Tempo and quantum of population ageing in the world: development opportunities and challenges Abstract This diploma thesis aims to identify and describe the differentiation of the scale and dynamics of the ageing process in the world at sub-regional level and to develop a typology of those sub-regions and selected countries in terms of mentioned characteristics of population ageing. Furthermore, relatively homogenous groups of countries have been distinguished based on the cluster analysis of social conditions in the context of ageing in order to access their readiness to face further development of the phenomenon. Major development opportunities and imminent challenges associated with population ageing have been evaluated in the end. The results show that the timing and extent of age structure changes are very closely related. Countries that have undergone longer demographic transitions experienced longer demographic windows of opportunity that allowed them to reap the benefits of demographic dividends and to develop better social conditions as a result. Rapidly ageing societies from developing regions, on the contrary, have less time and resources to counteract the challenges resulting from the demographic changes where timely measures and policies have to be prioritized by policymakers. Keywords:...

This thesis examines demographic aging of housing estate in Prague and residential satisfaction of seniors. In the theoretical part the issue of demographic aging, residential satisfaction and residential stability is elaborated summary of the basis of literature. Empirical part is based on two research methods, which are the data analysis of the age structure of the population census and interviews with seniors living in the housing estate Nové Ďáblice. Two approaches were defined to work with the data, the first one compared the type of settlement development with other parts of Prague, in the second one there were defined individual settlement files with a population of more than 15 000. Carried out the research, it was found that the age structure is equalize and the current demographic situation in the settlements is determined by the period of construction of the housing estate file. Generally speaking, the earlier the settlement was established, the older population it has. In parts focused on the quality of life of older people on the estate were determined using semi-structured interviews satisfaction with the physical environment, social relationships, housing, public spaces, public facilities and services, transportation and security. In addition, it assessed the stability of residential...

Comprendre la dynamique des populations marines est essentiel à une gestion efficaceet requiert des connaissances sur la dispersion et la connectivité entre populationsqui sont encore très lacunaires. Beaucoup d’organismes marins ont un cycle de viebipartite avec une phase larvaire pélagique qui représente souvent la seule possibilitéde dispersion. De nouvelles techniques de mesure de la dispersion larvaire, parmarquage ou modélisation, ont été développées durant ces quinze dernières années.Cependant, les résultats de ces deux types d’approches ont rarement été comparésau sein d’un même système marin, limitant l’utilisation des modèles de dispersiondans les modèles de métapopulation. Dans cette thèse, nous utilisons ces deux typesd’approches pour étudier la connectivité larvaire d’un poisson de récif corallien,Dascyllus aruanus, dans le lagon sud-ouest de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Notre modèle dedispersion montre que la rétention larvaire présente une variabilité temporelle élevéeà l’échelle lagonaire et à l’échelle d’un patch de récif, et atteint périodiquement desvaleurs élevées malgré des temps moyens de résidence courts. Le marquage artificieltransgénérationnel des otolithes montre des taux d’auto-recrutement relativementbas à l’échelle de la saison reproductive, suggérant une ouverture importante despopulations, et une variabilité temporelle considérable de l’auto-recrutement. Enfin,les grandes différences entre les résultats du modèle et ceux des marquages appuientle besoin de mieux comprendre les processus qui facilitent la rétention larvaire commeles comportements de homing et la circulation des courants à très petite échelle. / Understanding marine populations dynamics is critical to their effective management,and requires information on patterns of dispersal and connectivity that are still poorlyknown. Many marine organisms have a bipartite life history with a pelagic larvalstage that often represents the only opportunity for dispersal. In the last decade,new empirical and simulation approaches to measuring larval dispersal have beendeveloped, but results from these two different approaches have rarely been comparedin the context of a single marine system, impeding the use of larval dispersal modelsin metapopulation models supporting decision making. In this doctoral research, weused both approaches to investigate larval connectivity for a coral reef fish, Dascyllusaruanus, in the South-West Lagoon of New Caledonia. Our biophysical dispersalmodel shows that larval retention exhibits considerable temporal variability at bothlagoon and patch reef scales and periodically reaches large values despite low averagewater residence time. Artificial transgenerational marking of embryonic otoliths inthe wild also showed relatively low self-recruitment rates indicating high populationopenness at the reproductive season scale, with considerable monthly variability ofself-recruitment. Large quantitative discrepancies between simulations and empiricalresults emphasize the need to better understand processes that facilitate local retention,such as homing behavior and very small scale circulation patterns.

