In-House Counsel\u27s Wrongful Discharge Action under the Public Policy Exception and Retaliatory Discharge Doctrine

Most courts hold that in-house counsel have no cause of action under public policy or retaliatory discharge exceptions to the at-will employment rule. This is true even when they are discharged in contravention of a clearly mandated public policy. These courts have rationalized that such recognition would be contrary to the at-will nature of attorney-client employment and would have an adverse effect on the attorney-client relationship. This Comment proposes that courts should extend the public policy exception and retaliatory discharge doctrine to in-house counsel to protect the public from illegal corporate acts and provide relief to in-house counsel

Spontaneous Formation of Gold Nanoparticles on Graphene by Galvanic Reaction through Graphene

We demonstrate an effective and facile method for the deposition of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on graphene by using spontaneous galvanic reaction. Despite the interest and importance of the hybrid structure of noble metal-deposited graphene has been considerably increased for its fundamental knowledge in chemical and physical sciences and for its various applications, the progress of this subject is very slow mainly because of the lack of synthetic methods for such structures, especially that are not free from chemical contamination and usage of complex and expensive equipment. Therefore, we developed a new method allowing chemically pure AuNPs/graphene hybrid structures employing galvanic reaction. The spontaneous galvanic reaction was derived from reductant/graphene/oxidant sandwich structures, such as Au ions/graphene/Ge wafer and Au ions/graphene/copper foil, by placing Au ion solution droplets on graphene transferred on a germanium wafer or as made graphene on Cu foil, respectively. According to scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy results, it was confirmed that AuNPs were successfully formed on the graphene surface. This result implies two important points. One is that the formation of pure AuNPs on graphene is possible without using other chemicals frequently required for conventional NP preparation. The other one is that it was experimentally demonstrated that there are electronic communications between the oxidant and reductant that are separated by graphene, through which electrons can pass freely.11Ysciescopu

Light-promoted synthesis of highly-conjugated crystalline covalent organic framework

Low electrical conductivity caused by low degree of π-conjugation and structural disorders induces critical limitations in electronic applications of covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Here we focus on improving the electrical properties of COFs by synthesis of highly conjugated and crystalline COF (hcc-COF). Addition of a small amount of water and acetic acid induces the efficient reversible dynamic imine condensation reaction that is required to obtain uniform and crystalline products. Also, simulated sunlight irradiation facilitates the reversible imine condensation reaction, and achieves formation of hcc-COF with high-yield within short reaction time. The obtained hcc-COF has an extended π-conjugated structure along the lateral direction and an inclined stacking structure. The intrinsic electron transport properties along the in-plane direction are evaluated using a hcc-COF film grown on a water surface from a polarity-controlled precursor solution. To the best of our knowledge, our hcc-COF film shows the highest reported electrical conductivity for highly conjugated organic porous polymers. © 2019, The Author(s).11Ysciescopu

The mechanism of striation formation in plasma display panels

Despite the high pressure employed in plasma display panels, the energy balance of low-energy electrons is found to be dominated by inelastic collisions, and the resulting nonlocal electron kinetics plays a key role in the striation formation. Surface charge accumulation on the anode dielectric, however, is also needed for striations to form. It is the combined effect of surface charges and nonlocal electron kinetics that results in the striation formation in plasma display panel cells. Two-dimensional fluid simulations, which assume local electron kinetics, and two-dimensional particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision simulations with a bare conducting anode show that striations do not form if either the nonlocal electron kinetics or the surface charge accumulation is not considered

Highly reproducible alkali metal doping system for organic crystals through enhanced diffusion of alkali metal by secondary thermal activation

In this paper, we report an efficient alkali metal doping system for organic single crystals. Our system employs an enhanced diffusion method for the introduction of alkali metal into organic single crystals by controlling the sample temperature to induce secondary thermal activation. Using this system, we achieved intercalation of potassium into picene single crystals with closed packed crystal structures. Using optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, we confirmed that the resulting samples were uniformly doped and became K2picene single crystal, while only parts of the crystal are doped and transformed into K2picene without secondary thermal activation. Moreover, using a customized electrical measurement system, the insulator-to-semiconductor transition of picene single crystals upon doping was confirmed by in situ electrical conductivity and ex situ temperature-dependent resistivity measurements. X-ray diffraction studies showed that potassium atoms were intercalated between molecular layers of picene, and doped samples did not show any KH- nor KOH-related peaks, indicating that picene molecules are retained without structural decomposition. During recent decades, tremendous efforts have been exerted to develop high-performance organic semiconductors and superconductors, whereas as little attention has been devoted to doped organic crystals. Our method will enable efficient alkali metal doping of organic crystals and will be a resource for future systematic studies on the electrical property changes of these organic crystals upon doping. © 2018 The Author(s

Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking on the Light Front.II. The Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model

An investigation of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking on the light front is made in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model with one flavor and N colors. Analysis of the model suffers from extraordinary complexity due to the existence of a "fermionic constraint," i.e., a constraint equation for the bad spinor component. However, to solve this constraint is of special importance. In classical theory, we can exactly solve it and then explicitly check the property of ``light-front chiral transformation.'' In quantum theory, we introduce a bilocal formulation to solve the fermionic constraint by the 1/N expansion. Systematic 1/N expansion of the fermion bilocal operator is realized by the boson expansion method. The leading (bilocal) fermionic constraint becomes a gap equation for a chiral condensate and thus if we choose a nontrivial solution of the gap equation, we are in the broken phase. As a result of the nonzero chiral condensate, we find unusual chiral transformation of fields and nonvanishing of the light-front chiral charge. A leading order eigenvalue equation for a single bosonic state is equivalent to a leading order fermion-antifermion bound-state equation. We analytically solve it for scalar and pseudoscalar mesons and obtain their light-cone wavefunctions and masses. All of the results are entirely consistent with those of our previous analysis on the chiral Yukawa model.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX, the version to be published in Phys.Rev.D; Some clarifications in discussion of the LC wavefunctions adde

Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking on the Light Front I. DLCQ Approach

Dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in the DLCQ method is investigated in detail using a chiral Yukawa model closely related to the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. By classically solving three constraints characteristic of the light-front formalism, we show that the chiral transformation defined on the light front is equivalent to the usual one when bare mass is absent. A quantum analysis demonstrates that a nonperturbative mean-field solution to the ``zero-mode constraint'' for a scalar boson (sigma) can develop a nonzero condensate while a perturbative solution cannot. This description is due to our identification of the ``zero-mode constraint'' with the gap equation. The mean-field calculation clarifies unusual chiral transformation properties of fermionic field, which resolves a seemingly inconsistency between triviality of the null-plane chiral charge Q_5|0>=0 and nonzero condensate. We also calculate masses of scalar and pseudoscalar bosons for both symmetric and broken phases, and eventually derive the PCAC relation and nonconservation of Q_5 in the broken phase.Comment: Revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. 19 pages, 4 figures, REVTEX. Derivation of the PCAC relation is given. Its relation to the nonconservation of chiral charge is clarified. 1 figure and some references adde

Nucleon-nucleon coincidence measurement in the non-mesonic weak decay of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei

We have measured both yields of neutron-proton and neutron-neutron pairs emitted from the non-mesonic weak decay process of 5_Lambda-He and 12_Lambda-C hypernuclei produced via the (pi^+,K^+) reaction for the first time. We observed clean back-to-back correlation of the np- and nn-pairs in the coincidence spectra for both hypernuclei. The ratio of those back-to-back pair yields, Nnn / Nnp, must be close to the ratio of neutron- and proton-induced decay widths of the decay, Gn(Lambda n -> nn)/Gp(Lambda p -> np). The obtained ratios for each hypernuclei support recent calculations based on short-range interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, International Nuclear Physics Conference (INPC 2004), Goteborg, Sweden, June 27 - July 2, 2004, to appear in Nuclear Physics

Surrogate endpoints in liver surgery related trials: a systematic review of the literature

AbstractBackgroundAlthough the safety of liver surgery has improved enormously, hepatic surgery continues to face challenging complications. Therefore, improvements supported by evidence‐based guidelines are still required. The conduct of randomized controlled trials in liver surgery using dichotomous outcomes requires a large sample size. The use of surrogate endpoints (SEPs) reduces sample size but SEPs should be validated before use.AimThe aim of this review was to summarize the SEPs used in hepatic surgery related trials, their definitions and recapitulating the evidence validating their use.MethodA systematic computerized literature search in the biomedical database PubMed using the MeSH terms ‘hepatectomy’ or ‘liver resection’ or ‘liver transection’ was conducted. Search was limited to papers written in the English language and published between 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2010.ResultsA total of 593 articles met the search terms and 49 articles were included in the final selection. Standard biochemical liver functions tests were the most frequently used SEP (32 of 49 the studies). The used definitions of SEPs varied greatly among the studies. Most studies referred to earlier published material to justify their choice of SEP. However, no validating studies were found.ConclusionMany SEPs are used in liver surgery trials however there is little evidence validating them