The Relevance of Poverty Measurement to Food Security Policy

While food security policies have been too frequently formulated, this article argues that the measurement of its incidence has not been on a regular basis. This study describes a number of concepts useful in poverty analysis and explains the great inertia or even positive resistance against new measurement. Nevertheless, the measures should conform to the presumed social bias in favor of the poor.food sector, poverty alleviation, poverty measurement, poverty incidence, food price stability

Convex cocompactness in mapping class groups via quasiconvexity in right-angled Artin groups

We characterize convex cocompact subgroups of mapping class groups that arise as subgroups of specially embedded right-angled Artin groups. That is, if the right-angled Artin group G in Mod(S) satisfies certain conditions that imply G is quasi-isometrically embedded in Mod(S), then a purely pseudo-Anosov subgroup H of G is convex cocompact in Mod(S) if and only if it is combinatorially quasiconvex in G. We use this criterion to construct convex cocompact subgroups of Mod(S) whose orbit maps into the curve complex have small Lipschitz constants.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figure

Links between abnormal lipid metabolism and inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease

La recherche sur la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA) est concentrée, en grande partie, sur l’étude de ses principales caractéristiques histologiques, les plaques β-amyloïdes (Aβ) et les enchevêtrements neurofibrillaires. Cependant, les thérapies ciblant directement ces caractéristiques n’empêchent pas la progression de la MA. En plus de ces caractéristiques, la génétique a mis en évidence l’implication du métabolisme des lipides et de la réponse immunitaire dans la MA. Les perturbations du métabolisme lipidique est le prédicteur génétique le plus puissant du développement de la MA, mais ses mécanismes restent un mystère. Des travaux récents dans notre laboratoire ont montré que les triglycérides s’accumulent dans le cerveau des patients atteints de MA et des souris 3xTg, un modèle murin de la MA. Chez les souris 3xTg, ces triglycérides sont enrichis en acide oléique (AO), un acide gras monoinsaturé, et l’inhibition de l’enzyme de synthèse de l’AO, le stéaryle-CoA désaturase (SCD), réduit leur accumulation et contrecarre la perte précoce de la neurogenèse hippocampique et les troubles de mémoire. Nous avons donc testé si l’inhibition de la SCD peut inverser les changements dans le transcriptome et rétablir la fonction de l’hippocampe chez les souris 3xTg symptomatiques. En comparant aux souris contrôles, l’hippocampe de souris 3xTg possède des altérations transcriptomiques impliquées dans les processus reconnus pour être perturbés dans la MA. Leur hippocampe a également montré une baisse significative des épines dendritiques. De manière remarquable, les données de séquençage de l’ARN montrent que le traitement des souris 3xTg pendant un mois avec un inhibiteur de la SCD a sauvé des gènes liés à l’immunité et aux synapses. Les analyses tissulaires ont révélé que ce traitement a conduit à des améliorations de la densité des épines dendritiques. Nous avons également établi un modèle de microglie en culture et nos données préliminaires suggèrent que les oligomères Aβ pourrait être responsable de perturbations du métabolisme des lipides chez les microglies. En somme, ces études soulignent le potentiel d’un nouveau médicament ciblant SCD pour le traitement de la MA.Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research has mainly focused on studying its main histological hallmarks, β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. However, therapies directly targeting these hallmarks do not prevent AD progression. In addition to these hallmarks, genetics have highlighted the implication of lipid metabolism and immunity in AD. Disturbances in lipid metabolism are the single strongest genetic predictor of developing AD, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Recent work in our laboratory showed that triglycerides accumulate in the brains of both AD patients and 3xTg mice, a mouse model of AD. In 3xTg mice, these triglycerides are enriched with monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid (OA), and the inhibition of the OAsynthesizing enzyme stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) reduced their accumulation and counteracts the early loss of hippocampal neurogenesis and memory deficits. Here, we tested whether SCD inhibition can reverse changes in the transcriptome and rescue hippocampal function in symptomatic 3xTg mice. Compared to their strain controls, the hippocampus of middle-aged, preplaque 3xTg mice showed transcriptomic alterations involved in processes recognized to be disrupted in AD. Their hippocampus also displayed significant reduction in dendritic spines. Remarkably, RNA sequencing data show that treatment of middle-aged 3xTg mice for one month with an SCD inhibitor rescued genes related to immunity and synapses. Tissue analyses revealed that this treatment led to improvements in dendritic spine density. We also established a model of microglia in culture and our preliminary data suggest that Aβ oligomers may be responsible for disruptions in microglial lipid metabolism. Together, these studies shed light on the potential of a novel drug target SCD for the treatment of AD

