The Lead-Lag Relation Between Stock Exchanges: The Interesting Case of Israel and New Zealand

Based on the background of stock market integration, studying the diffusion process of stock prices around the world has become attractive. Different from much of the literature focusing on the case of overlapping trading time in different stock markets, our paper pays attention to the case of non-overlapping trading time in global stock markets. We have selected the US, New Zealand and Israel stock market as a case study. As we conjecture, we find that Israel index’s performance on Sunday has a significant correlation on New Zealand index’s performance on Monday, while no significant relation is found on other weekdays

A practical low-cost approach to build membrane electrode assemblies using decal transfer technique

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is the heart of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. In this paper, a practical and low-cost approach to build membrane electrode assemblies in lab using decal transfer technique is described and verified. The procedure is based on current literatures but using different materials for convenience and cost-saving. All devices and tools used are easy to find in normal labs and all materials used are affordable and easy to obtain from market. Two Membrane electrode assemblies are built and tested using a PEM fuel cell test and control system. Two MEAs showed voltages of about 0.82V and 0.70V respectively, measured with a digital multimeter, which are lower than that of the commercial MEA. It is found that the unscratched MEA with more catalyst has a lower voltage, but can generate higher current density and much water. Some water oozed through the bipolar plates which usually is not seen in a single cell tes

Thyroid function and epilepsy: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

BackgroundThyroid hormones (THs) play a crucial role in regulating various biological processes, particularly the normal development and functioning of the central nervous system (CNS). Epilepsy is a prevalent neurological disorder with multiple etiologies. Further in-depth research on the role of thyroid hormones in epilepsy is warranted.MethodsGenome-wide association study (GWAS) data for thyroid function and epilepsy were obtained from the ThyroidOmics Consortium and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Consortium cohort, respectively. A total of five indicators of thyroid function and ten types of epilepsy were included in the analysis. Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were conducted to investigate potential causal relations between thyroid functions and various epilepsies. Multiple testing correction was performed using Bonferroni correction. Heterogeneity was calculated with the Cochran’s Q statistic test. Horizontal pleiotropy was evaluated by the MR-Egger regression intercept. The sensitivity was also examined by leave-one-out strategy.ResultsThe findings indicated the absence of any causal relationship between abnormalities in thyroid hormone and various types of epilepsy. The study analyzed the odds ratio (OR) between thyroid hormones and various types of epilepsy in five scenarios, including free thyroxine (FT4) on focal epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (IVW, OR = 0.9838, p = 0.02223), hyperthyroidism on juvenile absence epilepsy (IVW, OR = 0.9952, p = 0.03777), hypothyroidism on focal epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (IVW, OR = 1.0075, p = 0.01951), autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) on generalized epilepsy in all documented cases (weighted mode, OR = 1.0846, p = 0.0346) and on childhood absence epilepsy (IVW, OR = 1.0050, p = 0.04555). After Bonferroni correction, none of the above results showed statistically significant differences.ConclusionThis study indicates that there is no causal relationship between thyroid-related disorders and various types of epilepsy. Future research should aim to avoid potential confounding factors that might impact the study

Copper-Catalyzed Direct Amidation of Heterocycles with <i>N</i>‑Fluorobenzenesulfonimide

A highly efficient amidation reaction of heterocycles with <i>N</i>-fluorobenzenesulfonimide (NFSI) has been developed, presumably proceeding via C–H bond activation. Cuprous iodide was employed as the catalyst, and various α-amidated heterocycle derivatives have been generated in good to excellent yields. This chemistry endowed an economic method of synthesis of valuable amidated heterocycles through a direct C–N bond-coupling processes

Synthesis of α,α-Disulfenylated Aldehydes via Oxidative Transformation of Tertiary Amines

A method for the copper-catalyzed regioselective β-functionalization of tertiary amines with thiophenols has been developed. The control experiments and primary studies show that a thiyl radical is involved in the reaction, and the method provides a novel and direct approach to synthesize C­(sp³)–S bonds without a directing group under ligand-free conditions

DNA Origami-Enabled Biosensors

Biosensors are small but smart devices responding to the external stimulus, widely used in many fields including clinical diagnosis, healthcare and environment monitoring, etc. Moreover, there is still a pressing need to fabricate sensitive, stable, reliable sensors at present. DNA origami technology is able to not only construct arbitrary shapes in two/three dimension but also control the arrangement of molecules with different functionalities precisely. The functionalization of DNA origami nanostructure endows the sensing system potential of filling in weak spots in traditional DNA-based biosensor. Herein, we mainly review the construction and sensing mechanisms of sensing platforms based on DNA origami nanostructure according to different signal output strategies. It will offer guidance for the application of DNA origami structures functionalized by other materials. We also point out some promising directions for improving performance of biosensors