On Virtue and Peace: Creating a Workplace Where People Can Flourish

Nationbuilders in less developed countries need to understand how Western legal systems with "property" at their center have materially accounted for Western prosperity and liberty, but legal definitions of property are so abstruse that explication of this vital concept is made difficult. This paper finds an historical definitional essence to property in the right to exclude and maintains that liberty and property both share this essential meaning. The problems of corporate governance are then placed in the context of the exclusionary concept of property/liberty.

ADAPTATION OF THE STREPTOCOCCAL COLLAGEN-LIKE PROTEIN 1, SCL1, OF GROUP A STREPTOCOCCUS TO RECOGNIZE FIBRONECTIN TYPE III REPEATS

Background: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is responsible more than 700 million infections worldwide each year. Most of these infections start with initial colonization of the throat and skin, which is augmented by surface adhesins. The streptococcal collagen-like protein 1 (Scl1) is a major adhesin expressed by GAS that contains an N-terminal sequence-variable (V) domain, protruded away from the cell surface by the collagen domain. The Scl-V domain is comprised of three pairs of anti-parallel α-helices interconnected by surface-exposed loops. For attachment, GAS adhesins require a portal of entry, such as a wound or breach in the epithelium, to enter the body. Within the wound, host cells deposit a provisional extracellular matrix (ECM) rich in cellular fibronectin (cFn) isoforms that contain fibronectin type III (FnIII) repeats, including unique extra domains A (EDA) and B (EDB), that are absent in plasma fibronectin. Tenascin-C (TnC) is another ECM component, which is substantially deposited within the wound microenvironment and contains FnIII repeats. In addition to healing wounds, EDA/EDB-cFn and TnC are found in tumor microenvironments. Our early work showed that the Scl1-V domain binds to cFn via EDA. Our work here has focused on understanding this selective binding of Scl1 to wound-associated ECM and how this interaction contributes to GAS pathogenesis. Hypothesis: The Scl1-V domain has adapted the capability to bind to wound-associated FnIII repeats, EDA and EDB in cFn, and in TnC. Results: First, we discovered that surface-exposed loops of the Scl1-V domain, surrounding an acidic patch, participate in EDA binding. Both structural characteristics were conserved among phylogenetically distant Scl1 variants. We next discovered that Scl1 also binds to EDB in cFn, as well as to the FnIII repeats in TnC. Using defined recombinant proteins, we show that loop-region of the Scl1-V domain mediates Scl1 binding to EDB and to the TnC FnIII repeats. Moreover, Scl1-FnIII binding promotes GAS attachment and biofilm formation in vitro. We also developed a more complex heterogeneous in vitro matrix-system, deposited by cancer-associated fibroblasts, to demonstrate the selective binding of Scl1 to EDA/EDB-cFn isoforms and to TnC FnIII repeats within this matrix. Conclusions: Scl1 binds to wound-associated FnIII repeats in both cFn and TnC. This work has implications in GAS wound-colonization and infers Scl1-FnIII binding in modulating host wound-healing responses. This work lays a foundation for the development of strategies to target GAS during wound infections, as well as provides a rationale for the use of Scl1 in targeting cancerous tissues

Constitutional Law - State Action - Effect of State Court Interpretation of a Contract

Mrs. Doris Walker, president of her local union, was discharged by Cutter Laboratories in 1949 because of membership in the Communist Party and falsification of her employment application. The employer acquired knowledge of these facts in 1947, but did not act at that time to avoid charges of persecuting a union officer. The union, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, which authorized discharge for just cause only, sought and obtained reinstatement from the arbitration board, which action was affirmed by the district court of appeal, but reversed by the California Supreme Court. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, the union contended that the state court\u27s decision rested on a public policy against membership in the Communist Party in violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Held, writ dismissed, three justices dissenting. Since the state court construed the agreement to mean that membership in the Communist Party is just cause for discharge, the decision can be sustained on adequate state grounds and there is no basis for review of constitutional questions. Black v. Cutter Laboratories, 351 U.S. 292 (1956)

Exports and Antitrust: Must Competition Stop at the Water\u27s Edge?

The ground rules governing competition in international trade rank high among current issues of economic policy. The President\u27s pending Trade Bill and its companion bill on competitive practices place a new emphasis on issues of unfair competition. These issues were prominent during the early 1900\u27s and the interwar years but have rested in abeyance through the long post-war transition. The economic predominance of the United States characterized the post-war period. Now that Europe and Japan are once again formidable competitors in the world marketplace, the rules governing competition on the international level have regained their prior importance. As may be expected, the laws that were framed to deal with these problems a half century ago are the subject of renewed attention and proposals for legislative change. One much discussed candidate for change is the Webb-Pomerene Export Trade Act of 1918. That law, which exempts United States export trade from the antitrust laws, was framed at a time when the American antitrust philosophy was largely unique in the world. That circumstance has changed radically since World War II. The time may be at hand to reexamine the Webb Act\u27s exemptive approach to the enforcement of competition in international trade. Either a return to the rule of reason or an administrative scheme for limited exceptions, comparable to that of the European Economic Community, would seem preferable to the legal vacuum created by the Webb Act

Creepy (not KREEPy) Gold-Indium Intermetallic Compounds on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Samples

A series of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) sessions to measure hydrogen (H) in Martian meteorite minerals was completed using the Cameca 6f SIMS and NanoSIMS 50L at Arizona State University (ASU). During these sessions, a creeping phenomenon has occurred, where the edges of samples pressed in indium are covered by a metal alloy. We summarize these observations herein, present a collection of preliminary data, and discuss explanations and concerns for future SIMS work. We conclude the report with a research plan for further study

Atomic Energy - Indemnity Legislation - Anderson Amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954

The Anderson Amendments were enacted to encourage private industry to enter the atomic energy field by removing the risk of excessive liability for a major nuclear reactor disaster. Such a disaster could result in liability far in excess of available insurance coverage. The solution provided by the new legislation has three aspects: (1) After private financial protection, geared to the amount of available insurance, is obtained by a person licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, (2) the Commission will execute an agreement to indemnify (not insure) the licensee and any other person who may be liable for public liability to the extent of $500 million. (3) When claims exceed this amount the fund is distributed pro rata among claimants, a reserve being set aside for claims arising from latent injuries. After the$500 million has thus been exhausted, no further recovery is possible, for the act cuts off the liability of the licensee at this point. In light of these basic considerations the balance of this comment will attempt to pose some of the problems facing the Atomic Energy Commission, nuclear entrepreneurs, and the public under the provisions of the new law

International Law - The United Nations Emergency Force - Legal Status

The purpose of this comment is to consider the legal status of UNEF and of a potential permanent force of the same type. Some of the incidental legal problems confronting the United Nations will also be considered