c Preface This study reviews policies that have been adopted and action taken with a view to decentralization in the various countries of the region. It addresses the issue at two levels: national or macro level and urban or micro level. At the national level, the paper reviews the policies adopted by different countries in the region which address administrative, political and fiscal decentral...

AIMS Because religiousness, a protective factor for alcohol use, is much more prevalent in rural regions, we examined its importance in explaining the differences in adolescent alcohol use found in the rural and the urban regions. In rural Ostrobothnia (hereafter referred to as the rural region), alcohol use is at the lowest level in all of Finland, whereas in Uusimaa, the urban region that sur...

BACKGROUND Arsenic (As), one of the most significant hazards in the environment affecting millions of people around the world is associated with several diseases including cancers, Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Hypertension (Htn). Drinking water contaminated with inorganic arsenic (iAs) is the primary route of exposure. This study was conducted to determine the difference in the prevalence of DM a...

The free living amoeba, Acanthamoeba spp are found and distributed in a wide variety of environmental sources including air, water, soil dust, vegetables as well as the skin, cornea, lung and brain of human (1). Isolation of Acanthamoeba cyst from environmental sources such as soil, fresh surface water and stagnant water have been showed that this environmental sources have potential importance...

The treatment of patients with Helicobacter pylori infection has many limitations, especially because antibiotic resistance. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and mechanism resistance metronidazole clarithromycin in H. isolates collected from gastrointestinal symptoms Qazvin, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, susceptibility testing was performed among 80 clinical strains isolated pylori...

Introduction: Urban soils are large pools of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements, supporting plant growth, sustaining biogeochemical cycles, and serving as the foundation for maintaining ecosystem function and services of urban green spaces (UGS). Quantifying urban soil properties is essential for assessing urban ecosystem services and detecting pollution. Characterizing spatial heterogeneity ...