Until the 1800s, population growth was incredibly slow on a global level. The global population was estimated to have been around 188 million people in the year 1CE, and did not reach one billion until around 1803. However, since the 1800s, a phenomenon known as the demographic transition has seen population growth skyrocket, reaching eight billion people in 2023, and this is expected to peak at over 10 billion in the 2080s.

As of 2023, the bulk of the Chinese population was aged between 25 and 59 years, amounting to around half of the population. A breakdown of the population by broad age groups reveals that around 61.3 percent of the total population was in working age between 16 and 59 years in 2023. Age cohorts below 25 years were considerably smaller, although there was a slight growth trend in recent years. Population development in China Population development in China over the past decades has been strongly influenced by political and economic factors. After a time of high fertility rates during the Maoist regime, China introduced birth-control measures in the 1970s, including the so-called one-child policy. The fertility rate dropped accordingly from around six children per woman in the 1960s to below two at the end of the 20th century. At the same time, life expectancy increased consistently. In the face of a rapidly aging society, the government gradually lifted the one-child policy after 2012, finally arriving at a three-child policy in 2021. However, like in most other developed countries nowadays, people in China are reluctant to have more than one or two children due to high costs of living and education, as well as changed social norms and private values. China’s top-heavy age pyramid The above-mentioned developments are clearly reflected in the Chinese age pyramid. The age cohorts between 30 and 39 years are the last two larger age cohorts. The cohorts between 15 and 24, which now enter childbearing age, are decisively smaller, which will have a negative effect on the number of births in the coming decade. When looking at a gender distribution of the population pyramid, a considerable gender gap among the younger age cohorts becomes visible, leaving even less room for growth in birth figures.

The earliest point where scientists can make reasonable estimates for the population of global regions is around 10,000 years before the Common Era (or 12,000 years ago). Estimates suggest that Asia has consistently been the most populated continent, and the least populated continent has generally been Oceania (although it was more heavily populated than areas such as North America in very early years). Population growth was very slow, but an increase can be observed between most of the given time periods. There were, however, dips in population due to pandemics, the most notable of these being the impact of plague in Eurasia in the 14th century, and the impact of European contact with the indigenous populations of the Americas after 1492, where it took almost four centuries for the population of Latin America to return to its pre-1500 level. The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, which also coincided with a spike in population growth, due to the onset of the demographic transition. This wave of growth first spread across the most industrially developed countries in the 19th century, and the correlation between demographic development and industrial or economic maturity continued until today, with Africa being the final major region to begin its transition in the late-1900s.

In the past four centuries, the population of the United States has grown from a recorded 350 people around the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1610, to an estimated 331 million people in 2020. The pre-colonization populations of the indigenous peoples of the Americas have proven difficult for historians to estimate, as their numbers decreased rapidly following the introduction of European diseases (namely smallpox, plague and influenza). Native Americans were also omitted from most censuses conducted before the twentieth century, therefore the actual population of what we now know as the United States would have been much higher than the official census data from before 1800, but it is unclear by how much. Population growth in the colonies throughout the eighteenth century has primarily been attributed to migration from the British Isles and the Transatlantic slave trade; however it is also difficult to assert the ethnic-makeup of the population in these years as accurate migration records were not kept until after the 1820s, at which point the importation of slaves had also been illegalized. Nineteenth century In the year 1800, it is estimated that the population across the present-day United States was around six million people, with the population in the 16 admitted states numbering at 5.3 million. Migration to the United States began to happen on a large scale in the mid-nineteenth century, with the first major waves coming from Ireland, Britain and Germany. In some aspects, this wave of mass migration balanced out the demographic impacts of the American Civil War, which was the deadliest war in U.S. history with approximately 620 thousand fatalities between 1861 and 1865. The civil war also resulted in the emancipation of around four million slaves across the south; many of whose ancestors would take part in the Great Northern Migration in the early 1900s, which saw around six million black Americans migrate away from the south in one of the largest demographic shifts in U.S. history. By the end of the nineteenth century, improvements in transport technology and increasing economic opportunities saw migration to the United States increase further, particularly from southern and Eastern Europe, and in the first decade of the 1900s the number of migrants to the U.S. exceeded one million people in some years. Twentieth and twenty-first century The U.S. population has grown steadily throughout the past 120 years, reaching one hundred million in the 1910s, two hundred million in the 1960s, and three hundred million in 2007. In the past century, the U.S. established itself as a global superpower, with the world's largest economy (by nominal GDP) and most powerful military. Involvement in foreign wars has resulted in over 620,000 further U.S. fatalities since the Civil War, and migration fell drastically during the World Wars and Great Depression; however the population continuously grew in these years as the total fertility rate remained above two births per woman, and life expectancy increased (except during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918).

Since the Second World War, Latin America has replaced Europe as the most common point of origin for migrants, with Hispanic populations growing rapidly across the south and border states. Because of this, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites, which has been the most dominant ethnicity in the U.S. since records began, has dropped more rapidly in recent decades. Ethnic minorities also have a much higher birth rate than non-Hispanic whites, further contributing to this decline, and the share of non-Hispanic whites is expected to fall below fifty percent of the U.S. population by the mid-2000s. In 2020, the United States has the third-largest population in the world (after China and India), and the population is expected to reach four hundred million in the 2050s.

In 1800, the population of Japan was just over 30 million, a figure which would grow by just two million in the first half of the 19th century. However, with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of the emperor in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan would begin transforming from an isolated feudal island, to a modernized empire built on Western models. The Meiji period would see a rapid rise in the population of Japan, as industrialization and advancements in healthcare lead to a significant reduction in child mortality rates, while the creation overseas colonies would lead to a strong economic boom. However, this growth would slow beginning in 1937, as Japan entered a prolonged war with the Republic of China, which later grew into a major theater of the Second World War. The war was eventually brought to Japan's home front, with the escalation of Allied air raids on Japanese urban centers from 1944 onwards (Tokyo was the most-bombed city of the Second World War). By the war's end in 1945 and the subsequent occupation of the island by the Allied military, Japan had suffered over two and a half million military fatalities, and over one million civilian deaths.

The population figures of Japan were quick to recover, as the post-war “economic miracle” would see an unprecedented expansion of the Japanese economy, and would lead to the country becoming one of the first fully industrialized nations in East Asia. As living standards rose, the population of Japan would increase from 77 million in 1945, to over 127 million by the end of the century. However, growth would begin to slow in the late 1980s, as birth rates and migration rates fell, and Japan eventually grew to have one of the oldest populations in the world. The population would peak in 2008 at just over 128 million, but has consistently fallen each year since then, as the fertility rate of the country remains below replacement level (despite government initiatives to counter this) and the country's immigrant population remains relatively stable. The population of Japan is expected to continue its decline in the coming years, and in 2020, it is estimated that approximately 126 million people inhabit the island country.

Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a syndrome of clinical, neuroimaging, and neuropathological manifestations caused by disorders that affect small cerebral vessels. Although the pathogenesis of the disease remains unclear, some studies have demonstrated that genetic variants contribute to the development of CSVD. Our study aimed to explore the genetic characteristics of CSVD in the Chinese Han population. We enrolled 182 sporadic CSVD Chinese Han patients whose magnetic resonance imaging results showed grade 2-3 white matter lesions. Target region sequencing of seven monogenic CSVD-related genes, including NOTCH3, HTRA1, COL4A1, COL4A2, GLA, TREX1, and CTSA, was performed, and we identified pathogenic variants by screening the sequencing results and functional predictive analysis. All variants were predicted to be pathogenic by the SIFT Score, Polymorphism Phenotyping-2 score, Mutation Taster, Splice site score calculation, and MaxEntScan. All variants were validated in 300 healthy controls. In total, eight variants were identified in patients with CSVD, including five novel variants, c.1774C>T (NOTCH3), c.3784C>T (NOTCH3), c. 1207C>T (HTRA1), and c. 1274+1G> A (HTRA1), c.1937G>C (COL4A1) and three reported mutations. None of these variants were present in 300 healthy controls. No pathogenic variants in COL4A2, GLA, TREX1, and CTSA were detected. This study identified five novel variants in CSVD-related genes in Chinese Han patients with sporadic CSVD. Our results expand the genetic profile of CSVD.

As per Cognitive Market Research's latest published report, the Global Non-Stick Cookware market size will be $13,628.21 Million by 2028.The Global Non-Stick Cookware Industry's Compound Annual Growth Rate will 3.73% from 2023 to 2030.

The North America Non-Stick Cookware market size will be USD 4,572.27 Million by 2028.

Factors Affecting the Non Stick Cookware Market

Increasing population ratio and rapid urbanization in emerging countries

China and India are the world's biggest creating economies and furthermore two of the most crowded nations. China, which presently has more than 1.3 billion individuals, is required to develop to more than 1.4 billion by 2050, and India with a population of 1 billion will surpass China to be the most crowded nation with about a 1.6 billion population. These population giants are home to 37% of the total population today. Also, China and India have made eminent progress in their financial improvement described by a high pace of GDP development over the most recent two decades. Together the two nations account as of now for just about a fifth of world GDP.

Developing nations, for example, India and China have abounding population besting the one-billion imprints; both experienced the progress from a shut economy to a more market–situated commitment with the outside world in exchange and speculation; and both to date are in the procedures of industrialization and modernization joined by significant rates of economic growth.

The rapid urbanization in many countries including developed nations over the past 50 years appears to have been joined by unnecessarily elevated levels of grouping of the urban population in extremely enormous urban communities. In any case, in a develop arrangement of urban communities, economic activity is increasingly spread out. Since forever, urban areas have been the primary habitats of learning, culture and development.

It is not surprising that the world's most urban countries tend to be the richest and have the highest human development. Progressing rapid urbanization can possibly improve the prosperity of social orders. Albeit just around a large portion of the world's kin live in urban areas, they create in excess of 80 percent of Global Domestic Product (GDP).

Due to growing population and urbanization people spending capacity has also increased gradually. People give preference to the health development. Additionally, increasing urbanization results in surging nuclear family which enhances the demand for kitchen appliances and cookware. Moreover, rise in working-class population prefers quickly made home-cooked healthy food with the help of modern kitchen appliances that results in mounting of demand for non-stick cookware.

Following graph shows the, world's population who lives in urban area. Also, every region provides the growth ratio of their population from year 1990 till forecast year 2050. All in one this analysis shows how population growth impacts on rapid urbanization. According to graph, Asia Pacific region’s population growth is expected to grow in forecast period.

Varieties of non-stick cookware and wide availability in retail channels

Restraints for Non-Stick Cookware Market

Availability of substitute products. (Access Detailed Analysis in the Full Report Version)

Opportunities for Non-Stick Cookware Market

Rise in disposable income and spending habits. (Access Detailed Analysis in the Full Report Version)

Introduction of Non Stick Cookware

A non-stick cookware is a kitchen cookware such as non-stick pans that has a non-stick surface engineered to reduce the ability of other materials to stick to it. It ensures quick proper cooking of the food in the cookware without sticking. The commonly used non-stick coating cookware is Teflon, ceramic coated cookware.

There are various benefits of non-stick cookware such as affordable, lightweight, easy to handle provides easy cleaning of food. The non-stick cookware in form of frying pans, saucepan, griller, casseroles are made up of different coating material such as Teflon, ceramic coated, anodized aluminum, these are durable, user-friendly, scratch resistant and are stable at temperature till 300 degree Celsius. They use less oil and allows even heat distribution that enhances the flavors of dish and quick heating enables quicker cooking of t...

In 2024, China reported adding ** million new users to its massive *** billion internet population. The first half-year data in 2024 revealed that nearly *****of the new internet users were between 10 and 18 years old, while a ***** were older adults aged above 50 years. The largest online community In 2023, China accounted for about ********* of the *** billion internet users worldwide. However, compared to its total population, China’s internet penetration rate is lower than in other Asian countries. Penetration rates in both South Korea and Japan were significantly higher. The market potential Internet usage in China is further characterized by a large regional discrepancy. In rural regions, the internet access rate is much lower than the national level. On the other side, the Chinese market is a mobile-first nation. Since 2014, more Chinese people have accessed the internet via mobile devices than computers. The number of mobile internet users in China increased steadily over the previous decade.

Climate change may have diverse and complex impacts on species interactions, destabilizing food webs and ecosystem services. The effects of warming on the top-down biological control of crop pests have been considerably less studied than bottom-up effects through crop physiological changes. We studied the effect of a 2 °C warming in the laboratory and in wheat fields on the predation and metabolism of Harmonia axyridis on wheat aphids using molecular gut content analysis. We also measured the effects of warming on the predation rate and functional response of H. axyridis on each aphid species in the laboratory, as well as on DNA degradation rate. Field densities of Sitobion avenae and Rhopalosiphum padi, the two most abundant wheat aphid species, were increased by 2 and 2.5 times, respectively, under experimental warming, but densities of H. axyridis were not. Field predation rate of H. axyridis on these two aphids was found to be about 25% lower under elevated temperature. This could have been due to faster prey digestion, since degradation of the preferred aphid species, Sitobion avenae, was 1.5 times faster under elevated temperature. However, the functional response of H. axyridis larvae on these two species was 1.5 times higher under warming over the range of prey densities tested (50 to 250 over 24 h). The total predation rate of H. axyridis larvae on a mixture of S. avenae, R. padi and Schizaphis graminum aphid prey was also increased by 1.4 times, but consumption of R. padi aphids was increased while that of S. graminum was decreased under warming. Overall, our results show that global warming could strongly increase pest outbreaks and destabilize biological pest control, which would likely result in accrued yield losses.

