To know or not to know? Opinions of patients with Parkinson’s Disease on disclosing risk of phenoconversion in RBD

Introduction. The aim of our study was to find out the opinion of patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) whose disease was preceded by REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) regarding early information about the high risk of phenoconversion in RBD. Clinical rationale for the study. RBD is an early clinical manifestation of α-synucleinopathies with a more than 90% risk of phenoconversion to PD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) or multiple system atrophy (MSA). It remains a subject for debate as to whether and how RBD patients should be informed about the high risk of phenoconversion. The patient’s right to full knowledge regarding his or her health conflicts with the potentially destructive impact of this information on his or her mental state and quality of life of them and their relatives. Material and methods. Thirty-nine patients with PD whose disease was preceded by RBD were surveyed. Data on the course of RBD and PD was collected. Questions were asked about early information about the high risk of phenoconversion to patients with RBD and factors determining the opinion of the surveyed persons. Results. The majority ( > 60%) of respondents gave a positive answer when asked whether patients should be informed about their high risk of developing PD once diagnosed with RBD. Only a few (7.7%) respondents believed that disclosing such information to the patient should be possible only after obtaining his or her consent. Respondents associated consent to information about the high risk of developing PD in people with RBD with high expectations of the healthcare system. We were unable to determine whether factors such as the gender of the subject, the clinical course of the PD, and the RBD duration had an impact on patients’ opinions regarding disclosing knowledge about phenoconversion. Conclusions and clinical implications. Our study provides important information that should influence physicians’ communication with patients with RBD, especially regarding how they communicate about the high risk of phenoconversion

Solidarity emigration to the United States of America on sample of the selected polish artists.

The thesis presents biographies of selected Polish artists whose have emigrated to the United States of America during Solidarity Emigration.The biographies describes the artistic achievements of Stanisław Barańczak, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Mirosław Rogala and Jerzy Kenar, focusing on both artistic activity in Poland and in the USA. Furthermore thesis characterizes Solidarity Emigration, its reasons and circumstances.W pracy zaprezentowano emigranckie biografie Polaków - artystów w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Biogramy opisują dorobek artystyczny czterech wybranych postaci: Stanisława Barańczaka, Krzysztofa Wodiczko, Mirosława Rogala oraz Jerzego Kenara, skupiając się zarówno na działalności artystycznej w Polsce jak i w nowym kraju. Ponadto w pracy dokonano charakterystyki emigracji solidarnościowej, jej przyczyn oraz uwarunkowań

Traps Formation and Characterization in Long-Term Energy Storing Lu2O3:Pr,HfLu_{2}O_{3}:Pr,Hf Luminescent Ceramics

Sintered ceramics of Lu2O3:Pr,Hf storage phosphor were prepared and their spectroscopic properties were evaluated. It was shown that during irradiation with X-rays as well as with short UV radiation, the material was able to accumulate energy, which could thereafter be recovered by thermal stimulation in the range of approximately 20–450 °C. The glow curve consisted of three bands peaking around 130, 250, and 340 °C, and each of them contained two overlapping components related to traps, with activation energies in the range of 0.8–2.1 eV. Frequency factors of the traps exceeded the Debye frequency by 3–4 orders of magnitude indicating a complex mechanism of the process. The thermoluminescence was found to follow the first-order kinetics mechanism. A 30% fading was recorded after nine months. The stored energy could also be totally recovered with optical stimulation around 400 nm. Both dopants, Hf(IV) and Pr3+, were found to be active in permanent energy trapping, forming electron (Hf) and hole (Pr) traps

Gel Polymer Electrolytes with Mixture of Triazolium Ionic Liquids and Propylene Carbonate

This study is focused on the structural influence of 1,2,4-triazolium ionic liquid (IL), that is, the effect of the length of the substituent and the type of substitution (1-methyl-4-alkyl or 1-alkyl-4-methyl) used in the mixture with propylene carbonate (PC) on the properties of thiol–ene polymer ionogels and on the preparation of an ionogel with satisfactory mechanical and conductive properties. PC allows for higher conductivity but also causes electrolyte leakage from the gel. When using triazolium IL (instead of the imidazolium one), because of the stronger interactions between components of the system, the ionogels do not leak. In this study, 1,4-dialkyl-1,2,4-triazolium ILs were successfully synthesized by the alkylation of 1,2,4-triazole. Subsequently, gel polymer electrolytes were obtained by one-pot thiol–ene photopolymerization reactions of tetrafunctional thiols with different chemical structures: pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP) or pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptobutyrate) (PETMB) and trifunctional ene (TATT) in the presence of a mixture of 1,4-dialkyl-1,2,4-triazolium IL with PC. Measurements made by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed that all ionogels with TATT+PETMB as a polymer matrix presented smaller relative ionic conductivity compared to ionogels containing TATT+PETMP. The puncture resistance and elongation at puncture, measured by the puncture resistance method, were higher for ionogels with poly(TATT+PETMB) than for those with poly(TATT+PETMP). Moreover, ILs containing a methyl group in position N1 of the 1,2,4-triazole ring presented lower puncture resistance than ionogels with ILs containing a methyl group in position N4, especially for shorter alkyl chains. Additionally, the photo-differential scanning calorimetry method was employed to characterize the course of photopolymerization. The compositions and their constituents were characterized by UV and IR spectroscopy

The Influence of Monomer Structure on the Properties of Ionogels Obtained by Thiol–Ene Photopolymerization

The influence of ene and thiol monomer structure on the mechanical and electrochemical properties of thiol–ene polymeric ionogels were investigated. Ionogels were obtained in situ by thiol–ene photopolymerization of 1,3,5-triallyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (TATT), 2,4,6-triallyloxy-1,3,5-triazine (TAT), diallyl phthalate (DAP), and glyoxal bis(diallyl acetal) (GBDA) used as enes and trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (TMPTP), pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP), and pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptobutyrate) (PETMB) used as thiols in 70 wt.% of ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMImNTf2). The mechanical strength of ionogels was studied by puncture resistance and ionic conductivity by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The course of photopolymerization by photo-DSC method (differential scanning calorimetry) as well as characterization of compositions and its components (by IR and UV spectroscopy-Kamlet–Taft parameters) were also studied. The resulting ionogels were opaque, with phase separation, which resulted from the dispersion mechanism of polymerization. The mechanical and conductive properties of the obtained materials were found to be largely dependent on the monomer structure. Ionogels based on triazine monomers TAT and TATT were characterized by higher mechanical strength, while those based on aliphatic GBDA had the highest conductivity. These parameters are strongly related to the structure of the polymer matrix, which is in the form of connected spheres. The conductivity of ionogels was high, in the range of 3.5–5.1 mS∙cm−1

Poly(vinylbenzyl Pyridinium Salts) as Novel Sorbents for Hazardous Metals Ions Removal

Novel efficient complexing resins—poly(vinylbenzyl pyridinium salts) fabricated through poly(vinylbenzyl halogene-co-divinylbenzene) quaternization of N-decyloxy-1-(pyridin-3-yl)ethaneimine and N-decyloxy-1-(pyridin-4-yl)ethaneimine—were tested as adsorbents of Pb(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Ni(II) from aqueous solutions. The structure of these materials was established by 13C CP-MAS NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, as well as thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses. The textural properties were determined using scanning electron microscopy and low-temperature N2 sorption. Based on the conducted sorption studies, it was shown that the uptake behavior of the metal ions towards novel resins depended on the type of functionalities, contact time, pH, metal concentrations, and the resin dosage. The Langmuir model was investigated to be the best one for fitting isothermal adsorption equilibrium data, and the corresponding adsorption capacities were predicted to be 296.4, 201.8, 83.8, 38.1, and 39.3 mg/g for Pb(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), and Ni(II), respectively. These results confirmed that owing to the presence of the functional pyridinium groups, the resins demonstrated proficient metal ion removal capacities. Furthermore, VBBr-D4EI could be successfully used for the selective uptake of Pb(II) from wastewater. It was also shown that the novel resins can be regenerated without significant loss of their sorption capacity

Optimization of the Properties of Photocured Hydrogels for Use in Electrochemical Capacitors

In this work, hydrogel polymer electrolytes (HPEs) were obtained by the photopolymerization of a mixture of two monomers: Exothane 8 (Ex8) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate acid phosphate (HEMA-P) in an organic solvent N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which was replaced after polymerization with water, and then with the electrolyte. The ratio of monomers as well as the concentration of NMP was changed in the composition to study its influence on the properties of the HPE: conductivity (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, EIS) and mechanical properties (puncture resistance). Properties were optimized using a mathematical model to obtain a hydrogel with both good mechanical and conductive properties. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first publication that demonstrates the application of optimization methods for the preparation of HPE. Then, the hydrogel with optimal properties was tested as a separator in a two-electrode symmetric AC/AC pouch-cell. The cells were investigated by cyclic voltammetry galvanostatic charge/discharge with potential limitation and EIS. Good mechanical properties of HPE allowed for obtaining samples of smaller thickness while maintaining very good dimensional stability. Thus, the electrochemical capacitor (EC) resistance was reduced and their electrochemical properties improved. Moreover, photopolymerization kinetics in the solvent and in bulk by photo-DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) were performed. The great impact on the polymerization of HEMA-P and its mixtures (with Ex8 and NMP) have strong intermolecular interactions between reagents molecules (i.e., hydrogen bonds)

Modification of Thiol-Ene Ionogels with Octakis(methacryloxypropyl) Silsesquioxane

The effect of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) on the synthesis and properties of hybrid organic–inorganic ionogels was investigated using octakis(methacryloxypropyl) silsesquioxane (methacryl-POSS). Ionogels were prepared in situ by thiol-ene photopolymerization of triallyl isocyanurate with pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) in a mixture of imidazolium ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMImNTf2) and propylene carbonate (PC). Investigations included the kinetics of hybrid materials formation and selected physical and mechanical properties. The disadvantage of ionogels without the methacryl-POSS modifier is leakage and insufficient mechanical properties. Modifying the thiol-ene matrix by the addition of methacryl-POSS made it possible to obtain non-leaking ionogels with improved mechanical and conductive properties. The steric hindrance of POSS cages and high-density network formation played important roles in ionogel synthesis: decrease of polymerization rate (with almost no effect on conversion), as well as dimensions of the formed polymer spheres during dispersion polymerization (highly cross-linked polymer has poorer solubility in polymerizing medium at a similar conversion, and nucleation begins at lower conversion), an increase of glass transition temperature and puncture strength. Hybrid ionogels with high ionic conductivity in the range of 4.0–5.1 mS∙cm−1 with the maximum parameter for 1.5 wt.% addition of the methacryl-POSS were obtained, which can be associated with ion-pair dissociations in ionic liquid clusters caused by methacryl-POSS

Influence of the Addition of Sialon and Aluminum Nitride Fillers on the Photocuring Process of Polymer Coatings

This article presents the results of a study on polymer coatings containing poly ethoxylated bisphenol A diacrylate (Bis-AEA10) with aluminum silicon nitride oxide (Sialon) and aluminum nitride (AlN). The polymer coatings were obtained by the photopolymerization technique. Investigations were carried out to determine the effect of the AlN and Sialon content on the UV-curing kinetics, as well as on the mechanical (hardness), thermal (Tg, thermal stability), physicochemical (water contact angle), and structural properties of the polymer coatings. Polymerization rates were characterized as functions of double-bond conversion using the photo-Differential Scanning Calorymetry technique (photo-DSC). The results obtained showed that a small addition of sialon filler (3–5 wt.%) to Bis-AEA10 increases the photopolymerization rate of the varnish, while the addition of more Sialon decreases the rate of photopolymerization. However, for the systems containing AlN filler, the maximum polymerization rate was observed for samples containing 10 wt.% filler. In the case of a varnish composition containing AlN, the maximum polymerization rate is characterized by the system containing 10 wt.% of AlN. This shows that the AlN filler has a good influence on the polymerization process. In either case, the final double bond conversion was high (80%–95%). Mechanical tests have shown that introducing the filler into the polymer matrix increases its hardness. The content of Sialon and AlN in the coatings causes an increase (up to 4–5 wt.%) and a decrease (>4–5 wt.%) in the glass transition temperature. The effect of the addition of fillers on the physicochemical properties of the coating surface has also been investigated and characterized by the water contact angle method. The addition of 20 wt.% Sialon and AlN increased the contact angle of the samples by approximately 40% and 31%, respectively, resulting in coatings with hydrophobic surface properties