Impact of Climate Change on Poverty in Laos

The climate change is global problems. It is predicted to have more severe impact on developing country which most of population are poor. The main impact of climate change on poverty is changing crop productivity and commodity prices. However, there are few studies on the relationship between climate change and poverty. Therefore, this study will use Laos which has a high share of agriculture sector on GDP and high poverty rates as a case study to assess the impact the climate change on national wide-economy and climate change using CGE model. The preliminary result shows that climate change has serious impact of Lao economy in term of declining GDP. On the other hand, the micro-simulation indicates that the impact on poverty was negligible. This is because the households in Laos are autarky and not affected by the changes of prices and wages due to climate change.Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty,

Development and Practice of a Junior High School History Unit to Promote the Reconstruction of “Historical Significance”: The case of the unit “What criteria should be used to decide the boldface in textbooks?”

This study proposes a history unit plan aimed at the reconstruction of historical significance of junior high school students. In some cases, historically significant items are boldfaced in textbooks by junior high school students. However, as citizens, it is not enough to judge whether or not historical significance is important in a textbook. Therefore, in this study, The Historical Thinking Project （Canada） and The Critical Thinking Consortium’s unit plan were used as a basis for the development and practice of a history unit. This unit aims to reconstruct “historical significance” by 1） understanding the diversity of criteria of “historical significance,” 2） progressing “historical significance,” and 3） reconstructing “historical significance” from a broader perspective. In particular, the textbook’s boldface type was used as a material for the performance task, “Let’s submit an opinion about the boldface type to the textbook writer”, in order to reconstruct historical significance. The outcome of this research hints at future possibilities of bigger reforms in the history curriculum

私であって私でない存在 : ビデオゲームのプレイヤーはプレイヤーキャラクターをどう認識しているのか

departmental bulletin pape

A case of ruptured duodenal varices treated successfully by endoscopic injection sclerotherapy under radiographic guidance with a mixture of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate-lipiodol

While guidelines have been established for the treatment of esophageal and gastric varices, there is as yet no consensus with regard to the optimal method of treatment of ectopic varices. We report a case of ruptured duodenal varices treated successfully by endoscopic injection sclerotherapy（EIS） under radiographic guidance with a mixture of Nbutyl-2-cyanoacrylate（NBCA）-lipiodol. A 73-year-old female patient with a history of liver cirrhosis was transferred to our hospital for the treatment of ruptured duodenal varices. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy（EGD） revealed distended duodenal varices with a mucosal erosion and a coagulum in the descending portion of the duodenum. Dynamic contrastenhanced computed tomography（CT） of the abdomen revealed duodenal varices arising from the pancreaticoduodenal vein, being a branch of the superior mesenteric vein, the efferent vessel draining through the veins of Retzius. A total of 6 mL of an NBCA + lipiodol mixture（mixing ratio, 3:1） was injected into 3 sites of the duodenal varices via a 23-gauge disposable injection needle. Radiographic imaging during the EIS demonstrated that the NBCA + lipiodol mixture had reached the distended veins connected to the duodenal varices. At the follow-up CT conducted 6 days after the EIS, the duodenal varices with its collateral vessels were almost completely obliterated by the NBCA + lipiodol mixture. Even a single EIS session eradicated the varices almost completely without any complications. EIS under radiographic guidance using a mixture of NBCA-lipiodol （75%NBCA） is an effective method of treatment of duodenal varices in hemorrhagic or elective cases.departmental bulletin pape

A Japanese History lesson for understanding diversity

This study proposes the Japanese history lesson aiming for promoting deeper understanding diversity because the previous studies in relation to historical inquiry in Japan did not mention about connection with diversity. After conducting the lessons, we found that students mentioned the differences of people’s value between past and present based on the social structure and notions. At the end of study we suggested the reform of history education have more possibilities to develop democratic citizenship

Concept-based teaching and learning for reconstructing the meaning of peace: a practice of integrated study in Hiroshima Global Academy

The aim of this study is to design the peace education unit, which support the students to achieve the two goals: (1) to reconstruct their own notions of peace, and (2) to acquire interdisciplinary concepts and apply them to find and describe the (non-)peaceful situations in our usual life. Therefore, we developed and implemented a concept based inquiry unit (18 class hours) at Hiroshima Global Academy (HiGA) middle school by contextualize the previous unit plan into the integrated learning program on “Global Justice.” As a result, we could choose the six concepts explaining a nonviolent but threatening the peaceful governance, human relation, and agency, demonstrate the social examples to apply them, and set a controversy defining the criteria of peace. The first outcome of this study is that we show the curricular-instructional gatekeeping adjusting to the school context of HiGA. The second is to find the relations between the students' learning of peace concepts and the reconstruction of peace notion

TTS in ALS and Synucleinopathies

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute cardiac syndrome characterized by regional left ventricular dysfunction with a peculiar circumferential pattern, which typically results in apical ballooning. Evidence indicates a pivotal role of catecholamines in TTS, and researchers have discussed multiple hypotheses on the etiology, including multivessel coronary spasm, myocardial stunning, excessive transient ventricular afterload, and cardiac sympathetic overactivity with local noradrenaline spillover. Although central nervous system disorders, such as stroke and epilepsy, are known to trigger TTS, the incidence and clinical features of TTS in neurodegenerative disorders are poorly understood. Here, we retrospectively examined TTS cases in a single-center cohort composed of 250 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 870 patients with synucleinopathies [582 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), 125 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and 163 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA)] and identified 4 (1.6%, including 2 women) cases with ALS and no cases with synucleinopathies. Two ALS patients underwent autopsy and the pathological findings were compatible with the chronological changes identified in catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy. A literature review identified 16 TTS cases with ALS, 1 case each with PD and DLB, and no cases with MSA. When current and previous TTS cases with ALS were concatenated: 55% (11/20) were female; 35% (7/20) had a bulbar-onset and 45% (9/20) had a limb-onset; the mean age of TTS onset was 63.3 ± 9.0 years and the mean interval time from ALS onset to TTS development was 4.9 ± 3.0 years; no (0/16) patients developed TTS within 12 months after ALS onset; 50% (10/20) underwent artificial ventilations; the mortality was 17% (3/18); and most cases had precipitating factors, and TTS development was associated with gastrostomy, tracheostomy, or infections in 45% (9/20) of the patients. This study demonstrated that ALS is a considerable predisposing factor of TTS and that synucleinopathies rarely cause TTS. The distinct TTS incidence between ALS and synucleinopathies may be due to cardiac sympathetic overactivity in ALS and may also be affected by cardiac sympathetic denervation in synucleinopathies. Moreover, the etiology of TTS in ALS may be reasonably explained by the two-hit theory

Distinct Incidence of Takotsubo Syndrome Between Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Synucleinopathies: A Cohort Study

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute cardiac syndrome characterized by regional left ventricular dysfunction with a peculiar circumferential pattern, which typically results in apical ballooning. Evidence indicates a pivotal role of catecholamines in TTS, and researchers have discussed multiple hypotheses on the etiology, including multivessel coronary spasm, myocardial stunning, excessive transient ventricular afterload, and cardiac sympathetic overactivity with local noradrenaline spillover. Although central nervous system disorders, such as stroke and epilepsy, are known to trigger TTS, the incidence and clinical features of TTS in neurodegenerative disorders are poorly understood. Here, we retrospectively examined TTS cases in a single-center cohort composed of 250 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 870 patients with synucleinopathies [582 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), 125 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and 163 patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA)] and identified 4 (1.6%, including 2 women) cases with ALS and no cases with synucleinopathies. Two ALS patients underwent autopsy and the pathological findings were compatible with the chronological changes identified in catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy. A literature review identified 16 TTS cases with ALS, 1 case each with PD and DLB, and no cases with MSA. When current and previous TTS cases with ALS were concatenated: 55% (11/20) were female; 35% (7/20) had a bulbar-onset and 45% (9/20) had a limb-onset; the mean age of TTS onset was 63.3 ± 9.0 years and the mean interval time from ALS onset to TTS development was 4.9 ± 3.0 years; no (0/16) patients developed TTS within 12 months after ALS onset; 50% (10/20) underwent artificial ventilations; the mortality was 17% (3/18); and most cases had precipitating factors, and TTS development was associated with gastrostomy, tracheostomy, or infections in 45% (9/20) of the patients. This study demonstrated that ALS is a considerable predisposing factor of TTS and that synucleinopathies rarely cause TTS. The distinct TTS incidence between ALS and synucleinopathies may be due to cardiac sympathetic overactivity in ALS and may also be affected by cardiac sympathetic denervation in synucleinopathies. Moreover, the etiology of TTS in ALS may be reasonably explained by the two-hit theory

