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Temeljni resurs nekog prostora je stanovništvo. U posljednjih 20 godina Republika Hrvatska bilježi negativne demografske trendove koji mogu ozbiljno zaprijetiti ekonomskom, socijalnom i kulturnom razvoju Republike Hrvatske. Upravo zbog fokusa koji se nalazi na demografskoj slici Republike Hrvatske javlja se sve više istraživanja stanovništva od strane raznih struka, ujedno i geografa te demografa. U ovom radu analizirani su demografski procesi 27 naselja Grada Senja temeljeni na popisima iz 2001., 2011. te 2021. godine. U radu su analizirani brojni demografski pokazatelji, poput ukupnog kretanja stanovništva od prvog suvremenog popisa na prostoru Republike Hrvatske 1857. godine do posljednjeg provedenog popisa 2021. godine. Prirodno kretanje je obrađeno u razdoblju od 2000. g do 2019. godine. U radu su prikazani intenzitet migracija i cirkulacija stanovništva pod utjecajima deagrarizacije, industrijalizacije te urbanizacije. Ujedno, u radu su analizirane strukture stanovništva prema dobi, spolu te ekonomskoj aktivnosti. Na kraju rada opisane su kratkoročne projekcije broja stanovnika za 2031. godinu. The basic resource of a certain area is the population. In the last 20 years, the Republic of Croatia has witnessed negative demographic trends that can seriously threaten the economic, social and cultural development of the country. Because of the focus on the demographic processes of the Republic of Croatia, more and more population research is being done by various professions, including geographers and demographers. This thesis analyzes the demographic processes of 27 settlements in the City of Senj based on the censuses of 2001, 2011 and 2021. The paper analyzes numerous demographic indicators such as the overall population change from the first modern census in the Republic of Croatia in 1857 to the last census conducted in 2021. Natural population change was analysed for period from 2000 to 2019. The thesis shows the intensity of migration and population circulation under the influence of deagrarization, industrialization and urbanization. At the same time, the paper analyzed the population structure by age, gender and economic activity. At the end, short term projections of the number of inhabitants for the year 2031 are given.

Introduction: In this paper, we consider a fundamental problem of testing faced by the health staff on testing COVID 19 patients. In general, the number of testing kits or testing capabilities is limited, and the number of COVID 19 patients is much larger than that. This paper tries to answer this fundamental question that how to perform COVID 19 testing to reduce the death rate. Materials and Methods: We consider that the survival rate of patients is dependent over two parameters: their age and severity of symptoms at a time. Based on these observations, we propose a survival rate function. Using the survival rates, the death rate for an individual is obtained. MATLAB was used for plotting the graphs. Results: It is shown by numerical results that by using the proposed mechanism, the average death rate can be significantly reduced. Conclusion: It is proposed to conduct the testing for those patients who lie in the high death rate regimen.

Using a daily data base covering 158 countries during January to August 2020, this paper assesses the effectiveness of coronavirus containment measures in reducing contagion and death rates. To estimate the effectiveness of different containment measures, the paper uses a methodological approach that takes into consideration the persistence in the dynamics between coronavirus containment measures and contagion/death rates, countries’ idiosyncratic characteristics, and the endogeneity of the containment measures. To obtain efficient estimates of the effect of coronavirus containment measures on contagion and death rates, a dynamic panel-data technique is used, complemented by efficient instruments for the decision of adopting coronavirus containment measures. The results show that countries with better health systems, higher temperatures, and more democratic regimes tended to delay the adoption of coronavirus containment measures. The results also detect demonstration effects as the early adoption of coronavirus containment measures in Western Europe led other countries to accelerate their adoption. Using predictions from the estimated model, it is possible to benchmark the timing of adoption of coronavirus containment measures and assess whether their adoption was timely or not and if they were lifted prematurely or not. The findings of this exercise show that countries with timely adopted coronavirus containment measures restricted activities, meanwhile they lagged in the adoption of measures restricting individual liberties. The evidence indicates that most countries resisted the urge to lift restrictions in advance, once they have been in place: over 60 percent of the countries have reacted as predicted by our econometric models, maintaining coronavirus containment measures in place until contagion rates receded. Nevertheless, around one-quarter of the countries lifted their restrictions one month or more ahead of what the worldwide evidence would have suggested, in particular by removing lockdowns and re-opening workplaces. Finally, the results show that coronavirus containment measures have been effective in reducing contagion and death rates, but there are differences in the effectiveness among them, and restrictions on activities have been more effective than restrictions on personal liberties.

This paper used Our World data for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) death count, test data, stringency, and transmission count and prepared a path model for COVID-19 deaths. We augmented the model with age structure-related variables and comorbidity via non-communicable diseases for 117 countries of the world for September 23, 2021, on a cross-section basis. A broad-based global quantitative study incorporating these two prominent channels with regional variation was unavailable in the existing literature. Old age and comorbidity were identified as two prime determinants of COVID-19 mortality. The path model showed that after controlling for these factors, one SD increase in the proportion of persons above 65, above 70, or of median age raised COVID-19 mortality by more than 0.12 SDs for 117 countries. The regional intensity of death is alarmingly high in South America, Europe, and North America compared with Oceania. After controlling for regions, the figure was raised to 0.213, which was even higher. For old age, the incremental coefficient was the highest for South America (0.564), and Europe (0.314), which were substantially higher than in Oceania. The comorbidity channel via non-communicable diseases illustrated that one SD increase in non-communicable disease intensity increased COVID-19 mortality by 0.132 for the whole sample. The regional figure for the non-communicable disease was 0.594 for South America and 0.358 for Europe compared with the benchmark region Oceania. The results were statistically significant at a 10% level of significance or above. This suggested that we should prioritize vaccinations for the elderly and people with comorbidity via non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. Further attention should be given to South America and Europe, which are the worst affected regions of the world.

This paper used Our World data for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) death count, test data, stringency, and transmission count and prepared a path model for COVID-19 deaths. We augmented the model with age structure-related variables and comorbidity via non-communicable diseases for 117 countries of the world for September 23, 2021, on a cross-section basis. A broad-based global quantitative study incorporating these two prominent channels with regional variation was unavailable in the existing literature. Old age and comorbidity were identified as two prime determinants of COVID-19 mortality. The path model showed that after controlling for these factors, one SD increase in the proportion of persons above 65, above 70, or of median age raised COVID-19 mortality by more than 0.12 SDs for 117 countries. The regional intensity of death is alarmingly high in South America, Europe, and North America compared with Oceania. After controlling for regions, the figure was raised to 0.213, which was even higher. For old age, the incremental coefficient was the highest for South America (0.564), and Europe (0.314), which were substantially higher than in Oceania. The comorbidity channel via non-communicable diseases illustrated that one SD increase in non-communicable disease intensity increased COVID-19 mortality by 0.132 for the whole sample. The regional figure for the non-communicable disease was 0.594 for South America and 0.358 for Europe compared with the benchmark region Oceania. The results were statistically significant at a 10% level of significance or above. This suggested that we should prioritize vaccinations for the elderly and people with comorbidity via non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. Further attention should be given to South America and Europe, which are the worst affected regions of the world.

It is increasingly recognized that India is urbanizing rapidly, that urbanization is accompanying and contributing to economic growth, but that living conditions in urban areas are often not adequate, particularly for the poor. Health, nutrition, and population conditions are an important part of the urbanization equation. This paper explores the extent to which health, nutrition, and population conditions may be contributing to the benefits of urbanization, as well as the extent to which they may reflect its costs. This is an exploratory study that reviews available information on health, nutrition, and population conditions in urban India. Recognizing that national generalizations and statistics may mask considerable diversity in how the opportunities and challenges of urbanization and health are met in different cities across the country, this paper also draws on specifics of four case studies: Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, and Shillong in Meghalaya. The summary section provides an overview of this exploratory analysis, discussing the patterns and issues that emerge, along with policy implications in section one. This introductory section two briefly discusses how urbanization and health may be conceptualized, and describes the methodology of this paper. Section three describes governance and organization of urban health systems. Sections four and five review data on the demographic and epidemiological situation in urban India, as well as service utilization. Section six analyzes disparities in health outcomes and access to services, and section seven focuses on water supply and sanitation in urban areas.

This paper investigates the relative importance of confidence in public institutions in explaining cross-country differences in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. We extend the related literature by employing regression and machine learning methods to identify the most critical predictors of deaths attributed to the pandemic. We find that a one standard deviation increase (e.g., the actual difference between the US and Finland) in confidence is associated with 350.9 (95% CI -531.922 - -169.831, p=0.000) fewer predicted deaths per million inhabitants. Confidence in public institutions is one of the most important predictors of deaths attributed to COVID-19, compared to country-level measures of individual health risks, the health system, demographics, economic and political development, and social capital. Our results suggest that effective policy implementation requires citizens to cooperate with their governments, and willingness to cooperate relies on confidence in public institutions.

The trends of the main demographic phenomena provide useful information about the future evolution of the number and age structure of Romania’s population. The mutations in the social-economic structure of the country have led to a dynamic territorial mobility of the population; at the same time, they have direct consequences upon the socio-demographic structure of the population. In the past years, demographic migration has become a common fact. The young and mature population migrates from the rural to the urban environment, motivated by the living and working conditions in the urban centers. Consequently, the remaining rural inhabitants are mostly old-aged. The aging of the rural population is also caused by a series of demographic and social-economic factors. The economic effects of the demographic evolution will be seen in time and will bring about changes in the various subpopulations (school children, fertile population, inhabitants able to work).

U ovom radu analizira se demografski razvoj naselja Nin u razdoblju 1900. – 1999. godine, na što su utjecali povijesni i društveni procesi. Povijesno promatrajući, to je razdoblje vladavina Druge austrijske uprave, Kraljevine SHS/Jugoslavije, Federativne Narodne Republike Jugoslavije, Socijalističke Federativne Republike Jugoslavije i samostalne Republike Hrvatske. To razdoblje obilježila su također dva svjetska rata i oslobodilački Domovinski rat u Hrvatskoj, što je imalo utjecaj na ukupne demografske procese., The paper addresses the demographic development of Nin during the 20th century. The study was conducted for the following settlements: Nin, Grbe and Ninski Stanovi. Thereby, these demographic indicators were followed: birth rate, death rate, migration saldo and nuptiality. The demographic development of Nin has been pictured through the usual demographic indicators, together with other Croatian land settlements in the first 70 years of the 20th century. At the beginning of the analysed period, Nin underwent the second, transitional phase described in the Theory of demographic transition, with high birth rate and low death rate, which resulted in population growth. However, in the last quarter of the 20th century, demographic processes untypical of littoral land settlements took place. In the period between the censuses in 1971 and 1981, the number of inhabitants decreased significantly, while in the following period between the censuses in 1981 and 1991, it increased strongly. Finally, in the last studied period between the censuses in 1991 and 2001, it decreased again remarkably. The causes for this kind of demographic changes differed and have not been explained entirely. However, one of the major causes thereof were various census coverages taken into consideration in 1981 and 1991, to which fact demographers had been indicating earlier. This paper has confirmed two theses. The first thesis is that the number of inhabitants in the historic centre had decreased, following thereby the trends of Croatian and European tourist towns and cities and their historic centres. The second thesis is that Nin, though being a littoral tourist town, did not undergo the (beneficiary) process of littoralisation – at least not in the demographic sense, as in the last studied period there was a significant decrease in the number of inhabitants: nearly 634, or 30%.

A widely-used method for the estimation of numbers of deaths of wildfowl caused by the ingestion of spent lead gunshot pellets depends entirely upon field experiments on wild Mallards conducted 70 years ago in the USA by Frank C. Bellrose. The validity of this method has recently been questioned because of the simple method used to estimate the annual mortality caused by the experimental administration of lead gunshot and because the administration of shot appeared to increase the risk that treated birds would be shot by hunters, which might bias the mortality estimates. In this paper, we report a re-analysis of Bellrose’s data using a different method which removes the possible effect on mortality estimates of differences in the proportion of birds killed by hunters in the first year after release. Our results indicate that the additional mortality caused by the administration of lead gunshot in the first year after treatment was substantial and dependent upon the dose of gunshot administered, to a similar extent as was found by Bellrose.

Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, all European countries were hit, but mortality rates were heterogenous. The aim of the current paper was to identify factors responsible for this heterogeneity. Methods Data concerning 40 countries were gathered, concerning demographics, vulnerability factors and characteristics of the national response. These variables were tested against the rate of deaths per million in each country. The statistical analysis included Person correlation coefficient and Forward Stepwise Linear Regression Analysis (FSLRA). Results The FSLRA results suggested that ‘days since first national death for the implementation of ban of all public events’ was the only variable significantly contributing to the final model, explaining 44% of observed variability. Discussion The current study suggests that the crucial factor for the different death rates because of COVID-19 outbreak was the fast implementation of public events ban. This does not necessarily mean that the other measures were useless, especially since most countries implemented all of them as a ‘package’. However, it does imply that this is a possibility and focused research is needed to clarify it, and is in accord with a model of spreading where only a few superspreaders infect large numbers through prolonged exposure.

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged in China at the end of the year 2019 and a few weeks later it has out broken globally. There are obvious geographical variations in the mortality rates of COVID-19 according to the data published by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This paper aims to estimate where Saudi Arabia stands in comparison to other countries in regard to aspects such as recovery and death percentage among the top 15 countries which have reported the highest number of cases globally. Methods: The percentage of death and recovery from COVID-19 in 15 countries until May 24, 2020, was calculated using data released from the world meter. Results: The highest number of cases was reported in the United States and the lowest cases were in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia demonstrated the lowest number of the death rate which was 0.54%, on the other hand, France ranked first in the mortality rate which was 15.54%. Conclusion: All of the guidelines, precautionary approaches, and instructions included in the orders in addition to the application of the restrictive measures, as well as and high capacity of Saudi hospitals, collectively helped Saudi Arabia to be the leader in achieving the lowest death rate.

В статье рассматривается влияние демографической составляющей в изменении человеческого потенциала. Демографическая компонента оценивается на основе двух показателей: естественного прироста (коэффициенты рождаемости и смертности населения) и миграционного прироста. Целью исследования является проведение сравнительного анализа демографической компоненты в развитии человеческого потенциала населения. Объектом исследования выступает - Северо-Кавказский федеральный округ. Проведенный анализ демографической составляющей человеческого потенциала показал, что в своем большинстве демографические проблемы являются очень актуальными, требующие большого внимания к данной проблеме., The paper examines the impact of the demographic component in changing human potential. The demographic component is estimated on the basis of two indicators: natural growth (fertility and mortality factors) and migration growth. The aim of the study is to carry out a comparative analysis of the demographic component in human development of the population. An analysis of the demographic component of the human population showed that most of the demographic problems were very relevant, requiring much attention to the problem., Экономика и предпринимательство, Выпуск 6 (119) 2020

The purpose of this discussion paper is to assist countries in exploring synergies in service delivery and disease dynamics that can positively affect both non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The paper examines the challenges countries face in addressing both infectious and non-communicable diseases, and highlights examples of integrated interventions in addressing this double burden of disease. Many low- and middle-income countries are faced with a rising burden of NCDs while working to improve health outcomes to meet health-related MDGs. This dual challenge takes place in an environment of increasingly limited resources, which is why the efficient integration of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of NCDs with MDG-related activities will be, in many instances, the best option these countries will have to address such challenges. Brazil’s Family Health Program and Turkey’s Health Transformation Program provide useful examples to draw on, and have been highlighted in this paper. Both programs have demonstrated impressive results, which can serve as an impetus for countries to take action.

Pre-industrial society is often characterized by its peridial mortality peaks due to war, famines, epidemic diseases, or a combination of these disasters. Mortality srises in the past are thought to have worked as a strong Malthusian positive check on population growth. In reality, however, the de,ographic feature of mortality crises has been poorly understood. Analyzing a historical document called shūmon aratame-chō of a small village in Northeastern Japan, this paper attempt to clarify some demographis features of Tokugawa mortality crises. This paper argues several points. First, at a village level, mortality crises broke out frequently, perhaps more frequently than previously thought. The great famines such as Kyōho, Temmei and Tempō, to which historians pay most attention, were only three of many mortality peaks. Second, mortality crises were more often associated with outbreaks of various epidemic diseases than with harvest failure. Third, there existed a considerable amount of regional variations in the severity of crises even in the same geographical area. This lacalized nature of crises makes it difficult to generalize the severity in one locality to other localities or to Japan as a whole. Fouth, the mortality structure of crisis tear significantly differed from that of normal year in terms of not only the magnitude of deaths but also in terms of the age distribution and the relationship between mortality levels and socio-economic status.

Cheryl Sawyer uses new methods to generate estimates of sex differences in child mortality which can be used to pinpoint areas where these differences in mortality merit closer examination., Introduction Producing estimates of infant (under age 1 y), child (age 1–4 y), and under-five (under age 5 y) mortality rates disaggregated by sex is complicated by problems with data quality and availability. Interpretation of sex differences requires nuanced analysis: girls have a biological advantage against many causes of death that may be eroded if they are disadvantaged in access to resources. Earlier studies found that girls in some regions were not experiencing the survival advantage expected at given levels of mortality. In this paper I generate new estimates of sex differences for the 1970s to the 2000s. Methods and Findings Simple fitting methods were applied to male-to-female ratios of infant and under-five mortality rates from vital registration, surveys, and censuses. The sex ratio estimates were used to disaggregate published series of both-sexes mortality rates that were based on a larger number of sources. In many developing countries, I found that sex ratios of mortality have changed in the same direction as historically occurred in developed countries, but typically had a lower degree of female advantage for a given level of mortality. Regional average sex ratios weighted by numbers of births were found to be highly influenced by China and India, the only countries where both infant mortality and overall under-five mortality were estimated to be higher for girls than for boys in the 2000s. For the less developed regions (comprising Africa, Asia excluding Japan, Latin America/Caribbean, and Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand), on average, boys' under-five mortality in the 2000s was about 2% higher than girls'. A number of countries were found to still experience higher mortality for girls than boys in the 1–4-y age group, with concentrations in southern Asia, northern Africa/western Asia, and western Africa. In the more developed regions (comprising Europe, northern America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand), I found that the sex ratio of infant mortality peaked in the 1970s or 1980s and declined thereafter. Conclusions The methods developed here pinpoint regions and countries where sex differences in mortality merit closer examination to ensure that both sexes are sharing equally in access to health resources. Further study of the distribution of causes of death in different settings will aid the interpretation of differences in survival for boys and girls. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary., Editors' Summary Background In 2000, world leaders agreed to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. To help track progress towards this global commitment, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set. MDG 4, which aims to reduce child mortality, calls for a reduction in under-five mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) to a third of its 1990 level of 12 million by 2015. The under-five mortality rate is also denoted in the literature as U5MR and 5q0. Progress towards MDG 4 has been substantial, but with only three years left to reach it, efforts to strengthen child survival programs are intensifying. Reliable estimates of trends in childhood mortality are pivotal to these efforts. So, since 2004, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) has used statistical regression models to produce estimates of trends in under-five mortality and infant mortality (death before age one year) from data about childbearing and child survival collected by vital registration systems (records of all births and deaths), household surveys, and censuses. Why Was This Study Done? In addition to estimates of overall childhood mortality trends, information about sex-specific childhood mortality trends is desirable to monitor progress towards MDG 4, although the interpretation of trends in the relative mortality of girls and boys is not straightforward. Newborn girls survive better than newborn boys because they are less vulnerable to birth complications and infections and have fewer inherited abnormalities. Thus, the ratio of infant mortality among boys to infant mortality among girls is greater than one, provided both sexes have equal access to food and medical care. Beyond early infancy, girls and boys are similarly vulnerable to infections, so the sex ratio of deaths in the 1–4-year age group is generally lower than that of infant mortality. Notably, as living conditions improve in developing countries, infectious diseases become less important as causes of death. Thus, in the absence of sex-specific differences in the treatment of children, the sex ratio of childhood mortality is expected be greater than one and to increase as overall under-five mortality rates in developing countries decrease. In this study, the researcher evaluated national and regional changes in the sex ratios of childhood mortality since the 1970s to investigate whether girls and boys have equal access to medical care and other resources. What Did the Researcher Do and Find? The researcher developed new statistical fitting methods to estimate trends in the sex ratio of mortality for infants and young children for individual countries and world regions. When considering individual countries, the researcher found that for 92 countries in less developed regions, the median sex ratio of under-five mortality increased between the 1970s and the 2000s, in line with the expected changes just described. However, the average sex ratio of under-five mortality for less developed regions, weighted according to the number of births in each country, did not increase between the 1970s and 2000s, at which time the average under-five mortality rate of boys was about 2% higher than that of girls. This discrepancy resulted from India and China—the two most populous developing countries—having sex ratios for both infant and under-five mortality that remained constant or declined over the study period and were below one in the 2000s, a result that indicates excess female mortality. In China, for example, infant mortality was found to be 12% higher for boys than for girls in the 1970s, but 24% lower for boys than for girls in the 2000s. Finally, although in the less developed regions (excluding India and China) girls went from having a slight survival disadvantage at ages 1–4 years in the 1970s, on average, to having a slight advantage in the 2000s, girls remained more likely to die than boys in this age group in several Asian and African countries. What Do These Findings Mean? Although the quality of the available data is likely to affect the accuracy of these findings, in most developing countries the ratio of male to female under-five mortality has increased since the 1970s, in parallel with the decrease in overall childhood mortality. Notably, however, in a number of developing countries—including several each in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Africa/western Asia, and southern Asia—girls have higher mortality than boys at ages 1–4 years, and in India and China girls have higher mortality in infancy. Thus, girls are benefitting less than boys from the overall decline in childhood mortality in India, China, and some other developing countries. Further studies are needed to determine the underlying reasons for this observation. Nevertheless, the methods developed here to estimate trends in sex-specific childhood mortality pinpoint countries and regions where greater efforts should be made to ensure that both sexes have equal access to health care and other important resources during early life. Additional Information Please access these websites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001287. This paper is part of a collection of papers on Child Mortality Estimation Methods published in PLOS Medicine The United Nations Childrens Fund works for children's rights, survival, development, and protection around the world; it provides information on Millennium Development Goal 4, and its Childinfo website provides detailed statistics about child survival and health, including a description of the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation; the 2011 UN IGME report Levels & Trends in Child Mortality is available The World Health Organization also has information about Millennium Development Goal 4 and provides estimates of child mortality rates (some information in several languages) Further information about the Millennium Development Goals is available A 2011 report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs entitled Sex Differentials in Childhood Mortality is available

