Hexacyanidosilicates with Functionalized Imidazolium Counterions

Functionalized imidazolium cations were combined with the hexacyanidosilicate anion, [Si(CN)6]2–, by salt metathesis reactions with K2[Si(CN)6], yielding novel ionic compounds of the general formula [R–Ph(nBu)Im]2[Si(CN)6] {R = 2-Me (1), 4-Me (2), 2,4,6-Me = Mes (3), 2-MeO (4), 2,4-F (5), 4-Br (6); Im = imidazolium}. All synthesized imidazolium hexacyanidosilicates decompose upon thermal treatment above 95 °C (96 – 164 °C). Furthermore, the hexa-borane-adduct [Mes(nBu)Im]2{Si[(CN)B(C6F5)3]6}·6CH2Cl2 (7), which is thermally stable up to 215 °C, was obtained from the reaction of 3 with Lewis acidic B(C6F5)3. In CH3CN solution, decomposition of the hexaadduct to the Lewis-acid-base adduct CH3CN–B(C6F5)3 and [(C6F5)3B·(µ-CN)·B(C6F5)3]– was observed. All synthesized compounds were isolated in good yields and were completely characterized including single crystal structure elucidations. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Pseudohalogen Chemistry in Ionic Liquids with Non-innocent Cations and Anions

Within the second funding period of the SPP 1708 “Material Synthesis near Room Temperature”,which started in 2017, we were able to synthesize novel anionic species utilizing Ionic Liquids (ILs) both, as reaction media and reactant. ILs, bearing the decomposable and non-innocent methyl carbonate anion [CO3Me]−, served as starting material and enabled facile access to pseudohalide salts by reaction with Me3Si−X (X=CN, N3, OCN, SCN). Starting with the synthesized Room temperature Ionic Liquid (RT-IL) [nBu3MeN][B(OMe)3(CN)], we were able to crystallize the double salt [nBu3MeN]2[B(OMe)3(CN)](CN). Furthermore, we studied the reaction of [WCC]SCN and [WCC]CN (WCC=weakly coordinating cation) with their corresponding protic acids HX (X=SCN, CN), which resulted in formation of [H(NCS)2]− and the temperature labile solvate anions [CN(HCN)n]− (n=2, 3). In addition, the highly labile anionic HCN solvates were obtained from [PPN]X ([PPN]=μ-nitridobis(triphenylphosphonium), X=N3, OCN, SCN and OCP) and HCN. Crystals of [PPN][X(HCN)3] (X=N3, OCN) and [PPN][SCN(HCN)2] were obtained when the crystallization was carried out at low temperatures. Interestingly, reaction of [PPN]OCP with HCN was noticed, which led to the formation of [P(CN)2]−, crystallizing as HCN disolvate [PPN][P(CN⋅HCN)2]. Furthermore, we were able to isolate the novel cyanido(halido) silicate dianions of the type [SiCl0.78(CN)5.22]2− and [SiF(CN)5]2− and the hexa-substituted [Si(CN)6]2− by temperature controlled halide/cyanide exchange reactions. By facile neutralization reactions with the non-innocent cation of [Et3HN]2[Si(CN)6] with MOH (M=Li, K), Li2[Si(CN)6] ⋅ 2 H2O and K2[Si(CN)6] were obtained, which form three dimensional coordination polymers. From salt metathesis processes of M2[Si(CN)6] with different imidazolium bromides, we were able to isolate new imidazolium salts and the ionic liquid [BMIm]2[Si(CN)6]. When reacting [Mes(nBu)Im]2[Si(CN)6] with an excess of the strong Lewis acid B(C6F5)3, the voluminous adduct anion {Si[CN⋅B(C6F5)3]6}2− was obtained. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Gmb

Human Behavior and Experiences in Real-Life : The Potential of In-the-Moment Assessment

