BACKGROUND The crude rate of early-onset Group B streptococcus disease (EOGBS) in Israel has been consistently under 0.5 for 1000 live births for the past 8 years. The Israeli Ministry of Health has adapted the risk factor based approach for preventing EOGBS and universal bacteriological screening for GBS is not recommended. In spite of this policy, there are indications that many pregnant wome...

background: excess weight in children and adolescents is a multi-factorial phenomenon and associated with earlier risk of obesityrelated diseases. this study aims to assess the prevalence of weight disorders and the mean values of anthropometric indices according to regional, socioeconomic, and urban-rural variations among iranian children and adolescents. materials and methods: this nationwide...

The influence of social status on the development of body mass was analysed in a retrospective cohort study of 675 Belgian children monitored between the ages of 3 and 5 years by the preventive medical services in Brussels. At age 3, no association between excess weight and social status was observed. Adiposity rebound before age 5 was inversely related to body mass at age 3 and was independent...

Spatial variation in plant diversity has been attributed to heterogeneity in resource availability for many ecosystems. However, urbanization has resulted in entire landscapes that are now occupied by plant communities wholly created by humans, in which diversity may reflect social, economic, and cultural influences in addition to those recognized by traditional ecological theory. Here we use d...

This study examined the intergenerational effects of parental conviction of a substance-related charge on children's academic performance and, conditional on a conviction, whether completion of an adult drug treatment court (DTC) program was associated with improved school performance. State administrative data from North Carolina courts, birth records, and school records were linked for 2005-2...

There is debate concerning the most effective conservation of marine biodiversity, especially regarding the appropriate location, size, and connectivity of marine reserves. We describe a means of establishing marine reserve networks by using optimization algorithms and multiple levels of information on biodiversity, ecological processes (spawning, recruitment, and larval connectivity), and soci...

This paper reports on a study of trends in marital age homogamy in China from 1960 to 2005 that uses data from the China 2005 1% Population Inter-census Survey. Instead of a consistent increase in age homogamy, results show an inverted U-shaped trend. One plausible explanation is that intensified economic pressure, rising consumerism, and a shrinking gender gap in education during the post-1990...

PURPOSE Due to population aging, the need for long-term institutional care is increasing. We study the potentially modifiable sociodemographic factors that affect the rate of entry into and exit from long-term care. DESIGN AND METHODS A 40% sample from the population registration data of Finns aged 65 and older living in private households at the end of 1997 (n = 280,722) was followed for fir...

background: not only the expand development of knowledge for reducing risk factors, but also the improvement in early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and socioeconomic inequalities could affect cancer incidence, diagnosis stage, and mortality. the aim of this study was investigation the relationships between family levels of socioeconomic status and distribution of breast cancer risk factors...

background: socioeconomic status and demographic factors, such as education, occupation, place of residence, gender, age, and marital status have been reported to be associated with obesity. we conducted a systematic review to summarize evidences on associations between socioeconomic factors and obesity/overweight in iranian population.   methods : we systematically searched international datab...