| 1. |
- Karim, K.M. Rabiul, et al.
(författare)
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Differences in the acceptance of wife abuse among ethnic minority Garo and Santal and mainstream Bengali communities in rural Bangladesh
- 2020
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 15:7, s. 1-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies on wife abuse in Bangladesh predominantly include the mainstreamBengalipopulation, although there are at least 27 ethnic minority communities including a few 'female-centered' matrilineal groups living in the country. This study explored ethnic differences in the attitudinal acceptance of wife abuse among matrilineal ethnic minorityGaro, patrilineal ethnic minoritySantal, and mainstream patriarchalBengalicommunities in rural Bangladesh. Adopting a cross-sectional design, the study included 1,929 women and men randomly selected from 24Garo,Santal, andBengalivillages. Multivariate Poisson regression was performed to predict the number of contextual events, where the respondents attitudinally endorsed wife abuse. Of the sample, 33.2% were fromGaro, 33.2% fromSantal, and 33.6% from theBengalicommunities. The acceptance of wife abuse was high in the sample; specifically, 34.1% of the respondents accepted physical wife abuse, 67.5% accepted emotional abuse, and 71.6% accepted any abuse (either physical or emotional) at least on one contextual reason provided in a 10-item scale. The mean for accepting any abuse was 3.0 (SD= 2.8), emotional abuse 2.3 (SD= 2.2), and physical abuse 0.8 (SD= 1.4). The study showed that the rates of accepting any abuse and physical abuse were respectively 16% and 56% lower amongGaroas well as 14% and 33% lower amongSantalthan that of theBengalicommunity. Data also revealed that individual level factors like younger age, higher education, prestigious occupation as well as family level factors such as higher income, female mobility, and female family authority were inversely associated with the acceptance of wife abuse in the sample. It appears that the gender regime of a society has a great influence on the attitudes toward wife abuse. We argue that a comprehensive socio-cultural transformation of the patriarchal societies into a gender equal order is imperative for the prevention of widespread wife abuse in the country.
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| 2. |
- Karim, K.M. Rabiul, et al.
(författare)
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Does Childhood Experience of Family Victimization influence Adulthood Refusal of Wife Abuse? Evidence from Rural Bangladesh.
- 2021
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 16:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined how different forms of childhood family victimization are associated with the attitudinal (not actual action) refusal of wife abuse among women and men in rural Bangladesh. It included 1,929 randomly selected married women and men. Of the sample, 31.3% (Men = 49.3%, Women = 13.5%) attitudinally refused overall wife abuse, 38.5% (Men = 53.2%, Women = 23.8%) refused emotional abuse, 67.0% (Men = 82.5%, Women = 51.6%) refused physical abuse, 78.0% (Men = 88.6%, Women = 67.4%) refused abuse on wife’s disobeying family obligations, and 32.3% (Men = 50.3%, Women = 14.6%) refused abuse on challenging male authority. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that the odds ratio (ORs) of the attitudinal refusal of overall wife abuse were 1.75 (p = .041) for the childhood non-victims of emotional abuse and 2.31 (p < .001) for the victims of mild emotional abuse, compared to the victims of severe emotional abuse. On the other hand, the ORs of the overall refusal of abuse were 1.84 (p = .031) for the non-victims of physical abuse and 1.29 (p = .465) for the victims of mild physical abuse, compared to the childhood victims of severe physical abuse. Data further revealed that the childhood non-victimization of physical abuse increased all types of attitudinal refusal of wife abuse, e.g., emotional abuse, physical abuse, abuse on disobeying family obligations, and abuse on challenging male authority. Compared to the childhood experiences of severe emotional abuse, data also indicated that childhood exposure to mild emotional abuse might increase the attitudinal refusal of wife abuse on a few issues, e.g., abuse on disobeying family obligations, abuse on challenging male authority, and physical abuse. It appeared that childhood experiences of family victimization greatly influence different types of attitudinal refusal of wife abuse. We argue that the issue of childhood victimization should be brought to the forefront in the discourse. We recommend that state machinery and social welfare agencies should expend significant efforts to stop child abuse within the family and in other areas of society in rural Bangladesh.
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| 3. |
- Karim, K.M. Rabiul, et al.
(författare)
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Gender differences in marital violence : a cross-ethnic study among Bengali, Garo, and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh
- 2021
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 16:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies on marital violence (MV) in Bangladesh have primarily focused on the women of the mainstream Bengali people, although half of the population is men, and there are also ethnic minority communities with diverse gender constructions. The current study examined the gender differences in MV among the matrilineal ethnic minority Garo, patrilineal ethnic minority Santal, and the patrilineal mainstream Bengali communities in rural Bangladesh. Adopting a cross-sectional design, we randomly included 1,929 currently married men and women from 24 villages. We used cross-tabulations as well as multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the ethnic and gender differences in MV. Data revealed that women were widely exposed to different types of MV, while only a few men experienced such abuses. It showed that 95.6% of the women experienced emotional abuse, 63.5% physical abuse, 71.4% sexual abuse, and 50.6% poly-victimization, whereas these rates were quite low among the men (emotional = 9.7%, physical = 0.7%, sexual = 0.1%). No men reported poly-victimization. The odds ratio (OR) for emotional, physical, and sexual MV were respectively, 184.44 (95% CI = 93.65−363.24, p<0.001), 449.23 (95% CI = 181.59−1111.35, p<0.001), and 2789.71(95% CI = 381.36−20407.08, p<0.001) for women compared to men. Data further revealed that matrilineal Garo women experienced less MV (emotional = 90.7%, physical = 53.4%, sexual = 64.0%, poly = 38.8%) than the patrilineal Santal (emotional = 99.4%, physical = 67.3%, sexual = 71.3%, poly = 53.9%) and Bengali women (emotional = 96.6%, physical = 69.6%, sexual = 78.8%, poly = 58.9%). Multivariate regressions also showed that the Bengali society perpetrated more physical (OR = 1.90, 95% CI = 1.27−2.85, p = 0.002) and sexual (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.34−3.10, p = 0.001) MV than the Garo society. It appears that MV is largely a gendered issue in the country. Though both women and men can be the victims of MV, the nature/extent of victimization noticeably differs according to the social organization. Matrilineal society appears to be less abusive than the patrilineal one. Interventions aimed to prevent domestic violence in rural Bangladesh should take these findings into account.
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| 4. |
- Meinecke, Christoph R., et al.
(författare)
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Nanolithographic Fabrication Technologies for Network-Based Biocomputation Devices
- 2023
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Ingår i: Materials. - : MDPI. - 1996-1944. ; 16:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Network-based biocomputation (NBC) relies on accurate guiding of biological agents through nanofabricated channels produced by lithographic patterning techniques. Here, we report on the large-scale, wafer-level fabrication of optimized microfluidic channel networks (NBC networks) using electron-beam lithography as the central method. To confirm the functionality of these NBC networks, we solve an instance of a classical non-deterministic-polynomial-time complete ("NP-complete") problem, the subset-sum problem. The propagation of cytoskeletal filaments, e.g., molecular motor-propelled microtubules or actin filaments, relies on a combination of physical and chemical guiding along the channels of an NBC network. Therefore, the nanofabricated channels have to fulfill specific requirements with respect to the biochemical treatment as well as the geometrical confienement, with walls surrounding the floors where functional molecular motors attach. We show how the material stack used for the NBC network can be optimized so that the motor-proteins attach themselves in functional form only to the floor of the channels. Further optimizations in the nanolithographic fabrication processes greatly improve the smoothness of the channel walls and floors, while optimizations in motor-protein expression and purification improve the activity of the motor proteins, and therefore, the motility of the filaments. Together, these optimizations provide us with the opportunity to increase the reliability of our NBC devices. In the future, we expect that these nanolithographic fabrication technologies will enable production of large-scale NBC networks intended to solve substantially larger combinatorial problems that are currently outside the capabilities of conventional software-based solvers.