Methods Experimental design Field experiments were conducted in Langfang, Hebei Province (Langfang Research Station, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 39°30’N, 116°36’E) and in Yuanyang, Henan Province (Modern Agricultural Science and Technology, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 34°55’N, 114°15’E). The climate at both stations is continental warm temperate with a monsoon season from April to September and mean annual precipitations of 550 mm; the mean annual temperature is 12.3 °C in Langfang and 14.4 °C in Yuanyang (http://data.cma.cn/). In each station, one field (23 × 16m) was selected and grown with wheat Triticum aestivum L. variety Hengguan 35, which is adapted to dry conditions. In each field, twelve plots of 2 m × 2 m were selected and randomly assigned to control (ambient temperature; six plots) or to treatment (warming; six plots). Plots were separated by a buffer of at least 5 m of bare ground. MSR-2420 infrared heaters (Kalglo Electronics Inc., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA; 165 cm × 15 cm) were placed above treatment plots, setting a radiation output of 2000 W and with a 4 m2 effective area (Han et al., 2019). Air temperature and relative humidity were monitored hourly 80 cm above ground using a data logger (JL-17; Hebei Qingsheng Electricity Company, Hebei, China) placed in the middle of each plot. Wheat was sown in mid-October 2014, 2015 and 2016, and harvested in early June 2015, 2016 and 2017. Two months after wheat planting, infrared heaters were set up until harvesting the wheat. Bare ground borders between plots were regularly manually weeded, and no pesticides were applied. Field population dynamics of wheat aphids and of H. axyridis

To evaluate the influence of warming on insect population dynamics, aphids and H. axyridis numbers were recorded every seven days from the beginning of March to harvest each year in the twelve experimental plots. In each plot, a ‘Z-shaped’ sampling pattern was used, along which five sampling sites were selected. At each sampling site, ten wheat tillers were randomly selected and carefully inspected, and the number of aphids (adults and nymphs) and of H. axyridis were counted on those tillers.

H. axyridis specimen collection and DNA extraction Twenty-seven and 33 larvae of H. axyridis were collected in 2018–2021 at the Yuanyang station in ambient versus elevated temperature plots, respectively, and placed individually in 50 mL centrifuge tubes sealed with gauze. Brought back in the laboratory, their guts were immediately dissected under a stereoscope, and placed individually in a DNA Preservation Solution (Phygene Biotech, Fuzhou, China) to protect DNA from degradation and contamination, then stored at -80 ℃ until DNA extraction. Later, collected guts were placed individually in 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tubes and homogenized in 500 µl of DNA extraction buffer (100 mM NaCl, 50 mM Tris–HCl, 100 mM EDTA, 5% SDS, and 20 mg.mL-1 proteinase K, pH 8.0) using a TGrinder homogenizer (OSE-Y50, Tiangen Biotech, Beijing, China) at 11,000rpm.min-1 for 2 min. The mixture was agitated at 1,000 rpm.min-1 for 30 s using a BS14-Vortex 3000 (Wiggens, Straubenhardt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) and incubated at 56 °C for 30 min. Then, 300 µl of phenol reagent for DNA extraction (Solarbio biotech, Beijing, China) and 300 µl of chloroform were added, mixed, and centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 10 min. This last step was repeated another time to remove all impurities and obtain pure DNA. Once the supernatant was transferred into a new 1.5 mL centrifuge tube, 600 µl of chloroform were added, mixed, and centrifuged at 14,000 rpm for 10 min. The aqueous phase was mixed with 0.13 volumes of ammonium acetate (7.5 M) and two volumes of 100% ethanol, and placed for 20 min at -80 °C. The precipitated DNA was centrifuged, dried, resuspended in 25 µl of ultrapure water, quantified using a spectrophotometer (NanoDrop 2, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Massachusetts, USA), and stored at -40 °C. The same DNA extraction procedure was used for both the field and laboratory samples. Primer design and specificity tests To analyse H. axyridis gut content and quantify the relative consumption of the three main aphid species, a molecular analysis was conducted. Three pairs of primers specific to the cytochrome C Oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of each aphid species were designed using the online Eurofins Genomics qPCR Assay Design tool (https://eurofinsgenomics.eu/en/ecom/tools/qpcr-assay-design/), and using GenBank reference sequences for each aphid species. The screening conditions were set as follows: primer length 15-30 bp, GC content 40-80%, Tm > 55 °C, qPCR product 150-400 bp. The specificity of each primer to its target species was verified by PCR amplification of the DNA extract of each species (S. avenae, S. graminum, R. padi and H. axyridis) using each pair of primer (from each aphid species) in separate PCRs. For each PCR, 1 µL of DNA extract was mixed into 12.5 μL of 2×F8 PCR MasterMix (Aidlab, Beijing), 0.5 µL COI-F (10µM), 0.5 µL COI-R (10µM), and ddH2O up to 25 µL. The PCR steps were as such: initial denaturation at 94℃ for 2 min; 30 cycles at 94℃ for 10 s, 57℃ for 10 s, 72℃ for 10 s; and final extension at 72℃ for 5 min. Each PCR was carried out in a DNA engine gradient thermal cycler (Bio-Rad, USA). Sterile water was also included as a negative control in the PCR, for which no CT value was detected after amplification. The COI amplified products were purified using the DNA gel extraction kit (Aidlab, Beijing, China), then inserted and cloned into pTOPO-T vectors (Aibosen biology, Beijing, China) and propagated into DH5α competent cells, resulting in the production of pTOPO- S. avenae, pTOPO- S. graminum and pTOPO- R. padi plasmids. The plasmids were then purified with a High purity plasmid extraction kit (Aidlab, Beijing, China), and run on 1% agarose gels to check fragment purity and amplification success. Positive clones were sequenced in both forward and reverse orientations to verify that the fragment sequences were correct, using the Dnaman (2004) software. The cloned plasmids were then used to generate the standard calibration curves. The three wheat aphid species – S. avenae, R. padi and S. graminum – together account for more than 99% of all aphid individuals found in the field. In addition, the remaining extremely rare species, including Metopolophium dirrhodum (Walker) belong to other aphid genus, and we found that the three primer pairs for each aphid species were very specific to their target species. Therefore, we did not test the specificity of these three primer pairs towards other, locally extremely rare aphid species. Molecular gut content quantification from field individuals of H. axyridis

To quantify the relative consumption of H. axyridis on the three main aphid species based on molecular gut content (COI copy numbers), standard calibration curves were produced using the three recombinant plasmids pTOPO- R. padi, pTOPO- S. avenae and pTOPO- S. graminum. Each plasmid was first diluted in sterile Millipore water resulting in a stock preparation containing 1010 copies per μL, aliquoted and stored at -80 °C, respectively. From this stock, serial 10-fold dilutions containing from 109 to 100 copies of plasmids per μL were prepared for each plasmid. Then, 1 µL of each dilution was mixed into 10 μL of SYBR qPCR Mix (Aibosen, Beijing, China), 0.6 μL of each of the three primers, 7.8 μL ultra-pure H2O, and 0.01 μL ROX Reference Dye (Aidlab, Beijing, China). A negative control was also prepared by adding 1 µL of ultra-pure water instead of plasmid dilution. qPCR amplifications were then performed for each sample using an Applied Biosystems 7500 (ThermoFisher, Massachusetts, USA). The qPCR steps were as such: pre-denaturation at 95°C for 2min; 40 cycles at 95°C for 15 s, 57°C for 20 s, 72°C for 40 s. After each reaction, a melting curve analysis was performed to verify amplicon purity. Primers’ amplification efficiency was calculated based on standard curves’ slopes. The copy number of plasmids per µL in each sample was calculated as

Additional file 8: Table S3. a: this table gives the top 300 differentially expressed genes between three classes defined by NMF clustering algorithm. b: this table contains top 20 significantly enriched Reactome pathways in the top 300 differentially expressed genes between three classes defined by NMF clustering algorithm. c: this table summarizes the molecular classification of ccRCC samples in both Chinese and TCGA datasets.

Abstract

In order to develop various methods of comparable data collection on health and health system responsiveness WHO started a scientific survey study in 2000-2001. This study has used a common survey instrument in nationally representative populations with modular structure for assessing health of indviduals in various domains, health system responsiveness, household health care expenditures, and additional modules in other areas such as adult mortality and health state valuations.

The health module of the survey instrument was based on selected domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and was developed after a rigorous scientific review of various existing assessment instruments. The responsiveness module has been the result of ongoing work over the last 2 years that has involved international consultations with experts and key informants and has been informed by the scientific literature and pilot studies.

Questions on household expenditure and proportionate expenditure on health have been borrowed from existing surveys. The survey instrument has been developed in multiple languages using cognitive interviews and cultural applicability tests, stringent psychometric tests for reliability (i.e. test-retest reliability to demonstrate the stability of application) and most importantly, utilizing novel psychometric techniques for cross-population comparability.

The study was carried out in 61 countries completing 71 surveys because two different modes were intentionally used for comparison purposes in 10 countries. Surveys were conducted in different modes of in- person household 90 minute interviews in 14 countries; brief face-to-face interviews in 27 countries and computerized telephone interviews in 2 countries; and postal surveys in 28 countries. All samples were selected from nationally representative sampling frames with a known probability so as to make estimates based on general population parameters.

The survey study tested novel techniques to control the reporting bias between different groups of people in different cultures or demographic groups ( i.e. differential item functioning) so as to produce comparable estimates across cultures and groups. To achieve comparability, the selfreports of individuals of their own health were calibrated against well-known performance tests (i.e. self-report vision was measured against standard Snellen's visual acuity test) or against short descriptions in vignettes that marked known anchor points of difficulty (e.g. people with different levels of mobility such as a paraplegic person or an athlete who runs 4 km each day) so as to adjust the responses for comparability . The same method was also used for self-reports of individuals assessing responsiveness of their health systems where vignettes on different responsiveness domains describing different levels of responsiveness were used to calibrate the individual responses.

This data are useful in their own right to standardize indicators for different domains of health (such as cognition, mobility, self care, affect, usual activities, pain, social participation, etc.) but also provide a better measurement basis for assessing health of the populations in a comparable manner. The data from the surveys can be fed into composite measures such as "Healthy Life Expectancy" and improve the empirical data input for health information systems in different regions of the world. Data from the surveys were also useful to improve the measurement of the responsiveness of different health systems to the legitimate expectations of the population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A nationally representative sample of male and female adults age 18+ was used. Three provinces from 3 economic levels were sampled as follows: Shandong (high), Henan (middle), Gansu (low).

5,000 people in Shandong, 3,000 in Henan and 2,000 in Gansu were sampled. From the sample, 53.2% males vs. 46.8% females were interviewed.

In each province 33.7% of the respondents were interviewed in urban area, and 66.3% in rural area. According to the economic level of each province, 3-6 counties were chosen randomly. Respondents were selected randomly according to their household number.

Missing rates were quite low, as respondents generally tended to cooperate. Illiterate respondents found some questions were too difficult (health state valuations, HSR ranking, calibration tests). Interviews were also too long and the average time for one interview was at least 2 hours if the respondent had little education.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Cleaning operations

Data Coding At each site the data was coded by investigators to indicate the respondent status and the selection of the modules for each respondent within the survey design. After the interview was edited by the supervisor and considered adequate it was entered locally.

Data Entry Program A data entry program was developed in WHO specifically for the survey study and provided to the sites. It was developed using a database program called the I-Shell (short for Interview Shell), a tool designed for easy development of computerized questionnaires and data entry (34). This program allows for easy data cleaning and processing.

The data entry program checked for inconsistencies and validated the entries in each field by checking for valid response categories and range checks. For example, the program didn’t accept an age greater than 120. For almost all of the variables there existed a range or a list of possible values that the program checked for.

In addition, the data was entered twice to capture other data entry errors. The data entry program was able to warn the user whenever a value that did not match the first entry was entered at the second data entry. In this case the program asked the user to resolve the conflict by choosing either the 1st or the 2nd data entry value to be able to continue. After the second data entry was completed successfully, the data entry program placed a mark in the database in order to enable the checking of whether this process had been completed for each and every case.

Data Transfer The data entry program was capable of exporting the data that was entered into one compressed database file which could be easily sent to WHO using email attachments or a file transfer program onto a secure server no matter how many cases were in the file. The sites were allowed the use of as many computers and as many data entry personnel as they wanted. Each computer used for this purpose produced one file and they were merged once they were delivered to WHO with the help of other programs that were built for automating the process. The sites sent the data periodically as they collected it enabling the checking procedures and preliminary analyses in the early stages of the data collection.

Data quality checks Once the data was received it was analyzed for missing information, invalid responses and representativeness. Inconsistencies were also noted and reported back to sites.

Data Cleaning and Feedback After receipt of cleaned data from sites, another program was run to check for missing information, incorrect information (e.g. wrong use of center codes), duplicated data, etc. The output of this program was fed back to sites regularly. Mainly, this consisted of cases with duplicate IDs, duplicate cases (where the data for two respondents with different IDs were identical), wrong country codes, missing age, sex, education and some other important variables.

In 2024, approximately 67 percent of the total population in China lived in cities. The urbanization rate has increased steadily in China over the last decades. Degree of urbanization in China Urbanization is generally defined as a process of people migrating from rural to urban areas, during which towns and cities are formed and increase in size. Even though urbanization is not exclusively a modern phenomenon, industrialization and modernization did accelerate its progress. As shown in the statistic at hand, the degree of urbanization of China, the world's second-largest economy, rose from 36 percent in 2000 to around 51 percent in 2011. That year, the urban population surpassed the number of rural residents for the first time in the country's history.The urbanization rate varies greatly in different parts of China. While urbanization is lesser advanced in western or central China, in most coastal regions in eastern China more than two-thirds of the population lives already in cities. Among the ten largest Chinese cities in 2021, six were located in coastal regions in East and South China. Urbanization in international comparison Brazil and Russia, two other BRIC countries, display a much higher degree of urbanization than China. On the other hand, in India, the country with the worlds’ largest population, a mere 36.3 percent of the population lived in urban regions as of 2023. Similar to other parts of the world, the progress of urbanization in China is closely linked to modernization. From 2000 to 2024, the contribution of agriculture to the gross domestic product in China shrank from 14.7 percent to 6.8 percent. Even more evident was the decrease of workforce in agriculture.

Background: Vitamin D insufficiency has been considered a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in several studies. Recently, four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to be genome-wide significant for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were identified to have an association with the risk of AD. These include GC rs2282679 A>C, CYP2R1 rs10741657 T>C, DHCR7 rs12785878 T>C, and CYP24A1 rs6013897 T>A. However, the association between these polymorphisms and AD susceptibility in the Chinese population remains unclear.Methods: A case-control cohort study was conducted in 676 AD patients (mean age at onset was 69.52 ± 10.90 years, male: 39.2%) and 551 healthy controls (mean age was 67.73 ± 6.02 years, male: 44.8%). Genotyping was determined by PCR and SNaPshot sequencing. To determine whether the four SNPs account for risks in AD in Chinese population, multivariate logistic regression models were performed. Stratified analysis was performed based on gender and age of onset of AD, separately. Statistical significance was set at 0.0125 (0.05/4) based on Bonferroni correction.Findings:DHCR7 rs12785878 T>C was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) (n = 300, risk allele C, adjusted OR = 1.542, adjusted 95% CI = 1.176–2.023, p = 0.002). There was no statistical significance of the other three SNPs between the two groups.Interpretation: Our results suggested that DHCR7 rs12785878 T>C might be associated with an increased risk of EOAD in the Chinese population, while other polymorphisms related to vitamin D insufficiency might not be. However, due to the limited data in this study, replication studies in a larger sample are required.

The Minecraft China Edition game has been downloaded more than 425 million since its release date.

Purpose: To analyze the association between ABCA1 rs1883025 variants with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in a northern Chinese population. Methods: The study enrolled 900 subjects, including 300 controls, 300 cases with nAMD and 300 cases with PCV. Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood leukocytes. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the ABCA1 (rs1883025) gene were genotyped by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results: The ABCA1 rs1883025 polymorphism was not significantly associated with nAMD (22.5%; p > 0.05) or PCV (20.8%; p > 0.05) in a northern Chinese population. The association remained insignificant after adjustment for age and gender differences (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study suggests that ABCA1 rs1883025 variants are not associated with nAMD or PCV in a Chinese population, which is likely due to an ethnic difference.

ObjectiveRecessive genetic diseases impose physical and psychological impacts to both newborns and parents who may not be aware of being carriers. Expanded carrier screening (ECS) allows screening for multiple genetic conditions at the same time. Whether or not such non-targeted panethnic approach of genetic carrier screening should replace the conventional targeted approach remains controversial. There is limited data on view and acceptance of ECS in general population, as well as the optimal timing of offering ECS to women. This study assesses views and acceptance of ECS in both pregnant women and non-pregnant women seeking fertility counseling or checkup and their reasons for accepting or declining ECS.Materials and methodsThis is a questionnaire survey with ECS information in the form of pamphlets distributed from December 2016 to end of 2018. Women were recruited from the antenatal clinics and the assisted reproductive unit at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen Mary Hospital and the prepregnancy counseling clinic at the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong.ResultsA total of 923 women were recruited: 623 pregnant women and 300 non-pregnant women. There were significantly more non-pregnant women accepting ECS compared to pregnant women (70.7% vs. 61.2%). Eight hundred and sixty-eight (94%) women perceived ECS as at least as effective as or superior to traditional targeted screening. Significantly more pregnant women have heard about ECS compared with non-pregnant women (42.4% vs. 32.3%, P = 0.0197). Majority of women showed lack of understanding about ECS despite reading pamphlets that were given to them prior to filling in the questionnaires. Cost of ECS was a major reason for declining ECS, 28% (n = 256). Significantly more pregnant women worried about anxiety caused by ECS compared with the non-pregnant group (21.1% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.0006).ConclusionOur study demonstrates that expanded carrier screening was perceived as a better screening by most women. Prepregnancy ECS maybe a better approach than ECS during pregnancy, as it allows more reproductive options and may cause less anxiety. Nevertheless, implementation of universal panethnic ECS will need more patient education, ways to reduce anxiety, and consensus on optimal timing in offering ECS.

China is home to the largest online community in the world. According to estimates, the Chinese internet population was around 1.04 billion in 2022 and would reach 1.18 billion by 2026. By comparison, the internet user-base of the United States was around 307 million in 2022. The country’s internet penetration rate is around 72 percent, indicating that almost one out of three Chinese are still offline.

Mobile-first kingdom

Affordable smartphones play an important role in China’s rising internet population. In 2022, almost all Chinese people accessed the internet through mobile phones. Messaging, watching videos, and listening to music are popular activities. In fact, Chinese people spent over three hours of their daily time online. This large and engaged mobile internet population has provided a wide range of opportunities to hi-tech companies in China, including online dating and matchmaking business.

What’s next?

