A Map of the Settlement Field Potential as a Special Type of Population Map

The concept of settlement field potential, a term preferred over “demographic potential,” is applied to the territory of Tyumen' Oblast in Western Siberia. The generalizad resulting pattern of potential is then compared with a convential population density, and differences and similarities are noted. The maps, not reproduced in the article, are to be published in the Atlas of Tyumen' Oblast, which is in press.     

Population Oscillations in a Nonlinear Migration Model

The purpose of this paper is to prove the existence of Hopf bifurcations in Sheppard's generalized dynamic migration model. Hopf bifurcations appear as a result of structure changes in the system. First, we deal with the general case of H cities. Then, the case of two cities is dealt with.     

Population: action for a new decade

This 48-page supplement reports on the world popultion situation and on the International Conference on Population held in Mexico City in 1984. Included are summaries of Conference recommendations, the text of the Mexico City Declaration on Population and Development, a World Population Chart, and reports on population studies. The main task of the 1984 Population Conference was to review the 1974 World Population Plan of Action and approve steps to update some of its goals in line with new issues that have emerged in recent years. The preamble to the 1984 recommendations states that the basis for an effective solution to population problems is socioeconomic transformation. It is noted, however, that even in the absence of socioeconomic development, family planning programs can have an impact on fertility levels. This report futher describes the debate on disarmament, abortion, economic policy, and occupied territories that took place in Mexico City. Also included is a glossary of terms used in population studies and a discussion on how the United Nations determines its demographic projections.     

Palaeoepidemiological Patterns of Trauma in a Medieval Nubian Skeletal Population

Evidence of trauma was investigated in a well-preserved skeletal sample from the Medieval Sudanese Nubian site of Kulubnarti. The skeletal materials derive from two temporally over-lapping Christian cemeteries, dating from the sixth to circa the sixteenth century. The available sample consisted of the skeletons of 146 adults which were investigated for fractures of the long bones, crania and the hands and feet, as well as for dislocations and muscle pulls. Results showed a high incidence of long bone fractures, seen especially in the forearm, and involving 33.5 per cent of individuals. Many of these lesions indicated quite severe injury, and an unusually high number of affected individuals (27 per cent) showed multiple long bone involvement. Conversely, only one possible cranial fracture was apparent. Fractures were also found in 13 hand and seven foot elements. In addition, one hip dislocation and evidence of pulled tendons in 11 individuals were also observed. Compared to other similarly controlled samples, the Kulubnarti population stands out for its high prevalence of healed fractures, the high proportion of multiple involvement and the severity of numerous lesions. The forbiddingly harsh and uneven terrain of this region of Nubia was most likely a major influence on the unusually high prevalence and pattern of traumatic lesions in this group. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., 7 : 103–114 (1997) No. of Figures: 5. No. of Tables: 5. No. of References: 25.     

Population Synthesis: Comparing the Major Techniques Using a Small, Complete Population of Firms

Recently, disaggregate modeling efforts that rely on microdata have received wide attention by scholars and practitioners. Synthetic population techniques have been devised and are used as a viable alternative to the collection of microdata that normally are inaccessible because of confidentiality concerns or incomplete because of high acquisition costs. The two most widely discussed synthetic techniques are the synthetic reconstruction method (IPFSR), which makes use of iterative proportional fitting (IPF) techniques, and the combinatorial optimization (CO) method. Both methods are described in this article and then evaluated in terms of their ability to recreate a known population of firms, using limited data extracted from the parent population of the firms. Testing a synthetic population against a known population is seldom done, because obtaining an entire population usually is too difficult. The case presented here uses a small, complete population of firms for the City of Hamilton, Ontario, for the year 1990; firm attributes compiled are number of employees, 3-digit standard industrial classification, and geographic location. Results are summarized for experiments based upon various combinations of sample size and tabulation detail designed to maximize the accuracy of resulting synthetic populations while holding input data costs to a minimum. The output from both methods indicates that increases in sample size and tabulation detail result in higher quality synthetic populations, although the quality of the generated population is more sensitive to increases in tabular detail. Finally, most tests conducted with the created synthetic populations suggest that the CO method is superior to the IPFSR method.     

Social Boundaries and Networks in the Diffusion of Innovations: a Short Introduction

This short introduction briefly recalls how sociological theories and formal methods for social networks can help to interpret diffusion processes of ancient cultural traits. It also provides a presentation of the selected papers. These papers focus not on the ways archaeological data can be represented in a relational format, but on the potential of specific sociological network-related models to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of diffusion processes. The necessity to develop more fine-grained information to reconstruct ancient local social networks is underlined while three aspects of the diffusion process are explored: (a) situations in which cultural practices are not borrowed in spite of contact between groups; (b) situations in which cultural practices are adopted; and (c) situations in which cultural practices in one group are copied by people from another group. All of them take inspiration from sociological studies of diffusion processes through networks, although to different extents.     

Fast in Tibetan Population

Tibet covers a land area of1 .2 million square km. In 1953,when the PRC conducted itsfirst national census, the thenTibetan government told theCentral Government Tibet had apopulation of 1 million. Today, after the passage ofseveral decades, there are 2.615million people in the TibetAutonomous Region. Theyinclude 2.41 million of theTibetan ethnic group (92.2 per-cent of the total), 155,300 whoare Han (5.9 percent), and 59,000of other ethnic minorities (1.9percent).     

Population density functions: a differential equation approach

"This paper introduces a new mathematical technique to describe population density functions. Two length scales, which characterize the variation of these density functions within a region, are identified. A differential equation is derived and asymptotic solutions obtained. Two specific techniques, the method of matched asymptotic expansions and the method of multiple scales, are introduced and illustrated by application to population densities at both the metropolitan and regional levels."     

The Place of Population Geography in the System of Population Sciences

The area of research that is considered the proper domain of population geography is defined. In addition to an areal approach to the analysis of various aspects of population, such as growth, structure, migration and settlement patterns, there is great need for synthetic regional population studies, integrating all aspects of population within a particular territory. Causal relationships must be explained and the study of population must be related to the study of economic location.     

Population Trends in a Contested Pseudo-State: The Case of Nagorno-Karabakh

A U.S. population geographer specializing in the former Soviet Union surveys the results of an October 2005 census conducted in a contested pseudo-state known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). Data from the enumeration provide the first credible information about recent population characteristics, including nationality composition and migration from the war-torn republic. The data make it possible to ascertain the crude magnitudes of population losses in the republic's constituent rayons as well as changes resulting from deaths and expulsion of ethnic Armenians and/or Azerbaijanis. Changes documented since the last (1989) Soviet census in the region indicate that the current republic's population differs quite dramatically from that of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan, complicating efforts to broker a lasting peace agreement between the pseudostate's two neighbors. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: J11, O18, R23, 1 figure, 1 table, 36 references.     

Patterns of Cranial Trauma in a Prehistoric Population from Central California

Evidence of cranial trauma was investigated in a skeletal sample from the site CA-Ala-329 located on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, Central California. The sample included 365 crania, including 134 adult males, 104 adult females, 22 adults of indeterminate sex and 105 subadults. Evidence of cranio-facial fracture was found in eight individuals, one of whom is an adolescent. Thus, the frequency in adult crania of traumatic injury is 7/260 (2.7 per cent). Of the seven individuals of known sex displaying such cranial trauma, all are male. The injuries are generally suggestive of some form of interpersonal aggression, with five healed vault fractures, one lesion with an embedded obsidian fragment (a probable projectile point) and two healed facial fractures. Further clear evidence of interpersonal aggression has been previously determined in this sample and has been reported at even higher levels elsewhere in California. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.