Toward Competitive Employment for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: What Progress Have We Made and Where Do We Need to Go

Progress toward competitive integrated employment (CIE) for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) over the last 40 years has been mixed. Despite evidence showing that supported employment interventions can enable adults with IDD to effectively get and keep jobs, national rates of integrated employment remain below a third of the working-age population. Progress is being made to improve these outcomes. Pathways have been identified that lead to CIE through supported employment, customized employment, internship experiences, and postsecondary education. The recent passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has created fresh momentum and increased the onus on interagency collaboration. This article examines what is known about promoting CIE through these pathways and highlights recommendations for future research and policy change. Recommendations for the future provide direction toward positive change for CIE into the 21st century

Phosgene-free synthesis of 1,3-diphenylurea via catalyzed reductive carbonylation of nitrobenzene

1,3-Diphenylurea (DPU) has been proposed as a synthetic intermediate for phosgene-free synthesis of methyl N-phenylcarbamate and phenyl isocyanate, which are easily obtained from the urea by reaction with methanol. Such an alternative route to synthesis of carbamates and isocyanates necessitates an improved phosgene-free synthesis of the corresponding urea. In this work, it is reported that Pd(II)-diphosphine catalyzed reductive carbonylation of nitrobenzene in acetic acid (AcOH)-methanol proceeds in high yield and selectivity as a one-step synthesis of DPU. We have found that the catalytic activity and selectivity of this process depends on solvent composition and on the bite angle of the diphosphine ligands. Under optimum reaction conditions, yields in excess of 90 molar % and near-quantitative selectivity can be achieved

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles 2018 (MISEV2018):a position statement of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles and update of the MISEV2014 guidelines

The last decade has seen a sharp increase in the number of scientific publications describing physiological and pathological functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs), a collective term covering various subtypes of cell-released, membranous structures, called exosomes, microvesicles, microparticles, ectosomes, oncosomes, apoptotic bodies, and many other names. However, specific issues arise when working with these entities, whose size and amount often make them difficult to obtain as relatively pure preparations, and to characterize properly. The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) proposed Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles (“MISEV”) guidelines for the field in 2014. We now update these “MISEV2014” guidelines based on evolution of the collective knowledge in the last four years. An important point to consider is that ascribing a specific function to EVs in general, or to subtypes of EVs, requires reporting of specific information beyond mere description of function in a crude, potentially contaminated, and heterogeneous preparation. For example, claims that exosomes are endowed with exquisite and specific activities remain difficult to support experimentally, given our still limited knowledge of their specific molecular machineries of biogenesis and release, as compared with other biophysically similar EVs. The MISEV2018 guidelines include tables and outlines of suggested protocols and steps to follow to document specific EV-associated functional activities. Finally, a checklist is provided with summaries of key points