François Nault

Effects of Reproductive Behaviour on Infant Mortality of French-Canadians During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

In this paper the effects of mothers age, birth order, sibship size breastfeeding habits of the mother and length of previous birth interval on infant mortality among the French-Canadian population during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are considered. A U-shaped effect of mothers age and a J-shaped effect of birth order are observed. The relation with birth order is shown to hold, even after controlling for sibship size. Study of the effect of sibship size leads to a relation between the fates of siblings and definition of a familial component in infant mortality. A significant factor in that familial component is the breastfeeding habit of the mother. Finally, the effect of the length of the previous birth interval is scrutinized, but no single explanation is found that fully accounts for the observed inverse relation with infant mortality.

Recent advances in computerized population registers.

This paper focuses on the present methodology of computerized population registers and on the possible next generation of such systems. For these registers to survive their founders and serve multiple purposes they must be designed as evolving (as opposed to static) entities; the central element of such an approach would be a dynamic updating facility. In our view this poses a major challenge to both demographers and computer scientists. The paper is based on experience with the reconstitution of the Quebec population from 1608-1760 which was undertaken by the Research Program in Historical Demography at the University of Montreal. (EXCERPT)

The First French Canadians: Pioneers in the St. Lawrence Valley.

The filter is of a bridged-T construction, and includes a pair of semiconductor rectifiers in back-to-back relationship. An oscillation voltage is applied to the junction of the rectifiers to vary their reverse biases and the junction capacities they exhibit. The variations in notch frequency which result are selected to overlap possible drift in filter tuning and provide continued signal rejection in the presence of such changes.