Quality of life: Expanding the scope of clinical significance.

Clinical researchers have turned their attention to quality of life assessment as a means of broadening the evaluation of treatment outcomes. This article examines conceptual and methodological issues related to the use of quality of life measures in mental health. These include the lack of a good operational definition of the construct, the use of subjective vs objective quality of life indicators, and the nature of the relationship between symptoms and quality of life judgments. Of special concern is the ability of quality of life measures to detect treatment-related changes. The authors review the application of quality of life assessment across diverse patient groups and therapies and provide recommendations for developing comprehensive, psychometrically sophisticated quality of life measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis,characterization, photocatalytic evaluation,and toxicity studies of TiO2–Fe3+ nanocatalyst

Based on our previous work on the green preparation of Ag–TiO₂ photocatalyst with bactericidal activity under visible light, we extended our studies to the synthesis of TiO₂–Fe³⁺ materials with enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of recalcitrant organic pollutants in water. TiO₂–Fe³⁺ nanopowders were synthesized using a robust, environmentally friendly procedure. Established amounts of Fe(NO₃)₃·9H₂O and titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) were mixed using glacial acetic acid as solvent. Hydrolysis of TTIP–Fe³⁺ was accomplished using a 30 % (W/V) Arabic gum aqueous solution. TiO₂–Fe³⁺ nanopowders were obtained by thermal treatment at 400 °C. In order to elucidate the structure of these photocatalysts, microscopic and spectroscopic characterization techniques were applied. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis indicated the presence of uniformly distributed particles with average particle size of about 9 nm. According to the HRTEM lattice fringes, ring pattern, and selected area electron diffraction pattern, the crystalline part of the samples consists of anatase (PDF 01-086-1157 with the lattice constant of 3.7852, 9.5139 Å and 90°) as dominant phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was applied to determine the oxidation state of iron. The XPS provides evidence for Fe³⁺ surface species in the TiO₂–Fe³⁺ composite. Complete degradation of aqueous solutions (20 ppm) of methylene blue and/or methyl orange was accomplished after 4 h of treatment using 150 mg of TiO₂–Fe³⁺/150 mL of dye solution. The in vitro toxicity of the materials was tested. The materials showed no toxicity against human red blood cells.     

Semicontinuous heterophase copolymerization of vinyl acetate and butyl acrylate

Vinyl acetate (VAc) and butyl acrylate (BuA) were copolymerized in heterophase by a semicontinuous process (unseeded) and compared with the seeded semicontinuous microemulsion polymerization of the same monomers. A mixture of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and poly(ethylene oxide) dodecyl ether (Brij‐35®) were used as surfactants. The effects of monomer addition rate (R_a) and surfactants concentrations (4 or 1 wt % with respect to the initial mixture of reaction) on polymer and latex properties were studied. High copolymer content latexes (24–36 wt %) with average particle diameters (D_p) from 38 to 55 nm and relatively narrow particle size distributions, high polymerization rates, weight ratios of polymer to surfactant (P/S) from 13.3 to 32.8 were obtained. The number‐average molecular weights (M_n) were between 96,000 and 188,000 g/mol. Homogeneous copolymer compositions were obtained throughout the reaction for both, seeded and unseeded processes, which is not possible by the usual batch microemulsion process. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Turbidimetric Behavior of Colloidal Particles in Beer Before Filtration Process

The effect of colloidal particles and yeast on turbidity of Pilsen beer before the filtration process was studied in this work. The colloidal particles are mainly composed of polysaccharides, representing 96.89 %, in second place proteins with a concentration close to 2 %, and polyphenols less than 0.3 %. There is also a very low concentration of yeast (<0.25 %). The presence of different types of particles in the sample caused multimodal histogram in the particle size distribution and four distinct zones were identified: (1) very small individual particles ( $ \overline D = 0.0{\text{6}}\mu {\text{m}} $ ), (2) yeast ( $ \overline D = {\text{3}}\mu {\text{m}} $ ), (3) colloidal aggregates ( $ \overline D = {\text{17}}\mu {\text{m}} $ ), and (4) a zone with a high dispersion of size, with two $ \overline D $ values (101 and 200 μm). Particles size counts well correlate with both the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) digital image analysis, and the turbidity determination. The fractal dimension (D _f) of the aggregates was determined by analyzing the SEM images with the Variogram method, obtaining D _f?>?2.4 values. Those values are typical of aggregates formed by rapid flocculation or diffusion limited aggregation. Results of this study support the formulation of a model valid for the prediction of colloidal particles concentration in beer.     

Crosslinking of poly(vinyl acetate) nanolatices by gamma and UV radiation

Poly(vinyl acetate) PVAc, in nanolatices with 10% polymer content, prepared by microemulsion polymerization was crosslinked by gamma and UV radiation. PVAc colloidal nanoparticles (average diameter, Dp = 58 nm) had M_w = 562,000 g/mol and about 95% conversions. PVAc nanolatices irradiated by gamma rays (1–13 kGy) at room temperature without crosslinking agent and by UV light (30–300 s exposure times) in the presence of divinylbenzene and allyl methacrylate showed crosslinking of up to 96% (high gel content), Dp < 100 nm and did not degrade as shown by FTIR spectroscopy. DSC and TGA characterization of irradiated PVAc samples indicated that T_g temperatures increased from 28°C for PVAc to 42°C and 39°C for UV and gamma rays crosslinked PVAc, respectively, whereas 10% weight losses occurred at 261°C for uncrosslinked PVAc and at 320 and 313°C for UV and gamma rays crosslinked PVAc. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Removal of toxic uranium from synthetic nuclear power reactor effluents using uranyl ion imprinted polymer particles

Major quantities of uranium find use as nuclear fuel in nuclear power reactors. In view of the extreme toxicity of uranium and consequent stringent limits fixed by WHO and various national governments, it is essential to remove uranium from nuclear power reactor effluents before discharge into environment. Ion imprinted polymer (IIP) materials have traditionally been used for the recovery of uranium from dilute aqueous solutions prior to detection or from seawater. We now describe the use of IIP materials for selective removal of uranium from a typical synthetic nuclear power reactor effluent. The IIP materials were prepared for uranyl ion (imprint ion) by forming binary salicylaldoxime (SALO) or 4-vinylpyridine (VP) or ternary SALO-VP complexes in 2-methoxyethanol (porogen) and copolymerizing in the presence of styrene (monomer), divinylbenzene (cross-linking monomer), and 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile (initiator). The resulting materials were then ground and sieved to obtain unleached polymer particles. Leached IIP particles were obtained by leaching the imprint ions with 6.0 M HCl. Control polymer particles were also prepared analogously without the imprint ion. The IIP particles obtained with ternary complex alone gave quantitative removal of uranyl ion in the pH range 3.5-5.0 with as low as 0.08 g. The retention capacity of uranyl IIP particles was found to be 98.50 mg/g of polymer. The present study successfully demonstrates the feasibility of removing uranyl ions selectively in the range 5 microg - 300 mg present in 500 mL of synthetic nuclear power reactor effluent containing a host of other inorganic species.     

Age differences in repeated learning tasks in schizophrenic subjects.

This experiment was designed to study age differences in the learning of paired associates in serial order and a card-sorting task over 9 different sessions. The Ss consisted of 2 groups, 15 younger-aged (20-29) and 15 middle-aged (40-56), male, hospitalized schizophrenics. The results indicated that the younger-aged-group's performance was superior on both tasks for the 1st session. Over the 9 learning sessions the middle-aged group showed significantly greater improvement on the paired-associate task, while the differences between the age groups in card-sorting speed remained fairly constant over the 9 sessions. It was concluded that the learning deficit in middle-aged and schizophrenic Ss is something that is not a fixed and immutable one for all tasks but may be modified through practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Total polyphenol extraction from red sorghum grain and effects on the morphological structure of starch granules

The aim of this study was to propose a treatment to reduce the content of total polyphenols (TPP) and to obtain flour without significant morphological changes in the starch granules. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to predict the influence of temperature and time on TPP extraction. Research work was conducted using the central composite design methodology. Results showed that the effect of temperature was more significant than that of time. A quadratic fit of data regarding temperature and linear data adjustment as to time was obtained. A scanning electron microscopy analysis of starch showed no morphological change in the granules at the temperature studied. Starch granules presented a size distribution ranging from 6 to 25 μm being 35% of granules <15 μm, and 65% of granules >15 μm in size, respectively.     

Restrained eating among adolescents: Dieters are not always bingers and bingers are not always dieters.

This study examined individual differences in the relationships among 3 constructs relevant to restrained eating theory—cognitive restraint (dieting), disinhibition (bingeing), and hunger. Participants were 421 adolescents (158 male, 255 female, and 8 not indicated). Comparisons among subgroups based on scores on the 3 constructs indicated that there were (a) 2 types of frequent dieters—those who follow theoretical predictions and become disinhibited and those who maintain their restraint; (b) 2 types of bingers—those who engage in dieting-induced bingeing and those who are hungry and disinhibited; and (c) 2 types of low-hunger eaters—those who suppress their hunger and those who eat before they experience much hunger. Implications of the results for restrained eating theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic and normal response patterns to "aversive" and "neutral" associations in two paired-associate paradigms.

3 groups of Ss (hospitalized psychiatric patients, hospitalized nonpsychiatric patients, and college students) were required to learn 2 classes of paired associates—neutral and aversive by 2 methods of presentation of the material: (a) after the traditional presentation of the stimulus word, S was required to anticipate the correct response; (b) S viewed 2 words in the window and had to select the correct one. The results indicated that in general it was much more difficult to learn the "aversive" words than the neutral ones, and hospital patients as a group had more difficulty than the college Ss. However, sensitivity to group differences was enhanced when S was required to use the 2nd rather than the traditional 1st method. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)