cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microfinance: to analyse the trend and magnitude of flow of credit in Odisha.

Microfinance has evolved as a development approach to benefit the socially and economically underprivileged facing difficulty in accessing institutional finance. It is particularly attractive as a tool to help the poor, since it is widely seen as improving livelihoods, reducing vulnerability and fostering social as well as economic empowerment. Financial inclusion can be defined as delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged and low-income and it also covers various other financial services such as savings, insurance, payments and remittance facilities by the formal financial system to those who tend to be excluded like marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans, members of the scheduled tribes and it also helps in accessing institutional credit through commercial banks, co-operative banks, RRBs, NABARD SHG-linkage, other self-help groups and credible microfinance institutions.Analysing secondary data through compound annual growth rate (CAGR), it has been observed that microfinance has emerged as the most effective and successful tool for financial inclusion and it has seen as beacons of hope to help eradicate poverty by providing credit to poor rural households. Microfinance has evolved as a development approach to benefit the economically underprivileged facing difficulty in accessing institutional finance.
Reforming Federal Regulation

(1984). Reforming Federal Regulation. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 1201-1203.
There's No Place Like Home:Venture Creation by Transnational Entrepreneurs

Drawing insights from the effectuation, immigrant/transnational entrepreneurship, and acculturation literature, we argue that transnational entrepreneurs’ adoption of venture formation processes (s...
Making Sense of Legislative Standing

Legislative standing doctrine is neglected and under-theorized. There has always been a wide range of opinions on the Supreme Court about the proper contours of legislative standing doctrine and even about whether the Court should adjudicate disputes between the other two branches at all. Perhaps owing to these disagreements, the full Court has never articulated a clear vision of the doctrine. While the Court has managed to resolve some cases, it has not achieved the consensus necessary to provide a comprehensive and coherent account of critical doctrinal issues such as what type of injury can give rise to legislative standing and which legislative injuries may support litigation by legislators, as opposed to by a legislative institution. Thus, the so-called “legislative standing doctrine” is less a doctrine than a loosely organized collection of ad hoc results in cases. For many years, these deficiencies hardly mattered. Legislative standing cases were so rare that the lack of a clear approach to identifying which litigants could assert which legislative injuries caused no great embarrassment. But there has been a dramatic uptick during the Obama administration in the frequency of litigation between Congress and the President. In just the past four terms, the Court has decided three cases raising legislative standing issues, and another one is undoubtedly on the way: in September 2015, the District Court for the District of Columbia granted standing to the House of Representatives to sue over the President’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The uncertainty in the doctrine is thus long overdue for correction. This Article provides that correction. First, it develops an original typology of legislative injury, detailing all the varieties of “injury” that might afflict legislators, legislatures, and other legislative litigants, and illustrating each with examples from past legislative standing cases. Second, it articulates a method for determining which legislative injuries may be asserted by individual legislators, and which require the participation of a full chamber, or both chambers acting bicamerally. Finally, it illustrates this model by applying it to the Court’s recent forays into legislative standing and the pending ACA litigation.
Methodology for quantifying engineered nanomaterial release from diverse product matrices under outdoor weathering conditions and implications for life cycle assessment

Accurate measurement of engineered nanomaterial (ENM) release from diverse product lines and matrices during use is critical to evaluating environmental impacts across the life cycle of a nano-enabled product. While indoor accelerated weathering and a handful of outdoor weathering case studies exist, there has not been a standard methodology applied to characterize ENM release during outdoor weathering suitable for simultaneous use in multiple geographic locations. Such an approach has been established and is presented herein, to quantify ENM release and product transformations with the additional goal of improving life cycle assessments (LCA) of nano-enabled products. A team of experimentalists and life cycle practitioners engaged in the development of the methodology to ensure the data collected is useful to inform improved LCA and environmental impact characterization. While the method was developed to be broadly applicable, the examples included here are representative polymer nanocomposite (PNC) platforms, including multiple ENMs (i.e., nano-silver and carbon nanotubes) within different polymer matrices (i.e., polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and polycaprolactone). This unique methodology enables the study of ENM release under real climate conditions (i.e., composites are weathered outside) that coordinates: (i) multiple locations with distinct climates, (ii) the application of appropriate techniques to quantify ENM release at low (μg) released masses, (iii) tracking changes in efficacy as a function of weathering, and (iv) acquiring data to inform life cycle assessment. Initial findings (following one year of weathering polymer matrices) are included to demonstrate the type of data acquired and utility of the analysis enabled by this method.
Roma Integration ‘All the Way Down’

This article argues that critical Romani studies should examine the EU’s top-down policies of Roma integration as an exercise in federalism, since the EU’s quasi-federalist structure both accommodated and co-opted the fight for Roma rights. To bolster its analysis, this article draws comparisons to the actions of the United States (“U.S.”) federal government during Civil Rights. Of course, both Roma integration and Civil Rights are still inchoate projects. However, the longer arc with which scholars have assessed Civil Rights, including its periods of progress and retrenchment, can help develop a framework for predicting how Romani rights within the EU’s federalist system might fare during similar cycles. Three lessons flow from the comparison. First, integration policies spurred by the top rung of the federalist architecture can foment a populist backlash, especially if disparities in competence or enforcement prompt deficits in legitimacy. Second, governmental efforts are necessary for integration but not sufficient; they must work in tandem with advocacy at the grass-roots level. Finally, pushing federalism “all the way down” to incentivize local experimentation with Roma policies might counteract obstructionism to Roma integration at the national level, but this is not a panacea. Local experimentation might take the form of self-governing districts and economic set-asides, but they can just as easily permit local institutions to perpetuate exclusion and marginalization.
Investigating Longitudinal Associations Between Sexual Assault, Substance Use, and Delinquency Among Female Adolescents: Results From a Nationally Representative Sample.

Abstract Purpose Few studies have explored relations among sexual assault and prospective development of high-risk behaviors among adolescent girls. Methods The present study examined longitudinal associations among child sexual assault (CSA) and high-risk behaviors (nonexperimental alcohol and drug use; delinquent behavior) in a nationally representative sample of adolescent girls aged 12–17. Results Using path modeling, findings provided support for the link between CSA and nonexperimental alcohol use, drug use, and delinquent behavior after controlling for demographic characteristics and Time 1 functioning. Additionally, past 6-month post-traumatic stress disorder assessed at Time 1 was significantly associated with CSA and delinquency measured at Time 2, although the indirect effects did not reach traditional levels of significance. Conclusions These findings suggest that CSA may potentiate risk for a number of public health problems.
Sex and acute weighted vest differences in force production and joint work during countermovement vertical jumping.

It is unclear whether weighted vest (WV) use improves countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ) performance by enhancing stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) function via increased storage and utilisation of ...
Ocular Toxicology in Military and Civilian Disaster Environments

The eye is vulnerable to chemical exposure from both external contact and systemic (vascular) absorption. The vast majority of CW exposures occur through external contact and the potential for penetration into the eye. For this reason, all parts of the eye can be affected by chemicals, the limitations mainly subject to the pharmacokinetics of a particular agent.
Integrative species delimitation in Nearctic ambush bugs (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Phymatinae): insights from molecules, geometric morphometrics and ecological associations

Ambush bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Phymatinae) are sit‐and‐wait predators of flower‐visiting insects including pollinators. Broad species distribution ranges, intraspecific polymorphism, sexual dimorphism and subtle interspecific differences all contribute to making species delimitation especially difficult in this group, which is used as a model in the study of interactions between sexual dimorphism and sexual selection. Species boundaries among Nearctic ambush bugs in the common and frequently collected erosa species group (11 species, nine subspecies) have therefore remained unclear, resulting in a complex and poorly justified taxonomy. Recent molecular phylogenetic research suggested that several widespread Nearctic species are para‐ or polyphyletic. We here build on this research, integrating geometric morphometrics, molecular species delimitation approaches and host plant association data to provide a comprehensive dataset with respect to both taxon and character sampling with the goal of teasing apart evolutionary lineages of Nearctic Phymata Latreille. Although molecular‐based species delimitation analyses suggested a variety of species hypotheses, probably as a result of striking discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal genes, the combination of these with geometric morphometric data enabled us to confidently delimit several of these problematic taxa. In addition, geometric morphometric analysis of pronotal shape revealed undocumented morphological patterns that appear to be useful in the diagnosis of many of the surveyed taxa. The results from this study provide an objective foundation for the much‐needed taxonomic revision of the most ubiquitous ambush bugs in North America.
Minimal Blood Loss in Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Myomectomy: Bulldog Clamp for Temporary Ligation of Uterine Arteries and Uteroovarian Vessels

Video Objective To demonstrate how to reduce the blood loss in minimally invasive myomectomy, with using laparoscopic Bulldog clamps for ligating the uterine arteries and utero-ovarian vessels Setting 42 y/o patient with history of infertility, prior abdominal myomectomy, abnormal uterine bleeding with multiple fibroids largest one 6 cm in dimension, who underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic myomectomy Interventions Retroperitoneal dissection and ureterolysis were performed to isolate the uterine vessels, then fallopian tubes were isolated from utero-ovarian ligaments bilaterally. Laparoscopic Bulldog clamps were used to temporarily clamp uterine arteries and utero-ovarian ligaments. Robotic Myomectomy was performed and total of 13 fibroids were removed. Uterus was repaired with 2-0 V-locks in multiple layers and reconstructed. At the completion of myomectomy the clamps were removed from the vessels. Total of estimated blood loss was 50 cc. Patient was discharged home in less than 24 hours with no complication. Conclusion Blood loss in myomectomy is related to location, and numbers of myoma. Clamping the uterine vessels and utero-ovarian can significantly reduce the blood loss. This technique requires retroperitoneal dissection and ureterolysis. Knowledge of anatomy is a master key to success.
Performance Evaluations of Bio-Inspired Adaptive Algorithms Applied to IIR Digital Filters Designed with Coupled Form Second Order Sections

During many past decades it has been known that when using finite word-length binary arithmetic in IIR digital filters, coupled form second order sections implement conjugate-pair poles that have relatively uniform pole locations located inside the unit circle in the z-plane. However, coupled form 2nd order sections could never be used in IIR adaptive filter designs using steepest descent adaptive algorithms due to the multi-modal error surfaces created by coupled form structures. Results presented in this paper demonstrate that the LFFA can be effectively applied to IIR adaptive filter structures designed with parallel or cascade second order coupled form sections.
Race/Ethnicity and Sex-Related Differences in Direct Oral Anticoagulant Initiation in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation: A Retrospective Study of Medicare Data.

Abstract Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder and is associated with a 5-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. Racial/ethnic minorities and women with AF have higher rates of stroke compared to white individuals and men respectively. Oral anticoagulation reduces the risk of stroke, yet prior research has described racial/ethnic and sex-based variation in its use. We sought to examine the initiation of any oral anticoagulant (warfarin or direct-acting oral anticoagulants, DOACs) by race/ethnicity and sex in patients with incident, non-valvular AF. Further in those who initiated any anticoagulant, we examined DOAC vs. warfarin initiation by race/ethnicity and sex. Methods We used claims data from a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries to identify patients with incident AF from 2012 to 2014, excluding those without continuous Medicare enrollment. We used logistic regression to assess the association between race/ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic), sex, and oral anticoagulant initiation (any, warfarin vs. DOAC), adjusting for sociodemographics, medical comorbidities, stroke and bleeding risk. Results The cohort of 42,952 patients with AF included 17,935 women, 3282 blacks, and 1958 Hispanics. Overall OAC initiation was low (49.2% whites, 48.1% blacks, 47.5% Hispanics, 48.1% men, and 51.5% women). After adjusting, blacks (odds ratio (OR) 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78–0.91) were less likely than whites to initiate any oral anticoagulant with no difference observed between Hispanics and whites (OR 0.92; 95% CI, 0.83–1.01). Women were less likely than men to initiate any oral anticoagulant, OR 0.59 (95% CI 0.55–0.64). Among initiators of oral anticoagulation, DOAC use was low (35.8% whites, 29.3% blacks, 40.0% Hispanics, 41.6% men, and 42.4% women). After adjusting, blacks were less likely to initiate DOACs than whites, OR 0.75 (95% CI 0.66–0.85); the odds of DOAC initiation did not differ between Hispanic and white patients or between men and women. Conclusion In a national cohort of Medicare beneficiaries with newly-diagnosed AF, overall oral anticoagulant initiation was lower in blacks and women, with no difference observed by Hispanic ethnicity. Among oral anticoagulant initiators, blacks were less likely to initiate novel DOACs, with no differences identified by Hispanic ethnicity or sex. Identifying modifiable causes of treatment disparities is needed to improve quality of care for all patients with AF.
NATIONAL TRENDS IN HOSPITALIZATIONS, MORTALITY AND COST OF CARE AMONG ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION PATIENTS IN THE UNITED STATES: NATIONWIDE INPATIENT SAMPLE FROM 2001 TO 2014

Despite the advances in the management of coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has remained a significant health problem. While various factors including but not limited to demographics, socio-economic, environmental, and health-care facility utilization may impact the
Comparison of Chemotherapeutic Activities of Rhodamine-Based GUMBOS and NanoGUMBOS.

Rhodamine derivatives have been widely investigated for their mitochondrial targeting and chemotherapeutic properties that result from their lipophilic cationic structures. In previous research, we have found that conversion of Rhodamine 6G into nanoGUMBOS, i.e., nanomaterials derived from a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS), led to selective chemotherapeutic toxicity for cancer cells over normal cells. Herein, we investigate the chemotherapeutic activity of GUMBOS derived from four different rhodamine derivatives, two bearing an ester group, i.e., Rhodamine 123 (R123) and SNAFR-5, and two bearing a carboxylic acid group, i.e., rhodamine 110 (R110) and rhodamine B (RB). In this study, we evaluate (1) relative hydrophobicity via octanol–water partition coefficients, (2) cytotoxicity, and (3) cellular uptake in order to evaluate possible structure–activity relationships between these different compounds. Intriguingly, we found that while GUMBOS derived from R123 and SNAFR-5 formed nanoGUMBOS in aqueous medium, no distinct nanoparticles are observed for RB and R110 GUMBOS. Further investigation revealed that the relatively high water solubility of R110 and RB GUMBOS hinders nanoparticle formation. Subsequently, while R123 and SNAFR-5 displayed selective chemotherapeutic toxicity similar to that of previously investigated R6G nanoGUMBOS, the R110 and RB GUMBOS were lacking in this property. Additionally, the chemotherapeutic toxicities of R123 and SNAFR-5 nanoGUMBOS were also significantly greater than R110 and RB GUMBOS. Observed results were consistent with decreased cellular uptake of R110 and RB as compared to R123 and SNAFR-5 compounds. Moreover, these results are also consistent with previous observations that suggest that nanoparticle formation is critical to the observed selective chemotherapeutic properties as well as the chemotherapeutic efficacy of rhodamine nanoGUMBOS.
Automatic Discovery and Synthesis of Checksum Algorithms from Binary Data Samples

Reverse engineering unknown binary message formats is an important part of security research. Error detecting codes such as checksums and Cyclic Redundancy Check codes (CRCs) are commonly added to messages as a guard against corrupt or untrusted input. Before an analyst can manufacture input for software which uses checksums they must discover the algorithm to calculate a valid checksum. To address this need, we have developed a program synthesis based approach for detecting and reverse-engineering checksum algorithms automatically.Our approach takes a small set of binary messages as input and automatically returns a Python implementation of the checksum algorithm if one can be found. Our approach first performs a search over the message space to identify the location of the checksum and then uses program synthesis to identify the operations performed on the message to compute the checksum. We return to the user runnable code to both calculate a checksum from a message and to validate a message according to the checksum algorithm. We generate unit tests, allowing the user to validate the synthesized checksum algorithm is correct with regard to the input messages.We created the Tufts Checksum Corpus comprised of 12 checksum inference questions collected from posts on reverse engineering question and answer sites and 2 instances of common internet protocol checksums.Our approach successfully synthesized the underlying checksum algorithms for 12 out of 14 cases in our test suite.
Protein Binding Pose Prediction via Conditional Variational Autoencoding for Plasmodium Falciparum

Malaria is a disease caused by single-celled blood parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The protozoan Plasmodium Falciparum (PF) inflicts the most damage and is responsible for most malaria-related deaths. The high mutational capacity of the Plasmodium parasite coupled with its changing metabolism makes the development of new effective drug treatments an evolving and open problem. In this work, we propose a machine learning approach to predict the binding pose structure of ligand families for this parasite. Identifying appropriate protein-ligand binding poses is essential in structure-based drug design and important for the evaluation of protein-ligand binding affinity. Specifically, a conditional variational autoencoder is trained to learn the distribution which represents the binding structures conditioned on the given binding sites. Using this well-trained conditional variational autoencoder, our approach generates binding poses for the ligand’s receptor for a particular binding site by sampling from this learned distribution. We demonstrate that our model is able to accurately predict the binding structures of multiple binding sites for the PF parasite invasion ligand families in the erythrocyte invasion and compare it with other states of the art methods like HADDOCK, Hdock, and GRAMMX.
Perpetuated HIV Microaggressions: A Novel Scale to Measure Subtle Discrimination Against People Living With HIV

HIV discrimination has served as a barrier to addressing the HIV epidemic and providing effective HIV treatment and care. Measuring HIV discrimination, particularly covert HIV discrimination, has proven to be complex. Adapted from a previous scale, we developed a perpetuated HIV micro-aggressions scale to assess covert forms of discriminatory beliefs among HIV-negative/unknown HIV status individuals. Factor analysis resulted in three subscales, explaining 73.58% of the scale's variance. The new scale demonstrated both convergent validity (HIV prejudice, HIV stereotypes) and discriminant validity (alcohol use, depressive symptomology). Perpetuated HIV microaggressions were significantly associated with HIV conspiracy beliefs, HIV prejudice, and HIV stereotypes. This new scale can serve as an important tool in evaluating perpetuated HIV microaggressions among HIV-negative individuals.
Evaluating the Effects of Opioid Prescribing Policies on Patient Outcomes in a Safety-net Primary Care Clinic

