Varendra University

This study investigates whether role-specific gender diversity in corporate governance influences sustainable firm performance in selected SAARC countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). This study distinguishes between female CEOs, female independent directors, female audit committee chairs, and female audit committee members. Using a balanced panel of 116 listed firms (29 per country) observed from 2018 to 2023 (N = 696 firm-year observations) and dynamic panel system generalized method of moments (GMMs) estimation, we examine associations with accounting (return on assets-ROA) and market-based (Tobin's Q) performance. Results indicate that female independent directors and female audit committee members are positively associated with firm performance, whereas female CEOs show a negative association with ROA and no significant association with Tobin's Q. Female audit committee chairs exhibit mixed or statistically insignificant effects. Findings are interpreted through agency, resource dependence, and contextual governance perspectives. Importantly, results generalize only to the four sampled markets and should not be interpreted as SAARC-wide evidence due to disclosure constraints in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal. The findings highlight the importance of inclusive board structures and merit-based gender diversity policies aligned with SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) to enhance long-term sustainable performance.

Understanding the interplay between financial markets, energy dynamics, and environmental factors is crucial for fostering sustainable economic growth. This study examines the dynamic interactions between equity market volatility, energy prices, carbon emissions, and economic growth in the United States. Using advanced econometric techniques such as Quantile Regression, Quantile-on-Quantile Regression and Wavelet Coherence Analysis, the research captures the heterogeneous effects of these variables across different economic conditions. The findings reveal that equity market volatility has a nonlinear impact on economic growth, with its effects varying across growth quantiles. While energy prices and carbon emissions positively influence economic growth at lower levels, their impact diminishes or turns negative at higher levels, highlighting threshold effects. Additionally, wavelet coherence analysis identifies time-varying relationships, particularly during economic crises. These results offer critical policy insights, emphasizing the need for balanced financial regulations, sustainable energy strategies, and environmental policies that support economic resilience while mitigating carbon emissions. This study contributes to the literature by integrating financial market dynamics with energy and environmental considerations, providing a comprehensive framework for economic sustainability.

Abstract Background Kidney stone is the major cause of morbidity, and its prevalence is increasing in the world. Kidney stone disease is a common cause of morbidity, and its prevalence is increasing in the world. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of kidney stone disease and to evaluate the correlation between drinking water sources (tap and tube-well) and various demographic, dietary, and clinical factors among adult attendees of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). Methods This cross-sectional study was performed from January to June 2024 at the inpatient and outpatient departments of RMCH in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh. The data was collected by face-to-face interview with a well-structured questionnaire directly. SPSS (IBM version 23) was used for data analysis. A cross-tabulation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were performed in this research to find the significant factors affecting kidney stones. Results The proportion of stone formers among adult attendees of RMCH was calculated to be 72.27% in males and 74.3% in females, respectively. The higher prevalence of kidney stones (75.53%) was found in people aged 41–70 years. Dietary practices, volume and kind of drinking water, drinking tube-well water clinical and biochemical characteristics were found to be associated with kidney stone status. The results also showed that the chance of having a kidney stone was higher in diabetic (74.35%), hypertensive (67.90%), and fatty liver (100%) individuals. Logistic regression analysis identified drinking tap water as an independent predictor of kidney stones. Conclusions This study highlights important demographic, dietary, clinical, and biochemical risk factors associated with kidney stone prevalence among adult attendees of RMCH in the Rajshahi region of Bangladesh. The findings may assist in developing targeted preventive strategies and public health interventions.

The enterprises in Bangladesh, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are becoming necessitated to incorporate the environmental responsible practices in their business operations. The study is conducted to explore the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Sustainable Environmental Performance (SEP) using Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV) to explain the internal processes generated by CSR to create environmental value. The research also focuses on the moderating functions of top management environmental concern (TMEC) and perceived organizational support (POS) by framing green capability (GC) and green transformational leadership (GTL) as organizational processes that convert CSR initiatives to measurable environmental gains. When coming up with this conceptual model, GC and GTL are hypothesized to play the role of mediators between CSR and improved SEP results. At the same time, the model also examines whether TMEC and POS have extra impact on CSR-SEP relationship, which may increase the effectiveness of GC and GTL. The data collected through the empirical methods were based on a questionnaire that was distributed to 405 employees in SMEs and of a variety of industries. The dataset obtained was then put through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships and estimate model fit. The results indicate that the statistically significant positive influence of CSR on SEP is present, and the mediating role of GC and GTL is also meaningful in the given relationship. Moreover, TMEC increases the CSR-SEP connection, and POS increases the effect of GTL on SEP. These findings highlight the critical positions of leadership and managerial issue in mediating CSR environmental benefits. The study is significant in the NRBV literature considering the setting of emerging economies and suitable actions that can be applied by practitioners seeking to use CSR as a driver of environmental performance enhancement among SMEs.

SARS-CoV-2 was identified at the end of 2019 as the key cause of COVID-19, a global pandemic. As remedies, different vaccines as well as synthetic drugs have been recommended. However, the availability of natural drugs against SARS-CoV-2 infection is limited, although natural drugs are considered as less toxic than synthetic drugs, and vaccine efficacy is gradually weakened due to unstable RNA sequence patterns of SARS-CoV-2. Black-cumin is a well-known medicinal plant, but it was not rigorously investigated against SARS-CoV-2 infections. This study attempted to investigate this issue, rigorously. In order to explore effective bioactive phytocompounds from black-cumin (BC) through bioinformatics analysis, we selected top-ranked 11 drug target proteins/receptors of which five receptors were SARS-CoV-2 proteins/proteases (S, N, RdRp, 3CLpro, PLpro) and the other six receptors were host proteins (ACE2, MAPK8, TMPRSS2, IL6, TNF, and NFKBIA) associated with the infection by the systematic literature review. We computed binding affinity scores (BAS) for each phytochemical of BC with each of those 11 receptors. Top-ranked five phytocompounds (Silibinin, Taraxerol, Beta amyrin, Cycloartenol, and Alpha-sitosterol) were selected based on their highest average BAS across our proposed receptor, these phytocompounds also showed better binding capabilities against the other independent receptors. Then we selected top-ranked three complexes (ACE2 vs. silibinin, Spike vs. beta amyrin, and MAPK8 vs. Taraxerol) to investigate their binding stability using dynamic simulation (i.e., RMSD, RMSF, DCCM, PCA, and FEL) and MM-GBSA studies and found their stable performance. The ADMET, Bioactivity, and DFT analysis results supported the drug-likeness properties of the proposed phytocompounds. Therefore, the findings of this article might be useful resources for taking an alternative treatment plan against SARS-CoV-2 infections.