Intellectual Property Rights on Research Tools: Incentives or Barriers to Innovation?

This paper examines the role of patents in the development and use of two platform technologies for plant biotechnology - plant transformation techniques and structural genomics. We find that patents were important in inducing private firms to develop these platform technologies. There development led to the commercialization of more GM varieties, more rapidly than would have been the case otherwise. We did identify a number of examples of GM varieties that were slowed down by the patents on tools. However, our preliminary assessment of the evidence suggests that the benefits from patents on tools outweigh the costs.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Qudit Colour Codes and Gauge Colour Codes in All Spatial Dimensions

Two-level quantum systems, qubits, are not the only basis for quantum computation. Advantages exist in using qudits, d-level quantum systems, as the basic carrier of quantum information. We show that color codes, a class of topological quantum codes with remarkable transversality properties, can be generalized to the qudit paradigm. In recent developments it was found that in three spatial dimensions a qubit color code can support a transversal non-Clifford gate, and that in higher spatial dimensions additional non-Clifford gates can be found, saturating Bravyi and K\"onig's bound [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 170503 (2013)]. Furthermore, by using gauge fixing techniques, an effective set of Clifford gates can be achieved, removing the need for state distillation. We show that the qudit color code can support the qudit analogues of these gates, and show that in higher spatial dimensions a color code can support a phase gate from higher levels of the Clifford hierarchy which can be proven to saturate Bravyi and K\"onig's bound in all but a finite number of special cases. The methodology used is a generalisation of Bravyi and Haah's method of triorthogonal matrices [Phys. Rev. A 86 052329 (2012)], which may be of independent interest. For completeness, we show explicitly that the qudit color codes generalize to gauge color codes, and share the many of the favorable properties of their qubit counterparts.Comment: Authors' final cop

Crystal nucleation mechanism in melts of short polymer chains under quiescent conditions and under shear flow

We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of crystal nucleation from undercooled melts of n-alkanes, and we identify the molecular mechanism of homogeneous crystal nucleation under quiescent conditions and under shear flow. We compare results for n-eicosane(C20) and n-pentacontahectane(C150), i.e. one system below the entanglement length and one above. Under quiescent conditions, we observe that entanglement does not have an effect on the nucleation mechanism. For both chain lengths, the chains first align and then straighten locally. Then the local density increases and finally positional ordering sets in. At low shear rates the nucleation mechanism is the same as under quiescent conditions, while at high shear rates the chains align and straighten at the same time. We report on the effects of shear rate and temperature on the nucleation rates and estimate the critical shear rates, beyond which the nucleation rates increase with the shear rate. We show that the viscosity of the system is not affected by the crystalline nuclei.Comment: 9 page

Designing Air Intake Ducts for High Speed Flight

A proven duct flow model is used to examine the influence of the intake duct geometric and inlet flow parameters on the pressure recovery performance of intake ducts for high speed flight. The geometric parameters include: the inlet parallel pipe length, the diffuser cone angle, the length of the faired transition from the pipe to diffuser cone as well as the degree of the fairing. The inlet flow parameters examined are: the boundary layer momentum thickness, the velocity profile shape and the turbulence level. The inlet parameter values used simulate those following a normal shock wave — turbulent boundary layer interaction inside the intake duct, i.e. they simulate the conditions at the inlet to the diffuser of a supersonic intak

Impact of Biotechnology on Plant Breeding

The application of modern biotechnology to plant breeding is considered to be more efficient and quicker than conventional breeding techniques in the development of new and more resilient crop varieties. To test the impact that biotechnology is having on a industrial plant breeding activities, we relate firm level Plant Variety Protection Certificate (PVPC) applications to corresponding expenditure on research and development (R&D), agricultural biotechnology patents applications, field trials of genetically modified crops, firm structure, as well as industry specific characteristics. Regression results indicate agbiotech activities are directly related to PVP applications, hence the creation of new plant varieties.Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

MARKET STRUCTURE AND INNOVATION IN AG-BIOTECHNOLOGY

The objective of this paper is to make a contribution to a debated issue in industrial organization that of the relationship between market structure and innovation. We place this topic within a theoretical framework and in the context of the agricultural biotechnology research market. Our theoretical model addresses how firm R&D decisions are affected by upstream and downstream market structures, farmer adoption decisions, and patent strength.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Diagnostic Accuracy of Chest CT in the Detection of Tumor and Nodal Status in Non Small Cell Lung Carcinoma

At this time there is an increasing demand for an accurate pre operative staging in non small cell lung cancer. Chest Computed Tomography (CT) is one of the imaging modality of choice used for this purpose. This study evaluated the accuracy of the chest CT to determine the status of the tumor and nodules in non small cell lung cancer. During the years 1998 and 1999, a descriptive prospective study of 32 patients undergoing a contrast enhanced chest CT examination for non small cell lung cancer, stage I-IIIA, was conducted. Lobectomy, lymph nodes dissection and postoperative histo-pathological examination were done. CT findings were as follows: a sensitivity of 100%, a specificity of 25% and an accuracy of 60% in the detection of the nodule stage were found. In 17 patients with adenocarcinoma, the sensitivity, the specificity and the accuracy were 86.6%, 100% and 88.2% respectively. The diagnosis of all patients was confirmed histo-pathologically. Six patients with T2 and 26 patients with T3 were detected by chest CT; the accuracy of the tumor status was 93.7%, confirmed by surgical and histo-pathological examinations. It was concluded that the CT played an important role in determining the clinical stage of non small cell lung cancer. The specificity and accuracy were higher in adeno-carcinoma as compared with squamous cell carcinoma in detecting the nodal status

Ideologi Keluarga Tradisional “IE “ dan Kazoku Kokka pada Masyarakat Jepang Sebelum dan Sesudah Perang Dunia II

In studying Japan's cultural institution, understanding IE, which was the traditional family system used by the Bushi in the Tokugawa era, is indispensable. The IE system is believed to influence the entire aspect of Japanese life, be it the way of thinking, politics, social, economy, marriage, religion, and even the view of “Family State” in the era of Meiji Restoration implemented the structure of IE system. Hence, the IE system is considered to be one of the pillars of Japan's success. This short essay will discuss the IE ideology in the concept of experts on Japanese culture, the principles of Japanese's social relationships, the IE ideology in the structure of “Family State”, and Japan's modern family system