Mapping Global Status and Trends in Patent Activity for Biological and Genetic Material

The extension of intellectual property rights into the realm of biology has emerged as an increasing focus of controversy in relation to science,2 biodiversity,3 agriculture,4 health,5 development,6 human rights7 and trade.8 This paper presents the results of a review of international trends in activity for patent protection between 1990-2000 and provisional data to 2004 and 2005 from over 70 national patent offices, four regional patent offices and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) using the European Patent Office esp@cenet worldwide database.9 The review employed patent publication counts as an indicator of activity for traditional medicines, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and biotechnology. The research provides insights into the internationalisation of patent activity in multiple areas of biology. The review emphasises the need to combine the further development of quantitative methods with qualitative analysis of the implications of international patent activity in relation to biological and genetic material for science, society and policy

A Note on SAP pH in Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus Virginiana L.)

Twelve eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) trees were sampled for the sap pH of the sapwood at three locations along the bole and one location on the roots. Soil pH measurements were taken at each tree site for comparison with sap pH. Sap pH was positively correlated with soil pH. A regression model using mean soil pH as the independent variable accounted for 71% of the variation of the mean sap pH. There was a decreasing gradient in sap pH from crown to stump

X-ray Scattering and X-ray Diffraction Techniques in Studies of Gamma-Irradiated Wood

X-ray scattering and diffraction techniques were used to evaluate degradation of oak wood by gamma radiation. Samples were exposed to 650, 950, and 1,900 Megarads radiation. Chemical analyses (lignin, extractives, and holocellulose content) and density measurements were made on the irradiated samples. Results indicate that cellulose crystallinity was reduced with increasing irradiation and is destroyed at a dosage of 1,900 Megarads. Small-angle X-ray scattering studies were clarified by the use of these additional analytical methods

Distributions and abundances of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) and other pelagic fishes in the California Current Ecosystem during spring 2006, 2008, and 2010, estimated from acoustic–trawl surveys

The abundances and distributions of coastal pelagic fish species in the California Current Ecosystem from San Diego to southern Vancouver Island, were estimated from combined acoustic and trawl surveys conducted in the spring of 2006, 2008, and 2010. Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax), jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus), and Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus) were the dominant coastal pelagic fish species, in that order. Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax) and Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were sampled only sporadically and therefore estimates for these species were unreliable. The estimates of sardine biomass compared well with those of the annual assessments and confirmed a declining trajectory of the “northern stock” since 2006. During the sampling period, the biomass of jack mackerel was stable or increasing, and that of Pacific mackerel was low and variable. The uncertainties in these estimates are mostly the result of spatial patchiness which increased from sardine to mackerels to anchovy and herring. Future surveys of coastal pelagic fish species in the California Current Ecosystem should benefit from adaptive sampling based on modeled habitat; increased echosounder and trawl sampling, particularly for the most patchy and nearshore species; and directed-trawl sampling for improved species identification and estimations of their acoustic target stre

Inorganic Concentrations in the Wood of Eastern Redcedar Grown on Different Sites

Samples of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) growing on soils derived from five parent materials—rhyolite, dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and chert—were analyzed for levels of inorganics in sapwood and heartwood. Eighteen elements were detected in sapwood using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Neutron activation analysis was also used to determine concentrations of an additional six elements in heartwood. No difference was found between results obtained by the two analytical methods. Conventional wet chemistry techniques were used to determine nitrogen and sulfur concentrations in some samples

Freezing of Water in Hardboard: Absence of Changes in Mechanical Properties

One-eighth-inch dry process and two species mixes of 7/16 in. wet process hardboard roofings plus 1/8 in. dry process and 7/16 in. wet process standard hardboards were examined using differential thermal analysis to ascertain the maximum moisture content that exterior hardboard could attain without exhibiting significant freezing. All samples with moisture contents greater than ≈20% exhibited high temperature freezing near - 10 C. Additionally, dry process materials with moisture contents near or above 30% had a distinct low temperature freezing event near -35 C. Integration of the area under the freezing curves indicated that ≈ 3% of the water contained in these samples froze at low temperature. During thawing, this fraction of water melted above -10 C. This type of thermal hysteresis is characteristic of the freeze/thaw behavior expected for supercooled water. Mechanical strength tests performed on dry process (4.1 and 41.1% moisture content) and wet process (4.4 and 34.3% moisture content) standard hardboard exposed to freeze/thaw cycling to -50 C revealed no consistent changes in the modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, tensile strength parallel to surface, or internal bond strength

Reading sentences of uniform word length II: very rapid adaptation of the preferred saccade length

In the current study we investigated whether readers adjust their preferred saccade length (PSL) during reading on a trial-by-trial basis. The PSL refers to the distance between a saccade launch site and saccade target (i.e., the word center during reading) when participants neither undershoot nor overshoot this target (McConkie, Kerr, Reddix, & Zola, 1988). The tendency for saccades longer or shorter than the PSL to under or overshoot their target is referred to as the range error. Recent research by Cutter, Drieghe, and Liversedge (2017) has shown that the PSL changes to be shorter when readers are presented with thirty consecutive sentences exclusively made of three letter words, and longer when presented with thirty consecutive sentences exclusively made of five letter words. We replicated and extended this work by this time presenting participants with these uniform sentences in an unblocked design. We found that adaptation still occurred across different sentence types despite participants only having one trial to adapt. Our analyses suggested that this effect was driven by the length of the words readers were making saccades away from, rather than the length of the words in the rest of the sentence. We propose an account of the range error in which readers use parafoveal word length information to estimate the length of a saccade between the centre of two parafoveal words (termed the Centre-Based Saccade Length) prior to landing on the first of these words

La pobreza en Cartagena: un análisis por barrios

En el presente documento se hace un análisis descriptivo de la pobreza urbana enCartagena. El tema se aborda desde dos perspectivas. En la primera, se analiza lapobreza desagregada por los barrios que conforman la cabecera municipal deCartagena. En la segunda, se realiza una comparación de la situaciónsocioeconómica de los habitantes de Cartagena con la de las principales ciudades deColombia. Vale la pena mencionar que este trabajo es pionero no sólo en Cartagenasino en Colombia, en cuanto al nivel de división por barrios al que se analizanindicadores socioeconómicos, tales como la pobreza, el ingreso, los logroseducativos, la migración y el autorreconocimiento racial. Dentro de los principalesresultados se comprobó una focalización espacial de la pobreza en sectoresespecíficos de la ciudad, tales como las laderas del Cerro de la Popa y los barriosaledaños a la Ciénaga de la Virgen. En estas zonas de la ciudad se concentra no sólola población más pobre sino la de menores logros educativos. Otro resultadointeresante, y que está acorde con la literatura internacional, es que en los barrioscartageneros de mayor pobreza existe también una alta proporción de habitantes quese autorreconocen de raza negra.Pobreza urbana, Cartagena, economía regional y urbana

Mothers of Soldiers in Wartime: A National News Narrative

National news media represent mothers of US combat soldiers in the Iraq War as archetypal good mothers, that is, mothers who continue their maternal work even after their children are deployed. However, not all mothers are depicted as the archetypal patriotic mother, i.e., a good mother who is also stoic and silent about the war and her child\u27s role in it. Mothers of soldiers are portrayed as good mothers who sometimes also voice their attitudes about the war effort. The maternal attitudes ranged from complete support for the war to opposition to the war but support for the soldiers. The findings suggest a picture of wartime motherhood that is more nuanced than the historical image of the patriotic mother suggests

Evidence for donor strand complementation in the biogenesis of Haemophilus influenzae haemagglutinating pili

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73758/1/j.1365-2958.2000.01816.x.pd