Is democracy a logical concomitant of microfinance? : a theoretical review of the microfinance argument

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)This thesis makes a theoretical review of the microfinance argument, which claims that microfinance would be accompanied with democratization or consolidation of democracy. This thesis firstly analyzes the theory of modern microfinance, especially its propensity of converting borrowers into modern citizens. Secondly, this thesis analyzes five major theories supporting the microfinance argument: (a) modernization and economic development, (b) economic fairness, (c) gender justice, (d) social capital, and (e) civil society. In addition, this thesis reviews critical perspectives of these five theories and makes a general discussion. Finally, this thesis concludes the reasonableness and limitation of the microfinance argument

Procedure for improving wildfire simulations using observations

This report suggests a variational update method for improving wildfire simulations using observations as feedback to update information. We first assume a onedimensional fire model for simplicity and present numerical simulations obtained in this case. As possible alternative approaches, we also discuss two other update methods: a particle filter method and an optimal control method

Alpha-lipoic acid induces apoptosis in hepatoma cells via the PTEN/Akt pathway

AbstractWe report here that alpha-lipoic acid (α-LA), a naturally-occurring antioxidant, scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) followed by an increase in apoptosis of human hepatoma cells. Apoptosis induced by α-LA was dependent upon the activation of the caspase cascade and the mitochondrial death pathway. α-LA induced increases in caspase-9 and caspase-3 but had no significant effect on caspase-8 activity. Apoptosis induced by α-LA was found to be mediated through the tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN)/Akt pathway. Prior to cell apoptosis, PTEN was activated and its downstream target Akt was inhibited. Our findings indicate that increasing ROS scavenging could be a therapeutic strategy to treat cancer

Deterministic generation of skyrmions and antiskyrmions by electric current

Magnetic skyrmions are nanoscale spin whirlpools that promise breakthroughs in future spintronic applications. Controlled generation of magnetic skyrmions by electric current is crucial for this purpose. While previous studies have demonstrated this operation, the topological charge of the generated skyrmions is determined by the direction of the external magnetic fields, thus is fixed. Here, we report the current-induced skyrmions creation in a chiral magnet FeGe nanostructure by using the \emph{in-situ} Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. We show that magnetic skyrmions or antiskyrmions can be both transferred from the magnetic helical ground state simply by controlling the direction of the current flow at zero magnetic field. The force analysis and symmetry consideration, backed up by micromagnetic simulations, well explain the experimental results, where magnetic skyrmions or antiskyrmions are created due to the edge instability of the helical state in the presence of spin transfer torque. The on-demand generation of skyrmions and control of their topology by electric current without the need of magnetic field will enable novel purely electric-controlled skyrmion devices.Comment: 5 pages and 4 figure