46 research outputs found
Mental health around the transition to first birth: Does medically assisted reproduction matter?
No full textPrevious research has shown that childbearing is associated with short-term improvements in women's subjective well-being but that these effects depend on the timing and quantum of the birth as well as on the parents' education and socioeconomic status. These studies did not address whether and, if so, how this effect varies according to the mode of conception. This represents an important knowledge gap, given that conceptions through medically assisted reproduction (MAR) have been increasing rapidly in recent decades, exceeding 5% of live births in some European countries. Drawing on nine waves (2009/2010–2017/2018) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we use distributed fixed-effects linear regression models to examine changes in women's mental health before, during, and after natural and MAR conceptions. The results show that the mental health of women who conceived naturally improved around the time of conception and then gradually returned to baseline levels; comparatively, the mental health of women who conceived through MAR declined in the year before pregnancy and then gradually recovered. The findings also indicate that women's happiness decreased both two years and one year before an MAR conception and then increased above the baseline in the year of pregnancy. We further show that the deterioration in mental health and subjective well-being before an MAR conception affects both partners, which could be part of a longer process in which the partners potentially suffer from stress related not solely to the MAR treatments themselves but also to the experience of subfertility
FT-IR analysis of pure C3S hydration in diluted solutions and effect of graphene oxide on the hydrated products.
No full textTre note di apertura
No full textAnalisi della crtitica di Hayek al totalitarismo nel più ampio contesto del dibattito sul totalitarismo nel Secondo dopoguerr
Medically assisted reproduction and mental health: a 24-year longitudinal analysis using Finnish register data
No full textBackground: Medically assisted reproduction (MAR) can negatively impact women's mental health, particularly when the treatments do not result in a live birth. While the number of women relying on MAR to conceive has grown rapidly, our knowledge about the mental health effects before, during, and after treatment is limited. /
Objective: To understand the long-term association between medically assisted reproduction and mental health outcomes for women before, during and after their treatments, and according to whether the treatment resulted in a live birth or not. /
Study design: Using Finnish register data for the period 1995-2018 we estimated the probability of psychotropic purchases (antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives) for three groups of women who: 1) gave birth after natural conception (NC), 2) gave birth after MAR treatments (MAR+), or 3) underwent MAR but remained childless (MAR-). We followed women for up to 12 years before and 12 years after the reference date which corresponded to the conception date for women who had a first live birth either after a natural or a MAR conception, or the date of the last MAR treatment for women with no live birth by the end of 2017. We estimated linear probability models before and after the adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics. /
Results: The results show that women who did not have a live birth after undergoing MAR treatments purchased more psychotropics than women who gave birth after conceiving naturally or through MAR, and that these differences did not attenuate over time. 12 years after the reference date 17.73% (95% CI: 16.82-18.63) of MAR- women purchased psychotropics, versus 11.11% of NC (95% CI: 10.98-11.26) and 12.17% (95% CI: 11.65-12.69) of MAR+ women. In addition, women who conceived naturally and through MAR had very similar psychotropic use patterns from three years before conception to four years after, and over the long term. Adjustment for women's socio-demographic characteristics did not change the results. /
Conclusions: The similarities in psychotropic purchases of women who had a live birth, whether naturally or through MAR, suggest that the higher psychotropic use among women who remained childless after undergoing MAR were likely driven more by involuntary childlessness than by treatment-related stress. The results highlight the importance of counselling for women undergoing MAR treatments, especially if their attempts to conceive are unsuccessful
Effect of the embedment of carbon doped nanocomposites in a real matrix on the enhanced photocatalytic activity
No full textSolar light can be used by semiconductor nanocrystals as a free and largely available source of energy to transform air pollutants into non-volatile less harmful chemicals. The efficiency of this process can be enhanced by doping the semiconductor with carbon-based materials, such as graphene. Nevertheless, such an increased activity has been reported (i) for nanocomposite photocatalysts produced on the research laboratory scale, (ii) analyzing their performance as self-standing photocatalysts and not after incorporation into “real” matrixes (e.g. building materials) and (iii) typically using model target pollutants instead of “real” hazardous ones. Here we describe the large-scale preparation of two series of carbon based photocatalysts starting from commercial materials and we demonstrate their superior photocatalytic activity in degrading important air pollutants as nitrogen oxides, compared to undoped photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by NOx abatement adopting the continuous flow procedure and the apparatus reported in the Italian standard UNI 11,247. Best performing materials were incorporated into two different inorganic matrixes (cement and lime). In both cases, the superior photocatalytic performances were maintained. An improvement up to 42±7% of the photocatalytic activity was measured in the case of a cement sample for a carbon-doped photocatalyst with respect to bare TiO2 . The materials were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, high resolution powder X-ray diffraction (HR-PXRD), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and micro-Raman
Graphene oxide as a cement reinforcing additive. Preliminary study
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALELo scopo di questo lavoro di tesi `e la sintesi di grafene ossido e l’osservazione
della sua efficacia come additivo rinforzante in materiali cementizi.
