Each year, UC Berkeley staff, students, and faculty collaborate to create the Summer Reading List. It is primarily directed to new students, but of course anyone can review the list for possible summer reading ideas. This year’s theme is Illuminating Communities. On the list, you’ll find a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction, personal histories and natural histories, and persuasive and reflective pieces that examine a myriad of communities from our past and present and invite us to see them anew or to hear their stories for the first time. You may notice an entry recommended by yours truly!
Epigenetics of Exercise and Sports: concepts, methods, and current research by
Epigenetics of Exercise and Sports: Concepts, Methods, and Current Research explains fundamental epigenetic processes and how these are altered by exercise and sports. After a brief review of fundamental epigenetic biology, this all-new volume in the Translational Epigenetics series offers step-by-step instruction in how epigenetic factors are investigated for their influence over exercise related traits of human physiology, disease, and injury. The current state of knowledge in the field and recent findings are discussed in-depth, illuminating how exercise and sports performance may epigenetically modify our physiology, disease and injury risks, and how this knowledge can be applied in personalized exercise approaches, diagnostics, and treatment. This book also explores the shortcomings of explaining exercise related phenomena using only genomics and traditional biochemical techniques, setting the scene for a paradigm shift in exercise biology. In addition, over a dozen international specialists contribute chapters on exercise and sports epigenetics, and their influence over metabolism, obesity, aging, immunity, and neurological disease, as well as the epigenetic impacts of concussions and sports doping. A concluding chapter discusses ongoing themes in the field and outlooks for future research. Thoroughly examines fundamental concepts in exercise and sports epigenetics, methods for new research, and known impacts for human physiology, disease, and clinical outcomes Discusses exercise and sports epigenetics in relation to metabolism, obesity, aging, immunity, and neurological disease, concussion, and sports doping, among other topics Includes preliminary information on exercise epigenetics and covid-19 infection Features chapter contributions from international experts in the field
Increasing Physical Activity: a Practical Guide by
Only a fifth of adults in the United States do enough physical activity to meet the guidelines set by Centers for Disease Control. The health benefits of regular physical activity are beyond dispute, yet less than 40% of physicians routinely counsel their patients on the importance of physical activity. Increasing Physical Activity: A Practical Guide equips healthcare practitioners to include physical activity counseling in the daily practice of medicine. Written by lifestyle medicine pioneer and cardiologist, Dr James Rippe, this book proves inactivity is a stronger risk factor than other lifestyle factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many other diseases. It provides evidence-based information on the role of physical activity in preventing and treating chronic conditions and includes practical strategies for healthcare practitioners to prescribe this powerful method to enhance both short and long-term health and quality of life. Features: Specific chapters explain the role of physical activity in reduction of risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, dementia and many other chronic conditions. Chapters begin with bulleted, key points and conclude with a list of clinical applications. Strategies are provided to encourage previously sedentary individuals to adopt regular physical activity. Physical activity is placed in the context of other lifestyle medicine concepts including maintenance of a healthy body weight, following sound nutritional practices, stress reduction and other practices which impact on health and quality of life. Written for healthcare practitioners at all levels, this is a user-friendly, evidence-based manual for healthcare practitioners looking to incorporate more physical activity counseling into either general medicine or subspecialty practices.
Physical Activity and Health: the evidence explained by
Physical Activity and Health explains clearly, systematically and in detail the relationships between physical activity, health and disease, and examines the benefits of exercise in the prevention and treatment of a wide range of important conditions. Now in a fully updated and revised third edition, and still the most complete and engaging textbook on this important subject, Physical Activity and Health offers a balanced examination of the very latest evidence linking levels of physical activity with disease and mortality. The book offers a wide-ranging assessment of the importance of inactivity as a factor in major diseases and health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer and osteoporosis, and now also includes a full chapter on exercise and mental health. The book is designed to help the reader evaluate the quality and significance of the scientific evidence, and includes an invaluable discussion of common study designs and the inherent difficulties of measuring physical activity. It explores every contemporary theme in the study of exercise and health, such as the hazards of exercise; exercise and the elderly; children¿s health and exercise; physical activity and public health policy; and also a critical appraisal of current recommendations for physical activity. Containing useful features throughout, such as chapter summaries, study tasks, guides to supplementary reading and definitions of key terms, and richly illustrated with supporting tables, figures and plates, Physical Activity and Health is an essential course text. Now supported by a companion website featuring self-test questions, PowerPoint slides for lecturers, additional learning activities and web links, this book is vital reading for degree-level students of sport and exercise science, public health, physical therapy, medicine and nursing.
