The Failure of Soft Law to Provide an Equitable Framework for Restitution of Nazi-looted Art

It is estimated that over 20% of the art in Europe was looted by the Nazi regime during World War II. Many pieces were taken by force from Jewish art dealers, and much of the property taken during this period of Nazi spoliation was never returned. Heirs of looted art are still filing claims for restitution in various courts, but the current global patchwork of statutes of limitations and the availability of the “good faith purchaser defense” in many jurisdictions can render proceedings confusing and unjust. This note explores the current state of the law regarding repatriation of Nazi-looted art, as well as contemporary examples that highlight the gaps and schisms in global restitution law. This note urges the signatories of non-binding international resolutions on the subject (i.e. the Washington Conference Principles and the Terezin Declaration) to create a designated administrator with the authority to make binding decisions regarding the claims of survivors and heirs who seek restitution of their looted art

Combining holographic patterning and block copolymer self-assembly to fabricate hierarchical volume gratings

The top-down nanomanufacturing technique is approaching its theoretic limits and processes such as e-beam lithography are extremely costly. In contrast, the bottomup method such as self-assembly can easily reach nanometer (even sub-nanometer) feature sizes. One drawback of self assembly, however, is the di culty to achieve large scale, defect-free structures. Combining the top-down and bottom-up methods in one system can lead to novel hierarchical nanostructures with tailored properties and this approach is generally referred to as \top-down helps bottom-up." While most of the existing systems deal with (quasi) two-dimensional patterning, partly due to the demands from semicomductor industry, in this dissertation, we demonstrate that three-dimensional, dynamic tunable, optical volume gratings can be manufactured via combining holographic patterning (HP) and block copolymer (BCP) self-assemblyinto one system.A number of semicrystalline homopolymers and BCP have been successfully patterned into one-dimensional and two-dimensional optical structures. In the onedimensional homopolymer case, a Bragg reector structure with continuous alternating layers of patterned polymer and the crosslinked resin were formed. The result of combining HP and BCP was a hierarchical structure fabricated from a homogenous solution in one step. HP formed 200 nm periodic lamellar structures, con ning a BCP to 100 nm domains. Subsequently, the BCP self-assembles into a lamellar structure with a period of 21 nm. This system provides an interesting basis for studying the thermo-optic behavior of the hierarchical volume grating formed by combiningtop-down manufacturing and bottom-up self-assembly. Upon heating and cooling a unique thermal switching occurred that can be attributed to the melting/phase separation that the BCP undergoes within the con ned region of the volume grating.There are at least ve advantages of this novel nanomanufacturing approach. First, two di erent nanomanufacturing techniques are seamlessly combined together and the resulting hierarchical structures span from a few nm to the 200 nm scale. Second, by combining these two techniques, the shortcomings of each method can be overcome. Third, this hierarchical structure can be fabricated in a few seconds. Fourth, the HP method enables the fabrication of a multiple layered structure, which is critical for three-dimensional nanodevice applications. Fifth, a variety of twodimensional and three-dimensional nanostructures can be readily achieved by changing the HP laser set-up and BCP structures.Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering -- Drexel University, 200

Characterization of MOS Sensors for R-32 and R-454B Leaks

Owing to concerns about climate change, many jurisdictions are phasing out high global warming potential refrigerants in HVAC&R systems. Their near-term replacements are class A2L (mildly-flammable) refrigerants. Area monitoring detectors will be required for most future residential, commercial, and industrial HVAC systems that use these refrigerants. UL Standard 60335-2-40 requires these detectors to have a set-point of 25% of the lower flammability limit (LFL) and to detect the set-point within 10 s when exposed to a gas mixture at the LFL. Inexpensive detectors that meet these requirements do not exist, which has delayed the adoption of A2L refrigerants. A technology with good potential is based on metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS). MOS detectors are tested here, considering their response to leaks of R-32 and R-454B. They are characterized here for their sensitivity, response time, false alarms from contaminants, and poisoning. The sensors have good sensitivity with a steady-state output that is linear with respect to the logarithm of concentration. The sensors fail narrowly to meet the 10 s response time requirement for both R-32 and R-454B. The sensors do not alarm when exposed to the contaminants in the standard. However, several of the contaminants do poison the sensors, at least temporarily

Primary Care and Emergency Department Management of the Patient With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Primary care providers (PCPs) are usually the first point of contact with the health care system for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and patients often present to emergency departments in which providers have little experience in dealing with this condition. With this article, we give primary care and emergency medicine providers a background in the common issues that affect people with DMD. By acquiring some specialized knowledge about the multisystem medical complications of DMD and by applying general principles of primary care, such as timely immunization, anticipatory safety counseling, behavioral screening, and routine nutritional and developmental assessments, the PCP can be a valued and effective medical provider to patients with DMD. The PCP can provide access to and effective coordination among the patient's specialty caregivers. Moreover, the PCP can become a trusted advisor to the patient and his family about important medical decisions, as well as issues in the psychosocial, behavioral, and educational domains. This article also contains a "pocket guide" used to assess and manage common urgent medical problems that cause patients with DMD to seek care in the emergency department. With the background information discussed in this article, both PCPs and emergency medicine physicians can skillfully care for patients with DMD in their respective settings, optimizing patient outcomes

Oseltamivir-Resistant Pandemic A/H1N1 Virus Is as Virulent as Its Wild-Type Counterpart in Mice and Ferrets

The neuraminidase inhibitor oseltamivir is currently used for treatment of patients infected with the pandemic A/H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza virus, although drug-resistant mutants can emerge rapidly and possibly be transmitted. We describe the characteristics of a pair of oseltamivir-resistant and oseltamivir-susceptible pH1N1 clinical isolates that differed by a single change (H274Y) in the neuraminidase protein. Viral fitness of pH1N1 isolates was assessed in vitro by determining replication kinetics in MDCK α2,6 cells and in vivo by performing experimental infections of BALB/c mice and ferrets. Despite slightly reduced propagation of the mutant isolate in vitro during the first 24 h, the wild-type (WT) and mutant resistant viruses induced similar maximum weight loss in mice and ferrets with an identical pyrexic response in ferrets (AUC of 233.9 and 233.2, P = 0.5156). Similarly, comparable titers were obtained for the WT and the mutant strains on days 1, 3, 6 and 9 post-infection in mouse lungs and on days 1–7 in ferret nasal washes. A more important perivascular (day 6) and pleural (days 6 and 12) inflammation was noted in the lungs of mice infected with the H274Y mutant, which correlated with increased pulmonary levels of IL-6 and KC. Such increased levels of IL-6 were also observed in lymph nodes of ferrets infected with the mutant strain. Furthermore, the H274Y mutant strain was transmitted to ferrets. In conclusion, viral fitness of the H274Y pH1N1 isolate is not substantially altered and has the potential to induce severe disease and to disseminate