The aim of the paper is to analyze changes in the attitude of governments and major political actors towards seniors as a specific social group; their interests, quality of life, and projected dignity. The paper describes political ideologies, retirement systems, and pension plans. It aims to capture the perceptions of the life needs and human dignity of seniors that underscore major decisions, and to explain how these perceptions have changed in the past decade. How sensivitity to basic ethical principles has evolved and how these principles have been permeated by purpose-rational expectations (political influence, economic prosperity). The paper tries to describe the prospects of applying ethical principles in current political practice in relation to seniors and to addressing their needs.

Dissertação(mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós–Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, 2013. / Submitted by Cristiane Gomides (cristiane_gomides@hotmail.com) on 2013-11-19T11:38:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 elisa.pdf: 1223620 bytes, checksum: b663448fea1aa40da19e4272a5aab6d2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Angelica Miranda (angelicacdm@gmail.com) on 2013-11-20T21:35:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 elisa.pdf: 1223620 bytes, checksum: b663448fea1aa40da19e4272a5aab6d2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-11-20T21:35:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 elisa.pdf: 1223620 bytes, checksum: b663448fea1aa40da19e4272a5aab6d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / A vulnerabilidade dos mamíferos marinhos a ameaças que comprometam a manutenção de suas populações é uma das razões que os levam a ser alvo de pesquisas que visam sua conservação. A baleia-franca-austral, Eubalaena australis, é uma dessas espécies, sendo que a caça foi uma forte ameaça a todas as suas populações. No Brasil, sua principal concentração reprodutiva ocorre no litoral de Santa Catarina, onde indivíduos da espécie são observados anualmente entre os meses de julho e novembro. Esses indivíduos pertencem a uma população compartilhada entre Brasil e Argentina e que se recupera a taxas significativas. Esforços vêm sendo realizados a fim de preservar essa importante área para a espécie, porém faz-se necessário um melhor conhecimento acerca do seu uso de habitat na região, bem como de fatores que podem influenciar a taxa relativa de nascimentos de indivíduos, a qual possui forte relação com a recuperação populacional. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi testar a influência de variáveis temporais e ambientais na distribuição da espécie no litoral sul de Santa Catarina e avaliar a influência de anomalias climáticas em sua taxa relativa de nascimentos através de Modelos Lineares Generalizados e correlação cruzada, respectivamente. Os resultados sugerem que tanto grupos de fêmeas com filhotes quanto de adultos desacompanhados preferem enseadas amplas, com declive suave e parecem evitar enseadas com grandes ângulos de inclinação quando ventos intensos da direção leste atuam sobre elas. O sucesso reprodutivo dos indivíduos parece influenciado por anomalias climáticas, relacionadas principalmente à temperatura superficial da água do mar, que afetam a disponibilidade de alimento em sua área de alimentação, no entorno das ilhas Geórgias do Sul. / Vulnerability to threats that can compromise population maintenance is one of the reasons why many marine mammal species are targeted for conservation research. The southern right whale, Eubalaena australis, is one such species, and hunting was a strong threat to all of their populations. On the Brazilian coast, its main reproductive site is located along the Santa Catarina State, where individuals of the species are observed annually between July and November. These individuals belong to a population shared between Brazil and Argentina, which recovers at significant rates. Efforts have been made to preserve this important area for the species, but the habitat use of right whales in the region needs to be better known, as well as factors that may be influencing their relative birth rates, which are strongly related to population recovery. The objective of this study was to test the influence of temporal and environmental variables on species distribution at the southern coast of Santa Catarina and whether climate anomalies influence their relative birth rate using Generalized Linear Models and cross correlation, respectively. Our results suggest that both cowcalf and unaccompanied adult groups prefer large bays with gentle slope and they seem to avoid bays with great inclination angles when strong east winds are acting on them. The reproductive success of individuals appears to be influenced by climate anomalies, mainly the ones related to sea surface temperature, which affect food availability on the species feeding area, in the vicinity of South Georgia Islands.

The development of the birth rate and preschool education in the Czech Republic after 1950 Abstract The main aim of the thesis is to map in detail the development of preschool education and financial support for families with children in the Czech Republic in the context of the development of birth rate after 1950. The development of birth rate in the thesis is not only analyzed by using basic indicators, but also through deeper decomposition methods. It turns out, that quality and availability of all network preschool institutions in the context has a certain role in the birth rate. The reconciliation of work and family is very important for lots of parents and sufficient offer of preschool care can help it. However, the demand for preschool institutions exceeded supply, as was shown in accordance with obtained data. It was also found out by the insight into the outcomes of surveys that the vast majority of respondents do not think that a preschool child of working mother would be suffering. In the future, should not only expand the capacity of childcare facilities as well as other options for facilitation of reconciling work and family life, such as better offer of flexible working hours. Keywords: birth rate, decomposition, preschool facilities, financial support for families with children, surveys,...

The Central Limpopo River Valley elephant population is a cross border population on which very little scientific data pertaining to numbers, distribution and demographic status is available. The total range was determined using published literature, reports, postal questionnaires and interviews. Numbers and dry season distribution were determined by means of three total aerial counts in 2000, 2001 and 2004 of the sections of the total range in which elephants were reported. Totals of 1388, 1424 and 1339 were recorded with the highest numbers in all counts in the Botswana section of the study area. Four sub groups within the population were identified. Human settlements and the distribution of rivers and fencing appeared to be the major factors influencing distribution and movement. The population is highly mobile within the total range, and numbers fluctuate markedly in any given section, but numbers in the total range appear to have been increasing slowly at below 2% per annum and the range expanding slightly over the last 30 years. Additional range is being provided by the creation of a Trans Frontier Conservation Area. Movements were determined through ground observations within the study area and seem to follow the major rivers namely the Shashe, Ramokgwabane, Simukwe, Shashani, Tuli, Umzingwane and Limpopo rivers. The social and demographic status of the population was determined through ground observations as well as total aerial counts conducted within the Northern Tuli Game Reserve from 1976 to 2004. The study has shown that group sizes increase with an increase in rainfall (average mean group size of 56.524, SDE 77.388) and decrease during low rainfall periods (mean group size of 24.157, SDE 22.223). The age structure was determined from aerial photographs during August 2000 and showed a high percentage of adults and sub adults, with infants estimated at 3%. The approximate birth rate (1.5%) calculated for 2000 is balanced by an average natural mortality determined between 1999 and 2004 of 1.8%. The inter calf interval determined from known herds observed in the Northern Tuli Game Reserve was estimated at 3.94% and suggests that the long-term birth rate for the population should be higher than that for the year 2000. The difference between the combined natural and human induced mortality rates (~4%) and the birth rate suggested by the age structure and the inter calf interval (~6%) gives the ~2% long-term increase observed in the numbers. Human elephant interactions within the study area were determined through published literature and interviews with local residents. Elephants and humans interact in both a positive and negative manor and interactions are related to human land use practices within the area. Elephants were indicated as the major problem animal in farming areas, but the major draw card within tourism operations. / Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

少子化是目前台灣面臨的一大危機，從歷史脈絡來看，台灣屬於標準的移民社會，然而，因早年戒嚴等政治因素使我國對於入出境人流管制相當嚴格，同時亦不重視移民政策，直至近年來外籍配偶及大陸配偶人數大量增加，政府單位逐漸注意此一新興社會現象。 同時，台灣與新加坡皆為亞洲四小龍成員，在人口結構來講，同屬以華人為主體的多元族群國家，兩者皆面臨全球化衝擊，以及面臨國土資源不足、生育率逐年降低、人口老化等社會與人口結構改變的隱憂。而新加坡對移民政策的重視則遠超過我國，其相關法令的制定、多元的教育、豐富的獎勵刺激移民與生育都是值得我們所學習的。 回顧其發展過程，新加坡的移民政策與法令也讓社會產生程度不一的反彈，這些優缺利弊都是讓我國借鑒的範例，藉他山之石，檢視我國移民法令的侷限，為了有效刺激外來人口移入與降低不同文化產生的衝突，新加坡經驗是值得參考的對象。 / Low birth rate is one of the major challenges faced by Taiwanese government nowadays. Taiwan can be categorized as a typical immigrant society from the view of history. However, the immigration control was very strict during the early days due to political issues and the implementation of martial laws. The immigration policies have been ignored for long until the population of foreign and mainland spouse rose tremendously hence gradually caught the attention of Taiwanese government. Taiwan and Singapore are both viewed as the members of Four Asian Tigers. Both islandsare composed by multi-racial population and with Chinese as majority. Meanwhile, both nations face the challenges such as impact of globalization, relatively insufficient domestic resources, low birth rate, and aging population. Singapore government takes immigration policies more seriously than Taiwan, the regulations of laws, educational diversity, and abundant rewards for encouraging immigration and birth rate of Singapore are worth to learn from. Singapore’s immigration policies and regulations also aroused backlash from the public. The pros and cons of their policies should also be taken into considerations while making the proper policies for Taiwan. The experience of Singapore would benefit on the spurring of immigration to Taiwan and easing the conflicts result from cultural differences.

