Developing World Bioethics
April 2016 Volume 16, Issue 1 Pages 1–60
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dewb.2016.16.issue-1/issuetoc

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EDITORIAL
Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Ethics of Emergency Access to Unregistered Medical Interventions and Clinical Trial Designs (pages 2–3)
Udo Schuklenk
Article first published online: 19 JAN 2016 | DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12102
[No abstract]

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ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Managing Ethical Challenges to Mental Health Research in Post-Conflict Settings (pages 15–28)
Anna Chiumento, Muhammad Naseem Khan, Atif Rahman and Lucy Frith
Article first published online: 8 JAN 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12076
Abstract
Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the need to strengthen mental health systems following emergencies, including natural and manmade disasters. Mental health services need to be informed by culturally attuned evidence that is developed through research. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish rigorous ethical research practice to underpin the evidence-base for mental health services delivered during and following emergencies.

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Against Permitted Exploitation in Developing World Research Agreements (pages 36–44)
Danielle M. Wenner
Article first published online: 17 FEB 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12081
Abstract
This paper examines the moral force of exploitation in developing world research agreements. Taking for granted that some clinical research which is conducted in the developing world but funded by developed world sponsors is exploitative, it asks whether a third party would be morally justified in enforcing limits on research agreements in order to ensure more fair and less exploitative outcomes. This question is particularly relevant when such exploitative transactions are entered into voluntarily by all relevant parties, and both research sponsors and host communities benefit from the resulting agreements. I show that defenders of the claim that exploitation ought to be permitted rely on a mischaracterization of certain forms of interference as unjustly paternalistic and two dubious empirical assumptions about the results of regulation. The view I put forward is that by evaluating a system of constraints on international research agreements, rather than individual transaction-level interference, we can better assess the alternatives to permitting exploitative research agreements.

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Maintaining Research Integrity While Balancing Cultural Sensitivity: A Case Study and Lessons From the Field (pages 55–60)
Rebekah Sibbald, Bethina Loiseau, Benedict Darren, Salem A. Raman, Helen Dimaras and Lawrence C. Loh
Article first published online: 11 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12089
Abstract
Contemporary emphasis on creating culturally relevant and context specific knowledge increasingly drives researchers to conduct their work in settings outside their home country. This often requires researchers to build relationships with various stakeholders who may have a vested interest in the research. This case study examines the tension between relationship development with stakeholders and maintaining study integrity, in the context of potential harms, data credibility and cultural sensitivity. We describe an ethical breach in the conduct of global health research by a arising from the ad-hoc participation of a community stakeholder external to the visiting research group. A framework for reflection is developed from a careful examination of underlying factors and presented with a discussion of consequences and mitigation measures. This framework aims to present lessons learned for researchers working abroad who might face similar situations in their work.

Food Policy
Volume 61, In Progress (May 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03069192

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Original Research Article
Abolishing biofuel policies: Possible impacts on agricultural price levels, price variability and global food security
Pages 9-26
Sergio René Araujo Enciso, Thomas Fellmann, Ignacio Pérez Dominguez, Fabien Santini
Abstract
In this paper we assess the impact of abolishing biofuel policies (mandates, tax credits, import and export tariffs) on agricultural price levels and price variability as well as some aspects related to global food security. For the analysis we employ a recursive-dynamic agricultural multi-commodity model within a stochastic framework. Results of the 10-years forward looking scenario indicate that the removal of biofuel policies would have a significant effect on price variability of biofuels, but only a marginal impact on the variability of agricultural commodity prices. Without biofuel policies, global biofuel demand would decrease by 25% for ethanol and 32% for biodiesel. Moreover, prices would only moderately decrease for ethanol feedstock commodities like wheat and coarse grains, while prices for biodiesel feedstock commodities, specifically vegetable oils, would be more affected. Due to competing uses of crop production such as feed and industrial use, abolishing biofuel policies would not necessarily lead to an increase in global food security, as food use increases would remain low for most crops and regions.

International Health
Volume 8 Issue 2 February 2016
http://inthealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/current

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REVIEWS
Editor’s choice: Cardiac rehabilitation in low- and middle-income countries: a review on cost and cost-effectiveness
Neil B. Oldridge, Maureen T. Pakosh, and Randal J. Thomas
Int. Health (2016) 8 (2): 77-82 doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihv047

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Spillover effect of HIV-specific foreign aid on immunization services in Nigeria
Charles C. Chima and Luisa Franzini
Abstract
Background Health aid to Nigeria increased tremendously in the last decade and a significant portion of the funds were earmarked for HIV-associated programs. Studies on the impact of HIV-specific aid on the delivery of non-HIV health services in sub-Saharan Africa have yielded mixed results. This study assessed if there is a spillover effect of HIV-specific aid on childhood vaccinations in Nigeria.
Methods Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of aid disbursements in a previous year on the receipt of vaccines at the individual level in a given year. Estimations were done for approximately 11 700 children using data from demographic and health surveys conducted in Nigeria in 2003 and 2008.
Results US$1 increase in HIV aid per capita was associated with a decrease in the probability of receipt of vaccines by 8–31%: polio first dose decreased by 8%; polio final dose by 9%; diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) first dose by 11%; DPT final dose by 19%; measles by 31%; final doses of polio and DPT plus measles vaccine by 8%.
Conclusions HIV-specific aid had a negative spillover effect on immunization services in Nigeria over the study period. Donors may need to rethink their funding strategies in favour of more horizontal approaches.

