PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 1 August 2015)
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Blue Marble Health Redux: Neglected Tropical Diseases and Human Development in the Group of 20 (G20) Nations and Nigeria
Peter J. Hotez
Editorial | published 28 Jul 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003672
PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 1 August 2015]
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Investigation of a Measles Outbreak in China to Identify Gaps in Vaccination Coverage, Routes of Transmission, and Interventions
Xiang Zheng, Ningjing Zhang, Xiaoshu Zhang, Lixin Hao, Qiru Su, Haijun Wang, Kongyan Meng, Binglin Zhang, Jianfeng Liu, Huaqing Wang, Huiming Luo, Li Li, Hui Li, Chao Ma
Research Article | published 24 Jul 2015 | PLOS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0133983
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Research Article
A Scoping Review of Empirical Research Relating to Quality and Effectiveness of Research Ethics Review
Stuart G. Nicholls, Tavis P. Hayes, Jamie C. Brehaut, Michael McDonald, Charles Weijer, Raphael Saginur, Dean Fergusson
Published: July 30, 2015
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133639
Abstract
Background
To date there is no established consensus of assessment criteria for evaluating research ethics review.
Methods
We conducted a scoping review of empirical research assessing ethics review processes in order to identify common elements assessed, research foci, and research gaps to aid in the development of assessment criteria. Electronic searches of Ovid Medline, PsychInfo, and the Cochrane DSR, ACP Journal Club, DARE, CCTR, CMR, HTA, and NHSEED, were conducted. After de-duplication, 4234 titles and abstracts were reviewed. Altogether 4036 articles were excluded following screening of titles, abstracts and full text. A total of 198 articles included for final data extraction.
Results
Few studies originated from outside North America and Europe. No study reported using an underlying theory or framework of quality/effectiveness to guide study design or analyses. We did not identify any studies that had involved a controlled trial – randomised or otherwise – of ethics review procedures or processes. Studies varied substantially with respect to outcomes assessed, although tended to focus on structure and timeliness of ethics review.
Discussion
Our findings indicate a lack of consensus on appropriate assessment criteria, exemplified by the varied study outcomes identified, but also a fragmented body of research. To date research has been largely quantitative, with little attention given to stakeholder experiences, and is largely cross sectional. A lack of longitudinal research to date precludes analyses of change or assessment of quality improvement in ethics review.
PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 1 August 2015)
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Systematic review of current efforts to quantify the impacts of climate change on undernutrition
Revati K. Phalkeya,b,1, Clara Aranda-Jana,c, Sabrina Marxd, Bernhard Höfled, and Rainer Sauerborna
Author Affiliations
Edited by Kristie L. Ebi, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and accepted by the Editorial Board June 21, 2015 (received for review May 27, 2014)
Significance
The World Health Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change propose undernutrition as the most significant impact of climate change on child health. The question then arises: Where does the empirical evidence to back this claim come from? Current evidence for the impacts of climate on childhood undernutrition draws on a limited number of heterogeneous studies with methodological limitations and is based predominantly on secondary data. Establishing and validating causal pathways among complex confounding factors remain the main challenge in quantifying the climate-attributable fraction of undernutrition. Systematically generating evidence from long-term, high-quality primary data on a range of factors (agricultural, environmental, socioeconomic, and health) at the household level is critical for designing adaptation strategies, particularly for subsistence farmers.
Abstract
Malnutrition is a challenge to the health and productivity of populations and is viewed as one of the five largest adverse health impacts of climate change. Nonetheless, systematic evidence quantifying these impacts is currently limited. Our aim was to assess the scientific evidence base for the impact of climate change on childhood undernutrition (particularly stunting) in subsistence farmers in low- and middle-income countries. A systematic review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed and gray full-text documents in English with no limits for year of publication or study design. Fifteen manuscripts were reviewed. Few studies use primary data to investigate the proportion of stunting that can be attributed to climate/weather variability. Although scattered and limited, current evidence suggests a significant but variable link between weather variables, e.g., rainfall, extreme weather events (floods/droughts), seasonality, and temperature, and childhood stunting at the household level (12 of 15 studies, 80%). In addition, we note that agricultural, socioeconomic, and demographic factors at the household and individual levels also play substantial roles in mediating the nutritional impacts. Comparable interdisciplinary studies based on primary data at a household level are urgently required to guide effective adaptation, particularly for rural subsistence farmers. Systemization of data collection at the global level is indispensable and urgent. We need to assimilate data from long-term, high-quality agricultural, environmental, socioeconomic, health, and demographic surveillance systems and develop robust statistical methods to establish and validate causal links, quantify impacts, and make reliable predictions that can guide evidence-based health interventions in the future.
Sustainability
Volume 7, Issue 7 (July 2015), Pages 8051-9752
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/7
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Article: Effects of Large-Scale Acquisition on Food Insecurity in Sierra Leone
by Genesis Tambang Yengoh and Frederick Ato Armah
Sustainability 2015, 7(7), 9505-9539; doi:10.3390/su7079505
Published: 17 July 2015
Abstract:
The recent phenomenon of large-scale acquisition of land for a variety of investment purposes has raised deep concerns over the food security, livelihood and socio-economic development of communities in many regions of the developing world. This study set out to investigate the food security outcomes of land acquisitions in northern Sierra Leone. Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the study measures the severity of food insecurity and hunger, compares the situation of food security before and after the onset of operations of a land investing company, analyzes the food security implications of producing own food versus depending on wage labour for household food needs, and evaluates initiatives put in place by the land investing company to mitigate its food insecurity footprint. Results show an increase in the severity of food insecurity and hunger. Household income from agricultural production has fallen. Employment by the land investing company is limited in terms of the number of people it employs relative to the population of communities in which it operates. Also, wages from employment by the company cannot meet the staple food needs of its employees. The programme that has been put in place by the company to mitigate its food insecurity footprint is failing because of a host of reasons that relate to organization and power relations. In conclusion, rural people are better off producing their own food than depending on the corporate structure of land investment companies. Governments should provide an enabling framework to accommodate this food security need, both in land investment operations that are ongoing and in those that are yet to operate.
This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:
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GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
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