Neonatal and under-five mortality rate in Indian districts with reference to Sustainable Development Goal 3: An analysis of the National Family Health Survey of India (NFHS), 2015–2016

Background and objective India contributes the highest global share of deaths among the under-fives. Continuous monitoring of the reduction in the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) at local level is thus essential to set priorities for policy-makers and health professionals. In this study, we aimed to provide an update on district-level disparities in the neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and the U5MR with special reference to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) on preventable deaths among new-borns and children under five. Data and methods We used recently released population-based cross-sectional data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2015–2016. We used the synthetic cohort probability approach to analyze the full birth history information of women aged 15–49 to estimate the NMR and U5MR for the ten years preceding the survey. Results Both the NMR and U5MR vary enormously across Indian districts. With respect to the SDG3 target for 2030 for the NMR and the U5MR, the estimated NMR for India for the period studied is about 2.4 times higher, while the estimated U5MR is about double. At district level, while 9% of the districts have already reached the NMR targeted in SDG3, nearly half (315 districts) are not likely to achieve the 2030 target even if they realize the NMR reductions achieved by their own states between the last two rounds of National Family Health Survey of India. Similarly, less than one-third of the districts (177) of India are unlikely to achieve the SDG3 target on the U5MR by 2030. While the majority of high-risk districts for the NMR and U5MR are located in the poorer states of north-central and eastern India, a few high-risk districts for NMR also fall in the rich and advanced states. About 97% of districts from Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, for example, are unlikely to meet the SDG3 target for preventable deaths among new-borns and children under age five, irrespective of gender. Conclusions To achieve the SDG3 target on preventable deaths by 2030, the majority of Indian districts clearly need to make a giant leap to reduce their NMR and U5MR

Polarization asymmetry in CSS sources: evidence of AGN fuel?

The compact steep spectrum and gigahertz peaked spectrum sources are widely believed to be young radio sources, with ages <10^6 yr. If the activity in the nucleus is fuelled by the supply of gas, one might find evidence of this gas by studying the structural and polarization characteristics of CSS sources as these evolve through this gas. We present polarization observations of a sample of CSS sources, and combine our results with those available in the literature, to show that CSS sources are more asymmetric in the polarization of the outer lobes compared with the more extended ones. We suggest that this could be possibly due to interaction of the jets with infalling material, which fuels the radio source. We also investigate possible dependence of the polarization asymmetry of the lobes on redshift, since this might be affected by more interactions and mergers in the past. No such dependence is found for the CSS sources, suggesting that the environments on the CSS scales are similar at different redshifts. However, the polarization asymmetry of the oppositely-directed lobes is larger at higher redshifts for the more extended sources, possibly reflecting the higher incidence of interactions in the past.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, two tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Detection of the 2175\AA~ extinction feature and 21-cm absorption in two MgII systems at z~1.3

We have discovered two dusty intervening MgII absorption systems at z~1.3 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. The overall spectra of both QSOs are red (u-K>4.5 mag) and are well modelled by the composite QSO spectrum reddened by the extinction curve from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC2) Supershell redshifted to the rest-frame of the MgII systems. In particular, we detect clearly the presence of the UV extinction bump at $\lambda_{\rm rest}\sim 2175$~\AA. Absorption lines of weak transitions like SiII$\lambda$1808, CrII$\lambda$2056, CrII+ZnII$\lambda$2062, MnII$\lambda$2594, CaII$\lambda$3934 and TiII$\lambda$1910 from these systems are detected even in the low signal-to-noise ratio and low resolution SDSS spectra, suggesting high column densities of these species. The depletion pattern inferred from these absorption lines is consistent with that seen in the cold neutral medium of the LMC. Using the LMC A_V vs. N(HI) relationship we derive N(HI)~$6\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ in both systems. Metallicities are close to solar. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of these two relatively weak radio loud QSOs (f$_\nu$~50mJy) resulted in the detection of 21-cm absorption in both cases. We show that the spin temperature of the gas is of the order of or smaller than 500K. These systems provide a unique opportunity to search for molecules and diffuse interstellar bands at z>1.Comment: 5 pages, 4 tables, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS-Letter

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

Socioeconomic disparity in adult mortality in India: estimations using the orphanhood method

Background Due to a lack of data, no study has yet documented differences in adult life expectancy in India by education, caste, and religion. Objective To examine disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) in the adult mortality rate (40q30) and life expectancy at age 15 (e15) in India. Data and methods We estimated adult mortality by SES with the orphanhood method to analyze information related to the survival of respondents’ parents. We used data from the India Human Development Survey 2011–2012. SES was measured by education, caste, religion, and income of the either deceased adults or their offspring. Results A consistency analysis between orphanhood estimates and official statistics confirmed the robustness of the estimates. Mortality is higher among adults who are illiterate, belong to deprived castes or tribes, have children with a low level of education, and have a low level of household income. The adult mortality rate varies marginally by religion in India. Life expectancy at 15 (e15) is about 3.50 and 5.7 years shorter for illiterate men and women, respectively, compared with literate men and women. The parameter e15 also varies significantly by educational attainment of offspring. On average, parents of children educated to higher secondary level (and above) gain an extra 3.8–4.6 years of adult life compared to parents of illiterate children. Disparity in e15 by caste and religion is smaller than disparity by education or income. Conclusion The adult mortality burden falls disproportionately on illiterate adults and adults with less educated offspring. Thus, educational disparity in adult mortality appears to be prominent in Indian context. In the absence of adult mortality statistics by SES in India, we recommend that large-scale surveys should continue collecting data to allow indirect techniques to be applied to estimate mortality and life expectancy in the country

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

Weak-Lensing by Large-Scale Structure and the Polarization Properties of Distant Radio-Sources

We estimate the effects of weak lensing by large-scale density inhomogeneities and long-wavelength gravitational waves upon the polarization properties of electromagnetic radiation as it propagates from cosmologically distant sources. Scalar (density) fluctuations do not rotate neither the plane of polarization of the electromagnetic radiation nor the source image. They produce, however, an appreciable shear, which distorts the image shape, leading to an apparent rotation of the image orientation relative to its plane of polarization. In sources with large ellipticity the apparent rotation is rather small, of the order (in radians) of the dimensionless shear. The effect is larger at smaller source eccentricity. A shear of 1% can induce apparent rotations of around 5 degrees in radio sources with the smallest eccentricity among those with a significant degree of integrated linear polarization. We discuss the possibility that weak lensing by shear with rms value around or below 5% may be the cause for the dispersion in the direction of integrated linear polarization of cosmologically distant radio sources away from the perpendicular to their major axis, as expected from models for their magnetic fields. A rms shear larger than 5% would be incompatible with the observed correlation between polarization properties and source orientation in distant radio galaxies and quasars. Gravity waves do rotate both the plane of polarization as well as the source image. Their weak lensing effects, however, are negligible.Comment: 23 pages, 2 eps figures, Aastex 4.0 macros. Final version, as accepted by ApJ. Additional references and some changes in the introduction and conclusion