There Is a Pink Elephant at Our Patent Negotiation, and His Name Is Declaratory Judgment

Part I of this Comment will analyze the background behind the creation of declaratory judgment jurisdiction, beginning with the Declaratory Judgment Act of 1934. Part II will explain the significant relation between declaratory judgments and patent infringement, focusing on the recent development of the MedImmune and SanDisk decisions. Part III will then explore three potentially negative implications of the Federal Circuit’s SanDisk decision. Part IV argues that in light of recent cases, the expansion of declaratory judgment jurisdiction in MedImmune and SanDisk is not convincingly supported by the policy underlying patent declaratory judgment law. As a result, Part V recommends a new declaratory judgment jurisdiction test, to better balance the rights of potential infringers and patent holders, by encouraging district court judges to use discretion to decline declaratory judgment jurisdiction

Activity patterns of free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) revealed by accelerometry

An understanding of koala activity patterns is important for measuring the behavioral response of this species to environmental change, but to date has been limited by the logistical challenges of traditional field methodologies. We addressed this knowledge gap by using tri-axial accelerometer data loggers attached to VHF radio collars to examine activity patterns of adult male and female koalas in a high-density population at Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia. Data were obtained from 27 adult koalas over two 7-d periods during the breeding season: 12 in the early-breeding season in November 2010, and 15 in the late-breeding season in January 2011. Multiple 15 minute observation blocks on each animal were used for validation of activity patterns determined from the accelerometer data loggers. Accelerometry was effective in distinguishing between inactive (sleeping, resting) and active (grooming, feeding and moving) behaviors. Koalas were more active during the early-breeding season with a higher index of movement (overall dynamic body acceleration [ODBA]) for both males and females. Koalas showed a distinct temporal pattern of behavior, with most activity occurring from mid-afternoon to early morning. Accelerometry has potential for examining fine-scale behavior of a wide range of arboreal and terrestrial species

Predicting the Electron Requirement for Carbon Fixation in Seas and Oceans

Marine phytoplankton account for about 50% of all global net primary productivity (NPP). Active fluorometry, mainly Fast Repetition Rate fluorometry (FRRf), has been advocated as means of providing high resolution estimates of NPP. However, not measuring CO2-fixation directly, FRRf instead provides photosynthetic quantum efficiency estimates from which electron transfer rates (ETR) and ultimately CO2-fixation rates can be derived. Consequently, conversions of ETRs to CO2-fixation requires knowledge of the electron requirement for carbon fixation (Φe,C, ETR/CO2 uptake rate) and its dependence on environmental gradients. Such knowledge is critical for large scale implementation of active fluorescence to better characterise CO2-uptake. Here we examine the variability of experimentally determined Φe,C values in relation to key environmental variables with the aim of developing new working algorithms for the calculation of Φe,C from environmental variables. Coincident FRRf and 14C-uptake and environmental data from 14 studies covering 12 marine regions were analysed via a meta-analytical, non-parametric, multivariate approach. Combining all studies, Φe,C varied between 1.15 and 54.2 mol e- (mol C)-1 with a mean of 10.9±6.91 mol e- mol C)-1. Although variability of Φe,C was related to environmental gradients at global scales, region-specific analyses provided far improved predictive capability. However, use of regional Φe,C algorithms requires objective means of defining regions of interest, which remains challenging. Considering individual studies and specific small-scale regions, temperature, nutrient and light availability were correlated with Φe,C albeit to varying degrees and depending on the study/region and the composition of the extant phytoplankton community. At the level of large biogeographic regions and distinct water masses, Φe,C was related to nutrient availability, chlorophyll, as well as temperature and/or salinity in most regions, while light availability was also important in Baltic Sea and shelf waters. The novel Φe,C algorithms provide a major step forward for widespread fluorometry-based NPP estimates and highlight the need for further studying the natural variability of Φe,C to verify and develop algorithms with improved accuracy. © 2013 Lawrenz et al

Single-Turnover Variable Chlorophyll Fluorescence as a Tool for Assessing Phytoplankton Photosynthesis and Primary Productivity: Opportunities, Caveats and Recommendations

Phytoplankton photosynthetic physiology can be investigated through single-turnover variable chlorophyll fluorescence (ST-ChlF) approaches, which carry unique potential to autonomously collect data at high spatial and temporal resolution. Over the past decades, significant progress has been made in the development and application of ST-ChlF methods in aquatic ecosystems, and in the interpretation of the resulting observations. At the same time, however, an increasing number of sensor types, sampling protocols, and data processing algorithms have created confusion and uncertainty among potential users, with a growing divergence of practice among different research groups. In this review, we assist the existing and upcoming user community by providing an overview of current approaches and consensus recommendations for the use of ST-ChlF measurements to examine in-situ phytoplankton productivity and photo-physiology. We argue that a consistency of practice and adherence to basic operational and quality control standards is critical to ensuring data inter-comparability. Large datasets of inter-comparable and globally coherent ST-ChlF observations hold the potential to reveal large-scale patterns and trends in phytoplankton photo-physiology, photosynthetic rates and bottom-up controls on primary productivity. As such, they hold great potential to provide invaluable physiological observations on the scales relevant for the development and validation of ecosystem models and remote sensing algorithms

