The Right to Regulate in Investor- State Arbitration: Slicing and Dicing Regulatory Carve-Outs

This Article examines the “right to regulate” as the power of a sovereign state to adopt and maintain government measures for public welfare objectives. It explores how claims by foreign investors in investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) may interfere with the state’s ability to regulate, and how the state can protect its right in international investment agreements. The Article first explains the structure of modern international investment law and dispute resolution. It next turns to the right to regulate and explores why regulatory disputes represent a major challenge for ISDS. It continues by analyzing how exceptions, exclusions, and other safeguard provisions can be used in investment treaties to protect the right to regulate. It then critically examines the tobacco carve-out and other safeguard provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement as to their ability to protect the right to regulate. Finally, the Article explores alternative solutions to the challenges of ISDS. It concludes by arguing that regulatory disputes are best resolved through a hybrid system of dispute resolution that is amenable to both private interests and public policy considerations

Scaling and Similitude in Single Nozzle Supersonic Retropropulsion Aerodynamics Interference

Retropropulsion, or the firing of rocket engines or motors into the direction of flight, is a method of spacecraft deceleration and soft landing that dates back to the early 1960s. Current conceptual designs for landing humans on the surface of Mars require supersonic retropropulsion, or initiation of retropropulsion at supersonic freestream conditions, as part of an extended powered descent phase of flight. The objective of this work is to identify the design parameters and flow condition bounds for self-similar behavior of powered descent aerodynamic interference in relevant flight environments. In applications of sub-scale test data, an unknown uncertainty lies in scaling to and from full-scale environments and systems. The issue of scaling for the opposing flows characteristic of powered descent is the focus of the following analysis, using data from wind tunnel testing of figurations with a single, central nozzle as a point of departure

Enforcing Soft Law in International Investment Arbitration

Drawing examples from international environmental law, sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility, this Article examines the evolving role of international investment arbitration in the enforcement of non-binding soft law rules of international law. In doing so, the Article explains how investment tribunals can, and have been called upon to, interpret and, paradoxically, enforce soft law instruments. The Article calls for reevaluation of the nature of soft law and the role of investor-state dispute settlement in international rulemaking and enforcement. It also argues that for international environmental law and law on sustainable development, where the lack of an enforcement mechanism has long been identified as the single major weakness of the system, investor-state dispute settlement might be a viable option for increasing compliance with and enforcement of international law obligations of the sovereign states

Evaluation of Synthetic Dyes and Food Additives in Electronic Cigarette Liquids: Health and Policy Implications

Prior studies of e-liquid thermal degradants do not reflect many of the potential health hazards related to e-cigarettes. Although current studies have focused on solvents and flavoring additives in e-cigarette formulations, there have been no prior reports on the identity and levels of synthetic dye additives. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and quantify these compounds to enhance understanding of the risks associated with the inhalation of colored e-liquids. Furthermore, e-liquids were subjected to thermal degradation under normal vaping conditions to quantify the sulfur oxides (SOx) content indicating dye decomposition. The dyes were analyzed by a combination of high-performance liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectroscopy. The thermal decomposition of dyes in vaporized e-liquid samples was studied by ion chromatography. The findings of this investigation revealed that e-liquid manufacturers added synthetic dyes in concentrations comparable to those used in the food industry. In addition, SOx were present in the aerosolized e-liquids suggesting that dyes undergo thermal degradation. The aerosol samples contained a substantial amount of free chloride, which could be associated with a breakdown of the sucralose molecules, whose presence in the e-liquids was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance

Making Diagnostic Testing for Lyme Disease More Approachable

The CDC’s recommended testing and treatment guidelines can be confusing for patients and healthcare providers alike. There is often a knowledge gap in understanding what is being analyzed in serologic tests as well as why two step testing is employed. With the increasing incidence of Lyme in the northeast it is as important as ever to ensure that there is an approachable resource for patients to learn from. Better patient care can be provided while also reducing unnecessary testing and resource overutilization by empowering patients with a better understanding of the process of diagnosis of Lyme diseasehttps://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1285/thumbnail.jp

“a void rubbing out its own inscription”: Electronic Technology, Hypertext and the Paradox of Self-Erasure

