The Conceptual Matrix of the Individual age Maturity in the Context of Readiness for Retirement

У статті наведено результати теоретичного аналізу вікової зрілості осо-бистості в контексті її готовності до пенсії. Представлено динаміку вікової періодизації в науковій думці. Зазначено, що зрілість – найтриваліший період розвитку особистості, який характеризується тенденцією до досягнення найви-щого розвитку духовних, інтелектуальних і фізичних здібностей. Використання хронологічного віку є умовним, оскільки в межах одного соціально-історичного періоду, однієї культури, однієї вікової когорти існують індивідуальні відмін-ності. Виділяють чотири види віку: хронологічний, біологічний, соціальний, психологічний. Окреслюють основні завдання періоду зрілості. Головним віко-вим новоутворенням періоду зрілості можна вважати продуктивність. Зазначено, що проблемою українського суспільства є сприйняття пенсіонерів крізь призму стереотипів, які визначають негативне ставлення молоді, що проявляється як соціальне явище «ейджизм». Запропоновано концептуальну модель психо-логічної готовності осіб до виходу на пенсію, на основі особистісно-діяльнісного підходу. Обґрунтовано компоненти психологічної готовності (когнітивний, емоційно-вольовий, мотиваційний, конативний) до виходу на пенсію, які цілісно забезпечують ефективність та результативність безболісного припинення професійної діяльності. Обґрунтовано компоненти психологічної готовності особистості пізньої зрілості до виходу на пенсію: когнітивний, який полягає в потребі людини отримувати необхідні знання, вмінні мобілізувати свої знання та досвід; емоційно-вольовий виконує функцію покращення навичок психічної саморегуляції, самоконтролю; мотиваційний полягає в спрямованості особистості до позитивного сприйняття навколишнього середовища, свого майбутнього, усвідомлення власної значущості; конативний спрямовує особистість до певної поведінки (спорт, хобі, активний відпочинок). The article contains results of theoretical analysis of age maturity of the individual in the context of its readiness for retirement. The dynamics of age periodization of scientific thought is reported. It is mentioned that the maturity is the longest period of personal development, which is characterized by a tendency to achieve the highest spiritual, intellectual and physical abilities. The use of chronological age is conditional, because within a socio- historical period, one culture, one age cohort there are a variety of great individual differences. It is claimed that there are four kinds of ages: chronological, biological, social and psychological. Outlined are the main tasks of the maturity periods. The main age new formation of the maturity period may be considered productivity. It is noted that the problem of the Ukrainian society is the perception of senior citizens through the prism of stereotypes that define a negative attitudes of young people, which manifests itself as a social phenomenon of «ageism». It is suggested a conceptual model of psychological readiness of people to retire, on the basis of personal activity approach. The components of psychological readiness (cognitive, emotional and volitional, motivational, conative) are substantiated to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of painless termination of professional activities. It is established the psychological readiness of the individual components of late maturity before entering the retiremen which are: cognitive – the need of man to receive the necessary knowledge, ability to mobilize their knowledge and experience; emotional and volitional functions as improving the skills of psychic self-regulation, self-control; motivational function is the orientation of the individual to the positive perception of environment, its future, the perception of self-worth; conative function guides the individual to a particular behavior (sports, hobbies and recreational activities)

Polymorphic transitions in flufenamic acid-trehalose composites

The combination of poorly-soluble drugs with small molecule co-formers to generate amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) has great potential to improve dissolution rate and kinetic solubility, and thus increase the bioavailability of these active ingredients. However, such ASDs are known to be unstable and to crystallise upon storage or heating. In this work, we explore the crystallisation of flufenamic acid (FFA) from ASDs prepared with trehalose. FFA-trehalose mixtures were prepared at a range of w/w composition ratios, heated to melting and crash cooled to form ASDs. They were then subject to a further heat/cool cycle, which was monitored by simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry – X-ray diffraction to observe the phase changes occurring. These varied with the composition of the blend. Upon short-term storage, formulations with low trehalose contents (FFA:trehalose 5:1 w/w) recrystallised into form I FFA, while higher trehalose contents crystallised to FFA form IV. When heated, all FFA trehalose combinations ultimately recrystallised into form I before melting. Upon a second cooling cycle, systems with low trehalose content (FFA:trehalose 5:1 w/w) recrystallised into form IV, while higher trehalose contents led to FFA form I. It is thus clear that even with a single excipient it is possible to control the crystallisation pathway through judicious choice of the formulation parameters

Synthesis of monosubstituted thioureas by vapour digestion and mechanochemical amination of thiocarbamoyl benzotriazoles

Thiocarbamoyl benzotriazoles, as safe and easy-to-handle isothiocyanate equivalents, were quantitatively converted to N-monosubstituted thioureas by vapour digestion synthesis under an ammonia atmosphere. This simple, but timely process provided a synthetic platform that enabled the “slow” amination reaction to be successfully transformed into a rapid one aided by mechanochemical milling. The ammonium chloride/sodium carbonate equimolar mixture allowed in situ formation of ammonia under ball-milling conditions. This novel and green approach yielded aromatic and aliphatic primary thioureas in near-quantitative isolated yields with workup entirely based on using only water. In addition, the molecular and crystal structures of selected polyaromatic primary thioureas were determined from the synchrotron powder diffraction data

A Simultaneous X-ray Diffraction-Differential Scanning Calorimetry Study into the Phase Transitions of Mefenamic Acid

In this study, the polymorphic transitions of mefenamic acid (MA) were studied by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction combined with differential scanning calorimetry (XRD-DSC). The initial material was found to be phase-pure form I which, when heated, produces two endotherms that can be observed by DSC at 162.72 and 219.55°C. The former was found to correspond to a solid–solid enantiotropic transition from form I to a mixture of forms II and III. The latter is the melting point of form II. As form I is heated, significantly greater unit-cell expansion is seen in the a direction than in b and c, which can be explained by the stronger intermolecular interactions in the bc plane. Refinements of the reported MA structures against the patterns collected during heating revealed that at 175°C there exists a mixture of forms I, II and III, whereas only forms II and III remain at 205°C. However, reflections are observed at both temperatures which cannot be fitted with the known forms of MA. It is hypothesized that a new form of MA is produced upon heating. The stability of MA after the enantiotropic transition temperature is II > III > I, which differs from the previously reported II > I > III

Amorphous Solid Dispersions of Lidocaine and Lidocaine HCl Produced by Ball Milling with Well-Defined RAFT-Synthesised Methacrylic Acid Polymers

This study focuses on the use of methacrylic acid polymers synthesised via the Reversible Addition Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerisation method for the production of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) by ball milling, to kinetically solubilize a poorly water-soluble model drug. The solid-state characteristics and the physical stability of the formulations were investigated using X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and infrared spectroscopy. This was followed by dissolution studies in different media. It was discovered that the acidic polymers of methacrylic acid were capable of interacting with the weakly basic drug lidocaine and its hydrochloride salt form to produce ASDs when a polymer to drug ratio of 70:30 w/w was used. The ASDs remained amorphous following storage under accelerated aging conditions (40 °C and 75% relative humidity) over 8 months. Fast dissolution and increased lidocaine solubility in different media were obtained from the ASDs owing to the reduced microenvironment pH and enhanced solubilization of the drug caused by the presence of the acidic polymer in the formulation. Production of ASDs using well-defined RAFT-synthesised acidic polymers is a promising formulation strategy to enhance the pharmaceutical properties of basic poorly water-soluble drugs

Revealing per-grain and neighbourhood stress interactions of a deforming ferritic steel via three-dimensional X-ray diffraction

The structural performance of polycrystalline alloys is strongly controlled by the characteristics of individual grains and their interactions, motivating this study to understand the dynamic micromechanical response within the microstructure. Here, a high ductility single-phase ferritic steel during uniaxial deformation is explored using three-dimensional X-ray diffraction. Grains well aligned for dislocation slip are shown to possess a wide intergranular stress range, controlled by per-grain dependent hardening activity. Contrariwise, grains orientated poorly for slip have a narrow stress range. A grain neighbourhood effect is observed of statistical significance: the Schmid factor of serial adjoining grains influences the stress state of a grain of interest, whereas parallel neighbours are less influential. This phenomenon is strongest at low plastic strains, with the effect diminishing as grains rotate during plasticity to eliminate any orientation dependent load shedding. The ability of the ferrite to eliminate such neighbourhood interactions is considered key to the high ductility possessed by these materials

Potential of combined neutron and X-ray imaging to quantify local carbon contents in soil

In this study, we investigated the potential and limitations of using joint X-ray and time-of-flight (TOF) neutron imaging for mapping the 3-dimensional organic carbon distribution in soil. This approach is viable because neutron and X-ray beams have complementary attenuation properties. Soil minerals consist to a large part of silicon and aluminium, and elements that are relatively translucent to neutrons but attenuate X-rays. In contrast, attenuation of neutrons is strong for hydrogen, which is abundant in soil organic matter (SOM), while hydrogen barely attenuates X-rays. In theory, TOF neutron imaging does further more allow the imaging of Bragg edges, which correspond to d-spacings in minerals. This could help to distinguish between SOM and clay minerals, the mineral group in soil that is most strongly associated with hydrogen atoms. We collected TOF neutron image data at the IMAT beamline at the ISIS facility and synchrotron X-ray image data at the I12 beamline at the Diamond Light source, both located within the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell, UK. The white beam (the full energy spectrum) neutron image clearly showed variations in neutron attenuation within soil aggregates at approximately constant X-ray attenuations. This indicates a constant bulk density with varying organic matter and/or clay content. Unfortunately, the combination of TOF neutron and X-ray imaging was not suited to allow for a distinction between SOM and clay minerals at the voxel scale. While such a distinction is possible in theory, it is prevented by technical limitations. One of the main reasons is that the neutron frequencies available at modern neutron sources are too large to capture the main d-spacings of clay minerals. As a result, inference to voxel scale SOM concentrations is presently not feasible. Future improved neutron sources and advanced detector designs will eventually overcome the technical problems encountered here. On the positive side, combined X-ray and TOF neutron imaging demonstrated abilities to identify quartz grains and to distinguish between plastics and plant seeds. Highlights Full understanding of biogeochemical processes requires three-dimensional (3-D) maps of organic matter in soil (SOM). This study investigates a novel method to map voxel-scale SOM contents with 3-D resolution. The method is based a combination of X-ray and time-of-flight neutron tomography. At present, technical limitations prevent distinguishing between SOM and clay mineral contents. More advanced neutron sources are required to overcome the encountered technical obstacles

Modulating Thermal Properties of Polymers through Crystal Engineering

Crystal engineering has exclusively focused on the development of advanced materials based on small organic molecules. We now demonstrate how the cocrystallization of a polymer yields a material with significantly enhanced thermal stability but equivalent mechanical flexibility. Isomorphous replacement of one of the cocrystal components enables the formation of solid solutions with melting points that can be readily fine-tuned over a usefully wide temperature range. The results of this study credibly extend the scope of crystal engineering and cocrystallization from small molecules to polymers