Exposure to air pollution has been demonstrated to increase the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW). Although evidence has accumulated on characteristics associated with increased risk of air pollution-related health effects, most studies have been conducted in the adult population and evidence on reproductive outcomes is limited. We examined whether socio-economic position (SEP) and parental characteristics (parental behavior and co-morbidity) modified the relationship between air pollution and adverse birth outcomes.

A 25-year, US$10-billion global effort has taken the number of polio cases from hundreds of thousands per year to just hundreds, but it is now struggling to stamp the virus out of its final strongholds in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, where transmission has never been interrupted. Of these, Nigeria was the only one to see an increase in cases from 2011 to 2012, and public-health experts worry that the virus's recalcitrance here will prevent global eradication, and eventually lead to a wider resurgence of the disease.

Reliable forecasts of future ‘megadroughts’ would be a boon to farmers and water managers. But results presented last week at the annual assembly of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna suggest that such forecasts are still beyond the reach of current climate models.

For many marine species and habitats, climate change and overfishing present a double threat. To manage marine resources effectively, it is necessary to adapt management to changes in the physical environment. Simple relationships between environmental conditions and fish abundance have long been used in both fisheries and fishery management. In many cases, however, physical, biological, and human variables feed back on each other. For these systems, associations between variables can change as the system evolves in time.

n 2011, Lake Erie experienced the largest harmful algal bloom in its recorded history, with a peak intensity over three times greater than any previously observed bloom. Here we show that long-term trends in agricultural practices are consistent with increasing phosphorus loading to the western basin of the lake, and that these trends, coupled with meteorological conditions in spring 2011, produced record-breaking nutrient loads.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the United States India Business Council
are miffed over the recent Novartis judgment of the Supreme Court (SC) of India. For us, however, this ruling on the

Health effects associated with diesel exhaust (DE) are thought to be mediated in part by oxidative stress, but the detailed mechanisms therein are largely unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression post­transcriptionally and may respond to exposures such as DE. The researchers profiled peripheral blood cellular miRNAs in mild asthmatic participants exposed to controlled DE with and without antioxidant supplementation.

Toxic chemicals are accumulating in the ecosystems of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau, researchers warn in the the first comprehensive study to assess levels of certain organic pollutants in that part of the world.

The need for achieving food security is felt significantly in the recent years due to enormous pressure from the ever increasing population in India. Owing to the change in preferences in crop production techniques over a period of time, several new challenges draw attention to food security. This article discusses various challenges to food security in India.

The evolution of land–atmosphere–ocean models has resulted in the need for hydrologic models applicable to large areas and river basins. Such developments offer new challenges and opportunities for hydrologists to understand the hydrologic response of areas as large as continents. In the present study, the ability of variable infiltration capacity (VIC) hydrological model has been studied to assess run-off potential and other hydrological components for entire India.