Should Juries Hear Complex Patent Cases?

A debate has arisen within the legal community over the existence and constitutionality of a so-called complexity exception to the Seventh Amendment. This exception would give a judge the discretion to deny a jury trial in a civil case if he or she feels that the issue is too complex for a jury to decide properly. This iBrief discusses the constitutionality of the complexity exception and the arguments for and against its implementation, with particular emphasis on the application of the exception to patent infringement cases. The iBrief then postulates that, while a blanket exception for patent infringement cases may not be the solution, at a minimum some restructuring of the adjudication process needs to occur in order to ensure that judicial holdings are more than a mere roll of the dice

Pfaff Revisited: How the Federal Circuit Has Elaborated on the “Ready for Patenting” Standard

In Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc., the Supreme Court established a two-part test to determine when an invention is on sale for purposes of Title 35 U.S.C. §102(b). In addition to being the subject of a commercial offer for sale, an invention must be ready for patenting in order to be considered on sale. Since Pfaff, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has had numerous opportunities to expound upon how inventors can fulfill the latter condition. This iBrief will discuss the factors the Federal Circuit has determined are indicative of an invention\u27s ready for patenting status

Adenoviral-delivered HE4-HSV-tk sensitizes ovarian cancer cells to ganciclovir

Ovarian cancer (OC) is most often contained within the peritoneal cavity, making it an ideal disease for adenoviral-delivered gene therapies. In effort to develop a safe and effective gene therapy for OC, we created a replication deficient adenovirus bearing the herpes simplex thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene under direction of the tumor specific promoter human epididymis protein 4 (HE4). The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of our adenoviral construct to transduce OC cells in vitro and mediate transgene expression of HSV-tk, thereby sensitizing OC to the pro-drug ganciclovir. Cisplatin-sensitive (CS) and -resistant (CR) A2780 OC cells, infected with virus for 6 hours at 100, 500, and 1000 multiplicity of infection followed by ganciclovir treatment every other day for 5 days, were assayed for cell viability. Adenoviral-mediated transgene expression increased with increasing amounts of virus and peaked at 48 hours after transduction in both A2780-CS and -CR. Unexpectedly, ganciclovir alone was slightly toxic to both A2780 cell lines (IC50 of 234.9 μg/mL and 257.2 μg/mL in A2780-CS and -CR, respectively). Transduction with ADV-HE4-HSV-tk followed by ganciclovir treatment increased (P<0.05) cell killing up to ten-fold, lowering the IC50 to 23.9 μg/mL and 32.6 μg/mL in A2780-CS and -CR, respectively, at 1000 multiplicity of infection. The results support the potential use of this approach as a gene therapy for OC, a disease that accounts for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system

Dynamical Friction in dE Globular Cluster Systems

The dynamical friction timescale for globular clusters to sink to the center of a dwarf elliptical galaxy (dE) is significantly less than a Hubble time if the halos have King-model or isothermal profiles and the globular clusters formed with the same radial density profile as the underlying stellar population. We examine the summed radial distribution of the entire globular cluster systems and the bright globular cluster candidates in 51 Virgo and Fornax Cluster dEs for evidence of dynamical friction processes. We find that the summed distribution of the entire globular cluster population closely follows the exponential profile of the underlying stellar population. However, there is a deficit of bright clusters within the central regions of dEs (excluding the nuclei), perhaps due to the orbital decay of these massive clusters into the dE cores. We also predict the magnitude of each dE's nucleus assuming the nuclei form via dynamical friction. The observed trend of decreasing nuclear luminosity with decreasing dE luminosity is much stronger than predicted if the nuclei formed via simple dynamical friction processes. We find that the bright dE nuclei could have been formed from the merger of orbitally decayed massive clusters, but the faint nuclei are several magnitudes fainter than expected. These faint nuclei are found primarily in M_V > -14 dEs which have high globular cluster specific frequencies and extended globular cluster systems. In these galaxies, supernovae-driven winds, high central dark matter densities, extended dark matter halos, the formation of new star clusters, or tidal interactions may act to prevent dynamical friction from collapsing the entire globular cluster population into a single bright nucleus.Comment: 15 pages, 2 tables, 7 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal, April 20, 200

The Luminosities of Protostars in the Spitzer c2d and Gould Belt Legacy Clouds

Motivated by the long-standing "luminosity problem" in low-mass star formation whereby protostars are underluminous compared to theoretical expectations, we identify 230 protostars in 18 molecular clouds observed by two Spitzer Space Telescope Legacy surveys of nearby star-forming regions. We compile complete spectral energy distributions, calculate Lbol for each source, and study the protostellar luminosity distribution. This distribution extends over three orders of magnitude, from 0.01 Lsun - 69 Lsun, and has a mean and median of 4.3 Lsun and 1.3 Lsun, respectively. The distributions are very similar for Class 0 and Class I sources except for an excess of low luminosity (Lbol < 0.5 Lsun) Class I sources compared to Class 0. 100 out of the 230 protostars (43%) lack any available data in the far-infrared and submillimeter (70 um < wavelength < 850 um) and have Lbol underestimated by factors of 2.5 on average, and up to factors of 8-10 in extreme cases. Correcting these underestimates for each source individually once additional data becomes available will likely increase both the mean and median of the sample by 35% - 40%. We discuss and compare our results to several recent theoretical studies of protostellar luminosities and show that our new results do not invalidate the conclusions of any of these studies. As these studies demonstrate that there is more than one plausible accretion scenario that can match observations, future attention is clearly needed. The better statistics provided by our increased dataset should aid such future work.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ. 21 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Young Stellar Objects in the Gould Belt

We present the full catalog of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) identified in the 18 molecular clouds surveyed by the Spitzer Space Telescope "cores to disks" (c2d) and "Gould Belt" (GB) Legacy surveys. Using standard techniques developed by the c2d project, we identify 3239 candidate YSOs in the 18 clouds, 2966 of which survive visual inspection and form our final catalog of YSOs in the Gould Belt. We compile extinction corrected SEDs for all 2966 YSOs and calculate and tabulate the infrared spectral index, bolometric luminosity, and bolometric temperature for each object. We find that 326 (11%), 210 (7%), 1248 (42%), and 1182 (40%) are classified as Class 0+I, Flat-spectrum, Class II, and Class III, respectively, and show that the Class III sample suffers from an overall contamination rate by background AGB stars between 25% and 90%. Adopting standard assumptions, we derive durations of 0.40-0.78 Myr for Class 0+I YSOs and 0.26-0.50 Myr for Flat-spectrum YSOs, where the ranges encompass uncertainties in the adopted assumptions. Including information from (sub)millimeter wavelengths, one-third of the Class 0+I sample is classified as Class 0, leading to durations of 0.13-0.26 Myr (Class 0) and 0.27-0.52 Myr (Class I). We revisit infrared color-color diagrams used in the literature to classify YSOs and propose minor revisions to classification boundaries in these diagrams. Finally, we show that the bolometric temperature is a poor discriminator between Class II and Class III YSOs.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJS. 29 pages, 11 figures, 14 tables, 4 appendices. Full versions of data tables (to be published in machine-readable format by ApJS) available at the end of the latex source cod

Development and validation of a solid phase extraction sample cleanup procedure for the recovery of trace levels of nitro-organic explosives in soil

An improved cleanup method has been developed for the recovery of trace levels of 12 nitro-organic explosives in soil, which is important not only for the forensic community, but also has environmental implications. A wide variety of explosives or explosive-related compounds were evaluated, including nitramines, nitrate esters, nitroaromatics, and a nitroalkane. Fortified soil samples were extracted with acetone, processed via solid phase extraction (SPE), and then analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The following three SPE sorbents in cartridge format were compared: EmporeTM SDB-XC, Oasis HLB, and Bond Elut NEXUS cartridges. The NEXUS cartridges provided the best overall recoveries for the 12 explosives in potting soil (average 48%) and the fastest processing times (\u3c30 min). It also rejected matrix components from spent motor oil on potting soil. The SPE method was validated by assessing limit of detection (LOD), processed sample stability, and interferences. All 12 compounds were detectable at 0.02 mg explosive/gram of soil or lower in the three matrices tested (potting soil, sand, and loam) over three days. Seven explosives were stable up to seven days at 2 mg/g and three were stable at 0.2 mg/g, both in processed loam, which was the most challenging matrix. In the interference study, five interferences above the determined LOD for soil were detected in matrices collected across the United States and in purchased all-purpose sand, potting soil, and loam. This represented a 3.2% false positive rate for the 13 matrices processed by the screening method for interferences. The reported SPE cleanup method provides a fast and simple extraction process for separating organic explosives from matrix components, facilitating sample throughput and reducing instrument maintenance. In addition, a comparison study of the validated SPE method versus conventional syringe filtration was completed and highlighted the benefits of sample cleanup for removing matrix interferences, while also providing lower supply cost, order of magnitude lower LODs for most explosives, higher percent recoveries for complex matrices, and fewer instrument maintenance issues

Development and validation of a solid phase extraction sample cleanup procedure for the recovery of trace levels of nitro-organic explosives in soil

An improved cleanup method has been developed for the recovery of trace levels of 12 nitro-organic explosives in soil, which is important not only for the forensic community, but also has environmental implications. A wide variety of explosives or explosive-related compounds were evaluated, including nitramines, nitrate esters, nitroaromatics, and a nitroalkane. Fortified soil samples were extracted with acetone, processed via solid phase extraction (SPE), and then analyzed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection. The following three SPE sorbents in cartridge format were compared: EmporeTM SDB-XC, Oasis HLB, and Bond Elut NEXUS cartridges. The NEXUS cartridges provided the best overall recoveries for the 12 explosives in potting soil (average 48%) and the fastest processing times (\u3c30 min). It also rejected matrix components from spent motor oil on potting soil. The SPE method was validated by assessing limit of detection (LOD), processed sample stability, and interferences. All 12 compounds were detectable at 0.02 mg explosive/gram of soil or lower in the three matrices tested (potting soil, sand, and loam) over three days. Seven explosives were stable up to seven days at 2 mg/g and three were stable at 0.2 mg/g, both in processed loam, which was the most challenging matrix. In the interference study, five interferences above the determined LOD for soil were detected in matrices collected across the United States and in purchased all-purpose sand, potting soil, and loam. This represented a 3.2% false positive rate for the 13 matrices processed by the screening method for interferences. The reported SPE cleanup method provides a fast and simple extraction process for separating organic explosives from matrix components, facilitating sample throughput and reducing instrument maintenance. In addition, a comparison study of the validated SPE method versus conventional syringe filtration was completed and highlighted the benefits of sample cleanup for removing matrix interferences, while also providing lower supply cost, order of magnitude lower LODs for most explosives, higher percent recoveries for complex matrices, and fewer instrument maintenance issues