Dow Chemical (Belgium)

The introduction of bisphosphonates in oncology has dramatically changed the management of patients with metastatic bone disease. In this manuscript, we thoroughly scrutinize the available body of clinical trials supporting the use of bisphosphonates in this setting and review new and ongoing research. Additionally, we summarize the data showing the benefits of bisphosphonate use in the prevention of treatment-induced bone loss and the intriguing emerging evidence on the antitumor potential of some of these agents when used in the adjuvant setting. Finally, we address the need for a careful consideration of potential benefits of bisphosphonate therapy and the risk for osteonecrosis of the jaw, a recently recognized late-toxicity of their use.

Abstract The hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS)(CH 3 ) 3 SiOSi(CH 3 ) 3 molecule is one of the basic building blocks of silicones and polysiloxanes, as it is used for many chain terminations. Far‐infrared, mid‐infrared, and polarized Raman spectroscopic studies, combined with quantum chemical calculations and vibrational normal mode analyses, were performed for the HMDS molecule. The internal rotation of the trimethylsilyl group was calculated to be nearly free. The large‐amplitude bending motion was found very anharmonic with a barrier to linearity below 4 kJ/mol. Exhaustive assignments of observed wavenumbers have been performed on the basis of calculated potential energy distributions (PED) and atomic displacements. By isotopic 16 O 18 O substitution, the SiOSi symmetric and antisymmetric stretching modes shift from 521 and 1074 cm −1 to 514 and 1028 cm −1 , respectively. This spectroscopic observation provides convincing evidence that the molecule is bent with an angle estimated at around 150°. The comparison of HMDS vibrational spectra with the vibrational spectra of some siloxane derivatives reveals strong effects of silicon substituents on the SiOSi symmetric and antisymmetric stretchings. The SiOSi siloxane bridge group plays a key role in the properties of the HMDS molecule and may also account for some important silicone polymer properties such as their very low glass transition, their high compressibility, and their low surface tension. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A screen-printable copper paste has been developed by Dow Corning to replace the standard screen-printable silver paste for use in front busbars for solar cells. Solar cells produced with these 'passivated copper busbars' have shown increased conversion efficiency due to an improved device operating voltage and current while maintaining a similar fill factor when compared to cells with standard 'fired-through' silver busbars. In addition to the improved cell efficiency, the use of copper paste may provide major cost savings compared to the use of silver, potentially giving a very significant reduction in cost per Watt. 60-cell modules have been produced at Trina Solar with passivated copper busbars, showing similar performance to the reference modules with silver busbars. Module reliability has been shown to be well in excess of the IEC 61215 standard requirements.

Silicone based materials have attracted considerable attention from Light Emitting Diode (LED) manufacturers. In LEDs, silicones can function in several roles that include optical lenses, stress relieving encapsulants, mechanical protection and light path materials. The key attributes of silicones that make them attractive materials for high brightness (HB) LEDs include their excellent transparency in the UV-visible region, their non-discoloring behavior and their stable thermo-mechanical properties. The first part of this paper/presentation will describe recent silicone materials development efforts directed towards providing LED manufacturers with silicone materials solutions for LED device fabrication. Injection molding of novel silicone resin based materials will be discussed as a viable route for high throughput LED device manufacturing. For other portions of the light spectrum, specifically at telecom wavelengths, the performances of silicone based materials are also verified and this makes them attractive materials for numerous photonics device applications. The second part of this paper/presentation will describe recent demonstrations of siloxane for use as waveguides for datacom and telecom applications. A Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) utilizing silicone based waveguides (exploiting dn/dT property) and an Optical Backplane built from silicone waveguides and out-of-plane mirrors built on glass and FR-4 substrates are discussed.

Degradation mechanisms of silicone plates under harsh environment conditions are studied in this investigation. Environmental degradation of silicone free form, used as secondary optics in Light Emitting Diode LED lighting lamps and luminaires or any other applications requiring high quality optics being used, has negative implications for the optical performance. Degradation of silicone plates in harsh environment conditions was studied in salt bath and swimming water environments, using different light radiation and temperatures. Samples were exposed to harsh environment conditions for up to 4 months. Optical and chemical characteristics of exposed plates were studied using an Fourier transform infrared- attenuated total reflection FTIR-ATR spectrometer, an integrated sphere, and a Lambda 950 Ultraviolet-Visible UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Results show that 100 °C salt bath exposure had the most severe degrading effect on the optical characteristic of silicone plates. Increasing exposure time in the salt bath at that high temperature is associated with a significant deterioration of both optical (i.e., light transmission and relative radiant power value) and mechanical properties of silicone samples. On the contrary, silicone plates showed a great degree of stability against light exposure (UV at 360 nm and blue light at 450 nm).

