Mohammad Amirul Islam

High fertility regions in Bangladesh: a marriage cohort analysis.

Bangladesh represents one of the few countries in south Asia where the pace of fertility decline has been unprecedented over the last three decades. Although there has been significant reduction in fertility levels at the national level, regional variations continue to persist, especially in Sylhet and Chittagong where the total fertility rates are well above the country average. Using data from three consecutive Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHSs) this paper assesses how fertility patterns in Sylhet and Chittagong differ from the rest of Bangladesh through a marriage cohort analysis of the parity progression ratios, and examines the factors determining the transition rates to higher parity in these two regions. Three cohorts of women are identified: those married during 1965-1974, 1975-84 and 1985-94. The results show that the probability that a woman from the recent cohort in Sylhet or Chittagong who had a third birth will have a fourth birth is nearly twice that of her counterpart in other regions. Social characteristics such as education, occupation, religion and residence have no effect on fertility in Sylhet and Chittagong. Additional period-specific analyses using the 2007 BDHS data show that women in Sylhet are considerably more likely to have a third or fourth birth sooner than those in other divisions, especially Khulna. The findings call for specific family planning policy interventions in Sylhet and Chittagong ensuring gender equity, promoting female education and delaying entry into marriage and childbearing.

Sex preference as a determinant of contraceptive use in matrilineal societies: A study on the Garo of Bangladesh

Objectives This paper explores the presence of sex preference and its influence on contraceptive use among the Garo, a matrilineal community, of Bangladesh. Methods In this study, 223 currently married Garo women were interviewed, selected purposively from two districts of Bangladesh, where most of the Garo people live. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to explore the determinants of current use of contraceptives among the Garo community. Results About 80% of the Garo women were currently using contraceptive methods, which was much higher than the contraceptive prevalence at the national level (55.8%). However, the use of modern male methods was very low in that community. Regression analysis revealed that the strong preference for girls was a significant determinant of contraceptive use. Conclusions Even though the Garo apply contraception more than the Bangladeshi community in general, their strong preference for girls may restrain its success. Family planning information can be designed so as not to challenge the matrilineal structure of the society and both spouses counselled together to promote also modern male methods.

Consistency in reporting condom use between husbands and wives in Bangladesh.

Consistency in reporting contraceptive use between spouses is little understood, especially in developing settings. This research challenges the accuracy of measuring contraceptive prevalence rate, which is traditionally calculated based on womens responses. Multinomial logistic regression techniques are employed on a couple dataset from the 1999-2000 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to investigate the consistency in reporting condom use between husbands and wives. The level of inconsistency in reporting condom use was about 46%, of which about 32% was explained by husbands reporting condom use while wives did not, and 14% by wives reporting condom use while husbands did not. Regression analysis showed that couple education and age difference between the spouses are significant determinants of inconsistent reporting behaviour. The findings suggest the need for alternative approaches (questions) in the DHS to ensure consistency in the collection of data related to use of family planning methods.

Contraceptive awareness among men in Bangladesh.

Objective A considerable gap exists between contraceptive awareness and use. Traditional approaches to measuring awareness are inadequate to properly understand the linkages between awareness and use. The objective of this study was to examine the degree of mens modern contraceptive awareness in Bangladesh and the associated determinants and further testing of a hypothesis that current contraceptive use confers a high degree of method awareness. Methods This study used the couple data set from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (1999–2000). A two-level, multinomial logistic regression was used with the degree of contraceptive awareness as the dependent variable. The degree of awareness was measured by the reported number of modern contraceptive methods known among men aged 15–59 years. Mens responses on method awareness were classified according to those reported spontaneously and probed. Results Nearly 100% of the study participants reported having heard of at least one method and about half reported awareness of at least eight different methods of contraception. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that older and educated men were more likely to have reported a high degree of awareness. The findings confirmed our hypothesis that current contraceptive use is likely to confer a high degree of modern method awareness among men (p<0.001), after controlling for other important characteristics. Conclusions Men who had a low degree of contraceptive awareness seem not properly informed of the wide range of contraceptive options. It is imperative that family planning intervention strategies in Bangladesh should focus on the degree and functional knowledge of contraceptive methods to improve the uptake of especially male-based modern methods.

Experimental cross section for the 152Sm(n, γ)153Sm reaction at 0.0334 eV

Abstract The neutron capture cross section for the 152Sm(n,  γ)153Sm reaction at an energy of 0.0334 eV was measured for the first time using monochromatic neutrons of a powder diffractometer at the TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor at Dhaka, Bangladesh. The 197Au(n,  γ)198Au reaction was used to monitor the neutron beam intensity. The radioactivity of the products was determined via high resolution γ-ray spectrometry. The obtained cross section value is 184 ± 22 b, which is consistent with both the ENDF/B-VII and TENDL-2012 data libraries. The measured value at 0.0334 eV and the previous data at 0.0536 eV confirm the reliability of the data in the above libraries.

Assessment of rare earth elements, Th and U profile of a site for a potential coal based power plant by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Abstract To study the compositional trends of rare earth elements (REEs: La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Tb, Dy, Yb, Lu), Th and U in soil samples collected from a site for a potential coal based power plant as well as to conduct a preliminary assessment of environmental impact of the proposed power plant in terms of REEs, Th and U, we have analyzed nine soil samples by instrumental neutron activation analysis. Evaluation of data quality by repeated analysis of IAEA-Soil-7 and IAEA-SL-1 ensures a proper data base-line for the REEs, Th and U abundances of the sampling site. Chondrite-normalized abundance patterns demonstrate the heavy REEs–light rare earth elements and Th–U fractionations in our sample suite along with significant negative Eu anomaly. Thorium/U ratio in our study area ranges from 4.55 to 6.07 which is higher than that of upper continental crust. Preliminary assessment of environmental impact of the proposed power plant is evaluated by taking NIST-SRM-1633b (coal-fly-ash) as contaminant as coal-fly-ash will be the major byproduct of the power plant. Previous literature studies and our prevailing data invoke that proposed power plant will have no severe impact on soil originated biota and on human health in terms of REEs, Th and U abundances. However, the long term effect of excessive REEs, Th and U as well as the other elemental abundances originating from coal-fly-ash should also be taken into an account.