Framework for Analysis of Products Liability in Montana,

This article seeks to serve the needs of the Montana bench and bar by addressing the issues likely to be raised in products liability litigation. It will describe the history of products liability nationally and in Montana and will analyze major issues by examining current directions in case law. Finally, it will offer a framework for legal analysis of products liability to assist courts and counsel in avoiding some of the pitfalls encountered in development of products liability in other jurisdictions

A Framework for Analysis of Products Liability in Montana

A Framework For Analysis Of Products Liability In Montan

A Framework for Analysis of Products Liability in Montana

A Framework For Analysis Of Products Liability In Montan

Nonlinear EEG biomarker profiles for autism and absence epilepsy

Background Although autism and epilepsy are considered to be different disorders, epileptiform EEG activity is common in people with autism even when overt seizures are not present. The relatively high comorbidity between autism and all epilepsy syndromes suggests the possibility of common underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Although many different epilepsies may be comorbid with autism, absence epilepsy is a generalized epilepsy syndrome with seizures that appear as staring spells, with no motor signs and no focal lesions, making it more difficult to diagnose. Application of nonlinear methods for EEG signal analysis may enable characterization of brain activity that can help to delineate neurophysiological commonalities and differences between autism and epilepsy. Multiscale entropy and recurrence quantitative analysis (RQA) were computed from EEG signals derived from children with autism or absence epilepsy and compared with the goal of finding significant and potentially clinically useful biomarkers neurophysiological differences between these two childhood disorders. Methods Multiscale entropy and a multiscale version of RQA were computed from EEG data obtained from 92 children were collected in two different settings at Boston Children’s Hospital. Short segments of alert resting state EEG were selected for analysis. A complexity index derived from entropy and RQA methods was computed from each of 19 standard EEG channels for all subjects using publicly available software. Statistical comparisons were made between the groups. Machine learning classifiers were also used to determine which derived features were most significantly different among the groups, and to determine classification specificity and sensitivity. Results Significant differences were found between absence, autism, and control groups in a number of different scalp locations and the values of complexity index. Autism values appeared to be intermediate between epilepsy and control in many locations, and differences between controls and absence patients were more widely distributed across scalp locations. Classification algorithms were able to distinguish absence epilepsy and autism cases from controls with high (\u3e95%) accuracy. Importantly, two independent control groups, although they were derived from different settings and with different equipment were statistically indistinguishable. Conclusions Signficant neurophysiological differences were found between absence, autism, and control cases. In most scalp regions, autism values were intermediate between the control values and absence values, suggesting several future research studies. Nonlinear EEG signal analysis, together with classification methods, may provide complementary information to visual EEG analysis and clinical assessment in epilepsy and autism, and may provide useful information for research on pediatric neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. Additional research may enable neurophysiological biomarker profiles to be derived from these techniques for clinical use

Mechanism of C−F Reductive Elimination from Palladium(IV) Fluorides

The first systematic mechanism study of C−F reductive elimination from a transition metal complex is described. C−F bond formation from three different Pd(IV) fluoride complexes was mechanistically evaluated. The experimental data suggest that reductive elimination occurs from cationic Pd(IV) fluoride complexes via a dissociative mechanism. The ancillary pyridyl-sulfonamide ligand plays a crucial role for C−F reductive elimination, likely due to a κ^3 coordination mode, in which an oxygen atom of the sulfonyl group coordinates to Pd. The pyridyl-sulfonamide can support Pd(IV) and has the appropriate geometry and electronic structure to induce reductive elimination

Catastrophic vs Gradual Collapse of Thin-Walled Nanocrystalline Ni Hollow Cylinders As Building Blocks of Microlattice Structures

Lightweight yet stiff and strong lattice structures are attractive for various engineering applications, such as cores of sandwich shells and components designed for impact mitigation. Recent breakthroughs in manufacturing enable efficient fabrication of hierarchically architected microlattices, with dimensional control spanning seven orders of magnitude in length scale. These materials have the potential to exploit desirable nanoscale-size effects in a macroscopic structure, as long as their mechanical behavior at each appropriate scale – nano, micro, and macro levels – is properly understood. In this letter, we report the nanomechanical response of individual microlattice members. We show that hollow nanocrystalline Ni cylinders differing only in wall thicknesses, 500 and 150 nm, exhibit strikingly different collapse modes: the 500 nm sample collapses in a brittle manner, via a single strain burst, while the 150 nm sample shows a gradual collapse, via a series of small and discrete strain bursts. Further, compressive strength in 150 nm sample is 99.2% lower than predicted by shell buckling theory, likely due to localized buckling and fracture events observed during in situ compression experiments. We attribute this difference to the size-induced transition in deformation behavior, unique to nanoscale, and discuss it in the framework of “size effects” in crystalline strength

The inhibitory control reflex (article)

