These results lend insight into electron relaxation processes in high surface area nanostructures. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3530866]“
“The chemical mode of action as a flame retardant of calcium carbonate nanoparticles combined with ammonium polyphosphate in polypropylene was investigated. Reduction in burning rates for 0.5 mm thick samples were observed without appreciable char formation up to 30 wt % loading of additives. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the mixture of CaCO(3) and OH-FMK Caspase Inhibitor VI ammonium polyphosphate

(APP) showed that calcium carbonate nartoparticles react with ammonium polyphosphate before the degradation of the phosphate chains. TGA-FTIR studies of the polymer composite samples and powder mixtures of the additives confirmed the evolution of ammonia and carbon dioxide due to interaction between the additives. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of chars, obtained after burning the films, showed definite diffraction peaks corresponding to that of calcium metaphosphate. The inert gasses produced by the interaction of the additives hindered the advancing flame and, thus, reduces the burning rates, at times even without char formation. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Selleck Cl-amidine Appl Polym Sci 120: 1866-1873, 2011″
“The dielectric dispersion of ferroelectric BaxSr1-xTiO3 (BST) thin

film in a paraelectric phase was characterized from centimeter to submillimeter wavelengths. To this aim, interdigitated capacitors were patterned on a micrometer

scale onto a BST layer with a barium concentration of 0.5 and were subsequently integrated by using a coplanar waveguide technology. The retrieval of the complex permittivity of BST was performed by vectorial scattering parameter measurements up to 190 GHz for various controlling dc field up to 300 kV/cm. At higher frequency, submillimeter wavelength measurements were performed by time domain spectroscopy under free space condition. On this basis, the dispersion of the real part of the permittivity along with the loss tangent are retrieved in agreement with a distributed interaction of ac-field with soft phonons vibration modes, and overlapping CHIR-99021 research buy between dipole polarization and ionic polarization is observed, around 700 GHz. It is also shown that dipole polarization can be attributed to the presence of small polar nanoregions in the BST film which act as in ferroelectric material with diffuse phase transition. (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3531534]“
“BACKGROUND: Vitamin D levels have not been previously published for Swiss multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. An association between vitamin D status and disease activity in MS has been suggested.

AIM: To define 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in Swiss multiple sclerosis patients.

METHOD: Cross sectional case control study.

RESULTS: 25(OH)D levels of 80 patients (76.3% female, mean age 37.9 +/- 10.6 years, mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 2.6 +/- 1.