Abstract: Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect over one billion people worldwide. There is concern that chronic infection with STHs among school-aged children may detrimentally affect their development, including their health, cognition, and education. However, two recent Cochrane reviews examining the impact of deworming drugs for STH on nutrition, hemoglobin, and school performance found that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature provide an insufficient evidence base to draw reliable conclusions. This study uses a cluster-RCT to add to existing evidence by assessing the impact of a deworming intervention on nutrition, cognition, and school performance among schoolchildren in rural China. The intervention, implemented by local health practitioners in a setting with a baseline infection prevalence of 41.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 39.8%, 43.9%) and infection intensity of 599.5 eggs per gram of feces among positive-tested schoolchildren (95% CI = 473.2, 725.8), consisted of distributing a 400-mg dose of albendazole accompanied with educational training about STH infection, treatment, and prevention. The intervention was conducted twice over the course of the study—at baseline in May 2013 and later in November 2013. We found that the deworming intervention reduced both infection prevalence and infection intensity, but these declines in infection were not accompanied by an impact on outcomes of nutrition, cognition, or school performance. Our interpretation is that the impact of deworming was attenuated by the light infection intensity in our sample population. Evidence from future RCTs is needed to assess the effect of deworming on key outcomes in areas with moderate and severe worm infections.

From 31 January through 1 February 2018, Stanford University’s U.S.-Asia Security Initiative (USASI) and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF), gathered in Tokyo representatives from the government, defense, and academic sectors of the United States and Japan for the second workshop of the U.S.-Japan Security and Defense Dialogue Series. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate frank discussions between academic scholars, subject matter experts, government officials, and military leaders on the current strategic and operational security challenges to the U.S.-Japan security alliance. The goal of the dialogue was to establish a common understanding of the problems facing the U.S.-Japan security alliance and to develop actionable policy recommendations aimed at addressing these issues.

This conference report provides an executive summary, policy recommendations, and a summary of the workshop sessions and findings. More information about USASI is available here.

The era of globalization saw China emerge as the world's manufacturing titan. However, the "made in China" model—with its reliance on cheap labor and thin profits—has begun to wane. Beginning in the 2000s, the Chinese state shifted from attracting foreign investment to promoting the technological competitiveness of domestic firms. This shift caused tensions between winners and losers, leading local bureaucrats to compete for resources in government budget, funding, and tax breaks. While bureaucrats successfully built coalitions to motivate businesses to upgrade in some cities, in others, vested interests within the government deprived businesses of developmental resources and left them in a desperate race to the bottom.

About the Author

Objective To investigate the situation of parenting behavior and related risk factors in infants aged 18~30 months from rural areas of southern Shaanxi Province. Methods A total of 1,243 infants and their families from rural areas of southern Shaanxi Province, China. A multivariate regression analysis and T-test were performed to determine the risk factors for the parenting behavior in caregivers. Results 1) The mother was the primary caregiver for 67.34% of the children in the sample. For these infants, 10.62% of the mothers had completed fewer than 9 years of schooling; 2) the interaction between caregiver and infants was not enough, and the interaction time was too short. 13.68% of caregivers read to their children. Similarly, 38.37% of caregivers sing to their children on the day prior to survey administration. 39.9% of parents used toys to play with their children on the day prior to survey administration. Most sample households (90%) hit the infants sometimes or often. 3) The multivariate regression analysis showed that schooling of caregiver, whether the caregiver has internet, whether the caregiver has a telephone, and the assets of the household have significant impact on the parenting behavior (P<0.01). Conclusion Improving the schooling and internet rate in rural areas can decrease the risk of development in infants. 

Keywords: parenting behavior, risk factor, infant, rural area

In the 1990s, rural youth from poor counties in China had limited access to college. After mass college expansion started in 1998, however, it was unclear whether rural youth from poor counties would gain greater access. The aim of this paper is to examine the gap in college and elite college access between rural youth from poor counties and other students after expansion. We estimate the gaps in access by using data on all students who took the college entrance exam in 2003. Our results show that gaps in access remained high even after expansion. Rural youth from poor counties were seven and 11 times less likely to access any college and elite Project 211 colleges than urban youth, respectively. Much larger gaps existed for disadvantaged subgroups (female or ethnic minority) of rural youth from poor counties. We also find that the gaps in college access were mainly driven by rural–urban differences rather than differences between poor and non-poor counties within rural or urban areas.

Abstract: More than 60 million children in rural China are “left-behind”—both parents live and work far from their rural homes and leave their children behind. This paper explores differences in how left-behind and non-left-behind children seek health remediation in China’s vast but understudied rural areas. This study examines this question in the context of a program to provide vision health care to myopic rural students. The data come from a randomized controlled trial of 13,100 students in Gansu and Shaanxi provinces in China. The results show that without a subsidy, uptake of health care services is low, even if individuals are provided with evidence of a potential problem (an eyeglasses prescription). Uptake rises two to three times when this information is paired with a subsidy voucher redeemable for a free pair of prescription eyeglasses. In fact, left-behind children who receive an eyeglasses voucher are not only more likely to redeem it, but also more likely to use the eyeglasses both in the short term and long term. In other words, in terms of uptake of care and compliance with treatment, the voucher program benefitted left-behind students more than non-left-behind students. The results provide a scientific understanding of differential impacts for guiding effective implementation of health policy to all groups in need in developing countries.

Keywords: randomized controlled trial; rural China; left-behind children; healthcare