The ecology of Oncopera Fasciculata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) in South Australia. 1. Field observations on the nubers of O. Fasciculata and the factors influencing birth rate and death rate.

1956 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
PE Madge

During some years the underground grass caterpillar, Oncopera fasciculata (Walker), appears in large numbers and causes severe damage to improved pastures in the lower south-east of South Australia and the Central and Western Districts of Victoria. The present paper, which is the first of several, includes a description of the area of study and an account of field observations on the components of the environment that may influence the survivaI rate of the species.

1961 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Maelzer

The distribution and abundance of the univoltine species A. tasmaniae in the lower south-east of South Australia appears to be related to annual rainfall. The effects of moisture on the mortality rates of the immature stages were consequently studied and observations were made of the effects of variations in moisture in the field. Laboratory experiments and field observations suggested that variations in soil moisture have little effect on the eggs and the diapausing prepupae in the field. Eggs absorbed water and hatched normally within a pF range of 2.50-3.75 in a sand and in a clay loam. At pF 4.0 in both soils, eggs lost weight and did not hatch. The adults, however, tend to lay the eggs well within the pF range in which the eggs can develop, and soil samples suggested that eggs would develop with little mortality in the kinds of places in which they are usually laid. When prepupae enter diapause they have a water content of c. 77%. When desiccated in the laboratory, few prepupae died until their water content fell below 62%. The mortality rate then increased sharply, and it was estimated that 50% of the prepupae died when their water content dropped to 57%. Droughts of sufficient duration and intensity to kill 50% of the prepupae have never been recorded from the study area, and field observations suggested that few prepupae died of desiccation in summer. Unlike the two stages above, the first and third instar larvae may be markedly affected by variations in moisture in the field. The first instar larvae, after hatching, do not move to the surface of the soil and do not feed much until the soil is saturated with rain. As rainfall is variable at this time of the year, the larvae may be in dry soil for many weeks before they are stimulated to extend their burrows to the surface and search for food. Many larvae may die of starvation during this time, and the mortality rate of the larvae was related empirically to the length of the autumn "drought". Third instar larvae may be affected, on the other hand, by excessive water. In wet winters, vast numbers of larvae are drowned when extensive flooding occurs on the poorly-drained soils, and on well-drained soils a large proportion of larvae are killed by the entomophagous fungus Cordyceps aphodii. The above data have suggested that moisture is one of the major factors affecting the distribution and abundance of the species. Temperature has little effect on the rate of increase of the species.


1964 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 263 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Maelzer

This paper discusses the causes of three "outbreaks" of the univoltine species, A. tasmaniae, that occurred in the lower south-east of South Australia between 1927 and 1958. Since experimental data had suggested that moisture was the major factor influencing fluctuations in numbers, a comparison was made of the abundance of A. tasmaniae and the "wetness" in each year during three postulated critical periods, namely (1) January-March (summer) when a deficiency of rain could result in a low birth rate; (2) March-May (autumn) when drought could result in a high mortality of first instar larvae; and (3) July-September (winter), when excess rainfall could drown the larvae or promote infection with the pathogenic fungus Cordyceps aphodii Mathieson. The comparison suggested that a marked reduction in numbers followed a long autumn drought on one occasion, and followed a summer with little effective rain on three other occasions; but a reduction in numbers could not be associated clearly with even one wet winter. On the other hand, the greatest increases in numbers followed winters that were drier than average, provided that the weather was not too unfavourable at other times of the year; and the periods of 4 years before each outbreak were noticeable for the unusual prevalence of dry winters and wet summers. It is concluded that the fluctuations in numbers of A. tasmaniae between 1927 and 1958 have been determined largely by weather and by Cordyceps infection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lalit Yadav ◽  
Tiffany K Gill ◽  
Anita Taylor ◽  
Jen DeYoung ◽  
Mellick J Chehade

