Composition depth profiling of polystyrene/poly(vinyl ethyl ether) blend thin films by angle resolved XPS

Angle resolved XPS (ARXPS) and scanning force microscopy (SFM) are used to study polystyrene/poly(vinyl ethyl ether) 50/50 wt% blend thin films spin cast from toluene solution, as a function of polystyrene molecular weight and film thickness. ARXPS is used to investigate the composition depth profile (CDP) of the blend thin films and SFM to study their surface morphology and miscibility. The CDPs are modelled by an empirical hyperbolic tangent function with three floating parameters. These are determined by non-linear least squares regression, their uncertainties estimated and the curve fit residuals analysed to demonstrate that the hyperbolic tangent CDP is a satisfactory fit to the ARXPS data. Conclusions are drawn regarding the behaviour of the blend thin films as the thickness and polystyrene molecular weight are varied. Flory-Huggins interaction parameters (chi) for the mixtures are calculated based upon the segregation data, and suggest a value of chi = 0.05 to be appropriate for this system. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Visual balance in engineering design for aesthetic value

The aesthetic aspect of a functional product is growing to be an important reason for the consumer’s choice to buy the product. Despite this importance, aesthetics has not generally been incorporated into engineering design which makes much sense of functional and ergonomic designs. The study presented in this thesis aims to remedy this observed gap. The study focuses on the integration of aesthetic attributes with functional attributes of a product and on the quantification of the aesthetic principle from fine arts into design variables of the product. In particular, two hypotheses underlie this study: (1) design variables can be classified in terms of their relevance to functional, ergonomic, and aesthetic attributes, and (2) a particular aesthetic principle, namely visual balance, helps to achieve an improved aesthetic product.The cell phone is used to ground this study. A statistic experiment using the cell phone product positively tests the first hypothesis, resulting in two design variable which are only related to the aesthetic attribute of the cell phone product. The study of the visual balance principle results in a more general formula which relates design variables to visual balance with consideration of both geometry and color of the cell phone product. Finally, another statistic experiment is designed, which positively tests the second hypothesis.This study concludes: (1) the effective integration of aesthetics with function and ergonomics requires an analysis and classification of design variables, and (2) there is a potential to quantify all aesthetic principles from fine arts into design variables

A solution concentration dependent transition from self-stratification to lateral phase separation in spin-cast PS:d-PMMA thin films

Thin films with a rich variety of different nano-scale morphologies have been produced by spin casting solutions of various concentrations of PS:d-PMMA blends from toluene solutions. During the spin casting process specular reflectivity and off-specular scattering data were recorded and ex situ optical and atomic force microscopy, neutron reflectivity and ellipsometry have all been used to characterise the film morphologies. We show that it is possible to selectively control the film morphology by altering the solution concentration used. Low polymer concentration solutions favour the formation of flat in-plane phase-separated bi-layers, with a d-PMMA-rich layer underneath a PS-rich layer. At intermediate concentrations the films formed consist of an in-plane phase-separated bi-layer with an undulating interface and also have some secondary phase-separated pockets rich in d-PMMA in the PS-rich layer and vice versa. Using high concentration solutions results in laterally phase-separated regions with sharp interfaces. As with the intermediate concentrations, secondary phase separation was also observed, especially at the top surface

Risk factors of metastasis in women with breast cancer in Isfahan, Iran

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women and its metastasis plays an important role in mortality, treatment failures and complications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the risk factors of metastatic breast cancer. Methods: In a retrospective cohort study, breast cancer patients in Isfahan, Iran were followed up for ten years. The existence of metastasis was considered as the dependent variable while independent variables included age at diagnosis, hormone receptor status, family history, number of lymph nodes dissected in surgery and involved ones, number of pregnancies, age at first pregnancy and menarche, menstrual status, histopathology and tumor size. All data was collected from patients' profiles and analyzed using logistic regression in SPSS16. Findings: A total of 685 patients with breast cancer were studied during 1999-2009. While 91.4 of cases had no metastasis, distant metastasis was found in 8.6 of subjects. Sites of metastasis according to prevalence were lung (4.7), bone (2.6), other organs (1.1), and liver (0.3). Number of involved lymph nodes (P = 0.043) and number of pregnancies (P = 0.022) had significant relationships with metastasis. Conclusion: We concluded that less pregnancies and more involved lymph nodes indicate a high probability of metastasis occurrence. Therefore, survival improvement might be possible with early diagnosis of breast cancer, using prophylactic treatments, and identifying metastatic cases by diagnostic tests

Controlling the morphology of spin coated polymer blend films.

