A hybrid model, combining influence diagrams and a multicriteria method, is presented in order to assist with the decision making about which questions would be more attractive to the definition of the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, considering the stages of CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating). Due to the increase in life expectancy there is higher incidence of dementias. Alzheimer’s disease is t...

Objective: Compulsive Internet Use (CIU) has been linked to lower wellbeing, especially among adolescents. Yet, questions regarding the directionality of this association remain unanswered: CIU may influence wellbeing and vice versa. Theoretically, both directions are plausible, yet so far no studies have examined the directionality of these effects among adults. This article aims to shed light...

Four studies demonstrate the potential influence of name similarity on perceptions of similarity to oneself in general, liking, and compliance. Some participants received a scenario in which the protagonist’s name was similar to their own. These participants indicated that the character was more similar to themselves, reported greater liking for the person, and expressed more willingness to com...

[reaction: see text] The beneficial influence of cis-isopropylidene acetal tether control groups, to facilitate the asymmetric synthesis of substituted decalins by intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions, is described. Compared to trans-acetonides, these cases proceed under milder conditions to afford the cis-fused adducts from an endo transition state. An unusual acetonitrile solvent effect exert...

Praziquantel has been shown to be highly effective against all known species of Schistosoma infecting humans. Spherical nanoparticulate drug carriers made of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) acid with controlled size were designed. Praziquantel, a hydrophobic molecule, was entrapped into the nanoparticles with theoretical loading varying from 10 to 30% (w/w). This study investigates the effects o...

A new method for determination of volatile terpenoids in wine is proposed. An off-line solid phase extraction—gas chromatographic method has been used for the determination. The influence of several extraction variables was studied, including the solid phase employed (C-18 versus divinylbenzene-based), eluting solvent (n-pentane, dichloromethane, ethanol and methanol), volume of eluting solvent...

The gas-phase structure of the conjugate base of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (and related compounds) and the influence of the solvent used in its generation by electrospray ionization have recently been under debate. While the phenoxide structure is known to be lower in energy in the gas phase, the carboxylate structure is favored in aqueous solution, fuelling the controversy. Here we probe the struc...

In this research, an efficient synthesis toward 2-(2-((4-Methoxybenzoyl)imino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)thiazol-3(2H)-yl)-2-phenylacetic acid via a three-component tandem reaction using aroylisothiocyanate, phenyl glycine, and 4-methoxyphenacyl bromide in an ionic liquid (IL) has been described. 1-Methyl-3-pentylimidazolium bromide (IL) has been employed as a recyclable green solvent. The work-up pro...

We present theoretical analyses of two different aspects ofthe time dependence of the fluorescence Stokes shift in polar liquids. We show that a small deviation from the Debye form for the dielectric relaxation of the solvent can strongly influence the time evolution of the Stokes shift. Using the Davidson-Cole form for dielectric response we find a stretched exponential time dependence as obse...

Polymer translocation through a narrow pore is investigated using a particle-based dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method. A rigid core is included in each particle to avoid particle interpenetration problems based on the original DPD method. Electrostatic interactions of charged particles are simply represented via screened Coulombic interactions. The average translocation time t versus po...