The Use Of Amido- And Imido-Functionalized Alpha Hydroxy Acids In The Creation Of Biodegradable Polyesters: An Exploration Of Va

The purpose of this thesis was to synthesize biodegradable polyesters from a wide array of functionalized ¿-hydroxy acids. The initial strategy was to use amido-functionalized ¿-hydroxy acids and 2-bromopropanoyl bromide to form amido-functionalized cyclic diesters. Then, the resulting cyclic diesters would be used in ring opening polymerization to create biodegradable polyesters. However, the spontaneous rapid degradation of the secondary amido-functionalized cyclic diester structure, as seen with 2-benzamido-hydroxyacetic acid, limited ring formation to tertiary amido-functionalized ¿-hydroxy acids. Also, the hydrophilic nature of most ¿-hydroxy acids allowed water into the crystal structure of the ¿-hydroxy acid. Then, when the ¿-hydroxy acid was used in ring forming reactions, the associated water deactivated reactive reagents and limited cyclic diester synthesis. These issues led to the synthesis of hydrophobic and tertiary amido- and imido-functionalized ¿-hydroxy acids, 2-phthalimido-2-hydroxyacetic acid and 2-(1-oxoisoindolin-2-yl) hydroxyacetic acid. The new ¿-hydroxy acids were used in two new polymerization techniques, melt polycondensation and solution polymerization, instead of ring open polymerization. Melt polycondensation and solution polymerization had shown previous success in forming oligomers of amido-functionalized ¿-hydroxy acids. Melt polycondensation was conducted by heating the monomer past its melting temperature under reduced pressure. The uncatalyzed melt polycondensation of 2-(1-oxoisoindolin-2-yl) hydroxyacetic acid created polyesters (¿ 960 g/mol). The scandium(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate enhanced melt polycondensation polymerization created slightly larger oligomers (¿ 1340 g/mol). However, 2-phthalimido-2-hydroxyacetic acid was not compatible with melt polycondensation because thermal degradation occurred. Thus, solution polymerization was conducted via Steglich esterification. Only oligomeric functionalized polyesters were formed (¿ 1060 g/mol). Future work should focus on optimization of the catalyst and the reaction conditions to obtain higher molecular weight polyesters. Also, 2-(1-oxoisoindolin-2-yl) hydroxyacetic acid should be utilized in the cyclic diester synthesis technique.

The Gandhi Story: An Official Indian Comic Book History of the Mahatma

In 1966, the Publications Division of the Government of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a 47-page hardbound comic book entitled The Gandhi Story. Written and illustrated by S.D. Sawant and S.D. Badalkar, it opens with a foreword by independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and presents a state sanctioned narrative of Gandhi’s life and role in the Indian struggle for independence. This articles examines how the creators of The Gandhi Story drew upon both textual and visual sources as reference material during its creation, and investigates the relationship between "official" and "unofficial" nationalisms of twentieth-century Indian history.

[The importance of clinical information in diagnostic imaging in the febrile patient]

From conventional radiography to cross-sectional imaging methods, modern radiology offers a wide range of diagnostic tools for investigating patients with fever. To achieve the best results and to yield a correct diagnosis, the radiologist must tailor the diagnostic protocol individually for every patient. The decision on the most suitable imaging method, and the type and timing of contrast media strongly depends on the suspected diagnosis. Based on patient history and laboratory data, some modalities may be contraindicated or the patient may need a premedication. The authors give a short overview of diagnostic strategies in evaluating the most important causes of fever and point to the need of discussion and co-operation between clinicians and radiologists.

ASSESSING INFORMATION CONFLICTS DURING THE PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

The objective of this research is to investigate the consequences of sharing or using information generated in one phase of the project to subsequent life cycle phases. Sometimes the assumptions supporting the information change, and at other times the context within which the information was created changes in a way that causes the information to become invalid. Often these inconsistencies are not discovered till the damage has occurred. This study builds on previous research that proposed a framework based on the metaphor of ‘ecosystems’ to model such inconsistencies in the 'supply chain' of life cycle information (Brokaw and Mukherjee, 2012). The outcome of such inconsistencies often results in litigation. Therefore, this paper studies a set of legal cases that resulted from inconsistencies in life cycle information, within the ecosystems framework. For each project, the errant information type, creator and user of the information and their relationship, time of creation and usage of the information in the life cycle of the project are investigated to assess the causes of failure of precise and accurate information flow as well as the impact of such failures in later stages of the project. The analysis shows that the misleading information is mostly due to lack of collaboration. Besides, in all the studied cases, lack of compliance checking, imprecise data and insufficient clarifications hinder accurate and smooth flow of information. The paper presents findings regarding the bottleneck of the information flow process during the design, construction and post construction phases. It also highlights the role of collaboration as well as information integration and management during the project life cycle and presents a baseline for improvement in information supply chain through the life cycle of the project.