In recent years Germany had to deal with demographical changes on his own territory, pointing an increasingly aging population and on the other hand with a low birth rate that could not normalize this trend. Family policy deals with these issues because one of its current goals is to raise birth rates and ensure and strengthen the position of women in the market. As a possible solution, the family policy sees it in the contribution of men to the share of parental leave. Therefore this diploma thesis will have this topic in the focus. The turning point for Germany and especially for fathers was the year 2007 when the so called "Elterngeld" was introduced with the goal to encourage men to take parental leave and support the woman with raising children. Thanks to this fact that a man help a woman with an upbringing child and household, to women is given the possibility to return to the working environment earlier (at least for a half-time job). This partnership should ensure greater stability in the relationship and possibly ensuring next offspring that Germany necessarily needs. Since 2007 can be noticed interesting numbers of men entering the parental leave. Noteworthy is that one of the highest figures is reported by Saxony with Dresden and Leipzig. Since the man is now seen as one of possible...

Die Dissertation fragt nach den Ursachen der spezifisch niedrigen Geburtenrate in Ost- und Westdeutschland, die seit Mitte der siebziger Jahre deutlich unter dem Reproduktionsniveau liegt. Theoretisch wird die Frage behandelt, inwiefern die gewandelte gesellschaftliche Stellung der Frau – insbesondere ihre höhere Bildungs- und Erwerbspartizipation – mit der Verbreitung geringer Kinderzahlen in Verbindung steht. Für die Analysen werden Scientific Use Files der Mikrozensen 1973 bis 2008 verwendet; diese repräsentieren jährlich 0,7 Prozent der deutschen Bevölkerung. So kann gezeigt werden, dass innerhalb vergleichbarer soziostruktureller Gruppen kaum ein Rückgang der Kinderzahlen auftrat. Differenziert nach Berufsbildungsabschluss, Erwerbstätigkeit und Finanzierung des Lebensunterhaltes zeigt sich, dass einzig Frauen ohne Berufsbildung sowie Frauen, die das Hausfraumodell leben, durchschnittlich 2,0 Kinder haben – dies ist sowohl im Jahr 1982 wie auch 2008 in Westdeutschland der Fall. Innerhalb der Gruppe der erwerbstätigen Frauen liegen die Kinderzahlen je Frau deutlich niedriger. Die Gruppe der Hausfrauen, die ihren überwiegenden Lebensunterhalt durch ihren Ehemann finanziert, hat sich in Westdeutschland im Zeitvergleich seit dem Jahr 1982 von 50 auf 25 Prozent der Frauen halbiert. Dieser strukturelle Wandel hin zu einer unabhängigen weiblichen Lebensführung führte in Westdeutschland zu Kinderzahlen weit unter dem Reproduktionsniveau. Die empirische Analyse zeigt, dass strukturtheoretische Modelle mit klassischen Variablen wie Familienstand, Erwerbsumfang und Einkommen die Varianz der Kinderzahl heute besser erklären können als noch in den achtziger Jahren. Im Fazit scheint ein gesellschaftliches „cultural lag“ auf – die gesellschaftliche Unterstützung zur Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie ist offensichtlich zu gering, so dass die Emanzipation der Frau in Deutschland den negativen Effekt niedriger Geburtenraten hervorbringt. / The study focuses on the causes of low birth rates in eastern and western Germany, which has been below the level of reproduction since 1975. Theoretically the changing position of women in society is considered and the possible connections between higher female education, the spread of female employment and low fertility rates are discussed. The analysis is based upon scientific use files of the German micro census from 1973 up to 2008; the data represent annually 0.7 percent of the German population. It is shown, that there is no decline in fertility within similar socio structural subgroups. Controlled by educational/vocational training, employment and female income (financial independence) it is shown that only women with no vocational training and women with no own income have 2.0 children per women – this result is significant for Western Germany in 1982 as well as in 2008. Within the group of employed women the mean number of children is much lower. But the group of housewives declined in half from 50 to 25 percent between 1982 and 2008. This structural change toward female independent lifestyle leads to a very low birth rate in Germany. The empirical analysis shows that classical models using structural variables like family status, employment and income are able to explain a considerable higher variance of birth rates today. Summing up there appears to be a “cultural lag”: women get emancipated, but the public support and the compatibility of work and family stays low, as well as the birth rates of employed women led to low overall birth rates.

Eugenics movements developed early this century in more than 20 countries, including Australia. However, for many years the vast literature on eugenics focused almost exclusively on the history of eugenics in Britain and America. While some aspects of eugenics in Australia are now being documented, the history of this movement largely remained to be written. Australians experienced both fears and hopes at the time of Federation in 1901. Some feared that the white population was declining and degenerating but they also hoped to create a new utopian society which would outstrip the achievements, and avoid the poverty and industrial unrest, of Britain and America. Some responded to these mixed emotions by combining notions of efficiency and progress with eugenic ideas about maximising the growth of a white population and filling the "empty spaces". It was hoped that by taking these actions Australia would avoid "racial suicide" or Asian invasion and would improve national fitness, thus avoiding "racial decay" and starting to create a "paradise of physical perfection". This thesis considers the impact of eugenics in Australia by examining three related propositions: 1. that from the 1910s to the 1930s, eugenic ideas in Australia were readily accepted because of concerns about declining birth rate; 2. that, while mainly derivative, Australian eugenics had several distinctive Australian qualities; 3. that eugenics has a legacy in many disciplines, particularly family planning and public health. This examination of Australian eugenics is primarily from the perspective of the people, publications and organisations which contributed to this movement in the first half of this century. In addition to a consideration of their achievements, reference is also made to the influence which eugenic ideas had in such diverse fields as education, immigration, law, literature, politics, psychology and science.

Eugenics movements developed early this century in more than 20 countries, including Australia. However, for many years the vast literature on eugenics focused almost exclusively on the history of eugenics in Britain and America. While some aspects of eugenics in Australia are now being documented, the history of this movement largely remained to be written. Australians experienced both fears and hopes at the time of Federation in 1901. Some feared that the white population was declining and degenerating but they also hoped to create a new utopian society which would outstrip the achievements, and avoid the poverty and industrial unrest, of Britain and America. Some responded to these mixed emotions by combining notions of efficiency and progress with eugenic ideas about maximising the growth of a white population and filling the "empty spaces". It was hoped that by taking these actions Australia would avoid "racial suicide" or Asian invasion and would improve national fitness, thus avoiding "racial decay" and starting to create a "paradise of physical perfection". This thesis considers the impact of eugenics in Australia by examining three related propositions: 1. that from the 1910s to the 1930s, eugenic ideas in Australia were readily accepted because of concerns about declining birth rate; 2. that, while mainly derivative, Australian eugenics had several distinctive Australian qualities; 3. that eugenics has a legacy in many disciplines, particularly family planning and public health. This examination of Australian eugenics is primarily from the perspective of the people, publications and organisations which contributed to this movement in the first half of this century. In addition to a consideration of their achievements, reference is also made to the influence which eugenic ideas had in such diverse fields as education, immigration, law, literature, politics, psychology and science.

The diploma thesis deals with the change of the family in today's society, its roles, and the ways of cohabitation which replace the family. It evaluates the significance of marriage and parenthood for children and for their future lives. It describes the difficulties related to responsible parenthood and the role of parents during their children's adolescence. It evaluates the mentioned issues from the point of view of Christian ethics. It also touches on the problems of the current society in terms of infertility and assisted reproduction as well as ethical issued connected with them.