1,516 research outputs found
A New Approach to Antitrust Law: Transparency
The following is a transcript of a 2018 Federalist Society panel entitled Technology, Social Media, and Professional Ethics. The panel originally occurred on November 15, 2018 during the National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C. The panelists were: Hon. Frank Easterbrook, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; Deborah Garza, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP; Eric Grannon, Partner, White & Case; and Douglas Melamed, Professor of the Practice of Law, Stanford Law School. The moderator was the Honorable John B. Nalbandian of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: A standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research
Background: Advances in translational research have led to the need for well characterized biospecimens for research. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is an initiative which collects annotated datasets relevant to human mesothelioma to develop an enterprising biospecimen resource to fulfill researchers' need. Methods: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank architecture is based on three major components: (a) common data elements (based on College of American Pathologists protocol and National North American Association of Central Cancer Registries standards), (b) clinical and epidemiologic data annotation, and (c) data query tools. These tools work interoperably to standardize the entire process of annotation. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank tool is based upon the caTISSUE Clinical Annotation Engine, developed by the University of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Gridâą (caBIGâą, see http://cabig.nci.nih.gov). This application provides a web-based system for annotating, importing and searching mesothelioma cases. The underlying information model is constructed utilizing Unified Modeling Language class diagrams, hierarchical relationships and Enterprise Architect software. Result: The database provides researchers real-time access to richly annotated specimens and integral information related to mesothelioma. The data disclosed is tightly regulated depending upon users' authorization and depending on the participating institute that is amenable to the local Institutional Review Board and regulation committee reviews. Conclusion: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank currently has over 600 annotated cases available for researchers that include paraffin embedded tissues, tissue microarrays, serum and genomic DNA. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is a virtual biospecimen registry with robust translational biomedical informatics support to facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. Furthermore, it protects patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified datasets to assure that biospecimens can be made accessible to researchers. © 2008 Amin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Blood-Brain Barrier Breakdown in a Single Post-stroke Rodent Brain
Stroke is a major cause of global morbidity and mortality. Middle cerebral artery
occlusion (MCAO) has historically been the most common animal model of simulating
ischemic stroke. The extent of neurological injury after MCAO is typically measured by
cerebral edema, infarct zone, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. A significant
limitation of these methods is that separate sets of brains must be used for each
measurement. Here we examine an alternative method of measuring cerebral edema,
infarct zone and BBB permeability following MCAO in the same set of brain samples.
Ninety-six rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups. Group 1 (n = 27)
was used for the evaluation of infarct zone and brain edema in rats post-MCAO (n = 17)
vs. sham-operated controls (n = 10). Group 2 (n = 27) was used for the evaluation of
BBB breakdown in rats post-MCAO (n = 15) vs. sham-operated controls (n = 10). In
Group 3 (n = 42), all three parameters were measured in the same set of brain slices in
rats post-MCAO (n = 26) vs. sham-operated controls (n = 16). The effect of Evans blue
on the accuracy of measuring infarct zone by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC)
staining was determined by measuring infarct zone with and without an applied blue
filter. The effects of various concentrations of TTC (0, 0.05, 0.35, 0.5, 1, and 2%) on the
accuracy of measuring BBB permeability was also assessed. There was an increase in
infarct volume (p < 0.01), brain edema (p < 0.01) and BBB breakdown (p < 0.01) in rats
following MCAO compared to sham-operated controls, whether measured separately
or together in the same set of brain samples. Evans blue had an effect on measuring
infarct volume that was minimized by the application of a blue filter on scanned brain slices. There was no difference in the Evans blue extravasation index for the brain
tissue samples without TTC compared to brain tissue samples incubated in TTC. Our
results demonstrate that measuring cerebral edema, infarct zone and BBB permeability
following MCAO can accurately be measured in the same set of brain samples
The Evaporating Massive Embedded Stellar Cluster IRS 13 Close to Sgr A*. I. Detection of a rich population of dusty objects in the IRS 13 cluster
A detailed analysis of the Nuclear Stellar Cluster (NSC) concedes not only
the existence of the Scluster with its fast-moving stars and the supermassive
black hole (SMBH) Sgr A*. It also reveals an embedded region of gas and dust
with an exceptionally high stellar density called IRS 13. The IRS 13 cluster
can be divided into the northern and the eastern counterparts, called IRS 13N
and IRS 13E, respectively. This work will focus on both regions and study their
most prominent members using rich infrared and radio/submm data baselines.
Applying a multiwavelength analysis enables us to determine a comprehensive
photometric footprint of the investigated cluster sample. Using the
raytracing-based radiative transfer model HYPERION, the spectral energy
distribution of the IRS 13 members suggests a stellar nature of the dusty
sources. These putative Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) have a comparable
spectroscopic identification to the D and G sources in or near the S cluster.
Furthermore, we report the existence of a population of dusty sources in IRS 13
that can be mostly identified in the H-, K-, and Lband. Together with the
objects reported in literature, we propose that this population is the outcome
of a recent star formation process. Furthermore, we report that these
presumably young objects are arranged in a disk structure. Although it cannot
be excluded that the intrinsic arrangement of IRS 13 does show a disk
structure, we find indications that the investigated cluster sample might be
related to the counterclockwise disk.Comment: 59 pages, 44 figures, accepted and published by the Ap
Plasmonically Enhanced Reflectance of Heat Radiation from Low-Bandgap Semiconductor Microinclusions
Increased reflectance from the inclusion of highly scattering particles at
low volume fractions in an insulating dielectric offers a promising way to
reduce radiative thermal losses at high temperatures. Here, we investigate
plasmonic resonance driven enhanced scattering from microinclusions of
low-bandgap semiconductors (InP, Si, Ge, PbS, InAs and Te) in an insulating
composite to tailor its infrared reflectance for minimizing thermal losses from
radiative transfer. To this end, we compute the spectral properties of the
microcomposites using Monte Carlo modeling and compare them with results from
Fresnel equations. The role of particle size-dependent Mie scattering and
absorption efficiencies, and, scattering anisotropy are studied to identify the
optimal microinclusion size and material parameters for maximizing the
reflectance of the thermal radiation. For composites with Si and Ge
microinclusions we obtain reflectance efficiencies of 57 - 65% for the incident
blackbody radiation from sources at temperatures in the range 400 - 1600
{\deg}C. Furthermore, we observe a broadbanding of the reflectance spectra from
the plasmonic resonances due to charge carriers generated from defect states
within the semiconductor bandgap. Our results thus open up the possibility of
developing efficient high-temperature thermal insulators through use of the
low-bandgap semiconductor microinclusions in insulating dielectrics.Comment: Main article (8 Figures and 2 Tables) + Supporting Information (8
Figures
Non-Equilibrium Statistical Physics of Currents in Queuing Networks
We consider a stable open queuing network as a steady non-equilibrium system
of interacting particles. The network is completely specified by its underlying
graphical structure, type of interaction at each node, and the Markovian
transition rates between nodes. For such systems, we ask the question ``What is
the most likely way for large currents to accumulate over time in a network
?'', where time is large compared to the system correlation time scale. We
identify two interesting regimes. In the first regime, in which the
accumulation of currents over time exceeds the expected value by a small to
moderate amount (moderate large deviation), we find that the large-deviation
distribution of currents is universal (independent of the interaction details),
and there is no long-time and averaged over time accumulation of particles
(condensation) at any nodes. In the second regime, in which the accumulation of
currents over time exceeds the expected value by a large amount (severe large
deviation), we find that the large-deviation current distribution is sensitive
to interaction details, and there is a long-time accumulation of particles
(condensation) at some nodes. The transition between the two regimes can be
described as a dynamical second order phase transition. We illustrate these
ideas using the simple, yet non-trivial, example of a single node with
feedback.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
- âŠ