Volume fraction determination of microgel composed of interpenetrating polymer networks of PNIPAM and polyacrylic acid

Interpenetrated polymer network microgels, composed of crosslinked networks of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and polyacrylic acid (PAAc), have been investigated through rheological measurements at four different amounts of PAAc. Both PAAc content and crosslinking degree modify particle dimensions, mass and softness, thereby strongly affecting the volume fraction and the system viscosity. Here the volume fraction is derived from the flow curves at low concentrations by fitting the zero-shear viscosity with the Einstein-Batchelor equation which provides a parameterkto shift weight concentration to volume fraction. We find that particles with higher PAAc content and crosslinker are characterized by a greater value ofkand therefore by larger volume fractions when compared to softer particles. The packing fractions obtained from rheological measurements are compared with those from static light scattering for two PAAc contents revealing a good agreement. Moreover, the behaviour of the viscosity as a function of packing fraction, at room temperature, has highlighted an Arrhenius dependence for microgels synthesized with low PAAc content and a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann dependence for the highest investigated PAAc concentration. A comparison with the hard spheres behaviour indicates a steepest increase of the viscosity with decreasing particles softness. Finally, the volume fraction dependence of the viscosity at a fixed PAAc and at two different temperatures, below and above the volume phase transition, shows a quantitative agreement with the structural relaxation time measured through dynamic light scattering indicating that interpenetrated polymer network microgels softness can be tuned with PAAc and temperature and that, depending on particle softness, two different routes are followed.

Apparatus for simultaneous dynamic light scattering-small angle neutron scattering investigations of dynamics and structure in soft matter

Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) are two key tools to probe the dynamic and static structure factors, respectively, in soft matter. Usually, DLS and SANS measurements are performed separately, in different laboratories, on different samples, and at different times. However, this methodology has particular disadvantages for a large variety of soft materials, which exhibit a high sensitivity to small changes in fundamental parameters, such as waiting times, concentration, pH, and ionic strength. Here, we report on a new portable DLS-SANS apparatus that allows one to simultaneously measure both the microscopic dynamics (through DLS) and the static structure (through SANS) on the same sample. The apparatus has been constructed as a collaboration between two laboratories, each an expert in one of the scattering methods, and was commissioned on the LOQ and ZOOM SANS instruments at the ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source, U.K.

Neutron diffraction study of aqueous Laponite suspensions at the NIMROD diffractometer

The process of dynamical arrest, leading to formation of different arrested states such as glasses and gels, along with the closely related process of aging, is central for both basic research and technology. Here we report on a study of the time-dependent structural evolution of two aqueous Laponite clay suspensions at different weight concentrations. Neutron diffraction experiments have been performed with the near and intermediate range order diffractometer (NIMROD) that allows studies of the structure of liquids and disordered materials over a continuous length scale ranging from 1 to 300 Å, i.e., from the atomistic to the mesoscopic scales. NIMROD is presently a unique diffractometer, bridging the length scales traditionally investigated by small angle neutron scattering or small angle x-ray scattering with that accessible by traditional diffractometers for liquids. Interestingly, we have unveiled a signature of aging of both suspensions in the length scale region of NIMROD. This phenomenon, ascribed to sporadic contacts between Laponite platelets at long times, has been observed with the sample arrested as gel or as repulsive glass. Moreover, water molecules within the layers closest to Laponite platelets surface show orientational and translational order, which maps into the crystalline structure of Laponite.

Competing interactions in arrested States of colloidal clays

Using experiments, theory and simulations, we show that the arrested state observed in a colloidal clay at high concentrations is stabilized by screened Coulomb repulsion (Wigner glass). Dilution experiments allow us to distinguish this disconnected state, which melts upon addition of water, from a low-concentration gel state, which does not melt. Theoretical modeling and simulations at high concentrations reproduce the measured small angle x-ray scattering static structure factors and confirm the long-range electrostatic nature of the arrested structure. These findings are attributed to the different time scales controlling the competing attractive and repulsive interactions.

Good publication practice guidelines for medical communications agencies: a MedComm perspective

BACKGROUND

Physicians and other health care personnel rely on the peer-reviewed biomedical literature as a key source for making clinical decisions. Thus, ensuring that the nonclinical and clinical findings published in biomedical journals are reported accurately and clearly, without undue influence from commercial interests, is essential. Accordingly, beginning in the mid-1990s and continuing to the present, various organizations, including the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the American Medical Association, the Council of Science Editors, the American Medical Writers Association, and the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals, have published guidelines to strengthen and uphold ethical standards in biomedical communications.

SCOPE

A task force of staff members from the AXIS group of companies reviewed these and other guidelines to assess the need for a good publication practices (GPP) document specific to medical communications agencies. As this review demonstrated an unmet need, the task force was charged with developing GPP guidelines for the AXIS group of agencies in the United States.

FINDINGS

Although such guidelines have been previously published on behalf of medical journal editors and publishers, medical writers, academic centers, and pharmaceutical companies, there has been no prior publication in the peer-reviewed literature of good publication practices for medical communications agencies, which face unique challenges in negotiating a balance among authors, sponsoring companies, and biomedical publishers.

CONCLUSION

This article presents and discusses these GPP guidelines. To our knowledge, this is the first publication of guidelines developed from the perspective of a medical communications agency.

Arrested state of clay-water suspensions: gel or glass?

The aging of a charged colloidal system has been studied by small-angle x-ray scattering, in the exchanged momentum range Q=0.03-5 nm(-1) , and by dynamic light scattering, at different clay concentrations (C(w)=0.6-2.8%) . The static structure factor S(Q) has been determined as a function of both aging time and concentration. This is the direct experimental evidence of the existence and evolution with aging time of two different arrested states in a single system simply obtained only by changing its volume fraction: an inhomogeneous state is reached at low concentrations, while a homogeneous one is found at high concentrations.

More on the phase diagram of Laponite

The phase diagram of a charged colloidal system (Laponite) has been investigated by dynamic light scattering in a previously unexplored range of salt and clay concentrations. Specifically, the clay weight and salt molar concentrations have been varied in the ranges C(w) = 0.004 divided by 0.025 and C(s) = (1 x 10(-3) divided by 5 x 10(-3)) M, respectively. As in the case of free salt water samples (C(s) approximately = 1 x 10(-4) M), an aging dynamics toward two different arrested phases is found in the whole examined C(w) and C(s) range. Moreover a transition between these two different regimes is found. It is clear from these measurements that a revision of the phase diagram is necessary and a new "transition" line between two different arrested states is drawn.

Routes to gelation in a clay suspension

The gelation of water suspension of a synthetic clay (Laponite) has been studied by dynamic light scattering in a wide range of clay weight concentration (C(w)=0.003-0.031). At variance with previous determination, indicating a stable liquid phase for C(w)<C(*)(w) approximately 0.015-0.018, we find that gelation actually takes place in the whole examined C(w) range. We find also that C(*)(w) marks the transition between two different routes to gelation. We hypothesize that at low concentration Laponite suspension behaves as an attractive colloid and that the slowing down of the dynamics is attained by the formation of larger and larger clusters while at high concentration the basic units of the arrested phase could be the Debye Huckel spheres associated with single Laponite plates.

Charge dynamics of 2H- TaSe2 along the less-conducting c-axis

We present an optical study of 2H-TaSe2 along the less conducting c-axis. This dichalcogenide compound belongs to a large class of conductors called "bad metals" (with a mean free path smaller than the lattice constant along the c-axis), which also includes the superconducting cuprates. The optical response shows the progressive development of a pseudogaplike feature with decreasing temperature. The spectral weight lost by the opening of such a pseudogap goes into the narrow Drude component, developing at low frequency and temperature. There is no violation of the sum rule in 2H-TaSe2 contrary to the cuprates.

Incline and length of guiding elements in untreated naturally grown dentition

The incline and length of guiding elements, i.e. marginal ridges and lingual surfaces of front teeth, marginal ridges and internal cusp slopes of premolars and molars, play an important role in dentistry. Since the so far reported values differ considerably, it was the purpose of the present investigation to replicate the measurements, including all the occlusal landmarks proposed and defined by previous investigators. The measurements were performed on 34 pairs of mounted casts from a selected group of untreated, naturally grown dentitions from adolescents of mean age 14 years. The upper casts were mounted with a face bow, the kinematic hinge axis and the left incisura infraorbitalis representing the posterior and anterior reference points. The lower pinned casts were mounted joint related. All measurements were carried out with a computer-aided, three-dimensional digitizer. The inclines were expressed as angles related to the axis-orbital-plane. Taking the proposed occlusal landmarks as a basis, the inclines of guiding elements were found to be in agreement with previously reported values, despite ethnic and racial differences of the various study-populations. The values, however, differed markedly when measurements based on individual, functional relevant landmarks were compared to measurements based on anatomical, easy identifiable or mathematically constructed landmarks. The successive decrease of the inclines of the guiding elements from the central incisors to the second molars could be confirmed, the molars displaying very flat inclines. Interestingly, 9% of the first molars and 21% of the second molars showed negative values, pointing to a functional arrangement characterized by a buccally oriented occlusal surface of those teeth. Combined with the finding that the length of the guiding elements of the anterior teeth was almost twice as long as that of the posterior teeth, the results corroborate the occlusal concept of an anterior-posterior sequence of the guiding elements, or a so-called sequential guidance with front-canine-dominance.