Syntheses of Polycyclic Structures

Part 1. An attempt to synthesise s-hexahydrochrysene (XIV) using the inactive alphabeta-diphenylglutaric acid (XX) of higher m. p. as staring material, is described. Cyclisation of the anhydride of this acid produced alpha-phenyl-1-indanone-3-acetic acid (XXXV) instead of the expected derivative of tetralone, (XXI). A stereoisomer of (XXXV) was prepared by esterification and hydrolysis. Clemmensen redaction and chain lengtlening by the Arndt-Eistert procedure, of both these isomers produced two forms of beta-phenyl-beta-l-indanepropionic acid (LIX). Cyclisation and reduction of the two homo-acids gave two hydrocarbons, 1-phenyl-1:2:3:9-tetrahydroacenaphthene, (LXl), the structure of which was shown by dehydrogenation and oxidation of the product to 2-phenyl-1:8-naphthalic anhydride (LXVIII). Part 11. d1-alphabeta-Di-1-naphthyIsuccinic acid (I) has been synthesised from naphthalene as follows: Chloromethyl-naphthalene (IX) was prepared and converted into naphthyl-acetic acid via the nitrile. The sodium derivative of the ester of this acid underwent self-condensation by means of iodine to give the racemic and me so forms of ethyl-alphabeta-dinaphthyIsuccinate (XII), both of which were hydrolysed to the corresponding racemic acid (I). In the hope of obtaining a hexacyclicdihydric phenol (II), several attempts have been made to cyclise the anhydride of (1). Aluminium chloride in a variety of solvents was used, and anhydrous hydrofluoric acid, but all these attempts were unsuccessful and the line was abandoned. Part III. An attempt has been made to prepare the as yet unknown 4:5-dimethylphenanthrene. (IV), from pyrene (I) by the use of two different reactions. Treatment with osmium tetroxide gave a diol (II) which was oxidised to a substance believed to be phenanthrene-4:5-dialdehyde (XVII). This compound could not be reduced to the required hydrocarbon (IV). Ozonisation of pyrene gave phenanthrene-4-aldehyde-5-carboxylic acid (III. The aldehyde group of this acid could not be reduced in a straightforward manner. The methyl ester, however, was reduced using lithium aluminium hydride to 4:5-dihydroxymethylphenanthrene (XXVI), which did not yield the expected dichloromethyl compound on treatment with hydrochloric acid but instead produced a cyclic ether through loss of water. This work is still in progress

Evidence

Covers cases on witnesses in determining the competency of insane persons, on relevancy of facts of arrest in civil suits, on the plaintiff\u27s criminal record and its admissibility to limit claims to damages for unemployment, on the competency of interested party witnesses and time when interest is to be determined, on the relevancy of the fact of no insurance (Campbell), on the admission of certified copies of foreign divorce decrees (Smith), on the liberal construction of the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, on the attorney-client privilege when communications are made in the presence of two or more interested persons, and on privileged communications between spouses (Brennan)

Belief propagation as a partial decoder

One of the fundamental challenges in enabling fault-tolerant quantum computation is realising fast enough quantum decoders. We present a new two-stage decoder that accelerates the decoding cycle. In the first stage, a partial decoder based on belief propagation is used to correct errors that occurred with high probability. In the second stage, a conventional decoder corrects any remaining errors. We study the performance of our two-stage decoder with simulations using the surface code under circuit-level noise. When the conventional decoder is minimum-weight perfect matching, adding the partial decoder decreases bandwidth requirements, increases speed and improves logical accuracy. Specifically, we observe partial decoding consistently speeds up the minimum-weight perfect matching stage by between 2x-4x on average depending on the parameter regime, and raises the threshold from 0.94 to 1.01

Supporting the Critical Administrative Leadership Role of County Directors

With a foot in both the university and local communities, Cooperative Extension county directors have unique opportunities to network, scan opportunities, identify assets, design and market programs, build public support, and solve problems. A survey of the administrative workload, satisfactions, and frustrations of California county directors finds these leadership roles are insufficiently supported. The data suggest the need to 1) alter merit review policies to reward community connections and networking, 2) reinvent university support bureaucracies to treat county directors as valued customers, and 3) reassert a robust vision of county-based Extension at the highest levels of the organization

