Sarbanes Oxley Act

This honors project essay summarizes the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOA), a law that requires all publicly-traded companies to report internal accounting controls to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Certain provisions of the act apply to private companies as well. This essay examines the history of the act, what led to its implementation, and the effects of the act thus far

Is This the End of FTC Restitution and Disgorgement Under Section 13(b)?

This note argues that the Seventh Circuit’s deviation from years of precedent in FTC v. Credit Bureau is an improper interpretation of Supreme Court precedent. For decades, Section 13(b) has allowed the Federal Trade Commission to be able to pursue equitable monetary orders in the form of restitution and disgorgement as ancillary relief to permanent injunctions. The Seventh Circuit put an abrupt end to these powers relying on Supreme Court precedent that has never been used in this manner. If this circuit split continues to exist, it will create a great disparity in the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to bring enforcement actions against those who have wronged consumers and potentially impacts other federal agencies. This Seventh Circuit precedent must be reversed in order to preserve fairness in the marketplace and ensure consumers can be quickly and fully redressed when wrongful acts are committed

Building up a Community by Empowering Disadvantaged Youth

When you enter the grounds of Marin County Community School (MCCS), you see security patrolling the premises. The students may be on probation, house arrest, or have general behavior issues deemed unfit for regular public school. High-risk youth in Marin County generally are referred to MCCS, an alternative education facility, in hopes of providing the student a second chance to earn a high school diploma and a better future. MCCS, located in San Rafael, California provides an educational program geared towards intensive instruction in English/Language Arts and Mathematics with a focus on developing pro-social skills through the integration of services that address an array of issues such as mental health, aggression, substance abuse, and occupational programs. MCCS partners with many social behavior programs in order to establish a better learning environment. Education for all is a pressing issue in Marin County. When my English professor, Caroline Hanssen, notified me she would be teaching a service-learning course in the upcoming spring 2013 semester pertaining to this ideal, I eagerly signed up. This incredible opportunity that Dominican University of California presented me incorporated relevant classroom curricula about education inequity, college access, and disadvantaged youth with the chance to mentor at an alternative education school in order to learn first-hand about all these problems in today’s education system. By establishing the criteria and expectations in the classroom, students can enter adulthood better educated and socially versed to uphold community well bein

PCR primers for an aldolase-B intron in acanthopterygian fishes

BACKGROUND: Nuclear DNA sequences provide genetic information that complements studies using mitochondrial DNA. Some 'universal' primer sets have been developed that target introns within protein-coding loci, but many simultaneously amplify introns from paralogous loci. Refining existing primer sets to target a single locus could circumvent this problem. RESULTS: Aldolase intron 'G' was amplified from four fish species using previously described primer sets that target several loci indiscriminately. Phylogenetic analyses were used to group these fragments and other full-length aldolase proteins from teleost fishes into orthologous clades and a primer set was designed to target specifically an intron within the aldolase-B locus in acanthopterygian fishes. DNA amplifications were tried in a variety of acanthopterygian fishes and amplification products, identifiable as aldolase-B intron 'G', were observed in all atherinomorph and percomorph taxa examined. Sequence variation within this locus was found within and among several species examined. CONCLUSIONS: Using 'universal' primer sets coupled with phylogenetic analyses it was possible to develop a genetic assay to target a specific locus in a variety of fish taxa. Sequence variation was observed within and among species suggesting that this targeted assay might facilitate interspecific and intraspecific comparisons

Molecular networks controlling leaf cell differentiation during drought stress in Brachypodium distachyon

An important challenge for today agriculture is to intensify worldwide cereal production in a sustainable manner in order to respond to the increasing food demand. Food production is limited mainly by biotic and abiotic stress and in particular by drought stress, the most common environmental factor affecting plant growth worldwide. For these reasons, the understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms involved in plant response during drought stresses is crucial for developing improved crop varieties better adapted to limiting environments. Brachypodium distachyon (Bd), a drought-tolerant wild grass, is an interesting model species to deeply study the molecular mechanisms involved in drought-stress response. With this aim, in this study a reproducible soil assay to subject Bd to drought stress was applied, which resulted in a drastically leaf size reduction. This effect was mainly caused by a reduction in cell expansion instead of a reduction of cell proliferation, underlining the insensitivity of the meristem to drought stress. Starting from this drastic phenotypic effect, the project, using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) data provides a description of the molecular networks activated in response to drought, focusing on three different developmental zones (proliferation, expansion, and mature cells) of the third young developing Brachypodium leaf. More specifically, in order to investigate the mechanisms controlling leaf growth reduction during drought, the third emerging leaf was dissected in the three developmental zones and each zone was subjected to whole transcriptome analysis based on NGS. Eighteen libraries were sequenced, i.e. 3 cell types of leaf grown in control and drought condition, considering 3 biological replicates. Bioinformatics tools and statistical analyses were applied to NGS data, showing that distinct leaf cell zones respond differently to drought treatment. Moreover, the integration of mRNA-Seq data with small RNA-Seq data, previously produced by the lab, allowed to investigate the link between microRNAs and their putative target genes

