Trademarks and Geographical Indications: Conflict or Coexistence?

Both trademarks and geographical indications are legal devices which regulate communication to markets about a product. Trademarks indicate the commercial origin of a good or service while geographical indications signal the geographic origin. Both tools also legally grant exclusive rights to certain uses of a word or symbol. Tension arises when the tools overlap on the same subject matter. The thesis asks: is coexistence between the devices in the TRIPS Agreement possible? Are the concepts of trademarks and geographical indications related? If so, how? If not, how? Does the marketing literature of business recognize both registered trademarks and geographical indications as aspects of the same branding exercise? The thesis finds that as trademarks and geographical indications are unique devices that are not interchangeable and it is possible for legislation to simultaneously protect both, trademarks and geographical indications are therefore not in conflict and can instead be viewed as harmonious tools

Long-range orbitofrontal and amygdala axons show divergent patterns of maturation in the frontal cortex across adolescence.

The adolescent transition from juvenile to adult is marked by anatomical and functional remodeling of brain networks. Currently, the cellular and synaptic level changes underlying the adolescent transition are only coarsely understood. Here, we use two-photon imaging to make time-lapse observations of long-range axons that innervate the frontal cortex in the living brain. We labeled cells in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) and imaged their axonal afferents to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). We also imaged the apical dendrites of dmPFC pyramidal neurons. Images were taken daily in separate cohorts of juvenile (P24-P28) and young adult mice (P64-P68), ages where we have previously discovered differences in dmPFC dependent decision-making. Dendritic spines were pruned across this peri-adolescent period, while BLA and OFC afferents followed alternate developmental trajectories. OFC boutons showed no decrease in density, but did show a decrease in daily bouton gain and loss with age. BLA axons showed an increase in both bouton density and daily bouton gain at the later age, suggesting a delayed window of enhanced plasticity. Our findings reveal projection specific maturation of synaptic structures within a single frontal region and suggest that stabilization is a more general characteristic of maturation than pruning

Estimating body composition in adolescent sprint athletes : comparison of different methods in a 3 years longitudinal design

A recommended field method to assess body composition in adolescent sprint athletes is currently lacking. Existing methods developed for non-athletic adolescents were not longitudinally validated and do not take maturation status into account. This longitudinal study compared two field methods, i.e., a Bio Impedance Analysis (BIA) and a skinfold based equation, with underwater densitometry to track body fat percentage relative to years from age at peak height velocity in adolescent sprint athletes. In this study, adolescent sprint athletes (34 girls, 35 boys) were measured every 6 months during 3 years (age at start = 14.8 +/- 1.5yrs in girls and 14.7 +/- 1.9yrs in boys). Body fat percentage was estimated in 3 different ways: 1) using BIA with the TANITA TBF 410; 2) using a skinfold based equation; 3) using underwater densitometry which was considered as the reference method. Height for age since birth was used to estimate age at peak height velocity. Cross-sectional analyses were performed using repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlations between measurement methods at each occasion. Data were analyzed longitudinally using a multilevel cross-classified model with the PROC Mixed procedure. In boys, compared to underwater densitometry, the skinfold based formula revealed comparable values for body fatness during the study period whereas BIA showed a different pattern leading to an overestimation of body fatness starting from 4 years after age at peak height velocity. In girls, both the skinfold based formula and BIA overestimated body fatness across the whole range of years from peak height velocity. The skinfold based method appears to give an acceptable estimation of body composition during growth as compared to underwater densitometry in male adolescent sprinters. In girls, caution is warranted when interpreting estimations of body fatness by both BIA and a skinfold based formula since both methods tend to give an overestimation

Attentive and Pre-Attentive Processes in Change Detection and Identification

In studies of change blindness, observers often have the phenomenological impression that the blindness is overcome all at once, so that change detection, localization and identification apparently occur together. Three experiments are described that explore dissociations between these processes using a discrete trial procedure in which 2 visual frames are presented sequentially with no intervening inter-frame-interval. The results reveal that change detection and localization are essentially perfect under these conditions regardless of the number of elements in the display, which is consistent with the idea that change detection and localization are mediated by pre-attentive parallel processes. In contrast, identification accuracy for an item before it changes is generally poor, and is heavily dependent on the number of items displayed. Identification accuracy after a change is substantially better, but depends on the new item’s duration. This suggests that the change captures attention, which substantially enhances the likelihood of correctly identifying the new item. However, the results also reveal a limited capacity to identify unattended items. Specifically, we provide evidence that strongly suggests that, at least under these conditions, observers were able to identify two items without focused attention. Our results further suggest that spatial pre-cues that attract attention to an item before the change occurs simply ensure that the cued item is one of the two whose identity is encoded

Geopressured Geothermal Fairway Evaluation and Test Well Site Location Frio Formation, Texas Gulf Coast

Tertiary strata of the Texas Gulf Coast comprise a number of terrigenous depositional wedges, some of which thicken abruptly at their downdip ends as a result of contemporaneous movement of growth faults and underlying salt. The Frio Formation, one of these wedges, has been studied regionally by means of a grid of correlation cross sections aided by micropaleontological control. By means of these sections, the Frio was subdivided into six map units; maps of sandstone distribution within these units delineate principal elongate sandstone trends parallel to the Gulf Coast composed of deltaic, barrier-bar, and strandplain sandstones. These broad regional studies, followed by detailed local investigations, were pursued in order to delineate prospective areas for the production of geopressured geothermal energy. A prospective area must meet the following minimum requirements: reservoir volume of 3 cubic miles, minimum permeability of 20 millidarcys (md), and fluid temperatures of 300°F. Several geothermal fairways were identified as a result of this Frio study.Bureau of Economic Geolog

