The development of novel hetrogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of prochiral imines

Catalysts have been studied for the enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral imines. Work has centred on the support of homogeneous catalysts, with the intention of establishing a heterogeneous catalyst without loss of activity. Initially, established heterogeneous systems were investigated. As the methyl pyruvate system of cinchona modified catalysts was to be used, this system was first investigated with a series of platinum catalysts. Although these results provided some interesting results they maintained that the 5% Pt/alumina catalyst was the best for this hydrogenation. Investigations using this system for prochiral imine hydrogenation resulted in the production of chiral amines. Hydrogenation of N-(1 -methylbenzylidene)-2,3-dimethylbutylamine gave encouraging percentage conversions, but unfortunately, enantiomeric excesses were particularly low. These results led to investigations on supporting a suitable homogeneous catalyst. Initial work involving Wilkinson's catalyst investigated different preparations, solvents and supports. Results achieved in this section of the study showed an increase in activity of clay and zeolite supported catalysts when run in 1,1,1-trichloroethane and ethanol, but a drop in activity when benzene was the reaction solvent. Work with imines centred around two homogeneous catalysts. BINAP and DIOP ligands were used to create rhodium and iridium centred catalysts which were used to homogeneously hydrogenate two imines (N-(1,2-dimethylpropylidene)aniline and N-(1 methylbenzylidene)-2,3-dimethylbutylamine). These catalysts were then tethered to a Montmorillonite clay support and NaY zeolite, before repeated hydrogenations of the above imines. Results achieved were very encouraging, with an increase in activity being noted for some of the supported catalysts

The development of novel hetrogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of prochiral imines

Catalysts have been studied for the enantioselective hydrogenation of prochiral imines. Work has centred on the support of homogeneous catalysts, with the intention of establishing a heterogeneous catalyst without loss of activity. Initially, established heterogeneous systems were investigated. As the methyl pyruvate system of cinchona modified catalysts was to be used, this system was first investigated with a series of platinum catalysts. Although these results provided some interesting results they maintained that the 5% Pt/alumina catalyst was the best for this hydrogenation. Investigations using this system for prochiral imine hydrogenation resulted in the production of chiral amines. Hydrogenation of N-(1 -methylbenzylidene)-2,3-dimethylbutylamine gave encouraging percentage conversions, but unfortunately, enantiomeric excesses were particularly low. These results led to investigations on supporting a suitable homogeneous catalyst. Initial work involving Wilkinson's catalyst investigated different preparations, solvents and supports. Results achieved in this section of the study showed an increase in activity of clay and zeolite supported catalysts when run in 1,1,1-trichloroethane and ethanol, but a drop in activity when benzene was the reaction solvent. Work with imines centred around two homogeneous catalysts. BINAP and DIOP ligands were used to create rhodium and iridium centred catalysts which were used to homogeneously hydrogenate two imines (N-(1,2-dimethylpropylidene)aniline and N-(1 methylbenzylidene)-2,3-dimethylbutylamine). These catalysts were then tethered to a Montmorillonite clay support and NaY zeolite, before repeated hydrogenations of the above imines. Results achieved were very encouraging, with an increase in activity being noted for some of the supported catalysts.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The importance of integration of stakeholder views in core outcome set development: Otitis Media with Effusion in children with cleft palate

© 2015 Harman et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background: Approximately 75% of children with cleft palate (CP) have Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) histories. Evidence for the effective management of OME in these children is lacking. The inconsistency in outcome measurement in previous studies has led to a call for the development of a Core Outcome Set (COS). Despite the increase in the number of published COS, involvement of patients in the COS development process, and methods to integrate the views of patients and health professionals, to date have been limited. Methods and Findings: A list of outcomes measured in previous research was identified through reviewing the literature. Opinion on the importance of each of these outcomes was then sought from key stakeholders: Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons, audiologists, cleft surgeons, speech and language therapists, specialist cleft nurses, psychologists, parents and children. The opinion of health professionals was sought in a three round Delphi survey where participants were asked to score each outcome using a bespoke online system. Parents and children were also asked to score outcomes in a survey and provided an in-depth insight into having OME through semi-structured interviews. The results of the Delphi survey, interviews and parent/patient survey were brought together in a final consensus meeting with representation from all stakeholders. A final set of eleven outcomes reached the definition of "consensus in" to form the recommended COS: hearing; chronic otitis media (COM); OME; receptive language skills; speech development; psycho social development; acute otitis media (AOM); cholesteatoma; side effects of treatment; listening skills; otalgia. Conclusions: We have produced a recommendation about the outcomes that should be measured, as a minimum, in studies of the management of OME in children with CP. The development process included input from key stakeholders and used novel methodology to integrate the opinion of healthcare professionals, parents and children

2018 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1005/thumbnail.jp

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Peer reviewe

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Prevalence and architecture of de novo mutations in developmental disorders.

The genomes of individuals with severe, undiagnosed developmental disorders are enriched in damaging de novo mutations (DNMs) in developmentally important genes. Here we have sequenced the exomes of 4,293 families containing individuals with developmental disorders, and meta-analysed these data with data from another 3,287 individuals with similar disorders. We show that the most important factors influencing the diagnostic yield of DNMs are the sex of the affected individual, the relatedness of their parents, whether close relatives are affected and the parental ages. We identified 94 genes enriched in damaging DNMs, including 14 that previously lacked compelling evidence of involvement in developmental disorders. We have also characterized the phenotypic diversity among these disorders. We estimate that 42% of our cohort carry pathogenic DNMs in coding sequences; approximately half of these DNMs disrupt gene function and the remainder result in altered protein function. We estimate that developmental disorders caused by DNMs have an average prevalence of 1 in 213 to 1 in 448 births, depending on parental age. Given current global demographics, this equates to almost 400,000 children born per year

Phenotypic Characterization of EIF2AK4 Mutation Carriers in a Large Cohort of Patients Diagnosed Clinically With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease with an emerging genetic basis. Heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) are the commonest genetic cause of PAH, whereas biallelic mutations in the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 4 gene (EIF2AK4) are described in pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis. Here, we determine the frequency of these mutations and define the genotype-phenotype characteristics in a large cohort of patients diagnosed clinically with PAH. METHODS: Whole-genome sequencing was performed on DNA from patients with idiopathic and heritable PAH and with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis recruited to the National Institute of Health Research BioResource-Rare Diseases study. Heterozygous variants in BMPR2 and biallelic EIF2AK4 variants with a minor allele frequency of <1:10 000 in control data sets and predicted to be deleterious (by combined annotation-dependent depletion, PolyPhen-2, and sorting intolerant from tolerant predictions) were identified as potentially causal. Phenotype data from the time of diagnosis were also captured. RESULTS: Eight hundred sixty-four patients with idiopathic or heritable PAH and 16 with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis were recruited. Mutations in BMPR2 were identified in 130 patients (14.8%). Biallelic mutations in EIF2AK4 were identified in 5 patients with a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease/pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis. Furthermore, 9 patients with a clinical diagnosis of PAH carried biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations. These patients had a reduced transfer coefficient for carbon monoxide (Kco; 33% [interquartile range, 30%-35%] predicted) and younger age at diagnosis (29 years; interquartile range, 23-38 years) and more interlobular septal thickening and mediastinal lymphadenopathy on computed tomography of the chest compared with patients with PAH without EIF2AK4 mutations. However, radiological assessment alone could not accurately identify biallelic EIF2AK4 mutation carriers. Patients with PAH with biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations had a shorter survival. CONCLUSIONS: Biallelic EIF2AK4 mutations are found in patients classified clinically as having idiopathic and heritable PAH. These patients cannot be identified reliably by computed tomography, but a low Kco and a young age at diagnosis suggests the underlying molecular diagnosis. Genetic testing can identify these misclassified patients, allowing appropriate management and early referral for lung transplantation