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Just as the issues of the beginning and the end of life are interlinked with a civilisation's worldview and its approach to human dignity, so too is the question of the continuation of life, through organ transplantation. The purpose of the paper is to compare European, African and Islamic approaches to this question. Indeed, Professor Amnon Carmii (First Annual Carmen Nathan Memorial Lecture, Mmabatho, 1991) has highlighted the need for multicultural analysis in medico-legal discourse. The European approach will be based on the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, more specifically Articles 19-22, bearing in mind the 1997 Explanatory Report to the Convention which declares that the aim of the Convention is to protect human rights and dignity and that all its articles must be interpreted in this light (Article 2.22). In respect of the Islamic perspective, the paper will show that, based on the primary sources of the Shari'ah, there are strong arguments both for and against organ transplantation. Amongst the more specific ethical questions which will be discussed from a comparative perspective are the respective rights of the donor and recipient. In this regard, possible violations of human dignity and the integrity of the human being will be discussed. The related questions of consent and the determination of death will also be discussed. One of the conclusions reached in the paper will be that, in all societies, the human dignity, the integrity and the primacy of the human being remains the paramount consideration.

Previous genetic and craniometric studies have suggested greater genetic diversity and a larger effective size in Africa. Several demographic scenarios can explain a larger African effective size, and anthropological geneticists have attempted to obtain better estimates of relative population sizes among continental regions in the Old World. A least-squares approach of estimating relative population weights was developed by Relethford and Harpending ([1994] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 95:249-270), who applied it to craniometric and genetic data sets and concluded that the ratio of African, Asian, and European effective sizes was 3:1:1, respectively; another data set of short tandem repeat (STR) markers yielded a similar estimate of 7:1:2. However, an estimate from restriction site polymorphism (RSP, also known as restriction fragment length polymorphism, or RFLP) data yielded a very different estimate of 1:1:8. Thus, the European and not the African effective size was largest. Simulations showed that this was the result of ascertainment bias in which polymorphic markers were originally identified in a small panel of Caucasians, leading to inflated heterozygosity in the European sample and thus an inflated population weight. This paper extends those computer simulations to incorporate not only ascertainment bias but also interpopulation gene flow and demographic expansion in two types of genetic data, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, which are similar but not precisely identical to RSPs) and STRs. The effects of these three parameters on SNP and STR relative weight estimates are described. Simulations show that the ascertainment scheme affects SNP data but not STR data. Gene flow has a noticeable effect on the bias and efficiency of the estimates in both types of genetic data. Population expansions have a large effect only in one ascertainment scheme in the simulated SNP data and no effect in STR data. Relative population weight estimates from four published STR data sets are also reported. These estimates are similar to each other: all show a larger African weight and a European weight somewhat larger than the Asian weight. Because the STR simulations show that when gene flow is greater than 0.01 migrants per generation the African population weight is biased upward, it is likely that the African weights in the four STR data sets are inflated. However, the simulations suggest that the African effective size is still largest of the three regions and is probably at least as great as the sum of the Asian and European effective sizes., (Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This paper reviews historical and projected trends in world population numbers, and the underlying determinants of those trends. Whereas the world's population has shown little change over most of its one million-year history, the past 200 years have witnessed dramatic changes in fertility, mortality and population growth rates. Recent decades, in particular, have seen unprecedented demographic events, with more people added to the world's population in the past 50 years than in the preceding million. The demographic impact of HIV/AIDS, selective as it is to young adults and infants, is also unprecedented, with life expectancy among some populations reduced by almost 20 years. As we approach the end of the 20th century, further demographic changes are underway with, for the first time in recent human history, a slowing down of world population growth. Nonetheless, world population is projected to grow from 6 billion currently to about 9.4 billion by 2050 (medium fertility assumption), with ageing emerging as the most pressing demographic issue facing humanity in the millenium.

Data on the prevalence, magnitude and causes of blindness and severe visual impairment in children are needed for planning and evaluating preventive and curative services for children, and for planning special education and low vision services. Prevalence data can be obtained from a variety of different sources, each of which has limitations. The available data suggest that there may be a ten-fold difference in prevalence between the wealthiest countries of the world and the poorest, ranging from as low as 0.1/1000 children aged 0-15 years in the wealthiest countries to 1.1/1000 children in the poorest. In this paper, the available data are reviewed and the epidemiological methods and findings are discussed.

