The latest frontiers for financial inclusion: Using mobile phones to reach the unbanked

The goal of community development should be to improve the lives of as many disadvantaged people as possible with a minimum amount of resources. The field can achieve this goal by identifying those community development projects that are both efficient and have significant social impacts, and then scaling up. However, without effective evaluations, it is impossible to gauge progress. Effective evaluations include randomized experiments and well-designed observational studies, both of which can measure the impact to society. This article analyzes the best evaluation methods in international development, including examples of evaluation toolkits, with the aim of helping community development practitioners apply the methods to projects in the United States. The article also includes steps and recommendations to increase the quantity and quality of evaluations for community development projects.Unbanked

Cows, Kiva, and Prosper.Com: how disintermediation and the internet are changing microfinance

Recent advances in finance and technology are providing new opportunities for individual investors to support and invest in microenterprises, and in some cases, bypassing intermediaries altogether. While these efforts at disintermediation are still new, they present a new way for poor communities to attract capital that has the potential to unleash the entrepreneurial capacity of the poor. They might also hold the key for innovation in other related fields, such as community development finance.

3-Hydroxy Fatty Acid Induce Trophoblast and Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis

Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy (AFLP) is a very rare and fatal condition for both the mother and the unborn offspring accompanied by severe maternal liver dysfunction. AFLP usually develops during the third trimester of pregnancy with symptoms of liver disease. AFLP is associated with a mutation in the enzyme, long-chain 3-hydroxy acyl CoA dehydrogenase (LCHAD) which is involved in the mitochondrial beta-oxidation of fatty acids. Defective beta-oxidation of fatty acids results in the individual unable to metabolize fatty acids which then causes fatty infiltration in their organs, such as the liver. This interferes with normal function of the liver and since fatty acids are an essential nutrient for mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy, an individual with this disease will not be able to survive long after child birth without the proper treatment. AFLP is an in-born error of metabolism and occurs in an autosomal recessive pattern, meaning it will take effect if an individual has both recessive alleles. This occurs when both the mother and father are heterozygous for the mutation in LCHAD and pass on their recessive alleles to the offspring. The placenta acts as a lung, liver and kidney for the fetus and it also has the genetic make-up of the fetus. In AFLP, a fetus with homozygous mutation for LCHAD will have his/her placenta defective to metabolize the long chain fatty acids resulting in the accumulation of 3-hydroxyl fatty acids. Accumulated 3-hydroxyl fatty acids and other fatty acids enter the mother’s circulation and affects the maternal liver resulting in the complication of maternal liver disease observed in AFLP. The only form of treatment is for the mother to deliver the offspring, this will allow her to recover from maternal liver disease. As the liver accumulates with toxic 3-hydroxy fatty acids, it is not able to properly function. The hepatocytes, liver cells, are not able to maintain a proper balance between cell death and cells being produced. Cell death occurs at a higher rate than cells being replaced and results in liver dysfunction. Here our hypothesis is that the 3-hydroxy fatty acids that are released from the placenta induces hepatocyte lipoapoptosis, a metabolic programed cell death caused by the increased exposure of fatty acids. This study will help clarify the mechanism of maternal liver damage that happens during AFLP. Our hypothesis will help identify the role of placental exosomes exacerbates hepatocyte lipoapoptosis due to the exposure of 3-hydroxy fatty acids

The neural and cognitive bases of ambiguous and unambiguous conceptual combination

Conceptual representations can be altered to align with the current context given learning and task goals. One cognitive process, known as conceptual combination, allows for a unique perspective for exploring how complex conceptual processing occurs and how this processing influences the underlying representations of concepts. During novel nominal conceptual combination, two constituent nouns, a modifier noun (e.g., lemon) and a head noun (e.g., flamingo) are creatively combined to form a novel meaning (e.g., a lemon flamingo might be a yellow flamingo). Different strategies can be taken up by combiners - typically being either attributive (as above) or relational (e.g., a lemon flamingo is a flamingo that consumes lemons). Importantly, few studies have directly examined more ambiguous combinations, which are more complex to process, having an equal likelihood of being combined attributively or relationally between individuals. This dissertation addresses two main aims for understanding nominal conceptual combination through a series of four studies. First, it explores the pathways driving different kinds of conceptual combination. In Study 1, I examine how easily conceptual combinations can be formed and subsequently remembered. In Study 2, I explore how individual differences in cognition predict ease of combining. The second aim explores how conceptual combination differently impacts the representations of the constituent concepts. In Study 3, I address whether and how the cognitive representations of the head noun in a conceptual combination are altered because of being conceptually combined. Finally, Study 4 addresses both aims using neuroimaging to explore how different types of conceptual combinations are processed and how the neural representations of concepts are altered because of their combination. The findings show representational change due to conceptual combination in early visual processing regions of the brain and suggest that conceptual combination may rely on additional cognitive processes throughout the lifespan. There is also an emerging theme of the importance of cognitive control in the ease of combining. Finally, the findings show differences in the processing of different types of conceptual combinations, both between attributive and relational combinations and between unambiguous and ambiguous, advocating for the inclusion of ambiguous compounds in future studies of conceptual combination

