Morphology on Reaction Mechanism Dependency for Twin Polymerization.

An in-depth knowledge of the structure formation process and the resulting dependency of the morphology on the reaction mechanism is a key requirement in order to design application-oriented materials. For twin polymerization, the basic idea of the reaction process is established, and important structural properties of the final nanoporous hybrid materials are known. However, the effects of changing the reaction mechanism parameters on the final morphology is still an open issue.

Between Waves and Diffusion: Paradoxical Entropy Production in an Exceptional Regime.

The entropy production rate is a well established measure for the extent of irreversibility in a process. For irreversible processes, one thus usually expects that the entropy production rate approaches zero in the reversible limit. Fractional diffusion equations provide a fascinating testbed for that intuition in that they build a bridge connecting the fully irreversible diffusion equation with the fully reversible wave equation by a one-parameter family of processes.

A modified Hartmann-Shack aberrometer for measuring stray light in the anterior segment of the human eye.

Purpose: To examine the use of a modified Hartmann-Shack wave front aberrometer (WASCA; Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Germany) to measure objective stray light caused by forward light scatter from the anterior segment of the human eye.

Setting: HELIOS Klinikum Erfurt/Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany.

Method: Scatter parameters, including the Michelson contrast and cross-sectional area at half height (CAHM) were examined in Hartmann-Shack images from ten subjects with a cataract in one eye and an intraocular lens (IOL) in the other.

Desiccation of a clay film: cracking versus peeling.

We report a simulation study on competition between cracking and peeling, in a layer of clay on desiccation and how this is affected by the rate of drying, as well as the roughness of the substrate. The system is based on a simple 2-dimensional spring model. A vertical section through the layer with finite thickness is represented by a rectangular array of nodes connected by linear springs on a square lattice.

Internal cardioversion shortens periods of postoperative atrial fibrillation: results of a prospective, multicenter trial.

Aim Of The Study: Atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly occurs following open heart surgery especially in the high-risk group of old patients with reduced left ventricular function. Via Syncrus heart wires implanted on the left and right atrium internal cardioversion shocks can be applied. This prospective nonrandomized multicenter study compares duration of AF periods and clinical outcome in patients treated with Syncrus wires to a control group treated conventionally.

[Abdominal complications following heart surgery using the heart-lung machine].

Reported in this paper are 17 abdominal complications among 2,161 patients, following cardiac surgery, using cardiopulmonary bypass. This incidence is comparatively low, accounting for only 0.78 percent, whereas figures between 0.