Evidence-Based Professional Development of Science Teachers in Two Countries

The focus of this collaborative research project of King?s College London, and the Weizmann Institute, Israel. project is on investigating the ways in which teachers can demonstrate accomplished teaching in a specific domain of science and on the teacher learning that is generated through continuing professional development programs (CPD) that lead towards such practice. The interest lies in what processes and inputs are required to help secondary school science teachers develop expertise in a specific aspect of science teaching. `It focuses on the design of the CPD programmes and examines the importance of an evidence-based approach through portfolioconstruction in which professional dialogue pathes the way for teacher learning. The set of papers highlight the need to set professional challenge while tailoring CPD to teachers? needs to create the environment in which teachers can advance and transform their practice. The cross-culture perspective added to the richness of the development and enabled the researchers to examine which aspects were fundamental to the design by considering similarities and differences between the domains

Nuclear effects in positive pion electroproduction on the deuteron near threshold

Positive pion electroproduction from the deuteron near threshold has been considered within an approach based on the unitary transformation method. The gauge independence of the treatment is provided by using an explicitly gauge independent expression for the reaction amplitude. The results of calculations for kinematics of the experiments on forward-angle $\pi^+$ meson electroproduction accomplished at Saclay and Jefferson Laboratory are discussed and compared with those given by the impulse approximation. It is shown that the observed behaviour of the cross sections is in accordance with the calculations based on the pion-nucleon dynamics. In particular, the pion production rate suppression in the $^2H(e,e'\pi^+)nn$ reaction compared to that for the $^1H(e,e'\pi^+)n$ one can be due to such ``nuclear medium'' effects as nucleon motion and binding along with Pauli blocking in the final $nn$ state.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Healthier prisons: The role of a prison visitors' centre

Since the inception of the prison as a ‘setting’ for health promotion, there has been a focus on how the health of those men and women who spend ‘time inside’ can at least be maintained and if possible, enhanced, during their prison sentence. This paper presents findings from a mainly qualitative evaluation of a prison visitors' centre in the UK. It reports experiences of prisoners' families, prisoners, prison staff, the local community and the ways in which the visitors' centre has contributed positively to their health and well-being. In addition, key stakeholders were interviewed to ascertain the role this visitors' centre has in policy frameworks related to re-offending. The findings from this evaluation underscore how the visitors' centre improved the quality of visits, and contributed towards the maintenance of family ties through the help and support it provides for families and prisoners. The paper concludes by suggesting that visitors' centres are an essential part of a modern prison service helping to address the government's health inequalities agenda

Making the most of data:An information selection and assessment framework to improve water systems operations

Advances in Environmental monitoring systems are making a wide range of data available at increasingly higher temporal and spatial resolution. This creates an opportunity to enhance real-time understanding of water systems conditions and to improve prediction of their future evolution, ultimately increasing our ability to make better decisions. Yet, many water systems are still operated using very simple information systems, typically based on simple statistical analysis and the operator’s experience. In this work, we propose a framework to automatically select the most valuable information to inform water systems operations supported by quantitative metrics to operationally and economically assess the value of this information. The Hoa Binh reservoir in Vietnam is used to demonstrate the proposed framework in a multiobjective context, accounting for hydropower production and flood control. First, we quantify the expected value of perfect information, meaning the potential space for improvement under the assumption of exact knowledge of the future system conditions. Second, we automatically select the most valuable information that could be actually used to improve the Hoa Binh operations. Finally, we assess the economic value of sample information on the basis of the resulting policy performance. Results show that our framework successfully select information to enhance the performance of the operating policies with respect to both the competing objectives, attaining a 40% improvement close to the target trade-off selected as potentially good compromise between hydropower production and flood control

Nanoscale regulation of L-type calcium channels differentiates between ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathies.

Background Subcellular localization and function of L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) play an important role in regulating contraction of cardiomyocytes. Understanding how this is affected by the disruption of transverse tubules during heart failure could lead to new insights into the disease. Methods Cardiomyocytes were isolated from healthy donor hearts, as well as from patients with cardiomyopathies and with left ventricular assist devices. Scanning ion conductance and confocal microscopy was used to study membrane structures in the cells. Super-resolution scanning patch-clamp was used to examine LTCC function in different microdomains. Computational modeling predicted the impact of these changes to arrhythmogenesis at the whole-heart level. Findings We showed that loss of structural organization in failing myocytes leads to re-distribution of functional LTCCs from the T-tubules to the sarcolemma. In ischemic cardiomyopathy, the increased LTCC open probability in the T-tubules depends on the phosphorylation by protein kinase A, whereas in dilated cardiomyopathy, the increased LTCC opening probability in the sarcolemma results from enhanced phosphorylation by calcium-calmodulin kinase II. LVAD implantation corrected LTCCs pathophysiological activity, although it did not improve their distribution. Using computational modeling in a 3D anatomically-realistic human ventricular model, we showed how LTCC location and activity can trigger heart rhythm disorders of different severity. Interpretation Our findings demonstrate that LTCC redistribution and function differentiate between disease aetiologies. The subcellular changes observed in specific microdomains could be the consequence of the action of distinct protein kinases. Funding This work was supported by NIH grant (ROI-HL 126802 to NT-JG) and British Heart Foundation (grant RG/17/13/33173 to JG, project grant PG/16/17/32069 to RAC). Funders had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, writing of the repor