Identifying the causal effect of child marriage on unmet needs for modern contraception and unintended pregnancy in Nepal: a cross-sectional study using propensity score matching

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate whether child marriage had causal effects on unmet needs for modern contraception, and unintended pregnancy, by estimating the marginal (population-averaged) treatment effect of child marriage.DesignThis study used secondary data from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. Applying one-to-one nearest-neighbour matching with replacement within a calliper range of ±0.01, 15–49 years old women married before the age of 18 were matched with similar women who were married at 18 or above to reduce selection bias.SettingNationally representative population survey data.ParticipantsThe sample consisted of 7833 women aged 15–49 years who were married for more than 5 years.Outcome measuresUnmet needs for modern contraception and unintended pregnancy.ResultsThe matching method achieved adequate overlap in the propensity score distributions and balance in measured covariates between treatment and control groups with the same propensity score. Propensity score matching analysis showed that the risk of unmet needs for modern contraception, and unintended pregnancy among women married as children were a 14.3 percentage point (95 % CI 10.3 to 18.2) and a 10.1 percentage point (95 % CI 3.7 to 16.4) higher, respectively, than among women married as adults. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the estimated effects were robust to unmeasured covariates.ConclusionsChild marriage appears to increase the risk of unmet needs for modern contraception and unintended pregnancy. These findings call for social development and public health programmes that promote delayed entry into marriage and childbearing to improve reproductive health and rights.

ACTIVITIES OF DISTRICT POLICE INSPECTORS IN TYUMEN REGION (1960-1970s)

District commissioners of Tyumen police (in the 1960-1970s) were entrusted with numerous duties to combat the criminal element, maintain public order in the assigned territory, provide comprehensive assistance to the criminal investigation department and other services, prevent the illegal sale of alcohol, provide preventative work among the population (especially young people who are prone to hooligan antics), obtain valuable operational information from their sources, monitor representatives of the criminal world, comply with the passport regime, and store firearms, isolation of the marginal population.

COVID-19 Impacts on Employment and Livelihood of Marginal People in Bangladesh: Lessons Learned and Way Forward

The Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) has created tremendous negative impacts on the livelihood of the marginal population in Bangladesh. Many people working in the informal sector have lost their job and income due to the ongoing pandemic. Unemployment and poverty among the people in both urban and rural areas throughout the country have increased. The success in economic growth in the last few decades could not save poor people to become extreme poor because economic prosperity was not inclusive in Bangladesh. This study tries to identify some of the impacts that COVID-19 has imposed on the lives of marginal population. Then it indicates some of the serious limitations of the existing economic policies. This article suggests that only growth-oriented policy measures are not sufficient to reconstruct the economy in the post-COVID era. Rather Bangladesh needs to adopt employment-oriented economic policies that are capable to create more jobs and reduce poverty and inequality.

Pleistocene isolation caused by sea-level fluctuations shaped genetic characterization of Pampus minor over a large-scale geographical distribution

The southern lesser pomfret (Pampus minor) is an economically important fish, and its numbers are declining because of overfishing and environmental pollution. In addition, owing to the similarities of its external morphological characteristics to other species in the genus Pampus, it is often mistaken for grey pomfret (P. cinereus) or silver pomfret (P. argenteus) juveniles. In this study, the genetic diversity and structure of 264 P. minor individuals from 11 populations in China and Malaysia coastal waters were evaluated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, using mitochondrial cytochrome b fragments. The results showed that P. minor had moderate haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity. Furthermore, two divergent lineages were detected within the populations, but the phylogenetic structure corresponded imperfectly with geographical location; thus, the populations may have diverged in different glacial refugia during the Pleistocene low sea levels. Analysis of molecular variation (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation originated primarily from individuals within the population. Pairwise FST results showed significant differentiation between the Chinese and Malaysian populations. Except for the Xiamen population, which was classified as a marginal population, the genetic differentiation among the other Chinese populations was not significant. During the Late Pleistocene, P. minor experienced a population expansion event starting from the South China Sea refugium that expanded outward, and derivative populations quickly occupied and adapted to the new habitat. The results of this study will provide genetic information for the scientific conservation and management of P. minor resources.

Addressing the health care needs of people who identify as transgender: What do nurses need to know?

Being transgender (TG) is part of the natural spectrum of human diversity, and its visibility has increased with societal change. The TG population is comprised of individuals identifying themselves as the opposite gender to that which they were born. Adult TG people are calculated as a part of Australia’s non-heterosexual marginal population; therefore, exact numbers are unknown. As a result of not being recognised, TG people have faced multiple challenges, fairing worse in all socioeconomic and health measures, including not being able to afford and access appropriate healthcare. Many of these challenges arise from a lack of understanding resulting in social exclusion, bullying, and physical attacks. The isolation and physical assaults on this community creates anxiety and mental health conditions, including self-harm, suicide, depression, personality disorder, psychosis, post traumatic disorder, and eating disorders. To affirm a gender identity that is different from the gender a person was born to is referred to as “transition”. The lengths to which an individual will go to transition is varied with some people choosing to change only their dress and mannerisms and others to undertake medical interventions such as hormonal therapy and/or surgery. In Australia, there is limited capacity within the health system to support the needs of the trans and gender diverse (TGD) population. Initiatives such as nurse-led post-operative support service need to be created as a way to address this. This service could provide patients with nurse advocates working collaboratively with other health professionals to provide primary health solutions.

Researching sexuality and drug addiction

The paper presents the methodological and technical aspects of a research project that set out to explore the relationship between sexuality and drugs addiction, with the twofold aim of a better focusing of the phenomenon which is hidden and difficult to read and at preparing appropriate strategies for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. The survey was carried out in the border area between the Italian regions Marche and Abruzzo, which is identified as the “pole of sex” [Ricci S., 1998:23] and where there are high rates of drug addiction. The survey involved the population of prostitutes, transvestites and transsexual who regularly attend the road called “Bonifica del Tronto”, between the provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Teramo and who are regular users of drugs (heroin, cocaine and others). It is a marginal population with various ethnic backgrounds, coming from Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, which now has a quite stable settlement in this area and is perceived almost as a “subculture of sex”. The majority of the subjects recruited for the research are users of the local Services for drugs addiction. This made the initial contact and recruitment less difficult as it was done through the mediation of the Service operators. The research adopted a qualitative methodological approach and has been carried out through individual interviews – mostly in the headquarters of the Services.

Asymmetry in marginal population performance foreshadows widespread species range shifts

While current climate change is altering the distribution of species worldwide1, a poor understanding of the mechanisms involved limits our ability to predict future range dynamics. Range shifts are expected to occur when populations at one range margin perform better than those at the other margin2, yet no such global trend has been demonstrated empirically. Here we show that populations at high-latitude range margins generally perform as well as those from the range centre, whereas populations at low-latitude margins perform markedly worse. The trend is moderate but pervasive across plants and animals and terrestrial and marine environments. Such global asymmetry in performance between range edges signals that species are in disequilibrium with current environmental conditions. Our findings are consistent with predicted impacts of a warming climate and imply that the geographic ranges of species are undergoing directional changes. They highlight the pressing need for a more thorough knowledge of population dynamics across species ranges as a mean to forecast climate change impacts on the structure and function of ecosystems across the globe.