1,015 research outputs found
Shelter Chic : Can the U.S. Government Make it Work?
This Note discusses government donations of seized counterfeit goods to charitable institutions and the implications of these practices. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) contributions to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort serve as a backdrop for important concepts. In making these contributions, the CBP relied on its emergency authority and a presidential proclamation to avoid basic statutory requirements that it (a) obtain consent from the right holders and (b) de-trademark counterfeit goods prior to donation. While the donations inarguably benefitted countless disaster victims and freed up valuable CBP warehouse space, they may have had a detrimental impact on trademark holders\u27 rights and the U.S. government\u27s image as a forerunner in global IP rights enforcement. Additionally, the CBP\u27s post-Katrina contributions raise concerns as to the legality of such donations under federal and international law. This Note weighs the various interests at stake and ultimately suggests policies for avoiding the unnecessary sacrifice of trademark holders\u27 rights in future government donations
Exact quantum query complexity of
In the exact quantum query model a successful algorithm must always output
the correct function value. We investigate the function that is true if exactly
or of the input bits given by an oracle are 1. We find an optimal
algorithm (for some cases), and a nontrivial general lower and upper bound on
the minimum number of queries to the black box.Comment: 19 pages, fixed some typos and constraint
On the dimension of subspaces with bounded Schmidt rank
We consider the question of how large a subspace of a given bipartite quantum
system can be when the subspace contains only highly entangled states. This is
motivated in part by results of Hayden et al., which show that in large d x
d--dimensional systems there exist random subspaces of dimension almost d^2,
all of whose states have entropy of entanglement at least log d - O(1). It is
also related to results due to Parthasarathy on the dimension of completely
entangled subspaces, which have connections with the construction of
unextendible product bases. Here we take as entanglement measure the Schmidt
rank, and determine, for every pair of local dimensions dA and dB, and every r,
the largest dimension of a subspace consisting only of entangled states of
Schmidt rank r or larger. This exact answer is a significant improvement on the
best bounds that can be obtained using random subspace techniques. We also
determine the converse: the largest dimension of a subspace with an upper bound
on the Schmidt rank. Finally, we discuss the question of subspaces containing
only states with Schmidt equal to r.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX4 forma
Serratiopeptidase reduces the invasion of osteoblasts by Staphylococcus aureus
Finding new strategies to counteract periprosthetic infection and implant failure is a main target in orthopedics. Staphylococcus aureus, the leading etiologic agent of orthopedic implant infections, is able to enter and kill osteoblasts, to stimulate pro-inflammatory chemokine secretion, to recruit osteoclasts, and to cause inflammatory osteolysis. Moreover, by entering eukaryotic cells, staphylococci hide from the host immune defenses and shelter from the extracellular antibiotics. Thus, infection persists, inflammation thrives, and a highly destructive osteomyelitis occurs around the implant. The ability of serratiopeptidase (SPEP), a metalloprotease by Serratia marcescens, to control S. aureus invasion of osteoblastic MG-63 cells and pro-inflammatory chemokine MCP-1 secretion was evaluated. Human osteoblast cells were infected with staphylococcal strains in the presence and in the absence of SPEP. Cell proliferation and cell viability were also evaluated. The release of pro-inflammatory chemokine MCP-1 was evaluated after the exposure of the osteoblast cells to staphylococcal strains. The significance of the differences in the results of each test and the relative control values was determined with Student’s t-test. SPEP impairs their invasiveness into osteoblasts, without affecting the viability and proliferation of bone cells, and tones down their production of MCP-1. We recognize SPEP as a potential tool against S. aureus bone infection and destruction
Hitting time for the continuous quantum walk
We define the hitting (or absorbing) time for the case of continuous quantum
walks by measuring the walk at random times, according to a Poisson process
with measurement rate . From this definition we derive an explicit
formula for the hitting time, and explore its dependence on the measurement
rate. As the measurement rate goes to either 0 or infinity the hitting time
diverges; the first divergence reflects the weakness of the measurement, while
the second limit results from the Quantum Zeno effect. Continuous-time quantum
walks, like discrete-time quantum walks but unlike classical random walks, can
have infinite hitting times. We present several conditions for existence of
infinite hitting times, and discuss the connection between infinite hitting
times and graph symmetry.Comment: 12 pages, 1figur
Measurement invariance of alcohol instruments with Hispanic youth
INTRODUCTION: Despite their widespread use across clinical and research settings, no study has yet investigated the fit of several standard alcohol measures for Hispanic youth, including those used to assess motivation to change, self-efficacy, peer norms, and problem drinking. This study thus served to address this gap by evaluating measurement invariance with substance-using youth.
METHODS: We enrolled a large sample of regular substance-using youth who were involved with the justice system (N=368; 72.9% male; 76.9% Hispanic; M age=16.17years). Similar to the broader Hispanic population of the southwest United States (U.S.), Hispanic youth in the sample were on average 3.5th generation (with at least 1 foreign-born grand-parent). Following standard administration and scoring procedures, all youth completed measures of motivation to change (e.g., readiness rulers, intentions to change), self-efficacy (e.g., drink refusal in social situations), peer norms (e.g., peer norms for substance use), and problem drinking (e.g., substance use quantity/frequency; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Rutgers Alcohol Problems Index; Timeline FollowBack). Measurement equivalence was evaluated via multiple group confirmatory factor analysis.
RESULTS: Our results indicated that each measure evaluated herein worked equally well for Hispanic and Caucasian youth. We found measurement invariance at every level tested.
CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the validity and future use of these important and widely-used alcohol use measures for high-risk substance-using Hispanic youth. Further, given the representativeness of this sample within the southwestern U.S., these results show promise for generalizability to U.S.-born Hispanic youth within this geographic region
Synthesis of Tetracyclic 2,3-Dihydro-1,3-diazepines from a Dinitrodibenzothiophene Derivative
Triply fused 1,3-diazepine derivatives have been obtained by acidic reduction of rotationally locked and sterically hindered nitro groups in the presence of an aldehyde or ketone. The nitro groups are sited on adjacent rings of a dicyanodibenzothiophene-5,5-dioxide, which also displays fully reversible two-electron-accepting behavior. The synthesis, crystallographically determined molecular structures, and aspects of the electronic properties of these new molecules are presented
Efficient method for site-directed mutagenesis in large plasmids without subcloning
Commonly used methods for site-directed DNA mutagenesis require copying the entire target plasmid. These methods allow relatively easy modification of DNA sequences in small plasmids but become less efficient and faithful for large plasmids, necessitating full sequence verification. Introduction of mutations in larger plasmids requires subcloning, a slow and labor-intensive process, especially for multiple mutations. We have developed an efficient DNA mutagenesis technique, UnRestricted Mutagenesis and Cloning (URMAC) that replaces subcloning steps with quick biochemical reactions. URMAC does not suffer from plasmid size constraints and allows simultaneous introduction of multiple mutations. URMAC involves manipulation of only the mutagenesis target site(s), not the entire plasmid being mutagenized, therefore only partial sequence verification is required. Basic URMAC requires two PCR reactions, each followed by a ligation reaction to circularize the product, with an optional third enrichment PCR step followed by a traditional cloning step that requires two restriction sites. Here, we demonstrate URMAC's speed, accuracy, and efficiency through several examples, creating insertions, deletions or substitutions in plasmids ranging from 2.6 kb to 17 kb without subcloning
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