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Populations Around The World (population + around_the_world)
Selected Abstracts"Demographic Futures for Christianity and the World Religions"DIALOG, Issue 1 2004By Todd M. Johnson Abstract:, Since before 1970 Christian researchers have been tracking the massive demographic shift of Christianity to the Southern Hemisphere and noting the increasingly religious nature of populations around the world. At the same time, writers on the future of religion have been drawn to extreme portrayals of decline or revival of religion. However, the world's religious situation is replete with detailed information, drawn from enormous data collections on religious affiliation and questions about religion in government censuses. Quantitative tools, utilizing this information in the context of demography provide a more nuanced view of humankind's religious future. Demographic trends coupled with conservative estimates of conversions and defections envision over 80% of the world's population will continue to be affiliated with religions 200 years into the future. This religious future will have a profound influence on Christian theology, relations between religions, and the interaction between religion and politics. [source] Breast cancer and microbial cancer incidence in female populations around the world: A surprising hyperbolic associationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 5 2008Anamaria Savu Abstract Current literature on cancer epidemiology typically discusses etiology of cancer by cancer type. Risks of different cancer types are, however, correlated at population level and may provide etiological clues. We showed previously an unexpected very high positive correlation between breast cancer (BC) and young-adult Hodgkin disease incidence rates. In a population-based case,control study of BC, older ages at the first Epstein,Barr virus exposure, indicated by older ages at onset of infectious mononucleosis, were associated with elevated BC risk. Here we examine BC risk in association with microbial cancer (MC) risk in female populations across the world. MC cancers are cervical, liver and stomach cancers with established causal associations with human papillomaviruses, hepatitis viruses, and helicobacter pylori, respectively. We examined age-adjusted BC and MC incidence rates in 74 female populations around the world with cancer registries. Our analysis suggests that BC and MC rates are inversely associated in a special mathematical form such that the product of BC rate and MC rate is approximately constant across world female populations. A differential equation model with solutions consistent to the observed inverse association was derived. BC and MC rates were modeled as functions of an exposure level to unspecified common factors that influence the 2 rates. In conjunction with previously reported evidence, we submit a hypothesis that BC etiology may have an appreciable link with microbial exposures (and/or immunological responses to them), the lack of which, especially in early life, may elevate BC risk. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Os incae: variation in frequency in major human population groupsJOURNAL OF ANATOMY, Issue 2 2001TSUNEHIKO HANIHARA The variation in frequency of the Inca bone was examined in major human populations around the world. The New World populations have generally high frequencies of the Inca bone, whereas lower frequencies occur in northeast Asians and Australians. Tibetan/Nepalese and Assam/Sikkim populations in northeast India have more Inca bones than do neighbouring populations. Among modern populations originally derived from eastern Asian population stock, the frequencies are highest in some of the marginal isolated groups. In Central and West Asia as well as in Europe, frequency of the Inca bone is relatively low. The incidence of the complete Inca bone is, moreover, very low in the western hemisphere of the Old World except for Subsaharan Africa. Subsaharan Africans show as a whole a second peak in the occurrence of the Inca bone. Geographical and ethnographical patterns of the frequency variation of the Inca bone found in this study indicate that the possible genetic background for the occurrence of this bone cannot be completely excluded. Relatively high frequencies of the Inca bone in Subsaharan Africans indicate that this trait is not a uniquely eastern Asian regional character. [source] Cross-sectional study of oral mucosal conditions among a central Amazonian Indian community, BrazilJOURNAL OF ORAL PATHOLOGY & MEDICINE, Issue 1 2004Paulo José Benevides Dos Santos Background:, A cross-sectional study on the oral mucosal conditions among the Waimiri Atroari Indians from central Amazonia, Brazil, has been conducted. These Indians keep their traditional way of life and are free from habits such as smoking, alcohol drinking, and use of pacifiers. Methods:, Clinical examinations of a representative, randomly selected sample of patients during routine dental treatment, following ethical procedures recommended by Brazilian laws were made. Results:, Out of 922 individuals, 587 were examined, among which 52.57% of the children up to 12 years old and 73.44% of patients aged 13 years or older presented at least one oral mucosal condition. The conditions more frequently observed were, in decreasing order of prevalence: fissured tongue, focal epithelial hyperplasia (FEH), lesions of traumatic origin, geographic tongue, Fordyce's spots, and candidiasis. Only one case of leukoplakia was identified. Conclusions:, Conditions observed among theses Indians were essentially the same that have been described in other populations around the world, except for FEH, which, as a characteristic lesion of Indians, had high prevalence (20.95%). The lesions observed were related to the way of life of this specific population. [source] A global perspective on changes in the burden of caries and periodontitis: implications for dentistry,JOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 12 2007V. BAELUM Summary, The structure and contents of most oral health care systems and the contents of dental curricula reflect a deep-rooted tradition for attempting to cure oral diseases by refined technological means. However, better oral health