Flank Margin Cave Development in Telogenetic Limestones of New Zealand

Coastal limestone outcrops, typically with advanced levels of diagenetic maturity (i.e., are telogenetic carbonates), were ex­amined on NorthIsland (Raglan Harbour, Kawhia Harbour, Napier, and Waipu Cove) and SouthIsland (Pohara, Paturau River, Punakaiki, Kakanui, and Kaikoura), New Zealand, to de­termine if flank margin caves, produced by mixing dissolution, were present. In coastal settings, caves in carbonate rock can be the outcome of pseudokarst process, primarily wave erosion, as well as karst processes not associated with freshand sea-water mixing suchas epikarst features and conduit-flow stream caves. Flank margin caves were successfully differentiated from other cave types by the following criteria: phreatic dissolutional mor­phologies at the wall rock and chamber scales; absence of high-velocity, turbulent-flow wall sculpture and sediment deposits; and lack of integration of adjacent caves into a continuous flow path. The active tectonics of New Zealand creates a variable sea-level situation. The relatively short time of sea-level stability lim­its the size of the New Zealand flank margin caves compared to tectonically-stable environments, suchas the Bahamas, where glacioeustasy alone controls sea-level stability. Uplift events can be identified as slow and steady when the flank margin caves are uniformly elongated in the vertical direction, and episodic when the flank margin caves show widening and tube develop­ment at discrete horizons that cut across rock structure. New Zealand flank margin caves contain information on uplift dura­tion and rates independent of other commonly used measures, and therefore can provide a calibration to other methods

What is the most effective treatment for scabies?

Q: What is the most effective treatment for scabies? Evidence-based answer: Topical permethrin is the most effective treatment for classic scabies (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, meta-analyses with consistent results). Topical lindane and crotamiton are inferior to permethrin but appear equivalent to each other and benzyl benzoate, sulfur, and natural synergized pyrethrins (SOR: B, limited randomized trials). Although not as effective as topical permethrin, oral ivermectin is an effective treatment compared with placebo (SOR: B,a single small randomized trial). Oral ivermectin may reduce the prevalence of scabies at one year in populations with endemic disease more than topical permethrin (SOR: B, a single randomized trial)

Supervision and culture: Meetings at thresholds

Counsellors are required to engage in supervision in order to reflect on, reflexively review, and extend their practice. Supervision, then, might be understood as a partnership in which the focus of practitioners and supervisors is on ethical and effective practice with all clients. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, there has recently been interest in the implications for supervision of cultural difference, particularly in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi as a practice metaphor, and when non-Māori practitioners counsel Māori clients. This article offers an account of a qualitative investigation by a group of counsellors/supervisors into their experiences of supervision as cultural partnership. Based on interviews and then using writing-as-research, the article explores the playing out of supervision’s contribution to practitioners’ effective and ethical practice in the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand, showing a range of possible accounts and strategies and discussing their effects. Employing the metaphor of threshold, the article includes a series of reflections and considerations for supervision practice when attention is drawn to difference

Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM.

Members of the Joint Working Group on Improving Underrepresented Minorities (URMs) Persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-convened by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-review current data and propose deliberation about why the academic "pathways" leak more for URM than white or Asian STEM students. They suggest expanding to include a stronger focus on the institutional barriers that need to be removed and the types of interventions that "lift" students' interests, commitment, and ability to persist in STEM fields. Using Kurt Lewin's planned approach to change, the committee describes five recommendations to increase URM persistence in STEM at the undergraduate level. These recommendations capitalize on known successes, recognize the need for accountability, and are framed to facilitate greater progress in the future. The impact of these recommendations rests upon enacting the first recommendation: to track successes and failures at the institutional level and collect data that help explain the existing trends