The Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on Health in Canada: A Systematic Literature Review.

The association between religion and health has been the subject of growing interest in academia. However, limited reviews of such studies in Canada exist. The paper systematically reviews and synthesizes existing literature on the relationship between spirituality and health in Canada.

Within- and between-city contrasts in nitrogen dioxide and mortality in 10 Canadian cities; a subset of the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (CanCHEC).

The independent and joint effects of within- and between-city contrasts in air pollution on mortality have been investigated rarely. To examine the differential effects of between- versus within-city contrasts in pollution exposure, we used both ambient measurements and land use regression models to assess associations with mortality and exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) among ~735,600 adults in 10 of the largest Canadian cities. We estimated exposure contrasts partitioned into within- and between-city contrasts, and the sum of these as overall exposures, for every year from 1984 to 2006.

Gender differences in the prevalence and determinants of tobacco use among school-aged adolescents (11-17 years) in Sudan and South Sudan.

Introduction: Tobacco use is one of the leading and preventable causes of global morbidities and premature mortalities. The study explores gender differences in the prevalence and determinants of tobacco use among school-aged adolescents (11-17 years) in Sudan and South Sudan.

Methods: The study utilized the national Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data collected in 2005 for Sudan (4,277 unweighted; 131,631 weighted).

Spatial variation of management of childhood diarrhea in Malawi.

This study reports the spatial variability in household management of diarrhea among under-fives in Malawi. Using data from 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey, we examined oral rehydration and feeding practices of mothers and caregivers of 3105 children with an episode of diarrhea by mapping district effect residual in geo-additive probit model and analyzing residual spatial effects in a Bayesian approach. The findings suggest that although diarrhea is relatively less prevalent in the Northern Region, this region lags behind in terms of adoption of appropriate practices for home-based management of diarrhea in children compared to the Central Regions and Southern Regions.

Associations between self-reported odour annoyance and volatile organic compounds in 'Chemical Valley', Sarnia, Ontario.

Annoyance produced by air pollution has been suggested as a useful proxy for determining ambient air pollution exposure. However, most of the studies, to date, have focused on nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide, with no work done on volatile organic compounds (VOC). This study is aimed at examining the associations between odour annoyance and VOC in 'Chemical Valley', Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

Risk of nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in relation to long-term exposure to low concentrations of fine particulate matter: a Canadian national-level cohort study.

Background: Few cohort studies have evaluated the risk of mortality associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter [≤ 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(2.5))].

Spatial variability and application of ratios between BTEX in two Canadian cities.

Spatial monitoring campaigns of volatile organic compounds were carried out in two similarly sized urban industrial cities, Windsor and Sarnia, ON, Canada. For Windsor, data were obtained for all four seasons at approximately 50 sites in each season (winter, spring, summer, and fall) over a three-year period (2004, 2005, and 2006) for a total of 12 sampling sessions. Sampling in Sarnia took place at 37 monitoring sites in fall 2005.

Air pollution and general practitioner access and utilization: a population based study in Sarnia, 'Chemical Valley,' Ontario.

Background: Health impacts of poor environmental quality have been identified in studies around the world and in Canada. While many of the studies have identified associations between air pollution and mortality or morbidity, few have focused on the role of health care as a potential moderator of impacts. This study assessed the determinants of health care access and utilization in the context of ambient air pollution in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

The relationship between odour annoyance scores and modelled ambient air pollution in Sarnia, "Chemical Valley", Ontario.

This study aimed at establishing the relationship between annoyance scores and modelled air pollution in "Chemical Valley", Sarnia, Ontario (Canada). Annoyance scores were taken from a community health survey (N = 774); and respondents' exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and sulphur dioxide (SO(2)) were estimated using land use regression (LUR) models. The associations were examined by univariate analysis while multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the determinants of odour annoyance.

Assessing the distribution of volatile organic compounds using land use regression in Sarnia, "Chemical Valley", Ontario, Canada.

Background: Land use regression (LUR) modelling is proposed as a promising approach to meet some of the challenges of assessing the intra-urban spatial variability of ambient air pollutants in urban and industrial settings. However, most of the LUR models to date have focused on nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. This study aimed at developing LUR models to predict BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m/p-xylene and o-xylene) concentrations in Sarnia, 'Chemical Valley', Ontario, and model the intra-urban variability of BTEX compounds in the city for a community health study.

Spatial variability of ambient nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in Sarnia, "Chemical Valley," Ontario, Canada.

This study aimed at developing models to predict nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) concentrations in Sarnia, "Chemical Valley", Ontario, Canada, and model the intra-urban variation of ambient NO(2) and SO(2) in the city for a community health study. NO(2) and SO(2) samples were monitored with Ogawa passive samplers at 39 locations across the city for 2 wk during the fall of 2005. The final land use regression models were constructed to generate independent variables that might best predict NO(2) and SO(2) concentrations.

What motivates farmers to participate in the Nova Scotia environmental farm plan program? Evidence and environmental policy implications.

Program stakeholders are interested in better understanding farmers' experience, and factors that affect farmer participation in the relatively new Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program, implemented in several provinces in Canada. To increase relevance of the research findings to EFP program administrators and policy makers, the research methods emphasised determining whether relationships exist among program-related variables, and how such relationships affect farmers' decision choices and behaviour. Traditional farmer and farm attributes that have contrasting effects in agricultural innovation adoption and conservation management (namely age, and formal education completed), were not associated with EFP program participation.