3714 research outputs found
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Enantioselective synthesis of 3-arylindole atropisomers via organocatalytic indolization of iminoquinones
No full textThe direct enantioselective construction of axially chiral 3-arylindole frameworks via nucleophilic addition of 2-substituted indoles to iminoquinones has been achieved with high efficiencies under mild chiral phosphoric acid (CPA) catalytic conditions. The utility of this method was demonstrated in successful scale-up syntheses without compromising the product yields and enantioselectivities. The oxidation of products yields axially chiral heteroaryl-p-quinone monoimine, which could be subjected to structural diversification via addition of nucleophiles
Organic biodegradable piezoelectric materials and their potential applications as bioelectronics
No full textBiodegradable piezoelectrics represent an intriguing category of electroactive materials combining the mechanical-electrical coupling characteristics with a unique biodegradable feature that eliminates unnecessary materials retention and minimize associated infection risks. Here, we review the piezoelectric properties of representative organic biodegradable piezoelectric materials including amino acids, peptides, proteins, synthetic polymers and polysaccharides. Strategies to promote the piezoelectric activity are summarized, and recent progress in the utilization of biodegradable piezoelectric materials for bioelectronics is discussed, with perspectives and challenges provided at the end to enlighten possible future directions
Micro-consumerist bollocks in the fight against plastic pollution: when good intentions - and regulatory initiatives - go awry
No full textPlastic pollution has emerged in recent decades as one of the most pressing issues of environmental concern. However, most of the regulatory and legislative initiatives aimed at curtailing this problem have centered on measures that have very limited impact on the overall prevalence of these materials in all environmental compartments. The minimal influence of these initiatives has been due to their often limited and minor effects on the overall production, use and waste management of plastics. Additionally, the onset of the 2019 global pandemic has resulted in many of these measures being put on hold or cancelled altogether, resulting in increasing levels of plastics in the environment and significantly hampering the combat against plastic pollution. This perspective focuses on microplastics, given their pervasiveness and potential ecological, environmental, and health effects. The sectors and industries contributing the most to this pollution are reviewed and assessed from a societal and environmental perspective. Effective regulatory tools are suggested to help reduce plastic emission levels into the environment
Public and patient involvement in research to support genome services development in the UK
No full textPublic and patient involvement (PPI) - the collaboration in research with members of the public and patients with relevant experience - is becoming well established in health service research in the UK. It is supported by funders and academic institutions. Published principles and guidelines for researchers, developed through consultation and consensus building, are available. Meanwhile, as genome sequencing is adopted into routine health care, translational genomics research and research to evaluate new genomic services are growing. Given the ethical and social implications of offering genome sequencing within a national health service, it is important that researchers give full consideration to planning and implementing meaningful PPI. Here we present five case studies of PPI in a variety of clinical genomic studies, including commentary on positive impacts and suggestions for improvements. We call for funders and academic institutions to continue and increase their efforts to enable and promote PPI across genomic and other health service research
Review on key technologies of green power supply for port microgrid
No full textWith the development of ship electrification, the demand for energy in ports is increasing. The location and natural resources of ports also create conditions for the development of ship electrification. This paper firstly analyzes the current development status of floating solar power generation technology and offshore wind power generation technology, summarizes the obstacles facing the development of offshore power generation platforms, introduces the materials and structures that can be used for floating power generation platforms, and then introduces the port microgrid topology from three aspects of AC microgrid (AC), DC microgrid (DC) and AC/DC hybrid microgrid (AC/DC) hybrid structure, and compares the three structures. Then the existing control methods are reviewed from the perspective of port capacity planning and the application of distributed control in port energy planning is emphasized. Finally, port energy management strategies are introduced from the perspective of multiple time scales, and relevant cases are listed, and the advantages and disadvantages of management strategies under different time scales are compared. At the end of the paper, several advanced smart ports are given as examples, and the new energy used by each port and its development scale are analyzed, and the future clean and efficient ports are envisioned
Environmentally friendly strategy for hybrid flow shop scheduling with the unrelated parallel machines
No full textWith the increasing environmental pressure, reducing the environmental impact on hybrid flow shops (HFS) has attracted extensive attention because of its broad industrial applications. The selection of machines in the implementation of HFS is a complex decision-making process that hinders the optimization efficiency in shops. However, this issue has not been addressed thoroughly. In light of this, a multi-objective mathematical model is formulated for the minimization of makespan and energy consumption of the hybrid flow shop scheduling problem (HFSP). The environmental performance of machines is calculated by the proposed evaluation index and is ranked on the basis of the integrated entropy and fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution method. Moreover, to solve the multi-objective model of HFSP, an improved differential evolution algorithm with a heuristic active decoding rule that incorporates the ranking of environmental performance of machines into the iterative process of the algorithm is presented. Finally, a case study is presented to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method and to prove the feasibility of the ranking-based differential evolution algorithm (RBDE). The result shows that the proposed RBDE outperforms RBNSGA-II and RBPSO in searching for non-dominated solutions that can solve the environmental production of HFSP effectively
