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The authors propose a simple Ar plasma treatment method to selectively damage the area underneath p-pad electrode of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It was found that we could form a highly resistive area so that the injected carriers will be forced to spread out horizontally for the LED. Under 20 mA current injection, it was found that the output powers were 16.0, 17.9 and 17.3 mW while the forward voltages were 3.17, 3.19 and 3.20 V for conventional LED and LED with SiO2 layer, respectively. Moreover, the LED with Ar plasma treatment is superior to the other LEDs while operating at a higher injection current.

The bilayer-based Antiferroelectric Tunneling Junction (AFTJ) with ferroelectric (FE) HfZrO2 (HZO) and dielectric (DE) Al2O3 demonstrates a current ratio of $> 100\times $ , a TER (tunneling electroresistance) of $> 50\times $ , multilevel states, $> 10^{4}$ sec retention, and a cycling endurance as high as 108. The concept of tunneling current through DE in an antiferroelectric (AFE) system enhances the capacity to modulate the current/TER ratio and makes the AFTJ feasible for low-power crossbar eNVM (embedded nonvolatile memory) applications.

The voltage amplification of a ferroelectric layer was studied for advanced complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) applications. To match the capacitance for negative-capacitance field-effect transistors (NC-FETs), a method of adjusting the MOS capacitance is proposed by optimizing the width (W) and height/depth (H) in two types of ferroelectric gate-stack 2D metal-oxide semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) structures: a fin-like structure and a trench structure. The capacitance of the semiconductor was modeled to match that of the ferroelectric films to obtain hysteresis-free operation (ΔVT = VT, for –VT,rev ~ 0) and achieve voltage amplification (AV). The optimized conditions are found to be H = 19.3 nm and 24.3 nm to achieve the criterion with AV > 50 for the fin-like and trench structure, respectively. Subsequently, the structure was extended to a three-dimensional (3D) fin-shaped field-effect transistor (FinFET) to evaluate the effects of varying geometrical parameters such as the fin spacing (FS). Tuning FS can not only enhance the on-current but also decrease the subthreshold swing in the off-current region. For the FET, the use of the optimum FS value of 30 nm helps the FinFETs achieve capacitance matching with AV > 30. The subthreshold swing of the NC-FinFET is improved by about 47% for HFinFET/WFinFET ~ 3 and Fs/HFinFET ~ 1.2 as compared with the conventional FinFET. The concept of coupling the polarized Hf-based oxide in NC-FETs that is demonstrated to be feasible herein is thus practicable using current CMOS architectures.

A double-HZO (HfZrO2) FeFET (ferroelectric FET) with nonidentical ferroelectric thicknesses is experimentally demonstrated with as low as $\vert {V}_{P/{E}}\vert = {5}$ V, 2-bit endurance > 105 cycles and retention > 104 s. Inserting an insulator to separate the ferroelectric layers and avoid the monoclinic formation of a thick Fe-HZO (ferroelectric-HZO) is a useful method to enhance the MW (memory window) for MLC (multilevel cell) applications. Double-HZO has a lower ER (error rate) and shows a 600X improvement compared to single-HZO. The stacked HZO FeFET has potential as an MLC for high-density NVM (nonvolatile memory) applications.

High salt intake results in various harmful effects on human health including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and reduced bone density. Despite this, there are very few studies in the literature that have investigated the association between sodium intake and osteoarthritis (OA). Therefore, we aimed to explore these associations in a Korean population.This study used cross-sectional data from adult subjects aged 50-75 years from two consecutive periods of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V-VII (2010-2011 and 2014-2016). The estimated 24-hour urinary sodium excretion (24HUNa) was used as a surrogate marker of salt intake. In the 2010-2011 dataset, knee OA (KOA) was defined as the presence of the radiographic features of OA and knee pain. The association between KOA and salt intake was analysed using univariable and multivariable logistic regression methods. For the sensitivity analysis, the same procedures were conducted on subjects with self-reported OA (SR-OA) with knee pain in the 2010-2011 dataset and any site SR-OA in the 2014-2016 dataset.Subjects with KOA had significantly lower energy intake, but higher 24HUNa than those without KOA. The restricted cubic spline plots demonstrated a J-shaped distribution between 24HUNa and prevalent KOA. When 24HUNa was stratified into five groups (2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 and ≥5 g/day), subjects with high sodium intake (≥5 g/day) had a higher risk of KOA (odds ratio [OR] = 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-2.62) compared to the reference group (3-4 g/day) after adjusting for covariates. The sensitivity analysis based on SR-OA with knee pain showed that high sodium intake was also significantly associated with increased prevalence of OA (OR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.10-3.10) compared with the reference group. Regarding SR-OA at any site in the 2014-2016 dataset, estimated 24HUNa showed a significantly positive association with the presence of SR-OA after adjusting for potential confounders.This nationwide Korean representative study showed a significant association between symptomatic KOA and high sodium intake (≥5 g/day). Avoidance of a diet high in salt might be beneficial as a non-pharmacologic therapy for OA.

