We construct a theoretical framework that puts the social worth of a microfinance organization (MFO) in terms of the depth, worth to users, cost to users, breadth, length, and scope of its output. We then analyze evidence of depth of outreach for five MFOs in Bolivia. Most of the poor households reached by the MFOs were near the poverty line-they were the richest of the poor. Group lenders had more depth of outreach than individual lenders. The urban poorest were more likely to be borrowers, but rural borrowers were more likely to be among the poorest.

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BACKGROUND. JC virus (JCV) is a polyomavirus that commonly infects humans and is the causative agent of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in immune‐compromised patients. An association between JCV and human cancers long has been suspected, because this virus induces brain tumors in several animal models. The oncogenic potential of JCV is mediated by a transforming protein, the T‐antigen (T‐Ag), which is a multifunctional protein that transforms cells through interactions with various growth‐regulatory genes, including p53 and pRb, and by stabilizing β‐catenin. Previously, the laboratory at the authors' institution demonstrated that JCV is present frequently in the human gastrointestinal tract and may play a role in colorectal carcinogenesis. However, to date, no studies have determined whether JCV sequences are present specifically in gastric cancers. The current study was designed to investigate whether JCV sequences and expression are found in human gastric cancers. METHODS. DNA was extracted from 23 paraffin embedded and 14 frozen gastric cancer specimens. For the detection of JCV gene sequences, polymerase chain reaction amplifications were performed using gene‐specific primers for T‐Ag, VP‐1 (a JCV capsid gene), and the viral regulatory region (or transcriptional control region). Immunohistochemical staining was performed with an anti‐T‐Ag monoclonal antibody to detect protein expression. RESULTS. Twenty‐one of 37 gastric cancers (57%) harbored JCV T‐Ag sequences, and 13 of 37 gastric cancers (30%) contained VP‐1 sequences. T‐Ag sequences also were found in adjacent nonneoplastic mucosa. In addition, JCV regulatory region sequences were present frequently in gastric cancers and adjacent nonneoplastic mucosa. T‐Ag protein expression was found in 9 of 23 gastric cancers (39%), whereas no expression was observed in any of the nonneoplastic tissues. CONCLUSIONS. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the presence of JCV T‐Ag expression in human gastric cancers. These findings suggest a possible role for this polyomavirus in gastric carcinogenesis. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.

BACKGROUND & AIMS-Colorectal cancer (CRC) is uncommon in individuals <50 years old. Lynch Syndrome is caused by germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes and associated with early-onset CRC, but little is known about the proportion of young patients with apparently sporadic CRC who actually have Lynch Syndrome. We examined patterns of microsatellite instability (MSI) and expression of MMR genes among patients <50 years old with non-familial CRC (patients with more than family member with CRC).

Background and aim-Chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIIP) is characterised by severe impairment of intestinal propulsive motility that mimics bowel obstruction. JC virus (JCV) is a polyomavirus that can infect brain glial cells causing a fatal disease, but may also be found throughout the normal gastrointestinal tract. The hypothesis that JCV infects the myenteric plexuses of patients with CIIP was tested.