Feature Article

Countries worldwide are expending significant resources to improve air quality partly to improve the health of their citizens. Are these societal expenditures improving public health? The objective of this study was to consider these issues by tracking the risk of death associated with outdoor air
pollution over both space and time in Canadian cities.

Exposure to excessive amounts of fluoride (F

Since India gained Independence, the Krishna basin has seen an increasing mobilization of its water resources. Warnings of basin closure (minimal flow to the ocean) emerge during dry periods. Basin water development and local rural dynamics have led to a degradation of downstream ecosystems manifesting itself by salinizing soil and groundwater, increasing pollution, making mangroves disappear, and desiccating wetlands. Reversing this evolution requires the formal recognition of the environment as a water user in its own right and the implementation of an environmental water provision.

India's rural socio-cultural scenario was at the crossroads in the 1960s with the introduction of the new agricultural revolution, popularly known as the Green Revolution. The present paper is a modest attempt in revaluating empirically the bearing of this technological revolution on the socio-cultural scenario, and particularly on the agro-based rural institutions in Orissa.

Since 1999, several articles have been published on genome-wide and/or proteomewide response after exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields whose signal and intensities were similar to
or typical of those of currently used mobile telephones. These studies were performed using powerful high-throughput screening techniques (HTSTs) of transcriptomics and/or proteomics, which allow for the simultaneous screening of the expression of thousands of genes or proteins.

New legislation in India allows communities to take charge of degraded forest areas. One village claimed to have legal rights over a particular forest area. But users from neighbouring villages protested. An external NGO helped the communities to accept each other as legitimate forest users. Jointly, the villages are rehabilitating the area.

In Malawi, the fifth poorest country in the world, the government introduced a voucher programme for small scale farmers, providing them access to subsidised fertilizer
and seed. The country suddenly saw bumper harvests in both 2006 and 2007. Are fertilizer subsidies the way out of poverty for small scale farmers in Africa?

In Nebbi district, Uganda, women and girls eat after men have filled their stomachs. A local NGO targets women to discuss nutritional values and cultural norms. Surprisingly, when approached with respect, both men and women are willing to review traditional practices and make sure all get enough food.

Health must no longer be considered as a separate, stand-alone entity. Sustainable improvement in health status can occur only in conjunction with overall development in the community. At the same time health is a prerequisite for economic and social development. In our vision, are the one billion plus an asset to be fostered or a liability to be tolerated?

Rice makes up 20 percent of the typical Haitian's diet, and that percentage is growing. In 1981 Haiti imported 18,000 tons of rice. Now the country imports close to 400,000 tons annually. Less than a quarter is homegrown. "T