Personal exposure to airborne organic pollutants and lung function changes among healthy older adults.

Epidemiological evidence on the impact of airborne organic pollutants on lung function among the elderly is limited, and their underlying biological mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Herein, a longitudinal panel study was conducted in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, involving 76 healthy older adults monitored over a span of five months repetitively. We systematically evaluated personal exposure to a diverse range of airborne organic pollutants using a wearable passive sampler and their effects on lung function. Participants' pulmonary function indicators were assessed, complemented by comprehensive multi-omics analyses of blood and urine samples. Leveraging the power of interaction analysis, causal inference test (CIT), and integrative pathway analysis (IPA), we explored intricate relationships between specific organic pollutants, biomolecules, and lung function deterioration, elucidating the biological mechanisms underpinning the adverse impacts of these pollutants. We observed that bis (2-chloro-1-methylethyl) ether (BCIE) was significantly associated with negative changes in the forced vital capacity (FVC), with glycerolipids mitigating this adverse effect. Additionally, 31 canonical pathways [e.g., high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) signaling, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway, epithelial mesenchymal transition, and heme and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthesis] were identified as potential mechanisms. These findings may hold significant implications for developing effective strategies to prevent and mitigate respiratory health risks arising from exposure to such airborne pollutants. However, due to certain limitations of the study, our results should be interpreted with caution.

One quick and simple fixation method: posterior malleolus fractures in spiral tibial fractures.

OBJECTIVE: Spiral fracture of tibia combined with posterior malleolar fracture (PMF) is a special and regular injury. There is no uniform fixation method for PMF in this kind of injury. Intramedullary nail is the first choice for the treatment of tibial spiral fracture. We proposed a minimally invasive percutaneous screw combined with intramedullary nail technology to fix the PMF in the tibial spiral fracture. This study aims to explore the effectiveness and advantages of this technology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2017 to February 2020, 116 cases of spiral fracture of tibia combined with PMF who were operated in our hospital were divided into Fixation Group (FG) and No Fixation Group (NG) according to whether PMF was fixed. After minimally invasive percutaneous screw fixation of ankle fracture in FG patients, the tibial intramedullary nail was inserted to fix the fracture. Collected the operation and postoperative recovery of the two groups of patients, including the operation time, intraoperative blood loss, AOFAS score, VAS score and dorsiflexion restriction of ankle joint at the last follow-up, and compared whether there is any difference between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: The fracture of both groups healed.2 patients in NG had secondary displacement of PMF during operation, and the fracture finally healed after fixation. There were statistical differences between the two groups in terms of operation time, AOFAS score and weight bearing time. The operation time of FG was 67.9±11.2 min, and that of NG was 60.8±9.4 min; The weight bearing time of FG was 57.35±34.72 days, and that of NG was 69.17±21.43 days; The AOFAS score of FG was 92.50±3.46, and that of NG was 91.00±4.16. There were no significant difference in blood loss, VAS and dorsiflexion restriction of ankle joint between the two groups. The blood loss of FG was 66.8±12.3 ml, the blood loss of NG was 65.6±11.7 ml, the VAS score of FG was 1.37±0.47, the VAS score of NG was 1.43±0.51, the dorsiflexion restriction of FG was 5.8±4.1; the NG was 6.1±5.7. CONCLUSION: For the injury of tibial spiral fracture combined with PMF, our fixation technology can achieve minimally invasive fixation of PMF with percutaneous screws on the basis of intramedullary nail fixation of tibial fracture, promoting early functional exercise of ankle joint and early weight bearing of patients. This fixation technology is also characterized by simple and fast operation.

Dual-Perforator Flap With Wide Pedicle Versus Sural Neurocutaneous Flap With Peroneal Artery Perforator in the Treatment of Soft Tissue Defects of Foot and Ankle.

