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Growing Household Inequality amid Political Turmoil: Evidence from Myanmar
Get PDFapplication/pdfIDP000984_001This paper examines household welfare and inequality in Myanmar following political and economic disruptions between 2020 and 2024. To quantify first-order welfare effects through income and cost-of-living channels during the period, we conducted a new household survey to collect detailed information on income, expenditures, and prices. The results show that urban households experienced a 23% decline in nominal income and a 105% increase in living costs, resulting in an average welfare loss of 128%. Households in the bottom quintile faced a 30% decline in income and a 113% rise in living costs, leading to a 143% welfare loss. In contrast, those in the top experienced an 11% income decline and a 96% increase in costs, with a corresponding welfare loss of 107%. A follow-up survey shows that lower-income households make more drastic adjustments in response to deteriorating livelihoods, underscoring a pronounced negative impact of economic disruptions on the poor.technical repor
Complying with Rules of Origin and Transfer Pricing
Get PDFapplication/pdfIDP000989_001Manipulation of trade prices, or profit shifting, by multinational enterprises (MNEs) is an important topic in international trade policy. In this paper, we examine such price manipulation in relation to compliance with rules of origin (RoOs) in regional trade agreements (RTAs). We first theoretically demonstrate that regional value content (RVC) requirements incentivize MNEs to reduce import prices from RTA non-member countries, as well as to use RTA tariff rates in their exports to RTA partners. Next, using firm-level trade data from China, we empirically investigate this hypothesis for the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA). As a result, we found that the MNE exporters of ACFTA-eligible products significantly decrease their import prices from ACFTA non-member countries. Our findings contribute to uncovering a novel source of price manipulation by MNEs, namely, compliance of RoOs.technical repor
ペルーの挑戦―デジタルウォレットが拓く労働フォーマル化への扉（論稿）
Get PDFペルーではデジタルウォレットの利用が急速に拡がっている。商業施設のみならず、街角の小規模商店や露店、バス・タクシーなどの公共交通機関、さらには公共料金や税金の支払いに至るまでデジタルウォレットでの決済が可能となり、多くの市民が財布や現金を持たず、スマートフォンひとつで日常生活を営むようになっている。デジタルウォレットの普及を後押しした要因としては、スマートフォンで容易に送金や受取ができる利便性に加えて、コロナ禍におけるネットショッピングの拡大や現金授受への忌避意識の高まり、さらに決済手数料や端末導入費用が不要な点が挙げられる。政府当局は関連法規の整備を進めるとともに、給付金や給与のデジタル支給、ウォレット間の相互接続など、利便性の向上に資する施策を展開している。また、デジタル決済の取引記録を監督し活用することで、税務および社会保障制度への包摂を促し、労働フォーマル化や財政基盤の強化へとつなげようとしている。一方、近年ではデジタル詐欺の増加や金融・デジタルリテラシーの不足といった新たな課題も顕在化している。今後、デジタルウォレットを通じた金融包摂および労働フォーマル化を進展させるためには、こうしたリスクへの対策と金融教育の拡充も並行して進めていくことが不可欠である。PJa/33/Ra2articl
ラテンアメリカにおけるグローバルサウスについての市民認識―ブラジルとメキシコの事例（論稿）
Get PDF本研究は、ラテンアメリカの二大国であるブラジルとメキシコを対象に、市民によるグローバルサウス認識を実証的に明らかにすることを目的とする。近年、国際秩序の再編が進むなかで、「グローバルサウス」への社会的・学術的関心が高まっているが、その概念や定義は依然として曖昧であり、理解や解釈は国ごとに大きく異なる。ブラジルは自らをグローバルサウスのリーダーとして積極的に位置づける一方、米国との結びつきが強いメキシコは、より曖昧な姿勢を示している。これまで国家エリートによるグローバルサウスについての認識を対象とした研究は進展しているものの、一般市民の理解を実証的に検討した研究はほとんど存在しない。独自に実施したオンライン・サーベイの結果、グローバルサウス概念は、ブラジルでは政権支持、新興国重視、反米的国際秩序観といった文脈で、メキシコでは国際協調や多国間関係の重視という文脈で、それぞれ異なる意味をもって市民に受容されていることが明らかとなった。PJa/33/Ra2articl
Preserving Information in Quantum Systems via Coherent Driving
No full textAmong the fundamental phenomena that characterize a quantum system is coherent superposition between states, which we can write for a two-level system as:
|ψ⟩ = α|0⟩ + e^(iφ) β|1⟩
A superposition is characterized by a phase φ which can be difficult to conceptualize with our physical intuition, trained only by experience in a classical world. Perhaps we can best approach it by considering the phase of classical waves, which we can concretely visualize, and which lead to some analogous phenomena like interference. In effect there is additional information in the system beyond the probability that it is measured in one state vs. the other.
