Patent Rights under FOSS Licensing Schemes

Free/Open Source Software (“FOSS”) licenses generally give developers and users the freedom to run software for any purpose, to study and modify software, and to redistribute copies of either the original or the modified software without paying royalties to previous developers. The FOSS community is facing increasing threats from software patents, especially from entities outside the FOSS community. This Article discusses patent rights under FOSS licenses, including the GNU General Public License (“GPL”) 2.0 and draft 3.0, the Apache License and the Mozilla Public License (“MPL”). It also addresses how current GPL draft 3.0 attempts to reconcile the conflict between software freedom/innovation and patent protection, and to resolve the compatibility of GPL draft 3.0 with other FOSS licenses

Does the U.S. SAFE WEB Act Strike the Proper Balance Between Law Enforcement Interests and Privacy Interests?

The Internet and advances in telecommunications technology present unprecedented opportunities for cross-border fraud and deception directed at U.S. consumers and businesses. However, the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) ability to obtain effective relief may face practical impediments in prosecuting these cross-border wrongdoers. To help address the challenges posed by the globalization of fraud, President Bush signed the Undertaking Spam, Spyware and Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2006 (“U.S. SAFE WEB Act” or “Act”) into law on December 22, 2006. This Article discusses the FTC’s expanded enforcement authority granted by the Act to fight fraud and deception, and particularly to fight illegal spam, spyware, and cross-border fraud and deception. Privacy advocates have voiced concern that the FTC may now have more power to invade the privacy of U.S. citizens. This Article concludes that the Act’s grant of power to the FTC is not too broad, and that the Act maintains an appropriate balance between law enforcement interests and privacy interests

Persulfate Activation on Crystallographic Manganese Oxides: Mechanism of Singlet Oxygen Evolution for Nonradical Selective Degradation of Aqueous Contaminants

Minerals and transitional metal oxides of earth-abundant elements are desirable catalysts for in situ chemical oxidation in environmental remediation. However, catalytic activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS) by manganese oxides was barely investigated. In this study, one-dimension manganese dioxides (a- and ß-MnO2) were discovered as effective PDS activators among the diverse manganese oxides for selective degradation of organic contaminants. Compared with other chemical states and crystallographic structures of manganese oxide, ß-MnO2 nanorods exhibited the highest phenol degradation rate (0.044 min-1, 180 min) by activating PDS. A comprehensive study was conducted utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance, chemical probes, radical scavengers, and different solvents to identity the reactive oxygen species (ROS). Singlet oxygen (1O2) was unveiled to be the primary ROS, which was generated by direct oxidation or recombination of superoxide ions and radicals from a metastable manganese intermediate at neutral pH. The study dedicates to the first mechanistic study into PDS activation over manganese oxides and provides a novel catalytic system for selective removal of organic contaminants in wastewater

Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Imaging of Microtubule Arrays in Intact Arabidopsis thaliana Seedling Roots

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy has generated tremendous success in revealing detailed subcellular structures in animal cells. However, its application to plant cell biology remains extremely limited due to numerous technical challenges, including the generally high fluorescence background of plant cells and the presence of the cell wall. In the current study, stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) imaging of intact Arabidopsis thaliana seedling roots with a spatial resolution of 20–40 nm was demonstrated. Using the super-resolution images, the spatial organization of cortical microtubules in different parts of a whole Arabidopsis root tip was analyzed quantitatively, and the results show the dramatic differences in the density and spatial organization of cortical microtubules in cells of different differentiation stages or types. The method developed can be applied to plant cell biological processes, including imaging of additional elements of the cytoskeleton, organelle substructure, and membrane domains

Progress in the development of techniques based on light scattering for single nanoparticle detection

Nanoparticles have recently attracted extensive attention in view of their great potential in biomedicine and bioanalytical applications. Single particle detection via light scattering offers a simple and efficient approach for the size, size distribution, and concentration analysis of nanoparticles. In particular, intrinsic heterogeneity or rare events masked by ensemble averaging can be revealed. However, the sixth power dependence of Rayleigh scattering on particle size makes it very challenging to detect individual nanoparticles of small sizes. This article is intended to provide an overview of recent progress in the development of techniques based on light scattering for the detection of single nanoparticles.National Natural Science Foundation of China[20675070, 20975087, 90913015, 21027010]; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University[NCET-07-0729]; Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China[20090121120008, 20090121110009]; National Fund for Fostering Talents of Basic Science[J1030415

Catalytic partial oxidation of methane to syngas: review of perovskite catalysts and membrane reactors

Partial oxidation of methane (POM) offers a promising option to produce syngas for downstream processes such as hydrogen production and Fischer-Tropsch processes. POM in fixed-bed reactors requires an oxygen separation plant with high operation cost and safety risks. On the contrary, membrane reactors can provide an improved process by integrating both oxygen separation and catalytic reaction processes. With many advantages including high purity and efficient oxygen separation from the air at the catalytic reaction conditions, mixed ionic-electronic conducting membranes (MIEC) caught great attention in the scientific research field over the past two decades. In this review, POM using different catalysts in fixed-bed reactors was firstly summarized with emphasizing on perovskite-based catalysts, and then the material screening of MIEC membrane reactors was introduced and linked to the selection of conventional and perovskite catalysts. The catalytic activity, reaction mechanisms, and emerging challenges have been analyzed. Furthermore, future research directions have been outlined by highlighting the effect of electronic properties, continuous reduction-oxidation in the presence of oxygen flux, and chemical reaction mechanism on membrane/catalyst

A study of multinucleated giant cells in esophageal cancer

Objectives: To evaluate the occurrence, abundance, distribution, nature and clinical significance of multi-nucleated giant cell (MGC) in esophageal cancer. Materials and methods: MGCs were examined with conventional pathology, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence in 107 esophageal cancer tissues. The findings were correlated to pathological diagnosis and clinical behavior of the cancers. Results: MGCs were identified in 31.7% (34/107) of the cases. MGCs were positive for CD11c, CD11b, CD32, CD16, HLA-DR and MMP9, and negative for CD163, CD206 and CD64 giving a molecular profile of proinflammatory M1 but not immunosuppressive M2. MGCs were significantly related to decreased lymph node metastasis (p = 0.011), low pTNM stage (p = 0.044), favorable survival (p = 0.04), squamous cell cancer type rather than other histopathological subtypes (p = 0.020) and associated to better differentiation (p = 0.063). Conclusions: MGCs belong to M1 macrophage and perform phagocytosis and scavenging of cancer cells that would benefit patients' survival and could serve as a prognostic marker

Cytogenetic and genomic characterization of a novel tall wheatgrass‑derived \u3ci\u3eFhb7\u3c/i\u3e allele integrated into wheat B genome

A novel tall wheatgrass-derived (Thinopyrum elongatum, genome EE) Fhb7 allele, designated Fhb7The2, was identified and integrated into the wheat B genome through a small 7B–7E translocation (7BS·7BL–7EL) involving the terminal regions of the long arms. Fhb7The2 conditions significant Type II resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat. Integration of Fhb7The2 into the wheat B genome makes this wild species-derived FHB resistance gene usable for breeding in both common and durum wheat. By contrast, other Fhb7 introgression lines involving wheat chromosome 7D can be utilized only in common wheat breeding programs, not in durum wheat. Additionally, we found that Fhb7The2 does not have the linkage drag of the yellow flour pigment gene that is tightly linked to the decaploid Th. ponticum-derived Fhb7 allele Fhb7Thp. This will further improve the utility of Fhb7The2 in wheat breeding. DNA sequence analysis identified 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Fhb7The2, Fhb7Thp, and another Th. elongatum-derived Fhb7 allele Fhb7The1, which led to seven amino acid conversions in Fhb7The2, Fhb7Thp, and Fhb7The1, respectively. However, no significant variation was observed in their predicted protein configuration as a glutathione transferase. Diagnostic DNA markers were developed specifically for Fhb7The2. The 7EL segment containing Fhb7The2 in the translocation chromosome 7BS·7BL–7EL exhibited a monogenic inheritance pattern in the wheat genetic background. This will enhance the efficacy of marker-assisted selection for Fhb7The2 introgression, pyramiding, and deployment in wheat germplasm and varieties

Confined FeNi alloy nanoparticles in carbon nanotubes for photothermal oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane by carbon dioxide

Oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane with CO2 (ODEC) is an attractive reaction for reduction of carbon footprints and ethene production. In this work, we present photothermal catalysis on confined bimetal catalysts for ODEC. Carbon nanotubes confined non-noble bimetal alloy (i.e., CoNi@CNTs and FeNi@CNTs) catalysts were prepared and FeNi@CNTs showed effective performance in photothermal catalytic ODEC to ethene. Experiments and simulations reveal that UV and visible lights (420 – 490 nm) are responsible for ODEC and non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, respectively, to ethene. Additionally, ODEC to ethene is preferred to C-C cracking to methane on FeNi@CNTs in light ( \u3e 490 nm)-induced thermocatalysis. The photothermal effect turns more significant when introduced into thermocatalytic ODEC (500 °C), with ethene generation at one order of magnitude. This work advances new mechanism of photo-mediated catalysis and sheds light on utilization of full-spectrum solar energy and non-noble metallic catalysts for ethene production and CO2 recycling at moderate conditions

Immune cell early activation, apoptotic kinetic, and T-cell functional impairment in domestic pigs after ASFV CADC_HN09 strain infection

African swine fever (ASF) caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a fatal and highly contagious disease of domestic pigs characterized by rapid disease progression and death within 2 weeks. How the immune cells respond to acute ASFV infection and contribute to the immunopathogenesis of ASFV has not been completely understood. In this study, we examined the activation, apoptosis, and functional changes of distinct immune cells in domestic pigs following acute infection with the ASFV CADC_HN09 strain using multicolor flow cytometry. We found that ASFV infection induced broad apoptosis of DCs, monocytes, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of pigs over time. The expression of MHC class II molecule (SLA-DR/DQ) on monocytes and conventional DCs as well as CD21 expression on B cells were downregulated after ASFV infection, implying a potential impairment of antigen presentation and humoral response. Further examination of CD69 and ex vivo expression of IFN-γ on immune cells showed that T cells were transiently activated and expressed IFN-γ as early as 5 days post-infection. However, the capability of T cells to produce cytokines was significantly impaired in the infected pigs when stimulated with mitogen. These results suggest that the adaptive cellular immunity to ASFV might be initiated but later overridden by ASFV-induced immunosuppression. Our study clarified the cell types that were affected by ASFV infection and contributed to lymphopenia, improving our understanding of the immunopathogenesis of ASFV