•This study presents evidence of women empowerment from Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.•Women have equal access to productive resources and a greater control over household income ...than men.•Women play an active role in agricultural groups in Thailand and in the Philippines but not in Indonesia and Myanmar.•Country specific gender intervention framework is necessary for effectively addressing gender gaps in agriculture.
Women’s empowerment is considered a ‘prerequisite’ to achieving global food security. Gender systems, however, are diverse and complex. The nature and extent of gender inequity and the conditions necessary to empower women vary across countries, communities and regions. The study of different gender systems is thus fundamental to capture cross-cultural variations in gender specific needs and constraints to effectively address gender gaps. Although the status of women in agriculture has received extensive attention in the literature in recent decades, a research gap persists regarding the state of gender inequity in Southeast Asian agriculture. The current paper contributes to the geographical scope of the literature by presenting empirical evidence of gender inequity from four Southeast Asian countries: Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Using the framework recommended by the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), 37 focus group discussions were conducted with 290 women farmers in the above mentioned countries. The results reveal trends that contradict the conventional narratives of gender inequity in agriculture in certain domains of empowerment. In all four countries, women appear to have equal access to productive resources such as land and inputs, and greater control over household income than men. Important intra-regional heterogeneity is observed in terms of community-level empowerment. While women play an active role in agricultural groups in Thailand and in the Philippines, this is predominantly men’s territory in Indonesia and Myanmar. These findings imply that country-specific gender intervention frameworks are necessary to overcome gender gaps in agriculture.
Populations of different South Asian nations including Bangladesh reportedly have a high risk of developing diabetes in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the differences in the gut ...microbiome of COVID‐19‐positive participants with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) compared with healthy control subjects. Microbiome data of 30 participants with T2DM were compared with 22 age‐, sex‐, and body mass index (BMI)‐matched individuals. Clinical features were recorded while fecal samples were collected aseptically from the participants. Amplicon‐based (16S rRNA) metagenome analyses were employed to explore the dysbiosis of gut microbiota and its correlation with genomic and functional features in COVID‐19 patients with or without T2DM. Comparing the detected bacterial genera across the sample groups, 98 unique genera were identified, of which 9 genera had unique association with COVID‐19 T2DM patients. Among different bacterial groups, Shigella (25%), Bacteroides (23.45%), and Megamonas (15.90%) had higher mean relative abundances in COVID‐19 patients with T2DM. An elevated gut microbiota dysbiosis in T2DM patients with COVID‐19 was observed while some metabolic functional changes correlated with bidirectional microbiome dysbiosis between diabetes and non‐diabetes humans gut were also found. These results further highlight the possible association of COVID‐19 infection that might be linked with alteration of gut microbiome among T2DM patients.
Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has gained popularity for reducing carbon emissions from the aviation sector. To evaluate the environmental and economic tradeoffs related to SAF ...production and its potential use, this study estimates the life cycle carbon emissions and unit production cost of SAF produced from logging residues generated during harvest and thinning operations in Georgia, a major roundwood producing state in the Southern United States. We considered two production pathways, i.e., Ethanol-to-Jet (ETJ) and Iso-Butanol-to-Jet (Iso-BTJ), to compute the carbon savings and unit production costs. A sensitivity analysis was performed to identify significant factors contributing to the overall carbon savings and unit production costs for the selected pathways. After considering revenues generated from co-products, the minimum aviation fuel selling price (MASP) was $2.71 L-1 and $2.44 L-1 for ETJ and Iso-BTJ pathways, respectively. Capital investment cost at biorefinery accounted for most of the MASP, followed by the minimum haul rate for transporting biomass and variable cost for alcohol intermediate production. Finally, after considering tax credit from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and RIN (Renewable Identification Number) credit along with co-product revenue, the MASP ranged between $2.29 L-1 and 0.83 L-1 for the ETJ pathway and between $2.04 L-1 and $0.59 L-1 for the Iso-BTJ pathway. In addition, the carbon intensity of both the ETJ and Iso-BTJ pathways were 758 g CO2e L−1 and 976 g CO2e L−1, with relative carbon savings of 70.6 % and 62.1 % compared to conventional aviation fuel. The production cost suggests a minimum abatement cost of $59 t CO2e−1 for the ETJ and -$59.3 t CO2e−1 for the Iso-BTJ pathways in the presence of federal incentives. Our study shows that logging residues-based SAF could reduce the overall carbon footprint of the aviation sector; however, policy support is needed to support its production in light of higher production costs.
