Proprietary Technology Research Articles

حماية حقوق الملکية الفکرية في ضوء الاتفاقيات الدولية Protection of Intellectual Property Rights Considering International Conventions

مع نمو الاقتصاد القائم على المعرفة، تم الاعتراف بحقوق الملکية الفکريةIntellectual Property Right (IPR) کعامل رئيسي لتطوير وحماية القدرة التنافسية الاستراتيجية والابتکار المؤسسي. کما أدت الدرجة المتزايدة من التعاون في العلاقات الدولية وتقنيات الاتصال الرقمي في کل مکان إلى زيادة أهمية حماية الملکية الفکرية (IPR) للمنظمات. توفر الملکية الفکرية (IP) أدوات معينة لتأمين الميزة التنافسية والحفاظ عليها، مما يتيح تطوير وتنفيذ استراتيجيات لحماية التقنيات الخاصة من المقلدين. في هذه المقالة، يتم تسليط الضوء على ماهية الملکية الفکرية وحقوقها، وما هو التنظيم القانوني والتقني الذي يحمي قواعدها دوليا With the growth of the knowledge-based economy, Intellectual Property Right (IPR) has been recognized as a key factor in developing and protecting strategic competitiveness and institutional innovation. The increasing degree of cooperation in international relations and ubiquitous digital communication technologies has increased the importance of (IPR) to organizations. Intellectual property (IP) provides specific tools for securing and maintaining a competitive advantage, enabling the development and implementation of strategies to protect proprietary technologies from imitators. In this article, it sheds light on what intellectual property and its rights are, and what is the legal and technical regulation that protects its rules internationally.

Research on the Evolution of Textile Technological Convergence in China

Technological convergence (TC) plays a vital role in leading the next generation of technological innovation. Research in this field has practical significance for its ongoing deployment as an innovation-driven strategy in the sustainable development of the textile industry. However, there are few relevant studies, with most of them carried out on only one level, whether from a micro or macro perspective. This study analyses the evolution of TC from both macro (industry) and micro (technical field) levels. A patented co-occurrence method is employed to measure TC and various social network indicators, including density, node strength and the Jaccard coefficient, to measure the evolution of the network and its nodes and edges. The results present that the density of the macro TC network has been increasing and that the industrial technologies that are closely associated with the textile industry include chemical engineering technology, pharmaceutical technology and material technology. Meanwhile, the micro TC network manifests high dependence on proprietary technology, whilst the convergence degree between the core technologies is relatively high. This study proposes that the government should continue to encourage textile enterprises to strengthen TC, particularly their integration with leading technologies, and should strengthen the integration of emerging industrial textiles with national defence, medicine and other related fields to improve innovation speed.

Product Market Competition and the Stock Market: Capitalisation, Returns and Betas.

We develop a tractable RBC model of the stock market with heterogenous firms. Shares value rests on the rent extracted from proprietary technology a la Dixit-Stiglitz. We prove the existence and uniqueness of the fundamental equilibrium. Closed form solutions are provided for the market portfolio and for individual firms' valuations, and for each stock's beta, under weak assumptions on the shock processes. An increase in the degree of monopoly unambiguously increases the stock market capitalisation and reduces the stock index return. As the Lerner index tends to one, the idiosyncratic components of individual returns, generated by the productivity shocks, tend to vanish: the stock market can no longer provide instruments for trading risk beyond the stock index.

Apple's Mounting App Store Woes

By making the App Store the only official channel for iPhone owners to buy apps, Apple has created the only market in which iPhone owners and app developers may transact their business. Apple exploits the bottleneck that it creates by imposing a 15 percent or 30 percent commission on transactions between iPhone owners and app developers. The array of Apple litigation elicited by this conduct may pose a case of first impression, since there does not appear to be a pigeonhole for Apple’s conduct. Apple neither buys nor sells third-party apps and therefore it does not exercise monopsony or monopoly power. If plaintiffs frame their antitrust challenges correctly, a court will have to determine whether Apple’s conduct—use of its proprietary technology and threats aimed at both app developers and iPhone owners—offends Section 2 of the Sherman Act. If the court finds that Apple has violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, then it must also decide who has suffered antitrust injury and who has standing to sue under Section 4 of the Clayton Act. We offer an economic analysis of these issues.

