Abstract: The invention provides a dispersant for an aqueous dispersion of boehmite particles which comprises a compound having an anchoring moiety linked to a polymeric hydrophilic moiety, the anchoring moiety containing at least one acid and/or hydroxy group and having overall acidity or neutrality and the polymeric moiety having a lower affinity for a boehmite surface than the anchoring moiety. The anchoring moiety preferably contains at least two acid groups, preferably carboxylic acid groups, attached either in a [1,1], [1,2] or [1,3] relationship and is linked to the polymeric moiety, which is preferably derived from acrylamide or methacrylamide monomer units, preferably by a sulfur atom. The dispersant can reduce the viscosity of the boehmite dispersion and the tendency of the boehmite dispersion to increase in viscosity and/or form a gel or a yield stress material following periods of high shear stress.

Abstract: The present invention concerns a system for utilizing radio frequency signals to dynamically determine the location of a medical device throughout a procedure and to improve navigation of the medical device. For these purposes, a plurality of RF receivers are mounted at operative locations in the operating room and operate on the same clock signal. The system also utilizes a diagnostic medical image such as an MRI, and overlays the position feedback signal on the image. This allows, for example, a surgeon to pick a desired spot on the diagnostic image, and then cause a robotic arm driven device to be moved to that particular spot inside the human body.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of making a material, said method comprising generating a foamed hydrophilic polymer solution, especially of a gelatin or derivative thereof, and treating said foamed hydrophilic polymer solution with sufficient energy and for a sufficiently short time that a polymer foam having an open-cell structure is formed. The invention also provides a material comprising a support and an ink receiving layer supported on the support, the ink receiving layer comprising porous hydrophilic polymer, especially gelatin, and is formed by coating a solution of foamed hydrophilic polymer, especially gelatin, onto a support substrate and drying the coated substrate for a time period selected to be short enough such that an open-cell foam is formed.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a water dispersible polymer particle stabilized by a hydrophobically capped oligomeric acrylamide dispersant. The present invention also discloses a heterogeneous method for forming polymer particles comprising providing a water immiscible organic phase comprising at least one monomer dispersed in a continuous water phase and a hydrophobically capped oligomeric acrylamide, and polymerizing said organic phase to yield polymer particles stabilized with hydrophobically capped oligomeric acrylamide. Also disclosed in the present invention is a heterogeneous method for forming polymer particles comprising providing a water immiscible organic dispersed in a continuous water phase, polymerizing said organic phase, and adding bydrophobically capped oligomeric acrylamide to yield polymer particles stabilized with hydrophobically capped oligomeric acrylamide.

Abstract: The invention relates to an image-recording element comprising a support and an image-receiving layer, wherein the image-receiving layer comprises anionic colloidal silica particles, hydrophilic polymeric binder, and fluorosurfactant, wherein the binder is present in an amount of between 2% and 15% weight of the image-receiving layer, the image-recording element has a 60-degree gloss of greater than 25, and a dry time of less than 1 minute.