Contribution of Education to Infant and Under-Five Mortality Disparities among Caste Groups in India

The level of infant and under-five mortality is high among scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) in India. This study intends to quantify the contribution of education in explaining the gap in infant and under-five mortality between SCs/STs and non-SC/ST population in India with a special focus on the effect of maternal education. We used data from three rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS): 1992–93, 1998–99 and 2005–06. The synthetic cohort probability approach using full birth histories was used to estimate childhood mortality. We performed binary logistic regression analysis to examine the association of infant mortality (IM) and under-five mortality (U5M) with maternal education and selected other covariates. Further, we applied Fairlie's decomposition technique to understand the relative contribution of maternal education and other covariates on IM and U5M risk between the caste groups. The IM rate (IMR) among children born to illiterate mothers is about 3 times higher than those born to mothers with higher education across all caste groups. Similarly, the U5M rate (U5MR) is 5 times higher among ST population and 3 times higher among SC population during the 14-year observation period (1992–2006). The proportions of secondary and higher educated SC and ST mothers are relatively lower than among non-SC/ST mothers. The regression analysis shows that mother’s education has a statistically significant effect on reducing IM and U5M. A number of socio-economic covariates are found associated with IM and U5M; such as father’s education, mother’s age at first birth, mother’s work status, household wealth, exposure to media and socio-economic empowerment of the mother. A decomposition analysis shows that more than 90 percent of the gap in IM and U5M between social groups is explained by the differences in the distribution of maternal education and household wealth. The findings of this study emphasise the need to provide education to disadvantaged girls and health counselling to women, particularly among SC/STs with more focus on backward regions or states, to further reduce IM and U5M in India

Nonlocal Conformal Theories Have State-dependent Central Charges

Using the recently developed fractional Virasoro algebra [1], we construct the equivalent operator product expansions for nonlocal quantum field theories in which the nonlocality is provided by the fractional Laplacian as has been shown to be relevant in the long-range Ising model. We find that the OPE's of a general nonlocal CFT are of the form $T_k(z)\Phi(w) \sim \frac{ h_\gamma \Phi}{(z-w)^{1+\gamma}}+\frac{\partial_w^\gamma \Phi}{z-w},$ and $T_k(z)T_k(w) \sim \frac{ c_kZ_\gamma}{(z-w)^{3\gamma+1}}+\frac{(1+\gamma ) T_k(w)}{(z-w)^{1+\gamma}}+\frac{\partial^\gamma_w T_k}{z-w}$ which naturally results in a central charge, $c_k$, that is state-dependent and hence not a constant. In fact, our work indicates that only those theories which are truly nonlocal have state-dependent central charges. All others can be mapped onto an equivalent Gaussian one using a suitable field redefinition.Comment: 24 pages, one appendi

Thermal instability of an expanding dusty plasma with equilibrium cooling

We present an analysis of radiation induced instabilities in an expanding plasma with considerable presence of dust particles and equilibrium cooling. We have shown that the equilibrium expansion and cooling destabilize the radiation condensation modes and the presence of dust particles enhances this effect. We have examined our results in the context of ionized, dusty-plasma environments such as those found in planetary nebulae (PNe). We show that due to the non-static equilibrium and finite equilibrium cooling, small-scale localized structures formed out of thermal instability, become transient, which agrees with the observational results. The dust-charge fluctuation is found to heavily suppress these instabilities, though in view of non-availability of convincing experimental data, a definitive conclusion could not be made.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure

The persistent influence of caste on under-five mortality: Factors that explain the caste-based gap in high focus Indian states

Objective Although under-five mortality rate (U5MR) is declining in India, it is still high in a few selected states and among the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) population of the country. This study re-examines the association between caste and under-five deaths in high focus Indian states following the implementation of the country’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) program. In addition, we aim to quantify the contribution of socioeconomic determinants in explaining the gap in under-five death risk between the SC/ST population and non-SC/ST population in high focus states in India. Data and method Using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we calculated the U5MR by applying a synthetic cohort probability approach. We applied a binary logistic regression model to examine the association of under-five deaths with the selected covariates. Further, we used Fairlie's decomposition technique to understand the relative contribution of socioeconomic variables on under-five death risk between the caste groups. Findings In high focus Indian states, the under-five mortality risk between well-off and deprived caste children has declined in the post-NRHM period, indicating a positive impact in terms of reducing caste-based inequalities in the high focus states. Despite the reduction in under-five death risk, children belonging to the SC population experience higher mortality rates than children belonging to the non-SC/ST population from 1992 to 2016. Both macro level (district level mortality rates) and individual (regression analysis) analyses showed that children belonging to SCs experience the highest likelihood of dying before their fifth birthday. A decomposition analysis revealed that 83% of the caste-based gap in the under-five deaths is due to the distribution of women’s level of educational attainment and household wealth between the SC/ST and non-SC/ST population. Program indicators such as place of birth and number of antenatal care (ANC) visit also contributed significantly to widening caste-based gaps in U5MR. Conclusion The study indicates that there is still room to improve access to health facilities for mothers and children belonging to deprived caste groups in India. Continuous efforts to raise the level of maternal education and the economic status of people belonging to deprived caste groups should be pursued simultaneously