After decades of liberal opioid prescribing, multiple efforts have been made to reduce reliance upon opioids in clinical care. Little is known about the effects of opioid prescribing policies on outcomes beyond opioid prescribing. To evaluate the combined effects of multiple opioid prescribing policies implemented in a safety-net primary care clinic in San Francisco, CA, in 2013–2014. Retrospective cohort study and conditional difference-in-differences analysis of nonrandomized clinic-level policies. 273 patients prescribed opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in 2013 at either the treated (n=151) or control clinic (n=122) recruited and interviewed in 2017–2018. Policies establishing standard protocols for dispensing opioid refills and conducting urine toxicology testing, and a new committee facilitating opioid treatment decisions for complex patient cases. Opioid prescription (active prescription, mean dose in morphine milligram equivalents [MME]) from electronic medical charts, and heroin and opioid analgesics not prescribed to the patient (any use, use frequency) from a retrospective interview. The interventions were associated with a reduction in mean prescribed opioid dose in the first three post-policy years (year 1 conditional difference-in-differences estimate: −52.0 MME [95% confidence interval: −109.9, −10.6]; year 2: −106.2 MME [−195.0, −34.6]; year 3: −98.6 MME [−198.7, −23.9]; year 4: −72.6 MME [−160.4, 3.6]). Estimates suggest a possible positive association between the interventions and non-prescribed opioid analgesic use (year 3: 5.2 absolute percentage points [−0.1, 11.2]) and use frequency (year 3: 0.21 ordinal frequency scale points [0.00, 0.47]) in the third post-policy year. Clinic-level opioid prescribing policies were associated with reduced dose, although the control clinic achieved similar reductions by the fourth post-policy year, and the policies may have been associated with increased non-prescribed opioid analgesic use. Clinicians should balance the urgency to reduce opioid prescribing with potential harms from rapid change.
Does Episodic Retrieval Contribute to Creative Writing? An Exploratory Study

Previous research indicates that episodic retrieval contributes to divergent creative thinking. However, this research has relied on standard laboratory tests of divergent creative thinking, such a...
Rethinking the Ranks of Visual Channels.

Data can be visually represented using visual channels like position, length or luminance. An existing ranking of these visual channels is based on how accurately participants could report the ratio between two depicted values. There is an assumption that this ranking should hold for different tasks and for different numbers of marks. However, there is surprisingly little existing work that tests this assumption, especially given that visually computing ratios is relatively unimportant in real-world visualizations, compared to seeing, remembering, and comparing trends and motifs, across displays that almost universally depict more than two values. To simulate the information extracted from a glance at a visualization, we instead asked participants to immediately reproduce a set of values from memory after they were shown the visualization. These values could be shown in a bar graph (position (bar)), line graph (position (line)), heat map (luminance), bubble chart (area), misaligned bar graph (length), or `wind map' (angle). With a Bayesian multilevel modeling approach, we show how the rank positions of visual channels shift across different numbers of marks (2, 4 or 8) and for bias, precision, and error measures. The ranking did not hold, even for reproductions of only 2 marks, and the new probabilistic ranking was highly inconsistent for reproductions of different numbers of marks. Other factors besides channel choice had an order of magnitude more influence on performance, such as the number of values in the series (e.g., more marks led to larger errors), or the value of each mark (e.g., small values were systematically overestimated). Every visual channel was worse for displays with 8 marks than 4, consistent with established limits on visual memory. These results point to the need for a body of empirical studies that move beyond two-value ratio judgments as a baseline for reliably ranking the quality of a visual channel, including testing new tasks (detection of trends or motifs), timescales (immediate computation, or later comparison), and the number of values (from a handful, to thousands).
Complemented MacNeille completions and algebras of fractions

We introduce ($\ell$-)bimonoids as ordered algebras consisting of two compatible monoidal structures on a partially ordered (lattice-ordered) set. Bimonoids form an appropriate framework for the study of a general notion of complementation, which subsumes both Boolean complements in bounded distributive lattices and multiplicative inverses in monoids. The central question of the paper is whether and how bimonoids can be embedded into complemented bimonoids, generalizing the embedding of cancellative commutative monoids into their groups of fractions and of bounded distributive lattices into their free Boolean extensions. We prove that each commutative ($\ell$-)bimonoid indeed embeds into a complete complemented commutative $\ell$-bimonoid in a doubly dense way reminiscent of the Dedekind--MacNeille completion. Moreover, this complemented completion, which is term equivalent to a commutative involutive residuated lattice, sometimes contains a tighter complemented envelope analogous to the group of fractions. In the case of cancellative commutative monoids this algebra of fractions is precisely the familiar group of fractions, while in the case of Brouwerian (Heyting) algebras it is a (bounded) idempotent involutive commutative residuated lattice. This construction of the algebra of fractions in fact yields a categorical equivalence between varieties of integral and of involutive residuated structures which subsumes as special cases the known equivalences between Abelian $\ell$-groups and their negative cones, and between Sugihara monoids and their negative cones.
Religion and Psychoses

Publisher Summary This chapter explains religion and psychoses. The chapter reviews the meager relevant literature and supplements the data with clinical observations made during the author's 50 years of clinical experience in many different mental health settings. The relationship of religion to psychoses is a subject that has not yet been adequately researched. Religion, like any other cultural influence, affects behavior, delusions, and hallucinations in patients with both schizophrenia and major affective disorders. Religion is only one of the factors that influence the content of symptoms. Religion has little etiological influence, although it may serve as a precipitating factor in certain affective disorders. Salvation experiences among Christians are common in both schizophrenia and affective disorders. There is a higher incidence in patients with affective disorders, however, than in active schizophrenia. Salvation experiences can occur in patients who have delirium or dementia but they are relatively uncommon. The research suggests that the religious nurturance of patients with major affective disorders is similar to that of normal controls.
The enzymatic carboxylation of propionyl coenzyme A. Studies involving deuterated and tritiated substrates.

Abstract (R)- and (S)-2-deuteriopropionyl coenzyme A of approximately 75% optical purity were prepared by a series of reactions starting from optically pure alanine. With these compounds as substrates for propionyl-CoA carboxylase, the deuterium isotope effect was found to be small and probably secondary. No tritium isotope effect was observed when enzymatically prepared 2-3H-propionyl-CoA was used as substrate. The rate of release of tritium was the same as that of the over-all reaction. Tritium from 3H2O was not incorporated into propionyl-CoA in the absence of the reverse reaction. The data were consistent with a concerted mechanism in which an α-proton was removed simultaneously with carboxylation of propionyl-CoA. By various techniques the reaction was shown to proceed with retention of configuration about the α-carbon.
FRAM memory technology - advantages for low power, fast write, high endurance applications

Summary form only given. FRAM memory technology offers a number of advantages over current memory technologies. For applications which require low power, fast write, or non-volatility with high write/read endurance, FRAM is quickly becoming the memory of choice. A number of commercial applications have been developed which benefit from these unique FRAM features and millions of units have been sold into these applications. In addition, FRAM technology offers a low cost solution for integration with logic arrays, analog, or SoC applications, especially for low power and portable electronic products. FRAM memory may also reduce or eliminate the need for multiple memory types embedded within SoC applications, thus reducing manufacturing cost and improving overall system performance. FRAM memory technology is also competitive with emerging new memory technologies, but is already commercially available. This paper will review the current technical capability of FRAM memory technology, its fundamental advantages or weaknesses with respect to other memory technologies, and its potential for integration into SoC, portable electronics, or other high functionality applications. We will highlight the electrical performance and reliability aspects of our latest 130nm gate, 5 level metal Cu/FSG 4MBit/ 8MBit FRAM technology driver.
Catalysis of the Direct Transfer of Oxygen from Nicotinamide N-Oxide to Xanthine by Xanthine Oxidase

The role of the oxidizing agent in the xanthine oxidase reaction has been evaluated. The long standing notion that oxygen normally functions only as an electron acceptor in the xanthine oxidase reaction has been confirmed. When molecular oxygen was the oxidizing agent and the reaction was carried out at pH 7.5, 18O was incorporated into uric acid from 18O-labeled water; no 18O was found in uric acid when xanthine was oxidized in an atmosphere of 18O2. However, at pH 8.9 there was a small amount of direct oxygen transfer from 18O2 into uric acid. In experiments in which nicotinamide N-oxide was used in place of O2, the N-oxide appeared to function to a large extent by direct transfer of oxygen. It acted as an electron acceptor as well. Xanthine oxidase catalyzed the transfer of 18O from nicotinamide 18ON-oxide to xanthine in the course of the formation of uric acid. 18O from 18O-labeled water was also incorporated into uric acid when nicotinamide N-oxide was used as the oxidant in the xanthine oxidase reaction. Essentially identical results were obtained with both milk and liver xanthine oxidases. The possibility was raised that heterocyclic N-oxides may be capable of acting as general biological oxygenating agents.
APPLICATION OF TOPOLOGY IN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

Brief reference is made to recent applications of topology in structural analysis. Kron’s methods, developed for the analysis of large networks, are examined and applied to various structures, including the Wilson-Maney bent. This paper is an extension of two previous papers which attempt to facilitate the formulation and solution of large structures using digital computers.
EGF stimulates an increase in actin nucleation and filament number at the leading edge of the lamellipod in mammary adenocarcinoma cells

Stimulation of metastatic MTLn3 cells with EGF causes the rapid extension of lamellipods, which contain a zone of F-actin at the leading edge. In order to establish the mechanism for accumulation of F-actin at the leading edge and its relationship to lamellipod extension in response to EGF, we have studied the kinetics and location of EGF-induced actin nucleation activity in MTLn3 cells and characterized the actin dynamics at the leading edge by measuring the changes at the pointed and barbed ends of actin filaments upon EGF stimulation of MTLn3 cells. The major result of this study is that stimulation of MTLn3 cells with EGF causes a transient increase in actin nucleation activity resulting from the appearance of free barbed ends very close to the leading edge of extending lamellipods. In addition, cytochalasin D causes a significant decrease in the total F-actin content in EGF-stimulated cells, indicating that both actin polymerization and depolymerization are stimulated by EGF. Pointed end incorporation of rhodamine-labeled actin by the EGF stimulated cells is 2.12+/−0.47 times higher than that of control cells. Since EGF stimulation causes an increase in both barbed and pointed end incorporation of rhodamine-labeled actin in the same location, the EGF-stimulated nucleation sites are more likely due either to severing of pre-existing filaments or de novo nucleation of filaments at the leading edge thereby creating new barbed and pointed ends. The timing and location of EGF-induced actin nucleation activity in MTLn3 cells can account for the observed accumulation of F-actin at the leading edge and demonstrate that this F-actin rich zone is the primary actin polymerization zone after stimulation.
Implementing a “Quality by Design” Approach to Assure the Safety and Integrity of Botanical Dietary Supplements

Natural products have provided a basis for health care and medicine to humankind since the beginning of civilization. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 80% of the world population still relies on herbal medicines for health-related benefits. In the United States, over 42% of the population claimed to have used botanical dietary supplements to either augment their current diet or to “treat” or “prevent” a particular health-related issue. This has led to the development of a burgeoning industry in the U.S. ($4.8 billion per year in 2008) to supply dietary supplements to the consumer. However, many commercial botanical products are poorly defined scientifically, and the consumer must take it on faith that the supplement they are ingesting is an accurate representation of what is listed on the label, and that it contains the purportedly “active” constituents they seek. Many dietary supplement manufacturers, academic research groups, and governmental organizations are progressivel...
Effects of chloride ion on the activation of G proteins

G proteins act as signal transducers that couple receptors to effectors through membranes. G proteins are in a GDP-bound form in the basal state, which can interact with receptors. The hormone-bound receptor promotes GDP-GTP exchange of G proteins. The GTP, Mg(2+)-bound G proteins can activate effector molecules, which in turn produce second messengers. The GTP, Mg(2+)-form is converted to the GDP-form by the GTP-hydrolysis activity of G protein alpha-subunits. Cl- ions modulate the GDP-GTP cycle of G proteins. Cl- ions, in the presence of Mg2+, decelerate the receptor-independent spontaneous release of GDP (ca. 6-fold by 100 mM NaCl), which will result in a lowering of the basal level of second messengers. On the other hand, the GTP-hydrolysis activity of G proteins was suppressed by 3-fold with 100 mM NaCl, which will result in keeping the G proteins in an active form for a longer time. In the absence of Mg2+, Cl- ion mimics Mg2+ to convert GTP-bound G proteins to an active form (dissociated form), although the effects are weaker than those of Mg2+. These effects are very different from F-, which is another halogen ion that interacts with G proteins.
Calcite Grit and Granite Grit as Supplements to a Chick Starting Ration

Abstract MOST chick starting rations used at the present time are all-mash or complete rations. These contain the necessary mineral supplements to furnish the required amounts of calcium and phosphorus. The feeding of grit as a grinding agent is also a common recommendation. It has also been reported by a number of investigators that a high calcium intake will depress the growth of chicks. It was, therefore, deemed desirable to determine the effect of feeding a calcium grit in addition to a complete chick mash, either as a supplement to be eaten at will, or when mixed with the mash thereby forcing additional consumption of calcium. EXPERIMENTAL Two experiments were conducted using a commercial chick starter as the basal ration. Single Comb White Leghorn cockerel chicks were placed in batteries under similar conditions. The grit supplements used were a granite grit and a calcite grit furnished by the Harry T. Campbell . . .
Role of large‐ and fine‐scale variables in predicting catch rates of larval Pacific lamprey in the Willamette Basin, Oregon

Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus is an anadromous fish native to the Pacific Northwest of the USA. That has declined substantially over the last 40 years. Effective conservation of this species will require an understanding of the habitat requirements for each life history stage. Because its life cycle contains extended freshwater rearing (3-8 years), the larval stage may be a critical factor limiting abundance of Pacific lamprey. The objective of our study was to estimate the influence of barriers and habitat characteristics on the catch-per-unit- effort (CPUE) of larval Pacific lamprey in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon, USA. We sampled lampreys at multiple locations in wadeable streams throughout the basin in 2011-13 and used an information theoretic approach to examine the relative influence of fine- and large-scale predictors of CPUE. Pacific lamprey was observed across the basin, but its relative abundance appeared to be limited by the presence of natural and artificial barriers in some sub-basins. Lower velocity habitats such as off-channel areas and pools contained higher densities of larval lamprey; mean Pacific lamprey CPUE in off-channel habitats was 4 and 32 times greater than in pools and riffles respectively. Restoration and conservation strategies that improve fish passage, enhance natural hydrologic and depositional processes and increase habitat heterogeneity will likely benefit larval Pacific lamprey.
Preserving genome integrity: the DdrA protein of Deinococcus radiodurans R1.

