Perinatal outcome after maternal primary cytomegalovirus infection in the first trimester: a practical update and counseling aid

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection with approximately 0.5% of pregnant women in developed countries seroconverting during pregnancy. In utero transmission occurs in about one third of women who develop primary infection in the first trimester, and these fetuses are at risk for adverse perinatal outcomes and long-term neurological complications. The great promise of a prenatal therapy to reduce fetal infection after maternal primary CMV infection has not been realized to date. The prediction of CMV sequelae is particularly challenging for clinicians because of the heterogeneity of the published literature, the wide spectrum of perinatal outcomes, the adjustment of fetal risk at each stage of assessment, and the variable quality of published data. Given the continued lack of a proven fetal therapy, it is timely to review the natural history of congenital CMV in the modern management era. We have analyzed the recent literature, integrated findings from multiple studies, and calculated stage-specific risks for adverse perinatal outcome to assist in counseling women with first trimester primary CMV infection. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecological restoration as a strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change: lessons and challenges from Brazil

Climate change is a global phenomenon that affects biophysical systems and human well-being. The Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force in 2016 with the objective of strengthening the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 °C. The agreement requires all Parties to submit their “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is an important strategy for mitigating climate change, particularly in developing countries with large forests. Extensive tropical forest loss and degradation have increased awareness at the international level of the need to undertake large-scale ecological restoration, highlighting the need to identify cases in which restoration strategies can contribute to mitigation and adaptation. Here we consider Brazil as a case study to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing large-scale restoration programs in developing countries. The Brazilian NDC included the target of restoring and reforesting 12 million hectares of forests for multiple uses by 2030. Restoration of native vegetation is one of the foundations of sustainable rural development in Brazil and should consider multiple purposes, from biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation to social and economic development. However, ecological restoration still presents substantial challenges for tropical and mega-diverse countries, including the need to develop plans that are technically and financially feasible, as well as public policies and monitoring instruments that can assess effectiveness. The planning, execution, and monitoring of restoration efforts strongly depend on the context and the diagnosis of the area with respect to reference ecosystems (e.g., forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands). In addition, poor integration of climate change policies at the national and subnational levels and with other sectorial policies constrains the large-scale implementation of restoration programs. The case of Brazil shows that slowing deforestation is possible; however, this analysis highlights the need for increased national commitment and international support for actions that require large-scale transformations of the forest sector regarding ecosystem restoration efforts. Scaling up the ambitions and actions of the Paris Agreement implies the need for a global framework that recognizes landscape restoration as a cost-effective nature-based solution and that supports countries in addressing their remaining needs, challenges, and barriers.

     

A global assessment of adaptation investment from the perspectives of equity and efficiency

Equity and efficiency should be considered when allocating resources for climate change adaptation. More than a decade after the Least Developed Countries Fund approved adaptation funds for 18 countries in 2003, it is possible to take the stock of investment data and to test empirically whether equity and efficiency have been factored into adaptation investment decision-making. To evaluate equity, one must determine if resources were distributed to areas of greatest need. Vulnerability assessments provide information on the global distribution of the need for adaptation. To evaluate efficiency, one must compare cost and benefit of an investment. Although it is difficult to assess ex-ante the cost and benefit of investment strategies, it is possible to measure efficient use of expenditures with readiness assessment, as a metric of capacity to deploy adaptation resources. We used vulnerability and readiness measures of the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Country Index as proxies of equity and efficiency. This article quantitatively interrogates—through the lens of public fund allocation—the roles of vulnerability and readiness in shaping adaptation investment decisions. Our findings suggest that countries facing increasing impacts from climate change have received more adaptation investments from international sources than countries with less vulnerability. Further, international investments also preferentially flow to countries that are more ready to deploy adaptation resources. Since the most vulnerable countries are likely to be less ready for investment, our findings support the efforts to improve the investment potential of the most vulnerable countries by investing first to enhance their readiness, in order to unlock adaptation solutions.     

The Value of Human Life in Global Warming Impacts

A recent article in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change by Fankhauser and Tol makes monetary estimates of potential global warming damages that assign higher value to each life lost in wealthy countries as opposed to poor ones. Regardless of how much sense such a procedure may make to GDP-oriented economists, it is morally unacceptable to most of the world and needlessly damages efforts to build support for any global warming mitigation and adaptation strategies that may be proposed. A better solution would be to use a money value of zero for human life losses and report separately the monetary and human life costs of warming (and benefits of mitigation). This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

国际贸易“碳中和”研究热点领域及其动向

碳中和是世界各国面临的共同问题。经济全球化与贸易自由化背景下国际贸易总量快速增长,伴随着深度国际分工与产业转移,贸易产品的生产者与消费者在陆表形成严重的空间位移。利用文献计量软件CiteSpace分析国际贸易主题下碳中和相关文献,揭示国际贸易“碳中和”研究动向。研究发现：（1）温室气体在全球范围时空演变,使跨区域、多尺度的全球碳治理变得更加复杂,发达国家将高污染与低价值链产业转移至各发展中国家,以生产者责任划分的碳核算原则不再适用于国际贸易合作。（2）进出口贸易逐渐成为新兴经济体经济发展动力,全球碳治理应转向新兴经济体与区域一体化,全球气候政策设计应遵守国际碳市场公平性底线,不断优化碳排放量核算体系,完善碳会计方法,模拟全球碳减排预期效果。重点提高产业部门碳减排意识和产业清洁技术及能源利用效率,利用多种手段改变生态系统的增汇减碳能力。新兴经济体在承接发达国家技术援助同时,应重点关注本国能源产业,发展可再生能源产业,提高能源的利用效率,并运用经济政策与金融工具促进本国的气候变化投融资产业发展。全球碳治理应更加注重公平性与国家间的经济发展、环境资源差异,利用多样的碳治理工具与协商合作方式,促使更多国家参与全球化或区域一体化的碳治理模式。（3）中国亟待通过国内多产业、多部门的增汇减排与国际碳减排、碳中和实践,健全碳市场机制,提高碳治理水平,为国际碳治理合作提供“最大公约数”。     

清洁发展机制中的额外性问题探讨

清洁发展机制(CDM)是国际社会应对全球气候变化所作努力的一个重要部分。就清洁发展机制实施中的关键问题之一——额外性问题（additionality)进行了细致的探讨。分析了额外性的基本含义，各个不同国家在这个问题上的观点，各种不同判断准则的合理性和可操作性等。提出了额外性的层次等重要概念。     

全球跨界水合作的时空结构：领域变迁与尺度分异

在当前全球性淡水危机加剧、水冲突频发的背景下,跨界水合作成为化解水危机,实现国家间和平可持续发展的关键。利用跨界水条约数据,基于网络视角,从全球尺度、区域尺度与国家尺度对跨界水合作的时空结构进行研究。结论如下：（1）1820—2017年全球跨界水合作持续增多,覆盖范围明显扩大,合作领域从边界与水量向联合管理与水质保护转变,合作目的由以规管性为主导向规管性、程序性和原生性并进转变。多边合作与跨界地下水合作是当前全球跨界水合作的发展趋势。（2）同一时期五大洲跨界水合作发展进程与侧重领域存在较大差异;尽管全球跨界水合作网络涵盖的流域与国家日益增多,但其流域覆盖率仍较低。（3）1820—2017年全球跨界水合作网络大致经历了“网络形成—网络扩张—网络分化”三个阶段;欧洲国家间的跨界水合作联系相对较强,亚洲国家在跨界水合作网络中也愈发活跃,区域性与全球性并存是当前跨界水合作网络的重要特征。伴随着亚洲国家日益增长的跨界水合作需求,中国应充分发挥负责任的发展中大国的作用,加强与周边国家的跨界水合作,不断提升自身在全球跨界水资源合作领域的地位。     

Environmental management and life cycle approaches in the Mexican mining industry

Mexico ranks among the 11 major producer countries of minerals worldwide; its open pit and underground systems are 500 years old. This paper presents an overview of the Mexican mining industry from technological development, historical and economic perspectives. The efforts made by mining companies to address issues of environmental management and sustainable development expressed in national and international frameworks, as well as the Mexican environmental regulatory framework for the mining sector, are analyzed. Since, among others, life cycle assessment (LCA) has been recognized as a key topic to promote sustainable development in the Latin American and Caribbean region, this paper also examines the application of LCA in mining. Two life cycle approaches are presented: a national life cycle inventory for base metals, and an integral life cycle model for the management of mining processes.     

Optimize emission reduction commitments for international environmental agreements

In order to restrict global warming to no more than 2 ^°C, more efforts are needed. Thus, how to attract as more as possible countries to international environment agreements (IEAs) and realize the maximum reduction targets are meaningful. The motivation of this paper is exploring a set of method of designing IEA proposals. The paper built a chance-constrained two-stage cartel formation game model, which can explore whether a country signs an agreement in the first stage and discusses how the countries joining the coalition can make the best emission commitments in the second stage. Based on the model, the real emission data of 45 countries was collected for numerical experiments, which almost completely depict the current global emissions of different countries. A numerical experiment has also been carried out in the paper. Then some interesting results emerge as follows: risk averse, high cost, high emission reduction duty, and external stability impede large coalition formation; transfer scheme and high perceived benefits stimulate countries to join IEAs and make a good commitment; the most influential countries for coalition structure and commitment are those low-cost and low-emission entities. The results also demonstrate that the design of IEA proposals should not only pay attention to those economically developed and high-emission “big” countries, but also attach importance to those low-emission “small” countries.     

National greenhouse gas inventory capacity: An assessment of Asian developing countries

The transparency framework of the Paris Agreement (PA) will be elaborated from the existing arrangements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Yet, the capacities of developing countries to regularly report national GHG inventories vary, and their needs for capacity building are closely linked with efforts and achievements of previous inventory preparation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the status and changes in the capacity of 37 developing countries in Asia by using a matrix of capacity-indicators. Indicators were composed for four assessment categories: (1) international engagement of a country in the GHG inventory-related process; (2) institutional capacity to produce a GHG inventory; (3) existing technical capacity available to develop a GHG inventory; and (4) actual technical capacity applied to produce a GHG inventory. The paper also analyzed the scale of international support and variations in meeting with capacity building needs. Eleven countries were identified as having low capacity over time, while 9 improved their capacity. Seventeen countries, including 7 countries with established capacity, continuously had relatively high capacity over time. International support was scarce in the majority of Asian developing countries with the most capacity building needs. Improvements in basic technical capacity available for GHG inventory preparation, such as statistics and the scientific expertise, were found to be a key necessity for countries to respond to the PA’s enhanced transparency framework. Based on these findings, the study recommended increasing support for improvements in basic technical capacity, especially in countries where existing capacity is low and support is limited. Such capacity building efforts are also beneficial for countries to form and implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and other economic and development policies.     

Maternal genetic disorders and fetal development

With improvements in early diagnosis and management of genetic diseases, more women with genetic disorders are reaching reproductive age and becoming pregnant. While pregnancy can have a significant impact on a woman's health when there is an underlying genetic disorder, there can also be fetal effects, including embryopathy, fetal growth restriction, and brain injury. Some maternal genetic disorders are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, including a high risk of perinatal loss and preterm birth. In this article, we review several maternal genetic disorders associated with fetal risk that are important for clinicians and patients to understand and manage appropriately. These include phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) deficiency and other inborn errors of metabolism, tuberous sclerosis complex, myotonic dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, Turner syndrome, sickle cell disease, and connective tissue disorders.     

A multi-level perspective on learning about climate change adaptation through international cooperation

International cooperation and learning may accelerate climate change adaptation and help countries and regions to adapt more effectively and efficiently. Recognizing the importance and opportunities for mutual learning and knowledge transfer, international and supranational organizations, such as the European Commission, have put programmes for international cooperation in place. This paper presents and tests a framework for assessing multi-level learning outcomes of such international cooperation processes and the conditions that produce these outcomes. The framework distinguishes between: (1) group learning by individual process participants; (2) organizational learning by organizations represented in the process; and (3) network and societal learning by actors external to the process. We verify the analytical potential of the framework by comparing learning by six partners in an adaptation-oriented European cooperation project. The project scores rather high on group learning with participants learning from and – to a lesser extent – also with each other. Learning by partner organizations varied and was generally less whereas learning by external actors was very limited. The case study confirms our expectation that learning outcomes are produced by combinations of partner-specific, process-specific and process-external conditions. The presented framework and insights can be used to stimulate learning in and from international cooperation processes.     