Il grafene ossido `e stato sintetizzato attraverso ossidazione chimica di
grafite in polvere in presenza di acido solforico (H2SO4), nitrato di sodio
(NaNO3) e permanganato di potassio (KMnO4) seguendo la procedura
messa a punto da Hummer. Il grafene ossido (GO), cos`ı sintetizzato, `e stato
lavato diverse volte e trattato con ultrasuoni per assicurarne la completa
esfoliazione. Parte della soluzione acquosa contenente il GO `e stata essiccata
in forno per 24 ore a 70 C, ottenendo dei film di colore nero utilizzati
successivamente per la caratterizzazione del GO stesso e per la sintesi
dell’ossido di grafene chimicamente modificato con una polieterammina
(Jeffammine M600). Abbiamo sottoposto il GO a diversi trattamenti termici
per determinare la sua stabilit`a termica e quella dei gruppi funzionali
formatisi dopo l’ossidazione. Il grafene ossido chimicamente modificato `e
stato ottenuto attraverso una reazione di funzionalizzazione tra il GO e la
Jeffammine M600 in presenza di dimetil solfossido (DMSO) come solvente
e di dimetil amminopiridina (DMAP) come catalizzatore. La soluzione `e
stata mantenuta in agitazione e in atmosfera di azoto per tutto la durata
della reazione. Il prodotto ottenuto, GO-Jeffamine M600, `e stato sottoposto
ad una fase di purificazione per poi essere essiccato in forno a 70 C per
24 ore. Il GO ed il GO-Jeffammine M600 sono stati caratterizzati utilizzando
diverse tecniche:
- Spettroscopia Infrarossa e Raman: spettroscopie vibrazionali che
forniscono informazioni a livello molecolare dei gruppi funzionali
presenti;- Spettrometria ad Emissione Ottica e Analisi Elementare: utilizzata per
determinare la quantit`a relativa degli elementi presenti nei campioni;
- Diffrattometria a raggi-X: usata al fine di ottenere informazioni sulla
struttura cristallografica del materiale;
- Analisi Termogravimetriche: forniscono le variazioni delle propriet`a
fisiche e chimiche dei campioni in funzione della temperatura;
- Microscopia Elettronica a Trasmissione: permette di ottenere immagini
dei provini grazie all’interazione tra gli elettroni e il campione;
- Diffrazione Elettronica: fornisce informazioni sulla struttura cristallografica
dei materiali.
La preparazione dei campioni di malta additivata con il GO `e stata
effettuata in ambiente controllato, con umidit`a relativa e temperatura
costante (20 2 C). I provini sono stati confezionati miscelando il cemento
con sabbia, acqua, super fluidificante (PCs) e diverse quantit`a di GO per
poi essere testati in compressione, in flessione ed analizzati utilizzando:
- Microscopia Elettronica a Scansione: al fine di ottenere informazioni
sulla morfologia dei cristalli di cemento;
- Spettroscopia a Dispersione di Energia: per rilevare informazioni
sulla distribuzione degli elementi presenti nei campioni.This work aims to the synthesis of graphene oxide and to investigate its
effect on the mechanical resistance of the cement base composites.
Starting from graphite powder we performed a chemical oxidation using
sulfuric acid (H2SO4), sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and potassium permanganate
(KMnO4) following the Hummer’s method. The graphene oxide
sludge has been washed several times and then sonicated to ensure the
complete exfoliation of the platelets. The GO has been dried in the oven for
24 hours at 70 C obtaining black films used for the characterization and
for the synthesis of the chemically modified graphene oxide with Jeffamine
M600. The GO has been also subjected to different thermal treatment to
observe its thermal stability with increasing temperature. The functionalization
of the GO with the Jeffamine M600 (polyetheramine), has been
performed using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as solvent, dimethylaminopyridine
(DMAP) as catalyst and maintaining the solution under stirring and
nitrogen. After the purification stage the GO-Jeffamine M600 has been dried
in over for 24 hours at 70 C. The GO and the GO-Jeffamine M600 samples
were characterized with several techniques:
- Infrared and Raman spectroscopy: vibrational spectroscopy that provides
information at molecular level of the functional groups that are
present in the samples;
- Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry and Elemental
Analyses: determines the concentration of element present in
the analyzed samples;
- X-Ray Diffraction Analyses: gives information about the crystallographic
structure of the specimens;- Thermogravimetric Analyses: changes of physical and chemical properties
of the materials are measured as function of the increasing
temperature;
- Transmission Electron Microscopy: an image of the samples is formed
due to the interaction of the electrons transmitted through the specimens;
- Selected Area Electron Diffraction: provides information about the
crystallographic structure.
The preparations of the mortar composites specimens was carried out in
a controlled environment, with constant relative humidity and temperature
(20 2 C). The specimens was prepared by mixing cement, standard
sand, water, superplasticizer (PCs) and different amount of GO. The mortars
samples were tested for the compression and flexural resistance and
characterized using:
- Scanning Electron Microscopy: gives information about the morphology
of the hydrated crystals;
- Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy: provides the distribution of elements
present in the samples
Volontà generale, finitudine umana, apocatastasi e responsabilità
No full textIt concerns the Conception of Man's Will in G. W. Leibniz, N. Malebranche, A. Arnauld, R. Descartes, and L. de Molina.status: Publishe
