Combining pot, atom and step economy (PASE) in organic synthesis. Synthesis of tetrahydropyran-4-ones

The combination of pot, atom and step economy (PASE) in the synthesis of organic molecules of medium complexity can lead to a significant 'greening' of a synthetic route. This is demonstrated by the synthesis of highly substituted tetrahydropyran-4-ones and is quantified by a series of recognised metrics, which demonstrate the efficiency of combining PASE over conventional synthetic strategies

Recommendations for aging beef (1993)

The main reason for aging beef is to improve tenderness and flavor of the meat so that if properly cooked it will be more satisfying to the consumer. Proper aging of beef results in a combination of changes that many people appreciate

Lost in Translation? Corporate Legal Transplants in China

This essay examines an old question - why it is often so difficult for transplanted legal norms and institutions to take - with the hope of shedding a bit of new light on it through a specific focus on institutions for corporate governance in China. Foreign norms and institutions are borrowed because they seem to the borrowers to serve some need. Very often they are borrowed in a time of rapid social change in which the home culture, so to speak, is lagging behind. But the problem of fit is real and severe. First, although the borrowers may imagine their needs to be the same as those of the society that produced the institution to be borrowed, this is rarely so. They may misread the needs of the source society, or may misunderstand the needs of their own society. Second, the borrowed institution in fact does not perfectly serve any particular need in the source society. Institutions develop not in response to particular objectively defined social needs, but as a result of a complex interplay of social forces with different agendas. A given institution might be a field of contestation for different groups with radically differing goals without being the natural servant of any of them. As a result, it is virtually impossible for a borrowed institution to survive the transition into the borrowing society intact, if by intact we mean that it performs exactly the same function. Indeed, if it could, that would imply that the borrowing society was indistinguishable from the source society, and it is precisely the difference that prompted the borrowing in the first place. In this essay, I look at a number of borrowings: the concept of the industrial trust, independent directors, the board of supervisors, and fiduciary duties (which might be more aptly deemed an aborted borrowing). I conclude that none of the above borrowings has taken because they were marked by a failure to understand the history and supporting institutions of the borrowed institution or concept in its home jurisdiction. I end with a speculation that it is particularly difficult for the Chinese legal system to borrow from Western jurisdictions because the Chinese system, as a result of its history both traditional and recent, is concerned more with the balancing of interests than with the vindication of rights

The effects of a video intervention on posthospitalization pulmonary rehabilitation uptake

Rationale: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) after hospitalizations for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improves exercise capacity and health-related quality of life and reduces readmissions. However, posthospitalization PR uptake is low. To date, no trials of interventions to increase uptake have been conducted.Objectives: To study the effect of a codesigned education video as an adjunct to usual care on posthospitalization PR uptake.Methods: The present study was an assessor- and statistician-blinded randomized controlled trial with nested, qualitative interviews of participants in the intervention group. Participants hospitalized with COPD exacerbations were assigned 1:1 to receive either usual care (COPD discharge bundle including PR information leaflet) or usual care plus the codesigned education video delivered via a handheld tablet device at discharge. Randomization used minimization to balance age, sex, FEV1 % predicted, frailty, transport availability, and previous PR experience.Measurements and Main Results: The primary outcome was PR uptake within 28 days of hospital discharge. A total of 200 patients were recruited, and 196 were randomized (51% female, median FEV1% predicted, 36 [interquartile range, 27-48]). PR uptake was 41% and 34% in the usual care and intervention groups, respectively (P = 0.37), with no differences in secondary (PR referral and completion) or safety (readmissions and death) endpoints. A total of 6 of the 15 participants interviewed could not recall receiving the video.Conclusions: A codesigned education video delivered at hospital discharge did not improve posthospitalization PR uptake, referral, or completion

Genomics reveals historic and contemporary transmission dynamics of a bacterial disease among wildlife and livestock

Whole-genome sequencing has provided fundamental insights into infectious disease epidemiology, but has rarely been used for examining transmission dynamics of a bacterial pathogen in wildlife. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), outbreaks of brucellosis have increased in cattle along with rising seroprevalence in elk. Here we use a genomic approach to examine Brucella abortus evolution, cross-species transmission and spatial spread in the GYE. We find that brucellosis was introduced into wildlife in this region at least five times. The diffusion rate varies among Brucella lineages (∼3 to 8 km per year) and over time. We also estimate 12 host transitions from bison to elk, and 5 from elk to bison. Our results support the notion that free-ranging elk are currently a self-sustaining brucellosis reservoir and the source of livestock infections, and that control measures in bison are unlikely to affect the dynamics of unrelated strains circulating in nearby elk populations

Blue carbon audit of Orkney waters

This study provides an audit of the potential blue carbon resources present in the coastal waters around Orkney, bounded by the 12 nautical mile limit and including the Loch of Stenness brackish water lagoon. This report builds on previous work in which blue carbon stocks in Marine Protected Areas in Scottish waters were estimated from i) contributions of biological material to the fixation of carbon, also referred to as production, and ii) contributions of sediments to blue carbon storage. The methodology has been further developed here to allow regional-scale estimation of habitat extent and provides estimates of blue carbon associated with habitats and surface sediments.Publisher PD