Enhancement of mucosal immune responses in children and infants using novel adjuvants such as double mutant heat labile toxin (dmLT) is an important goal in the enteric vaccine field. dmLT has been ...shown to enhance mucosal IgA responses to the oral inactivated enterotoxigenic
(ETEC) vaccine ETVAX. dmLT can enhance IL-17A production from adult T cells, which may increase the production and secretion of mucosal IgA antibodies. However, the adjuvant mechanism remains to be fully elucidated and might differ between infants and adults due to age-related differences in the development of the immune system. The main objective of this study was to determine how dmLT influences antigen presenting cells and T cells from infants compared to adults, and the role of IL-1β for mediating the adjuvant activity. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Bangladeshi infants (6-11 months) and adults (18-40 years) were stimulated with the mitogen phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), the superantigen Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), ETVAX whole cell component (WCC) or
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ± dmLT, and cytokine production was measured using ELISA and electrochemiluminescence assays. The adjuvant dmLT significantly enhanced SEB- and PHA-induced IL-17A, but not IFN-γ responses, in PBMCs from both infants and adults. Blocking experiments using an IL-1 receptor antagonist demonstrated the importance of IL-1 signaling for the adjuvant effect. dmLT, ETVAX WCC and LPS induced dose-dependent IL-1β responses of comparable magnitudes in infant and adult cells. Depletion experiments suggested that IL-1β was mainly produced by monocytes. dmLT enhanced IL-1β responses to low doses of WCC and LPS, and the adjuvant effect appeared over a wider dose-range of WCC in infants. dmLT and WCC also induced IL-6, IL-23 and IL-12p70 production in both age groups and dmLT tended to particularly enhance IL-23 responses to WCC. Our results show that dmLT can induce IL-1β as well as other cytokines, which in turn may enhance IL-17A and potentially modulate other immunological responses in both infants and adults. Thus, dmLT may have an important function in promoting immune responses to the ETVAX vaccine, as well as other whole cell- or LPS-based vaccines in infants in low- and middle-income countries.
•We test the causal effect of electricity on clean cooking fuel adoption and use.•The quality and reliability of electricity positively affected LPG adoption and use•The effects were significant for ...both poor and non-poor, and lower-caste households.•Pathways were income, technology adoption and information access.•Investment in reliable electricity is crucial for achieving clean energy target.
We present the first evidence of the causal effect of the quality and reliability of residential electricity supply on clean cooking fuel adoption and use in rural areas of six energy poor Indian states using household-level panel data from 2015 and 2018. Quality and reliability of electricity are measured using the number of hours of electricity supply in a day, the number of days of low voltage and the number of complete power outage days experienced in a month. We used the village-level variation in the coverage of a nationwide government program, (i.e., the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)), that aimed to improve the quality and reliability of rural residential electricity supply, as an instrument. Our results show a positive effect of an improvement in the quality and reliability of electricity on liquefied petroleum gas adoption and use; and disadoption of traditional cooking fuel. The effects were significant for both poor and non-poor, and lower-caste households’ transition to clean cooking fuel. We find that the improvements in economic wellbeing, adoption of time-saving technologies, information access, and energy-efficient technology adoption played important mediating roles. These findings, for the first time, reveal the complementary role of electricity quality and reliability improvement with the adoption of clean energy sources, and thus supporting the achievement of important developmental outcomes. The findings thus underscore the need to invest in seamless and reliable electricity as a pathway to achieve the target of universal access to clean cooking fuels by 2030.
Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by uterus didelphys, obstructed hemivagina, and ipsilateral renal agenesis. The most common presentation is abdominal ...pain, dysmenorrhea, and abdominal mass secondary to hematocolpos. We present the first case report on Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome from Bangladesh.
A 15-year-old Asian girl presented with lower abdominal pain of 3 months' duration. She had had menarche 3 months earlier and had a regular menstrual cycle with cyclical abdominal pain. Abdominal examination found a tender mass on the right iliac fossa. Further evaluation with ultrasound revealed distended endometrial cavity filled with complex fluid and nonvisualization of the right kidney. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging showed absent right kidney and two separate endometrial stripes surrounded by endometrium and a muscular layer. The right endometrial cavity and cervix were distended with blood. This magnetic resonance imaging finding is consistent with Herlyn-Werner-Wunderlich syndrome with uterine didelphyis, right-sided hematometra resulting from obstructed hemivagina, and ipsilateral agenesis of the right kidney. The vaginal septum was resected for vaginoplasty. She was discharged 5 days after surgery and came for follow-up after 7 days. Vaginal examination revealed a healthy wound with no adhesion of the vaginal wall. She also informed us that she had started regular menstruation without any pain 30 days after the operation.
An unusual presentation of regular menstruation and nonspecific abdominal pain delays the diagnosis, which can lead to complications such as endometriosis and infertility. Awareness is required; otherwise, misdiagnosis clearly can occur.
Telomere maintenance plays important roles in genome stability and cell proliferation. Tumor cells acquire replicative immortality by activating a telomere-maintenance mechanism (TMM), either ...telomerase, a reverse transcriptase, or the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) mechanism. Recent advances in the genetic and molecular characterization of TMM revealed that telomerase activation and ALT define distinct neuroblastoma (NB) subgroups with adverse outcomes, and represent promising therapeutic targets in high-risk neuroblastoma (HRNB), an aggressive childhood solid tumor that accounts for 15% of all pediatric-cancer deaths. Patients with HRNB frequently present with widely metastatic disease, with tumors harboring recurrent genetic aberrations (MYCN amplification, TERT rearrangements, and ATRX mutations), which are mutually exclusive and capable of promoting TMM. This review provides recent insights into our understanding of TMM in NB tumors, and highlights emerging therapeutic strategies as potential treatments for telomerase- and ALT-positive tumors.
Abstract Objective Although intake of minerals has been suggested to be beneficial against depression, epidemiologic data from free-living settings are limited. The aim of this study was to determine ...the cross-sectional associations between the intake of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese employees. Methods Participants were 1792 men and 214 women ages 19 to 69 y. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated, brief self-administered diet history questionnaire. Participants with depressive symptoms were defined as those with a scale score of ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 27.8%. Intakes of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc were inversely associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The multivariate adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of having depressive symptoms were 0.63 (0.44–0.91), 0.64 (0.47–0.88), 0.59 (0.40–0.87), and 0.63 (0.45–0.87) in the highest versus lowest tertiles of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc, respectively. Conclusion Results suggest that higher dietary intake of magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc is associated with lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese employees.
Federated learning methods offer secured monitor services and privacy-preserving paradigms to end-users and organisations in the Internet of Things networks such as smart healthcare systems. ...Federated learning has been coined to safeguard sensitive data, and its global aggregation is often based on a centralised server. This design is vulnerable to malicious attacks and could be breached by privacy attacks such as inference and free-riding, leading to inefficient training models. Besides, uploaded analysing parameters by patients can reveal private information and the threat of direct manipulation by the central server. To address these issues, we present a three-fold Federated Edge Aggregator, the so-called Edge Intelligence, a federated learning-based privacy protection framework for safeguarding Smart Healthcare Systems at the edge against such privacy attacks. We employ an iteration-based Conventional Neural Network (CNN) model and artificial noise functions to balance privacy protection and model performance. A theoretical convergence bound of Edge Intelligence on the trained federated learning model's loss function is also introduced here. We evaluate and compare the proposed framework with the recently established methods using model performance and privacy budget on popular and recent datasets: MNIST, CIFAR10, STL10, and COVID19 chest x-ray. Finally, the proposed framework achieves 90% accuracy and a high privacy rate demonstrating better performance than the baseline technique.
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