batterydata/paper-abstracts huggingface dataset:
An association between memory and executive dysfunction (ED) has been demonstrated in patients with mixed neurological disorders. We aimed to investigate the impact of ED in memory tasks of children with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We evaluated 36 children with TLE and 28 controls with tests for memory, learning, attention, mental flexibility, and mental tracking. Data analysis was composed of comparison between patients and controls in memory and executive function; correlation between memory and executive function tests; and comparison between patients with mild and severe ED in memory tests. Children with TLE had worse performance in focused attention, immediate and delayed recall, phonological memory, mental tracking, planning, and abstraction. Planning, abstraction, and mental tracking were correlated with visual and verbal memory. Children with severe ED had worse performance in verbal and visual memory and learning tests. This study showed that ED was related to memory performance in children with TLE.
Individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) suffer a gradual decline in communication ability as a result of neurodegenerative disease. Language treatment shows promise as a means of addressing these difficulties but much remains to be learned with regard to the potential value of treatment across variants and stages of the disorder. We present two cases, one with semantic variant of PPA and the other with logopenic PPA, each of whom underwent treatment that was unique in its focus on training self-cueing strategies to engage residual language skills. Despite differing language profiles and levels of aphasia severity, each individual benefited from treatment and showed maintenance of gains as well as generalization to untrained lexical items. These cases highlight the potential for treatment to capitalize on spared cognitive and neural systems in individuals with PPA, improving current language function as well as potentially preserving targeted skills in the face of disease progression.
Myoelectric control provides efficient and natural operation of arm prostheses. Over the past three decades, steady improvements have made myoelectric limbs reliable and increasingly functional. This article reviews current clinical practice as it relates to myoelectric technology and discusses recent advances and clinical application. The advantages and limitations of myoelectric control also are discussed.
In this study, the growth of 1-dimensional manganese oxide (δ-MnO2) nanowire on hierarchical ordered mesoporous carbons/graphene composites (C) was synthesized by a relatively low-cost, simple, effective and eco-friendly redox process. It is found in both experimental results and theoretical simulations that the carbon surface, especially the mesoporous channels of ordered mesoporous carbons (amorphous carbons), would be favorable to serve as the nucleated sites for the growth of MnO2 nanowires. Likewise, the strong adsorptive interactions between MnO2 and amorphous carbons result in the high deposition efficiency of MnO2 on C (98%) and the outstanding stability of MnO2-decorated hierarchical porous carbon composites (MnO2@C) together with the relatively low equivalent series resistance. This electrode material exhibits excellent electrochemical behavior with a specific capacitance high up to 756.2 F g−1 in KOH electrolytes. In addition, an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASCs) assembled by using MnO2@C and C as the positive and negative electrodes in 1.0 M Na2SO4 solution achieves a maximum energy density of 34.56 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 450 Wkg-1 and excellent cycling stability. The results demonstrate the MnO2-decorated hierarchical porous carbon composites are promising candidates for the future high-performance supercapacitors.
A pilot plant using the open absorption system for drying of timber and bio fuel has been realized at a sawmill located in the northern part of Sweden. The technique decreases the energy demand for the dryers considerably and the system has an availability of about 8000 h per year. Compared with other drying techniques, the investment cost is high due to large airflow and therefore large apparatus. The main part of the investment cost, i.e. about 70% originates from the bio fuel dryer and the absorbers. In order to decrease the initial cost a parameter study has been made to investigate the possibilities to reduce the airflow of the drying process, i.e. bio fuel dryer and absorber. Parameters studied are drying temperature, salt concentration and cooling of the airflow during the absorption process. Measured values from the pilot plant have been used as a reference case. The results show that it is possible to decrease the airflow by 31% when using a higher drying temperature. Higher salt concentration decreases the airflow by approximately 32% and cooling during absorption makes it possible to decrease the airflow by 50%. In order to minimize the airflow, the three parameters were combined. In this case it is possible to decrease the airflow by approximately 60%. The electrical input for the plant is also high due to large air and solution flows. By decreasing the airflow, the required electrical input will also decrease since the fan power is proportional to the volume airflow. The results clearly show that it is possible to reduce the airflow and therefore the investment costs compared with the pilot plant.
The Songhua River is one of the biggest rivers in China and is the major freshwater source for industry and agriculture, as well as the source of the drinking water for millions of residents living along it. Heavy contamination of the Songhua River is due to domestic sewage and industrial wastewater. Thus, we set out to determine the carcinogenic potential of water samples taken from drinking water source of Harbin city in the Songhua River. Short-term genotoxic bioassays using Ames, SCE, and cell transformation assays were employed to examine the genotoxic activity of the ether extracts of water samples taken from the Songhua River. The results of the Ames test indicated that there were frame shift mutagens in the water samples, which were both direct and indirect. A dose–response relationship for the SCE assay was obtained, and the SCE cumulative frequency moved obviously to the right with increasing doses of water samples. Typical transformed foci were formed in NIH3T3 cells induced by ether extracts of water samples and the transformation frequency showed a dose–response relationship. The transformed cells showed the characteristics of malignant cells. All of the results indicated that the ether extracts of water samples taken from the Songhua River showed genotoxic activity.
The natural dyes were successfully extracted from spinach, pitaya pericarp, orange peel, ginkgo leaf, purple cabbage and carrot, and then fabricated a dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It suggested that the absorption properties of natural dyes were strongly dependent on the types and concentration of pigments, and the purple cabbage exhibited an obvious absorption at 317 nm. Meanwhile, a higher conversion efficiency of 0.157% was obtained as the DSSCs were prepared by using purple cabbage, but the DSSCs showed a poor performance when the carrot was used as natural dyes, just achieved 0.01%. FTIR spectra revealed that purple cabbage showed a better adsorption properties between TiO2 films and dyes than carrot. The dipping time was further investigated and proved that an optimal dipping time was 6 min, the DSSCs using purple cabbage could achieve 0.146% in photoelectric conversion efficiency.
Energy storage systems (ESSs) can increase power system stability and efficiency, and facilitate integration of intermittent renewable energy, but deployment of ESSs will remain limited until they achieve an attractive internal rate of return (IRR). Linear optimization is used to find the ESS power and energy capacities that maximize the IRR when used to arbitrage 2008 electricity prices (the highest of the past decade) in seven real-time markets in the United States for 14 different ESS technologies. Any reductions in capital costs needed to achieve an IRR of 10% are solved for. Results show that the profit-maximizing size (i.e. hours of energy storage) of an ESS is primarily determined by its technological characteristics (round-trip charge/discharge efficiency and self-discharge) and not market price volatility, which instead increases IRR. Most ESSs examined have an optimal size of 1–4h of energy storage, though for pumped hydro and compressed air systems this size is 7–8h. The latter ESSs already achieve IRRs >10%, but could be made even more profitable with minimal cost-reductions by reducing power capacity costs. The opposite holds for Flywheels, electrical ESSs (e.g., capacitors) and a number of chemical ESSs (e.g., lead acid batteries). These could be made more profitable with minimal cost-reductions by reducing energy capacity costs.
We are launching the Insights to Model Alzheimer’s Progression in Real Life study in parallel with the Alzheimer Prevention Initiative Generation Program. This is a 5-year, multinational, prospective, longitudinal, non-interventional cohort study that will collect data across the spectrum of Alzheimer’s disease. The primary objective is to assess the ability of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative Cognitive Composite Test Score and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status to predict clinically meaningful outcomes such as diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, and change in Clinical Dementia Rating–Global Score. This study is the first large-scale, prospective effort to establish the clinical meaningfulness of cognitive test scores that track longitudinal decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. This study is also expected to contribute to our understanding of the relationships among outcomes in different stages of Alzheimer’s disease as well as models of individual trajectories during the course of the disease.
The biological interactions and the physical and chemical properties of the littoral zone of Lake Krugersdrift were studied for a 4-month period when a dense, toxic cyanobacterial bloom dominated by Microcystis aeruginosa was present in the main lake basin. The presence of a toxic strain of M. aeruginosa was confirmed through the use of ELISA and molecular markers that detect the presence of the mcyB and mcyD genes of the mcy gene cluster that synthesizes microcystin. An increase in Microcystis toxicity at sites dominated by the cyanobacterial scum was accompanied by an increase in total abundance of the macroinvertebrate families Hirudinae, Chironomidae, and Tubificidae. Sites located away from the cyanobacterial scum had a lower abundance but a higher diversity of macroinvertebrates. The water quality under the Microcystis scum was characterized by low pH values, low concentrations of dissolved oxygen, and lower total alkalinity values. The periphytic alga Ulothrix zonata was absent in areas dominated by the cyanobacterial scum, possibly as a result of overshadowing by the scum or direct toxic allelopathic effects on growth and photosynthesis. The diatom Diatoma vulgare dominated the benthic algal flora beneath the cyanobacterial scum.
