2003-2004 Survey of International Law in the Second: Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

In Abrams v. Societe Nationale des Chemis de Fer Francais, 332 F .3d 173 (2002), plaintiff brought suit this individually and on behalf of other Holocaust victims and such heirs against the French International Railroad, Societe Nationale des Chemis de Fer Francais [hereinafter SNCF] for actions arising out of the operation of trains which transferred thousands of French civilians to Nazi concentration camps. The allegation stated that SNCF violated customary international law by committing crimes against humanity and acts of war crimes

2003-2004 Survey of International Law in the Second: International Money Laundering Statue

In United States v. Dinero Express, Inc., the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was required to decide whether the remittance scheme, viewed as an entire process, qualifies as transfer under § 1956(a), despite the fact no money was wired from the United States to the Dominican Republic. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court\u27s holding stating that the actions of defendant qualified as a transfer

Loss of Carotenoid Plumage Coloration Is Associated With Loss of Choice for Coloration in Domestic Canaries

Understanding the evolution of mating display traits and preferences for them is a major aim of behavioral and evolutionary ecology. However, isolating the specific traits used as mate choice criteria and the possible genetic underpinnings of both trait and preference has proven difficult, particularly in natural systems offering little experimental control over key variables. In this study, we used discrete color morphs of otherwise phenotypically identical domestic canaries (Serinus canaria) in a mate choice apparatus to test whether breeding-condition female canaries show preference for males of varying color phenotypes (yellow, white, red, or wild-type green), using spatial association as a proxy for choice. We also used synthesized vocal recordings to examine whether females in our population exhibited mate choice for song characteristics, as has been demonstrated in this species. Contrary to previous study, we found that neither white nor yellow females in our colony showed any preference for males associated with songs of differing quality, and yellow females also did not prefer supernormal red or wild-type green males over yellow males. However, yellow—but not white—females demonstrated a preference to associate with yellow males over white males. We hypothesize that preference for brightly colored mates is ancestral in domestic canaries, but that strong artificial selection for white females to reproduce successfully with white males has eliminated the preference for color (along with color itself) in the white canaries

Gold amides as anticancer drugs: synthesis and activity studies

Modular gold amide chemotherapeutics: Access to modern chemotherapeutics with robust and flexible synthetic routes that are amenable to extensive customisation is a key requirement in drug synthesis and discovery. A class of chiral gold amide complexes featuring amino acid derived ligands is reported herein. They all exhibit in vitro cytotoxicity against two slow growing breast cancer cell lines with limited toxicity towards normal epithelial cells

Detection and Identification of Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli, and Shigella spp. via PCR-ESI-MS: Isolate Testing and Analysis of Food Samples

An assay to identify the common food-borne pathogens Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Shigella, and Listeria monocytogenes was developed in collaboration with Ibis Biosciences (a division of Abbott Molecular) for the Plex-ID biosensor system, a platform that uses electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) to detect the base composition of short PCR amplicons. The new food-borne pathogen (FBP) plate has been experimentally designed using four gene segments for a total of eight amplicon targets. Initial work built a DNA base count database that contains more than 140 Salmonella enterica, 139 E. coli, 11 Shigella, and 36 Listeria patterns and 18 other Enterobacteriaceae organisms. This assay was tested to determine the scope of the assay\u27s ability to detect and differentiate the enteric pathogens and to improve the reference database associated with the assay. More than 800 bacterial isolates of S. enterica, E. coli, and Shigella species were analyzed. Overall, 100% of S. enterica, 99% of E. coli, and 73% of Shigella spp. were detected using this assay. The assay was also able to identify 30% of the S. enterica serovars to the serovar level. To further characterize the assay, spiked food matrices and food samples collected during regulatory field work were also studied. While analysis of preenrichment media was inconsistent, identification of S. enterica from selective enrichment media resulted in serovar-level identifications for 8 of 10 regulatory samples. The results of this study suggest that this high-throughput method may be useful in clinical and regulatory laboratories testing for these pathogens

Home sweet home: spatiotemporal distribution and site fidelity of the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) in Dungonab Bay, Sudan

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Knochel, A. M., Hussey, N. E., Kessel, S. T., Braun, C. D., Cochran, J. E. M., Hill, G., Klaus, R., Checkchak, T., Elamin El Hassen, N. M., Younnis, M., & Berumen, M. L. Home sweet home: spatiotemporal distribution and site fidelity of the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) in Dungonab Bay, Sudan. Movement Ecology, 10(1), (2022): 22, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-022-00314-9.Background Reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) populations along the Northeastern African coastline are poorly studied. Identifying critical habitats for this species is essential for future research and conservation efforts. Dungonab Bay and Mukkawar Island National Park (DMNP), a component of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sudan, hosts the largest known M. alfredi aggregation in the Red Sea. Methods A total of 19 individuals were tagged using surgically implanted acoustic tags and tracked within DMNP on an array of 15 strategically placed acoustic receivers in addition to two offshore receivers. Two of these acoustically monitored M. alfredi were also equipped with satellite linked archival tags and one individual was fitted with a satellite transmitting tag. Together, these data are used to describe approximately two years of residency and seasonal shifts in habitat use. Results Tagged individuals were detected within the array on 96% of monitored days and recorded an average residence index of 0.39 across all receivers. Detections were recorded throughout the year, though some individuals were absent from the receiver array for weeks or months at a time, and generalized additive mixed models showed a clear seasonal pattern in presence with the highest probabilities of detection occurring in boreal fall. The models indicated that M. alfredi presence was highly correlated with increasing chlorophyll-a levels and weakly correlated with the full moon. Modeled biological factors, including sex and wingspan, had no influence on animal presence. Despite the high residency suggested by acoustic telemetry, satellite tag data and offshore acoustic detections in Sanganeb Atoll and Suedi Pass recorded individuals moving up to 125 km from the Bay. However, all these individuals were subsequently detected in the Bay, suggesting a strong degree of site fidelity at this location. Conclusions The current study adds to growing evidence that M. alfredi are highly resident and site-attached to coastal bays and lagoons but display seasonal shifts in habitat use that are likely driven by resource availability. This information can be used to assist in managing and supporting sustainable ecotourism within the DMNP, part of a recently designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.This research was supported by The Deep Aquarium (Grant # 00176; http://www.thedeep.co.uk) and The Darwin Initiative (Grant # 21–019; http://www.gov.uk/government/groups/the-darwin-initiative) in addition to baseline funding from MLB