How to deal with large soft tissue defects around the foot and ankle is still controversial. The aim of this study was: (1) to display a new pedicled flap, also named the dual-perforator flap with wide pedicle (DPFWP), and (2) to compare it with the sural neurovascular flap with peroneal artery perforator (SNFPAP) in foot and ankle reconstruction. According to different surgical methods, 82 patients were divided into 2 groups: the DPFWP group (42 cases) and the SNFPAP group (40 cases). All cases underwent a flap surgery after radical debridement. The 2 groups were homogeneous in terms of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), etiology, location, and follow-up duration. Operation indexes were compared, including flap length, flap width, operation time and blood loss. Complications, cosmetic appearance, and functional outcome were analyzed, and statistical analysis was performed. The DPFWP group had larger flap length (24.5 ± 4.6 cm vs 16.3 ± 3.8 cm), and flap width (10.5 ± 2.7 cm vs 7.8 ± 1.7 cm) than the SNFPAP group. In postoperative follow-up, DPFWP group showed a lower complication rate and better cosmetic, functional outcomes than SNFPAP group. In conclusion, this study showed that a DPFWP flap brought better results than a SNFPAP flap in terms of complications, cosmetic appearance, and functional outcomes for patients undergoing reconstruction of foot and ankle defects.

[Effect of Shionone on Neuron Apoptosis After Spinal Cord Injury in Mice].

Objective To explore the effect of shionone(SHI)on motor function in the mouse model of spinal cord injury(SCI)and probe into the underlying molecular mechanism.Methods C57BL/6 mice were treated to induce the SCI model and then assigned into a model group(SCI group),a SCI+SHI group,and a sham surgery(control)group.The Basso mouse scale(BMS)score was determined to evaluate the recovery of motor function in SCI mice.Hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,Nissl staining,and immunofluorescence staining were employed to examine the fibrosis,morphological changes of neurons,and neuron apoptosis in the spinal cord tissue of SCI mice,respectively.The mouse hippocampal neuronal cell line HT22 was cultured in vitro and then classified into tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)induction and SHI groups.Western blotting was employed to determine the expression of apoptosis-associated proteins.Network pharmacology,gene ontology annotation,and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment were employed to predict the possible molecular targets and signaling pathways of SHI in promoting functional recovery from SCI.Furthermore,the prediction results were verified by in vitro and in vivo experiments.Results Compared with the SCI group,the SCI+SHI group showed increased BMS score on days 21,28,35,and 42(P=0.003,P=0.004,P=0.023,and P=0.007,respectively),reduced area of spinal cord fibrosis(P=0.021),increased neurons survived(P=0.001),and down-regulated expression of cleaved cysteine aspastic acid-specific protease 3(cleaved Caspase-3)(P=0.017).Compared with the TNF-α group,the SHI group presented down-regulated expression levels of cleaved Caspase-3 and Bax(P=0.010,P=0.001)and up-regulated expression level of Bcl-2(P=0.001).The results of bioinformatics analysis showed that SHI might improve the motor function of SCI mice via the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)signaling pathway.The results of in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that SHI inhibited the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt in SCI mice or HT22 cells exposed to TNF-α(all P<0.05).The number of apoptotic HT22 cells after treatment with insulin-like growth factor 1 was higher than that in the SHI group(P=0.003).Conclusion SHI may inhibit neuron apoptosis via the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway,thereby promoting the recovery of motor function in SCI mice.

A Practical Method for the Large-Scale Preparation of the P-Chiral Dihydrobenzoazaphosphole Core by Chemical Resolution.

pivZPhos, as an effective ligand in the Cu-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones and aminoboration of alkenes, is prepared efficiently from the corresponding triflate of P-chiral dihydrobenzoazaphosphole 1. However, the previous approach to 1 by chiral separation is time-consuming and costly, preventing its production and further application on a large scale. In this report, a practical method for the large-scale preparation of 1 was developed via chiral chemical resolution with (1S,2S)-diaminocyclohexane as an effective resolution reagent.

Percutaneous reduction with double screwdrivers versus limited open reduction in the treatment of irreducible extracapsular hip fractures.

BACKGROUND: The reduction in irreducible extracapsular hip fractures has always been controversial. Here, we present a new minimally invasive reduction technique and compare it with limited open reduction (LOR) to treat irreducible extracapsular hip fractures. METHODS: From January 2016 to January 2018, our institution treated 653 patients with extracapsular hip fractures by intramedullary fixation. Among them, 525 cases got a successful closed reduction. The other 128 were irreducible and reduced by percutaneous reduction with double screwdrivers (PRDS) or LOR. There were 66 cases in the PRDS group while 62 in the LOR group. All fractures were classified using the Evans-Jensen classification. In addition, the differences in incision length, blood loss, fluoroscopic number, operation time, inpatient time, weight training time, Harris score, and complications were analyzed. RESULTS: The incision length was 8.4 ± 1.4 cm in the PRDS group and 15.3 ± 3.0 cm in the LOR group, respectively (p < 0.05); blood loss was equal to 151 ± 26 and 319 ± 33 ml, respectively (p < 0.05); fluoroscopic number was 14 ± 3 and 8 ± 2, respectively (p < 0.05); operation time was 44 ± 9 and 73 ± 11 min, respectively (p < 0.05); inpatient time was 6.2 ± 1.7 and 8.4 ± 2.2 days, respectively (p < 0.05); weight training time after the operation was 4.5 ± 1.5 and 10.7 ± 1.8 days, respectively (p < 0.05); and the excellent rate of Harris score was 92.4% and 88.7%, respectively (p > 0.05). There was no significant difference in complication incidence between the two groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The PRDS group presented better clinical effects for managing irreducible extracapsular hip fractures than the LOR. Therefore, the PRDS technique could be the first reduction choice for patients with irreducible fractures.

Open reduction and internal fixation of the tibial avulsion fracture of the posterior cruciate ligament: which is better, a hollow lag screw combined with a gasket or a homemade hook plate?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical results of homemade hook plates and hollow lag screws combined with spacers in the treatment of posterior cruciate tibial ligament avulsion fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective clinical cohort study that included 64 patients with PCL tibial avulsion fractures. Thirty-two of them were fixed with a homemade hook plate (hook plate group), and 32 were fixed with a hollow lag screen combined with a gasket (hollow lag screen group). By reviewing the medical record data and follow-up results, the operation time, postoperative drainage, fracture healing time, surgical complications, knee mobility, recovery of joint function, and whether postoperative gastrocnemius muscle strength changed in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: All patients had successful wound and fracture healing. No adverse events, such as bone nonunion, infection, wound haematoma, or joint stiffness, occurred in either group. There were no patients with decreased gastrocnemius muscle strength in either group. Internal fixation failure occurred in 2 cases in the hollow lag screen group but not in the hook plate group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of operative time, postoperative drainage, fracture healing time, knee mobility at the last follow-up, or Lysholm score. CONCLUSION: It is safe and effective to use a homemade hook plate to fix PCL tibial avulsion fractures through an inverted L-shaped posterior medial approach. A homemade hook plate may have potential advantages over a hollow lag screen combined with gasket fixation.

Predictors of long-term mortality after intertrochanteric fractures surgery: a 3-year retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Intertrochanteric fractures are associated with high mortality rates; however, long-term data on survival and predictors remain scarce. Therefore, this study investigated risk factors associated with 3-year mortality in elderly patients with intertrochanteric fractures. METHODS: In a retrospective study, 156 elderly patients with intertrochanteric fractures who underwent surgery between January 2017 to January 2018 at our center were included. Association-affecting variables, such as gender, age, time from injury to surgery, hemoglobin (Hb), total lymphocyte count (TLC), albumin, malnutrition, and co-morbidities, were recorded and analyzed. Afterward, logistic regression was used to analyze the significant variables and find independent predictors for 3-year mortality. RESULTS: A total of 156 patients were followed up for 3 years. The 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year postoperative cumulative mortality rates were 9.6% (15/156), 16.7% (26/156), and 24.4% (38/156), respectively. Simple analyses found that age, Hb, albumin, and malnutrition were associated with 3-year mortality (p < 0.05). Multivariable analysis confirmed that advanced age (p < 0.001) and low albumin (p = 0.014) were independent risk factors for 3-year mortality. CONCLUSION: Low serum albumin and advanced age were independent risk factors for long-term mortality in elderly patients with intertrochanteric fractures.

