We analyzed genetic diversity and population genetic structure of four artificial populations of wild barley (Hordeum brevisubulatum); 96 plants collected from the Songnen Prairie in northeastern China were analyzed using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), specific-sequence amplified polymorphism (SSAP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) markers. Indices o...

BACKGROUND Western diets are associated with obesity, vascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome and might increase dementia risk in later life. If these associations are causal, those low- and middle-income countries experiencing major changes in diet might also see an increasing prevalence of dementia. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship of dietary supply and the prevalence of dementia...

BACKGROUND Maternal mortality (MM) is an avoidable death and there is national, international and political commitment to reduce it. The objective of this study is to examine the relation of MM to socioeconomic factors and its inequality in Iran's provinces at an ecologic level. METHODS The overall MM from each province was considered for 3 years from 2004 to 2006. The five independent variab...

Over the past five decades, the world has unleashed enormous energy and creativity into improving the lot of the rural poor. Outside India and China, efforts have often drawn inspiration from these two leaders, initially from India and more recently from China. Following the early India model, much of this effort has targeted small rural nonfarm enterprises, on which the landless poor of the de...

Population dynamics are intricately related to long-lasting processes of social, economic, and cultural change. This article gives the example of the Netherlands and shows that this European country strives to optimize the wellbeing of its population in terms of health, income, and labor participation. The Dutch population is among the youngest in an ageing Europe and will continue to grow for ...