Exploring the effects of health shocks on antipoverty interventions : experience of poor beneficiary households in Bangladesh

How and whether health shocks impact poverty reduction interventions remains a largely unexplored topic to which not much attention has been paid. This study explored whether and how health shocks affect anti-poverty interventions targeted to extremely poor households using data from 8 focus group discussions and 12 case studies. Those in extremely poor households mostly experienced episodes of chronic disease that incurred greater health-care costs, largely financed by the out-of-pocket payment system. The majority of those from poor households met health-care costs by selling their means of livelihood, borrowing cash, and marketing physical assets. This study argues that livelihood support alone is likely to be insufficient to reduce poverty. Health needs, subsequently, should be prioritized while designing an anti-poverty program

Reducing Inequity in Urban Health: Have the Intra-urban Differentials in Reproductive Health Service Utilization and Child Nutritional Outcome Narrowed in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is undergoing a rapid urbanization process. About one-third of the population of major cities in the country live in slums, which are areas that exhibit pronounced concentrations of factors that negatively affect health and nutrition. People living in slums face greater challenge to improve their health than other parts of the country, which fuels the growing intra-urban health inequities. Two rounds of the Bangladesh Urban Health Survey (UHS), conducted in 2013 and 2006, were designed to examine the reproductive health status and service utilization between slum and non-slum residents. We applied an adaptation of the difference-indifferences (DID) model to pooled data from the 2006 and 2013 UHS rounds to examine changes over time in intra-urban differences between slums and non-slums in key health outcomes and service utilization and to identify the factors associated with the reduction in intraurban gaps. In terms of change in intra-urban differentials during 2006–2013, DID regression analysis estimated that the gap between slums and non-slums for skilled birth attendant (SBA) during delivery significantly decreased. DID regression analysis also estimated that the gap between slums and non-slums for use of modern contraceptives among currently married women also narrowed significantly, and the gap reversed in favor of slums. However, the DID estimates indicate a small but not statistically significant reduction in the gap between slums and non-slums for child nutritional status. Results from extended DID regression model indicate that availability of community health workers in urban areas appears to have played a significant role in reducing the gap in SBA. The urban population in Bangladesh is expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. Wide disparities between urban slums and non-slums can potentially push country performance off track during the post-2015 era, unless the specific health needs of the expanding slum communities are addressed. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic explanation and quantification of the role of various factors for improving intra-urban health equity in Bangladesh using nationally representative data. The findings provide a strong rationale for continuing and expanding community-based reproductive health services in urban areas by the NGOs with a focus on slum populations

Matter collineations of Spacetime Homogeneous G\"odel-type Metrics

The spacetime homogeneous G\"odel-type spacetimes which have four classes of metrics are studied according to their matter collineations. The obtained results are compared with Killing vectors and Ricci collineations. It is found that these spacetimes have infinite number of matter collineations in degenerate case, i.e. det$(T_{ab}) = 0$, and do not admit proper matter collineations in non-degenerate case, i.e. det$(T_{ab}) \ne 0$. The degenerate case has the new constraints on the parameters $m$ and $w$ which characterize the causality features of the G\"odel-type spacetimes.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, no figures, Class. Quantum.Grav.20 (2003) 216

Do mutual funds have consistency in their performance?

Using a comprehensive data set of 714 Chinese mutual funds from 2004 to 2015, the study investigates these funds’ performance persistence by using the Capital Asset Pricing model, the Fama-French three-factor model and the Carhart Four-factor model. For persistence analysis, we categorize mutual funds into eight octiles based on their one year lagged performance and then observe their performance for the subsequent 12 months. We also apply Cross-Product Ratio technique to assess the performance persistence in these Chinese funds. The study finds no significant evidence of persis- tence in the performance of the mutual funds. Winner (loser) funds do not continue to be winner (loser) funds in the subsequent time period. These findings suggest that future performance of funds cannot be predicted based on their past performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cancer Patterns in Karachi Division (1998-1999)

Objective: A minimal cancer incidence data for Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, is being presented here, for the years 1998-1999. The city has a population of 9,802,134; males 5,261,712 (52.6%) and females 4,540,422 (47.4%); census 19981. Methodology: A predominantly mixed (passive and active) registration system has evolved in Karachi, the data sources being the hospitals within the Karachi Division. The reported/retrieved cancer data sets at the Karachi Cancer Registry are checked, coded, computerised in an analytical format and analysed. Results: The incident cancer cases registered in Karachi, during the 2-year period, 1st January 1998 to 31st December 1999 were analysed. The age-standardised incidence rate (ASR) of cancer, all sites was 132.4/100,000 for the males. Cancer of the lung 10.8%; ASR 17.3 was the most frequently recorded malignancy, followed by oral cavity 10.5%; ASR 13.2 and larynx 5.0%; ASR 7.4. The age-standardised incidence rate (ASR) of cancer, all sites was 133.0/100,000 in the females. Cancer of the breast, 32.0%; ASR 40.7 was the most frequently recorded malignancy, followed by oral cavity 8.1%; ASR 11.7 and gall bladder 3.6%; ASR 5.5. Conclusion: The present data has been calculated with an estimated 15-20% probable under ascertainment. Tobacco-associated cancers in Karachi were responsible for 38.3% of the tumours diagnosed amongst the males. Two principal cancers, breast and oral cavity were responsible for 40.1% of the cancers in females. A rare finding was the high incidence of gall bladder cancer in the females. At present it is difficult to determine whether this indicates a genuine high risk or a selection bias. A continuous process of cancer registration to study the trends in the incidence and an adequate cancer control program are possible and essential for Pakistan and can be based on the pattern being practiced in Karachi

