SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Couple Years Of Protection”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

Parents' conceptualization of their frozen embryos complicates the disposition decision.

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain what couples think about their embryos and how they approach making a decision about disposition in light of the fact that the disposition of unused frozen embryos has significant implications for medical research and embryo donation. DESIGN: Ethnographic qualitative interview study. SETTING: Academic research environment. PATIENT(S): Fifty-eight couples who had conceived using a donor oocyte and had at least one frozen embryo in storage. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Tape-recorded interviews with 58 wives and 37 husbands were transcribed and analyzed for emergent themes. RESULT(S): With an average of 7.1 embryos per couple, after an average of 4.2 years of storage, 72% of couples with frozen embryos had not reached a disposition decision. Most couples had not anticipated or appreciated the consequences of having surplus embryos. Parents variously conceptualized frozen embryos as biologic tissue, living entities, "virtual" children having interests that must be considered and protected, siblings of their living children, genetic or psychological "insurance policies," and symbolic reminders of their past infertility. CONCLUSION(S): The disposition decision is not only a significant and frequently unresolved issue for couples with stored frozen embryos, but their deeply personal conceptualizations of their embryos contributes to their ambivalence, uncertainty, and difficulty in reaching a decision.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Future of environmental pollution.

In recent years, the concept of pollution prevention has overtaken end-of-pipe controls as the paradigm of choice for effecting environmental protection. Through cooperative mechanisms, significant progress is being made to reduce or eliminate upstream processes and practices that can lead to downstream pollution. These efforts, coupled with productive interactions with the public, are making an impact. The Science Advisory Board released a report in January that described the "next wave" of pollution prevention. Specifically, the report described approaches for anticipating environmental problems of tomorrow so that preventive actions can be taken today. The potential of air pollution problems figures prominently in the Board's vision of the future.

Environmental Pollution↗

PubMed1987

Molecular aspects of nitrogen fixation by photosynthetic prokaryotes.

The photosynthetic prokaryotes possess diverse metabolic capabilities, both in carrying out different types of photosynthesis and in their other growth modes. The nature of the coupling of these energy-generating processes with the basic metabolic demands of the cell, such as nitrogen fixation, has stimulated research for many years. In addition, nitrogen fixation by photosynthetic prokaryotes exhibits several unique features; the oxygen-evolving cyanobacteria have developed various strategies for protection of the oxygen-labile nitrogenase proteins, and some photosynthetic bacteria have been found to regulate their nitrogenase (N2ase) activity in a rapid response to fixed nitrogen, thus saving substantial amounts of energy. Recent advances in the biochemistry, physiology, and genetics of nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria are reviewed, with special emphasis on the unique features found in these organisms. Several major topics in cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation are reviewed. The isolation and characterization of N2ase and the isolation and sequence of N2ase structural genes have shown a great deal of similarity with other organisms. The possible pathways of electron flow to N2ase, the mechanisms of oxygen protection, and the control of nif expression and heterocyst differentiation will be discussed. Several recent advances in the physiology and biochemistry of nitrogen fixation by the photosynthetic bacteria are reviewed. Photosynthetic bacteria have been found to fix nitrogen microaerobically in darkness. The regulation of nif expression and possible pathways of electron flow to N2ase are discussed. The isolation of N2ase proteins, particularly the covalent modification of the Fe protein, the nature of the modifying group, properties of the activating enzyme, and regulating factors of the inactivation/activation process are reviewed.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The medical service of sickness insurance: its future].

Since its creation, the Medical Service of Health Insurance has known an important evolution. Initially, its essential role was to control the allowances paid to the insured persons of the regimes of Health Insurance. Its aspect was rather coercive. But since 1960 a change has been outlined with the creation of the "Haut Comité Médical de la Sécurité Sociale": the Medical Control left its place to the Medical Service. With this denomination, its functions never stopped expanding. The Medical Service maintained its tasks of control devolved by the different regulations, and that is how it falls to it to express a view about long term diseases, disability occupational injuries, etc. It is also responsible for setting up "selective" controls with regard to some of medical or ancillary medical acts. But this taskwork is coupled with an important activity: the counsel. This responsibility is orientated in three directions: the Health Insurance Associations, the insured persons, and the Health Professions particularly as a part of the conventions binding them to the organizations of the French social protection system. During these last years new date intervened in health insurance matters in consequence of the economical crisis. Henceforward, it suits to find just a balance between a social protection of a high standard and adapted care of quality for the best cost. New opportunities are offered to the Medical Service to face this situation and gave it also a fresh impulse. This new evolution fits into an activity of public health considering the progress of the medicine. This activity must be orientated to a better knowledge of dispensed care and its good employment. Several orientations must be detained. In disease matters, informations in possession of the medical services are to be operated and, thanks to the data processing, a balance sheet of expenses will be drawn up, comparing them with diagnostic and therapeutic means. These studies, whose results will be published, must be guided with an exemplary scientific strictness and be supported by uncontested leading people in the medical world. Hospitalization is the other field where the role of the medical service must be essential. It certainly charges to continue the individual controls. But it must go further and be interested in the hospital working, as well as in the aggregate as by hospital service. This permits to get indispensable informations for useful decisions in view of a better hospitalisation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Costs and Cost Analysis↗

PubMed2006

Cadmium exposure and breast cancer risk.

Cadmium, a highly persistent heavy metal, has been categorized as a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Primary exposure sources include food and tobacco smoke. We carried out a population-based case-control study of 246 women, aged 20-69 years, with breast cancer and 254 age-matched control subjects. We measured cadmium levels in urine samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and conducted interviews by telephone to obtain information on known breast cancer risk factors. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for breast cancer by creatinine-adjusted cadmium levels were calculated by multivariable analysis. Statistical tests were two-sided. Women in the highest quartile of creatinine-adjusted cadmium level (> or = 0.58 microg/g) had twice the breast cancer risk of those in the lowest quartile (<0.26 microg/g; OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.3 to 4.2) after adjustment for established risk factors, and there was a statistically significant increase in risk with increasing cadmium level (P(trend) = .01). Based on this study, the absolute risk difference is 45 (95% CI = 0 to 77) per 100,000 given an overall breast cancer rate of 124 per 100,000. Whether increased cadmium is a causal factor for breast cancer or reflects the effects of treatment or disease remains to be determined.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Why lightning strikes twice: postpartum resumption of sexual activity during adolescence.

PURPOSE: To describe the circumstances surrounding the postpartum resumption of sexual activity in a cohort of teenage mothers. The goal was to shed new light on the reasons why teenagers who have just given birth put themselves at risk for conception. METHODS: A racially and ethnically diverse group of 267 poor, predominantly unmarried, primiparous, 13-21 year olds was enrolled consecutively at delivery and followed through the third postpartum month. The primary outcome measure was weeks postpartum at resumption of sexual activity, further categorized as protected or unprotected. The analysis controlled for factors thought to influence the postpartum resumption of sexual activity among adult couples and the use of contraception during adolescence. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the time to end point and Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis to compute relevant relative risks (RR). RESULTS: By the end of the third postpartum month, 58% of the teenagers had had sexual intercourse and the majority (80%) used contraception when they did so. The median time to first coitus, 10.7 weeks, was unrelated to contraceptive use but was significantly shorter among teenagers who lived with their boyfriends (RR: 2.4; 95%CI: 1.7-3.4) and those who delivered prior to term (RR: 2.1; 95%CI: 1.3-3.6). The analysis revealed that the teenagers who did not use contraception at first postpartum sexual intercourse exhibited more theorized risk factors for conception than those who did and those who remained sexually abstinent. CONCLUSIONS: This new empirical evidence that coital activity resumes soon after delivery should dispel the normative belief that contraception is unnecessary during the puerperium. Early contraceptive vigilence may also decrease the frequency and rapidity with which teen mothers conceive, as the differences in the prevalence of teen pregnancy risk factors we uncovered suggest that decisions about using contraception (not sexual intercourse) determine the risk of rapid repeat conception. Teens with live-in boyfriends and premature babies are especially apt to benefit from the new information in this report as they resume sexual activity sooner than their peers and are less apt to use contraception when they do so.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Mental health and psychosocial aspects of disaster preparedness in Bhutan.

Bhutan has taken the initiative in developing a comprehensive guideline on disaster risk preparedness and management in response to several minor disasters, namely earthquakes and flash floods in the country during the last couple of years. It is now widely accepted that the psychological symptoms of trauma resulting from devastation to lives and livelihood of affected people remain much longer and sometimes throughout their entire life span unless taken care of. Therefore, it is important to include psychosocial components of mental health protection and treatment of the affected persons in disaster risk preparedness and management to make it a comprehensive package. A four-tier system of mental health intervention and counselling has been proposed in line with the existing healthcare system and resources available in the country to make it sustainable. At the core of this programme is the mobilizing and training of volunteers from the community on psychosocial intervention, counselling and rehabilitation, backed up by three layers of trained health workers and mental health professionals.

Bhutan↗

PubMed1996

Contraceptive Options for Perimenopausal Women.

A number of safe and effective contraceptive choices exist for the perimenopausal woman. With increasing experience, we have learned that hormonal methods are safer than initially thought, particularly with the lower-dose formulations currently prescribed. Furthermore, the pill offers many noncontraceptive health benefits. And while progestins, in contraceptive doses, have a slight adverse impact on the lipoprotein profile, there has been no parallel increase in clinical cardiovascular disease. Since elimination of the Dalkon shield, the IUD has been recognized as a very safe and effective method of contraception; the risk of associated infection seems primarily related to the insertion procedure. Barrier methods provide somewhat reliable contraception, with varying degrees of added protection against STD. The decreased fertility rate among perimenopausal women allows some latitude when contraceptive methods with suboptimal efficacies are selected; however, unintended pregnancy is a significant problem for women older than 40 years, should it occur. Surgical sterilization remains the most popular form of contraception among perimenopausal-aged couples. Natural family planning techniques are safe and somewhat underutilized. All women should be counseled about the availability of postcoital contraceptive methods.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1999

Safety and immunogenicity of capsular polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccines for group B streptococcal types Ia and Ib.

About 40% of invasive group B streptococcal (GBS) isolates are capsular polysaccharide (CPS) types Ia or Ib. Because infant and maternal GBS infections may be preventable by maternal vaccination, individual GBS CPS have been coupled to tetanus toxoid (TT) to prepare vaccines with enhanced immunogenicity. Immunogenicity in rabbits and protective capacity in mice of a series of type Ia- and Ib-TT conjugates increased with the degree of polysaccharide-to-protein cross-linking. In total, 190 healthy, nonpregnant women aged 18-40 years were randomized in four trials to receive Ia- or Ib-TT conjugate (dose range, 3.75-63 microg of CPS component), uncoupled Ia or Ib CPS, or saline. All vaccines were well-tolerated. CPS-specific IgG serum concentrations peaked 4-8 weeks after vaccination and were significantly higher in recipients of conjugated than of uncoupled CPS. Immune responses to the conjugates were dose-dependent and correlated in vitro with opsonophagocytosis. These results support inclusion of Ia- and Ib-TT conjugates when formulating a multivalent GBS vaccine.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sperm banking and assisted reproduction treatment for couples following cancer treatment of the male partner.

In recent years, the survival of young males suffering from cancer has been improved. Development of new techniques such as IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection enables even low quality spermatozoa to be used successfully. It is possible therefore to preserve fertility potential of cancer patients before embarking on adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recognizing the importance of protecting the fertility potential of these young males, we present our recommendations for sperm cryopreservation based on the 11 year experience of Bourn Hall and the British Joint Council for Clinical Oncology consultation report. This paper discusses the options available for patients who recover from cancer to become fathers. In many cases patients are concerned about possible abnormalities and teratogenic risks to their future children who have been conceived naturally or by fertility treatment. The data available in the literature may reassure the medical community that there is no such increased risk. However, due to the relatively small number of children born after such treatment, a long-term follow-up is required. There is an ongoing debate regarding the justification for the programme due to the small number of patients who make use of their banked spermatozoa. The authors believe in the importance of protecting the fertility potential of cancer patients, enabling them to father their genetic children in the future while fighting their illness.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Effect of condoms on reducing the transmission of herpes simplex virus type 2 from men to women.

