Selective skeletal editing of polycyclic arenes using organophotoredox dearomative functionalization

Reactions that lead to destruction of aromatic ring systems often require harsh conditions and, thus, take place with poor selectivities. Selective partial dearomatization of fused arenes is even more challenging but it can be a strategic approach to creating versatile, complex polycyclic frameworks. Herein we describe a general organophotoredox approach for the chemo- and regioselective dearomatization of structurally diverse polycyclic aromatics, including quinolines, isoquinolines, quinoxalines, naphthalenes, anthracenes and phenanthrenes. The success of the new method for chemoselective oxidative rupture of aromatic moieties relies on precise manipulation of the electronic nature of the fused polycyclic arenes. Experimental and computational results show that the key to overcoming the intrinsic thermodynamic and kinetic unfavorability of the dearomatization process is an ultimate hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) step, which enables dearomatization to predominate over the otherwise favorable aromatization pathway. We show that this strategy can be applied to rapid synthesis of biologically valued targets and late-stage skeletal remodeling en route to complex structures.

Developing a Quality Management Systems Framework for Business Management Institutes

There has been an increasing awareness about implementation of quality management systems (QMS) in higher educational institutions worldwide in the recent past. Improved awareness levels among aspiring students, competitive environment, students' preference to seek admission in quality-oriented institutions, compelling norms of regulatory authorities, and the urge of institutions to be among the top are the major reasons for this increased awareness. Existence and continuance of some of the institutes, especially the management institutes, has become a challenging task without focusing on QMS through a strategic approach. Implementation of QMS provides a direction for accreditations by top-rated agencies. This chapter develops a framework to enable the implementation of QMS by the management institutes by conducting a systematic analysis of accreditation standards of various agencies worldwide. The outcomes of this research would enable the management and other stakeholders of business management institutes to focus on key aspects towards implementing the QMS.

Implementing Continuing Professional Education Micro-Credentials in a University Context

Responding to unrelenting change and disruption of global macro factors, universities are rethinking the roles they play in the education landscape. The longevity of life, the complexity of the workplace, and the increasing need for workforce upskilling provide opportunities for universities to engage with lifelong learning and develop a strategic approach towards participating in the 60-year curriculum. This chapter describes the efforts of one Australian university as it commences to diversify from a dominant focus of preparing professionals to enter the professions to building a stronger program portfolio that supports ongoing professional learning. The global technological innovation of digital micro-credentials enables the university's strategic response to fulfil the need for continuing professional education. Using the university as a case study, the chapter discusses key issues and challenges in the early establishment and implementation of the strategic vision for engaging in digital micro-credentialing within the continuing professional education.

The Future

This book addresses understanding of and solutions to teleworking, trustworthiness, and performance issues. Overall, it suggests using a strategic approach that encourages participation and that is required to achieve, understand, and build buy-in for teleworking. The organizationally sanctioned program must exist. The use of LMX is beneficial in exploring the factors that contribute to motivating the target audience: employees. A culture of self-motivation is necessary to empower employees, but there must also be a culture of enforcement when needed. Finally, buy-in at all levels of the organizations is crucial to the success of a telework program. The parts of the strategic approach mentioned here will be enhanced with the resources provided in this book: how to develop leaders, motivating employees, increasing productivity, using EI, managing radical change, and learning from the research provided. Viewed through the lens of a management context, these components make the recommended strategic approach possible and can deliver an effective framework for results.

Strategic Communication for Sustainable Environmental Development in the Northern Nigerian Arid Zone

Nigeria is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to extreme weather conditions and natural disasters linked to climate change, the impacts of which are exacerbated by rapid population growth, a fragile economy, high dependence on rain-fed agribusiness, and the country's weak adaptive capacity. The lack of or poor application of environmental communication in a strategic approach is critical to all of these. Using a thematic conceptual review of existing literature, this chapter shows that strategic environmental communication can be applied more easily to mitigate the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation through the use of well-established communication strategies and instruments to save the environment for socio-economic development.

Product Returns: An Opportunity to Shift towards an Access-Based Economy?

With the rise in online purchases, returns polices have become more lenient to maximise sales, leading to increased product returns. This results in considerable costs to businesses due to complex returns systems, and environmental costs due to unnecessary transportation and waste. Unsustainable consumption poses a threat to our environment, and access-based business models whereby products are borrowed/rented rather than purchased have been proposed as a way to align customer needs, business success, and sustainability. Product returns often constitute a form of informal or illegitimate borrowing, as goods are bought with the intention of being returned. In this discussion paper we propose that, instead of being viewed as a threat to business, issues with high product returns could be seen as an opportunity to switch to an access-based model. As product returns escalate, businesses will need to invest substantially in their reverse supply chains. We propose that a more strategic approach might be to leapfrog the costly stage of developing more efficient returns systems, and move straight to formalising product returns as the new normal for those goods that would best suit an access-based model, so that processes are streamlined around borrowing and returning rather than around sales.

Towards A Strategic Approach Of Covid-19 Cluster Web Mapping In Malaysia

The world was shocked by an unprecedented outbreak caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In Malaysia, it started with the largest number of COVID-19 cases with the first wave of infection on 25 January 2020. The objectives of this paper are to obtain the perspective of the respondents about the need for web-mapping in the form of mapping the geospatial data in Malaysia and to visualize the current online datasets of COVID-19 disease case clusters. The study area would cover the entire Malaysia since a rapidly increasing number of citizens were affected by this virus. To be specific, this study focused on the active clusters of COVID-19 in Malaysia. The data were freely shared in real-time by referring to the Ministry of Health (MOH) channel. The hotspots map were explored using the Map Editor by Cloud GIS. The approach has been illustrated using a dataset of whole Malaysia which are locally transmitted confirmed cases in four phases of COVID-19 wave in Malaysia. This study is significant to raise public awareness of the virus, especially among Malaysian citizens. It can provide an accurate estimation of the cluster tracking of the COVID-19 system by using geospatial technology. Therefore, people are more concerned and followed all the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) provided by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A Customized Screening Tool Approach for the Development of a Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System (SNEDDS)

The present study focused on establishing a novel, (pre-)screening approach that enables the development of promising performing self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDSs) with a limited number of experiments. The strategic approach was based on first identifying appropriate excipients (oils/lipids, surfactants, and co-solvents) providing a high saturation solubility for lipophilic model compounds with poor aqueous solubility. Excipients meeting these requirements were selected for SNEDDS development, and a special triangular mixture design was applied for determining excipient ratios for the SNEDDS formulations. Celecoxib and fenofibrate were used as model drugs. Formulations were studied applying a specific combination of in vitro characterization methods. Specifications for a promising SNEDDS formulation were self-imposed: a very small droplet size (< 50 nm), a narrow size distribution of these droplets (PDI < 0.15) and a high transmittance following SNEDDS dispersion in water (> 99% in comparison with purified water). Excipients that provided a nanoemulsion after dispersion were combined, and ratios were optimized using a customized mapping method in a triangular mixture design. The best performing formulations were finally studied for their in vitro release performance. Results of the study demonstrate the efficiency of the customized screening tool approach. Since it enables successful SNEDDS development in a short time with manageable resources, this novel screening tool approach could play an important role in future SNEDDS development.