Bis[μ-1,2-diphenyl-N,N′-bis­(di-2-pyridyl­methyl­eneamino)ethane-1,2-diimine]disilver(I) bis­(hexa­fluorido­phosphate) acetonitrile disolvate

In the centrosymmetric dinuclear title compound, [Ag2(C36H26N8)2](PF6)2·2C2H3N, the Ag+ ion is bound to four N atoms from two 1,2-diphenyl-N,N′-bis­(di-2-pyridyl­methyl­eneamino)ethane-1,2-diimine ligands in a distorted tetra­hedral geometry. The ligand adopts a twist conformation, coordinating two metal centers by three pyridyl N atoms and one imine N atom and spanning two Ag+ ions, resulting in the formation of a helical dimeric structure

Topology analysis and parameter design of three-level multi-input DC/DC converter based on multi-source access

A three-level multi-input DC/DC converter is proposed to solve the problems of complex interface circuit structure and high economic cost for multi-source access to the joint power supply distribution system. In this structure, multiple dc sources are integrated into a three-level DC/DC converter. In comparison with the two-stage counterpart, two active switches and boost diodes are eliminated, while two blocking diodes are added to block the reverse current from the dc-link capacitors. In addition, when the input inductors work in the discontinuous conduction mode, power sharing among different input sources can be achieved by properly selecting the inductance value. The working principle of the converter is analyzed by introducing nine working modes in detail and deriving the steady-state relationship expressions. The parameter range of the element is determined and the design process of a group of dynamic parameter values is shown. Finally, the power electronics real-time simulation platform is built based on StarSim HIL and the corresponding experimental waveforms are given to verify the topology and analysis

Development and biodistribution of trans-resveratrol loaded chitosan nanoparticles with free amino groups

The conventional method for preparing chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) leads to the surface amino groups protonated and unable to link other useful moieties. In this study, we optimized the method of sodium chloride precipitation our lab established before to produce CS-NPs with surface free amino groups. The effects of preparation conditions on the size and encapsulation efficiency were examined. As surface amino groups may exert special effect on the NPs biodistribution, in vivo distribution was investigated after intravenous administration to the mice. The optimized CS-NPs were round with the mean diameter of 257 ± 21 nm. Compared with trans-resveratrol solution, the CS-NPs had longer circulation time in vivo. The AUC of CS-NPs in liver was 2.29 fold AUC of the solution. This study demonstrates that not only can the unique CS-NPs be modified to obtain active targeting systems, they are also an excellent candidate for liver targeting treatment.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Adverse events among Ontario home care clients associated with emergency room visit or hospitalization: a retrospective cohort study

Background: Home care (HC) is a critical component of the ongoing restructuring of healthcare in Canada. It impacts three dimensions of healthcare delivery: primary healthcare, chronic disease management, and aging at home strategies. The purpose of our study is to investigate a significant safety dimension of HC, the occurrence of adverse events and their related outcomes. The study reports on the incidence of HC adverse events, the magnitude of the events, the types of events that occur, and the consequences experienced by HC clients in the province of Ontario. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used, utilizing comprehensive secondary databases available for Ontario HC clients from the years 2008 and 2009. The data were derived from the Canadian Home Care Reporting System, the Hospital Discharge Abstract Database, the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System, and the Continuing Care Reporting System. Descriptive analysis was used to identify the type and frequency of the adverse events recorded and the consequences of the events. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between the events and their consequences. Results: The study found that the incident rate for adverse events for the HC clients included in the cohort was 13%. The most frequent adverse events identified in the databases were injurious falls, injuries from other than a fall, and medication-related incidents. With respect to outcomes, we determined that an injurious fall was associated with a significant increase in the odds of a client requiring long-term-care facility admission and of client death. We further determined that three types of events, delirium, sepsis, and medication-related incidents were associated directly with an increase in the odds of client death. Conclusions: Our study concludes that 13% of clients in homecare experience an adverse event annually. We also determined that an injurious fall was the most frequent of the adverse events and was associated with increased admission to long-term care or death. We recommend the use of tools that are presently available in Canada, such as the Resident Assessment Instrument and its Clinical Assessment Protocols, for assessing and mitigating the risk of an adverse event occurring.This work was supported by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute; Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (Institutes of Health Services and Policy Research, Aging, Circulatory and Respiratory Health and Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis); the Change Foundation; and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (grant number HC-10-05 Doran-Blais

Improving the Dynamic Mechanical Properties of XNBR Using ILs/KH550-Functionalized Multilayer Graphene

Graphene has been considered an ideal nanoscale reinforced phase for preparing high-performance composites, but the poor compatibility and weak interfacial interaction with the matrix have limited its application. Here a highly effective and environmentally friendly method for the functionalization of graphene is proposed through an interaction between as-exfoliated graphene and (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (KH550), in which 1-butylsulfonate-3-methylimidazolium bisulfate (BSO3HMIm)(HSO4) ionic-liquids-modified graphene was prepared via an electrochemical exfoliation of graphite in (BSO3HMIm)(HSO4) solution, then (BSO3HMIm)(HSO4)-modified graphene as a precursor was reacted with amine groups of KH550 for obtaining (BSO3HMIm)(HSO4)/KH550-functionalized graphene. The final products as filler into carboxylated acrylonitrile‒butadiene rubber (XNBR) improve the dynamic mechanical properties. The improvement in the dynamic mechanical properties of the nanocomposite mainly depends on high interfacial interaction and graphene’s performance characteristics, as well as a good dispersion between functionalized graphene and the XNBR matrix

A lightweight hybrid vision transformer network for radar-based human activity recognition

Abstract Radar-based human activity recognition (HAR) offers a non-contact technique with privacy protection and lighting robustness for many advanced applications. Complex deep neural networks demonstrate significant performance advantages when classifying the radar micro-Doppler signals that have unique correspondences with human behavior. However, in embedded applications, the demand for lightweight and low latency poses challenges to the radar-based HAR network construction. In this paper, an efficient network based on a lightweight hybrid Vision Transformer (LH-ViT) is proposed to address the HAR accuracy and network lightweight simultaneously. This network combines the efficient convolution operations with the strength of the self-attention mechanism in ViT. Feature Pyramid architecture is applied for the multi-scale feature extraction for the micro-Doppler map. Feature enhancement is executed by the stacked Radar-ViT subsequently, in which the fold and unfold operations are added to lower the computational load of the attention mechanism. The convolution operator in the LH-ViT is replaced by the RES-SE block, an efficient structure that combines the residual learning framework with the Squeeze-and-Excitation network. Experiments based on two human activity datasets indicate our method’s advantages in terms of expressiveness and computing efficiency over traditional methods

Catalytic self-etherification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 5,5 '(oxy-bis(methylene))bis-2-furfural over zeolite catalysts: effect of pore structure and acidity

The self-etherification of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 5,5 '(oxy-bis(methylene))bis-2-furfural (OBMF) was investigated on ZSM-5, MCM-22, beta and hierarchical micro-mesoporous ZSM-5 (HMZ) catalysts. The hierarchically structured zeolites exhibited a superior intrinsic activity and good resistance to carbonaceous deposit; the latter could be ascribed to the lower mass transfer barrier in the mesopores of the HMZ catalysts. The structure-activity correlation showed that the catalytic activity mainly originated from one or several specific Bronsted acid sites, providing key clues to design efficient zeolite catalysts for producing OBMF