Physical Activity Assessment: a lifecourse approach by
Lifecourse research in physical activity tracks long-term trends in physical activity behaviours and gives an insight into the link between a physically active lifestyle and later-life health outcomes. However, the complexity of physical activity behaviours, and the analytical issues posed by lifecourse research, present researchers with real challenges in accurately assessing the relationship between lifelong physical activity and health. Physical Activity Assessment: A Lifecourse Approach is the first book to approach the assessment of physical activity for health from a lifecourse perspective and provide students and researchers with much-needed guidance on conducting lifecourse studies. The book provides readers with a thorough grounding in physical activity assessment from across the lifecourse perspective and evaluates current methods of measurement, including comparison studies, criterion methods, subjective assessment methods and physical activity monitors. It then goes on to offer guidance on the optimal measurement techniques of physical activity across the lifecourse, suggesting how data should be collected, analysed and quantified in light of modern technology and global connectivity, and what these methods mean for physical activity guidelines and interventions, and public health outcomes. Offering a unique and novel combination of theoretical grounding and quantitative research guidance, this is important reading for any students taking modules in physical activity measurement or physical activity and health, and any researchers conducting lifecourse physical activity studies.
Physical Activity Epidemiology by
Physical Activity Epidemiology, Third Edition, provides a discussion of current studies showing the influence of physical activity on disease. Updated with extensive new content in alignment with the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report, the third edition benefits from the expertise of authors Rod Dishman, Gregory Heath, Michael Schmidt, and I-Min Lee. These authors offer insight gained from their professional experiences, which include leadership roles within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contributions to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, and a combined 1,000 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals across each of their disciplines. Physical Activity Epidemiology, Third Edition, explores how physical activity can enhance quality of life. The text summarizes the available knowledge, examines the methods used to obtain these findings, considers the implications for public health, and outlines the important questions that remain. Readers will find comprehensive discussions of these topics: Part I introduces physical activity epidemiology and provides an extensive background in research methods as well as physical activity measurement and surveillance. Part II focuses on the evidence that physical activity protects against premature death from all causes and inhibits the development of coronary heart disease and stroke. Part III offers population-based studies and clinical experiments providing evidence that physical activity plays a role in the prevention of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Part IV compiles the latest data on two chronic diseases that are increasing in prevalence worldwide: type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis. Part V describes the evidence that physical activity is associated with reduced risks of certain cancers and explores the use of immunotherapy in cancer treatment. Part VI addresses mental health and the promotion of a safe, physically active lifestyle among all segments of the population. The third edition of this text offers expanded coverage of the measurement of sedentary behavior; the effects of physical activity on osteoporosis and bone health, cancers, and inflammatory diseases; and the potential of exercise to complement immunotherapy in cancer treatment. More than 200 tables and figures highlight information in an easy-to-understand visual format. Physical Activity Epidemiology, Third Edition, examines the methodology and findings of classic and contemporary studies and then helps students analyze the results. The special Strength of the Evidence sections summarize the findings to determine the extent to which correlation and causation can be proven. Chapter objectives, chapter summaries, sidebars, and a glossary assist students in finding key information. Instructors will find a test package, image bank, and downloadable learning activities to assist with student comprehension. Physical Activity Epidemiology, Third Edition, offers a comprehensive presentation of significant studies, discusses how these studies contribute to understanding the relationship between activity and disease prevention, and explores how this information can be used in leading global society toward increased health and longevity.
Physical Exercise for Human Health by
This book shares the latest findings on exercise and its benefits in preventing and ameliorating numerous diseases that are of worldwide concern. Addressing the role of exercise training as an effective method for the prevention and treatment of various disease, the book is divided into eleven parts: 1) An Overview of the Beneficial Effects of Exercise on Health and Performance, 2) The Physiological Responses to Exercise, 3) Exercise and Metabolic Diseases, 4) Exercise and Cardiovascular Diseases, 5) Exercise and Musculoskeletal Diseases, 6) Exercise and Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases, 7) Exercise and the Respiration System, 8) Exercise and Immunity, 9) Exercise and HIV/AIDS, 10) Exercise and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, and 11) Future Prospects. Given its scope, the book will be particularly useful for researchers and students in the fields of physical therapy, physiology, medicine, genetics and cell biology, as well as researchers and physicians with a range of medical specialties.
