Hydrogen Generation Catalyzed by Fluorinated Diglyoxime−Iron Complexes at Low Overpotentials

Fe^(II) complexes containing the fluorinated ligand 1,2-bis(perfluorophenyl)ethane-1,2-dionedioxime (dAr^FgH_2; H = dissociable proton) exhibit relatively positive Fe^(II/I) reduction potentials. The air-stable difluoroborated species [(dAr^FgBF_2)_2Fe(py)_2] (2) electrocatalyzes H_2 generation at −0.9 V vs SCE with i_(cat)/i_p ≈ 4, corresponding to a turnover frequency (TOF) of ~ 20 s^(–1) [Faradaic yield (FY) = 82 ± 13%]. The corresponding monofluoroborated, proton-bridged complex [(dArFg2H-BF2)Fe(py)2] (3) exhibits an improved TOF of ~ 200 s^(–1) (i_(cat)/i_p ≈ 8; FY = 68 ± 14%) at −0.8 V with an overpotential of 300 mV. Simulations of the electrocatalytic cyclic voltammograms of 2 suggest rate-limiting protonation of an Fe“0” intermediate (k_(RLS) ≈ 200 M^(–1) s^(–1)) that undergoes hydride protonation to form H_2. Complex 3 likely reacts via protonation of an Fe^I intermediate that subsequently forms H_2 via a bimetallic mechanism (k_(RLS) ≈ 2000 M^(–1) s^(–1)). 3 catalyzes production at relatively positive potentials compared with other iron complexes

Adaptation, aging, and genomic information

Aging is not simply an accumulation of damage or inappropriate higher-order signaling, though it does secondarily involve both of these subsidiary mechanisms. Rather, aging occurs because of the extensive absence of adaptive genomic information required for survival to, and function at, later adult ages, due to the declining forces of natural selection during adult life. This absence of information then secondarily leads to misallocations and damage at every level of biological organization. But the primary problem is a failure of adaptation at later ages. Contemporary proposals concerning means by which human aging can be ended or cured which are based on simple signaling or damage theories will thus reliably fail. Strategies based on reverse-engineering age-extended adaptation using experimental evolution and genomics offer the prospect of systematically greater success

USU Campus Tree Identification Tour

This is a tour of selected tree species present on the Utah State University campus. Notes about particular species also are included. Green markers indicate gymnosperms and yellow indicate angiosperms

Development of a Rooftop Collaborative Experimental Space through Experiential Learning Projects

The Solar, Water, Energy, and Thermal Laboratory (SWEAT Lab) is a rooftop experimental space at the University of Texas at Austin built by graduate and undergraduate students in the Cockrell School of Engineering. The project was funded by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office and the University’s Green Fee Grant, a competitive grant program funded by UT Austin tuition fees to support sustainability-related projects and initiatives on campus. The SWEAT Lab is an on-going experiential learning facility that enables engineering education by deploying energy and water-related projects. To date, the lab contains a full weather station tracking weather data, a rainwater harvesting system and rooftop garden. This project presented many opportunities for students to learn first hand about unique engineering challenges. The lab is located on the roof of the 10 story Engineering Teaching Center (ETC) building, so students had to design and build systems with constraints such as weight limitations and wind resistance. Students also gained experience working with building facilities and management for structural additions, power, and internet connection for instruments. With the Bird’s eye view of UT Austin campus, this unique laboratory offers a new perspective and dimension to applied student research projects at UT Austin.Cockrell School of Engineerin

The new biology: beyond the Modern Synthesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The last third of the 20^thCentury featured an accumulation of research findings that severely challenged the assumptions of the "Modern Synthesis" which provided the foundations for most biological research during that century. The foundations of that "Modernist" biology had thus largely crumbled by the start of the 21^stCentury. This in turn raises the question of foundations for biology in the 21^stCentury.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Like the physical sciences in the first half of the 20^thCentury, biology at the start of the 21^stCentury is achieving a substantive maturity of theory, experimental tools, and fundamental findings thanks to relatively secure foundations in genomics. Genomics has also forced biologists to connect evolutionary and molecular biology, because these formerly Balkanized disciplines have been brought together as actors on the genomic stage. Biologists are now addressing the evolution of genetic systems using more than the concepts of population biology alone, and the problems of cell biology using more than the tools of biochemistry and molecular biology alone. It is becoming increasingly clear that solutions to such basic problems as aging, sex, development, and genome size potentially involve elements of biological science at every level of organization, from molecule to population. The new biology knits together genomics, bioinformatics, evolutionary genetics, and other such general-purpose tools to supply novel explanations for the paradoxes that undermined Modernist biology.</p> <p>Open Peer Reviewers</p> <p>This article was reviewed by W.F. Doolittle, E.V. Koonin, and J.M. Logsdon. For the full reviews, please go to the Reviewers' Comments section.</p

Philosophical Agents

Abstraction is the technique we use to deal with complexity. What is the proper kind and level of abstraction for complex software agents? We think it would be reasonable to endow agents with a philosophy. Then, by understanding their philosophies, we can use them more effectively. To endow agents with ethical principles, developers need an architecture that supports explicit goals, principles and capabilities, as well as laws and ways to sanction or punish miscreants. All of the ethical approaches described in this article are single-agent in orientation and encode other agents implicitly

