This book is devoted to the collection, interpretation and analysis of population genetic data. Among the topics included here are studies on human evolutionary history, molecular techniques for generating data, statistical and computational techniques for the interpretation of such data, and stochastic models for genealogy and population structure. The chapters reflect the close interaction between experimental molecular biologists and theoreticians. The book will be useful for specialists in the area, as well as mathematicians, statisticians, computer scientists and biologists wanting a brief overview of current problems in the field.

A "health disparity" refers to a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one group relative to another. These disparities may be due to many factors including age, income, race, etc. This book will focus on their estimation, ranging from classical approaches including the quantification of a disparity, to more formal modelling, to modern approaches involving more flexible computational approaches. Features: * Presents an overview of methods and applications of health disparity estimation * First book to synthesize research in this field in a unified statistical framework * Covers classical approaches, and builds to more modern computational techniques * Includes many worked examples and case studies using real data * Discusses available software for estimation The book is designed primarily for researchers and graduate students in biostatistics, data science, and computer science. It will also be useful to many quantitative modelers in genetics, biology, sociology, and epidemiology.

EDITORS Hans V AN DEN BREKEL * and Fred DEVEN** * NIDI, P. O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands ** CBGS, Markiesstraat 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium The series "Population and Family in the Low Countries" (POPFAM), established in 1976, aims to introduce selected issues of demographic research in Flanders/Belgium and the Netherlands to an international audience. The publication series results from cooperation between the Nether lands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI, The Hague) and the Flemish Population and Family Study Centre (CBGS, Brussels). This 1995 edition is the 111h in the series. In 1995, the NIDI celebrates its 25th anniversary as the Dutch national demographic institute, making it a special year for Dutch demography. The contents of this publication obviously highlights this event as most articles selected for this edition are written by Dutch or NIDI related scholars. The article "Ageing and the demand for care: scenario studies for Europe" by Hanna van Solinge and Jenny de Jong Gierveld concerns a comparative study with respect to the consequences of ageing populations for the infrastructure of care for the elderly. It presents results of a scenario study on future developments in demand and supply of elderly care services for a selected number of European countries, summarizing an extensive study on the impact of ageing populations on the socio-medical system conducted by the authors on behalf of the European Population Committee of the Council of Europe."

The material of the present book is an extension of a graduate course given by the author at the University "Al.I. Cuza" Iasi and is intended for stu dents and researchers interested in the applications of optimal control and in mathematical biology. Age is one of the most important parameters in the evolution of a bi ological population. Even if for a very long period age structure has been considered only in demography, nowadays it is fundamental in epidemiology and ecology too. This is the first book devoted to the control of continuous age structured populationdynamics.It focuses on the basic properties ofthe solutions and on the control of age structured population dynamics with or without diffusion. The main goal of this work is to familiarize the reader with the most important problems, approaches and results in the mathematical theory of age-dependent models. Special attention is given to optimal harvesting and to exact controllability problems, which are very important from the econom ical or ecological points of view. We use some new concepts and techniques in modern control theory such as Clarke's generalized gradient, Ekeland's variational principle, and Carleman estimates. The methods and techniques we use can be applied to other control problems."

This book examines the social, cultural, economic, and political effects of modern demographic change in the United States. The contributors from the U.S. and the U.K. draw on new research to analyze a wide range of issues pertaining to the diversity of American society. Topics include: - Latino immigrant incorporation - racial and ethnic integration in metropolitan contexts - population self-determination, and Native Americans - public policy issues relating to immigration - growth of the U.S. prison population - changing nature of poverty in the United States - politics of demographic and social change at national and local levels - historical change in the labor force participation of women

European Populations: Unity in Diversity was the general theme of the 1999 European Population Conference, which convened in The Hague (The Netherlands) from 30 August to 3 September on behalf of the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS), The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, (IUSSP), The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), Statistics Netherlands (SN), and The Netherlands Demographic Society (NVD). On the threshold of the third millennium, Europe is facing major and challenging demographic issues that, to a large extent, will shape its future. These challenges formed the basis for selecting special underlying themes for the plenary sessions at the conference. Four outstanding population experts were invited to present their views. Written versions of their presentations form the contents of this book. Dirk van de Kaa (The Netherlands) describes Europe and its population. Henri Leridon (France) addresses the question How do Europeans plan their families?'. Giuseppe Gesano (Italy) considers the relationship between demographic trends and the labour market, and Marek OkA3lski (Poland) writes about Europe's recent international migration history.