As of June 2022, around 28 percent of online users were living in rural China. To provide more affordable and faster internet services, measures have been carried out in the country to reduce service rates and extend the 1,000-Megabyte broadband connection to over 300 cities. In 2019, the government announced to roll out 5G networks in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and other major cities. The technology advancement would likely enhance internet accessibility in rural areas, further increasing the country’s internet user base.

In 1800, the population of the region of present-day India was approximately 169 million. The population would grow gradually throughout the 19th century, rising to over 240 million by 1900. Population growth would begin to increase in the 1920s, as a result of falling mortality rates, due to improvements in health, sanitation and infrastructure. However, the population of India would see it’s largest rate of growth in the years following the country’s independence from the British Empire in 1948, where the population would rise from 358 million to over one billion by the turn of the century, making India the second country to pass the billion person milestone. While the rate of growth has slowed somewhat as India begins a demographics shift, the country’s population has continued to grow dramatically throughout the 21st century, and in 2020, India is estimated to have a population of just under 1.4 billion, well over a billion more people than one century previously. Today, approximately 18% of the Earth’s population lives in India, and it is estimated that India will overtake China to become the most populous country in the world within the next five years.

The statistic shows the total population of India from 2019 to 2029. In 2023, the estimated total population in India amounted to approximately 1.43 billion people.

Total population in India

India currently has the second-largest population in the world and is projected to overtake top-ranking China within forty years. Its residents comprise more than one-seventh of the entire world’s population, and despite a slowly decreasing fertility rate (which still exceeds the replacement rate and keeps the median age of the population relatively low), an increasing life expectancy adds to an expanding population. In comparison with other countries whose populations are decreasing, such as Japan, India has a relatively small share of aged population, which indicates the probability of lower death rates and higher retention of the existing population.

With a land mass of less than half that of the United States and a population almost four times greater, India has recognized potential problems of its growing population. Government attempts to implement family planning programs have achieved varying degrees of success. Initiatives such as sterilization programs in the 1970s have been blamed for creating general antipathy to family planning, but the combined efforts of various family planning and contraception programs have helped halve fertility rates since the 1960s. The population growth rate has correspondingly shrunk as well, but has not yet reached less than one percent growth per year.

As home to thousands of ethnic groups, hundreds of languages, and numerous religions, a cohesive and broadly-supported effort to reduce population growth is difficult to create. Despite that, India is one country to watch in coming years. It is also a growing economic power; among other measures, its GDP per capita was expected to triple between 2003 and 2013 and was listed as the third-ranked country for its share of the global gross domestic product.

Objective: To characterize the spectra of mutations in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) in the Chinese population to identify any mutational features and find potential therapeutic targets.Materials and methods: We collected fresh bladder tumor samples from NMIBC (n = 9) and MIBC patients (n = 11) along with adjacent normal bladder tissue specimen and peripheral blood sample. Using whole exome sequencing (WES), we analyzed the mutation spectra of those NMIBC and MIBC bladder cancer (BCa) specimen.Results: Our results demonstrated that 95% of BCa patients (19/20) had varying degrees of driver gene mutations, FGFR3 (45%), KMT2D (40%), PIK3CA (35%), ARID1A (20%), EP300 (20%), KDM6A (20%), KMT2C (20%), and STAG2 (20%) were the most frequently mutated genes in BCa patients. NMIBC and MIBC exhibited different genomic alterations. FGFR3 (67%), PIK3CA (56%), and RHOB (44%) were the most frequently mutated genes in NMIBC patients. Of note, RHOB mutation only occurred in NMIBC, whereas mutations of KMT2D (55%), TP53 (36%) and KMT2B (27%) were frequently detected in MIBC, and TP53 and KMT2B mutation only occurred in MIBC. The frequency of mutations in DNA-damage repair (DDR) gene was higher in MIBC than that in NMIBC (91 vs 78%, 6.2 vs 2.4 gene mutations per patient). Copy number alterations (CNAs) occurred at more diverse chromosomal locations in NMIBC, but the CNA burden was higher in MIBC [9.01 (2.07–31.51) vs 4.98 (0.99–9.73) mutations/Mb]., the trend of which was consistent with the tumor mutation burden (TMB) [8.26 (4.63–21.84) vs 5.58 (3.87–9.58) mutations/Mb]. Among the current set of single-base substitution (SBS) signatures including SBS 1, 2, 5, 13, and 40, we identified one differently expressed signature between NMIBC and MIBC patients: SBS13.Conclusions: There were different gene mutational characteristics and signatures between NMIBC and MIBC in the Chinese population. Frequency of DDR, CNA burden and TMB were higher in MIBC. Our analysis revealed that several genes in NMIBC did not overlap with those reported in MIBC, suggesting that a fraction of NMIBC and MIBC likely developed secondary to different precursor lesions.