A material for culturing cells is disclosed. The material contains a bulk-modified elastomer having a Shore hardness (DIN EN ISO 868) in a range of Shore00 20 to Shore A 80 and comprising a plurality of fatty acid moieties covalently bound to the elastomer bulk, wherein the carboxylic acid groups of said moieties are available on an external surface of said material to provide said binding, and wherein the bulk-modified elastomer is obtained by forming a composition comprising a vinyl-functionalized or a hydride-functionalized elastomer or at least one precursor thereof, a free of saponified unsaturated fatty acid in a range of 0.5-5% by weight of the total weight of the a vinyl-functionalized or a hydride-functionalized elastomer or at least one precursor thereof and a cross-linking catalyst in a mold having a polar inner surface; and bulk-modifying the vinyl-functionalized or the hydride-functionalized elastomer by covalently binding the free or saponified unsaturated fatty acid to the elastomer bulk in said mold by a cross-linking reaction between a vinyl group or a hydride group of the elastomer and an unsaturated carbon-carbon bond of the unsaturated fatty acid to obtain the material. Also disclosed are a fluidic device module and fluidic device, a cell culturing method and a drug testing method.

An ethylenically unsaturated polymer includes at a terminus the radical of an allylic compound that includes a functional group free of active hydrogen atoms that is bonded to the allylic C atom through a S, P, Si or Sn atom and a vinyl aromatic compound. The polymer can be used as a component of a variety of elastomeric compounds used in the production of vulcanizates.

Vulcanizates with desirable properties such as reduced hysteresis and improved wear resistance can be obtained from a composition that includes particulate filler(s) and at least two types of terminally functionalized polymers. One type of polymer has a heterocyclic moiety at a terminus, while another type has at one of its termini an aryl group that includes at least two hydroxyl substituents. The functionalized polymers are provided by reacting terminally active polymers with, respectively, a heterocyclic nitrile and a compound that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded OG.sub.p substituents, where G.sub.p is a protecting group, and a substituent that can react with the active terminus. The protecting groups can be removed so as to provide a terminal moiety that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded hydroxyl groups.

Vulcanizates with desirable properties such as reduced hysteresis and improved wear resistance can be obtained from a composition that includes particulate filler(s) and at least two types of terminally functionalized polymers. One type of polymer has a heterocyclic moiety at a terminus, while another type has at one of its termini an aryl group that includes at least two hydroxyl substituents. The functionalized polymers are provided by reacting terminally active polymers with, respectively, a heterocyclic nitrile and a compound that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded OG.sub.p substituents, where G.sub.p is a protecting group, and a substituent that can react with the active terminus. The protecting groups can be removed so as to provide a terminal moiety that includes an aryl group having at least two directly bonded hydroxyl groups.

The present invention provides a compounding agent which, when used in a rubber composition containing a reinforcing filler, exhibits excellent dispersibility, workability, toughness, low heat build-up, and wear resistance; and a rubber composition containing the compounding agent. A modified butadiene polymer of the present invention has a functional group containing a nitrogen atom and silicon atom at a terminal, a weight average molecular weight of the modified butadiene polymer being from 1000 to 15000, and a molecular weight distribution of the modified butadiene polymer being 2.0 or less.

The present invention provides a run-flat tire excellent in run-flat durability. In the run-flat tire, a vulcanized rubber of a rubber composition containing a rubber component and a vulcanization accelerator that contains tetrabenzylthiuramdisulfide is used for at least one member selected from the group consisting of a side-reinforcing rubber layer and a bead filler. In the vulcanized rubber of the run-flat tire, a proportion of monosulfide bonds and disulfide bonds in all sulfide bonds is 65% or more.

The present invention provides a run-flat tire excellent in run-flat durability. In the run-flat tire, a vulcanized rubber of a rubber composition containing a rubber component and a vulcanization accelerator that contains tetrabenzylthiuramdisulfide is used for at least one member selected from the group consisting of a side-reinforcing rubber layer and a bead filler. In the vulcanized rubber of the run-flat tire, a proportion of monosulfide bonds and disulfide bonds in all sulfide bonds is 65% or more.

Without significantly impacting monomer conversion, the cis-1,4 mer content of conjugated diene mer in polymers can be increased by adding one or more Lewis bases to a catalyst composition that includes a Group 3 metal atom-containing carboxylate. This effect can be seen even at above average monomer concentrations.

Without significantly impacting monomer conversion, the cis-1,4 mer content of conjugated diene mer in polymers can be increased by adding one or more Lewis bases to a catalyst composition that includes a Group 3 metal atom-containing carboxylate. This effect can be seen even at above average monomer concentrations.

A rubber composition is based on at least: from 60 to 100 phr of one or more diene elastomers, referred to as very low glass transition temperature (Tg) diene elastomers, exhibiting a Tg within a range extending from −110° C. to −70° C., chosen from butadiene homopolymers, copolymers of butadiene and of vinylaromatic monomer, exhibiting a content of vinylaromatic unit of between 0% and 5% by weight, and the mixtures of these; a reinforcing filler; crosslinking system; and from 50 to 150 phr of at least one hydrocarbon resin predominantly composed of units resulting from α-pinene monomers, the resin exhibiting an aliphatic proton content of greater than 95%.