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Both research and development (R&D) and military expenditure are pivotal areas for any country's economy. However, most countries tend to spend more on military because of global insecurity and power politics. Nevertheless, this study shows the merit of R&D investment and how it contributes to the national human capital. An analysis was undertaken on the gap between R&D and military expenditure considering the Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 76 countries for a period of 15 years (2000–2014). Mixed effect models were applied to adjust the effect of six different continents. The results showed that HDI has a positive bi-directional significant relationship with higher R&D investment. National spending on R&D builds human capital, which in turn contributes to public development over the years, unlike military expenditure that only marginally contributes towards GDP and makes no contribution to HDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country that has recently joined the ranks of low‐middle‐income countries. This study aims to investigate how socioeconomic and developmental factors have influenced women towards a shift in their body mass index (BMI). Methods: The trend was analysed using data on ever‐married women from 6 nationwide surveys covering the years 1996 to 2014, conducted by the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). To assess the relationship between the socioeconomic factors and BMI, binary regression models were fitted for 6 surveys and forest plots were applied to display the results. Results: Factors such as age, education, residence, economic status, and contraceptive use were found to have had an increasing influence on BMI over the years that were being analysed. Age and education for women were potential factors influencing BMI. Growing urbanization and economic inequality were found to have been substantial over time, and marital status and contraceptive use were influential whilst the employment status of women held no consequence. Conclusions: Rapid urbanization allied with growing wealth inequality and dietary alteration seems to have forced a change in the capacity of women in Bangladesh to control their weight. Additional information is still needed on such factors as the amount of time that women are inactive and sitting down, for example, as well as their daily calorie intake in order to assemble all the pieces for addressing necessary health policy changes in Bangladesh. These factors will also help to indicate a shift of focus from rural malnutrition to urban obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though corporate stakeholder orientation is connected with corporate social performance practices, there is a dearth of knowledge on the theorized assertion that background characteristics influence stakeholders' salience and attitude towards social performance practices of firms. The aim of this paper is to measure and examine this hypothesis. To test this claim, this research uses the Surat Resource Region in Queensland, Australia, as the case study. Based on the bivariate test, age, gender, occupation type and educational status have varying statistically significant effects on stakeholders' attitude towards corporate social practices. The multinomial logistic findings showed that only education retained a net effect on a stakeholder's attitude to participation in corporate social practices, where those with a higher level of education are 1.388 times more likely to perceive stakeholder engagement practices as relevant, 2.864 times more likely for social impact assessment practices and 1.430 times more likely for practices aimed at rights of indigenous communities. Findings imply the need for awareness programs to be incorporated into corporate social practices, which can help promote the success of stakeholder-oriented policies. The paper further makes suggestions that have both business strategy and policy planning implications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the extent of healthcare cost increase at population level due to childhood asthma. We aimed to investigate the cross-sectional relationship between asthma and healthcare costs among children aged 2 to 18 years and, in longitudinal analyses, whether costs increase with an increase in the duration of asthma prevalence. Study participants are 4175 and 4482 children of birth and kindergarten cohorts from the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Australian Children for whom the linked Medicare cost data are available. The children were followed in all waves from the year 2004 to 2018. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the excess healthcare costs associated with asthma. The sum of Medicare Benefits Schedule and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme costs constitutes the total healthcare costs. Total excess healthcare costs associated with asthma among the 2- to 18-year-old children were A$4316 per child. At the population level, the estimated total excess Medicare costs associated with current asthma treatment among 2- to 18-year-old children were, on average, A$190.6 million per year (2018 population and price). Compared with the non-asthmatic children, peers with persistent asthma morbidity and treatment requirements had excess costs up to A$20 727 for the B cohort children until 14 years of age, whereas excess costs for the K cohort children were A$19 571 until 18 years of age. Asthma in children imposes a significant financial burden on the public health system. Higher excess healthcare costs of all asthmatic children than the costs of nonasthmatic children provide further economic justification for promoting preventive efforts at early ages. • For children aged 2 to 9 years only, healthcare costs, which are the sum of Medicare and pharmaceutical costs, are known for a few studied pediatric morbidities in the Australian context. • This study is the first to use a nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to evaluate the excess healthcare costs of asthmatic children aged 2 to 18 years, age group-wise and longitudinally. • This new knowledge on the pattern of excess healthcare costs associated with asthma would inform healthcare policy makers about the target groups and how to design and implement project interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicidality among adolescents continues to be a serious public health concern worldwide, and suicide is the leading cause of death for young Australians. However, to develop effective preventive interventions, it is essential to understand the types and rates of mental health service utilization among adolescents. This study investigated the association between suicidality and mental health service utilization among Australian adolescents, and to test whether service use is affected by the simultaneous presence of suicidality and mental disorders. Adolescents aged 13–17 years (n = 2134) were used in this study from The Second Australian Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey – Young Minds Matter (YMM), which is a nationwide cross-sectional survey. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with parents using a structured-questionnaire, while, adolescents completed a computer-based self-reported questionnaire privately. The YMM reported four types of mental health service: (1) health services – any services provided by a qualified health professional, regardless of where that service was provided; (2) school services – any services such as counseling or support programs provided by school or any educational institution; (3) telephone counseling services; and (4) online services. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the relationships between independent variables (suicidality, mental disorder) and their distributions over outcome variables (mental health services), adjusting for relevant sociodemographic and potential risk factors such as age, gender, remoteness, household income, family type, family functioning, parents' education, parents' employment, substance use by the child. An interaction between mental disorders and suicidality were included in the regression to examine whether and to what extent service use is affected if an adolescent has both suicidality and a mental disorder. Overall, 168 (8%) adolescents reported suicidality and prevalence of suicidality (ideation, plan and attempt) was higher in adolescents with mental disorders (P < 0.01 for all). Suicidality was high among girls irrespective of mental health condition. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses using child data and parent data showed a strong and significant association between suicidality and mental health service utilization among adolescents. Online service and health services were more likely to be accessed by adolescents with suicidality as reported in child data and parent data, respectively; while, school and telephone counselling service were less utilized within the same population. However, still, a large number of adolescents with suicidality did not access any services, even the incidence of seeking any mental health service was higher among adolescents with suicidality compared to those with a mental disorder. The limited number of suicidal adolescents is using mental health services, which is alarming for prevention of suicide. Further research is warranted to understand the quality of service received by adolescents and the factors influencing service utilization due to mental health-related problems. Also, interventions to improve care, prevention and monitoring are solely required for this group of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health policies and public health studies in Bangladesh primarily focus on physical aspects of health, thus creating a gap in the literature regarding the assessment of the emotional-social environment for children and their developmental vulnerabilities. Interactions though literacy activities, such as shared reading times between child and parents, are possible ways to address the developmental and cognitive needs of children. This study explores the district-wise presence of books for children (aged 0–4 years) in households and identifies vulnerable households by exploring the association between sociodemographic status and household book ownership. The Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2012–13 was used to map the spatial heterogeneity of average availability of children's books, which revealed that ownership of age-appropriate books was clustered around divisional cities, with one exception. Around 65% of the households did not have any suitable books for children. The presence of children's books was significantly (p <.005) associated with children's age, mother's age and education, financial status of the household, education of the head of the house, mother's mobile phone ownership, and mother's access to media (newspaper and television). Parents in high-income households and with highly educated mothers were nearly three times more likely to own children's books. Similarly, parents in a household with the mother having a mobile phone were 42% more likely to own children's books. The findings suggest that a household's lack of financial capacity to purchase books, the role of public health media in promoting the mother's awareness of the need for children's books, and a lack of understanding of children's cognitive developmental needs could be more effectively addressed in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Crop sensitivity to root zone salinity can vary over time, which can lead to severe damage when high sensitivity coincides with high soil salinity. The variation in salinity sensitivity of sunflower during its growth cycle is unknown. Methods: Two pot experiments were conducted in sand culture with a complete nutrient solution. Solutions were flushed through pots in excess to maintain specified salt