A new framework for exploration of transportation maintenance-related prevalent work injuries, hazardous activities, and effectiveness of ergonomic solutions in the United States

The transportation industry involves various ergonomic injuries caused by activities exceeding workers’ capabilities. Although the construction industry has been thoroughly studied regarding work-­related injuries, hazardous activities, and effective ergonomic solutions, there is a lack of such research in the transportation sector. However, injuries, risky activities, and effectiveness of solutions may be different in transportation activities due to different work duration, intensity, and frequency. Thus, this research intends to explore the common work-related injuries, hazardous transportation activities, and the effectiveness of ergonomic solutions for transportation maintenance workers. This thorough examination incorporated historical injury records, online surveys, in-person site observations, and field experiments. Specifically, a preliminary list was first created based on transportation workers’ historical injury data, including common injured worker positions, injury types, activities causing most injures, and potential risk factors. An online survey was then designed to identify work-related injuries and activities. Following observations, field experiments involved 29 transportation maintenance workers. Back injuries emerged as the most prevalent when engaging in lifting and pushing/pulling tasks. Using a back exoskeleton can eliminate physical fatigue risks when lifting weights of 50 pounds or more. In addition, lifting lighter loads (31.5 pounds) can significantly reduce the risk of injuries. Prevalent work-related injuries, hazardous activities, and effective ergonomic solutions have been thoroughly researched in the construction domain. However, with the injury and fatality statistics of the transportation industry, there is a lack of studies investigating what injuries are prevalent, what activities are risky, and what solutions could be effective in the transportation industry. To the best of author’s knowledge, this paper is the first research presenting a new framework exploring prevalent work-related injuries, hazardous activities, and ergonomic solutions’ effectiveness in the domain of transportation maintenance work through the analysis of historical data, online survey data, onsite observations, and field experiment. Theoretically, this paper fills the lack of research about identification of ergonomic injuries and risky activities in the transportation industry, and contributes to the development of ergonomically effective process, practice, and technique for improved health and safety in the transportation maintenance work. Practically, the research team worked with a state Department of Transportation to help the transportation-related workers, managers, and organizations better realize the risky activities and understand how to prevent the risks.</p

1,2,3-Triazole as a Special “X-Factor” in Promoting Hashmi Phenol Synthesis

31P NMR experiments revealed rapid decomposition of the Ph3PAu+TfO− complex in the presence of the furan-yne, which resulted in poor reactivity as reported in the literature. Therefore, instead of tuning different ligands (PR3), the 1,2,3-triazole was applied as a special X-factor to stabilize the catalyst. The desired phenol products were prepared in excellent yields (1% cat. up to 95% yield) and chemoselectivity (>20:1)

Metal-Free C–N or C–C Bond Cleavages of α‑Azido Ketones: An Oxidative-Amidation Strategy for the Synthesis of α‑Ketothioamides and Amides

A novel metal-free oxidative-amidation strategy for the synthesis of α-ketothioamides and amides from α-azido ketones was developed. The C–H bond thionation of α-azido ketones with elemental sulfur could form α-ketothioacyl azide, which was then nucleophilically attacked by amines, causing the cleavage of the C–N bond to afford α-ketothioamides, while amides could be formed with the release of nitrogen gas and cyano anion in the presence of PhI­(OAc)2 by selective C–C bond cleavage

Metal-Free C–N or C–C Bond Cleavages of α‑Azido Ketones: An Oxidative-Amidation Strategy for the Synthesis of α‑Ketothioamides and Amides

A novel metal-free oxidative-amidation strategy for the synthesis of α-ketothioamides and amides from α-azido ketones was developed. The C–H bond thionation of α-azido ketones with elemental sulfur could form α-ketothioacyl azide, which was then nucleophilically attacked by amines, causing the cleavage of the C–N bond to afford α-ketothioamides, while amides could be formed with the release of nitrogen gas and cyano anion in the presence of PhI­(OAc)2 by selective C–C bond cleavage

Cisplatin Radiosensitization of DNA Irradiated with 2–20 eV Electrons: Role of Transient Anions

