The Rational Chemical Synthesis of a C60H12 Carbon Nanotube End-cap and Novel Geodisc Polyarenes

Thesis advisor: Lawrence T. ScottThe distinctive molecular structure of carbon nanotubes makes them desirable for electronic and chemical materials; however, current production methods are limited with respect to purity and chirality. Geodesic polyarenes serve as superb templates for the bottom up synthesis of carbon nanotube end-caps, setting the chirality and dimensions of the carbon nanotubes. The work herein describes the synthetic efforts towards the rational synthesis of a [6,6] carbon nanotube end-cap. Chapter 1 describes the efforts towards the synthesis of a C60H12 end-cap, in which the synthesis of an advanced intermediate, peri-bis(dibenzo[a,g]corannulene) is complete; however, the insolubility of this material proved to be problematic in a subsequent cycloaddition reaction. This reaction is examined computationally in order to understand the failure of the addition of dienophile, maleic anhydride, to peri-bis(dibenzo[a,g]corannulene). In Chapters 2 and 3, the development of solubility-enhancing methods is described. The development of a solubility-enhancing dienophile is successfully employed to induce the solubility of a formerly insoluble diene, peri-bis(dibenzo[a,g]corannulene), through Diels-Alder addition. Another method, employs the incorporation of tert-butyl groups onto peri-bis(dibenzo[a,g]corannulene) to successfully induce solubility. The enhanced-solubility enables the successful Diels-Alder addition of simple maleimide dienophiles, installing all necessary carbon atoms for the desired end-cap. Pyrolysis of the bis-anhydride derived from the aromatized bis-maleimide adduct afforded the C60H12 end-cap, which is the second carbon nanotube end-cap ever synthesized and the first of these dimensions. Chapter 3 also explores a palladium catalyzed intramolecular arylation reaction to form a pivotal intermediate in the synthesis of the end-cap, dibenzo[a,g]corannulene. The mechanism for the formation of a problematic byproduct resulting from reductive dehalogenation is discussed. Utilizing a deuterium labeled solvent, it is found that deuterium is incorporated onto the hydrocarbon, indicating that the solvent (N,N-dimethylformamide-d7) is the source of hydrogen for the reductive dehalogenation. These conditions are further exploited in Chapter 4 for the convenient perdeuteration of a variety of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Chapter 5 describes the first synthesis of a nitrogen containing geodesic polyarene, dibenzo[g,m]azacorannulene. This synthesis is completed in seven steps from a commercially available source in a 28% overall yield.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Chemistry

Environmental Explorations: Integrating Project-Based Learning and Civic Engagement Through an Afterschool Program

This study examined the Community Super Investigators Club, through which we aimed to apply mathematics and literacy skills by using project-based learning (PBL) to investigate elementary students’ interest in learning how to improve the environment for animals. PBL is a teaching method used to improve critical thinking skills around a project that is based on students’ questions. The study used a mixed-method design to examine the following research questions: How do students engage in PBL on topics relevant to their community in an afterschool club? How can critical math and literacy skills be integrated with community engagement? How did the experience in the club influence students’ beliefs about math and literacy? During Community Super Investigators Club, participating second- and third-grade students chose the topic of improving the environment for animals. Students learned about the following topics: reducing waste and recycling, the amount of trash produced around the world, using recyclable items to build bird feeders, and how trash in the oceans affects animals. Researchers interviewed and surveyed students. Students reported that they could make a positive impact in their community by not littering, reusing materials to minimize waste, and turning off the water while brushing their teeth. As a final project, students selected an outlet or person (e.g. newspaper, governor) to write a postcard to voice their concerns about the environment by including at least one fact and one proposed solution. Implications for practice are integrated into the findings and discussion

Enhanced Tactile Performance at the Destination of an Upcoming Saccade

AbstractPrevious work has demonstrated that upcoming saccades influence visual [1, 2] and auditory [3] performance even for stimuli presented before the saccade is executed. These studies suggest a close relationship between saccade generation and visual/auditory attention. Furthermore, they provide support for Rizzolatti et al.'s [4, 5] premotor model of attention, which suggests that the same circuits involved in motor programming are also responsible for shifts in covert orienting (shifting attention without moving the eyes or changing posture). In a series of experiments, we demonstrate that saccade programming also affects tactile perception. Participants made speeded saccades to the left and right side as well as tactile discriminations of up versus down. The first experiment demonstrates that participants were reliably faster at responding to tactile stimuli near the location of upcoming saccades. In our second experiment, we had the subjects cross their hands and demonstrated that the effect occurs in visual space (rather than the early representations of touch). In our third experiment, the tactile events usually occurred on the opposite side of upcoming eye movement. We found that the benefit at the saccade target location vanished, suggesting that this shift is not obligatory but that it may be vetoed on the basis of expectation

Violence Affecting School Employees

A review of the literature shows significant violence (both physical and verbal threats) in schools in the United States (U.S.). Almost all of the studies focus on violence by students and against students. There is very limited information about violence involving employees in the schools even though teachers are three times more likely to be attacked than are students on a per capita basis. The purpose of this study was to understand the extent, causation, and reduction of violence against school employees in a metropolitan area. Administrators of all schools (K-12, vocational schools, and colleges) in a 4-county, 2-state metropolitan area were surveyed. The results of the survey found that violence in the Portland metropolitan area was not as prevalent as nationwide trends indicate. However, most respondents believed violence would continue at the present level into the future. More research needs to be conducted about violence against school employees, but it should carefully consider the geographical area and the type of respondents

