Ni vs. Pd in Suzuki-Miyaura sp2-sp2 cross-coupling : a head-to-head study in a comparable precatalyst/ligand system

We thank the University of St Andrews for a PhD studentship (MJW).The Suzuki-Miyaura reaction is a cornerstone method for sp2-sp2 cross-coupling in industry. There has been a concerted effort to enable the use of Ni catalysis as an alternative to Pd in order to mitigate cost and improve sustainability. Despite significant advances, ligand development for Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling remains underdeveloped when compared to Pd and, as a consequence, ligands for Ni-catalyzed processes are typically taken from the Pd arena. In this study we evaluate the effect of using a similar Ni and Pd precatalyst based on a common bidentate ligand (dppf) in a head-to-head format for the most common type of biaryl couplings, establishing the practical implications of direct replacement of Pd with Ni, and identifying the potential origins of these observations in a mechanistic context.PostprintPeer reviewe

Impact of Team Formation Approach on Teamwork Effectiveness and Performance in an Upper-Level Undergraduate Chemical Engineering Laboratory Course

This study focuses on the impact of team formation approach on teamwork effectiveness and performance spanning three years of instruction of the chemical engineering unit operations laboratory, which is an upper-level undergraduate laboratory course. Team formation approaches changed each year, and assessment tools, including peer-assessment, academic performance, and course evaluations, were employed to evaluate team performance. Approaches included three cases: instructor-selected teams based on GPA with the objective of a similar cumulative average GPA for each team, student self-selected teams, and a combination of self-selected teams with instructor-selected teams for a final experiment. For the third case, new teams were assigned based on a common interest to learn about a specific final laboratory experiment or research topic, and the instructor identification of both low- and high-performing students in the prior teams. Team effectiveness and performance were assessed using CATME, a teamwork VALUE rubric developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and numerical peer-contribution forms. In addition, assigned team leaders for each experiment provided feedback regarding individual team member performance, including contributions to reports and presentations. Results demonstrated that less than five percent of the students presented team conflicts when students self-selected teams for the laboratory course; however, strong or weak teams were formed leading to unbalanced laboratory performance. On the contrary, course evaluation outcomes were improved when students were assigned to teams based on cumulative GPA or reassigned by the instructor for the completion of a final experiment. Overall, this study demonstrates that a combination of student-selected and instructor-selected teams during the same semester led to better course outcomes and enhanced individual experiences, as shown by the students’ evaluations of the laboratory course

Improved timber harvest techniques maintain biodiversity in tropical forests

Tropical forests are selectively logged at 20 times the rate at which they are cleared, and at least a fifth have already been disturbed in this way. In a recent pan-tropical assessment, Burivalova et al. demonstrate the importance of logging intensity as a driver of biodiversity decline in timber estates. Their analyses reveal that species richness of some taxa could decline by 50% at harvest intensities of 38 m3 ha-1. However, they did not consider the extraction techniques that lead to these intensities. Here, we conduct a complementary meta-analysis of assemblage responses to differing logging practices: conventional logging and reduced-impact logging. We show that biodiversity impacts are markedly less severe in forests that utilise reduced-impact logging, compared to those using conventional methods. While supporting the initial findings of Burivalova et al., we go on to demonstrate that best practice forestry techniques curtail the effects of timber extraction regardless of intensity. Therefore, harvest intensities are not always indicative of actual disturbance levels resulting from logging. Accordingly, forest managers and conservationists should advocate practices that offer reduced collateral damage through best practice extraction methods, such as those used in reduced-impact logging. Large-scale implementation of this approach would lead to improved conservation values in the 4 million km2 of tropical forests that are earmarked for timber extraction

EUV Dimmings as a Diagnostic of CMEs and Related Phenomena

Large-scale coronal EUV dimmings, developing on timescaJes of minutes to hours in association with a flare or filament eruption, are known to exhibit a high correlation with coronal mass ejections. While most observations indicate that the decrease in emission in a dimming is due, at least in part, to a density decrease, a complete understanding requires us to examine at least four mechanisms that have been observed to cause darkened regions in the corona: 1) mass loss, 2) cooling, 3) heating, and 4) absorption/obscuration. Recent advances in automatic detection, observations with improved cadence and resolution, multi-viewpoint imaging, and spectroscopic studies have continued to shed light on dimming formation, evolution, and recovery. However, there are still some outstanding questions, including 1) Why do some CMEs show dimming and some do not? 2) What determines the location of a dimming? 3) What determines the temporal evolution of a dimming? 4) How does the post-eruption dimming connect to the ICME? 5) What is the relationship between dimmings and other CME-associated phenomena? The talk will emphasize the different formation mechanisms of dimmings and their relationship to CMEs and CME-associated phenomena

Risk factors for house-entry by culicine mosquitoes in a rural town and satellite villages in The Gambia

BACKGROUND: Screening doors, windows and eaves of houses should reduce house entry by eusynanthropic insects, including the common African house mosquito Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus and other culicines. In the pre-intervention year of a randomized controlled trial investigating the protective effects of house screening against mosquito house entry, a multi-factorial risk factor analysis study was used to identify factors influencing house entry by culicines of nuisance biting and medical importance. These factors were house location, architecture, human occupancy and their mosquito control activities, and the number and type of domestic animals within the compound. RESULTS: 40,407 culicines were caught; the dominant species were Culex thalassius, Cx. pipiens s.l., Mansonia africanus, M. uniformis and Aedes aegypti. There were four times more Cx. pipiens s.l. in Farafenni town (geometric mean/trap/night = 8.1, 95% confidence intervals, CIs = 7.2–9.1) than in surrounding villages (2.1, 1.9–2.3), but over five times more other culicines in the villages (25.1, 22.1–28.7) than in town (4.6, 4.2–5.2). The presence of Cx. pipiens s.l. was reduced in both settings if the house had closed eaves (odds ratios, OR town = 0.62, 95% CIs = 0.49–0.77; OR village = 0.49, 0.33–0.73), but increased per additional person in the trapping room (OR town = 1.16, 1.09–1.24; OR village = 1.10, 1.02–1.18). In the town only, Cx. pipiens s.l. numbers were reduced if houses had a thatched roof (OR = 0.70, 0.51–0.96), for each additional cow tethered near the house (OR = 0.73, 0.65–0.82) and with increasing distance from a pit latrine (OR = 0.97, 0.95–0.99). In the villages a reduction in Cx. pipiens s.l. numbers correlated with increased horses in the compound (OR = 0.90, 0.82–0.99). The presence of all other culicines was reduced in houses with closed eaves (both locations), with horses tethered outside (village only) and with increasing room height (town only), but increased with additional people in the trapping room and where cows were tethered outside (both locations). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study advocate eave closure and pit latrine treatment in all locations, and zooprophylaxis using horses in rural areas, as simple control measures that could reduce the number of culicines found indoors