Basic Information in the Granitic Rocks of the Boulder Batholith

Dark fine grained basic masses of rock are found in nearly every part of the Boulder Batholith, these commonly being referred to as inclusions, segregations, autoliths, and various other names. The origin, distribution, and composition of the dark inclusions form the basis for this report.

[Role of coronary artery bypass grafting in the treatment of coronary artery disease - a well-balanced information of the patients and objective decision making are welcome]

Most recently discussion about the optimal treatment for different subsets of patients suffering from coronary artery disease has re-emerged, mainly because of the uncertainty caused by doctors and patients regarding the phenomenon of unpredictable early and late stent thrombosis. Surgical revascularization using multiple arterial bypass grafts has repeatedly proven its superiority compared to percutaneous intervention techniques, especially in patients suffering from left main stem disease and coronary 3-vessels disease. Several prospective randomized multicenter studies comparing early and mid-term results following PCI and CABG have been really restrictive, with respect to patient enrollment, with less than 5% of all patients treated during the same time period been enrolled. Coronary artery bypass grafting allows the most complete revascularization in one session, because all target coronary vessels larger than 1 mm can be bypassed in their distal segments. Once the patient has been turn-off for surgery, surgeons have to consider the most complete arterial revascularization in order to decrease the long-term necessity for re-revascularization; for instance patency rate of the left internal thoracic artery grafted to the distal part left anterior descending artery may be as high as 90-95% after 10 to 15 years. Early mortality following isolated CABG operation has been as low as 0.6 to 1% in the most recent period (reports from the University Hospital Berne and the University Hospital of Zurich); beside these excellent results, the CABG option seems to be less expensive than PCI with time, since the necessity for additional PCI is rather high following initial PCI, and the price of stent devices is still very high, particularly in Switzerland. Patients, insurance and experts in health care should be better and more honestly informed concerning the risk and costs of PCI and CABG procedures as well as about the much higher rate of subsequent interventions following PCI. Team approach for all patients in whom both options could be offered seems mandatory to avoid unbalanced information of the patients. Looking at the recent developments in transcatheter valve treatments, the revival of cardiological-cardiosurgical conferences seems to a good option to optimize the cooperation between the two medical specialties: cardiology and cardiac surgery.

On the Role of Copyright Protection in the Information Society

In January 2012, Poland witnessed massive protests, both in the streets and on the Internet, opposing ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which triggered a wave of strong anti-ACTA movements across Europe. In Poland, these protests had further far-reaching consequences, as they not only changed the initial position of the government on the controversial treaty but also actually started a public debate on the role of copyright law in the information society. Moreover, as a result of these events the Polish Ministry for Administration and Digitisation launched a round table, gathering various stakeholders to negotiate a potential compromise with regard to copyright law that would satisfy conflicting interests of various actors. This contribution will focus on a description of this massive resentment towards ACTA and a discussion of its potential reasons. Furthermore, the mechanisms that led to the extraordinary influence of the anti-ACTA movement on the governmental decisions in Poland will be analysed through the application of models and theories stemming from the social sciences. The importance of procedural justice in the copyright legislation process, especially its influence on the image of copyright law and obedience of its norms, will also be emphasised.

Open Innovation: Legal Hurdles in the Creation of Contractual Arrangements Governing Idea Competitions?

The phenomenon of Open Innovation has been gaining prominence over the last decade. Idea competitions have been used in a variety of industrial sectors. Nevertheless, the legal issues raised by this topic have not been broadly addressed, yet. These arise from the adverse interests of the actors. The company which organizes an idea competition would usually like to have the opportunity to comprehensively use the solutions, ideas or products submitted by the competition entrants. For the company it is important to obtain all intellectual property rights in the idea, in the product created as a result and, thus, in the rights to be exploited in the future, in particular, patents, utility models, trademarks, copyrights and registered designs as well as other industrial property rights. The participant would like to participate to the greatest extent possible in the success of the submitted solution. This affects, firstly, the question of fair remuneration or further participation in any profits earned as well as, secondly, any personal rights such as being named as inventor or author. The article aims to show the contractual difficulties which have to be addressed tailoring theterms of an idea competition under German law.