Disaster Coping Strategy Practiced by the Affected People for their Livelihood Due to Climate Change

The purpose of the study were to (i) determine the disaster coping strategy practiced by the affected people (ii) assess the socio-economic profile of the respondents, (iii) ascertain the contribution of selected characteristics of the people and (iv) identify the constraints of disaster coping strategy practiced by the affected people. The study was conducted at Gangachara Upazila of Rangpur District. Data were collected from a sample of 302 respondents, randomly selected from disaster affected population. Age, education, family size, farm size, disaster affected land, annual income, training received, extension media contact, knowledge on disaster coping strategy, environmental awareness, household assets, credit facilities, IGAs, water and sanitation condition, risk orientation, awareness about SSNP, perception of Climate Change (CC), perception of disasters and scope of work in vulnerable situation constituted the independent variables, while disaster coping strategy practiced was the dependent variable. For measuring the disaster coping strategy practices, a 4-point rating scale was used against 50 items taking 10 items from each of five components of human needs e.g. 1) food preservation, collection and management, 2) agricultural products protection, 3) maintaining social network, 4) safeguard of health and sanitation, and 5) protection of housing and shelter. Numerical values and scales were used to measure the personal attributes. Regression and path analysis were employed to determine the contribution among the variables. For exploring relationship between the two variables Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (r) was used. The majority (77.8 per cent) of the respondents had regular coping strategies compared to 22.2 per cent were found to have occasional coping strategies in the study area. Among 19 independent variables 16 were found significant relationship with the dependent variable. Stepwise multiple regression revealed that six variables namely education (23 per cent), participation in IGAs (3.6 percent), awareness of SSNPs (2.9 percent), disaster affected land (1.2 percent), farm size (1.9 percent) and perception of CC (1 percent) were the important contributing variables which combined explained 33.6 of the total variation of practice of coping strategy. Path analysis indicated that disaster affected land (0.589) had the highest positive direct effect while farm size (0.643) had the highest positive indirect effect to the disaster coping strategy practice. The major constraints for practicing disaster coping strategy in the study area were ‘Lack of knowledge and skills of affected people‘, ‘Lack of relief materials during disaster‘, ‘Lack of technologies‘, ‘Weak weather forecasting‘, ‘Less motivation’, ‘Low sanitation & health coverage’ and ‘Lack of communication during disasters’,. To cope up with the challenges of the disasters, the people used reduction of food intake per meal, putting goods above flood level, keeping women and children in safer places, using boiled and tube well water, providing health care support to the sick family members, transfer important documents to the safer places, increasing level of homestead with soil, taking relief, credit, religious fasting, using mosque/temple as campaigning center, borrowing principal food from neighbor, use savings, migration, livestock sell, and social interconnectedness as the major coping strategies to survive the situation and improve their livelihood.

Unusual perforating foreign body in the neck.

Penetrating injury in the neck is not an uncommon condition, but a perforating foreign body like bamboo in the neck is uncommon. A 36 years old young man was admitted in Otolaryngology and Head Neck surgery department, Mymensingh Medical College hospital, with a history of accidental perforating injury in the neck with a bamboo, while driving a vehicle (tempo). Clinical examination revealed a bamboo measuring 4.6 X 0.09 ft. perforated in his neck from left to right. Surprisingly great vessels and air way spared. Due to difficult intubation, elective tracheostomy was done. Neck was explored and foreign body removed under general anesthesia. Haemostasis ensured and wound closed in layers after putting drain tubes. Recovery was uneventful and was discharged after three weeks.

Computed tomography guided fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of thoracic lesions.

Computed tomography (CT) allows the performance of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in situations in which ultrasound or conventional x-rays do not correctly visualise the lesion or the needle tract. Over an 18-month period 184 patients underwent CT-guided FNAC of thoracic lesions. Of these 140 patients presented with pulmonary parenchymal lesions, 18 with mediastinal lesions, 14 with pleural lesions and 12 with hilar lymphadenopathy. A categorical diagnosis was possible in 180 (98%) cases. In majority of the cases only one or two passes were required. Two cases developed pneumothorax and required chest drainage. It can be concluded from the present observations that FNAC under CT control is a useful and accurate diagnostic technique.

Accuracy of cytological findings in abnormal cervical smears by cytohistologic comparison.

To investigate the accuracy rates of cytology in abnormal cervical smears and the factors contributing to a discrepant diagnosis between cytology and histology repots of cervical intraepithelial and invasive neoplasm. During the four-year period 1993 to 1996, abnormal cervical smear findings, which were followed by cervical biopsy, were available in 709 patients. The cytology and histology slides were reviewed in each case. The accuracy rates of cytology before and after review were investigated. The accuracy rate of cytology was 48%. Following review it became 56%, mainly due to a reduction in the number of cases in which the smear showed a lesser degree of CIN than did the biopsy. The proportion of cases in which the cytological impression of CIN was more severe than the histology was minimally altered. The results suggest that difficulty in the interpretation of cervical smear as well as sampling errors are responsible for reduced accuracy even in smears which are considered representative of the pathological process.

Unguided percutaneous transthoracic fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of the peripheral lung lesions.

Percutaneous transthoracic fine needle aspiration cytology (PTFNAC) of lung was done in 614 cases at the department of Pathology of Institute of Diseases of Chest and Hospital (IDCH), Dhaka, during the period from July 1994 to July 1996. A definite diagnosis was possible in 417 cases (78.83%). More than half (57.65%) of the cases were proved to have malignant diseases. PTFNAC detected malignant lesion in these patients for the first time as because no other investigation was able to establish the diagnosis. Diagnostic accuracy was 74%. Only 12 (1.95%) patients developed pneumothorax and mild haemoptysis occurred in 23 (3.74%) patients. So unguided PTFNAC is a simple, time saving, safe and inexpensive method of diagnosis of peripheral lung lesions.

Accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology in the evaluation of peripheral lymphadenopathy.

We conducted an audit of the lymph node aspirates received from January 1996 to December 1996 of 541 patients sent to the Cytology Division, Department of Pathology, Ramathibodi Hospital by their clinicians. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the pattern of diseases that commonly present with peripheral lymphadenopathy and to evaluate the accuracy of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of lymph node diseases. An excisional biopsy sample of lymph node was available in 233 (43%) cases for comparison to the histopathology. The predominant lesion was benign which included necrotizing granulomatous lymphadenitis (NGL), reactive changes (RC) and suppurative lymphadenitis (SL). The predominant malignant lesion was metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. The accuracy for NGL, SL and RC were 69 per cent, 75 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively. The accuracy for metastatic disease was 97 per cent. The specificity and sensitivity of FNAC were 99 per cent and 94 per cent, respectively. An excisional biopsy should be done in case of doubt to clarify the pattern of RC.

Effect of high protein carbohydrate free diet on the evolution of diabetes mellitus in rats.

Diabetes was induced in seventy seven Long Evans rats of both sexes by injecting streptozotocin (STZ). Some of these diabetic rats were provided with a high protein-carbohydrate (HP-CHO) free diet. The diabetic state of the rats on HP-CHO free diet was compared with that of the diabetic rats on normal diet and the control rats on normal diet. Diabetic state was assessed through the diet consumption, body weight changes, urinary glucose loss and blood glucose estimation. From the fifth day the rats on HP-CHO free diet showed significant reduction of blood glucose level and urinary glucose loss.