The impact of malaria control on infant mortality in Kenya

Since the early 2000s there has been a rapid intensification of malaria control efforts across Africa. I exploit baseline differences in the regional incidence of malaria coupled with the sharp timing of the intensified campaign to investigate the impact on infant mortality in Kenya. Post-intervention, I find a significant reduction in postneonatal mortality in the malarious regions relative to the non-malarious regions. In contrast, I find no evidence of impact on neonatal mortality which is consistent with epidemiological literature that finds neonates enjoy significant protection from malaria. I rule out alternative explanations such as differential pre-existing trends, changes in maternal and infant care, or the contemporaneous expansion of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. I find that the malaria campaign reduced postneonatal mortality by 33% in the malarious regions during 2004-2008

Driving Under the (Cellular) Influence: The Link Between Cell Phone Use and Vehicle Crashes

The link between cell phone use while driving and crash risk has in recent years become an area of active research. The most notable of the over 125 studies has concluded that cell phones produce a four-fold increase in relative crash risk comparable to that produced by illicit levels of alcohol. In response, policy makers in fourteen states have either partially or fully restricted driver cell phone use. We investigate the causal link between cellular usage and crash rates by exploiting a natural experiment induced by a popular feature of cell phone plans in recent years'the discontinuity in marginal pricing at 9 pm on weekdays when plans transition from 'peak' to 'off-peak' pricing. We first document a jump in call volume of about 20-30% at 'peak' to 'off-peak' switching times for two large samples of callers from 2000-2001 and 2005. Using a double difference estimator which uses the era prior to price switching as a control (as well as weekends as a second control), we find no evidence for a rise in crashes after 9 pm on weekdays from 2002-2005. The 95% CI of the estimates rules out any increase in all crashes larger than .9% and any increase larger than 2.4% for fatal crashes. These estimates are at odds with the crash risks implied by the existing research. We confirm our results with three additional empirical approaches'we compare trends in cell phone ownership and crashes across areas of contiguous economic activity over time, investigate whether differences in urban versus rural crash rates mirror identified gaps in urban-rural cellular ownership, and finally estimate the impact of legislation banning driver cell phone use on crash rates. None of the additional analyses produces evidence for a positive link between cellular use and vehicle crashes.

Medicines and vaccines for the world's poorest: Is there any prospect for public-private cooperation?

This paper reviews the current status of the global pharmaceutical industry and its research and development focus in the context of the health care needs of the developing world. It will consider the attempts to improve access to critical drugs and vaccines, and increase the research effort directed at key public health priorities in the developing world. In particular, it will consider prospects for public-private collaboration. The challenges and opportunities in such public-private partnerships will be discussed briefly along with a look at factors that may be key to success. Much of the focus is on HIV/AIDS where the debate on the optimal balance between intellectual property rights (IPR) and human rights to life and health has been very public and emotive

Public distribution system reforms and consumption in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh's public distribution system reforms have been lauded as a model for the National Food Security Act, and as one that other states can emulate. Previous research has shown that PDS rice consumption increased in Chhattisgarh following reforms by the Raman Singh government, which began in 2004. However, one-third of PDS rice consumption growth in Chhattisgarh took place before 2004. This finding suggests that the pre-2004 reforms to fair price shop ownership and state procurement by the Ajit Jogi government contributed to PDS consumption growth. Our findings suggest that sustained reforms, when coupled with political and social will, can improve PDS access, and that improvements may not be substantial or sustained in the absence of these factors

Farming System Approach for Sustainable Development of Agriculture in Mountain Regions — A Case of Himachal Pradesh

This paper has examined the emerging issues, extent of transitions and their implications for the sustainable and balanced development of agriculture in the mountain areas of the country. The study undertaken in low and mid-hill regions of Himachal Pradesh is based upon the data collected during the period 2002-03 from 200 sample households selected from 10 villages, representing five major mountain farming systems (MFS), viz. maize-based, paddy-based, vegetable-based, fruit-based and livestock-based. It has been found that over a period of time lot of changes have taken place in the socio-economic milieu and agricultural practices in mountains. The cropping pattern, extent of diversification and commercialization have been found to vary considerably across different MFS. A high degree of externalities has developed particularly under vegetable- and fruit-based farming systems. The proportion of purchased inputs has increased while the share of farm-produced inputs (own seeds, FYM, family labour, bullock labour, feed and fodder, etc.) has decreased. Thus, the system interlinkages and in-built complementary relations among sub-systems are getting distorted with commercialization through vegetables and fruits. The shortage of fodder, decrease in the number of farm animals and thus FYM-scarcity, are the burgeoning signs of unsustainability, particularly on vegetable- and fruit-based systems. Therefore, the sustainable plans developed for different systems have revealed the possibility of increasing profitability by optimum combination of sub-components like cereals, pulses, vegetable crops, fruits, fodder resources and livestock and thus maintaining the crucial balance to harness in-built complementary relations of the sub-systems. The increasing externalities in the MFS clearly show the crucial role of markets and marketing in the agricultural development that needs greater policy support in future.Agricultural and Food Policy,