Abstract Demographic history and selection affect patterns of genetic diversity in nature. Timing of growth, reproduction and dormancy are important traits targeted by natural selection, because they are crucial for survival of plants growing in boreal and temperate climates, as reproduction must occur when conditions are favorable and in outcrossing plants it must be synchronized to assure pollination. In addition to adaptation to local environments, evolutionarily diverged populations may contain genomic incompatibilities that result in sterile hybrids in crosses between populations. In several plant families within population crosses can also lead to male sterile progeny, because of conflict between maternally and bi-parentally inherited genomes. In this thesis I used DNA-sequence data to estimate the demographic history of nine Arabidopsis lyrata populations and present genetic variation in some key flowering time genes, evolution of which natural selection has shaped. By crossing experiments I explored genetics of reproductive fitness in hybrids between divergent populations. I found that local climatic conditions have resulted in directional selection in addition to the demographic effects of bottlenecks during colonization events. Flowering time genes have reduced diversity compared to reference loci, which indicates selective sweeps. Selection on nucleotide variation in flowering time genes was found in Scandinavian and Icelandic populations that can be explained by selective sweeps at flowering genes when these populations colonized northern habitats after the last glacial maximum. Cryptic cytoplasmic male sterility was found in a Norwegian population, for which North Carolinian population did not have fertility restorers. It was confirmed that there is only one fertility restorer locus, the genomic location of which was mapped to a 600 kb interval at the top of chromosome two. / Tiivistelmä Populaatioiden levittäytymishistoria ja luonnonvalinta vaikuttavat geneettiseen monimuotoisuuteen ja sen vaihteluun genomin eri osissa. Kukkimisen ja kasvun päättämisen ajoitus ovat tärkeitä luonnonvalinnan kohteena olevia ominaisuuksia, sillä ne ovat välttämättömiä kasvien selviytymiselle lauhkeissa ja pohjoisissa ilmastoissa. Paikallisiin olosuhteisiin sopeutumisen lisäksi populaatioiden erilaistuminen voi johtaa genomisiin yhteensopimattomuuksiin, joiden vuoksi populaatioiden väliset risteymät ovat lisääntymiskyvyttömiä. Monilla kasvisuvuilla myös populaation sisäiset risteytykset voivat johtaa koirassteriileihin jälkeläisiin johtuen konfliktista vain äidin puolelta ja molemmilta vanhemmilta periytyvien genomien välillä. Tässä väitöskirjassa selvitän DNA-sekvenssimuunteluun perustuen yhdeksän idänpitkäpalkopopulaation demografista eli levittäymis- ja populaatiorakennehistoriaa sekä luonnonvalinnan osuutta kukkimisaikaan vaikuttavien geenien evoluutiossa. Risteytyskokeiden avulla tutkin erilaistuneiden populaatioiden risteymäjälkeläisiä selvittääkseni niiden lisääntymiskelpoisuutta ja siihen vaikuttavia geenejä. Geneettinen muuntelu kukkimisgeeneissä oli vähäisempää kuin vertailugeeneissä, joka on merkki kukkimisgeeneihin kohdistuneesta suuntaavasta valinnasta. Kukkimisgeeneihin kohdistuvaa valintaa löytyi eniten skandinaavisista ja islantilaisesta populaatiosta, mikä on selitettävissä niihin kohdistuneella suuntavalla valinnalla aikana, jolloin kasvit levittäytyivät jääkauden jälkeen pohjoisiin elinympäristöihin. Norjalaisesta populaatiosta löytyi piilevä sytoplasminen koirassteriliteetti, jolle Pohjois-Carolinan populaatiolla ei ollut hedelmällisyyden palauttavia geenejä. Tutkimus vahvisti, että hedelmällisyyden palauttaa yksi geeni, joka sijaitsee 600 000 emäsparin kokoisella alueella kromosomin kaksi alkupäässä.