Thin films of polymer mixtures made by spin-coating can phase separate in two ways - by forming lateral domains, or by separating into two distinct layers. The latter situation - self-stratification or vertical phase separation - could be advantageous in a number of practical applications, such as polymer photovoltaics. In our experiments, we have used time-resolved small-angle light scattering and light reflectivity during spin coating to study the structure development in PS/PMMA and PFB/F8BT blends, solution cast in toluene. A sample cell was designed, made and mounted on the apparatus to manipulate the evaporation rate. Having solved the Meyerhofer equation for thinning rate and by fitting the model to the experimental data, we are able to extract the evaporation rate of toluene during spin coating. We demonstrate that, by controlling the evaporation rate during the spin-coating process, we can obtain either selfstratification or lateral phase separation in the same system. We relate this to a previously hypothesised mechanism for phase separation during spin coating in thin films, according to which a transient wetting layer breaks up due to a Marangoni-type instability driven by a concentration gradient of solvent within the drying film. Our results show that a high evaporation rate leads to a laterally phase separated structure, while reducing the evaporation rate suppresses the interfacial instability and leads to a self-stratified final film. Using the set up we developed to control the morphology through evaporation rate, we made preliminary photovoltaic devices. It is possible to control the efficiency of the polymer photovoltaics by means of process parameters such as evaporation rate

Application of mean-field theory to the spin casting of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) blend films from toluene

The Flory-Huggins free energy of mixing is shown to be appropriate for the analysis of the temporal evolution of a ternary blend of polystyrene and poly (methyl methacrylate) during spin-coating from toluene using an in-situ light scattering technique. For the range of concentrations studied, both the onset of film instability and the observation of a scattering ring occur at the same toluene volume fraction. The success of Flory-Huggins theory indicates that polymer chains retain random walk characteristics during spin-coating. It is also concluded that the thermodynamics of phase separation during film formation is independent of the initial solvent concentration

Coping skills improve quality of life in women with breast cancer and maladaptive coping Style

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a common malignancy among women. BC is a stressor in life that affects coping strategies and quality of life. This study performed to improve the quality of life in women with maladaptive coping style.  Methods: A randomized clinical trial, held in 2011. Patients with maladaptive coping strategy were included in the study. 62 patients were randomized into two groups. Before and after 8 weeks of coping therapy, the quality of life was measured. General linear model was used for analysis.  Results: The mean age in the intervention and control group was 45.10±7.34, 46.52±6.20 respectively (P-value>0.5). Functional health significantly improved after the intervention (p-value<0.005), but in the control it decreased (p-value=0.029). Symptom health between the two groups demonstrated no difference before and after intervention. General health improved in the intervention group (p-value=0.017). However, in the control group it was not significant (p-value=0.128). Problem-focused coping strategies in the intervention group improved markedly (p-value= 0.003) whereas, the control group did not reveal significant differences (p-value=0.196).  Conclusion: The results showed that the coping skill training program can improve the overall quality of life of breast cancer in women, and indicated that the care of breast cancer should address psychological issues and the finding points to the importance of taking individual coping strategies into account when evaluating the impact of breast cancer on psychosocial well-being

Cyclical 'flipping' of morphology in block copolymer films

We studied the kinetics of nanopattern evolution in (polystyrene-b-polyethylene oxide) diblock copolymer thin films. Using scanning force microscopy, a highly unexpected cylindrical flipping of morphology from normal to parallel to the film plane was detected during solvent annealing of the film (with average thickness of 30 nm) at high vapor pressure. Using an in situ time-resolved light scattering device combined with an environmental cell enabled us to obtain kinetic information at different vapor pressures. The data indicated that there is a threshold value for the vapor pressure necessary for the structural transition. We propose a swelling and deswelling mechanism for the orientation flipping of the morphology. The cyclic transition occurs faster in thick films (177 nm) where the mass uptake and solvent volume fraction is smaller and therefore the driving force for phase separation is higher. We induced a stronger segregation by confining the chains in graphoepitaxially patterned substrates. As expected, the cyclic transition occurred at higher rate. Our work is another step forward to understanding the structure evolution and also controlling the alignment of block copolymer nanocylinders independently of thickness and external fields

Exploring Factors Related to Metastasis Free Survival in Breast Cancer Patients Using Bayesian Cure Models

CEEQUAL är ett klassningssystem utvecklad av ICE, den brittiska Institutionen för Civilingenjörer, för att bättra på anläggningsbranschens sociala, ekonomiska och miljömässiga hållbarhetsarbete. Systemet utvecklades år 2003 och användes fram till år 2011 endast i Storbritannien och Irland. År 2011 utvecklades en internationell version för organisationer som är intresserade av att certifiera projekt i andra delar av världen. Syftet med rapporten är att utvärdera konsekvenser för ett projekt som skall miljöcertifieras. Detta sker med hjälp av tre fallstudier från Skanska Sverige AB: Projekt Skarplöt, exploatering av en åkermark i Västerhaninge. Projekt Folkparksvägen, ombyggnation av en 1500 meter vägsträcka. Projekt Tyresövägen-Simvägen, en avsmalning av Tyresövägen från  motorvägsstandard till stadsväg.           Målet med rapporten är att: Identifiera förbättringsåtgärder för att främja hållbarhet och resurseffektivitet i produktion. Uppskatta vilka resurser förbättringsåtgärderna för certifiering kräver. Resultat från fallstudierna visar att Skanska har väl inarbetade rutiner i företagets ledningssystem, dock finns det förbättringspotential som kan uppnås med integrering av CEEQUALs krav i dagens arbetssätt. Merkostnaden av förbättringsåtgärderna består mestadels av tjänstemannatid för ett utökat samhällsengagemang, planering och bevakning av åtgärder som främjar hållbarhet samt insamling av bevismaterial för certifiering. Ändringar som uppkommer i arbetssättet är projektberoende och belyses i produktionsplaneringsskedet i varje enskilt projekt med hjälp av den extra planeringen som en CEEQUAL certifiering kräver. Rekommendationer för Skanska är att integrera en del av CEEQUALs krav i ledningssystemet och att skapa färdiga mallar som är anpassade till CEEQUALs frågeställningar med avsikt att effektivisera framställning av bevisdokumentationen i varje enskilt projekt. CEEQUAL is an assessment and award scheme developed by ICE, The Institution of Civil Engineers in Great Britain, in order to improve the Civil engineering industry´s social, economic and environmental sustainability. The system was developed in 2003 and it was only used in the UK and Ireland until 2011. Year 2011, was an international version developed for organizations that are interested in certifying projects in other parts of the world. The report aims to evaluate the consequences for a project that is going to be assessed. This is done by using three case studies from Skanska Sverige AB: Project Skarplöt, exploitation of previous farming land in Västerhaninge. Project Folkparksvägen, refurbishment of a 1500 meter stretch of road. Project Tyresövägen - Simvägen, a narrowing of Tyresövägen from motorway standard to a city road with cycle lanes. The objective of this report is to: Identify improvement measures to promote sustainability and resource efficiency under production. Estimate the resources that such improvements and the works associated with the certification requires. Results of case studies show that Skanska has well-established work practices, however, there is potential for improvement that can be achieved with the integration of CEEQUALs requirements in the company’s management system. The additional cost of the improvement measures consist mostly of extra working time needed to administrate, plan and monitor measures that promote sustainability as well as gather evidence for certification. Adjustments to the production process that arises in the planning stages of the sustainability measures cannot be generalised and depend mostly on the project prerequisites. Recommendations to Skanska are to integrate CEEQUALs requirements in their management system and to create pre-designed templates for the required documentation and procedures in order to streamline planning and monitoring in each individual project that is going to be certified