Intra-abdominal pressure may be one of the few modifiable risk factors associated with developing a pelvic floor disorder. With one in eight women having surgery to correct a pelvic floor disorder in their lifetimes, intra-abdominal pressure may be a key to understanding the disease etiology and how to mitigate its occurrence and progression. Many traditional methods of intra-abdominal pressure measurement have limitations in data quality, environment of use, and patient comfort. We have modified a previously reported intravaginal pressure transducer that has been shown to overcome other intra-abdominal pressure measurement technique limitations (Coleman et al. 2012). Our modifications to the intravaginal pressure transducer make it easier to use, less costly, and more reliable than previous designs, while maintaining accuracy, integrity, and quality of data. This device has been used in over 400 participants to date as part of one of the most comprehensive studies examining the relationship between intra-abdominal pressure and pelvic floor disorders.
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a promising negative electrode for sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Although TiO2 materials with amorphous (A-TiO2) and single-phase crystalline structures (C–TiO2) have been separately explored, the study to compare the fundamental electrochemistry of A-TiO2 and C–TiO2 is limited. In this work, we investigated A-TiO2 and C–TiO2 nanoparticles with identical chemical composition and morphology. C–TiO2 exhibits enhanced electrochemical performance than A-TiO2 in terms of rate capability and cycle life. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis suggests reversible Na ion insertion/extraction in C–TiO2. However, such process is irreversible in the case of A-TiO2. The charge storage mechanisms in both samples were studied to show that diffusion-controlled intercalation process becomes significant in C–TiO2 sample. The C–TiO2 sample has a better Na+ diffusivity measured through the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique (GITT) compared to A-TiO2, which corroborates well with the rate capability study. Furthermore, the evolution of local structure of the TiO2 samples was analyzed by ex situ pair distribution function (PDF) to understand the variation in electrochemical properties. It reveals that the corner-shared Ti–Ti distance along Na ion diffusion pathway increases with the increase of crystallinity, leading to the expanded diffusion channels and therefore more active sites and faster diffusion.
The conversion mechanism of NiF2 and NiO-doped NiF2 during electrochemical cycling was investigated using a combination of structural analysis by ex situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and magnetic analysis by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry. It was observed that the conversion reactions in both cathode materials were partially reversible; however, they differ in their conversion rate. NiO-doped NiF2 exhibited enhanced electrochemical properties in terms of the conversion potential and reversibility due to the presence of a NiO phase, which has slightly higher electronic conductivity than NiF2. It is suggested that the NiO doping reduced the nucleation sites for Ni nanoparticles, subsequently enhancing the kinetics of the conversion reaction involving the growth of Ni particles formed during lithiation. The ex situ XRD and the magnetic hysteresis data (H C and M S) indicate that the average dimension of the Ni particles formed along with LiF in pristine NiF2 and NiO-doped NiF2 during the 1st lithiation was in the superparamagnetic regime, with 4–5nm and 8–9nm particle sizes, respectively. Although the particle size was decreased to the nanoscale, the original NiF2 phase was regenerated by re-lithiation.
The fabrication process of a new, three-dimensional carbon-coated LiFePO4 electrode by sol–gel synthesis in situ on interconnected conducting fibers of carbon paper is described. This three-dimensional structure ensures overall electrode conductivity, facilitates lithium diffusion in and out of LiFePO4 particles and, hence, enables good cycling stability at 1C-rate and maximum pulse-power values that exceed those of planar LiFePO4 electrodes at high electrode loading.
Supply chain product visibility may be defined to mean the capacity of the supply chain to have a view of a product’s lifecycle, from its conception, manufacturing, distribution, delivery to the end customer, customer’s experience of the product, and the product’s end-of-life activities and processes. This implies developing and keeping a record of the product’s materials and components, its physical state throughout the supply chain, the product’s forward movement to the user-customer, customer’s experience of the product, and the reverse logistics and reuse or termination of the product. The aim of visibility is to foster planning, control and agility of operations associated with the product and to improve customer experience of the product. “Tracking” is the term often used to describe the determination of the identity and state of a product in the forward direction (from manufacturing to the end user), while “tracing” is used to infer the product’s path and history from downstream to upstream of the supply chain. In recent times there has been an upsurge of academic and commercial interest in product visibility. This interest has translated into numerous architectures, technologies and software for product visibility, both at the atomic (item) and composite (or aggregate) levels. Based on an extensive content analysis of academic and trade literature, including websites and documents of vendors and users of the technologies, this paper captures, analyses, compares and contrasts the design choices, essence, results and current and potential future impacts of some of the recent developments. The study also used survey by questionnaire across industries to assess user requirements of tracking and tracing systems and structures. The paper also charts future research directions for end-to-end visibility of product classes and their instances in supply chains.
