Canadian Subnational Climate Change Policy

Using a framework, this paper evaluates British Columbia’s and Alberta’s carbon tax and Ontario’s and Quebec’s cap and trade system, to determine how effective these policies will be at reducing GHG emissions cumulatively. The framework has been primarily shaped via a literature review. The framework consists of the following evaluative criteria: A) policy effectiveness, B) allocation of public resources and C) policy design. Each criterion consists of multiple questions and sub-questions which are used to determine the effectiveness of the policy. The criterions take into account things such as the carbon scope, price of carbon, the extent of emission reductions, actual and anticipated reductions, allocation of generated revenues, political acceptability, gaming prevention, policy rigorousness, evaluation, and transparency. Since all policies besides BC’s are in their infancy, to satisfy the criteria, this paper primarily utilizes government documents, working paper, and commentaries. Recommendations and findings are summarized in the appendix. Current modeling and data suggest that all four policies will not result in enough emission reductions to allow the respective provinces to achieve their emissions reduction goals. Although, some are further off the mark than others. However, it is blatantly clear that the recommendations that are required with the timeframe allotted is steep to say the least. Ultimately, each policy can benefit from a price on carbon that is significantly greater than $30/tCO2e and a much leaner scope. Particularly, Alberta and Ontario damage their scope substantially to preserve their large emitters. Blanketed exemptions seem to be a popular theme between these two provinces. Better redistribution of revenues to achieve further reductions can also be had, particularly from British Columbia. Notably, Quebec sets the pace for good transparency and something that the other three policies should aspire too. All provinces can also improve their reporting and evaluation processes

Canine parvovirus-like particles, a novel nanomaterial for tumor targeting

Specific targeting of tumor cells is an important goal for the design of nanotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Recently, viruses have been explored as nano-containers for specific targeting applications, however these systems typically require modification of the virus surface using chemical or genetic means to achieve tumor-specific delivery. Interestingly, there exists a subset of viruses with natural affinity for receptors on tumor cells that could be exploited for nanotechnology applications. For example, the canine parvovirus (CPV) utilizes transferrin receptors (TfRs) for binding and cell entry into canine as well as human cells. TfRs are over-expressed by a variety of tumor cells and are widely being investigated for tumor-targeted drug delivery. We explored whether the natural tropism of CPV to TfRs could be harnessed for targeting tumor cells. Towards this goal, CPV virus-like particles (VLPs) produced by expression of the CPV-VP2 capsid protein in a baculovirus expression system were examined for attachment of small molecules and delivery to tumor cells. Structural modeling suggested that six lysines per VP2 subunit are presumably addressable for bioconjugation on the CPV capsid exterior. Between 45 and 100 of the possible 360 lysines/particle could be routinely derivatized with dye molecules depending on the conjugation conditions. Dye conjugation also demonstrated that the CPV-VLPs could withstand conditions for chemical modification on lysines. Attachment of fluorescent dyes neither impaired binding to the TfRs nor affected internalization of the 26 nm-sized VLPs into several human tumor cell lines. CPV-VLPs therefore exhibit highly favorable characteristics for development as a novel nanomaterial for tumor targeting

UR-363 Quantum Machine Learning Applied to Cybersecurity

We propose the development of a system that uses the TensorFlow Quantum and PennyLane packages and applies quantum machine learning (QML) algorithms to process various security and malicious data sets and compares the performance with classical machine learning (CML) algorithms. One of the most important applications of QML is for cybersecurity. This project will begin with research of quantum computing and machine learning, then followed by the development of a system that uses the TensorFlow Quantum and PennyLane packages and applies quantum machine learning (QML) algorithms to process various security and malicious data sets and compares the performance with classical machine learning (CML) algorithms.The data sets for our modules include DDoS prevention, malware detection, user behavior anomaly detection, and spam email filtering. We provide detailed instructions for program implementation on our project website in order to better proliferate quantum programming in order to encourage others to explore quantum algorithms

Transition Metal‐Promoted Reactions in Aqueous Media and Biological Settings

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: P. Destito, C. Vidal, F. López, J. L. Mascareñas, Chem. Eur. J. 2021, 27, 4789, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202003927. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsDuring the last decade, there has been a tremendous interest for developing non‐natural biocompatible transformations in biologically relevant media. Among the different encountered strategies, the use of transition metal complexes offers unique possibilities due to their high transformative power. However, translating the potential of metal catalysts to biological settings, including living cells or small‐animal models such as mice or zebrafish, poses numerous challenges associated to their biocompatibility, and their stability and reactivity in crowded aqueous environments. Herein, we describe the most relevant advances in this direction, with a particular emphasis on the systems’ structure, their mode of action and the mechanistic bases of each transformation. Thus, the key challenges from an organometallic perspective might be more easily identifiedWe would like to acknowledge financial support from Spanish grants (SAF2016‐76689‐R, CTQ2017‐84767‐P and ORFEO‐CINQA network CTQ2016‐81797‐REDC), the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (2015‐CP082, ED431C‐2017/19 and Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022, ED431G 2019/03), the European Union (European Regional Development Fund‐ERDF corresponding to the multiannual financial framework 2014–2020), and the European Research Council (Advanced Grant No. 340055). D.F.F. thanks Xunta de Galicia for his postdoctoral fellowship (ED481B‐2019‐005)S

Intracellular deprotection reactions mediated by palladium complexes equipped with designed phosphine ligands

Discrete palladium(II) complexes featuring purposely designed phosphine ligands can promote depropargylation and deallylation reactions in cell lysates. These complexes perform better than other palladium sources, which apparently are rapidly deactivated in such hostile complex media. This good balance between reactivity and stability allows the use of these discrete phosphine palladium complexes in living mammalian cells, whereby they can mediate similar transformations. The presence of a phosphine ligand in the coordination sphere of palladium also provides for the introduction of targeting groups, such as hydrophobic phosphonium moieties, which facilitate the accumulation of the complexes in mitochondria

Bioorthogonal Azide–Thioalkyne Cycloaddition Catalyzed by Photoactivatable Ruthenium(II) Complexes

Tailored ruthenium sandwich complexes bearing photoresponsive arene ligands can efficiently promote azide–thioalkyne cycloaddition (RuAtAC) when irradiated with UV light. The reactions can be performed in a bioorthogonal manner in aqueous mixtures containing biological components. The strategy can also be applied for the selective modification of biopolymers, such as DNA or peptides. Importantly, this ruthenium-based technology and the standard copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) proved to be compatible and mutually orthogonalThis research received financial support from the Spanish MINECO (SAF2016-76689-R, CTQ2017-84767-P and PID2019-106184GB-I00, and a FPU predoctoral Fellowship to AGG), the Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2017/19, 2015-CP082, Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019–2022, ED431G 2019/03), the ERDF, and the ERC (Adv. Grant No. 340055). The Orfeo-Cinqa network (CTQ2016-81797-REDC) is also acknowledgedS