While dispersing graphene in water is a formidable challenge, π–π stacking between graphene oxide (GO) and graphene is known to enable the dispersion of graphene in water.

This study investigated simultaneously the associations among individual, family, and extrafamilial factors and depression among elderly residents of care settings in Taiwan. The data for this study were obtained from the Vulnerability and Social Exclusion among Different Groups of Disadvantaged Elderly in an Aging Society: Phenomena and Strategies (1/2) project, which was conducted in Taipei City and Taipei County in 2007. We applied multiple regression procedures to a sample of 327 residents of care settings (48.3% women) who were mild physical impairment or physically independent and cognitively clear for determining factors associated with depression and their cumulative effects. We discovered that 24.5% of the residents were depressed. Physical mobility, number of chronic diseases, and self-assessed health status were significantly associated factors in all models. In the final model, we determined that one third of extrafamilial factors were significantly associated with depression, after controlling for all other variables. In addition, we observed an overall trend of increased mean scores of depression with an increase in the number of risk factors. The results imply that interventions aimed at preventing depression in elderly persons living in care settings, particularly persons with multiple risk conditions such as impaired physical mobility and medical comorbidities, should be designed to include extrafamilial elements. Establishing strong connections between elderly care setting residents and the institutional and neighborhood environments can help prevent depression.

No abstract

Aims:To explore the codevelopment between loneliness and depression in older adults, and to identify its potential baseline individual, family and extrafamilial correlates. Background:The number of older adults around the world has steadily increased over the last decades. Later life is a particularly vulnerable life stage due to multiple unfavourable conditions, and mental health in this stage appears to become an inescapable issue. Previous research has found the cross-sectional association between loneliness and depression, but their codevelopment has been understudied. Therefore, exploring the codevelopment and its correlates has significant implications for prevention and healthcare professionals.Design: A longitudinal follow-up study. Methods:The study used nationally representative data over a 14-year follow-up period from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Ageing focused on Taiwanese aged 60 years and above (n = 4049). Group-based trajectory modelling, group-based dualtrajectory modelling and multinomial logistic regression were the primary analytical methods. Results:We identified three distinct dual trajectories of loneliness and depression: longitudinal low-frequency lonely depressed (29.3%), longitudinal moderatefrequency lonely depressed (59.4%) and longitudinal high-frequency lonely depressed (11.3%). After considering several demographic and background characteristics, difficulty in physical functioning, number of physical symptoms and diseases, sleep quality and number of child deaths were found to be significantly associated. Conclusion:Across the three identified dual-trajectory groups, they all showed a stable loneliness frequency pattern over time; however, the moderate-frequency group and high-frequency group both had a trajectory of increasing depression.