Prevalence and predisposing factors of suicidal ideation among the University students in Bangladesh: a single-site survey

Recently, suicide among Bangladeshi university students has become a serious problem. However, to date, there have been no studies assessing suicidal behaviors among Bangladeshi students. Therefore, the present study investigated suicidal ideation (SI) and its risk factors among this population. A classroom-based convenience sampling method was utilized to survey 665 students of a university in Bangladesh (67.5% males; aged 21.16 years: SD ± 1.6). In addition to socio-demographic questions, the survey also included the Smartphone Application-Based Addiction Scale, Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21. Results showed that the prevalence of suicidal ideation was 2.3% in the past 24 h, 4.8% in the past 15 days, 6.9% in the past month, 14.7% in the past year, and 61.1% in the lifetime. The unadjusted regression model showed that being divorced (or separated) from a partner (OR = 4.486, 95% CI = 1.972–10.207, p < 0.0001), Facebook addiction (OR = 1.550, 95% CI = 1.006–2.388, p = 0.047), depression (OR = 1.657, 95% CI = 1.677–4.211, p < 0.0001), anxiety (OR = 2.649, 95% CI = 1.624–4.320, p < 0.0001), and stress (OR = 2.626, 95% CI = 1.673– 4.122, p < 0.0001) were the risk factors of past-year SI. Compared with global prevalence rates, the present study reported higher levels of SI prevalence. Therefore, supportive suicide prevention programs are needed to tackle SI and alongside comorbid psychopathology

GENDER HARMONIZATION IN AL MU’ĀSHARAH

Purpose: This study aims to describe gender harmonization in al Mu'āsharah's manuscript by Sheikh Abdul Laṭīf Syakūr. This concept is considered as Syakūr's understanding of gender equality, as one of the 17 goals in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from an Islamic perspective. Methodology: The analysis of this manuscript uses a descriptive-analytic method to bring up the facts in the manuscript which are then analyzed according to the targets and indicators contained in SDGs 5 formulation on gender equality. Main Findings: This research presents the concept of gender relations in al Mu’āsharah leading to Islamic gender equality as an elaboration of rights and obligations between husband and wife. The existence of women in career and the sustainability of education is fairness according to Shakūr. Likewise, in sexual relations, Syakūr stressed the importance of women getting the same thing as men. Through this research, it is found that there is gender harmonization presented by Shakūr in al mu’āsharah with the concept of fastabiqulkhairat as a form of gender relations in an Islamic family towards real gender equality. Implications/Applications: This research provides an overview of the role of gender harmonization in SDG. Novelty/Originality of this study: Gender equality, which is the goal of the SDGs 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, has relevance to ancient manuscripts of the archipelago. This study highlights that gender equality can be enjoyed by the people of the archipelago following the evolving culture and customs. Just like the actual gender equality goals of the SDGs, women should be honored and respected, to create a gender equality discourse

THE RELEVANCE OF AL MU'ASHARAH MANUSCRIPT TO THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION OF JAVA, SUNDA, AND MINANG ETHNIC IN SPOUSE SELECTION

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the perception of the millennials of Javanese, Sundanese, and Minang in choosing a spouse, arranged marriage, and forced marriage&nbsp;based on a West Sumatra’s ancient manuscript, al Mu'āsharah&nbsp;by Sheikh Abdul Laṭīf Shakūr.&nbsp; Methodology: This research is a quantitative study using a questionnaire as a method and instrument.&nbsp;Based on the&nbsp;variables contained in the&nbsp;manuscript, a closed statement questionnaire was compiled and responded by 111 respondents&nbsp;using purposive sampling. SPSS was used for data analysis and results formulation. &nbsp;Main Findings: The results show that the female’s millennials still adhere to noble values ​​in determining future husbands such as taqwa and good character, good health, broad-minded, and wise.&nbsp;The difference of opinion between the groups lies in the appearance of the prospective husband and the pleasure in receiving gifts.&nbsp;Meanwhile, the male’s millennials also want a future wife who has good morals, comes from a good family, and has a beautiful face.&nbsp;The differences of opinion of the groups are in the age and status variables of the prospective wife.&nbsp;In terms of arranged marriages and forced marriages, all refused to be married to people they unknown, even though the parents are the ones who forced them.&nbsp;They choose ta’aruf as a method of introducing a spouse before marriage. Implications/Applications: The findings of this research can be helpful for readers in understanding the phenomena of marriages in Islam and characteristics prefer while choosing a spouse. Novelty/Originality of this study: The number of sites and online matchmaking accounts both Muslim and non-Muslim has an influence on Indonesian Muslims who have diverse tribes.&nbsp;Dating selection is not only based on pleasure through the appearance and profile displayed online, but the in-depth search is required. This study has highlighted matchmaking preferences in Javanese&nbsp;culture&nbsp;and also analyzed aspects of Islam based on the work of scholars then compare it with other ethnicities in Indonesia

