Development of a microwave-assisted sustainable conversion of furfural hydrazones to functionalised phthalimides in ionic liquids

A sustainable synthetic procedure to convert furfural hydrazones into functionalised phthalimides was developed. The reaction was performed in a microwave using a hydrophilic ionic liquid, [bmim][Cl], as the solvent which could be readily recovered by a simple extraction. The ionic liquid was successfully recycled with no significant loss in product yields

Approaches to Assessing Public Concerns: Building Linked Data for Public Goals and Criteria Extracted from Textual Content

Part 3: Online DeliberationInternational audienceThe importance of public involvement in Japanese regional societies is increasing because they currently face complicated and ongoing social issues due to the post-maturity stage of these societies. Since citizens who have beneficial awareness or knowledge are not always experts on relevant social issues, assessing and sharing public concerns are needed to reduce barriers to public participation. We propose two approaches to assess public concerns. The first is building a linked open data set by extracting public goals for a specific social issue aimed at by citizens or agents from articles or public opinions. This paper deals with hierarchical goals and subgoals for recovery and revitalization from the Great East Japan Earthquake manually extracted from related articles. The data set can be used for developing services to match citizens and agents who aim at similar goals to facilitate collaboration. The second approach is building a linked data set by extracting assessment criteria for a specific social issue from public opinions. This paper deals with candidate terms that potentially represent such criteria for a specific public project automatically extracted from clusters of citizens’ opinions. The data set can be used as evidence for policy-making about the target project

Wireless Power Delivery Techniques for Miniature Implantable Bioelectronics

Progress in implanted bioelectronic technology offers the opportunity to develop more effective tools for personalized electronic medicine. While there are numerous clinical and pre-clinical applications for these devices, power delivery to these systems can be challenging. Wireless battery-free devices offer advantages such as a smaller and lighter device footprint and reduced failures and infections by eliminating lead wires. However, with the development of wireless technologies, there are fundamental tradeoffs between five essential factors: power, miniaturization, depth, alignment tolerance, and transmitter distance, while still allowing devices to work within safety limits. These tradeoffs mean that multiple forms of wireless power transfer are necessary for different devices to best meet the needs for a given biological target. Here six different types of wireless power transfer technologies used in bioelectronic implants - inductive coupling, radio frequency, mid-field, ultrasound, magnetoelectrics, and light -are reviewed in context of the five tradeoffs listed above. This core group of wireless power modalities is then used to suggest possible future bioelectronic technologies and their biological applications