conditions for the world's populations necessitate the application of up-to-date scientific knowledge to control the major oral diseases. This review points out that not only should the structure and contents of oral health care delivery systems be based on state-of-the-art knowledge about the biology of the oral diseases; they must also take into account the trends for change in caries and periodontal diseases within and between populations, and acknowledge the impact of changes in treatment philosophies for these trends. The oral disease profiles for populations in low- and high-income countries are briefly described, and it is concluded that the rapidly changing disease profiles observed in high-income countries necessitate re-thinking of the future role and organization of dentistry in such countries. The priorities for low- and middle-income countries must be to avoid repeating the mistakes made in the high-income countries. Instead, these societies might take advantage of setting priorities based on a population-based common risk factor approach. If such an approach is adopted, the training of personnel with oral health care competence must be rethought. The authors suggest three different cadres of dental care providers to be considered for an approach that allows health care planners in different populations around the world to prioritize appropriate oral health care with due respect for the socio-economic conditions prevailing. [source] Dogs Canis familiaris as carnivores: their role and function in intraguild competitionMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 4 2009ABI TAMIM VANAK ABSTRACT 1Dogs Canis familiaris are the world's most common carnivore and are known to interact with wildlife as predators, prey, competitors, and disease reservoirs or vectors. 2Despite these varied roles in the community, the interaction of dogs with sympatric wild carnivore species is poorly understood. We review how dogs have been classified in the literature, and illustrate how the location and ranging behaviour of dogs are important factors in predicting their interactions with wild prey and carnivores. 3We detail evidence of dogs as intraguild competitors with sympatric carnivores in the context of exploitative, interference and apparent competition. 4Dogs can have localized impacts on prey populations, but in general they are not exploitative competitors with carnivores. Rather, most dog populations are highly dependent on human-derived food and gain a relatively small proportion of their diet from wild prey. However, because of human-derived food subsidies, dogs can occur at high population densities and thus could potentially outcompete native carnivores, especially when prey is limited. 5Dogs can be effective interference competitors, especially with medium-sized and small carnivores. Dogs may fill the role of an interactive medium-sized canid within the carnivore community, especially in areas where the native large carnivore community is depauperate. 6Dogs can also be reservoirs of pathogens, because most populations around the world are free-ranging and unvaccinated. Diseases such as rabies and canine distemper have resulted in severe population declines in several endangered carnivores coexisting with high-density dog populations. Dogs can therefore be viewed as pathogen-mediated apparent competitors, capable of facilitating large-scale population declines in carnivores. 7Based on this information, we propose conceptual models that use dog population size and ranging patterns to predict the potential for dogs to be intraguild competitors. We discuss how interactions between dogs and carnivores might influence native carnivore communities. [source] Radiation and breast carcinogenesis,PEDIATRIC BLOOD & CANCER, Issue 5 2001John D. Boice Jr. Abstract With the possible exception of radiation-induced leukemia, more is known about radiation-induced breast cancer than any other malignancy [1, 2]. Fourteen cohort studies have provided quantitative information on the level of risk following a wide range of doses in different populations around the world. Comprehensive studies have been conducted in Canada, Germany, Japan, Sweden and other Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, and the USA (Table I). Key features are the linearity in the dose response (i.e., a straight line adequately fits the observed data), and the effect modification of age at exposure (i.e., risk is inversely related to exposure age and exposures past the menopausal ages appear to carry a very low risk); and the minimal effect of fractionating dose on subsequent risk [3]. A recent combined analysis of almost 78,000 women and 1,500 breast cancer cases from eight cohorts confirmed the downturn in risk at the highest dose levels (related in part to the killing of cells rather than transformation) and that fractionation of dose has little influence on risk, at least on an absolute scale [4]. It is not known whether persons predisposed to cancer are at enhanced risk of radiation-induced breast cancer from low-dose exposures, although this seems unlikely [5]. New data on the effects of high doses following childhood exposures will be forthcoming from long-term studies of the survivors of childhood cancer (6,8). Med. Pediatr. Oncol. 36:508,513, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Brief communication: Patterns of linkage disequilibrium and haplotype diversity at Xq13 in six Native American populationsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Sijia Wang Abstract Comparative studies of linkage disequilibrium (LD) can provide insights into human demographic history. Here, we characterize LD in six Native American populations using seven microsatellite markers in Xq13, a region of the genome extensively studied in populations around the world. Native Americans show relatively low diversity and high LD, in agreement with recent genome-wide survey and a scenario of sequential founder effects accompanying human population dispersal around the globe. LD in Native Americans is similar to that observed in some recently described small population isolates and higher than in large European isolates (e.g., Finns), which have been extensively analyzed in medical genetics studies. Haplotype analyses are consistent with a colonization of the New World by a differentiated East Asian population, followed by extensive genetic drift in the Americas. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Population-specific deviations of global human craniometric variation from a neutral modelAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2010John H. Relethford Abstract Past studies have revealed that much of human craniometric variation follows a neutral model of population relationships. At the same time, there is evidence for the influence of natural selection in having shaped some global diversity in craniometrics. In order to partition these effects, and to explore other potential population-specific influences, this article analyzes residuals of craniometric distances from a geographically based neutral model of population structure. W.W. Howells' global craniometric data set was used for these analyses, consisting of 57 measurements for 22 populations around the world, excluding Polynesia and Micronesia because of the relatively recent settlement of these regions. Phenotypic and geographic distances were derived between all pairs of populations. Three-dimensional multidimensional scaling configurations were obtained for both distance matrices, and compared using a Procrustes rotation method to show which populations do not fit the geographic model. This analysis revealed three major deviations: the Buriat, Greenland Inuit, and Peru. The deviations of the Buriat and Greenland Inuit appear to be related to long-term adaptation to cold environments. The Peruvian sample is more similar to other New World populations than expected based on geographic distance alone. This deviation likely reflects the evolutionarily recent movement of human populations into South America, such that these populations are further from genetic equilibrium. This same pattern is seen in South American populations in a comparative analysis of classical genetic markers, but not in a comparative analysis of STR loci, perhaps reflecting the higher mutation rate for the latter. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Conservation Education and primates: twenty-first century challenges and opportunitiesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Hogan M. Sherrow Abstract Conservation Education has gone through a transformation since it was originally introduced. Numerous primatologists, working in all regions of the world where primates are endemic, have been extremely proactive in the application of Conservation Education (CE) and CE principles in their work. Here, I discuss the ongoing threats to primate populations around the world. Finally, I introduce a framework that can guide primatologists, as we move forward and face the challenges of the twenty-first century. Am. J. Primatol. 72:420,424, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Global surface ultraviolet radiation intensity may modulate the clinical and immunologic expression of autoimmune muscle diseaseARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 8 2003Satoshi Okada Objective To determine if geoclimatic factors may influence the nature and frequency of dermatomyositis (DM), polymyositis, and associated autoantibodies around the world. Methods We assessed, in the first global evaluation of these conditions, the relationship between 13 geoclimatic variables that may modulate disease and the relative proportion of DM and its associated autoantibody anti,Mi-2, directed against an SNF2-superfamily helicase associated with the nucleosome remodeling and histone acetylation and deacetylation complex, in a global myositis population. Altogether, 919 consecutive patients from populations at 15 locations were studied. Results Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that of the variables evaluated, surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation intensity (irradiance) most strongly contributed to the relative proportion of DM and was strongly related to the proportion of anti,Mi-2 autoantibodies (weighted r = 0.939, P < 4 × 10 -7 and weighted r = 0.69, P = 0.02, respectively). Published ethnogeographic immunogenetic allele frequencies imply that the striking differences in the proportion of DM- and DM-specific autoantibodies observed around the world are not the result of inherent global variations in known genetic risk factors. Conclusion These data suggest that UV radiation exposure may modulate the clinical and immunologic expression of an autoimmune disease in different populations around the world. [source] Genotype frequencies and linkage disequilibrium in the CEPH human diversity panel for variants in folate pathway genes MTHFR, MTHFD, MTRR, RFC1, and GCP2BIRTH DEFECTS RESEARCH, Issue 8 2003Min Shi BACKGROUND Genetic variation in enzymes involved in vitamin metabolism is a candidate for analysis in studies of how nutritional covariates may impact a disease state. The role of folate pathway genes in birth defects and cardiovascular disease in humans has been widely studied. Since incidence rates for these disorders vary by geographic origins, it is useful to know which variants are the best candidates for studies based on genotype and allele frequency, as well as linkage disequilibrium (LD) in founder populations. METHODS Six polymorphisms in five folate metabolism-related genes (MTHFR, MTHFD, MTRR, GCP2, and RFC1) were genotyped on a collection of 1064 DNA samples from populations around the world, which were made available by the Centre d'Étude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) consortium for analysis. RESULTS In this study we report the genotype frequencies for variants in the MTHFR, MTHFD, MTRR, GCP2, and RFC1 genes, and the LD for two variants (C677T and A1298C) in MTHFR. CONCLUSIONS The rare allele frequency for each of the five genes studied varied widely. LD is strongest in Pakistani and Brazilian populations (D, = 1.0) and weakest in Mexican populations (D, = 0.45). These findings will allow the selection of variants that will provide the most power in studies of folate pathway genes involving different ancestral populations, and contribute to our knowledge of the population distribution of selected nutritional gene variants. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. 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