Facebook use and its predictive factors among students: evidence from a lower- and middle-income country, Bangladesh

Background: Facebook is a popular social networking site in the modern world. It has an adverse effect such as impairing daily health and psychological health and also interpersonal relationships when the use becomes problematic. Aims: To examine problematic Facebook use (PFU) and its predictors among Bangladeshi students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 601 Bangladeshi students and collected data related to socio-demographic information, behavioral health, internet use behavior, depression, anxiety and problematic Facebook use [assessed using the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS)]. The data were analyzed using descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVAs, correlations, and multivariable linear regression). Results: The results indicated that 29.1% of participants were problematic Facebook users (using cutoff ≥18 out of 30). Medical college students had higher mean score on PFU than other students (p < 0.001). In addition, the mean score of PFU was significantly higher among the students who were in a relationship (p = 0.001), did not engage in physical activity (p < 0.001), used the internet more than 5 h per day (p < 0.001), used social media (p < 0.001), and had depression or anxiety symptoms (p < 0.001). PFU was significantly associated with depression and anxiety among the whole sample. Predictive factors for PFU included relationship status, daily internet use time, gaming, social media use, depression, and anxiety. The model predicted almost 33.2% variance for PFU. Conclusions: Findings suggest interventions should be implemented for students with a special focus on medical students who had higher score of PFU than other types of students

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted internet use behaviors and facilitated problematic internet use? A Bangladeshi study

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic-related “stay-at-home” and confinement orders has led individuals to be more engaged with technology use (e.g., internet use). For a minority of individuals, excessive use can become problematic and addictive. However, the investigation of problematic internet use in the COVID-19 context is only just emerging. Therefore, the present study investigated the changes in internet use behaviors and addiction rates in comparison with prior Bangladeshi studies. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was carried out among a total of 601 Bangladeshi students between October 7 and November 2, 2020. The survey included questions relating to socio-demographic, behavioral health, online use behaviors, and psychopathological variables. Results: A quarter of the participants (26%) reported having low levels of internet addiction, whereas 58.6% were classed as having moderate internet addiction and 13% severe internet addiction. A total of 4% of the sample were classed as being at risk of severe internet dependency (i.e., scoring over ≥ 80 on IAT). Risk factors for internet addiction included smartphone addiction, Facebook addiction, depression, and anxiety. However, the final hierarchical regression model comprising all variables explained a total of 70.6% variance of problematic internet use. Conclusion: Based on the present findings, it is concluded that individuals are at elevated risk of problematic internet use like other psychological impacts that have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, risk-reducing measures and healthy control use strategies should be implemented for vulnerable individuals

A population-based nationwide dataset concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and serious psychological consequences in Bangladesh

This paper presents the dataset concerning knowledge, preventive behavior, psychological consequences, and suicidal behavior regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Data were collected through an online based cross-sectional survey between April 1 to April 10 in 64 districts at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. A total of 10,067 participants’ data were recruited for analysis. The survey contained items concerning (i) socio-demographic information, (ii) knowledge concerning COVID-19, (iii) behavior towards COVID-19, (iv) lockdown and economic issues, (v) assessment of fear of COVID-19, (vi) assessment of insomnia, (vii) assessment of depression, and (viii) assessment of suicidal ideation. Data were analyzed utilizing SPSS (version 22) and are represented as frequencies and percentages based on responses to the whole survey. Given that the data were collected across the whole nation, government authorities and healthcare policymakers can use the data to develop various models and/or policies regarding preventive strategies and help raise awareness through health education towards COVID-19

A novel wastewater treatment ecotechnology to improve environmental sanitation in urban slums

