Because of the unusually high heats of vaporization of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), volatilization of RTILs through thermal decomposition and vaporization of the decomposition products can be significant. Upon heating of cyano-functionalized anionic RTILs in vacuum, their gaseous products were detected experimentally via tunable vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry performed at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline 9.0.2 at the Advanced Light Source. Experimental evidence for di- and trialkylimidazolium cations and cyano-functionalized anionic RTILs confirms thermal decomposition occurs primarily through two pathways: deprotonation of the cation by the anion and dealkylation of the imidazolium cation by the anion. Secondary reactions include possible cyclization of the cation and C2 substitution on the imidazolium, and their proposed reaction mechanisms are introduced here. Additional evidence supporting these mechanisms was obtained using thermal gravimetric analysis-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and temperature-jump infrared spectroscopy. In order to predict the overall thermal stability in these ionic liquids, the ability to accurately calculate both the basicity of the anions and their nucleophilicity in the ionic liquid is critical. Both gas phase and condensed phase (generic ionic liquid (GIL) model) density functional theory calculations support the decomposition mechanisms, and the GIL model could provide a highly accurate means to determine thermal stabilities for ionic liquids in general.
Increased intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) following large abdominal surgeries can lead to postoperative complications, including wound dehiscence and surgical reoperation. Numerous factors can contribute to increased postoperative IAP, and intractable hiccups have been implicated as a culprit. Different treatment modalities have been widely used with variable success in addressing intractable hiccups. Here, we present a case in which postoperative hiccups leading to wound dehiscence and reoperation were successfully treated with an indwelling phrenic nerve catheter. Following placement, a significant reduction in hiccup severity and frequency was noted, improving the patient’s quality of postoperative course and preventing further surgical intervention.
Since the advent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, the relationship between the Charter and administrative law has been somewhat rocky. The unique nature of administrative decisions has been perceived by some jurists as requiring an unnecessarily nuanced approach to Charter issues in the administrative law context, resulting in problematic decisions untethered from jurisprudential Charter reasoning and the text of the Charter itself. The most notable of these cases are Doré v Québec and Loyola High School v Québec (Attorney General). The legacy of these decisions, sometimes referred to as the Doré/Loyola framework, regrettably established that on judicial review, administrative decisions need only demonstrate a proper balancing of implicated Charter rights or elusively-defined Charter values with relevant governmental objectives, and that these decisions will only be reviewed on a standard of reasonableness rather than correctness. The recent decision of the Northwest Territories Court of Appeal in AB v Northwest Territories (Minister of Education, Culture and Employment) (“AB”) highlights how far down a slippery slope of constitutional misinterpretation the framework has allowed the law to slide.
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