On Measuring the Expertise of Patent-Pilot Judges: Encouraging Enhancement of Claim-Construction Uniformity, 12 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 309 (2013)

A Pilot Program to “encourage enhancement of expertise” in patent cases among district judges recently got underway in the federal courts. The program is designed to funnel patent cases to judges who volunteer to become “pilot judges.” The idea is that as these judges hear more patent cases and become more familiar with patent law, they will be able to craft claim constructions and opinions that are increasingly likely to survive the scrutiny of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Unfortunately, the Federal Circuit’s jurisprudence may itself encumber these efforts because of a split among the Federal Circuit judges concerning the correct approach to interpreting patent claims. This Article explores that split and its potential to undermine the pilot judges’ efforts to make the program a success

Context-dependent dynamics lead to the assembly of functionally distinct pitcher-plant microbiomes

Niche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities towards functionally different states remains a subject of active debate. Using bacterial communities collected from wild pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, we test the effects of history on composition and function across communities assembled in synthetic pitcher plant microcosms. We find that the diversity of assembled communities is determined by the diversity of the system at early, pre-assembly stages. Species composition is also contingent on early community states, not only because of differences in the species pool, but also because the same species have different dynamics in different community contexts. Importantly, compositional differences are proportional to differences in function, as profiles of resource use are strongly correlated with composition, despite convergence in respiration rates. Early differences in community structure can thus propagate to mature communities, conditioning their functional repertoire.NSF-BSF (grant no. DEB 1655983)European Research Council (grant no. 640384)James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (no. 220020477)Simons Foundation Award (no. 599207)Human Frontiers Science Program (grant no. LT000643/2016-L

Adrian Stern, MEMBER SPIE

Influence of severe vibrations on the visua

Do female researchers face a glass ceiling in France? A hazard model of promotions

The present article examines whether French female researchers face a glass ceiling, an invisible barrier to promotion. Using an original database from the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), we estimate duration models for promotions. The methodology used allows us to take into account censored observations and unobserved heterogeneity. Our results show a significant gender effect that does not contradict the glass-ceiling hypothesis. In addition, factors that boost promotion seem to be radically different according to gender and we present evidence that promotion strategies are different for males and females.

Plxnd1 expression in thymocytes regulates their intrathymic migration while that in thymic endothelium impacts medullary topology

An important role for plexinD1 in thymic development is inferred from studies of germline Plxnd1 knockout (KO) mice where mislocalized CD69+ thymocytes as well as ectopic thymic subcapsular medullary structures were observed. Given embryonic lethality of the Plxnd1-/- genotype, fetal liver transplantation was employed in these prior analyses. Such embryonic hematopoietic reconstitution may have transferred Plxnd1 KO endothelial and/or epithelial stem cells in addition to Plxnd1 KO lymphoid progenitors, thereby contributing to that phenotype. Here we use Plxnd1flox/flox mice crossed to pLck-Cre, pKeratin14-Cre or pTek-Cre transgenic animals to create cell-type specific conditional knockout (CKO) lines involving thymocytes (D1ThyCKO), thymic epithelium (D1EpCKO) and thymic endothelium (D1EnCKO), respectively. These CKOs allowed us to directly assess the role of plexinD1 in each lineage. Loss of plexinD1 expression on double positive (DP) thymocytes leads to their aberrant migration and cortical retention after TCR-mediated positive selection. In contrast, ectopic medulla formation is a consequence of loss of plexinD1 expression on endothelial cells, in turn linked to dysregulation of thymic angiogenesis. D1EpCKO thymi manifest neither abnormality. Collectively, our findings underscore the non-redundant roles for plexinD1 on thymocytes and endothelium, including the dynamic nature of medulla formation resulting from crosstalk between these thymic cellular components

Levocarnitine does not impair chemotherapy cytotoxicity against acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Asparaginase (ASNase) is an integral part of pediatric induction chemotherapy that has also been shown to improve adult survival rates; however, pegylated (PEG)-ASNase induces severe hepatotoxicity in this population. Recent case reports describe the incorporation of levocarnitine (LC) supplementation into PEG-ASNase-containing induction regimens to prevent or treat hepatotoxicity. Because LC facilitates the metabolism of free fatty acids (FFA), a primary fuel source for ALL cells, LC could potentially interfere with ALL chemotherapy efficacy. To test this, we employed in vitro and in vivo models of ALL. We show in vitro that LC supplementation does not impact cytotoxicity from vincristine, daunorubicin, dexamethasone, or ASNase on human ALL cells nor lead to an increase in ALL cell metabolic rate. In vivo, we demonstrate LC does not impair PEG-ASNase monotherapy in mice with syngeneic ALL. Together, our findings show that LC supplementation is a safe strategy to prevent/reverse ASNase-induced toxicities in preclinical models