An analysis of muscles from ultrasound image using morphological information of fascia and thoracic vertebra

In this paper, we propose a new fully computerized image analysis method for measuring the thickness of muscles from ultrasound image obtained by muscle endurance test using morphological information of fascia and thoracic vertebra. Firstly, we divide the image into lumbar region and thoracolumbar region by the difference of density in image for measuring the thickness of muscles. In lumbar region, we notice that the intensity of fascia is relatively higher than other parts. Thus, we measure the thickness of muscles surrounding the fascia area. In the process, we apply median filter to candidate fascia areas for extracting candidate muscle layers between fascias. Then, the thickness of muscles we measure is that of the third layer. In thoracolumbar region, we apply region expansion method for classifying the region into subcutaneous fat part and part including thoracic vertebra. Then, we apply counting method and evolutionary computation search model to find the measuring location that is in between subcutaneous fat area and thoracic vertebra. In experiment, the proposed method is effective in measuring the thickness of muscles and avoids failures of previous studies. The performance of this approach is sufficiently comparable to that of medical experts.     

Synthesis and properties of acrylonitrile-CR-methyl methacrylate graft copolymer

Graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto polychloroprene (CR) was carried out using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. The effects of mole ratio of AN to MMA, reaction temperature, reaction time, solvent, and initiator concentration on the graft copolymerization were examined. It was found that the thermal stability and weatherability of the AN—CR—MMA graft copolymer (ACM) were considerably better than those of CR.     

Copolymerizations of ethylene with 1–decene over various ansa–metallocene complexes combined with Al( i-Bu) 3/ [CPh 3] [B(C 6F 5) 4] cocatalyst

Copolymerizations of ethylene with 1-decene were carried out with a series of stereospecific metallocene compounds, rac–(EBI)Zr(NMe₂)₂ [ 1, EBI = ethylene–1,2–bis( 1–indenyl)], rac–(EBI)Hf(NMe₂ (2), rac–Me₂Si( 1–C₅H₂–2–Me–4– ^t Bu)₂Zr(NMe₂)₂ (3), ethylidene(cyclopentadienyl)(9-fluorenyl)ZrMe2 [4, Et(Flu)(Cp)ZrMe2] and isopropylidene(cyclopentadienyl)(9–fluorenyl)ZrMe₂ [5, iPr(Flu)(Cp)ZrMe₂], combined with Al(i–Bu)₃/[CPh₃] [B(C₆F₅)₄] cocatalyst. All catalyst systems showed very high copolymerization rates and the 1–decene reactivity decreased in the order of 2 > 5 > 1 4 > 3. The reactivity product of ethylene and 1–decene (r _E x r _D) was below 1 except 3 catalyst, corresponding to random copolymer structures with an alternating character. The melting point (T_m), crystallinity (X_C), intrinsic viscosity ([] and density of the 1–decene/ethylene copolymers decreased markedly with an increase in the 1–decene content, regardless of the type of catalytic system.     

Syntheses and biological activities of polymers containing methacryloyl‐2‐oxy‐1,2,3‐propanetricarboxylic acid or 5‐fluorouracil

A series of novel copolymers, poly(methacryloyl‐2‐oxy‐1,2,3‐propanetricarboxylic acid‐co‐exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalic acid) [poly(MTCA‐co‐ETAc)], poly(methacryloyl‐2‐oxy‐1,2,3‐propanetricarboxylic acid‐co‐hydrogenethyl‐exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalate) [poly(MTCA‐co‐HEET)], and poly(methacryloyl‐2‐oxy‐1,2,3‐propanetricarboxylic acid‐co‐α‐ethoxy‐exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthaloyl‐5‐fluorouracil) [poly(MTCA‐co‐EETFU)], were prepared from corresponding monomers by photopolymerizations at 25°C for 48 h. The polymers were identified by FTIR, ¹H‐NMR, and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopies. The number‐average molecular weights of the fractionated polymers determined by GPC were in the range from 9400 to 14,900 and polydispersity indices were 1.2–1.4. The in vitro IC₅₀ values of polymers against mouse mammary carcinoma (FM3A), mouse leukemia (P388), and human histiocytic lymphoma (U937) as cancer cell lines and mouse liver cells (AC2F) as a normal cell line were much higher compared to that of 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU). The in vivo antitumor activities of monomers and polymers against mice bearing sarcoma 180 tumor cell line were better than those of 5‐FU. The inhibition of DNA replication and antiangiogenesis activities of MTCA and copolymers were better compared to those of 5‐FU. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 57–64, 2004     

Advanced underfill for high thermal reliability

The key to the success of flip‐chip technology lies in the availability of sucessful underfill materials. However, the reliability of flip‐chip technology using current underfill materials is generally found to be lower than that of conventional wire‐bond connection packaging materials such as epoxy molding compound (EMC) because of the high coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) and moisture absorption of cured underfill material. In this study desbimide (DBMI), which has a low melting point (about 80°C), was used in the underfill materials as a cohardener. As a result, DBMI‐added underfill can show excellent thermal reliability, which is due to the superior properties of the CTE, the elastic modulus, and water resistance. When the properties of a 2 wt % DBMI‐added underfill were compared with those of a typical underfill (epoxy/anhydride), the CTE value was reduced to less than one‐half at the solder reflow temperature (about 200°C), the elastic modulus was reduced to less than one‐half in the temperature region below the glass‐transition temperature, and the water resistance was improved twofold. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2617–2624, 2002     

Fully aliphatic polyimides from adamantane‐based diamines for enhanced thermal stability,solubility, transparency,and low dielectric constant

We have synthesized a series of fully aliphatic polyimides (APIs) from bicyclo[2,2,2]oct‐7‐ene‐2,3,5,6‐tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BOCA) and various aliphatic diamines, including linear aliphatic, flexible alicyclic, and rigid adamantyl diamines. We performed the polymerization reactions using one‐step syntheses in m‐cresol at elevated temperatures without the isolation of poly(amic) acid. The chemical composition and structure of the polymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectrometry. The characterization data are reported from analyses using gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WXAD) measurements. The polyimides are also subjected to solubility, solution viscosity, tensile strength, transparency, and dielectric constant measurements. The resultant polyimides possess well‐controlled molecular weight, reasonable intrinsic viscosity, good transparency, enhanced solubility, low dielectric constants, and high glass transition temperature, together with marginal thermal and mechanical stability. These properties were enhanced in copolyimides containing equimolar amounts of rigid and flexible moieties. These rigid‐rod APIs derived from the alicyclic dianhydride and aliphatic diamines are promising candidates as advanced materials for future applications in micro‐ and photoelectronic devices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3316–3326, 2006     

Power management unit chip design for automobile active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display module

A power management unit (PMU) chip supplying dual panel supply voltage, which has a low electro-magnetic interference (EMI) characteristic and is favorable for miniaturization, is designed. A two-phase charge pump circuit using external pumping capacitor increases its pumping current and works out the charge-loss problem by using bulk-potential biasing circuit. A low-power start-up circuit is also proposed to reduce the power consumption of the band-gap reference voltage generator. And the ring oscillator used in the ELVSS power circuit is designed with logic devices by supplying the logic power supply to reduce the layout area. The PMU chip is designed with MagnaChip’s 0.25 μm high-voltage process. The driving currents of ELVDD and ELVSS are more than 50 mA when a SPICE simulation is done.     

Design of small-area multi-bit antifuse-type 1 kbit OTP memory

A multi-bit antifuse-type one-time programmable (OTP) memory is designed, which has a smaller area and a shorter programming time compared with the conventional single-bit antifuse-type OTP memory. While the conventional antifuse-type OTP memory can store a bit per cell, a proposed OTP memory can store two consecutive bits per cell through a data compression technique. The 1 kbit OTP memory designed with Magnachip 0.18 μm CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) process is 34% smaller than the conventional single-bit antifuse-type OTP memory since the sizes of cell array and row decoder are reduced. And the programming time of the proposed OTP memory is nearly 50% smaller than that of the conventional counterpart since two consecutive bytes can be compressed and programmed into eight OTP cells at once. The layout area is 214 μm × 327 μm, and the read current is simulated to be 30.4 μA. Foundation item: Project supported by the 2nd Stage of Brain Korea; Project supported by the Korea Research Foundation     

Adhesion properties of UV crosslinked polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene copolymer and tackifier mixture

The peel and tack properties of mixtures of polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene (SBS) and a tackifier were investigated after these were crosslinked by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation at various amounts of benzophenone (BP) as a photoinitiator and trimethylolpropane mercaptopropionate (TRIS) as a crosslinking agent.The degree of crosslinking of polybutadiene (PB) block in the SBS mixture was qualitatively estimated from the amount of gel fraction as well as the change in the glass transition temperature of the PB block. The crosslinking of the PB block was done within 3 min after UV irradiation and the peel strength of crosslinked specimens was as low as 45[percnt] of specimens without crosslinking. Nano-tack and bulk tack properties as well as the surface tension of mixtures were measured depending upon amounts of BP and TRIS.     

Durability of glass‐fiber‐reinforced polymer nanocomposites in an alkaline environment

This study was conducted to determine the effect of clay content in GFRP (glass‐fiber‐reinforced polymer) composite samples as they were aged in an alkaline solution. Two kinds of GFRP composite samples were prepared. One was E‐glass‐fiber‐reinforced vinyl ester polymer, and the other was nano‐GFRP composites prepared with the addition of 1 and 2 wt% of montmorillonite clay to the polymer matrix. These samples were aged in alkaline solution of pH 13.2 with and without sustained load. The load was 1335 N or 18.7% of the tensile strength of the composite samples. The aging was evaluated by measuring the reduction in tensile strength after 6 months. Also, absorption of alkaline solution into the plain and nano‐GFRP samples was investigated so as to elucidate the diffusion behaviors. It was found that for a short exposure time (e.g. 1 month) and without sustained load, dispersing 2 wt% of the nanoclay in the polymer matrix of the GFRP samples reduces the diffusivity by 39%. However, with the application of sustained load, the glass fiber composite samples deteriorate more with increasing clay content. The reduction in tensile strength was 7.1%, 12.1%, and 18.1% for the samples containing 0, 1, and 2 wt% of clay, respectively. J. VINYL. ADDIT. TECHNOL., 12:25–32, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers