flint) is perhaps the oldest occupational disease, probably existing in the paleolithic period. Hippocrates and Pliny refer to the disorder. Some of the most tragic and wanton examples of occupational disease were due to silicosis, for example, how table blade grinding in Sheffield (1886) robbed workers of 25 years of life, or the Gauley Bridge disaster in West Virginia (1931). Perusing a recen...

The challenges facing water management have become increasingly global in scope since the 1970s. This reflects the rising awareness about the uncertainties posed by the worsening situation of the hydrosphere, and particularly freshwater, and the unsustainability of water management practices in many areas. It is also a reflection of the conflicts flaring up from the protracted social inequaliti...

Derivatives are commonly defined as some variation of the following: financial instruments whose value is derived from the performance of a secondary source such as an underlying bond, commodity, or index. This definition is both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. Thus, not surprisingly, even many policy makers, regulators, and legal analysts misunderstand them. It is important for interested ...

Although progress has been made towards international goals for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition, considerable work is still required to achieve them and to respond to emerging public health nutrition challenges. The present paper outlines sixteen major inter-linked nutrition challenges recently identified by the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition. While many of the challenges relate ...

This essay considers the nature and evolution of both the old and the new institutional economics and considers the possibility of dialogue or even convergence between these schools. It also considers shifts of thinking inside and outside mainstream economics that have altered the conception of the economic agent, even within mainstream theory. In particular, the stipulation of endogenous prefe...

Describing the nature of a particular topic is commonly the path towards defining it. Attempting to outline what constitutes terrorism amounts to landing in the middle of a semantic minefield where emotions run very high and the criteria necessary to describe the term are constantly evolving. Terrorism is a polemical word that has long provoked interpretation discrepancies in the international ...

Social species are so characterized because they form organizations that extend beyond the individual. The goal of social neuroscience is to investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie these social structures, processes, and behaviors and the influences between social and neural structures and processes. Such an endeavor is challenging because it necessitates the integration of multiple...

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All of us live in two worlds. One is the human world, which includes populations, countries, cities, roads, rail lines, shipping lanes and flight paths. It is the most familiar world and we consciously interact with it every day. It is a world entirely of our construction. It is the world of civilization, of education and of science. The other is the natural world, with mountains, rivers, conti...