Child mortality is a leading cause of concern in many developing countries. Lack of necessary healthcare facilities has resulted in children's death due to infectious diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and other complications related to preterm birth. However, most of these diseases are avoidable with inexpensive interventions like appropriate nutrition, breastfeeding and vaccination. A recent study, led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, and involving researchers from the UK, Switzerland, Canada and India, has provided some insights into how well India has fared in reducing child mortality. The study provides estimates of child mortality at a national, regional and state level in India and is published in the journal The Lancet Global Health.

The human gastrointestinal tract is inhabited by myriad microbes, which collectively form the gut microbiome. The interaction between the members of this internal 'ecosystem' can help us understand their organisation, growth, and how they react to what we eat. In summary, this tiny ecosystem in our gut determines our health. In a recent study, published in the journal Science, an international collaboration of researchers has investigated if these microbes hold a clue to the health of malnourished children.

Researchers from the University of Toronto, Canada, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and the Indian Council of Medical Research have analysed the impact of the national measles immunisation campaign in India.

The leading cause of death in the world is not wars or famines but cardiovascular diseases, and worse still, we haven't fully understood what causes these ailments. Researchers believe it to be a mix of genetic factors, lifestyle changes, diet and environmental factors like air pollution, noise and our neighbourhood. In recent years, cases of high blood pressure and hypertension, which directly contribute to heart diseases, have increased, and those living in low and middle-income countries are the most vulnerable.  A recent study, published in the journal Epidemiology, aims to examine the associations between long-term exposure to ambient particulate air pollution, and prevalence of hypertension in adults from peri-urban India. 

In a recent study, researchers from the Bangalore Baptist Hospital, Bengaluru, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands and the University of Sheffield, UK, have attempted to find what ailments plagued the residents of Devarajeevanahalli.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) and the University of Birmingham, UK hope to better understand urinary incontinence and possible interventions for those suffering from this condition.

Human decision-making is critical to voluntary vaccination programs. In a recent study, published in PLoS Computational Biology, researchers from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, have modelled the outcomes of such programs using game theory. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that studies how agents in an interaction make strategic decisions.

Researchers from IIT Bombay and CSIR-NCL show how gold-liposome nanohybrids can kill cancer cells.

In the course of human evolution, our ability to read is a relatively newly acquired trait. Hence, it is highly unlikely that a region of the brain could have evolved specifically for reading, unlike much more ancient functions like seeing or hearing. But, how is it that we are capable of this unique feat that involves recognising words and interpreting their meaning? Reading requires the coordinated functions of several regions in the brain, particularly associated with visual sensory processing. In a recent study, an international team of researchers investigated the effects of reading on the visual system in the brain.This study was published in the journal Science Advances.

The city of Delhi has been consistently ranked as one of the world's most polluted cities. As the monsoon ends, haze sets in, with Deepawali around the corner, bringing the entire city to a standstill with low visibility. Besides vehicular emissions, smoke from diesel generators and construction dust, a significant contributor to this problem is the practice of crop residue burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana. A recent study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, suggests that groundwater conservation policies, adopted by Punjab and Haryana, have changed the patterns of rice production. These policies, the researchers argue, have led to the concentration of crop residue burning into a narrower period, later in the season.