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans can withstand extraordinary levels of ionizing radiation, reflecting an equally extraordinary capacity for DNA repair. The hypothetical gene product DR0423 has been implicated in the recovery of this organism from DNA damage, indicating that this protein is a novel component of the D. radiodurans DNA repair system. DR0423 is a homologue of the eukaryotic Rad52 protein. Following exposure to ionizing radiation, DR0423 expression is induced relative to an untreated control, and strains carrying a deletion of the DR0423 gene exhibit increased sensitivity to ionizing radiation. When recovering from ionizing-radiation-induced DNA damage in the absence of nutrients, wild-type D. radiodurans reassembles its genome while the mutant lacking DR0423 function does not. In vitro, the purified DR0423 protein binds to single-stranded DNA with an apparent affinity for 3′ ends, and protects those ends from nuclease degradation. We propose that DR0423 is part of a DNA end-protection system that helps to preserve genome integrity following exposure to ionizing radiation. We designate the DR0423 protein as DNA damage response A protein.
Phototube tests in the MiniBooNE experiment

The MiniBooNE neutrino oscillation experiment at Fermilab uses 1520 8-in. PMTs: 1197 PMTs are Hamamatsu model R1408 and the rest are model R5912. All of the PMTs were tested to qualify for inclusion in the detector, sorted according to their charge and time resolutions and dark rates. Seven PMTs underwent additional low light level tests. The relative detection efficiency as a function of incident angle for seven additional PMTs was measured. Procedures and results are presented.
None in common, many unique: species selection for gardens of the American South from 1734 to 1825

The designs of American gardens of the Colonial and Federal periods (1620–1830) were based on standards and traditions found in European gardens of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.1 Town r...
Spectroscopic evidence for a high-spin Br-Fe(IV)-oxo intermediate in the alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent halogenase CytC3 from Streptomyces.

The complex of the mononuclear non-heme halogenase CytC3 from Streptomyces, Fe(II), {alpha}-ketoglutarate, bromide, and the substrate l-2-aminobutyryl-S-CytC2 reacts with O{sub 2} to form a reaction intermediate. Variable-field, freeze-quench Moessbauer spectroscopy reveals this intermediate to be a mixture of two high-spin Fe(IV) complexes in an approximate 3.7/1 ratio. Freeze-quench Fe K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy provides further insight into the structure of this intermediate. A short 1.62-{angstrom} interaction between the Fe and one of its ligands is attributed to the Fe(IV)-oxo group, and a 2.43-{angstrom} interaction is assigned to the Fe-Br interaction. A significantly longer Fe-Br separation (2.53 {angstrom}) is observed in the reactant complex, consistent with lower valency of the Fe in the reactant complex. This intermediate is the first example for a Br-Fe(IV)-oxo complex in a protein and provides evidence for a unifying mechanism for Fe(II) and {alpha}-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases and halogenases.
Nature of the optical information recorded in speckles

The process of encoding displacement information in electronic Holographic Interferometry is reviewed. Procedures to extend the applicability of this technique to large deformations are given. The proposed techniques are applied and results from these experiments are compared with results obtained by other means. The similarity between the two sets of results illustrates the validity for the new techniques.
The effect of parental monetary sanctions on the vaccination status of young children: An evaluation of welfare reform in Maryland

Objective To determine whether financial sanctions to Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients can be used to improve vaccination coverage of young children. Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting Six AFDC jurisdictions in Maryland. Intervention Recipients of AFDC were randomized to the experimental or control group of the Primary Prevention Initiative. Families in the experimental group were penalized financially for failing to verify that their children received preventive health care, including vaccinations; control families were not. Participants Children aged 3 to 24 months from assigned families were randomly selected for the evaluation (911 in the experimental, 864 in the control, and 471 in the baseline groups). Main Outcome Measures Up-to-date for age for diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis (DTP), polio, and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines; missed opportunities to vaccinate; and number of visits per year. Analysis Comparisons among baseline and postimplementation years 1 and 2. Results Vaccination coverage of children was low. Less than 70% of children were up-to-date for age for polio and MMR vaccines; slightly more than 50% were up-to-date for DTP vaccine. Up-to-date rates differed little among baseline, experimental, and control groups. Over time, there was a decrease in missed opportunities, and more children made at least 1 well-child visit; however, neither improvement resulted in a change in vaccination status. Conclusions The Primary Prevention Initiative did not contribute to an increase in vaccination coverage among these children. Minimal economic sanctions alone levied against parents should not be expected substantially to affect vaccination rates.