batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
Clinical and autopsy studies have consistently reported cardiac sympathetic dysfunction in the left ventricular wall in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Whether the nerve fibers of the cardiac conduction system or the atrial walls are equally affected in this disease process has not yet been well documented. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate sympathetic nerves in the cardiac conduction system as well as in the walls of all four heart chambers in patients with PD, in incidental Lewy body disease (iLBD), and in controls. Heart tissue from five PD patients, two iLBD cases, and seven controls were investigated immunohistochemically using antibodies directed against tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and α-synuclein (syn-1). A marked diminution of TH immunoreactivity (IR) within nerve fibers was observed in four PD patients and in both individuals with iLBD. In contrast, all control subjects displayed dense TH-IR nerve structures. The depletion in TH-IR involved not only the ventricles, but also the conduction system and the atrium showing a global change within cardiac TH-IR nerve fibers in the course of PD. In conclusion, the alterations in cardiac sympathetic nerves of patients with PD or in individuals with iLBD are homogeneous and global within the heart. The clinical implications related to this complete cardiac sympathetic dysfunction, including clinical correlates, diagnostic implications, and treatment, however, remain to be determined in a larger autopsy-controlled cohort of prospectively followed individuals.
To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research highlights the possible role of language comprehension abnormalities. Fifteen female right-handed subjects completed personality testing as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology. Subjects were recruited from the general population. No subject had a lifetime history of relevant psychiatric disorder; however, subjects differed in their score on the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ). During fMRI scans, the subjects silently read 44 short text vignettes that ended in either an ironic or a literal statement. Imaging was performed using a 3 T Siemens scanner. The influence of schizotypy on brain activation was investigated by using an SPM5 regression analysis with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score as regressors. Reading ironic in contrast to literal sentences activated a bilateral network including left medial prefrontal and left inferior parietal gyri. During reading of ironic sentences, brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus of both hemispheres showed a significant negative association with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score. Significant positive correlation with the SPQ total score was present in the left inferior frontal gyrus. We conclude schizotypal personality traits are associated with a dysfunctional lateral temporal language rather than a theory of mind network.
The development of efficient and stable electrode materials is a cutting-edge method to improve electrocatalytic activity. The way of combination biomass-derived porous carbon and metal oxides is considered to be an effective strategy to improve the redox reaction. In this study, we selected tea as a biomass carbon source and synthesized 3D structure of tea porous carbon (TPC) using a template-free method. TiO2/TPC composite material was successfully prepared through one-step simple hydrothermal reaction without destroying the pore structure. The degradation effect of phenol and the yield of ·OH were used as the evaluation criteria for the electrocatalytic performance of composites. The results show that TiO2/TPC-1:2 (20) has an excellent phenol degradation effect (97.54%). The good degradation effect is based on the reasonable design of the structure of composite materials. This effective preparation strategy of composite maximizes the advantages of the pore structure of the material itself and creates a large number of good channels for electron transport. At the same time, the load of metal oxide can effectively promote more catalytic active sites, which has a certain significance for the preparation of porous carbon or porous carbon matrix composite materials.
Background Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is a glycoprotein and plays an important role in cell-cell adhesion, neural migration, neurite outgrowth, synaptic plasticity and brain development. We investigated the relationship between the serum NCAM concentration and cognitive deficit in first episode drug naïve schizophrenia (FES) patients. Methods Thirty FES patients and thirty healthy controls were recruited for this study. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Cognitive functions were assessed by measurement and treatment research to improve cognition in schizophrenia (MATRICS) and consensus cognitive battery (MCCB). Serum levels of NCAM were determined by ELISA. Results Schizophrenia patients had decreased serum NCAM concentrations than controls (−30%, p <0.001). Cognitive scores were significantly lower in FES patients than healthy controls (−34%, p <0.001). The NCAM concentrations were positively correlated with the total scores of MCCB (r =0.438, p =0.003). Multiple regression analysis confirmed that serum NCAM concentration was an independent contributor to MCCB total Scores. Conclusions There were a close relationship between the serum NCAM concentrations and cognitive deficits in FES patients. Since NCAM has an important role in neurodevelopmental processes, these results support the neurodevelopmental dysfunction hypothesis of schizophrenia and suggest that an altered NCAM may be one of the risk factors for schizophrenia including cognitive deficits.
The impact of different severities of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on cognition has not well been documented. Neuroglobin, a recently discovered vertebrate protein, shows a neuroprotective function to modulate hypoxic–ischemic brain injury. This study investigated the cognitive function of patients with varying OSA severities and intended to explore the relationship between levels of neuroglobin in serum and cognitive deficits of OSA.
