From Ahogado to Zorrillo: external causes of mortality in the California missions

The history of grandparents is too often founded on a demographic prejudice, that is, the very low statistical possibility of children having known their grandparents before the rise in life expectancy in the twentieth century. On the basis of a sample of several thousand children bom in the region of Vernon (Normandy) at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the article contests this idea and shows that newborns knew about half of their grandparents, with a slight advantage on the grandmothers' side. Inequalities were present between elder and younger siblings, but the latter also profited from the presence of their forbears. Consequently, the study of the different functions served by grandparents in the traditional family should be pursued, and questions should be raised about the contemporary concept of “new grandparents” by separating it from the demographic assumption on which it is based.     

When Law and Order Returned to Denmark

The international trend toward increased use of punishment has been visible in Denmark since the early 1990s and has accelerated in the first years of the new millennium. As in other countries the trend cannot be explained by changes in crime or a political turn to the right. The increased use of punishment in (post) modern societies undoubtedly has a very complex background. The primary explanation put forth in this article is that it is based on a radical change in the human conditions and in the way people relate to their world. It is an existential revolution and, as such, it has emerged ‘from the bottom’ of society. This suggestion is not offered as an alternative to existing explanations that have been mainly dealing with factors and matters ‘from the top’ of society, such as changes in and of the political system (e.g. populism), the mass media (e.g. alarmism), the social organization of society (e.g. bureaucratization and/or industrialization), and globalization (e.g. imitation and/or internationalization of penal law). Rather, the hypothesis should be viewed as an important supplement to these existing theories and explanations.     

The Fall of the Finnish Prison Population

At the beginning of the 1950s, the prisoner rate in Finland was four times higher than in the other Nordic countries and among the highest in Europe. However, the steady decrease that started soon after the Second World War has continued, and in the beginning of the 1990s Finland reached the Nordic level. The paper discusses some backgound factors behind this ''success story''. In addition, the paper examines the relation of prisoner rates and recorded crime. A comparison between the Nordic countries reveals that the major crime trends have been practically similar despite striking differpractices ences in the use of imprisonment. As concluded in the paper, the decrease in the prison population is one of the major victories of Finnish crime policy.     

Analysis of 15 autosomal STR loci in the population of the State of Acre,Brazilian Amazonia

Acre was the last state of Brazil to be inhabited by non-indigenous individuals. The aim of this study was to calculate the allele frequencies of 15 STR loci in 503 unrelated individuals living in Acre, as well as to estimate statistical parameters of forensic interest. The Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium test performed in the overall sample, as well as population comparisons between sub-samples from the five regions in Acre did not reveal the presence of population substructure. This is the first report of STR data in this population and the results showed that a single database is suitable for all the regions analyzed.     

Developmental validation of 15 X chromosomal short tandem repeat markers

The use of X chromosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers has been greatly increasing in the forensic setting. Using guidelines set forth previously for the validation of autosomal and Y STRs, aspects of the feasibility of routine X chromosomal STR use were evaluated. Two mini-X chromosomal STR multiplexes capable of amplifying 15 total markers were developed and utilized to determine allele nomenclature, allele/genotype frequencies, mutation rates, and linkage between markers. Additionally, a concordance study between these multiplexes and a commercially available kit was performed. Here, the authors present an overview of this extensive developmental validation study.     

Development of 30 InDel markers typing system and genetic analysis in five different Chinese populations

Allele frequencies of 30 InDel markers previously selected and validated for forensic purpose were assessed in 419 unrelated individuals originating from five different populations of Chinese Han, Chinese Hui, Uighur, Mongolian and Tibetan in P.R. China. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium tests and linkage disequilibrium analysis were performed and the results showed that allele frequency distributions of the 30 InDel markers had meet the genetic equilibrium in all of the five populations and the InDel markers on same chromosome did not generate any linkage block. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that genetic variation among the 5 studied populations represent only 4.00% of the total genetic diversity. We observed the cumulative power of discrimination (CPD) for each studied population was 0.99999999999841 in Chinese Han population, 0.99999999999690 in Chinese Hui population, 0.99999999999709 in Uighur population, 0.99999999999772 in Mongolian population and 0.99999999999854 in Tibetan population.     

Immigration and the Remaking of New York

Abstract

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act abolished quotas that favored European immigrants, and for the first time placed all countries on an equal footing. The law resulted in increased overall immigration, and altered the sources of immigrants to the U.S. Since 1970, New York City has absorbed 2.6 million immigrants, primarily from non-European sources, who have dramatically altered the City's racial/Hispanic mix. Using immigration and birth records, as well as data from decennial censuses, this paper examines immigration to New York and assesses the demographic impact of these flows on the City's population.

Current immigrant flows have noticeably increased the ethnic diversity within the major race/Hispanic groups. This is largely due to increases in refugee flows, and to recent changes in immigration law that allow for “diversity” visas, which are aimed at countries that are under-represented in immigration flows to the U.S. Diversity immigration has provided New York with a continuing flow of new groups, most recently from Bangladesh, Mexico, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, who have established enclaves in many of the City's neighborhoods. The increasing diversity poses serious challenges for social service and health care professionals, who need to devise new strategies to deal with the disparate socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems of new ethnic groups. This is especially important given that New York's ethnic mix will continue to be churned, especially by way of diversity immigration and refugee flows from all parts of the globe.     

USAID,Population Control,and NGO-Led Democratization in Egypt: The Fate of the ICPD Programme of Action

Critics of US democracy-promotion strategies of the last 20 years ask: what kind of democracy is promoted by US public agencies and associated nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), how is it promoted, and for what purpose(s)? This paper draws on interviews with NGO, USAID, and UN representatives, gathered in Egypt in 2001, to describe the fate of Egyptian women's advocacy NGOs seeking to implement the pro-democracy platform of action of the 1994 UN International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). It offers some support for critics' contentions both that external (here USAID) pro-democracy interventions may actually obstruct democratization, and that the instrumental nature of US democracy promotion may mean that such activities are quickly eliminated or downgraded when they conflict with more primary US policy goals.     

全球化初期的闽商——人口、技术和制度

由于明朝海禁政策的限制,在以福建东南沿海区域为中心的全球化初期的历史背景下,有许多关于闽商的真实史实都被边缘化,甚至没有记载,因此,借由弗兰克的观点,我们需要用一种全球视野来看当时的世界经济,从人口、技术和制度三方面来还原全球化初期16到18世纪里真实的闽商和真实的中国。