UNSTRUCTURED Introduction Majority of older people with hip fractures once admitted to acute hospital care are unable to return to their pre-fracture level of independence and a significant number are either newly admitted or return to residential aged care. Patient education involves family members and/or residential aged care staff as networked units, crucial for empowerment through improving health literacy. Advancement of digital technology has led to evolving solutions around optimising health care including self-management of chronic disease conditions and telerehabilitation. The aim of this study is to understand perspectives of older patients with hip fractures, their family members and residential aged carers, to inform the development of a digitally enabled model of care using a personalised digital health hub (pDHH). Methods A mixed methods study was conducted at a public tertiary care hospital in South Australia involving patients aged 50 years and above along with their family members and residential aged carers. Quantitative data, including basic demographic characteristics, access to computers and Internet were analysed using descriptive statistics. Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation was used to examine correlations between the perceived role of a pDHH in improving health and likelihood of subsequent usage. Whereas qualitative data included series of open-ended questions and findings were interpreted using constructs of capability, opportunity and motivation to help understand the factors influencing the likelihood of potential pDHH use Results Overall, 100 people were recruited in the study, representing 55 patients, 13 family members and 32 residential aged carers. The mean age of patients was 76.4 years (SD-8.4, age range 54-88) and females represented 60% of patients. Although a moderate negative correlation existed with increasing age and likelihood of pDHH usage (ρ= -0.50, p<0.001) the perceived role of the DHH in improving health had a strong positive correlation with the likelihood of pDHH usage by self (ρ=0.71, p<0.001) and by society, including friends and family members (ρ=0.75, p<0.001). Of particular note, almost all the patients (98%) believed they had a family member or friend /carer who would be able to help them to use a digital health platform. Whereas our qualitative findings suggest emphasising on complex interplay of capability, opportunity and motivation as crucial factors while designing a pDHH enabled model of care for hip fractures at a local context level. Conclusion Findings from this study contributed to understand the dynamics around capabilities, motivation and opportunities of patients, family members and formal carers as a “patient networked unit”. Future research recommendation must involve co-creation guided by iterative processes through improving understanding of factors influencing development and successful integration of complex digital healthcare interventions in real-world scenarios.


1960 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo A. Orleans

Whereas throughout most of the world the results of the 1953 censusregistration of Communist China, reporting a population of 582·6 million, evoked anxiety and even alarm, the Communists expressed only pride and overwhelming confidence. As a people “liberated from the oppressive chains of capitalism,” Communist leaders felt that their horizons were unlimited and that feeding and caring for a population of this size presented no problems under a system in which people are “the most precious of all categories of capital.” The simultaneous release of vital rates which indicated a birth rate of 37 per thousand population and a death rate of 17 per thousand, further stressed the “great vitality of the people of new China.” The 2 per cent, natural increase (excess of births over deaths), resulting in an annual population growth of some 12 million, was declared, in line with Marxist doctrine, to be an asset in a country with vast new lands and unexploited natural resources, where additional people create additional wealth.


Author(s):  
Hanna Svydlo ◽  
◽  
Iryna Sierova ◽  

Due to the difficult socio-economic situation and worsening of demographic situation, including the consequences of hostilities and ongoing occupation of the part of Ukraine, today the importance of population study and the research on the factors influencing its changes is increasing. During the study of demographic processes on the basis of a thorough analysis, strategic decisions relevant to the use and reproduction of the country's labour potential, stimulation of the birth rate, reduction of mortality, increase of natural population growth, prevention of depopulation processes, providing effective employment and improvement of social protection of the people are made. The demographic factor is one of the determinants for ensuring sustainable and safe development of the country, and the issue of demographic development should be considered as a factor and at the same time as a result of the functioning of the state. The main purpose of the study is to identify trends in the changes of the main indicators characterizing demographic processes in the country. Methodologically and informationally, this paper is based on the scientific works, the materials from reccurent publications and Internet, the laws and regula-tions and the data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The methods used in the study are structural and dynamic analysis, comparison and generalization of the data collected by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine and Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. During a study of a phenomenon or a process, first of all, the categorical apparatus is determined. Based on the purpose of the study, the concept of reproduction and natural movement of the population is defined and their theoretical description is given. This paper considers the reproduction of the population as the historically and socio-economically conditioned process of constant and continuous renewal of hu-man generations. Since the natural movement of the population is a process analysis of the birth and death of people, this paper considers such types of population reproduction as archetype, traditional type, transitional type and modern type. For the analysis of the natural movement of the population as a component of demographic safety, the following indicators were evaluated: average life expectancy at birth; depopulation rate; the overall mortality rate of the country's population; in-fant mortality (child mortality up to the age of 1); total birth rate; net reproduction rate; marriage rate; divorce rate. The findings of the analysis show that the main rea-son of the worsening of demographic situation is decrease in the birth rate and in-crease in the mortality rate. Currently, the birth rate in Ukraine is largely limited by both economic factors (insufficient wages, shortage of jobs) and social factors (changes in reproductive habits and norms expressed in the popularity of single-parent families). The analysis revealed socio-economic factors influencing the demo-graphic situation in Ukraine.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 97-126
Author(s):  
Alfred Wong