Human capital development in university teaching environment: the role of workplace and innovation culture

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Innovation can help the human capital of teachers to work more creatively. The job atmosphere consists of the physical environment in which teachers work and the psychological or social-emotional climate created by the interactions and relationships between teachers, students, and school officials. The study focused on the teaching environment of public tertiary teachers and their association with innovation.METHODS: The study employed a descriptive research method to examine the relationship between the teaching environment and innovation among tertiary teachers. 196 teachers and 28 superior respondents filled out the survey questionnaire. The instrument used the percentage and frequency to analyze the respondent’s profile data and verbal descriptions and weighted mean to describe the variables. It used the following scale: Never, Seldom, Sometimes, Often, and Always.FINDINGS:The respondent profile reveals that 53.1% are females and 46.9% are males. 36.7% of respondents have five years of teaching experience, and 30.6% have a master's degree, while 22.4% have a doctorate degree. Regarding challenging work, teachers and their superiors responded "always" to opportunities to express their ideas, with a mean rating of 4.25 and 4.29, respectively. Teachers also use innovative strategies to improve student performance, with mean ratings of 4.15 and 4.35. Teachers are recognized for a job well done in terms of organizational encouragement, with mean ratings of 3.98 and 4.14, respectively. Teachers possess the professional skills required for resources, with mean ratings of 4.05 and 4.54. Their superiors appreciate extra effort in supervisory engagement, with mean ratings of 4.20 and 4.43. Peers are supportive, with mean ratings of 4.23 and 4.25. Organizational independence was rated "seldom" by superiors on the item that some teachers ingratiate themselves with school officials to the disadvantage of their co-teachers, with a mean rating of 2.43. The result in the Culture of Innovation category shows that school officials allow teachers to try new ideas or strategies, as rated "always" by teachers and their superiors.CONCLUSION: These findings may provide teacher’s human capital development program to align the faculty in their field of specialization, minimize inbreeding and raise the quality of faculty members, and encourage senior faculty to undergo leadership capability training to prepare them how to handle sensitive positions in the university, to give opportunities to be more innovative, to engage them in high-quality research

From Novelty to Normalcy: Polling in Myanmars Democratic Transition

Since the government of Myanmar* announced a transition from military rule to democracy in 2010, both domestic and international stakeholders have turned to polling to discover public opinion on a range of issues. This report examines the state of opinion research in Myanmar, identifies challenges, and makes recommendations for improvements.Although Myanmar has a decades-long history of market surveys, political polling is a relatively new phenomenon. Organizations operating in this field face four major challenges. The first is selecting a sample in a country that lacks reliable census or voter registration data, and lacks comprehensive access to telephones or the internet. The second is how to provide survey questionnaires in several languages to accommodate Myanmar's numerous ethnic groups. The third challenge relates to interviewers, both to their training and to accounting for possible response bias based on the interaction between the interviewer's sociodemographic background and the respondent's. Finally, polling groups and interviewers must ensure respondents' confidentiality.These problems are not unique to Myanmar. Pollsters around the world regularly grapple with similar dilemmas. What makes their task more challenging in Myanmar is the novelty of polling. Few people (even in civil society and political parties) understand its nature, and many are quick to dismiss the whole exercise when they do not like some of a poll's results. The report examines and refutes several of their criticisms