3D printed fluidics with embedded analytic functionality for automated reaction optimisation

Additive manufacturing or ‘3D printing’ is being developed as a novel manufacturing process for the production of bespoke micro- and milliscale fluidic devices. When coupled with online monitoring and optimisation software, this offers an advanced, customised method for performing automated chemical synthesis. This paper reports the use of two additive manufacturing processes, stereolithography and selective laser melting, to create multifunctional fluidic devices with embedded reaction monitoring capability. The selectively laser melted parts are the first published examples of multifunctional 3D printed metal fluidic devices. These devices allow high temperature and pressure chemistry to be performed in solvent systems destructive to the majority of devices manufactured via stereolithography, polymer jetting and fused deposition modelling processes previously utilised for this application. These devices were integrated with commercially available flow chemistry, chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis equipment, allowing automated online and inline optimisation of the reaction medium. This set-up allowed the optimisation of two reactions, a ketone functional group interconversion and a fused polycyclic heterocycle formation, via spectroscopic and chromatographic analysis

Order, disorder, and metalation of tetraphenylporphyrin (2H-TPP) on Au(111)

A thermally induced order–disorder transition of tetraphenylporphyrin (2H-TPP) on Au(111) is characterised by scanning probe microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy-based techniques. We observed that a transition from an ordered close-packed phase to a disordered diffuse phase is correlated with an on-surface cyclodehydrogenation reaction, and that additional heating of this diffuse phase gives rise to a single distinct nitrogen environment indicative of the formation of a Au–TPP species

Identification of outcomes to inform the development of a core outcome set for surgical innovation:a targeted review of case studies of novel surgical devices

OBJECTIVE: Outcome selection and reporting in studies of novel surgical procedures and devices lacks standardisation, hindering safe and effective evaluation. A core outcome set (COS) to measure and report in all studies of surgical innovation is needed. We explored outcomes in a specific sample of innovative surgical device case studies to identify outcome domains specifically relevant to innovation to inform the development of a COS. DESIGN: A targeted review of 11 purposive selected case studies of innovative surgical devices. METHODS: Electronic database searches in PubMed (July 2018) identified publications reporting the introduction and evaluation of each device. Outcomes were extracted and categorised into domains until no new domains were conceptualised. Outcomes specifically relevant to evaluating innovation were further scrutinised. RESULTS: 112 relevant publications were identified, and 5926 outcomes extracted. Heterogeneity in study type, outcome selection and reporting was observed across surgical devices. Categorisation of outcomes was performed for 2689 (45.4%) outcomes into five broad outcome domains. Outcomes considered key to the evaluation of innovation (n=66; 2.5%) were further categorised as surgeon/operator experience (n=40; 1.5%), unanticipated events (n=15, 0.6%) and modifications (n=11; 0.4%). CONCLUSION: Outcome domains unique to evaluating innovative surgical devices have been identified. Findings have been combined with multiple other data sources relevant to the evaluation of surgical innovation to inform the development of a COS to measure and report in all studies evaluating novel surgical procedures/devices

Assessing how metal reef restoration structures shape the functional and taxonomic profile of coral-associated bacterial communities

Significant threats to the long-term persistence of coral reefs have accelerated the adoption of coral propagation and out-planting approaches. However, how materials commonly used for propagation structures could potentially affect coral-associated bacterial communities remains untested. Here, we examined the impact of metal propagation structures on coral-associated bacterial communities. Fragments of the coral species Acropora millepora were grown on aluminium, sand/epoxy-coated steel (Reef Stars), and uncoated steel (rebar) structures. After 6 months, the functional and taxonomic profiles of coral-associated bacterial communities of propagated corals and reef colonies were characterised using amplicon (16S rRNA gene) and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. No differences in the phylogenetic structure or functional profile of coral-associated bacterial communities were observed between propagated corals and reef colonies. However, specific genes and pathways (e.g., lipid, nucleotide, and carbohydrate metabolism) were overrepresented in corals grown on different materials, and different taxa were indicative of the materials. These findings indicate that coral propagation on different materials may lead to differences in the individual bacterial taxa and functional potential of coral-associated bacterial communities, but how these contribute to changed holobiont fitness presents a key question to be addressed

Using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for graphene growth on Cu(111) under ultra-high vacuum

Ultra-high vacuum deposition of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons azupyrene and pyrene onto a Cu(111) surface held at a temperature of 1000 K is herein shown to result in the formation of graphene. The presence of graphene was proven using scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and low energy electron diffraction. The precursors, azupyrene and pyrene, are comparatively large aromatic molecules in contrast to more commonly employed precursors like methane or ethylene. While the formation of the hexagonal graphene lattice could naively be expected when pyrene is used as a precursor, the situation is more complex for azupyrene. In this case, the non-alternant topology of azupyrene with only 5- and 7-membered rings must be altered to form the observed hexagonal graphene lattice. Such a rearrangement, converting a non-alternant topology into an alternant one, is in line with previous reports describing similar topological alterations, including the isomerization of molecular azupyrene to pyrene. The thermal synthesis route to graphene, presented here, is achievable at comparatively low temperatures and under ultra-high vacuum conditions, which may enable further investigations of the growth process in a strictly controlled and clean environment that is not accessible with traditional precursors

Space Radiation Alters Genotype–Phenotype Correlations in Fear Learning and Memory Tests

Behavioral and cognitive traits have a genetic component even though contributions from individual genes and genomic loci are in many cases modest. Changes in the environment can alter genotype–phenotype relationships. Space travel, which includes exposure to ionizing radiation, constitutes environmental challenges and is expected to induce not only dramatic behavioral and cognitive changes but also has the potential to induce physical DNA damage. In this study, we utilized a genetically heterogeneous mouse model, dense genotype data, and shifting environmental challenges, including ionizing radiation exposure, to explore and quantify the size and stability of the genetic component of fear learning and memory-related measures. Exposure to ionizing radiation and other external stressors altered the genotype–phenotype correlations, although different behavioral and cognitive measures were affected to different extents. Utilizing an integrative genomic approach, we identified pathways and functional ontology categories associated with these behavioral and cognitive measures

The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in August 2008, with new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of galaxies and the quasar Ly alpha forest, and a radial velocity search for planets around ~8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release includes five-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg^2 in the Southern Galactic Cap, bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg^2, or over a third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent photometric recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Evolution (SEGUE-2), consisting of spectroscopy of approximately 118,000 stars at both high and low Galactic latitudes. All the more than half a million stellar spectra obtained with the SDSS spectrograph have been reprocessed through an improved stellar parameters pipeline, which has better determination of metallicity for high metallicity stars.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Supplements, in press (minor updates from submitted version

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr