The economic impacts of climate change: Evidence from agricultural output and random fluctuations in weather: Comment

In a series of studies employing a variety of approaches, we have found that the potential impact of climate change on US agriculture is likely negative. Deschênes and Greenstone (2007) report dramatically different results based on regressions of agricultural profits and yields on weather variables. The divergence is explained by (1) missing and incorrect weather and climate data in their study; (2) their use of older climate change projections rather than the more recent and less optimistic projections from the Fourth Assessment Report; and (3) difficulties in their profit measure due to the confounding effects of storage

Software-related Inventions

On 29 November 1972, Atari Inc., a newly incorporated Californian firm, announced the release of its first video arcade game: PONG.1 The game required the player to control a simulated table tennis paddle, moving it vertically across the screen to intercept and return a ball to an opponent (either one that is computer-controlled or another person). Although simplistic by today’s standards, it was a roaring success, arguably laying the foundations for a multibillion dollar gaming industry and catapulting Atari to massive (albeit shortlived) riches.2 As a technical creation, the PONG arcade cabinet was fascinating. The soul of the machine was held in the connection and arrangement of 66 chips of varying types.3 The components of its experience – graphics, sounds and gameplay – were all a product of hardware: an example of transistor–transistor logic reliant upon the components’ relative configuration and the power supplied to them. There was no software. No writing of code. No instructions issued to the components other than by the machine’s physical controls. That an identical result can now be replicated in software – that a suitably programmed, off the shelf computer can emulate this feat of wiring and solder – is testament to the boundaries that computer programs can cross. It also highlights the core of the problem with the law’s understanding and treatment of this subject matter within the confines of intellectual property: software possesses a unique duality. It is, as Nack explains, ‘both the text description of a machine and the “machine” itself . . . no special physical device is needed to implement the algorithm – a standard computer will suffice’.

Human placental cytotrophoblasts produce the immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin 10.

The mechanism by which the mammalian mother accepts the implanting fetus as an allograft remains unexplained, but is likely to be the result of a combination of factors. Mononuclear cytotrophoblasts, the specialized fetal cells of the placenta that invade the uterus, play an important role. These cells express HLA-G, an unusual major histocompatibility complex class I-B molecule, and secrete cytokines and pregnancy-specific proteins that can regulate immune function. We investigated whether cytotrophoblasts secrete interleukin 10 (IL-10), a cytokine that potently inhibits alloresponses in mixed lymphocyte reactions. Cytotrophoblasts from all stages of pregnancy produced IL-10 in vitro, but neither placental fibroblasts nor choriocarcinoma (malignant trophoblast) cell lines did so. Spontaneous IL-10 production averaged 650, 853, and 992 pg/10(6) cells in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. IL-10 secretion dropped approximately 10-fold after the first 24 h of culture, and was paralleled by a decrease in messenger RNA. IL-10 messenger RNA was detected in biopsies of the placenta and the portion of the uterus that contains invasive cytotrophoblasts, suggesting that this cytokine is also produced in vivo. IL-10 secreted by cytotrophoblasts in vitro is bioactive, as determined by its ability to suppress interferon gamma production in an allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction. We conclude that human cytotrophoblast IL-10 may be an important factor that contributes to maternal tolerance of the allogeneic fetus

Analysing animal social network dynamics: the potential of stochastic actor-oriented models

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Animals are embedded in dynamically changing networks of relationships with conspecifics. These dynamic networks are fundamental aspects of their environment, creating selection on behaviours and other traits. However, most social network-based approaches in ecology are constrained to considering networks as static, despite several calls for such analyses to become more dynamic. There are a number of statistical analyses developed in the social sciences that are increasingly being applied to animal networks, of which stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) are a principal example. SAOMs are a class of individual-based models designed to model transitions in networks between discrete time points, as influenced by network structure and covariates. It is not clear, however, how useful such techniques are to ecologists, and whether they are suited to animal social networks. We review the recent applications of SAOMs to animal networks, outlining findings and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of SAOMs when applied to animal rather than human networks. We go on to highlight the types of ecological and evolutionary processes that SAOMs can be used to study. SAOMs can include effects and covariates for individuals, dyads and populations, which can be constant or variable. This allows for the examination of a wide range of questions of interest to ecologists. However, high-resolution data are required, meaning SAOMs will not be useable in all study systems. It remains unclear how robust SAOMs are to missing data and uncertainty around social relationships. Ultimately, we encourage the careful application of SAOMs in appropriate systems, with dynamic network analyses likely to prove highly informative. Researchers can then extend the basic method to tackle a range of existing questions in ecology and explore novel lines of questioning

Second medical indications and the Swiss-form claim: taming Frankenstein's monster - Part 3: the Franken-cuckoo comes home to roost

This, the third part of a three-part article, analyses the litigation in the case of Warner-Lambert Co LLC v Actavis Group PTC EHF (Civ Div) on: the scope of the claimant's Swiss-form claim for the use of the otherwise off-label drug pregabalin for the treatment of pain; and whether the manufacturer of a generic version of pregabalin, marketed for its off-label uses, was liable for infringement where evidence showed it was being prescribed as a painkiller

Second medical indications and the Swiss-form claim: taming Frankenstein's monster: Part 2 - putting the problem in context

This, the second part of a three-part article on Swiss-form patent claims, outlines the UK legal framework on the marketing, labelling, prescription and dispensing of branded pharmaceuticals and generic medicines. Considers the problems posed by second medical use patents for this regime by analysing: the basic principles of patent infringement law; the relationship between infringing acts and patent claims; and the complicating factor of use

Defining constipation to estimate its prevalence in the community: Results from a national survey

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Different definitions of constipation have been used to estimate its prevalence in the community but this creates difficulties when comparing results from various studies. This study explores the impact of different definitions on prevalence estimates in the same population and compares the performance of simple definitions with the Rome III criteria. Methods: The prevalence of constipation in a large nationally representative sample of community-dwelling adults was estimated using five simple definitions of constipation and compared with definitions based on the Rome III criteria. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values, were calculated for each definition using the Rome III criteria as the gold standards for chronic and sub-chronic constipation. Results: Prevalence estimates for the five simple definitions ranged from 9.4 to 58.9%, while the prevalence estimates using the Rome III criteria were 24.0% (95%CI: 22.1, 25.9) for chronic constipation and 39.6% (95%CI: 37.5, 41.7) for sub-chronic constipation. None of the simple definitions were adequate compared to the Rome III criteria. Self-reported constipation over the past 12 months had the highest sensitivity (91.1%, 95%CI: 88.8, 93.4) and negative predictive value (94.5%, 95%CI: 93.1, 96.1) compared to the Rome III criteria for chronic constipation but an unacceptably low specificity (51.3%, 95%CI: 48.8, 53.8) and positive predictive value (37.1%, 95%CI: 34.4, 39.9). Conclusions: The definition used to identify constipation within a population has a considerable impact on the prevalence estimate obtained. Simple definitions, commonly used in research, performed poorly compared with the Rome III criteria. Studies estimating population prevalence of constipation should use definitions based on the Rome criteria where possible

Greenberg-Shalom's Commensurator Hypothesis and Applications

We discuss many surprising implications of a positive answer to a question raised in some cases by Greenberg in the $`70$s and more generally by Shalom in the early $2000$s. We refer to this positive answer as the Greenberg-Shalom hypothesis. This hypothesis then says that any infinite discrete subgroup of a semisimple Lie group with dense commensurator is a lattice in a product of some factors. For some applications it is natural to extend the hypothesis to cover semisimple algebraic groups over other fields as well