Photoswitching activation of a ferrocenyl-stilbene analogue by its covalent grafting to gold

Until now, surface-deposited stilbenes have been much less studied than other photochromic systems. Here, an asymmetrically substituted styrene incorporating a redox-active ferrocene moiety and a terminal alkyne group has been synthesised to investigate its photoisomerization in solution, and upon the formation of chemisorbed self-assembled monolayers through a carbon-gold bond formation. Charge transport measurements across the monolayers reveal that upon chemical linkage to the gold substrate there is an alteration of the isomerization pathway, which favours the trans to cis conversion, which is not observed in solution. The experimental observations are interpreted based on quantum chemistry calculations.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry project GENESIS PID2019-111682RB-I00, the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017-SGR-918) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (FUNFUTURE CEX2019-000917-S and CIBER-BBN. The work in Valencia and Madrid is supported by the MINECO-FEDER project CTQ2017-87054. The work in Madrid is further supported by the Spanish Science Ministry through the SEV-2016-0686 and CEX2020-001039-S grants and by the Campus of International Excellence (CEI) UAM + CSIC. D. R.-S. acknowledges the MINECO Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC-2015-19234) and the MDM-2015-0538 María de Maeztu Programme. J. C.-T. thanks (DOC-FAM fellowship, grant agreement Nr.754397 through H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2016). F. B. and J. C -T. are enrolled in the Materials Science PhD program of UAB. F. B. thanks the Spanish Ministry for the FPU fellowship.With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000917-S).Peer reviewe

Non-motor symptoms burden, mood, and gait problems are the most significant factors contributing to a poor quality of life in non-demented Parkinson's disease patients: Results from the COPPADIS Study Cohort

[Objective] To identify factors related to a poor health-related and global quality of life (QoL) in a cohort of non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and compare to a control group.[Methods] The data correspond to the baseline evaluation of the COPPADIS-2015 Study, an observational, 5-year follow-up, multicenter, evaluation study. Three instruments were used to assess QoL: (1) the 39-item Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), (2) a subjective rating of global QoL (PQ-10), and (3) the EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index (EUROHIS-QOL8). Multiple linear regression methods were used to evaluate the direct impact of different variables on these QoL measures.[Results] QoL was worse in PD patients (n = 692; 62.6 ± 8.9 years old, 60.3% males) than controls (n = 206; 61 ± 8.3 years old, 49.5% males): PDQ-39, 17.1 ± 13.5 vs 4.4 ± 6.3 (p < 0.0001); PQ-10, 7.3 ± 1.6 vs 8.1 ± 1.2 (p < 0.0001); EUROHIS-QOL8, 3.8 ± 0.6 vs 4.2 ± 0.5 (p < 0.0001). A high correlation was observed between PDQ-39 and Non-Motor Symptoms Scale (NMSS) (r = 0.72; p < 0.0001), and PDQ-39 and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) (r = 0.65; p < 0.0001). For health-related QoL (PDQ-39), non-motor symptoms burden (NMSS), mood (BDI-II), and gait problems (Freezing Of Gait Questionnaire [FOGQ]) provided the highest contribution to the model (β = 0.32, 0.28, and 0.27, respectively; p < 0.0001); whereas mood and gait problems contributed the most to global QoL (PQ-10, β = -0.46 and −0.21, respectively; EUROHIS-QOL8, β = -0.44 and −0.23, respectively).[Conclusions] QoL is worse in PD patients than in controls. Mood, non-motor symptoms burden, and gait problems seem to be the most relevant factors affecting health-related and global perceived QoL in non-demented PD patients.Peer reviewe