Revisiting the causes of fertility decline in Bangladesh: Family planning program or female education?

Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, has experienced a dramatic fertility decline since 1985 with the TFR declining from 5.5 to 2.1. The reasons for this rapid decline have been controversially discussed by international researchers with some studies attributing it primarily to family planning programs others point at the simultaneously expanding female education and other socio-economic factors. In this study we try to comprehensively review the empirical evidence by merging the data of seven rounds of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys from 1993 to 2014 and reconstruct cohort and period fertility trends by single years of age and level of educational attainment. Multilevel regression analyses applied to over 75,000 individual women shows that education is highly significant and negatively associated at both community and individual level while the indicator of family planning efforts (visits by family planning workers) is not associated with lower family size, except in the earliest period at the community level. We conclude that for the bulk of the strong fertility decline in Bangladesh increasing female education was likely the main driver both at individual level and through diffusion processes also at the community level

Comparative performance of some popular ANN algorithms on benchmark and function approximation problems

We report an inter-comparison of some popular algorithms within the artificial neural network domain (viz., Local search algorithms, global search algorithms, higher order algorithms and the hybrid algorithms) by applying them to the standard benchmarking problems like the IRIS data, XOR/N-Bit parity and Two Spiral. Apart from giving a brief description of these algorithms, the results obtained for the above benchmark problems are presented in the paper. The results suggest that while Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm yields the lowest RMS error for the N-bit Parity and the Two Spiral problems, Higher Order Neurons algorithm gives the best results for the IRIS data problem. The best results for the XOR problem are obtained with the Neuro Fuzzy algorithm. The above algorithms were also applied for solving several regression problems such as cos(x) and a few special functions like the Gamma function, the complimentary Error function and the upper tail cumulative $\chi^2$-distribution function. The results of these regression problems indicate that, among all the ANN algorithms used in the present study, Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm yields the best results. Keeping in view the highly non-linear behaviour and the wide dynamic range of these functions, it is suggested that these functions can be also considered as standard benchmark problems for function approximation using artificial neural networks.Comment: 18 pages 5 figures. Accepted in Pramana- Journal of Physic

Short Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics: Prediction of Stiffness in Injection Molded PS-PPO Blends

The prediction of stiffness in short fiber reinforced thermoplastics is stud ied as a function of fiber length using injection molded blends of PS and PPO. The theoret ical models for predicting composite stiffness are reviewed. The results are first compared with the theoretical models advanced for uniaxially aligned composites. These models predict higher than experimental values. However, agreement between the predictions and experimental values improves when the effect of fiber orientation distribution in the injec tion molded samples is taken into account and as the ductility (or the PPO content) of the matrix increases. Cox's model when used with the "laminate analogy" gives the closest prediction to the experimental stiffness. Reinforcement efficiency factor for stiffness is a strong function of retained fiber lengths. The dependence of composite stiffness on the matrix ductility and the effects of compatibility on the mechanical properties of PS-PPO blend system are also discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68613/2/10.1177_089270579100400205.pd

Revisiting the causes of fertility decline in Bangladesh: the relative importance of female education and family planning programs

Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, has experienced a dramatic decline in fertility since 1985, with a decline in the total fertility rate from 5.5–2.1. International researchers have debated the reasons for this rapid decline, with some studies attributing it primarily to family planning programmes and others pointing at the simultaneous increase in the education of women and other socioeconomic factors. Using data from seven-rounds of the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS), we comprehensively review fertility trends by reconstructing cohort and period fertility indicators by educational attainment. Multilevel regression shows a robust negative association between fertility and educational attainment at the individual and community levels. Pathway’s analysis reveals that female education has a significant effect on declining fertility desires dominating all other effects. Increased women's education and the associated diffusion of smaller desired family size might be the primary factor driving the impressive fertility decline in Bangladesh