The positron lifetime spectroscopy (PLS), a non-destructive characterization method, utilizes positronium (Ps; an electron–positron bound state) as a probe and measures its lifetime in polymer free volumes. For the first time the free volumes have been estimated by PLS in polyaniline (PANI) complexes with various inorganic and organic acids. It was found that the o-Ps lifetime increases and the intensity decreases with increasing ionic radius of the counter-ions in PANI complexes. Obviously, larger counter anions result in enhanced mean size of the voids corresponding to the free volume in the bulk polymer. Electrical conductivity has been measured by conventional four-probe technique. The glass transition temperature and temperature of removal of the absorbed water have been determined by using differential scanning calorimetry. It was established fairly well correlation of the mentioned polymer parameters with the o-Ps lifetime and the free volume of PANI complexes, respectively. The greater free-volume results in a decrease of conductivity, glass transition temperature and temperature of removal of the absorbed water.
Although lithium nickel cobalt manganese layered oxides with a high nickel composition have gained great attention due to increased overall energy density for energy conversion/storage systems, poor interfacial stability is considered a critical bottleneck impeding its widespread adoption. We propose a new approach based on immobilizing the artificial cathode-electrolyte interphase layer, which effectively reduces undesired surface reactions, leading to high interfacial stability of cathode material. For installation of artificial cathode-electrolyte interphases, a sulfonate-based amphiphilic organic precursor, which effectively suppresses electrolyte decomposition, is synthesized and subjected to immobilization on cathode material via simple wet-coating, followed by heat treatment at low temperature. The sulfonate-based artificial cathode-electrolyte interphase layer is well-developed on the cathode surface, and the cell controlled by the sulfonate-immobilized cathode exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance, including a high average Coulombic efficiency (99.8%) and cycling retention (97.4%) compared with pristine cathode material. The spectroscopic analyses of the cycled cathode show that the sulfonate-based artificial cathode-electrolyte interphase layer effectively mitigates electrolyte decomposition on the cathode surface, resulting in decreased interfacial resistance between electrode and electrolyte.
Materials developed for battery cells must ensure safety. This study describes a method for predicting thermal runaway when a battery cell is heated. Also presented is a method for quantitatively evaluating cell material safety in safety testing without having to scale up the cell. With thermal runaway reactions being a complex series of elementary reactions, the differential isoconversional method based on the approach of Friedman was used to calculate thermal runaway. As a battery is a solid-liquid mixture with electrical energy, thermal runaway reaction behavior varies greatly depending on the cell’s heating rate. As such, a method for selecting kinetically consistent test conditions based on differential scanning calorimetry measurement results was added to enable calculation of thermal runaway behavior of cells under adiabatic conditions. The calculation results were verified with accelerating rate calorimetry, which can measure self-heating rates under adiabatic conditions, to confirm that the thermal runaway onset timing matched. Increasing the accuracy of heating rate calculations will require further research into how to treat changes in specific heat during decomposition reactions. Safety diagrams accounting for regulation and standard test conditions were created for a battery based on this calculation method. This method has revealed quantitative metrics for evaluating battery safety.
Previous studies found mental representations of route descriptions north-up oriented when egocentric experience (given by the protagonist’s initial view) was congruent with the global reference system. This study examines: (a) the development and maintenance of representations derived from descriptions when the egocentric and global reference systems are congruent or incongruent; and (b) how spatial abilities modulate these representations. Sixty participants (in two groups of 30) heard route descriptions of a protagonist’s moves starting from the bottom of a layout and headed mainly northwards (SN description) in one group, and headed south from the top (NS description, the egocentric view facing in the opposite direction to the canonical north) in the other. Description recall was tested with map drawing (after hearing the description a first and second time; i.e. Time 1 and 2) and South-North (SN) or North–South (NS) pointing tasks; and spatial objective tasks were administered. The results showed that: (a) the drawings were more rotated in NS than in SN descriptions, and performed better at Time 2 than at Time 1 for both types of description; SN pointing was more accurate than NS pointing for the SN description, while SN and NS pointing accuracy did not differ for the NS description; (b) spatial (rotation) abilities were related to recall accuracy for both types of description, but were more so for the NS ones. Overall, our results showed that the way in which spatial information is conveyed (with/without congruence between the egocentric and global reference systems) and spatial abilities influence the development and maintenance of mental representations.