The impact of junk food marketing regulations on food sales: an ecological study.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of junk food broadcast marketing policies on nationwide junk food sales and identify policy characteristics effective in reducing sales.

Methods: Country policy data (n = 79) were categorized in a thorough literature review and analysed using a repeated measures design against data on food sales per capita. Study conducted in United States, 2017.

Synthesis of highly monodisperse porous manganese oxide spheres using a butyric acid microemulsion.

Porous manganese oxide spheres form readily from a reaction between KMnO4 and n-butanol in aqueous butyric acid under ambient conditions. Spheres have uniform size, tuneable diameters and high surface areas. The material is an active catalyst for the oxidation of isopropanol to acetone.

Novel heterocyclic analogues of firefly luciferin.

Five novel firefly luciferin analogues in which the benzothiazole ring system of the natural substrate was replaced with benzimidazole, benzofuran, benzothiophene, benzoxazole, and indole were synthesized. The fluorescence, bioluminescence, and kinetic properties of the compounds were evaluated with recombinant Photinus pyralis wild type luciferase. With the exception of indole, all of the substrates containing heterocycle substitutions produced readily measurable flashes of light with luciferase.