Making BP’s Blood Curd-Le: Duty, Economic Loss, and the Potential Cardozian Nightmare after Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer

The traditional economic loss rule precludes plaintiffs-such as those affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill-from recovering losses not resulting from damage to person or property. Most states have applied the rule to various circumstances and have carved out several exceptions over time, including one for commercial fishermen. In the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC, the court expanded the duty element in negligence to new reaches for claims of pure economic loss. As a result, Florida now unquestionably promises the greatest opportunity compared to the other Gulf states for recovery of pure economic losses due to the negligence of a polluter such as Mosaic Fertilizer or BP. The issue that remains unclear after Curd is whether and how far this newly stated duty will extend beyond commercial fishermen to parties such as distributors, restaurants, fisheries, and fish brokers. This Article provides a brief background of the pure economic loss rule and its application in Florida, pre- and post-Curd. The Article also provides the first in- depth analysis of the treatment of the pure economic loss rule in each of the Gulf states-Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas-as well as their applicable federal circuits. The analysis illustrates that Florida’s rule, following Curd, is the most amenable to plaintiffs. In the end, it is unclear just how far the holding in Curd may stretch or limit the economic loss rule in Florida and how much litigation will see the inside of a courthouse based on Curd’s precedent

Making BP’s Blood Curd-Le: Duty, Economic Loss, and the Potential Cardozian Nightmare after Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer

The traditional economic loss rule precludes plaintiffs-such as those affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill-from recovering losses not resulting from damage to person or property. Most states have applied the rule to various circumstances and have carved out several exceptions over time, including one for commercial fishermen. In the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Curd v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC, the court expanded the duty element in negligence to new reaches for claims of pure economic loss. As a result, Florida now unquestionably promises the greatest opportunity compared to the other Gulf states for recovery of pure economic losses due to the negligence of a polluter such as Mosaic Fertilizer or BP. The issue that remains unclear after Curd is whether and how far this newly stated duty will extend beyond commercial fishermen to parties such as distributors, restaurants, fisheries, and fish brokers. This Article provides a brief background of the pure economic loss rule and its application in Florida, pre- and post-Curd. The Article also provides the first in- depth analysis of the treatment of the pure economic loss rule in each of the Gulf states-Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas-as well as their applicable federal circuits. The analysis illustrates that Florida’s rule, following Curd, is the most amenable to plaintiffs. In the end, it is unclear just how far the holding in Curd may stretch or limit the economic loss rule in Florida and how much litigation will see the inside of a courthouse based on Curd’s precedent

Mutant Tau knock-in mice display frontotemporal dementia relevant behaviour and histopathology

Peer reviewedPostprin

Primordial Non-Gaussianity: Baryon Bias and Gravitational Collapse of Cosmic String Wakes

I compute the 3-D non-linear evolution of gas and dark matter fluids in the neighbourhood of cosmic string wakes which are formed at high redshift ($z\simeq 2240$) for a ``realistic'' scenario of wake formation. These wakes are the ones which stand out most prominently as cosmological sheets and are expected to play a dominant r\^ole in the cosmic string model of structure formation. Employing a high-resolution 3-D hydrodynamics code to evolve these wakes until the present day yields results for the baryon bias generated in the inner wake region. I find that today, wakes would be $1.5 h^{-1}$ Mpc thick and contain a 70% excess in the density of baryons over the dark matter density in their centre. However, high density peaks in the wake region do not inherit a baryon enhancement. I propose a mechanism for this erasure of the baryon excess in spherically collapsed objects based on the geometry change around the collapsing region. Further, I present heuristic arguments for the consequences of this work for large scale structure in the cosmic string model and conclude that the peculiarities of wake formation are unlikely to have significant import on the discrepancy between power spectrum predictions and observations in this model. If one invokes the nucleosynthesis bound on $\Omega_b$ this could be seen as strengthening the case against $\Omega_m=1$ or for low Hubble constants.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, prepared with the AASTeX package. Minor modifications, results unchanged. ApJ in press, scheduled for Vol. 50

Differential Effects of Lipid-lowering Drugs in Modulating Morphology of Cholesterol Particles.

Treatment of dyslipidemia patients with lipid-lowering drugs leads to a significant reduction in low-density lipoproteins (LDL) level and a low to moderate level of increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in plasma. However, a possible role of these drugs in altering morphology and distribution of cholesterol particles is poorly understood. Here, we describe the in vitro evaluation of lipid-lowering drug effects in modulating morphological features of cholesterol particles using the plaque array method in combination with imaging flow cytometry. Image analyses of the cholesterol particles indicated that lovastatin, simvastatin, ezetimibe, and atorvastatin induce the formation of both globular and linear strand-shaped particles, whereas niacin, fibrates, fluvastatin, and rosuvastatin induce the formation of only globular-shaped particles. Next, purified very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and LDL particles incubated with these drugs showed changes in the morphology and image texture of cholesterol particles subpopulations. Furthermore, screening of 50 serum samples revealed the presence of a higher level of linear shaped HDL cholesterol particles in subjects with dyslipidemia (mean of 18.3%) compared to the age-matched normal (mean of 11.1%) samples. We also observed considerable variations in lipid-lowering drug effects on reducing linear shaped LDL and HDL cholesterol particles formation in serum samples. These findings indicate that lipid-lowering drugs, in addition to their cell-mediated hypolipidemic effects, may directly modulate morphology of cholesterol particles by a non-enzymatic mechanism of action. The outcomes of these results have potential to inform diagnosis of atherosclerosis and predict optimal lipid-lowering therapy

Tuning Nanocrystal Surface Depletion by Controlling Dopant Distribution as a Route Toward Enhanced Film Conductivity

