\u3ci\u3eMarkman\u3c/i\u3e Twenty Years Later: Twenty Years of Unintended Consequences

The Federal Circuit’s Markman decision removed juries from the claim interpretation process, thereby revolutionizing patent law. Designed to provide greater certainty and predictability, Markman nevertheless produced unintended consequences, increasing ambiguity and complexity. By declaring claim interpretation an entirely legal issue, the Federal Circuit imposed intricate and even contradictory rules, many resulting from the Federal Circuit’s long insistence that no issues of fact existed, so that claim construction was entirely subject to de novo review. The uncertainty was compounded by rules focused on semantic quibbles unrelated to what was invented. Increased burdens and continuing uncertainty followed

All change: protein conformation and the ubiquitination reaction cascade

The structures of enzymes that collectively modify proteins by covalent addition of ubiquitin-like protein moieties have provided significant insights into the regulatory pathways they compose and have highlighted the importance of protein flexibility for the mechanism and regulation of the ubiquitination reaction

Asymmetries in Accessing Vowel Representations Are Driven by Phonological and Acoustic Properties: Neural and Behavioral Evidence From Natural German Minimal Pairs

In vowel discrimination, commonly found discrimination patterns are directional asymmetries where discrimination is faster (or easier) if differing vowels are presented in a certain sequence compared to the reversed sequence. Different models of speech sound processing try to account for these asymmetries based on either phonetic or phonological properties. In this study, we tested and compared two of those often-discussed models, namely the Featurally Underspecified Lexicon (FUL) model (Lahiri and Reetz, 2002) and the Natural Referent Vowel (NRV) framework (Polka and Bohn, 2011). While most studies presented isolated vowels, we investigated a large stimulus set of German vowels in a more naturalistic setting within minimal pairs. We conducted an mismatch negativity (MMN) study in a passive and a reaction time study in an active oddball paradigm. In both data sets, we found directional asymmetries that can be explained by either phonological or phonetic theories. While behaviorally, the vowel discrimination was based on phonological properties, both tested models failed to explain the found neural patterns comprehensively. Therefore, we additionally examined the influence of a variety of articulatory, acoustical, and lexical factors (e.g., formant structure, intensity, duration, and frequency of occurrence) but also the influence of factors beyond the well-known (perceived loudness of vowels, degree of openness) in depth via multiple regression analyses. The analyses revealed that the perceptual factor of perceived loudness has a greater impact than considered in the literature and should be taken stronger into consideration when analyzing preattentive natural vowel processing

Tuning and Locking the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances of CuS (Covellite) Nanocrystals by an Amorphous CuPdxS Shell

[Image: see text] We demonstrate the stabilization of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in a semiconductor-based core–shell heterostructure made of a plasmonic CuS core embedded in an amorphous-like alloyed CuPd(x)S shell. This heterostructure is prepared by reacting the as-synthesized CuS nanocrystals (NCs) with Pd(2+) cations at room temperature in the presence of an electron donor (ascorbic acid). The reaction starts from the surface of the CuS NCs and proceeds toward the center, causing reorganization of the initial lattice and amorphization of the covellite structure. According to density functional calculations, Pd atoms are preferentially accommodated between the bilayer formed by the S–S covalent bonds, which are therefore broken, and this can be understood as the first step leading to amorphization of the particles upon insertion of the Pd(2+) ions. The position and intensity in near-infrared LSPRs can be tuned by altering the thickness of the shell and are in agreement with the theoretical optical simulation based on the Mie–Gans theory and Drude model. Compared to the starting CuS NCs, the amorphous CuPd(x)S shell in the core–shell nanoparticles makes their plasmonic response less sensitive to a harsh oxidation environment (generated, for example, by the presence of I(2))

Vies moyennes de niveaux de 53Mn excités par la réaction 50Cr (α, pγ)53Mn

Les propriétés électromagnétiques du noyau 53Mn sont étudiées à l'aide de la réaction 50Cr(α, pγ)53Mn à Eα = 14,5 MeV. Les rayonnements γ sont détectés en coïncidence avec les groupes de protons observés à l'aide d'un détecteur annulaire placé à 180° dans l'axe du faisceau. Des rapports d'embranchement de transitions γ sont donnés. La méthode d'atténuation de l'effet Doppler a été utilisée pour déduire les vies moyennes : niveau de 3,42 MeV, τ = 1,0 +0,6-0,4 ps ; niveau de 3,44 MeV, τ = 0,13 +0,05-0,04ps ; niveau de 4,15 MeV, τ = 0,07 ± 0,02 ps. Pour les niveaux à Ex < 3 MeV nos valeurs de τ sont en accord avec des résultats obtenus ailleurs. Pour le niveau de 3,44 MeV nous déduisons Jπ = 15/2- sans ambiguïté. Certaines probabilités de transitions B(M1) et B(E2) sont déterminées et comparées aux prédictions des modèles récents