A series of new hydrophobic ionic liquids based on 1-alkyl-quinuclidinium cations, quoted as CnQuin+ where n is the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, and on the fluorinated anion bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI−) were synthesized, characterized by NMR (1H, 13C), and their elemental analysis determined. Among the five compounds synthesized, only one: C6Quin(TFSI) is liquid at ambient temperature and the others with the exception of C1Quin(TFSI), exhibit melting points below 100 °C and can be considered as ionic liquids. With the aim of using them as electrolytes in electrochemical devices, some of their physicochemical properties such as density, dynamic viscosity and conductivity were explored. The behaviour of C6Quin(TFSI) at a graphite electrode was investigated in the presence of added LiTFSI, by means of cyclic voltammetry for possible use as electrolyte in Li-ion batteries. Results show that the large quinuclidinium cations intercalate in the graphite layers and do not permit the reversible insertion of lithium ions.
Objective: Whilst a large volume of research has been conducted showing the relevance of measures of psychological distress as risk factors and consequences of cardiovascular disease, only few have investigated this with regard to Atrial Fibrillation (AF). Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) has been shown to be seriously impaired in AF patients in many studies, however, a deeper understanding of the mental health issues is lacking. Methods: Using clinical data from two trials conducted by the competence network for atrial fibrillation in Germany (n=770 at baseline), we have conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of mental health parameters and HRQoL in AF patients. An in-depth battery of questionnaires on mental health parameters (including vital exhaustion, symptom burden, illness intrusiveness, patient perceptions of disease severity and depression) were included. Results: The prevalence of major depression in AF patients (8%) is more than double that of general population estimates. The healthiest subgroup of patients has a two-fold increased risk of suffering from vital exhaustion. Both depression and vital exhaustion are significantly more prevalent in persistent that paroxysmal patients, contrary to expectations. In addition, depression is associated with worsened patient-physician communication, and with the reporting of more severe AF related symptom burden, after adjustment for clinical measures of disease severity. AF patients without comorbidities and with minimal symptom burden have impaired quality of life in comparison to the general population. Conclusions: Quality of life and psychological comorbidity are alarmingly elevated even in the healthiest of AF patients in the clinic.
Objective We investigated the relative effects of fatigue, depressive symptoms, and hopelessness on prognosis at 2-year follow-up in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients. Methods Consecutively admitted PCI patients (n=534) treated with paclitaxel-eluting stent as the default strategy completed the Maastricht Questionnaire (MQ) at baseline. Apart from an overall vital exhaustion score, the MQ also assesses fatigue (seven items; Cronbach's α=.87) and depressive symptoms (seven items; Cronbach's α=.83), with hopelessness (one item) comprised in the depressive symptom items. Patients were followed up for adverse clinical events (mortality and nonfatal myocardial infarction) at 2 years. Results At 2-year follow-up, there were 31 clinical events. In univariable analyses, overall vital exhaustion and depressive symptoms, but not fatigue, were associated with adverse prognosis; in multivariable analysis, depressive symptoms [hazard ratio (HR)=2.69; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=1.31–5.55] remained the only predictor of clinical outcome. Among the depressive symptoms, hopelessness (HR=3.44; 95% CI=1.65–7.19) was the most cardiotoxic symptom. The incidence of clinical events was higher in the high-hopelessness patients (11% vs. 3%; P=.001) than in the low-hopelessness patients. Hopelessness (HR=3.36; 95% CI=1.58–7.14; P=.002) remained an independent predictor of clinical outcome at 2 years in adjusted analysis. Conclusion Symptoms of depression, but not fatigue, predicted adverse clinical events. Hopelessness was the most cardiotoxic symptom, associated with a more than three-fold risk of clinical events 2 years post-PCI. Screening for hopelessness may lead to the identification of high-risk patients.
The capacity utilization of zinc anode is usually very low in dilute alkaline solution or at high rate discharge because of the passivation of zinc surface. This problem can be considerably overcome by use of surfactant additive in electrolyte. In this work, it is found that with addition of 2% sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) in 20% KOH solution, the discharge capacity of zinc anode increases from 360 to 490mAh/g at moderate discharge rate of 40mA/g, corresponding to a 35% increase in the capacity utilization. Based on the electrochemical and morphological observation of the anodic passivation behaviors of zinc electrode, this effect is revealed that due to the SDBS adsorption, the passive layer formed on the zinc surface has a loose and porous structure rather than a dense and compact film. This type of surface layer facilitates the diffusive exchange of the solution reactant and discharged product through the surface deposit layer and therefore effectively suppresses the surface passivation of zinc anode.
To test the hypothesis that sediment would have a synergistic effect on the toxicity of lead to cladocerans, we performed life table demography experiments with two pelagic (Diaphanosoma birgei and Moina micrura) and one littoral (Alona rectangula) cladoceran species. Life table demography experiments were conducted at three levels of turbidity (0, 17 and 170 NTU) and six concentrations of lead (as PbCl2) from 0 to 0.71 mg l−1. Median lethal concentrations (LC50) for A. rectangula, D. birgei and M. micrura were 7.06 ± 0.39, 3.16 ± 0.25 and 3.24 ± 0.69 mg l−1 of Pb. Life table study showed that in general, the presence of sediments in test jars allowed an overall increase of 20–75% in both survivorship and reproduction of the cladoceran species exposed to different concentrations of Pb. At 0.04 mg l−1 of Pb, the population growth rates were 0.127 for A. rectangula, 0.037 for D. birgei and 0.471 d−1 for M. micrura in the absence of sediments but were elevated in their presence (0.309, 0.141 and 0.722 d−1, respectively). The data have been discussed in relation to their importance in shallow, turbid Mexican waterbodies.
Aluminum is an attractive anode material for lithium ion batteries due to its low cost, high capacity and low equilibrium potential for lithiation/delithiation. The compact surface oxide layer is usually considered to be detrimental for lithium storage in Al due to its poor conductivity for Li+. Here we show that the Al oxide layer, which is positively charged, can be utilized to assist the homogeneous loading of the Al nanoparticles on to the negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) sheets. During the thermal reduction of GO to reduced GO (rGO), anhydrous HCl is introduced to selectively remove the surface oxide on the Al particles. The vitalized Al/rGO composite exhibits high lithium storage capacity of 1041mAhg−1 after 500 cycles at current density of 500mAg−1. The results demonstrate how the double edged surface oxide layer on Al nanoparticles can be manipulated to enable high performance lithium storage in Al, which is illuminating for the application of Al as a high performance, low cost anode material for lithium ion batteries.
The use of hand-held dental X-ray units is increasing within Australia since their portability is advantageous in applications such as aged care. However, proximity of the operator to the X-ray unit raises radiation safety concerns. The aim of this study was to evaluate operator radiation exposure and methods of dose reduction for the Rextar X camera-style hand-held dental X-ray unit. Leakage and scattered radiation were measured using a solid state detector. Scatter was generated using a Perspex head phantom. Measurements of scattered radiation dose as a function of distance were made with and without a lead acrylic scatter shield (0.6 mm Pb equivalence at 100 kVp) attached to the X-ray unit. Without the scatter shield, doses to the operator from a single adult maxillary molar X-ray exposure were 0.69, 0.78 and 0.47 µGy at the left hand, right hand and eyes respectively. With the scatter shield attached, doses were reduced to 0.25, 0.12 and 0.15 µGy respectively, corresponding to a dose reduction of 64, 85 and 68%. The contribution from leakage radiation was insignificant in comparison. It is highly unlikely that an operator would reach occupational dose limits when using the Rextar X hand-held dental X-ray unit, even without the scatter shield in place. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended that the scatter shield is attached to keep operator doses as low as reasonably achievable. Use of the scatter shield additionally ensures compliance with the Australian legislative requirement for a protective barrier and is considered a preferable alternative to X-ray protective clothing.
Three dimensional nitrogen-doped graphene (3DNG) with high nitrogen content and improved electrochemical performance is successfully prepared by a facile, lost-cost hydrothermal method with ammonia as reducing-doping agent. The as-prepared 3DNG exhibits a hierarchical and interconnected porous network, which offers favorable pathways for electrolyte penetration and transportation. Remarkably, as binder-free electrode in aqueous electrolyte, the resultant 3DNG-2 with both high nitrogen content (7.71 at%) and large active material density (1.31gcm−3) exhibits an ultrahigh volumetric capacitance of 437.5Fcm−3 (334.0Fg−1) at current density of 0.5Ag−1 and superior cycling stability (93% capacitance retention after 20 000 cycles at high current density of 10Ag−1). Further analyses indicate that the N-configurations are of great significance to the improvement of electrochemical behavior as well as the N-content. This work provides an effective way to synthesize 3DNG with excellent electrochemical properties for high performance supercapacitor and promotes the in-depth understanding of the enhancement mechanism of N-doping to supercapacitor performance.
On-chip fuel cells are promising power sources for future electronics and microdevice applications including on-chip sensors and micro-air-vehicles. Previously, we reported a small scale (0.4 mm wide and 6 mm long) on-chip fuel cell of an air-breathing, membrane-less and monolithic design, which exhibited the highest power for an on-chip fuel cell, 1.4 μW (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 10456). In order to improve the performance, precise understanding of the phenomena occurring in the cells is of primary importance. Thus, this paper focuses on understanding cell operation by using numerical simulation, and on implementing cell improvements based on the simulation results. The initial quantitative study concluded that the performance of the on-chip fuel cell was limited owing to oxygen-supply caused by cathode flooding. Thus, we experimentally added the hydrophobic ionomer (Nafion) onto the cell to reduce the influence of the flooding, and successfully increased the maximum power from 2.0 to 2.8 μW. This power is considered sufficient for microsensor application. On the basis of additional simulation results, we show that performance may potentially be improved to over 100 μW by increasing the effective surface areas of catalysts to a level comparable with methanol fuel cells. If successful, such performance enhancements would position the on-chip fuel cell as a viable candidate for future micro-devices, and point to promising directions for fuel cell development efforts.
Electric drive vehicles are equipped with totally different propulsion systems compared with conventional vehicles, for which the energy consumption and cradle-to-gate greenhouse gas emissions associated with vehicle production could substantially change. In this study, the life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of vehicle production are compared between battery electric and internal combustion engine vehicles in China’s context. The results reveal that the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of a battery electric vehicle production range from 92.4 to 94.3GJ and 15.0 to 15.2 t CO2eq, which are about 50% higher than those of an internal combustion engine vehicle, 63.5GJ and 10.0 t CO2eq. This substantial change can be mainly attributed to the production of traction batteries, the essential components for battery electric vehicles. Moreover, the larger weight and different weight distribution of materials used in battery electric vehicles also contribute to the larger environmental impact. This situation can be improved through the development of new traction battery production techniques, vehicle recycling and a low-carbon energy structure.
Cobalt oxides are attractive high-capacity anode materials in lithium ion batteries yet suffer from fast capacity fading and low rate capability. Herein, we have prepared well-dispersed cobalt oxide nanoparticles encapsulated within a flexible single-walled carbon nanotubes matrix (marked as Co3O4 NPs@SWCNT), for the first time, through a facile evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) of single-walled carbon nanotubides (SWCNTDs). By varying the loading amount of Co3O4 content in the composite, the optimal Co3O4 NPs@SWCNT exhibits a high capacity of 1286mAhg−1 after 140 cycles at 100mAg−1. When the specific current returns from 5000mAg−1 to 100mAg−1, it still maintains a specific capacity of 1109mAhg−1, demonstrating remarkable cycling stability and high rate capability. Moreover, the optimal Co3O4 NPs@SWCNT demonstrates superior prolonged cycling stability for over 200 and 600 cycles at extremely high specific currents of 1000 and 2000mAg−1, respectively. Such impressive electrochemical properties are mainly ascribed to the synergic effect of Co3O4 nanoparticles and SWCNTs in the heterostructure, in which the robust SWCNTs not only offer excellent strain accommodation of the encapsulated Co3O4 upon long-term cycling, but also significantly enhance overall electric conductivity and mechanical stability of the electrodes. The facile and effective strategy demonstrated here can be extended to design various SWCNT-based hybrid nanostructures for applications in supercapacitors, water splitting and other fields.
Previous studies show inconsistent results on the role of innervation imaging (with I-123-mIBG) and perfusion imaging in predicting appropriate ICD therapy (aICDth). These studies included patients with both dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy. This study compared the ability of 123I-mIBG imaging along with perfusion imaging (using thallium-199) to predict aICDth in patients with ischemic heart failure (IHF) in relation to indication for ICD implantation (primary vs. secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD)).
ABSTRACT Background Digital radiographic imaging is slowly, but surely, replacing film-based imaging. It has many advantages over traditional imaging, but the technology also has some drawbacks. The author presents an overview of the types of digital image receptors available, image enhancement software and the range of costs for the new technology. Practice Implications The expenses associated with converting to digital radiographic imaging are considerable. The purpose of this article is to provide the clinician with an overview of digital radiographic imaging technology so that he or she can be an informed consumer when evaluating the numerous digital systems in the marketplace.
Few layer graphene/carbon (FLG/C) composites are prepared directly via the rapid and simple exfoliation of expanded graphite in the presence of carbon based natural precursors (i.e. protein, polysaccharide) in water, followed by carbonization process. Several parameters such as nature of C-precursor, FLG/C ratio and carbonization conditions (gas, temperature) are modified in order to optimize the morphology, composition and porosity of FLG/C and thereby investigate their impact on gravimetric and volumetric capacitance, their stability and contribution of pseudocapacitance (Ps) vs. Double-layer capacitance (DL). Few composites exhibit extremely high capacitance considering their low BET-surface area ranging in 130–260 m2/g. The highest gravimetric and volumetric capacitance of 322 F/g and 467 F/cm3 respectively (0.5 A/g); and energy/power performance is reached for FLG/C:1/2, synthesized from graphite-bovine serum albumin (BSA). Despite relatively high theoretical pseudocapacitance contribution of 69% (1.1 V), this sample shows also high capacity retention at high current density and elevated energy -to- power densities. The overall great capacity performance is attributed to the high electrochemical surface area from combined structural features: ultramicroporosity, FLG alignment with high accessibility of FLG edges and elevated packing density. The transport limitation enhances however at higher scan rate (>100 mV/s).