Solid Silica-based Sulphonic Acid as an Efficient Green Catalyst for the Selective Oxidation of Sulphides to Sulphoxides using NaCIO in Aqueous Media

A range of sulphides can be selectively oxidized to the corresponding sulphoxides in good yields using NaClO/silica sulphonic acid as an efficient and recyclable solid acid catalyst, in both water and 50/50 water/EtOH as solvents. The new method compares favourably with previous methods in the literature.Keywords: Silica sulphonic acid, heterogeneous catalyst, oxidation, sulphides, sulphoxide

Poly(ethylene)glycol/AlCl3 as a Green and Reusable System in the Synthesis of α,α’-bis(substituted-benzylidene) Cycloalkanones

Aluminum chloride has been found to be a highly efficient catalyst for the aldol condensation of aldehydes and cycloketones in poly(ethylene)glycol 400 at room temperature. The reaction is very fast, clean and environmentally benign for the synthesis of a variety of α,α’-bis(substituted-benzylidene) cycloalkanones.Keywords: Aluminum Chloride, Poly(ethylene)glycol, α,α’-bis(substituted-benzylidene) cycloalkanones, Aldol Condensatio

A Solvent-free Synthesis of Polyhydroquinolines via Hantzsch Multicomponent Condensation Catalyzed by Nanomagnetic-supported Sulfonic Acid

A simple and efficient procedure for the synthesis of polyhydroquinolines was developed, involving a one-pot four-component Hantzsch condensation of aromatic aldehydes, 1,3-cyclohexanediones, alkyl acetoacetate and ammonium acetate in the presence of a catalytic amount of nanomagnetic-supported sulfonic acid under solvent-free conditions. The method offers several advantages including high yields, short reaction times, a simple work-up procedure and catalyst reusability for several runs. Furthermore, easy isolation of the catalyst from the reaction mixture was enabled by use of an external magnet.KEYWORDS Nanomagnetic-supported sulfonic acid, multicomponent reaction, solvent-free conditions, heterocyclic compound, Hantzsch reaction

Validation Frameworks for Self-Driving Vehicles: A Survey

Peer reviewe

Socially and biologically inspired computing for self-organizing communications networks

The design and development of future communications networks call for a careful examination of biological and social systems. New technological developments like self-driving cars, wireless sensor networks, drones swarm, Internet of Things, Big Data, and Blockchain are promoting an integration process that will bring together all those technologies in a large-scale heterogeneous network. Most of the challenges related to these new developments cannot be faced using traditional approaches, and require to explore novel paradigms for building computational mechanisms that allow us to deal with the emergent complexity of these new applications. In this article, we show that it is possible to use biologically and socially inspired computing for designing and implementing self-organizing communication systems. We argue that an abstract analysis of biological and social phenomena can be made to develop computational models that provide a suitable conceptual framework for building new networking technologies: biologically inspired computing for achieving efficient and scalable networking under uncertain environments; socially inspired computing for increasing the capacity of a system for solving problems through collective actions. We aim to enhance the state-of-the-art of these approaches and encourage other researchers to use these models in their future work

The effect of culturally appropriate self-care intervention on health literacy, health-related quality of life and glycemic control in Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes: A controlled randomized clinical trial

Background: Cultural and language differences are necessary factors for diabetes management and self-care education programs in patients suffering from diabetes. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of culture-based self-care intervention on health literacy, quality of life, and glycemic parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial has been carried out in selected centers in Darreh Shahr, Iran; 80 participants were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received an educational program for 6 sessions twice a week, but the control group only received routine services. Data were collected using health literacy and life quality scales for diabetic patients, which were completed by both groups before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention; hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) was checked before and 3 months after the intervention. SPSS software was also analyzed data using ?(2), Fisher's exact, independent t, and repeated measures analysis of variance tests. Results: There were no significant differences between the 2 groups before the study (p >0.05) goes forward. But, mean scores of health literacy (F-2,F-40 = 5.61, p =0.007), quality of life (F-2, 40 = 4.09, p =0.01), and HbA1c levels (t, 39 = 6. 91, p <0.001) have shown significant differences between the 2 groups immediately and 3 months after the intervention have been applied. Conclusions: Culturally appropriate intervention should be offered as a part of the nurse' care program for diabetic to control HbA1c, and improve their life quality and health literacy