Dynamic equity carbon permit allocation scheme to limit global warming to two degrees

Significant international collaboration is required to limit global temperature increase to below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. Equity is the foundation of cooperation, and therefore, this study proposed a new dynamic carbon permit allocation scheme based on four principles: equality, historical responsibility, capability, and future development opportunities. Decision makers could have different preferences for allocating carbon permits, therefore, four equity rules or indicators (equality, responsibility, capacity, and sovereignty) were assigned different weights. Based on the global carbon budget of the 2 °C target, emission permits were calculated and relevant economic implications analyzed using the Global Change Assessment Model. Results indicated that developed countries should reduce emissions immediately, while allowances for developing regions could permit an initial increase in emissions until peaking. Applying different weights to the indicators resulted in multifarious regional allowances. Developed regions would benefit from the “preferring sovereignty” scenario and most developing countries would benefit under the “preferring responsibility” and “preferring capacity” scenarios. Compared with the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, this study found that in the short term, developed countries might insist on sovereignty as the preferred indicator. However, preferring sovereignty would place substantial mitigation pressures on developing countries in the long term. Therefore, in addressing global climate change, a dynamic choice in the weighting distribution for different indicators might be conducive to international agreement. Furthermore, a market-based trading instrument could help all participants both mitigate global climate change by reducing regional and global costs and facilitate mitigation capital flow from developed to less developed regions.     

Sustainable development as a framework for developing country participation in international climate change policies

The paper presents a number of ideas on how climate change policy implementation in developing countries can be supported by alternative international cooperation mechanisms that are based on stakeholder interests and policy priorities including broader economic and social development issues. It includes a brief review of current development policies, technological research and promotion efforts, and climate change that demonstrates that mutual policy initiatives undertaken by governments and the private sector actually have major positive impacts on climate change without being initiated by this global policy concern. Furthermore a number of examples are given on how future development objectives in Brazil, China, and India jointly can support economic and social goals and global climate change concerns if these goals are taken into consideration and supported by international cooperative mechanisms. The paper proposes international cooperative mechanisms that can support the implementation of integrated development and climate change policies. The mechanisms include an international sustainable development (SD) and Climate Finance Mechanism (SDCFM), technology development and transition programmes, technology standards, and other measures.

Transferability of HIV by arthropods supports the hypothesis about transmission of the virus from apes to man

The primate Pan troglodytes troglodytes, a chimpanzee subspecies, has recently been defined as a natural animal host of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Apes are traditionally hunted in Africa and are offered for sale in open-air meat markets. The bloody carcasses are regularly covered with blood-feeding flies, amongst them possibly the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans L.), a cosmopolitically occurring biting fly. This fly is the effective vector for the retrovirus causing equine leukemia. According to laboratory experiments, the infectivity of ingested HIV is not reduced in the regurgitates of this fly. These findings are combined to explain the mechanism for a possible primary transmission of HIV from ape to man.     

An integration of net imported emissions into climate change targets

There is an international divide between net emissions importers and net emissions exporters, with industrialised nations mainly falling into the former and emerging economies the latter. Integrating emissions transfers into climate policy, so as not to disadvantage export-intensive countries, has been suggested to increase participation in international emissions reduction commitments. Consumption-based scenarios are presented for the UK identifying the geographic and sectorial source of emissions to meet future consumer demands given the current international climate policy landscape. The analysis is applied to the UK yet the discussion is applicable to international climate policy; assigning national responsibility for global emissions reductions; and extending the mitigation potential for net importing countries. Two trajectories for UK consumption emissions are calculated in which (1) international reduction targets are consistent with those pledged today equating to four degrees of temperature rise and (2) international reduction targets achieve a two degree future. By 2050 it is estimated that UK consumption emissions are 40–260% greater than UK territorial emissions depending on the strength of global reduction measures, and assuming the UK meets its 80% reduction in 1990 emissions by 2050 target. Cumulative emissions are presented alongside emissions trajectories, recognising that temperature rise is directly related to every tonne of carbon emitted. Whilst this paper argues that the current UK emissions targets underestimate the UK's contribution to global mitigation for two degrees, it shows how expanding the focus of policy towards consumption introduces new opportunities for reduction strategies at scale. The paper advocates the implementation of consumption-based emissions accounting which reveals underexploited policy interventions and increases the potential to break down barriers that exist between industrialised and emerging economies in international climate policy.     

