Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in newborn infants. Acute period and outcome

Ninety four neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy HIE attended at the University of Ribeir?o Preto since 1982 were studied in terms of the neurological alterations during the acute phase and outcome over a mean period of 47 months. From 43 newborns with HIE I, 40 recovered within 96 hours and 3 died. Among 40 infants with HIE II, 37.5% recovered within the first week, and the others continued abnormal beyond the 7th day. All 11 infants with HIE III died before the second month of life. The HIE I group had no motor sequelae. Among the HIE II group, 34.5% showed cerebral palsy and 17.7% neuromotor retardation. 80.0% of those with sequelae persisted abnormal beyond 7th day of life, during the acute phase of the HIE. Epilepsy occurred in 17.5% of cases with HIE grade II, only among those with neuromotor sequelae. The IQ test did not show statistically significant difference between the HIE I, II without motor sequelae and the control groups. The authors reaffirm the value of the findings in the acute phase of HIE on the outcome of these patients.     

Simple Salt‐Coordinated n‐Type Nanocarbon Materials Stable in Air

After more than three decades of molecular and carbon‐based electronics, the creation of air‐ and thermally stable n‐type materials remains a challenge in the development of future p/n junction devices such as solar cells and thermoelectric modules. Here a series of ordinary salts are reported such as sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and potassium hydroxide (KOH) with crown ethers as new doping reagents for converting single‐walled carbon nanotubes to stable n‐type materials. Thermoelectric analyses reveal that these new n‐type single‐walled carbon nanotubes display remarkable air stability even at 100 °C for more than 1 month. Their thermoelectric properties with a dimensionless figure‐of‐merit (ZT) of 0.1 make these new n‐type single‐walled carbon nanotubes a most promising candidate for future n‐type carbon‐based thermoelectric materials.     

Prediction of the Thickness of a Thin Paint Film by Applying a Modified Partial-Least-Squares-1 Method to Data Obtained in Terahertz Reflectometry

We applied a multivariate analysis method to time-domain (TD) data obtained in terahertz (THz) reflectometry for predicting the thickness of a single-layered paint film deposited on a metal substrate. For prediction purposes, we built a calibration model from TD-THz waveforms obtained from films of different thicknesses but the same kind. Because each TD-THz wave is approximate by the superposition of two echo pulses (one is reflected from the air–film boundary and the other from the film–substrate boundary), a difference in thickness gives a relative peak shift in time in the two echo pulses. Then, we predicted unknown thicknesses of the paint films by using the calibration model. Although any multivariate analysis method can be used, we proposed employing a modified partial-least-squares-1 (PLS1) method because it gives a superior calibration model in principle. The prediction procedure worked well for a moderately thin film (typically, several to several tens of micrometers) rather than a thicker one.     

Nitrogen absorption phenomenon of GTA welding with nitrogen-mixed shielding gases: effect of plasma characteristics on nitrogen content in GTA welded metal

In order to clarify the nitrogen absorption mechanism in gas tungsten arc welding, the measurement of the weld metal nitrogen content under nitrogen mixture shielding gases, and the numerical analysis of plasma heat source characteristics in nitrogen dissociation phenomenon were conducted. The nitrogen content of weld metal produced by He arc reduces to approximately a half relative to that by Ar arc in the shielding gas condition of less than about 1% mixture ratio. Additionally, it is assumed that a decline in the plasma temperature in the vicinity of the molten pools due to the generation of metal vapour, accompanied by a reduction in atom-like nitrogen content, cause intense impact on the reduction mechanism of weld metal nitrogen content in a He arc.     

Subnanometric stabilization of plasmon-enhanced optical microscopy

We have demonstrated subnanometric stabilization of tip-enhanced optical microscopy under ambient condition. Time-dependent thermal drift of a plasmonic metallic tip was optically sensed at subnanometer scale, and was compensated in real-time. In addition, mechanically induced displacement of the tip, which usually occurs when the amount of tip-applied force varies, was also compensated in situ. The stabilization of tip-enhanced optical microscopy enables us to perform long-time and robust measurement without any degradation of optical signal, resulting in true nanometric optical imaging with high reproducibility and high precision. The technique presented is applicable for AFM-based nanoindentation with subnanometric precision.