Tax collection in the light of the principle of proportionality

La riscossione è la fase in cui si realizza pienamente quella tensione tra l'interesse fiscale al recupero del tributo e le esigenze di tutela dell'integrità patrimoniale del contribuente. Rilievo fondamentale assume, pertanto, il procedimento di recupero ed i principi che lo disciplinano. Tra questi principi, svolge un ruolo capitale il principio di proporzionalità, che da principio comune agli ordinamenti è divenuto principio europeo, oggetto di una pluriennale giurisprudenza della Corte di Giustizia. Nel presente lavoro si darà dunque conto della rilevanza di tale principio, muovendo da tre quesiti fondamentali: il sindacato di proporzionalità è limitato ai soli tributi armonizzati oppure è estensibile ad ogni tipologia di tributo? Tale sindacato è ammissibile in una fase, quale quella di riscossione, notoriamente vincolata alle risultanze della fase di accertamento? Quali sono i confini del controllo di proporzionalità, nel procedimento esattoriale? Al termine dell'esposizione, si combineranno le tre risposte, sino a giungere alla significativa valorizzazione del sindacato di proporzionalità che la giurisprudenza nazionale compie nello scrutinio di legittimità degli atti della riscossione coattiva.Tax collection and the compulsory collection procedure cause an inherent tension between “tax interest” and the particular needs of taxpayer protection. Consequently, the principle of proportionality is central to regulate these procedures. The present work will set out the development of the “proportionality test”, as a common principle and, subsequently, as an Euopean principle. The main aspects addressed are three: 1) “proportionality test” and non harmonised tax regimes; 2) “proportionality test” and non-discretionary administrative proceedings; 3) “proportionality test” and forced expropriation. The aim of this work is to increase the proportionality principle in the light of the national case-law

Observations of a Feeding Aggregation of Whale Sharks, Rhincodon typus, in the North Central Gulf of Mexico

On 26 June 2006 an aggregation of 16 whale sharks was observed for a period of 4 hr in the north central Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The sharks remained within an area about 1.0 km2 in size and continuously ram filter fed at the surface. Visual analysis of a plankton sample collected from the study site revealed the presence of copious amounts of fish eggs in mid-embryonic development and a minor amount of other zooplankton. A second plankton sample (control) collected about 3.5 km from the study site in an area where no whale sharks were present contained few eggs, however other zooplankton were similar to the study site sample in species composition and abundance. Two egg morphs were identified, and samples of one of the morphs, which represented 98% of the eggs at the study site, were verified by genetic analysis as little tunny, Euthynnus alleteratus. The observed feeding behavior and the abundance of fish eggs at the study site indicated the whale sharks were feeding on recently spawned little tunny eggs. This represents the first confirmed observation of a feeding aggregation of whale sharks in the GOM

Investigation of the transcriptomic and metabolic changes associated with superficial scald physiology impaired by lovastatin and 1-methylcyclopropene in pear fruit (cv. “Blanquilla”)

To elucidate the physiology underlying the development of superficial scald in pears, susceptible “Blanquilla” fruit was treated with different compounds that either promoted (ethylene) or repressed (1-methylcyclopropene and lovastatin) the incidence of this disorder after 4 months of cold storage. Our data show that scald was negligible for the fruit treated with 1-methylcyclopropene or lovastatin, but highly manifested in untreated (78% incidence) or ethylene-treated fruit (97% incidence). The comparison between the fruit metabolomic profile and transcriptome evidenced a distinct reprogramming associated with each treatment. In all treated samples, cold storage led to an activation of a cold-acclimation-resistance mechanism, including the biosynthesis of very-long-chain fatty acids, which was especially evident in 1-methylcyclopropane-treated fruit. Among the treatments applied, only 1-methylcyclopropene inhibited ethylene production, hence supporting the involvement of this hormone in the development of scald. However, a common repression effect on the PPO gene combined with higher sorbitol content was found for both lovastatin and 1-methylcyclopropene-treated samples, suggesting also a non-ethylene-mediated process preventing the development of this disorder. The results presented in this work represent a step forward to better understand the physiological mechanisms governing the etiology of superficial scald in pears.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio