(C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 123: 3635-3643, 2012″
“To explore the experience of living with parkinsonism, a survey form was sent to the members of a patients’ association; 1,256 forms were analysed. The mean age was 65.75 +/- A 9.29 years; 64.4% males. A family history was reported by 19.2%. Basic abilities were preserved in 75% of the responders; the ability to do indoor and outdoor LY2835219 supplier activities was preserved in 42 and 28%, respectively. 70% of the responders liked to meet other people and about 50% liked discussing their condition. 80.3% of the responders lived

with partner, while 7.8% did not live with family. Of the patients’ partners, 38.9% took drugs, and 9.4% themselves needed assistance. Care programmes for parkinsonians should take into account the disease duration, the degree of disability, the presence of caregiver/s, Selleck Ispinesib and the level of caregiver burden; but it should also be appreciated that social habits, need of help, and severity of symptoms influence disability.”
“Microscale 1-3-type-like magnetoelectric (ME) composites with ferromagnetic microstrips laterally embedded in a piezoelectric ceramic substrate were fabricated by a dice-and-insert method. Mechanically sliced microstrips of Li/Ta-modified (K,Na)NbO3 lead-free ceramics and CoFe2O4

ceramics were used as the piezoelectric and piezomagnetic phases, respectively, which were inserted into each other and bonded together by epoxy. The ME properties of such 1-3-type-like composites with piezoelectric substrates were verified. The maximum ME coefficient was found to vary

with the strip size, substrate thickness, and thickness of epoxy bonding layers. A maximum value of 48 mV/(cm.Oe) was achieved. In addition, a special anisotropy was obtained in the present lateral 1-3 type ceramic composites and made it have potential applications in detecting magnetic field directions. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3624668]“
“A series of free-standing hybrid anion-exchange membranes were prepared by blending brominated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) with poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-co-gamma-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane) (poly(VBC-co-gamma-MPS)). Apart from a good compatibility between organic and inorganic phases, the hybrid membranes had a water uptake of 32.4-51.8%, PLX3397 solubility dmso tensile strength around 30 MPa, and T-d temperature at 5% weight loss around 243-261 degrees C. As compared with the membrane prepared from poly (VBC-co-gamma-MPS), the hybrid membranes exhibited much better flexibility, and larger ion-exchange capacity (2.19-2.27 mmol g(-1)) and hydroxyl (OH-) conductivity (0.0067-0.012 S cm(-1)). In particular, the hybrid membranes with 60-75 wt % BPPO had the optimum water uptake, miscibility between components, and OH- conductivity, and were promising for application in fuel cells. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.