This phase is both a resource and a vulnerability of quantum systems. On one hand, it gives the system another degree of freedom which we can control. On the other hand, it can be easily lost, since the phase of a superposition tends to be very sensitive to fluctuations in the system's surrounding environment. The length of time that the phase remains known in a system (or equivalently, that the system maintains its information) is called the coherence time.
In this thesis I will discuss two examples in which a coherent superposition of states is used to preserve information in a quantum system. In both cases the key laboratory tool used to access the quantum system is an AC field of classical amplitude which coherently drives the states, and in both cases we will see the beneficial properties of the stationary solutions of the combined system plus field, which are superposition states (in the basis that does not include the field). Chapter 1 will deal with an example of a coherent field extending the coherence time of a two-level system. I will show experimental data demonstrating this effect in the electron spin of the silicon vacancy in diamond, where the coherent driving field is a strain field in the carbon lattice. Chapter 2 will explain how the decay channels of a single atomic system can be controlled using superpositions of states, a phenomena which could be used to increase the fidelity of a state measurement. These results are computational rather than experimental, but I will suggest a real quantum system in which this phenomena could be demonstrated and calculate expected results.Engineering and Applied Sciences - Applied Physic
Solo in Good Company
No full textSolo in Good Company: A Memoir of Risk, Tenacity, and Building an Architecture Firm while Manifesting a Bountiful Life, recounts the author’s fifty year journey from Wyoming to building a prominent architecture firm in New York City. During this time, the author relied on strong instincts, personal skills, perseverance and tenacity to face harrowing setbacks and ultimately succeed in a male dominated profession. This is a modern-day adventure story about a woman who pushes the envelope, not afraid to put herself on the line. It is an affirmation of an alternative way for a woman born in the early 50s who is determined to live her best life, against all odds. Her stories take the reader from New York City in the late 70s and 80s, describing life on the fringes of the fast lanes of fashion, finance, music and art, to explorations in far flung corners of the world including Africa, India and the Arctic. The thesis describes lessons she learned as a young female corporate executive and explores her connections to the people and places of the world that gave her the confidence necessary to make it on her own.
Solo: on one’s own. In Good Company: with the support of others. Solo and never alone.Extension Studie
Unveiling a novel role for macrophages in maintaining and restoring lung epithelial homeostasis
No full textDue to its constant exposure to the external environment, the respiratory tract serves as a
primary entryway for pathogens, including respiratory viruses. Infection causes lung injury
through both direct viral infection of epithelial cells and collateral damage from antiviral
immune responses. To preserve barrier integrity and maintain gas exchange, tissue repair
mechanisms must function even during active antiviral immune responses. Macrophages, innate
immune cells present in all tissues, are essential for homeostasis, host defense, and tissue repair.
Given their strategic positioning and functional versatility, we hypothesized that lung
macrophages, in the context of infection, provide signals to limit the detrimental effects of
antiviral responses and promote epithelial repair in the damaged lung. Our work identified
Oncostatin M (OSM) as a key cytokine with distinct roles in maintaining lung homeostasis and
responding to viral challenges. Single-cell transcriptional profiling and genetic mouse models
revealed lung macrophages as a major source of OSM. At baseline, Osm-deficient mice
exhibited altered alveolar type II (ATII) epithelial cell states, a defect reversible with daily
administration of OSM to the lung for one week. Following challenge with viral stimuli, Osm-deficient
mice displayed elevated type I interferon (IFN-I) levels, more severe lung damage, and
increased mortality, indicating that OSM is required for host survival. Notably, Osm deficiency
resulted in a significant loss of ATII cells following challenge, a hallmark of alveolar injury. While
IFN-I is crucial for antiviral defense, its dysregulation leads to exacerbated inflammation,
cell death, tissue damage, and impaired repair. Upon challenge with viral stimuli, blockade of
IFN-I signaling protected macrophage-specific Osm-deficient mice from morbidity and
mortality. Moreover, OSM delivery to the lungs of these mice was sufficient to reduce morbidity
and restore ATII cell numbers, even in the presence of elevated IFN-I levels. Consistent with
these findings, in alveolar organoids, OSM treatment promoted organoid formation,
counteracting IFN-I’s inhibitory effects on cell growth. Thus, OSM functions as a key growth
factor that accelerates repair and preserves epithelial integrity alongside antiviral defenses.
Altogether, these findings identify OSM as an essential macrophage-derived factor that
maintains homeostasis of lung epithelial cells and promotes their proliferation to overcome IFN-I-mediated
immunopathology.Immunolog
IL-33 Amplifies Regulatory T Cell Reprogramming
No full textCD4+ Foxp3+ T regulatory (Treg) cells are essential to maintain immune homeostasis and immunological self-tolerance. Their immunosuppressive functions are beneficial in preventing autoimmune diseases but detrimental in supporting tumor growth. Tumor infiltrating Treg cells suppress anti-tumor immune responses and promote tumor immune escape. To unleash anti-tumor responses and improve prognosis in cancer patients, multiple therapeutic strategies have been developed to selectively deplete tumor infiltrating Treg cells. In order to more effectively regulate T cell responses, activated Treg cells can express the transcription factors that define the Th1, Th2 and Th17 effector cell lineages and adopt some of their functional attributes, a phenomenon described as Treg plasticity. However, Th1-, Th2-, or Th17-polarized Treg cells in most cases do not express the respective effector cytokines. Our laboratory has previously shown that tumor-infiltrating Treg cells not only adopt Th1 features, but can also secrete IFN at a low rate, that the rate of IFN-secretion can be amplified by targeting the CARMA1-BCL10-MALT1 (CBM) signalosome complex in Treg cells, and that Treg cell-derived IFN inflames the tumor microenvironment (TME) selectively to render immune checkpoint therapy (ICT)-resistant tumors sensitive to PD-1 pathway-targeted ICT without leading to autoimmune responses outside of tumor. This has led to the novel concept to harness Treg cells therapeutically to inflame the TME instead of depleting them. To investigate which TME factors promoted IFN production by Treg cells selectively in the TME, we screened for TME cytokines and observed that the IL-1 family cytokines IL-18 and IL-33 synergized with IL-12 to reprogram Treg cells to secrete IFN. It has been shown that IL-18 enhances IFN production by Th1 cells, while IL-33 enhances IL-5 and IL-13 production by Th2 cells. Therefore, we first examined the effects of IL-33 on Th1-, Th2-, and Th17-polarized Treg cells. We found that IL-33 enhanced not only T-bet and IFN expression in Th1-like Treg cells, but also GATA3 expression in Th2-like Treg cells, while we did not observe an effect on RORt and IL-17A expression in Th17-like Treg cells. This result indicates that IL-33 has pleiotropic roles in promoting Treg cell polarization. In many patients, cancer cells express IL-33, and we hypothesized that cancer cell-derived IL-33 could amplify Treg cell-secretion of IFN, supporting sensitivity to ICT in these patients. In contrast to this hypothesis, we observed reduced tumor growth in Treg cell-specific conditional ST2 (IL-33-receptor) knockout mice implanted with IL-33-expressing tumors, indicating that the immunosuppressive function of IL-33/ST2 signaling in tumor infiltrating Treg cells outweighs any potential pro-inflammatory effects.Graduate Educatio