In this paper, we introduce “Embedding Barrier”, a phenomenon that limits the monolingual perform... more In this paper, we introduce “Embedding Barrier”, a phenomenon that limits the monolingual performance of multilingual models on low-resource languages having unique typologies. We build ‘BanglaBERT’, a Bangla language model pretrained on 18.6 GB Internetcrawled data and benchmark on five standard NLU tasks. We discover a significant drop in the performance of the stateof-the-art multilingual model (XLM-R) from BanglaBERT and attribute this to the Embedding Barrier through comprehensive experiments. We identify that a multilingual model’s performance on a low-resource language is hurt when its writing script is not similar to any of the high-resource languages. To tackle the barrier, we propose a straightforward solution by transcribing languages to a common script, which can effectively improve the performance of a multilingual model for the Bangla language. As a bi-product of the standard NLU benchmarks, we introduce a new downstream dataset on natural language inference (NLI) and ...
Development, as an ideology and practice, has been a matter of much contestation since its incept... more Development, as an ideology and practice, has been a matter of much contestation since its inception at the enlightened period. The way development has been understood, explained and practiced has undergone various experiments and directions over the time. Yet, what development is theoretically and what it should be in practice remains as contested and vague. This article is an attempt to examine the trajectory of development from its origin in the classical modernization to the more contemporary neo-liberal and post-development discourses. It is argued that the way development has been propagated by the modernists as economic growth and positive change has been vehemently challenged by the post-modernists on the ground that development is not only hegemonic, authoritative and dependency creating mechanism that routinely fails and but also produces unintended consequences on the lives of the people. Thus, there has been a growing realization that development needs to be rethought in...
International Journal of Engineering Materials and Manufacture
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or machine to think or learn th... more Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or machine to think or learn that possess human-like intelligence. These computing devices use this intelligence to provide services such as speech recognition, natural language processing and identifying disease in healthcare. To work efficiently, AI requires adequate data that is used to train systems. The efficiency of any AI system depends on the availability of this data. This article is mainly focused on recent advents in the technology of Artificial Intelligence. The importance of AI in healthcare is identified and described in this report. The applications of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare such as clinical care, medical research, drug research and public healthcare are briefly discussed here. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that artificial intelligence is being used in all domains of life and particularly in the field of healthcare. This report presents the role of Artificial Intelligenc...
Objective: In the current absence of a vaccine for COVID-19, public health responses aim to break... more Objective: In the current absence of a vaccine for COVID-19, public health responses aim to break the chain of infection by focusing on the mode of transmission. We reviewed the current evidence on the transmission dynamics and on pathogenic and clinical features of COVID-19 to critically identify any gaps in the current infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines. Methods: In this study, we reviewed global COVID-19 IPC guidelines by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Guidelines from 2 high-income countries (Australia and United Kingdom) and from 1 middle-income country (China) were also reviewed. We searched publications in English on ‘PubMed’ and Google Scholar. We extracted information related to COVID-19 transmission dynamics, clinical presentations, and exposures that may facilitate transmission. We then compared these finding...
The recent bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) has fa... more The recent bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) has facilitated migration of female domestic workers, which has opened up an opportunity as well as challenge for Bangladesh. Opportunities are quite significant in a sense that male migration has already been saturated in the GCC countries which has a major impact on the flow of remittances. The abundant and employable female labour force in Bangladesh could easily contribute to this international labour migration, and thereby add to the national economic development. There are serious problems as well since many Bangladeshi female domestic workers are reported to be exploited, sexually abused and raped by the middle man, recruiting agents, and the overseas employers. Many women fled from their employer and sought shelter at the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah and Riyadh, alleging that they are either being tortured, not properly fed, paid, or not given job as promised. Many female migrants le...
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Jun 15, 2017
The high Z chalcohalides Hg3Q2I2 (Q = S, Se and Te) can be regarded as anti-perovskite structure ... more The high Z chalcohalides Hg3Q2I2 (Q = S, Se and Te) can be regarded as anti-perovskite structure with ordered vacancies and are demonstrated to be very promising candidates for X- and γ-ray semiconductor detectors. Depending on Q the ordering of the Hg vacancies in these defect anti-perovskites varies and yields a rich family of distinct crystal structures ranging from zero-dimensional to three-dimensional, with a dramatic effect on the properties of each compound. All three Hg3Q2I2 compounds show very suitable optical, electrical, and good mechanical properties required for radiation detection at room temperature. These com-pounds possess a high density (> 7 g/cm3) and wide bandgaps (>1.9 eV), showing great stopping power for hard radiation and high intrinsic electrical resistivity, over 1011 Ωcm. Large single crystals are grown using the vapor transport method and each mate-rial shows excellent photo sensitivity under energetic photons. Detectors made from thin Hg3Q2I2 crys...
H2-selective Pd and Pd-alloy membranes in membrane reactor offer a unique opportunity for simulta... more H2-selective Pd and Pd-alloy membranes in membrane reactor offer a unique opportunity for simultaneous production and separation of hydrogen from many of the industrially important steam reforming reactions by equilibrium shift. In this study, we investigated the steam reforming of methanol and ethanol in a Pd-alloy (Pd-Cu and Pd-Ag) composite membrane reactor. Defect free Pd-alloy thin-film membranes on microporous stainless steel (MPSS) support were fabricated in our laboratory using a newly developed surfactant induced electroless plating (SIEP). The Pd-alloy membranes were tested for thermal stability and H2-perm-selectivity at 450 οC. Reforming reactions were studied using: (a) commercially available Ni-based steam reforming catalyst and (b) our in-house synthesized trimetallic Pd-Ni-Sn nano-catalyst supported on mesoporous silica. The effect of steam to alcohol ratio, temperature and space velocity on alcohol conversion, hydrogen yield and carbon monoxide suppression were exam...
The buffalo plays an important role in farmer’s economic life in Bangladesh. This study aims to c... more The buffalo plays an important role in farmer’s economic life in Bangladesh. This study aims to characterize the indigenous, an undocumented buffalo phenotypically during the time period from September 2013 to February 2014. The data were collected from 120 adult buffaloes (60 male, 60 female), through interview from the farmers with the help of pre-form questionnaire. The coat color of the buffaloes was predominantly light to dark grey (92.50%). Light color mark (86%) present on the dewlap. Horns are long, curved laterally and extended directed backwards without twisting. Eyes, eyelashes and horn color were predominantly black. Whitish color mark (96.50%) presents below the knee and hock joint up to fetlock joint in both legs. The phenotypic character and behavior indicated that buffalo of Sylhet district might be swamp type. Body weight is highly related with body length, heart girth, wither height. Body weight, body length, heart girth, withers height, foreleg, hind leg, head, ea...
Aims: The factors of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms such as microbial factors, managem... more Aims: The factors of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms such as microbial factors, management factors, sex and seasons were determined. Materials and Methods: A total of 500 calves of 120 different small scale dairy farms of Biswanath upazilla in Sylhet region of Bangladesh were visited in this research during the study period from January 2013 to December 2013. Herd size was 5-6 in average in these farms. All the collected data were analyzed statistically by using Microsoft windows 7 excel program. Results: The overall calf mortality rate was 12.6%. The recorded mortality cases were classified into two major groups (microbial and management factors). In case of microbial factors highest mortality was found due to gastro enteritis (28.57%) followed by pneumonia (19.04%), parasitic infestation (4.76%) and others (14.28%) causes. Calf scour was the most important cause of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms. In case of management factors, dystocia (12.70%), cold stress (1...
In Bangladesh the artificial insemination (AI) technique has been used near about fifty years and... more In Bangladesh the artificial insemination (AI) technique has been used near about fifty years and every year this program is extended. Using A.I. the productive and reproductive performances of our cattle population has improved day by day. In spite of these advantages, this technique is not yet adopted by the farmers of many areas in our country. Therefore, to understand the reason behind this, we aimed to study the present status of AI compare to that of Natural Insemination of cattle at Biswanath Upazilla in Sylhet. In this study, 100 cows were selected for natural services and 100 cows for AI After completion of this study we found that 30 male calves and 35 female calves were produced by natural services and in case of AI, 42 were male and 46 were female. In natural services, the ratio of male and female was 30:35, while it was 42:46 for AI Conception rate in natural services and AI were 65% and 88%, respectively. Service per conception in natural services was 1.3 and in AI it ...
This paper presents the design, construction and testing of grounded frequency selective surfaces... more This paper presents the design, construction and testing of grounded frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) used to eliminate speckle, produced by coherent mm-wave sources. The reflection amplitude and phase of two dimensional periodic arrays of slot FSSs printed on a grounded Roger 4003C substrate are investigated. It is shown that the reflection phase variation as a function of slot length is
Proceedings of the IEEE 1996 National Aerospace and Electronics Conference NAECON 1996, 1996
... optics. University of Dayton 300 College Park. Dayton. OH 45469-0245 and SAIFUL ISLAM Departm... more ... optics. University of Dayton 300 College Park. Dayton. OH 45469-0245 and SAIFUL ISLAM Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka 1000. Bangladesh ...