To address the strategy of interface effects to achieve low-voltage operation in ferroelectric devices, this work presents a systematical study on Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 ferroelectric(FE) capacitors. Firstly, by detail electrical characterization of P-V curves under varied electrodes and ambient gas, two factors governed ferroelectric switching can be well distinguished. Then by combining the kinetical pulse measurements and first-principle calculation, it is found that, 1) the intrinsic dead-layer effect exits in nanocapacitors; 2) the ferroelectric domain switching speed and coherency can be boosted via lower thermal budget O2 treatment. Finally, a material with coherency and ultra-low access voltage as design guideline for sub-3nm technology eNVM is provided.

The 3D double layer Ω-type FETs with ferroelectric HfZrO 2 gate served for one-transistor (1T) architecture is demonstrated and studied for memory reliability. The high endurance is presented more than 106 cycles P/E with 4V. Multi-domain model integrated with TCAD is proposed by adding a coupling coefficient for the polarization gradient term of the free energy, and calculating for nanosheet GAA-FETs. The polarization orientation is assigned randomly by Gaussian distribution into individual domain for multi-dimensional 3D device simulation. The data retention is degraded due to depolarization field occurrence at the corner by modeling results. The feasible structure paves the candidate for emerging memory applications.

BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) is one of the pivotal extrapulmonary conditions. However, the pathophysiology of RA-ILD, including the effect of disease-modifying anti-rheumatoid drugs (DMARDs) is largely unknown.ObjectivesTo study the effect of methotrexate and TNFα inhibitor on lung microenvironment of SKG mice using single-nucleus RNA sequencing.MethodsAt age eight to ten weeks, male SKG mice received a single intraperitoneal zymosan A (ZyA) injection to induce arthritis and pneumonitis. We gave them twice-weekly intraperitoneal injections of PBS, methotrexate (7.5 mg/kg; MilliporeSigma), or TNFα inhibitor (100 μg/kg; R&D Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA). Nuclei were prepared from frozen lung tissue under ribonuclease-free conditions by a method adapted from an existing protocol.ResultsMacroscopically, pneumonitis was most evident in SKG mice with ZyA and methotrexate treatment; multiple inflammatory cell aggregations were observed. In mice with ZyA and TNFα inhibitor, there were a few perivascular inflammatory cell aggregations as in the mice with ZyA and PBS, compared with the mice without ZyA. A total of 59,860 nuclei were obtained from sixteen mice, four mice from each of the four groups. We classified each cell type using previous reports on the single-nucleus cells of mouse lungs. The most frequently observed cell was the type 2 alveolar (AT2) cell among all four groups. Alveolar epithelial cells were further subclustered into six clusters (Figure 1). Cluster 2 highly expressed type 1 alveolar (AT1) cell marker genes. In mice without ZyA, cluster 0 predominated relative to cluster 1. This proportion was inverted in mice with the ZyA injection, where cluster 1 predominated. TNFα inhibitor treatment reversed the proportion, with cluster 0 predominating in this group. On the other hand, methotrexate treatment further accentuated the predominance of cluster 1 over cluster 0. Interestingly, a distinct cluster 3 was observed after methotrexate treatment. This distinctive alveolar epithelial cell cluster (cluster 3) showed IL-1, TNF, IFNα, and IFNγ perturbation-response signatures using Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) 1000 ligand perturbation analysis. In addition, enrichment analysis revealed that cluster 3, as well as cluster 2 (i.e., AT1 cells) significantly enriched genes of BMI1 knockout mice that fail to self-renew their lung cells after damage.ConclusionThe current study shows that methotrexate exacerbates lung inflammation via attenuation of the regenerative potential of AT2 cells.References[1]Sakaguchi N, et al. Nature 2003;426:454.[2]Koenitzer JR, et al. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2020;63:739.[3]Dovey JS, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008;105:11857.AcknowledgementsThis work was supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant no.HI14C1277).Disclosure of InterestsNone declared.

At Taiwan Photon Source (TPS), the main liquid-nitrogen (LN2) transfer line of length 600 m for beamline endstations was installed in 2015. It formerly supplied LN2 to maximum 24 beamline endstations. Beamline endstation 13A, of which the aim is advanced and general studies of biological structures and structural kinetics in solution or condensed forms under environmental simulations, from atomic to micrometre scale and time resolution from microsecond to minute, was installed during 2018 and 2019. We designed and self-manufactured one LN2 transfer line according to the requirement of beamline endstation 13A, to supply LN2 into the double-crystal monochromator (DCM), to solve the problem of thermal deformation of the crystal. Otherwise the keep-full device was designed to replace the phase separator of the chiller. In this paper we present the pipeline design, performance testing, keep-full device, pressure reducer, noise reduction and heat-load measurement.

Helium is an expensive consumable in cryogenic facilities and is used widely in space, medical and energy research. At NSRRC, liquid helium is used as a coolant for superconducting magnets and SRF cavities . Minor contaminants such as nitrogen, oxygen, moisture and oil will be picked up when liquid helium circulates in large scale cryogenic systems and such contaminants can crystalize and cause damage to the cold box turbo expanders resulting in system damage and failure . Therefore, a helium purification system is designed as an integral part of the cryogenic system to conserve helium by providing 99.9995% pure helium to the liquefier after eliminating contaminants. The NSRRC helium purification process is based on two principles, the first one being a cryo-sorption device using activated charcoal and a molecular sieve and the other being a cryo-condensation unit using a tubular heat exchanger. The purifier has been designed to purify impure helium with overestimated contaminants of as much as 2.5% nitrogen and 2.5% oxygen with a mass flow rate of 475 nm3/hr and delivering a pressure of 17 bar(a) of impure helium to the purifier, the actual impurity will be much lower than the actual design contaminants. In this paper, calculation and design of the helium purification system and components composed of one double pipe counter flow heat exchanger, one vessel and tube heat exchanger, one pre-cooler and one charcoal vessel will be discussed together with charcoal mass requirement calculations and design of other components. In NSRRC, helium is liquefied and is used as a coolant for the SRF system and for cryogenic undulators. During a cryogenic cycle in the cryogenic system, helium may pick up contaminants such as moisture, oxygen, oil, and nitrogen, which have a higher freezing point than liquid helium and will crystalize. These frozen impurities will then affect plant capacity and operation such as alternating flow characteristics, damaging moving parts like turbines in the cold box causing the overall cooling efficiency to drop. Eliminating the contaminants is therefore very important for the cryogenic system.

Background:Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, there are few prospective studies for the natural course of lung physiology in most patients with RA-ILD.Objectives:To assess the natural course of lung physiology of RA-ILD and the relation between arthritis activity and pulmonary physiology in patients with RA-ILD.Methods:The KOrean Rheumatoid Arthritis ILd (KORAIL) cohort is the prospective observational cohort and aims to investigate the natural course of RAILD. Based on either 1987 or 2020 ACR criteria, patients diagnosed with RA and ILD based on CT scan were recruited from six tertiary medical hospitals in Korea since January 2015. RA disease activity was assessed using swollen and tender joint count by treating physician, inflammatory markers including CRP and ESR, and patient’s global assessment annually. Pulmonary function tests (PFT), including FVC, FEV1, DLCO, and chest CT scan, were conducted annually.Results:We analyzed 163 patients at baseline (V1), 141 at 1-year (V2), 122 at 2-year (V3), and 88 at 3-year follow-up (V4). The mean (±SD) duration since RA diagnosis and since ILD diagnosis was 7.6±8.0 and 2.7±3.1 years, respectively. The female to male ratio was about 2:1, and 58.9% of patients (n=96) were 65 years old or older. Only two patients were negative for RF and anti-CCP; 98.7% of patients (n=161/163) were positive for RF (n=143, 87.7%) or anti-CCP antibody (n=154, 94.5%). At enrollment, one-hundred-nine patients (66.9%) had FVC ≥80 % of predicted. Twenty-five patients (15.3%) showed FEV1/FVC≥0.7, of which seventeen patients, only ten percent of a total cohort (10.4%), had FVC ≥80% of predicted, which corresponds to the obstructive pattern. Proportion of patients showed a ≥10-point decline from the enrollment in FVC of the predicted value were around 10% at every year (Table 1). The proportion of patients with a relative decline of ≥10% from the enrollment in FVC predicted was increased every year because of cumulation. The proportion of patients with a relative decline of ≥10% from the previous visit in FVC predicted was also around 10-15% every year. Proportions of patients with 55% or more DLco % pred. has been decreased annually; 78.5% (n=128/158) at V1, 72.9% (n=105/139) at V2, 68.7% (n=90/117) at V3, and 56.6% (n=56/85) at V4. Patients with a relative decline of ≥10% from the enrollment in DLco predicted was 38 (27.5 %) at V2 and 37 (31.9%) at V3. Patients with a relative decline of ≥10% from the previous visit in DLco predicted was 29 (25.2%) at V3. Of note, thirty patients (21.7%) showed a relative 10% or more increase from enrollment in DLco predicted at V2, and so did 30 patients (25.9%) at V3.Table 1.The analysis of forced vital capacity (FVC) in KORIL cohortV1 (enrollment)V2 (1-year)V3 (2-year)V4 (3-year)FVC (mL), mean±SD2549.5 ± 743.32479.5±764.42435.8 ± 742.82405.7 ± 731.2FVC % of predicted, mean±SD84.70 ± 16.7484.7±18.184.3 ± 17.683.1 ± 19.1Rate of FVC decline, mL·year-1 (95% CI)--14 (-49, 21)-62 (-104, -21)-A 10-point decline from V1 in predicted FVC value, n (%)-10 (7.1)16 (13.3)8 (9.4)Relative decline of 10% from V1 in predicted FVC value, n (%)-17 (12.1)23 (18.9)17 (19.3)Relative decline of 10% from the previous visit in predicted FVC value, n (%)-17 (12.1)17 (14.2)13 (15.3)Conclusion:Annually, about 10-15% of patients experience a relative ≥10% decline from the previous visit in FVC predicted value in RA-ILD.Acknowledgements:This work was supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant no.HI14C1277).Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is characterized by widespread chronic musculoskeletal pain, stiffness and pressure hyperalgesia at soft tissue tender points. Patients with FMS may exhibit a tendency towards cold extremities and cold‑induced vasospasm. Endothelin‑1 (EDN1) is a potent vasoconstrictor that is mainly produced by endothelial cells. The present study aimed to determine whether plasma expression levels avvnd single‑nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs1800541) of the EDN1 gene were associated with FMS and/or any of its clinical variables. Plasma EDN1 levels were assessed by ELISA, and SNP genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction‑high‑resolution melting curve analysis. Patients with the TG genotype and the G allele may have an elevated risk of FMS. In addition, patients with FMS with the TG genotype and/or T allele exhibited higher plasma EDN1 levels compared with healthy controls. EDN1 levels increased significantly in patients with FMS compared with normal controls. In addition, EDN1 SNP was found to be associated with susceptibility to FMS.

A new autonomous distributed link scheduling scheme, SINBADLinQ, for device-to-device networks is proposed. SINBADLinQ operates with a modified signal-to-inference-plus-noise ratio. The new link scheduling scheme outperforms recently proposed ITLinQ and ITLinQ+ with or without global scheduling information sharing.

Background:Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the effect of RA treatment on the course of ILD is not yet known.Objectives:To assess the effect of RA treatment on the course of lung physiology of RA-focusing on biologic DMARDs treatment.Methods:The Korean Rheumatoid Arthritis ILd (KORAIL) cohort is the prospective observational cohort and aims to investigate the natural course of RAILD. Based on either 1987 or 2020 ACR criteria, patients diagnosed with RA and ILD based on CT scan were recruited from six tertiary medical hospitals in Korea since January 2015. RA disease activity was assessed using disease activity (DAS)28-ESR and CRP, annually. Pulmonary function tests (PFT), including FVC and DLCO were conducted annually. In the current study, we analyzed patients who completed a 2-years follow-up or had died during those terms till October 2020. They classified patients into three groups: patients treated with abatacept ≥24 weeks ever (Group 1), those with other bDAMRDs ≥24 weeks ever (Group 2), and those without any bDMARDs or with bDMARDs Results:Of a total of 125 patients who completed 2-year follow-up, 21 patients were classified as Group 1, 26 for Group 2, and 78 for Group 3. The mean age or the number of patients with ≥ 65-year-old was comparable between groups(Table 1). The mean duration since RA diagnosis was shorter in Group 3, but that since ILD diagnosis was comparable. DAS28-ESR score was comparable between Group 1 and 2 at enrollment, so was in 1-year-follow-up (p=0.75) and 2-year-follow-up (p=1.00). FVC and % of the predicted value in FVC, FEV1, and DLco were also comparable among the three groups at enrollment. The numbers of patients with ≥10-point decline in % of FVC predicted was 2 (10.0%) for Group 1, 1 (3.8%) for Group 2, 3 (3.9%) for Group3 during the first 1-year follow-up, and 3 (15.8%), 3 (11.5%), 10 (14.1%) during the last 1-year follow up. The percent of FVC predicted was 81.6 ± 17.5 %, 87.4 ± 17.9 %, 85.2 ± 17.7 % for Group 1,2 and 3, respectively, at 1-year-follow-up, and 79.5 ± 18.8 %, 89.0 ± 16.8 %, 83.5 ± 17.3 % at 2-year-follow-up. (Figure 1A). The percent of DLco predicted was 75.5 ± 23.4 %, 66.7 ± 18.1 %, 67.5 ± 16.7 % for Group 1,2 and 3, respectively, at 1-year-follow-up, and 74.0 ± 23.7 %, 69.1 ± 18.9 %, 67.0 ± 18.5 % at 1-year-follow-up (Figure 1B).Conclusion:Treatment of bDMARDs did not exacerbate FVC than without bDMARDs treatment and mitigated the decline of DLCO compared to without bDMARDs treatment during 2-year-follow-up.Table 1.Clinical characteristics at enrollment (V1)TotalGroup 1.Group 2.Group 3.PN125212678Age at enrollment65.9±8.266.0±8.863.9±8.066.6±8.10.3465, n (%)72 (57.6)13 (61.9)11 (42.3)48 (61.5)0.21Female, n (%)89 (71.2)16 (76.2)17 (65.4)56 (71.8)0.71RA duration, years8.0±8.49.6±6.69.2±9.07.2±8.60.05ILD duration, years3.0±3.33.8±3.73.8±3.52.5±3.10.10BMI, kg/m224.1±3.123.8±3.724.8±2.923.9±3.00.39Ever-smoker1855180.57RF positive, n (%)111 (88.8)19 (90.5)22 (84.6)70 (89.7)0.72Anti-CCP positive, n (%)119 (95.2)20 (95.2)25 (96.2)74 (94.9)1.00Arthritis activityDAS28-ESR4.0 ± 1.44.1 ± 1.14.3 ± 1.83.8 ± 1.40.60*DAS28-CRP3.1 ± 1.43.2 ± 1.23.4 ± 1.63.0 ± 1.40.76*HAQ-DI0.70 ± 0.760.64 ± 0.490.82 ± 0.820.67 ± 0.800.28*Pulmonary function testFVC, ml2522.5 ± 765.42406.2 ± 772.62617.3 ± 965.22522.2 ± 692.30.65FVC, % of pred.84.6 ± 16.980.9 ± 17.786.12 ± 17.8285.08 ± 16.50.53FEV1, % of pred.92.4 ± 21.492.0 ± 24.890.6 ± 22.193.0 ± 20.40.88DLco, % of pred.71.5 ± 19.772.3 ± 26.769.1 ± 16.472.0 ± 18.70.80Figure 1.Acknowledgements:This research was supported by Bristol Myers Squibb Inc.Disclosure of Interests:Sung Hae Chang: None declared, Ji Sung Lee: None declared, Jeong Seok Lee: None declared, Chan Ho Park: None declared, Min Uk Kim: None declared, You-Jung Ha: None declared, Eun Ha Kang: None declared, Yeon Ah Lee: None declared, Yongbeom Park: None declared, Jung-Yoon Choe: None declared, Eun Young Lee Grant/research support from: Bristol Myers Squibb Inc.

Background:Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a severe extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the effect of RA disease activity on the course of ILD is not yet known.Objectives:To assess the natural course of lung physiology of RA-ILD and the relation between arthritis activity and pulmonary physiology in patients with RA-ILD.Methods:The Korean Rheumatoid Arthritis ILd (KORAIL) cohort is the prospective observational cohort and aims to investigate the natural course of RAILD. Based on either 1987 or 2020 ACR criteria, patients diagnosed with RA and ILD based on CT scan were recruited from six tertiary medical hospitals in Korea since January 2015. RA disease activity was assessed using disease activity (DAS)28-ESR and CRP, annually. Pulmonary function tests (PFT), including FVC and DLCO were conducted annually. According to the transition of DAS28-ESR status, we classified patients into four groups: Group A. persistent remission or low disease activity, Group B. improvement, Group C. worsening, Group D. persistent moderate to high disease activity.Results:We analyzed 143 patients who completed a 2-year follow-up (visit 2) or had died with available PFT results at least twice. Mean duration since RA diagnosis and since ILD diagnosis was 7.6±8.0 and 2.7±3.1 years, respectively. Twenty-four patients were Group A, 33 Group B, 10 Group C and 30 Group D. The mean of FVC (mL) and % of the predicted value in FVC was significantly lower in Group D than in other groups (Table 1). The annual rate of decline in FVC was -42 (95% CI -93~10) mL·year-1 in Group B while -113 (95% CI -206~-21) mL·year-1 in Group C (Figure 1A). The annual decline rate in Group C was further exaggerated in patients with ≥ 80% of FVC predicted (-141, 95% CI -251~-32 mL·year-1). During two years of follow-up, patients ever experienced a relative decline of ≥10% from the enrollment in FVC predicted was 27.3%(n-9/33) in Group B whereas 30.0% (3/10) in Group C. The annual rate of decline in % of DLco predicted value was also the largest in Group C (-4.6 %·year-1, 95%CI -8.5~-0.7), which further exaggerated in patients with ≥ 80% of FVC predicted (-4.9%·year-1, 95 %CI -8.3~-1.5, Figure 1B). Of note, about half of patients with maintained not only low disease activity (Group A) but also moderate to severe disease activity (Group D) improved in DLco at least 10% or more from the enrollment of DLco predicted value (Group A: 54.2%, n=13/24, Group D: 46.7%, n=14/30).Conclusion:RA disease activity is associated with the change of lung physiology in patients with RA-ILD; worsening disease activity associated with a further decrease of annual change in FVC and maintaining low disease activity associated with a further increase of annual change in % of DLco predicted value.Table 1.The analysis of forced vital capacity (FVC) according to disease activity transition group.Group AGroup BGroup CGroup DFVC (mL), mean±SD2810.0±771.12528.8±735.32801.0±952.72048.3±575.7FVC % of predicted, mean±SD87.5±14.586.5±16.693.0±15.677.2±17.3Rate of FVC decline, mL·year-1 (95% CI)-52 (-112,7)-42 (-93,10)-113 (-206, -21)1 (-52, 54)A 10-point decline from V1 in predicted FVC value, n (%)29 (20.3)6 (25.0)6 (18.2)3 (30.0)Relative decline of 10% from the enrollment in predicted FVC value, n (%)35 (24.5)5 (20.8)9 (27.3)3 (30.0)Figure 1.The annual change of pulmonary physiology according to disease activity transition group.Acknowledgements:This work was supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant no.HI14C1277).Disclosure of Interests:None declared

Poly(styrene) microgels are known, but the influence of tacticity on particle formation and behavior has not been investigated yet. Isotactic poly(styrene) (iPS) with Mn = 15–120 kg/mol is synthesized by coordinate polymerization and cross-linked by Friedel–Crafts alkylation in a miniemulsion. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, light microscopy, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, and wide-angle powder diffraction are applied to understand the structure of microgels obtained. Typically, spherical microgels with overall diameter of 40–500 nm are found. Isotacticity of the polymer is retained during microgel formation. Increase of cross-linker content leads to partial crystallinity inside the microgel. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016

In this study, two different compositions of submicrometre copper and chromium powders were mixed and the Cr50Cu50 alloys were fabricated via the powder metallurgy technique. The research imposed various hot pressing pressures, while the temperature was maintained at 1050°C for 1 h, respectively. The experimental results showed that the Saint Venant's effect obviously appeared in 1050°C, 48 MPa, 1 h hot pressing Cr50Cu50 alloys, which led to differences in the surface and internal hardness of the specimens. As a result, the optimal parameters of hot pressing of Cr50Cu50 alloys were 1050°C, 36 MPa for 1 h possessing the highest transverse rupture strength value (921.69 MPa). Moreover, the surface hardness increased to HV0.2 221.78 (HRB 95.4), the relative density reached 97.15% and apparent porosity decreased to 0.10%, respectively. Furthermore, the resistivity decreased to 5.28 × 10−6 Ω cm, and ICAS was enhanced to 32.65% after the optimal procedure.