Clinical and radiographic outcomes of revision with autogenous "structured" bone grafting combined with superior plate for recalcitrant atrophic nonunion of clavicular midshaft: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of autogenous "structured" bone grafting (ASBG), it was combined with superior plate (SP) revision operations for recalcitrant clavicular midshaft aseptic nonunion (CMAN). METHODS: This retrospective study included 12 patients who suffered from failure of autologous cancellous bone grafting (ACBG) and SP fixation because of CMAN. Visual analogue scale (VAS) data for pain and disabilities of arm, shoulder, and hand (DASH) scores of patients who underwent these procedures from January 2019 to December 2020, obtained before surgery and at the final follow-up time, were analysed. RESULTS: The average time between primitive fracture and this operative treatment was 29 months (15-38 months). The average duration of surgery was 153 minutes (range, 115-230 min), and the average blood loss was 560 ml (range, 350-860 ml). Complications occurred in two cases (16.67%): one was persistent pain at the donor site, and the other was a calf muscle vein thrombosis. No tissue infection was observed during follow-up. The mean follow-up time was 18 months (range, 12-30 months). All fractures progressed to osseous healing at a mean time of 14 weeks (range, 12-16 weeks). The mean pain VAS score significantly improved, from 4.8 ± 1.7 pre-operatively to 1.9 ± 1.1 at the final follow-up (P = 0.01). The mean DASH score improved significantly from 30.1 ± 11.2 pre-operatively to 7.8 ± 4. 2 at the final follow-up (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: ASBG combined with SP revision surgery achieved excellent clinical outcomes in patients with recalcitrant CMAN.

The Clinical Efficacy of Suture-Button Fixation and Trans-Syndesmotic Screw Fixation in the Treatment of Ankle Fracture Combined With Distal Tibiofibular Syndesmosis Injury: A Retrospective Study.

Twenty percent of ankle fractures present with concomitant syndesmosis injury which results in poor clinical outcomes. Surgical stabilization of the syndesmosis can be achieved with either trans-syndesmotic screws or a suture button device. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical efficacy of suture button fixation and trans-syndesmotic screw fixation in the treatment of ankle fracture combined with distal tibiofibular syndesmosis injury. A retrospective analysis was conducted by enrolling 76 patients with ankle fractures combined with distal tibiofibular syndesmosis injury who were admitted in our trauma center from January 2018 to January 2019, including 34 cases of suture button group and 42 cases of the syndesmotic screw group with a mean follow-up period of 16 ± 7 (range 12-21) months. The demographic data included gender, age, injury mechanism, AO classification and the operation duration were recorded, the radiographic and clinical outcomes were determined by tibiofibular clear space, tibiofibular overlap distance, complications, and the Olerud-Molander Ankle Score at the last follow-up. All the indexes were compared between the 2 groups to discover the related statistical differences. With the numbers available, no significant difference could be detected in the surgical duration, tibiofibular clear space, tibiofibular overlap distance, total complication rate, and middle-term Olerud-Molander Ankle scores between the 2 groups. However, the suture button fixation group showed higher early stage Olerud-Molander Ankle scores (p = .027) and shorter full weightbearing time (p = .018) than that of syndesmotic screw fixation group. Considering the outcomes, we conclude that the suture button fixation not only shows equivalent efficacy to the traditional syndesmotic screw, but also has advantages of allowing early weightbearing, low requirements for routine removal.

Identification and characterization of An-4, a potential quantitative trait locus for awn development in rice.

BACKGROUND: Awn of rice is an important domestication trait closely associated with yield traits. Therefore, the identification of genes for awn development is of great significance for the elucidation of molecular mechanism of awn development and the genetic improvement of yield traits in rice. RESULTS: In this study, using chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) derived from a long-awned Guangxi common wild rice (GXCWR, Oryza rufipogon Griff.) and a short-awned indica cultivar 9311, we identified An-4, a potential quantitative trait locus (QTL) for awn development. Then, An-4 was fine mapped into a 56-kb region of chromosome 2, which contained four annotated genes. Among these four annotated genes, Os02g0594800 was concluded to be the potential candidate gene for An-4. An-4 exhibited pleiotropic effects on awn development and several yield traits. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that An-4 significantly promoted awn development at Sp7 and Sp8 stage of spikelet development. Transcriptome analysis suggested that An-4 might influence the development of awn by regulating the expression of genes related to growth, developmental process, channel regulation and extracellular region. By contrast to those of 9311, the expression level of OsRR5 in CSSL128 was significantly down-regulated, whereas the expression levels of OsCKX2 and OsGA2ox5 in CSSL128 were significantly up-regulated. In addition, our study showed that An-4 had additive effects with other genes for awn development, such as An-1, An-2/LABA1 and An-3/GAD1/RAE2. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of An-4 lays a foundation for cloning of An-4 and further elucidation of the molecular mechanism of awn development. Moreover, the identification of favorable allelic variation of An-4 from 9311 will be useful to improve rice yield traits.

Comparison of the clinical efficacy of a femoral neck system versus cannulated screws in the treatment of femoral neck fracture in young adults.

BACKGROUND: To compare the clinical efficacy of a femoral neck system (FNS) and cannulated screws (CS) in the treatment of femoral neck fracture in young adults. METHODS: Data from 69 young adults, who were admitted for femoral neck fracture between March 2018 and June 2020, were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to surgical method: FNS and CS. The number of intraoperative fluoroscopies, operative duration, length of hospital stay, fracture healing time, Harris score of hip function, excellent and good rate of hip function, and postoperative complications (infection, cut out the internal fixation, nail withdrawal, and femoral neck shortening) were compared between the two groups. Hip joint function was evaluated using the Harris Hip Scoring system. RESULTS: All 69 patients had satisfactory reduction and were followed up for 12-24 months, with a mean follow-up of 16.91 ± 3.01 months. Mean time to fracture healing was13.82 ± 1.59 and 14.03 ± 1.78 weeks in the FNS and CS groups, respectively. There was a statistical difference in the number of intraoperative fluoroscopies between the 2 groups (P = 0.000). There were no significant differences, in operation duration, hospital length of stay, fracture healing time, complications, Harris Hip Score for hip function and excellent and good rate between the two groups (P > 0.05). The incidence of complications was 6.1%(2/33) in the FNS group lower than 25%(9/36) in the CS group, a difference that was statistically significant (P = 0.032). At the last follow-up, the Harris Hip Score of the hip joint in the FNS group was 90.42 ± 4.82and 88.44 ± 5.91 in the CS group. CONCLUSIONS: Both treatment methods resulted in higher rates of fracture healing and excellent hip function. Compared with CS, the FNS reduced the number of intraoperative fluoroscopies, radiation exposure to medical staff and patients, and short-term complications including femoral neck shortening and bone nonunion.

Effect of cadmium on the sorption of tylosin by polystyrene microplastics.

Microplastics are widespread in the environment and might transport readily by ocean currents, wind and atmospheric deposition. Simultaneously, antibiotics and heavy metals could often be detected in the environment. They are both positively charged, it is necessary to clarify the interactions of these pollutants with microplastics when they were coexist. In this study, the most commonly used polystyrene (PS) was selected as a representative microplastic. This study investigated the effect of Cd(II) on the sorption of TYL by PS in different coexistence systems. The results showed that: in the composite system, when TYL and Cd(II) coexist, the presence of Cd(II) could inhibit the sorption of TYL by PS, and the inhibitory effect increases with the increase of the concentration of Cd(II), indicating that competitive sorption dominates the sorption. When PS adsorbed Cd(II) first and then adsorbed TYL, the presence of Cd(II) was conducive to the sorption of TYL, and the sorption strengthened with the increase of Cd(II) concentration, indicating that the complexation between TYL and Cd(II) enhanced the sorption of TYL. In addition, initial pH values and ionic strength were essential in the sorption process. Therefore, this study could provide an important basis for evaluating the environmental behavior and ecological risk of microplastics in the process of compound pollution.

A hyperspectral projector for simultaneous 3D spatial and hyperspectral imaging via structured illumination.