Inhibitory Role of Inducible cAMP Early Repressor (ICER) in Methamphetamine-Induced Locomotor Sensitization

BACKGROUND: The inducible cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) early repressor (ICER) is highly expressed in the central nervous system and functions as a repressor of cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) transcription. The present study sought to clarify the role of ICER in the effects of methamphetamine (METH). METHODS AND FINDINGS: We tested METH-induced locomotor sensitization in wildtype mice, ICER knockout mice, and ICER I-overexpressing mice. Both ICER wildtype mice and knockout mice displayed increased locomotor activity after continuous injections of METH. However, ICER knockout mice displayed a tendency toward higher locomotor activity compared with wildtype mice, although no significant difference was observed between the two genotypes. Moreover, compared with wildtype mice, ICER I-overexpressing mice displayed a significant decrease in METH-induced locomotor sensitization. Furthermore, Western blot analysis and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that ICER overexpression abolished the METH-induced increase in CREB expression and repressed cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) and prodynorphin (Pdyn) expression in mice. The decreased CART and Pdyn mRNA expression levels in vivo may underlie the inhibitory role of ICER in METH-induced locomotor sensitization. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that ICER plays an inhibitory role in METH-induced locomotor sensitization

Essays on poverty, education and food price increases in developing countries.

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2011. Major: Agricultural and Applied Economics. Advisor: Paul Glewwe. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 135 pages, appendix A.My dissertation is composed of two essays that investigate whether conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs affect the educational outcomes of non-targeted children in targeted households and the impacts of the global food crisis on household welfare and poverty. In the first essay, to investigate this issue, panel data are used from a randomized experiment conducted in Nicaragua to evaluate the Red de Proteccion Social program. Spillover effects on school enrollment are estimated separately for three types of non-target siblings: older, less-educated siblings; younger siblings; and older, more-educated siblings. Large, positive spillover effects are found for enrollment rates (27.1 and 29.3 percentage points in the first and second years, respectively) only for older, less-educated non-target children. Surprisingly, the estimated effects on enrollment rates are as large as the estimated increases in enrollment rates for target siblings (24.5 and 20.6 percentage points), although they are not directly comparable because of differences in initial enrollment rates. These empirical results are consistent with the predictions from a simple model of the demand for education. It also suggests that an accompanying supply-side intervention could raise schooling outcomes for non-target siblings although the data did not support this hypothesis. The main policy implication of this study is that neglecting spillover effects for non-target siblings underestimates the actual benefits of CCT programs. The second essay evaluates the impacts of the 2007-2008 food price crisis, especially price increases of rice, on household welfare and poverty in Lao PDR (Laos). Households benefit from an increase in the price of rice if they are net sellers of rice, and they suffer reduced welfare from a price increase if they are net buyers of rice. Laos is atypical in that glutinous rice is the main staple, while ordinary (non-glutinous) rice, which is predominately consumed, and traded internationally, in the rest of Southeast Asia, is much less important in the Lao diet. The impact on household welfare in Laos of increases in the price of ordinary rice, the price of which was strongly affected by the food price crisis in 2007-2008, was negligible. This is mainly because the role of ordinary rice in sales and purchases in Laos is not as significant as in other Southeast Asian countries. In addition, during the crisis, price increases for ordinary rice in Laos were lower than those for other countries in Southeast Asia. The estimated effects of the growth rates of glutinous rice prices were not significant, mostly because the price increase in glutinous rice in 2008 was not as large as that of ordinary rice and of those of glutinous rice in the previous years. With (hypothetical) higher price increases of glutinous rice, the change in household welfare for the average Lao household is neutral, yet this average hides the fact that welfare changes are positive in rural areas and negative in urban areas. The sizes of the negative welfare changes among urban households do not vary much by expenditure quintiles or regions, but the size of the positive welfare increases in rural areas are concentrated in Vientiane and the Central region, which have relatively wealthy households. The increases in the national poverty rates due to a sharp hypothetical increase in the price of glutinous rice (40 percent) are less than about 0.5 percentage points. The changes in poverty rates are larger in the Vientiane region, where the poverty rates increase by 1.3 percentage points in urban areas and decrease by 1.8 percentage points in rural areas