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleThis is an open access article that is freely available in ORE or from the publisher's web site. Please cite the published version.Related dataset available in ORE at: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/15358 (see link above)Response inhibition is typically considered a hallmark of deliberate executive control. In this article, we review work showing that response inhibition can also become a ‘prepared reflex’, readily triggered by information in the environment, or after sufficient training, a ‘learned reflex’ triggered by the retrieval of previously acquired associations between stimuli and stopping. We present new results indicating that people can learn various associations, which influence performance in different ways. To account for previous findings and our new results, we present a novel architecture that integrates theories of associative learning, Pavlovian conditioning, and executive response inhibition. Finally, we discuss why this work is also relevant for the study of ‘intentional inhibition’.ESR

Simulation of an Air-Source Heat Pump with Two-Stage Compression and Economizing for Cold Climates

A new air-source heat pump technology optimized for cold climates was designed and fabricated by the authors in close cooperation with three industrial partners. The constructed unit will undergo a field demonstration in a military barrack to identify heat pumps as cost effective systems that have less primary energy consumption when compared to traditional cold climate heating methods. A simulation model developed in EES predicted the designed heat pump performance at different ambient conditions. The EES results were incorporated with a TRNSYS model to couple the military barrack building load with the available heat pump capacity using weather data. The TRNSYS model enables the assessment of the field demonstration performance during the heating season. The heat pump design is based on two-stage compression with economizing. Commercially available components were selected for all parts of the heat pump. A variable-speed scroll compressor is used as the high-stage compressor matched with a tandem fixed-speed scroll compressor used as the low-stage compressor. The configuration has a predicted capacity of 18.34 kW (62,580 BTU/h) at the design ambient temperature of -20oC (4oF) based on the EES simulation results. The building has a heating load of less than 18 kW for more than 95% of the heating season that lasts 8 months out of the year. The heat pump design therefore is predicted to satisfy the building heating load for the entire heating season. The heating season COP based on TRNSYS hourly simulation results is 3.67 with a yearly heating capacity of 30,970 kWh (105,674 kBTU) and 8,438.37 kWh (28,793 kBTU). The CCHP simulations predict over 30% savings in primary energy and CO2 emissions with a 25% cost savings for annual heating energy use compared to an 85% AFUE natural gas furnace

Kepler-413b: a slightly misaligned, Neptune-size transiting circumbinary planet

We report the discovery of a transiting, Rp = 4.347+/-0.099REarth, circumbinary planet (CBP) orbiting the Kepler K+M Eclipsing Binary (EB) system KIC 12351927 (Kepler-413) every ~66 days on an eccentric orbit with ap = 0.355+/-0.002AU, ep = 0.118+/-0.002. The two stars, with MA = 0.820+/-0.015MSun, RA = 0.776+/-0.009RSun and MB = 0.542+/-0.008MSun, RB = 0.484+/-0.024RSun respectively revolve around each other every 10.11615+/-0.00001 days on a nearly circular (eEB = 0.037+/-0.002) orbit. The orbital plane of the EB is slightly inclined to the line of sight (iEB = 87.33+/-0.06 degrees) while that of the planet is inclined by ~2.5 degrees to the binary plane at the reference epoch. Orbital precession with a period of ~11 years causes the inclination of the latter to the sky plane to continuously change. As a result, the planet often fails to transit the primary star at inferior conjunction, causing stretches of hundreds of days with no transits (corresponding to multiple planetary orbital periods). We predict that the next transit will not occur until 2020. The orbital configuration of the system places the planet slightly closer to its host stars than the inner edge of the extended habitable zone. Additionally, the orbital configuration of the system is such that the CBP may experience Cassini-States dynamics under the influence of the EB, in which the planet's obliquity precesses with a rate comparable to its orbital precession. Depending on the angular precession frequency of the CBP, it could potentially undergo obliquity fluctuations of dozens of degrees (and complex seasonal cycles) on precession timescales.Comment: 48 pages, 13 figure

Carrier-envelope phase stability of hollow-fibers used for high-energy, few-cycle pulse generation

We investigated the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stability of a hollow-fiber setup used for high-energy, few-cycle pulse generation. Saturation of the output pulse energy is observed at 0.6 mJ for a 260 um inner-diameter, 1 m long fiber, statically filled with neon, with the pressure adjusted to achieve an output spectrum capable of supporting sub-4fs pulses. The maximum output pulse energy can be increased to 0.8mJ by using either differential pumping, or circularly polarized input pulses. We observe the onset of an ionization-induced CEP instability, which does not increase beyond an input pulse energy of 1.25 mJ due to losses in the fiber caused by ionization. There is no significant difference in the CEP stability with differential pumping compared to static-fill, demonstrating that gas flow in differentially pumped fibers does not degrade the CEP stabilization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure