Corporations - Shareholders - Power of the Majority to Ratify Director\u27s Fraud

Plaintiff, a stockholder in the Kroger Company, brought a derivative suit against a subsidiary of the company and certain officers and directors of both the parent and the subsidiary. It was alleged that . Kroger\u27s directors had fraudulently waived the company\u27s preemptive right to a new issue of stock of the subsidiary and had then purchased the shares for their own accounts at a price far below the market value. The defendants answered that the sale had been ratified by a majority in interest of disinterested stockholders to whom all the details of the transaction had been explained, and denied plaintiff\u27s right to bring a derivative suit without first having made a demand on the stockholders to take remedial action. The trial court dismissed the complaint and the court of appeals affirmed, holding that although a majority could not ratify a director\u27s fraud over the objection of any of the stockholders, the plaintiff nevertheless lacked standing to sue without having made a prior demand on the stockholders. On appeal, held, affirmed as modified, one judge dissenting. A demand on the stockholders was a prerequisite to bringing the suit, because a majority in interest of the stockholders have the power to ratify the director\u27s fraud so long as the ratification is by disinterested stockholders and there is no fraud in obtaining their vote. Claman v. Robertson, 164 Ohio St. 61, 128 N.E. (2d) 429 (1955)

Criminal Law - Trial - Duty of Judge to Instruct on Lesser and Included Crimes

Appellant was one of four defendants who were charged in three separate counts of an indictment with the crimes of attempted robbery in the first degree, attempted grand larceny in the first degree, and assault in the second degree with intent to commit robbery and grand larceny. After all the evidence had been entered, the trial judge submitted only the count of attempted robbery to the jury, instructing them that they return a verdict of guilty or not guilty of that crime. The defense excepted to the court\u27s refusal to submit the other counts charged in the indictment. The defendant was found guilty of attempted robbery, and the verdict was affirmed by the appellate division. On appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, held, affirmed, three judges dissenting. The court is required only to instruct on a lesser or included crime when there is some basis in the evidence for finding the accused innocent of the larger crime and guilty of the lesser one. People v. Mussenden, 308 N. Y. 558, 127 N.E. (2d) 551 (1955)

Constitutional Law - Privilege Against Self-Incrimination -Effect of Immunity Statute

Petitioner was brought before a federal grand jury and questioned as to his and other persons\u27 membership in the Communist Party. After petitioner refused to answer the questions on the ground that the answers would be self-incriminating and therefore his refusal was privileged under the Fifth Amendment, the United States attorney, proceeding under the provisions of the Immunity Act of 1954, filed an application in the United States district court requesting that petitioner be required to answer the questions. The district court, upholding the constitutionality of the act, ordered petitioner to answer the questions, and petitioner\u27s appeal from this order was dismissed by the court of appeals. Upon petitioner\u27s stipulated refusal to answer the questions, the district court held him in contempt and sentenced him to six months\u27 imprisonment unless he should purge himself of the contempt. The court of appeals affirmed. On certiorari to the Supreme Court, held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. The intent of the Fifth Amendment was to prevent the government from forcing a person to testify to matters which would make him liable for criminal prosecution. Once the threat of criminal prosecution is removed, the purpose of the amendment has been served and the witness has no right to refuse to testify. Ullmann v. United States, 350 U.S. 422 (1956)

Future Interests - Possibilities of Reverter - Constitutionality of Retroactive Limitation

The township school trustees brought actions under the Reverter Act to have the possibilities of reverter contained in the deeds to two currently unused school tracts declared invalid. In each case the trial court held that the possibility of reverter was alienable and that the Reverter Act was unconstitutional, being an ex post facto law and in violation of the due process clauses of the state and federal Constitutions. On appeal, held, reversed. Since possibilities of reverter in Illinois are merely expectancies subject to change, modification, or abolition by legislative action, the act does not result in an unconstitutional taking of property. Trustees of Schools of Township No. 1 v. Batdorf, 6 Ill. (2d) 486, 130 N.E. (2d) 11 I (1955)