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology
Volume 23, Issue 3, 2016
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsdw20/current

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Original Articles
Tourism effects on the environment and economic sustainability of sub-Saharan Africa
Jung Wan Lee & Tantatape Brahmasrene
pages 221-232
DOI:10.1080/13504509.2015.1114976
ABSTRACT
This paper integrates tourism, economic growth, and environmental issues in a multivariate format. Unlike recent research on this topic, a panel data of selected sample nations of sub-Saharan Africa is adopted by using cointegration and panel regression models. The current research discovers both long-run equilibrium and short-run dynamics between economic growth, tourism, energy use, and carbon emissions in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, tourism and energy use show a highly significant direct impact on economic growth. In addition, tourism, energy use, and economic growth yield a highly significant positive effect on carbon emissions. Dissecting the region into oil producers and non-oil producers further suggests that the economic growth of sub-Saharan Africa has been accomplished by strong growth in tourism and energy use. However, there is highly significant evidence that in oil producing countries, CO2 emissions are directly affected by energy use and economic growth and not by tourism. For non-oil producing countries, tourism and energy use but not economic growth incur a highly significant positive impact on carbon emissions.

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Community participation in the management of forest reserves in the Northern Region of Ghana
Rikiatu Husseini, Stephen B. Kendie & Patrick Agbesinyale
pages 245-256
DOI:10.1080/13504509.2015.1112858
ABSTRACT
The 1994 forest and wildlife policy of Ghana provides the basis for community participation in forest management through participatory forest management. Even though forest reserves in the Northern Region are said to be managed collaboratively, fringe communities are supposedly involved only in maintenance activities of the reserve boundaries and seedling planting in plantation programmes. The forest reserves are said to be threatened by illegal activities from the fringe communities. This study therefore examined the nature of community participation in the management of forest reserves.
It is a mixed method research in which structured interview schedule, in-depth interview and focus group discussion guides were used for data collection. Respondents comprised community members, forestry staff and NGOs. Communities’ participation was found to be passive and tokenistic and limited to boundary cleaning and providing labour on plantations. There is no formal collaboration between communities and Forest Services Division. Prospects to communities’ participation lie in the continuous flow of benefits and their active involvement in management decisions. Active involvement of communities in all decision-making processes, capacity building of communities and forestry staff, incentive schemes and awareness creation are recommended for promoting community participation in managing forest reserves in Northern Region.

Intervention – Journal of Mental Health and Psychological Support in Conflict Affected Areas
March 2016 – Volume 14 – Issue 1 pp: 2-96
http://journals.lww.com/interventionjnl/pages/currenttoc.aspx

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Articles
A post disaster capacity building model in Peru
Rivera-Holguín, Miryam; Velázquez, Tesania; Morote, Roxana
Abstract
This paper presents a model of a capacity building intervention, which encompasses twophases: reception and familiarity (a process of getting to know people to beyond their problems) and community mobilisation. This intervention was conducted with 65 participants from Chincha (Peru) urban and rural areas after the earthquake of 15 August 2007, highlighting a community intervention that was based on the content and methodology generated during the sessions. It is grounded in the recognition of local capacities and putting collective action into practice, through workshops and art to enhance culture and identity and empower participants. The 65 participants were able to mobilise their communities to design and create 17 murals and signboards. The main achievements of this model of intervention were the progressive withdrawal of external professionals involved, the development of personal skills of community leaders (e.g. self efficacy, organisation), and the systematic increase of leadership and community participation.

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Mental health and psychosocial support for the internally displaced persons in Bannu, Pakistan
Humayun, Asma; Azad, Nadia; Haq, Israr ul; More
Abstract
Following armed conflict in the North Waziristan Agency, a mental health and psychosocial support initiative was launched for internally displaced persons in Bannu, Pakistan. This was convened by volunteer mental health professionals, in collaboration with a variety of agencies (provincial government, military, humanitarian agencies) in a security compromised region. As part of the initiative, monthly camps were held for a period of six months. Mental health needs were assessed. A multidisciplinary team (psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses and psychosocial workers) offered mental health care to 680 people who attended the camps, of which 28% were under the age of 18 years old. Twenty-one percent returned for follow-up, while others were followed-up in the community by psychosocial teams. Estimates of common mental disorders were found. Both pharmacological and psychological treatments were offered, according to existing guidelines. Active efforts were made to conduct holistic assessments and avoid a pure biomedical approach. This also provided an opportunity for training non specialist staff and led to formal (World Health Organization) mental health gap action plan training for primary care staff.

JAMA
March 1, 2016, Vol 315, No. 9
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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Viewpoint
The Emerging Zika Pandemic: Enhancing Preparedness
Daniel R. Lucey, MD, MPH; Lawrence O. Gostin, JD
Extract
This Viewpoint discusses Zika virus infection and health system preparedness and urges the World Health Organization to proactively respond to the growing global threat of infection.
The Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus related to yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis, originated in the Zika forest in Uganda and was discovered in a rhesus monkey in 1947. The disease now has “explosive” pandemic potential, with outbreaks in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Americas.1 Since Brazil reported Zika virus in May 2015, infections have occurred in at least 20 countries in the Americas.2 Puerto Rico reported the first locally transmitted infection in December 2015, but Zika is likely to spread to the United States. The Aedes species mosquito (an aggressive daytime biter) that transmits Zika virus (as well as dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever) occurs worldwide, posing a high risk for global transmission. Modeling anticipates significant international spread by travelers from Brazil to the rest of the Americas, Europe, and Asia.3 What steps are required now to shore up preparedness in the Americas and worldwide?…

Journal of Community Health
Volume 41, Issue 2, April 2016
http://link.springer.com/journal/10900/41/2/page/1

