The relationship between small-scale nursing home care for people with dementia and staff's perceived job characteristics

Background: Over the past few decades, new care models that are more resident-oriented and directed toward small-scale and homelike environments have been developed worldwide. The impact of these care models on the quality of life of residents has been studied. However, little research has been conducted to gain insight into how these new care models influence healthcare staff's work environment. This study focuses on the consequences of small-scale care on staff's perceived job characteristics. Methods: Data were derived from a sample of 136 Dutch living arrangements providing nursing home care for people with dementia (2008/2009), in which 1,327 residents and 1,147 staff participated. The relationship between two indicators of small-scale care (small-scale care characteristics and total number of residents with dementia in facility) and staff's job characteristics (job demands, decision authority, coworker and supervisor support) were studied with multilevel regression analyses. All analyses were adjusted for staff, resident, and living arrangement characteristics when needed. Results: Both indicators of small-scale care were associated with job demands; staff perceived less time and work pressure as more characteristics of small-scale care were integrated and the facility had less residents with dementia in total. Only one indicator was associated with decision authority. As more characteristics of small-scale care were integrated, staff's perceived decision authority was higher. No relationship was found with coworker and supervisor social support. Conclusions: Knowing that job demands and decision authority are important predictors of job appraisal and well-being, our findings show that small-scale care could have a beneficial impact on healthcare staff's work environment. Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014

In situ stress evolution during growth of transition metal nitride films and nanocomposites

The issue of stress evolution during growth of hard transition metal nitride (TMN) based coatings is of vital importance to understand origin of intrinsic stress development and to control stress level in order to avoid mechanical failure of coated components and devices. By using in situ and real-time wafer curvature measurements based on a multiple- beam optical stress sensor (MOSS), basic insights on the atomistic mechanisms at the origin of stress development and stress relaxation can be obtained. In the present paper, a review of recent advances on stress development during reactive magnetron sputter-deposition of binary TMN films (TiN, ZrN, TaN) as wells as ternary systems (TiZrN, TiTaN) will be presented. The influence of growth energetics on the build-up of compressive stress will be addressed. A correlation between stress, texture and film morphology is demonstrated. Finally, illustration will be given for quaternary TiZrAlN nanocomposites. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2074

Thin films composed of Ag nanoclusters dispersed in TiO2: Influence of composition and thermal annealing on the microstructure and physical responses

Noble metal powders containing gold and silver have been used for many centuries, providing different colours in the windows of the medieval cathedrals and in ancient Roman glasses. Nowadays, the interest in nanocomposite materials containing noble nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices is related with their potential use for a wide range of advanced technological applications. They have been proposed for environmental and biological sensing, tailoring colour of functional coatings, or for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Most of these applications rely on the so-called localised surface plasmon resonance absorption, which is governed by the type of the noble metal nanoparticles, their distribution, size and shape and as well as of the dielectric characteristics of the host matrix. The aim of this work is to study the influence of the composition and thermal annealing on the morphological and structural changes of thin films composed of Ag metal clusters embedded in a dielectric TiO2 matrix. Since changes in size, shape and distribution of the clusters are fundamental parameters for tailoring the properties of plasmonic materials, a set of films with different Ag concentrations was prepared. The optical properties and the thermal behaviour of the films were correlated with the structural and morphological changes promoted by annealing. The films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and in order to promote the clustering of the Ag nanoparticles the as-deposited samples were subjected to an in-air annealing protocol. It was demonstrated that the clustering of metallic Ag affects the optical response spectrum and the thermal behaviour of the films.This research was sponsored by FEDER funds through the COMPETE program (Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade) and by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), under the projects PEST-C/FIS/UI607/2013 and PEst-C/EME/UI0285/2013. The authors also acknowledge the financial support by the project Nano4color – Design and develop a new generation of color PVD coatings for decorative applications (FP7 EC R4SME Project No. 315286). J. Borges also acknowledges the support by the European social fund within the framework of realising the project “Support of inter-sectoral mobility and quality enhancement of research teams at Czech Technical University in Prague”, CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0034. C. Lopes acknowledges FCT for the PhD grant SFRH/BD/103373/2014. F.M. Couto acknowledges CAPES – Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília – DF 70040-20, Brazil, funding by stage sandwich doctorate, through PDSE – Doctoral Program Sandwich

Bidirectional lipid droplet velocities are controlled by differential binding strengths of HCV Core DII protein

Host cell lipid droplets (LD) are essential in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle and are targeted by the viral capsid core protein. Core-coated LDs accumulate in the perinuclear region and facilitate viral particle assembly, but it is unclear how mobility of these LDs is directed by core. Herein we used two-photon fluorescence, differential interference contrast imaging, and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopies, to reveal novel core-mediated changes to LD dynamics. Expression of core protein’s lipid binding domain II (DII-core) induced slower LD speeds, but did not affect directionality of movement on microtubules. Modulating the LD binding strength of DII-core further impacted LD mobility, revealing the temporal effects of LD-bound DII-core. These results for DII-core coated LDs support a model for core-mediated LD localization that involves core slowing down the rate of movement of LDs until localization at the perinuclear region is accomplished where LD movement ceases. The guided localization of LDs by HCV core protein not only is essential to the viral life cycle but also poses an interesting target for the development of antiviral strategies against HCV