Swelling and Orientation Behavior of End-Grafted Polymer Chains by In Situ Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Complementing Ellipsometry.

The literature lacks established concrete parameters for assigning grafted chain regimes. In this context, dichroic attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and ellipsometry were used complementarily, offering new opportunities for conformational analysis of end-grafted polymer chains. Especially polymer chain orientation was studied as a new parameter, among others, for proper chain regime assignment in this report.

Role of transduodenal endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration/biopsy (EUS-FNA/FNB) for diagnosis of retroperitoneal fibrosis (Ormond's disease).

Background: Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), often referred to as Ormond's disease when it is of idiopathic origin, is a rare disease characterized by the presence of inflammatory infiltrates and periaortic masses in the retroperitoneum. For a definite diagnosis, a biopsy and subsequent pathological examination is required. Currently accepted methods for retroperitoneal biopsy include open, laparoscopic, or CT-guided approaches.

Constrained thermoresponsive polymers - new insights into fundamentals and applications.

In the last decades, numerous stimuli-responsive polymers have been developed and investigated regarding their switching properties. In particular, thermoresponsive polymers, which form a miscibility gap with the ambient solvent with a lower or upper critical demixing point depending on the temperature, have been intensively studied in solution. For the application of such polymers in novel sensors, drug delivery systems or as multifunctional coatings, they typically have to be transferred into specific arrangements, such as micelles, polymer films or grafted nanoparticles.

Multiresponsive Transitions of PDMAEMA Brushes for Tunable Surface Patterning.

Poly(,-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) is an attractive polymer for switchable surface coatings based on its multiresponsiveness toward environmental triggers (temperature, pH-value, ionic strength). In this in situ study, we present the complex and tunable thermoresponsiveness of PDMAEMA Guiselin brushes (9 nm, dry thickness), which were prepared via an efficient grafting-to approach. Combining in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) visualizing the surface topography ( plane) and spectroscopic ellipsometry monitoring the swelling behavior of the polymer film (layer thickness, -direction) offers for the first time a three-dimensional insight into thermoresponsive transitions on the nanoscale.