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Original Paper
Effects of Community Health Nurse-Led Intervention on Childhood Routine Immunization Completion in Primary Health Care Centers in Ibadan, Nigeria
V. B. Brown, O. A. Oluwatosin, J. O. Akinyemi, A. A. Adeyemo
Abstract
Immunization coverage of vulnerable children is often sub-optimal in many low- and middle-income countries. The use of a reminder/recall (R/R) system has been one of the strategies shown to be effective in improving immunization rates. In the resent study, we evaluated the effect of R/R and Primary Health Care Immunization Providers’ Training (PHCIPT) intervention on routine immunization completion among 595 infants in Ibadan, Nigeria. The design was a group randomized controlled trial with Local Government Area (LGA) being the unit of randomization. Four randomly selected LGAs were randomized to receive a cellphone R/R only (A), a PHCIPT only (B); combined R/R and PHCIPT (C) intervention or serve as a control group (D). Children aged 0–12 weeks were consecutively recruited into each group and followed up for 12 months. The primary outcome measure was routine immunization completion at 12 months of age. At the study endpoint, immunization completion rates were: group A, 98.6 %; group B, 70 %; group C, 97.3 %; and group D, 57.3 %. Compared to the control group, the cellphone R/R group was 72 % (RR 1.72, 95 % CI 1.50–1.98) and the combined RR/PHCIPT group 70 % (RR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.47–1.95) more likely to complete immunization. In contrast, immunization completion in the PHCIPT group was marginally different from the control group (RR 1.22, 95 % CI 1.03–1.45). These findings remained robust to adjustment for potential predictors of immunization completion as covariates. In conclusion, cellphone reminder/recall was effective in improving immunization completion in this Nigerian setting. Its use is recommended for large scale implementation.

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Original Paper
A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Evaluate a Mother–Daughter Dyadic Educational Intervention for Increasing HPV Vaccination Coverage in American Indian Girls
Rachel L. Winer, Angela A. Gonzales, Carolyn J. Noonan…
Abstract
We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to American Indian mothers affected HPV vaccination rates in their adolescent daughters. In March–April 2012, we recruited Hopi mothers or female guardians with daughters aged 9–12 years for a cluster-randomized intervention study on the Hopi Reservation. Participants attended mother-daughter dinners featuring educational presentations for mothers on either HPV (intervention) or juvenile diabetes (control) and completed baseline surveys. Eleven months later, we surveyed mothers on their daughters’ HPV vaccine uptake. We also reviewed aggregated immunization reports from the Indian Health Service to assess community-level HPV vaccination coverage from 2007 to 2013. Ninety-seven mother-daughter dyads participated; nine mothers reported that their daughters completed the three-dose HPV vaccination series before recruitment. Among the remaining mothers, 63 % completed the follow-up survey. Adjusting for household income, the proportion of daughters completing vaccination within 11 months post-intervention was similar in the intervention and control groups (32 vs. 28 %, adjusted RR = 1.2, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.6–2.3). Among unvaccinated daughters, those whose mothers received HPV education were more likely to initiate vaccination (50 vs. 27 %, adjusted RR = 2.6, 95 % CI 1.4–4.9) and complete three doses (adjusted RR = 4.0, 95 % CI 1.2–13.1) than girls whose mothers received diabetes education. Community-level data showed that 80 % of girls aged 13–17 years and 20 % of girls aged 11–12 completed the vaccination series by 2013. HPV vaccine uptake in Hopi girls aged 13–17 years is significantly higher than the U.S. national average. Brief educational presentations on HPV delivered to American Indian mothers might increase HPV vaccination rates in daughters aged 9–12 years.

Journal of Development Economics
Volume 119, Pages 1-138 (March 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043878/119

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Regular Articles
Labor market opportunities and women’s decision making power within households
Original Research Article
Pages 34-47
Kaveh Majlesi
Abstract
Despite the perceived importance of labor market opportunities in shaping married women’s outside option, and their bargaining power within households as a result, this link has received very little empirical attention. Using longitudinal data on who makes the decision on a wide range of issues within Mexican households and data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Institute, this paper identifies the effects of relative changes in labor market opportunities for men and women on both working and non-working women’s decision making power. I find that increases in labor market opportunities improve women’s decision-making power as well as children’s health. Using differential labor demand shocks across Mexican industries caused by China’s admission to the WTO gives similar results.

Journal of Human Trafficking
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2016
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uhmt20/current
Introduction to the Special Issue
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Human Rights Violators in Comparative Perspective
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136166
Austin Choi-Fitzpatricka*
pages 1-14
Published online: 03 Mar 2016
ABSTRACT
A large and growing wave of scholarship has focused attention on a variety of contemporary forms of slavery. Early attention went to victims of sexual exploitation, though this is starting to slowly change with a growing body of work on labor exploitation. Previous studies focused exclusively on international trafficking and on the Global South whereas newer studies emphasize domestic trafficking and exploitation in the Global North. This article, and the special issue it introduces, suggests that it is high time scholars and advocates broaden their scope to more clearly focus on perpetrators and on the emancipation process. Perpetrators are too often thought of as “criminals of the worst sort,” a cultural shorthand that reduces understanding and thereby hampers both theory and practice of emancipation. For its part, emancipation is too often thought of as either “freedom” or the binary opposite of slavery. Here too, reality is more complex and fraught. In this article, I argue that a human rights approach to slaveholders and emancipation would improve greatly on the status quo.

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Articles
Eliminating Corporate Exploitation: Examining Accountability Regimes as Means to Eradicate Forced Labor from Supply Chains
Ashley Feasley
Columbus School of Law, Catholic University, Washington, DC, USA and Director of Advocacy, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, USApages 15-31
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1137194
ABSTRACT
The existence of forced labor in a company’s supply chain represents the newest frontier of the global effort to eliminate forced labor. Corporations, beneficiaries of profits from products made with forced labor, represent the most nimble and most modern perpetrators of trafficking and exploitation. The negative publicity and consumer backlash that companies are facing for having forced labor in their supply chains reflects the new paradigm confronting corporate perpetrators with respect to international human rights. This article discusses four established regimes of accountability and reviews each regime’s efficacy in ensuring that corporations operate transparent, forced labor-free supply chains. The respective regimes: international regulation, market-based, civil liability, and domestic regulation, have achieved varying levels of success in recent years in an effort to make businesses accountable for ensuring forced labor-free supply chains. Analysis of accountability regimes and the successes and obstacles each regime has encountered in eliminating forced labor from corporate supply chains forcing companies to address forced labor maps progress that has occurred and also provides evaluation of what each accountability regime can provide to ensure businesses eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.

