Developing representations of a 'new' illness using the Common Sense Model: evolving COVID-19 illness representations and their associations with protective behaviours in the Scottish population.

Objective: There is a lack of research on how illness representations as represented in the Common Sense Self-Regulation Model (CS-SRM) emerge and develop. We aimed to describe the evolution of COVID-19 illness representations over time, and to explore associations with sociodemographic characteristics and protective behaviours.

Methods And Measures: This study (June 2020 release from lockdown to February 2021 after vaccine roll-out) used 17 independently recruited cross-sectional cohorts.

Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clinical Core: Infrastructure to facilitate research on post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

We describe the rationale, methodology, and design of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (BU ADRC) Clinical Core (CC). The CC characterizes a longitudinal cohort of participants with/without brain trauma to characterize the clinical presentation, biomarker profiles, and risk factors of post-traumatic Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD), including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Participants complete assessments of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repetitive head impacts (RHIs); annual Uniform Data Set (UDS) and supplementary evaluations; digital phenotyping; annual blood draw; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and lumbar puncture every 3 years; electroencephalogram (EEG); and amyloid and/or tau positron emission tomography (PET) on a subset.

Iridium-Catalyzed Reductive Deoxygenation of Esters for the Synthesis of Sterically Hindered Ethers.

The synthesis of sterically hindered α-tertiary and β-quaternary (neopentylic) ethers has long been constrained by the limitations of traditional S2 and related S1 approaches, namely low or inexistent reactivity arising from severe steric hindrance or competitive elimination/rearrangement pathways diverting the reaction outcome. Herein, we describe a general solution to the synthesis of sterically hindered ethers via an iridium-catalyzed reductive deoxygenation reaction of readily available ester and lactone starting materials. Employing commercially available, bench-stable IrCl(CO)(P[OCH(CF)]) as a precatalyst at 1 mol% loading with 4 equivalents of tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS) as the terminal reductant at room temperature, this practical synthetic approach to hindered ethers features a simple, mix-and-stir, single-vessel protocol under ambient conditions and produces a diverse range of both acyclic and cyclic ether products in good to excellent yields.

Hybrid Chitosan/PCL Shape Memory Scaffolds with Potential for Bone Regeneration and Infection Resistance.

We have previously developed a regenerative engineering approach to repair irregularly shaped craniomaxillofacial bone defects utilizing "self-fitting" shape memory polymer (SMP) scaffolds based on cross-linked poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). However, a slow rate of degradation may hinder neotissue infiltration, and a lack of innate antimicrobial activity creates vulnerability to postoperative infection stemming from biofilm formation. Introduction of chitosan (CS), a hydrophilic natural polymer with known antimicrobial behavior, to PCL SMP scaffolds could provide a synergistic combination of desirable properties.

Prediction of the p's of Hydrated Metal Carbonates and Bicarbonates for the Sr, Ba, Ra, Cd, and Hg Dications.

The aqueous p's of metal complexes containing the dications of Sr, Ba, Ra, Cd, and Hg and the counterions CO, HCO, OH, and HO were predicted using density functional theory and coupled cluster CCSD(T) theory in the gas phase, as well as the self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) method, conductor-like screening model (COSMO) calculations in the solvation phase. After confirming prior work on Sr aqua ions, the energy-averaged coordination numbers for Ba and Ra aqua ions were predicted to be 8.8 and 9.