Recent Trends in Biomimetic NADH Regeneration

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate constitute a major cost factor in preparative biotransformations. The development of efficient methods for their regeneration with cheap reducing equivalents has been an area of intense research in the last decades. Methods explored include chemical, electrochemical, and photochemical approaches. None of the methods to regenerate NADH has reached an efficiency comparable with enzymatic regeneration (e.g. formate dehydrogenase) which remains the method of choice for most applications. In this review, we summarize primarily organometallic-based approaches for NADH regeneration methods which include non-enzymatic steps, before moving on to the most recent developments in synthetic NADH related transformations. We highlight the frequent problem of mutual inactivation between the organometallic catalyst for NADH regeneration and the corresponding NADH dependent downstream enzyme. Potential remedies are discussed, such as the compartmentalization of the organometallic complex.     

Depressive symptom severity,contributing factors,and self‐management among chronic dialysis patients

Despite the high prevalence of depressive symptoms in patients receiving chronic dialysis, there has been inadequate attention to patient‐related barriers to management of depressive symptoms, such as factors identified by these patients as contributing to their symptoms, and how they responded to the symptoms. Participants (N = 210) in an ongoing longitudinal observational study of multidimensional quality of life in patients receiving chronic dialysis completed a battery of measures monthly for 12 months. For each patient at each measurement point, an event report was generated if he or she scored outside of the normal range on the depressive symptom scale (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale‐Short Form [CESD‐SF] ≥10) or expressed suicidal ideation. Of the 210 participants, 100 (47.6%) had a CESD‐SF score ≥10 at least once resulting in 290 event reports. Of these 100 participants, 15 (15%) had also reported suicidal ideation in addition to having depressive symptoms. The most frequently stated contributing factors included “managing comorbid conditions and complications” (56 event reports, 19.3%), “being on dialysis” (50, 17.2%), “family or other personal issues” (37, 12.8%), and “financial difficulties” (31, 10.7%). On 11 event reports (3.8%) participants had been unaware of their depressive symptoms. On 119 event reports (41%) participants reported that they discussed these symptoms with their dialysis care providers or primary care providers, while on 171 event reports (59%) symptoms were not discussed with their health‐care providers. The prevalence of depressive symptoms is high and many patients lack knowledge about effective self‐management strategies.     

Discrimination and selection in the Belgian private rental market

In this paper, the results are presented of a study on discrimination and selection in the private rental market in Belgium. In contrast to other studies on the subject, we focus on different grounds of discrimination (ethnicity, disability, and gender) and selection (financial means). Two approaches in the field of behavioral experimental testing were used to measure the degree of discrimination/selection: a telephone and an email approach. In both approaches, a different experimental design was applied, with fictitious applicants for each discrimination ground and the control group. The fictional rental home seekers asked the landlord—by phone or e-mail—if the vacant dwelling was still available and if they could make an appointment for a visit. In the telephone approach, a sample of 684 online ads was used in a paired-testing design, in which the landlords were contacted by both the control and experimental applicant. In the e-mail approach, a random-assignment design with a sample of 1769 online advertisements was used. The analyses revealed that discrimination for getting an appointment is found for each discrimination/selection ground in the email approach (only results for men), whereas people with Moroccan/Turkish names and disabled people were not found to be discriminated in the telephone approach. Furthermore, gender proved to be an important factor, as men with a Moroccan/Turkish background were discriminated in the phone-call approach (in contrast to women), whereas regarding financial means, women were treated more negatively than men.     

Challenges in hydrogen fuel sampling due to contaminant behaviour in different gas cylinders

Increasing deployment of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) has led to implementation of hydrogen quality regulations (ISO 14687:2019) to prevent FCEV loss of performance. Hydrogen refuelling stations operators must be able to send representative samples of hydrogen fuel for analysis. Stability of contaminants in sampling vessels needs to be known at ISO 14687:2019 thresholds. A 4-month stability study was carried out on mixtures of ISO 14687 contaminants at amount fractions close to the thresholds in two types of sampling cylinders (SPECTRA-SEAL® and SGS? aluminium cylinders). SPECTRA-SEAL® cylinder allowed representative sampling of CO, CO₂, CH₄, C₂H₆, N₂, Ar, He, Cl₂CH₂, H₂O, O₂, CH₂O₂ in hydrogen fuel for 2 months. SGS? cylinder allowed representative sampling of CO, CO₂, CH4, C₂H₆, N₂, Ar, He, Cl₂CH₂, H₂O, O₂, H₂S for 4 months. Further work is needed to allow representative sampling of ammonia and formaldehyde.