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| 5. |
- Tahmina, Qurratul-Ain
(författare)
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Gender Equality and Media Regulation Study : Bangladesh
- 2022
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Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- This study seeks to provide new knowledge and analysis about gender-equality related provisions in regulations, self-regulatory frameworks and policies concerning media in Bangladesh. It also explores their implementation and monitoring aspects.It seeks to provide clear recommendations and cite best practices that can assist stakeholders including law and policy-makers to promote gender equality in and through the media without compromising professional independence. For clarifying the contextual situations and ground realities, it also seeks to provide qualitative reflections accumulated through the research process.March through mid-October 2021, the study explored: to what extent and how have gender-equality, gender-sensitivity or gender-awareness issues been integrated into the regulation and self-regulation concerning both media structure and content. whether such integration and efforts could contribute to the overarching goal of increasing the freedom of expression for women and girls, for people of non-binary gender, for people belonging to sexual minorities, and also for men and boys in situations similarly relevant. if any such effort could lead to compromising or curtailing media freedom and independence.For these explorations, the study used mixed methodology, both quantitative and qualitative. A total of 43 Acts and Rules including the Constitution and 12 national-level media policies were selected for mapping and analysis. A questionnaire survey of 18 media houses were conducted, while seven regulators and self-regulators were interviewed.The study finds that provisions for gender equality and sensitivity in media regulations and national policies have two distinct features. The earlier provisions were concerned more about decency, obscenity and other such issues mainly from a moralistic perspective. The main concerns seemed to have been protecting the morality of society from effects of such contents, rather than protecting the rights of women.Then over the last couple of decades, gender-related provisions in media regulation and policies have been markedly influenced by development concerns. Media advocacy for women development along with other development goals started occupying a central space in regulatory and policy frameworks.10This era might have introduced a rights perspective but gender-equality in the media organisations has not been the dominant primary approach. Provisions on „gender-sensitivity‟ were more frequent. The laws and regulations lack a requirement for equal coverage of women or other gender minorities in media content as well. The policies may have some requirements of this from the perspective of development in various sectors.The laws varyingly provide eligibility criteria for ownership, which are basic, general and more or less common in nature, not specifying anything on gender-equality commitment. Such mentions would be more appropriate and necessary in policies. All policies, with the exception of one, are silent about gender-equality or gender-sensitivity commitments of owners. No law or policy, however, have any bar to a woman being an owner of a media outlet.Sector-wide self-regulatory frameworks are very rare, so are individual house-level ones. Written in- house policies on gender equality or sensitivity are very few.Regulatory and supervisory authority of all the media rests primarily with one central ministry, while gender-related supervision is the responsibility of another ministry. No implementation or monitoring mechanism could be located. Scarcity of data in this field is another major problem. Implementation and monitoring are generally weak in media organisations too.The study recommends more stress on having policies, especially within media organisations. While regulations are important, law alone cannot do much. Policy is more important, at the state level of course, but especially the self-regulatory ones. In the absence of an industry-level press commission, unions and professional organisations need to formulate codes of conducts. Monitoring should be strengthened both at regulatory and self-regulatory levels. Getting the editors and owners on board is important.The study particularly recommends, building on whatever gains have been made so far—building on the awareness amongst the media leaders about what is politically and ethically correct. Alongside looking for what gaps are there, one needs to examine how much and what have been achieved, and what factors made the changes happen. A crucially important task is liaising with the women‟s rights and gender rights movements and gain their support for attaining gender-equality and sensitivity in the media.
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| 6. |
- Rahman, M. S., et al.
(författare)
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Exercise Reduces Salivary Morning Cortisol Levels in Patients with Depression
- 2019
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Ingår i: Molecular Neuropsychiatry. - : S. Karger. - 2296-9209 .- 2296-9179. ; 4:4, s. 196-203
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose of the Study: Cortisol hypersecretion plays a role in depression pathophysiology. Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) and physical exercise (PE) are new treatment alternatives for depression, and their long-lasting effect on cortisol is unknown. We investigated cortisol level changes after 12 weeks of ICBT, PE or treatment as usual (TAU).Procedures: The present pre-post repeated measure study analysed data derived from a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effects of 12 weeks’ interventions of ICBT, PE and TAU in depressed primary care patients (Sweden 2011–2013) and aimed at prospectively evaluating the within-group effects of ICBT, PE and TAU on diurnal salivary cortisol levels in a small representative subsample (n = 56, 38 and 27, respectively).Results: We found a marked flattening of the diurnal cortisol slope (p = 0.004) and a reduced cortisol level at awakening (p = 0.017) after 12 weeks of PE treatment. No apparent effects of ICBT or TAU interventions were seen on diurnal cortisol levels.Conclusions and Message: PE reduced the rate of cortisol level decline across the day in depressed adults. ICBT and TAU treatments had no detectable effects on diurnal cortisol levels. Larger samples are required for the detection and comparison of smaller effects of PE, ICBT and TAU on diurnal cortisol levels.
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