Power Wheelchair Navigation Assistance

<p>Power wheelchair navigation may be more difficult for those who have a fine motor or cognitive disability. Some people are not able to use a powered wheelchair on their own and must depend on a caregiver. A survey has indicated that 40% of patients using power wheelchairs found it "difficult or impossible" to steer and up to half of patients would find it beneficial to have an added navigation system.</p><p><br></p><p><i>Presented at the BMES Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, 8 October 2016.</i></p><div><br></div

Palatability and Swallowability of Pimavanserin When Mixed with Selected Food Vehicles: An Exploratory Open-Label Crossover Study

Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) affects up to 13% of persons 65 years and older and 51% of older persons in nursing homes and can contribute to reduced adherence to oral medications. This was an exploratory, single-center, open-label, randomized, crossover study in healthy older adult participants. Primary objectives were evaluation of palatability (taste) and swallowability of the contents of pimavanserin 34 mg capsules mixed with selected soft foods or a liquid nutritional supplement. Secondary objectives included evaluation of additional palatability endpoints and ease of capsule manipulation for mixing. A total of 18 healthy, older adult participants (mean age 65 years) were included. Mean participant ratings for all food vehicles were “moderately like” to “neither like nor dislike” for palatability and “very easy” to “somewhat easy” for swallowability. Capsule manipulation to allow sprinkling of contents was rated “very easy” or “somewhat easy” by most participants. There were five treatment-emergent adverse events, all mild; two were deemed related to study treatment. The palatability and swallowability of pimavanserin was considered acceptable when administered with certain soft foods or a liquid nutritional supplement by the study participants

Exploiting Alkylquinone Tautomerization for the Total Synthesis of Calothrixin A and B

The pentacyclic alkaloid calothrixin B (<b>1</b>) has been synthesized in 5 steps from murrayaquinone A (<b>9</b>). The key step involved the union of boryl aniline <b>31</b> with brominated murrayaquinone A (<b>26</b>). In this transformation, alkylquinone <b>26</b> undergoes tautomerization to a quinone methide, which is intercepted by boryl aniline <b>31</b> to forge a new C–N bond. An intramolecular Suzuki coupling, followed by dehydrogenative aromatization, completed the synthesis of calothrixin B. Subsequent N-oxidation of calothrixin B delivered calothrixin A. The successful synthesis of these alkaloids and the challenges that led to the development of the final synthesis plan are reported herein

Exploiting Alkylquinone Tautomerization for the Total Synthesis of Calothrixin A and B

The pentacyclic alkaloid calothrixin B (<b>1</b>) has been synthesized in 5 steps from murrayaquinone A (<b>9</b>). The key step involved the union of boryl aniline <b>31</b> with brominated murrayaquinone A (<b>26</b>). In this transformation, alkylquinone <b>26</b> undergoes tautomerization to a quinone methide, which is intercepted by boryl aniline <b>31</b> to forge a new C–N bond. An intramolecular Suzuki coupling, followed by dehydrogenative aromatization, completed the synthesis of calothrixin B. Subsequent N-oxidation of calothrixin B delivered calothrixin A. The successful synthesis of these alkaloids and the challenges that led to the development of the final synthesis plan are reported herein

Bis-lactam-1,10-phenanthroline (BLPhen), a New Type of Preorganized Mixed N,O-Donor Ligand That Separates Am(III) over Eu(III) with Exceptionally High Efficiency

We report a new family of preorganized bis-lactam-1,10-phenanthroline (BLPhen) complexants that possess both hard and soft donor atoms within a convergent cavity and show unprecedented extraction strength for the trivalent f-block metal ions. BLPhen ligands with saturated and unsaturated δ-lactam rings have notable differences in their affinity and selectivity for Am­(III) over Eu­(III), with the latter being the most selective mixed N,O-donor extractant of Am­(III) reported to date. Saturated BLPhen was crystallized with five Ln­(III) nitrates to form charge-neutral 1:1 complexes in the solid state. DFT calculations further elaborate on the variety of effects that dictate the performance of these preorganized compounds