the east mediterranean region suffers from high levels of air pollution which has a negative impact on pregnancy outcomes. this work systematically reviews the epidemiological evidence on maternal exposure to air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes in the region. relevant papers and reports published between 2000 and 2014 were searched. combinations of search terms including countries, exp...

this study was aimed to assess the causes of the structural decline in the renewal rate of apristine oak forest close to rome (central italy) by analyzing long-term measurements of the water budget in open and fenced areas. despite dry climate conditions in the area, long-term soil moisture measurements at 100 cm soil depth indicated that an enough large amount of water is available to oaks dur...

greece has experienced particularly severe and frequent forest fires during summer 2007 together with exceptionally dry meteorological conditions culminated in distinct heat waves. the present study analyzes the time pattern of daily values of two fire risk indices (nesterov and angstrom) based on meteorological data made available for a number of gauging stations between 1 june and 31 august o...

land vulnerable to desertification increased in the mediterranean basin since world war ii dueto several interacting factors including climate variations, land-use changes and growing human pressure. itwas hypothesized that the increase in the level of land vulnerability is not distributed homogeneously overtime and space while impacting preferentially landscapes surrounding large urban agglome...

the present study illustrates the long-term changes in selected socioeconomic variables (population,industrial activities, settlement dispersion, and land-use) together with climate aridity trends in thriasio, the larger industrial area of greece located twenty kilometers far from athens. this region, originally devoted to agriculture, experienced fast industrial and economic development during...

the present study illustrates the long-term changes in selected socioeconomic variables (population,industrial activities, settlement dispersion, and land-use) together with climate aridity trends in thriasio, the larger industrial area of greece located twenty kilometers far from athens. this region, originally devoted to agriculture, experienced fast industrial and economic development during...

background systems thinking (st) has recently been promoted as an important approach to health systems strengthening. however, st is not common practice, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (lmics). this paper seeks to explore the barriers that may hinder its application in the eastern mediterranean region (emr) and possible strategies to mitigate them.   methods a survey consistin...

the relationship between trade liberalisation and the environment has been the subject of a growing body of literature in recent years. as can be seen from the differing assessment of instrument types for environmental protection, one of the important factors for the relationship between environmental protection and economic competitiveness are regulatory stringency and efficiency. this concern...

this systematic review aimed to help better to understand the epidemiology of suicidal behaviors among eastern mediterranean region (emr) countries. the pubmed, emr medex, scopus, psychinfo, isi, and imemr were searched with no language limitation for papers on the epidemiology of suicidal behaviors in the general population, published up to august 2013. a total of 13 articles were reviewed. th...

as host to some of the world’s biggest emergencies and protracted crises, the eastern mediterranean region carries the largest burden of displaced populations globally. out of 58 million displaced persons worldwide, almost 30 million (52%) come from the region. syria is currently the world’s biggest producer of refugees and internally displaced persons, with more than 40% of the population now ...