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Chromosome 10q24.32 Variants Associated with Arsenic Metabolism and Toxicity Phenotypes in Bangladesh

Arsenic contamination of drinking water is a major public health issue in many countries, increasing risk for a wide array of diseases, including cancer. There is inter-individual variation in arsenic metabolism efficiency and susceptibility to arsenic toxicity; however, the basis of this variation is not well understood. Here, we have performed the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of arsenic-related metabolism and toxicity phenotypes to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which arsenic affects health. Using data on urinary arsenic metabolite concentrations and approximately 300,000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for 1,313 arsenic-exposed Bangladeshi individuals, we identified genome-wide significant association signals (P<5×10−8) for percentages of both monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) near the AS3MT gene (arsenite methyltransferase; 10q24.32), with five genetic variants showing independent associations. In a follow-up analysis of 1,085 individuals with arsenic-induced premalignant skin lesions (the classical sign of arsenic toxicity) and 1,794 controls, we show that one of these five variants (rs9527) is also associated with skin lesion risk (P = 0.0005). Using a subset of individuals with prospectively measured arsenic (n = 769), we show that rs9527 interacts with arsenic to influence incident skin lesion risk (P = 0.01). Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analyses of genome-wide expression data from 950 individual's lymphocyte RNA suggest that several of our lead SNPs represent cis-eQTLs for AS3MT (P = 10−12) and neighboring gene C10orf32 (P = 10−44), which are involved in C10orf32-AS3MT read-through transcription. This is the largest and most comprehensive genomic investigation of arsenic metabolism and toxicity to date, the only GWAS of any arsenic-related trait, and the first study to implicate 10q24.32 variants in both arsenic metabolism and arsenical skin lesion risk. The observed patterns of associations suggest that MMA% and DMA% have distinct genetic determinants and support the hypothesis that DMA is the less toxic of these two methylated arsenic species. These results have potential translational implications for the prevention and treatment of arsenic-associated toxicities worldwide

Diagnosis of chronic conditions with modifiable lifestyle risk factors in selected urban and rural areas of Bangladesh and sociodemographic variability therein

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bangladesh suffers from a lack of healthcare providers. The growing chronic disease epidemic's demand for healthcare resources will further strain Bangladesh's limited healthcare workforce. Little is known about how Bangladeshis with chronic disease seek care. This study describes chronic disease patients' care seeking behavior by analyzing which providers diagnose these diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>During 2 month periods in 2009, a cross-sectional survey collected descriptive data on chronic disease diagnoses among 3 surveillance populations within the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) network. The maximum number of respondents (over age 25) who reported having ever been diagnosed with a chronic disease determined the sample size. Using SAS software (version 8.0) multivariate regression analyses were preformed on related sociodemographic factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 32,665 survey respondents, 8,591 self reported having a chronic disease. Chronically ill respondents were 63.4% rural residents. Hypertension was the most prevalent disease in rural (12.4%) and urban (16.1%) areas. In rural areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (59.7%) and Informal Allopathic Providers (IAPs) (34.9%). In urban areas chronic disease diagnoses were made by MBBS doctors (88.0%) and IAP (7.9%). Our analysis identified several groups that depended heavily on IAP for coverage, particularly rural, poor and women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IAPs play important roles in chronic disease care, particularly in rural areas. Input and cooperation from IAPs are needed to minimize rural health disparities. More research on IAP knowledge and practices regarding chronic disease is needed to properly utilize this potential healthcare resource.</p

Measurements of differential cross sections of Z/gamma*+jets+X events in proton anti-proton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present cross section measurements for Z/gamma*+jets+X production, differential in the transverse momenta of the three leading jets. The data sample was collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton anti-proton collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb-1. Leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions are compared with the measurements, and agreement is found within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. We also make comparisons with the predictions of four event generators. Two parton-shower-based generators show significant shape and normalization differences with respect to the data. In contrast, two generators combining tree-level matrix elements with a parton shower give a reasonable description of the the shapes observed in data, but the predicted normalizations show significant differences with respect to the data, reflecting large scale uncertainties. For specific choices of scales, the normalizations for either generator can be made to agree with the measurements.Comment: Published in PLB. 11 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the t-channel single top quark production cross section

The D0 collaboration reports direct evidence for electroweak production of single top quarks through the t-channel exchange of a virtual W boson. This is the first analysis to isolate an individual single top quark production channel. We select events containing an isolated electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and two, three or four jets from 2.3 fb^-1 of ppbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. One or two of the jets are identified as containing a b hadron. We combine three multivariate techniques optimized for the t-channel process to measure the t- and s-channel cross sections simultaneously. We measure cross sections of 3.14 +0.94 -0.80 pb for the t-channel and 1.05 +-0.81 pb for the s-channel. The measured t-channel result is found to have a significance of 4.8 standard deviations and is consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Measurement of trilinear gauge boson couplings from WW + WZ to lnu jj events in pp-bar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present a direct measurement of trilinear gauge boson couplings at gammaWW and ZWW vertices in WW and WZ events produced in pp-bar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. We consider events with one electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and at least two jets. The data were collected using the D0 detector and correspond to 1.1/fb of integrated luminosity. Considering two different relations between the couplings at the gammaWW and ZWW vertices, we measure these couplings at 68% C.L. to be kappa_{gamma}=1.07^{+0.26}_{-0.29}, lambda =0.00^{+0.06}_{-0.06} and g_{1}^{Z}=1.04^{+0.09}_{-0.09} in a scenario respecting SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y gauge symmetry and kappa =1.04^{+0.11}_{-0.11} and lambda=0.00^{+0.06}_{-0.06} in an "equal couplings" scenario.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, published in Phys. Rev. D, updated to published versio