concentrations in the soil solution. In Experiment 1, salt-sensitive stages were determined by applying solutions with an electrical conductivity of < 0.7, 2, 4 or 8 dS m− 1 through the vegetative, flowering or grain filling stages. In Experiment 2, the most sensitive stage to root-zone salinity was determined by exposing plants to 10-day periods of salinity (< 0.7, 8, 16 and 24 dS m− 1) overlapping by 4 days starting from 13-leaf to grain filling. Results: In both experiments, decreases in seed yield were associated with exposure of plants to elevated EC during the period before opening of disk flower to ~ 95% anthesis, while grain filling was the least sensitive. The decline in yield was correlated with a decrease in mature seed number. Increasing salinity from 4 to 8 dS m− 1 during flowering increased the area without seeds at the centre of the disk. In experiment 2, measurements of leaf ion concentrations and photosynthesis suggested that Na+ toxicity decreased yield due to decreases in availability of photosynthate to flowers. Conclusion: To maximise sunflower yield in saline soils, it is important to minimise salinity stress from before flower opening to anthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Preference by groups for COVID-19 vaccine by public is yet to be researched in Bangladesh. • Primary data were collected via an online survey (n = 2291) during countrywide lockdown (December 2020–January 2021). • Strong public preference of early vaccination was towards the frontline workers, severely sick and the elderly. • Preference rankings varied across sociodemographic factors including differences between urban and rural residents. • Effective communication on vaccine delivery are needed for any future health crisis for effective national immunization. One of the most challenging aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the inability to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines to fight the pandemic. Many governments around the globe had to prioritize and perform a triage in distributing the vaccines due to the limited supply as well as a lack of financial strength to acquire a sufficient number of vaccines in time. The present study assessed the public opinion in Bangladesh regarding vaccination prioritization strategy and its associated aspects. Due to the infectious nature of the viral transmission, the study used an online survey and collected a sample of 2291 respondents, distributed proportionally across sex, and income groups. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression modelling were utilized to conduct the analyses. The results emphasized unanimous preference of prioritized vaccination leaning towards the frontline workers, the severely sick and the elderly. However, the segregation across ethnicity was noted with no major preference among sexes or religion. The results reinforce the Bangladesh government's undertaken strategy of prioritization. However, the preference rankings varied across sociodemographic factors including self-assessed COVID-19 knowledge and income tiers, among others. The findings underline the necessity of improved risk communication strategies to ensure public confidence and conformity to vaccination efforts and their effective deployment across the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to identify clusters of lifestyle and health behaviours and explore their associations with health outcomes in a nationally representative sample of Australian adolescents. Methods: The study participants were 3127 adolescents aged 14–15 years who participated in the eighth wave of the birth cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). A latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify clusters based on the behaviours of physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, diet, eating disorders, sleep problems and weight consciousness. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to the following health outcome variables: obesity, self-rated general health and pediatric health-related quality of life, to investigate their associations with LCA clusters. Results: Based on the prevalence of health behaviour related characteristics, LCA identified gender based distinct clusters of adolescents with certain outward characteristics. There were five clusters for male and four clusters for female participants which are named as: healthy lifestyle, temperate, mixed lifestyle, multiple risk factors, and physically inactive (male only). Adolescents in the healthy lifestyle and temperate clusters reported low and moderately active health risk behaviours, for example, low physical activity, inadequate sleep and so on, while these behaviours were prevailing higher among adolescents of other clusters. Compared to adolescents of healthy lifestyle clusters, male members of physically inactive (OR = 3.87, 95% CI: 1.12 – 13.33) or mixed lifestyle (OR = 5.57, 95% CI: 3.15 – 9.84) clusters were over three to five times more likely to have obesity; while for female adolescents, members of only multiple risk factors clusters (OR = 3.61, 95% CI: 2.00 – 6.51) were over three time more likely to have obesity compared to their counterpart of healthy lifestyle clusters. Adolescents of physically inactive (b = -9.00 for male only), mixed lifestyle (b = -2.77 for male; b = -6.72 for female) or multiple risk factors clusters (b = -6.49 for male; b = -6.59 for female) had a stronger negative association with health-related quality of life scores compared to adolescents of healthy lifestyle clusters. Conclusion: The study offers novel insights into latent class classification through the utilisation of different lifestyles and health-related behaviours of adolescents to identify characteristics of vulnerable groups concerning obesity, general health status and quality of life. This classification strategy may help health policy makers to target vulnerable groups and develop appropriate interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]