Quaterpyridine Ligands for Panchromatic Ru(II) Dye Sensitizers

A new general synthetic access to carboxylated quaterpyridines (qpy), of interest as ligands for panchromatic dyesensitized solar cell organometallic sensitizers, is presented. The strategic step is a Suzuki−Miyaura cross-coupling reaction, which has allowed the preparation of a number of representative unsubstituted and alkyl and (hetero)aromatic substituted qpys. To bypass the poor inherent stability of 2-pyridylboronic acid derivatives, we successfully applied N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA) boronates as key reagents, obtaining the qpy ligands in good yields up to (quasi)gram quantities. The structural, spectroscopic (NMR and UV−vis), electrochemical, and electronic characteristics of the qpy have been experimentally and computationally (DFT) investigated. The easy access to the bis-thiocyanato Ru(II) complex of the parent species of the qpy series, through an efficient route which bypasses the use of Sephadex column chromatography, is shown. The bis-thiocyanato Ru(II) complex has been spectroscopically (NMR and UV−vis), electrochemically, and computationally investigated, relating its properties to those of previously reported Ru(II)−qpy complexes.“This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in [The Journal of Organic Chemistry], copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher

AMON: a wearable multiparameter medical monitoring and alert system

This paper describes an advanced care and alert portable telemedical monitor (AMON), a wearable medical monitoring and alert system targeting high-risk cardiac/respiratory patients. The system includes continuous collection and evaluation of multiple vital signs, intelligent multiparameter medical emergency detection, and a cellular connection to a medical center. By integrating the whole system in an unobtrusive, wrist-worn enclosure and applying aggressive low-power design techniques, continuous long-term monitoring can be performed without interfering with the patients' everyday activities and without restricting their mobility. In the first two and a half years of this EU IST sponsored project, the AMON consortium has designed, implemented, and tested the described wrist-worn device, a communication link, and a comprehensive medical center software package. The performance of the system has been validated by a medical study with a set of 33 subjects. The paper describes the main concepts behind the AMON system and presents details of the individual subsystems and solutions as well as the results of the medical validation

Kinematic characterization of functional reach to grasp in normal and motor disabled children

The upper limb kinematics were assessed during the execution of a functional task in healthy adults, children and in children with motor disabilities (i.e. hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP) and movement disorders (MD)). The quantitative assessment was performed considering the time durations, the amplitude of movements at different joints and the periodicity of the acceleration patterns. Compared to adults, healthy children showed increased motion amplitudes both at the head and at the trunk; this is suggestive of a reduced ability to stabilize the head during reaching. Furthermore, healthy children showed a reduced periodicity of the acceleration patterns which is interpreted as an indication of the on-going maturation process of the central nervous system. Subjects with HCP and MD showed increased movement duration; however this general finding does not account for specific differences. Indeed, children with HCP showed reduced range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder on the frontal plane which is counterbalanced by the introduction of compensatory movements of the trunk. Conversely, in children with MD, the ROM is well-preserved whereas the movements of the head are increased especially at higher speed. Finally, the periodicity of the end-effect is dramatically reduced both in HCP and MD. This suggests the existence of out-of-phase corrective strokes that may indicate an increased variability of the motor control commands. The results of this study reinforce the evidence that kinematic analysis may add valuable information to understand the developmental process in healthy children and to differentiate distinct levels of impairment in children with neurological disorders