If we aren’t sure what consciousness is, how can we be sure we haven’t already built it? In this article I speak from the perspective of someone who routinely builds small-scale machine intelligence. I begin by discussing the difficulty in finding the functional utility for a convincing analog of consciousness when considering the capabilities of modern computational systems. I then move to con...

Senegal is a Western African Country, with a population of around 14 million people and 14 administrative regions. Based on the 2013 census, the total population of the country is estimated at 14 799 859 inhabitants, with a median population age of 18 years old.1 Senegal, has a broadbased, pyramid-shaped age structure, which is characteristic of a population with a very high proportion of child...

background: this study aimed to assess the incidence and survival rates of neonates weighing less than 2500g for duration of the first 28 days in an iranian community. methods: in this prospective longitudinal study, all neonates with birth weight less than 2500g were selected from the list of all neonates born in the only public-sector referral hospital, for a six months period. the weight of ...

OBJECTIVE To identify spatial patterns of changes in infant mortality rates and proportions of low-birth-weight live births observed in 1994. SETTING Canada. SUBJECTS Live births and infant deaths in Canada between 1987 and 1994. Data for Newfoundland were unavailable for 1987 through 1990. OUTCOME MEASURES Annual infant mortality rates (crude and after excluding live newborns weighing le...

The number of births in the United States declined by 1% between 2010 and 2011, to a total of 3 953 593. The general fertility rate also declined by 1% to 63.2 births per 1000 women, the lowest rate ever reported. The total fertility rate was down by 2% in 2011 (to 1894.5 births per 1000 women). The teenage birth rate fell to another historic low in 2011, 31.3 births per 1000 women. Birth rates...

BACKGROUND Forecasting of health indicators is of great importance for health policy makers. This study is aimed to forecast some important health indicators like crude death rate (CDR), crude birth rate (CBR), and infant mortality rate (IMR) and total fertility rate (TFR) of Pakistan. METHODS In this retrolective study, annual data of these indicators for years 1984-2010 have been used. The ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Several prestigious agencies routinely rank countries based on crude perinatal and infant mortality rates, while more recently, international neonatal networks have begun comparing neonatal mortality and morbidity rates among very preterm and very low-birth-weight infants. We discuss the methodologic challenges that compromise such comparisons and potential remedies. RECENT ...

Birth and death indicators were examined through retrospective surveys conducted in 1985 and 1987 in the Islamic Republic of lran, reviewing 1984 and 1986 events, to obtain infant mortality rate (IMR) and other necessary indicators for health planning and evaluation. Comparison between 1985 and 1987 surveys revealed: 1. No major change in crude death rate ( 6.3 per 1000 in 1987 survey) had...