Feature Article

Evidence on the association between colorectal cancer and exposure to disinfection by-products in drinking water is inconsistent. Researchers assessed long-term exposure to trihalomethanes (THMs), the most prevalent group of chlorination by-products, to evaluate the association with colorectal cancer.

Original Source

Although many time-series studies have established associations of daily pollution variations with daily deaths, there are fewer at low concentrations, or focused on locally generated pollution, which is becoming more important as regulations reduce regional transport. Causal modeling approaches are also lacking. Researchers used causal modeling to estimate the impact of local air pollution on mortality at low concentrations.

Original Source

The main objective of this paper is to develop a three phase genetic algorithm to find the shortest path routing in solar poweredWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), and thereby reducing the energy loss and the time consumed in the communication between various nodes (sensors) of the same. A three phase hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed for solving the shortest Path (SP) routing problem. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with Dijkstra, Munemoto, and Ahn algorithms.

Energy efficiency improvement is an eternal topic in the limited energy sources world. This paper analyzes the relationship between energy efficiency and energy price by using the panel data from ten economic giant. The results show that increasing energy price can promote energy efficiency improvement. If the energy price increases 10%, the energy intensity per unit of GDP could reduce 1%. Compared with other economic giant, the energy price of China is obvious low which is the main reason of China's low energy efficiency.

Increasing demand for sustainable energy has led to research and development on the cultivation of diverse plant species for biomass production. To support the research and development required to domesticate and cultivate crops for bioenergy, we developed the Biofuel Ecophysiological Traits and Yields database (BETYdb). BETYdb is a centralized open-access repository that facilitates organization, discovery, and exchange of information about plant traits, crop yields, and ecosystem functions.

The objective of the study is to describe the frequency and factors associated with antibiotic use in early childhood, and estimate the proportion of diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses episodes treated with antibiotics.

Original Source

The objective of the study was to quantify and predict the economic burden of dementia in China for the periods 1990–2010 and 2020–2030, respectively, and discuss the potential implications for national public health policy.

Original  Source

Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a multifaceted intervention for preterm and low birth weight infants and their parents. Short- and mid-term benefits of KMC on survival, neurodevelopment, breastfeeding, and the quality of mother–infant bonding were documented in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Colombia from 1993 to 1996. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the persistence of these results in young adulthood.

This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review of greenhouse gas emissions for different food categories from life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, to enable streamline calculations that could inform dietary choice. The motivation for completing the paper was the inadequate synthesis of food greenhouse gas emissions available in the public domain. The paper reviewed 369 published studies that provided 1718 global warming potential (GWP) values for 168 varieties of fresh produce.

Tackling the overconsumption of discretionary foods (foods and drinks not necessary to provide the nutrients the body needs) is central to aligning human and planetary health. Whilst the adverse health impacts of discretionary foods are well documented, the environmental and broader sustainability impacts of these products deserve more attention, especially since their consumption has been increasing in recent decades, particularly amongst low income groups.