Biobased Compostable Plastics End-of-Life: Environmental Assessment Including Carbon Footprint and Microplastic Impacts.

In this paper, we examine how traditional life-cycle assessment (LCA) for bio-based and compostable plastics overlooks issues surrounding carbon sequestration and microplastic persistence. To outline biased comparisons drawn from these omitted environmental impacts, we provide, as an example, a comparative LCA for compostable biobased vs. non-compostable fossil-based materials.

Structure-Function Relationship of Iron Oxide Nanoflowers: Optimal Sizes for Magnetic Hyperthermia Depending on Alternating Magnetic Field Conditions.

Iron oxide nanoflowers (IONFs) that display singular magnetic properties can be synthesized through a polyol route first introduced almost 2 decades ago by Caruntu et al., presenting a multi-core morphology in which several grains (around 10 nm) are attached together and sintered. These outstanding properties are of great interest for magnetic field hyperthermia, which is considered as a promising therapy against cancer.

Linear Block Copolymer Synthesis.

Block copolymers form the basis of the most ubiquitous materials such as thermoplastic elastomers, bridge interphases in polymer blends, and are fundamental for the development of high-performance materials. The driving force to further advance these materials is the accessibility of block copolymers, which have a wide variety in composition, functional group content, and precision of their structure. To advance and broaden the application of block copolymers will depend on the nature of combined segmented blocks, guided through the combination of polymerization techniques to reach a high versatility in block copolymer architecture and function.

Tandem Living Insertion and Controlled Radical Polymerization for Polyolefin-Polyvinyl Block Copolymers.

Practical synthesis of polyolefin-polyvinyl block copolymers remains a challenge for transition-metal catalyzed polymerizations. Common approaches functionalize polyolefins for post-radical polymerization via insertion methods, yet sacrifice the livingness of the olefin polymerization. This work identifies an orthogonal radical/spin coupling technique which affords tandem living insertion and controlled radical polymerization.

Dual Polymerization Pathway for Polyolefin-Polar Block Copolymer Synthesis via MILRad: Mechanism and Scope.

This work explores the mechanism whereby a cationic diimine Pd(II) complex combines coordination insertion and radical polymerization to form polyolefin-polar block copolymers. The initial requirement involves the insertion of a single acrylate monomer into the Pd(II)-polyolefin intermediates, which generate a stable polymeric chelate through a chain-walking mechanism. This thermodynamically stable chelate was also found to be photochemically inactive, and a unique mechanism was discovered which allows for radical polymerization.

Creating a Program to Support Registering and Reporting Clinical Trials at Johns Hopkins University.

Problem: The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) require that many clinical trials register and report results on ClinicalTrials.gov. Noncompliance with these policies denies research participants and scientists access to potentially relevant findings and could lead to monetary penalties or loss of funding.

Addressing the quality of submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov for registration and results posting: The use of a checklist.

Background: US Federal regulations since the late 1990s have required registration of some clinical trials and submission of results for some of these trials on a public registry, ClinicalTrials.gov. The quality of the submissions made to ClinicalTrials.

Time From Submission of Johns Hopkins University Trial Results to Posting on ClinicalTrials.gov.

This study evaluates the time between submission of trial results to the National Institutes of Health and public posting of the results.

Olefins and Vinyl Polar Monomers: Bridging the Gap for Next Generation Materials.

The inherent differences in reactivity between activated and non-activated alkenes prevents copolymerization using established polymer synthesis techniques. Research over the past 20 years has greatly advanced the copolymerization of polar vinyl monomers and olefins. This Review highlights the challenges associated with conventional polymerization systems and evaluates the most relevant methods which have been developed to "bridge the gap" between polar vinyl monomers and olefins.

Clinical trial registration and reporting: a survey of academic organizations in the United States.

Background: Many clinical trials conducted by academic organizations are not published, or are not published completely. Following the US Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, "The Final Rule" (compliance date April 18, 2017) and a National Institutes of Health policy clarified and expanded trial registration and results reporting requirements. We sought to identify policies, procedures, and resources to support trial registration and reporting at academic organizations.

Effects of 2% Dehydration on Lactate Concentration During Constant-Load Cycling.

Green, JM, Miller, B, Simpson, J, Dubroc, D, Keyes, A, Neal, K, Gann, J, and Andre, T. Effects of 2% dehydration on lactate concentration during constant-load cycling. J Strength Cond Res 32(7): 2066-2071, 2018-The lactate [La] threshold (LT) can predict endurance performance potential.

Tuning Sizes, Morphologies, and Magnetic Properties of Monocore Versus Multicore Iron Oxide Nanoparticles through the Controlled Addition of Water in the Polyol Synthesis.

The polyol route is a versatile and up-scalable method to produce large batches of iron oxide nanoparticles with well-defined structures and magnetic properties. Importance of parameters such as temperature and reaction time, heating profile, nature of the polyol solvent or organometallic precursors on nanostructure and properties has already been described in the literature. Yet, the crucial role of water in the forced hydrolysis pathway has never been reported, despite its mandatory presence for nanoparticle production.

Recent progress on the development of anisotropic gold nanoparticles: Design strategies and growth mechanism.

This review summarizes recent advances on design strategies for shape-controlled anisotropic gold nanoparticles. Detailed chemical mechanism has been discussed to understand the anisotropic growth. The effect of various chemical parameters and surface facets for the formation of different shaped anisotropic nanoparticles have been addressed.