Political Exercise: Active Living, Public Policy, and the Built Environment by
Lawrence D. Brown presents five case studies of cities that have promoted active living with varying success through a range of approaches. He shows how and why the transformation of a call for public intervention into projects, programs, and policies is inescapably political.
The Politics of Physical Activity by
Defining 'politics' as contests over ideas, values and visions about what a physically active society could be, this book uses critical analysis to challenge accepted truths about physical activity and therefore opens up a pathway to more effective, and more socially just, physical activity policy. Critiquing global and national physical activity policies which are arguing for significant change to societies around the world, The Politics of Physical Activity presents empirical case studies to illustrate the political dimensions of advocating for physical activity promotion, including discussions of resourcing difficulties, conflicts of interest and opportunity costs. It explores physical activity as a multi-sectoral tool that is being applied to political ideas and policy goals as varied as education, sustainability and social cohesion, and asks what good physical activity really looks like. This is important and provocative reading for any student, researcher, practitioner or policy maker with an interest in physical activity, public health or public policy.
Practicing Yoga As Resistance: voices of color in search of freedom by
Bringing together a diverse chorus of voices and experiences in the pursuit of collective bodily, emotional, and spiritual liberation, Practicing Yoga as Resistance examines yoga as it is experienced across the Western cultural landscape through an intersectional, feminist lens. Naming the systems of oppression that permeate our lived experiences, this collection and its contributors shine a light on the ways yoga practice is intertwined with these systems while offering insight into how people challenge and creatively subvert, mitigate, and reframe them through their efforts. From the disciplines of yoga studies, embodiment studies, women's and gender studies, performance studies, educational studies, social sciences, and social justice, the self-identified women, queer, BIPOC, and White allies represented in this book present an interdisciplinary tapestry of scholarship that serves to add depth to a growing assemblage of yoga literature for the 21st century.
Psychological Perspectives on Walking: interventions for achieving change by
Psychological Perspectives on Walkingprovides a comprehensive overview of the benefits of walking and shows how we can encourage people to walk more based on psychological principles. It examines how walking significantly improves health, positively impacts the environment, contributes to resolving social issues, and boosts the local micro-economy. This pioneering book discusses psychological motivations for walking versus not walking and asserts research-based arguments in favor of walking, including both theoretical considerations and everyday concerns. The book investigates the motivations that can lead to increased walking, advises on how to build walking-conducive habits, and recommends strategies for decision makers for promoting changes that will allow walking to thrive more easily. The authors include success stories and lessons learned from what have become known as 'walkable' cities to show how interventions and initiatives can succeed on a practical basis. This accessible, practical book is essential for urban planners, health specialists; policy makers; traffic experts; psychology, civil engineering, and social sciences students; and experts in the field of sustainable mobility. Psychological Perspectives on Walkingwill appeal to anyone in the general population in favour of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle;
Modeling of road traffic events by
Introduction -- Selected technical aspects of a motor vehicle motion -- Vehicle collisions : the selected issues -- Selected aspects of motor vehicle research backgrounds -- The role of disturbances of the selected vehicle parameters in the stability examination research -- Review of the selected definitions of stability -- Selected aspects of the stochastic technical stability examination -- Selected problems in motor vehicle braking and acceleration -- Other problems of motion of the motor vehicles -- Summary -- Literature.
Road Safety in China: key facts, risk analysis, policy impacts in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau by
This book presents comprehensive research and analyses on road traffic safety in China, discussing individual, vehicle, road and environmental factors to improve road safety in the country. It also sheds light on the development of similar (adjusted) measures to reduce traffic violations and/or accident fatalities and injuries, and to promote road safety in other countries and regions. As such, it is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to understand the characteristics and patterns of road traffic safety, the risk factors affecting traffic violations and traffic injuries, as well as road safety policies and practices in China.