Michel Guillot and colleagues did a systematic evaluation to assess what proportion of under-five mortality occurs below age one compared with at age one and above, to determine how much observed values deviate from so called “model age patterns” of under-five mortality, Background The under-five mortality rate (the probability of dying between birth and age 5 y, also denoted in the literature as U5MR and 5 q 0) is a key indicator of child health, but it conceals important information about how this mortality is distributed by age. One important distinction is what amount of the under-five mortality occurs below age 1 y (1 q 0) versus at age 1 y and above (4 q 1). However, in many country settings, this distinction is often difficult to establish because of various types of data errors. As a result, it is common practice to resort to model age patterns to estimate 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 on the basis of an observed value of 5 q 0. The most commonly used model age patterns for this purpose are the Coale and Demeny and the United Nations systems. Since the development of these models, many additional sources of data for under-five mortality have become available, making possible a general evaluation of age patterns of infant and child mortality. In this paper, we do a systematic comparison of empirical values of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 against model age patterns, and discuss whether observed deviations are due to data errors, or whether they reflect true epidemiological patterns not addressed in existing model life tables. Methods and Findings We used vital registration data from the Human Mortality Database, sample survey data from the World Fertility Survey and Demographic and Health Surveys programs, and data from Demographic Surveillance Systems. For each of these data sources, we compared empirical combinations of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 against combinations provided by Coale and Demeny and United Nations model age patterns. We found that, on the whole, empirical values fall relatively well within the range provided by these models, but we also found important exceptions. Sub-Saharan African countries have a tendency to exhibit high values of 4 q 1 relative to 1 q 0, a pattern that appears to arise for the most part from true epidemiological causes. While this pattern is well known in the case of western Africa, we observed that it is more widespread than commonly thought. We also found that the emergence of HIV/AIDS, while perhaps contributing to high relative values of 4 q 1, does not appear to have substantially modified preexisting patterns. We also identified a small number of countries scattered in different parts of the world that exhibit unusually low values of 4 q 1 relative to 1 q 0, a pattern that is not likely to arise merely from data errors. Finally, we illustrate that it is relatively common for populations to experience changes in age patterns of infant and child mortality as they experience a decline in mortality. Conclusions Existing models do not appear to cover the entire range of epidemiological situations and trajectories. Therefore, model life tables should be used with caution for estimating 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 on the basis of 5 q 0. Moreover, this model-based estimation procedure assumes that the input value of 5 q 0 is correct, which may not always be warranted, especially in the case of survey data. A systematic evaluation of data errors in sample surveys and their impact on age patterns of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 is urgently needed, along with the development of model age patterns of under-five mortality that would cover a wider range of epidemiological situations and trajectories. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary., Editors' Summary Background In 2000, world leaders agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals designed to end extreme poverty by 2015. The fourth of these goals—MDG 4—aims to reduce under-five mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday) to a third of its 1990 level by 2015. A key indicator used to monitor progress towards this target is the under-five mortality rate (the probability of a child dying before his/her fifth birthday, also denoted as U5MR or 5 q 0). In developed countries, data collected through vital registration systems (which record all births and deaths) are used to calculate 5 q 0. However, developing countries, which are where most under-five deaths occur, rarely have vital registration systems, and 5 q 0 is estimated using data collected by programs such as the World Fertility Survey (WFS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which conduct nationally representative surveys that ask a sample of women about their living and dead children. Why Was This Study Done? Although 5 q 0 is a key indicator of child health, it conceals important information about the age distribution of child deaths. Public health experts need to know the distribution of 5 q 0 with respect to 1 q 0 (the probability that an infant will die before age one) and 4 q 1 (the probability that a child reaching age one will die below age five) to help them reduce child mortality. At a given level of 5 q 0, high values of 1 q 0 indicate high levels of death from congenital (inherited) anomalies and conditions that occur around the time of birth; these deaths can be reduced by improving the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth and the care of newborn babies. By contrast, at a given level of 5 q 0, high values of 4 q 1 indicate high levels of death from infectious diseases; these deaths can be reduced by, for example, introducing immunization programs. 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 are usually estimated from observed (empirical) values of 5 q 0 using the Coale and Demeny or United Nations (UN) “model life tables” (mathematical models of the variation of mortality with age), which were constructed in 1966 and 1982, respectively, using the best data available. Since their construction, additional sources of data about under-five mortality have become available; in this study, the researchers systematically compare global empirical values of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 with values obtained using model life tables. What Did the Researchers Do and Find? The researchers compared empirical combinations of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 (estimated using vital registration data, WFS and DHS data, and data from Demographic Surveillance Sites in sub-Saharan Africa) with the combinations derived from 5 q 0 using the Coale and Demeny and UN model life tables. The empirical values mainly fell within the range provided by these tables, but there were important exceptions. For example, empirical values of 4 q 1 relative to 1 q 0 tended to be above the range provided by the model life tables for sub-Saharan African countries. This pattern was mainly because of epidemiological reasons (epidemiology is the study of disease patterns in populations), such as the occurrence of diseases such as malaria, measles, and diarrhea that generate excess mortality among children older than one year. Interestingly, the emergence of HIV does not seem to have substantially modified preexisting patterns of 1 q 0 versus 4 q 1. Importantly, the researchers also show that populations often experience changes in the age patterns of infant and child mortality as they experience an overall decline in mortality. What Do These Findings Mean? These findings suggest that the existing model life tables do not cover the entire global range of epidemiological situations and trajectories and must, therefore, be used with caution for estimating 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 on the basis of 5 q 0. The development of new model age patterns of under-five mortality that cover a wider range of epidemiological situations should improve this situation, but a systematic analysis of data errors in sample surveys and the impact of such errors on estimates of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 is also urgently needed to ensure that public health experts have access to accurate information on child mortality. Importantly, this overview shows that a wide range of 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 combinations can occur at a given level of 5 q 0. Because the level of 4 q 1 relative to 1 q 0 provides important information about the disease processes occurring in a population, this finding highlights the importance of determining 1 q 0 and 4 q 1 as well as 5 q 0 whenever possible. Additional Information Please access these websites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001299. This paper is part of a collection of papers on Child Mortality Estimation Methods published in PLOS Medicine The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) works for children's rights, survival, development, and protection around the world; it provides information on Millennium Development Goal 4, and its Childinfo website provides detailed statistics about child survival and health, including a description of the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation; the 2011 UN IGME report Levels & Trends in Child Mortality is available The World Health Organization also has information about Millennium Development Goal 4 and provides estimates of child mortality rates (some information in several languages) Further information about the Millennium Development Goals is available Information is also available about the Human Mortality Database, which holds vital registration data; the World Fertility Survey program; the Demographic and Health Surveys program; and model life tables