This book deals with models that can capture the behavior of individuals and groups over time. Organizationally, it is divided into three parts. Part I discusses the basic, decrement-only, life table and its associated stable population. Part II examines multistate (or increment-decrement) models and provides the first comprehensive treatment of those extremely flexible and useful life table models. Part III looks at "two-sex" models, which simultaneously incorporate the marriage or fertility behavior of males and females. Those models are explored more fully and completely here than has been the case to date, and the importance of including the experience of both sexes is demonstrated analytically as weil as empirically. In sum, this book considers a broad range of population models with a view to showing that such models can be eminently calculable, clearly interpretable, and analytically valuable for the study of many kinds of social behavior. Four appendixes have been added to make the book more usable. Appendix A provides abrief introduction to calculus and matrix algebra so that readers can understand, though not necessarily derive, the equations presented. Appendix B provides an index of the principal symbols used. Appendix C gives the answers to the exercises found at the end of each chapter. Those exercises should be seen as an extension of the text, and are intended to inform as weil as to challenge.

Provides a unique introduction to demographic problems in a familiar language.

Presents a unified statistical outlook on both classical methods of demography and recent developments.

Exercises are included to facilitate its classroom use.

Both authors have contributed extensively to statistical demography and served in advisory roles and as statistical consultants in the field.

Brantlinger discusses the current medical and legal trends in sterilization with special emphasis on people with disabilities. She explores the issues surrounding sterilization decisions from the perspectives of judges, lawyers, social workers, doctors, family planners, as well as the families and individuals themselves. Woven throughout the book are case studies of individuals ranging from mild to severe retardation.

Brantlinger discusses the current medical and legal trends in sterilization with special emphasis on people with disabilities. She explores the issues surrounding sterilization decisions from the perspectives of judges, lawyers, social workers, doctors, family planners, as well as the families and individuals themselves.

Woven throughout the book are case studies of individuals ranging from mild to severe retardation. She illustrates how ethical issues related to sterilization are framed and which moral values are called upon during decision-making. She ends with guidelines for decision-making. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date work on the subject, this book will be invaluable to professionals in the social services and mental health fields as well as researchers in law, special education, social work, and public health. Individuals confronting these concerns will find the volume instructive as well.

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Inverse Projection is a method for estimating accurate demographic indicators of a population where vital registration data are available, but population censuses are lacking or unreliable. The book offers an overview of the present state of methodological development in the field of inverse projection techniques. In the various chapters of the book, leading experts in demography and related fields review the method, discuss recent extensions, test performances, and stress differences of the various procedures. The book is intended for all scientists who are interested in the reconstruction of demographic scenarios in particular situations, with specific kinds of data, as well as for statisticians and mathematicians who are attracted by this fascinating field of application.

A revolutionary vision of how we can create a sustainable planet, this book focuses on two critical global issues: rapid population growth and a human-induced climate change. Firor and Jacobsen summarize the current status of these two issues, show how they are related to one another, and prescribe steps that governments, societies, and individuals can adopt to stabilize both population and climate. Illustrations.

Population ageing is among the most important developments of our time. This book explores the profound challenges faced by an aging world. Leading experts from diverse disciplines describe the fundamental impact demographic aging has on pension systems, on the concepts of retirement and old age, and on the balance of generational justice.

Information on future mortality trends is essential for population forecasts, public health policy, actuarial studies, and many other purposes. Realising the importance of such needs, this volume contains contributions to the theory and practice of forecasting mortality in the relatively favourable circumstances in developed countries of Western Europe. In this context techniques from mathematical statistics and econometrics can provide useful descriptions of past mortality. The naive forecast obtained by extrapolating a fitted model may give as good a forecast as any but forecasting by extrapolation requires careful justification since it assumes the prolongation of historical conditions. On the other hand, whilst it is generally accepted that scientific and other advances will continue to impact on mortality, perhaps dramatically so, it is impossible to quantify more than the outline of future consequences with a strong degree of confidence. The decision to modify an extrapolation of a model fitted to historical data (or conversely choosing not to modify it) in order to obtain a forecast is therefore strongly influenced by subjective and judgmental elements, with the quality of the latter dependent on demographic, epidemiological and indeed perhaps more general considerations. The thread running through the book reflects therefore the necessity of integrating demographic, epidemiological, and statistical factors to obtain an improvement in the prediction of mortality.

This new socio-historical study explores the dynamics of growing up female in the second half of the nineteenth century--a time when traditional patriarchal standards were beginning to be questioned by small groups of courageous reformers. Donnelly chronicles the lives of middle class and working women--white and black--from childhood to old age, the hardships they endured, their daily activities and their concerns, pleasures, and accomplishments.

One of the most dynamic research areas in the prehistory of East Asian regions is the synthesis of the findings of archaeology, linguistics and genetics. Several countries have only recently opened to field research and highly active local groups have made possible a raft of collaborative studies which would have been impossible even a decade ago. This book presents an overview of the most recent findings in all these fields. New proposals on the relationships of the language phyla of East Asia can now be tested against the findings of geneticists and archaeologists. Recent results on the domestication and spread of rice and millet in particular are taken up both in the archaeological and linguistic papers. Particular hypotheses discussed in the linguistic section include the validity of the Austric hypothesis, the relationship between the Daic languages and Austronesian and the overall links between East Asian language phyla.
The chapters on genetics focus particularly on the genetic structure of East Asian populations and the origins of the Austronesian peoples of Taiwan and the minorities of China. Physical anthropology is also considered with a multivariate analysis of East Asian and Pacific populations. The archaeological chapters take a broad view of East Asia and the potential of the "farming dispersals" hypothesis, as well as the more specific archaeology of Taiwan. The book should be of great interest to scholars of all disciplines working on the reconstruction of the East Asian past.

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Many of the world's leading authorities from history, sociology, political science and psychology shed new light on the major genocides of the 20th century in this excellent collection. Contributors Irving L. Horowitz and Roger W. Smith provide broad interpretative introductions to the subject. The essays explore events from the Armenian Genocide and the Ukrainian famine up to the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides. Thirteen of the fourteen essays are previously unpublished.

What has been the effect of China's focus on minimal reproduction as the centerpiece of the country's effort to regulate population growth? This book tells the full story of "China's Strategic Demographic Initiative," tracing its evolutions and assessing its results and significance in the context of China's socioeconomic development. Early consensus in population planning gave rise to voluminous rules, massive drives, vigorous exhortations, varied sanctions, and above all, strict enforcement. The one child per couple policy begun in 1978-79 stirred up strong emotional debate both within China and throughout the outside world. This text demonstrates the approach, scope, and tempo of China's population planning.

"China's Strategic Demographic Initiative" is presented in three parts. First, the overall circumstances which helped to shape China's population planning effort are revealed. Next the startup, evolutions, and objectives of the Strategic Demographic Initiative are interwoven with objections and obstacles to implementation. Finally, the issue of collective intervention in childbearing and the limits to population planning bring in social and economic issues. Major lessons are reviewed. An epilogue updates the direction of China's population planning effort amid continuing internal dispute over tactics.

Series Information:
Key Ideas

Recent decades have seen a fundamental change in the age structure of many western societies. In these societies it is now common for a fifth to a quarter of the population to be retired, for fewer babies to be born than is required to sustain the size of the population and for life expectancy to exceed eighty years old. This book provides an overview of the key issues arising from this demographic change.

Contents:
Introduction
1. Levels of Understanding
2. Moral and Cultural Dimensions
3. Information and Sources
Policy Formulation
4. Motives and Goals of Chinese Birth Control
5. Phases of One-Child Policy and its Forerunners
Bureaucratic Implementation
6. Legal Norms and Practice in Flux
7. Problems of Organization
8. Planning and Evaluation
Popular Response
9. Gender Roles, Family Size and Sex Preferences
10. Strategies and Evidences of Non-Compliance
Demographic Results
11. Female Marriage Trends
12. Fertility Levels
13. Changes in Sex and Age Structure
Conclusions and Future Perspectives
14. Looking Back: Causal Structures and Policy Impact
15. Looking Forward: Demographic Projections and Their Implications
16. Weighing the Options: Past Experience and New Ideas
Epilogue: The Population Census of November of 2000

Young Families: Gender, Sexuality and Care draws together unique and compelling essays about the contexts of early childbearing, a topic that is now taken for granted. It draws on empirical data, multi-level approaches and inter-disciplinary perspectives on the dynamics that underpin young people's experiences of being pregnant, having a child and caring for the child. The book explores the contexts in which young families are constituted and shaped along with the kinds of social relationships and communities of care that early childbearing creates (or in some instances destroys). It shows the entanglement of gender, sexuality, race, age and class in the formation of young families and its effects on caring practices. This book draws together unique and compelling accounts that address a gap in the existing literature on families in South Africa while also providing an understanding of the diversity of young South African families. Young Families will be of interest and of benefit to those in the fields of Women and Gender studies, Anthropology, Education, Sociology, History and Demography.