Traffic-Related Air Pollution by
Traffic-Related Air Pollution synthesizes and maps TRAP and its impact on human health at the individual and population level. The book analyzes mitigating standards and regulations with a focus on cities. It provides the methods and tools for assessing and quantifying the associated road traffic emissions, air pollution, exposure and population-based health impacts, while also illuminating the mechanisms underlying health impacts through clinical and toxicological research. Real-world implications are set alongside policy options, emerging technologies and best practices. Finally, the book recommends ways to influence discourse and policy to better account for the health impacts of TRAP and its societal costs. Overviews existing and emerging tools to assess TRAP's public health impacts Examines TRAP's health effects at the population level Explores the latest technologies and policies--alongside their potential effectiveness and adverse consequences--for mitigating TRAP Guides on how methods and tools can leverage teaching, practice and policymaking to ameliorate TRAP and its effects
Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Exposure in Urbanized Areas by
Traffic-related pollutions, apart from the emissions from other anthropogenic sources, significantly decrease the air quality in cities. This is especially true in the case of the areas located in the vicinity of communication routes with high traffic intensity. In accordance with the epidemiological studies, the transport emissions affecting road users, both drivers and pedestrians, have a detrimental effect on health and may contribute to numerous serious illnesses. This work presents the characteristics of traffic-related pollution and the factors affecting its concentration in the air. The effects of exposure to traffic-related pollution on health are described as well. The transport emissions in Lublin, Poland, are discussed in detail. The results of previous studies on traffic-related environmental pollution are presented, including pollutant concentrations as well as exposures of drivers and pedestrians along one of the busiest roads. The studies account for different seasons and weather conditions. The methods of reducing traffic-related pollution and prospects for improving the urban air quality are described as well. This book is intended for academics, researchers, engineers and professionals involved in studies and assessment of the road transport impact on the environment.
Transport and Safety: systems, approaches, and implementation by
This volume addresses a variety of issues on traffic safety policy, ranging from issues of climate change, urban equity, and transport safety, in a broad global and societal context, while retaining situation-specific details. Written by international experts on issues of transportation and traffic safety, it will be of special interest to advanced researchers in the engineering and planning disciplines working on these issues as well as policy makers concerned with setting up institutions and legislations for traffic safety.
Transportation Air Pollutants: black carbon and other emissions by
This book begins by discussing the problems caused by transportation emissions, the various types of emissions, and the impacts they have on public health, agricultural production, and climate change. The next several chapters then present technologies and policies from around the world, which can be used to solve some of these problems. Finally, the book discusses implications for the future, from both an industrial and governmental point of view.
Walkable Neighborhoods: The Link between Public Health, Urban Design, and Transportation by
It is now widely recognized that individual-based motivational interventions alone are not sufficient to address the global pandemic of physical inactivity (lack of exercise and too much sitting time). There has been a growing interest in the effect the physically built environment can have on people's active behaviors. The fundamental assumption is that surrounding physical environments can support active behaviors among a large number of people with long-term effects. This topic has received much attention over the last decade, mainly in the three fields of urban design, public health, and transportation. This Special Issue aims to provide multidisciplinary and evidence-based state-of-the-art research on how the locations where people live impact their active behaviors and health outcomes.
We recently acquired a new book by BPH faculty member Jason Coburn, in both print and online format.
If you know of any other new-ish books with BPH authors (including students), please let me know.
Cities for Life: how communities can recover from trauma and rebuild for health by
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Place Book Award Winner (2022) What if cities around the world actively worked to promote the health and healing of all of their residents? Cities contribute to the traumas that cause unhealthy stress, with segregated neighborhoods, insecure housing, few playgrounds, environmental pollution, and unsafe streets, particularly for the poor and residents who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Some cities around the world are already helping their communities heal by investing more in peacemaking and parks than in policing; focusing on community decision-making instead of data surveillance; changing regulations to permit more libraries than liquor stores; and building more affordable housing than highways. These cities are declaring racism a public health and climate change crisis, and taking the lead in generating equitable outcomes. In Cities for Life, public health expert Jason Corburn shares lessons from three of these cities: Richmond, California; Medellín, Colombia; and Nairobi, Kenya. Corburn draws from his work with citizens, activists, and decision-makers in these cities over a ten-year period, as individuals and communities worked to heal from trauma--from gun violence, housing and food insecurity, and poverty. Corburn shows how any community can rebuild their social institutions, practices, and policies to be more focused on healing and health. This means not only centering those most traumatized in decision-making, Corburn explains, but confronting historically discriminatory, exclusionary, and racist urban institutions, and promoting healing-focused practices, place-making, and public policies. Cities for Life is essential reading for urban planning, design, healthcare, and public health professionals as they work to reverse entrenched institutional practices through new policies, rules, norms, and laws that address their damage and promote health and healing.
