217 research outputs found
Metatags, Keywords, and Links: Recent Developments Addressing Trademark Threats in Cyberspace
This Article addresses the trademark issues that stem from current developments in technology and capabilities specific to the Internet, and discusses how trademark law has evolved in order to provide remedies to trademark holders for unauthorized uses of their trademarks in ways that are likely to cause consumer confusion or allow for unfair competition. The authors begin by examining the current state of technology with respect to metatags, keywords, and links, the current trademark issues that stem from their use, and the recent judicial developments with respect to each type of technology. Based on this examination, the authors argue that the courts are willing to alter trademark law and unfair competition principles to protect against unauthorized uses that do not fit the traditional concepts of trademark infringement. The authors conclude that trademarks, as a form of intellectual property, should be protected when used on the Internet
The Geometric Phase and Ray Space Isometries
We study the behaviour of the geometric phase under isometries of the ray
space. This leads to a better understanding of a theorem first proved by
Wigner: isometries of the ray space can always be realised as projections of
unitary or anti-unitary transformations on the Hilbert space. We suggest that
the construction involved in Wigner's proof is best viewed as an use of the
Pancharatnam connection to ``lift'' a ray space isometry to the Hilbert space.Comment: 17 pages, Latex file, no figures, To appear in Pramana J. Phy
Thermal Transient Measurements of an Ultra-Low-Power MOX Sensor
This paper describes a system for the simultaneous dynamic control and thermal characterization of the heating of an Ultra Low Power (ULP) micromachined sensor. A Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) powering system has been realized using a microcontroller to characterize the thermal behavior of a device. Objectives of the research were to analyze the relation between the time period and duty cycle of the PWM signal and the operating temperature of such ULP micromachined systems, to observe the thermal time constants of the device during the heating phase and to measure the total thermal conductance. Constant target heater resistance experiments highlighted that an approximately constant heater temperature at regime can only be obtained if the time period of the heating signal is smaller than 50 s. Constant power experiments show quantitatively a thermal time constant that decreases during heating in a range from 2.3 ms to 2 ms as a function of an increasing temperature rise between the ambient and the operating temperature. Moreover, we calculated the total thermal conductance. Finally, repeatability of experimental results was assessed by guaranteeing the standard deviation of the controlled temperature which was within C in worst case conditions
CEA and CYFRA 21-1 as prognostic biomarker and as a tool for treatment monitoring in advanced NSCLC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors
Aims: To assess prognostic value of pre-therapy carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin-19 fragments (CYFRA 21-1) blood levels in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and their early change as predictor of benefit. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective cohort study including patients with stage IIIB–IV NSCLC who received anti PD-1/PD-L1 in first or advanced lines of therapy in two institutions. A control cohort of patients treated only with chemotherapy has been enrolled as well. Results: A total of 133 patients treated with nivolumab or atezolizumab were included in the test set, 74 treated with pembrolizumab first line in the validation set and 89 in the chemotherapy only cohort. CYFRA 21-1 >8 ng/mL was correlated with overall survival (OS) in the test set, validation set and in univariate and multivariate analysis (pooled cohort hazard ratio (HR) 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24–2.93, p 0.003). Early 20% reduction after the third cycle was correlated with OS for CEA (HR 0.12; 95% CI 0.04–0.33; p < 0.001), and for CYFRA 21-1 (HR 0.19; 95% CI 0.07–0.55; p 0.002) Conclusions: CYFRA 21-1 pre-therapy assessment provides clinicians with relevant prognostic information about patients treated with ICI. CEA and CYFRA 21-1 repeated measures could be useful as an early marker of benefit
Rotational modes in molecular magnets with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange
In an effort to understand the low temperature behavior of recently
synthesized molecular magnets we present numerical evidence for the existence
of a rotational band in systems of quantum spins interacting with
nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange. While this result has
previously been noted for ring arrays with an even number of spin sites, we
find that it also applies for rings with an odd number of sites as well as for
all of the polytope configurations we have investigated (tetrahedron, cube,
octahedron, icosahedron, triangular prism, and axially truncated icosahedron).
It is demonstrated how the rotational band levels can in many cases be
accurately predicted using the underlying sublattice structure of the spin
array. We illustrate how the characteristics of the rotational band can provide
valuable estimates for the low temperature magnetic susceptibility.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Geometrization of Quantum Mechanics
We show that it is possible to represent various descriptions of Quantum
Mechanics in geometrical terms. In particular we start with the space of
observables and use the momentum map associated with the unitary group to
provide an unified geometrical description for the different pictures of
Quantum Mechanics. This construction provides an alternative to the usual GNS
construction for pure states.Comment: 16 pages. To appear in Theor. Math. Phys. Some typos corrected.
Definition 2 in page 5 rewritte
Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a retrospective single-center experience
Background & aims: Very few data are available in literature about the role of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and previous studies are mainly case reports and case series on a very small number of patients and nodules. In this study, we aimed to evaluate effectiveness and safety of RFA for the treatment of unresectable ICC. Methods: This is a retrospective observational cohort study comprising all consecutive patients treated with RFA for unresectable ICC at Policlinico Sant’Orsola Malpighi Hospital, Bologna, Italy. Primary endpoint was Local Tumor Progression-Free Survival (LTPFS) while Overall Survival (OS) was also assessed as secondary endpoint. Results: From January 2014 to June 2019, 29 patients with 117 nodules underwent RFA. Technique effectiveness 1 month after RFA was 92.3%; median LTPFS was 9.27 months. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed that LTPFS was significantly related to tumor size ≥20 mm. At a median follow up of 39.9 months, median OS from the date of RFA was 27.5 months, with an OS of 89%, 45% and 11% at 1, 2 and 4 years, respectively. Number of overall lesions and the sum of their diameter at the moment of the first RFA significantly affected OS in multivariate analysis. Minor and major complication rates were 14% and 7%, respectively. Conclusion: Tumor size ≥20 mm was associated with lower LTPFS, representing a potential useful threshold value. A careful evaluation of tumor burden appears as a crucial element in choosing the best therapeutic strategy in unresectable ICC
Ab initio correlation approach to a ferric wheel-like molecular cluster
We present an ab initio study of electronic correlation effects in a
molecular cluster derived from the hexanuclear ferric wheel
[LiFe6(OCH3)12-(dbm)6]PF6. The electronic and magnetic properties of this
cluster have been studied with all-electron Hartree-Fock, full-potential
density functional calculations and multi-reference second-order perturbation
theory. For different levels of correlation, a detailed study of the impact of
the electronic correlation on the exchange parameter was feasible. As the main
result, we found that the influence of the bridge oxygen atoms on the exchange
parameter is less intense than the influence of the apical ligand groups, which
is due to the geometry of the cluster. With respect to the cluster model
approach, the experimental value of the exchange parameter was affirmed.Comment: to be published in EPJ
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