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Female Perpetrators in Internal Child Trafficking in China: An Empirical Study
Anqi Shen
School of Social Sciences, Business and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
pages 63-77
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136537
ABSTRACT
Through an empirical study, this article explores the overall profile of female traffickers of children in China and their role and performance in the trafficking processes. Its contribution to the human-trafficking literature lies in its focus on female perpetrators in particular. The article provides an overview of the international literature on female traffickers as well as contemporary knowledge about internal child trafficking in China. Empirical data from incarcerated traffickers suggest that portraying female traffickers as active players of criminal networks obscures the structural problems affecting female child traffickers. The short-term result is that the problems of female offenders are ignored, and the long-term impact is policy making that is disconnected from the lived experiences of an important population. From a gender perspective, this study suggests that female child traffickers are offenders as well as victims of social and gender inequalities in China’s reform era. This study also proposes that internal child trafficking in China should be brought in the international and Anglo-American debates surrounding human trafficking.

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Preliminary Data on a Sample of Perpetrators of Domestic Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation: Suggestions for Research and Practice
Katherine Gotch
Integrated Clinical & Correctional Services, Portland, Oregon, USA
pages 99-109
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136539
ABSTRACT
Trafficking for sexual exploitation is one aspect of human trafficking and, in recent years, there has been an increased awareness of and focus on domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation within the United States; however, very little is known about the psychological characteristics or criminogenic (i.e., causing or likely to cause criminal behavior) risk/need factors of the perpetrators who profit from domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation. In an attempt to expand the scope of known data on perpetrators of domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation, descriptive statistical analyses looking at factors hypothesized to be related to the psychological characteristics, criminogenic risk/need factors, and potential treatment interventions were conducted on a sample of 28 adult male offenders with an arrest, charge, and/or conviction of street-level domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation behavior in their history. The results provide preliminary data regarding the developmental/environmental factors, psychological characteristics, and criminogenic risk/need factors of this offender population, as well as support the hypothesis that perpetrators of domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation behavior appear to be a unique offender population requiring specialized management and therapeutic interventions. Suggestions and implications for practice and research are also provided.

Journal of International Development
March 2016 Volume 28, Issue 2 Pages 159–308
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.v28.2/issuetoc

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Research Articles
Understanding the Effects of Faith: A Comparison of Religious and Secular HIV Prevention NGOS in Kenya (pages 161–176)
Megan Hershey
Article first published online: 17 FEB 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3075
Abstract
Religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are active in development efforts, yet the role faith plays in these organizations—and its effects on programs—remains unclear. Drawing on evidence from a study of Kenyan NGOs, I find that faith rarely emerges in the programs of Christian religious NGOs. I argue that both secular and religious NGOs are constrained by donor restrictions and a need for legitimacy that simultaneously remove religious elements from religious NGOs and promote minimal religious practices within secular organizations. The second half of the article discusses the nuanced ways in which faith does manifest within the organizational characteristics and practices of NGOs

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The Effect of Remittances on Domestic Capital Formation in Select African Countries: A Comparative Empirical Analysis (pages 243–265)
Zelealem Yiheyis and Kasahun Woldemariam
Article first published online: 5 NOV 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3194
Abstract
Remittances are expected to affect domestic investment, among others, through induced rise in savings and easing of financial constraints. However, the empirical evidence on the relationship between the two variables is rather thin, especially in the context of Africa. This study investigates the short-run and long-run effects of remittances on domestic investment in four African countries using the bounds testing approach to cointegration analysis. The findings of the study indicate that whether remittances spur domestic capital formation varies by country and the time horizon considered, highlighting, among others, the importance of identifying the factors that tend to condition their relationship.

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Review Articles
The Impact of Remittances on Children’s Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Morocco (pages 266–280)
Jamal Bouoiyour and Amal Miftah
Article first published online: 11 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3147
Abstract
Using a nationally representative household data set from Morocco, the present study seeks to estimate the effects of migrants’ remittances on household investments in children’s human capital. Three findings emerge. First, children in remittance-receiving households are more likely to attend school and less likely to drop out compared with those in non-remittance-receiving households. Second, children’s participation in labour market decreases in the presence of international remittances. Third, remittances are associated with significantly lower level of no schooling for girls. These findings support the growing view that remittances can help increase the educational opportunities, especially for female children.

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Rethinking Microfinance for Developed Countries (pages 281–302)
Matteo Pedrini, Valentina Bramanti, Marco Minciullo and Laura Maria Ferri
Article first published online: 15 FEB 2016 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3205
Abstract
Despite the growth of the sector, microfinance’s academic research in developed countries is still very limited. The paper builds on earlier works, which discuss four technical problems related to the diffusion of microfinance in developing countries. In re-framing their approach to apply it to developed countries, we propose a set of recommendations in order to foster the growth of the microfinance sector: (1) the use of financial institutions to supply microfinance products; (2) the development of an alternative credit scoring in banks; (3) the adoption of a regulatory framework for microfinance; and (4) the use of networks as social collaterals.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Mar 2016 Volume 16 Number 3 p265-384 e11-e33
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

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Editorial
Zika virus in the dock
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)00085-2
Summary
In October, 2015, the Ministry of Health in Brazil reported an unexplained increase in cases of microcephaly, a congenital malformation normally associated with incomplete brain development, in newborn babies (4783 cases vs 150 in the previous year). The reported cases have caused widespread fear among pregnant women all over South and Central America, to the point that some nations such as Ecuador have recommended that their citizens postpone pregnancy to 2018, to give time to investigate the causes of the increase of microcephaly cases.