Food Insecurity: A Matter of Justice, Sovereignty, and Survival by
This book explores the experiences, causes, and consequences of food insecurity in different geographical regions and historical eras. It highlights collective and political actions aimed at food sovereignty as solutions to mitigate suffering. Despite global efforts to end hunger, it persists and has even increased in some regions. This book provides interdisciplinary and historical perspectives on the manifestations of food insecurity, with case studies illustrating how people coped with violations of their rights during the war-time deprivation in France; the neoliberal incursions on food supply in Turkey, Greece, and Nicaragua; as well as the consequences of radioactive contamination of farmland in Japan. This edited collection adopts an analytical approach to understanding food insecurity by examining how the historical and political situations in different countries have resulted in an unfolding dialectic of food insecurity and resistance, with the most marginalized people--immigrants, those in refugee camps, poor peasants, and so forth--consistently suffering the worst effects, yet still maintaining agency to fight back.　　 The book tackles food insecurity on a local as well as a global scale and will thus be useful for a broad range of audiences, including students, scholars, and the general public interested in studying food crises, globalization, and current global issues.
Food Insecurity on Campus: Action and Intervention by
The hidden problem of student hunger on college campuses is real. Here's how colleges and universities are addressing it. As the price of college continues to rise and the incomes of most Americans stagnate, too many college students are going hungry. According to researchers, approximately half of all undergraduates are food insecure. Food Insecurity on Campus--the first book to describe the problem--meets higher education's growing demand to tackle the pressing question "How can we end student hunger?" Essays by a diverse set of authors, each working to address food insecurity in higher education, describe unique approaches to the topic. They also offer insights into the most promising strategies to combat student hunger, including * utilizing research to raise awareness and enact change; * creating campus pantries, emergency aid programs, and meal voucher initiatives to meet immediate needs; * leveraging public benefits and nonprofit partnerships to provide additional resources; * changing higher education systems and college cultures to better serve students; and * drawing on student activism and administrative clout to influence federal, state, and local policies. Arguing that practice and policy are improved when informed by research, Food Insecurity on Campuscombines the power of data with detailed storytelling to illustrate current conditions. A foreword by Sara Goldrick-Rab further contextualizes the problem. Offering concrete guidance to anyone seeking to understand and support college students experiencing food insecurity, the book encourages readers to draw from the lessons learned to create a comprehensive strategy to fight student hunger. Contributors: Talia Berday-Sacks, Denise Woods-Bevly, Katharine M. Broton, Clare L. Cady, Samuel Chu, Sarah Crawford, Cara Crowley, Rashida M. Crutchfield, James Dubick, Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Jordan Herrera, Nicole Hindes, Russell Lowery-Hart, Jennifer J. Maguire, Michael Rosen, Sabrina Sanders, Rachel Sumekh
Global Food Security: What Matters? by
This book looks at food security from a socio-economic perspective. It offers a detailed and systematic examination of food security from its historical backgrounds, concepts and measurements, to the determinants and approaches to achieve food security. The book also introduces the key challenges and root causes of food insecurity. 　 Through country-specific cases, the book highlights instances of both successful and disastrous national food security management and their outcomes. The invaluable learning experiences of these countries shed light on food security practices, and the straightforward demand-supply framework effectively guides readers in understanding food security issues. This is an essential resource for anyone who is keen to learn more about food security, particularly researchers and university students who are new to the field. The book endeavours to help us reflect on the current phenomenon and strategize better for the future.
Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation From Biology to Policy by
This book addresses the causes and effects of nutrient deficiencies along the cell-to-communities continuum. The book is primarily concerned with a lack or deficiency of one or more micro- or macronutrients in connection with malnutrition, under nutrition, and starvation. Embedded within the deficiency states is acute restriction whereby food is withdrawn completely for short periods, as when individuals are adhering to religious requirements or undergoing surgical procedures. Further downstream is the consumption of a fraction of the normal diet, as when individuals are dieting or when there is restriction in the amount or variety of food available. The causes of such reductions in dietary intake are varied and also include the social context of poverty, financial limitations, and famine. Refugees and displaced persons may also be vulnerable to under nutrition or total starvation. Diseases may also impact on the total food consumed, such as when there are physical impediments (intestinal obstruction or dysphagia) or anorexia (induced by organic disease or as a disease process per se, ie, anorexia nervosa).
