Mridul Chowdhury - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mridul Chowdhury

The 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma was in many ways an unprecedented event in the intersection ... more The 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma was in many ways an unprecedented event in the intersection between politics and technology. There is, of course, the obvious: the event marks a rare instance in which a government leveraged control of nationalized ISPs to entirely black out Internet access to prevent images and information about the protests from reaching the outside world. At another level, it is an example of an Internet driven protest which did not lead to tangible political change. On deeper reflection it is also of interest because of the complex interaction between eyewitnesses within the country and a networked public sphere of bloggers, student activists, and governments around the globe. To that end, this case study examines the root causes, progress, and outcomes of the Saffron Revolution and attempts to parse out the extent to which technology may have played a useful or detrimental role in the unfolding of events. The case concludes with some initial hypotheses about...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2013

BMJ Open, 2021

ObjectiveWe estimated the cost-effectiveness of a digital health intervention package (mCARE) for... more ObjectiveWe estimated the cost-effectiveness of a digital health intervention package (mCARE) for community health workers, on pregnancy surveillance and care-seeking reminders compared with the existing paper-based status quo, from 2018 to 2027, in Bangladesh.InterventionsThe mCARE programme involved digitally enhanced pregnancy surveillance, individually targeted text messages and in-person home-visit to pregnant women for care-seeking reminders for antenatal care, child delivery and postnatal care.Study designWe developed a model to project population and service coverage increases with annual geographical expansion (from 1 million to 10 million population over 10 years) of the mCARE programme and the status quo.Major outcomesFor this modelling study, we used Lives Saved Tool to estimate the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) that would be averted by 2027, if the coverage of health interventions was increased in mCARE programme and the status quo, respect...

In mainstream microeconomic theory firms are assumed to maximize profits. This useful assumption ... more In mainstream microeconomic theory firms are assumed to maximize profits. This useful assumption enables economists to derive demand and supply functions and estimate them with market data. The rarely asked question is: how do businessmen optimize and how closely do their efforts achieve optimum conditions? As A. Alchian points out, competition guarantees only that the efficient firm is more efficient than its rival, not that it achieves optimum conditions. Computer science and economics have strikingly different approaches to optimization problems. In computer science problems are characterized by the difficulty of computing a solution. Computer science recognizes a vast variation in the difficulty in solving optimization problems and the occasional impossiblity of arriving at an efficient solution. F. Knight realized this intuitively, and his ideas have since been made consistent with Bayesian statistics. Businessmen frequently face very difficult problems. One example is scheduli...

This paper explores the prospects of using wireless mobile technologies for disaster information ... more This paper explores the prospects of using wireless mobile technologies for disaster information management in Bangladesh. The basic objective of the paper is to give specific recommendations to relevant stakeholders, such as the government and the mobile phone service providers, as to how mobile technologies may be used effectively before, during and after a disaster. The first section of the paper gives an overview of the nature of the natural disasters that affect Bangladesh almost every year in varying degrees of intensity. The second section identifies some of the information and communication gaps before and after a disaster that make disaster management more challenging and somewhat ineffective. The third section introduces some of the relevant mobile technologies that may be used in Bangladesh and other similar LDCs. The fourth section establishes how these mobile technologies may be effectively used to address the information and communication gaps. The concluding section g...

... Author Info. Alfred Norman () (University of Texas, Austin) Mridul Chowdhury () (University o... more ... Author Info. Alfred Norman () (University of Texas, Austin) Mridul Chowdhury () (University of Texas, Austin) Khurram Mahmood () (University of Texas, Austin) Abstract. ... F. Knight realized this intuitively, and his ideas have since been made consistent with Bayesian statistics. ...

International Journal of Technology Policy and Management, 2004

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2004

Citeseer

... of television is not significant due to un-affordability and lack of electricity in rural ...... more ... of television is not significant due to un-affordability and lack of electricity in rural ... 4.5 Enhanced observed time difference E-OTD is included in GSM location standards where mobile device ... can also be informed to the people of specific location using mobile based context aware ...

Vaccine, Jan 29, 2015

In Bangladesh, full vaccination rates among children living in rural hard-to-reach areas and urba... more In Bangladesh, full vaccination rates among children living in rural hard-to-reach areas and urban streets are low. We conducted a quasi-experimental pre-post study of a 12-month mobile phone intervention to improve vaccination among 0-11 months old children in rural hard-to-reach and urban street dweller areas. Software named "mTika" was employed within the existing public health system to electronically register each child's birth and remind mothers about upcoming vaccination dates with text messages. Android smart phones with mTika were provided to all health assistants/vaccinators and supervisors in intervention areas, while mothers used plain cell phones already owned by themselves or their families. Pre and post-intervention vaccination coverage was surveyed in intervention and control areas. Among children over 298 days old, full vaccination coverage actually decreased in control areas - rural baseline 65.9% to endline 55.2% and urban baseline 44.5% to endline 3...

The Oncologist, 2014

Objective. To demonstrate proof of concept for a smart phoneempowered community health worker (CH... more Objective. To demonstrate proof of concept for a smart phoneempowered community health worker (CHW) model of care for breast health promotion, clinical breast examination (CBE), and patient navigation in rural Bangladesh. Methods. This study was a randomized controlled trial; July 1 to October 31, 2012, 30 CHWs conducted door-to-door interviews of women aged 25 and older in Khulna Division. Only women who disclosed a breast symptom were offered CBE. Arm A: smart phone with applications to guide interview, report data, show motivational video, and offer appointment for women with an abnormal CBE. Arm B: smart phone/ applications identical to Arm A plus CHW had training in "patient navigation" to address potential barriers to seeking care. Arm C: control arm (no smart phone; same interview recorded on paper). Outcomes are presented as the "adherence" (to advice regarding a clinic appointment) for women with an abnormal CBE. This study was approved by Women's College Hospital Research Ethics Board (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and district government officials (Khulna, Bangladesh). Funded by Grand Challenges Canada. Results. In 4 months, 22,337 women were interviewed; ,1% declined participation, and 556 women had an abnormal CBE. Control group CHWs completed fewer interviews, had inferior data quality, and identified significantly fewer women with abnormal breast exams compared with CHWs in arms A and B. Arm B had the highest adherence. Conclusion. CHWs guided by our smart phone applications were more efficient and effective in breast health promotion compared with the control group. CHW "navigators" were most effective in encouraging women with an abnormal breast examination to adhere to advice regarding clinic attendance. The Oncologist 2014;19:177-185 Implications for Practice: In low-income countries such as Bangladesh, there are few opportunities for affordable, quality care for breast cancer. Gender inequity and cancer myths limit a woman's choice to seek care if she finds a breast lump.This is the first study to suggest that we can make an impact on breast cancer with basic training of community health workers guided by smart phone applications.With just 1 day of extra training in "patient navigation," we also show that social and cultural issues can be addressed, which improve the likelihood that women with a serious breast problem will attend for proper care.

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2011

Background: The expansion of store-and-forward teledermatology into underserved regions of the wo... more Background: The expansion of store-and-forward teledermatology into underserved regions of the world has long been hampered by the requirement for computers with Internet connectivity. To our knowledge, this study is one of the first to demonstrate the feasibility of teledermatology using newer-generation mobile telephones with specialized software and wireless connectivity to overcome this requirement in a developing country.

The American Journal of Cardiology, Dec 1, 2000

Journal of Cardiac Failure, Feb 1, 2003

Coronary artery disease patients with heart failure (CADϩHF) are at high risk for cardiovascular ... more Coronary artery disease patients with heart failure (CADϩHF) are at high risk for cardiovascular events. We examined the frequency of lipid assessment and prescription of lipid-lowering agents in outpatients with combined CADϩHF compared with patients with CAD alone. Methods: We analyzed an administrative data set from the Quality Assurance Program II, a Merck & Co., Inc., sponsored national retrospective chart audit of 41,487 CAD patients seen at 296 ambulatory medical practices. About 34% of these patients had CADϩHF. Results: Documentation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was significantly lower in patients with CADϩHF (53%) compared with those with CAD alone (69%). Lipidlowering drugs were prescribed in only 36% of patients with CADϩHF, compared with 52% of patients with CAD alone. Lipid levels alone did not justify this disparity. Patients with documented LDL cholesterol values were 4 times more likely to receive a prescription for a lipid-lowering medication than those without recorded values. Other predictors of lipidlowering prescription included: younger age, history of myocardial infarction, revascularization, care by a cardiologist, and geographic region. Conclusions: Patients with CAD, HF, and advanced age simultaneously experience among the highest risk and the lowest lipid-lowering treatment rates. Strategies to increase LDL testing and aggressively treat patients with heart failure and CAD are warranted.

The American Journal of Cardiology, Jan 5, 1999

There is a lack of data evaluating the implementation of guidelines in the management of coronary... more There is a lack of data evaluating the implementation of guidelines in the management of coronary artery disease (CAD) or congestive heart failure (CHF) in the outpatient setting. We analyzed an administrative data set from the Merck & Co. sponsored national Quality Assurance Program, a retrospective outpatient chart audit of 58,890 adult outpatients from 140 medical practices (80% cardiology only) in the USA with diagnoses of CAD and/or CHF identified from medical claims data. We determined the (1) frequency of lipid documentation and prescription of lipid-lowering agents in patients with CAD, (2) frequency of assessment of left ventricular function and prescription of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in patients with CHF, and (3) predictors of medication prescription. Of the 48,586 patients with CAD, 44% had annual diagnostic testing of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Only 25% of these patients reached the target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of <100 mg/dl, and only 39% were taking lipid-lowering therapy, which was less among the elderly than in the younger patients. Of the 16,603 patients with CHF, 64% had diagnostic testing of left ventricular function, and 50% of patients were taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; 67% of patients received medication if they had documented systolic dysfunction. Significant predictors of medication prescription included diagnostic testing, younger age, history of myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass grafting, hypertension, cardiology specialty, and geographic region. Thus, current practice patterns in the management of CAD and CHF are inadequate. Patient age, diagnostic testing, and practice environment influence medication prescription.

American Journal of Cardiology, 2000

Journal of Cardiac Failure, 2003