Platinum chemotherapeutic agents, such as cisplatin (<i>cis</i>-diamminedichloroplatinum­(II)), can act as radiosensitizers when bound covalently to nuclear DNA in cancer cells. This radiosensitization is largely due to an increase in DNA damage induced by low-energy secondary electrons, produced in large quantities by high-energy radiation. We report the yields of single- and double-strand breaks (SSB and DSB) and interduplex cross-links (CL) induced by electrons of 1.6–19.6 eV (i.e., the yield functions) incident on 5 monolayer (ML) films of cisplatin–DNA complexes. These yield functions are compared with those previously recorded with 5 ML films of unmodified plasmid DNA. Binding of five cisplatin molecules to plasmid DNA (3197 base pairs) enhances SSB, DSB, and CL by factors varying, from 1.2 to 2.8, 1.4 to 3.5, and 1.2 to 2.7, respectively, depending on electron energy. All yield functions exhibit structures around 5 and 10 eV that can be attributed to enhancement of bond scission, via the initial formation of core-excited resonances associated with π → π* transitions of the bases. This increase in damage is interpreted as arising from a modification of the parameters of the corresponding transient anions already present in nonmodified DNA, particularly those influencing molecular dissociation. Two additional resonances, specific to cisplatin-modified DNA, are formed at 13.6 and 17.6 eV in the yield function of SSB. Furthermore, cisplatin binding causes the induction of DSB by electrons of 1.6–3.6 eV, i.e., in an energy region where a DSB cannot be produced by a single electron in pure DNA. Breaking two bonds with a subexcitation-energy electron is tentatively explained by a charge delocalization mechanism, where a single electron occupies simultaneously two σ* bonds linking the Pt atom to guanine bases on opposite strands

sj-docx-1-aat-10.1177_24723444231172218 – Supplemental material for Environmental Impact Assessment of Undergraduate Apparel Consumption Behavior

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-aat-10.1177_24723444231172218 for Environmental Impact Assessment of Undergraduate Apparel Consumption Behavior by Lisha Zhu, Yunfeng Chen, Qianwen Huang, Ying Zhang and Laili Wang in AATCC Journal of Research</p

Efficient Synthesis of <i>N</i>-2-Aryl-1,2,3-Triazole Fluorophores via Post-Triazole Arylation

Efficient post-triazole regioselective N-2 arylation was developed from C-4, C-5 disubstituted-1,2,3-NH-triazoles. Three different approaches had been investigated, including SNAr, Cu(I) catalyzed aryl amidation and Cu(II) mediated boronic acid coupling. The N-2-aryl triazoles were successfully synthesized with excellent yields. The structures were characterized by X-ray crystallography and some N-2-triazole products gave strong fluorescence with various emission controlled by the C-5 groups

Efficient Synthesis of <i>N</i>-2-Aryl-1,2,3-Triazole Fluorophores via Post-Triazole Arylation

Efficient post-triazole regioselective N-2 arylation was developed from C-4, C-5 disubstituted-1,2,3-NH-triazoles. Three different approaches had been investigated, including SNAr, Cu(I) catalyzed aryl amidation and Cu(II) mediated boronic acid coupling. The N-2-aryl triazoles were successfully synthesized with excellent yields. The structures were characterized by X-ray crystallography and some N-2-triazole products gave strong fluorescence with various emission controlled by the C-5 groups

Force-Regulated Spontaneous Conformational Changes of Integrins α₅β₁ and α_Vβ₃

Integrins are cell surface nanosized receptors crucial for cell motility and mechanosensing of the extracellular environment, which are often targeted for the development of biomaterials and nanomedicines. As a key feature of integrins, their activity, structure and behavior are highly mechanosensitive, which are regulated by mechanical forces down to pico-Newton scale. Using single-molecule biomechanical approaches, we compared the force-modulated ectodomain bending/unbending conformational changes of two integrin species, α5β1 and αVβ3. It was found that the conformation of integrin α5β1 is determined by a threshold head-to-tail tension. By comparison, integrin αVβ3 exhibits bistability even without force and can spontaneously transition between the bent and extended conformations with an apparent transition time under a wide range of forces. Molecular dynamics simulations observed almost concurrent disruption of ∼2 hydrogen bonds during integrin α5β1 unbending, but consecutive disruption of ∼7 hydrogen bonds during integrin αVβ3 unbending. Accordingly, we constructed a canonical energy landscape for integrin α5β1 with a single energy well that traps the integrin in the bent state until sufficient force tilts the energy landscape to allow the conformational transition. In contrast, the energy landscape of integrin αVβ3 conformational changes was constructed with hexa-stable intermediate states and intermediate energy barriers that segregate the conformational change process into multiple small steps. Our study elucidates the different biomechanical inner workings of integrins α5β1 and αVβ3 at the submolecular level, helps understand their mechanosignaling processes and how their respective functions are facilitated by their distinctive mechanosensitivities, and provides useful design principles for the engineering of protein-based biomechanical nanomachines

Efficient Synthesis of <i>N</i>-2-Aryl-1,2,3-Triazole Fluorophores via Post-Triazole Arylation

Efficient post-triazole regioselective N-2 arylation was developed from C-4, C-5 disubstituted-1,2,3-NH-triazoles. Three different approaches had been investigated, including SNAr, Cu(I) catalyzed aryl amidation and Cu(II) mediated boronic acid coupling. The N-2-aryl triazoles were successfully synthesized with excellent yields. The structures were characterized by X-ray crystallography and some N-2-triazole products gave strong fluorescence with various emission controlled by the C-5 groups