Smart Wearables for Athletes

Wearable technologies is an emerging technology. The devices are networked to collect the data, track the activities then based on collected and tracked data customize the experiences to as per user’s requirements. Wearables consists of microchips sensors and wireless communication devices. The complete unit is mounted into cloths or consumer electronics, accessories. In these wearable’s sensors are mounted to measure temperature, heartrate, humidity, motion etc. Wearables find applications in all fields, such as agriculture, sports, healthcare navigation systems. Millions of athletes want to know their hydration needs for avoiding substantial consequences. With proprietary technology, developing a hydration sensor informs athletes’ hydration level. This wearable alarms the person when to drink water or hydrate by an indicator. The wearables provide a platform for single-use sensors for a range of applications that helps in consumer diagnostics. A wearable hydration sensor is designed to monitor hydration level that enables athletes to read and act on their hydration status in real-time.

An integrated simulation–optimisation approach for free fatty acid removal in palm oil deodorisation process

AbstractDeodorisation is the key process to produce high‐quality refined, bleached and deodorised palm oil (RBDPO) in a palm oil refinery. In this work, an integrated simulation–optimisation approach was adopted for the analysis of a deodorisation process in an operating palm oil refinery. The process includes a deodoriser unit that removes free fatty acids (FFA) from bleached palm oil (BPO), and a vacuum scrubber utilising palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) to reduce the FFA content entering the vacuum system. Being a proprietary technology, deodoriser is not found in the standard models of commercial simulation software. Approximation was made in simulation, with results compared to plant data. Detailed analyses showed that the reduction of FFA content relies on deodorisation temperature and pressure, stripping steam flowrate, as well as the temperature and flowrate of PFAD entering the vacuum scrubber. An optimisation model was solved to maximise profit from the deodorisation. Results showed that the FFA content entering the vacuum system is reduced significantly by 49.7%, leading to higher recovery of FFA in PFAD and lower loss into the condenser section. Applying the optimum values to the refinery has resulted in FFA levels greater than 91.2% in PFAD and RBDPO yield improvement of 0.5%.

Exhibition projects as a technology of educational activity of higher school

The educational technologies of higher education are changing in the context of the growing influence of creative industries, the priority of the values of over-professional competencies and the expansion of the range of tasks associated with the development of cultural processes in the territories. The article discusses ways of modifying exhibition activities, where proprietary technologies are rapidly developing, trends in digitalization and event practices are strong, including performances, happening, master classes. Universities are involved in creative practices, but such work requires pedagogical logic, a methodology for involving young people in this area. The purpose of the study was to search for reliable methods and resources necessary for a successful strategy for the development of the art space of the university. Analysis of training courses related to exhibition work, an overview of the sites available for the presentation of youth projects, student surveys on motivation in the field of creative initiatives have become methods of obtaining the initial research data. As a result, it is concluded that it is necessary to develop the art space of the university as an independent educational practice, including for the development of open massive online courses and the formation of art collections in the multimedia format.

Dynamic quality of service for different flow types in SDN networks

The structure of the internet makes it difficult to implement Quality of Service (QoS) in different flows generated by many different applications with different demands. One of the challenges is the lack of technical knowledge and the difficulty of configuring network equipment with many proprietary technologies. Software Defined Networks (SDN) is a good alternative to mitigate these problems. However, SDN technology itself still suffers from the limitation of solid QoS mechanisms, especially considering flows classified as elephant (large data volume), cheetah (high throughput) and alpha (large bursts). Aiming to fill this gap, this work proposes a new SDN service, called QoS-Flux, that receives network information from the data plane to apply different QoS algorithms and filters to dynamically deal with different flows. Experimental results show that QoS-Flux significantly improves the QoS metrics of delay, jitter, packet loss, and bandwidth in a SDN.

