Exploring Blockchain Adoption Supply Chains: Opportunities and Challenges

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThrough cyber-enabled industrial espionage, China has appropriated what Keith Alexander, the former Director of the National Security Agency, dubbed “the largest transfer of wealth in history.” Although China disavows intellectual property (IP) theft by its citizens and has set self-sustained research and development as an important goal, it is unrealistic to believe IP theft will slow down meaningfully without changing China’s decision calculus. China and the United States have twice agreed, in principle, to respect one another’s IP rights. However, these agreements have lacked any real enforcement mechanism, so the United States must do more to ensure its IP is better protected from China’s sophisticated hackers. We call for selective interventions in nascent industries—especially those with important implications for national defense. U.S. policymakers must consider both the supply and demand aspects of the “market” for intellectual property theft to make informed decisions as to how to steer resources. This paper offers insight that the supply side of the equation has been given relatively short shrift. We offer a spectrum of potential interventions to address underinvestment in cybersecurity leading to IP theft and discuss where to go from here.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Exploring Blockchain Adoption Supply Chains: Opportunities and Challenges

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThrough cyber-enabled industrial espionage, China has appropriated what Keith Alexander, the former Director of the National Security Agency, dubbed “the largest transfer of wealth in history.” Although China disavows intellectual property (IP) theft by its citizens and has set self-sustained research and development as an important goal, it is unrealistic to believe IP theft will slow down meaningfully without changing China’s decision calculus. China and the United States have twice agreed, in principle, to respect one another’s IP rights. However, these agreements have lacked any real enforcement mechanism, so the United States must do more to ensure its IP is better protected from China’s sophisticated hackers. We call for selective interventions in nascent industries—especially those with important implications for national defense. U.S. policymakers must consider both the supply and demand aspects of the “market” for intellectual property theft to make informed decisions as to how to steer resources. This paper offers insight that the supply side of the equation has been given relatively short shrift. We offer a spectrum of potential interventions to address underinvestment in cybersecurity leading to IP theft and discuss where to go from here.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Defensive Industrial Policy: Cybersecurity Interventions to Reduce Intellectual Property Theft

Symposium PresentationApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Terrestrially Derived n-Alkane δD Evidence of Shifting Holocene Paleohydrology in Highland Costa Rica

A previous study of carbon isotopes in the sediments of a glacial lake in Costa Rica led to the hypothesis that changes in the migration of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) over the course of the Holocene significantly affected the hydrology of the surrounding high-elevation páramo ecosystem. This hypothesis was based on millennial-scale changes in terrestrial n-alkane carbon isotope (δ13C) values in a sediment core from Lago de las Morrenas 1, a tarn on the Chirripó massif of the Cordillera de Talamanca. Here we present terrestrial n-alkane hydrogen isotope (δD) data, a more direct proxy of ecosystem drought stress, from the same core. These new data support the previous hypothesis and confirm that the effects of millennial-scale ITCZ dynamics in the circum-Caribbean region were not restricted to tropical lowlands. In southern Central America, these dynamics may have played a fundamental role in millennial-scale fire dynamics in high-elevation páramo ecosystems

Clinically Undiagnosed Prostate Carcinoma Metastatic to Renal Oncocytoma

Tumors-to-tumor metastasis is an uncommon occurrence and can be a source of great diagnostic difficulty, especially when the donor tumor is undiagnosed. Here we report a case of a kidney resected for a primary neoplasm (oncocytoma) that harbored metastases from a clinically undiagnosed prostatic adenocarcinoma. The presence of the poorly differentiated metastasis within an otherwise typical oncocytoma in the absence of metastases in the surrounding nonneoplastic renal parenchyma resulted in a diagnostic dilemma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case in the English literature of a clinically undiagnosed prostatic adenocarcinoma metastatic to a renal oncocytoma identified on examination of the resected renal neoplasm

Rabphilin localizes with the cell actin cytoskeleton and stimulates association of granules with F-actin cross-linked by α-actinin

In endocrine cell, granules accumulate within an F-actin-rich region below the plasma membrane. The mechanisms involved in this process are largely unknown. Rabphilin is a cytosolic protein that is expressed in neurons and neuroendocrine cells and binds with high affinity to members of the Rab3 family of GTPases localized to synaptic vesicles and dense core granules. Rabphilin also interacts with alpha-actinin, a protein that cross-links F-actin into bundles and networks and associates with the granule membrane. Here we asked whether rabphilin, in addition to its granule localization, also interacts with the cell actin cytoskeleton. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy show that rabphilin localizes to the sub-plasmalemmal actin cytoskeleton both in neuroendocrine and unspecialized cells. By using purified components, it is found that association of rabphilin with F-actin is dependent on added alpha-actinin. In an in vitro assay, granules, unlike endosomes or mitochondria, associate with F-actin cross-linked by alpha-actinin. Rabphilin is shown to stimulate this process. Rabphilin enhances by approximately 8-fold the granule ability to localize within regions of elevated concentration of cross-linked F-actin. These results suggest that rabphilin, by interacting with alpha-actinin, organizes the cell cytoskeleton to facilitate granule localization within F-actin-rich regions

Limnología inicial de Laguna Pozo Verde, Costa Rica: Batimetría, agua, sedimentos y diatomeas

Introducción : Costa Rica tiene cientos de lagos, muchos de los cuales nunca han sido estudiados científicamente.  Objetivo: Conocer limnológia  de la Laguna Pozo Verde en el Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco, Costa Rica (~1935 m de elevación), para proporcionar datos de referencia para estudiar cambios futuros. Métodos: Medimos la profundidad y temperatura del agua y la profundidad de Secchi; sedimentos superficiales analizados; y examinó mapas e imágenes de satélite. Resultados: Aunque algunos la describen como formada por procesos volcánicos, la Laguna Pozo Verde probablemente se formó en un deslizamiento de tierra, que ocurre con frecuencia en esta zona lluviosa en la empinada ladera sur del inactivo volcán Porvenir. Nuestros sondeos mostraron una profundidad máxima de 9,25 m cerca del centro del lago. El agua era moderadamente transparente (profundidad de Secchi 2,6 m), con pH circunneutro y temperaturas de 15,9 a 18,1 °C, con estratificación débil a 0,5 m. Los sedimentos superficiales contenían 27% de materia orgánica y tenían relaciones C/N y valores de isótopos de carbono estables consistentes con algas lacustres y plantas C 3 ; Surirella angusta compuso más del 90% de las diatomeas. Conclusión: La laguna es significativamente más omera de lo informado y los sedimentos superficiales albergar una combinación de diatomeas única entre los 88 lagos examinados en Costa Rica.Introducción: Costa Rica tiene cientos de lagos, muchos nunca estudiados científicamente. Objetivo: Conocer la limnología de Laguna Pozo Verde en el Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco, Costa Rica (~1935m de elevación), como referencia para estudiar futuros cambios. Métodos: Medimos la profundidad y temperatura del agua y la profundidad de Secchi; analizamos sedimentos superficiales; y examinamos mapas e imágenes satelitales. Resultados: Aunque algunos la describen como formada por procesos volcánicos, es probable que Laguna Pozo Verde se haya formado en un deslizamiento de tierra, algo común en esta zona lluviosa de la empinada ladera sur del Volcán Porvenir (inactivo). Hallamos una profundidad máxima de 9,25m cerca del centro. El agua era moderadamente transparente (profundidad de Secchi 2,6m), con un pH cercano a neutro y temperaturas de 15,9-18,1°C, y una débil estratificación a 0,5m. Los sedimentos superficiales contenían un 27% de materia orgánica y tenían cocientes C/N y valores de isótopos de carbono estables, coherentes con algas lacustres y plantas C 3 ; más del 90% de las diatomeas eran Surirella angusta . Conclusión: La laguna es significativamente más somera de lo informado y los sedimentos superficiales albergan una combinación de diatomeas única entre los 88 lagos examinados en Costa Rica

The implications of Methylphenidate use by healthy medical students and doctors in South Africa

Background: The use of medical stimulants to sustain attention, augment memory and enhance intellectual capacity is increasing in society. The use of Methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement is a subject that has received much attention in the literature and academic circles in recent times globally. Medical doctors and medical students appear to be equally involved in the off-label use of Methylphenidate. This presents a potential harm to society and the individual as the long-term side effect profile of this medication is unknown. Discussion: The implication of the use of Methylphenidate by medical students and doctors has not been fully explored. This article considers the impact of this use on the traditional role of medicine, society, the patient and suggests a way forward. We discuss the salient philosophy surrounding the use of cognitive enhancement. We query whether there are cognitive benefits to the use of Methylphenidate in healthy students and doctors and whether these benefits would outweigh the risks in taking the medication. Could these benefits lead to tangible outcomes for society and could the off label-use of Methylphenidate potentially undermine the medical profession and the treatment of patients? If cognitive benefits are proven then doctors may be coerced explicitly or implicitly to use the drug which may undermine their autonomy. The increased appeal of cognitive enhancement challenges the traditional role of medicine in society, and calls into question the role of a virtuous life as a contributing factor for achievement. In countries with vast economic disparity such as South Africa an enhancement of personal utility that can be bought may lead to greater inequities. Summary: Under the status quo the distribution of methylphenidate is unjust. Regulatory governmental policy must seek to remedy this while minimising the potential for competitive advantage for the enhanced. Public debate on the use of cognitive enhancement is long overdue and must be stimulated. The use of Methylphenidate for cognitive enhancement is philosophically defendable if long-term research can prove that the risks are negligible and the outcomes tangible