Who is Really Undermining the Patent System – “Patent Trolls” or Congress?, 6 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 185 (2007)

“Patent troll” has entered the legal lexicon, stirring up heated debates over fundamental issues of patent rights. This article discusses the etymology of the term “patent troll” —from its beginnings as a deliberately derogatory term thrust forward as a defense to weaken the enforcement of patents against large corporations to its current manifestation as a call for patent reform. Interestingly, statistics show the “patent troll” problem is grossly overstated compared to the contentions of the corporate world. Moreover, enforcement of patents stimulates small business growth, innovation, and dissemination of knowledge to the public. This article suggests Congressional diversion of PTO funding as a more pressing issue burdening an already overworked system, increasing the duration of patent prosecution and diminishing overall patent quality. Resolution of these issues will better serve to “promote the useful arts” than a misguided effort against “patent trolls.

Qualitative interview study of patients', ambulance practitioners' and emergency department clinicians' perceptions of prehospital pain management

Introduction Pre-hospital pain management is increasingly important with most patients (80%) presenting to UK ambulance services in pain and 20% of patients reporting inadequate pain relief. Improving prehospital pain management is important for service quality. Our aim was to investigate perceptions of pain management from patients, ambulance and emergency care staff. Methods Qualitative data were gathered through focus group (5) and interviews (28). Participants were purposively sampled from patients recently transported to hospital in pain, ambulance staff and emergency department clinicians. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed using thematic analysis to iteratively develop themes supported by data analysis software, MAXQDA. Results Themes emerging from the data included: (a) expectations and beliefs (b) assessment methods (c) drug treatment (d) non-drug treatment and (f) improvement strategies for pain. Patients and staff expected pain to be relieved in the ambulance; instances of refusal of or inadequate analgesia were not uncommon because patients were concerned about drug side effects or, did not want to be transported. Pain was commonly assessed using a verbal pain score; clinical observation was often discordant with subjective experience. Communication difficulties, non-cooperation or influence of alcohol or drugs were found as barriers to pain assessment. Morphine and Entonox were commonly used to treat pain. Reassurance, positioning and immobilisation were used as alternatives to drugs. Suggestions to improve prehospital pain management included addressing barriers, modifying the available drugs and developing agreed multi-organisational pain management protocols supported by training for staff. Discussion Patients and practitioners expected pain to be relieved in the ambulance. Suggestions to improve prehospital pain management included addressing identified barriers, modifying the available drugs, using non-drug measures and developing agreed multi-organisational pain management protocols supported by appropriate training for staff. Our findings will inform development of protocols and quality improvement programmes along the pathway of prehospital pain management

Charting the phase diagram of QCD3

We study the phase diagram of SU (N) gauge theory in three space-time dimensions with a Chern-Simons term at level k, coupled to two sets of fundamental fermions with masses m1 and m2, respectively. The two-dimensional phase diagram that we propose shows a rich structure and widens in an interesting way previous results in the literature, to which it reduces in some limits. We present several checks of our proposal, including consistency with boson/fermion dualities. In this respect, we extensively comment on the structure of the scalar potential which is needed on the bosonic side of the duality

The omnivorous Tyrolean Iceman: colon contents (meat, cereals, pollen, moss and whipworm) and stable isotope analyses

The contents of the colon of the Tyrolean Iceman who lived Ga. 5300 years ago include muscle fibres, cereal remains, a diversity of pollen, and most notably that of the hop hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia) retaining cellular contents, as well as a moss leaf (Neckera complanata) and eggs of the parasitic whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). Based almost solely on stable isotope analyses and ignoring the work on the colon contents, two recently published papers on the Iceman's diet draw ill- founded conclusions about vegetarianism and even veganism. Neither the pollen nor the moss is likely to have been deliberately consumed as food by the Iceman. All the available evidence concerning the Iceman's broad-based diet is reviewed and the significance of the colon contents for matters other than assessment of food intake is outlined

A SURVEY ON THE FRAUDULENT USE OF ANABOLIC SUBSTANCES IN BOVINES SLAUGHTERED IN MOLISE

An investigation has been performed on the fraudulent use of anabolic substances in the Region of Molise. One hundred fourty-four bovines (12-24 months old, 123 males and 21 females) have been included in the survey. Ante-mortem assessment on their behaviour and clinical analysis on some target organs were carried out. After slaughtering, samples of prostate, bulbo-urethral glands, Bartholin's glands, mammary gland, ovaries, thymus and thyroid were collected and processed for an anatomo-histopathological evaluation, as suggested in the guidelines of the Italian National Plan for Residues (PNR) 2009. Overall, the 15% of the subjects analysed have been classified as "suspect", whereas the 44% as "uncertain" and the remaining 59% as "negative". The lesion most frequently found was a serious atrophy of the thymic parenchyma with fat infiltration (15% of males and 14% of females), suggesting a prevalence of an illegal use of cortisonic drugs

New data processing of local heat transfer coefficient inside a rectangular channel

In this paper, we critically reconsider and discuss the models used in one of our previous work to calculate the local convective heat flux for forced air-flows inside narrow rectangular channel, in order to evaluate the limitations which may be inherent with them. To this end, several numerical FEM models have been developed in COMSOL™ and used to analyze in depth previous data processing procedures; furthermore, experimental tests are made on the channel materials, to determine their thermal conductivities and radiative properties. Here, the results of this analysis are presented and discussed