8% compared with 8.9%, p = 0.8).

Conclusions: On the basis on this review, the reduction of high-grade spondylolisthesis potentially improves overall spine biomechanics by correcting the local

kyphotic deformity selleck kinase inhibitor and reducing vertebral slippage. Reduction was not associated with a greater risk of developing neurologic deficits compared with arthrodesis in situ. Both procedures were associated with good clinical outcomes.”
“We report phase transitions from ferroelectric to paraelectric states that are induced in poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) by electric field cycles. The transitions are systematically characterized electrically and structurally by using ferroelectric capacitors. The top electrodes of the LDK378 chemical structure capacitors can be peeled off from the surfaces of ferroelectric layers; this enables us to obtain clear x-ray diffraction patterns with adequate strength. The diffraction patterns clearly indicate the emergence of the stable phase, in which copolymer molecules are aligned with their b-axis perpendicular to the substrate. The dipoles become nonswitchable without changing the molecular structure. The new field-cycle-induced

phase, which has high permittivity in the out-of-plane direction due to anisotropic molecular structures, is identified as the main mechanism of polarization fatigue. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3429079]“
“The polymerizations of N,N’-bismaleimide-4,4′-diphenylmethane (BMI) initiated by barbituric acid (BTA) carried out in a variety of solvents at 130 degrees C were studied. The nitrogen-containing cyclic solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone acted as a catalyst to promote the formation of the three-dimensional crosslinked network structure. By contrast, the polymerization in a cyclic solvent that did not contain nitrogen such as gamma-butyrolactone resulted in nil gel content. The higher the solvent basicity, the larger the amount of insoluble polymer species formed. The molar ratio

of BTA to BMI also played an important role in the polymerizations. ABT-263 Apoptosis inhibitor The resultant polymers, presumably having a hyper-branched structure, exhibited much narrower molecular weight distributions than those prepared by conventional free radical polymerizations. The BMI polymerizations using BTA as the initiator could not be adequately described by conventional free radical polymerization mechanisms. A polymerization mechanism that took into account the generation of a ketone radical pair between BTA and BMI and the subsequent initiation, propagation and termination reactions was proposed. It was concluded that the nitrogen-containing cyclic solvents were capable of participating in the ketone radical pair formation process, thereby increasing the extent of polymer crosslinking reactions. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 596-603, 2010″
“Objective.