Abstract The timing growth and reproduction are critical to the fitness of plants and animals. The timing also has an important role in local adaptation. Locally adapted plants may have different responses to photoperiod and other environmental cues and genes or alleles behind underlying differences may differ between populations. The molecular genetics and physiology of flowering of the plant molecular biology model organism Arabidopsis thaliana is being intensively studied, and this offers a good opportunity to study the genetic basis of flowering time variation in related non-model species. The closely related perennial species Arabidopsis lyrata provides an interesting comparison to A. thaliana because of its different ecology, mating system and life history. The influence of sampling designs on clustering methods was analyzed using simulations and microsatellite data in the selfing A. thaliana. It was found that sample size has a large effect on the resulting number of clusters and sampling too few individuals per locality could lead to a severe underestimation of the real number of subpopulations. Patterns of sequence variation in flowering time genes and association between polymorphisms at FRI (and FLC) and flowering time was studied in A. thaliana and in A. lyrata to find out whether the genes were responsible for flowering time differences between and within natural populations. In A. thaliana there was no significant association between polymorphisms at FLC and FRI and flowering time. In A. lyrata the FRI gene was polymorphic for an indel associated with flowering time variation within two Northern European populations, suggesting that the indel (or a linked polymorphism) was involved in flowering time variation. However, FRI did not explain the flowering time differences between A. lyrata populations, and other loci must be involved. Patterns of diversity and divergence at flowering time related loci were compared against a set of random reference loci to examine the roles of selection and demography. Sequence variation in the studied A. lyrata populations departed from the standard neutral equilibrium model and it has been influenced by recent historical events, most likely bottlenecks. The level of silent and synonymous polymorphisms in flowering time genes was highly reduced and this can be likely explained by selective sweeps at flowering time genes. / Tiivistelmä Kasveilla kukkimisen ajoittaminen suotuisaan ajankohtaan on hyvin tärkeää suvullisen lisääntymisen kannalta. Kukkimisen oikealla ajoituksella on myös tärkeä rooli kasvien sopeutumisessa paikallisiin olosuhteisiin. Kukkimisaikamuunteluun vaikuttavat useimmiten lukuisat geenit sekä ympäristötekijät, jotka voivat vaihdella alueellisesti ja populaatioiden välillä. Vaikka kukkimiseen ja kukkimisaikaan vaikuttavia tekijöitä tunnetaan jo hyvin, luonnonpopulaatioiden muuntelun ja paikallisen sopeutumisen geneettinen tausta on huonommin tunnettu. Väitöstutkimus keskittyy Arabidopsis-populaatioiden paikalliseen sopeutumiseen tarkastelemalla kukkimisajan muuntelua ja siihen vaikuttavia geeneettisiä tekijöitä. Tutkimuksessa käytetyt geneettiset aineistot perustuvat osin neutraaleihin merkkigeeneihin (mikrosatelliittimuunteluun), ja osin sekvenssien nukleotidimuunteluun. Väitöstutkimuksessa on simulointien avulla selvitetty populaatiosta analysoitavien yksilöiden lukumäärän merkitystä populaatiorakenteen selvittämisessä itsesiittoisella lituruoholla (Arabidopsis thaliana). Tulosten mukaan on hyvä analysoida useampia yksilöitä paikallisista populaatioista, sillä liian pienet otoskoot voivat johtaa ryhmien määrän aliarvioimiseen. Koalesenssisimulaatiot osoittavat idänpitkäpalon (Arabidopsis lyrata) populaatioiden poikkeavan tasapainotilasta ja populaatioissa tapahtuneen populaatiokoon muutoksia (ns. pullonkaulailmiö). Tutkimuksessa havaittiin sekvenssimuuntelun olevan alhaisempaa kukkimisaikageeneissä kuin referenssigeeneissä todennäköisesti positiivisen valinnan vaikutuksesta. Tutkimuksessa todettiin, että FRI geenissä tapahtuneet mutaatiot ovat kahdessa tutkitussa lajissa erilaisia luonteeltaan, mutta geenillä on kuitenkin samanlainen rooli kukkimisajan määräämisessä. Assosiaatiokokeissa lituruoholla ei Pohjois-Euroopan populaatioissa löydetty merkitsevää assosiaatiota FRI geenin ja kukkimisajan välillä, kun puolestaa idänpitkäpalolla FRI vaikutti kukkimisaikamuunteluun kahdessa pohjoisessa populaatiossa.

