Polyacrylamide (PAL) samples with different extents of chain entanglement were prepared

by spray drying and solution casting. We found that the glass transition temperature increases as the extent of chain entanglement decreases upon the MEK inhibitor sub-T(g) annealing. The water content in the PAL matrix is found with no direct correlation to T(g). However, the observation of a faster diffusion process of water in the disentangled PAL matrix offers an evidence of a faster relaxation process of disentangled PAL molecules. The T(g) increase of the disentangled PAL samples is believed to be associated with the increased molecular interaction during the chain relaxation process upon the sub-T(g) annealing. A macroscopic evidence is the fact that the density of the hot-laminated samples increases as the extent of chain entanglement decreases. A thermodynamic analysis suggests that enthalpy more than entropy favors an elevated T(g) of a disentangled hydrophilic polymer upon the sub-T(g) annealing. We believe that this research provides new CB-839 purchase understanding of T(g) of the hydrophilic polymers, which are being extensively used in bio-related studies. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym

Sci 119:2310-2317, 2011″
“Highly transparent and conducting Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films are prepared via sol-gel method with a broad range of nominal Al-doping. The film porosity and morphology is determined by the rate of temperature ramping during the drying of the gel phase. The minimum resistivity is observed to occur around 1.5-2 at. % Nirogacestat order Al-doped films, irrespective of the morphology and microstructure. It is found by local chemical analysis that Al tends to segregate at the grain boundaries and above a critical concentration, the segregated Al starts to dominate the electronic transport in nanocrystalline AZO. The optical measurements corroborate these

findings showing a systematic increase in carrier density only up to 1.5-2 at. % Al-doping. It is concluded that the presence of the resistivity minimum is not merely determined by a solubility limit but is a result of the interplay between the changing carrier concentration and carrier scattering at the segregated Al. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3511346]“
“The role of hypertension in the late onset of hemifacial spasm (HFS) is evaluated in a family, spanning four generations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) revealed a variable anatomical relationship between nervous and vascular structures in the symptomatic cerebello-pontine angle. In one case, showing neurovascular conflict (NVC), microvascular surgical decompression was followed by clinical resolution of HFS. Neuroimaging suggesting NVC was found in all symptomatic patients of the last two generations and in three younger subjects not affected by HFS.