Zhong yao cai = Zhongyaocai = Journal of Chinese medicinal materials, 2004
To study analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of bornyl acetate, the main ingredient of Amomum... more To study analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of bornyl acetate, the main ingredient of Amomum villosum volatile oil. The analgesic effects were tested by hot-plate and writhing reaction method, the ear swelling caused by dimethylbenzene in mice. Bornyl acetate could restrain writhing reaction caused by acetic acid glacial, lighten the pain caused by hot-plate. It could also suppress ear swelling caused by dimethylbenzene in mice. Bornyl acetate shows analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.
The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health, 2008
Diabetic patients have a higher prevalence of thyroid disorders than the general population, this... more Diabetic patients have a higher prevalence of thyroid disorders than the general population, this may influence diabetic management. In this study, we investigated thyroid hormone levels in uncontrolled diabetic patients. This comparative study was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM). Fifty-two diabetic patients were consecutively selected from diabetic patients attending the out-patient department of BIRDEM. Fifty control subjects were selected from non-diabetic patients who attended the out-patient department of BIRDEM for routine check-ups as advised by their attending physicians. The subjects in both groups were above 30 years of age. The concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and thyroxine (FT4) were evaluated using a Microparticle Enzyme Immunoassay (MEIA) procedure. Patients with type 2 diabetes had significantly lower serum FT3 levels (p = 0.000) ...
Cancer cells which escape induction therapy are a major cause of relapse. Understanding metabolic... more Cancer cells which escape induction therapy are a major cause of relapse. Understanding metabolic alterations associated with drug resistance opens up unexplored opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Here, we applied a broad spectrum of technologies including RNA sequencing, global untargeted metabolomics and stable isotope labelling mass spectrometry to identify metabolic changes in P-glycoprotein overexpressing T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells, which escaped a therapeutically relevant daunorubicin treatment. We show that compared to sensitive ALL cells, resistant leukemia cells possess a fundamentally rewired central metabolism characterized by reduced dependence on glutamine despite a lack of expression of glutamate-ammonia ligase (GLUL), a higher demand for glucose and an altered rate of fatty acid β-oxidation, accompanied by a decreased pantothenic acid uptake capacity. We experimentally validate our findings by selectively targeting co...
In this paper, we introduce “Embedding Barrier”, a phenomenon that limits the monolingual perform... more In this paper, we introduce “Embedding Barrier”, a phenomenon that limits the monolingual performance of multilingual models on low-resource languages having unique typologies. We build ‘BanglaBERT’, a Bangla language model pretrained on 18.6 GB Internetcrawled data and benchmark on five standard NLU tasks. We discover a significant drop in the performance of the stateof-the-art multilingual model (XLM-R) from BanglaBERT and attribute this to the Embedding Barrier through comprehensive experiments. We identify that a multilingual model’s performance on a low-resource language is hurt when its writing script is not similar to any of the high-resource languages. To tackle the barrier, we propose a straightforward solution by transcribing languages to a common script, which can effectively improve the performance of a multilingual model for the Bangla language. As a bi-product of the standard NLU benchmarks, we introduce a new downstream dataset on natural language inference (NLI) and ...
Development, as an ideology and practice, has been a matter of much contestation since its incept... more Development, as an ideology and practice, has been a matter of much contestation since its inception at the enlightened period. The way development has been understood, explained and practiced has undergone various experiments and directions over the time. Yet, what development is theoretically and what it should be in practice remains as contested and vague. This article is an attempt to examine the trajectory of development from its origin in the classical modernization to the more contemporary neo-liberal and post-development discourses. It is argued that the way development has been propagated by the modernists as economic growth and positive change has been vehemently challenged by the post-modernists on the ground that development is not only hegemonic, authoritative and dependency creating mechanism that routinely fails and but also produces unintended consequences on the lives of the people. Thus, there has been a growing realization that development needs to be rethought in...
International Journal of Engineering Materials and Manufacture
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or machine to think or learn th... more Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer program or machine to think or learn that possess human-like intelligence. These computing devices use this intelligence to provide services such as speech recognition, natural language processing and identifying disease in healthcare. To work efficiently, AI requires adequate data that is used to train systems. The efficiency of any AI system depends on the availability of this data. This article is mainly focused on recent advents in the technology of Artificial Intelligence. The importance of AI in healthcare is identified and described in this report. The applications of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare such as clinical care, medical research, drug research and public healthcare are briefly discussed here. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that artificial intelligence is being used in all domains of life and particularly in the field of healthcare. This report presents the role of Artificial Intelligenc...
