Submission

The Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health (http://www.mdpi.org/ijerph/; ISSN 1660-4601) was launched in 2004 and is an Open Access journal. According to Scopus Database (Elsevier), the IJERPH has an unofficial impact factor (cites per article) of 1.33 in 2007 (SciMajo Journal Rank). The IJERPH maintains a rapid editorial procedure and a rigorous peer-review system.Well written papers have been peer-reviewed and published in less than 4 weeks from manuscript submission. This journal is abstracted and indexed very rapidly by Chemical Abstracts, MedLine/PubMed and EMBASE.

All papers should be submitted to ijerph@mdpi.org with copy to the guest editor. To be published continuously until the deadline and papers will be listed together at this special issue website.

Please visit the instructions for authors at http://www.mdpi.org/ijerph/publguid.htm before submitting a paper. Open Access publication fees are 800 CHF per paper. English correction fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (1050 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.). Free publication for manuscripts submitted in 2008.

Ms. Gardenia You, M.Sc.
MDPI Branch Office, Beijing

IJERPH Editorial Office
Molecular Diversity Preservation, International (MDPI)
Kandererstrasse 25, CH-4057 Basel, Switzerland
Tel. +41 61 683 77 34; Fax  +41 61 302 89 18
E-mail: ijerph@mdpi.org
http://www.mdpi.org/ijerph/

Editor-in-Chief of the IJERPH
Prof. Dr. Paul B. Tchounwou
College of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Jackson State University
E-Mail: paul.b.tchounwou@jsums.edu

Planned Papers

Title: The Contribution of Cohort Effects, Sanitary Intervention and Nutritional Improvement to the Decline of Mortality since 1700
Author: Prof. Dr. Bernard Harris (Position: Professor of the History of Social Policy)
School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Tel.: (023) 8059 2567; Email: B.J.Harris@soton.ac.uk
Abstract:
Table of Contents: 1. Introduction - the historical debate over the causes of mortality decline (focusing on the 'diet versus sanitary intervention' debate. 2. The problem of timescales (should we focus on the period since circa 1850, or take a more long-term perspective?). 3. The problem of finding direct evidence of dietary change (this section would draw on some current work on estimates of food availability in the UK at different periods). 4. The role of cohort effects (revisiting older debates about the relationship between period and cohort effects in mortality change). 5. Conclusions and implications (how we should see the relationship between different factors in mortality change, and the implications of earlier declines in mortality for future health trends).

Title: Effects of Psychoactive Medication on Driving Ability and Traffic Safety
Author: Joris Verster
E-mail: J.C.Verster@uu.nl
Abstract: (To be added soon)

Submitted Papers

Title: The Relationship Between General Population Suicide Rates and the Human Development Index: a Cross-national Study
Authors: Ajit Shah * and Ritesh Bhandarkar
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom and Consultant Psychiatrist, West London Mental Health NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom; E-mail: ajit.shah@wlmht.nhs.uk
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; Address: John Connolly Unit, West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Uxbridge Road, Southall, Middlesex UB1 3EU, United Kingdom; Tel.: 0208 354 8191; Fax: 0208 354 8898
Abstract:
Background: A curvilinear (inverted U-shaped curve) relationship between elderly suicide rates and the Human Development Index has been observed. This relationship between general population suicide rates and the HDI was examined.
Methods: The relationship between Human Development Index (HDI), a composite index measuring  average achievements on three basic dimensions of human development (life expectancy, educational attainment and socio-economic status) and general population suicide rates in both sexes was examined in a cross-national study utilising secondary data from the World Health Organization and the United Nations.
Results: There was a significant curvilinear (inverted U-shaped curve) relationship between general population suicide rates in females and the HDI fitting the quadratic equation Y = A + BX - CX2 (where Y = suicide rates, X = HDI, and A, B and C are constants. A similar curvilinear relationship was observed in males, but did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions: The findings were consitent with a previously proposed four sequential stages model in the elderly: (i) low suicide rate-low human development society; (ii) high suicide rate-low human development society; (iii) high suicide rate-high human development society; and (iv) low suicide rate-high human development society. Caution should be exercised in the application of this model because of the cross-sectional and ecological study design whereby the findings are subject to ecological fallacy and require rigourous testing in within-country longitudinal studies over time.
Keywords: Elderly suicides, life expectancy, socio-economic status, educational status.



MDPI - 24 September 2008