Rapid urbanisation has exerted severe pressure on urban housing and public services in the metropolitan city of Khulna, Bangladesh with which basic urban services could not cope. Situation coupled with the destitute economic condition of migrants has instigated the formation of large number of slums where service inadequacies on sanitation have been compounded and multiplied on a massive scale, resulting in hazardous environmental condition. Decentralized Wastewater Treatment System (DWTS) has recently gained much attention due to its build-as-you-go principle. This paper aims to examine and discuss the potential of a novel DWTS for urban development. The pilot DWTS was established in Panchtola colony located at Khalishpur, Khulna, Bangladesh. The paper first depicted how environmental sanitation of slum was improved with inclusion of ecotechnology. It was found that, overall removal efficiency of pollutants is more than 80% (COD, BOD5, PO4 and faecal bio-indicators) from influent

Oblique propagation of arbitrary amplitude electron acoustic solitary waves in magnetized kappa-distributed plasmas

The linear and nonlinear properties of large amplitude electron-acoustic waves are investigated in a magnetized plasma comprising two distinct electron populations (hot and cold) and immobile ions. The hot electrons are assumed to be in a non-Maxwellian state, characterized by an excess of superthermal particles, here modelled by a kappa-type long-tailed distribution function. Waves are assumed to propagate obliquely to the ambient magnetic field. Two types of electrostatic modes are shown to exist in the linear regime, and their properties are briefly analyzed. A nonlinear pseudopotential type analysis reveals the existence of large amplitude electrostatic solitary waves and allows for an investigation of their propagation characteristics and existence domain, in terms of the soliton speed (Mach number). The effects of the key plasma configuration parameters, namely, the superthermality index and the cold electron density, on the soliton characteristics and existence domain, are studied. The role of obliqueness and magnetic field are discussed.Comment: Submitted to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio

Suicide related to the COVID-19 pandemic in India: a systematic review

Background: The suicide rate has increased during the pandemic in India. Moreover, several studies, especially press-media reporting suicide studies have been conducted but no systematic review has been attempted in this context. Therefore, the present study systematically investigated the risk factors associated with suicidal behaviors, and the method of suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was performed to include papers published up until September 30, 2022. From an initial 144 papers, 18 studies which met the inclusion criteria were included in the present review. The Pierson’s method was used for quality assessment of the included studies in the present review. Results: The risk factors associated with suicide comprised: (i) socio-demographic factors (e.g., being aged between 31 and 50 years, male, married, unemployed), (ii) behavior and health-related factors (e.g., unavailability of alcohol and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, poor state of physical health and health issues, family disputes, relationship complexities, and sexual harassment), (iii) COVID-19-related factors (e.g., fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 test results, quarantine or isolation, financial hardship due to the pandemic, having influenza-like symptoms, experiencing stigmatization and ostracism despite testing negative, separation from family due to transport restrictions, misinterpreting other illness symptoms as COVID-19, saving the village from infection, watching COVID-19 videos on social media, online schooling, perceived stigma toward COVID-19, and being suspected of having COVID-19), and (iv) psychopathological stressors (depression, loneliness, stress, TikTok addiction, and poor mental health, suicidal tendencies, helplessness, and worrying). Hanging was the most common method of suicide. In addition, jumping from high buildings, poisoning, drowning, burning, cutting or slitting throat or wrists, self-immolation, medication overdose, electrocution, pesticide, and gun-shot were also used to carry out the suicide. Conclusions: Findings from this research suggest multiple reasons for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic and knowledge of such factors could aid in developing suicide prevention strategies focusing the most vulnerable cohorts inside and outside India

Performance evaluation of an enhanced distributed channel access protocol under heterogeneous traffic

Recently there have been considerable interests focusing on the performance evaluation of IEEE 802.11e Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols, which were proposed for supporting Quality of Services (QoS) in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Different from most existing work, this study has conducted comprehensive performance evaluation and analysis of the IEEE 802.11e Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) protocol in the presence of heterogeneous network traffic including non-bursty Poisson, bursty ON/OFF, and self-similar traffic generated by wireless multimedia applications. The performance results on throughput, access delay and medium utilization have demonstrated that the protocol is able to achieve satisfying QoS differentiation for heterogeneous multimedia traffic. On the other hand the results have showed that IEEE 802.11e EDCA suffering from the low medium utilization due to the overhead generated by transmission collisions and back-off processes. 1