Gender, generation and agrarian change: Cases from Myanmar and Camodia

Rural communities, physical landscapes and social relations have been deeply transformed in countries in Southeast Asia by the effects of the global land rush. The surge of initiatives around industrial development, hydropower projects, monocrop commercial plantations, mining and conservation has given way to a process of appropriation of land and natural resources unprecedented in scale, speed and scope. This has been underwritten by a favourable environment of neoliberal market-driven reforms, trade policies and investment flows that are the expression of the fast-track development model embraced by most countries in the region, including Cambodia and Myanmar. Today, the climate change agenda and the commitments to reduce emissions have created the conditions for an expanded menu of land and resource grabs justified in the name of the environmental good, so-called ‘green grabs’. Southeast Asia has thus become a “core region of concern in land grab studies”. This body of work has also begun to integrate gender and, to a lesser extent, generational perspectives in analyses of agrarian and environmental transformations, advancing a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of land grabs. However, to date literature in these areas remains limited, while, as in land grabs studies, ‘local people’ and ‘local communities’ are often assumed to be homogeneous groups of people with similar interests, identities and aspirations. This has not only severe analytical limitations but also political implications. Building on feminist political economy and with feminist political ecology as the overarching intellectual and political project, this thesis contributes to furthering the understanding of the implications of land grab in Southeast Asia with an analysis of gendered and ‘generationed’ patterns of rural dispossession, incorporation and political reactions from below with empirical evidence from Cambodia and Myanmar. The thesis also aims to make the case for centring gender and generations into the politics of land grabs and argues that there can be no real social justice if attention is not paid to everyday struggles in diverse contexts and without a commitment to changing power relations that perpetuate social injustices

'We are not afraid to die’: gender dynamics of agrarian change in Ratanakiri province, Cambodia

Dramatic changes have subverted the socially, culturally and resource-rich systems of indigenous communities living in Ratanakiri province. These changes include the incursion of market-based economy and commodification of land, the alienation of land and natural resources by way of economic land concessions (ELCs) and the inflow of large number of migrants from other regions and countries. Their cumulative impact has affected indigenous communities’ agrarian practices, their livelihoods and their system of beliefs and way of life, with important repercussions on social differentiation and gender relations. Based on fieldwork carried out in Ratanakiri province, this contribution analyses how emerging capitalist relations are shaping shifting gender relations and creating hierarchies of power that risk marginalising indigenous women and girls and eroding spaces of recognition, autonomy and agency they once had

Feminist approaches to transforming food systems: a roadmap towards a socially just transition

Transforming food systems to make them healthier, more sustainable and inclusive is closely interconnected with the goals and ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and leaving no one behind. The importance of making food systems more equitable and sustainable has become critical and is a key driver behind the movement to promote food systems transformation. By shedding light on the existing structural weaknesses and inequalities inherent in existing food systems, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has made this transformation an ever-more pressing priority. Although different readings of the crisis and proposals for solutions exist (eg Clapp et al, 2020), all stakeholders agree that action is urgently needed. An equitable and sustainable transformation can only happen by prioritising the long-standing feminist demands, underpinned by calls for the realisation of women’s rights and socio-environmental justice. The paper presents an initial list of cross-disciplinary methodological implications for research and action, and questions that might help us to advance the trajectory to achieve inclusive, healthier and more sustainable food systems

Unique Organization of the Nuclear Envelope in the Post-natal Quiescent Neural Stem Cells

Neural stem cells (B1 astrocytes; NSCs) in the adult ventricular-subventricular-zone (V-SVZ) originate in the embryo. Surprisingly, recent work has shown that B1 cells remain largely quiescent. They are reactivated postnatally to function as primary progenitors for neurons destined for the olfactory bulb and some corpus callosum oligodendrocytes. The cellular and molecular properties of quiescent B1 cells remain unknown. Here we found that a subpopulation of B1 cells has a unique nuclear envelope invagination specialization similar to envelope-limited chromatin sheets (ELCS), reported in certain lymphocytes and some cancer cells. Using molecular markers, [3H]thymidine birth-dating, and Ara-C, we found that B1 cells with ELCS correspond to quiescent NSCs. ELCS begin forming in embryonic radial glia cells and represent a specific nuclear compartment containing particular epigenetic modifications and telomeres. These results reveal a unique nuclear compartment in quiescent NSCs, which is useful for identifying these primary progenitors and study their gene regulation

5G 3GPP-like Channel Models for Outdoor Urban Microcellular and Macrocellular Environments