Both 3D imaging and hyperspectral imaging provide important information of the scene and combining them is beneficial in helping us perceive and understand real-world structures. Previous hyperspectral 3D imaging systems typically require a hyperspectral imaging system as the detector suffers from complicated hardware design, high cost, and high acquisition and reconstruction time. Here, we report a low-cost, high-frame rate, simple-design, and compact hyperspectral stripe projector (HSP) system based on a single digital micro-mirror device, capable of producing hyperspectral patterns where each row of pixels has an independently programmable spectrum. We demonstrate two example applications using the HSP via hyperspectral structured illumination: hyperspectral 3D surface imaging and spectrum-dependent hyperspectral compressive imaging of volume density of participating medium. The hyperspectral patterns simultaneously encode the 3D spatial and spectral information of the target, requiring only a grayscale sensor as the detector. The reported HSP and its applications provide a solution for combining structured illumination techniques with hyperspectral imaging in a simple, efficient, and low-cost manner. The work presented here represents a novel structured illumination technique that provides the basis and inspiration of future variations of hardware systems and software encoding schemes.

Gene Editing to Generate Versatile Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Reporter Lines for Analysis of Differentiation and Lineage Tracing.

Transcription factors (TFs) are potent proteins that control gene expression and can thereby drive cell fate decisions. Fluorescent reporters have been broadly knocked into endogenous TF loci to investigate the biological roles of these factors; however, the sensitivity of such analyses in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) is often compromised by low TF expression levels and/or reporter silencing. Complementarily, we report an inducible and quantitative reporter platform based on the Cre-LoxP recombination system that enables robust, quantifiable, and continuous monitoring of live hPSCs and their progeny to investigate the roles of TFs during human development and disease. Stem Cells 2019;37:1556-1566.

Application of a Preformed Pd-BIDIME Precatalyst to Suzuki-Miyaura Cross-Coupling Reaction in Flow.

The application of a Buchwald's third generation palladacycle containing a dihydrobenzooxaphosphole-based ligand (e.g., BIDIME) was reported in the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. Using flow technology, high yield and reproducible Suzuki cross-coupling reaction for one of our key intermediates was achieved with Pd loadings as low as 0.5 mol %. This continuous flow approach overcomes catalyst deactivation and scale dependence issues that can be a problem in some traditional batch-mode operations and responds to the challenge of improving process greenness.

Mn(OAc)3-Mediated Hydrotrifluoromethylation of Unactivated Alkenes Using CF3SO2Na as the Trifluoromethyl Source.

A simple and efficient method for hydrotrifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes was reported. The reaction relied on the single electron oxidation of a commercially available sodium trifluoromethanesulfinate (CF3SO2Na, Langlois' reagent) using Mn(OAc)3·2H2O as the oxidant and the subsequent addition of trifluoromethyl radical to C═C double bonds. The reaction proceeded readily under mild conditions with good tolerance of a variety of functional groups in the substrates. The preliminary reaction mechanism was studied with deuteration, radical clock, and TEMPO inhibition experiments.

Development of a Scalable, Chromatography-Free Synthesis of t-Bu-SMS-Phos and Application to the Synthesis of an Important Chiral CF3-Alcohol Derivative with High Enantioselectivity Using Rh-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation.

A chromatography-free, asymmetric synthesis of the C2-symmetric P-chiral diphosphine t-Bu-SMS-Phos was developed using a chiral auxiliary-based approach in five steps from the chiral auxiliary in 36% overall yield. Separtion and recovery of the auxiliary were achieved with good yield (97%) to enable recycling of the chiral auxiliary. An air-stable crystalline form of the final ligand was identified to enable isolation of the final ligand by crystallization to avoid chromatography. This synthetic route was applied to prepare up to 4 kg of the final ligand. The utility of this material was demonstrated in the asymmetric hydrogenation of trifluoromethyl vinyl acetate at 0.1 mol % Rh loading to access a surrogate for the pharmaceutically relavent chiral trifluoroisopropanol fragment in excellent yield and enantiomeric excess (98.6%).

Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations.

Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS) based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

Efficient asymmetric synthesis of structurally diverse P-stereogenic phosphinamides for catalyst design.

The use of chiral phosphinamides is relatively unexplored because of the lack of a general method for the synthesis. Reported herein is the development of a general, efficient, and highly enantioselective method for the synthesis of structurally diverse P-stereogenic phosphinamides. The method relies on nucleophilic substitution of a chiral phosphinate derived from the versatile chiral phosphinyl transfer agent 1,3,2-benzoxazaphosphinine-2-oxide. These chiral phosphinamides were utilized for the first synthesis of readily tunable P-stereogenic Lewis base organocatalysts, which were used successfully for highly enantioselective catalysis.