaka City

Bus systems provide a versatile form of public transportation with the flexibility to serve a variety of access needs throughout an urban area. Efficient operation of the public transport is a key factor for the improvement of living condition in Dhaka city. Transport service performance should be assessed from the passengers’ perspectives to evaluate these perceptions in transportation planning. The exploration of service quality of bus is essential in order to provide a better service in future. The objective of this research is to access overall customer satisfaction in public bus transport of Dhaka city. A questionnaire survey was conducted in five locations in Dhaka city. Bus users’ satisfaction was analyzed by discrete choice logit model towards quality, reliability, safety and security and service provided by buses functioning in Dhaka city. The result indicated that more than half of the respondents believed that the present condition of bus service is not satisfactory. In case of the quality of buses, people think that the body and sitting arrangement of the buses are uncomfortable. Regarding the safety and security condition, main three reasons of dissatisfaction of passengers’ are unsafe driving practices, poor boarding and alighting facilities and lack of law enforcing agencies surveillance. Reasons which make the service unsatisfactory include irregular service provided by buses, regular overcrowding, lack of good standard buses and lack of cleanliness. In spite of these negative views, users’ possessed a positive attitude for buses which is the low travel cost.

A multi-purpose National Forest Inventory in Bangladesh:design,operationalisation and key results

Background:National forest inventory and forest monitoring systems are more important than ever considering continued global degradation of trees and forests.These systems are especially important in a country like Bangladesh,which is characterised by a large population density,climate change vulnerability and dependence on natural resources.With the aim of supporting the Government’s actions towards sustainable forest management through reliable information,the Bangladesh Forest Inventory(BFI)was designed and implemented through three components:biophysical inventory,socio-economic survey and remote sensing-based land cover mapping.This article documents the approach undertaken by the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment,Forests and Climate Change to establish the BFI as a multipurpose,efficient,accurate and replicable national forest assessment.The design,operationalization and some key results of the process are presented.Methods:The BFI takes advantage of the latest and most well-accepted technological and methodological approaches.Importantly,it was designed through a collaborative process which drew from the experience and knowledge of multiple national and international entities.Overall,1781 field plots were visited,6400 households were surveyed,and a national land cover map for the year 2015 was produced.Innovative technological enhancements include a semi-automated segmentation approach for developing the wall-to-wall land cover map,an object-based national land characterisation system,consistent estimates between sample-based and mapped land cover areas,use of mobile apps for tree species identification and data collection,and use of differential global positioning system for referencing plot centres.Results:Seven criteria,and multiple associated indicators,were developed for monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management goals,informing management decisions,and national and international reporting needs.A wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic data were collected,and in some cases integrated,for estimating the indicators.Conclusions:The BFI is a new information source tool for helping guide Bangladesh towards a sustainable future.Reliable information on the status of tree and forest resources,as well as land use,empowers evidence-based decision making across multiple stakeholders and at different levels for protecting natural resources.The integrated socioeconomic data collected provides information about the interactions between people and their tree and forest resources,and the valuation of ecosystem services.The BFI is designed to be a permanent assessment of these resources,and future data collection will enable monitoring of trends against the current baseline.However,additional institutional support as well as continuation of collaboration among national partners is crucial for sustaining the BFI process in future.

Process-structure-property relationship for plasma-sprayed iron-based amorphous/crystalline composite coatings

This study explores the fabrication of Fe-based amorphous/crystalline coating by air plasma spraying and its dependency on the coating parameters(plasma power,primary gas flow rate,powder feed rate,and stand-off distance).X-ray diffraction of the coatings deposited at optimized spray parameters showed the presence of amorphous/crystalline phase.Coatings deposited at a lower plasma power and highest gas flow rate exhibited better density,hardness,and wear resistance.All coatings demonstrated equally good resistance against the corrosive environment(3.5wt%NaCl solution).Mechanical,wear,and tribological studies indicated that a single process parameter optimization cannot provide good coating performance;instead,all process parameters have a unique role in defining better properties for the coating by con-trolling the in-flight particle temperature and velocity profile,followed by the cooling pattern of molten droplet before impingement on the substrate.

Effect of Missing Nutrient Elements on Grain Yield of Wet Season Rice in Bangladesh

Background and objective: Long-term fertility study is one of the important factors to monitor changes in yield because of different nutrient management options and cropping systems involved in Asian regions. Many short-term and long-term fertilizer trials were conducted for intensive irrigated rice cropping patterns mostly to provide fertilizer rate, but did not considered sustainable soil management for soil health. The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of missing nutrient elements for a long time on rice yield, photosynthetic rate and residual soil fertility. Materials and Methods: The experiment was initiated on a permanent layout at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) farm, Gazipur during 2000 to 2008 in wet season. Seven treatments in randomized complete block design with four replications were imposed. Grain yield was determined at physiological maturity from three 5 m2 areas within each plot followed by bagging and threshing. Photosynthetic was measure by Li Cor 6400 (USA) machine during study period. Soil sample was analyzed for following standard methods. Results: It was found that grain yield was in decreasing trends for the missing elements that were similar with BR 11 and BRRI dhan 31. On an average, grain yield reductions were 11.6, 7.0, 10.6, 1.1 and 3.4 percent for -N, -P, -K, -S and -Zn, than complete fertilizer treatment (NPKSZn) respectively. Under no fertilization, the ability of soil was to produce 2.9 t·ha-1 of BR11 and 3.1 t·ha-1 of BRRI dhan 31 respectively. Photosynthetic rate of rice plant was always higher in complete fertilizer treatment (NPKSZn) than missing of any nutrient element. The decrease in photosynthetic rate was more pronounced with N missing than others for both the rice varieties. Conclusion: It is concluded that balance chemical fertilizers (NPKSZn) are to be used for sustained and/or increased rice production and to maintain soil fertility.

Growth Yields of Four <i>Coxiella burnetii</i>Isolates in Four Different Cell Culture Lines

Although Coxiella burnetii is considered to be an obligate intracellular bacterium and grows in embryonated eggs, laboratory animals and cell culture, recently it has been grown in cell-free media and on agar plates. This current study was conducted to compare four cell lines for their yield of C. burnetii. Four different isolates of C. burnetii (Henzerling, Arandale, Cumberland and Timony) were grown in DH82, L929, Vero and XTC-2 cell lines. The DH82 and XTC-2 cells lines produced the highest C. burnetii yield which was slightly less than the yields achieved in recently published studies using cell free media. The Arandale isolate of C. burnetii produced a significantly higher yield in DH82 cells compared to XTC-2 cells (P 0.03).