CONTEXT: Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States. No prospective study has shown the ability of condoms to reduce transmission of HSV-2. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate risk factors for HSV-2 acquisition and efficacy of condoms in prevention of HSV-2 transmission. DESIGN: Analysis of data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted December 13, 1993, to June 28, 1996, of an ineffective candidate HSV-2 vaccine with 18 months of follow-up. SETTING: Eighteen clinical trial centers in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 528 monogamous couples discordant for HSV-2 infection, including an HSV-2-susceptible population of 261 men and 267 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Acquisition of HSV-2 infection by susceptible partners, compared with those remaining free of HSV-2 with regard to demographic characteristics, sexual activity, and condom use. RESULTS: Twenty-six women (9.7%) vs 5 men (1.9%) acquired HSV-2, for a rate per 10 000 sex acts (episodes of sexual intercourse) of 8.9 vs 1.5, respectively (P<.001). In multivariable analysis, younger age (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] per 5 years, 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22-2.04), seropositivity for HSV-1 and HSV-2 vs HSV-2 alone in the source partner (adjusted HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.14-4.82), and more frequent sexual activity (adjusted HR per additional sex act per week, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.19) were associated with higher risk of HSV-2 acquisition. Condom use during more than 25% of sex acts was associated with protection against HSV-2 acquisition for women (adjusted HR, 0.085; 95% CI, 0.01-0.67) but not for men (adjusted HR, 2.02; 95% CI, 0.32-12.50). Risk of HSV-2 transmission declined from 8.5 per 100 person-years in the initial 150-day interval to 0.9 per 100 person-years in the final 150-day interval (P =.002 for trend), concurrent with a decrease in sexual activity and proportion of sex acts occurring when the source partner had genital lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Condom use offers significant protection against HSV-2 infection in susceptible women. Changes in sexual behavior, correlated with counseling about avoiding sex when a partner has lesions, were associated with reduction in HSV-2 acquisition over time. These data suggest that identification of discordant couples can reduce transmission of HSV-2, especially for heterosexual couples in which the male partner has HSV-2 infection.

Acyclovir↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Legal trends and issues in voluntary sterilization.

Legal barriers to voluntary sterilization are falling. In both developing and developed countries, new legislation, court decisions, government policy statements, and ministerial regulations increasingly leave the decision whether to be sterilized to the individuals involved rather than to medical experts or government officials. These legal changes confirm that voluntary sterilization is an acceptable means of fertility regulation and a legitimate medical procedure; it is no longer seen as physical mutilation to be condemned in the criminal codes. Nevertheless, barriers still exist in some countries that make it difficult for poor and rural populations to obtain voluntary sterilization. These obstacles arise when voluntary sterilization is excluded from national health and family planning programs and from private insurance plans. Changes in voluntary sterilization law reflect increasing choice of this method of fertility control. Over the last decade voluntary sterilization has become the most widely used means of family planning in the world. Approximately 100 million couples now are protected from unwanted pregnancy by voluntary sterilization. This amounts to one-eighth of the world's couples and one-third of all those practicing contraception. Almost half of these couples are in China. Voluntary sterilization is most prevalent in countries where the procedure has been clearly legal for a number of years. But now it is also becoming more common in countries like Brazil, where the legal status has been less clear.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Partner characteristics, intensity of the intercourse, and semen exposure during use of the female condom.

The objective of this study was to assess how characteristics of the intercourse and the couple relate to semen exposure during use of the female condom. From 1996 to 1998, 210 women in Birmingham, Alabama, were trained to use the female condom and follow study procedures during a group session and individually practiced inserting the device. The outcome was semen exposure as defined by comparing pre- and postcoital prostate-specific antigen levels in vaginal fluid. Women who had high income levels had lower rates of semen exposure (odds ratio (OR) = 0.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.2, 0.7), while those in a relationship of less than 2 years were at greater risk (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3, 4.1). Couples with a large disparity in vaginal fundus size and penis size were at increased risk of semen exposure (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.0). Engaging in very active intercourse also increased the risk (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1, 2.6). Thus, the protective effect of the female condom appears to be a function of user- and intercourse-specific characteristics. Future studies of male condom efficacy should focus on collecting detailed data about the users and characteristics of intercourse to predict failure accurately.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Targeting C5a: recent advances in drug discovery.

Activation of complement via the innate and adaptive immune system is vital to the body's defences in fighting infections. Unregulated complement activation is likely to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of several diseases including psoriasis, adult (acute) respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), bullous pemphigoid (BP), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. The 74 amino acid peptide C5a is released after complement activation at sites of inflammation and is a potent chemoattractant for neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, leukocytes, monocytes and macrophages. Recombinant proteins and humanized anti-C5 antibodies have been recently developed for blocking specific proteins of the complement system bringing renewed attention towards complement inhibition. Pharmacological studies have been highlighting the complement fragment C5a as an interesting target for the management of complement mediated diseases. Specific inhibition of C5a biological activity could gain therapeutic benefit without affecting the protective immune response. In the last few years several peptide and non-peptide antagonists of C5a have been discovered and tested in relevant pharmacological models; the availability of orally active compounds is rapidly helping to delineate the precise role of C5a in immunoinflammatory disorders. Moreover, mutagenesis data for the C5a/C5a receptor (C5aR) couple make C5aR a valuable model for mechanistic studies of peptidergic G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). The aim of this review is to outline the recent advances in C5a inhibition, especially highlighting the value of a multidisciplinary integrated approach in drug discovery.

Autoimmune Diseases↗

PubMed1994

A coupled soil-atmosphere model of H2O2 on Mars.

The Viking Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer failed to detect organic compounds on Mars, and both the Viking Labeled Release and the Viking Gas Exchange experiments indicated a reactive soil surface. These results have led to the widespread belief that there are oxidants in the martian soil. Since H2O2 is produced by photochemical processes in the atmosphere of Mars, and has been shown in the laboratory to reproduce closely the Viking LR results, it is a likely candidate for a martian soil oxidant. Here, we report on the results of a coupled soil/atmosphere transport model for H2O2 on Mars. Upon diffusing into the soil, its concentration is determined by the extent to which it is adsorbed and by the rate at which it is catalytically destroyed. An analytical model for calculating the distribution of H2O2 in the martian atmosphere and soil is developed. The concentration of H2O2 in the soil is shown to go to zero at a finite depth, a consequence of the nonlinear soil diffusion equation. The model is parameterized in terms of an unknown quantity, the lifetime of H2O2 against heterogeneous catalytic destruction in the soil. Calculated concentrations are compared with a H2O2 concentration of 30 nmoles/cm3, inferred from the Viking Labeled Release experiment. A significant result of this model is that for a wide range of H2O2 lifetimes (up to 10(5) years), the extinction depth was found to be less than 3 m. The maximum possible concentration in the top 4 cm is calculated to be approximately 240 nmoles/cm3, achieved with lifetimes of greater than 1000 years. Concentrations higher than 30 nmoles/cm3 require lifetimes of greater than 4.3 terrestrial years. For a wide range of H2O2 lifetimes, it was found that the atmospheric concentration is only weakly coupled with soil loss processes. Losses to the soil become significant only when lifetimes are less than a few hours. If there are depths below which H2O2 is not transported, it is plausible that organic compounds, protected from an oxidizing environment, may still exist. They would have been deposited by meteors, or be the organic remains of past life.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1994

A longitudinal study of human immunodeficiency virus transmission by heterosexual partners. European Study Group on Heterosexual Transmission of HIV.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, the predominant mode of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission is heterosexual intercourse, but the risk of heterosexual transmission and the effectiveness of measures to prevent it are not well defined. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of HIV-negative subjects whose only risk of HIV infection was a stable heterosexual relationship with an HIV-infected partner. Every six months the subjects were interviewed, tested for HIV, and counseled about safe sexual practices. RESULTS: A total of 304 HIV-negative subjects (196 women and 108 men) were followed for an average of 20 months. During the study, 130 couples (42.8 percent) ended their sexual relationships, most often because of the HIV-infected partner's illness or death. Of the 256 couples who continued to have sexual relations for more than three months after enrollment in the study, only 124 (48.4 percent) used condoms consistently for vaginal and anal intercourse. Among these couples, none of the seronegative partners became infected with HIV, despite a total of about 15,000 episodes of intercourse. Among the 121 couples who used condoms inconsistently, the rate of seroconversion was 4.8 per 100 person-years (95 percent confidence interval, 2.5 to 8.4). Eleven couples refused to answer questions about condom use. The risk of transmission increased with advanced stages of HIV infection in the index partners (P < 0.02) and with genital infection in the HIV-negative partners (P < 0.04). Withdrawal to avoid ejaculation in the vagina had a protective effect in uninfected women (P < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Consistent use of condoms for heterosexual intercourse is highly effective in preventing the transmission of HIV. Among couples not using condoms regularly, the risk of HIV transmission varies widely.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Clinical virology of rhinoviruses.

