Europe and Central Asia region Middle East and North Africa region population projects : 1992-93 edition

Population projections for all countries are prepared annually by the Bank's Population and Human Resources Department. They are published first in summary form in the Bank's World Development Report and later in greater detail as technical notes or working papers and, in alternate years, as a book. Separate papers cover the six Bank regions: (1) Africa (sub-Saharan); (2) Latin America and the Caribbean (and North America); (3) East Asia and Pacific region and South Asia region combined; and (4) Europe and Central Asia region and Middle East and North Africa region combined. This year's projections contain two major changes from the previous edition. First, projected mortality from AIDS has been incorporated into the tables for sub-Saharan African countries. Second, demographic estimates and projections are provided separately for each of the fifteen countries that constituted the former Soviet Union. Among trends observed: The total fertility rate for the world is an estimated 3.2 children per woman in 1992. The highest total fertility rates are found in East and West Africa, where the rate is about 6. Most countries in the Asian and Latin American regions have moderate fertility of three to five children per woman, although both continents contain countries with very high and very low levels. More developed countries have the lowest fertility, with rates ranging between 2.5 and 1.5, but one of the former Soviet republics, Tajikistan, has a total fertility of 5. Europe (including the former Soviet republics) is the only continent where aggregate fertility is currently below replacement - that is, where women are not having enough children to replace themselves. Recent trends in some countries of Europe show small increases in fertility, and the projections assume that the total fertility rate will recover to replacement level by 2030. Europe is also the continent with the most homogeneous fertility levels: with the exception of four of the former Soviet republics that have total fertility rates above 3, fertility in the other 41 countries varies in a narrow range between 1.5 and 2.8. The Northern American region has the highest aggregate life expectancy, 76.7. The European region has the second highest aggregate life expectancy, 74.4. Every country in this region is above the world's average of 66. Moving from west to east through this region, life expectancies tend to decline, from a high of 78 in Iceland to a low of 66 in Turkmenistan.Earth Sciences&GIS,Demographics,Health Indicators,Health Information&Communications Technologies,

East Asia and Pacific region South Asia region population projections 1992-93 edition

Population projections for all countries are prepared annually by the Bank's Population and Human Resources Department. They are published first in summary form in the Bank's World Development Report and later in greater detail as technical notes or working papers and, in alternate years, as a book. Separate papers cover the six Bank regions: (1) Africa (sub-Saharan); (2) Latin American and the Caribbean (and Northern America); (3) East Asia and Pacific region and South Asia region combined; and (4) Europe and Central Asia region and Middle East and North Africa region combined. Among trends observed: In Asia, most countries have begun the transition from high to low fertility, with declines in many countries starting before and during the 1970s. In East and Southeast Asia, fertility has already reached a low level of 2.5 children per woman. South Asia, at 4.1 children per woman, has progressed less far in this process, and Southwest Asia has still further to go. But each subregion of the Asian continent includes countries at different stages of the fertility transition: each subregion has at least one country with a total fertility rate of 6 or greater and one country with replacement-level fertility. The projections of when replacement fertility will be reached in the region as a whole are determined by the trends in individual countries with the slowest decline; the Asian subregion aggregates will therefore be late in achieving this. South Asia has the worst mortality conditions of the Asian subregions, but improvement has been quite rapid since the mid-1970s, with life expectancy increasing from 49 to 59 years currently. Life expectancy in Southwest Asia is near the world's average, while it is well above that in East and Southeast Asia at 70 years. East and Southeast Asia contains some of the countries (Japan and Hong Kong) with the highest measured life expectancies in the world. The most populous country in the world is China, with a population of 1.2 billion. Its population growth rate, 1.5 percent in the early 1990s, is low for a low-income country and is due to the low level of fertility achieved in the last two decades. India, the second most populous country, has an estimated population of 883 million in 1992. Because of its higher total fertility rate, it is growing faster than China - 2.0 percent a year - despite higher mortality. The population of India is projected to surpass the 1 billion mark in the year 2000 and to surpass China in total population by 2120.Demographics,Health Indicators,Health Information&Communications Technologies,,Earth Sciences&GIS

Latin America and the Caribbean region (and Northern America) population projections : 1992-93 edition

Population projections for all countries are prepared annually by the World Bank's Population and Human Resources Department. They are published first in summary form in the Bank's World Development Report and later in greater detail as technical notes or working papers, and in alternate years, as a book. Separate papers cover the six Bank regions: (1) Africa (sub-Saharan); (2) Latin America and the Caribbean (and Northern America); (3) East Asia and Pacific region and South Asia region combined; and (4) Europe and Central Asia region and Middle East and North Africa region combined. Among trends observed: all of the Bank's regions have positive population growth rates, but a few countries are losing people. These countries are in one of two regions: in Latin America and the Caribbean, where several small island countries (Dominica, Grenada, and St. Kitts and Nevis) have recently had negative growth rates, and in Europe (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Ireland). In the case of the Caribbean islands, the cause of population decline is outmigration, whereas in Eastern Europe it results from a combination of below-replacement fertility and outmigration. On the American continent, fertility in all countries has dropped to below 6 children per woman, but some countries have gone much further than others. The total fertility rate for Latin America is intermediate at 3.1, and replacement fertility is projected to be reached in every country no later than 2035. In Northern America, fertility is at 2 children per woman - that is, just below replacement level. At the regional level, international net migration has a trivial effect on population growth. The most significant flow in the world occurs between Latin America and the Caribbean and Northern America, which amounts to just over one-half million persons per year. Migration often occurs for unpredictable reasons, and is often reversed in a short time. The projections of future net migration assume a gradual decline to zero from current levels.Health Information&Communications Technologies,,Earth Sciences&GIS,Demographics,Health Indicators

Family structure and breakfast consumption of 11-15 year old boys and girls in Scotland, 1994-2010

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The benefits of breakfast during childhood and adolescence have been reported previously though few studies have considered family structure inequalities in breakfast consumption. The proportion of young people living in non-traditional family types has increased in recent years, strengthening the need to describe and monitor the impact of the changing family unit on adolescent breakfast consumption. This study aimed to describe changes in daily breakfast consumption among adolescents in Scotland between 1994 and 2010, while also considering family structure inequalities, and the degree to which these have changed over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) surveys were analysed using logistic multilevel regression models for binary outcome variable daily breakfast consumption.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Daily breakfast consumption among adolescents increased between 1994 and 2010, although there were differences by age and sex. In fact those aged over 14.5 years saw decreases in breakfast consumption, and girls saw significantly larger increases than boys. Daily breakfast consumption was more prevalent among adolescents from 'both parent' families, with lowest prevalence among those from single parent families. Trends in daily breakfast consumption between 1994 and 2010 also varied by family structure. While prevalence of daily breakfast consumption increased among those living with 'both parents', the largest proportion of the population, prevalence decreased over time among adolescents of single parent families, and particularly among those living with their father.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Family structure inequalities in daily breakfast consumption increased between 1994 and 2010, while breakfast consumption across the population as a whole increased. As the proportion of young people living in an alternative family structure continues to grow it is important to understand why these inequalities have increased and how these may be overcome. Possible reasons for family structure inequalities and their increase in recent years are discussed.</p

Dispersion, feeding behavior and competition in two spionid polychaetes

Spatial analysis, laboratory and field experiments, and feeding observations indicate contrasting patterns of aggression in the polychaetes Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata (Okuda) and Streblospio benedicti (Webster) and provide the first evidence of territoriality in a spionid polychaete (Pseudopolydora)...

Key findings from the 2006 Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study

The HBSC study in Scotland is funded by NHS Health Scotland.Publisher PD

On the origin of the B-stars in the Galactic center

We present a new directly-observable statistic which uses sky position and proper motion of stars near the Galactic center massive black hole to identify populations with high orbital eccentricities. It is most useful for stars with large orbital periods for which dynamical accelerations are difficult to determine. We apply this statistic to a data set of B-stars with projected radii 0."1 < p < 25" (~0.004 - 1 pc) from the massive black hole in the Galactic center. We compare the results with those from N-body simulations to distinguish between scenarios for their formation. We find that the scenarios favored by the data correlate strongly with particular K-magnitude intervals, corresponding to different zero-age main-sequence (MS) masses and lifetimes. Stars with 14 < mK < 15 (15 - 20 solar masses, t_{MS} = 8-13 Myr) match well to a disk formation origin, while those with mK > 15 (13 Myr), if isotropically distributed, form a population that is more eccentric than thermal, which suggests a Hills binary-disruption origin.Comment: Updated paper. 21 pages, 28 figures, 6 tables, ApJ accepte

A Tribute to Charlie Angell

A long-time Book Review Editor for Bridgewater Review, English Professor, former union president and student advisor without peer, Dr. Charles F. Angell passed away on June 13, 2012, just days before our last issue went to press – too soon for us to honor him properly with a tribute, and just plain too soon. What follows are words written by some of Charlie’s colleagues who knew him personally and professionally, and who attest to the deep and lasting effect that he made in his time with us at Bridgewater State

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Guided Self-Help for Overweight and Obese Adults High in Weight Self-Stigma

Weight self-stigma, in which individuals internalize stigmatizing messages about weight, is a prevalent problem that contributes to poor quality of life and health. This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) guided self-help using The Diet Trap (Lillis, Dahl, & Weineland, 2014) for 55 overweight/obese adults high in weight self-stigma. Participants were randomized to the ACT self-help book plus phone coaching (GSH-P; n=17), self-help book plus email prompts only (GSH-E; n=20), or a waitlist condition (n=18), with online self-report assessments at baseline and posttreatment (8 weeks later). Participants reported high satisfaction ratings and engagement with the ACT self-help book, with no differences between GSH-P and GSH-E. Both GSH-P and GSH-E improved weight self-stigma relative to waitlist with large effect sizes. There were mixed findings for health outcomes. The GSH-P condition improved more on healthy eating behaviors and general physical activity, but neither ACT condition improved more than waitlist on self-reported body mass index, emotional eating, and a second measure of physical activity. Results suggest an ACT self-help book with email prompts can reduce weight self-stigma and potentially improve some health behavior outcomes. Phone coaching may provide additional benefits for generalizing ACT to diet and physical activity

Secular Dynamical Anti-Friction in Galactic Nuclei

We identify a gravitational-dynamical process in near-Keplerian potentials of galactic nuclei that occurs when an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) is migrating on an eccentric orbit through the stellar cluster towards the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). We find that, apart from conventional dynamical friction, the IMBH experiences an often much stronger systematic torque due to the secular (i.e., orbit-averaged) interactions with the cluster's stars. The force which results in this torque is applied, counterintuitively, in the same direction as the IMBH's precession and we refer to its action as "secular-dynamical anti-friction" (SDAF). We argue that SDAF, and not the gravitational ejection of stars, is responsible for the IMBH's eccentricity increase seen in the initial stages of previous N-body simulations. Our numerical experiments, supported by qualitative arguments, demonstrate that (1) when the IMBH's precession direction is artificially reversed, the torque changes sign as well, which decreases the orbital eccentricity, (2) the rate of eccentricity growth is sensitive to the IMBH migration rate, with zero systematic eccentricity growth for an IMBH whose orbit is artificially prevented from inward migration, and (3) SDAF is the strongest when the central star cluster is rapidly rotating. This leads to eccentricity growth/decrease for the clusters rotating in the opposite/same direction relative to the IMBH's orbital motion.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Published in Ap