Hidden Hunger and the Transformation of Food Systems: How to Combat the Double Burden of Malnutrition? by
Hidden hunger is not about providing enough calories, it is about a lack of micronutrients, which has life-long consequences for the children who are mostly affected. This begins with physical and cognitive developmental disorders and continues with an increased risk of non-communicable diseases and the occurrence of obesity. The book compiles the contributions of the Fourth Congress on Hidden Hunger 2019 as original articles. The focus of the congress was the problem of malnutrition and overweight, which can coexist and is termed a "double burden". Part of the book deals with the causes of malnutrition and the challenge of achieving an agricultural system that is more focused on food quality. Another part discusses the causes and intervention approaches to tackling childhood obesity, especially in connection with malnutrition. All in all, this publication is a summary of important work by highly renowned authors on the topic of the congress: "Hidden Hunger and the Transformation of Food Systems: How to Combat the Double Burden of Malnutrition?" Like its two predecessors, the book fills an important gap by summarizing the essential aspects for science, applied research, and politics at a high level.
Retail Inequality: reframing the food desert debate by
Retail Inequality examines the failure of recent efforts to improve Americans' diets by improving access to healthy food. Based on exhaustive research in Greenville, SC, Kenneth H. Kolb documents the struggles of two Black neighborhoods. Outsiders ignored their complaints about the unsavory retail options on their side of town until the emergence of the well-intentioned but flawed "food desert" concept. Soon after, new allies arrived to help, believing grocery stores and healthier options were the key to better health. Their efforts, however, did not change locals' food consumption practices. Retail Inequality explains why and outlines the history of deindustrialization, urban public policy, and racism that are the cause of unequal access to food today. Kolb identifies retail inequality as the crucial concept to understanding today's debates over gentrification and community development. As this book makes clear, the battle over food deserts was never about food--it was about equality.
SDG2 - Zero Hunger: food security, improved nutrition and sustainable agriculture by
SDG2 links food security, nutrition and a sustainable but climate resilient agriculture. This multi-dimensional goal encompasses several specific targets and indicators, aimed at ending hunger, improving nutrition and achieving food security through sustainable and resilient agriculture and income increase. This book assesses the implications of SDG2 for the economic, social and environmental domains of communities and countries. Three case study countries (Nigeria, Ghana, and The Gambia) were used to record values of their SDG2 indicators to demonstrate the operationalization of keeping track and measuring progress. This research shows that many of the datasets for the three countries are not available in the Global SDG Indicators Database compiled through the United Nations system. This book supports the database update process by United Nation Statistics Division since it enhances the process of proper accounting in reporting progress. Furthermore, the book supports the enhancement of the adaptive capacity and resilience of small-scale farmers since it is critical to reverse the trend in the rise in hunger. Concise Guides to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goalscomprises 17 short books, each examining one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The series provides an integrated assessment of the SDGs from economic, legal, social, environmental and cultural perspectives.
Water Productivity and Food Security: global trends and regional patterns by
Water Productivity and Food Security: Global Trends and Regional Patterns, Volume Three reviews the need for water productivity improvements in agriculture, addressing three distinct questions pertaining to agricultural water productivity improvement in developing countries, including what are the regions where water is a limiting factor for raising agricultural outputs and water productivity improvements, what are the technological measures in irrigation that can raise agricultural water productivity and result in water saving at various scales, and what opportunities exist in the developing economies of South Asia and Africa for raising water productivity and improving water economy at basin scale. This book provides a framework to characterize river basins based on water availability, water supplies, water uses and water demands to ascertain the need and measures available for improving crop water productivity that would be effective at various scales, i.e., plant-level, plot-level, irrigation system level and basin level. This is an essential reference for anyone interested in water management and agriculture. Presents clear explanations of the physical and technical measures that can be adopted to improve productivity of water in agricultural production under different basin conditions Offers physical strategies for improving water productivity in agriculture in different agroecological regions, along with the institutional and policy measures that affect them Includes methodologies for assessing the food security challenges of individual nations using empirical analysis and global datasets
Zero Hunger by
Nutritious and sufficient food all year round -- Increase of small-scale food producers: women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers -- Access to land and financial services -- Resilient agricultural practices -- Maintainance of ecosystems -- Adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters -- Improvement of land and soil quality -- Genetic diversity of seed -- Enhanced international cooperation -- Investment in agricultural research, technology development, plant and livestock gene banks -- Enhance agricultural capacity in developing countries -- Prevention of trade restrictions, Doha Development Round -- Access to market information on food reserves -- Limitation of extreme food price volatility.
It's summer, so I thought I would list some fun (but not necessarily new) stuff. These may have little or nothing to do with Public Health, but everyone is encouraged to take a break once in a while!