Sharing developed countries’ post-2012 greenhouse gas emission reductions based on comparable efforts

The Bali Action Plan as adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2007, states that Annex I (developed) countries should reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, based on comparable efforts. Within this context, we have explored various comparable effort approaches (for example, equal marginal abatement costs for all countries) for reducing emissions by the year 2020 for individual countries and regions. In all calculations, the total reduction for Annex I countries as a group is assumed to be 30% below 1990 levels. In the analysis, we compare the reduction targets as calculated from the different approaches with the emission reductions as pledged by these countries as part of the Copenhagen Accord, as drafted under the UNFCCC in 2009. Our analysis indicates that the different elements in these calculations may cause a diversity in outcomes and that, therefore, individual countries may favour certain elements over others. These elements include (a) the choice of the approach itself (the same approach may produce very different outcomes for countries with diverging national circumstances, such as Canada and Russia); (b) the reference year (such as 1990 or 2006 emissions, is very important for countries with an increase in emissions since 1990 (e.g. the United States, Canada) or for those that have lower emission levels (e.g. Russia, the Ukraine)); and (c) rules on land use (these are important for countries with large forest areas). It should be noted that the stringency of the individual countries’ reductions as pledged, differs substantially from the stringency of the reduction targets calculated from the effort-sharing approaches. The current pledges by both the European Union and the United States, are lower than the reductions that would be obtained in the effort-sharing approaches for a 30% overall reduction in Annex I countries.     

国际环境保护公约中技术转让障碍问题的探讨

随着世界各国对全球资源与环境问题认识的逐步提高 ,发展中国家必将签署越来越多的国际环境公约 ,参与到国际环境保护合作中。尽管许多国际环境公约都明确规定了发达国家在资金和技术上支持发展中国家保护环境履行国际公约的义务 ,但是实际履约过程中技术转让的问题并未得到良好的解决。论文将讨论国际环境公约履约中的技术转让障碍问题 ,并以中国履行《关于消耗臭氧层物质的蒙特利尔议定书》 ,实施臭氧层保护行动过程中所存在的实际问题为例 ,对国际环境公约履行中技术转让障碍的原因及其后果进行分析 ,最后对发展中国家所应采取的立场和对策提出建议。     

Hiding in Plain Sight? It’s Time to Investigate Other Possible Transmission Routes for Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) in Developed Countries

Historically in developed countries, reported hepatitis E cases were typically travellers returning from countries where hepatitis E virus (HEV) is endemic, but now there are increasing numbers of non-travel-related (“autochthonous”) cases being reported. Data for HEV in New Zealand remain limited and the transmission routes unproven. We critically reviewed the scientific evidence supporting HEV transmission routes in other developed countries to inform how people in New Zealand may be exposed to this virus. A substantial body of indirect evidence shows domesticated pigs are a source of zoonotic human HEV infection, but there is an information bias towards this established reservoir. The increasing range of animals in which HEV has been detected makes it important to consider other possible animal reservoirs of HEV genotypes that can or could infect humans. Foodborne transmission of HEV from swine and deer products has been proven, and a large body of indirect evidence (e.g. food surveys, epidemiological studies and phylogenetic analyses) support pig products as vehicles of HEV infection. Scarce data from other foods suggest we are neglecting other potential sources of foodborne HEV infection. Moreover, other transmission routes are scarcely investigated in developed countries; the role of infected food handlers, person-to-person transmission via the faecal–oral route, and waterborne transmission from recreational contact or drinking untreated or inadequately treated water. People have become symptomatic after receiving transfusions of HEV-contaminated blood, but it is unclear how important this is in the overall hepatitis E disease burden. There is need for broader research efforts to support establishing risk-based controls.     

Maternal thyroid disease and its effects on the fetus and perinatal outcomes

Thyroid disease is common in women of childbearing age and can have significant effects on the development of the fetus and perinatal outcomes. Maternal thyroid hormone is critical for proper fetal neurodevelopment, and the fetus relies on thyroid hormone from its mother for the first half of pregnancy. Both overt maternal hypothyroidism and overt maternal hyperthyroidism have been shown to be associated with adverse effects on central nervous system gray matter and neurocognitive development of offspring as well as increased obstetrical risks. Treatment of overt thyroid conditions improves outcomes. Subclinical maternal hypothyroidism may increase adverse neurocognitive and obstetrical outcomes although data are conflicting. To date, treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism has not shown benefit. Subclinical hyperthyroidism is well tolerated in pregnancy. Thyroid autoantibodies alone may also affect neurodevelopment and obstetrical outcomes; however, recent data have shown no improvement with levothyroxine treatment. Several rare maternal genetic thyroid conditions can affect the fetus including a thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor mutation leading to hypersensitivity to human chorionic gonadotropin and thyroid hormone resistance. The thyroid plays a crucial role in fetal health and understanding it is important for optimal care.