In this paper a theory is developed that provides the sampling distribution of alleles at a diallelic marker locus closely linked to a low-frequency allele that arose as a single mutant. The sampling distribution provides a basis for maximum-likelihood estimation of either the recombination rate, the mutation rate, or the age of the allele, provided that the two other parameters are known. This theory is applied to (1) the data of Hästbacka et al., to estimate the recombination rate between a locus associated with diastrophic dysplasia and a linked RFLP marker; (2) the data of Risch et al., to estimate the age of a presumptive allele causing idiopathic distortion dystonia in Ashkenazi jews; and (3) the data of Tishkoff et al., to estimate the date at which, at the CD4 locus, non-African lineages diverged from African lineages. We conclude that the extent of linkage disequilibrium can lead to relatively accurate estimates of recombination and mutation rates and that those estimates are not very sensitive to parameters, such as the population age, whose values are not known with certainty. In contrast, we also conclude that, in many cases, linkage disequilibrium may not lead to useful estimates of allele age, because of the relatively large degree of uncertainly in those estimates.

Considerable progress has been made in the knowledge of the epidemiology of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) in the last few years. There are two main and widely known points related to this disease: its geographical distribution and the different frequency in the various classes of age. GTD is more frequent in South-East Asia, India and Africa, and is rare in European and North American populations. For example, in the United States, the frequency of GTD was 108 per 100,000 pregnancies in the 1970's. In Europe, particularly in Italy, frequencies are lower. In northern Italy, the frequency of hydatidiform mole, in the period 1979-1982, was equal to 62 per 100,000 pregnancies, but in Indonesia and in China, the reported rates were 993 and 667 per 100,000 pregnancies respectively. GTD disease is more frequent in the extreme classes of age (under 20 and over 40 years) and the risk may be more than 100 times greater over 50 years. Besides these risk factors, the possible role of both genetic (familiarity, blood groups) and environmental factors (diet, cigarette smoking, etc.) has been investigated on the onset of GTD. This paper reviews the epidemiologic knowledge on GTD.

"This paper is part of a larger project investigating the production and regulation of North African immigrants in the greater Paris automobile industry. Its aims are twofold. First, to reverse the emphasis placed on immigrants in the receiving countries and to (re-)explore the historical production of Algerian emigration into metropolitan industry, more specifically within the automobile industry....Second, in adopting an ¿articulation of modes of production' (AMOP) narrative as an alternative to other Eurocentric approaches, the first part of this paper emphasizes the contradictory layering of various modes which have produced an Algerian colonial diaspora. The latter half of the paper argues that the history of post-independence Algeria confirms that emigration was reinforced through a complex neocolonial relationship during a period of rapid acceleration of Algerian migration to France.", (excerpt)

This paper deals with the developments of the project "Telehealth in Africa", to establish a link between more European reference Hospital Centers and some African Hospital Centers, connected with Peripheral Units of Assistance, to transmit and receive health diagnostic images, etc. The project has been developed by the European Collaboration Group for Telemedicine in developing countries which was created in collaboration with ITU (International Telecommunication Union). A demonstration of telehealth from Milan (Italy), Toulouse (France), to Abidjan (Ivory Coast, Africa) and Midrand (South Africa) proves that it is possible for a diverse group of intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to work together for the benefit of all participants and, most of all, for developing countries.

This paper focuses on mammalian pest species mainly in Europe and Africa and on implications for animal health, human safety, wildlife management and animal welfare. Three examples of problem species are presented: the wild boar (Sus scrofa), the stray dog (Canis familiaris) and the red fox, (Vulpes vulpes). Several species are reservoirs or vectors of transmissible diseases of man and of economically valuable domestic species. The control of these and other infections and the limitation of the nuisance or damage caused by these pest species involves lethal or non-lethal methods which are briefly reviewed. Some control measures require veterinary expertise, and veterinary involvement in managing problem species is likely to increase. With regard to fertility control, methods are considered which will allow an appropriate choice of the best technique for the management of problem animals in various habitats. For desirable native species, traditional methods of control, especially hunting in the case of game species, is preferable to contraception. For exotic or feral species, control of fertility seems to be a worthwhile option.

This paper, which complements a prior review of published studies, reports findings from a community-based survey of 4,914 Israel-born offspring of immigrants from Europe (Ashkenazim) and North Africa. Respondents were examined by psychiatrists using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Israel version, and diagnosed with the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Unlike previous studies, this investigation found that Israelis of North African origin had significantly higher rates of affective disorders, including major depressive and intermittent depressive disorders. The Ashkenazim, however, had higher rates of bipolar I disorder at the definite level of diagnosis. Differential patterns in help-seeking may account for the divergent findings between this community-based study and earlier treatment-based reports. These results suggest the need to further investigate social and genetic etiological factors that may explain the differential rates.

This paper reports 512 cases of ovarian tumours seen over a 11 year period at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. Germ cell tumours constituted 47.8 pc and common epithelial tumours formed 29.3 pc of all the tumours. Sixty seven pc (341) tumours had a benign histology and 33 pc (171) tumours were histologically malignant. The tumours were seen at a younger age than experienced in the Western World.

"This paper addresses the extent to which the behaviour of migrants...diverges from the pattern observed in the country of origin and converges on that of the country of destination.... In the first part of the analysis we compare the family formation patterns of Turks and Moroccans living in Flanders and Brussels with the patterns of Belgians living in the same regions on the one hand and with the populations of Turkey and Morocco on the other hand. In the second part we look in more detail at the behaviour of Turks and Moroccans in Belgium, distinguishing between the first and the second generation. To what extent, if any, do the immigrant communities diverge from the countries of origin on various aspects of family formation behaviour, and to what extent is there convergence with the patterns observed for Belgians?" (SUMMARY IN ITA AND FRE), (excerpt)

The author discusses French immigration policy, with a focus on migrant streams from Western Africa. "The purpose is first to highlight convergent and opposed interests between the migratory policy elaborated from 1945 to 1975, during ¿the glorious [thirty years]', and the African migrants' strategies as well as the consequences upon the countries [of origin]. Then, the paper will question the effects of those changes both on the immigrants' behaviours and on the countries [of origin]....", (excerpt)

This paper reports the findings of a worldwide survey of the teaching of glass ionomer (polyalkenoate) cements (GICs). A total of 324 questionnaires was returned from the 650 dental schools included in the study (50 per cent response), with the response ranging from 100 per cent (Australasia) to 4 per cent (USSR). The findings indicate that most primary dental degree students in the majority of countries investigated are presently taught the use of GICs in a wide range of applications using techniques which largely conform with those recommended by the manufacturers of such materials.

"During the last few years, Spain has become a host country for Maghreb emigrants that cross the Straits of Gibraltar hoping to find a better life. This article evaluates the importance of this migratory trend, its evolution, location and characteristics. At the same time, this paper sets forth new data about the recent Official Registration process of alien residents." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE), (excerpt)

This paper describes the methodology and the results of a study performed in Central England. The predominant racial group here is "White European" (Europid). There are smaller numbers of people of Indian origin (Indids) and still smaller numbers of Afro-Caribbean and of Mongolian ancestry (Mongoloids). We found no significant differences in the incidence of hip fractures in the first two groups. The study population was 1600 consecutive patients with proximal femoral fractures (PFF). The difficulties of racial classification are discussed. To elucidate the predisposing factors for PFF, large scale collaborative studies between medical centres in the major European, Asian, African and American conurbations are suggested. Racial burden may be one such factor; osteoporosis may be another.

Cancer management can be expensive and constitutes a major problem in many developing countries where management standards are poor due to many factors, including non-availability of sufficient funds, equipment, and trained personnel. The incidence of cancer is rising worldwide. This is more so in the developing countries, many of whom are less equipped to deal with the problems. Radiation therapy is one of the major treatment modalities for cancer, and it is estimated that about 60% of all cancer patients require this treatment at one time or another during the course of their disease. Unfortunately, radiotherapy facilities are lacking or grossly inadequate in many developing countries. Over the past 8 years the IAEA and WHO have shown more interest in the problem and treatment of cancer in the developing countries. This paper reviews the role of these international organizations, with emphasis on research activities, education (seminars, workshops, training courses), and technical assistance programs. These include establishment or upgrading of radiotherapy facilities, provision of experts, etc. Scientific papers are published with a view to disseminating current information and research findings in the developing countries. The achievements up to date are assessed and discussed.

This paper reports a study of body height in the adult Jewish population of Israel, comparing native-born with immigrant groups. The sample tested included 1,411 men and 961 women, all clinically healthy according to the results of multiphasic screening. The phenomenon observed in other immigration-absorbing countries also holds for Israel: native Israelis are significantly taller than their immigrant counterparts. The findings were verified over different age and working activity strata, and thus may be taken to reflect the influence of better socioeconomic and environmental conditions on the bodily development of those born in Israel.

In these days of rapid transit from continent to continent, and the increasing mobility of people, agents of disease are no longer geographically restricted. Disease contracted half way across the world may become manifest in a country in which the pathogen is not normally found. Thus knowledge of the geographical distribution of pathogens becomes increasingly important when a diagnosis is being made. This is as true of ringworm fungi as of any other group of microorganisms. In the last 12 years, in the Mycological Reference Laboratory, an increasing number of exotic dermatophytes have been seen, related in part at least to the great increase in the number of non-British residents. Not all species of dermatophytes are cosmopolitan in their distribution throughout the world. While some have been recorded from every continent, others have geographically limited areas of greater or lesser extent. Surveys taken at intervals in a country may show a rise and fall in occurrence of several species as habits change, populations move and medical facilities became increasingly well-distributed. There have been few geographical surveys of ringworm fungi that have covered the world. Ajello (1960, 1974) has reviewed the individual species with regard to geographical location, while Vanbreuseghem & de Vroey (1970) attempted to estimate the relative importance of the various species in terms of numbers of isolations reported. This paper therefore reviews the world dermatophyte flora in terms of the dominant agents in the various countries, and some of the changes that have been recorded.

As difined in the first part of these papers, the distribution of MS does not really correlate well with broad geoclimatic factors. Specifically there is little evidence for a direct correlation with latitude, and such correlations, to be meaningful, need to consider longitude as well. At latitude 40 degrees north, for example, MS is high frequency in America, medium in Europe, and low in Asia. Accordingly the world-wide distribution of MS is best regarded as comprising three bands or zones of high medium, and low risk or frequency as delineated here. All the high and medium regions are at present found in Europe or in areas colonized by Europeans. It seems likely then that MS originated in western Europe and has spread from there to the United States and Canada as well as to New Zealand and Australia. The disorder may well have "taken" also in South Africa and Hawaii, but at considerably lower levels. Further attention to the character and timing of the depresion of this disease may well provide clues vital to determining its cause.

This paper attempts to give an overview of current levels of child mortality prevailing in the world. It also examines trends and socioeconomic differentials in child mortality for selected countries and regions of the world. Lastly it reviews data on causes of child death and related environmental factors. The paper concludes that despite the fact that child deaths are frequently avoidable, mortality differentials between the developed and developing regions of the world are more pronounced in childhood (ages one to under five years) than at any other time of life. While some developing countries have substantially reduced the level of mortality in childhood, in others it remains very high. In contrast, in most developed countries child death rates are now so low, that they no longer serve as useful measures of public health.

Even if questions of how resources are distributed within and between societies are the main concern, it is necessary to continue to grapple with the issue of the causes of economic growth since economic growth and level of development continue to be among the most important causes of inequality, poverty, unemployment, and the quality of life. This paper's dependent variable is the economic growth rate of 55 less developed countries (LDCs) over 2 time periods. 1970-78 and 1965-84. The causal model consists of control variables--level of development and domestic investment in 1965--and a variety of independent variables drawn from major sociological theories of economic growth published during the last 3 decades. Multiple regression analysis shows that, net of the effects of the 2 control variables, the variables which have the strongest effect on economic growth are: 1) direct foreign investment, which has a negative effect, 2) the proportion of the population in military service, and 3) the primary school enrollment ratio, both of which have positive effects on economic growth. On the other hand, variables drawn from some theories receive no empirical support. The mass media of communications, ethnolinguistic heterogeneity, democracy and human rights, income inequality, and state-centric theory's key variable, state strength, all fail to show any significant impact on economic growth rates when the control variables and the significant independent variables are held constant. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

This paper presents two maps summarising all available published data on the world distribution of gallstones as recorded from autopsy studies. It is suggested that further autopsy studies are required, especially in Asia, Russia, the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries and South America. Such studies could be readily carried out and would contribute to our understanding of the aetiology of gallstones.

This paper reviews recent new trends in population structure in the world and its major regions in order to access the determinants of those trends and explore issues regarding the recent and projected changes in the age structure of population and the relationships of those changes to social and economic development. In particular, the paper compares the change in age structure projected by the Population Division of the UN Secretariat in its most recent 3 series--namely, those completed in 1984, 1986, and 1988. By and large, the most recent UN assessment projects that a larger proportion of the world population will be aged 60 and over in 2000 and 2025 than was previously estimated. Those changes in projections can be observed for the world and for the more developed countries as a whole, and for the regions of Africa, Latin America, Northern America, East Asia, Europe, and Oceania. While the recommendations of the International Conference on Population called attention to the importance of changes in population structure, this paper recommends urgent government action in planning social programs for the aged because of the greater eminence of population aging in many settings. The case of Japan is used to illustrate the growing importance of increases in life expectancy as a determinant of age structure changes (in relation to fertility decline), a point that is reinforced through a cruder decomposition of UN estimates and projections for several European countries.

This paper reviews epidemiological studies on the relationship between diet and high density lipoproteins (HDL), with emphasis on the authors' studies of boys and men from different countries and with different dietary habits. Sera were collected from boys (ages 7 to 9 years) and men (ages 33 to 48 years) in 20 countries, and these were analyzed in one standardized laboratory. In boys, total and HDL cholesterol changed in parallel, from low values in populations in developing countries with low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets to high values in affluent populations. The correlation between HDL and total cholesterol was 0.90 (n = 16 populations). A similar trend was seen in groups of vegetarian and omnivorous boys within one region. Detailed analyses of individual diets of boys in five countries showed a negative relation between carbohydrate intake and HDL cholesterol both for group means (r = -0.99, n = 5) and for individual boys within one country (r = -0.26 to 0.04, n = 109 to 133 boys per country). In these boys, differences in obesity and physical activity were slight, and unrelated to differences in HDL. Total cholesterol rose with saturated fat intake (r = 0.87 for five population means; r = 0.07 to 0.26 within population groups). In adult men, total and HDL cholesterol also tended to rise simultaneously with affluence. However, the relation was much weaker (r = 0.60, n = 13 population groups).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Given the distinctive historical experiences, cultural features, and status positions of the diverse ethnic groups in Canadian society, we anticipate that these differences will influence the retirement behavior and conditions of their members. This paper examines the effects of ethnic group membership for immigrants to Canada on the timing of retirement and the sources and amounts of retirement income using data from the Public Use Sample of the 1981 Census of Canada. Separate but parallel analyses are conducted for men and women to take into account their distinctive labor force experiences. We find that membership in Asian, African, or Latin American ethnic groups is associated with both later retirement and a lower probability of receiving social insurance and private pension benefits, as well as appreciably lower income among elderly men. This is likely the result of changes in pension legislation in the 1960s and 1970s reducing benefits to recent immigrants.

Opportunistic disseminated strongyloidiasis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. However, the worldwide prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis is difficult to determine because adequate data are lacking. In this paper more than 100 epidemiologic studies reporting on the prevalence of S. stercoralis among various populations on five continents are critically reviewed. Analysis of this information indicates that the following groups of people may be at risk: residents of an emigrants from any developing country and southern, eastern, and central Europe; travelers and veterans returning from endemic areas; natives and residents of the Appalachian region in the United States and local endemic areas in other countries; and institutionalized persons. Because disseminated infections may be prevented by early treatment of asymptomatic chronic infections, screening programs are recommended to detect latent S. stercoralis infection before the initiation of chemotherapy or immunosuppression in patients at risk. Serologic tests are sensitive and specific but are not yet widely available. Thus strong suspicion based on clinical and epidemiologic clues in conjunction with repeated stool examinations remains the best way to rule out S. stercoralis infection in these groups.

Characteristics of family and household structure are examined in this paper to shed light on an important aspect of the life conditions of older persons in countries at different levels of development. Using various measures, both direct and indirect, the analysis showed the existence of a nuclear household as a predominant family form. Extended household families are more common in Asian countries, especially India, than in other regions for which data are available. While available cross-national data do not enable us to assess the extent to which older persons reside in households with their children, headship rates indicate that the majority of male older persons continue to maintain their position as heads of households in later life and that female headship increases with age. This is confirmed by analysis of data on marital status, which show higher proportions of males currently married than for females and sharply higher widowhood levels for females. Marriage at older ages seems to be relatively low. A general trend within most developed countries is toward increasing independent living, especially for females, and a sharp decline in both males and females living in a household with relatives.