Existential Loneliness Among Older People from the Perspective of Health Care Professionals: A European Multicenter Study.

Introduction: Health care professionals (HCPs) encounter different forms of loneliness in their work. It is essential that they have the courage, skills, and tools to deal with loneliness, in particular with existential loneliness (EL) which relates to meaning in life and the fundamentals of living and dying. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate HCPs' views on loneliness among older people and their understanding, perception, and professional experience of EL in older people. Materials and Methods: In all, 139 HCPs from five European countries participated in audio-recorded focus group and individual interviews. The transcribed materials were locally analyzed using a predefined template. The participating countries' results were then translated, merged, and inductively analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: Participants described different forms of loneliness - a negative form that is unwanted and causes suffering, and a positive form where solitude is desired and sought. The results showed that the HCPs' knowledge and understanding of EL varied. The HCPs mainly related EL to different types of loss, eg loss of autonomy, independence, hope, and faith, and to concern alienation, guilt, regret and remorse, and concerns about the future. Discussion and Conclusions: The HCPs expressed a need to improve their sensitivity and self-confidence to engage in existential conversations. They also stated the need to increase their knowledge and understanding of aging, death, and dying. Based on these results, a training program aimed to increase knowledge and understanding of older people's situation has been developed. The program includes practical training in conversations about emotional and existential aspects, based on recurrent reflections on the topics presented. The program is available at: www.aloneproject.eu.

Syntheses, crystal structures and antioxidant study of Zn(II) complexes with morin-5'-sulfonic acid (MSA).

The study of modified synthetic procedure of water soluble morin-5'-sulfonic acid sodium salt (NaMSA) involving less aggressive chemicals and carried out at mild conditions was described. The NaMSA salt is a convenient source of anionic morin-5'-sulfonic ligand (MSA) in ion exchange reactions. The coordination ability of MSA ligand towards the zinc cations was investigated in aqueous solution and in solid state. Novel zinc complexes of morin-5'-sulfonate were obtained by a reaction of Zn(NO3)2 with morin-5'-sulfonate in water. Resulting compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as spectral and thermal methods. The coordination interaction, hydrogen bond and π-π stacking lead to the formation of a 1D chain or 3D coordination polymers. The antioxidant activity of the Zn(II)-MSA complexes was evaluated by means of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. In this work, we have shown that the studied compounds are more effective free radical scavengers than the natural flavonoids like plain morin.

Tautomeric and Microscopic Protonation Equilibria of Anthranilic Acid and Its Derivatives.

The acid-base chemistry of three zwitterionic compounds, namely anthranilic (2-aminobenzoic acid), N-methylanthranilic and N-phenylanthranilic acid has been characterized in terms of the macroconstants Ka1, Ka2, the isoelectric point pHI, the tautomerization constant Kz and microconstants k11, k12, k21, k22. The potentiometric titration method was used to determine the macrodissociation constants. Due to the very poor water solubility of N-phenylanthranilic acid the dissociation constants pKa1 and pKa2 were determined in MDM-water mixtures [MDM is a co-solvent mixture, consisting of equal volumes of methanol (MeOH), dioxane and acetonitrile (MeCN)]. The Yasuda-Shedlovsky extrapolation procedure has been used to obtain the values of pKa1 and pKa2 in aqueous solutions. The pKa1 and pKa2 values obtained by this method are 2.86 ± 0.01 and 4.69 ± 0.03, respectively. The tautomerization constant Kz describing the equilibrium between unionized form ⇌ zwitterionic form was evaluated by the Kz method based on UV-VIS spectrometry. The method uses spectral differences between the zwitterionic form (found at isoelectric pH in aqueous solution) and the unionized form (formed in an organic solvent of low dielectric constant). The highest value of the Kz constant has been observed in the case of N-methylantranilic acid (log10Kz = 1.31 ± 0.04). The values of log10Kz for anthranilic and N-phenylanthranilic acids are similar and have values of 0.93 ± 0.03 and 0.90 ± 0.05, respectively. The results indicate that the tested compounds, in aqueous solution around the isoelectric point pHI, occur mainly in the zwitterionic form. Moreover, the influence of the type of substituent and pH of the aqueous phase on the equilibrium were analyzed with regard to the formation and the coexistence of different forms of the acids in the examined systems.

Comparative study on the antibacterial activity of some flavonoids and their sulfonic derivatives.

The antibacterial activity of quercetin, morin, sodium salt of quercetin-5'-sulfonic acid (NaQSA) and sodium salt of morin-5'-sulfonic acid (NaMSA) were tested against six bacterial strains: Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922 and clinical isolates--ESBL), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853 and clinical isolates--carbapenem resistant), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213 and clinical isolats- MRSA). The most effective inhibitors against the model strain S. aureus are NaQSA and NaMSA (MIC = 3.9 microg/mL). Among polyhydroxyflavones used in this investigation, morin exhibits the highest antibacterial activity against tested strains. The structure-activity relationship indicates that 2',4'-dihydroxylation of the B ring in the flavanone structure is important for significant antibacterial activity and that substitution of the sulfo group at position 5' on the lateral phenyl ring enhances antistaphylococcal activity of flavonoids.

New complexes of La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), Eu(III) and Gd(III) ions with morin.

New solid complex compounds of La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), Eu(III) and Gd(III) ions with morin were synthesized. The molecular formula of the complexes is Ln(C(15)H(9)O(7))(3).nH(2)O, where Ln is the cation of lanthanide and n=6 for La(III), Sm(III), Gd(III) or n=8 for Ce(III), Pr(III), Nd(III) and Eu(III). Thermogravimetric studies and the values of dehydration enthalpy indicate that water occurring in the compounds is not present in the inner coordination sphere of the complex. The structure of the complexes was determined on the basis of UV-visible, IR, MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR analyses. It was found that in binding the lanthanide ions the following groups of morin take part: 3OH and 4CO in the case of complexes of La, Pr, Nd, Sm and Eu, or 5OH and 4CO in the case of complexes of Ce and Gd. The complexes are five- and six-membered chelate compounds.

Antibacterial activity of morin and its complexes with La(III), Gd(III) and Lu(III) ions.

The antibacterial activity of morin, sodium salt of morin-5"-sulfonic acid (NaMSA) and new complexes of La (II), Gd (III) and Lu (III) with morin were tested against three bacterial strains: Escherichia coli G (-), Klebsiella pneumoniae G (-), Staphylococcus aureus G (+) and compared with the activity of penicillin. All of the complexes possess inhibitory action against the tested strains. The activity of the studies compounds depends on their concentration. The complexes at a concentration of 10 microg/cylinder demonstrated higher activity than morin alone, but at a concentration of 100 microg/cylinder morin was the most effective inhibitor against the strains used in this investigation.