Highly polarized alkenes as organocatalysts for the polymerization of lactones and trimethylene carbonate

In this work, the activity of N-heterocyclic olefins (NHOs), a newly emerging class of organopolymerization catalyst, is investigated to affect the metal-free polymerization of lactones and trimethylene carbonate (TMC). A decisive structure−activity relationship is revealed. While catalysts of the simplest type bearing an exocyclic CH2 moiety polymerize L-lactide (L-LA) and δ-valerolactone (δ-VL) in a non-living and non-quantitative manner, the introduction of methyl substituents on the exocyclic carbon radically changes this behavior. 2-Isopropylidene-1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazoline is found to be highly active for a range of monomers such as L-LA, δ-VL, ε-caprolactone (ε-CL), and TMC, with quantitative conversion occurring within seconds with catalyst loadings of just 0.2 mol %. The high activity of this NHO further enables the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of the macrolactone ω-pentadecalactone (PDL). However, this broad applicability is offset by a lack of control over the polymerizations, including side reactions as a consequence of its strong basicity. To overcome this, a saturated, imidazolinium-derived analogue was synthesized and subsequently demonstrated to possess a harnessed reactivity which enables it to polymerize both L-LA and TMC in a controlled manner (ĐM < 1.2). NMR spectroscopic and MALDI-ToF MS experiments highlight the differences in polymerization pathways for 2-methylene-1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazoline, in which the exocyclic carbon is not substituted, in contrast to 2-isopropylidene-1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazoline, with the former operating via its nucleophilicity and the latter acting as a base with enolizable δ-VL

Racial Discrepancies in Pulse Oximetry Reading and Their Effects on Self-monitoring Devices Usage and Clinical Decision-Making

INTRODUCTION: As technology use rises and the use of pulse oximetry data increases, the demand for accurate oxygen saturation (SpO2) readings is paramount to ensure health equity among all populations. Pulse oximetry is a non-invasive tool used to monitor SpO2. Self-monitoring devices, such as SMART devices, allow for portable and cost-effective utilization; therefore, self-monitoring device usage and pulse oximetry data are quickly becoming more available to patients and their providers. Pulse oximetry is a critical component used when evaluating the severity of arterial deoxygenation. Providers often use data from pulse oximetry to determine treatment options. Recent studies have found discrepancies in pulse oximeter reading among Black patients, posing a problem for both patients and their providers. We hypothesize that self-monitoring devices can affect mortality rates among Black patients if these disparities are not addressed. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to investigate how racial discrepancies in pulse oximetry reading among self-monitoring devices can affect mortality rates among Black patients in the United States. METHODS: The design of this study is a systematic review and data extraction of relevant articles that discuss the use of self-monitoring devices to determine oxygen saturation and relevant racial disparities associated with health outcomes. RESULTS: Searches identified 123 citations with relative pulse oximetry data in relation to race. Some of the data extraction provided significant evidence that there are disparities present among reading provided by self-monitoring, pulse oximetry devices and Black patients. CONCLUSION This is a research proposal that is still ongoing. Current independent reviews of individual articles are still being analyzed

Effectiveness of Community Health Workers in Healthcare Delivery: Evidence from the Field

Evidence suggests that health care in the United States could benefit from including the services of Community Health Workers (CHW), provided through Community Health Houses, in the delivery of care. This research project evaluated the impact of three newly-established Health Houses and the services provided to patients by Community Health Workers at three locations in the Mississippi Delta. The patients were current enrollees in the Medicare administered by United Healthcare. The program began in February 2014 and continued through September 2015. After analyzing data for payments made for each enrollee, emergency room visits and hospital admissions for the years of 2013, 2014, and 2015, we found significant decreases in the cost of health care for enrollees, the frequency of emergency room visits, and hospital admissions during the period 2013-2015. These reductions were especially marked during the years 2014 and 2015, and suggest that health care costs, patient visits to the emergency and hospital admissions could be reduced by introducing CHWs’ services through an integrated Community Health House model of healthcare delivery

Sheep Updates 2007 - part 1

This session covers six papers from different authors: PLENARY 1. Life beyond the farmgate - the meat perspective, Richard Gunner – Principal:- Richard Gunner’s Fine Meats 2. Do you need to worry about climate change?, Anthony Clark, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University and Bureau of Rural Sciences. 3. Ruminant nutrition panel session - The impact of nutrition on animal health and welfare, Kevin Bell, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Studies, Murdoch University 4. Ruminant nutrition panel session - Pasture/animal interactions, Hugh Dove, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Plant Industry 5. Precision Cattle Breeding for the 21st Century, H.M. Burrow, Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies 6. Profitable PerenialsTM for Australian Livestock Industries, Kevin Goss, CEO Designate, Future Farm Industries CRC, University of Western Australi

Cloned defective interfering influenza virus protects ferrets from pandemic 2009 influenza A virus and allows protective immunity to be established

Influenza A viruses are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the human population, causing epidemics in the winter, and occasional worldwide pandemics. In addition there are periodic outbreaks in domestic poultry, horses, pigs, dogs, and cats. Infections of domestic birds can be fatal for the birds and their human contacts. Control in man operates through vaccines and antivirals, but both have their limitations. In the search for an alternative treatment we have focussed on defective interfering (DI) influenza A virus. Such a DI virus is superficially indistinguishable from a normal virus but has a large deletion in one of the eight RNAs that make up the viral genome. Antiviral activity resides in the deleted RNA. We have cloned one such highly active DI RNA derived from segment 1 (244 DI virus) and shown earlier that intranasal administration protects mice from lethal disease caused by a number of different influenza A viruses. A more cogent model of human influenza is the ferret. Here we found that intranasal treatment with a single dose of 2 or 0.2 µg 244 RNA delivered as A/PR/8/34 virus particles protected ferrets from disease caused by pandemic virus A/California/04/09 (A/Cal; H1N1). Specifically, 244 DI virus significantly reduced fever, weight loss, respiratory symptoms, and infectious load. 244 DI RNA, the active principle, was amplified in nasal washes following infection with A/Cal, consistent with its amelioration of clinical disease. Animals that were treated with 244 DI RNA cleared infectious and DI viruses without delay. Despite the attenuation of infection and disease by DI virus, ferrets formed high levels of A/Cal-specific serum haemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies and were solidly immune to rechallenge with A/Cal. Together with earlier data from mouse studies, we conclude that 244 DI virus is a highly effective antiviral with activity potentially against all influenza A subtypes

Quantitative understanding of negative thermal expansion in scandium trifluoride from neutron total scattering measurements

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) - the phenomenon where some materials shrink rather than expand when heated - is both intriguing and useful, but remains poorly understood. Current understanding hinges on the role of specific vibrational modes, but in fact thermal expansion is a weighted sum of contributions from every possible mode. Here we overcome this difficulty by deriving a real-space model of atomic motion in the prototypical NTE material scandium trifluoride, ScF3, from total neutron scattering data. We show that NTE in this material depends not only on rigid unit modes - the vibrations in which the scandium coordination octahedra remain undistorted - but also on modes that distort these octahedra. Furthermore, in contrast with previous predictions, we show that the quasiharmonic approximation coupled with renormalisation through anharmonic interactions describes this behaviour well. Our results point the way towards a new understanding of how NTE is manifested in real materials.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; version

Norovirus Infection in Children with Acute Gastroenteritis, Madagascar, 2004–2005

Of 237 children with acute gastroenteritis in Antananarivo, Madagascar, during May 2004–May 2005, 14 (≈6%) were infected with norovirus. Seasonality (November–December peak) was detected. Reverse transcription–PCR identified GII as the most common genogroup. GIs belonged to GI.1, GI.3, and GI.4. Noroviruses in Madagascar show extensive genetic diversity

Core functionalization of semi-crystalline polymeric cylindrical nanoparticles using photo-initiated thiol–ene radical reactions

Sequential ring-opening and reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was used to form a triblock copolymer of tetrahydropyran acrylate (THPA), 5-methyl-5-allyloxycarbonyl-1,3-dioxan-2-one (MAC) and L-lactide. Concurrent deprotection of the THPA block and crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) was undertaken and allowed for the formation of cylindrical micelles bearing allyl handles in a short outer core segment. These handles were further functionalized by different thiols using photo-initiated thiol–ene radical reactions to demonstrate that the incorporation of an amorphous PMAC block within the core does not disrupt CDSA and can be used to load the cylindrical nanoparticles with cargo