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We demonstrate the first electrically injected AlGaN-based ultraviolet-B resonant-cavity light-emitting diode (RCLED). The devices feature dielectric SiO 2 /HfO 2 distributed Bragg reflectors enabled by tunnel junctions (TJs) for lateral current spreading. A highly doped n ++ -AlGaN/n ++ -GaN/p ++ -AlGaN TJ and a top n-AlGaN current spreading layer are used as transparent contacts, resulting in a good current spreading up to an active region mesa diameter of 120 μm. To access the N-face side of the device, the substrate is removed by electrochemically etching a sacrificial n-AlGaN layer, leading to a smooth underetched surface without evident parasitic etching in the n- and n ++ -doped layers of the device. The RCLEDs show a narrow emission spectrum with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 4.3 nm compared to 9.4 nm for an ordinary LED and a more directional emission pattern with an angular FWHM of 52° for the resonance at 310 nm in comparison to ∼126° for an LED. Additionally, the RCLEDs show a much more stable emission spectrum with temperature with a red-shift of the electroluminescence peak of about ∼18 pm/K and a negligible change of the FWHM compared to LEDs, which shift ∼30 pm/K and show spectrum broadening with temperature. The demonstration of those devices, where a highly reflective mirror is spatially separated from an ohmic metal contact, opens up a new design space to potentially increase the poor light extraction efficiency in UV LEDs and is an important step toward electrically injected UV vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

The development of miniaturized high-throughput in situ screening platforms capable of handling the entire process of drug synthesis to final screening is essential for advancing drug discovery in the future. In this study, an approach based on combinatorial solid-phase synthesis, enabling the efficient synthesis of libraries of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) in an array format is presented. This on-chip platform allows direct biological screening without the need for transfer steps.  UV-induced release of target molecules into individual droplets facilitates further on-chip experimentation. Utilizing a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (MEK1/2) degrader as a template, a series of 132 novel PROTAC-like molecules is synthesized using solid-phase Ugi reaction. These compounds are further characterized using various methods, including matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging, while consuming only a few milligrams of starting materials in total. Furthermore, the feasibility of culturing cancer cells on the modified spots and quantifying the effect of MEK suppression is demonstrated. The miniaturized synthesis platform lays a foundation for high-throughput in situ biological screening of potent PROTACs for potential anticancer activity and offers the potential for accelerating the drug discovery process by integrating miniaturized synthesis and biological steps on the same array., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The rising costs of pharmaceutical research are currently limiting the productivity of drug discovery and development, but can potentially be diminished via miniaturization of the synthesis and screening of new compounds. As droplet microarrays already present themselves as a versatile tool for highly miniaturized biological screening of various targets, their use for chemical synthesis is still limited. In this study, the influential palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura reaction is successfully implemented at the nanoliter scale on droplet microarrays for the synthesis of an 800-compound library of biphenyls. Each reaction is carried out in individual 150 nL droplets. Remarkably, the synthesis of these 800 compounds requires a minimal amount of reagents, totaling 80 µmol, and a solvent volume of 400 µL. Furthermore, the cleavage kinetics and purity of the obtained biphenylic compounds are investigated. Via the solid-phase synthesis approach, the compounds could be purified from excess reactants and catalyst prior to the analysis and a UV-cleavable linker allows for fast and additive-free cleavage of each compound into the individual 100 nL droplet. This novel approach expands the toolbox of the droplet microarray for miniaturized high-throughput chemical synthesis and paves the way for future synthesis and screening of chemical compounds in a single platform., (© 2023 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Setting high and specific goals is one of the best-established management tools to increase performance and motivation. However, in recent years, potential downsides of goal-setting are being discussed. One possible downside is the high risk of failing the goal. In an approach to integrate research on the consequences of goal-failure and the basic assumptions of goal-setting theory, we investigated whether failure of a high and specific goal has detrimental effects on a person's affect, self-esteem, and motivation. In Experiment 1, 185 participants received fictitious feedback about attaining or failing an assigned high and specific goal. In Experiment 2 with 86 participants, we manipulated goal-failure through task-difficulty and we included task choice as a behavioral measure of motivation. In both experiments, participants who failed the high and specific goal showed a decrease in affect, self-esteem, and motivation compared to participants who attained that goal. Results indicate that failing a high and specific goal can be damaging for self-related factors that may be crucial for organizational long-term outcomes. We advise organizations to consider potential undesirable effects when using goal-setting interventions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Höpfner and Keith.)

Online chemically sensitive detectors for size exclusion chromatography (SEC) through coupled setups based on infrared (IR) (or NMR) spectrometers present new possibilities through unprecedented levels of polymer detail with respect to molecular weight and chemical composition. Herein, a new external cavity quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) mid-IR spectrometer as a chemically sensitive online detector for SEC is custom-designed, built, and tested. This unique spectrometer features multiple broadly tunable EC-QCL sources, which can be operated in continuous wave and pulsed mode, accompanied with balanced liquid nitrogen cooled mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) detectors and a new custom-built transmission flow cell. Automated data analysis is done with a self-written MATLAB code. The limit of detection (LOD) is measured online, coupled with SEC chromatography, where on average, one carbonyl functionality in 530 000 g mol -1 at chromatographic conditions for SEC could be detected. It is possible to detect 0.46 µg (LOD) PMMA, which is approximately a factor of 30 lower than that reported for SEC-Fourier transform infrared., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A state-of-the-art, medium-resolution 1 H-NMR spectrometer (62 MHz) is used as a chemically sensitive online detector for size-exclusion chromatography of polymers such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS). The method uses protonated eluents and works at typical chromatographic conditions with trace amounts of analytes (<0.5 g L -1 after separation). Strong solvent suppression, e.g., by a factor of 500, is achieved by means of T 1 -filtering and mathematical subtraction methods. Substantial improvements are made with respect to previous work in terms of the sensitivity (signal-to-noise ratio up to 130:1, PMMA OCH 3 ) and selectivity (peak width, full width half maximum (FWHM) 4 Hz on-flow). Typical homopolymers and a blend are investigated to deformulate their composition along the dimensions of molecular weight and NMR chemical shift. These results validate this new hyphenated chromatography method, which can greatly facilitate analysis and is much more effective than previously published results., (© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Desalination of a sodium chloride solution is achieved by the incorporation of salt depleted water into an acrylic acid based hydrogel and the subsequent deswelling of the gel by mechanical force to gain water with a lower salt content. This is a new approach towards the problem of desalination of seawater that has, to the best of our knowledge, not been presented before. In a proof-of-principle experiment the salt content of a 10 g/L NaCl solution could be reduced by 35% in one cycle. The influence of main chemical parameters, e.g. degree of crosslinking, degree of neutralization and experimental parameters like particle size and salt concentration on the desalination process are examined. Possible optimum conditions for the desalination using a poly(acrylic acid) network are discussed and the construction of a simple apparatus for deswelling by mechanical force is described., (Copyright © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of the gravitation-assisted adjustable proGAV shunt system with a prospective multicenter study conducted in 10 German hospitals., Methods: Enrollment for this observational study began in April 2005 and concluded in February 2006. The protocol required re-examinations 3 and 6 months postoperatively and fixed the endpoint of follow-up at 12 months after implantation. Patients with different types of adult, juvenile, and pediatric hydrocephalus were included and 165 patients were enrolled; 9 died and 12 had incomplete follow-up., Results: Of the assessable 144 patients, 130 completed the protocol after 12 months, whereas 14 failed because of the need to explant the device, mainly because of infection. In 12 patients, components of the shunt, not the valve, were revised. In 65 of the 144 patients, there were 102 readjustments of the valve in 67 incidences because of underdrainage and in 35 because of overdrainage. In 1 case, readjustment was not possible. Determination of pressure level with the verification instrument was safe and corresponded to the required x-ray controls after adjustments. No unintended readjustments were noted., Conclusion: The proGAV is a safe and reliable device.

In patients with hyperthyroidism the serum activities of the leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and the alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) as well as the alanine aminopeptidase excretion in the urine were determined. A significantly increased activity of the leucine aminopeptidase in the serum and an increased excretion of alanine aminopeptidase in the urine were found. The AAP in the serum did not show a significant increase of activity. On account of the changes in the serum and in the urine before and during therapy a low-grade participation of the hepatobiliary and renal systems which are clinically not uppermost is to be assumed. Increased excretion of AAP and hyperthyroidism coincide nearly without exception in out patients. Correlation-statistical investigations make it probable to regard the increased excretion of AAP in the urine as an indirect parameter of the peripheral metabolism in hyperthyroidism.

In 10 female test persons Volhard's water and concentration experiment was carried out. It exists a highly significant correlation between the alanine aminopeptidase activity and the creatinine concentration in the urine. The relation of the two factors to the urine minute volume is hyperbolic. The creatinine in the urine may be regarded as a favourable reference parameter for the excretion of alanine aminopeptidase.

An eleven-year-old boy with congenital paresis of the left superior rectus eye muscle developed symptoms of acute left orbital expansion: pain, ptosis, redness, extraocular muscle dysfunction. Computer assisted tomography of the orbit showed typical signs of inflammatory orbital pseudotumor and immunological screening cryoglobulinemia. Short-term treatment with prednisone (2 mg/kg bodyweight/day) rapidly improved symptoms. However several relapses occurred following discontinuation of therapy. Therefore a long-term treatment with corticosteroids was instituted. The simultaneous development of inflammatory orbital pseudotumor and cryoglobulinemia support the hypothesis that orbital pseudotumor is an autoimmune disease. The meaning of the congenital superior rectus muscle paresis in this case for the development of the inflammatory process remains uncertain.