Mary Doe’s Destiny: How The United States Has Banned Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research In The Absence Of A Direct Prohibition

Mary Doe is a human embryo preserved in liquid nitrogen, in an unnamed in vitro fertilization clinic. Mary Doe’s name was given by an organization dedicated to advocating for equal humanity and personhood of pre-born children, including “children in vitro.” In response to President Clinton’s policy favoring embryonic stem cell [hereinafter ES- cell] research, the organization filed suit on behalf of Mary Doe, and all other frozen human embryos similarly situated, seeking a permanent injunction against any and all plans to undertake human ES-cell experimentation

Scope of claim coverage in patents of fufang Chinese herbal drugs: Substitution of ingredients

Herbal ingredients in a Chinese fufang prescription are often replaced by one or several other herbal combinations. As there have been very few Chinese herbal patent infringement cases, it is still unclear how the Doctrine of Equivalents should be applied to determine the scope of 'equivalents' in Chinese fufang prescriptions. Case law principles from cases in other technical areas such as chemical patents and biological drug patents can be borrowed to ascertain a precise scope of a fufang patent. This article summarizes and discusses several chemical and biopharmaceutical patent cases. In cases where a certain herbal ingredient is substituted by another herb or a combination of herbs, accused infringers are likely to relate herbal drug patents to chemical drug patents with strict interpretation whereas patent owners may take advantage of the liberal application of Doctrine of Equivalence in biopharmaceutical patents by analogizing the complex nature of herbal drugs with biological drugs. Therefore, consideration should be given to the purpose of an ingredient in a patent, the qualities when combined with the other ingredients and the intended function. The scope of equivalents also depends on the stage of the prior art. Moreover, it is desirable to disclose any potential substitutes when drafting the application. Claims should be drafted in such a way that all foreseeable modifications are encompassed for the protection of the patent owner's intellectual property

Applying Theories of Particle Packing and Rheology to Concrete for Sustainable Development

Concrete is one of the most important construction materials. However, it is not so compatible with the demands of sustainable development because manufacturing of cement generates a large amount of carbon dioxide and therefore cement consumption produces a huge carbon footprint. Currently, the cement consumption is generally lowered by adding supplementary cementitious materials to replace part of the cement. Nonetheless, in order to maintain performance, there is a limit to such cement replacement by supplementary cementitious materials. To further reduce the cement consumption, the total cementitious materials content has to be reduced. This requires the packing density of the aggregate particles to be maximized so that the amount of voids in the bulk volume of aggregate to be filled with cement paste could be minimized and the surface area of the aggregate particles to be minimized so that the amount of cement paste needed to form paste films coating the surfaces of aggregate particle for rheological performance could be minimized. Such optimization is not straightforward and modern concrete science based on particuology is needed. Herein, a number of new theories regarding particle packing and rheology of concrete, which are transforming conventional concrete technology into modern concrete science, are presented. These theories would help to develop a more scientific and systematic concrete mix design method for the production of high-performance concrete with minimum cement consumption

Patent applications for using DNA technologies to authenticate medicinal herbal material

Herbal medicines are used in many countries for maintaining health and treating diseases. Their efficacy depends on the use of the correct materials, and life-threatening poisoning may occur if toxic adulterants or substitutes are administered instead. Identification of a medicinal material at the DNA level provides an objective and powerful tool for quality control. Extraction of high-quality DNA is the first crucial step in DNA authentication, followed by a battery of DNA techniques including whole genome fingerprinting, DNA sequencing and DNA microarray to establish the identity of the material. New or improved technologies have been developed and valuable data have been collected and compiled for DNA authentication. Some of these technologies and data are patentable. This article provides an overview of some recent patents that cover the extraction of DNA from medicinal materials, the amplification of DNA using improved reaction conditions, the generation of DNA sequences and fingerprints, and the development of high-throughput authentication methods. It also briefly explains why these patents have been granted

5′HS5 of the Human β-globin Locus Control Region Is Dispensable for the Formation of the β-globin Active Chromatin Hub

Hypersensitive site 5 (5′HS5) of the β-globin Locus Control Region functions as a developmental stage-specific border in erythroid cells. Here, we have analyzed the role of 5′HS5 in the three dimensional organization of the β-gene locus using the Chromatin Conformation Capture (3C) technique. The results show that when 5′HS5 is deleted from the locus, both remote and internal regulatory elements are still able to interact with each other in a three-dimensional configuration termed the Active Chromatin Hub. Thus, the absence of 5′HS5 does not have an appreciable effect on the three dimensional organization of the β-globin locus. This rules out models in which 5′HS5 nucleates interactions with remote and/or internal regulatory elements. We also determined the binding of CTCF, the only defined insulator protein in mammalian cells, to 5′HS5 by using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. We detect low levels of CTCF binding to 5′HS5 in primitive erythroid cells, in which it functions as a border element. Surprisingly, we also observe binding levels of CTCF to 5′HS5 in definitive erythroid cells. Thus, binding of CTCF to 5′HS5 per se does not render it a functional border element. This is consistent with the previous data suggesting that CTCF has dual functionality

Analysis of telephone network traffic based on a complex user network

The traffic in telephone networks is analyzed in this paper. Unlike the classical traffic analysis where call blockings are due to the limited channel capacity, we consider here a more realistic cause for call blockings which is due to the way in which users are networked in a real-life human society. Furthermore, two kinds of user network, namely, the fully-connected user network and the scale-free network, are employed to model the way in which telephone users are connected. We show that the blocking probability is generally higher in the case of the scale-free user network, and that the carried traffic intensity is practically limited not only by the network capacity but also by the property of the user network.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for Physica

Mastectomy by inverted drip incision and immediate reconstruction: data from 510 cases

BACKGROUND: Immediate reconstruction of the breast can be performed in selected cases after mastectomy for breast cancer or after prophylactic mastectomy in patients with a high risk of developing breast cancer. Despite the frequency with which these procedures are performed, data from large series of subpectoral implantation of silicone prostheses in combination with a skin-saving approach are lacking. METHODS: In this retrospective study, data on complications and late surgical interventions in 356 patients who underwent 510 mastectomies with an inverted drip incision and immediate reconstruction (MIDIIR) were analyzed to determine potential prognostic factors of early complications. RESULTS: In 82% of the MIDIIRs, the postoperative course was uneventful. In 18%, the complications were infection (32 cases), necrosis of the skin flap (29 cases), bleeding (31 cases), and protrusion of the prosthesis (20 cases), resulting in surgery in 9, 12, 15, and 20 cases, respectively. At the end of the follow-up period, 30 (6%) prostheses were definitively removed. Age, size of the prostheses, radiotherapy, previous lumpectomy, and indication for mastectomy were not significant factors for the prognosis of early complications. CONCLUSIONS: With the right technique and indications, MIDIIR is a very safe procedure and should be one of the surgical treatments that can be offered in the overall management of patients with, or at high risk for, breast cancer

Oral Health Quality Improvement in the Era of Accountability

The purpose of this report is to review the current status and trends in quality measurement and improvement and describe efforts underway to expand and enhance those efforts. The report will also describe opportunities to use emerging oral health measurement and quality improvement systems to improve and maintain the oral health of the U.S. population