From 2004 to 2008 a new Asian highway was constructed through remote multiethnic areas of north Laos linking a low with higher HIV prevalence areas in bordering Thailand and China. We assessed the HIV vulnerability in four minority villages alongside the new road in Luang Namtha Province using structured interviews and voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) for HIV. Of 470 villagers aged 15-49...

Early Neolithic sedentary villagers started cultivating wild cereals in the Near East 11,500 y ago [Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)]. Recent discoveries indicated that Cyprus was frequented by Late PPNA people, but the earliest evidence until now for both the use of cereals and Neolithic villages on the island dates to 10,400 y ago. Here we present the recent archaeological excavation at Klimona...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated beliefs about, attitudes toward, and stigma associated with epilepsy in four districts of central Laos. METHOD For this study, 83 people with epilepsy, 83 family members, and 166 matched villagers in Vientiane Province were interviewed. RESULTS From patients to families to villagers, there existed a significantly increasing gradient of misbeliefs. Dubbed locally as "m...

This study evinces how the community engagement (CE) Background: approach of the Malaria Elimination Task Force (METF) in the Karen/Kayin State of southeast Myanmar contributed to generating participation in program activities, such as early detection and treatment, malaria blood surveys and mass drug administration. We investigated the CE approach through ethnographic and Methods: key-informan...

This study evinces how the community engagement (CE) Background: approach of the Malaria Elimination Task Force (METF) in the Karen/Kayin State of southeast Myanmar contributed to generating participation in program activities, such as early detection and treatment, malaria blood surveys and mass drug administration. We investigated the CE approach through ethnographic and Methods: key-informan...

Background : With the improvement in transplant technology major organ transplantation is gradually becoming the treatment of choice in many conditions. The present study assesses the awareness of the concepts of brain death and organ transplantation among public. Methods : Six hundred thirty six select populations, which included office-goers of Delhi, class 12th school children of a reputed p...

Multiple antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus is one of the common causes of severe nosocomial infections, and the gastrointestinal tract is an important source of its transmission. This study assessed the previous usage of antibiotics by healthy adults (university students and villagers) in Amassoma, Nigeria, and investigated the antimicrobial resistance patterns of their intestinal S. a...

We reconstructed the history of Chatthin Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to understand how social and economic events, and policy changes affected the sanctuary's condition. We surveyed 25 villages surrounding CWS to evaluate past and present ecological conditions, compare the results with historical accounts and identify causal relationships. During the first half of the 20th century, the primary thr...

BACKGROUND Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus has been of public health concern since 2003. Probable risk factors for A(H5N1) transmission to human have been demonstrated in several studies or epidemiological reports. However, transmission patterns may differ according to demographic characteristics of the population and local practices. This article aggregates these data from thr...

In Bangladesh and the neighboring state of West Bengal, India, over 100 million people are affected by widespread arsenic poisoning through drinking water drawn from underground sources containing arsenic at concentrations well above the permissible limit of 50 μg/L. The health effects caused by arsenic poisoning in this area is as catastrophic as any other natural calamity that occurred throug...