The advent of electronic technologies like the computer and the internet necessitated new ways of writing and thinking about writing. Where the age of mechanical and industrial technologies led to Blake’s visionary engravings and Swift imagining a random text generator in Gulliver's Travels, “for improving speculative Knowledge by practical and mechanical Operations” (171), the electronic age might be said to have given rise to the work of composers like John Cage and Brian Eno, hypertextual writers such as Michael Joyce and Mark Amerika and the work of the Oulipo. Perhaps the predominant linguistic theory associated with, though not limited to, electronic technologies is that of “hypertext”. Hypertext is defined by Ted Nelson, who coined the term, as “non-sequential writing with reader-controlled links” (qtd. in Bolter 105), and George Landow as a technology that matches Barthes's ideal textuality of a “text composed of blocks of words (or images) linked electronically by multiple paths, chains, or trails in an open-ended, perpetually unfinished textuality described by the terms link, node, network, web, and path” (Landow 2). Nelson and Landow’s succinct definitions are both accurate, but fail to encompass the extent to which the hypertextual model destabilizes conventional notions of the text. This essay will examine the ways in which hypertexts erase themselves, and the implications this paradox of self-erasure has for the whole field of signification, the material status of the text and hypertextual conceptions of identity

Theoferometer for the Construction of Precision Optomechanical Assemblies

The increasing difficulty of metrology requirements on projects involving optics and the alignment of instrumentation on spacecraft has reached a turning point. Requirements as low as 0.1 arcseconds for the static, rotational alignment of components within a coordinate system cannot be met with a theodolite, the alignment tool currently in use. A "theoferometer" is an interferometer mounted on a rotation stage with degrees of freedom in azimuth and elevation for metrology and alignment applications. The success of a prototype theoferometer in approaching these metrology requirements led to a redesign stressing mechanical, optical, and software changes to increase the sensitivity and portability of the unit. This paper covers the improvements made to the first prototype theoferometer, characteristic testing, and demonstration of the redesigned theoferometer s capabilities as a "theodolite replacement" and low-uncertainty metrology tool

Intestine‐Specific Expression of Human Chimeric Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase Attenuates Western Diet‐Induced Barrier Dysfunction and Glucose Intolerance

Intestinal epithelial cell derived alkaline phosphatase (IAP) dephosphorylates/detoxifies bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the gut lumen. We have earlier demonstrated that consumption of high‐fat high‐cholesterol containing western type‐diet (WD) significantly reduces IAP activity, increases intestinal permeability leading to increased plasma levels of LPS and glucose intolerance. Furthermore, oral supplementation with curcumin that increased IAP activity improved intestinal barrier function as well as glucose tolerance. To directly test the hypothesis that targeted increase in IAP would protect against WD‐induced metabolic consequences, we developed intestine‐specific IAP transgenic mice where expression of human chimeric IAP is under the control of intestine‐specific villin promoter. This chimeric human IAP contains domains from human IAP and human placental alkaline phosphatase, has a higher turnover number, narrower substrate specificity, and selectivity for bacterial LPS. Chimeric IAP was specifically and uniformly overexpressed in these IAP transgenic (IAPTg) mice along the entire length of the intestine. While IAP activity reduced from proximal P1 segment to distal P9 segment in wild‐type (WT) mice, this activity was maintained in the IAPTg mice. Dietary challenge with WD impaired glucose tolerance in WT mice and this intolerance was attenuated in IAPTg mice. Significant decrease in fecal zonulin, a marker for intestinal barrier dysfunction, in WD fed IAPTg mice and a corresponding decrease in translocation of orally administered nonabsorbable 4 kDa FITC dextran to plasma suggests that IAP overexpression improves intestinal barrier function. Thus, targeted increase in IAP activity represents a novel strategy to improve WD‐induced intestinal barrier dysfunction and glucose intolerance

Assessing genetic diversity of wheat genotypes from different origins by SNP markers

Genetic diversity was investigated in a set of eleven hexaploid wheat genotypes originated from CIMMYT, Turkey in comparison with some modern European mostly originated from KWS wheat breeding program using 24 wheat SNP markers. The lowest and highest genetic dissimilarities were observed between genotypes Opus and LDO 330/06, KWS Salix and LDO 330/06, respectively. Based on cluster analysis, 38 wheat genotypes were grouped in two main clusters. Although the grouping pattern is very origin heterogeneous in each group, the grouping pattern of some genotypes appeared to be associated, to some extent. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was used as an alternative way of visualizing the genotypic data. The first, second and third principal components explained 17.79%, 14.39% and 12.24% of the variation, respectively. This study can also be an indicator for breeders to evolve genotypes with diverse genetic background to achieve sustainability in wheat production, to get favorable heterotic combinations in a wheat improvement program