Objective: In the current absence of a vaccine for COVID-19, public health responses aim to break... more Objective: In the current absence of a vaccine for COVID-19, public health responses aim to break the chain of infection by focusing on the mode of transmission. We reviewed the current evidence on the transmission dynamics and on pathogenic and clinical features of COVID-19 to critically identify any gaps in the current infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines. Methods: In this study, we reviewed global COVID-19 IPC guidelines by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Guidelines from 2 high-income countries (Australia and United Kingdom) and from 1 middle-income country (China) were also reviewed. We searched publications in English on ‘PubMed’ and Google Scholar. We extracted information related to COVID-19 transmission dynamics, clinical presentations, and exposures that may facilitate transmission. We then compared these finding...
The recent bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) has fa... more The recent bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) has facilitated migration of female domestic workers, which has opened up an opportunity as well as challenge for Bangladesh. Opportunities are quite significant in a sense that male migration has already been saturated in the GCC countries which has a major impact on the flow of remittances. The abundant and employable female labour force in Bangladesh could easily contribute to this international labour migration, and thereby add to the national economic development. There are serious problems as well since many Bangladeshi female domestic workers are reported to be exploited, sexually abused and raped by the middle man, recruiting agents, and the overseas employers. Many women fled from their employer and sought shelter at the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah and Riyadh, alleging that they are either being tortured, not properly fed, paid, or not given job as promised. Many female migrants le...
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Jun 15, 2017
The high Z chalcohalides Hg3Q2I2 (Q = S, Se and Te) can be regarded as anti-perovskite structure ... more The high Z chalcohalides Hg3Q2I2 (Q = S, Se and Te) can be regarded as anti-perovskite structure with ordered vacancies and are demonstrated to be very promising candidates for X- and γ-ray semiconductor detectors. Depending on Q the ordering of the Hg vacancies in these defect anti-perovskites varies and yields a rich family of distinct crystal structures ranging from zero-dimensional to three-dimensional, with a dramatic effect on the properties of each compound. All three Hg3Q2I2 compounds show very suitable optical, electrical, and good mechanical properties required for radiation detection at room temperature. These com-pounds possess a high density (> 7 g/cm3) and wide bandgaps (>1.9 eV), showing great stopping power for hard radiation and high intrinsic electrical resistivity, over 1011 Ωcm. Large single crystals are grown using the vapor transport method and each mate-rial shows excellent photo sensitivity under energetic photons. Detectors made from thin Hg3Q2I2 crys...
H2-selective Pd and Pd-alloy membranes in membrane reactor offer a unique opportunity for simulta... more H2-selective Pd and Pd-alloy membranes in membrane reactor offer a unique opportunity for simultaneous production and separation of hydrogen from many of the industrially important steam reforming reactions by equilibrium shift. In this study, we investigated the steam reforming of methanol and ethanol in a Pd-alloy (Pd-Cu and Pd-Ag) composite membrane reactor. Defect free Pd-alloy thin-film membranes on microporous stainless steel (MPSS) support were fabricated in our laboratory using a newly developed surfactant induced electroless plating (SIEP). The Pd-alloy membranes were tested for thermal stability and H2-perm-selectivity at 450 οC. Reforming reactions were studied using: (a) commercially available Ni-based steam reforming catalyst and (b) our in-house synthesized trimetallic Pd-Ni-Sn nano-catalyst supported on mesoporous silica. The effect of steam to alcohol ratio, temperature and space velocity on alcohol conversion, hydrogen yield and carbon monoxide suppression were exam...
The buffalo plays an important role in farmer’s economic life in Bangladesh. This study aims to c... more The buffalo plays an important role in farmer’s economic life in Bangladesh. This study aims to characterize the indigenous, an undocumented buffalo phenotypically during the time period from September 2013 to February 2014. The data were collected from 120 adult buffaloes (60 male, 60 female), through interview from the farmers with the help of pre-form questionnaire. The coat color of the buffaloes was predominantly light to dark grey (92.50%). Light color mark (86%) present on the dewlap. Horns are long, curved laterally and extended directed backwards without twisting. Eyes, eyelashes and horn color were predominantly black. Whitish color mark (96.50%) presents below the knee and hock joint up to fetlock joint in both legs. The phenotypic character and behavior indicated that buffalo of Sylhet district might be swamp type. Body weight is highly related with body length, heart girth, wither height. Body weight, body length, heart girth, withers height, foreleg, hind leg, head, ea...
Aims: The factors of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms such as microbial factors, managem... more Aims: The factors of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms such as microbial factors, management factors, sex and seasons were determined. Materials and Methods: A total of 500 calves of 120 different small scale dairy farms of Biswanath upazilla in Sylhet region of Bangladesh were visited in this research during the study period from January 2013 to December 2013. Herd size was 5-6 in average in these farms. All the collected data were analyzed statistically by using Microsoft windows 7 excel program. Results: The overall calf mortality rate was 12.6%. The recorded mortality cases were classified into two major groups (microbial and management factors). In case of microbial factors highest mortality was found due to gastro enteritis (28.57%) followed by pneumonia (19.04%), parasitic infestation (4.76%) and others (14.28%) causes. Calf scour was the most important cause of calf mortality in small scale dairy farms. In case of management factors, dystocia (12.70%), cold stress (1...
In Bangladesh the artificial insemination (AI) technique has been used near about fifty years and... more In Bangladesh the artificial insemination (AI) technique has been used near about fifty years and every year this program is extended. Using A.I. the productive and reproductive performances of our cattle population has improved day by day. In spite of these advantages, this technique is not yet adopted by the farmers of many areas in our country. Therefore, to understand the reason behind this, we aimed to study the present status of AI compare to that of Natural Insemination of cattle at Biswanath Upazilla in Sylhet. In this study, 100 cows were selected for natural services and 100 cows for AI After completion of this study we found that 30 male calves and 35 female calves were produced by natural services and in case of AI, 42 were male and 46 were female. In natural services, the ratio of male and female was 30:35, while it was 42:46 for AI Conception rate in natural services and AI were 65% and 88%, respectively. Service per conception in natural services was 1.3 and in AI it ...
This paper presents the design, construction and testing of grounded frequency selective surfaces... more This paper presents the design, construction and testing of grounded frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) used to eliminate speckle, produced by coherent mm-wave sources. The reflection amplitude and phase of two dimensional periodic arrays of slot FSSs printed on a grounded Roger 4003C substrate are investigated. It is shown that the reflection phase variation as a function of slot length is
Proceedings of the IEEE 1996 National Aerospace and Electronics Conference NAECON 1996, 1996
... optics. University of Dayton 300 College Park. Dayton. OH 45469-0245 and SAIFUL ISLAM Departm... more ... optics. University of Dayton 300 College Park. Dayton. OH 45469-0245 and SAIFUL ISLAM Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka 1000. Bangladesh ...
Zhong yao cai = Zhongyaocai = Journal of Chinese medicinal materials, 2004
To study analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of bornyl acetate, the main ingredient of Amomum... more To study analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of bornyl acetate, the main ingredient of Amomum villosum volatile oil. The analgesic effects were tested by hot-plate and writhing reaction method, the ear swelling caused by dimethylbenzene in mice. Bornyl acetate could restrain writhing reaction caused by acetic acid glacial, lighten the pain caused by hot-plate. It could also suppress ear swelling caused by dimethylbenzene in mice. Bornyl acetate shows analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.
The Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health, 2008
Diabetic patients have a higher prevalence of thyroid disorders than the general population, this... more Diabetic patients have a higher prevalence of thyroid disorders than the general population, this may influence diabetic management. In this study, we investigated thyroid hormone levels in uncontrolled diabetic patients. This comparative study was conducted at the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM). Fifty-two diabetic patients were consecutively selected from diabetic patients attending the out-patient department of BIRDEM. Fifty control subjects were selected from non-diabetic patients who attended the out-patient department of BIRDEM for routine check-ups as advised by their attending physicians. The subjects in both groups were above 30 years of age. The concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and thyroxine (FT4) were evaluated using a Microparticle Enzyme Immunoassay (MEIA) procedure. Patients with type 2 diabetes had significantly lower serum FT3 levels (p = 0.000) ...
Cancer cells which escape induction therapy are a major cause of relapse. Understanding metabolic... more Cancer cells which escape induction therapy are a major cause of relapse. Understanding metabolic alterations associated with drug resistance opens up unexplored opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Here, we applied a broad spectrum of technologies including RNA sequencing, global untargeted metabolomics and stable isotope labelling mass spectrometry to identify metabolic changes in P-glycoprotein overexpressing T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells, which escaped a therapeutically relevant daunorubicin treatment. We show that compared to sensitive ALL cells, resistant leukemia cells possess a fundamentally rewired central metabolism characterized by reduced dependence on glutamine despite a lack of expression of glutamate-ammonia ligase (GLUL), a higher demand for glucose and an altered rate of fatty acid β-oxidation, accompanied by a decreased pantothenic acid uptake capacity. We experimentally validate our findings by selectively targeting co...
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