Rhinoviruses cause more infections in humans than any other micro-organism. These acid-sensitive picornaviruses infect epithelial cells following inoculation onto the nasal mucosa and are detected reliably in nasopharyngeal secretions. Rhinovirus colds occur year round, with a peak of illness in the fall. Type-specific serum antibody correlates with protection against infection. The fact that there are at least 100 different immunotypes makes development of an effective vaccine unlikely. Nasopharyngeal secretions must be sampled for detection of rhinovirus by culture or RT-PCR. Efficient isolation of virus requires inoculation into two different types of sensitive cell cultures (i.e., fibroblasts and HeLa cells). RT of conserved sequences in the 5' noncoding region of the viral RNA to produce cDNA for PCR amplification has been coupled with detection of amplimers either by gel electrophoresis after nested PCR or by hybridization with labeled oligonucleotide probes to detect one viral genome in samples. In two studies in which both RT-PCR and cell cultures were used, virtually all of the positives were identified with RT-PCR; culture in two cell lines identified 75-80% of the positives. In year-round surveillance, 50% of colds in adults and children were rhinovirus positive. The symptoms occurring during rhinovirus colds are caused by the host's response to the virus, not by the virus itself. Elaboration of cytokines by infected epithelial cells is central to symptom pathogenesis.

Common Cold↗

PubMed2002

Designing a carbon market that protects forests in developing countries.

Firmly incorporated into the Kyoto Protocol, market mechanisms offer an innovative and cost-effective means of controlling atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. However, as with markets for many other goods and services, a carbon market may generate negative environmental externalities. Possible interpretations and application of Kyoto provisions under COP-6bis and COP-7 raise concerns that rules governing forestry with respect to the Kyoto carbon market may increase pressure on native forests and their biodiversity in developing countries. In this paper, we assess the following two specific concerns with Kyoto provisions for forestry measures. First, whether, under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), by restricting allowable forestry measures to afforestation and reforestation, and explicitly excluding protection of threatened native forests, the Kyoto Protocol will enhance incentives for degradation and clearing of forests in developing countries; second, whether carbon crediting for forest management in Annex I (industrialized) regions under Article 3.4 creates a dynamic that can encourage displacement of timber harvests from Annex I countries to developing nations. Given current timber extraction patterns in developing regions, additional harvest pressure would certainly entail a considerable cost in terms of biodiversity loss. In both cases, we find that the concerns about deleterious impacts to forests and biodiversity are justified, although the scale of such impacts is difficult to predict. Both to ensure reliable progress in managing carbon concentrations and to avoid unintended consequences with respect to forest biodiversity, the further development of the Kyoto carbon market must explicitly correct these perverse incentives. We recommend several steps that climate policymakers can take to ensure that conservation and restoration of biodiversity-rich natural forests in developing countries are rewarded rather than penalized. To correct incentives to clear natural forests through CDM crediting for afforestation and reforestation, we recommend for the first commitment period that policymakers establish an early base year, such as 1990, such that lands cleared after that year would be ineligible for crediting. We further recommend an exception to this rule for CDM projects that are explicitly designed to promote natural forest restoration and that pass rigorous environmental impact review. Restoration efforts are typically most effective on lands that are adjacent to standing forests and hence likely to have been recently cleared. Thus, we recommend for these projects establishing a more recent base year, such as 2000. For the second and subsequent commitment periods, we recommend that climate policymakers act to restrain inter-annex leakage and its impacts by ensuring that crediting for forest management in industrialized countries is informed by modelling efforts to anticipate the scale of leakage associated with different Annex I 'Land use, land-use change and forestry' policy options, and coupled with effective measures to protect natural forests in developing countries. The latter should include expanding the options permitted under the CDM to carbon crediting for projects that protect threatened forests from deforestation and forest degradation. Ultimately, carbon market incentives for forest clearing can be reduced and incentives for forest conservation most effectively strengthened by fully capturing carbon emissions associated with deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries under a future emissions cap. Finally, we note that these recommendations have broader relevance to any forest-based measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions developed outside of the specific context of the Kyoto Protocol.

Air Pollution↗