Are Online Business Transactions Executed by Electronic Signatures Legally Binding?

Most of us believe that we make contracts over the Internet all the time. We buy books and computers, arrange for hotels and planes, trade stocks, and apply for mortgages. But as recently as seven months ago that transaction was most likely not legally binding. This uncertainty led many practitioners, businesspeople, and consumers to question the efficacy of contracts executed by electronic signatures. Without a uniform standard, many jurisdictions ruled inconsistently, while other jurisdictions did not consider the issue. This disparate treatment threatened the legitimacy of online agreements and deprived both consumers and businesses of the certainty and predictability expected from well-developed markets. The law\u27s formalities evolved outside of the digital world, and the process of adapting them to it has proven to be more difficult than expected. In June of 2000, Congress attempted to solve this problem with the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign)

Multi-Tag Access for a High Precision Ultra-Wideband Localization System

Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless positioning systems have many advantages for track- ing and locating items in indoor environments. Surgical navigation and industrial process control are potential applications for high accuracy UWB localization systems with millimeter or sub-millimeter accuracy. I present improvements made to an existing high accuracy, multi-tag, UWB localization system. The goal of this thesis was to improve the multi-tag performance of this system while maintaining the high localization accuracy, and to utilize the UWB system for digital communications allowing the existing narrowband 2.4 GHz transceiver to be eliminated. This thesis presents a proof-of-concept for a multi-tag, UWB localization system utilizing orthogonal time hopping multiple access (OTHMA). Asynchronous transmit- only UWB digital communication allows identification of tags without the use of a narrowband control channel, and time di↵erence of arrival (TDOA) accomplishes localization. A digital sampling circuit is used for both localization and digital communication. I address the inherent challenge of collisions in an asynchronous transmit-only system while maintaining high accuracy and high update rates. An experimental system was developed consisting of two base stations and two tags allowing measurement of 1-D localization accuracy along with system update rates. The experimental results for localization accuracy were equivalent to results from the existing system while update rates were improved by greater than 50%

N-methylation of a bactericidal compound as a resistance mechanism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The rising incidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) makes it imperative to understand the underlying mechanisms. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the single leading cause of death from a bacterial pathogen and estimated to be the leading cause of death from AMR. A pyrido-benzimidazole, 14, was reported to have potent bactericidal activity against Mtb. Here, we isolated multiple Mtb clones resistant to 14. Each had mutations in the putative DNA-binding and dimerization domains of rv2887, a gene encoding a transcriptional repressor of the MarR family. The mutations in Rv2887 led to markedly increased expression of rv0560c. We characterized Rv0560c as an S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferase that N-methylates 14, abolishing its mycobactericidal activity. An Mtb strain lacking rv0560c became resistant to 14 by mutating decaprenylphosphoryl-beta-d-ribose 2-oxidase (DprE1), an essential enzyme in arabinogalactan synthesis; 14 proved to be a nanomolar inhibitor of DprE1, and methylation of 14 by Rv0560c abrogated this activity. Thus, 14 joins a growing list of DprE1 inhibitors that are potently mycobactericidal. Bacterial methylation of an antibacterial agent, 14, catalyzed by Rv0560c of Mtb, is a previously unreported mechanism of AMR

New Approaches to Filling the Gap in Tuberculosis Drug Discovery

For the first time in decades, say the authors, there is a tuberculosis drug pipeline, but the paucity of candidates is still cause for alarm

Naming emotions in motion:Alexithymic traits impact the perception of implied motion in facial displays of affect

Something akin to motion perception occurs when actual motion is not present but implied. However, it is not known if the experience of implied motion occurs during the perception of static faces nor if the effect would vary for different facial expressions. To examine this, participants were presented with pairs of faces where successive expressions depicted either increasing emotional intensity or its diminution. Participants indicated if the second face in the pair was the same as, or different from, the first face shown. To measure general facial emotion recognition ability, the Ekman 60 faces test was administered. As individual differences in depression, anxiety, and alexithymia have been shown to influence face processing, we measured these factors using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) and the Toronto Alexithymia scale (TAS-20). As expected, participants were more likely to endorse the second face as being a match to the first when its expression implied forward motion compared to backward motion. This effect was larger for happiness and fear and positively related to accuracy on the Ekman 60 faces task. The effect was not related to depression or anxiety but it was negatively related to scores on the difficulty identifying feelings subscale of the TAS-20, suggesting that individuals who have problems identifying their own and others' feelings experienced a reduction in implied motion. Observers process implied motion from some facial expressions of emotion but the experience is modified by the ability to recognize one's own feelings and those of others

HARDWARE Astronomy: Repair and Refurbishment of the Small Radio Telescope

A Small Radio Telescope (SRT), originally developed by MIT\u27s Haystack Observatory, was donated to Winona State University by Mayo High School in Rochester, Minnesota. The assembly includes a 2.3 meter dish with mount and motors that allow pointing over the entire sky. The SRT, unfortunately, has been weathered over years of exposure to the elements, and was absent all the electronics necessary for pointing and collecting data. Here we report our efforts to repair, replace, and refurbish the SRT for future undergraduate research. Specifically, the replacement of pointing hardware, the development of a motor control system and graphical user interface (GUI), and future work to implement a software defined radio (SDR) for detection of astronomical signals

Mixing Beef Feed Rations Containing Distillers Wet Grains

The flexibility of distillers grains has made it a major substitute for corn in beef feed rations. However, producers are having issues with feeding wet distillers grains. This study addresses three major mixing conditions: ingredient addition order, mixing time, and mixer design. The addition orders considered were hay-corn-protein-DWG and hay-DWG-protein-corn. Horizontal and vertical mixers were tested at mix times of 3, 5, and 7 min mixing a beef finishing ration containing wet distillers grains. Test results were obtained using total mixed ration and Pennsylvania State University Particle Separator analyses. Results showed that the 3-min mixing time is sufficient, thus when adding distillers grains, longer mix times are not needed. The hay- corn-protein- DWG ingredient addition order is recommended for both mixers when using liquid additives in the ration in order to avoid unwanted bundle formation. Finally, the two mixer designs were both adequate in mixing a wet distillers grains ration