Synthesis and photochromic properties of a bis(diarylethene)-naphthopyran hybrid

The synthesis and photochromic properties of a triphotochromic molecule consisting of one naphthopyran flanked by two diarylethene units investigated by UV-Visible and NMR spectroscopies are reported. Six different states resulting from the open/closed naphthopyran associated with one or two open/cyclized diarylethenes have been characterized. Switching of the naphthopyran group is possible, independently of the state of the diarylethene groups, permitting the controlled generation of electronically connected diarylethene groups. However, the diarylethene groups cannot be closed if the naphthopyran group is open

When Opinion Leaders Endorse Products — What Marketers Take Advantage of and Consumers Misconceive

This conceptual paper explores the influence of opinion leaders, the elements of credibility, and draws on endorsement literature to illustrate how opinion leaders are perceived as credible sources in the market. The paper proposes a new type of opinion leader — the celebrity expert endorser (CEE). The CEE is characterized by the typical opinion leader behaviour in the form of information dissemination and the inherent motivation to collect information to pass it on to opinion seekers. However, the CEE also cooperates with marketers, manufacturers, and corporations and engages in some form of endorsement. As a result, the CEE walks a fine line between opinion leadership and endorsement, which makes it difficult for consumers to interpret the disseminated information. Two marketing strategies, representing common practices in the industry, serve as examples of how marketers utilize the influence of opinion leaders and how these strategies lead to distorted perceptions of consumers

East African trypanosomiasis in Nkhotakota district

A marked increase in trypanosomiasis has been seen at Nkhotakota District Hospital since September 1989. This report presents background information, the extent of the recent outbreak and a suggested revised treatment protocol. Suggestions are made for preventative measures against the spread of trypanosomiasis

Depressive symptoms and quality of life in people with age-related macular degeneration

Purpose: To examine quality of life and associated factors in people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Methods: One hundred and forty-five AMD participants (mean age 78.0 +/- 7.7 years) and 104 age- and gender- matched controls (mean age 78.1 +/- 5.8 years) comprised the study populations for this case-control study. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression (GAD) scale; general health and daily functioning was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) and questions relating to assistance required for daily living activities. Results: People with AMD performed more poorly than controls on the GAD depression scale, and physical functioning subscale of SF-36. 44.4% of people with AMD had clinically significant depressive symptoms compared to 17.5% of controls (p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that AMD was independently associated with depressive symptoms and a path model indicated that AMD led to depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly via reduced general health and social functioning. Conclusion: Psychological and functional outcome measures are reduced in people with AMD. Earlier recognition and treatment of depressive symptoms in people with AMD may be crucial to maintaining quality of life in this group

Phylogenetic Study of the Evolution of PEP-Carboxykinase

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) is the key enzyme to initiate the gluconeogenic pathway in vertebrates, yeast, plants and most bacteria. Nucleotide specificity divided all PCKs into two groups. All the eukaryotic mammalian and most archaeal PCKs are GTP-specific. Bacterial and fungal PCKs can be ATP-or GTP-specific but all plant PCKs are ATP-specific. Amino acid sequence alignment of PCK enzymes shows that the nucleotide binding sites are somewhat conserved within each class with few exceptions that do not have any clear ATP- or GTP-specific binding motif. Although the active site residues are mostly conserved in all PCKs, not much significant sequence homology persists between ATP- and GTP-dependent PCK enzymes. There is only one planctomycetes PCK enzyme (from Cadidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis) that shows sequence homology with both ATP-and GTP-dependent PCKs. Phylogenetic studies have been performed to understand the evolutionary relationship of various PCKs from different sources. Based on this study a flowchart of the evolution of PCK has been proposed

Working Paper 14-08 - Examen des méthodes et analyse de 6 projets de prospective participative. Etude préliminaire au 4° Rapport fédéral sur le développement durable

Sustainable development, Forecast, Participation

The role of concern about falling on stepping performance during complex activities

Background There is limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms explaining the role of concern about falling on fall risk in older people. Anxiety is known to interact with cognitive resources and, as people get older, they require more cognitive resources to maintain balance. This might affect an individual's ability to perform cognitive-motor tasks concurrently. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a visuospatial dual-task on stepping performance in older people with and without concern about falling and the impact of repeating this task in those with high concern about falling. Methods Three-hundred-eight community-dwelling older people, aged 70 to 90 years old, participated in the study. Participants were asked to perform a Choice Stepping Reaction Time (CSRT) task in two conditions; once without any other tasks (single task condition), and once while simultaneously performing a visuospatial task (dual-task condition). Participants were asked to rate their levels of concern and confidence specifically related to each of the 25 stepping trials (before/after). We also measured general concern about falling, affect, and sensorimotor and cognitive functioning. Results Total stepping reaction times increased when participants also performed the visuospatial task. The relation between general concern about falling and stepping reaction time, was affected by sensorimotor and executive functioning. Generalised linear mixed models showed that the group with moderate to high levels of general concern about falling had slower total stepping reaction times than those with lower levels of concern about falling, especially during the dual-task condition. Individuals with greater general concern about falling showed reduced confidence levels about whether they could do the stepping tasks under both conditions. Repeatedly performing the stepping task reduced the immediate task-specific concern about falling levels and increased confidence in all participants. Conclusions These findings reveal that people with higher general concern about falling experienced more difficulties during a dual-task condition than people with lower levels of concern. Of further interest, better sensorimotor and cognitive functioning reduced this effect. Graded exposure has potential to reduce concern about falling during fear-evoking activities, especially in conjunction with therapies that improve balance, mood and cognitive function

The falls efficacy scale international (FES-I): a comprehensive longitudinal validation study

Method: five hundred community-dwelling older people (70-90 years) were assessed on the FES-I in conjunction with demographic, physiological and neuropsychological measures at baseline and at 12 months. Falls were monitored monthly and fear of falling every 3 months. Results: the overall structure and measurement properties of both FES-I scales, as evaluated with item response theory, were good. Discriminative ability on physiological and neuropsychological measures indicated excellent validity, both at baseline (n = 500, convergent validity) and at 1-year follow-up (n = 463, predictive validity). The longitudinal follow-up suggested that FES-I scores increased over time regardless of any fall event, with a trend for a stronger increase in FES-I scores when a person suffered multiple falls in a 3-month period. Additionally, using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves, cut-points were defined to differentiate between lower and higher levels of concern. Conclusions: the current study builds on the previously established psychometric properties of the FES-I. Both scales have acceptable structures, good validity and reliability and can be recommended for research and clinical purposes. Future studies should explore the FES-I's responsiveness to change during intervention studies and confirm suggested cut-points in other settings, larger samples and across different cultures

Reconceptualizing the role of fear of falling and balance confidence in fall risk

Objective: This article aimed to critically examine preexisting conceptualizations of the relationship among fear of falling, falls efficacy, and falls and to offer a new theoretical model incorporating findings from the recent literature. Method: This is a theoretical article based on a review of preexisting findings pertaining to fear of falling and falls efficacy. Results: Traditional conceptualizations consider avoidance of activity and deconditioning to be mediators in the relationship between fear of falling and falls, but recent findings suggest that this mediational conceptualization may not be accurate. Moreover, the terms falls efficacy and fear of falling are often used interchangeably in the literature, which is conceptually problematic. Discussion: We conclude with the presentation and discussion of an alternative predictive model of fear of falling that incorporates important findings from the recent literature

Quality evaluation of fresh and bloomed filled chocolates in House of Quality

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