La dynamique des populations peut être définie comme l'étude des forces responsables de la taille et de la structure d'une population. Plusieurs facteurs influençant la dynamique des populations ont déjà été identifiés. Ces facteurs peuvent être classés de par leur niveau d'influence, d'une influence à l'échelle de la population toute entière, comme par exemple les changements climatiques ou la densité de population, jusqu'à des facteurs individuels comme l'âge ou le sexe. Récemment, de nombreuses études ont insisté sur l'importance de la structure en âge pour cette dynamique.Chez les espèces sociales, un niveau supplémentaire de structuration de la population est le groupe. Cependant,les conséquences de cette structuration en groupes sociaux est encore mal connue.Au cours de ma thèse, j'ai tenté de répondre a cette question de différentes manières. J'ai tout d'abord étudié comment les paramètres démographiques individuels étaient influencés par la taille et la composition du groupe. J'ai pu notamment mettre en évidence un effet négatif du nombre de juvéniles femelles présent lors du développement sur la probabilité de devenir dominant une fois à l'age adulte. Dans une deuxième temps, j'ai étudié l'importance des interactions entre groupes en quantifiant l'impact d'un changement de dominant sur la dispersion des subordonnés. Enfin, j'ai également quantifié l'influence des différents groupes au sein de la population démontrant que les grands groupes contribuent relativement moins au taux de croissance de la population. Ces différents résultats sont ensuite discuté dans un cadre de démographie évolutive et de nouvelles pistes de recherche sont proposées / Population dynamics can be defined as the study of the forces responsible for the size and structure of a population. Several factors influencing population dynamics have already been identified. These factors can be categorized according to their level of influence. Some factors have a population-wide influence, such as climate change or population density, while others affect the individual level such as age or sex. Recently, many studies have emphasized the importance of this age structure for population dynamics.In social species, an additional level of structuring of the population is the group. However, the consequences of this social group structuring are still poorly understood.In this thesis, I try to answer this question in different ways. I first studied how the individual demographic parameters were influenced by the size and composition of the group. I was able to highlight in particular a negative effect of the number of juvenile females present during development on the probability of becoming dominant once in adulthood. In a second step, I studied the importance of interactions between groups by quantifying the impact of a change of dominant on the dispersion of subordinates. Finally, I also quantified the influence of different groups within the population showing that large groups contribute relatively less to the population growth rate. These various results are then discussed in a context of evolutionary demography and new avenues of research are proposed

La consultation est présente dans plusieurs domaines, tels que la psychologie, les ressources humaines, la gestion, l’éducation, l’informatique, et la comptabilité (Bordeleau, 1998; Lescarbeau, Payette et St-Arnaud, 2003; Stern et Tutoy, 2003). Plusieurs entreprises font régulièrement appel à des consultants pour les aider à résoudre un problème, à optimiser un processus ou à former leurs employés. Les individus font également appel aux consultants pour les aider à clarifier leurs objectifs ou à établir un plan d’action pour les atteindre. Ces consultants jouent parfois un rôle de conseiller, d’expert, d’accompagnateur, de coach, de psychothérapeute. Ils aident leurs clients en analysant leurs besoins, en faisant preuve d’écoute, en les aidant à trouver des solutions, à développer un plan d’action ou à acquérir de nouvelles compétences. Toutefois, les mandats de consultation n’ont pas tous le succès escompté et plusieurs facteurs semblent nécessaires pour réussir. L’introduction de la thèse présente la recherche effectuée sur les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants efficaces, car c’est un aspect que le consultant peut développer par l’entremise de l’expérience, de la formation, de la supervision ou du coaching. De plus, étant donné le petit nombre de recherches trouvées sur le sujet, il semblait pertinent et avant-gardiste de s’y attarder davantage. Les résultats sont présentés dans deux articles, l’un présentant les résultats de la recherche documentaire et l’autre présentant les résultats de la recherche exploratoire effectuée. D’abord, le premier article partage les résultats de la recension documentaire sur la consultation, sur l’efficacité de la consultation et les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants qui y sont liées. Six catégories de caractéristiques des consultants liées à l’efficacité en consultation ont émergé des analyses : les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, les habiletés interpersonnelles et intellectuelles, les traits de personnalité, les comportements et les connaissances. Il est à noter que la documentation expose surtout des descriptions basées sur les expériences des auteurs, quelques études de cas et peu de recherches empiriques ou exploratoires. Le second article présente les résultats d’une recherche exploratoire sur les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants liées à leur perception d’efficacité en consultation. Cette étude a été effectuée pour pallier au manque de recherches trouvées sur le sujet. Elle visait à répondre à deux questions : 1. Quelles sont les caractéristiques de personnalité et sociodémographiques des consultants en lien avec a) l’efficacité globale en consultation et b) chacun des critères de cette efficacité? 2. Quelle est la puissance prévisionnelle des caractéristiques de personnalité et sociodémographiques à l’endroit de a) l’efficacité globale en consultation et de b) chacun des critères de cette efficacité? Au total, 135 consultants provenant de quatre cabinets et deux associations de professionnels, de quatre pays différents, ont participé à la recherche. Il a été possible de mesurer deux catégories de caractéristiques des consultants efficaces identifiées dans le premier article : les traits de personnalité (Hogan et Hogan, 2007) et les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, par l’entremise de questionnaires auto-rapportés. De plus, les consultants ont évalué les critères d’efficacité utilisés et atteints dans leurs consultations (Roy, 2008). Ainsi, en analysant les résultats, il est important de considérer qu’ils reflètent la perception de ce que les consultants estiment important pour leur efficacité. L’article présente ces résultats de manière détaillée suite aux analyses corrélationnelles et de régression qui ont été effectuées. La sensibilité interpersonnelle, le fait d’apprécier les interactions sociales et d’être proactif socialement, la sociabilité, l’intérêt à avoir une diversité d’expériences et de contacts, l’ambition, le leadership, la vitesse de passage à l’action, le fait d’être préoccupé par l’opinion des autres et la confiance en autrui s’avèrent liés à la perception d’efficacité globale en consultation, ainsi qu’à plusieurs des critères relatifs à la satisfaction du consultant et à la conduite de son intervention. Pour terminer, la discussion de ce second article, de même que la conclusion de la thèse, font des liens entre ces résultats et la documentation, présentent les apports et limites de la recherche, ainsi que des pistes de recherche futures. / Consultation is an important part of the professional practice in several fields such as psychology, human resources, management, education, informatics and accounting (Bordeleau, 1998; Lescarbeau, Payette et St-Arnaud, 2003; Stern et Tutoy, 2003). Several businesses regularly hire consultants to help them resolve problems, improve a process or train their employees. Individuals also contact consultants to help them clarify their objectives and make an action plan. These consultants can play an expert, partner, coach or psychotherapeutic role. They help their clients by analysing their needs, listening to them, finding solutions, making an action plan or acquiring new skills. Yet the degree of success of the mandates may vary and several factors may affect success. The introduction focus is on the personal characteristics of the effective consultants, because the consultants may improve it by training, coaching, supervision and experience. Moreover, this research is useful and original since only a small amount of studies were found on this topic. The results are presented in two articles, one more theoretical and the other presenting the exploratory research results. The first article presents the literature results on consultation, effectiveness and the personal characteristics of consultants that are related to it. Six categories of consultant characteristics emerged from the analysis: interpersonal and intellectual skills, behaviours, knowledge, socio-demographic and personality characteristics. The literature is based on authors’ descriptions, case studies and a small amount of empirical and exploratory studies. The second article presents exploratory research results on personal characteristics of the consultants related to consultants’ perception of effectiveness. This study was conducted to address the lack of research found on the subject. It was designed to answer two questions: 1) What personality and socio-demographic consultant characteristics are related to a) consultation global effectiveness b) each effectiveness criteria? 2) What is the predictive power of personality and socio-demographic characteristics in relation to a) consultation global effectiveness b) each effectiveness criteria? In total, 135 consultants from four firms and two professional associations participated in the study. It was possible to measure two categories of the consultant characteristics identified in the first article: personality (Hogan et Hogan, 2007) and socio-demographic characteristics, through two self-reported questionnaires. Moreover, the consultants evaluated the effectiveness criteria used and achieved in their consultation (Roy, 2008). Thus, analysing the results, it is important to say that they reflect consultants’ perception of what they consider important for their effectiveness. The article presents these results in detail following correlational and regression analyses that were performed. Personality traits such as interpersonal sensitivity, love for social interactions, being socially proactive, sociability, interest in a variety of experiences and contacts, ambition, leadership, being action oriented, being concerned about the opinion of others, and trust in others seem to be related to the perception of the overall effectiveness as well as to several consultation criteria related to the satisfaction of the consultant and the conduct of its intervention. Finally, the discussion of this second article, as well as the thesis conclusion, make links between these results and the literature results, present the contributions and limits of the research, as well as future research directions.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The study examines the participation of African immigrants in the South African labour force with the central question revolving around whether the immigrants create jobs through the establishment of their own businesses or take jobs from the locals. Analytical frame work used in this study includes descriptive statistics, chi-square test for association and standardized residuals, two-way analysis of variance and logistic regression. Demographic, locational and socio-economic characteristics were studied using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Two-factor analysis of variance was used to examine the differences on average in the African immigrants; participation in the labour force, while logistic regression was used to investigate the effect of some demographic characteristics on employment and work status. / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The issue of women's access to land is a developmental issue. From a fundamental research view point, this study aims to explore the circumstances in which women access land in South Africa. The study examines the inequalities that may arise in the context of land access, land acquisition; land use, activities taking place on land and closely related issues focusing specifically on women in general, and women headed households in particular. The study is based on demographic characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, occupational groups, education, province of residence and ethnic groups. Bringing together the demographic variables and land related variables, the study captures the structural changes between 2004 and 2007. Using 2004 and 2007 GHS secondary data requested from Statistics South Africa, cross tabulation and bivariate statistical analysis by means of SPSS software was performed. The results obtained indicate that the inequality against women's access to land still persists. Some women have access to land for agricultural purpose but few own it. The findings suggest that a number of factors including age, place of residence, marital status, ethnic group, literacy, educational level, of women are associated with the ability of women to access and acquire land. The sustainable livelihood framework is a theory that guided this study. Diversification is commonly used to prevent time of risks and shocks. In general, the study shows that the proportion of women who had access to land was 16% in 2004. This figure dropped to 14% in 2007. / South Africa

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This study employs the Human Capital Theory (HCT), which postulates that the education of women is positively related to the likelihood of their labour force participation, in order to investigate quarterly dynamics in the labour force. This approach is an advancement of knowledge gained from previous studies such as Serumanga-Zake and Kotze (2004) and Ntuli (2004) who investigated the annual dynamics in FLFP. Investigating quarterly dynamics in FLFP is prudent as the market economy is very dynamic particularly at a point when the world economy is experiencing recession. Data for the study are extracted from the 2008 Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa. Logistic regression analysis modeling was employed with the dependent variable, FLFP, as a binary outcome. Other variables controlled in the analysis are gender, population group, age, marital status, education status, sector, main industry, main occupation and province. The results show that there is association between education status and FLFP status. Findings from this research are expected to contribute to the knowledge about trends in FLFP in South Africa and aid in planning of interventions aimed at improving the status of women as one of the critical steps in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. / South Africa