Attaching interconnection ribbons to solar cells using electrically conductive adhesives is an attractive alternative to soldering, particularly if it can be achieved on cells without busbars. We report on ribbon bonding tests on busbarless PERC cells using a silicone-based electrically conductive adhesive, comparing the results with those of soldered control samples. The ribbon-bonded samples lead to somewhat lower performance, but promising results have nevertheless been obtained that indicate that equivalent performance could be reached with better process control. Proof-of-concepts of innovative structures combining electrically conductive adhesives and non-conductive adhesives are demonstrated, with the potential to yield high fill factors, moderate material consumption and easier application.

Mediastinal parathyroid glands are often located in a position which is inaccessible through a cervical approach. Because of the significant morbidity of open surgery, the need for minimal invasive approaches is high. More recently, robotic systems have been introduced to refine the dissection and optimize the view in the mediastinal region. We present two cases. The first case is a 34-year-old woman who was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism. Because a bilateral neck dissection disclosed no parathyroid adenoma, we performed a parathyroid sestamibi scan and computed tomographic scan of neck and mediastinum to look for aberrant parathyroid glands. Both showed a parathyroid adenoma in the mediastinum on the left side. The second case is a 66-year-old man. A sestamibi scan showed a parathyroid adenoma of 3 cm in the superior mediastinum which was confirmed by and computed tomographic scan. In both cases, we performed a parathyroidectomy with the da Vinci robotic system through a left-sided approach. Three thoracoports were inserted around the mammary gland for the robot and a fourth auxiliary port was positioned in between. Single-lung ventilation was installed, and the mediastinum was entered by opening the parietal pleura along the left phrenic nerve. The upper margin for dissection was the left brachiocephalic vein that was followed until the right pleura. All the tissue in front of the pericardium was dissected en bloc. The sinking test of the nodule and a preoperative frozen section analysis confirmed the diagnosis of parathyroid adenoma, which was also proven by rapid parathyroid hormone analysis. The resection of a parathyroid adenoma from the aortopulmonary window represents an ideal case for robotic surgery.

In this work, we propose and verify a robust dual damascene air gap architecture, which avoids the increasing complexity and cost normally associated with current multilevel air gap integration. Air gap packaging reliability was also addressed showing promising stud bonding and wire pull test results. Furthermore two solutions are proposed to solve any possible un-landed via issues, including simultaneous air gap formation at multiple metal levels, which could even be used to reduce the thermal budget for the 32/22 nm nodes.

We report the use of a screen-printable copper paste to form the front busbars on high efficiency photovoltaic cell structures in combination with copper fingers formed by light induced plating. Such a process route offers economic benefits relative to the fully plated front metallization due to the reduced requirement for laser ablation and increased cell performance. We demonstrate improved open circuit voltage and fill factor compared to cells that used plating for both the fingers and the busbars. These result from reduced contact between the semiconductor and the metal and from reduced shunting compared to the laser ablated and plated electrodes. p-type 'PERC' cells have been fabricated with copper plated fingers and screen-printed copper busbars with a median cell efficiency of 20.4%, compared to 20.3% for those with fully plated busbars. n-type 'PERT' cells reached a cell efficiency of 20.9% for both front metallization schemes. The screen-printed busbars gave a ∼5 mV advantage over the plated busbars in both cases.

A growing need for low stress high temperature thick film materials has prompted the development of new spin-coatable photopatternable silicones (Dow Corning WL-5000 series) to assist manufactures in building the next generation of electronic devices. These new negative-tone materials can be easily coated onto electronic substrates and patterned using standard i-line and broadband lithographic processes. Films ranging from 6 to 50 &mu;m have been demonstrated with patterned features resolved to an aspect ratio of less than 1.3. The etched regions provide a sloped sidewall and curved surfaces to facilitate metallization processes. The films are cured at low temperatures (150 to 250°C) to provide low modulus values in the range of 150 to 500 MPa, are inherently hydrophobic, and are based on cure chemistry that is acid free and delivers thermally stable cross-links. As a result, the films show very little shrinkage during thermal cure (~2%), do not require extended high temperature processing, and provide a very low residual stress (<8 MPa). They also show excellent thermal stability and mechanical integrity when exposed to high temperatures. A simple wet process has been developed to facilitate film rework and allow for sacrificial layer applications.

This paper summarizes the environmental fate and effects of dimethicone and cyclotetrasiloxane, which are used extensively in personal care applications. Dimethicone and cyclotetrasiloxane differ fundamentally in their physicochemical properties, and as a consequence display different environmental fate paths. Cyclotetrasiloxane partitions into the atmosphere, whereas sediments and soils are the most important environmental compartments for dimethicone. Information is presented to show the environmental degradation of these two materials in their respective environmental compartments. In both cases, after a non-biological step to initiate the process, the degradation occurs biologically. Ultimately, both dimethicone and cyclotetrasiloxane are degraded to inorganic constituents, carbon dioxide, silicic acid and water. No adverse effects have been detected in experimental organisms representative of the environmental compartments in which dimethicone and cyclotetrasiloxane may be found. Monitoring of key environmental compartments, namely sediments and soil, reveals that average concentrations are well below the no-observed adverse effect level. This work therefore continues to support the environmental acceptability of dimethicone and cyclotetrasiloxane for personal care applications.

A three-dimensional human epidermis model reconstructed from neonatal primary keratinocytes is presented. Herein, a protocol for the cultivation process and the characterization of the model is described. Neonatal primary keratinocytes are grown submerged on permeable polycarbonate inserts and lifted to the air-liquid interface three days after seeding. After fourteen days of stimulation with defined growth factors and ascorbic acid in high calcium culture medium, the model is fully differentiated. Histological analysis revealed a completely stratified epidermis, mimicking the morphology of native human skin. To characterize the model and its barrier functions, protein levels and localization specific for early-stage keratinocyte differentiation (i.e., keratin 10), late-stage differentiation (i.e., involucrin, loricrin, and filaggrin) and tissue adhesion (i.e., desmoglein 1), were assessed by immunofluorescence. The tissue barrier integrity was further evaluated by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance. Reconstructed human epidermis was responsive to proinflammatory stimuli (i.e., lipopolysaccharide and tumor necrosis factor alpha), leading to increased cytokine release (i.e., interleukin 1 alpha and interleukin 8). This protocol represents a straightforward and reproducible in vitro method to cultivate reconstructed human epidermis as a tool to assess environmental effects and a broad range of skin-related studies.

Abstract Polymeric dispersing agents were prepared from aliphatic polyesters consisting of δ ‐undecalactone (UDL) and β , δ ‐trimethyl‐ ε ‐caprolactones (TMCL) as biobased monomers, which were polymerized in bulk via organocatalysts. Graft copolymers were obtained by coupling of the polyesters to poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) in the bulk without using solvents. Various parameters that influence the performance of the dispersing agents in pigment‐based UV‐curable matrices were investigated: chemistry of the polyester (UDL or TMCL), polyester/PEI weight ratio, molecular weight of the polyesters and of PEI. The performance of the dispersing agents was modelled using machine learning in order to increase the efficiency of the dispersant design. The resulting models were presented as analytical models for the individual polyesters and the synthesis conditions for optimally performing dispersing agents were indicated as a preference for high‐molecular‐weight polyesters and a polyester‐dependent maximum polyester/PEI weight ratio. © 2022 The Authors. Polymer International published by John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Industrial Chemistry.

Ascaris lumbricoides is the most common intestinal parasite to infect humans. The incidence of ascariasis is increasing in our regions, due to world travel and population migration. In one third of cases, the worm can enter the bile duct and cause cholangitis or biliary colics. Diagnosis and treatment of ascariasis are discussed. Endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreaticography (ERCP) with endoscopic extraction of the worm, using a Dormia basket, is a safe and effective procedure for the diagnosis and treatment of biliary ascariasis. This technique serves as an effective alternative for surgery.

This chapter will review silicone based adhesive technologies, applications and characterization, emphasizing those self-adhesive materials often used in skin contact applications including transdermal drug delivery and wound care device attachment. The silicone pressure sensitive adhesives used in transdermal applications today are thermoplastic and based on silicone polymer and silicate resin chemistries. Previous research has suggested that some drugs readily diffuse through silicone adhesives, prompting their use in transdermal patches. A recently developed silicone acrylate hybrid adhesive technology combines polyacrylate and silicone molecular structures to form a stable, semi-interpenetrated network. This technology provides ease in formulating transdermal drug delivery systems through improved physical stability over simple blends of acrylate and silicone adhesives. The ability of some silicone adhesives to affix bandages without disrupting the wound bed upon removal has led to the wide acceptance of a third type of silicone adhesive technology that unlike the aforementioned thermoplastic materials is thermoset. This adhesive form is based on a platinum catalyzed, cross-linking reaction between vinyl functional and silicon-hydride functional silicone polymers. The various silicone adhesive types have been characterized via classical measurements of physical performances. Rheological techniques elucidated herein provide further understanding of the structure-property relationships previously unavailable using classical characterization approaches.

We present a 37-week female baby, known with intrauterine growth restriction since 25 weeks of pregnancy, born with a placenta with an excessive long umbilical cord (ELUC), without any other abnormalities. ELUC is mostly an incidental finding after delivery, but represents a potentially detectable intrauterine cause of growth restriction. A system that allows ultrasound measurement of the length of the umbilical cord could highly increase antenatal diagnosis of ELUC.

&lt;div&gt;The exponentially growing electrification market is driving demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with high performance. However, LIB thermal runaway events are one of the unresolved safety concerns. Thermal runaway of an individual LIB can cause a chain reaction of runaway events in nearby cells, or thermal propagation, potentially causing significant battery fires and explosions. Such a safety issue of LIBs raises a huge concern for a variety of applications including electric vehicles (EVs). With increasingly higher energy-density battery technologies being implemented in EVs to enable a longer driving mileage per charge, LIB safety enhancement is becoming critical for customers. This comprehensive review offers an encompassing overview of prevalent abuse conditions, the thermal event processes and mechanisms associated with LIBs, and various strategies for suppression, prevention, and mitigation. Importantly, the report presents a unique vantage point, amalgamating insights sourced not only from academic research but also from a pragmatic industrial perspective, thus enriching the breadth and depth of the information presented.&lt;/div&gt;

The predatory bugs Anthocoris nemoralis and A. nemorum are important predators of the pear psylla (Psylla pyri) in pear orchards. To effectively control psylla infestations the use of insecticide treatments are often necessary so it is desirable to adopt products and use patterns which protect or conserve natural predator populations. Spinosad (the active ingredient in TRACER* insecticide) is highly active on psylla when applied up to two times after flowering. To investigate the effects of spinosad on A. nemoralis and A. nemorum a series of field trials were conducted between 1998 and 2005 in pear. Findings from these trials showed that spinosad applied at the psylla rate may cause minor short term effects on A. nemoralis and A. nemorum specifically to very young (or recently hatched) nymphs. However, due to the rapid photodegradation of spinosad recovery of predatory bug populations follows a few days after final application. The occasional depressive effect due to spinosad applications was considered to be due mainly to the removal of the pear psylla prey as spinosad has excellent efficacy on this pest. Findings from the trials demonstrated that predatory bug populations recover rapidly within a few days after the second application in order to control any new pear psylla attack. Therefore, spinosad can be considered as a valuable new tool for controlling pear psylla populations in pear orchards and to be compatible with augmented biological control by the predatory bug population.

Dog experiments have demonstrated that electrical stimulation delivered to denervated posterior cricoarytenoid muscles (PCA) can restore abduction and relieve airway obstruction. Experiments lasting up to 10 months have shown reversal of muscle atrophy by both functional and histologic criteria. The device, the Medtronic Ifrel II, consists of an implantable stimulator connected to electrodes that are surgically placed between the PCA muscle and the cricoid cartilage. The report presents the results from the first two patients implanted with Ifrel II for the condition of bilateral vocal fold paralysis (performed at the University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium). Both patients are women (ages 60 and 77 years) with a history of thyroidectomy and were dependent on a tracheostomy for at least 4 months. In both patients, trials of electrical stimulation during initial surgical implantation resulted in noticeable abduction of the stimulated vocal fold. No surgical complications or dysphasia has been reported for either patient, although both patients demonstrate electrically induced coughing at high stimulation levels. Patients have been maintained on a conservative schedule of stimulation: frequency, 10–30 Hz; amplitude, 2–10 V; and a duty cycle of 1.5 sec on and 3.5 sec off. The patient with the longest implantation time (3 months) has increased her peak inspiratory flow to above 1.51/sec. At the time of this abstract submission two other centers (Johannes Guttenberg Universitat, Mainz, Germany, and Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minn.) have received governmental and hospital approval to implant the device. The results from patients who received the implant at all sites will be presented. Preoperative assessment, indications, stimulation protocols, and long-term results will be discussed.

Historically, silicone joint dimensioning is calculated with a simplified equation implemented in various standards for structural glazing. This equation assumes homogeneous stress distribution along the sealant bite whilst high local stress peaks, structure deformation or material ageing are included in a global safety factor. Safeguards such as a maximum authorized deflection (1%) and aspect ratio to respect (between 1 and 3) have been given to ensure the validity of the used equations. However new trends in commercial buildings such as the use of large dimensions glass panes or stronger engineering performance requirements such as high windloads above 5000Pa lead to the non-respect of these guidelines and the impossibility to use the simplified equation. An improved mathematical relationship making a direct correspondence between a joint included in a façade system and the behavior of a test piece was recently proposed by the authors. The goal of this article is to further validate the proposed relationship by confronting predictions with physical measurements on various test samples and the results from FEA modeling. The domain of validity of the simplified equation and the improved equation will be developed.