Latvia has been suffering a substantial decrease in population since the early 1990s. There appears to have been little or no detailed analysis of the genesis of this decline in population. The major political event occurring at the beginning of the population decline was the rapid transitioning from socialism to capitalism. This study has revealed the causes of severe population decline to be a combination of steadily-declining birth rate, sharply rising high death rate, and mass emigration of people to wealthier European states. The cross-over of birth rate and death rate could be attributed to the tumultuous societal upheavals in the changeover from the socialistic protective-welfare system to a free-market capitalistic economic system. In particular, this traumatic event had probably affected the physical and mental health of many people to result in premature deaths from, among other things, consequential morbidity, accidents, homicides and suicides. Practicable remedies to arrest the continuing trend of precipitous decline in the population might include a) repairing the failures of the current modality of national health care, b) creating higher paying jobs in Latvia to entice prospective young emigrants to stay in Latvia, and c) repatriating of recent Latvian émigrés.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 1007-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Guyer ◽  
Donna M. Strobino ◽  
Stephanie J. Ventura ◽  
Marian MacDorman ◽  
Joyce A. Martin

Recent trends in the vital statistics of the United States continued in 1995, including decreases in the number of births, the birth rate, the age-adjusted death rate, and the infant mortality rate; life expectancy at birth increased to a level equal to the record high of 75.8 years in 1992. Marriages and divorces both decreased. An estimated 3 900 089 infants were born during 1995, a decline of 1% from 1994. The preliminary birth rate for 1995 was 14.8 live births per 1000 total population, a 3% decline, and the lowest recorded in nearly two decades. The fertility rate, which relates births to women in the childbearing ages, declined to 65.6 live births per 1000 women 15 to 44 years old, the lowest rate since 1986. According to preliminary data for 1995, fertility rates declined for all racial groups with the gap narrowing between black and white rates. The fertility rate for black women declined 7% to a historic low level (71.7); the preliminary rate for white women (64.5) dropped just 1%. Fertility rates continue to be highest for Hispanic, especially Mexican-American, women. Preliminary data for 1995 suggest a 2% decline in the rate for Hispanic women to 103.7. The birth rate for teenagers has now decreased for four consecutive years, from a high of 62.1 per 1000 women 15 to 19 years old in 1991 to 56.9 in 1995, an overall decline of 8%. The rate of childbearing by unmarried mothers dropped 4% from 1994 to 1995, from 46.9 births per 1000 unmarried women 15 to 44 years old to 44.9, the first decline in the rate in nearly two decades. The proportion of all births occurring to unmarried women dropped as well in 1995, to 32.0% from 32.6% in 1994. Smoking during pregnancy dropped steadily from 1989 (19.5%) to 1994 (14.6%), a decline of about 25%. Prenatal care utilization continued to improve in 1995 with 81.2% of all mothers receiving care in the first trimester compared with 78.9% in 1993. Preliminary data for 1995 suggests continued improvement to 81.2%. The percent of infants delivered by cesarean delivery declined slightly to 20.8% in 1995. The percent of low birth weight (LBW) infants continued to climb in 1994 rising to 7.3%, from 7.2% in 1993. The proportion of LBW improved slightly among black infants, declining from 13.3% to 13.2% between 1993 and 1994. Preliminary figures for 1995 suggest continued decline in LBW for black infants (13.0%). The multiple birth ratio rose to 25.7 per 1000 births for 1994, an increase of 2% over 1993 and 33% since 1980. Age-adjusted death rates in 1995 were lower for heart disease, malignant neoplasms, accidents, and homicide. Although the total number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection deaths increased slightly from 42 114 in 1994 to an estimated 42 506 in 1995, the age-adjusted death rate for HIV infection did not increase, which may indicate a leveling off of the steep upward trend in mortality from HIV infection since 1987. Nearly 15 000 children between the ages of 1-14 years died in the United States (US) in 1995. The death rate for children 1 to 4 years old in 1995 was 40.4 per 100 000 population aged 1 to 4 years, 6% lower than the rate of 42.9 in 1994. The 1995 death rate for 5-to 14-year-olds was 22.1,2% lower than the rate of 22.5 in 1994. Since 1979, death rates have declined by 37% for children 1 to 4 years old, and by 30% for children 5 to 14 years old. For children 1 to 4 years old, the leading cause of death was injuries, which accounted for an estimated 2277 deaths in 1995, 36% of all deaths in this age group. Injuries were the leading cause of death for 5-to 14-year-olds as well, accounting for an even higher percentage (41%) of all deaths. In 1995, the preliminary infant mortality rate was 7.5 per 1000 live births, 6% lower than 1994, and the lowest ever recorded in the US. The decline occurred for neonatal as well as postneonatal mortality rates, and among white and black infants alike. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates have dropped precipitously since 1992, when the American Academy of Pediatrics issued recommendations that infants be placed on their backs or sides to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS. SIDS dropped to the third leading cause of infant death in 1994, after being the second leading cause of death since 1980. Infant mortality rates (IMRs) have also declined rapidly for respiratory distress syndrome since 1989, concurrent with the widespread availability of new treatments for this condition.


Author(s):  
Mandy Golman ◽  
Nila Ricks ◽  
Irene D. Gallegos ◽  
Jesse Weaver

Despite historic lows in teen birth rates, the U.S. still maintains the highest teen birth rate of any industrialized nation, and significant disparities exist between ethnicities and socioeconomic status (SES). The factors influencing teen birth are vast and intertwined. The socio-ecological model (SEM) provides a natural theoretical framework to study and address these multiple levels of influence, which include individual, interpersonal, institutional/organizational, and public policy. This chapter will include a summary of recent studies, and drawing from empirical findings guided by the socio-ecological model, will identify and suggest strategies at each level for reducing the teen birth rate. By addressing the overlapping layers together, as opposed to a single layer, interventions have greater potential for success.


1996 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 363-364
Author(s):  
S.A. Dazeley ◽  
P.G. Edwards ◽  
J.R. Patterson ◽  
G.P. Rowell ◽  
M. Sinnott ◽  
...  

TheCollaboration ofAustralia andNippon for aGAmmaRayObservatory in theOutback operates two large telescopes at Woomera (South Australia), which detect the Čerenkov light images produced in the atmosphere by electronpositron cascades initiated by very high energy (~1 TeV or 1012eV) gamma rays. These gamma rays arise from a different mechanism than at EGRET energies: inverse Compton (IC) emission from relativistic electrons.The spoke-like images are recorded by a multi-pixel camera which facilitates the rejection of the large numbers of oblique and ragged cosmic ray images. A field of view ~3.5° is required. The Australian team operates a triple 4 m diameter mirror telescope, BIGRAT, with a 37 photomultiplier tube camera and energy threshold 600 GeV. The Japanese operate a single, highly accurate 3.8 m diameter f/1 telescope and high resolution 256 photomultipler tube camera. In 1998 a new 7 m telescope is planned for Woomera with a design threshold ~;200GeV.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (01) ◽  
pp. 274-277
Author(s):  
John Coffey

A new stochastic predator-prey model is introduced. The predator population X(t) is described by a linear birth-and-death process with birth rate λ 1 X and death rate μ 1 X. The prey population Y(t) is described by a linear birth-and-death process in which the birth rate is λ 2 Y and the death rate is . It is proven that and iff


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