A concise self-report scale can identify high expressed emotions and predict higher relapse risk in schizophrenia.

PURPOSE: Although high expressed emotions (EE) is one of the most significant predictors for schizophrenic relapse, the assessment of EE is often impeded by the demanding Camberwell Family Interview (CFI) that is required to be conducted by specifically trained staff. To enable a more efficient assessment of EE, we developed the 12-item Concise Chinese Level of Expressed Emotion Scale (CCLEES) and reported its predictive and concurrent validity in this study. METHODS: A one-year prospective study design was adopted. Totally 101 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia were recruited from the department of psychiatry of a major acute hospital in Hong Kong. CCLEES was administered and subsequent relapse information was collected from all participants. At baseline, 10 family members of the participants were also administered CFI. RESULTS: Participants who scored above the optimal cut-off point (Score 13 on Criticism, and/or 13 on Hostility, and/or 15 on Emotional Over-involvement) showed a 6.3 times elevated 12-month schizophrenic relapse rate compared to those who scored below cut-off. The CCLEES also demonstrated excellent correspondence with CFI, the widely-recognized golden benchmark of EE assessment. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the CCLEES as a brief and psychometrically sound self-report measurement for EE in Chinese people with schizophrenia.

High-throughput determination of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) by a microplate-based biosensor.

The use of the conventional 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) method in BOD determination is greatly hampered by its time-consuming sampling procedure and its technical difficulty in the handling of a large pool of wastewater samples. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop a fast and high-throughput biosensor for BOD measurements. This paper describes the construction of a microplate-based biosensor consisting of an organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) oxygen sensing film for high-throughput determination of BOD in wastewater. The ORMOSIL oxygen sensing film was prepared by reacting tetramethoxysilane with dimethyldimethoxysilane in the presence of the oxygen-sensitive dye tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium-(II) chloride. The silica composite formed a homogeneous, crack-free oxygen sensing film on polystyrene microtiter plates with high stability, and the embedded ruthenium dye interacted with the dissolved oxygen in wastewater according to the Stern-Volmer relation. The bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was loaded into the ORMOSIL/ PVA composite (deposited on the top of the oxygen sensing film) and used to metabolize the organic compounds in wastewater. This BOD biosensor was found to be able to determine the BOD values of wastewater samples within 20 min by monitoring the dissolved oxygen concentrations. Moreover, the BOD values determined by the BOD biosensor were in good agreement with those obtained by the conventional BOD5 method.

Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric aqueous Pauson-Khand-type reaction.

An interesting rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric aqueous Pauson-Khand-type reaction was developed. A chiral atropisomeric dipyridyldiphosphane ligand was found to be highly effective in this system. This operationally simple protocol allows both catalyst and reactants to be handled under air without precautions. Various enynes were transformed to the corresponding bicyclic cyclopentenones in good yield and enantiomeric excess (up to 95 % ee). A study of the electronic effects of the enyne substrates revealed a correlation between the electronic properties of the substrates and the ee value obtained in the product of the Pauson-Khand-type reaction. A linear free-energy relationship was observed from a Hammett study.

An active ferrocenyl triarylphosphine for palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl halides.

Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction of aryl chlorides was accomplished through the use of an active ferrocene-based triarylphosphine ligand. This air- and moisture-stable ligand was found to be effective for the cross-coupling of aryl halides at room temperature to 115 degrees C.

A simple and highly efficient P,O-type ligand for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl halides.

A simple and efficient hemilabile-type phosphine ligand, found to be highly effective in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl chlorides with generally low Pd-catalyst loading (0.05%), was prepared in one step based on an economically attractive approach from commercially available benzamide starting material.

Ru-catalyzed highly enantioselective hydrogenation of beta-alkyl-substituted beta-(acylamino)acrylates.

Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of beta-alkyl-substituted (E)-beta-(acylamino)-acrylates catalyzed by Ru((R)-Xyl-P-Phos)(C(6)H(6))Cl(2) complex (cat. 1c) was achieved in up to 99.7% ee. Moderate to good enantioselectivities in the hydrogenation of corresponding (Z)-isomers in the presence of [Rh((R)-Xyl-P-Phos)(COD)]BF(4) (cat. 2c) were also obtained. The results demonstrated that the electronic and steric properties of the dipyridylphosphine ligands as well as the different transition metal ions have significant influences on the catalytic properties in the hydrogenation of beta-(acylamino)acrylates.

(R)-(6,6'-Dihydroxybiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine oxide) methanol solvate.

The title compound, C(36)H(28)O(4)P(2).CH(4)O, was synthesized directly from the methoxy analogue. The crystal structure shows that one OH group interacts with an O atom of a phosphine oxide group in an adjacent molecule, while the other OH group complexes with the methanol solvent molecule via intermolecular hydrogen bonds. An O atom of one phosphine oxide group interacts with the hydroxy H atom of methanol via a hydrogen bond. There are intra- and intermolecular pi-pi interactions between the phenyl rings. All these interactions result in the formation of supramolecular chiral parallelogram channels via self-assembly.