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Safety and immunogenicity of a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored Ebola vaccine in healthy adults: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding, phase 1/2a study
Olga De Santis, Régine Audran, Emilie Pothin, Loane Warpelin-Decrausaz, Laure Vallotton, Grégoire Wuerzner, Camille Cochet, Daniel Estoppey, Viviane Steiner-Monard, Sophie Lonchampt, Anne-Christine Thierry, Carole Mayor, Robert T Bailer, Olivier Tshiani Mbaya, Yan Zhou, Aurélie Ploquin, Nancy J Sullivan, Barney S Graham, François Roman, Iris De Ryck, W Ripley Ballou, Marie Paule Kieny, Vasee Moorthy, François Spertini, Blaise Genton
Summary
Background
The ongoing Ebola outbreak led to accelerated efforts to test vaccine candidates. On the basis of a request by WHO, we aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the monovalent, recombinant, chimpanzee adenovirus type-3 vector-based Ebola Zaire vaccine (ChAd3-EBO-Z).
Methods
We did this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding, phase 1/2a trial at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. Participants (aged 18–65 years) were randomly assigned (2:2:1), via two computer-generated randomisation lists for individuals potentially deployed in endemic areas and those not deployed, to receive a single intramuscular dose of high-dose vaccine (5 × 1010 viral particles), low-dose vaccine (2·5 × 1010 viral particles), or placebo. Deployed participants were allocated to only the vaccine groups. Group allocation was concealed from non-deployed participants, investigators, and outcome assessors. The safety evaluation was not masked for potentially deployed participants, who were therefore not included in the safety analysis for comparison between the vaccine doses and placebo, but were pooled with the non-deployed group to compare immunogenicity. The main objectives were safety and immunogenicity of ChAd3-EBO-Z. We did analysis by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02289027.
Findings
Between Oct 24, 2014, and June 22, 2015, we randomly assigned 120 participants, of whom 18 (15%) were potentially deployed and 102 (85%) were non-deployed, to receive high-dose vaccine (n=49), low-dose vaccine (n=51), or placebo (n=20). Participants were followed up for 6 months. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported. We recorded local adverse events in 30 (75%) of 40 participants in the high-dose group, 33 (79%) of 42 participants in the low-dose group, and five (25%) of 20 participants in the placebo group. Fatigue or malaise was the most common systemic adverse event, reported in 25 (62%) participants in the high-dose group, 25 (60%) participants in the low-dose group, and five (25%) participants in the placebo group, followed by headache, reported in 23 (57%), 25 (60%), and three (15%) participants, respectively. Fever occurred 24 h after injection in 12 (30%) participants in the high-dose group and 11 (26%) participants in the low-dose group versus one (5%) participant in the placebo group. Geometric mean concentrations of IgG antibodies against Ebola glycoprotein peaked on day 28 at 51 μg/mL (95% CI 41·1–63·3) in the high-dose group, 44·9 μg/mL (25·8–56·3) in the low-dose group, and 5·2 μg/mL (3·5–7·6) in the placebo group, with respective response rates of 96% (95% CI 85·7–99·5), 96% (86·5–99·5), and 5% (0·1–24·9). Geometric mean concentrations decreased by day 180 to 25·5 μg/mL (95% CI 20·6–31·5) in the high-dose group, 22·1 μg/mL (19·3–28·6) in the low-dose group, and 3·2 μg/mL (2·4–4·9) in the placebo group. 28 (57%) participants given high-dose vaccine and 31 (61%) participants given low-dose vaccine developed glycoprotein-specific CD4 cell responses, and 33 (67%) and 35 (69%), respectively, developed CD8 responses.
Interpretation
ChAd3-EBO-Z was safe and well tolerated, although mild to moderate systemic adverse events were common. A single dose was immunogenic in almost all vaccine recipients. Antibody responses were still significantly present at 6 months. There was no significant difference between doses for safety and immunogenicity outcomes. This acceptable safety profile provides a reliable basis to proceed with phase 2 and phase 3 efficacy trials in Africa.
Funding
Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), through the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

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Immunogenicity and safety of a novel monovalent high-dose inactivated poliovirus type 2 vaccine in infants: a comparative, observer-blind, randomised, controlled trial
Xavier Sáez-Llorens, Ralf Clemens, Geert Leroux-Roels, José Jimeno, Sue Ann Costa Clemens, William C Weldon, M Steven Oberste, Natanael Molina, Ananda S Bandyopadhyay
Summary
Background
Following the proposed worldwide switch from trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent types 1 and 3 OPV (bOPV) in 2016, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) will be the only source of protection against poliovirus type 2. With most countries opting for one dose of IPV in routine immunisation schedules during this transition because of cost and manufacturing constraints, optimisation of protection against all poliovirus types will be a priority of the global eradication programme. We assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a novel monovalent high-dose inactivated poliovirus type 2 vaccine (mIPV2HD) in infants.
Methods
This observer-blind, comparative, randomised controlled trial was done in a single centre in Panama. We enrolled healthy infants who had not received any previous vaccination against poliovirus. Infants were randomly assigned (1:1) by computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive a single dose of either mIPV2HD or standard trivalent IPV given concurrently with a third dose of bOPV at 14 weeks of age. At 18 weeks, all infants were challenged with one dose of monovalent type 2 OPV (mOPV2). Primary endpoints were seroconversion and median antibody titres to type 2 poliovirus 4 weeks after vaccination with mIPV2HD or IPV; and safety (as determined by the proportion and nature of serious adverse events and important medical events for 8 weeks after vaccination). The primary immunogenicity analyses included all participants for whom a post-vaccination blood sample was available. All randomised participants were included in the safety analyses. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02111135.
Findings
Between April 14 and May 9, 2014, 233 children were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive mIPV2HD (117 infants) or IPV (116 infants). 4 weeks after vaccination with mIPV2HD or IPV, seroconversion to poliovirus type 2 was recorded in 107 (93·0%, 95% CI 86·8–96·9) of 115 infants in the mIPV2HD group compared with 86 (74·8%, 65·8–82·4) of 115 infants in the IPV group (difference between groups 18·3%, 95% CI 5·0–31·1; p<0·0001), and median antibody titres against poliovirus type 2 were 181 (95% CI 72·0–362·0) in the mIPV2HD group and 36 (18·0–113·8) in the IPV group (difference between groups 98·8, 95% CI 60·7–136·9; p<0·0001). Serious adverse events were reported for six (5%) of 117 infants in the mIPV2HD group and seven (6%) of 116 infants in the IPV group during the 8-week period after vaccination; none were related to vaccination. No important medical events were reported.
Interpretation
Our findings lend support to the use of mIPV2HD as an option for stockpiling for outbreak response or primary protection in selected areas at risk for emergence of poliovirus type 2 during the next phase of the polio eradication plan.
Funding
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Lancet
Mar 05, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10022 p917-1026 e22
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Health—an explicit human right
The Lancet
Summary
“The past year severely tested the international system’s capacity to respond to crises and mass forced displacements of people, and found it woefully inadequate.” So begins Amnesty International’s annual report for 2015, The state of the world’s human rights, published last week. Set against the backdrop of unprecedented and worldwide migration, recurring themes include access to health services, the effects of conflict on health, women and children’s health, sexual rights, and the denial of health care in prisons.