System Synergy of Farming System and Common Property Resources in Mountain Regions: A Case Study of Himachal Pradesh

The study conducted in the hilly region of Himachal Pradesh has revealed that the average size of operational holding in the region is small (0.69 ha) and therefore the common property resources (CPRs) assume significant importance for sustaining the livelihood of people. The ‘kuhls’ emanating water of CPRs are the main sources of irrigation. The consumption of different products from CPR lands has been found to increase with decrease in the size of landholdings, which underlines the need to increase the productivity of CPR lands. The analysis of linkages between different farm sectors has revealed strong forward linkages of CPRs with livestock and agriculture and weak backward linkages with other sectors. The farm forestry and CPR lands have depicted weak linkage, but strong indirect linkages. The gravity water irrigation kuhls (channels) have also revealed strong linkages with agriculture and livestock. The analysis of linkages has suggested that there is a need to strengthen the backward linkages of agriculture, livestock and farm forestry with CPRs. The study has suggested to strengthen the management and conservation of CPRs.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

MicroRNAs miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c as Novel Regulators of NK-cell Immune Response in Neuroblastoma

Background: Neuroblastoma is a challenging cancer to treat in pediatric patients. Despite intense treatment regimens, the prognosis for high-risk pediatric neuroblastoma patients remains poor, with less than 40% survival. Significance of the Problem: One of the major obstacles to effective immunotherapy in neuroblastoma is the defective immune cells. Neuroblastoma tumors generally have impaired T-cell anti-tumor activity due to restricted MHC class I expression on tumor cells. This makes natural killer (NK) cells an attractive alternative for neuroblastoma immunotherapy, as they are not restricted by MHC class I expression on tumor cells. However, the overexpression of immune checkpoint molecules like B7-H3 (gene: CD276) helps tumor cells to escape NK immune surveillance, hindering the effectiveness of NK cell-mediated immunotherapy in neuroblastoma. Objective: Micro RNAs (miRNAs or miR) play critical roles in nervous system development and post-transcriptional regulation of genes involved in neuroblastoma development. Therefore, exploring the role of upstream miRNAs that can target B7-H3 and regulate NK-mediated anti-tumor immune response in neuroblastoma could lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets for neuroblastoma treatment. Methods: Using the TARGET, neuroblastoma patient dataset, we applied the robust bioinformatic workflows incorporating differential expression, co-expression, survival, heatmaps, and box plots. Results: We present here the role of miRNAs belonging to the miR-29 family, including miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c, in regulating B7-H3 and antitumor immunity in neuroblastoma. Using different neuroblastoma patients\u27 microarray data sets, we show that miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c levels in the tumors were associated with good clinical outcomes and inversely correlated with B7-H3. Higher B7-H3 mRNA was associated with disease progression and poor survival in patients with neuroblastoma. MiR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c inhibited B7-H3 expression in neuroblastoma cells. B7-H3 downregulation induced NK cell activation and enhanced its cytotoxic functions against neuroblastoma cells, boosting NK-mediated antitumor immunity. Furthermore, miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c treated neuroblastoma tumors had a large influx of infiltering activated NK and T cells, which is associated with tumor shrinkage, reduced tumor microvessel density, low macrophage infiltration, and enhanced tumor cell apoptosis. In cell culture, overexpression of miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c inhibited proliferation, colony formation, migration, and neurospheres forming ability of neuroblastoma cell lines. Conclusions: Overall, our findings highlight the therapeutic potential of miR-29a, miR-29b, and miR-29c to boost NK and T cell-mediated immune surveillance of neuroblastoma tumors, strengthening natural anti-tumor immunity and response to anticancer therapies.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/chri_forum/1071/thumbnail.jp