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Development of population of Staňkov in 19th century Abstract This work focuses on description of population development in Staňkov in years 1827-1900. Data were gained by the method of anonymous excerption of registers of births, deaths and marriages. These registers are currently located in State regional archive in Pilsen. Staňkov always had a Czech majority, even though it is located in Western Bohemian region close to German boarder. Inhabitants of Staňkov worked mainly in agriculture and trades. Great development in industry and mining took place in Staňkov in the analyzed period. Population development is analyzed from the point of view of fertility, mortality and nuptiability. The results from Staňkov are also compared to other towns in the same time period. Keywords: historical demography, 19th century, development of population, Staňkov

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis examines factors that influence the retention of male Staff Noncommissioned Officers (SNCOs) in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve who have completed their six-year initial military obligation. Data were extracted from the Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System. Logit regression was used to measure the influence of various demographic and military variables on retention to 15 years and retention to 18 years. Models were developed to assess the probability of a Marine SNCO staying to 15 years of service and 18 years of service, respectively. The thesis identified four significant factors that influence retention in the 15 year model, and five significant factors in the 18 year model. In both models, single Marines with no dependents are more likely to separate from the Selected Reserves than married Marines with dependents. Staff Sergeants (E6) are more likely to separate from the Selected Reserves than Gunnery Sergeants (E7), while Master Sergeants/First Sergeants and Master Gunnery Sergeants/Sergeants Major are more likely to reach the 15 and 18 year milestones than E7s. Serving in a combat support occupational field proved to be a significant predictor in the 18 year model, but it was not useful in the 15 year model. / Major, United States Marine Corps

Root tip demography of a 43 year old Sitka spruce stand was determined over a two year period. A total of 35,300 root tips were examined. A total of 14 mycorrhizal and 4 non-mycorrhizal root tip types were recognised. One mycorrhizal type, formed by Tylospora fibrillosa, made up 67% of the root tips examined, the rest each made up less than 5% of the population. The level of infection was high, with c. 94% of the root tips infected with mycorrhizal fungi. There were marked short term fluctuations in the numbers and relative abundance of some of the types, as well as longer term, unidirectional increases in the dominant type and decreases in the numbers and relative abundance of non-mycorrhizal root tips. The effect of the addition of carbon and nitrogen was examined. Carbon addition had very little effect on the mycorrhizal population as a whole. Nitrogen, on the other hand, had a very marked effect on several of the root tip types. The relative abundance and the numbers of Tylospora fibrillosa mycorrhizas were both reduced by the addition of nitrogen, whereas the relative abundance and numbers of non-mycorrhizal tips increased. A large gradient of weight of organic matter and moisture existed on the site and this was shown to strongly influence the spatial distribution of the root tip types. Russula ochroleuca mycorrhizas were shown to have a positive association with organic matter and moisture. The occurrence of E-type mycorrhizas was negatively correlated with the accumulation of organic matter, which supports the idea that these mycorrhizas are primarily associated with mineral soil. Finally, the population structure of T.fibrillosa was examined using somatic incompatibility (SI) to determine the clone size of the fungus on the site. No SI was found between any of the isolates, even when collected 20m apart. This could mean that either T.fibrillosa does not exhibit SI or that the clone from which the isolates were collected was larger than 20m across.

With national statistics indicating burgeoning student debt loads among emerging adults, but fewer studies analyzing the consequences of student borrowing, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the association between student loan debt and the transition to family life among a nationally representative cohort of young adults between ages 20 and 34 using the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). The study was guided by three research aims: Aim 1) Examine the role of student loan debt in shaping the timing and sequencing of (1) full-time employment, (2) postsecondary enrollment, (3) cohabitation, (4) marriage, and (5) parenthood. Aim 2) Investigate the association between student debt and family formation pathways, net of socioeconomic confounders. Aim 3) Illuminate the potential observed and unobserved process(es) underlying the association between student debt and the transition to marriage and parenthood. All analyses were conducted separately by gender, given that recent studies strongly indicate that student loans disproportionately influence women's transitions into family life compared to men's. Grounded in a life course framework, the first aim was addressed using a latent class analysis (LCA) approach, which examined the association between student loan debt on the timing and sequencing of five-family related transitions: (1) full-time employment, (2) postsecondary enrollment, (3) cohabitation, (4) marriage, and (5) parenthood. Consistent with recent studies analyzing the relationship between student loan debt and the transition to marriage and parenthood (e.g., Addo, 2014; Bozick & Estacion, 2014; Nau, Dwyer, & Hodson, 2015), the results indicated that student loan receipt was significantly associated with women's pathways into family life, but that men's family formation pathways were relatively unaffected by student debt. Women who borrowed student loans to finance their undergraduate education exhibited a greater likelihood of transitioning to family formation pathways characterized by higher probabilities of work and cohabitation but lower probabilities of both marriage and parenthood compared to their counterparts without student debt. Men, in contrast, exhibited family formation patterns characterized by high probabilities of work, marriage, and fatherhood, regardless of student loan receipt. The risk of transitioning to family formation pathways relative to postponing family life was then assessed in subsequent analyses that included time-variant and -invariant controls for important socioeconomic confounders identified by previous empirical studies, such as income, educational histories, and family socioeconomic background, within a longitudinal LCA framework, also known as a Latent Transition Analysis (LTA), to address Aim 2. The results from the multinomial LTA models suggest that although student loan receipt was not associated with family formation pathways among men, high student debt to income ratios (SDTI) may present obstacles to family-related transitions relative to postponement among men with student debt. Among women, all three measures of student debt (i.e., student loan receipt, student loan amounts, and SDTI) were negatively associated with pathways characterized by high probabilities of marriage and motherhood. Yet, rather than discouraging family formation entirely, student debt also hastened the probability of transitioning to pathways characterized by high probabilities of cohabitation. The results suggest that paying down student debt may be a prerequisite for marriage among both men and women, especially when outstanding debt obligations represent a large proportion of one's annual income. However, in accordance with previous research, the perceived financial expectations for cohabitation may be lower than those related to marriage (e.g., Edin & Kefalas, 2005; Sassler, 2004; Silva, 2015), thus presenting an attractive option for sharing costs of living while paying down student debt, particularly among women. The last aim was addressed using a multilevel multiprocess (MLMP) approach. In the final set of analyses, the association between student loan debt and transition(s) to (1) cohabitation, (2) marriage and (3) parenthood were simultaneously estimated as interrelated processes, in addition to accounting for any potential unobserved individual-level characteristics that may increase or decrease one's hazard of family formation. The results from MLMP analyses suggest that student debt was negatively associated with transitions to marriage among both men and women, and that the consequence of delaying marriage may subsequently, indirectly decrease the likelihood of transitioning to parenthood. Much of the negative association between student debt and the hazard of transitioning to both marriage and parenthood was accounted for by processes related to transitioning in and out of cohabiting unions, suggesting that student debt may be an important factor in shaping the outcomes of romantic partnerships, especially in determining whether couples decide to make lifelong commitments such as marriage and parenthood. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that the decision to borrow student loans early in adulthood can result in long-term consequences for family life, particularly when outstanding debt obligations represent a relatively large proportion of annual incomes. Evidence of these extended consequences demonstrates the value in adopting a life course approach for analyzing the relationship between student debt and demographic behaviors, especially as the economic foundations for family formation have shifted toward greater expectations of personal responsibility. This greater emphasis on individual economic achievements regardless of gender, principally for marriage (Cherlin, 2000; 2016), may be particularly impactful for women with student debt, who are increasingly expected to financially contribute more to the households while carrying more debt and earning less income than their male counterparts. Taken together, the results from this study suggest that the ongoing trend in student borrowing will likely continue to play a key role in shaping future demographic patterns and behaviors, pinpointing the need for updating extant theories concerning the association between economic resources and family formation to also include explanations encompassing consumer debt. Particularly one that considers the disparate consequences of acquiring and paying debt by gender. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / October 5, 2018. / Assortative Mating, Family Formation, Gender Inequality, Higher Education, Life Course, Student Loan Debt / Includes bibliographical references. / Miles G. Taylor, Professor Directing Dissertation; Francis D. Fincham, University Representative; Karin L. Brewster, Committee Member; Kathryn H. Tillman, Committee Member.

<p> The massive migration of rural labor to urban areas in China over the past few decades has created the largest labor flow in world history. The proportion of the residential population in rural areas decreased from 80% in the late 1970s to 44% in 2016. Due to institutional and practical constraints, whole family migration is often not feasible for most migrant families. As a result, 61 million children age 0-17 are estimated to be left behind in rural communities by at least one parent seeking employment elsewhere. These numbers reflect a major change in the family and community environment in which children are cared for. Parental migration brings about changes in family structure and dynamics, entails a trade-off between economic benefits and parenting inputs, such as parental supervision and emotional support. At community-level, large-scale selective migration leads to remarkable changes in community demographic composition, shifting sociocultural norms and aspirations, influencing community institutional resources and collective social capital. </p><p> Over the past few decades, the scientific literature examining the implications of this large-scale migration and split families on the well-being of children left-behind has proliferated. However, empirical evidence on the effect of parental migration on left-behind children&rsquo;s well-being is mixed for China and other countries in the context of international migration. Few studies have attempted to reconcile the inconsistent findings by examining the moderator effect. Although the potential effects of migration on cognitive development of children in origin communities reflect both household- and community-level processes, few studies have examined how community-level migration affects child development. In addition, mostly focused on the well-being of school-aged children, very limited study has been conducted on parental migration and early childhood development in the first few years of children&rsquo;s lives, especially in the domain of cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Moreover, most researches have relied on cross-sectional data, exploring the association between a contemporaneous measure of parental migration and statically measured child outcomes at one point in time, ignoring the potential impact of the timing, transition and cumulative exposure to parental migration/absence, and may also be prone to selection bias. </p><p> To bridge the gap, the first analysis examines the conditions that may influence the effect of parental migration on child self-rated health (SRH). The results suggest a relatively weak main effect, but this is due in part to the influence of moderating factors. Children are more likely to report a good health status when the economic return of migration is substantial, if they are from impoverished communities, or when mothers remained at home to provide care while the father migrated a short distance within the same province. The second analysis focuses on examining community migration effect. Findings suggest lower cognitive achievement in communities experiencing high migration intensity. Children living in very high migration intensity areas are expected to have 3.57- and 1.54-unit lower verbal and math scores, which are equivalent to 1.67 and 0.87 years of formal education respectively. A possible explanation for this effect is the change in demographic composition brought about by the outmigration of better-educated adults. Finally, applying growth curve modeling strategy, the third analysis examines parental migration and early childhood development trajectories and states, taking into account timing, transition and cumulative exposure to parental migration. Our findings indicate that while left-behind children are comparable in the prevalence of childhood illness, positive behaviors and preschool enrollment, two-parent migration has a detrimental effect on children&rsquo;s linear growth, cognitive stimulation, and home environment. Lack of appropriate cognitive stimulation in the critical early years could have important implications for child cognitive development.</p><p>

Much of the relevant literature has indicated that age homogeneity of the neighborhood is beneficial for the elderly in increasing life satisfaction and morale, in fostering contacts with friends and neighbors, and in creating a high level of social activity. However, the dependent variables used in these studies may create distortions in comparing age homogeneous and age heterogeneous neighborhoods. Life satisfaction and morale may be too global as dependent variables and based on too many factors in a person's environment to compare the effects of different neighborhood structures. Contacts with neighbors and friends may not be meaningful in all areas requiring primary group supports. Therefore, in this study of 1423 elderly people in New York and Florida, Litwak's "Theory of Shared Functions" is used to suggest the application of another type of dependent variable (performance of primary group functions) to compare age homogeneous and age heterogeneous areas. The effect of homogeneity would depend on the degree the structure of primary groups available matches the requirements for the function to be performed. Age homogeneity, while increasing the concentration of proximate age peers, may create distance from kin who have the most long term commitment. Therefore, one type of function (participation in leisure), which is based on common or age-related interests, is shown to be strongly facilitated by age homogeneity. Another (watching one's place), which benefits from proximity of neighbors, but not from a loss of speed of reaction by the elderly, is weakly facilitated. Another (help in long illness), which is based on long term commitment, is affected little by age homogeneity. With moderate long term commitment required, neighbors and friends are able to substitute for kin. However, when larger degrees of long term commitment are required, for help with money matters, or help in long illness for those who are disabled, very old, or have low income, there is a significant decrease in the level of primary group aid between age heterogeneous and age homogeneous areas. This is particularly so for the elderly who are handicapped or who have multiple resource deficiencies, and are most affected by lack of kin. The effects of homogeneity are found to be largely independent of state of residence.