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Identifying the driving factors for regenerative fibroblasts in the mouse digit tip
No full textComposite tissue regeneration is very limited in mammals; however, humans and mice can fully regenerate the distal tips of the digits following amputation. This process involves the formation of a blastema, a cellular structure that is the source of the regenerated tissue and is integral to successful regeneration. Proximal amputations beyond the nail do not form a blastema and result in fibrotic wound healing. This differential behavior makes the mouse digit tip an ideal model system to investigate the cellular and molecular factors driving each response and why complex regeneration is so limited in mammals. Chapter 1 is an overview of mouse digit fibrosis vs regeneration, discussing the roles of each cell type established in each distinct wound healing process in the digit. In particular, fibroblasts are a major contributor to the blastema and play an integral part in fibrosis; thus, they may be a cell population that drives the decision between fibrosis and regeneration.
My thesis focused on fibroblast subtypes and their role in fibrosis versus regeneration, with specific attention on the blastema enriched gene Mest. To understand Mest’s role in digit tip regeneration (Chapter 2), I further verified that it is not expressed in fibrotic tissue, indicating blastemal-specific expression, and found that Mest knock-out mice exhibited delayed bone regeneration due to an impaired neutrophil recruitment and clearance response. Additionally, I established that the locus could utilize an alternative promote to evade methylation-based transcriptional repression.
While this study further established Mest as a pro-regenerative factor, I aimed to identify additional candidate genes and functionally test them (Chapter 3). To achieve these goals, I performed single-cell sequencing of fibrosing digits and computationally compared them to blastemal tissue. From this, we were able to identify fibroblast subtypes and genes specific to fibrosis or regeneration. We then developed an AAV gene delivery technique to functionally assess our candidate genes in vivo, which successfully drove differing wound healing outcomes. Ultimately, my thesis work advances our understanding of fibroblast heterogeneity in digit wound healing and provides a robust framework for investigating and modulating molecular factors that govern fibrosis and regeneration.Biology, Molecular and Cellula
The Peso Perspective: Understanding Risk and Return in Global Currency Markets
No full textThe drivers of currency excess returns remain poorly understood despite the foreign exchange market’s size and liquidity. Using five measures of risk — novel text-based measures (from newspaper articles and firm earnings calls) alongside traditional risk indices that capture a country’s economic, financial, and political risk — I show that financial risk is the dominant predictor of volatility in emerging market currency returns, while geopolitical risk is positively associated with excess returns, supporting a risk premium explanation for the profitability of currency trades. Firm-level risk perceptions, especially from foreign firms, outperform political/economic risk in forecasting returns. However, country-specific risks explain only a fraction of exchange rate movements, revealing fundamental limits to forecasting exchange rate movements. The results highlight financial stability as a stronger determinant of risk premia than political uncertainty, with implications for currency speculators and policy-making in emerging economies.Applied Mathematic
メキシコ AMLO 政権の福祉政策と財政(論稿)
No full textメキシコでは 2024 年 6 月 2 日に大統領選挙と上下両院の連邦議会議員選挙が実施され、AMLO率いる与党連合が圧勝した。圧勝の要因の一つに挙げられるのが、AMLO 政権が力を入れた福祉の拡充である。本稿では AMLO 政権の福祉政策の特徴とその財政的裏付けについて検討する。それによって、福祉政策が貧困層をターゲットとした条件付現金給付から普遍主義的な現金給付に変化したこと、さらに、予算配分が高齢者福祉年金の支給に偏り、財政支出が急増していることから、持続可能性に懸念があることを明らかにする。PJa/33/Ra2articl
2024 年メキシコ連邦選挙と憲法改正論議—民主主義の後退か？(論稿)
No full text本稿は、2024 年に本格化したメキシコの憲法改正論議について司法制度改革に着目し、その起源、政治過程、そして帰結を詳細に分析したうえで、メキシコの民主主義への含意について考察する。2024 年 6 月に実施された連邦選挙では、AMLO が「第 4 の変革」を実現するための憲法改正が最大の争点となった。選挙期間中、憲法改正を支持する勢力と反対する勢力の間で激しい対立が繰り広げられ、メキシコ社会に大きな分断をもたらした。選挙の結果、与党「国民再生運動」（Morena）候補であり、AMLO の側近として知られるシェインバウムが圧勝した。また、同選挙の結果、連邦議会上下両院で与党連合が憲法改正に必要な特別多数（3 分の 2 以上）を獲得する見通しが立ったことから、裁判官の公選制導入を柱とする司法制度改革が急速に進められた。この動きに対して、改革に反対する司法府職員によるストライキが発生し、大学生を中心とする抗議運動が全国規模で広がったものの、10 月の新政権発足前には司法制度改革が実現するに至った。一方、憲法改正に反対する勢力は、この改革が司法府による行政府へのチェック機能を弱め、民主主義の後退を導くと批判している。しかし、民主主義に関する指標を見ると、AMLO 政権下では自由で公正な選挙やチェック・アンド・バランスの水準が低下した一方で、市民の政治参加のレベルは向上した。この点を考慮すると、メキシコにおいて民主主義が後退していると結論付けるのは時期尚早である。PJa/33/Ra2articl
Hidden Disparities: Unveiling Intrahousehold Consumption Inequality, Economies of Scale, and Individual Poverty in West Africa
No full textapplication/pdfIDP000952_001This study explores intrahousehold inequality, economies of scale, and their impact on individual-level poverty across WAEMU countries. The analysis in this study is based on an approach grounded in the collective household model to estimate resource shares and economies of scale using expenditure data. First, except for Niger, the results suggest gender inequality in intrahousehold resource allocation within WAEMU countries. On average, men receive between 12% and 22% more resources than women, while children’s resource share decreases as the proportion of girls increases. Next, consistent with previous studies, the results indicate that women and children are the most impoverished individuals within the household after accounting for intrahousehold inequality and economies of scale. Finally, the results show that the per-capita expenditure poverty metric underestimates child poverty and overestimates adult poverty. On average, between 15.1% and 24.5% of children live in households with per capita expenditures above the poverty line. Moreover, ignoring economies of scale would lead to an overestimation of individual poverty ranging from 8% to 17%. This finding indicates that deeper and more specific policies are necessary to guarantee that those in need of assistance obtain them.technical repor