Determinants of household adoption of clean energy with its rural-urban disparities in Bangladesh

This study aims to investigate factors influencing the adoption of clean energy among households in Bangladesh, using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and extended probit regression model with data from the 2019 Bangladesh multiple indicator cluster survey. Small households, primarily Muslim and urban dwellers, who speak the Bengali language and are Internet and mobile users, were likelier to adopt cleaner fuels than their counterparts. On the contrary, households residing in the Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Rangpur divisions, belonging to poor and middle-class households, with household heads aged 15-64 and without formal education, were less likely to adopt cleaner fuels than their counterparts. The concentration curve revealed socioeconomic inequality in the adoption of clean energy, particularly favouring richer households in urban and rural areas. Further analysis using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition showed that urban residents showed a higher probability of adopting clean energy, with a significant difference of 0.508 compared to rural areas. Regarding the endowment effect, poor wealth quintile contributed the most, followed by the ownership of rented dwellings and the middle wealth quintile. The Bengali differential effect made the largest contribution to this aspect of the disparity, followed by the exposure of the Internet and the influence of the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. The detailed analysis provides valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners on the issue of disparities in the adoption of clean energy between urban and rural areas in Bangladesh.

Individual and community-level factors associated with discrimination among women aged 15-49 years in Bangladesh: Evidence based on multiple indicator cluster survey

BACKGROUND

This research aimed to examine the factors at both the individual and community levels that are linked to discrimination experienced by women aged 15-49 in Bangladesh.

METHODS

The relevant data was taken from the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in Bangladesh. The risk factors for discrimination against women in Bangladesh were determined using multilevel logistic regression models.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of discrimination against women was found to be 10.4% (95% CI: 10.1-10.6). Based on the final model (Model 1V), at the individual level higher odds of discrimination were observed among women from poor (AOR:1.21,95%CI: 1.12-1.32) and middle income households (AOR:1.12, 95%CI:1.02-1.22) compared to those from rich households etc. Women who have never used ICT were 1.27 times (AOR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.07-1.51) higher odds of discrimination when compared with women who were ICT exposed. Respondents who married before 18 years 10% more likely to (AOR = 1.10, 95% CI:1.02-1.19) discriminated than women married aged 18 years old or above. Women from urban communities were 15% less likely to experience discrimination than their rural counterparts. In comparison to the Sylhet Division, women in the Barisal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna Mymensingh, Rajshahi, and Rangpur Divisions were respectively 3.02, 1.84, 1.68, 2.06, 4.97, 4.06, and 1.74 times more likely to experience discrimination.

CONCLUSION

Findings revealed that various individual-level factors such as wealth index, CEB, ICT exposure, marital status, functional difficulty, age, women's happiness, magazine and radio exposure, age at marriage, current contraceptive use, polygamy, husband beating, place of attack, and household head age were found to have a significant association with women discrimination. Community-level factors such as residence and division were also found to have a notable impact on discrimination. Policymakers should incorporate substantial components targeting both individual and community levels into intervention programs with the goal of raising awareness about women's discrimination.

A Survey of Zoonotic Pathogens Carried by Non-Indigenous Rodents at the Interface of the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, Australia

In 1964, Brucella was isolated from rodents trapped in Wooroonooran National Park (WNP), in Northern Queensland, Australia. Genotyping of bacterial isolates in 2008 determined that they were a novel Brucella species. This study attempted to reisolate this species of Brucella from rodents living in the boundary area adjacent to WNP and to establish which endo- and ecto-parasites and bacterial agents were being carried by non-indigenous rodents at this interface. Seventy non-indigenous rodents were trapped [Mus musculus (52), Rattus rattus (17) and Rattus norvegicus (1)], euthanized and sampled on four properties adjacent to the WNP in July 2012. Organ pools were screened by culture for Salmonella, Leptospira and Brucella species, real-time PCR for Coxiella burnetii and conventional PCR for Leptospira. Collected ecto- and endo-parasites were identified using morphological criteria. The percentage of rodents carrying pathogens were Leptospira (40%), Salmonella choleraesuis ssp. arizonae (14.29%), ectoparasites (21.42%) and endoparasites (87%). Brucella and C. burnetii were not identified, and it was concluded that their prevalences were below 12%. Two rodent-specific helminthic species, namely Syphacia obvelata (2.86%) and Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (85.71%), were identified. The most prevalent ectoparasites belonged to Laelaps spp. (41.17%) followed by Polyplax spp. (23.53%), Hoplopleura spp. (17.65%), Ixodes holocyclus (17.64%) and Stephanocircus harrisoni (5.88%), respectively. These ectoparasites, except S. harrisoni, are known to transmit zoonotic pathogens such as Rickettsia spp. from rat to rat and could be transmitted to humans by other arthropods that bite humans. The high prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira species is of significant public health concern. This is the first known study of zoonotic agents carried by non-indigenous rodents living in the Australian wet-tropical forest interface.

Rapid detection of infectious laryngotracheitis virus by standardization of polymerase chain reaction targeting a relatively conserved region of the thymidine kinase gene

Infectious laryngotracheitis is an acute upper respiratory tract infection of chickens caused by infectious laryngotracheitis virus. The study was conducted to standardize the polymerase chain reaction targeting a relatively conserved region of the thymidine kinase gene for the rapid detection of infectious laryngotracheitis virus. The vaccine samples were collected from two renowned company of Bangladesh. DNA was extracted from diluted vaccine samples by using Wizard® Genomic DNA purification kit and thymidine kinase gene was amplified by using PCR system 9600 Thermocycler. Two vaccine samples were positively amplified by polymerase chain reaction. A procedure was developed for rapid detection of infectious laryngotracheitis virus by polymerase chain reaction of the conserved region of viral thymidine kinase gene containing DNA fragments. The results obtained in this study suggested that the polymerase chain reaction procedure could serve as a fast and sensitive method for the detection of vaccine strains of infectious laryngotracheitis viruses.   Key words: Infectious laryngotracheitis virus; viral thymidine kinase (TK) gene; polymerase chain reaction DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ujzru.v29i1.9468 UJZRU 2010; 29(1): 61-64