For the development of new 5G systems to operate in bands up to 100 GHz, there is a need for accurate radio propagation models at these bands that currently are not addressed by existing channel models developed for bands below 6 GHz. This document presents a preliminary overview of 5G channel models for bands up to 100 GHz. These have been derived based on extensive measurement and ray tracing results across a multitude of frequencies from 6 GHz to 100 GHz, and this document describes an initial 3D channel model which includes: 1) typical deployment scenarios for urban microcells (UMi) and urban macrocells (UMa), and 2) a baseline model for incorporating path loss, shadow fading, line of sight probability, penetration and blockage models for the typical scenarios. Various processing methodologies such as clustering and antenna decoupling algorithms are also presented.Comment: To be published in 2016 IEEE 83rd Vehicular Technology Conference Spring (VTC 2016-Spring), Nanjing, China, May 201

Robotic right ventricle is a biohybrid platform that simulates right ventricular function in (patho)physiological conditions and intervention

The increasing recognition of the right ventricle (RV) necessitates the development of RV-focused interventions, devices and testbeds. In this study, we developed a soft robotic model of the right heart that accurately mimics RV biomechanics and hemodynamics, including free wall, septal and valve motion. This model uses a biohybrid approach, combining a chemically treated endocardial scaffold with a soft robotic synthetic myocardium. When connected to a circulatory flow loop, the robotic right ventricle (RRV) replicates real-time hemodynamic changes in healthy and pathological conditions, including volume overload, RV systolic failure and pressure overload. The RRV also mimics clinical markers of RV dysfunction and is validated using an in vivo porcine model. Additionally, the RRV recreates chordae tension, simulating papillary muscle motion, and shows the potential for tricuspid valve repair and replacement in vitro. This work aims to provide a platform for developing tools for research and treatment for RV pathophysiology.</p

Microfluidic squeezing for intracellular antigen loading in polyclonal B-cells as cellular vaccines

B-cells are promising candidate autologous antigen-presenting cells (APCs) to prime antigen-specific T-cells both in vitro and in vivo. However to date, a significant barrier to utilizing B-cells as APCs is their low capacity for non-specific antigen uptake compared to “professional” APCs such as dendritic cells. Here we utilize a microfluidic device that employs many parallel channels to pass single cells through narrow constrictions in high throughput. This microscale “cell squeezing” process creates transient pores in the plasma membrane, enabling intracellular delivery of whole proteins from the surrounding medium into B-cells via mechano-poration. We demonstrate that both resting and activated B-cells process and present antigens delivered via mechano-poration exclusively to antigen-specific CD8[superscript +]T-cells, and not CD4[superscript +]T-cells. Squeezed B-cells primed and expanded large numbers of effector CD8[superscript +]T-cells in vitro that produced effector cytokines critical to cytolytic function, including granzyme B and interferon-γ. Finally, antigen-loaded B-cells were also able to prime antigen-specific CD8[superscript +]T-cells in vivo when adoptively transferred into mice. Altogether, these data demonstrate crucial proof-of-concept for mechano-poration as an enabling technology for B-cell antigen loading, priming of antigen-specific CD8[superscript +]T-cells, and decoupling of antigen uptake from B-cell activation.Kathy and Curt Marble Cancer Research Fund (Frontier Research Programme Grant)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Cancer Center Support (Core) Grant P30-CA14051)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award 1F32CA180586

Body composition and body fat distribution are related to cardiac autonomic control in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease patients

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Heart rate recovery (HRR), a cardiac autonomic control marker, was shown to be related to body composition (BC), yet this was not tested in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. The aim of this study was to determine if, and to what extent, markers of BC and body fat (BF) distribution are related to cardiac autonomic control in NAFLD patients. SUBJECTS/METHODS: BC was assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 28 NAFLD patients (19 men, 51±13 years, and 9 women, 47±13 years). BF depots ratios were calculated to assess BF distribution. Subjects’ HRR was recorded 1 (HRR1) and 2 min (HRR2) immediately after a maximum graded exercise test. RESULTS: BC and BF distribution were related to HRR; particularly weight, trunk BF and trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio showed a negative relation with HRR1 (r 1⁄4 0.613, r 1⁄4 0.597 and r 1⁄4 0.547, respectively, Po0.01) and HRR2 (r 1⁄4 0.484, r 1⁄4 0.446, Po0.05, and r 1⁄4 0.590, Po0.01, respectively). Age seems to be related to both HRR1 and HRR2 except when controlled for BF distribution. The preferred model in multiple regression should include trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio and BF to predict HRR1 (r2 1⁄4 0.549; Po0.05), and trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio alone to predict HRR2 (r2 1⁄4 0.430; Po0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BC and BF distribution were related to HRR in NAFLD patients. Trunk BF-to-appendicular BF ratio was the best independent predictor of HRR and therefore may be best related to cardiovascular increased risk, and possibly act as a mediator in age-related cardiac autonomic control variation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio