Study of the morphology of semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) by hydrolysis etching

Semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) was hydrolysed in water at 180°C under elevated pressure and subsequently treated with ethanol, following the etching process first developed by Miyagi and Wunderlich. The weight loss, the wide-angle X-ray scattering and the molecular weight were measured as a function of etching time. It was found that even at the end of the etching process not all the amorphous material could be removed by the hydrolysis treatment. By comparing the obtained results with those derived from an elaborate small-angle X-ray scattering study and with wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements, it was concluded that only those amorphous regions lying outside of the lamellar stacks were removed. Subsequently, the lamellar stacks themselves were attacked. It was also found that at the very beginning of the hydrolysis process additional crystals were formed in the material.Peer reviewe

Adaptive model-driven user interface development systems

Adaptive user interfaces (UIs) were introduced to address some of the usability problems that plague many software applications. Model-driven engineering formed the basis for most of the systems targeting the development of such UIs. An overview of these systems is presented and a set of criteria is established to evaluate the strengths and shortcomings of the state-of-the-art, which is categorized under architectures, techniques, and tools. A summary of the evaluation is presented in tables that visually illustrate the fulfillment of each criterion by each system. The evaluation identified several gaps in the existing art and highlighted the areas of promising improvement

Intravenous alteplase for stroke with unknown time of onset guided by advanced imaging: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data

Background: Patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset have been previously excluded from thrombolysis. We aimed to establish whether intravenous alteplase is safe and effective in such patients when salvageable tissue has been identified with imaging biomarkers. Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data for trials published before Sept 21, 2020. Randomised trials of intravenous alteplase versus standard of care or placebo in adults with stroke with unknown time of onset with perfusion-diffusion MRI, perfusion CT, or MRI with diffusion weighted imaging-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (DWI-FLAIR) mismatch were eligible. The primary outcome was favourable functional outcome (score of 0–1 on the modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) at 90 days indicating no disability using an unconditional mixed-effect logistic-regression model fitted to estimate the treatment effect. Secondary outcomes were mRS shift towards a better functional outcome and independent outcome (mRS 0–2) at 90 days. Safety outcomes included death, severe disability or death (mRS score 4–6), and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020166903. Findings: Of 249 identified abstracts, four trials met our eligibility criteria for inclusion: WAKE-UP, EXTEND, THAWS, and ECASS-4. The four trials provided individual patient data for 843 individuals, of whom 429 (51%) were assigned to alteplase and 414 (49%) to placebo or standard care. A favourable outcome occurred in 199 (47%) of 420 patients with alteplase and in 160 (39%) of 409 patients among controls (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·49 [95% CI 1·10–2·03]; p=0·011), with low heterogeneity across studies (I2=27%). Alteplase was associated with a significant shift towards better functional outcome (adjusted common OR 1·38 [95% CI 1·05–1·80]; p=0·019), and a higher odds of independent outcome (adjusted OR 1·50 [1·06–2·12]; p=0·022). In the alteplase group, 90 (21%) patients were severely disabled or died (mRS score 4–6), compared with 102 (25%) patients in the control group (adjusted OR 0·76 [0·52–1·11]; p=0·15). 27 (6%) patients died in the alteplase group and 14 (3%) patients died among controls (adjusted OR 2·06 [1·03–4·09]; p=0·040). The prevalence of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage was higher in the alteplase group than among controls (11 [3%] vs two [<1%], adjusted OR 5·58 [1·22–25·50]; p=0·024). Interpretation: In patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset with a DWI-FLAIR or perfusion mismatch, intravenous alteplase resulted in better functional outcome at 90 days than placebo or standard care. A net benefit was observed for all functional outcomes despite an increased risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. Although there were more deaths with alteplase than placebo, there were fewer cases of severe disability or death. Funding: None

Azimuthal correlations for inclusive 2-jet, 3-jet, and 4-jet events in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Azimuthal correlations between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta p(T) in inclusive 2-, 3-, and 4-jet events are presented for several regions of the leading jet p(T) up to 4 TeV. For 3- and 4-jet scenarios, measurements of the minimum azimuthal angles between any two of the three or four leading p(T) jets are also presented. The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS Collaboration at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). Calculations based on leading-order matrix elements supplemented with parton showering and hadronization do not fully describe the data, so next-to-leading-order calculations matched with parton shower and hadronization models are needed to better describe the measured distributions. Furthermore, we show that azimuthal jet correlations are sensitive to details of the parton showering, hadronization, and multiparton interactions. Anext-to-leading-order calculation matched with parton showers in the MC@NLO method, as implemented in HERWIG 7, gives a better overall description of the measurements than the powheg method.Peer reviewe

Azimuthal correlations for inclusive 2-jet, 3-jet, and 4-jet events in pp collisions at s=13 TeV\sqrt{s}= 13~\hbox {TeV}s=13TeV

Azimuthal correlations between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta p T pT in inclusive 2-, 3-, and 4-jet events are presented for several regions of the leading jet p T pT up to 4TeV TeV . For 3- and 4-jet scenarios, measurements of the minimum azimuthal angles between any two of the three or four leading p T pT jets are also presented. The analysis is based on data from proton–proton collisions collected by the CMS Collaboration at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV TeV , corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb −1 fb−1 . Calculations based on leading-order matrix elements supplemented with parton showering and hadronization do not fully describe the data, so next-to-leading-order calculations matched with parton shower and hadronization models are needed to better describe the measured distributions. Furthermore, we show that azimuthal jet correlations are sensitive to details of the parton showering, hadronization, and multiparton interactions. A next-to-leading-order calculation matched with parton showers in the MC@NLO method, as implemented in herwig 7, gives a better overall description of the measurements than the powheg method

Towards Cross Assessment of Physical and Digital Accessibility

Our digital and physical worlds are becoming increasingly interconnected. Digital services reduce the need to physically move hence to have to face physical accessibility barriers, but it becomes then more critical to make sure they are not replaced by digital accessibility barriers. In order to assess the interplay of both worlds from the accessibility perspective, we collected available data and used automated tools from three different perspectives: one starting from physically accessible places and looking at the digital accessibility of their online services, the second going the other way and finally a representative sample of services inside a smart city. Globally, we found a good combined level of accessibility in about one third of the places. Mutual strengthening could also be observed, usually greater on the digital accessibility side and revealing that awareness actions in one field also contribute to improve the other