Connectivity Based on Multi-Voxel Patterns Can Selectively Identify Brain Networks Where Condition-based Functional Connectivity Does Not: Evidence from the Scene Network

With a major focus of neuroimaging research on mapping brain network connectivity, it is essential that researchers use the most effective methods for determining which regions comprise functional networks. Here, we compare the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain networks that can be identified through shared fluctuations in regions’ univariate responses to conditions (i.e., condition-based functional connectivity), with those identified by shared fluctuations in multivariate information. To do this, we compare brain networks generated by two approaches for measuring connectivity: psychophysiological interaction (PPI), which measures the effect of conditions on shared univariate responses, and informational connectivity (IC), which measures shared fluctuations in the discriminability of multi-voxel patterns. We compare the findings generated by applying these methods to data collected while people perceptually process scenes and control (pseudo) scenes. Prior work establishing the regions involved in scene processing give us an opportunity to compare the sensitivity and selectivity of these approaches to detect a stimulus-relevant network. We find that, while each measure produces useful information, the PPI method was less selective than IC in detecting scene-related regions. Using PPI led to identifying networks containing both scene and object regions, with little specificity in connections between scene regions. In contrast, the network identified by IC was more consistent with prior literature examining the brain’s scene network. We recommend that – for conditions known to be represented in multi-voxel patterns – researchers wishing to prioritize specificity in mapping networks should examine informational connectivity over univariate connectivity approaches such as PPI

Human CD4+CD25+ Regulatory, Contact-dependent T Cells Induce Interleukin 10–producing, Contact-independent Type 1-like Regulatory T Cells

It has been recently demonstrated that regulatory CD4+CD25+ CD45RO+ T cells are present in the peripheral blood of healthy adults and exert regulatory function similar to their rodent counterparts. It remains difficult to understand how the small fraction of these T cells that regulate via direct cell-to-cell contact and not via secretion of immunosuppressive cytokines could mediate strong immune suppression. Here we show that human CD4+CD25+ T cells induce long-lasting anergy and production of interleukin (IL)-10 in CD4+CD25− T cells. These anergized CD4+CD25− T cells then suppress proliferation of syngenic CD4+ T cells via IL-10 but independent of direct cell contact, similar to the so-called type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells. This ‘catalytic’ function of CD4+CD25+ T cells to induce Tr1-like cells helps to explain their central role for the maintenance of immune homeostasis

A test of the DSM-5 severity specifier for bulimia nervosa in adolescents: Can we anticipate clinical treatment outcomes?

OBJECTIVE:This study tested clinical utility of the DSM-5 severity specifier for bulimia nervosa (BN) in predicting treatment response among adolescents (N = 110) within a randomized clinical trial of two psychosocial treatments. METHOD:Analyses grouped individuals meeting criteria for BN diagnosis by baseline severity, per DSM-5. Associations among baseline severity classification and BN behavior (i.e., binge eating and compensatory behavior) and eating disorder examination (EDE) Global scores at end-of-treatment (EOT), 6- and 12-month follow-up were examined. RESULTS:Associations between severity categories with BN symptoms were not significant at EOT, or follow-up. Test for linear trend in BN behavior was significant at EOT, F = 5.23, p = 0.02, without demonstrating a linear pattern. Relation between severity categories with EDE Global scores was significant at 6-month follow-up, F = 3.76, p = 0.01. Tests for linear trend in EDE Global scores were significant at EOT, F = 5.40, p = 0.02, and at 6 months, F = 10.73, p = 0.002, with the expected linear pattern. DISCUSSION:Findings suggest the DSM-5 BN severity specifier holds questionable utility in anticipating outpatient treatment response in adolescents with BN. The specifier may have improved ability to predict attitudinal rather than behavioral treatment outcomes

Expertise Moderates Incidentally Learned Associations Between Words and Images

Individuals with expertise in a domain of knowledge demonstrate superior learning for information in their area of expertise, relative to non-experts. In this study, we investigated whether expertise benefits extend to learning associations between words and images that are encountered incidentally. Sport-knowledge-experts and non-sports-experts encountered previously unknown faces through a basic perceptual task. The faces were incidentally presented as candidates for a position in a sports team (a focus of knowledge for only the sports-experts) or for a job in a business (a focus of knowledge for both the sports-experts and non-sports-experts). Participants later received a series of surprise memory tests that tested: ability to recognize each face as being old, the amount of information recalled about each face, and ability to select a correct face from equally familiar alternatives. Relative to non-sports-experts, participants with superior sports expertise were able to better recall the information associated with each face and could better select associated faces from similarly familiar options for the hypothetical prospective athletes. Hypothetical job candidates were recalled and selected at similar levels of performance in both groups. The groups were similarly familiar with the images (in a yes/no recognition memory test) when the faces were prospective athletes or job candidates. These findings suggest a specific effect of expertise on associative memory between words and images, but not for individual items, supporting a dissociation in how expertise modulates the human memory system for word–image pairings

Zika virus infection induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis in placental trophoblasts

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection to a pregnant woman can be vertically transmitted to the fetus via the placenta leading to Congenital Zika syndrome. This is characterized by microcephaly, retinal defects, and intrauterine growth retardation. ZIKV induces placental trophoblast apoptosis leading to severe abnormalities in the growth and development of the fetus. However, the molecular mechanism behind ZIKV-induced apoptosis in placental trophoblasts remains unclear. We hypothesize that ZIKV infection induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the trophoblasts, and sustained ER stress results in apoptosis. HTR-8 (HTR-8/SVneo), a human normal immortalized trophoblast cell and human choriocarcinoma-derived cell lines (JEG-3 and JAR) were infected with ZIKV. Biochemical and structural markers of apoptosis like caspase 3/7 activity and percent apoptotic nuclear morphological changes, respectively were assessed. ZIKV infection in placental trophoblasts showed an increase in the levels of CHOP mRNA and protein expression, which is an inducer of apoptosis. Next, we also observed increased levels of ER stress markers such as phosphorylated forms of inositol-requiring transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease 1α (P-IRE1α), and its downstream target, the spliced form of XBP1 mRNA, phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (P-eIF2α), and activation of cJun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) after 16–24 h of ZIKV infection in trophoblasts. Inhibition of JNK or pan-caspases using small molecule inhibitors significantly prevented ZIKV-induced apoptosis in trophoblasts. Further, JNK inhibition also reduced XBP1 mRNA splicing and viral E protein staining in ZIKV infected cells. In conclusion, the mechanism of ZIKV-induced placental trophoblast apoptosis involves the activation of ER stress and JNK activation, and the inhibition of JNK dramatically prevents ZIKV-induced trophoblast apoptosis

An exploration of the association between premorbid weight status on patient and caregiver factors at pre and post-treatment among youth with anorexia nervosa/atypical anorexia nervosa

Patients with atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN) or anorexia nervosa (AN) with premorbid history of higher weight (PHW; median BMI ≥ 85th %ile) may report greater eating disorder (ED) pathology, anxiety, and depression, than patients with premorbid history of lower weight (PLW; mBMI <85th %ile). Less is known about caregiver attitudes or treatment outcome related to premorbid weight history. The current study examined associations between premorbid weight history and patient/caregiver factors at presentation, during treatment, and end of treatment among adolescents (N = 138) diagnosed with AN/AAN and their caregivers who received interdisciplinary ED treatment. The sample comprised adolescents with PHW (n = 58, 40.6 %) or PLW (n = 82, 59.4 %). Adolescents with PHW did not differ with regard to patient- or caregiver-reported ED symptoms, comorbid psychopathology, rates of treatment completion, and attainment of estimated body weight compared to PLW (ps > .05). Adolescents with PHW (vs. PLW) were more likely to be diagnosed with AAN (67.9 %, p < .001), identify as cisgender male (p < .001) and to have lost more weight prior to presentation (p < .001). Perceived caregiver burden was lower among adolescents with PHW vs. PLW (p < .001). Further research should expand on this preliminary study exploring associations between premorbid weight history on patient and caregiver factors at treatment presentation and conclusion to enhance the efficacy of evidence-based treatment across the weight-spectrum