By Night She Fought for Fair Use : Restoring the Integrity of Copyright Law, One Comic-Book Reader at a Time

Students of copyright law quickly learn that the subject is counterintuitive. One of the first revelations of this is-somewhat alarmingly-the purpose of copyright itself. Contrary to popular belief, copyright is not just about protecting an artist\u27s creation, but sharing it. Simultaneously protecting a work and sharing it helps to fulfill the Constitution\u27s mandate that Congress promote the Progress of Science ... by securing for limited Times to Authors ... the exclusive Right to their ... Writings. In other words, Congress is to promote learning and the advancement of our culture. The symbiosis of protecting and sharing is effected through the Copyright Act. First, to encourage artists to create, the Act bestows copyright ownership and all of its attending rights to artists. Second, to allow the public to have access to those creations-and the opportunities for learning that go along with such access-the Act limits the owner\u27s rights. In this way, protection of an artist\u27s work is part of a copyright deal that the artist makes with the public. If the Copyright Act does not grant a particular right to an artist, then that means the right belongs to the public. Fittingly, works that are not protected by copyright are said to be in the public domain, and the same term applies to particular aspects of copyrighted works that copyright does not protect. If copyright is counterintuitive in theory, it should be no surprise that it is equally counterintuitive in practice. This is especially true of the tricky doctrine of fair use, an essential aspect of the copyright regime. Recognizing the current state of confusion surrounding fair use, three academics decided to create a work that would contextualize, explain, and defend the concept. Their medium is a comic book and is entitled Bound By Law? Written by Keith Aoki (who also provided the illustrations), James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins, Bound By Law? chronicles the experiences of a documentary filmmaker named Akiko. Akiko, encumbered by the current copyright system, learns that the solution to her problems is a strengthened doctrine of fair use

By Night She Fought for Fair Use : Restoring the Integrity of Copyright Law, One Comic-Book Reader at a Time

Students of copyright law quickly learn that the subject is counterintuitive. One of the first revelations of this is-somewhat alarmingly-the purpose of copyright itself. Contrary to popular belief, copyright is not just about protecting an artist\u27s creation, but sharing it. Simultaneously protecting a work and sharing it helps to fulfill the Constitution\u27s mandate that Congress promote the Progress of Science ... by securing for limited Times to Authors ... the exclusive Right to their ... Writings. In other words, Congress is to promote learning and the advancement of our culture. The symbiosis of protecting and sharing is effected through the Copyright Act. First, to encourage artists to create, the Act bestows copyright ownership and all of its attending rights to artists. Second, to allow the public to have access to those creations-and the opportunities for learning that go along with such access-the Act limits the owner\u27s rights. In this way, protection of an artist\u27s work is part of a copyright deal that the artist makes with the public. If the Copyright Act does not grant a particular right to an artist, then that means the right belongs to the public. Fittingly, works that are not protected by copyright are said to be in the public domain, and the same term applies to particular aspects of copyrighted works that copyright does not protect. If copyright is counterintuitive in theory, it should be no surprise that it is equally counterintuitive in practice. This is especially true of the tricky doctrine of fair use, an essential aspect of the copyright regime. Recognizing the current state of confusion surrounding fair use, three academics decided to create a work that would contextualize, explain, and defend the concept. Their medium is a comic book and is entitled Bound By Law? Written by Keith Aoki (who also provided the illustrations), James Boyle, and Jennifer Jenkins, Bound By Law? chronicles the experiences of a documentary filmmaker named Akiko. Akiko, encumbered by the current copyright system, learns that the solution to her problems is a strengthened doctrine of fair use

Comparing the FieldScout GreenIndex+ Chlorophyll Sensing App to the Minolta SPAD Meter

With the improvement of mobile computing, the company Spectrum Technologies, Inc. has developed a precision Ag App which adapts an iPod, iPad, or iPhone camera to select for specific wavelengths of light from a corn leaf (Zea mays L.) in comparison to accompanying board for light/color comparison. The App computes a Dark Green Color Index (DGCI), indicating leaf greenness, which relates to the amount of chlorophyll and thus, indirectly, leaf nitrogen (N) content. The question posed for this study is: How accurate and convenient is the App compared to a proven technology, the Minolta 502 Soil-Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) meter; do they provide the same information

Women Farmers and E-Commerce Opportunities for 21st Century Marketing

Adding the Internet to your Business Recipe: Opportunity for Marketing in the 21st Century. In the fall of 2006, the Center for Rural Studies (CRS) and Women’s Agricultural Network (WAgN) piloted a curriculum for agricultural entrepreneurs interested in incorporating e-commerce features – e.g. email lists, Web sites, online marketing, online ordering – into their operations. This broad definition of e-commerce reflects the integration of information technology and the Internet into business and marketing planning. The workshops were held from 2006 to 2009. Each of the cycles provided insight into how to make future sessions more beneficial to participants. Offering the course even once/year during a period of rapid change in the available technology guaranteed that significant adjustments had to be made to the content each session. This working paper addresses why we took on this challenge, why women farmers became the target audience, how the course was structured, and an overview of the results of the classes to date. Also included are lessons learned from the experience and next steps

The role of canoe/afadin in Drosophila morphogenesis

Morphogenesis is the amazing process of forming tissues and organs to build an animal. Coordinating cell-cell adhesion and cell shape change are both essential for morphogenesis. Adherens junctions(AJs) are thought to form mechanical attachments between cells by linking the cytoskeletons of neighboring cells via the cadherin-catenin complex. This linkage was long thought to be direct, but recent evidence called this into question. The nectin-afadin complex has also been proposed to mediate linkages between AJs and the cytoskeleton. In my dissertation research, I investigated the role of Canoe(Cno)/Afadin in Drosophila morphogenesis. First, I found that Cno is not required for the establishment of adhesion or polarity. However, loss of Cno impairs morphogenesis from the start. Cno is required for the first step of gastrulation, a process requiring apical constriction. Apical constriction initiates, but is incomplete. In the absence of Cno, the actomyosin network disconnects from AJs, uncoupling cell shape change and actomyosin constriction. Cno is also required for the elongation of the body axis, a process requiring cell intercalation. Planar polarity of junctional proteins along the dorsal-ventral(DV) axis and cytoskeleton proteins along the anterior-posterior(AP) axis is thought to be an important driving force for intercalation and axis elongation. In the absence of Cno, axis elongation is slowed. Planar polarity of junctional proteins, but not cytoskeletal proteins is enhanced. Cno is planar polarized on the AP axis with cytoskeletal proteins, suggesting that Cno restrains planar polarity by facilitating connections between AJs and the actomyosin network along the AP axis. I next investigated where Cno acts to regulate AJ-actomyosin linkages. Cno localizes to AJs and is enriched at tricellular junctions with a subpool of actin, suggesting these structures may play key roles in apical constriction and in restraining planar polarity. Cno has multiple direct interactions with AJ proteins, but is not a core part of the cadherin-catenin complex. Cno does not require either the cadherin-catenin complex or the nectin Echinoid for its cortical localization. Instead, Cno localizes to AJs by a Rap1 and actin-dependent mechanism. Taken together, these data suggest that Cno is required to regulate AJ-actomyosin linkages during dynamic morphogenesis

Identifying strategies early intervention occupational therapists use to teach caregivers.

This study investigated early intervention occupational therapists\u27 use of strategies to teach caregivers. A sample of 40 videotapes made by early intervention occupational therapists was randomly selected from an archival videotape data set of provider home visits. The sample included 20 videotapes illustrating traditional services and 20 videotapes illustrating therapists providing participation-based services. Videotapes were rated using the Teaching Caregivers Scale, which rates three variables on 30-s intervals: (1) routine, (2) provider role, and (3) strategies used to teach caregivers during early intervention home visits. Regardless of the model of service, explicit teaching strategies were rarely used during home visits

It Depends: The Conditional Correlation Between Frequency of Storybook Reading and Emergent Literacy Skills in Children At Risk for Language Difficulty

The current study examined the association between frequency of storybook reading and emergent literacy in 212 children at risk for language impairment, assessed during the fall semester of kindergarten. Measures included parent-reported storybook reading, as well as direct assessments of print knowledge, letter awareness, and expressive vocabulary. Results suggested nonsignificant to moderate (r = .11 to .25) correlations between frequency of storybook reading and child emergent literacy across the entire range of environment and ability. Quantile regression results suggested that the association was highest at low frequency of storybook reading, particularly for print knowledge, approaching r = .50. Moreover, the association between frequency of storybook reading and emergent literacy was highest at higher levels of emergent literacy for print knowledge, but particularly for letter naming, approaching r = .80. These results suggest that in children with language difficulties, the relationship between aspects of the home environment and emergent literacy is conditional upon the quality of the home environment as well as child’s proficiency in emergent literacy skills

Physiology, development, and disease modeling in the Drosophila excretory system

The insect excretory system contains two organ systems acting in concert: the Malpighian tubules and the hindgut perform essential roles in excretion and ionic and osmotic homeostasis. For over 350 years, these two organs have fascinated biologists as a model of organ structure and function. As part of a recent surge in interest, research on the Malpighian tubules and hindgut of Drosophila have uncovered important paradigms of organ physiology and development. Further, many human disease processes can be modeled in these organs. Here, focusing on discoveries in the past 10 years, we provide an overview of the anatomy and physiology of the Drosophila excretory system. We describe the major developmental events that build these organs during embryogenesis, remodel them during metamorphosis, and repair them following injury. Finally, we highlight the use of the Malpighian tubules and hindgut as accessible models of human disease biology. The Malpighian tubule is a particularly excellent model to study rapid fluid transport, neuroendocrine control of renal function, and modeling of numerous human renal conditions such as kidney stones, while the hindgut provides an outstanding model for processes such as the role of cell chirality in development, nonstem cell–based injury repair, cancer-promoting processes, and communication between the intestine and nervous system

Mechanical feedback through E-cadherin promotes direction sensing during collective cell migration.

E-cadherin is a major homophilic cell-cell adhesion molecule that inhibits motility of individual cells on matrix. However, its contribution to migration of cells through cell-rich tissues is less clear. We developed an in vivo sensor of mechanical tension across E-cadherin molecules, which we combined with cell-type-specific RNAi, photoactivatable Rac, and morphodynamic profiling, to interrogate how E-cadherin contributes to collective migration of cells between other cells. Using the Drosophila ovary as a model, we found that adhesion between border cells and their substrate, the nurse cells, functions in a positive feedback loop with Rac and actin assembly to stabilize forward-directed protrusion and directionally persistent movement. Adhesion between individual border cells communicates direction from the lead cell to the followers. Adhesion between motile cells and polar cells holds the cluster together and polarizes each individual cell. Thus, E-cadherin is an integral component of the guidance mechanisms that orchestrate collective chemotaxis in vivo