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Comment
Zika virus and microcephaly in Brazil: a scientific agenda
Mauricio L Barreto, Manoel Barral-Netto, Rodrigo Stabeli, Naomar Almeida-Filho, Pedro F C Vasconcelos, Mauro Teixeira, Paulo Buss, Paulo E Gadelha
Summary
Since 1981, the Brazilian population has had dengue fever epidemics and all control efforts have been unsuccessful.1 In 2014, chikungunya fever was reported for the first time in the country.2 In 2015, the occurrence of Zika virus was also reported,3 along with an increase of microcephaly and brain damage in newborn babies.4,5 The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the most conventional vector of these three viral infections and is widely disseminated in a great part of urban Brazil. Brazilian public health authorities declared a National Public Health Emergency on Nov 11, 2015, and intensified the vector control campaign to tackle the epidemic.

Lancet Global Health
Mar 2016 Volume 4 Number 3 e137-e214
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/issue/current

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Articles
Effect of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination without a booster dose on invasive H influenzae type b disease, nasopharyngeal carriage, and population immunity in Kilifi, Kenya: a 15-year regional surveillance study
Laura L Hammitt, Rosie J Crane, Angela Karani, Alex Mutuku, Susan C Morpeth, Polly Burbidge, David Goldblatt, Tatu Kamau, Shahnaaz Sharif, Neema Mturi, J Anthony G Scott
Summary
Background
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine, delivered as a three-dose series without a booster, was introduced into the childhood vaccination programme in Kenya in 2001. The duration of protection and need for a booster dose are unknown. We aimed to assess vaccine effectiveness, the impact of the vaccine on nasopharyngeal carriage, and population immunity after introduction of conjugate Hib vaccine in infancy without a booster dose in Kenya.
Methods
This study took place in the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS), an area of Kenya that has been monitored for vital events and migration every 4 months since 2000. We analysed sterile site cultures for H influenzae type b from children (aged ≤12 years) admitted to the Kilifi County Hospital (KCH) from Jan 1, 2000, through to Dec 31, 2014. We determined the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage by undertaking cross-sectional surveys in random samples of KHDSS residents (of all ages) once every year from 2009 to 2012, and measured Hib antibody concentrations in five cross-sectional samples of children (aged ≤12 years) within the KHDSS (in 1998, 2000, 2004–05, 2007, and 2009). We calculated incidence rate ratios between the prevaccine era (2000–01) and the routine-use era (2004–14) and defined vaccine effectiveness as 1 minus the incidence rate ratio, expressed as a percentage.
Findings
40 482 children younger than 13 years resident in KHDSS were admitted to KCH between 2000 and 2014, 38 206 (94%) of whom had their blood cultured. The incidence of invasive H influenzae type b disease in children younger than 5 years declined from 62·6 (95% CI 46·0–83·3) per 100 000 in 2000–01 to 4·5 (2·5–7·5) per 100 000 in 2004–14, giving a vaccine effectiveness of 93% (95% CI 87–96). In the final 5 years of observation (2010–14), only one case of invasive H influenzae type b disease was detected in a child younger than 5 years. Nasopharyngeal H influenzae type b carriage was detected in one (0·2%) of 623 children younger than 5 years between 2009 and 2012. In the 2009 serosurvey, 92 (79%; 95% CI 70–86) of 117 children aged 4–35 months had long-term protective antibody concentrations.
Interpretation
In this region of Kenya, use of a three-dose primary series of Hib vaccine without a booster dose has resulted in a significant and sustained reduction in invasive H influenzae type b disease. The prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage is low and the profile of Hib antibodies suggests that protection wanes only after the age at greatest risk of disease. Although continued surveillance is important to determine whether effective control persists, these findings suggest that a booster dose is not currently required in Kenya.
Funding
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Wellcome Trust, European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, and National Institute for Health Research.

PLoS Currents: Outbreaks
http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Research Article
Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of Ebola Virus Disease among Secondary School Students in Ondo State, Nigeria, October, 2014
March 4, 2016 ·
Introduction: The first case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria was imported on 20th July 2014, by an air traveller. On 8th August, 2014, WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, perception and attitude of secondary school students towards EVD and adopting disease preventive behaviour.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study of 440 students from a mixed secondary school in Owo, Ondo State was done. Data was collected in October 2014 when Nigeria was yet to be declared EVD free. Simple random sampling was used to select the school while Systematic random sampling was used in the selection of participants. A semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were done, level of statistical significant was 5%.
Results: Mean age of respondents was 13.7±1.9 years. Females were 48.2%. Most of the respondents had heard of Ebola Virus Disease (95.4%). Female respondents (51.3%), those who were 15 years and above (51.1%) and in the senior class (54.1%), and had good general knowledge of EVD and across all domains. Being in the senior secondary class and seeking for health care in the hospital were positively associated with good general knowledge (p-value: 0.029, and <0.001 respectively). Three commonest modes of spread of EVD mentioned were contact between infected animals and men (74.8%), touching body fluids of a person who is sick of EVD (57.0%), and contact (55.2%). The top three signs of EVD mentioned were abnormal bleeding from any part of the body (56.10%), vomiting (47.0%) and fever (42.3%).
Conclusion: Our results revealed suboptimal EVD-related knowledge, attitude and practice among the students. Promotion of health messages and training of students on prevention of EVD to effectively control past and future outbreaks of EVD in Nigeria was immediately initiated in schools in Ondo State.

ttp://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)
Transformative Innovations in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health over the Next 20 Years
Cyril M. Engmann, Sadaf Khan, Cheryl A. Moyer, Patricia S. Coffey, Zulfiqar A. Bhutta
Collection Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001969
Summary Points
:: Accelerating progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) over the past 30 years has resulted in significant decreases in mortality, as well as shifts in causes of death. For example, deaths from diarrhea among children under age 5 have significantly declined. This increased survival means an increasing fraction of under-5 deaths occur in the first 4 weeks of life, the neonatal period.
:: Transformative changes, including advances such as the development of immunizations, wide uptake of contraception, and the availability of medications such as oxytocin, have contributed to an improved morbidity and mortality curve. Such advances are set against a broader backdrop of increasing national wealth, stronger health systems, aligned political agendas, and advocacy systems.
:: Global mechanisms and strategies such as the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health, Global Alliance for the Vaccine Initiative (GAVI), the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, Family Planning 2020, and the Every Newborn Action Plan, among others, are serving to drive the global agenda forward, although stubborn gaps remain.
:: In this paper, we discuss promising innovations that in our opinion have significant promise in moving the RMNCH agenda forward. While some of these are technologies, others are efforts aimed at improving commodities, increasing demand for services, and promoting equity in access.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Zika Virus: Medical Countermeasure Development Challenges
Robert W. Malone, Jane Homan, Michael V. Callahan, Jill Glasspool-Malone, Lambodhar Damodaran, Adriano De Bernardi Schneider, Rebecca Zimler, James Talton, Ronald R. Cobb, Ivan Ruzic, Julie Smith-Gagen, Daniel Janies, James Wilson, Zika Response Working Group
Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004530
Abstract
Introduction
Reports of high rates of primary microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia and Brazil have raised concerns that the virus circulating in these regions is a rapidly developing neuropathic, teratogenic, emerging infectious public health threat. There are no licensed medical countermeasures (vaccines, therapies or preventive drugs) available for Zika virus infection and disease. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) predicts that Zika virus will continue to spread and eventually reach all countries and territories in the Americas with endemic Aedes mosquitoes. This paper reviews the status of the Zika virus outbreak, including medical countermeasure options, with a focus on how the epidemiology, insect vectors, neuropathology, virology and immunology inform options and strategies available for medical countermeasure development and deployment.
Methods
Multiple information sources were employed to support the review. These included publically available literature, patents, official communications, English and Lusophone lay press. Online surveys were distributed to physicians in the US, Mexico and Argentina and responses analyzed. Computational epitope analysis as well as infectious disease outbreak modeling and forecasting were implemented. Field observations in Brazil were compiled and interviews conducted with public health officials.

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Eliminating the Neglected Tropical Diseases: Translational Science and New Technologies
Peter J. Hotez, Bernard Pecoul, Suman Rijal, Catharina Boehme, Serap Aksoy, Mwelecele Malecela, Roberto Tapia-Conyer, John C. Reeder
Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0003895
Abstract
Today, the World Health Organization recognizes 17 major parasitic and related infections as the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Despite recent gains in the understanding of the nature and prevalence of NTDs, as well as successes in recent scaled-up preventive chemotherapy strategies and other health interventions, the NTDs continue to rank among the world’s greatest global health problems. For virtually all of the NTDs (including those slated for elimination under the auspices of a 2012 London Declaration for NTDs and a 2013 World Health Assembly resolution [WHA 66.12]), additional control mechanisms and tools are needed, including new NTD drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and vector control agents and strategies. Elimination will not be possible without these new tools. Here we summarize some of the key challenges in translational science to develop and introduce these new technologies in order to ensure success in global NTD elimination efforts.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 5 March 2016]

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The Success of a Universal Hepatitis B Immunization Program as Part of Thailand’s EPI after 22 Years’ Implementation
Nawarat Posuwan, Nasamon Wanlapakorn, Pattaratida Sa-nguanmoo, Rujipat Wasitthankasem, Preeyaporn Vichaiwattana, Sirapa Klinfueng, Viboonsak Vuthitanachot, Siriporn Sae-lao, Monthana Foonoi, Apinya Fakthongyoo, Jamorn Makaroon, Klaita Srisingh, Duangporn Asawarachun, Somchai Owatanapanich, Norra Wutthiratkowit, Kraisorn Tohtubtiang, Pornsak Yoocharoen, Sompong Vongpunsawad, Yong Poovorawan
Research Article | published 03 Mar 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0150499

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Immunization Coverage Surveys and Linked Biomarker Serosurveys in Three Regions in Ethiopia
Mark A. Travassos, Berhane Beyene, Zenaw Adam, James D. Campbell, Nigisti Mulholland, Seydou S. Diarra, Tassew Kassa, Lisa Oot, Jenny Sequeira, Mardi Reymann, William C. Blackwelder, Yukun Wu, Inna Ruslanova, Jaya Goswami, Samba O. Sow, Marcela F. Pasetti, Robert Steinglass, Amha Kebede, Myron M. Levine
Research Article | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0149970
Abstract
Objective
Demographic and health surveys, immunization coverage surveys and administrative data often divergently estimate vaccination coverage, which hinders pinpointing districts where immunization services require strengthening. We assayed vaccination coverage in three regions in Ethiopia by coverage surveys and linked serosurveys.
Methods
Households with children aged 12–23 (N = 300) or 6–8 months (N = 100) in each of three districts (woredas) were randomly selected for immunization coverage surveys (inspection of vaccination cards and immunization clinic records and maternal recall) and linked serosurveys. IgG-ELISA serologic biomarkers included tetanus antitoxin ≥ 0.15 IU/ml in toddlers (receipt of tetanus toxoid) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) anti-capsular titers ≥ 1.0 mcg/ml in infants (timely receipt of Hib vaccine).
Findings
Coverage surveys enrolled 1,181 children across three woredas; 1,023 (87%) also enrolled in linked serosurveys. Administrative data over-estimated coverage compared to surveys, while maternal recall was unreliable. Serologic biomarkers documented a hierarchy among the districts. Biomarker measurement in infants provided insight on timeliness of vaccination not deducible from toddler results.
Conclusion
Neither administrative projections, vaccination card or EPI register inspections, nor parental recall, substitute for objective serological biomarker measurement. Including infants in serosurveys informs on vaccination timeliness.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Biological Sciences – Ecology:
Global change and terrestrial plant community dynamics
Janet Franklina,1, Josep M. Serra-Diaza,b, Alexandra D. Syphardc, and Helen M. Regand
Author Affiliations
Significance
Global terrestrial vegetation plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycles and provides important ecosystem services. Vegetation has been altered by anthropogenic global change drivers including land-use change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and climate change, for decades to centuries, or in some cases millennia. Vegetation responses to land use and disturbance can be more immediate than to climate change and can be long lasting. The effect of global warming on water balance may have a stronger influence than the direct effects of temperature on vegetation. Models deployed at multiple ecological scales, populations, communities, and landscapes will be required to forecast vegetation responses and feedbacks to accelerated global change.

Abstract
Anthropogenic drivers of global change include rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and resulting changes in the climate, as well as nitrogen deposition, biotic invasions, altered disturbance regimes, and land-use change. Predicting the effects of global change on terrestrial plant communities is crucial because of the ecosystem services vegetation provides, from climate regulation to forest products. In this paper, we present a framework for detecting vegetation changes and attributing them to global change drivers that incorporates multiple lines of evidence from spatially extensive monitoring networks, distributed experiments, remotely sensed data, and historical records. Based on a literature review, we summarize observed changes and then describe modeling tools that can forecast the impacts of multiple drivers on plant communities in an era of rapid change. Observed responses to changes in temperature, water, nutrients, land use, and disturbance show strong sensitivity of ecosystem productivity and plant population dynamics to water balance and long-lasting effects of disturbance on plant community dynamics. Persistent effects of land-use change and human-altered fire regimes on vegetation can overshadow or interact with climate change impacts. Models forecasting plant community responses to global change incorporate shifting ecological niches, population dynamics, species interactions, spatially explicit disturbance, ecosystem processes, and plant functional responses. Monitoring, experiments, and models evaluating multiple change drivers are needed to detect and predict vegetation changes in response to 21st century global change.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Social Sciences – Sustainability Science:
Impacts of nonstate, market-driven governance on Chilean forests
Robert Heilmayra,1 and Eric F. Lambinb,c,d,1
Author Affiliations
Significance
Global trade in commodities has become an important driver of environmental degradation. In response, there has been a proliferation of nonstate, market-driven governance seeking to reduce environmental degradation through interventions in the supply chain. We provide some of the first quasiexperimental evidence to show that private, market-driven policies can slow deforestation. We compare the impacts of two certification schemes and a deforestation moratorium in Chile using a factorial quasiexperimental design. Our results indicate that governance regimes with greater collaboration between environmental and industry stakeholders achieved better environmental outcomes. In contrast to many public conservation policies, we find that private governance systems can effectively target high-deforestation properties.

Abstract
Global markets for agricultural products, timber, and minerals are critically important drivers of deforestation. The supply chains driving land use change may also provide opportunities to halt deforestation. Market campaigns, moratoria, and certification schemes have been promoted as powerful tools to achieve conservation goals. Despite their promise, there have been few opportunities to rigorously quantify the ability of these nonstate, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes to deliver conservation outcomes. This study analyzes the impacts of three NSMD governance systems that sought to end the conversion of natural forests to plantations in Chile at the start of the 21st century. Using a multilevel, panel dataset of land use changes in Chile, we identify the impact of participation within each of the governance regimes by implementing a series of matched difference-in-differences analyses. Taking advantage of the mosaic of different NSMD regimes adopted in Chile, we explore the relative effectiveness of different policies. NSMD governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by 2–23%. The NSMD governance regimes we studied included collaborative and confrontational strategies between environmental and industry stakeholders. We find that the more collaborative governance systems studied achieved better environmental performance than more confrontational approaches. Whereas many government conservation programs have targeted regions with little likelihood of conversion, we demonstrate that NSMD governance has the potential to alter behavior on high-deforestation properties.

Public Health Ethics
Volume 9 Issue 1 April 2016
http://phe.oxfordjournals.org/content/current

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Ethical Criteria for Human Challenge Studies in Infectious Diseases
Ben Bambery, Michael Selgelid, Charles Weijer, Julian Savulescu, and Andrew J. Pollard
Public Health Ethics (2016) 9 (1): 92-103 doi:10.1093/phe/phv026
Abstract
Purposeful infection of healthy volunteers with a microbial pathogen seems at odds with acceptable ethical standards, but is an important contemporary research avenue used to study infectious diseases and their treatments. Generally termed ‘controlled human infection studies’, this research is particularly useful for fast tracking the development of candidate vaccines and may provide unique insight into disease pathogenesis otherwise unavailable. However, scarce bioethical literature is currently available to assist researchers and research ethics committees in negotiating the distinct issues raised by research involving purposefully infecting healthy volunteers. In this article, we present two separate challenge studies and highlight the ethical issues of human challenge studies as seen through a well-constructed framework. Beyond the same stringent ethical standards seen in other areas of medical research, we conclude that human challenge studies should also include: (i) independent expert reviews, including systematic reviews; (ii) a publicly available rationale for the research; (iii) implementation of measures to protect the public from spread of infection beyond the research setting; and (iv) a new system for compensation for harm. We hope these additions may encourage safer and more ethical research practice and help to safeguard public confidence in this vital research alternative in years to come.