Reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer copolymerization: influence of the RAFT process on the copolymer composition

Reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) mediated and conventional copolymerizations at low monomer conversions have been carried out for the systems methyl methacrylate (MMA)-styrene, methyl acrylate (MA)-styrene and methyl methacrylate-butyl acrylate (BA). The polymer samples have been analyzed via ¹H-NMR spectroscopy to obtain the copolymer composition and the terminal model reactivity ratios. In the RAFT mediated copolymerizations, the polymer mole fraction of the monomer with the larger reactivity ratio is increased compared to the conventional copolymerization. Simulations have been carried out using the program package PREDICI^® to examine possible explanations for the experimental findings. The simulations demonstrate that the RAFT process itself may alter the macroradical populations and the copolymer composition by offering additional reaction pathways. Further, the rate coefficients for the initiation reaction and the pre-equilibrium play an important role in determining the copolymer composition. The rate coefficients governing the main equilibrium of the RAFT process have only a minor impact on the copolymer composition.     

Permittivity of modified polyimide layers on LTCC

In this work, the permittivity of a tailored compound material was investigated consisting of a polyimide matrix in which hollow glass microspheres with a mean diameter of 30 μm are implemented as filler material. Choosing this approach the dielectric constant compared to that of the pure polyimide material is further decreased due to the enclosed air targeted to improve the high-frequency performance of patch antennas operated in the GHz range. Furthermore, the thickness of one single layer can be increased substantially from a maximum of about 10 μm for pure polyimide films to values above 80 μm by simply adding this type of filler material to the liquid polyimide precursor so that cavities in LTCC (low temperature co-fired ceramics) substrates can be filled more reliable. Two different variations of this compound material with filler to polymer ratios of 1:7.5 and 1:10 are realized. Basically, the film thickness depends on the spin coating speed and the microsphere content, respectively. The high initial surface roughness can be decreased to an average value of about 3 μm by applying additional layers of pure polyimide on top enabling thin film technology. The dielectric constant of the complete substrate comprising the LTCC and the compound material is measured using a ring resonator in microstrip configuration. From the resonances occurring in the transmission S-parameter |S₂₁| spectrum between 1 and 10 GHz, the relative dielectric constant can be determined. Using 820 μm thick LTCC substrates the permittivity can be reduced from originally ε_r = 7.8-6.6. By applying numerical calculations, a reduced permittivity of the pure polymer film from ε_r = 3.3 to about 2.9 can be determined when adding the glass microspheres.     

Electrochemical production of nanopore arrays in a nickel aluminium alloy

Directional solidification of a eutectic is a novel route for the production of nanostructures. This method was applied to the quasibinary NiAl-Re system. Re as the minor phase forms fibers, which are parallel aligned in the NiAl matrix. At a temperature of 1690 ± 10 °C using a thermal gradient of 40 °C cm⁻¹ and a growth rate of 30 mm h⁻¹, the fibers formed had a diameter of about 400 nm. An electrochemical method is presented here that simultaneously passivates the NiAl matrix and selectively electrodissolves the Re. In this manner, it was possible to form an array of nanopores each with the same diameter of 400 nm. The mechanisms behind this procedure, as well as the potential of this method for the production of nanoelectrode arrays or nanofilters are discussed.     

Stabilizability of systems with exponential dichotomy

In this paper we introduce the concept of controllability into a closed subspace for time-varying linear systems. Various characterizations are given and the dual relation is discussed. This concept is used to present a necessary and sufficient condition for the stabilizability of systems with exponential dichotomy.     

SAR image denoising via Bayesian wavelet shrinkage based on heavy-tailed modeling

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are inherently affected by multiplicative speckle noise, which is due to the coherent nature of the scattering phenomenon. This paper proposes a novel Bayesian-based algorithm within the framework of wavelet analysis, which reduces speckle in SAR images while preserving the structural features and textural information of the scene. First, we show that the subband decompositions of logarithmically transformed SAR images are accurately modeled by alpha-stable distributions, a family of heavy-tailed densities. Consequently, we exploit this a priori information by designing a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator. We use the alpha-stable model to develop a blind speckle-suppression processor that performs a nonlinear operation on the data and we relate this nonlinearity to the degree of non-Gaussianity of the data. Finally, we compare our proposed method to current state-of-the-art soft thresholding techniques applied on real SAR imagery and we quantify the achieved performance improvement.     

Stationary spatially periodic and aperiodic solutions in membrane reactors

The formation of stationary spatially patterns is analysed for a detailed reaction mechanism of the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane. In the first step, a simple steady-state model of an ideal plug flow membrane reactor is investigated by numerical bifurcation analysis. The model shows a complex nonlinear behaviour including period doubling bifurcations and aperiodic spatial patterns. In the next step, the influence of axial heat dispersion is studied. Finally, a more detailed model of a fixed bed membrane reactor is considered. It is found that pattern formation is possible under operation conditions realisable in a laboratory reactor.     

James and the physical basis of emotion: A comment on Ellsworth.

It is argued that P. Ellsworth's (1994) interpretation of William James's theory of emotions is not supported by his writings. On the basis of textual evidence and systematic considerations, the authors try to show that, in line with the traditional view, James's theory holds that emotions are identical with feelings of bodily changes, of which autonomic changes are by far the most important ones (i.e., the only ones necessary and sufficient for emotions). Furthermore, the authors argue that James's question of the temporal priority of emotions versus bodily feelings makes good sense even if one acknowledges that these events usually show temporal overlap. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chemokines and receptors in HIV encephalitis

BACKGROUND: Chemokines are involved in the migration of leukocytes and have been implicated in several inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. Some of their receptors have been proposed to mediate HIV infection. OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in chemokine and receptor expression in HIV encephalitis, and to determine whether upregulation leads to recruitment of infected monocytes across the blood-brain barrier and participates in HIV neuropathology. METHODS: Immunocytochemistry and double-label immunofluorescent laser confocal microscopy was performed with antibodies to chemokines and their receptors on brain tissues from patients who died with or without HIV encephalitis. In vivo distribution was compared with in vitro cultures of human neuroglial cells. RESULTS: The beta-chemokines monocyte chemotactic protein-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and RANTES were detected on brain macrophages. Their presence was associated with the histopathological signs of HIV encephalitis. The alpha-chemokines IP-10 (10 kDa inflammatory protein) and interleukin-8 were expressed by astrocytes in all tissues, including controls. Presence of the CXC-chemokine receptor (CXCR)-4 was seen on brain macrophages/microglia, neurons, and astrocytes. CC-Chemokine receptor (CCR)-5 was detected only on macrophages/microglia. CCR-3 and CCR-1 were expressed by macrophages and endothelial cells. In vitro studies examining the presence of CCR-3, CCR-5, and CXCR-4 on human brain cell cultures demonstrated abundant neuronal and microglial expression. CONCLUSIONS: Expression of a variety of chemokines and receptors was shown to be increased in HIV encephalitis brain tissues particularly in areas of neuroglial reaction. The expression pattern supported their involvement in the recruitment of inflammatory infiltrates and formation of microglial nodules. Presence of chemokine receptors on neurons may be involved in the pathogenesis of neurologic damage in AIDS patients.