An affective experience exists in different states - what we forecast the experience to be, what we experience in the actual moment, and what we remember having experienced. However, neither forecasted nor remembered experience is an exact copy of the in-the-moment experience. A great number of studies across various populations and settings has shown that both forecasted and retrospectively remembered experiences tend to be too extreme and systematically biased compared to the actual in-the-moment experience (‘impact bias‘). Most research has examined biases and the resulting divergences between states of experience for outstanding and rather confined events, such as a vacation experiences or medical treatments. The present dissertation expands on this research by focusing on repeated, familiar experiences of daily life, taking eating happiness as an example to enhance the generalizability of the divergence of both forecasts and retrospections compared to in-the-moment experiences. The differentiation between outstanding and repeated day-to-day experiences is important since in the latter case, people have individual past experiences that they can rely on.In a first step, the correspondence between eating happiness as experienced in the moment and forecasted as well as retrospective eating happiness was examined in a real-life setting, taking the entire food intake of participants into account. Comparing eating happiness experienced in the moment to forecasted eating happiness revealed the prevalence of a considerable discrepancy whose magnitude was affected by both person-specific differences such as dispositional expectations towards eating (‘foodiness’) and experience-specific aspects such as the variability of the in-the-moment experience. More specifically, people with a low tendency towards foodiness displayed not only more variability in their in-the-moment experiences but also a greater discrepancy between forecasted and in-the-moment experiences compared to people with a high tendency towards foodiness. However, no interaction was revealed between dispositional expectation and variability of in-the-moment experiences regarding forecasting accuracy, indicating that the variability of the in-the-moment experience impacts the accuracy of forecasts equally across all participants.Furthermore, retrospective eating happiness as manifested in the general belief that unhealthy foods are tasty, was compared to eating happiness experienced in the moment. The results across food categories and meal types indicated that the general belief does not represent the actual in-the-moment experience correctly. Specifically, the consumption of healthy choices such as fruits and vegetables and stereotypically unhealthy choices such as sweets and pastries evoked comparable eating happiness in the moment of consumption. In addition, analyses on the meal level revealed comparable eating happiness for dinner and snacking.The second step focused on the actual in-the-moment experience. The potential and effectiveness of mobile technologies such as smartphone apps that have the technical capability to counteract both biases in forecasts and retrospections by focusing on in-the-moment behavior and experiences was examined. More specifically, a systematic review and meta-analysis including 41 studies and 373 outcomes was conducted to examine the effectiveness of app-based mobile interventions that target nutrition behaviors and nutrition-related health outcomes. The results indicated a positive effect of app-based mobile interventions for changing both nutrition behaviors and nutrition-related health outcomes, including obesity indices and blood parameters. In addition, moderator analysis including study design, type of app, sample, and intervention characteristics, did not reveal significant effects, which underlines the potential of interventions that use an in-the-moment approach.Discussing the findings of the present dissertation, benefits and trade-offs regarding the assessment of different states of an affective experience are displayed. Furthermore, the validity of forecasted, in-the-moment and retrospective experience regarding different life domains and research aims is discussed along with the implications and functions of overestimations in forecasts and retrospective evaluations. Following this, the potential and opportunities of smartphone apps not only to change behaviors and related outcomes but also to increase learning from past experiences are illustrated, demonstrating a possibility to improve the correspondence between forecasted, retrospective and in-the-moment experiences.publishe

App-based interventions to improve cancer outcomes rely on informational support from professionals: a systematic review.

The importance of social support for cancer patients is well-established, and mobile applications hold promise for implementation. This systematic review examines app-based interventions with social support components for cancer patients, investigating the use of different support functions from different sources and the impact on cancer-related symptoms and psychological outcomes. A systematic search across five databases (EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science) yielded 449 records, of which 17 studies (12 controlled designs) were included. Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed study quality, revealing a high risk of bias across studies. Social support was implemented through different app functions, including contact/chat functions (n = 9), automatic alerts based on app input (n = 6) and discussion forums (n = 5). Social support predominantly focused on informational support (n = 17), mostly from healthcare professionals. Emotional support was less common (n = 7). Results indicated some promising intervention effects for pain, fatigue, nausea/vomiting, insomnia, constipation and overall symptom distress, but heterogeneous effects for health-related quality of life. Overall, results were mixed, but indicate that mobile apps incorporating social support may hold promise for cancer patients. However, future studies should focus on measuring and reporting social support as an intervention mechanism to systematically investigate its specific impact and improve effectiveness.HighlightsApps for cancer patients predominantly include informational social supportEmotional social support is substantially less frequently includedApps focus on formal support sources like healthcare professionalsFirst results are somewhat promising for improving cancer-related symptoms

Compendium of dyadic intervention techniques (DITs) to change health behaviours: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Dyadic interventions for health behaviour change involving the romantic partner are promising. However, it often remains unclear how exactly the partner is involved in dyadic interventions. We propose a novel compendium of dyadic intervention techniques (DITs) that facilitates systematic description of dyadic interventions in terms of who performs what for whom during intervention delivery and subsequent implementation. OBJECTIVE We aimed to systematically characterise dyadic interventions along their degree of partner involvement and to provide a comprehensive list of DITs used in dyadic interventions with romantic partners. METHODS We systematically reviewed dyadic health behaviour change interventions with controlled designs. We included 165 studies describing 122 distinct dyadic interventions with romantic partners. Interventions were classified along their degree of partner involvement, 160 DITs were extracted, and their frequencies of use counted. RESULTS The majority of interventions (n = 90, 74%) explicitly instructed partners to interact. Half of the DITs were performed jointly by the couple and also targeted the couple. Mostly, couples were instructed to jointly practice communication skills and to jointly perform problem solving for the couple. DISCUSSION The present review contributes to the development of a shared and systematic way of describing dyadic interventions to facilitate cumulation of evidence

Nudging sugar portions : a real-world experiment

BackgroundSugar overconsumption is a major contributor to overweight and obesity, with daily consumption greatly exceeding the WHO’s recommendations. The aim of the present study was to determine whether using a functionally modified sugar shaker as a food environment nudge could be an effective means to reduce the sugar used in hot beverages.MethodsSugar shakers were functionally modified to reduce the amount of sugar in each pour by 47%. A real-world experiment was conducted to compare the amount of added sugar per hot beverage during default and nudge conditions over the course of four weeks (17,233 hot beverages sold) in a university take-away café. In addition, 59 customers were surveyed to evaluate the acceptance of the intervention.ResultsModifying the functional design of sugar shakers resulted in a reduction of added sugar by 20% (d = 1.35) compared to the default condition. In the survey, most participants evaluated the intervention strategy positively.ConclusionThe present real-world experiment demonstrates that a simple environmental intervention can significantly reduce sugar consumption in public places while meeting with consumer approval, making it a promising means of reducing sugar overconsumption.publishe

Memorable meals: The memory-experience gap in day-to-day experiences.

Research shows that retrospective memory is often more extreme than in-the-moment experiences. While investigations into this phenomenon have mostly focused on distinct, one-time experiences, we examined it with respect to recurring day-to-day experiences in the eating domain, focusing on variables of the snapshot model-i.e., the most intense and the final experience. We used a smartphone-based Ecological Momentary Assessment to assess the food intake and eating happiness of 103 participants (82.52% female, Mage = 21.97 years) over eight days, and then calculated their best (positive peak), worst (negative peak) and final experiences. Remembered eating happiness was assessed immediately after the study (immediate recall) and after four weeks (delayed recall). A significant memory-experience gap was revealed at immediate recall (d = .53). Remembered eating happiness was predicted by the worst eating experience (β = .41, p < .001), but not by the best or final eating experience. Analyzing changes over time did not show a significant memory-experience gap at delayed recall, but did reveal a similar influence of the worst eating experience (β = .39, p < .001). Findings indicate that, in the domain of eating, retrospective memory is mainly influenced by negative experiences. Overall, the results indicate that the snapshot model is a valid conceptualization to explain recall of both outstanding and day-to-day experiences

The effectiveness of app-based mobile interventions on nutrition behaviours and nutrition-related health outcomes : A systematic review and meta-analysis

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the effectiveness of app-based mobile interventions for improving nutrition behaviours and nutrition-related health outcomes, including obesity indices (eg, body mass index [BMI]) and clinical parameters (eg, blood lipids). Seven databases were searched for studies published between 2006 and 2017. Forty-one of 10 132 identified records were included, comprising 6348 participants and 373 outcomes with sample sizes ranging from 10 to 833, including 27 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A beneficial effect of app-based mobile interventions was identified for improving nutrition behaviours (g = 0.19; CI, 0.06-0.32, P = .004) and nutrition-related health outcomes (g = 0.23; CI, 0.11-0.36, P < .001), including positive effects on obesity indices (g = 0.30; CI, 0.15-0.45, P < .001), blood pressure (g = 0.21; CI, 0.01-0.42, P = .043), and blood lipids (g = 0.15; CI, 0.03-0.28, P = .018). Most interventions were composed of four behaviour change technique (BCT) clusters, namely, "goals/planning," "feedback/monitoring," "shaping knowledge," and "social support." Moderating effects including study design, type of app (commercial/research app), sample characteristics (clinical/non-clinical sample), and intervention characteristics were not statistically significant. The inclusion of additional treatment components besides the app or the number or type of BCTs implemented did not moderate the observed effectiveness, which underscores the potential of app-based mobile interventions for implementing effective and feasible interventions operating at scale for fighting the obesity epidemic in a broad spectrum of the population.publishe

Developing a Taxonomy of Dyadic Behavior Change Techniques

Health-enhancing behaviors such as being physically active, eating healthily, or using condoms as well as health-compromising behaviors such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption often have a social component. Likewise, a growing literature documents the importance of the social context in shaping health behavior change. Particularly for one of the closest personal relationships during the adult lifespan, the relationship with a romantic partner, researchers have produced a large number of theories and empirical findings to better understand the protective effect of close relationships on health. The specific processes underlying the powerful effect of romantic relationships on health are still far from understood. The majority of behavior change techniques identified in existing taxonomies are at the level of the individual (e.g., goal setting, self-monitoring), and intervention techniques involving any form of interaction with a non-professional dyad member (i.e. dyadic behavior change techniques) are underrepresented or not well differentiated. Thus, to understand dyadic processes in health behavior change, a systematic and reliable identification of dyadic behavior change techniques presents an important next step. The proposed Lead Agency project “Developing a Taxonomy of Dyadic Behavior Change Techniques” strives to tackle this issue

Healthy food choices are happy food choices : evidence from a real life sample using smartphone based assessments

Research suggests that "healthy" food choices such as eating fruits and vegetables have not only physical but also mental health benefits and might be a long-term investment in future well-being. This view contrasts with the belief that high-caloric foods taste better, make us happy, and alleviate a negative mood. To provide a more comprehensive assessment of food choice and well-being, we investigated in-the-moment eating happiness by assessing complete, real life dietary behaviour across eight days using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment. Three main findings emerged: First, of 14 different main food categories, vegetables consumption contributed the largest share to eating happiness measured across eight days. Second, sweets on average provided comparable induced eating happiness to "healthy" food choices such as fruits or vegetables. Third, dinner elicited comparable eating happiness to snacking. These findings are discussed within the "food as health" and "food as well-being" perspectives on eating behaviour.publishe