Интраовариальная аутоплазмотерапия у пациенток с низким овариальным резервом

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of Intraovarian autoplasmotherapy (platelet-rich plasma/PRP) in the activation of ovarian function in patients with diminished ovarian reserve and “poor” response in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, as well as its influence on the quality of life. Patients and methods. A total of 120 patients with diminished ovarian reserve and a history of IVF cycle failure who refused to use donor oocytes were included in the study. All patients underwent intraovarian PRP therapy based on the proprietary technology. The quality of life, the ovarian function, and the results of the embryo stage in the IVF cycle were monitored for 6 months. Results. The conducted study demonstrates a positive effect of intraovarian PRP therapy on the functional state of the ovaries and on the results of the embryo stage in IVF in the cohort of patients with diminished ovarian reserve and “poor” response in previous unsuccessful IVF cycles. The findings also indicate changes in the quality of life, an improvement in sexual function, and positive dynamics in the emotional state. Conclusion. Intraovarian PRP therapy allows patients with infertility and diminished ovarian reserve to avoid using donor oocytes and to obtain their own genetic material. This technology has a positive effect on the quality of life, having a certain anti-age effect in all groups of examined women, the duration of which has yet to be clarified. Key words: infertility, “poor” response, intraovarian PRP therapy, IVF cycle failure, diminished ovarian reserve

The Missing Algorithm: Safeguarding Brady Against the Rise of Trade Secrecy in Policing

Trade secrecy, a form of intellectual property protection, serves the important societal function of promoting innovation. But as police departments across the country increasingly rely on proprietary technologies like facial recognition and predictive policing tools, an uneasy tension between due process and trade secrecy has developed: to fulfill Brady’s constitutional promise of a fair trial, defendants must have access to the technologies accusing them, access that trade secrecy inhibits. Thus far, this tension is being resolved too far in favor of the trade secret holder—and at too great an expense to the defendant. The wrong balance has been struck. This Note offers three contributions. First, it explains the use of algorithms in law enforcement and the intertwined role of trade secrecy protections. Second, it shows how trade secrecy clashes with the Due Process Clause—the Constitution’s mechanism for correcting the power asymmetry between the state and the defendant—and argues that due process should not waver simply because a source of evidence is digital, not human. Third, it proposes a solution that better balances a defendant’s due process rights with intellectual property protections.

Focus on photonics, spectroscopy, and spectrometry

Focus on photonics, spectroscopy, and spectrometry

Adsorption Assisted Cryogenic Carbon Capture: an Alternate Path to Steam Driven Technologies to Decrease Cost and Carbon Footprint

Carbon capture has gained momentum in addressing CO2 emissions where substitution of carbon feedstock by renewables is very challenging, such as in steel, refining, chemical, and cement industries. Gas streams containing 15% to 50% CO2 are low-hanging fruits for applying CO2 capture due to their prevalence in industry and lower capture cost linked to their high concentrations. Amine-based processes are historally considered as reference solutions for these applications, but they are no longer the only commercially viable solution today. Air Liquide has been working on a smart combination of its proprietary Adsorption and Cryogenic technologies, where Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) is used as a CO2 preconcentration and Cryogenic as CO2 purifiers: the Cryocap™ FG. This paper studies the influence of utilities (steam and electricity) on the carbon footprint and total cost of ownership of both amine and Cryocap™ FG technologies. The paper also studies Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and the TCO per ton of reduced CO2 for various footprint scenarios and typical utility costs. As it is a high efficiency power-driven technology, Cryocap™ FG resulted in a 90% reduction of Scope 1 emissions compared to 69-74% reduction with amine, depending on steam footprint, where limited waste heat is available for steam production. Cryocap™ FG was also found to be the most economical choice for electricity prices below 60€/MWh at any steam price, and the breakeven is at 120 €/MWh for a steam cost at around 10 €/t.

Катетеризация бедренной вены у детей. Безопасный сосудистый доступ

Objective. To identify risk factors of injuries to femoral vasculature of femoral vessel injuries, optimize the process of cannulation, reduce the risk of injury to femoral artery and its branches. Patients and methods. A screening sonography of the femoral puncture area was carried out in 466 patients. Of those, 240 patients had the bilateral sonography of the recommended optimal point for femoral vein access. The sonography of major vessels in the femoral vein access areas was performed using the ultrasound scanners Phillips HD 11 ХЕ, SonoSite М-turbo. Mindrey M7, M9, Samsung HM 70, and others; linear multi-frequency transducers with the working frequency range of 7 to 18 mHz, of 40mm and 20mm aperture. Sonography was perfromed from the level of inguinal ligament downwards, in the plane orthogonal to the major vessels in B mode and later with color Doppler mapping (CDM) of venous and arterial vessels. Results. Ultrasound findings of 240 patients were analyzed and anatomic variants of the femoral vascular bundle were identified: 29% patients had high origin of the deep femoral artery on one of the sides; 17.9% had high origin of the deep femoral artery combined with high origin of the medial circumflex femoral artery immediately behind the femoral vein; 5% had high origin of the medial circumflex femoral artery immediately from the femoral artery behind the femoral vein; in 2%, the femoral vein was located between the deep femoral artery and femoral artery 2 cm inferiorly to the inguinal fold. Sonography demonstrated that the femoral vein is easily compressible during venipuncture, and the distance between the anterior and posterior walls of the compressed femoral vein gets less than the access needle diameter. Special techniques were suggested to avoid perforation of the posterior femoral vein wall during access. It was clearly demonstrated that utilization of these techniques combined with ultrasound-assisted placement of a peripheral venous catheter on a trocar needle during femoral vein access has decreased injuries of the femoral artery and its branches from 10% to 1.3% of cases. A proprietary technology of safe stepwise cannulation of femoral veins is described. Conclusion. Ultrasound examination facilitates detection of vascular anatomy nuances and choice of the safer approach to femoral vein access. Measures preventing inadvertent puncture of the posterior wall, such as increased blood filling of the femoral vein, utilization of peripheral venous catheters for initial access, and a stepwise vein catheterization, have made it possible to achieve high percentage of successful cannulations and reduce complications. Key words: intensive care in children, ultrasound examination, venous access, femoral vein cannulation

The role of the comparative method in research of legal regulation of cryp-toassets

The paper considers the specifics of using a comparative method to study of legal regulation of cryptoassets. The main practical goals of comparative legal research today are legal transplantation and harmonization of legislation. As lawmakers and legal experts in many states are faced with the need to solve global problems related to the regulation of crypto-assets, a rethinking of the use of the comparative method is required. In order to create optimal legal regulation of cryptoassets, it is useful to reach a common understanding of this proprietary technology at the international level. In the study of legal phenomena, which are essentially transboundary at the present stage, it is necessary to take into account the legal regulation that is formed both in the legislation of the most technologically developed countries and in the international economic space.

Exploration of Euchromatin Cell-Free DNA Methylation in Breast Cancer

Circulating cell-Free DNA (cfDNA) is emerging as a non-invasive liquid biopsy biomarker for personalized and precision cancer management. While extensive tissue-based DNA methylation profiling at global and gene levels have been documented, studies regarding methylation status of cfDNA at the sub-genome scale as well as correlation with that of tissue-derived genomic DNA have yet to be explored. The ability to specifically interrogate DNA methylation status of the transcriptionally active regions within chromosomes, i.e., euchromatin, not only fulfills the knowledge gap but also provides a much needed longitudinal and real-time insight for early cancer detection and intervention. We have developed a proprietary technology for selective enrichment of euchromatin cfDNA and analyzed the 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) content in these circulating nucleocomplexes. Paired tissue and plasma DNA (n=28) were obtained from breast cancer patients at various stages with ages and genders matched to the control arm (n=21). Quantitative measurement of DNA methylation was determined by ELISA-based assays. Our results revealed significant lower methylation levels from breast cancer cohort as compared to the cancer-free group (P<0.01). Most importantly, the methylation quantification dataset from euchromatin cfDNA strongly correlated with that of tissue genomic DNA (R²=0.72). This is the first report on euchromatin cfDNA methylation and provides promising outcomes for its future clinical application

Multifaceted modifications for a cell size-based circulating tumor cell scope technique hold the prospect for large-scale application in general populations.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) indicate the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer patients, together with benefiting individual treatment and anticancer drug development. However, their large-scale application in general population still requires systematically multifaceted modifications for currently proprietary new technologies based on filtration. We primitively utilized a cell size-based platform to evaluate the recovery efficiency of spiked abnormal cell lines and analyzed circulating abnormal cells (CACs). To dissect the subpopulations of CACs, we conducted immunofluorescent (IF) staining with a combination of unique biomarkers of CTCs and circulating endothelial cells (CECs). Furthermore, we improved the CTC screening system by assessing the feasibility of transferring CTCs for automatic IF analysis, together with simulating and optimizing the circumstances for long-term CTC storage and transportation. We detected CACs in 15 HD candidates with CTC characteristics such as abnormally large cytomorphology, high nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, and positive for panCK or VIM staining. Thereafter, we improved accuracy of the platform by distinguishing CTCs from CECs, which satisfied the elementary requirement for small-scale CTC screening in HD candidates. Finally, large-scale CTC screening in general population was available after multifaceted modifications including automatic analysis by transferring CTCs onslides, choosing the appropriate blood-collecting tube, optimizing the conditions for long-term CTC storage and transportation, and evaluating the potential effect on the CTC phenotype. Hence, we systematically modified the scope of technique parameters, improved the accuracy of early cancer detection, and made it realizable for large-scale CTC or CEC screening in general population.

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled, Parallel-Group, Comparative Clinical Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of OLNP-06 versus Placebo in Subjects with Functional Dyspepsia

OLNP-06 is ginger extract product standardized to higher amount of total gingerols formulated with proprietary Aqueosome technology. The safety and efficacy of OLNP-06 were evaluated in a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, parallel group comparative clinical study in subjects with functional dyspepsia (FD). Significant improvements in clinical endpoints were observed during the trial along with excellent safety profile. Fifty subjects aged between 18 and 55 years suffering from FD as per ROME III criteria were enrolled into the study. They were randomized into two treatment groups, one group received OLNP-06, 200 mg twice daily and other group received placebo 200 mg twice daily. The primary efficacy end point was global assessment of overall treatment efficacy (OTE). Secondary efficacy endpoints were elimination rate of three major symptoms (postprandial fullness, upper abdominal bloating and early satiation) and elimination rate for each individual symptom scores. Biochemical and hematological parameters including urine analysis were performed to evaluate the safety of OLNP-06. Out of 50 subjects, 48subjects completed the study. Total 79% of the subjects receiving OLNP-06 and 21% of the subjects receiving placebo (p < .05) were classified as responders according to the assessment of OTE. Elimination rate (score 0) of postprandial fullness, upper abdominal bloating and early satiation was 64% in subjects receiving ONLP-06 compared with 13% in the placebo group (p < .05). OLNP-06 was found to be safe and well tolerated as there was no incidence of treatment-related AE’s. Supplementation of OLNP-06 for 4 weeks significantly reduced dyspeptic symptoms in subjects suffering from FD. Trial Registration: Clinical Trial Registry-India, CTRI/2019/09/021019, Registered on 2 Sep 2019.