Learning to be Human Together

This project is made possible with funding by the Government of Ontario and through eCampusOntario’s support of the Virtual Learning Strategy.I. Come On InII. The Modules (1-4)III. OutroIV. Some Things We Picked Up & Take EverythingThis resource explores what humanizing teaching and learning means: to acknowledge that our relationships are foundational to the work that we do. It means to make learning inclusive with connection, access, and meaning-making at its core. When you have something to say that you hope can empower people and encourage inclusion you yell it from the rooftops and in as many formats as possible. To that end, you will find the materials of this project in a number of formats — to meet you where you are and how YOU choose to interact with it. This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a deeply humanized experience. This material is not a book, nor a guide, nor a checklist–it’s an engagement with complex issues, with social entanglements, and with ways of doing (and not doing) things. This work also foregrounds the importance of twelve core super themes, such as trust, vulnerability, re-framing failure, and friction. These super themes are not discrete units or siloed entities, rather they are multi-layered ideas that intersect and weave together across the humanizing learning spectrum. Module 1: Unlearning & Unsettling. How do we know what we know and what is our educational value system? To move forward, we must interrogate our teaching and learning practices - the work of unlearning and unsettling. This module explores how the process is more important than the outcome, and highlights the importance of moving slowly, giving ourselves time to think, process, and reflect. Module 2: Students as Agents of the own Diverse Destiny. This module explores the importance and role of vulnerability and failure in humanizing learning. It emphasizes that we are all learning and explores how, since education is relational, power is especially present. Module 3: Co-Creating Inclusive Communities. This module acknowledges that diversity is our greatest asset, with inclusion being our most important challenge. It explores community guidelines, participation standards, ethics, social justice, co-design and co-creation, and highlights how these concepts can fundamentally challenge and disrupt power. Module 4: Sustaining Change. This module acknowledges that change is hard. How can we sustain change, complexity, and care in a system that was not designed for what our society demands of it? How do we foreground care and frame it as a reciprocal process? This module explores this apparent friction and highlights steps we can take to make this work both foundational and sustainable. This resource also includes an exploration of the co-design experience - the process of creating and nurturing a community that collectively did this work. Coming out the other side of this work are a group of people who came together to share our love for learning and our passion for education. We hope you find something here that changes even one small aspect of how you move through the world

A non-experimental study of oral anticoagulation therapy initiation before and after national patient safety goals

ObjectivesThe Joint Commission revised its National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) to include oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) in 2008. We sought to examine the effect of including OAT in The Joint Commission's NPSGs on historically low rates of OAT initiation for individuals with incident atrial fibrillation (AF).SettingSoutheastern state in the USA.ParticipantsNorth Carolina State Health Plan claims data from 944 500 individuals enrolled between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2010, supplemented with data from the Area Resource File and Online Survey, Certification and Reporting data network. We evaluated OAT initiation before and after the 2008 NPSGs revisions in a retrospective cohort new user design with an AF intervention group and two control groups: a positive control—patients estimated to be at very high risk of thromboembolism (mechanical heart valve and pulmonary embolism); and a negative control—patients with very low perceived risk of thromboembolism (paroxysmal AF). We developed multivariable models using a difference-in-difference parameterisation. Effects were estimated with generalised estimating equations.Primary outcome measureOAT initiation, a binary outcome defined as having a prescription drug claim for warfarin within 30 days of the index claim.ResultsOAT initiation was low (26.8%) for eligible individuals with incident AF in 2006–2008 but increased after NPSGs implementation (31.7%, p=0.022). OAT initiation was high but decreased in the positive control group (67.5% vs 62.0%, p=0.003). Multivariate analysis resulted in a relative 11% (95% CI (4% to 18%), p<0.01) increase in OAT initiation for incident AF patients.ConclusionsWe document a substantial increase in guideline concordant OAT initiation in incident AF after the establishment of NPSGs, suggesting that regulatory healthcare agency initiatives can influence clinical practice

Relationship Between Hispanic Nativity, Residential Environment, and Productive Activity Among Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury: A TBI Model Systems Study

Objective: To examine the influence of nativity and residential characteristics on productive activity among Hispanics at 1 year after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Setting: Acute rehabilitation facilities and community follow-up. Participants: A total of 706 Hispanic individuals in the TBI Model Systems National Database. Design: Secondary data analysis from a multicenter longitudinal cohort study. Main Measures: Nativity (foreign born or US native), productive activity derived from interview questions regarding employment status, and other demographic information. Census data were extracted by zip code to represent residential characteristics of aggregate household income and proportion of foreign language speakers (FLS). Results: Among foreign-born individuals with TBI, those living in an area with a higher proportion of FLS were 2.8 times more likely to be productive than those living in areas with a lower proportion of FLS. Among individuals living in an area with a lower proportion of FLS, US-born Hispanics were 2.7 times more likely to be productive compared with Hispanic immigrants. Conclusion: The relationship between nativity and productive activity at 1 year post-TBI was moderated by the residential proportion of FLS. Findings underscore the importance of considering environmental factors when designing vocational rehabilitation interventions for Hispanics after TBI