Investigating the ``physics'' of food crises consists in identifying features which are common to all large-scale food crises. One element which stands out is the fact that during a food crisis there is not only a surge in deaths but also a correlative temporary decline in conceptions and subsequent births. As a matter of fact, birth reduction may even start several months before the death surge and can therefore serve as an early warning signal of an impending crisis. This scenario is studied in three cases of large-scale food crises. Finland (1868), India (1867--1907), China (1960--1961). It turns out that between the regional amplitudes of death spikes and birth troughs there is a power law relationship. This confirms what was already observed for the epidemic of 1918 in the United States (Richmond et al. 2018b). In a second part of the paper we explain how this relationship can be used for the investigation of mass-mortality episodes in cases where direct death data are either uncertain or nonexistent., 29 pages, 11 figures

A mathematical model of the death rate of malaria parasite due to the antimalarial drugs is established in this paper to predict the treatment duration and the drug dosage. This model is based on probabilities, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), biology, medical sciences, theoretical physics and chemistry. The death rate of malaria parasite is derived from the flow rates of drug molecules to the malaria parasite by using the theory of blood convection and probabilities. Using the malaria model, numerical results are generated. In conclusion, the numerical estimate of treatment duration from our model ranges from 1 to 10 days, conforming to actual clinical data.

Jon Pedersen and Jing Liu examine the feasibility and potential advantages of using one-year rather than five-year time periods along with calendar year-based estimation when deriving estimates of child mortality., Background Child mortality estimates from complete birth histories from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) surveys and similar surveys are a chief source of data used to track Millennium Development Goal 4, which aims for a reduction of under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Based on the expected sample sizes when the DHS program commenced, the estimates are usually based on 5-y time periods. Recent surveys have had larger sample sizes than early surveys, and here we aimed to explore the benefits of using shorter time periods than 5 y for estimation. We also explore the benefit of changing the estimation procedure from being based on years before the survey, i.e., measured with reference to the date of the interview for each woman, to being based on calendar years. Methods and Findings Jackknife variance estimation was used to calculate standard errors for 207 DHS surveys in order to explore to what extent the large samples in recent surveys can be used to produce estimates based on 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-y periods. We also recalculated the estimates for the surveys into calendar-year-based estimates. We demonstrate that estimation for 1-y periods is indeed possible for many recent surveys. Conclusions The reduction in bias achieved using 1-y periods and calendar-year-based estimation is worthwhile in some cases. In particular, it allows tracking of the effects of particular events such as droughts, epidemics, or conflict on child mortality in a way not possible with previous estimation procedures. Recommendations to use estimation for short time periods when possible and to use calendar-year-based estimation were adopted in the United Nations 2011 estimates of child mortality., Editors' Summary Background In 2000, world leaders set, as Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4), a target of reducing global under-five mortality (the number of children who die before their fifth birthday to a third of its 1990 level (12 million deaths per year) by 2015. (The MDGs are designed to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015.) To track progress towards MDG 4, the under-five mortality rate (also shown as 5 q 0) needs to be estimated both “precisely” and “accurately.” A “precise” estimate has a small random error (a quality indicated by a statistical measurement called the coefficient of variance), and an “accurate” estimate is one that is close to the true value because it lacks bias (systematic errors). In an ideal world, under-five mortality estimates would be based on official records of births and deaths. However, developing countries, which are where most under-five deaths occur, rarely have such records, and under-five mortality estimation relies on “complete birth histories” provided by women via surveys. These are collected by Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, a project that helps developing countries collect data on health and population trends) and record all the births that a surveyed woman has had and the age at death of any of her children who have died. Why Was This Study Done? Because the DHS originally surveyed samples of 5,000–6,000 women, estimates of under-five mortality are traditionally calculated using data from five-year time periods. Over shorter periods with this sample size, the random errors in under-five mortality estimates become unacceptably large. Nowadays, the average DHS survey sample size is more than 10,000 women, so it should be possible to estimate under-five mortality over shorter time periods. Such estimates should be able to track the effects on under-five mortality of events such as droughts and conflicts better than estimates made over five years. In this study, the researchers determine appropriate time periods for child mortality estimates based on full birth histories, given different sample sizes. Specifically, they ask whether, with the bigger sample sizes that are now available, details about trends in under-five mortality rates are being missed by using the estimation procedures that were developed for smaller samples. They also ask whether calendar-year-based estimates can be calculated; mortality is usually estimated in “years before the survey,” a process that blurs the reference period for the estimate. What Did the Researchers Do and Find? The researchers used a statistical method called “jackknife variance estimation” to determine coefficients of variance for child mortality estimates calculated over different time periods using complete birth histories from 207 DHS surveys. Regardless of the estimation period, half of the estimates had a coefficient of variance of less than 10%, a level of random variation that is generally considered acceptable. However, within each time period, some estimates had very high coefficients of variance. These estimates were derived from surveys where there was a small sample size, low fertility (the women surveyed had relatively few babies), or low child mortality. Other analyses show that although the five-year period estimates had lower standard errors than the one-year period estimates, the latter were affected less by bias than the five-year period estimates. Finally, estimates fixed to calendar years rather than to years before the survey were more directly comparable across surveys and brought out variations in child mortality caused by specific events such as conflicts more clearly. What Do These Findings Mean? These findings show that although under-five mortality rate estimates based on five-year periods of data have been the norm, the sample sizes currently employed in DHS surveys make it feasible to estimate mortality for shorter periods. The findings also show that using shorter periods of data in estimations of the under-five mortality rate, and using calendar-year-based estimation, reduces bias (makes the estimations more accurate) and allows the effects of events such as droughts, epidemics, or conflict on under-five mortality rates to be tracked in a way that is impossible when using five-year periods of data. Given these findings, the researchers recommend that time periods shorter than five years should be adopted for the estimation of under-five mortality and that estimations should be pegged to calendar years rather than to years before the survey. Both recommendations have already been adopted by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (IGME) and were used in their 2011 analysis of under-five mortality. Additional Information Please access these websites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001289. This paper is part of a collection of papers on Child Mortality Estimation Methods published in PLOS Medicine The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) works for children's rights, survival, development, and protection around the world; it provides information on Millennium Development Goal 4, and its Childinfo website provides detailed statistics about child survival and health, including a description of the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation; the 2011 IGME report on Levels and Trends in Child Mortality is available The World Health Organization also has information about Millennium Development Goal 4 and provides estimates of child mortality rates (some information in several languages) Further information about the Millennium Development Goals is available Information is also available about Demographic and Health Surveys of infant and child mortality

Aim of this paper is to describe the protocol of the study “Impact of a Community-based Program on Prevention and Mitigation of Frailty in communitydwelling older adults” developed in the framework of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. This proposal has been developed by the Partnership Action groups on frailty, fall prevention and polypharmacy in older. The proposal wants to assess the impact of community-based programs aimed to counteract three main outcomes related to frailty: hospitalization, institutionalization and death. Bringing together researchers from seven European countries, the proposal aims to achieve the critical mass and the geographical extension enough to provide information useful to all older European citizens. An observational study will be carried out to calculate the incidence of the different outcomes in relation to the various interventions that will be assessed; results will be compared with data coming from already established national, regional and local dataset using the observed/expected approach. The sample will be made up by at least 2000 citizens for each outcome. All the citizens will be assessed at the baseline with two multidimensional questionnaires: the RISC questionnaire and the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation questionnaire. The outcomes will be assessed every six-twelve months.

The Farr-Bertillon law says that for all age-groups the death rate of married people is lower than the death rate of people who are not married (i.e. single, widowed or divorced). Although this law has been known for over 150 years, it has never been established with great accuracy. This even let some authors argue that it was a statistical artefact. It is true that the data must be selected and analyzed with great care, especially for age groups of small size such as widowers under 25. The observations reported in this paper were selected and designed in the same way as experiments in physics, that is to say with the objective of minimizing the error bars for all age-groups. It will be seen that data appropriate for mid-age groups may be unsuitable for young age groups and vice versa. The investigation led to the following results. (1) The FB effect is basically the same for men and women, except that on average it is about 20\% stronger for men. (2) There is a marked difference between single or divorced persons on the one hand, for whom the effect is largest around the age of 45, and widowed persons on the other hand, for whom the effect is largest around the age of 25. (3) When different causes of death are distinguished, the effect is largest for suicide and smallest for cancer. (4) For young widowers the death rates are up to 10 times higher than for married persons of same age. This extreme form of the FB effect will be referred to as the "young widower effect." A possible connection between the FB effect and Martin Raff's "Stay alive" effect for cells in an organism is discussed in the last section., 30 pages, 17 figures

Aim of this paper is to describe the protocol of the study "Impact of a Community-based Program on Prevention and Mitigation of Frailty in community-dwelling older adults" developed in the framework of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. This proposal has been developed by the Partnership Action groups on frailty, fall prevention and polypharmacy in older. The proposal wants to assess the impact of community-based programs aimed to counteract three main outcomes related to frailty: hospitalization, institutionalization and death. Bringing together researchers from seven European countries, the proposal aims to achieve the critical mass and the geographical extension enough to provide information useful to all older European citizens. An observational study will be carried out to calculate the incidence of the different outcomes in relation to the various interventions that will be assessed; results will be compared with data coming from already established national, regional and local dataset using the observed/expected approach. The sample will be made up by at least 2000 citizens for each outcome. All the citizens will be assessed at the baseline with two multidimensional questionnaires: the RISC questionnaire and the Short Functional Geriatric Evaluation questionnaire. The outcomes will be assessed every six-twelve months.

This paper reviews the problem of choosing some identified strategies for life by various population groups and the impact of this phenomenon on the regulation of mass demographic behavior. Life strategies are interpreted by the authors as examples (stereotypes) of behavior, the subject of construction of social action based on a conscious, planned design of life (life plan) and correction of the fundamental set of values in accordance with the deliberate socio-economic interests. Criteria and types of strategies for living with the specific socio-economic conditions and factors determining the differentiation of the installations of demographic behavior are suggested for the reader. As the basis for the typology of strategies for life of socio-professional groups, a type of social activity of the population is adopted. Specific socio-economic factors, the strategy of material prosperity and economic activity as regulators of reproductive and self-preservation behavior at the micro- and macro-level are identified. During the conducted selective survey, the structure of socio-economic values of reproduction in urban and rural families of the northern regions of the Urals was revealed. Scientific and practical significance of these research results are defined by the needs of areas, urban districts and city parts to develop appropriate requirements of the day of innovative concepts of demographic development and family policy measures, taking into account the identified specific value orientations of family, socio-economic expectations and well-being of the population.

The article covers results of demographic tendencies research in Drozzhanovsky area of the Republic of Tatarstan. The necessity to develop scientific tools and fulfill target programs on overcoming present unfavorable demographic situation is stated in the paper. В работе представлены результаты исследования демографических тенденций развития Дрожжановского района Республики Татарстан. Актуальность исследования определяется необходимостью разработки научного инструментария разработки и реализации целевых программ по преодолению сложившейся неблагоприятной демографической ситуации.

BACKGROUND: Since launching of antiretroviral (ART) treatment, the numbers of patients enrolled in to ART are increasing in many developing countries. But many studies done across Africa including Ethiopia on antiretroviral therapy programs have shown higher mortality at the first six months of treatment initiation. But the factors associated with this high mortality are poorly characterized. So this study aims to determine mortality and identify predictors of it among patients on ART. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study was employed among a total of 520 records of patients who were enrolled on antiretroviral therapy in Aksum hospital from September 2006 to August 2011. Baseline patient records were extracted from electronic and paper based medical records database and analysed using Kaplan Meier survival and Cox proportional hazard model to identify the independent predictors of mortality of patients on ART. RESULTS: A total of 46 (8.85%) deaths was observed giving an overall mortality rate of 3.2 per 100 person-years. The independent predictor of mortality identified for this cohort were haemoglobin level

Die Idee von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität basiert unmittelbar auf der Idee der Tempo-Effekte in der Fertilität, die auf den von Norman B. Ryder vor einem halben Jahrhundert publizierten Arbeiten aufbaut und nunmehr weithin bekannt und akzeptiert ist. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass sich die Ansätze im Wesentlichen gleichen, ist es verwunderlich, dass Tempo-Effekte in der Mortalität erst vor kurzem thematisiert wurden und bis heute noch nicht allgemein anerkannt sind. Eine mögliche Erklärung dafür könnte sein, dass die Auswirkungen von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität scheinbar im Widerspruch zu den etablierten Modellierungs- und Analyseverfahren für Sterblichkeits- und Bevölkerungsdynamiken stehen. In diesem Beitrag wird ein diskreter Ansatz zur Beschreibung und Analyse von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität entwickelt. Der diskrete Ansatz ist zwar mathematisch wenig anspruchsvoll, dafür aber sehr überzeugend. Er wird in diesem Beitrag zum Beispiel für die Bestimmung altersspezifischer Tempo-Effekte verwendet. Der Schwerpunkt des Beitrags liegt auf der Messung der Lebensdauer empirischer Bevölkerungen. Dabei wird gezeigt, dass jede empirische Bevölkerung durch eine angemessen konstruierte Modellpopulation approximiert werden kann. The idea of mortality tempo effects derives from the idea of fertility tempo effects, which were introduced by Norman B. Ryder and are widely known and accepted. Given the essential similarity of the ideas, it might be regarded as curious that mortality tempo effects have only recently been recognized and are not as yet generally accepted. The explanation for this may be that mortality tempo effects have implications that seem to be at variance with established ways of modeling and analyzing mortality and population dynamics. This paper develops a discrete approach to describing and analyzing mortality tempo effects. The discrete approach is mathematically undemanding, yet powerful. It is used here, for example, to define age-specific tempo effects. The focus of this work is the measurement of length of life in empirical populations. It is shown that any empirical population may be approximated by a suitably constructed discrete model population.

The idea of mortality tempo effects derives from the idea of fertility tempo effects, which were introduced by Norman B. Ryder and are widely known and accepted. Given the essential similarity of the ideas, it might be regarded as curious that mortality tempo effects have only recently been recognized and are not as yet generally accepted. The explanation for this may be that mortality tempo effects have implications that seem to be at variance with established ways of modeling and analyzing mortality and population dynamics. This paper develops a discrete approach to describing and analyzing mortality tempo effects. The discrete approach is mathematically undemanding, yet powerful. It is used here, for example, to define age-specific tempo effects. The focus of this work is the measurement of length of life in empirical populations. It is shown that any empirical population may be approximated by a suitably constructed discrete model population. Die Idee von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität basiert unmittelbar auf der Idee der Tempo-Effekte in der Fertilität, die auf den von Norman B. Ryder vor einem halben Jahrhundert publizierten Arbeiten aufbaut und nunmehr weithin bekannt und akzeptiert ist. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass sich die Ansätze im Wesentlichen gleichen, ist es verwunderlich, dass Tempo-Effekte in der Mortalität erst vor kurzem thematisiert wurden und bis heute noch nicht allgemein anerkannt sind. Eine mögliche Erklärung dafür könnte sein, dass die Auswirkungen von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität scheinbar im Widerspruch zu den etablierten Modellierungs- und Analyseverfahren für Sterblichkeits- und Bevölkerungsdynamiken stehen. In diesem Beitrag wird ein diskreter Ansatz zur Beschreibung und Analyse von Tempo-Effekten in der Mortalität entwickelt. Der diskrete Ansatz ist zwar mathematisch wenig anspruchsvoll, dafür aber sehr überzeugend. Er wird in diesem Beitrag zum Beispiel für die Bestimmung altersspezifischer Tempo-Effekte verwendet. Der Schwerpunkt des Beitrags liegt auf der Messung der Lebensdauer empirischer Bevölkerungen. Dabei wird gezeigt, dass jede empirische Bevölkerung durch eine angemessen konstruierte Modellpopulation approximiert werden kann.

BACKGROUND: Millennium Development Goal 4 calls for a reduction in the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, which corresponds to an annual rate of decline of 4.4%. The United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation estimates under-five mortality in every country to measure progress. For the majority of countries, the estimates within a country are based on the assumption of a piece-wise constant rate of decline. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This paper proposes an alternative method to estimate under-five mortality, such that the underlying rate of change is allowed to vary smoothly over time using a time series model. Information about the average rate of decline and changes therein is exchanged between countries using a bayesian hierarchical model. Cross-validation exercises suggest that the proposed model provides credible bounds for the under-five mortality rate that are reasonably well calibrated during the observation period. The alternative estimates suggest smoother trends in under-five mortality and give new insights into changes in the rate of decline within countries. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed model offers an alternative modeling approach for obtaining estimates of under-five mortality which removes the restriction of a piece-wise linear rate of decline and introduces hierarchy to exchange information between countries. The newly proposed estimates of the rate of decline in under-5 mortality and the uncertainty assessments would help to monitor progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4.

Srednjoročne projekcije Hrvatske do 2031. godine izrađene su kohort-komponentnom metodom. Prikazane su u osam varijanata koje se temelje na postavljenim hipotezama o promjenjivom fertilitetu, migracijama i mortalitetu. Razlike u varijantama isključivo su rezultat razlika u fertilitetu i u migracijama, budući da su usvojene hipoteze o mortalitetu identične za sve varijante. Kao bazno stanovništvo uzete su korigirane procjene stanovništva na dan 1. siječnja prema posljednjem popisu 2001. Rezultati projekcija pokazuju da će se u sljedećih trideset godina nastaviti i ukupna i prirodna depopulacija stanovništva Hrvatske, koje će na kraju projekcijskog razdoblja (2031.) biti demografski starije nego na početku (2001.). Razlike po varijantama postoje jedino u intenzitetu odvijanja procesa starenja, a smjer procesa ostao bi isti. Tako bi se u uvjetima predviđenim varijantama koje računaju s pozitivnim migracijskim saldom, proces starenja odvijao nešto sporije. Jedina varijanta koja pretpostavlja održavanje udjela mladih na razini iz 2001., spori demografski rast, te na kraju projekcijskoga razdoblja veći broj stanovnika nego 2001. godine, jest varijanta visokoga fertiliteta koja uključuje migracije. Utjecaj migracija vrlo je važan za buduće demografske procese. One, naime, ne mogu u kratkom roku utjecati na smjer demografskih procesa, ali mogu ublažiti već postojeće negativne trendove., The paper presents middle duration projections of Croatia’s population, until the year 2031, determined via the cohort-component method. It outlines eight variants derived from supposed hypotheses in regard to changing birth, migration and death rates. Differences in the variants are exclusively differences in birth and migration rates, since the assumptions in regard to the death rates are the same in all the variants. The corrected estimate of the population on January 1st 2001, according to the most recent census, served as the base population. The results of the projections indicate that in the next thirty years the overall and the natural population reduction of Croatia will continue, and at the end of the period (2031) the population will be demographically older than at the start (2001). The variants differ only in relation to the intensity (i.e. swiftness) of the aging process, yet the direction remains the same. Thus, in the variant that assumes a positive migration balance, the process of aging would be somewhat slower. The only variant that assumes a constant proportion of young people (on the 2001 level), gradual demographic growth and at the end of the period a larger population than in 2001, is the variant based on a high birth rate and positive migration. The impact of migration is very important for future demographic processes. Namely, in the short run, migration cannot change the direction of demographic processes, but it can lessen already existing negative trends.

The worldwide spread of a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009 showed that influenza remains a significant health threat, even for individuals in the prime of life. This paper focuses on the unusually high young adult mortality observed during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Using historical records from Canada and the U.S., we report a peak of mortality at the exact age of 28 during the pandemic and argue that this increased mortality resulted from an early life exposure to influenza during the previous Russian flu pandemic of 1889-90. We posit that in specific instances, development of immunological memory to an influenza virus strain in early life may lead to a dysregulated immune response to antigenically novel strains encountered in later life, thereby increasing the risk of death. Exposure during critical periods of development could also create holes in the T cell repertoire and impair fetal maturation in general, thereby increasing mortality from infectious diseases later in life. Knowledge of the age-pattern of susceptibility to mortality from influenza could improve crisis management during future influenza pandemics.

The objectives of this paper are to predict life years lost associated with obesity-related diseases (ORDs) for U.S. non-smoking adults, and to examine the relationship between those ORDs and mortality. Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2000, were used. We employed mixed proportional hazard models to estimate the association between those ORDs and mortality and used simulations to project life years lost associated with the ORDs. We found that obesity-attributable comorbidities are associated with large decreases in life years and increases in mortality rates. The life years lost associated with ORDs is more marked for younger adults than older adults, for blacks than whites, for males than females, and for the more obese than the less obese. Using U.S. non-smoking adults aged 40 to 49 years as an example to illustrate percentage of the life years lost associated with ORDs, we found that the mean life years lost associated with ORDs for U.S. non-smoking black males aged 40 to 49 years with a body mass index above 40 kg/m(2) was 5.43 years, which translates to a 7.5% reduction in total life years. White males of the same age range and same degree of obesity lost 5.23 life years on average - a 6.8% reduction in total life years, followed by black females (5.04 years, a 6.5% reduction in life years), and white females (4.7 years, a 5.8% reduction in life years). Overall, ORDs increased chances of dying and lessened life years by 0.2 to 11.7 years depending on gender, race, BMI classification, and age.

The neutral assumption that individuals of either the same or different species share exactly the same birth, death, migration, and speciation probabilities is fundamental yet controversial to the neutral theory. Several theoretical studies have demonstrated that a slight difference in species per capita birth or death rates can have a profound consequence on species coexistence and community structure. Whether asymmetry in migration, a vital demographic parameter in the neutral model, plays an important role in community assembly still remains unknown. In this paper, we relaxed the ecological equivalence assumption of the neutral model by introducing differences into species regional dispersal ability. We investigated the effect of asymmetric dispersal on the neutral local community structure. We found that per capita asymmetric dispersal among species could reduce species richness of the local community and result in deviations of species abundance distributions from those predicted by the neutral model. But the effect was moderate compared with that of asymmetries in birth or death rates, unless very large asymmetries in dispersal were assumed. A large difference in species dispersal ability, if there is, can overwhelm the role of random drift and make local community dynamics deterministic. In this case, species with higher regional dispersal abilities tended to dominate in the local community. However, the species abundance distribution of the local community under asymmetric dispersal could be well fitted by the neutral model, but the neutral model generally underestimated the fundamental biodiversity number but overestimated the migration rate in such communities.

BACKGROUND: Influenza epidemics have a substantial impact on human health, by increasing the mortality from pneumonia and influenza, respiratory and circulatory diseases, and all causes. This paper provides estimates of excess mortality rates associated with influenza virus circulation for 7 causes of death and 8 age groups in Portugal during the period of 1980-2004. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compiled monthly mortality time series data by age for all-cause mortality, cerebrovascular diseases, ischemic heart diseases, diseases of the respiratory system, chronic respiratory diseases, pneumonia and influenza. We also used a control outcome, deaths from injuries. Age- and cause-specific baseline mortality was modelled by the ARIMA approach; excess deaths attributable to influenza were calculated by subtracting expected deaths from observed deaths during influenza epidemic periods. Influenza was associated with a seasonal average of 24.7 all-cause excess deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, approximately 90% of which were among seniors over 65 yrs. Excess mortality was 3-6 fold higher during seasons dominated by the A(H3N2) subtype than seasons dominated by A(H1N1)/B. High excess mortality impact was also seen in children under the age of four years. Seasonal excess mortality rates from all the studied causes of death were highly correlated with each other (Pearson correlation range, 0.65 to 0.95, P0.64, P

Read on Friday, 29th October, 1943, In an important paper which was published in the Journal of this Society for 1930, Geary surveyed Irish tuberculosis statistics. This communication has as its first aim to analyse along similar lines the figures of the decade 1926-36. Various points which emerged during the discussion on his paper will be examined in some detail, and in particular the validity of Irish tuberculosis statistics is submitted to a close scrutiny.

Read May 21st 1849, In a former paper which I had the honour to read before this society, I showed the intimate connexion between intemperance and crime. I purpose, on the present occasion, to carry out the object I then had in view, and to occupy your attention by a brief examination of the evils which result to society, in an economic, a social, and a moral point of view, from the use of alcoholic liquors. The inquiry will include an investigation into the consequences resulting to mankind, in relation to their wealth, their health, and their happiness, from this cause.