Needs and preferences among patients with high‐grade glioma and their caregivers – A longitudinal mixed methods study

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142983/1/ecc12806_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142983/2/ecc12806.pd

Self-Organization of Polymer Brush Layers in a Poor Solvent

Synthesis of densely grafted polymer brushes from good solvent polymer solutions is difficult when the surface interaction is only weakly attractive because of the strong steric repulsion between the polymer chains. To circumvent this difficulty we graft polymer layers in a poor solvent to exploit attractive polymer-polymer interactions which largely nullify the repulsive steric interactions. This simple strategy gives rise to densely grafted and homogeneous polymer brush layers. Model end-grafted polystyrene chains ($M_w = 105,000$) are prepared in the poor solvent cyclohexane (9.5 °C) where the chains are chemically attached to the surface utilizing a trichlorosilane end-group. Polished silicon wafers were then exposed to the reactive polymer solutions for a series of “induction times” $\tau_{\rm I}$ and the evolving layer was characterized by X-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy. Distinct morphologies were found depending on $\tau_{\rm I}$. For short $\tau_{\rm I}$, corresponding to a grafting density less than 5 mg/m$^2$, the grafted layer forms an inhomogeneous island-like structure. At intermediate $\tau_{\rm I}$, where the coverage becomes percolating, a surface pattern develops which appears similar to spinodal decomposition in bulk solution. Finally, after sufficiently long $\tau_{\rm I}$, a dense and nearly homogeneous layer with a sharp interface is formed which does not exhibit surface pattern formation. The stages of brush growth are discussed qualitatively in terms of a random deposition model

Advance Consent in Japanese During Prenatal Care for Epidural Anesthesia During Childbirth

The authors developed advance consent in Japanese for epidural anesthesia for pregnant Japanese-speaking women. Their explanatory, sequential mixed methods design involved a survey (QUAN) and telephone interviews with Japanese women (QUAL). An e-mail survey of health professionals (quan/ qual) was conducted concurrently to the QUAL arm. Japanese women and health professionals found advance consent as helpful, though minor problems were identified. Advance consent helped lower communication barriers, and the women wanted more information about pain control. This mixed methods study of Japanese women suggests that bilingual advance consent offers an innovative tool to help overcome the language barrier for non-English-proficient women who predictably needed interventions (e.g., epidurals) under unpredictable circumstances