Population pressure and agricultural productivity in Bangladesh

The relationship between population pressure or density and agricultural productivity is examined by analyzing the changes in the land-man ratio and the changes in the level of land yield in the 17 districts of Bangladesh from 1961-64 and 1974-77. The earlier years were pre-Green Revolution, whereas in the later years new technology had been introduced in some parts of the country. Net sown area, value of total agricultural output, and number of male agricultural workers were the main variables. For the country as a whole, agricultural output grew by 1.2%/year during 1961-64 to 1974-77, while the number of male agricultural workers grew at 1.5%/year. The major source of agricultural growth during the 1960s was found to be increased land-yield associated with a higher ratio of labor to land. The findings imply that a more intensified pattern of land use, resulting in both higher yield and higher labor input/unit of land, is the main source of growth of output and employment in agriculture. There is very little scope for extending the arable area in Bangladesh; increased production must come from multiple cropping, especially through expansion of irrigation and drainage, and from increases in per acre yields, principly through adoption of high yield variants, which explained 87% of the variation in output per acre during the 1970s. Regional variation in output was also associated with variation in cropping intensity and proportion of land given to high yield variants. There is considerable room for modernizing agricultural technology in Bangladesh: in 1975-76 less than 9% of total crop land was irrigated and only 12% of total acreage was under high yield variants. The adoption of new food-grain technology and increased use of high yield variants in Bangladesh's predominantly subsistence-based agriculture would require far-reaching institutional and organizational changes and more capital. Without effective population control, expansion of area under high yield variants would not improve the employment situation in the foreseeable future.     

Exploring personhood in dining experiences of residents with dementia in long-term care facilities

Despite the shift toward using person-centered approaches in dementia care, the relevance and applicability of the concept “personhood” remains unclear in everyday practice and activities, such as mealtime experience for residents with dementia. Based on a qualitative study, this paper presents emergent themes at mealtimes that support or undermine personhood of twenty residents with dementia in two long-term care facilities. Methods of data collection included conversational interviews with residents with dementia, participant observations, focus groups with staff and examination of available documents. Data analysis identified eight themes: (1) outpacing/relaxed pace, (2) withholding/holding, (3) stimulation, (4) disrespect/respect, (5) invalidation/validation, (6) distancing/connecting, (7) disempowerment/empowerment, and (8) ignoring/inclusion. These findings raised questions about current practice and identified areas for improvement. Although staff approaches seemed to have the greatest impact on residents' experiences, the physical environment and organizational milieu were also responsible for hindering and facilitating staff to provide the best possible care and interaction.     

Female status and fertility behaviour in a Metropolitan Urban area of Bangladesh

The paper examines hypotheses that certain aspects of status of married women such as (i) decision-making power; (ii) employment status and (iii) educational status, are positively associated with use of contraception and inversely related to fertility performance. The study is based on 1,130 women of reproductive age (15-49) who are currently married and living with their husbands and reported to be fecund. The data are drawn from a cross-section of working and non-working women of Dacca City. The hypothesis that each of the above status variables is related to fertility behaviour (measured as current use of contraception and number of children ever-born) is confirmed, with the sole exception of the relationship between female employment status and fertility behaviour. Female participation in the labour force has little or no effect on use of contraception, particularly among those who belong to higher education and income groups. However, in the lower education and income groups, fertility and use of contraception vary with work experience. The findings clearly point out the need to improve the status of women in order to achieve a breakthrough in the use of contraception and a reduction in fertility.     

The role of neighborhood physical environment on mobility and social participation among people using mobility assistive technology

This paper presents a systematic literature review on the impact of the neighborhood physical environment on mobility and social participation among people using mobility assistive technology (MAT). Peer-reviewed articles from eight databases published in French or English from 1990 to 2016 were searched. Thirty studies were included in this review. Factors related to neighborhood environmental features, mobility in transit, and accessibility of homes and public buildings influenced mobility and social participation of MAT users. The majority of reviewed studies combined different types of MAT, which made the interpretation of the results challenging. Few studies included walker, cane, and crutch users. Definitions of mobility and social participation lacked consistency and were often simplistic. Future empirical research needs to examine the impact of neighborhood physical environment factors separately for different MAT users. Causality and links between mobility and social participation of different MAT users at the neighborhood level should be further explored.     

Assessing the Participation of Women in Microfinance Institutions: Evidence From a Multinational Study

ABSTRACT

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) typically offer small credit services with no collateral to low-income clients, particularly women microentrepreneurs. Evidence suggests that microcredit services are an effective tool for the social and financial empowerment of women and have a significant impact on maternal health, children's education, and sustainable economic growth. With multiple financial institutions offering various microfinance services, women's participation as borrowers has changed. We examine the variation in women borrowers’ participation rates in 105 developing countries by analyzing participation rates using selected determinants such as legal status, outreach, external control, and target clients. Results indicate a preference for unregulated MFIs, particularly nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), which suggests that in spite of the advent of formal financial institutions, women in developing countries are more likely to seek loans from grassroots MFIs. However, with more commercial banks offering microcredit and microsavings with a preference for borrowers with assets, women could be left behind. This raises important questions regarding the objectives of microfinance services and empowerment of women. Future studies should examine the impact of transformations of NGO MFIs on low-income women clients.     

Older Adults’ Use of Adaptable Design Features in Housing Units: An Exploratory Study

In 1997, the city of North Vancouver, British Columbia developed Adaptable Design Guidelines for housing to support aging-in-place for older tenants. This article reports the first qualitative evaluation of those adaptable design features since those guidelines were implemented. The study used a qualitative methodology to explore the elderly tenants’ use and satisfaction of the adaptable design features in the housing units and environmental changes made by those tenants. Key qualitative categories that emerged from the interviews were design preferences and environmental modifications. Findings from this study can inform future revisions of the guidelines and demonstrate what needs to be done in environmental design of seniors’ housing that can foster functional independence.     

Combinatorial analysis for route first-cluster second vehicle routing

Two Route first-cluster second vehicle routing algorithms are contrasted in the first section of the paper. Next, the ‘large’ number of feasible solutions to a multiple travelling salesman problem is established given that each salesman can visit any number of customers in a stated range. An approximate expression is given for the ‘small’ fraction of this solution space searched by a route first-cluster second vehicle routing heuristic. Nevertheless, this heuristic is seen to be a very efficient means of searching its solution space.