Protection from the Protectors: Does the Competition Act Provide an Answer to the Misuse of Technological Protection Measures?

McOrmond suggested that this linkage of authorized content and devices may fall within the definition of tied selling: If you are a competitor of the members of the DVD CCA, or for any reason cannot sign on to their contractual obligations, you will not receive the keys to encode your own content or decode content. It should be reviewed by the Competition Bureau to determine whether such contractual obligations should be allowed. Tying the ability to access content encoded with DVD CCA keys requiring a DVD CCA-approved access device seems like a text- book example of “tied selling” under section 77 of the Competition Act. This article attempts to assess this claim. Specifically, it asks whether Part VIII of the Competition Act is capable of addressing these concerns, while permitting the potential benefits that rights holders seek. The argument proceeds in two parts. First, the analysis is contextualized by examining how challenges to the anticompetitive effects of TPMs have been treated in other jurisdictions. Although the details vary, the fundamental themes and issues of competition law tend to be similar around the world. Useful insights can be drawn from a comparative review of the global jurisprudence. Then, the analysis turns to two key sections of the Canadian Act. Sections 77 (Tied Selling) and 79 (Abuse of Dominant Position) may each potentially apply to the conduct of concern. These sections will be examined by testing them against the Apple iTunes ecosystem. A single vendor example will be easier to analyze than an alleged conspiracy. Moreover, the case represents a high-water mark in that Apple has a dominant position in both the content and the device businesses. If the Competition Act can restrain the anticompetitive exclusionary effect of TPMs in general, these facts should provide a suitable test case

Enzymatic semisynthesis of insulin specifically labelled with tritium at position B-30

We have synthesized porcine insulin labelled with tritium at position B-30 using enzyme-catalysed formation of a peptide bond. The resulting insulin derivative has the label in the expected position and is biologically active. We have tested our procedure to prepare batches up to 50μCi of tritiated insulin at a specific radioactivity of up to 1.14 Ci/mmo

AST-120 (spherical carbon adsorbent) lowers ammonia levels and attenuates brain edema in bile duct-ligated rats

The pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy is multifactorial, involving gut-derived toxins such as ammonia, which has been demonstrated to induce oxidative stress. Therefore, a primary hepatic encephalopathy treatment target is reducing ammonia production in the gastrointestinal tract. AST-120, an oral adsorbent of engineered activated carbon microspheres with surface areas exceeding 1600 m(2) /g, acts as a sink for neurotoxins and hepatotoxins present in the gut. We evaluated the capacity of AST-120 to adsorb ammonia in vitro and to lower blood ammonia, oxidative stress and brain edema in cirrhotic rats. Cirrhosis was induced in rats by bile duct ligation for 6 weeks. AST-120 was administered by gavage preventively for 6 weeks (0.1, 1, and 4 g/kg/day). In addition, AST-120 was evaluated as a short-term treatment for 2 weeks and 3 days (1 g/kg/day) and as a sink to adsorb intravenously infused ammonium acetate. In vitro, AST-120 efficiently adsorbed ammonia. Ammonia levels significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner for all AST-120-treated bile duct-ligated rats (nontreated: 177.3 ± 30.8 μM; AST-120, 0.1 g/kg/day: 121.9 ± 13.8 μM; AST-120, 1 g/kg/day: 80.9 ± 30.0 μM; AST-120, 4 g/kg/day: 48.8 ± 19.6 μM) and significantly correlated with doses of AST-120 (r = -0.6603). Brain water content and locomotor activity normalized after AST-120 treatments, whereas arterial reactive oxygen species levels remained unchanged. Furthermore, AST-120 significantly attenuated a rise in arterial ammonia after ammonium acetate administration (intravenously). Conclusion:AST-120 treatment decreased arterial ammonia levels, normalized brain water content and locomotor activity but did not demonstrate an effect on systemic oxidative stress. Also, AST-120 acts as an ammonia sink, efficiently removing blood-derived ammonia. Additional studies are warranted to evaluate the effects of AST-120 on hepatic encephalopathy in patients with advanced liver disease. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)

Latex Variation in Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum Cannabinum)

Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) is a weedy perennial native to North America that can reproduce by seed or clonally. Shoots can emerge from vertically oriented crown roots or horizontally orientated lateral roots. This plant can be found readily throughout the nature park in small to large patches. We sampled from 6 populations, 3 within the quarry bottom and 3 outside of the quarry bottom. We looked at latex production to determine if it was influenced more by herbivory or water availability. In our analysis we discovered that water availability played a role in the amount of latex produced and that herbivory was deterred by latex production in nonquarry populations

Ex. 279-US-405

Report: The Relative Merits of the Modified Sag-Tape Method for Determining Instream Flow Requirement

The preparation of porcine (Tyr-A14-2H) insulin and its characterization by mass spectrometry

The title compound was prepared by catalytic deiodination of (Tyr-A14-3-I) insulin with deuterium gas. Under special conditions (large excess of PdO in CH3OD/D2O at pH 9.2) developed to minimize problems due to poisoning of the catalyst, deuterated insulin was produced in yields of about 35% after purification by reversed phase HPLC. For analysis, the deuterated insulin was digested with V8 protease and was shown by mass spectrometry to have incorporated deuterium to an extent of 96.6 atom %, exclusively in a pentapeptide containing Tyr A14. The title compound should prove useful to those workers studying insulin by mass spectrometry, and use of the method with tritium gas in place of deuterium should permit the preparation of a specifically labelled radioactive insulin analogue which behaves identically to the natural hormon

Ex. 281-US-403

Report: The Relative Merits of the Modified Sag-Tape Method for Determining Instream Flow Requirement

Ex. 277-US-403

Report: The Relative Merits of the Modified Sag-Tape Method for Determining Instream Flow Requirement

Latex Induction and Effects of Herbivory on Apocynum cannabinum

Apocynum cannabinum, also known as hemp dogbane, is a species of perennial native to the U.S. This species has been found to be extremely plastic, meaning that its environment has significant effects on its phenotypic traits (Ransom et al. 1998). Plant-herbivore interactions, such as herbivory, can drive this plasticity. One of these responses includes the induction of Latex, a white sappy fluid that exits leaves and stems induced by damage (Agrawal and Konno 2009). This project investigates the effects of early-season vs. late-season herbivory on hemp dogbane, as well as how latex induction is influenced by these plant-herbivore interactions

Ex. 277-US-403

Report: The Relative Merits of the Modified Sag-Tape Method for Determining Instream Flow Requirement