Microfinance and Gender Empowerment

In the past 30 years, microfinance has carried many promises of social and economic transformation, with the shift towards targeting women being seen as a major strategic move through which the promise of social development could be most e¤ectively delivered. However, ethnographic studies have shown that many women relinquish the use of their loans to male members of the household, belying the empowering promise of microfinance. We propose a simple model of household bargaining to examine how providing women with credit affects production and decision-making power in the household. In particular, we allow for cooperative endeavours in production between the husband and the wife and the possibility of investing a loan in such endeavours. We show that the introduction of a microcredit programme is likely to have widely heterogeneous impacts, and can adversely affect the bargaining power of some women. We demonstrate that access to credit allows a woman to strengthen her bargaining position through an expansion of her autonomous activities (the causal mechanism hoped for) only in a limited number of cases: when she is able to invest her new capital profitably in an autonomous activity, and her husband has no alternative activity in which the same capital would generate comparable returns, or lacks the power to overrule her preferred investment choice. The two cases in which it is most likely that the availability of credit would enable the woman to strengthen her bargaining position within the household are (i) when capital can be invested in a cooperative activity to which both spouses contribute in an important way, and (ii) when a large share of the household budget is devoted to expenditures on household public goods

Determinants of Capital Structure in the Presence of Supply Chain Activities of Listed Construction Firms in Vietnam

The study aims to identify the capital structure determinants in the presence of the supply chain of the listed construction firms in Vietnam. The determinants of capital structure are factors affecting firm financial leverage, including firm profitability, size, growth rate, fixed assets, liquidity, interest coverage and state ownership along with the supply chain activities. The study is based on a data of 53 listed construction firms in the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange over the period 2014-2018. The results indicated that the supply chain activities along with other determinants except profits and liquidity have a positive association with the capital structure of the listed construction firm in Vietnam. These findings guided to the policymakers that they should enhance the intensions towards the determinant of the capital structure along with supply chain activities to improve the organizational performance.

Microfinance and Gender Empowerment.

In the past 30 years, microfinance has carried many promises of social and economic transformation, with the shift towards targeting women being seen as a major strategic move through which the promise of social development could be most effectively delivered. However, ethnographic studies have shown that many women relinquish the use of their loans to male members of the household, belying the empowering promise of microfinance. We propose a simple model of household bargaining which examines how providing women with credit affects production and decision-making power in the household. Following Bergstrom (1996), we account for the roles of both divorce and non-cooperation in the household as relevant fall-back options in the bargaining strategy of each spouse. We show that the introduction of a microcredit programme is likely to have widely heterogeneous impacts, and can adversely affect the bargaining power of some women. We demonstrate that access to credit allows a woman to strengthen her bargaining position through an expansion of her autonomous activities (the causal mechanism hoped for) only in a limited number of cases: when she is able to invest her new capital profitably in an autonomous activity, and her husband has no alternative activity in which the same capital would generate comparable returns, or lacks the power to overrule her preferred investment choice. The two cases in which it is most likely that the availability of credit would enable the woman to strengthen her bargaining position within the household are (i) when capital can be invested in a cooperative activity to which both spouses contribute in an important way, and (ii) when a large share of the household budget is devoted to expenditures on household public goods.

FRACTION AND DETERMINATION OF CAPSAICINOIDS FROM RED PEPPER FRUITS WITH INSECTICIDAL ACTIVITY AGAINST MEALWORM, Tenebrio molitor, AND SUPERWORM, Zophobas morio

Green chemistry has recently been an active area of research and it is expected to replace the chemical synthesis in agriculture. In this study, our attempt is to fractionate and determine the capsaicinoids from red pepper fruit to control mealworm Tenebrio molitor and superworm Zophobas morio. The methanol extraction of red pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum L.) effectively killed T. molitor and Z. morio at the concentration of 10000 ppm. The insecticidal activity of n-hexane, dichloromethane and aqueous layers derived from the extract by liquid-liquid partitioning were evaluated. Among them, only dichloromethane layer showed insecticidal activity; whereas n-hexane and aqueous layers were inactive against tested pests. The dichloromethane layer was successively fractionated by silica gel column chromatography to afford insecticidal compounds. The chemical structures of active compounds in dichloromethane layer were elucidated by the analysis of NMR and MS spectroscopic data. The active compounds were determined to be as capsaicinoids and their insecticidal activity was also evaluated using the in vitro residual contact bioassay method. The extracts containing capsaicinoids were formulated into a suspension concentrate (SC) biopesticide and evaluated for efficacy against T. molitor and Z. morio. The biopesticide caused mortalities by 95-100 % against tested pests at 1000 µg/mL. The study results suggested that extracts containing capsaicinoids could be used as active ingredients for the preparation of the biopesticide to control insect pests thereby preserving stored products in sustainable agriculture

Vietnam’s COVID-19 Prevention Measures

Vietnam is considered very vulnerable due to its long land borders and extensive trade with the outside world. Some cities are densely populated and have limited medical infrastructures. But Vietnam’s low-cost containment strategy has been found to be effective. In mid-June, there were only over 350 confirmed COVID-19 cases. With a total population of nearly 100 million, there were no COVID-19 deaths during the first phase of the pandemic. Notably, Vietnam was one of the first countries in the world to lift all domestic restrictions

Skalierbare Differenzierung humaner pluripotenter Stammzellen in zwei- und dreidimensionale proximale Tubuluszellen

There is an increasing need for a highly standardized, scalable source of proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) for pre-clinical models of the kidney, for large-scale substance-induced nephrotoxicity and drug screening, or for application in cell therapies. Major problems of classical resources of primary and immortalized PTEC are frequent dedifferentiation, lack of personalization, and non-availability of functional equivalence. These limitations can be solved by PTEC derived from human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) which offers an endless cell source, specificity with each donor, capabiltity of genetic modifications. For these reasons, research using hPSC is widespread, but adequate technologies for mass production of hPSC and derived products are lacking. My goal was to develop an approach for hPSC-derived PTEC. The first aim was to identify media composition which support the efficient generation of hPSC-derived PTEC in two dimensional (2D) culture. The second aim was to determine culture parameters for large scale generation of hPSC-derived PTEC in a bioreactor environment based on the identified media composition in 2D culture. In order to mass-produce hPSC-derived PTEC in an automated and reproducible way, the complete process of expansion and directed differentiation of hPSC was performed on matrix-coated alginate beads in a dynamic fluidics system, called biolevitation. Three dimensional (3D) culture in biolevitation showed significant improvements in both cell expansion and differentiation efficacy compared 2D culture. After 24 days, overall expansion of cells on matrix-coated alginate beads in biolevitation was 9-10 times. This yield was around 4 times higher than those in 2D culture. Besides expressing Aquaporin 1 (AQP1), Sodium-Potassium ATPase (Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase), Low-density lipoprotein-related protein 2 (LRP2/Megalin) and Sodium-glucose linked transporter-2 (SGLT2) like hPSC-derived PTEC in 2D culture. PTEC on beads showed expression of functional proteins for detoxification including organic anion transporters (OAT) and organic cation transporters (OCT). PTEC on beads were functional with respect to the reabsorbtion of glucose and albumin as well as in uptaking organic ions from peri-tubular capillaries. After treatment with the common chemotherapy agent cisplatin, PTEC on beads expressed Kidney injury marker-1 (KIM-1) indicating suitability for nephrotoxicity applications. Moreover, PTEC harvested from beads could form a monolayer and stably expressed functional solute transporters. My study was the first research of mass production of human PTEC using biolevitation and matrix-coated alginate beadsEs besteht ein zunehmender Bedarf für eine hoch standardisierte, skalierbare Quelle proximaler tubulärer Epithelzellen (PTEC) für präklinische Modelle der Niere, für substanzinduzierte Hochdurchsatz Nephrotoxizitäts- und Arzneimittelscreenings oder für die Anwendung in Zelltherapien. Hauptprobleme bei klassischen Ressourcen von primären und immortalisierten PTEC sind häufige Dedifferenzierung, fehlende Personalisierung und nicht- Verfügbarkeit von funktionaler Äquivalenz. Diese Einschränkungen können durch PTEC aus humanen pluripotenten Stammzellen (hPSC) überwunden werden, die eine unlimitierte Zellquelle, Spenderspezifität und die Fähigkeit genetischer Modifikationen bieten. Aus diesen Gründen ist die Forschungsverwendung von hPSC weit verbreitet, es fehlen jedoch adäquate Technologien für die Massenproduktion humaner PSC und abgeleiteter Produkte. Mein Ziel war es, hierfür einen Ansatz für hPSC – abgeleitete PTEC zu entwickeln. Das erste Ziel bestand darin, Medienzusammensetzungen zu identifizieren, die die effiziente Erzeugung von hPSC-abgeleiteten PTEC in zweidimensionaler (2D) Kultur unterstützen. Das zweite Ziel war die Bestimmung von Kulturparametern für die Generierung von hPSC-abgeleiteten PTEC im großen Maßstab in einer Bioreaktorumgebung basierend auf der identifizierten Medienzusammensetzung in 2D Kultur. Um hPSC-abgeleitete PTEC auf automatisierte und reproduzierbare Weise in Massenproduktion herzustellen, wurde der vollständige Prozess der hPSC-Expansion und gerichteten Differenzierung an neuartigen matrixbeschichteten Alginatkügelchen in einem dynamischen Fluidiksystem namens Biolevitation durchgeführt. Die 3D-Kultur in Biolevitation zeigte signifikante Verbesserungen sowohl der Zellexpansion als auch der Differenzierungseffizienz im Vergleich zur 2D-Kultur. Nach 24 Tagen betrug die Gesamtexpansion der Zellen auf matrixbeschichteten Alginatkügelchen in Biolevitation das 9- bis 10-fache. Diese Ausbeute aus der Biolevitation war etwa 4-mal höher als bei der 2D-Kultur. Neben der Expression von Aquaporin 1 (AQP1), Natrium-Kalium-ATPase (Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase), Megalin und Natrium-Glucose-linked Transporter-2 (SGLT2) wie hPSC-abgeleitete PTEC in 2D-Kultur, PTEC auf Kügelchen zeigte die Expression funktioneller Proteine für die Entgiftung, einschließlich Transporter für organische Anionen (OAT) und Transporter für organische Kationen (OCT). PTEC waren funktionell in Bezug auf die Reabsorption von Glucose und Albumin sowie bei der Aufnahme organischer Ionen aus peritubulären Kapillaren. Nach der Behandlung mit dem gängigen Chemotherapeutikum Cisplatin exprimierten PTEC den Kidney Injury Marker-1 (KIM-1), was auf die Eignung für Nephrotoxizitätsanwendungen hinweist. Darüber hinaus eine effiziente Zellernte möglich; die geernteten PTEC bildeten mit funktionellen Transportern ausgestattete Epithelteppiche. Meine Studie war die erste Forschung für die reproduzierbare Massenproduktion von humanen hPSC – abgeleiteten PTEC geeignete Technologie