35 research outputs found
Sowing in the autumn season : exploring benefits of green care farms for dementia patients
No full textIn the Netherlands an increasing number of farms combine agricultural production with care services for people with care needs. It is generally believed that these green care farms (GCFs) have beneficial effects on the health status of a diversity of target groups. At present, empirical studies testing this hypothesis are scarce. The main objective of the studies described in this thesis was to gain insight into the potential benefits of day care at GCFs for community‐dwelling older dementia patients. Day care at GCFs was therefore compared with day care at regular day care facilities (RDCFs). In view of the differences between both day care types regarding the day care setting and day care program it was hypothesized that they would differ in their effects on the health status of dementia patients. In two cross‐sectional studies it was tested to what extent the day program of dementia patients at GCFs differed from those at RDCFs. It appeared that at GCFs, dementia patients were (physically) more active, participated in more diverse activities, were more outdoors, and had more opportunities to perform activities in smaller groups than those at RDCFs. It was tested whether these differences resulted into different effects for five domains of health: dietary intake, cognition, emotional well‐being, behaviour, and functional performance. In a comparative cross‐sectional study dietary intake of dementia patients attending day care at GCFs or RDCFs was recorded both at home and during their time at the day care facility. The study showed that dementia patients attending day care at GCFs had significantly higher intakes of energy, carbohydrate, and fluid than their counterparts attending day care at RDCFs. In a cohort study, rates of change during 1 year in cognitive functioning, emotional well‐being, behavioural symptoms, and functional performance were compared between dementia patients attending day care at GCFs and RDCFs. Functioning in these domains remained rather stable and no differences were observed between subjects from GCFs and RDCFs. In the cohort study, also caregiver burden of family caregivers of these dementia patients was assessed. Caregivers’ quality of life, emotional distress, and feelings of competence remained rather stable in family caregivers of dementia patients from both day care settings. In conclusion, the present work has shown that GCFs exceeded RDCFs in offering older dementia patients a diverse day program and in stimulating their dietary intake. The latter may result into a better preserved nutritional status in dementia patients attending day care at GCFs than in those attending day care at RDCFs. GCFs and RDCFs were equally effective in preventing significant decrease of cognitive functioning, emotional well‐being, and functional performance and in preventing significant increase of the number of behavioural symptoms. Both day care types further prevented significant increase of caregiver burden. Day care at GCFs is a new and valuable addition to the present care modalities for community‐dwelling older dementia patients and their caregiver
Erratum: Quality of initial anticoagulant treatment and risk of CTEPH after acute pulmonary embolism (PLoS ONE (2020) 15: 4 (e0232354) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232354)
No full textThe second author's initials and the seventh author's initials are indexed incorrectly in PubMed. The correct initials for the second author are: van Rein N. The correct initials for the seventh author are: van der Meer FJM. The second author's initials also appear incorrectly in the citation. The correct citation is: Boon GJAM, van Rein N, Bogaard HJ, Ende-Verhaar YM, Huisman MV, Kroft LJM, et al. (2020) Quality of initial anticoagulant treatment and risk of CTEPH after acute pulmonary embolism. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0232354. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232354
Aqueous nanoparticle polymer solar cells: effects of surfactant concentration and processing on device performance
No full textPolymer solar cells based on PDPP5T and PCBM as donor and acceptor materials, respectively, were processed from aqueous nanoparticle dispersions. Careful monitoring and optimization of the concentration of free and surface-bound surfactants in the dispersion, by measuring the conductivity and ζ-potential, is essential to avoid aggregation of nanoparticles at low concentration and dewetting of the film at high concentration. The surfactant concentration is crucial for creating reproducible processing conditions that aid in further developing aqueous nanoparticle processed solar cells. In addition, the effects of adding ethanol, of aging the dispersion, and of replacing [60]PCBM with [70]PCBM to enhance light absorption were studied. The highest power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) obtained are 2.0% for [60]PCBM and 2.4% for [70]PCBM-based devices. These PCEs are limited by bimolecular recombination of photogenerated charges. Cryo-TEM reveals that the two components phase separate in the nanoparticles, forming a PCBM-rich core and a PDPP5T-rich shell and causing a nonoptimal film morphology
How do labour market experiences affect political attitudes? : analysing the political effects of labour market dualisation in Spain
No full textThis paper analyses the effects of labour market dualisation in Spain on political attitudes. It explores the extent to which the very high levels of labour market precarity attached to fixed-term contracts in Spain might have led to 1) political radicalisation; 2) political apathy; 4) electoral abstention and 3) punishment voting against the incumbent party. The research is based on a survey undertaken in 1995 by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research on a representative sample of 4,000 adults. Our analysis shows that labour market experiences in the flexible segment of the Spanish labour market might have had significant effects on political attitudes and electoral behaviour. These effects are largely mediated by ideological maps. Further research on the micro mechanisms that link labour market experiences to attitudinal outcomes casts doubts as to the importance of economic deprivation in the causal process. Our analysis suggests that it is rather the experience of labour insecurity per se that triggers attitudinal effects. It is hoped that this paper will generate discussion on the formation of new political cleavages in Spain and that it will contribute to further our understanding of the mechanisms that link labour market experiences to attitudinal outcomes.The author wishes to thank the Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (SEC96-0703), which funded parts of this researchPeer reviewe
Subnaphthalocyanines as electron acceptors in polymer solar cells: Improving device performance by modifying peripheral and axial substituents
No full textA new class of subnaphthalocyanines bearing various peripheral and axial substituents have been synthesized for use as electron acceptors in solution-processed bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells. The resulting solar cells exhibit modest photovoltaic performance with contributions from both the polymer donor and subnaphthalocyanine acceptor to the photocurrent
Beneficial effects of sennoside B on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rats
No full textBackground: Epilepsy is a common disorder affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide. Oxidative stress is known to play an important role in the pathophysiology of diseases, including epilepsy. In this study, we investigated the effects of sennoside B on PTZ-induced seizures in rats. Method: The rats were grouped into Group Electroencephalography and Group Behavioral. Both Groups were divided into eight subgroups, and these subgroups were compared in terms of the time of first myoclonic jerk, Racine’s Convulsion Scale, malondialdehyde levels, and brain superoxide dismutase activity. The experimental seizure model was performed with pentylenetetrazol. Results: The spike percentage was significantly lower in groups that received sennoside B, and this beneficial effect was shown to be associated with the dose of sennoside B received. The RCS score was lower and the FJM onset time was higher in the sennoside B-administered groups. Additionally, brain MDA and brain aquaporin-3 levels were lower and brain SOD activity was higher in the sennoside-administered groups. Conclusions: The present study shows the beneficial effects of sennoside B on PTZ-induced convulsion in rats. It is considered that sennoside B which is a natural and safe product would be a good candidate for strengthening the management of epilepsy without serious side effects. © The Author(s) 2023
Effect of Alkyl Side Chains of Conjugated Polymer Donors on the Device Performance of Non-Fullerene Solar Cells
No full textThe influence of the chemical structure
of conjugated polymers
on the nanophase separation and device performance in fullerene-based
solar cells has been widely studied, while this is less investigated
in non-fullerene solar cells. In this work, we design three conjugated
polymers with different length of side chains, and we find that the
length of side chains has little influence on the quantum efficiencies
of non-fullerene solar cells. As a comparison, the length of side
chains has a significant effect on the quantum efficiencies of fullerene-based
solar cells. This indicates that morphology of the blended thin films
in non-fullerene solar cells is rather independent of the length of
the donor side chains, and the mechanism for morphology evolution
in the non-fullerene system is completely different from that in the
fullerene system. Our conclusion is confirmed by a variety of advanced
characterization techniques. The studies reveal that in blended thin
films based on the non-fullerene material the donor polymers with
different side chains have a similar coherence length of π–π
stacking, crystal size and domain purity, giving rise to similar internal
quantum efficiency and power conversion efficiency of the solar cells
Thiophene rings improve the device performance of conjugated polymers in polymer solar cells with thick active layers
No full textDeveloping novel materials that tolerate thickness variations of the active layer is critical to further enhance the efficiency of polymer solar cells and enable large-scale manufacturing. Presently, only a few polymers afford high efficiencies at active layer thickness exceeding 200 nm and molecular design guidelines for developing successful materials are lacking. It is thus highly desirable to identify structural factors that determine the performance of semiconducting conjugated polymers in thick-film polymer solar cells. Here, it is demonstrated that thiophene rings, introduced in the backbone of alternating donor–acceptor type conjugated polymers, enhance the fill factor and overall efficiency for thick (>200 nm) solar cells. For a series of fluorinated semiconducting polymers derived from electron-rich benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene units and electron-deficient 5,6-difluorobenzo[2,1,3]thiazole units a steady increase of the fill factor and power conversion efficiency is found when introducing thiophene rings between the donor and acceptor units. The increased performance is a synergistic result of an enhanced hole mobility and a suppressed bimolecular charge recombination, which is attributed to more favorable polymer chain packing and finer phase separation
The effect of side-chain substitution on the aggregation and photovoltaic performance of diketopyrrolopyrrole-alt-dicarboxylic ester bithiophene polymers
No full textUsing a dicarboxylic ester bithiophene (DCBT) co-monomer, electron-withdrawing ester groups are introduced on the two central thiophene rings of an alternating donor-acceptor polymer (PDPP4T) consisting of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and quaterthiophene (4T) to increase the oxidation potential and reduce the photon energy loss in solar cells. To counteract the increased solubility of the PDPPDCBT polymers owing to the ester side chains, linear instead of branched side chains were used on the DPP monomer. The length of the ester side chains was varied to study their effect on the optoelectronic properties, morphology and photovoltaic performance of these polymers in bulk-heterojunction blends with PC71BM as acceptor. The molecular weight of PDPPDCBT is limited, because the bisstannyl-DPP monomer could not be completely purified from mono-functional analogues. By using a non-stoichiometric monomer ratio or a branching unit, the molecular weights were improved to ∼35 kDa. A maximum power conversion efficiency of PCE = 5.7% was obtained. Compared to the parent PDPP4T (PCE 7.0%), the photon energy loss for the best PDPPDCBT was reduced from 0.79 to 0.76 eV, but the photon-to-electron quantum efficiency was reduced, as a consequence of a too coarse phase separation, as studied with two-dimensional grazing-incidence X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy
