Abstract A new permanently positively charged stable isotope labeling (SIL) agent pair, 4-(((2,5-dioxopyrrolidin-1-yl)oxy)carbonyl)-N,N,N-trimethylbenzenaminium iodide(DPTBA) and its deuterated counterpart d3-DPTBA, was designed and synthesized. The SIL agents were applied to the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry analysis of alkylphenols. Light labeled standards and heavy labeled samples were mixed and analyzed simultaneously. Matrix effect which mainly occurred during the ionization process was minimized because of the identical ionization processes between samples and standards. Meanwhile, derivatization made alkylphenols be positively charged, and thus the sensitivity was enhanced. The limits of detection were in the range of 1.5–1.8 ng/L, and the limits of quantitation were in the range of 4.8–6.1 ng/L. The developed method was applied to analyze alkylphenols migrated from plastics to edible oils. The recoveries for all analytes were in the range of 88.6–95.3%, while the matrix effects for all analytes were in the range of 96.2–99.6%. Read more

The onion, known as the bulb onion or common onion, is not only a key ingredient in many tasty and healthy vegetarian meals but also many traditional medicines. Nine new flavonoids [cepaflavas A, B (5, 6), cepadials A–D (7–9 and 14), and cepabiflas A–C (10–12)] and six known compounds (1–4, 13, 15) were obtained from the outer skins of Allium cepa L. Among them, compounds 5, 6, and 9 might be artificial products formed during extraction and isolation. New compounds were structurally elucidated using various spectroscopy/spectrometry techniques, including NMR and HRMS, and computational methods. T Read more

Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key ... The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals ... Read more

Most cities and towns everywhere have local business groups that meet on a regular basis. In North America the largest business group is the Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1912 and the Canadian CoC soon afterwards, in 1925. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce website, the CoC's primary mandate is to "advocate for public policies that will foster a strong, competitive economic environment that benefits businesses, communities and families".  Read more

Wild harvesting mushrooms can also be a lot of fun, and fairly lucrative, if you know where to go and when, and can find a buyer. Many gourmet restaurants are thrilled to get wild-harvested mushrooms, so it’s worth trying to make these connections. I have done this with both morel’s and hen of the woods (see pictures below). But make sure you know what you’re doing if you’re going to hunt (for more information see below). Also anyone interested in this topic should check out Read more

Technologies. People often ask, what exactly do you mean by “breakthrough”? It’s a reasonable question—some of our picks haven’t yet reached widespread use, while others may be on the cusp of becoming commercially available. What we’re really looking for is a technology, or perhaps even a collection of technologies, that will have a profound effect on our lives. For this year, a new technique in artificial intelligence called GANs is giving machines imagination; artificial embryos, despite some thorny ethical constraints, are redefining how life can be created and are opening a research window into the early moments of a human life; and a pilot plant in the heart of Texas’s petrochemical industry is attempting to create completely clean power from natural gas—probably a major energy source for the foreseeable future. These and the rest of our list will be worth keeping an eye on. Read more

Business networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers. Read more

Water resources is a crucial environmental good for the function of the human societies and the ecosystems. Moreover, water is an important input for the economy and an indispensable factor for economic growth. Especially in regions that are facing water scarcity, the adoption of water management policies and approaches fostering the sustainable use of resources while promoting economic growth becomes an emerging issue. The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable regions regarding the availability of water resources due to climate change and human activities. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus offers an integrated approach analyzing the synergies and trade-offs between the different sectors in order to maximize the efficiency of using the resources,  Read more

Strengthening the Rule of Law in Ukraine by Providing Soft Skills Training for Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys INL announces an open competition for Ukrainian NGOs interested in submitting an application for a project that strengthens legal ethics and rule of law in Ukraine by providing soft skills training for prosecutors and defense attorneys.   In 2018-2020, INL Kyiv supported the “Tomorrow’s Lawyer” program which trained three hundred defense lawyers on soft skills. INL Kyiv is launching a new program entitled, “Strengthening the Rule of Law in Ukraine by Providing Soft Skills Training for Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys.”   The current project will benefit the public by strengthening the rule of law in Ukraine and support the reform of the criminal justice sector, advocating for justice and implementing legislative and institutional reforms to prevent corruption. Read more

  https://microcredentials.digitalpromise.org/explore/asking-questions-for-deeper-learning-from-text     Emphasize Higher-Order Thinking:Research shows that only a small percentage of the questions asked by teachers require higher-order thinking. This means that much of the thinking that students do is limited to lower-order thinking, such as recall, and students are not given opportunities to deepen their learning and engagement through analysis, application, or strategic thinking. It is appropriate to ask lower-order questions when first introducing a new topic to students or when it is necessary to establish meaning in the text prior to analysis, but the goal is to predominantly ask students questions that require them to analyze, evaluate, compare and contrast, and create new knowledge. These higher-order questions are essential to deepening knowledge and helping move students from superficial learning to depth and transfer. Require Textual Evidence:Questions should require students to construct knowledge from their reading rather than relying purely on their own experiences, prior knowledge, or external resources such as the Internet. If students can answer the question without actually reading the text, then the question is not textually dependent. Follow a Logical Sequence:There are many different ways to sequence questions. Some teachers prefer to start with an essential question and work their way from larger concepts to the specific mechanics of a text. Others prefer to first establish meaning through close reading and then expand analysis to broader ideas presented in the text. The important thing is for the questions to follow a logical sequence so that ideas build on each other rather than seeming random. Align to an Objective:Expert readers read with a purpose in mind. Because it is impossible to commit every word of every text that they read to memory, they see reading as a selective process, where some aspects of the text are carefully scrutinized and others de-emphasized. Likewise, we want students to focus their attention when they read and for the questions that they answer to support that focus. Read more

  • A pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan, China was first reported to the WHO Country Office in China on 31 December 2019.    

  • A pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan, China was first reported to the WHO Country Office in China on 31 December 2019.