Generation of acyl anion equivalents from acylphosphonates via phosphonate-phosphate rearrangement: a highly practical method for cross-benzoin reaction

[reactions: see text] Acylphosphonates are potent acyl anion precursors that generate acyl anion equivalents under the promotion of cyanide anion via phosphonate-phosphate rearrangement. These anions readily react with aldehydes to provide cross-benzoin products. In this way it is possible to synthesize a variety of aromatic-aromatic, aromatic-aliphatic, and aliphatic-aromatic benzoins. Moreover the reaction of benzoylphosphonate with potent electrophile 2,2,2-trifluoroacetophenone provided the corresponding aldehyde-ketone coupling product in high yield.     

Highly Selective and Sensitive Voltammetric Sensor Based on Ruthenium Nanoparticle Anchored Calix[4]amidocrown‐5 Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide: Simultaneous Determination of Quercetin,Morin and Rutin in Grape Wine

In this report, ruthenium nanoparticles (RuNPs) and calix[4]amidocrown‐5 (C4A5) were synthesized and grafted onto the surface of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposite (RuNPs/C4A5/RGO). The morphologies of the nanocomposites were characterized by transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical experiments were performed by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and square wave voltammetry. The simultaneous determination of quercetin, rutin and morin was performed on glassy carbon electrode modified with RuNPs/C4A5/RGO (RuNPs/C4A5/RGO/GCE). The linearity ranges and the detection limits of QR, RT and MR were 1.0×10^?10–1.0×10^?8 M and 2.0×10^?11 M respectively.     

Integrating expert weighting and multi-criteria decision making into eco-efficiency analysis: the case of US manufacturing

In this paper, the effect of weighting strategies on sustainability performance assessment is addressed. Eco-efficiency is used as the main metric for sustainability performance evaluation. An integrated input-output life cycle assessment (LCA) and multi criteria decision making (MCDM) approach is employed. The US manufacturing sectors’ LCA results are used in conjunction with the proposed MCDM framework to perform the eco-efficiency evaluation of 276 US manufacturing sectors. Five environmental impact categories are considered as the negative factors, namely: greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, water withdrawal, hazardous waste generation and toxic releases into air and the economic output of each manufacturing sector is considered to be the positive output. To study the overall impact of different weighting strategies; twenty weighting scenarios are designed. Five pairs of weights considered for the overall economic versus environmental impacts along with four specific weighting strategies based on Harvard, SAB, EPP and Equal weighting for each pair. According to the results of the statistical analysis, it is concluded that the weighing strategies applied to the overall environmental impacts and economic outputs cause statistically significant differences in the eco-efficiency scores.     

Calixarenes functionalised water-soluble iron oxide magnetite nanoparticles for enzyme immobilisation

ABSTRACT

In this study, we first used water-soluble iron oxide nanoparticles for Candida rugosa lipase immobilisation. Moreover, two new complexation phenomena of the prepared water-soluble Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with an enzyme might address interesting results in terms of enzyme activity and stability in typical enzymatic reactions. The catalytic activity on pH and temperature dependence, and reusability of the immobilised lipases ( p-SCX4-NP-E and p-SCX8-NP-E) were also investigated with the hydrolysis reaction of p-nitrophenyl palmitate (p-NPP). The results show that the highest catalytic affinities for p-SCX4-NP-E and p-SCX8-NP-E were obtained at pH 5.0 and pH 7.0, respectively.     

Multivariate stress-strength reliability model and its evaluation for coherent structures

Consider a system which has n independent components (or subsystems) each consisting of m dependent elements. Let , i=1,2,…,n denote the random strength vector of the ith component, where denotes the random strength of the jth element of the ith component. The elements of the components are subjected to a common random stress over time. In this paper, we setup a multivariate stress-strength model based on the conditional ordering between s and and evaluate the reliability of coherent structures in this setup.     

Cyanide ion promoted addition of acyl phosphonates to ethyl cyanoformate: synthesis of tertiary carbinols via tandem carbon-carbon bond formations

New cyanation/phosphonate-phosphate rearrangement/C-acylation reactions of cyanophosphate anion with cyanoformate esters are described. Phase-transfer cocatalysts facilitate cyanide-catalyzed reactions between acyl phosphonates and cyanoformates to afford protected tertiary carbinol products in good to excellent yields (74-95%). Ethyl cyanoformate is used as a cyanide source and electrophile. The scope of the reaction was investigated by using a number of benzoyl and acyl phosphonates along with ethyl cyanoformate. Representative chemoselective reduction of the product 5a afforded ethyl 3-amino-2-hydroxy-2-phenylpropanoate (13) in good yield.     

Statistics and probability theory in renewable energy: Teaching and research

In this paper, the key-role and utility of statistics and probability theory in the field of renewable energy are emphasized and illustrated via specific examples. It is demonstrated that renewable energy is a very suitable field to effectively teach and implement many statistical and probabilistic concepts and techniques. From a research point of view, statistical and probabilistic methods have been successfully employed in evaluating renewable energy systems. These methods will continue to be of core interest for the renewable energy sector in the future, as new and more complex renewable energy systems are developed and installed. In this context, some future research directions in relation to the evaluation of renewable energy systems are also presented.     

Developing a Novel Platelet-Rich Plasma-Laden Bioadhesive Hydrogel Contact Lens for the Treatment of Ocular Surface Chemical Injuries

Permanent injury to corneal limbal stem cells after ocular surface chemical and thermal injuries is a major cause of corneal blindness. In this study, a PRP-laden GelMA hydrogel contact lens is manufactured which is aimed to support the limbal niche after ocular surface insults thereby preventing limbal stem cell failure. GelMA with varying platelet-rich plasma (PRP) concentrations (5%, 10%, and 20%) is photopolymerized using a visible light crosslinking system followed by characterizations of mechanical properties, growth factor release, enzymatic degradation, and in vitro cytotoxicity. The addition of 10% PRP into 10% GelMA hydrogel precursor solution results in the highest tensile and compressive modulus (38 and 110 kPa, respectively) and burst pressure (251±37.66 mmHg). Degradation time varies according to the concentration of the collagenase enzyme tested (0, 2.5, 5, and 40 µg/mL) and is most prolonged with 20% PRP. EGF and TGF-β release profiles suggest an initial burst release followed by sustained release, most consistent in the 10% PRP sample. Although cell viability decreases on day 1, rapid recovery is observed and is approximately 120% after day 21. PRP-laden GelMA in the form of a contact lens may be a promising biomaterial-based treatment approach for the maintenance of limbal epithelial stem cells after ocular surface insults.     

Summation formulas for the products of the Frobenius–Euler polynomials

We present here a further investigation for the classical Frobenius–Euler polynomials. By making use of the generating function methods and summation transform techniques, we establish some summation formulas for the products of an arbitrary number of the classical Frobenius–Euler polynomials. The results presented here are generalizations of the corresponding known formulas for the classical Bernoulli polynomials and the classical Euler polynomials.     

Compound Geometric Distribution of Order <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>

The distribution of the number of trials until the first k consecutive successes in a sequence of Bernoulli trials with success probability p is known as geometric distribution of order k. Let T _k be a random variable that follows a geometric distribution of order k, and Y ₁,Y ₂,… a sequence of independent and identically distributed discrete random variables which are independent of T _k . In the present article we develop some results on the distribution of the compound random variable \(S_{k} =\sum_{t=1}^{T_{k}}Y_{t}\).