Synthesis and nanoimprinting of high refractive index and highly transparent polythioethers based on thiol-ene click chemistry

This work demonstrates the UV nanoimprinting lithography (UV-NIL) of high refractive index and highly transparent polythioethers based on thiol-ene click chemistry. Herein, 9,9-bis(3-mercaptopropylphenylether)fluorene (BMPF) is designed as a new thiol monomer with a high refractive index, high transparency, and good processability for UV-NIL. Colorless polythioethers are synthesized from BMPF and ene monomers under mild thiol-ene click reaction conditions. Excellent transmittance (96%) of 400 nm light is observed in all the polymer films and high refractive index values of 1.5972–1.6382 are attained. UV-NIL using thiol-ene photopolymerization affords polymer nanoimprinting patterns with various features on the order of 100–500 nm without any fractures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on UV-NIL of high refractive index and highly transparent polymers. Through proper monomer and polymer design, novel polythioethers with suitable glass transition temperature (T _g) values are developed with high refractive index, high transparency, and good UV-NIL processability. Furthermore, UV-NIL based on thiol-ene click chemistry is accomplished at the nanoscale. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018 , 56, 2175–2182     

Conformally invariant tensors of an almost Hermitian manifold associated with the holomorphic curvature tensor

We consider an almost Hermitian manifold and apply the conformal change of metric to its holomorphic curvature tensor. In such a way we find that the generalized Bochner curvature tensor can be expressed as a linear combination of B ₁, B ₂, and B ₃ such that (6.4) holds. Each of the tensors B ₁, B ₂, B ₃ is conformally invariant and satisfies the condition (1.2) of K?hler type.     

Scalar mesons moving in a finite volume and the role of partial wave mixing

Phase shifts and resonance parameters can be obtained from finite-volume lattice spectra for interacting pairs of particles, moving with non-zero total momentum. We present a simple derivation of the method that is subsequently applied to obtain the ?Ц? and ??K phase shifts in the sectors with total isospin I = 0 and I = 1/2 , respectively. Considering different total momenta, one obtains extra data points for a given volume that allow for a very efficient extraction of the resonance parameters in the infinite-volume limit. Corrections due to the mixing of partial waves are provided. We expect that our results will help to optimize the strategies in lattice simulations, which aim at an accurate determination of the scattering and resonance properties.     

High-resolution laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry imaging of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxic side effects

Two-dimensional elemental mapping (bioimaging) via laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was performed on 5 μm thick formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded kidney tissue sections from Cynomolgus monkeys administered with increasing pharmacological doses of cisplatin. Laterally resolved pixels of 1 μm were achieved, enabling elemental analysis on a (sub-)cellular level. Zones of high Pt response were observed in the renal cortex, where proximal tubules are present, the epithelium of which is responsible for partial reabsorption of cisplatin. Histopathological evaluation, of hematoxylin and eosin-stained serial sections, adjacent to the sections probed via LA-ICP-MS, revealed minimal to mild cisplatin-related lesions (<100 μm) in the renal cortex. Necrotic proximal tubules with sloughed epithelial cells in their lumen could be linked directly to the areas with the highest accumulation of cisplatin, indicating a direct link between cellular concentration and toxicity, thereby providing more insight into the mechanisms through which renal damage occurs.     

Merging and splitting in cooperative games: some (im)possibility results

Allocation rules for cooperative games can be manipulated by coalitions merging into single players, or, conversely, players splitting into a number of smaller units. This paper collects some (im)possibility results on merging- and splitting-proofness of (core) allocation rules for cooperative games with side-payments.