Competition between the rearrangement of electrodeposited overlayers of copper on platinum and the hydrogen electrode reactions

The electrodeposition of Cu2+ ions on polycrystalline Pt from acid aqueous CuSO4, solutions was studied in the underpotential (upd) and overpotential (opd) ranges by using potentiostatic and potentiodynamic techniques. In the upd region, monotonic current transients were recorded for potentials (Ed) more positive than the reversible potential (Er) of the Cu2+/Cu electrode. For Cu electrodeposits involving a charge density close to that of the complete Cu monolayer, the hydrogen electrode reactions were strongly inhibited. Otherwise, non-monotonic current transients were recorded for Ed → Er. These transients suggest rearrangement of the monolayer structure when additional Cu atoms are deposited. In the opd region where the early stages of threodimensional(3D) nucleation and growth take place, the contribution of the hydrogen electrode reaction reappeared due to bare platinum sites which are present in the early stages of 3D growth. The present results in the limiting case can be interpreted in terms of a 2D to 3D transition at the overlayer level implying a certain distribution of clusters and the reappearance of the bare substrate surface. This process, in principle, accounts for the anomalies observed systematicly in vohammetric measurements for this system.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicada

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Sending Country Policies

This chapter explores the twin central questions of how and why countries of origin reach out to expatriate populations. It first outlines basic concepts and typologies related to sending country policies, focusing particularly on key countries of origin of migrants settled within the European Union. Second, the chapter reviews central explanations for the emergence of sending country policies. However, sending countries do not reach out to their emigrants in equal measure. Differences are therefore examined in the outreach policies of sending countries and in sending countries' transnational relations with diasporas. The last part of the chapter discusses the nexus between sending country policies and migrant integration in the country of residence. On the basis of existing research, the chapter argues that sending country policies may intersect with migrants' integration in a number of ways. For example, migrant sending countries may seek to strengthen the upward mobility of their expatriate citizens in their place of residence abroad, and they may call for greater protection of migrant workers in precarious labour situations. Little is currently known about how migrants and diasporas respond to these policies and how they are perceived by political actors of countries of residence. This is an area for further study. More analysis is also needed to determine the extent that sending country outreach policies aimed at bonding with and supporting citizens abroad challenge territorial policy sovereignty and the strength of receiving countries in agenda-setting in international cooperation on migration and migrant settlement

Interionic potentials for some alkali halides from crystal data measured at different temperatures

Values at different temperatures of lattice constants and their derivatives with respect to T. and of elastic constants were used to obtain the derivatives with respect to the minimum interionic distance of the repulsive potentials for the crystals CsCl, CsBr, ClI, NaCl, KCl and KBr. The derivatives thus calculated were then subjected to a computer fitting to yield the aij and b constants of the interionic repulsive pair potential: Rφij = aij exp{ - brij}

Thermodynamics of β-Cyclodextrin/Water Interactions

From a purely enthalpic standpoint, the beta-CD hydration, as studied by semiempirical calculations appears improbable, in contrast to experiment. For the spontaneous hydration process, a compensation mechanism, connected to substrate stabilitazion and/or entropy increase, is suggested, on the basis of simple thermodynamic calculations