In re Shamus Holdings, LLC and the Automatic Stay

(Excerpt) The automatic stay is recognized as one of the fundamental protections provided by bankruptcy law. The automatic stay prevents creditors from taking almost any type of formal or informal action against the debtor, including commencing or continuing foreclosure actions. There are, however, certain exceptions to the automatic stay, exceptions that permit the creditor to take action against the debtor despite the pendency of the bankruptcy proceeding. This memorandum focuses on one such exception, contained in section 362(b)(3) of the Code, and the effect courts have held it to have on the automatic tolling provision of the Bankruptcy Code. The focus of this memorandum is not necessarily when section 362(b)(3) applies but rather how it is applied. This distinction becomes important when the automatic stay provision is read in light of the automatic tolling provision contained in section 108(c). Though the automatic stay is broad in scope, section 362(b)(3) contains an exception that allows a creditor to take action to perfect or maintain an interest in property of the bankruptcy estate. Tension arises when courts must decide whether creditor action excepted by the automatic stay renders the automatic tolling provision inapposite. This question turns on whether courts view creditor action that is permitted under the automatic stay as action that the creditor is required to take, or, alternatively, as simply action the creditor is allowed to take. On the one hand, some courts that have taken the position that excepted creditor action is required have held that a creditor must take the action that is excepted by section 362(b)(3) and, therefore, any underlying statute of limitations is not tolled. On the other hand, some courts that view excepted creditor action as merely allowed have held that the creditor may take such action, but regardless the underlying statute of limitations remains tolled while the debtor is under the protection of bankruptcy

The Case for Flexible Intellectual Property Protections in the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The United States and eleven other countries are currently in the end stages of negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—the largest free trade agreement (FTA) in U.S. history—which incorporates a range of trade topics, including the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Although the negotiations have been highly secretive, negotiating texts of the agreement leaked as recently as November 2013 have suggested that the United States is proposing IPR provisions, specifically relating to patent protection, that are stronger and less flexible than IPR provisions included within three of the four most recent U.S. FTAs. This paper addresses and analyzes these leaked IPR provisions and makes the argument that in the best interest of global welfare and public-health policy, the United States should not be attempting to incorporate stronger IPR protections in the TPP. Section 1 provides an introduction to the TRIPS agreement—the first international agreement to set minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of IPRs—and discusses the significance of the “Doha Declaration” in helping to clarify the need to interpret TRIPS from a public-health perspective. Section 2 describes the recent U.S. trend of seeking levels of IPR protection in its FTAs that exceed the minimum standards of TRIPS (referred to as “TRIPS-plus” provisions)—including patent term extensions, patent linkages, and enhanced data protection, as detailed in Section 3 of this paper. Section 4 describes the Bipartisan Trade Deal (BTD) of May 10, 2007, as an attempt by members of Congress to address concerns about the effect that these enhanced IPR protections have on developing countries’ ability to access life-saving medicines. Section 5 outlines the leaked U.S. TPP proposals relating to patent term extensions, patent linkages and data protection, and describes how they will impede TPP countries from gaining access to medicines. In order to better understand the issues and arguments that are at stake from both sides, Section 6 provides the arguments commonly put forth as to why strong patent protection is necessary, while Section 7 examines the significance of generic medicines being accessible in the global marketplace. Section 8 analyzes these arguments and draws the conclusion that, while patent protection of pharmaceuticals is important, it must be fairly balanced against the needs of the developing world to be able to access affordable, life-saving medicines. In conclusion, this paper puts forth the argument that the United States should honor its existing global-health commitments by seeking flexible IPR standards in the TPP to ensure that the health interests of the poorest and sickest people in the developing world are not undermined by the profit-maximizing interests of pharmaceutical companies

Coalbed Methane in the Rocky Mountain Region: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

8 pages (includes color illustrations and maps). Contains references

The Probability of Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), Escape Differs Among Life Stages and Between Two Trapping Techniques Commonly Used By Landowners, Sticky Bands and Duct Tape.

The invasive Lycorma delicatula (White) was first identified in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. in 2014, and has since increased its range to several Eastern states. Lycorma delicatula pose a serious threat to many native species, including hardwoods and grapes, and land owners are continually seeking effective traps to control populations. Both commercially-produced Web-Cote brand sticky bands and less expensive duct tape are often used by land owners to trap L. delicatula. However, the probability of escape from these adhesives has not been formally assessed, and almost certainly differs as a function of life stage and type of adhesive used. The purpose of this work was to determine if the effect of adhesive type (Web-Cote sticky bands vs. duct tape) on the probability of escape differs based on life stage. Additionally, we wanted to know how escape probability differs among life stages when individuals were exposed to each adhesive type, separately. In all life stages, the probability of escape from duct tape was greater than from Web-Cote sticky bands, indicating that sticky bands are a more effective tool in L. delicatula population control. In trials using only Web-Cote sticky bands, the probability of escape was low in second (21.1%), third (32.6%), and fourth (38.5%) instars relative to adults (84.1%). In trials using only duct tape, the probability of escape remained high among all life stages, with approximately 72% of second instars and 100% of adults escaping. Recent studies indicate that alternate trapping techniques, including circle trunk traps, are even more effective at capturing L. delicatula than sticky bands, though they are costlier. We propose a hybrid approach to L. delicatula trapping which utilizes relatively inexpensive sticky bands early in the season, and fewer, more effective circle trunk traps later in the season

Correction to The Probability of Spotted Lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), Escape Differs Among Life Stages and Between Two Trapping Techniques Commonly Used by Landowners, Sticky Bands and Duct Tape. The Great Lakes Entomologist 53(3-4): 170-177.

This is a manuscript correction in reference to: Desko M, Schiebel C, Silverman S, Bickel J, Felton K, and Chandler JL. (2020) The Probability of spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae), escape differs among life stages and between two trapping techniques commonly used by landowners, sticky bands and duct tape. The Great Lakes Entomologist 53(3-4): 170-177

The Great Space Weather Event during February 1872 Recorded in East Asia

The study of historical great geomagnetic storms is crucial for assessing the possible risks to the technological infrastructure of a modern society, caused by extreme space-weather events. The normal benchmark has been the great geomagnetic storm of September 1859, the so-called "Carrington Event". However, there are numerous records of another great geomagnetic storm in February 1872. This storm, about 12 years after the Carrington Event, resulted in comparable magnetic disturbances and auroral displays over large areas of the Earth. We have revisited this great geomagnetic storm in terms of the auroral and sunspot records in the historical documents from East Asia. In particular, we have surveyed the auroral records from East Asia and estimated the equatorward boundary of the auroral oval to be near 24.3 deg invariant latitude (ILAT), on the basis that the aurora was seen near the zenith at Shanghai (20 deg magnetic latitude, MLAT). These results confirm that this geomagnetic storm of February 1872 was as extreme as the Carrington Event, at least in terms of the equatorward motion of the auroral oval. Indeed, our results support the interpretation of the simultaneous auroral observations made at Bombay (10 deg MLAT). The East Asian auroral records have indicated extreme brightness, suggesting unusual precipitation of high-intensity, low-energy electrons during this geomagnetic storm. We have compared the duration of the East Asian auroral displays with magnetic observations in Bombay and found that the auroral displays occurred in the initial phase, main phase, and early recovery phase of the magnetic storm.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal on 31 May 201

Down-regulation of myeloid cell leukemia 1 by epigallocatechin-3-gallate sensitizes rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts to tumor necrosis factor Α–induced apoptosis

Objective Overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblasts is a major cause of their resistance to tumor necrosis factor Α (TNFΑ)–induced apoptosis. This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in down-regulating Mcl-1 expression and its mechanism of RA synovial fibroblast sensitization to TNFΑ-induced apoptosis. Methods EGCG effects on cultured RA synovial fibroblast cell morphology, proliferation, and viability over 72 hours were determined by microscopy and a fluorescent cell enumeration assay. Caspase 3 activity was determined by a colorimetric assay. Western blotting was used to evaluate the apoptosis mediators poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), Mcl-1, Bcl-2, Akt, and nuclear translocation of NF-ΚB. Results In RA synovial fibroblasts, EGCG (5–50 Μ M ) inhibited constitutive and TNFΑ-induced Mcl-1 protein expression in a concentration- and time-dependent manner ( P < 0.05). Importantly, EGCG specifically abrogated Mcl-1 expression in RA synovial fibroblasts and affected Mcl-1 expression to a lesser extent in osteoarthritis and normal synovial fibroblasts or endothelial cells. Inhibition of Mcl-1 by EGCG triggered caspase 3 activity in RA synovial fibroblasts, which was mediated via down-regulation of the TNFΑ-induced Akt and NF-ΚB pathways. Caspase 3 activation by EGCG also suppressed RA synovial fibroblast growth, and this effect was mimicked by Akt and NF-ΚB inhibitors. Interestingly, Mcl-1 degradation by EGCG sensitized RA synovial fibroblasts to TNFΑ-induced PARP cleavage and apoptotic cell death. Conclusion Our findings indicate that EGCG itself induces apoptosis and further sensitizes RA synovial fibroblasts to TNFΑ-induced apoptosis by specifically blocking Mcl-1 expression and, hence, may be of promising adjunct therapeutic value in regulating the invasive growth of synovial fibroblasts in RA.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62991/1/24488_ftp.pd