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We characterize the joint evolution of cross-sectional inequality in earnings, other sources of income and consumption across generations in the U.S. To account for cross-sectional dispersion, we estimate a model of intergenerational persistence and separately identify the influences of parental factors and of idiosyncratic life-cycle components. We find evidence of family persistence in earnings, consumption and saving behaviours, and marital sorting patterns. However, the quantitative contribution of idiosyncratic heterogeneity to cross-sectional inequality is significantly larger than parental effects. Our estimates imply that intergenerational persistence is not high enough to induce further large increases in inequality over time and across generations.

Although disinfection is key to infection control, the colonization patterns and resistomes of hospital-environment microbes remain underexplored. We report the first extensive genomic characterization of microbiomes, pathogens and antibiotic resistance cassettes in a tertiary-care hospital, from repeated sampling (up to 1.5 years apart) of 179 sites associated with 45 beds. Deep shotgun metagenomics unveiled distinct ecological niches of microbes and antibiotic resistance genes characterized by biofilm-forming and human-microbiome-influenced environments with corresponding patterns of spatiotemporal divergence. Quasi-metagenomics with nanopore sequencing provided thousands of high-contiguity genomes, phage and plasmid sequences (>60% novel), enabling characterization of resistome and mobilome diversity and dynamic architectures in hospital environments. Phylogenetics identified multidrug-resistant strains as being widely distributed and stably colonizing across sites. Comparisons with clinical isolates indicated that such microbes can persist in hospitals for extended periods (>8 years), to opportunistically infect patients. These findings highlight the importance of characterizing antibiotic resistance reservoirs in hospitals and establish the feasibility of systematic surveys to target resources for preventing infections., Spatiotemporal characterization of microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance in a tertiary-care hospital reveals broad distribution and persistence of antibiotic-resistant organisms that could cause opportunistic infections in a healthcare setting.

Disability insurance provides protection against health shocks that limit the ability to work. In most countries, these programmes are large and growing, both in expenditure and in number of recipients. We discuss the traditional trade‐off between insurance and incentives in providing this insurance, with a focus on the US and UK experiences. There is substantial evidence on the extent of the labour supply incentive costs of disability insurance, but there has been a lack of evidence on the insurance value until very recently. Further, evidence on errors in the disability insurance process suggests false rejections of genuine claimants is a substantial problem, and these are more serious than false acceptances of healthy applicants. We provide a life‐cycle framework for understanding the trade‐offs and to evaluate the welfare implications of policy reforms. We argue that reforms should be focused on reducing false rejections and supporting labour market attachment. The difficulty in considering reform is that the design of disability insurance has many aspects that interact and impact on outcomes.

Aim: Despite the endemicity of typhoid in Kelantan, epidemiological data showing typhoid association to age, sex,ethnicity and district of patients is limited. This retrospective study investigated the statistical association of thesevariables from a retrieved registry.Methodology and results: Cross-tabulation using SPSS was used to analyze 1394 cases of confirmed typhoid patientsadmitted to various hospitals in Kelantan state over a six-year period. Fourteen age groups with a five-year rangeinterval were generated. There was a significant association between typhoid infection and sex of subjects, wherebyfemales were generally more susceptible than males. Ethnicity and district of typhoid patients did not show significantassociation.Conclusion, significance and impact of study: The observation of an increased number of typhoid cases with a malepredominance in the age group 5-14 and female predominance in the 20-60 age group calls for improved hygiene,continued public health education, together with better laboratory diagnostics to identify carriers, are some measures tocontrol this disease.

Purpose: Early life processes, through influence on fetal stem cells, affect postnatal and adult health outcomes. This study examines the effects of physical activity before and during pregnancy on stem cell counts in umbilical cord blood. Methods: We isolated mononuclear cells from umbilical cord blood samples from 373 singleton full-term pregnancies and quantified hematopoietic (CD34+, CD34+ CD38j, and CD34+ c-kit+), endothelial (CD34+CD133+, CD34+CD133+VEGFR2+, CD34+VEGFR2+, and CD133+VEGFR2+), and putative breast (EpCAM+, EpCAM+CD49f +, EpCAM+CD49f +CD117+, CD49f +CD24+, CD24+CD29+, and CD24+CD29+CD49f +) stem/progenitor cell subpopulations by flow cytometry. Information on physical activities before and during pregnancy was obtained from questionnaires. Weekly energy expenditure was estimated based on metabolic equivalent task values. Results: Prepregnancy vigorous exercise was associated positively with levels of endothelial CD34+CD133+, CD34+CD133+VEGFR2+, CD34+VEGFR2+, and CD133+VEGFR2+ progenitor cell populations (P = 0.02, P = 0.01, P = 0.001, and P = 0.003, respectively); positive associations were observed in samples from the first births and those from the second or later births. Prepregnancy moderate and light exercises and light exercise during the first trimester were not significantly associated with any stem/ progenitor cell population. Light exercise during the second trimester was positively associated with CD34+VEGFR2+ endothelial progenitor cells (P = 0.03). In addition, levels of EpCAM+CD49f + and CD49f +CD24+ breast stem cells were significantly lower among pregnant women who engaged in vigorous/moderate exercise during pregnancy (P = 0.05 and P = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions: Vigorous exercise before pregnancy increases the number of endothelial progenitor cells in umbilical cord blood and thus could potentially enhance endothelial function and improve cardiovascular fitness in the offspring. Findings of lower levels of putative breast stem cell subpopulations could have implications on exercise and breast cancer prevention. Prenatal effects of exercise on fetal stem cells warrant further studies. © Copyright 2015 by the American College of Sports Medicine. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.