Reading and Ownership

First paragraph: ‘It is as easy to make sweeping statements about reading tastes as to indict a nation, and as pointless.’ This jocular remark by a librarian made in the Times in 1952 sums up the dangers and difficulties of writing the history of reading. As a field of study in the humanities it is still in its infancy and encompasses a range of different methodologies and theoretical approaches. Historians of reading are not solely interested in what people read, but also turn their attention to the why, where and how of the reading experience. Reading can be solitary, silent, secret, surreptitious; it can be oral, educative, enforced, or assertive of a collective identity. For what purposes are individuals reading? How do they actually use books and other textual material? What are the physical environments and spaces of reading? What social, educational, technological, commercial, legal, or ideological contexts underpin reading practices? Finding answers to these questions is compounded by the difficulty of locating and interpreting evidence. As Mary Hammond points out, ‘most reading acts in history remain unrecorded, unmarked or forgotten’. Available sources are wide but inchoate: diaries, letters and autobiographies; personal and oral testimonies; marginalia; and records of societies and reading groups all lend themselves more to the case-study approach than the historical survey. Statistics offer analysable data but have the effect of producing identikits rather than actual human beings. The twenty-first century affords further possibilities, and challenges, with its traces of digital reader activity, but the map is ever-changing

Schoolbooks and textbook publishing.

In this chapter the author looks at the history of schoolbooks and textbook publishing. The nineteenth century saw a rise in the school book market in Britain due to the rise of formal schooling and public examinations. Although the 1870 Education and 1872 (Scotland) Education Acts made elementary education compulsory for childern between 5-13 years old, it was not until the end of the First World War that some sort form of secondary education became compulsory for all children

Geothermal Site Assessment Using the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), with Examples from the Hawthorne Ammunition Depot Area

The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy have compiled nearly 50,000 Great Basin groundwater samples into an Access database, encompassing all known spatial, physical, and geochemical features. The database schema is a partial template for the National Geothermal Data System (NGDS), a DOE-sponsored compendium of geothermal data spanning all 50 states. The database can be queried to produce worksheets customized to user requirements, greatly simplifying data extraction for other software applications (e.g., GoogleEarth). This paper examines the features and functionality of the existing database, its integration into the 50-state NGDS, and its usage in geothermal exploration and development. In particular, we examine the dataset for Hawthorne, NV, which has been supplemented extensively by the Naval Geothermal Program Office and subcontractor Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc. As we demonstrate, a database user can identify Hawthorne-area thermal anomalies several ways: through spatial interpolation of database geothermometry, temperature gradient calculations, and other geochemical signatures. The ratios of B/Cl, Li/Cl, and As/Cl may identify zones of geothermal potential, as can regional patterns of total dissolved solids, Na-K-Ca ternary diagrams, and trace element ternary diagrams

A user guide for the application of single turnover active chlorophyll fluorescence for phytoplankton productivity measurements

This document represents the collective efforts of SCOR Working Group 156, ‘Active Chlorophyll Fluorescence for Autonomous Measurements of Global Marine Primary Productivity’. The group was established in 2019, bringing together researchers and instrument manufacturers from 10 countries and 5 continents, with the goal of developing standards of best practice for the application of single turnover active chlorophyll fluorescence (ST-ChlF) to examine phytoplankton productivity. We focused our efforts on single turnover methods, which are most commonly used in phytoplankton research, while recognizing that other approaches, including Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) fluorescence techniques, are also employed with macro-algae, corals and terrestrial plants. Over the past two years, our group has worked to build consensus around best practice for the collection, analysis and archiving of ST-ChlF data from a variety of aquatic environments. We aim to facilitate wide-spread use of ST-ChlF methods by the international research community, and have thus far focused our work on several key activities outlined in the Working Group’s terms of reference

Technology for Situated and Emergent Play : A Bridging Concept and Design Agenda

Despite the capacity of play to spontaneously emerge in our daily life, the scope of application of play design in HCI is generally narrower, specifically targeting areas of pure leisure, or wholly utilitarian and productive play. Here we focus on the value of play design to respond to and support our natural gravitation towards emergent play that helps to meet our social and emotional needs. We present a bridging concept: Technology for Situated and Emergent Play, i.e. technology design that supports playful engagement that emerges interwoven with our everyday activities outside leisure, and that enriches these activities with socio-emotional value. Our intermediate-level contribution has value as a synthesis piece: it weaves together theories of play and play design and bridges them with concrete design examples. As a bridging concept, it contributes: i) theoretical grounding; ii) inspiring design exemplars that illustrate the theory and foreground its value; and iii) design articulations in the form of valuable experiential qualities and design features. Our work can help to focus design agendas for playful technology and inspire future designs in this space