Fluid-loop reaction system

An improved fluid actuating system for imparting motion to a body such as a spacecraft is disclosed. The fluid actuating system consists of a fluid mass that may be controllably accelerated through at least one fluid path whereby an opposite acceleration is experienced by the spacecraft. For full control of the spacecraft's orientation, the system would include a plurality of fluid paths. The fluid paths may be circular or irregular, and the fluid paths may be located on the interior or exterior of the spacecraft

Bargaining in the shadow of precedent: the surprising irrelevance of asymmetric stakes

We develop a model of bargaining and litigation in the context of patent licensing (or any contractual setting). Following Priest and Klein (1984) we developed a model that explicitly allows for (1) multiple parties (leading to asymmetry of stakes), (2) binding precedent, and (3) pre-dispute bargaining done in the “shadow” of precedent-setting courts. The pre-dispute bargaining creates an endogenous opportunity cost of litigation for both plaintiff and defendant; i.e., the harm is endogenous. We show that the effects of asymmetric stakes on the litigation rate and plaintiff win rate are offset by opportunity costs (forgone licensing). That is, the degree of asymmetry does not appear to substantially impact the rate of litigation or the observed win rate of plaintiffs at trial. This result is in stark contrast to the previous theoretical literature, and has implications for interpreting the empirical literature.

Economical genotyping of little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) clades from feather-based DNA

Determination of clade membership is a crucial requirement for many research questions addressing phylogeography, population structure, mating patterns, speciation, and hybridisation. The little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) can be separated into two deeply divergent clades. However, assigning clade membership in little blue penguins requires molecular methods. Genetic sequencing can be used to identify clade membership but is expensive. Here, we present an economical alternative to the use of sequencing to determine little blue penguin clade membership. We extracted DNA from feathers using a method that produced reasonable quantities of DNA. We then amplified the D-loop section of the mitochondrial control region from total genomic DNA extracts, using the primers 'C L-tRNAglu' and 'D H-Dbox' followed by digestion with the restriction enzyme AluI. When visualised on a gel, distinctive banding patterns clearly indicated clade membership. We sequenced a subset of our samples and verified the accuracy of this method. The methods we present should facilitate little blue penguin research through a cost-effective approach to clade analysis as well as a successful technique to extract DNA from feathers when blood or tissue samples are not available

Periportal Capsulotomy: A Technique for Limited Violation of the Hip Capsule During Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement.

Hip arthroscopy has become the standard treatment for symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement as patients have shown good outcomes and high satisfaction with this intervention. However, capsular management to gain access for intra-articular procedures remains greatly debated. Capsular closure is advocated particularly in the setting of interportal or T-capsulotomy to avoid complications of instability or nonhealing capsule. We introduce a technique for capsular management through a limited periportal capsulotomy during arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement. In using dilation of the anterolateral and mid-anterior portals without completion of a full interportal capsulotomy, the stabilizing iliofemoral ligament is preserved. We have found that periportal capsulotomy provides safe and sufficient access to the hip joint without necessitating capsular closure

Optimal Memoryless Encoding for Low Power Off-Chip Data Buses

Off-chip buses account for a significant portion of the total system power consumed in embedded systems. Bus encoding schemes have been proposed to minimize power dissipation, but none has been demonstrated to be optimal with respect to any measure. In this paper, we give the first provably optimal and explicit (polynomial-time constructible) families of memoryless codes for minimizing bit transitions in off-chip buses. Our results imply that having access to a clock does not make a memoryless encoding scheme that minimizes bit transitions more powerful.Comment: Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE/ACM international Conference on Computer-Aided Design (San Jose, California, November 05 - 09, 2006). ICCAD '06. ACM, New York, NY, 369-37