Legal Uncertainty and Land Disputes in the Peri-Urban Areas of Mozambique: Land Markets in Transition

The Government of Mozambique is considering legal changes in its land law and administration of state leasehold property-an enormous challenge given its past socialist history and the uncertainties created by its current transition to a private market economy. The present research sought to identify dispute causes and de facto processes of dispute resolution as one basis for gauging inadequacies in the current law and system of state land administration.Land Economics/Use,

Ultranarrow Optical Inhomogeneous Linewidth in a Stoichiometric Rare-Earth Crystal

We obtain a low optical inhomogeneous linewidth of 25 MHz in the stoichiometric rare-earth crystal EuCl3·6H2O by isotopically purifying the crystal in Cl35. With this linewidth, an important limit for stoichiometric rare-earth crystals is surpassed: the hyperfine structure of Eu153 is spectrally resolved, allowing the whole population of Eu1533+ ions to be prepared in the same hyperfine state using hole-burning techniques. This material also has a very high optical density, and can have long coherence times when deuterated. This combination of properties offers new prospects for quantum information applications. We consider two of these: quantum memories and quantum many-body studies. We detail the improvements in the performance of current memory protocols possible in these high optical depth crystals, and describe how certain memory protocols, such as off-resonant Raman memories, can be implemented for the first time in a solid-state system. We explain how the strong excitation-induced interactions observed in this material resemble those seen in Rydberg systems, and describe how these interactions can lead to quantum many-body states that could be observed using standard optical spectroscopy techniques

Treatment for inclusion body myositis

Background Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a late-onset inflammatory muscle disease (myopathy) associated with progressive proximal and distal limb muscle atrophy and weakness. Treatment options have attempted to target inflammatory and atrophic features of this condition (for example with immunosuppressive and immunomodulating drugs, anabolic steroids, and antioxidant treatments), although as yet there is no known effective treatment for reversing or minimising the progression of inclusion body myositis. In this review we have considered the benefits, adverse effects, and costs of treatment in targeting cardinal effects of the condition, namely muscle atrophy, weakness, and functional impairment. Objectives To assess the effects of treatment for IBM. Search methods On 7 October 2014 we search ed the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Specialized Register, the Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Additionally in November 2014 we searched clinical trials registries for ongoing or completed but unpublished trials. Selection criteria We considered randomised or quasi-randomised trials, including cross-over trials, of treatment for IBM in adults compared to placebo or any other treatment for inclusion in the review. We specifically excluded people with familial IBM and hereditary inclusion body myopathy, but we included people who had connective tissue and autoimmune diseases associated with IBM, which may or may not be identified in trials. We did not include studies of exercise therapy or dysphagia management, which are topics of other Cochrane systematic reviews. Data collection and analysis We used standard Cochrane methodological procedures. Main results The review included 10 trials (249 participants) using different treatment regimens. Seven of the 10 trials assessed single agents, and 3 assessed combined agents. Many of the studies did not present adequate data for the reporting of the primary outcome of the review, which was the percentage change in muscle strength score at six months. Pooled data from two trials of interferon beta-1a (n = 58) identified no important difference in normalised manual muscle strength sum scores from baseline to six months (mean difference (MD) -0.06, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.03) between IFN beta-1a and placebo (moderate-quality evidence). A single trial of methotrexate (MTX) (n = 44) provided moderate-quality evidence that MTX did not arrest or slow disease progression, based on reported percentage change in manual muscle strength sum scores at 12 months. None of the fully published trials were adequately powered to detect a treatment effect. We assessed six of the nine fully published trials as providing very low-quality evidence in relation to the primary outcome measure. Three trials (n = 78) compared intravenous immunoglobulin (combined in one trial with prednisone) to a placebo, but we were unable to perform meta-analysis because of variations in study analysis and presentation of trial data, with no access to the primary data for re-analysis. Other comparisons were also reported in single trials. An open trial of anti-T lymphocyte immunoglobulin (ATG) combined with MTX versus MTX provided very low-quality evidence in favour of the combined therapy, based on percentage change in quantitative muscle strength sum scores at 12 months (MD 12.50%, 95% CI 2.43 to 22.57). Data from trials of oxandrolone versus placebo, azathioprine (AZA) combined with MTX versus MTX, and arimoclomol versus placebo did not allow us to report either normalised or percentage change in muscle strength sum scores. A complete analysis of the effects of arimoclomol is pending data publication. Studies of simvastatin and bimagrumab (BYM338) are ongoing. All analysed trials reported adverse events. Only 1 of the 10 trials interpreted these for statistical significance. None of the trials included prespecified criteria for significant adverse events. Authors\u27 conclusions Trials of interferon beta-1a and MTX provided moderate-quality evidence of having no effect on the progression of IBM. Overall trial design limitations including risk of bias, low numbers of participants, and short duration make it difficult to say whether or not any of the drug treatments included in this review were effective. An open trial of ATG combined with MTX versus MTX provided very low-quality evidence in favour of the combined therapy based on the percentage change data given. We were unable to draw conclusions from trials of IVIg, oxandrolone, and AZA plus MTX versus MTX. We need more randomised controlled trials that are larger, of longer duration, and that use fully validated, standardised, and responsive outcome measures