Long-term hybrid galvanic corrosion protection of reinforced-concrete structures

Hybrid corrosion protection (HCP) can be used to provide corrosion arrest and prevention in degrading reinforced-concrete structures to increase their service life. The proprietary technology is a relatively new electrochemical treatment for concrete structures, having been patented in 2005 (patent GB2426008B). Due to this fact, accurate and reliable empirical data over the life span of a structure protected by an HCP system does not yet exist. This paper is the first to present over 10 years of empirical data, from one of the very first installations of HCP, providing a rigorous and reliable assessment of the structure's long-term performance. Results demonstrate that hybrid galvanic anodes exhibit a responsive behaviour to maintain the concrete environment and respond to corrosion hazards. Even after prolonged periods of low current output, the anodes respond to changing environmental conditions, providing the higher current output required to afford the necessary polarisation to the reinforcement, and hence the protection to the structure. Steel potentials also continued to trend towards more positive values, a generally agreed indication of passive reinforcement. Overall, this study is unique, being the first to present continuous, long-term performance data on hybrid galvanic anodes for the corrosion protection of reinforced-concrete structures.

Economic Reality at the Core of Apple

In Apple, Inc. v. Pepper, the Supreme Court failed to recognize the economic reality at play which sparked considerable confusion and debate about the continued vitality of Illinois Brick. Apple used proprietary technology and threats to both iPhone owners and app developers to compel them to conduct their business in Apple’s App Store. In so doing, Apple created a presumably unlawful bottleneck. This enabled Apple to impose a 30 percent ad valorem tax on each transaction. The tax, i.e. the antitrust damage, is borne by both the iPhone owners and the app developers according to the relative elasticities of the demand and supply. Distributing damages in this way leads to effective antitrust enforcement that does not reward the wrongdoer with ill-gotten gains nor lead to duplicative damages and complex apportioning. Our analysis clarifies the economic reality of the Apple case and provides useful guidance for handling future bottleneck cases.

Beta‐amyloid deposition and Apolipoprotein E4 carrier status predict cerebral blood flow velocity response to exercise

AbstractBackgroundCerebral blood flow (CBF) provides crucial oxygen and nutrients and clears harmful metabolic waste products from the brain. The CBF decline observed in healthy aging is accelerated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We previously reported a lower CBF response during exercise in cognitively‐normal older adults with beta‐amyloid deposition. Recent studies suggest the Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) gene may act mechanistically through vascular pathways to cause AD. Thus, we expanded our model to include ApoE4 carrier status. We hypothesized that beta‐amyloid deposition and positive ApoE4 carrier status would be associated with an attenuated CBF velocity response to exercise.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis on sedentary, cognitively‐normal adults (N = 39). For the parent study, individuals were recruited from the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Genotyping was performed by LCG Genomics using KASP proprietary genotyping technology. Beta‐amyloid load was obtained from Positron Emission Tomography scans after [18F] Florbetapir administration. We recorded middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) using transcranial Doppler ultrasound at rest and during 8 minutes of moderate‐intensity exercise. We used these data to assess the CBF velocity response to exercise, defined as the percent change in MCAv from rest to exercise (%ΔMCAv = exercising MCAv – resting MCAv / resting MCAv). We ran a multiple regression to predict %ΔMCAv from age, gender, exercising carbon dioxide, exercising mean arterial pressure, beta‐amyloid load, and ApoE4 carrier status.ResultsOf the 39 participants (65‐86 years old), fourteen (36%) were ApoE4 carriers. The multiple regression model significantly predicted %ΔMCAv, F(6, 32) = 2.760, p = 0.028, adjusted R2 = 0.217. Regression coefficients and standard errors are found in Table 1. The standardized regression coefficients were β = ‐0.406 for beta‐amyloid load (p = 0.014) and β = 0.348 for ApoE4 carrier status (p = 0.025).ConclusionsHigher beta‐amyloid load was associated with a smaller %ΔMCAv, as hypothesized. However, contrary to our hypothesis, positive ApoE4 carrier status was associated with a larger %ΔMCAv from rest to exercise. This may reflect a compensatory CBF response in these adults who have maintained normal cognition despite having an elevated genetic risk of AD.