Process for a Reactive Monomer Alignment Layer for Liquid Crystals Formed on an Azodye Sublayer

In this work, the detailed studies of surface polymerization stabilizing liquid crystal formed on an azodye sublayer are presented. The surface localized stabilization is obtained by free-radical polymerization of a dilute solution of a bi-functional reactive monomer (RM) in a liquid crystal (LC) solvent. To optimize the process for surface localized stabilization, we investigate the effects of several process parameters including RM concentration in LC hosts, the types of materials (either RM or LC), the photo-initiator (PI) concentration, ultra-violet (UV) polymerization intensity, and the UV curing temperature. The quality of surface localized stabilization is characterized and/or evaluated by optical microscopy, electro-optical behavior (transmission/voltage curve), the life test, and photo-bleaching. Our results show that, by carefully selecting materials, formulating mixtures, and controlling the polymerizing variables, the RM polymerization can be realized either at the surface or through the bulk. Overall, the combination of surface localized stabilization and photo-alignment offers an elegant and dynamic solution for controlling the alignment for LC, which could play a profound role in almost all liquid crystal optical devices. Keywords: photoalignment; liquid crystals; reactive monomers; azo dyeUnited States. Army Research Office (Contract W911NF-14-1-0650

Three synchronous primary carcinomas in a patient with HNPCC associated with a novel germline mutation in MLH1: Case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>MLH1 </it>is one of six known genes responsible for DNA mismatch repair (MMR), whose inactivation leads to HNPCC. It is important to develop genotype-phenotype correlations for HNPCC, as is being done for other hereditary cancer syndromes, in order to guide surveillance and treatment strategies in the future.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 47 year-old male with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) associated with a novel germline mutation in <it>MLH1</it>. This patient expressed a rare and severe phenotype characterized by three synchronous primary carcinomas: ascending and splenic flexure colon adenocarcinomas, and ureteral carcinoma. Ureteral neoplasms in HNPCC are most often associated with mutations in <it>MSH2 </it>and rarely with mutations in <it>MLH1</it>. The reported mutation is a two base pair insertion into exon 10 (c.866_867insCA), which results in a premature stop codon.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our case demonstrates that HNPCC patients with <it>MLH1 </it>mutations are also at risk for ureteral neoplasms, and therefore urological surveillance is essential. This case adds to the growing list of disease-causing MMR mutations, and contributes to the development of genotype-phenotype correlations essential for assessing individual cancer risk and tailoring of optimal surveillance strategies. Additionally, our case draws attention to limitations of the Amsterdam Criteria and the need to maintain a high index of suspicion when newly diagnosed colorectal cancer meets the Bethesda Criteria. Establishment of the diagnosis is the crucial first step in initiating appropriate surveillance for colorectal cancer and other HNPCC-associated tumors in at-risk individuals.</p

Theories of American Imperialism: A Critical Evaluation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68828/2/10.1177_048661347400600303.pd

Gender Differences in Russian Colour Naming

In the present study we explored Russian colour naming in a web-based psycholinguistic experiment (http://www.colournaming.com). Colour singletons representing the Munsell Color Solid (N=600 in total) were presented on a computer monitor and named using an unconstrained colour-naming method. Respondents were Russian speakers (N=713). For gender-split equal-size samples (NF=333, NM=333) we estimated and compared (i) location of centroids of 12 Russian basic colour terms (BCTs); (ii) the number of words in colour descriptors; (iii) occurrences of BCTs most frequent non-BCTs. We found a close correspondence between females’ and males’ BCT centroids. Among individual BCTs, the highest inter-gender agreement was for seryj ‘grey’ and goluboj ‘light blue’, while the lowest was for sinij ‘dark blue’ and krasnyj ‘red’. Females revealed a significantly richer repertory of distinct colour descriptors, with great variety of monolexemic non-BCTs and “fancy” colour names; in comparison, males offered relatively more BCTs or their compounds. Along with these measures, we gauged denotata of most frequent CTs, reflected by linguistic segmentation of colour space, by employing a synthetic observer trained by gender-specific responses. This psycholinguistic representation revealed females’ more refined linguistic segmentation, compared to males, with higher linguistic density predominantly along the redgreen axis of colour space