Electron conduction through bare metal oxide nanocrystal (NC) films is hindered by surface depletion regions resulting from the presence of surface states. We control the radial dopant distribution in tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) NCs as a means to manipulate the NC depletion width. We find in films of ITO NCs of equal overall dopant concentration that those with dopant-enriched surfaces show decreased depletion width and increased conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity data shows electron localization length increases and associated depletion width decreases monotonically with increased density of dopants near the NC surface. We calculate band profiles for NCs of differing radial dopant distributions and, in agreement with variable temperature conductivity fits, find NCs with dopant-enriched surfaces have narrower depletion widths and longer localization lengths than those with dopant-enriched cores. Following amelioration of NC surface depletion by atomic layer deposition of alumina, all films of equal overall dopant concentration have similar conductivity. Variable temperature conductivity measurements on alumina-capped films indicate all films behave as granular metals. Herein, we conclude that dopant-enriched surfaces decrease the near-surface depletion region, which directly increases the electron localization length and conductivity of NC films

Hydrothermal recycling of sedimentary ammonium into oceanic crust and the Archean ocean at 3.24 Ga

Funding was provided by a Natural Environment Research Council studentship (grant NE/R012253/1) to T.J. Boocock, and a National Science Foundation grant (grant EARPF 1725784) and an American Philosophical Society Lewis and Clark Grant, both to B.W. Johnson.The Archean ocean supported a diverse microbial ecosystem, yet studies suggest that seawater was largely depleted in many essential nutrients, including fixed nitrogen. This depletion was in part a consequence of inefficient nutrient recycling under anoxic conditions. Here, we show how hydrothermal fluids acted as a recycling mechanism for ammonium (NH4+) in the Archean ocean. We present elemental and stable isotope data for carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur from shales and hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks from the 3.24 Ga Panorama district in Western Australia. This suite documents the transfer of NH4+ from organic-rich sedimentary rocks into underlying sericitized dacite, similar to what is seen in hydrothermal systems today. On modern Earth, hydrothermal fluids that circulate through sediment packages are enriched in NH4+ to millimolar concentrations because they efficiently recycle organic-bound N. Our data show that a similar hydrothermal recycling process dates back to at least 3.24 Ga, and it may have resulted in localized centers of enhanced biological productivity around hydrothermal vents. Last, our data provide evidence that altered oceanic crust at 3.24 Ga was enriched in nitrogen, and, when subducted, it satisfies the elemental and isotopic source requirements for a low-N, but 15N-enriched, deep mantle nitrogen reservoir as sampled by mantle plumes.PostprintPeer reviewe

Concepts for Life Cycle Cost Control Required to Achieve Space Transportation Affordability and Sustainability

Cost control must be implemented through the establishment of requirements and controlled continually by managing to these requirements. Cost control of the non-recurring side of life cycle cost has traditionally been implemented in both commercial and government programs. The government uses the budget process to implement this control. The commercial approach is to use a similar process of allocating the non-recurring cost to major elements of the program. This type of control generally manages through a work breakdown structure (WBS) by defining the major elements of the program. If the cost control is to be applied across the entire program life cycle cost (LCC), the approach must be addressed very differently. A functional breakdown structure (FBS) is defined and recommended. Use of a FBS provides the visibifity to allow the choice of an integrated solution reducing the cost of providing many different elements of like function. The different functional solutions that drive the hardware logistics, quantity of documentation, operational labor, reliability and maintainability balance, and total integration of the entire system from DDT&E through the life of the program must be fully defined, compared, and final decisions made among these competing solutions. The major drivers of recurring cost have been identified and are presented and discussed. The LCC requirements must be established and flowed down to provide control of LCC. This LCC control will require a structured rigid process similar to the one traditionally used to control weight/performance for space transportation systems throughout the entire program. It has been demonstrated over the last 30 years that without a firm requirement and methodically structured cost control, it is unlikely that affordable and sustainable space transportation system LCC will be achieved

Treatment utilization and outcomes in elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal carcinoma: A review of the National Cancer Database

For elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer, therapeutic approaches and outcomes in a modern cohort are not well characterized. Patients ≥70 years old with clinical stage II and III esophageal cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2012 were identified from the National Cancer Database and stratified based on treatment type. Variables associated with treatment utilization were evaluated using logistic regression and survival evaluated using Cox proportional hazards analysis. Propensity matching (1:1) was performed to help account for selection bias. A total of 21,593 patients were identified. Median and maximum ages were 77 and 90, respectively. Treatment included palliative therapy (24.3%), chemoradiation (37.1%), trimodality therapy (10.0%), esophagectomy alone (5.6%), or no therapy (12.9%). Age ≥80 (OR 0.73), female gender (OR 0.81), Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score ≥2 (OR 0.82), and high-volume centers (OR 0.83) were associated with a decreased likelihood of palliative therapy versus no treatment. Age ≥80 (OR 0.79) and Clinical Stage III (OR 0.33) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 1.33) and nonacademic cancer centers (OR 3.9), an increased likelihood of esophagectomy alone compared to definitive chemoradiation. Age ≥80 (OR 0.15), female gender (OR 0.80), and non-Caucasian race (OR 0.63) were associated with a decreased likelihood, while adenocarcinoma histology (OR 2.10) and high-volume centers (OR 2.34), an increased likelihood of trimodality therapy compared to definitive chemoradiation. Each treatment type demonstrated improved survival compared to no therapy: palliative treatment (HR 0.49) to trimodality therapy (HR 0.25) with significance between all groups. Any therapy, including palliative care, was associated with improved survival; however, subsets of elderly patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer are less likely to receive aggressive therapy. Care should be taken to not unnecessarily deprive these individuals of treatment that may improve survival