CO2 sorption of a thin silica layer determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry

Optical properties of a thin amorphous silica membrane and the supported γ-alumina layer on which it was coated were obtained from spectroscopic ellipsometry. The thicknesses of γ-alumina and silica layers from ellipsometric spectra were 1.654 m and 73 nm, respectively. The porosity of the γ-alumina layer was 51%. The porosity of the silica layer (15-25%), appeared to be smaller than that of unsupported silica material prepared by a similar method. Determination of the porosity of the silica layer, however, was quite inaccurate, because optical properties of the pure material were not exactly known. Ellipsometry was also used to determine the sorption behavior of CO2 in the γ-alumina and silica layers. For both layers the observed sorption behavior could be described by a Langmuir isotherm (cCO2, max = 0.84 and 2.8-3.0 mmol·g-1, respectively), with Arrhenius-type temperature dependence (sorption heat 24.6±1.0 and 27.0±1.3 kJ·mol-1, respectively). The adsorption behavior of supported and unsupported -alumina appeared to be similar. The heat of sorption was larger for supported thin silica layers than for unsupported bulk silica, suggesting smaller pores in the thin layer

Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Recurring as a Solitary Renal Mass

Herein, a case of solitary, unilateral renal metastasis in a patient with curatively resected thoracic esophageal carcinoma, who achieved a pathological complete remission after neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy, is reported. The kidney is the 4th or 5th most common visceral metastasis site of a primary esophageal carcinoma. More than 50% of renal metastases typically show bilateral involvement. Solitary, unilateral renal metastasis is extremely rare. Renal metastases from a primary esophageal carcinoma are usually latent and its diagnosis is very unusual in a live patient. The solitary renal metastasis in this case was not accompanied by metastases to other sites. The value of a nephrectomy in solitary renal metastasis of esophageal cancer is not known due to the rarity of such cases. A nephrectomy could be justified in limited situations, such as with uncertainty of histological diagnosis, severe life-threatening hematuria, which cannot be controlled by embolization, or solitary renal metastasis with a long disease-free interval