The future paths of population ageing result from specific combinations of declining fertility and increasing life expectancies in different parts of the world. Here we measure the speed of population ageing by using conventional measures and new ones that take changes in longevity into account for the world as a whole and for 13 major regions. We report on future levels of indicators of ageing and the speed at which they change. We show how these depend on whether changes in life expectancy are taken into account. We also show that the speed of ageing is likely to increase over the coming decades and to decelerate in most regions by mid-century. All our measures indicate a continuous ageing of the world's population throughout the century. The median age of the world's population increases from 26.6 years in 2000 to 37.3 years in 2050 and then to 45.6 years in 2100, when it is not adjusted for longevity increase. When increases in life expectancy are taken into account, the adjusted median age rises from 26.6 in 2000 to 31.1 in 2050 and only to 32.9 in 2100, slightly less than what it was in the China region in 2005. There are large differences in the regional patterns of ageing. In North America, the median age adjusted for life expectancy change falls throughout almost the entire century, whereas the conventional median age increases significantly. Our assessment of trends in ageing is based on new probabilistic population forecasts. The probability that growth in the world's population will end during this century is 88%, somewhat higher than previously assessed. After mid-century, lower rates of population growth are likely to coincide with slower rates of ageing.

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The coming acceleration of global population ageing

Minerals and vitamins in food staples eaten widely by the poor may be increased either through conventional plant breeding or through use of transgenic techniques, a process known as biofortification. HarvestPlus seeks to develop and distribute cultivars of food staples (rice [Oryza sativa L.], wheat [Triticum aestivum L.], maize [Zea mays L.], cassava [Manihot esculenta Crantz], pearl millet [Pennisetum americanum Leeke], beans [Phaseolus vulgaris L.], sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas L.]) that are high in Fe, Zn, and provitamin A through an interdisciplinary global alliance of scientific institutions and implementing agencies in developing and developed countries. Biofortified crops offer a rural-based intervention that, by design, initially reaches these more remote populations, which comprise a majority of the undernourished in many countries, and then penetrates to urban populations as production surpluses are marketed. Thus, biofortification complements fortification and supplementation programs, which work best in centralized urban areas and then reach into rural areas with good infrastructure. Initial investments in agricultural research at a central location can generate high recurrent benefits at low cost as adapted biofortified cultivars become widely available in countries across time at low recurrent costs. Overall, three things must happen for biofortification to be successful. First, the breeding must be successful—high nutrient density must be combined with high yields and high profitability. Second, efficacy must be demonstrated—the micronutrient status of human subjects must be shown to improve when consuming the biofortified cultivars as normally eaten. Third, the biofortified crops must be adopted by farmers and consumed by those suffering from micronutrient malnutrition in significant numbers.

Biofortification - a sustainable agricultural strategy for reducing micronutrient malnutrition in the global south.

Participants are requested to register and obtain meeting badges at the registration counter, located on the ground floor, UNCC, from 08:30 hours to 09:00 hours on the event day. Participants who are not able to register during the time indicated above are requested to do so upon their arrival at UNCC before going to the conference room. Only the names of duly registered participants will be included in the list of participants.

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Economic and social commission for asia and the pacific

Period fertility rates fell to previously unseen low levels in a large number of countries beginning in the early 1990s. The persistence of Total Fertility Rates under 1.3 raised the possibility of dramatic, rapid population aging as well as population decline. In an analysis of recent trends, we find, however, a widespread turn-around in so-called "lowest-low" fertility countries. The reversal has been particularly vigorous in Europe. The number of countries with period total fertility rates less than 1.3 fell from 21 in 2003 to five in 2008, of which four (Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan) are in East Asia. Moreover, the upturn in the period TFR was not confined to lowest-fertility countries, but affected the whole developed world. We explore the demographic explanations for the recent rise in fertility stemming from fertility timing effects as well as economic, policy, and social factors. Although the current economic crisis may push down fertility in the short-run, we conclude that formerly lowest-low fertility countries should continue to see further increase in fertility as the transitory effects of shifts to later motherhood become less and less important.

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The End of “Lowest‐Low” Fertility?

Background As minerals have diverse functionalities and potentials in the body's metabolism and homeostasis, deficiency of these bioactive constituents can result in an abundant incidence of common disorders and disease symptoms. Maintenance knowledge of the mineral content in terms of safe food fortification and processing techniques can significantly increase their absorption and bioavailability rate. Scope and approach This overview mainly discusses current investigations about the identification of high-available sources and remarkable functions of mineral elements, quantification methods for the bioavailability assessment, and influence of different processing practices and usual fortification strategies on mineral content and quality of staple food products. Key findings and conclusions The most dominant minerals to fortify various food preparations are iron, calcium, zinc and iodine. Utilization of isotopic approaches can sensitively determine the bioavailability values of food minerals. Modern processing techniques (e.g., high pressure and sonication) compared with the conventional processes have lower negative impacts on the content of micro- and macro-minerals. Accumulation of mineral elements in the edible tissues of crops using agrobiotechnological techniques (e.g., gene overexpression and activation control) and their direct fortification into formulation of processed foods along with nanoencapsulation could enhance the concentration and bioaccessibility of these bioactive ingredients.

The importance of minerals in human nutrition: Bioavailability, food fortification, processing effects and nanoencapsulation

An environmental approach to correcting iodine deficiency: supplementing iodine in soil by iodination of irrigation water in remote areas.

Rapid growth and globalization of the domestic economy have dramatically accelerated urbanization in China, resulting in significant environmental impacts and challenges for sustainable development. Using a multistate model accounting for distributional aspects of age, sex, education, and migration in rural and urban regions, we estimate the magnitude of urbanization in China through 2030 and examine some major associated sustainability issues. Results indicate that: (1) for a range of assumptions, China’s urban population will nearly double from 2000 to 2030; (2) the labor force will constitute a larger share of total population in urban areas than rural due to internal migration of younger workers—this appears particularly true for the mega-urban metropolises of Beijing and Shanghai; (3) rural populations will experience more aging than urban; and (4) level of education among China’s rural labor force will remain low, which could pressure China’s industrial structural transition from an agricultural to a service-based economy.

Urban growth in China: past, prospect, and its impacts

This paper applies methods of probabilistic population forecasting to assess the range of uncertainty of China’s future population trends. Unlike previous applications of probabilistic population projections that consider stochastic future fertility, mortality and migration, this paper will also account for the significant uncertainty of China’s current fertility level (with published figures ranging from 1.2 to 2.3) and the related uncertainties about the sex ratio at birth (with estimates from 1.06 to above 1.2) and the size of the youngest cohorts in the 2000 census. The model applied in this paper will be based on assumed uncertainty ranges for current conditions, in addition to the probabilistic treatment of future trends. Given the sheer size of China’s population, these significant uncertainties about current conditions are of high importance not only for the future population of China but also for considerations on a global scale.

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China's uncertain demographic present and future

Growing population, rapid urbanization, rising incomes, and changing consumption preferences stimulate intensification of livestock production and excessive fertilization of crops in China. We present an innovative approach that sheds light on options to prevent negative environmental consequences of food production. Trends indicate that agricultural production expansion will take place in “profitable” locations around densely populated areas, where there are generally insufficient natural resources to recycle production wastes. This will likely lead to increased environmental impacts and risks to human health, with the largest impacts in close proximity to population hotspots. We identify trends in Chinese agricultural production and devise and compare feasible mitigation scenarios. We present a spatial allocation procedure that facilitates management of agricultural production expansion, accounting for environmental and health constraints. This procedure, based on behavioral principles, uses a spatial risk preference structure induced by local conditions, including environment, production, and demand, with important research and policy implications.

Implications of population growth and urbanization on agricultural risks in China

Gender policy and HIV in China : , Gender policy and HIV in China : , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز

http://centlib.ajums.ac.ir//multiMediaFile/69304184-4-1.pdf

X.-Y. Zheng

Papers

An environmental approach to correcting iodine deficiency: supplementing iodine in soil by iodination of irrigation water in remote areas.

Urban growth in China: past, prospect, and its impacts

China's uncertain demographic present and future

Implications of population growth and urbanization on agricultural risks in China

Gender Policy and HIV in China