Feature Article

Various factors can modify the health effects of outdoor air pollution. Prior findings about modifiers are inconsistent, and most of these studies were conducted in developed countries. The researchers conducted a time-series analysis to examine the modifying effect of season, sex, age, and education on the association between outdoor air pollutants [particulate matter

In Nepal, development projects often focus on policy issues such as rights-based approaches, with less emphasis on livelihoods. The impact on the poor of such an approach is often not immediately visible. This article describes how an NGO helps rural households to start home gardening, independent from local landlords or far-away markets.

While yoga is thought to reduce the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, there are no studies on insulin sensitivity in long term practitioners of yoga. The researchers assessed insulin sensitivity and cardiac autonomic function in long term practitioners of yoga.

The study examined the effects of land acquisition for large scale farming on the performance; productivity and technical efficiency of small-scale farming in Nigeria. The primary data for the study were collected from 200 small-scale farmers selected using the multistage sampling technique, from three local government areas in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Original Source

Dengue—a viral disease that can refer to both dengue fever and the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)—swept away records again this past spring as it raged across Brazil, infecting more than 160,000 people and killing more than 100. The reports were similar to those out of Southeast Asia in the summer of 2007, South America the previous spring, and India the fall before that. Although it may not be the most devastating of the mosquito-borne diseases—malaria strikes 10 times more people and yellow fever kills more of its victims—dengue has become a major public health concern for two reasons: the speed with which it is spreading and the escalating seriousness of its complications.

Original Source

The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) in Orissa, India, has requested the advice of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to mitigate the impact of the port's development on the Olive Ridley Turtles. In fulfilling that role, IUCN has been receiving enquiries and questions about its overall involvement in the project. This brief clarifies the nature and extent of IUCN's role.

Secondary salinisation is the most harmful and extended phenomenon of the unfavourable effects of irrigation on the soil and environment. An attempt was made to study the impact of poor quality ground water on soils in terms of secondary salinisation and availability of soil nutrients in Faridkot district of Punjab of northern India.