Protective immunity against influenza in pigs

Swine influenza is a highly contagious acute viral disease of the respiratory tract in pigs, which is prevalent world-wide. The disease causes considerable economic damage primarily due to reduced weight gain in finishing pigs and reduced reproductive performance of sows. In addition, influenza is a zoonotic disease, because swine influenza viruses can transmit to, and cause disease in people, and pigs can be a source of new human influenza strains. Moreover, antigenic drift of the swine influenza A H3N2 viruses in the Netherlands and Belgium was demonstrated and a replacement of this strain by a more recent swine H3N2 virus in swine vaccines has been recommended. In this thesis, research is described in which the protection conferred by current swine influenza vaccines was evaluated and possible improvements to influenza vaccines were studied. A current commercial split virus in oil adjuvant vaccine was shown to be efficacious in protecting pigs against a drift variant of H3N2 in a vaccination-challenge experiment. Therefore, there does not yet seem to be an urgent need for the virus strains to be replaced by more recent strains. The swine vaccine may confer a broader protection than human sub-unit vaccines possibly because of the presence of the other viral proteins in addition to the HA and NA, and of the adjuvant. Because the variability of the HA and NA are a major problem in vaccinating pigs and humans against influenza, immune responses to other more conserved proteins were studied. Antibodies to the highly conserved extracellular domain of M2 and cytotoxic T cells (CTL) to the NP seemed to be involved in broad-spectrum protection in pigs after infection, but are not induced by current vaccines. However, an experimental vaccine that induced those effectors, and no antibodies to the HA and NA, enhanced instead of prevented clinical signs after viral challenge. This indicates that those effectors can even exacerbate disease, when induced parenterally and/or if other effectors are absent. Therefore, although including conserved antigens in vaccines and enhancing the response against them could broaden protection, caution must be exercised to make sure they do not enhance disease after vaccination with novel generations of vaccines. Successive intranasal vaccination with an attenuated H1N1 strain and an H3N2 strain will specifically induce mucosal subtype cross-reactive IgA and IgG antibodies, as well as CTL. Although such drastic vaccination strategies are not applicable to pigs they might be applied as a strategy of immunisation in case a next human pandemic is feared. A broad-spectrum vaccine, which can be applied intramuscular would be ideal but as long as such a vaccine cannot be developed, extensive influenza surveillance and regular updating of vaccine strains will remain necessary

NASA Space applications of high-temperature superconductors

The application of superconducting technology in space has been limited by the requirement of cooling to near liquid helium temperatures. The only means of obtaining these temperatures has been with cryogenic fluids which severely limit mission lifetime. The development of materials with superconducting transition temperatures above 77 K has made superconducting technology more attractive and feasible for employment in aerospace systems. Here, potential applications of high temperature superconducting technology in cryocoolers, remote sensing, communications, and power systems are discussed

Microglial Priming and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Possible Role for (Early) Immune Challenges and Epigenetics?

Neuroinflammation is thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis that is, to a large extent, mediated by microglia. Given the tight interaction between the immune system and the brain, peripheral immune challenges can profoundly affect brain function. Indeed, both preclinical and clinical studies have indicated that an aberrant inflammatory response can elicit behavioral impairments and cognitive deficits, especially when the brain is in a vulnerable state, e.g. during early development, as a result of aging, or under disease conditions like AD. However, how exactly peripheral immune challenges affect brain function and whether this is mediated by aberrant microglial functioning remains largely elusive. In this review, we hypothesize that; 1) systemic immune challenges occurring during vulnerable periods of life can increase the propensity to induce later cognitive dysfunction and accelerate AD pathology, and 2) that 'priming' of microglial cells is instrumental in mediating this vulnerability. We highlight how microglia can be primed by both neonatal infections as well as by aging, two periods of life during which microglial activity is known to be specifically upregulated. Lasting changes in (the ratios of) specific microglial phenotypes can result in an exaggerated pro-inflammatory cytokine response to subsequent inflammatory challenges. While the resulting changes in brain function are initially transient, a continued and/or excess release of such pro-inflammatory cytokines can activate various downstream cellular cascades known to be relevant for AD. Finally, we discuss microglial priming and the aberrant microglial response as potential target for treatment strategies for AD

Etude des plaques de Peyer de l'intestin du souriceau nouveau-né comme voie possible de pénétration du virus du cancer mammaire de la souris (MMTV)

Peer reviewe

Scientists' warning on climate change and insects

Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human-mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.</p

Repeatability, and Intra-Observer and Interobserver Agreement of Two Dimensional Perfusion Angiography in Patients with Chronic Limb Threatening Ischaemia

Objective. Two dimensional (2D) perfusion angiography is a method that provides quantitative foot perfusion information from standard digital subtraction angiography acquisitions. The aim of this study was to test the reliability of this method in patients with chronic limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI) by investigating repeatability, and intra-observer and interobserver agreement. Methods: Twenty patients with CLTI and a below the knee endovascular revascularisation were included in a prospective clinical study. Prior to treatment two perfusion angiography runs were acquired with a five minute interval without performing an intervention. In these recordings, regions of interest were selected and time density curves and perfusion parameters were determined. To investigate intra-observer agreement one observer performed five measurements on the same acquisition for each patient. To investigate interobserver agreement three observers performed measurements on the same acquisition for each patient. Results were presented in Bland-Altman plots and as the intraclass correlation coefficient per parameter. Results: Two patients were excluded from repeatability analyses because of major motion artefacts. Repeatability analyses of the 18 remaining patients showed excellent correlation for every parameter (> .96). Intra-observer and interobserver agreement for all 20 patients were excellent for all parameters (1.00). Conclusion: Repeatability and intra-observer and interobserver agreement of 2D perfusion angiography in patients with CLTI were found to be excellent. It is therefore a reliable tool when used according to the standardised methods described in this study