Energy harvesting through thermoelectrics: topological designs and materials jetting technology
No full textThe vast amount of waste heat released into the environment, from body heat to factories and boilers, can be exploited for electricity generation. Thermoelectrics is a sustainable clean energy solution that converts a heat flux directly into electrical power and vice versa and therefore has the potential for both energy harvesting and cooling technologies. However, the usage of thermoelectrics for large-scale applications is restrained by its device topologies and energy conversion cost efficiency trade-offs. The increase in complex topological designs reported in literature shows a shift towards customizability and improvement of thermoelectric devices for maximum energy conversion efficiency. Increasing design complexity will require an innovative, cost-effective fabrication method with design freedom capabilities. In light of this, this review paper seeks to summarize various thermoelectric topological designs as well as how 3D Printing technology can be a solution to the fabrication of cost- and performance-efficient thermoelectric devices. Specifically, as a process category of 3D Printing technology, Materials Jetting will be elaborated for its usefulness in the fabrication of thermoelectric devices. With in-depth research in materials jetting of thermoelectrics, the gap between small-scale materials research and scaled-up industry applications for energy harvesting through thermoelectric devices is expected to be bridged
Chemoprevention of neuroblastoma: progress and promise beyond uncertainties
No full textNeuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children and comprises one-tenth of all childhood cancer deaths. The current clinical therapy for this deadly disease is multimodal, involving an induction phase with alternating regimens of high-dose chemotherapeutic drugs and load reduction surgery; a consolidation phase with more intensive chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and stem cell transplant; and a maintenance phase with immunotherapy and immune-activating cytokine treatment. Despite such intensive treatment, children with neuroblastoma have unacceptable life quality and survival, warranting preventive measures to regulate the cellular functions that orchestrate tumor progression, therapy resistance, metastasis, and tumor relapse/recurrence. Globally, active efforts are underway to identify novel chemopreventive agents, define their mechanism(s) of action, and assess their clinical benefit. Some chemoprevention strategies (e.g., retinoids, difluoromethylornithine) have already been adopted clinically as part of maintenance phase therapy. Several agents are in the pipeline, while many others are in preclinical characterization. Here we review the classes of chemopreventive agents investigated for neuroblastoma, including cellular events targeted, mode(s) of action, and the level of development. Our review: (i) highlights the pressing need for new and improved chemopreventive strategies for progressive neuroblastoma; (ii) lists the emerging classes of chemopreventive agents for neuroblastoma; and (iii) recognizes the relevance of targeting dynamically evolving hallmark functions of tumor evolution (e.g., survival, differentiation, lineage transformation). With recent gains in the understanding of tumor evolution processes and preclinical and clinical efforts, it is our strong opinion that effective chemopreventive strategies for aggressive neuroblastoma are a near reality
Total endovascular aortic arch repair: is it for everyone and where is its evidence?
No full textOpen total arch replacement (TAR) remains the mainstay management strategy for thoracic aortic diseases involving the aortic arch. TAR evolved from the 2-stage conventional elephant trunk (CET) technique to the hybrid frozen elephant trunk (FET) which combined open surgical repair (OSR) with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) into a 1-stage procedure. Although FET has been able to achieve superior results to CET, including excellent survival, it still carries a risk of certain complications that may even require secondary reintervention. The era of elephant trunk is being overtaken by the new generation of TEVAR devices being used for total endovascular aortic arch (or endoarch) repair. Total endoarch repair (TER) is currently indicated in patients deemed high-risk for open surgery; however, it has shown strong potential for becoming the gold stand treatment for aortic arch pathologies. Despite the minimally-invasive nature of TER providing an obvious advantage over OSR in certain cases, TER remains associated with comparable mortality rates and key complications such as technical failure, neurological injury, need for reintervention, and loss of or failure to achieve target vessel patency. Upon comprehensively searching the literature, the technical success of TER ranged from 91%-100%, mortality 0%-19%, stroke 0%-16.7% and reintervention 0%-30.3%, using different commercially available endografts. Given its novelty, further studies with larger cohorts and longer follow-up periods are necessary to solidify the evidence on TER, taking into account the significant learning curve associated with TEVAR. In addition, studies directly comparing arch OSR to TER are warranted to determine superiority. This review aimed to highlight the evolution of aortic arch repair, focusing on TER device development, intervention criteria and clinical outcomes
Targeting regulated cell death pathways in acute myeloid leukemia
No full textThe use of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax has transformed the management of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. By triggering intrinsic apoptosis, the drug is an excellent illustration of how our greater understanding of molecular cell death pathways can be translated into the clinic. Nevertheless, most venetoclax-treated patients will relapse, suggesting the need to target additional regulated cell death pathways. To highlight advances in this strategy, we review the recognized regulated cell death pathways, including apoptosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis and autophagy. Next, we detail the therapeutic opportunities to trigger regulated cell death in AML. Finally, we describe the main drug discovery challenges for regulated cell death inducers and their translation into clinical trials. A better knowledge of the molecular pathways regulating cell death represents a promising strategy to develop new drugs to cure resistant or refractory AML patients, particularly those resistant to intrinsic apoptosis
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